《Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer》 Chapter 1 End Of Misery In arge office room filled with monitors and disys with data charts and different weird numbers, the clock hit 8:00. People started getting up and leaving one by one with tired and happy voices. Everyone that left was either in a group or on their phones and talking with their families through holographic images before them. Sounds of people leaving therge office could be heard throughout the area. The office was bing quieter as time passed. I also stood up and made my way to the door. Before exiting, I stopped before the office gate. Searching my pocket I took out a triangle object. It was my precious phone. -------------------------------------------------------------- [8:30 P.M. *12 Dec. 2069 *Weather:-cloudy (could rain) *Status...] -------------------------------------------------------------- "Awesome. Now it will be raining..." I mumbled and closed the floating disy before me. A weird expression appeared on my face. This was some unexpected weather. "Oh well. might as well take an umbre..." Before leaving the office building, I took the umbre from a white vending machine like robot and stood before the door. A mechanical voice echoed from the door and I left the office with a normal,zy look. "Well, no one is waiting for me to return home anyway...might as well take a walk today," I yawned. I wasn''t able to go out for quite a while because of work but, today happened to be a fine day. I started walking through the streets which were looking more colorful in the cloudy weather. As we lived in a technologically advanced society, I was used to this beautiful site. Just as I was about to start roaming around the streets, I felt a gentle touch on my left cheek. It was the first drop of rain, gentle and cold. After a minute, the small drops scattered down and turned into arge downpour. I simply opened the umbre and started walking. *** Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh... The sound of rain could be heard like background music as I walked ahead. The gentle smell of rain entered my nostrils and morous lights shone all across the streets. Today seemed a little peaceful as the background music and lighting wereplementing each other. This was totally different from the past couple of days. While walking on the tform with a white umbre in my hand, I stopped at the crossing and waited for the lights to turn green again. After a few seconds, the triangle lights turned green, and I started walking. But... Suddenly... I lost my senses. The world started spinning and all background sounds started disappearing. The very next moment, everything became cloudy and some panicked voices entered my ears. "Hey! someone got hit by that truck! Call the ambnce!" "Hey! Hey!! go check up on the driver..." "Oy! Can you hear me! Don''t close your eyes and try to remain conscious! T-try to breathe!" The panicked voices continued but my consciousness was scattering. ''I guess today wasn''t that peaceful... never thought I, would get involved in the same kind of ident as... them,'' tears flowed out but maybe, the blood around me was too much for anyone to see that. Something simr had happened with my parents. And, after that, my life changed. ''This... was an empty life anyways,'' I thought, letting my body loose. Without family or even friends, Life was just rolling for me. ''They say your whole life shes at thest moments, maybe... this is it.'' I was only 10 when my parents passed away in a car ident. Then, I was raised by my old grandparents. Life was just empty after that day even though my grandparents were nice. Preschool and grade school were also just like that. Making friends was not that hard but, the thought of someday losing them always shed through my mind. Then... during my high school days, I yed many games that helped me when I was alone. But, not even they helped me that much. Then once more, some dreadful day came, and... my grandparents passed away. Leaving me by myself. Well, through those many years I learned being alone was a way for me to not feel lonely in the future. That''s pretty much how my life was. ''Well I don''t know if I''m angry or thankful for this but, I hope the afterlife will be pretty average.'' Thinking those lines... I closed my eyes. ''Death sure is painful.'' It hurts like hell. The impact of the collision was so great that my insides were almost obliterated. Just when you thought the day was peaceful... Well, maybe I will get to live a good life after all this. ''Maybe it is not really that bad day, to die...'' I lost my consciousnesspletely. Leaving behind a cold, blood bathed corpse. *** In a dark room, with arge candle holder, some unknown voices entered my ears. "...his hairs are like yours but the shade is golden, like a midday sun." An unknown man''s voice that carried great love and gentleness entered my ears after some time. "His eyes are exactly like yours, red like a ruby." A gentle voice of a woman could be heard after that. Both sounded extremely happy which left me more confused. ''Hmm? why do I feel so strange... and what are these people?'' I tried to recall what happened and tried to move. But I felt extremely powerless. Just like a baby... ''Wait!'' I tried to feel my body and hands. A very small and smooth hand entered my vision after turning my head. An earthquake urred in my eyes. ''huh...'' With a long and deep inner sigh, I managed to calm myself. In unexpected situations, we must keep our minds calm. Thinking clearly was always the best course of action. ''Maybe I can start over?'' This thought was the first one to appear after a while of thinking. A very clich¨¦ scenario if you want to say... Reincarnation. A situation where a soul gets transported to a different body or reborn as a different individual. Looking at my surrounding I can easily say... this one was a fantasy world. ''Well, it has to be...'' A good clean wooden room with arge bed, a fancy tablemp with bright candles on the table by the side, a unique robe by the ceiling, and a study table with an ink-pot and glowing feather pen. "He is adorable..." The young man said with tear-filled eyes. "Here,e to papa." The young-looking person who I presume is my father, took me from the young and gentle-looking woman and gently embraced me. This was different from the previous gentle and safe embrace. This felt caring, gentle, and protective. ''My new parents...'' This thought suddenly crossed my mind and... my little self started crying out loudly. This was the cry of relief. A cry that only I could understand. "Uwaaaaaaaaaaa..." The once-forgotten parental love. ''This may be the best thing ever happening to me...'' The memories of my previous life. The memories of the parents and grandparents of that time. The memories of that previous world which felt like a void to me. A needle that was always stuck to my heart. All those thoughts passed by once again. ''Didn''t think it would be this painful... yet, good.'' Maybe I can really live my life and have my family again. While those all thoughts were passing by my mind, the room was starting to get chaotic. "Uwaaaaaaa...." "Hu? Hey... Hey baby... why are you crying...!? I''m your great daddy... !" Holding the baby me, the father panicked and started to shout. Seeing this, a mischievous smile appeared on my mother''s face. "My god honey, it looks like our little baby doesn''t like papa..." Mother teasingly said in a quiet voice. "Uwaaaaaaaaaa...." The sound of crying continued like the background music. And, the father''s panicking voice also continued. "Hey, hey, please stop crying... please?" The father, which was as gentle as a feather and greatly protective, continued to console the crying baby. "hehe..." on the other hand, a quiet and happyughing voice sounded before us. Seeing all of this after calming my overwhelming emotions... I felt something filling the once empty spot inside of me. "huu... looks like the baby is calming down." After a long consoling of the father, the baby stopped crying out loud. But, the small cry was still going on. This could not be helped as the instinctive cry of the baby could not be controlled by the adult soul inside the body. "Aww... Come here. Let mama give you a little hug." Saying this, the mother took the baby from the father and gently caressed his head, and kissed him on the forehead. ''Mothers are always amazing.'' Just being in the embrace of the mother was enough to calm my baby self. The special embrace of the mother is the safest ce a baby could feel. "See, he likes mom more~." Mother said in a teasing tone, smiling at the father. "No, he doesn''t... hum!" Father turned his face to the other side which was currently red like a rose. Mother and father then started talking and mother joyfully enjoyed teasing father while father would always turn and hide his red face from time after time. ''It feels really good...'' Maybe, because of being alone and always feeling empty inside, I had grown tough like a rock. I thought being cool all the time and always being rational was enough. ''Maybe I was wrong.'' This feeling that I thought has lost and won''t be able to feel ever again in my life, was here again. ''I don''t want to lose this ever again.'' Well, thinking like this is one thing but who knows what the future has in store for us. *** "Well, that''s enough for today." Mother said in a tired tone andid me in a small bed next to her and kissed me onest time before going to bed herself. "Goodnight honey~." Father said and got to bed with mother after kissing her on the forehead. Laying on my bed I was on a train of thoughts once again. ''The world which I came from was a modern world with highly developed technology. But this one should be different as this is a fantasy world. Or so what I think.'' This could very well be the same world but in the past. ''Is there magic, in this world?'' A thought suddenly crossed my mind. Magic was quitemon in fantasy worlds. Maybe there could be monsters and some bad people who want to take over the world. Would I be some protagonist fighting those people? I would rather not as I had no interest in ying hero for others that much. ''Well, whatever it is will be more fun than my previous boring and alone, cold life.'' But if there really are bad people who are a threat to my family or me... ''I will have to get strong.'' Even if this world doesn''t have magic and stuff, I will get strong enough to protect at least my family. That would be my goal in this life. ''If I''m going to live a life, regardless of how it is, would be a happy one with people close to me.'' With those thoughts in my mind, my eyes started to shut down. ''I will, in fact, be sleeping like a baby today... after a very long time.'' The night was quiet and peaceful. Just perfect for a good night''s sleep. Chapter 2 The New World "Honey! Have you seen Eon?!" A feared voice of an adult male could be echoed throughout the room. "My god. Have you lost him again? He must really not like papa~." A gentle voice with mischievousness mixed within them replied to the horrified male. "Please don''t say it like that!" The young man turned around and left the study hall, which was quiterge and had a desk filled with many paper bundles. "Check out the library again. He will be there... again." She said with a certain tone. And a worried gasp escaped her mouth. "My god...can he even read at this age. What am I gonna do with both of you...?" The concerned female voice quietly mumbled and resumed the work with a sigh. *** It has been a year since I was reincarnated in this world and started my new life... which is quite good actually. Maybe, better than I ever hoped. My name in this new and of course, fantasy world with real magic is [Axion Kromet]. ''I don''t know if it''s a gic thing but... I''m quite cute?'' With red eyes like crystal and light blonde hair which is like a shining midday sun, I was the personification of a fantasy prince. ''Well, my parents are quite a unique bunch themselves...'' My mother who is a merchant by profession has long blond hair, which has a different tone than mine, with brown eyes and a face you would fall for in seconds. But, behind that face is a strict and yful person who loves her family but likes to tease her husband. Her name is [Nolen Heliox]. She is actually from a noble household in the empire. ''Well I don''t know much about it, so that''s it. As for my father...'' He is actually a shy type who always turns red when mom is teasing him. He is a handsome man with glossy, shoulder-length ck hair and red eyes that are clear and deep. His name is [Brian Kromet]. ''And, he is a real mage!'' My father is a former adventurer and magician which is quite high considering his age. This world has a very generic thing that many games had in my previous life. ''Status Window'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age:1 Strength:1 Dexterity:1 Stamina:2 Magic Power:3 Intelligence:9 Luck:6 Charm:4 [Skill: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill : Sun''s Blessing] ============ Everyone in this world has a status window. People of this world call this Status window . Magicians are the ones who mainly call them because of the principles behind this supernatural urrence. is a visual representation of the body and the potential of one''s current self. word came from the quiet sound which could be heard inside one''s mind when activating it. also shows the that we have or learned. Just like any other game or fantasy world, this world has skills. Which could be obtained through special means. They fall into different categories such as... - Skills that usually activate when using a particr to move, create or dismantle natural particles and different Spells. - Skills that use the stored within the body to enhance some aspects of the body which include physical, mental, or magical enhancement. -Skills that help other skills and are mainly part of individuals. This type of skill could greatly help in the growth of many aspects. All skills require a power source to activate or operate. There are many different types of in this world that have different uses and users. They are used in not only magic and martial art but in many more different ways. Some of the mostmon examples of this natural [Energy] could be... 1) [Mana] is a natural energy that is mostmonly used in magic casting and skill use.[Mana] could be most easy to use and handle in some waypared to others. This is mostly used in the Western continent where I am. 2) [Internal Energy] is naturally condensed energy within the body and then it is used in different Martial art. It could also be gathered and increased through different natural treasures. This is mostly used on the Eastern continent which is on the opposite side of this continent. 3) [Divine Power] is borrowed powers of the higher beings who were said to be legends or legendary figures. These beings were ''born from nature'' or ''very close'' to nature. It is mostly used by the or the who are associated with different ces. 4) [Demonic Energy] is different from any other one as they tend to grow and spread from negative and oppressive emotions which are a really bad thing for anything inside nature and they go against the order of nature. Any type of energy could be corrupted if the negative emotions increase extremely. 5) [Aura] is different than other natural energies. Those who have mastered a weapon to the core or understand them naturally gain the subconscious energy discharge which they can then master and use in different ways. For moving and using this different type of different conditions have to be met first. Like having a to use the Mana in the nature or surroundings. are naturally created in one''s body where the mana first naturally gathers inside of body then, gets condensed and creates a base core. The creation of this core is called [Awakening]. stores the mana which is used in magic or other things such as strengthening the weapon or creating a potion. The natural energy called [Mana] in the surroundings can be moved or molded in different ways by using the mana in the . The proficiency and skills required for that can be learned and used by magicians. After the base es the affinity and different required knowledge. divides in different (tier). It goes from (tier-0) which is mainly basic magic to (tier-12) which are mythical spells of stories. Magicians can use magic at the tire of their and below that. This means a (Tier-2) magic spell could only be used by those who have a of (Tier-2) or higher. Affinity with different elements of nature is also important in spellcasting. This world is a core part of this ''nature''. From the mana to natural beasts which aremonly known as . Other than [Skills] the also shows if the person has a different type of skill called [Origin Skill]. [Origin Skills] are different from other [Skills]. Every [Origin] is different than the others. They could have the same function but none will be exactly the same. That''s why we can also call them [Unique Skills]. These [Origin Skills] are different because they can grow with the person. The level of mastery of a [Origin] corresponds with the overall strength of the individual. The mastery level of the [Origin] goes as: Basic< Beginner < Intermediate < Upper-intermediate < Advanced < Upper-advanced < Master < Grand master < Sage < (Total mystery). And each level has a different ability which is the same as skills but a bit different. They are like a which can grow two more times meaning it starts from (stage-1) and could grow until (stage-3). But growing the (stage) is more difficult than reaching the [Advanced] level. ording to this world''s fairytales, it could be summarized that there were few [Sages] who were even able to create legends and make miracles. Those who have achieved level of control over their [Origin Skill] could be counted as some of the most famous people in the world. could be counted on a single hand as they like to be secretive and mostly no one knows their whereabouts. Children who have a [Origin Skill], if trained from an early age could reach level at the very least when they grow older. Even if those who have a [Origin Skill], don''t try and practice with their skill, it would eventually be helpful for them in one way or another. Reaching the level of a [Master] requires a very high amount of practice and understanding of the [Origin] itself. Those who fully understand what they can and can''t do with their [Origin Skills] from an early age, can grow and learn different ways to use these skills. Beyond the level of is a realm of unknown. No one knows what there is and what things one could do at that level but, people know that there definitely is a realm beyond that. This could also be derived from the old fairytales and the books read in this world. '' I''m only one year old and I can actually read. Maybe because my intelligence stat is the highest of them?'' I thought as I looked at myself. Stats are the visual representation of one''s own body. If stats go up the body improves and if the body improves the stats go up. So maybe because my soul is grown-up, my intelligence stat is corresponding to that. ''I do like reading. I have pretty much read everything I could get my hands on. And because of my one and only auxiliary skill, my growth speed is actually... pretty fast?'' Well, the [Energy Cirction] is pretty much a cheat skill from normal standards. We can''t use skills freely without the input of any . But, because it''s a support skill it can be used for a short time. ''Perk of being reincarnated, maybe? well, it''s actually very helpful...'' I can easily circte the energy inside of my body and if I use the [Origin Skill: Sun''s blessing] which I think will be a really useful skill, I may be able to create my base and grow a bit faster. ''I will need quite a long time before I could figure out what my [Origin Skill] actually does. All I currently know is it''s very helpful. And that''s just an instinctive response.'' In the future, thebination of these two skills will be perfect for my training. ''Well, that''s what I think at least...'' "Eon...Here you are, staring at books once again~." Father suddenly entered the room and gently picked me up. "My baby must like books~. That''s the signs of a real genius!" His voice was filled with love and gentleness and the words that he spoke carried admiration. ''What would mom say if she were here?'' Well, I wouldn''t know that, for now at least. He carried me back to the bedroom which was pretty difficult to escape from. After putting me in my Small bed he left after kissing my forehead. ''Well, I think this is it for today...'' A baby''s life. just sleep, y and eat. ''It''s good...'' I could see the outside world from the window. The sun has almost disappeared from the horizon and the mystic blue moon was making its debut in the hall filled with the starry sky. ''It''s twilight... and it looks very, beautiful.'' Chapter 3 The New World (2) Rolling on the bad, I thought about the world I was in. Just like a middle-aged fantast world, this world had kingdoms, empires, neutral domains, and most famous . ''I am a normal citizen of the most powerful country on this continent.'' [The Great Roxana Empire] The center of the human domain and one of the most powerful empires of the western continent. ''And a ce that houses 2 of the 9 .'' The empire was able to grow so strong was also because of the geographic advantage it has. A natural terrain advantage if you see it from the perspective of the enemy. The empire is situated in the center of a closed space surrounded by a huge magic forest and a mountain range with a greatbyrinth. ''Well, it''s not like I will be going into those horrible ces.'' The eastern continent also has other famous ces. Holy kingdom of rahum and Principality ofkmer are ces that are also famous and has their own forces. But, most importantly, they also have good rtions with this empire.'' Holy Empire is famous for its forces that control . Not only do they have multiple strong religious people they are also one of the most famous suppliers of [potions] on the western continent. The Principality is a neutral nation with famous trade centers, tourist spots, and sea centers. Being a fantasy world, this world has many different races. (Elves), (Orcs), (Dwarves), (Beast people), and many more. ''I''m at a border town of the empire. It is between a small kingdom of the east and the main city connecting to the imperial capital.'' I only have a limited amount of information. ''Well, what can a baby do? A little baby who isn''t even two years old... but this world is filled with many miraculous things. Things that one could only read in books and see in games. And my mom and dad tell me a new story every day. Whatever it is, it''s very enlightening. Knowing about those past [Saints] and [Heroes] who were unbelievably powerful, my heart beats wildly.'' Those who had great powers and chose the path to save humanity from the demonic forces were the ones who left behind myths. The great wars fought between good and evil and the presence of the absolute beings in those stories are amazing. the swords used with which represent one''s true self and (High magic) used with . An unknown world and the mysteries behind many things. Gaining knowledge is a great hobby honed by many great individuals. ''And one of those great individuals is the Emperor of this great empire.'' The previous emperor wasn''t outstanding in anything particr but he was the best judge anyone had ever seen. His judgment skills which not only saww but also the core of the crime made outstanding judgments. He knew that his young son will make a better emperor than his older one. There was a constant power struggle between them but he always supported the current emperor despite the superiority of his older son. At the end of this bloody fight, the current emperor won by doing nothing at all. He just waited and waited until his arrogant older brother dug his own grave. ''The emperor, who has a sharp mind and foresight became a war hero who was able to flourish the empire even further,'' I thought as I rolled around in the bed. ''Admiring the past is a great thing but I like the present and my current self the most.'' The night was getting dark and my eyes were slowly getting heavy. In the middle of the night, with a quiet atmosphere, the sound of the night was heart calming. *** "Eon! Don''t go there!" A Worried voice rang in the quiet hall. The man was walking behind a crawling baby. "Eon...Eon?" He was tired of calling his son but, he stopped in the middle of it. He saw his son by the bookshelf. He thought he knew what his son was trying to do. ''No way!? really?'' Thinking that he was right he quickly ran towards the stairs. Entering a room he shouted in a desperate voice. "Honey! Come downstairs, quickly! Eon is trying to walk for the first time!" His wife, who was reading something sitting on the table suddenly stood up. Not believing her ears she started running without thinking. Both of them entered the room their son was in. He was trying to stand up with the support of the shelf. Standing up with much difficulty he tried to take his first steps, but he fall on his first try. The mother watching this scene felt her heart ache a bit but, she recovered quickly. With a determined look, she looked at her son and shouted with a cheering tone. "Eon! It''s ok! Let''s try again..." But before she could finish her words, Axion started to try again. He stood up and took his first step. This time he didn''t fall as he continued to walk forward. One step. Two steps. He walked his third step and was about to fall. But, his mother caught him midway. "Wow, Eon~! That was awesome. My baby is the best!" Dad said with a tearful smile on his face. he looked proud and happy, as well as amazed for some reason. "Eon did a very great job. My baby didn''t give up... or cry. I''m so proud of you~." She said with a proud smile but, there were some teardrops visible if one sees closely. I, on the other hand, was a little amused. '' I didn''t think it was possible but I tried to walk for the first time. And, after trying for the first time, I''m certain that I can walk for at least 9 to 12 steps without falling. I just didn''t do it now because I wanted to just test it out, but it looks like everything will be ok as long as I don''t over-exert myself.'' This type of growth was not natural as I was still only one year old. My only skill is more effective than I thought. I didn''t fully expect it but, my mom and dad were happier than I thought them to be. ''I am actually very lucky to have them as my parents. What would have I done if there were some other people? Well... thinking it isn''t even worth it. They are all I would ever need.'' I also looked at them with loving eyes. Hugging my mom who had just lifted me up, I closed my eyes. ''I wish everything stays this way... forever.'' This was a genuine thought from the bottom of my heart. Not everyone gets this much love and, I am very fortunate to have that. "He is really special to not even cry or get discouraged even after falling. He also likes books and even looks at them as if really reading. Honey? Do you think our Eon is so genius that he can actually already read?" My dad asked as he took me from my mom. "I would be happy if that were true. But, do you even think this little one with gold-like hair and those big eyes even knows what we are talking about?" She asked with a smile. It looked like she was thinking about something else but it wasn''t that important to her than this conversation. "Ok, I should go to work. See youter. Bye, Bye Eon~!" She gave both of us a kiss and left for upstairs. I nced at dad who was a bit surprised as he was caught off guard. Holding me in his hands, we both entered the kitchen. "Eon~. Let''s make something special today." Taking out a knife from the drawer he took out arge piece of meat. Preparing some other ingredients, he stood beside them and looked at me. "Now Eon, would you like to see some magic~?" He asked with a confident smile on his face. But on his sudden question, my eyes lit up. "Yeeeeee" I was saying yes and I thought that understood what I was saying. Looking at my sparkling eyes, a wide smile appeared on his face. Smiling, he opened his palm, and in a second a small bright fire appeared on it. "Wuuuuuu~." I said with shining eyes. This was my first time seeing (Fire Magic) as he never used any unnecessary spells while at home. The reason for it being... "Honey~, can you make me something to drink...?" I stopped thinking mid-sentence as I heard the footsteps from the other side. At that moment, I knew that something was going to happen. Mom, entering the room, nkly stared at dad who was still holding the fireball in his hand. Dad, too, looked at her with a nk and pale face. The smile on my mother''s face deepened and she asked with a calm voice. "Honey~. What do you think you are doing~?" A cold shiver ran down my dad''s spine as he directly bent 90 degrees and loudly said. "I...I am sorry! I was careless..." Mom had strictly forbidden dad to not use dangerous magic when I am around. Whenever that happens mom just... calmly talks to him... calmly. ''Well, I pity you dad but, thank you to show that spell. It was cool~.'' I waved at him with pitying eyes as they left me in the library, with some different books and went to their own work. Chapter 4 A New Day "Eon, let''s y outside today!" Father suddenly called me while I was reading about something interesting. "oucside?" I asked in a childish tone. Now that I was 3 years old, I could speak things like a baby and talk in some sentences. "Yes, let''s y in the garden!" Father sounded very excited this time for some unknown reason. ''He has this proud look while looking at me reading the book, as always. I still remember the first time.'' It amazed my parents when they found out that I can read. Though I was 2 years old at that time, it was still surprising for them. Well, they were even thinking that I was a born genius. My father was literally crying rivers, thinking about how I could be a great mage in the future. My father, though handsome and intelligent, is quite a unique person when ites to me or my mother. He always easily gets teased by my mother and acts shy, like they are a young couple on their first date. The girl is ying jokes around and the boy is flustered just by her words. ''They actually make a lovely couple.'' They look like a beautiful paintinging to life; which was painted very carefully and with actual love poured into it. They just don''t have that typical role where the wife does the chores and the husband earns money. We have it the other way around. And... I love it. ''Mother takes care of finances and father is very good at other household things. He cleans the whole ce with magic and he is actually a very good Cook!'' We are currently living in a border city, which is not bad but has nothing particrly interesting. ''I don''t know the entire story but, it has something to do with my mother.'' We have a pretty pleasant house and even have a big backyard. This house is at the edges of the city, so the whole end area is our backyard. Father, being a mage, has shown me some of the safe magic spells many times. I got to learn many new things from watching my father regarding magic which I didn''t even know could be done so easily. But, there is only one thing that I don''t like about it. ''He won''t teach me anything!'' I have cutely asked him many times and... he was hesitant. ''It was like he has seen a ghost.'' Like,e on... ''What is wrong with a 2 or 3-year child showing interest in learning a cool thing like magic? It''s a freaking fantasy world!'' Well, I was wrong about this one. I realized a crucial thing after a gentle but horrific speech from my mother. '' is a must before I can even go near the caster when the magic spell is being cast.'' Forget father, I myself was on the verge of crying at that time when... mom lectured us. ''My mom can be REALLY scary sometimes. Don''t wanna get on her bad side...'' I made a mental note of that great experience and started preparing for a breakthrough. ''There actually was a way to create but I never thought I could use it with this body.'' Being a perfectly bnced and condensed mass of a particr type of , it can be possible if the person trying to attempt it has a good grasp on their body and the cirction of energy. So I tried gathering the surrounding in one ce and condensing the small particles together. ''I never thought my only skill [Energy Cirction] would be this big of a help.'' I can pretty much control them and gather them tougher but, there is only one problem with that. ''The process is very tiring.'' I can''t use my skill for a long time. It may even take some years to create a nucleus and make a breakthrough. ''And even after that, I can confidently say that I would be the youngest one to have gone through in human history.'' As it''s already rare for more than one person in a normal family to have and after that, choose to be a magician. ''Well... my goal isn''t being a magician. It is a bit different.'' In the world I came from, there were [sses] for every game character to choose and advance from. ''I always chose a ss which was not that famous.'' When I first yed a video game in my childhood, I had as a job and I always yed with it ever since. ''Well, being a was not that big of a deal. But in some games where magic and physical ssesbined, were unique and loved by people.'' Well, that world didn''t have many great archers or they don''t know the heights one could go to if they can be both a magician and archer. ''But first, I have to make a to even start with the most basic use of my and...'' "We are here!" Interrupting my thoughts was the voice of my father. We just reached our big backyard. I looked around the vast field and saw green grass on the ground. There were nts and some gigantic trees in the distance, too. Besides my house was a small flower garden with beautiful flowers. ''My house is actually pretty outstanding!'' Being at the edge of the city and maintained with care, this was a gorgeous home. "Weather is just right for the fireworks today. Tonight, we might get to see a good show!" Father energetically said. "Fayrwort?" "Yes! Eon will love it too!" My father was looking joyous while mentioning the fireworks. He enthusiastically exined what they are and why they look so beautiful in a clear night sky. "We control them with magic and they are colorful fire explosions that look beautiful in the night sky! Oh, you will understand when you see them!" His eyes had a nostalgic look deep within them as he exined that. He picked me up and quietly whispered in my ears. "Don''t tell mom about it. It will be a surprise for her. Ok?" I finally got what he wanted to do, and I yed along with him. "yeh! It will be a superise!" Well, I know mom will find out, but this will be fun. ''I will even see some new magic!'' We yed in the garden for some time and got to the house to prepare a pleasant surprise. *** While waiting for my dad toplete his preparations, I started thinking about the exciting things one could do with magic. ''Status Window'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 3 Strength: 3 Dexterity: 4 Stamina: 4 Magic Power: 5 Intelligence: 11 Luck: 7 Charm: 5 [ Skills: Energy Cirction ] [ Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing ] ============ Well, I''m technically still a baby, so I could only read the books and walk around the house. I can walk perfectly now but the starting part was very difficult. I often crawled out of my bed, sneaking into the library, which is one of my favorite ces in my house. I really like reading here. There are many books on the continent and some of them are about magic too. I have learned about many things like [Spell] ranking system as well as about which were native to this world. [Spells] and are different as the former is learned and the other ones are obtained through many means. [Spells] can be learned through good tutoring or self-creation and then used with as the energy medium. To use which are either obtained through a which can be obtained by killing the with a very low possibly or have from the birth like my skill, one just has to think or say its name. Then it will be triggered automatically, like a pre-savedmand. But only the amount of [Magic Power] stat could maintain it and our own [Willpower]. [Magic Power] not only refers to the amount of but also the level of control and understanding of the concept of itself. is a rare thing that is not thatmon on the market and goes for a good price no matter what type of skill is within it. when killed, have a very low chance to create a inside their body. They might also materialize a [Energy Core]. These [Energy Cores] can be used in many ways like powering a or in magical research or as a medium when casting a spell. ''Well, that''s pretty much it. But I really want to learn more things and practice my skills as soon as I can!'' This is a tough thing when you are just a baby. "Eon...! It''s time. Let''s surprise your mom!" Father walked in and interrupted my train of thoughts. ''Well, it''s not always a good thing to think about the distant future. Might as well enjoy the time with my family more...'' I got down from the bed and responded to my excited father the same way. "Yes! mommy will be surprised!" Father picked me up, and we left for mom''s study room. *** knock. knock. "Honey, Eon came to see you" The door was closed so father lightly knocked on the door for mom to let her know we were here. "Oh~, Eon must have aint about daddy. Honey~, what did you do~?" Mom said in her usual mischievous tone. And as always, it flustered dad. " What I-I-I didn''t.." I cut him out and said In an excited tone. Though his behavior was usual for me, this wasn''t the time to be flustered. "Dada and I have a suplise for mommy!" mom''s expression changed to that of curiosity on that. "Oh~, so that''s how it is." She suddenly had an all-knowing look on her face after looking at dad and me. "Yes! we will do fayrwort!" My cute face was almost glowing as I exposed our ns. "Oh? Fireworks, is it?" She looked at my father with a smile that was saying something like: ''isn''t that dangerous?'' But father had that reassuring look that was saying something like: ''It''s okay.'' This time father had a reliable look; totally different from many times he was with mom. "Okey! Let''s go!" Father said excitedly and mom sighed with a smile. *** "Okey, I''m starting now!" Father shouted from a distance and started preparing for his magic spell before creating two transparent shields of a different colors. "He looks excited. As always~." My mother also had the same nostalgic look in her eyes like my dad. ''There is definitely a story behind this. But, I will just wait for them to tell me,'' I thought, looking at her sweet smile. It was a lovely and quiet night. There weren''t many houses around our house, so almost no one could see it. Shiinnnnng... Boooooooooom! The sky was lit up with beautiful shapes and colors. There were even names of mom and mine. ''It is breathtaking~!'' I really loved this entire show, which could not go very long... unfortunately. "So, how was it?" Father walked towards us and sat down next to mom putting me on hisp. "Just like the first time. Marvelous~." Mother praised in a calm voice, still looking towards the sky where the fireworks went out. "Thanks..." Father said and just sat there. Mother then rested her head on his shoulder without saying anything. ''Well, might as well go to sleep. The day was delightful and I got to see some very exciting things,'' I thought as I closed my eyes. shuuuuu... There was just the sound of blowing wind and nothing else as the three of us sat in therge backyard. Chapter 5 Conversation "There are different types of in this world. We mostly use them as a source or medium when casting a magic spell or enhancing the body or weapon. We have to channel the inside of the to move the ambient in nature and use it to channel different spells. We believe the creation of a to be random and mostly children between 10 to 13 years materialize their base and go through . After that, we can test which [Element] they have a natural affinity for. To use the magic spells, we have to learn how to control the precise amount of , the output of , and the knowledge required to cast the spell. Imagination also ys a big role in the casting process." These were some things that I have learned during thest few months. And I was just ''telling'' mom and dad to impress them. ''Well, not exactly. I had an ulterior motive.'' "Wow..., I mean, ahem! Ok. Good enough." Daddy had a shocked look that was saying something like: ''Am I dreaming?'' ''Looks like things will be going smoo-'' Just then, my mom''s eyes met mine. She had this all-knowing and unbelieving look in those light brown eyes. With a fake cough, she smiled and said in a calm voice, "Don''t even think about it." That was a straight-out warning. But dad didn''t get what was going on between the two of us. ''She caught me, again...'' I thought just by ''saying'' some sweet things like this would be good enough to impress them and make dad at least show me some new magic spells. ''This must be why she is called mother.'' She could just tell what was going through my mind every single time. ''This definitely wasn''t the first time. Don''t know how long this time''s lecture would be.'' "Sorry..." lowering my head, I apologized. "Huh..." A pitied sigh escaped from my mom''s mouth just after that. "Honey~, please give us a minute alone," mom asked with her normal smiling face. "Hm? is something wrong?" dad asked,ing back to reality. Dad couldn''t get what was going on between the mother son duo. He was lost in his own thoughts all this time. "No~, nothing like that. Eon and I need to have a good, long, heart-to-heart secret conversation." This time, mom said thest part silently. Like she was whispering in his ears. This definitely was one of those teasing pranks of hers. "S-secret? What secret? I''m not going anywhere. I won''t go. Hum!" Dad had his usual flustered face, but this time he had eyes that were telling that he somewhat had an idea of the situation. "Baby~, Pretty please?" Mom had a pitiful expression that was saying something like ''very good~''. ''I could never get bored watching them like this.'' This show was definitely satisfying anytime I watch. "O..ok. I will go and wait outside." Dad hesitatingly said and bend down towards me and whispered in my ears. "You have to tell me about itter..." "Ok, I will tell youter!" I eximed with a small smile on my face. "Honey~?" Mom had a chilly atmosphere around her this time. Well, dad wasn''t that ignorant to not tell what was going to happen next. "O...ok, okay. I''m going out." Dad stood up and walked towards the door. "No eavesdropping~." Mom reminded him onest time "Okay..." Dad said in a defeated voice before closing the door. *** "Mom, I...I was just..." Even though I have technically lived a longer life than mom, I can''t speak properly in front of her in situations like this. I even have promised myself to not go on her bad side, but to think that even being 4 years old is not enough to even see some different, cool magic spells. "Eon..., Baby, why do something like this when you know I will not allow it? I know I am one of the luckiest people on earth for having such a brilliant child, but there are things you can''t do if I say not to." Mom said with a mix of emotions like love, pity, and amazement. "But I just want to see." I said in a low and defeated voice. "That''s not the case. You have to understand some things are for parents to teach their child and some for them to prevent them from doing..." she replied in a very stern voice. ''I very well know about his prowess. Who else could read, write, and learn anything thrown at them? My baby is the best in that regard. But I can''t let him be in danger if something unexpected happens. I would blindly believe in Brian, but not in this 4-year-old who doesn''t have any idea of the outside world and practical knowledge of it. If he bes a mage at a young age, we won''t be able to have his precious childhood. It''s a relief that he won''t be going through anytime soon...'' "Mom?" She snapped out of her thoughts at my voice. "Ahem! Yes, so all I was saying is that I prohibit you from asking anything else on the topic of magic until you can go through the in the future. And even after that, the final say will be mine. Do you understand?" ,m Mom said in a very authoritative manner which was more like an order. "Yes!" I unconsciously eximed that loudly, like a soldier answering the captain''s call. *** "Hmm..., do you have anything else you would like to say?" After her long lecture on the prohibiting thing such as magic, she asked with her normal yful smile. "Mom... well, you see..." I was hesitant about this part which I was going to discuss with mother after some time but, the time and ce are almost perfect. But her expression was happier for some reason. ''Oh my~, he looks so cute when he is like this. Just like his father. That expression and hesitating voice... my day is a pretty nice~.'' Her train of thoughts was on a different track than mine. "Um... I want a bow?" I finally asked with much hesitation. This was my way of improving physical stats rather than intelligence, which was based on knowledge,prehensive abilities, and self-awareness. "That''s it?" My mom had this very confused expression, which was suddenly transformed from her happy, smiling face. ''Is he not thinking of being a mage like his father? No, that''s not it. He has almost read all books in the library rted to magic. This is an unbelievable achievement for a 4-year-old but what could a bow do? If it was a sword, I wouldn''t allow it anyway, but a wooden bow could be fine. But still, what could be the reason? Is he nning on hunting something?'' Mom now suddenly had a worried expression on her face. But she then calmed herself down. Looking at me with shock and amazement-filled eyes, she asked. "And why does my sweet little baby want a bow? Do you want to be an Archer?" Her voice was calming and sweet, and she also had a curious expression in her eyes. "Yes! I want to shoot arrows and use magic!" I honestly answered her with a determined look in her eyes. "Why a bow? Isn''t a sword better?" She asked with a cheerful face after seeing the determined look in my eyes. "No. With a bow, I will be far away from the target. Just like in magic, if the opponent is close, the casting time and process could be interrupted. But we can just protect ourselves with magic and attack from a distance with a bow." After saying that, I looked at my mother and suddenly got confused. ''Did I say something wrong?'' Mom had many mixed emotions on her face. Some of them were amazement, pity, confusion, and pride. On the other hand, Nolen''s mind was a mess. ''Wow... just amazing. I never thought my little baby was such a genius. He actually knows things like this. He will definitely be a great person in the future. But how does he know so many things? Is Brian teaching him some weird things behind my back? No, that can''t be. Then he definitely must have read these things from some book. It''s really amazing how a little 4-year-old child could learn so many things. I''m very proud of you, my cute little Eon. But I can''t give him any dangerous weapons just yet. Even if it''s just a bow and some arrows.'' "Huuu..." She exhaled a deep breath and returned to her normal cheerful self. "Ok. But you will only have it on your 5th birthday as one of your presents," she said as she stood from her chair and came close to me. "Really! Thanks, mom! You are the best!" I ran towards her and picking me up, she lifted me in the air, and then kissed me on the cheeks. "Yes~, mom is the best!" She said with a joyful and proud expression. ''Yes! Now I can start my physical training. It will definitely be fun!'' Just then, we heard a knocking on the door. knock. knock. "If your ''conversation'' is over, then pleasee down. The dinner is ready." It was dad. And it was already nighttime. ''He sounds sad about something. Is it because of mom saying that it''s a secret? Well, it''s normal anyway.'' "Yes~, we will be there in a minute honey~." Mom answered and looked at me. "It''s a secret, okay?" She asked with a somewhat loud voice so that dad could hear her voice outside the door. "Yes! I won''t even tell daddy!" I yed along with her. It was fun to tease dad like my mom sometimes. "Okey!!! Juste whenever you are done!" dad loudly shouted and left with heavy steps that could be heard from start to end. Mom and I were holding ourughter, but our eyes suddenly met and weughed out loud. "Heheheh..." "Hahaha..." After some time, controlling herself, mom asked in a quiet voice. "Let''s go. Can''t have daddy wait for too long, Right?" "Yes!" After that, we left for dinner. But the whole time we were eating, dad was just peeking at the two of us to know something about our ''secret conversation''. Chapter 6 Training? ''Status Window'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age:4 Strength:5 Dexterity:6 Stamina:5 Magic Power:6 Intelligence:14 Luck:9 Charm:7 [Skills: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing] ============ ''Ok, then. Should I start with physical training?'' After my talk with momst time, I decided to start training my body. I had to separate the [Energy Cirction] training and my physical body training time. So I decided to just have the physical training in the morning and the other one at night. Today''s morning was beautiful. The sun was rising on the horizon, standing in my backyard with my eyes closed. I felt nature. The birds were chirping. The faint smell of flowers was good. And the beautiful scene of the morning was warm. I slowly started walking and increased my speed. I did some light exercise and then took a brief break to pull myself together. ''Well, can''t do everything at once. I''m still a little child physically. This body can''t even handle this much. I''m sweating bullets... just from this,'' I sat down on the grass field. Huuuuu... Huuuuu... I could hear my deep breaths. I was just sitting down, taking deep breaths, when I suddenly heard a shocked voice which was closing in astonishingly fast. "Eon! What happened to you!? Why are you sweating so much?!" It was dad, and he had shocked eyes. His face was pale, like he had seen a ghost. "It''s nothing, dad. I was just running around in the backyard." I said after calming my breathing. But dad had a unique look on his face. "Look at yourself. Why would you do something like that in the first ce!?" He was trying to calm himself down. It was his first time seeing his son drenched in sweat. After some time of calming himself down and thinking for some time, he opened his mouth and said in a calm voice. "Were you doing some kind of training?" His words were on the spot. ''My dad really is smart.'' I hesitated for a moment before answering his question. "Um... you could say that." "And why would you do that?" He asked with a calm voice. Today, he seemed somewhat different. Did he feel more... reliable? "I want to practice archery. Mom said she would give me a bow on my birthday, so I was just training¡­ or something like that." I vaguely answered with a confident tone. My eyes were sparkling just thinking about my training. But I had to be more physically fit for that. Many thoughts were passing through my mind in that short amount of time. On the other hand, dad was thinking about something else. ''He is into archery now? Why all of a sudden? Well, that''s kind of... cute? My little baby holding a bow and arrow in his small hands. That would be so adorable! And he is training for that? He really is my little baby genius! I thought he would want to learn magic from me in the future, but I guess he also wants to be an Archer. That''s outstanding! Wait, maybe...'' He suddenly looked at me with admiration and anticipation-filled eyes. He asked in a very quiet voice after looking at me for some time. This sudden change in his emotions gave me goosebumps. "Have you perhaps read about ? People who practice both magic and archery? They are some of the people who are experienced in both physical jobs, like swordsmanship, spearman ship, archery, and magic. They use them tougher to create better results. I haven''t seen one in a while." He paused for a second, looked at me, and asked in a very stern voice. "Are you trying to be something like that if you in the future?" His eyes had an anticipating look that was saying something like: ''When did my little baby grow up this much?'' I thought for a moment about what to answer. When I was telling mom, I thought she wouldn''t know about this, so I didn''t think about it, but after hearing what dad said, it must be rare to have mastery in two fields. ''Though rare, it''s likely that one could find one such person in every few hundred thousand people, and from what I know, the imperial university has some such individuals and there may be sses for that too, right? Well, I never thought dad would catch up on it that quickly. On the other hand, this could be a good thing.'' I thought for some time and whispered in my dad''s ears. "Dad, you are right. I do want to be a but we have to keep it a secret from mom. Otherwise, you can also think of the dire consequences." Telling dad was the right thing to do. He has been an adventurer in the past, to my knowledge. He could help me more than mom in this regard. He would be a great help to me in the future, too. ''But one thing is true in all this and that obviously is¡­ mom.'' If she finds out what we are talking about, we might as well prepare for a day-long ''lecture''. "Yes, you are right. This will... definitely be our secret. But why do you suddenly want to be a magic archer?" clearing his grim expression, he asked to satisfy his curiosity. Not every 4-year-old kid has dreams like this. We are talking about a very tough profession here. "Because it''s cool!" my answer was immediate. That''s right. It''s very cool. That was my initial reaction of mine when I started ying games in my previous life. It was fun. Just think about magic being used with a bow. Firing magic arrows with different spells and effects. This was what I had the most fun doing. "Yes. That is indeed cool. But have in mind that it will be quite difficult... even for you. And I won''t help you if you overwork yourself; ever. A kid should y around, not train at such a young age." He looked proud for some reason. "Ok. So, from tomorrow, I will be your partner in training!" He joyfully said. He looked happy that his son was really an incredible individual. But he also had some concern in his eyes. ''Will he really be my little baby for long? He has grown up so fast and I don''t want my little baby to grow up faster. But I have to help him if he wants that. I am his dad, after all.'' "Ok, so let''s go in and wash you up!" he said with his usual joyful smile. "Yes!" Saying that we got in the house and started our usual work after the clean-up. *** -Late at night. I secretly exited my room and got to the backyard. I set on the ground with my legs crossed. in nature is always in the form of particles. These mana particles are scattered everywhere with an uncertain amount or density. Some ces have high mana density and some ces are filled with a different type of which work like for discrete entities. Different creatures can absorb in nature which is in ''particle'' form and circte it in their bodies. By gathering this ambient in one ce, which is mostly at the center of the body or at the sr plexus for humans and refining it, they can create the . This method is probably unknown to the people of this world. It took me weeks to figure out this thing. In reality, one can''t circte the in nature, which is in particle form before their freely without any outside assistance. ''I''m lucky I have the [Energy Cirction] skill. I found out from my previous training that I just have to imagine the mana particles in the surroundings and gather them one by one with an invisible hand to the center.'' I have been training for my creation ever since I was only 2 years old. I had difficulty when I started with my theory, but as time passed, I was able to do it efficiently. ''I think it will take at least a year for it toplete. I will be having physical training from tomorrow with dad maybe. So the time for the nucleus toplete had to be dyed. Well, that is a good thing if I say so.'' I am having fun as a baby, so why would I want to grow up that fast? Slow and sturdy growth is enough. ''It''s not like I''m a protagonist of some novel. I can have my fun ying around.'' I slowly started gathering the particles together. Time went by and my clothes were drenched with sweat when I was done for the day. ''Ok. That should be good enough for the day. let''s wrap up everything and get going~.'' I stood up and got ready to enter the house. I looked around and quietly entered the house and then into my room. After washing up and sorting my thoughts, Iy in my bed and started thinking about the near future. ''Life isn''t that bad if I think about it. I would like to be like this forever... if possible.'' But even after thinking like that, I wasn''t sure myself. I had lived a life and... it was always full of uncertainties. But those things aren''t for a 4-year-old kid to think about. After thinking everything through, I closed my eyes and quietly slept for the day. The next morning was unexpectedly normal. Dad just got up with me and helped me with my physical training. Well, I could not do as much as I did yesterday. But it was pretty decent. The next some days went the same way and my night progress was constant. Just like that, the days passed by and my progress was good. And then, the day of me getting my first bow came. That was going a step closer to my goal. Chapter 7 Birthday After some months of training, my stats have gone up quite a bit. I just exercised most of the time. There was nothing special other than mom''s lectures from time to time. Dad was a good training partner because sometimes I can convince him to keep going after the normal training and having him around makes things easier and most of all... ''It feels safe andfortable around him every time.'' This could be what it means to be a parent. We feel safe around them. We know they have got our backs so that we can push forward. ''That was a good time. But, I will be having a change in the training schedule from some days from now on.'' Because... ''It''s my birthday tomorrow!'' Well, I know I''m an adult on the inside but, I''m still a child on the outside. ''And¡­ I haven''t celebrated my birthday in my previous life since my parents passed away. It was always different after my reincarnation. My parents are crazy about birthdays, for some reason. Not only myself, but they give surprise to each other in different ways every time.'' But something was different this time. ''I can''t see anything special going on in my house. They both are acting really good this time. If I didn''t notice the subtle changes, I can''t even tell that they have prepared... that many things. But, I have to be more careful that they don''t notice that I have noticed many things here and there.'' I can understand mom but dad too is quite good at acting. ''And they are not even considering that I am just a 5-year-old kid,'' I sighed. Well, I can just do my best and let this ''surprise'' be a surprise. *** "Honey, do you think Eon has noticed?" I asked in a quiet tone that only Nolen could hear. "You think so too?" she asked with a bright smile on her face. "Why are you so happy? Isn''t this a problem?" I was quite confused. Her reaction to this was surprisingly cheerful. "Because he is my son~!" she replied with a more cheery voice than before. She had a proud look in her eyes when she said that. "Yes...Yes. You are right. He is my son too! But still. We did everything with more care than ever. I sometimes think, ''just how smart is he?'' He might be a high-level mage or maybe an elder if he ¡­" I mumbled to myself in a very quiet voice. But, I suddenly felt chills on his back and turned my head around, only to find out Nolen smiling at me. ''Shit... I said thatst part out loud!'' I know from my years of experience with her; that she loves Eon more than her own life. Maybe more than myself. That''s what a mother is, after all. But... I''m in for a good long lecture.'' But contrary to my expectation, the wordsing out of her mouth were different. "Yes~. He will definitely be an exceptional individual. But we can''t decide what he wants to be. We can only guide and protect him." She had a rare, sad look on her face. Anyone could tell how worried she was just from looking at her. "Don''t worry. I...no, we will be there for him." I patted her head with a reassuring smile on my face. "If you say so. But I can''t help worrying about that. So... Why don''t we add something a little special to the birthday gifts?" She looked up with a refreshed expression on her face. "Ok! Just tell me and it will be done!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "... you can do it right, honey?" She asked, after asking what I had to do. "It is difficult but, I will definitely get it done before the party!" I replied with a confident smile on my face. ''I really like this idea. She will also be a little less concerned after that.'' "Thank you very much, Honey~!" She hugged me softly and kissed me and left without saying anything else. "Y...yes! Thank you, too!" I was red as a tomato after that. *** The day passed, and I got to bed. ''There is a party. Some gifts. I know some but I don''t know about everything as I stopped myself from paying any more attention with great difficulty.'' Well, surprises are meant to be unknown to the person who is on the receiving end. I quietly closed my eyes and went to sleep. * -Next day. I got up and washed up before going to my usual morning training. Dad was ready as well, with his normal cheerful look. We started our daily routine after some nice little chat. But today, mom was watching us from the window on the second floor. I just pretended to have forgotten about today. ''He is good. More than I expected.'' I thought as dad and I were on our daily routine. On the other hand, mom and dad had the same kind of thoughts. ''He can be one of the best merchants already. He is really good at acting. Just like his mom.'' Brian thought as they were in the middle of running. ''My baby definitely got that one from me~! Oh my...how cute~!'' Nolen thought as she was watching the father-son duo with a bright expression. I looked at them from time to time and came to a conclusion of my own. ''They know that I know that they know.'' So¡­ You would ask why do this in the first ce? The answer is very straight and simple. ''It''s fun!'' This whole situation is fun to watch. Not only for me but for them as well. ''Who doesn''t like when they know the other party is just acting to let the other party''s ns work out?'' It''s quite hrious. Dad and I were sitting on the ground for a break. I looked slowly at dad who then looked at me. I then slowly looked at mom, who was on the second floor. Dad followed my line of sight. We were silent for quite some time with an awkward silence between us. "Ha..hahahahaha¡­" The first one to break the silence was dad, who seem to can''t take it anymore. "Hehehehehehe¡­" I followed after him and startedughing. "Have you two finished with yourughing session? If you have, thene in and wash up~. We still have many things to prepare!" mom shouted while holding back herughter. She quietly turned around and closed the window. "Huhu..." We then heard herughing sound slowly fading. We were sitting on the grass-filled ground andughing loudly for some time before standing up and heading in. We had to, otherwise, mom wille to retrieve us. *** "Happy birthday, Eon!" Dad shouted in a loud and happy voice. "Happy birthday baby~." Mom chuckled with a bright smile on her face. "Thank you!" I thanked them with a smile on my face as well. "So, why don''t we go ahead and eat first?" mom suggested with some tes in her hand. "Yes. I prepared everything everyone likes. You will love it!" Dad imed and arranged all the dishes with magic. Everything flew up and automatically decorated itself on the table. There were soups, steaks, some juices, and a chocte cake... which is my favorite. "Thanks, dad!" I eximed and jumped on my chair quickly. Mom watched me with love, admiration, and happiness in her eyes. Dad was watching mom and me from the aside, then he too joined me. Mom followed dad and sat down in her chair. We ate in a lovely atmosphere andughed. With a bright lighting from themp above us, we finished our lovely dinner. After clean-up, we walked into the dimly lit living room. "How was dinner? You like it, right?" Dad asked with a proud expression on his face. "No. I didn''t like it." I answered, shaking my head. "W... what?! Was there any problem with it?! I made everything with extra care!" Dad eximed multiple times with a shocked expression. Mom on the other side shook her head in disappointment. Dad''splexion turned pale instantly. The transition from going happy to shocked was... hrious. "Dad, don''t worry. It was so good that we loved it. You are the best!" I stopped the joke and tried to calm him down. "Really?" He asked, with a shaking voice and almost tear-filled eyes. "Of course~. How could you ever make a mistake in cooking? We are just joking, honey~." Mom answered instead of me. I also shook my head, agreeing with mom. "Ok then. If you say so," he replied in a calmed tone. "Ok then. Who''s ready for gifts?" Mom shouted with an excited look. "Yes!" I eximed with joy. "This one is from mommy~." mom handed me a long wooden box. I knew what it was instantly. I opened the box in a hurry with an anticipation-filled heart. ''It looks awesome!'' I shouted internally. There was a handcrafted wooden bow. It was a green-colored bow and the strong-looking string was sparkling. Anyone could tell that this was a finely crafted weapon. "Thank you very much, mom! You are the best!" I eximed with a fulfilled heart. Receiving gifts like this is always heartwarming, even if you are an adult or know about it already. "Oh? I''m the best? Did you hear that, honey~?" mom said teasingly. But father, instead of turning red, took out a small box. "Really? Then you will change your mind after seeing this~." He dered in a confident voice and opened the small box. There were two identical-looking rings. "Oh~, honey? Are you asking Eon for marriage?" mom asked in her usual teasing voice again. But there was admiration and anticipation in her eyes. "N...no. It''s for you and Eon!" He quickly said again with a chaotic look. "Oh~, so you didplete that task. Then, isn''t that also a gift from me?" Mom asked with a bright and proud look in her eyes. "It''s from both of us!" he replied instantly. "Ok. Okay~." She took one ring and put it on my small finger and another one on her left index finger. "These rings will tell if the other one is in a dangerous situation. If it blinks red, then it will mean that the other one is in a very dangerous situation." Dad exined, but he didn''t say everything. ''It will turn red if the other one''s life signal stops. But that situation won''te. I won''t let that happen.'' He inwardly said that and looked at his wife. She had a radiant look on her face but, had sharp eyes. "Thank you! I like this one too, dad!" I eximed with a bright smile on my face. ''With this, I will be able to protect mom in the future!'' "Okay then. Let''s open the other ones too!" Mom said, returning to her calm and cheerful self again. We spend the night chatting about the books and other stuff that I received. It was a pretty fun night. But my attention was on the bow in my hands the whole time. ''I will be practicing handling a proper bow for the first time.'' It... will definitely be exciting! Chapter 8 Archery Standing on the short grass-filled ground in the backyard, I looked towards the red-white target with a round shape in front of me. Taking out a wooden arrow from the quiver, and pulled the tight bowstring. I focused my eyes on the target. Even a slight moment might result in a miss. I focused on the target and held my breath for a couple of seconds. After confirming everything, I released the arrow. Sweeeeeeeeesh. Thud! The arrow hit the target slightly off the center, which was an excellent shot. "Huuuu..." I released the breath, which I was holding for quite a long time now. "Good one, Eon!" Dad shouted from the sides. "Nice one~, baby!" Mom also cheered me from the balcony. ''He has improved this much in just a week. That''s really impressive~.'' She thought as she looked down at him from the balcony with a proud look. "Ok, now next. Let''s try multiple arrow shooting." I smiled brightly and picked up my bow. ''I never thought I had a talent for archery in real life.'' Though I have always yed games in or simr ss, I never tried that in real life. Maybe my previous life''s gaming experience yed a role but, I learned the real thing pretty fast. Archery in this world is not only about shooting an arrow but about the understanding of the weapon and the [Techniques] or [Arts]. The technique of shooting multiple arrows at the same time or shooting many arrows at a very fast speed is mostly used by experienced archers. But most of those things are very difficult to do in reality. You can''t shoot 20 arrows at the same time without any knowledge of how to do that. Practice and understanding of the concept are very important in this field of weaponry. ''But I was able to learn how to fire 3 arrows at the same time after training to hold the arrow for some time!'' I took out three arrows from my back at the same time. Holding three of them in my gloved hands, between the fingers, I pulled the bowstring. "Good luck Eon!" "You can do it~." Dad and mom cheered with anticipation in their eyes. I looked toward the three lined-up targets at the front. I fixed my eyes on the center of each target one by one. This was my first time practicing with three arrows while mom and dad watching so I was a bit nervous. I took a deep breath and stood in the position. ''Here goes nothing.'' Sweeeeeeeeesh. Thud. Thud. Shwish. I released the bowstring, and the arrows shot forward in unity. But... One was on the target, just slightly away from the center, like before. One was on the corner of the target. And thest one just brushed past the target and flew backward. "It''s okay! That was also amazing!" Dad instantly eximed, thinking that I was disappointed. "Keep it up! You can do it this time~!" Mom shouted with a cheerful voice. ''It''s already impressive that he can shoot all three of them at once!'' she thought, looking at the targets and the arrows. But instead of listening to them, I took out the next batch of arrows. ''I will have to take wind current, direction, and the other factors more seriously.'' There are sometimes many factors you have to consider with a projectile. ''I need more practice, anyway.'' I got in the position and repeated the previous process. This time... Sweeeeeeeeesh. Thud. Swish. Thud. The middle one got missed and thest one stuck to the edge of the target. But it did not disappoint me at all. I sharply focused my eyes on the targets only. The surrounding world was getting blurry to me. Repeating this process again, I shot the third batch of arrows. Sweeeeeeeeeesh. Thud. Thud. Thud. All of them hit the target this time! The first one was even at the perfect center. The cheers of my happy parents entered my ears. "Wow~. Awesome Eon! Very good!" Mom pped loudly with a proud smile on her face. "Amazing! My little boy could even beat experienced hunters just with this!" Dad said with a cheerful expression and sparkling eyes. ''This is tough.'' Though I have learned how to handle three arrows at once, I need more practice with target hitting. ''Well, this should be good enough.'' "Huuuuuu...Huuuuuu¡­" I took some deep breaths and released them slowly, channeling some of the inner energy to lessen my fatigue. I walked towards dad and sat down next to him. "Here. Drink this." He handed me a ss of orange juice, which he made with fresh oranges. "It''s good!" I eximed after just one sip. I unconsciously said it out loud, but it was truly refreshing. "That''s right! I made it with extra care! I knew you would like it!" Dad said proudly, holding a transparent jar which was now just slightly less than half. "Your mom likes this, too. You two are the same~." Dad continued after some time. His eyes had a happy and nostalgic look. "Ok then. That should be enough for today." Holding the bow, which was half of my height, I stood up and made my way towards the door. Today was good enough. I was able to refine my long-distance arrow and improve the triple arrow firing. But there was one thing I felt was weird. ''Thest batch which all hit the target felt... different?'' The feeling was a first for me. Only seeing the target and almost nothing else. ''This was like what I heard most expert athletes feel when they are hyper-focused on their goal.'' But, I am still far away from that. I could feel that. Though my learning speed is quite fast, I will still need a lot more practice to grasp that feeling. ''Well, I have all the time I would need for that. There is also a lot more for me to learn regarding archery.'' There were many other techniques that I had to even try first. Mom gave me some books on archery on my birthday, so I was happy. Dad had a special gift for me. I touched a small pendant on my neck. '' A .'' is a natural mineral that is naturally created and is only found in deep caves with high Mana in very small quantities. This processed pendant is a rare item on the market, and very few artisans know how to handle these things properly. The inside the pendant is in a condensed state that doesn''t circte and gets discharged in nature unless it''s used as a source by someone to cast a spell or differently. ''I can speed up my process with this if I want to, but I will hold on to it for any possible future emergencies.'' I had a long way to go already. ''So, let''s put everything on the side and eat something~.'' I have to eat a lot to grow faster; you know. *** ''Status Window'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age:5 Strength:10 Dexterity:12 Stamina:13 Magic Power:9 Intelligence:18 Luck:11 Charm:9 [Skills: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing] ============ ''Hmm. Not bad.'' Almost all of my stats were in the range of 10. Only the MP and charm were stuck at 9. After some time of quiet thinking, I thought to myself. ''MP will rise significantly once I go through the and create my . And I don''t have to worry about charm at all.'' I looked at myself in therge mirror in the room. ''I look like a prince of a fairytale. What will I do in the future?'' With sparkling blond hair like midday sun and ruby red eyes that can charm anyone, I was already many times more handsome than in my previous life. ''I now wish I was a little less pretty.'' I never thought about it but, my appearance might result in some problems in the future. ''Well, I really don''t have to worry about it for now.'' Worrying about the unknown future is not a good thing. Things will work out somehow. At least... I believe that. The thing I have to worry about is my next part of the training, which obviously is ''core creation''. There was still some time left for the night, so I got to the library. Reading is one of my hobbies now. I read almost all the time when I was not doing training or eating. My parents are amazing to let me do what I want if it is not dangerous. They are sweet and thoughtful to buy me many books which even they know a 5-year-old kid could not entirely understand. They know that I am different from most kids in many aspects, so they support me and help me with anything I need. ''They think they are fortunate ones, but it''s the other way around.'' I smiled in relief. Well, let''s not think about that and do some homework on the next arrow technique I will be practicing. I also have to improve my senses to do some cool stuff with arrowster when I have mastered some other tricks. I got to the library and opened the archery guide that mom gifted me and started flipping the pages. I stopped on a page with some drownings and looked at the title of the technique. [Arrow spin] ''Though difficult, this one will be interesting.'' I smiled lightly and started reading about it. Chapter 9 Archery (2) -The next day. In myrge backyard, I was standing alone some distance away from the round, red-white targets. It was still early so mom and dad weren''t ready to watch my practice. The target was behind a wooden log this time. I was trying to spin the arrows to the side and then hit the target. ''It looks difficult, and it definitely is. Well, I just have to try repeatedly and learn from the previous attempts. I am sure it will work out if I don''t give up~.'' I took out an arrow from behind me and stood in the position. ''The book affirmed that the position of the arrow on the bow has to be right for the arrow to bend on that one side.'' I took some time to remember the exact positioning and prepared to give it my first try. Taking a deep breath, I got into my position. Looking at my target, which should be right behind the wooden log, I thought. '' The arrow will tilt to the right side after that, spinning in the straight line... it will hit the target.'' I released the arrow. -Sweeeeeeeehs. -Sweshd. The result of the first attempt was... ''Well done, I failed. It just hit the wooden log itself. Nothing to worry about, though. I am just getting started.'' Giving up isn''t something I would do so easily. That''s what I learned from my previous as well as this life. If I really think there is not even a fraction of a chance to seed, I wouldn''t even try. But leaving the things I started midway is not something I want to do. I took out the second arrow and repeated the entire process. It failed again. The third try. Failed. The fourth try. Failed. The fifth try. Failed. The sixth try. Failed. * After trying roughly 21 times... the arrow finally bent. But still, it didn''t hit the target. But that was enough for today. ''Good progress for today. Is it actually a bit easier than I thought it to be? Well, that''s good for me, anyway...'' I thought and started to turn around when I heard two very familiar voices. "That was outstanding! How could you learn something that difficult so quickly!?" Dad shouted loudly. He had an envious look as well as a proud look of a person whose child had just won a medal. "Eon~, that''s so cool! How did you do it~? That focused expression of yours was as serious as your dad''s when casting a hard spell! Come here~." It was mom this time. She was with dad right now and not on the balcony. And, from the way she was talking, it looked like they were watching me for quite a long time. ''I didn''t realize at all? Was I that focused on the target this time? Well, it could be good in some way... I am improving,'' I thought as I reached them. Mom hugged me tightly and dad watched us with a smiling face and concerned eyes. ''He really has exceptional talent, and that''s exactly why¡­ I''m concerned. But she is many times more anxious than I am.'' He thought, looking at his wife, who was hugging their son. Maybe Axion didn''t realize what his father was thinking as he hugged his mother back. They stayed that way for some time, and after that, Mom started talking. "Your hands look hurt. Let''s go treat them first!" After those continued attempts, my hands were bruised. Mom knew right away as she dragged me in without letting me speak. Dad watched us with a helpless look and followed up. *** "Hmm. This should be enough. You will have to rest until tomorrow and DON''T DO anything~," mom ordered as she tied both of my hands with bandages entirety. ''This definitely is some kind of punishment.'' Did she wrap both of my hands in bandages for something small like this? Just some medical herbs would have worked. She even prepared some potions but dad stopped her saying that would be too much. ''Well, I can''t do anything about mom. That''s just how she is. Me getting hurt... would be thest thing she wants to see.'' But this will also prevent me from doing anything for the time being. ''Well, I should have some rest anyway.'' "Ok then~. I will feed you dinner today!" Mom said with a cheerful look on her face. She was excited, but there was a look of concern in her eyes too. ''My little baby is growing fast and... I can''t y with him as much as I want. But if he likes what he is doing, then I can''t stop him either.'' She hid her concerns and sat down with her son. "So, what should I make today?" Dad asked while looking at us. Mom answered his silly question with a mischievous smile. "Oh honey~, is that even a question? Whatever you make is so amazing that I want to reward you every time I eat it~." Dad just looked the other way after hearing that, as he understood what reward meant. He seemed a bit delighted after hearing mom say that. I asked in a different tone after hearing her question. This was also something that was on my mind for a long time. "Will I get a reward if I make something like dad too?" To be honest, I wanted to learn to cook from my dad but couldn''t ask him. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to aplish that dream. "Yes. I would give you whatever you ask if you cook something special for me~." She was excited to hear that I would make her something. "Ok then! You have to keep your promise~." "Definitely~.as long as it''s within my limits." She rified with a calm smile, but there was a doubtful look in her eyes for a second before it disappeared. "Ok! So I should go and start preparing for it." Dad left and mom and I were left alone in the room. Mom and I chattered about some other things before dinner. Mom is actually a very smart person. But... she worries too much. ''I love them...'' I thought while looking at a clear, beautiful hand holding a spoon. I opened my mouth and ate the stew. ''Mmm. Delicious as always.'' Dad''s cooking was top-notch. The day wasing to an end, and I was in thoughts of perfecting my technique. But I enjoyed the food more than that thought today. Maybe because mom was the one to feed it? ''Well, it''s... a good feeling.'' *** -The next day Standing on the grass-clothed ground, I took the stance. The sun was already setting, so this one might be thest try. Staring at the ce where the target should be with an unblinking gaze... I released the arrow. -Shwooooook. -Thud. The arrow hit the target somewhere between the edges and the center. ''That was hard.'' After practicing for the whole day, I was able tond the arrow on the target. That was a lot less time than an average archer who practices archery exclusively would take. "Ok then. What should I do for my next..." I stopped and thought about something. ''Now that I was able to fire three arrows perfectly, I should give a try to blind firing.'' Blind Firing was just as its name suggests. Shooting the arrow without looking at the target. This one was a long shot, but I was many times more eager to try it out. ''And I can do two things at once while practicing that!'' I will have to enhance my scenes with the flowing inside me and to do that, I will have to gain more control over my body. So I should start meditation starting tomorrow with my regr training. ''By meditating and circting the inside my body and fusing it with the environmental Mana, I will be able to enhance my senses as well as progress further inpleting the .'' For this n to work, I had to gain a certain level of proficiency in handling the environmental Mana so that dad wouldn''t notice it. That was the reason I had to practice that at night. But, I think I am now ready to do that as practice training. ''So, I''m now closer to the path of a [Magic archer] and now I have something I can convince mom to let dad teach me magic with.'' But whether mom gives the permission or not will be decided by her. ''If she doesn''t approve dad to teach me, I can just self teach myself with the knowledge I have from reading books from both worlds and ying games in the past world.'' It would all be in the future anyway. I just have to do my best in the things that I am doing. ''I believe mom will disagree first but, she promised to give me anything I want if I make her something special.'' So I will also have to ask dad to teach me cooking. "Haaaaa...." The next some months will definitely be difficult but, I will have to endure them and make my way towards the destination. Everything should work out if nothing goes wrong with my ns. ''Ok, so let''s do some running to end today''s training session.'' I thought about how I''m still a 5-year-old kid who was doing this many things all at once and a weird smile appeared on my face. ''Thinking it like this, I admire my parents even more now.'' They have to be amazing to even agree with everything I do... I sighed and continued running with a small smile. Chapter 10 Awakening "Eon, it''s time for lunch!" Brian shouted, looking at his son, who was sitting on the ground doing some kind of meditation training. He started thinking when he didn''t get a reply from his son. ''He is doing that thing for months. I don''t know what he does, but he is improving at a speed I haven''t even heard is possible.'' Which child, who is not yet 6 years old, can master archery to the extent of a professional archer who has practiced for almost his entire life? ''He is amazing. What would he do if he ? will he learn magic as fast as archery?'' He thought for some time and reached his conclusion. ''Nah, no way. Magic isn''t something you would understand just by looking and reading books. Well, he has a long time before he goes through anyway.'' Besides, convincing his mom will be the most difficult task for him. He thought as he left his son be. He was doing this for the past couple of months and when he''s finished with it; hees to eat. But seeing his determination and the level of focus he has is always a sight to behold. ''Every time I see him, my heart beats faster, and a new power to work even harder surges from deep within me.'' "Yes! Let''s get to work!" *** "How long is he nning to do this training of his today?" Nolen wondered, looking at her little baby from her window. Axion was doing this sense enhancement or something training for the past couple of months. He gets so focused that he doesn''t even eat on time. ''Should I tell him to stop doing that?'' She thought for a moment before shaking her head and instantly changing her mind. ''No. I can''t do that.'' He likes his archery as much as his books. It wasn''t normal for kids to like the books or things like archery or magic from such a young age. But, ha''s always been different. He liked to read books and learn about new things. ''It is like he wants to know more things about a new unknown world.'' But that doesn''t matter to me at all. ''He is my son.'' I would let him do anything he wants and, if learning about new stuff is what he wants, I can''t force him to stop. I can only tell him how I would feel and guide him. Now and in the future. ''He is smart anyway. A lot more than even some of the adults I have seen throughout my life. So, ultimately, I believe him.'' She decided and moved her gaze from him and got back to her work. *** "Huuuuuu..." I released a deep breath and opened my eyes. ''Looks like it''s about time.'' I am sure it was about time for my and; it was sometime around next week. I have this feeling that a lot of things will change after that. But it wasn''t a bad feeling. It was more about how my parents would feel about that. ''Well... I''m sure they will be happy, sad, and excited at the same time.'' But that would be for the future me to worry about. ''Let''s go grab something to eat!'' Worrying about the future isn''t something I should do when I already have so much on my te. ''Well, there is literally too much on the te in front of me.'' I wondered and looked towards the person standing in front of me. "Dad? Why do I have so much on my te?" I asked, thinking that it was a joke. But dad had a different answer ready for me. "You should eat a lot. You are a growing kid. And you had longer training today, so eat up!" Dad said excitedly with a happy expression and handed me a ss of juice. I took the ss that I know would be good already and drank some of it. And I was right, as always. It was now a sort of special thing from dad. After joining him in the kitchen and learning about many things, I was able to give dad some idea about the things I had eaten in my previous life. Though things are a bit different in this world, some simple things could be made here too. And this juice, which was more like a milkshake, was something that dad has mastered and likes to make for mom and me. ''This amazed Mom the first time she drank it.'' She already liked dad''s cooking, and this new recipe was a wonderful addition to that. ''And drinking when it''s chilled with the ice magic is definitely delightful.'' I finished the food, which was a bit much for me, and came out for a walk. After some time of running around and practicing some more, which was totally extra for today, I got back in. It is going to be really different in the future, but one thing I am sure that will not change is definitely them. ''Their reaction might be different, but they will always be the same for me and I will be always the same to them.'' I thought as I got back to my room and prepared to sleep. ''Next week...'' I thought as I closed my eyes. *** On a bright and lovely day, I was sitting in my usual ce in a crossed-leg position. Inhaling deeply, I held my breath and took some small breaths until I couldn''t intake any air at all. Holding the air, I imagined some small particles surrounding meing towards me and mixing with a pool of light, which was the same color as the small parties of light. The particles were gathering on that spot one by one, but the pool of light was changing its form into something else. The particles of light were gathering at a faster speed now. The pool of light changed into a round sphere, which now started spinning. The spinning sphere was now absorbing the particles of light even faster than before. But at one point, it slowed and started to change its color. it changed until it was white and stopped spinning entirely. And at that point... -Booooooooooooom An explosion echoed throughout the area. Brian and Nolen came running out of the house and stared at the spectacle before them with wide eyes. "Unbelievable..." "How is this possible!?" Nolen eximed in shock with wide and uncertain eyes. Brian asked with his mouth wide open. ''He is just 5 years old and... already?'' He thought, looking at his son, which was at the center of the explosion in his meditating state like every day. Nolen was staring at him but snapped out of it after a moment. She ran towards him and stopped in front of him. Brian also came and stood beside her. She put her head on his shoulder and looked at Axion. Brian held her and stood there silently. Unknown to any of this, I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was my parents looking down at me with mixed emotions in their eyes. Amazement, sadness, happiness, worry, and a bit of anger. Looking at them, I asked, unknown of what has happened around me. "Mom? Dad?" They looked at each other and nodded. After that, dad picked me up and brought me inside the house. Mom followed behind us with an anxious look on her face. *** "Do you feel something odd?" Dad asked with a concerned look on his face. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Mom asked after him. I just shook my head and answered. "No. Nothing hurts. But I feel a bit different somehow." Dad had a relieved expression, but mom was still not fully satisfied with the answer. She looked at my father and said with a sharp look in her eyes. "We should call a priest and a doctor." She suggested, holding my hand and patting my head with the other hand. "I don''t think it will be needed. I don''t feel any unusual fluctuations of . In fact, it''s as natural flowing as any other new . It''s anything but impressive." He said reassuringly as he removed the hand that was on the ce where my should be. "But still. Just bring the potions from that shelf. That will be enough for the time being." She requested with a smile and pointed at a shelf that was in the other corner of the room. Dad sighed and walked towards the ce mom pointed and took out a ss bottle with green liquid. His eyes had a shocked look, but it instantly vanished and he walked toward me and asked me to open my mouth. I open my mouth and he downed the potion, which I know was a costly and effective . ''Well, I''m not hurt, to begin with. But drinking a potion for the first time... is a rare opportunity for me. So it doesn''t hurt to try it.'' The potion was just... tasteless. It just felt like drinking water and after drinking it, it felt like my whole body was out of any kind of stress. It was like waking up after a good long sleep. A rejuvenating feeling. "You are not allowed to do anything from now until I say otherwise." Mom said with a stern voice as she looked at me with a bright smile. That was the smile she gives when warning about something. That means I really can''t do anything. She had made up her mind. "Ok," I answered with a sad and calm voice. "Ok. Go to sleep. Dad and I need to chat so, we will take our leave." She said and left with the dad without giving me any chance to speak. She stopped before leaving. Turning towards me, she kissed me on the forehead. She left the room with dad following behind her. ''Might as well check what I got after the .'' Thinking that I thought about the line I have said many times but... never felt like this thrilled before. ''Status Window!'' Chapter 11 Awakening (2) ''Status Window'' __________________________________________ Name: Axion Kromet Age:5 Strength:15 Dexterity:18 Stamina:17 Magic Power:16 Intelligence:22 Luck:16 Charm:11 [Skills: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Basic Mastery -Mystic Eyes(Stage-1) ] __________________________________________ This was the first time I have seen my states being this high, and mostly the [Magic Power], which grew significantly after my awakening. I knew something like this would happen so I wasn''t surprised about that. What surprised me was the [Origin Skill] which unexpectedly grew to the (Basic Mastery). I looked at the skill which I unlocked at this point. ''Mystic Eyes...'' I had read about them. They were rare but not that much. Among every few people with a [Origin Skill], people with appeared once in a while. But like every [Origin Skill], the have different effects and uses. I tried to use it for the first time. It was easy to use the skills as I only had to think about it or say its name. I thought in my mind. [Origin Skill- Mystic Eyes] I could feel inside me quickly going towards my eyes. It was very fast that not even a second had passed and the sensation vanished. A new world appeared before my eyes. ''Wow...'' I could see everything. I could see the fly in a corner vividly. I could see the ant on the table. I looked outside and there... I could see birds, a long-distance away. I could even see a grass de some distance away... clearly. But then, everything suddenly got back to normal. There was some pain in the back of my head but that quickly vanished. ''I think it''s because I don''t know how to control them yet.'' But still... ''This is amazing!'' This was a perfect for me, as an archer. It''s a very good thing. I was very excited. I now had a vision as sharp as the eagles, if not more. I took a deep breath and slowly released it. ''Ok, let''s calm down a bit.'' I thought as Iid back on the bed. Many thoughts were passing through my mind one by one. ''Now that I have gone through the , I can practice magic. But doing that on my own will definitely be risky so that thing is for the future. I can''t continue my daily routine, as mom told me to stay still for the time being. Most importantly, I had to convince mom in the future.'' There were many things I could do in the future. But I had to forget all of that and remain calm. Handling mom will definitely be a bit difficult. And dad may even refuse. I had to consider that possibility. The uing future will be a bit difficult. And there was even my archery practice! "Haaa..." I sighed and closed my eyes. ''Well, rolling around in bed for some days isn''t bad either. I can even practice controlling my while still in here.'' Thinking about things like this, I fell asleep without knowing. But there were two people who were talking about something else in the other room. *** "How is this possible?" Nolen asked with a worried expression. "Early manifestation of is very rare but not impossible. The desire for growth and the knowledge needed for possible early manifestation y a key role in it. But, I have never heard of a child, who isn''t even 6 years old, being . I think the reason for that is most likely an rted to . We never asked him about the ''Status Window'', right? We will have to ask now that he has ." Brian exined as he too looked worried. This situation wasn''t normal for me either. This was the first time I ever heard about someone this young . And so normally at that. ''He definitely is a genius...'' Brian thought to himself as a small smile appeared on his face. "You better not be thinking something weird." Nolen warned with a sharp look in her eyes. He immediately bowed and said in a shaking voice. "Y...yes..yes!" She looked at him with pitiful eyes. ''What am I gonna do with them...?'' She was already worried sick that Eon would have hurt himself but, he was fortunately all right. On the other hand, his dad was thinking something weird like ''He could be an amazing mage.'' knowing that it''s not going to happen on her watch anytime soon. "Haaa..." She sighed. This was an unbelievable thing. But it had already happened. ''What should I do now? Eon is perfectly fine and he is safe too. I knew a day like this woulde but... I never imagined it would be this much early.'' Magic was dangerous if not controlled properly. And a young kid like Eon would definitely get hurt without proper teaching. ''But he is not even 6 years old!?'' She was in agony over the fact that her little boy was smart and different from others but now... he is a . Which means he could practice magic. As a mother, she was happy and sad at the same time. ''He is a genius. That fact couldn''t be denied. But it is that very thing that worries me the most. The fate of such individuals is always... full of dangers. For that reason, he had to be strong. Strong enough to protect himself if needed. But I can''t let him practice magic just yet.'' She nodded and stood up. After a long time of contemting, she had made up her mind. She stood up and left the room. Brian followed behind her with a stoic expression. *** "Mom? Dad?" I got up after hearing the sound of the door opening. Mom entered with her usual smiling face. Dad was behind her with a confused look on his face. She sat down beside me and put her hand on my cheek. She then kissed my forehead and asked me a question I was eager to hear. "Do you want to be a mage like your daddy in the future?" I hesitated for a moment and answered with a determined look. "Yes. I want to be a mage but I like archery too. So..." I stopped for a moment and looked into my mother''s eyes. "I want to be a ." She flinched. ''This will be more difficult for me than I thought.'' She thought that he would be happy to hear her ask this. But he dropped a new bombshell that was even more dangerous. She knew about . They were from a group of people that practiced in both physical and magical aspects. That is more difficult but the more dangerous thing in that is always magic. So, at the end of the day, magic was at the center of the problem. She looked at him with a smile and said. "Ok, then. you can do it but I have some of my conditions you must have to follow." This was unexpected. My eyes widened in surprise. I reflexively replied to her with a shocked and happy expression. "Really!?" She nodded her head and answered with a smile. "Yes~. But, if you don''t follow my conditions then you will have to do whatever I tell you to do." She said with a secretive expression. I thought about it for some time and answered with a low and uncertain voice. "O...ok." She nodded her head and smiled brightly. Dad, who was standing next to me had a pitiful look in his eyes as he thought. ''She got him.'' I looked and him and had an ominous feeling. ''Was my decision right?'' I questioned my own judgment for the first time in a long while. "Ok then. My conditions are... 1) You will only start your magic practice after your birthday. 2) You will only train in the morning and only practice magic when dad is around. 3) You will have to y with me when you aren''t practicing. Oh, honey, you can always join us. 4) You won''t do anything dangerous. Something that could hurt you is a total NO. 5) If you want anything I said to be true then you will have to surprise me by making me something special. If I don''t like it then you can forget about everything." Those were her conditions. She had a very bright look. She thought that she got me. But... "Ok! That will fully work for me! But, I will need dad to help me with the thing I will be making." She looked at my bright expression. ''Did he not hear, that I won''t allow him if he doesn''t make something special. No, he has a very confident look. Did I miscalcte something...'' "Oh...!" She suddenly realized something. "Mom~, you can''t go back on your words now." I interrupted her with a teasing expression like hers when she teases dad. ''I forgot that the milkshake was his idea. So he definitely has... something up his sleeves.'' "Hump! Ok. But it better be something nice!" She looked embarrassed. But she said that with a straight face. "Ok~. You and dad will love it." I said looking at both of them one by one. "Me too?" Dad asked with a confused expression. "Yes! We will all eat it together next weekend." I replied with a brighter look. "Ok then. I will help you the best I can!" Dad looked very happy as if he caught what I was saying. ''I think he understood what I was saying.'' I smiled at mom who looked like she understood my intentions as well. ''He remembered it''s my birthday on that day.'' She also looked at me with warm eyes. ''Was he nning for that already?'' Dad thought looking at me with a proud expression. Looking at both of us, she sighed inwardly. ''I should have asked for something else... I underestimated him this time. He definitely is something else.'' She grabbed me and my father. Dad sat down with us. I was in the middle. "You are not allowed to get hurt. Ever." She said, or more like ordered as she hugged both of us. "Ok." I said hugging her back. Dad just smiled and hugged us both from the other side. Chapter 12 Something Special In my previous world, many things were part of people''s everyday life. In this world, however, there are many things that haven''t been thought of yet. Milkshakes, Burgers, and pizza are the things that were part of my daily life. Many eastern delicacies could be found here but they are mostly on the eastern continent. ''Dad is an awesome cook so I didn''t really have to remember about those things. The delicious things I ate until now were things that I could only rarely see. But...'' "Making those things here ain''t bad either. I can try those things again too." My mom sometimes likes things that are unique. But she mostly prefers ordinary things. So something unique and simple. ''Let''s try burgers and fries. That will be the most simple and unique thing. And that will also be something a little boy might be able to think about. If I make something too unique, it might not fit appropriately. Well, I am quite certain mom and dad wouldn''t think too much of it but I don''t feelfortable about that.'' I thought as I continued thinking about the preparations. There were many things dad and I had to do for that day. This was my first time preparing for the party and I didn''t want to make any mistakes. So everything had to at least be perfect. Then something suddenly crossed my mind. "But, won''t that be too simple? There should be something else too." If I only make some burgers and fries then there will be something definitely missing. Something like... a dessert at the end of the meal. "Hmm..." I closed my eyes and thought deeply about it. And after some time, a light clicked in my mind. "Yup. I will be the first person on the continent to make ''ice cream''. Well, the idea is new from this world''s point of view, but I know the aristocrats will love it." There are many sweets in this world that are unique to it. There are also many things that upper society and nobility usually eat during the so-called tea parties. But the cold sweets and brewage are not that well versed here. ''But, I can''t say for certain about the current trends. I haven''t ever visited any town or city.'' My family and I are stuck in this border town ever since I know. I don''t know much about my parents either. I don''t even know about my own family background. ''Well, I''m not actually curious about that, not one bit.'' I believe in my parents. If they didn''t tell me, then that means it''s not something I should be worried about. I shook those things from my mind and got up. "So then. Shell we start with a list of ingredients." Saying that I got downstairs to meet up with dad. *** "Hmm..." Dad stared at the piece of paper I handed him. He was deep in thought about what special thing his son would make for his dear wife.'' ''The meat is nothing special, the vegetables are also not that extraordinary except for the amount. And there is arge quantity of... milk?'' He thought for a moment but then shook his head. "Ok. Everything will be here by tomorrow. You can do whatever you want and if you need any help just call me, and I will be there." He smiled at me and put the list inside his pocket. He looked confident and proud for some reason. He then just turned around and got back to his work. "I should get started too." I also got ready to leave for my room. I wasn''t allowed to do training so, I had to stay in my room. I turn around but suddenly... "Bo!" "Kya...!" I jumped up in surprise and almost fell down. Mom was standing right behind me. "Mom! Why did you do that! You say I should rest and then surprise me like this?!." I shouted at her, with a beet-red face. This definitely wasn''t something I had expected. She caught me totally off guard. That was really spoooooky~. "Oh my~. Did I surprise you that much?" ,m She asked with her usual mischievous smile. She then patted my head with her warm hand and said with a worried look in her eyes. "Ok. You can go. But don''t push yourself too hard. Just call dad whenever you need it." She was now worried about me again. I sighed internally. ''She worries too much.'' I thought as I looked her in the eyes. I know that it could be dangerous but, I''m learning cooking for quite a long time, so she has to understand. ''Then again, that''s exactly how she is.'' I smiled back and reassured her. "Don''t worry mom. Just look forward to your special dinner." I quietly headed back towards my room after saying that. I could feel her eyes on my back so I quickly climbed up the stairs. ''It will be a little difficult for some days.'' *** I sat down facing the window and closed my eyes. ''Mystic Eyes'' I could feel the energy slowly getting to my upper body towards my eyes. I slowly adjusted the output and tried to memories the feeling. Then, when I opened my eyes... I could clearly see far away. ''If I focus it like shrinking and adjusting a telescopic lens...'' "Ugh..." I suddenly felt pain in the back of my head and the skill got canceled. ''It still needs some more practice.'' Well, I have plenty of time so that is not a problem. But, there wasn''t much time left for mom''s birthday. Fortunately, everything is also ready. I got down to the kitchen and looked at everything that dad had prepared. ''As expected. He is good at this stuff.'' Everything was perfectly organized and the things that I requested were also managed properly. ''There is (preservation magic) on them so nothing will get damaged. And there won''t be any problem with the main course. But, how do I make ice cream?'' I thought for a moment and called dad. "Dad!" "Yes? Do you need something?" He quickly answered from outside. "Come here for a moment." I instructed him, looking at a Mana device that was used for mixing wheat and making dough. ''I have seen those antique ice cream makers and this... maybe enough.'' "Yes. What is it?" Dad entered the room and asked with a calm tone. I said in a quiet voice. "You have to keep this a secret." He looked surprised and happy all of a sudden. "Yes. Just tell me." He also whispered in my ears. I slowly started speaking. * As I told him about the production procedure of ice cream, his expression changed from confusion, astonishment, and then surprise. ''Wow... I never thought something like THAT would be possible. This could really turn out to be amazing!'' He thought as he looked up at his son with a proud expression. "Ok! This sounds fun! Let''s get ready." Shouting in a loud voice, he picked me up. But then. "What sounds fun? Tell me too~!" Mom spoke, standing by the door. He suddenly turned around and looked at her. I was in his arms so I saw her too. With surprised, wide eyes. ''Did she hear anything?!'' An earthquake urred in both of our eyes. "No...Nothing honey. we...we were just talking about you-" He was going to say something unnecessary so I cut him off immediately. "Mom! You shouldn''t eavesdrop. And it''s a secret, so please go!" I hurriedly shouted and signaled dad. He too added after me. "Yes. It''s a secret so please don''t disturb us!" Mom had an astonished look. ''So, they won''t tell me~? That''s interesting. This clearly means Eon has something interesting for me. Not knowing it... is definitely better.'' "Ok then~. I won''t disturb you. Please be careful with your work." Saying that she left without any questions. ''That was...easy?'' I looked at my dad. He too looked a bit confused but, it seemed like he had some idea about what was going on in her head. "Well, I don''t think she wille again so we should get ready." Dad spoke after a moment of silence. I just nodded my head and we started the work. The mixing device needed some modification, so I asked dad to put a sound restrictions barrier so that we could work in peace. I sorted out ingredients for ice cream and took out a small amount for the test experiment. Dad prepared the modified device and we put the ingredients into it one by one. Because it was just an experimental test there wasn''t any special vor so we just let it be. Dad used (Ice magic) to freeze the outer surface of the machine. The rotating des inside it were working properly. The milk, sugar, and cream were mixed perfectly and the temperature was also maintained properly and, the ice crystals were perfect. After roughly 30 minutes it was ready. "Eon. Do you think it''s ready? Can we eat it as it is?" Dad asked with a confused gaze. "Yup! Let''s taste it!" I was very excited not only because it was the first time after my rebirth I was eating it, but also because it would be the first time someone has made it into this world. I took a spoonful of it, and quickly put it in my mouth. The smoothness and coolness of ice cream were just... ordinary. "Awekhum~" It was wonderful. But... ''Chocte vor is my favorite.'' I decided to make different vors for mom''s birthday. "Hmm! It''s really good! Good job Eon! We should sell these!" Dad was also happy. He really loved this one, a new thing. ''Hmm. Well, who doesn''t like ice cream.'' We enjoyed the rest with different things and dad asked me what things we could do with it. Making different vors, Serving in different ways, and how we can improve the efficiency of production. I shared my opinion and some different methods of serving. Dad was astonished by many of the things I said. He was thinking many different things at the same time and looked like he was taking mantel notes. ''It''s... like knowledge from a different world.'' He thought as he looked at his son with a very affectionate look. I, on the other hand, was thinking about the magic I would soon be learning. ''It''s about time....'' I smiled with anticipation as the time passed and slowly put thest spoon of snow-white ice cream in my mouth. Chapter 13 First Meeting In a bustling market of the capital city Roxana empire, where many shop vendors were shouting about their small goods and, people were buying these things with different expressions, passing through this road, one girl with a hooded cloak walked quietly on the street watching everything from the food to various magic devices in the shops on the sides of the street. The girl with long blond hair, which was hidden in her cloak, had deep, disappointment-filled brown eyes. She was observing every shop and the things that were sold in them with a sigh. ''Hmm. Just as I thought, nothing new is trending these days. Why don''t people do differently than the same food, machines, and magic.'' She walked down the streetsplicated mind. The voices grew quiet as she walked ahead. After some time, the voices strangely died downpletely. This was quite unusual. She knew... something was wrong. She looked back but there was nothing. The silence was making her ufortable but, she wasn''t much worried. There wasn''t much to worry about because the capital was one of the safest ces in the empire. At most, there could be some low-level beasts. But then... Then she heard some footstepsing from the back. They were slow, almost fearless. She stopped and put her hand in her pocket. She wasn''t someone that anyone could mess with anyway. There was a magic device she carried with her for testing purposes in this kind of situation. The footsteps stopped some distance behind her. She hurriedly pressed the button on the cubic device. The white cube in her pocket vibrated and the blue button on it slightly glowed. A current passed from it and... dispersed in the surrounding area. She wasn''t harmed one bit but, the man standing behind her fell to his knees. Almost chocking. She turned around and red at him With furious eyes, for a moment. He was a young man wearing a magician''s cloak. She then looked past him and saw some other people knocked down. Their attire looked like typical bandits. Some sharp weapons, those clich¨¦ outfits, and a small orb with a blinking red light on the ground. There were signs of a fight but it looked one-sided. As if a predator had yed with small flies. She finally grasped the whole situation and a small smirk appeared on her face. ''Looks like I made a mistake this time.'' She walked up to the man and helped him get back up. There wasn''t much harm as the device only stunned the targets in the surrounding area. He got up and then... she could see his appearance. Or more like bathe in that beautiful, confusing art. He had long ck hair they were almost shining in the small bit of light passing in the alley his deep red eyes shone as if they were jewels. She looked at him with wide eyes. This was her first time seeing something like this but she wasn''t surprised by just his appearance. "Hey, handsome. Are you alright?" She said truthfully. But, got an unexpected reaction from the person before her. He instantly turned red as soon as he looked at her. His deep red eyes locked with her beautiful brown light eyes. He was astonished by the unexpectedment as well. This whole situation was unexpected for him. Everything. ''I just sensed a mana fluctuation of a magic device and, came to see what was going on. But then I found some unfortunate bandits following a person so, I got the idea of everything. ying with them wasn''t much fun so I just put them to sleep. But, thisdy then stunned me and now she is calling me handsome!?'' This whole ordeal was unexpected and unreal. "What could you be doing here sir?" She politely asked again as there was no answer to the previous question. "Actually...I got lost." He said truthfully, with a depressed expression, and looked down in shame. It was funny that a mage got lost. "I am new in the capital and... don''t know much about the roads." He exined that he was from the southern territory which is the second dukedom of the empire. Because of his circumstances, he moved to the capital. "If that''s the case, why don''t I show you around someday." She asked with a small smile. She wanted to look around some more anyways. Having such apany would be much better. Being a merchant she believed in her intuition and, was good at determining a person''s character. ''He is a good person with an amusing character.'' She thought, smiling internally as she looked at his red face. "N...no! It won''t be a problem." He immediately shook his head in denial. This didn''t sound too pleasing to him. "No. please~. Just think of it as an apology for what happened." She insisted. With a big happy smile on her face. ''He looks... cute, when he''s flustered?'' It is my first time seeing such... pure expression. "If...you don''t mind. Then, I will have to trouble you. Thanks." He bowed his head and they talked some more time about the city before she asked a question that should have been the first thing to ask. "Um...so, I forgot to ask your name. Can you tell me now?" Asking in a low voice she looked at him. "Oh! yes! That was my mistake! My name is Brian Kromet." He eximed and introduced himself with an embarrassed look. "Kromet? I think I have heard that name before..." She was thinking but, suddenly remembered where she heard that familiar name. "Oh! Then are you ( Red-eyed Hunter ) from the south? That''s awe..." She stopped talking when she looked at the gloomy expression on his face. "Please don''t call me that. It''s...embarrassing." He urged as he was red as a tomato. ''yeah. He IS cute. Seeing that expression often... won''t be a bad idea, right?'' "Ok then. Let''s go." I dragged him, holding his hand. Her white and fair hands were smooth but... the fingers felt rough to him. As if one had done so much paperwork that their hands were now used to it. ''Her hands... they are so soft.'' He thought, nkly holding her hand. They walked out of the street and stopped on the main road. "Oh, yes! There seems to be some kind of event today in the north park. Let''s go there after I show you around." I suggested, remembering the posters about the y on the street. This y was famous as there were many famous actors ying the roles of different main characters. "I don''t know if it will be possible miss. I have some work in the central office of adventurer association." With a worried tone, he answered looking down. "It is fine. Besides, I also have some things to check at the central office." I sighed and answered him with a confident smile on my face. ''I should get some more information on this fellow. It is always good to know about the person you are with.'' "If you say so miss. Then, sorry for the trouble." He bowed and we started walking around the main streets of the capital. Walking around, we talked about many ces that were popr in the city and after a moment, reached our destination. "Miss. We can meet at this ce after our work is done." He said in a calm voice as he turned around to leave. But, he stopped as someone grabbed his hand. Turning around he saw thedy who was with him all this time. "You can call me Nolen. And don''t bete. Handsome~." Letting go of his hand I walked forward to the huge white building. After walking a few steps I stopped and turned my head to look at him. There, the man was just standing in the same position as she was holding his hand with a face as red as a rose. ''Adorable...'' This type of reaction isn''t normal these days. Not knowing, I was smiling as I entered the building. On the other hand, he was still there nkly staring at his hand. ''What was, that? And why are these things happening today.'' Still lost in thought he was quietly thinking about thedy as he too walked into the building. I entered the central office which was one of the busiest and most huge ces in the entire capital city. Not minding the eyes on me, I reached the third floor which was a restricted area for themon people. "Wait for a minute. Please show us your id card and meeting papers." I took out a blue card and handed them. They looked shocked as soon as I handed the card, and quickly checked it with a magic device. Bowing politely, they said with a respectful voice. "You can go miss Nolen. Please forgive our rudeness." "Keep up the good work~." I walked to the door with a golden namete. * After finishing our work, we both met at the agreed ce. Looking at him, a single thought came to my mind. ''He is a really good man.'' From the ''little'' investigation, I found many things about him and none of them were terrible. We started walking as I held his hand more tightly. "So...hm? Miss N...Nolen. Why are we still going towards the garden." With a worried expression, he asked, ncing to the other side. "Nothing much. Just to show you around~." Replying with a small smile I looked forward to where two giant gates stood and beyond them, were green nts and some big trees. Entering the garden we sat down on a bench by theke and looked forward at the beautiful birds by theke. A huge garden filled with many different nts, trees, flowers as well as wildlife. Nature, which was always beautiful when seen with open eyes and ears. Ake which is the center of the wildlife forms to gather. A ce loved by the couples. In such a ce, we were sitting on the same bench. ''It feels like an... unofficial date.'' I giggled in my thoughts as we just set there quietly. "So, what will you be doing next weekend. Mister Brian?" I asked first, breaking the awkward silence. "Next weekend? I don''t have anything particr for some time. May be, normal hunting? Why do you ask miss?" he asked with a confused look. "Well, nothing much. Just... you just got a date with me on that day. Just meet me here ok?" I stood up and left with a somewhat serious face. After a moment of silence, he suddenly turned around and looked at me with wide eyes. I also stopped and gave him a small smile before leaving. I was looking forward to a real date. *** I looked outside the window, where Eon and his dad were setting up the tables. ''That was the first time we met and, after all this time, not much has changed. He is still almost the same. And our little baby... is a genius.'' Today was her birthday, and her son and husband were preparing for the party. ''The surprise dinner from Eon., I''m so looking forward to it. I think it''s something totally different. Brian was also excited.'' She was looking forward to what kind of otherworldly thing her son had prepared for her. "It''s almost time. so, let''s go~" She got up and headed downstairs. They set everything outside so there must be something else too. Chapter 14 Surprising Taste In the twilight of the setting sun, which has painted the horizon in bright orange, the rising stars who have covered half the sky with their morous sparkling light, someone was sitting on a chair in therge backyard of a two-story house, alone. A stunningly beautifuldy with long blond hair, whichplemented the light of the setting sun perfectly, and light brown eyes which reflected the starlight, was sitting there with a confused look on her face. ''Where did they disappear, all of a sudden.'' Eon and Brian just vanished after saying her to wait. Quite the time has already passed but there was nothing going on. "Let''s just go and check on them." She was going to stand up but then, stopped herself. There was a candle in a ss on the table in front of her. Not only that one but there were many candles decorated in the whole area. She didn''t think much about it at the start but now, suddenly the one in front of her lit up... she understood that there was something special about them. One by one the candles started to light up. It was the first time she had seen something like this. Arranged in many different shapes and designs the candles which were lighting up slowly, seem to be making a harmonious song. Then, to make it true, a piece of slow music started ying in the background. She set down and watched everything with wide, sparkling eyes. "It''s cute..." She praised with a low voice as if to tell herself. "Isn''t it." Hearing that, she turned around. There she saw her family, looking at her with loving, triumphant eyes. "Mom! Happy Birthday!" I loudly congratted her and ran towards her. Behind me, dad also followed me. He sat down opposite her on the round table, while I was still standing there waiting for something. "Hm? Eon? What are you doing over there." Mom asked with a confused look on her face. "He says that he will serve us dinner tonight. I don''t know why but, he urged me to let him do it by himself." Dad exined instead of me. "Hm? How can he even do that? Eon..." She was going to say something but I reassured her. "Mom. It''s ok. Just for today, let me do it." "If you say so. But be careful." Shaking her head, she calmed herself down. "It''s ok, right? There won''t be any problems if you were with him. But-" "Don''t worry. He knows what he is doing." She asked worriedly looking at dad just to get cut out by him again. I turned around and entered the house to prepare everything. Mom and dad who were left alone in the backyard were chatting peacefully. This was a candlelight dinner. I could hearughtering from outside sometimes which was definitely mom, most of the time. Afterpleting the preparation, I walked out with the dishes. Serving everything on the round table in front of us, I too set down with them. The round table was filled with delicious-looking food. A thick soup which was yellow-white in color and filled with some vegetables. A round sandwich-like thing and chopped potatoes which looked fried. Souses of different colors, sds, and a fine wine bottle from dad. "So, um... Eon? What are these things?" Mom asked with a confused and surprised expression. she looked skeptical as she watched the food and smelled the appetizing fragrance. Everything was unique. It looked very eye-pleasing and mouth watering. She didn''t expect to be this much surprised with just some unique food items. Looking at her, I started introducing everything one by one. " The soup here is a normal cream corn soup prepared as a starter. Then moving on to the main course the sandwich-like thing is actually quite simr to a sandwich but a bit different as it has a stake like meat as its core. If you want, you can try it with this red sauce and this fried potato sticks. You can also try it with wine if you want." Exining the procedure and how I prepared the whole thing... I was tired and just started eating. "Mom, dad, please taste and tell me if it is good enough." Mom nodded and took the soup first. Taking a small spoon she slowly tasted it. As soon as she took the first spoon, her eyes widened. Surprised, she took another big spoon and tasted it again. "It''s good..." She praised with a surprised look on her face. It wasn''t just the taste but also the texture and the feeling while eating this stew were unexpectedly sweet and smooth. I just smiled at her and finished the soup. The main dish was the star of today and a base setter for the big show. Moving on to the burger, she cut it in half and then in another half, making it a fourth of the original. She poured some souse with a spoon as I told her and took a bite. The spicy, sweet, and crunchy taste was mouthwatering and the umami was perfect as she couldn''t help but exim. "Wow...!" Not minding them I just ate the whole thing with my two small hands. This was the right way. The crunchy exterior of fries and sweet-sour souse and the soft interior was... nostalgic to me. ''Well done me.'' I praised myself for making something this good. Dad, copying me, was eating with both hands and looked as delighted as me. "Eon. I will need seconds for this one." He requested with a happy tone wiping the souse on his mouth. "Don''t worry! There is more than enough for us." I eximed while taking a sip of the orange juice dad made for me. Mom was lost in her own thoughts as she didn''t talk much and just ate her delicious food. ''He made all these unique things, just for me. How did he even think the ideas for them...he is special, and... he is my son.'' Thoughts that no one but a mother like her could understand passed rapidly through her mind. Not minding dad cleaning up the table after finishing the eating, she just smiled at us. "Ok then! If we are finished, let''s eat the desert." Interrupting her thoughts was my loud voice. I had shouted loudly to grab her attention. She was so lost in thoughts the whole time, that she didn''t even notice that I had already brought arge bowl filled with round, creamy objects of different colors. "Hmm...? What is this?" She asked as it looked like she was back to reality. "Mom! It''s a dessert which I named ''ice cream!'' " Excitedly shouting, I put the bowl on the table. Mom had no idea what this was but, the story was different for dad. He looked at the bowl with sparkling eyes and eximed with an excited voice. "Honey! Try this once and it will be your favorite dessert of all times!" He eximed everything with extreme certainty in his eyes. Surprised to see this reaction, she couldn''t hold herself back. "Mom! Try this pink and orange one. You will like them!." "Really? You two are a bit too excited this time. And honey? How do you know it is delicious? Did you try it before me? How can you~." She grumbled in her usual cheerful voice. She was back to her cheerful self so dad was happy to see her tease him. ''Now it looks like she is perfectly fine.'' I thought and served her strawberry and orange vor. Dad took mango, and I took my all-time favorite chocte. Mom took a spoonful of it and put it in her mouth. As soon as she took the first bite her expression changed totally. As if to not believe herself she took another bite. Confusion clouded her face. '' How could something be so soft and creamy at the same time? It has perfect smoothness and the texture is well refined. How did they make this! Wait? They made so much in such a short amount of time... which means it can be mass-produced. If that''s the case... no wait. Calm down. Let''s think about itter.'' After calming herself down, she looked at me. "Eon? What vor is trying? Let me have some too." "Yes, mom! Here. It''s chocte! Do you like this? Dad helped me with this one mostly." Sharing it with, her we slowly finished it in a short time. After talking for some time, I looked at her and asked. "So...um. Mom? Did you like it? Can... I learn magic now?" Dad also looked at her with serious eyes. The final say was her and none of us can ignore that. "Hmm... ok. Let''s think." She thought seriously and made her decision after some time, shaking her head. There was tension in the air and the pressure of the words she would say was not only important for me but, dad too. I looked at dad and he looked at me. We both gulped a mouthful of saliva as we stared at her mouth. But breaking the tension... we saw mom smiling at us. "Rx~, both of you. Eon did something marvelous. It couldn''t be as good as this even if done by a professional." She looked very satisfied with today. Dad and I released a long breath that we were holding from the start of the question. "Thank you very much, mom!" I jumped up and hugged her. Holding me in her arms, she lifted me up and put me on top of the table. "Not only that, but you also get a wish from me. Ask anything you want." She said, kissing my forehead. She was very happy today. I could feel that just from her tone. "Then... I will think about it and tell youter. Thank you for this mom! Really!" I happily eximed as I gave her a kiss on the cheeks with a happy smile. "Oh my~. Aren''t you smart? Ok then." She hugged me as she said that. Standing behind the chair dad hugged both of us from behind as he too looked very happy with that. ''Now I will really learn magic.'' I thought as I closed my eyes in their embrace. Chapter 15 Elemental Affinity Sitting in my mom''s office, I read a book on elemental affinity. As my mom''s condition, I wasn''t allowed to do any physical training so I was just reading different books nowadays. My mental stats also increased by a bit. === As the world is made of 6 main elements and their many branched versions, the lows, and principles of the world are like a finely weaved spider web. From nothingness to the creation of many things that we know today, to the unknowns of the world. From the base of the which is made of element and stabilizes everything to which destroys or creates things. From which is a lifeline of all living to which is a symbol of freedom. which destroys evil and also heals and cures to make the world better. is not necessarily bad as the one who is corrupted and has evil intentions can have a different elemental affinity. Having an elemental affinity doesn''t mean that you will master it. But it means that you can use magic rted to that affinity. One can also build and master different affinities but if they don''t have a natural affinity, that would be very difficult; building and increasing new proficiencies is a very difficult task. ... === Reading the books only for the first time was the most fun for me, as I had now developed a (photographic memory). ''I read one time and fully understand and remember all of the things. It''s a total cheat for a magician who has to learn so much theory stuff.'' It was a very good thing as I was going to learn magic in a short time. ''Magic in this world depends on theory as well as the visualization of the form of magic.'' A good memory and understanding of concepts are a must when learning magic. Theory ys a big role as it is the foundation to understand the essence of magic and mana itself. I knew that theories will not be any difficult as I already had a basic understanding of everything. ''As for the practical applications...'' "I''m not ready yet..." I mumbled to myself but suddenly... flinched. As a harsh voice entered my ears. "Damn right, you aren''t. So, don''t even try to use magic by yourself." Mom spoke looking at me with a cold smile on her beautiful face. "Understood!" I shouted reflexively. Like soldiers answering themands. "Eon~. You can''t practice magic but, we can do an affinity test if you want~." Mom said something totally unexpected this time. Hearing that, I suddenly stood up from where I sitting and looked at her with my eyes wide open. "REALLY!?" I shouted with sparkling eyes. "Yes. It''s very simple and safe, actually." She replied with a confident look and told me to get ready. "Brian!" She shouted looking outside the window behind her desk. Dad was outside watering the flowers and humming in a low voice. As soon as mom shouted, he looked at us and asked. "Yes? Is there anything I can help you with?" Nodding her head in agreement she shouted back. "How about we do an ''Affinity test'' For Eon?" He stopped the water sparkling from his hand and looked at her with a fire in his eyes. "Really!?" He loudly shouted to confirm what he heard was right. ''Usually, she wouldn''t ask for anything like this first. Is it because it''s not dangerous? Well, whatever it is, I can finally know my baby''s ''Elemental Affinities'', I hope it is something simr to mine but whatever it is, will be extraordinary. Just like him.'' "Yes~. But nothing else." "Ok then! I will get it ready in a while. Wait for me!" Saying that daddy ran inside the house at a very fast speed. ''He is more excited than me. Well, he is a father so he would be curious. More importantly, is... mom exited too?'' I looked at her as she was smiling brightly for some reason. She looked like she was going to enjoy a good show? A cold shiver ran down my spine. "Let''s go Eon!" She eximed excitedly and dragged me downstairs by hand. As we sat down, dad came inside running and huffing with sweat on his forehead. But his expression was very bright as if he could finally do something he had been itching for quite some time. "Ok then! Are you ready Eon!?" He asked with a loud voice. His expression was funny as he said that. "Yes?" I answered worriedly as I looked at him. This was more than I expected. With fire in his eyes, a transparent sphere half of my height appeared beside him out of nowhere. I was surprised to see something like this for the first time. "Dad! How did that appear here? Did you use spatial magic!?" This was my first time seeing it in person as I had only read about something like this in books here. But I read that it was high-level magic, so I wasn''t sure if he could really do it. But, sadly, he shook his head and replied. "No. It''s not spatial magic. It''s a skill called (Item Box). It''s amon skill used by many high-ranking adventurers. But, you have to be at least (tier-2) to use it. So when you reach that far I will give you a [Skill Stone] for that. Ah! There are storage devices too. Your mom has one of her own. It will make a good birthday present." He said thest line in a quiet voice but I heard it clearly. ''Hmm. It''s a skill. Then this would be my first time seeing someone use a skill. It is also a convenient one.'' I positively shook my head. I have learned many things about this past few years. which we are born with, are called . Some people have this type of skill as they are the only ones who can use them. My is also an auxiliary type . All [Energy beasts] possess this kind of as they are generally the same in the whole race. obtained through a [Skill Stone] are called . [Skill Stones] are categorized by the colors. As theye from different [Energy Beasts], who differ in strength, [Skill stone) can have the same or lower color skill than the beast. They go from: Red taught by someone of master rank or above are called . Those who can teach these types of skills are the ones that at least have reached [Master] level of their [Origin Skill]. They can also lend someone their skill for a fixed time and that type of skill-sharing is called . One must practice the to increase the proficiency and understanding to master it. is a very rare (Blue) skill that can only be found by killing a strong [Energy Beast]. Because of their mastery of magic, they are the only ones to produce them in their subconscious when killed. ''There is also my [Origin Skill]. I learned from a new book my mom gifted, that the [Origin Skill] itself goes through a unique in various unknown situations. Not only that, but it alsobines the existing skill in itself to evolve the branched [Origin skills].'' So if I get a skill rted to eyes, will add its function as its own. After my , the first time I told my parents that I had a [Origin Skill], they were first shocked then they got happy then they suddenly got worried. The speed their expression changed was kind of, funny. But then... I was worried for them. Calming down my dad was not easy at that time. "Ok then. Let''s get started." Startling me out of my thoughts was the voice of my mom who seemed really happy. "Honey? why are you so excited?" Dad could not hold back and asked as he too was confused about this whole thing. "Mom...?" I asked with a worried expression. I don''t know why but, I had this bad feeling about this whole thing. "Well, nothing much. Your Mana will deplete after the testing and I will be able to treat you... VERY carefully." A cold shiver ran down my spine. Dad was the same as me, as he too remembered. ''That''s why she was happy...'' To check the Elemental affinity one has to put arge amount of in this crystal ball. One may suffer if the required amount isrge but it isn''t dangerous. Considering that she likes to take care of him when he is not moving, it can be exined. "Umm..." I wanted to say sorry to her but, I stopped myself. ''Mom''s dreams won''te true. My recovery rate is quite fast because of my [Energy Cirction] skill. I can very well recover in half a day if it''s as much as 1/3 of my mana.'' I gave her a sorry look and turned towards dad and said. "So, let''s start." Mom and dad had confused looks as they looked at me. "Ok. Come here, and put your palm on this crystal ball." ''Does not he care about that? Well, he could be thinking of giving up as we both can''t win against her anyway.'' I walked forward to therge crystal ball. A transparent orb that felt somewhat weird. I stood in front of it and put my palm on its surface. As soon as I did that arge amount of mana was sucked out of my and I felt my palm heating up. ''It''s not that much. Took much less than I thought! Nice~.'' I rejoiced as I looked at the orb to see what special magic I can do. Chapter 16 Elemental Affinity (2) In ancient times when humankind didn''t know much about magic and mana, the first war between Demons and Humans was fought. Being masters of demonic magic, they made an unfathomable bloodbath. Not knowing much about the Magic, humanity was on the verge of destruction. When all hopes were copsing, a gigantic figure descended on the middle of the battlefield. A mountain shining with different colors. With every color, you can think of on his ethereal body. A huge frame was as big as a mountain. With arge pair of wings on his back, it spoke in an angry voice crushing the small ones only with his voice. [Pathetic worms... this great and mighty dragon do not give a damn about the likes of you but, the bnce of the world will be at risk. Watching a one-sided ughter is no fun at all.] It was a [Dragon]. A being of nature and ruler of magic. Member of a selfish race who only desire amusement and looked down upon even their own kind. He said with a roaring voice. [Those who wish to die for the sake of others,e forward!] Choosing the individuals with the greatest potential among mankind the dragon gave them the knowledge required to protect themselves. They were the first ones to ever practice magic among mankind. People called them [First ones''] But, one person strangely stood out of them. Higher beings first liked him, as an amusing one. He was powerful but... he mastered nothing. In the truest sense, ''jack of all trades and master of none'' depicted him. He couldn''t do so because of the many choices in presented front of him. ''At the end, he became a fool who could have done greatest deeds, but ended up with nothing of sort.'' And one of the reasons for that being... in front of me. In a quiet room, I was standing in front of arge crystal orb that... was shining with 6 bright colors. The whole room was silent with only the buzzing electrical sound from the orb ringing from time to time. ''Should I cry or...ugh?'' I asked myself as I looked at the colors in the orb. A bright red like fire; A light blue like an ocean; A earthly brown; A fresh green like morning wind; A Devine yellow and A lonely ck. All of them... shining with great intensity. I was a (Hexa Elemental) mage. Someone who can not master one particr type of element. ''It''s not that I won''t able to do it but... I can''t do it.'' All of the people throughout history with all six elemental affinities either became a hero or gave up on magic entirety. And the reason for that is... ''If not bnced properly... only death awaits me.'' The opposite properties of elements are the reason that (Fire) is weak against (Water) and (Water) is weak against (Earth). If any of them grows too much or declinespared to its opposite one then the unbnce could lead to a , which means certain death. But then... "No, wait... Ah! Yes! That''s it." Dad suddenly shouted and a bright expression appeared on his face. He ran towards me and hugged me joyfully. Startled, I looked at him with confused eyes. Mom was the same as me, as she too looked very confused. Just a moment ago, she looked like she was going to shout in fear. The look in her eyes was as though she had seen myself dyeing. But, dad''s behavior confused her. "Don''t worry Nolen. Eon will be alright." He assured her with a confident look and pulled mom by her hand. The surprise was visible on her face by these actions. "What the hell are you saying!?" She shouted and pulled herself back, enraged by his actions. This was probably the first time I had seen her angry. ,m "Eon, sit here for a moment. Honey, calm down first. Take a deep breath and sit down for a moment." He held mom and tried to calm her down. Mom retorted refusing to listen. It took a long time to calm her down. After who knows how much time, mom calmed down a bit. "Huuuu..." Taking a deep breath she looked at dad and demanded an exnation. "You better exin thoroughly or else..." I was shocked and speechless. The pressure I was currently feeling... was beyond anything I had ever felt. But it was only for a moment, as she regained herself after looking at the pale me. I again reminded myself to not go on her bad side. ''Never.'' Dad looked at me after he was finished with mom. "Eon will be able to maintain the bnce of all six elements normally. All by himself and without doing anything." A bewildered expression appeared on mom and my face. He saw this and started the exnation. "First of all, look back at the crystal orb. It is intact and fine which is quite weird as it should have shattered into particles if there was a disturbance or unbnce in elemental properties. But it DID NOT. That only means that every one of them is in perfect harmony. And the reason behind that should be [Energy Cirction]. Eon''s one and only . This type of case had urred in history a few times. Individuals with pr opposite elemental affinities have lived longer than most people thanks to their some type of . They are mostly called [Irregrs]. I was already surprised and confused when I first saw the perfectly bnced six elementals, which looked stunning at first nce." After a VERY thorough exnation, dad breathed out a small sigh. Looking at my mom, who looked calm after he finished speaking, he held her hand. "Don''t worry... instead, let''s celebrate. It''s a good thing, you know. More reason for him to learn magic." She looked at him with a bit shacking eyes. There was fear. "Y-you sure about that...?" She asked in a shaky voice. Looking at me for a moment, she closed her eyes. "I won''t let him get even a scratch. I swear." She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. Slowly moving her head forward she kissed his hand which was holding hers. Nodding, she replied with a small but still worried smile on her beautiful face. "Ok." That short answer was enough for dad as he looked at me. All this time, they hadn''t said anything to me. Sitting on the chair, I was just looking at them. It was like a T.V. drama so it was quite fun to watch. "Eon. I will ask you this only once. Do you really want to learn magic even after knowing that your mom will be worried for you forever?" For the first time, dad warned me about something. Knowing this will be a big decision and possibly the biggest one in my life, I wanted to think but instead, answered instantly. "Yes. I want to do it. Or more like, I have to." He was stunned by my answer. Mom, on the other hand, was surprised and shocked. ''His eyes have a certainty that shouldn''t be possible for just a 5-year-old. No, it''s more than that. It''s like HE doesn''t want something to repeat. How can my little baby be so much... special!?'' She thought deeply and asked him a question. "Eon. Why do you want that? Not only magic but also archery. Why are you so fixated on learning that. You can have a totally free life without doing anything. Why... just why do you want to struggle so much." She was dead serious. The look in her eyes was not only that of a mother but also a guardian who want to protect something. "Honey? You can''t ask him something so-" Dad tried to talk to mom but I instantly cut him off and said the one thing I had longed to say. "I... want to protect you from anything. When I get hurt you take care of me but, I even can''t see you getting hurt. So, I want to get stronger." These words came from the bottom of my heart. The weight of the words that I spoke was visible in my eyes. It wasn''t some kid speaking to them but, someone who has lived possibly more than them. Both of them were stunned and speechless. Just from the heaviness of the words, they could feel the high level of determination. ''How can a child... no. He isn''t any ordinary kid. But, he is... my son. And I am proud of that.'' He thought as he looked at his son. "Huuu..." Mom took a deep breath and returned to her normal self. Smiling at me she said in her cheerful self. "Oh? My baby will protect mom and dad. How thoughtful! Indeed, my baby is special~." Dad, on the other hand, fell deep in thought. Not saying anything, he was lost in his own thoughts. "Honey~. Let''s celebrate as you said." She pped his back to call him back to reality. "Ouch! Why''d you do that." Back to reality, he screamed and looked at her, rubbing his back. Then, calming himself and recalling what had happened, he shook his head and said happily. "Yes. Ok. Let''s celebrate! I will make the ice cream too. So just wait here." Saying that... he took off to the kitchen. "So, Eon. How about we y together until your dad is finished." I understood that they had put the whole matter to a side so, I also did the same. Walking out with mom, we climbed the stairs. Chapter 17 A Mothers Decision "Did he fall asleep already?" I asked in an exhausted voice. She looked at me with pity in her eyes. "Yes. He must be exhausted from the unexpected mana drain." She replied looking at Eon who was sleeping in his bed... like a baby. "Ok then. Let''s go too." I opened the door. We got out and I closed the door behind me. She looked at me and said in a quiet voice. "Get it ready." She requested and walked forward. ''It must be quite hard for her too...'' I thought and replied with a small sigh. "Yes." *** In a quiterge bedroom, a transparent crystal ball the size of an average human head was ced in the middle of the room. Sitting on a chair before it, was a beautiful young woman with long blond hair and light brown eyes. Facing her on the opposite side of the table stood a handsome man with sparkling red eyes and shoulder-long ck hair. "Are you ready?" I asked with a nervous look in my eyes. "Yes. Please connect it." She replied with a calm and confident look on her face. I nodded and channeled some mana into the (Communication Device). A small spark appeared in the transparent crystal. After a short while, the shadow of a person slowly appeared in it. The shadow slowly turned into an image of a muscr and tall middle-aged man. With a long beard and short hair just like her, his blue eyes were as beautiful as the sky. "Father..." She called with a warm smile. She had a unique yearning look in her eyes. -How have you been, Nol. A deep but warm voice came from the crystal ball. "I missed you a lot..." She said with a low, cracking voice. -You should have gotten my letters though. He chuckled, stroking his beard. He had also missed her. "This is different." She replied, shaking her head. -Ok then. If my sweet, youngdy says so. More than that... what is it? Who was that troubled you? The first warm voice turned cold in an instant. As if he knew that something troubled his daughter, just from the way she talked. -Brian. What did you do, huh? He asked, turning his head to look in my direction. I instantly flinched and reflexively responded. "Nothing sir! I can''t even think of troubling her!" A true respectful response escaped my mouth. It was always like this in front of him. He was a person you couldn''t help but admire. "Father, it''s about Eon." She answered in a serious tone. Right now, only he could trouble her. As if understanding the situation, he nodded and a big smile appeared on his face. -I knew that was the case. If there is anything that worries my icy princess, it would be my extraordinary grandson. So, what is it this time? He sounded very happy. As if a proud father admires his son for something great. "He a weeks ago," she said in a worried tone. -He what? I think I heard something wrong. Say that again, please. A confused expression appeared on his face. This was an ideal reaction for someone who has heard something unreal. "Yes, you heard that right. Eon st week..." She confirmed with a worried and serious tone. -Oh my god... he really is something else. If so, he must have a . No, more than that. Is he hurt or something. Knowing you very well, I don''t think that''s the reason you called me. ''He is as sharp and cool-headed as ever...'' I knew my father-inw, or more like Sir Zahavi very well. Having fought in many battles, he was one of the most rational people in the whole empire. "We did the affinity test today. He is a (Hexa Elemental), having an affinity for all six elemental natural elements." She exined with a grim expression. Her beautiful face was looking disturbed for that very reason. -Holy sh... Even a person like him was surprised by this whole ordeal. Even someone like him, who had seen many unexinable things, was a bit surprised by all of this. -So you are worried about him for that. Hmmm... I understand this whole situation now. So, what did you do? He asked after thinking everything through. It was quite fast, considering the amount and level of information. His question, however, was a serious one. He asked her as not a father but a parent of a child. He was asking, what she did as his mother. She replied instantly, already expecting this question. "I asked why he wanted to practice magic. As you already know that he practiced archery, you might have thought that he wants to be a . Though unreasonable to ask a child, the reason he wanted to grow strong, he didn''t hesitate to answer." She said with a worried smile on her face. -And? What did he say? Anticipation was clearly visible in his eyes. His voice, however, had a proud tone. She lowered her head. In a quiet voice and watery eyes as she replied. "He said he wants to protect us. With an unnaturally serious tone..." She answered. Though worried, she had a proud smile on her face. She was proud as a guardian and worried as a helpless mother. This was the reason she reached out to her father directly. - Excellent! I was only amazed at first but now, I am proud. Not only of him but also you two. So, Nol, What will you do now. Will you allow him to do what he wants or will you cling to a tiny possibility of him getting hurt? He first praised us and then asked a serious question to her again. This time, he was asking her as a mother and not a guardian. She had to make a decision. It will not only decide his future but also theirs. "I am worried..." She looked down and said in a creaking voice. -Look Nol. I understand that you are worried. But, individuals such as him are called [Irregrs] for a reason. They are different in mostmon aspects. Brian must have told you about that but believe me if there was any chance of something happening... it should have happened by now. He told the truth I wasn''t able to. It was true that symptoms of abnormalities start to surface just after the awakening, in situations like these. He was a father who was just as worried as her but, he knew that stopping a child from doing what they want to do isn''t most appropriate. That was the reason that he was able to put reality and facts before his petty feelings. I understood his reasoning, so I added along with him. "Nolen. I know that you are worried, but so am I. That doesn''t mean that we should stop him from doing what he loves." -Brian is right Nol. You will only restrain him if you stop him. You already know I never did something like that so, I believe that you will not do so too. We both looked at her. She was quietly thinking for a while and then... nodded. Smiling bitterly, clenching onto her dress, she replied. "Yes... you are right. What was I even thinking... when it was so obvious. Thanks, dad. You too Brian. I''m so dumb..." -It''s good you understand. Mothers did that type of thing a lot. Your mom was like this sometimes too, when the two of you were a child. She then breathed a sigh of relief. She had made her decision. "Ok then. Now that everything is solved, I should ask this. Dad? Why don''t you talk with Eon sometime." She asked with a very confused expression. Never once did they had talked about themselves or the family background of their child. And the reason partly was her father. He wanted to keep it a secret from him. It wasn''t necessary for him to know, nor did he ever ask them about it, which was... strange? Very strange for a child. -It''s not like I don''t want to meet him. I just want to see him from up close. Keeping it a secret is more fun in itself. Just do it for now. But the question is... when are youing back? We are dying to see you all again. His voice was very sad. The longing to see them was also very deep in his sky blue eyes. "Soon dad... just endure it one more year. I am dying to meet you too. To introduce Eon to his awesome grandfather and everyone else." Holding back her tears, she said with an angry voice. There was something ''very small'' thing holding her back. Something that pushed her to the edge of the empire. Anger surged from the depths of my heart. Those people will definitely pay for all of this. When we get back, I will make sure to send them out of the empire... if not the continent. -Ok then. Take care. Brian, take good care of her. "Yes sir! Don''t worry one bit." "You take care too, dad. Say hello and sorry to mom and brother. And thank you for today." -That''s what parents do. Take care~. Saying his goodbyes, he hung up with a smile. We talked for a bit about how to do everything from now, and also went to sleep. ''I should tell him it in the morning. He will be happy to hear that, right? Hmm~, should I tease him a bit? Well, we will see that tomorrow. For now...'' Looking at me she stretched out both her hands, towards me. "Come here, my dear ''husband''." She ordered with a mischievous smile on her face. ''Oh god...'' I had a bad feeling about this. Chapter 18 Magic Lecture "So mom? What did you want to... talk about?" I asked with a confused look. Just yesterday, she didn''t want to talk about anything rted to magic so I didn''t try either. What changed her stubborn mind in one night? "It''s about you and learning magic. I really don''t want you to be in any type of danger. So I have decided..." She looked very serious and disheartened about that. ''Oh...so that was it. Mom can''t allow me so she asked me out personally. I had somewhat expected it but, I don''t feel, right about it.'' I knew that magic will be a great asset in the future but, if she won''t give permission then I can only practice my archery for the time being. ''Well, can''t me her for that...'' Taking a deep breath, I replied in a sad voice. "It''s ok mom. If you think that way then, it can''t be helped." Though disappointed, I wasn''t that worried about it. I can make do with archery and my [Origin skill]. "It''s good that you understand. I''m sorry, really." She apologized, in a sad voice but, I didn''t look at her face as I was looking down in disappointment. I should have seen it beforehand but, I only noticed it after her next words. "Ok. You can go now. Dad is waiting for you. He is very excited to teach magic after such a long time." She said, still maintaining her worried and sorrowful tone. ''Yes, I should go. Dad is waiting...'' "Dad is, waiting for what...?" Confused, I looked up and then... saw her face. A face holding itself fromughing with extreme difficulty. As I looked up at her, she looked in my eyes. "Hehehe..." Like a dam has opened, she burst outughing. I suddenly had a thought while looking at her. ''She was messing with me? So normally and with that much realistic voice...? Damn! She is scary. But, what did she say atst?'' Looking at her, I waited for her to stop her ''best''ughter of the year. After a solid minute ofughing, she somewhat slowed down. Looking at my face which was a mix of confusion and anger, sheughed again. Now, that was enough. Was it that funny to tease a 5-year-old child? Looking at her, I angrily shouted. "Mom. Just answer me and then continue, please!" Hearing my angry voice, which was cuter for her than before, she slowed down a bit. p Looking at me with a sorry expression, she repeated once again. "Dad is waiting to teach you. I''m sorry that I stopped you before. I know you somehow understand my reason. Even so, I am worried. Now, you can do whatever is right, as long as it is not dangerous. I won''t do something like that again." With a bitter smile on her face, she was still worried but now, there was happiness in her eyes. "No, mom. I should say thank you for letting me practice something dangerous like magic. Thanks, mom! You are the best." Hugging her, I replied with a bright smile on my face. After kissing her, I ran out of the room. Not waiting even a minute. Left in the room alone, she caressed her right cheek and mumbled to herself. "I am the best..." Her face was as red as a rose right now, she looked cuter than ever. *** In the library with threerge bookshelves, I sat on the chair opposite arge ckboard. There was arge magic tome on the table in front of my dad right now. A confused look appeared on my face. There weren''t any books like this in the library before. "For one to use magic, the fundamental knowledge of magic and magic circle is very important. Without the theoretical knowledge, one could very well fail to cast the most basic spells." He was a totally different person while speaking right now. As if he had done this before, his attention and way of speaking were as good as a university professor''s. "First of all, is one of the building blocks of the world. Being the most used source of energy and most abundant in this world, which make the in the environment, divided into six types. whiche from the have six main forms. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Darkness, and light. The six main types of are used in different ways. But, the person who can use them is very much more than that. Having a natural affinity with these elements is most important. We can use the for the type we don''t have a natural affinity but using it in actual spellcasting would be very difficult." Dad exined and I took mental note of everything. It was easy as I already knew some basic information but, some points were totally new to me. I had a sudden question so I raised my hand. He nodded and I asked, standing up from my seat. "Dad. Then what type of natural affinities do you have?" I was very curious about it for, a long time. My dad was a (tier-6) mage, which is considered a (mid-level) mage. From (tier-0) to (tier-2) is a beginner-level novice magician. From (tier-3) and (tier-4) is an apprentice-level magician. Those who can reach up to (tier-6) are intermediate-level mages. ''He is very talented to have reached that level at such a young age. I think he is in histe 20s or early 30s, so that means he has a great future as a magician. He could be a High-level mage in the future.'' The high-level magicians are the people that mostly teach in the imperial university or hold a high position in a kingdom. They are (tier-7) and (tier-8) high mages. There are very few people who have reached (tier-9) and they are called elders. A (tier-10) mage is considered an archmage. They are inhumane people who have transcended human bounds and can go against beings with unnatural strength. There are (tier-11) and (tier-12) but, those are only legends. "If you are curious about me... I am a tri-elemental mage with an affinity for Fire, Water, and Wind. They are a bnced attribute trio so, I can use them freely." He answered with an embarrassed look. It wasn''t normal either. Being a tri-elemental mage is also rare. "As for Eon who can use all six of them freely, it will be more difficult than you think. To increase the core level, the required amount of magic power will be enormous and the progress might be very slow. But you will have an advantage unlike any other human in any fight as you can use the opposite type of attack against your opponent, in the future." He happilyplimented me and started talking about other things. "So, Eon. We will first learn all the basic information first. You can read this book if you want. It''s a list of (tier-0) spells. I don''t think you will understand it much, as it''s not in the imperialnguage. It''s a bit different from themonnguage. You can try it anyways. The official books and tomes are only avable in the capital city so I can''t get them right now, we have to make do with this one. I will teach you thenguage along with magic so it will be easy for you to understand." He exined as he looked at the new-looking book with a thick green cover. ''If it''s about learning anguage simr to the one I already know, then...'' I thought for a moment and unconsciously said out loud. "3 days should be enough..." That should be enough time to learn thatnguage. I think that will be more than enough. I can just see through the book to understand the contents and then it should be ok to say that I had grasped thenguage, right? "Hmm? Did you say something?" Dad asked as he heard me saying that. "No, nothing. You can continue, please." Shaking my head, I started paying attention again. "So, to cast magic, after the source such as , the magic circle, words, visual image or such are ways to cast the magic. For any kind of , to gain a form through different means is magic in nutshell. If you use any other type of to perform magic, like to summon an elemental spirit or internal energy in different martial arts, the result may be different but the principle of is the same. We use , give it a shape, and express the desired results. [Magic] is nothing but giving a shape to the known world, or changing it, or destroying it. So just understand one thing when you use the thing called magic: ''Bending the shape of reality is magic.'' The potential of humans may be limited but, the limits of magic are truly endless." He exined, each of his words containing wisdom and brightness. ''Bending the reality...'' For me, these words contained different meanings and different ideas. I deeply thought about that as I listened to him further. Here, we change the still air and summon a ball of fire. There was nothing here but then the fire burned out of nowhere. ''I don''t think that everyone knows about the ''hydrogen'' and ''oxygen'' creating fire but, I sure can use the knowledge from my previous world in magic.'' The reality which everyone knows is normal for them but for me, it''s like a totally new thing from what I previously knew. ''It is going to be SO much fun...'' Magic was amazing. But there was one thing that I had to keep in mind. ''I WILL be a magic archer. Magic is only one part of it. So, I should talk to dad and ask him to set a schedule.'' Everything that dad was saying, was kind of being recorded in my mind. It was really amazing to have this sharp brain. Well, it could be due to my skill but well, I don''t have to think much about my skills right now. ''I will be experimenting with them soon anyways.'' Chapter 19 Incompetent "So... you mastered thatnguage? Did you learn a newnguage in... three days? And I have no choice but to believe, that?" Dad looked at me with bewildered eyes. He couldn''t clearly say what he wanted. He was shocked, but after some time he calmed down and believed me. ''Oh well, I would be the same as him if some normal kid told me that. It''s a good thing that he knows that I am a bit special.'' The speed he recovered was fast considering the arrow piercing him was a bit sharp this time. He looked at me and asked with a serious tone. "Ok. So you wanna know how this spell (Enhance Speed) works... right?" His voice had a doubt in them. He was thinking that I would be easily able to understand the mechanics of the spell. But, I shook my head and replied with a serious tone. "I know how it works but, why can''t I use it ?" I slowly asked with a disappointed look. I was trying to use the enhancement magic of the lowest mana consumption but can''t use any of them. That''s why I asked dad to enlighten me about my flows. "Hmm. You can''t use them...wait! That means you learned this spell already!?" The most basic of the (tier-0) spell is made of 3 or 4 lines and at least one circle in theoretical value. To understand the mana distribution and the theory of enhancement for the ground spell of enhancement series, one has to at least study it for a month. ''He is as good in magic as he is at other things. He may already surpass me in near future. I know that he won''t say it but, I''m sure that he must have learned other, simr ones too.'' "A genius..." He mumbled in a very quiet voice but I barely heard it. In the response to that, a helpless sigh escaped my mouth. ''I guess I could be called a genius from the point of view of this world.'' As the concept wasn''t that difficult and I already had some idea about the enhancement spells, I was able to UNDERSTAND the whole series. Enhancement, being the main series in magic, has vast verity and range. The essence of it is to strengthen the existing state of something. To (Understand) anything, means to grasp the very thing from the core. From the output of mana to its structure in the spell. ''I (understand) things very quickly. It could be considered one of my ''traits'' so it''s easy for me.'' I am just lucky to have my one and only skill, [Energy Cirction]. I was able to conclude many things from my experiments these past few days. Not only it''s a passive skill that is activated all the time after ''awakening'', but it also increases brain activity, elerates mana gathering, and increases the natural healing ability. ''It''s definitely a broken skill. And I don''t know why but sometimes my [Origin Skill] resonates with it. It really feels weird when that happens. It''s a... tingling feeling, so I just avoid it.'' Looking back at my father, I asked once again. "So? Why can''t I use any magic?" It was very strange. I was confident that I had done everything right. It was like something just canceling the spell on its activations. "Well, you see Eon... there is a barrier around the house that cancel any unauthorized use of magic or skill." He replied with a helpless tone. A faint trace of anger was visible in his eyes. I noticed that and understood that it was definitely rted to mom. But there was a question that suddenly came to my mind. "A barrier? Then why can dad use magic and I can use my skills?" A really unexpected reply from me stunned him. ''Did he understand the situation? Wow... Just, how smart is he?'' He thought for a moment before answering. "One has to first register the in the magic system to get permission. As for your skills, one is an [Origin Skill] so it can''t be blocked by this ''small'' barrier. And the other one is just an which isn''t attacking or defense type so it can be used." He carefully exined. He was still a little shocked to not get any normal child-like reaction from me. ''So~ it''s like that. No wonder I felt so weird when using magic.'' Nodding my head I understood the situationpletely. ''From this, I could say that mom isn''t in that big of danger or something like that. Most likely she is in hiding or something.'' If the situation was to be something more dangerous or concerning, dad would have put more effort into his work. "So, dad, when will I get to use magic. I have to sign my mana signature with the core... or something like that, right?" I asked with a calm voice and looked at him with shining eyes. But... his expression saddened as he looked back at me. "Sorry... Eon. You will have to wait for a month at the very least. I will have to make some preparations for it to register another person''s signature." My heart sank at those words. It was much longer than I expected. A sigh escaped my mouth, in my head. ''I think I will have to make do with what I have. I should use that time to increase my physical state. I should also try making an enchanted arrow in the meantime.'' I thought it through andforted dad who was clenching his fists. "Dad, it''s ok. I can do other things in the meantime." Hugging him for a moment and I started reading the magic tome after he left the room. He was disappointed in himself as he exited the room. I could feel it. *** "Hm? Brian? what happened? Why do you look so... down?" I asked him confusingly as he was sitting on the stairs with his head down. ''Did something happen? It looks like he did something... wrong?'' I thought about the reason as I also sat beside him. "He learned anguage in 3 days..." He quietly said as if to tell himself. I understood what he was talking about. There has something unexpected happened in my sweet house. Again. "Isn''t he amazing? Just having him as my baby is the best thing ever. But, why are you so sad?" Maybe we were the luckiest ones to have such an extraordinary son. He is very amazing. He should be happy about that. "He learned spells that would take someone a month at the very least. He wants to use that but he can''t because of the barrier. Now I can''t do anything about it since I''m not good enough..." He exined with a grim expression as he smiled bitterly. ''Hmm... that''s how it has always been for me.'' I know how he was feeling right now. Helpless. Feeling of not being good enough. Feeling of not being able to do things that you want but the limits are suppressing you. But... "I know that feeling very well, Brian. And I think he does too. He is like someone who has lived through this helplessness and understands us too well. And you know this too, don''t you? He hasn''tined or demanded anything like other normal kids, I hope he did but, that''s how it has always been." I was the most helpless person in this house. Even if I wanted to, I can''t do anything for him right now. "But remember this Brian; we are his parents and that fact can''t change. Even ifcking, we have to do our best. For him." I could not be the best mom out there but, I was the BEST for him, at least. "I... understand. Thanks, Nolen." He was looking a bit good now. That was enough. "So... this should be enough to cheer you up..." Kissing him on the neck, I stood up and left. Sitting there alone, he was petrified after that sudden soft touch. *** There were a total of 36 (tier-0) spells in the book. Some of them were useful while some were not that interesting. (Heat), (Water), (Small-Wind)... were some of the spells that were a bit useful. Mainly, in (the tier-0) section, spells with only basic mana control were counted. To first improve the efficiency to control , the (tier-0) spells are like practice papers. ''Well, it is... not that interesting. I might as well go and ask dad for the materials to make the magic arrows.'' I stood up and left the library. As soon as I started climbing the stairs, I saw dad on the top, with a surprised expression. Not minding him I passed by him and entered my room. ''Mom must have done something, again.'' This type of situation where rare butmon when mom yed pranks. I sometimes don''t understand why would he act like that. ''I don''t know how it is to be in love but, this might be... normal? Maybe?'' A person who had lived in solitude for almost 40 years like me, well... ''I don''t even want to think about those days.'' I entered my room and tried to not think about the past. ? Sitting down on a chair beside my bed, I took out a pointed wooden arrow from under my bed. A smooth, straight body and the fins at the end of it. And sharply pointed arrowhead. I could make the enchanted arrows with something like this but to do that, I need some things to engrave a magic circle on it. ''Though I can''t use spells in-house, the magic circle engraving and the [Enchanting] process will be more interesting than the (tier-0) spells.'' It was interesting because I can even put something like a (tier-1) spell on it with my current limits. But... ''Learning it for the first time will be a bit difficult for sure.'' [Enchantment] was special and the process was still a bit unknown to me so, I was nervous. ''But, well, at the end of the day, it will be fun.'' I thought and put the arrow back. Chapter 20 Hunt In a dark underground drainage area from where the waste of the whole town passes through, a person was passing by the walkable side with a little fireball in his hand. With bright red eyes shining in the small light of the mes, the figure walked through with a confident look. ¡ªKHWAAAAAAAAA! Hearing a weird sounding from the distance, he stopped and looked forward to where the sounde from. Arge figure was running towards him hastily. Its shadow wasrge at first but it was getting smaller with his every step. Atst, after a few seconds, it was visible. With its blood-red eyes and sharp teeth, it red at me... with fear. "I knew I would find some here!" I shouted happily and red back at it. I used my skill on the creature to confirm it again. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Race: Dark Poison Rat Str: 32 Dexterity: 30 Stamina: 25 Magic Power: 15 Intelligence: 3 [ Skills: Poison Ssh, Poison bite, Smash] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Ok. So it does have poison. Hay dude... bye-bye." I snapped my fingers and waved my hand; a gust of wind cut through its stomach. Therge rat was cut in half. "KHEEE!" With a pained cry, it dropped dead on the watery floor. I sat down and moved its dead body. Extracting the poison from these creatures was a troublesome task without a . But I finished it quickly as I was experienced in these things. Filling a small vial, I started walking forward. ''I must collect as much of the ingredients as possible. If Eon wants to do this, then I have to help him as much as I can.'' [enchanting] was a difficult task for the beginners. It is more of experimentation than learning. He has to find the bnce through trial and error. So, he will need many materials of good quality for the ''starting process''. Rather than buying them, personally collecting them is way better. ''And what better ce to find poisonous creatures than in the sewers.'' Sometimes, the creatures in the underground sewers get corrupted by dark energy. Although the exits are sealed, entering is quite easy for someone like me. There is also a possibility that some dangerous creature might appear here so a regr checkup is needed. ''I can possibly find some good ingredients if I am lucky today...'' I thought with a greedy smile on my face. There were many things to hunt here but they were mostly weak monsters that can''t handle a mage. Walking forward, I found my second prey which was the same as thest one. There were many of these small flies running around down here. ''I want something more fun... It''s been a long time since Ist got out for hunting. After getting out of here, I should go to the nearby forest to find something more fun. Oh! I have to gather some herbs anyway.'' I walked forward and it was then, that I heard something different. ¨DKLANK! ¨DKLANK! A Sound of metal shing with the floor was heard from the distance. This was something different. Something more fun than those puny rats. (Aqua Curtain) A (tier-3) spell to blend the body with the environment erasing the sent and presencepletely. ''It''s more fun to y with the target than to outright kill it when you know that it''s as easy as eating.'' Licking my lips and quietly waited for it to approach. After some time, arge figure was visible in the distance. With a long body andrge metal-like ws, it somewhat seemed more intelligent than the other useless flies. ''It''s a good finding. It looks to be an (Orange) rank. Hmmm... let''s see.'' Licking my lips I activated my . ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Race: Giant Mana Lizard Strength: 54 Dexterity: 44 Stamina: 33 Magic Power: 51 Intelligence: 21 [Skills: Mana w, Poison Bite, Heavy m] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Haha... it really is an (Orange) rank. It seems I''m a bit lucky today." Iughed silently so that it couldn''t perceive my presence. The ranks are decided by the amount of M.P. possessed by the monster. It starts with (Red) at 25 M.P. and increases at every 25 M.P. intervals. So the (Purple) rank beasts Mostly have 175 M.P. and as for the other ones with (ck) rank, they are [demons] and the (White) rank [Energy Beasts] are called . Being the eternal enemies of other races, [Demonic] race is one of thergest and most powerful foes. And of them, the [Entitled Demons] are the most powerful ones. are LEGENDARY creatures that have appeared in many historical legends and myths. They are definitely real as there is clear proof of their existence. They are noble beings of nature with immense knowledge and great power. ''Some of them appear around the world in certain cases. We were lucky... to see one at that time.'' I remembered with longing in my eyes for a moment and then looked at thepetitively weak creature before me. Slowly gathering water type Mana in one hand, I raised my hand and pointed it towards the lizard. A transparent, two-fold magic circle appeared in my hands. Containing two circles and a water-like pattern with nine lines. (Aqua de) A (tier-3) attack type spell that containspressed water in the shape of a crescent de. "Kheee..." The creature noticed it and screamed. Raising itsrge tail it mmed it to the ground. As soon as the spell was released from my hands, the lizard bounced backward. Frantically looking around it somewhat guessed the location of the caster. ''Not bad for a fat lizard like you.'' I praised it and changed my location stealthily. Looking back at it, I just stood there to observe it. Jumping with the support of its back legs and tail, a blue glow appeared on its sharp ws. It was the skill . Crashing on the wall where it thought out the caster was, a small shockwave passed through the area. "Woh! Good one!" I shouted to provoke it. I knew that it was a bit smart than those rats but, in the end, it was just a fat lizard. Hearing a sound for the first time, It turned towards the source of the voice. Showing its teeth with a green fluid flowing out, it ran towered it. It was going to use its poison this time. But before it could reach its destination, arge spick of ice suddenly rose from the ground piercing arge hole in it. (Ice-Lance) A (tier-4) spell of ice attribute. A branch attribute of water. Blood spilled on the ground. Green blood which looked like thin, swamp water gushed out of therge hole in its stomach. Ignoring the blood, I reached the lizard. There was a chance to find a [Mana Core] or [Skill Stone] in the ranked beasts. Cutting through its whole body with (Mana de) a (tier-1) spell, I searched its inside. This squishy feeling was disgusting every time, without a doubt. "Hmmm... nothing. Well, better luck next time." It was very difficult to find either one of them without a stroke of good luck. The LUCK stat was one of the most difficult ones to increase because it just increases on its own. There wasn''t much known about luck as it was an innate stat. There were some rare artifacts that could increase it for a little while, but to increase it permanently, is impossible by external means. ''Luck is innate and I have a good 63, even though it is not that good when ites to finding a core or skill stone.'' Storing the corpse of the lizard in I started going back. This was good enough for quite a while. Extracting the venom of the lizard will fetch a good amount. Now, it was my turn to find some good herbs. I walked out and killed the small rats which appeared along the way. *** While dad was out to get the things I asked for, I was standing outside in the backyard with a bow in my hand. Taking out an arrow, I wrapped ck cloth around my eyes. Taking a few steps back, I released a long breath. "Huuu..." Feeling the subtle air current, surroundings, and the small environmental changes, I was able to feel the small moments in the surrounding. "Ready?" Mom asked from quite a distance away. There was a green button in her hand. I gave her the signal with a small nod. Pressing on the button, a green light appeared on the box-shaped object and three targets started rotating in different directions without a sound after that. Feeling the subtle air change, I figured out a rough location of them. All the sensory training I did was not in vain. I was able to improve my physical senses to a good high level. After training for thest few days, I was now confident that I can do it this time. Arranging an arrow in the bow, I starched the bowstring. Taking the stance, I heightened my senses to the maximum. ¨DRuuu... The world seemed to disappear slowly; only the small sound of a target cutting the air was visible. The outline of the target was roughly appearing in my mind. Releasing the arrow, anticipating a positive result, I removed the ck cloth and looked at the target. But... the arrow was not visible on any of them. "Eon..." Mom looked at me with an apologetic expression on her face. ''I can''t do everything perfectly. Well, I just have to try until I can.'' "Mom! Let''s try it again!" I shouted with a bright smile on my face. She understood it and happily nodded. "Yes!" ''This is how he is. My little baby who doesn''t give up.'' Thinking that we started training again. Chapter 21 Hunt (2) Deep within a forest with many trees surrounding, many strange voices could be heard. Voice of leaves shaking from the wind, sounds of wild animals, a small sound of water flowing in the distance, and the loudest one of all were... ¨DTRAT! ¨DTRAT! ¨DTRAT! ¨DTRAT! The sound of many creatures with multiplegs chasing a person was heard in the distance. Running with all his might, a man with long glossy ck hair and red eyes which shined in the blue moonlight was smiling happily. ''I got myself in an unexpected mess but... this is FUN!'' I thought back on my visit to this remote forest area with an excited smile. After exiting the sewers, I flew to this nearby forest with the (tier-5) spell (Wind floating). There wasn''t much on the outer regions so I walked in deeper With some anticipation. But then, something big caught my attention. I identally stumbled upon an oger warrior corpse, a (Yellow) rank Mana Beast. Not seeing anything wrong, I just stole that from this group of giant spiders. They were special monsters of the night. It was also night time so it was even more advantageous for them. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Race: Dead Mana Spiders Strength: 51 Dexterity: 48 Stamina: 36 Magic Power: 54 Intelligence: 15 [Skills: Mana Threads, Poison stings, Rot acid, Iron skin, Magic defense] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Prying on the mana of dead and carefully preserved creatures, they hunt in groups to increase the odds and hunt strong enemies. ''And... they don''t like their food getting stolen. Not by a weakling human at least.'' They outnumber me by 6:1. There was only one problem in killing them instantly. Though they are only (Orange) rank, they all had a (Magic Defense) skill. Direct and weak attacks won''t work on them. ''Either use strong attack magic or... y with them, thoroughly. Until they give up on defense and give an opening.'' I could use a powerful spell but, why would I use too much energy when I could do it in much less. On the bright side, I was having a lot more fun than killing those rats. As for running to the ends of the forest on foot... (Physical Enhancement) A (tier-3) spell to increase the physical stat by 30%. That was enough to outrun these eight-legged insects. Outrunning them, I was able to look around for some useful herbs. I had wondered around for quite a while, but there were not many good things. ''I did find the two good things.'' ============ [Sanctrin] - A mana herb. Found in ces with a good amount of mana and grown-up after a very long time. It can be used in increasing the mana reactivity and Mana gathering. -It can increase the strength of the [Enchantment] in weapon or armor. -It can also increase the M.P. generation rate by 5% when ingested. But, only people with strong mental fortitude could process it. ============ It will be a great conductor for enchanting after a little bit of processing. As for the other thing... it''s for me more than him but, it will help him ultimately. Looking at the glowing yellow liquid in the small ss vial in my hand, a big smile appeared on my face. ===================== [Forest nectar] -A great natural treasure for Mana Recovery. -It increases the speed of Mana gathering by 45% for 3 hours. (Can only be used by someone with high mental fortitude.) ===================== Though difficult, I was able to get this after much difficulty. ''I should have just used magic... what was I thinking when I decided to climb that big tree! That''s why I am sote. My gosh. Just thinking about facing Nolen like this is... scary!'' She knows how much crazy stuff I do when left in the fields alone. But... she also understands that there is always a reason behind that. She knows me from inside and out, that''s why... she is the only one. And even after knowing all that, I definitely know what is going to happen to me when I get back. A cold shiver ran down my spine just thinking about it. I would rather fight an impossible enemy than upset her too much. ''Then again, what am I without that. And, for Eon to use magic early, I will have toplete the reconstruction of the barrier as quickly as possible.'' Smiling, I put the small ss bottle inside my pocket. The (item box) was already full of the dead bodies of the oger and lizard. Now I had to carry this important thing on hand. The spiders chasing me liked to killrge monsters with good Mana, melt their insides with their acids, and preserve the bodies to turn the Pure Mana into Dead mana. Seeing me, a mage alone was maybe the most joyous thing for them. But they made the worst mistake. I stopped and turned around. Smiling, I pointed my hand in their direction. "Sorry friends, you wrongly saw your deaths as food. Now, go rest in peace." And just as thought, they all jumped in my direction without thinking about anything desperate to catch the prey. And that was when they really invited their own death. Six balls of electricity manifested before my hand. Six (tier-2) spells (Electro Sphere). As [Thunder] was a higher version of Fire attribute and preparing it required quite a bit of time, I was waiting for them to get frustrated and jump in the air, showing only the defenseless part of the body. The spheres shot forward from my hand and pierced through the spider''s body from their backs. Yellow blood sted at the same time from their body. As if the strings has been cut off, their bodies fell to the ground one by one. Even after death, their legs were shaking due to electric current. Truly painful. Walking forward, I checked their bodies for a core or [Skill stone]. But, there was nothing. Though their bodies were useful, I can''t store them in the (item box). "They could be used to make some decent stuff. Huuu. Well, let''s see." Searching through the stuff in the (item box) I finally found what I was looking for. A ck box-like object with different patterns engraved on it. It was a storage device. It required a lot of Mana to activate it but, it had far more space than (item box). ''Storing these guys requires more mana than killing them.'' A small sigh escaped my mouth. It was a really tiring day and, my family would have missed me. "Ok. Let''s go home." *** "Mom? What is taking dad so long? He should have returned earlier than this." I asked with a confused expression on my face. It wasn''t anything special to buy some stuff and return home. He went out when it was the early morning and it was alreadyte night. "It looks like your dad went to gather the things himself." She said in a somewhat certain voice. "Oh god... that idiot! He shoulde unharmed or else..." Mom shouted with a very angry expression. She was clearly worried about him by the look in her eyes. ''He went to gather materials himself? What would I even do with something of a higher quality? I don''t even know how to do that, if I waste them, it will be a problem.'' A worried expression appeared on my face. Mom noticed that and said with a calm voice. "Don''t worry, Eon. He did that to help you so, just trust your dad. As for your dad, just leave him to me. I will make sure he doesn''t do something like this again." Mom smiled and looked forward or... upward. At that time, a figure was visible flying in our direction. It was fast, so it wasn''t any bird. After a while of looking closely, a person was visible, flying in our direction. "You arete!" Mom shouted, looking up at the starry sky and the person. I didn''t notice at first due to the blue moonlight. It should have obviously been him. Landing on the ground slowly, a long exhausted sigh escaped his mouth. "Huuu... it was tiring. I used more Mana than I thought." Heined in a quiet voice and then, looked at me with a happy smile. Then he looked at mom and... his face instantly went pale. Mom was smiling happily. It was a sinister smile that gave even me creeps. ''Good luck dad. You are the only one to me for this.'' Walking closer to him, mom hugged him tightly. It was a bit expected this time so, neither dad nor I were surprised by this sudden action. I followed up and hugged them both. After a while, mom said in a low voice. "We WILL talk about thister." That was the rification that he wasn''t off the hook. He was well prepared for that so, he instantly replied with an almost inaudible voice. "Yes ma''am." Mom and I heard that loud and clear. It would be a difficult night for him... ''Poor dad. He did that for me and now, he will be ''scolded'' for that. Well, not that it''s anything new.'' Sometimes, doing the right thing would get us in unexpected trouble. In dad''s case, though his intentions were for my good, he took a longer time than he should have. It looked like he was fine, that means he wasted time on something unnecessary. If he had returned early, he wouldn''t be in this mess. ''Now mom will slowly and smoothly exin to him his wrongdoing. He should be able to make it through. Hopefully.'' I had experienced that first hand so I knew it well. But they had their different arrangements. "Dad. Good luck. Ah! Before that... mom and I made dinner today. Let''s go eat!" I said to lighten the mood a little bit. Mon was a good helper. Though she didn''t cook, she was good at following what I told her. "Nolen...? Made...? Dinner?" A horrified expression appeared on his face as soon as he heard that. Like he had remembered something terrifying, his face went as pale as ashes. Confused, I said again. "Mom helped me to make it." ''Is mom bad at cooking or something? She did help me just fine though? I don''t know as I never ate mom''s cooking. Looking at his expression, it looks like I shouldn''t even ask about that.'' "Yes. I JUST helped Eon. Don''t worry." She confirmed with her usual smile. "Then, it''s ok. Haa.. let''s go." It looked like the situation had calmed down. So we all went inside. The beautiful blue moonlight shining upon the house was spectacr. And this night... was going to be longer for someone. Chapter 22 Enchanting Standing in the middle of myrge backyard, dad, mom, and I have gathered around in a circle, with a pot in the middle of us. Sweat was clearly visible on our forehead. The pot was filled with a strange purple liquid, which was boiling in the strong heat of the orange-red fire. Covering our faces with the green-colored magic gas masks and wearing white gloves, dad was slowly mixing the liquid in the pot. The pot was almost as tall as my mom''s height. ''This process looks like some witchcraft but, we had to make do with what was avable. But... not having the proper equipment is soooooo damn frustrating!'' [Enchantments] are somewhat like writing a series ofmands. From what I had found out this past few days, the process could get very simr if you remove some troublesome things. But the problem was before the main process for me. The target of [Enchantment] first has to have the base qualities of a [Mana Conductor]. To do that quickly to an object like this wooden arrow, there are literary automated artifacts. These are costly artifacts that could only be bought by licensed magicians in the capital city or main cities. As the artifacts could only be created by the dwarven race, the quantity is also limited. So I told dad that we can use the primitive methods and that we can make do by mixing ingredients and making a helping substance that would work the same as the artifacts. Even though he worked hard and went through mom''s lecture, we didn''t expect it would be THIS much boring. Just to get this thing right, we had to SLOWLY mix it until it gets the right color. ''Fromst hour or so, dad is mixing this shit, SLOWLY and very CAREFULLY, thinking about helping me. I really appreciate and respect that but... waiting like this is NO FUN AT ALL!'' The worst thing was that mom was suffering here just to support us. I told her multiple times that she should go back but... she refused while smiling brightly. ''On top of it all, the sun is brightly shining on top of my head, as if to tease me.'' If I had something that was already made of Mana conducting material like an artifact weapon or Mana clothes, I could start right away. But those things are also hard to get. "Money is not even the problem..." Mom slowly murmured while looking at me with a very sad expression. She thought that she said it quietly so that I wouldn''t listen but, I heard it clearly. I grabbed her hand and, she looked at me with a surprised expression. "It''s ok mom." I appeased her with a calm and apologetic voice. "No... this could have been easy. If I just..." I clenched my hand and spoke again with a bright smile on my face. "It''s ok, mom. I''m just starting it anyways. I don''t know much about this so... we can do it more perfectly in the future." Hearing my words, she tightened her grip on my hand. With a sorry expression, she nodded and tried to smile. ''When we get back, I won''t let anything like this happen!'' She decided with a fire in her eyes. At that time... "Eon! It''s ready!" Dad shouted as mom and I looked at the liquid before us. It was a jade green color that looked pleasing to the eyes. And, it was the color we were waiting for. Quickly turning around, I picked up the bow, arrows, and some clothes. One by one, I threw everything into the pot. Like cooking something, dad started mixing up everything carefully. After a solid five minutes of hard work, it was done. "Huuu..." Dad fell down on his back. He was utterly exhausted. A pitiful sigh escaped my mouth. He had to be so focused on the process that he wasn''t even able to hear what mom and I were talking about a moment ago. I sat down beside him and sincerely thanked him. "Thanks, dad. You did very well. You are the best..." He smiled and replied with a question. "Am I? There could very well be someone who is better than me. Don''t you think?" There was a bit of sadness in his voice. As if, he is not good enough to be called the best. "I don''t know about others but, for me, you are and will be the best dad." I couldn''t ask for anything more than to just have them in my life. I don''t know about this world but, in my previous world, parents like them were VERY rare. So much that I never actually saw one with my own eyes. This world could be better in that aspect but, I''m sure that even in this world, presents like they would be rare. "Good luck. I hope you seed in this. But, be careful. It will be difficult but, I know you can do it better than anyone else." He patted my head gently and slowly stood up. "Nolen? Are you ok?" He asked, looking at mom with confusion. She was just standing there, watching us with warm eyes. "Oh. I was just watching you too. You two looked very good together just now." She praised, smiling like her usual self. It was very faint but, it looked like she was going to do something to father but... stopped herself. "Ok then! Dad. Let''s make some ice cream. It will be perfect for a hot day like this!" I suggested, thinking that the only thing that could make this atmosphere a little better for me would be some chocte ice cream. "Hmm~. That sounds like the perfect thing. I will take strawberries and orange, please. Oh! Honey~. Set some aside to make some wine-vored one for tonight." She said with a delighted face. Mom LOVED ice cream. And she was even nning to turn it into a business or something. ''I knew something like that would happen so I gave her some more information about the things I know and could possibly be done for mass production. She was very surprised and, we ended up talking all night. She wasn''t talking as a mother at that time but, as a merchant.'' That day is a good memory for me because I got to talk like my old self after a long time. Sharing opinions, correcting mistakes, and even about advertising and marketing. These were the things that I had done as an office worker in my previous life so I was very confident that if I wanted, I could overturn the whole economy of an ipetent nation. Mom knew that it was a VERY weird thing that a child like me could talk to a pro like her on an almost equal level. She knew ''me'', so she was the best person that understood me. ''And... I was obviously holding myself back that time.'' I was still a child after all. Though she was calm on the outside, I understood her more than enough to know that she is worried inside her heart. I had to do my best to not worry her too much. "Eon? What are you doing there? Let''s go!" Dad shouted, and I came back to the present after hearing his loud, happy voice. "Yes~!" I ran forward, smiling happily at today''s preparations. It will be ready by tonight so, I had almost nothing to do for rest of the day. *** Sitting on my desk, looking through a stack of papers in hand and a bowl with orange and pink-red colored smooth, creamy ball-like objects on the table, I sighed deeply. ''I don''t know anymore.'' He is smart, good at learning new things, good ating up with great ideas, cute, and sometimes... a mature man who seems to have lived more than myself? Just like those heroes depicted in children''s books nowadays. ''But I couldn''t help him today. If I just hadn''t been like this...'' It was not that long of a time. First, I thought that we would live happily and time would pass quickly. But... it turned out like this. He understands me like my father. He tries his best not to cause much trouble for me. Just showing his good side and holding back his frustration for many things. But, one thing that he has which even professionals fail to understand sometimes, makes him great, as a person. "Never giving up. Dad used to tell me and my brother every so often but, we didn''t understand it until we were 15 years old. He said it was impressive that we learned that so soon but,pared to him, it is nothing." Like he already has decided on a path to walk on, clearly understanding the required efforts, determination, and patience that he would be paying. ''A goal. Finding it is the most important and difficult thing for all of us. Deciding a goal to achieve this early, he is able to see the path clearly ahead of him.'' And what could a helpless, powerless, mom like me do in this situation? Just trying my best could be enough for him but for me, it''s like there''s a hole in my heart. Yes, I could do it, however, not now. This feeling of being powerless was something I only felt after his birth. And, in a way, I was happy that it happened. ''Now I could have them pay more than ever.'' Clenching the paper in my hand for a moment, I put it down and picked up the bowl of ice cream. Taking arge spoon, she smiled in delight. "To make something like this... " The future is holding many things in its hands, to let them fall on us like fine sand... falling from the tightly clenched fists. Chapter 23 Enchanting (2) Holding a long pencil-like wand, which wasmonly used by (Enchanters) to engrave a spell on the target, I looked at the arrow in my hand. In this process, thenguages used aren''t important but, the one who is engraving the spells is. To write the whole process on the target with limited space, either a huge amount of Mana or a very high level of understanding and imagination is required. Knowing the basics, the amount of in the spell, and harmony with each script or text is probably everything about [Enchanting]. ''At least, I only know this much.'' All I have is myself in this one if I want to learn. Not having a proper teacher is also frustrating. Books about it are also limited to basics. ''Well, it''s not like it is the main thing I will always be doing. Once my [Mana Nucleus] level increases, I will be able to create (magic arrows) with spells. Mainly being (tier-1) spells, I can''t practice them now.'' That was why creating these Enchanted Arrows was the best task before my breakthrough. They were good and used far less Mana than other spells. If I be proficient enough, putting even a (tier-1) spell will be possible. ''And by (tier-1) spell, I mean something on that level. I have limitless options when putting what will the object do when the appropriate mana is channeled.'' This will be an awesome thing if I can use arrows as a medium to cast a spell. Just like what I was nning to do when using magic, I can make suitable arrows to practice perfect Magic archery. ''And I will do that only when I have the Mana conducting arrows!'' I really don''t want to do this with primitive methods like this one again. To see them struggling... is thest thing I want to do. It''s good that I coated many arrows beforehand. ''It is good enough tost at least 6 months if I include my magic practice and normal training time.'' "Huuu..." Taking a deep breath, I started my first attempt. With the little Mana I had right now and the limited trials I had, I decided to make the arrows strong enough tost a long time. ''Can I put more than one strengthening spell on one? Well, let''s try putting one first.'' cing the wand upon one of the arrows, I channeled my Mana. Considering the space on the arrow''s body I can, at maximum, put three (tier-0) or one (tier-1) spell on it. The first one to practice was definitely the easy one. I started writing the process needed to strengthen the body of an arrow. This was a bit different from the usual strengthening spell I learned, which was a (tier-0) spell. The body of a wooden arrow could be strengthened with much less mana. As wood was part of a tree, which was an element of nature and different from the human body, strengthening it would just require the hardness of wood to grow to a different level. ¨DProcess Mana through the target. ¨DChange and increase the hardness of the base material. ¨DStrengthen the base material. The process was simple when first looked at and the result was also predictable. I smiled brightly. "Good. The first one failed. Now onto the next one." I definitely knew that this one was going to fail. It would have been a miracle if it did seed. What I was trying to do was different from the normal Enchantment process. If it was ok to do it my way, then I would definitely do just that. The bnce of Mana between each text was also a bit different. To master one enchant, I will have to do it many times to find a perfect bnce of Mana. ''And, thanks to my blessed memory, just doing it perfectly for once will be enough to [Memories] it.'' So, I tried it again. It was a good Mana control training too. I tried it again and again and again. Throughout the whole night, I repeated the whole process until only one forth of my Mana was left. *** Sun was rising from the horizon. The light of the stars and the beautiful shining blue moon were slowly fading in the sky. The beautifully raising orange morning sun was clearly visible from my window. With dark circles under my eyes, which were glowing by the light of the rising sun, and the sparkling golden-blond hair, I was almost about to fall from exhaustion. But, there was a bright smile on my face. "Finally!'''' Taking a few steps back, I slowly sat down on my bed. Looking at the normal-looking arrow which was the same as the rest beside it, a triumphant smile appeared on my face. "It is now 20% more strong and its hardness has increased to a whole new level. Though it can be as good as steel, it will require more than one (tier-1) spell." Strengthening or Enhancement is one of the main series in magic so the options are very diverse to explore. Some high-level spells could enhance the body to the level of diamond if needed. But those spells don''t have to be that high level to use as enchantments. If I increase the level of my Mana nucleus to, maybe... (tier-5), I will be able to change the molecr structure of an element. ''It''s just a spection and only possible in theory. But... I love this thing called magic!'' It was hard to learn but the fun of learning is something that someone like me, who has been in a world totally devoid of magic, can understand. ''Possibilities could be endless...'' I thought as I closed my eyes to take a small nap. I had worked hard, I deserved it. The Mana I used should get refilled to at least halfway through before I weak up. * "Hwaaaaaaaa~" With a loud yawn, rubbing my eyes, I got up from my bed. Looking at the side of the room where arge, vintage wooden clock was standing, I squinted my eyes. [2:40] Though time measurement was the same in this world as 24 Hrs'', unlike my previous world where a year was 365 days this world had 369 days. Almost the same, so to say. Getting up from my bed, I looked around the room. It was cleaned up. Dad must have cleaned it while I was asleep. This means mom knows that I was awake the whole night... maybe. ''Let''s hope I get off with some lite punishment.'' On that thought, my sleep totally vanished. Taking a small shower, I changed my clothes and started to walk downstairs. "Oh! I almost forgot about this." Running back into my room, I grabbed the arrow that I spend my whole night working. I wasn''t going to use this one. I walked downstairs and entered straight into the kitchen. Mom was sitting on a chair while dad was preparing lunch while wearing his usual pink apron. Seeing me enter the kitchen a creepy bright smile appeared on mom''s sweet face. Dad, on the other hand, looked, at me with a surprised expression. "Eon. You should have rested some more! Weren''t you awake all night!" He shouted with a big spoon in his hand. He looked very funny when he said that. Just imagine a big handsome man holding a spoon, dressed in a pink apron. But, I managed to stop myself from bursting outughing. "Dad! Here. It''s for you. This is the first one I made!" Holding out the arrow I made, I smiled brightly. It was my first Enchanted arrow. My very first step toward achieving a difficult goal. He knew this, as a surprised expression appeared on his face. "W-what? Eon should keep it! Don''t give it t-to me..." Before he could finish his sentence, I had put the arrow in his free hand. "If not for dad''s help, I wouldn''t be able to make it in the first ce. And, it''s a thank you. For everything, you do every day. It has to be yours." I was genuinely happy and thankful to him. He was just amazing. Mom, watching us from the sidelines, smiled happily and teased with a mischievous tone. "Honey~, if you don''t want it, Eon will give it to me~." She blinked in my direction. I understood her intention and yed along with a smile. "Yes! I will give this to mom." He instantly took the arrow and put it away in his (item box). Looking at us with an embarrassed look, He shouted. "No! You gave it to me, so I will cherish it forever!" Smiling happily, I nodded my head. Then we heard mom''s sad voice. "It looks like only dad gets a special gift, huh? Is it because Eon loves dad more than me~?" I instinctively retorted with a worried expression. "N-no! Mom is as good as dad. You are both the best! I will be making something else for mom!" I knew she was just teasing me but, I can''t help it. ''I already had something on my mind for mom but it would take some time.'' "I''m thinking of something more special for mom." A satisfied smile appeared on her face. "Oh~? Something special?" "Yes. But, it will take some time to be ready." "Then I have no choice but to wait patiently..." She was more cheerful for some reason as she looked at both of us. "Eon..." Dad was going to say something but stopped. Sniffling for a moment a horrified expression appeared on his face. Mom and I were confused too. There was a smell of something burning... "Dad!" I suddenly remembered and looked at the soup that was now burning in the pot. "W-a-aaaa!" Dad instinctively created arge ball of water and it fell on the burning pot. The water fell and the fire was put out. But... "Khu, hahaha..." Dad and I were absolutely soaked by therge waterfall. Mom tried to hold back herughter but, we looked just that funny right now. This continued until dad dried both of us with a warm wind and we gave her a silent stare. Dad had a somewhat crying look. Sitting down, I tried my best to maintain my straight face. Even I wanted to cry right now. This day would be a memorable one for all of us. Chapter 24 Magic Practice In a basement-like ce that was dimly lit by some small lights on both sides, a transparent blue orb was ced in the middle of arge magic circle. A person with a small yellow hue surrounding his perfectly toned body was engraving something on therge magic circle. With extreme concentration, not even blinking while carving new lines on the floor. Small dopes of sweat were slowly falling down from his clear pale forehead. With slow and deep breaths, he connected thest two lines in a triangle, with his pure white wand. A blue light escaped from the orb and then, slowly spread throughout the whole magic circle. Shining with a bright blue-white color for a while, the light slowly faded and only the magic circle remained. "Finally... it''s done." A long, exhausting breath escaped from his mouth. After three weeks of constant work, the defensive core was now ready to register another Mana signature. '' Eon can finally use magic.'' He had to wait for quite some time but he managed to pass time with his unique arrows. ''He has surprised me more than my life had until now. He''s just... amazing.'' Now he didn''t even know how to praise his own son. He stood up with a small smile on his face and turned around. ''I can''t wait to tell him about this!'' he excitedly turned around. *** In the backyard of the house, a young boy with shining golden-blond hair was holding a bow and arrow with strange patterns on it. The patterns, if looked closely, were shining with a blue glow. ¨DSHWEEEEEEEESH. ¨DTHURT. I released the arrow and, just as it left my bow, it shot forward with much more force than a normal arrow could. Just as it hit the red and white wooden target, it almost pierced the target. "Holy... mother of goblins..." I gasped, looking at the performance of my first arrow with three full enchantments. (+Body enhancement), (+Speed enhancement), (+Heat) One increased the strength of the body, the second increased the aerodynamics with wind Mana particles, and the third heated up the tip to increase the piercing effect. The result was more than I originally expected. It could have been more dangerous if I hadn''t made any preparations. I looked at my bow and smiled internally. This was the best thing I had made until now. A bow that only activates the enchanted arrows when they left the bow after a while. Just like a trigger or circuit, only when the arrow is no longer in contact with it, the mana activates enchantments on it. It was difficult to figure out the bnce of Mana in every single text. Though it''s almost close to a (tier-1) spell, it''s not quite at that level as there are many things that this bowck. Just that Mana input limits me to 9 arrows at a time. It wouldpletely drain my Mana reserve if I try more than 12 arrows. Just making this arrow took me a whole week. But it was definitely worth it. I looked at the target with fear in my eyes. ''If mom found this, I may not be able to practice archery for the next few weeks.'' A small, cold shiver ran down my spine just thinking about that. Walking towards the target, I tried to take the arrow out of it. It was difficult because it had almost pierced the thick wooden target. "Yaaa!" With a loud cry, I barely took the arrow out with my full basic strength. It would have been much easier to use magic but conserving Mana was important. Putting the target back, I walked back towards my usual position. Taking out another arrow which had different enchantments than the previous one, I ced it on the bow and stretched out my bowstring. This arrow was a gamble well as a prototype for the final product. If this worked, I was sure how my first real (Magic arrow) will be. A small blue light appeared on the bow but the arrow had a dull red light on it. Closing my eyes, I focused all my attention as far as I can. I wasn''t going to get the arrow back so it had to be as far away from where I was. [Origin Skill- Mystic eyes] I released the bowstring and the arrow shot forward. I saw the body of the arrow where I put two (Heat) and one (Wind) enchant closely. As I had now mastered the skill, I was able to see as far away as I wanted... for a limited time. Of course, I had limitations on the distance but, it was as good as 9 K.M... for now. The body of the arrow slowly started to turn bright red. Slowly a small fire burned like a matchstick and engulfed the whole arrow. The arrow was on fire. It was a good enough fire to call (tier-1). And so, the (Fire Enchantment) was a sess. ''Now that it''s true that I can make fire without the (tier-1) spell called (small fire), I can create much strong fire with a (tire-1) spell. If possible, I can shoot a me arrow-like spell without any real arrow and only with fire-type Mana particle.'' "Yes...!" I shouted with a winning hand gesture. This was the result of three days'' work. And it was sessful. It felt good when you were able to get a good result from your long effort. I was rejoicing in my sesses. But then... "Eon... Why is there a fire!?" Dad just came out of the house but shouted with surprise as soon as saw the fire in the distance. The arrow fell on the grass so the fire was getting bigger. It was quite far so I didn''t think he would notice this quickly. I was so happy that I had almost forgotten about the fire. ''Should have put the fire out first;'' I sighed as I thought that. He looked at me and understood that it was my doing. With a snap of his finger, he put the fire out in an instant. Not taking the risk of my dear mother finding it out, he cleaned up the ground with wind magic. Shaking his head, he walked toward me and said with a Solemn expression. "Eon. You should refrain from something dangerous. ying with fire by yourself could be dangerous. Next time, have me around when you do something like this." "Yes. I will keep that in mind." I nodded and took a note to have a dad around when experiencing these things. That way, if mom were to find out and punish me, dad will have to be there to apany me. "Anyways... Eon." He called my name with a serious expression. I knew this was something important so, I picked up my ears. "Do you promise to practice magic only when I am around? If you don''t then, you won''t get permission from me." "I promise that I will only practice magic ONLY when you are around." I understood that the time hade from his question. Dad haspleted the barrier and I can register my Mana signature. Dad saw the look in my eyes and understood that I was determined. He nodded with a big smile on his face. It was also a proud smile. "Then let''s go and tell mom!" He was also excited to see me practice magic. There was anticipation in his eyes, to see something unexpected again. But then we heard a sweet, cheerful voice from behind. "Oh~? Papa and son are going to see mommy? What could the reason be~?" Mom was on the other end of the door, walking toward us with her usual smile on her beautiful face. "Mom! Dad finished the barrier and I can start the magic practice!" I shouted happily but, then... I saw mom''s expression changing. It wasn''t much dramatic change but I saw it clearly. But, it quickly vanished and she regained herself. "Oh? Now Eon can practice magic? How wonderful~." There were very small hints of worry and, her act would have gone unrecognized by anyone else. But... I was able to see it, and dad too. But we both pretended not to know that. Mom saw through us, but didn''t say much and dragged us inside. Then we talked for some time and I reassured mom that I will be OK. Dad too talked for a moment with her personally. This time, the situation was cleared out very quickly. "Eon. Do your best." She said with still worried eyes. But now, there was resolution in them. She was very difficult to deal with but... that was her. An always worried helpless mother. "Mom. I will do my very best. And I won''t do it alone anyway. Dad will always be around." With that, mom was fully convinced. Now... I could practice it in earnest. ''Magic...'' A single thought covered my mind. What would it be like to use different and new types of spells? How can I make different changes; how the things actually work? Can I really do super cool stuff like flying or making big explorations? There were a lot of things currently going on in my mind but, the excitement was the same as ever. At longst, Something that will be much more fun... was about to start. Chapter 25 Magic Practice (2) In the quiet library, the voice of something being written on the board was echoing. Dad was drawing different magic circles on the board to exin all the main magic series. This was a regr theory ss and he was exining everything slowly and carefully. We have already registered my Mana signature in the defensive barrier in the early morning. It was my first time seeing the basement floor and, it was amazing. It was filled with different, weird things. There were many magic devices too. I just had to put some Mana in the core orb so I didn''t get the chance to explore everything. Today, he was teaching about the main magic series in this world. ''Magic'' in this world, is divided into six main series. 1) Destruction 2) Enhancements 3) Support 4) Summoning 5) Illusion 6) Unique. Except for thest one (Unique magic) which is specialized magic and only developed and used by certain individuals, every other series can be used by anyone. We can test and choose which series of magic suit us the most. People mainly focus on one or two of these series to master when they are admitted into the academy or choose to take a separate path like an adventurer. The destruction series mainly focuses on power and magic output. With any of the six elemental attributes as its base, one could cast the designated destruction magic. Enhancement magic focuses on increasing the strength or speed or any other stat or more simply, any aspect of the material body. Environmental Mana is used in the process so that any required element could work in the process. Support magic includes healing magic, barrier magic, and magic canction. Water and Light attributes are mostly used in healing, barriers can be made with any elemental type and magic and canction use the opposite type of spell to counter the first one. Summoning magic is rarely used by human beings as the one close to nature has a better affinity with creatures of the element. On the dark side, summoning dark beings like demons or undead ismon among some groups who have forsaken humanity. Illustration magic could be very lethal if the target does not have good mental fortitude. Used in the assassination or as a barrier to separate areas, it''s a very difficult type to master. "For someone like Eon who has more than one natural elemental affinities, finding one type to master would be a very difficult task," dad stopped and looked back. He had filled the tworge bords in the library with different geometrical shapes and circles. He always enjoys talking about magic and stuff like this but, there was a bit of concern when he said that. ''Having many options is sometimes a curse. I know that very well.'' When you could do many things but have to choose only one of them, it bes a life or death type situation. If you choose and can''t tack back your decision, it eats you up from the inside. So, in this life, I had decided to do the things that I wanted. Having mom and dad as my presents is nothing but a blessing. "So! Eon~, let''s practice some real magic." He cleaned up everything with water magic and moved out of the door while jumping in excitement. He was more excited than I about magic practical. Was he nning to blow something up? whatever it was, I was excited too. With a bit of uneven breathing, I reached the backyard. *** "I know that you have learned basic (tier-0) spells already so I will show you some umon ones. I... can''t use Light and Darkness attributes at all so... you will have to figure them out by yourself." He closed his eyes for a moment and channeled some water-type mana. It was amazing to see Mana particles quickly rush towards him. As some seconds passed, the water slowly got cold and then froze in a round shape. A small ice ball. It was almost transparent and the faint vaporing out of it was almost unnoticeable. "Higher form of water and most basic and very difficult (Water Freeze). It freezes water and makes it into ice. We first have to take (water) and take away all the (heat) from it to drop its temperature until it gets to the point where it freezes." In short, make water and take away the heat from it. ''Sounds simple but it''s definitely is very difficult.'' "You should practice after seeing the rest of them." Just as I lifted my hand to gather Mana, dad suggested to practice itter. "Now. (Spark) is one of the most difficult spells for a beginner. Being a higher form of fire, grasping the feel is most difficult when manifesting the spell." Small sparks of lightning appeared on dad''s fingertips. ''Woh! So this is the Lightning attribute. Dad never used it at home. Is it because it takes this much time to manifest just (tier-0) spell? It looks awesome though!'' I looked at it with sparkling eyes. This was going to be very exciting to learn. Just like this two, he showed me some different spells and talked about some spells that he couldn''t use. There was some sorrow in his eyes when he talked about the spells that he couldn''t use. As a mage, he was very good at things he could do. But now that he was teaching me, he was a bit disappointed. It was understandable. I was his son after all... he could be thinking that he wasn''t good enough, again. "Dad. I think you are the best at what you can do. It''s the path you walked on. There is nothing wrong. In fact, I think you are awesome!" He smiled at my words. It was a smile that was expecting these words. ''I knew he would say something like that. He IS amazing.'' A smile appeared on his face. With a nod, he sat down on a chair by the other side. "You should start practicing now. If you have any problem, just ask me." I nodded and started to prepare. In total, I had Memorized 42 different (tier-0) spells including the ones dad showed me today. However, most of them are useless to me, like (Circte), (Far see), (Breath), (Maintain). They are spells for someone that don''t have any knowledge of magic. So, in total, The spells that I was going to practice were Enhancement spells and Elemental spells. The first one that I practiced was (Enhance Speed) which I asked dad for the first time back then. After using the spell, I tried to run like I always but, but my speed was expectedly fast. I didn''t know how to control my speed and almost fell on the grass. It was a good thing to have daddy around. Just as I was about to fall, a small wind passed by and stopped me from almost falling. "Eon! Be careful." Dad shouted with a bit of worry in his tone. ''Huuu... I should be more careful.'' Getting a good feel of my increased stats'', I started running again. This time, it was much easier. I could clearly feel the increase in my speed was arge 10%. It was amazing. If I could use (Speed, Stamina, Dexterity, and strength Enhancement) all at once, it will be a great help in my archery training. But, for now, I can only cast one spell on myself at a time. My Mana was limited so I decided to only practice one type at a time. So, I left the Enhancement series and started with Elemental spells. (Heat), (Small Wind), (Water), (Pebbles), (Small light), (Shape shadow), (Spark), (Freeze water), (Disturbing sound), (nt growth). Of the many (tire-0) spells, ones with higher Elemental versions like (Disrupt sound) which was from a higher version of wind, and (nt growth) which was from a higher version of earth, were difficult to start. The problem wasn''t the spell itself but the output of Mana which was necessary for the spell to work. Being one of the most difficult spells, they required arge amount of Mana at once, which was a really new thing for me. Just casting (Spark) took me almost half a day. Just one sessful attempt had drained 1/3 of my Mana. Though I knew the principle behind the spells and my imagination while casting the spell was unique, the first time was difficult. When I tried it the second time, it was much easier. Just separation of ions from the base to create electricity was tough. Dad stopped me when the sun was about to almost set on the horizon. I was exhausted too so, we headed back into the house. Dad had a pale expression as we headed back. And I knew why. ''H-he mastered it? A-a higher elemental spell in... hours?'' I knew he will learn it quickly but... not this quickly. This speed was unprecedented, even for a genius. Just Memorizing the spell would take a normal mage 3 days at the very minimum. ''It''s always like this. He Understands something he learns for the first time.'' Just amazing. There weren''t enough words to describe my shock. But there was definitely some pride in his eyes. As a father, there was no better joy than just having him. But, he offers far more than that. These contradictory feelings of shock and joy are just that special of a feeling. Looking at me dad smiled happily and I also gave him a warm smile. There were still many things left to learn and many things to see but, the journey was more fun than whatever the destination was going to be. Chapter 26 Visitor In a very quiet office-like room, A beautifuldy was quietly reading and scribbling on the paper with a unique fountain pen with a weird creature inscribed on it. Because of the bright sunlighting from the window behind her, the shiny blond hair she had were almost sparkling. The atmosphere was quiet and she looked in a good mood. But then... she suddenly stopped writing when the shadows inside the room started reacting weirdly. As if to be alive, the shadows moved and a dark humanoid outline came out of the shadow. It then slowly cleared up and revealed an older-looking man with dark clothing. With white hair, dark blue eyes, and a normal face which was like any other good grandpa who lived next door. He bowed and spoke with a very low, nostalgic voice. "Have you been well, young miss?" My eyes widened in surprise. -THUT. With shaking hands, the pen in my hand fell on the paper. With my eyes still wide open, I looked at him with surprise but, there was joy in my eyes while looking at him. "You almost surprised me grandpa Zhen...'' Even though I had seen him do that many times this time, itpletely caught me off guard. Though unexpected, seeing him after such a long time was... definitely a good thing. He chuckled as put his hand on his mouth to hide his smile. "Seeing you surprised is a rare sight to behold, miss." It wasn''t every day that he could see that flustered face of hers. And if it had been in the past, this would be something that no one would believe was possible. "Gramps! You just..." With a slightly red face, I shouted in frustration. There weren''t many people who could tease her like this. Taking a minute to calm down, a strange silence shrouded the room. With a serious expression, I asked. "Youing here must mean that... things are about to end, right?" The voice that came out of my mouth, however, was desperate. Nothing like my usual self. "Yes. Just two more months. We have almost gathered everything." This was one of the most reliable voices for me. If he said that, it meant that the time had almoste. "Finally... " My heart ran faster and my blood almost ran cold. Now that I knew how long it was going to take, waiting would feel much longer. "Master is also excited to finally be able to see you two and young master. I, too, want to meet him as soon as possible but... master ordered me he will be the first one to meet him." He then chuckled and put a letter on my desk. I instantly recognized it was from big brother when I saw the glowing blue rose on it. "Master Elkan was... ahem! Very eager toe along with me but master locked... ahem! Stopped him. Well, you know... that''s him." He awkwardly scratched his cheeks with his index finger and sighed deeply. My brother was more dramatic when it came to me and now, Eon too. ''I''m sure he''s gloomily sitting in the corner of his room, all gloomy. How does big sis even handle that crybaby?'' A defeated sigh escaped my mouth while thinking about him. "So gramps, wanna see him?" He was the person who took care of my brother and me for as long as I could remember. He was very good at stealth and was almost at [Upper-Advance level] in using his [Origin skill]. I was already thinking of letting him teach Eon but, he has to wait a bit longer for that. "Hmm... I can''t meet him directly but, seeing him from afar would be ok, right?" nodding with a bright smile, we walked downstairs. Opening the door of the backyard, I stood at the door and watched him doing his magic training. *** Almost a week has passed since we started the magic training. I was almost able to grasp every spell there was in (tier-0) so, we had started doing some mana control training. From Mana breathing to manually circting Mana, I had always relied on my skill so I didn''t know how it''s done manually. Learning it wasn''t a bad idea. Dad was already at a loss for words when I finished learning all the spells he taught me in just a week. It was... unprecedented? ''Huuu... it took an entire day to calm him down. Mom was having... fun? Was my suffering funny? It''s hard to understand her sometimes,'' I sighed. "Ok Eon. This is enough for today. We can start the physical training now." I opened my eyes slowly at dad''s voice. Exhaling deeply, I stood up and stretched for a while. It took high mental fortitude to trace the Mana cirction manually. Looking around, I suddenly spotted mom watching us while leaning against the door. But... ''Is there something besides her?'' I rubbed my eyes and looked at her again, with a confused expression clouding my face. Now... there was nothing. ''Is it just my imagination?'' I waved at mom and called her out. "Mom!" She waved back at me and shouted in her happy tone. "Eon~. Don''t overwork yourself. Honey! You too." She talked with dad for a bit and went back inside. I thought she was just checking up on us so I didn''t pay much attention to it and went back to training. *** "Young miss. I think young master Eon is more amazing than I heard from the master." As soon as I entered my room, grandpa Zhenmented in an admiring voice. "Isn''t he? He Is amazing. After all, he is MY son~. Huhu..." I was always proud of him. Hearing someonepliment him was one of the greatest joys for a mother like me. "Yes. Indeed. It''s verymendable for a young child like him to almost see through this old man''s primary concealment. If we had stood there for another minute, then I''m sure he would have seen through me." There were signs of respect, shock, and pride in his eyes. "Hah-ha. I-it''s amazing. Right?" I replied with a cracking voice. Even I was shocked to hear this. I knew this friendly neighborhood grandpa''s prowess well. If he said that then, he really meant it. "Young miss... I know as a parent you must be worried. But, he has unparalleled talent. That fact can''t be changed. I will just say that... being a bit selfish is ok but if it esctes much... those emotions might change into something different. I know you know this and will make the right decisions in the future." Saying that he melted into the shadows and vanished. "I know..." I whispered under my breath and went back to my desk to continue the work I left. *** Once again, holding my bow and three different arrows by the bowstring, I looked straight ahead. The targets were quite far away this time. Almost six hundred meters away from where I was standing. It was almost sunset and there would soon be time to go back inside. The three arrows I was holding were enchanted with a new spell I made. The arrows with (Small gust) spell on them were supposed to work as abo and join tougher to be more powerful than normal wind element arrows. Aside from (small gust) there was a (join) spell which should work... as I hoped. Well, its function was to join the things like glue with earth and water type mana but... "The targets have to be in touch with each other for this low-level spell to work." I can not do something fancy like shooting arrows andbining them together with some electric sparks and then making a BOOM! Nope. Not possible for now. Releasing the arrows at ones like that manually is very difficult. I don''t even know if it will go as I nned. The probability was minuscule. ''Who knows? Maybe it could get influenced by my whopping 21 luck. Ordy luck would get charmed by my heavenly 19 charm? If there is a possibility, then what harm is there to try?'' And if something does go wrong, dad was watching from there. If he is here... then there isn''t anything to worry about. "Huuu..." Taking a deep breath, I adjusted the arrows between my fingers. There would be a gust of wind around them as soon as I relies them so the distance had to be calcted and the spell invocation time had to be aligned. After thinking for a moment, I gathered all my focus on the target. Only focusing on it and nothing else, maintaining my breathing, I gathered my mana on my fingertips and onto the bow and arrow. After checking the air disturbance and some other factors, I confirmed everything again. With my heart beating faster with the excitement of the result, I released the arrows. And then... Contrary to my expectations, all three arrows flew in different directions as soon as they left the bow. When the enchantment got activated, all three of them were already 50 meters away from each other. The Mana activated in it an arrow''s speed elerated. In two different directions, the arrows are stuck in different things. One stuck the log on which the target was set. One struck the grassy ground before the targets. Thest one, however, changed its direction and flew back towards me. I closed my eyes in fear and put my hands in front of me in defense. But... fortunately, the arrow fell after colliding with an invisible shield before me. With a horrified expression, I fell to the ground. This was the first ''things go wrong'' situation for me. "Eon!" Dad shouted and ran in my direction. He was also terrified with his eyes popped out. Sitting down by my side, he helped me stand back up. Checking me from head to toes, he sighed in relief. I wasn''t hurt in any way. That was a relief. This was a very unfortunate result. The airflow created after the three spells were activated caused the directions of the arrows to change. I had thought of a situation like this but... the chances of it really happening was very minuscule. ''Looks likedy luck was in a bad mood today for something like this to happen.'' "Haaa..." I sighed and stood up. Walking forward, I collected all three arrows and came back to my position. "Dad. We will do this two more times to see what happens. If it goes wrong again, then... we will call it a day." My voice was firm and he could see the determination in my eyes. He was now really worried. This was a really dangerous situation. Though I had put a (Mana protection) enchantment on my clothes and even made a small shield in that split second, things might have really gone wrong. It was the best thing to have him around. But, as a father, he was worried beyondmon sense. But, after seeing the determination in my eyes, he couldn''t help it. After a solid minute of thinking and deciding, he sighed in defeat. "Ok." Giving a short answer, he stood just two steps behind me. It was ok so I went back to my previous stance. With some focus, I tried again. The other two tries were also... failures. ''My bad. Well, tomorrow might be lucky?'' I sighed deeply. We packed up and went inside with dad still having aplicated face and mind full of chaotic thoughts. Chapter 27 Father My son... is amazing. He is intelligent, creative, understands his twocking parents, and... maybe he''s a better cook than me. And the most amazing thing about him isn''t something small like that. He has a goal! Some young teenagers would not have any idea, what they are doing something for. Why do we study? Why do we read and gain knowledge? Why does a magician suffer so hard to learn those difficult things? Why does a person wield a weapon? Why do we want to get stronger? ''He has the answer for all of them.'' He is barely 6 years, yes... just a 6 years old child! He said he wanted to protect us. With straight eyes filled with unprecedented determination. ''I knew those eyes from back then.'' They weren''t the eyes of a child. Definitely. Only someone who has suffered in solitude and loneliness can have so much desire to protect a hard-earned ce to belong. ''I know them somewhat because I was like that at one point too.'' But, I had anger driving me back then. Just pure hatred and anger. He, on the other hand, had hope in those sharp eyes. A hope greater and more desperate than any other I had seen. Hope for life. A wish to live in present. Something... that I found only after meeting her. I still remember that first meeting and that soft hand. That eventful day... was just precious. He might be someone who has suffered more than me. ''Being ALONE and being LONELY are different things, and I know that very well. But the sufferings in both of them.... are just as great.'' From fear to anger, everything hurts if it''s piled up over and over. I was saved but, he could have just ended with all of that. Alone. ''I can''t even fathom the coldness of that suffering.'' But, it was not something of the present. Now, he is just my cute, little Eon. An unparalleled magician, or more precisely, a never seen before [Magic Archer]. I put my right hand on his forehead, warmly looking at him. He was sleeping like a baby. He trusted me but there was still that ident. ''I had checked them beforehand but, to think they could be used in the way he was trying to use them... it was very amazing!'' What he tried was something like spellbining. A technique that mages like me mainly use. But he tried it with enchanted arrows. And the result that could be achieved by it, was an equivalent force of an arrow powered with (tier-2) wind magic. But... ''This foolish child could have gotten really hurt. He was reckless this time.'' Though he had his protective gear, if the spell had seeded... and then backfired as a whole, then it would have been VERY dangerous. A worried expression shrouded my face. But, it was ok. Nothing happened and... that was enough. One more thing to notice about him was his rapid Mana gathering speed. Though he had his auxiliary skill to thank, without his daily hard work, it would not be possible. ''He will... soon reach (tier-1). Fastest for any human to ever reach that level.'' Yes... I was worried but, I was also relieved for a reason. ''Now, I will have real things to teach him.'' The magic truly started from (tier-1). There were countless spells to learn and countless things to experience. ''Magic'' would start from there. ''But, he still needs time.'' With a small smile, I creased his forehead and stood up. Just as I turned around, I spotted my dear, lovely wife. Happily watching us from the door. With a small nod, we smiled and left the room. *** In a dimly lit bedroom at the corner of the house, we were sitting on our bed, holding hands in the small gap between us. My hand was a bit sweaty but her was warm. There were traces of small bumps but... I knew they were from doing her usual paperwork. There was a strange silence and tension in the room today. I didn''t want to talk about the ident but, what could be her reason for hesitation? After a moment of silence, she broke the silence and started speaking. "Grandpa Zhen visited in the morning." The reason for her hesitation quickly dawned upon me. A small smile appeared on my face as I asked while tightening my grip on her hand. "So, it seems that... they gathered almost everything." "Yes. It should take just two more months. And then..." A warm smile clicked on her face. She was desperate to quickly go back... and introduce Eon to everyone. "Good." No more words came out of my mouth. And... that was enough for her. Resting her head on my shoulder, she closed her eyes. The room was calm again. I thought that we would be like this all night but, pouring cold water on the calm... was her sharp question. "So? When are you going to tell me what happened today? I know it''s about Eon. Hm...?" She pushed me back on the bed with a terrifying smile. I knew at that point... it was toote now. With a cracking voice, I unconsciously tried to exin... just to hear something I definitely expected. "No-Nolen... I-I can exin everything..." "Oh, you defiantly will... after I''m finished, that is." She sat on top of me with that same terrifying smile. *** With dawn slowly approaching, the horizon was preparing to be dyed in the morning hue of the beautiful rising sun. Watching this from arge balcony of a huge see blue mention, was a middle-aged figure. With short hair which perfectlyplimented his long and finely braided beard, he looked somewhat intimidating. But... the aura around him was very different him hisrge frame. Though he was tall and had a VERY strong build, he felt strangely approachable. You would feel like talking to him by just being around him. It was a strange feeling but, anyone in the empire would know this figure just with a small nce. "Master." Turning around, a shadow started to materialize in a human form. It reflected in his stoic, deep blue eyes. After a few seconds, the shadow took a form of an old man in a butler uniform. He had white hair but, his eyes weren''t that of an old man. Although the old man looked very tired with sweat falling from his forehead, he stood straight in front of his master. Walking back inside the house and motioning the old man to sit, a voice filled with emotions came out of the middle-aged man. "How were they? Did you see him? How was he doing?" Though he asked many things at once, the older man understood every single word. "They are happy and healthy. Nothing other than young master Eon is just worrying them. But, well... that''s the fun of being parents. You get to worry about small things while also rejoicing over the same facts." He was happy seeing the two parents doing so well. There was joy in his eyes, the joy of a grandfather seeing his grandchildren. "But, young master Eon is... more amazing than you told me, master. His eyes and his perception... they ARE good." A shocked expression appeared on the middle-aged man''s face. Then, it slowly turned into a big smile. "My little grandson is more than amazing. He is awesome! Looks like this aging body will have one more person to teach in the future..." Then, as if to remember something, he punched the table before him. "Oh! Wait... he is also a mage. He also has a [Origin Skill]. Hmm... looks like he will have three more people to teach him once he gets here." He looked at the old butler with a grin on his face. "Zhen, you will have a student. After such a long time, you will have someone to really teach something." The old manughed heartily. Seeing his master behave like a grandfather, was something he enjoyed very much. And, hearing about him being a teacher... was something new. Something very new that he hadn''t done in decades. Being a teacher... was the same as being a parent. He was happy. It was disyed with his bright smile. "Now... we wait. And when the timees..." His eyes took a sharp turn. The same eyes which were happilyughing were now cold. As cold as the ancient northern seas. Something simr was going on with the old man as he too had anger in those wise eyes. "You can go now." The middle-aged man closed his eyes as he sat still. The old butler bowed and left the room. Now, therge room was left silent, again. The silence was only broken by the sound of the doors'' crack opening. Two small eyes looked into the room from the half-open door. The eyes were as blue as the sky. Same as the middle-aged man. Looking inside was a little girl with bright red hair. "Ca..." A smile appeared on the middle-aged man''s face. This meant that it was time. "Umm! Grandfather caught me again! You weren''t even looking this time~!" She shouted and ran towards her grandfather. He stood up and picked her up. She was a child, maybe around 6 or 7 years old from her size. Her neatly tied red hair was as beautiful as blood. She was wearing a training outfit with a sheathed wooden sword hanging around her waist. "I got up early today!" Her cute voice was very sweet and there was excitement in her voice. "You look happy, little one? What''s the asion, hm?" He asked with a smile but the answer he got was unexpected. But, it widened the smile on his face. "Mom said aunt and my little brother, whom you praise so much, will be back soon. I will spar with him and defeat him. So... I have to train a bit more." Laughing, he started walking towards the door. "You will have to work hard to beat that one, littledy." Seeing his granddaughter fired up was very cute. "Oh... that, we will see," she chuckled. She had an evil smile which, too, looked cute to him. Chapter 28 Friend Standing in my backyard at my usual spot, I... was crying. Crying whileughing. They were tears of joy. My father, hugging me tightly, wasughing triumphantly. In the distance away from us was a wooden target. Or, more precisely, there used to be one. Now... only a wooden ring, with almost all of its inner parts obliterated... was barely hanging out by the wooden log. Behind the now wooden ring, an arrow... or three arrows stick as one, had created a small crater with only mud remaining around it. This was a sess. The power disyed by the arrows was as good as any (tier-2) spell. It was amazing. ''My month-long suffering... finally paid off.'' Just focusing on this one type ofbination arrow was... tiring, challenging, and most importantly, it was fun! Dad and I worked on this arrowbination together. After the first failure and ident, dad started overreacting to every small thing. When I repeatedly demanded an exnation, he told me how he was almost... punished? Well, mom was the reason, ultimately. So we experimented together, again and again, day and almostte at night. We were locked in my room most of the time the day. This experience... was delightful. We had fun... very fun. Calcting and finding the Mana output for each text, putting together different materials to stabilize the oue, andstly, hearing mom''s lectures together. It was very, very exciting. At one point, we started waiting for mom''s punishments. It was fun for us to see her embarrassed because she knew full well that we were doing it on purpose. Now... we had a chance to tease her. And we used it full well. I learned many things from dad these past few weeks. How to efficiently calcte and achieve the desired results. He, on the other, had sometimes got... petrified, by how fast I learned those higher-level things. And he also actually learned some things from me. We shared opinions, shared suggestions, and yed around with different things. None of us were some researcher or anything like that but... it was fun. And, our month-long efforts paid off today. A few minutes ago, when Iunched thest prototype, it really came together and joined, increasing the efficiency and output of the overall spell. As the enchantment on the arrows was (Gather wind), (Vacuum) and thest one to attract them together, the result we achieved was perfect. But, the downsides of this whole process were... loss of three fine arrows, decrease in a rare material like [Sanctrin] and, a possibly long, REAL lecture from mom. But, well, enjoying the current joy was everything I could think of right now. Our little celebratingsted until... "What was that noise just now- !" Mom stood cold, looking silently at the arrow that caused a small crater, a perfectly pierced target, and her happily enjoying son and husband. "Brian! Eon!" she shouted. The anger in her voice was the perfect thing to drag us back to reality. We looked at her in unison... Frozen. Everyone would know what was going to happen from that point on. *** Looking down upon the two idiots, I signed in defeat. They had done many atrocities all around the house this past few weeks but, I never thought that they were making something like THIS!? Holding the three almost destroyed arrows tightly, I looked at them again. Brian was trying to hide his face while looking at me while my dear little son was looking quietly at me as though he had known something like this was inevitable. I sighed again, deeply, trying to calm myself down. Now, words won''t work on this two, who strangely grew ustomed to my harsh words and now... they took pleasure when I scolded them?! What was I? Some kind of mommy cat scolding her little kittens? J-just thinking about t-this is... "Uammm!" I screamed with my mouth closed. They looked at me in confusion but didn''t say anything. After a moment of thinking, I made a tough decision. "No outside training for a week." A shocked expression reced their calm and nervous expressions. This was the first time I said anything like this and... it was good this way. They will get a good rest as well as be away from something practically crazy like this for a while. And... I won''t have to worry about them for the time being. Though they had worked tirelessly for thest few weeks, they enjoyed their selves very much. They were happy and... bold with me if I say. Brian seemed like he had made a true friend after a long while. ''A friend.'' That was something very difficult for him but, he was able to be free from being a parent and be friends. And most importantly, they looked VERY cute, when they identally fall asleep while doing their work. ''I could stare at those cute baby faces for eternity...ahem!'' I controlled myself from almost drooling. So, ultimately, I was less angry about this one. And, if any new, safe idea popped up in their mind and they started their work again, it will be... win-win. Well, that was what I thought about the very least. "Mom? Dad and I were already thinking of dropping the outside training for the week and focusing on my... (tier-1) breakthrough." Eon hesitantly said something with a quiet tone but, I couldn''t possibly have heard the right thing. "Hm? Sorry, I don''t think I caught thatst thing. I think, I misheard something like, (tier-1)?" I thought I heard wrong but... it was true. He shook his head at me and repeated with an awkward smile. "M-mom, you heard right. I will reach (tier-1), soon." He was smiling, on the other hand, Brian had a satisfied look. I nced and him, and said with my eyes. ''I will see youter...'' His satisfied smile vanished and a grim expression coated his face. Ignoring him, I looked at my happy son again. Now, he had given another shock to this already shocked mom. Now, however, I had epted that he is a real genius and I can''t stop him even if I want to. Sighing, I sat down and hugged him. He wasn''t even six years old properly and, he was going to reach (tier-1). "Don''t overdo it. Just, take everything slowly. Dad will be there so don''t do difficult stuff by yourself." I kissed his forehead and went out after talking with Brian for a while. Now, this pitiful mom will worry about her sweet family while sitting alone for a while. Today was... full of surprises. And of course, worrying was a part of my everyday life. *** -Next day. I was in my room with dad. I was sitting on the floor with my legs crossed, with closed eyes and a white hue surrounding me. The process of increasing the (tier) of a [Mana Nucleus] is somewhat simple and difficult at the same time. If you consider normal means, the special [Mana breathing] technique or something simr helps to increase the natural Mana capacity and helps in the recovery of used mana. In my case, I had a natural skill for Mana recovery so replenishing the used Mana was easy. So the only thing I had to think about was the [Mana Refining]. Increasing the purity of Mana and pushing the natural capacity of Mana in the [Mana nucleus] to a certain level, permanently increases the (tier) at one point. There are (Special) weapons and artifacts which help temporarily but, permanently increasing it with them may not be possible. Well, this magic and Mana is just one of the many types of [Energies] of this world. But, well, it''s the most used in this continent. Currently, dad was helping me in purifying Mana. He had his hand on my back, his Mana slowly flowing through my core to help my Mana remember the higher purity. This technique was, ording to some books, one of the many techniques that higher-level mages like dad used to help the new magicians. Without this, I probably would have taken a much longer time to safely reach (tier-1). Though dad was helping me like this almost every day, he was surprised to see the speed of my improvement. It was fast... very fast. And, I only have one thing to thank for this. ''My only auxiliary skill with diverse uses, the [Energy Cirction]. Now I think, without this skill, I would be just 1/4 of myself.'' It was that much of an important part of me. Like, hell dude! Even if I don''t get any other skills in the future, this one skill would do a pretty good job. I thanked the skill and focused all my attention on the training. After almost three hours, dad removed his hand from my back. With sweat falling from all over my body, as well as my rough breathing was a bit excessive today. "Eon, it looks like it won''t even take a week." Dad said from behind me. He, too, was exhausted. But, not as much as me. Hearing his usual surprised voice, I slowly released a long breath. "Dad, it looks like we will have to make some ice cream today." Not only because of the hot day but also to calm mom and help me recover from today''s training. "Hm? If you want, then sure..." He said absent-mindedly, still somewhat shocked. Shaking my head, I went towards the bathroom. The magic technology in this world was quite simr to my previous world, so the hot and cold water showers were one of my favorite things here. Chapter 29 (Tier-1) "Eon. Today is the day." Looking straight into those serious, red eyes I replied with a small nod. "Don''t worry, I believe in you so, I will leave it to you." With a slightly red face, he smiled and nodded. "I know. It will be a bit painful as it will be your first time but, afterward... everything will be ok." I gave him a small smile and started to open the buttons of my shirt. He also pulled up his sleeves, revealing an arm with perfectly sculpted mussels. Sitting down on the floor, where arge white sheet was gently spread out, I closed my eyes. Putting his rough hand on my small back, he reassured me once again. "Don''t worry and just leave everything to this awesome daddy!" A very low, cracking voice escaped my mouth. "I-if you say so." He smirked and started doing his thing. "Mm~" A small voice escaped my tightly shut mouth as soon as the warmth entered inside me from behind. The Mana started to make his way to the center of my body, towards my [Mana Nucleus]. ''I would be able to use (tier-1) magic... very soon.'' The first breakthrough was supposed to be a bit painful as it was the first time a magician''s body was increasing the purity of overall Mana inside the body. Not every breakthrough increased the Mana purity as much as the first and seventh time. The first time was to set a foundation and the seventh time was a halfway point to reach a higher realm. As a new body adapting to foreign energy like Mana, the first breakthrough was nothingpared to the ones after that in terms of power. Butparatively, the first breakthrough increased the purity of Mana more than the second time and afterward. So, after the first breakthrough, the individual progress would be faster. ''I-I... can feel it.'' The Mana inside me was expanding. Passing throughout my body through various Mana channels. Helping the Mana was my auxiliary skill. [Energy Cirction] was guiding the Mana like an old guide, slow, wise and gentle. Cleaning up some impurities in Mana. Dad was a spearhead as he showed the path to traveling Mana. This process silently continued for almost 60 minutes and, suddenly... I felt intense pain between my heart and abdomen where the [Mana Nucleus] was. It felt like breaking a wall inside my body. It was a type of pain that I haven''t felt in a long time. But... it was bearable. Enduring this physical pain was much easy than those... scars. As the Mana cleaned some impurities, the purity of Mana was increasing bit by bit. It was a good thing to have an expert to safely guide the Mana or else... the pain would have been more than this. And... one more thing to consider that, I was still a child who wasn''t even six years old. So, even after taking into ount that I was a ''genius'', my physical body might get internal wounds. And... seeing me bleed and suffer in pain would be thest thing both of them could do. Dad had to discuss everything with mom for two whole days, just to reassure her that he won''t let me get hurt in any way. ''I could only imagine how much toll he is taking by himself...'' The amount of concentration and mental power required for this was VERY high. I might be ok after this but, he will definitely have to rest for some time. If we had let the process go normally and let the body do the work naturally... the current me would not have been able to endure it. ''Was it a good thing that I awakened myself this early?'' The thought crossed my mind but disappeared in an instant. I had chosen that path and... I can''t change it. ''Well, it was a good thing anyways.'' Without it, I wouldn''t be able to do anything that I had happened this past few months. ''This is getting more pain-'' "Khu!" Suddenly, as if a dam was closed, all the Mana stopped moving with ast burst of pain. The white hue around me slowly started to disappear and the Mana flowing inside my body started feeling slightly warm. The feeling continued until I felt the hand on my back moving away. Drenched in sweat, I slowly opened my eyes. Looking at my hand, I clenched them into a fist. It was better. I could feel Mana much more clearly than before. It was a good feeling. Smiling happily, I turned around to look at my father. "Dad! We di-!?" As soon as my eyes fell on where he was supposed to be... my heart sank. I shouted in a loud, shaking voice. "D-dad?!" He wasying on the floor... without a single moment. I hurriedly tried to stand up but, there was no strength left in my legs. Not knowing what to do, I just crawled by his side with the support of my shaking hands. With tears falling from my eyes, I called him out again and again. But, he didn''t say anything. I was still in shock but... my mind was clearing up quickly. Calming myself down after much emotional struggle, I took some deep breaths. "Huuuu..." Finally calming myself down, still holding his hand, I tried to check him up. His breathing was stable, heartbeats too, just... his whole body was covered in more sweat than me. Especially his forehead. ''I-I didn''t know it would be this difficult.'' I had no idea how much mental strength you have to consume when doing something like this but... seeing him, it must be a LOT. I waited for him to regain his consciousness. I knew that even if it had been much more difficult than expected, he will definitely wake up after a bit. ''He said to believe in him so, I will do so till the end.'' We had trained together so until he woke up, I wasn''t going to go anywhere else. And as I knew, his eyes opened slowly after five minutes. With blurry eyes, he looked at me. Still not properly conscious. "Dad?" I looked into those blurry red eyes. They were worried even though their mind wasn''t clear fully. "Eon?... Eon!?" With a sudden shock, he woke up with wide eyes and a shocked face. "Eon?! Are you okay?" Holding my face in hisrge hands, he worriedly checked me from head to toes. After confirming that everything was ok and even checking my body with some Mana to find anything with my core, he sighed in relief. "Thank god..." The exhausted expression returned to his face. He looked normal from the outside but mentally, he could still be worn out. With a slight nod, I tried to pull myself up. And, with much difficulty, I stood up. Holding his hand, I urged him toy down on my bed. He denied for a few times but gave up after seeing my determined eyes. Even he had no idea that he would faint like that. He had used much more mental power than expected. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fall asleep again. Looking at him with worried eyes, I sighed. "Looks like he will be fine after resting for some time." Nothing to worry about. Standing up, I left the room to tell mom. She wouldn''t have heard anything as we had put a sound barrier beforehand. *** -Click. Opening the door of mom''s room, I passed through the wooden door. Mom was sitting on the other side, immersed in her work. The sunlight from therge window behind her illuminated the whole room. "Mom..." As soon as I called her out, she looked forward in surprise. "Eon!" She hurriedly stood up and the chair behind her fall backward. She ran towards me and hugged me tightly. With watering eyes, she smiled happily. "Thank god... you are ok." She was smiling happily but, I worriedly tried to pull her back. "Mom... dad, fainted after my sessful breakthrough." She released and backed off. With a very confused expression, she asked what I just said. "Dad just fainted. But, he is ok. I put him to sleep." She instantly understood what I was talking about. Happily shaking her head she reassured me. "Don''t worry. Your dad will be ok. He''s just overreacting." As soon as she said that, we heard another click sound, and the door opened behind us. "Nolen~..." It was dad. He walked in a perfect state. As if he was never worn out. ''Was it acting...? THIS good? From dad!?'' I was shocked and more than that I... was embarrassed. With a rose-red face, I looked at him. Mom had a VERY pleased expression on her face. Now, this... this was a prank. A very VERY bad one. Dad looked at my angry expression and hurriedly tried to exin himself. "E-Eon... I didn''t..." His expression was genuine. I stopped, not looking at him anymore, I looked at my mom. She was on the verge ofughing but, was controlling herself with much difficulty. "Eon... baby. Potions exist for that. Well, they definitely are rare~." She blinked at dad with a thumbs up. He flinched, not expecting something like this. "E-Eon. I w-was alright. I didn''t really..." He tried to exin himself but I didn''t even look at him. ''You messed up the wrong dad. Wrong.'' There was no way I would let this one slide. He really... scared the hell out of me! "E-Eon?" "Hump!" I turned my face the other way. No way dad. No... fucking... way. Chapter 30 Gift It has been three days since my breakthrough into (tier-1). And... I can clearly see dad from the corner of my eyes, quietly looking over me. I know that he may not have had any intentions back then but, he pulled that prank knowingly. Well, it may not have really been nned but he did pretend to be asleep while I left the room in a great hurry. ''The hell was he thinking pretending to be hurt?!'' No-no-no. Nope. It definitely won''t be easy to make me forgive him. ''You better try harder dad. I take my grudges seriously.'' Though he had tried to apologize many times, I just ignored him. It was, maybe his first time ever receiving such cold shoulders. He was also very confused about how to make up to me. Just ignoring him, I closed my eyes. ''Status Window.'' ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Name: Axion Kromet Age: 5 Strength: 21 Dexterity: 24 Stamina: 25 Magic Power: 24 Intelligence: 28 Luck: 23 Charm: 15 [Skills: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Basic Mastery -Mystic Eyes(Stage-1) ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª My heartbeat raised as I looked at my ''screen''. These numbers were very highpared to my previous checks. The stats told us about our body and its potential. They were almost always urate, so we can trust them to gauge someone''s strength. I was happy with the increased numbers. Especially the amount of M.P. had increased by quite a bit after my breakthrough. ''Now... I can really try out some magic!'' After knowing the basics, I now knew how I could use the (tier-1) spells. Unlike (tier-0) spells which were most basic, from (tier-1) we can make the spell on our own by following the basics. We can use incantation, imagination, or prepared magic circles to channel Mana and invoke the desired spell. Yes, we had to know a lot of theory in order to do so but, for simple things you know everything about, image casting is a LOT easierpared to those long weird incantations. You had to know everything about it. Well... it was at least easy for me. ''I am going to be practicing in image casting anyway so, it''s good that I don''t have to learn the theoretical part from dad for the time being. Who cares books call it a higher-level spell casting method." I didn''t know what was so difficult to imagine about water droplets being made from hydrogen and oxygen and fire being ignited using fuel and oxygen. ''Aside from the information like this, the only thing restricting them could be ''Mental Fortitude''. Something that leads to dad''s fainting after sudden high use.'' A good high amount of mental strength was required in this type of spell casting. Or an absurd talent in handling Mana was required to let the Mana turn into the spell just from the thoughts. Fortunately, I had a very high amount of mental strength because I was an older person on the inside. But, with the limits of my current body, I wouldn''t be able to use even one-sixth of that power. ''A good mind and a strong body, both are required in this type of spell casting.'' "I can only try to materialize the Mana in some shape for now." I mumbled under my breath and looked around for a quick second. Dad wasn''t there. ''Looks like he gave up and went in.'' Well, I was just standing in this backyard doing nothing for thest two hours. Shaking my head, I walked towards the table in the distance and picked up my arrows and bow. *** "Noooooollleeeennnn..." Brian burst into the room, crying his eyes out. Crystal-like tears were falling from his beautiful red eyes, his face was a total mess too. ''He looks, absolutely adorable...'' My breathing quickened, and my heart was also beating faster. He seemed just like a ck puppy, crying beside its master to me. Extending my hand to the front unconsciously, I started creasing his messy, long hair. Good thing they weren''t that long or else I would have just started ying with them. "Now, now my little puppy, calm down..." I bent down and embraced him. After crying for a bit more, he calmed down a bit. "Hick! Hick! N-Nolen he w-would even look at me..." I held him even more tightly so he couldn''t look at my pink face. ''Cute! Cute! Cute! I should go thank Eon...'' A big young man like him... crying on my shoulder like a baby... Ah~! Heaven... "Ahum! Ahum! Brian?" As much as I wanted to watch this marvelous sight, my dear husband was suffering from my little baby''s cold treatment. As a GOOD mom, I had to do something. "H-hu? N-Nolen?" He looked up with his puppy eyes. I just... wanted to eat him up RIGHT NOW. But, the situation wasn''t quite right. I would have to wait for... ahem! "Look here, Brian." Holding his face, I pulled it closer to mine. "Look, just tell me. What would you do if I get upset just like Eon?" He calmed down after a bit and looked at me. "I-if you get upset?" "Yes. What would you do then?" "B-but why would you ever get u-upset? I won''t d-do anything t-to make you upset!" As much as I wanted to kiss this cute pup, I had to resolve the petty fudge between them faster. I pressed his cheeks a bit harder and smiled. "Just answer the god damn question~," I smiled. He flinched a bit and calmed down perfectly. Looking into my stoic eyes, he answered. "I would try to make up with you somehow?" "And how would you do that?" "By Making you something special or giving some kind of unique gift? Right?" At least he was sharp and smart. This was why this puppy husband was sooooo perfect. "There. You have your answer." I brightly smiled. He had his answer to what he needed to do. "Will it... work?" "Oh, it will. Definitely~." "If you say so, I will try it." He smiled at me. As our faces were too close right now, I could feel his calm breath on my face. Then... He kissed me. Completely caught me off guard. Like hell! I was the one who was going to do that! ''But... it felt good~.'' I trained him well. He wouldn''t evene close when we first started dating. After an unknown period of time, we stopped. I opened my eyes and saw his beet-red face, which had taken the initiative this time. "Good work~. Now, go. We WILL continueter." Yes~. This definitely had to continue and end with a punishment. I-I had to punish this one. I was the one g-going to do that. He smiled, looking at my red face. With a small nod, he pulled himself up... with a bit of difficulty. After chatting for a moment, he left the room to find something appropriate for Eon. I returned to my desk and looked back. Outside of the window, Eon was standing with only his bow in his hand. *** ''The hell! Why is it this much difficult?'' For thest half hour, I was trying to materialize my Mana into an arrow. I knew an arrow would be a lot easier than a bow and arrow both. Well, it would be stupid to make both and waste arge amount of Mana. It was difficult. A lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Just gathering the Mana in the environment was taking so much time and consecration that I had already failed three times. It was a good experience but, I was beginning to feel sleepy. Deciding to try thest time, I aimed my bow at the target. Gathering the Mana in the surrounding by using the Mana inside of me, focusing the gathered Mana in a single spot, condensing the Mana to a certain stage, shaped it into an arrow. The process took a total of five seconds, and this time it was different. Unlike the previous attempts, the Mana this time did not scatter. But it was definitely much thinner than what an arrow should be. Opening my eyes and looking at a thin and almost transparent Mana in the shape of almost an arrow, I sighed. It was a sess. Now all that was left was perfect the thing I had just done. I released the ''arrow''. It flew halfway to the target but then started to disappear. Slowly disintegrating into the surroundings. I slowly sat down. It was not easy to do this but it was also not something I couldn''t do. ''Maybe two days? yes... that much should be enough to master this.'' And maybe, by that time, dad would figure something- "Eon~!" Dad''s voice came from behind me. I wanted to look back, but I didn''t do so and just sat there. He came and sat beside me. With a very sad voice, he apologized once again. Now, not even he knew what he was apologizing for. This time when I didn''t give him the answer, unlike before, he took out a small box from his (item box). It was a small red box. cing the red box before me, he apologized again. "Sorry. This is just a gift from me, if you don''t want to forgive me, then don''t say anything. But just ept this. I wanted to give you one of these for a long time." He turned his head and waited for my reply. Curious, I picked up the red box and opened it. A metallic silver bracelet with some blue patterns engraved on it rested inside the box. Taking it out and observing it for a bit, I understood what it was. And... I loved this gift. "Hmm. Good enough," I nodded. As soon as I spoke, he turned his head towards me like a spring with wide eyes. "Eon? Did you... talk? You talked?! D-does this m-mean?" he looked at me with anticipation. "Yes, yes. You are forgiven." "Yes~!" He hugged me and lifted me up. ''Oh, you poor dad.'' I never intended to continue this cold treatment for much longer. Well, just three weeks would have been enough. But this was good too. "Dad let''s go in now. I''m hungry. And, sleepy too." He didn''t react to this much. He was just that happy. After a very long half-hour, he got back to normal. We entered inside and soon spotted mom. She was sitting on the table in the kitchen, brightly smiling at us. I knew that the idea of a gift was from mom at the very least. Dad couldn''te up with something like this on his own but, the gift was from him. "Eon~. Thank you~." Mom said in a very happy voice. It confused me greatly. ''Why is she thanking me? Was it fun watching dad in agony? Weird taste indeed.'' I shook my head, sighing in exhaustion. Well, the bracelet will be a convenient thing. Today was a good and eventful day. Chapter 31 Demonstration As always, standing in the garden, I straightened my back and looked at the target in front of me. ''God... if I were some protagonist of a novel, starting every chapter with the same line every time like this... what would the readers do?'' I sighed in relief that I wasn''t some main protagonist, saving the world. ''Hell no. Instead of fighting with my life on the line and saving a world, I would travel this new world.'' Yes, gaining strength was good. Definitely. But, I would prefer not to fight unnecessarily if it''s not for the sake of protecting something close to me. As for today''s agenda, It was a day of demonstration! It has been four weeks scene dad and I resolved our patty fight. He taught me many things during this time. Now I had learned the full basics of (tier-1) magic circles and the theory of energy conversion for it. That made it a lot easier to practice different types of spells. Of course, I did that in just a week, which was enough for dad to lose his mind three whole times. And that number was still ok. Mom and I managed him... somehow. Well, after the theory lessons we did many things like discussing different spells, practicing them, and most importantly, making some changes. I was mainly an ARCHER. And archers got to shoot arrows. So, I turned any possible spell dad taught me and I tried to learn on my own, into arrow forms. This was definitely difficult as each one of them took days or more just to have its form altered. They were all long-distance spells or mid-range spells in most cases. Having them turned into the form of a (Magic Arrow) was a lot more convenient for a mainly long-range damage dealer like me. I can materialize the spell in the form of an arrow instead of a magic circle or incantation by changing its form while casting. Knowing the basics helped a lot but for me who was going to mainly use image casting, which took a lot of mental power into ount, knowing the basics helped much more. ''And dad taught me a very important thing about image casting. Willpower and clear imagination.'' If my ''Will'' was powerful, the image casting bes much easier. It helped me learn the spells much easier as my ''Will'' was a LOT stronger than an average mage. ''That was a given as the hunger to learn magic was very great in me.'' The most basic thing for the people of this world didn''t exist in myte world. So, someone like me would be very hungry to learn new things. And my imagination is... let''s say VERY vivid. And so, surprising dad over a dozen times this past few weeks and [Understanding] a total of nine new (tier-1) spells, I was going to show them the result of my hard work today. Naturally, they are worried as parents but... mom is a bit more worried and dad has an anticipating look. I waved at them in the distance, smiling brightly as I turned to face the many targets set at different distances. This was just a fun activity but if I make any mistakes, I will definitely not get even a scratch thanks to mom''s special clothes. After the first ident with enchanted arrows, mom specifically ordered me to wear this every time I am practicing. Stretching the string of the bow which was almost 1 meter in height, I focused on one of the red-white wooden targets. "Huuuuu..." Inhaling a long breath, I started to gather Mana on my fingertips. I condensed and shaped it and quickly, a blue arrow shining like light appeared on my bow. (Mana Arrow) The first spell I learned on my own, was simr to (tier-1) magic spell (Mana de). It condenses the Mana and molds it into a temporary solid object. It could be considered a bit difficult for those who have just started learning magic recently. ''Hmm. It definitely wasn''t easy. Took me four whole days.'' Releasing the arrow, I also released the long-held breath. I already knew what was going to happen to the target so I wasn''t worried at all. ¡ªSwiiiiiiiiiisssh. ¡ªThrum. And just as I thought, as soon as the arrow left the bow with a swish~ sound, it reached the target and pierced it in an instant. Then it slowly disintegrated into the air. This was the first spell. "Amazing, Eon!" Dad shouted happily but mom didn''t say anything and just smiled softly. Ok. Then the next one should be the mostmon (fire arrow) of other fantasy worlds. But here... this arrow is from one of the most difficult spells for beginners. It''s good that I have my otherworldly wisdom to help me. It wasn''t that hard for me as it took less time to understand those spells than other ones. I stretched my bowstring again. To ignite a fire we need two mainponents, fuel, and oxygen. If we can control the amount required and the atmosphere around it, it molds in the desired shape. Currently, I could only use fire Mana as fuel so creating cool-looking blue mes had to wait a very long time. Closing my eyes, I gathered fire and wind-type Mana on my bow. It was a good thing that I enchanted my bow to be more strong so it can now easily handle this type of heat and much more. The Mana burned and turned into a small line of fire and then turned into an arrow. ¡ªSwiiiiiiiiiisssh. Thud! ¡ªKshuuuuksuusuuksuuu The arrow shot forth and stuck the isted target in the distance. And, as soon as it struck the target, the whole disk of wood was set on fire. ¡ªKracal. ¡ªKracal. A fire burned on the wooden log and quickly started to spread. Without waiting much, I prepared a (Water arrow). It was much easier than the fire-type spell. ¡ªSwaaaaaaash. ¡ªSwoooooooooooooosh. I shot it on the burning fire and after just three sshing arrows of waster, the fire died down. Then without wasting much time, I stretched the bowstring again and gathered only wind-type Mana particles and after quicklypressing it for a bit, I released it. ¡ªSiiiiiish. The recoil this time was great as I had to take two steps back. The transparent arrow of wind stuck to the wood and... ¡ªTuck. Tuck. Tuck. Tuck. It cut the circle into four equal parts. Just like cutting a pizza into four slices. As much as I wanted to call it (pizza cutting arrow), I had to call it (wind de) in arrow form. In the future well, maybe I will. Not for the time being at least. Now, putting my one hand on the ground, I prepared earth-type mana. Using (Stone creation), I summoned two arrows, made of rock. This was an easy spell as all it did was create some stones. If you use more willpower and create a perfect image in your mind, the rock''s shape can be changed into anything. Taking out slightly heavy arrows from the ground, I adjusted them and shot towards the closer targets. And they were bullseye. Exactly at the center. "Hu...hu..." These main elemental arrows of fire, water, wind, and earth took arge amount of Mana. As I shot all four of them in quick session, I used quite a lot of Mana and concentration in a short amount of time. I was a bit exhausted so I sat down for a bit. Mom and dad asked me if I was ok and I assured them that I was fine. They were amazed by this short performance. Mom, especially looked happy as she cheered me up. She was still worried but looked assured. Dad was amazed with his mouth open for a while even after being the one to teach me most of these things. I put some Mana into the bracelet on my right arm and the bow in my hand disappeared. This bracelet was a . It worked the same as a (dimension storage) that high-mages use. By using [Skill Stones] of storage-rted skills like (item box) as the base and some other materials, one can create a storage device that would activate by using Mana. My bracelet was one of the smallest of the storage devices but, it could still store my bow, arrows, and some other small things. It couldn''t be asrge as dad''s (item box) skill as one [skill stone] could be used to make multiple storage devices. [Skill stones] are very unique and these things as a full stone, if absorbed by someone, could grant them that specific skill. Skills could be used withoutrge Mana usages. They are like automated spells of high quality which can be used with any type of energy input. They don''t require any type of chant, magic circle, or precise imagination. Just saying or thinking to trigger the spell is all it takes to activate it. But, we can''t control the output of a [skill] like we can with spells. If a skill is triggered, then it would take the same amount of energy every time. That''s whyrge-scale or attack-type skills have to be used in certain situations. If one uses a skill that requires arge amount of energy in a situation where he doesn''t have the required amount, the body would sacrifice [Soul Energy]. p [Soul Energy], being the fundamental energy of the world, is something that is present in every creature of this world. Losing even a little can cause life-threatening situations. So, if you don''t absorb the stone and divide it with specific craftsmanship type skills, you can use it in many different types of equipment. Taking out a small ss bottle, I gulped down the blue liquid in it. It was a basic Mana recovery potion. Mom had filled my bracelet''s all of the retaining space with all types of potions. There were rare and costly ones too. Even dad was a bit surprised to see them but, not that much. ''I knew mom had her own storage device but even I didn''t know what treasure could be in there.'' Ignoring these useless thoughts, I stood up again. My mana also recovered fully with just one potion. Signaling mom and dad, I took out the bow and took the position again. There were still four spells left to demonstrate. Chapter 32 Demonstration (2) After the fourmon elemental spells, the next was Light and Darkness. Being a rare affinity, both of them have different uses than the normal spells. It was very fascinating to learn about this two. Light and Darkness type Mana started moving towards my fingers on the bowstring. ¡ªOooooooong Starting from the bowstring, an arrow of light slowly materialized on the bow. After a short while, a ck arrow of darkness appeared just below the arrow of light. I turned away from the targets and towered where my parents were. Mom was startled to see me suddenly turn around as her eyes widened. Dad, on the other hand, already knew I would do something like that. I released the arrow of light first. It flew just above their heads and burst out in a big boom of light. It was a (sh arrow). Mostly used when blinding a weak opponent. Dad was fine in that big sh of light and mom was wearing some weird-looking... sunsses? ''We had sunsses here? Looks like I... don''t really know much about this world after all.'' Not thinking much about it, I released the dark-colored arrow. It was one of my own creations, in some way at least. The arrow did not go upwards and instead passed through the gap between mom and dad, striking their shadows instead. The shadows behind them started to move slowly. They turned into a pitch-ck rectangle first. Then slowly, a picture started to take ce on the ck canvas. With the help of white light stilling from the arrow of light; trees, a white moon, and an owl sitting on arge tree appeared on it. Abination of white and ck was good. It was only a childish drowning for now but, it looked enough to please a parent. I call this spell arrow (Night''s canvas). Though it was derived from a (tier-1) spell called (Shadow maniption), it was much more eye-pleasing. And just as I thought, let alone mom, even dad was surprised to see the drawing. Creating a night scene with ck and white was a good idea, although I wanted to do something much more than this one. ''It will take time and a great effort, maybe I will... maybe I could create something close to those masterpieces of my previous life.'' I had a great interest in art so, I wanted to recreate something close to those REAL paintings which, just from a look, could tell many stories and express ''emotions''. Well, if I could, then it will be a check on my old bucket list. ''Oh! I will have to make a new bucket list for this world.'' Back to the present, I clenched my fist tightly behind my back. This... was much more difficult than the previous spellsbined. Even though it looked much easier than the previous spells, it consumed more Mana and willpower than the previous spells. As if a huge bell was ringing in my head, my head ached. Even I didn''t know maintaining an image for just five seconds could put so much burden on my mind. I miscalcted this one. Dad had an idea about it already. As I looked at him with a small smile, he narrowed his eyes and looked straight into mine. Small drops of sweat ran down my back. But just then, mom threw something in my direction. I almost missed it when it just got caught in my desperate grabbing attempts. "Mom! I could have missed it! How can you throw a ss bottle like t- ?" I suddenly stopped shouting and looked at my mom''s angry smile. There was some worry but even more anger for me. "Don''t say anything and just drink it first! Fool!" I flinched and looked at the bottle she had thrown at me. It was a water-like transparent potion with a familiar cross design. I recognized that crest as the holy kingdom''s crest. And the bottle was an intermediate potion for Magic power recovery. It not only recovered Mana but also the Mental Strength that I lost during casting. This was an extremely rare and expensive thing and it was only avable in very limited numbers. The look in her eyes was very furious so I had no choice but to silently drink it. If I so much as try to say something, I believed that I won''t be able to practice for a long time. As soon as I put the bottle in my mouth and it touched my tongue, my mind started to clear up. The effect was amazingly fast. And, after drinking that, I recovered...pletely. As if the headache never existed, it vanished and my Mana also returned to full. I looked at her with surprised filed eyes. But, the anger was still there in her eyes. Those furious, deep brown eyes were... nerve-racking. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at her. But, it vanished after a second. Exhaling deeply, she returned her gaze to me. "You dummy! Don''t do stunts like that again. But... it was good so I will let you off, ONLY THIS TIME." She had a face as red as a rose. Anger and embarrassment were visible on her beautiful face. Dad nced at her as if it was cute. But, mom caught him looking and shot him a furious gaze. He turned back to the front with his lips tightly shut. "Yes ma''am! Thank you for your gracious praise," I shouted. Straightening my back I shouted. I bowed down and went back to my ce. There were some spells left to show. And, fortunately, they didn''t stop me. I can''t use many potions at once so I tried to finish it quickly. Proper rest was necessary to recover fully. For the secondst spell arrow, I tightened my gloves. It was going to be freezing. Gathering water elemental Mana on the bowstring, I gathered water, condensed it a bit to mold in the shape of an arrow, remove the head, and... frozen it. Rather than using Ice elemental Mana directly, using the water and then turning it into ice is more simple and more convenient. This was one of the easiest spells of the bunch for today. A ne and normal (Ice arrow). Not minding the process after that, I prepared for the final of today''s demonstration. Turning my head towards dad, I spoke while smiling mysteriously. "Dad... Ipleted THAT one~." His eyes widened in surprise. With a shock-filled smile, he shouted back. "Really!? How?" The excited smile on his face was very different. Mom knew this smile as it only appeared when dad was truly excited about something. "Mom... sorry but, you will like to see this more than the painting." I apologized in advance so it won''t be much problem afterward. -SNAP She was now surprised but before she could say anything, we both heard a snapping of fingers. After that, a transparent barrier engulfed the entire house. And a small one appeared around me too. We both jolted our heads toward dad. "Don''t worry and go ahead. I believe you." He held mom''s hand and smiled brightly. Mom was startled but, stopped and didn''t say anything. I nodded and took out a bunch of arrows from my bracelet. They all had patterns of a different colors. They looked like a rainbow in my hand. A small square container was attached to each one of them. Mom flinched as soon as I took them out. A thought suddenly crossed her mind as she looked at dad''s nostalgic expression. ''No way... he enchanted the high-level spell (Fireworks)?! That''s... not possible, right? It''s a (tier-3) special spell of fire mages!'' I could read the thoughts on her face for the first time. She was that much shocked. Well, preparing something like this at my level was actually... almost impossible but, my idea to use different color-inducing materials also surprised dad. It was a good idea but, even he never thought that I will be able toplete the enchanting process so quickly. ''It should be thanks to him anyways. If we didn''t do that three arrowbination back then, I wouldn''t be able to master themanding type enchantments.'' Creating a specific shape and coding detonating time, as well as the distribution of the materials in the small containers, was VERY difficult. It was one of my best works,pleted on a tight deadline. It was almost twilight right now. I checked my protection gears onest time and fired the arrows upwards with the help of wind Mana particles. After reaching a safe point, it sted with a cracking boom. -BOOOOOOOOM! A fine triangr shape appeared in the air. It had purple, blue, and yellow colors. Just like that, I shot 5 more arrows in a short time of three minutes. But, those three minutessted much longer in their mind. It was more special to them than any other art. It wasn''t just longing in their eyes, but also admiration. Seeing these fireworks'' brought back a moment, a cherished sight of the past. With almost filling mom''s eyes with tears, the show continued. As if living that moment again, they just stood there. Almost forgetting to even blink. Chapter 33 Story "Eon... thank you." After I finished the demonstration of thest spell for today, mom came closer and sat beside me. Dad also sat on the other side of mom as both of them still looked at the sky. The nostalgic look in their eyes was not gonepletely. It made me curious for the first time about them. ''Why would something like this be so much special to them?'' Mom nced at me and instantly caught on. She asked in her usual mischievous tone which was unusually happier. "Eon~? Do you want to know why mommy and daddy like fireworks soooooo much~?" I thought that the question and tone didn''t fit the situation quite well but, after hearing dad sudden voice, I grasped why she said it like that. "N-Nolen... i-is it really necessary to talk about t-that now?" As I looked at him, one thought unexpectedly crossed my mind. ''Holy hell...'' He was as red as a rose. This was the most... I mean MOST embarrassed I had ever seen him. And... he looked so damn cute that, even I would fall for him. How did mom get her hands on such beauty... was everyone else blind to notice this piece of art or am I the only one underestimating the beauty standards of this world? Those questions became deeper as mom teased him more. "Oh~ it definitely is~. Eon asked about something for the first time! I should tell him the great tale of his dad. Don''t you think so too? Darling~." "He never asked! B-but... if you want to, then it can''t be helped..." My eyes shone as he said that, with that particr expression being chocte in the cake. "Hmmm~. Then let''s start~. Eon, listen carefully, this might be one of the most interesting stories you would have ever heard. Right? Darling~?" "Yes..." He answered with a positively shy expression. His ears were clearly red as I watched them in thest rays of the setting sun. "Ok then. Where should I start? Hmm... it was just a normal day in the imperial capital... ============ "Brian~." Shouting, I waved my hand as I spotted the familiar dark blue mage robe. It was a hooded cape with golden embroidery. A silver, triangr badge of a high-ranking adventurer was pinned on it. "Miss Nolen..." He hurried towards me and then reached the destination. "I''m sorry miss Nolen. Did you wait for a long time?" He was truly sorry from his tone. His work took a bit longer than I expected. "Hmm. You made me wait. I''m sorry but, you will have topensate me for my lost time." It wasn''t polite to make ady wait for 6 minutes, right? That time was precious for someone like me. I do want properpensation. ''A kiss w- ahem! A quiet dinner together would be good enough.'' He looked disappointed and more apologetic than before. Just that much cute. With his head down, he apologized again. "I''m really sorry miss Nolen but, the preparation took longer than I expected." A surprised expression appeared on my face. "Preparation? Oh! Are you talking about going to the forestke?" ? They were going to escort a few merchants to the center area of the northern forest of Agnes. In the middle of this small forest area, was a hugeke. One could find many rear herbs and ''small'' energy beasts around it so hired adventures werergely in demand. "Yes. It is a good opportunity for all of the adventurers. If we get lucky, we might find a beast core and strick it rich~!" He was very excited about this. This was a monthly escort mission so they get very excited just from getting a chance to be a part of it. "You look... excited?" As he was speaking, the air around him changed to an excited wolf? In thest nine months, I had known him, this wasn''t the first time this happened. As if to loth every one of those beasts, he acted like this whenever he had the chance to hunt them. I knew what the reason behind that was... so I didn''t mind that but, I had to help him with this matter. ''Revenge is sweet but, even sweet could corrupt the teeth if taken in frequent,rge amounts.'' And he knew I didn''t like that thing so, he immediately returned to normal. "Ah! Sorry... I just got carried away." He gasped after seeing my angry eyes. A cold shiver ran down this (tier-5) mage''s spine. ''She is... something else. I haven''t really felt it many times but, this should be called authority, right?'' Although they had known each other for nine months now, he didn''t really know much about her. Just that she was also a merchant. But, he felt happy around her. As if he could open up. As if he was already an open book for her to read. I could really just read him. The rose-red face of embarrassment would say everything. "Hump! Anyway... you will have to take care of me on the trip." "Yes! I will- wait? What did you just say?" Though he had straightened his back to give the answer, a confused expression clouded his face as he thought about what I just said. "Oh? Did I forget to mention that I was also one of the merchants on this trip? Well, you know now. So, please take good care of me." He had arge frown on his face saying something like... ''How?! they are all famous merchants under one of thergest merchant groups? Just who is-'' Then that frown disappeared and he shook his head. ''It doesn''t matter. Now that she is part of the caravan, I will have to protect her. She is my-'' Though he was just going to think about what would our rtionship be called, he stopped. She rapidly shook his head to erase those thoughts with an embarrassed face. ''Huuu... even I had no idea what would this rtionship be called. Though we had walked around the capital doing almost everything friends would do... my heart wanted something, more than that.'' But, I had decided to give this fool time. Time to be courageous enough to know what HE really felt. "Ok then, miss Nolen. I will protect you to the best of my abilities. Do not worry about anything." He was confident. The look in his eyes said he would do anything... to protect. ''If father saw him like this, would he be proud or be happy?'' I wanted to introduce him to my father, but it wasn''t time yet. Unless he realized his heart. "Ok. I believe in you so, let''s go now. My legs will start hurting if we stand here any longer." "Oh! I''m sorry. Let''s go." We started walking. We had a lunch date today. Well, going on a date wouldn''t me you love that person. Not in this era at least. On the other hand, Brian''s heart was pounding like crazy. From the time he saw her for the first time, his heart would react like this every time he saw her. This was a very weird feeling. He didn''t know how to express it but, he had his fears. His life until meeting her wasn''t something... anyone could understand. But, if it was her. Maybe... "We are here~." My sweet, cheerful voice brought him back to reality. We had reached the quiet and beautiful caf¨¦ which was very famous for its special lunch sandwiches. There weren''t many people around so we got a good ce at the back all to ourselves. A young waitress came to get our orders and after a bit of thinking, we ced our orders. We quietly sat there, diving into each other''s eyes. His red eyes were slightly reflected in my clear brown eyes. Though we were both wearing a cape with a hood, our faces were visible. And... my hair was now normal brown. He didn''t know why she started using an artifact to change her appearance but, he didn''t ask her when he, himself was using a magic mask. ''The first encounter was the weird one. After that day, we mostly met with this disguise when outside. He didn''t know about me but, his own appearance has always been a problem. Not every beautiful person wanted their beauty. Some might dislike it and for some, it might be one of the most bothersome things. I had somewhat simr thoughts but, I wanted one more thing. ''How does that masterpiece of a face look without a cape and a mask? And without any- ahem!'' I stopped my thoughts from running wild as I dived into those red, ruby-like eyes. Though beautiful, they had sadness. Though bright, they contained suffering. Though lonely, they now contained hope. I wasn''t sure if I was that hope but, seeing him happy made my heart warm. Therge sandwich was served shortly after, but an unexpectedment escaped his mouth. "Hmm. I think I can make it a bit better than this one." My eyes intently shone on that unconsciousment. "I would love to try your cooking sometime~!" He flinched on thatment, almost letting go of thatrge sandwich. Chapter 34 Under The Moonlight "Hmm... what should I wear? A normal dress? A merchant''s normal outfit? Should I just send them all away and have a private talk about us- ahem! No, Nolen... be patient." I sighed and a disappointed expression clouded my face. Though I had an unparalleled degree of patience after working as a merchant for this long time, now... it was running low. The pain in my heart was growing beyond my control. Now I was afraid. In the end, I might have to think of the worst-case sicario. But, that path was not something I could even think about. The ''what ifs'' would brake me, and I knew that very well. ''Why did it have to be that beautiful son of a- no. Let''s not curse my only possiblete mother-inw.'' Everyone had scars and I had seen his. They were just nces but, even they were painful. Those scars on one''s heart, I had seen his in those clear lonely eyes. In his speech, he would brake suddenly without any reason. His presence pushed away anyone getting near those deep scars. I feared. It was something dark. Cold and... lonely. I couldn''t shake this feeling that, if we were to get separated, if he were to get away, neither of us would be able to live normally. Life will just have that ''emptiness'' if that really happened. ''Hurry up... dummy.'' I stood by myrge window, ncing at the lonely moon. Though it looked like he had countless stars to talk with, it wasn''t true. He was here and those twinkling little stars were far, far away. He didn''t have anyone and, maybe he never will. But, it might not be the case for me. I hoped. "Moon... oh moon~. When do you think my time woulde? Or... are you enjoying seeing me like this?" As if to have got caught, the bastard moon hid behind arge, gray cloud. I sighed, deeply. Just standing by the window and staring at the ever-changing sky. * A person with a long beard and short hair looked up from the garden before the house. A beautiful flower garden filled with different, beautiful nts. Some of them had glowing flowers and leaves, enhancing the beauty of therge fountain in the middle. His shining, blue eyes reflected the image of a beautiful, young maiden on therge window. Her beautiful blond hair slowly danced with the cold night''s wind. Though she looked stoic, her eyes contained sadness. The seen... looked spectacr for anyone, from any angle. "Young love... beautiful and yet, painful." He said softly as he sat beside another person. With long, sea blue hair and light brown eyes, reflecting the light of the countless stars in the sky, she smiled and replied in a very soft as well as caring tone. Filled with love and affection, her voice had some nostalgic feel to it. "Reminds me of someone... right, Havi?" "Definitely... a fool that knew nothing. Found someone... he still thinks, he is unworthy of." He smiled. A smile that could warm your heart. A smile that would make you feel at home. Smile... as if your own parent. She gently caressed his head. With those soft, smooth, gentle hands. He smiled again, grabbing her hand and kissing it gently. "She is tough. And that someone special to her... looks to be a fool. A fool, to not understand thenguage of the heart." Though his words were harsh, his smile had gotten even more gentle than before. "I think he is a good person. And I''m very sure it won''t be like someone, who took three years~." Her eyes had unparalleled certainty. As if she knew anything would be much better than what they had. "Haha..." He softlyughed. Even with his strong,rge body, the air around him was unnaturally approachable. "I hope. She finally met the one. Her special someone. Seeing my lovely, cold-hearted daughter being so warm... it makes me happy." He sighed with a smile. Finally, he could be less worried now. "Love changes people... reminds me of a certain someone. One that, though took all the time in the world, changed so much that people sometimes forget the (Golden hammer) was also called (Tyrant of Maris)." She chuckled. Reminiscing of those old days. Nothing was like a present back in the times. "Well... if the one waiting has that much patience, what else would you expect." He looked up, closing his eyes. He held her hand again. Interlocking his finger with hers. She looked up, towards the window. Now, no one was there. The beautiful maiden was gone. Her little maiden was gone. "I have this feeling that... they will be together. Very soon." "Then I look forward to meeting that unlucky yet luckiest person. He better be prepared for that day." Heughed. He was happy. He will be having fun with his future son-inw. She sighed as she looked at him. "Please go easy on them. No... I will have to be there as well." She worriedly shook her head as she looked at his, a bit different smile. He just smiled and stood up from the fine wooden bench. "Let''s go in, my beloved Griz. These cold winds are jealous of us today." "You just..." She sighed in defeat and took his hand. *** In a fairlyrge room of a huge building, a tall man with glossy, shoulder-long hair stood by his bed. Removing his in white mask, he threw it on the bed. Revealing his beautiful face. With his in young face without any hair or impurities, he looked mouth-watering. His ruby red eyes were choctes on the cake. He slowly opened his buttons, removed his shirt, and put it on the other side of a bed. With a well-built muscr body, beautiful abs, and... many scars that would shock anyone. Some were deep and some were very small. As if to have fought many battles, everyone had a special story behind them. He looked at himself in the mirror. With a disgusted look, he immediately turned back and put on a bathing cloth. ''A beautiful face and a scar-ridden body... blessing of the world, no?'' Iughed. Though they were special, I didn''t like them much. I wasn''t even nning to keep them for long. As long as I had enough money to buy that special potion, I was going to erase them. Now... I wanted to change. Change for myself and change for the one that guided me back into this cruel world. Though I still didn''t know what my heart wanted, what I wanted. But, I knew. It at least wanted something. And that was enough. Way better than wandering aimlessly, killing unnecessary beasts, baring a meaningless hatred. Hurting myself, for no reason at all. ''It would be better... no. Wouldn''t it be best to get hurt while protecting someone? Someone... special.'' ¡ªBa-dum. ¡ªBa-dum. This was strange. Every time I thought about her, my heart would run wild. The way she smiles. The way sheughs. The way she teases me. Even her soft hands and those hard fingertips. Maybe I knew what this feeling was. Maybe I knew but, didn''t want to acknowledge it. This strange feeling, I had heard about it. And that was the reason... I feared it. I somehow knew she felt this way too, and that she was waiting for me. Waiting for me to acknowledge myself, the past, and possibly... the future. I wasn''t strong enough to let those feelings go. I couldn''t... I can''t. "Huuu..." I sighed deeply as Iy in the bathtub. The warm water cleansed my body and removed the fatigue. "Can I do that? Am I good enough? It will be ok... right?" My mind was a mess. Tomorrow is the day of departure. Maybe... this trip will give me some insight into my heart? "Tomorrow..." I closed my eyes. The heat of the water was perfect to take a small nap. Then suddenly, a cold shiver ran down his spine. This type of thing only happened when someone was thinking about you. Well, that was what people said anyways. But then, a thought crossed my mind. ''Could it be miss Nolen? Then am I really right about... well, forget it. It might just be a coincidence.'' I shook my head and got out of the tub. Now that my nap was interrupted, I had to check everythingst time. I came out and put new pair of clothes. Confirming that everything was perfect, I sat down on the bed. Looking out of the window, I spotted the bright blue mooning out of some gray clouds. It looked beautiful but, still... lonely. It had manyrge craters but it still shined brightly. He was alone but, he didn''t reject thepany of faraway stars. Lonely but... happy. He gave happiness to those who had someone. He cheered them. It was cheering for me too. Thinking this... gave me more courage. Chapter 35 Departure And Cooking Arge number of people had gathered before the huge gates of the imperial capital. Large carriages, finally dressed merchants, adventurers with armors, swords, spears, and magicians in their robes were gathered. Behind them was a bustling market. People were buying and selling different things at different stalls and shops. The gates were smallpared to other gates in the cardinal directions as they were just for the use of the merchants like them to exit the city inrge groups. People weren''t paying much attention to them as it was a sight they were used to. The caravan was divided into six different groups. Every group contains its own different merchant leaders, workers, and adventurers. Monster body parts belonged to the merchants after the exploration and if a core or skill stone was miraculously found then, they can sell it to that merchant if they want. These were simple things and everyone knew about them. In the secondst ce, a man wearing a in white mask stood beside a girl with normal brown hair and brown eyes. They both stood by the leader''s carriage, which clearly stood out the most. Just like the other five. Everyone in the group maintained their distance from the masked man in the blue robe. This was a normal reaction from the people after seeing this masked man. His visible red eyes were the reason everyone in the capital knew about him. Knew about the crazy (Red-eyed hunter). But the girl standing by his side was... weird. She talked with him as if they know each other quite well. He held a very high rank among adventurers present so no one tried to bother them. "Huu... looks like we will be departing soon. Brian~, please take good care of me." "Do not worry miss. This won''t even be that big of a deal. In any case, just stay by the carriage. The barrier is strong enough to stand against even yellow ranked beasts." He was calm and confident. Earlier, he unconsciously got too excited and at exactly that moment, I arrived. His eyes met mine and, that excitement instantly turned into seriousness. He was serious about protecting me. He... wanted, to protect me. It meant that he was starting to ept the truth. He was fighting with his lonely past. Fighting for hope... fighting to ept the present. This was a very positive sign. "WE WILL DEPART IN FIVE MINUTES!" Someone shouted from the front and brought me back. "Miss Nolen, it looks like I will have to go and check up on the leader for now. Please wait for me, I will be back as quickly as possible." Even he didn''t know why he was saying that right now. As one of the top adventurers, he should stick to the leader''s side but he told her he woulde back to... her? Though unconsciously, he said what he wanted. But, I shook my head. "You won''t have to~. I am here as the leader''s assistant so, I will be with him all the time." Her cheerful, happy smile made him blush under his mask. I noticed the changes and an excited smile appeared on my face instantly. ''I want to see that face! Those cute red expressions, him hiding behind his hand, that tough face, and... ahem! If I want, then I should, no?'' "Then let''s go~" I grabbed his hand and dragged him inside therge, spacious carriage. There, a middle-aged man with a thin body and ck mustache was sitting silently reading some papers. He had unique dark green hair, like dark leaves. His eyes, however, were simple brown. Upon noticing us, he put the papers down and stood up. He gracefully bowed his head and introduced himself in a respectful voice. "Greetings, miss Nolen. Hello to you too sir Brian. I am the merchant leader of the fifth group, Cody Cortez. Thank you for joining me on this small journey." He spoke respectfully, which was... very, very strange. ''Why would a merchant leader bow to someone like us? Is it because I''m famous or is he just that much polite.'' A confused expression appeared on his face. I could see the confusion in his eyes. Though I instructed this old man to act as if he don''t know me, he was the only one that could have helped me in this way. He was a kind, loyal, and sharp person among these groups of merchants. He was also someone I could trust. "Hello sir, It''s nice to meet you too. We will be in your care for the time being." Replying to him, we all sat down on the soft carriage seats. The interior of the carriage was quite spacious. It had space equal to a small room. It was a goodrge space even though, we were sitting on the same seat. I was neutrally happy with this development but, he had different thoughts. ''I h-have to protect her, that''s w-why we are sitting on the same seat. Y-yes! That''s the reason.'' He didn''t know why but, his body moved by her side on its own. He convinced himself and calmed down. After a moment, the carriages started moving. The creatures pulling the carriages were close to horses but they had muchrger bodies than any normal horses. They were mana beasts called [Lesser earth horse]. I didn''t know much about them but they weremonly used by rich people like these merchant leaders. ''Now, our trip starts.'' He thought. Excitement is clearly visible in his eyes. ''Let''s see how this goes...'' I pressed his hand which I was holding from when we entered the carriage. Not minding us, mister Cody silently read his papers. *** By arge road in an open area, arge camp was set up. Bonfires were starting in many different ces one by one. People were cooking food and talking loudly. Everyone seemed cheerful as they all had a bright expressions on their faces. This was the first camp of the caravan and a good ce to make new connections and friends. Here, on a corner of the campsite, three people were sitting around a finely set campfire, waiting for the masked person to finish cooking. He was making a simple chicken stew but, the aroma oozing out of the pot was mouth-watering. Even people from different groups near them were nkly staring at them with envious eyes. If only the fragrance was this good then... how good the taste would be? People wanted to go and just steal the pot from this person. but... everyone here valued their lives. Not a single one of them was capable of going against a (tier-5) magician. The person in question though noticed their gazes, he didn''t give a damn to them. Right now, he was extremely focused on making the food for a single special someone. He took the best ingredients, made the best fire with magic, and cleared the whole ce so that it would be the best campsite one has ever seen. He did all that without knowing why he was doing that. But, he was satisfied with it. After a long wait, the fire slowed and the aromaing from the pot intensified multiple times. The water in the bystander''s mouth increased but... with just a single re, he chased everyone away. Serving the thick, orange-red stew with big chicken pieces in a bowl, he decorated it on the small table before the two individuals sitting by the fire. The youngdy picked up her spoon and knife with a very calm expression. The meat, like butter, is sliced in an instant. It was perfectly cooked. She took a small bite of meat and thick broth in a slow, anticipating look. As soon as the food entered her mouth, like an exploration, many different vors exploded in her mouth. A very surprised expression clouded her face. She had eaten with the royal family in the royal pce but, this thing right in front of her was on almost that level. Still, there was something more about this. Something she had only felt at home. Like her mother''s cooking but, still a bit different. ''Cooking of the person... you have fallen for?'' Maybe... With an anticipating gaze, he asked. "How''s it? Do you... like it?" He was nervous, like her word meant the most to him and not the captain sitting beside her. ''I like it? I love this! I love you too...'' She was just... happy. This was a special moment for her. If just there weren''t so many people here, she might just have... Calming herself, she looked at him with a serious gaze. "Brian... do you really think this is, cooking?" Her serious gaze was a piece of bad news for him. At least he thought it was. "Y-yes?" He was very confident in his cooking so he wasn''t discouraged or disappointed. He was confused. What was she trying to say? She then shook her head and, happily exined. "No, Brian~! This is sorcery. How can something so simple be so good?! I really love it. I am going to eat it all~!" He released a long breath. Smiling brightly, he thanked her. And then... he finally looked at captain Cody. He was eating his food with a bright smile. He was elegant while eating too. When the one to cook such a delicious dish looked up at him, he only gave him a small thoubs up. Without saying anything with a delighted smile. He was embarrassed but, happy. Her happily eating face... made him happy. This was a candle, burning brightly in his darkness. Chapter 36 His Pain In the dark of night, sitting under the glittering stars, with a brightly burning bonfire in front of them, two people were sitting outside the tenants. There was an awkward silence between them. Though they were sitting quite a distance away from each other, that seemed weird too. It waste and there weren''t many people around. -SWEEEEEE~. The wind was quietly blowing between trees and leaves were dancing with it. Sitting quietly by the bonfire, the masked man with a magician''s robe spoke in a quiet voice. "Miss Nolen, you should go to sleep now." "Shouldn''t you sleep a bit too?" she asked with a worried tone. "I have to keep guarding here, and I don''t sleep much anyway," his voice carried helplessness and tiredness as he replied. "And why don''t you sleep much?" she asked again, anxiously. Her eyes were fixed on his mask and those red eyes. She had some worry in those deep brown eyes. But, maybe she already knew the answer. Even still, she wanted to hear the full story. With a very sorrowful expression, he snapped his fingers. -Onnnnnnnng. A blue, green, and red barrier enveloped them. "It''s always been like that way. When I was little..." He started talking about his past. For the first time, he was telling someone what had happened to him, to his family, to his life. This wasn''t something pleasant. Something he would never want to recall ever again. But, right now, he wanted to speak. He wanted to tell this person before him what agony he had felt, being by himself. He wanted to share his darkness with the small glimpse of light in front of him. She listed quietly. She focused; focused on every single word, every single emotion, and absorbed them. It was... painful. She didn''t know how, just how can someone live with no one to talk to, no one to share his feelings, and no one to be by his side. No one to support, no one to truly call a friend. There was no one who truly knew about the person before her. He talked, talked until he couldn''t hold those sparkling crystals of tears back. They were tears that had always been in those beautiful eyes. Always, clinging to the ends of them. They never dried out and always kept his eyes moist. Until one day, an unrealistic thing called fate brought him to someone. Someone who made his cold, lonely self warm. Like a spring breeze, passing through a riverbank. Calming as well as soothing. He was able to gather courage. Courage to escape a prison he created himself. A prison binding him to his past. The past that he never escaped. Past that made him who he was right now. But, he never wanted this. He never wanted to be called a hunter. A hunter who massacred any and all beast viges he saw. The unnecessary bloodshed he did was something... something he wanted to forget. But... this prison chained him. He did everything he could until one day, that fate brought him to her. He felt warm. He felt happy. He didn''t feel lonely. He felt a hope... to live. And now, miraculously, he was with that person. Telling her about the unknowns that he himself thought he had long forgotten. He cried, he cried but never stopped until he had said all that he wanted. She listened, with wide eyes. Tears were flowing out of them unnaturally but, she still heard every single thing HE said. This was strange for her too. She had gone through many things in her life but, right now... was something different. She was feeling someone else''s emotions. She was bathing in the sorrows of a person she thought she knew. She was crying, not only because the things that happened to the person before her were cruel. No. She was crying because she felt his emotions. She felt the sorrow, the anger, and... the coldness of those words. They were devastating. At least, for her. And, when he stopped talking, when he was done with everything, she stood up. She ran close and hugged him. She didn''t know what she was doing or why she was doing that but... she didn''t care about it. This feeling... was unexinable. She didn''t know, and neither did he. He just hugged her back. Still, crying. ,m Neither of them knew how much time had passed but, it was long. She felt like an eternity had passed. A calm and warm eternity. For him, it was just a moment. A moment very happy that, he wanted it tost for eternity. But, this wasn''t the time or ce for those kinds of emotions. They had to go back, out of the barrier. Back... to the present. And the first to break this moment wasn''t her, but him. He pulled himself back, and with an embarrassed expression, he apologized. "I-I am sorry, miss Nolen..." But, she just shook her head and answered in a happy, cracking voice. "Don''t worry. I w-was the one to..." "N-no! I''m sorry," he bowed his head but, because they were so close, it bumped into hers. "Ah~. Hay... don''t do that. I told y-you it was my fault," she took a step back and rubbed her head. "Thank you..." After a moment, he thanked her in a happy, quiet tone. Those were genuine words and the first thanks to evere from the bottom of his heart, after that incident. She felt that and smiled warmly. "No. Thank you. Thanks for telling me," She also thanked him. He opened up to her. Not anyone else but her. This meant a lot of things, and she understood everything. Everything that may be even he didn''t know about. Maybe he understood that, but he was still hesitant to ept those feelings. But, she knew. She knew that it won''t be too long before he was ready. For the world and... for her. "Ok, we should go and sleep. We will enter the forest zone tomorrow and... my work will start," he suggested. He felt that he will have a good sleep, after a long time. "Ok~. Sweet dreams~," she happily said and walked towered a distant,rge tent. "Good night to you too," saying that with a happy smile, he turned off the three barriers and walked towered his tent. Witching from the carriage, holding a cup of tea, the merchant leader Cody smiled brightly. "Young miss finally found someone..." He was happy. It was one of his many wishes to see the cold and sharp young miss being warm and happy like this. He smiled again and continued reading. Chapter 37 Unexpected "EVERYONE! WATCH OUT FROM NOW ON!" someone shouted from the front. After hearing that, many people started chatting among themselves. Their voices were loud enough to be heard at the back. "Looks like our job will start now." "What do you think will be the first thing to appear here?" "Oh, scrape that! How do you think that guy will kill it?" "That guy? What are you talking about?" "See that guy in a blue robe? I bet he will jump at whatever pops out first." "But, don''t you think he''s different from rumors? I thought he was quite normal." "That''s because there weren''t any energy beasts until now. Once we enter the wild area, he will change entirely." His voice carried certainty so no one argued on that statement. On the other hand, the person in question was indifferent thoughts. ''It seems there will be more dangerous monsters this time. I have to protect her at the back. Everything else can wait...'' The Mana in the air was thick, perfect to attract the unknown beasts to that area. It was also a clear road ahead of us. Though he still had the urge to kill them, now that urge was different. He looked at the other side of where merchant leader Cody and his assistant were. And just when he turned around, his eyes unexpectedly met his. And, just when their eyes met, both of them turned their heads to the other side in embarrassment. The mood between them was a bit awkward after the night. Well, it was expected. It would be a bit strange if they acted as if nothing happened. Other than that, everything was good enough. Though people were talking about him, it was none of his business. And more than anything... it was about time, for something to appear. ¡ªShrrr. ¡ªShrrr. ¡ªShrrr. Multiple rustling sounds came from different directions at a distance away. Everyone got on their guards, ready for any kind of fight. Some took out their swords, spears, and bows. And some prepared their spells. Then, a momentter... "Hu! Hu! Hu!" From the huge trees before us, somerge ck shadows jumped down in a group. With silver fur covering their body, standing on their back legs, creatures resembling monkeys appeared. Not only the front but also the right nk was blocked by them. A green magic circle appeared under my legs as soon as I spotted them. A small wind current passed in the surrounding. It was a (tier-3) spell (Detection wind). ''Thirty-four. That''s quite a lot. Well, it looks like they are just (red) level beasts. These people can take care of them by themselves.'' They had the advantage. Both in numbers and power. He can just leave them to others. He wasn''t greedy for money anyways. "Hu! Hu! Hu!" The monkeys shouted and jumped forward. The monkey-like creatures were called [Steel body chimpanzee] and they were weak against fire. Magicians in the group shot out their spells. I stood back and watched them fight without any problems. This confused them but they continued with their attacks. ¡ªnk! ¡ªnk! ¡ªnk! ¡ªBoooooooom! Their bodies were like metal so, the nking sound of metal rang in the surrounding. Spells collided with them and small explosions rang out in the surrounding. Just after 5 minutes of the fight, all of them died down. And, to everyone''s surprise, the so-called bloodthirsty (Red-eyed hunter) didn''t move an inch. He just stood there, protecting the carriage. "Hay! What happened to him! He''s acting weird today!" someone shouted in the middle of cleanup. "See. I knew he was a decent person. He is just doing his job." "No, you little! Have you ever seen him in the fields? Have you ever seen him take out those bodies from his storage device!" "Yes! They fill the floor with blood! you are new so you don''t know much. So, just shut up!" Their voice was quite loud so everyone in the quiet area heard them. They weren''t the only ones confused by this situation. Others looked confused but, they didn''t say anything. Again, the person in question just stood there quietly. Guarding the carriage or, more specifically, the one person he was protecting. "OK! WE START MOVING!" With the shout, everyone started walking forward. On their path, they faced many opponents. Large wolfs with red fur, called [Dark fire wolfs]. Though they had more strength than the monkeys, their numbers weren''t enough. They were taken out in less time than the previous ones. Next was arge group of [Acid slimes]. Though they weren''t even red energy beasts, their numbers were a lot. They were omnivores creatures so they even ate their own kind after their deaths. and to kill those slimes, I had to step forward when they reached for us. With a (tier-4) spell (Ice needles), I destroyed their central nucleus. These slime bodies disintegrated when killed so, they were the most annoying ones. Just like that, many other creatures like [Wind snakes], [Dead Mana spiders], [Blood mosquitoes], and much more. *** At night, some different creatures came out but, they too were wiped out in seconds. This trip was just like that. This didn''t contain anything greater than yellow-ranked energy beasts. It was an easy kill for someone like me but, I was still worried. As we got closer to theck, the monstersing toward us increased many times. This was strange as if they had run away from something. Their numbers were increasing at an unexinable rate. He had to keep his guard up all the time from the midway point. His work increased as well. He always tried his best to protect the carriages and the people around them. He hunted those energy beasts that was all; seeing human blood wasn''t something he was found of. So, he protected everyone when the situation looked unlikely. It was nighttime right now and they had set up a camp in an open area. Everyone had a tense atmosphere around them. The changes in the forest were unexpected variables for this ''safe'' trip. But, after today''s idents, everyone now had a more positive opinion of the man known as (Red-eyed hunter). He saved many of their lives and, they were grateful for that. * "Brian...?" A sweet voice of a girl called him out from the back. Still his guard up, he looked back and replied in a serious voice. "Miss Nolen, I don''t think you shoulde out like this. There are many weird things going on." Looking at his serious eyes, she sighed. "You should take some rest as well. Others can handle here for the time being." She was worried. Her voice also contained great emotions. He was on edge for quite some time now. Though only two days had passed in this forest, he didn''t take any rest from the moment everything started to seem weird. He felt her concerns and replied with a small smile. "It''s ok miss Nolen. It''s normal for me to not sleep for days. I will be fine." He was happy to see someone being concerned for him. He felt calm, just hearing her voice now was everything to him. And, that was enough. "You should go in. I will be fine. Really." His voice contained confidence and his eyes had warmth. She understood it and nodded. "If you say so. Take care of yourself." She gave him a small smile and turned around. He looked at her departing figure and smiled slowly. ? And then... -KSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Everyone in the area heard an ear perching noise that filled their hearts with fear. Chapter 38 Enemy In the open area surrounded by trees, many people were looking at the faraway sky with wide-open eyes. Their eyes contained disgust and fear as some of them fell to the ground. With utter silence shrouding the entire forest, only some voices could be heard. ¡ªKRACKL. ¡ªKRACKL. The sound of wood crackling in the fire was the loudest in the area. ¡ªSHOOOOOOO~. After that was a silent, creepy wind. As if flowing from the front, as if being dragged by arge presence, as if arge creature was ttering its wings. Because of the loud screams, everyone was frozen on the spot they were standing. With cold sweat flowing on their backs, everyone''s faces turned ashen. This wasn''t something they had ever imagined encountering in thisce forest. They had never thought something like THAT, would be here. After a moment the sound vanished, someone spoke in an almost inaudible voice, which everyone heard VERY clearly. "T-the demonic... birds..." Everyone had their blood run cold. Never in their life, they had thought to encounter a demonic creature in a peaceful ce like this. But... one person had the most intense reaction to this. The person is called (Red-eyed hunter). The intense blood lust was oozing out of his body. So intense that people had fallen down on their knees around him. This was the true hunter that everyone feared. The one that everyone looked up to for his unreal achievements. A person who had made the vow to kill any daemon he encounter. Fight it with all his might even if he were to lose. A fight... to the death. A fight against the very beings that took away everything from him. From his parents to his brother. The hatred he had towards them was something, he could never forget. But... he stopped himself when he felt a warm small hand, holding his cold and almost blooded hand. And then... he remembered. He remembered every single moment he had to spend with this person. Every single moment changed him. The person that pulled him out of his cage. He came back to his senses and looked around. People were gasping for a breath and some with weak mental fortitude had almost passed out from their unconscious blood lust. He turned around and met her eyes. Though she was ok, her face was slightly pale. Sweat slowly formed around her neck and forehead. But, she held his hand. Tightly and gently. His expression turned into that of horror. He had done something he had never wanted. He had hurt the very person he wanted to protect so badly. "MISS NOLEN!" He grabbed her almost falling body and quickly ran towards their carriage. Closing the door shut, he slowly helped her to sit down on the seat. The merchant leader had already grasped the situation and left the carriage, leaving both of them alone. "I''m fine. Don''t worry. This much was nothing," she smiled. It really looked like she was all right. Totally different from a moment ago. She tapped on herrge purple bracelet with a golden jewel and a ss bottle appeared in her hand. It was something he was very familiar with. A basic healing potion. She gulped it in one breath and slowly stood up straight. With a refreshed smile, she looked back at him. "Don''t worry about me and let''s think about what we should do about this situation." She was calm. She had also heard those voices a moment ago and she knew very well what they meant. He was surprised but, there wasn''t time to be surprised about these things. The matter at hand was more important than anything. Those voices from ahead were definitely something he had encountered in the past. [Demonic fowl] Their presence alone was a bad omen for everything around them. They were the strongest among non-noble demonic creatures. And the most terrifying thing about them was definitely their numbers. From as low as 12 to as great as 60. They were a small disaster. And now... that disaster was before us. And as one of the strongest individuals, he had to make a very important decision. He fell into deep thought, putting his personal grudge agents them aside. And, after some time, he looked at her and said with a serious expression. "I will fight. Everyone else should get back to safety. If needed, all strong individuals from six teams should take the lead in this fight." His decision was firm and logical to some extent. But, he was also saying her to get back without him. This wasn''t something any of them wanted but, they understood each other''s thinking. She looked into his eyes with a very serious look. "I will go with you. And... you can''t stop me," she had resolve in her eyes. She had already made her decision and he knew... he didn''t have a say in this matter. And... he knew something like this was going to happen. A defeated sigh escaped his mouth as he replied in an exhausted voice. "Just... stay by my side." She nodded with a smile across her face. They left the carriage and shouted while standing in the middle of the camp. "EVERYONE..! LISTEN..!" Every single person in all six groups turned and towered to him with a hopeful expression. After a moment, everyone gathered around the center and looked up at him. He closed his eyes for a moment and slowly opened them. He used (Voice Amplification), a (tier-2) spell, and started speaking. "As we all mostly know the dangers ahead of us, only the stronger individuals should stay. Everyone else should march back for the time being. I believe we could take those vail creatures down if webine all the strength." With those words, everyone understood one thing. They weren''t going to run away like cowards from those disgusting evil beasts. They could really defeat them with theirbined strength. Though some were afraid, most of them had an excited look on their face. They were going to fight. They were going to fight those demonic birds with all their might. A fight that would not go as easy as they initially thought. Chapter 39 Fight In the quiet forest, the sound of people walking down the narrow road was the only noticeable sound. With four people with giant shields in the front, and three with the sword and spears behind them. Two people with mage robes behind them and atst onedy with two different people. Thedy had a normal brown-green dress with a normal look and the two people with her were protecting her. One was a mage with a blue robe and white mask and the other was someone unexpected. The merchant leader of the fifth team, sir Cody. They knew that he was a good, (Rank-3) swordsman but they didn''t expect him to join them too. The weirdest thing was that they both were protecting this unknowndy who didn''t seem any special. They didn''t even know why she was going with them to such a dangerous ce. But... none of them argued about that. The two-person behind them were strong so they didn''t have to worry about their backs as they traveled through the forest. As they walked forward towards theke, the nts around them started to turn ck and they seemed to release some ck smoke. The mages in the back, cast some different protection spells as they marched forward. Everyone also drank some potions. ¡ªShhhhhhhhhhh. The sky was turning dark and the wind was getting creepy. And after walking for just another three minutes, everyone heard a strong voice from the back. "Get ready! There are threeing from the front." The voice carried strange charisma as well as intimidation. Everyone strengthened their backs and assembled into the positions. This was an instinctive response as if they were following their leader''s order unconditionally. Some of them knew this voice and understood everything. [Authority] A special power that only a few select individuals held throughout the continent. It was something one would be born with. Unlike Mana or Aura or any other [Energy], this power was somewhat like an absolute order. One had to follow it if they didn''t have high enough mental fortitude to resist. And one with such power was considered best at leading a group in fights. The normal-looking girl with them was definitely not normal. To have such power, no one would believe it was from someone who seemed so... normal. And as ordered from the back, three ck figures flew towards them from the front. ¡ªSRUSH! ¡ªSRUSH! Tearing the leaves and branches, they came and sat on a tree branch before them. As if mocking, they stared at them with somewhat smirking under theirrge curved beaks. With ck bodies which seemed to be covered in ck armor, they looked down on them with their blood-red eyes. Long beak and sharp talons... sharp enough to tear apart an armor. There was onemon expression on everyone''s face and it was naturally... disgust. They were sore to the eyes. Just a look at them was enough to send a frown on everyone''s face. "Everyone! Pay attention!" With those few words, everyone''s mind cleared up and a serious look spread on their faces. ¡ªSKHIIIIIIIIIIIII! With a sharp scream, the birds dove towards them. The shield man held their ground firmly and at the same time, some spells of different colors flew toward them. They were (tier-2) and (tier-3) enhancement spells. ¡ªnk! ¡ªnk! ¡ªnk! The fight started with loud collusion. Two sounds of metal shing echoed in the silent forest. They fought with their swords and spears. Some arrows struck them from behind. The fight continued for ten minutes. They were tough opponents but they didn''t have as much stamina or [Demonic energy] as their opponents. With spears and swords piercing their tough armor-like skin, ck blood sshed in the surrounding. The mages'' preserved their Mana for the following fights, which they knew were going to be tough. ¡ªSkhhhhhhh! With theirst, painful cry, they dropped to the ground. ck blood was sshed out everywhere around them. The hideous corpse of demonic birds definitely wasn''t an eye-pleasing sight. "We should store the corpses..." The familiar female voice spoke from behind them. The suggestion was definitely normal but, there was clear hesitation on everyone''s faces. ,m She looked at them and suggested after a small sigh. "I have a spare storage device, don''t worry." The corpses of these demonic creatures were something that polluted everything around them. It was even true inside the storage spaces. They could affect the things inside if not careful. Considering the prices of even the most normal storage devices, not many could afford two at the same time. They were happy that they had her with them as well as ashamed that they looked down on her at the beginning. The corpses of these demonic creatures can be sold to different churches or could be purified by them. The divine energy could purify the remaining negative energy and the corpses could be used as materials. The price is always good when ites to the demonic beasts so it was certain that they were going to make good money from this. She taped on her wrist and a beautifulrge purple bracelet with a golden gem became visible. Everyone present had their eyes wide open at this site. This ''bracelet'' wasn''t a storage device. Everyone here knew this thing''s value and a greedy look instantly shed in their eyes. But... it vanished in an instant. Just beside her, they saw the red, glowing eyes. The concentrated blood lust on them sends shivers down their spine. They turned their heads away in unison, not daring to even think about that again. She saw all this and rolled her eyes in exhaustion. It was understandable. This bracelet wasn''t a storage device but an [Artifact]. And... it was special to her. Sighing again, she tapped on the gem on it twice and a ck cube with a red pattern appeared on her hand. She threw the storage device with a veryrge capacity toward one of the mages'' in the front. Stunned, he barely managed to catch it. The thing that he just caught could pay for everything they needed for at least one month. "Let''s finish this quickly and go home~." She cheerfully said without any worry in her tone. Now... everyone here knew. The person in front of them was anything but, an ordinary girl. There was no way in hell that she could be amoner or a simple merchant''s assistant. Another cold shiver ran down their back and they started to clean up the ce. On the other hand, the person with a white mask and red eyes gazing out of them sighed. ''Thank god... she knows how to control herself so well. Things could have gotten difficult just now.'' He had spent enough time with her to know her very well. He even knew about the [Artifact ] to some extent as well. If she wanted, any of them could have died in total silence without knowing anything. He already knew she was scary and... that was the very thing he liked the most. She was strong on her own and... cold. He had seen the coldness and he knew, in some circumstances maybe even he could lose to her. Not that he had ever won. They had done everything she liked and they had fun doing everything, together. He even knew that she wanted more from him but, she knew how to control her emotions. "Hay Brian~. Let''s go." He felt a warm touch on his hand as he came back to reality. As he looked around, everything was cleaned up and the corpses were stored away. "Be careful," he said and walked forward. She smiled warmly and walked forward. *** A dark, stormy sky. Argeke with swamp-like dark green water. ck trees without leaves. Corpses of different beasts cover the ground. Ash-white ground painted in ck, red, and green. Large, disgusting birds flying in the stormy sky. Bright red lightning falling from the weird storm in the sky. Some people walked in this ''beautiful'' area with different expressions. Fear, shock, disgust, anger, and helplessness. They looked up in the sky or, more specifically, towards the folk ofrge birds. There were easily 15 monsters but... they weren''t the source of fear. They had killed a total of twelve such monsters on their way here but, this... was different. With a three timesrger body than others, it flew highest. Almost at the eye of the storm, with its ck wings covering the sky. Sharp beak, long pointed talons, ck-armored skin, and metallic ck feathers covering its body. It looked down on the small bug-like humans with keen purple eyes. And... One human with the red eyes... looked up straight at it in the eye. Chapter 40 Demonic Knight Just as we exited the dark forest and reached the shore of the previously known ke'', we were stunned by the sight before us. Not just the sight before us was horrible but the sky was more terrible than that. I looked at thergest bird in the group straight in the eye as anger shed in my eyes. It was a [knight hawk], the lowest ranking noble among demonic creatures. Now I understood why other beasts were running away from here. And the reason the ''small'' birds were here was also because of this fellow. Its sharp purple eyes filled with greed met my bloodshot red eyes. It wasughing and looking down at us as mere food to fill its stomach. I nced back at it, and its eyes sharpened. But this food was more delicious for it because it was weak and most importantly, it was looking at me. A big chunk of notorious meat filled with Mana. A very good amount of Mana. But... it was gravely wrong. I looked at it and a yful grin spread on my face. This was a boss battle and now, the boss was going to return to earth for its insolence. I looked around and found everyone in front of me petrified. They had a paleplexion as if they were going to die a miserable death. This was... pathetic at this point. They didn''t trust me enough to stay strong. I looked to my side only to meet her eyes locking with mine. With her eyes, she asked: ''Will you be fine?'' At that, I smiled with amazement. She already knew I was going to fight that cheeky bird in the sky alone. It wasn''t something big if I had to say. It was only a [Knight]. I could take on two of them if I went all out. But, this lowly fat bird didn''t know what it had gotten itself into. I slowly held her soft, rough hand and nodded without hesitation. With my eyes, I said: ''piece of cake.'' She smiled and a small sigh escaped her mouth as she shouted. "Everyone! We will take out small ones. Leave the fat bird to Brian!" My heart skipped a beat when she called it ''fat bird''. And just with those words, everyone came back to their senses. As if possessed, they spread out and took their position in unison. I walked to the other side of theke as the fat bird screamed as if to signal the start of the fight. -KLANK! -KLANK! -KLANK! On one side, the shing of metal was ringing. -BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Some explosions rang out and struck the birds in the sky. The fight with the small birds was slow and lethal under hermand. Mages were using every bit of Mana they had saved in previous battles. Miss Nolen was throwing many different potions at them from time to time. They knew very well just how expensive these potions were so the respect in their eyes grew even more. Their fight was quick and it looked like they would be ok. So I turned my attention to the fat bird before me. Small sparks of purple lightning were flickering around its body. Just like any other noble demonic creature had, this dark thunder was a special ability of this demonic knight. And lightning was weak against ice in terms of elementals. A big smile spread out on my mouth under my mask. This... was going to be fun. I flicked my finger and a pure white wand appeared on my palm. Pointing it towards the bird, I slowly said. (Ice needles) Hundreds of small sharp needles of ice shot towards it at a very fast speed. -KYYYYYYYYYYY! It screamed again and a purple shield appeared before it. Though the needles were small, they could definitely pass through its shield. The opposite effect of the elements was applied here and the bird somewhat knew what was happening. Changing its tactics, it flew upwards. High up in the sky, looking down, it somewhat smirked. Spreading its wings widely, it pped it in my direction. Many ck feathers with purple lightning covering it shot at a rapid speed. SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! The arrow-like big feathers closed on me and my eyes widened in surprise. (Ice wall) I quickly created three different ice walls around me and quickly backed down using [Backstep]. Though the ice wall was a (tier-3) spell, using the physical type skill like [Backstep] was easy. There wasn''t much burden on my mind. The feathers collided with the icy walls but, they couldn''t pass through them. With a deep sigh, I looked up at it. These feathers could have been dangerous just now. From the way I was draining my Mana, I thought it wouldn''t be long before it was drained. The bird stopped in the air as if tired. This was my chance. I took another step back and took some potions out of my (item box). Gulping the green and blue potions in one breath, I looked at my other side. The fight was about to end for them and if this fat bird decided to go after them, it would be MORE dangerous. The chance I had was enough to end this fight on my side. "HEY! FAT BIRD!" I heard the voice filled with authority, and I knew this... was my chance. The bird looked at the other side without knowing itself. I gathered arge amount of Mana and pointed my wand at it with a bright smile. "Goodbye... fat bird." Icy blue Mana burst out from the tip of my wand. [Ice javelin] One of my strongest attack-type skills was one that was ranked (Yellow). In total, I had five skills. The strongest skill I had was (Green) ranked but, it wasn''t appropriate for the fight right now. Sixrge spears of ice manifested and shot forward at the confused bird. Just as the spicks of ice were about to touch it, its focus returned and it created a shield with all of its lightning. -BOOOOOOOOOM! The sky shook and shockwaves spread out in the surrounding. The bird managed to block three of the six arrows but, it screamed in agony as the three remaining javelins stuck it. One pierced its tough wings on the right, one pierced its neck and thest one pierced its main body. ck blood sprayed out of those wounds, showering across the wholeck. The once beautifulke was now painted in disgusting green and ck. But that... wasn''t important right now. I ran towards the other side. Towards... her. Using this power on such a strong enemy wasn''t something she could have handled after that much fight before. She over-exerted herself this time. For her, everything would be spinning right now. This was normal but I couldn''t see her like that. "Miss Nolen..." I reached them and stood beside her. She was already dizzy as she fell on my shoulder. Holding her, I took out some potions and slowly poured them into her mouth. I set down with her as I requested the others. "Can you all give us some time? You can go back and call others. Everything here is done." The sky was slowly clearing up. Now that the ''boss'' fat bird was dead, there was no threat left. I had already taken out its core so it was truly ''dead''. Only, the area was still polluted by the demonic energy. Well, light potions could help in that matter. Everyone understood and walked back with a grateful smile. Leaving the two of us alone. As there was no one left, I looked around us. I still didn''t like this heinous-looking ce. Chapter 41 Divine Beast On the ck soil by theke, two people were sitting quietly, looking at the devastating scene before them. Some rotting bodies of beasts filled the once clear and beautifulke. They were just sitting there staring at the heart-shattering sight with stiff expressions. "Brian. You protected me. You protected everyone. You... are a hero. At least for me. Thank you." Her voice was filled with gratitude and, he may not get it but there was... love. "Don''t say it like that. I would always protect you," he replied while still looking forward. The voice that escaped his mouth was filled with relief and sadness. From what she knew him, he loved nature to some extent. Seeing this scene wasn''t pleasant for him, nor for her. Those low-rank demonic creatures didn''t even know how to spare nature. Well, in a way, nature was their enemy so... it was normal. "Can''t we do something about this?" I asked looking at the other side of theke. Theke was big, but not so much that we can''t even see the other end. "We, as humans, can''t," he was certain as he said that. For humans to pull out the purification of this much wide area, at least twenty high holy power users would be needed. And... that may still not be a lot. Maybe even after that, some parts would remain polluted with this negative energy. He sighed and looked kept forward. ,m She turned her head and looked at him. His face wasn''t covered with a mask so she could see his face clearly. Those sad eyes, those tightly shut lips, and that face that seemed hopeless. But suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and tried to look closely. He blinked a few times in utter disbelief. This was the first time I had seen him behave like this. Surprised, I looked forward to seeing what he was gawking at. And, as soon as I looked in that direction, my eyes froze on a single thing. In this disgusting, horrible, and unsightly ce, there was something on the other end of theck. A VERYrge shinning figure of a creature. A bright, pure white light with some blue mixed in it. A very, very... veryrge horse was standing there, gracefully. Its long silver-blue hair danced with the slow breeze of the afternoon. Sun was about to set down and it was almost twilight. With a somewhat dark sky, I could clearly see the horse-like creature''s eyes. Its eyes... they were deep, filled with unparalleled wisdom. Filled with the knowledge that none could possibly understand. They were as blue as the sea and... they sparkled. Just like stars, something was twinkling in them. And the most unique thing about it was definitely... the horn. A pure white horn-like feature was visible on its forehead. As I looked at it, it also nced back at me. Those unique eyes met mine. I felt like someone was seeing the depths of my soul. Checking everything, seeing everything about me. This eye contactsted for just a moment but I felt like a long time had passed in that short moment. After that moment, I looked at it again. It somewhat smiled and shook its head. As if it had missed a chance. Then, it nced at Brian beside me. He flinched just like me. That feeling was really weird. It took him longer toe back from that nk te. Maybe he also felt just like me... like someone has seen every inch of your soul. Then, we both looked at it again. Now, it had a sad expression. Almost of pity. It blinked its unique eyes as if expressing its sorrow. Taking a step back, it somewhat nodded. It was a very giant creature and we both knew exactly what it was. And... we still couldn''t believe our eyes. A small white light appeared on the horn of the [Devine beast] in front of us. It looked in our direction onest time and blinked. It felt... warm, somehow. The small light on its horn flew in the sky and... the ''horse'' disappeared. Silence once again filled the surroundings. Our eyes followed the small light flying in the sky naturally. In the high sky, it stopped and started expanding. The small light turned into a big, bright ball of light. Then, after a moment... it exploded! One turned into many and... brightened the sky. Like fireworks, the white light filled the entire sky above theck. This scene was... breathtaking. As the white particles of light from these fireworks touched the polluted ground, it... turned back. The ck nts returned to their original form. Trees started growing back as leaves sprouted all over them. Water started clearing up, returning to its former, clean and sparkling state. I felt a warm touch on my right hand and turned my gaze to my side. Still staring at the sky, Brian said in a clear small voice, filled with... love. "Miss Nolen, I think I''m... in love with you." My eyes widened in surprise. My heart skipped a beat as a single drop of tear escaped my right eye. I had waited a long time to hear that and finally... the time hade. My time... hade. In such perfect time, ce, and way too. In the twilight of dusky sun and rising moon, white explosions filled the sky. The harmony of everything was just... perfect. I smiled warmly, facing him and looking into those clear red eyes, I smiled warmly. His face turned rose-red as he looked back into my eyes. "Yes~. Of course, you love me..." Leaning forward, I closed my eyes and... kissed this fool. He was surprised but then, gave up after I wrapped my arms around his firm neck. There was no way this cutey could win against me. ============ "Mom and dad saw a REAL [Unicorn]?!" Eon shouted, jumping from his seat between us. Brian looked embarrassed but, looking at his genuinely shocked son was far more interesting. He was quiet and normal throughout the whole story ept some particr parts. This indeed was the most interesting story he had heard. It was alreadyte night and we had set up a bonfire in the backyard. Chicken stew was being cooked on the other side of this outside camp. The mouth-watering aroma was just that awesome. Right now, I could practically read theplex mind of my little son from those cute expressions. ''They have actually met a [Divine beast]! They had actually seen a unicorn! They even saw a [Divine skill]! They are AMAZING!!!'' He was looking at us with sparkling, respectful eyes. It was very fun to see him actually act like a child. A burst of warmughter escaped my mouth as I looked at both of them. My two little, dumb, sweethearts. Chapter 42 Divine Beast (2) [Divine Beast]. (White) ranked energy beasts and the strongest existencesparable to gods in this world. In my previous world, they were only considered creatures of legends. But here in this world, actually exist those same mythological beings. In the old stories of my previous world, they represented different values and human natures. They pointed at one unique thing which then became their motif. Like love, purity, speed, death, life, birth, time, and many more. Here, they have that same feature as their specialty trait. Just like my phonographic memory, that unique thing about them reflects in their very being. They have their own abilities, powers, and strengths. They are so powerful that their power couldn''t be just measured by simple means. They are wise and hold great authority in this world. Just seeing one in person is considered one of the greatest blessings for a person. You can''t actually see their (True) form as normal humans can''t even bare that. As for strong people like my mom and dad... they are considered still lucky. You have to be as strong as them to barely withstand the (Phantom) form of them. Even so, the divine beast was the one to show itself to them. It deemed them worthy enough to show itself to them. Just like meeting a god. If children of my previous world hears this story, they would just jump around the whole house in surprise. The beautiful creatures that they only saw on screen and in movies are real here, everyone including I would want to meet them. I envy my parents the most now. They actually met such being in person. And not only that, but they also witnessed the use of a [Divine skill]. These skills aren''t something a human could perform, ever. Just the sheer knowledge and mental power required for casting are unfathomable. They are also called (Miracle) by people in this world because it is beyond human limits. Not even (tier-9) mages coulde close to them. As for (tier-10) archmages, though they are considered superhumans, they could barelye close to them. [Origin masters] could be considered as archmages in terms of strength but, they are stronger. The power possessed at that level goes against themon senses. That is why [Origin grandmasters] live separately from the world. Power of a [Origin] could reach as strong as [Miracle] at their level. Some believe that [Divine beasts] are also creatures born directly from these [Origins]. If a [God] is someone who controls [Origin] at their will, they should be people who reached a realm beyond [Saint]. [Saints] also held godly powers and they could be equal to [Divine beasts]. That is the reason they are worshiped as almost Gods. Their power is still borrowed in the form of (Divine Energy). ''Well, thinking too deeply about these things are... meaninglessness.'' I sighed and looked at the red-orange stew in my bowl. Hearing their story was really, really... REALLY amazing. My heart skipped beats from time to time and at some points, I almost cried. Though they had left many things nk, I could clearly feel every emotion in their word. The joy, longing, sadness, cold, and loneliness. I already knew they were amazing but now, I really respect them. They were much more than just amazing. I didn''t have words to express my feelings right now. I just stared at the stew with excitement oozing out of me. Mom and dad were happy to see me like this as they sat by me. I was still lost in my thoughts. A [Unicorn] is a creature ofkes, purity, and light. A very famous creature that any girl would have loved in my previous world. Especially the young girls, they loved them like crazy! Back then, I didn''t know what was so special about these horses. The phantom of this unicorn was very big. It had its pure white hair and the blue mixed in them must be a water attribute. The light from its horn must have been the [Divine skill]: [Light of purity]. In the books, it is depicted as the power to wipe out any impurities, evil, or negativity. This one didn''t have any offensive uses but still was considered one of the strongest powers against demons. And they had witnessed the very thing themselves. Though it was just a fraction of what the skill could do, that was more than enough to mesmerize someone for a lifetime. Now... I knew. Now, I really understood that deep nostalgic look in their eyes. They every time saw the normal fireworks as those phenomenal explosions of light. They felt the emotions they had felt that very day. They lived their past again... in a very good way. They were happy and d to be there at that exact moment. If not for that day, things may have been different. But, that didn''t happen. I was here, listening to them tell me about one of the many exciting things about them. Now I wanted to hear more about them. I wanted to know much more but... I didn''t show that on my face. The time for that will alsoe, just like today. I will wait, patiently, just like mom did for dad. Or... maybe not. Not like her at least. For this matter, I had more patients than her. I smiled brightly and lifted my spoon. Taking a spoon full of thick warm stew with a small chunk of chicken meat, I put it in my mouth. The smell, vor, the texture of the meat, were amazing. This... was definitely sorcery. I was still miles away from making something like this from this world. Though I had the knowledge of my previous life, I still knew almost nothing about the outside world and had close to zero experience in many things. And... learning those unknown things will be more fun than I expect, hopefully. I finished the meal and put the bowl on the other side with the other tes. Mom and dad also finished their meals and we sat down once again. This time, as we sat, mom was in the middle of us. Holding dad and my hand gently she spoke in a calm voice. "Brian, Eon, I have something to tell you two..." Chapter 43 Good News In the sweet dark of night, under the sweet light of the beautiful moon and sparkling stars, sitting by the lovely bonfire, I looked at my mom. She was calm and serious. She was also holding dad and my hand gently but tightly, meaning the thing she was going to say was something important. I nced at dad but he also looked as confused as I. Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a happy, excited voice. "Honey~. Eon~. We are... having a baby!" As soon as the words left her mouth, my mind went nk. It wasn''t that I didn''t hear her. I heard her loud and clear and, something inside me melted. Dad was shocked at first then he jumped up smiling. He smiled andughed the brightest I had ever seen him. He lifted mom high and spun around in circles. Mom alsoughed with the brightest smile I had seen her. But, I stayed still. My mind was thinking about many things right now. In my previous life, there was no one with me. I had no one and I had always thought of how my life had turned out if I had a sibling. A little sister or a little brother...? How would have I lived back then? Maybe... much better than how I did, right? Caring for a little sibling, ying with them, going out, and doing fun things. Spoil them a bit and scold them sometimes... I had dreamed of such things many times back then. I envied others and longed for the same happiness. I even tried to open up to others but... the fear of losing them never went away. But now... I had everything I wanted. I had a family. And now... I will also have a little sibling. My once lost dream... will actually be real. Tears started flowing out of my small eyes. Clear, crystal-like tears. I was happy, the happiest I had ever been. Maybe... more than my parents. They looked at me with a warm smile and sighed. I was happy and they knew that. Though they didn''t know about my past life, they knew I was special in many ways. They had seen the unnatural loneliness in my eyes so, they understood me best. Sitting down by my side again, they hugged me gently. I buried my head in their warm embrace. I was happy and the tearsing out of my closed eyes seemed endless. In reality, it would be weird that I was crying after hearing that I was going to be a big brother. But, they understood this weirdness of mine. With the cool breeze of the night, I closed my eyes. Today was long and full of surprises, good ones that I will remember forever. *** First rays from the rising sun passed through the window of arge bedroom, stopping on the bed. Beautiful women with beautiful long blond hair, a handsome man with ck hair, and a pretty boy with golden-blond hair were sleeping on the big bed. My eyes twitched slightly as the sunlight fell exactly on my eyes. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw my precious baby and lovely husband sleeping peacefully. A bright morning''s beautiful view warmed my eyes. They both looked supeeeeeeeeeeeer cute, whenever they slept together like this. My hand unconsciously went up, and I caressed both of their heads. I put my hand on the small, soft cheeks of my little boy and stroked them gently. He had fallen asleep after crying his eyes out in happiness. He was special but nothing could change the fact that he was my son. I knew he had things he had never told us but, there was no point in knowing them. I knew everything there was to know about my son and if one day, he wanted to say something, I would listen quietly. Just like he does... Just then, his long golden eyshes moved slightly. He slowly opened his beautiful red eyes and looked at me. "Good morning mom..." He was still somewhat asleep which looked very cute~! He pulled up his body and I did the same. Sitting on the bed, I looked at my husband who was still asleep. Eon pulled his daddy''s cheeks, still half asleep. I managed to notugh at this. With much difficulty. "Hmm~." With a weird sound, he opened his eyes. I knew that sound, maybe Eon didn''t but, I knew. No point in talking about that deeply. He also opened his eyes slowly and looked up at us. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," I cheerfully greeted him. He also pulled himself up, still half asleep. Looking at Eon, he nodded his head. "Good morning, both of you," he greeted in a tired voice. "Morning dad..." In unison, they both yawned with their hand on their mouth. I smiled, looking at them with warm eyes. Brian looked up at me and then his eyes fell downwards. "Good morning to you too, little one," he said smiling softly. Now he was fully awake, and thement also erased Eon''s sleep. Looking at me, or more precisely where Brian was looking, he waved his hand. "Hi, baby," he said awkwardly. Iughed loudly and patted his head. Brian stood up and opened therge window behind him. Walking on the other side, he sat beside me. This morning was beautiful. And to make it even better, we heard a loud familiar scream from the outside. -Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Eon maybe didn''t know what this sound was but, he was going to find out soon. I nodded at Brian and tapped on my wriest. My purple bracelet with the golden jewel appeared and, tapping on the gem, a glove came out in my hand. Handing the unique glove to Brian, I looked at Eon. "Eon~. Do you know about familiars?" He nodded and started speaking, or precisely giving a full exnation. "They are unique beasts that a mage makes a pact with. The rtionship between a familiar and master is the same as parent and child. They make the pact of life, meaning that their lives would forever depend on each other. If the familiar or a master dies then, the other can''t make another pact for a lifetime. Familiar''s pact varies from person to person or, from beast to beast. The abilities shared between familiar and master also varies greatly..." He was saying those things like it was nothing. His details were deep but, this wasn''t the point right now. "Ok, Eon. Now, do you want to see one?" I asked with an excited smile. His eyes widened in surprise and he nodded vigorously. "Yes!" he shouted. Brian looked back and smiled at us. Extending his hand with the glove outside the window, he waited a second. -Skyyyyyy~. With a melodious scream, a green birdnded on the brown glove. The bird wasrge but, it was very lightweight as if air. We could feel it just from looking at it. "Meet Tuuli, a [Great wind eagle]. They can travel at a very fast speed across long distances. This one is especially here from the capital." I had many people with familiars working with or under me and this one was special among all of them. Her master was also a special person. Eon''s eyes sparkled with excitement. He ran forward and stood before it. "Can I touch her?!" he hurriedly asked, still excited before touching her. "Though it won''t do anything, it won''t like to be touched by stran-" Before Brian could finish, Eon starched out his hand and gently caressed her. Brian got worried that she would do something and prepared to turn his hand if something happens. Surprisingly, she liked his touch. She happily yed with him, shaking her head,ughing. This was... weird. If you don''t have an affinity towards the particr beast, they tend to react aggressively. ''Then again, he had a natural affinity to all six elements...'' My little baby was special in many ways maybe even he didn''t know. Shaking my head, I smiled and took the piece of paper Brian took from Tuuli''s leg. My smile deepened as I read the contents of the small letter. Eon stopped and looked at me. "Mom, what''s that?" He asked and pointed his little finger towards the letter. I smiled and answered quietly, with small tears on the ends of my eyes. "We... are going home~." Chapter 44 Going Home? Looking at mom with wide eyes, I asked in a low voice. "Going home...?" She smiled and nodded her head, tears visible in the corners of her eyes. "Yes. In the capital. Everyone is dying to meet you there. Your amazing grandfather and grandmother, your uncle and aunt, as well as your big sister~." I stared at her with open eyes. Hearing her say that, my eyes filled with tears again. Nowadays, I didn''t have any control over them. A single tear slid through my cold cheeks. Its warmth quickly brought me back to reality. Cleaning my face with my sleeves, I looked at her again. She smiled, longing visible in her eyes. "Yes~. Your grandfather said not to tell about him. You will only know once you meet him. He is an amazing person. Same for your grandma, uncle and aunt. Your big sis is cool too. I haven''t seen her since she was only one year old. Your uncle praises her so much in every letter. She also had her birthday. Meaning she should be 7 years old by now. Your birthday is alsoing next week. Seems like we will be celebrating it there. It will be fun~!" She was very happy and excited right now. Dad was also the same in this manner. He was very excited. He was naturally a member of this family. We were a big family and... this melted another something in my heart. I was so lucky to have such wonderful parents. I was going to be an older brother. On top of that, I was going to meet my whole family now. The joy this new life gave me was unparalleled but, now it offered more. I had no words to exin this joy, and neither did I had enough tears to express my feelings. Sitting down on the bed, I looked at them with a happy smile and closed my eyes. Smiling back at me, they both sat back down beside me. Dad put Tuuli down by the window and hugged me gently. Mom did the same, with a little more care. Thesest two days were the most precious ones of my life. I now had everything that I longed for in my previous life. There wasn''t anything more I knew I wanted... After a bit, I pulled myself up. Looking at mom, I asked in an anticipating tone. "So, mom? When are we departing? Will we... go in a carriage?" She smiled and answered in her usual cheerful tone. "Yes~. We will be going in a carriage. A BIG one. You will like it. And we are leaving in the morning~!" At her answer, a worried expression clouded dad''s face. He hurriedly stood up and shouted at her. "Nolen! If we are leaving in the morning, we don''t have much time to pack up! You two chat here, I will do the packing downstairs." He hurriedly ran out of the door, not minding our chuckles. He was indeed a house dad. Packing up everything needed in such a short time was indeed difficult. He was going to be busy all day long. Good thing there were storage devices. We won''t have much luggage. Looking around the room, I sighed in remorse. I was going to leave this house for the first time. The house that I lived in ever since I could remember. I was going away from that very ce. Mom saw the look in my eyes and sighed helplessly, another smile painted on her face. "Don''t worry Eon. We cane here whenever we want. This is our home too. In fact, this would be our fourth home~." She chuckled and shook her head. "We will visit the other two when you grow up a bit. Until then, we will be in the capital. In the house, I lived ever since I know. Your dad and I lived in the same house beforeing here. You will love it~!" Looking at her happy face, a smile appeared on my face as well. "Ok~!" Hugging her gently I returned to Tuuli. A [Familiar] was more than just your pet. It was a partner. A friend, family, one that stayed by your side forever. The bond between familiar and master held great value in this world. That was the reason... having a familiar was a big deal. You aren''t the one that chooses them, neither they are the ones to choose you. It isn''t a one-sided thing. When you meet that ''one'' beast, you would naturally know that ''you are the one''. It''s a bit romantic, like some love at first sight. And here, the love happens on both sides. Not some one-sided love but two parties falling in love at first sight. Some people may not find the one they are looking for forever in their life. Some may find it in unique, unknown situations. Like falling from a cliff or drowning in the ocean. The affinity of an element also ys a big role in this matter. If you are someone with fire affinity your familiar will also be one with a fire affinity. The attraction toward each other is greatly different. Tuuli was a wind element energy beast. So, her master will definitely have high wind affinity. Most mages only had one or two natural affinities so they had much less difficulty finding a familiar. Mages like dad and me who have three or more natural elemental affinities have a great range of options. And that is the reason we can''t connect with beasts of only one element. We could definitely y with them, just like Tuuli but, the bond of familiar would never be forged. This is the reason dad still didn''t have a familiar. He had seen, met, and killed many energy beasts but he never found the ''one'' he could connect with. Hopefully, dad could find one in the future. I tickled therge eagle under its neck and itughed slowly. Tuuli may be a (Yellow) ranked energy beast in her fully grown form. She was just a baby of my age right now. Books said the [Great wind eagle] are rare birds who mainly reside in southern regions of the continent. They grow big enough in fifteen years that the masters could travel on their back. I wanted to ride on its back too! But, that thoughts now had to go away. Just like tuuli. Mom tied a small letter on her leg and, we said our goodbyes to her. As soon as it jumped off the window and opened itsrge wings, a strong wind engulfed the ground. -SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH! Just like a passing wind, tuuli disappeared and everything quieted down. Turning back, I faced mom. "Let''s go mom~. We should help dad!" She chuckled and shook her head. She knew I would say this. Holding my hand, mom and I walked out with bright smiles. Chapter 45 Departure "Huu... everything is ready," Brian was exhausted from all the packing and sorting stuff. In the quiet kitchen, a small breeze flowed from the open door behind him. Eon was ying outside now that we were done with everything. It was afternoon and the sun was about to set in some time. In the middle of the kitchen, on therge round table, six different cubes were ced with a small note stuck on them. Having a storage device was a blessing, I didn''t know where to put all of Eon''s books and materials without them. There wasn''t any need to take them with us, he already knew everything about them. And saying this was now so natural to me that I didn''t even notice. Even Brian had more stuff them me. It filled two wholerge storages. We could easily store a carriage worth of things in one of these, and these two took three of these to themselves. With some important stuff and small things as well as one of my cubes full of important documents, we ended up using six whole cubes. Each one of them was worth 300 gold coins. If we say 10 gold coins are enough for a normal family to live for a month, these cubes were worth 1.5 years of their all expenses. Every storage device was sold at a very high price. Even the one Eon was currently using, though the most basic one with the smallest space, was worth 100 gold coins. If there was a skill stone, like Brian''s (item box), it might go as high as 900 gold or 1 tinum coin. And people would fight like crazy for each one of them. A smile spread out on my face as I thought about people fighting to buy something at an auction house. It has been a long time since I returned to my auction house. My family wasn''t the only one waiting for my return to the capital, countless people were waiting for us. For the (Cold Demoness), for (Auction master of Hiraani) and the one that framed me would be waiting for (Guild leader) of [Faron merchant alliance]. I would love to see the expression of those pigs when they see me. Many will be happy and many will cry. ''It will be fun~!'' "Nolen! Calm down! You are releasing too much authority. You might feel weak!" As I heard Brian''s panicked voice, I came back to the present. In the heat of that moment, I had unconsciously used some of my power. It was good that he was here or else I might have to sleep early today... which would be a problem for me, at least. I had some ''ns'' for tonight which he didn''t know. He was just genuinely worried about me. Giving him a cute smile I sat down. He was busy making some kind of list so he returned to it. He was walking in the room left and right, thinking if anything was missing. But then, his foot identally collided with a chair and he dropped his note. With a frustrated expression, he mumbled under his breath. "Oh, f me..." I heard that very clearly for an unknown reason and a yful smirk appeared on my face. He looked at my face and his eyes widened. "No," he said taking a step back. A cold shiver might have run down his spine as he shook slightly. I stood up and walked closer to him. "I mean it. Eon is just outside too," now there were small drops of sweat on his forehead. This was getting more cute as I took the next step. He stopped as he bumped into the wall behind him. Standing just before him, I stood up on my toes. He was taller and that was making this even more exciting. With a low hum, and a smile only he knew very well, I got in his face. A pink blush appeared on his clear cheeks. Putting a hand right under his chin, I lifted that pretty face. As I leaned much closer to his ears, he closed his eyes and tightly shut his lips. -Ba-dum. -Ba-dum. My heart was going to jump out in the heat of the moment. But, now wasn''t the time. Just before his ear, I whispered in a very low voice. "Let''s have some ice cream today~." I pulled myself back and returned to my seat. When nothing happened for at least 5 seconds he opened one of his eyes only to find me sitting away from him. An even bigger blush appeared on his face as he understood what just happened. Picking up his list, he stomped out of the room all red and pink. "Hehehehe~." Iughed loudly enough that Eon picked from the door only to find meughing with almost tears. I looked at him with cracked eyes and he just shook his head and returned to ying. Ourst day in this house was going very eventually. Putting a hand on my belly, I sighed. There will be another one tough with within our big family. Eon was unique ever since I could remember. Not everyone was like him but, that was just who he was. He was going to be a big brother, one more person for him to protect. He was happy, maybe more than both of us. That joy, those feelings were part of his uniqueness. We were happy if he was happy. And, I could finally be of some help to him when we get back. He could have anything he wanted there, as long as it wasn''t dangerous. In Roxana empire''s capital, [Great city of Gwh] was our first home. In thergest city which is believed to be blessed by gods themselves. I was one of the people that could buy almost anything they wanted there. And resources are always necessary for one to grow stronger. Though I was still worried about him as always, I won''t be helpless there. I smiled delightfully as I put my head on the table. *** "Eon~. Wake up. We have to depart soon~," I whispered in his ears. After a moment of rolling in the bed, he cracked open his eyes. As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened in an instant. "Mom! Are wete!?" he jumped up in bed, shouting in his cute voice. I grabbed his hands to calm him down. And he calmed down pretty fast. "We aren''tte at all~. Let''s get ready and go downstairs. Dad will be finished with the breakfast in a bit." He happily nodded his head and jumped down from the bed. Leaving him alone, I walked downstairs. When I entered the kitchen, Brian was serving the tes on the table. Looking at him with a sly smile I said in a low voice. "Hay honey~. Yesterday was fun, wasn''t it~?" A somewhat sad expression clouded his face at that moment. Surprised, I asked in a bit louder voice than before. "Is... something wrong?" He looked around the very familiar kitchen with a sad smile. "I will miss this..." I understood this sadness of his. I shared the same feelings, maybe more than him. As a mother who has watched her child grow up in this same ce, I was also a bit sad to leave. "But, it''s not like we won''te back here ever, right? This will always be our second home~." He looked up at me and smiled. Walking forward, he hugged me gently. I hugged him back. This was going to be ourst breakfast in this house and we won''t be able toe back for a long time. Just then, we felt another small hug. We knew who it was so we just stayed like this for a bit. And I knew, these two fools won''t let me go so I had to let them go this time. I sat on my chair and ordered them to sit down. We had to depart now, can''t have the carriage wait for much longer. After finishing the food, which was quick considering their emotional state, we walked out to the front door. "Good morning, young miss! Master Brian and oh! You must be young master Axion! It''s a pleasure to finally meet you~!" A middle-aged man was standing beside therge carriage. The carriage was simple and wasn''t fancy. The only thing special about them were the beasts pulling the carriage. [ze wind horse] Also known as red horses. They were special beasts. If one didn''t know, they might take them as normal horses. But, in reality, this pair of horses were more fast, strong, and rare than other horses. A smile spread out on my face as I saw the familiar normal-looking uncle. He was our family''s head stable keeper. My brother and I used to y around in stables when we were kids and he yed with us there. Seeing him after such a long time was really... good. I smiled and started introducing him to Eon. "Eon, this is uncle Besnik. He is taking care of your uncle and me ever since we were kids. Uncle Besnik, this is my pride, joy, and love... Eon." Eon looked at him but his focus was on the horses ever since we stepped outside. Uncle Besnik smiled warmly as he looked at him. "Young master, do you want to meet them?" Eon''s eyes widened and a big smile appeared on his face. "Can I do that?!" he asked vigorously. "Of course~! Here, let me introduce them." They yed with horses with smiles across their faces. Eon loved these beasts and, strangely, these beasts also liked him. Just like right now, the red horses known for their difficult personalities were ying with him happily. This even surprised uncle, who had taken care of many troublesome beasts in our stables. "Indeed. Just like master said, young master Axion is amazing~." "He is~! He is the best!" As his mom, whenever I heard someone praise him, I get happy. "Indeed. With such natural affinities, he could be a master tamer in a short time~." And whenever someone says that he is more amazing than I know, my heart twitches weirdly. As his mom, I was worried much more than anything. But, after everything until now, I had adapted myself to those situations. "Indeed. He is amazing. But, we can''t decide anything for him. He already has a ''goal''. Dad must have told you, right?" "Of course he did. That''s why the young master is more amazing than the master said." He chuckled and opened the door of the carriage. "Let''s go~. If we arete, the master will scold me." With a tired smile, I looked back at our home. It was a long time but, we enjoined it more than anything. "Ok, mom. Let''s go." Eon pulled my hand from the right and Brian pulled my left hand. Giving our home onest look, we boarded the carriage. Something new was about to start. Chapter 46 Camping The capital city of Gwh was thergest city on the entire continent. Founded in ancient times, the city survived and expanded from a town to a kingdom and is now the strongest empire on this continent. Empire held arge amount of possiblend on the continent. ept the two forbidden zones by its side, the empire held arge amount ofnd and the neighboring countries couldn''t say anything. The friendly ties with other nations and heated rtions with some other countries were the talk of every history book. But, in most parts, they weren''t much big of a threat. After the Roxana empire, demons held most of thend. These ces are called [Hell nes] and divided into different groups. Aside from them, there isn''t any major threat to humans. The distance between the capital and the main city we were headed to was... a lot. But, thanks to magic and teleportation gates installed in every main city, that distance could be shortened to seconds. Now, we just had to cross this mountain to reach the main city. This journey might also have taken much longer but thanks to red horses, we might reach our destination by tomorrow night. I was very excited right now. It was almost night and we were going to set up a camp! This would be my first time camping outside. I had never actually camped outside, not on mountains like this. Mom and dad were naturally experienced in this type of thing. As I looked outside from therge carriage window, I could see trees moving backward. Our current speed was almost as good as a normal train, maybe just a slight slow than a bullet train of old times. The path was straight for now but uncle said it would get narrow and rocky by tomorrow. So, resting right now was the best thing. I looked in front of me and smiled. Mom was sleeping soundly without any concern on dad''s shoulder. Dad was just looking at her warmly. She said she would be busy with her work once we reach home for some time. She was angry, worried, relieved, and happy at the same time. I just felt her emotions, not knowing the reason behind them. Dad knew the reason behind all of them so he was more careful right now. It wasn''t anything I had to concern myself with... ording to them. So I, as always, didn''t ask much about it. The carriage slowed down a bit and after a moment, it stoppedpletely. I looked outside and there was an open area, a good one to spend the night. I opened the door and ran outside, leaving mom and dad alone. Uncle was climbing down from the driver''s seat as our eyes met. Giving me a warm smile, he climbed down slowly. Setting the horses free, he walked before me. "So young master, is this ce good?" he asked, still smiling. I don''t know what I had done but he was... proud of me? What did I do to make someone like him so impressed? He was a [Beast Tamer]. Those who held a natural affinity towards nature itself, could tame wild beasts and train them for different works. People like him used [Nature] as its energy source to interact with energy beasts. With enough potential, they could even talk with them. The power of nature was immense so, the extent one could handle that power was fixed by birth. ''Where mages could train and increase the level of core, Origin users could study the Origin to gain more understanding to increase its mastery, those with natural powers like the uncle who used nature as a medium in (Taming) and mom who influenced those within the nature with (Authority) had many limitations. '' And... this wasn''t the time to think about that stuff. "Yes, this ce looks good," I answered his question while looking around. He nodded and just then, mom and dad also came out. Mom was looking good. She was happy, unlike some time ago. And the reason could be seen on dad''s red face. ''Everyone should get their own great ideas of why I ran out first.'' Walking closer, mom handed uncle a red, translucent crystal ball. He nodded and walked into the center of the open area. Checking the area, he nodded his head and buried the crystal ball, and came back. Mom looked at Dad and he flinched in surprise. Opening his hand in front of him, a pure white wand appeared in his hand. Closing his eyes, he focused Mana on the tip of the wand. This Mana was more refined and precise than when he used magic without it. ''Indeed, wands were very important in a mage''s life,'' I thought as I looked at it with delight. With great materials and the best craftsman, you could make the best possible wand for yourself. But, that was for mages. And... I wasn''t a mage. I was a magic archer, so I had to have a magic bow. They were just like a mage''s magic wand but the only difference between them was... arge range to choose from. Yes, I could gather materials and find the best craftsman but there was an option of other premade bows. Dad made his pure white magic wand with a branch of (Mana tree). They weren''t actually a tree that grew in somece. They remained, left after a strong (magical disaster). Known as nature''s wrath, there were many such things that happened all over the world. The reason for them was mostly unknown. As I looked back to where the crystal ball was, my eyes widened. A dark red barrier started expanding out of it. It covered almost half of the entire area and then stopped just before my nose. "Let''s go~!" Mom excitedly shouted and ran inside the barrier. It was a much stronger and more powerful barrier than what dad would make during fireworks. This might be one of those (Precoded spells) which took almost zero mental power when casting magic. Though the amount of Mana required is a bit great, it can be neglected. Safety came first in anything. We were in a jungle which was before a rocky mountain. Mom won''t take any risks in these types of situations. We entered the barrier and set out arge camp with the things dad brought for the camping. They filled one of the six storage devices we had. And, that was actually too much. Dad was overprepared for something like this. It seemed like he was nning to set up a temporary house but... mom scolded him. They came to some sort of agreement and with a new pink blush, dad finished the preparations. "I will cook~!" I shouted excitedly when it was almost dinner time. Uncle had a surprised look but when he saw that neither mom nor dad easily disagreed with that, he shook his head. I saw him sigh a smile when I started my preparations. I was going to make the same chicken stew dad madest time... a bit differently. His version was hot and spicy and I was going to make a hot and sweet version. I was better at sweet and salty vors while dad was best with salty and spicy vors. Sweet was my strength while cooking. I took out some eggs, already prepared meat, cream, vegetables, and some other ingredients like flour and spices. With a very delicate and perfect temperature, I cooked it for a while and when it was almost about time to take a look, I opened the lid on the metal pot. A warm, sweet aroma spread out around the whole barrier. I bet if the sweet, mouth-watering smell were to leak out of this, the nearby beasts woulde running. This was the first time I had made this one. I always wanted to try it but never got the chance. Today was the perfect opportunity to make this one. Mom and dad were now numb to my surprise but uncle was shocked and stiff. He couldn''t believe his nose. I tasted the thicker stew than what dad would make with a delighted expression. It was... perfect. They were going to love this one~! I served it with dad''s help and we all set down. Looking with anticipation, uncle took his first spoon and... melted. It was obviously delicious. "Young master''s unique cooking was talk of the house~. Now that I''m actually tasting it... it''s really amazing~!" The things I make are new to this world but, the uniqueness it holds is something... great. Mom and dad had the same expression they had when eating something I made for the first time. Ever since I started cooking, they are the first ones to taste anything I make. Sometimes it turns out perfect, sometimes it''s a disaster. But, they even tasted those disastrous dishes that I hesitated to taste myself. They were just... amazing. It was my duty to teach mom and dad how I made everything so that they could do their own things with that. Dad would try to cook it while mom would try to find its market value if it''s sold. And yes... Mom''s cooking was... disaster. Let''s not talk about that today. We had some small work here to wrap up after cooking and before going back for sleep we had to do cleanup. ''Tomorrow is a good and long day so taking a good rest is important...,'' I thought. I would fall asleep as soon as I fall on that new soft cushion. Chapter 47 Dilemma A carriage was running on narrow, rocky mountains at a very fast speed. -Thudk. -Thudk. -Thudk. Two red horses were pulling the carriage and their brown-red hair were dancing with their rapid speed. The one driving this carriage wasn''t bothered by this, as if he was ustomed to an even faster speed. There was a strange frown on his face right now. There was a thick silence on the road. He had traveled many times on this path but, it was never this quiet. Sound of wind blowing. Leaves dancing. Water running from the nearby river. Sometimes energy beasts would jump before you unexpectedly. There were a lot of different sounds of creatures. At the very least, there are some sounds of them from the side every now and then. But... right now, it was very spooky. The whole area was dead quiet. Except the sound of horses running and rolling of wheels, there was nothing. Even the air was dead calm. Something was very wrong... Inside the carriage, clenching my hand around my heart, I looked at mom and dad with wide, horrified eyes. Everything was going perfectly fine until we entered the rocky mountain path. It was quite noisy back then but then, voices started quieting down. And, as the rocky hill started, everything was quiet. Even the air seemed strangely heavy. And, at exactly that moment, my heart suddenly almost jumped out of my chest. This was a strange feeling as if my body was screaming for me to run away from here. My face paled, and sweat ran down my back. As they looked at me, they knew something was wrong. p Just a moment ago, we all were sittingfortably,ughing at how dad was like a baby himself. Even uncle, who chimed in between us every now and then was silent. What the hell was I feeling right now? Just then, dad stood up and jerked his head in front of us. This was so sudden that even mom was surprised by this. Dad narrowed his eyes, a strange atmosphere started to feel around him... ''Bloodlust...'' I hurriedly grabbed his hand and mom did the same... We both understood what was going around us on with this behavior. He came back to his senses and looked at both of us, and sat down by my side. Mom came and set on the other side. "A demon..." I mumbled under my breath and a cold shiver ran down my spine. They are the enemies of all other races. Known for their magical abilities, they are beings that always go against nature. They destroy nature and make good ces like this mountain into their disgusting base. They are corrupted evil beings, they don''t have an ounce of feelings towards other races. The only thing they seek is the destruction of nature and every being living inside it. They only care for themselves and do whatever they want. Power is everything for them. You either serve some other demon with a higher power or get stronger yourself. That is what their life is. They will do anything if it means they would get stronger. They get stronger from death, suffering, and chaos. And taking down a path connecting the main city and a small border town was not a bad idea. Everything was ok on their side. But why did it have to be now?! Just when I was going to my new home? Just when I was going to be a big brother! Just when- "Don''t worry," dad held my hand a little tighter. Mom also tightened her grip on my hand. I released a long breath and held them back with whatever strength I can. In terms of total strength, I was already much stronger than an average human. At least as strong as a (Rank-1) knight. The ranking of knights was different from mages where mages were directly ranked based on the (tier) of their Mana nucleus, knights were different. Starting from (Rank-1) knight who holds exceptional physical abilities among normal humans. If we say a normal human''s average stats are mostly 10 to 15, then a (Rank-1) knight has average physical stats around 25. (Rank-3) knights can use the [Aura], one of the most powerful andmon energies on the continent. From there, it''s divided into sses like chess pieces. (Rank-4) being Horse. They can not only coat the weapon with Aura, but they can also cover their whole body with it. (Rank-5) being Tower. They can fire pure Aura like magic. (Rank-6) being Bishop. They can materialize Aura into a weapon that they could control however they want. (Rank-7) being Queen/King. They are as strong as an (Elder) magician in terms of power. They all have their own special way of using Aura. It could be either creating arge number of weapons or a single powerful armor. There were (Rank-8) and (Rank-9) but I didn''t know about them. So, I was a strong and pretty boy. I can help them if needed, and if they could let me. I knew already that they won''t let me get hurt in any way but... I won''t, I can''t see them getting hurt either. "I think they are just up ahead..." Uncle spoke from the small window of the driving seat and slowed down the carriage. "I will help." Mom and dad looked at me and sighed. They can see the look in my eyes and they knew, I wasn''t going to back down. They had to take me even if they didn''t want to. It might be better to help them there than be here sitting inside some barrier. "Stay close to us. Always." Mom was worried sick right now. Everyone had only one concern on their minds right now. Demons. Whatever was out there was definitely a noble demon. I haven''t felt their presence before but I could guess from the pressure in the air. And, my heart was jumping inside my chest, god knows why... This strange feeling was something that I only got when using my Origin skill. Was there something wrong with it? It was strange but, this wasn''t the time or ce to think about things like that. "Huuuu..." Releasing a long breath, I nodded at dad. We had something dangerous ahead of us. The trip which was going to be a smooth, fun ride, was now going to turn into a bitter battle. A bloody one. ''And, that blood won''t be ours,'' I hoped as we exited the carriage. Mom had the grimmest expression I had seen her make. Things had turned out very ugly at a very wrong ce and time. Chapter 48 Demonic Noble Clear narrow road, filled with gray-ck rocks. Gray clouds cover the sky. Open areas on both sides and some ces were filled with piles of rocks. As if someone was digging in this mountain path for a long time, the piles of rock and dust were big. There wasn''t much color left in this ce as the only color here left were ck and grey. No blue sky, no green trees and grass not even brown earth remained. Some creatures with humanoid forms were doing something in groups of three by these holes. Their skin was red and green, teeth long and pointed like a shark. Their bodies were covered by some thin brown clothes. Some were digging the rocky ground and some were cing a strange ck crystal inside them. Each group had a creature with yellow marks on its hand, which were supplying the ck crystals with a dark fog. The fog was thick and sticky, almost disgusting to even look at. Another creature was floating in the sky above them. As if examining them, it circled around them. It was surveying them, carefully. With arge figure, a skull that looked like a mixture of bull and lizard. Its bull horns on therge white skull were total ck. It had long fingers on both its hands and legs. The knife-like sharp nails were most terrifying about it. There was ck fur covering its entire body, which looked more like armor. Feeling a small headache, I turned off my skill. We were currently far away from this group of demons. In fights with strong opponents, you never charge mindlessly. Knowing about your opponent before the battle was a good thing, and my skill shined in this way the most. Recon and info gathering in the field. Perfect like a ranger. As my vision returned to normal, I exined everything to them. They had a different expressions as they heard everything I said. Anger, fear, and tension were visible on mon and uncle''s face. With a sharp nod, dad started speaking. "That flying one is definitely a noble. Seeing that there are undead-type demons, it doesn''t seem to be a higher-ranking noble. Maybe a baron. Its demonic energy isn''t that high for a baron though? Hmm, yes. Yes... it is a newly ascended baron. Hmmm. Looks like it''s establishing its first territory." He spoke in great detail, anger, and hatred visible in his every moment. "That bastard isn''t that strongpared to a finely established noble. Still, it''s strong. Judging by your description, its specialty seems to be fire, the mostmon demonic specialty. Its armor-like body protects it from its own mes and physical attacks won''t work on it much. Water magic will be best in this situation." He nodded and looked at us one by one. "Sir Besnik, we will take on the noble. You will support me with red horses. Eon and Nolen, stay back and take out the undead zombie demons. Light magic is best against them. DO NOT get close to us or the holes they have dug. They are dangerous and that crystal is most definitely a portal device. If it''spleted, it will directly link to other [Hell nes]." He was very serious. He was acting totally different than I had ever seen him. The wight of this situation was that great. It was great enough to cost any of our life in the worst-case scenario. If there was any other child of my age, the situation might not be the same with them. Just seeing that horrible demon was enough to make them unconscious. Not everyone could bare a demon''s pressure, and the fear after seeing one in person... I can''t imagine it for others. But for me, protecting mom, dad and uncle were more important than worrying about the unknowns. Dad saw the determination in my eyes and... chuckled. Uncle did the same and mom... she just smiled a little. I could feel her emotions. She was afraid right now. Afraid to think the worst. Afraid to see us getting hurt. She was afraid... and angry. The pressure around her was showing her anger clearly. I grabbed her and she looked down at me. "Mom, don''t worry. We will be fine. Dad and I will protect both of you." As if she had just realized something, she caressed her belly with a gentle hand. Dad smiled and nodded. Uncle looked surprised, shocked even. There was an unrealistic smile on his face. But, he shook his head and got back to his serious expression. Mom smiled and nodded at us. From now on, we had to be on high alert. Worrying about unexpected situations and unknown surroundings. There might be some things that I didn''t see too. Taking everything into ount and nning the best strategy was the right thing. Dad was going to fight that baron-ranked demon alone. The red horses had some fire element skills which would be used to clear the area, rather than fighting it. Even for someone like dad, who had a great experience in hunting demons, a baron was a tough opponent. Though we had the upper hand in overall power, wecked numbers. If that demon couldmand its underlings properly, dad might have a tough fight. Using up all the Mana in arge skill would be foolish. We didn''t know if there were more enemies around. If something went wrong, he was the only one that could fight properly. He was the strongest person here right now. That was the reason he was bearing the greatest responsibility. I knew neither of them would forgive themselves if anything were to happen to me. But, if something were to happen to them, I knew I won''t be able to forgive myself. I looked down with a calm expression and took a deep breath. "Eon, take this," mom said from behind me. I turned around with surprise and saw what she was talking about. There was a bow in her hand, which she had just pulled out of her Artifact. A blue bow almost as tall as me. It was different from a normal bow that I had used in the past. It was unique and had different strange patterns engraved in white on its body. Its ends had a sharp curve with the white designs ending on it. The handle was bright yellow, very eye-catching. After studying it in her hand for a moment, my eyes widened when I thought of a possibility. "Mom, this..." "It was supposed to be your birthday present but, just take it. We will think about other thingster." She handed me the bow with a warm smile. This was no ordinarily strong bow and I knew very well how I was going to use this. After another small discussion, we walked towards the enemy. My heart never stopped beating weirdly the entire time I was here. What the hell was wrong with it?! Chapter 49 Cliché Tragedy Uncle and dad slowly closed in on the noble demon with a high-level stealth skill. The horrible-looking demon followed a circr path so for some time, it was away from the other undead beasts. Mom and I stood at the very back of the first group of zombies. As dad and uncle got close to the demon noble, it flinched in the mid-air. Turning back its skull face, it opened it and ''smiled''. "Oh? We have some great ingredients for my new home, huh? Getting to this ce was tough but now that we have such amazing things, it will be very easy~. Hello puny ants, consider yourself fortunate to gaze upon the mighty form of baron Begh! Now! Die and be nourishments for my new home!" Heughed maniacally and extended his hand forward. A red ball of fire materialized in front of them. The demon raised his hand and threw the fireball at them. Dad just raised his wand and created a dark blue shield. It was a shield of water attribute but I could see wind attribute on its surface with my [Mystic eyes]. The most I could maintain my skill was one minute for now and after that, it would get canceled automatically. But it used almost no Mana so I can use it as many times as I wanted. As therge fireball collided with dad''s shield it... -BOOOOOOM! An explosion rang out in the area and white vapor spread out in the surroundings. As the smoke cleared up, the ''smiling'' face of the demon slowly became visible. "Oh? It looks like you are a somewhat strong ant, huh? Well! It doesn''t matter. An ant is an ant!" It raised its hand and snapped its long fingers. -SNAP! The sound spread out in the surroundings and all the other undead demons in the area raised their heads. "Kill these ants!" At the demon noble''smand, all the demon undead started running towards them. This was also the signal for us. "Huuu..." with a calm mind, I took a deep breath. Picking up my (Magic bow) and stretched the bowstring. This bow was a little heavy and the bowstring required more strength to pull backward but, it was manageable. It was difficult but, I could get far better results from using it. Gathering the light element Mana on my fingers of both hands, I closed my eyes. The white patterns on the bow started glowing a bright yellow color. I closed my eye and materialized two arrows of light. (Light arrow) A simple materialized light elemental Mana shaped in a form of an arrow. I had tried it before but I couldn''t simply process the Mana of a certain higher element on my own. On top of that, the (Light) element was the rarest of the main elements. And, it was most lethal to undead-type creatures. Now that I had this bow, things were much easier than before. The magic bow, just as any magician''s wand, increased the Mana conductivity of the body, helped in processing natural Mana in the surroundings, and increased the Mana pool. It was a very good thing so, having a good wand was really necessary. As the two arrows of light materialized, I aimed them at the mage-like demon among the ones running towards dad. -SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH! The arrows pierced the bodies of the undead like aser. A painful scream echoed in the mountain area as two zombies fell to the ground. The arrows had passed through their head so it was a perfect bullseye. Some of the zombies looked at their fallen colleagues as they stopped marching forward. "So we had more ants," The demon said in an intrigued tone but it looked like it did not care much about us. "Huuu... get rid of that little one first then. It will be annoying if he keeps this up," it ordered with a small hand gesture. Demon''s voice was heavy and now there was some seriousness in his red eye-like dot inside his skull. The zombies changed their direction and charged forward in our direction. But, they were stopped by a pair of burning horses. -Hyehyehyehyehye Two red-colored horses with burning body blocked their paths and prevented all of them froming at us all at once. Some of them, however, managed to pass through them and ran straight towards us. The speed and coordination they showed were not like anything I thought. ''Aren''t they zombies? Why are they so fast?!'' I was genuinely shocked. In my previous world, zombies like them were brain-dead undead creatures who only walked around with their arms stretched out. But, this bunch in front of me is nothing like them... They are clever, fast and more impotently, they seem strong. The only thing that made them weak right now was my light magic. Thanks to my bow, I was able to shoot two arrows every few seconds. Mana wasn''t being used much but the mental power consumption was real fast. If not for mom handing me potions every once in a while, I might have fainted in a few minutes. It was really interesting to see just how many things could be there in that unique bracelet-like artifact of hers. Not only does she have many other artifacts for the battle for herself ready but also all types of potions. The fight was long and tiring, mom and I were doing good at the back and dad was doing good with the noble demon. At first, he acted very arrogant and strong as if he was the strongest thing in the world. But then, as time passed and he faced dad''s heavy water and ice attacks, his expression turned grim. Dad wasn''t giving his all right now and only using (tier-4) spells. But the fight couldn''t go too long or else dad will exhaust his M.P. and that... might be dangerous. On top of that, it looked like dad was using up too much of his Mana. It was strange as if his Mana was being burned unnaturally. The fight continued with screams and explosions. Arge number of zombies were already dead and there were only six of them alive. They were mage-like zombies with weird marks around their bodies. Unlike the first ones, they couldn''t be caught off guard. The only way I was able to kill the other three was because mom used her Authority to freeze them for a moment. It was difficult and even mom knew that, but she continued. From all this unexpected and long use of her power, mom was on the verge of falling. In the end, even with that many artifacts to increase her concentration and stamina, she was at her limits. I was at my limit too. I had killed 36 zombies already and after killing them I realized this was my first time killing something. Though technically, they weren''t alive, to begin with. But still, my emotions were very stable and my mind was unnaturally calm. And my heart... that bastard was the only one acting weird. But right now wasn''t the time to think about unnecessary stuff. I was tired, mom was exhausted, uncle was the same as mom and dad... he was furious. I didn''t know what was going on over there but it was definitely a bad situation. "You freaking son of a bitch! This is enough!" Dad shouted in a very angry voice and pointed his wand straight at the demon. The fight was strangely easier than expected for it and it wasn''t that bad of a situation before. But... Demon''s face turned grim when he felt the tremendous killing intenting out of dad. It turned his body abruptly to fly away from here but before it could do that, a sky blue barrier covered him entirely. It pushed it and mmed at it, horrified to even think of anything. When nothing happened demon covered itsrge, razor-sharp ws in a strange purple fire and attacked the barrier with all his might. The barrier bumped and reacted to it and then... a ripple spread out from that part like a stone falling in the water. Fortunately, the barrier didn''t break but thest remaining hope in the demon''s eyes vanished. Three, two-fold dark blue magic circles appeared inside the barrier and started rotating like a fan at a very fast speed and a small screeching noise rang out. After that, a blue light shot out from one of the circles. It pierced the demon''s skin like my magic arrows and then, all three of the magic circles shot these water rays. This wasn''t a magic spell but the strangest water attribute skill dad had. [Aqua Lazer] A (Green) ranked skill that focused on attacking the tired or immobile opponent. The demon had no way of breaking the (tier-5) barrier dad put before him. Water pierced its body and multiple holes appeared in its already disgusting body. ck blood sshed out of its body but didn''t leave the barrier. After a minute, the unrecognizable remains of the demon''s body parts slowlynded on the ground. The barrier popped like a bubble and ck blood sshed out around a hole they had dug themselves. Dad fell to his knees, exhausted from the long tiring fighting. It was still strange that he was that exhausted. There was also some kind of backsh from using the skill. I also focused my attention on the zombies. We finished the remaining six zombies that were in utter chaos now that their master was dead. But there was a very dangerous thing about this situation. Technically, the demon wasn''t dead yet. We had to remove the core from its body before the noble demon could regenerate. But, after those fatal injuries, it would take quite some time to recover fully. It was as good as dead... That''s what we thought until the ''body'' of the demon slid into the hole and a ck light appeared out of it. It was a sinister ck light that had much more power than the demon itself. A round portal suddenly opened right before our eyes. Behind it, was a huge green forest with giant trees. I felt something very strange for a moment. It was as if someone was looking down on me. I had a very bad feeling about this as my body moved on its own after a moment of confusion. Everyone was still staring at the forest as if mesmerized by its brilliance. But I didn''t have time to even look that way. As soon as I reached dad''s side, ck tentacle-like hands came out of the hole. I didn''t know what these things were and there was no way this was from the half-dead demon. The ck tentacles wanted to grab dad but I threw him to another side with some (Strong wind) but... it grabbed me. This unexpected situation could have been more dangerous. A strange illusion, some strange tentacles, and the strange draining of Mana I was feeling right now were unreal. All of this had happened in a matter of 9 seconds and in the 10th second, everyone came back to their senses. A horrified expression clouded everyone''s eyes as they looked at me. They were confused and chaotic about what just happened. It could have been a skill of that damn demon that somehow didn''t affect me that much as I only stayed still for three seconds. "Eon!!!" Mom shouted and dad tried to grab the tentacles to release me. But, it wasn''t of any use as his legs gave up because of the skill''s bacsh. On the gray mountain roads, only the screams of three people echoed. A devastated mother, a helpless father, and a horrified middle-aged man. I was being slowly dragged into that portal and everyone was already exhausted. The only thing they could possibly do was scream and cry. For dad, taking even a step was difficult. This was one of the worst-case scenarios and I couldn''t even say anything in this matter. This whole ordeal had turned into a cringe, cliche story. And... thest thing that came to mind was even more clich¨¦. Looking at mom with my somewhat assuring smile, I requested her in tear-filled cracking words. "Mom, I... wille back. Take care... of dad and baby, by then..." With thosest words, he was dragged away into that portal which closed in an instant behind me. This all happened in a mere thirty seconds and... they were utterly helpless. Nolen and Brian screamed, cried, and shouted in agony. They couldn''t do anything when their son was taken away from them... Chapter 50 Beginner In Woods Silence. A chaotic silence. A shock that was great enough to brake a heart. In a slowly driving small carriage, two people set with utter silence. Their eyes were red and swollen, darkness under their eyes. The man was quiet and anger was oozing out of his body. The beautiful woman still had tears on the edges of her eyes, struggling to hold their ground. She was devastated right now. She had seen her son being dragged away by some filthy half-dead demon... helplessly. They had won the battle but, the fight wasn''t a victory at all. It was the greatest, bitterest and nastiest defeat of their entire life. It was a story others would love to read. But for them, it was utterly despairing. Their son saved his father, sacrificing himself as he would always im he would do. He protected him and in the process, disappeared somewhere dangerous. They lost their son. They lost him because of their ipetence. They lost him because of their carelessness and... because they were still weak. They regretted, agonized, and cried in that same ce for a long, long time. If not for the driver Besnik dragging them away from the polluted ce, they might have just stayed like that. The battle was easy and if they had finished it swiftly, nothing like this could have transpired. But they neglected something. That damn demon had an [Illustration] skill powerful enough to influence someone like them. Though it was unbelievable that their son was able to resist that skill, it wasn''t the point right now. The portal that the demon had opened at thest moment of his life was totally unstable. Its location can''t be tracked now that it was closed. That demon had used most of its energy to drag their son away. So wherever he was, he could easily kill that bastard with his own hands. They didn''t know about the other 6-year-old child but, Axion, their son could definitely pull that off. He had already killed many undead creatures without feeling any kind of feeling toward them. This was also something different, something unique about him. If anything, they knew he was not dead. The worst-case scenario was the demon running away, leaving him in an unknown ce like that forest. As for that forest, they had an idea of where it was. And they prayed, they begged to whoever god that they were wrong. If their guess was somehow indeed correct... They didn''t want to think of that clear possibility. That ce wasn''t something even a human like them could survive. Though they were d that the portal wasn''t connected to [Hell nes], a forbidden ce was many times more dangerous than it. Their minds were chaotic and their heart was unstable. Sitting quietly on her seat, Nolen caressed a silver ring with a small crystal ball. It was blinking a bit in red color. Her heart might not have taken it calmly like right now in the past but the situation was different right now. This ring might be the only link to find out if he was alive or not. Hopefully, Eon was still safe... She closed her eyes and another crystal-like tear slid down her cheeks. *** In a great forest with trees that seemed so tall that the sky was almost invisible. Green leaves and green trunks cover by thick moss. There were many small nts and fungus-like mushrooms which were glowing. Small lights illuminated the green and brown colors of the forest. Different sounds native to a forest-like some birds, some animal moment, and the rustling of leaves were calming. In an open area in the middle of this forest, a small pool of ck blood was slowly evaporating. A gross pile of body parts and organs was twitching in the middle of this pool. A boy wasying in a distance, holding his chest as if having a heart attack. His eyes wererger, pupils wide. His face was pale and his whole body was covered in white light. A ck orb was lying beside him with a blue bow that was stained with blood on one side. After a moment, the moments of the body in the ck blood stopped. The body part of the demon disappeared and the ck blood slowly got absorbed in the soil. There was no corruption in the area and the only thing with demonic energy left there was the coreying beside the bow. "Aaaaaaaa!" I shouted as the pain in my chest intensified. This was my first time feeling such pain but, this pain was different. It didn''t hurt and instead... I felt warm. My whole body was heated as if I was taking a sunbath for a very long time. My heart was beating senselessly. When it started at the beginning of the fight, I didn''t think much about it. But, after being dragged here by that damn demon, it increased many times. The demon almost seeded in subduing me but, I couldn''t die. Not here by that foolish demon nor by any other thing in this strange forest. I had to survive. I had to go back, go back to my family. I knew they will wait for me however long it would take. Dying by some filthy demon wasn''t an option. And as soon as I overcame thatst bit of uncertainty and pulled out its core, the heat intensified. As if my heart was melting and regenerating, the pain continued for the next five minutes. I was mostly calm during this whole time, lying on the cold ground which had warmed because of the heat from my body. Pain suddenly triggered when I tried to move my body. Staying totally still was difficult to the point it seemed impossible. Even breathing too deeply triggered that pain. For five whole minutes, I went through hell. A calm and warm hell. When this all ended, I felt rejuvenated. There was no pain, no injuries, no fatigue, and not even fear. I felt clear, just like any normal situation. Even though I was in an unknown dangerous forest, I was calm. My mind was working better and I could even think of many different ideas at once. My mind was sharper and my emotions were constant. Confused, I called out my status window. ''Status Window'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 5 Strength: 26 Dexterity: 27 Stamina: 28 Magic Power: 30 Intelligence: 33 Luck: 26 Charm: 18 [Skill: Energy Cirction] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Beginner Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) ] ============ My eyes silently stared at now a faint yellow status window. Before this change, it was a normal and in white. It was translucent and not much special. But the one in front of me looked a bit more attractive. ''Is it because of this new skill?'' I thought and silently stared at the screen. Chapter 51 First Battle In Great Forest I looked at the new screen in front of me. Many unexpected things were happening right now which left me with many questions. Why would the screen which is a natural phenomenon get a different form after increasing the mastery of an Origin skill? Is it really because of the increase in mastery or is there some other reason? Why did my mastery of skill increase so suddenly? Was it because of encountering a demon? What are these Origin skills anyway? There were many questions but right now, the most important one was... "Why the hell ants are so big here!" I was running with all my strength. When I was checking my screen, three ants appeared out of nowhere. Trying to fight them in a head-on fight was not possible right now. They were strong and I knew that. I had recovered from the fight with the demon but I was still inexperienced in real fights. And, my opponents were neither weak nor few. Fighting these [Giant steel ants] in a disadvantageous fight was thest thing I wanted to do. Though I was in a disadvantageous situation, I wasn''t worried at all. The new Origin skill I unlocked a while ago was something very helpful. [Dynamic Heart] increased the control over my mind, increasing the decision-making easy. It calmed my mind like it was the same in every situation. My mind was clear right now and I knew what I had to do. This was an amazing skill and probably the most important one to survive in a ce like this. Getting it in such a situation was also very mysterious. This forest wasn''t some normal forest that anyone could visit or should visit. Just from the humongous trees and the sheer number of rare herbs, I passed through and most noticeably, the demon blood that didn''t pollute the ce... I could tell. I was in a worst-case scenario. [Great forest of Kamut] One of the nine forbidden domains in this world. A forest with the most (Energy beasts). ''That damn demon was so unlucky that he had to send himself to one of the worst ces for himself.'' Demons despised nature nad their only objective was to destroy it at all costs. They would do anything to harm nature and beings living inside nature would try to stop them every time. All beings residing in this nature were part of it. And this forest held a great deal in this nature, just like other forbidden domains. The power of nature was the strongest in these forbidden domains, which was the reason demons despised these ces. And even if they despised it, demons can''t separate themselves from it. They created [Hell nes] but those were also somewhat part of this nature. The ultimate objective of all the demonic creatures and ''people'' rted to them was the destruction of nature and everything in it. There were many other races in this world but everyone hated demons and the same went for demons. Even some of the [Divine Beasts] that were one of the closest beings in this nature, went after them willingly. Divine beings loathed the sheer existence of demons but strangely, they couldn''t exterminate them. And the reason behind this was [The great bnce]. Nature decided a great dividing line between the existence of all creations. Demons, though unnecessary, were required in order to maintain this great bnce. Some books say that everything happening inside this world is by the will of this world. [Will of the world] Very few is known about it but, this will is the highest existence in this world. The will is not actually being someone else but the world itself. ''I don''t know much about that so, before I encounter something more dangerous, let''s kill these ''ants'' first...'' There was arge tree just ahead of me. I had used [Mystic Eyes] to find this ce while running for thest three minutes. Now, I was ready to take them down. I already know many things about the normal,mon, and rare energy beasts from the books. Thanks to my gifted memory, I remembered reading about this ents. p They had the body of steel. Their physical strength was also much higher than that of normal humans. But, they weren''t ranked beasts. Meaning, that they neither had any fatal magical skills nor more than 30 M.P. to at least be ranked (Red). I was lucky to have some (fire) enchantment arrows with me, which were strong against their metallic bodies. Confusing and losing them was the first thing to do right now. They were exceptionally good at teamwork. Together, they were more than some (Red) ranked beasts. That''s why I chose this ce. I climbed up the closest branch of thisrge tree which divided the path into two different ways. As I was way ahead of them, I was sessful in confusing them. If they were solder-ranked ants with detection skills, I might be dead by now. Fortunately, they were the lowest-ranked workers who collected the food for the colony. I would really hate to even go close to them. Luckily I was safe for the time. Taking out three arrows with close to (tier-2) enchantments, I aimed them one by one at their weak spot. They had already gone different ways to find the food that had escaped their grasp and had their guards lowered. -Swiiiiiiiish. -Swiiiiiiiish. -Swiiiiiiiish. Three arrows flew at the joints of their body and pierced their head. -KWKWKWKW! Their ws like mouths vibrated as the fire from the arrow entered their bodies, burning them internally. The arrow had gone deep inside them so the effect was more amazing. It was all thanks to the magic bow and my newly increased stats. It definitely wasn''t a miracle to increase the mastery of my Origin skill the moment I entered this ce. ''Were ces like this beneficial to increase the origin skill as well?'' I thought and looked down. They definitely were great for a mage as the Mana density was superb here. At the risk of possibly losing your life, you cane and train here. Yes, you will get lost and eternally trapped in here but, what can we say? There actually were some people like them. Very few have been able to escape from these forbidden domains and those people were either extremely strong or unbelievably lucky. Now, all I had to do was... became one of them. And since luck is not reliable in my case right now, I have to get strong enough to escape. I knew my idea wasughable and foolish but, there was a possibility that I could go home. Go back to my family and I wasn''t going to miss this. I had to survive this great hell. I had to walk ahead to find a path to go back. I had to return to them... at all costs. I made a promise to my dear mom. With tears in my eyes and a still calm mind, I jumped down. Dad had told me about his old days as an adventurer and what they did. He even taught me how to find the core and skill stones after the hunt. Dad literally taught me how to dissect the body of different beasts. Yes, it was just some stories and theoretical knowledge, but he forgot to consider me as a 5-year-old when teaching it. He talked in anguage that no 5 year old would want to hear or understand but for me, that was bliss. It was pure fun to hear those gross and gruesome stories from him. Though he never got into much detail, reading his emotions and thoughts was no big deal for mom and me. So, as his teachings, I ripped the tough shell of the ent after dragging their bodies into a corner. Under the tough armor, there was a tender part like skin in red. Using an arrow, I sliced the body open and checked their bodies. Though the chances of finding a core were something around 1/10,000 and finding a skill stone was 1/100,000; luck worked here. Strangely, the luck of the person who did the final blow to kill the beast applied to this possibility. It was just like the games from my previous life. This was simple and easy to understand. Just finding a lucky person and making them deal a final blow was enough to strick rich sometimes. But just like [Taming] and [Authority], luck was natural power. There was no way to increase it by external means permanently. And, just having high luck wasn''t enough to find these skills or cores every time. The reason strong adventurers like dad hunted demons was that there was a higher chance to get the cores. Though corrupted, they can be purified and used normally. The one I took out of that baren demon was still inside my pocket, wrapped in a small cloth. I can''t risk and put it inside my storage device. My storage device was one of the most important things for my survival right now. As I checked the bodies of the ents and found nothing, I started butchering them. Though I couldn''t eat them their body parts were useful. I realized another thing just now. [Dynamic Heart] was crazy useful. I can feel the blood, organs, and insides of these beasts but I didn''t feel disgusted at all. I was still calm, thinking about the best course of action. And the conclusion I came up with after all the time of thinking was... ''Finding a safe ce.'' Chapter 52 Dog Fight For your survival in a dangerous and unknownnd, you first have to adapt to its basic environment. If it''s a desert, you have to preserve the water in your body in normal circumstances. If it''s a cold ce with consent snowfall, you have to protect your body from cold. In a forest, you have to protect your body temperature and be safe from wild predators. And these are in normal circumstances, in normal ces, and for normal people. I was none and my situation was unbelievable too. Not everyone had to run from arge wolf with some chains flying around its body! "Shit dude! Just stop now! I can''t kill you even if I want to!" I don''t know how long I have been running like this but, at least half an hour has passed. It started when I finished butchering the ants. It was a safe ce and there was nothing dangerous. But than... I heard some movements. From the other side, a huge wolf with gray fur and silver chains floating around its body jumped on me. It was a very close call. I barely managed to survive there. Fortunately, I didn''t get caught there. With whatever I could save in my storage device, I ran with (speed enhancement), (Wind speed), and (wind shield) magic. This wolf was at least an (Orange) ranked beast from its Mana. Not that I had any way of knowing what rank or how powerful this unknown beast was. ''It would be much easier if I had an [Appraisal] skill like dad.'' But where would I find a (Blue) ranked skill stone? Even dad was extremely lucky to find something like that from an already corpse of an (Indigo) beast. What were the chances that something like that might happen to me? I am not hoping anything like that to happen. It would be a miracle if it happens. ''Well, I might still get something simr...'' If I had mystic eyes then that meant I had a chance to get something of a higher level in (Stage-2). An [Origin Skill] rted to eyes and in that, having the ability to see your opponent''s skills and stat was... normal? How should I put this... Most people with Origin skill rted to eyes had something simr to [Appraisal] in their (Stage-2). I knew it would take time but I believed I could do that. (Stage) of an [Origin Skill] was difficult to raise and it wasn''t actually up to us. It would go up in some unexpected situations like fighting a bloody battle or cooking some food. It was really unexpected. I knew about the sun as a star and how it functioned. If that knowledge was of any use, I can look through it after finding a safe ce. But this damn wolf wasn''t going to let me go after chasing me for this long time. And why were there chains floating around it?! It wasn''t even using them! Maybe they were used as a defense or maybe to climb a tree, damn they could be just armor to protect the vulnerable body! The wolf had red eyes and it was definitely looking at a prey. This scenario was life-threatening. Running more than this was also a problem. My stamina was about to run out and my Mana was depleting with each passing second. I wasn''t just mindlessly running; I was scouting ahead with my [Mystic eyes]. My mind was calm so I was at least thinking straight. And I knew I can''t win against that thing as I was right now. I had to somehow lose him. At that moment... I saw something ahead of us with hope-filled eyes. ''Can I pull that off...?'' What came to my mind was definitely dangerous. ''Let''s give this a try! Worst is my death anyway.'' I readily made a n and thought about it for a second time. Biting my lips, I took out a basic stamina potion and downed it. Increasing my speed, I reached an almost dead tree with low branches. Taking out my bow, I shot a ck arrow at the other side of the tree and a yellow arrow behind me. A bright light shed before the wolf and for three seconds, it closed its eyes. That time was more than enough for me to climb that tree and reach a somewhat safe space. I knew anything could happen right now that''s why I chose this tree without any leaves. I can hide from them better here than some tree full of leaves and unknown creatures. When the wolf came back to its senses, it looked at a shadow that moved to the left side and followed it. From the left side, another wolf simr to him appeared. Hiding in the shadows, I smiled. My brilliant n was totally simple. Let the strong fight among themselves. There was a chance that something like this might not work and they might join together to attack me. But from what I saw thisst half hour, I knew they were lone wolfs. Fighting alone and hunting alone. They didn''t like the intruding of others. And they will attack senseless whoever tried to steal their food from them. And just as I thought, the wolf that chased after me bore its teeth at the other wolf. The other wolf jumped backward and looked at the other wolf furiously. "Wooooooo!" The first wolf roared in a hungry, furious voice. Without giving the other wolf any chance, it jumped forward and extended its floating chains. The other wolf was surprised and furious. One blocked it by wrapping the chains around its body. -KLANK! With a loud crash of metal and blue sparks, the fight between two ferocious dogs begins. One wolf had silver chains but the other had blue. They only fought with these chains, eyes shining in red. This two didn''t even use any ws or teeth in this fight. Their green blood sshed out from the deep wounds around their bodies The chains contained a sharp wind attribute and their sharpness was no joke. They weren''t even actual chains of metal but a passive skill. I only realized that after the chains started integrating after their long battle. Sitting on the tree, I made ss from earth magic and poured some water into it. I was burning after running like that. Cooling the water was also important so the (Cool wind) decreased the temperature somewhat. The mindless wolfs were definitely scary. The way their chains pierced their skin so easily was enough to tell me they were weak without the chains. Time passed and the wolf that chased me all the way here was nowying on the ground, lifeless. The results were as I expected. The chains around its body were gone and no moment could be seen on its body. The other one that had been attacked out of the blue was breathing heavily, fallen on one knee. The chains around its body were also almost gone. But, I couldn''t take any chances. I took out three arrows with green enchantments and aimed them at him. Unknown to my presence, the wolf just stood there in the middle of blood. I channeled some Mana into my bow and fingers and released them. The arrows shot forward with a booming sound. In the mid-air, they formed a triangle and then joined together. With more force than before, they struck the pitiful wolf. Blood sshed even more as the arrows had struck the belly part without chains. The wolf fell to the ground. "Woooooo!" With a pained cry, the half-dead wolf took itsst breath. My mind was still calm and my heart was beating equally as it had been. But, I felt bad for the wolf. What did he even do to end up dying? I pitied him but a thought crossed my mind. ''Survival of the strong, huh?'' I thought, looking down at it. Dwelling too much on that feeling wasn''t something I could do in this ce. I had to go back to my family and to do that, I would do anything possible. Even if I had to kill a vige full of monsters. But, that was the worst-case scenario. ''I have to refrain from fighting unnecessary and difficult battles. If there is even a tiny possibility of failure, that fight shouldn''t be fought.'' With thoseplicated thoughts, I looked around the area to find out if any more beasts were around. Fortunately, there were none so close that they could be dangerous. I quietly jumped on a lower branch but then... my heart started beating wildly. Without thinking, I moved up and casted a (Shadow curtain) around me. I was small and fortunately could fit in a small gap inside the tree. I looked out to see what that strange feeling was and my eyes widened in surprise, utter disbelief clouding my eyes. ''I might actually have died without knowing what hit me just now.'' Chapter 53 Suffering In Dark [Gient Fire Boar] The presence and size of the creature were... huge. A 4.5-meter tall ck bore, standing tall with its two long red fangs stretched outside. The steaming out of its nose was ferocious. Withpletely white eyes filled with nk anger, it looked around the area. My heart was calm but fear filled my mind. This was a [Green] ranked energy beast and there was no way in hell I could get even near that thing. Just looking at it from the narrow crack was enough to terrify the hell out of me. It started moving and I calmed down. With calm and slow breathing, I silently looked at its moments. If there was any other beast and it goes back a bit from where it was standing, it could clearly see me hiding in this crack. I was fortunate it was this boar. Their sense of smell was the most developed thing in their giant bodies. Hopefully, I waspletely safe and my odor could be masked by the tree and shadows. The boar looked around and found the two bodies of the wolf lying on the other hand. It narrowed its eyes and spotted the arrows in the body of one wolf. There was a different smell about those things. Nothing like the two wolfs had. I didn''t know what it was doing from up here but he had definitely seen the arrows. -Mooooooo! I heard the enraged sound of the creature and grabbed my legs in fear. This was not something I could do by myself right now. If it so much so spots me, I might just consider my life over. I grabbed the sides of the tree tightly. My heart told me something was definitely about to happen to this tree. And, the next thing I felt was something that I didn''t want. The enraged boar had tackled the tree and sent it flying away. I held onto the small gaps in the tree to stay in my position. It was the bore''s instinctive response. I was still shaking in the flying tree trunk. I wasn''t caught and this time would end. I will live and escape this hell. My... my family. I have to go back to them. They are waiting for me. I will go back and see them all. My mind was chaotic but I was still calm. ''Damn! I know it''s crazy but I want to feel fear in this type of situation. Not this fear in my mind but in my heart!'' I was learning new things even in this life-threatening situation. This [Dynamic Heart] is not something that just calms my mind. ''I am calm but I can feel all the other emotions. They are just overwhelmed by the warmth and calmness of my heart. Back when the boar was about toe there, I had felt the overwhelming difference in sheer strength. My back was drenched in sweat. I was horrified. And still managed to remain calm and think of the best possible situation. This skill is scary but, thanks to it I will be able to survive more situations like this,'' I closed my eyes when I felt the impact of the fall. The tree fell a few kilometers away from where it previously stood. From the footsteps I could feel, it seemed like the boar was circling around the tree. I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. After not finding anything, it walked away with the corpses of two wolfs. I knew I clearly heard it pick up the bodies and drop them on its huge back and felt somewhat angry. But life was always worth more than such small things. After the area quieted down, I didn''t go out or did much moment. It was almost nighttime and... nights are always scary! I definitely would stay in some small hole and then be eaten alive by those horrible things out there. I was hungry but there was nothing to eat for today. We can eat the meat from some energy beasts but ants weren''t one of them. I was even more enraged now. ''That pig bastard had stolen what might have been my food!'' I had decided that when I was strong enough to kill that bastard, I wille and kill it. Definitely... And for that, I had to break through to (tier-2) as soon as I find a safe ce to live. This little hole was enough only for tonight. I didn''t have any choice anyway. I had to be at least (tier-4) to stand a chance with some great nning and cheap tricks to defeat the boar. ''Oh well, survival is most important at the end...'' This night was long, very very long. And... terrifying. If not for my heart being calm... it might definitely have stopped working from those spoooooooooky and horrible noises. They weren''t just dark but also terrifyingly clear. Like beasts howling, fighting, and killing each other. Some owl-like voices rang from time to time. Sound of something sshing out and cracking in distance. Weird noises like ghosts. Screams of different creatures and sometimes... human-like, too. I even forgot to close my eyes or breath when I felt something around where I was. I was almost dead in my body, only my mind was working properly right now. This... was horrible. It felt like days had passed in that time and that narrow, secluded, and dark ce. I wanted to cry but held back all the noises and silent tears flowed out of my eyes. Ground filled with those tears and the blood from my bitten lips. This was a torture... a silent form of torture. Slow and physically painless. * With a ray of sunlight leaking from a small hole, morning arrived. Sitting motionless in dead silence, I nced out from the small hole. My eyes were red and swollen from all the crying and, there were huge dark circles like a panda under my eyes. My lips had stopped bleeding but the scars were still there. My pupils were not working properly because god knows how long I had been in this dark ce without any form of light. After feeling that everything was safe out there, I sshed some water on my face. Cutting the small area with a (Mana Arrow), I came out of that dame hell hole. Light entered my eyes and blinded me for a moment. Adjusting to the light as time passed, I looked around myself. It was a closed area surrounded by a thick group of trees. ''That freaking pig was much stronger than I thought.'' Thanks to my special clothes and (Shield), I was able to survive that crash. The tree that was big previously was now shattered in pieces. Some parts were cracked and the upper portion was obliterated. ''Close one...'' A long, fear-filled sigh escaped my red, torn lips. The ce I hade out was just below a cracked part. If even a strong wind was blown... I might be dead. I was at least d. Lady luck didn''t want me to die just yet. And, I was d about that even more. I knew I won''t be able to forget about this night ever in my life. But, I was happy about one thing. I was alive. I was alive to see this day and... that was enough. Stretching out my body for a bit, I jumped on a nearby tree branch. I jumped from branch to branch and went straight ahead towards the direction the sunlight came from. Without a proper direction, I knew I would just walk in circles. I didn''t have much time anyway. I had to find somece before sunset or I might not be able to endure another torcher session. Chapter 54 Lawsuit As the sun was rising on the horizon, a beautiful young woman with long blond hair and light brown eyes opened the carriage door. They had stopped before arge building that looked special. Before her eyes were tworge gates and behind them was arge building decorated with different jewels and statues on the road connecting to the building. One statue of a goddess holding a scythe in one hand and bnce in the other hand was particrly eye-catching. The scythe had a red de and white body which looked magnificent. The statue was pure white with simple-looking golden cloths wrapped around her body. Her eyes were pitch ck as if void of any emotions. She looked around this familiar ce with anger in her eyes. ''Today is the day I get back what''s mine. Just... if just Eon was here,'' she clenched her fist. The sole purpose ofing to the capital as soon as possible was because of today''s hearing. I wanted to give my precious son everything he could ask for here but now... he was taken away from me. He wasn''t with me when I wanted to tell him about everything he didn''t know. I wanted him to look up to me. Seeing his excited, happy, and maybe angry expression was the only thing I was looking forward to. To tell him about who I was. Who he was. I wanted to travel the whole capital city with him. Maybe more than just the capital city. We could have done many exciting things like kicking off these pigs that made me miserable. They were the reason my little boy had to suffer and they were the reason he wasn''t with me! I was angrier with them now! I was enraged! "Nolen. It''s ok. Calm down." Brian hugged me from behind and pulled me back to reality. Around us, people were passed out and some were choking while holding their necks. I walked inside the building without looking at them. Grandpa Zhen was there to take care of these small matters. I stood beside arge wooden door on the ground floor. This was the only room on the entire floor of the building and used only to solve big matters like mine. Behind me was a young handsome man with light green hair and amber eyes. Wearing a noble outfit underneath his white fur cape, he stood beside me with a dignified, confident expression. The area was bustling with people even though it was so early in the morning. Today was a good show for some while some would just remember it as their worst nightmare. No one wanted to miss out on this opportunity. You can guess from how the preparation for today was going on for thest few days for some people in the capital. Though for me, it was going on for thest six years. And there was no way in hell I was only here to win. It was more than just one case that would be fought today. I have my own counter sue for their any and all opposition. I swore on my name that they won''t be able to utter a word in there when today woulde. Today might have been the happiest day of my life but, now nothing mattered anymore. I had lost the one that I wanted to give my everything. My love, my time my everything. Now... I had lost my son. I had lost my pride and joy. My greatest gift and everything I fought for. I... had lost as a mother. But this increased my fire to take everything back. I knew... I knew my son wasn''t dead. He was alive, fighting for his life. If anyone could survive hell and return back with that same smile, it would be him. He could do it... I was sure. So I had to do what he asked me to. I had to look after my family. My devastated husband had taken all the me for what happened to us and the one that soon will be with us. The new member of this family and the little sibling of my brave son. My brave son who protected his parents from great danger. Clearing the tears from my swollen eyes, I looked behind. "Theo, Brian... let''s go." They nodded and the two guards who were covered in white armor announced our arrival and the gates opened. At the end of the hallway was a huge table and three thrones, decorated in all types of gold and jewels. Under them were two tables and in the middle was a giant ball of water, floating in the air. Two tables were for the people who were to present the case and under them was arge number of small chairs decorated modestly in total darkness. Those were the seats of the jury. I walked up to the right table with three chairs behind it. On the upper floors were the balcony of the spectators. Common folks who considered themselves somehow rted to today''s hearing were present there. As soon as we sat in our seats, the doors opened again and people of the opposition walked in. A pig-like fat bastard in extravagant clothes and jewels. Two normal-looking bastards who did dirty work behind everyone''s backs. Andstly, a man with a finely built body, covered in a noble purple suit. A ck cape around his clothes indicated his proficiency with darkness attribute. As soon as my eyes fell on him, a sharp aura started oozing out of my body. This bastard was the main reason I was here. Though he was weaker than me by arge margin and struck at (tier-4) his entire life, he knew how to use his brain a bit. I had let my guard down once in the past but now, things were different. Now... I was a wounded mother who has lost her precious son. I could very well kill him if I let go of my conscience. "Oh! Former guild master. It has been a long time~." Count Keres Lowell. The bastard who framed me for the murder of our former guild leader. I was boiling with anger and now, I was smiling furiously. "Oh, you little piece of trash. You have no idea what you did to yourself. [Kneel]!" At mymand, all four of them fell to their knees. Their minds went nk and the smirks on their faces instantly turned into fear. These minor characters didn''t know how much I had changed. Now I wasn''t just some cold princess who could be yed around. I had much greater authority from when I was here before them. This level of authority could even be fatal for a (tier-6) mage at full power. It wasn''t potent back then but after Eon, everything changed for me. p I never wanted to get strong before because I was a fool to think I was already strong. I was nearing my potential now but, this much was enough for these shitty basterds for now. "Nolen, enough. We are in the ce of judgment. We can do that outside." Fortunately, Brian was there and they were still alive. This was enough to conclude the small anger of right now. I could read the thoughts on their faces. Those horrified eyes, shaking bodies, unclear minds, and... guilt. Neither that pig nor that bastard could have thought I would straight out attack them in a ce like this. ''How could that bitch ger strong? Wasn''t she already at some border vige?!'' ''This little bitch, was she always this strong?'' ''Why is she so angry when we had done nothing right now!?'' They were the reason my previous baby was struggling in some dangerous woods. If I was never there, things might have been totally different in the first ce. I sat down with anger still lurking on my face. Time passed as I was lost in my agonizing thoughts and the voice that took me back was the voice of the start. "Everyone! Show your respects to the judges of Meyat!" Chapter 55 Lawsuit (2) As soon as the guards at the door announced the arrival of three judges of the goddess of justice, everyone in the room stood up. The three judges of justice held a great amount of authority as well as divine power bestowed upon them through blessing. [Blessing] In thisplex yet simple nature, beings with higher power like gods and divine beasts can bestow some form of blessing on others. These blessings grant the person some of the power of the one that grants it. In the case of these three judges, they were given the skill of [Absolute authority]. Power to imply any judgment within the empire. They were good people with precise judgment skills. Their judgments might seem unusual sometimes but that would be the best one in this that type of situation. They were also the reason these four fools can''t do anything to me within this empire. Looking at them from my seat, I smiled. * At the very back, a tall knight in white armor and a blue cape across his shoulders walked happily. [Sir Angus] Punisher of evil. A (Rank-7) holy knight king. With white long hair and a finely groomed beard same as his hair looked... divine. His dark blue eyes smiled at everyone present. * In the middle, an older person dressed in the holy clothes of priests exuded a warm and loving aura. [Pope Benedict] protector of the innocent. A (6-wing) divine healer. His hair was blue with some white ones mixed in them. Looking over everyone with his golden, shining eyes, he warmly greeted everyone. * Leading both of them, a person with stoic but warm green eyes looked over everyone present with his mage outfit waving as he walked. [Elder Theodore] creator ofw. A (tier-9) light magician. His hair was short and uniquely light yellow. * All of them had a good and approachable aura around them, just like my father. ''They are the same as back then,'' I smiled and looked at them. Sir Angus looked my way and gave me a warm look but then, he changed his expression and blinked. He had a confused look as he looked deep into my eyes and sighed in pity as if he understood everything. He looked straight and walked to his seat with the other two judges. After they set down, everyone else also took their seats. "I think we don''t need much introduction for today. So let''s start the trial." Sir Angus spoke first, surprising everyone. The two other judges looked me in the eye from above and nodded as if they also understood what was happening. A guard with red and white armor in the middle of two desks of the opposing party and us spoke in a magic device in a voice that everyone heard. "As the continuation of the murder case of guild leader of [Faron merchant alliance], where thedy Nolen Heliox from the house of marquis Zahavi Heliox von Ethan Griffin was used. With the testimony from several witnesses but theck of clear evidence, the case was closed with the punishment of relinquishing her rights to trade within the capital. Now, I request the intiff to present their case." With that, the guard took three steps back. Theo, my childhood friend, and thewyer representing me stood up. But, before he could step forward, I stood up and walked into the middle of the stage. From three-step upwards were judges while three steps downward were the jury of the court. He sighed helplessly. He was also restless to meet Eon. He was the head of a viscount family and some of my very few childhood friends. He was also a (Tier-4) mage and Tuuli was his familiar. He was somewhat like my little brother, always there to support me. His wife was a really sweet person. She along with my big sis, and I was some of the best event nners. Many nobledies took our advice on many things like tea parties and birthday parties. My big sis was best in this matter, more than myself. He also had a son who wanted to be a great magician. Hearing about Eon had made his determination even more solid. He was as excited to meet him as Ca. But now... no one could meet him. I didn''t want to admit it but I knew. It won''t be easy to escape that hell easily. My heart shatters into pieces whenever I try to think how he might be doing. Suffering in that cold, dark ce without food or any such resources. Caressing the ring on my hand, I wiped the lonely tear that seeded to escape my eyes and looked up. "I wanted to drag this with little more entertainment but, as you can see, I am not in a state to y around. So, I will just hand over all theints, cases, files, countersues, and depositions to the court. I sincerely apologize for my rude behavior but I would be grateful if you could ept my request," with a bow, I handed a storage device to the guard. The guard took it and handed it to another guard at the back. The three judges nodded at the guard and he took it backstage where the office for such thing was located. This whole time, the defendant party was stiff and their faces had turned ashen after my mand''. They had made their mistake back when they used me with manipted evidence and testimonies. I knew their ultimate goal would be my death but so do the judges. Canceling my right to trade in only capital was the best support they could give me. They followed the justice but back at the time, I had nothing to prove my innocence. I wouldn''t have thought of that scenario before but after that count joined our merchant alliance, things took a sharp turn. Our previous guild master was the same as grandpa Zhen to me. But more than that, he was my teacher. He was the one who taught me everything about being a merchant. He was a great person, a real hero just like my father. Felix Isaac. The founder of the Faron merchant alliance and the guild leader of the third most sessful and rich merchant group. He was my teacher but, I wasn''t his only student. There were many excellent individuals taught by him who are sessful people. The sixth-ranked merchant group is solely founded and managed by his students. They are good people but because of this incident, some of them had a cold rtionship with me in past years. Well, that will be cleared one of these days. I wasn''t much happy about everything that happened these past few years but, Eon was one only reason I was able to let go of those petty things. But, now... my Eon was away in a dangerous forest. I wanted to send search parties from our knight brigade and my personal squads but... I wasn''t sure of the oue. They might not be able to find him and he might actually be in that forbidden zone. But... I had to try. And, teaching these side characters some lessons was definitely important. I had a lot of work ahead of me so... wrapping things here properly was important. After a moment, which seemed very quick for that kind of work, a guard came out with aplicated expression. Without going to the judges, he walked straight toward me. With a confused expression, I looked at him when he spoke in a very quiet voice. "Lady Nolen. It seems like you handed us the wrong storage device. This one was filled with books." I stared at him with a stoic expression, not showing my anger, embarrassment, or sadness. I took the storage device full of Eon''s books and put it back into my bracelet. Taking out the other storage device, I took off the yellow note on it and handed it to the guard. The guard walked back and I heard some silent pitiful sighs. All three of them were smiling sadly down at me, only to make me even more embarrassed. They were some of the strongest and wisest individuals on this continent. And them hearing about this devastated mother''s mistake seemed more embarrassing to me. I tried my best to avoid their warm and kind gaze and just stood there. After a much longer time, the guard walked out with some papers in his hand. He had a disgusted frown on his face. Handing the papers to the judges, he walked back with a bow. His frown deepened when he looked at the other side of us. All four trashes flinched as cold sweat might have run down their spine. They had no idea how deep their grave was going to be. The frown and disgusted looks on the judge''s faces were enough to conclude today''s much short hearing than the past one. This was a small one but, if given the chance, I might love to show Eon and the little baby what a real heated courtroom looked like. Murmurs started from all over the balcony and people were jumping to find out what the results would be. The jury was given the same documents as the judges after a bit and even they didn''t like the contents very much. From ve trading to illegal business deals were just the tip of the ice barge. They had done unimaginable crimes within this city that was blessed by gods themselves. "Let us not waste the time of everyone present here." Pope spoke in a stern and calm voice. There were things in those files that could make an always calm pope sound angry. With three thumps of the gold-decorated wooden hammer, the judges made their decision. "For atrocitiesmitted by all the individuals listed here... We punish them with eternal imprisonment in [Trigon Tower]. And, we return all rights of trades and merchant alliance to their rightful owner;dy Nolen. The case that has been dragged for such a long time is now concluded." With that, I now had full control over my own merchant alliance. But... at what cost? ''Eon, my baby... please, please don''t die on me,'' I pleaded with tear filled eyes. I wasn''t sure what might happen if he... Chapter 56 Hard Times After the court hearing was over and all the small matters were cleared, we returned home. Yesterday was very devastating for all of us. It was impossible for me or Brian to tell others what had happened yesterday. I didn''t even want to leave the house today, but dad reminded me of what Eon told me. Eon wanted me to protect the baby and baby like Brian. He knew, he understood I was the only one who could do that. I might be able to do that... yes. For our better lives and for the future... a better future where my Eon would be with us, I had to do everything on my side. Brian would understand ande back to normal after some time... hopefully. I had to be strong here... but, why me!? Why was I the one that had to be strong here?! Am I strong enough to do what he asked?! Why did he even- "Nolen. Let''s go," Brian stepped out of the carriage and wiped out the tears on my already red eyes. He wasn''t doing any better than me. He might not be able to show that with his emotions but... I could feel him. That silent cursing. That helplessness. That anger. Remembering the past events where his parents went through something darker and simr. Even right now when he was wiping off my tears, his hands were cold. His eyes were void of manymon emotions. He was just keeping himself standing somehow. I hated to see this. I held his hand and dragged him inside, string into our room. The distance between the house and gates was great as a garden separated two ces. But right now, there was nothing visible in our eyes. Not mom or dad, not even brother or sister. We even ignored Ca ever since we got home. She was so excited to meet her little brother but, now no one knew how long that would take. ''I know he wille back. He will...'' I was sure, I knew he wille back. He wille back... to me. To us. But, even I knew this won''t be easy or how long he might have to suffer. I knew... ''No hell is easy to escape.'' And he was, maybe, in one of the most brutal ones. Even so... as a powerless mother, the only hope I had was the ring that told me he was... at least alive. [Soul Rings] One''s soul energy was stored inside them and it reacted whenever the soul was endangered. Soul energy was the fundamental energy of every living being living inside nature. If the soul was to integrate into nature, then it meant the person is dead. In dangerous situations, the soul weavers so the reaction to the other ring indicated the critical state of the person. When the ring was reacting for the first time, my heart was running wild. But, I knew it also meant he was alive. He was fighting so I couldn''t just break downpletely. And if it meant I couldn''t break, I can''t let this fool of a husband breakdown either. We reached the room and I mmed it behind my back. We sat down and I cupped his big face and pulled it towards me. He looked at me with his soulless eyes. "Brian. It wasn''t your mistake. You were strong and you fought bravely. You protected us when you could and it wasn''t your mistake that Eon was pulled away. He protected you! He did what he always said he will do. He did everything he could then... why are you acting like this?! He asked us to look after the baby, you know right!? If you continue acting like this... h-how will he feel? Pull yourself together... We need you..." Some life lit up in his surprised eyes. "N-Nolen..." He hugged me tightly and a dam of tears broke out. I hugged him back and continued my own downpour. We... were stillcking as guardians. *** I swung my wooden sword for thest time for today''s training. My training for the day was done. I had to do this by myself since no one was free. Grandfather, as well as dad, was busy with some sort of work ever since aunty came back. My little brother wasn''t with them, I didn''t know why. No one told me where he was. I was practicing so hard these past few months just to fight him. I wanted to defeat him so grandfather could praise me a little bit more. Though he praised me more than anyone, while talking about Eon... he was different. He was proud of me but, Eon thrilled him. My Grandfather was a great person and my hero. I wanted to be just like him so I started training at the very young age of 6. Grandfather used a Warhammer but a sword suited me the best. I knew the sword was best for me because I had already tried every weapon there could be avable and my synergy with the sword was... unreal. I could feel the sword, naturally. This was rare for children of my age or even any other professional sword wielder. Grandpa said my brother was somewhat the same but unlike me, he always knew what weapon he would use. Though bows weren''t that special and only used by those on the backlines of the wars, he wasn''t some simple archer. He was a mage. Just like my uncles. He used magic to create arrows instead of those annoying circles. I liked that about him. He was also good with books, just like my dad. Dad and mom were looking forward to meeting him for a very long time but now, they were busy with something that they didn''t tell me. Why were they even keeping something like that from me? It wasn''t like he was dead or something. No way... no. He was amazing and before fighting me he wasn''t allowed to die! I had worked hard to reach the strength of (Rank-1) knight! Those kids who yed in the gardens now started fearing me. Well, I had nothing to do with those kids. All I wanted was to get strong and find that ''goal'' thing grandfather mentioned. I also wanted to ask him what this goal thing was exactly? It might be something simple if he found it, right? Well, what might be so difficult in these things? I was good with this sword so I might also be good with fighting, right? Well, I want to at least meet my uncle and aunty. They were also busy ever since they arrived. Aunty looked very sad for some reason and uncle didn''t say anything. I at least understood that something did happen to my little brother. But, thinking he might really be dead... no. That was thinking of the worst-case scenario. And I didn''t like worst-case scenarios. I sat down by therge fountain in the garden and sshed some water on my face. I looked myself inside the water. Blood red hair just like my mom and sky blue eyes like my grandfather and dad. I was somewhat... pretty? But that wasn''t something I thought much about. I was still just 7 years old so doing big things like fighting was still not allowed to me. I could have just fought those new recruits to pass my time but... nope. ''As a child, you should y and do other things besides training. Study for a bit or at least do something you like.'' Those were my grandfather''s words when I just yed with a sword for a whole day without attending my dad''s sses. Well, mom knew I liked just ying with swords the most so she was happy if I was happy. I liked that thing about mom. Dad, well... what can he do? He wanted to teach me but I would run away from him. Then mom had to take care of him. Well... whatever to them. Thinking about unnecessary things was pointless. This tension and the hot atmosphere weren''t a good thing. I wasn''t one of those people that would wait for anything. I walked inside to ask anyone I could find, what was going on and why only I was excluded!? Chapter 57 Battle For House It was almost mid-day and the sun was almost on my head. The shade from therge trees didn''t let much sunlight pass but I could feel the harsh rays of the sun on my eyes. It took me a long time but I was able to find a good-looking ce. But... There was only one problem with this. It was a small cave of a [me poison spider]. A purple-orange-colored giant spider with long white fangs. Purple acid was dripping from its mouth wherever it walked. It was an (Orange) ranked energy beast with lethal poison and fire attribute skills. I didn''t want to go anywhere else and this was the best ce I would get here. I could close the entrance totally at night so I would be safe here. And luckily this spider was living here by itself. ''But, it''s still impossible to kill this by normal means. I had to do thorough preparation if I wanted to take it down while being safe.'' Fighting a much stronger opponent was something I strictly wanted to avoid at all costs. But a ce to call a temporary house was something very important. I had no choice but to kill that thing somehow. ''If I really manage to kill it, it might be my dinner for tonight~!'' These spiders tasted actually as amazing as crabs ording to some books. It would be a really nice thing if I managed to kill it. This one especially was a possible target. This one was weak against ice and physical-type attacks. If I set some kind of trap, I might get that house all to myself. Sacrificing all the enchanted arrows I have on hand would also be no problem. With the natural treasures lying around in this jungle, I can make far more batter things than these ones. With that in mind, I jumped to the other side of the tree. Jumping from tree to tree, I set up a crossbow-like automatic trap that I made while figuring out the spider''s moment patterns. This was almost like a game, the spider would go out every two hours for thirty to forty-five minutes to hunt some more. At that time, this area was almost clear. The area was covered with venomous webs on the ground and many small creatures were already rotting in them. This was a secluded area at the very edge of a side forest. The cave wasn''t much dark and it wasn''t that deep. Just perfect for two to three people to camp. I was sure this ce would be perfect because this area didn''t have much activity of other beasts. They avoided the poisonous webs even though some of them were much more poisonous. But, I was also d I was here. ''I still can''t believe I saw a [White ruby snake]! A very rare (Green) ranked energy beast. A pure white snake as long as a whale with real ruby-like red eyes. Its poison is sold as some of the most expensive materials in not only medical and crafting fields but also alchemy and enchanting jobs.'' They are mostly calm creatures and avoid small beasts like the spiders and myself. It just hunts and preys on beastsparable to its own strength. A gentleman among high-grade energy beasts. Also a strong, very strong opponent to go up against. ''I''m sure even dad would lose to it. It''s on another level than that wild bore that made me go through hell. That pig should learn some things from such a gentlemanly creature.'' Thanks to him having its nest in the nearby area, which would be huge~, this ce is totally safe. After setting up three crossbow-like traps pointing at a single point, I put three arrows with almost (tier-2) like spell, (Freeze) on them. As every trap was on the different trees, I had to calcte the perfect distance and point of collision. So in total, attack of nine arrows would bang the spider. It wasn''t easy but my calm mind helped me much more than I thought. Everything was set and now... I just had to wait for the pry to arrive. Maybe I might die if things don''t go as I thought but the chances of that happening were just 15%. I climbed back from the tree after putting a small mark on the ground. After three minutes, the pry was in sight. As I nned, I jumped down the tree to attract its attention and lure it towards the ''death spot''. All three ces were connected with a thin rope that was burning right now. Just like those old bomb circuits, I had to finish this in the next forty-five seconds. The big spider was almost three meters tall. And I was close to one meter and something centimeter, which was a good height considering I was only six years old. I looked into the spider''s purple eyes and smiled. ,m "Let''s start, little spider." The spider stopped as it spotted me. "Skhhhhhhhh!" Taking out itsrge fangs, it screamed loudly. They were long, almost as long as my bow. I looked at the drops of liquid poison dripping on the ground and making a hole in this fertile brown soil. With its two legs stretched out, it ran towards me with its other six legs. I knew it didn''t have any ranged attacks so I just had to pin it down in the ''death spot'' for the next forty seconds. I was d that I was a ranged damage dealer or I might have definitely died in closebat. This fellow was an expert in close-range fights and I knew that. It started moving as its first skill got activated. An orange-yellow fire lit up on its two front legs. I moved a few steps and stretched out my bowstring. (Water arrow) I had to do anything to pin it down so I was already set on using all of my 21 enchanted arrows. There were mostly fire arrows but well, I had to do everything I can to win this battle. I fired the arrow and the fire on its ws flickered. But it didn''t stop its advancing. I took out three (fire) arrows and fired them at its back legs. It dodged two of them but one struck it and pierced its body. There wasn''t much physical defense in this spider. This was a pure attack-type predator. But this weakness would be the reason for its fall. ''35 seconds.'' I took out Two arrows with (Wind de) enchantment and fired while taking two steps back. It had crossed the woods and now only the open area separated us. It dodged them both, jumping on the right side. It closed the distance again with its fiery front ws ready to dig through my skin. Behind me was a sharp wall with a small cave with trees surrounding the half-circle open area. ''30 seconds'' Taking out three arrows with the same enchantment dad and I made I fired them at the left side of the enemy. It didn''t try to dodge that one as it was already a lost cost in its eyes. But it was wrong, the arrows this time turned to their right andbined as one Sessfully piercing its soft body as blood gushed out. (Arrow spin) Learning different arts was the best thing I did and I was extremely happy I did that. The arrows stuck on its back and it slowed down. "Skhhhhhhh!" The spider hissed and took a step back and changed its position. It was going to use some different skill. And I wasn''t going to let it do whatever it wanted. ''20 seconds'' I took out three arrows of normal (strength) enchantment. Holding them in my bow hand, I took out another three arrows with (Small Fire) enchantment. First the fire arrows and just after them the strong arrows. (Six arrow quick fire) This was hard for me back at home but right now, the [Dynamic heart] and the hunger to survive were powering me. The spider jumped in surprise, not even he thought there would be so many projectiles before him at the same time. Surprisingly, it managed to avoid or block every one of them. ''12 seconds'' My breathing was heavy but my heart was still calm. I took out four arrows of different enchantments. Now, I wasn''t even looking at what I took out from my storage device. Holding one arrow in my small mouth, I fired the three and quickly fired thest one at another ce that it mightnd. The spider crawled its ws and started spinning like a wheel on fire. This was a skill and I had no doubt about that. Fire rose from its body and all four arrows burned to ashes. ''6 seconds'' It was almost time so I took out thest three arrows and smiled at the spider. "Thank you for the new house~." I just released the three arrows half heatedly. The spider''s skill ended and it blocked all arrows flying toward it. The spider was in the exact spot I wanted it to be. And then... -Swish! -Swish! -Swish! From three trees, a group of three arrows shot forth. Three arrowsbined midair and froze, making a twice bigger ice arrow than my own normal (tier-1) spell. The same thing happened with all three of them and atst... -Ssh! All three of them pierced the spider''s body. "Skhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" With an agonizing scream and fountain of purple acid and blood, it fell down. I was safe from acid as I was a good distance away from it. The fight was finally over and now... I had a house in this horrible hell. Chapter 58 Setting Up House Somehow dragging the huge body of the spider beside the cave, I sat down to catch my breath. The fight wasn''t easy, and dragging this thing was definitely more tiring than the fight. ''I''m but a mere 6-year-old child! That huge corpse is way too much!'' Dragging it inside would be foolish as there was still blood and acid remaining on some parts. "This was more difficult than I thought!" I was already worn out from the fight with this spider and now I had to somehow cook it. What to cook inside a spider? I never actually cooked this kind of thing. Well, if we say it''s just like some huge crab, I can think of some ways to cook it. ''But before that... how should I deal with this acid-filled spider?'' It was almost time for the sun to set so I had to eat and make a door in this cave opening. There was still so much to do... ''I don''t think I could eat this spider today,'' I sighed. Today would be another day without food in this hell. Taking out a healing potion I put some drops on my hands. Using my new bow with hard string at such high speed cost me almost my hand. There were all types of cuts and scars. I had to heal them faster so using some potion was important. Using it all was out of the question as I didn''t have that many on me. Finding something simr here would take time and I had to preserve everything inside my storage device. There wasn''t much space in my storage device and carrying unnecessary stuff with me would be a bigger mistake. As an archer, I had to focus on my moment and agility. Things that hindered my momentum were strictly prohibited. ''My heart is beating normally now, which means this ce was safe...'' I hoped with a long sigh. The simplest detection magic could only be used at (tier-2). So, I had to upgrade my Mana Nucleus to (tier-2) as soon as possible. It was at least a good thing that I was in this forest. I had seen some rare herbs that only a few books had recorded in this forest many times. It definitely means that if I gather the right herbs and somehow use the Mana in the demonic core, I might be able to reach (tier-2) in a short time. It was a good thing and the time would be more important here than anything. ''And that short time to reach (tier-2) would be around 6 months...'' Even for me, reaching a higher level in a much shorter time was impossible. Mana was a tough thing to handle. I could circte the energies inside my body much more easily than other people but handling Mana was a totally different thing. My Mana control was at best... good. It was much better than normal mages but it wasn''t phenomenal or unreal. It could be considered very good at my age but it was still not at the level of some different races. Like elves who have unnaturally high affinity with Mana and nature or dwarfs who had an unreal affinity with earth and Mana. There were many kingdoms with different races on this continent. Many of them even had very close ties with Roxana Empire. I can''t use Mana as easily as they could but at least I could learn faster than them. [Energy cirction] increased my Mana generating speed, natural healing ability, and processing of Mana. Without it, I wouldn''t be able to materialize Mana of a higher element like light. My magic bow improved it much more so thebination of skill and equipment was better than other (tier-2) mages. Releasing a deep breath, I stood up. The poison webs from the spider covering this area might vanish around the same time I would reach (tier-2) which means I had to finish things and move on from this awesome ce. For the time being, a good door was necessary because I didn''t know what happened here at night time. My Mana was still almost empty so I took out something from my dimension storage. A small piece of crystal rock that looked like a broken piece of a bigger crystal. Looking at it, I sighed deeply. "Making those crossbows was indeed tough..." I had to use the that dad gave me on myst birthday. I had saved it for a long time and the situation was the most unexpected one right now. I had to use it or else... I don''t even want to think about spending a night like that one again. ,m A dark night in a secluded ce without light and with all the horrible, terrifying voices. ''No...'' My heart was calm but my mind was still working normally. I didn''t want any more than what I have already experienced. Thest piece from the should be enough to make an (Earth wall). A wall ofrge rocks and tough earth. It was a (tier-2) spell but using the crystal as a catalyst... might be barely enough. With Crystal in my left hand, I sat down and gently touched the ground. Channeling some Mana into my right hand, I started casting the spell. Imagining the wall with small as well as big sand and rock particles as well as a small hole in the corner I took a deep breath. The ground shook and light started emitting at a fast pace. A wall of giant earthly rocks was erected, covering the almost whole mouth of the cave. The small gap would work as a gate for some time. Now, I was almost ready for a small sleep. I had to wake up in two hours so I had time until the night came. There was no way I will sleep at night. The jungle was much more horrible at night times. And seeing as there was a dead body just outside, I was more afraid to sleep. Setting up a bed with some leaves above the ground, Iid down. "I''m hungry..." I had to eat something tomorrow or else I might lose my normal strength. Not being in the best condition here means straight out death. In the dark cave with lighting out of small holes, I closed my eyes. *** Somewhere in the great forest, in an open area, a blue light shed like a p of thunder striking. The blinding light was so bright all the beasts roared at it and ran away from the spot. The light intensified and burst out in a st. In the middle of this light, some small flips of wings were starting to get visible. The small wings were emitting great light as they flipped slowly. A small butterfly materialized just like the wings and with another strong p of its small wings, it dispersed the light. A butterfly with crystal-like blue wings and a pure white body flipped its wings and flew away. Unlike when the first time the light appeared, now there was nothing much special about it except the beautiful wings. Just like any normal butterfly, it slowly flew away from the ce it materialized. Chapter 59 Finding Supplies After another horrible night, the first rays of sunlight graced the great forest of Kamut. With small dark circles around my eyes, I crawled out of the cave. The first thing that (did not) enter my eyes was the ''spider'' that I had killed with my life on the line. "Good thing it was outside," I happilyughed with a tired yawn. There was almost nothing left of the ''spider''. Not even the acid-like poison. Only the traces of ''something was there'' were left. There wasn''t even blood that was previously pooled on the ground. This was the great forest of Kamut, one of the nine forbidden zones on this. ''Here I am, a small, helpless lifeform who was just a few steps away from saying goodbye to this beautiful world,'' a shiver ran down my spine. I was d I covered the cave, even the small hole left was covered with a rock from inside. I could only thankdy luck here, if some dangerous beast fancied a small human like me, I would have entered the afterlife. "Huuuu..." Releasing a long breath and forgetting about my possible breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I sshed some (Water) on my face. ''Survival is horrible...'' If not for this miraculous ability to stay calm, I might have died many times by now just from an unstable heart and fear. This was nothing less than a blessing. "Ok~! Let''s find some treasures and food so we could live in this damn hell," I smiled brightly to forget about, or to try to forget the negative things. Putting on the armor that I made from the ant shellsst night, I checked it again. "Indeed. Light and strong. This should do for a while," I nodded and jumped on a nearby tree. Today''s objective was to gather supplies for the next some days so that I don''t have to go out from my dan much often. * ============ [Mana grass] -A natural herb filled with Mana. -Increases Mana pool of users by 0.1%. -Don''t work when the user already has arge amount of Mana. ============ There was an abundance of this rare thing in one open area. Thanks to dad, I knew a lot about herbs and how to recognize them. Just like right now, there was some normal green grass mixed with this special herb with a small blue line. Spotting this small thread-like line was difficult so identifying these herbs was most difficult with normal eyes. ''Well, not for me.'' With the help of my [Mystic Eyes], I could see these small lines very clearly. Even spotting a small dot on the grass was possible with them. Differentiating normal nts from poisonous or dangerous nts and herbs was easy for me if I knew about them. But I was stillcking in knowledge. I can''t just pick up anything that I knew was good for me either. There were things that I can''t take even if they were before my eyes. Just like that [Sanctrin]. I knew it would be a good material while making new enchanted arrows. But, it was surrounded by a bunch of [Red fang catchers]. Small nts with real fangs. They weren''t poisonous but their bites were enough to paralyze your mind. I didn''t even want to go near there. ''If I had an appraisal skill, things might have been much easier,'' I thought while collecting another de of grass. Once I reach (tier-2), I should try working on my [Origin Skill]. I had to get strong here, to escape, and protect my family in the future. The thing that happened to me, could have happened to dad or mom. This hell was also a great opportunity for me. ''Let''s go,'' clearing the area, I walked towards the next spot. * Standing before a huge tree that seemed to reach the skies, I looked up. This a [Great baniya], known for its tough and light wood known to mankind. It also had some apple-like blue fruits that were edible. The only problem was... the height. Even with my [Mystic Eyes], I couldn''t see the top of the tree. It was good that I didn''t need to go to the top for fruits or wood but the problem wasn''t that. This great tree homed many beasts, insects, and nts. It had its own separate special ecosystem. Intruding on these beings was the same as making them all my enemy. I had to do everything naturally and slowly. I looked at the apple-like fruit that was almost half my size. If I try, I could barely shoot it down with every bit of Mana I had. I would be not using multiple arrows of wind attribute to somehow cut that thick joint between branch and fruit. I had to be urate with my judgment because if I identally hit the [Poison sting bee] hive slightly above it... ''I would be dead. Painted with holes all over my body,'' I gulped with just the thought of missing the shot. This was the only food I could find after my long search throughout the area. Going too far was out of point as the only safe ce for me here was my small cave. And as I was right now, spending another day without eating would surely be unbearable. Enduring all those weird noises at night and fighting to stay awake was... devastating. Shacking my head I took a few steps back. Taking out my magic bow, I took a deep breath. Focusing all my attention on the joint of fruit, I closed my eyes. ''It''s been a long time since I felt like this...'' Everything around me started to disappear, only leaving a red thread connecting my line of sight and the apple. I knew what I had to do now. I had gone through life and death situations and I was getting close to something. A wide smile spread out on my face and I released the arrow of condensed wind particles. The feeling of being alone with the target in a void. A lone world of darkness where no light enters or leaves. There, the thread represents the goal and chances of achieving that small sess. This was something that was still in the form of a seed. I had a long way before this seed would sprout, turn into a nt, grow into a small tree then a big tree, and someday a great tree like the one before me. My efforts, struggle, and my entire life are its water and sunlight. This wasn''t magic nor it was my [Origin Skill]. It was something new, something different. Something warm which was cold before. Something that was pure strength. The arrow traveled on the thread at a rapid speed, my eyes barely keeping the track of it. And then... The arrow struck the correct spot, disappearing into the surroundings just after that. My calction was right on the spot this time. The distance, amount of Mana, and other factors were perfect. The big fruit, half of my size falls from the tree. Surprisingly, it was still in perfect condition even after the fall from such height. "Finally! I have something to eat!" With tearful eyes, I walked forward to pick up the fruit. Though it was heavy, I knew I can move it to my cave. It took me two hours for that but I finally made it back. I had to move through trees so I had tied it to my back. Now... it was before me. Cutting down a small piece of the fruit with the tough outer skin, I took a small bite. The inside was juicy and soft, despite the little tough outer shell. "Hmmm~. It''s sweet~!" This normal sweet fruit felt heavenly to me. Hunger can make anything taste better... Now, I had something to at least eat for the time being. Chapter 60 Yearning In Night Nights in the great forest of Kamut were different from most horror movies of my previous life. As undead creatures like ghosts, zombies, and skeletons were real in this world, the spookiness of the night increases manyfold. But, excluding these all, the nightlife of the jungle is very vibrant. The glowing nts, fungus, and small bioluminescent creatures make a spectacr show. I wanted to look at it a bit more but the night was getting dark. Closing the small hole with a rock and mud, I walked back. On one side of the cave, I had dug arge hole with wet soil around it. It worked as a temporary fridge that can store the things like fruits and herbs for possibly two or three weeks. This wasn''t something that could work as a proper fridge but it could lock the moisture and keep it preserved. The preservation spell was second-tier magic so I was still a long way from doing something like that. The apple was enough for me tost at least two weeks so I was just going to stay inside my humble cave and do some seclusion training. I had enough herbs to increase my stats a bit, enough that I could hunt small beasts without being noticed. Stealth was also necessary for me right now, but that wasn''t much big of a problem. I had a good affinity with nature so noticing my presence required senses close to a (Yellow) ranked beast. I didn''t want to get close to any of those beasts that were impossible for me to kill right now. There was almost nothing much to do here... just survive. Living alone in this hell; in a dimly lit closed cave was something I never thought about in my life. ''Mom, dad... please be alright,'' I prayed and sighed. After living with them all this time, I already had forgotten the lonely past life. Unlike before, I hadn''t lost them this time. They were still there waiting, hoping, and maybe... crying. Even if I was here, in some humongous hell, I had hoped they were doing ok. ''Mom... take care of everyone,'' I smiled hopefully and sat down. She was the only one strong enough to handle dad and baby. Dad would be ming himself for all these things that we went through. Thinking that he wasn''t strong enough to protect everyone, he would just me himself. Mom was not that strong in this matter either. She would think why I asked her to look after them, but she will do that. I knew she would. I wanted to see them all, I... "Huuuu..." Taking a deep breath, I calmed crying my heart. The same heart that was as normal as any other time in situations of life and death. ''So it doesn''t work with emotions like these? Little bastard...'' Well, this was a good thing. A very important and good thing. I wasn''t some heartless, merciless machine. I had all of my emotions. The very thing that made an animal a human. A clear tear escaped my eyes as a smile spread out on my small face. *** -Knock. -Knock. Someone knocked on the carefully crafted metal doors. They were beautifully crafted with silver color and golden, red, and blue patterns. The voice that answered from inside was slow... and tired. "Yes...?" The person that knocked on the door before, replied in a dignified, heavy voice. "El, it''s me. I''ming inside." The door opened and ady in a beautiful green dress walked inside. A forest green dress with beautiful golden embroidery all around it. The cor and shoulder long sleeves had white ends. The dress was fabulous and the pink flower on her green neck ribbon was... fresh. She had the same green eyes as her dress, deep and refreshing like a morning scene in the garden. She had fiery red hair which shined in the light of the big candle holder in the middle of the room with bright lights. "Oh, Augustine! What brings you here?" Buried in countless books, a man with ruffled sea blue hair and deep sky blue eyes, looked up at her. "Well, do I need a reason to see my beloved husband?" she smiled and picked up the books to arrange them on the shelves. Her smile was... fresh. Just like her sweet scent of fresh roses, the aura around her was refreshing. "Aug. Eon will be ok, right?" he asked, closing the book he was reading in a heavy voice. He had an extremely sad look in his eyes. She looked at him pitifully. Everyone was worried about Eon from the day he went missing. Father even sent out search parties from knight order and Nolen is already done with her preparations. Nol and Brian, both had suffered from this gravely. Father was also devastated by this news but he was proud of his grandson. He always talked about how Eon knew he would protect his family and in a dangerous moment, he did protect them. She was proud of him. He was not only Nolen''s son, but he was also her nephew. She was also very eager to meet him. Nolen was a little sister to her for a very long time and they were also close friends. She knew her so she knew how much burden she was carrying by herself. Not only did she have to do her work as the guild leader of one of the top merchant guilds, but she also had to keep a promise. A promise that she would look after her family. There was a joyous thing that we were going to have another little one in our family but, the news of Eon''s disappearance was grave. Everyone was doing their best not to show it but anyone could guess from the atmosphere in the house. Father, mother, Nolen, and Brian were doing much better than yesterday, Ca was also shocked when she heard what happened, and atst... this fool. Her fool of a husband didn''t leave his room. He loved Eon and was the most eager person to meet him. He had made many preparations and even prepared for his birthday. She was happy whenever he asked her for her advice on that. Everyone in the capital knew about her talent and skills in regard to any event. She was one of the pirs of the empire''s higher society. Ladies from different households were happy to just talk with her, and she liked them. She walked closer to him and hugged him from behind. "Don''t worry. He will be fine. Everyone knows he will be back safely. If not tomorrow... then one day. He made a promise to his family, you know right? He wished to protect everyone. So he wille back. Safe and healthy," she put her head on his back. He was a schr and one of the best theory professors at the imperial academy. Though he was neither a knight nor a mage, he was an important figure for people of both professions. "But what should I do about this worry? If something-" she cut him off and spoke in his ear. "I said not to worry, right? Instead of worrying, think about Nolen. She needs help right now. Not only from mother, father, and me but also from you. Think about how we should help her. You are good at thinking, so I know you will figure something out." Biting his ear, she stepped back. He had a slight blush from the expectedly expected move. "Ok. I should think about something," with a small smile, he sat back on his desk. "Call me if you need anything~." With that, she turned around to leave. But before she moved forward, he grabbed her from behind. They both were stunningly gorgeous and when they stood like this, holding each other... it was beautiful. "Thanks..." biting her ear, he let go and walked back. Her dignified expression was slightly different now and a very faint pink blush was visible on her gorgeous face. She rolled her eyes with a smile. She had sessfully cheered her crybaby and seeded for tonight. But, her expression fell as she exited the room. "Be safe Eon..." she mumbled under her breath and closed the door behind her. Chapter 61 Sorry Rabbit... Fallen into a great forest filled with humongous trees, nts, energy beasts, and different life forms, I can''t live with just some grass and fruits. I silently hid in arge bush before an open area. The movements were silent and natural; almost no normal thing could detect me. Hiding inside the bush, I looked forward to the open area. A white rabbit with ck ears was eating some blue flowers in the distance. It has already been a few weeks since I entered this hellish jungle. There were many dangerous things here and I was barely keeping myself alive. Just the day after I collected the herbs and that apple-like fruit, a (Red) ranked owl-like creature attacked me in the morning. It was big and had blue feathers, those sharp talons were also dangerous. Somehow... I managed to kill it. It was a bloody battle and my own blood was spilled because of that sudden ambush. After that, one day while collecting fruit from the great tree, a small group of bees spotted me. I was fortunate enough to see theming that time or else there was no way for me to kill a group of (Red) beasts alone. I managed to outrun them while using some potions that I had saved all this time. Now, I didn''t even have ten potions in total. Fortunately, I had found some herbs that restored stamina or concentration. The only problem with them was their weird taste. It varied from blood, mud, and sometimes rotten meat. I still hate them so I try to use them only in a safe ce. Today, I had only one goal in my mind. And that obviously was to hunt this rabbit-like creature in front of me. [ck eared quickstep] A (Red) ranked energy beast well known for its amazing speed. The skill [Quickstep] was their signature skill and they could evade any attack in the nick of time with this ability. I have been trying to hunt these rabbits for the past three days and their ability was surely much more simple than just that. They could heighten their senses to the extreme when they find themself in a life-threatening situation. They were awesome creatures and if I acted normally, they didn''t mind my presence. Just observing them was fun but I had to survive in this hell and, eating just grass and fruits wasn''t enough! ''I like you cute bunnies but I have to survive here. I will make sure your sacrifice doesn''t go to waste, oh great solder!'' With that short internal speech, I extended my hand. Pointing my palm at him, I gathered some wind, water, and light Mana particles. This was much easier with my bow but I can''t take it out right now. The bunny had very sharp ears and they could catch up on any small movement. I was being extremely cautious right now. From my micro-moments to my speed of gathering Mana, everything was silent. I had tried to hunt them before but they just knew what wasing their way. But now, it was different. (Silent Arrow) An almost invisible and soundless arrow ofpressed water that could only be used for short distances like this. I had to close in on the target and prepare the spell slowly so that it wouldn''t listen. Even a little moment would be the end of my dreams of eating something different. With total focus on the target, I fired the arrow. And... -Sketch! The arrow actually stuck the rabbit! The half-meter tall rabbit falls to the ground without any sound. The arrow has pierced his head, almost obliterating it. A perfect headshot. The power in thepressed water and wind was great and the reflection of light was enough to not get it visible. ''Sorry little bunny.'' With a small sorry, I picked up the poor creature. The blood wasn''t a problem for me now as I had seen a good amount and color and types, these past few days. ''How should I cook this?'' I thought as I jumped on a tree branch with difficulty holding its big body. I was now 6 years old and there were still many things Icked. My strength has increased many times but I was still miles away from beating any (Orange) ranked beast in a head-on fight. That would be only possible after reaching (tier-2). I was doing physical training more than my magical practice nowadays. In this jungle, physical strength mattered and after facing that owl-like beast in a straight fight, I knew Icked physical strength. There wasn''t anyone to watch over me here so I overworked myself sometimes. I knew outside was dangerous all the time so I practiced and trained inside most of the time. My progress was slow and sturdy which was good. I reached my humble house and crawled inside the cave. The rabbit was big, as big as the door which was a hole. Somehow, it came in after making some space on the door. Putting it in a corner, I came outside. ''Everything looks clear,'' I smiled and nodded. Taking out a ss bottle filled with bubbling green liquid, which definitely looked sinister, I sshed it outside. Covering my nose with a purple-colored cloth, I walked inside. I wanted to eat something good inside this hell, which was an unreal thing but I still wanted it. You will think like me if you live for weeks just on some grass and fruit. I wasn''tining but if I can change that fact without putting myself in danger, why shouldn''t I do it? I knew the smell of cooked food could attract some beasts so I had made this sinister-looking liquid. It was a mixture of many herbs, rotten fruits, and the blood of beasts. It smelled disgusting to me but to other beasts, it worked like a repellent. At least they wouldn''te to this ce for some time even if they smell something very appetizing. I got back and closed the gate like a hole. I had made a small venttion system at the back of the cave so it could be safe to cook at back. The possible awesome aroma would mostly stay inside for the time. I set up some wood and put a pot on it which I made with ant shells. I had to make it inrge quantities so that it could be used for a long time. I can safely save it, preserving it wasn''t a problem now that I had my personal natural fridge. I had improved the quality of the fridge that I first used when I came here with magic. Now, it could almost perfectly preserve the food for a month ording to my calctions. I will use half of it to store for a bit longer and half in cooking. Making a sundried jerky was easy so half of it would go into that. As for cooking, I will make some soup and fry some in the herb oil I already made some time ago. I had no prior experience with survival or something simr but I liked watching things like this in my previous life. Some of the games were also survival-themed and in books, these were some of my favorite genres. Pouring in some water, some special spices that I risked my life to get, and herbs, and then it was finally time for meat. I still hadn''t butchered the rabbit so I walked back. There was an open area in the back, that was specially left there for cutting the body. ''I still can''t believe how normal it feels.'' I sighed. I was calm and there was nothing weird about this situation to me. It was mainly a good thing at the end of the day. (Mana de) A de of mana manifested in my hand and I started cutting the body open. Even though I can''t feel it, the very familiar squishy feeling was still disgusting when thinking. Somewhere inside its half-meter tall body, my de touched something. It was weird when thinking about it but, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. And... my eyes widened in utter disbelief. Chapter 62 Skill Stone Moving my hand, I took out a rhombus-shaped red crystal from its body. Blood was dripping from its surface. Clearing the blood, I looked at this fabulous natural crystal. ''If I''m a reader of some novel, I would say this is a work of plot armor. But this... unbelievable.'' I was holding my first ever [Skill stone]. A rare (Red) ranked skill stone. "My 28 luck was this powerful? Am... I in fact a really lucky person?" I smiled greedily as I looked at the stone. I didn''t know what type of skill the stone held but I knew the skill in this stone was indeed a special skill. These ck ear rabbits didn''t have any other skill than [Quickstep] and [Hyper scence]. They were quiet, friendly, and lovely creatures. They only ate grass with a little bit of Mana and yed around with other rabbits. There wasn''t arge number of them in this area but they were quitemon and had arge poption overall. What could be the chances of finding a skill stone from my very first hunt from hundreds of thousands of rabbits? "Man... am I actually some story''s protagonist?" I thought as I yed with the shining red crystal. Maybe I actually was a protagonist of a story. Like, my story until now was the best and mostmon clich¨¦ in the fantasy genre. Well, that was a totally baseless andughable thought which oddly sounded possible. But, this wasn''t the time to think about it. I put the skill stone in my storage device and returned it to the rabbit. Foodes first, the skill could wait until nightfall. The night was now my practice time; I mostly rested during the day. I only had time until sunset to prepare the meat and store it. I quickly chopped the bunny, skinned it, and separated its inside and soft meat. The organs would make great oil and the soup would be good too. Putting the meat inside the pot, I slowly cooked them. On the slow heat, the soup slowly boiled and a unique aroma started filling the cave. ''Hmm... it''s been a long time. This aroma... it''s good.'' This was the first time I was cooking something like this. I had prepared for this for days and that wasn''t in vain. Now, the soup was getting ready and the other half was safely dehydrating. I was using sunlight reflected from the mirror made from ice. It was toughing up with arge system of reflection and then magnification but it was done. It was almost a sr dehydrator. I also had my special apple-like fruit from the great tree. In a hell-like forest, I was surprisingly eating well. ''Mom, dad, be healthy and eat well too. I''m also having a feast in this forest-like hell,'' I prayed and walked forward. As soon as I opened the lid of the pot, a mouth-watering aroma sted from it. The soup had a strong fragrance and more earthly and natural ingredients. It wasn''t my usual style as I had limited ingredients from my nearby surroundings. It was spicy, salty, and a bit sour. Picking up a big wooden spoon, I took out some of it in a metal bowl. I poked my spoon in a big chunk of meat. It sliced through it like butter. "Looks like I cooked it a bit too much," I mumbled as I tasted my heard-earned food, but... my mouth stopped after some bites. A crystal-like tear escaped my eye as a wide smile spread out on my face. It... tasted strangely like dad''s cooking. I knew I was still miles away from actually making something like dad but the soup had somewhat the same emotions as him. It wasn''t something negative but... the joy of being alive. Was I can somewhat better cook now that I had been through some life-threatening situations? On the ridiculous thought, I sighed with a smile. "Dad... please be safe," I prayed again. Slowly and delightfully, I finished my meal. Storing the prepared part wasn''t a big deal so everything was cleaned up before sunset. Clearing up the front area, I took out the fine red crystal. ''Now, shell I check what kind of skill I got as my first ever skill stone~?'' * In a clear area inside the cave, I looked at the red skill stone. The surface of the stone was smooth and the stone itself was translucent. Even after being a natural material, it looked like a fine piece of craftsmanship. I would need an apprising skill to know what skill it actually contained, but I didn''t have one. I can''t just learn any skill I get my hands on carelessly. There were many factors that yed a part in learning and using a skill. Though it wasn''t needed this time, I had to be careful in the future. I channeled some Mana into the crystal and crushed it. It broke easily and shattered into pieces. The red pieces from the crystal flowed inside my body and I started feeling weird. It was like every part of my body was being touched at the same time. Though it was a strange thing, it wasn''t ufortable. Itsted for a minute and vanished like it wasn''t even there. It was fast and I didn''t feel much strange about this. It was as natural as being on a mountain facing a strong breeze of wind~. ''Status window.'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 6 Strength: 29 Dexterity: 29 Stamina: 31 Magic Power: 35 Intelligence: 36 Luck: 28 Charm: 21 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Quickstep] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Beginner Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) ] ============ There was something new in my status window and... I was happy to see it. "Good! It looks like a skill simr to dad''s [Backstep]." I knew how that worked so I immediately tried it. I was impatient and excited to use this one. "Quickstep!" I was excited to use a different skill for the first time, but... -Swish! With a swift sound... I crashed into a wall. "Aow! Ouch~! What the hell~!? This was unexpected!" I cussed and rubbed the back of my head. I was upside-down right now and I had just banged my head on this wall. But, I was happy with a bright smile on my face. This skill is more fascinating than I thought! I stood up and tried the skill again. This skill didn''t just move me to a distanced ce, it could move me anywhere within the near area. Well, I had to try and experiment some more to find out more about this skill. ''Let''s do some experiment~!'' I cheerfully shouted and prepared to use it another time. Skills were preprogrammed, constructed, refined, and simplified spells. It cost a fixed amount of M.P. to activate it and in cases of physical skills, they cost much less than magic skills. This [Quickstep] was especially useful for me as I already had the skill to detect my death. [Dynamic Heart] was an all-rounder skill for survival in this hell. [Quickstep] used wind, light, and electricity Mana particles in a small quantity to execute the spell in a very small time. I instinctively knew this skill could not be used in quick sessions. The M.P. consumption was not that high for a higher mage but for me... it was a lot. M.P. was not only the Mana in the nucleus but the overall concentration, willpower, and Mana. If calcted, this physical skill consumed nearly 9 M.P. for only one use. If only a physical type, lowest rank skill cost this much, how much M.P. did dad use back when attacking the demon? It was a (Green) ranked skill and on top of that... it was a magical skill. The level of backsh he might have suffered was defiantly no joke. With a deep, sad sigh, I focused my attention on my back. The skill worked by itself. It wasn''t like the blink spell of (tier-4) where the user could just teleport to whenever they wanted within a certain range. It moved my body physically but it was fast enough to not get noticed by others. ''Quickstep'' With the triggering of my spell, I was thrown backward. I was prepared to crash this time too but I managed to stabilize myself. ''Almost 30 meters...'' I nodded with an exhausted smile. It was the estimated limit of this skill. And I was definitely happy about this. "Now I have a life-saving skill! It''s actually the best!" I sat down and ate a de of Mana grass to recover my M.P. a little faster. ''I should find the things for the purification of demotic core faster,'' I smiled at this thought. I will be able to achieve my deadline of six months only if I can use that core''s energy. And for that... I had to find arge number of things. As well as find some rare herbs in this hell-like treasure trove. Chapter 63 Preparation And Sorrow Demons used demonic energy, which is based on negative emotions like anger, greed, fear, wreath, etc. They form the core based on these emotions and use demonic magic with its power. Demonic magic is more fundamentally powerful than human magic as it focuses on destruction and chaos. Their cores contain this concentrated demonic energy. A demonic core, though corrupted, is an energy core at its base. As one type of energy can be converted into another, demonic energy can be converted into purified energy with different methods. It''s not Mana, Aura, or anything simr but the same demonic energy without corruption. As my Mana core stores Mana and my subconscious mind will store Aura, this demonic energy which is purified has to be used in a way it increases the density of one of them in surroundings. I could gather more Mana with it inside this cave and practice breakthrough to (tier-2). As for Aura... it was a different andplicated topic. There were many energies asplicated as Aura in this ''world'', and that could precisely be the reason every natural energy was counted as M.P. on screen. Aura and other energies such as [Arcane], [Spirit power], [Inner Force], [Ether], [Psychic], [Ki], [Internal Energy], and many other natural energies are counted as or shortly . I knew almost nothing about these special energies. All my knowledge was about Mana, Aura, and other mostmon energies. As for this purified demonic energy, it could be used to gather Mana. When I use this purified demon core with a special magic circle, it will integrate and create an area full of Mana inside this cave for some time. So all I had to do now was find everything needed for the purification of this core and create a small system of magic spells. It was so simple in theory that even a 6-year-old like me could understand it. But, there was a single problem in all this... "Golden flower of light, Blue rose of night, Forest Nectar, Water of light, Soil of fertile anthill, Poison of pink mushroom, andstly some simple sunlight. These were the ingredients to purify this demonic core and finding them was... difficult," I sighed and put the ck core down. The most difficult things here were a pink mushroom and Forest Nectar. Even for experienced adventurers, finding that mushroom was more difficult than anything. A rare mushroom that contains highly potent poison as well as arge amount of natural energy. Even in this forest, I haven''t seen any of them yet. Which meant I had to go outside of myfort zone and into hostile and new territory. As for forest nectar... it was in abundance on the higher parts of the great Baniya tree. It was produced by the trees themselves in an attempt to attract other insect-type energy beasts. Filled with concentrated Mana and the life force of older trees, it''s a great temporary Mana booster. If I was going to risk my life and climb a tree homed by many different types of creatures... why do it halfheartedly? There actually was a way to just fly over to that height but it was time-consuming. ''Well, I have all the time in the world as survival is at stake here.'' Now, I will do something weird. "Let''s create a hot air balloon..." A small smile appeared on my face as I deeply thought about it. This world had many things that could fly. They had airships that sized more than ships from my previous life. Tchnomagical advancement of this world was so good that the continent''s most famous, big, and best university was a floating ind. A hot-air balloon was an old concept here and people only remembered them through history books. It was weird of me to make something like that just for collecting some tree sap but it was a bit fun. Actually making something like that and float in the air... If not for the many horrible creatures that ruled the sky, I would just... fly in this hell-like forest. So! "Let''s just put everything aside and start making a safe, hot air balloon that could go at least up there~!" With a forced and cheerful fake smile, I walked to the cave''s back. Even if I acted normally, the danger in this was great enough to lose my life... *** "Alf~. What are we doing today~?" A beautiful, cheerful, sweet, and happy voice rang in arge library filled with books of different origins. Books of all types, colors, sizes, andnguages filled therge shelves of this library. The room was beautiful and there was arge ss window on the other side of the room. A pretty boy with forest green hair and gorgeous purple eyes that looked magical was sitting quietly on a table, reading a thick magic tome. ? It was a differentnguage than everyone knew and it looked like he was reading it quite easily. When he heard the mostmon and sweet as well as his favorite voices, he looked up. "Hay mom... we are doing nothing for today..." His answer was half-hearted and his focus was still on the book. The book contained many different geometric drawings of magic circles and spells. The young woman with light pink hair which was quite long, reaching to her back sat down and smiled at him. Gorgeous. That were the only words that could barely describe her phenomenally beautiful shining eyes. They were mesmerizing. Not only men but women might also love to just stare at her. There was something about her eyes but she was quite beautiful herself. On the level of Nolen and Augustine, some of the most famous women in the capital. "Is today a break day~?" she asked, looking a bit disappointed. "Yup." His answers were short but he enjoyed herpany so he just sat there and smiled. "You are working so hard~. You want to be like Eon, right?" she asked, looking down and ying with her fancy yellow dress. But her question lit up a zing fire in his eyes. Looking back at her, he shouted in excitement. "No! I will be better than him! Though I haven''t been awakened yet, I will soon awaken. I will be a better mage than him and challenge him! Though we have never met, he is my big brother and forever rivel! I will beat him and learn from him! I... just can''t wait to meet him." His excitement turned into a grim expression as he reached the end of his sentence. He looked up to Eon the most ever since he started hearing stories about him from his father and uncle. And just the stories were enough to light up a spark of inspiration and rivalry in him. His own goal was to be a mage, just like his dad and uncle. Though he had his different power just like his mom, it wasn''t of any use to him. His only aim was Axion and him alone. He had waited for a long time now but then... he heard the story from his dad. He... then started respecting him even more. It was a truly hero-like deed. He hoped that Eon woulde back soon so he and his big sis Ca could have their long-postponed matches. But... there was no way for them to do anything. A long time had passed and there was still nothing they had found about him. So... they might have to think of the worst that he was in ''that'' ce. "Don''t worry. We know he is ok and that''s enough," she said reassuringly. Everyone has been a little on edge and she was the only one that had remained this cheerful. It was her nature and trait which helped everyone around her. "Ok, mom..." Kissing his forehead, she looked to the side and cheerfully asked... "So~, who wants this ice cream?" His eyes lit up in surprise again, and he stood up. "Me!" he shouted. The eagerness of a child oozed from him. She just smiled sweetly as she understood his reaction. Even she was surprised when her brother Brian had made this thing for everyone thest time they went there. It was something Eon personally created and it was... phenomenal~. We just fell in love with it. There were literally all kinds of vors in this and Alfred''s favorite was strawberry. She personally liked a spicy one. A red chilly vor that was cold and spicy at the same time. Everyone had a favorite vor now and it was all thanks to Eon. He might not know this but, he was the heart of many people that he didn''t even know about. She smiled again, a concern present in those mesmerizing eyes. ''Eon... be safe...'' Chapter 64 Top Of Tree Under a clear blue sky, filled with pure white clouds, a great green jungle was standing unfathomably. In a small open area of this great forest, arge basket-like thing weaved with smooth and flexible branches of trees was attached to a big green cloth-like thing that seemed to be made out of leaves. These leaves were as big as a normal human height and each one of them was dark green as if they were still on the tree. A stand-like feature was set up on the basket and there was a strange container on it. The area was clear and there was only a boy standing in the middle of it. With long blond hair that was finely tied at his back, long eyshes, and clear red eyes that were more beautiful than ruby smiled brightly. "Looks like everything will work out properly," I smiled more brightly as I looked at my hot air balloon. The balloon looked good and the basket was the only thing that seemed just fine. It was difficult at the start but I got the hang of the basket as time passed. The branches and vines from the forest were not soft enough for a child like me to bend. It was difficult to turn those tough tree branches into soft ones and it was no joke. I had to spend two whole weeks just to finish the base of the basket. The balloon part was much easier as I knew about sewing from my previous life. From the fallen leaves of the great Banya tree, I finally managed to finish this balloon after a month. I also found most of the things required and even discovered the location of a pink mushroom. But... that thing will be more difficult than I thought. "Let''s finish the work on hand faster. It will be a problem if I encountered some unknown factor and have to spend the night outside,'' I thought and walked forward. I wasn''t ready to spend the nights outside of my cave yet. I was weak. I was so weak that I might not even be able to hide or run from the dangerous beasts. Shaking my head, I reached the balloon part. The principle behind this balloon was simple. Just from the name, you could tell it was based on the air temperature difference between the air inside the balloon and the air atmosphere. I had already run some tests to see if everything was alright and the results were good. There wasn''t any problem so I decided to give it my all this time. Lifting the balloon on the ground with (Lifting wind), I ced the end of it on the burner. It was a container made from ant armor and an owl-like bird I killed. It had solid feathers with low melting temperature so melting and molding them was somewhat easy. The fuel inside it was something I collected from a tree. It was something that burned just like gasoline so, after working on it and doing some hot experiments, I came up with this. I was still amazed by myself about how I was doing everything so normally. It was strange but... I was getting used to this feeling. Starting the fire on the burner, I filled the air in the balloon slowly. Maintaining a (tier-1) spell like this was hard but I wasn''t worried about it much. Hot air filled the balloon and it slowly started to go up. The forest was big and green, almost the same color as the balloon which was good for camouge. The balloon filled up and started going upwards. ''Let''s hope everything goes safely...'' and with that, I jumped inside the basket. Cutting the rope that bound the basket and ground, I flew up in the sky. The ride was slow and sturdy. As I reached a good enough height I changed the fire to low. There wererge trees under me and as far as I could see, only green remained in my vision. There were some Taller,rger, and greater trees scattered here and there and I knew many of them. Some of them were even believed to be (lost trees) and . But, my goal right now was the closest one before me. I had already calcted and created a map with distance and directions. Just ahead of me was arge tree with a broad upper part. The area it covered wasrge and the top of the tree was shining like a diamond. I knew it was the tip because trees and great trees like these gathered the Mana and life force over there during the years of their survival. It was a pure and crystallized form of this and it was used in the creation of the highest quality magic weapons. It was also called [Essence of tree]. The essence of this great Banya tree was... amazing. It was as big as the boar I saw the first day. It was also very clear when I checked it closely with my [Mystic Eyes], which meant its quality was superb. ''This forest is a treasure trove. If I was strong enough to go against a small ecosystem, I might have tried taking that. But... there is no way I could do that any time soon. So, let''s just be content with the nectar it has to offer.'' There were small golden drops of liquiding out of the tree and as I looked down, there were many weird insects around it. They looked like beetles but they were almost as big as this hot air balloon. I had to collect it from the upper part of the tree which was a good thing. It meant they can''t go higher than their ce and I would be safe as long as I collect it from the upper part of the tree. I nodded and surveyed the whole upper area for half-hour. ''Looks like everything is clear...'' Creating some wind, I pushed the balloon in the tree''s direction. I was already at almost top of the tree and there were no sky predators in the area for now. The balloon slowly reached the tree and stopped. I touched the tree and it was quite warm for being at such high ce. The temperature in the surroundings was much cooler than this. p Just above me, there was the shining essence of the tree. A dust-like powder was dancing inside the huge crystal. It was like stars dancing on a gry-white canvas. I was almost mesmerized by the magnificence of nature-. "No! Not now. Let''s finish the work first," I reminded myself while pping my right cheek. Taking out some ss bottles of the potions and some that I made, I started gathering the golden liquid. -Buzzzzzzzz. I could hear the angry voices of insects down there, it looked like they were angry I was stealing something from them. "Sorry but, I have to do this," I was not actually sorry for them but what was wrong in saying that. Slowly, I filled the bottles and stored some inside my storage device. Some were left with me as I can''t put everything inside. And than... I spotted a strange drop on the part of the essence. It was a strange fluid, thicker and stranger than the star powder inside the essence. I moved the balloon a bit up to take a closer look. The fluid was thicker and silver in color. Shining like the same stars inside the essence. ''What is this?'' I asked myself again as my eyes couldn''t part from it. It was my first time seeing something like this. There was nothing in the books that I read saying a silver fluid flowing out of the essence of the tree. ''Should I take this?'' I asked as I took out a ss bottle. This drop felt totally normal and I couldn''t even sense Mana or life-force from this. Was I so weak that I couldn''t even sense it? I was thinking deeply when... my heart started beating wildly. -Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! I heard a ferocious and enraged voice from above and my hands moved on their own. Now wasn''t the time to think about anything else. I quickly collected the silver, shining fluid in a ss vail and stored it inside my storage device. There wasn''t even a need to look above to tell some sky predator has spotted me. Without hesitation, I gathered arge number of wind particles and sted them behind me. The balloon shot back towards where we came from without any control. I lowered the mes and the balloon started going downwards. -Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! The enraged voice rang in the sky again as it came closer. ''No. I''m not going to be caught this time!'' shouting inside my head, I took out some ck balls from my storage device. Gathering some fire Mana particles, I burned the rope-like thinging out of them. When it lit up and started to go in, I turned around and threw them all behind my back. For a quick second, I nced at the figure of the creature. A huge crystal-like body and feathers in green color and yellow colored eyes. My mind was working faster so I didn''t have the time to think too deeply about this creature. Ignoring the fact that I was being chased by a (Blue) ranked [Jade Sky Eagle], I crashed the balloon on one of the trees at a lower height. -Skyyyyyyy. The bird stopped and looked down for a moment. I was inside the basket, tangled up in the wines of the tree. The bird first came down from the sky for a bit but... as if lost all interest, it flew back. I knew it would do something like this rather than go after some lowly ant who might have touched its belongings. This was my first encounter with a beast of such a high level and I could clearly feel the difference in level. It... was unfathomable. I knew from the moment my heart almost jumped out of my chest that the strangest thing until now has approached me. It was so strong that I couldn''t even feel the pressure or the presence of it at all. If not for my [Dynamic Heart] my life was done at this moment! But... ''Let''s not think about this. I''m alive and this is... enough.'' Tears were already falling from my eyes. I encountered a high-ranking beast and managed to survive. This... was my achievement. One encounter with a (Blue) ranked beast was already over and all that was left was... going into the nest of a (Green) ranked snake. Chapter 65 Mother Snake After my experience with a ferocious (Blue) ranked beast, I slowly climbed down the tree. Hanging by a tree was not something I wanted to do all day, and there was no need to take the hot-air balloon with me. Taking only the things I needed, like the [Forest Nectar], the fuel tanks, and the small ropes, I returned to my cave. Collecting this tree fap didn''t take too long, but I was so far away from my shelter that it took much longer to return. It was already time for sunset when I reached there. Putting the small ss bottles and containers with nectar in the corner, Iid down on the ground. "If the (Blue) ranked creature was so dangerous... what about the others?" I asked myself, staring at the ceiling. There were (Indigo) and (Purple) ranked beasts out there, far more powerful than these bunch. Unlike humans who are made of many natural substances, energy beasts are mostly made of different energies. They were masses of concentrated and sculpted energies and that was the reason they could leave the or when their [Soul Energy] reached rock bottom and they integrated into nature. This was the reason all energy beasts had arge amount of M.P. and were ranked based on the amount of M.P. rather than their overall stats. This world was far more intriguing than I thought. There was a strange thing about this world that intrigued me the most. In this world, [Revival] was possible through some different means. If the person''s soul hasn''t fully integrated into nature, we can revive it through divine or demonic means. Demonic method: turning the person into an undead being. These undead creatures varied greatly and every one of them had special qualities. Just like the zombies I fought back then, there were skeleton soldiers, ghosts, liches, undead knights, and much more. Through these methods, the demon collects useful pawns with higher intelligence. The other method is a sacred ritual of revival and it has to take ce within a small time after death. It requires arge amount of holy energy and numerous people to sustain the mental burden of the divine spell. Gods and Divine Beasts can do this alone if they want and have the necessary permission to do so. This reminded me once again that [Divine Beasts] were almost god-like beings in this world. So, in the end, these energy beasts were dangerous, and I didn''t want to go to one that I knew I can''t even get close to. "But... I have to get stronger. And for that, I will have to go in a snake''s nest," I told to myself and got up. While searching for different ingredients to purify the demonic core, I saw the [White Ruby Snake] that I saw on the first day I found my cave. It was an enormous creature, and it was one of the most beautiful beasts that I had seen until now. I followed it to its nest inside arge hole in an open area. It was a wide hole, or more like a crater, formed after arge impact. In the middle of it was his, or more likely her, nest. As soon as she reached her home, she wrapped herself around her three white and shining eggs. The eggs were silver and they shined just like her pure white body. The snake mother was happy as she spend her time with her eggs. I can''t control my tears when I saw them like that. It brought back many memories, opening a dam that I was trying to keep closed every single day. The mother only walked out to hunt and mostly stayed inside her nest. I knew I couldn''t just enter her nest and take the small, brightly shining pink mushroom when she wasn''t there. If, by any chance, she came back and found me inside her nest, only death awaited me. The only way to get that was through facing her. She was not interested in weaker beings and mostly stayed silent and asleep. If I just silently go and pick out the mushroom, she might just let me go. For someone like her, this mushroom wasn''t even worth looking at. It was just there, before her eyes, inside of the crater. There was just one problem. ''I''m afraid and terrified of going there. Going before a (Green) ranked mother. If anything goes wrong... I can''t even think of dying an easy, peaceful death.'' I knew how ferocious mothers can be and I really hated to even remember about mother right now. I knew it would break me and I will have to dy every n I crafted with so much difficulty. So! "Let''s just go there and check. I have everything prepared so there shouldn''t be any problem," I decided with some dried meat in my hand. Today was eventful, and tomorrow might turn out to be myst day... *** Slowly walking through the bushes and trees, I reached the nest of a beautiful snake mother. Just like always, she was sleeping with her babies. As snakes were cold-blooded creatures, they needed warmth as well asrge space. The crater was warm from the inside, enough to feel it on my cheeks from afar. I was hoping that she would just let me take the mushroom and leave but if, by any chance, she suddenly got upset... I had a n for that situation that at least secured my survival. I looked down from the edge of the creator and spotted the pink mushroom just some steps away. The small mushroom contained one of the most lethal poisons, and I had to take it and walk away. At that time, the mother snake opened her beautiful eyes and looked at me. Her ruby eyes were somewhat like mine, but hers had more detail and was a lighter color than mine. I took a step, not minding her confused gaze. I understood she was confused. What could a human child, which wasn''t even as strong as an ant would do before her? I walked and her eyes followed my every moment. I was calm, and I focused my mind on the mushroom. If some weak fool so much as even expressed hostility here, they would be dead on the spot. I knew these things and there was no way in hell I would fight such a beautiful, strong, and amazing creature. I just wanted this mushroom, and I would be gone. I reached for the mushroom and bent down on the grassy ground. "Psssss?" Just then, I heard a quiet hissing sound from ahead, almost as if asking a question. It was my first time with something like this, so I looked at her. Her sparkling eyes were looking deep into mine as if checking me. I didn''t know what to do, so I awkwardly raised my hand in a ''hello''. "Psssss?" She looked at me first and then at the mushroom on the ground as if asking if I wanted that. "Can I have this?" I asked, pointing at the mushroom. "Psss?" she understood what I just said and asked me something else. From her look, maybe she was asking what I wanted this for. I didn''t know if we were really talking, but I just believed she somehow understood me. "I need this to get stronger. I have to go back to my mom, you see," I answered as if telling another mother that I have lost. My feelings and emotions were pure and true, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to my parents. Maybe she understood that and somewhat smiled with her eyes. "Psss." With a short answer like ''take it'', she went back to her sleep. "Thank you..." I slowly said and put on some gloves and an armored glove. I had strangely gotten permission to take this rare thing for free and I was deeply grateful for this. I picked up the pink mushroom that almost melted my armored glove and put it inside a special box. I made it from a refined shell of ant armor and the owl-like bird. Because it was Mana conductive, I put some enchantments on it to make it sustain the deadly poison from the mushroom. I walked out of the nest and stood on the edge of the crater. Bowing my head, I said my thank you and goodbye. "Pssss." She replied something like ''take care.'' with her closed eyes. I smiled and walked away with some new thoughts on my mind. "Nature is more surprising and beautiful than I thought," I said under my breath and smiled again. Maybe this was the first time I had seen some kindness in this hell. And... I hoped with all my heart that this wasn''t thest time. Chapter 66 Purification Golden flower of light, found in the grassy open fields with the most sunlight and special soil. Blue rose of night, one of my mom''s favorite flowers that glow at night. Found in marsh fields. The water of light, (Water) that is infused with light Mana particles for a long time. The soil of a fertile anthill is one of the most fertilized soils which I risked my life to get. It was difficult, but I managed to gather some with wind magic. There was no way in hell I would go close to those hundreds of thousands of ants. Forest Nectar, gathered from the top of a great Banya tree. As all of these things ept the water of light that I made myself, were of the highest quality natural ingredients, they can''t be used as is. The Pink mushroom was very rare, so the poison from is diluted and used in low quantity and still, it was fatal at 60% concentration. What I was doing was an alchemical method instead of the direct method of using the holy energy. In normal cities and ces, the church would do the purification process of any demonic thing. Using holy energy was fast and efficient in this process. In alchemy, the concentration of all of these ingredients produces the same results as holy energy. The substance produced in this process acted as positive energy against the negative demonic energy. The concentrated sunlight necessary in the process acted as a catalyst in this process. This wasn''t something I should know as a 6-year-old, but... what could I do? I liked to read. I remembered everything, even if I didn''t understand everything at that moment. And when I remembered everything, understanding it bes easier with passing time. I had read from fairytales to avable academic books. I had read magic tomes and herbal medicine. I had read research papers and experiment records. I had read history and religion. I even read novels and love stories. In total, I have read 234 books in my total lifetime in this world. From one of those books, more precisely, Nathon stay''s [Demonic energy and Alchemy] book''s chapter 12-[Demonic core] page 20, I knew what I needed in the purification process. I needed ingredients, process, and timing but, that''s it. I just knew these things. I had no experience in conducting such sophisticated experiments. I had to process each ingredient to fit the experiment and do trial runs before the real thing. "Huuuu..." ''It might have been easier if dad was here,'' was the thought that unexpectedly crossed my mind. Just like how we did such things together back at home. But... now I was alone. I had to do everything by myself. And I had already decided to do anything and everything to go back to them. *** Inside my cave, I looked in front of me. In different containers of ss and metal, I ced different colored substances at some distance. I had processed the ingredients into usable ingredients, and the cave looked like a chemistryb. Powered flowers, processed poison, nectar, and water. The concentration of everything had to be perfect, and it took me my whole day and night. Thankfully, the trial-and-error method gave the results faster. I had believed my instincts and results were positive. As an experiment, I had tried using some drops of them on the core and the reaction also showed it was just right. I never ever in my life had imagined that I would do something like this. Handling that pink toxic mushroom was... hellish. It was more lethal than 100% concentrated strong acids. Just a single drop of that thing was enough to even kill a non-venomous (Orange) ranked beast. For poisonous beasts, it was a delicious meal. But that was only true for (yellow) and some small (Green) ranked beasts. For beings like mummy snake, it was nothing more than a small snack. I somehow managed it after great difficulty. The process was slow, and I used three pairs of metal gloves in this process. Leveling down everything''s concentration was difficult, but I somehow managed it and everything was ready. Now, just as morning rings the door of my humble cave, the real experiment will start. * In the open area before my cave, standing before a small pot-like thing that was set on a stand of wood, that contained something like water, I took a deep breath. Moving a big ice te that adjusted before three other smaller tes, I took a step back. The sunlight was necessary for this experiment so I had to do everything I can to maximize my chance of sess. cing the ck core inside the pot filled with water of light, I released my breath. Starting the fire, I poured a fine gold powder into the small pot. The color of the water changed to gold and then to yellow. The slightly visible core started reacting, and white mist starteding out of it. After three minutes, I added some blue powder into the pot and the color started changing again. It was a faint blue, and then it slowly turned into a light green. My heartbeat quickened a bit as I took another step back. Thankfully, I was wearing a special enchanted mask, so I was safe, but my skin under my protective clothes was itching. The white mist started turning darker. After five more minutes has passed, I added the faint pink poison that was dted from a drop of poison. And... as soon as I added it to the pot, a ck mist exploded from it. My heart was keeping its usual calm, but not as much as it had been during fights. ? It meant that it wasn''t that dangerous, and I was doing alright. Now, all I had to do was wait for at least three hours. I went inside and took off my mask. It was hot there, and the air around the pot was poisonous. Good thing that it was being dispersed into the surroundings and noting all the way here. I could finish the magic circle for the Mana gathering that I startedst month. This was a difficult magic circle that was taught from basic level. It wasn''t a (tier) magic circle, but a magic circle for construction and research. It was used in ancient times and even exined in history books. It contained more than a hundred lines, twenty circles, tens of curves, and an (eye). This (eye) was the center to ce the core. This core could be any beast''s core or a simr object with positive energy. It was difficult, enough for me to fail many times. Who knows how many times I tried it? I had to draw every line with Mana infused in my bow. I was using it because it was easier to refine the Mana and, while using my magic bow, I feltfortable. When I first started it, I couldn''t even hold my bow properly in a writing stance. But as time passed, I started getting the hang of it. Maintaining the constant flow and exact amount required to draw every single line was a difficult thing. In an enchantment, I had to only write words, whereas, in this process, I had to draw a huge geometric structure with the same frequency of mana needed for every simr line. After such a long time, I was almost there. This was perfect timing, as the core was almost ready too~. ''Ok...'' With a long breath, I took out my magic bow. cing the tip on the edge of a circle, I channeled my Mana. The entire structure started glowing, and I stretched the first line. Just like this, six more lines and... it will be ready. I thoroughly failed myst attempt on the veryst stroke, but not this time. I calmed myself to the fullest, everything around me going ck. I knew I was going to seed this time. A light red thread appeared around where I needed the next stroke. This thread was something rted to my subconscious, and I knew I was getting close to my goal when the red thread started changing colors. I continued on my path, and the time passed. After a long, two hours of constant use of refined Mana, it was done. With a bright light, the circle started glowing. A magic circle that normally only mid-level mages could master. My efforts had paid off and everything was almost ready. ''Let''s start the ultimate show down~!'' An excited smile appeared on my face when thinking about how I will soon reach (tier-2) after this thing. Chapter 67 Break With the concentrated sunlight on the small pot, ck fog intensified and I know the time hase. Putting on my mask, I walked towards the pot with a jar full of light yellow liquid. When I was a safe distance away, the pot vibrated, and then... -Booooooom! With an enormous boom, the ck smoke cleared up and vanished into the sky. After waiting for a moment, I walked forward towards the now calm pot. Checking the state of the core, I poured the liquid into the burning purple pot. The previously ck and burned core started regaining the shine it had when it was filled with demonic energy. The ck turned lighter and then slowly turned white. The white one exuded a powerful light and started changing colors. A faint purple-colored core then went darker and darker. It stopped on the majestic purple and then the process stopped. Turning off the heat, I made a hole in the pot and collected the final liquid that came out of this process. We can use it in some other experiments so I should store it. It mighte in handy in the future when I needed to do high-level enchantments on non-conductive materials. Taking out the core with a gloved hand, I looked at it thoroughly. It was my first time seeing an energy core, and it was a purified demonic core on top of everything. Its round surface was shining with purple light and small white particles like sand danced inside it. ''Let''s start,'' I nodded after admiring the core. I walked inside after clearing everything outside. My closed training would start after today and I had prepared everything for this. Closing and sealing the cave with whatever Mana I had, I walked back inside. Standing in the middle of the huge magic circle that I finished with much difficulty, I ced the core on the (eye). Taking a few steps back, I waited for the reaction to start. The magic circle started lighting up in purple, then it turned into white. Watching this unfold, my heart beat in excitement. The density of Mana inside the room started going up as I felt everything around me more clearly. I had already stockpiled food, so I was really ready for this. "Let''s breakthrough to (tier-2)!" I shouted in excitement and worry. The time I would be in this cave, the beasts outside might pass through the webs and probably... I can get cornered in this cave. I can only pray nothing like that happens while I am in here. After that, I can go more deep inside this great forest. *** "Havi? Let''s take a break now. You are working too hard. I know how you feel, I do. But... working like this is just foolish. What do you think Eon would say if he sees his grandfather like this?" A middle-aged yet beautifuldy with sea-blue hair and beautiful brown eyes walked into a room filled with piles of papers. The room was veryrge and beautiful, but the floor was filled with all kinds of bundles of paper. They were the reports from every search party, and individuals hired by Nolen and him. It has been a month since we lost Eon and he has been working like this every day, ming himself. Unlike Brian, who was devastated at the start and didn''t leave his room, he was working too hard to find him. He was doing his work properly on top of going through the reports filled with unnecessary details. Brian was able to recover after some days, but there was still a void left in him. He started training so that he could be stronger and help in finding Eon. But thankfully, he wasn''t overworking himself. Nolen was being stronger than ever right now and we knew that was only because Eon asked her to. As his grandmother, she was proud beyond joy, but... she didn''t have the luxury to overwork like these fools. Just like Nolen, she had to stay strong. Even though she had shed tears in the agony of this situation, she had to stay strong. Strong enough to at least support this fool before her. He was someone many people looked up to, and many people idealized him. Not only in this capital or empire but the entire continent. If someone like him does something like this, how would I feel? The dark circles under his eyes were dark, clearly visible, even though it was dark in the room. Under the dim light of therge ceilingntern, his blond hair and bright face were glowing. Still dignified and simple expression overwriting the tired blue eyes. Looking up at me, he smiled. "Griz, I''m fine~. I will be aright even if I don''t rest," he said in a confident voice. And... I knew it was true. He wasn''t someone some mere paperwork or sleep could hinder. He was above thosemon things. But that didn''t mean he could ignore me. "It won''t do~! You haven''t slept for a week now! I''m to even telling you to sleep. Let''s go for a walk~," I wasn''t angry, but I was still worried. Not only he but my whole family was in a simr situation. Everyone was worried and everyone had to be strong for as long as required. Nolen was there for Brian, El and Aug were supporting each other. Though Ca was doing more training than usual, she was fine. Theo was supporting Hazel and Alf. And... I have to do everything I can to support my beloved husband. Carefully walking through the piles of paper, I stood beside him. Extending my hand, I asked in a low voice. "Let''s go~," I smiled, and... he sighed. "I have won wars, destroyed enemies, obliterated demons but... winning against you, my dear, doesn''t look possible in this life~," he smiled warmly as usual and held my hand. "That is indeed right, my beloved~," smiling brightly, we started walking. We walked outside in the garden and spotted Theo with Haze and Alf sitting under an umbre in the garden. Haze was making something from flowers with her usual cheerful and beautiful smile. Theo was looking at both of them warmly while disturbing them with the wind. yful as always. Alf was reading a thick magic tome, as usual. He really wanted to be a Mage and as fast as Eon. But he had to wait a bit longer. Unlike Eon, he didn''t have any [Auxiliary] skill rted to Mana to help his Mana grow. But... he didn''t need that. He was already a genius with these magic spells and tomes. He understood them as Ca understood her sword. Eon, Ca, Alf, they were all... amazing. Each one was a genius in their field, different from normal children of their age. This definitely made their mothers worry. I could understand the worry and joy of their mothers and... I strangely enjoyed it. They were better than many parents, and that meant that we were sessful in teaching them properly as parents and as guardians. We will have another member in this big family very soon and the joy of this whole situation might have been much greater. But... we lost a part of our hearts. We lost a rope connecting every one of us. But we still had hope. We at least knew he wasn''t dead and... I hoped we were right. We were right that he was alive, well, and healthy. He had to be alright or else... there might be many things even I can''t imagine. Sitting down on the bench beside the fountain, I put my head on his shoulder. "He wille back. I know he will," I whispered, closing my eyes. Putting his head on my head, he grabbed my hand not saying anything. The sun was warm, and the shades of the surrounding nts were great. The cool air which was bathed in the cool water of the fountain was soothing. This spot was set to enjoy things like this particr feeling. Chapter 68 Break (2) "Theo~! Close your eyes please~," Haze asked, smiling brightly. That beautiful smile of hers had made me fall for her the first time we met on the cold streets of that small city. That was a funny encounter, but it was still enough to make me bound to her. She was my sun, moon, and twilight. She is timid but one of the happiest people I had seen. Her eyes are special, but that''s not the reason I like them. Their deepness, the joy of life, and warmth towards everyone around her made me fall for them. Looking into her shining purple eyes, I blinked and a smile painted my face. As we were sitting on the grass, I got closer to her and almost into her face. She looked at me in confusion, not knowing what I was doing. Leaning even closer, I kissed her neck and returned to my spot with a satisfied smile. Her calm, cheerful expression changed, and the blush that was as pink as her hair popped up on her beautiful face. "H-hay! Alf is here too! What d-do you think..." Her cracking, beautiful voice was my favorite thing about her. She was just... gorgeous~. "Ok, ok. He wasn''t looking so calm down~. See, I''m closing my eyes just as you asked~." "But-. Ok, don''t open them~." She wasn''t angry but just flustered from the sudden attack, so she calmed down pretty quickly. ''As cute as ever...'' Who would make a crown of flowers sitting by your side and tell you to close your eyes for that? We both know it was stupid but... still adorable. Feeling the light touch of flowers on my head, I smiled. We all are a child at heart after all. "Ok, open your eyes~," she chuckled while holding my hand. I got a strange feeling from herughter and opened my eyes. I saw her smiling, and she was trying to hold back herughter. "What is so funny-" before I could finish my question, we heard a burst ofughter from the other side. "Hehehehehe... dad?! What is that?" Alf wasughing while covering his mouth. It was surprising to see himughing like this. I wanted to see what was on top of my head, but... I just stared at him. He was quieter these past few days than his usual self. His self-dered rival was not with them right now. He was upset and barelyughed like this. Right now, seeing himugh like that was enough for me and for her, too. She didn''t know we would get such a joyous reaction from the small prank, but... it was worth it. He stopped when our gaze was strangely too much for him and turned away with an embarrassed look, just like her. I took out a small mirror from my storage device, which was in a form of a ring. "You did pretty good work on this one, my love~," I genuinely praised her with my heart. Her decoration skills were considered one of the best in the capital and when it came to decorating flowers... she was the best. At least to me... she was the best. I looked more closely at the crown and smiled. It was a crown made of fresh flowers that formed the shape of a lion''s head. It was a blue lion with ck eyes and pink teeth. It looked pretty cute to me, so why were theyughing? "What''s there tough at this?" I asked, genuinely confused by their reaction. "Oh, dear~. You see, for us to see that cute face under a ferocious lion¡­ is quite entertaining~," she blushed but chose to exin and smiled. ''Is it? Well, if something like this can make them happy, I would even wear a hippo on my head.'' Iughed and hugged her. One was a smart child who liked magic, the other was a childish mom who loved ying. Now, if only Eon was here... things might have been more fun than now. Big sister Nolen was doing good and brother Brian has also started returning to his normal self. I can understand his position very well as I would be the same as him if something simr happened to any of them. He was there and still couldn''t save Eon. What could be more devastating for a father like him? "Haaa..." A deep sigh suddenly escaped my mouth as I looked at her. She blinked and blinked again, and with her third blink, she caught up to my thoughts. A worried expression clouded her beautiful, smiling face. I didn''t want this reaction, so I grabbed her hand. "He will be back," I spoke in a confident tone. "Right...?" Alf said from the other side of the table. Though there was uncertainty in his voice, his eyes were confident. "Yes..." Haze answered instead of me, tightening the grip on my other hand. I simply nodded to affirm and smiled at him. I didn''t show it on the outside, but I was worried. Just surviving in that hell could change a person to a great degree. Even if he safely returns to us, some scars on his heart will remain the same. But... that can be healed with time. He will definitely be ok. I hoped and smiled again. *** An older-looking person in a butler''s uniform looked over the garden in front of the great house from above. His eyes contained sorrow, anger, and worry. He was Zhen, the butler that personally served as the head of the house and a [Origin skill] user. He was a professional assassin with a great experience. He has been serving this house even before the birth of their second child, Nolen. He was almost a grandfather to them, and he loved this family. He was a part of this big family and seeing everyone so down these past few days had made a great impact on him. He already hated those damn demons, probably as much as Brian. It devastated him when he heard the story of how things had gone wrong, but he was somewhat proud. He was proud of his young master. Eon had really protected them, but... it was still bad. He was now most probably in a forbidden zone. He knew what type of ces they were. He had experienced such a ce for a brief moment and he knew... they weren''t somewhere a 6-year-old should be. They were a ce no one should be if they weren''t confident in their skills. It would already be a miracle if he coulde back from there, but that forest, in particr, housed the greatest number of ferocious energy beasts. Not only beasts but also nts, rocks, weather, and nature were at their highest strength there. If he were in Eon''s position, he might be able to survive for a bit longer, but...ing out of it was a distinct challenge itself. You go deep, then deeper, and then you continue there. They did not know much about these forbidden zones, but he knew a bit more than nothing. If you aren''t strong enough, you can not do anything there. Even as a 6-year-old child who was surprisingly a (tier-1) mage, it was difficult. It would be a miracle if he could kill the weakest (Orange) ranked beast with his life on the line. A surprise attack from even a (Red) ranked beast was enough to kill a tender child like him. But if he could miraculously ovee those challenges, he will be on an extraordinary level than normal experts. Just survival in those ces could show the strength one had. To survive hell, one must need a powerful mind and resolve. And he knew... Eon had both of them. A mind strong enough to resist a demon''s [Hypnosis] and resolve strong enough to save his parents before his own life. If anyone could actually have a chance to survive here... it was him. "We will be waiting, young master... as long as it takes." He muttered and walked back to report to his master. Chapter 69 (Tier-2) In a dark cave with a small fire burning at the back, a young boy was sitting in a meditating posture. There weren''t many things in this cave except the pots and such everyday equipment. In the back, there was a bigplicated geometrical magic circle with a dull crystal ball in the part of the eye. There was a dull purple lighting out of the magic circle, which was almost dead. As time passed, the light was bing dull. There was a white hue surrounding the boy''s body. His breathing was fast, and sweat covered his whole body. His long golden-blond hair was drenched with sweat and his long eyshes were shaking a bit. Time passed and then... "Haaaaaa!" The boy shouted as a surge of sudden pain coursed through his entire body. Still sitting, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. A shock wave broke out of his body, almost shaking the cave. "Ha... ha..." The boy opened his shining red eyes that glowed in the dimly lit cave. His breathing was uneven, but his expression looked very calm. "Finally!" he shouted and jumped up in excitement. Clearing the blood around his mouth, he looked in front of him. "Status window!" ============ Name: Axion Kromet ? Age: 6 Strength: 41 Dexterity: 42 Magic Power: 60 Intelligence: 63 Luck: 36 Charm: 30 [Skills: Energy Cirction, Quickstep] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Beginner Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) ] ============ I smiled widely as a warm smile spread out on my face. My stats have grown up a lot in the past six months. Thanks to all the herbs and the higher Mana density, my Mana had also grown up quite a bit. I even continued my physical training here and, surprisingly, it was more efficient. My recovery speed for physical and mental fatigue has elerated too. The amount of Mana required to upgrade the was different from person to person. It was more for me than regr mages. If we say normal magicians reached (tier-2) when their M.P. reached around fifty, then it was a lot more for me. It might be because I am a (Hexa-elemental) mage with an affinity for all main elements. Well, thanks to all the herbs and Mana concentration magic circle, I was able toplete my breakthrough to (tier-2) just in time. Tomorrow, I can finally leave this ce and find another cave to continue my journey in this hell! It was a hard time, but I managed to pass it with the memories of my parents. Now I was strong enough to at least roam outside early at night. I can easily kill (red) ranked beast even in the situation of sudden attacks. With enough preparation, I might be able to defeat an (Orange) ranked beast. From all the weird noisesing from the outside, I knew the webs from the poisonous spider were cleared. Well, I have to leave tomorrow, so I should pack up all the important things. "And before that..." Sitting down, I ced my palm on the ground. A small crater was created on the ground and then water slowly filled it, creating a small pond. After a moment, the water began to freeze and the small puddle of water turned into a mirror. "Though I look good in long hair and I do like them, let''s keep them short for the time being," I said slowly as I looked at myself. Though I was a 6-year-old child, I looked more like a 7-year-old. My growth these past few months was great, and I was able to achieve excellent results with this. Cutting my shoulder-length hair with some (sharp wind), I looked at myself again. "Much better," I smiled as I looked at my short hair. I would have loved to keep long hair as it suited me well, but I had to survive. Moving through woods and trees at a higher speed was the primary way I was going to go from ce to ce. If long hair hindered my movements, it would be a big problem. Even in fights, it was necessary to focus on the enemy rather than my long and dancing gold-like blond hair. Afterpleting my small haircut, I gathered the hair from the ice mirror and wrapped them in a small leaf. They were my precious hair, can''t just throw them anywhere I want. Walking back, I took out a jerky and heated it a bit. Now that I was (tier-2) I can use the preservation magic so I won''t have to go to great lengths just to preserve food. I could focus on my [Origin Skill] now that I was a (tier-2) mage. But... that has to wait until I find a cave simr to this one. *** "Let''s go!" with a big bag made from rabbit skin and ant armor, I walked towards the exit. I wasn''t taking many things with me because there wasn''t much space. There were some new enchanted arrows which I made with the woods from nearby trees, some herbs, and small containers with some liquids. My storage device was already full of all sorts of important stuff. I even had to carry my magic bow outside with me on my back to make enough space. It was difficult, and I knew it will hinder my movements, but I had to get used to these feelings. Anything could happen in this forest and I didn''t want to encounter something I can''t handle. I have just reached (tier-2); I knew very few spells of this level. I had so much work to do right now that I didn''t even have any time to think about this useless stuff. Opening the ''gate'' of my cave, I crawled out of this cave house. It has been six months, almost seven, and there was nothing much changed in this part of the jungle. Everything except the spider webs was the same. The cave was finely hidden, so creatures below (Yellow) rank couldn''t find it with normal methods. There wasn''t much to prepare or observe, so I jumped on a tree and then in the opposite direction I always traveled. I was thinking of securing something on my way as I needed breakfast, lunch, and dinner in this forest. Maybe some rabbit or a bird or some nts... I would wee anything because I had almost emptied my food storage. It might be good for at least the next two days, but other than that, I was sure I did not have anything. Jumping through the trees, I surveyed the area with (Mystic Eyes) and prepared a spell at the same time. I could now focus on spell casting at the same time as using my skills. My focus and understanding of magic and skills have vastly increased these past months. (Speed Enhancement) and (Earth strength) of (tier-2). Though they took quite a lot of Mana, the concentration and willpower consumption in spell decreased greatly as my understanding of them was great. The branches were high and tough, so I was able to move swiftly. After two hours of running, I stopped some distance away from a small open area. ''Looks like I will have another rabbit...'' Chapter 70 Strong Rabbit A three-meter tall ''rabbit'' with brown fur, long front teeth, sharp ws, straight long ears, blood-red eyes, and... the pool of blood under its feet. His face was enormous, and his body was fat. The surrounding blood was from the [Forest wind python], an (Orange) ranked beast of strong wind properties. There was almost only the skeleton of that snake left. The dripping scarlet blood from its long front teeth was immense as if it was sucking out blood. Its brown fur was tattered, and the wounds around its own body were fatal. But... it didn''t look any weak at all. This one was a [Strong Earth Bunny], a terrifying, bloodthirsty, and strong (Yellow) ranked beast. An opponent that uses strong brute force and earth elemental skills to destroy its opponents. The python wasn''t an easy opponent, as we could consider it one of the top opponents in its ranks. This bunny wasn''t that weak and its strength might still be around (Orange) rank after that fierce battle. Just looking at the open area that was obliterated, I could feel the power difference between us. The long ws with sharp and long pointed nails, likerge thick needles. I could feel the anger and bloodthirst oozing out of it just from looking at it from afar. I wasn''t sure if I could win against it in its perfect state, but right now... things were different. This bunny was the best target for me to test my strength. I felt bad for it, which I knew was foolish as my survival was on the line, but... I still did. If we can just exclude its appearance, it was an ideal predator. A beast that fought and killed for the sole purpose of its hunt. This strength wasmendable and beautiful despite its horrible appearance. We consider rabbits cute and I also agree with that but, this rabbit in front of me wasn''t just ''cute'' but also ferocious. My hands were sweaty, but I was also excited. It was a strong opponent, and I knew things will not go as I would ne. So... The thinking wasn''t enough. To fight brute strength, I had to show it my strength, too. For such a terrific creature, it was the minimum I could do. But I wasn''t foolish enough to do a close-range fight with this fe. Not until he discovered me. I knew it had a long-range skill like [Earth spikes] and a defensive skill like [Rock wall], but there was still a chance. "Let''s do this..." Taking out my magic bow from my back, I channeled Mana into both of my hands. A single arrow of wind manifested on my magic bow. The wind waspressed and spinning, just like a whirlwind. It was refined and violent, ready to cut and throw anything into multiple pieces. This was a (tier-2) version of wind elemental arrow and I thought it should be called... (Windst). Looking at the bunny, I released the arrow. I knew it was a good spell, and it was much more powerful than its basic version. Its speed was faster, and it was soundless. It traveled like a silent bullet from a powerful sniper. A bullet that would be a grenade of wind and cut open the bunny''s wounds. At least, that was what the n was. As the arrow reached the rabbit, its ears jiggled, and it moved its body to the side at a fast speed, as if using a skill. Something like [Sidestep], a skill that moved the body horizontally. I didn''t know they could have this skill. An icy shiver ran down my spine. Not because the rabbit damaged my arrow that sted the python''s dead body, no. After avoiding it, it turned around and looked exactly in my direction, almost in my eyes. I could feel its angry eyes on me and... even felt that bloodlust. ''Now... things have taken a wrong turn.'' I jumped from the branch I was standing on because I knew what was going to happen in a few moments. My heart was now beating a bit faster, which meant definite danger. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew I can avoid that. A sharp earth spike shot up on the branch I was standing on and the branch, with another half of the tree, were obliterated. Now, this... this was a high attack power. This was a long-distance only skill called [Earth Spikes]. It could use in a hundred to five hundred meter area, was what I knew. But this one was almost eight hundred meters from itself. This was way more than what books depicted. And I knew what the reason for that was. ''Oh great forest, I knew you weren''t great in just name,'' I praised inside my mind, jumping faster on the next branch. This great forest wasn''t the only great thing. The beasts and everything within it was extraordinary. From beasts to herbs and even trees and fungus. Everything was abnormal and had its unique characteristics. Just like the big bees, those wolves from the first day, and that uniquely intelligent mother snake. There were special beasts that had unique characteristics. The herbs here were more effective than normal, and even normal trees were abnormal here. I had gotten used to these different things, but every time I came across beings like this rabbit or that boar from the first day, it feels... weird? Well, except for that damn boar, I didn''t hate anything else. There were dangerous things, but there were good and kind things too. And the one before me was definitely... furious. Well, who would like their meal time interrupted? Now, two hundred meters separated us and that was a good enough distance. Taking out two arrows that were made from great Banya tree''s wood, with green patterns on them, I spun around. I was still midair, trying to dodge the spikes, and it was a bit easy from being on the ground. Two arrows shot forward with a loud boom! As they got away, a blue string appeared between them and pulled them together. Joining as one, the arrows spun at a rapid speed as if a drill and pierced the earth spike before them. Bunny was still in the line of fire as the arrows pierced through its left leg. "Byyyyyyyy!" A pained scream roared in the area as leaves shook. The blood-red eyes started glowing from its failure to block such a straightforward attack. Now, almost a hundred meters were separating the two of us and the earth spicks stopped. "Sorry, sir. I like you but... I can''t stretch this fight much longer." With a sad sigh, I took out two more arrows, the same as the previous ones. Channeling Mana into both hands, I cast another (Windst). [Quickstep] Appearing right before the rabbit, I shot out two wooden arrows. The rabbit screamed, and it erected a wall of rocks from the ground. ''As expected...'' [Quickstep] Appearing right behind the rabbit, I shot the magic arrow right at its head. Without waiting, I backed off using the same skill. If this thing failed, I would have to go through a battle of attrition. But, fortunately, I was lucky. Before the rabbit could smack the arrow, it lost its footing from his injured leg. The arrow pierced its left eye and almost obliterated half of its face. "Byyyyyyy!" Blood rained down on the ground, and the pained scream of the bunny filled the small open area. Bathing in this sweet blood, I looked at the falling figure of the bunny. -Thud! With arge thud, the big brown bunny fell to the ground, lifeless. The already big blood pool under my feet grew even bigger with a mix of red and green. ''Well, even strong might fall against the wise.'' Chapter 71 Cave And Spiders Taking out a ss bottle with thick green liquid from my storage space, I opened the cap. It wasn''t a potion, but something simr I made with herbs. Pouring the liquid on my hand that was almost cut in half, I wrapped it with a clean cloth. The cut was from my wind spell and it might have been fatal if not for my gloves and protective gear. It was a deep cut and blood was gushing out like tap water from it. Wrapping the wound with a cloth and some other herbs, I checked my storage device. Taking out some less important things, like ant armor and a bunch of normal arrows, I threw them at another side... gently. Walking by the rabbit, I started cutting it. It was big enough for me to fit in, but I can''t take this whole dude with me. I wished I could but, well. Checking for a core or skill stone, I sighed in disappointment. ''Not every rabbit gives skills...'' Core wasn''t there either. Taking somerge chunks of meat, skin, and nails, I stored some in my storage device. Putting the remaining things in my bag, I ran away from that ce without even looking back. My heart had started beating like crazy and I knew what that meant. Jumping on tree branches, I reached a safe distance. My heart had calmed down a bit, so I turned around and activated my [Mystic eyes]. A colossal figure descended from the sky in a loud voice. -Vaaaaaa! A scream that sends shivers down my spine with cold sweat on my back. That thing was not something that I could even go close to. A enormous bird with jet ck feathers and glowing white eyes with a dark red pupil in its center. A [Dark vulture], a scavenger bird that cleaned every big corpse such as that rabbit. It was a (Yellow) ranked beast with darkness attribute skills. Not only does it clean up the dead, but it also clears up any creature around it. Like that snake and other birds and insects around it. Its fundamental skill, [Dark eating] devours calmness and the creatures just lose their will to live. Some of the rare fear-inducing skills with partial mind control. I didn''t know if I could resist it''s a skill like that demon baron, so I didn''t want to take any risks. Picking up my speed, I jumped away. It was smaller than the rabbit. But, it wasn''t the only one to enjoy this food. They traveled in groups, and I knew there would be many of them soon. Not only did they prey on the dead, but they even hunted in these groups. Their prime targets were strong opponents like brown rabbit but they avoided hunting stronger opponents like that fire bore or mother snake. I would be a nutritional, healthy meal for them, considering my Mana pool. And... I had no n of being torn and eaten by some scavenger birds. I had to find a good ce, possibly another cave, to spend my night. I jumped and ran and jumped and traveled from tree to tree and sometimes, open areas. There were many beasts that I spotted from afar all this time and one of the most noticeable among them was a [Topical parrot]. A (Red) ranked bird we believed to be almost extinct. There were some miraculous sightings of them in southern tropical inds, that''s why they were called that. Having a long tail and half meter tall figure, the bird had extremely beautiful feathers of red, blue, and ck. The color of the feather also indicated their elemental properties, so I can guess that the one I saw had fire, water, and darkness properties. Its beak was shining golden, and its eyes were a beautiful green. It... was a sight to behold. They were sensitive creatures and avoided any other presence other than their family. This one was alone, eating some fruits from a tree. I was lucky to spot it from almost 1.5 kilometers away because of the open area. There was also a group of terrifying monkey-like beasts that numbered more than 20. With white fur-covered bodies and ck tails, and white dots on fur, they yed among themselves. I could feel they were strong, with all thebined pressure oozing out of them. Because of them, I had to take a different route than the perfectly straight one. I strolled for some time, and it was almost evening. I thought that I wouldn''t have anywhere to stay for today but, thankfully I found a perfect ce. A bit deep cave of three (Red) ranked spiders. These were [Wind spiders]. Though it could have been an easy kill, I had to check for possible variables. This cave was deeper than the one where I previously lived. And, unlike the previous one, this was almost undetectable. Surrounded by trees, it was on a small rock cliff. In the neighboring area, there wasn''t much activity and there was even a tree with banana-like fruits on the other side. The entrance of the cave was small, only two meters tall. But, from what I could see inside the cave, the cave was much bigger on the inside. But it was still a suitable spot. A was surrounding the cave entrance, a green. I could see some wind moments in it when looking closely, and I understood it was from a skill. The spider fromst time always followed a fixed timing and hunting periods. These spiders, however, almost always stayed inside their house. I observed them for almost three hours and there weren''t many moments from them. ''It doesn''t look like there is something else in this cave, but I can''t be too sure. Let''s fight them outside.'' I knew this ce was safe because I trusted my heart. [Dynamic Heart] has almost always been right in this kind of situation, but for safety purposes, I checked it again. Landing down on a bush before the cave, I focused my Mana on my feet and thinly spread it. It was a bit difficult, but I got the hang of it after six minutes or so. (Earth Detection) A (tier-2) spell, which was one of the most basic detection spells. Through the small vibrations and moments on the earth, I can map out the area near me. For the time being, its range was still a hundred meters, and it was perfect for now. Though it was my first time using this spell, and I almost knew nothing about the actual spell... I knew the basics. From all the things I have read, I knew about the principles of many spells. Specific and nonspecific, many spells were just exined in some books for different reasons. I knew all the basics of ''magic'' and ''Mana'', so I was able to create spells with my imagination. Anyone with high willpower could do this, and I knew this one was easy for me. The Mana spread out from my legs and into the ground. I could feel the micro sensations of earth and a rough image of the caves inside appeared in my mind. It was unclear, but I can feel the spiders inside the cave. There were only three of them and nothing else. There was a big spider web inside the cave and there were many tiny insects stuck in it. The spiders were at the back, and they were wrapping something inside their webs. I tried to look closer at what it was, but suddenly, one one spider started screeching. I could see that screaming outline and there was also sounding outside, but the surprising thing was that, after screaming, it looked back. It looked back and outside the cave and almost in my direction. I flinched, and the spell broke. "They are special, too. Looks like I will have to fight head-on... from a distance, of course," I smiled and jumped back on the tree. I could hear the familiar sound of a spider crawlinging my way. It will be a good fight to test some different things out. Chapter 72 Tough Weird Fight -TART! -TART! -TART! The sound of the spider''s footsteps rang out of the quiet cave and I knew it would be a bit tough fight. ''They use wind element so...'' Taking out my bow from behind my back, I channeled the earth attribute Mana. (Earthnce) Three brown arrows materialized on the bow. The spiders came out of the cave as if the spider webs weren''t there at all. Looking around fanatically, they spotted me on the tree. I was also ready, so when they took their first steps, I released the arrows. It was fast, but they didn''t hesitate one bit. They sessfully evaded them by taking a step back. The arrows struck the earth and slowly melted into the ground. With no hesitation, they continued to walk forward but... Three spicks of rocky brown earth shot out from the ground, almost piercing them. But... they dodged them all, too. With a heavy wind surrounding their body, they barely managed to slide from their position. It was surprising, but I didn''t lose myposure. Taking out a thick arrow with brown glowing enchantments, I shot it before them. It wasn''t near them but in front of them, as if blocking their path of moving forward. -Skkkkkkkkkkk! They shouted at once and jumped off from the ground in a futile attempt. They were more intelligent than normal beasts as they fended off all possible earth-type attacks. A small smile appeared on my face at this behavior. (Rock throw) Six huge rocks shot upwards from where the arrow hadnded. Their yellow eyes widened in surprise as the rocks were about to hit them. Still airborne, a minor storm of wind appeared around them and they started spinning like a tornado. All three of them had activated their skill at the same time, so it was more destructive than the single one. ''Damn! That is the same as my arrows!'' Thisbination of skills reminded me of my wind enchantment arrows. The big rocks that were almost half of my height turned into pieces and scattered on the ground when they touched this sharp tornado. Now, the spiders were enraged. Still, in the tornado-like skill, they almost flew toward me. It was fast, too fast, that it didn''t suit a normal (Red) ranked beast. [Quickstep] Without hesitation, I activated my skill andnded as far away from them as possible. They were on par with a stronger (Orange) ranked beast. The fight was more difficult than I thought and I wasn''t fully recovered from the fight with the bunny. ''This can''t go for much longer. Let''s finish this...'' Taking out three arrows with purple tips, I fired them in different directions. The spiders didn''t bother with them and just continued to chase after me. And... they fell for that. With a spin, the arrows changed their direction in mid-air and targeted them. Two of them prated their skin, but thest one managed to somehow evade that. It was a close call for it but; it was safe. The two spiders that were struck by the poison fell lifeless on the ground after a moment of silence. The arrows that hit them were rare and also dangerous. It contained a lethal poison from the pink mushroom. I didn''t have many such arrows, as most of the poison from the small mushroom was used in core purification. It was a very dangerous poison to these non-venomous spiders. Taking out another such arrow, I backed off. Thest remaining spider was furious, and the killing intent was oozing out of its body. The green skin was turning red, and it was bing bigger. It was hard to believe, but... it was a [Berserk] skill. That wasn''t something beasts under (Orange) rank should have. At least not in normal circumstances. This was dangerous. I backed off another three steps and onto the tree. The green spider with yellow eyes turned into a red spider with green eyes. It looked more terrifying than the bunny I just faced. ''Damn...'' This was an unexpected situation. Before it could finish its transformation, I shot the arrow, hoping it might not be able to block it. The arrow flew towards it with a slight wind cutting sound and... hit it? The arrow hit the spider, and its eyes started turning white. In the middle of its half transformation, it fell to the ground, lifeless. This was... anti-climatic. The fight that might have stretched out till night had ended in a quick fall. Spiders were dead, and their house was now... mine. Thest one was still strange but, it wasn''t time to think about those things. After some rest and drinking a potion on the tree, I jumped down to the ground. The scattered blood, shattered ground, and the dead bodies lying on the ground looked disgusting as well as awful. Shaking my head, I walked toward the first two spiders that I killed. Checking their bodies and finding nothing, I walked towards the other one. Its half-transformed red body was bigger and there was something inside that cave that helped them grow like this. Cutting its body and again, finding nothing... I walked towards the cave. The webs were still there and looking closely, there was still the same wind around them. Taking out a simple arrow from my bag, I touched the web with the arrow. "Wow..." A surprised expression appeared on my face when the arrow was cut in half, even without touching the web. This was a good protective measure, but there was not enough space to pass through it for me. The spiders, strangely, just slipped through this as if this never existed but, I wasn''t like them. Taking a step back, I put my hand on the ground. I was still exhausted, but there was enough strength to cast a (tier-2) spell. Gathering and concentrating earth elemental Mana, I focused on the part where the webs were. They only covered the area on the entrance so I could wipe them out with a single spell as well as put up a different wall. (Earth wall) The same wall I made at my previous temporary house but, this one was different. Unlikest time, when I needed the crystal for the spell, I could do it by myself this time. The quality and refinement of the spell were greater inparison to thest one. The ground shook and an earthly brown light starteding out of the same spot where the web wall was. Taking a few steps back, I watched as the rock wallpletely crushed the wind wall and the spider webs. This was slow, and it took twenty seconds for the spell to finish. It reced the wind web wall with a rocky earth wall. I was exhausted, low on Mana, low on stamina, and also low on arrows. If there was unexpectedly something inside there, it would mean my death. But... "Oh heart, my [Dynamic heart]~. I''m betting my life on you, so please be right..." My heart wasn''t beating fast like usual when I was in danger, which meant this ce was safe. It might be wrong but... I can''t go anywhere else. It would be almost sunset and finding somewhere this good would be a miracle. Crawling inside the cave by the small gap I left, I looked inside it. The cave wasn''t that dark, as there was some glowing grass at the back. There was also a big spider web in the right corner of the cave. They decorated some balls of webs on the left side and it looked like there was something inside them. The cave was batter than my previous cave and there was also much more space for training. There wasn''t much in the cave but as I looked closely at it with my [Mystic eyes], I spotted some insects on the web at the right. Fly, mosquitos, some different unknown bugs, and... a butterfly. I looked at the butterfly and the butterfly with a strange pure white body looked at me as if it was alive. Chapter 73 Celestine This butterfly, which had peculiar crystal-like blue wings, was looking at me and I was looking at her. There was a strange attraction about her and something... different. I was admiring its beauty, just like I had done with all the beasts I hade across. The beautiful pure white mother snake with ruby eyes, the rabbit with a white body and ck ears I hunted, and the parrot that I saw thanks to my blessed luck were gorgeous. But... this was different from any of that. My heart, which had never pumped fast if not in danger, was beating faster and there was an unfamiliar warmth to it. It was a feeling like meeting a long-lost friend. It was a feeling you would get when meeting with family after a long time or... Maybe a feeling when you see someone you genuinely love? With my hand stretched forward to catch it from the long distance, I walked forward. It was strange, but I could feel the butterfly''s emotions. The butterfly was happy and grateful, as well as overjoyed. The butterfly pped her wings in excitement to atst meet someone, someone right, someone special, and... someone like me. I walked to the web and looked at it. The butterfly flew andnded on my left hand. I blinked in amazement. I was smiling without knowing the reason to be happy. Sitting on one knee, I looked down at the butterfly. Strange wings like elegantly crafted crystals, a pure white body with the same white eyes. We looked at each other and then, after some time that felt like a split second, the butterfly... spoke? [[ Will y-you ept me? ]] The voice rang in my mind and I clearly heard it but... I can''t believe what was happening right now. "Did... you just talk?" I asked, looking into the butterfly''s white eyes. It bowed its head, and the voice rang again. [[ Do you ept me as a part of you, oh strange being, that I bow to eternally serve? ]] From the way it talked to the way, every word felt to me... I was now sure. ''So... I found my life partner in this hell and before dad at top of all things?'' I sighed and smiled. This butterfly... was my love at first sight. My lifelong partner and my only family in this unknown hell. This was a unique, unknown, dangerous, and most unexpected ce to find ''the one'' of my life. It attracted me towards her, and... it was the same for this butterfly too. The strangest thing here was... it was a butterfly. I was a (Hexa-elemental) mage, an irregr person of this nature that had a natural affinity to all fundamental elements. I had dreamed of having a familiar for a long time now but, never in my life had I thought it would be a butterfly. ''No... wait. That... can it?'' With a confused look andplicated mind, I looked at it and asked in a somewhat certain voice. "Are you... a ?" I was somewhat sure about this, even though it seemed close to impossible. But... after seeing so many strange things in this forest, this one was strangely eptable. The voice rang in my head again, now filled with joy and pride. [[ Indeed. I knew you would know this, master. ]] I felt strangelyfortable even though it called me master. Hearing something like that from someone else would feel much more strange, but she was different. I looked at the butterfly, and a long sigh escaped my mouth. A natural beast that had no rank of its own. It was a beast that coexisted with the one that it made a pact with. This pact was more powerful than normal familiar pacts, as it was a pact of [Origin]. A being that had no stable origin of its own and without it, its lifespan was no more than seven months. They were born in this wide nature randomly at random ces, but... we rarely saw them in the outside world. Strong beings like a (purple) ranked energy beast, [Divine beasts] or those with strong [Origin] or the emperors and kings and leaders of countries were mostly the ones that had them as familiars. From what I read in books, the great Roxana empire had only six individuals with such familiar. If they failed to find a ''master'' in their brief life, there was only death waiting for them. This was the reason they were rare and had a very low total number. Them finding a ''master'' in this life was also a grave task because they were special. Every crystal butterfly had a unique skill, just like [Origin skills] these skills were also one of a kind. They were physically weak beings and even a simple cat could kill them easily. This was the reason they needed someone to provide the strength theycked. Looking at her, a warm smile surfaced on my face. It was strange but... I was happy. Not only because I got a peculiarly powerful friend,panion, and family member, but also because I was here. I don''t know how long it has been since its birth, but... I can feel it was long. Long enough that it had lost most of its strength. Its wings were still beautiful but, theycked the vitality that might have been there. I smiled and looked at it again. "I''m d I was here. So... what should I name my beautiful partner?" There were tears in my eyes, but I was smiling. It has been almost seven or so months since I entered this hellish jungle. I lived alone, in the dark, and suffered in silence. The agony of being by myself was hard at some points, but now... things will change. I will have someone. To talk, to share my feelings, and to be with. As a clear tear fell from my right eye, a white light came out of me. The light enveloped me and the butterfly, and it felt as if we were being connected with each other with some threads. I looked at it, and she looked at me. The color of those dull wings started returning to shining crystal, and it started glowing. Its body became more white, and it seemed like life was returning to a pale corpse. It reminded me of the starry sky where that beautiful blue moon shined with all its happiness. She was a gift to me, someone who had suffered in the sorrow and loneliness of the darks of this forest. So... its name should also be something like this, right? Touching my forehead to its glowing wings, I spoke. "Celestine. You are my gift, mypanion, and... one I will always be thankful to." The light intensified, brightening the entire cave. [[ No master. I''m the one who should thank you. I vow to be by your side for as long as my soul stays intact in great mother nature.]] I could feel the joy that came from the depths of her soul. It was also hard for her, spending the insignificant life given to her alone in a dangerous forest. She might not have survived if I was just a few weekste. Thankfully... we found each other. The surrounding light faded and Celes melted in my left palm. A small symbol simr to her appearance appeared on the back of my hand, above my thumb. It was smaller than my thumb, and I understood what it was. A unique mark that appeared when someone made a pact with a high-ranking energy beast. In the case of beings like Celes, they used energy from [Origin] itself. It was not possible for beings with lower mastery of their [Origin Skill] but when they achieved higher mastery, they can directly use the abundant energy of origin. This only happened after one had reached mastery of the [Origin skill]. There were conditions and restrictions but, it was different for everyone. But, the beings born directly from nature like Celes could use the energy of [Origin] however they liked. How they used that power depended on the master too, as the willpower and affinity to nature yed a big part in how much or how long it can be used. The they had could be something like¡­ making powerful explosions, creating barriers, restricting moments, or most special... healing. But... I was damn sure Celes had something totally different, as no simple energy beast could have an affinity with all six fundamental elements. "Celes?" With a small blue light, she came out from the mark and hovered in front of me. "Celes, it might be awkward to ask so suddenly but... what is your ?" Chapter 74 Cheat Skill And Family It was already sunset outside, and the chilly night would be here soon. The reason I was asking Celes about her skill out of the blue was just my curiosity. She was someone with a super special . Just the thought of it being something amazing was making my insides tickle. But, to my excited question, I felt a gloomy atmosphere around her. [[ Master... it''s not something that special¡­ ]] Her voice inside my head wasfortable, as if I had always known this sweet, cheerful voice of a girl of the same age. But this reaction of her didn''t go well with that voice at all. I extended my hand, and she set on my finger. "Don''t say that. Just tell me and I will decide if it''s useful or not." I was talking with her like we were close friends who knew each other for a long time. I could feel her special emotions, and I knew she was embarrassed right now. [[It''s called . I can change you into something but... it will use up your willpower and concentration to maintain it...]] Her exnation was vague, but from what I understood, it was something like a ''polymorph'' skill. "Isn''t that cool! You''re outstanding Celes!" It would be a godly skill in this hell-like ce. It was almost a cheat! Think about two beasts fighting and one being injured. If I can be a small animal and close in on them... I might take both of them by surprise! Or... if some dangerous beast appears out of nowhere, I can be a small beast or better a nt by the side. It was a skill with versatile uses! A somewhat confused atmosphere appeared around her after seeing my bright expression. [[ You think so, master? ]] "Yes! You are awesome!" [[ I''m d to hear that. ]] I smiled and trickled her. She was a butterfly, but she did not diverge from any normal creature, and her brightughter proved that. We talked about each other and told how we have lived in this dangerous forest and before that. She was sad, angry, and sorry for what happened to me before I was here. I strangely felt good when she was like that. ''Having someone like her was one of the best things in this hell and even in the outside world.'' I was happily chuckling, and she could feel that happiness. It had been a long time since I smiled andughed with my heart. I could feel it again... I wasn''t alone anymore. It was a great time, and we were happy. It was cute, seeing her fly around in the cave, but then my eyes stopped on the other side. There was something inside those webs, and it was something that helped in the growth of these beasts. "Celes, do you know what that is?" I asked her, thinking that she might know what that was. She was stuck in this cave for a week without any energy to spare. To other creatures, she might have looked the same as any dead tiny insect. It was very devastating to hear about her experience and I could feel her every emotion. It... was bad. No one should suffer as we both did. I pray to God that no one is that miserable. [[ Master, even I don''t know what that thing is. It''s red and shiny and looks like my wings but, I don''t know. ]] It disappointed her to not know the answer, but what she said was enough to give me an idea of what it was. "Don''t worry Celes. It''s good enough to know that much. I might know what that is but it''s not the good time to check that out," creasing her tiny white head, I set down. Something that increased a beast''s M.P. and helped them strengthen. There weren''t many things that could do that, but there were some things that could do it. Though they were some things that were very rarely found in dungeons and ces like this forest. I didn''t hesitate to consider the possibility that my guess was true. And, if I was right, it would be a good thing to not get too much close to it. "Ok... so for now, let''s take a nap. We will have to be awake at night, right Celes?" I asked her with a smile on my face, but she hesitated to say anything. I understood she was feeling very sad and angry about what happened to me back then, but it was in the past. Even if the scars remained the same, it won''t bother me much. It was only because of those things that I was able to meet her and get this much stronger in such a short time. Giving her a warm smile, I called her on my palm. [[ Don''t worry, master. We will get out of this ce and meet your family! ]] She was confident and excited but, something she said didn''t go well with all of that. "Celestine. It will be ''our'' family. You are also a part of this family. Though I haven''t met anyone, I know everyone will be happy to meet you. You aren''t just my familiar but also my friend, partner, and the only family I have in this ce." She was silent for a moment but shook a bit, as if embarrassed. I smiled and nodded, knowing that she understood what I was trying to say. [[ Thank you, master... ]] "Ok now, don''t cry about small things. Go get some rest. We will have a long night in this new house." pping her wings, she nodded and disappeared into the butterfly mark. Looking at the other side with my [Mystic Eyes], I sighed. ''Why do spiders wrap everything they are going to eat on a web? It''s not like a solid crystal will melt, right?'' Thinking about those things was useless, so I just prepared a bed above the ground with some webs, ropes, and leaves. It will be night in a few hours, and I will have to start my night training. Just sitting in this cave was meaningless, and those long nights were always creepy and boring. I was happy that there were glowing nts in this cave and it was much better to sleep here. * My eyes opened by themselves after almost four hours. It was good, and I slept peacefully after such a long time. Looking around, I spotted that big spider web and the blue glowing grass at the very back of the cave. Getting up and stretching for a bit, I took out some jerky and ''apple'' to fill my empty stomach. My Mana was almost half and I could do some magic practicing with those things. But, before that... "Celes, let''s try using ." Celes came out and danced in front of me. Circling me for a bit, she set down on my head. [[ Just think about what you want to change with your appearance. We need a clear image to perfectly change it. If it''s something small, like hair and eye color, it will be very easy, and maintaining it will also be easy. But if you change into a different being, it will be much more difficult to maintain that form. ]] Her exnation was simple, and I knew what I wanted to change first. Closing my eyes, I thought of ck hair and ck eyes that would match the night of this forest correctly. I had ck armor cloths, so it was easy if I had the same appearance as well. My gold-blond hair will stand out too much in the night and my eyes glowed in the night with low light. It was normal for a unique eye color like mine. If someone with sky blue or ocean blue or even yellow eyes walked in this glittering darkness, it would shine the same. But ck eyes cloak the light perfectly. After finishing the imagination, I focused on my connection with Celes. She might have felt it too, so... with a small blue light, my appearance started changing. Chapter 75 Disguise (Ice mirror) A mirror of ice appeared on the ground and I looked down at myself. My short golden-blond hair was now jet ck and my eyes were now obsidian ck. Looking at myself in the mirror, I nodded with a bright smile. This was perfect. "I don''t feel it''s taking any concentration or Mana at all," I said, looking at Celes, who was dancing before me. [[ The master is strong! ]] She cheerfully shouted and circled me. "I''m not. You might have seen many more strong beasts in this jungle than me. You know I''m nothingpared to them..." Not being discouraged by my own words, I smiled as I said that. It tickled my inside to hear that I was strong from her, but it was still true that I was nothingpared to mother snake, that eagle, or that son of a boar. But she shook her wings in denial. [[ No! Master is stronger than them, mentally! I know this is a simple use of the but not even they can stay in a changed form much longer if they use my skill! Master is amazing! ]] She danced again and set on my head. I looked into the mirror as I thought about how natural this new look felt. "Let''s try something different," I suggested, still looking at the mirror. Taking a few steps back, I tried to be the spider I just killed. I knew everything about it, so I just recalled its shape, structure, and features. After a soft blue light, I opened my eyes. ,m [[ Master... amazing~. ]] Looking at myself in the big mirror on the ground, I smirked in surprise. "Seles look, I''m a spider now~." She chuckled and sat down before me. I was now a spider. Eight legs, green body, yellow eyes. It was just like the spider''s body lying outside. I was a spider, but it was just on the outside. On the inside, I was the same person. The body moved as I moved with my mind. It was like I had a hologram around me. It was so real that I thought it always was me, a real spider. Experimenting with my new skill for a while, I tried to disguise all the beasts that I had seen until now. It was fun but there were still many things I can''t copy. I can''t be as big as that fire bore or mother snake or I can''t be as small as the white bunny. A medium-small nt was the lower limit and a brown bunny or fire spider was the upper limit. Staying in that form was also difficult for a long time. On average, I could stay in beast''s disguise for around 15 minutes for now. Bigger size was easier than smaller ones. It was fun ying with Celes. I was happy; I wasughing and... I missed my family. It felt lonely all of a sudden. Celes just came and sat down beside me. This night seemed much shorter than I had previously experienced with someone''spany. *** Crawling out of the new cave, I looked around. As I knew, something has cleared the area already. Not even stains of blood remained there. This cave would be more temporary than thest one, as there was no safety measure here. Though this area was at a corner and there weren''t many activities here, this area was not that safe. I was going to do some training with my [Origin skill] and try to improve the stage of my [Mystic Eyes] if passable. It was going to be easy and I could feel it. But for now... I walked up to the tree with banana-like fruit. It was bright orange on the outside and its size was the same as an apple from the great Baniya tree. Unlike normal bananas, which grew in a bunch, these bananas grew individually. It was somewhat like a mango in the shape of a banana. Taking out my bow from my storage device, I focused on some wind Mana particles. This was a gigantic tree, but not like the great Baniya tree. I was happy that there weren''t any bees for me to worry about on this tree. The arrow shot forth, and it cut the banana from the joint. Before it hit the ground, I slowed it with (Small wind). Dragging it inside with some difficulty, I sat down before a small table filled with different things. A sd of herbs and apple, some white rabbit jerky, a small stake of brown rabbit meat, and now the banana. Using the concentration and willpower to yst night made me so hungry that I had to have this feast. I knew the banana-like fruit was at least safe to eat from my heart and Celes, who had seen many beasts eating it. I peeled the orange skin, and a juicy orange thing appeared before my eyes. Taking a small spoon of it with anticipation and hope, I tasted it. The juices from it were like lemon and the fruit itself was like mashed potato. It was a strange thing. I knew this wouldn''t suit my taste from that small spoon alone. But... it would be better with different things. Cutting out a sizeable piece, I chopped them into small pieces. Squishing out all the juices in a pot, I put the mash in another bowl. The orange, thick juice was good as juice or seasoning. The mashed fruit had the perfect texture and taste to be called potato. Mixing the mash with some herbs, I set up a fire and pot. Putting some oil in it, I fried the small balls of dough. Now... it was round potato fries. Well, at least something simr. My feast was now ready. It was my first feast sinceing into this hell and this felt great. It was just... outstanding. The light sd of healthy herbs, spicy rabbit jerky, the juicy meat from brown rabbit, and the cooled juice-like liquid from the banana. The fried banana was adding more taste and if only there were tomatoes, this might have turned out to be a luxurious meal. After finishing and cleaning up, I focused my attention on the left corner. I had to check what this was or else it would be a big problem. Some things that helped in the growth of beasts weremon and safe, but some were a bit dangerous. In books, it said that people use these things to improve the strength of their familiar or tamed beasts. But some had very harmful side effects at higher intakes. Some could even turn them into mindless beasts that attacked anything in their paths. The leaking energy from these things could even be harmful to small beings like me. Walking closer, I cut open the webs around the three rock-like things. Chapter 76 New Surroundings A small red light started emitting as soon as the white webs were down. Looking closer, three blood-red crystals looked like rough crystal rocks from the outside. If one looked closely, something was bubbling inside these rocks. An eerie, red liquid, the same as blood, and¡­ it looked mesmerizing. This was most probably a . A natural crystal that formed in nature with dead bodies of powerful beasts with Mana of (Green) rank or above. These were big chunkspared to what they usually materialize as but from this forest''s point of view, it was understandable. It was something rare and... dangerous. Though other energy beasts could get stronger by eating this, it corrupted them. The was most suited for beings that could handle . Many beasts used this type of Mana as their primary source, and there were some spider spices among them, too. But... the spiders that I killed weren''t among them. They were Mana beasts that used pure Mana. This was poison to them in a long run and their end was... only death. This was a dangerous thing that emitted into surroundings if kept for a long time. I couldn''t feel it, but there might already be some in this cave. This... was a problem. I would get a dangerous if I stayed in this ce for much longer. But... What if I can survive in this Mana? Wouldn''t this be a cave same as my previous one after using the purified demon core? I didn''t know if I can survive after real but I might be able to stay here for longer than I think. I knew this process was slow and the not only had dead Mana but also the natural Mana. For spiders, it was poison in the color of honey but, I might sustain some of that poison. I had a good tolerance against normal poisons, and I had handled more dangerous poisons. It was dangerous, but I also had my skill that processed energy inside my body. I should be able to resist most of the just from having this auxiliary skill. So, they weren''t ultimately a problem for now. All I had to do for a while was get used to my (tier-2) spells and progress in increasing my [Origin Skill]. This area had many new things around it, so I also had some exploring to do. "Let''s go and look at the new surroundings," I said, looking at my left hand. [[ Master... we can talk through the origin linking us. You just have to focus on that and think about what you want to say. ]] Celes said in my mind. I already knew about that but... I didn''t know if I could use it properly. My mind was sometimes chaotic, but I had to be silent when we were outside and I had to learn how to do this. I still hadn''t told her about my past life and some other stuff and I knew she knew I was not ready to talk about those things. She was wise and sweet enough to not bring up that thing, and I liked her even more for that. I nodded and packed some small stuff, necessary for exploration. I knew I could at least walk around a few hours after sunset. I was stronger and... I had a partner. Crawling out of my cave, I jumped on a tree branch. *** The surrounding area was pretty good in terms of herbs, poison nts, and different beasts. From what we saw, there were many groups of beasts that seemed like families. There were some ck monkeys with yellow dots around their body which felt strongest among them. There was also a [Giant Honeybee] nest. I knew I stood no chance against that number of bees, but I wanted to try that honey. The bees weren''t ranked beasts, but their numbers still scared me. The strongest thing I saw today was that piggy. A green pig with grass and flower growing around its body with big sky blue eyes. It was a bigger beast than that fire boar, and this one was more joyful than that angry hunk. It roamed around while jumping as if it was happy, and today was a good day. This piggy was so different from that wild bore that I was even thinking of going to him and sitting on its back. But, I didn''t do such a thing. This happy-looking pig was a famous creature, worshipped as a forest guardian in western parts of the empire. [Forest spirit swine] A (Blue) ranked energy beast that could use spirit energy. is natural energy like Mana. The Elven race in summoning, swordy, and archery mainly used it with exceptional mastery. They were close to nature and used spirit energy from almost at birth. Spirits were beings simr to Celes, who were born from nature. But unlike her, they can freely live in this world for a very long time. These spirits have different elemental affinities and could use this power with extreme proficiency. The piggy before me was a special existence that could use the same power as elves and had skills that could summon elemental spirits. Though it was dangerous, it was a fabulous being. Other than it, I also found out that there was ake some distance away from this ce. Though theke was small,kes were always a treasure chest of nature. I wanted to go there for many reasons but I will have to wait for a while. There might be some dangerous beasts in the path or even around theke. So, after gathering some different nts to increase strength and Mana, I returned to my house. I thought about staying a bit more, but it was better to stay inside than there. There wasn''t much to worry about in this area during the day, but nights are always different and I was still not ready to face these nights. Seeing the piggy was a good thing about today, but there wouldn''t be anything to worry about for the time being in this ce. So, I decided to just stay inside and train my [Origin skill] for the time being. But... As I reached my cave, my heart started beating like it did every time something overwhelming was near. I didn''t understand what to do and there wasn''t much distance between me and the cave door. With a chaotic mind, I used [Quickstep] and backed off on a distant tree. There was no way something small could give such a powerful reaction. The door was also the same, so I didn''t think something would just dig up inside. There was only one exnation for this situation and it scared me to face something like that. And... I was unfortunately right. A pure white translucent humanoid creature walked through the solid wall. It was bigger than me, maybe around 2 meters in height. It was a creature with long four hands and two legs, no mouth, and a glowing blue pair of eyes. I knew what this thing was. A mass of pure energy, a creature with no physical body. A [Ghost]. It was a bona fide undead-type beast. A pure mass of energy that is unnatural, born from the dead energy and (Soul energy) of different creatures. They are powerful creatures that can use magical skills. And the one before me was definitely... (Yellow) rank. Chapter 77 Fighting A Ghost [Ghosts], which were only supernatural stories in my previous life, are real in this world, and the one before me is strong. Ghosts are undead creatures that live on dead Mana or simr dead energy from different beasts. They use mental skills and powerful illusions to distract the opponent and hunt them with unique skills. The ghost was holding one of the that were inside. I knew it would be like this when I first saw him. It won''t be a problem for me, even if it took all three of them. But, suppose it was toe back when I was in¡­ My life was at stake here. But... I was sure it wille back for the other two. It would be horrible to stay here and spend the night in the tree. And... it was more disadvantageous to be ambushed by some illusion skills. There was a small possibility that if I can attack it first, I might get the upper hand. I was nervous, but I somehow had some confidence. The raging heart had slowed down, so there might be a way to win against this thing. I was crafting a feasible n in my head, but then... The ghost turned its cold, emotionless blue eyes in my direction. I was still looking at it with [Mystic Eyes] and it seemed like it was looking deep within them. An icy shiver ran down my spine as I looked at it. The next second... the ghost vanished. Or, more clearly, I was into a different world. A in grass field with a clear blue sky. This was a scene that was quite simr to those old timesputer screen wallpapers. But there was a cool breeze in this ce. The warmth of this scene was almost real. But... itsted for a little. After a second or two, I was back to normal and the first thing I saw was a translucent white hand before my eyes. After a quick moment, my head turned to the other side and avoided the punch. ''[Quickstep]!'' I jumped on the ground before the cave and into the open area. "Ha... ha..." My breathing was heavy right now, and my heart was almost jumping out of my chest. It wasn''t because of the ghost''s strength but because of the sudden fast movement. It was almost instinctive, and this was the first time I had done something like this. The ghost was too fast, so it was easy to assume it has some skill like my quick steps. It was an rming moment as the ghost''s two right fists were covered in thick, gray mes. It was dead Mana, and if that thing had hit me... I was as good as dead. The slow Mana poisoning would be one thing, but the sudden pain that woulde after getting hit was life-threatening. "[Quickstep]." Widening the distance between us, I took out my bow from my storage device. The ghost was still some distance away as it was looking at me with intrigue-filled eyes. Though it didn''t have any mouth, its eyes were making a crescent smile. That looked creepy as hell! But this wasn''t the time to dwell on such things. Stretching the bowstring, I channeled light element particles. This was an undead creature and the light element was the most damaging to it. As the three arrows of light materialized on the bow, the ghost''s smiling eyes turned grim. It wasn''t serious, but actual fear. It was that effective against these creatures. After a moment of staring at me, it quickly disappeared and reappeared just before me. I knew something like this might happen, so I was already prepared for this one. Releasing the light arrows, I used my skill just when it was perfect before me. With [Quickstep], I threw myself a bit more away from it. The arrows of light didn''t hit it, but one managed to slightly grace its lower left hand. "Ghhhhhhhhhh!" It screamed like it was the most painful thing it had felt in its life. A ck-gray smoke started flowing out from that slight cut. Its blue eyes turned bloodshot as it looked at me again. But I was already done preparing the next set of arrows. The angry eyes took a sharp turn into fear-filled eyes. It was an impressive sight to look at a ghost shaking in fear. But this wasn''t the time to make fun of the enemy. Releasing two arrows at both sides of it, I fired the third arrow with its head at the center. It was an (Arrow spin) but the ghost managed to back off instantaneously. It was a good move, but also a grave mistake. It had widened the gap between us and I was now more free as a long-range fighter. Stretching out my bowstring, I gathered various light particles. This was my first time, but the situation was just right to test the (tier-2) spell of light element. A normal arrow of light like before materialized on my bow. But, it was more heavy and dense than before. The ghost was furious, and its eyes were now red. A crimson red which resembled blood perfectly. When my eyes met them, they sent me to another ce. A graveyard, filled with graves and a red full moon painting the sky. Skeletonsing out of some graves. Sounds of screams and an owl on the tree. This was the real ''normal ce'' for a horror movie to me. But this didn''t evenst for two seconds this time. I knew the ghost would try to run away if this fight was looking impossible to win. That was the reason the arrow that was materialized on the bow looked small like that. Even if it felt dangerous, it will attack me, for instance, after using its illusion skill. The ghosts relied on those skills too much, so even though they were strong, they might end up dead in front of someone like me. As soon as I came back, I used [Quickstep] and backed off just enough to dodge the attacking from the left side. And, as I predicted, the ghost appeared on that spot, all four hands burning with dead Mana mes. A grin spread out on my face, and I released the arrow. The ghost had a shocked look when there was nothing after its four-hand punch. Looking at its side, it spotted the arrow of light that was growing bigger and bigger as it closed in on it. A grim expression clouded its face and even before it could activate its skill and move away, the arrow had turned into a spear. The spear pierced the ghost''s thin abdomen, and a st of gray clouds clouded the area. It was a terrible explosion of dead Mana, and I wholeheartedly wanted to avoid getting stuck in it. With quick movements, I crawled inside the cave and sealed it with all the Mana left in me. [[ Master! Are you ok?! ]] Celes came out and spoke as soon as I set down at the cave door. There was a bright smile on my face right now. Though I was out of breath, I managed to let out some words. "Celes... ha... that was... hm... amazing!" It drenched me in sweat, and my hair was a mess now. This was my first fast-paced fight with a powerful opponent without thorough nning. It was different from all the fights that I have had from the time I fell into this hell. It was an almost impossible opponent, but I managed to defeat it. I managed to kill an undead ghost! Most importantly, I survived after defeating the enemy. It was the most mentally exhausting battle I had and my head was still spinning from using that much concentration in the (Spear of light). [[ The Master was amazing! ]] She was happy too. I knew how she felt and I also knew she was feeling what I was feeling throughout the fight. And... I could feel her helplessness. "Celes, don''t let it discourage you. You are the most helpful being in this hell for me. Though there wasn''t any use of your skill in this fight, there will be more ces and battles where your skill will save me and probably many other lives. Cheer up~!" I tickled her small body, and sheughed. It looked like she understood what I wanted to say. She was one of the most intelligent beings I have met in this jungle. Chapter 78 Unlucky Duck After spending the night recovering from the fight, I came out as soon as sunlight passed through the narrow cracks of the door. The ground was a bit dark, unlike previous times when everything was cleaned up after a fight. I knew this was going to be like this because the ghost was just a pack of energy that didn''t have any actual mass. Looking at the spot where the ghost ''died'', I spotted something shining in the early sunlight. A small smirk spread out on my face as many great thoughts passed through my mind. As the ghosts were just pure masses of energy, the chances of getting a core were the highest of them. I had some hope that it would be here, and I was lucky this time. Walking closer to a somewhat ck area, I picked up the small round orb. It was smaller than the demon''s core, but the energy inside them was the same. It was a core from the ghost, almost at the strength of a (Yellow) ranked beast. This core was small enough to stay in my feast. Looking closely at the silver orb, which was like the ancient ying marbles from my previous world, an intrigued look popped up on my face. It had silver glitter dancing inside it. It was something very important and there was no actual need for it at the moment. With a bright smile, I stored it inside my storage device. The cave was already good enough with blood crystals and the Mana gathering circle fromst time wouldn''t be appropriate here. Mana and dead Mana were two different types, and the high density of both things could be dangerous. I didn''t know what would happen, but... let''s not take the risk. And there was no way I could reach (tier-3) in a short time or with ''normal'' herbs. This core might be the only one I find in this forest. I was going to start the training today, so I needed to stock up on some things. ''Hmmm¡­'' Well, I thought about hunting something, but it wouldn''t be a rabbit. I had to find something different, like a chicken or duck or something like that. With that in mind, I prepared things and set out for today''s small quest. Jumping on the trees, I came across those strange ck-white monkeys that I saw in the past. That area was almost like their vige, and every tree had a unique family. On a gigantic tree at the center lived an older monkey with some golden hair. This one looked the strongest and maybe wisest in their group. This monkey with golden hair might be someone like a chief or elder in the vige. I could feel the darkness that was attributed to the elder, even from such a distance. It was strong, maybe as strong as the mother snake. As I was looking at them with my [Mystic Eyes], the elder who was sleeping on a tree branch opened its eyes and almost exactly nced in my direction. It wasn''t a hostile gaze, but a gaze filled with curiosity. I didn''t know if it saw me or something, but it just returned to its sleeping position. I didn''t feel his gaze on me, but somehow my back had a strange sensation. It was like someone was looking at me from the back, but I knew there wasn''t anyone. Which only meant that the elder monkey saw me. "This forest sure is something..." Shaking off the strange feeling, I walked away from there. I was going somewhere a little less dangerous and the possibility of finding something would be high. It took time but... I found a surprisingly good thing. It was something between a duck and a grasshopper. With the body and back of a duck and four legs and wings of a grasshopper or simr insect. It was a strange being and, more strangely, both duck and grasshoppers were excellent sources of high protein in my previous world. Though the thing in front of me was a water and wind elemental beast called [Hopper duck], an (Orange) ranked simple beast, I had to be careful. Thebination of water and wind was dangerous, and I knew it because I had already killed a rabbit with one arrow ofpressed water. It wouldn''t be strange if this duck could do something like that, too. On top of that, it was also a physical attack type. I knew the extent of my current strength and I knew it would be slightly above the duck''s overall skills. If it slid, it would be a tough fight for me. But I was smarter, and most importantly... I had a cheat. "Let''s go Celes~." On my call, my beautiful butterfly partner came out from her sleeping mark and excitedly started shouting. [[ Master! Are we going to hunt that insect?! ]] I knew what she meant, but still, a small chuckle escaped my mouth. It was indeed an insect, but it was also a bird, andbined, they were almost as tall as me. This was not some weak bird or helpless insect that can be crushed. But... it was unlucky today. Changing my form into a simr duck with bright green feathers, I closed in on the duck. Our was indeed perfect and there was almost no chance to differentiate between real and fake. The skill copied the elemental affinity of the beast too, making it close to impossible to detect the difference. We didn''t know the limits of this skill just yet, so testing it at every chance was necessary. The bright green was for female ducks of the same species. It was self-exnatory what would happen if a beautiful female shows up before a wild male. And, as I thought, the reaction was very quick. The wondering duck focused all the attention on the ''me'' as its wings opened up. I didn''t know if it was trying to impress me or something, but I just ignored it and started gathering fire Mana particles. The duck didn''t notice this and danced with its insect feathers wide open. It was a wonderful dance and showed the dominance and sincerity of the beast, but some appeals can lead to your demise. And this poor male was already at death''s doors. Opening ''my'' mouth, I finished my spell. (Fire st) Arge ball of fire shot towards it at rapid speed. The duck was just taking its next step to make a turn when it spotted the fireing at him. The small brown eyes of the duck widened in surprise, and it tried using his skill. But unfortunately for him, it was toote. The fire had been blown, and he was now burned to the crisps. Fortunately, only its feathers burned, leaving its smooth bird body intact. It was natural to go after females, but doing it without any thoughts or preparation could ruin the chances. This bird might have survived if it just thought the situation through. From its expected behavior, it was clear how much one could be deprived of love. But its dead body will serve its purpose greatly. Picking up my food, I walked back to my house without any problems. From what I saw, it was clear that beasts avoided the area around the monkey colony and it was for the best. I could safely take this path when going towards theke. For now, I was all set. It was predictable that I wouldn''t get any skill stone or core, but I still hoped for one. But well, it looked like you can only get something like that with luck or high chances. Getting such good meat was the best harvest of today. It would be good to make different things without worrying about them getting worse. I can use the (Preservation) spell on it and other things to keep them in the best condition. Now, it would be great if I could achieve something from my training before moving on from this ce. Chapter 79 What Is Sun? What is the first thing thates to mind when you hear the word ''sun''? In most basic cases, you look up, right? We look up at a nearly perfect ball of sma which mostly looks bright yellow, orange, or red. We all know it is the most important source of energy for the life inside this nature. Though it''s just a mass of gases and, in my previous world''s cases, it was made of mostly hydrogen and helium. The nuclear fusion reaction at its core was the reason it produces energies in the form of different radiations. The formation of the sun had happened a long time ago with a gravitational copse of an enormous dust cloud. But... We believe the sun in this world to be part of nature and this ''nature'' may probably be the entire observable universe. Humans know little about anything outside this, and there is no need to even know. There is no way of space travel in this world. They mostly left the idea of outer space itself out of normal academics. It''s truly like medieval times in this aspect. Despite that, the ideas and exnations regarding nature are way different in this world. In this ''nature'', the world holds the supreme authority, and it has a will of its own. This fantasy concept might sound familiar, and it is the same. A world that can think like a higher existence or quantumputers. It''s more different from the concept of any AI and... it is not important right now. Trees, nts, mountains, rivers,kes, rain, storms, volcanos, the sun, moon, and stars, or even the observable constetions, are all part of this nature. A [Origin Skill] might be something like a link connecting these natural elements and a person. As the power of this link grows, the power one can use from this source might get bigger. These natural elements hold a significant amount of power in this ''nature'' or ''world'', just like gods who have broken some bounds of this world or have be part of this nature itself. They might also hold a ''will'' just like this world, but not as great as the world. The [Origin] might be a starting point in this ''nature'' and it might be true that everyone has an origin, but ones with a [Origin Skill] are the only ones that can use the power of these origins. If that''s true, then we can exin spells like (Reincarnation) in simpler terms. It would be like recreating the body from its [Origin point] and inserting back the [Soul] that is still intact inside nature in the body. So, this soul might just be like the ghost after death from games where the other team member has to cast (revive) to put it back inside the body. As I thought more deeply about it, this world was more and more game-like. There were no levels, but there were stats. There were no specific ranks for other jobs like mage, knight, or priest, but there were specific ranks of [Origin Skill]. It showed how special these unique skills were in this world. Raising the mastery or the Rank of these skills was much harsher than I originally thought. For the past few months, I have practiced, thought, and experimented. It was a productive time as I got to know many things about the skill and the world. I was now close to making a breakthrough with my original skill. I had thought about everything I could about the natural entity called ''sun''. I didn''t actually know what I had to do to practice this [Origin Skill] because there wasn''t much information on them in the books I read. All I was doing was meditating and trying to understand my skills. I thought it was just a futile effort, but as time passed and I yed with my eyes and heart skills, I actually grew stronger. Today was the day, and I was excited about how much I will grow after this breakthrough. Crossing my legs, I closed my eyes and focused all my attention on myself. I could now imagine or maybe feel the [Origin] and see inside myself if I reached the state of extreme concentration. My consciousness passed through a humongous dark sky and stopped at an open space. This sensation was almost like floating in space. My imaginary body was now floating in the wide-open space. It was before the very sun that I saw every day in the sky. It was big and warm. It wasn''t as hot to me as I imagined. The warmth was the same as my heart, and it was constantly moving. The sun looked after every life form on this. I could see far away, just like this Sun. It wasn''t like I can also look through some trees or walls but I can at least see more than any normal person. The calmness and dynamics of my heart weren''t as perfect as the sun before me, but it was still good. There was a lot of space in between the sun and me, enough to fill anything in there. Many types of energies fused and increased or decreased in strength inside its core. Using those melting metals as materials inside its core, it converts them into many natural energies. Though it was a celestial body and not part of the ''world'', it was the reason the world was there. As someone from this world might think the sun was only part of ''nature'' because of its substantial presence, it was a more integrated element of nature than that. ,m As my understanding of this ''sun'' increased with my questions and answers, I felt something inside me widen. A small link like a river that connected an ocean and a smallke was getting bigger. The level of water flowing through the river was also increasing. The space between myself and that great celestial body before me was crumbling, and I was going back. I had gained something and broken a wall hindering the continuous path of the river. This was a distinct feeling fromst time when I gained [Dynamic Heart]. Right now, I could feel I had gained ake. The vast feeling of having something so big feels unfathomable. It was strange, but it was also the same feeling I got when I saw the great distance between the sun and myself. It wasn''t like something inside me was changing, but I was gaining a totally new something. A pure white and blinding light enveloped the quiet cave. This light was bright, so bright it almost blinded anyone seeing it. Sitting crossed-legged inside the cave, drenched in sweat, I threw up a mouthful of blood. My hair was long again, longer than thest time I had cut them. I was now taller, and my eyshes were also longer. With calm breathing, I opened my eyes. My red, ruby-like eyes were glowing with the glowing lights from nts inside the cave. My unblemished skin is also brighter than before. It has been almost seven months inside this cave for me. This time was longer than I thought and my progress with [Origin skill] was a lot slower than I expected. I knew I was close to something, but reaching there without any help was harder than I thought. I didn''t go outside that much. I had the duck, and I also hunted a ck ear rabbit-like my first time. All this time, all the things I came up with and the ideas that crossed my mind intrigued me. This world was something very different from normal games and something deeper than just simple novels. Understanding this world wasn''t actually my goal, but understanding an important part of this ''nature'' was. Sun was a lot of distinct entity herepared to my previous world''s scientific models. I didn''t know if the answers I gave myself were right or if the questions themselves were right, but I had definitely reached a destination in the end. Unlikest time when I broke through (tier-2), I wasn''t alone this time. I had a friend andpanion. But, there wasn''t anything she could help in this as even she didn''t know much about the [Origin] aside from her instinctive response to it. But that also somewhat helped me. And now... I had results before me. Clearing the blood and washing with some (water), I called out ''screen'' with expectation-filled eyes. Chapter 80 White Crack "Status Window." ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 7 Strength: 51 Dexterity: 54 Stamina: 57 Magic Power: 72 Intelligence: 75 Luck: 42 Charm: 39 [Skills: Energy Cirction, Quickstep] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Intermediate Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) ============ It tickled my insides seeing those high numbers, but the thing that caught my eyes was the new branch skill of my [Origin Skill]. A master of origin skill was someone that has just started learning the true meaning of their origin skills. Such individuals are elites and genius of families with greater resources. But even they would need at least twelve to fifteen years to reach this level. After this, the upper-intermediate, and after that,es a great dividing line of mastery. Reaching there would be a significant achievement equal to reaching (Rank-5) as a knight. As for the level of [Origin Skill], we couldpare its overall power to (Rank-3) but it would be stillcking depending on the skill''s type. My current overall power was the same as (Rank-3) knights but I was nowhere near them in terms of pure power as they can use [Aura]. I was happy that I reached the intermediate level, but I was also sad. I thought I could upgrade my [Mystic Eyes] to (Stage-2) with this much, but... I was wrong. Upgrading (Stage) was more difficult than just knowing some things about the [Origin]. It disappointed me for a moment, but then I shook my head. It was better to have something than nothing. "Celes, I''m ok. Don''t worry~." She was out for quite a long time, looking after the cave while I was in my deep training. From all this time we spent together, we were now so close that we just knew other''s emotions. I understood she was sad, that I was sad, but it was just who she was. When I got back to my normal mood, she returned too. Having someone like her was really a blessing. "Huuu..." With a deep breath, I cleared my mind and tried using my new [Origin Skill]. I didn''t know what it was, but from the name; it was something like a... white crack? Well, seeing was more effective than just reading the name. [Origin Skill- White Crack] A small, white crack urred in the air before my eyes. It was a small crack, as small as my hand, and it was just there before me, doing nothing. Inside of this crack was also shining white as if glittering. Seeing it reminded me of the sun''s surface. With confusion-filled eyes, I extended my hand. This was strange, but I knew this skill of mine wasn''t harmful. It wasn''t for an attack, defense, or something like that. When my left hand with my precious silver bracelet with blue designs, one of the most important things to survive in this hell, my storage device touched the crack, it vanished... My Storage device vanished! "Hay! What the hell..." The crack had vanished after taking my whole storage device. This was something very unexpected but, thanks to my calm heart, I managed to stay calm. "White Crack." The crack popped up in front of me, and I put my hand before it. It was solid like ss when touched, so I had a different thought about this thing. With my hand before it, I thought about my bracelet. For a moment, nothing happened, but then I thought about taking the bracelet out of this small crack. And... it worked! The bracelet reappeared in my hand! "A storage skill!" I shouted as I looked at the space where the crack had been. I actually had thought, but to think it''s actually a storage skill... this was outstanding! Though I didn''t have any appraisal skills, I can just have those things stored in this crack for the time being. But... "How big is this?" It was a normal question anyone would ask about any storage skill or device. p It was good that I got a storage skill, but it would be only useful when it was arge one. But, I knew if it was a storage-rted skill of a [Origin Skill], it would definitely be prettyrge. With curiosity-filled eyes, I started putting everything around me inside this crack. There were many limitations to this skill, such as only storing one thing at a time before turning it off. It can only appear in front of me and not anywhere else. The crack would suck in anything on my hand even if I don''t want it to, which might cause some problems, so I have to be careful with this. It can''t be used like my bracelet in fighting, as it would only appear before me. It was only good for storing things in safe ces and if I wanted to use it during fast fights, it would be very difficult. On the good side, this thing was... endless. Even after storing everything inside this cave, it was the same. It was the same pure white crack in the space. I even tried throwing big rocks inside it and it never got full. I thought it was a ck hole or something but, looking at it again, it was more like the distance between the sun. It just seemed endless when seen closely, but it''s just a small dot when seen from far away. I wanted to see the limits of this thing, so I even went outside after quite a while to cut down a nearby tree. Well, it was crazy and stupid and meaningless, but I still did that. It was something new and intriguing. From this one, I also understood it can''t store the trees with roots intact. I at least understood it wasn''t some overpowered skill. I had to hold something in my hand for the crack to suck it in. I was going to cut down a smaller tree but... I changed my mind. It would be actually foolish to do such a thing and blow off my peaceful front yard. And who knew what might happen if I actually cut down a healthy tree? If some ferocious beast came looking at this, I was done for. So, not falling prey to too much curiosity, I just summoned giant rocks in the open area before the cave. I can now do many things with magic too. These past few months, I have created many spells and enchanted arrows. The was a good thing, and it helped me a lot. Surprisingly, I didn''t feel any negative effects from them. I was still well, and I had already stored all three of them in my crack. This white thing was a good gain. I can store an enormous amount of things and possibly everything I could hold. It wasn''t necessary to drag or lift it, just a hold was enough. Or, just like this bunch of giant rocks, it would work if I can push it. If I was before a giant rock three times bigger than me, the white crack would appear just on the other side. This was a perfect thing and now, I can actually move towards theke on the other side. I didn''t know how I would store every herb and nt and possibly beast''s body, but now... I had a perfect thing. Chapter 81 Greed? These past few months were slow and uneventful for most the parts. There wasn''t much to do except train and eat in the small cave. Sometimes ying with Celes and sometimes crying while remembering my family was all I did the whole day. Sometimes, I just stayed still, staring at the ceiling of the cave. Some days were good and I tried making different things with what little things I had. It has already been more than a year since I came here but I knew they were ok. By now, my baby sibling would be some months old and it would swamp them up for taking care of them. I was less worried about them now that they had someone they must look after and take care of more than they took care of me. Aside from them, I knew nothing about my other family members or my background. I knew we had a pretty extensive family, and that we were nobles from the capital and my mom was quite rich and my grandfather is someone famous, but... that was it. I did not know what they did or who they were, so I never thought about them. As for my current situation, I was running away. ... Behind me was a swarm of honeybees. I was bold enough to desire their fine honey and foolish enough to think I can single-handedly kill a bunch of non-ranked bees and their (Red) queen. But, to my surprise and utter agony, there were at least hundreds of them chasing after me right now. The fifteen-centimeter honeybee with an almost three-centimeter-long sting. It wasn''t some normal sting, but a metal sting with poison that induced extreme pain. I know, I know this was something out of my league, but... what can I do? I was going away without taking a great treasure with me. But their reaction to me stealing one-sixteen of their beehive was a bit too extravagant. Aside from the queen and workers, almost all the soldier bees were after me. Even after making some great preparations, disguising myself as the duck that I killed, and carefully cutting the hive with norvas, I was being chased like this. Like, I did even scatter all the bees from the hive with smoke and all those things that I saw and read but, no. I was being chased and there was no way to stay in this duck form for too long. Doing this was time-consuming, and it was almost sunset now. Greed makes men blind and stupid, which leads to their painful death, was a true thing but... I didn''t regret this decision. [Greater forest honey] Honey from [Giant honeybees]. An excellent fluid that can increase one''s Mana pool by 3% per 60 grams. It also boosted Mana''s gathering speed for three hours and it tasted... smooth. I didn''t know the taste yet but if something valued in tinum coins on the market ording to books, this was something very extraordinary. This type of honey can''t be mass-produced by people, as these bees live in a natural habitat with higher Mana and a perfect climate. But for them to not even let go of a small part of their such enormous home... was understandable. It wasn''t like me to do such things just for small gain but, there were many things I realized these past few months. I have to grab every opportunity before me if I want to escape this ce a little faster. These herbs and resources were just lying there without being used and if I can use them, isn''t this good? Now that I had a storage skill with such arge space that I didn''t know the limits of, I could pick up anything that seemed safe. So... I just emptied the rich areas. Without leaving a single thing that seemed to have Mana or special properties, I just put everything inside my storage device. I also came to know something very important about this new skill. ''I can store living beasts inside this white crack.'' Most storage skills can''t store any living thing. It was possible to store them if it was a skill at the level of (Dimensional Magic) but, it would then be a skill of at least (Green) rank. That was something...plex. So, my skill was that special. I had put some carnivorous nts inside it, somehow¡­ and it worked! Now, it would be a good trap in some particr situation, but right now wasn''t perfect. The hive they had was almost ten times my height and almost covered three trees. Solder bees were always disposable in dire situations, so there were always backup soldiers at the hive. I had purposefully lured them back so I could fight them separately. The fire spell was already prepared, so I used [Quickstep] And reappeared facing them with a bluish-red me arrow on my bow. -Swish! -Frrrrrrrrrrr... -Bzzzzzzzzzz! With a straight st of fire, the arrow burned many solder bees behind me to crisp. Some managed to evade or dodge them and were now scattered in the air. I didn''t wait to kill them or anything and used [Quicksteps] two times and hid as a nt some distance away. It would be dark soon and I was expecting to spend my first night without any roof in this forest. But, I couldn''t just leave those dead bees or the fire as it was. I had to do something about them and extinguish the fire. The scattered bees returned after a bit and searched for the culprit that stole a meter-tall piece of their hive. But they couldn''t find anything, even after thirty minutes of thorough searching. Watching them was a bit entertaining as I ate the fried banana. I had even emptied the banana tree from my previous cave, so I had many things to spend my time eating. After the bees left, I collected the dead bodies of burned bees and put out the fire. It was now night and... my first time in the night world of this hell. Chapter 82 First Night Time slowly passed, and the night got darker. The great forest of Kamut bes a different ce at night. The tall trees glow in the bright light of glowing nts and flowers. Blue, purple, green-yellow, and red are the most beautiful colors when ites to flowers and the moss of night. The moon looked more blue and beautiful than what I remembered. It was bigger and seemed closer to this ce. ,m The fireflies and beasts with bioluminescence roamed the areas with no care for the world. There were still weird voices now and then, there were still screams of different ''things'' from time after time too. There was a weird chill in the air, the same as when I first saw that ghost. I was still mentally scared, but it wasn''t that bad. Moving from tree to tree, seeing everything ahead with dim lights and moving things. I was seeing many beasts which I haven''t ever seen in the morning. Bats, insects like a centipede, spiders, and birds like owls. There were many new herbs and nts that only grew at the night. I collected every one of them, but the process took a long time. I had to be careful and y with all my attention and focus on the targets. If I make even one wrong move here, I would be dead for sure. [[ Master, that one looks beautiful too! ]] [ "Yes, yes. We will take that one next" ] I wasn''t that on edge right now and I was enjoying myself quite a lot thanks to this excited butterfly. Celes was jumping from flower to flower, sucking everything she saw. Her wings were glowing in the light of night, just like the moon in the sky. Though she only used my origin energy, she can absorb the light from these nts. It was strange as the light woulde back after a moment, but it was still a fun activity for her. She was enjoying herself and seeing her was drawing a smile on my face. I covered myself in ck clothes and my eyes and hair were also ck, matching the shadows of the night perfect way. Moving in darker clothes is the most basic thing on this night. The creatures of the night were everywhere, but I was able to safely move here thanks to Celes''s skill. In some open areas, skeletons wereing out of normal earth. They were mostly humanoids, but they had unique features to normal humans. There were also skeletons of different beasts. These weren''t demonic creatures but normal undead creatures that were indeed mindless and moved with natural energies. They were like some toy with a dead body but still remained with somewhat batteries. Unlike ghosts who didn''t have any physical body at all, these skeletons had an unstable physical body. Their lifespan wasn''t that long, mostly some nights, and then they were gone. Against undead creatures, the light attribute was so effective because it had pr opposite properties to the overall energy of the undead. The higher form of light, divinity, had an even greater effect on them. Just being in the presence of [Divine Energy] could weaken undead creatures. But, as the light attribute was something that not even one in a million people could have, ''they'' granted divinity to even fewer people than that. Unlike borrowing the power of gods like a priest or holy knight, they did the divinity grating through blessings or self-realization. Holding divine energy and borrowing it from someone were very different things. So, I was lucky to have the light attribute. I could say the same for all the light attribute creatures roaming around here and there. Be it rabbits, moths, lizards, birds, or anything with the light attribute, was weak against the darkness attribute. Darkness was second only to light in terms of rarely. Assassins and thieves used the darkness attribute and its higher form, [Death Energy] was used by . It was rare, very rare, to find a real necromancer as the death energy was more powerful and rare than [Divine energy]. Though higher beings also granted [Death Energy], there weren''t many who ruled over death. So someone mostly earned it by one''s efforts. Death didn''t mean something bad, but just the loss of one''s soul. [Death energy] was mostly gained through self-realization and [Divine energy] was mostly granted by higher beings. So, the reaction to darkness arrows would be the same to creatures with the light attribute as the light attribute does to the undead. Well, I did not need to think about that as creatures with light attributes were calm creatures that minded their own business. Jumping on another branch, I stopped before a brightly shining red flower. It was surrounded by giant flowers that directly grew from the ground and were at least two meters tall. The red, glowing flower was beautiful, and the red dusting out of it was like stars. At its roots, a thick red liquid was gathered, and it was constantly decreasing. When it was on the verge of running out, the green flower-like nt took a deep ''breath'' and spit out a mouthful of this red liquid. As anyone could predict, it was blood. The ''flowers'' with 15-centimeter long blue teeth were [Beast catchers], and the flower in the middle of them was a super rare [Langsdorf], a blood-drinking flower and natural treasure. It was a unique sight to see the so-called ''vampire flower'' being cultivated by these nt beasts. It required arge amount of blood to grow, but the Mana it contained wasrger than any nt, herb, or flower I had seen until now. It was so Mana rich we can use it as a (Red) ranked core. But, without a constant supply of blood, it would only live for a day in normal conditions. That was a (Red) ranked core right in front of me with six (Red) ranked beasts guarding it, or¡­ feeding it. Well, the red dust it sprays out is almost like a drug to these nt-type beasts, so it was understandable. Though it won''t do anything to me, the nts were not an easy kill. I will have to take out every one of them at once so that they don''t attack me with those blue teeth. As they could literary fire them like bullets, it was fatal against someone like me with low physical defense. I knew my protective gears were damaged and they might not be able to sustain the rapid-fire from even two of them. So, against closely standing beasts of nt type, (Thunder) was the best attribute to use. With the destructive power and chain damaging effect, it was best in the situations like this. And, I was certain to get something like a (Red) ranked core from this small fight so I was even more excited. Chapter 83 First Night (2) Stretching my bowstring, I gathered fire element particles. Condensing them and refining them, I increased the free electrons in the mes. -Crackl! With a crackling sound of thunder, an orange-yellow arrow of lightning materialized on my bow. The shape was just right and the thunder leaking out of it didn''t hurt me. Aiming for the closest flower, I fired the spell. The thundering arrow of (Tier-2) was loud but not enough to attract big creatures. With a ''boom!'' and burning sound, the first flower burned and the lightning passed through all six of them. One by one, all of them burned with agonizing screams. (Chain lightning) A (tier-2) spell with improved output. The arrow form increased the range and its condensed form increased its destructively. The power of the spell decreased as it passed through thest two flowers but they still burned. This was more powerful because I increased the free electrons in this bolt of lightning. It was an easy win and I now had a flower with a tremendous amount of Mana. I climbed down the tree and walked towards the flower. These nt monsters were an easy kill and there was no one else to look for. There was definitely no one, I even checked with (Serch wind) but, it was clear. Then... why did my heart suddenly start running wild? [Quickstep] This was now an instinctive response to abnormal situations like this. And... thank god I did that. A small light de silently passed through the spot, cracking the ground with a small earthquake. The area was silent and there was almost no one there. Not in physical form, at least. A small figure materialized from the shadow beside the crack in the ground. It was smaller than me, had a humanoid form, and was wearing a ninja-like ck outfit. The blue eyes under that pitch-ck cloth-like body were enraged. It was clear that it was angry that I managed to avoid its near-perfect ambush. [Shadow crawlers] An (Orange) ranked besat of darkness attribute. They were humanoid creatures with a chibi figure but, that was the scariest thing about them. They were heartless killers and perfect assassination-type creatures who hated when their first attack went wrong. Unlike normal assassins, they would do everything to finish the target that had escaped their grasp, and... that wasn''t the scariest thing about them. [Quickstep] My heart never stopped exploding like that and I knew the reason behind that. Another cold light of metal fleshed in the dimly lit open space. But, unlikest time, there were two of them. More powerful and more destructive than before. Just like before, two small figures materialized from the shadows. One had enraged crimson eyes while the other had chilling ember eyes. All three pairs of eyes were locked on me and I knew I had fallen into the worst-case scenario. There were three (Orange) ranking beasts before me and they were angry. I knew they won''t let me leave and there was only one thing I could do in this situation. ''Kill... or be killed.'' This was a dangerous situation but, my chances of winning weren''t zero. I could still win if I try and I knew I had to maintain my distance s much as possible. The creatures before me were powerful, close-range, assassination-type beasts. ording to books, they didn''t have any long-range skills but they could throw their des made of shadows to a small distance. A ne was created in that small time we were having an assessmentpetition. The blue-eyed ninja melted into the shadows, signaling the start of the fight. [Quickstep] Widening the distance between us, I took out my bow. The red and yellow-eyed ninjas also vanished and the three materialized at my previous spot at the same time I took out my bow. Stretching out my bow, I fired an arrow of light in the air. (sh) A bright light lit up in the open area as the three of them closed their eyes strongly, not being able to handle the light at all. I moved towards the flower and put it in [White Crack]. Securing important things was important and my white crack was the best for storing something with limited time use. It preserved it inside as if time is stopped there. The flower was secured and I had gained pretty good distance and running away wasn''t an option. The light vanished and the ninjas disappeared into shadows again. I have prepared light arrows but, now they were on high alert. This fight will be long and mentally tiring. The three assassins had near-perfect coordination and finding loopholes in their attack pattern was difficult. They had [Shadow walk] as their main skill and the de that materialized in their hand was difficult to avoid if they got too close. The fight was going to be difficult and I knew that. Taking out a small ss bottle with golden, thick liquid, I took another few steps back and avoided the ying deing toward me. ''Let''s see what this can do...'' The forest nectar from the great tree. Something that I had in a pretty good quantity. But, its quality was still unknown to me. This long fight will be a great help to gather data on this thing. Opening the lid of the ss bottle, I gulped down the honey-like thick liquid. It tasted like orange and had a thick but smooth texture. I can use this in cooking if given the chance. But... its reaction came a bit different than I thought. Chapter 84 First Night (3) As soon as I drank the sap, my wildly beating heart calmed and a bit of sharp pain passed through my mind. It was difficult, but I thought straight and clear. A pure white hue starteding out of my body and enveloped it entirely. The Mana in the surroundings started gathering around me and my Mana increased many times. It wasn''t a normal increase, and I was sure of that. I felt as if I have reached the next level of the Mana nucleus. But I knew this was just a temporary feeling. Fighting them would be a bit easy with this sap. With that, the fight started. The red-eyed ninja had more strength than the other two, the blue-eyed had faster skill use, so maybe it had more M.P. than the others, and the yellow-eyed one had super speed. Its attacks carried a bit of low power but had excellent precision. Surrounded byrge trees, we showered the open area with mental clinging and light explosions. Backed off by a tree, I jumped on a tree branch and then on another tree by its side. I wanted to go away but, showing my back to these assassins with perfect coordination would be as good as suicide. Sensing disturbances on my left side, I bend my body to the side to dodge. The red ninja groaned in anger and melted back into shadow. Just then, I knew they would aim for the next attack at my back. [Quickstep] Appearing on the other tree, stretching my bowstring, a transparent arrow of water materialized after a moment. It wasn''t that quick and the yellow ninja had already shed at my previous position. (Light water) An arrow of condensed water with the light element Mana mixed with it. This wasn''t something like as it was an extraordinarily precious thing in this world. I wanted to aim for the yellow one but lost this chance. The yellow-eyed ninja vanished into the shadows faster than I expected. Now, it would be the blue eyes turn. As they followed previously, the blue eyes ninja should appear from upwards and do a thrust. But things weren''t that easy. My calm heart beat faster and my back felt cold. [Quickstep]! -sh. I appeared on the other side of the trees, but my protective clothes were torn, and a deep cut appeared on my ant armor. Though my back was alright... "Fuck..." It cut my arm by the tip of its long sword of shadow. The cut was deep, and blood flowed out like a fountain from just that. Biting my lips in pain, I downed an intermediate healing potion I was saving for a long time. The pain started going down and the wound started healing slowly. But the chibi ninjas were more ferocious than I thought. Even before my wound closed, all three of them jumped toward me. It was abined attack and most probably a unique skill. As I looked at them, their shark-like teeth and mouth appeared on their mask-like a mouth. That long tongue and those eyes were... dangerous. But, I was calm. My previous spell was canceled because of the sudden attack, but not this time. Stretching the bowstring with my injured hand, enduring the hellish pain by biting my lips, gathered all the light element particles could and... [Quickstep] Sliding back like a back step, I released the long spear of light. This was the same thing I used against the ghost, but it was in its proper form this time. The three ninjas were falling with their swords thrusting down. They changed their eyes from hungry, happy, and greedy to serious and confident. Without stopping the attack, they continued falling towards the spear of light with the dark long swords. A red hue appeared as they joined their tips of swords, and the spear of light collided with them. -Boooooom! The collision was fierce enough to attract the attention of nearby things. I didn''t know what will happen so... ["Celes!"] I knew she would know what we should do now that we had a gap in their attacks. With a small yellow light, I changed and turned into something different. The light vanished and three ninjas reappeared in the white smoke. There was a small crater where theynded, and their eyes were bloodshot. A cloud of white smoke wasing out of them after using a [Combo-skill]. They were more powerful skills, as we used them with more than one skill or more than one person. The output increased, and so did the burden on the bodies of the user. The ninjas looked around with their eyes still bloodshot. But... there was no one. The prey they tried to hunt all this time wasn''t there. An injured child vanished into thin air, and they failed to sense it? It was strange but; they looked around a bit more. But then, their eyes fall on an unknown figure walking towards them from the other side. Same size and structure. Red eyes and somewhat injured hand. It walked towards them with the samerge mouth and long tongue wiping its lips like a mask-mouth. The three of them looked confused, as well as on high alert. The blue and yellow-eyed ninja walked a step back from the red-eyed one and looked between the new arrival and the one before them. They can''t sense the difference even though the red one with them was there the entire time. They both were giving off the same feeling and the one that walked toward them was even more realistic somehow. -Skhhhh! The red-eyed chibi ninja shouted, looking towards the both of them as I walked even closer. [ "See Celes, your skill is amazing~!" ] [[ Thanks master~! ]] She replied cheerfully as I finished preparing (Light water) arrows behind me. It was difficult to gather light Mana particles without using my bow but, the chibi ninjas before me were giving me all the time I needed. The argument between the three ninjas about who the hell was real was entertaining to watch. But, just after a minute-long argument, they turned their head in my direction and ''asked'' something like: "Who are you?" I didn''t know if these intelligent, humanoid beasts understood me but, saying something was necessary before sending them away, right? "Well, RIP, I guess?" With that, I extended my arm, which most likely looked like a long sword to them. Their confused expression turned grim as three blue arrows of light suddenly shot toward them. And... even before they could go back to shadows, the arrows of light-water pierced their heads. -Thud. Their bodies fell to the ground, lifeless. The enemy was dead, and the fight was over. They made the wrong decision to let me close this distance, and it led them to their deaths. "Celes..." Once again, a small white light shed and I fall on my back. This was the longest, most tiring fight I have had in this hell, and ironically... a chibi ninja injured me. "Haaa..." The bodies of these chibi ninjas didn''t disappear like a ghost but stayed like that. This showed they were living beasts of flesh and blood and not the ferocious shadow creatures. It was new to see creatures like them, but many groups trained them to use as weapons. It was fun, and... my first night in this hell was about to end. Chapter 85 First Night (4) There were still around three hours left for the sunrise and we were still a bit a distance away from reaching theke, so we rested where the fight had ended. Nine corpses wereying on the ground before us. Three chibi ninjas and six nts were burned by the (Chain lighting). After burning, the nt monsters didn''t turn into ashes and were only burned from the outside. I still had to check all nine of them to see if any of them had a skill stone or maybe a core. Core and simr objects were important and we can use them as life-saving items. The energy inside a core can cast an over-tier spell or power a big, wonderful artifact. The one I got from the ghost was superb as it was almost a (Yellow) ranked one. I still needed an appraisal skill to check what things I had in my storage. From that white core to the white drop of liquid I got from the top of the great baniya tree. I had even picked up many herbs, flowers, and nts that looked useful or contained Mana. It was difficult, but I now had many useful things. And theke I was going to would have more useful and rare herbs than the one I had. I didn''t know what to expect from that ce, but I knew I would have to face many tough opponents if I went there. I wanted to avoid it, but... it would be a colossal waste of opportunity, resources, and experience. I was following the direction of the sun ever since I started moving in this forest. And I had to cross thiske to go to the other side. Theke was vast. It was big enough that I can see the edges of it from any high tree and the winds carried the cool breeze with them, showing that this ce was ''clean''. If there is ake, there might also be water beasts and animals. Ake also meant fish and fruit trees. And, maybe the that I saw from the hot-air balloon was also there. A giant tree, bigger and mightier than the great baniya tree. This willow tree was extraordinary, and it was called because of its long lifespan. It was some of the longest living trees recorded in history books. There were only three trees with simr lifespans in the whole great empire. They were protected life forms because they created a unique ecosystem of their own. I didn''t know that much about them, but I sure as hell couldn''t miss the chance to see such a magnificent tree. I might not see another one ever again if I missed the chance. And I couldn''t lose the chance to collect the . a flower treasure used to make medicines that can be as efficient as holy water. As well as the , if I was blessed enough to have it. This fruit was nothing less valuable than an (Indigo) ranked skill. A fruit that one could only get by the acknowledgment of the will of the ancient tree. Just like distinguished elements of nature, all had a will of their own. Though they shed flowers on their own and anyone that can get them, the fruits were different stories. They were miraculous fruits and just having them could boost the Mana, as well as the natural powers of nearby creatures. It was something everyone wanted, but being acknowledged by the ancient trees was an arduous task for anyone. On top of that, they didn''t produce these fruits inrge quantities, and just reaching maturity took hundreds of years. So... we can call them legendary fruits. Well, to reach there, I will most definitely have to cross thiske first. "A long journey is ahead of us, Celes. Let''s do well~." [[ Yes~! I will protect you, so don''t worry, master~. ]] "Yes... we will protect each other~," I answered her with a warm smile. I had someone to protect me, such a great thing to think. We slowly talked, and time passed. As time passed, there were enormous insects that ate the bodies lying before us. We were a tree, so no one would even know of our existence. The time passed, and we saw it littered the ground with bugs and different insects that ate away the flesh and blood on the ground. The nt beasts that were burned on the inside were eaten piece by piece by a lizard-like creature. The beetles and cockroach-like creatures cleaned the blood. A white, moth-like creature with an ant-like mouth ate away at the chibi ninja''s bodies. I watched all this with an intriguing expression. One of the reasons I remained in this ce was also to see how everything got cleaned up every time I left it outside my cave. After cleaning the bodies, they quietly left the ce to find another such feast. This whole thing was a wonderful experience to watch, and I actually liked researching and knowing new stuff about these unknown beasts. One more thing that I liked about this was... the orange-ck skill stone they left after finishing the ninjas. I would have killed them if I wanted, but they just sincerely left after finishing their feast. With the first sunrays, I got up and walked towards the skill stone. I wanted to use this but... I just stored it in my white crack for now. It would be a problem if I learned a skill that didn''t suit me. There were limits in learning the skill from a power stone, too. I was lucky with quickstep but I might not be able to handle this skill and end up perishing. Sun started rising, and I started walking forward. Jumping on a tree, I reached another open area. There was something peculiar going on here that caught my eye. I stopped on a tree branch and turned into a simr tree branch. I looked down at two beautiful birds, which looked like pigeons and had bright orange feathers. One had red color at the tips of its feather and the other one had green as its ends. The red one looked like a female, while the green one looked like a male trying to impress the female. Just like the duck, this pigeon was trying to show its interest through dominance and a slow dance. But this dance... it was more like a solo ballet. A sophisticated dance that even mesmerized me. The female was also getting interested in this dance with the other male. These birds were two meters tall, and the dance was more beautiful when the female pigeon joined her. Extending her heft feather, as if offering a kiss on the back of her hand, she took her stance. The male epted it with a smiling face and picked out her top feather. Pulling her towards him, he also offered his right hand while hugging her from behind. She smiled and also picked out hisst feather. Theypleted their small ceremony, and their dance continued. "Such peculiar things..." I mumbled under my breath and walked away from these (Yellow) ranked beasts. [me Ballet Pigeon] Fighting them was meaningless when they had just started making out and if I disturb their special time... I don''t want to think that thing. Theke was just ahead and if something new appeared, this thing would get more difficult than it had to be. Chapter 86 Lake There is a bright lighting from up ahead. A bright light illuminated the trees and painted the sunlight green. Jumping on another tree, I was at my destination. A giantke surrounded by trees on its edges stood before our eyes. Standing on the tree before the open area of theke, I surveyed these beautiful surroundings. On this side of theke, there were more trees than on the opposite side. Theke was clear and deep and there were also many nts, flowers, and various other things visible from here. Thiske was big, almost six-kilometer in radius. Manyrge trees surrounded thiske, but there were fewer trees on the left end of thiske. There was also the magnificent ancient tree on the other side that was visible from this end. I knew I would have to travel on the edges of theke to reach the other side. I couldn''t fly over there with the hot-air balloon as there were many sky predators above and on the side of theke. From eagles, crows, vultures, and even some prehistoric creatures of the sky. People thought many of them to be lost, but this ce had preserved their existence. With my [Mystic Eyes], I could see the small and big life forms inside theke. They were ferocious, and I knew most of them could kill me easily. The willow tree was indeed here and just standing on this tree was enough to exin how enormous this tree before me was. The willow tree''s whole body was dark purple and from this distance, I could see the various life-forms living on this ancient tree. This willow was enormous, and dense, as I can only see some big things on it. Its characteristic long blue leaves were graceful as they covered arge part of that side of theke. I could see the bright pink flowers on the tree and some were even gently falling to the ground. They could be called tinypared to the enormous size of the tree, but each one of them was one-third of my size. Looking very closely at the full magnitude of my skill, I manage to spot a golden cylinder fruit that might be as big as myself. This was the fruit of ancient willow, and there may only be one or two on that tree. To reach there, I would need at least a week and that would only be if there weren''t any uncertain creatures on this path. To make things easy, I thought of going through the area with more nts and trees. Even though that area might be scarier with more dangerous beasts, I could at least hide from them with the help of Celes. As I looked around theke, I spotted many energy beasts that were rare and dangerous, and unknown. Some were gorgeous creatures, despite their dangers. A huge ck panther that lived on the ancient willow. With pitch-ck fur, pure white teeth, and beautiful ocean blue eyes, which had a small ck pupil in the middle. It was a dangerous, strong, and gentle energy beast and was a (Blue) ranked beast called [Spirit Leopard]. Just like the green pig, this one could summon and use elemental spirits. Arge fish swam in theke and was almost asrge as a medium-sized whale. An almost extinct species, a (Blue) ranked creature and users of [Marina], aquatic energy that was almost the same as Mana. There were very few species that could use this energy as it was rted to water and mostly oceans. The fish had a strange blue beak that looked like a parrot but its body was the same as normal sharks without a fin. Its name was [Leedmaticu] but people called it [Giant Sea Parrot]. p The third,st and most amusing creature I could see here was something I was seeing for the first time. A swan. A simple, above-water three-meter tall creature that looked so magnificent that I can''t take my eyes away from it. It was a pure white creature with an actual gold-like beak and a green bead that was the same color as his eyes on its neck. That bead was almost like an energy core but, there was something different about this one. There weren''t any stars or sand-like dust dancing inside it. And it was almost as big as my arm. It was a beautiful creature that elegantly swam on theke''s western side. These were beautiful creatures and then, there was that ''thing''. A jaguar''s body with two extra but small legsing out of its side. Six spider-like legs came out of its back and a mouth that was divided into six parts with shark-like teeth that were spread out in three rows. A long and sharp tongue that seemed almost poisonous because of its purple color. I didn''t know what this ''thing'' was, but I knew I didn''t want to cross paths with this. Just seeing it prey on that pack of wolves was enough to scare the hell out of me. I shook my head and tried to throw back these thoughts at the back of my head. Jumping down, I started walking with the camouge that Celes created for me. Collecting things here was one of my primary tasks, but I also had to look for a temporary ce to stay for this night. As I walked forward, I heard some slight movements ahead of me. Staying still, I crouched and waited for whatever wasing this way. With some more rustling sounds from bushes, an enormous creature walked out with a world-changing presence. I... couldn''t believe my eyes at this moment. [[ Master, this... ]] Celestine talked in my head with a shocked expression. [ "Yes. The strongest beings we have seen so far." ] I answered, looking at the magnificent creature before our eyes. [[ Master! What if we got caught!? ]] She asked worriedly, not knowing what to do. [ "If there was something else of this level, I don''t know what might have happened but, this one... is different." ] I reassured her, fixing my eyes on them. [[ But-! ]] She still didn''t know what to do but I cut her off. [ "Just believe me and see." ] I was certain. I knew these creatures, and they were rather famous. Famous enough to have books dedicated to creatures like them. A family of deer. A creature so magnificent and unique that just from being there, they lightly increased the Mana density of surroundings. With golden bodies andrge deer horns with shining blue lights, the family of three walked towards theke. It was different from any beast I had seen so far, but I knew these beasts weren''t harmful. At least to me, they won''t be harmful, even if I turned off my camouge. My encounter with first (Indigo) ranked creatures and, even among them, some of the highest-ranking beasts. Even though many races in this world hunted them for their whole being, these deer were more powerful than even a (tier-7) mage. But these deer were creatures of harmony. They created peace and sought peace from whatever or whoever was around them. Their unique skill can look through any emotion and feelings was something that reassured me of my safety. These maic creatures were called [Golden deer of Arcane]. Chapter 87 Golden Deers Looking at the two adult deer and the small one, which was definitely their baby, I stopped the tears at the end of my eyes. It has been more than a year and I was still nowhere near escaping this ce. Looking at them, just walking together like this was enough to wet my eyes. This was a family, and I wasn''t with mine. Maybe the big deers sensed those things somehow and looked around in confusion. I didn''t know if they can see me or just the emotions, but I thought it was because of my emotions. [ "Celes. Let''s go meet them." ] I suggested as my eyes locked on the baby who was looking at his parents in confusion. [[ Yes... master... ]] There was still hesitation in her voice but, she lifted the camouge. I stood up and looked at the deers who were confused by the sudden appearance. This also confirmed that by now, Celes''s cannot be looked through by even (Indigo) ranked creatures. Her skills would grow even more as I grew strong, so it meant she was much stronger than I thought. Once again, I was d she was with me. With a small nod, I walked a few steps. All three of them looked at me, and I looked at them. Their eyes were very special as they looked through the emotions and hearts of others. As our eyes met, all three of them had a very sad expression in their eyes. I knew... they understood my emotions. Emotions that I suppressed with great difficulties. Emotions of loneliness and longing. The emotions that I knew would break me if I were to let them flow out of that strong dam. I knew¡­ that they knew. The baby deer was even sadder than his parents. May be... because it was a child-like me? Maybe he thought about how he would feel without his parents. It was devastating for them, even more for a child who has seen little of this world''s cruelty. Looking at his parents, the baby asked something. They both looked at me and then back at their child. The mother said something that made the child jump into the excitement. It was cute to see the child so happy, so it sent a smile to my face too. The child then looked at me and started walking forward. I didn''t know what he was doing, but I also took a step toward him. Standing before each other, I looked into his eyes. They were pure, innocent, and filled with wisdom. Even though it was just a child, it at least knew more about emotions than me. The presence it gave off was also close to the mother snake, but a bit different. Closing its eyes, the baby bows down on one knee like greeting me. This gave me an idea of what this child was trying to do. It was shocking, and I wanted to deny it as a stupid thought but... I couldn''t. Looking at the bowing child, I also bent down on one knee and extended my hand as a greeting. I didn''t know if I was doing ok but, but from the cheerful expression of the child, it looked like it was right. The child stood up, and after him, I also stood up. Looking at him with a confused expression, I blinked. I knew it would understand my thoughts, and hopefully, it did. Walking forward, it came before me. It was a baby, but it was still as big as me in height. Its deer horns were small, and it was still many years from reaching adult age, like its parents. Signaling me to bend down, it raised its head. I came before him and set just beside his face. Closing his eyes, he waited for a bit, as if thinking about something. Now... I was sure and I still couldn''t believe this. [[ Master...? ]] Celes asked in confusion. It was very confusing to her. Not only this child''s behavior but this whole situation. [ "It''s giving me a gift." ] I answered warmly while chuckling inside. [Arcane] This special energy was purer than normal Mana in the environment and more refined energy than simple Mana. It was above Mana in terms of power, and it could bepared to the spiritual energy of nature. But... it wasn''t on quite that level. Creatures that used Arcane energy are good at defense magic as well as support magic. Attack magic skills powered by Arcane energy are powerful but they are mostly only used by creatures like adult golden deer because of higher purity. Some races mostly captured golden deer on illegal bases not only because of their skills, body parts, and use but also because of their ability to condense Arcane energy. This condensed crystal was nothing less valuable than a (Yellow) ranked core. These condensed forms of Arcane tears were called [Golden Tears]. In the empire, these golden deer were protected because of their low number and decreasing poption. They mostly lived in a protected territory and only the ones they saw as pure could receive these gifts. Controlling their skill was hard and for such a young child to give this gift... increased its specialty. After a full minute of deep concentration, the baby deer opened his eyes. Its deep blue eyes glowed and slowly, a small tear slid from the end of those beautiful eyes. The transparent and normal tear fell on my palm, and a new reaction started around it. Mana particles surged inside it, getting visible as its density increased many folds. It slowly turned gold and then began crystallizing. After another minute, the crystal was finished, and it was... amazing~. A tear-shaped crystal that was as big as my hand rested in my hands. This was unusual, and I knew the reason. We heard the sound of his mother and looked behind. Dad walked up a step and looked at his child in surprise. They talked through their eyes, and they understood what was going through his mind. It was a child-like behavior, giving some pitiful person something more than necessary. It wasn''t bad, but you use arge amount of concentration and your energy to create these crystals. This child has overdone itself this time. And as all parents would do, his parents were scolding him. Well... Looking at them was painful in itself. But... I was happy. All three of them understood this and the father sighed. Cuddling his baby, they walked back. The child looked back at me when they were leaving after saying goodbye and drinking water from the clearke. Its eyes were too easy to read, just like a little child: ''Be safe and get back to your loved ones~''. ,m I smiled and waved goodbye to them. And also thanked him for giving me such treasure. Looking at the golden gem, I sighed. "See, Celes. Not all powerful are cruel and... not all cruel beings are powerful." [[ I will remember that, master. ]] I sighed and put the [Golden Tears] inside the white crack. Not much time has passed in this ce, so I had good enough time on hand to find a ce to spend my night. ''Such fortunes, kind and warm encounter...'' I sighed in helplessness. I remembered time after time. There was still kindness in this hell. Chapter 88 Crazy Chasing This day was amazing, and I was happy. I met a special (Indigo) ranked beast family, yed with a baby golden deer, and received a special gift from him before parting ways. A day that I started with a beautiful view of thisrgeke and willow tree. I saw some beautiful creatures and some terrifying beasts. I was happy that this day was going so well that I almost forgot something important. ''Hell will always be a hell, even if you see miracles inside it.'' I knew this was a harsh thing to say but, I couldn''t say anything to deny that. "Fuck you bastard! Why are you even chasing me this!?" I shouted as I ran while clenching my other hand. -Swish. Swish. Swish. With bloody hands and torn back with arge, deep cross scar, I panted. Those things would be alright and I could heal them, but the most devastating thing in this situation was that I can''t use any magic right now. Even though I was running, the surrounding area seemed to have stopped. I was running with all my might from therge tree chasing after me. Arge tree-like beast that chased after me like I was just the thing he was waiting for all his life. With a real tree-like body with tree-like limbs and a bright yellow light where eyes should be, it frantically chased after me. I didn''t know something like that existed, but... it was an anti-magic skill. This [Tree Ent] was using an anti-magic skill to freeze the surrounding Mana around me. This thing was the reason I was injured like this. While searching for a ce to rest for tonight, this fellow suddenly came out of nowhere and started attacking me. Though I detected it because of my heart, its attacks weren''t a joke. We battled for almost three hours, keeping each other in check and I was barely keeping up against this almost (Green) ranked beast with [Quickstep] and but then... it started. The yellow light came out of its eye that surrounded me. It restricted the surrounding Mana around me. I can''t regenerate the Mana I had used, and all I had was the existing Mana in my Mana nucleus. I was trying to run away all this time, knowing this fight was pointless from the start. There was no way I could win against this unfamiliar (Green) ranked creature. I ran, ran, and tried to get away from it using [Quickstep] but... It was of no use. This fellow was dead set on catching me. I was now feeling dizzy from all the blood that I lost and the fatigue from the fight. I can''t use any magic spells, but there was still a way to use them if I use the beast cores I had. But it would take a long time to take it out and channel the energy inside it. -Thump. Thump. The goose chase continued the same way it had been. ''What the hell is this persistence?!'' Like, for real. I hid by changing my form many times to hide, but it never gave up on catching me. The good day that was going smoothly had turned into a mess. But... I had this strange feeling from the time I started running. This Ent attacked, but those attacks weren''t fatal. Knowing my body, I knew it perfectly aimed them at nonvital points. Even my injured arm was somewhat useable. What the hell was this thing trying to do with me?! Still running, I took out a potion from my storage device and drank it without hesitation. -Gulp. It was my secondst healing potion. Now... things would beplicated if I got hurt. I did find some herbs with healing properties and good Mana that can be turned into a medicine that would work as a potion, but that thing would have to wait. It would be sunset in a few hours and I had no idea what I would do at night in this condition. Turning around, I nced at the Ent. It was furious, angry, and... sad? "What the fuck!? It''s sad after making me like this?" I shouted and kept running. [[ Master. I don''t think it wants to hurt you... ]] [ "I know that much by now, Celes. But what would you expect me to do when it''s chasing me like this?" ] What if it attacked me again in a fatal spot and I die? There was a possibility, and I knew it wasn''t a small one. And I didn''t even have any way of defending myself without Mana. ''Or... maybe I have.'' A thought crossed my mind, and it seemed strangely possible. [ "Celes. Let''s do this..." ] -Thump! Jumping up with a rock as support, I took out my bow from my storage device with three arrows. Finding it wasn''t easy, but I managed to find some (Mana wood) here. A log of wood with high Mana inside them. With them, I was able to create these test arrows. I didn''t know if they will work as they were supposed to but... I hoped they did. Quickly arranging the red, green, and white arrows on my bow, enduring the pain from my still healing hand, I stretched the bowstring. -Crackl. Still, in the air, I channeled whatever Mana was remained in me to spare. ''If this works, there is going to be a problem for sure.'' -Swish! Swish! Swish! I released the arrows at the Ent in the distance. A green string appeared between them, and... they joined together. The white arrow started integrating, red glowed brightly and the green vanished. The arrow''s spinning increased, but it somewhat slowed down and started falling towards it. -Sweeeeeeeeeeesh~. -Boooooooom! (Small Mana Explosion) It was something that the military used, but it was an artifact in its full form. Something that used Mana as a base to create explosions at the level of a missile. It wasn''t some normal magic and in itsplete form, its pure destructiveness was almost at (tier-4) level. The white arrow was something that was made with materials with super high Mana density. If I have to put this one arrow into value, it would be as valuable as a (Red) ranked core. The green arrow created such condensed and sharp winds that it destroyed the wood, so it was partially a failure. The red arrow condensed all things into a single point. I wanted this same process with atmospheric Mana particles but... it wasn''t possible until (tier-4). But this experimental arrow was... a 40% sess. The explosion was... big. It perfectly hit the Ent, and I knew... it did at least some damage. A ck smoke screen covered the Ent. The skill that was blocking my Mana supply all this time was canceled, and I was one with Mana once again. "Huu..." Taking a deep breath, I walked towards the Ent. The explosion had scared a nearby small creature as it was great enough to be called a 9XZ missile from my previous world. A small crater was formed on the ground before the Ent, and the Ent was quite surprised. It stopped its attacks as I walked before it and asked in a confused tone. "So? Why this long chase?" Chapter 89 Forest Family Looking at me with weird, hopeful eyes, it turned around and started walking. It looked like it wanted us to follow him. [[ Master? ]] [ "Let''s go and see." ] This situation was something new and there was a thought in my mind for a while now. ''Can this be a familiar of someone else?'' And this was the best situation for this kind of thought. No normal beast was this much intelligent. From the knowledge of where to strike to that restless attitude. And, most importantly, that skill that restricted Mana. Maybe there was someone else here like me that was injured or something like that. That was a good thought and seemed quite usible to me in this situation. With those thoughts, I started walking behind the Ent. But... -Aoooooooowl! With a loud howling sound, a pack of wolves walked out of the forest and surrounded us. They were big, gray-colored wolfs with overall wolf-like features. Gray fur, long ws, sharp teeth, and blue eyes. There were close to twelve of them. I didn''t know what type they were, but I could sense that they weren''t more than (Orange) rank. Considering they outnumbered us in this fight, I concluded the explosion attracted them, which I made a moment ago. I considered something like this might happen, so I had already taken out the white core from the ghost. Though I was still low on stamina, now that I could use magic, if this Ent can take out some of them, I was confident that I can take four to six of them out. ''After a meaningless fightes to us another long fight. It''s getting boring.'' It would be boring to everyone in some novels if some boring things like these continue happening over and over. ''But, well, the explosion was fun.'' A smile spread out on my face and I once again took out my bow. Holding the small, silver-white core in the other hand, I looked at the Ent to ask for a hand. But... A disgusted, angry expression spread out on his wooden face as he looked around. Pointing its hand in the sky, it spoke something that felt like a cuss. My smile vanished and a shocked expression took its ce when I looked at the Ent and then the wolfs that surrounded us. In the light of the setting sun, a rain of red blood started around me. Some earth spike-like wooden spike came out of the earth at the same time and pierced all wolfs at once. -Thud! All the wolfs fell to the ground in unison with a loud thud. Now¡­ this was this Ent''s actual and scary skill. It was indeed a (Green) ranked creature with some actual battle experience. After finishing them, it started walking forward, without even looking at them. I also wanted to follow him, so wasting no time, I collected all the bodies of the beasts and threw them in the white crack. Following the Ent, I walked on the opposite side of where I needed to go. I hesitated for a moment and tried to turn around, but the look in this ferocious creature''s eyes was... very dark. With a long sigh, we walked through the forest. The sunset ended, and night greeted us. I was still following this Ent, and I knew it was at least the right decision to go with it. Mostly, no beast attacked him even as it walked past them. It was cool as a bunch of (Red) ranked beasts just ran away from him. This was a sight to behold for any person. The difference in power could be felt very naturally just from being in its vicinity. After walking for an hour, we reached an enormous tree... or trees. Three trees that were as massive as the great Banya tree were joined as one. One on both sides and the other one in the middle. All the trees were surrounded by many glowing nts and moss, and there were many significant insects with light. This open area was vast, and it looked more like arge room as it looked like a closed space at the night. Many creatures were gathered in this open area and were sitting on the ground before something that looked like a wooden altar. There were many creatures, from unranked to (Orange) and (Yellow) rank. These were other Ents too, and some of them even looked older than this one. Before I could look at the brightly lit altar and find out what exactly was going on, three creatures blocked my path. It surprised me to see these enormous creatures. One was an older-looking Ent, a creature that looked like an Orc, and a humanoid creature with a hippo head. All three of them looked at the Ent that brought me here and then the Orc in the middle walked forward. Just being near them was giving me goosebumps as every one of them was at least a (Blue) ranked creature. Something big was happening in this ce right now and it was not somewhere I should be. Why was I here and what can I even do in a ce filled with all these beasts?! [ "Oh, stranger of outsidend, we ask for your help." ] A shocked expression clouded my face as I looked up at the Orc with wide-open eyes. "Did... you just talk?" It was awkward even though I knew it was possible. There existed creatures that can talk in variousnguages and many even talked directly in mind without needing words like Celes. Celes and I can talk with our link, but if we practice and grow stronger, we knew we could talk like this with any person with her help. But, it surprised the Orc to see me not getting surprised. [ "It is as Inku said, you are different." ] The orc praised in a surprised voice. It might be surprising for them to see someoneing to such a ce filled with all kinds of dangerous beasts and standing before three enormous creatures and... still be calm. Well, it wasn''t my fault I had a cheat skill like [Dynamic Heart]. I was thinking of all sorts of scenarios and situations right now and even wanted to run away in fear but... I waited. I waited and looked over everything and these powerful creatures that needed my help. What can I even do to help them? And why me? "May I ask what you need my help with?" I was polite and asked genuinely, with all my heart. Seeing as how things go from this point on, I needed to think about everything before I do anything foolish. The Orc looked on the other side towards the hippo-like creature and the older Ent and nodded. They both nodded too and finished assessing me from head to toe. Moving to the other side, I looked at the altar and the creature resting on it. It was a peculiar creature, shining with bright light and on top of everything... it was small. Smaller than even me and still... something as strong as the mother snake, or maybe even more. Once I looked at its form, something almost mesmerized me for three seconds but, it wasn''t that big. As I looked at this creature, a shocked, almost surprised voice entered my mind. [[ Master... that. ]] I could feel her emotions as always, and I knew this was something very surprising to her. This was her first time seeing someone like her, after all. Chapter 90 Forest Family (2) A pure white squirrel was resting on the colorfully decorated altar as white particles escaped out of her body. The squirrel was almost one meter without her tail and with pure white lighting out of its body; it was even easier to guess what this creature was. Something simr to Celes and something that great nature gave birth to. This was a special existence that was not well at all. An [Origin Beast] that was going through a hard time maintaining its existence. It wasn''t dying like Celes, but its existence was fading because of some unknown reason. Fading out of existence would also mean its soul was integrating into nature. But, seeing how it was so slow, it was definite that it wasn''t a normal situation. "What the hell is happening to her?" I asked, turning my head towards the Orc. Celes was nervous right now and I could feel it. Her behavior was normal, as it was her first time seeing someone like her own. But seeing her in this state would definitely make her sad. [ "This is a soul illness that isn''t well known. If you are the unfortunate creature to get caught by it... just the thought of it is devastating." ] He answered with a sad voice as he looked at the squirrel. "A soul illness that can affect a [Origin Beast]?" [ "We possess little knowledge of it. But we know the cure as the master cures it when other beings in this forest fall victim to it." ] The Orc answered, not taking his eyes away from her. "Master? She cured others?" It was surprising to know she was a master of all these beasts, but it was more surprising to know this squeal knew about a cure for something like this. This was a doubtful thing, and this cure was also something that didn''t go well with me. Just then, Celes came out and sat beside the squirrel. [[ Master! Remember that thing you got from the top of that gigantic tree!? ]] Celes suddenly shouted. "What do you mean... oh! That thing?" I was confused, but a light suddenly shed in my eyes and I shouted. But¡­ [ "Oh, mother nature..." ] I heard a sharp gasp and turned around. The Orc was looking at the squirrel... no. He was looking at my Celes. His eyes contained signs of shock and respect. As I looked around, not only the Orc but also the hippo humanoid, old Ent, and many creatures behind them were looking at her in shock. p Even the Ent that brought me here was looking at Celes as if they were looking at the squirrelying on the altar. "What''s... wrong?" I asked awkwardly as I looked at them. I knew Celes was special, but that respectful look in their eyes was more than just a random surprise. [ "Oh, the person of the outsidends... no. Oh great one, forgive our rudeness." ] The orc... bowed his head? And, not only him but all the creatures present bowed their heads respectfully. What the hell was this?! How did my survival journey be ultism?! Why are these powerful beasts praising us?! "The fuck are you all doing?!" I shouted, taking Celes in my hand and going a few steps back in shock. [ "Oh! We didn''t mean to surprise you!" ] The Orc hurriedly apologized and started exining what was going on. This one was more intelligent than I thought. As I listened to him... many questions started popping into my mind. "So, in short, this origin beast squirrel here is your master. As there are very few beings purely born from nature, every such being is highly respected by certain groups of beasts? In particr, Origin Beasts such as your master and Celes who possess affinities with all-natural elements are... worshipped? And only those with an affinity for all-natural elements can get this from great trees or simr?" I repeated as I yed with the ss bottle with a white fluid in my hand. I knew Celes was special, and I loved her but... seeing some beasts worship her... ''No. No, no, no. Nope.'' Those things were a big no-no. Celes was already so shy that she went into her mark the moment this Orc started exining those weird things. His bullshit was intriguing and I would remember it anyway, so thinking too deeply about it would be a waste. This thing was indeed rare and taking it with me at that time was a wise decision. Each great tree or simrrge trees only produced one drop every year and that drop can only be taken by those with all six elemental affinities. We didn''t know the reason, but we can only separate the drop from the tree crystal when you have all elemental affinities. These beasts were finding someone with all elemental affinities for a month and when that Ent saw me, it found their light at the end of the tunnel. The Ent thought I would understand them, so it was ''just'' going to make me unconscious and take me here. But things went wrong for it. And now... we were here. Sitting around their master, talking about such things. We should have treated her first. What are we even discussing these things for?! "Huu... let''s first cure your master. We should talk about other things after that." [ "You will use such precious treasure for us?! Thank you, oh great one!" ] The Orc shouted, and every other beast behind them cheered up. I felt like some prince that was going to wake up a sleeping princess from this atmosphere and it send butterflies to my stomach. For god''s sake, mother nature, they were beasts that we humans killed for some mary gain! Showing such a sight to me was nothing less than a torcher! With tear-filled eyes, I put the small, white, starry, shining liquid on the squirrel. Well, it healed and increased the strength of one''s [Soul]. But, it wasn''t important to me right now. I can get more of it now that I knew such a valuable thing grew on trees. It was maybe wrong of me to think there was someone human like me here, but I wasn''t entirely wrong. There was indeed someone like me here and more special than I thought. This being was sick, and the reason was also the same as what Celes felt. I was still far away from it, but Celes could faintly feel the [Soul Energy]. And right now, for the master squirrel, it was stabilizing and returning to normal, ording to her. We waited and the starry particlesing out of her body stopped and... it returned to normal. The surrounding atmosphere also changed and became very approachable, calm, and happy. With a slow tremble, she started opening her eyes. They were purely light green, and they looked very happy toe back to their home. As this happened, all the beasts on the ground, along with the three besides me, started happily cheering up. With tear-filled eyes, they bend down before their master. I watched all of this as I was still sitting beside the squirrel. With a warm smile on my face, I respectfully greeted the awaking squirrel. "Rise and shine,dy Fern. Your family missed you so, get up~." With a warm smile and eyes that carried sadness, I looked as she fully woke up and set down. Looking around her, she asked in a warm tone. [ "Kyu?" ] Chapter 91 Fern [ "Kyu? Why sad faces everyone~? See, I''m alright, kyu~." ] She asked with a warm smile. A big squirrel, sitting on the altar, smiling at every energy beast like a mother, was something I never thought I would see in my life. A family, arge family made of different species, sizes, and colors, but the same heart. All were happy, and I couldn''t believe it was the same hell I have lived in these past months. She was special, and it wasn''t just her power or outside look, she was special from her heart, too. What would you need to do to be a mother-like figure to hundreds of beasts? What would you have done to a warrior species like this strong Orc, a nt species like those Ent, and that aquatic species like hippo humanoid? It wasn''t just about strength, but also about the character of the master. This was amazing, and I liked how these beasts had a harmonic, warm rtionship with each other. As I was looking at this scene with a warm smile,dy Fern turned towards me. She was also cheerful, and it reminded me of mom... which I couldn''t help with right now. The sole tear that brushed my cheek was warm, warm enough to feel on my already heated body. Seeing this, a small smile spread out on her face and she sighed. Hopping closer to me, she cleared the tears and patted my cheeks with a small smile. [ "Don''t worry, guys. You will reunite with them." ] She said, looking into my eyes. It was a calm touch, and I felt calmer than even with my dynamic heart. This tranquil feeling seemed unreal to me. "Yes..." I knew I would be with them. It wasn''t a question, to begin with. But... the long time away from them was still difficult. With a sigh, I took a step back and watched her up and down. "Are you alright now?" I asked, looking at her bright self. Nothing good woulde out of talking about my parents. [ "Yes~! Thanks to you, I''m perfectly fine, kyu!" ] She jumped on the altar and patted her chest, saying she was ok. She pped her hand and looked at everyone in the room. [ "Ok! Kyu, everyone. Don''t worry and go to sleep. As you can see, kyu, I''m safe now~! I have many things to talk about with my savor~." ] She jumped down from the altar and greeted everyone. p Every beast here was happy and many of them were crying tears of joy. Some baby beasts even went asleep while crying. Even their mothers were worried sick about her. Watching all this, I strangely remember those animated moves from my previous world, but... this was different. Fern was a master, a ruler, a family, a mother figure, and... a pir. A pir supporting all these lives present. They believed her, looked up to her, and loved her. Watching all this made me rethink this ce I called hell. *** Sitting on arge tree branch with Fern, we looked up at the beautiful blue moon and twinkling stars that filled the sky. This magnificent view was something I was seeing for the first time in my life. I could see more stars from here than in my previous home and the moon was somehow more beautiful than normal. It was an extraordinary scene. Sitting beside me, Fern started talking while still looking at the moon. [ "Axion. Would you be my friend?" ] Her genuine tone surprised me, but it was a really tough question to answer. Taking my eyes away from the moon, I looked down and fall into deep thoughts. I never had any real friends. When I was young, I feared losing friends more than anything. After I started ying games, the people I met weren''t my real friends. In my line of work, there weren''t friends or colleagues, but either acquaintances or customers. There was no one I had to call a ''real'' friend. If I were to be friends with someone, I wanted that person to be my ''real'' friend. And, I didn''t know this being that well to let her have my friendship. "No," I answered, looking at her. A sad expression appeared on her face, which created guilt deep in my heart. This was a strange feeling that I knew wasn''t mine genuine feeling but, I somehow couldn''t deny them. This was a strange, genuine sadness that seemed too real to look away from. "What the..." I wanted to understand what was happening, but before I could, Fern flinched. [ "Oh! S-sorry! I didn''t want that..." ] She tried to exin but went into a panic to even talk about anything. She was a mess when she went into a panic like this. "Ok, ok~. Calm down. I''m not angry or anything~." Reassuring her that I was ok, I patted her head, which was just slightly bigger than my hand. On that, she almost blushed and sat down while looking down. It was funny how someone that was almost a ruler, a leader, and a mother figure acted like that. Still looking down, she started exining what that was. [ "As you know, origin beasts are different from normal beasts. Just like Celestine is a , I''m a . Someone like me helps other beings in nature. Just like Celestine has a special and I have a special power that... you just saw. I can be close to anyone very quickly. Stimte positive emotions so that they can endure negative emotions and others believe me quickly. Everyone that was with us today has been part of my family. I couldn''t help them in physical matters, but I can help them emotionally. It''s... a useless ability, but everyone is still grateful to me, so I also believe in everyone. Earlier... I thought I can help you when you were remembering those special to you and holding back your tears and pain. But... just like right now, looks like my ability doesn''t work on you like everyone." ] She was once again sad while saying her ability was useless, which was not true at all! "Look here, Fern. No ability is useless. And yours is something very special," I said and patted her head once again. Her ability to control emotions¡­ was something really unbelievable. Imagine someone who can make you happy or ease your pain even though you are having emotional breakdowns, psychological problems, or stress disorders. If given a chance, she could cure many creatures, mostly humans, suffering from mental problems. This was a phenomenal ability and I might have loved to have her use it, but... not for the pain of not being able to see my family. It was my pain and also my motivation, my idea, and my short-term goal. She was a good person and I can feel her sincerity. Not the one that her ability was showing, but her real self. I could tell with my heart... she was safe. "You know what Fern, let''s be friends~," I smiled and extended my hand for a handshake. She had friends, family, and people to look after, but I knew she didn''t have a genuine friend. So, she can be my first true friend, and I can be hers. Chapter 92 First Friend Looking at me with her confused dark green eyes, she asked in a cracking voice, [ "You... will?" ]. She hade back to her normal, happy self just after hearing that, and a smile was stered on her face. That sudden change of reaction of this big, cute squirrel was... unique. And also funny. "Yes. We should be friends." I repeated and pointed at my hand. She was confused but awkwardly grabbed it with her hands, which were just a bit smaller than mine. I smiled and shook it. It was good to see her reaction to this new form of greeting. She had chubby cheeks, and it was cute to have a friend like her. But... I didn''t know how long I would be with my first genuine friend. As if to read my thoughts, she spoke in a mncholy voice. [ "Don''t worry. I can''t stop you, anyway. I have a family to look after and you... have a family to go to." ] My little friend was wise. She knew I can''t stay here for much longer even if I wanted to. It was good so I can rest here for today and maybe... tomorrow too, but not longer than that. Fern and I talked about ourselves as the night passed. Celes also came out and greeted Fern. Fern was born right here where three gigantic trees gathered as one. As an origin beast, she had some instinctive knowledge about this world and, more precisely, this forest and her duty and the ''goal'' as a helper. When she was first born here, she met different small creatures, and after a long time; she found an Orc in devastating pain. Some other powerful creature attacked him and he was almost on the verge of death. She thankfully saved him with the help of all the smaller beasts and helped him heal himself. That Orc was the same one we met earlier. She also saved the hippo when it was attacked by an Ent, and they both were in a bloody fight. With the help of Gaar, the Orc, they resolved this fight between them and made them part of their family. They were the hippo humanoid and older Ent I saw earlier. The Ent that used [Mana Restriction] was a special case. It was his special [Innate-skill] that he was born with. In human age, he would be the same age as an infant, meaning he was a child. She was happy and excited when she told us about how she met everyone and how they followed her, despite her strong denial. Fern was more than a hundred years old but whenpared to a human, she would be even younger than me. Unlike Celes, whose natural lifespan wasn''t even a year, most other origin beasts lived longer than the mostmon species in this world. After her jumping and dancing story, it was my turn. ,m I didn''t want to recall the events of those horrible times but, I can say them to her. It wasn''t entirely because of her ability, but also because I wanted to tell her. I talked, but I didn''t cry. There was just... longing. And resentment. There were still some matters that I never talked about the ''ident'' but I knew, aside from me, only dad knew what had happened that day. Though I didn''t cry, both of them were crying. [[ Master~! Hick! Don''t worry~. I. Hick! ]] Celes was reacting a bit too sensitive, as she can feel all the emotions that I felt. It was just like her. But, on the other hand, Fern was more... loud? [ "E-eon... oh, poor soul! How cruel!!! Those... bastards!" ] Most of what she was saying didn''t make any sense at all. But, I did get some idea from her emotional look. Two little cry babies continued their non-melodious song of agony as the slow night beautifully passed. *** Inside a spacious room like a hole inside a tree, I open my eyes at the gentle, warm touch of the sunlight. Slowly waking up, I looked around me. A chubby squirrel, a bit shorter than me, was sleeping like a baby. I smiled as I looked at her and stretched my body. Moving her inside was a bit difficult, but this ''room'' was just behind the branch we were sitting, so it was... ok. This was the first time night I had slept at night so peacefully. This was a safe and nice ce, and many creatures were protecting this area. With such a big family, not even an (Indigo) ranked beast could do anything to this ce. Getting up, I walked outside and stood on a tform-like tree branch. The sun was rising just a bit other way and I could see the trees lower than the one I was standing on. This tree was almost like a house and this ''room'' was one of the many used by different beasts. There were stairs on the tree trunk so others can climb the tree safely. These three trees were connected and functioned as one entity. At its heart, Fern was the one that controlled and protected everything here. She couldn''t travel much far, but the area she could reach was considerable, and many beasts followed her there. There were other powerful beasts and groups of beasts that followed other strong beasts, but they avoided shing with each other and ruled their designated territories. Though there were wars between these groups for more space and sometimes, just to prove strength, they were a rare urrence. Fern''s influence was great and other strong beasts avoided any type of conflict as they knew the meaning of her existence. If she were to perish back then, many things might have changed in this area of the forest. Many beasts would have been killed and many wars might have been waged just to take the territories owned by this group. Though she had three (Blue) ranked creatures following her... the opponents weren''t something small. There were manyrge powerful forces in this forest that I, fortunately, hadn''t encountered. There were even (Indigo) and... (Purple) ranked creatures, but those beings were something very different thing than normal beasts. Many had higher intelligencepared to humans, and many could produce normal as well as stone weapons with trees and rocks. And this was only about the area around thiske. The other side of theke was unknown territory to all these creatures. No one knew what was there past that great willow. All they knew was there was a dark forest, always clouded by darkness. But my destination, for the time being, was the great willow. [ "Eon?" ] I heard a low voice and turned around... just to see a big squirrel getting up from her long sleep. "Good morning, friend~," I greeted my friend with a warm smile. This strangely excited me. It was also my first time saying something like this. I did greet Celes every day, but we were more than just friends. Chapter 93 Thank You... Gifts? Climbing down the stairs, the open area between three trees entered my field of vision. I thought I could do some good training for the day here, but... what is this? Just like yesterday, many beasts were gathered here, and it looked like they were waiting here for a long time for something. And as soon as I descended the wooden stairs, their eyes glowed, and they started gathering around the stairs. Every one of them had a respectful light in their eyes, despite being normal and rare energy beasts. They were gathered there as if greeting a celebrity or an important figure. Looking at all this, I took a step back and stood quietly on the stairs. I could understand their emotions and that they were thankful to me save their mama but, attacking me first thing in the morning was something else... There were many creatures in this crowd. From non-ranked beasts like small rats, birds, and insects to gigantic creatures of different ranks. There were almost 6 (Yellow) ranked beasts, 12 (Orange), 21 (Red) and One (Green) ranked Ent that brought me here, named Inku. The three elder beasts, Gaar the Orc, Perry the Hippo, and Ailji the old Ent. Gaar the Orc stepped forward and shouted in a heavy voice. [ "Slow down everyone!" ] This was his skill called [Mana Speech] and it was a kinda universal speech for beings that could use Mana. It was a special skill, so very few energy beasts could use this. I still can''t believe I was in the same room as all these beasts and was still alive. Like hell¡­ this was overwhelming! This was strange and it would be hard for me to get ustomed to this kinda thing ever. I looked at Gaar with a strange look. He was the same as yesterday, but there was a softness in his eyes as he looked at me. I watched as everyone cleared a path for me to the center where a table was set with... food? A dining table with fresh fruits, nts, and herbs. Some of them were actually great and rare things with Mana and some were as rare as that blood-drinking flower. Walking toward Gaar and the other two elders, I asked with a confused look on my face. "What... are all these?" On my silly question, a bright smile appeared on his face. [ "Everyone wanted to show their thanks, so they prepared these things." ] His cheerful reply made me fall into another confused state. All things considered, the table before me was almost twelve meters in radius and they filled it like a mountain. "How can I..." I wanted to say something like how I would store these things, but he cut me off midsentence. [ "We sincerely ask you to ept them. It''s just a small gift from them and even we three have something. We would be thrilled if you could ept these." ] "But..." Again, I wasn''t saying no to any of this. I just didn''t know how I would store them. It would take a long time to store all this, and I still had my training to do in thisfortable ce. But this time, another voice interrupted me. [ "Eon. I agree with them too. I, as your friend, request you to ept those things. They will be more useful to them than us anyway.~" ] Fern walked down and stood where I was standing while surrounded by all these beasts. All the beasts present were surprised and joyous to see her, and she also greeted them with a warm smile. After some time of greeting, she walked toward me and jumped on the table filled with all these things. [ "If you can''t store them all, we can search for a storage skill too." ] She wanted to continue, but I cut her off and hurriedly tried to finish my sentence that I was being misunderstood for a long time. "I said I will ept them. And I already have the skill to store everything!" I shouted and sat down at the table beside her. In an instant, joyous shouts of beasts filled the area and everyone ran towards us and gathered around. It was once again a strange thing to witness. [ "I''m d to hear that. So, we three should be the first to present our gifts. Is that okay everyone~?" ] There was a strange, angry silence for a brief second that vanished instantly. With a small nod, the Orc stepped forward and started talking with great joy. Gaar was taking a lead like he was special to Fern. Everyone respected them so no one said anything, but they were still sad. ''Why the hell am I being treated like some higher being here? Gifts for saving my friend were ok but¡­ but this level of respect and aplishment is a different story.'' I was feeling like the high-ranking religious people here, but thanks to my damn heart, my thoughts were still straight. There was still anticipation in my eyes. What gifts might a high-ranking beast such as them give to someone like me? Looking at Gaar, I blinked, and he started speaking. [ "I don''t know if you have something like this but... I think this might be a great help for you." ] He took out a blue-colored crystal, and my eyes widened in surprise. "A... [Skill stone]?" It was something too valuable to refuse. A skill would be very useful as I went ahead. A powerful attack or defense skill would be extremely useful in dangerous situations. [ "Yes~. And... it''s called [Appraisal]. With this, you can know about things you do not know!" ] "Gasp?!" A... shocked gasp escaped my mouth as I heard that. [Appraisal] A special skill that very few creatures in this world are born with. It''s different from normal heritage skills ormon skills of a species. It''s a skill that''s more like [Mana Restriction] the Ent who brought me here had. It was a rare skill and in the form of magic, (Appraisal) was a freaking (tier-8) magic. Appraisal skills also cost less mana than most of the spells of their rank, so even if it was a higher rank skill, it would consume as less Mana as my [Quickstep]. How can I believe this was an appraisal skill, as they said? Well, their family was enormous and there was no way this intelligent orc would say something he wasn''t sure of. Handing me the skill stone, he took a step back. [ "So you''re giving that away, huh? After holding onto it like that... you''re finally getting over it." ] Fern said with a happy, nostalgic look in her eyes. The other two elders and some beasts had a sad reaction, too. I didn''t go too deep and channeled some Mana into the crystal and broke it. It was mine now and learning it as soon as possible was the best thing to do. It was safe and my normally beating heart confirmed this. We watched as the crystal shattered into small pieces and then went up in the air before me. With a quick movement, they gathered and shrunk and then became two blue drops of fluid. The drops fall into my eyes, and I felt a warm sensation in them. It was like my eyes were melting and fresh eyes were being created in their ce. This was different from when I learned the [Quickstep]. I could feel this was a high-ranking skill than normal and from the color of the crystal, it could be (Blue) rank. I still didn''t know if I can handle such high-ranking skills but I believed my heart this time too. And they all knew about these skills more than I did as a human, so I can believe them. Time passed and after what felt like a day, my eyes returned to normal. Opening my normal eyes, I looked around the room. Everyone was still the same like not even a minute has passed. Looking around, I saw everyone looking back at me with excited eyes. Fern tapped my shoulder beside me and asked in an excited voice. [ "How''s it?! Let''s try using it~!" ] She was more excited than me so I called out my status window to confirm the skill. ''Status window.'' Chapter 94 Appraisal ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 7 Strength: 53 Dexterity: 55 Stamina: 59 Magic Power: 74 Intelligence: 76 Luck: 43 Charm: 39 [Skills: Energy Cirction, Quickstep, Appraisal] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Intermediate Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) ============ I looked at my status window with a bit of a surprised look. My stats had increased in such a short time that it seemed unreal. The increase wasn''t that great, but it was still unreal. Every stat increase showed that I had grown stronger than my previous self. My fight with the chibi ninjas and meeting with the [Golden Deer] might be the reason for these changes, but the greatest change that put a smile on my face was something new in my skill window. This was probably one of the most important skills for me if I wanted to survive in this forest. Not only can I check what type of beast was before me, but I can also see their stats and skills. Aside from that, I can check most of the nts, flowers, herbs, and poisons that I gathered until now. These were some of the rarest skills in this world and the skill itself is special. When used, it would send a certain frequency or energy to the target. The energy would scan the target and then the skill would disy the gathered data in the form of text. This skill used the human brain as some supeputer to process all these things and the nervous system of the whole body would safely back the process. So, even though this skill was rted to the eyes, it made the total body work without even the user''s knowledge. The results would also somewhat depend on the knowledge one possesses. This was something that worked with the partial help of nature. This skill was special, so just having this increased your worth by many folds. A smile appeared on my face and I picked up a blue flower from the table. I knew nothing about this one, so I didn''t know what the results would be like. [ "How is that~!" ] Fern was more excited than me for some unknown reason. Shaking my head, I used this special skill for the first time. [Appraisal] ============ [Terndrink] -A good herb filled with Mana. -Upon consumption, partially increase Mana. -The concentration of Mana is not that extreme, so anyone can consume it. ============ "Wow!" I shouted in excitement. This skill told me the name and partial function of this herb. It was amazing to just know it was a good herb, but knowing more uses like anyone could consume it was a good thing. [ "This is great right~! Her skill would be the same as her, amazing..." ] Fern was excited but, while talking about this individual, her eyes softened quite a bit. "Yes. This is a wonderful thing. Thank you, Gaar. You too, Fern." I responded in a soft voice. Whoever they were talking about must be an amazing person. With a sigh, I looked at Fern. ''Appraisal.'' --Screech! "Ouch!" A sharp voice entered my mind... as I thought. [ "Hmm...? Eon? Did something happen?" ] Fern asked and tilted her head in confusion. It was sudden, so others were also looking at me with confused eyes. "Oh, no. Nothing." I knew she wouldn''t know even if I used this skill on her. The origin beasts like her and stronger beings of (Indigo) rank have special bodies and skills to possibly detect the use of skills like this on them. Thanks to her special energy body, Fern would unconsciously reflect the foreign energy from others. After finishing my small experiment, I looked at the actual targets of my curiosity. The three elders are strong, (Blue) ranked beasts. I haven''t fought against something like them and I knew I wouldn''t win even if I went up against them. I wasn''t nearly strong enough to go against a (Green) ranked beast. They were even further away in that line. Looking at them all at once, I calmed my excited heart. ''Appraisal.'' ============ Race: Green Forest Orc Strength: 142 Dexterity: 111 Stamina: 102 Magic Power: 135 Intelligence: 96 [Skills: Mana Body, Mana Speech, Energy punch, Earth Smash, Blue Berserk, Battle calmness] ============ * ============ Race: River Hippoman Strength: 104 Dexterity: 131 Stamina: 124 Magic Power: 141 Intelligence: 87 [Skills: Jet Swim, Hyper movements, Aqua shower, Pain Bite, Aqua enhancements] ============ * ============ Race: Elder Spirit Ent Strength: 112 Dexterity: 121 Stamina: 105 Magic Power: 142 Intelligence: 81 [Skills: Wind Spirit Summoning, Spirit Unleash, Tree spikes, Self Control] ============ * "Holy mother of goblins..." An audible gasp escaped my mouth, and I saw all three elder beasts in a new light. If we say every stat value increased threefolds after crossing a hundred¡­ I was... fortunate. If I were to fight something like them, only death would await me. A silent, painless death. Their one attack skill would be enough to kill me¡­ obliterate me. On top of all, we could consider them higher grades in (Blue) rank. They were strong, so strong that even if I were to use everything on me, they would overwhelm me. An icy shiver run down my spine as I looked at them with wide eyes. Thankfully, my heart was normal, so I was able to regain myposure. [ "Eon, you are my friend. It means that you are friends of all the beasts here." ] Fern patted my shoulder and smiled. Everyone present nodded their heads in agreement and Gaar the Orc smiled with his white, long teeth. ''Appraisal is an eye-opener...'' My knowledge of high-ranking beasts was limited, but now... I was sure I had to train much more to get strong enough to at least run from them. "Yes, I know." I was d to meet Fern in this kind of situation, but if we were to be enemies, I was sure of my sudden death. "Huuup!" The hippo man, a humanoid version of a hippo species that mainly lived near rivers, spoke up with a prideful look in his eyes. Tapping his finely clothed chest, he stepped forward. I was still surprised that there were groups of beasts here that could make clothing. This was also almost the same as normal human clothing but, actually a better and morefortable version. The elder Ent followed behind the hippo and stood beside him. They both looked at each other and... red deep into each other''s eyes. Both of them talked with their eyes and the other one understood. This was... kind of romantic? Like, think how you would talk with your beloved through mere eye contact. A funny smile painted on my smile and their argument came to an end with both of them turning their enormous heads to the other side. A chuckle escaped from me, but fortunately, they two didn''t notice it. [ "Ok, ok~. I know you are happy I''m ok but, but we aren''tpeting for who''s gift is best~!" ] Fern said with her bright, cheerful voice. She had a warm look on her face as if looking at two children fighting to impress mom. I shook my head and looked forward to what the other (Blue) ranked beasts have prepared as a ''gift''. Chapter 95 Amazing! There were many creatures that were huge in this ce right now and this hippo and Ent couple were some of the biggest ones here. The hippo was five meters, and the Ent was around five and a half meters tall. It was still strange that I was totally fine before such strong and ferocious-looking beasts. But, it was still ok. I know my heart and all these creatures in these open hall-like grounds. They were good beasts and... ''Good beasts? Wow... ''good'' beasts.'' Iughed internally at my own thoughts and looked at the bright blue oyster shell the hippo had held before me. The hippo had a prideful expression and many of the beasts, including Fern and Gaar, were surprised to see this thing. I didn''t follow their exaggerated reaction and checked the thing with my own eyes. ''Appraisal.'' ============ -An extremely rare natural organism that produces a rare gem . -The gem holds a miraculous ability to increase the ability to handle water attributes significantly. -The Oyster shell increases the Mana pool by 10% when consumed but the user has to have the high mental fortitude to absorb it. ============ "What the...?" Increase the ability to handle water attribute? ''This thing is a treasure?!'' My eyes widened in surprise. Things like this were actually called . Not as just metaphors, but as actual treasures. If something could increase your ability to handle a fundamental element, then it won''t just decrease the difficulty, it would decrease Mana, willpower, and concentration consumption, too! To give such a thing as a gift was already a huge thing. ''But... does this really have the pearl?'' epting the oyster shell, which would be helpful in itself, I opened the loose shell. Everyone watched as a sea blue light escaped the shell, and our eyes glowed in blue. [ "Parry... did you dive into theke to get this?" ] Gaar asked with a bit of a surprised look on his face. It was surprising, but he wasn''t that shocked or anything, as he also understood that the hippo can actually do that. [ "Parry~? Why would you even go there? You know we don''t go in their territory~? ] Fern''s eyes were shining as she looked at the gem. She looked surprised to see something after a long time. "Huuuuuup!" Parry patted his chest in triumph and it seemed she said something funny. ''This hippo is female... don''t me me, I didn''t know earlier.'' Her attitude was like: ''what could those fuckers do?'' It was surprising to see Fern happy with behavior like this, meaning she wasn''t just a peace-loving mammy squirrel. She could go up against opponents that wouldn''t understand through words or threaten her family. ''If anything, she would be thest being I want to go up against.'' In a fight, imagine you start feeling unbearable pain, sorrow, grief, hunger, thrust, or any kind of emotion. She could do that, on a veryrge scale at that. But, I locked my eyes on this beautiful sea blue pearl. ''Appraisal.'' ============ -The pearl holds the ability to increase the ability to handle water attributes significantly. -increases the Mana pool by 20% when used as an essory. -If ingested by someone with extreme mental fortitude, the person achieves the skill [Aqua breathing]. ============ "Wow... like, wow~. I get a skill if I swallow this?" I was admiring the gift, but a horrified voice entered my ear just beside me. [ "No! Don''t even think about eating this! Not even these three can endure the highly condensed energy!" ] Fern smacked my shoulder with her small hand and looked straight into my eyes with her beautiful green eyes. It was my first time seeing such a shocked reaction from her. [ "Master is right. One needs not only a higher mind but a body too. It would be bearable only to (Indigo) and higher-level beasts." ] Gaar was worried, and his exnation was more understandable than Fern''s. "Well... I wasn''t actually going to do something like that, but thanks anyway. Thank you, Perry, for such an amazing gift~!" It was just amazing how someone can just give out something like this to someone. It showed the importance Fern held to each one of them. She was happy too, so I also smiled and nodded happily at Perry, the hippo. "Treeeeet!" From behind his colossal figure, Ailji the Ent shouted in disagreement. Stomping his tree trunk-like legs, he came before us and pushed Perry behind him. "Huuup?!" He shouted in confusion as if saying: ''what''s left to see now?'' [ "No fighting, you two~!" ] Fern shouted and jumped down. Scolding them for three whole minutes, she came back andid down beside me. It was amazing to see a squirrel scolding and giant tree-like figure and a ferocious hippo. And they both even got embarrassed, as if their mom had scolded them in front of everyone. Everyone here was also enjoying this small show, some of them taking out barriers and fruits for enjoyment. The show ended, and everything quieted down. "Huuuuup," Perry said, something like a forced apology. "Treeeeet." Ailji also apologized, but both their gazes were saying something like: ''We will see that.'' Walking toward me, the Ent took out something from the hollow part of the tree-like body. A beautifully arched tree branch, decorated with three crystal-like flowers and three intertwined white strings. "Is that really...?" A shocked gasp escaped my closed mouth as I looked at this with wide-open eyes. I could feel Mana from this, an exorbitant amount of it. The red, blue, and green flowers that were the same as ice crystals exuded fire, water, and wind elemental Mana. Even the three finely twisted strings looked like professional work. [ "I''m speechless you would personally do something for someone else, Ail. This is marvelous work~!" ] Fern showered him with genuine praise. "Magnificent..." I still can''t take my eyes away from this piece of art. ''Appraisal.'' ============ -A bow crafted by an elder Ent with a piece of Mana branch as the base. -Three elemental flowers increase the stability of Mana and the storage capacity of ambient Mana. -Contains a one-time use spell (Mana st) that sacrifices every bit of Mana from the Core. ============ It was surprising to see these game-like introductions, but this was indeed a very special thing. A crafted bow... no. A well-crafted magic bow with the core as a (Mana branch). It was the same thing that dad made his white wand with. This bow before me, however, was significantly better than his wand. It contained more Mana, had more stability of elements, and even had three elemental flowers. They were rare things andbined as one; they had some energy like the vampire flower I got after killing the nt monsters. This was something I needed the most at this moment. A good bow to rece my old one. Though it was good and I could use it for a good time, it was not for someone who was at (tier-2). This new one was more powerful than the current one. Seeing my joyous reaction, Fern waved her tail in excitement. "Huuup!" Perry turned his head away in frustration. A creepy smirk appeared on this tree-faced creature as he saw this reaction. With a small chuckle, I took the bow from the big, wooden hands of Ailji the Ent. Chapter 96 Dinner? A sudden surge of power. Dense Mana that seemed as if it was always a part of me. The rough texture of its body. It''s thin, though, and smooth strings that were finely intertwined with significant force. They decorate the green body with three colorful flowers. Red gathered hot particles of fire, Blue gathered cool particles of water, and green gathered sharp particles of wind. As I felt the fine bow, I got new ideas on how I can improve my archery as well as my spells. "Thanks, Ailji! You too Gaar and Perry! I am grateful for your amazing gifts!" I shouted, continuing to feel this excellent piece of craftsmanship. It was good, not best, but good. It had flowed in its stability and energy distribution and some of them can''t be fixed even if I wanted to. I can use this, but not after (tier-4). Well, it wasn''t a problem, as this was also a life-saving bow. In case of an extreme emergency, I can kill the opponent with its only skill that created a super-powerful explosion using all of its core''s power. ''That would be a great thing.'' Smiling brightly, I put it away in the white crack. And as soon as I did that, other beasts surged forward to say their thanks. Overwhelming me with their excited and ''happy'' voice, this gift offering indeed continued for the whole day. *** [ "Tomorrow morning?" ] It was almost sunset when we finished our little gifting ceremony. I didn''t know if it was lucky or just blessed, but I had definitely gained many resources in just a span of two days. From the vampire flower, skill stone from chibi ninja, and gift from golden deer to all the gifts I received after just saving my dear friend. I was thankful to her and every beast here for giving me so many precious things. If I can, I might have stayed here for a bit longer. But, I had to reach the willow tree on the other side, cross the dark forest and escape from this great forest. This was an arduous task, and I knew I can''t reach any new realm of strength in a short amount of time. I had a long way to go and there were still many obstacles I had to cross. If I could, I wanted to live with her for a long time and see the entire forest from her point of view. She was a leader and I could research the unknown beasts in this great forest. I wanted to... but my desire to see my parents again once again was greater than any of those things. Looking at her with a sad smile and exhausted face, I started talking. "Fern. You are my first real friend. Nothing will change this fact. If things were different and I wasn''t in this situation, I might have just stayed with you here. I would have loved nothing more than to live with my friend in this beautiful ce. But... you know. I have to march forward." I paused and caressed her big head. I liked ying with her head and she, too, melted on my gentle touch, like a big squirrel. It was amazing to see her melt like that, but there was still grief in those eyes. "But... I have to go back and I know it won''t be easy. There will be difficulties and maybe... I might die-" With a sharp voice and real angry aura, she cut me off. [ "Don''t you dare say that!" ] Her eyes were furious, and my hand was still on her head. Forgetting about that horrible pressure and sorrowful surrounding atmosphere that was more dangerous than I thought was possible, I slid my hand onto her furry neck. [ "No, no not there. Oh~. Oh! Yes~! Ah! Just like that..." ] Her words were something that one can misunderstand, but her melted expression and the fallen big body were now looking like a cat. "I will do my best, my lovely friend. But... even I haven''t seen tomorrow." Just like my previous life, where I didn''t know if I will live or die the other day... I know nothing about what tomorrow had for me. It was always uncertain, and I knew full well how weak I was in this horrible ce. My point of view has changed these past few days, but this hell was still hell in my eyes. [ "Eon... I don''t have a shy gift or anything like that but, I will always be here. I will always be your friend and every member of my family would consider you as one of us. I know how hard this might be; I know and I''m helpless in this situation but... If fate ever allows it and we can meet again in different, positive circumstances, I want you to stay with me, with us. This part of the forest, this family of mine will always wee you, my savior and eternal friend, with open arms." ] Her voice was stern and I could also feel the sorrow in those big, forest green eyes. "Until fate allows it..." I mumbled under my breath and continued ying with her soft fur. "Fern. I think we will meet again. Maybe in this very forest. If I ever get the chance... or curse, to be here again, I wille here." I promised and took my hand away. [ "You better keep your promise~!" ] She shouted and jumped on myp. "What do you say? Wanna taste my cooking?" I asked with a genuine curiosity as this might be thest time we were together. [ "Cooking?" ] She asked with bright, shining eyes. I knew she would like it and there was a good chance that she would remember those for a long time. I loved looking, and I had told her this fact. Now that I was in a ce where I had an abundance of space, ingredients, and resources for cooking, I had to do something to show my thanks for their splendid gifts and care. I was happy there were many things that I could make and there was a good enough ce to cook. I also didn''t have to worry about all the things that I feared at the night. I can freely cook here, however, and whatever I wanted. No beast was fierce here, nothing could harm me when I was here and I was happy that there was such a great ce to set arge temporary kitchen if others helped me. I knew that even though they were beasts, many of them loved cooked food, and many of them were skilled cooks in this enormous family. From hunting beasts for food and preparing, everything was a big task, but if the big three helped me with some matters, I can even present them with my first ever banquet. Looking at her with a warm smile, I started walking down the stairs. [ "You will cook~!? For me?" ] Her eyes were still shining and she still couldn''t believe her ears. With a mysterious smirk on my face, I reached the ground. *** [ "Master Axion. We brought everything you asked for!" ] With an excited look on his face, Gaar showed me therge open kitchen area they had set in just an hour. With big pots made of beast shells or simr things and wooden utensils that I could use for all the ingredients that they could find. From fruits, flowers, and herbs to different big cuts of meat. This was something amazing, and I was shocked by Gaar''s ability to instruct everyone so skillfully. Perry had taken care of the meat, and Ailji had taken care of all the fruits and herbs. If it was before, I was sure I couldn''t do anything with the things I had no idea about. But now that I had my appraisal skill, I knew I can find out most of the things about the ingredients they had brought with them. It was fascinating, and new ideas were popping into my head. I had a veryrge number of customers to feed and I was sure this will be one of my rarest experiences in this life. "Thanks, Gaar, let''s look at what I can make the best of these." [ "WE should be the one to thank you, master Axion." ] I sighed as I looked at his bright smile. Gaar was someone that lived in an Orc vige and didn''t have a special meal for a long time. ''Don''t worry. I will make things that will blow your mind!'' I thought as I got into this new set kitchen. Chapter 97 My Friend Eon. The same orange banana-like fruits that I have with me. An orange-like fruit that almost tastes like carrots. A tomato! ''Now, this is a wonderful find!'' A green fruit that looked like an egg had some juices and texture like a tomato. Just with this, I can think of many dishes that would be perfect for a burger and fries menu. There was a tough thing that looked like something out of a fairy tale, as it was a glowing golden berry, but it was cocoa! This was something that I would go after without hesitation, even in this hell. "Chocte!" I shouted as I looked at the familiar brown surface inside of this golden fruit. This surprised everyone around me as they were working on minor tasks that I gave them. It was something of a chocte variation of this world. I knew if we had cocoa, I can make ice cream. There was no need for the magic devices here. I had beasts that could spin those containers and maintain the temperature of the pot at the same time. Looking at this, the smile on my face widened even more. Not only they but even I would taste my favorite ice cream after a long time. So, the main menu was decided. Fries with a burger of ck bread which was made from a wheat-like herb that grew by thekeside on the western end. Though I could have made something more interesting for the main menu, this was perfect, easy, and could be eaten by anyone. It would be an outstanding thing but, there were many other things I had to prepare here. The main menu wasn''t the only thing. I had to create many things for different beasts and many of them preferred particr vors, textures, and types. There was a lot of work to do here, and I was the head chef of this kitchen. ''Reminds me of those old days...'' I sighed, as there was no time to remember that past. "Ok, everyone! Let''s make something that will blow everyone''s minds!" -wowowowowo. With the cheers of different beasts, I started my perfect cooking ne. There was a lot of work, and it would be midnight when we finish these things. ''So much work, so much excitement.'' *** Looking at the hectic kitchen that was set very quickly on Eon''s wish to cook for everyone, I sighed. I didn''t know there would be a day I would have a real friend. A friend who was my friend because he wanted to, not because of that weird ability that I had. All my life, I had helped the creatures of nature, punished those who defiedws and were a threat to it, and in that process, created a big family. I was just a helper in this nature, so I couldn''t do much aside from help. But, to those I helped, it was something more than just help. They managed to escape from the great fears, sorrow, grief, and pain and even managed toe back from critical conditions. They praised me as some master, but deep down, I was like a mother to them. ''A mother that''s too young to be right every time.'' Even after hundreds of years, I wasn''t a perfect leader. But... I was d to be an imperfect mother. A good mother to all those hundreds of beasts that unconditionally followed me just because I did my job. Eon was the first and only being that could resist my ability. I was shocked for a moment, but then... I was overjoyed. Finally, finally, I had met someone that might be my friend. Not because of the ability I was born with, but because he wanted to be friends with me. He was my savior that saved not only my life but also the lives of many that lived in these areas with me. It was difficult for him, but he stayed with us. He made me his friend, his first real friend. He told me about himself, and I was happy to tell him about my insignificant life. He was already an amazing person to have the with him when we needed it. My illness was an unnatural urrence and something that shouldn''t have happened to me in the first ce, but... it did. If not for Eon, I might have passed away, and... the consequences might have been dire. But he was there, and it saved me. I knew I was special... even among other helpers. I was special, and I knew I can do good things with my ability. There was nothing more joyous for me than helping someone, but the one who helped me... was the only one I can''t help. Not this time, in this matter at least. He was a great person, and I loved how he knew how I liked to be rubbed. ''Ah~. That was a good job. He knew how to use those small fingers very well.'' I stopped hugging my tail and jumped down from the table. Eon was going to make dinner for all of us and from his vivid stories, I knew he was... exceptional. Those things that he called icm zream and verter, sounded mouth-wateringst night. And they were the very reason I dreamed weird things. Now, ording to him, he was going to make those very things. A fabulous aroma sted from forward as soon as the lid of the big pot opened. A river of water materialized in my mouth, but I barely managed to control that stupid thing. I didn''t need to eat anything but I can eat anything if I wanted to. I had tried everything made by my family, and it was a diverse range of food. From raw to cooked, I had eaten many things but, nothing in this forest could give such a fabulous smell. And... it was still not finished. He was still preparing, making, andmanding everyone who followed him perfectly. His way of instructing everyone was like Gaar''s, but he was way more skilled in it than Gaar. It was so natural that it seemed like he had a significant amount of experience in it. Simplemands, easy instructions that Gaar could trante easily, and on top of all, those smallughing moments. It was like they knew him for a long time and had worked with him like that many times already. Something that I could only do thanks to my ability, he was doing without any effort at all. "Truly special~." Cheering his great skills with a bright smile on my face, I walked towards the other side to check the special thing. Ailji and Perry were working together with a pot of their own size. In this pot, there was arge amount of milk that they gathered from (Yellow cows). They lived inrge numbers, and their milk was something that some beasts from my family loved. They would trade some herbs and grass with them in exchange for milk. Ailji had summoned his wind spirits and Perry was using his water skill to produce icy cold water. These two fools were exceptionally focused on their work, not even bothering with their eternal petty dispute. It was a sight to behold for a mother like me, and it made me want to thank Eon. Their focus was amazing and the teamwork they showed was also amazing. The shouts from Gaar that carried Eon''s instructions were also precise as if he knew when they would be done. The sweet but blended smelling from the big pot was different from the other side, but... it was different. They moved the big pot with some different small pots that already contained different things in them. Though it was fun to watch, it was confusing, and I didn''t understand much about this. So... I just went back to take a nap. They would be done shortly... and I can''t wait to taste those amazing, fancy things~! Chapter 98 Why Now?! "Wake up, sleepyhead~." Whispering in her ears I tickled her neck. [ "Ah~. No. Five minutes. Kyu~! N-no, yes, right there. Hmmm~. Wow~! ...hm? Oi! Don''t stop... do me more!" ] She liked these tickles, and I enjoyed teasing her. [[ Fern makes weird noises~! ]] Celes chuckled as she set on my head. "No five minutes. Everyone is waiting! Let''s go~!" With a wide smirk on my face, I lifted this big squirrel. All things considered, she was heavy. A heavy, chubby, pure white squirrel. [ "Three minutes?" ] She asked with innocent, sparkling eyes. "I can but, don''t you want to eat those burgers you craved so much?" My smirk deepened as I said that. And, as expected, her eyes widened in surprise, like she just remembered what I was saying. She jumped and ran forward, towards the center where everything was set up. [[ Hehehe... ]] Celesughed, and I shook my head. These small moments of life were something I wished I can record. Well, technically, I am recording all of these as I can''t forget them even if I wanted to. Sometimes, remembering everything is a curse. But, it was also a blessing, so I wasn''tining. "Oi! Wait for me!" Shouting loudly, I ran behind her. *** I made Brown buns with wheat-like nts that grew on thekeside ins, and meat that was gathered from different beasts. Milk from the cow-like creature I did not know about. Tomato sauce, many fruits, juices, stakes, and many raw dishes. The two Ents served everything, and the decorations around were amazing. It was so good that it didn''t seem like beasts had decorated these for beasts. We gathered around this center, everyone was looking at us. Fern, Gaar, Perry, Ailji, and I were standing there with Celes on my head. It waste at night, and things were ready to start. p This, right now, was something like a speech from the chief guest, which was, without a doubt, my poor self. "Well, there isn''t much to talk about, everyone," I said in a bit hesitant voice. Gaar was tranting my words, but I could feel it. They were disappointed, but I wasn''t finished. "Oh, beasts of this great forest and family of my dear friend." I addressed them in a loud voice. Their eyes grew up as they heard me say something like that. But Fern''s expression was a bit angry. "I know, I know that you''re all grateful to me for saving your mother like a master that you follow with all your might. I know she said I, too, am part of this great family, and I don''t deny it." Hearing that, her expression softened a bit. "But I don''t have the bond you all have with her. Yes, I have a special bond with her as her friend, but that doesn''t make me part of your family." A bit disappointed sigh escaped her chubby mouth as she heard that. "But I''m thankful for each one of you. To show me such a great side of this hell-like forest and to let me have such a great person as my first friend. She''s amazing in many ways and she is an outstanding leader. She cherishes you all with all her heart so... I would like to selfishly ask you all to protect her. I would be thankful for all of you." With that, I took a step back and got on my knees before the tearful squirrel that was barely holding her tears. Brushing them with a gentle touch, I smiled at her warmly. Behind me, a st of beast cheers rang and made me sigh, as I had no words for this. [ "O-ok everyone~! Kyu, let''s start eating~!" ] She shouted happily, her voice cracking in tears. "Everyone~. Let''s go~!" I cheered as I looked at the team I set up just for serving everyone. They were ants, beasts that had some of the best teamwork among beasts here. The dinner started, and every beast took their tes and special dishes that were made especially for them. It was tiring, but I had many herbs to recover from small fatigue like that. Most of all, I was best when it came to instructions and teamwork inrge things like these. Everyone followed their tasks and everything worked out very well this time. These might have been some of the happiest moments of my life¡­ only if my heart wasn''t on a run like this. It was sudden and unexpected. It made me flinch when I was handing arge te to them. I looked back towards the exit of this ce. And... I wasn''t the only one feeling this sudden surge of danger. Three elders, some beasts with higher scenes, and Fern looked outside. [ "Just when I wanted to eat this in peace!" ] She shouted and put her small te down. Looking at me with an apologetic expression, she opened her mouth just to get cut down in mid-sentences by me. "No. It''s ok." Petting her head, I started walking outside with everyone else. *** In the quiet night of the great forest, with the blue moon shining down upon the creatures present. On this bright night, a chilly breeze passed through the area. On a small hill just outside the area of three trees, an eerie figure sitting on horseback nced down at us. The horse was armored, and it... wasn''t alive. A skeleton was sitting on the skeleton horse''s back and it was holding its skull in his hand. A bright green me was burning on the skull as well as the horse''s legs. A long sword that was made from a spiral cord was hanging around its waist. It was a higher undead. [Duhan] A higher undead knight that... was a bit different? Though I had read about them and there were detailed descriptions of their appearance and skills, this wasn''t the same. The feeling that I was getting from him was almost as if... it was a demon. It was my first time seeing a higher undead that was almost ranked creatures but this felt unpleasant. I didn''t even want to see his face for a bit longer and it was an unexpected reaction for me. But, controlling that disgust, I looked at it with my [Mystic Eyes]. A sticky, ck hue was covering its body, and now I was certain what this was. ''Appraisal.'' Chapter 99 Bye-Bye "Hmmm~! This is amazing Eon~." Lifting her small te, she shouted in her cheerful voice. "Yes..." I nkly answered and looked up at the other side of the room. An armored skeleton was serving everyone present with different dishes while sitting on its white bone horse. This was a sight that wasn''t even possible to imagine some time ago. Still looking at this skeleton, I used my skill. ''Appraisal.'' ============ Race: Night Duhan (Purified) Strength: 122 Dexterity: 131 Stamina: 99 Magic Power: 134 Intelligence: 79 [Skills: Mana Body, Undead mes, Charge, Earthquake, Dark Berserk, Knight''s Oath, Final thanks.] ============ These were some amazing numbers and those skills might have been very dangerous if used against a group of weaker beasts, but... She walked out with white smoke oozing out of her body. It was pure white and as soon as she spotted the eery undead; the pressure intensified, and the smoke shot forward at the undead. I knew at that moment¡­ she was anything but weak. Suddenly surrounded by the white smoke, the undead tried its best to resist, destroying the small cliff in the process. But... it calmed down soon. After that, the eery sticky thing vanished, and the undead returned to the real undead being. ording to Gaar, that sticky thing was corruption. It was still iplete and still in its starting phase. So, Fern just used her ability to erase the undead''s negative emotions, and the being was able to return to normal. Corruption was something that urred because of extreme negative emotions and Fern was the biggest enemy of these things. After that, a very dramatic situation unfolded, and the undead got on his knee, thanked her, and swore his eternal alliance to her. Which... she just ignored as an everyday urrence. She was only focused on the food at that moment. After the cleanup, everything backed to normal, and the undead, with a short lifespan, became a part of her family. Her full focus all this time was on the gorgeous-looking food that gathered the attention of many outsider beasts. The pressure and concentrated surge of emotions that shot out of her in a form of a white cloud were exceptional as well as enough for them to forget even getting closer. I knew she was strong, but seeing that power firsthand was something different in itself. Just the power of positive emotions, so powerful that it can turn the corrupting demonic energy into normal. Just witnessing that was enough to remind me how lucky I was to have her as a friend. "Eon~. Why aren''t you eating~?" She asked, holding a small te just like her. She filled it with small burgers and fries and there was a fruit sd in a small wooden bowl. Looking at her with a sigh, I epted her generous offer. My eyes turned the other way and again spotted the ''dangerous'' skeleton rider who was still holding his bright green mes in one hand. "Huu..." A sad sigh escaped my mouth as I enjoyed my delicious small burger. They were as small as my first and I didn''t know why I was eating the small ones when there were bigger ones just before me. But, I enjoyed them. They might be myst good meal anyway, so I didn''t know how to react to this thing. From almost dying to chibi ninjas meeting the young deer to meeting Fern and being her friend. This all was an experience that I will cherish all my life. If the so-called fate allows it, I would love to meet them again. "Hm? Hay! When will I get that icey thing?" She asked as she knew I was feeling down. It was sad, but we both knew what we had to do right now. Looking at her, I just stared at that red mouth, which was painted with tomato ketchup. "Heh..." A small chuckle escaped my mouth and the small bread almost fell from my mouth. nkly staring at me with her big, green eyes, she asked, [ "Ice crame...?" ] It was even more refreshing to see her expression. Putting down my te, I walked beside her and started tickling her soft neck. [ "Oy? O-o-oi!? Ah~, Nah, no! I''m eating, daaamn it~!" ] She had lived much more than me, but she was still a cute big squirrel in the end. [[ Hehe... ]] Even Celes can''t hold back herughter whenever she heard her weird, ''happy voices''. Leaving her in that somewhat aroused state, I brought a big bowl filled with different vors of natural ice cream. Never in my life had I thought that I would eat ice cream in a forbidden forest and, on top of that, with a friend. Why was ''fate'' so cruel? Taking a spoonful of ''chocte'' vor, which took the longest time to process, I shoved the spoon in her still smiling mouth. "This is called chocte, and it''s my favorite vor," I said as I too set down. With the ingredients and time, we managed to make six different vors that would be more than enough for everyone. There were merry voices around me, and this scene was still unbelievable. ''Imagin an ant, spider, or snake eating ice cream.'' This ce was a sight to behold for every magician that specialized in energy beasts. Though I was the one to do a lot of work, I wasn''t the only one that made all of this. Perry the hippo and Ailji the Ent were the main reason this ice cream was so good~. Their skills were amazing, and seeing him summon that intermediate-ranked spirit was a sight to experience again. My short time here would end now and... I didn''t know what would happen from tomorrow. [ "Thin ish awekum Eon~!" ] Fern shouted in an attempt to cheer me up. Unlike every other creature that was just a beast, she was a lot more than a simple animal. My departure was inevitable and though she could just trap me here, she was understanding enough to let go of her only friend. She was definitely my friend. Her mouth was full of ice cream, just like those normal squirrels. "Khu, haha..." I didn''t want to, but theughter just escaped my mouth. This one knew how to make me smile. A d expression appeared on her face as she triumphantly ate more of the ice cream. Gaar came up and told us how d everyone was with the special cooking and¡­ it made me happy. I loved cooking and if there was someone who liked what I made, then there was no greater joy for me than that. *** The night passed, and it was almost time for the sunrise. After the special dinner party, everyone was tired, and many were fast asleep, including the three elders. "Looks like this is it," I mumbled under my breath as I walked out of the open area of three trees. [ "See you soon, Eon~." ] Fern said her goodbyes with tear-filled eyes as she stood at the entrance of her home. She didn''t say goodbye as we knew this might not be the end. I wasn''t going to die out there and if I had a chance, I will make sure toe back. "Until ''fate'' allows it..." Repeating her past words, I started running. Being here was something special, but now things would be totally different and I could feel that I will face more difficulty than I have in my time in this hell. Theke was on the other side, and I had to reach the willow tree first. After that... there was a dark forest awaiting me. Chapter 100 On The Way In the great forest of Kamut, another night embraced the pretty boy that had been running for days and was still running with ck clothing and pitch-ck hair. His eyes were beautiful obsidian ck, which perfectly went well with the night. The forest was cheerful as always and the festivals of night, screams, blood, and lights were still going on as he passed through everywhere. It was a night that was normal, and the day would shin upon them shortly. "Celes looks like we will reach there tomorrow." He said and jumped on another tree branch as silently as a feather. Looking at him from the air, a beautiful butterfly replied in his mind while dancing in the air. [[ Master~! We will finally see that beautiful trees. ]] Her voice was filled with excitement, and that was because she wanted to taste the flowers of the willow tree. It was surprising, but now, she can taste the flowers... or more precisely, the wavelength of the different lights of the flowers. She was fascinating, and we were traveling through the jungle for the past five days now. After parting ways with Fern, we just stayed with each other and continued towards theke. Thanks to her, I could avoid many dangerous situations and there was also the skill that I got from the chibi ninja. ============ [Shadow Dive] -Melt inside a shadow for ten seconds. (Mana: 25) ============ This was an amazing skill, and it saved my life three times in these five days. I was attacked many times in this forest by (Orange) and (Yellow) ranked beasts and my paths crossed with three (Green) ranked, and one (Blue) ranked creatures. These were some dangerous encounters, as there were some very dangerous beasts among them. One was a brown bear with poisonous purple, long ws. It had nk, white eyes, and just being near it was enough to tell what it was. Even though it was a green-ranked beast, it was in a berserk state. Maybe it was also a mother and there was something that separated her child, but it was some of the most dreadful experiences of my life. This is the first time I have felt it and¡­ I understood. I saw the sheer difference in power against the (Green) ranked beast in its full power. After that was a calm lizard or... a lizard that breath fire? It was something like a fire spirit and it was something between a spirit and an energy beast. I never saw this thing before but the appraisal called it [Monoya Lizard]. Its Mana was that of a green ranked beast. There was also a special stat that I had never seen before in its status window. [ze], something that showed its me''s powers. From my understanding, it was something that can grow despite staying at the (Green) stage of Mana. I didn''t know this was a discovery or something but, this was indeed amusing. Thankfully, it was a calm lizard, bathing in sunlight in an open grass area. Other than that, the remaining two beasts were part of a pack, a wolf pack, to be more precise. Its leader and his sidekick chased after me for almost half a day and if I didn''t have Celes, I knew I would have been dead for sure. These all creatures were ultimately much more powerful than me and I was still much weaker than them. I don''t know what I would do in situations where I couldn''t use any skills like with that Ent, but now, with these experiences, I was sure. I was stillcking in my archery skills. But, only experience could solve that issue as there was nothing new for me to learn in basic techniques. All I could do about this was make different use of the knowledge I already had and gain experience in real fights in this jungle. So, I did some battles with normal and possible opponents and won every one of them. Three to be more precise. It was unfortunate that I got neither a core nor a skill stone, but I improved a lot from that. I could feel it. I was a step near that thing. This was night, and I was near the willow tree. I survived and reached the ce I had aimed for all this time. It might be difficult when I reach there and there might be many challenges, but I was ready to face all of them. It was difficult, and some scars were still healing from previous fights. I knew I could take care of them if there was an emergency. [[ Master! I see light ahead~! ]] The night forest was filled with colorful, different lights, but it was still a dark forest at the night. Seeing bright light here only meant that the destination was just ahead of us. "On, be careful from here," I said, slowing down my steps. It would be difficult if something bades up and destroyed my fresh attempt to take the flowers and fruits from the tree. It wasn''t any normal fruit, and they weren''t any normal flowers. I could see the bright blue light ahead, and a smile appeared on my face. It was difficult reaching here and the people I met on this journey were something very memorable that I won''t forget, even if I wanted to. But... The path that was just within our reach started getting longer. I was getting pushed back, and some dark lights were clouding my vision. This one was strong, and I almost failed to resist it but... I managed it in the end. This was the toughest illusion I had faced, and it took me more than a minute to get out of that dark ce while slowly maintaining my footing on the tree. I managed to escape from its bounds and returned to the world just before the light was closest. [ "Oh? Looks like you are indeed special, little one." ] A deep, beastly, female voice entered my mind, and I nkly stared in front of me. Looking at me whileying on a tree branch, the ck jaguar from some days ago greeted me with its strong presence. This was powerful, and it did not restrict it at all. I was feeling this for the first time. The pure strength of a (Blue) ranked beast that was seeing something very interesting in a long time. I knew there might be something like this and here it was. ''My trial...'' Chapter 101 Black Panther... In the great forest, I have mentioned so many times, I was standing before a peculiar panther. This creature was enormous, so big that I looked like a simple ant before it. In books, it wasn''t something like this. In normal circumstances, this [spirit ck Panther] shouldn''t be this big. Even though it was a (Blue) ranked creature, when I saw it from the other side of theke, it looked... it definitely was smaller. Back then, I wasn''t sure if it actually looked at me or not, but I had a doubt it did. Right now, the beast that just appeared before me, and talked, is something very different from anything I had met until now. Even though it wasn''t an origin beast like Fern, the energy that I was currently feeling from it was rtively the same as them. A creature that was waiting for me, and something that I can''t even fathom to gauge the power of. Standing here in this pressure was something of a trial itself. [ "Hmmm. That''s not your actual appearance, right?" ] It was a female voice, and it contained power, dignity, as well as curiosity. Even though it was authoritative, I could feel the wisdom and interest for me just from those words. If not for my heart and the herbs that I took after parting ways with Fern, and were a bit stronger, I knew I would faint with no doubt. I instinctively knew that even if I used my appraisal skill on her, the only thing I get will be a headache and a scratching voice like Fern''s time. Fern knew how to control her powers and they weren''t meant for fighting. She was a helper of the beings inside nature, but the creature before me was something of an entirely different stage. It was a predator, beast, hunter, and something that was an important part of the ancient willow''s ecosystem. If I miss something here, I would be lucky to have a normal death. But there was a question in my mind that popped up after hearing her question. "This is a disguise. You''re the first being to figure it out." My reply to it filled her with awe and my eyes were genuinely sparkling. This was the first time someone had seen through Celes''s . And, seeing that it is a special and powerful creature, I was admiring Celes even more. But, I got a smirk before a normal reply from her. [ "No, child. Even I can''t tell you''re using a skill. The noble master described your appearance differently, so it was just a guess." ] she paused and took a step closer to me. And, as soon as she took another step, her body started shrinking. I stood still, not fearing the ferocious aura that didn''t change at all. I knew this situation wasn''t dangerous now. By the time she stood before me, she was the same size that I remembered. She was still big, almost three meters in height, but... she was smiling. [ "To have a skill that even I fail to detect. Indeed, you''re the one master talked about." ] I was shocked after hearing that even someone like her failed to detect the skill. Now, I had even greater respect for my dear partner. [ "Thank you, Celes." ] I thanked her from the bottom of my heart to be with me. [[ Hm? For¡­ what? ]] she asked in a puzzled voice. I never thought about it, but she never actually feared any of the powerful beasts we came across. Even now, she was admiring the unique beast before us with no fear or doubt or anything. Well, there wasn''t anything to think too deeply about it anyway. [ "Oh? Is this your familiar skill or something? Can I meet them?" ] Thedy jaguar asked with shining eyes. "Yes, she is talking about you for a while now," I replied and Celes came out from her sleeping mark. There wasn''t much to do outside, so she mostly stayed inside. Looking at her sitting on my head in surprise, the jaguar closed her mouth. [ "Not only you are special, but your partner also seems special too." ] Complimenting Celes, she turned around with no other unnecessary chat. [ "He said you look quite good, so I wanted to check. It has been a long time since a human has entered these parts of the forest." ] She was walking away, and I was following her into the bright blue light ahead of us. From her tone and ''master'' word, I could tell that she was talking about the willow tree. The willow tree was an ancient tree and having a powerful beast as its servant wasn''t something unbelievable. But I was expecting something more from this encounter. I thought that I would have to pass some trials to get to the willow tree and fight some strong opponents. But a direct escort was not something I could refuse. The journey to this ce wasn''t easy, and I knew there won''t be many things I could do if the jaguar attacked me. The willow tree already knew we wereing, and I had expected that much from an ancient tree that had a will of its own. I was excited to see such a dominant life form, and I was right to hope for something big. In arge open area before the enormouske, a single tree stood tall without any difficulty. The tree was so big that the great Banya tree was nothing in front of this. All I can see right now was a wall-like trunk and roots that were somewhat outside the ground. The tree itself held beautiful colors and its shining, small leaves were something that increased its beauty. The blue light was almost blinding at first, but I managed to adjust my eyes to that bright blue light. It was already the time of sunset but the area before me was something that was in eternal night. From the tree''s size and shadow alone, it was able to block any sunlight down this area. This was magnificent and looking at the tree alone exined the reason why someone so strong, like thedy ck panther, served it. I was only here for two reasons... maybe three, but there were two things I must do here. Flowers, fruits, and, if possible, the soul essence and nectar. Nectar would be something I might personally have to collect, but that would be a problem forter. For now, I had to get that legendary fruit at all costs... not that I can do anything stupid here. I was deep in thought when I heard a deep, old voice in my mind. [[ Wee, lost child. ]] Chapter 102 Ancient Willow A will is something more than an ability to talk and understand. It''s close to the ability to think for themselves and others. Having a will is something like having artificial intelligence that can think about things as well as possess human-like emotions. Our emotions can be very good, bad, positive, and evil. Just like them, something possessing a will can be either good or evil. But, mostly, something with their own will within the world is good. To define ''good'', we can say that they can use the power they possess to help others or rule over others. They can either improve everything within nature or just stay in a ce created by themselves. Possessing a will was the same as being a higher life form that can think far better than normal humans about some particr things. There were some very famous ''things'' possessing wills that were famous in many books. In the great Roxana empire, there are twelve ces with beings that possess a will of their own. And one of them is in the imperial academy. But those things weren''t for me to think about for now. Looking at the tree that just spoke to me through telepathy like Celes in astonishment, I answered. "Hello, sir, willow tree." I didn''t know what type of greeting he might ept, so I just bowed my head and then looked at it. [[ Yes, yes. Greetings, little human. You can call me Lian. And you have already met Ace. She''s a yful one but don''t worry, she''s a good kitty. ]] His grandpa-like voice was something that felt soothing to my mind. Even my heart was serene, more than it is in normal conditions. This ancient tree was nothing like what they wrote about them. A scary, ferocious, and deadly tree that devastatednds and ruled over them as if overlords of thatnd? This grandpa-like voice that seemed so weing and warm was nothing like what they wrote there. On top of everything, the area I was standing in had more vegetation than many other areas I had seen. And not only the area around thiskeside but also the tree themselves were more beautiful than many other ces I had seen. This was an ancient tree, meaning this tree was at least a millennium old. That was a long time and just imagining that this grandpa was a thousand years old was enough to make my eyes shine. Lian, an ancient willow tree that had lived for a long time, might also know how I can get out of this forest, right? [[ You might think that I know the exit of this great forest, right? ]] As if he has read my mind, he asked in a... sorrowful voice? "You... don''t?" My heart sank at his unexpected voice. I had hoped that if I can somehowe here, this old tree might be able to help me somehow. I was ready to hear the denial, but I didn''t know it would feel this bad. [[ It is not like I do not know, child. But- ]] "You know!?" I shouted with hope-filled eyes. If he knew what I had to do to get out of this hell and get back to my parents, that was enough! ''Even if I have to cross hell-'' [[ Alive can''t cross hell and just like them, not anyone can get out of this so-called hell. ]] Now, I truly doubted that this tree can read minds. Not like it was something hard. Skills like them existed. But that wasn''t the thing to think right now. All I have done until now was just run and jump from tree to tree. Even just a direction would help if it meant I can find the hell while being alive and cross it. [[ Listen closely, little child. What I''m about to tell you is something very few know about this forest. ]] The tree suddenly got to the point, bombarding my mind with questions. Why was he suddenly so serious? What did he see in me to tell something very few creatures of this forest would know? What was so important that this many creatures of this forest were unknown about many things in it? Even though this forest wasrger than the size of two empiresbined, what was the reason we knew very few things about this ce. This was strange in itself, and I had no idea why it was like this. But the seriousness in his words was unprecedented. I cleaned my mind and looked at the tree before me with total focus. [[ The great forest of Kamut is divided into a total of six parts. I don''t know about the situation right now, but what I know was always true and was still the same thest time I confirmed. Four different races that are the most powerful among any race in this forest rule the four cardinal directions. North, the forest of dryads. A ce where the beings that are caretakers of this forest reside. As dryads, they can freely move through normal trees and nts as spirits. A ce of unrivaled natural energy. East, the mountains of golems. A race of earth and some of the most powerful beings in terms of pure strength. They are creatures that love absolute quiet and not even a bird dares to enter that ce. West, the icy region of the great forest. Fully covered by ice and thick snow, ice elves rule this area. A race that''s closest to nature and is master of the ice itself. Though they are from the elf race, they do not like thepany of any other race, and they despise other humanoid races the most. In case of something like you step into their area, they would shoot you dead before even knowing. And remember that I know just how strong you are right now. Southern regions of moltenva. Some of the hottest ces on this continent and thest remaining home of a race called (me Borns). Even though they are some of the most friendly and good-natured races, because of their rare habitat and natural temperature that goes above the explosions, not many can interact with them. You will have to have an extremely high affinity with the fire element and seeing you possess such a high affinity with all-natural elements, increasing one would be an enormous problem. Your life might be at risk. These four of the cardinal directions that have their exits were... you can''t exit as a human. Aside from these small parts, the biggest two parts are the (central region) where we are in and the area that mostly covers the great forest. And... the dark forest that is just ahead of here. A ce where corrupted beasts that might be outside of saving conditions lurk freely. The darkest and most dangerous area and... possibly the only exit there might be for you. I don''t know what thing is there across the dark forest but I have heard there was a human that managed to pass through this forest somehow and managed to exit this ce. But that happened six hundred years ago, and that human was extraordinarily strong. But... you, child, are nowhere near strong enough to cross that ce. So, I can''t help you with how to exit this ce. ]] In the end, the tree released a helpless sigh. Why was this tree so considerate of me? I didn''t know that one, but I sure knew one thing... "Thanks for the warning, ancient willow Lian, but... I had already decided on going to that forest. I know I''m not strong enough, but if there is any hope, I will take it." I answered in a confident voice. It was not even a question of not going there. I was confident, and I must survive there no matter how long it took me. The look in my eye was enough to tell him that I was determined. [[ Looks like you have made up your mind, young boy. ]] He helplessly said, and a small light appeared before my eyes. Chapter 103 Ancient Willow (2) The light that started from the tree branch got brighter and, after a bit, the old voice once again rang in my head. [[ I''m but an old tree that has little time to live. ]] It filled his voice with grief and I can feel the deep emotions in his words from that small sentence. The feeling differed from when I felt Celes''s emotions. This was deep, sorrowful, and more than anything, it contained happiness. Maybe the happiness of finally seeing the end of something? I wouldn''t know that one but, I knew what was going on right now. A capsule-like... or more of a chestnut-like fruit with a bright, shining golden color was floating before my eyes. This diverged from when I received the golden tear from the deer, and this contained a lot more refined energy than arcane. Looking at this made my whole body warm and somewhat raised my heartbeat. This wasn''t only excitement but also fear. This fruit was dangerous if not handled correctly or by a strong enough person. The energy it contained was greater and more refined than Mana and even arcana. This particr type of energy was something only time could produce. A refinement that was so natural and still felt so unreal that one might not be able to believe what was happening in the mere presence of it. Mind, willpower, and a significant amount of concentration were required to be standing right now, but it was worth the effort. [Amrita] Natural energy was born from long, slow, and constant processing time. Few beings produced this, and that was the very reason it was called a legendary fruit. And the fruit... was wrong to be called just a magnificent gift. It was a shield, a protectiveyer in your life that can save you if you are on the verge of death. Something that was almost legendary and so mystical it seemed unreal. Aside from that, it increased the healing powers of the body it belonged to. Though it was as big as my head right now, the person possessing it can change its form to whatever they preferred. Having this will guarantee escape from a dangerous situation and it would be the greatest life saver in cases of something like that magic blocker Ent appeared. This wasn''t everything, and many things were still unknown about these fruits and I will know now that I had them. [[ You have the qualification to possess this treasure, little child. But remember, this is not just some protection shield that will save your life. ]] He stopped and addressed me again. [[ What is your as well as yourpanion''s name, little human? ]] This was an unexpected question, and I didn''t know why this grandpa tree was asking something like this so suddenly. "My name is Axion Kromet, and this is Celestine," I answered, and a satisfying sound entered my head again. [[ You have a beautiful name that shows your parent''s love, as well as the name you gave yourpanion, which shows how you consider her a gift from havens. ]] He paused and, without anything extra, continued from where he stopped. [[ This is a fruit as well as a seed that can grow another tree like myself. ]] Just hearing this widened my eyes in surprise as I held the ''fruit'' with both hands. Having a legendary fruit was one thing, but something that contained a seed of an ancient tree was something more than just some simple gift. The situation had turned into something very different from just receiving the qualification of the noble tree. Now, this grandpa was asking me to do something for him in return for this miraculous fruit. [[ I do not know if you will manage to escape this forest and reunite with your family that they have separated you from, but from my experience and nature, I feel you can do it. ]] ''Wow...'' I gasped in my mind as I continued hearing him. Ancient trees were called ancient because they were scarce and only a few survived long enough to be called ancient. The willow tree before me had lived more than I could think and that very being was saying it had a hunch I would be able to escape this ce. Even though it was just his hunch, and I already knew I would escape from here, his words reassured me. This was enough to erase a tiny doubt that lingered in my heart, and now I was more confident than ever. [[ But, remember this young one: whatever happens, even if you are on the verge of death itself, persists. Resist the temptation to give in, even if you don''t have one. The path may open itself to you. ]] This old grandpa was now going into something clich¨¦ but, I liked what he just said. This was honest, and I felt this would be a smooth journey than what I had. A smooth in a dark way, of course. ,m The ce ahead was a dark forest, and just like its name, it was eternally dark. As if always at the night, this ce was a forever nightlife, and even from this distance, I could feel the small but constant cold air. But giving up was never a choice. It has already been fifteen months and probably ''they'' were a bit better than before but, the worry and longing would never leave their heart. I had to go back however early as I can but being careless would never be an option. More than anything, I had to preserve my life and to do that, this fruit was some of the greatest sources to me. [[ I hope you find a suitable ce to raise the child that will bear from the seed inside that fruit. ]] His voice contained deep sincerity, and I could feel that again. Was this... this tree''s special ability or something? Like how Fern could make others feel any emotion, this one can transmit his every emotion? It might be possible but, that wasn''t something I had to think about for now. [ "How long do you have?" ] I tried asking through my mind as I did with Celes, hoping he could hear it. I didn''t know if he had told the other beings and Ace about his death, which was not that significant to me, but I knew for the creatures within him, it would be devastating. A will''s death signified only the death of the consciousness that it interacted with others. Meaning he will lose his voice and will never be able to speak again. Which was as good as death for a great tree like him. After losing the will, the shell-like tree will lose its eternal life and start aging. And, after some time, the majestic tree that had lived for thousands of years will be one with nature. Same as one''s soul integrating into nature. This would be death, as well as something that would influence this particr part of the forest greatly. Many things would change and there might even be fights for this part of the forest. This area was already big and seeing the resource-rich area, any being would love to make their sanctuary in this ce. Looking at the other side of thiskeside, a worried expression clouded my mind. If a war starts in this part of the forest, the other parts will crumble too, and it might also drag Fern and her family into this meaningless fight. The death of this tree had suddenly be a significant concern to me. But, thankfully, the next words from the ancient willow Lian made my heart calm. [Do not worry, child. There are still more than ten years left for my fall. And even after that, my body will take hundreds of years to be one with mother nature. ]] His voice was cheerful, and I was happy after hearing those words. "Thanks..." A happy sigh escaped my mouth as I put my hand on my beating heart. It was strange, but just in some days, Fern had be my heartfelt friend. Her cute, silly, dignified, and dumb self was something I would miss forever. If something possibly happen to her, I didn''t know what I might do or how I would react. Thankfully, she wasn''t weak and had a powerful family supporting her. They had something to protect, just like many creatures I could see on the high tree branches with my mystic eyes. This was something amazing any time I saw this. An enormous tree that looked like a great wall and on top of such ces, creatures from small to colossal size lived. And I had the chance to be someone to grow the same magnificent tree as this. Just thinking about it... made my heartbeat rise again. Chapter 104 Ancient Willow (3) [[ Good. Now, child. I do not have anything more to say. If you want, you can rest here for the day. ]] ,m The willow tree offered with a warm voice but, I had to decline this offer. "No. I can''t waste any time now that I know where I have to go. But..." I hesitated for a moment and after gulping a mouthful of saliva, I continued. "Now that I have received the fruit... I know it''s rude but, can I have the nectar, flowers, and that soul drop thing if you possibly have it?" I scratched my head, but then I heard a burst of quietughter from behind me. [ "You sure are something, little monkey. Even after receiving the greatest gift from my master, you ask for small things like them?" ] Ace, the ck panther that was quite far away from the start, walked close andid down before the tree. [[ Hohoho. Ace, this is indeed surprising to me, too. ]] This would indeed be surprising to hear, but then again, I should get whatever I can. And I knew the willow tree won''t deny it. [[ Very well. You can have these flowers and nectar too. As for the soul drop, ancient trees mostly infuse them with fruits that they grant, meaning you already have it as the fruit. ]] With that, small needle-like flower branches slowly descended... or spiders took them down with their threads. In a small container made of wood, a darker shade of nectar than the great baniya tree also fell with them. This was an immense gain and if I try, even I might be able to make low-quality medicine with these flowers too. Though they were fantastic materials, I knew nothing about making the medicines mentioned in the books. I knew the basic process like smashing it, mixing some other things, and things like that. Few books recorded the use of these flowers in detail and it was a trade secret more than anything, so information about it wasn''t disclosed to just anyone outside the capital. It was good, and I had gained even more resources to use in the dark forest. That ce was a nightmare in this hell and from what I heard regarding it before I departed from the willow tree, it wasn''t something good at all. [Corruption] A natural phenomenon that urred because of extreme negative emotions. When any being with such emotions that possesses a unique type of energy like Mana loses themselves and malignant energy overwhelms them. This energy was something that I saw on the skeleton knight before Fern cured it. Mainly, only divine power could cure the initial stages of corruption, but Fern''s abilities were special. The divine energy would work on the whole body and soul, but the ability Fern had worked on emotions themselves. And, more than anything, the divine energy was death to undead creatures, so even if they wanted to, they can''t cure them. So, once again, Fern was special. With a sigh, I looked at my new pendant. ============ [Ancient Willow''s Gift.] -A gift received from an ancient tree upon acknowledgment. -Increases Mana regeneration, Mana pool, strength, agility, and concentration by 30%. -Summons a protective shield every time the owner (Axion) is in a critical situation. (Once every year. The count stacks as the gathered energy in the core increases.) -It contains a seed of an ancient tree inside it and only the owner (Axion) can call it out. -When released in authentic form, increases Mana and the natural healing speed of creatures within a ten-meter radius. ============ "If this isn''t a cheat item, I don''t know what is." I smiled as I jumped on a tree branch. I had checked many things from my inventory after getting the appraisal skill and it shocked me to see just what things I had picked up. I was right with most of them as they were herbs that would be useful to me, but... many of them were dangerous poisons. This wasn''t as potent as the pink mushroom, but many normal-looking flowers and nts were highly poisonous when processed or ingested. Some were very special flowers that I will need on some special asions in the future. And, the nectars that I received from both trees only showed normal information that I knew. Well, everything was wonderful, and I finally found out that the core I got from ghost was actually (Yellow) ranked. This was some of the greatest things for me as it meant I had killed a (Yellow) ranked being with that low power. Having light attributes was some of the best things. Now, I had everything I would need in that forest of darkness and I knew one thing... "Let''s go Celes," I said as I stepped on the dark soil. This was strange and interesting as the two different color soli were being divided by a dark red line of grass. This was as if the two parts of the forest had agreed that this was their area. And stepping into this ce also meant that I was stepping into a hell that might be thest ce for me¡­ Jumping on a tree branch, I started moving forward like I always did. The trees in this area were smallerpared to the green forest but, this area was thicker with trees and all of these trees were of dark colors. Mostly ck, dark brown, gray, dark blue, and some were darker shades of red. I had never seen or read anything about these trees and the ''creatures'' weren''t in sight either. In the green forest, there were always tiny insects, birds, and animals but, this ce was devoid of that. I was only able to see thanks to my (Night Vision) spell of (tier-1). Thanks to the golden fruit, or golden nut would be the name I would call it, I was much stronger than I was yesterday before receiving this fruit. Well, calling this thing a fruit was something quite not right. It was a solid thing, like the pearl that perry the hippo gifted me. It would be most appropriate to call this an artifact than a fruit. Just seeing the detailed status window of this cheating thing was enough to warm my heart. That was it, but the cold air in this forest was the creepiest thing. A slow, icy wind produced a creepy melody that seemed like something crying. It was almost as if someone was really- -Waaaaaaa... ''This one wasn''t wind.'' I stopped and Celes understood it. We turned into a ck tree branch and stayed still to see what that thing just now was. -Whaaaaa! It was getting closer, and it was getting more human-like and, most probably, it was a female cry. I had a bad feeling about this one and, after a moment, I understood why the ancient willow was also called this forest: a forest of death. Chapter 105 Dark Forest This crying sound was more like screaming. Screams of a woman and more than anything, I could feel the great pain in them. I had a bad feeling just from hearing them and my heart was beating faster than it ever had. Almost on the verge of jumping out. Even though I was disguised as a tree branch, the dark pressure of this presence was negative. [[ Master?! What the hell is that!? ]] Celes asked when a humongous figure floated towards the area before us. This was a presence that I felt from the mama bear, but this was dark, sticky, and angry. The sorrow, dread, and anger it contained were something that only send one name to my mind. [ "A female ghost who has lost someone dear to her. Some of the very dangerous undead monsters and something that only seek revenge from whatever it sees. A¡­ Banshee." ] Some creatures were born because of corruption and many of them were already recorded in books. The only thing that wasn''t mentioned in books was that this process is called corruption. Maybe this was some sort of secret or something that normal books shouldn''t contain. This was my first time seeing a corrupted creature anyway and, from anything it could have been, it was a screaming ghost. -Kyaaaaaaaaaa! The sound waves from her voice were something that can st a normal human like a popping balloon. But, thankfully, I could hold on to them. My strong physic and Mana inside my body made this ear-piercing sound bearable. But this was still not that good. ''Appraisal.'' ============ Race- me fairy (Corrupted) Strength: 142 Dexterity: 132 Stamina: 121 Magic Power: 124 Intelligence: 76 [Skills: Screams of agony, Sorrow of past, Astral body, Void eyes, Warning of death, Shapeshift, Fier of the battlefield, Undead''s wreath.] ============ ''The hell?'' I gasped as I studied those numbers and skills. Just the numbers alone were enough to send shivers down my spine, and the unknown skills this had were... strong. But more than anything, when I used this skill, this corrupted spirit looked in my direction, still screaming her heart out. This was something that I thought was only possible by high-ranking creatures, but... this ghost was that strong? Probably because it was a spirit and not a full body of flesh and blood? Yes, that might be the biggest reason, but... what was the reason it started floating towards me?! My heart was already beating fast, almost jumping out of my chest, and thisdy was constantly walking toward me. -Kyaaaaaaaaaa! This female voice, piercing, heavy with anguish, made me shudder as the sound traveled through my spine and prated the base of my skull. This sound seemed enough to wake up the dead itself. This woman had a pale white body, her jet ck hair seemed as if a threadbare cloak. They were long, nodded, and wild and flowed down her thin shoulders and brushed the ground. She was floating in the air, and her hair was something that looked special. Her face was also pale but strangely enough, when her mouth was closed, she was¡­ pretty? But that can''t be said when she opened that sharp teeth filled mouth like some monster every few seconds. Her face, when screaming, was waxy and pale. Her skin would stretch to the point I could see every gruesome detail of that skull beneath. From time to time, she grinned, and those ck teeth were like death itself. This was horrible, and she was constantlying in this direction. But this was a bit different. A banshee was a creature that mourned death. Appearing on the battlefields or before someone''s death, this fairy ''mourned'' the death. And... this one before me only looked like a banshee. From the name in the appraisal to the bad feeling of death, these were a bit different from what I knew. But those weren''t the things to think about right now. This thing was now just a few meters ahead of me and I didn''t know what to do now. ''Huuu...'' Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down. This banshee or fire fairy or whatever it was¡­ was dangerous. The very first creature that I saw in this forest was something like this. And it hadn''t even been a day. ,m What things would happen when actual night falls? That was just terrifying to think and right now... the danger seems to finally go away. The banshee-like thing came as close as three trees in front of me and then screamed again. Maybe corruption can turn beasts into something else, but the situation I just escaped now spoke for itself. Passing this forest would be a bigger thing and I should just forget about sleeping peacefully. -Kyaaaaaaa! The sound of the banshee going away from here was calming my heart, not healthy. I was feeling somewhat dizzy. The death fiery was now gone and my head started hurting. Looking at her departing figure, I warned Celes that was worried for quite a while now. Worried, not afraid or anxious, just worried about me. [ "There will be many things here like this, Celes. Unknown, known, familiar, unfamiliar anything might pop up here." ] But there was no need to worry as long as we maintained our disguise. No beast under at least (Indigo) rank should be a problem. And... the appraisal skill. I had to use that mindfully or else something like now will happen and I might get caught by that thing. Like most appraisal skills, this one sends some of the energy to scan the targeted thing. Some might be able to feel the disturbance in the overall energy flow of their body. If something like this banshee or simr beast appears, it will be up to me to appraise or just stay still for it to disappear. [ "Let''s go, Celes." ] I said warmly. If not for her being an important part of this story''s plot, I might have died. [[ Yes... ]] And as expected, her reply was full of anguish. She was powerless aside from creating these disguises. With a small helpless sigh, I jumped onto another tree with my silent steps. I had started with a demon in this hell of a forest and now, I will start with this bringer of death as my new start in this forest. But I knew this will be uneventful and slow, unlike the green forest. If I were some author writing a novel, I would put some time skips as the main objective in this dark forest is to survive and reach the other side. There should be something, a path, a new ce, or at least someone else to guide me to the exit of this ce. ''I hope...'' I hoped with all my heart, mind, and soul that this... this is thest part of being in this forest. Chapter 106 Dark Forest (2) It has been a year since I entered this dark forest¡­ Yes! That''s it. A year has already passed, and I was still in this ce unknown when I will be able to get out of here. It has been a long time... almost two years and six months since I entered this forest. Thinking about my family, they would most probably be better than what I left them in. My dear sibling would already be two years old and, hopefully... far better than me. A normal child would also be more difficult to take care of than me. A normal child... a normal family, happiness, and warmth. I had every one of these, and I was the happiest I had ever been with them. But... what about now? What did I do wrong to be separated from them like this? Was I some fantasy novel protagonist or something? I ask myself this silly question every once in a while and the only answer I can give to myself is... maybe I am. All this difficulty, all these problems, all these monsters running after me every time I start with something like this... Yes, monsters running after me just like right now. "Ok, dude. I''m nowhere near your strength. Please spare me." I pleaded to this silver wolf of (Yellow) rank corrupted that suddenly started chasing after me. Like... what did I do wrong for this puppy to chase after a little old me? Is picking up a skill stone from its prey something to chase after? And for the whole day on top of that? For god''s sake, it was already night and there was no Mana left in me to spare to you! [[ Master, I can see the open area ahead of us! ]] Celes shouted in her normal voice, which hadn''t changed at all. Still that childish and still cheerful, unscathed and indifferent as ever. I was now nine and there were many things I had done all the time I had been in this dark forest. From collecting herbs, killing some usible targets, and making sure I survive no matter what. That was all I did. Many times here, I wanted to eat something nicely cooked, like thest feast we had, but... no. All I got was some briefly cooked meat, fruits, and grass-herbs I had. Though I had some cooked food from our party, I had to take everything slowly. Saving them and eating in good, peaceful, and safe areas was the best action. I increased my stats a lot, and now I had some new skills too. ''Status window.'' ============ Name: Axion Kromet Age: 9 Strength: 74 Dexterity: 78 Stamina: 81 Magic Power: 90 Intelligence: 93 Luck: 49 Charm: 46 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Quickstep, Appraisal, Shadow Dive, Mana Vision, Shadow curtain, Energy burst, Stark Triangle.] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Intermediate Mastery -Mystic Eyes (Stage-1) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) ] ============ The numbers were now high. High enough that I knew I would reach (tier-3) by next year. Though my situation right now wasn''t that good as a corrupted (Yellow) ranked beast was chasing after me, what can I do? This fellow had hunted a different (Yellow) ranked beast by himself easily in the best condition. He was a predator, and I had already checked his buffed stats that seemed unreal to me, considering his Mana was still in the range of a (Yellow) ranked beast. He was strong. Very strong that I had to use many spells just to stall time and steal the (Orange) skill stone that was clearly visible from the tree I was on. I wouldn''t have taken a risk like that, but that was a skill stone, you know? Something so precious that even this wolf was happy to get it. Normally, few beasts could absorb a skill stone but, this fe was so lucky that he got something that anyone can absorb and learn. But he was a corrupted beast at the core and didn''t need this thing. Even if it could have it, there was no way a fully corrupted creature on the verge of demonization can use this. So, it was best for me to have it. I learned many things in my time in this ce. Though there were mostly corrupted, demonic beasts, there were many normal beasts too. I had learned many things from them as they were corrupted or demonic beasts, and there was a higher chance that they could give cores. When an energy beast corrupted by negative energy epts these negative energies, they turn into a demonic beast. And so, I now had four corrupted cores resting inside my dimensional white crack. Two were red ranked, one was orange, and I didn''t want to say it, but... one was green ranked. A green ranked, corrupted Mana core. Though I wasn''t the one that hunted it, that enormous, dead body was something that I won''t forget. I can''t forget it even if I wanted to. It was a dead . A creature that is known for its superb regeneration abilities. It was an already corrupted creature, and it was a fact that I understood after seeing that sight that... corruption is ultimately death, if not epted. A death that would not only drive you to the verge of loosing everything, but also something that would devastate arge part of forest. That sight... that red, blue, and green sight of a living creature''s insides... I cannot forget it. It was a curse. A powerful curse that could turn creature''s into something unsightly or... something that was not a energy beast at all. It would devour them from inside and your soul will be so unstable that at one point... you will lose all control over your body and then, run a rampage. You will kill yourself without even knowing what happened to you but the death... would be painful that hell would pity them. This was a small power burst, and the end result of it was the most painful and unsightly, gruesome death possible. Soul was the most important in any living and some undead. It would hurt worse than hell to just have your soul ''touched''. But, the feeling of being cut infinitely, crushed, burned, poisoned, and every terrible pain possible was the end result of a fully corrupted creature. From what I had seen in this forest concluded many of my answers. [Corruption] A natural phenomenon that can cause any energy beast with extreme negative emotions to turn or ultimately¡­ demonic beasts. It was the same as what I had read about the demonic beast in a little detail. Those demonic creatures were not part of this nature at all as the destruction was their instinctual role in this world. At first, they would be sane but, when going berserk... they are nothing more than catastrophe. But, they all had even more painful ending. That aside, I also saw something that was quite interesting. happened when a powerful entity invested most of its energy into cursing someone like what happened with Fern. I was sure that whatever thing did that to her was at least (Indigo) ranked demonic beast. I had seen a bird monster do something like that to a small creature. It was amazing to see and that bird, [Dead Mana Demon Owl], a (Green) ranked creature, was a creature I had never heard about. I knew about it through appraisal, but it was my first time seeing something like that. What it was doing was ominous... as if a demon was doing it. But I was at least sure that there were no actual demons here. But... "Let''s get away from this one first," I said and jumped on a tree with a metal arrow prepared in my hand. I had gained new skills but there were rarely any chances to use them. Well, I had many things I created in this free time I was here. Chapter 107 Quick Win A metallic arrow made from the long nails of the brown rabbit I killed a long time ago. This was a special material, and I didn''t know how to use it properly but, after barely keeping my life in this hell, I could learn many things. I had seen the unthinkable here and more than anything; I have been to death many times that my previous fights were meaningless. Fortunately, I had Celes and I could keep going because of my special heart. I didn''t know if I could survive here without them, but I was sure lucky to have them. This arrow resulted from my self-taught, experimental, and past knowledge. I released the arrow, and it vanished from the bow like magic with no sound. This was a solid arrow and it vanish even when this yellow-ranked creature was looking at it. The wolf stopped, and his ears moved a bit as if to detect something. -Swish. -Swish. -Swish. Three arrows struck the ground, and the wolf roared angrily. The arrows were fatal and from the glowing enchantments on them and the wolf could feel the fire element. This was reasonable as it was a demonic beast now, a full corrupted beast with heightened senses. But, unfortunately for him, this wasn''t the end. They were arrows I shot just after the metal arrow and, as we looked deep into other''s eyes, he flinched in shock. I could control my smirk, but this bastard sensed it. "Too bad you were a littlete," I replied, and took out a quiver full of arrows. These were normal, but the one that I shot at first was no normal thing at all. It was a precious arrow that took even me months to finish. The materials used in it were precious and each one of them was the same as a red core''s worth. That was precisely the reason I only had six such arrows. The beasts with fern had gifted me beast cores, too. There were exactly six red ranked and two orange ranked ones. But, those were used in this past year I had spent in this forest. I had to survive life or death battles. Create things to survive and, on top of everything, get strong to face more beasts. There was this powerful attack skill that I had to use with an energy core to save me from a ferocious corrupted... rat. That thing is not something I want to recall. Looking back at the wolf with a smirk, a sharp sound enters our eyes. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish. -Booooooooom. The arrow fell on the exact spot the wolf was standing and then, an explosion echoed in the surrounding. There was no reaction from the forest, as this was the dark forest. Noice was amon thing in this ce and unlike outside where beasts were attracted, they quietly empty the area they stood in from voices like this. I was fortunate, but this bastard that ran after me for the entire night wasn''t lucky at all. This one explosion was the perfect version of the one I had used against the special Ent that attacked me. A real missile with pure power output. Something that can blow up the whole red-ranked beast. This was a sess, and... the wolf was alive. "Wooooooo!" the beast howled and stood up with its half-burned body. An unsightly body that I was now ustomed to seeing. I knew this was going to happen and so¡­ I started the rain of arrows. -Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. I used [Quickstep] and [Shadow Dive] consecutively, so the burden on my mind was increasing. But it was bearable. The arrow st had already weakened this wolf and from my detection magic, there was nothing in the area. There was a clear area some distance away, so I had to stop this one to reach there. He had chased me all the way for hours, so I didn''t think he had any n of letting me get away. This was a ferocious beast, and I had no mercy to spare for him. "Wooo!!" it shouted in pain and then, after more than twenty arrows, fall to the ground. Arrows contained poison on the tip, so there was no way it could stand more than them. But still, this yellow-ranked beast was definitelymendable to have put me through such hell. -Thud. The wolf lifelessly falls to the ground as the moon fully took its ce in the sky. Not that it was bright, to begin with. This dark forest was always night, and I was thankful to have the [Mana Vison] skill. I knew this was a day from the unique lights and the moon always carried special blue rays with him. ...or her. Moon was ady ording to religion. The goddess moon, an entity so important that they prayed to her as one of the most famous religious gods. Why... am I even recalling these when there was so much to do? [ "Celes." ] I called out, and she did her job. We can now constantly change ording to our surroundings as if we are invisible, so it was even more dangerous that this wolf could keep up with us. He had a sensing skill, and we were still not at the level of hiding our presencepletely. But we were sessful in killing a tough opponent after exhausting it and putting in more than necessary resources. The beast was dead, and¡­ it had no energy core or skill stone. "Poor bastard." I looked at it indifferently and walked away. Thankfully, I was an adult with experience in these things, or else no child or normal person could survive this hell. Just being grateful for being alive was a tough thing. Jumping on the tree, I reached the rare open area in this dark forest. As trees densely covered this forest, open ces were extraordinary. Open areas meant two things: a group or garden of flowers or a dreadful sight that would make you faint. It filled the first ce with unexpected rare herbs and magnificent flowers. I had found some very rare things that we''re able to survive in this environment and many unknown ones were special to dark ces like this. The second one was misfortunes encounters that you would pray you hadn''t seen at all in your whole life. I had seen this sight like that one when I found that green corrupted core. It was a curse that I remembered everything. That ce, that sight, and my calmly beating heart even at then was something I knew not even an adult knight who have seen countless deaths could handle. And, to my utter bad luck, this was the second one. [[ Master! Don''t! ]] ''It''ste Celes, the thing... had already entered my eyes.'' Chapter 108 Devastating... Pool. A word that would bring forth an image of a ce filled with clear water. Clear, blue, or transparent water. A ce of joy and fun. Somewhere, many people y with bright smiles on their faces. A warm, cheerful atmosphere. This ce contradicted that picture perfectly. A red pond. Crimson red of blood. A ce filled with corpses of dead beasts. Big, small, and various body parts floating in the pond, even some heads with still open eyes. There were perfectly cut heads, limbs, and organs, but more than anything, every one of them was a creature with red blood. The ce was still and there was no smell, even while standing just some distance away from ''this''. Some white flowers surrounded the pool. The flowers were, once again, a contradiction to this pool of blood. Pure white flowers of (Light) attribute, [Dahlily]. Flowers that are used in religious ceremonies. The gruesome scene before me was more devastating than I can imagine right now and I knew this was going to be one of my ugliest memories. This was horrendous, something that was the work of a devil if not the death itself. Why would you gather something like this in a ce with this kind of environment? And why would the light attribute flowers grow perfectly in an environment of death?! Who created this thing and for what reason? To grow flowers? Or to eat the rotten flesh?! I wanted to understand the reasoning behind this thing but, I also just wanted to run away from this ce. This was already night and the things I was seeing right now weren''t something I could do without my special vision. I had seen this shit, and now¡­ there was no way I would forget it. Even with the shining flowers around it, this was more devastating than I could ever imagine. The area was clean, and it was nighttime in this dark forest of eternal night. And now... something was bubbling up inside this pool of flesh and blood. [[ Master? ]] Celes asked in utter ''confusion'' as we looked at the creature that walked out of this pool of blood. It wasn''t just a creature, but, let''s say, more like arge group. I was just as confused about all this as her, maybe more than her. I knew these creatures very well. Maybe they were creatures I knew the most about. Some of the most mysterious, as well as amon group of energy beasts. Something that ranked from most basic, unranked creatures to [Divine Beasts]. A creature that could hold any elemental affinity, any type of or sometimes special abilities that mighte close to Celes or Fern''s abilities. These were the creatures that could adapt themselves to nature and their environment. A creature that was used by humans in many ways that it would seem parts of their daily life. They were abundant in nature outside this center of the great forest because of their natural division ability. Yes, the creatures before us right now¡­ were indeed [Slimes]. The best targets for newbies and scariest enemies of dungeon explorers. Something that did self-reproduction in the form of cell division or something like self-cloning. They were endless monsters in some ces, numbering even in hundreds at a single spot. They were a type of beast that was even grown inrge numbers by other races. If we say they were the same as chickens in this world, it would be true in some aspects. Not only could we use them as food, but we can also use them in many unique ways. Like, fire attribute slimes could be used as an oven or firece, we could use water attribute slime as an endless source of water, and so on. Creating attribute-specific slime was artificially difficult, but it wasn''t umon. Nobel houses who liked fun things like them specially ordered for them. This was on and on, but... the situation before me right now was something special. Slimes were mostly normal creatures of no attribute. But, slimes found in this great forest were¡­ something different from what the outside world knew. Though I hadn''t seen a single one in my almost two years of stay in this ce, Celes had once encountered such a being. They were ferocious beings that could digest anything. Giant creatures that soundedrger than the (Green) ranked creatures we had faced. I had no doubt that can be that big as most of them could [Mutate] and in the process, fuse to make a unique creature than their normal shapeless selves. Being practically immortal with their core intact, they were forces of nature. Their special racial skill and most probably a special stat [Adaptation] allowed them to adapt to anything they wanted. And, in this magical forest and the environment with dense Mana, they had higher intelligence than many normal creatures. ording to legends, slimes born from nature directly with pure energy bodies were mystical creatures. Something that held a human-like intellect and was destined to reach the ranks of divine beasts. The current slimes alive are all descendent of primordial slimes and that is believed to be the reason they can fuse their bodies and be one aside from reproduction. Some theorize that they have the same [Origin] and that is the reason they can fuse to make a new entity. But those were just stories. The creatures before me were nine blobs of red flesh. They were blood red and from the way, they jumped out of the pool of blood, seemed a natural thing for them. They were in a shape of a blob, unlike most of the shapeless, fluid-like slimes. I can see the shining core inside their dense, bloodied bodies, and all nine of them were now wiggling. They jumped closer, and then the shaking intensified. Their outer bodies startedbining and, after a minute, they were fullybined as one giant blob of flesh. The original pool had almost emptied after these blobs came out and now... it looked even more gruesome. They gathered the limbs of dead creatures that seemed quite old in this ce. I had no idea if they did all this or not but, this was indeed a special thing to see. The slimes were mutating into a new form and bing a new creature before our eyes. This was a rare spectacle, and there was no way we would miss this chance. [[ Master? They are bing one with each other, right? ]] Celes asked innocently, and I answered with no other thought on my mind. [ "Yes. They are bing one with each other. They were-creature, then they did it and became one with each other and now, this will create a new beast." ] I was sincere when I said that, so she understood what I was saying. We looked as the wiggling of the new giant slime continued, and then the slime started rolling around. The flowers around the pool of blood started disappearing into this blob of blood and then, after consuming several such rare flowers, it started emitting a bright light. The light was blinding, but I was seeing the process perfectly while using my [Mystic eyes] and [Mana vision]. The core inside the creature was changing from triangr to a normal sphere. This phenomenon was something to look forward to for all the mages and humans that lived in nature, but... I never thought I would regret this decision so much. ''Curiosity... killed the cat.'' Chapter 109 Demonic Slime. [Mutation] A phenomenal where a beast or group of beasts transform from the core nature they hold. This is a process that happens under different circumstances. Slimes andmon rats are the best species of monster that exins this process. Slimes can gather and be one entity because their base properties are always the same. A membrane, fluid body, and a nucleus at their core. These creatures mold their bodies to the environment for short periods and do their best to survive in them. The process of mutation differed from creature to creature, and the slimes before me were a unique case. At first, they were [Blood Slimes]. A kind that I had never heard about. All nine of them gathered body parts of dead creatures from their surroundings, exining theck of creatures here. Individually, they were (Orange) ranked creatures. Slimes being that high rank was a fucked up thing but, what can we expect from hell like this? Nine (Orange) ranked creatures made this horrible sight, and then, to stabilize the negative energy from the blood and flesh of the dead creatures, they nted those white flowers. It should now bemon knowledge that dead creatures produce dead Mana and negative energy. And, the pure creature like slimes might not be able to handle or produce perfect dead Mana like [Dead Mana Spider] even after mutation because of theirck of physical and mental fortitudes. These somewhat intelligent creatures just took the dead beings, threw them in that pond for many days, and nted those white flowers just before jumping in the pool they made with all their effort. Even though these were just my spections, they were the most likely scenario that lead them to their current self. I was still on that tree branch, watching the light of this creation. But I fixed my eyes on this ''thing'' before my eyes that had suddenly made my heart run wild. I was being a fool, saying this is something all mages should observe, but for a second... the fact that I''m in the depths of hell slipped my mind. This was a grave mistake. The slimes that seemed smart to me were utterly foolish in those same eyes now. The fact that negative energies have to be filtered before the use of dead Mana was unknown to these foolish mobs. And I was the bigger fool for not understanding this thing earlier. But now... it was already toote. It has started and I can''t move. I can not. My legs were stuck to where I was standing as if someone had stuck them with powerful glue. I was feeling the same familiar feeling I had felt with countless creatures these past years. Fear, dread, helplessness, and... that shitty sticky feeling. The same negative feeling of [Corruption]. This shitty slime had now be something I can''t exin, even with words. The nine blobs of translucent slimes were now... a creature of horror movies. They had already absorbed all the blood, limbs, and bones left in the pool before the light went out. The creatures that were just one meter in size were now something that looked down on me, even though I was standing on a tree. It was a ten meters tall monster of flesh and bones¡­ covered by a thick, sticky membrane. Sticky energy was oozing out of his body, and ''it'' had a smirk on his face. This was a pure demonic creature, unlike anything I had seen so far in this forest. This was an atrocity, created by the foolishness of these lowly slimes. This¡­ was a humanoid form, but the tentacles-like thinging out of his back made this creature a pure monster. Dead mana aside, these slimes did something out ofmon sense. Those bastards of slimes adapted to those negative emotions and fully embraced the evil¡­ bing evil themselves. I had no idea what the hell just happened or how they can even do such a mind-boggling thing but, one thing was sure. The creature before me was at least (Green) rank demonic beast in a sane form. Not the mindless or berserk form but, the sane form like actual demons. This shit... was a newborn demonic creature. ...fuck. [ "Celes. Go in. This is an order." ] [[ But master! T-that evil thing! How!? W-where?! ]] She was in a mess from the moment things went wrong. This time, my heart waste to inform me, or was I just amazed that I didn''t notice? I had done something useless this time, making my situation worse than most of the things I can think of. The creature had fully mutated, and now it was looking down on my struck self. I don''t know what this thing grabbing my legs was, but it was something simr to those blood-red tentacles. The smirk on that hollow face was so creepy my beating heart was going berserk. [ "Celes! Go right now!" ] I shouted, and she understood the situation was different from all our experiences. She was angry¡­ and sad that she couldn''t do anything for me in this situation. And, after this order, she won''t be able toe out until I order her to. She felt helpless in this moment of danger where the creature before us was just gawking at me with his void eyes. I could feel her helplessness right now, but the creature before us not only had me in his hand but... It was also something that can sense and perceive anything that had red blood. ''Appraisal...'' ============ Race: Blood Demon Slime Strength: 123 Dexterity: 134 Stamina: 132 Magic Power: 119 Intelligence: 76 [Skills: Blood spears, Vital fluid detection, Red hands, ck restriction, Mana drain.] ============ My mana was getting drained by these ck tentacles-like hands, and I knew this was going to be an impossible thing to ovee. Just seeing those exaggerated numbers of a newborn was something that send shivers down my spine. An attack skill that condensed blood particles from its body, a detection skill that can find any creature with vital fluids so... our disguise skill that just made out physically different. The ck hands that restricted me were ominous in themselves and I could feel the dead Mana oozing from them. The draining of Mana was fortunately not faster than my regeneration speed so, I was fine for the time being. But the speed of the drain was increasing, and I knew I won''t stand a chance against something that had adapted to negativitypletely. This was a demonic creature and... I was fucked. Chapter 110 One Sided Battle The situation right now was something I never had to face in the past but, I at least had an idea that something like this might happen. I was being restricted on a tree, and my Mana was being sucked out of me. So, the skills that I had saved all this time will be the important ones in this situation. [Shadow dive] I vanished and freed myself from the restraints of these ck, Mana-sucking hands. Going back, I prepared my weapons for the scariest fight I would have to do in my life. My whole life... because the chances of me dying here were 90%. The highest odds of death I had faced in my time, I had been to this god-forsaken hell. This was torture in itself and aside from me, if that slime with dead Mana radiating hands had touched anyone, it would heavily poison them and they would almost be on the verge of death. It was a difficult thing, and I had to do anything in my power to at least save my life. This was a dark forest, and I had two dark-rted skills. Though it can easily see my disguise and perceive me, it can''t do anything in my shadow dive form. I dived into the shadows and can travel some distance so I had a pleasant situation before me. The other skill, [Nightfall]. It was an (Orange) ranked skill that I got after killing a (Night hound), a darkness-type dog monster with deer-like horns. It was an easy opponent against my light arrows, so I could get this special skill. ============ [Nightfall] -Create a dome of darkness around your 30-meter radius. -You will enter a realm of assimtion and mix with these shadows. (Mana: 30) [Time: 1 minute.] ============ This was also a skill that saved me many times in this forest of darkness from creatures like that crying spirit I had seen the first time entered this ce. Now, I had nine skills, including the skill stone I just got. That protection skill that creates barriers was also something I needed in this situation. If I could, I was desperate to just run away from this death-guaranteeing ce at this very moment. But this bastard''s skill, those bloody spears, was something that worked as a border, too. Just like my skills, I can check others'' skill information to some extent with appraisal so, this was a bigger threat than I was reacting. This slime was as strong as Gaar the Orc in terms of pure strength. And this was still in the normal state. If I''m destined to die today and this shit creature goes berserk, I was sure I will die any moment I looked away. The ne was simple now. Just keep dodging his attack and try to get as far away from this ce as possible. Though he was definitely going to chase me, I will have more space to fire my arrows here. And, the most important thing... Destroy his nucleus at all costs¡­ if I can. Nothing will hurt this partial immortal piece of shit but, it will die in an instant if I destroy its core. This was something that was showing its giant red body like he was proud of it, and that ck core in the chest area was something that clearly entered my eyes. Though fake, it was a focal point to find the constantly moving core inside his body. This was a difficult one and, by its movement patterns, I might figure out his death point. Well, all those things had to be done during my time I run and make distance with this monster. "Here goes my potential life." -Squishhhhhh! The slime that was now a monster had a disgusting voice and, just hearing that one made me noxious. This was something like his trait and knowing all this after the preparation was a bad thing. Bad... very bad. "Shit." I cursed and took out a ss bottle with yellow liquid from my dimensional storage. This little thing will at least block that stomach-crunching feeling from his voice. ============ [Motion potion-(Beginner)] -A potion created with light and water attribute flowers with adequate Mana. -Helps to maintain the stability of internal fluids. ============ I was almost at a beginner level in potion making, something that I had close to no profound knowledge about. Well, there were many useless potions in my white crack that came into existence during my boredom and the kick of doing something. I¡­ should remember themter if I sessfully survive this monstrosity. Looking at this creature with a disgusted look, I took out my bow as I exited the shadow on the opposite side of him. His perception was acute and as I predicted, the moment I came out, a red spick of blood¡­ shot towards that very ce. [Quickstep] This time, I was alright, and this fight was in my favor in one thing at the very least. His intelligence was almost as high as mine, but I had a better understanding and thinking ability than this mass of flesh and dead Mana energy. This creature was just not going to go down by normal means and I was not going to die by his hands. This was the very being I was admiring. A creature that I saw for the first time in this great forest and then... the creature that I consider beautiful, turned into a monster that coveted my body more than anything right now. I knew why it was doing that and, once again, I remembered just how precious my body is. Every beast was after this small body with hunger oozing out of their eyes. Well, sure, I had a well-built, toned, muscr body with abs. This was definitely a body other girls would fall for but, beasts like them had no stake in this. I wasn''t into them, not even a little. If I do decide to give this body up, I will do so after using every bit of my strength. Not for ''the one'' I might find in the future. That will be different. If I do survive this fight and live to tell the tales to her, that is. -Swish! [Quickstep] -Swish! [Quickstep] -Swish! [Quickstep] And so, the cycle continued, and I dodged the blood-red spicksing out of thin air or ground or directly from him. The creature before me was almost a ten-meter tall demonic beast and the best way to deal with this one would naturally be through the light elemental attacks. But... I can''t just rely on those to pierce that thick body of blood and reach its core. I needed power. Pure power that can pierce through thick trees or smooth bodies like this creature. Now, this was the time I use the resources I gained to get away from this chick that wanted my sweet body. I''m not saying these words in the wrong way, so please, try to understand this little kid who was facing death itself. -Squishhhhhh! Once again, that disgusting voice. This was the horn of his debut as a newborn demonic beast. Why was this creature so hell-bent on killing me when I admired its beauty? Was I the fool here, or did the world itself have some kind of plot to force me in? Chapter 111 One Sided Battle (2) A spike of blood flew toward me and I dodged it with another [Quickstep]. Channeling my Mana, I activated some spells to help me in this fight. (Body reinforcement), (Speed enhancement), (Passive earth detection). Using three (tier-2) spells at one was difficult but, I was now confident in my ability to control this Mana and... I also had the cheat fruit. And my spells were special. Different spells activated at a speed that would shock normal magicians. This was a spell activation method that only I can do because of my special mind that can''t forget anything. As if already crafted spells, I created full memorized versions of some spells and stored them in my head as if storing a pre-coded magic scroll. Though the amount of concentration required to make this wasrge and I could only use three such spells at a time, this was worth it. This was a technique, and I had named it [Script Magic]. A script of spells that the mind had already processed and all the process has been alreadypleted. I wasn''t some genius in magic. I can have unique ideas but, it limited them to my otherworldly knowledge. If said in this world''s perspective, I was just a very good mage. That aside, I cannot use Magic in the fight this quickly. My processing speed wasn''t that unimaginable. I was an enormous hard drive with a good CPU. But, I was no supeputer who can process spells on the spot and use them with very little concentration and will. This type of magician was out there, and this wasn''t even the most horrific type. The most dangerous magicians had an amazing affinity with Mana, that they just had tomand it. Then Mana would follow their will without actual knowledge of spell or magic. Those were the monsters that were the center of the magicmunity of this world. Some people like them were also teachers of the magic academy... as well as students. These students held great interest from the magicmunity but, those side things weren''t something to think about right now. First, let''s escape. [Quickstep] -Booooooom. An explosion rang and this whole ce I was standing on, went into tatters. These blood spears could now... st? "Fucking shit..." There was a reason for my endless cursing. A bloody spear had just sted near me and what would you think I would do in this situation?! Well, that aside, the spear of blood was not some straight spick like a needle. -Screeeeee... It was a spear with multiple curves and this one, in particr, has just scattered small needles all over the ce like rain. ''Fuck...'' Looking at the hand that''s just been filled with bloody spicks, I bit my lips. This was painful. The poison in it was not effective to me but, the pain it induces was something that I could hardly bear even with my heart keeping me calm. There was pain, and I was, thankfully, focused on this battle. Aside from the unexpected factors like this one, I was fully ok. [Shadow Dive] Vanishing in the shadow after meeting eyes with that creepy smile of demonic slime, I was even more anxious. There was no time in this battle and all I could do was hide for a bit and run as far away as I could before hiding again. This fight... was dangerous. But I had to do everything I could. -Seeeeeeish. I shot an arrow with wind attributes that were full of high Mana materials. Something that created a small whirlwind around it and the surrounding air bent to its will. Surprised, the slime extended his hand forward and a wall of blood and bones rose before it. The bloody wall and tornado collided, and the arrow sessfully pierced the wall. This was something like... A giant skeleton covered with red jelly rose in his hand, another crimson wall rose and the green winds around an arrow pierced it like a drill. The blood from the wall rained and, my arrow worth a (Red) beast core and many materials, had... gone to waste. The arrow struck the spot where the fake core was, but it didn''t prate its skin. This very skin looked like some edible jelly but, it was blood red. Its toughness had far surpassed some thick, magical armor. I had to find his real core if I wanted to kill this monstrosity. This was slime and I at least knew that I can kill it even after those absurd stats. The stats that it gained after losing all the natural bounds it possessed and bing something that only looks after destroying the nature that it had stayed in all this time. This was my first time seeing it but, when some beast epts the negative energy and the dark things it carries, a beast that can do that... bes a demonic beast. A demon that destroyed nature but... this was no stranger. I was before a creature that was using his demonic skills; nature was still strangely not as devastated as they mentioned it in books. This was something I never knew why happened but, this entire forest was naturally opposed to this demonic energy. Well, that aside, the core that I was so desperately trying to find was something that will take much longer than I can think. That thing will never lose interest in me, not after seeing ''me'' with a high natural affinity who carried natural treasure such as this golden pendant. This was a demon that can feel at least my natural affinity if not the fruit. What I had to do here was once again, very clear. Just find the moving path of that core and then destroy it with a powerful spell or, if possible, the missile arrows that would be left after the fight. -Boooooom. Another spike sted but, this time I had a wall protecting me. (Earth Wall) This spell was always effective but, even with all my boosts, I cannot use attack spells while still maintaining the auxiliary and enhancement spells. I had to wait for my Mana to stabilize at a certain limit for as long as I could. If that limit were to be crossed, it would mean the fight had entered a critical stage. [Quickstep] This fight was going tost the longest, but... I really didn''t want to fight this thing that I was sure to lose. "Let''s run as fast as we can," I said under my breath and started running. Running was the only usible option before me but, if I didn''t have a choice, I had to find that roaming core in his giant body and destroy it while keeping myself alive. "I knew this hell was never going to be easy..." Chapter 112 One Sided Battle (3) -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish. -Boooooooooom! An explosion rang in the dark forest of the great forest of Kamut. This was now amon urrence that has been happening for thest few days. Some explosions, some small sts, an endless smell of blood, and the weird atmosphere of the forest. The big nts were fine but, the smaller ones were dead in the almost middle parts of this forest. A monster so big it was visible from the ground and passed through the trees was something that induced fear just while being present in that area. This weird creature that looked ferocious as well as demonic, was something that has been chasing a boy with ck hair and ck eyes for a long, long time. Though the creature had a thick membrane of red blood around his skeleton body, there was a distinct, furious expression on his face. The pressureing out of his body was close to that of a berserk (Blue) ranked beast and was still increasing. This was ferocious, and now there was bloodlust around him. Thick bloodlust that was visible to bare eyes. The pressure was unbearable, and all the smell was so noxious that breathing was a challenge in itself. Things were getting destroyed, and this creature was getting stronger. Looking back, a miserable child was hiding in a tree hole. This was a critical situation for him too as¡­ ''it'' bathed him in blood. That thing painted his whole body in blood, scars, and small holes that were taking a long time to heal. The ne around his neck was glowing in gold, and his breathing was heavy. His left arm had some deep cuts that¡­ even the bones were visible from it. The flesh and blood that filled this small ce in that short time wererge. If not for the natural healing ability and the peculiar ne around his small neck, he would have been passed out by now. This was a dire situation but, there was rity in the boy''s eyes. Something that a normal warrior experienced in wars was shing in his eyes. He was cleaning his deep wound with something in a ss bottle but, the pain when the green liquid touched the fresh wound was so... "Fucking slime demon!!!" I shouted with utter agony when the healing potion touched the clean, deep cut that showed my arm bones. This was crazy as hell... no, even more than that! This fucking bastard was the most persistent one that I had faced in all my life. 6 days. It has been six days since this creature had chased after me for god knows what reason. He chased after me while understanding new things about his powers and all the new possibilities of his unique blood skills. He was crazy. Just... fucked up... crazy. He killed all the creatures that came in his path, from unranked ones like tiny insects to creatures like (Green) rank. Yes. This piece of shit killed a green-ranked creature. And not just one, but many. And¡­ he also killed one just some moments ago. A [White Light Wolf]. A light-attributed, gorgeous creature with blue fur and shining white eyes. This was a creature of light and this bastard killed that beauty in nine spikes. That... bastard! I can''t even take that super rare, precious body of a pure creature of light. That slime demon devoured everything ite across like they were nothing in his endless stomach. That thing with that filthy smirk was not something I wanted to look for even a minute, but¡­ that piece of trash had learned something new a few hours ago. Making des of blood instead of normal spikes. des that are strong enough to chase the target like some targeted missiles which only dissipate whening into contact with the target. For a creature possessing so small intelligence, its learning speed was¡­ extraordinary. That skill that helped them in adaptation was the scariest thing in this whole dark forest I had seen. No ghost, corrupted creature, those blood, and gore, or those disgusting natural chimeras could bepared to this unreal ability. And there was more to this one than the normal adaptations of slimes. I didn''t understand at first but, after fighting this thing for a week, I was now certain. This adaptation was at least three times more powerful than the normal slimes found outside of this forest. This one can adapt to things that can not be exined in normal means and gain the abilities of non-elemental things just like right now. Blood? That was no normal attribute. That was something that was either innate, like the nobles of night, the vampires, or something thates from skill. Aside from that, there was no attribute specific to blood, but this creature had it. They used blood to first be the base blood slimes and then mutated together into something that was totally different from an energy beast. Adaptation to negative emotions and the demonic traces in those specific things? That was too specific, and the chances of this happening should have been in decimals. But these slimes, these specific slimes of this dark forest, were the only ones that sessfully did it. Now, they were something that was destroying everything in its path while chasing me to god knows where. -spiiiiii... "Shit." I cursed and jumped out from the small hole in the blue tree that was still hopefully intact. Taking out six arrows from my dimensional storage that were some of thest remaining enchanted ones, I shot them with the technique. All these arrows were doing was helping me find the exact path of the crore circting inside this slime''s body. Every time I sessfully hit this bastard body, the jelly part that the extreme force hadn''t torn apart despite its power would resonate with the whole body. This was the moment its core would be visible on the surface of its outer body, and then I mapped it inside my head. I was almost there and I could feel it. But I needed a bit more than just these arrows. I needed more power than the one that I had, and I needed some time. I needed an enormous gap, unlike these small ones. I was fighting this thing for thest six days without rest, without sleep. Thankfully, I did eat some things in between these fights that made me at least more focused here but, this was not good. I might be ok without sleep for most parts but, the Mana and concentration that I was recovering with the resources that I had was very limited now. If this fight continued for a day or two, then... I was as good as dead. And I wanted to deny this fact with all my might. "Holy mother of slimes. Take this bastard away and let me live..." I prayed as Inded on the ground. It devastated the surrounding area. The ground was tattered, and there were creators all over the ce. The trees were cut or crushed and only one creature with immense pressure was standing in the middle of all this devastation. This creature, though it was tall, oozed a death indicating bloodlust and an unparalleled angry look. It was now smiling. I was before his eyes after six hours of chasing after he killed that white wolf. Though the arrows were still midair, I could clearly see¡­ that. I could see the abomination left behind by him, as well as the distinct smirk that reminded me of the first demonic creature that ''we'' faced. This happened without my knowledge, as I was resting in this small ce that brought back some unpleasant things. This fucker that was previously a slime¡­ was not just that anymore. He has lost his sanity, and now... it was berserk. Right now, my death was looking down on me. Chapter 113 Fallen There was a pool of blood on the spot where this creature has just walked from. No... this wasn''t a pool. A pool was something this monster was born from. The thing that has already entered my eyes was something more than just some small pool. This... was a river. A river of blood that was something I couldn''t even fathom. This was something... horrific. Dead bodies of creaturesying on the ground had disintegrated. These creatures were eaten from inside, and only shells or skin were left. Just like its nature, this monster was eating things inside out. Not even that white wolf, that beautiful creature some kilometers away, looked something humanly observable. That gut-wrenching thing before my eyes was something I would pay to forget at this very moment. This creature was born from an unsightly thing and, it was going around creating unsightly things. I... why?! Why me? "Mother fuckers..." I cussed and saw as the six arrows finally collided with the slime''s body perfectly. And, as expected, aside from a ripple in his fluid body, there was nothing. No scratches, no wounds, not even that jelly on its surface had fallen. Unlike thest few times, this was different. At first, this creature was at least having some effects, but now... this did not affect him. He was now turning unstable from the berserk energies that were already stabilized inside him. The creature was now angry, and I... was the reason to make him this way. I can feel it. This was strength. The unmeasurable strength that I knew I can''t face even If I tried with all my might. This catastrophe has already crossed creatures like the three elders of Fern''s family and now... this piece of trash was as strong as the golden deers. (Indigo) Strength of that level that every beast desired, but they knew that wasn''t what they could achieve, even if they tried. But this creature, these slimes, monsters that are used as practice subjects and wander the open streets of human domains, was something that had embraced those dangerous desires. It desired and embraced the darkness, demanding to achieve that ursed strength. It had lost an important part of itself and its end wouldn''t be something that even it couldn''t think of. It would die soon, but... it was dead set on killing me before those that took care of this nature punished it. That would happen soon, but... I had to survive. I had to survive not only from this creature and the creatures that woulde after this. "Squuuuuuuuuuehci!!" The creature shouted in an unsightly voice that made my insides wiggle once again. That medicine I took at the first hearing of this sound was now over. I had to endure this even more intense voice that... most possibly wounded my internal organs. "Akhem!" I coughed a mouthful of blood and drank the remaining potion in thest remaining bottle of potion on me. This was a and it was myst one. Now... I had no healing potion. Now, if I receive something like this injury, I knew I would have no choice but... ''Let''s not¡­ think about it.'' Myself aside, if Celes hears something like this, I knew what type of expression she would make. Thankfully, she was locked in her mark and I knew she could feel me, but couldn''t see what was happening here. I knew she couldn''t handle this. This was for the best. I was now done for. But... just giving up was neither my style nor a good plot if I really was some character. "Let''s start, you piece of shit!" With a war cry, I shot backward and started running as fast as I can. * Using quickstep at the full power and the other skills too. The enraged slime was paused for some time in the time it was going through this berserk thing. Looking back was no option. I had to save my life with all the things I can. And I already knew this all was futile against the creature that had the attack range in kilometers. -Siiiiiiiiish... I felt something on the right side and took a side step while running on the straight road. The area had lesser trees, but this was still a jungle of night. The dark forest that I was seeing in its full glory. Having some skills was a curse too. This [Mana vision]... an owl''s ability that always looked at the dark forest in vibrant colors. Well, this passive skill was the same as my recording mind. It was always on and didn''t have to work like a spell and consume Mana as much as the night vision spell. That spell might be better than this skill but, well, forget that. On my side, there was a... ck de? ''Bloody hell...'' I wanted to look back at this very moment. I wanted to look back and see the now berserk creature that just threw this dead-blood-like ck de. Though fluid, this thing was as sharp as a real sword. Cresent in shape, this bade was a ck moon of death. I wanted to look back at the creature but... it didn''t have any need of it. I was still running but, my heart has given the signal of something being terribly wrong. And I knew what it was from the sudden fountain of blood. "Ahhhh, khku," I screamed and bit my lips as¡­ I fell to the ground. This one was fast... so fast I didn''t even have time to react to this one. A... white de? "Fuck? White blood cells can be faster?" I mumbled under my breath and tried to stand back up before another such attack came my way. "Ahhh!" This was difficult and, if not for my hesitation in taking another step, I might have cut both of my legs this time. I was alive this long thanks to my heart but, this situation was now difficult. Even if I didn''t want it, there was a deep wound on my lower leg. And, this was also on the left leg so, the pain was more than I could endure. It already drenched me in blood and now... one more deep injury. I had tattered clothes and¡­ the berserk look of this monstrosity entered my eyes. Chapter 114 Fallen (2) "Goddamn..." The thing before me was not a lowly slime anymore... not that it was ever since Iid my eyes on that gruesome pool of blood. It was confirmed. I was magnificently coursed. The creature that had a jelly-like blood red membrane around a bone skeleton was now fully something that I can call a demonic beast. Its size had reduced, and it now had a body of ck, white, and red flesh. This thing was something like the carnage. The big white thing that looked like eyes were covering half of its face. The long, sharp, endless teeth in his mouth and that long tongue... this was no slime. But they were definitely smiling... a delighted, mindless smirk would be more appropriate. "Ha..." If not for being calm and thinking straight, I might have already thrown up just from looking at that disgusting thing. It has shrunk down but now, there was something of big muscles on his body, that might be something that he threw this de with. The thing that was only a magical attacker until now could now do physical attacks. Physical... attacks? A horrified look suddenly clouded my face as I looked at the distinct smirk of that berserk demonic creature. Now... it had no restraint. No mind. Nothing to think about. It would go rampage with a single goal in its ''mind''. Destroying me. Eradicate the target that he had set in mind before letting go of all its sanity. [Quickstep!] [Quickstep!!] -Swishhhhhwish. -Swiiiiiihhhkch! "Ahhhhh!" I dodged the first but, the second one was more thought out than I had thought. Berserk had increased his intel and now, it was fully ustomed to the patterns in which I avoided his attacks. Thankfully, it was still a low-intel creature, and avoiding the future attacks might be easy... just if these cuts can heal. The cuts were from some kind of white blood and, I can say that this contained some... (Light) properties? That bastard?! Did it absorb the skill stone from that wolf or something? I didn''t know just how strong this monster was, but I knew it had crossed many limits. Holy mother of goblins... Why were these things happening when I had least expected them?! The cut this time was not that deep and, with the fruit''s healing power, I can at least recover from it. But it was still taking much longer than potions. Biting my lips again, I jumped on a tree before me. Now, there was an open path with trees on both sides. This path looked natural but, that wasn''t important right now. As I ran, I could see the outline of the creature running with its four legs after me. This was like some kind of carnivorous creature running after its favorite prey. It had a joyous expression and the white things he was throwing my way were generating on his back three at a time. The creature would jump in the air and throw all three of them with its solid muscle strength. This strength was so horrific it cut the trees I had just jumped from down into pieces. The same trees in this great forest had unnatural strong features and were falling like sticks. They were like a piece of simple woods cutting down against a boomerang of a chainsaw. The blood from my wounds was giving it an even higher perception to urately attack me. I was able to avoid most of them but, some did grace me ''gently''. Those times were hellish, as the pain from these weird des was more severe than I can take. I didn''t have any leeway of doing deep thinking at this moment. I have been covered in life-threatening wounds and it already painted my vision red¡­ All the arrows that I had wasted to find its core were now meaningless. There was no way to win against something like this one. Something that had a physique like something of a physical monster instead of something like a slime. My magic arrows were doing nothing, and I knew those missile arrows will also do nothing in the face of this monster... There was light ahead of me, light in this forest of darkness, but... I had lost too much blood. -Thud. I fell from the tree branch I was standing on. I had lost all strength, and now... even my Mana was depleted. I had little Mana to use only one skill, and after that, I would be dead. All the scenarios I had made inside my head were on the verge of falling apart, but... "NO!!!" I shouted and tried to get myself up. My hands, body, legs, everything was covered in blood, scars, and god knows what. As I fell to the ground, it didn''t take even half a minute for the ground to be fully strained by blood. I didn''t know what this was, but I had a useless feeling of helplessness. But I was still alive... luckily. Looking at this monster wasn''t easy but, I was looking, and¡­ it had slowed down. It had a pleasing smile on its disgusting face and it was licking half of the face with that long, blood-red tongue. Those white eyes reminded me of a fictional character from my previous world that was the same nasty looking as this monster. This thing was still six meters in height if it stood up, but, walking on all four legs like that lizard, it was the epitome of horror. Well, doing thest attempts to survive was important, right? [Shadow Dive] [Shadow curtain] I fall back as far away as I can and, at the end of this ride, I don''t know why but, there were two peculiar trees. I didn''t know what they were but having a tree with a white trunk, blue branches, and orange, red leaves were something I wasn''t ustomed to seeing in this ck ce. But that wasn''t important right now. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! [Quickstep!!!] I hurriedly used the quickstep but... it was toote. "Ahhhhhh!" My left leg was now hanging by only some skin tissues. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, no. God damnit!" I jumped with my remaining leg and used [Shadow dive] with myst Mana. "When will this life-saving shield activate!?" I shouted in the shadows and, tied the fallen leg with some glue and cloth, which was definitely the clearest idea I could think of in this situation. I was now dead, and there was nothing ahead of me... Would you believe someone in such a situation could survive?! I had done myst attempt, and this was still not enough. I am no story hero! "Ha... sorry. Sorry, mom, I couldn''t keep the promise..." I had no strength left in this body, and my Mana was almost rock bottom. The skill duration ended, and I fell to the ground¡­ lifeless. Chapter 115 Change In arge room decorated with fancy paintings, sculptures, and flowers, they set arge table up in the middle. Many people were gathered in this ce and sitting quietly in their ces with serious expressions. No one was talking right now, and except some individuals, everyone seemed on edge. This atmosphere was quiet, and there was clear tension in the room. Every person in the room had fabulous clothing, and most of these people were men. Though there were somedies, they were only ten against the fifty men sitting withplicated faces. from the looks of things, all these people were waiting for someone. The room was luxurious and the charm of all these magnificent things was rtively low. Everything was extravagant, but normal. This time was early morning and the light from therge windows on both sides of therge windows illuminated the entire room. The air was tense but there was a calmness in it, as if the air itself was waiting for something to change in this closed room. Everyone was quiet, but no one dared to speak in this ce in front of all the people present here. Except one fool. "Where is madam? It''s alreadyte. If we wait some more, then we might have problems." Someone in the room said, and just after his words, they bombarded him with furious res. As if the one that spoke was a buffoon, everyone else in the room looked at him with contempt-filled eyes. There was clear worry in everyone''s eyes after the name ''madam'' has spoken to break the still silence. Some in this room were confused, but there was still a worried look in their eyes as they looked at the one has spoken just now. "It''s ok. He''s a new person, so he doesn''t know much. He will understand after this one." This voice was filled with certainty and¡­ this was a dignified famine voice. This was the voice of ady with short brown hair and a splendid outfit of nobles. Nobles, as it was clear from her magnificent looks that thisdy was not like some of the most ''normal'' people present in this room. There were two men standing behind her in knight armor, like most people present. But this differed from the other escorts. These knights had shining armor that seemed magical and swords that looked to be filled with magic itself. This differed from many other normal knight armors that were ''only'' shining normally. Everything aside, it was clear that all this people in this ce were merchants or someone connected in business. The alluringdy was confident in her speech despite many looks that asked: ''how would a new person know?'' "Countess is right, everyone. Master is busy with something else. Unlike us, there are much more things she has to take care of." This was a male voice but, it was oldpared to most of the voices present. This was the calm voice of some of the few calm ones that had been calm in this tense situation. After this voice spoke the fact, the room that has brightened up for a moment went back to the quiet one in an instant. The old man on the other side of the previousdy was someone that everyone here knew, just like thedy. Thedy on the left side held a higher rank than the old man on the right, and it was clear that the two of them agreed with each other. There was calmness between these two parties and that also reflected that they were onmon ground. The old man was wearing a blue outfit that was the most luxurious in the room present and his dark blue eyes matched this suit perfectly. His white hair showed his old age but, at the same time, theck of guards or knights also showed his fearless manner. There was just a young attendant on his right side that held a peculiar cane with a simr crest as his clothes. A lion, and more specifically, a white lion crest that symbolized the holy beast of simr features. This was the viscount Glory. The elder in the room, someone with the most experience as a merchant and a subordinate of the one all were waiting. He was a merchant but, at the same time, he was a (tier-4) mage. The cane was his magic wand and, just like the crest on his heart, he was a lion in their industry. On his other side was the countess and the newest person to rise at exceptional speed in this empire''s market. Someone that stood alone and earned the title of a countess meeting finding the love of her life. The weakest count family''s head, someone that didn''t have much authority, power, or wealth, found someone like her... or they found each other. The end result of this was the power structure change in the lower significant nobles. That was one thing but, she was still not someone who stood with the master all were waiting for. There was still time as she was new and there were many things for her to learn but, at least, she knew if she wanted tost in this empire''s trades for longer; she had to be one with the person in waiting. The sudden wealth and poprity attracts wolfs, and she wasn''t someone that could give in to such people. She was at least wasn''t as new as the ignorant person who has just spoken up. She knew the meaning of just being at this ce and on this table with someone that has yet to show up. The person they were waiting for, the master of the biggest auction house, the leader of the third-ranking merchant alliance, and someone that had the most power in the whole empire when it came to certain things. She had created an empire in two years. An empire of something no ordinary merchant could think of. An empire of trade, and particrly, an empire of peculiar foods. That aside, all therge trades that happened within this great empire had ties with this person. She had power in trades, so she had money. She also had power in the military, holding forces tomand at her words. She was the daughter of a hero and someone already known throughout the continent. If she, as a rising power in this ferocious empire, had to be under someone, it would be no one but this person. Just like the viscount sitting on the other side of her. He was someone that had been a part of this empire''s economics for the longest in this room. He was sitting here but, there might be many things going on under hismands at this very moment. He was a subordinate as well as an elder of the merchant alliance, holding the highest rank in this meeting of new and aspirin merchants. All things aside, the gates were opening up, and this was the signal for every person''s percent. -Katm. At once, everyone stood up from their seats to greet the esteemed one of this gathering. The one that some called master, somedy or madam, while for some, she had earned a special title in these past years, [The golden demoness]. Chapter 116 Change (2) The doors to thisrge room were bigger and unique in themselves. This was no ordinary ce and every single person present couldn''t do anything in this ce, even if they wanted to. This was the grand house of Heliox. A house, a mansion of the glorious hero and someone that was known throughout the continent as the [Golden Hammer]. And this door had a peculiar crest of a core divine beast, a bird, a beast, a mixture of those and something known throughout history as one that ruled the winds and earth. This was a [Griffin]. A creature of a lion''s body, and an eagle''s head. Something that ruled not only the sky but thends, too. A creature that was known throughout the world for being something that appeared in times of different causes. This was a creature that can roam skies,nds, and ces that weren''t to be known to humanity. A creature that made a partner of a lifetime and then created a home to live a peaceful life. A creature of power and strength but, the meaning of this crest, this creature that believed in protection more than anything, showed the meaning of the name itself. The one that all were waiting today, the one that had created a name of her own. A name separate from this house, or the achievements of her father. She was the countess of a warm ce. Lady Nolen Heliox Von Aster Griffin. Known by many names, the title of countess that she had received justst year resulted from her achievements. Result of her longing and selfishness. All of this was excessive and if looked at from a normal person''s point of view, the things she had done in thest three years after her return to the capital were greater than anyone had done in decades. From creating something that defied themon nature of today''s restorers and making food... food that seemed otherworldly, avable for every person in the empire. That thing that she called ''Food joints'' was something so new to this world, just the idea of such a ce being true was unreal. She did all these things, from stabilizing the falling of her merchant alliance to making it greater than it had ever been in that short time. She did all these things despite being a mother of a newborn, as well as a mother that had lost someone important to her. A mother that had lost something most important to her. She was a mother famous throughout the empire and her son was someone that was written in children''s storybooks as a hero. A child that had be a mage at the young age of five years old. If adults heard this story without proof, they would just brush it off like some patty rumor. But this wasn''t something she talked about with words. She just created ces where all can eat something new despite their status. She made something that was the idea of her beloved son, something her son wanted to be a reality. Her son, her son that didn''t even know his origin, had been lost in some ce that no one knew about. All this time, she had held onto the hope in the form of the rare artifact of someone special. The rings that many lovers had and something that showed if the other had been hurt greatly or if they were... dead. She held onto this ring all this time and, the one with her through her journey, her husband, and the genius mage that had reached (tier-7) at such a young age shouldered her agony. They had a cute baby, but not many knew about that little one as they knew little about the family of such a great person. The noble son that lived by the ideals of the house of [Golden Hammer]¡­ was now lost. But he didn''t die in vain. He protected the family he cherished so much. He protected them from the bastard demon that had appeared in this empire. That incident had be the hottest issue and was talked about to this day. Those vile creatures couldn''t appear in this empire, but¡­ some did in different areas of the outskirts. And, one was taken care of by this family that was so unlucky to be in the same ce at that same vile time. Now, things had changed and the person once known as that [Foolish girl] had be [Golden Demoness]. Her dear husband, the well-known [Red-eyed hunter] was granted the title of viscount for his outstanding achievements these past two years in the discovery and exploration of new areas in the wild. He, as an independent adventurer, was someone that had the greatest future and with the abundant resources he had from his dear wife, he was now closest to bing the (Tier-8) mage. That... would be an event that many in this empire would look forward to, as those in (tier-8) had many paths they can choose. But, this one fool father had done all the things for his lost child. He even created a magic array formation that can show the condition of soul fragments in the rings, like those with different data. Desperate situations and desperate parents give birth to things that had gone through unthought of all this time. The thing he created was the core reason for his title, but he, too, gave all the credit to his lost son. ording to him, his son had shared many things and ideas of magic with him while doing experiments on enchantments. They did crazy stuff, and from that, he received inspiration for this impressive system. But building the magic device from the theory and magic arrays alone was the task that was only possible because the one that made it was also a well-known genius of the empire. The great magic engineer of Heliox. The sessor and genius creator that had been known throughout thends for his prowess in creating magic equipment. Though different from artifacts, they were the inferior version to them in working. So, even he had received the praise of the whole magic engineeringmunity. These three had done their best but, there was no rumor or sign of them finding this lost one-of-a-kind genius. But... there was a rumor circting that the demoness had been in her room more than usual. And, the thing that made these suspicious was that all the family would gather in the room with this magic device. Maybe... the son that had been miraculously alive all this time was now... The doors opened and an alluring figure walked in with a dignified expression as well as eyes that seemed... anxious. Chapter 117 Change (3) The doors opened, and an alluring figure walked into the morous room. Wearing a dress of natural origin or... wearing a nightgown, thedy with bright blond hair walked into the room. The nightgown was luxurious and the white color and the thick material of the cloth made it better than any dress worn by the people present in this room. As if all the circling air were her servant, she filled the surrounding air with authority. Despite the tired face that we couldn''tpare to, she walked with dignity. She was as gorgeous as ever. Her clear eyes that looked normal contained charm-filled tiredness that was alluring in itself. She walked in and the servant of the house, the head butler, and one of her guardians walked behind her. She just walked in and set down with no care in the world and after her, all the people standing in the ce sat down after hermand. -Thum. Many bowed before sitting down and she just gave them an indifferent look. This was different from her usual self and those that knew this person could feel that she was not in the mood for ideal chit-chat. "So, we should finish all the things at hand. I''m... in no mood for doing the useless things so elder Glory would answer questions," she said, and the viscount nodded. There was no point in something pointless right now and if someone foolishly- "How could you do that, madam?! We came all the-" this was the same person who had spoken earlier and... he was a fool. She eyed the person who had just spoken mid-sentence and looked at the butler behind her with annoyed eyes. He just nodded, and in the next moment, the fool was not in the room. He just vanished before their eyes, as if he had never existed in this ce in the first ce, and different reactions filled the room. The countess in the red dress just sighed while shaking her head, and the same was true for the viscount. Some other new members that were not as foolish as him just gasped with cold sweat filling their backs. "Ok then, what was the first agenda?" she indifferently asked as if the things that had just happened¡­ had never happened. The fear in the air was clear, but some didn''t care about this, as they already knew what they were dealing with here. This was someone that had received the nickname of demoness from the public. She was no normal person in the first ce and, ording to their knowledge, she was the strongest person present in this room. Strong enough to make every mage and knight submit to her will. Her special power, [Authority], something that very few possessed, was more than enough to defeat a (tier-6) mage. She was strong and her attendant and family member behind her was also mysterious person who somehow was present with all the members of the family at the same time. No one knew his origin or what type of power he used, but all knew that this one grandpa before them was no less than the demoness sitting on the throne-like chair at the far end of the table. This was her pce and everything here belong to her and¡­ there was no need to deeply introduce someone we already knew about. "For the first thing, this morning we will be hearing from the countess, who has been rising in the clothing business in the empire." The butler behind said and a small light shed in her beautiful eyes. "Oh? Countess Morgan? I wanted to meet you for a long time now. Hope you have the brief version of what you want and what can I have." She said in her alluring voice, her words were filled with seriousness when she asked this question. She asked to make it short, meaning she didn''t want this whole thing to be more than what it should. Her question itself contained meaning as great as a willow. Magnificent, but at the same time cruel. She just asked someone that was here to ask for help about what she can offer to her. Thisdy was a merchant and¡­ something worried her at the moment. She asked what she wanted at the same time, so the answer had to be clear. This person, this nobledy in a luxurious nightgown, was someone that can do whatever she wanted in this ce. She wasn''t bound by anything and all her strength was her own and no one else''s. She was a scary woman that had achieved things that were recorded in books and her knowledge and wisdom for money spoke for themselves. If she wanted, she can say the word and everyone in this room would lose everything they had the very next moment. There was no need to even ask for a second chance if they did something foolish like the person a moment ago. That person would be safely reaching his home but, he should forget if he was thinking ofing to this ce again. Now, that same demoness was looking at the woman that was a rising star with minor curiosity. And, her answer would decide many things for her today. "Greeting, countess. As you said, I will make it short. All I can offer is 30% of my [Evergreen]. And all I ask is your protection." She said with a vast, respect-filled voice and then looked at the countess, who had an intrigued expression. "30%? You think that''s something I wouldn''t be able to get if I said the word?" she frowned. Her voice was still filled with curiosity but, there was no smile on her face. Her beautiful face. The smile of someone like her was something only fortunate ones received and here, not many were worthy of such blessing. She was looking at the rising star that was the talk of the town because of hertest business and brand, as well as her talent. Her clothing shops were something that sold premade clothes and her targeted customers was from themon folks to all the nobles that could be humble and enter the ce. This thing, this business, was a potential star, ording to her, and if looked at from the merchant''s point of view, this was the same thing she had done. Or, her son has theorized, would happen if done this way. Her son... This was the reason she wanted these shops owned by thisdy. And, if looking for profits, this was the best offer a merchant could offer. Joining a merchant alliance was something different from joining a normal guild. But, at this very moment, she wasn''t asking for the merchant alliance''s protection, but for her, the one known as demoness''s protection. This was something like directly asking to be a subordinate of hers and... she liked this direct, straightforward attitude of this woman. It was already decided that she was going to ept her, but she had to see her profits. She would try to get as much as she can as a merchant but, this was just a y. "That is all I can offer, mydy. I have nothing else. This is my dream just like the one you had. I might be being insolent here but I want to keep this dream and, if I go any more than this, I won''t be able to forgive myself." She was bowing, and this was a straight, brief answer instead of something like begging. She said many things in those sentences and that much was enough to make this golden demoness... "Do you mean what you just said? Do you think you have what it takes to further what you have? Do you think that someone like you¡­ can be more than what you are?" -Oooooooooong. A great pressure engulfed the entire room. The weak ones that were sitting at the far end of this long table fall unconscious in an instant. Some sitting closer to her were holding up quite well and the viscount, as well as some others that were calm all this time, were still calm as if there was nothing different. This pressure was enough to destroy the ss windows and some important things, like statues and paintings, got covered in a transparent shield. She, the person that was asked this question, was holding herself with great difficulty. She dug her nails into her skin to resist this mental pressure and started bleeding in this attempt. She had created her shop and her entire business with effort and advanced it like her own child. Now, there were hyenas after her baby-like shops and she was not going to submit to anyone. Be it them¡­ or this demoness before her. She wanted her protection, and she understood this was her trial. The master of one of the most powerful merchant alliances had something greater in mind. She was adamant, and there was nothing that was going to break her down. Her great mentality that had resisted this pressure had already passed her small test. She looked deep into her eyes and opened her pretty mouth to answer this demon-like person she had expected. "I-" she started but, everyone in the room flinched as they heard the loud footstepsing towards this quiet room. -Thump! Thump! Thump! A confused expression clouded everyone''s expression and, in no time, the door was sted away. -Boom! "Nolen!!!" a horrified male voice echoed in the room, raising the heartbeats of everyone present in the room. Chapter 118 Miracle The door was obliterated by some kind of sharp winds and the figure that had just walked out of this gate was something that shocked all the conscious people. The smoke cleared up and a young man with glossy, shoulder-long hair reflected in everyone''s eyes. He had a face that was iparable to any young man present or they had seen. His simple face, glowing red eyes, and that muscr body... earned audible gasps. Everyone knew who this person was, but no one had seen his face in person. Though they had heard rumors of his devilish appearance, no one talked about it for some unknown reason. This man was feared as (Red-eyed hunter) as well as someone that earned the title of viscount on his own. This was the person that had invented that marvelous thing called (Soul-graph). Someone famous for being a ruthless hunter, a genius mage, and a proud father of a hero son. A husband that supported his wife while continuing the hopeless search for his dear son. His special discoveries had prospered the empire more than many presents in this ce. He was also a father and the first cook for the things that were sold in the ce that was famous in half of the continent. The first chef and father of a young one, that has turned two this year. They looked at this man''s unparalleled looks and the pink kitchen apron he wore that didn''t suit the chaotic air around him. His eyes contained fear, and this was the signal for them. "I would be happy if you keep everything to yourself, gentlemen." The demoness said... more like ordered with higher pressure and then started walking towards her devastated husband. There was a shock in everyone''s eyes and the heartbeats ringing in the silent area were audible. This was fear and helplessness against power. And there was nothing anyone could do for their wasted time on this day. Except one. She turned around hurriedly and looked at the butler quietly standing behind her. "Start the procedure that the countess wants. Ask viscount Glory if anything unexpectedes up. I want nothing in my way." This was her order, and the butler just nodded and bowed. She looked at the countess, who had tears lingering on the ends of her eyes. Giving her a warm smile that could melt ciers, she said, "I look forward to working with you, Samantha." The tears on the ends of her eyes slid down her clear, fluffy cheeks, and a warm smile appeared on her face. "It would be my honor, mydy. Please take care." She said and bowed deeply while following noble antiquities. She was nobler than mostdies of noble households, and she was perfect for being a business partner. Nodding with a pleased expression, she continued walking with her husband. They hurriedly walked out of the doorless room and as they reached the stairs, she forgot her dignified manner and started running upstairs. There were tears in her alluring eyes that were filled with fear, shock, and faith. She understood that her husband would only do this thing in one scenario. "No. Eon. Please, please. Please... don''t." She said as she ran while clenching his hand with her full might. *** In arge room with no extravagant things, people were gathered around aplicated-looking thing. Half of the room was covered with a web-like magic pattern and all of them were gathering around at this center. There were peculiar crystals at the edges of these spider-web-like things and¡­ in the center, many metallic machines were set up. This room was too big and covered half of the mention''s floor and in that big ce, the center that was a six-meter radius circle, many metallic things were connected with some small magic circles. These small magic circles had a white light and, if looked closely, there were small channels connecting all these circles. The metallic things were just normal-looking boxes of different colors on the outside. But the inside of these things was a mess of different cables, crystals, and shiny objects. This was set around a giant prism as a center, and this prism was also a unique object. Only magicians could sense it but, the magic circuits and formation this thing was made of, were soplicated that replicating the same things was close to impossible in a short time. Those things that would require precise Mana output and exceptional Mana control were something that would be difficult to reproduce, even for a seasoned veteran ''creator''. The transparent, ss-like thing had something written inside it. Aside from that, the metallic boxes had a floating screen that was showing many data and graphs. Aside from the thing written in the prism and some normal graphs, everything was tooplicated for most people to understand. The people gathered in the room were focused on only two things right now. Their eyes were unblinking and the sorrow and anguish in their eyes were so clear that just a look would be enough to tell their sorrow. The air in the room was tensed, and the heaviness was just growing as the time passed. Some numbers on the prism were going down constantly and with each decrease, the hearts of the people present were sinking. The people present in this room were wearing their nightgowns as if the first thing they did was gather around this giant machine. The older couples clenched each other''s hands in great fear. Two families of three with mom, dad, and their children hugging them with tears in their eyes. The couple was gorgeous, just like the older couples. The young girl with red hair was holding her dad''s hand like her mother while still keeping her eyes on the prism. The opposite was happening on the other side. A boy with green hair and peculiar eyes was holding his mom with his dad from breaking into tears. This room was always upied by someone but, right now, all of them were gathered here and... two more wereing. -Thum! Thum! Thum! The parents of the one they monitored in this giant room were running towards this room. Their footsteps were echoing and everything was so calm that even the footsteps that were on the floor below were as clear as the next room. The fear and anxiety were evident in those footsteps. All eyes were only focused on one thing... The decreasing numbers on the crystal prism... -Dhummmmmm! "How''s it?! What-" The male voice that echoed in the mmed open room suddenly stopped when his eyes fall on all the data on these screens. The graph was slowing down and the line that was constantly going up or down was slowing and bing straight. The numbers in prism were... being painted in red. ============ [Current soul state: Severe.] 536/1000 ============ * ============ [Current soul status: Critical.] 305/1000 ============ The alluringdy with blond hair beside the man fell to the ground with her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide open. Tears were falling uncontrobly from her gorgeous eyes. She fell to the ground and the red numbers became crimson red... The room fall silent and only voices of silent cry echoed. Eyes were filled with tears, throats filled with sorrow, hearts fallen from the grace, and only one voice, different from all, now dominated this grave room. ============ [Warning!] [Warning!] [Soul state: Extreme critical!] 96/1000 -> 90/1000 -> 84/1000... [Host has lost significant vitality!] [Soul has fallen into an extremely critical state.] [Meaning: the host is wounded beyond help!] [The mental body integration might begin any moment!] [Warning!] ============ All graphs were turning red and aside from a few that showed the ''will'' calcted from the data, remained green. It was still stable, meaning he hadn''t given up just yet. ? There was a strange curve that signified the use of some powerful skill but it was now normal but¡­ the normal was still not enough. The unbending will wasn''t faltering one bit but, the calcted physical state was as good as a corpse. No vitals continued to calcte and even the hypothetical Mana value was fallen beyond possible. They knew when soul stat fell below a hundred¡­ it would mean the soul disintegration would begin. ... Though this was just early morning, this room had be the dark mourning graveyard. Screams filled this room, and tears flooded the floor. The agony in the voices was insurmountable. The suffering of hearts was endless. All was gone. Their Eon... was now actually¡­ gone. Or at least he was until the numbers fall to 69/1000. Then... Some graphs started working again as if the dead were resurrected. And all these graphs were increasing at a speed that seemed unreal by any mortal means. This was sudden but¡­ this didn''t escape from the sharp eyes of desperation. ============ [Abnormal vitality detected.] [Revitalizing in process.] [Physical and mental body condition reevaluation.] [Conditions reevaluation.] [Soul state: Hurt.] 669/1000 ============ "A miracle..." An aged male voice echoed in the room, and everyone turned their eyes to the new data. A sudden surge of calmness filled their heart with a light of new hope. This light was more bright than what they had wanted and... that was for the best. Something unreal has just happened and all of them have witnessed it. This was no normal thing but, all aside, there was just one thought filling their crying hearts. The sun... has yet to fall. Chapter 119 At The End In a dark forest filled with a sinister smell of blood, the devastation was the only thing in sight. Trees were destroyed, thend was devastated, and the air was filled with something that only reminded me of death. In all this chaos, a giant creature of dark crimson, ck color, and while eyes that were filled with only hunger, were staring at the ground. There was something that couldn''t be thought of alive anymore. His leg was almost cut off and the skin holding that leg was just there as a show. This creature had made this boy like this. Whatever it was, the desire to kill, destroy, or just pure instincts that lead this monster to do this, the monster was happy with the oue. There were countless cuts on the boy''s body. Big, small, deep, life-threatening, all kinds of wounds were covering his bare body. There was nothing to protect him and this creature was just standing there waiting for thest remaining spark in this boy''s eyes to fade away. His eyes¡­ Those dark eyes carried hatred towards this creature, this fate, and towards himself. His eyes were the most alive thing in him and there was nothing clearer than his mind in his body. He was doing nothing and the blood gushing out of those wounds was severe. His body was lifeless, but the wounds on his body were at least healing at a speed that was not normal at all. As if a strong healing spell was at work, this boy was waiting for something to happen in his almost lost time. The creature was looking at him as if he was watching something that was finally going to be his. As if something he had waited for a long time. His eyes had greed despite the chaotic air around his body. This creature was berserk, and this creature wasn''t doing anything to the almost dead prey. This was strange but, at the same time, the grin on his face was deepening with each passing second. The boy was doing his best to keep his eyes open and continue breathing. His throat was filled with blood, but he was holding the desire to let go of that blood, fearing it might go in the wrong pipe and kill him earlier than it would. The special ne with a unique golden fruit was shining right now and there was some kind of light reaction going in that thing. Looking closely, this fruit was something even more surprising than one could think. This fruit wasn''t the only thing that was moving in his body. The bracelet around his wrist, the metallic silver bracelet with blue patterns, was glowing. This was the sign of the mana running through the bracelet and activating the magic device. The wooden bow around his back, something that was a special gift from an elder Ent, was also reacting. These reactions were happening in unison, indicating the veryst try of this dead boy. His eyes were ck just like his hair and because this dark forest became a strange, open area, we could see the rays of the sun on the far horizon. This was something very different, as there was something this forestcked the most. A dark forest of dark trees and darkness blocked all the light from the rising sun. For the creatures living in this dark ce, the sun was something they could barely see, and the sunlight was something only the lucky ones that wanted to die could experience. But, thanks to this monster, creatures that were alive, mostly tiny insects, were able to burn in the rising sunlight. It had cleaned the area up and we could see the far-away things from this ce. The jungle was still the same dark forces but, there was something that attracted the attention of all the things present. Two trees stood out the most in the distant dark forest. As this was a straight road, the trees were positioned as some kind of gateway. But that wasn''t important for the one on the verge of death. Yes, it was important to reach this peculiar ce if nothing else but, there was still light in those bright eyes. He was almost dead, but the spirit hadn''t given up on life just yet. There was still something this person could do, and he was going to do just that this time, too. And, the creature that was slowly looking down at this corpse''s sudden smirk noticed something going on in his hand. There was nothing a moment ago, but now there was something in those blood-painted hands. The same hands that were clenching his body a moment ago were now clenching something that looked strange. Strange, but interesting. The creature that was previously been a slime was now a demonic beast, but he was still the same creature, so he still had his skills. And he couldn''t sense anything but pure energy in that thing. He couldn''t see in that blood-filled hand, but there was a small shining crystal ball-like thing in his hand. This was a small ball, and silver star-like things were shining in it. This was easy to recognize, even for someone that had seen it for the first time. This... was a ghost core. Something of pure energy. A condensed mass of the same pure energy that the ghosts were made of. The boy was smiling while crying the tears of blood from the insurmountable pain. The same boy that still had the same burning passion for living. He wanted to live even while knowing that his body was beyond saving. His body, something that all girls would fall for, that same desirable body, was now something no one would want to look at. The gruesome mess of a body that was strangely alive against the world''s rules. That strange will was something that no child, not even the most normal creatures of the world, should have. But, aside from that strange ball of shining stars, there was nothing important for this creature of blood. The demonic creature was smiling as it looked at the beast''s core and the deep smirk on his teeth-filled face became a sign of madness. The creature had gone mad from the new type of pure energy that the boy had just taken out and it was enough to make this berserk beast mad beyond reason. He took out the des from his back in a hurry as if there was nothing more important for this thing than that small ball of stars. But the blood-filled mouth of the boy made itsst crescent smile as he coughed up all the blood with hisst words. "Fuck you! Ahem! Bwaaaa... you bastard!" The carnage of a creature raised his hands, holding white des, and attacked with all the force in his strong, muscr arms. This dominant force was enough to make a hot gust of wind and then... -Booooom! With a sonic boom... the creature attacked the smiling boy. Chapter 120 Ending -Boooooooom! An explosion rang and shook the whole earth around it. It spread a shock wave out as the collision point was its epicenter. This was normal, but this intensity was something that was a rare sight. Something was attacking a boy, and a strange light was blocking his giant hands. His giant hands held the peculiar white daggers with ck and red mixed in both hands. This creature had attacked with all his might, and this was something that should have been impossible to block. This was an attack from a higher (purple) ranked creature. Blocking something of this caliberpletely should have been impossible, even for something of the same rank. But... the attack had been blocked, and this peculiar light that had made a protective barrier around this boy did this. A golden barrier strong enough to block the attack of such a creature. An attack that threatened its already passed away life. This was a boy, but... calling this a corpse was more appropriate than anything. Just the fact that he could still breathe and be conscious was amazing, as this was something unreal. He was smiling. This damn corpse was smiling. This was a smile of the one that had countless regrets and the eyes that yarned for many things. But... the glowing white ball of stars was something that told a different story of this fallen soul. Something was going on in this ce, and this boy was at the center of it. The bow by his side was slowly disintegrating. The energy from the core was getting channeled through his body, and he was doing something. This something... could be called the final gratitude of a loyal survivor. Thest try of a brave knight. Something that few possess and something that most couldn''t do, even after facing death countless times. This boy was doing thest he could, and thisst was draining all he had. His Mana core might not handle this but, it wasn''t important in the face of death. Life was giving up on him, but he still wanted that life. His smile was miserable, and thisst thing was the veryst thing he could do. A skill. Something that would use a certain power to activate the predestined result. A powerful skill could do many things, and something was going to happen in this area filled with abnormalities and disaster. But that didn''t change the fact that death was evident for this boy. The death. The process where the soul bes one with nature. And, the process was already ongoing for this boy that was on the death''s door. His body was cold, the blood was slowing down, and his always calm heart was slowing down. The reaper would be waiting for him. Nature was inviting him but... his middle finger was mocking the death too. Even on the flower-filled deathbed, he wasn''t done with life. The life that had many things more than this demon ahead of him. His mocking of death and the decision of the world were a sight to behold. This damn bastard... -Boooooooom! The hungry demon, lost to madness, didn''t stop after his first attack. The explosions continued, and the creature repeated his useless attempts at breaking the unbreakable shield. This was no normal light, nor was the shield something ordinary. The shield of an ancient tree''s gift and it was... a piece of art. The magnificent light, the design, and all the things about it were gorgeous. If only this boy with blood-filled eyes could see this, he would admire it again. Just like he did all his life, just like he did with the slimes that took his life. He was an admirer, and that was just what he was. There was nothing that could change the fact that this bastard had done more than anyone his age could. His flower-filled life turned into dark thrones but, he kept going. The damn demons separated him from his lovely family, but he didn''t break. He ventured the hell in the hopes to see the light¡­ the light like hope was his salvation. Now, this child would never achieve what he wanted. Hisst attempt was fatal. To him and also to the creature attacking him. But, the smile on his face didn''t fade away even after he was at the death''s doors. Sure, he couldn''t see anything but, his eyes contained the same light they had from the start. He wanted to live. He wanted to survive. He wanted to go back and reunite his beloved parents. There were many things he wanted to do, and one of them was ying with his little sibling. The little one he never got to see. Would that one be a good kid or something special like him and his parents? He wanted to know this before dying, before leaving them. This was his second life and¡­ it was on the edge of the end. He didn''t know how they would be but, at least, they were better than his almost dead self. Well, he was on the death''s door, but now the dying light had sparked once more. "F-fuck... akhem! Off!" He shouted while coughing another mouthful of blood and... something started. A magic circle tooplex to be called magic started appearing at the speed unbefitting of magic. This was, without a doubt, a skill. Thest skill he might be using in his whole life. A skill enough to use all the power from the glowing core and the wooden bow. This was a powerful skill and also something he could only use once at the price of his dear bow. His bow he had used in this dark forest all this time and something that had saved his life. The bow was a gift, and its purpose was going to be fulfilled. A tear of blood slid down his bloody eyes and... the heart that was beating heroically skipped a beat for the first time. Chapter 121 A Boy Who Survived A magic circle in pure while finished and the golden shield protecting the child vanished. This two-fold magic circle wasparable to a (tier-4) spell, and this boy was overdoing it. His body wasn''t enough to handle this skill, and it would hurt his soul. The process of soul disintegration might elerate, and the recoil from this skill might even throw him far away. But those trivial things weren''t important. The boy locked his eyes at the ce the creature was and the circle fired a beam of white light. A beam filled with pure power and something that can kill any powerful monster in an instant. ¡­ In the unusually tranquil jungle filled with booms of the same origin, a different explosion shook the earth itself. -Booooooooooooooooooommmmmmm! As if a higher creature showed his wreath, the unreal sound killed small creatures. Ears started bleeding, and trees shook from their core. The fluctuations cracked the earth. The eyes of the creature were looking down at the kid with hunger¡­ for the first time, showed fear. Yes... fear. Something unexpected had happened in this ce and the roles had been reversed for... just a brief moment. The creature was hit by a powerful beam of light, and it was shot back many yards away. Many ''yards'' away. And the boy''s corpse was thrown many ''kilometers'' away from the resulting recoil of this powerful skill. It threw the carnage creature away but, that demonic bastard had no injuries at all. Aside from the ck burn on the surface of his body, there was nothing wrong with it. But... the miraculous body of the boy had be a fountain that sparkled blood on the nts as it threw him. His cold, motionless body was thrown away and his eyes that were blocked with dry blood blinked at this moment. The skill had thrown him, but the ce wasn''t random. At the precise ce, the two peculiar trees created something of a gate. A gate that was just normal, but there was nothing visible beyond these two trees. But¡­ The ashen trunk, the fiery leaves, the peculiar appearance... nothing was visible to this miserable soul. He was thrown into this ce and all he could see was limited to what met the corners of his eyes that were still working. He saw the different tree and sighed with his breathless lips. At least, his aim was still as sharp as it has been honed all these years. He crossed the gate, and... the world changed. ¡­ The change was unbelievable. He should have been thrown on the rough, ck ground of the dark forest where there was eternal night. He should have been dead from the impact his body would suffer from the fall. This ce should be the same and cold, filled with the gruesome smell of blood, but... no. He felt warm. There was the light of the sun. He felt grass. There was grass, green, fresh grass under him. Grass that was special in themselves and grass that had protected him. From the corner of his eyes, he could only see the ce he hadnded so he wouldn''t see the endless fields he was lying on. The unbelievable scene of endless in ground with few separate trees. He couldn''t see the beauty of this ce and he couldn''t admire it from his first view. He couldn''t see the enormous tower in the middle of these great ins. A tower that seemed to reach the sky. A masterpiece of sculpture and art. His eyes were unmoving, and his body was lifeless. The only thing he could see after his fall was the gate he hade from and the creature that had just walked in here. Or... at least tried to enter before he was blocked by some transparent barrier. He tried to force himself in with all his might and was able to seed, too. The brute power shown by him was unlike anything he had shown while chasing after him. He passed through these strange trees after using his full strength that the boy that had¡­ almost stopped breathing couldn''t fathom. He wasying here, in this strange ce and the only sense in his body that worked best was his ears. He couldn''t move any part of his body, and his heart was barely beating. But¡­ he heard it. He heard the sudden screams of the creature that had never shown any weakness to him, and his eyes regained some vitality for a moment. And as he fixed his blur, blood blocked eyes back on the creature and the spectacle entered his weak vision. He saw this. He saw the creature that had chased after him burn alive at an unreal speed by... gorgeous, pure white mes? mes were so magnificent that the ancient fruit''s shield looked dullpared to it. Unreal mes that carried the elegance of a noble creature at the same time the power of the mighty. This was soothing to his heart, and he was happy to hear this creature scream in more agony than he had suffered all this time. But the screams weren''t the only things there. "Foolish creature. Just thinking about the power beyond the reach was aughable thing but, to think it would enter this ce with that filthy body. How dare-, oh? My, my. What peculiar thing we have here~." This was something he had heard after a long, long time. A voice he had heard for the first time in his life in this great forest of Kamut. This was a voice that oozed with wisdom. This voice was old but still as young as the beginning. But... more than anything, this was a voice. This was a voice, and someone had just spoken. And that someone had a voice like humans from what he had just heard. "Hmmm. A special one~? Nature... as strange as ever." The female voice said and got closer to him in an instant, close enough to put her palm on his head. "Well done. You are the strongest I had seen throughout my long lives, young boy. A fool with a mind of an adult that had suffered in cold. A powerful mind forged through the reality of life and death. Haaa¡­ Good. Now, go. Rest in the greatest peace. I know we will have fun in the future, little one." The warm voice stopped and the hand on his forehead cover him in the warm, white mes of calmness. He lost consciousness, and the demonic creature vanished as if it had never existed in this realm. Strange things happened in this short time, but one thing was certain. The boy¡­ would live. Chapter 122 New Surroundings And Her "Gasp!" suddenly opening my eyes, I panted heavily. Trying to remember what had happened to me, some peculiar pure white mes and a gentle touch on my head came back as an answer. I could remember thest moments of my life and I was sure that I was almost dead. But... "Holy mother of... I''m alive?" I was alive and, not only that, I checked my body and caressed every part of my body. "What the..." this was shocking. This was more shocking than I can think because not only was I healed but, I was better than ever. I could feel the vitality had increased a lot, and I was breathing air that had higher mana density than the green forest. This air... was purer than the one in the jungle I had lived in for years. Looking around, I could see the dazzling room that seemed to be a dream. "Yeah... maybe this is a dream. I... am I dreaming?" This wasn''t something I could be sure about and this luxurious room filled with shining things, this soft bed that was softer than ever, and this body. This body had not a single scar on it. I didn''t feel any pain. I wasn''t even hurt. This was as if someone had revived the dead body of the corpse-like me, but... was all these real? Did I really survive that horrific thing? What were those white mes that killed the creature that had killed countless creatures in mere moments? And I remembered it all. Though my eyes were fuzzy, filled with blood and dust, I was sure that I saw it. I saw the creature and that it was dead. Someone had killed the creature, and that someone was far, far stronger than anything I had met in this life. Killing a demonic beast with the power of a high-level (Purple) ranked beast? That was something not even were capable of doing. And those pure white mes... I had seen them clearly despite the red blood covering most of my eyes. I had seen them and they were something unreal. A pure me. mes that were white. And mes that had burned the creature with no chance or mercy. His painful cries were still fresh in my eyes and I was sure what I had seen was right. And... I was also sure that the voice that I had heard was right. Someone was here. The owner of this ce and something too different from all the creatures I had seen in this great forest. That voice was still clear in my head. The wisdom-filled voice. The old and yet sympathetic voice. Something captivating but warm. This was the voice that I had heard and the gentle touch I had felt on my forehead¡­ I knew. This was no normal being. Someone stronger than any creature, and wiser than even the great willow. Who was that person? What was she? -nk. I didn''t have to worry about that too much and, the answer, the person on my mind, walked into this gorgeous room. Ady that looked older than my mom, but... This was something more than what I had expected. "Oh? Have you fallen for an olddy like me, little one?" she said in her alluring voice that seemed celestial. I couldn''t take my eyes away from her, even if I wanted to. I was a true admirer of beauty and... this was something that couldn''t bepared to anything I had seen in my life. Thisdy, this person before my eyes... was just too alluring to not admire. Her hair was special, which started from orange and ended with a fiery red. The same as fire and a fire that burned furiously. Thisdy was looking at me with a smile that was sweeter than my mom''s and contained the warmth that I only felt with my family. Her eyes were blue, pale blue of pure fire. Her smooth, pearl-white skin went so perfectly with her appearance that I could forget the perfect body she possessed. Her clothing, the decoration, and the simple yet extravagant appearance were unreal. This was not something I could have ever imagined, even if I had seen countless miraculous things. But I knew. Thisdy... was my savior. "Oh~ don''t cry like that, child. You did well and ''you'' survived." She came close to me and I was on the verge of breaking down. Her appearance was marvelous but, the joy of being alive was something greater than that. I was alive. This was the biggest thing I could wish for in the dying moments of ''this'' life. I wanted to live, and I was alive meant I could meet my parents. I could meet them, I could be with them and, and... "Yes. You should cry if you want. Tears contain emotions and help to relieve the pain, the anguish, and that grief in your heart." Embracing me with her strangely warm self, she gently stroked my head. Her touch was gentle, her touch was calm, and she was warm. Tears burst out of my eyes and the dam storing the pain of a long flight, a long survival, a misery¡­ was now open. My life had passed through my mind when that thing almost killed me, but now everything was okay. I was better and¡­ alive. There was no greater joy for me than being alive but, meeting someone like thisdy... brought greater joy to me. The tears were endless and... wait... It had been toote to react that I was naked, so forget that. ,m I continued my cry and... long story short; itsted until my eyes turned red. "Feeling better now?" she asked as she set down on a chair beside my bed and offered me some strange, purple fruit. Well, I was hungry from all this running around, fighting, and chasing and we can talk about the detailster. "Thanks..." Picking up the apple-like fruit, I took a bite from it. This was some fruit but, yeah, this thing was tasteless. This wasn''t like the tasteless potato variety of this world but, just tasteless. My expression turned weird, and thedy caught that subtle change. "It''s something that will help your mental body, child. There is no taste, but it is helpful. And seeing that you took three months to wake up-" "Three months!?" I shouted, cutting her mid-sentence, and stared at her with wide-open eyes. "Ah. Calm down. You are alright so there is no problem." She said in an understanding voice and patted my head. Her touch was special, always calming and soul-soothing. If she said it was alright, it was ok. She had saved me, and I can believe her. This encounter was something that wasn''t part of that damn hero plot, but... I knew this was the y of that so-called fate. Nature had brought me here, to this very ce, this very person. And I would be eternally grateful for that. Chapter 123 Grandma "Me?" she asked as if this was a troublesome question to answer. We had set here and chatted for quite a long time. She was the third person I had told about myself and almost all the things that had happened to me. Strangely, she was the firstdy to have heard my story. Whenpared, Celes was the same age as I was, and Fern was younger despite her hundred years of life. Oh... Celes¡­ [[ Mastaaaaaaaaaar!! M-master~ ]] She was still sad I locked her in that mark. I knew just how difficult it would be to sit back and just feel the eternal pain I was going through. She couldn''t even see what was hurting me so much and had no choice but to do the helpless praying. It was sad, and I was angry at myself for making her feel such things. She couldn''t shed tears but she could cry, grumble and mourn for the things that happened to me so I left her on my head so that she could continue her eternal melody of woe. Thisdy said it had been a long time since she had seen a [Crystal Butterfly] like Celes so, I knew this alluringdy was not the same age as she looked. I just started talking to her, but we had yet to exchange names, so I asked her. But this look on her face that wondered the answer to such a simple thing was the strangest thing I had seen about her. "Well, I don''t have just one name, little one. And, I don''t use any of the ones that I used to have. You can call me anything you want. I won''t mind." Her answer was strange, but I did not need to ask about the past that she had left behind. We were in a strange ce right now and I still didn''t know what this ce was. But, I at least knew that this person who even my heart had epted was something close to my being. It hadn''t been long, but I felt like this person was something I had longed to see for a long time. This was the same as remembering my family. So, I can at least have her as my family. "Well, in that case, I will call you grandma~!" I spoke, and a smile appeared on her face. A smile of amusement. "Grandma? You would be the first to call me that, little one. Well, I don''t mind it. Instead, I would love it. Getting a grandchild before a child. Nature sure is strange." She patted me and Celes with a grandma-like smile on her beautiful face. I knew I had a grandmother but she was also quite beautiful from what mom had said but, this grandma of mine was special. Just like her touch that calmed my lovely Celes. "You have quite a lovely partner here, Eon. Celestine, a gift of heaven. Quite a lovely name. Seeing an origin beast with all primary elements is quite rare, even more so that seeing a simr human. But... why would someone that has-, no. Let''s talk about that er." She stood up and walked towards the window of therge room on the other side of the room. Looking out for a second, she looked at me and directed me toe there. I was confused, but I got up from the bed. I knew that my leg was healed but, this was even more than that. "Wow..." I was bbergasted. This was amazing. The leg that was almost cut off by that bastard''s des was as normal as it had ever been. Standing up with a sigh full of awe, I walked to my grandma. To kill with a creature as strong as that monster with no effort at all. She was strong and there was no way she was some normal human or other creature. I had many questions to ask her and there were many things I wanted from her if I can. But... those could wait. I walked beside her to therge window on the other side of the room and looked out at the spectacr scene before me. "How... high are we?" My question was legit, and we were almost looking at the endless grass field. There was a boundary beyond that and there was the dark forest where I had spent more than a year. It was faint but I could see the green forest beyond the boundaries with my [Mystic eyes]. I was there and then in the dark forest and now here. It had been a long time and¡­ I was d. I could feel that I had be stronger than I had been before thest fight, but that was just a small boost and something felt off. But¡­ this view before my eyes was something, really something. I didn''t know what this ce was or how high this tower was, but I knew that this ce was something special. This special space in the middle of the dark forest, maybe... this was the ce I had to reach? Maybe she would know how I can get out of this forest. She had wisdom significant enough that I could feel it just by looking at her. I had many things to ask but, at least for now, I wanted to see this impressive sight. These endless grass fields. Some small ces with flowers. Though there were some trees, they were either fruit trees or some rare trees that contained unique things. Looking down, I could only see the outline of this tower and the ground at the bottom. I understood that this was some tower and that this was her tower. This ce was enormous, and the barrier covering this ce was something unheard of. Something that not even the creature like that slime could brake? Something that I could pass through just fine? What was that barrier, and how can ''this ce'' could be canceled like this? Who was this person... this grandma of mine? To have something like this. Creating something I can''t even understand. Was she alone or was there someone else here, in thisrge ce? She was the one who made that white fire, so... what was that fire? Can a fire burn the whole thing that had made devastation on his path that easily? Well, there were many more questions and there were many things that she wanted to talk about, and I could feel that. She wanted a long talk, but I had just woken up from the... three-month long nap? Three months? That was some unbelievable thing and seeing that she just said it like it was nothing, she was here all the time. To have taken care of a peculiar child like me for such a long time... Was it just because of her curiosity, or was there something else in her mind? Who, or better, what¡­ was she? These questions weren''t something that I could keep to myself for longer than now. So... The talk had to start, and I was happy to ask the first question. "So, grandma? What... are you?" Chapter 124 Warm Shock "Well, for starters. You might have guessed but, I''m not human. I have lived for thousands of years so, don''t feel pressured to call me grandma despite my appearance. You would have many questions so, let''s move to somewhere a little better." Saying that, she started walking toward the door. This ce was good enough, so I didn''t know where we would go but, I just followed her. "This is my tower. My home and a ce I built to stay for the rest of my life. I have lived in the human domains for many years and I know this great forest for a long time. This ce, in the middle of the dark forest, is the quietest in all the great forests of Kamut so, I was just living here all by myself. Yes... I''m alone here, so it should answer one of your questions." She said as we walked out of the room and into the long hallway of this floor. This ce... was bigger on the inside than I had thought. This was no normal tower, and the whole round hall looked like some kind of castle. On this circr floor with the doors at the end of the room, the middle of the floor was almost empty. There was just a giant magic circle that I was seeing for the first time and many decorations on the sides of this ce. This was some kind of luxurious castle and this room was some kind of summoning ce by the looks of it. Well, I didn''t think it really was something like that. "We are on the 36th floor and I made this whole tower of 51 such floors with different things to it. I was just making all this for self-satisfaction and you''re the first human to be in this ce. Never thought there would be a human here..." She chuckled at the fact that a human was in her house but, this wasn''t as shocking as hearing that she lived here alone. Alone? In such a big ce? For that long? How could someone endure such a thing... unless you are among those fantasy dragons that lived their lives alone? Well... that couldn''t be true, as she had just said that she had lived with humans for a long time. Meaning she wasn''t some dragon at the very least. What she was didn''t matter that much but, knowing would be a good thing. And this ce, her tower, this was not something ordinary. We walked in the middle of the circle and, like a teleport spell that high-level mages used, we vanished from that room and reappeared in a quiet room with only two chairs and a firece. "Take a seat. This chat would be better than you might think." I didn''t know why we were here but, the quiet dark room with two gorgeous chairs, a firece with the same white fire burning in it, the quiet cracking of fire, the smell of burning wood... all this was heart soothing. As if my soul was getting healed, I was feeling better than just some moments ago. This was amazing, and it really surprised me something like that was possible by just being near a unique fire. Sitting on the rxing, soft chair, I took out some burgers that I had made at Fern''s party. As well as some ice cream and juices, and set them on the table before us. This ce was something rxing and though this was just a corner of the room, I could see that this room was covering an entire floor. Meaning... this was a room of rxation? This grandma of mine would have been super bored to have made things like this. And, if there was a floor of rxation, a floor of bedrooms so, what else was there in those other forty-nine floors? "Oh? What are these things?" she asked as she looked at the food that I took out from my white crack. It would be naturally surprising to see these things for the first time. Well, I was the creator of these things in this world so, even if she had lived for thousands of years, she wouldn''t know of them. "Try it, grandma. They are delicious." I offered a small burger, and she epted it with both of her hands. Well, I didn''t know why I got the feeling that she had no idea how to eat this thing, but I still ate it the same way I always did. With both hands and with the sauce. This was the thing... "Hmmm~." Some of thest thoughts I had when I closed my eyes against that creature were the regrets of not being able to eat ice cream. But, thanks to her, I won''t have to suffer from that regret anymore. She ate the same way I did, and the surprised expression on her face was just like mom''s when she ate it for the first time. Putting her hand on her mouth in proper noble antiquity, she sat down in her chair on the other side. "What is this..." she asked in an awe-struck voice. For someone like her, who had lived for thousands of years, it was surprisingly favorable. Well, that was the charms they carried. I was happy that something I made would make her this happy. "Is this what people in your previous world ate? It''s amazing to eat something thought in another world for the first time. To think I would do these things in this boring life of mine. Really, Eon, this is good~." "Yes~. It really... is... wait. What?" My mouth stopped chewing and the other hand moving towards a ss stopped in the air. This was something surprising and something that caught me off guard. My mouth hesitated, and I looked at her in a new light. Her shining eyes were as pure as fire, her unique appearance and the way she talked as if she had lived a really long life outside of human understanding. The thing that she just said was enough to cancel many scenarios prepared in my mind. p My mind was clear and all I could do now was¡­ talk to her. She had mentioned something really concerning, and this was something that no one, not even my second half Celes, knew. I was sure I never mentioned something rted to my past, nor had I done anything that would make her say that. But she just said something like my previous world... and I had heard it loud and clear. And... well, it wasn''t like no one knew about this thing. Just that Celes didn''t know the whole thing aside from the sad emotions. Looking at my alluring grandma, I nodded my head with another bite. "Yes... this is from there." There was no need to hide something small like me being from somewhere else. I just had those memories. I was the Axion, the same person I had been since my birth in this world. It surprised Celes to hear this but, that was it. She didn''t ask anything and just listened to us quietly while sitting on my head. And, as I knew, she patted my head to calm my nervous heart. That touch was something... special. "You know that I''m not human. So, what do you think I am, little Eon?" She asked with her usual smile and I had an answer ready. An answer that didn''t make any sense at all. Something that I had never thought I would meet in my ending life. Not in a ce of the eternal night at least. Not in a great forest''s dark forest and even in a ce that was like this tower. But... actually, that didn''t matter to me anymore now. Shaking my head, I looked at her. "I will wait until you clear my thoughts. So, let''s move to the next question." This was a really weird answer, and she understood why I dodged this one. "The barrier you came through. You know not everything can pass through it, right? What do you think are the conditions for passing through it?" That was the important question and the answer to this question would make scenarios in my mind even fewer. Chapter 125 What... It Does? "That barrier is a boundary that only those who have gone through the experience of death can pass. Not a death-like experience, but actual death. One has toe back to life and have enough mental fortitude to pass through it. This is a dark forest and every once in a while, a creature like that slime is born. Foolish creatures that don''t know the limit and desire more than what they can handle with no willpower. Those vile creatures are the epitome of foolishness. Choosing the dark side when you can gain strength with a normal, difficult but pure path. Huuuu... Then, there was you." she stopped and looked at me with an impressed, intrigued, and joyous expression. This was pure joy as if something she had never thought was possible had happened before her. It disgusted her when talking about that slime and creatures like it, but there was a stark difference when it came to looking at someone like me or Celes. I had told her the most I could ever tell anyone, and she had epted all of it with a smile. I was happy, and she continued with the same intrigued expression. "A reincarnation. Though they are rare in this nature, there sure have been some throughout ancient times. Someone from a different world, bearing the unknown knowledge and someone that changed the world every time they append in an era. You have already started a change, and that is a good thing. But..." she looked at me with a sudden sad expression and sighed helplessly. "It''s still cruel to see some young child go through so much at such a young age. Just thinking about how you might have lived in this dangerous ce pains my heart." She was sincere. So much that I didn''t know how to reply. I was speechless and looking at her smile felt like I had someone simr to Celes and my family with me. A helpless smile escaped my mouth, and I just listened to her. "You are talented, Eon. More than you think. Though you have been walking on a slightly wrong path, you are doing better than most masters I had seen." Her voice was the same, but... just now, she was something really weird. "I... wrong path?" I was walking on the wrong path? What did she mean by that? And... directlyparing me to masters like this. Just how many masters has she met to say it so casually? Well, I was certain about what she might be, but to have such an experience was amazing. But that answered nothing! She looked at me. Deep inside my eyes and an unknown chill passed throughout my body. What was this and... what?! [[ Master... what just?! ]] The disguise we were in, Celes''s ability that not even the ancient willow can see through. An ability that had been always active. The ability that had maintained my appearance of dark hair and ck eyes intact in all the situations... just turned off? I was back to my original appearance. Long gold-like hair, my glowing red eyes. They were back after more than a year. I didn''t have any need to turn that off, so I had kept it as it was but, now that it just turned off, after that long time, I was looking at my true appearance. Well, the mirror in my white crack was just rotting without use, but this time, looking at this appearance of mine¡­ even surprised me. I was better in long hair than the short ones, but, well, this was actually dad-like hair now. They were reaching my shoulder but, that was normal. "You look better this way, so cherish this. Just like you, I also love the beautiful things." This smile was definitely something I had seen many times. My mom''s mischievous smile but far more attractive than hers. This was enough to make me blush like I was some real kid being teased. "Grandma..." I called her out and hid my face. What was this embarrassment? Why did I get embarrassed when someoneplimented my appearance? This also made my heart beat faster... the same heart that had never been different in front of anything. No, it was different when the feelings I felt were genuine emotions. So, I was really embarrassed?! "Hohoho... little Eon. Don''t be that embarrassed by this olddy''s words." Now... my grandma was flirting with me, and I was really falling for them. No, man... hell. "Ahem. N-no grandma. More than t-that, what did you just do?" Dispersing a from a crystal butterfly that a thousand-year-old ancient tree couldn''t even detect with a re? Was that even possible? "Do you know what origin skill is?" she asked with a curious smile. She was curious about how I would answer herplicated question. This was really difficult if the one asking was someone like her. I didn''t know if my answer would be right or the one she was looking for, or at least to her liking, but I had to answer to the best of my abilities. so, I answered with the most basic thing I knew. "An origin skill is something like a connection between a person having it and the origin itself. Those with an origin skill can borrow the power from the origin and use it as the [Origin Skills]. As the mastery of this origin increases, the connection with the origin increases... or something like that." I had many things to say, but¡­ this was as if she was just asking the things she knew that I know. As if she had already read my memories. Not that I minded if it was her, but this was all I could think about original skill at this moment. She smiled at my answer and looked at me with that smile. "Good enough. You know the most basic thing, so your is exinable. But... you still don''t know what your [Origin Skill] does, right?" Putting her chin on her locked hand, she looked at me for a reply to this question that I never asked myself. "My... [Origin Skill]?" My origin skill [Sun''s blessing] should also do something, right? I awakened a long ago, and I had my original skill for as long as I know. But... never in my life had I thought of using the skill itself. Never. The thought had never crossed my mind until today. "Why...?" Why did I never think about it?! What does it even do and how can I don''t even have a thought of using it? Why... "Don''t think too much about it," she said and smiled at me. My eyes were chaotic and looking deep within hers. I knew if someone knew the reason for this... it was the person who had provoked this thought. She had started a ze in my heart and... she was the only one that can calm this growing wildfire. Chapter 126 [Gate] My heart was beating faster ever since I heard that. ''Why have I never used the skill that I should have been able to use just after my awakening?'' This was a question that had suddenly created chaos in my eyes. My heart was asking if what I just heard was even the correct words or some kind of joke by some unknown person. As if confronting me, my inner voice was asking me if I can even use this skill. Can I though? I should have been able to use it and maybe if I had used it before, my life would have differed from what it was now? But the question remained... why? I looked at her pure blue eyes that had a special ze in them. She was smiling at me as if she was watching an actual child finding out something amazing for the first time in their life. My chaotic eyes, my heart, the sweat falling down my back, the air that seemed heavy suddenly. All this weirdness was something I didn''t want to feel, but I was feeling it as if some defense mechanism telling me not to do what I was thinking of. She sighed while looking at me and patted my head with her special touch once again. This time, her touch was warmer than before. As she touched it, the warmth started covering my head, then it slowly went down and from my neck, chest, stomach, and to the ends of my toes... like a fluid filling a jar. This was strange, and this was enough to bring me back to the way I was. Sighing again, she sat back and started her long exnation. "You are special, Eon. You are more special than you think. The feeling you get, that opposing feeling of not thinking what you were thinking, was also your origin skill. [Sun''s Blessing]. This is not something anyone other than you have, and the reason... well, I don''t know. An [Origin Skill] is something that could belong to only one person. Maybe there was something before you that this skill belonged to or you might be the first one to have it. But, only you have it. Though having the skill for the first time would make you a [Beginning]. something that many divine beasts are. That skill isn''t something you can use right now, and that''s first the reason you instinctively avoid it. But you have been using it instinctively all this time. [Sun''s Blessing]. This is a skill that bnces different energies inside your body. It protects you from foreign energies like dead Mana or the negative energy of the demonic beast you had met some time ago. But... that isn''t how you use it. You can use the skill itself after your origin''s awakening... which would be a long way in the future. But, the passive use of this skill, Eon, is something that is my specialty." Suddenly, her face turned very serious and there was clear worry on her face. Her specialty? Well, it was eptable to know that the one that protected me from the dark hands of the slime was my skill and that the time I had to spend in the cave with blood crystals was also safe thanks to that skill. This was all understandable¡­ which was weird but, what did she mean by it being her specialty? I wanted to ask but she shook her head. "No. Let''s hold this one forter. I know you have many questions and the biggest one would naturally be if I know the way you can get out of this great forest. After all, you have a family you have to go back to." Her words suddenly sparked the greatest light in my eyes. "You know?!" From the way she said it, she was sure how to go out of this ce and I was looking for none other than that thing. She was my grandma, but a family was waiting for me and... it had been three years already. For thest three years, I had suffered, and all this had been hell for me. I hade a long way and fought long, bloody battles. For the first time in this life, I walked to death''s doors. She knew how to get me out of this hell. But the answer that I got from her¡­ confused me. "Yes... and no." "What do you mean by that?" I asked with a shocked look. What did she mean she knew and not at the same time? This differed from the ancient willow''s clear denial. She was saying she knew, and that she didn''t? What the hell does she mean by that?! This was no joke as I could feel the sadness and pity in her voice but, I didn''t know what answer I should ept. Did she know how I can get out of here but can''t tell me or, she didn''t know, but I can leave even without that. I looked at her with a tough expression, and she shook her head with a bitter smile. "Do you know what this is...?" she said and a screen-like image appeared before my eyes. This was the same as the screen, and maybe this was some type of skill. But the thing I was seeing in this image was¡­ unbelievable. "Is this thing here?" I asked as I looked at the screen with wide-open eyes. I couldn''t deny this after seeing it with my own eyes, but... this was unbelievable. The thing before me was [Lost Knowledge] or more specifically, an [Ancient Artifact]. Before my eyes¡­ was a [Gate]. And this was no normal thing. This was something I had only seen in one ancient history book and this thing before my eyes was even grander than what I had seen. If the books recorded it as a two to three-meter tall, this thing before my eyes... was covering an entire room of twelve meters in height, and almost double width. This was not something that should be possible, but it was. And... if this thing was here then, it meant I can get out of this hell. But, if this was real, then what did she mean by yes and no? Seeing my confused expression, she nodded her head with pity and hope. "As you certainly know, this is a [Gate]. An ancient artifact and ancestor of this era''s [Warp Gates]. But, unlike them, this specific one can connect to any ce in this world but..." she paused and looked at me with a serious gaze. A gaze filled with the words that told me to prepare myself. She was telling me to prepare to hear the bitter truth about myself that I had firmly understood from thest fight. I was ready, but this was still painful to hear after all the training and shit I had gone through. "This [Gate] is special that can send you to your loved one and I would have happily let you use it, but... you''re weak." Chapter 127 Master "This [Gate] is to travel the highest possible distance and its actual name is [Spatial Gate] that can connect two points in space. Though it would require arge amount of energy just to get out of this great forest, it would beplicated in itself. A specialyer of natural energy covers the whole great forest, and that is the reason demonic corruption doesn''t happen here. That energy interferes with space magic and that''s the reason normalmunication or teleportation magic doesn''t work here. But this gate is special, just like this separate space and this unique tower. The gate is on the first floor of the tower, but there are conditions for one to pass through it. You have to have sufficient mental strength, physical strength, and enough energy to start the process. Though it is easy toe here through this gate without those conditions, getting out is an arduous task. You are surprisingly strong for your age, but you are still weak. For someone to pass through this, they either have to have a special physical body structure like this little butterfly, or the strength to stand against the creature that even you couldn''t face. Eon, I don''t mean to make you sad. And you don''t have to feel disappointed. You are amazing to have survived in this ce for such a long time, but... you can''t pass through that in your current state." She finished with a sorry expression and looked at me. I knew I was weak. I was so damn weak that even a [Green] ranked monster would kill me without me having a chance to fight. That slime was too much for me, and I knew it from the start. The only reason I was alive right now was that this grandma had saved my life. I hade across many creatures that were life-threatening to me and I knew they weren''t something I could face. And even after all this, I had survived. But hearing that you are weak from someone else hurts. I felt like the efforts that I had put in, the struggles I had been through, the training I did... all were futile. The way to get out of this ce was before me and still... I was so weak that couldn''t even pass through some gate. This made me feel pathetic but, this was not that much difficult. Seeing this gate also made me happy. No, it made me overjoyed and the bright smile on my face was a simple reflection of that. I was happy, and this was the way. Now... all I had to do was get strong enough to pass through this gate. Getting here was easy, as she said. The gates that the demon used weren''t as advanced as the ones before me. The thing on this first floor was a superrge-scale teleportation gate. Different runes were engraved in each and every corner of this stone gate, where they glowed in different colors. This was a spectacr room in itself and was filled with different lights andplicated runes I was seeing for the first time. These were ancient texts that existed at least four to five thousand years ago. And they had perished thousands of years ago, leaving only the remains of their existence. But, something of that time was here, in perfect condition. This was something that could only be found in ancient tombs, ancient level dungeons, or greatbyrinths. I didn''t want to know what she was but, my grandma was someone that held the greatest knowledge and power I had ever seen. And, even though this was our first time meeting, I knew she had taken care of my sleeping body for thest three months. And Celes also knew just how strong thisdy was because, for the first time since we had been together, Celes wasn''t indifferent to someone. She had been fearless in the face of that monster but, before her, she was hesitant. Even though she might not know the reason, she could feel it and so does I. This grandma was strong, and she had the same idea as me so, it was my duty to start the important topic. She was thinking about something for some time and just when I opened my mouth to say that, she also said her thoughts at the same time. "Grandma! will you be my teacher!?" "Axion Kromet. Will you be my sessor?" "Hmm? Padron?" I instinctively asked as I looked back at her. This was shocking... or more like weird? "What did you say?" I asked once again. This was genuinely confusing. I thought she was also thinking of taking me as a student. From all the small time I had spent with her, I was sure she was interested in me. Not in that way! But she was interested in me maybe because of my Origin skill that was somehow rted to her. The same Origin skill that was somehow connected to her specialty. She said the correct use of my passive original skill was her specialty so I was thinking it was something like that white me. But... what was this sudden sessor thing¡­? "Oh! Did you mean your student too, grandma? That confused me..." Sessor also meant the one that learned something from others. So, she indeed meant for me to be her student. ''Thank god... for a moment, I thought something really weird.'' Well, her sigh confirmed that those thoughts were wrong. I had a terrible past with the word sessor, but, well, this wasn''t it. "Yes, Eon, something like that. So? Will you?" she asked while standing up from where she was standing. She stood up and walked by the firece and asked me to stand up with her eyes. "Yes, please. If it''s you, I know I will be strong enough to pass through that gate in the shortest time." I was sure, and there was no doubt in my mind. A being that had killed a purple-ranked powered, a demonic beast in mere seconds bing my first ever teacher... what more I can ask from this hell. This hell showed me the lowest things and¡­ showed the steps of heaven to me. She was a being that I couldn''t find if I got out of this ce, and just meeting her was the y of fate. I wanted to learn whatever I can from her. All the things, as fast as I can. I knew I couldn''t learn everything from her but, I at least knew that her teachings would be invaluable. And so, I also walked to the fire and nodded my head. "Very well. Then as the first thing, I will teach you something that all those who have an origin skill can do." She said with a smile and a white light starteding out of her hand. A light that reminded me of my origin skill but, this was somewhat different. There was something different, but I knew what this was. And, seeing the light in my eyes, she understood I knew what she was trying to do. "Yes, this is how you use [Oath of origin], the strongest oath any being can use. You might have guessed and yes, I''m an origin user too. Mine is surprisingly simr to yours but a bit different. It''s called [Sun''s fire]. But, let''s focus. Axion Kromet, will you be my sessor and fulfill my one wish?" she said in a serious voice. Her eyes were telling me to make the hardest decision of my life, but I didn''t know what this meant at this moment. But, I fixed my mind on her other words more. She... was the first being I who had origin different from nature. Though I still didn''t know what she wanted as her wish, she was my lifesaver. I would do anything for her. And so, without thinking too deeply, I got on my knees and epted the first oath of my life. "I ept you, my grandma, as my master. Please, take good care of me, and I swear that I won''t fail your trust." I didn''t know if I agreed too quickly, but I saw nothing wrong with what I had just done. I felt happy when the light touched me and for a brief moment; I felt the same way as when I was before the sun during my breakthrough to . As if I was before the sun, this was a warm feeling. This onlysted for a short time, and she smiled at me. "So, my dear Eon. I now pity you more than before. I won''t hold back and you should forget if you have any thoughts of having a better life than the one you had in that dark forest. Aside from better conditions, your life''s going to be hell from now." she smirked. That was an evil smile, and suddenly I remembered my mom. A chill ran down my back and I... had to rethink just what I had gotten into. My thoughts were falling into a chaotic view but, grandma said something that made my eyes widen and my heartbeats wilder than ever. "Now that this is finished, Eon. How about talking with your family?" Chapter 128 Divine Artifact?! "What...?" I couldn''t believe my ears. "I said, let''s talk with your beloved parents." Her voice was sincere, and she meant what she just said. And she had a smile that was the same as it always was, reliable. I didn''t know what to say, but... a nk nod escaped from me. She just smiled and extended her hand. Still nk, with a chaotic mind and fast-beating heart, I epted her hand. ''Talk to my parents?'' ''Did she mean I can really talk to them?'' ''Can I really see them? See my family I hadn''t seen for thest three years?'' ''How is that possible?!'' ''Was there something like themunication device in this ce that had the power to connect to some ce where there wasn''t a receiver?'' ''How was something like that possible?'' ''But if it was her¡­'' ''If it was his master and grandma that had a gate of ancient times, it might be possible.'' ''Maybe... I can, I... can see them?'' A single tear slid down my left eye, and I gripped her hand. She patted me with her special hand that calmed my heart, and I nodded at her. Walking to the middle of the room once again, we reappeared in a new area. A ce filled with flowers? A garden with fountains, flowers, small nts and... sunlight? "Where is this?" I asked, staring at this phenomenal ce with utter disbelief. I can see the ceiling, but there was sunlight filling the whole ce. Though there were windows, this should bete. This should almost be evening or sunset but, there was clear sunlight, while some ces were normal with dim light while some had dark shadows of night. What a mystical thing to witness... But my heart was beating faster, and this area had one ce that seemed special. Arge garden that was far bigger than what it should be. Thest room was also bigger than what we had seen on the 36th floor. Was there some kind of space magic covering all the floors? Just how powerful was my master? This was the question that I would find out eventually, so the more important thing before me was this altar with a big crystal ball. Established in the center of a gazebo, this clear crystal ball was the only thing that attracted the eye other than the mystical flowers and nts. This ce was magical, but my mind wasn''t focusing on anything other than this special crystal ball. How was this going to make me see my family? Can I use this whenever I want? How does one even use this thing? With Mana, like the mage''smunication device? How would this thing know where my parents are or how they look? Maybe it would use my memories, but would it really be able to find it? Will I be able to talk with them and if i-if... yes, then for how long? I looked at it and used¡­ tried to use my skill to know what this crystal ball was, but, as expected, that was futile. "That low-grade appraisal could never apprise a divine artifact of this level, Eon," she said as if it was nothing but what she just said... this thing broke the ground beneath my legs. "D-Divine artifact!?" A real divine artifact?! For real?! "Hohoho looks like you know about them, too. Yes, that''s a divine artifact, created by yours truly. And this isn''t the only one in this tower. You might actually have a heart attack when you see the 48th and 51st floors. Those are more exciting than others. We have a lot of time, so we will visit them eventually." She paused for a moment and looked at me with a bit of a sad face. "This one is called [Infinite Mirror Ring]. Just like the gate, this can connect anything in the space and create a screen before the targeted people. This is something I made and the greatest flow of it is I am the only one that can activate it. And, we can only use it once every three months. We can''t use it for more than ten minutes too. So those are the limitations. Aside from that, you can speak to anyone you want and, at the same time, at that. So? Are you prepared?" She asked in a gentle voice. Though the three-month thing was too much, I understood it was a divine artifact we were talking about. We divided artifacts into three categories. Artifacts, Divine Artifacts, and Ancient Artifacts. Normal artifacts were something we can find easily, and dwarves were best at making these things. Though normal artifacts were divided into levels, the strength increased with each number. My bow that mom gifted me was a (Level-5) artifact and the bow that I had been using all this time, the one that Ent gave me, which was obviously destroyed during thest fight, was a (level-6) artifact. There were twelve such levels, and above them stood divine artifacts. Something that only a grandmaster craftsman could create. Though masters were the rarest when talking about forgers, craftsmen, or simr nonbat sses, when they sessfully create a divine artifact, we considered them grandmaster level. The ancient artifacts, just like its name suggested, were like that [Gate] on the first floor. That was lost knowledge so, even if someone wanted to, they couldn''t create something magnificent of that level. My master created this iparable thing, even among the legendary divine artifacts. And she was definitely far above the grandmaster realm. A grandmaster was an existence that could be counted on one hand, and on the whole of this continent, there were only six known grandmaster creators. And... meeting someone far above their level... could only be called a blessing or y of fate. I had thought that she was some immortal being, but then again, true immortality was not a thing in this world. She was amazing and now I was even more excited to look forward to what she was going to teach me. I wanted to learn everything I could from her and if creating things was one of them; I was even happier. ? But it overjoyed me, the thought of getting to see my parents once again. My dear family, I haven''t seen you for a long time. Grandma had exined more and only the ones I wanted to see me can see the round mirror-like screen that would appear on the other side so... I took a deep breath to prepare myself. -Huuuu. "Ok, grandma." I nodded, and she also nodded back. She extended her hand and a white light came out of her beautiful hands. A pure white light, the same as those magnificent mes I had seen back then and in thest room. This light covered the ss orb, and I put my hand on it. I had to think about them thoroughly and I couldn''t do it less than perfect. ''Mom... dad... I''m fine...'' Chapter 129 Them... "Nolen~? Anna wants to y with mama~!" a male voice rang in the surrounding room filled with papers and things that looked important just from a nce. The male with ck hair and shining red eyes picked up from the door and smiled at the woman buried in the pile of papers. In thisrge room, sitting on arge table with papers of different colors, sizes, and shapes, she looked through them at a speed that seemed unreal. This was ady that shined in the gentle sunlighting from the window behind her. Her angelic look, her shining hair, and those eyes that were exhausted but, at the mention of that name, rejuvenated instantly. Putting down the peculiar-looking fountain pen with a strange bird drawn on it, she stood up with a cool expression. Looking at the man, she winked, and he smiled, understanding what was going through his beloved wife''s mind. Though he said nothing, the man wasn''t alone. There was someone with this father in a pink kitchen gown painted with chocte. She could see the fresh stains and¡­ the bright smile on his face gave him away. As if this situation was normal, she stood up and walked up to the man with silent footsteps. Even though she tiptoed to this door, her dignity and diligence in every action were unparalleled and that special smile on her face was unique, too. What she was smiling mischievously at was the man and... the little one hiding behind him. Reaching the door, she bend down and peered out of the cracked open door and said, "Booo!" "Aaaaaa!" a young cry echoed after her little prank and the man pushed the door open. He came in and she looked at the tiny figure that had fallen to the ground from the shock. This sight made her smile the happiest smile she could ever make. A smile filled with love and the genuine feeling in the smile didn''t need words to express her love. Her motherly love which had lived on through her after the incident that happened almost three years ago. But, she was happy at this moment as she was looking at her lovely daughter that had fallen to the ground from the surprise. "A~, mama finds me every time~!! Daddy is definitely cheating on me!" she grumbled as she epted her mom''s hand to stand back up. This was a little girl, a little fairy would be better to call this amazing child. Her dark hair danced in the light breeze of the fine morning, her red eyes that were darker and cleaner than her dad, and the eyes... that seemed as if jewels. Real jewels in the ce of eyes and gems that seem priceless from just a look. Her long eyshes and her angelic appearance, which was the same as her mother''s, were splendid. She wore a sky blue dress. A small dress with white ribbons around it that looked so cute that everyone would want to love this child. She had a smile far more magical than her mother and her grumpy look after being found out... was priceless. "Dad cheated on my darling Anna? Oh my, look like we will have to punish him for this, right?" she said in a genuine voice as she picked up her little angle. Looking at the father with her mischievous smile, she kissed the fluffy cheeks of her daughter. Her tired appearance was gone, and she had recovered her fatigue just from this small interaction. Her daughter was thoughtful and smart for her age. Not as her big brother but, better than a most normal child of her age. She was the most normal kid in this house and at the same time, the most precious one. She was normal in most ways, but unlike her big brothers and sister, she didn''t have any outstanding talent. But the thing she possessed was something that was more valuable than their talents. But there was no need to worry about that. No harm could reach her in this ce, and she was happily growing up with her family. The little girl looked at her mother with a sad look that was unforeseen to her mom. Looking into her mom''s eyes, she kissed her with her delicate lips, which¡­ worked wonders. Fresh energy ran throughout her mom''s perfect body, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, baby~? Anna was that worried about mama? Is this kiss a gift to mama or punishment to daddy, little one?" she smiled happily after the special gift from her little one. She couldn''t help her smile at the sudden gift from her beloved daughter. This was her daughter''s gift¡­ that she could give to others. A gift that seemed so normal at the same time was moreplex than one could think. But, at this moment, her gift that only a mother had received¡­ was enough to tease the crybaby daddy of hers. "A-Anna? Only mama? What about d-daddy? I want a k-kiss too, darling. We even ate your favorite cake." the father pleaded with a pained heart and tear-filled eyes. It was painful for him to see her beloved daughter only loving her mother, even though he knew it was going to happen. As her dad, he was closer to her than her mother, and seeing her only love for her mother like this was poking a needle into his poor heart. "No! Papa cheated on Anna! No kiss to you!" she shouted and turned her head away from her dear father. Even though she was just ying with him, the poor father of hers had broken into tears from this sudden rejection. "N-Nolen... sniff, sniff... you stole my Anna. I didn''t even cheat. Tell her you knew... sniff." he cried with a crestfallen expression. It was ironic to see the one feared as (Red-eyed hunter) in tears after not receiving a kiss from his little daughter. Her daughter that had been his sole light in the darkness. She took him out of his self-created abyss and made him even better in this short time that was like an eternity to him. He had genuine tears in his eyes and seeing this¡­ the little angel sighed. "Oh, dada. My poor dada. What would you do without me?" The way she said this sent a chuckle to her mother and this littledy''s sigh was a marvelous sight in itself. A little three-year-old sighing at her crying father... This was adorable. And the more adorable thing was her patting his big head with her little hand. "There, there. My big dada cries more than me. What do you think others would say?" she spoke in her baby speech. They tied her hair in two small ponytails with a pink ribbon, and she nodded while patting her tear-filled father. Leaning closer, she kissed him on his clean cheeks. Unlike her grandfather, her daddy didn''t have any hair that tickled her, so she liked this puppy more. Though it created situations like this among her family many times, how many things did this little girl do? If she gave it to one, all others too wanted her kiss. But she didn''t mind that. And, just like her father, that was now full of energy even after ying with her from early morning, she knew her small kiss helped them. So, she was happy to see others smile. "I will eat daddy''s ice cream today. Dada''s punishment," she said as the now calmed father took her from her smirking mother. ? Loss of one day''s ice cream. That was heavier than he had expected but, he had to ept this punishment with no questions. "Yes, my princess." he epted with a heavy heart and kissed her little angel''s fluffy cheeks. "Hehehe..." she giggled, and they smiled at seeing this angelic smile on her face. This waste in the day, and the warm spring breeze passed through the open window. This was the normal day of their slow life. The little angel was smiling, they were happy, and the air was fresh. They were going to y with their daughter for more, but... something strange started before their eyes. A round, mirror-like ss suddenly popped up before their eyes like the status window. Their hair stood up, and they jumped a few steps back in surprise. The father was holding his daughter tightened his grip and a purple magic wand appeared in his hand. His eyes were sharp on this sudden appearance of this thing, and so was his wife''s. She was in an attention position, ready to protect her family. The sudden change in their behavior surprised their little girl, and she clenched her dad''s clothes, confused about what was happening. There were protection barriers so unauthorized magic can''t be used here so, this situation greatly confused them. This was something different as if highly advanced magic had activated in the air before them. A ripple appeared in these mirrors, and¡­ after a moment, an image appeared in it. An image of a young boy with long, gold-like hair and eyes simr to the little girl''s father. Their eyes widened, and tears wetted their eyes. They didn''t know what was going on but, they could never forget the face that had just appeared inside the mirror. The sudden change of emotions caught the little girl''s eyes and confused her even more. She didn''t know what their parents were doing right now but, something happened that she couldn''t see. The parents were looking at the mirror with open mouths and a voice they hadn''t heard for a long time broke the sudden silence. A voice that had grown up but still contained the same emotions that they couldn''t mistake. The mother was having a harder time than the shocked dad and was looking at the smiling boy, who also had tears in his familiar eyes. The voice echoed in their ears, and the tears lingering on the edges of their eyes... slid down delicately. [ "Mom, dad... have you been ok?" ] Chapter 130 They Meet... The mother looked at the boy beyond the mirror and extended her hand as a tear of salvation slid down her warm cheeks. "Eon? Is... that you?" she asked with eyes full of joy and a heart full of hope. The boy on the other side nodded with a d smile. [ "Yes... mom. It''s me." ] the voice on the other side of the mirror answered with the same tear-filled eyes as hers. She couldn''t believe it but, her heart knew this was her son. This was her son that she had raised all those years and the son that had fought to save his family. This was her son... alive and fine. He was talking to her, and she wasn''t the only one. "Eon...?" the father asked in a voice filled with disbelief. This wasn''t just the shock to see him, but the way he was contacting them. He had tried countless things but, there weren''t any results other than the soul graph. But it took abundant resources just to keep that equipment on the third floor running in normal mode. And here was his son, contacting them with some strange method. He was happy to see his son after such a long time but also shocked by the way they were meeting after that long time. This was no ordinary magic or something even a genius mage like him could fathom. He knew his son was in an unreachable ce and there shouldn''t be anything that could connect someone outside the ce with that extreme disturbance. Just maintaining the entire system, he and his wife''s brother had created used energy equal to two whole mansion''s yearly amount in a single day. And he was using something without a receiving point? His thoughts were clear for the boy to read, but he just smiled at his crying dad. At least, he was overjoyed to see his son more than those useless things. The father was holding back his tears, unlike moments ago when he had cried over the small thing his daughter had done. Oh, yes, the daughter. The little girl was confused about what was happening in this room. The sudden change of behavior from her dear parents confused her dearly. She didn''t understand what was happening with them, but she seemed unafraid. The sudden situation that might have made any kid cry in fear was just making her eyes watery. She was more worried about her parents than anything. This was the first time that her parents had acted this way, but she at least knew that there were always bad people. Bad people in this world, bad people that might want her, or bad people that might hurt others. She was afraid that something like that was happening but then seeing her parents'' crying faces deepened the confusion. The father was holding her and his grip had loosened from before, so it was at least a safe situation. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her mom and dad, that was nkly staring at the air before them. "Mom? Dad? What are you doing?" she asked in her timid baby voice and gained the attention of the lost parents. "Anna? You can''t see this?" the dad asked in confusion and at the same time, the boy on the other side of the mirror asked with the most emotional voice he had made, [ "Mom... is that?" ]. His voice was filled with love that was even more than when he addressed his parents. He was finally, after three long years, looking at the one he had protected from the vicious demon on that day. He couldn''t contain those overflowing emotions and the mother could feel it. She nodded at her dear son, who was looking at his little sister for the first time. He wanted to see her closer, to hold her, y with her and spoil her as an older brother should. He wanted to be with her, but¡­ he was still too weak for that. At least he could talk with this little angel. It still confused the little girl as her dad was pointing at the nk space before him. They were talking to air and her behavior at that point was asking them if they had, atst, not gone nuts. But, that cute expression changed into something of a shock when an unexpected round ss window-like thing popped in front of that ce she was looking. "Yikes! D-daddy! Something! Something just!" she shouted at her dad with a frightened face. That round little face looked too cute when shocked. This little one''s reaction made everyone smile, and the mncholic atmosphere changed into a warm one. The boy looked at the little girl with love-filled eyes, then at the mom, and then at his dad. His eyes were teary, but he was smiling. Smiling for the family he so dearly had protected. Looking down for a moment, he sighed and then took a deep breath and cleared the tears handing over his clear eyes. Looking back at the shocked little girl who was ring at the strange mirror and the person who had eyes of simr color as her dad, and hair almost the same as her mom. She was confused, but she understood this person was someone his lovely parents cherished as much as hers. But there can only be one person who could earn reactions like these from them. "Big¡­ brother...?" she asked while hiding on the shoulders of her dad and hugging him with her little self. She knew this person was the reason she... they were here today, but her mom and dad had never told her how or where he was. They just knew that he was safe and that something terrible had happened to him some time ago. That time was hard for her as they both were trying to hide the pain from her. She could feel it, but if they weren''t telling her, then it meant that this was more than what she could understand. For the first time in her little life, she was seeing a special person, her heroic brother. She wasn''t afraid of him, not even a little. Her heart was beating faster, and she was blushing as if some fan seeing her ideal for the first time. Meeting someone she only had heard about and always dreamed of meeting. She was nervous about this brilliant brother of hers and the boy on the other side could understand this little one. This was the life he had protected, and he knew his little sister was nervous to see him for the first time. He was seeing his family while they were seeing him after a long time but, this little one was seeing him for the first time. And he knew what to do in this situation. The mirror floated towards them and she tried to hide even more. The action of this three-year-old was amusing for the parents that were overjoyed to see their son. [ "May I have the honor to know your name, littledy?" ] he asked with a warm voice. She didn''t know what to do but, after hearing the voice of her big brother for the first time, she couldn''t help but look at him. Slowly, she looked back at the floating mirror and met her brother''s eyes. Eyes that seemed more beautiful than her own. There was something special about those pretty eyes. Her jewel eyescked the fire, the magic, and the shin her big brother had. These were more fresh eyes than normal and only her father, grandfather and white hair grandpa had. But they still stood out among them. They were just... different. She loved those eyes. "Pretty..." she eximed with genuine surprise and sparkle in her eyes but¡­ quickly recovered from this astonishment. "Ahem. Big brother... m-my name is Anna. Anastasia. I-It''s a pleasure to meet you!" she said while bowing her little head. Such adorable sight¡­ He chuckled with a bit of sad eyes. He wanted to pat that little head of hers. Strock her soft cheeks. Embrace her little self and never let her little hand go this time, but... he wasn''t strong enough to go to them just yet. But at least he could talk to them this way. [ "Hello Anna. I''m Eon. I''m... very happy to see you''re so healthy." ] His eyes were teary after this one, but his words reminded the two parents something had also happened to their son. "Eon?! Are you okay? You were almost... than... and now you''re like this?" the father couldn''t find the right words as his eyes widened. "Eon... are you ok? We know something happened to you and then suddenly you got better? Are you really... ok?" the mother asked with a concerned voice and worried eyes. I was only half visible to them right now, but I had no intention of telling them now. This wasn''t the good way. I wanted to tell them everything, but not like this. Not when I can''t even hug them. [ "I will tell you when I get back but, it will take a long time. But you don''t have to worry now. I''m perfectly fine and I shouldn''t go through the same thing again... right master?" ] He looked at the other side of the mirror in front of him. His expression was hesitant as if he didn''t know what he was going to do from now on, but at least he had the hope that he won''t have to suffer the way he hadst time. But, he gulped when he just received a nk smile from his grandma and sighed in fear. [ "Yes... I will be fine. You don''t have to worry." ] His mom sensed the hesitation in her son''s voice but, she didn''t ask further. And he didn''t have much time to talk, anyway. He could only use this device for a short time and that time wasn''t enough to talk for much longer. The short meeting of the little one and her heroic brother had finished, and so did the time. [ "Looks like I don''t have much time." ] he said in a sad voice and as soon as those words escaped his mouth, the faces of his family fall from the grace. They had seen their child for the first time in all these years and now he was going away without talking much. Why!? "Eon... how did you do this?! Can we see... you again? There is still an entire family to introduce to... Everyone had worried about you as much as us... and..." the mother asked in a worried voice and He knew this would happen from the start but, fortunately, this wasn''t thest time they would meet. [ "Don''t worry mom. I... we can do this every three months so, we will see you in some time. Though the time I talk can''t increase from what the master said, we will meet again and then... you can also introduce me to them. I can only think of the hardship you all might have endured but, thank you. For your mom, to keep your promise and dad... to support her. Anna. This was a small meeting, but I have fallen in love with you, so we will talk more next time, ok darling? So..." ] Themunication window was starting to disappear in the air slowly, disintegrating, unlike the way it suddenly had appeared. It was slow, so he was still there. He was seeing them as everything disappeared into the particles and the sadness in their eyes turned teary once again. He just waved at them with a cheerful smile, and... the window disappeared. He disappeared from there, and everything turned back to normal. He was gone. They were now alone once again. But... this at least wasn''t a goodbye. This was a see you soon, and they will see him again in a few months. Though this time would feel longer than before, they at least knew that their son was safe. This was... enough. Tears started pouring out of their mother''s eyes like never before, and the father followed suit. The little daughter was trying to calm them down, but nothing worked, and then she just joined them with her innocent tears. The room filled with the voices of crying but, unlike most, they were tears of relief and... joy. Chapter 131 Amazing Garden "Thank you, master," I thanked her after crying for another ten minutes. Though it was small, we could see each other again. I met my family, my little sister, after that long time of separation. This was still not enough but, it was great. I was satisfied with this for the time being and I could still see them again in the future. The time was short, but I was lucky they all were together. They looked better than I had thought and the reason was definitely... my cute little sister. She was angelic, a gorgeous baby. Her eyes were like mine but, I had seen them and I knew they were extremely special eyes. Eyes that were as rare as this divine artifact before my eyes. Those eyes, same as some jewels, were something many people wanted. I didn''t know exactly what her special ability was but, from their cheerful, and warm smiles of them, I was sure it was as special as herself. It might be difficult in the future, as many bad people would want her. But I knew she would be safe. Many people were protecting her and she will have a better life than me in that special ce. It was a short time, but it was enough for me to understand most of the things that had happened in my absence. Though these were just my thoughts, I knew we were more than just some rich noble house. The room they were in was as luxurious as the one I was in some time ago, and my mom had an aura no simple noble could have. I didn''t know about the aristocratic society of this world, but I had seen, observed, and lived in different societies of humans in my past life. I knew what type of aura, behavior, or atmosphere they lived and I could tell that my mom and even my dad were in a higher position in this society. That messy room filled with more papers than usual showed that mom was busier than the time she was at home but, she knew how to spare time to y with her children¡­ as always. She was ying with the little one just like we yed, and she was happy. They were happy, and she was the sun shining down on their lone lives. Dad was still wearing the same pink kitchen apron he wore at our little house but, this was the better one. The dark stains of chocte were clearly visible on it, meaning there was someone else that liked chocte vor as much as me. Was it that cute littledy? Looks like I will have to share my chocte¡­ Ultimately, they were doing okay. And, now that we confirmed that I was safe, they will be better than now. This... was good. Looking back at grandma, I stood up from the ground and said, "Let''s continue where we left, grandma." I was thankful for this and I had no way of showing my thank you to her. She was my savior. She let me talk to my family and even epted my selfish request to teach me. On top of that, I can go back as long as I was strong enough. Though I wasn''t thinking about what I would do after that... or if we could ever meet again, I thought little about that. I needed a long time to get strong enough, but... how strong? As if to have read my mind, she looked at me and chuckled. "Don''t worry too much about it. I will tell you when you are strong enough and getting stronger is a good thing anyway, right? You have a family to protect, so you will need strength. So, let''s go back~." I thought a little about this weird answer and just smiled. She was happy to see the d smile on my face and so we walked out towards the side. This magic circle wasn''t in the center but on another side of the garden, so I could see all the things in this ce. And... I concluded that this grandma of mine could be the richest person in the world just from selling things on this floor. I would believe without hesitation if someone said that this was a guardian of a god. One more thing about that, this floor was huge, like real humongous. It had different garden areas with trees and nts. I didn''t know how the hell sunlight came through clear walls, but this was a gorgeous ce filled with flowers, nts, and trees. And the other is that everything here was either super rare or impossible to find in normal circumstances. I even thought some have gone extinct, like that [Angelic Rose] growing in one part of the garden. A one-meter tall flower that grew from the ground with its almost tree-like base. That holy-looking thing was recorded in history books as one of the finest elixirs of the past and... it wasn''t just one. This flower grew alone, but she had six in that area, meaning there were six of those tree-like flowers in the same ce. I didn''t know why I was still alive even after standing in presence of these things, but she smiled and answered my valid question. Valid because just the energy from one of those flowers was enough to overwhelm a normal human like me while there were six of them and I was still alive. "There are barriers around everything like them, so don''t worry. You''re safe here. Actually, you will be safe in this ce wherever you go. You are my sessors now, and this ce also belongs to you, so nothing could harm you. Don''t worry." She chuckled, and we reached the magic circle that led us back to the rxation room. Back in my seat, I stared at the white fire, golden wood burning inside it, and the soul-soothing atmosphere of this room. This fire looked gorgeous, and it was pure but, there was one thing about it that I couldn''t understand. There was no trace of energy or Mana in it. There was warmth but no actual heat radiations and from the way it looked, it was no normal fire. And without Mana present, there was only one thing left to this question of mine. Looking at grandma, I saw her smile mischievously, which knew what was going on in my mind. Her beautiful appearance was attractive, and every time I saw that smile... I can''t help but admire her. Her eyes had something very special as if they contained all knowledge in the world. That was her special trait and so was this fire. "[Divine mes], one of my powers and something that can burn anything as long as it is evil in the eyes of the world. There is nothing negative it cannot destroy, and the negativity of the soul is one of them. That is the reason you feel so soothed around them. But... you noticed there is no trace of Mana, right?" She asked while putting her chin on her locked fingers. This surprised me even more, and I nodded without thinking. What was the thing powering this divine fire if not Mana? "Eon, you and I are different from the rest of those possessing an [Origin Skill]," she said with a serious face that made my mind forget everything and pay attention to her. This conversation was going to be more serious than I could think and I knew... these were the first lesson of my teaching as her student. Chapter 132 [Solnova] "I''m seeing this for the first time too, but Eon, you can do it. You can use the Energy that is one of the strongest in this world. The energy that is the most abundant and probably the hardest to handle. Something purer than even Aether that makes most of the fundamentals of this world. Something that can be used as any energy. You have the highest affinity for it but, all this time, you have been using Mana, which is some of the mostmon sources of energy. This power, something only those with closest [Origin] to the sun could have, is called [Solnova]. The primary function of your Origin skill, Eon, is the freedom to use this power. You might think that how can you not know something like this for this long but you knew it already. Deep down, you have used this energy instinctively many times to protect yourself. Just like when I found you. If you hadn''t protected your Mana core from the extreme energy input, you might have been long dead. That was foolish but, that foolishness led you here, so I won''t scold you for that." She finished with a deep sigh. She was worried about me, but, well; I survived. "So, I can use something better than Mana or Aura?" I asked with a serious face. I had learned that she knew what she was saying and I can believe her with all my being. She was the first person I had met that knew what an Origin skill is or how to use it. If she can tell just from looking at me that I had such abilities, what more proof did I need? "Yes. Mana is like air, everywhere, and abundant. Aura is like fresh liquid water, present in a few ces, but somewhat different. Hmmm... you can use Mana just fine and you will surely achieve Aura one day. It''smendable for a child your age. I''m fortunate to have such a unique student." She said with a radiant smile. I felt a bit embarrassed as we knew that I wasn''t the best, just that my life had been full of disasters. I had no knowledge aside from the books I had read and things I had experienced. But, when I looked at her, I felt envious as well as d. She had knowledge and wisdom far beyond my understanding and I could learn from her. This was something like getting a gift after clearing a hard challenge. Well, I was thankful for that. "Eon? I know you are thankful but, instead of wondering in your thoughts, pay attention." She said passionately. "Yes, ma''am!" And an instinctive response escaped my mouth, reminding me of the old days. "Good. So, whileparing all the countless existing energies, one of the most simple ones to understand, [Solnova], are rays of the sun, or sunlight. Just like how nts can absorb sunlight to grow, we can absorb the abundant energy presented to us by the sun. In this enormous nature, few beings have the ability to use this energy." She continued and extended her hand. A whiteboard appeared before me, and exnations about different things started as she exined almost unreal things. Saying things at fast speed and I was trying to understand the most I could on the spot but, thankfully, I could remember everything. This ursed ability would be useful from now on and from the way she exined everything in great detail¡­ I know I would thank this ability. [Solnova] was basically sunlight, and I was like a nt that can absorb sunlight. My whole body, which can circte energy better than others, was the perfect vessel to store this energy as a battery. So, I was a sr battery? Well, that was the best exnation I coulde up with, so yes, let''s go with this. Traditionally, we absorbed the Mana particles through breathing and circting them inside the body but, this was different. As a user of [Sun''s blessing], I can absorb this power with my whole body. This was the highest level of Mana gathering technique that was only used by those with a higher affinity with Mana. But, I can use it for this new energy. Though [Solnova] was less potent than Mana, meaning I would have to use more of it for the same thing I could do with less Mana, it had no great limitations. Like, I didn''t need a Mana core to use it. After mastering how to use it, I can use this however I wanted. But it didn''t mean I would have an unlimited source of energy. No, not for now. There was a limit to how much output I can produce from this energy and how much this body of mine can handle at a time. In simpler terms, I was a machine that can grow and was attached to a sea of electricity. Now, even if I can use all the energy from this sea, I wasn''t advanced enough to produce higher results nor good enough to intake more than needed. Master called these unique limitations [Blockage]. So, I had to upgrade my body in order to gain more output of this energy. This¡­ reminded me of the eastern cultivation stages. There was something more detailed thing like this, but it was different. It was internal energy cultivation, while this was source energy adsorption. Here, I wasn''t cultivating the energy I have inside like Mana cultivation but, just absorbed an absurd amount of energy to strengthen the limits of the physical body. There were nine such blockages that prevented the output from increasing. They were limitations of the mortal body and oveing each one of them was a path toward the higher realm. These blockages had no rtion to the original skill and the branch skills, so it was new knowledge altogether. Her exnation went on and she continued like that for a long time and I paid close attention to her every word. We forgot the flow of time as we both were enjoying this thing. She was talking with a beatific smile, as it overjoyed her to share the knowledge she had been holding on to for this long time. I, being someone that loved to know new things, was swimming in a new world of wisdom. Not only did she connect this topic with the [Solnova] but also with the history and application of Mana to different spells. This was my first lecture and, with each passing second, it was getting more interesting than before. "So, when using the normal (tier-1) spell fire, you will need 1 unit of Mana, while that same spell with a different spell invocation method suiting to Solnova will consume 10 units. Though this is ten times, the results would be the same, a normal small fire. As you have that peculiar knowledge, you know that fire is more powerful as we decrease the impurities, right? I''m intrigued to see such knowledge from another world. Though your life wasn''t something we will talk about, that knowledge... I had fun studying it." She said and then looked at me with a sorry expression. Those words had confirmed that she had read everything on my mind, so why did she even ask if those burgers were from my previous world? Well, that wasn''t something to think of, as she had the eyes of someone that had just got a really great idea. standing up from her seat, she looked at me and said, "let''s do some practical training~!" Her voice was cheerful, and her words intensified the burning fire in my heart. Hurriedly standing up, I grabbed her hand and we once again walked to the magic circle that... lead us outside of the tower for the first time. Chapter 133 First-Time Outdoor Outside of this magnificent tower. The grass-filled field, the tower behind me that looked to reach the sky, the fresh smell of nature, and the cool breeze of night. Yes, it was already night. The bright blue moon was shining as always, but now it was smiling down at us. As if it was happy to see something interesting after a long while, it smiled down at us. The starry sky was glittering with the moon,plimenting the view from this ce. We were standing just outside of the tower and I could see the giant magic circle that seemed different from the others. She created this one with different materials and was more detailed than any others I had seen. Maybe it was something that let others in and out? Well, I didn''t know, and it wasn''t important right now. Looking at her back and eyes that reflected stars, I listened to her unbelievable words. "So, Eon. In normal terms, I''m what you can call a [Sage]. But, don''t think too much about it. Magic using Solnova requires different magic circles that suit the energy''s wavelength. I don''t think you know this but, you can produce any kind of results with a certain type of energy if you have enough knowledge and understanding. Meaning an elementalist can use normal spells or a high dark magician or even higher-level demons can produce holy magic if mastered and understood. But it''s only possible at prime strength that no normal being can have. The magic, this term,/ is indeed creating things that seem magical." She said and then snapped her fingers. Her words were unbelievable from start to finish and I couldn''t help but marvel at the fact that I was standing with someone at the level of a [Sage]. This was more than what I can think of and, this meant that she was almost a celestial being. Which only left one scenario in my mind. She can only be one being that matched all the things I had seen until now and it was the most unbelievable thing. Though I was thankful to her, I had no words to exin my emotions. But, well, she said not to worry, so I should try to at least not worry... not that I could help but worry. "A spell like [Fire], can be turned into, [Dark fire] with enough knowledge or even [Holy mes], that carry divinity," she said while demonstrating it. This was what I called pinnacle. The strength that no one could have or fathom. First, a normal, orange-red fire burned before her hand, and then it spun purple-ck that seemed dark. It was a dark feeling, not like the negative ones I felt with demonic or corrupted beings but, pure dark. Then, it suddenly turned into yellow mes that radiated purity. I could feel the higher realm of the light attribute from it and this whole demonstration... was fascinating. Watching the mes turn into something else in this moonlitnd¡­ I still thought this was some kind of dream. But it was reality, and she was the one creating such phantasm. "You can also mimic other attributes if you understand them enough, like creating water from fire, or wind from the fire would be possible even if you just have an affinity of fire attribute. Like me, who only has an immense affinity of fire, can ''control'' other elements as I wish." she smiled at me and one by one, different attributed spells popped up before us. Fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness were the primary elements of this nature. Then, ice, thunder, a shockwave-like sound sphere, and a ball of higher gravity. They were the main secondary elements. Then there was also mist, spells of a natural attribute that grew nts, shadows for darkness attribute, and a ball of light that seemed holy. And they weren''t the only ones. "There are countless attributes in this nature and everything has a wavelength. You can produce any of them if you find the suitable one for the type of energy you want to use. And... if we apply this to knights who use Aura, they could also use suitable spells. Though, as the basic destructive power of Aura goes, it wouldn''t support many spells of this nature. But¡­ doing such things would require tremendous mental fortitude and passion. You will have to train your mind to Eon. Though you''re a reincarnation and someone with the greatest mind to learn this, you will still need more. Well, we can do that easily with enough time so don''t worry about that." she reassured while patting my head. I felt like a baby in front of her and I precisely was. I had no knowledge, no wisdom, no powers, even close to her pinky finger. But, I could gain it. I was confident I could learn at least a fraction of the vast knowledge she had and that was enough to calm my hungry heart. Now, I had to start from zero. Learn spells to use with this new energy that suited me the most. But, I also wanted to use Mana. Well, it wasn''t like I would only have to use one type of energy. That aside, what type of training will we even do? I had no idea how to use this Solnova, much less utilize them in a spell. I was about to ask her the question, but then I was struck by a creepy smile from this gorgeousdy, sending shivers down my spine. "The training method for this is ve~ry simple. It will hurt a little bit, but you will be able to use it after you experience it once with your whole body." Her words were twisted, and the excitement in those words was making me nervous. This little pain... how little are we talking about? Just the pain of a limb being cut off that I had already experienced or... even more than that? I gulped a mouthful of saliva after thinking for a moment and looked at her with doubtful eyes. "How am I to experience this... thing?" This strangely reminded me of the time dad and I did that. Yes... the (tier-1) thing. And I had a certain thought that this... was going to be something simr. ''Gasp! Nature¡­ protects your humble child.'' *** In the vast fields of the grass, a lone boy sat there with his eyes tightly closed and blood seeping out of his nose, eyes, and ears. Covered by a bright orange light, and surrounded by three spheres of the same bright orange light, the boy screamed in agony as the pain increased with each passing second. This was painful but tolerable. Even though it seemed as if he was experiencing the sensation of being burned alive, there was a smile on his face. This feeling... he liked it. Not the pain or the loss of blood, but the changes happening to his body. He could feel that this was something he longed for, but never precisely knew what he wanted. As if a person lost in the endless ocean had finally foundnd, he had found something dear to him. Some distance away, an alluringdy was standing with the same lighting out of her hand. She was smiling bitterly at the smiling boy, who was enduring the sweet pain and the warmth of her touch. This was his first time, and she understood just how he would be feeling. Though painful, it was the sweet pain of happiness. He would be feeling warm but, the energy surging through his body was no normal thing. He was a mortal. A normal human who was gifted some unique power and possessed a tough brain like no other. This was also a tough thing though, as she knew just what sort of past hardships he had gone through to possess a unique brain like this. But his smile was showing that he would be okay even after this burning pain. The start is always painful but, as time passed and you get familiar with the movements, you would get better. And he would learn faster than anyone. She did not doubt that. He was talented, after all, and his mind was just perfect to be her sessor. And, it rewarded her hopes when the painful expression cleared up from the boy''s face after a long time and he started absorbing the flowing energy from the giant balls of light. His start was painful and there will be more painful things, but she knew that this boy, her student, and her grandson, can ovee them. She knew if there was someone that can grant her long-cherished wish, then it was him. Chapter 134 Nights Breeze Waking up from the terrible pain from moments ago, I tried to feel my body. It was a terrific experience and I could feel the changes in my body clearly. I had gotten stronger. My Mana pool had increased with this new type of special energy that was surging through my body like natural warmth. Though this was a transparent one with no color or special characteristics than the warmth, it was almost like a very thin Mana. This was weird when thinking about it but, I didn''t feel one bit ufortable. Instead, I was feeling more like myself than anything right now. I could feel my body, muscles, energy channels, and even the flow of Mana and Solnova inside of me. Though peculiar, it was a good feeling. I now had an alternative power source, though I didn''t know anything about it. It was small, but the amount of this new energy inside me right now was enough to cast five or six (tier-1) spells. And it was a lot, considering Mana could only cast around fifteen or sixteen spells at that level. So, ultimately, I had more than enough power to kill a (Yellow) ranked creature on the higher side. "Haaa..." I sighed as I saw the starry night sky. It was beautiful, and I loved just how good it looked. "It''s a good ce for stargazing, right?" She said as she sat down beside me. The process had been tough and after finishing the absorption; I had just passed out on the ground. Though the feeling was good, it was exhausting... both physically and mentally. These ins of green grass, this gentle breeze of the night, this clear sky, and those celestial objects shining in the sky. Laying down in this quiet ce filled with natural voices and nothing else. This was too different from my days in the dark forest or even the green forest. I had never had a peaceful sleep in those ces, aside from with Fern. And they filled the dark forest with things that loved darkness so, trying to sleep in that ce was like finding peace in hell. I didn''t have a sound sleep during my year-long stay in that damn ce and sometimes had passed where I would have to stay awake for weeks just to avoid some certain creatures homing a ce. Those days were hell, and I can never forget them even if I wanted to. But this ce... this endless looking grass fields, that soft bed inside the tower, this even softer grass... they were something I never imagined I could have. From those hard grounds, tree branches, and unknown ces to these divine ces. Though the change was sudden and dramatic, it was a pleasant change. All this, from this marvelous ce, the new strength and the new knowledge, was thanks to her. And even if I want to thank her with all my heart, I could never find the fitting words to express the dominant emotions filling my heart. But she could read them, so I didn''t have to say it out. "No need to thank me, little one. I''m doing something I want but, you will get hurt in this process countless times. Even after healing, you will remember the pain, and that isn''t such a good thing. You are my sessor and you won''t realize the meaning of that anytime soon. But, rest assured. You will gain strength and knowledge and you will definitely go back to your parents. And... you''re my grandson too, so I won''t stop you from doing things you want to do in this ce. This tower is huge, more than what it looks like, and is filled with things you won''t believe are possible. Like the kitchen, library, or the garden we have seen. There arebs for alchemy, magic engineering, and witchcraft. There are also my smithy and workshop floors. But I don''t think you will go there for a long time." She smiled while looking at me mysteriously. That smile was truly just mysterious. I didn''t know what to understand about it. Well... if I can''t understand, what''s there the need to understand? Though I was curious about them, the kitchen and library caught my ears. Those two words were something I would check out first before anything. Well, I had time. I will know everything slowly as time passes and things here were already so magical my heart couldn''t contain the excitement. Looking at her on the other side, I wondered about that unparalleled appearance. She wasn''t a human, and her appearance was exactly like a human. She didn''t have the long ears of elves, a short feature of dwarves. She wasn''t like anything a normal humanoid creature would have. I had a hunch about what she was but, I can never ept it. Maybe I looked at her for too long and she knew I was checking her out. Turning towards me, she smirked with that mischievous smile I had seen before. "So, you really fall for me, my grandchild. Well, I wouldn''t mind-" She was saying some nonsense with a straight face in a genuine voice and I didn''t want her to finish that line. Cutting her off mid-sentence, I shook my head and shouted with a flushed face. "Grandma! Don''t say it like that!" My voice was loud, and in this quiet area, it was even louder than normal. "Yes, yes, boy. We can still love each other without those things. Huhuhu..." Sheughed teasingly and patted my angry head. She was impossible to understand, and I didn''t know why such emotions and expressions popped up when I was with her. "D-don''t say something like that again..." I mumbled in a weak voice while turning my head down on the grass. I couldn''t see it, but I knew there was a smirk on that alluring face and I had no idea how to control this blushing, fiery face. She was one thing, but I doubted that even the blue moon hanging in the sky would smirk at this sight. Good thing I was imagining the moon to be a gorgeousdy or else I might start crying if I saw two creepy eyes and a mouth smiling down on me... ''What the hell am I even thinking!?'' Even my mind wasn''t on the right track right now, much less this bastard of a wild heart. ''This is my grandma dude, an olddy that just looks... amazing~. But! She is the grandma!'' Convincing myself was no use, and I knew I would have to just live with this. Though... I didn''t hate this feeling. Yes, I loved her. Maybe as much as my family and maybe more but, not in the sense of attraction. Age didn''t matter to me, as I was much older on the inside than now. And this world was already far above those patty things like race or gender. Everything was eptable, and they praised strength and knowledge. The one thing everyonemonly hated was those damn demons, and having amon enemy was always a good thing. Looking at my grandma, who killed a demonic beast with no special effort, a question popped up in my mind that I couldn''t resist. "Grandma? Why are the demons one of the strongest races? What''s so special about them?" I was curious as I didn''t have much knowledge about them, but I knew she knew about those wicked creatures. I was just curious, but I wanted the answer to this one. Those demons had done something that I can''t ignore. They will pay, one day, for sure. I will find that bastard no matter what- "Don''t do that to yourself, Eon." She tapped my head in a sudden, angry voice. "You know what it is like to live for revenge and you would do that to yourself again this time too if you think like that. Sure, the demons are powerful, but it''s not like they are all bad or every one of them is a bastard like those who send you here. You will naturally learn about them as you grow up, so don''t think about them. Actually, just forget about them and focus on the good side. Try to live for the family you so much cherish, the loved ones you have and will have¡­ as well as me." She was serious and worried and her voice... she was also sad. I stood up from the ground and just sat back down, not knowing what I was doing. My eyes were nk, filled with different, conflicting emotions as I looked at her. Her words were sudden, and they unexpectedly closed some wounds in my heart. I started crying without knowing the reason, and she was sad. For the first time, she hugged me with her warm body that was the same as her head pats. No... maybe this was far more than that. This, this... "Yes. You can cry. I''m here, so don''t worry. You have endured hardships but, there will be more in the future. But remember Eon, my child, that¡­ being happy will be up to you. The decisions you make will be yours. And you won''t be alone this time. There will be others you can rely on, and I''m always with you. If not like this, then at least in those memories. You will do fine without those useless feelings, so... let it go. Not the desire for revenge, but that grudge against their whole kind." Her embrace was warmer than anything, filled with love and... I couldn''t think of anything at this moment. She was right, and I knew that. I was even more d I had her and as she said... if those things hadn''t happened, we wouldn''t be together. -Shuuuuuuuu... The cool breeze of night passed as we stayed like that in that endless field of grass that glistened with the gentle moonlight. The night was long and the future ahead of me would be more different than I might think. Chapter 135 Master And Her Tower The first time hurt like hell. But... it was warm. I experienced a new world that day. That warmth, that gentle touch on my skin, that painful but fulfilling feeling. Those were some of my best first times. After that abundant energy prated my whole body and created the channels necessary for the usage of this skill, I suddenly became stronger. Like, I could use the Mana inside my body more freely, and use the new type of energy that was stored in every part of my body with even more proficiency. It was thinner than Mana, but I knew I could use it with even more proficiency than Mana. Right now, this was at the (tier-0) whenpared to Mana. But, unlike Mana stored in my Mana nucleus, I stored this power in my whole body. So, even at this stage, I can use (tier-1) spell easily. Though it finishes pretty quickly and I would need a longer time to recover than Mana, it was a better source of energy than Mana. If I say that the current me can store 20 units of Mana, then the current me can store 100 units of Solnova. So, if 10 units of mana=100 units of Solnova, then I had an extra Mana equivalent to one more (tier-1) Mana nucleus. This was crazy! If I can harmonize all of this, which wasn''t likely right now, I may be able to use the (tier-3) spell at (tier-2). Well, these were just some personal exnations, and things would change in the future. All these energies differed from each other. Solnova was more special among the most existing higher-level energies. And, I was sure that I can push it to a simr amount as (tier-2) in at least a year. It had been almost three months since I had trained this energy. I learned how to absorb it through sunlight, how to channel it, and spells that corresponded with this energy. They... wereplex. Like realplex and if not for the fact that I can remember everything and store that information in my mind, I was sure I would faint from just looking at one of the simple spells. Master taught me many things aside from this in the meantime. She wasn''t just a Mage. She was someone that had mastered a weapon too. Her weapon, that whip... no. That snake-like thing seemed to possess a mind of its own. ? I did not know how the hell something like that could move like it was alive and had the movements of a high-level creature. But it was fascinating every time it thrashed me. She was defiantly at least a [Queen]. That meant she could use Aura to its full capacity. And, yes... Aura. For the first time in my life, I saw Aura. Her Aura. And... it was gorgeous, just like her. It wasn''t white like her mes, nor oranges like her hair, or blue like her eyes. Her Aura was gold. And when I say gold, I meant pure fluid gold. It was a perfect Aura, unlike the initial aura that I will soon have. Her Aura, something noble, rich, filled with authority and dignity, as well as something that flowed in search of something. As all Aura possessed a nature, this one possessed a nature too. And it was seeking something. I had an idea it was connected to the wish she mentioned, but I won''t think much about that. She could do things with Aura that I could never think were possible. From coating it on her weapon, shooting it, releasing its might, materializing it in weapons, to the point that I couldn''t even fathom. She was amazing and the mastery she had over all her powers was unpanelled. I couldn''t even begin to describe the things she knew and had taught me in that short amount of time. I had a long way to achieve Aura because of my uniqueness. One can achieve Aura through two means. Either by experiencing life or death situations or by gaining enough knowledge and understanding of the weapon one used. A knight didn''t just use a sword. Though there was discrimination against those who used other weapons as a knight, they counted all weapon wielders as knights. Of course, not anyone could be a knight. They needed the powerful mind and body of a knight that was superior to a normal human. I had enough strength and life and death experience to have awakened Aura, but... I still hadn''t. So, the only other option I had was to study archery and understand the Bow and arrow. And when I showed her my archery that I had honed with my life on the line in this forest... she sighed. She freakin sighed at my lifelong training! This was just ok in her eyes and she meant it when she sighed at it. She pitied me, and I could feel her emotions. It wasn''t at least crap but, my archery was at just normal level in her eyes. In her eyes only so, I was better than most, at the very least. But that pitiful look didn''t go well with me. I started archery once again and, for the first time in my life, I had someone to guide me. I had someone to point out the countless flows I had, and she even taught me other things. Aside from that, we also yed in this vast tower. And this ce... I didn''t have any words to describe just how fascinating a ce it is. Each floor was something special and though I had only been to fifteen floors, for now, just exploring one floor would take a day or even days. And, aside from the garden and that divine ce that had made a ce in my soul, the 42nd floor [Library of true knowledge], the only other ce I loved the most among these fifteen floors was [Perfect kitchen]. That ce was heaven. Like real heaven to me. I didn''t see these floors in order but, what I had seen in this ce was enough to make it the best construction of all times. Something that we can evenpare to ancient structures in dungeons andbyrinths. And that damn kitchen... was more modern than anything I could ever think of. Just the idea that this whole ce was a kitchen was absurd but, it was true. Well, that was that, and master and I loved cooking. She was good at everything and cooking was one of them, but she didn''t cook herself much. We only had her cooking a few times and god... it was divine. That was the level I wanted to reach from my ordinary level now. Even if she stops teaching this stuff, I had to learn to cook from her at the very least. That taste, those perfect vors, that aroma... I was blessed to have something that divine once in a while. Today was ending as the sun set down and today was the day I would talk to my family for the second time. Once again, this will be a small meeting, but it would be better than thest time we talked. My days here were passing smoothly, excluding the hell I experienced every day in her training. And I hoped theirs would be the same too. I hoped that all of them¡­ are safe, and healthy. Chapter 136 Her Thoughts "Eon? You ready?" I asked when we reached themunication orb in the garden. He was nervous that he was going to see his whole family this time. This child had no idea about himself, but he will know about it today. He was nervous but, at least the smile on his face showed he was fine. Looking at me with calm eyes, he nodded with a smile. He was a tough one, even from my point of view. In all the long lives I had lived in this nature, all the creatures I had met and all the humans I had seen were far different from this one. He was different; in his astral and physical body. He was a reincarnation, so he had the natural advantage over other humans but, his origin... was special too. There had been many reincarnations throughout the history of this continent, but none of them had an origin rted to the sun. Not a human, at least. As someone born from it, I knew just how deep this origin was, and calling it superior among all other origins wouldn''t be false. Nature was deep and understanding her future intentions were difficult to even for someone like me. Even though I once stood on the pinnacle of the world and looked down at mortals, as time passed, I understood the truths of this vast world. They concerned me, and he will have to face them inevitably. His fate was filled with thorns, but it was as warm as the gentle touch of sunlight. I had to build the foundation for his future during the time he had me. After that, he will start his new life. His new life as someone stronger than before and a better being than he was now. He was no pure being, nothing was in the true self. What we consider good, pure, or nice might be bad, cruel, or evil for others. Even the world didn''t have a single point of view against the good-evil thing. Though his life had been something unimaginable, his past was not something one could look away from. He had some darkness deep inside him and he knew I knew everything about him. That darkness was part of him, and nothing can be perfect. But it would be his strength when he would have to face his worst enemies... and he knew that, too. His past was nothing ordinary, and he was someone that had lived a life of solitude. But, in this life, he had people to protect. People to love. And... people to ry on. He wasn''t alone, and that was his path. I had the greatest wisdom but, even I didn''t know exactly what would happen in the future. But, from however I knew, I knew he will be ok. The people that wille into his life, the special person he will meet, to the dramatic things that might happen in the future. But, I can''t be certain of anything. Well, I will make him strong enough to stand on his own when needed. They will be with him anyway and, if things went right, this little grandson of mine will meet someone as special as him. His... special someone, something he didn''t think was possible in his dark previous life. ''Haaa... I''m too old, but this era sure would be fascinating.'' I thought as he stood before the crystal orb. Nodding at him, I started the artifact. -Ooooooooong. The connection connected, and the view of the other side became visible. This artifact used thoughts and feelings as a reference to search for the one you want to talk with and, this time, his parents were gathered in a bedroom with many other people. There were some quite interesting people among them, and everyone was eager to talk with their beloved Eon. He was more famous than he can think there, but he will only realize it after some time. So, their meeting might have needed more time than what we had, but s... they would have to think of something else if they wanted to talk more. And just telling them was no fun. Luckily, there was someone capable enough to figure out the key to this. Their child was fine with me so, even though they had made that unique thing to know of his conditions that wentplex every once in a while, they didn''t have to worry about him. This little one was fun to teach so, we were getting closer to each other every passing day, something that I had never thought could happen in this long time. What can I do though? He was special... as well as cute. Teasing him was also one of the best things happening in this boring life of mine. Aftering here and creating this special ce in this hell for normal, I had no reason to even do anything. This was my grave, and I was spending azy,fortable life doing things I wanted. I had decided that this would be my home for the rest of my life, but then... he showed up here. Came would be inappropriate since he was almost dead back then, but, well, he was nothing less than a miracle. His teased face was cute, and even from my point of view, this child was beautiful. His mind was also simr to mine, making him perfect to be my sessor. Though he was no genius like some he will meet, he had the strongest will to learn and a mind that could remember everything. He was an excellent kid but... He was pitiful. *** Though I was nervous, the excitement was clear in my behavior. The crystal ball was being connected likest time and after three months of harsh training, I could talk to them again. I had said that I would call them at this time but, things might be different there. I had to control my beating heart. This bastard that didn''t react even in the face of death was now on a rollercoaster ride. I knew little about them but, just meeting them in the short time we had would be good enough. If we had more time, we might have talked more but, this was still good enough for me. The picture cleared up, and a beautiful bedroom appeared on the other side. Mom, dad, and my darling little sister Anna were sitting together, probably waiting for me. There were another two families of three with them. The first one had a handsome man with short sea-blue hair and sea-blue eyes, a fine body, and an alluring and dignifieddy with red hair and green eyes, sitting with each other. The man was anxious, and thedy wasforting him. A young girl with simr red hair and sea-blue eyes with a sword around her waist was looking around, waiting for something to happen. Something simr was happening on the other side. A man with a stern posture, green shirt, and thick ck clock around his shoulders was holding hands with a beautifuldy with pink hair and... wow. I could tell just from looking that¡­ those purple eyes were special. The restless boy on the other side had the same eyes as thisdy and hair as the dignified man. These were two families, and they were quite special in themself but... not as much special as the one on the very back. A middle-aged couple that looked more attractive than others were waiting patiently with an old man in a butler-like outfit by the door. Thedy with long, ocean blue hair, that seemed like part of the ocean itself and eyes like mom, was sitting on a small couch with the middle-aged man. The most special person in this entire room and someone with short blond hair and a perfectly groomed beard with sea-blue eyes... I couldn''t believe it. I knew this person. In fact, almost the whole of the empire knew this person. He who had won countless wars, someone whose mere presence could change the winds of the battlefield. The [Golden Hammer] and an imperial hero. 12th seat of the [House Of Prism], one of the 18 knights [Kings] of the great Roxana empire. Someone I looked up to and dreamed of meeting at least once in my life. That very person I couldn''t mistake for anyone else¡­ was sitting in the same room as my family. Chapter 137 The Family "Eon!" A beautiful woman shouted in a bright voice. "Finally!" the handsome man sitting next to her eximed just like her. But their voice wasn''t as attention-grabbing as the third one. "Big brother~!" The cute girl sitting on her dad''sp stood up and jumped down from the huge bed. Running towards the front where nothing could be seen, she stopped before something, as if something were before her. Everyone other than them was surprised by their sudden scream. They couldn''t see anything where the three were looking at. The room was still the same empty one that it had been. There was nothing but... suddenly, a screen-like round mirror with a boy''s image became visible to everyone. Everyone was surprised and the young girl with red hair and the green-haired boy even screamed in surprise as they were looking at that exact same spot at that time. The sudden appearance of this thing surprised them but, after a moment, smiles appeared on their faces. "Eon~!" and the first one to shout was the man with sea blue hair. This person was handsome, but the way he snapped out in tears was unexpected for the boy, who had his eyes glued on the middle-aged man. The man was crying, and there was no choice but to calm him down first. So, the little girl walked up to him and kissed his tear-vetted cheeks. "Calm down, uncle! He''s here, so you should show him the thingy! That weird thing you and daddy did in your room! You spend entire nights and even didn''t y with me! Finish it so that we can talk!" The little girl was tiny but still seeded in calming the crying man down. "O-oh yes," he said as he cleared his tears. With a hesitant look on his face, he took out some papers from his storage ring and held them before him. "Ahem! Nice to finally see you, Eon. I''m Nol''s big brother and your¡­ uncle. F-first of all, as we have little time, copy this form and solve itter. We tried it for the first time but this is a kind of letter so we can have more words. Just... quickly copy this first. It''s easy, so you will be able to solve it, or ask your teacher." He said while holding the paper with various text and geometrical designs. This sudden situation greatly confused the boy on the other side, but then he looked at the other side where his master was smiling at them. She had a satisfied smile, and after seeing this, the boy just sighed. This was a way he never thought of and something that sounded exciting. Looking at the paper just once, he looked at his uncle and smiled. [ "Ok, uncle. Done." ] The man on the other side was surprised, but he just turned the page and the boy was done intently. There were nearly ny pages and this whole thing ended in about a minute, as the boy was faster at this than they had thought. "Eon? Do you have something to record this?" the uncle asked with worried eyes. But, instead of an answer from the boy, he heard the chuckles from his parents sitting at the back. They knew their boy, but not others in this ce. With an awkward look, the boy smiled and scratched the back of his head. [ "Well, something like that." ] His answer was unclear but, it was enough for the small time they had. The uncle backed away, and the boy shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man once again. The man smiled at him warmly, and the boy''s back straightened. The mirror floated towards the old couple and stood exactly before them. The boy on the other side bowed his head respectfully to them and said in a respect-filled voice. [ "It is a pleasure to meet the hero of the empire. I guess from the looks of things, you''re my... grandfather? Still, it''s my honor to greet such a hero. And you as well,dy Grizelda. To think I will be rted to exceptional individuals such as you two. I... couldn''t express this joy." ] The boy had tears of joy in his eyes as he looked at them with still respect-filled eyes. everyone else in the room sighed helplessly at this sight. In the end, the boy who was being praised as a little hero in the empire was just a boy at the end. Someone that looked up to a prominent figure and, even after being the grandson of such a person, he joyfully greeted them with respect. This was his first time knowing he was rted to someone as great as them and still, there was the happiness of meeting them in his eyes more than anything. The couple smiled bitterly at this sight and thedy spoke first in a warm voice that was simr to the boy''s master. "Axion. We understand you are happy to see us but, right now, we aren''t here as the famous figures we are but, as your grandparents. Don''t embarrass us with your bow. Look up and smile little one. This is our first time seeing our grandchild. Let us be a little greedy and have this talk." She was his grandmother and though her voice was simr to his master''s; they were the same emotions. He could feel the warmth in her voice and... hear the dissatisfied voices from the back. "Grandma! How can you do that? It should be my turn! I''m his big sister!" the red-haired girl shouted at the grandma. "No! Big brother Eon is my, my... my rival! I should be the first!" This time, it was the boy with green hair. "Nooooo~. How can big brother and big sister do that~? Anna should be the first one~!" The little girl wasn''t going to back down on this one either. The fight of the young surprised the adults, as well as the boy on the other side. He had aplicated expression on his face as he looked at three kids fighting with each other. His brother may be his uncle''s son, his own little sister, and the big sister that seemed most eager to fight him more than talk. That was some fierce battle to have the first chat and, seeing this, he couldn''t help butugh. [ "Hahaha... yes, yes, my brother and sisters. This isn''t thest time and we have this letter-like thing for long chats. Why don''t we just end with everyone''s introduction? I know my uncle, grandfather, and grandmother. So how about everyone else and that grandpa by the door?" ] His words grabbed everyone''s attention, and they looked toward the door. Indeed, there was someone by the door that seemed to have missed everyone''s eyes. The grandpa by the door was the most surprised by this, and the bitter smile on his face was clear. "Greetings everyone. And you as well, young master Axion. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." The grandpa in the butler''s uniform greeted the boy on the other side with a happy bow. [ "Yes, nice to meet you too." ] The boy was also greeted with a smile. There was something different about this person and he knew that. This person strangely seemed familiar to him, but he wasn''t certain. At least, he was sure that this person was good. "Eon~. This is grandpa Zhan. He''s been to our house, but you might not have seen him. He also has a [Origin Skill]~!" His mother said in her cheerful voice. She was happy that her son was safe and, atst; now he knew about himself. He knew that he had a big family and one that loved him. After hearing that this grandpa also had an origin skill, there was a surprise on his face, but then it returned to normal. [ "I would love to talk more about it when I can be there, grandpa." ] His voice was sad but, there was hope and an eptable smile on his face. Though he had said in a low voice, this didn''t go well with them and they just moved it aside. Everyone fell silent, and the room became dead calm. This sudden sadness didn''t go well with the little girl watching everything from the side and she spoke up. "Okey~. I will introduce everyone to big brother~!" she said in a cheerful voice. It looked like she wanted to elevate this gloomy atmosphere when they had such small time. And the butler also understood that so, he picked up his little miss. "Good grandpa~." She smiled at him and patted his head with her small hands. This was a special sight to behold for the ones that knew this grandpa well. He was a merciless assassin, but here, the little miss was treating him like some big, white puppy. And seeing this, they allughed with a pure smile, the loudest being the middle-aged man and the little one''s grandfather. The boy on the other side also cheered up and looked at his brave little sister. "Hum~! So, big brother. This is a big sis swordy, Ca. And this is big brother magicy, Alf. They y with me and even show me cool things~!" she chuckled as she pointed at the two children. The girl looked mature for her ten-year self and the boy was even more mature than her, even after being only eight. Their appearance was naturally pretty, just like their parents. The beauty ran in their family, from the looks of it. Both of them just waved at him while the boy with short green hair looked at him with fierce eyes filled with fire. This was a pure fire of passion, respect, and love towards this boy on the other side. The girl gave him a smile that was enough to tell him that she had many things on her mind and that she was waiting for the day they crossed weapons. They didn''t say anything and the little girl continued. "This is the magic uncle who can fly like daddy, and this is toy uncle who gives me many toys~!" she cheerfully introduced the two in her own way. Her cute little voice was pleasing to the heart, so no one minded being called anything. Especially the two who seemed to love their niece much more than usual. They also waved at him, and the little girl continued. She looked at the twodies sitting with each other and asked the butler to put her down with them. The reason was the tearfuldy with pink hair. "Big brother, this is my friends. Aunty Aug and Aunty Haze. They both miss you like mom so, so when you get back, y house with us first, ok?" she asked while patting thedy with pink hair. "E-Eon, take care~." Lady with pink hair said as she looked at the boy. And he smiled from the other side as he looked at both of them. [ "I promise. And I will take better care of myself so, don''t you worry. It... looks like it''s already time so everyone, take care. I will read the letter as soon as possible and next time, I will try to write one too." ] Stopping for a second, the mirror went back and the boy on the other side looked at his whole big family. With watery eyes, he exhaled. [ "I really have a big family. And everyone here is special. Grandfather, grandmother, grandpa Zhen, my two gorgeous aunties, and lovely uncles, big sister Ca and little Alf. Mom... dad... and you, little one. Please, take care of yourself and each other. I will try my best¡­ to get back as soon as possible so, don''t worry about me. I''m fine~." ] The boy finished as the mirror started disintegrating and everyone burst out in goodbyes. "Oi Eon! Call me Ca! That big sis shit is not eptable!" The girl should and her words didn''t surprise anyone. "Big brother Axion! Remember that I''m the best mage!" The boy next to her shouted in the same voice. "Baby, take care of yourself. You still do dangerous things once in a while but, if it''s something like training, I can''t say anything in that matter." The boy''s silent mother finally spoke. And the boy just nodded at her with a helpless, warm smile. Just like them, everyone spoke at once so it mixed the voices up but, he understood them no less. [ "See you soon, everyone..." ] And, with the boy''sst words, the mirror vanished in this air, leaving a tranquil room behind. This was unbelievable at first but, they had seen it with their own eyes, and... this was enough. Lost in their own thoughts, the room was silent and the saddest ones here were the three children. The youngest girl wasn''t a problem but, to alleviate the mood of the two young children, their grandfather, and the little girl''s teacher had to tell them the truth. "Ca, Alf. You saw him, right? The same Axion we praise so much. Your brother that had something different about him? His different eyes felled with fire. I know you saw them clearly. He¡­ is stronger than you might think. So, if you want to catch up, instead of being sad, let''s all of us do our best~. He will also love to see it." his words were enough to spark new mes in their eyes, and make the adults in the room sigh with a smile. The little girl wasn''t ready for these things, and they hadn''t even yed with her much. All the children in their house were special, but this little one received the most love as the normal one. And so... Their day had ended with this talk and exchange of words and introduction. They would talk every three months but, this first meeting... was engraved in each one of their hearts. Chapter 138 Foolish Fight In the open fields, sparks and fire of shes were filling the entire area with their melody. -nk. nk. nk. Sparks that seemed like fire, attacks aimed to defeat the opponent, and sounds that harmonized with each other, creating an unexpected melodious sound. -Booooooom! The fire, thunder, or other elements sting out at the figure standing in the middle was looking at the boy attacking her with all his might with a smile. The attacks weren''t even reaching her. -Xiu. Xiu. Xiu. The arrows and spells fired at her from all directions were strong but, just when they got near her, they just¡­ vanished. As if all the attacks were shing with an imprable wall that absorbed anything sent at her, she just stood there with the silver whip hanging around her waist. Looking at the boy with straight eyes, who sees nothing but her, she smiled with admiration. The ce they were fighting was vast and all these spells did not affect it at all. It was the same green grass that danced with the slow breeze of the afternoon. The sky was clear and the enormous monument in the distance was standing strong, the same as ever. The boy was wearing white clothes, his gold-like hair short and his eyes shining as he used the spells. His magic was special and strong. The fire he fired at her was refined, the wind was sharper than most, and the spears made of earth were strong while the des of water cut everything in its path. Just that the green grass regrow every time it was cut. But he didn''t just stop with these spells. As he stood some distance away, ice-blue magic circles appeared behind him. Three magic circles appeared at the same time and started creating icy winds and water around them. The water gathered the temperature decreased, the water froze, and then the shape changed into fine weapons, ready to attack anything. His eyes locked on the target, filled with fire to at least make her lift her finger. He wore ck shoes that seemed peculiar and the golden ne glowed as he fought. "[Shadow Dive]." The boy said in an inaudible voice and vanished from the ce he stood just after the three spears of ice were shot at her. A smirk appeared on her face and without even looking at the ice spears, she turned her face towards the side and smiled as if looking at something. And indeed, the very next second, a long,nce-like arrow shot toward her. This arrow was special, long, and just from a look, we could tell this was no normal weapon. Covered with peculiar text, its unusualnce-like appearance gave off an aura simr to the person it belonged to. With a sun-like pattern on its body, the arrow glowed in a golden light, coved by cool air. The small red gem engraved at the very end of it seemed like the heart of this alive arrow. It flew out of nowhere and the speed it had achieved in that short time and already broken the natural sound barrier. The golden arrow wasing at her with powerful force, and the energy it carried was also fierce. Seeing this made her smile and this time, unlike before, she moved and lifted her finger with a radiant smile. "Very good, Eon! You have improved," she said and snapped her fingers. -Snap! That small snap created power enough to break the sound barrier, as well as created a ripple that shed with the arrow. This was a fierce sh between two powerful attacks and the sparks, as well as blowing wind, was enough to make the ground barren. It created a crater at the point of their collision and the blowing wind send ripples that pulled out grass from their peaceful home-like ground. The smoke rose, and an unexpected smoke that came out of nowhere covered the area. "Too petty, little boy," she smirked as she turned her shining blue eyes that seemed to look through everything. -zzzzzzzzzzzz. A ball of thunder flew in her direction with a crackling sound. This was a spell stronger than any past ones. The power in it was clear, and the speed was also fierce, but the fundamental aspect of this ball of lightning was its pure destructive power. This was a (tier-3) spell, (Ball of lightning), and the one that used it was the same boy that looked no more than ten years old. His physiques were well built, not too bulky, but just perfect for an archer. Though we couldn''t see his body underneath those big but special clothes, just his outline was enough to determine these things. He was cute and handsome. But that didn''t change the fact that this young boy was now a (tier-3) mage. Well, this battle was beyond just some (tier-3) mage student and a master. He aimed the attack at what seemed like the blind spot in her imprable defense. But it was still just futile against the one that looked through the spell and lifted her hand at this deadly (tier-3) spell. -Buzzzzzz. The ball of thunder collided with her hand... which was actually just for y from her side. This spell couldn''t prate her passive defense, but still, she used her hand to just... destroy the ball of thunder. "Come out, boy. You shouldn''t overdo yourself. We agreed on a weekly. Try again next time." She aimed her words at the silhouette of the boy in the mist while the bare, beautiful hand that had just destroyed a spell was the same as before. This strength was terrifying but, an even more terrific thing about this gorgeousdy was her smirk. She didn''t hold back her ridicule in fights, showing her genuine emotions of strong. And this was the respect she showed to the person that had managed to make her lift her hand in this entertaining battle. After her words and the fierce fight that had been going on since dawn, she thought that this was the end. And it should have been the end from the point of view of any sane person after expending so much Mana, stamina, and concentration. But the boy that got visible after the mist cleared up, was smiling while looking at his master. This was the smile same as hers but, unlike her power-showing smirk, this was the smirk that hadn''t given up on the fight just yet. "Asta. Execute (Act-1)." the boy said and then¡­ his body melted into the shadows. "You little..." She shook her head at the foolish act of this foolish student of hers. But the smile on her face never changed this whole time. This was fun. For her and the boy that had almost run out of all the energy from this long battle. This was, as always, thest attempt of this cockroach. And she knew he would do it the most shy way he could. Saving the most fun things for thest was his hobby, and she liked this thing in their spars. And this time, too, she didn''t move from the spot she had started with from the dawn. They were just ying at the moment, just that the boy''s life would be threatened in this fun process. Well, he was fearless and the air that had changed was the proof of his foolishness. "Oh, my~." she smiled as she saw through the mist and noticed what was going on at this moment. He was indeed saving the most fun things for thest as six magic circles had appeared around her, surrounding her from all sides. There was no chance of escape this time and these magic circles weren''t of normal Mana. She knew them and they were all (tier-3) Solnova variants of the Mana spells. Naturally, all of them were more powerful than usual but, being able to cast six spells at the same time, and of unique attributes at that, was something only he could do. His special spell method, (Script Magic), was something he could use because of his special mind. But still, the concentration consumption to activate these six spells at once¡­ she knew this was his current limit. And he was already overdoing himself while giving his all in thisst attempt. This fool... she loved him. "But still, this won''t be enough, Eon~," she said cheerfully, and the spells shot at her from all directions. Lifting her hand with quick action, she snapped again, this time twice. -Snap. Snap. Two shock waves flowed out from them and this time, the two collided with each other, increasing the power of the oscitions. The new power born from this burned the air, and a ring of ck fire devoured all spells like they were delicious. -Boooooooooom! The powerful spells created with much difficulty by the poor little boy... vanished without a trace. And the aftershock of this was strong enough to create a crater around thisdy. Around her, not the ce she was standing on. That small area was the same as ever, with green grass filling it naturally. "See, futile. Let''s go in and have a bath-" she was still smiling from the futile actions of her student but, the area after the attack was too quiet and a sudden presence failed her nigh perfect senses. -Sweeeeeeeeesh. "Little bastard..." she shook her head and this time, in the split second she had, she left her spot that she had guarded like a fortress. She was fast, even faster than the attack that came with unmeasurable speed. -Boooooooom! On that exact spot, the same arrow that was stuck some distance away, fall like a meteorite. Colorless energy, different from Mana, densely covered thence-like arrow. The way it had just fallen from the sky or¡­ been shot down by the fool that had jumped high in the sky was something only that little one could do. But now, he was falling just like the arrow and there was nothing he can do to cushion this fall. His life was on the line, but¡­ this bastard was smiling victoriously. He had achieved his goal for today. His master had moved from her starting spot for the first time, and... that was a marvelous achievement in itself. And though he had foolishly used almost all the Solnova in thatst attack, which now created a crater bigger than thest one, he was overjoyed with the oue. His body slowly fall onto the ground and she caught it with her gentle hands while still in mid-air. She was floating in the sunset sky with her beloved student with an angry expression. "Dummy. Fool. Moron." she pouted like a little girl and she slowly floated down while carrying his lifeless body. -Smack! Landing safely on the ground, the first thing she did was smack this fool''s head and an instinctive reply escaped his mouth. "Ouch! But... I-I won grandma..." and those were hisst words and weak smile before he fall unconscious in his grandma''s safe hands. Looking down at this imbecile, the only thing she could do was sigh. "Fool..." she grumbled and carried him inside after clearing up all the mess and taking the long arrow with her. Today''s training was fun for them, but now, she would have to wait the whole night to punish this fool for this. -Sweeeesh¡­ The vast grass fields returned to normal, waving in the winds of the evening breeze. The night... was upon them and the look of this now familiar ce had not changed one bit. Chapter 139 Scolding And Dinner "Hmmm..." slowly opening my eyes on the familiar soft bed, the dim light of the room cleared the view before me. The ceiling that had be familiar over the past year I had been here, the magic lights on the other side, the soft touch of the bed. And of all of them, the familiar presence of old scent. "I won¡­ finally," I mumbled with a smile, knowing just what kind of face she would be making. And as I knew, a smack flew towards my head. "Ouch!" it was painful but the fact that I won this time didn''t change. "Yes, you did. After an entire year, you finally made me move from my spot. But..." she stopped, and I looked on the other side. I knew what type of face this grandma of mine would be making. As our eyes met, she looked down at me from her chair. Those pure blue eyes were angry, and I knew the reason. "You fool. Did you use almost all of Solnova in thatst one? That much desperation? And that was after using almost all of your Mana? Do you know what happens after that severe draining? Death, foolish child, death! What would I do if you die on me just to win like that?!" She shouted, and I smiled at this reaction. It was really something to see the person I took an entire year to just make her move from her starting ce like this. And that was after using everything I had prepared through this time. But one thing was certain. I was now stronger. Strong enough to stand against geniuses of other races my age. Reaching (tier-3) at the age of ten? That was some really special stuff but, it was true. And¡­ I wasn''t that special for this achievement. Many were as strong as me at my age and many were far stronger than my current self. I had read and gained unparalleled knowledge in the library on the 48th floor, so I knew those things. That ce... was heaven. Though it restricted me in some areas because I was weak at the moment, as the area opened up and I gained ess to new knowledge, as I got stronger. There were books on everything. From today''s knowledge to the ancient knowledge of the past. That magical ce had books of everything, from stories of children to the super tough books of magic. Those thick tomes, that sweet, old scent, that beauty... were incredible. But, well, I was now used to unreal stuff after living in this ce for the past year. But this angry master of mine was the most enjoyable thing I loved and her cooking. "Ok, master. I deserve the harshest punishment. But, isn''t it night? Shouldn''t we have dinner first?" I genuinely smiled and tried to get up from the bed. It wasn''t the best idea to use almost all the energy in my body, but I wasn''t foolish enough to use it all. I wasn''t someone that would risk my life in a fight I wasn''t sure about. I had nned today''s fight for a long time and calcted all potential oues. From the first fight with my master a year ago, I knew the endless difference in strength. I was still nowhere near her strength. Our spar sessions were once every week, and what we did in them was up to us. She had never once moved from the ce she had started. She did not need to. Her passive magic defense was something only Asta, my partner weapon, could breach. And that was also only because she was using only one type of shield from the first fight. Deciphering that magic... no, that was not magic. That almost (Indigo) ranking passive skill was horrible. Just the way they made it made me pass out every time I tried to [Understand] it. But, after five months, I had sessfully created a counter for that shield. And after taking a month to enchant that specific algorithm in Asta, it had be the sole weapon that can pierce that specific shield. But I knew damn well this olddy wasn''t using the strangest or even stronger one of her abilities. In fact, she had never used a single skill or magic to attack me. All I had got were the physicalbat lessons and physical beating every once in a while. That was enough to remind me of the way they had beaten me up in the forest, and probably more. I knew I was going to get punished for today but, well, that was already decided when I started to make this n so, no regrets. Getting up and seeing the wordlessly walking grandma, I caught up to her and held her hand. The room was just dimly lit, and she was just walking out without saying anything. I knew she was sad, as well as disappointed. "Sorry master," I genuinely apologized for worrying her like that. Though we both knew nothing serious can happen to me in her presence, she still worried about me. "I knew you are a fool but, pulling this kind of stunt is a no. Do it slowly, Eon. Yes, you are getting stronger every day but, people worry about you. Even though I know of your ns, strengths, and thinking, they don''t. I can''t stop you but, you are precious to me in many ways. Not just as a student, as a sessor, or as my lovely grandson, but as someone I cherish dearly. Well, I had to say, that was one hell of a fight. I won''t mind a simr one with less danger, alright?" she smiled and, as patted my head. Her warm touch was now familiar, but still as gentle and special as the first time. Even after knowing I would do that, she didn''t move from her ce because she couldn''t block that sudden attack, but because I was falling. Calcting that thing was also difficult, and this result was the fruit of my endlessbor. So, even with petty tricks, I had sessfully made my OP master move from the spot she would start. "I won..." I mumbled under my breath and smirked at her. Looking at me with a really annoyed smile, she shook her head. "Go wash up, you fool." With thest smack, she walked out, and I stayed in the room to change the clothes I was wearing. This was also some good armor but, it won''t work from tomorrow as I knew¡­ I was in for some harsh punishment. Well, the divine dinner will be enough reward for this triumphant victory. [[ Master is having fun, but grandma is mad. Hehehe. You two love each other, just like me~! ]] My cheerful little friend came out and set down on my head. She was also receiving training from a master and it surprised me we could do things like this, too. Celes was more special than she could think, and I was really blessed to have her. *** On the 25th floor of the eternal tower, or what I named it, Celes and I reached the dining area and kitchen. This ce was... exceptional and divided into two parts. The kitchen area was a divine ce filled with all kinds of magic equipment, artifacts, and ingredients. The first time I came here, I had left nkly staring at this heavenly sight. This was amazing, and she used every tool I didn''t even have the knowledge of with such proficiency that it left me speechless every time I saw it. And even now, after a year, I wasn''t fully familiar with everything here. Well, I wasn''t here for making something, but to eat the food grandma would make tonight. Wearing my pajamas and strolling into the kitchen, I sat down at one of the tables she had prepared for today. "Perfect timing," she said without looking back and summoned her special white mes in her hand. The ingredients she used in her special meals were so special, ording to her, I can''t even think of processing them by normal means. Well, she said she was almost done so, it meant something delicious was on its way. She was working on the other side of the giant kitchen ind and, from the looks of it, she was already done. She was a saint of cooking if not for magic; I dare say. That speed, control, and vor weren''t something anyone can produce, I knew from experience. But, well, I didn''t think much about what I was eating or what it actually was. The gorgeous looking, esthetic, deliciously aromatic, perfect vored heavenly meals she made were... divine. Just like right now. A unique aroma filled the room, an aroma that could mesmerize, a scent that pierced the nostrils and tickled the brain. This was the magic of her cooking, and it was enough to just smell this fragrance. But I had been eating it and will eat it today too, or now... "Okay~! Eon''s favorite. Akn stakes and Nortinian pasta with Qyuio sauce. The ice cream will be ready by we finish so, let''s start. Oh, and Celes, your favorite purple light flowers are ready too." She finished the serving with a freshly picked purple flower from the garden that Celes loved. The garden was heaven for Celes and she can roam around there freely for however long she wanted. Eating the lights with different vors was delightful for her, and she loved this particr flower. My appraisal skill couldn''t appraise it so I didn''t know what it was at first, but, after searching through books in the library, I found it. And, well, let''s not talk about what this was because... just the fact that we had an abundance of them in the garden was preposterous. And though I didn''t know what these dishes we were eating were, I loved them from the first time she made them. Serving everything, she set down before me and signaled me to start. With an already delighted smile, I started with a piece of this imcable stake. And that exceptional taste was just like always... exquisite. This was the start of the dinner... and the evaluation from the fight some time ago. "You did well this time, Eon." She started with a small piece of meat and I gathered my attention like always. "Your basic archery skills have reached the point I have nothing else to teach in that field. Now, from now on, you will have to find the path you want to walk. And that process is slow... and beautiful. You will have fun when you explore the world and understand yourself. You are about to achieve Aura, too. Maybe a year at most? Yes, that much will be enough if you go through this phase. So, your archery training will be on you, and I know you will do well." She finished eating the first bite and continued with the soft pasta. Her words were expected, and I knew a day like this woulde. Everyone had their own paths, and now I was ready to find my own. The path of the bow and arrows, and the path of a [Magic Archer]. But¡­ it was still far away. I nodded, and she continued. "So, we will start the Energy training from tomorrow. That would be my teachings, Eon. Not general, not from books, not from someone else. So, be prepared for more hell than you have experienced until now." she finished half of the pasta in that short time. Looks like she will have seconds, like always. "We can use Solnova in different ways, just like any other energy. We can use Mana in magic, as well as creation and alchemy. Aura can be used with a weapon but, some can use healing with that very Aura. Spirit Mana is used in spirit summoning but, one can perform magic with it. Solnova, in my version, can be used to create spells and strengthen physical as well as astral bodies." She said with thest slurping of pasta. She said it casually, but I knew from those words that it was time for me to learn what was hers. To learn the fraction of her true knowledge and something that belonged to her. It was her point of view and one day, I will have to find my own path with this energy, just like magic and archery. But I would ept her teachings with all my being. Those were invaluable and my greed for knowledge wouldn''t allow me not to learn that. A mind filled with the same thoughts, I continued listening to her point about my strength and weaknesses from thest fight so I could work on them. Her phase was faster than anything I would expect from a teacher but, she could do it because it was me learning from her. Even if I didn''t want to, I would remember everything she would say and... I was thankful for that. She was teaching me as much as she can in the time we were learning aside from ying and having fun. Maybe there was a reason she was doing it or maybe not, but... I loved this grandma of mine. She was a cool person and if I can; I wanted her to go with me to my house, to my family, and have her there. Maybe I can talk to her about that? We have a lot of time together anyway so no need to rush. Chapter 140 A Good Morning "Okey~. All set." I breathed a happy sigh and set down for the breakfast. The morning was quiet and grandma was ying in the garden with Celes so they will be here soon. It had been some time since we started the training she mentioned and it had been proving quite effective. This training that focused on the soul... was an amazing one. I did not understand the meaning of the Astral body and all, but as I listened to her and read things about it, it fascinated me more than ever. Things were going slowly and the same way they had always been, despite her warning of hellish training. Yes, I felt like I was dead every weekend after our spar session, as she had started doing stuff. Like she would start attacking, use some normal magic that god knows how reached (tier-4). She attacked me with fast attacks, punches that shook my insides, spells that really hurt and she did all these as if this was an actual fight. She really was ruthless... but I liked it. I liked this real training instead of the past where she just stood there and I had to attack with whatever I had. And she definitely did those things with different motives in her mind. Like, I would have never done such thorough nning, something I specialized in these fights. I might never have tried deciphering the skill-like barrier, or never thought of things that I did in that fight. She really was something else... The knowledge, wisdom, and experience she had were unbelievable, even for someone like me. She even knew about my dark past and she just threw it in a corner, never mentioning it. I had even told everything to Celes, but her reaction was more of sympathy and sadness that she wasn''t with me at those times. Such ''red'' things were nothing from her point of view. Well, I understood her perfectly. She wasn''t a human, after all. She was a far more outstanding creature than the rotten human race. Well, not everyone was rotten among humans, like my special family. I had read the letter my uncle sent the first time and that thing... was a really interesting method. It was a question paper-style thing where you solve the question to get the special answer from the form thates after the answer. That thing really impressed me. I felt like I was giving the first exam in this new life. Though it was difficult and it even took an entire month to solve that with normal forms I found in the books in the library, I was sessful in figuring it out. And, it was pretty easy if I did it with different forms mentioned in the other books in the library. This theoretic part was actually amazing, and I liked it. I liked it so much that it immersed me in it. For the next months, I had to prepare my own letter. It was simple after I understood all the aspects of this particr type of question. It was moreplex than the higher-level math problems I had studied in my past life, but it was, in the end, math. People in this world were more advanced in mathematics and scientific prospects but, everything was part of the magic. Well, they knew what they were doing, so giving it different names wouldn''t change anything. This world was so advanced that if I searched some old books, I would even find the proof of rtivity theory and higher rocket science. They also included quantum science in the high magic area. All that was difficult, but things didn''t just end there. This world had more than that and if people of my past worlde here, they would cry to gain this knowledge. Well, I was more fortunate to have a such magnificent library filled with countless books. Though barriers were blocking every section, I did not need to pass the general area with almost some hundred thousand books. Yes... and I wasn''t exaggerating. That space was special and even had sections floating in the air. I hadn''t even passed through some thousand books in all my time here. It seemed almost impossible that I would want to pass through this area, which was apparently the smallest. Like hell people... just how big was that ce? Well, I didn''t know that and I didn''t actually want to know that. I had enough ess that I can have all the knowledge possible and beyond that. I had already prepared a question paper for them, or a voice mail in the form of fifteen papers this time. That was better, as I can say actually as much as I wanted in that paper and they will be able to hear my voice more. Well, I didn''t know if they knew this was possible or if one can make voices in the form of magic questions but, well, creating a voice recording magic circle and then decoding it should be doable, right? Like, it wasn''t like I was the first one to create something like this. I had seen some old books, and they had ideas of creating whole holographic scenes with these types of magic forms, and I was pretty sure I can make something like that. But, well, my brain won''t be sharp enough to decode something on that level. I was just a big hard drive, after all. I can remember all those things but, solving them was a unique thing altogether. So... maybe I can make some beautiful scenes from the famous masterpiece arts of my previous life and the gorgeous things I had seen in this forest. That would be a fun activity for the free time I might have in the future. Well, my family was a special one. My grandfather was THE [Golden Hammer]! A [King] ranked knight and one of the eighteen people that had reached that rank on this continent. He was special among them and I had always wished of meeting him at least once. He was a king-ranked knight as well as a member of the (House of Prism). Well, every one of the kings and queens was a member as well as powerful knights with great potential. Being a member of that ce meant many things, and it was an organization neutral to the entire continent. p He was an amazing person, respected on the entire continent, and someone who believed in using the strength one had in the protection of others. I liked that thing about him and I really wanted to just meet with him one day and have a spar. And that very person was my grandfather... I couldn''t express my emotions after knowing this and even in the letter, he was as warm as I knew. But my grandmother was as warm as him in that letter. My grandmother, his wife, and the one who owned the title of the marchioness of the empire. Yes, grandpa was called marquess, but he couldn''t truly associate with just the empire. But my grandma, the patriarch of a true noble household that has been part of the empire for a long time, was someone as famous as my grandfather. She was the master and ruler of [Maris Archipgos], the western border of the great Roxana empire. Well, she was an amazing person, and... she was gorgeous. Beauty ran in our family in true meaning, not that I didn''t like it. Though for different reasons, my grandmother was someone I respected as much as a grandfather. They were one thing but, the rest of my family was special too. I praised my uncle as a genius magic engineer, someone who made outstanding inventions. He and dad had created the thing that informed them about my current condition and they had used the thought of a cardiograph in making it. Well, that was amazing and from the whole page he took in that small six-page letter, I knew he was more of a crybaby than a dad. Why was my family filled with male crybabies and powerfuldies? Haaa... well, thankfully, it wasn''t true for my second uncle, who was a normal viscount and awyer. He was a dignified male in this big family where his wife and my second aunt... was the same as my first uncle. She was a worrywart like him and she also took almost a full page from the letter. leaving a small part for my second uncle. Well, he was surprisingly good at expressing his emotions through words; maybe the reason such a special person as aunty was with him. My first aunt and someone as dignified and alluring as my mom... or maybe more. She was a perfect example of a nobledy, and she was gorgeous in all aspects. She was not as good with words as my second uncle but, her words carried genuine emotions. That was a unique kind of writing and maybe something special about her. The butler grandpa didn''t write anything but I know that he was an Origin skill user like me so I wanted to meet him soon. "Haaa... then there are those three." I sighed while taking a sip of my choco milk. My three siblings. My angelic Anna. Big sister Ca. And little brother Alf. Those three... I never thought having siblings would feel this... unique? Well, I had been alone all the time in my previous life and now I had three unique people to call brother and sister. I knew my little sister was special but, after meeting them and from the letters that had the first words of challenge, I understood the other two were more like me. My cute little Anna was the most normal kid in that house, and maybe that was the reason everyone loved her more than us. I was confident everyone loved her the most. ''I just know! I would love her more too! Like, why not? Why would someone love such a cute baby less or even equal the troublemakers?!'' I wouldn''t believe it. She was more loved than anyone, and she had to take care of that on her own. And those two who first challenged me before asking what the hell had happened to me. My big sister, Ca, who grandpa praised as a sword genius, had quite a rough mouth. Unlike her mom or dad. She was like those truly rough-speaking knightdies from novels, and that was her charm. I was also one to use that kind of speech, but I had nowhere to speak about such things. I had no one to speak that way too but, but maybe I can have open conversations with her while crossing weapons? I wasn''t afraid of closebat anymore anyway, so she would definitely lose at the end. But the fight was more expectation filled than that. Andst was my little brother Alf and one of those so-called geniuses of magic I had mentioned many times. If I was the storage drive, he was the supeputer for magic. From what grandpa said, he was already able to use (tier-3) spells while being a (tier-2) mage at the age of nine. Like my script magic, he had his own (Fold magic) that increased the power of a spell many folds after reprocessing the spell before release. He understood magic in the true meaning and he was, more surprisingly, a [Quadra elemental mage], having an affinity for fire, water, earth, and wind. Was I the protagonist born in a family of geniuses or something? He was definitely strong, but I knew he was still not strong enough to defeat me. He had no physical strength like Ca, and Ca had no magical abilities like him. There might be a chance if they worked together with a nigh perfect sync like those chibi assassins. Those two were genius and I would beat them nheless. I was afraid of what might happen after that. But, well, that was for the future me to think. "Oh? You started without us?" Just when I finished my ss of milk, the familiar voice of my dear master and grandma entered my ears. "I just started grandma, Celes. Please join me~. I brought the orange flower, Celes. Fresh and sweet." I smiled as I pointed at the flower to my gorgeous butterfly partner. [[ Thankyou~, master~! ]] She was as energetic this morning as always. ying down on the flower, she started her meal without any further talk. Looked like she was really excited today. Master just stood in her ce and looked at me with a warm smile that found the current me cute. I was confused about what she was smiling for, but then, noticing my cluelessness, she walked toward me. Standing before me and shaking her head with a smile, finding me even cuter than before, she picked up a napkin and wiped the choco milk mustache. "You little baby. Why are you so adorable~?" she praised me and patted my head with her special hands. But this time, a pink blush of embarrassment painted my face. "Grandma!!! I knew t-that! I-its just..." I tried to make up something in the face of this awkward moment. What kind of milk was it? I didn''t even notice it on my face?! "Hohoho." Sheughed at my predicament and caressed my cheeks. "Let''s eat my dear pink, cute, funny, darling~." After making fun of me like that, she just set down and started her breakfast. "Mmmmmm!" my beautiful morning was ruined by this damn milk. I just buried my face in the dining table, not realizing this whole behavior was even more entertaining to her. ''Damn sweet milk... though it was really good, damn...'' What better way to start the day if not by being tested by your alluring grandma? Chapter 141 Library And Chill "Hmm~, hmm~. Lal~" Reading the books in this library was the best thing. She filled this vast library with bookshelves full of books on both sides of long rows. Rows of a bookshelf lined together, some special cubic bookshelves floating in the air, that high ceiling with special lights and celestial map that constantly moved. The books that shined, glowed, and sparked, as well as books that carried the old scent of the past. This ce was heaven, and it was no exaggeration. The books here were diverse, and there was nock of magic tomes either. Just the shelf behind my back, I was sitting there were at least a hundred of them. And in total, there were six hundred books on this ''small'' shelf. It was small... even with thisrge amount of books. If my calctions were correct, the books on the floating shelves were all magic tomes and one such shelf contained three thousand such books. Three thousand magic tomes... I didn''t believe there was another library aside from the one in the academy that could have even been close to the books in this general area. I had only read around a thousand books in my long one and a half years of stay in this ce and I knew those were already a lot. And thanks to thenguage books here, I was able to learn manynguages. That helped me a lot as there were books in all kinds ofnguages here I couldn''t even start to understand. From humannguages, ancientnguages, runes, as well asnguages of different races. It was an amazing experience. And I loved it as much as I loved the reaction of my little sister from thest time. The letter surprised her more than anyone. I sent the letter with a voice answer and not just words, and she was overjoyed to hear my direct voice for the first time. Though this artifact orb was one special thing, I knew they would like this letter very much. Even mom, my two aunties, and my grandparents were happy to receive it. The only three that was odd at that time were my dad and two uncles. Well, I could understand their feelings to be so simple-minded and not doing it this way. They thought it would be a too high-leveled thing for me but when they received the paper from me, my first uncle was the most surprised one. I knew he was a genius magic engineer, and this paper was his area of expertise, but even himplimenting me on that one felt a little embarrassing. I wasn''t quite at the level of that scenery circle but, hearing my work was impressive was my first time. This was different from the master, who was also my grandma and had different methods. My uncle took that whole day to himself just to exin how great my simplification of those significant problems was. Though thankfully it wasn''t the first time someone had done it, I was the first one he had seen that could water down the enormous calction works of a voice recorder to that degree. Even my little brother was surprised. My version of the voice recording magic circle thates out as an answer was considered revolutionary in the field ofmunication. Aside from its great calctive aspect, it was far more simple than the one previously used by mages and knights. It was something that canmonly help others and... I was the one that made it. Though we didn''t have much time, we couldn''t discuss much so, I decided to let my uncles do whatever they wanted with this knowledge. It wasn''t like it was entirely my idea, anyway. I just created it using many references from this library. Maybe the outside world didn''t have as much knowledge of the past as this ce, but, well, it wasn''t that important to me. They were happy, and I was happy. That''s all that mattered. The book I was currently reading was called . Though it was written in the ancientnguage of a nation named [Valmik], I had learned thisnguage some time ago. I don''t know if it''s actually true, but the time in this library seems to have slowed down. I had spent more time here than I can think, but actually; I don''t spend that long here. Aside from training and ying with the master, I just spend some hours here by myself and sometimes with Celes. Celes was with master more time than me and I knew the reason behind that. We were connected, and the master was teaching her how to use her own powers as a crystal butterfly as well as the power of our bond. She had learned many things and aside from talking with me with no limit to distance, I can see and hear what she was doing if I wanted to. And right now... [[ Master~, are you spying on us or something~? ]] She spoke just when I was about to close my eyes and check up on her. Well, if I can see what she can whenever I wanted, she at least knew when I was looking through her eyes. And she seemed pretty cheerful for this evening. [ "What''s going on Celes? You sound quite happy. What might be making my lovely partner happy?" ] I was curious about her overly cheerful tone that sounded almost teasing to me. Were they taking ba-... doing something exciting? [[ Master tried to grow a flower that could taste like what you call pizza. She has been failing for an hour now! Hehehe... ]] [ "She failed? Oh, yeah~! That''s the power of almighty pizza~!" ] I shouted through my head and she jumped in our private talk. [[ Don''t get that excited, you two. I''m finally done." ]] I didn''t know how she can hear and interrupt our talk that was supposed to be connected with the origin link. She had damn broken abilities for a divine entity. Well, pizza proved that it was worthy of the name of one of the best things. ''Next time I will make the special curry rice. Let''s see if you can copy its taste.'' This wasn''t the first time they were doing this, and it surprised me every time I saw the artificially made flower with a wavelength of light that tasted differently. Just how the hell did she do it?! Even if I knew the procedure, no way in hell I can make something like that. She used earth magic as well as some unique properties of distinct elements to grow a nt that carried strange characteristics. Like, right now. She grew up a bright yellow flower from a normal blue flower seed and when Celes sucked the light out of the flower; she shouted in joy. [[ Yes! It''s the same as you described! The feeling is the same too. It''s warm, spicy, sweet, and saucy! Master is amazing~! ]] It overjoyed her from just that small bite and that light reappeared after some time. Master oh master... [[ See. I''m the best~. Huhuhu... ]] Her triumphantughter was a rare sight and I could feel she was really happy to make this flower for her. She loved pizza more than the burgers and other food I had made. And we had a lot of ingredients to make things with different tastes, types, and vors. I had the appraisal skill so I could make out some of the ingredients but, my skill wasn''t good enough for most things here. I had no way of knowing what this was if I had not even the slightest knowledge of it with this skill. Thankfully, she knew everything about them, so I was happy with her mouth-watering cooking. So, well, my grandma is awesome. [[ Say, Eon. How about you experience some small pain tomorrow? ]] So, well, my grandma was evil. I closed the book in my hand and put it back on the shelf, and set it down withplete focus. This was one of those things when she starts saying something that could change many things that had happened in the past. Now, I was ustomed to these sudden sparks of inspiration to do something unexpected. [ "What do you mean by ''small'' pain, grandma?" ] I asked with my heart beating nervously. [[ Master be prepared. She has that grin on her face. ]] This was more serious than I had thought. Let''s prepare to almost die again. [ "Thanks Celes." ] Thanking her from the bottom of my heart, as I might not see them tomorrow, I listened as she talked. [[ Well, it''s nothing much but... there''s a special floor for training. Seeing that you have progressed so much in these six months with your special training, I think you''re ready. You will have to endure extreme pressure and a dense energy atmosphere, and there might be a teeny tiny threat to your life. You can only use this at a certain stage of your training and now is the time. You won''t be able to do it for a long time if you don''t do good in this one but... If you do well, I believe you can gather months'' worth of energy in one day and improve the bnce of the astral and physical body. ]] "Why are you saying it so casually?!" I shouted with a horrified expression and stood up. Teeny-tiny threat to my life? And more than that¡­ There''s such a ce? Here? And what inspiration did she get to say something so important out of the blue? And why did she say something involving my death so happily!? And that grin... this was definitely more than a little painful. But that floor sounded too interesting to not go. ...not that I had any choice if she said it. [[ So, tomorrow is good, right Eon? ]] She asked with a genuine smile that I saw through Celes and exhaled. [ "Yes. Tomorrow is good. But I want you to make dinner today." ] I had to at least taste her cooking if I was uncertain of my survival the next day. Not that she would let me die, nor did I have any ns of dying anytime soon. [[ Of course. You will have fun on your own. Though we both will have to be closed in that room alone. And you have to sit down without a shirt and- ]] [ "Yes, grandma. That much information is good enough. I will be ok." ] [[ Oh really? ]] She grinned, as she knew I would be blushing from her misleading words. I didn''t fear death as I have experienced it already. I feared her because she was truly unpredictable. She can do whatever she wants to me and she might if I don''t know but, thankfully she just loved teasing me. [[ This might be sudden but, Eon, I''m expecting some excellent results. But, don''t go too far. I know you will do good. ]] She said in a serious as well as warm voice. She wanted me to do my best and be safe. Just like her... A ruthless woman who worried with her heart. I loved her because of this side of hers. She was the best. [ "Worry not, grandma. I will do my best so that you won''t be disappointed." ] I smiled, and she sighed happily on the other side. This quiet library was forever the same, and so was my grandma. "Let''s continue..." I sighed and took out the book I was reading. There was still time so, I can finish this one before going down for the possiblest dinner of my life. Chapter 142 Training Circle Sitting in the middle of arge magic circle that covered almost half a kilometer in radios, a boy calmly breathed with his half-naked body. His body... the boy''s body, was a piece of art created with utmost care. Like a perfect sculpture with no unnecessary muscles, it was just perfect. Those powerful arms, that straight, muscr back, that muscr shoulder, and those gorgeous abs. It was hard to imagine this boy was just around eleven years old from that attractive physique. Sitting in this endless dark room with only this one magic circle that was impossible to understand, even by great geniuses, he breathed calmly in the special air. Special air filled with highly concentrated sr energy, and¡­ he was still calm. It was impossible for normal beings with no affinity for particr energy to even sense it but, for someone like him, it was a different story. He can feel it clearly, as well as experience the great pressure from this concentrated energy in his surrounding. He might be feeling a lot more gravitational pull than normal, feeling almost crushed in that ce but, he was calm. He didn''t show any form of difort and just continued absorbing the dense energy around him. The process going around him was invisible to normal eyes, but... it was different for the person standing some distance away. Thisdy looked alluring and one might fall for those looks, just those glowing blue eyes filled with delight looked somewhat... dangerous. Not like some hungry predator, but just that they looked unique in this darkness. They were glowing and the things those eyes saw were a lot different from what met the normal eyes. Thisrge room was filled with magic circles of different shapes, sizes, and colors. The giant magic circle he was sitting on was no normal thing, either. Glowing in a rainbow color with different sections having different colors, this magic circle was creating different spheres of some peculiar colors. Ranging from orange, blue, yellow, purple, and many other colors. Coincidentally, all these spheres looked somewhat simr to themon outline of the sun. And then there was this boy sitting in the middle of all this, unfazed by anything. This circle had three times the gravity than normal but, he was doing fine. The physical body was, at the very least. His astral body, the materialization of one''s soul, was having a hard time coping with all the different energy radiations in his surroundings. He has achieved control over his physical body, but he was still a bit away from being able to master the control over his soul. Well, this concept was new in itself to a child like him, anyway. One would naturally understand the meaning of the world, the things within it, as well as the extent of one''s self. Every being in nature was different but, we all had the same permissions and restrictions as someone who would inevitably be going to die. Though there were exceptions like her, true immorality didn''t exist. But those things didn''t mean anything to a young boy like him who has just started learning the truth. He could barely separate the two bodies, just like right now. And that was amazing for any being his age. She had trained him for almost one and half years and he had grown beyond her expectations. He wasn''t a genius who understood everything at once, but... he was a genius who worked hard and figured out everything on his own. His ability to remember everything was one thing, but his passion and fire to learn were what made him more than a genius. He had learned many things during the time they had been together, and the knowledge and wisdom he now possessed were more than any normal being. Be it magic she taught him, magic that he learned from books, or magic that he created on his own, they were all amazing. And his physical abilities had grown a lot, too. Be it his archery skills, closebat, or overall strength, he was truly a great disciple to her. Even at this moment, she was smiling triumphantly as she looked at him. "Six months... truly, he''s a monster, if not a genius." Shemended while biting her nails. Her crazy smile and the fiery eyes fixed on him were enough to show her joy at this moment. Her exaggerated reaction wasn''t because of him being able to endure this magic circle, but something more than that. One could only see this spectacle with eyes like her, and truly... it was unbelievable. The physical body of the boy was the same, but something different was happening with the astral body that was having a hard time all this time. The astral body had the same appearance as the boy and the pressure that seemed unbearable to this boy was getting lower as time passed. She was hoping for something as she looked at him, something that she believed wasn''t possible and something that she would see for the first time in her long life. She continued looking at the boy and, as time went by, the astral body that floated just above him started calming down and adjusting to these different energies. At this moment, the body of the boy started glowing up in white, and from the light balls floating around him, the white one floated beside him. And with that, every other sphere of light turned into white, filling the entire room with white in her eyes. "He liked my white mes enough to choose white from all those colors? Well, it will certainly suit him." She smiled again and looked at her orange-colored energy. These were the colors one epted the Solnova as materialization. Just like Mana or Aura, being able to materialize a particr type of energy was different from using them in magic or strengthening. One could use materialize Aura in a form that came out of their deep subconscious. But that happened on and after the [Rank-4] of a knight in simple terms. A mage could materialize Mana easier than Aura at the (tier-5) and it was different from just materializing it in a form. Materialized Mana was a crystal that worked as an essory or a gift for someone special. But Solnova was different from other materializations. Just like what she had done to open his energy channels, one can materialize that energy ball when they clear the second blockage of the physical body. It was the most basic thing when one had mastered both physical and astral bodies and established a proper connection to both of them. And right now, Eon was going to clear the first blockage of his body, the [Blockage Of Beginning]. Any energy cultivation would lead one to greater heights and the nine blockages are the same. She had taught him everything about Solnova she could in this time, and all he had left was practice and more lessons ahead of him. Though she had ns for different things, right now, the overflowing energy in this room was starting to get even more concentrated around him than before. The process needed a tremendous will and endurance, but this boy was doing splendidly. His body was heating up while beads of sweat started appearing on his forehead. The astral body above his head started stabilizing too. But blood starteding out of his nose at that same moment. "You can do it, Eon. Push forward. You won''t have another chance toe here for the next five years. Get as much as you can." She mumbled under her breath while keeping the smile. She was happy, and the atmosphere in the room was starting to change. A mist was slowly covering the room as the subject in the center entered the final stage of training. This was the 45th floor of the tower, a floor with rooms simr to this one for different energies. Though this one was special among them too, where only those who can control and use Solnova can enter, the restriction was as great as the benefit. The process was hellish but, if you can pass through this thing, you were sure to reach new heights of strength. Through a higher density energy environment and assistance magic circle that supported the user, one can do an average of a year''s worth of training in a single day. The one using this right now was the pretty boy, and he was enduring the growing pressure and energy without any problem. If this was Mana, one might have gotten Mana poisoning at that density but, the energy and the user both were different from usual. At this moment, this masochistic person was smiling in the face of pain and not only in his physical body but also in his astral body. The wavelength of Solnova he chose, or more precisely, his subconscious chose, was growing and growing with each moment. The ball of light had absorbed into the boy''s body and slowly, other balls of light were getting in line to be absorbed by him. But it was getting slow with each new ball of light. It was pure energy; him being able to absorb just one was amazing but, this greedy fool was not stopping on just that. One, two, three... he absorbed five in a row, but then the absorption slowed down. The blood flowing out of his nose was also severe and his ears were also starting to bleed. But something stranger than this was happening with his eyes. Instead of anything like difort, his eyes were calm and glowing in the same light as the balls of light. p This was sudden and seeing this made the smirk on thedy''s face deeper. "Lucky bastard. Looks like his greed pleased thedy of luck." This entire process, the entire show going on right now, and the deep smile on the boy''s face were making her even more excited than before. The boy didn''t just stop with clearing the Blockage of the beginning, but he was doing more than that. And this was rted to his eyes. His eyes were red like ruby but, at this very moment, were glowing in white. The fusion of the pure white balls of light had slowed down significantly and, aside from thest one, every other light ball was slowly vanishing from the circle. The whole dark room was getting illuminated with the different magic circles and a magic shield had formed around the boy as well as the magic circle. He had absorbed eight balls of pure light, eight high purity Solnova packs, and now, he was overflowing with it. And, as the rule of nature, when a dam overflows, the energy will leak without a doubt. Even though he had absorbed all that energy with the assistance and guidance of this room, he hadn''t fully absorbed everything. Around ten or twenty percent was still lingering around his physical and astral body. The astral body had now stabilized with the physical body and started to form bnce. The astral body existed in the astral world, a ce separate from the physical world so, the time flow there was naturally different from here. Even though you can''t do much in that form, just having the ability to be a ghost no one can see was a great thing. Well, it was an awesome thing as we can do ''stuff'' and no one will even know someone was there. As a living, we can''t stay without a physical body for much longer, even while having the ability to do so but it was still awesome! Those were the rules of the world, so there wasn''t much use for this form but, certainly, it was one of the most fundamental forms to understanding the world and getting stronger. Strengthening the soul was an arduous task, and this was where things that can strengthen it were used. Normal people don''t focus on the soul, but those who know the meaning of a stronger soul know just how much things that can strengthen the soul are worth. And this whole ce that can do such wonders was naturally a ridiculous cheat. And the boy who was about to finish thest ball of light started feeling the actual hell that one felt at the clearing of a blockage and his body trembled. "Good luck, my dear child. I know you can do it." She prayed with her hands joint and closed her eyes when the ball of light fully absorbed in the boy''s body. "Khaaaaaaaaaaa!" An excruciating pain ran throughout his body, and the boy screamed in utter agony. A pain one felt when the dam that had restricted the bond of the two bodies breaks for the first time. And even after all the help and support the magic here could provide, it was a pain no child... can even fathom to understand. Chapter 143 (Stage-2) The explosion was loud but, the inside of the smoke and that barrier had apletely different story to tell. A peculiar white light covered the boy sitting in the middle of the magic circle and this light¡­ surrounded the soul besides his physical body, too. This light, this peculiar light, was warm and was giving off the same gentle warmth as the morning sun. This was interesting but, the ck smoke and the ck waste that hade out of his perfect body were no good. He had cleared the first blockage that restricted the use, storage, and output of Solnova. The first blockage, though it was just a name, represented the whole physical body that had established a perfect connection with the astral body. So he now had control over his astral body, something few strong and talented people could master. He was now one of them, but he wasn''t looking that good right now. Though it was painful, he had maintained his energy, internal organs, and outer body with the energy he was absorbing. He was thankfully unharmed, but the smoke covering this enclosed barrier was not clearing. His breathing might slow down if things went the same as they were right now but, thankfully, the smoke started to clear up after the snap of her finger. His master that had taught him everything and the grandma that had prayed for his safety were now happy with their safe and stronger child. He had grown up in that short amount of time and had be one of the few that could separate and maintain both bodies. She had never expected this, and neither did him. For him, this day was more surprising than her. It was just yesterday that she suddenly brought up this ce and now he had be stronger than he ever was. Clearing the first blockage of the body was a horrendous task, but he had cleared it with excellent results. He is the first one she taught herself and she liked him even more as a teacher now. He had surpassed the expectations of this teacher, clearing the blockage of beginning at this young age. And his Solnova had gained the first characteristic. Color. It was him that chose pure white, even though subconsciously. The color told many things about the power just like Aura. Aura represented the person, while the first characteristic of Solnova, its color, represented the wavelength of energy the person would ept. Being different from other energies, Solnova varied ording to its wavelength. Her orange one was hotter and thicker than others and his white was smoother and swifter than others, making it perfect for an archer like him. She knew it too, but her white mes might have influenced his thinking even deeper than her imagination, making his subconscious choose pure white. She had a d smile on her face too and after he had safely cleared the blockage... as well as achieved the second stage for his Origin skill of eyes. This little bastard was more special than he knew, and this exciting proficiency to use energies was his genius. The explosion was enormous and the waste covering his body won''t clean itself nor will he. He had passed out on the ground as the smoke was clearing up and now his astral body was also back in him. He had done his best and one could only try to imagine how great the suffering he had gone through in that short amount of time was. From the pressure, thickness, and potency of Solnova in that ce, it was surprising that he was still conscious after taking that many orbs of energy on his first try. She ran towards him while his whole body was covered in pure blue mes. The ck waste on his body vanished, and it cleaned him up in no time at all. After that, a jade green me covered him, bringing back the vitality and blood he had lost in the process. He was safe, better than before, and... he has finished her teachings. Picking his big body like it was a feather, she kissed him on the forehead. "Well done, Eon. You exceeded the expectations of your master and came out safe for your helpless, greedy grandma..." She had a smile as well as sadness in her eyes that were seeing the future with a certain bright light. *** "Mmmm..." as always, after getting beaten up and falling unconscious, I woke up in my room with the same familiar ceiling and scent. I did it, though I never thought I will be able to. "I did well, right, master?" I asked with a hopeful expression after getting up and sitting down while supporting my painful back. "Of course. You even surprise me with that." Sheplimented with a warm smile on her face. Her smile was refreshing as always, and I loved that smile. "Thank you, master." I thanked her with a soft smile and suddenly remembered something. "Yes. You even reached (Stage-2) for your eyes. They are far better than before. It''s a fascinating achievement, Eon. Not many have a (Stage-2) skill even after having an [Advanced-mastery] over their origin skill. This is a tremendous achievement, Eon. And yours is even special among specials. They have be... magnificent~." Sheplimented with a new kind of cheerful look. She was happy for me and d that I now had something better than before. But... what did it be? ''Status window.'' I called out my status window like every day and looked at my satisfying stats. ===Status=== Name: Axion Kromet Age: 10 Strength: 106 Dexterity: 107 Stamina: 108 Magic Power: 120 Intelligence: 117 Luck: 69 Charm: 65 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Quickstep, Appraisal, Shadow Dive, Mana Vision, Shadow curtain, Energy burst, Stark Triangle, Mana Shield.] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Intermediate Mastery -Three Eyes (Stage-2) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) ] ============ My status window had changed more than before and it was now white, closer to the pure white like the Solnova color I had gained. "It looks good. Your stats are unbelievable for someone your age, and your skill level has increased, too. But, before you try that out..." She paused and picked up the small ss from the side table and held it before me. There was a red wine-like liquid in it and it looked delicious for some reason. "Drink it. You will be all healed after that." She guaranteed with a warm smile and I took it without any questions. Medicine and potions were also one of her specialties and she had taught me some of them during that time. I was seeing this one for the first time, but I was sure of one thing. "Hmmm..." I eximed with a delighted smile and finished the whole ss. Her every remedy was delicious as if it was a delicacy and not the all-infamous bitter medicine. This one was also delicious, and the effect was immediate. A new vitality ran throughout my body, healing every unwellness of my body. This was some good stuff. "Ok, so... get up. Try looking outside with your new skill," she said with a radiant smile and walked up to the window. I also got up without any difort and looked at my new pajamas. Well, she knew everything about me and this wasn''t the first time she changed my clothes. But it was still embarrassing... With a deep internal sigh, I walked up to the window and looked outside the beautiful scenery. "Try using it," she said with an excited voice, filling my heart with anticipation. I believed she already knew what my skill does, but I still wanted to know and there was only one way to find that out. The skill now had a new name, and it was unique from the previous one. Looking at the vast grass fields and the tower downside I looked every day, with a racing heart, I used the skill. "Origin Skill- Three eyes," I said, and... world before my eyes changed. Chapter 144 Three Eyes The world outside the window was something I always saw in the morning and whenever I was bored. And with my mystic eyes that can see the faraway boundary, I liked seeing this beautiful sight. This was something I enjoyed, and seeing things that appeared within my range was also something I loved to study. I yed with my skill all the time I had been here and used it in various ways. I had this skill from the moment of my awakening, and I loved it. It had saved me countless times from the moment I fall into this hell-like forest. I knew all the things I can do with this skill and I was confident about that. I knew the strengths and weaknesses of this skill but, now, after it suddenly evolved with my breakthrough, this thing had be something totally different. "Wow..." I eximed as I looked outside of the window with this skill. Or... something like seeing everything with the eyes of a different person. As if I had three eyes, I can see things with this new type of vision. And... this third eye was free from the limitations my skill previously had. This third eye was something I can move however I liked it. I can go down with it and see the grass up close. See the flowers I could only see in the form of a magnified image. This was definitely something awesome. This third eye... I can do things I wasn''t able to do previously. The burden on me was also not that much and with the golden fruit with me, I can manage to use this skill almost for hours before needing any rest. I tried ying with this. Making the eye go to the ces I couldn''t see from this side. I circled the tower with this new ability and these eyes, different from Celes''s, can see far away from the ce I was standing. And that wasn''t the only thing they can do. "Yes. Just believe in yourself and you will be all good." She said with a confident smile that knew what I was doing and wanted to do it with full certainty. With a nod, I stopped on a certain flower on the backside of the tower and focused my attention on it. I didn''t see it myself but, at this moment, my eyes had turned blue. ============ [Polinom] ->A Mana flower carrying high-density Mana. ->Can be used in Mana regeneration potion as well as material for the creation of something. ->Can''t be used by someone with lower mental fortitude. ->You can use it and this will be somewhat helpful to relieve the stress of a long chanting spell. ============ "Is this..." I couldn''t believe it but, now, these eyes can appraise something my previous appraisal skill couldn''t even say the name of. "Now, you can even appraise the divine artifacts that you couldn''t see anything about. Actually, this ability has no limitations aside from the fact that you have to at least know something about the target, or else if the target is too powerful or something like that, the results would be unsatisfactory. Well, this is the second one but, there''s still a third one. It''s a fear-inducing ability, something you already know about. It''s a strong one and will help you in fights. Naturally, it''s nothing in front of me but, if I had to say it myself, then..." she looked at me and smiled mischievously. Her exnation was too thorough as if she knew about this skill, and maybe about myself better than myself. Well, actually, it might be true and I had the hunch it was. "Well, I know more about you than you know so, don''t worry. And, this skill can easily make something below your strength bow down to you. It will be scary effectively against humans so, I will suggest never use against others if not necessary. You''re smart, so I know you will understand. Your normal eyes that can see far away are red. The third eye can see around a long-distance, blue. And the eye that makes one crawl in the presence of a higher being, eyes that will look down upon every being, silver. That''s a rare ability and just from the diverse uses, you can understand why it''s close to impossible for someone as young as you to have a (Stage-2) ability, right? In your words, this ability is broken, and it definitely is, with no doubt. But... it''s your skill, Eon. And you are the one that controls it." Her voice was stern at the end, it was as if she was saying something important in the form of those words. She had done this many times, and I didn''t know why I made a special ce in my mind for these kinds of words of hers. I already knew this ability was mine, and I was the one who had it. There was nothing difficult about it. But, yeah, this thing was definitely broken. I had seen the fear skills. I knew just how effective they were. This new ability that I obtained after years... was something that might be impossible to upgrade further. Something that will always be this way and I had no problem with that as I knew... just mastering, this power will take me a long, long time. She had told me about the use of this new ability but; I had no doubt she didn''t say everything about them. She never tells everything, leaving the hard work of finding out to me. All she said were hints and I will have to figure out everything about this skill like anything else. Well, having this head start was a good thing. I had a new ability and now, I can do more things because I had cleared the first blockage of the body. I wanted to do many things and learning new things from her was one of them. But, as she had always done, she read my mind, and this time... she patted my shoulders and I looked at her. She had a happy, sad, and excited expression on her face. It was moreplicated to read than watch, as I could never read her eyes. Or her... "Listen, my student Eon," she called out my name with a serious expression. She had called out her student, not the Eon, not the child, not the little one but her student. This was the most serious I had seen her. Again¡­ this sudden mood swing of hers. And this one was the biggest. "Yes..." I, as her student, answered her call. "I have nothing else to teach you." She said in a stern voice, serious to the core, and looked deep into my eyes that had gone nk from the sudden thing. "...what?" That was the only word that came out of me as I looked back into those fiery, pure blue eyes. She meant what she just said... and I couldn''t ept what she just said, even after knowing a day like this woulde. But... this was very soon!!! "Don''t be surprised, Axion. We both knew this wasing. I taught you everything you need and will need for now. The library has vast knowledge you can gain until you are satisfied. You have everything you will need here, so prepare yourself. For your final exam as my student... as well as my sessor. We will do it around next year, so... start preparing." She sighed deeply after dropping this sudden bomb on me, leaving me utterly speechless. ? Exam? For what? More importantly... what''s with that deep sigh, as if a burden had lifted from her shoulders? A great one at that. She dropped the bomb on me, and I was the one whose teachings suddenly ended without any notice or anything. Yes, she taught me surprisingly too much... to the point I don''t even know how to do many of the stuff. Her verbal and information lessons covered a great number of things that I didn''t think would find anywhere else. She taught me the magic circle forms and all the basics I would need in my path. I consider myself one of the most well-taught kids of my age. But I wanted more from her... this wasn''t enough. "Don''t think too much, Eon. I''m not going anywhere. You can ask me anything you don''t understand or something too difficult after you try it many times. Actually, I was able to teach after that long of a time because it was you, Eon. You were better than I thought and you exceeded my expectations like no other. I thought it would take at least three years at that normal, yful phase, but... you finished in half of the time. As your teacher and grandma, I''m overjoyed to say this. You''re amazing... Eon." She patted my head with the warm smile of my grandma and that made me sigh. "I will do well, grandma..." I hugged her after saying that. She said around next year, so I will be almost twelve by then. That would be her test, and that meant I would go back after some time. She maybe knew I was strong enough, but I stillcked many things. There were many possibilities but, I was just an abnormal human. I could never understand what she was thinking. She hugged me back too, with a sad and relieving touch. She was happy for various reasons but, in the end... this was the end. At the end of my peaceful time of thinking, I had all the time in the world. Now Icked that very thing the most, time. And there were still many books I had to finish in that library. It would be tough from now on, but I knew... it would all work out well. I believed her, and that was all I can do, anyway. Chapter 145 That Night "Well, damn..." I sighed deeply as I set in my room, clueless about where to start for her test. This was a test, something that had suddenly dropped on my back out of the blue. I liked the assessments now that I had solved those papers like letters from my family but, things were different with her test. I didn''t know the topic, type, or anything about these tests she might take. She just said she will test everything I had learned from her like those novels where a grand master takes the ultimate test after vigorous training. Maybe this was something like that and she will test the things she had taught me. But... what will she ask? To create a new magic circle for Solnova with the basics she taught me? Fight her in a battle? Something like a written exam or something like that? Make some medicine from different ingredients? Cook something? There were countless things she could ask, and she had given me an entire year, so I had to think about what Icked and improve in that short time. A year, 369 days. It was a small time if I were to get stronger and gain some outstanding knowledge. And it was still unclear if I will be strong enough to pass through that gate by that. Our time together was short, but I wasn''t ready to part ways with her just yet. These years, these were some small days that I had left with her... if I was going to never see her again, I had to spend more time with her than training senselessly. The training was one thing but, there was aplete library to read. Though it was impossible to read even an entire shelf in that short time, it was possible to read the shelf that I had been reading this whole time. There were around two thousand books left for me to read on that general section shelf so, I had to at least finish that one. Though time was short, I had many things I had to start as soon as I can. Increase the Solnova inside the body now that I had broken the first blockage of my body was first. My storage limit and output proficiency had increased significantly and if I say the previous output was 3% it has increased to 8% average output. I can push it to at least 10% in difficult circumstances, but on average, my storage capacity had almost tripped after just the first blockage cleared. That was some insane growth and I now almost had a (tier-2) Mana core along with my normal (tier-3) one. This was good, but I had no idea how to do things from now on. I can make spells using Solnova easily now that I had a deep understanding of the concept and it was easier to use than Mana itself, but I had to train my Mana too. If I go back, I couldn''t carelessly use Solnova and the spells rted to it. That would be dangerous in many aspects. The spells used with Solnova were more powerful than the normal spells and, in some circumstances, they could rival weaker attack skills. That was something crazy, and it showed just how powerful of energy it was. And, I could use the knowledge from my past life and do things that I wanted to do when I reached (tier-4). Being an easy, more refined, and faster-circting energy, Solnova was superior to Mana in many aspects. But itsck of density, slow recovery, and hard use was also its downside. So, I had to train my both energies if I wanted to pass whatever test she was going to give me. But that wasn''t all either. I had to experiment and create potions to help in my fight, enchant Asta with the best things I can and increase my stats. I knew this test would be anything but easy, so I had to prepare to the best of my abilities. There could be anything in that test. From killing a beast, or an army of beasts to testing my archery skills. Shooting targets far away, shooting tens of targets at once, killing moving targets, and such. Or even a scouting mission. It can be anything and, knowing her sudden mood swings, I knew it won''t be easy at the very least. Laying on my soft bed, I called my darling partner. [ "Oh Celes... what should I start with?" ] I asked her whileying down on my bed and closing my eyes. It was already night, and we had already finished the dinner she made with extra care. Celes was outside, ying with the flower lights of night. Apparently, she had already passed the master''s test, and she was now free to do whatever she wanted. Her test was simple, and I saw that whole thing through her eyes. She just had to demonstrate her powers and things she had learned until now, and that was enough. Though, unlike me, she will continue to teach her until we depart. She had taught my Celes all the basics she would need. And she was happy to y here all by herself. [[ It will be ok, master. Master''s master is ve~ry sweet. She won''t do anything weird when it''s about the test. And I know you will do great~! ]] This cheerful creature... I knew she would get along with the three moms in my family. [ "I hope so too..." ] I was still worried, and there was a reason for my great disturbance. ''Her wish...'' There was only one thing I can think of and I didn''t want to think what I was thinking. So, I moved that thought to the bottom of my mind and opened my eyes. I also had to test my three eyes and see the effects that I hadn''t been able to understand when I tested them earlier. I had many things to do, and there was no time. "Haaa... oh grandma. You and I both know this wasn''t necessary..." I mumbled under my breath and closed my eyes. This day was tiring, and I had many things to take care of for the great future examination. That might actually turn out to be the worst-case scenario if ''it'' was actually true. *** Standing on the top of the tower, I looked up at the moon and stars that looked so closed I wanted to grab them. But they were far away even after getting this close to them. Sometimes, you think you know everything about something or someone, but something newes up that would make you question your thinking. Did I actually know this person? Is he the same one that I thought I knew everything about? Or such thought-provoking questions. I knew everything about Eon, while he was denying it even after knowing what I was. He was naturally thinking logically or at least trying to think illogically. But he knew the best people weren''t the same as they seem at first nce. He had now gained the ability to know about something. Those three different eyes were special and something even I hadn''t seen in a long time. He could see the information about things that are close to impossible to know because of the world''s restrictions. His eyes could reach beyond what he could think. And those same eyes can fear even the superior being when mastered to the core. But all those things were his future strengths. He was my grandson, after all. He would ovee everything as long as he believed and continued forward. [[ Master fall asleep already~. ]] "That so? Good..." I nodded and continued looking at the sky. Celes, his dear partner, was with me, watching the wonders of the night. But, though she was here, her mind was focused on her master''s worries. She was cute, and he was really lucky to have a such magnificentpanion. "Don''t worry, little butterfly. He will do well." I reassured her and patted her small head. She was rare and very special to not like. [[ I know. And I know he knows it too. But... it still worries me for no reason. I don''t know why, but I could feel he was worried about something else. Even though he is happy we will finally go back to our family, he''s afraid of something. Something he really doesn''t want to happen. ]] ''Of course, he is worried. And he won''t tell this innocent one. Though... he''s doing the right thing.'' Looking at her, I smiled warmly. "It will be fine, Celestine. Don''t worry too much." I reassured her and stood up. This was the top of the tower and there was nothing aside from this magic circle. We did not use it for teleportation like others in the tower. It was a special thing. Though, there''s no need for it right now. "Let''s go back, Celes. Children should sleep at this hour." I extended my hand with a sigh that she didn''t understand and just set on it. Shaking my head at this little, young butterfly, I teleported into Eon''s room. A beast mark was the mostfortable ce for familiar to rest and practicing the whole day like that was definitely tiring for her. "Good night, Celes. You too, Eon." I greeted them with a kiss on their forehead and she went to her mark after greeting me in a sleepy voice. He was sleeping peacefully and the gentle, blue moonlight was shining on his face, enhancing his charm. There will be many youngdies who would fall for him at first nce... but she would be the only perfect one for him. The future is always uncertain, but I hope things do happen as I hope them to. No one knew what will happen anyway, so hoping was the only thing a helpless grandma like me could do. Chapter 146 Experiment On the 33rd floor of this tower, the [Alchemyb], I was standing before aplicated piece of equipment made of ss. Many pieces of equipment made of ss were decorating the whole giant room that was on the smaller side of the floors of this great tower. I was making something important right now. It has been almost a year, so I knew the ''exam'' master mentioned will be here any day. I had to do the final preparations. Surprisingly, my proficiency in alchemy had increased considerably. I could now process materials that even high-grade, experienced ones might not be able to perform. But it was only possible because of this masterful equipment that made almost the entire process automatic. Everything in this ce, from the little spoon to take the material to that giant fridge, all the things were artifacts created by her. These things were her creation, and I had never seen most of them in any books I had read during my stay in this ce. I had read many books, more than I had decided in the quiet library with slowed time. I had finished that one shelf as well as many other books that caught my eye. We had everything in this tower, everything. This ce was a miracle created by an unparalleled being and she was an amazing person on top of all these things. She didn''t change from how she was, instead, she never brought up the test in all this time. I knew she wouldn''t mention something like that again, but, well; I focused on the training with all my heart. Reading as many books as I can, gaining more proficiency with my skills and body, and practicing with her in the weekly spars that were still continuing. Learning and creating new magic, experimenting with my Origin skill, and making things that could help me increase my overall strength. Just like right now, there is aplex process going on before me in their ss-like equipment. ? They were like those old chemistry tools, but the unusual patterns on them as well as the glowing magic circles that did all the process were amazing to see. I was making a potion that could increase the Mana pool, but I knew no one other than me, or with a mental fortitude like me, can consume it. The ingredients were potent and if not for the protective mask and whiteb clothes I was wearing, there might be idents. With the Mana rich herbs I chose and the ingredients avable in thisb, I had been testing this thing for thest some weeks. A person''s Mana pool was rted to the body and the Mana nucleus. In general, increasing the pool and purity of Mana was the most difficult thing possible. You can use potions to recover Mana but, increasing the natural amount of Mana one can hold was impossible by current means. Well, even a one percent increase, something one might say was nothing much, was drastic for a Mage. Having more Mana was a good thing, but artificially increasing the Mana pool was an arduous task. No potion can do such a thing. But there were some rare people and divine artifacts that can do such a thing. But, as I said, it would be mostly a one or two percent increase. The thing I was making was half of my own recipe while I gathered the research data from the library books on ancient alchemy and my master. I could ask her any questions I wanted and she would answer me with the best of her hints. I had tried this and failed countless times already these weeks but, this time, I was confident. I knew I could do it this time. Therge test tubes, sks, and other types of equipment with distinct color enchantment and magics were processing the highest Mana ingredients, stabilizers, and helping agents. This chemical process was more difficult than medicine making and I knew what I wanted to do was impossible at the first nce. But, if I was the one to consume this thing, then everything will be alright. This potion will affect the Mana nucleus directly, sending the highest density of Mana in the potion to the core and the core would almost burst with that overflowing energy. Enduring it was one thing, but being able to handle the effects and aftereffects of this thing needed a mind that can remain ''sane'' in the process and something other than Mana that can help the overflowing energy channel through the body. And I also had my energy cirction skill that will help me even though I will try it alone. The failures were heartbreaking but, this was already a sess. I had run the test simtions in the research room, so I was sure that this normal water-like liquid gathered in the small sk at the end of this half room covered an enormous group of artifacts. The many things at the start of this process were chopped, mixed, ground, mixed, purified, and gone through many processes to get there. I was waiting with my eyes observing every process of the artifacts. It was almost finished, and there should be no problem now. Atst, something that can increase my Mana pool by at least 10% was now within my reach. And my expectations were answered when thest drop from the instrument fall in the sk, making my wild heart slow down. "Ok..." Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned off all artifacts and closed the ss container. Thisb was no ce to take something like this, so, walking out on the teleport circle in the hall, I looked at the ring in my hand. This was a special key master gave me a while back and I can use this to go to any floor as well as to the first-floor summoning room from anywhere. Meaning... I cane back here whenever I wanted! That was a joyous moment when I learned that I cane back here. I was thinking of how to bring this up, but she just gave me such a precious artifact causally. I could never express my thanks to her but, I was happy. This ring was a special one. Channeling some Mana, I appeared on the 22nd floor with an endless white area. This was one of those scary-looking pure white, endless rooms of movies but, this one was different. I can do things like this here and I would at least be safe because of the protection magic and such this room was mad for. I won''t die at the very least, so I can do weird stuff freely here. Taking out the mask andb coat and storing it away in my storage space, I sat down on the ground. My clothes were also artifacts, which was quite weird but, they were protective gear so it was fine. Opening the ss container, I first called Celes, who was with the master in the fruit garden. That ce was also marvelous, as well as all the ces that produced food in this tower. There was a floor for almost everything, from vegetables, fruits, and herbs, to themon garden with that divine artifact. And they were harvesting some fruits simr to strawberries. I can see them through her vision and they sure were having a st. [[ Oh, master~! How is your experiment going~? ]] She asked, noticing I was looking at their fun. She was as close to master as me and as both of them weredies; they yed in the tower more than me. Well, it was good. [[ Oh? Looks like you finished the potion that can increase the Mana pool. Marvelous~. ]] Masterplimented as she put a fruit which looked exactly like a strawberry but was brown colored in the basket. I had tasted it, and its vor was closer to a peach than a strawberry. Grandma was smiling, but her eyes contained worry. I knew this would be her reaction, and I was right. I knew her well from all the time we had spent together and she was going to say somethingmon now. Chapter 147 Experiment (2) [[ Though youpleted it and it''s a wonderful thing, be careful when consuming it. The highly potent herbs can cause excruciating pain and you might feel as if needles are being pocked in every internal organ. It''s your decision, so I won''t stop you. I know you will be alright but, drink the red potion after youplete the process. ]] Exactly what I thought. And the answer to thismon worry was also decided already. [ "I will be alright, so don''t worry." ] I reassured her and came back to the endless white room. Looking at the transparent, water-like liquid in the sk, I gulped a mouthful of saliva and took a deep breath. "Huuu... here goes nothing." Closing my eyes, I gulped down the whole tasteless potion with the smell of alcohol. The liquid was smooth, and it slid down my throat just like water, but then¡­ not even a second had passed and the effect started. "Kahk!" With a loud, agonizing groan, I bit down on my lips. Blue vines started appearing all over my body, starting from the ce my Mana core was. The pain intensified with each passing minute and the vines now covered my whole body. Even my eyes were red from the surging pain. This was tough, but nothingpared to her training. I would survive this pain more than those merciless beatings. "Ahhhhhh." The pain was intense and as she said; it was like countless needles pocking my insides. I could bare it because of the high mental fortitude but, it was getting harder with each passing second. The blue vines were getting darker and the pain around my Mana nucleus was the most intense. It was like all the Mana was piercing the core, making the walls wider and thicker. During the process I broke through to (tier-1), there was something simr like this, but it was natural pain. But, this forceful process was dangerous, so I knew no weak could endure this kind of pain. It was also because I was guiding all the Mana with Solnova that the process was going that smoothly but, things were changing with each minute. My control over Solnova was far better than Mana, so the process was bearable but, it was getting difficult. But, at the same time, I knew I was closer to what I needed. The Mana was stabilizing in my core, making the walls of the Mana nucleus wider and the excess Mana was gathering around the core, reinforcing the walls. The process was slowing down, and hot sweat covered my body. I was drenched, and I didn''t know how long had passed. Maybe a lot less than what I felt, but... I had achieved the needed results. "Yes..." I smiled and took out the red potion the master made and gulped it down with sweaty hands. This was a special healing potion that can heal any injuries in an instant. p Be it internal, fatal, external, or psychological. This was an [Elixir], and strangely, I had many bottles of these things. She just gave me boxes full of them one day, saying they were just rotting in theb. She made them out of boredom, and there were now tons of them in my white crack. They were a [Elixir] which was the highest grade healing potion before [Holy water], and I knew this was far more valuable than the extremely rare [Advance-potions]. I had achieved my goal and now I was confident of killing many yellow-ranked beasts at once. I could feel it. My Mana pool has increased by almost nine percent. This was miraculous and if this potion gets into the market, even wars could start for just a single vial. s, even though many like my grandfather can use it, just making one of these was difficult, even for me. Yes, I had the most resources here, but it wasn''t unlimited. The things that I used were almost at the level of [Angel rose], something thought to be extinct. I will make some another time, definitely not now. Though I can''t consume it again for a long time because of the limitations, I knew waiting a few years was worth it if we were talking about the Mana pool. I was now ready for her test and I believed I would be ok with anything possible thrown at me. Well, I at least knew she will not ask something totally impossible. And if there was a chance, I will have to find it and clear it. Today was tiring but good enough. "Haaa..." I sighed andid back on the pure white floor. ''Status window.'' ===Status=== Name: Axion Kromet Age: 11 Strength: 118 Dexterity: 116 Stamina: 120 Magic Power: 153 Intelligence: 134 Luck: 77 Charm: 78 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Quickstep, Appraisal, Shadow Dive, Mana Vision, Shadow curtain, Energy burst, Stark Triangle, Mana Shield.] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Intermediate Mastery -Three Eyes (Stage-2) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) ============ My Mana was almost at the level of higher level (tier-4) mages, but I was still just a (tier-3). That was quite a big number if I had to say because, after a hundred, it was too difficult to raise the stat by even one. Aside from intelligence which was based on the knowledge and wisdom of the individual, and luck and charm which were given by the world, all stats were based on the physical body. My soul was strong enough that I can stay in that form for a while but, it also helped me understand the magic and magical things better. That was the specialty of being in astral form, and I was fortunate to have mastered it this much. My body contained Mana, Aura, and Solnova, so my overall M.P. was naturally that high. I had finally achieved Aura after a while of hearing the test, and my Aura ... was magnificent. I loved just how it looked, felt, and burned. It was pure power and so I was happy to have such powers. My family was also doing far better than before and things were going calmly. My two rivals were getting stronger, and now they were stronger than me in their own fields. Ca was a stronger knight than me without a doubt and Alf was a genius mage far better than most, but it will still be difficult against me. Well, those two were fun and every letter and talk we had was filled with exciting things. I even taught Alf some things... or more like writing in the letter, so everyone learned it, but they definitely helped them. I had resources and I could share with them some of the safe knowledge I had, if not all. Not that I doubted they would tell someone how to create the high-end explosive or deadly poisons. Some things were safe with me, no need to tell others until necessary. The knowledge I had just after reading some thousand books was probably more than enough for now. So, I was ready for her test. In fact, I was looking forward to the day. But, one thing was still concerning. And that concern could only be resolved after seeing it through. I didn''t want to think too deep about it so, I always just avoided it, not that she didn''t know. "Well..." Standing up from the ground, I checked the time on my special pocket watch. This thing was also special. I still couldn''t believe there was a room filled with different artifacts and I can just have anything I wanted from there. Didn''t that mean I was the richest in the empire too? Not that money matters to me that much but, it was still something. And I had yet to see the 51st floor, [The Treasury]. "Haaa..." just how many times have I sighed today? Shaking my head and confirming I was alright, I went to the kitchen. It was already night so the master should have prepared the dinner. Her cooking was truly unparalleled and every time I ate something new, it would surprise me beyond belief. My grandma... was truly marvelous. Chapter 148 The Day It Happened Sitting in the kitchen on a peaceful morning, I was drinking a good cup of morning coffee. The room was quiet as always and this serene atmosphere was heart-calming. This was a good morning. It has been a month since I made that potion and increased my Mana pool and things were just like always¡­ normal. It was really amazing to see just how much a difference of nine presents could have on a person, but it was a lot. I can cast two more (tier-3) spells with just that much increase, which was a big difference. In normal circumstances, I couldn''t even cast ten or so (tier-3) spells, but now, I could do it if I tried hard. I was confident that I can kill a (Green) ranked monster if I tried my hardest with ''just'' my strength, but things might get difficult if it is a berserk creature. Not that I will have to fight something like that for a while now. And I knew I would win anyhow. The month has passed quietly, and I had just practiced, read books, trained my energy arts, and did somest fine-tuning to Asta. That arrow, sphere,nce, or whatever I call him, was an amazing being. It was more powerful than the highest rank [Level-12] artifact, but not at the level of a divine artifact. I use the term [Pseudo Divine Artifact] to describe it and my master had made her a long time ago. That weapon was my partner as well as my nk te. I can make any number of enchantments on it and it will ept all of them. Just like programming a machine, I can program many things and it will work perfectly on it. I didn''t know just how could such a wonderful weapon be just rotting in the weaponry of this tower, but it wasn''t like this was the only thing rotting there. Yes, this was one of the most special things, but there were countless weapons on the 40th floor. It was literary weaponry filled with almost all kinds of weapons, ranging from normal wooden weapons made of original woods to weapons like this one and some low-end divine artifacts too. That ce was a treasure trove for those who loved weapons, and I knew if Ca was here, she would take every single sword with her. Well, she was a sword fanatic from what grandpa said in the letters, so I had a sword prepared in mind for her when I return. Ca had grown strong a lot, and she had the talent to wield every weapon as long as it was a sword. Every single one, be it a short sword as short as a knife, to giant broad swords that can smash a mountain. She would wield such swords as if they were nothing... from what they said in letters. She was the troublemaker of the house, and my darling Anna had to calm everyone after her mess. They were doing good, so I wasn''t worried and I had worked hard all this time, so I wanted to take this morning off and just sit here and do nothing. Doing nothing is the best thing if you can and it would be tough to change my mind on this topic. This coffee was a great one, and I knew what I was drinking this time. ''Three Eyes.'' ============ [Cotilliok Frantio] ->A masterfully brewed coffee grew up in a calm environment. ->You have done grinding and brewing of beans like an expert, making the vors pop up with a single touch on the tongue. ->The harsh desert camel milk used in the coffee has harmonized the vor, perfectly enhancing the feel and aroma. ->The calming effect, as well as the energy restoration effect gained after consuming it, wouldst for three hours. ->In the general perspective, one could say that this one cup of coffee is more helpful for the day than normal morning beverages. ->You have a great taste for things and your mastery in making such beverages is quite good. ============ "What do you mean, quite good? I''m awesome~!" I shouted at the expected type of reply. This skill of mine would tell too much if I knew some things already and then judge things like a third-person opinion. It was interesting, and I liked just how good it was. I have tried this skill on almost anything I had. From books, food, artifacts, floor, chair, the spoon to this tower, and grass outside. Some were surprisingly more detailed while some normal things that I already knew were normale out with a cold reply like ''why waste time?'' and a very long chunk of info. This skill was quite moody sometimes, though I liked the evaluations it gave. Well... Things were looking good, and the coffee was also doing the work, calming my whole body. With my eyes closed and some low music ying, the morning breeze on the high floor and the fresh light, as well as this sweet smell of coffee. Just sitting here with my eyes closed and enjoying this was a soul-soothing feeling, and I wanted to rx like this for the whole day. Such a beautiful thought... wish it could havee true. "Eon~!" "Phhhhhh! What the hell?!" It was master, and she had crawled up behind me. I didn''t feel her at all and with my eyes closed; I didn''t even see her. The coffee in my mouth was sprayed on the table, and my calm heart had sted with surprise. This bastard of a heart should have signaled me when someone was this close but, no? The hack...? "Huhuhu... looks like I startled my dear student." She chuckled with a radiant smile as I looked back. She wasughing in her normal, cheery voice but, there was something very weird with what she called me just now. "W-what did you say, grandma? Student? Does that mean...?" I was almost certain that the time hade because she had never called me a student in normal situations like this in the entire past year. I was fairly certain what she was up to and from the smile on her face; it was pretty clear I was actually right. "Huhu... yes, that''s right. Today is your test, my dear student Axion." She was strangely energetic today, and the sudden decision to take the test had to be on this beautiful day. Why today of all days?! Was she making fun of me having some peaceful time?! "Does it have to be today...?" I asked, knowing she wasn''t going to change the decision, and it was answered with just a silent smile. "Nuuu..." I didn''t want to leave this peaceful ce. My peaceful morning, this cool ce, and calm music. Why the hell did she have to decide it on the day I was finally having a nothing-doing day?! I wanted to cry like a little baby whose ice cream has been stolen but, this wasn''t the time to dwell on such pitiful things. After finishing the coffee, I took a deep breath and looked at her cheerful face. She was especially happy today. Was it just because of the test, or was there something more than that? I... could only know after whatever this test she was giving me was. Sighing deeply, I looked deep inside those fiery, pure blue eyes. "Let''s go, grandma. I think I''m ready." p I was more than ready to take whatever was going to be thrown at me. I will clear this, even if I had to push myself to the very limits. ''Here ends my lovely, peaceful morning... hope I survive this ''deadly'' exam.'' I said my prayers to the sun and nature, and we walked out of this peaceful ce. Chapter 149 The Day It Happened (2) Standing in the vast grass fields, a pretty boy and an alluringdy were looking at each other. Just looking... The boy had wide eyes, asking what the hell was going on or what he was supposed to do. Thedy was just looking at this boy with a warm smile, enjoying everything without saying anything. Some distance away, sitting on a red flower, a crystal-winged butterfly was watching this unfold with no particr emotion. She could feel her master''s feelings, so she knew there was nothing special about this situation, just the master''s master being herself. He was looking at her, deep within those pure blue eyes, with a fire burning inside them. But aside from this meaningless staringpetition, nothing was going on in these endless grass fields. In the quiet, sweet morning, the grass dancing with the cool winds, clouds moving at their own pace, this duo was wasting time. The boy was just staring at her asking no questions while thedy was having fun with this waste of time. But¡­ The boy wasn''t happy, far from it. He was angry that his morning, his precious nothing-doing day was turned into an exam day, and even after giving up on his dreams of having a chill, he was met with this silent, staringpetition. He thought she would say something soon. Something, now, something in a bit... something at the very least. He was patiently waiting for her to say what the test was... or was this the test? She couldn''t possibly be messing around with such seriousness but, looking at her behavior right now, it was doubtful that she was just enjoying his agony of the moment. It has been almost an hour since they were doing such a thing, but the boy had had enough. Looking at her with a blink, he asked, "Master? What are you doing?" This was weird after doing practically nothing but staring at him with a gentle smile and a calm face? It was as if she was looking at him for thest time, to her heart''s content or something. But, after his question, she had to stop herself and she took three steps back, signaling him to get ready with a suddenly serious face. This confused the boy beyond belief, as well as annoyed him greatly. First, she ruined his morning, then she just smiled at him without saying anything, and then this sudden seriousness. He didn''t know what to do, but he had faced her sudden mood swings many times, so this one was easy to ovee. Taking a deep breath, he also took some steps back and looked at her for what was toe. With the same fire in her eyes, she looked at him with a gentle gaze for thest time and then sighed with closed eyes. Serious again, she finally spoke after that long. "Axion, my dear student. You already have excellent knowledge and foundation, so this test will be just a simple task. All you have to do is kill one energy beast, and that is all. Use everything, or at least the most efficient way to kill it. I don''t care how you do it, you just have to show me what you want." Her voice was stern, and she was serious, but... Her way of saying ''one energy beast'' sent chills down his spine with pure horror. She said one... meaning this was something enough to test his overall skills. His heart started raising with fear and excitement at finally facing something stronger for the first time after his training. His first fight was with a powerful foe and just the thought of it was making him smile in excitement. And there was a smirk on his master''s face while looking at his excited look. He noticed this smirk and felt something odd about this situation. But before he can say anything, his master spoke up with an excited voice. "Ok, then. Let''s start right away. We don''t have much time so, do your best. Ah~! You have already met this one, so you will have fun with him~." ''What...the hell?'' was clearly written all over the boy''s face as he heard those words. It was fun for her, but she didn''t waste any more time and snapped her fingers just after her words faded away in the surroundings. -Snap. A translucent red barrier covered them, and she was transported out of it. Left alone in the enormous barrier alone, the boy looked back when he sensed the fluctuations of energy. A magic circle appeared in the air and a giant figure fall from it. A giant, ck figure froze the boy on its spot. He had seen this creature, and it was the start of this boy''s nightmarish experience of this forest. With a size of six meters, while standing on his four legs, with bloodshot eyes full of rage, the fire that burned everything in one meter as soon as it stood up, and the bad feeling that overwhelmed him calmed down for now. A creature that started his nightmares. A being that made him go through the first ever hell of this life. The bastard that was the reason he had many terrible memories highlighted in his vast mind. A huge pig that made him a mess on the first day he got into this forest. Just looking at him made his blood boil, and the boy smirked at the brightest he had ever been. "Thanks, grandma~!" he shouted while looking back at her and she gave him a thumbs up. Now... this was no test. p The bright smirk on the boy''s face showed just how much he loved this difficult situation he was put in. The opponent wasn''t something he could easily defeat. This was a berserk (Green) ranked creature of high fire and earth attribute. Though it might be unclear if this was the same one that attacked him, this berserk beyond helping creature was enough to get past that trauma and test his limits. So, he was happy. He wanted to enjoy this moment looking over this creature, which was surely going to die. "Moooooo!!!" But, as the nature of any berserk creature went, the [Giant Fire Boar] roared in anger as soon as it spotted the boy. He knew just how strong this six-meter-tall creature in a full maddened state was. So he didn''t take any time and his body melted in the shadows of the small grass. And as the boy predicted, the pig didn''t even take five seconds to close the distance of some kilometers. It was his first time seeing it firsthand, but the fire covering this creature''s muscr legs was angry red. Dark red, unlike his master''s hair. Just the mere presence of this creature was overwhelming, and the boundless bloodlust choked him even in the shadows. But the happiness on his face was still the same. This fight was going to be long and the sheer excitement was filling the boy''s entire being. Skill duration was naturally short, so there was little time for him to prepare. Things would be difficult and he knew, so he didn''t hold back and transferred every necessary thing from his white crack to his storage bracelet. The skill''s time ended, and he had finished his preparations in that time. As soon as he came out of the shadows, the boar sensed him and the earth shook under them. The boy had already anticipated this one, so there was no worry on his face and ck darkness covered the ce the boy was standing. -Tremble! Tremble! Tremble! The ground was torn on that spot and the whole ce the darkness covered, along with a half-meter radius circle. The ground fell, earth spikes rose and pierced every inch of that ce, and a pir of fire followed after that. A crimson fire that looked... ugly and impure. Inparison to her magic, or even hiscking skills and magic, this ugly but strong fire was enough to scorch the green ground. This could have been the end for anyone without any experience in a proper fight but, things were different for this boy. The ck screen was still there, the ground was scorched, and the boy was standing far away from that ce, holding a golden long arrow. The arrow looked precious and strong, and it was clear that this was no normal weapon. That pleased smirk was still there as he was using a special invisibility spell designed for creatures adapted at hearing and smell than eyes. He was having fun, but it had just begun. "Asta, brake [Law-1]," he said and the arrow in his hand started ying on its own. It floated in the air beside him, waiting for the next orders from its master. "Let''s see what was the creature that showed me my first hellish experience in this hell," he said with a bright smile, and...his eyes turned blue. Chapter 150 The Day It Happened (3) ''Three Eyes'' ============ [Giant Fire Boar] Strength: 131 Dexterity: 121 Stamina: 112 Magic Power: 115 Intelligence: 102 [Skills: Strong Mana Body, Fire strides, Earth shatter, Earth Spikes, Fire pir, Berserk overload, High smell, Sharp hearing, Fire spheres, Free Mana breathing.] -The creature has gone beyond the saving in its berserk state. -The high intelligence it gained by sacrificing its sanity is terrifying. -If I were you, I would never go up against this monster, not when it''s like this. -Take my advice, oh weak one, forfeit. That would be best. ============ ''What?'' I eximed in utter confusion as I looked at that blood-red status window of this creature. First thosements about this creature, then those exaggerated numbers, andstly, that intelligence. Not even Gaar, a creature who can talk or hispanions, had that kind of intelligence. Not only that, this boar had the most skills I had seen in an energy beast. First, this was no ordinary monster. Second, I had to kill it. And then this skill of mine... ''Forfeit the match? Weak one? You bet.'' I knew this creature was at least stronger than me, in almost most ways. It was superior, but it had a fatal flow I couldn''t look away from. It was mad, a berserk monster. Even if it was superior with high stats, it wasn''t at the level of impossible. ''Well, every creature would be weak when you fight a catastrophically strong being like her.'' I was confident of defeating this one, just that I will have to make some sacrifices. [ "Asta, Celes, let''s start." ] [[ Yes~! ]] she answered with a radiant voice and came out of her mark. <-Yyyyyyyy.> Even this weapon carrying a special [Ego] was excited about this ''tough'' fight. Well, Asta was special in many ways. And it was my partner. Taking out a cool-looking white bow, which was apparently a (Level-9) artifact I got in the position. Of course, it was just a random bow, like many I had in the white crack. I didn''t have the main bow or a favorite one, not for now at least. Nothing worked as well with me as this arrow. Of those countless weapons in weaponry, not a single one resonated as well with me as Asta. Well, everything was better than most, so I didn''t worry at all. Master already said there was a perfect one dying to be one with me... and ignoring that weird phrasing, it meant there was a weapon perfectlypatible with me somewhere in this tower. Well, there was only the 51st floor, the grandest and most special ce, [Treasury], that could have something like that. I could go anywhere in this tower and I knew a lot about this ce after living here for almost 3 years but, I wasn''t allowed on some floors. Not for the time being. Maybe I can go after this fight? Well, I have to win this utter one-sided thing first. [ "Let''s go." ] I announced and the invisibility spell broke. With bloodshot eyes, the boar looked at me, exactly in my eyes, and roared once again. "Mooooooo!!" Even its voice was weird. "Shadow Dive." I vanished and at the same time, a ball of scorching hot fire shot at that ce. -Boooom! The explosion was loud, but things became strangely quiet after this attack. The confused boar looked around, failing to notice me under its enormous body. Asta was invisible all this time, but as soon as I reached the weak spot of this boar,ing into sight, it vibrated in an ear-piercing noise. -Skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii... This boar had a weak vision, but its hearing power was far superior to many beasts. But its supreme sense was its giant boar nose. It could detect anything if it had even a little distinct scent than the surroundings but, I had my beloved Celes this time. We couldn''t do it before, but now we canpletely erase the presence, sound, smell, or even the light waves passing by us. We canpletely be one with our surroundings, just that it took high mental power to maintain that form. Even with the golden fruit, we could only maintain this for around three minutes consecutively. Thankfully, this one didn''t have arge cooldown and we can use it every other minute after the use. But it was enough to deal a fatal blow to this creature. (High water pir) Against a fire and earth affinity creature, water would naturally be more powerful. And this was a Solnova spell, so there was no way this creature with no affinity with the spell could sense it. I was almost under this ''male'' boar, and the spell was more powerful than a (tier-3) spell. Casting it was easy as I had the beautiful blue pearl the hippo gifted, so it took far less concentration, even for a high-level spell like this. If only it had hit this bastard... "Moooooooo!" I don''t know how, but it sensed the attack... or at least a threat to its life and ran forward without hesitation. Truly, this bastard had even more battle sense than other creatures. It would be a perfect creature in a war, and maybe some ces do use it as a war mount. Well, my perfect sneak attack was ruined and the pir of water that shot out of the ground gave away my location. "Mooo!" and this basted didn''t waste even a second to use the earth''s spikes. ''One on the left, two on right, and... one under me? That bastard!'' I shouted mentally and took out four enchanted metallic arrows. The invisibility from Celes was still there but I can''t use shadow dive right now. There was the only way to avoid getting hurt this early in the fight. Channeling some mana in my ck boots, or the [Versatile Boots], an artifact with high jump enchantment, I tapped the ground. -Xiuuuuuuu. As if an arrow, they shot me floating in the sky and I covered the four arrows in my hands with pure white energy different from Mana. The spikes collided with each other and failed to deal any damage to me. The boar was some distance away, but, while in the air, the invisibility ended. [[ Master! Sorry! ]] She apologized hurriedly and became visible around me. But thankfully, I was still airborne, floating in the same ce I was stopped. (Lesser fly) An easier version of the flying spell that can at least stop one in the air. Though it took a lot of Mana, it wasn''t as high as the amount I can recover from the surroundings naturally. The fruit was a great help but, there was a problem. "Moooooooooo!!" the ck pig roared and 1,2,3,... 15 magic circles appeared around him. ''Well, damn.'' I gasped in shock as his skill channeling finished instantly. -Swish! Swish! swish!... ''Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck.'' Its speed was closer to my arrows, and even before I could think properly, the earth spikes were released. "Shit..." Cussing the pig for thest time, I channeled arge amount of Solnova into these four different colored arrows and shot them without much thinking. -Boooooom! Fifteen earth spikes of almost one-meter length and half-meter width were halfway to me. ''As if I would let them pass.'' Everything was happening at a speed no normal human could perceive. The red, green, blue, and brown arrows were faster than the sound and the boom after the release had broken the sound barrier. A spark appeared between the four of them as they made a rectangr shape and then suddenly joined together. [ "Asta, now!" ] The four arrows became one and were reced by a bright, yellow light. "Moooo!?" the berserk pig shouted as if shocked by this sudden appearance of the spell, but it should have focused on the surroundings. -Swiiiiiiish! Khack!! "Moooooooooooo!!!" The boar screamed with an agonizing scream as an arrow covered with low-pressure water collided with it. It pierced its back legs, and it fall to the ground, screaming in excruciating pain. At the same time, the yellow light covered almost as much area as these earth spikes. The light was blinding, but the way it covered all those spicks was the indication of its absurd strength. "Good, now let''s go-" The pig had hit the ground and arge smoke had covered my front vision. The way the pig fell was natural, and I thought that was it but¡­ -Swiiiish! ''That was close...'' I gasped after dodging two spikes shot just after this pig was injured. Thanks to my third eye, I saw the whole fight from a different angle, and I was able to dodge this one. The pig bastard had faked thatst one... and it stood up unharmed after noticing I was alive. ''Intelligent basted...'' I cussed and vanished once again. Faking an injury? Not even that slime was intelligent enough to do something like that. This fight... would be more difficult than I thought. Thatst attack with Asta was close to a (tier-4) spell, and that pig was standing there as if the pain was nothing to it. The blood was gushing out of the wound, but the pig had a smirk as he looked at... me? ''Crap... it just predicted this one, right?'' I wondered and while ying down as fast as I can, I flipped my body to the left and dodged the sudden fire attack. This time, it was an earth spike covered in those dirty crimson mes. ''Skill¡­bination?'' barely avoiding the hit and managed tond on the ground safely. That was unbelievable... A (Green) ranked creature being able tobine the skill with this much proficiency? Holy mother of crocodiles¡­ This creature was a rare one, blessed with the gift of knowledge and wisdom. Despite its low natural racial intelligence, this abnormal one had far better battle sense than any regr beast. This would be difficult, and a battle of attrition was the only way to stop that pig. ''Didn''t think I will use this one this soon. But, well, going all out against just a berserk (Green) ranked creature was meaningless from the start.'' What my skill said was true, and there was no way I could beat that thing on my own. But, after preparing for a year, there was no way I haven''t thought of this possibility. I was overgeared. The (Level-9) bow, a pseudo-divine artifact with countless enchantments, tons of scripted spells, and an absurd amount of elixir that can heal health, stamina, and Mana. Many mass-produced arrows like the one from before and my marvelous Celes. Even with my physical and body limitations, I believed even a lesser (Indigo) ranked creature would be possible for me. And I was only counting Mana and Solnova as energy sources. There was no need to use the high power Aura for this disgraceful creature. ''Three eyes... you have a lot to learn, darling.'' I smirked and my body melted in shadows. "Moooooooo!" Pig roared and the surrounding earth shattered asrge spikes of earth, bigger than before, started appearing one by one. The mana into the surrounding surged towards it, making a visible fog of dense Mana. He was breathing in this dense cloud of Mana, gathering more energy than before. At that rate, I was sure its Mana regeneration will be faster than the skill usage. Well, damn¡­ again. I could see my master this whole time and she had set up a tea table under an enormous umbre and was watching my fight with a pleased smirk. I knew she was just doing this for her fun... at least that was the only conclusion I can think of after seeing that pleased smirk. Deciphering the thoughts of this higher being I respected as my master and loved as my grandma was one of my bucket list tasks. ¡­that might nevere true. As I was looking at her from some distance with my third eye, she smiled and waved at me. ''How does she even see this third eye!?'' Sighing deeply, I tightened the grip on my bow and took out a quiver full of the special arrows like before. This tower was amazing and one of the floors here had a divine artifact that can make the programmed items. That thing was a cheat, and having abundant resources was the biggest blessing this tower offered. I actually had more weapons in my white crack that could support a small-scale war. Who knows what I will even use them for, but they were there. Well, if I really had to- "Mooooooooo!" the pig was ready even before I expected it. [ "Asta, execute (Act-1)" ] I said and mynce-like arrow returned to my hands. Quickly channeling my fast, pure white Solnova, I filled it with new energy. A runic pattern of blue covered its body, and the red gem at its end blinked like heartbeats. Asta was special because it can use any energy as its power source and one of the most broken aspects of it was its ability to gather environmental energy and amplify the spells to a whole new level. [[ Oh? Finishing it this quickly? ]] Master asked for the first time in this long battle and even that¡­ with a sad voice? Now I was even more certain she didn''t just want to have some fun. She already knew the oue, so she didn''t even try to give the hint. I... could have entertained her far more than this, but¡­ something was off. Something wasn''t right with her behavior today. Even though I knew her mood swings, that hour-long stare, this happy expression, that strong pig... I had an uneasy feeling and after hearing that expected answer just now, my mind became more chaotic. [ "Let''s talkter, grandma. I should focus on this pig." ] I answered and just for a second, an almost unnoticeable moment, her eyes changed from a warm look to a mournful look. [[ Master... ]] [ "Let''s finish this, Celes. Asta, I''m counting on you, sweety." ] After shoving the end of Asta into the ground and confirming the Gathering of Solnova from the surroundings, I vanished, and so did Asta. We were connected with a special bond so I can feel the uneasiness she had but didn''t show it openly. Celes was also feeling something weird about the situation but focused her attention on the enemy before our eyes. "Let''s end this..." I mumbled in a stern voice as the new spheres of earth and fire shot at the ce we were standing. Chapter 151 Foreseen Nightmare... In some vast grass fields, a translucent red barrier was covering a giant area. Painted in its boiling red blood, a giant creature was panting with his lunges out. Its blood-ridden body, those countless colorful glowing arrows that made him a dark thing covered with celebration lights. The grass melted at the touch of that blood. The given up blood-red eyes that didn''t want anything else. The creature that had once defied logic and held high intelligence was now at its death''s door. There was no energy left in him while the scars on his body released blood as if deliberately pumping it out. The boar was almost dead and the one that made this creature like this was standing some distance away in a cloak of darkness. The fight hadsted for some hours, and this was an almostte day for this ce. The sun was on their heads shining brightly while the boy drank a red potion, recovering the deep scar on his chest. There were burn marks on his visible body too, so this fight wasn''t ''one-sided''. But, even though the boy was in such a sorry state, there was a pleased smile on his face as he looked at this boar. The creature that gave him his first nightmare as soon as he entered this forest was now on the verge of death. And, most of all, the boy wasn''t hurt at all, not after drinking the red elixir. It healed him, and the stamina and Mana he lost in the fight were also recovering at a high speed. The golden ne around his sweaty, red neck was shining with a dull golden light, increasing the effect of the elixir taken. Ance with its end buried in the ground was gathering special energy from the surroundings and theplex magic circle under it was now almost pure white. The fight was good but, it would end here. "Ok Asta," the boy said with a smile and the surrounding darkness moved to the ce with thence. Putting the unique bow in his storage bracelet, he took out thence after the magic circle disappeared. "M-mooo...ooo." The creature cried in agony, not even able to use the Mana channels blocked by the glowing arrows. "Rest in eternal peace," he prayed, and, taking a step back, he took a throwing stance. "." He mumbled under his breath, tightened the grip on the weapon, covered thence in a yellow-white light, and... threw it with all of his strength. -Boooooooom! The force behind this throw was abnormally strong. The yellow-white light glowed brighter, covering the spear and making it a beam of light. Two energies circled it, increasing the force of the attack. The intelligent pig knew this was it. This was his death. So, he didn''t even try to resist and just epted his death with open arms and closed eyes. For a creature gone past the limits of saving, this quick death was just mercy. The boy had a somewhat sad expression, but he shook it off and prayed with his hands joined as arge light collided with his head, obliterating his skill and showering flesh in the surrounding area. Blood rained down from the sky, away from the ce he stood. "Huuu... master, I''m done," he said and looked back at thedy sipping a cup of tea. She looked carefree about what was happening there, even though it was her test. Looking back at him, she ''just'' nodded and said in his mind, [[ Tank out the core and store that body. It''s somewhat ok. ]] He wasn''t even surprised by the fact that she knew there was a core, but... a (Green) ranked energy core!? His eyes lit up by this news and he reached the dead body of the creature after confirming its death. The rain of blood had stopped, and the goldennce was still stuck at the obliterated brain of the creature. Without hesitation, he took out thence-like arrow from the mess of organ and flesh with a calm heart. Walking ahead, he shed the arrow with a shining blue tip and cut his abdomen. Storing the arrow in a unique white crack, he shoved his hand into the body again. This would have been even more gruesome for even a strong being but, this boy did this without hesitation. all the squishy feeling of touching the inside of a creature with fiery hot blood was nothing to this boy. Taking out his hand, which held arge round red crystal, he looked at it with a surprised look. His eyes turned blue for a moment and the information of the red sphere with golden sand dancing inside popped up before him. ============ -Energy core of a superior (Green) ranked creature. -The energy inside the core is [450 Units] of themon grading system. -In terms of the ancient measuring system, this one holds 1.5 times the normal (Green) ranked core''s energy. -You are a lucky bastard to get your hands on something precious like this. -The Mana body this corees from should have a great Mana affinity, so make sure you get everything you can. ============ Looking at the information and those ''unique'' words, an angry smile reced the boy''s radiant smile, and he clutched the core tightly. "You little... Me? Bastard?" He was frustrated by this information from his skill, but it was better than the [Appraisal] he had. The appraisal skill was still useful in ces where he wanted a summary of long information, so he used both of them ording to situations. Sighing at his unique situation, he stored the core and the body of the creature in his white crack. At the same time, the translucent red barrier vanished. Using [Quicksteps], the boy quickly reached the tea table his master set up. She looked at him and signaled for him to sit down. Sitting down without hesitation, he picked up the warm teacup and took a sip. Looking over his unharmed self, she sighed with relief and said, "Using 30% of your overall strength to kill a pig... looks like you were just ying and wasting your precious energy. You could have ended him in one runic spell if you wanted." she said while taking a sip of her third cup of tea. This was his first time seeing her drink her favorite, precious tea she had cultivated for a long time. She rarely drank this specific one, saving it for a joyous asion. She was acting weird today, and he didn''t like this. His heart, the same one that only raised in the face of true emotions, had an uneasy feeling. But what she said was true. "Yes, I could have. But, those damn things put too much burden on me and I don''t think I can use more than two at the same time. I might die, my beloved master, death. Why take enormous risks when I can do it the easiest way possible?" he gave her a fake smile and she caught that. He couldn''t understand this weird feeling. As if he knew something was going to end, or something like that. And she noticed it too. She knew he was sharp and his ability to ''feel'' things was on the spot. "Eon, how about I give you your reward for clearing this test?" She asked as she finished her cup of tea. These sudden words made him chock on thisvish tea, but he could manage not to throw this epitome of beverage and finished it in one gulp. That tea was something scarce, even in this tower, as she grew it with special techniques and things. Looking at her with a sudden horrified eye, he shouted," What''s going on, master?! Why are you like this today?! I... feel weird." Her sudden words of reward weren''t just weird, they were something she had never said during the time they were together. after his own words, the weird feeling he had grew even more. Something was very wrong here. He stood up from his chair and took a step back with fear-filled eyes. She looked at him... with a sad look, and his heart started running wild. "Eon... I''m sorry," she apologized out of nowhere as she looked at the boy, and the table, chairs, and umbre burned without a trace. Standing up, she looked at his sudden fear-filled face. She hadn''t said anything and still, there were tears lingering at the ends of his eyes. She smiled at him apologetically and took a deep breath. This was sudden, out of blue, and nothing like her, but she was looking at him with that face for the first time. The boy''s mind became chaotic with a surge of weird thoughts and his eyes widened as the clear tear lingering around his eye... slid down his cheek. He was looking at her, unknown of what she was going to do. " I never thought this day woulde this early, dear. But... I should give you your partner weapon I mentioned, right?" she smiled at him warmly while saying that. He did not understand what the hell was going on right now but, one thing was clear. Something bad was happening. She sighed once again, and... a pure blue fire burned in her eyes. [[< Restraints Of Ifrit >]] The weird words that came out of her mouth made the boy shiver. He had never heard a power-filled voice like that, nor the words that can change the whole surroundings. An icy cold sweat slid down his back, and he was frozen in his ce. He wanted to move, speak, and ask her what she was doing but, even before any words coulde out of his mouth... weird blue chains wrapped around his body. Chapter 152 A Birds Words A child appeared in a lonely life of an old bird. A child most special she had seen in her long, tiring lives. Someone special in many ways. Abnormal, but amazing. An anomaly that should have never urred in this nigh-perfect nature. A child of another world. Someone who had suffered from the loneliness and cruelty of that world. A child that survived with any means in that world and... this one, too. He had no one but then; he found a family after he miraculously came into this world. He was a reincarnation, but, even among those errors, this one had a great impact on the entire nature just from being present. A linear timeline changed, making him a singrity that existed in many. But this wasn''t a bad thing. Nature loved him and his life, though full of thorns, had light and feathers that would heal the bleeding feet. His origin was simr to this old bird, same as me, one of the most powerful ones of this nature. This boy, that survived death, fought with all his heart and reached the ce she made to live after her long, boring lives. The bird was old, far more than the boy could think, and it wasn''t such a good thing. Her dwelling, this magnificent tower, was just a structure she made out of her millennia-long boredom. She had just lived in the wait for her time toe, but then, this boy appeared in her life and changed everything. He was the perfect candidate she could find, and the perfect student she could ever ask for. This old bird was strong and had unparalleled wisdom and knowledge that stood at the pinnacle of the world. All this, and there was no one she could share this with... until he came. With a mind simr to her own, a mind that could remember everything, and wisdom that was far more than what a child should have. The most special thing about this boy was his desire to live. His unparalleled desire to live in this world, go back to the family he had, and gain knowledge of this peculiar world of magic. Even if she ventured into the world, she may not find someone as perfect as this one. A student, a sessor... and a grandson. She had lived her life in solitude, not that she cared about being with people. This old bird had seen the world for more than some gods now, making her a being iparable to any. There weren''t many being like her in this nature. But again... this didn''t mean she liked this. She, the bird¡­ I had everything. All experience one would want, all riches, all knowledge one would need in this world. And even though new things were discovered and found every day, there was no need for me to know them. The world was now peaceful in most parts. It was quieter than those old days when a great war could break out at any moment. Wars between same species, different races, the war with demonic race or even war with gods and others like me. Those were times of chaos, forgotten from this world. The times right now, the other races, the higher beings, and all were better than those old days. I remembered everything just like him and everything, every moment, all those days were still clear in my mind. At that time, I was just a powerless being that lived among other races and survived with anything it took. At one time, I stood at the top of this world, looking down at every mortal creature. Never have I before thought a life that just... passed for me after making this ce, would one day have such happiness. He called me grandma. And he was the first being to call me that. My natural enchanting beauty didn''t work on him because he had a simr origin as me, but still, calling me grandma from the bottom of his heart was quite something. The time I asked him to be my sessor was nothing but my selfishness. My one-sided desire to have the thing I had longed for in these long, tiring lives. He did not know what it meant to be my sessor, and even at this moment when he was cruelly tided by those strong chains, he was clueless about what was happening. p His chaotic thoughts were pitiful, just like him. He was still thinking about why would his grandma would do such a thing and¡­ I hated myself for doing such a cruel thing to the one I loved. I had taught him with all my heart. Frombat, and cooking, to other things like gardening. He also learned with every fiber of his being and now had knowledge like no other. Almost three years had passed since the day we met, and now he was strong enough to go back to his parents. And I wanted him to go back as soon as possible, too. I could have done this after living with my beloved grandson for some more. But¡­ My love for him was undeniable, and there was no greater happiness in this lonely tower than to just y with him. The countless time Iughed with him, the cute faces he would make, to the fun we had together. There was no greater happiness for us than just being with each other but, he offered more. He learned all my basic teachings in this short time and became proficient in them. He taught me things he knew I already knew, but we delighted in these small things. He loved me as much as I did, maybe even more. And... he did not have any selfish reason like me for that. He was a wonderful child and I should have lived with him for some more, but... the time hase. For us to part ways and for me to fulfill myst wish. But... before that. Looking at my dear Eon, who was chained with those blue chains that would help him with what was going to happen in that ce, I smiled warmly, like I usually did. "You can go to the [Treasury] whenever you want after today, but this first time will be different. So, take care~!" I waved at him and he calmed down a bit after looking at this smile. He understood me the most, as a master and as a grandma. He knew I would never do something to harm him. The chains that looked tightly covering his whole body weren''t hurting him at all, but he was going to get hurt. His very soul would scream when he enters that ce, but if he ovees that unbearable agony, he will have something few beings standing on the top possessed. I knew he would be alive at the very least and so were the chains that would help his soul in the [Integration] process. He will understand what I was doing right then and he will confirm the answer he always denied. It will be some of thest gifts I would give him myself, but... today would mark the day his life would change. Someone will go away from his life and... someone wille that he will have to protect with his entire being. They will get along well, but I don''t know anything that would happen to her. All I could hope would be the two will be with each other, protecting each other with the same love I had for them. He might meet her sooner than expected, but these two will have a bond of family. If it was him, my student, my grandchild... and my sessor, then they will hopefully be fine. Well, I didn''t know the exact future, so there was no need to think too deeply about this... a part of me will always be with him, so he should do just fine. Only if he could act less foolishly, then he would be more perfect than now. But, well, I helplessly loved that side of him, too. "Good luck Eon. I know you can do it~." I waved at him and a golden magic circle appeared under him. He had calmed down enough to hesitantly nod his head with a confident look that still did not know what was going to happen to him. The golden light covered him, and his body started disintegrating into light particles. "Good luck, Eon. I know you can do it~! Believe in yourself ~." I said myst words and... he smiled at this selfish grandma before vanishing. 51st floor was an amazing ce and ces that came close to it were numbered on fingers. Well, he was going to suffer severely for some time now, so I could just pray hees out alive from that one. "Dear Eon..." it was unbelievable but, a being like me, someone that has seen countless wars, bloodshed, deaths, and all the negative shit of the world with stoic eyes, had tears lingering at the ends of those same eyes. To make a divine being such as me emotional... only he could do this. Chapter 153 Her...Wish Twilight. A time when the sun goes down on the horizon and the sun''s rays scattered in the atmosphere creates a heartwarming scene. Half golden and half dark with night, this horizon looked more fabulous in the vast grass fields. A setting sun at the far horizon, the rising sad blue moon, the faraway stars, this dancing grass, the calm breeze... and an unfathomable beauty standing in the middle of this field. She was stunning, as if a celestial being. Her figure was undeniably perfect, and there was a fire in her pure blue eyes. ... real fire. A fire that burned fiercely as a magic circle appeared before her. Theplex, golden magic circle shined with bright light and some peculiar chains wrapped around a boy''s body came out of it. His body... or maybe calling him a corpse would have been more appropriate if not for the eyes crying, the tears of blood, and his calm heartbeat. The chains that were perfectly fine some time ago before he vanished were now in the state of almost breaking down and they vanished when the fire in her eyes went out. She walked up to the alive boy and his entire body was covered in a warm green fire. Blood that was flowing out of every hole in his body stopped, and he started regaining new vitality. His wide open, blood-covered eyes cleaned up, and he regained his consciousness after a while. "Don''t move just now. Drink a red potion and then slowly get up," she said and helped him drink the elixir. He almost healed after that and a pure white me suddenly coved his body. "Hmmm?" He gasped as he felt the warm touch on his body, but nothing hurt despite the fire being real. This fire was soul-soothing, something he really needed at this moment after his soul was almost disintegrated in nature. He had seen something impossible and the things that happened in that short amount of time in that unreal ce confirmed his doubts. After the fire vanished and the boy stood up, he looked deep into her eyes. "Why do you have those things... grandma?" He asked without questioning her previous behavior. She had just chained him without saying anything but, from the way he returned from that ce... it was clear something unbelievable had happened to him. Smiling at him with a knowing smile, she answered, "Because I''m old?" He was calm now... on the outside only, though. His heart was now beating even more wildly than before, but his mind was now clear. Looking straight into her pure blue eyes, he asked, "H-how many?" His voice was filled with hesitation, and he did not want to confirm the known. "48. Some being moments long while theter onessting three millennia," she answered, understanding her grandchild had already known what she was. And her words... those expected words¡­ broke him. "H-how..." as if a dam had broken inside him, a strong dam that kept his important emotions safe, tears flowed out of his eyes. Tears as clear as precious gold, reflecting the light of the setting sun. She hugged him and her warm embrace, as always, calmed him quickly. Caressing his head with her gentle hands, she said, "Eon. Though we can''t forget the past, dwelling on it is meaningless. I never wanted a long life where I see others die before me. I never wanted all the lives I lived with or without others. You knew for a long time but you denied it, right? You wanted me to confirm it for you. All this time, you just wanted to hear that from me, so I shall say it. Yes, my beloved grandson. I am a [Divine Beast]. More precisely... a Phoenix." His eyes widened at those words even more and for someone who has lived with this person finally knowing she actually was the creature, he thought, being shocked would be a small word. She just said a [Divine Beast]. Creatures that stood at the apex of beings in this world. Possessing not only unparalleled strength and wisdom but also special authority only they had in this nature. They considered just witnessing the phantom forms of these creatures a lifelong blessing while the person he had stayed with,ughed with, and learned with all this time... was one of those beings. Not the phantom, not a part, but the actual creature itself. And not only that. She... was a Phoenix. A creature of afterlife and rebirth. Symbols of life and masters of truth. Being that showed the souls the paths on the road to the afterlife, or so the books said. In this world, Phoenix was admired as greatly as Dragons, maybe more in some cases. A creature that had the ability to cure any illness, injury, or abnormality with their mes. Creatures born directly from nature a long ago that maintained their existence as the only beings that can born back from their ashes after their death... or so was written in books. They believed these immortal birds to never die and live eternally as the same creature. Books had many debatable things about these creatures but, we actually knew nothing about them. All we knew was from the books, as no one had seen these creatures and there was no way to just believe thisdy just because she said it. But he believed her nheless. He believed her words because he had seen things that would be impossible to possess if you weren''t at least something she imed. And she was his grandma. There was nothing to hide now that things were going to end with the worst scenario he had thought. "W-won''t you juste back even if you... go?" his voice was cracking, and he was still hugging her tightly, not letting her go. He had felt it many times, but tried to deny it. The desire to have something she deeply desired. She wanted something, and there was only one that could grant her that wish. He never understood what it meant to be her sessor, but he knew she wanted him to fulfill that one wish. She had always said just how old she was or how long she had lived. The tower she created herself was already more than a thousand years old. He just recently began to doubt things even more when he achieved his three eyes. His skill told him too much, and sometimes the age of random things was one of them. She was old, and there weren''t many mortal creatures that could live in this ce for that long of a time. And more than that... she lived here, in these vast grass fields and this magical tower all by herself. Being alone is a difficult thing for any race, and if it''s this long, few creatures had the ability to endure this silent solitude. She had said she made this ce to live for the rest of her life. But... how long was this ''rest''? Some years? Decades? Centuries? Can someone live alone in the same ce for millennia? I don''t think others could, but if we were talking about a creature that had lived long and many lives, then it could be possible. And what would a being that had lived for that long, had all the knowledge, wisdom, treasures, and power, and could live like anything it wanted for as long as it wanted, have as theirst wish? Last wish... Last. Meaning something at the end. And that was the easiest question to answer, right? She held his face with her two hands and got close to it. Looking deep within those ruby red eyes with her emotions, sorrow, and happiness-filled clear blue eyes, she asked, "Eon? Won''t you grant myst wish? Myst wish... of a true death?" Chapter 154 Unwanted Ending "Nooo!" I screamed and tightened my grip around her, not letting her go. I knew something was not right. I knew something was going to happen. My heart, that weird feeling, her weird behavior aftering here, her emotional eyes that hated herself for being selfish, everything was wrong! I once had a thought, then the scenarios in my mind shortened, and I searched all the information on the beings that I could in the library before just forgetting the thought. It was already an absurd thought in the first ce. A Phoenix? The same creatures that were thought to have the ability to bring back creatures to life with no condition? Creatures that guided the souls of the dead on the path of the afterlife? A bird of fire that burned so brightly it seemed like a sun? A bird that actually was born from the sun? But now¡­ Everything made sense and there was no need for me to not believe this grandma I had spent thest three years with. She could be a God for all I cared, but death? If she was selfish, I was selfish too. I didn''t want her to go. I won''t let her go, even if she can die. She was my master. I had countless things to learn from her. She was a grandma I wanted to be spoiled by. She was a mentor I wanted to talk with for as much as I wanted. She had to be with me. I can''t even go home without her, right? She has to be with me! "Eon. I''m a true divine beast born from mother nature herself. I''m not human and still... I am your grandma. Though it was just selfish of me to make you my sessor at that time, as we lived, practiced, and studied together, you became an important part of me. But... you already have taken the oath of origin, and there won''t be any good time than now for us to part ways." She stopped for a moment and a silver light surrounded me while I was still hugging her. I felt like I was frozen on the spot at that moment, remembering the oath I took to fulfill herst wish by those pure white mes. "A phoenix in this world is different from the creatures of the books and stories that people know. We do born from nature, but at that time, whatever form we first take differs from the magnificent picture everyone knows. Maybe we are a small creature like a human child, a gigantic creature like that boar from before, or anything like that. We do not have any powers other than the knowledge we possess about this world and ourselves. Until the first awakening, we are nothing but a stronger version of those creatures. And before the second awakening, we can not transform into our true form. Having known about yourself and the powers you will soon possess, all that wouldst is survive until you reach that state. Gain strength by whatever means you can and just... stay alive no matter what. You will never be able to die, even if you do die in that body, anyway. But, you will have to start again from the beginning. It''s not a blessing, gift, or anything good, Eon. It''s more of a curse than anything. And even after that, when you do pass the stage when you get to your true form, you can''t truly die that simply. For the lucky ones, every time they die, they are reborn as a new being. A new phoenix with new memories and a new persona altogether. Thosemon bastards are the main creatures mortals know about. Then there are us, the special cases who are reborn as the same being, with the same memories with unique power. Trapped in an endless cycle of life and death where the only exit is giving birth to a new child that would start from zero as you had. A newborn will have to start powerless, alone in this vast world with the only knowledge that their mother birthed them and what they are. Though they will have the same mind and immense talent that could learn anything and will possess all the knowledge their mother had, they couldn''t use anything. No power, no knowledge, no nothing. ,m Aside from what their weak body allows, they couldn''t use anything even while knowing everything. [Restrictions of the world] as well as the truth that they already knew couldn''t be shared with anyone. In those circumstances, how can a mother leave their child to suffer the same fate they had for this long time? I have met a few of my kind in these 21,369 years of human life, Eon. most were normal, while some were like me. Some of them just prepared ces like this for their children, which wasn''t as effective. While some took inspiration from other divine beasts and chose special candidates that can be strong enough to protect their children. That was an excellent thing, and I didn''t disagree with their decisions. But... some didn''t actually like this method either. Like me, every being had different thoughts and life, so the decisions would be different for every being. Haaa... it''s not time for you to know those bad things yet, Eon." She took a brief pause and sighed. I was still hugging her, or at least that''s what I wanted to believe, but her grip around me tightened, making my heart calm downpletely. I understood her better from what she said and her reasons were valid, too. But there was one thing mistaken about them. "Though you did it with something selfish like this in mind, I know your emotions were true, grandma. I know how you feel but, I''m selfish too. How can you just... say you want to go and ask me to take care of your child? I want to say many things. Cry, scream, stop you will all my being. But... this oath is absolute, isn''t it?" I asked while feeling nothing aside from my head. I knew this Origin oath would make me finish the thing I agreed on, even if I wanted to or not. I had already been in the swamp, and there was no way I can do anything against this thing. Not when even I wanted her to have her long-wished salvation. But... why? "Eon, my pretty boy. I adore you like no other and even I do not know the reason for that. You are... special. Like I have always said. I would have loved to be with you more but, I know, this is the right time. I''m hoping you will take care of the one that wille after me as your little sister. Maybe she won''t have a ce like Anna in your heart but... make a special ce that only belongs to her. My death will mean the ''me'' will no longer exist, but a part of my soul will be with you both. She will be my child, the same age as you, so she will know all about you, too. And for you, my beloved grandchild I love so dearly..." she stopped and looked at me lovingly. Our faces were already too close, and... she kissed me on the forehead. "Don''t worry. A part of me will always be with you as a part of yourself. So, it will also mean my daughter and you will be connected in a way." She smirked at me in this chaotic moment, and a colorful light appeared on my forehead, where she kissed me. I felt weird and once again; I felt the same thing I felt when breaking through to and (Stage-2) of my Origin skill. And suddenly, many status windows with strange numbers, words, information in differentnguages, arrays, and things I couldn''t even see passed on in them appeared before us. And with that, a strange voice that felt like the one she spoke before the blue chains appeared entered my mind, but I couldn''t understand it either. [[< Oh? You chose a special one such as yourself, little one. Hmmm. I approve of this one, so if fate allows it, let us have the chance to have a sweet talk, cutie~. >]] I didn''t understand those words, but I felt them deep inside my soul. The owner of this female voice that seemed... unknown by all other means, was happy. Happy and excited, that looked forward to seeing things. I didn''t understand this one so, I just stored it on a side of my mind and looked at all these countless colorful status windows that were different from other and looked as if processing some kind of data. My origin, which I can only feel when focusing deeply, was now clear as if I was getting closer to something. And though this was being forced, it wasn''t harming me in any way. I couldn''t see it but, I could feel the heat of a bird-like mark being engraved on the ce she kissed. This was a strange feeling, and I knew something unbelievable was happening to me. What was this part of her soul she talked about? I could only think of one answer to that question. But she was walking away from me right now as the windows started to slowly close down and my head started to hurt a little. Her eyes were locked on me, still warm and filled with sadness and love. "So, Eon. Ready to see my true form? I know you will like that one. It''s colorful~! Ah! I sealed Celes in her mark. She shoulde out now." She smiled at me and Celes flew out from her mark restlessly. [[ Master!? What just happened?! H-how did I suddenly...?! ]] She was shocked, and she didn''t know what was happening. Looks like grandma sealed her to protect from my integration with Ronna. She sure was the one made for me and I knew when I will be able to use it, Asta and she will like each other. Well, this dear butterfly of mine was quite scared by this one. "Celes, don''t worry. Let me show you what happened while you were gone so, don''t be afraid and cool down. You might kill some weak ones with that kind of energy." I couldn''t feel what energy she was talking about but, from the way she said it, it was definitely something special that I wasn''t aware of. Master blinked with a purple glow in her eyes and Celes calmed down within moments and... started crying. [[ N-nooooo... how can you suddenly leave us like this?! We haven''t even yed much~. H-how could youuuuu~?! ]] Celes being Celes, started crying and flew to her. She knew this would also happen as soon as Celes was out so she just sighed. Masterforted her and said something I can''t hear. Maybe that was something important but, she managed to calm her down and Celes returned after receiving a kiss from her. [[ I-I will protect master, don''t worry! I-I''m strong now! A-and I will be stronger and protect master so you can... leave him to me. I will... definitely... I-I won''t cry so, don''t... don''t worry about us~. ]] I didn''t know what they talked but, but this was just like Celes. I could feel her mixed emotions and I knew she could feel mine, too. My tears had stopped, and I was now calm but, this was still too much to bear. I could never forget this twilight, this setting sun, that blue moon that was crying at this scenario, and the stars that shared the moon''s feelings. I wanted to cry, break down in tears and stop her from... going far away but, I didn''t at the same time. My contradicting emotions were fucked up so thinking too deeply of this thing was... "Ok, you two~. This might be a little bright so, be prepared!" She shouted, and we prepared ourselves. My mom and dad had seen a unicorn in their old days, but... it wasn''t its true self. I know it''s impossible for a mere mortal like me to even be near a true body of a divine being and if she had lived for that long; it meant she could be older than some gods. She was definitely more than a god or a simple divine being and I was sure she knew that, too. So, I wasn''t worried about my safety at all. But... Seeing a godly being''s true form? And one that is and will forever be my grandma, no less. This may be a plot hole or something like that but, if I was some actual main character, I would know this definitely was one. This day... I didn''t want it. I-I did not want to part ways with the person that took care of a bad person like me. Even though I was an adult inside, I was still a child, a newborn, in front of someone like her. And even though I might meet different beings older than me but younger in human age, I knew I can be myself and act however I wanted with only her. I would never find anyone like her... and I won''t need to. I could feel something new inside me, something warm and something that reminded me of her. My life was going to change from this moment so... I wanted to at least smile at this end and say my goodbyes and thanks for everything, every happiness, and every other thing she bestowed upon this grandson of hers. So, I smiled. I smiled and nodded at her. And she understood all this¡­ and smiled in defeat. I could move my body now that I had epted this... fatal flow of fate. Her alluring body I have been admiring these past years disintegrated in her white mes, and these new mes few up, shining like a sun in this perfect night sky. Chapter 155 Good Bye... A sun was shining in the night sky of the endless grass ins. A sun bright enough to lighten the whole vast area, covering it in its yellow-orange sun-like light. But, that weren''t the only colors of this sun. This one had all the colors one could think of. Red, purple, green, white, yellow, pink, cyan, maroon, crimson, and anything one could imagine was burning on this sun... or sun-like bird. A bird that was big, so big this magnificent tower was a standing ce for it. A bird but a being that gave off the same presence as the mid-day sun. Though the mes on its feathers were different colors, the main white, orange, and golden mes that stood out among them were special in themselves. The bird had a look simr to a predator bird and a mix of a peacock and eagle. Her wing span was wide like a bird that flew higher than clouds. The neck was long, but the head was more like a bird that would hunt, perfectly aerodynamic. Her tail was special and the tail feathers resembled Asta... or the other way around. Just like a peacock''s feather, these tail feathers had different colors and a core center with different colored mes covering them. This whole body was ethereal, and I could feel there was no actual mass to this body. Those feathers were... marvelous, something that could mesmerize anyone with just a look. Something I was shocked to see and something that I couldn''t take my eyes away from, even with my strong mental fortitude. Her beak was sharp and the talons at the end that shined with white and were covered in blue mes were sharpest. I could feel the divinity from her true form, a true form of a divine being. A broken plot element and someone I cherished with all my being. This was fabulous and I could see that this form perfectly matched the phoenix mark that she made on my forehead some moments ago. ''A real divine beast...'' Looking at the past years I spend with her, I was suddenly wondering how lucky I was to be part of this broken-as-hell plotline. I was identally dropped here when I met her. She cured me, became my grandma, and we lived happily for a long time. I have cherished every single moment I spend with her and I wanted to be with her for a bit more, let others from my family meet her, take her to my home... my other home. This tower was my first home... the home that she allowed me to live in. I have cherished every moment of us dearly, but now, after today, I will have to cherish it even more. She won''t be with me and there would be a new person I will have to take care of. I would love that but, the fact that she won''t be with me like this won''t leave me ever. And she knew it, too. Her eyes, her true eyes, the eyes of a divine being were the same as her human form, but different at the same time. Those eyes with the same blue color and burning fire in them were as clear as the sky, as deep as oceans, while as bright as the sun itself. The light from her, the insurmountable power that her true form possessed, was so powerful as any other being, be it a strong (Purple) ranked creature or any person considered as strongest, couldn''t even stand up against. Unless you are a god or a being that came close to a god, you were nothing but dust in front of this being. And she was my teacher. Was there more to the things she had taught me than I thought? There have to be many things hidden in the things she had taught me at that unthinkable speed and things that I had yet to go through. Maybe I can learn many things just by having her words revised, but if things just go the way they were now, I was sure I would get strong in no time at all. Well, those things aside... she was going to leave now. Leave, go away, and be one with nature. As she said, the divine beast''s phoenix was different from most other beasts. And just from the fact that I was alive while standing before the sun, I knew I can''t even begin to fathom her powers. What else can I think aside from some nonsense at this glorious yet... grave moment? [[< Eon~. This is how a phoenix actually looks. I look fabulous, right~? You have fallen for this form atst, right Eon~? >]] She was joking at this moment too, but this time; I understood what she said in those weird voices and smiled. I wished to know what this strange kind of voice was, but- [[ *Her... true voice.* ]] I suddenly heard a shaking, blurry voice in my mind. "Hm? Did you say something Celes?" I asked before answering her, and this sudden action made her chuckle even more. I can divert my attention in the presence of a divine beast such as her and be thisfortable. Even mother nature wouldugh at this. [[< Hehehe. Looks like she will wake up soon. Yes, this is called Eon. The true voice of those that have ascended the realm of mortals. I am someone who has broken through the bonds of the world a time long ago, but then there was nothing for me to do. You wille to know about things you could have never imagined, Eon. I know you will be fine, and hearing a true voice for long, even with the protection I''m giving, is harmful to current you. I have already given you everything I could as your grandma and everything in this ce, this tower, this grass, thisnd. Everything is now yours and yours alone. You can do anything you want with it, but I know you won''t being back anytime soon. She will know how to use everything here so you won''t have to worry about the [Gate]. so, as your grandma, I shall wish you my...st goodbye. Thank you for being such a wonderful child to a terrible grandma like me. >]] Her voice was filled with emotions and I knew even in her true form as a divine creature, she was emotional. A divine beast being emotional in front of me? That was something I could have never ever dreamed of witnessing, but... I wasn''t any good at this moment either. "N-no, grandma. You were the best. A terrible person like me couldn''t even hope to have s-someone like you. T-thanks for saving me, taking care of me, and... having me." She said everything here was now mine, but what would all these matters when I didn''t even have the most important thing that made this magical ce home? She won''t be here now... and there won''t be anything for me to do here. If she was gone, would her daughter and wait... her daughter? So what would she be to me? Mother? Aunty? sister? I... was genuinely confused that I forgot to even think about the words she had said just now that emphasized the word ''as my grandma''. She had said her goodbye as grandma, so, was there something left from her as my teacher? The tears in my eyes stopped at the new train of these questions and she looked at me with her world-seeing eyes and smiled a beaky smile. [[< Yes, dummy. There is still onest thing I should give you as the one I trust more than anything in this nature. And remember that she will be your ''little sister''. No mother, no aunty, or something weird. So, as the one who inherited all my knowledge, I shall bestow you with the stigma I possess. My, a high Phoenix''s sigma. You will know its use when the timees and you know what receiving a stigma would mean, right~? Hehehe. >]] "S-stigma?!" I wanted to shout what nonsense she was talking about, but then I remembered she was ... a divine beast. I was before a true form of a divine beast and I was talking to her like she was still my grandma, and I can''t help that one. She WAS my grandma. But¡­ [[Stigma.]] Something that prominent figures that receive the high blessing of a god or someone of equal strength earned from them after countless struggles. ...or if you catch their eyes and they fall for you. Stigma was more precious than a blessing as, in most cases, a stigma would bind the receiver with the gods they worshipped and in temples, a pope or saintess would be the best example of them. But there were only a handful of stigma bearers in this world, and from all the knowledge I possessed, there wasn''t a single being that had the stigma of a Phoenix. Stigma granted the receiver some of the [Core authorities] of this world that can perform miracles. And the gods who would fear the misuse of their power would never choose someone who hasn''t proved themselves through harsh trials. And she just said she would give me that very thing. I would never deny such a wonderful gift but, it will also mean she was done here as my teacher and would go away too. I wanted to stop her, or maybe just deny this stigma if I can but this damn oath... I could still feel the restraint deep within me. She was a divine being and getting this stigma with unknown powers would be... sweet, right? Well, I will be stronger and will be able to protect my family better with it. And if I had to worship someone, it would be her and her alone, the one who saved me and took care of me this well. Those gods in the heavens can go screw themselves. I looked at her and nodded hesitantly as tears started flowing again. [[< Oh, boy~? Will you say your goodbyes with a cry like this, Eon? I will be sad too if you do this~. >]] She knew what to say or... threaten me to calm down. "Who''s crying~? Ah~ Celes, it''s ok. You are strong, I know you will protect me~." Wiping my tears and caressing her tiny self, who was actually crying for some time now, I looked back at her. "I am d it was you, grandma. Thank you... for everything, master." Bowing down to my master, grandma, and the one that saved me from sure death, I heard herstugh inside my head. [[< Huhuhu. I am also d it is you, Eon. I know you will be happy. This grandma is happy to have a grandchild like you, and this teacher is overjoyed her teachings will live on with you. I love you Eon, so make sure to live happily. I will be with you in every step of your life so, do not worry about anything. Oh, can you please give her a name and tell her I''m sorry to not be with her? I think she will most likely know about the things like what happened to me, who I was, and such. But, please just tell her it will be ok. I... believe she will be a smart one and understand, but if she is a little crybaby, please be a nice big brother to her, ok? Huuu... ok then. Thank you... Eon. >]] With thatst goodbye, her body shined like the bright sun of mid-day, and... a feather fell down from the sky. This was her head feather that slowlynded on my left hand that I didn''t know how suddenly straightened up before me. This peculiar feather, the same as her other feathers, burned in countless different colors. The feather was exactly my arm''s length after slowly shrinking with the time it fall from the sky. After falling on my arm, it just vanished after appearing as a mark, like a feather it was. Maybe this was the stigma, but... it didn''t stand true to the name of such a magnificent and powerful thing. Well, it could be something overpowered, so there was no point in trying to figure it out. She said I will know, so I just put these wholest few words to a side and saw the ''death of a divine being'' who had a thankful smile. This scene before my eyes and this grandma of mine¡­ ''Yes... I love that form. And you too... grandma.'' I just thought, and I knew she would know, so she smiled, and... the golden-red light covered the entire surrounding. Chapter 156 A New Beginning I have read about supernovas. Death of a star and the great explosion it causes. Therge explosions that shake space-time and create waves. Will the same happen if the sun in this world or any star in this magical world dies? A star, part of the great nature, is an entity made from different unique energies and not the same hydrogen-helium transformation and atomic fusion. If the sun, the great entity of nature, even differs from what it has been, will things change even a little bit? I could not exin this world of magic and fantasy with the limited knowledge humans of my past world had. This ce was not the world I used to know and even if some basic principles were also applied here, the concept was the same, and even though the oue was expected by those things, there were still differences. I was reborn in this world after getting hit by a normal supersonic truck from my past world. Maybe the driver died and the AI couldn''t understand the instructions so, I also died there. It was unfortunate but, that life was already meaningless. Who liked seeing blood every day? I certainly didn''t. But the job was the job, and I was already deep into that swamp. I liked the fact that I died there, and even more that I was reincarnated in a world where I had a family. A big one at that. Unlikest time, when everyone left me at a very young age, this time was different. Nothing should have happened to them when we were going back to our house in the capital but, a bigshot demon decided to raid the entire country and y some games with his new minions. I didn''t know what that was, but I at least had killed the one that tried to harm my dear family. If I meet a weak bastard like that now, just Asta would deal with it alone. But the one behind them was a different deal altogether. If I canpare the demon slime with a demon baron in their prime, the one behind the multiple attacks in the notation was nothing less than a (Count). Demons in this world were strong, very strong, that I couldn''t believe it even after gaining such knowledge about them. But even more unreal powerful demons'' natural enemies were divine beasts. Having unimaginable powers that even high demons would tremble in the mere presence of them. And one such being was my savior, grandma, and teacher. The same being that could kill those demons with a flick of her finger had taught me the basics of weapon, magic, as well as energy. She had taught me cooking, gardening, reading, and writing, too. And it was easy to learn all those unreal runes with her teachings. She was the best I could ever wish for and now, after being with me and teaching me everything I might need ording to her, she wanted me to grant her long-cherished wish. She was a phoenix. And she had lived for a very long time. I knew she would have met people of other races, lived with them, and other stuff. But I was still precious to her. I knew just like I found her at that time, she also found me. Maybe, when she first saw me, there was only the idea of fulfilling her wish of death after teaching me some stuff but, many things changed with the time we spent together. She knew if someone can handle the one after her, it would be someonepatible to have the knowledge that she had. Well, all things considered, she was leaving. A divine beast''s death and even in that, someone like her who has lived far longer than others and surpassed even the gods... how would it look like? Yes, I was angry, sad, and broken on the inside but... this soft, gentle, and warm light that covered my body wasn''t letting those emotions get ahead of the pure bliss of this moment. Tears sure were flowing out of my eyes but, these were tears of joy... for some strange reason. I was happy to witness this spectacle, and my heart was beating calmly even when her soul was disintegrating in nature. ''They say we are born from earth and will one day return to this very earth without anything in our hands.'' I knew... and now that I was seeing this; I was even more confident. Something like true immortality doesn''t exist in this world. And that living that long life would be a curse. Yes, there were beings who were called immortal. Skills that had immorality in their name and beings that lived for a long time. But... even gods can die if the scenario is right. I knew she would leave me someday, but not today in the name of testing me and making me kill a dumb pig. She just wanted to get me over that nightmare-like night I had spent on the first day by this and even after understanding that, I could never forgive her for leaving me like this. I could not ept that but, she also knew that. And that selfish grandma of mine epted it as her punishment. She had smiled at me warmly in herst moments, and that smile was enough to melt me. Well... with a broken heart bathing in the warmth of her death, tears that carried joy, an unwanted smile of eptance, and this helpless feeling of happiness. Was I the weird one or this scene before my eyes were so magnificent that even nature would sing the hymns of harmony? Well, I wanted to hate myself for enjoying this but, I couldn''t even do that. This was more than that divine skill mom and dad had seen. Master''s divine skill was her pure white mes and I would never forget them. A long time had passed and my eyes had never wavered from the sky that was supposed to be a night sky. Her ethereal true body had be an actual sun that spread warmth and joy and healed the soul. The countless colors were turning into pure white and the life in this closed ce was increasing as time passed. New flowers were growing, the grass was getting gentler, and the outside of the tower where countless, most advanced runes were engraved deep inside them, started surfacing. The top of this tower, a ce Celes said had the best view of the sky, was glowing more than the entire tower. My eyes were starting to hurt from this increasing white light, but not that much. Even so, eyes still glued on the spectacle, I took out a sunss artifact from my white storage crack and wore it nkly. Celes was doing fine as she can use the shared scenes we had and protect herself. This was somewhat like the northern lights, but more colorful than them. And bright. And these disappearing colors were signs that her soul was bing one with her origin, nature. Now, most part of this soul will be gone that contained ''her'' and someone new, someone who just had the knowledge of her and not the memories wille to life from the ashes that fell from the sky after this pure white brightness. I wanted to cry at this moment, not like this happy crying, the one of abrupt bad end and sadness. But damn... even after her death, she was stopping me from crying. Damn this inexperienced, bad author. If I meet him, he will have a punch before the talk. Even my mouth was closed shut in the awe of this marvelous scenery. Icked the words to describe it, but if one can see heaven after death, this was it. This was the end of an old one, and as if the heavens were crying the tears of ash, a show like ash was falling all over vast grass fields. This was my first time seeing the weather differently from clear, sunny days in this ce. The great forest had two seasons. Warm spring or heavy rains. The dark forest had two seasons. Cold, eternal night and autumn. I had never seen snow in this world before, not even when I lived with my parents in that ce. It was also more like here, almost always clear weather. And now, I was seeing a slow snowfall for the first time. A snowfall of ashes. The remains of my grandma and the ashes of a phoenix. A phoenix lives a long life and dies while burning itself. Then, they are reborn from those ashes and grow to be new birds of the afterlife and rebirth. Would we call this a clich¨¦? A reincarnation, a good family, a cute little sister, a tragedy, a forest, life-death situations, a strong and unbeatable enemy, a master and new life, and then... her death. Sounds pretty clich¨¦, but I don''t think others choked on a coffee when their master sneaked in on them. I don''t think any master would teach cooking, gardening, handling chemicals, even reading and writing, and teach everything like teaching a baby. Though there would be many characters as strong or even absurdly strong as her, would they show the true loving smile as her? Would they tease the one they call a child for their fit body? Would they look even close to how she did? I don''t know if there are other books like my own dear life but, there sure is no way they are the same as this one. A clich¨¦ is an overly used plot of a story like some good-evil shit, a rebirth and truck, a master and training, and such. I know these are coincidences in a true way but, my life had been more than just some clich¨¦. I had lived, survived, and now... I was seeing the death of someone dear to me for the first time. I didn''t want this, but I didn''t regret this one. She had no regrets when she made that decision. She was happy, smiling warmly at me in herst moments. And I will have a responsibility to take care of the one after her. [[ *Do...not...worry...* ]] Again, this voice sounded like my grandma, but static, like some AI''s initiation. I just ignored itpletely, not that I could think about it or anything. My mind was nk, and I was thinking with my subconscious mind, something that should have been impossible. But right now, everything happening couldn''t be exined with any kind of logic or anything like that. Right now, at this moment, this space, anything one could do was... feel. Feel this unearthly blissful warmth, this magical ash that fell like snow and vanished when touching the soil. It covered the vast area of this closed, magical ce and just continued like that until the first rays of the true sun shined on the horizon. That was the end of this spectacle and the mes that had burned in a distinct pattern all this time shook like saying theirst goodbyes and intensified severely. A tear, different from those joyous ones from before, filled with sorrow and sadness, finally slid down my warm cheeks, cooling them with the coldness of suffering. The light that was wide and covered the entire sky condensed, became smaller and started taking a humanoid shape. This suddenly became an even more spectacr scene that I didn''t expect would happen. And I never thought I could witness what was happening right before my eyes. Birth of a [Divine Beast]. The sky that had been painted in countless colors, then pure white, was now back to those countless colors. New mes, different from those old and marvelous ones, burned from the white ash-like humanoid figure that exuded a blinding light. The new mes that burned were young, weak and, most importantly, these mes had no experience of their own. They were just sparks inparison to the ones she had, but still, these new mes were... gorgeous in their own way. The new being that had taken a human-like form, this new girl with a still pure white energy body that was shorter than me, was finishing the body creation like she already knew what she was doing. The energy body became physical, and naturally, she wasn''t wearing anything at this moment. Her face resembled grandma, and she also had hair and eyes like a grandma but this onecked the fire she had in them. She looked normalpared to her, but... this normal was also as beautiful as me, or maybe even more. Her face was smaller, and her body was perfect for someone my age. She was a young girl and from what I knew and liked those C... So, she was my little sister. Well, she wasn''t like Anna. No one could be like her. But this one was special. She was a child who knew what she was and everything in this world, but she had no experience. She was a newborn on the inside and I will have to take care of this little one. And now that master was gone... it was time for me to go, too. Her body was slowly falling to the sky, and she was looking around in fear, her eyes in search of someone. And when our eyes met, an innocent smile appeared on her face. ''Cute...'' I smiled at her, and she increased her speed and flew towards me in excitement. "O-ok. S-slow down!" -Dhum! I didn''t see this oneing, and she just collided with me at high speed. She hugged me tightly in happiness and fear. Her strength being no joke. She was already as strong as a (Rank-2) knight, but fortunately, I could handle it. She just buried her face in my shoulder and stayed like that. I could understand her emotions like something connected me to her like Celes. And Celes was hugging my face with a sad expression. Now I had two little ones to take care of and... there were going to be more when I get back there. For the first time in this life... I had lost someone irreceable. I don''t think I will meet someone like her, and no one will have a ce in my being like her. A one-of-a-kind has now be one with nature and something had now ended in the true meaning. An end. My first end. But this was not the end of my journey. I hugged her back, and we stayed like that as the new morning sun graced us with its first rays of light. This was a new morning, a new start and a new end will be waiting for me at the end of this path. But I didn''t worry at all. I had them on my side now. And, as she said before going... she will always be with me. [[ *Yes, I will always be with you.* ]] "Hmmm?" surprised, I looked around at the sound of the exact same voice as grandma in my head. What was that just now? Was she¡­ No... I know she was gone. Then... I didn''t know why I was doing this even before calming her down, but... there was something different about me, too. I could feel that both of them were confused right now but, I couldn''t help this feeling. Even my tears had stopped at the end of my eyes. An end not only brought a new character into my life but, I was now different from just some moments ago. I was now... ''Status Window.'' Chapter 157 [Lucy] And... Zoe. ===Status=== Name: Axion Kromet Age: 11 Strength: 120 Dexterity: 118 Stamina: 122 Magic Power: 159 Intelligence: 145 Luck: 81 Charm: 80 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Quickstep, Appraisal, Shadow Dive, Mana Vision, Shadow curtain, Energy burst, Stark Triangle, Mana Shield.] [Origin Skill: Sun''s Blessing: Upper-Intermediate Mastery -Three Eyes (Stage-2) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White Crack (Stage-1) -Lucy (Stage-0) ] ============ "What?!" I shouted and the sudden shout surprised both of the crying babies. It surprised her more than Celes and tightened her grip around me, almost choking me to death. "Khaum! Khaum! Oh, sorry there. Did I surprise you?" I asked while patting her small, orange head. "Hmmm..." she answered in a timid voice, not letting me go. This little one was more important than the sudden rank increase and new skill with an unknown rank. Looking at her and feeling Celes understood me, I took out some spare clothes and covered her first. "How about we go in, for now, little sister? Oh... I should give you a name, as grandma asked first. Wear this first." I nodded and helped her dress up. Though she was warm, her being with clothes was more appropriate on this cool morning. Not that I cared. Just like grandma, I wasn''t attracted to this little one. Her height was the same as Alf''s, so I can''t call her short. In fact, she was perfect. Ca was the unique one, being as tall as me. She was my little sister from now and I will have to take care of her as best as I can. Well, she was already a smart one, so I knew it will be ok. I had some special artifact clothing that can change their form ording to the one who wore it, so it was easy for her to finish it on her own. I could feel her just like Celes. Maybe this was what grandma meant by being connected with a part of her soul. So... maybe this new skill was from that mark on my forehead. I didn''t doubt someone like her, a high phoenix, can''t increase my Origin skill level and add some special skill in that ce. If it was her, then it was definitely possible. Dressing up in a blue shirt and ckbat pants, she sat down before me and looked at me. "Big brother..." she called me out for the first time in her cute voice and I could feel she knew about me. She was just like her mother, but she was a different person that only knew me in this world. She was a phoenix, so I will have to give her a good name. And I was confident in my naming ability. As a phoenix, she was the symbol of life, the afterlife, and rebirth. A being so special, the whole nature would acknowledge her. A special existence, queen of all birds, master of mes, and most of all, a new life that I will have to protect with all my being. She is now part of my family and part of my life. So a name for such special existence... "Zoe. How about it?" I said and smiled at her. And her eyes widened in happiness as she nodded her head with joy. "Yes~. Zoe! I love this name, big brother~! Thank you~!" She shouted cheerfully, just like Celes and Celes chuckled in my head. [[ Hehehe. Sister Zoe~. I love this name too~. Hello~ sister. My name is Celes. Let''s y together in the future~. ]] Maybe because she was connected with me, Celes canmunicate with her just like me and all three of us can talk with her ability. This was convenient if I have to say, just like her ability to clone herself. We haven''t had many chances to use that ability, but it was best for information gathering and group activities. [[ "Hello, Celes~. You are big brother''s familiar, right? You''re so awesome~! Please, take care of me~. ]] She smiled at her, and Celes danced in the air. [[ Hehe. Sister is awesome too~. I will take care of you so, don''t worry, Zoe~! ]] I smiled at these two childish ones and then lest they both chat among them. Opening my status window again, I looked at this new skill that had the ability to talk. ''Lucy...?'' It was a beautiful name, and as soon as I thought of it, a voice simr to my grandma echoed in my head again. [[ *Lucy. That is indeed my name, master.* ]] I didn''t know how but this skill, the one that my grandma gave me, can talk to me like it was a real person. And that didn''t surprise me at all. After seeing the death and birth of a divine beast some moments ago, I won''t even be surprised in the presence of a god, so this was not shocking anymore. But this sure was surprising. A skill that can talk? And she even understood this situation and waited for her time. A smart skill, almost like an AI. So... was this a personal AI-like skill or something? And her voice was very simr to grandma''s. If she had simr warmth in this voice, it would be a perfect match. But¡­ was that possible for an AI? [ "What are you, Lucy? And, is there a reason grandma gave you to me? What can you do besides talking to me? And, am I the only one who can hear you and not even Celes or Zoe?" ] I asked many questions at once but if this was something like an AI, then I believe it should be ok. And it was ok... [[ *My creator created me with part of her soul. So, my master''s sister is connected to you through me. I''m a self-aware origin skill, and your skill, so only you can hear me. Creator made me so that I can be with you all the time and in simpler terms, I am a skill with a will of my own. I contain all the knowledge my creator bestowed on me, and many more. I am a special skill granted to you by special permission of supreme mother nature but I have many restrictions that can only be lifted when special, unknown conditions are met. At this moment, aside from talking like this, I can answer any one question you have per day. Though the daily count does not stack, you get one extra chance every week that can be stacked and usedter. Though the question you can ask has a few limitations, if the question you have asked cannot be answered, your chance will be used, so choose your words carefully. I am an always active skill so I can talk about things you already know freely. There are some instinctive responses too but, you do not have to worry about that. I belong to you, master, so I am at yourmand for whatever I can help you with.* ]] That was quite detailed, and she was easy to understand, too. Aside from the absurd fact that she was a skill with a will of her own, something I canpare with that old magnificent willow tree, everything was eptable. This questioning ability wasn''t something all new as I had read about this specific kind of high-level skill, unique skill, and Origin skills. But I knew this skill was something unreal from the fact that mother nature herself, the entity that is above everything, permitted me. And¡­ I could never believe that one. That crazy fact was something I did not need to think too hard about so, I sighed at my new secret and probably the strongest weapon in my arsenal. [[ *Please take care of me, master.* ]] [[ "You too, Lucy. Let''s have fun in this weird life of mine." ]] [[ *Of course, master. My creator made me help master~! I''m always happy to help however I can~!!* ]] Now, this was a different one~. Thest cheerful thanks she said were almost like grandma. It was strange, but I also felt this skill, Lucy''s emotions. Truly, my master was a fascinating being to have created someone like her. Nodding, I looked back and walked toward Zoe and Celes, who were having a st all by themselves. "Hay~, why is my little Zoe so happy~? Enlighten this big brother too~." I smiled and walked to them. We will have some breakfast and depart tomorrow after I finish everything here. I also had many things to talk about with her, but for now... seeing her smile like that was making my heart melt. She was a cute one, and anyone who sees that cute face would want to adore her, just like my angel Anna. The ashes had be one with earth, the special warmth she gave off had vanished, but the green grass was the same as ever, dancing with the cool breeze, cheerfully smiling at the world. This was going to be fun, and the sun was rising on the horizon as beautifully as it always does. Chapter 158 Last Dinner At First Home In the kitchen of the tower, after finishing everything, I sat down with Zoe and Celes for dinner. Packing took a while, but I now had everything I needed or would need in the future. There were abundant resources in this endless tower and even with the help of both of them, I could not even take one percent of that with me. But all the things I took with me would be more than enough to get by before I would have toe back here. Well, I will have toe back after five years for the training circle anyway so, I would be ok until then. After that and talking with Lucy and Zoe, there was now nothing else to do. Sitting with them, I was eating some normal noodles with meatballs and deep-fried fish and chips. This was Zoe''s first time eating something and even though she can live without anything, I knew she was a foodie, just like my grandma. ,m Though she had no experience of how to make things as delicious as her so she can''t cook just yet. But, I knew she would be a far better cook that can at least make something edible... unlike a certain someone I loved dearly. Well¡­ Zoe was going to eat for the first time and seeing this was fun in itself. Staring at this round thing with a weird but anticipation-filled expression, she took her first bite. She was cute and that small face of hers eating those meatballs with that fork was¡­ just adorable. Her small mouth and cherry lips were painted red by the sauce as her eyes widened in surprise at the amazing taste. "Biv butter! This ish amashing~!" she shouted with her mouth full of food, and I couldn''t help but smile at this. She was enjoying her dinner while Celes was eating her favorite purple flower''s light. I had taken many flowers and seeds with me so I knew she will be ok there as well. Lucy was amazing and the ability of the question she had was more amazing than I had thought. I asked for how to use the [Gate] on the first floor for today and now; I had detailed knowledge about that one. I did ask Zoe first, but she didn''t have much knowledge of things in this tower. She knew what each floor was, the hidden things I never knew about, and all the knowledge of the divine library, but she didn''t know how to use most of the things properly. In the case of this gate, she knew how much energy, input, and resources we would need but, she did not know how to actually channel all that energy through thoseplicated runes and use it. It was understandable, as operating a machine properly required experience for perfect results and she was just a newborn in this world. How could someone who was overjoyed for their first meal operate a machine needing (1000 Units) of energy just for one exit? Thankfully, Lucy gave me all the knowledge I would need to operate and the more amazing thing was the fact that I coulde here anytime I wanted with the ring grandma gave me. And more than that, I found many of these rings just lying around in the artifact room. I didn''t know why she left them for me, but I knew she knew that I would find them like this. So, now, we were ready to go back tomorrow morning. I decided to go to the main city first and gather some information about the unknown capital. I also needed some money to use the things there and going directly to the capital would be no fun, too. We should see this new world for the first time so, those things were decided already. I will contact mom from there so that would be after we reach there but, I was hoping things go out properly this time. There was nothing to worry about, anyway. I was almost grown up, and I was strong, so nothing like in novels should happen to us. "What''s wrong, big brother?" she asked with a worried expression, and I came back from my train of thoughts. "Oh... I''m just thinking about tomorrow. Don''t worry, I''m ok~." I could feel her worried emotions and she could also feel that I was fine. Smiling at her big blue eyes, I patted her head. She was a different person, but she would have simr powers grandma had. Even though there were restrictions, she can tell me about herself as I was her guardian, so I knew everything she can tell me. And she was relieved to have someone who knew all about her. I could feel how she felt, and that was a special thing between us. She smiled, and that made me smile, too. And as always, Celes wasughing at us while eating her flower light. ''Haaa...'' this sure was a quiet, warm and lovely atmosphere. Grandma and I used to eat just like this, but now, her ce was mine, while mine was Zoe''s. They were two different people, and I knew that, but still, looking at Zoe, I can''t help but remember my marvelous grandma. Zoe knew it too, but she did not mind it at all. She understood the emotions as best as grandma so she just smiled at me every time that happened. Just like right now. "I have never met my mother, big brother. But, I know, she was definitely someone you loved dearly. I know nothing could take her ce and I can''t help it either. You are the only one I know in this world and Celes, and that''s also thanks to my mother. I don''t know if I will be someone you like, but I promise I will stay with you forever. You are my beloved big brother and even if we go out into a world I have never seen, I will follow you with all my heart. So, don''t worry. I know mom would like it too." she smiled warmly and grabbed my free hand. Smiling at her, I also grabbed her hand back. "Finish eating, you cute little birdie," I stroked her cheeks with a smile and resumed eating. She was a good girl, and she knew how to tofort others... or at least me. I had to put this little girl to her first sleep too, so there was no time to think about that useless stuff. Grandma was gone now, and thinking too much about that would not be good for me either. I had to ept that truth and move on with our memories. She would like that too... "Haaa... how about some ice cream, Zoe?" I asked with a fresh expression and she smiled joyously. "Yes~. I would love to have that sweet, cool thing~!" That answer was quite unique but, thankfully, I understood her deep urge to eat the thing her mom and I loved endlessly. Grandma''s favorite vor was chocte mint. I wonder what vor she will like. ''Hmmm... we already have a great appetite. Let''s make all the vors we don''t have in the cooling room.'' I thought and smiled at that thought. The first time I made ice cream here, grandma was so happy with just the normal one that she made me make every vor I can. We loved ice cream, and we would try making our ''special'' original vors here. And so, she ended up with the chocte mint, which was a special one in itself. The ingredients in that one can''t even be processed by me, so I had no way of making a new batch of that vor for the time being. I knew the processes, thankfully, so I can make it after I be strong enough, but god... the vors she made were iparable to anything. And on happy nights like these, those delicacies were just the thing everyone would like. But this talk was pointless at this moment. This was our first dinner and tomorrow morning would be the day... we depart from here. It has been a long time since I had been in this ce and even longer that I have been away from them. Almost six years... How would they react when they actually see me? It would be fun, and I was really excited to finally meet everyone. I will have to tell them what happened first, and after that, we can have some crying. I knew they all will like Zoe and if I was the one to be her guardian, we definitely will live happily together. I will have many things there to do and I knew things would be perfect if I were with them. And... have the spars my dear cousins so much wanted. That would be a fun thing and if I can actually fight grandfather, it would be even better. Patting her head out of the blue, I smiled. "Tomorrow will be long you, two. Let''s finish up and have a good sleep~." "Yes~!" [[ Yes~! ]] These two were quite cheerful at the thought of finally going to the human city for the first time, not that I had been to any big city. I was even more excited than these two. ''Let''s see what a main city and capital are like...'' I smiled excitedly and ate another one of these special meatballs. Quite tasty if I praise myself... Chapter 159 Outside And The One "Ok, so let''s start~!" I shouted in excitement, and she chuckled like a little girl. "It will be ok big brother, so let''s start~!" Zoe cheerfully answered. We were on the first floor, and it was a really magical ce. Many things were hidden here, but I can see most of the things with my blue eyes. It was a spectacr view, so it was even more fun than I thought. Magic arrays covering the whole floor, the colorful magic circles, those awesome rune spells that were impossible to engrave there by any normal means, and the most amazing structure in this ce: the enormous gate. Covered with the runes of ancient times that even I had never learned, we stood before it and I ced the four energy cores I had on the altar. The process was somewhat easy, ording to Lucy. After cing the required energy crystals, cores, or anything with the required amount of energy, we have to select the location and set coordinates on the other side of this ce. Thene back, and confirm the coordinates written with precise Mana engravement. The processes of these things were hard and even with both of us working together, it took almost what we had to pull this one on our first try. There were some fifty processes with significant details to finish in a short time of five minutes, but we achieved the goal. Thankfully, Zoe was good to follow instructions, so we were able to finish the thing pretty quickly. "That was hard, big brother..." she said, passing out on the ground while panting. I was in the same position because this thing was actually tiring without a nigh perfect control and knowledge about these things. She was at her weakest, but she can still control some environmental fire element mana like a (tier-3) mage. Her Solnova was restricted until her first awakening, so that was it, but unlike me, she will have the third blockage cleared when she awakens. That was a pretty absurd power-up because she will be only relying on her high physical strength and some ''small'' Mana she could control directly from nature. Well, it will be ok as she can grow at a speed that would beparable to those two geniuses at home, so it was ok. "Good work, Zoe. You did well, too, Celes." I thanked both of them and though Celes''s main body was with me, her cloned bodies were flying around the room, pushing the buttons that appeared after we did our part. Despite her looks, Celes was a crystal butterfly, and she was damn strong. So strong that if she wanted, she can create many clones of her and lift a giant boulder. Well... that would be too hard for her right now, but even now, she was as strong as a normal human. I nodded at them and stood up from the ground. The preparations wereplete and the only thing left for me to do here was to press this button it will throw us inside the gate that will open just for a split second. It was going to be dangerous now, so I wanted to prepare myself and them, so we stood up before the gate with hands joined. Looking at her, I nodded with a smile and she nodded back with an even happier one. She was going to be outside for the first time and it would be her first experience of this world. Well, it was going to be fun for both of us. Taking a deep breath and confirming all of Celes''s clones were back in the mark, I pressed the button. ''Here goes nothing...'' * -Oooooooong! -Sweeeeeeeeeeeesh!!! -Booom~. With a quiet explosion that happened for just a split second, both of them were thrown inside the [Gate] after it glowed in pure white and a spatial tunnel took its ce inside it. Everything on it, all the sybus, arrays of magic forms, and countless magic circles drowned around it glowed and a special magic circle had also appeared before them that protected them. This was the end of their lives in this ce and now... this tower, I, will be alone for a long time. *** In a dense forest, manyrge noises were ringing with fiery sparks and nks of metal shing. Though there were clear, natural roads, this fight was happening in the clear area just across the road. It was a tough fight and, from the looks of things; it was a close one. The opponent was a (Green) ranked creature [Heavy armor bear], a six-meter tall silver bear whose body was as if covered by thick armor. Its ws were like sword des while the red eyes that saw nothing but its opponent were the sign that this creature had gone berserk. Even after having a giant body, this silver creature reflecting the light of the sun was as swift as an actual sword. It was fast, but its opponent wasn''t anything to look down upon. A figure wearing a dark gray hood and holding a special-looking scythe stood against him. This weapon... looked fantastic. A full metallic pink and ck body, and the special enchantments glowing on its body, looked precious. A gray hood covered this figure, but it was easy to figure out she was a female from the outline of the body. Her head was covered in her clothes too but, the eyes that looked at everything from under the hood glowed in bright pink. They were glowing, looking at the creature before her with a pleased smile. The creature had just gone berserk, meaning this was a natural berserk state that few powerful creatures could enter and maintain. From those crescent eyes that would send chills down one''s spine, we could tell this person was confident in winning this fight even while the opponent was far stronger than any normal being. Holding the scythe that had devastated the surrounding area and most definitely had unthinkable weight with just one hand, she created a water element arrow in her other hand. Though this was just a water arrow, this water was nothing normal if looked closely. -Sweeeeeeesh. Shooting the arrow without hesitation, she vanished from his view. This confused the bear with the thick metallic body that water could not affect in any way. It just ignored it and looked around with angry eyes for the one that just did this unnecessary thing. "Foolish teddy..." a female voice said from the shadows behind the bear and at the same time, the arrow of water collided with its red eyes. Those in that voice were mature, as well as alluring. But... the thing that happened with the bear was more surprising than it could have ever expected. "Khooooooo!" the silver bear screamed as its left eye that the arrow collided with, burned every tissue inside of it. It almost pierced a hole in the ce of its eye while she came out of the shadows with an unsatisfied expression. "It''s amazing you actually felt it, teddy. Well, you aren''t an area ruler for nothing," she said in that same alluring voice that though mature was still young. "Well... just wait for a minute, teddy. I have to talk to this new guest spectators," she said and looked at the butterfly sitting on a distant tree with a crow. The butterfly had crystal wings that looked normal but still precious. The crow beside the butterfly was pure ck, as if the night itself with the eyes same as hers, shining in perfect pink. "[Chains of the fallen night]." She said in an audible voice and some chains as dark as the night came out of the ground and wrapped around this berserk (Green) ranked creature. "Hey, little butterfly~! I can see all the corpses around me, so it''s meaningless to hide. Come out, let me see the great person who saved me from these 12 (Yellow) ranked creatures I would have been annoyed to handle~." She was surprisingly happy and the dark chains that restricted even the slight movement of this powerful creature were unmoving. The crow in the distance was smiling, and it looked like the butterfly was happy from the way she said it. The butterfly flew towards her and set on her head. "Oh...?" the female in the hood smiled at this cheerful butterfly and a voice entered her mind. [ "You must be someone special, mydy. I apologize but it will take a bit to reach there. I used too much energy in those baby bears. We can do the introductionster but from the looks of it, you were far stronger than I thought. I apologize for disturbing your fun." ] She smiled at this respectful act and replied with the same smile she had. "You are amazing yourself, sir. I don''t think I know about an archer with that lever of archery in this part of the empire. I''m quite shocked right now, you see. Hurry up, I''m only interested in a face-to-face talk. In the meantime, I should- oh wait..." She took out her white glove and tapped on a blue ring in her hand. A smallplex magic circle appeared in the air upon the ring and she put the scythe in the dark ce that appeared in the magic circle. The voice on the other hand was silently waiting for her reply with a strange silence that seemed surprised by something. Putting on the glove, she asked in a cheerful tone, "So sir... it would be rude but, can I know your luck stat~?" Chapter 160 What Happened ---> Some time ago. With a colossal explosion, we fall to the hard ground surrounded by dense trees and the fall was great. [[ Master!? Are you ok?! ]] Celes asked, and I happily stood up with the blood flowing out of my knees. "You ok, Zoe?" I asked as I stood up and took a low-grade potion to clean up this wound. Thankfully, she was ok from this sudden fall, but we were thankfully out of that hellish forest. I was out... out of that great forest like hell, one that I spent my almost six years. A ce I survived and came out alive and... with two members of my family I will have to protect. I was free now, outside of that ferocious ce and the ce we were right now was... aparatively easy forest. Well, I knew we would just fall like this or something and the ce we were standing at this moment was a mess already. There was a giant creator almost some meter deep, and we were just standing inside it. Well... I was out of that hell, and I knew no forest could be as dangerous as that one. I knew no ce would have an as horrible night as that ce and I knew there would be nothing I could do in a ce that was actually like that one. Well... I was ultimately out. Looking at Zoe with a smile, I called out to Celes and said, "Let''s go back." in a warm voice. She cheerfully nodded, and Celes flew into the sky with the same happiness. [ "Go scout the area Celes. See if you find the road to the outside of this ce and see if there are any dangerous beasts. We should kill some and take them with us to sell. We will need money and the boar we have is too much. Oh... I also have many other bodies I killed... no? Those things have higher Mana, so selling them for cheap would be meaningless. I will give them to mom and we will auction them at our auction house. Ok, go~ and be safe." ] She cheerfully smile giggled and flew in the air. With a bright, white light covering her, many butterflies just like her came out of her glowing body and floated away. [[ I can just send them and be with you, master. Hehehe. I am strong now~. ]] Yes, that was a good option, too. Thankfully, she was smarter than me to remember that in this situation. "Ok, you little gorgeous. Come here. Let''s get out of this ce first." I smiled at both of them and walked out of the giant creature. Leaving something like this in a hunting ground was too much so, I used earth magic and returned the devastatednd to normal. Looking around after things were good enough, we started walking on the path that looked the most used. This jungle was a ce many beasts lived after making territories and from what I knew, there would be a boss monster in each area, just like in games. Well, this was almost the same as the great forest, so it did not surprise me. Celes''s clones were ying in different ces and I can see everything each one of them was seeing one at a time and Celes was seeing everything at the same time, so she reported every time she saw something different. Looking at the straight road with the footsteps of many beasts passing through it, I knew we were now entering some beast''s territory. [[ Master, this area is clear and there are signs that someone has already cleared this whole ce. ]] Celes said with a certain voice, and my eyes widened in surprise. ''What...?'' I couldn''t believe what she was saying, so I looked through every butterfly in this area and, she was actually right. There were clear signs of someone eradicating everything in their path and even killing the ruler of the beast of this particr area. And... was this possible? Was there someone, a single person in this part of the great empire, that would just kill everything in the area? Like... it was actually foolish in the long run. A new group of beasts would fill their ce and a new king would be born every time one was killed. And this transition would be fatal for those who used this hunting ground frequently. Well, whoever killed them was definitely desperate for something. Most probably a beast core? And... I would do the same if I wanted something urgently, without hesitation. Hunting grounds were natural ces, and if you think they will always stay the same, you are kidding yourself. Only an adventurer can enter this ce, and being an adventurer would naturally mean you were on your own. Whatever happens in this ce would be your responsibility. Well, whatever. Whoever this person was that killed countless (red), (Orange), and even the ruler of the ce that would be at the very least (Green) ranked was a strong one. And that person didn''t find anything from the looks of it and they didn''t even leave the dead body of the beast. "Well, let''s first see who this person is. Celes, go check the tracks of that person. I can sense water and darkness attributes, so check carefully. Darkness is a rare one and if someone can kill these many beasts in a short time, then they would definitely be strong." Looking at Zoe, I nodded in a serious tone. And she understood me as always and got behind me as we started walking. All I can understand from these marks was the enemy was overwhelmingly strong. Maybe (tier-5) or more mage and a [Rank-4] knight? And that was just spection on my part. It was clear that only one person made those deep cut marks on the ground and trees and the way they were perfectly refined and measured, It was clear this person was a weapon wielder who can use magic. Meaning they were like me, dual professionals. Well, I could neverpare anything with my master, she was an entity so great that I might never see something like her again. So, this person was running wild, having fun killing creatures of this hunting ground of the main city [Hygge]. I really wanted to see this person myself. Well, why wouldn''t I? I knew nothing was going to happen to me. However strong my opponent was, they had no way of actually killing me. And I was confident that this one was one of those so-called ''fortunate encounters''. Maybe I can ask this person to guide us around the city for a bit until I finish the preparations and go to the capital through [Warp gate]. It would be really nice if that happened. Celes flew away in the search herself, leaving her clone with me. These clones can''t talk, but even if they die in some circumstances, though I would never let happen, she would only receive some injury. I knew she was smart, and she had survived for long enough to never die by some normal means, so I wasn''t worried. And she was excited to meet someone like me or more like another human for the first time in her life. So I didn''t mind her going on her own. I knew she was strong. No creature in this weak forest with far lower Mana density than the great forest can harm her. So, I also looked at Zoe and smiled. "Let''s see this powerful person..." I mumbled under my breath, and we started walking. Zoe was hesitant, but I could feel her excitement, too. She was a fun person to y with. Oh, I will have to help her select a weapon that matches her, too. She wasn''t her mom, so the whip won''t be the best weapon she would use. She might be interested in a unique weapon and her body was the best for learning whatever she wanted so, she had endless options to choose from. We didn''t get that chance in the tower, as we were in a hurry, but she had the idea of every weapon there was. She had all the knowledge in the world her mom had but she was ok. I was with her. Now.. I was looking forward to that one and also, for now, seeing the first person after six years of forest life. Chapter 161 Cheerful Butterfly Hmmm~ hmm~ Riding on the winds, flipping my beautiful wings, I strolled the new forest master, sister Zoe, and I were thrown to. Master was worried about this new person that used magic and a powerful weapon and killed many creatures in this weak forest. And even though I had said countless times that I was now stronger, he would still worry over nothing~! Hump! Master did believe that I was strong but, he worried a lot. He worries a lot, and he worries a lot, lot, lot. Even if we were against some little bunny or powerful dogs, he worries a lot. He thinks too deeply about situations like this but, I couldn''t me him. I knew about his past after he told me and after knowing those heartbreaking things, I could finally feel what that emptiness, coldness, and darkness deep inside him were. But all that was towards others of his own kind. I didn''t know what type of beings these humans were, and from the looks of the situation, this one won''t be a typical human. So, I was thinking of sending some of my parts to disguise and y around in human domains. I needed to do my own research to help him even more. I knew he would like it, too. I felt useless every time he locked me in my mark to protect me and my little heart would break every time I felt that soul-piercing pain he would suffer. I knew just how he had worked to be strong enough and I knew how he feels after our master be one with mother nature. I was his partner and I could feel his emotions. When I was born in that deep forest with vitality that I could neverpare to anything aside from our home garden floor, I believed I would never find the right being to serve. I was on the verge of death and in my final moments; I met the one that was far more than just a small word like ''perfect''. The moment our eyes met, I knew it was him and so was our journey until now. We had yed all the time we could, and he was the best creature I had seen. And maybe that was the very reason even sister Fern liked him. My master was the best, and I knew I could have never found anyone as good as him. He was best, at the very least, for me. As a master, my partner, and my best friend and family. I even loved sister Zoe. She was a cool person. And this creature of master''s race, I knew there was something like me with that person. And so, because we could sense our kind, the origin beasts or natural born, it was easy for me to find the one that killed those weak babies in this forest. Floating in the sky, riding on the air currents, I reached an open area with many roads at the end of this one. There was a natural circle position and someone was fighting in this ce. But before I looked that way, I felt a powerful presence just behind me. [[ Oh? A young butterfly like me. Such a rare sight to see... oh, you are older than newborns. An extremely rare crystal butterfly like you being here like this, you must also have a master, right? ]] This was an old voice, and before I could even react, a crow appeared in front of me. [[ Hohoho. Young one. Looks like your master was interested in my master''s work. Worry not, she is just ying for now. It is really difficult to find something when you desperately need it, right? Let''s go down and watch her for now. You look interested anyway. ]] I knew this old crow grandpa was powerful, maybe as much as me from the movements just now. He was right, though. I did want to watch this new human ying with that cute teddy-like creature. And I could feel admiration rather than any kind of hostility from this creature. [[ Yes~. Let me tell my master and we should watch her y with that silver teddy bear~! ]] I answered like I always do and this reply made this pure ck crow with beautiful pink eyes smile. His eyes looked somewhat like my master''s Aura but, his version was far better and furious than this one. I can call this one a baby dark pinkpared to his beautiful fairy pink me Aura. With a nod, we flew down and set on a branch and watched her fight the teddy bear with her special scythe. I knew that kind of weapon and it looked precious. From the weapon room in our home, there were some scythes like this one too, and the master had said they were something called (Level-12) artifacts. The highest level of artifact one craftsman could make. It looked beautiful too, and I liked that moon-like de. Looking at this weapon instead of the fight, I called my master and shared the scene I was seeing. [[ Master, this was the one to clear all those small beasts. I''m with this old crow grandpa who also is an Origin beast like me and he called that person master. So, it looks like that person fighting the teddy bear is also someone with an Origin skill. And she looks to be ying with that bear, so that person is definitely strong~. ]] With that, I showed master the view of this whole ce through the different clones in the air. He called these abilities of mine [High surveince] but I had no idea what that thing was even pronounced as. Well, I didn''t need to know that useless stuff. [[ "Hmmm. It is surprising to meet another origin user in these woods on the same day we came out of that hell. Well, this is actually a good thing. Making acquaintances with strong and probably influential people is always a good thing. Her mastery over her weapon is definitely well taught, and she has practiced diligently. I can tell even from here that if she wants it, she can kill that weird-looking teddy with ease. Well, I should have some fun too. Celes, let''s just wait until she takes her sweet time to finish that one. We are still far away so it will take a bit of time for us to reach there. Well, I like those professorial movements of hers. She definitely has an attractive fighting style. ]] It was my first time seeing the masterpliment someone other than us, and it was definitely not because this was the first human he had seen. It was my sister Zora''s first time seeing something like another human, not his. And I knew just how high his standards were for all things. Hisplimenting her in those normal words definitely meant she was a very strong person. But... Were humans different from person to person? Why does this person who master surprisingly recognized as a female feel so different from him? I do not think it should be like this or were humans really that much different from each other? [[ What are you thinking too deep about, little child? If it is about my master, then what you feel is right. Not everyone can be like her. She is a special one among humans. ]] The crow grandpa''s answer was heard by not only me but my master too, so it got him thinking all of a sudden. -Raowr!!! But before we can go too deep into things, we heard a rower of this teddy that strangely attracted some smaller teddies of different colors in the area. [[ Oh shit. Celes looks like she will need help after all. ]] Master worried a lot, and this was one of those times. [[ Okay~ master. Just tell me what I should do. ]] These all teddy bears were just big. They weren''t even as strong as the brown rabbit master once faced or the piggy we fought a while back. Well, my master was a strong one and with the addition of little Asta and big sister Ronna, he was far stronger than thisdy. Well, he was still not strong enough to use big sister Ronna but, for weak beings that lived in this weaker vitalitynd, his normal bow and arrows were enough to obliterate them. Chapter 162 Her movements were well practiced and refined with a long time of practice. From the way she moved, held her fabulous weapon with her strong but slender hands covered by gloves to her sharp eyes. She was wearing a hood, so I did not know her appearance, but I could see her shining pink eyes. It was a darker pink, unlike my fiery pink Aura, and from the way she fought with a strong (Green) ranked creature, I could conclude some things. 1) She wasn''t human, and there was no way in hell she was a human. That sort of mastery, precise control of the weapon, high strength, that superb mastery of magic and her special spells of water and darkness. 2) No human could have that much-polished mastery of the weapon they wield, and the high experience could never escape my eyes. Though I can''t use my blue eye from this distance yet, I knew she had absurd stats like me and that she was a lot like me. But... there was no way in hell I would meet someone trained by a divine beast in a ce I fall after using the [Gate], right? So, the only answer to her marvelous weapon wielding would be her being of a different race. I knew from the way she talked to this teddy bear with sword-like nails and heavy armor body that she would be around my age in human years, but her mature voice was proof enough for me to tell she was old. Well... lolies existed, but I would never call someone that without knowing about them. That would be disrespectful to a truly powerful person. Not like that hot b-¡­ she was just a perfect girl. As for the current situation¡­ Thanks to my master, I could call my basic archery skills polished to the core, and that was the moment for me to learn something of my own. I knew I had talent unlike anyone, and sticking to just one style would have been a waste of this particr talent. And so, I concluded on six ways to use my bows and arrows. => Long-range shooting: Where I hit the target far away from me with different techniques. Well, I can kill the targets at a ridiculous distance while using the three powerful energies I had, and that was one hell of a show to watch. => Short range shooting: In spars or the so-called PVPs, this type would be highly useful and this was the most I focused on my own. => Fencing with my arrows: This whole style''s credit would go to my master and without her, I knew I would never have learned something so cool. And even though it would be swordsmanship, the arrow aspect changed many things because I can just throw it mid-way while still engaged in the fight. => Pure magic archery: It was the coolest type I can use but, that one used a lot... a LOT of energy to properlyst. So that was my trump card, and I knew it was the coolest type for me. => Pure physical archery: Again, this one''s credit would go to master as she had taught me the most basic things, like holding the bow and arrow and standing while shooting those arrows in different ways. She dug those basics in my bones and I could never make a mistake in that one. Different from other archery where I would use magic, this type was solely focused on a simple bow and arrow, nothing else. Just simple archery that utilized the full potential of my physical body and this was my favorite type because I can be in the [ZONE] the most time while using this one. And I loved that rush... anyone would love it. => Arrow throwing: Just like what I did while killing that pig, I can use Asta or any other arrow as a javelin and throw it with the power that can rival even high-tier spells. This one was asplicated as pure magic archery, but the results were quick and I can use it anytime in the fight, so it was some of the most effective ones. This was the archery I created, and there were different techniques in these six forms that I used, modified, and recreated to suit me perfectly. Well, that was it and from the looks of it, she also had her own style of handling the scythe. It looked polished and I could see she had as outstanding talent to handle that big scythe as Ca had with a sword. That sister of mine swung great swords like they were nothing, and I was confident she had greater strength and physical stats than me. Not that stats would matter against me now, but she was stronger than me if we saw in the physical aspects. I liked this person''s style and I acknowledge her ability as a magic scytheman to be the greatest I had seen... well; she was the first human I had seen in six years. What else would I think? And on top of that, she had an Origin skill just like me! LOL. It wasughable just how simr we were, and if she was someone from a high noble family that was neutral in the empire, I would say she was the actual protagonist of this novel. And she also had an Origin beast as herpanion, an old one at that. From the way Celes and I could see, this old crow was truly a strong beast, but the only thing that was different between him and Celes was that he was strong but older inparison to Celes. She had a lot of room to grow and she was just some years old for all that mattered. She was the same age as me if I wanted to say in mental terms and just from how cheerful she was; I knew everyone would just love to be friends with her. Just like this old crow with gorgeous eyes. I wanted to quickly go there and check their status windows, but... something came up while she was done ying with the beast. From what I knew, when an energy beast that can use natural berserk goes berserk, the chances of finding the core from them increase significantly. And she was definitely doing just that by provoking the beast like that. Well, though she seeded, the beast she was fighting used a crowd-gathering skill. And just like a mother calling her children, the wail from the teddy bear attracted a great number of different bear beasts in that area. Though they were only (Orange) and (Yellow) ranked beasts, I didn''t know if she could handle that many beasts on her own. So, well, I tried to help and test something. "Zoe looks like I will have to do some long-distance shooting. Would you mind supporting me from behind, please?" I asked with an excited smile, and she understood me perfectly. Zoe was carrying many artifacts with her in her own spatial storage, so she was going to be fine and if something unexpected happens, I knew she would be excellent support. And that person aside, I wanted to try my strength on the creatures outside of the great forest for the first time. If it were there, I knew that the bear she was fighting would be almost two meters taller and its Mana would also be greater now that it was in a berserk state. Same for the other teddy bears that were running toward them at an angry speed. These creatures were far weaker than what I faced in that green and dark forest and after killing the likes of them, and gaining strength far greater than at that time, just how easy would it be to kill these small fries? My heart was calm, blood flowing throughout my body hot, and the smirk on my face was filled with excitement. There was no bloodlusting out of me, as I already knew they were going to die even before knowing what hit them. And I could hear the helpless sighs from my back and in my mind. A total of three. Even Lucy was sighing at this behavior of mine. Well, I couldn''t help it, this was naturally that much exciting. "Hehehe... let''s do some teddy hunting~!" I giggled like Celes and took out the same bow I used in the fight with the piggy and some enchanted green arrows. Wind, water, fire. One arrow with three enchantments was more than enough to kill one of those beasts... at least theoretically It was. I didn''t know just what kind of power I will see here so; I wanted to avoid using my actual spells. They were ok in PVPs, but in these long fights where I had no idea about my strength, I couldn''t use that one recklessly. Thankfully, I had an almost endless supply of enchanted arrows of powers rivaling almost (tier-3) spells. Well, stuff aside, I really wanted to just pull my strings, set the arrows, and just... boom~. So, without wasting much time, I pulled back the strings of the pure white bow, set the arrow on it, and took my stance. Aiming the bow at the faraway trees, I stabilized my form. Taking a deep breath, conforming to every other factor¡­ ''.'' -Swiiiiiiiiiish- booooom! The arrow left the bow and shot forward with a boom when the fire enchantment kicked in. But... "Fuck... this is stronger than expected..." my eyes were left wide open at the result of just this one arrow, but the smirk on my face never went away, and instead, it widened in surprise and... awe. Chapter 163 Reinelle~ The arrow I shot was almost 30% more powerful than when I used it back home. The way it moved with higher speed and the way it hit pierced the skull of one of the teddies and then pierced another one who was in his line of flight. That was absurd and from the way that moooved, I felt like that enchanted arrow had be my magic wind arrow. And those two weren''t the only ones that died by that single arrow. The arrow literally pierced the second teddy too, and then it collided with the third brown one, which had soft fur, unlike the previous metallic ones. The moment the arrow collided with it, the water enchantment kicked in and a jet of water sted inside the bear, sting him like a balloon. I... did not want to go into too many details, so I decided not to do high enchantment arrows this time. Putting them back, I took out some normal wind enchantment arrows and started my ''blood bath''. I didn''t need to move from my path, and I already had the best view of the creatures from above and from the trees. This was a broken ability, and it was ours to use, so I was happy to kill this time. The normal wind arrows were also better than what I made back with my dad. It was good, so I was happy to have everything. Killing them didn''t take much time and after finishing, when I was walking ahead, Celes called me out. [[ Master... looks like she knows about this killing stuff. What should I do? She is a fun person from how proudly grandpa crow looks at her. ]] I had no doubt such an experienced person didn''t know about the creaturesing at her and from the way Celes said it; it looked like the Crow was really into his master. A smile appeared on my face as I saw the crow myself through her vision and sighed. They were safe people, though crazy to kill these many creatures and desperate to find something. She did this to the teddy to increase her chances of getting the green core and something like that. Well, I did not know the reason but then, she suddenly looked at Celes and I was looking through her at that time, so I saw her beautiful eyes. Those eyes... no, this won''t do. Now I was interested. She called me out, and she was also interested in talking face to face. Well, before I go to her... I had to pick up my hunt. Can''t just give away what I killed with much difficulty. I also used too much to kill them. The resources were precious even when I had too much. Well, anyway, Zoe and I moved forward and at that very moment... she asked me my luck stat. What was my luck stat again? [ "Yes... 81." ] I answered, and a shocked voice replied from the other side. [ "Get your ass here this instant, dear sir. I might have to reward you if you managed to get that absurd luck to work~!" ] Her voice and emotions were pure, but her words¡­ weren''t at the very least. Well, words were words. I didn''t mind them at the very least. This person might be helpful to me or... I can at least make use of this favor. "It''s ok Zoe. It will be fine, so don''t worry~." I patted her head, and she calmed down. She had never met with any other person, well; she was two days old if I had no say so. Being hesitant and fear was normal, but I knew she will be just fine. "O-ok," she answered, and we started walking toward the ce the bear corpses were. With our mobility, it was easy to collect everything quickly and after some time; we reached the ce with the person of interest. "Hey~. Aren''t you young to be that strong~? Or... oh?" Right now, my hair and eyes were ck, while Zoe had ck hair and her special blue eyes. And I knew there was no way this person could see through Celes''s like that. This person was covered by a robe and that was a (Level-9) artifact. My normal appraisal was unable to see any information on a strong person and I had yet to know anything about her to be able to use my blue eyes. That was its limitation. But¡­ She looked at us with her eyes shining with bright pink light and, at that same time, I heard Lucy''s voice. [[ *A mental energy-rted unique skill has been used on you. The skill level is very high ranked: activating automated defense mechanisms. Initiating scan¡­ Understanding skill¡­ Gathering data of the caster¡­ Skill understandingplete. Information on caster has been gathered. [Unique skill: Eye of truth], a high-level unique skill has been sessfully countered. Master, your intelligence stat has increased by 1.* ]] "Holy..." I couldn''t help but wonder what I just heard. And even more surprised was the person before me. "W-what¡­ the hell are you?" she asked and pulled her hood back, revealing her face and the fabulous eyes I had been seeing for a while. Lucy had just said something like an automated defense mechanism. And it was definitely something like a mental barrier that prevents the use of appraisal skills. And from all she said, I knew this person with a unique skill that even Lucy considered very high level was no ordinary person. And after looking at her true, actual, appearance of no disguise, I knew she was far more special than I could think. "What are you gawking at, you bastard? Just what kind of mental barrier do you have that even my [Eyes of truth] can''t see through you? And you aside, what the hell is that person I can''t even activate my skill on?!" she shouted while cleaning the blood tear that glistened down her clear cheeks. With short, purple hair, eyes that can enchant others, and a mature but young appearance, she stood before me. I didn''t know anything about this person, but I knew one thing from the way my heart suddenly started beating faster. She... was angry. Her eyes turned angry, and she took off both her gloves as I hid Zoe behind me. "I think there is some misunderstanding-" And even before I can speak anything, she shot towards me with the scythe in her hand and a serious expression. ''Fuck...'' without hesitation, I, too, took out Asta and defended myself from this ferocious attack that definitely had the intention to wound. -nk! "Aren''t you fast, dear?" She asked and without stopping, swung her scythe diagonally. "There is some misunderstanding, miss," I tried to say again and blocked the attack while covering Asta with Mana, but she didn''t stop attacking. She was serious, and I could see her face up close now that we were face to face. She was definitely my ideal type, but right now, there was thick bloodlust oozing out of her. And most of all... there was a smile on her face. An excited one, and the exact same one I had some moments ago. I now knew what was going on in the head of this powerful person. [[ Crow grandpa says she is at it again. Hehehe. Master, I think I like thisdy. She''s just like you~! ]] I could hear the helplessness-filled sigh of the crow and I could also feel the rush of excitement she had right now. This psycho person before me loved battling against the strong, not that I didn''t like it but, I was more careful before picking the fight against a strong opponent. And before someone like her, suddenly fighting like this didn''t go well with me. If I didn''t know anything about my opponent, there was no way in hell I would even spar with them. And a fight that involved true bloodlust¡­ was definitely a no-no. But I should thank Lucy once again. ''[Origin skill: Three Eyes].'' For a quick second, my eyes turned blue, and I knew she noticed that split-second change. But she still continued shing her scythe at me like a reaper of death, and I just blocked, redirected, and avoided the attacks. I knew hot-headed people like her would just fight like berserk, but this one was different from them. She was calm, so calm I could feel her calm heart beats just like mine. Her eyes were quick and sharp, and observed every single movement of my body. She was finding openings in my nigh perfect posture and she actually found some and masterfully exploited them. This fight was fast, so fast that even after Zoe moved away with Celes, we were focused on each other and had exchanged countless blows. I could feel her emotions at this moment, too. Emotions of an opponent and someone who was enjoying something after a long time. And well, I expected it, but she was actually more than anything normal. And... this damn girl was stronger than me. ===Status=== Name: Reinelle Age: 123 Race: Witch Strength: 141 Dexterity: 135 Stamina: 132 Magic Power: 139 Intelligence: 136 Luck: 21 Charm: 69 [Skill: Eye of truth, Air steps, Quick reflexes, Master of disguise, Potion brewing touch, Poison resistance of Belinda, Old magic, Hyper magic detection, Storage of brass coin, Dismantle corpses, Set trap, Speech of enchantment, Kiss of amnesia.] [Origin Skill: Maiden of dusk: Intermediate Mastery -Chains of the fallen night (Stage-1) -A shadow''s travel (Stage-1) -Clock of walk (Stage-1) ============ "You... have a beautiful name," I mumbled nkly while avoiding an attack as I saw everything on her status window with amusement. What was this¡­? Not a normal person, at the very least. Those stats, those skills, those Origin skills, her age, and everything else. What the hell had I fallen into...? ''Fuck...'' I cussed with disbelief and looked at her, who suddenly stopped attacking. There was a blush on her face and for some strange reason, my heart started beating faster than normal as I looked at her face. What... was happening here? Chapter 164 Shes...Cute. "W-what did you just say?" She asked with an embarrassed face and I wanted tough at this moment. But, she picked herself up quickly and put back her weapon with a sigh. "Thank god..." I also sighed and put back Asta. She took a deep breath and calmed downpletely. After that, she also removed her hood and I could see her... whole figure. No question that the ''figure'' was too perfect to be real. "Oi. Less staring and more speaking," she said, and I blinked at her. She actually had a cute face if I said myself. Well, not that it was special or anything. Not when I had lived with a celestial creature like grandma. This surprised her even more, and she suddenly got close, too close she was in my face. And my hand instinctively stopped her, like really stopped her. "Hm? Hey!? I''m definitely stronger?!" she shouted, and I had to hold her with both hands. I thought she was calmed down, but no. Thisdy was still grumbling. "What will it take for you to calm down,dy Reinelle?" I was trying my best to stop thisdy, but¡­ I didn''t see it myself, but I can feel Zoe and Celesughing with the crow at a distance. It was difficult to even take my eyes away from her, more difficult to turn my eyes away or see things with Celes''s eyes. This one was angry right now and from the looks of it, me knowing her name didn''t go well with her. Or was it the fact that I called her name beautiful? Ah~! That might actually be it. Looking at her in the eye, I said, "Your name is actually beautiful. And I know it was rude of me but, please calm down. We can talk things out. Please?" She tried to use her strength and get away, but it was meaningless. Even if she had three times the strength I currently had, she couldn''t get away with that hot head. And the blush on her face was telling many things about her. After five minutes of relentless trying that created a one-meter deep creator below our feet, she finally calmed down. "Y-you saw my status window, didn''t you?" she asked hesitantly, and I finally sighed. This one was more difficult than Zoe. Oh yes, what were those three doing? Now that she was calmed down, I looked through Celes''s eyes to see what was going on with our familiars and my little sister. And... [[ "Hey?! What''s this?!" ]] I shouted in my mind as the image of the crow and Zoe eating some cookies entered my mind while Celes was eating the light of a tea-vored flower. Those three traitors were enjoying this fight?! "Hey... answer me..." she asked again with a hesitant voice, and I came back here, deciding what to do with themter. I didn''t know the crow, but those damn two... I will see them. Looking back at this gorgeous one, I nodded truthfully. "I don''t like fights where I don''t know anything about the opponent. And you... I know you are stronger than me. In terms of overall skills and stats. Maybe experience too." It was surprising just how many things we had inmon, but she was definitely something when she was embarrassed like this. "It''s cheating..." she mumbled under her breath, so quiet I missed what she said. Looking at her, I asked with a straight face, "Padron? What did you just say?" "It''s not fair, you idiot! I can''t see your stats with my eyes of truth, but you can see my whole screen! And you even saw... my age¡­ didn''t you?" She was shouting at first, but then, when it came to age, she became shy again. "Well, I know witches live far longer than humans. And on top of that, you also have a different perspective of time than any other race that lives longer. Though it is my first time meeting one in person, in the end, age is just a number, and the longer time spent in this world the higher experience." Looking at me with confused eyes, and shook her head at those words. Well, it is just the right reaction if you found out someone who knows not just your age but practically everything written on your personal screen, too. "First, you are weird. Second, I demand an apology and your status window. Third, if you want to get out of this forest alive, you better help me find the things I want." I didn''t know where the hell thate from, but it looked like she was finally calm. And so, with a nod, I first walked out of this damn crater, and our ''dear'', ''beloved'', ''lovely'',panions were still having their tea party. And as the image of her crow eating a crumble of cookies entered her eyes, she vanished from her ce and reappeared under the tree, most likely using her high mobility skill. p "You damn crow! Someone is having a fight with your master and you''re eating!?" she shouted so loud even my ears started ringing. But the old crow didn''t mind her at all. Forget her master, the crow was looking at the cookie crumbs that went flying away from him with dissatisfied eyes. "Hey~? Don''t be angry~! Eat this!" Zoe wasn''t affected by her ear-piercing scream and just normally shoved her cookie in her mouth. That were grandma''s special chocte cookies, and there was nothing like them in this wide world. I can write it on paper if someone wanted. We had a limited number with us, and she just wasted a part of it. It was natural Zoe would be angry at this one, and the way she shoved that cookie in her mouth was a sight to behold. "Whak du yu think you-" Reinelle tried to shout in anger while looking at her but, after seeing the calm and sweet smile of my little sister, and feeling the divine taste of that small cookie, her mind was blown away. Holding the cookie half in her mouth, she took a bite and chew down on its perfect texture. Its taste was sweeter than even the natural honey I had and I was in love with those cookies, and that was the reason I didn''t share mine. Zoe also loved them, but not like me. She loved the tea leaves grandma served with these cookies. The same ones that we drank on ourst day... I knew she would never share those with just anyone. The cookie did wonders for her, and she was fallen into and of bliss. She ate her cookie with that nk and blissful expression and when she was finished; she looked at Zoe with an unsatisfied expression that wanted more. "No! You shouted at us. Bad big sister~." Zoe pouted and stored the small box of cookies in her storage space. Looking at her with the cutest expression I had seen from any random girl, she apologized with all her heart. "I apologize. It was my mistake. And this damn Branwen is sorry, too. Please... can I have just one more?" This one knew how to show sincerity, just like someone of a higher rank. She might actually be from some noble family. It wasn''t umon for a witch, one of the closest of humans, to live with humans. Witches and wizards were different racesing out of humans and they possessed higher attribute affiliates to Mana and had special powers. Her unique skill, superior strength, and mastery of magic were such points that showed she was special. Well, it was still surprising to meet one in a ce like this. And I outright confirmed that she was one, exposing something she must have tried to hide from the start. And gods know why I agreed to show my own status window at that moment we were in each other''s face. Can I... should I? Well, milk has already been spilled, so thinking too deeply would be meaningless now. Zoe smiled at her and nodded with a cheerful smile. Looked like she also somewhat liked this person with a gorgeous name, cute smile, adorable expressions, hot-. Well, her blissfully eating face while eating that cookie was also pretty it made me smile unconsciously. Maybe she won''t be a bad person to... Chapter 165 Picnic And Us In the quiet jungle, we were now having a tea party under the tree we previously were. Just cookies weren''t enough so, I suggested I would make some tea too and they just naturally agreed. Well, time passed and now, it waste morning, and the sun had started going towards our heads. The tea was ready, and we had set up a pic cloth and god knows why, but I also took out a pic basket with some sandwiches and fruits. All things considered, the sight of that steel bare with a ferocious look looking at us was somewhat hrious. Her chains that looked pure like night were perfectly restricting the teddy, making him unable to even move an inch. It hasn''t been long since we met and from what I could tell from her carefree attitude, this [Origin skill] had a long duration. This was my first time meeting someone who had an Origin skill in person. Master was an exception there, so this was the first one. Not only was she a witch, but she was also a (tier-3) mage and [Rank-3] knight, something simr to Ca, Alf, and me. And that wasn''t all. She was a high-rank origin user who had more powerful skills than me that focused on attack, defense, and the like. I did not know how powerful they were, but, being a fellow origin skill user, I knew her skill was far stronger than mine. Well, my skills were focused on aspects other than fight but, but if I said so myself, my skills were quite strong. From the sun''s blessing''s passive use to Lucy and even white crack. These skills could be far more useful in an actual fight than a simple attack or defense skill. Well, I had other things for the attack, deface, and normal stuff. Being overgeared was one thing, but... seeing her pleased face was also something else. "Hmmm~! This is heavenly, sir- oh. I still don''t know your name. Well, this tea and snacks, they are amazing~!" She eximed with a delighted face, and I sighed. "Celes. Remove this one, please." I said, and Celes cheerfully flew over my head with her blue light. I returned to my true appearance with Zoe and took a sip from the teacup. For today''s question, I asked Lucy if I can trust Reinelle or not and her answer was something like ''Of course. Why even ask such a question.'' She said I wasted today''s question but, well; I knew I can trust this person with my real appearance. Not that I was expecting this person to fall for my looks. That would be a real no-no. And I was hot, no doubt about it. "Holy mother of... you look damn hot, dude. And you too, little Zoe. Your big brother looks freakin spicy. Is that really how you look, though?" she asked with wide eyes that were pleased to see this gorgeous appearance. Yes, that''s right. Not that I was expecting her to blush like some little girl seeing a prince charming. That straightforward answer was just the thing I would like in someone. And she was just surprised, nothing else. "Yes,dy Reinelle-" I was just starting to say something long, but she cut me down. "Let''s forget the formalities. You trust me enough to show how you look, and you look mind-blowing, so we are now friends, right? Why this sir,dy shit? Just call me Reinelle." She was serious and even if I knew nothing about her, I really wanted to be with her. And I also trusted Lucy so, things would be ok, I believe. "Ok, Reinelle. I think we can be friends. And, yes, my name is Axion. As-" Once again, I wanted to say something long, but she cut me off and shouted in a voice from some time ago that pierced ears. "Wait!? Axion? Like the Axion Heliox Kromet?" she grabbed my hand after putting down her tea and I flinched at this sudden greeting. The weird thing about this was, that she knew my name. "How... do you know me?" I asked, bewildered by her sudden actions and that hand that felt strangelyfortable. An unbelieving smirk was painted on her face and she eximed once again, "Dude!!!" She was a loud one, if anything and her strangely powerful voice was too loud. "Axion dude! You are practically a hero in new children''s books! Everyone has read about your heroic act of saving your family, and I even visited countess Heliox a ''few'' times. Even master Zahavi and grandpa praise you for some reason. They say you were training in some faraway ce and will return soon, but I never thought I would meet a famous person like you like this~!" She was genuinely happy right now and from the looks of it, she had met my family. At least she had met my mom and grandfather and the way she said it, it looked like her grandfather had a close rtionship with grandpa. Who was she and more than that... Me? A hero? Books? What the hell was she talking about? "How am I a hero and... how do you even know my family? Not everyone can meet them then. Who are you, Reinelle?" She calmed down and set back as she looked at me with the previous serious expression. "Axion or I have the right to call you Eon as a friend. So, Eon. I don''t know where you were or what happened to you or anything like that, but it looks like you were away from your family for a long time now. I won''t ask you anything in that matter, but I should also introduce myself now that I know about you. I''m Reinelle Atraxia. From the southern duke of Atraxia. I have no doubt that you are Axion, the one we all know, so let''s make it short. I have met your mom, dad, and grandpa in some official meetings and personally and you might also know about my family, right?" She asked with a radiant smile, and I nodded with surprise-filled eyes. "You are from duke Atraxia''s family?! No wonder your scythe work was so polished. Who doesn''t know the [Reaper of the battlefields]? He is an outstanding person I wanted to meet one day!" now, things were getting interesting. I never thought I would meet someone from the greatest neutral families of the empire that stood alone and had the strength to protect the things they loved. The master of scythe, one of the greatest scythemen with unparalleled mastery and someone I had mentioned in my letters a few times, worked with grandpa many times. They knew each other quite well, and from the looks of her, she also liked my grandpa. ''What a clich¨¦...'' This was like back when I got separated from my parents. Just how many clich¨¦ things were going to happen in this dear life of mine? Not that I didn''t like it. I liked this meeting of ours. And though it was sudden, we were able to get some pretty good chat. We talked about ourselves and family over tea and just chatted among ourselves, almost forgetting the three besides us that had started doing their own stuff. Leaving us alone, they moved to the side, and I didn''t know what these three were doing all of a sudden. Well, she was a loud one, so I believed they just wanted to get away but, I liked that loud voice too. I didn''t tell her much about me for now. There was no need to. She was just a friend, not even a true friend I can tell her everything about myself. But, her eyes can see emotions too and she understood that I was hiding many things and all of them were painful. She was a smart one that didn''t ask unnecessary things that I did not want to tell yet. Well, I trusted her, so that was enough. We both talked about more than expected and I even told her some of the information on my screen. She was shocked to know many things and though I excluded Solnova, just the fact that I was also a dual profession magic archer surprised her beyond belief. What we were talking about right now was unreal and the chat would just spin from one topic to another. The tea was about to finish and we had talked about most of the things so, the crucial question stood out now. "So, why are you here, Reinelle? To find a green-ranked core in this farawaynd from the south? I know that''s not it." And suddenly, her bright face fell into a mix of a serious and sad one. I had seen her happy or angry or cute all this time, but this was the first time she was suddenly being sad. The three of them also felt it and came back. I looked at her and she looked at me, deep inside my ruby eyes. Her bright pink eyes and my bright red eyes met, and she finally spoke after one minute of staring, which made my heart run wild. "Eon... please help me..." Chapter 166 Her Problem My Solution She was seriously serious. I could feel the desperate need in her eyes and this was the most sincere I had seen her today. I didn''t know what someone from a core duke''s house was doing here, but whatever it was; I don''t know why, but I wanted to just help her. If it was within my power, that is. Looking straight into her beautiful eyes, I nodded. "If I can, I will be happy to help you however I can. But..." There was also something I wanted from her. It was simple actually, so I knew she will be happy to do it. "I was away from my family for a long time, you know that, right? Practically, we don''t know a thing about the capital or even the main city here. Will you... escort us to the capital if you have time?" A bright smile covered her face on these words, and she nodded happily. "Of course~! It would be my pleasure to escort a hero~!" She was genuinely happy right now and that bright smile on her face... there was something different about it. Well, whatever. "Thank you~. So, what do you need?" I asked with a confident smile and looked at the trio that were just watching us happily. What were these three up to again? "Yes~! T-thank you big sister~! Do tell whatever y-you need. Hehehe..." Zoe was good with hiding her emotions, same for the crow and my dear butterfly. ''Excellent control of emotion but... that was the sloppiest acting I had seen in this life.'' Not that they will open their mouths if I pressure them. Those two little babies were smarter than me sometimes. Shaking my head at them, I looked back at her as she started speaking with the same emotions towards her old crow. "Not many know this Eon but, I am the daughter of grandpa''s mother''s older sister. So technically, I''m his aunt, but well, let''s ignore that one. Currently, my grandma is suffering from a incurable desires and not even [Elixir] or [Holy Water] could cure that one. It''s been a month since I started searching for its cure and I luckily found it! Here, take a look. I went through hell to get my hands on this ancient tome of medicine." She said and took out a very old-looking book. And though it looked really old, strangely, I knew this one. "<33 Divine Cures of Eir>..." I mumbled nkly, and her eyes widened in shock. "H-how do you know this book?" She asked, unbelieving of what I had just said. Well, it was natural. The book in her hand was an old copy that had survived in the outside world while I had real ones preserved perfectly in our library. "I know because I have read it. And I know all 33 ones in that book. They are actually quite impressive. But, which one does your grandma have? All the cures in that book are for curses, not some incurable disease." I knew all of them because I had made every one of them to prepare for my test. Not that I ever got the chance to use any. "It''s number 21. And... what do you mean you have read this? How do you even know thisnguage? Even my eyes could barely make up all these strange words and most importantly, what... do you mean by curses?" She was looking at me suspiciously, and there was a new kind of worry in her eyes now. "Well, it''s just as I said. I know thenguage in that book because I have studied it for a long time. If your grandma has [Embrace of Keres] that your eyes would have told you and the cure is number 21 [Fewesi], then it''s naturally some evil sprite''s doing. What did your grandma do to make a (Blue) ranking creature angry?" I knew her grandma, well everyone in the empire knew one of the few (tier-8) mages. Well, an (Evil Spirit) was one of the creatures that held high intelligence. As high as a human, in most cases. And they loved the ces they stayed, hating the disturbance in their home. They didn''t attack other creatures if they stayed away from their home after some warning but, if they do intrude on their territory, this type of situation was normal. We won''t know what hit us and they would curse us. A slow-acting curse that didn''t affect the body that an [Elixir] or [Holy Water] could fix, but affected the subconscious and make the cursed one fall deep into sleep, eating away at their vitality. She knew all these things and from her sudden horrified look, I could understand just what might have gone wrong. "G-grandma... I-I... but that..." her mind suddenly went chaotic, and she started ming herself for whatever might have happened. I had lost my grandma and master but, she still had her in whatever state she might be in. I studied medicine for the sole purpose of helping the ones in need and here; I had the chance of saving someone important to her. "Don''t worry, Reinelle. You must be here to find the special herbs that grow in this part of the forest, right? Well, we don''t have to do that now." I said while patting her head, which was the same size as mine. But it was soft and her short purple hair was fun to y- yes, so she calmed down on my warm touch and looked at me with tears lingering in her eyes. "W-what do you m-mean..." She wasn''t letting those tears out, not at all. She was also a strong one emotionally, something that I found cute. "Well, I have already made all the cures in that book, and luckily, I have [Fewesi] with me. Thank the fate you found me today, deardy. I''m sure your eyes will be able to tell you about this more urately." I took my hand from her head and took out a bottle with thick yellow fluid in it. "I don''t know what might have happened with you two but, something like an evil spirit''s curse is nothing for this holy cure. Even a noble demon''s curse would be ineffective against it. And I''m quite confident in my medicine-making skills, and that''s something I''m more proud of than my archery." Brushing off the tears from her eyes and making my goal of seeing her blush once again true, I set back down and looked at her warmly. Her ability as a witch to see the truth was something more amazing than I could think and I knew it from the fact that Lucy acknowledged this ability. She looked at the bottle with her eyes shining with dark pink light and while she was at it, I turned my head and looked at the trio that was looking at us warmly. All three of these basterds were acting so still that I wanted to think they weren''t here at all. But I knew they were here, I knew they were enjoying this show between us and watching such warm scene with almost teary eyes themselves. These fking bastards... get ready you two, it won''t be easy. I smiled at my two partners and that smile, that signature happy smile that we all knew, made them flinch. Celes was sitting on Zoe''s head while the old crow was resting in her handsfortably as she stroked him gently. Damn old bird... it also understood this smile of mine that was directed at all three of them and not just two. Even if he was herpanion, there was no way in hell I wo- "Holy heavens?! What the hell are you, you bastard?!" She shouted in her loud voice, and those three were freed from my sharp eyes. This was their lucky day if I said so myself but, why the hell was she so loud?! For nature''s sake, I was sitting just before her and she was shouting her lungs out cussing at me out of nowhere. I looked at her to see just what made her forget the sorrow and grief and shout like that. And when my eyes fall on her, an excited face full of pure admiration, envy, and respect, entered my eyes. Chapter 167 Hes...Awesome ============ ¡ø [Fewesi] ~~~>A divine cure created with the best ingredients and exceptional mastery. ~~~>The perfect cure for the incurable illness your grandma is suffering. ~~~>It also has the effect of instantly returning the vitality of the body to its possible peak. ~~~>A true miraculous medicine that can cure many incurable illnesses or curses. ~~~>A master genius has made this with long, tiring efforts, so I advise you to thank them properly. ============ This was my first time seeing my quiet skill that didn''t even say much after seeing the scythe my grandfather gifted me act like this. Not only it was praising this bottle of potion highly but it also said to thank the one who made this. I had no words to express my gratitude to this special person I met by chance in this forest but now I was d I met him. It has been a long time since I and my grandma came back from that dungeon. There were no signs at that time and I knew there was nothing that would go wrong if she was with me. It was just a fluke of luck that I found that unknown dungeon in the forest near our estate and grandma and I had cleared all the monsters inside it at that time. It was just like a normal fun day for us, and that dungeon didn''t even have a guardian monster that guarded the other side. There was also nothing special about the monsters at that ce and we just came back after that. After some time, when grandma started feeling different, we even send squads to that ce to find out if something was wrong, but they found nothing. Maybe what Eon said was true, and it was my mistake that I took her there. My skill had never reacted the way it did with Eon and even though it didn''t work on Zoe at all, with Eon, I felt like my eyes had tried to see something my mind would never be able to fathom. It was some strange mental barrier that can block the skill I was born with and there should be nothing I couldn''t appraise. My eyes have at least given me some, at least one, detail about them before, but with him, it was truly something else. He was stronger than me, not by pure stats and power, but in overall strength. His magic power and intelligence were higher than mine, someone who has lived for more than him and had overwhelming resources. It was truly awesome just how he can avoid giving away crucial information, but there were many things I liked about him. From his absolutely gorgeous appearance to the way he carried himself out to the beautiful blush he would hardly make. It''s only been some hours since our meeting but, he would be one of the few people who knew that much about me. I wasn''t a fool in any way, but I couldn''t help but tell him more about myself. This bastard... he was more experienced in that field than me. They always talked about just how special this hero child that saved his parents from the national tragedy some years ago was, but after that... he had vanished. From the rumors, it was said that he was killed by a demon after being teleported to some distant forest and his family used absurd resources to find him. In that process, his parents became prominent figures in the empire and the name (One-eyed hunter) and (Golden demoness) became famous throughout the empire. And with their name the name hero Axion became so famous that over the past years, many families inmoners, and even some lower nobles named their newborn Axion. Being written as a hero without wanting was quite something but, it was just a ploy of the throne to redirect everyone''s attention from that incident. His name was sacrificed for the ''greater good'' shit they talked about and the ident where countless lives were lost was buried in history. Not many know exactly what happened that day but... that shit was bigger than anyone can think. But then, new rumors that the great young hero was found after a long time or he has made contact with his family started surging. No one knew if those things were true or not but, after meeting the strong boy with gold-like hair and ruby-like eyes, I could say those rumors of his death were shit. He was more than just alive... this bastard was fucking strong. From his mind-blowing archery to his unique way to use his spear-like arrow that was at least the same level as my scythe. He was a special person and how we both had simr mental maturity, I knew he had been trained like no other. It didn''t take a genius to tell this person was not a normal, twelve or so-year-old boy. His strength had far surpassed humans and he had neither the smell nor the aura of a human. The mastery of his weapon and the deep understanding he had were so thorough I felt like whoever taught him, engraved everything into his entire body and soul. I knew master Zahavi and there was no way he would use this kind of training method. And in this empire, I didn''t know if there was someone who had a such deep understanding of weapons that they could use methods like this. And he was even more amazing to have learned from such brutal methods. My eyes that worked on everything didn''t work on him while his eyes, his marvelous eyes saw my status window like it was no big deal. I was a witch, a far older one in actual age. My mental barrier skill [Old Magic] was some of the strongest skills I had and it was a (Indigo) ranked skill if anything. Though there were many uses of that skill, blocking appraisal skills was one of its functions. And this bastard... his skill saw not only my stats but my whole status window and my age and race. And he was so natural after seeing that age that he seemed to have seen someone of thousands of years old. Though the average lifespan of those possessing higher energy was naturally more than a hundred years, it should still be a little surprising to see a hotty like me being so old, right? My natural charm should be more than him but, it actually wasn''t. So... this boy was more charming than an old hag like me? ...for real? And he wasn''t affected by my charm at all like I was ''just'' beautiful in his eyes. Though he was blunt and... weird to say my name was beautiful, he never said something like that about my face or body. I ept that he was hot, like... mouth-watering hot and I wanted to see that strong body that held me without those thick clothes but, I wasn''t attracted to him. Nope. I wasn''t. Not one bit. There was no way I would fall for a child I had met for the first time and talked to for just a few hours. Nope. Never. Not possible. That one wasn''t happening. Well, yes. That wasn''t happening. We weren''t some novel protagonists in our first scene together that many people had longed to see. Those childish stories should end there. This was real and I knew it. It was my mistake my grandmother was in that state and I will tell them everything, go back to the ce that damn evil spirit is hiding and kill it with my own two hands. But I was thankful for this surprisingly sharp one with knowledge even I didn''t know of. To understand anguage of hundreds of years ago and have made something like this miraculous cure that can cure curses like this one and far more... If I could, I wanted to be with this guy some more, but I knew we will have to go out of this forest that brought us together. I was here to find those rare ingredients but now, there was no need for anything, not even the teddy that yed with me. It was fun, and he did well, being my ymate. Now that he was just standing there for hours, ring at us angrily without even being able to move, I felt bad for him. So¡­ -Snap! I snapped and my chains crushed his whole being as a fountain of blood rained down on the surrounding area. Well.. rest in peace, little teddy. Thankfully, we were some distance away, so we were fine and this bastard was just a ''bit'' surprised at this fabulous instant kill skill of mine. Was he so powerful that killing a teddy like that one like that would be a piece of cake for him? Like, he was bothered by my ''alluring'' loud voice but just a ''bit'' surprised by that disy of strength that took almost half of my Mana to pull off? This freaking monster bastard. We had talked for a while now, and now everything was cleared up... for now. We were now going to go back to the town. I will show him around, and then when these guys that had lived under a rock all their lives are fulfilled with things around, I will go back home. And he was going toe with me. Chapter 168 Whys It So Hot? "So, how do we get out of this ce?" Eon asked with a confused face and I looked at him. He had finished scolding his familiar butterfly Celestine and Zoe, and both of them were now quietly standing with him. His crystal butterfly was special among all the four I had seen in my life. She had the ability to perfectly disguise. It wasn''t some powerful attack skill like the magic tower master, a defense skill like our great emperor, or a mass healing skill like the grand pope. Her was just to disguise and the way she can use this skill was diverse from what I saw. Not only she can decide for herself and make countless clones, but she can also use her natural telepathic link and share a vision to observe an absurd amount ofnd. If these two went to war, they would turn the tides just from the acute field of vision and the ability of massmunication. And that was just the gist of it. Throwing the ability to change into any form that something even my eyes can''t perceive meant a total one-sided battle for their opponents. They can infiltrate their camps, just kill every superior with some trick ande out walking and no one will damn know what just happened. I didn''t know their mastery or limitations of this skill, but even if the duration was as long as my chains, that was a game close. When I deeply thought about these things that he masterfully ''forgot'' to mention, I got goosebumps all over my body. ? Axion. He truly was a monster that I would love to fight against. Though neither of us had shown even a fraction of our skills, I knew just from the small exchange of blows that even if his cousins worked together, they wouldn''t be able to defeat him. And I was talking about the two prodigies known throughout the empire for their absurd talents. There were twelve such prodigies known throughout the continent, and everyone was waiting for their debut at the next entrance ceremony of the academy. Well... I was just an old hag. I wasn''t among all these children. Though I was also going to join the academy this time, with all of them, I was already admitted with the special authority of the headmaster himself after his... fucked up test. That old geezer was something else¡­ I had to say. Well, I would be just a normal student of a normal ss and live my life quietly and with peace there. I know I will learn great things from there but, the main reason I wanted to attend was the greatest library and all the special resources it had. That ce sure was special and from what I could tell, he will also be with me, with all those geniuses. And as it was now, he had already surpassed every one of them in terms of overall strength. This was quite fun, and I knew, I knew that damn geezer will force him to join especially like me and make us do his hard work behind the shadows. That damn bastard... But, if that happens, it will mean... we will be stuck together for the next few years. ...why was my heart acting up on this thought again? "Reinelle?" He called out from behind and I came back from my weird train of thoughts that were going somewhere strange. There were still some years for that thing, no need to think too deeply about it. "Yes. Well, if we just walk for half a day? By flight, two hours? And with my travel skill, a moment?" Now this one really shocked him. "You have a travel skill?! Something like... teleport?" he asked with genuine surprise and that face he made sent a smile on my face. "Yup~! And we can all travel to the city gate if I just recover my Mana~!" It was a good feeling, escorting them like a knight and all. I was looking forward to it. He smiled awkwardly at me and I took out a blue potion from my ring. I had a storage skill, but that one would be for these beasts that would fetch a good gold. "Really? Wow... aren''t we lucky today?" I turned back after drinking the Mana recovery potion and saw he was doing something to the corpse. The teddy was crushed from the inside and his body was justying there lifeless. It was a good thing its internal body was crushed and all, the hide and des would be awesome things to sell. It was a pretty good thing already but, Eon made a Mana de and cut the side of the body, and shoved his hand inside the corpse. "What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted, finding this sudden y weird. Though it wasn''t disgusting or anything, feeling the insides and that squishy feeling was a no-no. His face while doing this was straight and from the looks of it, we had gotten lucky with my god-forsaken luck. "Wow... you really got lucky, Reinelle~." he smiled and threw a shining orb at me. I caught it and looked at the thing that hade out of the metallic teddy with my ''eyes''. "Wow... there is no way I could be this lucky," I eximed with awe with my eyes wide open as I looked at the small information about this thing. A (Green) ranked core with above-average energy? And it came out of something that I killed? Me? Really? No fracking way... That 21 luck of mine was a clear sign of just how much the goddess of luck disliked me. The world feared me. Thinking I would get every core and skill by killing every beast I find. That was the reason the world itself never gave me more luck, hump! This was my first time getting a core after killing only six (Green) ranked beasts and this one also had above-average energy, so this one was something real~ly special. And this metallic silver color... it looked just like a beautiful pearl. I loved pearls, and ocean, and the blue sky. "Pretty..." I mumbled under my breath and just stared at this beautiful energy core which was on the smaller side of average. I could hold it in one hand and this pretty thing was more attractive than anything I had seen in a while, aside from these three people, of course. He was mind freaking hot, Celes was sparkling gorgeous and Zoe... what can I even say about her? She wasn''t a human? She was an absurdly strong being that had something blocking her strength? She had knowledge, but absolutely no idea about the world as if being a newborn. Well, anyone smart enough can say those things from her childish behavior, but just from the fact that my skill refused to even activate before her... I didn''t even want to think about what might have happened had I tried to forcefully activate it. But, well, this little beauty loved Eon, so did- Ahem! "Thank you, Eon. I will have to do even better to show you the city. How about we roam the market, have lunch, travel some more, and go back to my ce by noon?" He flinched suddenly while I didn''t even say anything strange and that flinch and sudden small blush on his face looked kinda cute. "Y-your ce? You mean... at the south? Why go there?" He asked with a shuttering voice and I smile for a moment while looking down. Did I look this cute in his eyes too? For real though... I was genuinely smiling a lot right now. If grandpa and grandma saw their all-stoic, bloodthirsty, battle maniac, bitchy granddaughter smiling like this, I knew they would start preparing to take Eon as their grandson-inw. And as I said, that wasn''t happening. Nope. No. Shaking my thoughts away, I looked at him with serious eyes. "Yes. It''s important that I thank the one that might save the one and only duchess and a high mage. Grandpa will be happy to meet you personally like that too and we can call your family from themunication center and I can skip the line with my identification card. I believe you don''t have one yet, right? It will be easy if I''m there and I will also have a chance to talk with master Zahavi after a long time. But you areing with me, no excuses." I was dead serious and there was no way I was going to take no as an answer. And he can read that in my eyes. "Yes, ma''am..." he agreed after a lot ofplicated thinking and not finding anything great to use as an excuse. "Yes~! We are going to the city~!" Zoe shouted and Celes danced on her head like a little kid. Those two were some of the purest souls I had seen and this bastard was lucky to have one''s like them with him. And he understood that. That warm smile on his face told everything. A smile that a parent and a guardian would have while looking at their child. That made even me smile without reason, and I shook my head. "Come here, everyone. Hold my hand so that we can go ''zoom''~!" My old man crow Branwen, flew towards me and went inside his pure ck crow mark. And Celes went inside her mark with him as Zoe tip-toed happily at me and grabbed my hand. Purity and innocence, I was starting to love her now. And him... he was a good friend. Yup. Just that... for now... Why was it hot all of a sudden? Let''s go already. He also came and grabbed my hand gently, which felt special for a very bad reason. "Thank you, Reinelle." He thanked me with a genuine smile out of the blue and for a second, my mind went nk. But thanks to Zoe''s giggles, I was quickly able to regain myposure and shake off these weird feelings. This day had been totally weird, and I just hoped it goes ok from now on. "[Origin skill-A Shadow''s Travel]." We melted in the shadow and for the first time, these both weirdoes were going to see an actual city. ''Just what kind of face will he make? It will definitely be cute- gosh. Why even ask?'' It was going to be fun now¡­ Chapter 169 A City -Oooooong. Our bodies materialized from a shadow at the top of a small hill, and I let go of her ''special'' hand. It was just special for some reason and letting it go didn''t feel right. But... I had to let it go, for now. She looked at both of us and then towards the great city at a distance. With high metallic walls, a diamond-like outline covered with high walls, and a city that looked marvelous from this height. We weren''t that far from this ce and with my third eye, I can see just how big those metallic walls built with fine dwarven makings were. The inside of the city was just like any fantasy novel, show, or photos I had seen. Simr looking rows and columns of buildings, openrge roads, many people of different races and appearances, the magnificent castle at the center of this enormous ce and special buildings around it. Walls were normal metallic gray, made of one of the strongest materials that can be obtained inrge quantities, . Houses of wood, proper cement, and alchemical breaks, and some are even decorated with pretty-looking things and guarded with magic. This was my first time seeing a real fantasy city and if just the main city was this grand... I couldn''t even think just how great the capital would be. "Wow!!!" Ie from an advanced civilization with imcable monuments and structures, so this actually didn''t surprise me that much, but this little one was different. Even after having all the knowledge of the world, she was seeing a city for the first time. Those sparkling eyes that can also see far away, that radiant smile on her face, that cute look... she was adorable~. "Big brother! Let''s go! I wanna see that thing! And eat everything~! Big sister! Let''s goooo~!" She shouted with a cheerful smile and grabbed both our hands. We were back to our ck hair appearance and Reinelle had her own skill that can change her appearance. Now, she had normal brown hair, and even her clothes were like every normal folk. Her eyes were ck like mine but, they were lighter and if I looked closely, there was a pink dot at the center of her eyes. There was a helpless smile on her face like mine, too, and she had taken a liking to Zoe. And I had taken- She was smart, and I knew that from the short time we spent together. And there were some things she knew had happened behind me that I had no idea about. She was angry for some reason, and she also pitied me. She was the first person I met aftering back to the human domain and, miraculously; she was as special as me. It was just a coincidence but, for some reason, I liked it. I liked this whole thing more than necessary and I was looking forward to seeing this city with them. The city was enormous and as we were on higher ground; the ce was far smaller than when we actually reached the gates. "Wee to one of the main cities of the great empire. The city offort, Hygge. It is a tourist attraction for the high ground and peaceful air that cover the city. Mainly, peoplee here for vacations and for its nearby hunting grounds that are filled with great creatures. Though there isn''t much about this city on the small scale, things go peacefully here. If we just exclude the night dens and the underworld, we can see in all ces, this city is a great ce. The big market full of shops is one of the best things I like about this ce." she said as we entered the city through the enormous gates. They truly were huge, but nothingpared to the trees and beasts I had seen in the great forest. And as soon as we entered the city, a straight road was covered with small stalls on both sides. "Wow~! What''s that big sister!? Why are there so many fruits?!" Zoe asked as she ran toward the closest fruit stall and we looked at each other with a helpless look. "Let''s go." She said with a smile, and I smiled back. "After you, mydy," I answered, and she shook her head at this behavior. Walking to the ce Zoe was looking at all the familiar, normal fruits, she patted her head. I just hoped she had the money for now. I will have to visit some different shops to sell some things to get some quick cash. "Hello, beautiful miss~! What would you like today~? We freshly picked all the fruits this morning, you will like it for sure~!" The one selling the fruits, a mature man with a fine mustache, said while rubbing his hands. The dude was a good person from the looks of it and the fruits he was selling were great too, fresh, just like he said. The preservation magic cast on them was also good quality, so this one was a good ce to start her world exploration. "Big sister~! I want that apple!" Zoe shouted in a merry voice, pointing at the best apple in the shop. The shopkeeper''s eyes shined, and he smiled in amazement. "Looks like young miss has a great eye for things." He said and Rein smiled back. Rein... hmmm, yes. This one was cuter. "How much?" she asked with a smile and he lifted two fingers with a hopeful smile. "Who you kidding, young man? One is good." She spoke and just tossed a copper coin at him. "Indeed. Have a nice daydies~!" he replied and waved at them as Zoe jumped at the second shop. I knew she would just buy anything she wanted and Rein would just buy her from that look on her face. We were helpless here. She was just adorable¡­ Well, these two were doing their shopping. I also had to do some things. "Rein! You two go ahead. Take Celes too. I will be back after doing some shopping myself. Please take care of these two children!" [[ Thanks master~! Yeiiiiii~! ]] Celes came out of her mark without anyone seeing anything and jumped down on Zoe''s shoulder. "Take care Eon~!" Rein shouted and looked at the shop owner before her. Babysitting cheerful ones like those two was an exhausting task but, I knew she would be just fine. Maybe I would buy something for her while I was at it, too. And for my family? Well, I had time, we will see that one. Waving at them, I turned around and started walking on the other side of the road that lead to the dark alley. I had no ID, so selling things legally would be more of a hassle than I could think. And I also wanted to look at some things that only those ces would have. Not that this city would have undergrounds as I knew. This would be just your normal ce that was just named as such. And for my first destination, I was going to a jewelry shop. Chapter 170 Peculiar Normal Shop In a usual novel or something simr, a back alley would be a ce where something bad usually happens. The main characters meet bad people, attack others, kill, gamble, do bad things, and stuff like that. But this back alley was just like any other ce I had passed through in this city. Same people, same kind of stores, same cheerful atmosphere and the distinct uniqueness of this ce. Though people looked shady, like those usual big, bad people of shows, they were happily doing their trades and stuff. This ce had more rare, diverse, and more things than the normal market, and though the shops looked old and all, if you enter any one of them, they would be the same as anything on the main street. This was the ''clean'' back alley of the city, and though there was a dark one, I had no work there. People here were those that had no identity, were refugees of other ces, small criminals, or people like that. And this radiant atmosphere was better than the too lively market outside. This was good, and I had reached the shop Rein mentioned. The best shop to deal with jewels and gold stuff that had more hard value than the resources. And right now¡­ I was disguised as a big, middle-aged man with a rough body and had the air of a ferocious beast around me. Most just avoided me as I walked through the paths and I currently had no money, so I can''t even buy things I wanted from here. If I wanted some quick cash, selling the most worthless things was the best thing for me. And gems, those normal pieces of pretty stones that justid around on some floors of our house were the best option. Though there was a gem room filled with precious stones that had special powers, the ones I had were just worthlesspared to those marvelous pieces of craft. I had some of those rocks that I knew would fetch me a good gold or tinum so I was looking forward to these dealings. This shop was the best ce to sell this kind of thing ording to her so I was here. Standing before a wooden door shop that few entered, I knocked on the door three times. "What do you need?" An old male voice asked from behind the door. "Money," I answered as Rein had told me, and the voice asked again. "Silver, gold, or tinum?" The voice asked again, and I sighed internally. ''What the hell? Why this mysterious process like those secret ces? Damn, this wasn''t even that big of a deal. There should be better and bigger ces where you would need passwords to enter but, this jewelry shop wasn''t one of them.'' Shaking my head, I answered the question. "All," I responded, and the old voice behind the door gasped audibly. This was the exact reaction one would have when you tell them you have something that would interest everyone in general. This was quite something, and the door opened. The old man in a fine butler uniform greeted me with a bow as I observed the inside of the building with surprised eyes. The outside of this building was normal, just like any other building around this area but, the inside had a different story. Not only this ce was shining like any other modern store on the normal market, there were more decorations and fancy details inside it. The spatial magic used in this ce was superb, and just the fact that this small three-story building had far more space inside was enough to tell their influence. Just like any luxurious shop, there were different counters with different special gems, and that wasn''t all. There were some artifacts, rare resources, and even magic tomes disyed on shelves. This ce was fine and the employees here were also clean, dressed in fine coats like some vast ce. This was more than I expected and just from the look on the old man with brown hair and dark green eyes, I knew I would have a good time here. "Can you prove your im, sir? I will have to ask the manager to check your goods if it''s true." He politely asked, intimidated by my size and fierce aura. Though there were guards in full armor all over the ce and even the people inside were looking at me like I was some kind of killer, he was faring well. These people couldn''t even see my face inside this (level-4) hood artifact I borrowed from her before departing from the forest. And from their clean, noble-like outfits, I knew they were special customers. Well, I wasn''t here for things like that. Looking down at the old man, I put my arm around him and made him bend down in the corner. The guards reacted in an instant but, the old man lifted his hand to stop them. I knew this old man was a (tier-3) mage, but it was nothing. Even though mages were rare as a whole, finding a (tier-3) and working with him as a gatekeeper would be the least expected thing from an organization like this one. Well, it was still nothing. "What do you think you are doing, sir?" the old man asked with a serious face, and I took out a single diamond from my storage device. "The sample," I said in the voice of an adult man that made him shiver in fear. He could feel that I was strong, stronger than him at the very least, and so he didn''t want anything to get ruined in their dear shop. He gulped as he looked into my now disguised blue eyes and nodded in fear. But, as soon as his eyes fell on the finely crafted diamond that was clear on the side of his palm, his eyes widened and glued to the rock. That was the highest quality gem and he could tell just from a nce just how precious it was for them. But I had no intention of just letting him star at this excellent piece of rock. He wasn''t the one I would be talking to. Storing the diamond back, I pressured his shoulders and said in a deeper voice, "Get me the highest person. I have more than one like this." He jolted his head towards me with unbelieving eyes that couldn''t believe my words. His whole body was shaking right now, and his whole body was covered with sweat. His hands and mouth were shaking just from the thoughts but, he managed to utter those words with much difficulty. "M-more?" ''Cute grandpa. This is fun~! How will the higher-ups react~? Hehehe.'' I was having a st right now and how the whole store had fallen silent from the moment I entered was even more fun to watch. I would have shown this one to those three too but, the threedies were doing cloth shopping right now so that wasn''t my ce to ''observe''. Not that I wanted to see Rein in different clothing. That was too childish. This was more fun than that and how the observation devices all over this ce were stopped from the moment I took out that rock was enough to tell me the higher up was watching us. The grandpa was horrified and I had enough fun with him for now. Taking off my hand, I just nodded at him. My eyes were still strongly staring at him, and he was barely holding himself up. "P-pleasee this way, dear guest." He said after straightening himself and receiving the orders through that hearing device around his ears. This was just a start, though. Things would be even more fun with an experienced merchant. I will do the first deal of this life today~! This was too exciting and just the thought of doing bargains and intimidating the opponent with this form was giving me tickles. ''Hehehe... this really is awesome~!'' Chapter 171 A Good, Jeweler, Owner? On the top floor of this shop, surprisingly, on the fifth floor, I entered the most special-looking room. Just from the decorations outside of the room, I knew this was the shop owner''s room. The catchy decorations, the fancy-looking fountains, paintings, and the statues were good, but as soon as I entered the ce, I was met with even morevish things. ''Whoever this owner is, he sure loves expensive things. It sure says a lot of things about them...'' Looking around the shiny-shiny room that practically sparkled in every corner, I sighed internally. He would be the perfect one for these shiny rocks. "Sir, the guest is here." The old man said from the door and closed it from behind. I didn''t wait for this person that was sitting on the throne-like chair behind his desk and just set down on the couch before me. There were shiny things made of real gold and ''normal'' stuff that didn''t attract me at all. There were some artifacts and rare gems but these things were just ok. This shop sure was a good ce but, this owner''s room wasn''t that much exciting. I just set there and helped myself to the tea prepared there and the cake. Well, these were good and of high quality. But nothing like dad. Well... I was looking forward to our lunch, so I wanted to finish this quickly and go back to her... to them. "I saw them..." Thankfully, this bastard understood I had no big time. "Yo, person. Let''s wrap this up. I have the stuff to do." I replied to his leisurely behavior in a serious voice, and he spun his chair toward me. This was one of those pig-like bastards that had a fat build and wore gold and jewels like they were flourishing. ''Should have guessed it... but, aren''t these types of the best merchant? Let''s see what he''s got.'' He stood up with his big tummy and set before me with a serious expression. His face was chubby, his mustache was clean, his hair was darker ck and his eyes were silvery. I could feel it, this person... he wasn''t like your typical pig bastards. There was more to him than just that. "Can I see them again? You said you have more than one. If possible, I want to see all of them. We can finish things quickly if you are in a hurry." His eyes were sharp, just like mom when she was in the pro mood. This person was good, but not even close to mom. But... he can make a pretty good worker in her merchant guild. Not that there were fewer like him in line, but still, he had something special about him. I had already checked it but his stats were normal, and his skills were normal like any normal person, but one skill caught my attention. ============ [Old jeweler] ---> A unique skill that has appeared from his long bloodlines of master jewel appraisers. ---> This person has a strong understanding of jewels and as long as it is a normal jewel, he can appraise it. ---> The person has a good understanding of his field of expertise and he would be good to sell the super old gemstones. ---> Though he looks like the typical fatties, he is a somewhat good merchant. ============ ''Good, good. You''re improving. Keep up.'' Iplimented my skill for some reason and looked at him. His name was Gohar, and from the looks of it, he was some minor nobleman. Well, whatever. He will give a good price to these rare, old, pure, and fabulous gems. "They are dear to me, mister. I hope you will understand this." I said in a grave voice and took out three jewels from my storage device. A diamond, a jade, and an emerald. Three precious stones with no special power aside from the fact that they sparked a fire in his eyes are now set on the table before us. His eyes were locked on them, and every one of them was... impable. That perfect color, that depth, crafted with the natural shape and highest purity one could find in this era. "Oh, holy grandfather..." He mumbled under his breath and just stared at them with tear-filled eyes. They were just normal gemstones, and I had even confirmed it through my eyes, Lucy''s ''advise'', and Rein''s eyes. I knew just how precious these things were in the human domain, but I had drawers filled with them. What I liked more were those special gemstones I saw downstairs. Those things were somewhat useful to me. And those magic tomes were naturally more valuable than anything here. I wanted to buy everything there but, for that, I had to make a good deal with this person. I could feel his emotion at the moment. Seeing such beautiful jewels would be a dream of any jeweler. And those were his genuine emotions. He was the perfect person that will pay any amount I ask, and I wasn''t going to hold back on this one. "Three hundred tinum. How does that sound to you?" I asked with a serious face, and he flinched as he looked at me with absurd eyes. His eyes were asking something like ''do you even hear yourself?'' I had studied the market with Celes''s clones so I knew the prices and all but... was 300 low or high for him? I had no idea what he was thinking about but, thankfully; he sighed and looked back at me. "Are you sure you want to sell these precious gems?" He asked with a genuine face, and I nodded with some hesitation. "Those belong to my old granny. Now, she has left the world and if they are just some very precious stones, I would be better while being away from them. You, sir, look like you know the worth of these things as much as I do so, I will give them to you. Take care of them¡­" He joined his hands and prayed genuinely to the heavens on these grave words. He really was different from all those things I was thinking. I should apologize for judging his character this much. Not that I will leave this bastard alone. "The price you just asked is absurd, unreal, actually. It''s almost all of my savings and that''s it. But if I can exchange those useless pieces of metal for something as precious as this, I would happily even give my all being." He said with tear-filled eyes and just extended his hand. There was no negotiation, no fierce bargain, nothing like I expected. He didn''t even try to say another price. Were those things worth more than just some hundred tinum? I would find out if that was the case but, if I was wrong and had failed to read the emotions of this person, I was the biggest fool. But I believed Rein. She said anyone would give whatever I asked them for these marvelous stones. And this first deal of my new life just ended without much problem. "A magic card will be ok, right? You must know how it works, right?" He asked as he caressed every one of those gems with pure love like they were some kind of animal. I just nodded on that one and on his one call, the grandpa from before entered the room while holding a golden card with special designs and modern micro enchantments painted on them. I took the card and saw the exact number of coins and the total on the back. 230 tinum, 6900 gold, 9900 silver, and 10,000 copper. He did pretty well on this one and I knew from his behavior... this moron was a good person. [[ *That''s extortion, I would say Eon. But it was pretty good.* ]] Lucy was happy with this transaction, so I had nothing to worry about it. He may have spent his entire fortune on these rocks for all I cared. I was in the profit now. Just the fact that I can buy many skills and books with this money was enough to make me jump in excitement. And all this money was from some rocks from one of the bedrooms back at home. We had countless rooms on the bedroom floor and every one of them was decorated with things simr to or better than these three rocks. Just this fact was enough to tell how rich I was in terms of resources. Not that I cared about anything like that. I just wanted to enjoy my life. My mom was already one of the richest on the continent for all I cared. "Farewell..." I said my bye-bye and exited the room, leaving him alone with his new stones. I could hear the merry voices of the piggy-like person and everything from the looks of things, he was actually a decent person. Things were going great, and now I finally had money to use left and right. I had a full shop before me so I should buy some things too, right? The negotiations want well for us and I believe it is a reality now. Though these were guards and all, hiding in the shadows like assassins, they were inexperienced. My dream of serious negotiation was tarnished and there was nothing I could do about this overjoyed person. Well, anyways~... Shopping!! Chapter 172 New Skill Back downstairs, I was looking through some good-looking books on magic, medicine, and alchemy, and surprisingly, there were normal books of today in this shop, too. Normally being hard to get by romance novels and stuff. There were many good things here but, I was most interested in skills and special jewels. I had money to buy whatever I wanted now, so I was really excited. The card the owner gave me was just a normal storage device specially created for storing money. Though only ''rice'' people had these cards and they were mostly used to storerge amounts of coins, and I was happy he gave me one himself. Just the card was more than 200 gold, so having something like this was really convenient. His shop was a good ce too, I would say. He actually had a section especially for skills. Though I had knowledge like no other and the ability to store spells in my mind, I would still prefer using skill in most circumstances. Easy to use, less suspicious, versatile. Skills were better than my ''normal'' spells in many cases and if you find more skills that suit you better, it would be a convenient thing. I hadbat skills, and the skills I already possessed were better but, from my current body limitations, I could still have two or three good skills. The thought of having unlimited skills itself was foolish if someone actually thought about it. The skill stone literary engraves the precoded spell on the body. Just the fact that one would have the mental fortitude to have many skills and a strong enough body to support it would be amazing. Normal people couldn''t have a stronger skill with them. They would just die if they even tried to absorb three or so low-grade skill stones. Even the normal mages of the lower tiers had the limit of four or five at max. Even dad only had eight, like me, thest time I asked him some years ago. I could have ten at the moment, so two was the limit if I were to have a stronger skill. And from this fact, just the thought that Rein had twelve skills aside from her unique skill was enough to tell just how strong she was in the natural aspect. And every one of her skills was perfect for her. Maybe that was the power of having strong backing and open resources for a long time? And she must be the one that chose those skills herself. She could have even more skills if she wanted to, from what I can tell. She was stronger than me if I thought about it, and had a strong mental fortitude of special witches specialized in physical and magical aspects. But there were hardly any skills that would go well with her already perfect lineup. Though there were many skills stones and even more special things in the endless treasury I had been to, I didn''t get the chance to go there again after our goodbye. There were countless precious things on the top floor, but it would be a long time for me to go back there. so, all in all, I was looking through all the skill stones of different sizes, shapes, and colors with my ''eyes''. There were many skills for the attack, defense, recovery, and things like that but, they weren''t as good as the ones I already had. And most of them were (Red), (Orange), and the highest were (Green) ranked skills. Well, just the fact that these people had a total of 50 skill stones on their five shelves was enough to tell just how good this shop was, and... the owner had just thrown his wealth for some shiny stones. Not that he would take long to build that back. All he will have to do will be use his collection of other assets like houses, treasure chests, and the other kind of wealth he had. The coins were the mostmon and normal form of currency peoplemonly used. These coins would be easy to earn back against a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get his hands on those precious rocks. What a fool... [[ *Oh? Isn''t that one good, Eon?* ]] Lucy said as I was on a different train of thought and I looked at the ce she mentioned. And this one really was surprising. [[ "Nice... something actually usable. Thank you, Lucy~!" ]] She really was something else to notice this one from these countless screens opened before my eyes and stacked on each other. Clearing the other screens that were nothingpared to this one, I looked at the young man on the other side. He looked just normal with brown hair and ck eyes, and the fear in his being was clear. At least, this form was working well. "That one," I said in the same heavy voice I had used, and he flinched in horror. It must have felt like I would just rip him apart or something like that... how cute~. With shaking hands, he took out a heart-shaped green-colored skill stone and set it before me. ''Three Eyes.'' ============ [Vital Healing] --->A skill that allows you to use your vitality to heal the target. ---> The healing process would depend on the vitality one possesses and you can decide how much you want to sacrifice your vitality. ---> The skill can also heal internal wounds, but the user would need arge amount of health for that. ---> This skill is (Yellow) ranked and from the group of nt-type monsters called (Green Fields Roselia). ---> The skill potential greatly varies from the one that possesses it. ---> You have great natural vitality and with the golden fruit you possess, we can even push the skill effect to a (tier-4) healing spell. ---> You should thank the one that pointed this marvelous skill to you, you eyed-blind person. [Mana: 30] ============ ''You should have done it yourself, you little. When will you learn, you little rascal?'' I sighed internally at the ''special'' words of my dear skill and looked at the man at the counter. Though he was as strong as a [Rank-2] knight, he was really terrified at the moment. Poor him~. "How much?" I asked with the same voice, and he slowed his head to avoid any kind of eye contact. This one sure was afraid, without a reason. "T-that one will be one tinum coin s-sir." He answered with the best of his strength, and I just nodded. That was a good price, and I didn''t like to do negotiations when buying small things like this one. And it was a reasonable price from only their point of view. For me, this was cheap for a skill that could be used endlessly as a high-level healing spell. And if I said even a (tier-2) healing spell was as good as an intermediate potion on the market, I had a skill that could have a better effect than even the advanced healing potion. And with mana recovery faster than 30 in a fight or danger, this skill was more than a lifesaver for me and others. This was a nice find, and I was happy to be in this ce. I should thank Rein for this suggestion too, so taking her out for dinner- I can think about those things after finishing my shopping. There were many things I wanted to buy from this shop, as well as the shops on the outside. I would try the normal stores on the main streets when I get my IDs too, so I was looking forward to going with her even more. But more than that, I was worried about what might happen when I call home. I don''t know who was going to pick me up, but I was damn sure most of them would be there to fetch me. I was just hoping they all didn''te running or anything like that. It would be a disaster. [[ *Hehehe. Don''t think too much, Eon. We don''t know what will happen, so let''s just go with it. And it would be a good thing if they all doe there, no? You will meet them all a bit early.* ]] She was amazing sometimes. Saying things in a way grandma would say. This was enough to tell why she was different from other answering skills. Having a [Will] meant much more than being able to converse with others. I could feel her, just like Celes and Zoe. And this was a special feeling maybe only I could have. [[ "Yes..." ]] I sighed internally and took the skill stone after putting one tinum coin that was the same size as the gold coin and had the empire''s great pattern on it. I now had a new skill with me, my ninth non-unique skill. And now I only needed a mind-blowing special skill to finish my ten-skill line-up. But finding something that fascinating, even more than dad''s watersers, would be a tough task for me. But, I knew I will get what I want from mom''s auction house. That ce was THE BEST in the empire and I was looking forward to seeing it for a long time. Of course, I was going to pay for things myself. Even though it wasn''t necessary, I wanted to do things on my own to some extent now. And I knew she won''t disagree with me on that one. I knew where and how to invest the money as great as her, after all. She was my mom... and I had to finish things here soon. It will be lunchtime very soon and I was looking forward to the ce we will be eating the things I brought to this world. But... I could have never believed they had grown this much in this short time. ''Mom... oh mom.'' She was an amazing person I couldn''t help but respect. With a deep sigh, I walked onto the other counter with books and elemental gemstones and the shopping continued. Chapter 173 A Normal Lunch "Big brother~!" Zoe shouted as soon as she sensed my presence and ran toward me with a radiant smile. She was now wearing a green-blue dress and a cute hat. She looked adorable in that outfit, and the smile on her face was enough to soothe my heart. "Slow down, little one," Rein shouted from behind her and just shook her head with an exhausted sigh. I knew she was exhausted and all, but she was still smiling brightly while looking at us. Zoe hugged me like a little girl, and I hugged her back. Can''t help it, she was just that cute. "We had fun, big brother~! Come with us next time~." She said while hugging me and I patted her head. "Ok, ok. I will~." I answered her with a radiant smile and hugged her back. She will understand things quickly and I knew she will mature quickly, only showing her this side to me and some other few. Well, we were like this for now and I didn''t mind it at all. "A... you two look adorable~!" For a moment, I forgot we were in the middle of the road and there were countless people walking around us,ing in and out of the building before us. This was the ce she mentioned and something my mom had created in that short time I wasn''t here. And this was just one of the countless ces she had built in that process of rage. Well, we will have a nice, long, heart-to-heart when I meet her again, so that was that. "Let''s go, Zoe. I''m starving~!" I smiled at her and she nodded with a merry smile. "Let''s Gooo~!" She shouted in an even more cheerful voice and walked toward Rein while dragging me with her. "Slow down girl~!" Why was this little sister of mine so energetic all of a sudden? What were those three doing? "You look happier. Did things go well there?" Rein asked as she held Zoe''s other hand and Celes came back to her mark. [[ We had fun~! ]] Celes shouted in the same cheerful voice as her, and I shook my head. These children... what''s so good about simple shopping? Did they get so excited just with this? [[ "Good, good." ]] Giving her an answer and hearing her giggles, I looked back at Rein as we entered through the door and nodded with a helpless smile. The structure of this big two-story shop was the same as any fast-food joint in my past world and I could see just how... clean this ce was. There were tables for eating and the inside of this ce was naturally bigger than what mat to eyes on the outside. There was a counter on the other side, big posters of colorful burgers, fries, different things on a roll, and even normal meals like steak and cakes. The counter and every table had small menus, and behind the counter, there was a transparent window with the kitchen. The artifacts used to cook were special, and I hadn''t seen them in any books I had read. So, they were new inventions newly made from the thoughts I told them. Though somewhat different, every one of those specially made artifacts was good for quick and quality product making. Though those things couldn''te close to what we had back home, nothing could actually, I was really impressed by them. Zoe was seeing them for the first time, and her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She had seen more good-looking artifacts back home, so she wasn''t as surprised by it but, she sure was happy to see such a ce and so many people in one ce. This one was a mix of food joint and restaurant so there were many seats preupied with smiling couples, normal folks, and families. The core target of a good fast-food joint should be the normal folks who can afford the things and get them quickly while they take a break from work. That''s what the traditional way was back in the times of my previous world. Good and cheap food that''s quick to make. And mom had executed everything so perfectly that I couldn''t find manyints with the system itself. So, we were going to have the not-so-normal burgers and fries. Come to think of it, let''s have a pizza too. I''m more hungry after shopping for that long. Sitting down on one of the empty seats, I looked at both of them and asked for their orders. Zoe wanted a biggggg pizza with a lotttt of cheese, just like her mama. Rein asked to help out but, I denied this one and went to the counter after hearing just how much she liked the burger with triple cheese, hot sauce, and fries. And she loved them despite being from a prominent noble family. Well, everyone in the world would love them for all I knew. She looked super cute while talking about them. I wanted to k- pat her head, but I controlled those desires and just went to the counter and looked at the happily smilingdy with a white apron and a golden logo with , the unique logo that had be one of the most famous brands. She looked beautiful and the smile as she looked at me was also filled with happiness. The perfect attitude an employee of such ce should have. "What would you like today, little young man~?" Her voice was also good and her long, light brown hair looked attractive, too. She was a good worker. Smiling back at her, I quickly ced my order without much chit-chat. There was no need for me to chat with some employees when I wasn''t even here as the one who made this ce''s son. I was just a normal, everyday customer, so there was nothing for me to talk about here. After waiting for a few moments, the food got ready and presented before me in a giant tray. "Should I send someone to help you?" She asked as she looked at the tray the same size as me and I simply shook my head. "Thank you for your great work." Thanking her, I lifted the big tray filled with our food and easily walked to my seat. And as soon as I reached them¡­ "Yei~!" Zoe shouted merrily in her excited voice and we both shook our heads with a sigh. Sitting with Zoe and exactly on the other side as Rein, I looked her in the eye as she looked back at mine. And as this staring went on for a while, she gave up. "Are we doing some kind ofpetition?" She asked without blinking, and I tilted my head. "We might have to fight if you want that." This might have been a grave danger for this ce but, she understood I caught her red-handed. "Just for some fried potatoes? We can order more, no?" "Of course, we can. But... stealing fries is a grave crime, don''t you know that?" Though she didn''t mean anything, I saw, and she knew I saw her eating my fries just now. Not that I was some patty person who wouldn''t share food, I definitely would with a bright smile. But... there were some things I would never share. Ice cream and fries are some of them. And even if she joins these some things, not her in particr, I''m talking about my special someone, I would have to think three times before sharing it. This was a great offense, and if it was someone else, they would be crying from the bottom of their hearts. She... was safe for now. "I will let this one go. But I don''t forgive after the third time. Remember that, Reinelle Atraxia." I was serious and she could see that in the using of full name. "Gosh, you''re a cute weirdo. Take this. Though I don''t share, I will apologize for this." She rolled her eyes at me and gave her box of fries to me. "More is always appreciated. Thank you, lovelydy." I smiled and took the box without hesitation and at that time, we both heard Zoe''s beautiful chuckles. "Big brother and big sister are sooo~ funny. Hehehe..." she was holding her soft crustrge pizza with delight as she looked at both of us and just smiled lovingly. We looked at each other and...ughed while shaking our heads. I didn''t understand these feelings but, she might actually be the one. Who knows... No one knew the future but, I knew one thing. "This is delicious..." Not as good as my cooking but, this was really delicious. And I wanted to describe this taste, color, vor, and all but... I knew the ones reading this would have watery mouths. So, without much thinking, I just enjoyed my first lunch together with Reinelle and my dear sister, Zoe. Oh... how would it be if I set in a ce like this with my whole family? Yes... we could do something like that, right? Chapter 174 Awkward Moment. "That was good ~!" Zoe shouted as we got out of the store after she paid for the meal. She said she would pay for everything today, and though it didn''t go well with her, I managed to give her the money for Zoe''s shopping. Zoe was my responsibility and so did her shopping. She can pay for everything else for all she wanted, but the shopping was a different matter. And... what the hell were they buying, spending hundred and eighty gold in that short time? I would believe if it was only some dress and jewelry or make-up, food, toys and stuff like that but... spending hundred and eighty gold in that short time? In a city''s market, no less. What will they do if I left them in the capital''s market that was at least six times bigger than this one? They would just throw hundreds of gold for useless things like that. ...not that I minded or anything. They can spend hundreds of tinum and more if they wanted and I would give them more than that happily. Just that I... was someone who would use the least amount where it was needed. It was just a habit, but I didn''t like just spending on things that would have no actual use to me. Well, I had a lot of money to do whatever the hack I wanted in this life andst too. I can make my own town, city, or even kingdom if I wanted but, why would I do such useless things when I can just live my life quietly? And she was here with me, too. Rein was a good person, too attractive to dislike in any manner. And I knew she would have given the best price for anything Zoe bought today. I had no interest in what they did so, I just focused on what was toe. I had spent thirty-six tinum myself. What would I even say to thesedies? That was thirty-six thousand gold and... that was a lot. So I was a bigger shopping junkie than these sweetdies. How does the old crow grandpa feel while with them? Like me or even more exhausted than me? Ladies... will always beplicated beings. "Eon. Should we go to themunication center now? We should call your home and let them know... ''the hero has returned~''. Hehehe." She was definitely hiding something about this hero thing, but I knew I will find out, eventually. But the way she was making fun of me was getting to me now. That fries thing was also new for her. I knew in her long life I was the first one to have acted like this. But that was who I was. She will have to find a way to deal with this if she wanted me- to be my true friend. Looking into her crescent eyes, I smiled back and nodded with joy. "Lead the way, madam Reinelle. This humble one will follow wherever the great one leads." These cringe words made her silent for a moment, then, looking at me, she couldn''t help butugh. "Hahaha... Eon~! That one was new. You... boy~. Saying as if you will follow even to the hell." She found it funnier than it was for some reason and that smile... that genuine, radiant smile on her pretty face... "Of course. To hell, heaven, just... say the word." Some words nkly escaped my mouth for some reason and that made me stop instantly. She looked at me with eyes that were as serious as when talking about fries. Though my words were unexpected to even me, I really meant them for some reason. And this made her blush... the same one she had in the forest. That red face, really, I found it the second cutest thing for some reason. Even though she was in her disguise, my normal eyes were more than enough to see her in her true form than this one. She was captivating in these eyes, but that was it... for now. "Ahem. Shell we?" I said and extended my hand, making here out of her simr train of thoughts. "O-oh. Yes. L-let''s go~." Without saying much, she just started walking... in the wrong direction. "Big sister~! We have to go this way, right~? Hehehe." Whenever something like this happens between us, this little one gets so happy that I feel that her long-cherished wish had been fulfilled. Did my grandma know I would meet her or something? Well... even though it might be possible, Zoe wasn''t grandma. This fun was her own, and I knew just how much she liked watching us like that. But what was there to watch? We were just two friends chatting and having fun, that''s it. Shaking my head, I looked at her back and shook my head. What was happening here? Well... hell. She also shook her head, somewhat embarrassed and angry, and started ''walking'' in the right direction. That was quite a fast walking and if not for the fact that it actually was just walking for her, I would have thought she was running for a medal. "Hehehe..." [[ Hahaha... ]] [[ *Huhuhu...* ]] These three... what was I supposed to do? And why was it suddenly hot? Shaking my head, I grabbed Zoe''s hand, and we ''walked'' behind her, passing through the crowded street at a fast speed. Today has been going as one of the weirdest days of my life and it was only half finished. The other half of the day was still ahead of us. *** Standing before one of the biggest and most secured buildings in the city, we wondered at this structure. Thismunication center was mostly used to receive and deliver letters and special messages. This was a giant five-story building, colored in white and green with different designs all over it. This was a nice first impression, and she wasn''t saying anything now. Was she... angry at me or something? Nah. I didn''t do anything for a female to be angry at me. Not that I knew. She just silently walked in and we followed her behind, as quiet as her. Even my little sister was hesitant about the thought of meeting someone from my family for the first time. Well, there was nothing to worry about or anything like that. If anything, I knew everyone would love her. And there was my Anna. Why wouldn''t she love a lovely sister like her? On the other hand, I knew Anna and Zoe would love to be together. But right now, we have to first contact them. We walked through the giant, open gates and the inside of thismunication center office entered our eyes. And this was the most fanatical ce I had seen in my life. Chapter 175 Communication Center A floor as big as our library, some elevator-like artifacts in one corner that led to different floors, reception desks, and waiting areas with people of different statuses. Though there were long lines, there was barely anyone in some special reception rooms for nobles and higher-paying customers. A standard setting, if I said so myself. This was a good ce and this look, those countless rooms on each floor and outer offices with countless files and paperwork were something I liked to witness for the first time. We two were following Rein and there were different lines formoners, merchants, adventurers, official folks with argent work, and some special desks for high-ranking nobles and their workers. Without wasting any time and passing by all other lines, we stood before the higher noble counter and the receptionist looked at her with a serious expression. Her eyes were enough to tell she was annoyed to see some children ying around in a busy ce like this and that the guards behind her were just waiting for her orders to take care of us. But, as soon as Rein took out a purple metallic card, decorated with fine gold, she flinched visibly. The sudden change of emotions on her face was so dramatic that even the guards behind her fell confused and one of them tried to move forward. But she just raised her hand and stopped him from moving. Taking Rein''s card with shaking hands, she put it on a scanning artifact that could check the authenticity of the document. I had seen these devices, and we even had some in the artifact room, thrown like trash. And, when the information on the card was disyed before her on a screen like a holographic screen, cold sweat ran down her back. "F-forgive me for my rudeness earlier. P-please tell us what you need and we will prepare it right away." She said and gave the card back with both hands still shaking. I had to say, this was an extraordinary scene. I knew the gap between nobles andmoners was quite huge but, to react like this just in the presence of one was my first time. I didn''t want anyone to behave like this with me, and if it was only my status, then I had no problem giving up on it. Humans are easier to understand when you can freely work, talk and live with them. And I had enough experience to understand these worst beings. Rein just sighed and took back the card from her hand and stored it in her storage device. "A special room without any mage. And make it as quick as possible." Rein said in a somewhat authoritative tone and the receptionist nodded with a still shaking body. Picking up an ancient telephone like an artifact, she covered the other end and her mouth with her hand and quietly conversed with the one on the other side. Her eyes were wide, her heartbeat faster, and the tension in her throat, body, and forehead was easy to understand. As if amon subject facing a king, she was terrified of making another mistake that might most probably take her life. Being a noble, and a high-ranking one was an even bigger thing than I had thought. And just what kind of identification card did she use to make this receptionist so terrified like this? Well, who cares? "P-please, this way. I w-will guide you to your room." Saying that, she hurriedly stood up and walked out of the wooden counter and stood before us. Rein didn''t like this one too, and I could feel that she was just going on with whatever was happening right now. She looked back at us and shook her head with a sigh, and I just nodded. Looks like she forgot what had happened some time ago. Actually, what happened? I was still clueless. "Let''s go," Rein ordered, and the female receptionist with gray hair and ck eyes started walking forward. I just grabbed Zoe''s hand as we walked behind them. Standing on the round elevator, the receptionist clicked on some of the buttons in a set order and the lift... started going down? Was there an underground structure too? ''My passive detection didn''t pick anything. Looks like they did good work with making this ce.'' I was confident in my passive detection and if something can deflect Mana was protecting this undergrad structure then... (: Scan) I used my Solnova detection magic and... there actually was another floor, bigger than the one underground in this building. ''Wow... I should check every ce before entering. Mana might be too old to have counters even in ces like this.'' I haven''t lived with humans in this world much but, it will take me a while to understand this world as it was. Being in a forbidden zone, the great forest at that, for that long, would have been an unbelievable thing for any normal human, and maybe they would have just reacted like a forest man aftering back. Thanks to grandma, and having lived among my race for a long, I knew the things and behavior of a ''normal'' human. And Zoe had all the knowledge, so she learned at a speed that no mortal would understand. She understood everything happening at the moment, so she was doing well on her own, so I had no need to worry about her. Rein was in her character too, so I was just observing the new floor we had just entered. This ce was the same as any floor we could see on the outside, but there were magic lights making this ce as bright as the outside. We walked through the straight corridor and stopped at one of the doors identical to any other wooden road on this floor. "H-have a safe talk~." The receptionist bowed and walked back to the elevator in hurried steps and just stood there. "Well, sorry for earlier, Eon. Let''s first talk to master Zahavi and resolve this matter," she said as soon as we entered the room and I closed the door behind me. What was she sorry about again? "Well, ok. But, don''t apologize. You did nothing wrong... not that I know why you''re sorry in the first ce. You''re an awesome person I want to know more about, so, let''s have a long talk after this one, ok~?" I smiled at her with those words that just flowed out of my mouth and she also nodded. "We shall." She said and just sighed with a relieved smile. I felt relieved... why am I feeling relieved? When''s this weird day going to end...? The room was dark, and there was only onemunication crystal set in the middle of this empty room that connected with different arrays of magic and magic circles. The crystal ball was big, but not as big as the one we had in the garden. But it was still bigger than my head. (Air silence), (Vision block), (Earth anti-vibration), (Low-visibility), (Anti interruption). She cast five (tier-3) spells like they were nothing on the spot and just stood before the crystal ball. I didn''t know what kind of ce thismunication center was, but she was being careful in this matter for some reason. Maybe themunication line, numbers, and codes were confidential things? If so, these weren''t enough. My detection was picking up some concerning ''things'' in this ce, too. [Mana Shield], (: Total restriction barrier) "This is enough," I said and rxed around themunication crystal. "Did you just use some skills? That shield of Mana is ok but... you just cut off the whole connection with something else, Eon- no, we can only use the connection line of this crystal now. ...amazing. Is that a skill, too?" Her eyes were sparkling, and I knew she tried to use her eye of truth on the barrier and the skill was on the spot. Even though the skill couldn''t understand this Solnova spell, it was able to figure out the working of the spell. And I knew few could do something like that to a spell they can''t even sense, much less see. "Something like that," I answered this amazing person that was back to her normal self with a smile and she nodded. "Then, let''s call your family. It should have been a while since you talked, right? It has been two months since I saw master Zahavi. But I know they all are doing well~." She was full of respect whenever she called grandpa''s name, as if someone who has worked under him. Was she also in some war or something to have witnessed the greatness of a [King] ranked knight? How amazing would it be if she actually did! I wanted to fight with him, I really wanted to, but I will have to wait for a while for that certain thing. "Ok, then. I''m starting, you two. It will be a direct call to master Zahavi at your home so, get ready." She smiled, and we nodded. I also had some small things to tell in this process. ''Well, first time outside the great forest. First time in with a simplemunication device and first time without my master.'' Today has been long, special, and ''red'' for some reason, but... it was about to end ''soon''. And I had to go to her home first... weird, but fine. If only my beloved family could be humble and react normally to this. Their lovely child had finallye out of a ce they could only hope to fathom. ''But, at least we are alright...'' Chapter 176 A Personal Call The connection connected after she entered many codes and locations, numbers, and things like that. Though I understood what they were, I had no idea why do all these procedures. Was there any need to set so many defensive spells while talking on a long-distancemunication that ''might'' get tapped and heard? Then, more than anything, they should just improve the security of the channels and connections and reinforce the entirework with different barriers. Or... was the real human world more behind in technology than I was familiar with? Well, they could be, so let''s think about thatter. The connection was established, and an image cleared up inside the crystal ball. < "This is the first time I''m getting a personal call from a specialdy like this. What do I owe this pleasure to receive this call, young Reinelle? Did- hmmm?" > It was him. This was the voice that I hear in every few words of those letters. The same voice that I longed to meet and a voice that carried the same warmth as it always does. And as soon as the image cleared up, he saw me. Our eyes met, and we looked at each other, and I smiled at him warmly. "Grandpa. Have you been well?" I asked with that same warm smile that I always showed them. I was just happy this time and had no tears or even sadness in my voice. And he just smiled warmly at this and nodded his head like he usually did. He knew I was the real one, talking to him normally and with this smile that only I would have. Though my appearance was somewhat different, I knew his experienced eyes wouldn''t fail to notice these insignificant details. There was no way he, one of the highest ranking knights, wouldn''t recognize his own grandson. So he just sat down on his chair in a dark-looking room and looked the three of us in the eye. Rein first bowed her head respectfully and ced her right hand first on her heart in a te. And after that... they bothughed. < "Hohoho. Same as always, hum? I should tell Maweth his ''aunty'' is still teasing a little old me~?" > "Ok, ok. Master. Hehehe. It is really nice to see you again like this but, your beloved hero has something more to tell." She said with a radiant smile filled with respect, and I shook my head in disbelief. She was definitely someone special to be able to make grandpa smile like that. Hmmm... we now had more to talk. Grandpa looked at me warmly, and I looked at her. "Do I have something to tell?" I asked with a happy smirk, and she looked back at me. The smirk on my face looked funny, lovely, and mocking to her, and then... she smirked back at me and looked at grandpa. He was integrated by this interaction between us and when she smiled at him, a smile unexpected to both of us appeared on his face. But she continued her own thoughts. "Oh, dear sir. You see~, your grandson is begging me to take him home. He wants toe with me even before going to his own house. To his family that''s missing him like this, to all of you, this is how he wants to do it. And even after I consoled him, he''s not listening to me at all. What should we do now~?" She was... wless. Where was this level of acting back at that time,dy Reinelle? And this little prank didn''t go well with either of us. < "Eon?" > He looked me in the eye, asking if this was true or not, despite understanding she was just joking around. I red at her in a little anger but, I can''t even deny her words as a whole. "Yes... I have to. But, I will be back as soon as I''m done there. And grandpa¡­ I''m back." There was a radiant smile on my face, so he understood I was fine and things would be ok. So he nodded and looked back at me. < "We will be there by night." > "Hm? Padron?" He just said something I didn''t want to happen for some reason, and I heard it loud and clear. < "It''s ok~. Those four will be happy to meet you. And they will be as happy to see everyone together after a long time too." > Were these two families that close or something? Why did I never know of this thing? Well... damn. I was speechless and nk as to what to do now. But a sudden thought crossed grandpa''s mind, and he looked at both of us. < "Anna will be there too." > He said, especially looking at her. And in an instant, a surprised smile painted her face. "Really?!" she shouted in disbelief with an overjoyed smile and¡­ "You never met her?" Was the instinctive question that escaped my mouth. "You have?! How is she!? She''s adorable, right? Yes~! I will finally meet the little angel~!" "Aren''t you too excited? I do understand your happiness. She''s marvelous but, calm down, Rein." I held her hand, and she flinched in surprise. And then... calmed down intently. "Yes... But. Eon... Anna. THE Anastasia. The one who rules the house of Heliox. Do you even know just how many are desperate just to catch a glimpse of that cutie?!" ''The one who rules? Now that was some amazing title. My little sister truly was amazing.'' I sighed and looked at grandpa who had a pleased smile while looking at ''us''. Oh, yes... "Grandpa. This is Zoe. My master''s..." < "Is she..." > He understood just from the sudden grave silence from me, and I smiled helplessly. "She is now one with nature and herst wish was for me to be her big brother. So, I hope you will tell mom and everyone else. I can''t repay her even with all my life for what she had done for me so, all I can do is fulfill thatst wish of hers. Haaa... let''s talk about this er ok, grandpa." There were tears at the end of my eyes but, they didn''te out. I had just lost someone important to me and... he understood this feeling perfectly. < "Yes, let''s end that one there. So, hello, little one. If Eon is your big brother, then you can call me grandpa, or anything like that if you want. Even though your mom isn''t with us anymore, there''s an enormous family with you. I believe everyone will be happy to meet you~." > His warm voice was filled with genuine emotions, and she was better at emotions than me. "G-grandpa. Is that ok~?" Zoe asked while hiding behind me and he just nodded his head. We all smiled at her sudden shy behavior, and I patted her head. < "Hoho. Aren''t you adorable, littledy?" > She blushed at hisment and fully hid behind me. This little one will be well with them. I knew she will. And so did grandpa from his warm smile and genuine expression. I wanted to talk more, just not like this, so I looked at him and Rein. "I think this should be ok, right? We should talk more, with everyone, when we get there." She nodded and so did he. < "It will be even better now that you are back. Everyone will be overjoyed. Yes... let''s talk when we meet." > He smiled onest time at me, at Rein, and at my little Zoe. He waved his hand, saying ''see you soon'', and she waved back with the same shy face. The connection ended with his image slowly fading away, making me remember how I would talk with them in the past. ''Maybe... this is how they felt every time I was going away in that mirror.'' I sighed again, and the chat ended happily. Though it was short, I knew it will take the entire night when everyone gathers there. ''I hope... everything goes fine.'' Something like a fight with my two other siblings was inevitable to some extent but, I wanted to do that in a safe ce. A safe one where I can challenge grandpa and her grandpa if the opportunity arrived. It would be great but, I had to cure her grandma first. Curses were easy to cure if you had the right thing, so I wasn''t worried here at all. I was looking forward to meeting one of the few (Tier-8) mages of the empire and one to be a (tier-9) in the future. ''Haaa... and there was the chat I promised her too. That one will be the most difficult one.'' I knew, for some reason, it will be. We both had this weird feeling and different trains of emotions that were difficult to understand. But, I had lived one life and she had lived far more longer then both my lifebined. Even then this feeling was there for sure. But... this weird feeling wasn''t bad at all. I liked it for some reason. Chapter 177 Special Ice Cream "Now?" she asked as soon as the call ended. "It''s noon. Maybe we can get some ice cream and go to the [Warp Gate]?" I answered as Zoe calmed down after the call was ended. And... at the mention of ice cream, both of their eyes lit up. "Yei~! Ice-cream!" Zoe shouted in her usual marry voice, making both of us smile as usual. Rein was now back to her normal self, so there was nothing for me to think, so I looked at her and asked, "Favorite vor?" The sudden question surprised her, but she didn''t need much time to think about this matter. "Chocte with roasted almonds. Hmmm... the creator of ice cream should be hailed as a god, and I know many would worship him. I would be one of them too." She smirked while looking at me while saying those baseless things. She knew I was the one she was talking about and she also knew being praised would be the secondst thing I wanted. But, well, I liked everything in chocte. So I liked h-... her favorite vor too. And yes... roasted almonds are some of the best with chocte. Hope they do salt the almonds before adding it. "Hmmm~! I like the special ice cream big brother made the most~! And he likes everything if there is chocte~! Hehehe..." Zoe said after Rein''s answer and she looked at me. She looked at me, the creator of this holy thing with questioning eyes, asking what this special vor she talked about was. Well, there was nothing too special about that one. This little girl was just being cute. "A simple, chocte, milk, mango, strawberry, butterscotch, and special fruit that''s a rarity we won''t be able to find here that tastes close to...va? Well, it''s too hot and spicy for one to eat, so it''s a vor only those with high fire affinity would love. So, all six vors served as one, it''s her favorite." My answer was simple but, the things I said surprised her sharply. "Ones with fire affinity? You mean... you have secret vors for all affinity mages, or something only fire?" Her eyes were practically shining and her mouth drooled just from the thought of the special kind of vor a mage would like. Well, I did have those special kinds of vor but... "I do, but the ingredients for such things are close to impossible to find for us. Hopefully, I do have some you can try but, not more than a spoon. This little rascal is special, but the ingredients of these special ice creams are practically poison if taken in high amounts. Aside from their rarity and close to impossible ways to process them, we can''t make them even if we wanted to." The artifacts and devices here were practically nothingpared to the advanced things we had and, if not for them, even I had no way of processing those things. Beforeing here, I had made arge amount of this special ice cream and more for her, as she loved this one. Because of her special body and unreal affinity with fire, she was a being like no other among these humans. Well, she knew best how to use and control her current powers, so I had nothing to worry about there. But the fact that the ice cream I made with these special ingredients will never get close to the ones she made will remain true forever to me. I had some in my white crack and they were just normal ice cream made with normal ingredients but... she was the one who made it. From growing the ingredients, processing them on her own, and doing everything on her own, the divine delicacy she made was nothingpared to the ones I made. But, well, the ones who have never had anything like that will never understand what kind of vor it was. And even though I had some of those things saved with me... there was no way I would share it with anyone. I looked at her and her shocked expression at what I had just said with wide-open eyes. I could feel her desire to taste this marvelous thing I had just mentioned but, is this the right ce to try some ice cream that will increase Mana''s gathering speed for three hours? But the way she was looking at me right now was... too much. Her gaze of ''please~?'' was something like a little child and, for some reason, I was feeling powerless here. Why is it so cringey with her, dear mother nature? "Haaa... I will only give water. Darkness vor is too much for normal days like this. And I won''t give more than one spoon, so don''t even think about it." My answer was stern, and it was for her own good. Though this was something special, this wasn''t something meant to be eaten by anyone and at any time. She was the few that can actually eat these things and be unaffected because of her super high affinity with water and darkness. And her affinity with darkness was especially high, and she knew just how to use it. She was simr to me in most cases, but she was also the opposite of me, something uniquely peculiar. But that wasn''t something to deeply think about. There was no need to in the first ce. Taking out just a soon full of ocean blue ice cream from my white crack that surprisingly only I could see, I held the spoon before her. The golden spoon decorated with fine work was the normal thing in our kitchen. I looked at her but she wasn''t looking at me at all and her eyes were fixed on this marvelous ocean blue thing that exuded a cool feeling and felt refreshing just from the look. We were in that same location, in the dark room dimly lighted by thismunication crystal ball''s light, and it was like we two were the only ones here. Why did Zoe erase her presence every time we two were doing something awkward like this? Shouldn''t she be jealous or something like my little sister, like those books I had read? What kind of little sister was this girl? But that wasn''t important right now. Rein moved her head towards the spoon while I was trying to hand it over and just... ate the ice cream with my hands. And although this was a childish and immature feeling, I just fed her something for the first time. ''!!!'' What the hell? Things were progressing faster for some reason, but she was happy now. "Oh... my..." There was an expression of pure bliss on her face after eating that one. ,m It was a cool vor, extracted from a special flower that grew in extremely cold salt waters. The texture was just like any other ice cream but, that wasn''t all to it. Just from one spoon, one would feel they are one with the ocean, feeling the fresh air, cool breeze, and many aspects rted to the water attribute. These creations of mine were more special and even grandma acknowledged them. This was one of them, and this feeling of pure bliss, naturally, couldn''tst more than a few moments from just one spoon. She opened her eyes, got out of the zone of pure pleasure, and felt the changes happening to her. This was just the aftereffect of this one spoon but, for the next two to three hours, her Mana gathering speed would increase by almost 10%. Such drastic change just from one spoon of ice cream... that was the reason I said this would be poison to any normal being. But she was a special case in this one, having a super high affinity with the darkness attribute. She can easily eat one small bowl of dark attributed ice cream, one of my masterpieces, and be alive and fine. In fact... she will gain enough power to transcend (tier) and [Rank] for a while after that. And it wasn''t something I would give to anyone just because they can have it. I had natural affinities with all the elements and even though I didn''t have a super high affinity like these bunches, I could eat this special ice cream whenever I wanted. I had a mind that could endure it without any problem and a body that can ept that kind of energy easily. And with Solnova there, I didn''t worry about those things. I would still try to save it as much as possible, though. But she wasn''t the one that can save marvelous things like these. Just after getting back to her senses... she wanted more. "Don''t even think about it, Reinelle Atraxia." My voice was stern, and just from the fact that I called her full name again, she understood I was dead serious. "Ok..." she answered in a sad voice, making me sigh deeply. This olddy was more childish and cute sometimes than even Zoe. Or was I the only one that thought that way? "Let''s just go now... we have to go back to your home. Then... my family would also be on their way." My voice got warmer as I mentioned them, and she also understood my feeling well. "Yes! Let''s go~." Rein cheerfully said and erased all her spells with a simple snap. I did the same and walked to my dear little sister, who was standing some steps away, watching both of us with a bright smile on her face. This little one was really something else to enjoy her big brother''s misery like this. Well, what can I even do to her? She was smiling warmly at me and I just shook my head as I looked at her and grabbed her hand. "Let''s go, you little precious cutie." She hugged me with her cute smile while giggling merrily and we both just shook our heads. How many times did we shake heads like this today? And... the day was still far from over. Chapter 178 [Warp Gate] Standing before an open area in the middle of the city, I looked at the giant gate set in the middle of the street. There was a line of people passing through this gate that transported them with a bright blue light and the street looked lively. The line was long, and we were standing in line, patiently waiting for our turn. This was the [Warp Gate], something derived from the ancient gates and the one that took us to that previous forest and to Rein. We were standing in line for quite some time and, unlike themunication center, this ce had no different treatment. From knights, normal people who were wealthy enough to use this gate, to even some people in the noble outfit, were standing in the line waiting patiently. This was a special ce, guarded with [Rank-3] knights that were quite strong in a general sense. Their physical stats were lower than mine but, they were still the strongest bunch in this area. And the numbers were not low either. There were six [Rank-3] and almost twenty-one [Rank-2] guards in this center street. There were also three (tier-4) Mages on the warp gate that operated the thing and a room some distance behind the gate that stored the money collected by the guards at the gate. And though there was such security, things were lively here. Without much discrimination, people of simr status were looking and talking with each other. They were happy and talking about their everyday stuff. And at almost some ces away in the line, the two of us were standing, looking at the third that held two cones of ice cream in each hand. Zoe being Zoe, was eating these two cones happily like the little girl she was. Her radiant face and merry smile wereforting, so we just watched her eating with helpless smiles. She was something else, truly. It was our turn soon, so there was nothing else to do for us aside from this, and I was riding on a different train of thoughts at the same time. Today had been interesting, unique, and special at the same time. I met someone special and someone that gave me the feeling that she would have some of the greatest ces in my life. This amazing person that was strong on her own without some fatal flow of fate, was also an adorable one. She was running wild, killing every beast in the hunting ground she could see in the search of a beast core. And that wasn''t all. She was also finding some special herbs that I just ''happen to see'' in the ces that she had already cleared. And if something like that was missed by her acute senses, then there was only one reason for that... her terrible luck. It was close to a normal person, something someone like her shouldn''t have. It was low, too low for someone who had an Origin skill, high magic, specialbat power, and much more. But luck wasn''t something we could gain. That thing was random, and the world itself assigned that stat. My luck was high, really high for some reason, and I was happy about that. Even my dad didn''t have that high of luck and I knew from the people I had seen aftering here that my luck was actually quite high. ''Well, there was no actual use of that one, just like charm, so I didn''t need to worry about that.'' I can help her if she needed the luck I had. I had practically no use for it for now. But I sure was concerned about one thing. ''She wouldn''t let go of the one that made her grandma suffer. And, well, even though she was strong enough to kill that thing, I am worried about her.'' Worry for someone... some emotion I was feeling after a long time. I wasn''t going to let her go alone anyway so; I was looking forward to seeing her in real action again. The opponent would be strong, and it was a spirit, an astral creature like that ghost. And only her darkness attribute would work on it. Thankfully she had it, or the only water attribute would be a no-no against beings like that. So, a future fight was confirmed. For now, we have to go to her house, to the main estate of the southern dukedom. I only knew about that ce from what I had read in books and heard from the people of this city. That ce was also near a forest area and the natural resources south produced were special things. From natural herbs, fruits, and things that we can eat to materials of alchemy and medicine. Even the wood and some special creatures loved by the people came from the south. And the main estate, the castle of duke Atraxia, a family who had been part of the empire since ancient times and had always stayed neutral in political conflicts, we were going to that ce. It would be a fun thing to meet some of the strongest in the empire and seeing them with my own eyes would be something new for me. I wasn''t a normal child. I knew that much, at the very least. From my powers to my family. Everyone was special but... I had practically no experience with what that actually meant. I didn''t know other''s point of view of them on the other hand, how they actually were to the people of this empire or what the ce that guarded one of the borders of the empire looked like. And I didn''t know the story of how one of the rulers of the seas, someone known as a tyrant in old history, became a hero. I wanted to know their story someday if I can and I believed those two would be happy to tell their grandchildren. At least Zoe and I didn''t know that, and Anna would be happy to hear a story if it was eptable for a child. I didn''t know if Rein, Ca, and Alf knew it but, I wanted to know about his young days and the things that had happened with him and grandma. And how mom, someone who was just a student of one of the greatest merchant guilds, be the guild master. She must have waited for me toe back to tell me herself and now that I was here, I knew she will tell me too. One of the most surprising things I came to know while gathering information in the city was the name (Red-eyed hunter). "Khum..." A chuckle escaped my mouth and Rein looked at me in bewilderment. "You ok, Eon?" she asked, but Zoe was just finishing her ice cream as she knew I just found something funny. "Yes. It''s nothing, don''t worry." I nodded and smiled at her, and she nodded back with more confusion. She didn''t know what I was thinking, but she understood I was more than ok. ''Dad? A blood-thirsty hunter that ran wild and killed every energy beast that was even close to demonic creatures? An adventurer who was always coved in blood and was feared by other adventurers? Rumors can get really funny sometimes. I knew he was a viscount now, so why would someone who had no hesitation to obliterate viges full of beasts receive such high rank in this short time? That was quite funny.'' Well, even if he was that kind of person in the past, I only knew Brian Kromet as a dad who cooked outstanding food while wearing a pink apron. That was the only image I had of my dad and even if he does something like his past self before me, nothing could change that crybaby father image I had of him. Anna would agree with me. I knew that too. I had no need to consider someone else''s point of view. Even if I wanted to know what others thought of them, I didn''t have any desire to judge a person with that information. I had my eyes, my thoughts, and myself to know what or how the other person was. Well... this train of thoughts about our family had to end when she tapped on my shoulder. "Eon, it''s our turn next. Let''s go~!" she said in a cheerful voice, and I nodded with a smile. Zoe was also finished with her ice cream so, she also nodded and grabbed my hand after wiping her mouth. "Yes, let''s go~," I answered with a smile and she nodded at the person before we vanished through the gate with the same blue light. We walked forward, and she gave the same purple card to the guard, making him flinch, and he handed it to the mage on the other side. The mage looked at the card, then at us, and then back at the card. Quickly scanning the card and conforming to the authenticity, he gave it back to the guard, and the guard handed it back to her with both hands. These reactions were really fascinating¡­ I really wanted one of those, just to study if not for things like this. Well, I will get one anyway. The guards nodded and looked at her with more respect. So, they were still worried about someone of higher standing while treating everyone the same here. Just what kind of ID was that purple card to make them like that...? "Main city Temani of the south, please." Rein said and handed the guard a bag of coins. I could see they were twenty gold, and that amount was at least ten times anyone had given in this line before us. This definitely wasn''t normal, not that I cared much. "Yes, ma''am." The guard answered and nodded at the mage in charge of the gate. she walked up the steps, and we followed behind her. Standing behind her before the gate that was ''just small'' inparison to the one at home, we watched as the mage on the other side nodded. A blue light appeared inside this round rock gate, and she hurriedly walked in and we flowed quickly. The linked location would close quickly, so we had to hurry. ''I''m going to someone else''s house before even going to my own. And my family ising there. Oh nature¡­ I just hope things go well...'' I prayed as our bodies became a beam of light and vanished inside the blue light. There was still a long way ahead of us, a tiring one at that. Chapter 179 Followers In The Garden -Ooooooong. With a bright light, we opened our eyes to a new ce. This was a new city, different from the one we were in. Opening my eyes to an open garden-like area where many people were appearing one after another, I looked around and saw Zoe and Rein standing by my side. This one was a quick trip, and it didn''t even take a minute inside that blue vortex of light. This one was different from the [Gate] as when we passed through that one, neither of us even understood what happened after the white sh of light until we were in that forest. But we can see the constantly moving blue vortex finely. As I looked at them and nodded, they both nodded back with their unique smiles. We looked around after checking everything was fine and as we saw the scenery around us, a surprised smile clouded my face. "Beautiful right? This one is our south''s one of the most beautiful cities, the city of greenery, Temani. And this one is one of the biggest gardens in the empire, the garden of cyan oak trees." She had a proud smile on her face as she said that, and I nodded in agreement. "This really is fresh..." My words were genuine, and she could feel it. Though this garden was nothing like the one we had, this one was unique in itself. The trees in this ce were beautiful cyan and this wide open area of the garden was also fresh. Unlike the busy air of the previous city, this one was cool, clean, and purer. I liked this air more than the one we were in, and that wasn''t all. Unlike the busy summoning ce of the previous city where all the people who entered warp gates were transported, this one was quiet and everyone that appeared here just went on their way with a smile. They were happy, not everyone, but most had a radiant smile on their face as if something really good had happened. Well, this was nice. Nodding at her, I looked at Zoe, who had her usual starry-eyed face that scanned the area eagerly. Patting her head, I looked at Rein and asked, "How should we get to the estate?" "The same way we got to the city from the forest. The estate is closest to this city that''s why we are here. But I don''t think we have time to explore this garden today. It''s evening and we have to go back as soon as possible. I will have to make many preparations after curing grandma to wee your family, Eon~." She was excited and happy for some different reason. Maybe she was closer to them than I think? Whatever it was, I also liked the idea that we should go straight to her home. It''s better to finish the important matters first so, I just nodded and tapped Zoe''s shoulder. "Zoe? Looks like we will have toe back another time to y here." On my words, she looked back at me with narrow eyes and asked if it was necessary but, she just nodded, after I shook my head in a no. "Hmmm. Ok, Reinelle. So, what do we do with these people following us? You didn''t say anything, so I thought they weren''t some random people, but they are now doing too much." I didn''t know what these people were, but they were good with stealth and they even followed us here. They started with themunication center, and now it was getting on my nerves. They were good with strength, but there was only one (tier-4) mage and two [Rank-3] knights. Or... assassins of high rank. They had experience, and I knew they were better than the knights and mages at the warp gate. It was already expensive to juste to this ce but to even spend that much to just chase us all the way here... what were these people? And their level of stealth was extraordinary. If not for one of them having arge amount of Mana, I might have failed to notice them with just my passive detection. They were no normal people and from the way Rein didn''t say anything all this time and they didn''t show even a sign of bloodlust; it was clear she knew them. "These guys... well, let''s say they are my guards. It was difficult to lose them in the forest and all, so they must have just waited in the city. You must actually know their master, Eon." She exined and raised her hand and they vanished from their ce through shadows. This was a skill like my shadow dive and from the looks of it, they understood her orders. "I will introduce them after we finish the thing back home so, let''s go for now." She said with a sigh and I just nodded. Walking to a secluded ce¡­ I held her hand. ...I wasn''t feeling anything weird. No, I wasn''t. Zoe did the same, and we vanished from the beautiful, unexplored garden. *** After the three vanished in the shadows, six figures covered in dark clothing materialized in the ce they were standing and stood there nkly. From their build, it was clear that the woman with a blue bracelet on her hand was a mage and of the five males with her, one carried two short swords while one carried a fine sword around his west. The other three carried daggers hidden under their clothes and after the three young ones vanished, the woman stood there, thinking deeply about something. All of them were confused and more than that, they wanted to know the identity of the one that had just seen through them. The man carrying two short swords looked at her and asked after she shook her head and sighed. "Captain... who the hell is that boy?" He asked with a worried and somewhat fear-filled voice. The woman with a tall and fit body had a perfect outline of the clothes she wore and from the worried look on her face, it was clear she was right. "Whoever that is... is no ordinary child. He knew our presence ever since we found the youngdy and he noticed us even before she did. I don''t know just how strong that boy is but I''m sure of one thing... he has far more experience than us. Not only did he know about us, but it was also as if he was watching us all the time. As if a ferocious beast was waiting for its prey to make a wrong move. Not only was he stronger than all of usbined, but I also don''t think we would even stand a chance against his mere instincts. That boy... no, that person. Whoever he is, is definitely no normal being." Her voice was grave, serious, and confident to the core, and the way she just said it made all others in her squad shiver in fear. The person with a single sword nodded in agreement with the same grave eyes. "Not only that, the way young miss talked with him, with them¡­ was also the first time for me. And I think that person is of great status for her to escort them to the estate herself. She even used her skill, and that would mean she trusts them enough to show her skills and talk with them in a privatemunication room-." He was saying something, but the women flinched at that remark and cut him mid-sentence. "And he is also a mage, I''m sure of it. The skills he used back at that ce were something not even my (Green) ranked appraisal could understand. And just like those skills, my appraisal didn''t even activate on those two." She shook her head in fear. And from herst sentence, the man with two swords and a bulky build''s eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! That little girl. I don''t think she is someone strong or anything and from her low presence, I think she is just a normal little girl. But, if your skill didn''t even work on her, then... is she special too?" He asked her with a confused look, and she nodded her head. p "Yes. Though I don''t think she is strong or something like that, she definitely has some special skill or artifact with a mental barrier. Or maybe the boy... the person with them used some kind of skill to protect her from the appraisal." Her words sent shivers down their spines, and they shook in fear. This was the most unexpected day for them, but now it had be the weirdest day of their life. The men were starting to fall into despair and she sensed it and sighed loudly. "Anyway, let''s head back. They will be there too, so let''s see what happens there. Let''s go." She said and without waiting, her body melted into shadows. The two men with swords sighed and followed her and the three others followed after them, leaving the secluded area in the garden silent. -Shww¡­ The cool breeze passed, the leaves danced in their melody, and the quiet of the afternoon in the garden witnessed yet another sunset. Chapter 180 Her Home And Grandpa "Wee to my humble abode," she said as soon as we appeared before an enormous structure. "Humble my-... thanks? I guess?" What more can I say while standing before such a broad building? Though the most magnificent structure I had seen is our home tower and that fact won''t ever change, the building before me was the true castle-like estate I was seeing for the first time. Even if I had little experience of this world, I knew this building before my eyes were no normal home. We were standing before the door of the building, directly crossing the enormous gates,rge magic barriers, and high security of the house. And even after seeing us, no knight or mage currently watching us do anything and just continued their watch. I could feel the tension as soon as they spotted her, as well as the respect that practically oozed from them, which was special in itself. She had a great grasp of things in this ce and with all that I can see with my three eyes, I somewhat understood the one I called Rein. "Wow~! Big sister has a beautiful house~!" Zoe expressed her admiration in her cheerful voice and she nodded in excitement. "Right? I knew you would like it~!" she cheerfully answered, and I also chuckled at this. This house, castle, estate, or whatever I call this, was actually beautiful. Colored withvish purple and white, with some different colors as decoration, this house that looked like any ancient house from my past life was truly marvelous. I wanted to admire this ce some more but, as we stood there, the doors to the estate swung open and a giant figure ran out with tear-filled eyes. His short, dark purple hair was a different shade from her, a tall and muscr build, his old and yet young face, and the practically harmless feeling he gave were just the thing I expected. This grandpa before me was one of the [King] ranked knights and ninth seat of the house of the Prism. From the look and feeling he had, I knew this grandfather... was one like my crybaby father. ''Why are every strong or special man like my dad? Not that I dislike it, I love this type of them.'' Maybe it was amon thing in this world? Who knew? The way he had just jumped on her out of nowhere was like a grandfather greeting her long-lost granddaughter. ''Oh... how long was she out looking for the ingredients again? I think we forgot to discuss that one.'' Maybe she was out for much longer than I knew and if so, this poor grandfather had a valid reason to worry about his granddaughter, who was older than himself. "Grandpa... cry if you want, but not now. We have guests here. Let''s go in first." She said, while hugging him back warmly. Her poor grandfather with silver eyes stopped his tears in an instant, and the sudden transition was amazing for Zoe and me. He truly was serious when crying, but the speed he stopped himself and stood up as if nothing was wrong was just amazing. A person that has transcended human limits, and emotions being one of them. Someone who had precise control over their body and emotions. And I was talking about both bodies... Nodding at her dear granddaughter, and hearing her sweet sigh, he smile and walked toward us and stood before me with a brighter smile than before. "How should I express this feeling, Eon? I didn''t believe it after receiving brother Zahavi''s call, but... I can say even without knowing it. You are far more amazing than that golden beard boasted. Mana attributes that I can''t even sense, a powerful zing Aura that''s practically born to destroy, something special that can''t even be perceived. The presence of something, or someone unfathomable deep inside you... This is more than what he spitted even while knowing. Well, Eon~!" He started with a voice filled with curiosity, admiration, and happiness, but he just shouted my name in joy at the end. ,m True joy, nothing else with it, as if he was grateful to me for something. That one aside, for now, the things he just said... were weirdly urate. From my Mana, Aura, and Solnova that he couldn''t sense to Ronna deep in my soul. ''So... this is a king and their world authority?'' ''Three eyes.'' [[ *Using skill [Three Eyes] on a powerful being with high mental defense. Starting the understanding of the skill. Processing... The skill is a special creation, and the energy used to maintain it is unique. Understanding the energy. Matchplete. Skill understanding in progress. ... Skill understandingpete. A higher grade mental defense has been breached sessfully. Intelligence increased by 1.* ]] * I looked at his smiling face and used my eyes. This has already happened before, so I wasn''t as surprised as before and being able to breach the mental defense of a [King] ranked knight was a big thing in itself. These abilities of Lucy were really amazing. The status window of one of the strongest appeared before my eyes and I internally smiled. But, even before I looked at the status window that sessfully appeared before my eyes, he spoke up. "Don''t fully believe the status windows, little Eon. They mighte out entirely baseless in some cases. But, although I don''t know what kind of ability that is... I believe it''s better than Elle''s." His words were sharp, but the radiant smile on his face was still the same. I knew this old man was old, but his voice was as young as a dad''s. Or was it just the feeling that it was young? Well, after reaching that rank, they had the practical lifespan of hundreds of years already, so right now is considered their prime. His words were a fact though, even if I believed in my beloved skill 99%, that one present would be something I would have to think many times over. Well... whatever. ===Status=== Name: Maweth Atraxia Age: 66 Race: Human (A king.) Strength: 261 Dexterity: 255 Stamina: 265 Magic Power: 222 Intelligence: 198 Luck: 102 Charm: 111 [Skill: Skill creation, Body strengthening, Free Mana strengthening, All strengthening, Supreme mental defense, Aura use, Swift weaponry, precise weaponry, Scythe of one, The reaper, Master''s strength, One true defense, Environmental control, War cry, Three cut, Death''s eye, Divine all resistance, Law defiance, Teach, Bestow skill, Lend skill, Thest moments.] [=>World Authority: Violet winds.] ============ "You''re stronger in the true sense, Axion. Marvelous." He said as he wiped the tears of true blood sliding down my red eyes. My red eyes have frozen on the status window, and my mind has suddenly been bombarded with aftereffects of using my skill on someone I can''t even fathom. My body has fallen stiff the moment I read that information. The sudden drainage of almost all of my Mana. The bright smile stered on my face. And in all of this, some familiar voices rang in my mind. [[ Master is fooooooooool~!!! ]] [[ "You did something unnecessary big brother~!" ]] [[ *I''m also the one to me here. But take note of this and don''t use this on someone like him unless you are absolutely certain of being safe for next moments.* ]] Their voices were one thing, but... I had witnessed the ''numerical strength'' of this word in those numbers, information, and skills. I... couldn''t help but smile in this situation. Chapter 181 The Adorable One. He was something I had never seen before... or his stats and those absurd numbers of skills. That was something I couldn''t even fathom... not for now, at the very least. I was strong but, what this grandpa had was something totally different from just strength. Just from the fact that after looking at those things and gaining the knowledge of those things, my eyes started to bleed, I knew just how weak I was. My mind went wild with pain. My entire body went stiff and all the strength I had left me. This feeling of utter powerlessness... Now I wanted to fight him and grandpa even more. It was absurd, but it was what it was. Rein, Ca, Alf, all of them had fought against these strong old persons while I had only fought an overwhelming, absurdly powerful, divine being, my grandma... Well, I had something absurdly strong as my opponent and I had fought with my life on the line against her. I loved fights where there was no worry of death and I can just be myself and just let go of myself in a safe fight where a win would be the goal. In short, I loved PVPs. Not that I was a battle junkie or anything like that. I just loved some particr types of fights. I would pray to never face him or something like him in an actual fight to the death. That would be something really foolish on my side. There were many ways to kill stronger opponents that I knew from my experience. However, a fight without knowing everything about an opponent like him? No, thanks. I''m happy living my life however I wanted and I would love to have this special freedom of mine. But if I get the chance to fight, to spar with these strong opponents... I would just love that one. "Hold your horses, young boy. Here, have a potion. You lost too much in that attempt. I don''t know how much you saw but, just being able to see my status window was a feat even Elle hasn''t achieved." ? His voice was radiant, and it was enough to take me out of this train of thoughts. Channeling Solnova throughout my body and moving it fine, I surprised the old man. "Thank you very much, Rein''s grandpa. But, I will be ok~." I smiled at him and took out my red ''potion'' and drank it without hesitation. The healing energy stabilized everything in my body and my stamina, Mana, and concentration I lost moments ago started returning. This speed of healing was unreal, and this surprised him even more, and his eyes widened in surprise. Rein was watching everything from behind him, but she was shocked the moment blood flowed out of my eyes. As if her heartbeat has stopped, she was acting weirdly for some reason. It was too weird, there were even unwanted tears on the ends of her eyes as she looked at me nkly. Her mouth was just wide open until the moment I said I was ok and she came back to her senses after that. We all had seen that one and even if she tried to hide that, the one tear that knowingly slid down her cheek was telling something else. I had this feeling while looking at her that... I would have the same reaction, feelings, and chaos if something were to actually happen to her. These weird feelings, emotions, and things we both were feeling... was it really it? Was she... the one? I didn''t know... yet. But I knew we will know as time goes by and maybe we would spend more time together like ''friends''. That was her, but the red potion surprised the duke and one of the [King] ranked knights greatly. "Is that¡­ holy water? No, not even holy water has an effect like that one. And there''s no holy energy in that... what is that thing, Eon?" His silver eyes were totally shocked, wide open like they had seen a miracle. "Oh... it''s just an [Elixir] my master had made. Do you find it that amazing?" I asked with genuine curiosity. Though I knew the market somewhat from what I had seen it, there was nothing like [Elixir] in any ce I went. Even at that jewelry shop, the best they had were advanced potions. Were these [Elixirs], in particr, the one I had really that big of a deal? I knew he would have the answer to that one but, after hearing about my master... he fell silent and felt sorry for some reason. Just like grandpa. Just how nice were these people to feel sorry for the loss of one they had never even met before? "Well, it''s good you are ok. Elle, don''t worry. He''s fine and more than good." He said with a weird smirk as he looked at her and she just blushed, unknowingly avoiding his gaze. Even she didn''t know what to say or how to react to that one... truly adorable. "Ahem! I am fine now. So, shouldn''t we all go inside and take a look at Rein''s grandma? I think she will be cured instantly so, let''s not waste any more time." My voice was stern and they both also understood it. "After seeing that one... I think you might just be able to do it." He said with a hopeful smile and turned around. Stopping just before her, he mouthed something that I missed seeing with the different angle of my third eye, but whatever he said at that moment... made her go ''poof!''. That face just now... that redness that covered her face was something unbelievable. Something so unbelievable I wanted to say many things that would sound inappropriate. "Grandpa!!!" she shouted with that same embarrassed face and started hitting her grandpa like a little girl. ''This girl is 123? Like hell she is...'' She was more childish in some cases than even Zoe. As adorable as my lovely Anna, and that was the highest level possible for any beauty, any charm that one could possibly receive. And I wouldn''t be surprised if I check Anna''s stats and her charm was 100+. Nope, that would be ''just right'' at the best. She was more adorable than anything, and she was THE best. That was an undeniable, unchanging, eternally true fact that will always be true. Shaking these sudden desires to worship my little sister, I walked behind her grandpa inside the giant hall and two stairs on each side of this hall that lead to the same balcony on the second floor. She was frozen on the ground and though I didn''t know what he said, I knew whatever it was... it was about me. Well, I will know sooner orter... or I might just ask Lucy tomorrow, or the day after that. Well, questions were like a lifeline, and asking something meaningless would naturally be a waste of time, ability, and resources. I could just directly ask her, maybe. Well, an ill grandma came first. "Big sister~! Let''s go in~! Hehehe." Thankfully, Zoe was with her and I knew she would be sessful in dragging the frozen adorable Rein with her. She was strong, if anything. "W-wait Zoe. What are you..." And as I knew, she was dragged by brute force alone. Good girls. We walked inside, climbed three floors that were not that much for any of us, and then, stopped before a special-looking room on the fourth floor. "I hope that thing with you works, Eon. I believe in you." He said with a hope-filled smile and I nodded at him with a confident look. Looking at Rein, I smiled and told her not to worry with my eyes and she nodded back with a hesitant smile. Her grandpa opened the door, and a luxurious room with a giant bed entered our eyes. On this bedy a frail, corpse-like figure of an old woman that barely looked like a living being. Her body was in a hibernation state, her heart beating so slowly, aside from the necessary function of the body, nothing worked in her body. The Mana channels carried a precise amount of Mana that was required to just barely keep the body alive. That body with bones visible on her almost nonextinct skin. Her sunk cheeks and dark eyes. Andstly, that cold body... it was terrible. But... we still had some time. It wasn''t toote yet and this was the perfect time for her. If we had dyed for some days, she might have gone into a suspended state, and aside from her soul staying inside the body, she would have practically died. And they would have had to use the reincarnation spell... if they can that is. It was impossible to use that thing even if you were the duke. But... "She will be ok," I said in a confident voice and took out the precious medicine bottle from my white crack. Chapter 182 Curing Grandma <33 Divine cures of Eir> was one of the oldest books in the books I had read in our library. This book which contained some of the rarest holy medicines that were cures of some of the greatest curses and elixirs was almost two thousand years old. In the old times, there was a holy kingdom that was destroyed because of a natural disaster like monster, and that ce had received the teachings of one of the goddesses of healing. The book I had in the library was in a perfect condition, as if it wasn''t affected by the time and had been present in the library for a long time. Well¡­ The runic preservation magic almost stopped the time on every book in the library, but the limitation of those books was that I can''t take them out of the library. Well, those things aside, the cure I had would work, and I was sure of that. Lucy and my ''blue eyes'' agreed on that too, so without hesitation, I opened the ss bottle and dropped some drops of shining yellow, holy-looking liquid in her slightly open mouth. She was the duchess, a (tier-8) mage, and if not for these facts, she would have been already dead because of this high-grade curse. It was meant to kill the target within twenty days, but she survived this long because she realized this curse and slowed down the process of her body function quickly. Her current state was nothing like the gorgeous image the entire empire knew, and this corpse-like state was aching to our hearts. But this was going to change now. The drops of medicine dropped on her mouth and slowly slid down her throat. Just like that, I emptied the whole enchanted ss bottle and waited for the effect to start. This would be a bright one, but not as much as the one we had previously witnessed. Looking at the three of them behind me, I nodded and stepped back, and the effect kicked in sooner than I expected. A bright yellow light starteding out from her corpse-like body and the changes began. First, a dark aura started surfacing from her dead corpse and the bright light started devouring the ck aura. This sticky ck aura seemed evil at the same time, angry. Different from the demonic aura I knew, this one was just evil, pure, and lonely. But what it was didn''t matter, and the bright light just devoured the aura slowly and sharply. As if a living being was burning, the light was burning this darkness, and even after resisting for some time, it gave up and the light just consumed the aura entirely. After that, the light entered the corpse like the body of this middle-aged grandma and the corpse started reviving to its original form. This surprised the two of her family members, and Rein even started crying as I watched her. ? The strong grandpa was also emotional and, from his heartfelt smile, I knew he was more than just happy. He was feeling like he had seen a miracle of the higher beings. I knew he must have tried his best but, evil spirits are a creature of rare origin. The knowledge I had about them was diverse and I knew every spirit creature was different from others. Just like the weird ghost I fought in the green forest and the banshee like thing and more I saw in the dark forest, things rted to spirits were always weird. But that was all. The grandma... holy hell? Grandma? She was her grandma? Maybe it was true that the beauty standards of this world were just built differently. Not only my family, but even her family members were beautiful... just like her. The corpse of the grandmaying on the bed was now regaining the vitality and strength it had lost from the curse and thanks to the effect of the potion, the regeneration was fast. Like really fast. The blood that was flowing slowly started running again, the energy stabilized, and the refill of her Mana nucleus helped her regain her powers. She was a high mage, so even in this state; I knew she was conscious and hearing everything. So, I didn''t need to do anything now. The body gained mass, the lost muscle returned, and the heart also started beating faster and faster. Though they were barely able to see these things with this blinding yellow light, Zoe and I could see everything clearly. This was fascinating and in a way... this was my first time using that medicine on an actual living being. Not that I doubted the working of it one bit. We had things that can run test simtions on their own, kinda like the AI''s back in theb so, I knew these potions were perfect. But seeing the effect of the high concentration of Mana medicine or a divine medicine firsthand was a different experience in itself. The regaining strength of an alluring body, those beautiful silver hair, her fabulous face that looked as young as my actual grandmother. She was a high mage, someone who had a natural lifespan of thousands of years, and even if she was older in normal terms, just like her grandpa, her grandma was also in her primes. My mom''s mom or my grandmother was someone special in her territory. And not many people in the capital knew this but, she was some of the rare ones who had received a [Blessing] from a higher being. And that was the secret of her beauty at that older age. And this grandma... thisdyying on her bed that had now returned to being a gorgeous person, started regaining consciousness. That one potion was so potent that it healed herpletely and maybe it might have increased her stats a bit too. Lucy has already refused to let me see her status window, saying thest one was enough for today, so I couldn''t see what one of the strongest mages looked like on the screen. Well, I was also happy seeing her right now. Even more so while seeing Rein and her cute face while she looked at my back. The light hadn''t disappeared yet, but it had quieted down a lot. And she could now see my back and me looking at the stabilizing body of her grandma. This third eye was a really useful thing, and I would have to thank herter for me to have this view. The view of Rein''s face with a blush that looked at my back with happiness-filled eyes. Just looking at that one made my heart rise and from the way her grandpa just smiled, even while seeing that reaction, I knew he knew I was looking. That special reaction of hers was just for a moment and it disappeared quickly in the time my eyes fell on her grandpa. It was something attractive, and I wanted more, but, well, it is what it is. I will remember that one forever, so there was no need to worry about that. I knew she had no idea she was blushing pink like that at that moment, and this made it even more special. But, after that, there was happiness, thanks, and anger in her eyes. This mood swing was quite sharp, but thankfully, it was nothing like my master. Her grandmother, that was previously almost a corpse, was now back to her original, healthy form, and the healing was almost done. My work was finished anyway, so that was it. Walking back to them, I tried to look at them but before that... she hugged me. ¡­w-what? Chapter 183 Surprising... Hm? Hmm? Hmmm?! W-what? Why? Out of nowhere, this was! "Thank you for saving grandma..." She thanked me while tightening her grip around me. ... This was warm, good, fine, and awesome, and I didn''t want to think too deeply about this one hug. "I-it''s ok, Rein. Don''t worry. She is fine now." However, my voice was still skeptical. She didn''t let go, and I could feel this sudden hesitation and fear that has surfaced from herself. This was different from anything I had seen from her. This hesitation, this fear of what she would do after losing someone close to her¡­ I can understand everything. It was her mistake, or what she believed was her mistake, that her grandma, a person she might have loved dearly, was in this condition. Things might definitely have been bad but, they weren''t. "It''s okay, Rein. I won''t like to see you like this when it''s all fine. Look, your grandma will wake up now. I-it''s funny to see an old one-" And as I knew, even before I could finish that sentence, she punched me in my stomach. "Y-you! Don''t say that!" her face was angry red now but I had prevented those tears from falling down to her eyes. She was better when she was angry. That sentimental, sad, sorry expression didn''t suit her well. The hug was wooonderful~ though, far better than the strong punch. "Good. I won''t mention that one. So go greet your grandma with a smile. We would love that." I said with a smile, and Zoe nodded with a brighter smile. Zoe and her grandpa had somewhat simr trains of thoughts while looking at us and the knowing look they gave to each other didn''t escape my sight. Even we knew what was happening with us, and just the fact that I could feel her emotions like this was enough to tell me what this was. But was this really ''it''? Even if I was ny-nine percent certain, that one percent would always be there. Well, it wasn''t a problem at all. Surprisingly, this was our first day of the meeting. Though this progress was surprising for the first day... we had time after the things would be over here. And I really did not want her to shed unnecessary tears. Not only her, anyone close to me. Haaa... though cringey, tears of those close to me were important to me. And she was just barging into my heart like house without even trying. Well... damn. Patting her head without caring about things, I said to her now frozen self, "Let''s talk when everything is over..." And with that, and a wildly beating heart, I tapped her shoulder. Again that embarrassed look, but this tap of mine pushed her exactly beside her grandma''s bed, surprising her and her grandfather. And, as soon as she stood by the bed with only her grandma in perfect condition and looked at her, thedy on the bed opened her eyes. I smiled while caressing my beating heart and shook my head at this weird feeling. [[ Master is happy~! I''m happy too~! ]] Celes was cheerful as always, cute as ever. And though I was trying to distract myself right now, I knew I couldn''t do it that easily. But her grandma was awake. I had to clear my mind, calm my heart and shake off this feeling of wanting to do something. This was turning annoying. Or I just told myself it was to at least get out of this helpless state. "Huuu..." Calming myself somehow, I also walked forward to meet the grandmother like a ''friend'' of my ''friend'' Rein. She had silver hair, and as soon as she opened her metallic green eyes and looked at Rein. She smiled with a smile that said ''worry not.'' to her little girl with a d eye blink. It was strange, or bewildering, how she was many years older than her and still, she was just a normal grandchild, like a little girl to them. This world was truly something else. She was the first young one I met that wasn''t human and even though I saw some children of different races that were older than many people in the back alley of thest city, I couldn''t actually understand this concept of age that was different to each person. It was really peculiar and I will be able to actually understand these things with time as I was somewhat simr to them. "Reinelle..." She called her out and Rein sat down beside her without tears in her eyes. My previous little head pat already calmed her down, so she was ok now. "How have you been, big girl? You didn''t trouble your grandpa, right?" She asked with her low pinched However, old-sounding voice. The voice itself wasn''t old but, the feeling I could feel after hearing the voice was truly old. Rein nodded to her question, and she smiled at her warmly and hugged her strong granddaughter gently. The warm embrace of a familiar person calmed her downpletely, and Rein smiled, hugging her back. She was d, happy to see her beloved grandma back. And I was happy to help someone be with their grandma a little longer. My grandma was gone because she wanted to and that was the best time, ording to her. She was gone, and there was nothing I can do about that now. Things have ended on that path, and I was now far ahead, so thinking about that was meaningless. If she was happy, then I was happy too. After finishing their hug, thedies talked for a while and the grandpa joined her beloved wife with teary eyes. p Kissing her first and sending some weird shivers down both our spines, he continued by asking if she was ok. This was their talk, and I didn''t have to do anything for a while. They would finish catching up and stuff quickly, so Zoe and I just stood at the back, doing a small mental conversation without any presence. They would have almost forgotten about us if we had just stayed that way but, the grandma remembered us, the ones who had saved her were here with them, so she looked past her husband on the bed and looked at us. "Thank you. I''m fine because of you. Can I know your name, young boy?" She asked in a respectful manner, unbefitting of a high-ranking noblewoman. This was a high level of respect one wouldn''t show even if they were their savior, but even though I didn''t know her yet, I knew she really meant it when she thanked me. She didn''t know me yet and her question made the two of them smile at each other. I nodded with a smile, and I bowed at her respectfully. "My humblest greetings, duchess Arina. My name is Axion Heliox Kromet. It is a great honor to meet you." This respectful greeting surprised both of them and thedy on the bed nodded her head with delight. "Hmmm. Axion. Though there are many children with this name these days... wait. Axion Heliox Kromet?" She was calm at first, but then, when she realized it, her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at her family on the bed with wide-open eyes. They just nodded with a smile, making her mouth wide open. Looking back at me, now with an unbelievable smile, she shook her head in disbelief. "To think my student''s son will save me one day. And one praised for being a young hero no less... Calling this irony would be utterly minuscule if I said so." Taking a deep breath, she sighed with a smile. But... "Student?" What student? What was she talking about? Like a student, student? The one she had taught? A light shed in my eyes and I looked at them with hesitation filled eyes. "...Wait. You mean...?" The same look she had a moment ago was now on my face. No, I had even wider eyes, and this shock was bigger for me than her knowing I was the one remembered as the empire''s child hero. Student? Her... student? My dad? Wow... what the hell was this weird day? Chapter 184 In Her Eyes "M-my, dad? Was your... student?" It was unbelievable, not impossible, but unbelievable. I never knew of anything like that one. This was the first time I was hearing my dad even had a master. All this time, I only knew me trained on his own and most of his knowledge was from experience, talent, and practice. But now that I thought about it... my dad was now some of the few (tier-7) mages in this vast empire. There were few of his rank and thinking back to his mastery of basic magic techniques. Oh yes... His basics were too polished to be self-taught. I have seen his magic casting and I remember everything I had seen him do. His magic, those awesome techniques where he can actually cast magic traditionally like any other mage, processing a spell quickly, and understanding the magic he is using. Though one could achieve that level by exceptional talent and one-sided actual battles, if you don''t have the firm base, the ground, the foundation needed for that,ing to the ce he was now wouldn''t be possible. "Now that I think about it... he sure is amazing," I mumbled under my breath as I nodded in understanding. This grandma was a special mage... her natural attribute was a higher version of earth, metal. I could feel it and she was great, really great at what she was doing. Though she had hidden her Mana precisely and the way she so naturally hid her powers with my eyes, I just knew she was super strong. And she had some of the best experiences in magic, enough to be a former teacher at the magic academy of the south. Now I was beginning to understand just how close the ties between our two families were. And it was amazing. Nodding at her, I smiled, surpassing her and making the two others with her shake their heads with a smile. She found their reaction and this whole situation amusing and from her smile, I at least understood she was thankful to me. "As I have heard all this time, the so-called young hero of the empire, someone who saved the guild leader of one of the greatest merchant guilds and a valuable (tier-7) mage. The one who saved his parents from a bastard demon and almost sacrificed his life. Someone who would be a great archer and someone who had grown up to be a miraculous person. You really are something, Eon." She smiled and signaled me toe to her. And as I stood before her, she looked past me and to Zoe, who still stood at the back with hesitation. "You do look just normal little child but, I can tell you are nothing less than this boy. But, you are a good girl that I can say for sure. Hmmm...e here, what are you doing there?" She smiled at her, and Zoe nodded her head and stood behind me. Looking at her with hesitation, Zoe mumbled slowly, "Wow..." She was hiding her gaze, but I knew she liked her gorgeous appearance. She was one of the most beautiful people she had seen, physically and in astral form. Zoe saw the true beauty of a being and I could tell just how she admired this one. In her eyes, when she saw a person for what they were, others appeared as... how should I put it? A cluster of light? Lights of different colors, shapes, sizes, and densities. It was difficult to understand what she saw others as but, I could understand how she felt every time she saw others with this gaze. And when she said pretty, she meant it, just like how she liked Rein so much she called her big sister naturally. Why did she call her big sister again? To her, I was something like the light of sunlight. A cluster of different lights that be white at the core. The shape of this was like a sun, and a sun that started with pure light but at the same time had different colors dedicated to some ces that didn''t change. Rein was like a darker night with many different colored stars and her grandpa was something this grandma. As one found their true strength and understood things about themselves, the colors she saw decreased, be one, and took a shape. The grandpa in her eyes was a strong body with purple winds covering every part of his being. Winds of different natures varying from calm ones that could heal to chaotic ones that could obliterate. This grandma was something simr too... but what? [[ "A silver diamond shining dully at the center of a flower made of mostly silver metals. Different metals but one flower and the diamond of its core... is so refined it looks like the ones you sold and mom collected. It''s really beautiful, big brother~!" ]] She was restricted to tell someone this information other than me and I was happy every time she talked to me like this. She just loved some of the beautiful ones and she felt thankful to be able to share these thoughts with someone. And I was also thankful to be of help to my little sister. Smiling and shaking my head at them, I patted her head and moved her forward to face them. "At least say hello, Zoe. She thinks you are beautiful, but she''s too shy to say it." Rein and her grandpa and grandma smiled at this behavior and nodded their head in understanding. "H-hello..." Zoe greeted her with a small bow and the grandma patted her head, surprising her. "How adorable~. Huhu. I like you, littledy." She said with a bright smile and Zoe nodded in agreement. "I-I like you too..." she replied with a genuine voice, making me and Rein sigh with an amused smile. The same energetic, cheerful and loud Zoe was sometimes like this... a cute little girl. And this was actually normal for children her- our age. My cousins, Rein and I, were the weird ones. Maybe she will have a ce like Anna in our house? I was looking forward to seeing them through. "They should arrive soon, right?" I mumbled under my breath, and Rein suddenly remembered it. "Oh shict! Grandma! Their family is on their way here. Even Anna ising! I have to prepare, so let''s talkter!!" she shouted and just ran out of the room after thanking me for reminding her. ...this was fast. "Hohoho. She is acting more excited for some reason." The grandpa said while looking at her and pointing his eyes at me. They talked with their gazes, and a surprising look covered her face instantly. "Really? Are you..." she asked, but stopped while seeing the smile on his face and a confident nod. And on the other side, Zoe tried to hide her chuckle from me, but failed miserably. Even they noticed it and the grandma smiled thankfully while looking at me. "Looks like we will have more to talk about than I had thought, Eon." She smiled at me mysteriously, and I just nodded. There were strangely many things to talk about with many people... will this night be enough though? With my family, then these two and then atst with her... The day has been stretched for long... will the night be the same? I was looking forward to many things here but... meeting my family was the first thing on them. Chapter 185 Before Gate ''So... this is the moment.'' I thought as we stood before the personal [Warp Gate] of the duke''s estate on the underground floor. This ce was amazing. Just having this two-floor underground asrge as the estate itself was amazing. And this was thest floor of therge house. Rein was quite quick, professional, and good at these preparation things, but she did a wonderful job. From preparing the dinner that we might not even eat to setting up the whole warp gate all by herself. I didn''t know why she was doing this all by herself or what her motivation even was, but she was good. Grandma was all ok after the medicine and now she was with us waiting before the gates for my family to arrive. We decided to not worry about those who didn''t know about her bad health and just make a story if they did ask. She was happy, fine, and now she was perfectly healthy. The curse was lifted, and her eyes of truth confirmed that one. I could have checked things myself, but¡­ My three eyes could see through everything but, the w was that it can''t filter the information. And whenever I used that skill, normal information on the status window aside, the external information and the things this skill would say in the third person were excessive in true meaning. Just like some time ago when I checked the status window of her grandfather and one of the highest ranking knights, this skill of mine practically cried into words. Not only the information of the status window but, I had seen many things rted to this person too. From how he had killed countless beings in battles, earning the title of the [Reaper] to the exact number of creatures killed and things like that. I mean... why even tell me these kinds of things and make me remember them forever? Well... I didn''t worry about those things. Forgetting them wasn''t an option, but I can easily store those things in the back of my head, not actually having them on my mind at all times. I didn''t have to worry about that excessive amount of info. I already had more than what was thinkable on my mind. The things he had done were noble and the kill count he had was practically nothingpared to some of the prominent figures ofte history. Well, all things aside, we were standing before the same huge warp gate that was in the middle of the city we had been. Though even while looking at the warp gate like this, I would still call this one a newbornpared to that gate. The grandma and grandpa duo has joined uste after having some private catching up and ''stuff'' and now... we also had their children. The dukedom''s sessor has finally joined us. "Elle!? You know how worried we were when you were gone~!? Your daddy and I were soooo worried he wouldn''t even sleep on some nights. He wrote three songs in these two weeks you were gone and they were sooo~ emotional that everyone cried when he yed that in thest show! Do you know how hard it was for me to stop this big man from ying that thing today~? Don''t you dare disappear like this next time!" This was a beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She had a beautiful face and although I can''tpare her to my mom or aunts, she definitely was a gorgeousdy. And she had a simr personality to my second aunt. Cheerful, a worry wort, one who loved her family and one that supported them with all her heart. Zoe liked this one too, and even though there was nothing special about her and she was just a normal person, she looked like a green cloud in a vast sky of different colors in her eyes. And although she was far younger than Rein, she was her mom. Rein''s mom was just a normal person in this family that had passed away a long time ago, and while her mom was human, she was a witch. Their existence was rare in itself, but not so much that no one knew about it. Although normal folks in this empire didn''t know her, she was known in the high society as the granddaughter of duke Atraxia. Her grandfather was an awesome person and although I didn''t know what she had gone through in her life yet... I knew she had suffered at the very least. Having long lives and living among normal humans would be something I couldn''t imagine but, Rein was definitely someone who has lived like that. Well, she was the same as me in human ageparison and there was nothing different about the witches and wizards than them having a far superior affinity with Mana or an element. She was just a normal girl for all I saw, an adorable one at that. And she was being scolded by her beautiful mom while her dad watched them with unstoppable tears flowing down his cheeks. He didn''t show his affection and love like her, but he was more than happy to have her back, even while knowing nothing would happen to her. He was a good father who loved her little girl dearly and even though I had no idea of how their family operated; I knew they loved each other truly. And she also loved all of them dearly. The smile on her face while being scolded by her mom was priceless, and so were the smiles on the old ones'' faces. Her father, the one who would seed his father, was someone known throughout the continent. He was a famous person, far more famous than even my dad. He was one of the greatest musicians here and his unreal talent was something countless envied. Though he had a (tier-4) Mana nucleus, he wasn''t a mage. He had the affinity of sound, the superior attribute of wind, and it was as great as the one she had with metals. From what I knew, aside from his average stats, normal skills, and nothing particrly eye-catching, the only special thing about him was his clear understanding of his talent. He could practically use any musical instrument but, from what Rein''s grandma told me, he loved piano the most. He was a great one as noble and I knew he was a really nice person from how Zoe praised him. He was... a harmonic light shaped as different musical notes that danced on a ne yellowish in of the old nk page. This old yellow was just like his hair and he really was a fun person from all these descriptions. Maybe we can have a chat and I knew he also wanted it, like his wife, who had already considered me as Rein''s partner a while ago. Like... what? She was happy to meet me, even more, to meet my beloved sister, and the happiest she was when hearing about ''us''. Everyone called me Eon but she... she called me ''Eon, my son'' or something like that. Something was wrong with her too open behavior or did I actually know nothing about his world that I was feeling like this? I was still a 12-year-old kid... a teen of this world. Come to think of it, I wasn''t 12 yet. My birthday was in two weeks. And I was already being matched with the very first girl I met in this world. So, they can think whatever they wanted to but, nothing was happening between us. The most we can do was be true friends and other things would be off limits. Well... we didn''t know the future. Things were like that and we were now here, waiting for my family while she was still being scolded cutely. They were a happy family, a small one but a happy family. And this was good. Things were good on this side but then suddenly... the special artifacts connecting to the warp gate that only special people had permission to possess glowed, we knew this was the time. The moment I had been waiting for. The moment I longed for, for however long I could think after falling into that forest. I will finally see them, see them, talk to them face to face without anything between us. I can finally... hug them and cry in their embrace. Tell them everything and introduce my little sister, Zoe. I can finally see my Anna... mom, dad, and everyone else. ''Hopefully... it wouldn''t get that much emotion. We had just talked some months ago, so they will have a good reaction, hopefully.'' I can''t see anything that will happen but, I knew things would be ok and we will have little fun on this night. This night of a special day. This night... of the day that has felt strangely endless. Chapter 186 Reunion The light was bright, and this was different from when we used the one in the city center. This warp gate had its own ''point'' and right now, it was working as the receiving end of the gate, just like the magic circle in the garden we were fallen to. This was a pretty impressive mechanism, but I wasn''t focused on that one. Right now, my heart was beating faster and my eyes were just fixed on the blue vortex that had appeared at the hollow part of the gate. I wasn''t feeling tense, but there were countless thoughts on my mind right now. Things were going to be lively in this ce pretty soon and the crowd was gonna increase a lot. I wanted to see them again, talk with them while being with them, and cry the tears that were still fresh at the ends of my eyes. I wanted to do those things, and I was going to do them right now. Just a moment. Just a little longer. They will be here, in this ce, with me, and I will finally... My train of thoughts was running at a speed I couldn''t even understand and this moment, this time right now was just getting stretched like never before. Every passing moment was slow, and this time was just... never ending but... I could wait. I have waited for six years, and these endless moments were nothing to me. Things will be different soon. I will be with them again. And while I was on this endless train, the process finished and as soon as that happened, a figure ran out of the blue vortex and ran toward me. I was still in that nk state, thinking about what was going on or what I will do but, as soon as this figure, this female figure ran out of there, I knew... the wait was over. I just stood there as she embraced me with her presence that I could never forget and... I hugged her back with tear-filled eyes. Her grip was firm, and she didn''t want to let me go now that I was with her. And I was the same. I could feel her tears and the happiness, sorrow, and anger from her. She was like this even after talking with me not long ago, but... it was also a fact that I was hugging her; we were with each other, and I was back after six years. This was no small time for us and the way they loved me... I knew just how they were feeling. She had kept her promise to me and she had done everything within her power to be happy and keep our family happy. I had the gist of how things had been all this time, though I knew nothing outside of what happened inside the family. These worrying adults never talked about how things had been to them outside the family affairs like how mom worked in her guild or how things were in the empire. I didn''t know, but I knew I will know those things with time. For now... I wanted to just hug her like this and stay like this for a little longer. And she wasn''t the only one that was gonna hug me like this. Another one ran out of the gate with others and hugged both of us with more tears than both of us. Others walked out of the gate, but they just stood there without saying anything. The three of us just stayed like this and I could see how things were going with the rest of my family with my third eye. Everyone was just looking at us silently, understanding the special circumstances we were in. Even my dear little Anna was looking at the three of us lovingly for a while, but she then asked grandpa to put her down. She was also one that was there with us on that day, though she wouldn''t actually know that she had also lost her big brother that day. Rein had shiny eyes while looking at her, themon reaction anyone would have while looking at this cutest thing in the world. And she was wearing a pink ribbon dress today with a little hat... that was soul soothing in itself. But Rein didn''t only have reverence for Anna in her eyes. She also felt sorry for us... for me mostly, and I could feel her even while in this chaotic train of thoughts. That girl... she was something else. Anna walked to us with her little feet, she will be six this year so that was also something I was looking forward to. She was a little angel, just average for her age. And she was just adorable. She stood on my right side where there was some space between mom and dad and I lifted my hand for her toe into this family hug. This was our reunion, the best one I could hope for. Anna smiled at me and patted my back tofort me and hugged the three of us. She wasn''t crying right now even while knowing every single one of our emotions. She was my dear little sister while my other little one was watching us with star-filled eyes. When she looked at all four of us like this... what would it look like in her eyes? I knew it was definitely something amazing, but I knew she will tell meter. But for now... I wanted to just have this moment. Both of them looked the same I knew from some months ago and everyone else, too. My two lovely aunts looked lovingly at us and my two uncles were the same. My first uncle and second aunt were crying without restraint and their spouses were patting their backs with helpless smiles. The two cousins of mine... I knew they were eager, but this was now just pure rivalry. They both had a fire burning in their eyes, a fire that wanted to just have a go right here and now. But thankfully they were waiting while also having cheerful smiles on their faces. These two never doubted I was alive or not... I had to be alive for them. And they prayed for me to be with them as soon as possible. And these two... I didn''t need my eyes to see just how strong they were right now. They were practically unreal in their fields. Ca... was almost a [Rank-4] while that little Alf was (tier-3) already, even while having four elemental affinities. The fight will wait but, I really admired them to harness this much strength in that short time. Like... Rein and I were special cases that didn''t have amon logic but, these two were just pure born geniuses. And when I looked at them, I understood just how unfair this world can be just in terms of talent. These two siblings of mine... and also Anna, were truly amazing ones. My grandpa and grandma were also here, looking at not just us but everyone, including Rein''s family, with a warm smile. Our grandparents nodded at each other with a smile and grandpa and grandma looked at Rein with a different smiles. And then at each other, talking with their eyes just like her grandparents. Was talking with gazes a thing between couples here? Well, I will know when we- Hmmm, this was good. They were here. I was with them. Master... I am finally with them. I couldn''t begin to express my thoughts much more than the feelings of this moment and... I just wanted to stay like this. Just a little longer... Chapter 187 Reunion (2) It has been a while since we were hugging each other and though I knew these two had lost all sense of time; I did not. The emotional moment was eternal for us but, it had to end at some point and I knew these two wouldn''t let go if I didn''t say anything. I was back, and I had no n of going away anytime soon. Not that I believed they would let me, but, for now, I had to end this. "Mom... dad... I am here now. So, don''t worry. Let''s go now, everyone is waiting..." My voice was filled with happiness and certainty, and they could feel it. Mom was hesitant at first but, she made up her mind and with shaking hands, letting me go, she backed away a little. Dad was better than her, so he also understood that I was fine. Anna didn''t back off and just hugged me all by herself and I hugged her back. This was her first time seeing me in person, and even though I had forgotten to take off this disguise of ck hair and ck eyes, they recognized me instantly. They were amazing and right now, aside from the two looking at me with tears and love-filled eyes and Anna hugging me like this, I could see everyone smiling at us. I also smiled while looking at everyone and waved my hand at the two cousins of mine. They were happy and fired up, and¡­ why were these two so dead set on just fighting me? Well, that aside, we weren''t in our own house and even then, anyone didn''t show any form of hesitation or ufortable behavior. As if this was a ce everyone was familiar with, they just acted like everything was fine and they believed all these people enough to freely break down in tears in their presence. The two families might actually be closer to what I know, but that was unnecessary. Looking at my two poor parents, I smiled and caressed Anna''s head. "Haaa... I''m fine so, let''s go, everyone. I don''t think this isn''t much good ce to talk or anything." I said and nodded at mom and dad with a smile and they understood everything will be fine now. Mom and dad nodded with a relieved smile while... Anna was still stuck to me for some reason. Mom and dad just smiled helplessly at her unique behavior and I most probably knew the reason. "Anna, don''t worry. I''m better than I look so, it''s ok. And you are more adorable than I thought, dear sister." I admired her with genuine praise that came from the bottom of my heart, and her charms were truly unparalleled. I kissed her forehead lovingly, knowing she was acting like this because she could feel ''it'' better than anyone else. Anna was a special child, normal but not normal in a way at the same time. She was ordinary, but the most amazing in this entire room at the same time. She possessed [Jewel eyes] something few in this world possessed. And everyone who had these eyes also possessed special powers or... gifts. ''Three eyes.'' [[ *The skill, [Three Eyes] has shed with a divine protection. Attempting to understand the barrier...* ]] I knew there would be something like this, just like most of the cases recorded throughout ancient times. Even though I had Lucy, I didn''t believe I could break or understand the barrier she had, even if I used all my energy. And Lucy surprisingly didn''t oppose this use, proving she was smart in the genuine sense. Anna looked at me while the process was still ongoing with her marvelous eyes after my kiss and... she kissed me on my tear-wetted cheeks. And this kiss... this was her gift. [[ *Your little sister is truly adorable, Eon. And caring. Oh, creator... even I love this cute little angel. She is smart too, understanding things just by her feelings. Marvelous~.* ]] Not only was this little angel special, but she was also understanding, smart, and an amazing little one. Her hair, the same ones as our dad''s that shined like the clear night sky and in this lowly lit room, looked more beautiful than normal, was long and soft. Her eyes were something many in this world would greed after, but... she was safe with us. This amazing little girl didn''t know much about other stuff but, she could feel the emotions others don''t show. Like right now, she just kept hugging me after feeling the sorrow and loneliness I had from being apart from them all this time. She even kissed me for the first time to calm all these emotions and gave me permission to look at her status window after sensing I wanted to take a look myself. My little sister... she was amazing and Zoe was practically jumping in excitement to meet this little girl. Rein was barely containing her eagerness to just run forward and take her up and just hug her for eternity. Her eyes were enough to say that. Well, who would me these two? If even a goddess fell for her charms, what would a young witch and newborn divine beast do? ===Status=== Name: Anastasia Heliox Kromet Age: 5 Race: Human (Blessed one.) Strength: 12 Dexterity: 15 Stamina: 13 Magic Power: 9 Intelligence: 18 Luck: 87 Charm: 123 [Skill: Calming kiss, Feel emotions, Understanding.] [Blessing: True protection of Althea.] --->She gave you permission to look at her special status window so be thankful to this splendiddy. ---> Having a blessing is no small thing and even on that, having true protection from one of the prominent goddesses of healing is miraculous in itself. ---> Just having three unique skills of that high level is shocking but, even more, all of them are passive ones and she can use them with no conditions at all aside from having good enough mental health to sustain the skills. ---> The skills themselves use natural powers so she doesn''t have to use any of her energy in the process. ---> She is a special one and her charm is something unreal in itself. ---> And she is also understanding and smart, unlike a certain someone. ---> This little girl is adorable and just having a sister like her is a blessing to a ''someone'' like you. ---> Cherish her with all your being. ============ "Thanks, Anna. You are awesome, you know?" I asked while kissing her small, fluffy cheeks. Now that she had calmed down, she looked better than ever and when she smiled at me... I became speechless. I just ignored thenguage my dear skill used to address me because what it said was more than true. She was amazing, cute, smart and someone you can''t help but adore. Receiving protection from a god was a naturally good thing, and she even received one from someone simrly strong as the one who blessed our grandmother. And as I knew, she had a charm like no other. Well, she was someone everyone would naturally adore. And I also wanted to adore or even worship this little sister of mine. We can do that. We had time on our side this time. I can do everything I wanted now that I was back with them. y, eat, cook, practice, fight, spoil them like a ''good'' brother... I can do everything now. And to start that, I had someone I will have to introduce to them myself. "Anna, mom, dad... this is Zoe. I promised my master I would take care of her like my little sister. I know everyone will like her, especially Anna and my dear aunts~." I said while asking her toe here as I stood up with Anna in my arms. Everyone already knew this, so there was nothing to worry about and everyone was happy to see such an adorable girl. And because I said my aunties, they understood she was different from us three troublemakers and more yful like Anna. Everyone waved at her to say hello but, just likest time, she just hid behind me, only seeing Anna. Maybe Anna had forgotten to notice her but when Zoe looked at her, Anna also looked at her just like she was. And both of them had sparkles in their eyes that found other prettiest ones in the world. Zoe saw the world differently from others and in her eyes, as she described a moment ago in my mind, Anna was a precious pink heart-shaped jewel. A pink of love, unlike my fiery Aura or Rein''s deep eyes. This was the lightest pink of love and it was so pure Zoe just couldn''t help but look at my other little sister. And I knew Anna could ''feel'' others and to her, this newborn phoenix, who was the symbol of purity, afterlife, and power, would be the most beautiful thing she had felt. Zoe was just like that. Pure, innocent but at the same time, a strong one with unreal talent and potential. My two sisters, one peeking at behind from my shoulders, and the other looking in front from behind me, these two were just... delightful right now. "Prettty..." Zoe said while looking at Anna with a smile. "Prettttttty..." And at the same time, Anna eximed with admiration-filled eyes. I knew just from this... these two are going to be best friends. Chapter 188 A Family Dinner Anna and Zoe. These two little things looked adorable when they were looking at each other like this. No one could help but smile while looking at them. This scene was cute and funny at the same time and the stars in their eyes were visible to even us. Anna asked me she wanted to go to her new big sister, so I just helplessly handed her over and they both started talking like two old friends meeting after a long time. And leaving them like that wasn''t a good idea, so we all moved to the upper floor and to the dining hall that Rein decorated in that short time. Everyone was surprised by the look and even more that Rein was the one who did that. They knew her better than me and from the looks in their eyes; it was clear that this was out of her character. Grandpa and grandmother of mine, the two oldest in the room, had cheery grins on their faces while looking at me, and Rein also felt embarrassed for some reason. And on this simr reaction of us, they justughed happily. Mom had a surprised look on her face and when she looked at Rein, she can''t help but shake her head. Dad, on the other hand, was talking with Rein''s grandma, acting like a young boy being scolded by his teacher. Everything was peaceful for the time and now, while we sat at the long dining table with the whole family and food served, the talks were going to start soon. And as I guessed, the first ones to speak were my restless big sister and little brother. "So Eon. You remember the promise, right?" Ca asked as she ate a sizeable piece of fine steak. From the way she had finished three tes already, I could guess just how great of an appetite she had. Well, it was normal for pure knights like Rein and my grandfathers. They usually had great hunger like this. Ca had red hair like her mom and eyes like her uncle and grandfather. She was just a year older than me and still; she had the same height as Rein and me while her body had been trained perfectly, which was reflected in her every action. And... ''Three Eyes.'' ===Status=== Name: Ca Heliox Age: 13 Race: Human Strength: 130 Dexterity: 134 Stamina: 138 Magic Power: 114 Intelligence: 98 Luck: 67 Charm: 59 [Skill: de armory, Warm breathing, All body reinforcement, Wild instincts, Swordy, Master''s words, Mieczyw, Thunderp, Burst sh, Battle wisdom.] --->The unique skill thisdy has is one of the highest level cheat skills that can store any number of weapons as long as it is a sword. ---> The overall stats are amazing for just a young girl and her potential and mastery are amazing too. ---> She is a natural knight and her high-level skills that suit her perfectly are clear signs of how good she is at using resources. ---> This girl is good, much above average than most children her age. ============ Ca was strong and her unique skill that can store any kind of de was just made for her. I could feel she had done her fair share of endless training and battles with strong opponents, but this would still not be enough to defeat me. But she definitely deserved to be called a prodigy from what I can see in her. That every muscle perfectly trained to wield different des, her natural instincts, her sharp gaze that said many things, all were perfect for a knight. "Yes, brother Eon. We should do it as soon as possible. Let''s dual after dinner, that would be best~!" Alf said with a bright smile on his face as well. "Did I ever do something to you two? Why are you dead set on fighting me as soon as possible? At least read the room, you fool~. I just came back and you two are this much fired up for a fight? At least tell me why?" I asked genuinely, with a bright smile on my face and my two aunties nodded with a sigh. "Even we want to know that, Eon." My first aunt said while looking at Ca with a helpless gaze. "Yes, Alf. We know you admire Eon and all but, what is the ''reason'' for this muchpetition? It''s not like Eon is someone like your grandfather or uncle. He''s just a kid like you two~." My second asked her little son with a loving gaze and gave me a beautiful smile. She was a cheerful one, like Anna and Zoe. Maybe these three were the most simrdies in this family. All three of them had special powers and their smiles were more radiant than ever. This was good and there was another cheerful one like them who was being shy right now and just hid in her house. Well, she will be ready to greet everyone soon. And I knew not only my aunts but also every other person here will like her. But Alf and Ca''s answer was important right now. "Well..." Ca started and first looked at Alf and they both just shook their heads. "There actually isn''t a reason why we want to spar with big brother in the first ce. We know he is strong for us right now but, we just want to see how big the gap is so that we can work even harder and defeat him in the future." Ca nodded at what he said and his words... surprised everyone here. Even Rein was surprised by this one and there was amendable gaze on her face as she fed some chocte cake to Anna sitting in Zoe''sp beside her. Anna surprisingly knew Rein as Grandpa''s friend, but this was her first time seeing her in person, too. And Anna loved this third big sister she met today, showing Anna had less contact with the outside world for now. She will definitely go out when she was old enough, maybe from next year but, she has been a sheltered child for now. Rein was the strangest ''young'' person here, but after hearing Alf, she couldn''t help it. "You know what Alf? I lost to your big brother in a spar this morning." She chuckled while cutting another piece of cake for Anna. Zoe wasfortable eating with her other hand and she just loved the two new sisters she had met today, so she was just happy~. But the words that came out of Rein''s mouth made everyone, and I mean every single person in this room including the grandparents stop eating. And that wasn''t all. The knife in Ca''s hand fell, and the same for Alf''s spoon as they looked at her with fear-filled eyes. Did these two know just how strong Rein was? Hell... she definitely did this one to discourage them. Even the grandparents and our parents were looking at her, and then me when she just continued feeding Anna with a smile. Her words... somewhat affected me, too. Well, nothing I couldn''t answer. "It wasn''t a spar or anything. We didn''t even have weapons on us. And it just ended quickly when she calmed down." "S-she calmed down?! How?!" As if instinctive, Rein''s grandpa shouted with the most shocked look on his face I had seen until now. He did look at her for an answer but as if nothing existed and this whole thing was just fun for her, only I was left to answer these weird questions. And his shocked expression... it would feel quite well- ahem. "Nothing actually. I just helped her when we identally met in the forest she was hunting. Then there was some small misunderstanding, but she just calmed down when I said her name was beautiful." "What?!" This time, it was my mom, and this was also the most shocked expression I had seen on her face. Mom was always a calm one, a cold one if I believed the rumors. But, she was rarely shocked like this, and showing a reaction so openly like this also meant this genuinely surprised her. My dad and her grandma had forgotten about eating and now, their mouths were wide open at this thought that Ca or Alf genuinely didn''t understand. Rein, Zoe, and I just pretended we knew nothing, and that we were just some innocent children but, aside from Zoe, neither of us could be convening to them. The way mom reacted was surprising but, there was a blush and smile on her face while thinking about ''stuff'' that I had no idea about. My uncle and aunty were the same, while Rein''s mom and dad were having a mental battle over how to do ''preparations'' with themselves after hearing those things. I had said too much in those small words and now... the dining table and this entire room were dead silent. ''Damn Rein. What the hell do I say now...?'' Chapter 189 A Family Dinner (2) The room was silent; the food was still, eyes were wide open and now, the only thing aside from the sound of my little sister Zoe''s eating was Anna''s giggles. "Hehehe... why is everyone so surprised~? Big sister''s name is de~finitely beautiful. Anna likes it too~!" Anna''s voice was like a start button that restarted all the processes in this room. The open mouths closed, and the eyes returned to normal. They started eating, and Rein and I couldn''t help butugh internally with sweat visible on our heads. Thanks to Anna, we dodged a bullet that might have started a wildfire of questions and maybe celebrations of joy. And twelve was the legal age of engagement in this world, so... there was no saying what might happen to us little kids who had yet to see the world. That aside, Rein just wanted to joke a little, and that was with Alf and Ca, who had no idea of what we adults were talking about. Maybe any other kid their age would have guessed, but not this two. They were the so-called prodigies. One just loved swords, the other just loved books. They will understand one day, but that wasn''t the point right now. Mom was now calm, but there was this super exciting feeling oozing out of her and I can''t help but worry about Rein. Because this ''interest'' was fully directed at her. And mom wasn''t the only one doing that. My aunts were the same here. What was up with thesedies, eyeing a lone girl like that with ''lovely'' gazes? But I wasn''t the one to worry about her, as her family was being the same with me. Her grandpa, as well as mine for some reason, was smiling warmly at me. Her grandma, my grandmother, and my father were looking at me and her with warm gazes filled with reminiscence. Those three were remembering their own old days while seeing us like this. And this was definitely too early for me to do anything, even if I wanted... not that I wanted. No. Definitely not. Her mom and dad were looking at me with heavy but happy gazes for some reason and I had no way to even look back at them with my ''two eyes''. I was doing just ok with all the experience I had with weird things, but she had dug her own grave and now she was drenched in a cold sweat. And Zoe and Anna were delightfully enjoying this moment. Having the ability to see or feel emotions was truly something useless but powerful at the same time. They were practically watching a y in the theater with delicious snacks. Now... the only thing that could turn this awkward situation for both of us around. I believed it was the cluelessness of the two beloved cousins I had. And as I believed them, Alf just shook his head at the sudden behavior of these adults and looked at me with fierce eyes. "Even if you beat up sister Reinelle, we won''t back down. We wanna fight you with our own strength and then decide to, even if you defeat instantly." Thanks, little Alf. I will teach you some good magic spells for this one. "Yes, yes. We will do that one after dinner. Will it be okay to talk after that one, everyone? I will make this one quick, so don''t worry about that." I said with a somewhat louder voice so that this staring event would end. And thankfully, everyone, every adult, understood this, and they just nodded their heads all at once. "We don''t have a problem with that. Actually, we would also love to watch you all spar with each other." My grandpa said with a smile and others just nodded in agreement. But what I said didn''t go well with Ca. -nk! "What do you mean ''quick'', you cocky bastard? Don''t go ahead of yourself thinking we will just ept defeat instantly. I am going to fight with all I have got and if you think you are as strong as grandpa to beat me instantly, I think you are mistaken." She was furious and the way she shoved the fork into the metallic te and it pierced it; I knew she was serious. And seeing this, everyone who still eyed Rein from time to time returned to this ce and focused on Ca. Thanks to you too, big sister. I have a sword you will love, actually many, but for now, this one will be a suitable gift. "Ah, my apologies. I didn''t mean it that way, big sis- I mean Ca. I was just saying we will definitely have the dual after this dinner." She red at me and nodded with a ''hump!'' and I helplessly smiled at her. Rein sighed in relief after this one and I knew just how heavy this ''family grazes'' would have been. I didn''t know how her life had been, but I was confident this was her first time feeling like this, even if she had talked and eaten with people like this. Well, this was enough to relieve her, but... there was one more thing I believed she would love to see. "Celes? Is it ok toe out now?" I asked, and I knew Celes could feel I needed her right now for some reason so... she slowly flew out of her mark, earning a bigger reaction than before. "E-Eon? Is that..." Dad was the first to ask, but not the only one. "Is that... a [Crystal Butterfly]? For real...?" Rein''s grandma asked with a shocked expression as soon as Celes came out and sat down on my shoulder. "Wowy~! Is that pretty butterfly your friend, big brother~?" Anna asked with stars shining in her eyes as soon as she saw Celes and Rein smiled at me and mouthed a ''thanks''. I just replied, ''it''s ok'' with my eyes like the adults did and looked at everyone. "So, everyone. This is my familiar, Celestine. She''s an awesome one and my dearest partner. Well, I knew you will know she is a special one and maybe you already figured out her ability." I said and asked Celes to lift the disguise from me and Zoe, and looked back at everyone who now had even more surprised eyes. "She has the of disguise. Cool right? Celes, it''s ok to greet everyone. You always wanted to meet everyone, right?" I asked while looking at Rein''s family, who was seeing my actual appearance for the first time. "Haven''t you found a pretty one, Elle?" Rein''s grandma had an admiring smirk on her face as she looked at me, and her question made Rein nod distinctively. "He is... superrrrr... pretty." Those words escaped her mouth unconsciously, and that look fixed on me made everyone smirk with happiness. "Yes~! Big brother looks super~ pretty like this. And Sister Zoe too. She looks gorgeous~. Hehehe." Anna giggled and her words made everyone look at the new appearance of Zoe, whom only Rein had seen. And something other than admiration happened at this table. -Thang. A spoon fall to the ground and we all looked at Alf in unison, who suddenly had a red face. ''Well... damn.'' We all knew where this was going, but no one other than me and Zoe herself knew... this little brother of mine will have to find someone else. While looking at his reaction, everyone had a different reaction than when looking at Rein and me. They just smiled like this was something funny, not thinking too deeply about this one. And I was also somewhat the same. Rein and I were mature for our age, far more than these two. But Alf... he was still a little child. This was nothing but pure attraction to beauty, and this cute reaction just earned the giggles and smiles of everyone. And this one didn''tst that long when Alf quickly stabilized himself and we all returned our attention to my dear little Celes. This one would have hurt, even if he would have feelings for Zoe in the future... I would have to feel sorry for this little soul. Haaa... back to the present. Everyone had an unbelieving look when they looked at Celes with an admiring gaze, and I knew this would happen when they see a practically impossible-to-find creature. But my dad, grandpa, and grandmother had a rather powerful reaction while seeing Celes. And mom... she was practically speechless while looking at her. This was the first time they were seeing Celes, or even hearing about Celes. Well, Celes requested me to keep it a secret and that she would meet them herself, and I had no need to deny that one. So, this was the first time anyone was seeing her, and the reason my own family who knew I was more different from thest time they saw me was... "Eon... so, Celes also has an elemental affinity with all six fundamental elements?" Dad asked, and this time... these words that practically only a few of them knew earned the biggest reaction from them. And the first one to scream... was Rein. Chapter 190 Her Shock... "You are Hexa-elemental?!!" -Ba-dum. Ba-dum. My heart suddenly started beating wildly as I looked at Eon with horrified eyes. A cold sweat ran down my back, fear surged throughout my soul, and my loud voice surprised everyone present. ''No. no way. If it''s true... then. No!'' It can''t be possible. Being a Hexa-elemental mage was practically a curse! Those who had an affinity with all of the basic elements are practically destined to die. Which mean... No. He can not die... I don''t know why but, he can''t! Even though I knew this reaction was too much, those words seriously horrified me. I was standing without knowing, my eyes fixed on Eon and nothing else. I didn''t know what was suddenly happening to me, but I knew one thing... I didn''t want this person to go away. -Smack. "Calm down, girl. What do you think you are shouting at this dinner table for?" grandma smacked my head beside me and I looked around. Everyone was looking at me, Eon being most shocked by this sudden reaction. And grandma, someone better at magic than me should also know what that means. But... she was calm after those words but surprised at this genuine reaction of mine. "But grandma!" I still can''t understand just how these people are so calm in this situation and even Eon, he must know this too but, why was he so calm? -Smack! "Calm. Down. Sit down, you clueless one. We can see just how much you are worried about your dear ''friend'' but calm down and try thinking about this for a bit. Do you even think someone like that could make it to (tier-3) or even survive for this long? Clearly, you haven''t forgotten about [Irregrs]. Haaa... what will I do with this granddaughter who''s older than me but dumber than even the little children." Grandma shook her head, and I sat down with a nk expression. ''Oh... yes. There were those broken ones who defied themon rules of this world. Having abilities that varied from the norm. Breaking the mostmon senses and perspectives people had about things¡­ like me. And thinking about it... she''s right, right? From what I have read, those who have this kind of six-element affinity all died at a very young age or, even if they seeded in establishing stability, they would be short-lived. But he was more than perfectly fine. And more than that, his magic was more refined than my own. And someone who had conflicting, opposing, and chaotic attribute affinity can''t do something like that. ... that would mean he... has a perfectly bnced affinity with all six elements and that stability increase the overall affinity with these elements.'' "Amazing..." I can''t help but exim after thinking things through. That meant his natural lifespan was longer than normal humans just by having this kind of affinity. But this kind of affinities, plus his strength, plus Celes and her exceptional abilities. "Just how amazing are you?" I asked with a nk expression while looking at his awkward smile. And on this reaction, I heard multiple sighs and chuckles. "Hehehe, big sister is funny~." Zoe chuckled and patted my back from one side and grandma also patted my back on the other side. ''I just did something embarrassing without thinking... didn''t I?'' I felt even more embarrassed because this wasn''t like me at all. I was someone who thinks things a lot, but this time, when it was something about him, I couldn''t help that reaction. It just came out of me without any thought and I just... Now I was feeling that hotness again, my face all red again. I knew that bastard Eon would think this was cute or something, but... this was his fault! He didn''t tell me this one when we were having fun all this day and now, before both of our families, I had to suffer because of his mistake! That fool! I didn''t know what to say now and this embarrassing feeling... maybe today was the first day I was feeling it this extremely. But then... I heard Anna''s voice. One of the most beautiful voices in the world, filled with purity and charm. "Hehehe... big sister. It''s ok. Don''t think too much about it." She said with her angelic voice from Zoe''sp and came close to me. And then... she kissed me. ''Oh god...'' I eximed in thoughts as I felt this serene feeling that instantly calmed my thoughts, and heart and even made me clear than ever. So this was the so-called special kiss of the one who rules the house of Heliox? This is definitely more than just amazing. This one is just special. "Thank you, Anna." I thanked her and kissed her little, soft cheeks. She was adorable, more than even her brother. And she was a smart one. Now that I was calmed down, I looked at Eon with somewhat angry eyes that said this was his fault. And that bastard... apologized. And even said he will make it up to meter. ''You better...'' I replied with the same eye contact and he just understood it like this was some telepathy and nodded. Looking at everyone after a sigh, he looked at everyone with Celes in his hand. "Yes, Celes also has an elemental affinity with all six basic elements. She is a special one and as you saw just now, she has the ability to disguise that even someone like grandpa and grandma wouldn''t notice. And though there are many limitations to this ability, we can have these disguises for a long time." He smiled masterfully, making everyone believe this was it to her ability. ''Really... amazing.'' I could feel not a single one questioned the things he left out, and some didn''t even understand he said half truth just now. Not even his genius uncles and aunts or even my mom or dad caught up to his half-truth. ''Many limitations? Grandpa and grandma? My foot dude. Even masters who trained in deception would want to bow to that wless acting. They could do far more than just do disguise for a ''long time''. From what I understood, that broken ability had practically no time limit, or at least it was more than a day. And from how Celes herself as well her countless clones could use this disguise all at once and however they wanted... these two were already close to those old ones with a [Chrystal Butterfly] in using the skill. And from how he didn''t tell them about those abilities, I could understand just how much he trusted me. And though surprising, I believed in him too. His acting wasn''t the one who gave away he left something out, it was wless in itself. It was my subtle reaction and change that gave away that there was more to this ability than just this... and the strong ones like our grandparents and his mom and dad noticed it, too. But they just let that one go. Understanding whatever he hid would be pointless to tell. And I was surprised just how much all these people trusted him. Even my family... I didn''t know just how he made them trust him this much. ''This bastard...'' I couldn''t help but smile while thinking about him as I finished my dinner and everyone continued their talk. This was their talk, and I was happy just to feed this little angel by my side. Even Zoe was a fun one to y with. I never had one, but... if I could have sisters, I wanted sisters like them. And now... these two just so naturally called me sister that my long-cherished wish was fulfilled just by meeting him. Maybe fate did exist, and all this happening was meant to be. But then again... no one knew the future. Maybe this was meant to happen but, this was too early for both of us. I knew he understood this too, and that was the reason we wanted to have a long talk. Even though we knew this feeling, knowing about each other more, understanding them, and just having them was far more important. I had lived enough to understand things and though I didn''t know how his life has been until now... I knew it was far more than what I have been through. His strength wasn''t just from endless, difficult, and tireless training... I knew many in this room knew this, but this person, this almost twelve-year boy, had been through a lot. He had fought for his life and faced countless moments where he might have died, but he had survived all of them, and now... after having an unthinkable life; he was sitting before us. And his warm smile was so genuine that even I would overlook the hidden deep sorrow and agony. I didn''t know much about him, and neither did he know anything about me. So we will just take our sweet time. No one was in any kind of hurry, and we didn''t care about these people who were starting many things in their minds. ''Good luck with whatever you all are thinking.'' I liked Eon even more to actually think the same and understand the things going on here. I sighed internally and all the conversations on this dinner table continued until Eon''s dad wondered about something that actually excited me and many others. "So... why did we all set so many barriers around this table?" Chapter 191 Barrier Game "Actually... yes. Why are there so many barriers?" my dad asked with a confused face as he looked around. From the moment we came to this room, every mage in this family aside from my dad started covering the room with a barrier. Naturally, not everyone can see them but, every mage here knew there were at least twenty barriers just in this room. And the one who started this was my grandma. So, I looked at her, and she just smiled as if this whole situation was funny. "Huhuhu. Well, I just put those there just in case someone would be eavesdropping on the conversation. You know many things like Eon''s ability, Celes or something like that is good with us, right?" She was smiling brightly at this situation as if what was happening right now was something very exciting, and she had the eyes that nned to make this situation even more exciting. Looking at Eon''s father by her side, she asked, "So, Brian. What was your reason to put those four barriers?" And in those words, a surprised expression appeared on my dad''s face. "Brian put four barriers? I could only perceive three, though." Dad asked with a confused expression and stopped eating. Well, it was no wonder he couldn''t perceive the fourth fire attribute barrier at the very first of the four. He wasn''t a mage, but his exceptional mastery of basic Mana and high affinity with sound attributes was the reason he could perceive most of the barriers in the room. I was going to exin this one with an excited face but, grandma spoke up before me. -p! "Ok everyone~! We have a fun situation before us, so why don''t we y a game? The one who can tell the exact number of the barriers in the room right now, not only the one we put but also the one that already had and their locations will get this rock~!" She announced and took out a white rock from her storage ring. This rock looked shiny, and... there was no need to tell anyone in this room, aside from Anna, what it was. And I couldn''t believe she had something like this, even though I was seeing this with my own eyes. ''Eye of truth.'' ============ ¡ô [Spirit calling stone] ~~~> A natural stone of dense spirit Mana stored in it. ~~~> The user can use this stone to call upon a spirit of the attribute you have the most affinity with. ~~~> The power within this one can summon a maximum of ranked spirit, and the called spirit will make the decision to make the contract if they want to. ~~~> This is a good chance presented to you, and I believe you know having this spirit will mean you will have a newpanion with you. ~~~> But, because of your too high affinity with darkness attribute, the spirit stone will only be able to summon a ranked water spirit at most. ~~~> And having a water spirit partner will mean you can also use high water healing magic. ~~~> Good luck with the little test~! ============ "Grandma..." I gasped while looking at this shiny white stone with a surprise-filled eye. "Master... are you sure about this?" Eon''s dad asked with questioning eyes. On the other hand, Eon''s mom had stars in her eyes while looking at that stone, which was somewhat different from Anna''s. "Wowy~! Can I have that pretty stone~?" She asked with a smile on her face and that smile... it was divine. And anyone here could have given her this stone but, she can''t use it now even if she wanted to. But though she can''t have it, she can definitely y with it until our little game was on. And grandma had the same thoughts as me. "Well, Anna is young, so she can''t have it. But, here, you can give it to the one who wins this game, ok?" she dered with a smile and passed the pretty stone to Anna. "Yei~! I will give the prize~!" The young one cheered with a face covered with chocte cake cream. She looked adorable... and everyone agreed with it. I smile and looked around the room. The participants of this game were... Alf, Eon, Eon''s father, Alf''s father, my father was already out so me, andtely grandma herself. She loved these kinds of things and if she suggested this game, I knew she was confident that she could win back this precious stone. Maybe she was underestimating us but, she has gambled something too precious to refuse. These stones were something one can only find in ces highly dense with spirit Mana and those ces were mostly Elven habitats. Although one could only summon a spirit with the spirit Mana and the process was harder than one can think, after signing the contract, the spirit was bound by the person so they could use any kind of energy, including Aura to materialize in this world. Well, there were natural restrictions like spirit Mana being the best energy source and Aura being the most difficult thing to power these delicate things with. But, we can use normal Mana in this process and although it would consume a lot of Mana and concentration, the effect would be outstanding. And who wouldn''t want to have a cute little spiritpanion? Anna would love it too. ''Hehehe... grandma might have thought no one can see through her special barriers but I can see them very well~! And although I can see them, I know I am not going to win this one. Not when he is here.'' I sighed and looked at Eon who... strangely, had no special expression other than excitement. And though there was a brightness in his smile just a moment ago, when he made a motion to read something before him, his face fallpletely. He sighed, disappointed by something on the status window of the rock he had seen. ''Oh... yes. This smart grandma... she really is cunning.'' My dear friend Eon, the guy can''t use that thing even if he wanted to. His having affinity with all six elements, and that too being a perfect bnce, was something that would prevent him from having any spirit or simr thing that doesn''t have all attribute affinity. And I don''t think there exists any spirit with all elemental affinities, and if they do, I know there are none that would be ''just'' a level. So... he would be out of the pictures? Like hell he would. There was a fire burning in his eyes that wanted that stone in Anna''s hand at all costs. And another fire was burning in my grandma''s eyes that she wasn''t going to let anyone have it, even if she has put it up. And these two... I knew the one who will win would be one of them. "Ok, so, Theo. What do you think?" She asked Alf''s dad first with a smile on her face. He was also an exceptional wind mage and his affinity with wind attribute was closer to my water attribute, which was quite high. With the dignified demeanor he always had, putting the spoon down, he looked around the room with his winds, which carried the special characteristics of ''gentleness''. The winds searched the entire room and then, in no time, he looked back at grandma on my side of the table and nodded his head with admiration. "The twelve defense magic barriers, two from Alf, three from me, four from brother Brian, four from Elle, Four from Eon, and three from you? So, 32?" Well, this was a close one, but not the right. Grandma just nodded her head and looked at Eon''s father. "I think it''s 34. There is a hidden defensive magic among the attack magic circles and though it''s hard to detect, Eon put a barrier on the ground too." As he said, this one was difficult to detect because of just how wless the whole spell was set to block the shadow movements. And though it was a (tier-3) barrier type spell, its construction was nothing like I knew was possible. He couldn''t have cast this one this soon so, this was definitely his (Script Magic) technique he said a while ago. This really was amazing, just like him. But Eon''s dad''s answer was still incorrect. She looked at little Alf who had a disappointed expression from this whole thing and we can understand the reason for this. "Worry not Alf. We are just ying a game. Tell us how many you can see and sense." She asked with a warm smile, and the little one nodded his head. "I can only sense 28. The twelve dads mentioned, three that you are just showing us, uncle''s four, three from sister Elle, three from dad, and three from brother Eon." The little young soul had tears when he couldn''t detect the barriers between mine and Eon but, something he said amazed me and everyone else who paid attention. "What do you mean by the spells I am showing?" Grandma asked while putting her chin on her locked hands, and I smiled too. She did this whenever she found something interesting, and it really was interesting. "Y-you see. If we calcte the structure of the barriers and their positioning, there should be a fourth one just above your second earth type, metal attributed, iron-1223 barrier. But I can''t sense that one, so I don''t actually know." "Wow..." I eximed at his answer and even Eon had surprised eyes like me. Grandma also nodded her head with surprise at his superb calctions and smiled with admiration. "That''s right. There definitely is a hidden barrier between the second and third one. Those calctions are unique to you Alf. Cherish that talent. You are amazing in your own way," sheplimented him with genuine words and Eon also nodded at her words. "That''s right, Alf. Even I couldn''t calcte something like that. You really are amazing~." Eon''s words were genuine and on thesepliments, the young boy just shy away like the little 11-year-old he was. And all the moms at this table found that cute. But Eon wasn''t finished with his words. "Alf, listen here." He called him out with a suddenly serious expression and Alf looked at him with clear eyes, full of attention. "Though you have the mind that can process like no other, you are wasting that enormous talent." His sudden words were harsh and many eyes in the room opened wide on these words but... I instantly understood what he actually meant. Chapter 192 Barrier Game (2) "Alf, I know you are awesome with magic and spells and I think from how much I know about you, I can say this much that you learned this spell today or maybest night, right?" I asked with a serious tone and sharp eyes. And I knew this sudden behavior of mine would surprise everyone in the room. It was necessary for this young brother of mine, though. And I knew from Rein''s face that she knew what I meant. "Y-yes. That''s right, brother Eon. I learned that one this morning." And as I knew, Alf answered with a hesitant voice. Though there were some gasps from Rein''s mom and dad, we all knew just how good Alf was with magic. His talent was undeniable, and I knew he would have figured it out if he had paid attention but, if he keeps this mistake, he will have problems in the future against opponents like me or Rein who can directly see through things. Sighing at him, I turned my face around and pointed at the left side of the room. Everyone looked at that side, and as we knew, there were Alf''s barriers at the very inside of this room. "You were thest one to put these barriers and you most definitely did it because you thought ''all are doing this cool thing~! Let me do one too~!'' or something like that, right?" I asked with a funny smile to alleviate some of his tension. Though this was serious, this wasn''t some punishment or lecture to him. I was just pointing out his mistake for him to improve those first. "I knew we weren''t doing this for fun! But yes... I did it without much thinking." He first shouted and then his voice sank, and he looked down. Looks like he started to understand his mistake. "Good. Now, look at this newly learned spell that you put masterfully." I said, and he looked at me, or the fork I was painting at that side of the barrier. A small arrow of wind manifested before the fork and then, the winds turned red and a fire started at the tip of the wind arrow. All eyes were locked on me this time and this was probably the first time any of them were seeing me use magic. And this magic of mine... "wless~." Rein and her grandma said at the same time as dad and the second uncle gasped at this one. This was the wless execution of a simple (tier-2) Mana spell that I made myself. This spell was just a simple wind arrow with the me tip, a dual element arrow or spell that harmonized with each other so perfectly that it looked like there was only one attribute in use. These were the fruits of my death-inducing training with my dear master, and I knew this level of mastery was something they can only see in someone like Rein''s grandma. This was refined beyond belief and when they said wless... they meant it. The small arrow which was barely the size of my finger shot forward at the ce I was pointing like a beam ofser, leaving a red tail behind it. Everyone only saw the tail and not even dad saw the actual spell at that speed and was amazed. And it was as if the moment the spell left the fork, a sound of ss breaking echoed in this room and the invisible spell broke and shattered into pieces. A (tier-3) defensive spell just broke by a small, low-power (tier-2) spell. And this thing enlightened my dear little brother. "The spell is wrong!!" Alf shouted, realizing what had just happened, and I smiled at him for being so smart. "Exactly. Your execution of the spell itself was excellent, but with this new spell you learned, this fire and water element barrier, even though the element called the negative effects, there were two weak spots. And although these weak spots were practically invisible, I know grandma and Rein saw them too." I paused for a moment and my sharp gaze softened. So did this gentle smile. "Alf, you are a specially gifted person who can process spells like no other. You don''t have to rely on the spells others have made and use those spells just because they are powerful. You are strong yourself, and I know you have all the knowledge you need so, you don''t have to use what others use. Just make your own spells that are as wless as mine. And I know if it''s you, you can definitely do it in no time~." I smiled at him and he nodded happily as an excited smile appeared on his face. "Yes! Thank you, big brother and grandma, too. And big sister Elle~!" He thanked everyone with a bright smile on his face and went back to eating with deep thinking. He was an excellent mage and there was no need for him to be bound by the magic others use. If it is him, I know he can make spells that are more powerful, deep, and can only be cast with a mind like his. He will be alright now, so that was the end of his topic, and Rein''s grandma moved to the other one in this little game. I knew Rein''s eyes had already told her the white stone would be a good thing for her and she might have figured out I also wanted this stone even if I can''t use it. The reason was simple... I wanted to give that stone to her. Nothing special, it was just a sorry gift. For the episode that had been happening a moment ago and the fact that I ''forgot'' to tell her I was a Hexa elemental mage, and for worrying her like this. Now the feelings and emotions are getting even stronger. ''Man... aren''t we just hopeless at this point?'' I can''t deny this fact and so, I just wanted to go with the flow. We both were far more mature for our age so, with a lot of time, we can do everything we wanted. Well, I knew I was going to win this little game and gamble with this grandma, anyway. This wasn''t even my first time seeing a spirit summoning stone. As a matter of fact, I had six others like this one as well as three for advanced ranked spirits summoning. We ranked spirits as Newborns, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Kings, and Queens. As basic as this was, the first-ranked spirits were impossible to get summoned by any being. Even if they are someone like my master. Spirit kings and queens stood on the same level as hers and some of them were actually as old or maybe older than her. They are godly beings that rule the spiritual world and protect nature as some of the [Guardians]. And no mortal had the power to summon a king or queen, at least no normal mortal. There had definitely been cases of transcendent beings making the contract with a spirit king but, never in history did they have the power to summon their actual forms. And they can''t even leave that realm from what I knew. And newborn spirits were something that had no actual elemental attributes. They were beings that gained their attribute after a while of being born. And with no attribute, they are like souls hanging between life and death. When they actually gain this attribute, they be full spirits and a rank is assigned to them at that point. So... as someone who had an elemental affinity with all six basic elements, I can do two things. Find a way to summon a Superior spirit, because that''s the only rank other than [Queen] for the spirit of all six elemental attributes. Or somehow make a contract with a newborn so that the little one would get the affinity of all six elements at its birth. ''And even though I have a way to make the second option possible, I am not strong enough to enter the 42nd floor of the tower yet.'' That ce was a special spot, totally different from any other floor of the tower. Lucy called that floor [The gate of the spirit world] and this was one of those restricted floors grandma didn''t allow me to enter. She always said I will know when I should go to that floor, so I just believed her, and I didn''t actually want to go there anytime soon. I had Celes, and I had to take care of Zoe, too. The child-like old Rein was here too. If I got another baby, it would be too difficult for a little old me, no? So for now, she can have this even if her answer won''t be right. Actually, even her grandma''s answer would be wrong. "So Elle. What do you think? How many are there." The grandma asked while looking at Rein. and she confidently nodded. "I think there are 38. Eon cast six spells. Just like you." she said, and I nodded without a problem. I definitely cast five spells powered by Mana. "Oh? Did Eon cast six? But where... ah~. Indeed." Even dad didn''t see this one despite seeing the one on the floor. There were two sound spells in the air parallel to the one on the ground. And three other spells constantly circling us in one giant dorm that was just inside Rein''s grandma''s spells. This actually turned out pretty fun if I said so. Good thing I was thinking the same thing as her. Just that my spells took a little bit more to activate than hers. She was truly exceptional. Nodding her head at Rein, she finally looked at me and before she can ask me the same question as all the others, I looked back at her with a smile. "So Rein''s grandma. What do you think the actual number is?" I asked with a calm smile on my face that made my mom suddenly smile. And she was the only one to smile like that because not even dad knew this habit of mine. Or more urately, this smile that I only used when I was more than confident in what I was doing. This surprised the old grandma, who was confident in her own strength, and, after seeing this smile, she shook her head with a helpless smile. "There are 42 defensive magics in this room right now and now that you asked me the questions, can you please point out all of them if you are that confident in yourself? Little hero of the empire, Axion Heliox Kromet?" Her voice was stern, but there was a yful smile on her face that made this one even more fun. I just smiled with excitement at this sudden behavior and nodded my head. "It would be my pleasure, duchess Arina, the great high mage and some of the highest candidates for the seat of the new [Elder]." It will be fun now¡­ Chapter 193 Barrier Game (3) "First, the fifteen defensive magics in this room. The twelve that we can see, one that dad mentioned, and then the two that are conditional. The condition to trigger them is most probably in case of a sudden energy burst or a powerful attack. The two spells would even resonate with each other when triggered and the barrier that would appear from them would be a spell close to (tier-8) earth attribute, metal type, and adamantine-444 variant. And that spell... is wless. Two from Alf, three from the second uncle, four from Rein and dad, eight from you... and seven from me." Why does this room even have this much defensive magic? This was a dining hall, lol. But Rein''s grandma is really something else~. "You are an awesome Rein''s grandma... I can''t even think of the level of control you have on your Mana to be able to cast this sophisticated spell on the entire room that covers not only the walls or something but everything. From the floor to this table and everything that touches it. One can''t sense or see the spell with eyes or normal means. The only way to know about these two is by trying to cast a simr spell, which will need at least that level of finesse with Mana. Though it was just foolishness, I did try something, and the collision of different Mana was easy to sense. Aside from those two, as Rein can see with her eyes, there are two other conditional spells... which are just there for fun. It''sughable how you put those on walls, ptff, really, amazing. I know even grandpa Zhen talking with the ones that followed us in the city would agree. It''s quite amazing to have this many barriers in this room. Well, that''s it, am I right, dear grandma?" This one was really exciting and the way I pointed these spells was amazing too. Well, it was nothing and aside from the fact that I never tried doing something like grandma, everything was on the spot. Finding out these spells was easy when you bore unique energy than Mana which is thinner, faster, and more efficient. My Solnova (: Scan) can easily detect the spells in a ce and much more. Thisplete exnation surprised everyone, and Rein just sighed as if she knew this was going to happen. Same with Rein''s grandpa, who knew I could see through his mental barrier. Even mom and dad were somewhat surprised by this. Anna had no idea what was going on, so she was busy eating dinner with Zoe, who knew what was going on and much more. Alf had stars in his eyes and he rapidly looked around and even tried to infuse Mana on the table, but he was still some way away from that level. But he was actually amazing. His control of Mana was definitely almost at my level. Just some more years and he will surpass me in terms of Mana control. Well, my main functional energy was Solnova, not Mana, so it was all the same even if he reached Rein''s grandma''s level. But, everything aside, the most ''unique'' face in this room was from the grandma who had put this precious stone on the line. Anna actually liked that shiny stone, but she was more excited about giving it away. Maybe she will like some shiny dolls or something to y with? Hmm... I had something she would definitely like. Well... Rein''s grandma. The one who just put this precious shiny stone up as a gift. I didn''t know she would have thought I would be this much right and more than that, there wasn''t surprise or anger on her face. At this moment, she was confused. "Seven? How can that be?" she asked nkly as she started looking around. There was no way she could even find this one anyway, so I just continued eating, letting her search on her own. This situation surprised everyone except Rein. She had seen this type of barrier back at themunication center, but this one was more than that one. This one was practically undetectable because it was a thinyer of the wall right now, something like what grandma did, but thisyer was under her own spell. So before she disables or destroys all the other spells in this room, she can never know there was a barrier like that. And the restless grandma chose the second approach. -Snap! With just a snap of her finger, the spells on the table and the room vanished along with the spells Alf, his dad, and my dad had cast. There was arge cracking sound, but she had already cast a sound barrier around the table. Now, Rein''s special witch magic spells. They were amazing. Though they were like normal Mana spells, I could see the whole spell construction and the Mana wavelength used in these spells were special in themselves. They were impossible to break just by piercing the core, as she did with the other spells. So, where even if she can''t use normal means, she used brute strength. At the end of the day, all these barriers were average and not the best thing any of us can do. And the same for these (tier-3) barriers Rein put up. Even if they were that special, they were nothing against someone of her grandma''s level. A silver light appeared on her hand and vanished quickly... with all the barriers Rein had put up. This time, this sound was enough to break even the normal ss of a room. But thankfully, nothing here was normal. Rein and I just sighed helplessly on this one. Her grandma used only one (tier-4) spell to break her four (tier-3) spells. And this was just brute force because the Mana of a (tier-8) mage who was soon going to be a (tier-9) was far more strong, dense, and characteristic than us. And now... it was my turn. She could have just destroyed all the six Mana spells everyone knew, but she stopped and put her hand on her mouth with a sudden look of awe. Looking at her action surprised every mage in the room and they also looked at the only spells left in the room. First, it was her, then my father, then my second uncle, and then Rein''s dad. All of them just put their hands on their mouths and looked at my spells in awe. Rein and I knew the reason for this one and even Alf could somewhat understand the reason for this. And, well, I couldn''t help but be proud of myself that people like them admired me like this. Chapter 194 Barrier Game (4) "Gorgeous..." the grandma eximed while looking at this art and others nodded in absolute agreement. Rein was the only one who had a somewhat normal expression, and she looked at me. ''You are amazing'', she said with her eyes and I just smiled understanding. Even I knew this, but now, ''my'' every spell was wless as well as gorgeous. Maybe they couldn''t see them before because of so many barriers but, right now they could and, all six spells I had cast were like a painting. A gorgeous painting, art so beautiful they couldn''t help but admire it. It was a bit embarrassing, but it was just a habit now. I was an admirer of true beauty, and I liked it that way. The definition of beauty I had was also different from the norm, and my artistic thinking was one of the reasons my master loved my spells. And even though they couldn''te close to hers, they were awesome from the normal human point of view. The red, blue, and yellow magic circles had attractive designs made from different use ofplex techniques. The two green ones joined with each other and rotated in the air at a slower pace. And the brown one on the ground was the smallest of all, as well as most geometrical. This was indeed amazing. Although all of theseplex spells were scripted already and I just used them on the spot, just creating one of them takes me hours on my own. Good thing that I already had many smaller ones prepared and much more. All the preparations I did for the so-called ''test'' she was going to give went into the water and I couldn''t even use 30% of what I had prepared. And now that I had Lucy, a unique being with me, so I had just asked her to script these things. She can do this one, and I was happy I had her. Although she was slower than me, her efficiency was far better than mine. And she could just keep the spells on herself. And transfer it to my mind whenever I needed it. Although this process consumed a lot of energy, it was a goodst-moment resort. Well... it was what it was but, this admiration and awe had to end at some point. All of them knew I had an amazing master who had taught me these things, and they never asked me anything about her. But I knew they were smart enough to guess something closer to the truth. I knew they wouldn''t ever reach the conclusion that my master was a divine beast, but I believed these old grandpas and grandmas at least reach the conclusion my master was something close to a [Saint]. Well, I can''t tell them that one, so it was all up to them to figure out everything. But for now, I had to end this admiration. -Snap! I snapped and all the Mana spells¡­ just vanished. They all knew this would happen, so they just sighed at this and the grandma nodded at me. "You win from just being able to create spells like these, young one. I would have loved to meet the one who taught you but, that is impossible now, right?" she asked with a hopeless expression, and I just looked down at those words. Yes, they can''t meet her now. She was gone. I just smiled with clear sorrow visible on my face and on this, Anna looked up at me. I knew most of the people here might know what it feels like to lose someone close to you, so they all understood these emotions. So they didn''t ask anything about this one any further. ''Well... I can''t change what has already happened. So, let''s be in the present where I have everyone with me.'' Taking a deep breath, I just nodded, and the sudden silence vanished with my voice. "Ok, so that is it. Now, grandma, there is another barrier. Amazing right?" I asked with a bright expression and the confusion returned to her sad face. p "Where?" she asked with genuine curiosity, not finding anything even after searching with Mana. She looked wide and deep, but nothing caught her attention in this normal room. And when she didn''t find anything, she just threw the fork she was holding at one of the walls¡­ impatient grandmother. And though the way she threw it was so gentle and normal, the moment it left her hand, the speed increased many folds and when it collided with the walls like some super fast projectile... it bounced and just fell down without any energy left. And the way it absorbed all the power of the fork surprised everyone once again. "Wow... but this isn''t Mana. This... is some different energy, isn''t it, Eon?" Grandma asked with a surprised face without needing to think too deeply about it. I just nodded and took off thest of the barrier in the room. "Something I can do with my Origin skill. Amazing isn''t it?" I smirked the surprise in her eyes increased even more. "Fascinating... I think, Eon, we will have to chat one of these days," she responded, and the dangerous fork flew back to her hand. I knew she would also ask for a long chat, and even I wanted to talk with her but, thankfully she didn''t say tonight. This day had stretched quite a bit but, there were still many things left. And the silent Ca was even more fried up than before now. The fire to kill in her eyes was burning quite fiercely, and the match that would happen with her was going to be fun. But for now... "Ok, I lost. Eon is the winner today. And the dinner also seems to be done. Lady Anna? Will you bestow the precious stone on your big brother?" She asked with proper respect and a cheerful smile and on those¡­ Anna jumped from Zoe''sp. "Yei~! Big brother is awesome~!" She cheerfully shouted and ran toward me across the giant table after giving Zoe a free kiss. Running for a while and not wanting to cross this long table, she just went under the table and crossed to the other side. My smart little angel. And then, running towards me, she jumped towards me as I stood to catch her. "Hehehe~!" I lifted her in the air with the same bright smile and circled while she was still midair as she giggled with her marvelous voice. "Thank you for the great honor my littledy~!" I also giggled like her as I sat down with her on myp. Everyone smiled while looking at both of us, and the weird atmosphere from a moment ago was nowhere to be seen. "Here. Your prize, big brother. Anna is proud of you~!" Sheined as she patted my head with her little hands and I smiled helplessly at this. Mom and everyone else shook her head while Rein looked at me enviously. She also wanted to be patted by this angel, but s, this was my gift greater than this shiny rock. This was good, everything from my little sister on myp, and everyone looking at us warmly. And the dinner was also finished. "Hmmm... it is time for dessert, right? How about I make something?" I asked¡­ and as soon as those sudden words came out of my mouth, the greatest reaction at this dinner table exploded at once. Chapter 195 The Cooks "Dessert?!" Mom shouted from beside me with stars in her eyes. "Wowy~. Dessert~!" Anna shouted from myp with her hands high in the sky~. And a simr reaction from everyone else throughout the room. Everyone had anticipation-filled gazes and Alf, Dad, and my second aunt had shining eyes like Anna and my grandmother. Why was my grandmother so surprised all of a sudden? She had her old grandma''s appearance all this time, but now she was like this all of a sudden. Did she like the things I made that much? p Like... I knew she liked cooking like my dad. She and dad got so well because they both admired each other''s cooking but, to suddenly be this excited, was quite something. Even Rein... she had anticipation in those beautiful eyes. ''Don''t even think about that,'' I angrily answered to her gaze that asked if she could have that special ice cream again. And I was damn serious. And my stern answer and her sudden disappointment caught everyone''s or at least every adult''s attention in this room. And I just shook my head at their sudden smirks and just sighed deeply. "Will big brother make ice-cream~?" Anna asked with an anticipation-filled gaze and her eagerness made me smile even more. "Does my little Anna like ice cream~?" I asked with a warm smile and she sted with happiness. "Yes~!! Anna likes ice cream a looooot~! Daddy said you were the one who taught him, right ~? I want to eat the ice cream that big brother would make~! And I loooooooove chocte~!" This was one of the most cheerful and adorable and cute voices and it was just... nice. "I love chocte too~! How wonderful ~!" I cheerfully answered this little sister and kissed her head and she nodded her head with giggles. Again, everyone just smiled warmly while looking at us but, there was something else I wanted to do today. "So, what about everyone else? I know mom loves wine, Alf strawberry, second aunt red chili, Dad likes mango, Ca likes orange, and the first aunt likes all the tea vors. My dear first uncle likes milk. Grandpa likes the rich butterscotch and grandmother likes saffron quite a nice one. My second uncle likes carrot-vored ice cream... which definitely is unique. And my- ahem. Rein likes chocte with roasted almonds. What about everyone else?" I asked, but thatst line I messed up earned me even more smirks and pleased grins than there had been. This was definitely one on my part, and I was just going with the flow on that one. Well, she was just my friend... For now. Things would need time to go further than that. And now that none of us gave any reaction to any of their provocation, they understood both of us had decided on what we were going to do. And they had relieved and proud eyes while looking at us. In their eyes, this was truly what adults would do. And Rein''s grandma can''t contain her smile on this one. "Oh, that''s alright everyone. Our two grown-up children won''t need us on that. So, Eon. My favorite is also strawberry. Eth here likes blueberries. Oran likes the lemon vor, a unique citrus one. Dorian likes apple-vored ones. Well... to think you pioneered something like this, Eon. Just amazing~!" She cheerfully shouted, and I nodded my head in happiness. I know even if someone else introduced the ice cream in the near future, it would have been all ok. But, I liked the fact that I was the one that made the first ice cream in this world. Maybe my name, along with my mom who actually did everything, fromrge-scale production to inventingrge-scale workshops, would be written in history? It really was possible at this rate, but I liked the fact that people were able to try something this amazing in this world a little sooner. But... "Though I know everyone likes ice cream, I won''t be making that today. Well, exactly not the ice cream you all know." I smiled and looked as a confused expression clouded their faces. And the cutest one was naturally Anna''s. I just smiled at her and looked at everyone and then at dad, grandma, and... Rein. ''I said no. Why don''t you understand?'' she thought I would say something about the special ice cream but that wasn''t it. And this strong denial made her disheartened like a sad puppy or a kitty. "Well, I will make two desserts that you may or may not like, depending on your preference. One would be a hot dessert that does go quite well with ice cream and the other one would be a different kind of ice cream. I suggest you all look forward to it and, if dad, grandmother, and Rein help me, I know it will be done in no time~!" My voice was cheerful and there was no doubt in anyone''s mind that the creator of something divine like ice cream won''t be able to make something other than ice cream. "Wow~! Anna will help big bother too~!" But this one was unexpected. Anna cooking with us in a kitchen apron like that...? "Of course~!!! I would love to have you with us~!" I shouted with more enthusiasm than I had shown ever. And my voice this time was almost as loud as Rein''s when she was excited. This actually surprised everyone, including Rein, because this was the first time I had acted like that but, they could understand this one, and all at once,ughter broke out at the dining table. "Hehehe, big brother is really excited~!" Zoe giggled with Anna and both littledies shook their heads. I knew this was too much but, even Rein found this one funny and startedughing while covering her mouth with her hand. And all the adult''sughs were even happier than Ca or Alf''s. Some were happy that I was still ok and fine to be able to shout like that and be a fool for my little sister. But... it was true, though. Just imagining this little angel wearing a small pink apron and cooking some Brownies and Mousse was just... wholesome. It was soul soothing just watching her do that stuff and for someone who had just lived in a jungle with a grandma, watching this little girl who was the most adorable thing there was, cooking like that was just... calming. I was content with just that much, andpliments from all these people won''t matter to me one bit. Rein was not one of them, though. I will like thepliment and after that, if she likes it too much... I won''t mind something else. Not that I could expect anything more than a date, but, well, we can imagine whatever we wanted. That''s why it is called imagination. "Well, whatever. Let''s go everyone~! Let''s make some Brownies and Mousse~!" Though the word confused them, they all stood up, and I smiled just thinking about that adorable scene. But there was one person who had different thoughts than any of these people and naturally, it was my mother dearest. Her natural train of thoughts would know just how good of a cook I was and just from the fact that the new things I made in this world were revolutionary in themselves, she was excited. And as my name was already a brand, they needed new menu items to keep the momentum going. And I could never me her for thinking things like that on the day I was finally here but, she sure was excited to try this new thing. Well... she was gonna love this and as I know her licking to softer things with stranger taste, perfect wine and chocte-vored Mousse was just the thing she would like. I never tried making mousse in the past because I had no actual need or proper cooking knowledge and I was inexperienced back then. This was just one of the many things I never even mentioned to them but, today, they were gonna taste the fine texture of ice cream that''s more refined and carries far more taste than the normal ones. ''It would be fun... for me and for all these helpers I had with me Cooking was a fun thing and the smiles and praises one received after making something with all their hearts were just priceless. And that was the reason... all four of us actually loved cooking for others. Chapter 196 Kitchen Time In the kitchen by the dining room, I stood before the most lovable being in the world. Long hair like the night sky, gem-like red eyes shining in the yellow lights of the kitchen. Wearing a small pink kitchen apron in her gorgeous ck dress, she stood on a small table in the kitchen. Smiling at me like my reaction was funny. "Big brother~! You are funnnny~!" She giggled in the most beautiful voice and I could help but thank nature for letting me see such miracles. And miraculously, this was just ''the first time'' I was seeing her like this. My eyes were shining in admiration, and I covered my mouth with both of my hands to cover the funny smile filled with awe. "But, sweetie~. You look so adorable~. We can''t help it~!" Rein said with the same feeling and expression as me. Dad and grandmother can''t help their smile while seeing the three of us and Anna didn''t mind this one at all. "Hehehe. Big sister and big brother are cute~ too! But Anna wants to make the dessert first~. Everyone is waiting for us~!" she shouted and jumped from her small table, which made her almost as tall as Zoe. This little one... just how smart was she? Taking a long breath and iming my heart that was beating faster than ever once again from her cuteness, I looked at everyone. "So, we will be making a cake-like thing that''s eaten when it is still hot called . And something just like ice cream, but it would be more like ice cream foam called ." These two were some of the most famous sweets in my past life and I enjoyed them just like ice cream. Well, there were things like them already in this world, so I didn''t actually think much about making them, but now that we had this special asion, it was the most perfect thing to try. Everyone was looking forward to it and even now, they were watching us through surveince devices in the kitchen. It was like a live cooking show or something for them, but, well; I do what I had to do. Grandmother was the best cook in my home and her ssic food was famous throughout the empire. Though her recipes were not easy to make and a select few could actually do them properly, she loved just how simple things I hade up with that everyone can eat at any time they wanted. There had been many changes in the empire these past five years and I knew many of them because of mom and the new kind of food introduced to the world. Though this was just normal food, just how everyone liked it was a real thing and though ''I'' held the rights to the name and creation of the things sold in mom''s food shops, the recipe wasn''t that difficult at all. Everyone could make these things at their home and enjoy them as they sit down for a dinner like us. It was the charm of these simple things, and there was more to it than just that. This was a great impact on the whole continent and the way it spread in just a short five years was unbelievable in itself. So¡­ grandmother loved me far more than normal and not just as a grandson, but as a being that brought such changes to the normal lives of the empire. I could see now that I was among humans. My presence has brought many changes and most of them were positive. And I can just ignore the negative things, they were just bad to think too deeply about. It was of the Darkside¡­ anyway¡­ In one of the letters we exchanged, they wrote about how dad was teased by grandmother and grandpa when he asked for mom''s hand in marriage. Dad was a great cook, but he wasn''t proficient in delicate things and preferred simple things. Dad had the gifted mastery to bring out the natural vors of the ingredients. So, if I had topare these two, then I would say dad was a world-famous street chef while grandma was a professional master chef. And I was just a food pioneer. Anna was the best helper there could be and just her presence in the kitchen was enough to improve the efficiency of work by at least 30%. Rein was here... well, because I wanted her here. She was the best cook in her family, so that was it and now we had to make something fun. The things I just talked about weremon things and, just like ice cream, everyone just knew what they were. I could make theplicated desserts my master used to make back at the tower but, they were too much for this first dinner and at thisrge scale. Though I was confident I can easily make it, I can''t prepare those divine things in this small amount of time. The reason Rein was here was also because I was going to need high attribute water magic and she just happens to have it. And though my and dad can help here, I needed her to maintain the temperature at the same time as dad use his wind magic to make ''foam'' from the cream. I knew these two would be a great pair and grandma would help me set things and te them perfectly as I just do my thing and help them. Nodding my head, I called them around Anna and exined things and the procedure and different results that I would be producing. This made me remember the times'' my dad, and I used to do crazy experiments with food in our kitchen. And while I exined the things, we both can''t help but remember those old days. These unique exnations and things surprised grandmother and just like I always do, these things were simple yet refined and delicious sounding. And although Rein was just delighted by hearing the descriptions, Anna had a watery mouth and nk eyes that just fantasized about the vors and textures I was exining so vividly. ''Cute~!!!'' I now regained all the energy I lost while seeing Rein''s grandpa''s screen. I was happy with these reactions too and we didn''t waste much time starting the preparation. This kitchen was big, far bigger than the one dad and I had back in the day but, nothing coulde close to the one we had in our home at the tower. But it was big, had all the ingredients we needed, and even some good and simple artifacts that I didn''t know why the other three found difficult to use on some asions. Well, I had used things that looked alien if anything in the tower, so these things were nothing. It was easy from the start. Grandma and I were making the frostings, decorations, and bases. We had to make different vored brownies and mousse with different bases andyers at that. And as I always said, cooking... I loved it. Granma was wless in anything she did and although she wasn''t a mage, the blessing she received naturally made her more than a normal human being. Well, different from Anna, her blessing was focused on offensive attacks that directly used the power of the god that bestowed it, and... it was dangerous. So, that was her, and then my dad, as usual, wearing the pink apron same as Anna, enjoyed mixing and heating things. The reason we were confident in making things quickly was because of all the magic and artifacts we had. Things were easier than ever while using them, and it didn''t even take ten minutes for us to finish the preparations and move on to the major procedure. And now... this was something ''they'' can''t see. Things until now had surprised them greatly, but now, only we, the ones to make these things, could know about how these things were going to turn out to be. (: High invisibility dome) A pure white light escaped from my hands, and a translucent white barrier covered the entire kitchen. This one didn''t surprise others one bit, aside from Anna liking this shiny light. This wasn''t Mana, it was my Solnova and the special warmth it carried wasn''t Mana, so Rein or dad couldn''t sense it but; they did see this peculiar light and as I said a while ago; they believed this was also something my Origin skill could do. Well, preparations wereplete. "So... let''s surprise everyone~!" I shouted and Anna mimicked me, lifting her first in a cheerful manner. "Yei~! Let''s give all a biiiiiig shock~!" She shouted and though her words were weird, we all agreed with her. "Yei~!!!" Chapter 197 My Family Waiting in the dining room, staring at the nk screen floating in the air in the middle of the dining table, everyone just waited for the dessert to finish up. Everyone waited silently, waiting for things toe out from this now-closed kitchen room. And though it has only been around twelve minutes, almost everyone was just waiting with anticipation-filled hearts and staring at the door to the kitchen. Big brother was making something new and everyone was waiting for him toe back with that tasty~ thing. I could feel he was having fun with little Anna while Celes was just waiting here on my head now that everyone knows she can at least talk with ''only'' big brother and disguise things. Big brother left out many things about their powers and even about me and they haven''t even started talking about what things happened with him when he was dragged by that filthy creature to that dangerous forest when he was weak as a leaf. He gave me the name Zoe, and I loved it more than anything. This was my own name, my first name, and the best name I will have in my long life I will have. I don''t know much about my mom but I know that I am a phoenix and everything I need to know about myself. I do have all the knowledge my mom had, but I have no experience of anything other than that. There are also many restrictions on me that I couldn''t even understand the reason even while knowing it. I know something about my mom and from the knowledge I had, and the hidden things in those deep words, I at least knew mom didn''t have a good time in all this time. And because she didn''t have a name of her own, I was even more d to have a name of my own like this. And I know just from the fact that she chose the best big brother to take care of me, who even give me a name that would be my own, just how much she loved me. And I even have this wonderful family and a little sister and a big sister and a smart little brother. This was an awesome~ family and all these people were special on their own. Just like big sister Elle who likes big brother and big brother likes her too~, hehehe, just like every parent here loves their children. I haven''t seen much of the world, but even I knew this was a special family and all of them had their special things. Like the adorable little Anna that even I loved from the first moment, my eyes fell on her marvelous self. Only big brother knew this but, I could see things differently and that original form was the core nature of all beings. Just like how big brother was, like the light of the sun, or how big sister Elle was like the darkness of night. How big brother''s grandpa was like a boat in an endless ocean and his grandmother was different waves of the sea. Sister Elle''s grandpa was a violet wind and her grandma a metallic silver flower. Like how big brother''s mom was a single gold coin in a small hand of a child. Or how his dad was a small flower garden with a bright light shining on it in the middle of a dark pool of crimson blood. His first aunt, a beautiful teacup untouched in the middle of a sea of mes, or his first uncle, who was a mechanical bird in the endless sky. His second aunt, a fresh and gorgeous bunny made of beautiful flowers with special purple eyes, or his second uncle, who was a fine green hat, floating on a flower field. My new brother and sister were also exceptional, where Ca was a half-forged sword in a giant smithy filled with countless des and brother Alf was a forever unfinished beautiful book filled with words of magic. I could see many things, and this was just the gist of it. From their character, personality, and emotions and if I wanted, I can also know some things about those beings with my eyes. But I wasn''t strong enough to do much of the things just yet. I could grow faster than most humans, but even that was barely close to big brother''s natural growth speed. But he was now a special being too, so his natural strength was far different from what met to everyone''s eyes. He was strong, and I knew he would be stronger as time passes. As for me, after counting all the restrictions and stuff, I could say that I was like big sister Ca and brother Alf. Maybe ''prodigy'' was the word they used, and it meant those exceptionally excellent in their fields. But¡­ I could do anything I wanted, unlike them. I can wield any weapon I wanted, learn any magic there was, or even make potions and medicines that were unbelievable. So, ultimately, I did not know my ''path'' just yet. But, big brother told me not to worry about stuff like that so I will heed his words and just do want I want~! And right now, I wanted to wait for big brother to finish this new thingy he was making. Back when we were at the first home, he prised mom''s cooking so much that I could never even understand what he meant by those high words, but... after eating some things made by a mom that he cherished, I understood. I understood just how marvelous she was and just how great that level of mastery was to make something so normal taste soooo~ divine! But his cooking was special too. Everyone was restlessly waiting on the tip of their toes but, thankfully, we didn''t have to wait longer. -Creeeek. The door opened and the four of them walked in with trollies with a white cloth covering the things inside the closed tes. And as soon as that door opened, a warm aroma sted out of the room, suddenly making all of us hungry. "Wow..." Many gasps filled the room just from this unique hot but sweet aroma, which was heavier than the ''ice cream'' we all knew about. This was closer to the chocty bread served on the dinner table a while ago, but this one didn''te close to that. It was rich, and we can feel the different vors in these sweet scents. Big brother''s mom, well, maybe now also my mom''s eyes shined, unlike anyone. Was this her greed? Can I actually call this greed when I could feel she had no actual interest in the thing called ''money''? I don''t actually think she cared much about what these new things big brother made or the things that one might think made her soooo popr. From what I could see, feel and understand, with mycking understanding of this world, I knew the one who loved big brother the most in this room was her. And Celes and I were the ones who loved him as much as her. She was a mom who cared about his child, but now, even she understood that the child that she took so much care of, the same amazing child that saved her once, was now a big boy. ''Hehehe.'' Big brother was now grown up, and she didn''t have much time with him. I could understand her emotions and I knew the cute little Anna wearing that small pink apron also felt her mama''s emotions. She was a very smart child, and she really was an understanding one. As a mother, Eon''s mom was perfect but, everyone had their ws and those ws would fix with time too. I didn''t know much about humans, but I understood emotions as well as little Anna. So I knew everyone had watery mouths and bubbling expectations from the new things brother had made. [[ "Will it be that good, big brother~?" ]] I asked through our bond, and he smiled at me from the front. [[ "I believe you will like it, little sister~!" ]] He was excited, and I knew it meant these things would be really amazing. And the way Anna was just gulping saliva with hunger-filled eyes like that, I knew this was going to be colorfully delicious. Chapter 198 A New Delicacy And Us The aroma was good; the atmosphere was calm; we were excited, and I was serving the dishes to everyone which were covered with a special bowl that one can''t see through. Well, no one actually need to see through but, things were definitely getting exciting. Though there were just some normal things, they had the anticipation like the little children eagerly waiting for the ice cream after dinner. This was funny and the expression on the faces of these adults that were just teasing ''us'' some moment ago was even more fun than I can think. This was good... and the serving was done. "So, everyone. If there is something to your disliking, please feel free to criticize this little child. I am still learning, but the two adults with me helped me out quite a lot, but nothing like the littledy Anna. We know she is the best, so I request that she open her bowl first. I would be grateful if everyone agrees." I said in a respectful and noble-like manner that was so perfect that it surprised my first aunt this much for the first time. She was one of the most prominent nobles, so she can understand and tell just from just the look that I was taught these things too. Well, master left nothing of the high society in teaching me and now I knew the traditions, greetings, food, and even most of the culture of most of the races. And I even knew many cultural dances from ball to elven dance to the dwarven parties. My master... my grandma was my first dance ever, and we once did the actual dance on my birthday on the ballroom floor of the tower. That ce was amazing and the music ying in that ce through the mechanical musicians was also amazing. That was a memorable experience I may never have again¡­ Everyone nodded without hesitation and Anna, with a hungry smile that had the most anticipation in those two gems-like eyes, cheered up in excitement. She was sitting next to me now and the sitting arrangement had changed a bit, but that wasn''t important when every eye was locked on the round silver bowl that covered the goddamn view of the ''thing'' and them. But, giving the first chance to Anna also meant they can have even more excitement than opening it at once. And Anna wasn''t going to wait for anything here. With a cheerful giggle, she opened the te and the beauty of a new kind of sweet entered everyone''s eyes. A medium ss bowl, and a normal chocte ice cream-like thing decorated with chocte chips and small chocte rolls. But everyone can see that this thing that just looked like normal ice cream was a bit different that it. Unlike the thick and creamy ice cream, this one was a thin, almost frozen foam, and the way we decorated it enhanced all of its entirety. But that wasn''t all. Just beside that one, a small threeyered cake-like thingy, attracting all the eyes to it from the ''ice cream''. First almost dark, then a brownyer, and then on top of that, a choctey hardyer with chocte syrup covering it. There were also decorations made from pure chocte and as Anna looked at this chocte-only dessert that grandmother and I prepared without her seeing, her eyes started shooting stars at it. The highest level of excitement and now, she can''t even wait to properly look at the thing, so she just picked up her spoon and dug it into this warm and chocty cake. Although the topyer of this Browne looked hard, when she just so slightly touched it with that special spoon, it cut it like a hot knife cutting butter. Her small hands were shaking a bit, but she knew just how to control her overwhelming emotions, too. She was calm, like me, when I had my heart working. Maybe this was the effect of her [Understanding]? Well, she was calm for a young girl seeing something so delicious looking and those special decorations grandmother made even enchanted the adults like first uncle and second aunt and Rein''s mom. Anna, being in her own world, didn''t focus on all these surrounding things and took her first bite of the warm cake-like thing. And¡­ "Hmmm~. Hmm... Hm! B-biw bruther! Thish! Thish!" she shouted while her mouth was still full of the cake and I danced internally on this... cute scene. This little squirrel was just adorable and I can''t help but praise her cuteness. Patting her small head, I looked at everyone else and nodded my head. They were just dying at this point to just open their own tes and take a look as well as a bite and on my signal, all of them did just that in the unison. The threeyered brownies had a normal cake or cheesecake or soft cake as their base, the middleyer was the vor zone where mostlyy raw or processed fruits or their favorite vor, and thest one... was just the taste setters. Like caramel, fudge, cherry, or something just like that. And the way grandmother and I ted this whole thing... it all looked impable. "Hmmm~!" Everyone gasped in delight at their very first bite, but I didn''t know why everyone started with the warm brownies instead of the chill mousse. Well, they will understand soon when they take their first try. I started with my own chocte mousse and the way this normal spoon just slid through the soft-looking dessert was nostalgic. I had made this with grandma back in the tower but, after seeing me make these just once, when she gave it her try, shepletely evolved these things. I still didn''t know what her thinking when looking at a food item was like, but I was at least damn sure it was marvelous. Well, that was just useless stuff for this moment, so I just went ahead and took my first spoon and just continued like normal. This wasn''t my first time eating this in any way, so I wasn''t as delighted as the rest of the fam, but it sure was different from when I ate with only grandma and Celes. Well, going on that road was also a no for now, so I looked around and my eyes found Rein''s. ''Are you a sorcerer?'' She asked with her mind and this out-of-the-blue question caught me off guard. ''I don''t think so, so no. Why?'' I asked with genuine eyes that made her smile. Well, sorcerers were beings who borrowed powers from different realms to summon an exceptional spell, but that stuff didn''t correspond with her flirtatious gaze. Looking at me with strange eyes, she smiled while taking another spoon of her brownies with roasted almonds that I salted perfectly and the chocte. ''Hmm~. This is not cooking, Eon. This is sorcery. Even though I was there helping you; to think we made something like this. And you made this one yourself for me, right? Little bastard~.'' I chuckled at that wording of her and shook my head with an obvious smile. Now I didn''t even think how I understood those words without any telepathy or words. And I knew she will understand mine too. ''What bastard~? That is no sorcery, and I didn''t do it ''especially for you'' or anything... or did I? Well, we won''t know now~. Just enjoy this one, and let''s have dinner alone if fate allows it. I will make something you will fall in love with, just like...'' I stopped without finishing that one and just gave her an unknown smile. It could mean anything, but she knew, and I knew. That was enough for both of us. We both blushed a little during this first eye contact conversation and this didn''t escape from the eyes of the adult ones. But they didn''t go deep like a while ago and just left us be. They were enjoying those sweets, so our little silent conversations were of little interest to them now. But there was one thing that the older ones did after watching me eat this mousse rather than the brownie first and so, they dug their spoons in this frozen dessert. And as I knew it would, the smoother, foam-like texture and the rich vor did not fail to surpass their expectations. "Hmmm... wow Eon!" Grandpa eximed with a delighted expression and grandma smiled at this genuine reaction. She and I knew not much could surprise this grandfather of mine and the awesome brownies were some of them. But, well, it was meant to be that way. He was delighted, and the same went for Rein''s grandparents. And she even shook her head in surprise at this reaction. Ca and Alf liked both of those things, and I knew Alf would be delighted by that strawberry mousse. Everything was fine, and everyone was just happy to see others happy aside from one person being on fire, while everyone was talking among themselves. "Well, this is delicious and all... but didn''t you take long on this one?" Ca asked in a sudden angry and excited voice while eating the whole Browne in one go. Well, she was definitely right, and I knew she was going to bring this up sooner orter but, now that everyone was almost finished and happy with this small street, we knew it was time. "Of course, sister dearest. Let''s go whenever you say~. But before that, would you like some more~?" I asked with a yful smile that calmed her fire instantly. And surprised by this sudden question, she had no answer but to just nod her head in yes. ''You bastard...'' Rein said whileughing at this sudden scene and the elders couldn''t help butugh. Well, I had the talent to calm the hotheads of this family. ''Haaa... well, she is a tough opponent for sure. I will have to take it seriously, as always.'' And there was Alf too, but that young boy was busy eating those sweets at the moment. And this night was still... a long way from the ending. Chapter 199 A Long Awaited Fight Everyone liked the dessert and grandmother even said she was going to start it as a new menu item in her own luxurious restaurants. Mom was talking about the brownies as her new menu item that went well with ice cream, and, well, I didn''t care about that much. People will get it anyway, so I didn''t have to worry about that one. They said all the recipes and their creation rights were actually mine, and mom was my guardian to that until I be an adult in three years. So, well, all things aside now, we were in the underground arena that was surprisingly well made. The ground had auto repair magic with a high-level defense mechanism and we can go all out if we wanted in this ce. All out with basic strength, that is. I knew my Aura, or even her red Aura of burning could obliterate this ground with a simple touch. And it was going to be inevitable for us to hold back from using that one. It was a basic knight curtsy to show your Aura if the opponent shows it and also do not use Aura against the one who doesn''t have it. I was ready with my gear all set and our families were now waiting in the upper stands and Anna was cheering for both of us. "Big brother~! Big sister Carry~! Best of luuuuuuck~!" She was cheerful, just like Zoe. "Big brother~! Haveee fuuuuun~!" She shouted, and I waved at them. Rein was just smiling down at us, watching me with a gaze that also wanted to see my powers. We shed for a bit in the forest, but she couldn''t see me actually fighting or anything at that moment. Well, she knew I was an exceptional archer, but she actually hadn''t seen just how that first genocidal arrow had killed three (Orange) ranked teddies at once. The way thatst bear (poofed!) was something that will stay fresh in my mind forever. The weapons that were just powerful for the creatures of the dark forest were powerful weapons to kill higher beasts. And I knew I won''t have any use of those anytime soon in hunting or nonserious fights. Ca was standing before me with her own gears, and she was a sword that was still being forged. She wasn''t perfect, and she wasn''t weak at the very least. In terms of pure power, just like Rein, she was stronger than me. But although she was far more talented than anyone, I knew even she hadn''t been taught with blood spilling without mercy. That wasn''t my grandpa''s style. He was different from my master. I knew he was ruthless and his methods purely focused on bringing out all the potential of one''s body and with someone like Ca; I knew he would have done his very best to make her understand what she can do. And I knew one more thing... She also had the very best resources one can ask for. And unlike me, who can barely use some of them, she can just use everything in her arsenal and it would be ok. She was an exceptional swordsman, and I knew even after having a rough mouth, she was a perfect knight who had been trained by the best. Right now, there was a fire in her eyes. A fire calmer than the one I had seen in the dining hall. She was calm, excited but calm, and even at this moment, when she was just holding the handle of the sword on her waist, there was no opening in her defenses. She was wearing all defensive gears and artifacts that were (Level-7) or above. And I knew that stuff was far more expensive than I knew. Not that I was worried about anything at all. I was wearing the pure white set of defensive artifacts and every one of them was a (level-9) artifact, including my pure white bow that I have been using for a while. Although I could feel Ronna was sad every time I used any other bow, I was too weak to actually use her anytime soon. Well, I had more than enough bows to actually have many good fights. The observers on the stands were surprised by these artifacts and just how great they looked and how masterfully they were made but, they all knew the fact that my master was someone who created a [Divine Artifact]. So things like these were mere pass time for her. The arrows I was using right now, however, were just some normal arrows of Mana wood that I bought at the city back when we were there and in some free time, I enchanted them. And now that I had done countless high grande and even higher enchantings, I was a master enchanter in normal terms. And although I had made many other enchantments of unreal levels, I could only put them on the things by using the artifacts in the tower. And... Ca''s sword was very eye-catching. ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Brant of true mes] --->A sword made with the heart of a (Blue) ranked creature [Crimson Gm] as core, and [Adamantite] as the base. ---> A (level-11) artifact made by at least a [Master] ranked cksmith on the verge of bing a [Grandmaster]. ---> The sword is strong and the welder of the sword gains a special passive skill [me nullification]. ---> Though the weapon is far from having an , the creator of this weapon would most probably hit his limit on [Grandmaster] realm. ---> Though he could be famous by forging a lot of good equipment, the path he chooses would be up to him. ---> This sword itself is a magnificent creation. ============ ''Hm? No cussing at me this time? Good, good. You started learning.'' I smiled at the simple information about this high-grade weapon and even I could see it was an amazing weapon. And the only reason she had this sword outside and not in her special storage was because this sword... was her partner. Though the resonating wasn''t as good as me and Asta''s, I knew, just from a single nce, that the fine sword was perfect for her. Though she could use something better, and actually, because of her innate talent, she wasn''t bound by one main weapon. Considering her unique skill, it was best for her to have multiple main weapons aside from countless normal ones. And though that high-grade artifact was one of a kind, I had something she would love even more than that one. "Ca~! If you do well, I will give you a sword you would fall in love with just like Brant~!" And with these sudden words, she forgot her hyper-focus state and looked at me in surprise. Chapter 200 A Long Awaited Fight (2) She couldn''t believe my words and the stars in her eyes were easy to spot. She didn''t actually doubt those words for some reason but, she still had her uncertainty. "R-really?" She asked with an unbelieving voice, and I nodded my head. "It''s a great sword too~! Some of your favorite types~! And I will tell you this now, so remember: fire isn''t the only thing that burns." These words... were something my master would smile after hearing and Zoe knew what this meant, so she was smiling right now. And surprisingly, the older ones startedughing at these words. [[ "He has learned everything, it seems. What is left for us now, haaa..." ]] I could hear grandpa through Celes who was with Anna, ying and ''secretly'' talking like a big sister. [[ "Not only weapon, his magic... not many could actually weave Mana threads with that precision. The weapon, magic, noble courtesy, cooking, and things that we all have yet to see... Just how amazing was his master to have mastered everything like this and just how outstanding was this young boy to learn such things in this short time? Well, Zahavi, Griz, I believe even though he has learned all things, we will have an even more fun time with him here. Plus, we would be rtives in the future, so why don''t we start the preparations..." ]] Rein''s grandmother was starting to spout nonsense again after saying some good things so, Rein jumped between them and covered her mouth with both her hands, surprising others. [[ "Grandma... this is enough. I''m here and he is hearing. If you all so much want to spout this kind of nonsense, why don''t you take a room?" ]] The other three, our parents and even Zoe and Anna,ughed at this behavior and I can''t help butugh myself on the ground. Ca was in her own fantasy of the new weapon, a great sword, and her mind was also thinking about just what words I had said. ''Fire isn''t the only thing that burns.'' something so simple you would understand in a heartbeat. At the same time, it would take a long, long time to understand just what these useless, out-of-the-blue, strange words meant. Well, the moment she actually understands those words, we all knew she will clear her hurdle and cross over to [Rank-4]. She was talented, on the verge of a breakthrough, and maybe the strongest in her rank. I just helped her a little. Maybe if she thinks deeply, she will open that door in this very fight... or not. And I was looking forward to seeing if she can actually understand this. But that would be only after we cross the weapons. Only after she avoided, block, or pass the barrage of the arrows that will start the moment we start. She was a closebat master. There was no way I was going to wait for her and let her do the first attack. I was an archer and although I had mastered closebat and even a special form of a sword; I was still... a magic archer. This is going to be fun, actually. My first spar with someone other than my master. This was going to be fuuuun~! ''Hehehe...'' [[ *Eon, Eon... the battle junkie Eon~.* ]] [[ Good luck~ master~! Go easy on sister Ca~! ]] [[ "Yei~! Sister Carry~! You can do it~!" ]] The three voices that live with me all cheered up and although Zoe cheered for Ca, she just wanted her to do her best against me. This fight would be fun for both of us, and I knew she was going to start with pure power. But, well, this was my first time against someone who would use multiple weapons in just one fight. And aside from this diverse type of swordsmanship, she was going to go all out in this fight. And the ones on the stand knew this too. She had waited all her life to have this fight, and devastation was inevitable. So, now, aside from the ones that this arena already had, every mage aside from Alf cast protective barriers around the dorm and pavilion. And they especially focused on Anna, which was natural. She was neither a powerful knight nor a mage, nor had anything that boosted her natural growth. She was mostly a normal girl that would take time like normal ones to get stronger. This was them, while here, on this white brick ground that was wide enough to be a good ground for use archery. Maybe I will also have to do pure physical type depending on the situation, but that was on her and how good she actually is. The referee here was grandpa Zhen, who came with all of them and was outside the dining room talking with his students that had followed us in the city. This was our first time meeting, and we had exchanged small greetings, but I already knew this person was some of the strongest in this ce. His origin... though I didn''t know what it was, I could feel he was strong. His origin mastery was most probably higher than mine, which was outstanding in itself because there were rarely any people in the empire with that level of mastery. And he definitely had a deep understanding of his skill. And I was clear that he was the highest grade assassin. Someone who had practically no presence... or had the mastery to hide all presence without any tool, magic, or skill, was definitely someone dangerous. And I knew he had killed not only beasts but normal people too. He was someone I could easily understand because he was an assassin. Someone who had a dark, lonely, andplicated past... just like mine. But, he was a good person to us. He served this family with all his heart and although he was secretly on guard with Rein''s family; he was like family with her. Well, I didn''t know the reason yet but I told him that we will talk... some other day. Today was already booked. And he smiled warmly at those words and understood everything just from the looks Rein and I exchanged just like the ones on the stands. Well, he was the referee right now and his students, that were shocked beyond belief to meet someone like me, or specifically me, were now watching this fight from the stands on the other side. And they weren''t the only ones. There were some more people who our families trusted. The assassins, all of them, and their women captain had stars in their eyes and I could feel they considered themselves lucky to witness this fight for some reason. Well, this was nothing much, and there was no need to pay attention to anything now that the time was upon us. I was ready, she was finally back to her hyper-focused state that was ready to start the fight and maybe go all out. "Are you two ready..." the referee asked with a serious tone and I got into position. Holding my bow in one hand and the other hand empty, I readied myself and entered fight mode. This would be my first fight and there was no way I could go all out, even if I wanted. And there was no need to even use that much power. My goal here was to give my all to help her move forward from the hurdle that blocked her endless potential. And I knew one thing above all else... this was going to be fun~! So, she nodded with a calm but excited smile on her face... and I nodded back with a calm heart and senses sharpened to the required heights. ''Let''s go~!'' I nodded and he moved back after giving the signal to start the first fight that had been desired for so long. Chapter 201 The Start And Her In the wide arena, two young ones stood with rational minds and calm hearts, looking at each other, already reading every potential move of the other party. The old referee held a magic horn that would mark the start of the long cherished battle of the girl and the excited boy prised as a hero was smiling at this very moment. His stance was wless, with no openings, no hesitation, no fear, or no doubt of what was going to happen. He could see things, as well as understand, read, process, think, and remember everything he had experienced. His face was smiling, and the radiant expression on his face was enough to show just how fired up he was. On the other hand, the girl had a calm expression. Her thoughts were clear, her mind locked on her target, the fire burning in her eyes transparent, and the hand on her weapon was ready for the attack at any given moment. Even when not looking at the referee, she knew what was happening in all the ces in her wide field of view. Her senses were sharp like a wild animal on its hunt. She could also see think and process everything about the battle that was going to happen. The battle had yet to start, but she had attacked this opponent a few times through her eyes, micro-movements, and imagination but, as if already knowing what was going to happen, he counted dodged or blocked with his bow alone. He had yet to even touch his arrow in this image battle, but he had also yet to attack. Even after her [Wild instincts] and [Battle wisdom] were in effect, he countered her attacks with no problems at all. But the real attack had yet toe from him and she knew the moment the battle starts, she either had to attack with all her might or defend with all her being. Attack... or defense. This was the only thought on her mind, and if any other inexperienced person was in her shoes, just the fact that she was thinking this deeply against an archer would beughable to them. But they would be fools to not notice the surprised reactions of even the highly experienced people who had seen wars and even more in their life surprised like that. And this was no normal surprise. This was utter awe. And they can''t help but be surprised like this. The form her opponent had right now was just wless... no opening or a chance of attack would be a small world for this absurd mastery. And he was an archer, no less. An archer scaring a swordsman from just their stance was absurd in the first ce, and even if she can''t fully believe her own self, there was no doubt in her mind that they were right. And after thinking of many scenarios anding to a conclusion, she chose the defense while clenching her teeth. This was frustrating, but if she really wanted any chance against this person, there was no way but to give the first attack to him and start from the point where the attack was still on the way. She was on her own instincts now and she had given all the control of this body to her mind. She had one goal this day, and not just this day... she had one goal for her whole life now. She didn''t know it before, but after knowing things, after this opponent, her brother had disappeared, got away from them, seeing all the changes made her mind clear. Even in his absence, he was a thread that bound everyone in the family from falling apart and everyone just knew, even she just knew, that he wille back. And when that happened, and she saw the changes in her family, her parents, and her life, she started to look up to this person. More than anything, more than even her own grandpa, the one who taught her everything. She looked up to her little brother more than anything in the world and his ideals. She was a person with a hot temper at some times but, in actual life, she was a thoughtful person who understood things perfectly. She understood the things, the changes, the impact, and just how great it was to actually give people hope even while not being there. And that was the time... she found her own goal. It wasn''t actually protection, like her brother she looked up to. It also wasn''t to surpass this brother of her like the little mage that made him his goal. But her goal... it was to be a person who can give others a light of hope, a fire in the endless darkness. Candlelight that brightens the room full of despair and helplessness. She envied him endlessly; she envied him while still admiring everything he had done in his presence and absence. To give this big family of different people the same hope and light that she can''t even think about¡­ she envied him for that. He was a great person, someone others would naturally like, just like her grandfather. She also wanted to be at least someone who was looked up to by others, at least a person who can help those in need, those weaker than her, or those who had lost all hope. That was the kind of person she wanted to be... maybe a hero? Or maybe something more than an empty name of ''hero''. She wanted to be a unique individual just like him, and at the same time, her own self. It was still far away, but she knew where she was going and where she had to go now. And on that path, there was one thing she had to do as soon as possible. Fight the one who made her realize what she wanted. Just fight him, and see for herself just what this start of her goal was. She knew just from this small interaction of imagination fight that she wasn''t there just yet. She had a long way before she reached the strength this brother of hers obtained after almost dying many times over. They all knew just what kind of state his soul had been through and if we were talking about the ''soul'', there was no way for her to even understand what kind of pain, suffering, or anguish he had been through in this time he was away. He was going to tell them soon, but, before she heard it herself and broke down for the first time in her life, she wanted to finish this fight, this wish she carried in her heart, and know the difference between strength. His goal was the protection of his family, but that didn''t mean he had any obligations or need to protect someone random in this whole wide world. It wasn''t who he was, and she knew it. But she wanted to protect everyone she could. She knew this was going to be the toughest task she could think of in her life and even her grandfather warned her about the things that wille in her path. But... she was clear. There was him protecting this family she loved more than anything else and so she can do whatever she wanted. But¡­ there was still time and a long way before she went on her own and start her journey. She understood she was still young and, although she was strong, she was not even near this bastard''s level. Though she was thinking deeply about the uing fight right now, the thinking wasn''t actually her forte. Her swordy was free, and almost entirely focused on her special ''feel'' and talent for the sword. Her skill of wild sensesplimented things her perfectly and the battle wisdom made it possible for her to make the right calls before the actual battle. Though the imaginary attacks had failed, the actual battles had yet to start, and she was ready for anything he was going to throw at her. The fight was going to start. She was ready; he was more than ready, and the referee had asked if they were ready. She started breathing deep and warm breaths, and he started changing the defensive stance to an attack stance in that split second, and even at this moment, she tried to attack with imagery but, his nigh-perfect defense still didn''t have any holes. He blocked all three super-fast attacks while not even being in the position to defend and the moment the referee pressed the horn and vanished from the battleground, his stance finished and she took out her sword to block the certain rain of arrows that were going toe her way. ''Short range multifire: Spray.'' ''Defensive swordy, third form, fortress!'' Chapter 202 First Part -Boooom. -nk!!! It looked like he had just gently touched the string of his pure white bow but, to the eye of the ones watching from the stands, it was clear just what had happened in that short time the match had just started. It was just a moment, around a second or so, and in that short time, an absurd number of arrow-like projectiles made of water and wind attribute were shot at the girl on the other side. And just as surprising thing was that she swung her sword in a way that it seemed like an imprable defensive dorm was created around her, which defended her from every attack. That was the first attack and the start of this fierce battle. The boy didn''t just stop on these arrows; he started preparing something else by stretching back the string of his bow, but in that short time, she had already saved herself from those strong arrows. The power those arrows carried was deadly and although all of them were a (tier-2) spell or low, the power they carried was nothing less than a mid-level (tier-4) spell. This precise casting technique surprised the grandmother with silver hair and they were even more surprised by how he incorporated the spells and his natural strength. He didn''t just shoot all these arrows at once, no. This boy pulled back his bowstring more than thirty times and shot at least three arrows at once to create a rain of arrows that shot at the front with the swiftness of strong wind and carried the power of a sharp water current. The arrows that didn''t hit the target had just collided with the wall behind her and dug deep holes in that wall as if countless small needles powerful enough to pierce that thick wall had shot at it. And after that attack, the fight started with the true meaning. ''Thunderp.'' * The girl that was standing on the other side of the arena disappeared and reappeared in the ce he was standing in a heartbeat. The way she moved seemed like a sh of lightning and this speed was absurdly quick, but¡­ the boy had a smile on his face while she was shing her sword in slow motion. ''Quickstep.'' * The boy had long predicted this move and the skill that he triggered the moment his attack finished had kicked in the exact moment the fiery red sword de was just before his eyes. Vanishing from his ce and reappearing on the other side of the room where she stood, he finished his stance, and this time, it was no barrage of arrows and instead just a single one. ''Short range curve: Chase.'' In an instant, a colorless arrow of water materialized on his bow and he curved his entire bow in a diagonal motion while releasing the arrow, and as soon as that finished, his body turned dark and became one with the shadow under him. * Though her attack had failed, she didn''t think much and stabilized her form and while his attack was still in preparation; she moved from her ce once again and tried to close as much distance as possible. She was going for a zick-zak maneuver, but when she used that lightning-fast speed just twice, his body vanished in the shadows and she saw a colorless arrow closing in on her. She had already set a path for the movement, but she had mastered this skill to the extent that she could cancel it midway and she did just that in the split second she had before the transparent arrow closed in on her. And just when it was before her face, the skill effect kicked in and the zick-zak light that was going forward changed the path and became first side words and then backward. Her body moved on it''s on and she focused some of her attention on finding the opponent that had vanished into the shadows. She had seen this type of skill and she knew they had low duration or some weakness. She scanned the entire arena at the moment she was taking the side step at lightning-fast speed, but when she thought she had avoided the arrow from a moment ago, the same arrow changing direction entered her detection. And this was so perfectly in sync with her side path that it was astonishing. Now there was no way she could dodge this one, but she didn''t worry about this and just continued the search for the opponent. She knew she was faster than the arrow and when she sessfully reached her turning point in that split second, and the arrow was still mid-way, she sighed in relief. She was right, but even though she had avoided it once, she sighed a bit too early. The moment the path changed from side to back, the colorless arrow curved weirdly and aimed at her, and this time, its speed increased even more. Her eyes widened in shock at this arrow and the smooth movements the arrow showed were like a snake chasing its prey. And this time, she had no choice but to block. She could already feel just how much power this arrow was carrying and, from the fact that it was a mid-level (tier-3) spell, she knew this would hurt more than the rain of arrows. But although she failed to dodge the arrow, she was sessful in finding the opponent hiding in the shadows, and she knew he was preparing an even stronger attack. Now, if she just dodged this arrow, it would be her loss, and the opponent would most definitely take this chance and release that big attack. But... dodging wasn''t the only option, right? ''Swordy dance, second form, redirect!'' She thumped on the ground as soon as she reached the skill location and took a dance position in that distorted state, and spun like a ballerina. A spinning red light appeared from the sword in her hand. Her sword collided with the tip of the arrow at this very moment, and the arrow that had turned twice has changed its direction a third time, but... this wasn''t on its own. The sword touched the arrow and with the turn she spun; the arrow moved with her sword and she threw it at a corner of the arena where a shadow of the light was still. The arrow of water, now redirected by the red sword, moved to the ce the opponent was hiding in the shadows, and¡­ when he saw this, a smile appeared on his face. Just releasing the spell he had prepared in that short time, he moved his position to another shadow. * Though his skill was simr to mostmon shadow skills, he knew no one here would believe this skill had a long duration of ten seconds. And in a fight like this where only around a minute had passed, the ten seconds were more than enough time to do all the stuff needed. The new arrow he shot at the powerful arrow of clear water was an arrow of fire that looked like a thick red rod of light. And when this light collided with the arrow of water, a new explosion shook the whole ground. -Booooom! He had moved to a safer location and now he had some time to breathe as the ce he had been before was now pierced by a simple-looking sword that she threw as soon as the arrow was redirected and¡­ she was still in the stance of the fight. That quick reflexes were as natural as breathing or even more as natural as thinking. She did that entire process in that short time and now the bright light from the sh of two arrows that covered the whole arena for a moment blinded her eyes. The explosion of two spells was loud, and it actually broke the first weak barrier inside the big barrier covering the arena. The sound of this st was loud, and this one¡­ concluded the first half of their fight. He came out of the shadows and looked at the opponent as soon as the white fog cleared up and the crater created by the explosion started repairing on its own. The crater wasn''t deep, but it was as wide as five meters. Both of them were coved in sweat just from this minute long but high-speed fight and the spells and skills they used were also excessive for the start of the fight. But¡­ none of them were tired, and instead, they were smiling at each other. Less than two minutes had passed since the start of this spar and the family on the pavilion couldn''t believe their eyes. Both of their performance shocked them and now that the fight had taken a break, they could actually think of what had just transpired before their eyes. Aside from Anna and a few, almost all knew just what things have happened in that short time but the old ones and even in them, the silver hair grandma and the two grandfathers were more surprised by the boy''s performance than the girl''s. They all were seeing them fighting for the first time, but the boy... had surpassed all their expectations. And even more absurd reactions were stered on the faces of the people on the other side of this family... Chapter 203 Shocked Spectators "Holy mother of slimes..." "Oh, lord..." "Holy shit..." "What the fuck...?" "What just happened?" "I saw some lights, some shes, and then that ''boom!'' but... what just happened?" "Monsters... " "And they are what? 12? 13? Like hell they are..." "Damn people... is this what you call a prodigy? A genius? An m-monster...?" "Captain, what just happened? D-did you see?" "Yes, vice-captain? What just happened?" Many voices on the other side of the pavilion asked the woman in dark clothing and a man with a great sword hanging on his back. The greatsword looked special and the helmet armor of this man with maroon hair was still just staring at the smoke in the middle of the arena. The woman was the same and they both can not take their eyes away from the ce two young ones were fighting. Their eyes were wide, cold sweat covering their backs and their hearts beating faster than the others can think. It required a greater strength just to perceive what had transpired in that ce. And the caption of the assassin squad and vice caption of this main knight unit was the only fortunate ones to be present there to witness such great dual. The ones fighting were grandchildren of one of the most respected people throughout the empire and continent, but this fight was on another level in itself. The knight vice-captain and assassin were the strongest ones present in this ce and after seeing this match with their own eyes, they knew one thing¡­ which was unbelievable. Still, eyes glued on the arena, they both smiled in helplessness and looked back at their subordinates with a nod. "First, the youngdy is what we call a miraculous genius who knows her own strengths. And her opponent..." the vice-captain said and looked back after finishing half of it. And she picked up after him and also looked back at the crater that had appeared after the sh of two beautiful spells. "Sir Axion, the one known as child hero, I think it really is a correct title and story. p His strength... he is something we call a monster among the talented ones, or geniuses. Definitely, young miss is stronger than him in terms of strength, but..." Her admiration-filled voice was genuine and after she stopped, the caption picked up. "Young master Axion... he is wless. His movements, his spells, that attitude, it''s like seeing our masters in their young days. And as his powers are right now... I believe even I might lose to him in a spar." At those words, all his subordinates behind him jerked their heads back at him in surprise. They were shocked, and those words were absurd to believe in the first ce. He was a [Rank-4] knight and vice-captain of the main squad that guarded the house. And although there were three [Rank-5] and one [Rank-6] master under the southern duke, this main squad was the main one to guard the estate. And everyone here knew their vice-captain. He was someone who would reach the rank of an [Rook] in the future years and if he said that he would lose to a mere child of 12... just imagining the prowess of this boy was absurd. And his words were serious. "Right... and we haven''t even seen the start of the actual battle." She imed while focusing on the stage once again that was clearing up from the fog. The vice-captain was the same as he put his hands on the fences of the pavilion and focused on the boy that hade out of the shadows. This side of the pavilion was filled with loud gasps, so loud that the family on the other side can''t help but sigh at them. Being the family of these weird ones was tiring in itself but, they were definitely special and good children. Although they were troublemakers, they were cute to make fun of and y with. The mothers of the two fighting in the arena had a helpless expression and, even though neither of them had seen the things that were happening on the ground, they knew their children were having fun at this moment. The smoke cleared out, and they both were smiling while looking at each other. And mothers were just some helpless spectators. The grandparents were surprised, the little Anna had no idea what was going on, but she was happy because they were happy, and even though Zoe knew everything and more, she was just as happy as Anna on herp. Reinelle had seen everything with her special eyes and the deep astonishment of the fight and the fact that the one on the ground had never used even this much strength against her was eating her warrior''s nature. And the young mage boy was anxiously waiting for his turn in excitement¡­ though now hesitant. Not much time had passed and things there were now at a brief pause as the two opponents looked at each other. "You are amazing, big sister~!" The boy in the arena spoke, gathering all the attention to himself. The girl on the other side smiled at hispliment and nodded. "You bastard~! How long are you going to just stand around like that? Am I not even worthy enough to see the true strength of my little brother?" Her voice was filled with ridicule, but it was stern. She was just as serious as she had been and even at this moment; she had tried to attack him in imagery, but this bastard was just as much on guard. He smiled with delight as if she had passed something like a test, and now he was really serious. His eyes changed¡­ and the whole atmosphere around him also changed but, she and the old ones were the only ones who felt it. Not even the captains on the other side could feel this sudden heavy pressure oozing out of him. A delighted smile appeared on her pretty face as she felt this pressure and simr to him, she also started exuding a heavy pressure, but this one... the two captains on the other side of the stands could feel this sudden change. And¡­ this one told them the fight was about to start. The actual fight that will mark the second half of this spar. "It''s gonna be fun, isn''t it?" she asked with a genuine face filled with excitement and hope as she tightened her grip around her sword. And he nodded without hesitation. "It will be a st~. And from st... I mean real st." A smirk appeared on his face and he had made his move. And she was ready to receive this one, so she backstepped with her lightning-fast skill, and the spot she stood on¡­ was blown up with an ear-shaking explosion. Chapter 204 Second Part A trap spell that was present in the same ce she was standing for a while and to set this spell this perfectly and lure her like that, the old ones even more surprised by this calcted surprise trap. It took not only a sharp mind but also a deep understanding of the opponent and the whole surrounding the fight was going on to pull off something like that. Just the amount of foresight to predict the movements of a wild beast, a hunter, to this extent... this made them speechless. Not anyone can do it this well, and they understood it. It takes more than a genius to win against a monster like the one who had mastered the sword to the extent she had. And he had what it took to stand against this one. But he went beyond just surviving her. The survival instincts that he had honed in the great forest and the dark forest were beyond humanprehension and they can see this just in his simple reactions. He dodged as naturally as thinking; he predicted almost as if seeing the future and he saw through the opponent like it was nothing. Not only that, his Mana regeneration was something that was surprising to the ones that could actually understand what kind ofplex magic he was using. It wasn''t simply fast... it was absurd. No normal artifact could do that, and that wasn''t all. Though the high-intensity fight hadsted for as long as two minutes, which was a lot in their experienced eyes, he was alright even after having lower stats than her. That meant his stamina and concentration were also recovering just as fast as his Mana. Whatever he was using for these things¡­ it was a phenomenal artifact. The beautiful spells he was using had already shocked them but, he was amazing in true meaning. As well as the one fighting against this boy just as easily. A wild animal on the hunt, a burning desire to defeat, and the joy of the moment. She was enjoying this, just like him. And they were happy if these children were having fun. The sudden explosion trap had surprised them, but she had felt iting. She was just as excited as him and so she started the attack for real while storing her red sword in her special storage and a great sword appeared in both her hands. A pair of a blue swords that looked special just from the look and we can tell this was a (level-5) artifact sword pair. And the way she just lifted the great swords that might weigh as much as hundreds of kilos with one hand, like it was nothing. A smile appeared on her face and now, a real fire was burning in her eyes. And he was as calm as ever. The attack had failed, and he had changed his position using the same skill but, this time, when he reappeared on the other side of the room¡­ she also appeared there, using her lightning movement skill. -Swish! Swish! shing her swords in an X pattern, she tried to deal the first blow to this smart bastard brother of hers but, as soon as she appeared on that spot, a smile appeared on his face. And then¡­ he vanished from and reappeared on the other side as an arrow that came out of nowhere appeared on her left side. Her eyes widened at what had just happened in this ce and the arrow that came towards her was now a threat because even though she could tell this was a physical arrow, the arrow carried high air pressure, and this speed... was unreal. As if a storm covered it, it closed the distance instantly, and she had no choice but to defend against this one. But the arrow was too fast for anything to work against her and when she tried to think of the way she how the hell fall into this position, the dully shining ground entered her high detection. Signs of magic and a faint, almost undetectable magic circle of illusion type. And this wasn''t the only one she sensed in that split second. There were three like this one. One in his previous ce, the second on the path she predicted his movements would be, and thest here. This was the trap he set up without her knowing and when she figured out this ridiculous trap¡­ the fire in her eyes brightened and her beautiful blue eyes glowed with a bright red light. But this light was just a dot in the middle for now. This one was critical, but... she didn''t use any skill to counter this storm fast arrow. ''Heavy swordy, first form, horizontal sh!'' A cloud of warm breath flowed out of her tightly clenched teeth, and she used the gravitational force created by her quick movements to swing down both her great swords. And, this time, she didn''t just simply swing the swords. The swords in her hand had a dull, red glow around them. * The boy was on the other end, where the arrow hade from, and just in the line of this sh. But even he might not have predicted this one... -Trmble! Trmble! Trmble! ... -Crackkkkkkkk! The force behind this one attack was strong. So strong that even when the sword was stilling down, the ground had started trembling and when the swords hit the ground; it tore apart the whole white floor. As if an earthquake had urred and the ground had been torn apart by this sh, two swords covered with a dull light were so powerful that the impact had naturally reached the other side. The boy didn''t know she could exert this much strength already but, the red dot of light in her eyes told him the time hade. The time for his genius sword prodigy big sister to see a new world for the first time. Something few could achieve, something one could never forget, and a ce one would long for after just being there for once. She was more then strong to reach that ce, but having a guide wasn''t a bad thing either. He believed she could do it, and so, their fun was just getting started. Chapter 205 Second Part (2) A pure white light appeared in his eyes and the smile of delight on his face had turned into awe. She wasn''t there yet, but she had taken a step and now he knew what he had to do. In the small time, the ground tearing shockwave was near him, he took out a brown arrow from his back as if on instinct and¡­ smashed it inside the ground he was standing. -Boooooon! The new arrow, as soon as hitting the ground, sted the ground from the inside, and a new shockwave even more powerful than hers overwhelmed the small one, and a crater appeared on the arena floor. Meanwhile, she had vanished from her ce and now he wasn''t even looking at the ce she was before. His eyes had gone nk, motionless as if there was no thought in them. The smile on his face was still there but, there was also only one dot of white light shining inside his eyes. Looking at the left side where there was practically nothing, he smile. "Big sister, as I said, we will have a st. So, why don''t I show you what it would feel when you are yourself..." And after those strange words, he vanished from his ce. And now... most of the spectators lost sight of the two opponents. Neither the captain nor the vice-captain could see them. The two were practically invisible to the naked eyes, but it wasn''t true for the three old ones on the other side. Their attention had increased, their eyes widened, and even their hearts were sting in excitement at the sight before them. The mage with ck hair and red eyes could also barely see this one, but even he was awe-struck by these children''s strength. In their eyes, they could barely perceive the things happening on the ground. A fierce battle of attack and dodges was going on at a speed that was unreal in itself. He was fast, but this wasn''t just speed that made him invisible. His moments that were practically one with his surroundings were creating this phenomenon. His movements were refined beyond belief, didn''t have any excess power loss, and his eyes were focused on nothing but his target. On the other hand, his opponent was actually so fast that she couldn''t be perceived by normal eyes. She was trying her best to close in on him or at the very least connect the attack that was getting past him like he was far away by the moment the attack touched him. ? She was trying with all her heart, soul, and des. The way the swords in her hands were changing from normal des, to greatswords, to short swords, to even long swords and specially shaped des was unreal. And the way he moved, avoided those close attacks and distanced himself, and fired an arrow from his back was almost on instincts. He wasn''t even thinking about what he was doing, but they still weren''t ''there''. She could also feel this. She was getting somewhere. A ce special for hers. A ce that was hers, and she was the only one there. And she could do anything there, anything, and everything. Even the things that she could never have imagined. She could feel that she was close. A bit more. Just a bit more. And seeing her like this made him smile even deeper. He could have just ended things in moments if he wanted but, this was a fight she had wanted for all her life. He did not know her ''goal'' yet but, he could feel she was sincere about whatever it was. He knew this goal she found was greater than his own. There was greatness, glory, thrones, mes, and bloody tears. But those eyes and that light in her eyes¡­ he knew she could do it if she just honed this great desire. She had everything she would need and even without his help; he knew she could have achieved this realm one day but, this was his reward to thisdy with such sincere eyes. And she was there... she was before the ''gate'' now. The bright light in her eyes, the dot of the bright light, was now expanding. She was more than strong to open that gate and he knew it was time for him to take out his main weapon. His partner weapon, because... the bow, the pure white bow, and (level-9) artifact, was on the verge of a break from all the attacks of this ferocious beast. He was doing ''that'' and the only ones who knew what was happening couldn''t help but gasp in administration, awe, and disbelief. "H-he is really doing that, isn''t he?" the grandma with silver hair asked with her eyes glued on the stage and a twitching smile that found this scene absurd. "He definitely is doing it..." her husband, the old man with violent hair, answered with a simr twitching smile. "To think he would push her into [Zone] on their first fight. Just being able to do this is unbelievable... Then again¡­ maybe it''s possible because it is her?" The old man with short blond hair and a fine beard eximed in awe while shaking his head. His ocean blue eyes were shining and as he held the hand of his wife, who was watching all this with them, she couldn''t help her surprise. She couldn''t see all that chaos happening down there but, she understood everything just by this hand that clenched, loosed, and shook on unique moments. And the girl sitting with the two youngdies couldn''t help her ridicule-filled smile. "That bastard... he never fought with me like that..." The girl with short purple hairined while watching the stage with her eyes shining with a pink light but, there was a pleased smirk on her face. But, the old man''s words made a greater impact on the rest of the family watching this... or not even being able to perceive this fight. The two moms watching this whole thing¡­ turned towards him with a sudden horrified expression and¡­ shouted at once. "What!!?" "What did you just say, father!?" Chapter 206 [ZONE] The horrified look on the two mother''s faces was harsh and their grave voice that begged the grandfather to say what he said was false but, they heard it right. "That''s what going on down there, dear. But, do not worry. It is ok-" "How is it ok!!?" The boy''s mother shouted with wide eyes and a sudden pressure engulfed the whole pavilion. The people watching this on the other side started falling unconscious just from the sudden force and, as if someone had suddenly hit them in the gut, the caption and vice-captain fell to the ground. The enraged mother wanted answers to this absurd situation and her father and the grandfather of the ones fighting down there couldn''t help but answer helplessly to this poor daughter. "Nol. You also know it, so don''t overreact. Think deeply about what an [ZONE] actually is." He smiled at her and patted her head while still standing in his ce. His touch was special, and this calm, cool, soothing feeling managed to calm this daughter down. She was meeting her son after a long six years and this was the first time in all her life that she was seeing her son fight against an opponent. She knew he was now far stronger than many present here, but it was still unbelievable that this son of hers, a boy who had yet to celebrate his 12th birthday, could do something even some masters like her father could achieve after long tough situations. [ZONE] A special condition where an individual can exert nearly a hundred percent of their potential. And this was not just about their physical limitations. p The one experiencing this condition bes hyper-perspective in true meaning. They can perceive everything, even a fly in the deep corner of their territory. They can think twice or even faster, calcte situations in no time at all, and achieve the state of bing one with their mind. While being in this state, they don''t have to think, there would be no need to think because the body would work on its own toplete the needed task. Mind, the mostplex part of any intelligent creature, works faster and even better, resulting in greater natural strength enhancements. This state of mind, though powerful, is a very rare thing. However strong one is, there are certain conditions one had to fulfill to enter this state which can elevate the natural strengths of the individuals. A (tier-4) mage can easily perform (tier-5) spells. A [Rank-3] knight can exert strength far surpassing their rank. Or even a musician can y songs that defy logic. But for that... One has to have a certain amount of strength and understanding of their body. Instincts that surpass basic human responses. A suitable physical body that can handle all the rush from the mind and the most important factor that defines if one will actually enter this state. The love for what they are doing... "They fulfill all conditions. Or more, they surpass them. One is a ferocious beast known throughout the empire for being a sword genius. While the other is a survivor who has survived among ferocious beasts like her. Or maybe more ferocious than her. They fulfill all that and I know you can''t see it, dear Nol and Aug, but those two are smiling the brightest I had seen. And believe me, nothing will happen to Ca. That boy... he''s an expert." Her father reassured her with a bright smile on his face and nodded at the calmed-down mothers. This was an unreal moment, even for the three old experts. The young ones here and even their parents had never been to actual war or anything of such scale, but the four older ones had. And even while living this life full of miraculous things, this was the first time they were witnessing something like this. The [ZONE] was a condition one only achieved in desperate situations. And a situation where, even while the win or defeat is certain, you enjoy the process, the journey, and the path. Or... you would need a situation where you just want to live from an impossible enemy. Well, it was something simr to the process of where one archives Aura but, this was different. This state of mind was far more than just having the power of Aura. They both already had Aura but, right now, the one who had experienced [ZONE] for far longer and even made deeper progress in it was guiding a worthy beast to the doors of this state. The giant door requires great strength to just push open. And from how she was nearing there, and he was just maintaining his mind just before the doors and waiting for her to reach there, they knew this boy had already reached their level in the control. His body and mind had reached the state where he can control them at his will and this level... and him being barely 12... "Haaa... just what happened in the time he was gone? And what methods did this master use to push him to this level? And just how hard a child like him had worked to actually have these strengths, and even those survival instincts. Just how hard did he try to survive from strong beings whose entire body knew how to avoid things? And after all these unreal things, he is barely showing his actual strength." He sighed deeply while looking back at the two magnificent children. One was aiming for greatness, while the other had no desire other than protecting his family. Just from the expression on his face, one can tell he felt blessed to have them as his grandchildren. And everyone rted to him felt the same. The little Anna, who was sitting on the other side, in Zoe''sp, sighed helplessly while looking at everyone''s faces. They just worried a lot for no reason and while she can feel their emotions, she can''t actually reply to them. There was no need for her to do anything here, because their emotions right now were also, in a way, happy ones. So, she just looked in the front like she had been doing all the time with her big sisters and cheered for her other sister and brother, who were having a st on the ground. Reinelle and Zoe can actually see everything and even feel the excitement he was feeling, but, although little Anna can''t see them, she felt them perfectly. She could feel just how much fun they were having and deep down, she also wanted to y with them like this. So maybe this also triggered something inside her. But for now, she was having fun while watching this fight that was invisible to her gorgeous, unique eyes. That was it for the ones on the watching side but, the ones fighting down there were done with their ytime. -Boooooom! With arge explosion sound that made another crater bigger than any previous ones, the two opponents that had been invisible all this time came into sight. The girl was now standing on one side with a red sword in her hands, which was covered in orange-ck me-like energy. Her eyes were glowing in red and the dot of light has now fully bloomed into a true spark of lightning, crackling in those nk eyes. She was now calmer than ever, sharper like no other, and more ferocious than she had ever been. If she was a ferocious beast before, now, she was that ferocious beast with open ws and teeth ready to tear apart the opponent. But right now, even if she can attack the opponent, she was waiting for something while nkly looking at the opponent standing on the other side with pieces of his bowying on the ground. The pure white bow, the same (level-9) artifact he had been using for a while, was now destroyed in pieces, cut down with a sharp weapon with strong mes. He was looking down, smiling in fulfillment of his goal for this fight. His goal was achieved and now, all that was left was having some fun until the opponent is defeated or gives up. So, he looked in the front, at this big sister who had reached the level few could fathom. And he was genuinely happy she made it this far in this short spar they had. "Truly, big sister. You are amazing~! Let''s have something like this one once in a while~!" His cheerful voice was also genuine and¡­ Anna, Zoe, and Reinelle giggled at those words. The elders just sighed while the sister he asked this, just smiled in happiness and nodded. She was thankful, and now she wanted to defeat this boy even more. And he understood this, so he nodded his head and the arrows from his back vanished as a golden spear-like arrow appeared in his hands. "Let''s end this..." he said in a quiet voice that reached few and closed his eyes for a moment. His new weapon surprised everyone other than Reinelle, who had faced it, but¡­ even more surprising thing was something every one of them was seeing for the first time. The gorgeous Aura that covered the weapon and burned more fiercely than even hers. But unlike the one carrying courage and sincerity like hers, this one... was special in itself. Chapter 207 His [Aura] Aura. A natural energy born from one''s subconscious mind. Every Aura varies from person to person and there are countless ''types'' to an Aura. Just like how every being has its separate mentality, goals, beliefs, ideals, and such, every Aura has separate characteristics that show just what kind of person they are. Although we can''t guess everything about the person from their Aura, we can guess some things at the very least from the characteristics. Like the form of Aura. Is it dense? Is it burning? Or is it fluid? Maybe gaseous or wild like a wind? Is it like melted metal? Or just in Aura gained from normal training or without knowing? There are many who reach [Rank-3] and achieve the Aura, but not that many that we could see everywhere. A handful of strong can achieve Aura and a handful of them have a deeper characteristic. An Aura is mostly an energy form, just like Mana. But, the rare ones have special characteristicsparable to a burning fire, a sea current, a whirlwind, or a melted metal. The grandfather with blond hair and deep blue eyes had the Aura characteristics of water waves. Sometimes calm, sometimes dangerous. The grandpa with vite hair had Aura characteristics of a strong wind. Sharp, strong and dangerous. The girl sitting with two little ones had a special Aura characteristic of the denser fluid-like blood. And they both fighting down there had a characteristic of burning fire. But... Although every one of these people possessing Aura had a special characteristic, there was one thing all except one had different. "When was thest time we saw this ''kind'', brother Zahavi?" The grandpa with vite hair asked with a warm, nostalgic look, as he looked down at the arena. "Twenty-one years, Maweth. Twenty-one years... and that great person, from what I know, trained until he was thirty to awaken this ''kind''." He answered with the same nostalgic look in his eyes. This one, however, also had true respect and happiness in them. On the other hand, the grandma with silver hair couldn''t help but smile helplessly. "And he has yet toplete twelve. Just how many surprises is he going to give us today? But... just thinking about things he might have gone through to gain these strengths... even I can''t imagine those things." Her voice was grave at the end, and she meant every word with pain in them. Not many heard their practically inaudible voices but, the three youngdies on the side saw, felt, and heard it clearly. The little Anna had stars in her eyes as she looked at the gorgeous Aura of her big brother. Zoe already knew about them, so she just sighed at this gorgeous sight. And... the alluring girl can''t take away her eyes from this sight. Aside from the three older ones, only she knew what they were looking at and, even though this was her first time seeing this, she couldn''t help but admire it. There were many types and characteristics of a person''s Aura but there were two kinds of Aura in this world. The first one that everyone possessed but had no idea of it, the aura with [Dark impurities]. Everyone in this room who possessed Aura, even she herself had this kind. When one awakens Aura, the Aura they have is unpolished, filled with impurities of the body, mind, and soul. As time passes, one purifies this energy, gains deeper control of it, and increases the mastery, you get strong and climb the steps of being an [Pawn] of [Rank-3]. People mostly awaken this kind of Aura by a natural understanding of weapons, in dangerous situations, or just with time and some talent. But, there is another kind, different from this one, and only a select few actually know about this. An aura that is born after countless trials and training. Requiring not only a deep understanding of the weapon but also countless life and death experiences. The understanding of one''s body, mind, and soul as well as the energy named Aura required to achieve this Aura is absurd, but it doesn''t end there. In the first ce, ones with monstrous talents in a particr thing can achieve this but, it asks for more than just that. One needs something most important few could ever practically possess. ''A mad love for whatever they do...'' It was difficult to exin and even more difficult to actually understand what this meant but, this was it. Even someone like her, someone who had lived the longest in this ce, had never seen this kind of Aura. The Aura with [White purity]. The awakening of this kind required a long time and one had to just keep doing whatever they loved with the greatest passion without actually caring about the results. This was the only way to get this kind for those who qualified. And, in the end, no one could actually know if they will awaken this kind. So, thinking too much about this was not worth it at all. Admiring the beauty of this spectacle was enough for their hearts. This was his Aura, the one who had lived. Burning more fiercely than hers. Radiant pink mes, fiercer than her special eyes. Although there were some white parts to this fierce fire, like her ck ones, these mes were beautiful. And the spear-like arrow covered by this Aura looked even more eye-catching. Usually, showing Aura meant the final stage of a fight, and it was the same here, too. He had already dered this would be the end and now that she was in the [ZONE], he couldn''t just take the beating. So... "After seeing this much, it would be weird if he didn''t know the ''trigger''." the grandma with silver hair said as silence covered the ce for a moment. He was looking down and then, in no time, he slowly looked up at his dear big sister, who was looking at him with red sparks in her eyes... with white sparks of his own. There was a delightful smile on each of their faces, and this marked the start of theirst round of this fight that hadn''t evensted for ten minutes. -Swish. They vanished once again but, unlikest time, absurd shockwaves started covering different parts of the arena. A new defensive system activated, and a translucent green barrier covered the entire room. -nk! nk! nk! -Booooooooom! -nk! The fight that was happening right now in their eyes was even faster and fiercer than the previous one. -nk! nk! They were going at each other with those Aura-covered weapons with all their strength. She was faster, wilder, and stronger than him but, he was more experienced than her. In terms of real fighting, [ZONE], Aura, or weapon use, he was unparalleled. He was using his spear right now, which was covered by his bright Aura but whenever he attacked, even their eyes only saw a ray of pink light. He used the arrow like a reaper. Thrusting, shing, and redirecting her sword filled with deep power. She used her red sword as the main weapon in this fight but, as the match went on, she also used the different swords from her special storage to throw, or as a secondary weapon. Her Aura burned everything other than his sword and from the ground to even some of the internal barriers had been destroyed in this three-minute fight. Many swords were now shoved into the ground and some even pierced the translucent inner barrier and just rested there. The way this arena with auto repair magic had be a grave of swords was a sight to behold for them but, right now, only the family was watching this fight. The ones on the other side had moved their subordinates, who had fainted a while ago, outside and even the captains knew this would be dangerous to observe for more. They had seen more than enough so, there was no need for them to risk anything. -Boooooooooom! And thest stage of the fight, after a whole three minutes that might have felt like three hours to them, came to a certain end with yet another enormous explosion. Chapter 208 Conclusion And Her Gift [[ "She is amazing~!" ]] Zoe said in my mind while I was fighting my dear sister during her first [ZONE]. And Zoe had just said the words in my mouth. -nk! [[ "She definitely is..." ]] I replied with a genuine smile and blocked her sword sh. We weren''t using any fancy things anymore and just fighting with the basics of the sword. She was using her best weapon, the ming sword, so she mainly used sh, thrust, and cuts but, I could only use thrusts to attack with Asta. She was strong, and I meant it. I knew just how strong I was and just how strong my special Aura was. I already knew it was strange for me not to have achieved Aura after going through that hell and her hell-like training but, I wasn''t thinking much about it. I had seen my master''s Aura and aside from the fact that it was amazing, there wasn''t much to it. I loved her Solnova more than her Aura and mostly her white mes. My Aura was a rare kind but people didn''t know there existed a third kind to the Aura other than [Dark impure] or [White pure]. This had been lost in ancient times and aside from beings like my master, no other can use this kind of Aura anymore. That was the kind of Aura she had, the most powerful and one that I won''t be seeing from now. She called it [Absolute Aura]. And it was thest stage of this natural energy. Above the ranks of [King], there were two more ranks and if I said the [King] rank was the highest a mortal can reach, then the other two would be [Demi-god] and [Knight God] ranking knights. Well, anyway, I had this special kind of Aura and she was still facing me for thest three minutes. There was a time limit of [ZONE] and it varied from experience, the goal, and the person themselves. And as this was her first time in this state, any more than three minutes was too much for her. Not that she was weak or anything but, overexerting more than we had already done was pointless. I was using a pseudo divine artifact covered in an Aura far fiercer than her own. And even though her Aura focused on power and burning, when it shed with mine that was focused on defense and destruction, just the impact was enough to cause internal injuries. And even after her strengthening skill, I knew she was just giving her all at this moment. Well, we both were enjoying this one and the smile on her face was enough for me. And I knew if I don''t end this one now, she will just push herself unnecessarily. This was just a spar, after all, we can do this some other time if we wanted. And if things continued as they were, her precious sword would just break from my Aura attack. So... Looking into her eyes and smiling while moving back, I nodded, and she knew this was the end of the fight. And she wasn''t just going to give me this victory without doing all she could. So¡­ she also moved back, and we both gathered more Aura at the edges of our weapons. Tanking positions, we prepared for thest attacks of this lifelong awaited spar. ''Arrow fencing: Final thrust.'' ''Last swordy, third stance, One strike!'' Both our bodies shot forward with the weapons shining fiercely in our hands. Stretching my hand back, gathering my strength, when the distance between us was perfect, I thrust my weapon forward. She was the same, and she had moved the red sword in the form of a sh and when I thrust forward, she shed her de. There was still that smile on our faces, and this battle had been amazing. Two weapons collided, and an explosion shook thest remaining green barrier from its impact. -Booooom! -Swish! -Crash-!! And after the st, both our bodies were thrown back as we both crashed at the end of the stage on the walls. The parents in the pavilion stood up with fear-filled eyes as they heard this and even tried toe down, but, thankfully, our grandparents stopped them and said it was fine. And we were fine. No need to worry, at the very least. The smoke covered up, and now we were visible. stered on the walls. Gathering my strength and managing to stand up, I took out the red potion and gulped it down. The strength I lost started returning and the wounds covering my body despite the protection gear started healing in an instant. She, on the other hand, had less strength and although she was fine, she can''t get up from the ce she had fallen. Her de was resting beside her and although her clothes were fine, she was also covered in wounds. Welp, this was a spar, but we got over-excited for no reason. But, well, there was a smile on her face as she thought about what things had just happened. This was an amazing fight, even for me, and she was a strong opponent. ''[Quickstep]'' Appearing on the other side of the arena, I alsoy down beside her after putting a lime green potion between us. "What''s this?" She asked while still looking at the barrier ceiling that they almost destroyed during this fight. They both wereying down like this but the entire stadium, from the ground to half of the defensive magic system, had been obliterated. Not that it was a problem but, the countless des covering the entire ground seemed like the ''graveyard of swords''. ,m Well, they can be collectedter. "An advanced potion made by yours truly. Try it~. it tastes good~." I answered, just looking up like her. Anna had enjoyed this fight dearly, and I could see just how overjoyed she was right now with my third eye. Zoe was also having fun with that little one and Rein. I wasn''t watching her particrly, but, from the way she was sighing with that excited smile and worried eyes, strangely looked cute. Mom and her mom, my beautiful first aunt, were sighing in relief and our dad was patting their backs to calm their hearts. Alf also had admiration-filled eyes, but he wasn''t as excited as he had been in the dining room¡­ quite a normal reaction. The old group was looking down at us with a helpless smile. At some distance, grandpa Zhen was starting the collection of all the des on the ground. The long battle had ended quickly, and things were now ok. Well, we all knew who won, so there was no need to think too much. "Hmm~. This actually is good." She eximed with delight at the special potion and her wounds started healing as her strength would be back in a moment. "You are amazing~, Ca. I would definitely lose to you in a physical fight~." I said in a genuine voice and she shook her head with a smile at those words. "You bastard. I know you didn''t even go all out in your physical strength. You even barely used any magic, too. You are this good in all these things, and even then, you say I can defeat you... You are amazing, little Eon. And thanks for this amazing fight. I had a st~!" Her voice was cheerful now, just like how it had always been. Yes, this was the Ca I knew. "Me too. That was an amazing ''spar'', hehe." Giggling in a low voice as I got back up and looked at thezy sister, who didn''t want to get up. I asked if she had any ns to get up, but she just smirked at me and just stayed there. "Hmmm... well, we can''t help it then," I smirked back and snapped my finger. Her body floated without her will, and she started floating. "Hmmm? H-hey! Put me down, y-you bastard!" She shouted, and I chucked on her bbergasted face. She was cute, too. "Yes, yes." Putting her back on her feet, she now stood before me. There was anger in those blue eyes from this sudden prank, but she just sighed and extended her hand for a handshake. epting this handshake with honor, I nodded at her. "Had to use 60% of my physical strength, far more for what I needed for a creature of almost (Blue) rank. Thanks, big sister. I mean it when I say you are amazingly strong. And you will definitely surpass me with sword and strength." She also agreed with this one and shook my hand with joy and respect. "I will. I will surpass you and even grandpa one day. Just look forward to it. And this was just the first spar. Let''s do something like this regrly when we have time~." I nodded in agreement and took back my hand. "Definitely. I am honored to have someone so great as a sparing partner. This was fun, so- Ah... I almost forgot." Suddenly remembering something and called out my white crack and took out something I promised before this fight. "Take this. Try feeling him." Passing her the greatsword with both my hands, I looked as she just epted it with one hand. "Holy oceans... Eon? Where the hell did you get your hands on such... treasure?" She asked as she epted the great sword and caressed its de with her other hand. A magnificent sword from our weaponry that grandma herself created. A silver de with an ocean blue body decorated with the hard scales of an aquatic creature and with a sharp tail at the end of the handle. The whole greatsword gave off a cool feeling and, as soon as she held this marvelous sword, her eyes widened in surprise. Chapter 209 A Sword And Diary A partner weapon is something anyone would just know belongs to you and you alone. From the moment you touch it, you will know how strong it is, its limitations to many other things about it. When I first held Asta or Ronna, I just knew¡­ they were it. I just knew they were the ones for me. And for someone like me, who was just a normal archer and nothing more, just one perfect weapon was more than enough. But, for Ca, who had the affinity and talent for all kinds of swords or des, I knew just one perfect weapon won''t suffice. She was strong, and this wasn''t the only sword I had that would be perfect for her. But this was the only sword I can give her at this moment. The weapon my master made, the special ones, are powerful beyond normal measurements. And just from looking at this one, I could tell that if I took out higher-level ones, they would be just too much for her. ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Blue Murphy] ---> A powerful sword created by a miraculous creator. ---> The sword is made from the materials of the powerful ancient creature of the past [Helicop]. ---> The essence level was close to a creature of a [Indigo] ranked creature and so the sword itself is [level-12] in overall strength. ---> But the actual rank of the weapon would still be [level-10] because of the lower strength of the essence of the creature. ---> The sword has the potential to form an [Ego] in the future depending on its wielder but, it would require a special talent just to handle the high natural energy of the sword. ---> Master of the sword would receive the skill [Water current charge] which needs water to work. ---> You are as dumb as always to just give thisdy one sword but, well, it''s up to you. ---> And there is no need for you to worry about how I learn and talk. ============ ''Yes, yes. You are a dependable one. I do not worry about you at all~. You are just awesome~.'' Chuckling at this childish skill, I looked at her radiant face. Though I didn''t know which sword would resonate with her, I didn''t actually have to worry about that. She was a being that can handle any kind of sword and from what I could tell, she will be the greatest sword wielder in the future. But there was still a long way for her as well as all of us. "Ca. That is a special sword my master created. By now, I believe you would know she was a special person, right? That sword is special too, and it holds great strength. Treat him well, and this isn''t the best I possess. Master this one first and when I think it is time, I will present them to you. You are amazing, so I know you will get stronger soooon~." I smiled warmly as her eyes widened in surprise. "R-really? Better than t-this one?" she asked with genuine curiosity, and I just nodded confidently. "But don''t think much about it. Every sword is different. You have the blessing to use any sword and although a better weapon is important, your own prowess is what decides if the weapon will follow you or not." My words were mysterious to her right now, but I knew she will soon understand what I meant. She was amazing so, these small things were nothing to her. Nodding at her, I left her with her new partner and walked back to grandpa Zhen. "Marvelous battle, young master. I felt blessed to witness such a grand battle," he stated as he stored thest remaining des in a storage device. Well, he was naturally a quick one and from how Lucy warned me not to ''see'' him for now, I knew he was a special one too. Well, he was a good person that was loyal to this house and his master. "Yes, grandpa Zhen~! It was amazing~! Sister Ca was amazing, too. And thank you for being such an excellent observer throughout that chaotic fight~!" I thanked her in a merry voice, earning a surprised look. "You knew all along?" He asked with disbelief but, with a smile on his older face. "Hmm~! If you just stand there while giving off the presence to test me, why wouldn''t I notice? Hehehe. But, you are awesome too, grandpa~!" I chucked while saying that one. And a warm smile appeared on his face with admiration in his eyes. "Indeed, master Eon. Hohoho. You are more amazing than me~." Heughed in his older voice and bowed his head. "Congrattions on your victory this time, master Eon. But don''t we have another match?" He asked in a louder voice, and we both looked up at the pavilion. Anna waved at us, and I waved back and gave her a flying kiss. And Rein was sitting just beside her, so yes... Anna acted like she was trying to catch something and she did catch it and then put her hand in her small pocket. And we can''t help butugh at this one. Shaking my head at this little angel, I looked behind her, at Alf. He was nervous, but he was confident. He had also waited for this day and our fight was a quick one, so we had a lot of time. We can have this match, and Ca was also done admiring her new sword. She stored it back and walked back to us. Grandpa Zhen handed her the storage sphere, and she thanked her with a bright smile. Then she looked at my next opponent and shouted, "Alf! If you do well, Eon will give you something like that awesome sword~! Don''t worry about anything and just think about defeating him~!" "Ha?! Oh... well, why not. Alf, what are you even waiting for? Come down?" I requested with a straight face, and I knew no one can tell I had no idea Ca would say anything like that out of the blue. And this surprised her even more as she eyed me for a moment before sighing and thanking me for thest time. Then she went back to them and sat on the other side of Zoe and Anna. Anna even gave her a kiss and thanked her for the great battle, making me envious of her. Zoe was also delighted by the fight and the fact that Zoe had seen everything easily surprised her more than anything but, then, she just sighed once again and patted her head. Ca and Rein somewhat knew each other and Ca had been to this ce on many errands before, so she knew many things about the family and everything else. The really surprising thing was my grandpa and Rein''s grandpa, the duke of the south were sworn brothers...? This was unbelievable in the first ce and now, if I don''t hear their story, I won''t be having a peaceful rest. Being a sworn brother meant far more than just those words told, and I really wanted to know their stories. Actually, none of us young ones had any idea about this one and I had only heard them through Celes, so aside from Rein, Zoe, and maybe Anna, well... Ca, me, and Alf had no idea. We will talk soon anyway because this fight with my little brother would be even shorter than Ca and I had¡­ or far longer. He walked to the now fixed arena and, seeing Rein''s grandma''s magic, was quite stunning. Well, we were now back to standing before each other but, unlike fierce Ca, Alf had hesitation and it was totally natural after seeing that previous match. Well, I had no desire to fight this version of Alf. The Alfred I knew was a smart, sharp, and intelligent one. Looking him in the eye, I nodded, and he flinched at this sudden nod. His attention was now on me, and everyone else''s, too. "Alf, I know after watching thest one, you would be hesitant but, you don''t have to fight me to prove you are a better mage than me. We both know you aren''t ready for a fight just yet so, why don''t I help you a bit?" He, as well as many, flinched at my words and I smiled at this little brother. "Justplete the simple test I give you and... I will give you this~!" I chucked with an excited expression and took out a thick purple book from my white crack. A confused expression appeared on his face and I knew he knew this was a diary artifact rather than some old book or magic tome, but... "My beloved little brother, this is a one-of-a-kind book. This is the only one that exists in the world and it is invaluable to any basic magic theory book in the world. You would be surprised to see the contents of this book and more than that, it''s something I like quite a bit. Well, if you don''t get it even now... this is my personal diary for basic magic theory." And after those words, the expression on his face changedpletely, and he wasn''t the only one in this ce who was like that. Chapter 210 Personal Notes "Y-your personal notes!!?" Rein''s grandma shouted from above. "Eon?! For real?!" Rein was the same as her. "Eon!? Y-you... that''s a diary artifact, right? What is one page of this book?" Dad asked with a shocked expression. And I knew they were all genuine reactions after hearing I would give him ''my own'' personal notes. They all had seen my magic and although these were only on basic magic theory, just this one diary was far more precious to some ancient magic tomes. The things I wrote in this one, though messy and almost unreadable, were knowledge that anyone would pay everything they have to obtain this. And I knew every mage in this room would be interested in magic that was far moreplex, natural, and beautiful than they knew. And just from their reaction, I knew Alf understood just how much more valuable this book was than he had thought. His eyes were wide open now and glued to this diary, just like them. And what dad asked had poured oil in this fire. With a calm smile on my face, I answered, "Oh dad... yes. This is an artifact diary, and it has one hundred and twenty pages and each page... has thirty additional pages. And there is also a neat and clean summary at the end of each spell, theory, or magic." Well, I was pretty good with the summary and I knew if they can not read the main thing, which they most definitely won''t, thest ones will be quite readable. "Then that book has... thirty-six hundred p-pages?" Dad asked in a shuttering voice and I just simply nodded at him. "And I will give this one to Alf. So, feel free to borrow it from him." My words made them really surprised, but the one most surprised here was Alf, as the gazes that were on me were now directed at him. And just being under the gaze of these strong mages was more than enough for him to clear his mind and return to the confident look. It was up to me if I give this away or not. I remembered everything written in them so I actually had no need for them but, I still made a lot of notes. And from a lot, I meant a lot~. I had notes for everything I studied. From magic, physical practice, closebat, general knowledge,nguage, runes, and even a notebook collection of some of the wonderful novel''s summaries and some excellent descriptions. Well, I had many and at this very moment; I was offering one of my earliest ones. And I could just store it back into the white crack if Alf failed, so now he had to win, no matter what. After all, a mage''s personal notes were almost a part of their lives. Not many could just give them away but, they knew I was different. At least, dad knew, so he was now overjoyed by the fact that he can see a part of my life as a mage. And the things in this one were quite interesting if I said so myself. All the spells and theories and even some of the magic that they all will find ''new''. Well, I was stern when I said test so, if he doesn''t pass, they can actually just say goodbye to these precious notes. But as I looked into his confidant, fired-up eyes, I knew he would be alright. "So, Alf? Are you ready for this one? Now everyone has quite a lot of expectations and it''s up to you to see things through. And I mean it when I say this one is a special chance, and if you fail this one... these notes would be..." I warned with a calm smile on my face that expressed everything I needed to tell. I even smiled at them, telling them what I said were actual words. They could never actually get the thing that was in my storage skill, much less something that was in my Origin storage skill, and they knew it. So it was all up to this poor little boy. "Young Alfred~! Good luck~!" Rein''s grandma shouted with a smile that looked so ''clean'' that it even send shivers down my spine. Oh, people... he was a little boy, for nature''s sake. At least keep that deep desire under control, like Rein. Even Alf''s dad was interested in those notes. What surprised me... even my first uncle was interested in them. ''Ah... yes. He wants this as much as her grandma. He''s a magic engineer, after all.'' And he will definitely like the theories in this one. I had a diary on magic engineering too, but it is probably too much for now. Maybe when fate allows it, he will have the chance to have that one. Rein''s dad wasn''t that interested, but he did want to have a look at this. Well... I wasn''t that good at ying musical instruments, but I knew a lot about the music itself because grandma and I both loved it. There was a floor with musical instruments and things rted to music back at the tower, but we rarely went there. And she would be the one to mostly y those things... and she was divine in music, too. Master... oh, master... Shaking my head and looking at Rein, who was keeping herself under control, I asked with my eyes. ''You want this?'' She actually was jumping in eagerness and I could see that in her eyes but, she had pretty good control. ''You know that already, you bastard. Oh, if you are going to give me-'' But before she can even finish her question filled with anticipation, I shook my head and poured cold water on those restless eyes. I could feel her concentrated anger directed at me after this one, and the rare blush on her face... I really liked seeing this one for some reason. So, well, my teasing worked, and this one didn''t escape the older eyes, but... thankfully, they ignored it. ''Maybe...'' I said just that much and looked back at the fired-up Alf. "Ready?" I asked with a confident smile and he nodded with a fire in his eyes. This little brother of mine was good and after having that much wonderful skill and all... I knew he would be fine. ''Three eyes.'' ===Status=== Name: Alfred Bell Age: 11 Race: Human Strength: 75 Dexterity: 79 Stamina: 102 Magic Power: 126 Intelligence: 122 Luck: 57 Charm: 54 [Skill: High link, Meave eyes, Greater Mana enhancement, Parallel calctions, Elemental detection, Blink, True magic, Magic decoder.] ---> The boy is special and his unique skill allows him to use his mind to a greater length and more. ---> This [High link] can be used in multiple ways but, the use would solely depend on him. ---> His second innate skill that centers around intoxication... which is not much use to his main magic style but it is strong. ---> This boy is pure, a good soul, so don''t try to corrupt him, even though it would be inevitable. ---> His potential as a mage is exceptional, and with the proper time, he will be a great person. ============ ''Well... he''s a mage, and I don''t know what you are talking about. I''m a little pure soul too, you know~?'' My skill was funny sometimes. What would I do to my beloved little brother? Shaking my head at this and confusing the examinee Alf, I sighed and snapped my finger as a magic barrier covered us. And this magic barrier¡­ earned gasps from all who can see it. Chapter 211 Dwarven Spell There were different kinds of magic and different races used their unique techniques to make their special types of magic. Like humans had a greater will and natural talents for anything there was but, their greatest weapons were the ''wills'' they honed through their time of survival in this world. Humans had the strongest hunger for survival, so they pushed through the truly strong, special, and blessed beings and became one of the dominant races of the world. They learned the magic of other races, then made their own magic based on the things they learned, and in many aspects, they even surpassed the ones they took inspiration from. But, sometimes, the original stood strong as something that can''t be replicated, learned, or surpassed. In that, some magic of elven and dwarven races was one of their kind and unique to their races. One would require a great understanding of that particr magic and a powerful build simr to their race just to cast those spells. But... the things would be different when one can actually [Understand] those things outside of humanprehension. Then, they would be able to cast the magic unique to those races with a human mind and physique. And I had that ability to understand those weird things and their magic so I can actually use those magic of different races... or more precisely, (Script) that magic into my mind. But even if I could do that, I can''t help but admire the uniqueness of the different races. Just the thought of how they can cast the spells that take me weeks to prepare in mere moments. Well, I can do that and I knew Alf will be able to do so in the future too, but now, as they all saw me cast this dwarven spell, the ce was filled with their rare gasps. The mage grandma, Rein, dad, Alf, his dad, and even her dad, who can see this special spell, was speechless as they looked at this brown barrier and (tier-3) dwarven spell (Kafe'' fra''gma). Their mouth was left open because every one of them recognized the special structure of this spell and I was the one to cast this. "Everyone knows this spell. So, well, the test is too easy, right? Just break the barrier and the book is yours~." I knew he heard me despite his shock and bewilderment-filled eyes. He just stared nkly at the barrier like this was something unreal and I just walked out of the barrier while he was staring at it and stood beside grandpa Zhen. I knew he could see the barrier too, despite just having a (tier-3) Mana nucleus like us. That was his natural limitation but, he was no mage in the first ce. He was the highest-grade assassin and almost a [Advanced-Origin] master. Maybe more because I had not seen his status window yet but, he was amazing to have one of the highest mental fortitudes that almost rivaled mine. Well, it wasn''t like I can''t see it, but Lucy was nagging like this, and I had no choice but to listen to her grumbling. Well, he was surprised to see this one too, but he was far better than the mages on the upper stands. He was the refereest time, but I just gave a simple test this time. Now, I had nothing to do there. He will have fun on his own while understanding and breaking that spell and it would be fun to see him do that. "That is amazing, master Axion. Seeing that look ondy Arina, it''s quite amusing. But, I can understand her very well. Hohoho... a human casting a dwarven spell? Now that is an amazing feat in itself." His voice was sincere, and he respected me for some reason. As much as he respected Rein. He called Anna, Ca, and Alf young master or youngdy but, not Rein or me. He called herdy and me master and showed higher respect for some unknown reason. Well, it was his way of showing respect, and I didn''t mind that one at all. I liked this grandpa. He was a good person. I smiled at him and took out Mana and concentration recovery potions and gulped them down one by one. And after recovering, I took out two sses of fresh milkshakes of recovery properties and offered grandpa one of them. There was a warm smile on my face while I held it before him and he couldn''t do anything but helplessly ept the ss. We were also just spectators now. Nothing to even worry about in this simple test. We watched the boy who had just calmed down and was looking at the barrier and the wlessness of that spell... it was nothing short of my other spells. Not even some dwarves could make it this much perfect. Well, this one spell consumed a lot of concentration, if not Mana. Learning this wasn''t easy either but, thankfully, after learning [(< Rune spells >)] to some extent, other kinds of magic would naturally look easy. And I had spent many tireless nights just learning these things with a smile on my face. Well... I loved magic. It was fascinating~. And I loved archery, it was the most fun thing in the world. Ca and Alf were the same in those things too, just that they would need some more time to explore new things and fall into a deeper love with them. They were awesome and had a far better life for themselves. I had this fatal w of fate and they were better off without a shitty life like mine. Well... this spell fascinated him, and the smile on his face was enough for his worried mom to calm herself down and smile at him. She was a good person and aside from her unique skill simr to Alf''s, she was just like any normal person. Well, she was an awesome person, and I was looking forward to the tea party I promised Anna on our first day of talking with this family. Well, mom, aunt, and uncle were now just watching what Alf was doing with a calm expression. They were relieved that this one wasn''t like thest fight but, they can''t see what Alf was doing inside the barrier. Thedies were now ying, chatting among themselves, and Anna wasughing with Zoe and Rein. The old group was also just watching the ground and although they can''t see the magic and the stuff going on with Alf, they could very well understand what was happening. And, well, I knew they would try it but the others were trying to interpret the barrier from the outside. Well, this one was definitely another exciting game for them, but there was now apetition going on between them. They werepeting for the position of who was going to take the book after Alf. This game of theirs¡­ I already knew what the results would be. This atmosphere was calm now, and fun. He was thinking hard and I can understand the thoughts he might be having while looking at this barrier, but I knew he will definitely be sessful. The barrier was actually quite a strong one, but it can at most block only a (tier-5) normal spell. It would take more than four (tier-4) high destructive power spells to destroy this spell. But for him... he will have to first understand the barrier structure and use his skill to dismantle the whole spell. Well, this would be like casting the spell backward, doing all the process that took the casting of this spell to be reverse done. This kind of spell took me a week at the very least to process. Alf''s dad might do it in three days, Rein and dad might actually finish this in a day, and her grandma in half a day. But Alf... I believed the supeputer-like mind, his parallel calction skill, his unique skill of mind, and all his ''will'' to obtain this one bookbined, can break the barrier in an hour. And I will have to be ready with at least two of my highest grade potions for Mana and concentration recovery. Well, he will be ok, so I don''t have to worry about him. I knew one thing for sure¡­ he will have fun there. Chapter 212 Amazing Big Brother Big brother Axion... can I really be a better mage than him? I really used to have these thoughts back when I started learning magic when I awakened my mana nucleus at the age of 7. Everyone said I was amazing, and all that but, it was nothingpared to him. When I became able to use Mana and all, the big brother I looked up to all this time had gone far away and no one knew where he was. But, he had done something so amazing I can''t even think about the feat. I knew I was a somewhat good mage, butpared to him, I was nothing. He was already a (tier-1) when he fought the impossible demonic noble. That was something unreal in itself but, we all knew he did that. And maybe I was one of the few people that knew at least half of what had happened on that day. What the adult people did was not right but, it was important and they had to do it. Well, I was a good mage, and I knew he believed in me for some reason. His smile said everything I wanted to know, and he was even helping me in the name of this test. He was strong; he was amazing, and I was the fortunate one to have someone like him as my big brother. He was away from the family all this time, and this was the day he was back to us. But all this time he was away... not a single one in the family lost hope and just knew he was alive. They just knew, even if this was the first time we were meeting like this. I know this fact was as if vanished from everyone''s mind, and I was no different but, that just how amazing he was. This first meeting with him felt so natural that it felt we were just meeting after a while instead of the first time in twelve years. And two weeks were still left for his twelfth birthday. And he was far ahead in terms of magic than me, who people called the greatest young mage. If those people looked at him, just how much more shocked would they be than us who at least knew him? What would they do? Praise him? Be shocked? Or fear him as they feared us? Big sister and I were stronger than many people and far stronger than the average children of our age, and we knew this fact. And we knew the fact that we were still far weaker than the one who was better than us in both magic and weapon. I knew he wasn''t a genius in magic or anything that he would understand things in one nce like I or sister did. His talent was unique from ours, and it was something unique of his own. And he had told us this many times and even a while ago when he was about to start. He said I would be the greatest mage without any doubt and after hearing it from him like that... I had no doubt anymore. He knew he was a magic archer, so I was a mage for true meaning. A magician, someone who ruled over magic, and that magic... be it any kind or type, was the same for me. When he was fighting with sister Ca, I couldn''t even see what was going on, even after using a spell that slowed their moments in my eyes. And... ironically, I made that spell on the spot. He told me to make my own spells and though I have done it in the past, I never did something like this in situations like this. But now that I was seeing his magic, his way to cast the spells like this, and all these amazing things about him, I just wanted to beat him and be greater than him. Not in strength, not in sword, but... as a mage. He believed in me and offered his precious notes as a reward, and I knew just how amazing it would be to have something like that. Though the notes were of basic magic, he never said what kind of basic magic. And we were talking about thirty-six thousand fully written pages... just how many things would there be? At least a few new magic that we didn''t know, and at least a hundred magic that he used? That would be the least, and having something like that was nothing shorter than a blessing to us mages. He knew the value of his spells; he knew just how amazing he was, and he believed in me to offer something so great just after passing thisparatively simple test. I couldn''t admire him more than I breathed and, making him my goal was the greatest decision I had made as a little child. I knew, in other''s eyes, I was still a child and I was, in most cases but, when it came to magic, they knew I was more than most adult mages out there. Everyone believed I can dismantle a spell from a different race even though it was cast so perfectly that their own kind would admire it. And I knew I could do this easily... in fact, I was halfway done. All kinds of magic were easy for me. To understand, to cast, to dismantle. If it was something within my range of power, I knew it was easy for me. But his spells... the ones he used and showed us in this first time of our meeting... they were different. I knew even I would have to do a lot of work if I wanted to learn those spells. There were many things special about those spells. I knew about his (Script casting) method and that ability was amazing itself. I could understand that remembering everything was also a curse but, he used that ability in something like that and just this fact¡­ made me respect him. It was painful, but he was fine. Even my casting style, (Fold casting), was something that ate up a lot of concentration and whenever I used that, I would have a sharp headache for a moment. If something this simple felt so painful, just how much recreating a spell that he had stored in his mind and already processed would feel? Just how strong was his mind and body to don''t even feel a sting from that unreal casting style? I knew he would have worked very hard, even with his ability to remember everything. Understanding thisplicated other racial magic and cast it and¡­ he was just a year older than me. Even though I can dismantle his already cast spell, I would need a month to understand this spell. But he knew, and I knew too, that after understanding it, I wouldn''t need a lot of time like him to process that spell. I can process them instantly after understanding them, and that was the reason I was a pure mage. Well... the spell was reallyplicated, but nothing like everyone''s original spells. I should start making my own spells too, something that would help me defeat him in the future. He was a better mage, at least for now. His magic was far better than mine but, it won''t be like this forever. I will surpass him, I definitely will. And I will need that diary for this goal of mine. And for that, I had to quickly dismantle this awesome spell. I had read about the dwarven spells and they mostly focused on the overall strength and as the dwarven race was the most intelligent one; they were best when it came to creatingplicated things. And this spell was one of their creations like that. Because of their unique mentality and stronger natural physiques, though they mostly choose the paths of knights, there sure are mages among dwarves and these spells, their creations of a lifetime, are something they are very proud of. Well, there is no rule others can''t learn their magic. It''s a rare but well-known knowledge avable with approval. He cast this spell, and I only noticed after starting the dismantle that this spell... was more beautiful for some reason, unlike the spell I had seen in the books. And maybe this was also because he was the one who cast it? He is amazing... but this spell, in the end, wasn''t his own creation. And so, dismantling this ''normal'' spell... was far easier than the ones he used against big sister. Anyway... it''s been around forty minutes and I''m done with this special spell of the great dwarven race. ''He will be proud that I finished this early, right? Hehehe...'' Chapter 213 He Will Be The Best Mage [[ "Looks like brother Alfred is done~." ]] Zoe cheerfully shouted in my mind as I watched the entire spell that took me around a week to finish, crumbled down as a particle of light. I knew he was amazing, and I was just half right. He was more than just amazing. He was outstandingly marvelous. Dismantling the spell in just forty-two minutes? Now that was quite something... I didn''t call him the best mage for no reason~. [[ "He''s amazing, right Zoe?" ]] She chuckled at that remark as she could feel in what meaning I had just asked that question. [[ "Yes, brother Alfred is amazing~! But big brother is the most awesome for me~!" ]] Just the answer I had expected from this little one that understood emotions the best. Alf might like her in the future, maybe, but¡­ there was just anguish in that path for him. Well, Alf was done with his test, and he passed with flying colors from my side. Now, what he does with this notebook would be up to him. And he will be surprised, for sure, after seeing the 1011 spells, theories, and magic summary inside the diary. I just chuckled inside my head, and Zoe smiled on the pavilion, too. Anna also giggled, maybe feeling something funny from Zoe. Celes was standing on the wall of the pavilion at a ce that was almost the middle so that I can hear everything they were saying at the same time as my third eye explored the estate. Well, the mages were done with thepetition too, and naturally, Rein, with the best understanding ability with her eye of truth, won first ce. And after her was dad and then grandma and then Alf''s dad. Well, even though he was Alf''s dad and could have borrowed the book first but, they had to respect thispetition and follow the borrowing order. Dad was naturally a genius with second only to Alf in calctive ability, so second ce was his and although her grandma was the highest tier mage here, this was thepetition of who can understand the structural aspect of the spell. There was no need for her unparallel refinement or even stable Mana control. And I knew I would barelye close to her in this aspect, far from dad or Rein. They were true talents and held excellent abilities to win against someone like her. Well, Rein won, and even then... she was looking down at me furiously for that previous joke. But¡­ her anger was a cute one, too. ''And now that the things are done with this after-dinner exercise, my family and I will have a fun, long talk. After that, will she and I have time for our own conversation?'' Haaa... what will we even talk about? The barrier vanishedpletely with my sigh and Alf opened his glowing purple eyes as he looked at me and smiled like a little impatient child, eager to be praised. He did better than I expected so; I had to reward him with something even better, right? Not that this one will be anything that good. I smiled back at him and ''quick stepped'' up to him as he fell to the ground with sudden sweat covering his forehead and blood flowing down his nose. He did better than I expected, but the fool was still overdoing himself for that one. Catching his almost dropped body, I slowly sat down with his small but grown-up body andid him down with his head on myp. Now... this was some interesting scene for all thedies on the stands and except Anna and Zoe who found them funny, all of them were looking at us with starry eyes. Even Alf''s mom. And she had a pleasing smile and excitement-filled eyes while looking at us. They knew from Alf''s open eyes and smiling face that he was fine but, this reaction they suddenly gave was really weird... or was it normal, funny, lovely or something like that? ''Weirddies of the weird family...'' And why was Rein holding back herughter, covering her mouth like that? That little... witch. Shaking my head inside my thoughts, I looked at the fool on myp. And he was smiling so I can''t help but sigh. "You did marvelous, Alf. I can never do that in this short time. Amazing~. I don''t have words to describe this deed." There was a proud smile on my face, and this was enough for him. "I will be the best mage, big brother. And I will definitely beat you when I am stronger..." his voice was sincere, and I had no doubt about those words. "Of course you will. And I will help you however I can. So, let''s get up now. I can tell our moms are having some weird fantasies right now." Thatst part was serious and maybe he hadn''t seen them yet so, he peeked behind me and the delight filled faces of thedies, including the smirking grandma, entered his vision. And¡­ shiver ran down his back as he jerked his head at me and looked at me with wide, fear-filled eyes. But the bastard didn''t get up from my dearp... oh, he can''t. Taking out a light blue and a cyan-colored potion and I slowly poured it into his shaking mouth. And as soon as he drank that, the bleeding stopped, and I wiped the bloody nose with a napkin from my storage device. This young boy had used an absurd amount of concentration in that short time and I can understand just how it feels to concentrate on a single thing and maintain it for this long. And his mind worked faster than anyone here. The burden that his little body might have faced in that time was close to all the burdens Ca and I felt after getting out of the [ZONE]. It was a special state, and there were natural aftereffects for the new ones experiencing it for the first time. Ca won''t be having any spars or fights like this one for a week now, but I was fine. This wasn''t my first time. I had more than a year''s experience in fights like this, or maybe far fiercer than these. And this wasn''t the extent of this state of mind. Well, in the future, when this little one gets strong enough, I will try something like this with him, too. And when he, someone with a mind this fast, enters that state... I had no doubt that even (tier-4) spells woulde at me with the frequency of mere (tier-1) spells. And that would be a fun time to use . Just that a weak ce like this one won''t stand for even a minute against a fight like that one. That would be fun, but for now, let''s get back to them. Putting his head down from myp and pouring cold water on the hot expectations ofdies, I got up after confirming he was fine. Helping him get up from the ground, I shook my head at the face that wanted to stay like that for a while more. ''This little bastard too... is something wrong with them?'' Shaking my head at him, I took out the purple diary with silver designs decorating its cover, and handed it to him. But with that diary, there was also a purple magic wand simr to his eyes. And as soon as his eyes fell on this wand... his entire body turned to me in surprise. "B-big brother?!" he wanted to ask what this was, and it was a simple thing to answer. "A gift from your big brother~. Take it and check it out with your eyester. It''s an amazing one~!" My words were genuine and he could feel the power from this wand and the feather-like design on its surface was making it look cooler, too. I just handed them to him and as soon as he held that wand and used his own appraisal skill with his eyes glowing for a moment, his eyes went nk in fear and shock. "W-what is... how..." His hands started shaking, and he almost dropped the diary but, thankfully, he controlled himself and stored the diary in his storage space first. Now holding the wand with both his hands and surprising every other mage in the room, he looked at me and I just smiled at him warmly. This exaggerated expression surprised the other mages, so they used their own appraisal skills while looking at the peculiar wand that had surprised this bright child this much. And, as soon as they did that, even their expression went nk. ''This is normal from a general human point of view.'' Still... this is quite the reaction for a wand crafted by my master. And this isn''t even close to the better ones I have. This wasn''t actually that much awesome. Only at the level of the sword, I gave to Ca. But for mages, this must definitely look like some ''elder wand''. ''Three eyes.'' Chapter 214 Magic Wand ============ [Bliss of four seasons] ---> A special magic wand created by an exceptional craftsman by harmonizing four different strong elemental essences. ---> The crafter''s ability to harmonize all the elements is unreal in itself, but the wand resulting from this has special characteristics. ---> All four basic elements: fire, water, earth, and wind are enhanced by a small degree just by using this wand in spell casting but, the result changes by the one who wields it. ---> As you just gave it to one who has an elemental affinity with all four such elements, the harmony of the wand will remain even stable, and the magic while using the wand would be enhanced further. --->This marvelous wand has all four main seasonal [Extreme Lilies] as their core that are practically extinct. ---> Consumes a high concentration while using but increases the spell strength by 12%. ---> The wand can store [120 Units] of Mana, but the recovery of the used energy would take a longer time. ---> You did better not giving him anything stronger than this one. The boy is still young. ---> You sure are giving away a lot of things the day you meet them. ============ ''Of course. What are these things worth if no one uses them? Might as well give them to the young ones so that they can work harder. Well, you are a young one, too. You will understand with time.'' Sighing at my skill''s rare weirdness, I looked at everyone. I knew they can''t actually see as much information as me with their appraisal skills but at the very least they would know about the four elemental harmonies. That was almost an impossible thing but, for my master, not even six or even something that can go well with all elements was anything difficult. I had my own bows like that, so I had no worry or anything. I even had some she made especially for me. And although those were nothingpared to Ronna, they were far above something like this wand. But being able to harmonize all the elements meant the maker themselves had a very high affinity with all these four elements to be able to pull off something like this. And, it surprised the mages even more that they can store thatrge amount of Mana in that wand. This was quite amazing, enough to make them speechless and even envy the little boy. ? But, well, that was that. Alf recovered from that shock quickly and just stored the wand inside his storage space to hide it from their greedy looks. He was a pure mage... hmm, was she talking about this pure? Or the one I was thinking of? The pure mages used a magic wand, and I had seen the one dad uses a few times. And that one was specially made. I wanted to have a closer look to know more about that one but, well, we can do thatter. After Alf stored the things away, we went back to the crestfallen family members. ...my family was weird now that I looked at all this behavior. And her family wasn''t much different, either. Her dad was looking at ''us'' talking with ''eye contact'' with delight all this time while her mother had be best friends with my aunts. Her grandma was interested in me more than anything right now, while her grandfather was reminiscing about the past with my grandpa. Well, we were now back and as soon as I reached them, Anna came running toward me and I caught her with the happiest smile. "Hehehe. Big brothers are awesome~!" The forever best smile... haaa. Heavenly. Lifting her in the air like in the dining hall, this time, I did something even more fun. (: Float) With a warm wind covering her body, she started floating in the air and a surprised expression covered her cute face. "Wooooow~! Anna is flying~! Hehehe, just like uncle~!" She giggled as I moved her in the air for a while as she yed and, as always, seeing her face made my soul calmer. She was amazing, more than Alf, Ca even... maybe Rein or me. And after seeing us fight like this and all, I knew she would want to do something like that too but, she would do it at the normal phase. She definitely had the potential for being a ''sorceress'' as well as a weapon wilder like us but, she will need a longer time, which would be normal from a general perspective to reach that stage. And after she hones her mental fortitude to something simr to mine, which was phenomenal in the first ce, she will be able to exert the full potential of her third innate skill. And that skill was something really amazing, even for me. One of those cheat skills of this world. The ability to just understand everything passively was more than what one might think, and its use would be more than just understanding emotions and situations. She can use this skill to understand practically anything but, for that, she needed to get strong enough to handle the mental burden of those things. But, well, that was if she wanted to do something like that. She was still just a little baby... for us, she definitely was just that. I was around her age when I was thrown into that forest and things were rough at that time. Thankfully... I survived those horrible things and now I was here with them, and I wanted to just stay like this, with no more plot twists and such things. But... well... ... was it even possible? Life was uncertain and aside from hoping for a better tomorrow, we can''t do anything. So, living in the moment was the best choice. Canceling the spell after Anna was in my hands, I kissed her cute cheeks and she kissed back mine. And this special kiss of hers... "My amazing little sister." I couldn''t stop myself from showering her with genuine praise, and... she was adorable. "Good work, you two. Both of you are exceptional magicians. Even I am impressed. And you, little Alfred. Though I am the third to borrow the notes, make sure to send your own notes too. I might reward you with a little Mana crystal if I like that." Rein''s grandma was quite happy but, her words just fell deaf on my ears. There was another conversation going on between the one beside her and my perfectly fine self. ''You do look fine but, are you?'' She asked, without making a worried expression. But that didn''t mean she can hide her feeling from Anna, Zoe, or me. Funny enough, she was worried about me for no reason. ''You know this was nothing for me, right? Why worry? You even won the right to have the diary before anyone.'' This was our first day together... and this was barely midnight. Was it because we were mentally far older andparatively mature or... was this just that much special? We were talking like real talking without any form of words or anything, and this was special for both of us. ''Yes, I did win. But, that''s my win, you cheater. What aboutpensation for worrying me for no reason?'' ''Rein, oh dear Reinelle. Well, this is getting out of hand for some reason. Ok, I promise I will make it up to you. But no special ice cream.'' Her sad look vanished as soon as the ploy was caught, and she clicked her tongue. She will have to do better if she wanted that ice cream again, not that I was falling for her tricks anytime soon... maybe. Shaking my head at her, I nodded at her grandma. "It is our honor to receive such warm praise, grandmother." I just called her grandmother, as we were talking as a family right now and not with the status. And she nodded with a pleased smile on that pretty face. "You are indeed well taught, young boy." I smiled at her and she nodded happily, but another something was happening at the back. Behind her, my grandmother smiled with a pleasant smile and nodded at grandpa. And he smiled at her, saying something I could not understand. And that was something funny, and she justughed at it and gently smacked his strong arms. They were quite a lovely couple in this family, and maybe they were the reason there was such love between all of us. It was good... Shaking my head, I looked into everyone''s eyes one by one, and they all understood... it was time. I nodded at mom and grandfather and then dad and my grandmother. Then Rein... and everyone else. The time has arrived, for me to tell them what had happened and for them to tell me what happened after I was gone. ''It''s here... the moment I had waited for this long. Maybe now I can cry the tears that never came out of these stoic eyes...'' Chapter 215 My Dear Mom Sitting in arge room with mom, dad, and Anna around me and the rest of them on the couches before me, I took a deep breath. There were only us in this room and Rein was at the very back of the room as I had asked her to stay for some reason that even I didn''t know. Maybe I wanted her to hear this one, or maybe it was just a selfish thought. We had something between us and if it was going to go to some ce; she had to hear this one now. And I didn''t believe I will be able to tell this another time myself. Her family had stayed out without even asking, so I knew they were even more understanding than I believed. Zoe was also on the other side with them, and even though she just knew everything about me, I never actually told her anything myself. And although I knew from the start that Anna knew just how I was feeling, she insisted on staying with me and I was helpless against her. And now¡­ we were sitting in this quiet room, no one saying anything and just looking down. I wasn''t the only one who had something to tell; they had to tell me everything too. And this silence wasn''t something any of us wanted. So, after some time of silence, grandpa sighed deeply and everyone understood he would be the starting spark of tonight''s talk. "Eon. Let me start with the reason why your mom was out of the capital in the first ce." He said I just nodded, just clenching my interlock fingers. "Back in the time when Nol had just newly married, someone assassinated her close master that you might know about. Those bastards then framed Nol and then gathered evidence that pointed at her, and the court couldn''t overlook the genuine looking evidence. Well, in short, things like that happened but, the judges who saw only the truth of the matter couldn''t punish the innocent ones even with the jury''s negative votes. So they made a decision to ban her from trades and confiscated almost everything belonging to her. And the ones that framed her wanted nothing more than just to see her suffer like this. Though they preferred her death but because the absolute judgment couldn''t be defied, they can''t actually harm her for the duration court gave her to prove her innocence. And we will be grateful for their wise decisions. After that, she just asked to move out to the border town and then you came to life. Though we exchanged letters and talked with amunication device, and the dumb me insisted on meeting you myself to tell everything like this, but, as you can see, because of my foolishness, it took us almost twelve years. Haaa... Eon. I know you know just how much she loves you and she wanted to tell you everything herself and even though I have said this much; I know you would like to hear even more from her some other time. I know she is strange sometimes when ites to you, and even before you went away, I know you might have felt she was too forceful or something like that. But my child just remembers that''s who she is... a forever worried mother. She was so excited to show you this house too and even her marvelous auction house that even I look up to. She is an amazing person, and having her as my daughter is a blessing for me..." She stopped and looked at mom and there were almost tears in mom''s eyes. I wasn''t the only one who had suffered in hell. I can understand just how hellish it might have been, just how powerless she had felt all this time but, she had kept her promise to me and took care of the family. And I already knew she was the most amazing person and mother I could have ever asked for. I hugged her beside me, and Anna on myp was the same. Dad followed after us and mom couldn''t contain the tears in those helpless eyes anymore. Hugging me back, she cried the tears she had held back all this time. "D-don''t you dare go anywhere now..." she cried even more, and I patted her back. My eyes were watery, but this wasn''t the time I was going to cry and let go of all these tears. She had managed to hold back, and she had everyone supporting her. And most importantly, she had this little Angel as her light of hope and happiness. The things that happened to her were past now, and only if I had the chance to torture the ones that made her suffer like this... I would have been even more satisfied. But as grandpa said, they were now in the greatest prison on this continent. Their lives would be judged by the death itself in that ce and then they would get what they deserve. And simple death was thest thing they would have to go through. Their soul will scream by things that will happen to them so I had nothing to worry about there. She had given them what they deserved, if only I had been there, just like how she wanted. But because of those damn demons... My grip around her tightened and she understood what was happening in my mind from Anna''s sudden flinch. She was almost as good as Zoe in emotions but, she was still a child, she would definitely fear the sudden surge of darkness. But she controlled her emotions and patted my leg which helped me control mine too. Mom let go and after hugging her deeply for a bit more, I also got back and held Anna''s hand, which helped me control thatst remaining bit. Mom kissed my forehead and ordered me to always stay with them safely, just like this, and although I can''t promise her that, I said I will try my best. And although these words enraged her as well as pierced her delicate mother''s heart, she understood I was now grown up and she wasn''t strong enough to keep me caged anymore. And she just smiled at me bitterly after that kiss and hugged mest time before calming down and going back to her normal, cheerful self. She was amazing, and she wasn''t the only one crying after that one. My second aunt and first uncle were the same as her, and their husbands and wife had to try harder to calm them down. And Anna jumped from myp after giving kisses to all of us and gave them one too. She could use this ability however she wanted and without any actual limitations or conditions. And it was a miraculous ability that worked wonders on human emotions. It was powerful, and that was the reason however few people knew about it was better. And after that, everyone calmed down and in this process, Rein, who was standing far away and was also emotional for some reason, received a kiss from my little angel for free. ''Lucky girl...'' I praised, and I knew she saw that and just smiled calmly at me. She was also amazing. But what grandpa said was only the first part from his side. ? After this one was over, his eyes sharpened and I sharpened my senses even more to not lose a single thing he was going to say. This would be what happened on that day and what actually happened after that day. Just how the hell did I be such a grand figure and a ''hero'' at that? I had no idea what all this was and his words were going to be something I was already expecting from the time I felt the weirdness during the fight with the demonic noble. "We call that day [The great tragedy]. But, it''s also called the (ck massacre), (Nightmare of fire and blood), (The Darkfall), and... (The day of a disgraceful defeat)..." Chapter 216 [The Great Tragedy] "That day is engraved in every citizen''s soul that knows what actually happened, just how much others suffered, as well as just how much blood was shed. Not only the empire but many central parts of this continent. Many viges were destroyed, cities were attacked and even enormous battles were fought against those bastards. All this chaos... because one of those bastards was bored." His eyes sharpened, and he almost lost control of his calmness as the ss table before us shattered into pieces. But thankfully Dad, I, and Rein cast a spell to protect Anna and others from the pieces of sharp ss in a hurry. But it was unnecessary as the sheds of shattered ss just slowlynded on the ground as if they were fluid. Grandmother grabbed his hand to calm him down and he sighed while holding back his emotions. There was pure hatred in his eyes and Anna can''t help but have a sad expression while looking at him like that. And it didn''t take Anna''s ability to feel emotions to tell just how much hurt, pain, and anguish he was going through. He was a [King] ranked knight for a reason¡­ maybe because he can handle everything like this? He calmed down a bit and sighed deeply. Rein had simr anger in her eyes, but not like him. Things were moreplicated than I had thought¡­ "Maybe you know this but, in demons, there are ranks. First, the absolute demon god who rules over every demon wisely, and from the stories, he is a different being than the demons themselves. Then there are the twelve demon kings. Every king can appoint three Dukes and four Marques. Dukes have the authority to bestow five Count ranks, and Marques have the authority to give one count rank. The count rank is a prominent demon noble, and their power is naturally useful and prominent for them. But... things are different for the ranks below them. Demons are creatures that can ascend to the ranks of a viscount on their own or by submitting to other rulers, and there is almost no regtion for their rankings. As you all might have guessed, the demon invasions were sudden, uneven, and just focused on the massacre of different races... And most of all, every one of them was led by the demon of newly ascended demons of Knight, Baron, or Viscount rank." He stopped once again after saying that and hisst words made our eyes wide. Not even Alf and Ca knew this one, not even my second aunt had any idea of this thing. Anna didn''t understand most of the things that were going on, but she was trying her best to understand why everyone was having a sudden change of emotions. Maybe right now, she was thinking, why were we shocked like this or even angry? Why were we angry... well, why wouldn''t we be angry, or even enraged? From what he had said until now, it was clear that some high-ranking demon was bored one day and wanted to y with the lower races. And this y was naturally a scarlet red bloody pass time. Demons were strong and even someone like our grandpa could only go against a Marques-ranked demon in a one-person battle. And just from this fact, we can tell just how strong those demon bastards were. But things weren''t just that simple for this story. Maybe others won''t think much deeper about that situation but, from the knowledge I had, I could make out the entire story of these things. Once upon a time, a prominent demon got bored and there was nothing for him to pass his time. And because of the restrictions of the world and because of the [Great Bnce], there wasn''t much he could do. There had to be a proper number of demons and the same was true for the mortal lives and the soul density of the world. It wasplicated stuff but in short, the demon who got bored figured out a sort of loophole in the existing bnce. What if arge number of demons die and a new batch of noble demons that aren''t strong enough for their positions are born at the same time? The world would push their powers to be at the required level at the cost of the power of the person that made this absurd anomaly. And as the demonic nature went, as much as they kill other beings, cause chaos, and take lives, they get stronger from the umtion of all the negative energy generated from that. So they killed, to get stronger and to match the requirements of their strengths and until then they had the special protection of the world. And although in this process, the perpetrator of this whole chaos would be as weak as a newborn demon, just the pleasure those bastards got from the chaos would be enough entertainment for them. Maybe even people in this room didn''t know some of the things that I knew and Zoe naturally was speechless for this whole time. We both knew what the oue of challenging the world like this would be... Maybe all higher-ranking demons would know and so, just doing these things was crazy in the first ce. That mindless crazy bastard had sacrificed his life the moment he thought to do something so crazy. "That bastard''s name was [Aamon], demon marquees. And the price of this shit he pulled just for fun was simply his death and the chaos for demons of his rank and his superiors. No one knows just how brain fked he was to not even realize the deeper consequences, or just what got him bored like this for him to cause this chaos but, one thing we all know... The death he got was truly painless against the things he had done to the others." Maybe because he was a [King] ranked knight, he had a deeper knowledge of the world like me and this surprised me that he can actually tell something so important like this without the restrictions. Or was it possible because this had be known to many already? Well, he said things as simply as he could and that was good. This clearly exined just why that demonic noble was so strong and that difficult Mana draining as if the Mana was burning in some invisible furnace. That strange feeling of the opponent being not strong but heavily buffed. It was strange in the first ce, and things might have been even crazier in that ce. We stopped things from escting and stopped the gates from instation, but if things had gone this bad on just our hand, it was unthinkable just how wrong things had gone in other ces. A ce with those gates connecting to the demon realm was ''passed ces'' that just meant they were demonic territories, and taking them back was a hassle in itself. That Aamon or whatever bastard had suffered from nature''s punishment and even if there was a loophole in the world''s rules, nature was the most absolute being so¡­ going against things naturally has brutal consequences. Death was a small word, and he would have suffered greater things than just dying. But this meant the one who did all things was now gone... So, my revenge was taken by nature. "Haaa..." I sighed and some tears unknowingly flowed out of my eyes and gently slid down my cold cheeks. All this time, in the great forest and even in the dark forest, I had thought of the revenge I wanted against the one that did those things. But, grandma guided me out of that darkness, and she was there to catch me from falling into the darker parts. And because of her... I learned that hatred, thoughts of revenge, and darkness were worth nothing. But still, I wanted to know what had happened so that I can satisfy thesest sparks of mes. And now that I knew the one who had done those things was gone... I could breathe. A little better, a bit openly, and let go of those thingspletely. The tears sliding down my cheeks were uncontroble, but I had to stop them for now... I had to, because there was still something left. Dad was the second most furious person in this room but, unlike me, he knew everything and he had already epted the things that were practically useless to think too deeply about. I was fine, and he was d that I was more than just alive. That was all he wanted, and that was also what I wanted. I was alive even after this great tragedy and now I was here, with them, and was talking like this. They hugged me just like a moment before, and I could see everyone with the third eye so I knew... Anna was now happy that the heavy feeling from me was gone. Zoe could also feel me, so she was d and smiling warmly at us. Grandpa''s anger was at the lost lives and he already was understanding enough, so he just smiled while looking at us and even patted my back aftering close. Ca was furious, and Alf was just quiet after knowing all this. My second aunt was also crying, and my uncle was handling her well. But, the first uncle was silent like Alf and wasn''t crying like some time ago. Rein was almost on the verge of tears and now... I knew we really had something special. I could also feel she was feeling sad and hurt after hearing this but, she was waiting to hear the things she wanted as much as them. And I also wanted to tell those things and let go of all the tears and all that heavy feeling, anger, longing, and... pain. I knew it would be hard to hear for them as much as it would be hard for me to tell. But, well, this was something I knew... so did the others that were with me all this time. There was only crying and hugs and warmth in thisst part. Nothing more interesting would happen. I knew Anna and Zoe would feel the greatest impact from this but, Zoe would be alright because she already knew. And although I was worried about Anna, I selfishly wanted her here, and I knew she was not going to leave. Rein... she would hear mine story, and maybe I will hear hers after we were alone? But I knew one thing... it would be as harsh for her as Anna. Not because she had her eyes of truth, but because we had this special thing between us. It was going to be difficult, but after this long night, that might feel endless... I knew a new, bright, and fun dawn was waiting for us. For me, for my family, and for us... Chapter 217 The Morning After Clearing the leftover tears from my face covered with dry tears, I gentlyid Anna on the bed behind the couch. Covering mom and dad who were sleeping with their heads on each other''s shoulders with the same face covered with dried tears but a calm smile, I looked to the other side. Grandpa was the only one remaining awake, and grandma was sleeping with her head on hisp. Alf and Ca were on the same bed as Anna, and I made sure to arrange them properly, even though the bed was quiterge. My two uncles and aunties were on different couches in the same room sleeping with the same calm smile as mom and dad. Zoe was sitting beside the bed with Anna and others, calmly sitting with her eyes closed and thinking of the amazing time she had today and the things that happened. I was awake, grandpa was awake and Rein was standing by the door with red eyes that had cried just as much as mine. Looking at grandpa, I asked if he wanted some tea or something but, he just shook his head and replied to just go without speaking. I smiled bitterly at this all-knowing grandfather and thanked him with my head bowed and looked at the other side of the room where grandpa Zhen stood with the same non extinct presence. Nodding at him and asking to look after everyone here with a smile, I walked by the door and held her hand. I didn''t need to say anything more, and we just vanished from the room by the shadows with her skill. Reappearing on the open roof of the estate with a table, umbre, and two chairs set up in the direction of sunrise, I looked at her face and her eyes, which glowed in the dark in the early morning. Her face, her gorgeous face, her beautiful eyes, those red cheeks covered with her dried tears, and the look in her eyes. She was confused right now. She knew we had to go away to a separate ce but, maybe she didn''t know why she brought me here, on the open terrace with almost nothing else except these chairs and many nts. There was a greenhouse on the other hand on this terrace, but there was nothing else in the ce we were standing. It was early morning, a time before dawn, and we were looking into each other''s eyes. There was confused chaos in her eyes. But... Her chaos-filled eyes were still beautiful, and she was looking into mine, too. My red eyes glowed in red, just like her pink ones. The redness under the eyes from crying the entire night was the same for us, but she was someone I had met just a few hours ago. And she cried for someone she had met just a few hours ago. And we were now close enough to feel the things other one felt. She was cute, dangerous, strong, a little chaotic, and adorable. She sure was something different in other''s eyes and I knew almost nothing about her but, I wanted to know. It was bright enough that we can see each other, not that either of us needed light. So, I looked at her with narrow eyes and a sudden smile that surprised her greatly. "W-what?" she tried to ask with a calm voice but, she couldn''t hide that sudden look of shyness that made her look away from me. This was cute, and I wanted to enjoy a bit more of her this side but, I had to bring her true self back. One that was furious and more dangerous than anyone I had seen... the real her. "So, Rein. The old-" that was enough and as if she had set an automatic response for something like this, she punched my abdomen, almost making me fall to the ground, but, hopefully, I was fine. Good thing she only punched the stomach. Protecting it with Solnova was easy like that. "You are really a bastard, you little pretty boy," sheined in the tone that went well with that angry face and shook her head with a smile that understood the reasoning behind this. Ain''t I amazing~? "Khem! Khem! Well, that one ended, at least." It was a powerful punch and maybe I could have really gotten hurt from that one if not for the protection. But, thankfully, I was ok. Shaking off the pain by channeling some energy, I sighed with a smile. This was better than that gloomy atmosphere. Creating some fresh, cool water with water magic, I washed the face covered with dried tears... and hers, too. "O-oi? I can use water magic, too!" She shouted when I was clearing her soft cheeks and caressing her wonderful face with my gentle touch that most definitely felt good to her. Well, she was quite something. Without stopping, I looked into those red eyes, and naturally, she looked back into mine. "You cried because of me, maybe because you felt bad for what things happened to me. But the reason you are like this, is me, right? Besides, do you know just how cute you look when you do those things? I can''t help but smile for some weird reason. And don''t get all flustered, you olddy witch. That''s an arrow in the heart." My words were most close to some cringe confession, but thankfully, she didn''t blush that much. Those flirty words definitely flustered her, too natural to be unreal. But after that, she sighed while I was still clearing the dry tears under her eyes and grabbed my hand. Holding the hand that was touching her warm cheeks, she moved her head and caressed her cheeks against my hand, which felt... oddly good. "What are you doing?" I said asked with a straight face but, we both can hear the wildly beating hearts of each other that harmonized in strangely perfect sync. And the dawn had just graced us, with the sky starting to turn bright on the distant horizon. "You just confessed you like me, so I''m showing I like you, too. Is it... strange?" Her voice was genuine, and the atmosphere was perfect for some reason. The mood, ce, nature, everything just wanted us to be together. So was it destiny? Or was it something far more than one could think? And if one couldn''t think about it, then why do I think? Just closing my eyes, I stayed like that, and she did what she wanted with that poor hand. I knew she won''t go too far, and we were still at the starting line of something that will be great with time. This was a newly sprouted seed, and we just knew how this nt grows would be up to the water and sunlight we give it. The care and time were the only things that will grow this delicate, young nt. And I wanted to be it as slow as possible, and I believed she would be the same too. "Let''s start by bing true friends. And true friends know most about each other. I already told you what I could, for now, so it''s your turn, Rein." My eyes were still closed, and she wasn''t done with this touching-feeling. I knew she heard me and the sudden hesitation that was overwhelmed by the affection towards me told me she really wanted to tell me. But she also wanted to stay like this for a little longer, and I didn''t mind it at all. The sun started rising on the horizon and the whole world around this castle-like estate was starting to light up. Our families weren''t the only ones in this ce. There were countless people that didn''t know about my family being here were also here. Well, this moment was precious for me, and for her... and itsted for a whole ten minutes before she decided this was enough ''for now''. Letting my poor hand go, she smiled at me and we both sat down at the tables facing each other. Just in case, this was morning, and morning tea was a special thing, so I took out a teapot with an already prepared hot tea and swerved in two cups with some cookies that I had made. She was sad they weren''t the same ones she had eaten in the forest but there were good too, and I knew she really liked them. And the tea was a special one too, one of my favorites. And just one sip of this refreshing tea in this early morning cool atmosphere was heart calming... "You really are amazing~. I''m looking forward to the amazing things you make for me in the future, master Axion." She dered with a teasing smile, and I nodded my head with a simr ''smile''. "It would be my honor,dy Reinelle. And, if fate allows it, I would like to eat something made from your marvelous hands too~." "You bastard..." Her angry smile was just cute in my eyes, but my tone genuinely annoyed her, and she sighed in disbelief. She was the miserable one to choose a bad person like me and, even though she liked this side of mine, she will have to endure these kinds of teasing too. I was happily smiling, but she helplessly sighed with a warm smile. But then, while drinking that tea, a sudden sadness, happiness, and excitement covered her face... telling me she was ready. "They used to call me [Blood thirsty witch] on the battlefields..." Chapter 218 Rooftop Start "You know how witches are different from humans, right? We have two growth phases of life that happen at random times, but we know when one ends or starts. Haaa¡­ I have been in this form for thest 111 years. I stopped growing after I was twelve and around that time, my mom passed away, leaving me with her young sister in the older estate. She was a wonderfuldy, and she will forever have a special spot in my heart. I was almost like a little sister to the previous duchess and that''s why master Zahavi tease me calling me grandpa''s aunty. And I tease him with that old marine soldier salute. When... Stop that smirk, or I will throw you from this roof." Her voice was serious, and I could feel she was already prepared to throw me from this ce. I had no doubt that she could do that. In fact, I knew she might do just that while I won''t be able to use my flight magic. And with that fear, I forcefully stopped this smirk and thankfully, she calmed down and continue speaking. "Back in the days, I spend almost all my time away from this empire and lived as a mercenary and fought in many minor wars that happen outside and just honed my skills with weapons. I used many weapons in the past but I never actually found something that was fit for me or that I liked particrly. In those days, the wars weren''t as they are now. Not many technological developments and although the empire had been prospering in magic and technology for a long time, all the wars I fought in were outside the empire. The remote ces with few resources and technology. Well, back in the days, I was mostly driven by anger and anguish and well, I just mostly killed people, beasts, and enemies. On the battlefields, although I wasparatively shorter than most of the soldiers, no one ever looked down on me after seeing me in battles. I was quite famous back in the day, and many feared me for being a crazy witch. Well... I was just driven by hate for the world for making me different from most of the others. I lived and saw the ones I cherished die after living a good life and although I met many people from different races that had long life spans, different from them, I had a normal perspective of time. Just like humans, I saw a day as a day and not like some moment as elves or dwarves do. Something weird, something so painful it can''t be exined with words, and the reason for it¡­ my origin skill. Though I don''t me my skill or anything anymore¡­ it isn''t something I ever want to remember again. I was someone bad. Someone drove by pure hate, a machine with no purpose or goal. Someone who had actually lived the life feeling as if trapped in this young body. And this feeling of being trapped, feeling the time pass like normal. Perceiving every passing moment normally, and not like some moments that I am supposed to. It was painful and infuriating and the deaths, blood, screams, and anguish of others didn''t do anything other than just make this void even darker. The darkness just grew, and even after getting stronger, I didn''t feel anything. Back then, I had even forgotten I had a family or something like that and it wasn''t until some years ago that I returned to empire and to this precious home. And when I came back... the one I yed with as a sister had already passed away and her dear son, my grandpa, was the newly appointed duke. When I first came back and met him, I felt things would be just the same. Someone else died before me, someone I loved but, by then, I had even forgotten what those emotions were. And even if I stayed here, things like those will continue to happen. ¡­ But, unlike what I had thought, grandpa was a different person than anyone I had met in my life. He was calm, warm, and stronger than anyone I had seen in those countryside wars and battles. Unlike me, he had honed his talent in the right ce and reached heights few could ever achieve. And his son, my dad, was the same. If grandpa was a warm wind that took me out of my despair, dad was something that reminded me what life was. He brought back those long forgotten emotions to me and¡­ I returned to being an actual person. And then the other two¡­ Grandma is a wonderful person that healed the wounds that I thought could never be healed. The deep wounds of despair, hate, the void¡­ she healed everything with her words, affection, and teachings. And then¡­ my lovely mom kept me in this world, away from that despair I had lived in for decades. They are just wonderful people that made that [Blood thirsty witch] a decent person that can live as a normal person. And after that¡­ I really wanted to live for a while more. With them, however long I can. Doing the things I never got the chance to do¡­ Grandpa taught me how to use a scythe, something that not just went perfectly with me¡­ when I held it, I felt like this was something that was a part of me. Grandma taught me how to hone and polished my existing magic and knowledge and witchcraft. I only learned something in true meaning when I came here and met them. I don''t even know just how grateful I am to them for taking care of this ''bad'' child¡­ but this grateful feeling is undeniable. It fears me just what might have happened if I nevere back, or what I would be if I had just wandered this continent helplessly as I had? I... what-" After that long one, she started losing the calmness she had maintained all this time, and even if I was already in tears now, I didn''t want her to cry more than she already had. So this time, I hugged her without wiping these new bastard tears that hade out without my permission. "Eon...?" she asked with a sudden nk expression that had at least taken her out of her falling state. She was still sitting down and although this position wasn''t so muchfortable; I didn''t think much about it. I just hugged her as best as I could, and the tears that had started as soon as she mentioned the killings and battlefield intensified even more. I now understand just how she had felt when hearing about my life, and it hurt more than remembering my own shitty past. Perceiving every day as a day, even while living a long life, was almost like a curse. Something like my ability to remember everything. The psychological pain and suffering she must have gone through exined her super high mental fortitude and power. She was strong, but she had also shed blood and sweat to gain that strength. But, unlike my deep desire to get back to my family and love for archery, she never had a goal or desire. Not until she met her grandpa. Maybe she would have been even stronger if she had found her talents earlier but, that wasn''t important right now. Killing others was nothing new to me, and that aside, she was a different person than she had been in the past. As I hugged her and after her shock, she came back to her senses and just hugged me back. The tears that I tried to block weren''t affected by my hopeless attempt one bit and flowed out of her gorgeous eyes and fell on my neck. But thankfully, she was smiling while hugging me¡­ Chapter 219 Rooftop Start (2) "You bastard... I don''t even remember thest time I cried as much as I have cried today. How will youpensate me for this one, hum? Bastard?" She was calm now, and thispensation she was asking while pressing her body against mine felt weirdly weird and good and strange and well... "Will a lovely water spirit suffice?" I asked with a genuine voice as my eyes started clearing up and the endless-looking tears slowed down from her casual words. She was the same until I said that one, but as soon as she heard that, her grip on my back tightened and I heard her cheerful voice. "Really?! I knew you can''t use that stone but, you will just give it to me? You know how precious that one is, right?!" She was practically stered against my body and right now, I could feel everything, and I mean everything, too clearly. And my hands were on her back... this should be enough. Releasing my hands and making her realize things were getting faster again, we both went back to our seats with a flustered expression. "Ahem! So, you will really give it to me?" She asked again, but this time was just to clear this strange atmosphere. And I just took a deep breath and cooled... the things down. She, too, sighed deeply and smiled at me. While looking at each other, we both chuckled and shook our heads at these sudden childish reactions. We didn''t have to do everything today, and she knew it. There was plenty we had to talk about, and this time, we truly had the bastard called time. I know we do. No need to even think about the supernatural stuff that brought trouble to me. Leaning forward, I looked her in the eye with a proud smirk on my face. "I won''t lose anything from giving away one of the seven intermediate spirit summoning stones to the one I like. Besides, I will also help you in preparing a special summoning circle so that a spirit mostpatible with you will get summoned." She blinked multiple times at those words, trying toprehend what I had just said. "Y-you have six more spirit stones? You... freaking kidding me?" she cussed with a cute frown on her face, and I leaned even closer to that adorable face. And after getting almost by her ears, I whispered, "I also have three summoning stones for advanced spirits but, we can do that one when you are strong enough to have two spirits and summon an advanced spirit. I know just how much Mana, an advanced spirit, sucks out just to materialize after being summoned." Her eyes widened in utter shock and she turned her face toward me, almost colliding with my face, but I backed off instinctively before that. And... she turned her head in my direction on instinct, too. This one surprised me, but I just backed to my seat and looked at her star-filled eyes in surprise. There was a bright smile on her face and those big eyes sparkling with stars in this early morning were just adorable. Hiding my smile with my hand, I looked at her excited expression again with pleased eyes. "Why are you so cute, Rein?" I couldn''t help but ask, and the expression on that cute face took a sharp turn from surprise to anger. "Shut up! Answer the goddamn question if you want to sit on that chair, or should I just throw you down?!" She was serious and the way she was looking at me with a sudden red fire in her eyes said everything I didn''t even want to hear. This look send shivers down my back... genuine ones, and I was feeling the fear that not even a berserk (Green) ranked beast managed to induce in me. Wiping off the pleased face and returning to normal so fast that it seemed like a dancing bird changing its attempt and running away in fear of death from the existing partner... I nodded with hesitation. "I-I am sorry. But, yes. What I said was one hundred percent true. We can try summoning after breakfast. How about it?" She caught onto the fear in my eyes and understood that I was understanding enough to understand the gravity of this situation. Giving me onest look of not saying something so foolish, which was a genuine fact, she sighed deeply. "Haaa... we both are just weird. How great are the adults to understand and handle us?" She wandered with genuine praise in her eyes, and I naturally agreed with that. "They are amazing. Marvelous even. I''m thankful to have such a great family." There was a new kind of admiration and light in my eyes, which surprised her greatly. This light was something different, something she couldn''t understand, but felt familiar at the same time. But she didn''t think too deeply about this and grabbed my hand resting on the table. After all the things that happened here, this much was nothing so, I just stayed like that and looked at her with my chin on my free hand. She did the same... and just kept looking at each other. "Tell me more about yourself," I asked while staying like that. "Why don''t you start this game, my dear friend Eon?" There was a genuine, mischievous smile on her face, and I liked that smile for some weird reason. And the game she talked about... was just the old, simple, talk to know each other better. And I had no problem imitating a game I would easily win. "I like cooking. I also love archery. I love many things and most of this is possible, and I''m even alive right now, is all thanks to my master..." I started telling her about myself and this was the easiest way to know as much as I wanted from her. She will tell me everything, and I don''t have to even worry about it. Well, this was natural for me now. So, we just continued this talk on this rooftop as the dawn graced us with the first gentle rays of sunlight. And the scene of seeing the horizon painting the whole forest area around this estate and the enormous castle itself was amazing. Some of the longest days of my life ended with something special and now... I had a special person in my life. This progress in this short time might seem too fast to some but, this definitely wasn''t. We were far slower than many and I knew it would progress slowly, even if it just goes naturally. We are just friends for now anyway... ''I knew both of our families would be happy. Thankfully, they understand that we understand things and won''t bother us much.'' We can just go as slow as we, I mostly, wanted without any interference. Rein, an amazing person... and my family, a marvelous bunch. I came back yesterday but... it generally feels like I was never away from them. Chapter 220 It Was A Good Morning Grandpa Zhen had shown up out of nowhere when our talk was nearing the end and informed us of breakfast and quickly vanished, leaving us alone in peace. Then we finished the long chat, and she knew I now know about her more than she wanted me to know, and even after knowing I know those things, she didn''t know just how the hell she ended up telling me that. And for this act of utter one-sided info ''sharing'', she actually threw me from the roof. And that could have been painful... yes, it could have been. But thankfully, I had anticipated something like that, so I adjusted my falling path and ended up on a tree. But... things didn''t end there. She used her ''chains''. Those dark chains... that was a really powerful ability. It was so powerful even when I tried using Solnova, there was no effect. As if it not only restricted my movements but also the whole energy flow in the surroundings, those dark chains remained unmoving. And it wasn''t like I had no way of getting away from them. I could but, I didn''t want to fall from the tree or create an explosion that might destroy this backyard. And though there was an even easier way to get out from them... that was a card that didn''t have any need to get on the table for now. Well, that one could have been easy, but I just stayed there like that. Chained by a powerful ability on top of a tree... I didn''t like that one. She used a floating spell and was floating just above me, looking down on me with a pleased expression, and then, forgetting the breakfast, she started her interrogation. Not that she got anything important, even after trying her hardest. She knew how to interrogate other beings but, her methods involved excruciating pain. And hurting me was the secondst thing she wanted to do. I did tell her some good things though. She was quite pleased to hear that. Things like how I met Fern and how there was a thing like a beast family with different beasts living like a family with each other. This picked her interest and at that time, even her old grandpa crow familiar came out to hear about this thing. And, well, I begged her to release the chains and promised that I would tell her everything about Fern. I hadn''t told much when I was telling the things that happened to me and I had masterfully skipped many parts like the willow tree and Fern, but now she was hearing something that others didn''t know. And she was delighted by this fact... this little cute girl. There was this special thing between us and with time, we will know each other more than our own selves so she didn''t have to be so eager to know things. I will tell her at the right time when ites. And being chained to a green tree of the same color as Fern''s eyes made the perfect time for that story. And then we were sitting on that same tree branch, forgetting the breakfast. Not to worry others, I wrote a note and send it to them through Celes''s clone and I got a reply from mom saying ''have fun~!''. Have fun... How could I tell her I was chained to a tree? Dad might like it or maybe she liked tieing him down but not me, mom. I wasn''t into that kind of y... or am I? Anyway, this definitely wasn''t fun for me, mom... Thankfully, Fern saved me from this one. Well, Celes was happy to talk about her dear sister Fern and the gorgeous ck crow, Branwen, was also having fun hearing something interesting. Rein had been in the eastern part of this continent all this time, and there were more rocky areas and dangerous forests than the empire. And one day, on one such dangerous mountain filled with ferocious (Green) and (Blue) ranked beasts, she met him. It wasn''t that old story because just after meeting him; she realized many things and I can say that the wise crow was the very reason she came back to her home. And I was now even more thankful for him for that. He was... actually, an old beast. He was an origin beast, and his kind was called [Night crow], a beast that was sopatible with her that their bond was simr to Celes and me on a bit different scale. Celes and I were too muchpatible that it was like we were made for each other. And they found each other by fate, but he had to take the initiative after they saw each other. He was more like a parent to her and she treated and liked him like his family. Well, he loved her, different from her love as a parent but, he understood things would be as they were. And now that she had found the one she really wanted, he was happy, and he was talking with Celes and Celes told me many things about him during the time I was talking about Fern. He was grateful, and he was quite a good person now that I was hearing from him. Well, Rein was surprised after hearing about a pure white chubby squirrel with forest green eyes that had the ability to heal a being emotionally. Something like Anna, but different at the same time. She could practically control every and all emotion, create them, erase them, and even stabilize them. Fern had this unreal ability, while Anna''s was purely different. Anna could calm others, rejuvenate them and return them to the best state they were in, internally and mentally. That was her special gift and Rein was surprised after hearing all this as she could understand these beings, [Helper], even more. The old crow also told us that he had met another [Helper] a long time ago in a different part of the continent, and this one was different from Fern. The one he met was a totally different and... weird creature. He described it as a dandelion-shaped nt beast with blue seeds and a jade green crystal-like stem. And that creature mostly just floated from one ce to another and in some ces that were devastated or had difficulties, it helped by creating fresh flowers that helped others. And hearing about this creature surprised me even more because I had read about this kind of [Helpers]. The nt category, and not just dandelion but many flowers like that. They were called [Florists]. And they were some of the most amazing beings among [Helpers] or even in origin beasts. I also wanted to meet one such being in the future if fate allowed it, and Rein agreed with me. This old crow of hers never told her such an amazing thing and as a result, he earned a flick on his small head. And I couldn''t help but chuckle while looking at those two. He and Celes were actually so excellent partners that they just let Rein and me be all this time. We were talking to each other and the two of them only came out with a delighted expression and voice when we called them. I really was blessed to have Celes... And maybe she felt blessed to have him, too. We actually had a pretty good time after that. Talking, showing some cool magic to each other, and eating while still on that tree. It was a good time. Well, that was the morning I was talking about, but right now, things were something totally different. Things were ok, we even returned at the time of lunch and sat with everyone to eat dad''s delicious cooking. Things were going as yesterday till then, and although there were servants frequenting and doing most of the stuff for us, we were fine. Everything was ok there... until grandpa Zhen came with the news of someone''s arrival. Someone all of us knew and Rein even expected this person''s visit soon... but, even she started cussing at this person the moment grandpa Zhen said his words. Thankfully, those curses were spoken through eyes, not many noticed them. But things started getting difficult from that time and now, for a weird reason, I was fallen to the ground,ying at the center of this giant crater in the underground arena... smiling genuinely. Chapter 221 Really? Him?! Here? -That afternoon. Reappearing from the shadows like we had many times, I looked around the same dining table filled with both our families. And as soon as Anna felt our presence, she left her chocte milk and ran toward us with a bright smile on her face. We hadn''t seen her all morning because we were doing some ''chatting'' on a good tree, and I knew she must have missed us. Though I did talk with her through one of Celes''s clones and told her to keep this a secret and she understood that one perfectly. If she can keep everyone''s feelings and emotions secret, then this was nothing at all for her. She was some of the best when it came to keeping secrets. She was good and as soon as she ran toward us; I let go of her gentle hand and caught my dear little angel. And to both our surprise, she kissed us for practically no reason. And I delighted in that surprise gift and kissed her back. But only her... yes, not this friend of mine. "Big brother~! I misssssed you~! And big sister too~~!" As cheerful as ever, Anna hugged me, and then her, while still being in my arms. Rein also hugged her back and after some chatting, we went to our seats for dinner. But this time, Anna was sitting with me, and Rein was beside me. And our families couldn''t help those hidden grins that just loved seeing the two of us together. Dad was... holy frak? For some reason, he was proud? Oi, what was that? Your son is twelve, you big man! He was something but... her mom and my aunts were on an entirely different level in this proud thing. They thought not only I was lucky that someone as good as she chose me, they even thought someone as unparalleled as I chose her. This choose-chose was going too far, isn''t it? The one writing this likes dragging things. Even a simple kiss would have to wait for me being an adult, so no kiss for three years. ...can I control that long though? Damn bastard. Sighing internally, I looked at the food served by one of the maids of the house. Although dad made it, the servants had to do their jobs properly, and they were unique bunches too. All of them were above [Rank-2] in strength, meaning they were at least basic soldiers in ranks. And they were happy while looking at all of us, and we knew it even while not looking at them. I was looking at everything with my third eye and I didn''t need some spell or skill or ability to know what was going through those excited hearts. First, they were surprised to see the entire Heliox family here, eating with their masters like this. Second, they were dying to talk with this beautiful angel sitting on myp. Third, the maids were having some weird reactions while looking at me, and they can''t hold this feeling. Well, after Anna, maybe I was the most charming of the young ones and the maids were also somewhat young, not that older. Well, they all knew this was just because of the opposite charms and my marvelous beauty that I didn''t want to praise myself. I was definitely no narcissist, and I only had an interest in others'' beauty. Well, things didn''t end there. Some maids went out to hide the most powerful reaction they got after seeing Rein and me, and many actually started crying tears of joy. They all saw me and Reine in and they were smart and capable servants handpicked by some of the strongest in the empire, so they can easily catch on to things quickly. And after talking with her the whole morning, I knew she was someone respected throughout the estate. They revered her, and she was a radiant, but somewhat lonely person in their eyes. And my third eye was just roaming the entire estate with Celes''s clones all the time, so I knew almost everything that they thought and talked about. They all can see just how different Rein was right now, and she was genuinely happy. There was no loneliness they felt in the past and now she was even more radiant and cheerful than before. All of this, and the reason was this bright boy with an angelic little girl in hisp. And these sharp servants had even figured out who I was from the small talk and the behavior everyone had towards me. Not that the matching hair of a grand knight and one of the richest on the continent and the red eyes of someone feared among the adventurers and normal folks of the empire as a crazy, bloodthirsty mage weremon. Just this appearance of mine was enough to tell any smart person who I was because the ''crown'' had made me a pretty good hero in new generation stories. This appearance of mine was now not as unique as it used to be but, the original would always be original. ...until a greater one surpasses it but, that wasn''t the talk right now. The servants, male and female, were seeing the empire''s so-called hero for the first time, and right now, only Rein, I, and Anna were the talk of the entire house. Well, they were pretty professional servants that knew about all the important stuff, so no one had to worry about anything. Moreover, this serene morning wasn''t going to stay like this forever and its trigger was... grandpa Zhen''s heavy expression as he came into the dining room by the door and asked every servant to go out. And feeling the sudden gravity of the situation in his eyes, every servant bowed down and went out after Rein said her bye to everyone. And they were happy to receive these cheerful byes for the first time like this. They went out with a cheerful expression, and then, grandpa closed the door behind him. Looking at grandpa after ncing at me for a moment, he spoke in a heavier voice than what I have heard all this time. "I spotted the white owl a moment ago. Looks like lord Aldrich is on his way. He should be here anytime now..." And at those words, everyone''s eyes widened. Grandpa, grandma, uncles and aunts, even Ca and Alf. And even her family was like this all of a sudden. But the old ones calmed down quickly and just sighed while everyone other than mom took some time and then shook their heads in a knowing manner. I didn''t understand their reaction but, the most unique reaction was Rein''s, and only I and the elders could understand the rage in those calm eyes right now. ''Fking bastard...'' And I didn''t believe others could understand her just from her eyes but, I most definitely understood the words that were spoken without a blink. But then those eyes softened, and she looked at me with a genuine smile, surprising me even more. ''Who is this person and what''s up with you all of a sudden?'' I asked with my eyes, and she shook her head with that same helpless smile. ''You know there is only one person that woulde to mind when someone says white owl and that name.'' Her words were simple but, as she said, I knew the person in the description and I still couldn''t believe her words. My eyes widened in surprise too, thoughte, but this was the same surprise as all of them, and even mom had epted the reality at this point. But this was still unbelievable. ''I knew he wille but, for nature''s sake, damn geezer! It''s been a day. A single day since he came back from hell! Fking sly old bastard...'' She was genuinely furious toward the person we were all thinking about. And although I knew we will talk about that er, the fact that one of the strongest in the world wasing here still surprised me beyond belief. ''But why the hell is heing here himself?'' I asked and as soon as she saw this question in my eyes; sheughed, finding the question itself funny. ''Of course because... he wants you too, my darling friend~.'' She said this one cheerfully and that phrasing and her excited smile didn''t go well with me. I was nervous all of a sudden but, thankfully, my heart got forcefully calmed down thanks to my special Origin skill. ''But still... he wouldn''te if it was some normal matter rted to the academy. And from what she said... he''s here because of me...'' I still couldn''t believe those words but... I felt a sudden presence with my active Solnova detection and as soon as I felt this unfamiliar presence just behind me... I instinctively covered my fist with dense Mana and punch back. It was instinctive, fast, and strong but, to my surprise... "Woah, Woah. Calm down, young boy, calm down. To think someone would actually pick up my presence like this... Damn... Maybe calling you just a child hero was far more underestimating of that young emperor." Chapter 222 Aldrich Merlin [Ind of magic''s wealth] The most famous and some of the very few floating inds in the world. A floating ind, something that defied the basic understanding of the world but, it was a natural phenomenon. And this ind, one of the most famous ones throughout the continents, is the base of magic, weapon wielders, as well as every other talent that could be honed into something that would benefit the world. Everyone had their unique talent, and no talent was useless. So, this floating ind was the home of the greatest academy on the entire continent that helped in honing these talents. An academy famous in the whole world and a ce that produced most of the people that are prominent people of this world. Not only magic, weapon-wielding, and energy cultivation but, this ce was greatest for anything and almost everything. And, most of all, [The Grand Academy Of Hope], the only institution on the entire ind, was a special ce. Every three years, anyone between the age of fourteen and more could appear for the entrance test to join the academy. Anyone wishing to join the academy with no discrimination of race, gender, or status could appear at the academy and give the test and take the first step to their new lives. And as long as you are just epted in the ce, you will have every basic necessity, from food to a basic dorm for free. The whole institution was a neutral ce, belonging to not a single empire or kingdom. Though it was funded by almost every single nation in the world by their ruler as donations and gifts, no nation had any stake in the academy itself. This school taught the young generation and in the end, they were, ''we'' all were valuable assets to the nations of this world and, after finishing our studies, what we do was mostly up to us. In most cases, at least, from what I knew. They did get ''rmendations'' to different ces that would give benefits and all but, the choice was up to us. And these rmendations were up to the donations. Everyone that operated in countries, or even bigpanies called guilds, needed human resources, and well, that was the gist of things. The [Academy], is the ce where a new life for every young adult begins. With the best teachers teaching in the sses, excellent resources and also, and one of the grandest libraries that held books from ancient times to almost all the known knowledge of the world. This ce, this academy, although had many restrictions, was a ce like no other on all three continents. Those who passed the entrance exams would be given the right toe there and study what they had a talent for and what they wanted. And the fun part of the academy is that there is an Ancient tree, something like the old willow tree I had met in the great forest, and, that tree can evaluate the passed student''s talents. That tree can sense thetent talent of the individuals who passed the basic test, and, well, if someone can''t even pass that one, they wouldn''t be fit for the academy just yet. So, many people try as many times as they can to get in with this basic procedure but, there always exist different methods. And here, that one is called special admissions. And these special admissions vary from paying an exorbitant amount of donations, having some exceptional talent that can''t be ignored, and by rmendations of high position people. But the rmendation also involved certain ''gifts'' so things were ok for the academy itself. And all this was actually necessary to run this grand institute like this. There were many big names connected to the academy, and the greatest one was the person that had just sneaked up on me. And his way was really a no-no because right now, I was tightly holding Anna and this sudden pressure from me surprised her even more. I had controlled the bloodlust but, I couldn''t hide the shock from how he just erased his presence, and almost his entire being. Anna was surprised, and this situation almost scared her. And I forgot the fact that he had blocked that super powerful punch with one finger and even absorbed all the energy from the punch after realizing she was like this as I gently caressed her back. "A-are you ok Anna? I didn''t mean to surprise you like this, but..." Everyone stood up after that and forgetting everything, I just focused on her. Rein had seen through him the moment I punched him but, just like me, she was fully focused on Anna now. At that sudden moment, I reflexively made an energy shield around her that protected her, but the grip around her was definitely tighter than usual. But most impotently, she was surprised to see the sudden appearance of this person and the hostility that appeared after his sneak up. But from her look, she was fine. And more than just fine. "I''m ok big brother but... wow..." Now, all of a sudden, Anna was saying she was fine, and then she suddenly eximed with stars in her eyes while looking at ''him''. "Wo..." And Zoe, who set on the other side, was the same too. The two''s sudden admiration filled with gasps was strange, but it was understandable. Well, he definitely deserved the title of [Perfect being] if he couldb surprise the two of them this much. This person before me was one of the strongest in the world and one who maintained the whole of this grand academy. This bastard who sneaked up on us like this¡­ was the very headmaster and the highest person who had lived with the academy even before Rein was born. Actually, over thest thousand years. This person was a wizard who had been one of the strongest for some of the longest in world history. [Aldrich Merlin] Just that name would remind one of an old mage with a long beard and from that owl familiar, one would think he really is just an old man with this normal description. But... here, in a ce where even a grandma of sixty plus looked like in her early adult stages, can this (tier-10) archmage, much less a wizard could look that? Well, hard no... This person looked as young as my dad. More than that, he looked mind-blowingly handsome. His pure white hair with his eyes which was practically rainbow-colored, almost having every light normal color I can think of. Or... more like the five elements, including the fundamental elements and higher element: light. Those eyes¡­ why were they so gorgeous, damn it! And he was old, and someone who had surprised me like this. And even Anna was surprised because of him. But now, the light and stars in her eyes that were just stuck on this person were something different in themselves. And even Zoe was looking at him with the greatest surprise she ever had. Even the emotions she was feeling right now were pure admiration and bliss. I knew he was the most amazing person on the continent but, what did she see him as to be this surprising? And maybe she felt this surprise and question from me and smiled while looking at me. [[ "A crystal magic wand made of five colors, surrounded by a divine glow of different colors in a in white endless in. The colors of the crystal wand are so beautiful they are practically... impable. This looks so magnificent, big brother~, it''s the most amazing thing I''m seeing after our home~!" ]] Chapter 223 Aldrich Merlin (2) She was mesmerized by his true self and if Zoe said he was that good person; I had no need to be this on edge from him. I calm down and looked at Anna, who couldn''t take her eyes away from him. But when I calmed down, others started shouting. "Eon?! Anna! Are you alright?" Mom shouted with her eyes wide open and filled with fear. "Eon?! Are you alright?! And... Anna?" Dad shouted, but he was calmer than her and when he looked at Anna''s admiration-filled eyes, even he was surprised. "Sir Merlin?! What the hell do you think you are doing?!" my grandpa shouted and Rein''s grandpa followed after him. "Why would you even sneak up on a young one like that?!" Both of them were angry at him but, they were surprised by my reaction too. To think I would notice him, and even more, attack him like that reflexively. It was amazing but still unbelievable. And that wasn''t even all of it. All of them started to shout and curse at him for doing something like that. And our grandmas were some of the most furious ones. They were genuinely angry at him for doing that, and after all this, this person was still smiling shamelessly. Anna just chuckled at all this and asked me to put her down. And seeing this¡­ everything actually calmed down. Rein was also surprised by this, but more than that, she was furious at this person for a different reason. And I understood that one, for some reason. Not that either of us can put that into words, but that was a surprise, and he justughed at all this. "Yes, yes everyone. It was my mistake and I really apologize for this. And Eon." His voice was also young but filled with wisdom and it reminded me of the ancient willow tree. It was almost identical to that. But, when he just openly apologized to everyone as well as bowed his head to me and Anna, I couldn''t help but be surprised even more. "I just wanted to surprise the child hero of the empire but, never could have I ever thought he would actually notice my presence and even attack me like that. And after all this, I have to say young boy, you are more than what meets the normal eyes..." And after saying that, he just smiled at me warmly as his eyes glowed in a low white light that Rein and I noticed clearly. [[ *An unknown entity is trying to invade the mind and look at the status window. The opponent''s power is too much. The current state of the body won''t be able to hold the burden of mental defense. Eon, it would be best to just let him have a look at it. He''s too overwhelming for us right now.* ]] [[ "Of course he is. How am I supposed to do anything against the all-seeing eyes of an archmage? Anyway¡­ amazing work, Lucy. I will give permission. Just have him look at it, not like we can do anything against him, anyway. I don''t believe we will be able to see his status window, right?" ]] Lucy was amazing, and I knew if someone like him wanted to look at my status window, I would have no choice but to let him, even if I had a way to block it. I was strong, no question. But the opponent was an entity that had transcended natural bonds a long time ago. Now, he was something that was more than just some normal entity of nature. He was an important part of the world itself. And Lucy is even more amazing to actually be able to have the power to block something like that. She was amazing, just that I was too weak to fathom her power for now. And even though I knew the answer to the question, I had just asked her¡­ I wanted to know. [[ *Yes, Eon. Good, quick thinking. He is too smart that he would have figured out my abilities from even a little more dy. But, yes. It''s as you are thinking. He is already a [Transcendent]. He doesn''t have a ''status window'' to even see. And the world authority he holds is something special too. Even more, he most definitely had more than one world authority. But after all this and him being a sly fox, I believe he is a good person. And as Anna and Zoe expressed, he is a pure nice person even after his bad habits and weird tendencies. Just take care and be yourself. He at least won''t be able to overwhelm you.*]] She was really careful when choosing her words and I knew just from his actions until now... he was better than me in the thing I was best at in the previous life. Deception, acting, the way to control the surrounding atmosphere, the human mind''s working, and maniption¡­ ''Damn... why is he even here in the first ce?! I wanted a peaceful school life with no burden or something. And Rein never said something like this was going to happen. And... most importantly¡­ What will his reaction be after seeing my status window?'' After my master, he was the first one to actually see my status window after I went to the great forest. Not even her grandma had been able to check my stats and the same for dad. And their skills weren''t even close to Rein''s eyes of truth, so they didn''t even activate against me. But this time was different. His ability would work against me and he will see the unreal stats of a barely twelve-year-old boy as well as the progress of Origin skill and other skills. ''I am a [Advanced-intermediate] level Origin skill user, and I am still barely twelve years old. It was impossible to even imagine someone like me was real but, I was, and more than that, he would see the (Stage-0) skill for maybe the first time. Even I didn''t know something of that rank was possible but, Lucy was special, and he would know it was a special skill in itself. So just how will he react after seeing this? If he could actually see it, that is. And I had no doubt he wouldn''t sense Ronna in my soul if not the Solnova throughout my entire body, too. Well, his reaction was something I was looking forward to, and I didn''t need to wait for long... "Holy mother nature... what in the world are you, boy...?" An unbelieving reaction from one of the strongest in the world... quite unique actually. Chapter 224 His Invitation His sudden arrival was chaotic in itself, but after he saw my status window, things got even more chaotic. Maybe everyone else had met this person and knew him well, so they were even more shocked by the surprised reaction of this ever-calm person. After seeing the status window, maybe far more than that, his eyes glowed even more, and just like what had happened with her and me, a red tear of blood gently slid down his eye. This surprised them but, his excited smirk that they were seeing for the first time was even more shocking. But that smirk went away as soon as it appeared and he returned to his normal self with the same cheerful expression so fast it seemed like nothing had happened. Clearing the rare drop of blood, he looked at me with that same smile. "Really special, aren''t you? It would be fun~!" He cheerfully chuckled and on this one, Anna''s ever cheerful face changed into something she didn''t like. "Mister! My big brother is not weird! He is amazing~!" Anna shouted in anger for the first time, and this made the families even more... weird. I knew Anna rarely ever got angry like this, and right now was one of those rare few times. And I didn''t like seeing her like this. Anger didn''t suit her pretty face. Rein''s one was a different matter altogether. ring at him while knowing he was thinking I was quite a peculiar specimen, I definitely was, but this even surprised me. But, thinking I was weird, and maybe even more, while feeling the weirdness and contemting it within himself like that was definitely a no from Anna. She loved me as much as I loved her, and if someone was genuinely feeling I was weird, she would naturally get angry. And after something like this, this hot man couldn''t help but blink nkly and move his eyes from her unhappy face and me. And then, clearing all his weird thoughts, he sighed and pulled back a chair on the dining table. "My apologies, miss Anastasia. I apologize to you too, Axion. It was a mistake on my side, too. I hope you could forgive this old man." ''First, you don''t look old with that appearance. Second, that acting is enough to fool even me. And third, why the fuck are you even here?!'' I wanted to hide this chaos in my eyes but, this sharp old man noticed it, and Rein read it clearly. ''He definitely is a bad person, Eon. But, well, he''s too smart to over-smart and I don''t think you will be wise enough to be safe from his cunning. Good luck, darling...'' Rein said in a sad tone, and this really surprised me. What was thatst part? Did I read wrong? Hell, anyway, he definitely was a sharp, wise, cunning one. I knew that much. He was someone like me in terms of knowing others, and I didn''t like those like me. "Am I not getting the forgiveness?" he asked with a genuine expression and maybe, he at least was really sorry for how Anna sighed and walked away from him after saying not to do something like this again. Who was he sorry to again? Just her and not me? Damn... My mind was starting to hurt from this overthinking. I just sighed and now that Anna was gone to the other side at Ca for some unknown reason, this headmaster of the greatest academy was sitting beside me. And everyone had given up on understanding the thinking of this transcendent person, so we all strangely returned to the lunch like it was normal. And even though I felt everything weird, it was happening so naturally that I didn''t even have a second thought about it. And me not having a second thought about something meant a few things and in this situation, it wasn''t a good one. This person was more than what I had thought and right now... everyone was definitely influenced by potent illusion magic and no one realized this one aside from me. ''Was this the reason Rein said that things?'' "Axion Heliox Kromet. A young child, most probably a reincarnation, a Hexa elemental mage having a perfect harmony of all basic elements. Has an innate skill that stabilizes and eases the cirction of all energies in the body. Possess skills far stronger than what should be avable in the outside world. Separated from his family whileing back to the capital with them. The reason is the tragedy that was masterfully covered up by the smart emperor of your empire. Then, in this process, the miraculous child who was just six years old at that time, maybe less, saved his parents from falling to one of the buffed demon barons. A child who has many inventions to his name, from amazing food to theories and even voice massage coding methods. Oh, yes, I love vani with chocte chips~. A world-changing creation that a lost one created in his childhood. Then the same childes back one day and miraculously meets the child of the house of Atraxia whose family had deep connections with his own. But before that, he was in an unknown ce with so much natural and Mana disturbance that nothing could work as a means ofmunication. A forest that meets this description would only be one of the nine forbidden zones, the great forest of Kamut. He was thrown to this ce, but he somehow survived in that forest, the most ferocious ce lurking with beasts that can''t be fathomed by humans. He tries his best, survives in the dangers, and somehow meets a powerful person in the middle of this forest. He bes her family-" "Skip that please..." I couldn''t help but speak in the middle of his sudden speech of my life. And I knew he was great and all, but, I wasn''t strong enough to remember her and talk about that one. There were already tears in my eyes, and he could feel this one. Right now, there were only the two of us, and it was as if every other person was under strong hypnosis. They were acting like I wasn''t here at all and just eating normally like we didst night. Rein was even worse than even as she could see us both. She was tied to her chair with a white rope of light with her mouth covered and she looked at me helplessly, not even being able to move her eyes and talk with them. But, she wasn''t afraid of the situation, as if she had been through this one before and her eyes at least told me not to worry about much, so, I felt ok. And even though everything he said about me was true, and I didn''t have any reaction to that and my heart was also calm, as soon as he brought up master... I can''t. Chapter 225 His Invitation (2) "Ok... I understand. I would have loved to talk about that person but, she is not among us anymore. She must have been an incredible being to teach you to this extent and, you are even more amazing to learn things like them in this short time. Plus that weapon in your soul... aside from you and me, there are only four others who have them, young ones. And you are the first ''human'' to possess it in maybe more than three thousand years of history I am aware of. Canceling the minimum requirement of having a strong, transcendent soul? That''s only possible because of your unique soul. A strong soul, one of the strongest I have seen with these ''eyes''. And that special energy... you know, I have only seen it once. And that was one of the greatest times of my life, child. But to think something that one of the most catastrophic monsters possessed is in you, even more, you know how to use it even better than Aura or Mana. That''s definitely not a self-taught thing. Meaning your master was a proficient user of this simr energy. Well, I didn''t know what type of being she was, but¡­ can you guarantee her offspring, that child over there, will be safe for the world?" His voice turned grave, and there was a coldness in his voice. A coldness that would kill even one as strong as me if intensified a little bit. But¡­ his question was too easy to answer. "Yes. Her mom was nothing like some beast or anything. She was nice, warm, and caring. She was stronger than you if I said so myself and she chose to be one with mother nature. She was selfish, and I can never hate her for that. And Zoe, she''s my responsibility. And she''s anything but a threat to others. Just look at her, pretending everything is fine, for my sake. Do you think something with nature''s protection would ever cause harm to others unnecessarily?" I had no idea what he was talking about but, one thing was clear: he was uncertain about her because he can''t understand Zoe at all. Well, she was special, and there was no way a mortal could prate the mantle defense of a phoenix. Well, Zoe wasn''t even affected by his magic and right now, she was just pretending to be under his spell, for my sake. Well, she was Zoe, and she understood the situation perfectly, and even after knowing that we both knew, she continued her work. I had no doubt there were other creatures besides my master who could use Solnova and from the books in our tower library, I even knew every one of the creatures who can use this energy were either extinct or even if there were some, they were super strong (Purple) ranked beasts or more. And they were too rare and naturally peace-loving creatures that they never appeared around the ces with other creatures. In the great forest of Kamut, the fire race that owned one of the gates outside the forest also had some special born that can use Solnova and they were cherished by their tribe. And I cherished Zoe with all my heart. My eyes were clear and this strong headmaster understood things just from this much. Sighing with a relieved smile, he waved at her, and Zoe waved back with a shy smile. She could see he wasn''t a bad person, but she was still hesitant about this situation. His spell was something interesting and aside from Anna, who had divine protection, everyone had the mental hypnosis spell on them. I could see theplex spell with my eyes and it was also a beautiful one, just like my spells. But this was the natural beauty that came with pure experiences, like master''s spells. But, well, her magic was the most amazing, and it was a fact. He cast a full physical body spell on Anna that was more difficult than the others but, even he, an archmage, couldn''t go against the divine protection of a major goddess. The reason he cast the spell on Anna''s whole body and not just the mind that was specially protected by divine protection. Anyway¡­ he had asked what he needed to know about Zoe. He now knew she was nothing like some beast or anything, so it was better now. Zoe was a person. A living, breathing person. And he was a fool to doubt that one. Looking at me with a new, warm smile, he nodded his head. "I am apologizing quite a lot today but, I''m sorry for all this. I had to do it. The creature I talk about was a ferocious lion-like beast, and it was almost like a living sun. I can never forget those days but, I can''t me the beast too. I was barely strong enough to just calm down the enraged mother whose child had been killed by demons, and she was killing and destroying everything she came across. Though it was in a remote ce, the lives lost at that time weren''t small and the strength I saw that day was also something I will never forget. And, if you could use that same energy, I am sure you would one day be as strong as that beast. Maybe you will even surpass me with your amazing talent and love for archery. And... you also have that beautiful Aura. It would be a waste to not have you myself¡­" He stopped for a moment and looked deep into my eyes. And I knew at this point, that he was starting to get to the main point. "So? What do you think? Will you join the academy as a special student? Your lovely friend Reinelle is already part of that special group, so you two will have as much time together as you want. p And... there are special benefits if you do join like this. Like-" It was a good thing he was now getting on the point, and it was an even better thing I had been focused on him and didn''t fall for his masterful misdirection. He did a wonderful job leading me to put my guard down and even diverted my focus many times but, Lucy was good at reminding me what my goal was. So, I was ready for this moment, and even before he started saying his befits and stuff, I cut in and said while putting my chin on my locked fingers, with a smirk, of course. "We both have to finish this talk quickly. You and I both know even you can''t keep the two [King] ranking knights under control for much longer. So... what''s the catch? What did you trick her with? What is this special group and what will I have to do while being a part of this group? Andst, I have a condition, but answer me before that." My questions were simple, and this made this sly bastard smirk like he had been some moments before. I knew things were fishy from the moment I saw the look in her eyes after this whole thing started, and I was right on the mark. "You know about the student council of the academy, right? The ones who work directly under me and have the most ess to resources and even permission to have ess to the [Library of time] for however long they want? Aside from your fellow council president and vice president, no one in the school will know if you are the council member, so don''t even worry about a hassle-filled life. All this, and you will just have to do the things I ''request''. It will only be a ''request'' and you can deny it if you have a valid reason to not do that. You will report directly to me of anything happening in the academy before anyone, or you will have special permission to act on your own. As a council member, aside from clearing my ''requests'', there is no downside. And these are the same things I told her. Easy, right?" There was a calm and attractive smile on his face that made me believe what he said was the only thing, and there was no need to think too deeply about the small stuff. He made me believe this. Me. The very me. "Impable... no wonder even she fell for that one." I sighed deeply while looking at him and continued after giving the restricted her a look of sympathy and pity. "First, you want strong, new meat as your ves. Second, you just forgot to tell me about the ''test'' that''s most important for admission. Or... are you just going to let me in without that?" Chapter 226 His Invitation (3) There was a surprised smile that was amused by the fact that I saw through his ploy this easily. He was good with his words, he definitely was and I had to give it to him when it came to deception. He was a master maybe grandmaster in my eyes for that amazing prowess and I really admired him. He was a bastard through and through but, he was someone I can''t actually ever hate. He was a good being as a person and he was more than just strong and wise. It took more than the strength and wisdom to be headmaster of the greatest learning institute and his good heart was one of the main conditions. He was good with his words and I might have fallen for them but not me. Not this time at least. Not that it was all on my own thinking. If Lucy wasn''t there to remind me, I would definitely have forgotten what the hell was even going on. He just cast a spell on our entire family and even restricted Rein from speaking or moving. There was no way I would believe there was just that much to the story he just told so casually. "Hohoho. I wonder what you did before your reincarnation to have such mind and experience, young boy. You were most definitely someone special in that ce, too, right? Well, I have no interest in past lives, so let''s just move on. What you said is true, there will be a test but, I believe you will pass with flying colors and I won''t have to erase your memories or something like that. Being a student council member is an honor on its own in true meaning, and you will also get rewards for finishing each mission. Well, just having unlimited ess to the library is enough, right?" There was a radiant smile on his face as he said all that stuff, and I also agreed with him. It really was an honor from all the things I knew and had read. The academy was actually there since ancient times twenty thousand years before and he was the twenty-first headmaster of the academy and one of the best in known history. Well, I had read books about the academy and many of them were from its foundation''s time, unlike him, who only knew stuff in the library and the history of thest three thousand years. And, I didn''t actually want to say this but, after Zoe, maybe I was the only one who knew about the [Ind of magic''s wealth] and [The grand academy of hope] the most. And I knew all the things one wants to know about being a teacher, student, council member, president, vice-president, or even headmaster. But that knowledge had partial restrictions, and I didn''t want to risk anything by saying it out loud unnecessarily. This offer was tempting in itself but, I knew every headmaster had the obligation to ''test'' and find the best of the best for the council because ultimately, we would be the ones that carry out the headmaster''s tasks as his shadows. And he naturally needed ones who knew how to do the work properly. Plus, we will be taught by the best of the best as the council members. So, he also had to take into ount thetent potential. And all council members were special individuals, far more than the twelve prodigy world was waiting for. Aside from the student council president and vice-president, no one knew the identity of the members. Not even other council members themselves until revealed in certain circumstances. And even if someone other than the council members came to know the identities, ording to rules, their memories of that had to be erased. He had to choose the members carefully, and the council president and vice president had the duty to choose their sessors from the council members after an extra year''s evaluation. As the principal, he had to get his hands on the most special ones, like Rein or me, before anyone. And my potential was even greater than Rein herself in his all-seeing eyes. Though it came as a sudden surprise and would hinder my ns for a peaceful life, Rein was already in this mess. And if I refused now, she will be alone and will have no one by her side. But I still had my own condition to join the council, and he will have to ept it if he wanted me. Looking deep into his eyes like he had been all this time, I started saying my condition. "Rein and I. Same ss. A normal one would be ok. As for the condition, I want you to let Zoe join the academy as a normal student. I know you can''t see her potential with your eyes, and that''s because it''s so overwhelmingly great that it can''t be fathomed by mortals like us. She has talent, potential, and knowledge, but... she has no experience of the world at all. She''s too sheltered, has lived in a forest practically her entire life, and even after she knows even more about the world than me, she has lived no life at all. She''s a young child that only knows how to control her power and most of the powers are sealed because of certain circumstances. And that''s even better because she will be safe. I want her to have a normal life even if I get to be dragged into messes, she has the right to a normal life. And I request you to look after her. That''s the first part of the condition." He had a proud face through all the time I was talking about Zoe but, as soon as I said the ''first part of the condition'' thing, his face fell and became weird. His gorgeous eyes were practically asking me what the hell I was saying, wanting to finish the damn thing, and on this, my eyes became stoic, which made him flinch. "I want area 69MF." And as soon as those words escaped my lips, an earthquake urred in his eyes. Chapter 227 The Land Deal "It''s really surprising you know the terms for thend area of sky ind and from the look in your eyes, you really know what that ce is. But, how do you even know something even many teachers don''t? And this area... what would you even do with an empty piece of corner barrennd? It''s weak, has no practical use, and even if I make it usable with magic, I don''t think even as a headmaster, it would be much useable. Money, resources, high magic, workers, as well as arge force to clear up the [Rainbow mingo] nest near that area. Just the hassle of eradicating those thousands of beautiful ferocious birds is too much. So why would you need thatnd? Did you even know all these things... of course, that smug answers my every question." As he said, there was a wide grin on my face, and I really enjoyed that sudden shock on his face. And Rein too. Even if she was tied down and can''t talk, I knew just from those unmoving but pleased eyes that she enjoyed seeing this man in a difficult situation like this. And I wanted to enjoy this some more, but we had little time to make fun of this old man. "Headmaster. I probably know about sky ind, as well as the academy more than you. Well, that''s that but, I really want thatnd. It''s on the edge, had nothing around it at all, and although it is a weaknd, you know there''s a vine there, right?" Now, this surprised him even more. And even Rein, who could actually hear the things we were talking about. Zoe had a radiant smile on her face, as she knew I was having fun right now and the situation was now in my hands. The conversation that he was controlling until now was now fully in my control and he couldn''t do anything he wanted. a prominent ore used to produce many things of everyday life as well as many Artifacts. A rare ore filled with a good amount of Mana and things would actually be chaotic if someone knew there existed a Mana ore vine at a free piece ofnd on the sky ind. Though the academy had all rights to the ind from ancient times, they definitely were open for business. And many people had houses on that ind, though every one of them was filthy rich. Celes''s ability was excellent for gathering information and luckily, our tower library had many books from the time this person before me had be the headmaster. And I actually knew many things about the ind, if not most. Like... "Sir Aldrich. I know about all the mines that have existed since ancient times, the inner core, as well as about the [< Masters >]. And please believe me when I say this but, I also have restrictions as one who possesses this knowledge. You know that can never say anything about those things, but, I can definitely say them if I risk my life and I know bing enemies with one of the strongest is just foolish. I will join the council, ept the ''requests'' that I can, and I just want thend. I wanna make a good, big house there and live peacefully during my time there, with my dear friend¡­ and some more, of course. I have enough resources, money, and artificial manpower to stabilize and develop thend, and if you want, I can develop the mine too. But, I will have sixty percent of all the profits." He was speechless after hearing all this and all I said was¡­ true. I could be the richest in the world if I sell some things I had, but, even without that, I had a lot of money as the owner of the whole franchise of . Even I didn''t know just how rich I was. Well, I had enough to developnd and make a beautiful house with all the modern facilities and things we had back at the tower. It would be an amazing ce, and as most of this would be underground, and in an area where no airship could travel because of the threat from the [Rainbow mingoes], it was the best ce to have a secret base. I always needed a good ce to make this house and now that the one who had the highest authority of the best ce possible was here, how can I not take advantage of this fate-presented opportunity? Though Rein was surprised by all the things I was saying and many things would have gone unheard because of his sudden voice blocking and vision distortion. Well, she could see I was fine. That was enough to make out most of the parts. And I had just said something that didn''t go well with her happy blush a moment before. She was blushing at the thought of being able to live with me a while ago... but then I said with a few others, crushing the sweet things she had dreamed of. Well, I will exin things to her soon enough, and, well, maybe it would be our home someday. ''Damn... let''s think about thister. Just this thought of living with her there... no. Haaaa,ter...'' I couldn''t contain this excitement and smile even a second more if I thought too deeply about it and things might go wrong if fell into some lovey-dovey fantasies. The deal was important. He was surprised, but he was also amazed at just how much information I had and things to use, and opportunities to exploit. And there was a pleased smirk on his face after hearing all this. "Hohoho. You win this time, young boy. And you can have thatnd and full authority of that area. I''m even more surprised than thest time I remember. And your little sister will have a good time in the academy too, I promise that much. But... I want sixty-five percent." A sudden pressure started oozing out from him, and his eyes turned serious. My heart calmed from this one, and an excited smile appeared on my face. A really, really excited one. ''Yes... I can feel it. This will be fun~!!!'' An actual negotiation. Something I have been looking forward to all this time~! I thought my first opponent would be my dear mom but, someone on par with her, this old man who has had much more experience in dealings was also something good~. I also turned serious and this much pressure was nothing to me after covering the body with some Solnova. I had this special energy as the primary source of power and just like me, the person before me also used a special kind of energy. Though the toughest and mostplex one to master by any living being, this special energy famous for being the fundamental particle energy was as easy for him to control as the Solnova was for me. [Aether]. A particle type energy that is present in all the atmosphere with a greater amount than Mana but lower than Solnova. Just like Mana, this was also particle-type energy, while Aura was string-type and Solnova was a ray or wave-type energy. Well, that was some heavy stuff, so no need to think too deeply about it but, one thing was clear. Just like the Aura, [Aether] was denser than Mana and right now, if I hadn''t had Solnova that''s although thinner, was faster and more powerful, to cover the body, I might have fallen unconscious or my concentration would have been drained from my body. But I was fine thanks to this special energy, and now that the serious smirk on his face and eyes were in the mood to do some business, I prepared myself, too. ''It would be fun...'' I smirked back at him and presented my own offer. And these boring negotiations weren''t something others would like to see. Chapter 228 After Spell "You really are something, young boy..." He nkly said under his breath as he sighed the agreement papers. He had already taken the Mana oath as per the legal procedures of any dealings, so we were alright now. But I had to say... this was one of the toughest negotiations of my life and it didn''t just end with thend I was taking. The deal was attained and for thend, all the authority, the vine''s forty-nine percent profits after full mining rights, I gave him the remaining profits, my agreement to join as a student council member, and information on the remaining mines. He didn''t actually know about some of the ones I had known about and, although he wasn''t certain about this information, he just believed that some of it were true. And ultimately, it would benefit the school rather than him, as the whole thing was the school''s property and not actually his. He was cunning, sharp and good at extracting information. He''s so good that I ended up telling him about three big ore vines that would be most profitable to him. And because these vines have been present since ancient times and continue producing ores even after a lot of mining, they were special resources the previous headmasters had blocked information about in order to have them in times of need. And though he had the clue about what the ces marked as were, maybe these new discoveries genuinely surprised him. He couldn''t believe just how I knew this much about a ce he had stayed in for millennia but, he had already figured out my master was older than him and had deep connections with the academy in the past. And she did actually have deep connections with this academy. She had helped one of the founding members, after all. And at that time, she was a famous figure throughout the world. Well, those things were not avable in the known history and I knew aside from [< Masters >] who are beings simr to my master, no one would know about her name of that time. But it was just the name of that time. Even though I didn''t know all the identities, names, and titles she had in her more than twenty thousand years of life, I didn''t have to worry about that one. Lucy knew¡­ that was more than good enough. In those peaceful times we were together and the times she told me stories out of the blue, I had only spected she was around three thousand years old but, when she left, she told me her age, and after hearing that¡­ I didn''t know how someone could live that long, all alone themselves, and still, be alright. She was amazing, and I had Lucy, who knew everything about her creator. So, as time will pass and I will get stronger, I will be able to know more things about her, as well as know things she left for me in the fresh memories I had. Well, the deal was a good one, and he was a tough opponent in this field indeed. We signed the agreement and as we were doing this in a separate space, so my poor tied friend couldn''t hear and just vaguely see us. Aside from Zoe, no one knew about the specifics of this deal. Oh, Celes knew, but she was outside of this room with his white owl. That one was an Origin beast too, and Celes, Rein''s crow, and his owl were chatting for a while now. We had left those two outside when we transported back to the dining hall, and after he suddenly sneaked up on me, he had put a strong barrier that separated this entire room from the outside world. And even grandpa Zhen was thrown outside from the barrier. Well, Celes was good with keeping her mouth shut and both of them were merrily chatting with their senior, the owl that was even older than his master. Maybe his owl would remember my master''s old name if I mentioned it before him, but it wasn''t necessary right now. Celes was doing her work, and the owl was talking with themfortably. That was enough. "So, can you please end this? First her, please. She will destroy everything if she''s left like that for a while more." He was calm for a while after signing the contract and had a cheerful smile, but that changed at my words¡­ At my words, he remembered there existed a family frozen under his spell, as well as a furious witch he had tricked in the past. And right now, though she couldn''t move or speak, her enraged eyes were enough to even scar me. "I... oh~! Reinelle~! Isn''t this a great day~? How have you been, youngdy? You know how much I missed the granddy of Atraxia?" As soon as he realized things he had done wrong and removed the restrictions on her, he greeted her for the first time after he came here with a sudden, genuine smile. And that smile was so natural, he might actually beat me to acting. But she just looked down after getting freed and I could feel the perfect harmony of anger and worry she was feeling right now. She wanted to just beat this jerk if she could, she genuinely wanted, but that wasn''t something possible for her. For her and us at the very least. Shaking her head, she looked up at me, and I smiled at her calmly. ''I''m alright~. Everything went well. Are you ok?'' I asked after telling her things went well, and on this question, she also calmly smile and nodded her head. She was fine and the tears of relief in her eyes felt... attractive (?) to me. She stood up with that same face and in those moments, the old ones were also almost out of the spell. They were strong ones, some of the strongest in the empire, and even the spell of an archmage wasn''t enough to stop them for longer than it already had. But, without caring about anything, Rein first just walked up to the old man and smiled brightly at him. Chapter 229 After Spell (2) She couldn''t beat this person because of the great respect we had for him, as well as his insurmountable strength. Well, she can at the very least give him payback for what he just did to her. He knew what wasing at him and though he could have reacted to that¡­ the good gentleman he just epted the super painful punch directly at the gut as this dear witch of mine walked ahead, without any care for the old man. And that one punch definitely was painful because she didn''t just use her super high strength and strength enhancement, she used her [Old magic] and made a spell that specialized in increasing the ''pain''. That definitely was painful, and he deserved it. Walking towards me, she hugged me warmly, and I hugged her back, not missing the beautiful silver chance. Well, she was the best. "You also agreed to be his work dog in the end..." she whispered as that and I had already epted the ''things'' so I was just enjoying this hug. "How could I leave my dear friend like that? Not that he got me for cheap. We got a ce on the floating ind. Isn''t that amazing~?" There was a smile on my face while saying that, and a chuckle escaped her rosy lips at those words. "You are amazing~. It was the most satisfactory to see that expression on that old bastard''s face. I heard most things but, why thisnd? Definitely not only to make a house to y around with, right? And you said we will stay there? I never agreed to that~." she smirked while saying thatst one and¡­ I smirked back. "Okey then~. I will have to ask someone-" And even before I could finish that one, her grip around me tightened, almost choking me for a moment. "You dare even say something like that? Besides, I''m the only pretty girl, you know. You only have me, just like I only have you~. Well... jokes aside, what more people did you say will join us in that house? I know if it''s you, that ce won''t be simple. Care to tell me where all this came from?" She was almost threatening me to tell who these unknown people I was talking about were, and, well, even I don''t know who they will be just yet. "I don''t know everything just yet but, it will be a fun ce. Let''s talk about thatter. Grandpa, and you all... I can see you. Stop pretending." I said thatst part loudly, and the four old ones chuckled while looking at us. They were back... and this was the moment, the grand sorcerer, the archmage Merlin knew¡­ he had fucked up. "H-hello, everyone. Isn''t this a marvelous afternoon~?" The great sorcerer asked with sweat covering his forehead and the four of them just smiled at him ''calmly''. If I were in his shoes, I would have just run away after this chat andnd deal but, there was still the ''test'' left. So he had no choice but to just stay here and ept whatever punishment they give them. And yes, he was the strongest in this room, and even afterbining everyone''s strength in this room, we might not be able to kill him. But, one thing was clear: if the four old ones wanted, heavily injuring him would be usible, and well, torture was the option if he didn''t retaliate. The smile on their faces was scary, and even Rein and I feared that smile as we separated and looked at them. ''A hug should be no big deal'' was what she might have thought, but it was a big thing for me and in their eyes as well. Well, she wasn''t blushing at the very least so we were ok. The only one not okay here was him, as he just stood by the table and looked at their ''calm smiles'' with his twitching smile that knew he won''t be getting out of that one unscratched. He knew there will be punishment for invading this house, closing it off from the outside world, and even using these lethal spells on them. And all this to talk with me about those normal things. He has suffered quite a bit after giving me all the rights of thatnd but, now, he will have much more to handle. But first of all, he had to return everyone else back to their senses. Dad had subconsciously figured out things were wrong, so he had started doing the spell break on his own, and from the distinct look in his eyes, it was clear he was also close. But before he could do that on his own, this young-looking old man disabled the spell, and now, everyone was back, looking around with confusion-filled eyes at what just happened. Anna also looked around in confusion. She was with me, then she was now in her sister Ca''sp all of a sudden. Everyone was confused, and after looking at the older ones who were looking at the perpetrator of this whole mess, an angry smile appeared on their faces, too. Anna was looking around in confusion and after a while, she caught up with what had just happened and shouted while looking at him, "Bad mister! You did something bad! You deserve punishment!" Her voice was genuine, and everyone agreed to what she said with a sharp nod. The four grandparents, and both of us, just smiled warmly at her. "Yes~! Our little Anna is right as always~! Let''s go, sir Merlin. We should punish him in a different room. You all should finish lunch. We will finish this one quickly~." This was grandpa and he said that with quite a pleasing smile. Same with my grandmother and her grandparents. They were all happy as if a long-cherished wish has been granted but then again, Anna had now joined her hands and was praying for this handsome old man''s life. Anna looked cute while praying, and the old mage himself had a pitiful expression while thinking about what they will do to him. He had no need to actually put that space separating barrier, or even the illusion spells, just to talk with me. But I understood just how great the matter of being one of the student council members was, and aside from my guardians and a few others, we couldn''t even tell the other family members about this. And there was no way I could tell about the matter of area 69MF to anyone. Chapter 230 After Spell (3) She knew Zoe knew, Celes and the other two families maybe also knew this but, that was it. I had no need to tell anyone other than that. That was a ce I wanted to have as my own, and even the actual legal matters would have to take ce after I be an adult, so until then, it was mine just in speaking. I can start doing basic stuff now, and everything will be ok from all I knew. But the super strong archmage won''t be ok at all. The two grandfathers walked forward and grabbed him by the shoulders and slowly dragged him to the other room... Rein and I prayed he almost dies but then again, he was a (tier-10). Even if they were special people with total offensive power and overwhelming power, he won''t be almost dying as we wanted. Well, he will definitely feel pain. That was enough for me. And maybe will have one or two scars that will be healed in an instant, so that was enough to calm her anger for now. Everyone had to go through this weird thing because of me, and I was partially at fault here. I looked at everyone and sincerely bowed my head and as I knew, this sudden bow surprised them. "I know just how you might have felt everyone but, it was also my fault in one way or another. Even though he did that, he just wanted me to enter the academy with his special rmendation. I declined and I want to attend as a normal student, not even as Axion Heliox Kromet. He said he would just take my test here, so I epted at least that. I won''t have to go through the ''normal'' entrance test. I believe you understand what I mean. It will be ok though, so do not worry. I hope you all would permit that." I sincerely wanted to just attend as a normal student in a normal ss. And I knew even if I didn''t do anything and just stay on top of that ss, things will be better than going through the bigger hassle. And as we agreed, she will be in my ss so we will be just fine, having all the fun we want without any interference. She and I¡­ in the academy¡­ as adults. Haaa... I could at least fantasize about things like peace in this ''protagonist'' life of mine. What I said did surprise them but, it wasn''t as surprising as him taking the ''test'' thing. p Mom had a shocked expression, and she also looked at me with wide eyes but, I told her not to worry and that it will be ok~ and she understood that much. It would be fine, there was nothing much to worry about in this ''test''. He wasn''t my dear grandma at the very least so, I won''t have to worry about him like I had worried about in grandma''s test. Even if I told them about the council thing now, they might not believe me at first because the council members were mostly second or third-year students, and most of them, ording to what was known, were not humans. Not even Ca or Alf could be the council members, and one of the requirements to join the council was to have the strength and a low profile. I perfectly fit the conditions so, after some thinking, they might understand but, I knew that the old hot man will at least tell my grandparents about what had happened, excluding thend part of the course. So things were now set. We got back to dinner after Anna gave everyone a calming kiss to relieve us and sat back with me. She could feel things and right now, she might have also felt that I was hiding something and that I was excited and happy for some reason, but she didn''t ask anything. This little angel of mine was happy if her big brother was happy. And Rein was happy too, though for some different reason, and she... I knew she was thinking about thend and house stuff, so I let her be. The mood started improving and things were now calm, and then, the door opened and the old generation walked in. And in the middle was the perpetrator, the archmage, one who looked over the ind of magic''s wealth, and the one beaten by the ones behind him. Well, all four of them had content smiles on their faces and after they entered the room, for a moment, their eyes fell on both of us, and¡­ they nodded as if congratting both of us. And we both understood that they now knew that we would be the council members. They were prominent and trustworthy enough to him that he himself told them, so it was ok from our side but now, four of them couldn''t tell others at all. That was the rule, and those who knew were bound by the oaths. Seeing the calm atmosphere was good but, the more amazing thing that made Rein content was the bright, genuine, ''normal'' expression on his face and we both could tell... he had got a good beating. ''It''s amazing just how he epted that beating, actually. Just this much shows his true, pure self.'' She smiled, and I shook my face in forgiveness for this person. And just after that, he looked at me with a suddenly different smirk, and I knew this was the time he was waiting for. "So... let''s go after we all finish this wonderful lunch everyone~. I know even you will be surprised by your dear young Eon''s powers~." And after saying those words with certainty and a confidence-filled voice, he set down on one of the tables and grandpa Zhen walked in with another set of tes and food for him. And seeing his genuinely hungry behavior made me chuckle inside my mind. He was an odd one, but at the same time, he was a person I would genuinely respect. After all his cunnings, he was pure at his core and everyone knew this as they just shook their heads at this unreliable act and returned to eating. But one thought was on my mind after hearing his words. ''They will be surprised by my¡­ powers? Just what was he thinking of making me do as a test?'' This actually worried me now. Chapter 231 The Test Back in the underground training ground that was repaired overnight and even fortified even further, we stood on the ground and the families were on the stands likest night. I was the only one with the headmaster in the arena, and even grandpa Zhen was on the pavilion with my family this time. Aside from them, this ce was empty and just like yesterday, there were countless barriers covering this stage. But, this time, there was something different aside from the increased number of barriers. A pure white barrier covered the stage, and this barrier was something I had only seen in books before. (Protection of white light), a (tier-8) defensive barrier of the light attribute. And as its name suggested, it was a barrier of white light. And he was the one to set it, so, the thought I had that things can''t be as bad as my grandma, was crushed to pieces. Mom was worried again, but this barrier was something thatpletely blocked the interference from outside and no one realized this until he put this barrier up, and... this old man was smirking. He was excited right now. He, one of the three archmages in the entire world, was excited right now. And this wasn''t a very good thing. Even Rein''s heart was beating faster and she just tried to calm herself down while patting her heart area. Mom was enraged at this bastard before me, and none of us would have thought he would do something like this. Even the grandparents were restless at this sudden behavior of his. Setting up this powerful barrier meant he was definitely going to do something crazy, and¡­ I was still a not twelve-year-old kid, for nature''s sake~!! What was the test, and what was this old man thinking?! My heart was calm right now, and despite this unthinkable situation, I was thinking straight, and this thing surprised this bastard even more. "Well, you are just amazing, Axion. Really amazing~." I said with a now clear smile and genuine expression that was totally different from a moment ago. I knew he was crazy but¡­ now I believed he was insane. "Well, the test is simple." He finally spoke up, and I sighed while preparing myself. "Shoot." I was ready. If I can survive against things like those monsters in the dark forest and my crazy master, then his test was at the very least survivable. And it wasn''t like he had any intention of killing me or anything, right? Not before my family, and not in the name of a test, and definitely not someone good like him. There was no need to worry about death so, I can even go all out if needed. But, his test was simple ''sounding'' than anything I was thinking. "You use three of your powerful spells. I use three of my weak spells. You won''t die, and that''s it. Simple, right? Just show me those gorgeous spells and if you can, something so amazing that I would want to give you . If you do more than I think, you would be the 54th person, ording to me, to have the key~." his smirk was reced by a warm smile in an instant and it surprised me to the core. ''Well, damn¡­'' Now I have no choice but to go all out. The thing he just mentioned was something priceless and just from the way he said it, we could tell just how amazing of a ce it was that only a few had ever been there. That ce was something like the restricted area from our tower library. I have read many things about that ce in the books from the general area and we had almost every book there could be in this library''s area, but I was staying here. Going back wasn''t an option, and I had to stay here for as long as I wanted. And if I can read the books of those parts in this library as well as some special books that only that ce had, it was naturally a great deal. Now, there was a fire burning in my eyes and I knew what I will have to do. "Thank you, headmaster~. You can start this one. Let me show you the defensive power of this special energy I have~." I smirked and looked at him, and he agreed with a perfect nod. He was excited to see just how powerful this energy he faced a long time ago actually was in the hands of a human. And he will have fun, from what I can say. He was a genius like no other, and I admired him for all the things I knew about him. Though not much was known about his early life, he came to light when he was a hundred or so years old, only ten in human ageparison, and at that time, he had started as an adventurer. And when he started his journey, he was merely a (tier-3) mage like us. But, he vouchers to ces, became a legendary figure among the adventurers, and after some time, when he was of age, he joined the academy as a special talent that the headmaster of that time found the most intriguing. After that, he trained him himself, and before he passed away, and the headmaster before me was barely a (tier-8) mage, he gave him the ce of the headmaster. And that was more than five hundred years back. This person before me, having enormous talents like a select few and his special affinity with all attributes and a unique talent for handling the Aether that he harnessed on his own in the past hundred years, managed to be what he was today. Someone all the nations in the world looked up to, even with his cunning behavior and maniptive mind. Someone who contributed to the academy the most, and even in the entire history, became one of the best headmasters to ever exist. Not only was he strong, wise, and smart, but he was also caring, gentle, and sometimes crazy, but caring at the same time. He was someone like my grandfather to me. I can''t help but admire him even with his craziness. He was the reason many internal conflicts are solved without much bloodshed, and wars are ended just because he didn''t want that to happen. He was a force like no other, and just his mere presence changed all the battlefields. He was strong, someone so strong that even the title of [Archmage] wasn''t enough for him. And maybe, in the future, he will surpass this rank of just being an archmage and be something of ancient legends. And I knew he already knew there were realms above his current one, and with time, he might actually be a [Lord]. But that was too far away for me to think right now. For now, this was the test to not just get his interest but also ess to one of the secret parts of the grand library. Chapter 232 The Test (2) I gave him the first chance, and I knew this would be disadvantageous to me, but still, I went with it. I wanted to show off today, so I was going to use a [Rune]. Not a [[< Rune spell >]], just a word from the entire thing. Actually, using a spell of runes would be catastrophic for this ce, and for me. I was nowhere near strong to use that thing even if I have managed to script three of them in my mind throughout my years in the tower library. It was special knowledge that she gave permission to have. And the part of the library where all of that knowledge was stored was her special notes area. Something that was specially written by her in anguage that maybe she, Zoe, and only I could understand. Runes were iparably rare, and a spell of rune? Something like that would be impossible to even think was possible. But, it actually was possible, and from gods to divine beasts used them when the needs arose. And I only figured this out after she was gone... She''s gone. ''Haaa...'' There was an opponent before me, so wondering in my thoughts was a mistake, but thankfully, he waited for the moment I was distracted. He nodded at me when I came back, and I thanked him for understanding the sudden surge of emotions. I will have to do something about that soon. I was ready, and the (: Absolut defense) spell waspletely in ce. This one was strong and used up a good amount of Solnova but, it was worth it. My opponent was a wizard, an Aether master, an Archmage, and someone who possessed a [Soul Armament] like me. Ronna was something I can''t use anytime soon while his weapon, he can use it, but... he won''t. It wasn''t necessary at all. Those things were something we use against an overwhelming enemy, not in a test against an eleven-year-old, no less. His normal spells were enough, maybe Aether spells if he wanted to have some more fun. And I was strong enough to only block his (tier-6) or below spell. His Mana had many characteristics and heaviness, potency, and purity were some of them. Just his (tier-1) spell would be as strong as my (tier-3) Solnova spells. I was that much weak, and having that in mind, he started the attack with his first spell. But... oh, mother nature... This old man is mad, isn''t he? Using a (tier-4) spell from the start, and an Aether spell no less? ''Oi crazy old man... don''t overestimate me! I''m weak, dude!'' There was a light blue magic circle before his stretched-out hand, weird energy powering the spell and the spell only, no excess use whatsoever. The control of Mana, understanding of Magic to create something so beautiful even I have to admire the beauty without question, the sudden heaviness, and the calm smile that knew I will ''survive''. ''Damn I will. I can''t die to a magic spell when I have survived a demonic beast!'' But just one barrier wasn''t enough for this one. It would just barely block this pure destructive fire, light, wind tri-attribute spell that will cause an absurd explosion. And, well, bye-bye to all the barriers the workers have repaired. ''(Anti-explosion barrier), (Destruction barrier), (Attribute canction).'' Some of the strongest spells I had scripted, and this much would be enough to survive this explosion. It should... no. It must. He looked at me, and I smiled at him, ready to take on this challenge, and I could see it with my third eye... everyone was still nervous. Rein was clenching her hands while mom was praying with all her might and others were the same. They believed in both of us, and even if they didn''t know anything that was going on right now, it was fine. He raised his hand and a ball of sky blue fire manifested in his hand. It looked beautiful but before I could catch just a glimpse of it... it shot forward as soon as it appeared and then, stopping in the high sky, it started growing. A sky blue fireball, and if looked closer, in the middle of it, was a white dot or more like an explosive reaction... I was confident in these defensive barriers, but that thing in the sky still send shivers down my spine. To create something like this... not even I can do that with all the two-world knowledge I had at the moment. It wasplex, powerful, deadly, but more than that... it was magnificent. A spell from an archmage... nothing like hers but something unique of its own. ,m I had stars like Anna, Zoe, and Alf while looking at it, and Alf in particr was more amazed than even me. He really was amazing, but I had no spare time to worry about that one. It was a wide area spell, and now... it was falling down at me. And if I wanted topare it with something, then a heavy military bunker destroyer from my past world''s old times would fit its estimated destructive power. And I was going toe out unscratched from this explosion. "Well, I think you got the first one, young boy~." Heplemented with a radiant smile on his charming face and the fire was falling down, exactly at me. The ball of fire wasrge, and it wasing at me with all its might, and I was going to endure it with a cheerful smile of my own. The fireball fell, colliding with my protective barriers but, before the sheer power, nothing couldst for much longer. The spells that I was confident in managed to block the initial collision, but as the power increased and the core of the explosive neared the barrier, I knew the three weren''t going tost that long, thankfully; I knew the fourth one would be enough to block the rest... though barely. The outer surface of the fireball finished the collision and in the process, the surrounding ground was almost turned into a pool of scorching hotva. But, as soon as the core of this fire, the white light in the middle of the fireball touched the surface of the barrier... -Boooooooom! Chapter 233 The Test (3) The explosion was loud, the crater it created was deep, and I wasying in this deep crate of scorched ground, smiling with admiration-filled eyes¡­ The spell was strong, and my barrier had barely but surely blocked it. It definitely blocked an attack and destruction-focused magic from an archmage. And I couldn''t believe just how strong I had to be to pull off something like this. An archmage. There were only three in this world and even in those three, the strongest one was before me, testing my prowess. And this defensive power surely pleased him enough to make him apuse like he was doing right now, with that genuine, wise smile on his face. I couldn''t see my family''s reaction with the third eye, but I knew they were speechless by this disy of strength. I had canceled the third eye before so it was now on hold and as I thought before¡­ that ability can actually travel through the barriers around this arena. This was amazing but even more amazing that mom, grandpa, and even Rein had a proud and admiration-filled face and they were acting like they had seen something unreal just now. And when I saw them after a while of settling down in this crater, I couldn''t help but shake my head at those amazing people. Well, of course, this was unreal. A mere not twelve-year-old (tier-3) mage boy blocking a serious attack from an archmage? It was unreal, and not many could actually block such a spell, much less a child. Just this much was enough to show how much strength I was, but it was still all thanks to the one who taught me. One who told me I had the power to use such power and taught me from the ground and even though I was stillcking a lot, I was happy I was at least this strong. This life was dear to me and having strength in crazy situations like this was the only way for me to actually survive some crazy situations that will surely knock at the doors of my life. Though even Ca or Alf would at least have survived that one, they wouldn''t have been unscratched like me. This was just that amazing... and now it was my turn. Standing up and ignoring the reactions of my family, I looked at the person before me with a smile. And he smiled back as he started speaking in a different manner than before. "You are amazing, young Eon. It''s just miraculous to see that unscratched self. That energy, can I have its name?" He asked with a genuine smile and this time, there was no hidden motive in those words. He was impressed¡­ And I was overjoyed to hear those praises from someone like him. He was an amazing person. And when this day started with Rein and my terrace tea and talk, I never thought that I would be standing before one of the strongest like this. And he was praising me. What can say now? "It''s actually an honor to receive such great praise from someone like you, headmaster. And it''s all thanks to my master that I''m even strong enough to be here. As for this special energy, we call it Solnova. The special energy is almost equal to Aether and Mana in terms of environmental density and although this is far thinner than even Mana, in the methods we store this in the body, it almost fits in the entire body. It''s amazing, but that''s all I can say about it" Revealing too much data was just disadvantageous, even if I trusted this person before me unconditionally. And he understood that much as he just nodded and smiled at me. And I sighed¡­ a deep sigh and a look of excitement. "It''s my turn now, headmaster." With a confident look and fire in my eyes, I took out a blue bow from my white crack. A bow that looked exceptional, and just from the look, one could tell this was no simple weapon. The special dense Mana around it was also special and the yellow enchantments on the bow were enough to tell that this bow was made from high-level materials. The crafting, the texture, the green string that looked immovable at a nce but¡­ in my hands, it was just a normal bow. Made with a [Deep sea shark]''s essence as its core, the bow decreased the Mana, concentration, and stamina consumption of water-type spells. It was a (level-9) like my previous bow but, this one was far stronger than that one. That one had no special skill like [Currant channeling] this one had, and the reason I took out this particr bow this time was simply to attack with some pretty awesome spell casting method. "It''s a marvelous bow, young boy. But remember¡­ I won''t wait likest time when you finish this attack. So, get ready and prepare right now if you want something else. The two next spells from me will be faster, and consecutive, and I will only wait when I am done with those two. I know you also understand what I want to see." He smirked with the same smirk I had seen a while back but, this time, I also smirked back at him. "Thanks for informing me, dear headmaster." Bowing respectfully, I took out Asta, and as soon as his eyes fell on her; they widened like the time I told him about thend. And that surprise was genuine, just like the one before. "T-that one? Was your master also the one who made it?" His voice was hesitant and the look in his eyes was unbelievable. Rein was the only one before him who actually knew the worth of this weapon for now, but Asta was far more than just some normal weapon. And only he, someone who can see almost anything not restricted by the world, with his world authority, could actually know the true worth of Asta. She was closest to the strongest ones, [[(Soul Armaments)]], and this one, if I could say it, I would call Asta a [Noble Artifact]. Something stronger than any artifact there could but not like a [Divine Artifact]. Well, Asta was surely stronger than any actual divine artifact, but not in terms of materialistic strength. Not in terms of hardness, the power it carried, or intelligence. Though the it had was just as good as a divine artifact''s¡­ the ability to learn that Asta had was like no other. A weapon that could store the enchantments, trigger them at themand, and be far more than just a divine artifact in an actual fight. And luckily, I had her for a while now, and she was a cute one. She was almost like a little golden kitty and although she had the understanding many times better than the normal cats, Asta was a spectacr weapon. And indeed, my dear master was the one who made her. Looking down at my hands and at this weapon that resembled her tail feathers, I sighed deeply and kissed the red gem on its handle end. -Veeeeee~. And she was happy after that kiss, so she answered like a low vibration that only I could feel. I understood this partner weapon of mine, and simrly, she understood me, just like Celes. This connection we had was different from a pact or oath. We just had this connection of master and weapon that only a highly experienced knight could have with their partner weapon. And deep inside me, Ronna was angry again that I had to use something other than her. She was a special one, and unlike the other [[(Soul Armaments)]], Ronna can change her form and I can use her whenever I wanted. It would be up to me how much power I wanted to exert on her, unlike any other ones like her. Do I want to just scratch the enemies, or destroy the entire armies and cause genocides? She was special because she can do that, and I can only do that when I will be strong enough to use her. But that time was still far away. And I had a test to finish. Nodding with watery eyes that appeared just because I was reminded of her, I answered with a heavy nod. "Master made her. And she is awesome, right? I''m lucky I found a partner this early, and if it is someone like this cute one, I know I won''t have anything to worry about for the rest of my life~." My words were genuine, and I was really happy to have Asta. He understood just how good it felt to have a partner you can give your hundred percent with, and his partner, the one inside him, was also something special. That wand... was far more than just some weapon or rod. From just how much Zoe admired it, it was clear just how magnificent existence that was. Maybe, if someday fate allows it, I will be able to see it with my own eyes, too. It would be a nice experience and just like that, I was looking forward to being able to manifest Ronna, too. Well, this testes first. I had everything I needed to get stronger. And the only thing I will need and have is... time. It will take a while, but before I be an adult and join the academy for real, I knew I will be a bit stronger than I am now. And for that, I have to finish this test first. "Haaa... let''s finish this now, without much dy." My eyes sharpened with a smile and I moved back with a [Quickstep] and pulled back the bowstring while channeling arge amount of Mana as well as Solnova. A grin appeared on his face too because of the sudden rise in pressure and he knew from this one, the attack won''t be something boring. Asta was now dug into the ground and two magic circles had appeared on the ground and above the red heart like a gem of its body. "Huuu..." Breathing deeply, I remembered the scripted spells inside my head. Selecting the most water, fog, and ice attribute spells I could, I released a significant amount of Mana from my Mana core. The spells I had scripted were almost countless, and right now, I had just selected some hundreds of (tier-1) arrow spells. The string that I pulled backward started resonating at this and the increased pressure in the surrounding started condensing around me. But as this pressure that only he could feel right now gathered around me and calmed down it¡­ just became one with me. This was control over the energy, one of my specialties that blocked or utilized any excess energy and channeled that into the ongoing spell chant. This surprised him even more, and now¡­ he was serious about whatever wasing his way. It was going to be exciting, and I wanted to see just how an archmage would defend against hundreds of arrow spells. There was a smile on my face, a blue ze on the pulled-back bowstring, the serene energy throughout my body, and the spells were ready... ''Short range archery: Arrow release.'' Chapter 234 Strong Opponent This wasn''t too fancy, like the pure magic archery. Just a single pure white arrow of light materialized on the bow, and a confident glow took over the hesitation in my eyes. The arrow that had just materialized on my bow looked quite normalpared to the gathered energy to cast the spell but, this was far more than just some normal arrow and he could feel it. This was a far greater result than what energy I had gathered, and he, the opponent standing before me, could feel it without much effort. The power in this single arrow¡­ The brute force, the unnatural strength, and the presence of countless other spells, the precision in the aim that covered him from all sides, as well as the weak but powerful attacks. He smiled while thinking about what exciting thing was to happen, but there were many thoughts and scenarios ying in my mind. I knew this old man was going to attack first and just finish his turn with another attack, and that was the very reason Asta was in an energy gathering position right now. The two magic circles on the head and ground were a defensive barrier and something special and as soon as this attack will be fired, the barrier was going to trigger and at that very moment; I know whatever attack woulde will be blocked. For some reason, he was taking me too seriously and during the time we were facing each other like this; he gave me no openings, not even the slightest. p On the other hand, I knew he found many openings in my own defense but, he just stopped the imagination attacks the moment I dodged his first one. And that one was quick¡­ like really quick and he just moved his eyes, but I knew what it was instinctively. It was a ferocious attack, and if not for my body acting on reflexes and avoiding the attacks, he could easily kill me without even giving me a chance to think about what the hell had just happened. But I avoided that one by hair''s width. And then he had just stopped. Life was very important for me to just gamble for some key to some library with some awesome books, not that I could stay there forever, anyway. That freaking blocked ce had some sort of defensive mechanism and by the normal standards, one person could only stay there for an hour per day. And that was nothing for someone like me who loved to read for hours. But, well, it was what it was. I was ready now, the attack was done, and he was just standing there waiting to see what might happen. And he didn''t have to wait for that long as the eyes that were closed all this time opened, and I released the arrow... or arrows. -Booooooom! With a low sound explosion, the arrow was released and as soon as it left the bow, the white arrow of light vanished, and in the area around the headmaster, many arrows that seemed toe out of nowhere appeared and¡­ started bombarding him. Arrows of water as sharp and fierce as a sea predator moving underwater with its jaws open, arrows of hot steam that had the temperature near enough to almost melt some metals, and the arrows of ice, sharp and one that could pierce and freeze anything in their path. And that wasn''t all. Water had many properties and when used well, one can do many things with just some normal water spell. And every single one of those countless-looking spells was aimed at ces, not even someone as skilled as grandpa could have dodged. And even he knew¡­ dodging when the entire arena was blocked with different spells and simr arrows that were set and ready to be released when he uses blink or something like that. And these arrows, these spells, there was actually no way to cancel them like the normal magic. They were special¡­ Different from a spell where there is a core to the spell that acts as a power source to that spell and distributes the supplied Mana by being the supply chamber of the spell, here, the whole arrow is just a spell. (Magic arrows) A spell with no actual form and just like any materialized Mana, these arrows were simple spells with nothing muchplicated about them. And aside from their gorgeous appearance, nothing was eye-catching about them. But, I knew one thing as the one who made them. They were powerful spells. Even though one can''t stop them with magic and they could be blocked or counteredparatively easily, the spells that numbered in hundreds and, on top of that, used as not just a straight attack but also as traps, they were crazy amazing. And this whole thing, arrow release, wasn''t meant to be used against the weak who didn''t know what the hell was going on. Or any strong that knew precisely what was going on and counter the thingparatively easily. This technique wasn''t meant to be a PVP skill at all. Originally this was arge-scale war weapon that was meant to take lives mercilessly and just from the fact that I have released three hundred of ''my'' scripted spells for this one attack that cost me a red potion, one could tell just how powerful this attack was. An attack meant to be used inrge-scale fights, but¡­ I had shortened it as well as modified it for this person before me. Now, it was a PVP special technique. A war attack before an archmage would sound just right but, actually, it wasn''t at all. I knew this wasn''t going to even leave a scar on the person before me, but I had to try something, if anything. And this one seemed perfect as my first attack. The second would be a throw of Asta, but then by that time, his spells should be over and that would be the time for my strongest attack that I can show at this moment. I knew the situation and from all the scenarios that I thought and canceled in my mind; I knew he won''t even use a single spell to defend against this barrage of arrows. And what''s more, his next two consecutive attacks would be one magical and¡­ one physical attack. He was an archmage, an existence who stood atop every normal ''human'' being, and his physical strength... it was no joke. But I have to stop him, and those are probably the strongest attacks that woulde my way. Well, I still had no idea why I was fighting the strongest archmage in the name of a ''test''. But it wasn''t such a bad thing. It was cool to see someone like him in action, and just like I thought, he didn''t use any spells to block that countless hours of my scripted spells. There hadn''t even been two-three seconds after the fight started but, the arrows that were being shot at him at a speed almost unknown to normal eyes on the pavilions just disappeared as soon as they even touched his body. Or... more like they never even touched him. In those split seconds, he moved his hands and caught every spell with his bare hands, reminding me of my master once again. She was just that strong to catch even my special (tier-3) spells, but he caught them just like she used to do, and what more, he just crushed the strong arrow spells with his bare hands. And these all happened so fast even I lost track of how his hands were moving and just stayed in my position like that. The red potion was great and the faster effect was even better in this kind of situation. It took too much concentration in that attack, but it was ok now. I was ready, and though it might have seemed a slow talk till now, this was all four seconds into that fight. He just destroyed the spells and not only that, at the end when he felt like the arrows were down, he snapped his fingers. -Snap! And¡­ a shockwave so great that even the barrier he set up himself started wobbling, spread out throughout the surroundings. The remaining spellsing at him were destroyed, the spells set up as traps were destroyed, and what''s more, the ground almost split open from the vibration of the spell. Thankfully, I reacted quickly and protected my ears with a greater Solnova spell, which naturally couldn''t be counted as an ''attack'' spell like this shockwave. And like a devil¡­ he was smirking while looking at me after causing all this destruction. ''It''sing...'' I knew I wouldn''t see this ''physical'' attack, and that was precisely the reason I set Asta up before me. The spells I used weren''t actually useless but, they didn''t actually do much either. And as soon as the ear-piercing sound from the pure Mana-powered snap vanished, the headmaster... disappeared from his ce. And this time, even before I could react... he was almost before me, in a punching motion, with the same smirk stered on his face. Chapter 235 An Helpless Furious Spectator "That bastard!" I couldn''t help but curse at this fight while looking at my darling friend Eon and that f-¡­ First, it was me, but this time, he wasn''t even thinking his opponent was just a soon-to-be twelve-year-old kid! I knew Eon was strong, and now I believe it even deeply after seeing him walking out of that crater after the explosion unscratched. He was amazing but his opponent, that mf piece of trash ys bastard was something I can never truly believe in even after respecting his powers unconditionally. I knew he would do something like this. He had done the same with mest time, fighting a serious fight in the name of a ''test''. He was a brain sick old bastard. I was fine after that fight just because he treated me, but that fight was some of the deadliest ones in my life. It felt like I was once again before some ferocious (Indigo) ranked beast¡­ He used magic, and powerful ones that were clearly beyond my powers, but I barely managed toe out of them alive. But even in my fight¡­ he had never used his superhuman strength. Never he had even moved from his spot in that fight and just used spells that seemed unreasonably strong. And on top of that, he even used Aether spells in my fight, so there was no guarantee he wouldn''t use it more than once this time. [Aether] was one of the most fundamental energies of the world and although few could control it, those who can be even stronger than those of the same rank as him. He may be the headmaster of the most amazing school in the world, but how dare he fight like that against my Eon?! And all this after the brutal beating from our grandparents... ''He''s gone mad from living for that long¡­ definitely.'' He first used that seriously strong explosive gorgeous fireball, then he just destroyed every single beautiful arrow spell Eon threw at his every possible vital point. Eon... even that monster bastard was more than just amazing. I had to pick someday and set an all-out fight date with him. And I will just grind him to pieces... well, we can think about that er. His spells were strong and special in themselves. Just being able to materialize those spells at that much precision, that absurd control over surrounding energy and those weapons, even if I can''t feel things happening inside that barrier, I can still ''see'' that with my eyes. And the things I had seen in those few moments this fight hadsted were something I couldn''t even have believed if I didn''t know the person going against an archmage. A young boy going against the strongest mage in the world... just this thought was absurd but, both of them were enjoying this fight. My lovely friend was seeing the true power one could obtain with effort, amazing talents, and a tough life. I knew, he told me as much, after that long tree conversation, that his master was one of the strongest beings one could think. But this was different from fighting the one who taught you. Even I felt something like this while fighting this old bastard. It''s different to go against a truly strong person, and fight without life''s threat, and even then, knowing that the one you are against, is going so easy on you that it''sughable how weak you are even after putting that much effort to obtain your current strength. But, this opponent that I had faced, and he is facing, was a different kind all in itself. He was a crazy old man... but he was caring. He was good, and he took everything into ount to ensure nothing actually dangerous would happen to us. He was pure to the bone and knowing this made him even more of a bastard in my eyes. He just smiled at things that are absurd, things that one wouldn''t ever think about, or even after one beats him to a pulp. He is strong, and he knows it too, and even after knowing that, he doesn''t miss any chance to have fun. I could never actually hate him, but I didn''t want to like his guts, too. And all this with that pretty appearance. Though it was different from Eon, he was attractive just from his looks. Pretty but experienced, wise, and true at the same time. Those two monsters fighting right now... they were somewhat simr to each other. Though their lives had been different, they were both good at the core, caring, and loved what they were doing. But still... that crazy old man was going too far this time. As an archmage, and one that can use the energy even some gods can not, his physical powers were far above even our grandpas who specialized in physicalbat. And using his strength to block was fine to one extent, but¡­ he was going to punch him? I had seen this in his moments before he disappeared and I knew Eon saw it too, and I couldn''t help but scream at this absurdity. And I knew this scream had surprised everyone but, even before any of us could react to this, I saw him reappearing before Eon, and at that moment... a beam of light shot from the arrow on the ground. My heart was restless all this time, and although I knew he would be alright, I couldn''t help this worry just like his mom. Eon''s mom... she was strong. So strong that I doubted I would reach that level. Not in actual strength, the physical strength or magic power, but¡­ by heart. Just seeing her own child in situations like these was aching, even I knew that but, she endured all that. She just believed her son and looked at the fight with a calm heart and mind, and as if she knew nothing could happen to him, she just believed in him. I believed in him too, but can I be like her when he was truly in a dangerous situation? Can I be strong like her? I¡­ didn''t know that one. But I wanted to, and I believed the time... the bastard time will show me everything as we walk on our path. Anyway... The light came out of Eon''s partner weapon, Asta. That one was a really special weapon, and the light that came out of the weapon was unexpected to the old bastard, too. More than that, this was no normal light as the moment it shot out of the arrow, it pierced all the barriers other than the one headmaster had set and the light that shed before his face blocked his advancement mid-air, and¡­ he was thrown back? This was sudden, truly strange, and this golden light didn''t stop just there. The weapon was still glowing, and Eon had a big smirk on his face as soon as the light from the arrow blocked the headmaster. The light wasing out of the golden magic circle on the ground, but there was a silver magic circle on the top, too. And when he was thrown back... Eon took out the arrow with that same smile and took a throwing stance. The headmaster saw that one, and there was a pleased smile on his face from this one. And seeing this, even my heart calmed down. ''He knew he would go for the physical attack, and he set the arrow before him from the start with the spell on auto-activation just after his attack''s time. Although the headmaster would have guessed it was something like this, even he couldn''t have believed the timing would be this precise. The timing was just perfect, even I couldn''t believe that much. And the way Eon was smiling right now... he was d things worked out as he had thought.'' It took a deep understanding of the opponent to predict the next move, the opponent, and the way he just did this, was absurdly unreal. There was no way he could have extracted much information from him to know his habits, his mindset, or there was even no way he would know the headmaster''s habit of frontal assault. It was as if he knew him for a long time, had been with him, and watched him fight in many battles... ''Wait a minute...?'' I just remembered this, and from the way, the headmaster was smiling, I knew he knew had long figured things out, and it made this situation even more fun for him. And after thinking about this scenario¡­ I couldn''t help my ludicrous smile. Eon, oh Eon... you sly bastard. He was ready for the moment this thing happens, and the moment headmaster was thrown back, taking out the arrow, covering it with a marvelous looking pure white energy, he threw the golden arrow at a speed that even I¡­ only saw the white sh and the after the light of the attack. This was fast, like really, really... really fast. An attack that was longed for from the very start of the battle. We knew even a superhuman like him had no way to avoid this attack in this fast midair flight. The only thing he could do against this one was... counter it with an attack of his own. And after knowing this¡­ I finally sighed in relief. ''Thank mother nature... he''s at least smart enough to go against an absurdly powerful opponent.'' I just smiled helplessly at this fight and I could see aside from the older ones, not a single person knew what the hell was even going on the ground from the start of this ''test''. My test was in an open area of the forest at the back of the house so they weren''t here but, this one was before everyone and even after that, they barely saw things that were happening. The explosion, the moment-long appearance of Eon''s alright state, the arrow shooting stance, the countless blue variant lights, and this golden light as well as the white light at the end. They saw nothing more, even worse than his fight with Ca. Now all of them knew just how strong their little Eon was. And I also knew just how less power he used to stop me back in the forest. He was strong, in fact, that pure white energy that materialized so fast it seemed almost instinctive¡­ Mana can''t be that fast, and Aura was far denser than Mana. Then it would only mean one thing¡­ he can also use a third type of energy that''s far faster and thinner than Mana but... it was powerful enough that the headmaster can''t use physical strength against this attack. And the light that covered the ground for that moment... now I wanted to see what had happened. ''Eon... you''re amazing, darling.'' Chapter 236 Wonderful Familiar The attack was strong and as I expected, or at the very least I hoped it to be like, he used his third attack to defend against the spear throw. I knew he could feel it, that attack was anything but normal. Not only that attack carried the power of Solnova, but the silver magic circle on its tip was also something that restricted the Mana flow for the one locked by me. It was simr to the ability the Ent that chased after me before I met Fern had. And it took me a long time to actually recreate something like that and enchant it on Asta. Asta was a special weapon, and it could use any enchantments programmed in it anytime I wanted. The only downfall of this was the used enchantment would be a one-time use thing. Well, it was fine because I can enchant practically endless spells on Asta. The enchanted spells were different from the magic I can cast or script. They required something special to activate. A special body type, processing, energy input and output, different catalysts, or resonation of different spells that a normal human body can''t produce without being at least at the level of Rein''s grandma. But with Asta, I can just use those spells however I wanted. It didn''t even use my own energy, so it was even better. The headmaster was surprised by this attack, and I would have to thank Celes I had won this fight like this. He said three attacks, and he used his third attack to defend this time. And that was it for him. But I still had my third attack left. I had already won if we were having a battle, match, or fight but, this was just a test, his test no less. The objective was a demonstration of three spells. And he had just used his third spell, a (tier-3) Aether spell. It was an (Ice Spik), and the moment it collided with my materialized Solnova covered Asta, the light that escaped from it was the result of a fire and light attribute attack''s collision with ice type attack. But the opponent''s attack was strong. It actually sent Asta flying after all the energy from the explosion was exhausted and even the speed at which Asta fell to the ground was slow because of the drained energy. The headmaster was still airborne till the moment the two spells collided, and the collision was great. I knew my Asta wasn''t just yet enough to block the Mana of someone as strong as him but; I believed it could give me a brief moment. And luck was on my side and he knew that attack was going to hit him. And even after being stronger, he couldn''t help but give up on this particr situation. I could only make this scenario and push him into this because I had Celes. I had my wonderful familiar with a practically endless talking range, something special to us. A master and a familiar could understand each other naturally. What they say, how they feel, the emotions as well as the feelings. But, to the ones like us, the one with an origin beast as apanion, or who can talk with telepathic or simr links, there''s a natural range to this telepathic line. And if thepanion is somehow outside of that natural distance, they can''t talk with each other. And surprisingly, this headmaster''spanion was a talkative one before Celes. A beast as rare as Celes was naturally peculiar for [Owl of natural wisdom], something which has been rare throughout ancient history, and maybe, there are only fifteen or so people who have this kind of owl as theirpanion in this whole world right now. And most of them are masters of the eastern continent, the eastern martial artists. There are five other known people with a crystal butterfly like me on this continent, and three on the rest of the two continents each. But, unlike any of these owls who had a natural lifespan of thousand years and had a lot of time to find the one they want to serve, Celes was different. She was different, even among her own kind. A special one, a special one in true meaning. Celes and I can talk while being however far we wanted. And from the experiments we have done throughout our life to find the range of this connection, we couldn''t find the limits even when Celes reached one of the ends of the great forest. The natural andst remaining habitat of the fire tribe people that willow tree talked about and was truly almost like a hell within fifty kilometers of a radius of that ce''s entrance. The heat was too much, and I asked her toe back at that time. Though the range I can see what Celes was seeing was still not that good, I would still be able to see Celes''s vision across this southern part of the empire. But, our voicemunication range has developed very well during our time with grandma. And taking advantage of the fact that this old owl, that was almost as old as his master, was interested in a special and young creature like Celes, we started the ''story time'' while getting away from here. Celes understood what I was doing, and she was naturally happy she was being a help to me in this way, even if she had to deceive this great grandfather like old owl. Well, she didn''t actually have much to do with him. I only said to just keep ying in the different direction from here, and just keep asking him about his master and the ''cool'' things the both of them have done together. She was having fun on her own, but the fact that none of those old ones, Rein''s crow or the owl, had caught up that they were getting too far away from their masters was also something special to Celes. She was amazing... and so was her . Those birds, both Rein''s crow, and his owl were a creature of great wisdom. But, before a young one like Celes who was as strong as both of them, they couldn''t do much but get sucked in her sweet talk, gentle voice, childish chuckles, and the unnoticeable energy that almost cut off their connection with their masters, they could do nothing but the things she wanted. It wasn''t something Celes would have learned without our master''s help but, Celes was some of the greatest learners she had seen and when I heard her, a divine beast of wisdom, praise my dear little Celes so much... I couldn''t help but be happy. To use her skill and create a scenario and perfect conditions, atmosphere, and mood, to make the otherpanions tell her about their masters... even bigger cheat than the disguise. But this one only worked against familiars. Not any other beast, even if it is of the same kind. This was aplicating thing, but, in short, as long as it was a familiar weaker than Celes, they can never actually defeat her or hide something from her. This was something only she could do and not her clones. But still, this was amazing. Even at this moment where the headmaster has epted his defeat and was sorting out his thoughts while standing before me, Celes was returning from the long walk or flight with her two grandpas, and even now, they had no idea they had flown to almost the border of the southern territory. And they would never know, not until their masters are smart enough to figure out something like this had happened. And I knew the headmaster, as well as Rein, would figure out Celes had something to do with this one but, I knew even this thousands-of-year-old headmaster before me could never actually do anything about this ability. Celes was familiar, and her ability was for familiars, not humans or any other intelligent race. Although she would have a hard time doing something like this again after their masters tell them, I believed she could pull this one off regardless of that. It wasn''t her fault. She was a natural sweet talker and genuinely pure being. She was smart, good, cheerful, and some of the happiest creatures I had ever seen in thisplicated life of mine. And she was too perfect andpatible with me that I could never thank her enough for being with me. I¡­ survived today and won against one of the strongest in the world. Well... this wasn''t a fight but a test, so I passed the test with flying colors and the defeated smile on his face said all on his mind. Hisst attack has been wasted, and that was a great feat I had just aplished there. He was an archmage, one who loved ying with opponents who had something special about them and test a certain aspect of their talents. The owl was a good storyteller too, and as I heard those things, I was seeing the person before me in a new light. He was far more amazing than I knew, and the adventures he had in his early days, the ces he visited, as well as all the fights he had with the seemingly impossible enemies... I wanted to do that, too. Now... I also wanted to do those things. Venturing the world with my dear friend Rein if she wanted, meeting new people, creating an awesome adventurer party. Seeing new ces, fighting monsters, finding and clearing dungeons andbyrinths. Finding treasure and old stuff. I wanted to do those things. But not now. For now, until I was at the academy and an adult, I wanted to be with my family. Be with them and just live happily until the day of joining the academyes. I was still too young, or so I think I am, to get myself into life-threatening things an adventurer usually does. p Or maybe we might just get the license now and see the ces in the empire... if possible. But had to get into the school first. I have many things to do after that. And to get into the academy, I had to impress the person before me. And I knew... what I will show him next will turn the interest into genuine excitement. And not only him. Now that we were standing still, and the lights had vanished, everyone could see the things and the devastation on the ground. And it was going to get worse real soon. ''It''s not every day you see a child using a rune. And one that was most probably new to the people in this ce.'' An excited smile appeared on my face and after closing my eyes and taking a deep breath... I entered the [ZONE]. Chapter 237 [Rune] [Rune] Special alphabets or letters that carry immense power within them. Thenguage of the past that the people used, and thisnguage was thenguage of the origin. Not only these letters we now call runes were the strong magic spells and foundations of the past, they almost defined the world and all the worldly elements. The origin ofnguage, magic as well as all magical elements one uses regardless of their race. Runes are the things left behind from those ancient times, forgotten throughout history or destroyed with time, or by people who understood just how dangerous these things can be. This knowledge was [Lost knowledge] and I, maybe the only person in existence, had so much knowledge of these runes that after learning them, after learning the essence of magic, every other thing looked unnaturally easy. My master, a high phoenix and one who possessed some of the greatest knowledge and truth of this nature, allowed me to learn this knowledge handwritten by herself. In truth, the magic of the origin was something one would naturally gain knowledge of after the ascend the bounds of mortals and joining the higher beings who were still alive as the [Gods] or [Lords] who looked over the lower lifeforms in this great nature. Gods and Lords were two different kinds of higher beings. One is born as a superior race or born directly by the nature in that higher realm. The other is people who have broken the bonds of the world and have reached the same heights as these gods. After gaining that much but stillcking knowledge, I now knew things that a mortal shouldn''t. And I had the natural worldly restrictions that I can''t share this knowledge except after meeting some conditions. And though I can use this knowledge however I want... I wasn''t even nearly strong enough to even use the mid-level rune yet. But even the lowest rank runes are closer to the top tier (tier-6) spells. And the thing I was going to do right now was even special because the input energy was not the fundamental known one like Mana but Solnova. So the power output should be even greater than the normal ones he had seen. And I knew... even the four old ones will be as shocked as him when seeing this despite now knowing I was far stronger than what they thought. It would be fun, and I was more excited than I had ever been aftering back here. ZONE''s trigger, it''s always unique from person to person. ''Haaa... recall, enter. Relive...'' My eyes were closed for a while, even when I started floating in the air and materialized a ring of Solnova around my body. The ring was spinning and just like an atom, there was a ball of materialized Solnova circling it. And when I opened my eyes with white sparks cracking in them, everyone spectating this fight knew something new, bizarre, unexpected, and... destructive was going to happen. And, well, they were right. I loved this feeling of being in this state ofplete oneness. I experienced ZONE for the first time a long time ago. And I have progressed in it deeper than normally was possible. And after I mastered the body and soul control perfectly and was able to freely enter the astral state and separate the soul from the body for a greater time, I learned about realms that weren''t even recorded in the normal books of the general sections of the library. I only understood those celestial things after my master exined that stuff to me. And she had warned me... it was too early for me to do that stuff and even if it was an intoxicating feeling, I had to stop that. [ZONE] was something far more than just bing one with mind and body, I can almost put it on autopilot if I went at least at the bottom of the high ZONE but, that state was something I could only achieve when I have someone strong against me. And not someone strong like a headmaster, that would work but no. Someone specialized in physical close-quartersbats. Or an unimaginable number of strong opponentsing at me at once. And this took time, so I can''t just trigger it as I do with a normal ZONE. Maybe Ca can if she understood herself faster and found those raw powers hidden under her finely polished basic sword talents. mes aren''t the only thing that burns, and that was the only advice I could give to that cool but hot-headed girl. It was up to her how she figures things out, but then I knew she will understand things on the path she has chosen. Glory wasn''t something one could achieve in one day, and bing a candle of hope in everyone''s heart in times of need was something I didn''t want to do. ...I could be the protagonist but, I was no hero. I wanted to protect my family, the ones I was close to, and the things I adored. I knew this, and so did everyone in my family... I had no obligation to have a righteous mindset. I didn''t want something like fame, glory, recognition, title, or achievements. That wasn''t me, to begin with. I wanted to live a life with my own beliefs, my own ideals, and my own self. Yes, I would help if there was something wrong and needed my help but, that''s it. Who would want to go to some different ce just to save people I had never ever known? She wanted to do it, and she wasn''t the only one in this world. There were many like her. Rigorous, good, kind, ones who walked on the path of a ''hero''. And there were also many who truly embraced and worshiped the darkness. Those were viins of this story if ones like Ca were heroes. And I despised them enough that even if I detect one such as them, I would wait and find all the aplices of them and then... do a mass genocide. My thoughts were starting to wander in the wrong ces, so I just came back and took a deep breath with the glowing red eyes with pure white sparks of light dancing in them. This was something exciting to watch and right now, for mom and others, it was difficult so they were just speechless. Alf was excited, and Anna was just staring at me with sparkling eyes. In this state, I knew everything happening in the surroundings, as well as almost anything he was doing or doing at this moment. But he was just purely amazed and looking forward to what I was going to show them. And as soon as I started the very first line in the air, the line of one of the few known low-rank base-tier runes. This one was a two words rune, and although I thought this will be alright, I still had that one percent uncertainty. What would they think? How would they react? Just what kind of questions pop up in their mind after seeing this? It wasn''t some bad thing that their twelve-year-old knows a rune, but, being able to use that highlyplex word structure that required an unreal energy control was a task few could actually perform. It would just ultimately worry them. But I was smiling right now, which meant I was excited. Even if they can''t help but smile helplessly at this behavior, what else can these helpless family members do? ''Haaa...'' I sighed internally and with that same excited smirk, looking at the headmaster who had asked me to show the best thing I can do, I started the drawing. The circling ball of Solnova around my body became an inkpot for me, and the first two fingers were a brush. The ring of Solnova that the pure white ball was connected to, vanished and the ball of energy stood beside my hands, decreasing at every stroke of strange text I wrote. Runes were the origin of allnguages, and mastering the runes meant mastering every single seble or readablenguage derived from them. And these runes were so special because of just how old they were. And even my master, one of the oldest in the world, wasn''t present when the first of the runes were created. All the knowledge she had of these magical words was from her enlightenment and teachings from the older ones than herself. And although I don''t know much about my own master just yet... I had Lucy, herst gift to me as my grandma. She knew, and I knew... with time, I will know too. So, for now, just a fraction of what she had taught me, and my limit to what I can show to others... the me ruin. "[[( Satya Agnihi )]]" Chapter 238 Fool Headmaster A true fire that''s just fire, the original one. What do we call ''fire''? A burning light powered by a particr fuel in the presence of great oxygen? If that''s fire, then where does the word firee from? It''s strange but, a fire is something far stronger thing than just those mes and light. It has different kinds, like a raging fire, a sorrowful fire, a fire of hatred, and a fire of different emotions like these. A pure blue me powered by just oxygen and with no greater impurity while the fire of unique attributes also exists in this world. One can make fire from water attribute too, or water from fire attribute, and many people in this world know that much already. [Elemental conversion] is a high-level subject of magic and something few in the world studied. But conversion and ''recreation'' is different. My master... she didn''t just convert an element from her fire. What she usually and so casually did was something unreal in itself. But that topic was not something to think about right now. The rune I just used was the rune of a true fire. Fire. Just fire that can''t be converted to something else. Fire is usually born when enough heat is applied to an energy source in the presence of enough oxygen. That''s the standard fire, and there are countless different energies to use as fuel. I used Solnova, something as pure as Aether and far lighter than Mana, almost something of a gracious state... though it''s more of a light, beam, ray state but, here, it''s just the fuel. No need to think about the elemental particles, waves, and strings stuff... that would be forter. So just as this suggests, a true fire is the produced heat and light in the process of this energy or fuel''s conversion into results. But that''s what happened with the first spell headmaster cast. He used his Mana and Aether, the sky blue mes that would burn with high heat were produced and as a ''result'' an explosive was formed. But when using a Rune... the ''result'' is not something like a spell, some output like energy, or even the gases and water produced in the process. A rune produces what the actual thing is. Be it a simple fire, water, or other such basic elements, or a natural ''order'' that carries out on its own. It''s somethingplicated when defined with words so, the best way to actually understand runes was to perform and observe them. The meaning, the effect, the reason, and the questions. That was the best way to understand what a rune was, and the best way to be a (Runekeeper), one of the rarest mage professions. The true fire I cast was the lowest ranking rune but... Its casting was perfect. And with how well the casting of a rune usually is, the effect it gives increases. And just because my casting was so perfect this time, the two-word rune, a simple thing powered by my extraordinary Solnova¡­ created a river of pure mes. Pure, orange mes devoid of any other color and just the color of their own. The river of mes directly fell down towards the headmaster who had just stood there, awe-struck by the rune''s appearance. I knew he knew about runes too, and learning a rune required someone who actually can use them as a teacher. One would need a long, really, really long time to learn runes on their own, even if they are genius without any kind of prior clue. And he and I both had someone to teach us at least the basics of this amazingnguage. The previous headmaster was a runekeeper himself, and I knew he had a deep rtionship with the one before me. So the headmaster knew a lot about runes, and I knew he knew just how amazing a feat was just to be able to cast one... even more with this much proficiency. And this was all thanks to my master. Without her, maybe I wouldn''t even know what these things called runes were in that life-taking forest. The power of runes was undeniable but, there were definitely many downfalls of using them when you aren''t strong enough. Just like right now... just this simple basic one took almost all of my concentration even when I was in the [ZONE]. But thankfully I knew how to ''use'' the zone to recover the lost concentration or else I would have fallen to the ground with a severe headache. And I also had this golden fruit that recovered concentration stamina and Mana, so I was alright but... I can''t say the same for the one who was going to receive this attack. He had toe out of that awe-struck state if he wanted to be alive after that river of mes hit him. But he... what the hell was that crazy old man doing?! He should understand just from the pure energy and the heat just how dangerous this was. His superhuman body can handle those pure mes but not his clothes but¡­ he just stood there, admiring the mes. My eyes widened at this foolishness, and I wasn''t the only one. From Rein to all our grandparents found these actions foolish, but even after knowing all this, he just stood there, reminiscing about the past. (?) It even worried me for a moment, but my heart was calm and I knew... that person wasn''t going to get even a scratch from a rune of mere (tier-6) power. But his simple clothing was definitely not going to be intact after getting burned by the fire, either. ''Crazy bastard...'' A deep sigh escaped my mouth and I just helplessly flew dawn while shaking my head as the slow river of fire collided with the bare body of this archmage. The pure orange mes born from this glowing two-word rune looked amazing. And¡­ as I knew, he was perfectly fine even after being in this river of pure mes. He was fine, unscratched, and there was no harm to his physical body aside from the bad ck burning spots all over his body after his clothes burned downpletely. And he was still in that trance, just nkly staring into the sky. All clothes he wore burned down, and after that, his bare body was revealed which¡­ was too much to even talk about!!! His body was healing at a fast speed on its own but, his clothes weren''t going toe back on their own. Yes, his body looked perfect, from those amazingly perfect strong hard muscles and ''stuff'' but I didn''t want to torture others by showing this scene so... [Shadow curtain]. A dark fog covered the whole area before the clothing on his ''parts'' was burned down too, and thankfully, I was just in time. Nodies in this family gave a shict to this old one''s body but, it was genuinely embarrassing even enraging, just how an honorable person like him could do such a thing. From all I have heard until now from his owl, no story mentions him being an exhibitionist. So I had no fucking idea just what the hell had just happened with this crazy old man, but this was nothing normal. But I definitely knew one thing. I''m... offended by this behavior. He did something bad once again, and this time, it was intolerable. He has to be punished¡­ as severely as possible. Taking a deep breath, covering my fist with dense Aura, standing before this fool headmaster that clearly knew just what things were happening around him, I took a special stance. ''Energy cirction arts. Stance zero: Express... anger.'' The energy throughout my body, be it Mana in my nucleus, the Solnova in my whole body to the Aura in my mind, every one of them aligned in a certain configuration, and the muscles on my right arm with Aura cover fiestas¡­ strengthened. I knew he knew I was really angry about this inappropriate behavior before my whole family, and this was his punishment. I never wanted to use this thing, not in a ce where it was never needed. Not in the test that the great headmaster of the greatest school of this world was taking. I didn''t know the reason behind his behavior but, this was inevitable now. ''Well... this will really hurt.'' -Booooooom! Chapter 239 Aftermath And Reason The atmosphere got calm after the sudden boom and the pink sh of light inside this dark fog. This fog-like darkness was a skill, a powerful one, and I knew aside from Rein, no one could see inside here. They can''t see, and that was for the best. I didn''t want them to see me coughing blood like this, and neither did I believe they would just stand still like that after seeing even a drop of blood on me. But it can''t be helped. The headmaster was in his own world, remembering some past events that might have happened while learning from his master. I didn''t know this reaction would be this deep, it was my mistake to not consider this possibility. But he was more than capable enough toe out of those trains of memories and emotions on his own very easily. I knew he was deliberately not doing that fully knowing he was safe and nothing would happen to him and that ''I'' would take care of the aftermath like this. He just believed in me, and I had no problem with that one, but... "You are an archmage, you bastard! At least wear clothes of (level-8) or more! What were you even thinking wearing these mere (level-6) clothes?! You have that much wealth, just use that shit tone of money! I won''t be around when something like this happens!! Ahem! Ahem!" Coughing up some more blood and clearing my throat, I looked at the now sane headmaster on the ground, holding his stomach and coughing blood himself. I knew that thest one had almost shaken his Mana core, and just the pain from that one punch was enough to kill any powerful person. The whole energy system in his body was shaken by the contact of my punch and I didn''t like using this thing even after being the to invent it. It took not only an absurd amount of concentration, willpower, and total energy but also precise control over all the energies inside the body. It put too much strain on my body and even after drinking two red potions; I was still feeling this pain throughout my entire body. I did not want to use that technique, and I couldn''t even use it against any being I see. That one attack, just how much it damaged me was nothingpared to how it affected the one who received this blow. If it were to be some beast of (Green) rank or below, they would just be obliterated as a whole and this whole ce would be a pool of blood and insides. But he wasn''t an energy beast... even more horrifying. If there was any normal [Rank-4] knight before me, they would have suffered the same fate from this attack. But he was alive, back to his senses, coughing up blood with wide eyes and a cynical smile. I don''t even want to think about what kind of pain he might be feeling at this moment. That one attack was meant to induce unreal pain to the opponent¡­ if they didn''t die instantly. And that was something I could only use once before recovering from the recoil of using this. And this technique will take at least a week to healpletely, and there was no way to hasten the healing process. My entire energy channels get flooded with different kinds of energy and they can''t go to perfectly normal in a short time. I will be fine with being able to use all the Mana, Aura, and Solnova separately but, not together. And this pain of energy vessels healing or being used while in the process of healing would be excruciating. Nothing new to me, though. The pain was just an important part of my life. And I avoided using this technique at all costs. Even against grandma. I only used this one once a month just to perfect it in the training sessions. And this was the most basic use of this technique... that made an archmage bleed. He was coughing up blood, though not as bad as me. He was absurdly strong and his natural healing ability as a wizard and high healing ability of light attribute healed him while I was trying to clean up this mess. The whole ground was flooded with blood, almost bing a pool that reflected our faces. And he was smiling while I had done all this¡­ Why was he even that surprised by that rune? He couldn''t have seen that one, so why? "Ahem! Ahem! Young boy... my master was the only one who could use runes with that efficiency. He was the only one I had seen, ahem! Using the runes like that. It''s still not at that level but... it''s close. Maybe some decades and you will be at that level. And you can''t even think, meparing someone else''s rune crafting with his... this is a greater achievement deserving of more than just a normal key to a room." And after saying that much, he stopped coughing and wiped the blood from his mouth. Well... I knew I was still far away from reaching the level my master had, but I knew the mastery that his master and the former headmaster had... I can reach that level in almost a decade or so. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and cleared the remaining blood from the ground, and patted my head, catching my angry self off guard. "You really are amazing." Heplimented me, and this time, it was from the bottom of his heart. I could feel the emotions I hadn''t before. This time, I can. They were genuine, kind, and... white? Well, that was what I felt from this warm head pat, so that was it. Taking off his hand, he just smiled at me warmly. It was a genuine smile and... after hisst behavior, I really wanted to overlook that smile and just stay like that and get angry at him. I really was angry! Just how can he do that before all these people? I was just angry because this wasn''t something he does, nor something he intended. Haaa... Just shaking my head, I nodded after that deep sigh. It was getting out of ce and boring just standing here with something like this. Everything''s already done, and things have ended¡­ "I pass, right? This ''test'' of yours. Don''t say anything weird and let''s just go out of here already." I was tired; it was painful, and I wanted to go back to them now. ? I couldn''t have thought something like this would happen and I would use something like that technique when Rein and I were first talking on the rooftop this beautiful morning. Never have I ever thought a lovely day could turn into something tiring like this¡­ I just shook my head and all these thoughts that were covering my mind and looked at his smiling face. And as soon as I did that, an annoyed expression appeared on my face and¡­ he understood I was at my limit here. Physically and mentally. He nodded his head at this, understanding things and the chaos he had just caused. He... bowed his head and at the same time, the skill duration ended and now everyone could see the bowing headmaster in a new pair of better clothes. "I apologize for that improper, unfitting behavior. And I hope you can forgive me." His voice was sincere, and I now didn''t know what to say to this person. He had taken down the barrier and now they cane here, and there was no way after seeing all this catastrophe and devastations on the ground, they could stay in their ces. The mages helped others and I can see even without using my ''eyes'', they had uncontroble tears in their eyes. Mom was better than I had thought, but Rein and Anna were having a downpour of tears. I can understand Anna, but... why was she crying? No, I knew why, but... wasn''t this too much? And as soon as the barrier vanished, she also vanished from her seat, and by the time I was fishing looking over everyone... she was standing before me with that teary face. And seeing her like that, my heart couldn''t help but beat faster¡­ the same heart that had been perfectly fine all this time. "R-Rein? What-" And even before I could ask anything in my hesitant voice, she¡­ hugged me once again. Chapter 240 My Afraid Friend ...what happened to this old childlike friend of mine? She was just hugging me as if something had happened to me, well, I was practically dying from this pain but, it wasn''t something new to me. I knew Anna could feel the emotions, but I also knew she can''t tell just from the feeling of cussing a lot that I was in that much pain but this one was different. Even her eyes couldn''t tell I was in too much pain, and she wouldn''t just react like this because of some pain. Then... why was she like this? Hugging her back and caressing her back, I asked in a low voice, "What happened?" Her grip around me tightened, and in an even more hesitant voice, she asked while burring her face in my shoulders. "Your soul... the entire soul shook and almost crumbled down when you punched him..." She could barely say those words, and I could hear her wildly beating heart. She was the only one to act like that, and Anna... she also couldn''t stop her tears. But everyone just stood some distance away, waiting for this one to finish her long hug. Everyone knew for a while now... she was afraid. She had lived longer than us, but she was still young, and this was the first time she was having all these feelings. She was different from mom in this matter... a weak one in matters of the heart. Mom believed, no, she just knew nothing could happen to me, so even though her heart told her something happened to me, even though she felt restless, and even though she knew I would be harmed for certain... she just knew I woulde back. Just like I hade back from some impossible-looking ce. She had this belief only a mother could have but, this one was different. I didn''t know her eyes could even see the fluctuation of soul energy but, as she saw it... my soul definitely almost decreased for a moment. But this was just the result of using that technique. It used all kinds of energies inside my body, even the most fundamental soul energy. And if something happens to the soul, it naturally means the person''s life was in danger. Just this much clearly exined her wildly beating heart. This cold sweat also covered the body with this high temperature. Even her uneven breaths and her shaking eyes a moment ago... She was frightened, afraid of losing me. But this old child-like friend of mine was afraid for nothing. "I''m fine... See, there''s not even a scratch on my body. Though it''s meaningless to think you won''t notice that internal pain. But, well, it''s nothingpared to the training I have been put through. So, I''m fine, and everyone is watching. If you continue this, how will they hug me? I''m theirs, too, right?" Still hesitant and with shaking hands hugging me from behind, she looked up at me with her tear-filled shining pink eyes that looked just... marvelous. I loved those eyes for some reason, and maybe she loved mine, too. She was just looking deep into my eyes, just staring, and as we just stared into each other''s eyes, all the sounds in the world faded away. There were just the two of us right now. Just us in this quiet ce, with our warm bodies joined, feeling every part even with this thick clothing, she... wanted to do something right now. And I knew I also wanted that. But... it wasn''t time yet. It was difficult, too difficult in this particr situation, but I closed my eyes and just hugged her back. This surprised her and also took her out of that magical state and back to the devastated arena, with both our families lovingly looking at us. She couldn''t see them from this angle but, she didn''t need to see that to know just what kind of faces they would be making. I knew, and I knew she knew it, too. It wasn''t time yet. We will do that, maybe more, and everything as time passes... but it wasn''t time yet. Now, she had that signature blush of hers that I adored dearly, and I rejoiced at the fact that I had this third eye to look at her even while looking at the front and... I always remember these kinds of moments. She was cute, and this hug ended with her going to the very back of everyone and just standing behind her grandma while just looking down and hiding her face. Just like some cute little girl. ''She''s the same girl who tied me to a tree with her indestructible chains, cussed left and right, and killed countless beings without hesitation? Yes... sure.'' We used to call this kind tsundere. But she was different, in some aspects, at least. Well... she''s adorable. Sighing internally, I opened my arms and caught the little angel running towards me with that same crying face her big sister had. And I just helplessly caught her, and just stood there as mom also hugged me after I stood there with her in my arms. My dear family... they were worried, and the reason was this old fe behind me, looking at every one of us warmly. Though he was getting death res filled with bloodlust from the rest of my family, aside from an awkward smile, he was still standing there shamelessly. ''It''s all your fault. Death would be a mercy for you at this point, headmaster. They know you are like an immortal cockroach, tough anding back even after getting its head cut off. But you... you are definitely going to get tortured to death for this one. Test... you say. Yes, now they will take your ''test''. Test your endurance, love for life, and reaction to different kinds of pain.'' I can see that thick bloodlust, what more, they actually wanted to kill him right here, and right now. But they were helpless. Deep down, even they knew he was a good person, ve to his desires for excitement and adventures. So they were just going to keep him for a night, in the underground torture chambers just above this floor. They will have even more fun than in the afternoon when they beat him for just some minutes. I didn''t even want to pray for his good health. He deserved it even after my punch. Mom and Anna... I worried them too much because of my own selfishness. Anna was even more afraid because even though mom knew how I felt even without Anna''s ability, Anna was actually feeling those things. I had some idea how it would feel because I can feel the other beings connected to me like Celes, Zoe, and Ronna. Even Lucy and Asta. I can feel their emotions but, Anna can feel all emotions. And fortunately, it was up to her if she wanted to know the emotions of people and not something like a forever passive characteristic, like my memory or Alf''s sharp mind. She was special, but the ability that was meant to help others sometimes asked for greater strength, endurance, and mental strength as one went forward. Anna was afraid right now, not as much as Rein, but... she was afraid. The things I felt were good with me. Exining them and putting them into words was painful in itself. But she could feel those unexinable pains. And this was most probably her first time feeling something like this. And a poor young girl who has felt nothing but good things throughout her sheltered life... though she understood everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about, she was still afraid. I knew she will be fine, now that I was fine, and she knew that I was alright. I was just relieved she was such a wonderful kid. Mom was worried, but she knew I was fine, so she was just hugging me to ease her pain, and so does mine. I was fine but, having these two with me made me feelplete. And I wanted to just be in this moment for as long as I can... but maybe this bastard of a headmaster couldn''t watch this heartwarming scene for more, and called my name loudly, breaking the serenity this destroyed ce had. "Eon...?" his voice was sincere sounding and my third eye had already returned to the other floor to check things up. His voice was truly annoying for this moment after all he had done today. Even that punishment was nothingpared to the rage I felt. I didn''t want to look and just hug them like this, but mom tapped my back and released me from her gentle embrace. This one surprised me, as well as a confused expression of how they didn''t react to these words as it should clouded my face. And a surprise even greater than the previous one painted my face as soon as I looked back at the old, young-looking headmaster. Chapter 241 The Garden Tea. The headmaster of the greatest learning institute, a mediator for many countries, one of the strongest in the world, and most probably the strongest mage. One who overlooks the entire sky ind and one of the most annoying, stingy, strong old men in this world... was holding a gift? A colorful box, the same as his eyes, with a red ribbon on it? "Open it when you are alone. Really¡­ alone." He said as he just put the box in my hands and I didn''t even know just how my hand was stretched out to hold that box. I looked at him nkly. Mom was the same, and Anna was still shocked, hugging me tightly. But I can see the ones behind us. Every single one of them, the dear cousins of mine, Rein, and all the adults, were looking at this in surprise. I can say just from this much just how much they knew this character, and just how stingy he was to earn this great of a reaction from my ever-calm grandparents. It was my first time even seeing them with those twitching smiles. And he was still smiling after earning reactions like that. Unbelievable... "Ok then. Harry will deliver the letters soon, as well as some academy stuff. I have work, so I should take my leave-" Like hell, you can go away after doing those things. He knew that too and anyone can see that in that sudden change of expression that took one eighty-degree turn and became surprised to pissed off. He will get away from this unscratched? Sure. Try it if you can. Others didn''t see it, but I can see it, and I knew Rein could see that too. The concentrated bloodlust they bombarded him with. I could even see the unconscious, cold sweat that suddenly appeared at the back of his neck. His smiling, confident eyes turned hesitant, and he looked at them with a difficult smile. "I will be back... till midnight? Isn''t that ok...?" His voice carried fear, and their eyes carried fire that was ready to burn him down at this very moment. ''That''s... actually scary...'' I didn''t know if Rein''s eyes can see these things as good as mine, but, all these people were giving enough pressure that they can crush some normal person to death. That was almost as great as the one my ''gray eyes'' can produce in normal circumstances. This was seriously dangerous and this archmage headmaster before me just genuinely smiled at their smiling expressions. He was strong mentally too... too strong actually. ''Even then... have a taste of hell~.'' There was nothing good to wish for me. He was better off with them than me. At least he will live that way. "Haaa... that was bad headmaster. But looks like your owl is outside too. Have some of the most memorable days of your life." Not that you will forget this one¡­ I stored the box, and without even giving him a second look, I turned and hugged mom with my free hand. Anna wasn''t calming down anytime soon, and I didn''t want to stay in this devastated ce any longer. "Mom. Let''s get out of this ce..." "Yes, baby..." She hugged me back, with a better expression than before, and everyone calmed down because of this sudden gift thing he had just given me. But there should be a few things in the world I don''t have or can''t get easily. I doubted it would be something like that, but this wasn''t important, anyway. Backing away, I looked at everyone that knew I was fine now and nodded my head. The ce we were standing on was a devastatednd that can''t bepared to yesterday''s. Mom was good, Anna was the same, others were ok, Zoe was smiling, Ca was the same, but... Alf was blushing while looking at me. He also looked back at Rein some moment ago, not understanding what the hell had happened. ''Oh... he''s understanding quickly? He really is a fast learner.'' Is this what my dear ''three eyes'' were talking about? The corruption? But I did nothing here. Well... whatever. I nodded at grandpa and others and we all walked out of this ruined room. The garden was the best ce to have some fresh air after those things. Celes was back too, so maybe Anna will calm down while ying with her. The day had been difficult, and a headache for all of us. A warm green tea would be good for everyone... *** "Thanks, Eon. I can tell just from the smell... this is divine~." My gorgeous first aunt thanked me with a delighted smile that made her look even more beautiful. She was a tea expert and someone who just love all kinds of tea. She was even a tea collector, and one of the biggest distributors of tea in this empire. Though there were few ces to grow tea in these parts of the empire, Rein''s family''snds, some of our coastal inds, and most of the eastern continent were the producers of tea. But¡­ Rein''snds were the biggest producers of coffee beans as well as cocoa. South was just the perfect ce for that, and I would love to go on a farm trip to one of her coffee gardens someday. I haven''t seen much of this world even after being here for this long time in the past, so I wanted to see everything now that I was out of that great forest. I wanted to travel to all the ces I could, and in our families, Rein, her grandma, and my dad were the ones who had traveled the most, and Rein was even more experienced, as she had just roamed the world most of the time. She had even been to the east. Though she hadn''t been to the northern continent, the continent of eternal ice, just yet, we can do that one together. I wanted to travel to my heart''s content. I even had Zoe show this whole world. We can do that much. It will be fun~. But for now, this special tea from our tower garden was something I wanted to enjoy, just like others. We were sitting in the garden, and it waste afternoon and almost evening. On the tables with two chairs each and a white umbre, we were sitting in this wide garden with everyone sitting in a pair. The adults were couples, so they naturally set with each other, having a sweet talk over this great tea and just forgetting about the events from a while ago. Alf and Ca were sitting together, nkly recalling everything they can from my fight with the headmaster. They were in deep thought and I didn''t know why, but Ca had already finished three cups of that tea while Alf wasn''t even halfway done to his first one. I made a good amount and aside from those two; I had served everyone. I even set some cookies I made yesterday while cooking brownies and they all loved it. Of course, Ca had finished all on her table. Zoe and Anna were sitting together with Celes, ying with Anna and talking with her, telling her some ''safe'' stories about me and her. And Rein''s crow was in Zoe''sp, enjoying her gentle hand that caressed him with love. Zoe was special, and almost every bird and other being would naturally like her because of her natural affinity with nature, which was far more than mine. It was so high mine might just barelye close to her, or maybe even not. Well, the crow was enjoying himself, and Zoe was even sharing the special cookies with Anna and the crow. And the crow''s master... my dear lovely friend was delighted that I was sharing my own ''special'' cookies, the ones that grandma made and she tasted in the forest. This was just especially sorry for worrying her like that, so she better not think she can have them anytime she wanted! I only had some thousand of them. I can''t share every time. And now that she was calming down and was happily drinking her tea like that, this smile of hers¡­ she looked lovely. Tears and sadness truly didn''t suit her at all. She was best when smiling, cussing, smirking, and shouting in that ear-shaking voice. Maybe when she was being thirsty for things that were a no-no for now... like the special water attribute ice cream. Anyway, she was enjoying herself now, and I was having fun while seeing her delighted eating face. It took a while, but everyone calmed down and the garden''s calm atmosphere made it easier for everyone. My second aunt was crying for a while just like Rein''s mom but those two just looked after each other with some tea while their husbands sat together, leaving their wives to each other. I just handed my first aunt her tea because it took her longer to calm my crying uncle down. Mom and dad... they had changed quite a bit from what I knew. Dad was taking care of her, and she was better than others. Both of them had be stronger at their heart. Grandpa Zhen looked over everyone with a teacup in his hand from some distance away. He requested to do these things, but I just handed him a cup of tea and then he just looked over everyone from afar. He was a fun person. I wanted to talk with him someday. But for now, this calm garden with a soothing breeze was marvelous. And this was just the perfect evening until the calmness broke up and dad said something weird in a surprised voice. "Oh? Taika is here?" Chapter 242 Dads... Familiar? His voice was filled with confusion and surprise, as well as excitement. I didn''t know who this person he called out was and I didn''t know why but, as soon as he called out that name, everyone aside from me picked up their ears. A surprise and excitement-filled expression appeared on their faces and Anna jumped from her seat with Celes in her hands. "Yei~! Where is she~?" Anna cheerfully shouted, gaining all the attention of the people in the garden. This confused me even more but at that same time, I heard Celes''s voice in my head. [[ "Master, I''m not sure but I think you should see this one." ]] Her voice confused me but, the next moment, the visual she showed me from one of her clones surprised me even more. ''What the f...'' I couldn''t believe this and I really couldn''t speak at this moment. What I was seeing was really unbelievable. "Oh! Eon doesn''t know about her, right~?" my dear first aunt asked in a cheerful manner, excited about something even more. "Oh, yes. Eon, I don''t think you know about your dad''s familiar, right? She''s a really amazing, strong, and big cat~!" This was mom and at her words, I couldn''t help but look at dad with surprise-filled eyes. "Oh... yes. We never had a chance to talk about her, right? Hehe... I was going to introduce you when we get back but, I never thought she would juste here herself. She''s really something..." Dad now had an awkward smile on his face and there was an even more unbelieving expression on my face. ''Dad? Are you some story''s protagonist?'' That was my genuine response to just how causally they were talking about this. And mom... What did she say just now? Amazing, strong, big... cat? Well, yes. A tiger is a cat but... a tiger!!! A freaking tiger! Those known as rulers of the mountains. Creatures of pure strength, royalty among beasts as well as one of the most powerful beasts of the world in their prime. Creature of pure strength, the strength that was enough to destroy the whole of a mountain. Ferocious beasts, at the same time, creatures of purity. nature and mountains. The highest ranking beasts, yes... they were some of the most famous (Purple) ranking beasts of this world. They mostly lived on high ground and mostly mountain rangers or ruled a sole mountain. Their nature, elemental affinities, and powers differed as their surroundings. They were natural rulers, kings of that mountain. And every other beast respected them. They just so unnaturally epted them as their king that it was unbelievable. A tiger. A beast that bows before no one. Creature and symbol of strength. Possesses some of the best natural instincts. Master of elements they wield almost from their birth. Possessors of high natural energy that make other creatures just bow before them if they wanted. Tigres... are awesome creatures and one of my favorite beings in this whole world. And my dad had one such being as his familiar... This fact wasn''t just hard to believe but, it was almost unreal to me. Like... I knew dad was a genius mage and all but a tiger? And not just any tiger, even dad might not know this but, tigers rarely had more than two elemental attributes. And just like him, this familiar of his had three elemental stripes. I could say just from the colorful stripes on her body, she was a rare tri-elemental tiger mostly found in the western parts of the empire and western continent''s mountains. It is not like there aren''t any people with a tiger as theirpanions, there are but... I don''t think there should be more than three with one like dad. On top of that, all of them were prominent figures in the world. Even in history that I was familiar with. Everyone, every single person with even a normal tiger as theirpanion, was a great person with many achievements. Though they weren''t rare, not like Celes or even the Rein''s crow, tigers loved peace. They lived alone, found partners, made families, and lived alone until their children were able to handle themselves. Then they leave them on their own and find a new ce. Tigers made partners of a lifetime and although they loved their children for a long time after the children were of age, they solidified their hearts and left the grown children. Or, in some cases, when the child understands they are ready, they just separate from their parents on their own. To find a ce to call home and to find a partner to be with all their lives. And they were highly powerful creatures of nature and loved by Mana. And ''being loved by Mana'' means that Mana would just follow their orders whenever they wanted. In simple terms, they can cast spells just from a simple thought. They were strong creatures, wise, sometimes even more intelligent than humans, and when they grow to their limits, they could even transform into a humanoid form. It was difficult to believe that dad had a tiger as hispanion but, just how the hell will he handle her? The tiger was beautiful, gorgeous actually. She was also an adult, not a cub or child, or even a teen at her age. The creature that dad had as apanion was an almost at-the-peak stage tiger with immense powers. I could see her almost flying through the jungle at a surprising speed right now. Even after putting all Celes''s clones after her, most of them could only barely catch up to her with their limitations. This cat, no, this tiger, was amazing. Just her presence that Celes described was world-changing... And it was even more surprising that dad got thisdy tiger, and she got close to him in just a few months since I hadn''t seen himst time. It was for brief moments but, I could see her face while she was running like this all her time. She was anxious right now. And maybe, in those eyes, there was fear of something happening to him. As well as happiness to be able to see dad once again. Anna was happy she will be seeing this ''big kitty'' once again, and I knew this much that that tiger would love Anna too. Dad didn''t have thispanion thest time we exchanged letters, and I wanted to hear just what things had happened with him that he now suddenly had a tiger as his partner. How he met this magnificent creature, how they two got together. And... just why a tiger fell in love with my dad? Not that he wasn''t lovable. My dad was someone who definitely had as much charm as Rein''s grandfather, even at this moment. It was understandable if she just fell for his body, or strength, or magic, but... did I ever exin how ''demihumans'' came to existence? I wanted to know about him and this tiger he named Taika. -Roarrrrrr! And I didn''t have to worry about her for longer as just in some moments Celes was changing pov for me, we heard a loud rower of a ferocious predator. And when my eyes fell on her form... I couldn''t help but admire this creature. ''Just... amazing...'' Chapter 243 Taika The Tiger A wild beauty, I dare say. Arge body, almost taller than me. Strong visible muscles, sharp white ws hidden in thoserger pows, sharp golden eyes and, there was a smile on her ferocious-looking face. And that smile was strangely a genuinely happy one that appeared as soon as she spotted dad. Arger colorful body with a base being orange and white while the stripes which are usually ck are green, red, and blue, she ran towards dad with a cheerful roar... which I understood in words or as an actualnguage. [< Awee~ darling! You left me in that hose and vanished without telling~ me anything! You know how worried I was, hm~! >] Just the normal beastnguage, nothing to surprise me. But one thing did surprise me about her. She was strong, and it was clear just from that relieved look and eyes that had markings of tears... she loved my dad. Well, damn¡­ She looked gorgeous, she looked happy, this was a story I wanted to hear, but, there was a sudden surprise on her ferocious face just before she reached him. Suddenly stopping just before mom and dad, with a confused expression, she turned toward Anna and started walking. Anna was happy so she ran toward this big kitty and hugged her, and she happily cuddled the little Angel too. But then, as if mesmerized, she walked to Anna''s table and looked at Zoe. ''I knew it...'' [< Y-you... why? >] There was a shocked expression on this tiger''s face, and it would be just the expression a being like her would make when standing before a divine beast like Zoe. And this wasn''t something I wanted others to see. [[ "Celes." ]] I knew she would understand just from my call and she did as she flew from Anna''s shoulders, leaving the confused Anna alone and set on the back of this big kitten. [[ "Hellody Taika. It seems like you recognize Zoe''s presence. But, I would appreciate it if you just keep quiet about this. We all know the rules, right? That aside; hello~! Very nice to meet you~. I didn''t think dad would find the partner of his life in the short time I didn''t see him. I believe he must have told you already, but, I''m his son, Axion. Anna''s big brother and that person is Zoe. I''m her guardian. That much should exin everything, right?" ]] Tigers were wise creatures, and they learn most things naturally with time. Being creatures closest to an important part of nature, mountains, tigers learned some truths on their own as they lived their lives. They recognized the elements as blood and the color of blood that ran through the rulers, through the beasts like them and creatures of higher standing, was naturally something unfathomable. And, decadent of a high phoenix, someone who had lived for more than twenty millennia, was naturally too much that this tiger would naturally ignore her master. She was smart enough to guess Zoe was a divine beast just from the way she looked into her special eyes, and Zoe knew that she recognized her as well. So, Zoe just stood up and patted her head, smiling warmly like looking at a cute little child. "Anna, she really is a cute one~!" She shouted and talked with Taika for a while through special telepathy that can''t be seen even by Rein''s eyes. And after that, Taika the big kitten nodded her head with a warm smile, totally understanding everything, and nodded her head with more happiness-filled eyes than ever. Looking at her with a wild smile, she roared, in her powerful voice¡­ [< Wow~! It really is amazing to have a kid like you~! He really is the best mate~! >] ''See, I knew it. But, well, it was none of my business. It was between mom, dad, and her.'' I was just a child, no need to think too deeply about adult matters. She shouted in a roar that made everyone forget the things that had just happened, and aside from the old ones, Rein, I, and dad, everyone actually was affected by this power. Not Anna, though, and she didn''t need to forget about anything. She was the first one to know Zoe would be the most amazing being she would see in her life. Mom, Ca, everyone just forgot this and the surprise on their faces vanished. Dad and others understood the meaning of this one too, and I was surprised dad actually understood, but they did and just acted as if nothing had happened. They understood if someone like Taika acted before Zoe like this, then it would naturally mean she was a really special being. Well, Zoe really was a special being, and that was an eternal fact. That aside, mom liked Taika quite a bit, from the looks of this¡­ love? After bowing at Zoe and even admiring my special natural affinity, she went to mom and dad and just jumped on him. And dad just hugged her as a lovely master would. Though she was two times his size, that didn''t matter here. He had a bright smile on his face, and he even apologized for leaving her like that. As if mom and she were sisters, they talked about how things had been at our home in the capital with dad tranting her words. Mom then introduced her to everyone, and Taika greeted everyone with a big hug. Others can''t understand what she was saying except Rein, dad, and me. Anna could naturally feel what she felt, and that was making her chuckle merrily. Even Rein and I can''t back ourughter when I heard her words. People would have different reactions to these words, but even I couldn''t hold back myugh¡­ [< Damn. Wow... hot, hot, hot~! Why does this family have so many cute faces? Oh... an old, big, healthy piece of meat? He''s strong too. Ah~! Yes, yes. Come here, darling. >] She was hugging Rein''s grandpa right now, and¡­ she was taking all the feeling she wanted. [< Oh? He smells nice too. Hmmm... Ah~. Violet winds are amazing~! Strong ones with world authority are definitely rare in this world. But all of them are strong and have big assets. Hmm... wow. Master has such a lovely family~. Thisdy, too. Yes, yes. Come here hotty. How can I miss a hug from a strongdy? They are my second favorite~. >] And now Rein''s grandmother. She was... a character I started liking just from this much. Chapter 244 Taika The Tiger (2) She was too funny, pure, and too open to not like. Rein was barely holding back herughter, covering her mouth as we set on our spot in the garden. If others can see this big tiger''s face, coated with pleasure, and hear those weird voices¡­ [< Ah~! Yes, babe~. >] "Ha! Hahaha..." I really wanted to stop her from this suddenughter but, even I couldn''t hold back right now. Anna was young, they wouldn''t suspect even if sheughs without any reason. We two... were different. This one was a burst of lowughter and they thought I said something that made herugh and she just buried her head in her hand, one hand lying stretched on the table. Well... why not? I grabbed the hand that she deliberately left like that for me, and theughter stopped. I knew now she was blushing, but, well, Taika was something else, truly. [< Oh sister Nol~. You know this is just heaven, right? Far better than that lonesome house. Why did you even leave me there alone? You wanted to enjoy all these hot, strong pieces of meat alone, didn''t you~? >] "Hmm? Yes, yes. They are all amazing people, aren''t they~?" This was mom''s answer to her not-safe-for-work words, and this was unbearable. "Ahem!" I almost choked, trying to hold back thisughter, and she clenched my hand, helping me to handle this ''thing''. ''What the hell, dad? Where did you find this character? She''s awesome~!'' I can''t help but admire just how he was speechlessly sitting in his chair, calmly drinking tea and not even showing a strand of hesitation. If only he can control his sudden sweat, he would have escaped the eyes of the old ones too. But, well, they didn''t care much even while knowing this tiger had a peculiar speech. They just liked this big kitten, and I respected them even more to just let go of something like this. If only they could hear these things, I knew they would cough blood that they just nodded at her in agreement. Taika... she was saying things even I can''t handle, going as far as pairing Rein and my grandpas and grandmas. And she didn''t stop just there. There were other members of this big family. And she talked about everyone. [< My hot sister~! Give me your husband~! I will take good care of him~. >] She was asking my first aunt, and naturally, my first uncle was caressing her neck, something every cat loved. [< Yes, yes. Yes~! You know how to please me, hot human brother-inw~! >] She knew what a brother-in-low was? Lmao... why was she making those weird noises then. "Eon... I don''t think I can..." she was at her limits, and there was still my second uncle left. Oh, will they go to grandpa Zhen too... oh mother nature. We can''tugh, not here, not loudly when they are like this. Or... well, why not. "Rein... let''s just... let''s just it be. Hehe, even I''m at my limit. This tiger, Taika... Oh, dad..." Those were myst words and then, first, she burst out inughter and I followed after her. "Hahahahahaha..." "Hehehehehehe..." Everyone looked at us and we had our heads on the table, holding one hand and just looking down while Taika just continued her parsing for all the males in this family. For nature''s sake, she didn''t even leave Alf and me alone. [< The little fruits would grow to be a fine trunk too, right~? Master''s gorgeous hot son already has a mate and doesn''t look like he''s into old ones like me. Hehehe... in that case, let''s just corrupt this young boy- >] And she wasn''t going to stop there after those words, saying something even more inappropriate, and Zoe knew, so she smacked her big head while Alf was still patting her just like my first uncle. "No! Bad kitty! No going too far!" Good job, Zoe. Just that now everyone will know you can understand what she is saying. "Yes Taika. Alf is young. You might hurt him if you hug him like others. Zoe is so smart~. How nice~!" Or not? Mom thought Zoe was hitting her because she tried to hug Alf like others, so others didn''t even try to think Zoe can understand what Taika was saying. Though the older ones already knew she could understand her from her merry giggles with Anna. The surprising thing for me was mom genuinely treated this big kitten like a part of our family as well as almost her sister and not like some pet. She was introducing others to her, and Taika understood everything, and she was grateful for having this wonderful family. She was just joking; I hope she was about all these things and maybe that was the reason dad was so calm. She came here because she felt alone by herself back at home, but dad had no choice but to leave her there. I can understand his thoughts, and I knew as much that beasts like her couldn''t pass through the warp gates because of the limitation of a single type of body configuration and someplicated stuff. Even the second uncle left Tuuli back at home. But maybe she was on her way like Taika, too. So she will be here too, in a while. Tulli had great mobility and her speed was unlike any other aerial beast but, the distance and terrain between capital and south wasn''t something that can be crossed in a few hours. Even if Tulli had kept up with Taika most of the time, Taika moved through a forest like a speedy fish tearing the ocean waters. The jungle and mountains were tiger''snds. She can cross an entire mountain in moments with her basic skills alone, not even needing to use anything else. So, Tullu should arrive in a while but, we all had our familiars present now. Taika really was a funny one, and now that she had stopped fantasizing about ''stuff'', I had calmed down. But Rein was clenching my hand from the moment Taika called us ''mates''. Hmm... Well, let''s calm her down first. p "What happened?" I asked in a low voice, almost inaudible in this noisy garden where everyone was talking or ying with the big tiger with a loud roaring voice. But I knew she heard this. Chapter 245 Taika The Tiger (3) "Nothing..." she answered in a voice even lower than mine, almost like moving her lips. ''And she wasughing in a brave, confident, strong voice just a moment ago.'' This weird friend of mine... Taika''s a beast, a predator at that. Her words were just normal, probably right from her own point of view. She knew what she said would sound inappropriate from a human perspective, but to a beast like her, it was what it was. More than that, we were the weird ones knowing and being able to talk that specialnguage of hers. Now, why would a human know a tiger''snguage? Simple question, right? And she was a witch, so it was fine to some extent. Her special magic as well as the [Old magic] naturally made her a great polyglot like me. And even though this olddy friend of mine understood stuff like that, she was overthinking the word ''mate''. There was nothing to overthink there. Absolutely nothing. Nope. "It was just Taika''s way of calling two people who like one another. Don''t think too much about it. I don''t wanna get arrested- I mean, you know what I mean, right?" I knew it would be difficult to keep the wild hormonal changes and stuff under control, but it was a small matter. The big question would be what to do in situations like this. She just fell into deep thought on just a single word, and there could be a time I might be the same too. What then? We can''t survive something dangerous like the evil spirit if we do fall for something so dumb as this, right? "Rein. I said it quite a few times in these some hours we have known each other. It''s not like you to act foolishly like this. Yes, I love that blushing face but; you are overthinking right now. Not fantasizing. You know the difference, and you still pointlessly do this. Do you think I can ever find someone even close to you?" This was a grave, deep question. And a basic foundation called ''trust'' and an immovable trust in our case was the only thing that will make us ''us''. We had the foundation, a natural foundation, but time was the only thing that could solidify that. It was difficult to put it in words, but I knew she understood what I was saying, and there was no way I was even going to try finding someone else. She was already a part of me, no take back now. We don''t have that policy here. There was the first time everything. And I didn''t want to search for the second time in this life in this matter. I was like these beasts too, maybe, after living among them for this long time. I only ever wanted one, and there was only one chance for this dark heart of mine. "If you doubted that something would go wrong, we would part ways, clich¨¦ shit like that just from hearing the words of a powerful beast, then darling, you are mistaken. When I like something this much, there is no way in this nature I would let go or betray that belief. I don''t know how things will go with ''us'', but I do know for sure¡­ we will walk the same path for this. While holding hands, just like this." The flow that this thing started at and what was going on is too weird, right? Well, even I can''t do anything about that. We both were sitting before each other, forgetting all the background chuckles,ughs, and fun they were having with the big tiger. We were holding hands, fingers interlocked with others, looking at each other in this quiet moment, and she had calmed down after hearing thosest words. ,m Even more, she was now relieved, happy, and back to her normal self. The smile on my face made her smile, too. Actually, she smirked with a yful smile. "Damn right, bastard. You will never find someone like me~." The smirk on her face was deep, and this behavior that suited herself perfectly relieved my heart. Then she sighed. "Haaa... and I don''t think there''s another one as perfect and weird as the one before me. The amazing archer who can kill a target from miles away, a closebat expert that can enter the ZONE at will with different fighting styles. A mage and weapon wielder who just loves what he''s doing. An amazing chef I won''t be able to find anywhere. Plus, if we aren''t together, how will I meet my beloved Anna more frequently? Plus, there''s that special ice cream-" And even before she can think of reaching those words, I cut her off, fully knowing she will say something like this sooner orter. "No." And that was the quickest, cleanest, and the simplest answer I can give to her popping desires. And as I knew, her face was suddenly clouded with disappointment and anger. She looked at me with furious eyes, angry and cute. How is she cute when being angry like this, god... "Ha... ok. You can have it when we do the spirit summoning ritual after dinner." She was pouting just a moment ago when I declined her request, and that was just a subtle change of expression. And I saw it so clearly that I won''t ever forget it now. Let''s consider this one a free gift. No need to tell her. But, as soon as I mentioned the spirit summoning ritual, forget Rein, the old ones who were just so naturally feigning ignorance, turned their heads toward us with an excitement-filled look. I genuinely forgot we were with our family and that even after speaking in this almost inaudible voice, the strong old ones could hear us. "Your fault," sheined after the sudden transition of facial expression of surprise to a yful smirk. And, well, yes. "My fault indeed." Now they won''t leave us alone. "Haaa..." We both sighed in helplessness, knowing full well just how they will do everything in their power to see this summoning ritual. And, if it were me... they knew it won''t be anything normal. Now they had another entertaining thing to see before we go back to my new home. And we were helpless here. I knew she will being with me after this talk a moment ago, but our chance of some alone nighttime was ruined. It can''t be helped. What has happened has already passed away so we can just stay in the present and do what we can, and wanted to. We were happy, though. Taika had cheered up the mood, and we hadpletely forgotten about that ''test'' from a while ago. Taika, she was quite something, and I pray dad can have enough strength to handle this beast that possessed (Indigo) ranking strength even at this moment. Oh, right... ''Three eyes.'' Chapter 246 A Powerful Being ============ [True mountain tiger] (Familiar name: Taika) Strength: 201 Dexterity: 218 Stamina: 222 Magic Power: 159 Intelligence: 102 [Skills: Elemental order, Wise gaze, Ruler''s presence, Wind walk, Nature restriction elevation, Calmness of wild, Ultra instincts, Miniaturization, Camouge, Hunter''s senses, Red release, Blue release, Green releases, Territory marking, Evolution.] ---> She''s an undeniably strong being, and if you so much as think of going against her, we won''t be alive to see the next light. ---> A true being born to rule, and that same noble being has chosen someone to serve. That person would be truly a being of incredible personality. ---> It is rare for a ruler to serve under someone, but every one of them knows one thing: the one they chose would undoubtedly be an important figure. ,m ---> She as apanion knows just how strong her master is, and even after having the strength to kill him, she can''t be certain. ---> They share the same elements, but, even then, the tiger that Mana obeys is a strong magical being. ---> But, there is always more to a creature following another creature aside from strength. ---> There might actually be another unique reason she followed her master. ---> But still, she is happy with the things she has now, genuinely happy. ---> And she has quite the way with words, nicedy. Unlike a certain someone. ============ ''Yes, that master is my dad. And what have I done for you to say such words? Am I not a good master, my beloved baby? Do you know just how much I''m grateful to have you? You are amazing, always amazing. Someone I''m proud of. An amazing ability. My amazing ability.'' I felt a weird sensation in my mind as I said those words and almost like some little child was embarrassed, this sensation felt tangling. This skill was mine, as the master had said in the past. And I was the one who controlled it. Even if it bes something far stronger in the future, it will always be my ability. And we both knew this much. That aside, after I finished reading the status window, and when even a beast like Taika didn''t notice this, I knew my skill was truly far stronger than my [Appraisal]. And Taika was strong. Like, really strong. These numbers were some of the highest ones I had ever seen. The skills were something so unique I was seeing them for the first time even while knowing what they did and how they worked. The skills were strong; the stats were high; she was familiar, and she was still some years away from achieving her full strength. She was an adult, no doubt, but she was a beast that could be far stronger than she was now. But that was ok... from what I can tell, she was only some decades old, nothing for a tiger. They lived for millennia, bing godly beings that single-handedly ruled whole mountain ranges. Their power sometimes even rivaled weaker divine beasts but, divine beasts were different creatures altogether. Though she was some of the few purple-ranked creatures I have seen in my life, I have seen worse, and I mean really, really, ferocious worse creatures of just (Purple) rank through Celes''s eyes and voice. I had even seen two passing through with my third eye but, at that time, I was practicing just at the ends of the barrier so I could say I was just lucky. And, the creatures of (Purple) rank in the dark forest were even more ferocious beings one cannot even think of. ''Well, not everyone has seen a hydra or drake. Or one of the most gorgeous beings in the world, the [Lion of moonlight]. I was fortunate enough to see one, but it was just for a moment. In total, I had seen around twelve purple rank or potential to be purple rank beasts, including Taika. And most of them were dark creatures or undead creatures in the area of a dark forest. And though dangerous, I now wanted to visit all four of the gates of the great forest of Kamut. And if this faithful life allows it, I will have some great adventures like that in the future. But for now, I was here, with them, and I wanted to stay just like this, for as long as I can and be an adult, and then the engagement... ''Her hands are soft despite being a scythe wielder. Gentle and smooth. Maybe her lips would be the same.'' Well, I was just thinking of some useless stuff while looking at her calm face and I knew from those sly eyes, she was thinking of some more dangerous things than these. Well, we weren''t restricted from having fantasies of our own, like... why not? Some day, it was going to happen, not soon but someday, right? And this was a quiet evening, in her guardian''s backyard, we had our families, Tuuli was here too. And she was quite a different bird than the most normal ones out there. Sitting before Zoe, this eagle-like bird was looking at her with great reverence, as if looking at the being of the highest standing, and Zoe quite actually was one. Phoenix is the ruler of all birds, creatures with the highest standing within any kind of bird, and even though Tuuli was a ''royal'', she was still just a low-ranking creature before a divine being like her. And Zoe being Zoe, just caressed her and started talking with the crow and this little eagle. The three of them looked cute, and mom was ying with Taika with Anna sitting on her back. Anna had an amazing expression while riding this giant tiger, and she looked quite cute. Everyone''s familiar, those who had it naturally, were here. Alf and Rein''s dad didn''t have one, but Rein''s grandmother sure had one, and it was also some of the most magnificent creatures one could ever hope to see. And if all the familiar were here, requesting to meet him would be a perfect time, no? ''Where''s Leonardo?'' I asked while looking at her, and even though we didn''t say a word this time too, she miraculously understood theplex name I had used. ''Hmm... that big turtle stays in the back forest near theke. He can directly feel how grandma is doing. He''s also big, so he avoidsing here if not asked. Why?'' Even I didn''t know how I was understanding these long lines... magic? ''Well, everyone''s familiar is here. I just wanted to see the famous guardian turtle of Atraxia, too.'' I smiled with an admiring expression, and she could feel just how genuine I was at this moment. And it was reasonable. We were talking about a creature that has been part of this house from even before he found his master. The stories of the guardian turtle were known throughout the empire and I had naturally read them from the time I was with mom and dad at that border town house. A guardian beast saved by the previous duchess from a distant forest and protected and raised by her with great care. She wasn''t her master though, but they treated each other as family. And even after she passed away and be one with mother nature, he continued guarding this family as their guardian beast. And maybe that was also the reason the previous duchess added a turtle mark at the corner of their family''s insignia that had stayed unchanged from the time of the first patriarch. Now, there was a purple base with a golden pattern of a peculiar shield and three swords. As well as a turtle at the very right corner of this insignia. And though this had caused argemotion at that time, enough to be recorded in history, they had no say against this matter. The previous duchess was someone like my mom, an excellent merchant, mom, as well as someone who possessed the power of [Authority], stronger than even my mom''s. Her words were enough just to make even someone of (tier-7) strength kneel before her with just a word. She was strong, and I would have loved to meet her, but... well, not even my mom was born at that time. The beast stayed as a part of the Atraxia household and continued as it grew with time, actually; it was a rare (Indigo) ranked beast almost thought to be extinct. Maybe the one here, as well as some in the great forest and areas like the great forest, meaning the forbidden zones, were the only ones left. Well, they were enormous creatures, and Celes had seen one such beast, though, the distance was too great and I couldn''t see it myself, Celes was good with describing details. And I knew that creature was something I could never want to harm. The one she saw had be part of nature itself, almost bing a mountain. And I hadn''t seen this one, but I knew the guardian of Atraxia was at least bigger than this giant castle-like estate. It wasn''t that big when he met Rein''s grandma from the stories, though. After a certain stage of time, these creatures, the [Great earth turtles], gain a fitting elemental affinity and start growing as adult beings. They gain strength, Power over Mana-like tigers, and the ability to control the entire terrain. These creatures of the earth, are wise beings that live for thousands of years, bing one with nature after a certain period of a lifetime. Well... this one was the greatest and maybe the most powerful familiar in our family for now. This turtle was the strongest, maybe some of the oldest here, and a creature who reached its full potential a long time ago. He was the strongest he can be, unlike the old crow who had some space for growth as Rein was far from reaching her full strength, or even Celes who was the youngest familiar in this family. And if every familiar was already here, why not a giant turtle too? And Rein can see this anticipation-filled look in my eyes, so she smiled happily and looked at her grandma, who merrily chatted with my grandma over the great tea and shouted. "Grandma~! Eon wants to meet Leo~! Can you please call him~? Anna would like it too~!" Chapter 247 The Protector Of Atraxia "Hmm? Leo?" She was surprised by the sudden question and Rein''s voice was loud, so everyone heard this clearly. And naturally, this caught Anna''s attention. "Who''s Leo~?" She shouted in her ever cheerful voice from Taika''s back with her cute, radiant smile. And she wasn''t the only one to cheerfully shout like that. There were others who were surprised by this sudden request too, and although it was unreasonable, even they knew she wouldn''t actually mind calling the creature, even if it was too big for this ce. And after Anna''s cheerful question, the others, especially Alf, also shouted in a loud voice. "Leo?! You mean the guardian turtle of Atraxia?!" His voice was loud, his heart beat faster, and the expectations-filled eyes were also something that made our moms chuckle. And, after he mentioned the word turtle, Anna shouted again¡­ "A turtle~!? Anna wants to see the turtle too~! Daddy said they are big, strong, and coool~ creatures. We have one here too~?" Her question was expected, though. She was a child who had seen less of the world than me. Even I haven''t seen a turtle for a long, long time. Not with my own eyes, that is. Turtles were mostly sea creatures andnd turtles are mostly found in ind nations or distant ces, so seeing a turtle was a rare thing in itself. And here, we were talking about a familiar, strong, energy beast who ruled over the surroundings they walk on. Everyone knew the name Leo, and even if there was something of that name, it was easy to guess what Rein was talking about from the way she said it. And this really was something we would all like to see. Meeting the guardian who had protected their family for more than a few decades. And although the creature was youngpared to its millennia-long lifespan, he hadpleted his growth. The creature wasrge, and Rein''s grandma was helpless against the star-filled eyes everyone was giving her. "Sure. He will love meeting such marvelous people, too." She was hesitant, but she didn''t disagree with these selfish requests of us young children. Even I had starry eyes while thinking just how great that creature would be and I really was excited to meet an (Indigo) ranked perfect creature. Rein, sitting before me, was enjoying my excited expression, which I knew she definitely found cute. And I didn''t mind that one. There were some unique expressions of hers I liked more than her blushing ones. Just shaking my head at these thoughts, we all looked at grandma who had closed her eyes and bent down and touched the grass-filled ground. She was feeling the grass and the earth with her hands, and maybe trying to feel some vibrations of the earth, ormunicate with the earth itself. Well, whatever she was doing, after a few moments, I heard Celes''s voice in my head. [[ Master, he is big~. But nothingpared to the one from the forest. ]] And after saying that much, she shared the vision of a mountainous creature, slowly walking through the forest, but not crushing the trees in his path. It was strange and as we looked from above, this looked even more surprising than looking normally. A giant turtle with a giant scaly back, a round hard rocky back that looked like a mountain in size. Though his whole body was green, from its legs, and shell, to even its tall heading out of his shell, one part of its body was different from this entire green body, covered by forest moss and nts... its eyes. They were blue, deep, filled with wisdom, and so big that they looked like a small pool of water. As it moved with this giant body, the earth didn''t shake like it normally should, but instead, the trees in his path moved and made way for him to pass, and after he passed from that ce, they returned to normal. The turtle exuded a significant amount of natural energy, something I had only felt when I met the golden deer family. The power to just naturally influence nature and the element of nature those beasts controlled. (Indigo) rank was a stage few creatures could reach even after having the potential and bloodline of that rank. Not the ''true potential'' of an (Indigo) rank. What I was seeing right now was the true (Indigo) rank. Strong creatures of nature, being that had the ability to naturally influence nature. (Purple) ranking creatures like Taika though were different beings altogether. Just being one of the creatures of (Purple) rank meant they would reach that rank even if they did nothing and just hunted creatures in the wild. And how much a creature of purple rank grow after reaching the limit of their rank was all up to them, their life and their master, if they had one. Purple-ranking creatures were fundamentally different beings altogether. Unlike other beasts, they can change their forms after reaching a certain stage, then evolve into stronger creatures. But at that rank, they aren''t energy beasts anymore. They are ''normal'' humanoid creatures who were once a beast. The natural restrictions, abilities, power, and strength, they had would also change after that evolution, and Taika was a creature that will evolve after a few years when she reaches the stage which she will definitely reach. And dad was her master¡­ it was all up to him how he treats her, handles her, and how their rtionship develops. This evolution would even make her far stronger than she was right now, and I know she was damn strong. Even more than this giant turtle. She was strong right now, and she will grow even strong and that was what tigers were. She was born to rule and serving under someone weaker than them was fundamentally thest thing they should do. But Taika was different. More than that, she was weird for a ferocious being like tigers. She was a special one among her kind, just like Tuuli. Taika saw the true potential of dad, which was genuinely higher than Rein''s grandma. And the olddy already knew that. Not only that, I still did not know what had happened and just how these two met but, I knew one more thing¡­ Taika genuinely saw dad as her master and respected him and all of us. Not just because we were his family, but she was just that different. She was an excellent partner, and so was the giant creature which had just exited the forest area, and I can see it with my third eye now. He was big, enormous if I said so. I had seen few who were of his level and even then, he was a familiar, something that would have been impossible for normal people to see. But I was seeing this and he was closing in with an unreal speed. Just a few more steps and he will be here, but, well, he was a strong creature for sure. We watched as arge figure entered everyone''s field of vision and the position of the sun made him even more visible, lighting the scaly back of the turtle with its golden light. This was evening, soon it will be sunset and Leo would have to go back as soon as we were finished here. He was a good beast, and right now, there was a turtle smile on his beaky face. He was an old grandpa, full of wisdom, and without a doubt, a strong creature. ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Giant Earth Turtle] (Familiar name: Leonardo) Strength: 180 Dexterity: 174 Stamina: 165 Magic Power: 149 Intelligence: 93 [Skills: Elemental request, Nature walk, Earth powers, Terrain ruling, Mana speech, Defensive fortress, Spinning wheel, Magic canction, Wise one, Protection scream, Metal creation, Green blood guardian.] ---> Look closely. Watch, observe, and memorize. This is what a truly powerful being with this much strength looks like. ---> This is the limit for a creature of simr rank, and creatures of higher rank than this are a creature of unfathomable strength. ---> Though this turtle is cute, don''t fall for those adorable looks. ---> The creature has a very high affinity with earth attributes, and the level of control it has is magnificent in itself. ---> A great being, and one who knows what its true powers are, unlike someone who has barely touched the surface of this ocean. ============ ''I know already. And don''t worry. We have time and I believe we can reach even higher than just reaching the maximum.'' It wasn''t even a question. I AM weak. I was weaker than even Rein if we talked about pure strength. I can defeat her, sure can, but not normally. I had this golden fruit, the special artifacts, all the enchantments on Asta, and the scripted spells in my mind to help me. Without them, I might even lose to Alf, let alone Ca. I was still weak even while having all the knowledge, skills, Solnova, and magic. I can just memorize stuff. I was not a genius like Alf or Ca, not in a normal manner anyway. My talent was archery, as well as energy maniption. And both were difficult to actually use inbat against strong opponents. Even my original skills. I was far from being able to utilize even half of their powers. I was just lucky to reach [Upper-intermediate] mastery and (Stage-2) for my eyes. ,m I still had a long way before me, and I wasn''t worried about anything. Things will go well, I knew they will. But that was for future me to think, not the me who had the whole family around me, watching the giant creature who was looking down at everyone and... especially me. He wasn''t a ruler like Taika so I knew he won''t know about Zoe but; he was eagerly looking at me right now. The shadow of its enormous figure cast upon this entire house, and the way how every servant and people from the house were outside, looking at this creature with excitement and surprise, I knew calling him here was something bigger than I thought. But, the beast was already here and, instead of looking at his master who had been on his deathbed for that long of a time, he was looking at me. He was looking at me with genuine surprise, and even I didn''t know the reason behind this. His deep blue eyes were sparkling as if he was looking at something very interesting. And I really had no idea why he was like this. I wasn''t the only one surprised like this though, everyone was. And we didn''t have to think too deeply as the giant creature smiled down at us and opened his mouth and spoke in an old, but clear voice, [ "Aren''t you special, young boy~?" ]. Chapter 248 All Familiars Plays His voice was like an old wise turtle from an animated movie that has be an all-time ssic and was even watched in my time in holography and VR. That aside, the curious look in his eyes caught everyone''s attention, and... well, his eyes were big. Almost two meters of diameter eyes, his height almost being fifteen or sixteen meters with his head still not fully out, his length was twenty meters almost and his smile alone was two to three meters. And although he used [Mana speech], something I have seen before, just his appearance was more surprising than the fact that he can talk. And Anna, as well as Zoe, were amazed by the appearance of this magnificent creature. "Wow... really biiiiiiig turtle~." Her voice was filled with admiration and when she said this, the giant turtle''s eyes went on this little angel. [ "Oh? A protected one? I see what they saw... even I would fall for this adorable beauty~." ] His smile deepened when he said that much and after he said that, an even deeper surprise appeared on his face as soon as his eyes spotted Zoe. [ "Wow... master, it seems we have many surprising individuals with us here." ] Unlike Anna and me, when he was watching Zoe, or observing would be a better word, there wasn''t just surprise in those giant eyes. There was confusion as well as pure admiration. I knew this was because his eyes, just like mine, Rein''s, and Zoe''s were special ones. And this was a very rare skill of their kind which rarely manifested in few ones. The [Wise one]. An ability that is simr to Rein''s (Old magic) but not just at that level. Rein''s skill was special, amazing and a cheat skill found only in ancient creatures of (Indigo) rank. And I have heard her story of how she fought an unreal enemy, experienced her first [ZONE], and even gained this skill after that fight a few years ago. That was an amazing story and I know we will talk about it again someday. But the skill [Wise one] wasn''t just a skill of this turtle''s race. It was some of the very raremon skills that can manifest in any creature of this world, be it weak or strong. But, one thing was sure: beings with these skills are always special, smart, more intelligent, as well as wise. In addition, they can see the true ''potential'' as well as get an idea about some ''special powers'' of other beings. And I can tell from how his eyes fell on me first before anyone else... he sensed Ronna. Then he saw a new blessed one, a young child, no less. And at the end, his eyes met a being whose potential he can''t see, creating surprise as well as awe. He knew what it meant when he can''t see someone''s potential. ''It''s¡­ so overwhelming he''s too weak to even fathom its depth.'' And even I will forever be grateful that I not only just knew someone like her, but I was her guardian and big brother. Zoe was a special being, and I couldn''t help but admire her forever. Anna was just amazing, and just a nce at her true potential was enough to at least make your heart waver. And he was an old being, a wise one who had worldly awareness at the very least. Though it was difficult for normal humans, I knew the old ones in my family already knew about the special existence deep within me. The soul was the most basic and fundamental energy and all the living as well as non-living, practically everything possessed soul energy in different forms. And the ones like me and the headmaster, those who possessed a [[(Soul Armament)]], looked just weirdly different. The turtle looked around the garden, spotting Ca and Alf, and looked at them with pleased eyes. I knew his master was talking with earth vibrations almost like telepathy, and this was amazing. The connection was difficult to breach in, and I didn''t think I could interfere with theplicated spell without using the very few breaching spells I had in the script. And I had no need to do such a thing for now. The master and familiar were happily looking at each other, and he was d his master was alright. He even looked at me for a moment, saying thanks with his calm expression, and I nodded with a happiness-filled smile. This grandmother was a good person and, more importantly, she was someone important to Rein. I was just happy from the fact that I could help someone be with their loved one, and grandmother, no less. Even happier that it was someone close to her. If we hadn''t met in that forest and I didn''t have that cure, I didn''t know just what had happened to us. would we be like this, holding hands, sitting before each other? Maybe we would. Maybe this would have inevitably happened, and we would have met in the future anyway. Maybe we would have somehow found each other and started with friends, true friends, and then more. Maybe¡­ we wouldn''t have. But, I didn''t want to think about the negative one. We were together, with both our families like this, and there was a giant turtle before us, smiling andughing like any other beast present. He was a good creature, that I can say for sure. He was a special one, just like everyone in this family. But he was the most normal creature of his kind. Not rare as an origin beast, not a royal breed like Tuuli, and not a ruler like Taika. He was an earth turtle, and he knew it better than anyone else. He was the strangest being present right now, even stronger than our grandparents if things were right. He was a creature who knew the most about himself, a nigh perfect creature of its kind. Well, now every familiar was here. Chapter 249 All Familiars Play (2) The youngest and smallest being Celes, then Tuuli, then the old lion, the giant tortoise, and atst the beautiful crow. Rein''s crow was the oldest in this family and her grandma''s giant turtle was the biggest. This was theplete one, and now, things had also calmed down. Leo bent down and bowed his head to talk with everyone and just his head was one-third size of the estate. He was barely inside the estate, his back body being outside of the gigantic walls. But Anna liked this big turtle more than her giant kitty, Taika. And the way she gave more attention to this giant creature didn''t go well with the big cat. She got jealous and even tried to take Anna away from him but Anna refused her, understanding what might be going on in her mind and her feelings as Anna''s ''mother''. Well, Anna understood everything and gave both beasts a kiss, asking them to be friends. And Taika just epted that she can''t have this sweet angel all to herself. She wasn''t someone who would be a certain someone''s. And Anna wanted to y with this new grandpa turtle who can talk. Maybe after Celes, this was her first time seeing a beast that can talk. And this turtle was interested in Celes too. Celes was ying with Anna all this time and when he noticed her, he can''t contain his curiosity. Anna being Anna, introduced the two, and I just watched the little girl having some fun. And this was wonderful to look at, a pretty and wholesome scene. She had fully recovered from that shock from some time ago, and this was all thanks to Celes and Zoe. Maybe the crow, too. Mister turtle was also helping Anna, ying with her however she wanted. Taika then went back to her ''owner'', to my mom and dad and dad was talking to his kitten about her ''words''. Dad knew we knew what things this big cat was saying a while ago, and I can''t help but remember those things. And this person before me was the same, almost wanting tough at those words. But we can control this much, and more than that, we were holding hands. This was no lewd thing if some cultured person was out there. This was pure. This was a pure thing, devoid of the ''stuff'' that one might think. No. Neither of us had those thoughts, especially her. We were good children who knew things, and even though difficult, we knew the time woulde to cross the boundaries. I wanted to see the big turtle, and I had fulfilled my wish. The sunset was approaching, and¡­ this was going to be an outside candlelight dinner. And I could have made the dinner today myself but the mood was too nice so I wanted to do something else. And everyone was the same. The house chefs were good, no doubt, and everyone was already tired from the things that happened today. So, the dinner, then the old ones will apany the two of us for the spirit summoning, and then, if things go well, I can have a good sleep. Alone, obviously. We were leaving tomorrow morning. Everyone had work after this weekend and I also wanted to see the great capital. Well, I won''t have to worry about a thing, as I will have one of the greatest guides with me in the capital. The guide¡­ this pretty girl. "How''s capital?" I asked this great guide sitting before me, and she smiled with a confident expression. "It''s an amazing ce~. From the outer area, the markets, the inner areas, the area of upper standings, everything is amazing~! Of course, there''s your mom''s auction house, one of the attractions of the empire. I have been there many times, and I just know you will love that ce when you go there in the future. Aside from that, there are many unique street foods, high-ss hotels with great food, and cool ces to y around. It''s a great ce. You will have fun there~." She smirked at thatst line and I didn''t know if it was just my imagination but she definitely said ''you'' will have fun. "Haaa... nice joke. But you areing with me. No joking there. Just stay with me for a while and help me get used to this new ce and capital." Well, I knew asking her to stay with me was too much, but she understood what I was trying to say, and this little old childish girl just smiled calmly at me. She didn''t answer with words but, I already knew she was going toe with me. Well, the day wasing to an end with the golden sunset painting the horizon with its marvelous colors, and we all knew this would have looked from higher ground. And what better higher ground than this giant Leo''s head? But, well, not many had much interest in seeing this sunset. Rein and I had seen the sunrise together so, we just transported to the same rooftop to see the sunset too. Well, I would have loved a dinner here too but, this ce was ''dangerous''. ''Anything'' can happen here so, we went down as soon as the sunset was over and only some color remained on this horizon, and the night sky greeted us. ''Haaa... the day was fun and now, there is her special spirit summoning. I wonder what special one wille at her call. It would be fun if it''s a cute one. It would be amazing if she has a baby of her own too. She will have a great practice for the faraway future.'' And this sudden thought of mine¡­ made me chuckle unconditionally. I didn''t mean it in some weird way you all might think but, it was true in the end. If in the end, there was peace, I wanted it to be with her and the special people in our lives. Lives are short but, they definitely be epic when a narrator who loves his work more than anything ''describes'' them. Chapter 250 Before Summoning "Dinner was nice~." Iplimented as we walked in the hallway of the first underground floor. This was already early at night and almost everyone had gone to sleep after some chatting and ying. This had been a good day if we exclude the ''test'' and stuff that we went through because of that bastard headmaster. It was a bad one and he will definitely be punished when these old ones walking behind us get their hands on him. It would be their fun, and we had nothing to do with that matter. But for now, they were excited to see what I was going to do. There was an excited smile on their faces, and they weren''t bothering Rein and me as we talked about ''normal'' stuff. "Well, I''m waiting for the day you make something special for me. Just like that ice cream I will be having in a while~." She really was excited to eat that ice cream, and I really didn''t think she would like this that much. And if she was enchanted by this one this much, I had no idea just how she will react after just having the scent of the darkness vor. That one actually was one of my masterpieces and I really loved that one as well as the light one. If I want to exin just the sweet scent, the darkness vor had, then I would say it is something close to a super fine dark chocte, while the light vor was something like white chocte. But they were too rich and gooooood~ to be just at that level. But she won''t be having that one anytime soon. It has been some months that even I tested those two. Well, I knew the four grandparents walking behind me weren''t just here to observe the spirit summoning. And as soon as she recalled the word ''ice cream'', the sparkles in their eyes gave them away. The one we were talking about was special and few could actually ever eat it. And ironically, they can eat these ice creams because of their special bodies and blessing. The two grandpas were [King] ranked knights, and they had the [World authorities], something different from the normal noble authority mom had. This power was something that granted them the permission to use the power of that authority, however, they liked it to a certain extent. Rein''s grandma had a high affinity for earth and metal attributes, no less. Well, thankfully, I had the ice cream for every higher element, too. And then my grandma... she received the blessing of some of the only gods of the ocean. She can control waves with this power. And¡­ her power was totally destructive. And maybe not many knew this... grandmother was called the [Devil of the lighthouse]. ''Damn this family was filled with people with awesome nicknames and titles. My dad (Red-eyed hunter), mom (Golden demoness), then grandpa had two cool ones; (Tyrant of Maris) and (Golden hammer). And ording to Rein, people called Anna (Ruler of Heliox). Even my uncles and aunts had cool titles and names people called them with, but that wasn''t the topic now.'' All of them can eat that ice cream, Rein, grandpa, and grandmother having the water attribute ones. Her grandpa has a wind attribute and her amazing grandma has an earth attribute. It was strange just how I was talking about some ice cream right now, but it was really that much special. The water attribute tasted cool, special mint-like, but it brought the eater to all the water sources. From the mountain to the big ocean. The earth had an earthly taste, extracted from special wood and some special magic soils. And the wind one... that one was actually made from an almost extinct flower that grandma grew in the tower garden. It had a fresh vor of wind breeze flowing in the wide flower gardens. As well as fresh rainforests. And the morning breeze of dawn in a garden. All those ice creams were amazing, and maybe it was an epiphany that inspired me to make such amazing things. Even grandmaplimented it back at tower home and she really liked the [nk] vor. That one was my greatest creation and something even I can''t eat even if I wanted to. I dare say shepared that one to her own cooking in a genuine sense, and that was the greatestpliment of my life till now. So everyone''s excitement on this topic was valid and I couldn''t help but shake my head helplessly at this scenario. It was good that they were special people but if someone normal, strong but normal, even someone like my dad, tried this ice cream, they would get . And a fatal one that might get life-threatening if not taken proper medical steps. It was that much powerful, and the requirement of having a really high mental fortitude, high elemental affinities, and physiques was no joke. And Rein wasn''t going to have this ice cream for at least three days, probably a week after today. And I won''t give even if she begs. Maybe only I knew just how dangerous of a thing this was, even with just one spoon. One spoon was enough to just (Poof!) a normal human being. Though other races like dwarves, orcs, and elves would be fine after eating this and maybe overjoyed to taste something so natural like this. And I didn''t have much of it, anyway. I had, but not for others. So, only some spoons for the adults and one for Rein. And I will only be giving that once at a time for safety purposes. Rein is thest one. ''Her drooling face a while ago was also one of those special expressions I liked. Hehe¡­'' "Okey~. This is it~!" Rein''s grandma shouted cheerfully from behind as we reached one of the doors and I suddenly jumped back, asking with genuine curiosity, "why so much excitement?" "Hohoho. Don''t look at us like that, Eon. You already know why we are here, right?" My grandpa answered to this weird look I was giving them and I can''t help but sigh deeply at that cheerful smiling face. Grandmotherughed at this behavior of ours while covering her mouth, and¡­ she really was beautiful. My grandma... no one would say she was more than seventy years old. Same with my grandfather. He was the oldest in the family, aside from Rein, of course. He will be seventy-five by the end of this year and he was still in his prime, the best he could ever be. Shaking my head at all of these old ones, I opened the metal gate and entered the wide-open room with¡­ absolutely nothing. "The special training room of Mana conduction. We mostly use big Mana stones to increase free Mana density and the magic circle to increase the density is specially engraved in this room by grandma~." Rein had a proud look as we looked at the Mana circle in the middle of the room. She was happy while saying that and I couldn''t help but mumble in a low voice while seeing this magnificent work. Chapter 251 Before Summoning (2) "I used one of these when training my Mana to (tier-2). But that thing... couldn''t evene close to this one. Amazing..." My voice was genuine, and this made her smile even deeper. They knew about some of my experiences in the great forest and the time I broke through to (tier-2) was one of them. But, maybe this was their first time hearing I used this kind of Mana gathering magic circle in that. Well, it was true that I used some of the most basic ones at that time, and the one before me is definitely marvelous. "But..." It was true I used one of the lowest level magic circles at that time but, I wasn''t the same person I used to be, not in terms of techniques, strength, and knowledge at least. "We can do some improvements in this one," I said in a confident voice and as soon as these words escape my mouth, the grandma-granddaughter duo had their eyes widened. "You can improve a highest grade magic circle!?" Rein shouted, but her echoing voice didn''t fall behind her grandma''s. "You can overwrite a magic circuit already!?" The wise old grandma''s words caught everyone''s attention and now a proud smile appeared on my face. "Yes~. And don''t be too shocked but, I will just do some ''fine-tuning'' to this one. This is a great spell, just enough for want to do right now but, after re-writing some parts, we can improve the effects by a little over twenty percent-" and even before I can say anything more, the grandma cut me off and shouted in an even louder voice than her. "Twenty percent!? Boy, you can''t be thinking of turning this one into..." "As expected of a magic circuit master~. Well, yes. I will turn this one into the one elves use for spirit summoning. Well, then it won''t be something like re-write but editing. I couldn''t do something this perfect in a small period of time so I''m really honored to edit a spell like this one. Luckily for us, the elven version was actually derived from the human spell. They just modified this magic circle to fit their need some three-four hundred years ago. Definitely not something easy for even me, but certainly exciting~." I wasn''t expecting they would have something like this one already made. I just asked for a Mana conduction room and was going to use it as is but, the moment I saw this perfectly made advanced Mana gathering circle, I can''t help but want to do the big thing. Rewriting or editing a perfect magic circuit was something very few, only those with Mana control at the level of her grandma or headmaster could do. And I knew I wasn''t even good enough to control Mana as this grandma just yet. But, well, I had something I can control even better than Mana. Editing a circuit didn''t actually require Mana, but precise control over certain energy. I will have to keep the energy flow consistent in the circuit, use Mana to stabilize the whole circuit and add some useful things while removing some useless things. Plus, I had Asta maintain the Mana flow I just talked about. So, as they watched with open eyes, shocked beyond belief, I move forward and in the middle of the Magic circuit. It requires a lot of material for a permanent circuit like this one but, the edit I was going to do was a one-time thing. And it was a really fun process that will definitely make me cough up a mouthful of blood~! Taking out Asta from my storage crack, I caressed the red gem at the end of its body and, as always, she replied with a cheerful vibe. -Veeeeee~! Asta. If she can talk in normal words like Ronna, she would be one of the most cheerful beings in this life of mine. I had just asked her if she can execute (Act-2), (Paragraph-11). And¡­ she was happy to help whenever needed. The (Act) was a group ofmands, and the (Paragraph) is a particr spell or enchantment in those many things. Putting her base tip with the red gem in the center of this magic circuit, I left the big spear standing freely as a golden light escaped from the gem and slowly covered the entire ground like a stream of water covering the floor. "Wow... it''s even more amazing than your hammer, brother Zahavi..." Rein''s grandpaplimented Asta''s abilities as all of them could actually understand what was happening right now and grandpa couldn''t help but agree with those absurd words. "Even better than both your blood crazy scythe and my war crazy hammer." There was a warm smile on grandpa''s face that can''t be exined with normal words. And what he had just said, even I was proud and grateful to have Asta¡­ It''s not every day two [King] ranked knightspare someone else''s weapon with their partner weapon, which is a divine artifact no less. Both their weapons were special enough to already be in history, and they wereparing those things with my little old Asta. I was honored and the sudden, unexpected blush on my face¡­ made this baby-like witch smirk with pleasure. I rarely got flustered and that would be for a few moments only, and she liked this so much I didn''t think she would want to ever miss the grand moments like this. But¡­ I knew I had something more important to do right now. The light from Asta that covered the floor actually draw a special Magic circle just above the existing permanent one, and that was the one I would be tracing with my Solnova. My dear weapon was more than enough to activate that magic circle as the two magic circuits were visible in this room now. I just had to trace the remaining parts of the active magic circuit under the golden light. Elven magic wasn''t actually thatplex like the dwarven magic but, the elves made spells that suited their high Mana bodies too well. To put it simply, even if Rein can cast an elven spell if I teach her, she won''t be able to exert the full power of the spell, ever. Her body wasn''t made to cast high Mana conducting spells like those; she was a witch who was best at the witchcraft of death. And I was only subpar when it came to witchcraft even with my body that can circte energy not just like an energy beast but also as other races or actually, however, I wanted. Witchcraft was close to runes, or maybe far more in terms of difficulty, and only the special physique of a witch could perfectly handle that kind of ''magic''. And from what I knew, Rein was a damn good witch who has mastered a good number of things. Chapter 252 Before Summoning (3) Witchcraft was a separate ability from magic and scythe, not having some particr rank, level, or tier to it. Separate art that depended on proficiency, just like runes. I was a good runekeeper, and I was talented in that field. And I believed she would be as much pro in witchcraft as I was in runes. But still, she can''t ever be that good in elven magic. So even though these spells are lessplex than some different things, casting them is easier said than done. Thankfully, my master taught me all the stuff about magic I would need, and the magic circuits, circles, enchantments, and the fundamental Mana weaving were some of them. Editing this one would have taken time without Asta''s assistance but, when you just have to trace some lines and words, even a child would be done in minutes. So, finishing the editing of this one-time use circle I traced wasn''t some grand thing... not in my eyes at least. But for those who knew the real and genial world like them, this was an achievement far more than having a weapon like Asta¡­ "Even if that special energy is better for things like these, Eon, I don''t know many who are this proficient in using that. Just by seeing this much, one can tell how hard you have practiced, and how many times you tried and tried again to get this good. It''s amazing... and you are marvelous, my child~." My grandmother had genuine admiration in her eyes when she said this and I can''t help but smile helplessly at those words. I definitely trained tirelessly to learn as much ''magic'' from my master as I could, and I knew we had limited time together, and¡­ that was why I wanted to learn, even more, even a little bit more every single day. It was my greed to learn new things, practice what I knew, and even perfect what I had already learned. I had seen my master''s magic... the most beautiful, perfect, and unparalleled magic. I do believe nothing could be perfect but, for her magic... that was something closest to perfection I might ever see in this life of mine. Reaching even close to that point was my goal in magic, and the point I had reached right now was something a genius like Alf can achieve in a few years if he wanted, and that was even more reason I couldn''t stop at this point just yet. I had a mountain to climb even if I have reached the top of this hill, and I knew I will reach even higher. I had good enough talent, time, willpower, and this unreal thrust for more. I wanted to get stronger, not just because there might be new challenges in this uncertain life of mine, but also because I wanted to reach a seemingly unrealistic ce. Summitt, pinnacle, top... wanting to reach that untold realm was a greedy thing, sure it was but, I was greedy. I was greedy, maybe a fool to desire something unreachable. But my master... she never once stopped me from things that were unreal at first. She never said something was impossible. Yes, she put many restrictions on me but... they were only till I get strong enough to ovee them. But, well, I had a spirit summoning to do for now¡­ "This is done, and the magic circle will stay like this until we perform the ritual. So... who wants the ice cream~!" Their faces lit up as I said that and the cutest reaction was from my eagerly waiting little girl... my friend, Rein. "So, let''s start with Rein''s grandma. Then sir Maweth. Then my lovely grandpa, grandma, and then Rein." There was a bright smile on my face as I said that one. And I knew she understood what it meant when I called her name veryst. But before she can protest, her grandma couldn''t help her amusement with the words I used just now. "My lovely Rein? I see you have made good progress young ones~. So, who proposed it? When''s engagement, hmm? Don''t even try saying you haven''t decided~." There was pure confidence in her words, and she wasn''t the only one like that. All the other three were the same. Even grandpa Zhen outside the room was nodding in agreement. They were suddenly asking something very weird, more weird that I knew they would ask already. We know each other for no more than forty hours and... engagement? They had this much confidence in themselves, and Rein was ready at the moment''s notice for anything... this little witch. As soon as she heard her grandma''s words, she jerked her head towards me and... what can I do now? Because she was right, strangely, I had nned the time for the engagement but... "You know already, don''t you?" I asked with the same helpless smile to these old ones and I knew, the oldest one, Rein won''t understand what I was saying. She wouldn''t understand even the reason she looked at me as soon as that thing was brought up. But they definitely knew. All of them were experienced ones, experienced in the matter of hearts, that is. The reason they were after the two of us wasn''t just because ''we'' knew we liked each other but because they understood we won''t be well while being apart from each other. They have passed through every one of these phrases and even though I can say all these; it was still my first time feeling things like these, just like her. I just understood, but I had no experience of anything. And I genuinely just wanted to give time to every single thing. Just being driven by instincts wasn''t something remotely needed in this rtionship. It would turn wrong, less beautiful, less deep, and even less colorful that way. The youth was something we both needed to enjoy, and even if she had seen many things alone, seeing those same things with someone else, with a different perspective and other''s eyes... would be new. Haa... well, that was us, and they knew what I meant, so I didn''t have much to say there. ''White crack.'' The same old pure white shining light emitting crack that only I could see opened before me and I took out a single silver spoon with a green-colored spoonful of ice cream on it. And this ice cream... just seeing this was enough for them to understand why this cute old witch of us was acting like that this whole time. Chapter 253 Surprised Old Ones When I first made this ice cream, I wasn''t thinking too much about the grand things like how it wille out, what the effects would be or even how it would taste. Yes, I wanted to create something that a particr affinity possessor would love~. It was mostly for my dear master, and she loved it dearly, even genuinely praising it. But, in the end, it was just luck that I managed to create these ice creams. It was a fun thing when I was doing it but, when the first result of that unknown experiment came out, I understood I had created something far more amazing than just some ''normal'' special ice cream. Just eating one spoon of this high Mana concentration and natural energy ice cream was enough for one to have their Mana gathering speed increased for that attribute. And it worked for not only Mana but natural energy too, so even special knights like the two grandpas would like it. Well, it was addictive, but it wasn''t dangerous when taken by trulypatible and strong. Well, anyway... this wasn''t something I had to think too deeply about with them. This was a good remedy for a short while, but not in the long run. But, this ice cream was safe for me. I would be fine as long as I am taking an appropriate dose, but that dose was far less than these people than me. And the green spoonful that I just took out surprised Rein''s old grandma quite a bit. "Is that... just some ice cream, Eon? It feels more like a high-grade potion, maybe almost some low grand elixir..." She was awestruck by the cool air and potent energies oozing out of it, and that definitely was amazing. This thing was amazing and for an earth attribute user like her, this one would definitely feel far more than what they can feel from it. Well, I had a proud expression on my face while looking at that thing, and receiving praise for your creation is always an amazing thing~. I shook my head at her with a smile on my face and a new surprise appear on her face at this denial. ,m "I call this . Try it~. It''s quite good~!" I cheerfully suggested, and she took the spoon from me without any hesitation. There was an excited smile on her mature face and she first took a deep sniff of the amazing scent, which was enough to remind her of the great forests and, in them, deep caves with different, shining, pure minerals. Metals¡­ that would be hard to find most of the time. High steel, mithril, adamantium, oracalcium, tinum, magic steel, ancient brass, and many more rare metal scents must have bombarded her nostrils, and I knew... it was an attractive scent that would make the suitable eater restless. Just after having a sniff, one would know¡­ this was it. This was the thing they had been waiting for all their lives. This was the thing that would give them the serene feeling of calmness... and this isn''t some drug! She finished her scent feeling thing and atst¡­ put the silver spoon in her mouth and, as soon as the cool, creamy, fresh, new thing touched her taste receptors, I¡­ can''t help but shake my head at that pleased reaction. It was a divine feeling, addicting in true meaning like the [ZONE]. It was something one would do many things to have just a piece of, but, well; it wasn''t something I can give even if they can have it. She was feeling all the things an ''attribute'' carries, and that ice cream was made from a certain mineral that she specifically made for me just to make this ice cream. An alloy metal born from who knows what magic she used. But she definitely ''created'' a new metal on that very spot back then and after I analyzed that thing... I can''t believe but, it had no special property other than having the essential basic taste of many other metals after some basic processing. It was a strange thing, but, well, I would understand them in the future. She was in a nk state after eating that one spoon and¡­ this silver spoon was somewhat bigger than the one I gave Rein, so she was drooling visibly, gulping all the saliva. ''Damn... she''s a handful.'' Thankfully, she didn''t have fierce eyes, and she at least understood the warnings I gave her many times. Even if she would be fine after eating some of this, it wasn''t good for anyone''s health. Aside from me and Zoe, of course. Maybe Taika would be ok too, Leo too. Without a special body or a skill that can help you circte energy through your body, stabilize it, and redirect the excessive amount into ces that can handle higher Mana density, it wasn''t possible for them to handle the high amount of this simple ice cream. ''Dymn, I made something dangerous while ying and this ''friend'' of mine is loving it a little too much.'' I was just thinking too much but, well, who knew what would happen even if she was a witch with a special body and special powers? She would be alright theoretically, but... why take risks? I would love to see that desperate face over a crazy, out-of-control face any day. Shaking my head with a deep internal sigh, I turned toward her grandpa. Just likest time, I took out another silver spoon with a dull white ice cream, different from normal or milk ice cream. And as soon as he saw this, he couldn''t help but take the sniff, just like his lovely wife. Well, that one would taste like many fresh winds, no need to go too deep in that stuff, andstly¡­ my two dear grandparents. Each of them had a silver spoon of that same blue ice cream I gave to Rein back at themunication center. I already knew all of them would love this so, I just waited for them¡­ just looking at the confused expression of this dear friend of mine. I already gave others their portion, and they were in a trance, having their first time in that state of esthetics. They were having fun¡­ and the dy was making her even more desperate. Chapter 254 The Redness ''...mine?'' she asked with her eyes filled with confusion and cluelessness. ''What?'' I asked with the same clueless, calm smile, and I knew this look of mine would trigger something inside her. Her eyes sharpened, and she looked at me with anger-filled eyes. And I just smiled calmly and looked back at that funny face. ''Don''t joke around, Axion.'' She was getting angry, her face blushing red as she also understood this was ''teasing''. And on top of that, she just said my name, and not my nickname. She was genuinely getting worked up from just this much, and I was strangely enjoying this. The magic circle was glowing with white light and the golden light from Asta had vanished a while ago instead, only the ''core'' was blinking like a heartbeat. The four grandparents were almost done with the ''feeling'' and savoring of that special ice cream, and now, she was getting more restless after not getting any answer from me for a while. She was blinking her beautiful eyes faster, confused about why I wasn''t giving her what I promised¡­ ''Will you go back on your promise? You? Was this it to us, hmm?'' Damn, she was heating up now and I could feel her anger concentrated only on me. Not that they wouldn''t notice so, this one was futile. But her words were getting even more extreme now. This witch... she really was cute~. Just a bit more, lol. ''What are you even saying, Rein?'' I asked again with the same unknown, calm smile on my face and then... the ss broke. ''Ok then! Axion Heliox Kromet! I don''t wanna do this summoning!'' She shouted with a frustrated expression, her eyes clenched, and her face red in anger. And that red looked quite good on her beautiful, clean skin. And although I wanted to enjoy it some more, she was being serious when she said my full name, as well as how she turned around in frustration was actually real... Saying she didn''t want to do this spirit summoning just because I didn''t give her a spoonful of ice cream... she really was a handful. But I had to stop this handful one, so I grabbed her hand, and just then, all four of them also opened their eyes one by one. She was still frustrated, and I knew they understood everything just from a nce. And a pleased smile appeared on their faces while watching my sudden ''green'' expression and her ''red'' anger. "I said I don''t want to!" She shouted for real this time and looked ahead to go out, only to find the old ones smiling at her. And she... surprisingly didn''t stop advancing and even dragged me along, even with my ''genuinely normal'' grasping strength. "damn girl... sorry, ok? I will give you a silver spoon, so quiet down!" I increased my grip strength a bit, and she hopefully stopped moving. And now¡­ however hard she tried, she wasn''t going any further. Her anger was sweet in my eyes, but the strength she was exerting right now was something else. "Calm down, Rein. Please?" I pleaded to this genuinely hot-headed witch who finally, after a while of holding hands, calmed down. Then she smiled, didn''t even look at the smiles of these old ones, and turned towards me, stretching out her hand, asking for the thing. And with an even bigger sigh of relief, I took out a silver spoon with the same ice cream as my grandparents and handed it to her, earning chuckles and held back peals ofughter. Rein''s smile, which had hardly returned to her face, twitched in shock and she looked back at me, eyes filled with anger¡­ "Why this?! You said silver soon!" She shouted, and I knew she was going to shout like this... cute, right? "I said silver spoon. That is a silver spoon. If you don''t want that... then I guess we would have to do it without-" And when I stretched my hand to take back the spoon while saying that, she shoved the small-sized spoon in her gorgeous mouth, the same size as the one I gave her at themunication center. "I kwill swe ygou, kyu bastard!" The spoon was still in her mouth when she shouted that, not that I would hesitate to take it out myself. But the way she said the ''bastard'' word perfectly despite that spoon surprised me, so I just let her be. ''Man... she''s more than just a handful one.'' I can''t help the chuckle at this reaction of hers and she wanted to say more but the ice cream touched her mouth, and she fell into that great state she experienced yesterday. That pleased expression of hers was pretty, and I really wanted to see this expression for just a bit more but, there was one more reason I didn''t give her that ice cream right away. I looked at the four of them and nodded, and they understood I would be starting immediately. This state was short-lived and even if the effect of the ice cream wouldst for a while, I needed to do things as soon as possible. So, I quickly used [Quicksteps] and reappeared before Asta, and as she was just starting to savor the magnificent dessert, I took out the spirit stone and immediately ''recast'' a special scripted Solnova spell as soon as they were away from us. This was the moment I would summon a spirit for the first time to make a contract, and I wanted that spirit to be special among specials. I already had seen many spirits that she called without any Stone like this one, and among them, there were special ''types'' of rare spirits. And I can force the magic circle to summon a specific ''type''... though it takes a great toll on my mind and body. But, well... it was for her, so I believed it was worth it. And how could I do things half heatedly when she showed me such great faces, no? Smiling calmly, I closed my eyes, and a white light covered the room. (: Filter type #3) And then... the white magic circle I traced a while back turned into something entirely new. Chapter 255 Summoning The Spirit Spirits only had the ranks that we knew but, there are kinds. All kinds have their different ''type''. Like the water attribute sprites. They have their kind, and they are all called water attribute sprites, even if they are of ice attribute or mist attribute. Both of them are of water''s attribute, so they are water''s kind. But then, ice and mist, specialized in dual properties like ice and normal water, warm water, cold water, healing water, or even destructive water, are the types. The general spirits can do most of those things on their own, like using normal minor healing spells, small attack spells, or maybe defense spells. But, most of the time, what a spirit can do is decided from the moment they are summoned to make contact. For example, when someone calls a spirit for a normal contract, let''s say an elf is the one summoning them, then the summoned spirit would be random in all cases. Though their strength would be based on the strength and energy their summoner has, their ability to ''learn'', adapt, and handle the energy summoner has varied. And that is the reason many elemental summoners get disappointed because they don''t have a spirit that can grow any more than it has and can''t learn new things even while having more intelligence. The ability to adapt and learn is a special thing few spirits possess, and summoning such spirits is mostly based on luck.` Well, what if we can limit the range of summoning? What if we can narrow down the ''types'' from all the kinds we can summon? Not exactly a specific spirit but, at the very least, a spirit with specific characteristics and intelligence and growth potential. Summoning a water attribute spirit with healing properties, high intelligence, and the ability to learn, would be better than any random spirit that can use water and ice attributes but isn''t friendly or just likes to cause trouble, right? I can do that... the only problem is, I will cough some blood. Nothing serious, though. This Solnova spell that can limit these summoning was something she taught me, and one of the things that took me longer to learn. Like, just the spell took me one month, and then the execution and scripting process took another two months. Even now, this spell was soplex I need at least a month to finish one of these spells in scripting, and currently only had a few ready. And I used one of those here to help her get the best baby she could ask for. And after this much preparation... The Mana conducting walls, the modified magic circle that gathered the spirit Mana from the surrounding and increased the Mana density, my special Solnova magic circle, this spirit stone filled with dense spirit Mana that will be crucial in summoning. The special ice cream increased a person''s Mana gathering speed as well as attribute affinity, and most importantly... a beautiful witch. After I put my spell on the Mana gathering magic circle, which was only meant for increasing Mana density, was now shining in rainbow-like colors, almost like the headmaster''s eyes. But this one had far more colors than them, and the glow it gave off was also quite unique than before. Now, the magic array that was meant for Mana gathering had turned into something that changed the entire atmosphere of the surrounding, and now, the entire room was filled with visible particles of spirit Mana. The preparations had beenpleted; I was ready, the summoning stone was ready and the one who will be the one to call the spirit after I activate this... was also ready now. ''You took your damn sweet time savoring that one spoon, dear.'' I said as our eyes met and she looked at the glowing magic circle before her. She was on the other side of the room now. I was in the middle of the magic circle and our grandparents were in the left corner, which was quite a distance away from her. But they knew what was going on and they had shining, star-filled eyes as they looked at the magic array. This was amazing, and even my heart was beating faster than before. This was fun for me, even though she would be the one getting a baby. Her luck was terrible... and I knew that much because she found someone like me, but, well, I had great luck finding someone like her. And I would be the one setting things, and I can only hope that my high luck, and the high luck of all the four present here, would overwhelm her terrible luck, and a cute one emerges from this magic circle. I had done my best. Now, everything was up to her. And she understood this from my serious eyes and nodded with a delighted smile. ''My darling. Already taking care of this unlucky, old witch. Thanks... for everything, Eon.'' And now she was thanking me... though that ''darling'' was quite unexpected. But, well, why not? We had been called mates, maybe we had also epted the reality, so, she can call me anything she likes. I prefer Rein. Simple, cute, and special. Nodding my head at her with a smile, I got serious. ''Good luck. Hope you get a wonderful baby~.'' And... she shook her head helplessly at those words. ''Baby... why not~.'' ¡­what? That old witch smirked at those words, and the way she said thisst thing... damn naughty girl. Shaking my head in denial of those words, I channeled some energy to the stone in my hands and clenched my hand. The spirit stone shattered and turned into fine dust particles and as soon as that happened, a big pure white magic circle, the same as the stone, appeared above our heads. And now... this was our turn. The pure white magic circle, which was tooplex and different from the ones on the ground, started resonating with the ones on the ground. The resonation was powerful and almost the entire room, which was made of powerful walls that can even block high magic, started shaking. I held Asta with both my hands and as this partner weapon of mine was the core of the magic circle on the ground; I used my own energy to solidify the spell and then stabilized this chaotic resonation with the spell above. And as soon as that happened and the pure white magic circle turned the same color as the one on the ground, Rein knew what she had to do. Closing her hands, joining both her hands as if praying, she started sending all her Mana into the magic circle above. And, strangely, as soon as her Mana touched the circle, the magic circle started changing colors and started rotating in the air. This was strange for a spirit summoning, as the magic circle of summoning doesn''t spin like it was doing right now. The old ones on the other side definitely didn''t know what was happening right now but, though rare, I knew this phenomenon. And this one was a good thing. The magic circle started sucking her Mana, and she had closed her eyes, so thankfully she didn''t see my face. The two magic circles on the ground and air were resonating and the one that I draw to filter the oue was doing what it should while the one in the air was being influenced by this. I was holding it in but, this process was too harsh on both my mind and body. Even though I knew I would be alright with just one red potion after this was over, the strain was really something horrible. But I can handle it. She was enduring the thing on the other side so, I couldn''t just hold back right now. And I knew the feeling of your Mana forcefully being sucked out and¡­ it was no normal feeling. It was strange... and I knew just how spooky it felt. I knew it so well I can write a book on just the feeling of your energy being sucked out of you. And that tingly, weird feeling was something I wasn''t too fond of. So we both were suffering, and the results at the end of suffering are always nice, right? At least in this situation, the reward was going to be something pretty. Something amazing and something that will definitely choose to serve such a wonderful master as my ''friend'' Rein. I wanted to cough up the blood that was gathering in my mouth, but I clenched my teeth and waited for the summoning to finish. And, thankfully, it didn''t take that long for the magic circle to suck out enough Mana from her to summon the ranked spirit. The Magic circle that gave off this colorful light started changing colors, and slowly a green color started recing the giant magic circle. This green was strange, as green as the tree leaves, but... she should have summoned a water spirit, not an earth, nature, or wind spirit of green color, right? The oneing out of this magic array should be a water spirit and not something else but, I knew there could be more color to a simple elemental spirit. We can''t judge things just from the summoning color of the magic circle and so, we all waited until the creature was here. She was exhausted from the Mana drain. Her breaths were heavy, but... I couldn''t hold back this thing any longer. "Ahem! Ahem! Ahakkk..." I coughed out a bad amount of blood and I knew the four of them would be worried from just the sheer amount that covered the floor, but I lifted my hand and stopped them. I was fine for most of the parts, so it was ok. I was doing this out of my selfishness anyway, so it was all on me. And grandpa who was ready to just run up to me, stopped as he saw me firmly lifting my hand. He understood I was ok, or at least I will be fine. Thankfully, I held out until the summoning was done, and just after I coughed this crimson red blood, the summoning circle, spinning above us, glowing with a blinding light. And... I knew she saw me like that. But the light that blinded everyone was too much even for her so, she had no choice but to close her eyes. The light was pure, bright, powerful, and blinding. But, well, this one was nothingpared to what I have seen before. So, I was fine, and I had enough time to clean all this blood and drink the red potion to heal all the damage. And as the bright green light vanished, and she was able to see me once again, I smiled at her. And my warm smile at least calmed her sudden wild heart. She was fine, the four of them standing some distance away were fine and now, after both magic circles on the ground and ceilings had vanished... there was something new with us. Something actually adorable. And as mine and all of their eyes fell on this cute little thing... we can''t help our warm gazes. I¡­ no, we had seeded in summoning a wonderfully adorable being. My eyes were sparkling while looking at this baby, and everyone else was the same. But¡­ as we were looking at this being, this little one was also looking at the one who summoned her here with confused eyes. "Meeeeeoooo~?" Chapter 256 Clover This creature was small, cute, had four tiny pows, a somewhat translucent fluid green body with white stripes, and golden eyes, and she was looking at Rein with confusion. Yes... naturally, this was a kitten. A damn cute one. And she was the spirit Rein summoned. And just the fact that this spirit had a certain fixed form and not an uncertain form or just a blob of element showed just how special this being was. A spirit''s growth potential, intelligence, and learning capacity greatly depended on what form they have and the abilities they can use depended on their colors. And this adorable, confused thing that looked at Rein with innocent and worried eyes looked so cute... I now wanted something like this one, too. But the kitten, without looking at anything else, was just looking at her summoner, Rein, with a troubled gaze, asking her what was wrong. The kitten showed concern for this unknown person who summoned her and was now just fallen to the ground on her knees from exhaustion of her stamina and Mana. And even though Rein was concerned about me, she can''t look away from this kitten after the summoning. And when the kitten showed concern as her first emotion, it was enough to tell this was an excellent baby. A thoughtful one, and one that already liked her summoner. And seeing her in that state didn''t go well with this kitten, so the cute little kitten floated to her and stopped before her face. She was the spirit of water, she would naturally float. Rein can''t help the warm look in her eyes as she looked at this spirit, but the kitten didn''t like seeing her in that state, so she licked Rein''s cheeks with her white tongue. A little kitten liked her face... damn, me too, please. That was an adorable scene and, as soon as that happened, Rein''s eyes widened in surprise, and fresh energy ran through her body, rejuvenating her entirely. Her Mana visibly replenished, the small wounds on her body started disappearing, and even herplexion got better. And this was enough to tell everyone of us what this spirit was¡­ I envy her now. "Damn... true healing. One of the rarest abilities of water attribute spirits. Looks like my great luck worked this time, too, right?" I can''t help my smile at this scene, and this truly was amazing. Because the first ever spirit we summoned, and for water attribute, my most favorite one, was a healer. A rare ability to heal in true meaning. Not only wounds but also every aspect of others. Healing small or nonfatal wounds and replenishing Mana to a certain point body can treat possible internal injuries and alleviate pain, hurt, and fatigue. A rare ability, and a cute form. As well as a unique way to use this. And all this, only because I helped her. She can''t help but smile happily while looking at me, and that smile was enough for me. And after giving me this sweet look, she looked back at her new little baby with a smile that made the kitten smile too. "Mew~!" And even her voice was cute. Damn, she really got lucky with this one. The summoning wasplete. The spirit had already recognized her as a worthy master by using her special power to heal her. And now, the only thing to finish this spirit contract... Rein looked at this kitten-like spirit, deep into those golden eyes, even caressed her water-like spirit body, and then kissed the kitten''s forehead. "Clover. Plese, take care of this unlucky witch who summoned a marvelous being like you." A green light came out from her body and the kitten smiled happily at her as her body turned into particles and went into Rein''s body. ''The contract isplete.'' I sighed in relief now that the process and the first-ever filtered spirit summoning of my life wereplete. And this one wasn''t a nk summons with just a limited-time spirit. I helped someone make contact with a spirit, and this was one of the cutest ones I have ever seen. And she was a healer, no less. As well as the name Rein gave her... I liked it. Clover. A name that genuinely signifies love, luck, and care. And the little kitten, a spirit who is far older than the looks, matched the name perfectly. And from the great joy she had on her cute face, anyone can tell she loved this name. Maybe it was closer to her , or for some other reason, but Clover loved that name. But¡­ she was now Rein''s baby. A smug smile appeared on my face as I looked at her, and she smirked back at me in a weird way that washed away this smug face of mine. ''You really are thinking that stuff, aren''t you!?'' ''Well~. Who knows~?'' ''Damn, Rein...'' I shook my head in disbelief at that reaction and sighed deeply at the ''thoughts'' of this old witch. The summoning was sessful, the magic circle on the ground had vanished and the one engraved on the ground had already returned to normal and now, Rein can summon Clover whenever she wanted. And, as Rein''s Mana was quite high and its purity was closer to mine, a perk of being a witch, of course, she can materialize Clover for at least three hours straight. And that was materialization. She can talk to Clover all the time as she was now a part of her, just like Celes and me. ''And... I''m jealous.'' They can understand each other now even if she was in a non-materialized form. But, I can only understand her when she was out in the materialized state, so I can only talk with that adorable kitten when she summoned her. I... liked this spirit with a form of a cat and I knew Anna would love her. Anna would adore that water-like translucent body, her cute tiny self that was perfect for Anna''s size, and the marvelous golden eyes were the chocte chips of a cake. Anna will love this kitten, and Rein would love to spend more time with us back at our home, too. But... I''m exhausted. "Eon. You need some serious sleep." My dear grandmother said as the four of them walked closer and I knew she would have noticed this already. I had been awake for two days, and the fights on both days had consumed a lot of concentration and mental power. Even though I had an experience with staying awake for months... it was rarely like this one. I needed some sleep, and all four of them knew this. I would be fine without it, no doubt, but a good sleep would be just the thing before we depart for the capital in the morning. And as Rein heard that, she took a deep breath and walked up to us as I put Asta back after giving her a kiss. And Asta was just as happy as always. "Thanks, Eon. For this, as well as everything-" I knew just from those words, she was starting to go into that sentimental state again. And naturally, I didn''t like that one so, I cut her off mid-sentence and spoke up, "That''s okay ~. Let''s go now. You all have to sleep too, right? You used a lot of Mana too, Rein. So, go to sleep for now. You will have to introduce Clover to everyone tomorrow, right? You know Anna''s gonna love~ that adorable kitten, right?" My voice was loud, and she knew why I didn''t let her finish that sentence, so she just smiled genuinely and nodded at everyone. Today has been amazing, with that talk on the tree, that bastard of a headmaster''s test, the familiar gathering, and the summoning. It has been very... special. And I had never thought I would have this many different experiences and fun just after getting out of that damn forest. ''Haaa... and meeting these amazing people, and her, of course. This couldn''t have been more amazing~.'' I also nodded at them, and they understood the awesome show ends here. The day was good, we all walked out and grandpa Zhen who was waiting outside this whole time went back upstairs just when we wereing out. End of another long day and a chance for me to finally get some real sleep, but, when we all parted ways on the third floor, she followed me to my room, which¡­ was quite far from hers. And I just walked until I stood before my door, and after reaching my destination, I looked back at her new kind of smirk. ''Damn, girl. what now?'' I asked and she just smiled calmly with closed eyes and I shook my head. "Won''t we be sl-" "Good night, Rein." ? -nk! I close that door on her face even without hearing her next words, and just stood by the closed door, genuinely bothered by her teasing words. I could hear her happy giggles at this reaction, and she knew I was still on the door, so she leaned closer to the door and whispered in a low voice, knowing I would hear that even with this special Mana door. "Eon... good night to you too~." I could feel the happiness in those words, and I was at least happy, as she was happy. "Go sleep. We will have to depart early morning. Have you packed everything you would need?" I asked in a genuine voice, and an unexpected reply came from her. "Why would I need to pack things?" This was genuine, and she was smirking outside the door from what I can see with my third eye. "Okey then. Bye-bye." And I had no need to worry about anything after seeing that smirk, so I genuinely left her and closed the door from the inside, and just went to my bed. And outside, after hearing my bye, she was at first confused and then she got angry pretty quickly. ''Damn girl? Why sudden mood swings when you already teased this little old me enough for the day? Just get some merry sleep.'' She went to her room and closed the door pretty furiously. This third eye was an amazing ability, and I can see inside anyone''s room just whileying on my bed like this. But that wasn''t something I would do, or even wanted to do. This room was pretty good. Not close to the ones in the tower but as well as the rooms back at our house in the capital. And this bed wasfortable, perfect... for a... good sleep. [[ Good night master~. ]] [[ "Good night big brother~!" ]] [[ *What about today''s question?* ]] "Oh, yes. Haaa... Lucy? Can I tell Rein everything about me? Should I tell her...? How will she react to those things?" [[ *Master... you wasted your question on something obvious again. I told you it''s all ok, right? Do whatever your heart tells you with the matters concerning her, and you won''t have to waste any more questions. For now... good night.* ]] ''So you say... '' It will be difficult, I knew that already. But even Lucy epts these feelings. And when she said those words, I felt like the master was saying it herself. So, I think¡­ I can sleep soundly tonight. [[ "Goodnight everyone..." ]] Chapter 257 A Wholesome Morning In arge, luxurious room filled with all kinds of attractive items, a gorgeous boy with blond hair shining like threads of gold was sleeping soundly on hisvish bed. The first rays of the sun were shining down on him but, he was still sleeping soundly. The room was calm and the door of this room has cracked open so silently that not even the air in the room had changed. A tall girl with short purple hair and shining pink eyes sneaked through shadows, without any sound or even presence. She was smiling as she looked towards the bed and the person sleeping soundly on it. And that smile¡­ it was a pleased expression, almost close to a smug. She was closing in on the boy slowly, without any presence, not even Mana fluctuations. She was good at hiding her movements and there was actually no way someone would ever know she was even there but... she stopped mid-way as she saw the calm expression on the boy''s sleeping face. Sighing deeply, she just closed the door with her magic and then looked at the boy with an angry gaze. The boy was still the same, sleeping soundly and not even a clue of any change could be seen in that expression... at least, we can''t see anything abnormal. "I know you know, bastard. It''s too obvious." Her beautiful face turned annoyed and a subtle, yful smile appeared on the calmly sleeping boy''s face, his eyes still closed. "Tsk. You are no fun. I''m going." And after saying that, she just turned around and started walking out but, the boy shot open his gorgeous ruby red eyes and grabbed her hand from behind. His eyes were wide in surprise, and the smile on his face was the same. But she didn''t stop even after he grabbed her hand. "Hump!" She just shook him off casually and walked ahead and seeing this, he couldn''t help but sigh with that smile still on his face. She was walking away, and he had nothing to say at this moment... nothing aside from one thing. "Good morning, Rein." Her advancement halved as soon as those words came out of his mouth, and she looked back. "You ruined my good morning. Hump!" And with that, she resumed her walk once again. He was just smiling, but he didn''t move from his ce. This morning, she came to y a little prank, and he was awake but did nothing even while she was there, alone, locked the door, and¡­ he didn''t want to start anything today. This was their second morning together, as well as the second morning where the first person he saw was this gorgeousdy. And... she was angry she didn''t even get to surprise him. Angrily walking to the door, she opened it with a powerful pull and... as soon as she opened that door, an angelic figure appeared before her. Shocked, she looked down, and just observed the damn gorgeous figure of this cute, freshly woken up beauty with warm eyes. "Hello...? Did big sistere to wake up, yawn~, big brother too?" A young girl with long sparkling ck hair, a green nightgown, and a pure white teddy bear with special diamond-like eyes in her hand stood there, looking at her nkly, still somewhat in sleep. Her eyes were like red gems and the eyes of her teddy bear, which was a special gift from her big brother, were a special gemstone that reflected many colors, so it looked wonderful. This was an amazing morning view, and the green cotton cap on this sleepy girl''s head was even more adorable. The previously angry girl was instantly charmed by this beauty and just stayed like that on the door, staring down at her. And, when she didn''t move from the door, the little girl shook her head and passed through the narrow gap of the door and slid inside the room. He watched all this and he too was awestruck by the gorgeous appearance of his little sister, who smiled weakly at her big brother with a wave of the hand. "Good, yawn~, morning big brother. Anna waste. Big sister Elle got here first." He just smiled warmly at those words and her cute yawn and nodded his head. "Your big sister was excited but, sadly, I had just awoken when she came. And yes, good morning to you too, little adorable Anna. Did you sleep well?" The smile on his face was warm and her sleep slowly vanished as she heard his words. "A big brother. Why did you wake up early like that~?" "Hmm? What do you mean?" Her sudden words genuinely surprised him and she just shook her head and turned to the side where her big sister stood. Looking up at her, she motioned her toe down, and Rein bent down her knees as Anna kissed her cheeks. "Good morning to you too, big sister. We can''t help if big brother was already awake. Let''s try tomorrow, yawn~." This confused him, and the young boy who had lived in a forest his whole life genuinely had no idea what these two were talking about. ''Why was it so important that they wake me up?'' were his thoughts but, the young boy with that old mind couldn''t understand thedies'' feelings. The big sister and little girl just sighed as they looked back at his clueless face, that now had sudden enlightenment on why they acted like that. And, well, it was toote for anything now. He also sighed with them, and at that same time, their other sister with orange, fire-like hair walked in from the open door. She wasn''t hiding her presence at all so, they all noticed her and the short-haired girl waved her hand while looking back at her. "Good morning, Zoe. Did you sleep well with our angelic Anna?" Her question was genuine and the warm, fresh smile on her face was also something that touched her heart. "Yes, sister Elle. Anna is a good girl~. She even woke me up with a kiss. Anna is amazing~!" The first, loud, cheerful voice of the day, and they all smiled at her naturally. Anna was amazing, no doubt about that. But this little Zoe was amazing herself. Her cheerful expression rejuvenated everyone. And a smile appeared on his face as he got up from the bed and picked up the little angel. Anna giggled as he picked her up out of nowhere and kissed his cheeks like he knew this marvelous littledy would do. The room became cheerful as the three brothers and sisters talked about their night and how Zoe was sleeping with Anna. They both were good girls, and he knew they had slept peacefully from their fresh looks. He was refreshed too, and after Anna''s kiss, he was now in perfect condition. And so was Rein, the girl with short purple hair who gained her first partner spiritst night. She looked at the angel, and he nodded with an excited smile and put Anna on the bed. "Anna. Rein has someone she wants to introduce." He was smiling, and although Zoe understood what he was saying, the young angel who has just woken up was caught off guard by her amazing brother''s sudden excitement. And Before Anna could ask any questions, Rein just smiled at her and called her partner''s name. "Clover~." -Oooooooooooong! "Mew~!" There was a small green light on the palm of her gentle hand she had stretched and then... another adorable being appeared in this already heaven-like room. The new arrival, the kitten-like water spirit of healing she had summonedst night and her partner, filled the room with a freshness that seemed special, like green hignd mountains. And as soon as the young angel''s eyes fell on this marvelous small kitten... she eximed with admiration and happiness-filled eyes. "Prettyyyyyyy~..." That was her normal reaction, and they knew as Anna could feel the emotions of others, to her, this pure, cheerful, and good-mannered being of nature would feel very interesting and¡­ new. Everyone knew this would be her reaction, and his mom liked cats too, so he knew she would react more than this too but, that wasn''t as surprising as the thing that happened after summoning. "Meeeeow~! Mew, mew!" As soon as Clover, the cat-like water spirit, saw the young Anna, she started dancing around her with a cheerful expression. And this genuine excitement and bright reaction surprised Reinelle and him greatly. His eyes met hers, and he knew what thought had just popped up in her sharp mind. He knew this for a while after Zoe confirmed it, but it was still surprising for him every time he thought about it. Chapter 258 Annas Talent ''She has a talent for spirit summoning~!'' Rein eximed in surprise while looking at her joyous reaction of Clover. But, she was only one-third true. [[ "She has a hidden talent for summoning elemental spirits, spiritual creatures, holy creatures, taming, as well as weapons. A weapon wielder and summoner with some of the greatesttent talent. She is normal, but, at the same time, the most special one in the family. This talent is different from big brother''s, who realized it a long time ago. It will take a long, long time until she fully understands this talent. Even her awakening, from the looks of it, is still five to six years away. But when she starts to bloom, she will be a wildfire like no other. Hehehe... special Anna~." ]] As Zoe said, Anna was different from any of us. Looking at Rein and putting a finger on my mouth, I replied with my eyes in a stern tone. ''Rein. She''s young. Different from us. You know our grandparents would naturally know this too, right? There''s still a long time for her. So, let''s enjoy her until she is a cute little angel like this. No one knows what is going to happen in the future~.'' It was an unspoken rule that one can only know their full talents when one finds them themselves. Hearing it from others or something simr greatly influences the minds, and so, even while knowing all that, not saying anything was the best thing. And this was my sister. I knew she will do outstanding when her timees. Even her awakening will be special. She was a jeweled eye possessor after all. Most probably she will have five elemental affinities like the headmaster, and a simr high affinity with a light attribute from what Zoe and I can tell. ,m And just like me and the headmaster, she might be able to use a special kind of energy. One that I have seen before and one that I already had with me in a small amount. It was just spection and predictions from the history and research on the jeweled eye wielders, so I can''t be certain but; I believed the possibility of her having a high affinity with [Arcane] energy was quite high. As the energy that was second only to spirit Mana in summoning, as well as more powerful when the wielder was a human, Arcane energy would be best for her too. There were few among humans who could control Arcane, and the field of magic that was derived after this energy, the arcane magic arts, though working with any energy, with Arcane, it was the best. Some of the famous people who could use this energy were the emperor who also had a crystal butterfly with a defensive , as well as the grand mage of the principality of Lakmer, who was a jeweled eye wielder. Currently, there were seventeen known people on all three continentsbined, six of them being in the empire alone who can use Arcane energy. Ultimately, my Anna was the most especially talented person I knew among the younger ones. She has immense potential, on the level of me and Rein. She was above the prodigies; she was just monstrously talented. But that talent was deep down inside her. And when ites out, it will definitely be a wildfire in this whole wide world. There were a few summoners who were also weapon wielders, even fewer than magic archers. And she, most probably, would be a protagonist if this was some story. Welp... she was just the normal, cute, little Anna for me. And the way she was giggling while ying with Clover was just... holy. "Wowy~ sister Elle! Who is this~?" Clover snuggled with her, and she just giggled with a gorgeous smile on her face. When I call it holy, I really mean it, and it was actually divine right now, nothing less. ''Haaa... if I can, I wanna see this heavenly scene every morning like this.'' Even though this will be highlighted in my memories, it would be pretty awesome if I can actually see it like this. But, s. She may be a future protagonist of some story. I was the current one... or was I? I could be, or maybe it is, someone more amazing than me like Rein, Ca, or Alf. Anyway, Anna was, as always, adorable. And Clover liked her, too. Rein and I knew, and Zoe too, naturally, Anna would love clover but, Rein was surprised Clover liked Anna this much. This little kitten was being a melted green soup in her hands as Anna tickled her neck. Anna''s every touch to her spiritual body made the kittenugh with delight and we knew, even though Anna wasn''t using any powers, she was naturally understanding the spirit after observing her thoroughly. And Anna even gave this kitten a kiss, and this creature of green water just melted in her hands, bing almost like a melted slime. Normal slime... The one that almost killed me wasn''t slime at all. That was a demonic creature, and I didn''t like it at all. But I loved seeing this one. This melted, fluid cat was really adorable. Just as we watched the two with warm eyes, someone else joined us here, too. "Eon~! Let''s go-, hmm? Anna, Elle, and Zoe? Are you already here to wake him up? And Anna? What-" And before she could finish her sentence, a melodious voice interrupted mom. "Meeeeeooooww~!" The melted Clover returned to her cat form and when mom heard that mind-blowingly cute voice and her eyes fell on that form, mom fixed her eyes on this charming, almost intoxicating kitten. "W-what is this!?" she shouted with an excited, surprised smile, her eyes wide, and her face as bright as it could ever be. And she didn''t even wait for anything and just ran towards us, and stood before Anna, who had Clover in her hands. Her breathing was heavy, eyes almost shining with stars in them, and she looked just like an excited ''cat person''. And clover was adorable so I can understand just how fresh she would be feeling on this early morning. It was funny, seeing that reaction of hers, and the four of us can''t help but chuckle after seeing that excitement. And even Anna was fascinated by how her mom could be so childish in front of a little kitten. "Hehehe. Her name is Clover. And she''s Rein''s spirit we summonedst night." I answered with the same chuckles as Anna and she looked at me, and then at Rein in surprise. "You did it already? Eon~!! I wanted to see that too~!" She was disheartened but, well; it was already done, and she knew it so, she just sighed at us and went back to her cheerful look while looking at her. I expected this after seeing her joyous expression with Taika, and I knew this young kitten would be even more fascinating in her eyes. ''Damn... my mom is a cat lover. Maybe I should give her a small cat friend like Anna''s teddy bear. She would definitely like it~.'' Well, making something of that level will take a while, even with all the raw partspleted, so yes. She will have a cute little baby kitten of her own~.'' Making AI in this world was hard, and one that was smart enough to learn things were even more difficult. Plus, all those enchanting, processing, rune enchanting, and assembly of the almost nano parts was something very tiring. But, well, I have done that a few times, so it was all ok. Mom was happy while seeing the small kitten, and Clover liked mom as well, not like Anna but, at least, like us. She even yed with her, and when mom touched the cool watery surface of her body, her eyes sparkled with even more stars. I knew she would know what this kitten was from Clover''s color, room''s healthy atmosphere, and special water surface-like body and I was right. "A healer kitten~!? Damn you all got lucky~! And This baby too~. Happy to meet you, Clover!" My always calm, strict, and dangerous mom was a fool for this kitten. And these were some of the best moments of my life. The core image of my mom I had was a caring, cheerful, strict, and calm-minded woman but, when I saw her with Taika, as well as right now... I couldn''t help the warm smile on my face. My amazing mom, the cat person. ''Now I understand how all the cat lovers of the world felt when meeting new gorgeous kittens.'' She was overjoyed, even more than Anna. And she couldn''t help her warm, wide smile of pure joy. As if she fell in love with Clover, she just yed with her for the time as we left them be and just went to get ready for the departure. Anna was with Zoe and the two of them have be the real, best friend, a sister duo. And Zoe even talked with momst night about many things and¡­ momforted her as well as promised she would take care of her just like Anna. Mom already considered Zoe her child, and Zoe epted her kindness with a warm smile. I knew how she felt, and I knew the two of them would be alright. So, I had no worries as I went to take a bath in this room''s giant bathtub. Rein went to get freshened up too while leaving Clover in my room with mom. I knew she had already packed everything she would need, even after thatst night''s prank. But, well... that was Reinelle. My stay in her house was amazing, and I had some really~ pleasant experiences in this ce but, I had my own house too. Our house. All of my family''s and mine. And it was in the capital of the greatest empire on the continent. I know things would be difficult, and different from this isted estate here. But I had no need to worry about anything at all. It would be fun. And I was excited about this day for a long time now. ''The house of Heliox. A ce famous in many books. In the capital, the most important ce of the empire, the most mysterious household. Few know just what happens in this ce on a daily basis, and even rumors rarely get out about anything at all. And still, it is one of the most respected families of the empire.'' [[ It will be fun~! ]] "Sure will, hehe..." It was exciting just from the thoughts. And I eagerly awaited my shopping trip to the capital markets with my dear siblings and Rein. ''Let''s finally get going to that ce~. The same ce we started the journey to almost six years ago.'' I... was d I met my master. Without her... I don''t even want to think about the horrible things that might have happened~! Chapter 259 Goodbyes The morning had been delightful. From Rein''s failed attempt to wake me up to mom''s love for Clover. She was almost inseparable from her but, Rein can''t maintain her materialized form for much longer and she had to cancel summon soon after we all finished getting freshened up. She was sad because she didn''t get to y with the little kitten so... she just went downstairs to y with the big kitten, Taika. Mom has changed a lot from how she was with me. With me, she was like an overprotective mother but, after Anna, she knew how a proper mother should be. And now, she also knew I wasn''t the same sheltered little baby she had taken care of for those long years. I¡­ was now a grown boy. Someone who was far stronger, knowledgeable, and almost like a new person. But, she knew I was still that same boy she had fed with her own hands, and I also knew this. All of them were my family. We were standing before the underground warp gate now, and the two families were saying byes to each other. Rein''s mom and my mom have be as close as my aunts. Thedies were definitely excited, and they had even nned a big tea party, inviting her mom to our house. Rein''s dad was having a casual conversation with my dad and uncles, and they looked quite happy and relieved, too. The old ones had already finished their goodbyes and even grandpa Zhen had said his byes to his students. I had a chance to say hello to them and among them, their leader was the most talented one. She was good and from how grandpa Zhen praised her; I knew she was one of his favorite. Anna was happy, and she was saying her bye bye to Taika. The big kitty was too big and non-human to go through the warp gate so she will just travel back the same way she came here. A great familiar of (Purple) rank. A tiger, a ruler that ruled the mountains and can also be small... like normal cats. And because of this skill of hers, mom loved this kitten even more. She can''t get as small as Clover but, being a normal cat, was enough to pass through human domains and other habitats of other creatures. And she can travel through mountains as if she is flying so, she would be back in the capital in a day without much problem. And Tuuli was with her, ying her way to the capital, so it was all ok. They would be alright and will reach home by tomorrow and I was sending some of Celes''s clones with them too, just in case we get something good to see. They will just stick to their back, without hindering them so... they won''t even notice it. The time here was something I would never forget, but now, we have to go; we have to go back and everyone here also had work from tomorrow. Yesterday and today were thankfully weekends so, they can at least take a leave but, Rein''s dad was a musician and her mom was his manager. They both had too much work on their hands. All the work from thest two days was most probably pending. Mom was more than capable of taking care of the paperwork in a while, so she would be fine. Even my first uncle... had to go back to the academy. He is a teacher there, and someone I would see on a daily basis when I would be there. But... he was professional when he was doing his work. I knew as soon as I enter the academy, I would be a normal student, just like every other one in his eyes. So, he had work. My first aunt should also have some gatherings she had to attend. She was a pir of high society, after all. Grandpa also had a whole knight training, many squads, and reports to check. He would be busy for the rest of the day from tomorrow. My second uncle was also one of the bestwyers in the empire, so he also had his own work. The remaining ones, my dad, grandmother, and Alf''s mom... took care of the family. And they had to check what had happened in their absence in the house so, maybe they would be the busiest. Ca and Alf had their own training and stuff to do from tomorrow. They had got some pretty toys from me; so they had to see just how good they would be with them. And I could tell from the restless look they had, they just wanted to start as soon as we reach home. Everything was going alright, I was going home... now just one problem to clear up. "Bye bye Eon. Hope to see you soon~." Rein said in a cheerful voice and waved at me as we all gathered before the gate. She had the same smirk asst night, and this y was quite strong against me. My family was standing before the gate now, and it was almost starting as the devices connecting it was already ready. And the servants that prepared this were just chuckling silently at this smile of hers. Even Anna and Zoe were giggling behind me. Her grandpa just looked at my difficult expression with a warm smile while her grandma was acting confused. "What''s up, Eon? Shouldn''t you say your goodbyes to your ''friend'' too?" So, they just wanted to y for thest time? Is this it? Why not. Let''s go. Politely bowing my head at the grandma, I asked in a respect-filled manner, "Grandmother Arina. Can I take Rein with me to my house? She showed me her house, so it is only natural for her toe with me, right? I promise to take good care of her so you won''t have anything to worry about." My words were polite, my posture perfect, and the sudden change in the air after my words was also noticeable. Thedy mages who set the artifacts and the whole warp portal blushed just from these words that almost seemed enchanting to them... well, it was enchanting. Not that I was using anything other than some tiny bit of my Mana, but it was enough to please the grandmother. But... damn. I chose somewhat wrong words. "Huhuhu. That sounded like you were asking her hand for marriage, child. And you should ask her, not me." Sheughed at the end of that line, and I shook my head with a defeated smile. Maintaining the same smile, I looked back at everyone and then at the mages and asked, "Can you please start the gate?" p My smile and words were enough to flutter the youngdies'' hearts, and they excitedly nodded and got to work. This confused Rein, and she had no idea why I would tell them to start without even asking whether she wanted toe with me or not. Like hell I would ask when I already knew the answer after she yed that prank twice. "Let''s goooo~! Anna will show big brother the whole~ house~!" The little angel shouted and at the same time, the familiar blue light vortex appeared at the gate. "Let''s go everyone~! And thank you for everything, uncle! Come. Eon." Mom bowed briefly at Rein''s grandparents, and everyone started walking inside the vortex with a joyous expression. Anna and Zoe were together with grandpa and grandma and Ca and Alf had run inside the light as soon as it had finished the connection. I also walked forward and smiled at my dear Rein, who still had no idea what I was doing and she didn''t have to know too. I just grabbed her hand, tightly this time, and just started walking toward the gate after bowing to her parents and grandparents. They nodded whileughing at their daughter''s clueless expression, which was the same until I started walking toward the portal. And she was a handful that just perfectly fit in my hands. "Oy! Oi!! I never said I aming, you bastard! Stop dragging me at least!" Nah... you are best like this. "Have a nice day everyone~!" I shouted for thest time as we reached the gate and she looked back at her family and her grandma, who was bedridden just a few days ago. With a defeated but happy smile, she waved at them and they also waved at this hopeless child of theirs. "Take care of her Eon~! And have fun~!" her mom shouted, and I nodded while looking back at them for thest time with a reliable smile, and... she sighed with a smile. She really was her mom. A worried, helpless, powerless, but caring and warm mother. I was thankful this friend of mine found them, and I was thankful for everything that brought us together. I came to her house even before visiting my own, and now we both are going to visit my own house for the first time. And I knew that ce would be as outstanding as this one¡­ Chapter 260 Our New Home "Wee... to the home we all love." I heard mom''s voice as soon as I came out of the familiar blue vortex and this time, unlike thest time when we were underground after passing through the vertex, this time, the bright light of dawn shed before our eyes as soon as we got out of the gate. And as always, though the light was bright, this was nothing for me. The journey was short and just likest time; I was alright during the time we were in this blue vortex. But she was just standing there, tightly shutting her eyes and tightening her grip on my hand. And I had enjoyed her rare, one-of-a-kind expression for that one and a half minute we were in there. But right now, as soon as we came out of the warp gate, the fresh hair, warm light, and spectacr view that entered my eyes were... amazing~. The warp gate in the middle of this big~ garden, the giant house before our eyes, the other garden in front of the house on the other side, the training grounds on the back side, that enormous entrance some distance away. All the magic spells and barriers covering this entire house, and the people that stood before us in servant outfits were amazing~! The enormous house and then the smaller house with a giant flower garden just across the road are simrly covered by many powerful barriers. The city that I can see with my third eye from higher grounds and at the very center of this whole noble district, the home of the royal family of the empire that had stood strong for the longest in the continent''s history. The golden castle of the holy city of Gwh. A ce where the emperor and the imperial family of the great empire of Roxanna reside. But this house, our house, was nothing less than the duke''s estate. In fact, the knight training grounds of this ce were far bigger than theirs. The garden in front of the house was so lovely I can''t help but admire it. The flowers and nts in the garden were rare and there was an open area as well as a bench for just two people by the gorgeous fountain that was best for a private night''s talk. Just that one ce was so perfectly made that I can''t help but admire the one who designed all of this. The house was painted in pure white and different blues and though there wasn''t much decoration on the house like Rein''s home, this in butvish look was amazing. The knight''s training was ongoing at the back and I could already see some really powerful people who already sensed someone''s arrival. The line of workers that had gathered here to greet us was not big but every one of these people in servant''s outfits was an expert knight, fighter, or mage. They were all at least peak [Rank-2] level knights, (tier-3) mages, and high-grade fighters mastered in hand-to-handbat. And they all also had a good number of usable skills that were quite surprising for servants. So this¡­ was the house of Heliox. And now I knew just how not even most rumors came out of this house even after being in the capital. If just the servants are this amazing and capable looking then, there''s no way something out of ce would happen. There were naturally many assassins in shadows, all as good as the ones in Rein''s house, and some of them were the highest grade like Rein''s assassin captain Julie too, something one doesn''t see in just one house. ''Damn... this house is nothing less than an entire war unit on its own.'' I can''t help my bbergasted smile and this surprised expression. I was just looking at the house in others'' eyes, but this family of mine knew I saw more than just what met in their eyes. All these servants, and there was no need to tell a single one who I was or just why I was here. And more than that, I was holding the hand of someone they all knew. There was nothing more for them to think. The answer was simple. And there was admiration as well as questions in all their eyes. They were also awestruck¡­ as they nced at my appearance from the corner of their eyes. The servants were all standing on both sides of this path leading to the main road that ended at the front door of the house. At the very first of these servants, there were two amazing-looking people. A [Rank-6] knight, someone with enough strength to be a (Count) of the empire at the very least with enough achievements. He was a knight, bowing before us as we came out of this portal. Light indigo hair, a fit, muscr build, a body covered with light armor, and a single-edged de on his waist. Sharp gray eyes that knew with just one nce who I was as well as just how amazing I was. And there was a smile on his face that couldn''t believe the scene before his eyes. Rein smiled at that smile, so I knew these two knew each other. They knew each other, and I knew this knight before us. Well, who didn''t know the (Iron heart) sir Melor? On the other side of this powerful knight was a (tier-7) mage, same as dad but¡­ this was my first time actually meeting someone like her in person. She was definitely a mage. I could feel it clearly. But she was not a being we can see just anywhere. [[ "Big brother~! An elf~!" ]]Zoe shouted with a radiant face as she stood at the back with my dear Anna. Anna knew everyone and everyone knew Anna, but, for Zoe, this new ce and all these people were something very new. And what''s more, Zoe was seeing an Elf for the first time. Me too, naturally. A race closely rted to nature and a race that was blessed by the Mana. Beings who mostly chose to live in peace among their own kind and not interact with other races more than necessary. But, as the saying went: ''There are always exceptions.'' One such was this elf who was just as famous as the knight sir on the other side. The (Green touch),dy Nissa. A high mage and mage brigade caption of the house of Heliox. Her light green hair and blueish green eyes were alluring as well as her curvy figure and those characteristic pointed ears elves. Naturally, she was amazing, too. She was far older than Rein but, inparison to humans, she was the same age as my first uncle. But even though she was a (tier-7) mage, she was currently far stronger than dad. And she was a mage despite being an elf with the spirit Mana and a high natural affinity with ''nature'', the high attribute of earth. Well, elves are mages, weapon wielders, as well as summoners in this world, unlike most fantasy settings of books. And they are actually creatures who like socializing, though within limits. They don''t despise other races and just love the peace they have in the deep forests and within nature. And this person before me¡­ she was strong. Maybe she will reach Rein''s grandma''s level in a few years despite elves'' slow growth after a certain point. Well, by that time, her grandma would be one of the (Elders). So¡­ these two amazing people were there to greet their master and all of us. And grandpa as well as everyone else was happy to see them here. Anna too, naturally. Chapter 261 Our New Home (2) "Hello~ uncle Mel~! Aunty Ni~! We are back~!." She chuckled happily as she usually did, and a warm smile appeared on two of their faces. "Wee back youngdy Anna~!" Lady Nissa answered in a cheerful tone and the knight caption on the other side just winked at her. And my dear little sister winked back... cute!!! She looked adorable while blinking like that! And looking at her wink, the other servants can''t help but chuckle while covering their mouths like that. She was just adorable and from the looks of things... she actually was the ruler of this ce, hm? But, in the middle of these cheerfulughs, grandpa walked forward and looked at me. There was an excited smile on his face as he nodded at me and I knew this was the intro time. I walked forward, but Rein wasn''t letting go of these joint hands now, with that same smirk on her face that hadn''t given up just yet. ''Now? Really?'' I asked with a calm and helpless smile and she just smiled or smirked, the same with her eyes excited about something. ''Eon... everyone is watching.'' She said and... ah, this little witch. Every single one of the servants, even the ones in the shadows, of them, had a sudden surprise-filled nk expression as they looked at ''us''. Every one of them was an adult and more than that, they were ''experienced'' people. And it didn''t require a genius to understand the rtionship between the youngdy of the house of Atraxia, who was also a bloodthirsty witch secretly, and a young hero who every one of them knew about. The knight caption almost choked when he saw we were talking through eyes, one of the most intimate forms of conversation. And as he knew Rein on a personal level, I could very well understand that reaction. Well, grandpa called me forward. We had to finish this y soon. ''Suit yourself then...'' Saying just that much, I walked forward, dragging her with me. And this time, she just followed with a smile on her pretty face. "You bastard..." "Shuddup." Our voices were low and only the two in the front heard it, but after I said that, she actually fell silent. Standing before all these people in servant uniform, the essential part of this family, I looked every one of them in the eye who had a suddenly serious expression. They all were looking me back in the eye, unlike how the typical servants should look at their master. And grandpa justughed at their reaction. But then, even before he could open his mouth to exin to his dear people, Ca spoke up from behind. ,m "He beat me up with just physical strength, not even magic. And not just that. Control, experience, he''s the best and because of him, I experienced the ZONE for the first time. He pushed me there, and then just finished the fight in minutes, with him taking no damage at all." And as soon as she finished, Alf spoke up with the same admiration-filled voice. "His magic is gorgeous. Even master Arina can''t help but openly admire his spells. They are super powerful, unlike anything I had seen. And they are his spells. Something even I would need weeks, maybe months, to understand and learn. And after I read his personal notes of basic magic theory... I can say without a doubt his understanding of magic far surpasses even the academy professor''s books. Just... amazing." Every one of their eyes widened in surprise, the two in the front being the most surprised ones. But their surprise was just going to grow even more. "As everyone knows, he is the one who invented the ice cream as well as most of the things served at and after eating the two new sweets he made yesterday... thatvish yet simple vor... I know he has definitely surpassed me in terms of cooking." This was my grandmother naturally, and the chefs and kitchen maids in the white uniforms were shocked beyond belief at what they were hearing. And just hearing this fact was enough for all of them to acknowledge me, but... the major blow was still left. "Hohoho. You all know already just how amazing he is, so why all this? And, just so you know, these two aren''t the only ones who fought him. We all know master Merlin and his weird kink to fight strong young ones. He came there too and especially took Eon''s test for the academy admission. And after seeing him use his magic, as well as his battle senses, he couldn''t help but admire him. To tell you something unbelievable... master Merlin used physical punch in that fight and not only did this boy block those attacks, but he also counter-attacked in the split second he was airborne with a special attack that blocked his Mana for that moment. And then, he had no choice but to use thest spell, epting he lose in that fight. An amazing battle that we couldn''t help but just watch with wide-open eyes. That bas- ahem! Master merlin was surprised, unlike anyone I know, and this boy, Axion Heliox Kromet, is so perfect, I don''t think you could find someone better than him to serve under. And you mannerless bunch¡­ Show some respect to someone who''s visiting their home for the first time in almost twelve years of their life." And after thatst line, they suddenly remembered something and bowed their heads to me all at once. "WELCOME BACK MASTER EON!!" They all shouted at once and when I said they, I was counting the ones in the shadow who were shocked by grandpa Zhen''s sudden appearance and low-voiced words. Well, he might have said something like: ''He even saw through my stealth''. And it was true, though. I can see through his ''passive'' stealth. But that wasn''t the point right now. They had acknowledged me, a stranger who they were meeting for the first time with their master. Not the young master. A master likes my dad and uncles. And they all standing behind me can''t help their warm smiles. I was finally here, after the long journey of almost six years. I was here, with this big family of mine, but there was someone else grandfather had to introduce. Chapter 262 The House "As you all know, Eon was separated and was transported to an unknown ce. He survived in that dangerous ce and met the master that taught him most things. Though¡­ that master has left the world, their child is with us here. Eon is her big brother so, we all are her family as well~. She''s special, more than anyone I have seen in this world, and I believe you all will treat her as one of us." He said while warmly looking at Zoe, who was holding Anna in her arms. And my dear sister blushed with surprise at those words. It was naturally surprising for her to be introduced to all these people like that. And in her eyes, all of them were special people, with special colors, and the two captains in the front were even special among them. The mage captain in her eyes is an evergreen nt in the middle of a small grass garden and the knight caption is a strong shield-like metallic heart, strong and beautiful, like an unmoving fortress. And the others behind them were also ''colorful''. All had something special to them and he called her part of this family in front of them... the young girl can''t help her blush. And every one of them looked at her with thankful and affectionate gazes and bowed the same way as they did to me. They were happy and thankful. Not only to her but to her mom as well. And the blush on their faces made them even more lively. She was simr to Anna, from what they could tell, and this made them happier. Now there was a really young miss that would actually act like the young girl she was in this house. And I could tell they were happy just from the fact that¡­ they just looked over the fact that grandpa called her the ''most special person he had seen''. But, the two captions clearly heard that so, they were more than just happy. They first couldn''t believe just how amazing this girl was as well as just what powers she would have for her to make my grandpa word it like that. But, even they can''t see anything special in her so, they just let that fact go for now. They were happy and Anna can''t help but chuckle at that reaction of hers. "Hehehe. Big sister Zoe is amazing~ right?" We all can''t help but nod at those words. Not just us, the family members, but also every one of them. She was amazing and... normal. At least she was normal in their eyes, so she was already as special to them as Anna. And if this little angelic sister of mine is the ruler of this house, then her best friend, my other dear little sister, would be her subordinate ruler, right? ''Rulers... damn. They already earning nicknames. What about me then? What will I get as my first-ever nickname?'' I was looking forward to seeing what that special name would be and more than that; I was looking forward to seeing just how amazing this house of mine and all the knights under our house would be. [[ "How''s the new home Celes?" ]] She was excited to see all this as well, and I could feel her excitement as she flew above my head while in an invisible state. Celes, one of the most cheerful beings, was happy and excited as well as a bit sad at this moment when I called this ce my new home. The tower was our first home, and that fact will never change. But... This was the new home we will be living in for a long time. And although I had already obtained thend for the first-ever home I will build myself, that thing was still some time away. So, she was happy to see this beautiful new ce, excited to see so many new people and exciting glowing flowers in the garden as well as research what the ''humans'' and other creatures were like. She was a curious being, and I knew she would just send her clones to every ce in this house and capital and just gather new data for herself. Well, that might turn out to be something naturally good as well. The butterflies would go to different ces with a normal look, observe all the things, and even gather data that I can ask Celes anytime I wanted. Just like my previous world''s data gathering and spying stuff, this would be even easier with an intelligent being, like my lovely partner. That was her own time pass but, well, I wanted to explore this house, see the underground floor, which seemed even more exciting than Rein''s home, and see the knight''s training under him. Grandfather was a person who liked those with talent and a ''goal'' and he only chose these special people as his knight brigade members. Our family as well as Rein''s and... maybe two others who I wasn''t fond of much and the royal family were the only ones who chose every single worker themselves. Most of the houses and families picked up strong and high-potential individuals, totally disregarding their behavior, attitudes, and morals. They didn''t even consider the fact they could ever disobey or backstab them because all of them took the oath of Mana and the oath of Aura before joining them. And the pay was high in noble houses. They naturally joined the family''s knight units or as personal bodyguards. This house was different from most of the families and from what I can see with my third eyes and Celes''s clones roaming the house, every knight was a unique individual. Some, though arrogant, were nice people who didn''t look down on other workers and just minded their own businesses. And most of them were cheerful ones who I would call true knights. The training grounds were also filled with trainees who weren''t just yet part of the knight units and there were many who were our age training there. And another thing that I loved about all this... not everyone used just a sword. Or, more like, the sword was just half the majority of weapons people practiced with. They used a variety of weapons. From spears, knives, scythes, and bows, some even used their bare fiestas and martial arts. Some even practiced with shields, axes, and war hammers. This was a truly refreshing view for me and as I watched them practice, I can''t help but smile happily. This ce... just this much made it amazing, so there was no need to even talk about all the young mages learning in the mage building on the northeast of the estate. That ce filled with researchbs and stuff was amazing in itself. And then the undergrounds which connected our home with the one on the other side of the main road, which was clearly Alf''s home. ''Well... anyway. It''s just a big training arena, some special magicbs, and some cages and prisons from what I can scan.'' This was only one floor, not the two undergrounds like Rein''s house. But anyway... this was an amazing ce, and the greetings were mostly done. "Okey everyone~! I will be off to test the sword~!" And just saying that much, Ca ran away inside the house. "I should go too. I will be back for lunch, big brother~!" And Alf wasn''t in any hurry, as the diary was in his hands. He just started reading it as soon as he turned away, and most of the stuff like meeting and saying the story was done so, this reaction of theirs was quite understandable. They were still far from being able to defeat me, so they would have to work hard to train by themselves. And while the remaining ones had nothing much to do, Anna had the greatest and maybe the toughest task to do right now. And that was to introduce us to everyone and show us this enormous ce. Or ces... as there were four buildings in this estate. And Alf''s house with that big garden was another thing itself, so I won''t be visiting there today. Though¡­ I wanted to see the young knights practice. Maybe I would find someone special to use from that bunch. They looked good but, to use my eyes and see their status windows, I had to at least know something about them and that would only be possible after going there. But for now... Anna was excited. "Let''s go~ big brother, sister Zoe~! I know you will like our home~!" "Yes~!" Anna was cheerful and the way Zoe answered was amusing, too. The twodies were happy while this other old but childishdy... had, atst, let go of my hand and was talking with the knight captain. Chapter 263 House Exploration "Hello, sir Melor. Hope you have been well~." She said with a genuine smile on her face, and the knight captain nodded with a simr radiant smile. "Of course,dy Reinelle. Though two months, three weeks, four days, five hours, and six minutes is nothing, it is definitely nice to see you again~." ''Damn, that''s specific...'' He was happy, surprised as well as... annoyed? But then he looked at me with a thankful expression and then back at her. And just nodded while continuing his smile. "I hope the duchess is alright," he said in a calm tone, but his eyes were asking her if she was actually alright or not. Maybe he anddy Nissa were the only ones other than grandpa who actually knew about the duchess''s health but, they had nothing to worry about now. "She''s perfectly fine, even better, actually. And all that thanks to your young master." Even Rein had a thankful, warm voice as she said that, and I couldn''t help my helpless smile on that note. I did what I could, and it was alright in the end. We met and got to get this close, all because of the way we met and how things went from that point. He was surprised and then, maybe, he joined all the pieces together and a new light shed in his eyes. A light full of even more respect than before, and more than that, he was thankful. I didn''t know what the rtionship between the two was but, he genuinely cared about her grandma and I could see it in those relieved eyes. "Well, have a great day sir Melor~. I have to be with my friend for now. Maybe we can have a spar someday if you want? I will be staying here for quite a while now~ so we will be seeing each other often~!" His genuine smile twitched at those words and that was enough to tell there was definitely some bad blood between these two. "Let''s go, sister Elle~!" Anna shouted with an excited face and Rein started walking toward us after a small bow. The iron heart sighed with some mix of emotions as he watched her back and I just shook my head at this friend of mine. If she had bad blood with a kind-hearted figure like him then, I didn''t doubt she would have actual animosity with many others. "You are a bad person, you know?" I spoke out loud, and she blinked at these out-of-the-blue words. "Noooo~! Sister Elle is a good person~! She is sweet too~!" Anna protested those words and Zoe, even while knowing what I meant, followed along. "Yes! Big sister Elle is a cool~ person." Zoe was smiling cheerfully and even I can''t deny that this friend of mine was a cool person. But she understood what I was trying to say and nodded truthfully. "Yes. I am a bad person. And you have to deal with it, my dear Eon~." She definitely was a bad person, and I had no doubt she will cause many problems in the future and I will have to clean up the mess after her. And it would be annoying, so I will have to teach her some things, many things actually before we get to the academy. "I will make sure you be a good person then~." and this made her break out inughter. Good, well, the little Anna didn''t understand what we were talking about despite knowing how we were feeling, but she knew we were happy so she just shook her head. "Okey then~. Let''s go~!" the innocent little angel cheerfully shouted, and we followed along with excited smiles. Everyone else was alright, and they had some things to take care of, so we all had already parted ways after deciding to meet back at lunchtime. Anna was our home tour guide today and every servant in the house had already received the news of our arrival. Everyone was excited and so were Zoe and me. Starting from the giant garden and all the rare shiny-shiny, glowy-glowy flowers, we saw all the ces in this garden and this little angel of mine even told me a secret about this fountain by the bench and it was really something fascinating. Maybe, if we are lucky, Rein and I will also see the things she talked about someday. Then we moved to the door, and even the door of this house was something really amazing. It only opened for people registered with the house''s defense mechanism and it was quiteplex, made with not only Mana circuits and spirit Mana circuits but also Aura links, and the entire system was genuinelyplex for a home. And I knew... this was the creation of my dear first uncle. Though he didn''t put the system in the whole ce himself, aside from the creator and those who entirely understood theplete system, no one, not even the one who carried out this, would know just how this whole thing worked. From what I can see with my (: Scan), this started from the center of the underground where the control room was, then spread throughout the underground, to the house on the other side, and then this entire home. It was simr to the system back at the old home at the border town but, this was far more advanced than that one. And even for me, it was somewhat difficult to understand. Well, breaking this thing would require someone to infiltrate the control room and shut the whole thing down. And that was the only way aside from bombarding the barrier with (tier-9) magic spells. Well, it was a nigh impossible thing so, thinking too much about it was too much. We entered the house and the first thing after the giant gates that opened on their own after Anna''s touch was an open banquet hall. A giant room even bigger than the one at Rein''s home and it looked amazing~. And the interior and decorations, although notvish, weren''t modest either. Unlike the outside, the inside of the house was beautifully decorated with eye-catching things. At least this hall was. Then, on the other hand, were two stairs that ended at one balcony that most definitely was a stage for musicians to y instruments and for announcements. Well, this was the ground floor, and then we moved up to the first floor, which had many guest rooms as well as mom''s working office. And mom was doing her work, so we didn''t disturb her for now. I knew her capabilities, and she was strong enough that I had yet to see her status window. And she was strong mentally, so it would be even more difficult than others. All the guest rooms were good-looking and definitelyfortable for people of any standing. Then the second floor... which only had my uncle and aunty''s bedroom, his researchb, and the room with the device my dad and he made after I was gone away¡­ This device, this structure of aplex mechanism that covered half of the floor and had pieces of equipment worth thousands of tinum and Mana crystals worth even more thousands of tinum nted on the walls. Anna only came to know this ce identally, and she actually didn''t know what these things did, and we didn''t have any need to tell her. She knew they avoided telling her and after I first contacted them; they had lessened the frequency of visiting this room. And Anna mostly stayed on the ground floor, maybe sometimes on the first floor and rarely on the second or their floors, so she was almost clueless about most stuff. Her room, the most special room, was on the ground floor and it was a special ''pink'' ce of her own. We saw that when we were on the ground floor and that ce filled with dolls and stuffed toys and books. That was something that reminded me of those young princess rooms. Though that room wasparatively smaller, the room was so secure, and I mean absurdly fortified with magic, artifacts, and barriers, that I can''t help but sigh at this overprotectiveness. Well, I can''t say anything myself after giving her a teddy bear, which though wasn''t an artifact and was close to the magic-engineered tech of absurd powersparable to a (level-11) or (level-12) artifact. It was a literal magic AI created with the knowledge of ancient times, something of lost knowledge. And this teddy bear, something so valuable that can freely change into anything she wanted without using any energy of her own. Well... something powerful that a child shouldn''t have, but, well, it was something she loved, and I even made this for her, so it was hers. The artificial power technology used in its creation was something grandma and I worked together with, and even though it was lost knowledge and she knew it, making things like these was pretty fun. And... I would make another one for mom. A can that was like an actual cat. And although I won''t be able to give it the feature to change the form, like this one, that cat can function practically forever. The core energy umtion was alsoplicated to exin but, in short, it worked like a Mana core as well as a sr battery. Well, the body was almost a high-grade nanotech, so, well, that was it. The third floor was grandpa and grandma''s room, a meeting hall, a magicb that dad used, and a library. They were nice ces, and I was looking forward to spending my time there, mostly in the library, as it was quite a nice ce. I hadn''t read many books at the present time and I just loved spending time in the library so, this was the most fun ce in this house for me. The terrace was a ''normal'' ce and Anna had no permission to go there, so I would have to go there alone when I have time. So, we moved outside, to the ce I was looking forward to seeing. ''The young knights of the house Heliox. Can there be something really like a hidden gem? It would be useful for sure. I had some great ns for the future anyway.'' Zoe and Anna loved this house exploration and now, as we walked outside, Rein and I got excited about the things we would see too. People actually... they weren''t things. Well... right? Chapter 264 Chryses ''I can''t believe it, and I didn''t actually think they would have it, but... I really found one. The hidden, unpolished, unknown gem!'' We were standing on the sidelines of knight training grounds right now, a ce where all the knights trained with all their hearts. There was a smile on their faces as well as anger and hate for their squad captains that forced them into the training even against their will. But, even with the looks of disdain, they didn''t ck off. They were diligent, and they knew they had to do this anyway, so they just followed their higher-ups during group training. Aside from that, there were many spars going on between members of knight divisions as well as young knights. This ce was a big open area divided into different parts and the earthly soil without any grass on it was perfect to train bodies of new members. The ground was solid, hard enough that they would definitely get wounds and bruises after falling during the harsh training and spars. And even if it was nothing for the ones like me, Ca, and Rein; it definitely was difficult for normal people who didn''t have this monstrous talent. I can defeat most of the people here, those who weren''t squad captains at least. Captains were all [Rank-5] at maximum, and there were six such captains. Though the knights in each group varied from the first squad having as low as twenty other cadets to squad six having as high as a hundred, these knights were trained as harshly as possible while focusing on bringing out their natural potential. The captains followed grandpa''s methods of training and I can say for sure they all were doing quite fine. But that was just the adult ones. On the other side of this ground, there was a separate squad of young ones under the age of eighteen training with the vice-captain, who was under sir Melon. His name was sir Victor, someone who was Alf in personality and was a confident and cheerful person, as well as sincere in his work. Though he understood they were all children, he was stern with the methods of the one he served, and he instructed every one of those children ageing from ten to eighteen. He was a good teacher for them, a clearly capable individual. His appearance was normal though, just the normal brown hair and ck eyes, but¡­ he was special in all our eyes. My eyes called him a ''pure person, a bit timid but one who knew how to follow orders. His skills and stats were also fitting for a [Rank-5] knight and his Aura was yellow and had a denser appearance, almost like yellow rocks. It was fascinating to see this earth-type of Aura, and it suited him quite well. Anna also liked him, calling him good uncle Victor. Even Rein''s eyes approved him of being a good person. And as for Zoe... he was a blood-covered, good-looking spear that was standing victorious on a yellowish rocky hill. This was some of the rare times Zoe saw this clear image, and such diversity in a single being, too. And she could approve of him just from that much. So this person was already on my ''to acquire'' list, but... I wasn''t talking about him. He was a gem and yes, just some more polishing would make him as great as sir Melor but, that was a long-term task. Right now, maybe grandfather had sensed it and brought him here but, we can see this clearly with our eyes. Rein, Zoe, and I... we can see this child who possessed almost as great potential as the twelve great prodigies of the empire. A boy training among the ones taller than him. Someone with a weaker constitution than any children his age. His height was far shorter than other young cadets, and with low stamina and a weak physique, he fell behind most of the children his age. And he was the same age as Alf, from what I can see. And even though he was doing well with the younger ones with him, he was still far below the ones his own age. His hair was ck, not like Anna''s or dad''s but still a rare dark color; while his eyes were dull golden. He wasparatively weak, but he was keeping up with everyone in longps, body training, and meditation. He was doing his best and even in training, from what I saw, he was doing well with his wooden sword... just that he wasn''t using a weapon fit for him. "He should already know, right? Then why isn''t he using the thing he is gifted with?" Rein asked with a surprised look and shock as we watched this young boy swing his sword. It had gottente, so we already sent Anna with Zoe a while ago when we were observing them train so, the two of us were alone now, watching the training. Though Zoe was now away, she saw this young child, and she described him as a needle piercing a bright ball of light. The needle was small, and weak right now and it couldn''t pierce the light just yet but, it had the potential for great growth. And both of us possessed eyes that could see far more than what we needed with his whole status window. And it was pretty good if I said so¡­ good for a ''normal'' child, that is. ============ Name: Chryses Age: 11 Race: Human Strength: 33 Dexterity: 31 Stamina: 34 Magic Power: 9 Intelligence: 38 Luck: 32 Charm: 18 [Skills: Rapier of golden ray, Thunder awakening.] ---> The two unique skills this marvelous boy possesses... you definitely are a lucky bastard. ---> How can these super special people just appear wherever you go?! ---> Just the first skill, a skill that almost exins what it is created for. ---> A passive growth boosting skill, a support skill that increases learning ability, and a skill that can pierce through anything like a ray of light in its active state. ---> But, handling the active state of the skill would require tremendous strength so, it is highly possible that realization of this skill would take the young boy a long time. ---> The second innate skill, though not as special as the first, is definitely a strong one. ---> But that too requires a tremendous physical strength to even initiate. ---> so, even if the boy has tremendous hidden potential, without rare and formidable resources, he wouldn''t be able to use either of his skills. ---> Well, I say just close your eyes and invest in this one. The profits would be unparalleled. ---> And thank me for telling you all this. Not anyone could know the usage of skills just from the names. ============ ''Of course. Thanks. I know I wouldn''t be able to do much without you. You are the best~. Just that bastard tone and words... can''t you be a little more polite?'' And at my words, as if giving a clear denial, my eyes twitched a little. ''Ok then~. Do as you wish.'' Smiling in disbelief at the words and behavior of my skill, I looked back at the young one. My skill, my intelligent dear skill, forgot to add one thing to that description. ''This young boy and his eyes... the eyes filled with desire. Eyes full of a strong ''will'' and something I like a lot.'' He at least loved what he was doing at the moment, even though he was behind all the others. He didn''t lose any hope that he couldn''t ovee others and he had the strong will needed to be a ''true knight''. There was also awe as he looked at the other strong ones and the vice-captain. And simr awe as he looked at the adult knights, training some distance away. He had potential, no doubt about that but, the sincerity and strong will he possessed were far more valuable assets that I was looking for. He was the perfect member I was looking for and, as my dear skill said, I was damn lucky. And the answer to the question Rein asked a while ago was just that simple. "He has never seen his own status window. And because of his high mental fortitude and that skill, no normal appraisal could see the things we can. And I know it won''t do any good even if we tell him about it. The skill will just restrict the information. And more than that... he''s mine Rein. Hands off~." I knew after seeing this one and knowing she could see things like me and have the description and all like my skill with some restrictions, of course, I knew she might try it. Not that she had much interest in things like this. She was a solo, after all. But who would miss a chance to acquire a potential [Rank-5] or even [Rank-6] knight? Maybe he could even be a [Rank-7] king-ranked knight if things went right. He would definitely need great resources and external items to support his strength, skills, and physical body. But she herself had no resources, and she wasn''t much interested in the things her family had, somewhat simr to me. Though unlike her, I had absurd resources, money, and the rapier fall under some of my specialties, so she had no choice but to let go of this one. A helpless smile appeared on her face as she understood my thoughts too, and I was right anyway. "Well... fine. I''m not that interested and it''s lunchtime already. I''m going ahead, darling~. Don''t waste much time~." There was a bright smile on her face as she said that and I just nodded with a smile, overlooking the ''darling'' once again. We were watching from a distance while hiding our presence and I knew, aside from the vice-captain and the squad captains, no one knew we were watching. And she walked away after this long tour we had of my new home, leaving me alone on this training grounds. Her departing figure was refreshing, but, more than that, I was interested in this boy, and nning on how to make him mine was somewhat crucial. From these things, he would need to strengthen his body, increase the base strength, the opening of the Aura channels, and the gaining of experience. He was still young and his talent wastent so he will need time but, if he also joins the academy, then he will have even more chances for growth. And after he joins the academy, well, he would be the second member after rain in my . But for that... I had many things to n. From how to make him realize his talent with the rapier, how he would be enlightened, and how to give him the potent strengthening herbs I possessed. ''A gem in rough. A knight, pure knight. And from the talent he possesses, calling him (Golden sh) won''t be wrong, right?'' Chapter 265 Something Depressing [[ Master... ]] [[ "Just follow them. That one, and everyone else he meets. Don''t miss a single one, Celes." ]] My voice was grave, and the stern tone was all it needed for her to understand these emotions. I was calm because of the dynamic heart but, if it didn''t start at the right time, I knew a thick bloodlust would be covering this entire hallway. [[ Ok... master. ]] There was hesitation in her eyes but, she understood this order and didn''t ask anything else. I was returning from the training grounds after giving the vice-captain Victor some instructions and he... was a nice person. He was more than-, damn... Stopping for a moment and leaning against the right wall painted in white and melon green, I sighed deeply. "Haa..." This sigh was sudden and deep, which surprised the maids secretly looking at me from a distance. They were young, but still, they were adults, for nature''s sake! At least, leave me alone for now... Smiling at them and waving my hand, I surprised them, and thedies just ran away to the opposite side. After sensing the surroundings, leaning my head on the wall once again, I took some deep breaths. ''Haaa... I knew we would see them soon, but to think it would be this soon.'' In this world, they were called [Rakshasa]. The demonic humans had made a contract with demons after selling their souls. These bunches were pure lunatics, people I genuinely despised. Even more than demons, probably because they... destroyed nature and killed others with pure knowledge of what they were doing while wanting to spread chaos. The unsightly pests of nature and people who had long forsaken humanity. [Rakshasa], though the word itself meant creatures who can change forms and trick other creatures and kill them in most cases, these humans who had sold their souls in return for power were no different from that bastard demon marquis. This bunch, even if there could be some, and I mean a minuscule majority who were ''good'' among them, most of these bastards, including the ones Celes''s clone has just encountered, were pure evil. They killed and destroyed nature, made sacrifices to summon the demons to this world, and worse things that even I didn''t want to say. Just like right now... I didn''t want Celes to see this side of humanity but, these bastards were just demons in human skin. I saw with her eyes what she was seeing, and it was just in the middle of the capital too. What she saw, what I didn''t want my lovely Celes to see, was a horrible scene and something I would exin with the word ''red''. In the back street of one of the normal-looking streets of the capital, a bloodbath had urred out of nowhere. It was a normal-looking back street with some families living in normal, small houses, children ying around on the roads, their moms or dads looking at them warmly, and this clone of Celes was watching everything from a pole at the end of this street. This was just like many other streets and Celes was watching these things, so I didn''t have to worry about anything and was just plotting things that I will be doing in the future. But then, I felt the sudden dread, anger, and fear from Celes and, without saying anything, just closed my eyes to see what she was seeing. And as the view entered my eyes, just like her... I fell speechless. The moment I started seeing, there was a strong magic barrier that distorted vision, blocked sound, and decreased senses. And all that, for powerless, weak humans. They were three people, wearing ck robes that covered their faces. Their eyes were pure ck, filled with crazy blood thirst, and boredom. And though they were all mages, none of them used magic to massacre the weak beings. There were adults, children, and elders, and they were all... happy families. ''Those damn bastards...'' I wasn''t angry at how they just obliterated those innocent people but, why did they have to do that before my dear Celes, who was just starting to see the outside world?! Those damn bastards... "Haaa... yes, grandpa Zhen. I was on the way. Let''s go..." He was still using his passive concealment but, (: Scan) was on right now so he couldn''t escape the range of detection even though he was at the end of the hallway. I knew he was surprised to see me like that, but he didn''t ask why I was standing like that. I knew he saw I was worried, but the way I spoke and my clear voice was enough to reassure him that I was alright. [[ "Sorry Celes. They were bad people but, sadly, many humans do stuff like that too. Maybe it was just the minimum that they did it, just killing everyone painlessly... even though it was their goddamn fun. Some monsters in human skin do worse, and I know even though you don''t feel the same emotions as us humans, I know you could feel mine. You have lived with me all this time and maybe you have a different perspective of humans. All the humans you have met until now were good people, but humans, as a general species, are creatures far worse than the beasts we used to fight. Humans... are the worst. I never wanted you to see this side this early, and maybe we would see worse, dear Celes but, it''s the truth and you had to see this one day anyway. But, well, try to learn the difference between not just the good and bad but also the people like me and the warm family members and those demon bastards. Haaa... Celes..." ]] [[ You don''t have to say sorry master. It''s good I saw these different kinds of beings. Don''t worry~ master~! I''m fine~! ]] Just what the forever cheerful Celes would say. She was amazing. Taking a deep breath and washing away this difficult feeling and face, I started walking toward the dining hall again. Humans... are questionable creatures. It was lunchtime and today, grandma and dad were the ones to make this special lunch. And tomorrow will be my turn for lunch and maybe dinner too. Well, this house was big, and many people lived there. And... I wanted to make something for everyone here. A special treat from me. And maybe it would only be for a lunch, but I would be making something for everyone. Something knights and mages would like alike. Well, I had everything nned for that one and just telling them would be enough. I was prepared to do everything on my own, but I knew the two of them. Maybe Rein and Anna too would naturally want to help me. Well... I had a date before that one. Opening the big gate of the dining hall, as soon as I entered the ce, a delightful aroma attacked my nostrils. "Oh-hoho-ho-ho~ amazing! What did you make, grandma?! Dad?" And everyone chuckled at that weird voice. "That... was new." Rein plemented'' with a weird look on her face as she fed Anna a spoon full of cheesecake. But the delicious aroma that had bombarded my nostrils was something entirely different from the cake. And although I knew what this was... this version, the special ingredients, and with how much care they made this was amazing~! Anna was chuckling at that one, and everyone was the same. Mom even almost choked while controlling herugh and Ca literary sprayed the water on her fourth empty te. "Hahaha! Eon~! Please say that again~. Haha~!" My genuine surprise was fun for this big sister of mine. Even the maker of this wonderful food can''t help butugh at this behavior. And in all this suddenughter, the most surprised was my dear grandpa Zhen, the only one who saw me with a difficult expression a moment ago. And he can''t help his wide eyes and astonished expression. Yes, I know I''m good with these things and all but, I''m genuinely surprised. Looking at grandmother and dad who sat at the far end of this table, with the kitchen open door behind them, I couldn''t help my astonishment. "A gratin with some special ingredients? A mushroom maybe? And it''s cheese, without a doubt. And of course~. The secret ingredient..." We three looked at each other and, even though they were surprised by my natural deduction, they had to say this one with me. "Lots of love~." The three of us said at once and others couldn''t help but chuckle at our words. And not just words, they couldn''t help but chuckle at our genuinely delightful behavior, too. Even dad and grandma who said that to me couldn''t help butugh while covering their mouths at this. Shaking my head while still smiling, I walked forward and set down on one of the chairs... or more precisely, just on the same side as Rein. Mom was on my left after leaving a chair empty while my dear first aunt set on the right side while leaving a chair. This dining table was quite big, so it was understandable they would sit some distance away but, this setting was quite suspicious. Not that I had any intention of thinking too deeply about this one. They had predicted I would sit here of all ces and the smirk on their faces was quite enjoyable, even for me. Mom was smirking, and eating this delicious-looking food but, she suddenly remembered something and put her knife and fork down. She was as elegant while eating as she had always been and, after wiping off her mouth with a napkin, she tapped on her wrist. ''That brings backs memories...'' Mom''s special artifact with enormous storage. An artifact with far greater storage capacity as well as the special ability to store arge number of other artifacts. This had always been something that fascinated me and though back then, I couldn''t see its details, now, I had these eyes. ''Three eyes.'' I used my skill as mom took out two cards from this purple bracelet with a golden gem embedded in it. And before I could look at those cards and her, I saw the description window of this bracelet, and I¡­ couldn''t help but gasp in surprise. Chapter 266 Her Bracelet ============ [Armlet of Arika] (Owner: Nolen Heliox Kromet Von Aishwa Ethan Griffin) ---> This is an ancient artifact... quite a rare sight to see, indeed. ---> As the name suggests, this essory belongs to one of the old goddesses of knowledge and wealth. ---> It is old, and the artifact is bound to this person. ---> Just like any other ancient artifact, this one is also something special and possesses impressive abilities. ---> It can store any number of things the owner wishes, increase the owner''s concentration, stamina, and magic power by 30%, and is undetectable and inseparable. ---> The abilities are amazing, but even then, this ancient artifact is of the weakest level, (Star-0). ---> But even then, it''s amazing to see something like this outside our magnificent tower. ---> Your mother... who definitely has a long name, is an awesome person~. ============ ''Well, we have read worse names, darling. This one is at least ok~. And I genuinely wasn''t expecting this to be an ancient artifact, not at least of one of the ''old'' goddesses. And a bound artifact on top of that. Some of the rarest things we have ever seen, right? And the feature of storing anything... well, I guessed at least that much. But, the ability to passively increase those stats by 30% is definitely amazing~, right?'' Even I only had three bound artifacts or things like them. The golden fruit, Ronna and Asta. And even though there were some things with me and back at the tower which could be bound with someone, those didn''t work with me. In fact, aside from the three that I had, there was nothing much, even like this bracelet, that I can use. The special things were in treasury and, well, I knew even in them, most of the good ones won''t work well with me. It was mostly because of just how very special protagonist material I was and the origin skill also yed a significant part in this. It was a problem, and the reason why there were very few things, even amongst all the ancient and divine artifacts I had, that went well with me, most probably was my origin. These all things- "Eon? What are you- oh? My bracelet. You can see what this is?" I heard mom''s voice in the middle of this train of thoughts and came back to reality and nkly took the strange cards from her hands. She was looking at me with surprise and from the look in her eyes, I could tell not everyone knew about the fact that this artifact was an ancient artifact. And she winked her eye, telling me to keep this myself and... I just nodded nkly. It definitely was rare for the outside world to have people possessing these ancient artifacts and, as few people knew about them, was the best. It could be dangerous because there had been wars in distant history just for a mere ancient artifact like this one. This was precisely the reason why I always kept important things in the white crack and not in my storage bracelet. The world was crazy, and I had no intention of falling into any kind of conflict. And I had to thank the headmaster for that absurd gift... that stuff was invaluable in this outside world. I already nodded at mom and she knew I understood her and that I would understand what these cards were on my own, so she just returned to her eating. ''Haaa... whatever~.'' It was what it was and thinking too deeply about things while dinner was a no-no. But these cards were important. One was my ID as the first son of this nobledy, my mom, and a noble identification. A metallic golden card with my full name... ''Axion Heliox Kromet Von Aishwa nor Ethan Griffin... And you called her name long.'' Well, it was just the empire''s custom. My name, Axion Heliox Kromet was my main name with my parent''s name, Aishwa was thend bestowed on my mom after she received the title of count, same with nor, thend dad received and discovered in his searches of his dear son, andstly... ''Ethan Griffin. A strong divine best and a ce that this house guarded since the old times, even before the founding of the empire. The archipgo of Griffins. The northern border of the empire. And thend of waters, ships and transportation.'' That ce was our first home ording to mom, and I had read many things about that ce. And from many things... I mean many, many, many~ things. Pirates, ships, a long primordial history, special ces and inds, secrets that no one should know, and locations of treasures that could spark wars. Thatnd was one of the most exceptional ces throughout the old, ancient and new history. But... unfortunately, I won''t be going there for at least some years. Everyone had work here. It was far away and we can''t go there by the warp gate, and most importantly, the air route we would have to take was blocked by two ferocious (Purple) ranking monsters as they had made their nest there. I had already heard many things from mom when had some special chat during yesterday''s dinner and these creatures, though didn''t hinder outside ces, they definitely blocked the wholend and air routes. It was a rare asion and the creatures themselves were rare and so the empire decided to protect that area until the natural mating season waspleted and they moved from there on their own. And the estimated time period was... four to five years. Well, they could negotiate with the other nearby territory, but... thend around that ce falls under this empire''s one of the genuine enemies. And the royal family had no intention of asking for help from them. They would rather use other methods like using veryyyyyy~ long routes, some rare ancient artifacts like [Gates], or use long sea routes. Well, they are fools and we can''t do much about things anyway. There were capable people there, ording to her, and if something happens there, we would have permission to use the royal pce''s [Gate]. Well... I don''t think anything would happen there either. That ce was strong... REALLY strong. So, we will be able to go there after the situation and birds clear up. And that was my name... my real name. Something that I only came to know after talking with them through those letters and all that was possible because of my dear master. "Haaa... thanks, mom. For both of these." My voice was genuine, and they all understood the meaning of that sigh. And she just gave me a warm smile as a reply. The first golden card was my original ID, something I might not use in any situation. The second one was a nk purple card, something like the one Rein used back in the main city. But that was an ID of someone who worked at a noble house, in the house of Atraxia in her case. This one, however, was a nk card. I was still not quite sure but I now knew how these ID cards worked and this one card was something like a nk te for the cards of at least a noble servent''s rank. I was still practicing things but, I believed when I seed, I can make this card an ID that can freely change ording to how I wanted it. From name to standing in society. I can change this one to at least the rank of the one Rein had. I will be able to change the colors and name, so, this would be something very amazing. And... well, I was going to use enchantments, runes, and Solnova, so this would be something foolproof. At least that was the n, which no one aside from mom knew of. This was a special card, different from normal ones, made from [Magirose], a special metal found only on an ind with very high-density Mana, a perfect substance for what I wanted to do. This was a personal experiment, but, mom was also interested in the results I would produce. The procedure was too mechanical and theoretical that she didn''t understand the thing, but she definitely recognized the value of this thing on the world scale. She was a merchant at the end and if I was going to invent something like this for my personal fun; she knew I would naturally also invent the countermeasure for this thing. Well, naturally I would do it. It would be a cheat item and something very fun to y with. That was it, but I still needed an ID for when I y around in the empire and for the academy. Rein needed it, too. She naturally can''t just use the IDs she had when she would join the academy. We wanted a rtively peaceful life and as we were special admissions and council members, having a different identity would be best. I had an idea of what I would do for that and she had the same thoughts as me. And as we had decided yesterday... we were going on a date right after this lunch. Chapter 267 Our Date... She had been excited all this time, the second reason she just quietly left me on the training grounds. It was afternoon and... she was smiling right now while looking at me. ''It will be fun~!'' she said while taking a bite of her brown mushroom gratin, made with grandma''s special blend of spices. And that finely fermented cheese... haaa¡­ I can''t hold back after even seeing her enjoy this delicacy and took a bite first before answering her flirtatious voice. And yes... "This is amazing~." This was the best thing I was eating made by someone else. This was best, not in all the things I had eaten until now, but in things made by someone other than me or my master. The texture, vors, this amazing scent... this really was good~. And this friend of mine was smiling warmly while seeing me like this. ''Your family is amazing~.'' sheplimented while keeping eating and eyes locked on me. And I answered while continuing to eat with the same delight, ''They are amazing~. And yes... I''m excited. My dad, your grandma... they both were adventurers. And now, we will be too~.'' The smile on her face deepened, and she nodded happily. ''It will be fun~. We can go anywhere we want and do most of the things we want with this universal ID. You haven''t seen anything outside, right? We will have a lot~ of fun while going to new ces in the future~.'' She was just genuinely happy that we will have many ces to go and new things to see together, and she was just purely happy. Nothing else, not even a spark of a weird thought. And this asional innocent side of her was the cutest. Mom was happy when I talked about bing an adventurer, and no one objected to that. In fact, everyone believed it would be the best for me to go outside and see the world on my own. And although they put some ''small'' restrictions, they were mostly negligible. And they had seen my strength already so, there was nothing for them to worry about. I was more than strong enough to pull my own weight and having a reliable person like Rein who had seen the world more than them was just awesome. She wasn''t an adventurer and more like a mercenary in the old days, but that was a long ago. And she couldn''t go to different ces with the same look, so she mostly changed her appearance many times. And, well, as adventurers had the privilege to go to any ce they wanted, at their own risk, of course, we will be able to enter any city or any other country if we wanted. We belonged to no country and calling us the freest humans was the most appropriate. And so, we were going on a date, and our first stop was the adventurer''s association. The strongest neutral organization which stood above other countries in terms of overall human resources and one of the strongest in the world, the strongest weapon wielder, master of one-true-sword, first seat of the house of the prism, the [Sword saint], sir Alexander, was the current master of the association. A great person who had a simr Aura as me, the Aura of [White purity], and he also possessed an Origin skill, but little was known about that one. And this person... was even older than the headmaster. And the most amazing thing about him... he was a human. A person of true respect and someone I looked up to. And it wasn''t just because I had heard about him and read in some books, no. I have read many things about him in many books in the tower and after knowing all the things about him... I couldn''t help but admire him even more. He was amazing, someone even my grandpa admired and looked up to. He had met him, and one day, if fate allows it, I wanted to meet him too. But, no one ever knew his whereabouts. He was always there when he was needed but, aside from that, no one ever knew where he was. And, as someone who possessed a great knowledge of Origin skills, I knew his reasoning. We origin skill possessors couldn''t live among humans after reaching a certain level of Origin stage- Haaa... well, I could talk about him for as long as I wanted, but I won''t be meeting him anytime soon. I just know I won''t, so there was no way to even think about the divine plot armor and stuff. So, we will be going to the main branch of the association and then a simple written test and a practical test. And we both had rmendations from our guardians, who were high-ranking adventurers of their time, so we won''t have to worry about the IDs at the registrations. They were responsible for us and if the association ever needed it, they would be asking them about our identities to them. Not that we had anything to care about here. We will just go flex before the examiners and get the adventurer IDs¡­ and something else, too. Then go around the capital to some ces she wanted me to see and just have fun for the day and get back by dinner. Just a wholesome day ahead of us, and nothing much will happen. I know it won''t so, I was excited too. ''An adventurer...'' Something I had only read and watched in fantasy novels and shows and in those fantastic games. An adventurer was, in true meaning, someone who wasn''t bound by anything. No nationality, ce, any great rule, or any particr obligation. They did what they wanted and wandered the world. But one thing was true in their line of work. Even though anyone could be an adventurer, they had to first pass the tests of knowledge and strength to get the license and the starting rank. And ranking meant there will be clear discrimination and stern safety rules when epting quests. Well, we weren''t worried about those things. We would be free to do whatever the hack we wanted there, so I was more worried about others because if my beloved friend Rein got in some difficult fight... I will be the one to clean all the mess after her. We will be adventurers forever, and that was our decision. Even after joining the academy, and after graduating... I wanted to see everything in this world with her and the new people I would meet during this journey. And damn¡­ I would be genuinely happy if there was no bad thing during this journey, but... we all know that''s pretty impossible. But, at the very least, I knew... it would be fun. And yes. There was Rein''s revenge against that evil spirit too but, I convinced her, with a greeeeeeeeat difficulty that we will do that after my birthday. Thankfully, that restless witch agreed, and that one was solved and then¡­ this was it. This food was amazing. The excited smile on her face was also there and, before going out with her... there was just a teeny-tiny thing I had to take care of first. ''A diamond in rough. A pure boy with the talent of rapier... the talk will him will definitely fun~.'' I looked forward to this small chat, and the things Rein and I would do after that. And everything... will hopefully go smoothly. Chapter 268 My Room Anna didn''t have permission to go to the terrace and the reason... the whole ce was mine. "So? How''s it?" Mom asked with a bright smile on her face as we looked around this big~ room. "Mom... I''m speechless..." This was amazing, genuinely amazing. Super~ amazing. The whole terrace, from this room with a big~ library, a small, workshop, a room filled with some amazing weapons, a big~ bathroom, with a big~ bathtub, an alchemyb, and the outside of this room being an open ce for training, and a small garden. This ce was already big~ but they used spatial magic to make it even bigger. Even the library here is perfect. Not as big as the one downstairs, but the books here... they were just the thing I wanted. This was the history of the whole world, thetest one and not far older, till sorted out papers of recent events. The magic and theoretic books of current times, the trends, novels, and academics. All those things were here, in one ce, on these bookshelves. The equipment in this ce was even better than the ones downstairs. Even theplicated things that were only in dad''sb were here. The outside training area was big enough for me to train how I liked. The weapons for training were great too, and they were just the training weapons. We had the armory here too, but it was on the underground floor, and she assured me there were some really~ good things. There was also an office room before all this as soon as we enter here, and when seeing that normal ce, you wouldn''t think there could be something this amazing behind just one of the doors of the office. A room full of diverse materials for enchanting, alchemy, magic, and magic engineering was also here. And after all that... there was a kitchen, too. A small but amazing one. There were almost tears in my eyes as I looked at this room, my own room. I just hugged her as I looked at all of this ce. I thought it would be a special ce if they restricted Anna froming here so I didn''t check but, now that I was seeing all this with her like this... I can''t help but admire this ce. Every one of us had our special rooms for work or for some other stuff like dad''s and uncle''sbs, aunty''s tea room, Ca''s special underground training room, and Alf had half of his home filled with his books and papers, from what she said. And this, this whole ce, was my special ce. And she made all this just for me. My awesome mom... "Yes, yes. I knew you would love this~. It would be best if you explore this room by yourself and... I heard you requested sir Victor to bring someone to meet you~? Hehehe... have you already found some amazing talent?" She was just the cheerful mom that I remembered. And she was also as smart as ever. "You already know, don''t you, mom? Well, yes~. He is good and he can do amazing if taught properly~." Her eyes shined with surprise and we both chuckled at the same time. She was a sharp person, and she was a merchant at heart. As well as a wonderful mom so, she knew what I would be thinking as her child, in most cases at least. And she could guess from the way I said thatst thing, I had my own ns. Nodding with a delightful smile on her ce, she took a step back and looked at me, from head to toe. She had a warm and helpless look on her face, and I can''t help my bitter smile at this. "It¡­ was a long time, right? From the child to the brave boy I saw thest time... to this young, grown-up boy. I didn''t get much time to y with my dear son and now, he will be an adventurer like his dad... And I will be helpless again..." Warmly looking at me for a while, she sighed with a bitter smile and looked back into my eyes with a warmer smile. "But now... I know you wille back from whatever ce you go... with your dear ''friend'', right?" She smirked, and I shook my head with a genuinely radiant smile. She wanted to tease me but, not this time, mom. And the clear, confident, and d expression on my face was all she needed. "Haaa... ok. I should go now. That child will be here soon and my poor work is waiting for me. Have a nice day Eon~." She was as cheerful as ever and she turned back to leave after I nodded with a smile but, then she turned back, walked towards me, and¡­ gave me a forehead kiss. The motherly warmth in her sad, happy, and lovely eyes was one of a kind, and I could only smile back at my dear mom. "Have a nice day, too, mom~." She nodded and walked out of the room in a radiant mood. She was happy to finally be able to show me this ce, and I was happy to have this wonderful ce all to myself, too. ''Just amazing...'' Even the rooms in the tower couldn''t bepared to the actual emotional values of this ce. This was my own room, unlike the tower, which was ours as a whole. I didn''t have a special room like this one there and that made this ce even more amazing. And this was my ce. I can modify it however I wanted. And I already knew I would just love to do that. Thankfully, seeing and knowing everything about this room didn''t take much time with my third eye and (: Scan), and I now knew all the things about this ce. And as I guessed, there was a secret room. But we can see that one some other day. I had one hour before we go out and... there was a knock on the door of the entrance to this room. And naturally, there was an excited smile on my face. ''A pure knight... let me nce inside that mind of yours~.'' *** "Master Axion, I brought Chryses as you asked for." The vice-captain announced after the knock and I had finished decorating the teapot, cups, and snacks on the table. "Come in~," I answered with a cheerful voice and picked up a teacup and a small te with a slice of my special chocte cake. The door opened and the image of the boy with dark hair and dull golden eyes, filled with hesitation and uncertainty, entered my eyes. Their eyes met mine and the smile on my face assured the uncertain vice-captain. He was caring and he at least knew I was a reliable, good, and strong person from the things he heard from his captain. So he was alright with me talking to one of his trainees like this. With the same smile, I nodded at him and walked toward him and after he greeted me with a bow, I handed him the te and the teacup. He didn''t understand what I was doing at first but then, when he understood, a shocked expression covered his face. His ck eyes widened, and he couldn''t contain this genuine surprise. "M-master Axion... h-how could I?" And this cracking voiceing from his side was truly something surprising¡­ He was a [Rank-5] and had a special Aura characteristic of solid type. He was also someone with some untold secrets so I was really interested in him but, his real cracking voice told me he was a genuinely ''good'' person. So I just smiled and handed the refreshments to him, as I requested the boy toe in and sit down on the couch by the table with the teacup and snacks. The vice-captain was surprised by the forceful behavior but, he didn''t have to worry about anything with me. "I made them so I know they are good~ and I hope you do like this~!" After hearing that I was the one to make these, he couldn''t say no to this delicious-looking cake and tea with a sweet aroma. "Thank you... master Axion." He bowed once again and took a step back. And then he moved to the left side of the hallway with many waiting sofas and chairs. Though he tried to hide this, I knew he was excited as soon as he heard I was the one to make this. Well, I knew he will definitely enjoy this, so I had nothing to worry about. I closed the door behind me and... turned to the boy, who just looked down with uncertain, fear-filled eyes. But in those eyes... aside from fear and uncertainty, there was also excitement and reverence. Chapter 269 Interesting... "Chryses, right? Don''t be nervous like that~. Have some tea and snacks. I made the cake myself~. I don''t know if it will be to your liking, but it should be alright~." My voice was genuine, and he flinched as soon as he heard this warm voice. Well, tool orpanion, he was just a kid to me first. And this young boy, he was a brave one. Others might have hesitated for a while before epting these refreshments by me, a high noble and the young master of this house. Children like him, actually, all the knights in the training grounds were, in the end, servants of this house. And that wasn''t all. I was quite famous among the young children as the hero of the empire and all those things and I knew that he, this young boy before me, looked up to me for some reason. Maybe he was also inspired by those stories and stuff but, he was the brave one to still ept the tea after saying it just once. This was different from the vice-captain, and it wasn''t like this boy didn''t know what he was doing. His eyes said it all, so I didn''t even have anything to ask. He knew it was a great thing to be summoned by me for a private talk like this. But that was it... he was clueless about everything else. And still, he was confident. He had read and heard about me and he believed I was a good person, so there was no need to have any worry or have a guard up towards me. He took a sip of the tea, and a surprised expression covered his face. And he couldn''t wait and just finished the whole cup of that milk tea¡­ And then, with sparkling eyes, he looked at the delicious-looking chocte cake. But he didn''t directly jump on the cake. He hesitated for a moment, his hands shook for a brief moment too, but he just shook his head as if there was nothing to worry about. That behavior right there... I knew that one. And if he showed this, then it meant there was more to him than just being a normal boy that grandpa picked up from the streets. And whoever he was, I would naturally find out one day but, one thing was clear. I liked his attitude, bravery, and sharp senses... or more like survival instincts. They were not even close to mine for now, but... there was the potential for growth. And there was also the sense of a wild beast like Ca. But... unlike Ca''s senses, which just focused on overwhelming power and dominance like the king lion, his were different. They focused on faster thinking, sneak attacks, and using less strength for better results... like a tiger. He himself didn''t notice this, but he had scanned the entire room in the few minutes he had been here and that wasn''t all. He had subconsciously prepared himself for many probably uncertain things. And even if he just wanted to shake every one of these feelings, he can''t let go of them entirely. A special one who has seen things children his age could not handle mentally. ''Someone who had seen dread and death and is driven by revenge while having a strong desire for strength. And in this journey... he wants to enjoy something he would do.'' He was an interesting fellow, and after seeing him in person like this... I wanted him even more. Sitting on the other side of the young boy who enjoyed the cake, I watched him enjoy his sweets and just waited for him to finish. And he didn''t hesitate, thinking he might not actually get any chance to eat something so delicious as this. That was cute, and I didn''t mind it at all~. He can eat many things like this if he follows me in the future. I smiled warmly as I looked at him and I knew he knew I was looking at him like that but, he only met my gaze after finishing the cake. "T-thank you. This was impable..." ''He is definitely from a fallen noble house... maybe one outside the capital. Damn... amazing.'' It was easy to deduct this much from the way he said that, and this was a prettymon thing in a story. Finding a child of some fallen family, whose parents were killed, and he met a great person who recognized his talents and gave him an opportunity and they bloomed with their support. A normal rat bes a swan through his talents and swears his loyalty to the one who helped him... I could already see where it was going¡­ if I was right, that is. This was just spection and theory and there was only one way to actually find out about this and that was by making him tell me about himself. Unfortunately, I didn''t have time for today even if I can do that. Rein was getting ready for the date and I had to finish things with him soon. So, I just got straight to the point after his thanks and he visibly flinched from those words... "You think something is wrong every time you wield the sword for training, right? Like you are forgetting something but, it isn''t necessary so you just let it go. You have this feeling when you are in the practice, but then, you would just forget about it... like someone just erases the memories... right?" The expression on his face fell, and a sudden horror and confusion covered his face. I knew this feeling well and just like what happened to me when my master told me about my origin skill... this one triggered something inside him. His skill would try its best to block these trains of thought and all but, not this time... A pure white light appeared on my hand and I gently patted his head as he looked up at me with the same chaotic eyes. "Don''t think about it. Focus inside yourself without thinking anything and just take a deep breath, Chry..." It was already difficult to go against an innate skill and, even more so against powerful ones like these. And I knew it was futile until he was actually strong enough to handle it. Not even this resistance would do anything well, anyway. So instead of thinking too much about this question, just forgetting and not thinking about ''why?'' was the best way to handle this sudden storm of thoughts. And this materialized Solnova would help him quite a bit to fight against the rebelling skill effect. The problem with strong innate skills... they had some control over the body even while not being some intelligent skill like Lucy or my three eyes. As the skill was fundamentally a spell imprinted on the body or certain parts of the body, they can control the body in times of need and emergencies. And in cases like his, the skill''s power would be far more than his current body could handle, and the realization of this skill would naturally incur some form of curiosity in him. And naturally, if he even tried to use his second ability, he would be sted into pieces or just go (poof!) or something. And even if his passive first innate skill improves his growth speed, he still wasn''t ready to use it with the weak, small body he had. He will need some things that can boost his growth as well as his physical body. And I had an abundance of those things thanks to my dear grandma and the tower. I had resources, and he was the best one I had seen till now to invest in them. That would be fun, and I knew he had calmed down now. This sudden weirdness was first for a small young boy like him, but he was no normal person. He had calmed down, and after he could think properly, this whole thing greatly confused him. I could guess all the thoughts he might be having but, there was only one thing for me to do now. Looking at his uncertainty-filled eyes with a warm smile, I whispered in a low voice. "Let''s go inside. Lemme show you something that will open your eyes..." Chapter 270 Charming Her "Thank you, master Eon!" He should with a new light in his eyes, his behavior changingpletely from hesitant and uncertain to confident and free. His eyes were filled with respect and there was a radiant smile on his face, a genuine one. The air he gave away previously hadpletely changed, and it was now as if he knew what he had to do. He was certain, and I knew my small demonstration was quite helpful to him¡­ ''Even if the skill can prevent him from thinking about the rapier, it can''t actually erase the memories. And erasing the beautiful movements of my arrow rapier swordsmanship was... well, it can try all it wants.'' I had done my work, and he now knew what he had to do. And I was happy with his quick mind and decision-making skills. He was young, but a smart one. And I just finished on time. "Eon~? Let''s gooo~." Rein shouted from behind him and we both looked back at once. He was standing just outside the door and the vice-captain had finished his tea and now had a delightful smile on his face. And just behind him, standing on thest stair, she looked at me with a radiant smile on her face. I knew the vice-captain already knew about us from Sir Mel, or so he wasn''t as surprised as this young boy. And as soon as she spotted this future rapier master, a radiant smile appeared on her face. But before he could even see that smile, Chry bowed his head before her¡­ "It is an honor to meet thedy of Atraxia!" His voice was quite loud and the way he said it, it was more than easy to figure out he was from a noble house but had never been taught any noble costume. He had just imitated what he might have seen and the vice-captain as well as Rein caught onto this one. And as his eyes were wide with surprise while looking at him. And before he could think of anything more, I looked at him with a finger on my mouth and shook my head. There was a smile on my face, and the look in my eyes was a confident one. And... he was also quick to figure things out so, he just respectfully nodded his head. Rein, naturally, caught onto this, but there was no special answer from her to this young boy''s greeting. "Oh... yes. Is your work with Eon finished?" she asked with a normal face and he looked up at her with a blushing face. "Y-yes!" he shouted again, and this was quite surprising¡­ ''The natural beauty of a witch, a racial characteristic as well as one of their weapons. Never thought it would be this effective against others. She was right when she said I was the weird one to have absolutely no effect of it on me.'' Well, what can I even do? She was gorgeous, no doubt about it. But I have yet to see a being as impable as my master. Her human form as well as her original form. They were something amazing in themselves. And I don''t think I will be seeing something even close to it anytime soon. Well... that was it. And it wasn''t like this strong-willed boy was attracted to my dear friend. No. This was just the effect of her natural appearance. And she won''t have it when we go out, so there was nothing to worry about. Her disguise skill was a (Blue) ranked skill from a high-level blue-ranked creature specialized in disguise and appearance changing. A rare creature and an even rare skill from a (Doubleganger chameleon). And, well, she looked ready right now. A normal dress, nothing much to call an essory, and that normal (level-4) artifact hooded cape... she really was ready. Well, it was nice for me. I was ready too with these normal clothes and a simr (level-4) cape. And now that he had said his work with me was done, there was nothing more for her to see here. "Okey then~. Let''s go, Eon~." she cheerfully shouted with a simr radiant face. And... I just helplessly nodded at her pure behavior. This side of her was more like Anna and Zoe''s, but it suited her well. And I definitely liked her seeing smiling like this. Chry looked up after her words and bowed to me onest time before nodding to the vice-captain and walking downstairs. The Vice-captain also nodded with surprised eyes and a radiant smile on his face and followed him down. The two of them were smart, and I knew the vice-captain would keep this secret, so there was no worry. So then... I looked at her genuine smile after confirming they were gone. Should I tease her a bit? Just a bit to see that angry face? Hmm... let''s not. She''s happy, so there''s no need to do that stuff, at least not today. Not on our first date. Thinking that much, I smiled simrly to her, excited about the things ahead of us. "Hmm~. Let''s go~." I cheerfully shouted, and without thinking, she came forward and grabbed my hand, and looked into my eyes. She was sudden with this one but I didn''t mind and held her hand back, looking into her now ck eyes. ''Ready?'' she asked with her eyes, and I nodded confidently with that same smile. We would be going to the adventurer association first. And I knew that one would be done by the evening. So, after that, we will just go around, looking at the market and some good ces. She was the guide today, and although I had seen capital with Celes''s eyes, it would be fun seeing things with her. From the things I have read, I knew it was always different when experiencing things firsthand. And if that experience is with a loved one, it would be even more morous than usual. I knew she would have a unique experience with me, even if she had gone to these ces many times by herself. But I knew one thing... we are going to have fun~! And with her happy nod, our bodies melted in the shadows, vanishing from this simple ce... *** "Find it?" a dark, deep voice spoke up in a dark back alley of the capital, in the middle of the crimson blood-filled room. This was a dark hooded figure, and there were two others with him. A humanoid built, tall, but not much. Bodies covering the blood of the innocent, weak people filled the room as they stood there, covering their faces with dark hoodies, but their emotionless, dark void eyes looked at each other. And after he asked that, and all three of them had finished looking at each other and no one said anything, the one who had asked this nodded and the other two simrly nodded after him. "Area 2B, nothing." The person who spoke up first said while putting his two fingers on his forehead as the other two cleaned the mess on their bodies. And just after saying that, he also cleaned himself as the three of them started walking out of this small house. This ce they left behind wasplete carnage. Blood was everywhere, everything was destroyed, bodies of powerless humansy around, and they had died without even knowing the cause... All of this, this devastation and death, was just... sad. And it was unbearable, so, without waiting, the butterfly watching all this from the window of this small house flew out, and continued following the ones who caused this. She was naturally devastated at how they could do something like this to someone powerless who did nothing to them, and this genuinely enraged her. She wanted to do something... but this wasn''t even her original body. She was powerless, at least for now, she was powerless. But she knew she had faith that the one most dear to her, her master, would not let these bad people go. She just knew it, so she just followed the bad people, just like she was doing until now. Chapter 271 Adventurers Association In an open area of the great capital city, before a giant tower, two people stood and observed a magnificent structure. A tall, hexagon-shaped tower, having almost thirty giant floors, its walls made of pearl white marble and some different metals. The outer surface was decorated with different enchantments, colorful patterns carved and made of different magical metals, and the clear, garden-like area this structure stood on... everything about it was amazing. The entrance to this ce was just an open ce with no gates, and countless people came in and out of it with different moods, feelings, and faces. There were mostly humans, but the beastmen, half-bread, and the purebloods of elven or dwarven or even the rare marine species could be spotted around the wide opening. The outside garden was fresh, and there were many couples chatting and even normal kids ying around in this ce. Some kids and people were even practicing in open areas of the garden, and the young ones watched them with fascinated eyes. The people around this ce, be it the normal people of low origin who had juste here for their usual businesses, to the powerful people and mages and servants of high-ranking people of the empire as well as the neighboring countries. Although there weren''t any shops or stalls outside this tower, as everything was already present inside the tower, there sure were stalls and shops at some distance away from where this garden started. With various people, beings, moods, and powers, this ce was fascinating. But... that was only the outside of this special ce. As the boy with ck hair and clear blue eyes entered this ce with the normal girl with brown hair and ck eyes, entered this ce through the entrance without any gates, an even more surprised expression appeared on the boy''s face. "Rein... this is amazing~." His mouth was left open, and she couldn''t help but chuckle at his cute behavior. It was like a little boy seeing things like this for the first time, even when he had seen more amazing stuff than just this, ording to her knowledge. But he was really amazed by the inside structure of this ce. From the magic elevators, the many desks with beautiful receptionists, the countless people gathered around the ''quest board'' with countless papers with different quests pines on it. The three spiral stairs connected all the floors till the veryst one and created the illusion as if the stairs were moving as the people went up or down using them. And the tower was huge~ so, the people who had money used it to pay the absurdly high fees for using the elevators. There were many counters for selling and buying bodies or materials from energy beasts on each floor. There was also a floor to just drink and eat, a bar. And just like that bar, there were also floors with a restaurant, food shop, an auction, many floors of just personal rooms, and also training rooms. Some floors were dedicated to dismantling or nurturing the beast''s bodies. And then there was a testing ground just behind this floor, a ce to test the neers. Naturally, there were test rooms for written tests but, it was generally something one can pass as long as they can get even ten questions from the three hundred. The standards of passing that one were too low, and though everyone just passed it without any problem, the test was actually so difficult only a few geniuses had ever actually scored full marks on this test. They covered all the subjects there were, and from high mathematics, academics, old history, magic, and even the questions of old runes were asked in the tests. But one thing wasmon. The questions on the test had never changed ever since the founding (High Council) created it. But everyone just passed it as long as they at least knew reading and writing. Everyone mostly feared the practical exams of the adventurer test. Most people fail these tests and only the capable stronger ones are given the license and a starting rank. And the rank is only given in the rank evaluation exam if¡­ someone does reach that ce, that is. Everyone who does actually reach that ce is guaranteed a license, but before that¡­ the evaluation of basic stats, magical powers, and skills, which can be skipped with a rmendation from a high-ranking adventurer, and the ID check takes ce. But if you, by any nature-forsaken chance, earn the ire of the examiners, you can say goodbye to the adventurer''s license. And¡­ you can''t give the test for that year. One would be just dumb to actually do something like that, though. Most people are sane to know that much and pass if they reach that stage. But the main thing for the ones who reach this ce is always more focused on the ranks. Getting a higher rank meant higher status among adventurers, and the ability to ept tougher quests. Well, this girl and boy duo were definitely here for the test but, in the end, their goal wasn''t to be some high-ranking adventurer. They were here to get the IDs and go out to enjoy their dates. But¡­ it didn''t mean they would hold anything back. Not these two, at the very least. They would cause chaos here. Breaking things while still holding back more than half of their strength and abilities. And the two, the boy and girl alike, were super excited about these tests. But the boy waited for a while and looked around, saw everything, observed the things, and used his ''eyes'' to see everything around him. He was amazed to see such powerful individuals just walking around like it was nothing. There were many [Rank-3] and [Rank-4] knights, as well as (tier-4) and (tier-5) mages as a party''s captain. For someone like him, this really was more than just amazing... it was magical~. All the people, the quests, the different kinds of beasts hunted by adventurers. The things that were sold here, from the very basic and normal grains to the rare herbs. The raw materials from beasts and the very rare stuff like skill stones and energy cores too. But those things were exclusive and only adventurers of a certain rank and above were the only ones who can have them. As for the ranks... the ranking system of adventurers starts from the most basic rank, then it goes like , , , , , , , , , . The ranking is simple and these ranks don''t actually depend on the actual strength like the knight or mage rankings. It solely depends on the questspleted and the contribution points one has as an adventurer. These contribution points are the dominant currency epted in every adventurer association center. And as the adventurer association is a ce neutral in true meaning, every country''s good city has a branch of the association. And these contribution points are like the universal currency that one could use in any of these branches, unlike the specific currency of a particr ce. And earning the contribution points is simple, unlike moving up in the ranks. One can earn the contribution points by exchanging money and resources, or bypleting the quests. But, one would have to pass the ranking up quest in order to move up the ranks or, well, it is also possible with the approval of the branch master of each country''s capital branch. And before one is eligible for a ranking up test, they have to have a certain amount of contribution points, and more than that, one had to finish a certain number of specific kinds of quests. Ranking up as an adventurer is that much difficult, and that is the reason most people only start with lower ranks and mostly stay in those lower ranks forever. And the stronger ones always try to get a high score during their ranking test at the start to have a greater chance of leveling. On average, the strong people of (tier-3) or (tier-4) mage or knights of corresponding strength end up getting or as their starting rank at most. But¡­ that was for those who wanted to rank up as high as possible to enjoy greater benefits¡­ not for the two who just wanted to have fun. They had no need to rush anything or evenplete any of the quests at the moment. They were here to have some fun and practice before their date and¡­ there was another thing the boy was looking forward to. Chapter 272 Adventurers Association (2) They both just smiled while looking at each other, having the same thoughts, and nodded with a confident look. Walking up to one of the free receptionists that they ''chose'', they stood before the counter as she smiled joyously at the two of them. She was a prettydy with long, dirt-blond hair, and bright gray eyes. Someone rtively more charmingpared to the others. And maybe her charm was the reason most of the males here hesitated to talk to her. But¡­ she wasn''t bothered by that. Less work is naturally pure bliss~. She was smiling while looking at these two young ones who looked around 13 or maybe 14 years old and asked in the same cheerful manner, "What can I do for the amazing young ones today~?" She seemed like a friendlydy with her genuine voice and the eyes of the two of them confirmed that. And the boy smiled back at her on both of their behalfs and spoke in a respect-filled voice. "We are here to take the adventurer license test, miss~. Can you please arrange that one? Oh~, it would be great if you could handle our entire registration process afterward too~." And naturally, this bright voice sounded wonderful~. His voice was confident, and the pure smile on his face surprised her even more. With a smirk on her face, she looked back at the boy and the girl and nodded without hesitation. "Why not~? If you do pass the written tests and basic ability test, I would be happy to help such brave, young ones like you~." She was earnest about those words, unlike someone who would look down on mere children wanting to take the tests. But the two of them looked mature for their age and that''s why, even if they were far younger than one might think, she didn''t have any other ''bad'' emotion in her. ? They had already seen and read everything there was to know about this beautiful receptionist and she was just a normal, pretty,monerdy. And anyone could be an adventurer so, there was actually no need to look down on anyone here. If they pass, they would naturally join the countless people in the world that enjoyed their freedom. And the two of them were happy to find such a marvelous person here. She nodded at them and asked with the same smile, "So can I have your IDs for the registration?" And on her words, the boy shook his head¡­ deepening the warm smile on his face. "I have this rmendation~. And she too. Here''s mine~." He took out a piece of silver paper and put it on her desk after those words and his partner did the same, putting a smiler piece of silver paper with a simr smile as him. And the receptionist¡­ as soon as she saw these two silver papers, without even looking back at two of them, she first picked the papers from her desk, maintaining the same calmness and trying to hide the sudden chaos from the appearance of these papers. This was natural as they were two silver papers, not one but two silver rmendation papers a special adventurer of only rank or above could purchase with arge number of contribution points. And this professional receptionist didn''t have to look for more than a few seconds to confirm the authenticity of the two papers. She had yet to read the information on it, but the papers were real and just that much was enough to trigger chaos in her eyes. "P-please, follow me." The papers in her hand were shaking, showing her astonishment and the small fear of the unexpected turn of events. This sent smirks to their faces as both of these two ''children'' were older and more mature mentally. Both of them, with pleased eyes, looked at the suddenly chaoticdy and followed behind her to the VIP room on the other side. Just having these rmendations was a big thing, as there were only a handful of rank and above adventurers in this whole world who could actually have these letters. It was absurd to just so casually put the precious papers on the ground like that but, they enjoyed this ''prank''. And she understood their joke and still, instead of being angry at them, she now had hesitation in her eyes. Just having these papers temporarily escted their status more than even the high-ranking adventurers here. They just yed with thisdy and the red blush of surprise on her face while remembering his smile a moment ago¡­ The expression on her face right now was quite cute and the speed she walked to the back VIP room made them almostugh out loud. Well, this was just a y, but there was still some work for them left. Thedy was a good person, so teasing her more than this was too much, even from their perspective. And as soon as they reached the room and closed the door behind them, and looked at thedy who was looking down at the ground. And¡­ the moment the door closed with the general clicking sound, she looked at the two of them, furious. The sudden anger and almost teary eyes were definitely good-looking but¡­ "Do you have any idea how problematic it could have been if someone saw these two letters at the same time and at once?! Do you even know their value, you small babies?! How hard do you think one has to work if a giant mess like this happens to them?! You young ones... how could you do this to someone you don''t... even know? This... definitely wasn''t funny..." Thedy almost cried after that, but¡­ before the tears could actuallye out and there was absolutely no reaction from the two, she wiped the fake tears and just sighed helplessly. "You¡­ already saw my status window? Damn you two... just how amazing are you to actually have a rmendation from someone of the grade or above? Just who are your sponsors...?" Just like she said, they had already seen her status window so, her skill ''to induce pity and guilt'' was naturally not going to work against them. Her skill, [Damsel''s cry], was an innate skill, but it naturally wouldn''t work against those who knew about it. And just from that much, she knew the two of them were powerful individuals. And¡­ her shocked eyes from just a moment ago wentpletely nk as her face turned pale while actually reading the two letters. Her hands were also shaking, almost vibrating like ''that thing''. And when she finished reading them and looked up and back at the two... there was horrified chaos in those gorgeous gray eyes. Chapter 273 The Recommendations "V-viscount... Kromet? THE (Red-eyed hunter)?! And duchess Arina? THE (Sorceress of metals)?! Who the hell are you two..." The beautifuldy with a nk, horrified expression shouted with actual fear in her eyes, and the two of them couldn''t help but sigh at this pitiful female. They already knew this would happen, and her behavior was genuine. The infamous bloodthirsty red-eyed hunter was a well-known ranked adventurer and was known for the gruesome amount of dead bodies he would just so casually take out from the big storage devices. And the way those beasts were killed was just unthinkable to the ones who had seen them. And then there was the all-famous ranked adventurer and now, one of the most anticipated members of the elder council of magic. She is known throughout the continent as (Sorceress of metals), because of her unparalleled affinity with this element and ways to use her magic. She specialized in support magic and mostly used barriers, enhancement spells, as well as some powerful destructive series spells. And she was unparalleled among any other mage in the empire when it came to barriers and trapping spells. She also had a unique series of magic as her other specialization, but few knew about it. And she was an essory creator, some of the best out there. She used this unique series of magic in attack and defense alike, but she was ultimately known for her unparalleled support magic. And then¡­ the mage of pure destruction. The mage who actually induced fear in others'' hearts with his cold, emotionless gaze. And though who had actually witnessed it, would believe it is nothing less than a demon''s or a supreme being''s gaze. His powerful destructive magic was not as refined as hers, but every one acknowledged him for his genius spell-casting. Even after everything others had heard, those few who had witnessed him using magic in an actual fight couldn''t help but ept that he was amazing. The power of his spells was visible in just the way he could cast countless spells in a short time and kill with high destructive power. But that power, that high destructive prowess, was mostly best in wide-range attacks. To kill arge group... that was his magic. And though he was good with wide-range magic, his single-target potent magic was no joke. There had been many incidents where he defeated powerful beasts alone. And these two famous people rmended the two of these children. This was shocking in itself and after seeing these two things and thinking things through in her chaotic state, she thought things through. ...which was quick, seeing the gravity of the situation. They had already shaken their heads in a ''no'', so she wasn''t going to get any answer to any of her questions. The rmendations were there just for special cases like them, and as someone who had worked as the receptionist for quite a while, she understood special cases like them. There always popped up people who shook the whole rankings, defied logic and generalmon sense, and possessed strength, unlike anyone. And who wouldn''t want to be the personal receptionist of someone like them? If they do well, it will be their profit as well. And she was just amazing to think things through like this in that much of a chaotic atmosphere. With a long breath, she calmed down and first set down on the couch in this VIP room and the two of them also set down without much thinking. They also set down, and she was massaging her forehead to clear up the remaining tension, and then she picked up the ss of cool water, all three of them, and drank all of them one by one. And then she took a deep breath... "Lucifer and Uriel. Quite the peculiar names two of you have. Anyways... the rmendations are legitimate, so I will ept them. You don''t have to show your IDs now, which you might actually don''t even have. Anyway, the process from now is simple and I believe the two of you know everything, right? About how the written exams work and the practice dual to decide your ranks, right?" She was just looking down, not even looking at the two of them with her forehead on the interlocked hands on the table before the couch. But she did look up just to check if they knew what she was talking about and when she saw the two of them nod without hesitation, she just nodded back and returned to her previous state. It was ironic how thedy who spoke with the two normal-looking children so casually was acting like this. And the two of them were now acting just so casually, unlike the outside, that it surprised thedy even more. She didn''t know who the two of them were, but the two knew quite a bit about this young and good-looking receptionistdy. Her name was Ste, quite a beautiful name from the boy''s point of view. A normalmoner who just looked beautiful and had a special innate skill. There was nothing much special about her aside from her special appearance and wonderful managing skills that made her so unapproachable and, at the same time, the most reliable one among the new receptionist. She could finish any work so quickly that she had most of her time free and the people who did give her any task or asked for help with great difficulty in approaching were content with her proficiency and prowess. And that was the very reason they asked this amazingdy, and not anyone else. "Anyway... it will be ten silver for the license test. The written exam should be easy for you, naturally. The time limit for it is three hours, and then the practical. As you have the silver rmendation letter from such a famous figure, I don''t know how the higher-ups will react, but don''t worry. No one would want to bother the ones with the backing of prominent marquis and duke households. But still, I don''t know if you can afford it, but I suggest you get the alliance confidentiality agreement. Though it would cost an absurd fifty tinum coins for each of you, I assure you no one aside from the standing of a branch manager would be able to see your details. It''s a good idea if you want to keep your details hidden, not that I''m saying this because of my cut of the money. Definitely not..." Her voice was definitely not genuine about the money thing but, she meant what she said about the confidentiality thing. And the boy agreed with what she said without any hesitation... unlike the frozen girl who couldn''t fathom the absurd amount she had just heard. It was a lot of money for her, and she couldn''t think of spending such an absurd amount... not that she had to spend anything here. The boy had already sensed her sudden hesitation, and he grabbed her hand, surprising her as well as thedy who had peeked through the gaps of her fingers. The girl looked at him, in his eyes, and asked ''what the hell he was doing'', and he simply answered ''not worried about money this time''. But that didn''t go well with her. She had money, just that she was one of the stingiest ones in the entire higher society. She had never spent much money and now that she was asked to spend that exhibit amount, she couldn''t help but be angry at his words. But he insisted, probably begged to just have this one, and told her that she could pay for everything the rest of the day. And he was genuine, so¡­ she had no choice but to ept the request. And this entire silent conversation that this youngdy watched with peeking eyes surprised her. She was jealous of seeing the two of them this much close that they can converse with just eye contact and this intimate talk... was actually cute at the end. She was beautiful, but she was alone, for now, and there was no need for her to go out and find a mate just yet. There was still time for her, just that the two of these children were so young, so inexperienced, new to the world, and still¡­ they had found each other. She didn''t know much about them, but from the warm look in the girl''s eyes and the deeper warmth in his eyes was still a glorious scene for this receptionist. But the short-lived conversation ended, and the boy took out a card from his storage device. A ck card with golden patterns and numbers on its back. This card looked beautiful, and the receptionist was surprised by not only the card but... the absurd amount of money listed on its back. "Please pay for all the things with this one. And also take one gold as a ''tip'' for your great work, miss~." Just like outside, he smiled at her with happiness, and she just nodded in agreement. She was quite happy from hearing about that tip and all, but then again; she was now looking forward to the noteworthy results they achieve in their tests, and they¡­ bes a person she would love to serve. All the things were done on her part now and the next stops were too straightforward. A simple written test that the boy had already solved a long time ago and something the girl could ask her eyes to answer to some extent. It was going to be the easy one and after they try defeating the practical taker, they would be adventurers in true meaning after a small talk with someone. And... it will definitely be fun watching them do all of it~. Chapter 274 Written Test Thisdy, Ste, is quite good with all her work and talent in handling the paperwork and stuff like that. Just after we finished the small talk in the VIP room and came out, she got to her work and it didn''t even take ten minutes for her to finish thatplicated stuff. And this was amazing¡­ Asking her to be our personal, fixed receptionist was the best choice. Our eyes didn''t fail us this time, and her natural prowess in this stuff was praiseworthy. Rein was hesitant to use that much money even after she had core ess to all the primary ounts of her household at the central bank. She can just use as much as she wanted after writing a simple check, and that would be it but¡­ she didn''t like spending more than needed. That wasn''t who she was, to begin with. Well, it was cute, and I liked this side of hers too. I can just be the crazy one who spends whatever amount needed ''when it was actually required'', that is. Even I wouldn''t ssh out money when it was unnecessary. And spending money that wasn''t mine was clearly a no-no for me. Even after mom gave me a checkbook of the house as well as her personal ount, I would very well just use my own money first for anything. I already had enough to go by and though the amount for that confidentiality thing was too much, it was worth every single coin. And even if Ste didn''t tell us about it, I was naturally going to ask about that. I already knew most of the things about the adventurer association. This ce, this whole thing, was present even before seven thousand years. Meaning, the adventurer''s association is far older than the current master of this ce, as well as the headmasterbined. And I also knew many things about the three first guilds that came into existence some three-four thousand years ago. And though I didn''t know what had happened during this time since most of the time there were millennia-long wars going around in the world, ording to master, so no one knows. Most ancient history has been destroyed by ''time'' and ''them'', and I can only specte things from the old stories my master had told me. Well, thinking too much about it was nothing important as the main raising of the association actually started just five or so millennia ago, ording to the history that I know of. And the same was true for the three main first adventurer''s guilds of the world. Not that all three of them were the only strongest in the world. There were nine most powerful guilds in the current time and¡­ the things they offered to the adventurers to be part of them were quite something. And being part of a guild, or just an independent one who works with only the association, was all up to them. Mom''s merchant guild also has a guild under them and, though not one of the nine strongest in power and human resources, that guild was one of the strongest in money support. Well, the two of us weren''t much interested in joining any guild. If needed, I would make one myself in the far future and that would be just for the fun, anyway. Being a part of any guild meant more resources to all the people, unlike just the ones in the high rank of association. And the concept of guild and association was quite normal, so it was easy to understand for all of us. But to be part of this, one first had to be an adventurer. And the first hurdle for it was this test paper for the written test that I was currently solving in a separate room from Rein. The , , and the are the three groups of people who stand on the top and work mostly for world peace and the maintenance of the ''great bnce''. And of them, the high council of the adventurer''s association is the one who made this paper one and a half millennia ago. And as this specific council contained not only mages and knights but also almost all of the best ones in their own fields, this paper has been one of the toughest ones to ever exist in the whole of known history. And even for me, it took almost a year''s work to finally solve all three hundred of them. It was difficult, had many unexpected things, and these bastards even put some wrong things in them, just for the solver to figure things out and work from there. This paper... I would genuinely give it 9.3/10. And in this entire life of mine, there had only been one genuine question paper that I could never fully fathom or even score more than 50% in it. That shit... and its great creators... Even some new gods and all the lords would have to bow before the degree of difficulty of the questions asked in that and¡­ one had to be at the very least dad''s strength just to even solve that stuff. My master wasn''t the only one to make that... she was a part of the group that made it. Although they all had be one with mother nature a long time ago, theirbined legacy was still there, in the center of our tower''s library as well as scattered all around this entire nature. That divine stuff was cool, so cool these mortal-made questions couldn''t evene close to them. And if I, someone this weak, could solve three out of the hundred questions at this lowly strength, I knew the level before me right now was almost nothingpared to that stuff. And it wasn''t like it needed the genius to solve either of these papers, no. It asked for how much truth one knows and how far one can think. It required pure imagination as the base, then a sharp mind that can think in scenarios, remember all the possibilities, think several times before reaching the conclusion, and after these main things... one just needed sufficient strength and knowledge to solve the questions and answer the theory. Well... this was just my point of view on this paper that few had ever solved in history as well as the one that existed in some special, super special ces like our tower. I didn''t believe I could ever solve that one even after far surpassing my dad''s strength or even Rein''s grandma''s strength, but I had already solved this one. And this wasn''t even the hardest one we humans possessed. There were a few others, and I won''t be seeing them till I get to the academy. But for now, this question paper was done from my side after using thirty magic papers where one had ten more pages¡­ So, a three hundred-page answer sheet for a three hundred question paper. Chapter 275 Written Test (2) Well, though most of the answers were one-line things or even one-word stuff, some of theplicated ones asked for more than just one of these magic papers. And with the small time I had to finish this, I would never care for the handwriting. There were magic items they can use if they couldn''t understand these things so, it wasn''t any of my business. The supervisor was already tired of passing the pages to me and it really shocked this normal employee that anyone could write like I did these past three hours. And even after knowing all the answers, I had barely made it in time. This should be enough to tell just how absurd it was that there were countless people who had solved this stuff even before the time limit. And the record holder¡­ one of thete saints in the known history that most probably reached the realm of a [Lord] could just be called a monster to have finished this stuff in an hour. ''Was that even possible? One hour? Just how the hell did he even write this much stuff in the short time they had?'' The reason I could never actually call myself a monstrous genius was the existences like him, as well as the countless unknown ones that no one knew about. Maybe there could be someone or something in this world that can solve this measly paper in minutes or moments if they wanted but, that was just a faraway imagination. I was just a soon to be twelve years old kid and just being able to finish this stuff in three hours was a miracle on my end. And I didn''t know if Rein could solve the whole thing or not but, I already knew she would have gotten bored after 150 and left the stuff as is. Anyway, I was finished in this normal one-room ss with a single bench and a table before me. And the employee who was to supervise me, not that anyone would even need to cheat or actually cheated in this one. They were here just to give the paper and pass the required sheets when needed. And then take the answer sheets and submit them to the higher-ups, and in our cases to the branch manager himself. Branch manager of the empire''s capital... he was a powerful person. A light attribute mage and destruction series master, someone known throughout the nations as the (Mage Of Light Pir), sir Lucius. He was a good person, someone actually better than the headmaster. And from what mom said, he was acquainted with grandpa and Rein''s grandparents so, he would directly know of all the situation just from the letters. So, I didn''t have anything to worry about in that case. Rein and I will have a chance to meet with him after our practice so it would be fun~. It was still around [3:21] so we had enough time before going out and having some fun. And after paying that much, I believed that our great receptionist could arrange some things and push our names forward in the queue for the practical exam. This was thest day of the weekend so, I don''t think there will be many examinees before the two of us. Putting the arranged piece of paper and the question paper, I handed it to the man who just nkly stared at me for what the hell I was doing all this time to finish things sote. Well, he can take a look if he wanted in those papers, not that I believe he would understand even the normal answers of one single word. Well¡­ not my problem. The one to check the answers would be the branch manager and then the council, and I knew even if his eyes were good at deciphering the words written, he would be more than capable of knowing the right magic circuits and mathematical forms. This should hopefully be enough because though it didn''t mean much to score full marks to others, those who actually do¡­ receive the with their adventurer''s ID license. And that thing would be quite useful in the future when I get into some unwanted, plot-driven conflict with some noble house of a different race in the academy and outside. The gift from the headmaster would be thest resort, but, as the holder of this badge, I would have the special privilege of asking for help from any branch manager of the association. And I didn''t believe anyone, be it noble from empire or other nations, would ever want to go against the association. So, this was a pure win-win on my end. And now that this small paper wasplete, and I knew my dear friend would be mad that I wasted three whole hours, we can finally finish the stuff with the ranking match and go out. ''Well... I would only be using physical archery and she would only be using her normal water magic, so... maybe should be a good starting rank. Something amazing in itself for the young-looking ones like us.'' There might be spectators and maybe sir Lucius will be watching with surveince devices too. Well, at our full strength right now, getting rank would be the limit for both of us, even after using most of our strength. And naturally, exerting the full, core, and all strength was impossible in a normal ''test'' for either of us. Just using a part of it was more than enough for normal people like examiners. Anyway, I will just ask sir Lucius about it after the ''thing'' and it would be alright as long as we can go out before the evening with our IDs so, that was the n for now. ''Let''s go see who is the lucky one to take our test...'' I was excited, no doubt about it. And this was definitely going to be fun~! But before that¡­ Rein. Chapter 276 Her Anger As soon as I got out of the room, I saw my calmly standing Rein, standing while leaning against the wall. She was calm... on the outside, and for others, that is. I could feel the fire that was burning her whole being at this very moment. And this calmness that burned, the small smile on her face that could freeze one on the spot just like with me right now, and then the closed eyes that were just a step away from going berserk. And as soon as I came out, and she sensed my presence, her eyes met mine, and I saw the great volcano on the verge of eruption. I knew this was no good... and thankfully, I also knew how to calm that great anger. Without a word, I walked forward and stood before her, and silently grabbed her hand, startling her. And this sudden surprise was enough to calm her down, although barely. "Took your sweet time, didn''t you... bastard?" she asked while holding that hand back and interlocking our fingers. Her angry eyes calmed down instantly, bing themon ones she always had. The annoyed but cute ones. "Well, I barely made it, alright? It was important for me so, please try to understand. It''s not thatte anyway, right? We can do plenty of things you had nned for today. And for that... we will have to first finish the practical one quickly. And to finish something, you know we will first have to start it, right? And to start that, we will first have to go to the ce it would start, right? And to reach there, we will first have to move from this ce... don''t you think so? And-" "You think I''m some kind of dumb idiot, you bastard? Am I some lovesick, affection drowned chick that is adorable in those gorgeous eyes of yours?" her voice was genuinely annoyed, and I could tell just from this that she was, not so much as angry but, at least she was annoyed from that ''Right? Right?'' questions I asked. But, even though out of annoyance, what she had said was genuinely true. "How do you know? To be this precise... you really really are amazing~!" My voice was cheerful to her normal question and as soon as the answer left my mouth, her eyes became wide and she looked at me with shock-filled eyes. "Y-you damn bastard?! How dare you!!!" she shouted in her ''normal'' ear-piercing voice and I did expect she might just shout this loudly in the middle of the hallway. She had just randomly said that stuff, but she didn''t think I would actually agree with what she said. There were simr, one-room sses in this corridor, and if not for the fact that I had put a sound barrier specifically for something like this, the others giving the test would have bled their ears and almost fainted. ''Well... thank nature...'' Sighing at her angry face that I so dearly loved, I patted her head, surprising her even more. "Ok, ok. I''m sorry, alright. Calm down, girl¡­" Patting the head of this gorgeous one with now short brown hair that looked quite good on her and looking deep into her dark eyes which were perfectly normal, I watched as she finally managed to calm herself down. And I knew just standing here more than this would just drag things even more, so I started walking on the other side of the corridor. She was a weird one, and I knew this was only when she was with me. When alone, she was a very different person altogether. A calm, silent one who knows what''s going on around her and all the behavior she has to take care of. No weirdness like this one, no chaos, nothing of sort. Just a simple person who keeps calm and speaks only when needed. Well, that was good and all but, with me, and for me, she was just like a little girl who had a bit rough mouth and liked shouting in her charming but ear-shaking loud voice. She was loud, and she knew the consequences of that big shout but, at the same time, she could only freely do that because I was here, and she wholeheartedly believed I would have taken measures against something predictable like this. I lead her to the other side and she followed without any question while ncing back at the sses that were still going as normal. She was sorry for her behavior and then again; she was also someone who acted impulsively back there. It was this childish, old witch''s fault, and she knew what she did wrong and she would have definitely taken full responsibility if anything had actually happened. She is a good person, a beautiful starry sky that twinkles in the endless ins of the clear night sky. She is beautiful... and we reached the door leading to the ranking test grounds. But before opening the door and entering the open area, I looked into her eyes with a warm and confident look. ''Don''t worry. They will be alright and you didn''t mean harm anyway, right? Look on the bright side. We are almost done and things will end soon and then we can go wherever you wanted, right? Oh, we might get the chance to speak with sir Lucius after this test. You might have also heard from your grandparents he''s a cool person, right? As well as about his all famous choctes?'' And as I knew, as soon as those wordless words reached her ears, her eyes shined with the stars in them. "Really?!" she shouted with an excited smile, and I didn''t know why she didn''t even know this basic thing. Anyway, this made her excited and after I cheerfully nodded at her, her slightly worried heart also calmed down and she was back to her hundred percent self. And this was good so, this should be more than enough for now. I chuckled internally and also heard chuckles from Lucy and Celes. Some of the rare situations where the two of them couldn''t hold themselves back. It was funny how she was a bloodthirsty witch, far older than me, and still... this childish and special. ''Haaa... I wanna do many things with her, oh nature...'' Sighing internally once again, I opened the door, and we entered the open arena at the back of this magnificent hexagonal tower. Chapter 277 Test Grounds In the normal arena connected to the hexagon tower at the back, a match was ongoing on the battle stage. The next opponents in line were waiting in the pavilion, watching the match as spectators for now. Some were astonished by the fight that was going on the ground and many were bored by the boring physical fight. Most of the boring ones were mages or people with a unique profession like assassins, scouts, shield warriors, as well as many swordsmen. And all of them looked down on the one fighting in the arena for not using the traditional sword, even while wearing a king''s light armor and having a tall, bulky build. The knight fighting with the examiner was a tall, bald man in purple light armor with a bulky build and a bald head with a tanned skin tone. His eyes were normal gray, and he was doing his best in this fight against the [Rank-4] examiner even while being just a [Rank-3] himself. He was stronger than most people in terms of physical prowess, but he wasn''t much special even with his normal red Aura with no special characteristics. The examiner wasn''t even using the Aura even after the opponent had used it and it would be called disrespectful in most cases but, everyone just acted normally. Most of the people here were sword wielders and just the fact that this person on the ground was using an axe, which he was definitely proficient with, made their faces weird. It was themon point of view of the society that the sword was the strongest and few who had reached the top with some other weapon were just special people. And in this ce where people gathered to take the adventurer ranking test, most, even the examiners, were all sword wielders. That was themon point of view of the society and most of the people and even here, few looked alright with it but the majority were just bored. The fight was just one-sided and not only the spectators and the other four examiners but also the one taking this one was also bored now. The man had done his best, but, in the end, he was just a little bit strong with a rough mastery of the weapon he used, and even the Aura was nothing special at all. Even the dwarf, the fifth examiner who evaluated the pieces of equipment, was not much happy with the cheap and normal quality of the weapon and armor he used. This fight had gone on for a solid five minutes and this much was more than enough for them to see what he was worth. So, the examiner, the one with blue hair and light gray eyes pulled his sword backward as he distanced himself and, with a sudden sharpening of his eyes, he almost vanished from that point and reappeared before him and thrust the back of his sword in his abdomen. And... this was enough to end the desperate attempt of the axe-wielding big bear. The small crowd who was cheering for this man fell silent as they saw him grab his stomach and fall to the ground. This was the end for this weapon wielder who tried his best in this test, and from the looks of all the five examiner''s faces, one could tell they didn''t like this one much. It was alright, enough to get rank but, not more than that. The personcked the eyes to choose the weapon, the survival instincts one needs in an unpredictable situation, and a strong will that can still make him stand up after thisst blow for what he fought for. He alsocked control over the weapon he used in this fight. He definitely was good with the axe but, being good with a weapon and having the talent and mastery to extract the full potential of body and weapon wasn''t there in this one. And he still had a long way to go, so... they just moved him out of the fighting arena as the five of the examiners standing on the ground beside the fighting stage looked forward to the next ones after this boring performance. There was a bit of anticipation in their eyes because of thetest news from a young attended and this had caught their eye. But, not all five of them were happy with the two that were toe next. The one who had juste down from the stage had a look of disappointment and disgust as he heard the things from the older-looking mature female mage. He wasn''t happy with the new settings and although the mage he asked was just excited about the next one; he was just disappointed with how their superiors could do a such foolish thing. But then again, the rest of the four were just excitedly waiting to see something new. The situation was special and maybe he didn''t understand the full extent of the scene before them as he was new there. The four who had experienced were eagerly waiting for the next ones toe and greet them here. And thankfully, none of them had to wait for much longer as the door on the other side opened and the two figures we were all familiar with walked in with confident looks and excited smiles on their faces. The blue-haired swordsman wasn''t much happy, so he just set on his seat, waiting for the greetings to be over. But the four of them... they couldn''t overlook the genuine mysterious air the two of them carried with them. And just from this much, they knew these two won''t be disappointing them. The boy that this new instructor didn''t like much was even more special in the eyes of the rest of the examiners. The girl looked strong just like him, despite being a mage. They knew these two were a mage and archer dup, which didn''t actuallye under the standard duo parties among the adventurers. Both of them were long-range dealers in this regard so there was no counter for short-range with them. And... this fact made this even more exciting. Chapter 278 Examiners There were five people as the examiners and one of the four would be on the stage for actual battles with the opponents. One was the blue-haired [Rank-4] swordsman, the gray-haired (tier-4) water magedy, another knight in full armor and a great sword as well as a helmet covering his face who was a [Rank-4] knight just like the other one. A magic swordsman, someone quite rare, with red hair and a long sword on his waist. But he was a (tier-3) mage and a [Rank-4] swordsman, so his overall strength was simr to the others, or just slightly more. He was a mature man, just like the mage woman, andstly, there was a short but muscr person with them, who was the most experienced and old among the people here. He was a dwarf. A race of high intelligence and someone who was a senior executive who observed the potential recruits for the association. They were here and now that they had heard the confidential examinees who would be observed by the branch master this time around, which was just themonsense of course, they can''t help their excitement. And although the information given to them just stated the two were a water mage and an archer, the confidentiality meant as little information as possible. They can only see what these two had to offer in the fight and all of them were excited to see their powers despite their young look. Looks were always deceiving in this world, so instead of just gauging the strength with mere eyes, seeing what they can do was the best. The young two of them were standing before them right now and all four of them could see, feel, and specte things about them. The girl with short brown hair and ck eyes looked just normal but, there was something in those normal eyes that no one sitting on the pavilion had. The dwarfs could even tell that there was something in the boy''s eyes that not even the four of them with him had at this moment. And this excited him more than them. What''s more... he was a dwarf. Someone who worked with fire, metal, earth, and knowledge every day. His whole being''s core was those things and he could feel those things from this person before him, too. The fire, the charisma, the wisdom that few had, the strength that was honed with brutal experience. He could tell just from his body structure and muscles that this boy... he was stronger than even what met his experienced eyes. And the girl was simrly special. Even though she was a mage and was going to use magic here, he could tell she was strong even while looking at her normal-looking cloth-covered arms. Both of them were also using some good gear and, aside from the normal caves, he knew the other clothes were artifacts in the form of normal clothing. Especially the boy''s. His artifacts, from the clothes, that ck clock, and even the boots, were the most special among these things. They were amazing, and the boy had already sensed his curiosity so, his eyes met this old dwarf and just a single look was enough for him to know he should stay silent. So he gave him a knowing look, and they both nodded at each other, knowing things all too well. And then, after this initial evaluation of the two, which was definitely more than just positive, the dwarf nodded at them and looked at the girl first. "Why don''t you start first? The magedy here is also a water mage of (tier-4) so it would be ok, right?" There was a warm smile on his face as he said that... which was totally the opposite of an average dwarf''s normal behavior. Dwarves in this world were beings of high intelligence. They were proud creatures who considered their creations, the dwarven creations, as the best thing there could be. They mostly looked down upon the other low-intelligence creatures and humans were naturally one of them. Though they did admire the strength and proficiency of their fields, the warm look that this dwarf gave her was genuinely not something any average dwarves would have. And the look he was giving the boy was even deeper than hers, so it became even more awkward for the boy as well as the impatient girl. She just wanted to finish all this as soon as she could and go to the branch manager and taste the delicious choctes he was famous for... aside from his strength, naturally. She was excited so she didn''t even hesitate and looked at thedy with long, bluish-gray hair and dark brown eyes. Thedy¡­ was alluring as well as voluptuous. She looked older even while being a mage but, she definitely was attractive. And many males in this arena were just staring at her for as long as the others can remember. But her beauty was nothing for the three other male examiners... only three, though. The swordsman who was dissatisfied was definitely attracted to this person and the other three, even the two young ones as well as some experienced ones on the pavilion, knew this. But the girl had no interest in any of this, so, just after greeting her, she walked up to the stage and went to her spot on the other side. Her impatience surprised others as she was just a young girl, who looked just... normal in their eyes. And even though the announcement was made with her name Uriel that she was a water mage, none of them were much excited. They knew this would be a battle between mages so the weapon wielders were naturally not interested in this one and the mages were somewhat the same. The girl looked young and there was no way they would be surprised if the opponent wasn''t the mage of the twelve geniuses of the era or someone of a famous and simr higher rank. This girl was nothing special looking and what''s more, they couldn''t even sense her Mana. And though they couldn''t see her status window, they just believed it was because of her high mental fortitude and their low-ranking skills. They didn''t think much about this fight and didn''t even look forward to the possible unexpected things. Most of the mages were (tier-3) anyway. What can a mere girl do against that strong (tier-4) woman? The majority had these thoughts but, naturally, everything had exceptions. Some, though very few, were definitely some who were looking forward to this fight in the hope of seeing something different. Those were just the spectators but, the opposite situation was happening with the examiners. The three males, including the dwarf, the armored knight, and the magic swordsman, were looking forward to this fight but, the one sword swordsman was still sitting on the back, staring at the normal-looking boy. He did understand there was something different about the two of them and that the girl would perform better than he anticipated but, this boy, no... what would a young boy who used a bow could do against a swordsman? How can a long-range weapon defeat the all-powerful sword which was a close-range weapon? Why would they even send some archer to the ranking ground in the first ce as the long-range weapon wielders always finish their rankings in the second test of stats and just some normal target practice? This boy... what can he even do here? Against the knights and mages like them? He would just cry and get hurt unnecessarily if anything. And as young as he was... he didn''t believe this boy could evene close to the natural reaction speed and movements of a [Rank-4] knight like him. And naturally, his thoughts were natural and right from the point of view of a normal person or a normal adventurer. But, he wasn''t some normal person or adventurer in this ce, and as he was new; they knew he wouldn''t understand this thing just yet. He was going to fight this young boy, this archer, anyway, so they knew he would understand things himself. Instead of telling him, they naturally would choose to just let him experience the most unexpected things one had to witness as an examiner of the adventurer''s association. And he would start to know these things... just after seeing the fight that will unfold now. A fight between an experienced water mage as well as this young-looking water mage of some low rank. Everyone was excited but the boy, the one who came with her, was the only one who knew... this fight wouldn''t evenst for three minutes. Chapter 279 Her Though Fight The examiner asked her if she was ready with a simple nod and she nodded back without hesitation. She was confident, and more than that, she was ready to just finish this match as soon as possible with the least energy and moves she could use. There was a fire in her eyes, almost a dot of crimson red light in those ck eyes. The magedy noddedst time and looked at the other side of the pavilion, where the control room of the arena was. And they got her signal as a horn rang in the arena and three lights, glowing in red, appeared on both sides of the arena. They both could see them at the front and they were the signals for the match''s start. The girl looked on the other side at the back for a moment, at the boy who hade with her, and even though it was a brief moment, they both talked about everything they wanted through their eyes. And she was now even more confident, as a smile had appeared on her face, which naturally surprised everyone who could see her. The girl was going to start an offensive, naturally, and the magedy also knew this so, she was ready with an attack of her own. She didn''t yet know the powers of this girl but, from the looks of things, she could understand that the girl was strong, so underestimating her would be thest thing she would do. The red lights started to go out one by one, and this meant the start of this fight that even the branch manager was watching from surveince. Things were spiced up just from this much so, the heart of the magedy was beating even after now. This match would be some of the few amazing ones she had ever had in this ce, and she wholeheartedly believed it. So, she was expecting many things from this girl and hoped she wouldn''t disappoint her. And the girl was just... normal. Calm, normal breathing, clear eyes, no fluctuation of Mana around her, and still, countless ces in the air before the magedy had started acting weird. The second red light vanished and now, the magedy knew something bigger than her expectation would be hitting her. Something she didn''t expect even after having this much excitement. A strength she wasn''t looking forward to see, the prowess she hadn''t expected, and something she couldn''t block with just a simple attack spell. The third light went out in the split second the magedy thought things through and now, it was time. The calmness in the girl''s eyes was the same, and the entire area around the examiner was now her attack zone. Now, the ones on the ground knew this too... they were seeing a genius of the twelve''s level. And the thing that will happen now could only be blocked, and not even dodged by even a (tier-4) mage like her... A sudden shock and fear appeared in the eyes of the experienced magedy as she channeled arge amount of Mana and cast two (tier-3) defensive shields. And that was good quick thinking because¡­ as soon as all three of the lights turned green... rain started. Rain of the water attribute spells, original spells of (tier-1) with the genuine power of (tier-2) spells. Countless magic circles had appeared in the surrounding air of the examiner and started firing unstoppable waternces, sharp water currents, crescent des of high-pressure water, and many spells like that. Though the spells were all weak on their own, no doubt about that but, being hit by these countless spells at this absurd rate was maddening. The magic circles that looked attractive were there for just the moment when the spell was shot at thedy and then it vanished, reced by a new one, different from the others. And the spells were so strong after being shot at once that... the (tier-3) barriers were nothing in front of them. The barriers she created just vanished, shattered into pieces, but the spells that attacked her from all directions, not even giving her a chance to cast another spell. This was absurd... and more than enough to make everyone on the pavilion and the downside of the arena speechless. They couldn''t believe what was happening at the moment and at the degree, the spells were shot at thedy and theirbined strength was nothing less than a (tier-4) spell. Just doing this required unparalleled knowledge and mind but, to maintain it for this long was a miracle on its own. Not that no one couldn''t do the same. There were young mages in the twelve prodigies that can do things like this but, right now, the girl wasn''t one of them. And still, this unknown girl was overpowering the magedy at this moment. Countless spells shot at the powerful barrier, countless barriers broken by the sudden barrage of spells. Thedy barely holding her ce and maintaining the continuous summon of the barrier spells and the now somewhat tired girl with the dimming crimson light in her eyes. The spells were countless. The strength was undeniable. The opponent was genuinely weak, and she was done with what she wanted to show she was capable of. So, to end things there, a bigger magic circle started appearing on top of the barriers thedy was creating. A bigger circle and one would naturally know the spell was (tier-2) just from the structure and... its strength would be thest thing from this girl. Her impable act made them believe this was all she could do and thatst one would be herst attack of the absurd barrage and even then, no one could believe what had happened in the past few minutes. A countless barrage of spells that made the overall output even grander than the normal (tier-3) spells could ever reach? It was possible when one knew how the magic spells worked, how to make new magic spells, as well as how to constantly channel Mana to continue these spells. The technique wasn''t hers, but she was grateful to the one who taught her this. Though not so difficult for her... this was definitely something even more difficult than the double, triple, or quadra casting techniques. And she could only do this because of her special body, the deep knowledge of the spells, and the [Old magic] skill she had. But still, she was genuinely mentally tired by this thing. Even with her high affinity with water attribute Mana and simrly higher concentration that was the keyponent of this spellcasting method, she could only maintain this for around ten minutes at her current level. And though the ten-minute thing was absurd in itself, he had told her not to overwork at all. So, these two minuses were more than enough and that final spell of almost (tier-3) power was more than enough for them to get a decent score. She had started her attack at a legal time, just after the signal. The instructor never even got the chance to attack, so she was naturally strong. The fight had shocked everyone beyond belief and now... this was good enough. Time slowly passed for the spectators, and even slower for the one blocking these countless spells. This was supposed to be a rank inspection, not a one-sided total domination. This girl... thedy never wanted to underestimate her, but she didn''t even give her any chance to prepare any attack spells. One after another, the aftershock of the spell hitting the barrier was intense. And even though she had just defended herself from these mere (tier-1) spells, the spells definitely hurt her a bunch. Her Mana flow and concentration could barely keep up with the monstrous efficiency of this girl. And even though she would be fine after being hit by the small (tier-1) spells, it was not for much longer. They were original spells and tough to dismantle. She could tell just from the looks and structure of those spells¡­ the girl was no normal person. And this technique she used to cast the spells... mysterious and something that would definitely take a huge toll on one''s body as well as mind. And from the looks on the girl''s face, thisdy could tell, this magic circle that was appearing above her would be thest thing from her. Then she would be in no shape to attack and simrly, thedy herself would be too tired to even stand in the ce like she was now. The girl smiled, and thedy knew this was the time. The magic circle manifested in the air and she cast another twoyers of (tier-3) spells on the existing six (tier-2) ones. And she could just hope that these barriers... could at least stop the attacking at her. The magic circle manifested and started rotating in the air as every other small one vanished. And then... a whirlpool fell from the sky and collided with the eight barriers thedy had created. The pointed end of the whirlpool, like a drill before wood, easily broke the first barriers, and the savage recoil from the block was definitely more than enough that her internal organs took a bad hit. But still, she managed to stand strong and endure the pressure from this small but high-pressure whirlpool. And thankfully... the spell didn''tst more than a few moments. Thest two barriers had managed to block the spells, and she was alright even after that horrible spell. The girl was covered with sweat and there was blood flowing out of her nose, with herplexion being pale white. ''Nice acting'' the boy would say... but still, the sudden sharp headache she felt was real. The ground of the stage was damaged quite a lot on that one side, and after the spell, both the girl and thedy had fallen to the ground, tired and powerless. Their battle was one-sided, to some but, it was just a close call in the eyes of other examiners. If the girl could maintain that technique for just another minute or so, then she could have easily defeated the (tier-4) magedy. And that was their deduction, not the truth. Thedy was just a normal and powerful (tier-4) water mage, nothing special. So, the boy knew that someone like the girl, who could actually see through his near-perfect defense, was more than capable of defeating even a ''normal'' (tier-6) mage at the level she was right now. Anyway... the fight was jaw doping and the reactions from the spectators as well as the five instructors were quite the sight for the boy who was happily smiling at the girl on the stage. Chapter 280 After The Tough Battle In the backyard of the hexagon tower of the adventurer''s association, a strange silence had overtaken the whole arena. A silence so still that even a drop of a needle would echo like a shout on a mountaintop. The people on the pavilion had their jaws dropped, eyes wide open, and face as pale as the pure white clouds in the clear blue sky. Their eyes were locked at the arena, on the ''young'' mage who they thought would be weak against the powerful magedy of (tier-4). The ''weak'' girl should have done some desperate struggle for a rank at least higher than . Their simple thoughts were crushed, just like the barriers from the magedy and the shattered faces of boredom were something really peculiar. The faces they made because of the girl for being foolish were now something simr to a ''normal'' human seeing a ghost out of nowhere. A scary one that would scar the shit out of others from just its mere presence. The mages knew all those spells were low tier but... the sheer number of those spells was enough to make even the other examiners speechless about what were these mere spectators. Thest few minutes were unreal... They couldn''t even fathom just how can someone could use spells consecutively like that. The level of the spell was irrelevant if you don''t even get the chance to cast attack magic on top of the defensive magic against that seemingly countless rainfall of spells. This was unbelievable, and from how most mages can only go as high as triple casting in their whole life, this kind ofplex casting method that even high-ranking mages would find difficult was performed by this young girl... they couldn''t believe it. From the moment the fight started to the end when the both of them were on the ground, gasping for air and stabilizing the soul that had left their bodies for a while now. They were taking a breather on the ground and something simr was happening with the other examiners, who hadn''t taken their eyes away from this fight. They had forgotten to even breathe for those few minutes this fight went on and now that the fight ended with a somewhat drow, they could finally breathe. They could breathe the fresh air of this still air, this still arena, this soundless ranking ground. A match that can make this forever noisy ce speechless... that was a greater feat than just matching the examiner. Anyone who could do this much would easily get rank or more, and that was only with the ranking practical marks. With the written test, who knew this girl might just get rank, something few had ever achieved at that ''age''. Her mastery of spells and control of Mana and attribute was outstanding, and it took a whole two minutes after the fight was over for the people toe to reality and start cheering for this old witch who looked like a normal, young girl. The spectators were overjoyed and the surprise in their voices was enough to tell just how amazed they were by her performance. This match, this marvelous performance... it was engraved deep in their minds, not that any of them would remember it after a while. The examiners were different, they will be able to remember this one however long they wanted, and that was enough. The three of the examiners who were standing and looking at the situation were just bbergasted by this girl''s magic casting technique. Though it must have put an unreal burden on her, she pushed the magedy, a (tier-4) magedy, to her limits, and this was a great achievement on its own. She had done excellent work, and they were d they got to see such amazing magic. The three of the standing ones were at the very least. The fourth one, the new one among the examiners, was not just surprised or bbergasted. He was shocked beyond belief, like the spectators. And this shock was not at the fact that how can she use that kind of casting technique with that small body but, this shock was because of the physical body that could actually handle the burden of that absurd magic and still just ''bleed a little''. As the examiners, they knew just how difficult it is to do something with a weaker body with low stats. And being able to handle that extreme burden of casting technique definitely required high stats first. And he also could tell, just like the other examiners... this girl had physical statsparable to a basic knight. And that... was amazing. Just thinking about how a young-looking girl can have that high base stats as well as high magic affinity, understanding, and that precise control was unreal from a ''normal'' point of view. This shocked him more than he had ever expected, and that was just the girl. When he hesitantly looked at the boy that was with this girl, who was naturally smiling warmly at her, his clear image of the kid changed dramatically. It wasn''t just because the boy was with the girl and the thought that if the girl could perform something so unexpected like this the boy might too, but also because of how the girl was smiling warmly at him. He knew that she herself understood she was strong and fundamentally, one wouldn''t be with someone weaker than themself in some certain aspects so, the chances of him being able to show something of simile scale was higher than before. But then again... what could a mere archer even do? Have higher reflexes than the superior swordsman? Have higher destructive power against someone who had Aura? What can a mere young boy do against an experienced man like him? ...he wasn''t even a mage for being able to use magic like this rain of spells. This [Rank-4] swordsman knew even if the boy was something more than he had expected, he will be more than enough to defeat him. He was a physical attack specialist and though defending against the countless spells would naturally be difficult for him; it was different against some normal arrows that couldn''t even pierce through his high physical defense skill. But, after seeing the magedy in that situation, this strong young man was somewhat angry... the normal, old-school, one-sided crush. Yes. He was somewhat angry about how can the girl could do something like that to her, nor maybe just that he couldn''t ept the fact that the girl had almost defeated an examiner. Their match was over, and there will be a test for this boy too. And the swordsman knew he will be the one going against him. Now¡­ he wanted to defeat the boy even more than before. Not that the oue will change from the one right now. Maybe it would be even more dramatic than this one, but not less. The boy had to go somewhere, and he didn''t know just how long it would take for them with the branch manager. So, the young boy was contemting whether to just finish the fight in an instant or take a few minutes as she did. He could do either of those things. He wasn''t restricted here like at his home. There was nothing to worry about against a strong opponent that actually had no connection to him. He would just be showing a part of his strength that only these examiners would remember and no one in the spectators and even the control room. Actually, things had already started in the control room from how they didn''t give the match finishing signal even after a few minutes had passed after the match. The executives would already have reached that ce, just like how they were hiding in the corners of the pavilion, ready to do their work. The match was amazing, and the most surprised one who knew everything that had happened in this match was even more astonished than the others. He knew others hadn''t seen or known what had actually happened here, but he knew everything from how that magic technique worked to how absurd it actually was. Having a body above the normal humans, one that circtes energy differently and more smoothly, having all the energy channels in the body open like the witches and wizards, having a mind that can process countless spell information simultaneously. And above all else, the experience of actual battles. Without all these things, this kind of spellcasting was close to impossible for any young girl, even with high stats. The technique was made for those who can actually circte Mana in their entire body, through every part of their body, and still be fine. Usually, humans couldn''t do this without some special innate skill or blessing but, it was natural for witches and wizards. They had natural energy meridians throughout their body that can improve at a faster rate than normal humans with time and training. Talent was also an essential part of the process, as well as a very high affinity with the elemental spells one uses in this casting method. And then, after all this hassle, if you can handle the burden of bing an engine that just processes and circtes the spells in a pre-decided manner, you can pump out that kind of spell rain. Definitely difficult but... powerful enough to overpower a (tier-4) mage with mere (tier-1) spells. All of them were original spells created by the girl himself, which definitely reduced the burden a bit but, it was still a lot. And she still managed to make the examiner fall to her knees. This was definitely an amazing battle, and the dwarf was overjoyed he was here to witness such an amazing match. And one more thing was on his mind that constantly bit at his old dwarven scenes. If just this girl was this amazing... just how amazing of an archer was this boy? He couldn''t contain the smirk on his face as he looked at the boy and the boy had even given him a small smile, confirming what he was thanking would definitely be true. And this... excited him far more than it had ever been in the eight hundred years of his life. Chapter 281 Before An Easy Opponent Her match was amazing. The cheers and shouts she got after the fight were unreal and I was really proud of my dear friend to learn something that took me weeks in a single night. Teaching her was easy, and she already knew the basics ofprehensive Mana cirction, so it was even easier. I just showed her how to circte the energy and how the vision casting worked and damn... she was amazing. She learned that stuff on that short night she got clover and now she was already so proficient that she can maintain this rain of spells for a whole ten minutes! It was just amazing... Even I can only continue this for thirty minutes with the same (tier-1) spells. And if I use Solnova spells, forty to forty-five minutes. But, I knew we won''t actually have any need to use this casting method anytime soon. It was different from my single-person short ranger arrow release that I used against the headmaster yesterday. For her, it was definitely different. She can cast spells like that because she was naturally that amazing. She was close to my dad in spell processing and, with her alluring witch body, she was beyond the normal standards of ''strong'' even now. She was amazing but, she won''t be increasing her ten-minute limit anytime soon. She learned fast, but now there was nothing ahead for her. Not until she makes a breakthrough and reaches the next core level. And I knew that wasn''t happening anytime soon. (tier-4) are called a mage, and there is a reason for that, naturally. Mages were the mainstream, real magicians who are mostly hired by noble houses or considered good when looking for a good magic user. (tier-4) is like a dividing line and in magicians, some of the first Mana characteristics bloom at that stage. It''s a fundamentally difficult thing and it will take time... for her and for me, too. The match she had with the water magedy was good, and she controlled herself well. She was a seriously good actor when needed and the way she convinced even this smart dwarf sir that this was her full power. She was good, and the response she earned from the public that thought this was some boring match between a child and an adultdy... was hrious. Even this opponent standing before me... it was ridiculous when I saw the look in his eyes while watching this water magedy. I didn''t know how I can tell him she was married and had a happy family and even her daughter was almost the same age as Anna... more than that; he didn''t know these things? Like¡­ they were both examiners, right? Thedy just looked mature and curvy but, she was old and he must know that too, right? For god''s sake, dude... the armored knight beside her was her husband... Rein and I both knew that and we had talked after her fight ended as they were repairing the arena by the time every spectator came out of their shock. It was hrious, and I didn''t know what the hell was going on with this strange, young, strong examiner. Maybe he was someone new among the examiners of the capital branch but, from what data I gathered with Celes, I knew the magedy and knight in full armor were quite a famous pair. Well, anyway... it was quite something to not actually know about anything, even after working here as an examiner for a while now. Was this guy under some rock all this time or something? Actually, I had nothing to do with any of that. Rein finished her fight in three minutes and I was nning to finish this heavily underestimated battle in three seconds¡­ People hadn''t underestimated Rein at the start of the fight at the very least, as she was a rare young mage and at least some of them hoped the fight will be something ok at the very least. They weren''t just leaning back against their seats like they were right now. And it all started from the moment they announced that¡­ I was an archer. The people looked down upon those who used a weapon different from a de, but¡­ a bow? An archer and his weak ass wooden stick and some weak straight arrows? What could they even do to a [Rank-4] swordsman? I wasn''t a mage that I would surprise them by casting countless spells at the same time. I was just some simple archer that will be shooting simple arrows from my simple bow. Nothing much, nothing more to expect from the bottom feeders like us who did physical damage with some arrows. I was weak in the eyes of the spectators, actually; they didn''t give a shit and many of them had even started going out of the arena for some quick snack or water break from all that previous heavy fight. Well, their memories of us will be wiped clean the moment they exit this arena so they can do whatever they wanted. Look down upon this archer? Sure, why not? Yawn and just wait for the match to end and the fight to finish already? Well, yes. Will be done. They can do whatever the hack they wanted but that thing won''t even besting for half a minute, much less three like Rein. If they had dropped jaws and wide eyes during Rein''s match... I can assure them their eyes will just pop out of their sockets, their jaws will touch the ground, and their souls would leave their bodies just after seeing the condition of the examiner who was the same as them. The poor, adult adventurer examiner just wanted to show off before the prettydy watching from below the stage. He was also looking down on me and genuinely... I haven''t even been this much underestimated by the high-ranking creatures in the great forest of Kamut. He was thinking he will just finish the fight instantly, even before I get the chance to take out the arrow and fire at him. Well¡­ it was good. More than good, actually. It was some of the best scenarios when someone actually looks down upon you. They will not only have any guard up, and they will practically be littered with openings. The situation was the same with this dear examiner before me... And sorry for him¡­ would be suffering some bad injuries after a few moments. It was hrious how they can think archers were the bottom feeders like it was natural... like damn people. There were not one but two archers within the ranks of the knight kings. There was a magic archer as an executive of the adventurer alliance, too. The western part of the empire''s branch manager, to be precise. The archers were even one of the mainponents of the militaries and stronger ones, like pure archers with high techniques, were even hailed above the mere swordsman. This was my test, and the result was already decided. As soon as this thing starts, I will take five arrows at a time, fire around thirty in the span of three seconds at the blind spots he was giving like free candies, and just walk out. I already knew there was no way for this person who didn''t even know about my imaginary attacks to block those simple wooden arrow attacks. Not that anything I use would be ''simple'' and only the old dwarf in this ce had stars in his eyes while looking at both my arrows and bow. He could see the things others can''t so he knew something made by my master, even if it was just a normal wooden bow created with special high-energy materials, would naturally be amazing. The bow was just a (level-5) artifact but the overall power it had was definitely above (level-7). The craftsmanship was simple but the internal designs, which only an experienced craftsman could perceive, were something captivating. His eyes were locked on this simple-looking bow... as well as my arrows. My arrows, and not because they were simrly special and made by my master, no. That wasn''t the case for them. They were simple arrows I bought a while ago but, the enchantments I put on them were definitely something out of themon things of the current market. I have been an enchanter for a long time, almost from the time I was just five years old. And I still remember my first set of arrows that I had to coat with that special Mana conducting fluid. That witchcraft-like day where the three of us stood in that sun for a long time was still clear in my mind. But a long time had passed since then and I was far more proficient in enchantments than in those times. I was already far above master enchanters and this dwarf grandpa could clearly tell it from the almost unperceivable enchantments. He could see them, though barely. That was more than enough for him to tell whoever did those enchantments was also a very, very... very skilled person. Well, after learning the rune enchantments, the next stage of rune crafting, I could do most of themon enchantments like they are low-level spells. Now that I thought about it, this really was something more than just amazing. ''Damn... how far have Ie in this novel-like life of mine...'' I remember everything and I remember the days of my childhood in that not-so-fancy house in the border town. From that time to right now, after surviving hell, losing someone very dear to my being, returning to my family, and even finding the one I want to be with forever, my life had been quite peculiar. It was a tough life, but I was in the capital now, and I was giving the adventurer''s license exam. This will be our identities for the time we are adventurers as well as in the academy and maybe even after that one. Choosing the name Lucifer was my choice, and I derived it from Lucy''s name, and she was happy when I came up with this name. ''Hehehe... she really was happy.'' As I can feel her, when she was happy, the happiness I felt reminded me of my dear master, and even after not having her, feeling the same special feeling as having her near me was the best thing. But, well, I was before a normal [Rank-4] swordsman right now. I know he is foolish and all but, he definitely is strong. His Aura has a fire form and those fires should most definitely be blue mes. But he wasn''t allowed to use the Aura in the ranking matches unless given special permission in special circumstances. Not that he will have any chance to even take out his sword from its sheath. The audience was bored, and I knew no one will be recovered from the shock even after five minutes. This good dwarf grandpa will be alright, but still amazed. Zoe would have been amazed to see this dwarf grandpa if she were here, but, well, maybe some other time. We will just go to the manager''s office with our receptionist so there was nothing for after I finish this so... Without wasting much precious time, I looked at the opponent who has looked down on me for some unknown reason... He was still doing it, and... it would be even easier to finish this ''test''. Chapter 282 An Unseen Fight Taking a loose stance, gripping the handle of the bow, and preparing my hand for the many arrows I would be shooting, I looked at the other side of the examiner. He was getting into the character of the examiner that he was. Putting his right hand on the handle of this sword, ''preparing to block the attacks'', he looked at me with pitiful eyes. I could tell something concerning an archer or simr had happened in his life before and that was the reason for his weird behavior against me. I was an archer and all but, as an examiner, he can''t, he must not look down on his opponents. There was some reason but, that wasn''t my problem. He was giving me the first chance to attack, and what more can I ask for? This was getting easier and easier and now, I also had a pitiful expression in my eyes as the first red light went off. His pitiful look was one thing but, when I looked with the same look as him, he got confused and fell into the thought of why would I have this kind of look. An archer, a young boy, no less. Was there any chance that I could defeat him? A high-ranking knight? Well... wow. This world and themon people of this world. How strange can they be? The second red light went off and my fingers finished the positioning to grab five arrows. Five arrows at once... I was pretty good with bow and arrows to do something like now. I can do six, and it was easier than five but, five would carry more power than six. And though five was the most difficult in the holding, it was the strongest after a single arrow shooting. Six was almost the same as three, but my hands still hurt when holding six at once. So, instead of six, using five was better. I would be fine with a normal potion and that should be enough to handle the small wounds after this one. My hands were ready to attack and the third light went off so¡­ This was the time. The atmosphere was dead calm, with no excitement, no cheers, not even any voice... nothing unnecessary like that. They were just waiting for this thing to finish up and for the next match to start. Even the wind was calm... the true calm before the storm-type situation. ''Well... the day is clear. Good for a date, no?'' The moment was here. I was ready and the green lights were almost before us. My eyes sharpened, my heart calmed, the muscles in my body aligned for an arrow attack and I knew even after feeling something weird... my opponent was doing nothing. Poor swordsman... ''Short range multifire: Drizzle.'' This one was different from the time I used something simr against Ca. It was far slower, and the arrows that I shot could be perceived by the truly strong ones in this ce. They could see the arrows, but more than them... this poor swordsman could see these arrows better, more clear and almost in slow motion. My hand moved back, grabbed five arrows in a special pre-determined order, three between my fingers, two perfectly arranged with my thumb and palm, and my eyes marked the spots the arrows would hit him. This was super quick, and I knew most of the people didn''t even see me move. The arrows left my bow at once. Traveled in the air at a speed that was close to breaking the sound barrier, but didn''t break it. A purely physical attack. And just like some evening rain drizzle, the many arrows that left my bow in the pair of five were slowly moving toward the non-vital points of the swordsman. There wasn''t some big (booom!) sound or anything, just the low (sweeeeeesh) of many arrows cutting the air, and just as I said, the examiner couldn''t do anything about the arrowsing at him. He just stood there, watching as the colorful wooden arrows came before him and collided with his body at once¡­ slowly. A few seconds passed in a blink of an eye and although the examiners, the strong ones, saw the moving arrows, the spectators who were just bored and were yawning couldn''t even see if I had already moved my hands and was firing the arrows. For them, I was standing still, the swordsman was standing still, and the others on the ground were just watching us with surprise in their eyes. The others could see the things, but even for them, every second was passing like the second it should. But... the frozen swordsman was a different case altogether. He was seeing the slowly moving arrows that had almost pierced his body and the new force of these countless hits was even pushing him backward. He was arrogant and wasn''t even in the proper stance to defend against this high-speed attack. He was strong enough that he can see the slowly moving arrows and his eyes were also sharp¡­ just that he made the mistake of underestimating his opponent. It hadn''t even been a minute, not even half of a minute since the lights turned green and I knew in other''s eyes, I was still just standing in the same ce while the arrows in my quiver decreased as if vanishing. But few noticed this thing and got confused instead of being shocked. ...the shock was on the way. Just a few moments away from these poor spectators. Anyway, after shooting that many arrows, my fingers had deep cuts and were bleeding, nothing much though. This didn''t even sting or was painful at all. So, I was done with this, and some arrows were still flying at him, but he was definitely stuck by multiple arrows at safe ces. His body was almost flying and as soon as I release my long-held breath... he will be shot back and will crash into the wall on the other side. ? His eyes were wide open as he looked at me on the other side, holding my bow in that still state, my blue eyes glowing, and this... it was almost like the scene from those old cinemas. ''Lol... you genuinely look pitiful, dude.'' I wanted tough right now, and I will after a while of taking a deep breath but, this was definitely fun. I was done here, and now, the only thing left was the (booom!) that had been suspended in the air and was moving slowly. But, thest of the arrow that was slowly moving at him struck his chest, though not deep, and his body shot back with the time starting to move again... -Boooooooom! Chapter 283 An Unseen Fight (2) Without any care for this pitiful examiner, I walked down the stage. The sudden loud noise surprised everyone, including the examiners that saw the arrows fly toward the swordsman. In unison, all the spectators looked around for what had just happened when they saw me walking down the stage as well as the other side of the arena where the [Rank-4] knight swordsman had almost cracked the walls after his crash with almost fifteen or so arrows on his body... Though there wasn''t even a drop of blood, he was almost unconscious from the sudden impact. They couldn''t understand the things that were happening, and I had nothing to do with them anymore. The calmest person among them who was right with his judgment was smiling in astonishment. I can read his eyes and he actually anticipated something like this might happen. He was a dwarf, an old one at that. I could sense just from being near him that he was a master forger as well as a great craftsman. He was experienced, and he had seen many unexpected things in his life, so he wasn''t shocked by just how can a young boy like me could be this much strong and proficient with the weapon. It was clear that he knew that whoever my teacher was, was a great person all in itself and I knew he wanted to have a small chat with me, too. But, s... Even if I also wanted to talk with this dwarf, I would have to part ways with him today. Maybe there will be a day we can have a talk. A talk about the crafting and maybe even the enchantment and stuff like that. As well as the personal stuff. There will be a day for that but, not today. I had to go somewhere with this special friend of mine~! And before that, we had to meet the person who watched both of our fights as calmly as our grandparents. He was an amazing person from the stories I have heard and unlike most of the mages in the world who are young looking despite their normally old age, this one... was the personification of the old mages of fantasy stories. I hadn''t seen him just yet, and I was looking forward to seeing him, and¡­ he will definitely be a fun person. There will soon be chaos when everyonees to their senses and sees the barely conscious examiner. Rein was shaking her head at me for this unnecessary show of strength, but, well, what can I do? I knew we will have a long chat with the manager and she also wanted his specially made roasted almond choctes. Doing some trading with him would be fun so, I was excited about that. The swordsman was normal, pitiful but, normal¡­ so there was no need to worry about him at all. He was fine, and I knew he won''t be looking down on his opponents or make any stupid mistake like this one. He would be fine. Spectators will be losing their memories of this fight, and even the ones secretly watching the fight will be dealt with by the association. Things ended pretty quickly here, almost in fifteen minutes, with both our fightsbined. And most of that time was taken on the repairs of the stage. This was alright after the three hours I took to solve the written test so, it was alright. Now that I have caused this chaos... we should just drag our nkly frozen receptionist out of this arena and just go to the top office. "Well, let''s go, Rein. You can carry her, right? I should clean the wound in the meantime." "You''re dumb, you know that, right?" "Of course I know~. I''m dumb... dumb for you, that is." I smirked at thatst one and she just shook her head in disbelief while watching my blood-covered hand with a helpless expression. She knew this much was nothing, but she was still upset I would hurt myself like this. Well, this was something normal... some of my techniques do worse than this much. Like thest one against the headmaster... Using that technique was the worse thing ever. And some of its forms were actually so powerful that I had spected that I would die for real while using them, even with all the precautions in the world. Not that I was dying anytime soon. And this is no g. I didn''t like the death of anyone and, ording to my knowledge, the next death of any humanoid being you all should be seeing with me would be the evil spirit after my birthday. The bad people Celes was following weren''t going to do anything significant anytime soon, and the deaths they were causing right now had nothing to do with me. I may seem cold-hearted from those words but, stopping them one by one will be more catastrophic than just leaving them be. The best thing to do was just follow their movements and find their base and attack when they had achieved their objective and were in the middle of doing something big. I knew they were finding something and when they find that and regroup with their subordinates... that would be the time I make my own move. I knew I alone won''t be enough for this thing and that was the reason, aside from Rein, I wanted Chry to awaken his abilities as soon as possible. And from their speed and efficiency, they will definitely find what they were searching for in a month or two. I at least hope they take this much so I can finish my own preparations. Not that I had to worry about anything here. I was no hero anyway. And stopping them might not be up to us, or me... Well, I can ask for help if there was any problem but, from the strength, those mages had shown... I believed even Chery alone would be enough to take them down in a single attack with his realized powers. They were just close to any normal (tier-3) mage but, their executives should definitely be strong, right? And their appearance in the capital meant there will be some kind of chaos, the real one, soon. But, well, those things weren''t for me to think about just yet. There was a beautifuldy with me and there were many things we were going to do today so... without much chit-chat, let''s go to the mage of light pir~. Chapter 284 Scene Of Training Grounds The scene people witnessed a while ago in the practical examination arena was something they couldn''t believe, even if they wanted to. The opponent was a young boy, an archer no less. His bow was normal too, nothing grand like high magic channeling or something like a magic bow. It didn''t have Mana conducting properties, at least not that the others could sense. And the examiner was a good [Rank-4] knight, someone who had just defeated a worrier of much higher strength than the boy, at least visually. The boy looked normal in everyone''s eyes, someone who just wanted to y around or something like that. He looked at least good enough that they knew he will pass out the exam, even with just a mere rank at the very least. They believed he could be just that, nothing more, nothing less. For an archer, fighting against a swordsman, a high-ranking knight, no less, wasughably impossible in their eyes. But... they witnessed something unreal today. Or more like they didn''t even witness what the hell had happened there. The boy came to the stage, stood before the examiner, who was quite serious even though he was up against just an archer, and then the red lights turned green. Then, the boy just stood there¡­ He did nothing and just stood on the spot he was standing, and somehow the arrows in his quiver started declining. They didn''t understand what was happening but, even before they could understand anything, they saw the boy walk down the stage without looking back at the examiner. It was something like those no-look things and they still had no idea what had just happened in that ce, but... then they saw it. They actually heard it first, and that diverted their eyes away from the boy and they saw on the other side where the examiner should have been. He should have been there, he was just there a moment ago but, that ce was empty and they could see where he was. This surprised them even more than the boy walking away and¡­ this scene in front of their eyes was something unfathomable. The examiner who they had seen for some matches now... was stered to the wall of the arena, almost cracking the thick walls. There were many arrows stuck to his body, and they all looked just like the ones the boy carried. They were dug into his body, and if looked closely, they all were precisely dug in the non-vital points of the body, so even after there were more than fifteen arrows, he didn''t bleed like the hunted prey he should. There was blood, but it wasn''t much concerning. He was fine and after a while, things calmed down. They took him to the medical center, the special one, obviously. The spectators were speechless and confused, and chaos erupted among them. People were asking what happened, how the hell the things happen that happen, and the one that was asked the most was... ''who the hell was this boy?!'' as well as the girl with him. They didn''t know anything about this pair and there was nothing they got, even after asking the others present there. The noises, shouts, and chaos the boy caused before vanishing from the arena were very rare things on the testing ground. They naturally couldn''t ask the examiners so, thest thing they could do was to go the fuck out of this ground this instant and sell this hot information. This wasn''t just shocking for them, the appearance of such an amazing archer and mage would naturally attract the attention of great people, and guilds, and naturally, the association was first in line. Everyone would want such remarkable talents almostparable to the twelve geniuses. This would be a hot topic as soon as the information gets out and naturally... the association had no n to let that happen. They had called the first dibs and there was no way they would let others have such exceptional assets. And so, even before the people could stand up and leave the ce they sat on, the entire pavilion was covered by a strange yellow fog. A yellow fog came out of nowhere and as soon as the ones in contact with this inhaled it, they fell silent as their eyes went nk. The examiners already knew what was going to happen in this ce, so they had already taken their leave. People covered in ck clothing, holding blue crystals that glowed with a strange light that had a stage magic circle-like shape on it, appeared out of nowhere and surrounded these people. They were strange people and the way they masterfully surrounded this stage was astonishing. And by that time, the three of them were still standing in this ce, watching these strange things that were going on in these testing grounds where they evaluated one''s adventurer rank. Though they saw all this without being affected by this fog because of some strange barrier that came out of nowhere and though it was their first time seeing these personally, the boy as well as the receptionist knew who they were. These people looked like assassins, or at least mages, from the looks and covered faces but, one thing was the same in them. There were many mages among them that did something with the crystal and from the official records that only an employee would know, the receptionist with them knew that these people were higher-ups of the association. The boy naturally knew about them too, which was a strange thing but, aside from the young mage girl, no one would know of that fact. The clothes they were wearing while doing this strange thing looked like some kind of uniform and the symbol on the chest area of these uniforms had a strange hexagon star. Most of them had one star, but there were some with two stars and a single person with three stars that looked over everything happening in this ce. They had appeared in this fog out of nowhere and the things they did in this strange fog that made these people freeze and almost unconscious while still standing in their spots were definitely strange... Chapter 285 On The Elevator This looked like some kind of cleaning operation and the thing these people were clearing up in an unbelievably organized way looked amazing~. The glowing crystals in their hands were absorbing a specific memory of these spectators and even though it sounded absurd, it was definitely what was going on. Though this was no ''good'' work, this was what they did in the positions they held. This was their work and the one who caused them this great work had left the grounds long and was now just riding an elevator to the top floor. The pretty receptionistdy had nk eyes, and she just looked down, not even knowing what to think, much less speak or express. She knew the two of them would be special after seeing the rmendations from the high-ranking adventurers, and some of the well-known ones at that. She knew both of them would be amazing, but... not this much. She couldn''t have ever even imagined the two young-looking children would be thiiiiis strong. In her eyes, someone who was just a normal receptionist and not even an adventurer, the things she saw a while ago were her first times. She had seen ranking tests many times, definitely, but what the two of them did wasn''t something she had seen EVER! A rain of magic spells? People can''t even cast the normal (tier-2) spells properly sometimes. Almost defeating a mage far stronger than yourself? Most never evene close to touching them with their spells. What she saw in the arena today as the personal receptionist of these two was something ''false'' in her eyes. Something that was just... untrue. And even if she can believe what the girl had done to be at the very least possible, what the boy did was just... an illusion. She didn''t even move from her ce after grasping what had just happened, and this frozen state only broke after the two just dragged her outside of that ce. She was smart enough to process what might have happened in the moments the boy just looked standing naturally as he had been and just this thought that someone can actually shoot arrows like that almost fainted her. Just¡­ how the hell can someone shoot arrows like that?! And he wasn''t even an adult to have this kind of physical control and weapon prowess... She at least understood the rank and rank rmendations weren''t for nothing. And more than that, the two of those well-known adventurers had chosen as amazing people as them for this rare chance of rmendation. Rmendations weren''t something anyone could have, even if you are rank and above. There are many conditions to get your hands on even the normal rmendation. And silver was just second only to the highest-ranking letters. The rmendations are an amazing thing, almost like an authority within the association. And aside from the employees who had taken the oath of Mana or Aura, no one in the association could know confidential things like the uses of these rmendations. But, that wasn''t necessary now¡­ She was just that much shocked by the two''s prowess and just as the procedures of the top-ss confidential members followed; they had reached the top floor, the office of the branch manager of the capital branch of the adventurer''s association. This special receptionist they chose actually personally knew him. He was an amazing person, and she respected him with all her heart. She was in this ce mostly thanks to him, and she was eternally indebted to this amazing person for that. And now the two of them would talk with him privately, while she would have to wait outside with this still ongoing chaos in her mind. But she could at least act calm at this point, not that the two of them couldn''t notice it. The two were just excited for their own unique reasons and this was even more shocking for her... Even after causing this grand trouble, the two of them were just calm and normal, as if nothing was wrong. And this carefree nature was nothing like any noble would naturally have, so this just canceled the thought of these two being some prominent young nobles. She was happy they weren''t those trash young masters anddies as she wasn''t much fond of them but, these two were more troublesome than anything she had seen in her whole life. Yes, there were profits from being their personal receptionist, but there was also a lot of trouble she would have to go through. Well... thinking deeply about it, if she can get a gold coin just by the simple tasks she could do in a few hours, the trouble was definitely worth it. And the increased sry for making not one but two high-priority members was just off the charts of what she had ever earned in her few months of work in this ce. She was happy about that much but... she knew she will have some amazing things to see while working with these two. Just like right now, where they would be meeting someone few could have the luck to meet. It was true that all confidential cases were handled by the branch manager himself and that he gave the license and ranks, but it was up to him if he wants to meet the people in question or not. And he had many times even refused the rare or even some rank adventurers for a meeting, so it was surprising how the two of them got this rare chance so easily. But it was natural that he would want to meet these amazing children. The amazing brach manager grandpa would naturally never let go of the chance to have these exceptional talents. The shocked receptionist had met him a few times, and she knew he was an amazing person, and maybe if these young adventurers allows it, she wanted to meet him today too. It was her selfish wish, not that she was expecting much from this. This meeting was important, so there was no need to bring in amoner normal employee to such an important ce. -Ting! The elevator stopped and opened before a separate office room in a lobby, which meant this entire floor was used as a room. This was their big chance to meet a special person and her work, for now, was just to escort these two children to this ce. But¡­ as they stood before the office door and the two of them looked at her with a strange look after she didn''t open this good-looking door for them, she happily smiled as her small selfish wish was so naturally granted by her two amazing adventurers. Chapter 286 Managers Office "What are you doing? Let''s go in~." Rein asked in a cheerful voice and our dear receptionist nodded with a joyful smile. Maybe she thought she would have to wait outside from the start, but, well, why from the start? We had many useless things to talk about before the main thing and from the things I heard at the time our exams were going on with Celes; I knew this receptionist was more trustworthy than any other in this ce. Sir Lucius trusted her, so it was alright to even let her listen to the ''less important things. I knew he would be happy to see her doing good, too. She was amazing in what she did anyway. Rein joyfully nodded and everything aside¡­ I can''t understand just how the hell they could call this child-like girl the witch of ughter on those small battlefields! Just looking at that anticipation-filled, childish face was enough to tell just how much she was looking forward to eating not-so-simple chocte. I have read about it and even heard many things about his choctes and all, but I knew it wouldn''t be anything near the ones ''she'' made. Maybe¡­ somewhere near but, not at that level. I was also looking forward to tasting his special sweets, but she was just on another level. Excitement was practically oozing out from her and she was looking perfectly like a little child. Anyway, our dear receptionist Ste opened the door, and we all saw this biiiig office that covered the whole top floor of this giant building. The outside of the ce was just simple. Even the small horizontal hallway we walked through to reach this ce was also much simpler than many ces of this extravagant hexagon tower. I didn''t have much expectations from this ce''s inside too but, as soon as I saw the fabulous ce, I was genuinely surprised. A giant room with sparkling lights andmps and many old-looking things decorated in a ss case. Many of them were artifacts, and many were just normal paintings and jewels. There was strong protection magic on these ss cases. Strong enough that even I would need a loooooong time to decode it but, just seeing this ce was amazing~. Arts, potions, pottery, archaeological findings, detailed notes, even maps of ancient times, and much more... ''Damn. I will have things like these in my room too...'' This was aesthetic... There was a transparent wall on the left side of the room and that ce, the first and main part of the room, was his special space for chocte production. It had many old, as well as modern tools and artifacts, and the fresh scent of coffee, even prated the walls as it entered our noses the childish Rein was ted just from this amazingly delicious aroma. It actually seemed delicious, just like my master''s choctes, a level that was far away for a youngster like me. Even though I knew cooking and was quite good at it with my otherworldly knowledge, I was still not even at the level of my grandmother. Though I knew I had surpassed my dad in cooking in basic aspects. I was still not good enough to make his special dishes just yet. This cooking stuff was one thing, but¡­ I was interested in the right side of the room more than those choctes. And that ce... some pretty good things were decorating that wall like trophies. ''The loved prizes of the former and rank adventurers. Didn''t think would see things like these here, and just decorated on a wall, no less.'' (level-11) and (level-12) artifacts, ranging from weapons like gorgeous swords, shields, and ornaments, to musical instruments and magic wands. Two divine artifacts, covered by unparalleled spells, and one ancient artifact of the same rank as mom''s bracelet. But this artifact was nothing like the weapons I had or ornament like mom''s bracelet. This one was just a special pot that can be used in old alchemical elixir-making methods... I am not much good with these things. Master was unreally good at handling those things, and she taught me all the things she knew and I remember everything but, using that method to make those elixir pills and that other stuff was just... a no-no. We had modern things, and pills had a particr kind of energy storage structure that was of no use in my energy cirction methods. It wasn''t like they didn''t suit me or anything... I can take any kind of medicine and elixir and the energy would just naturally gather in me like all other ones do because of energy cirction. But, it was mostly used to increase internal energy, which was the natural energy and something mostmonly used in eastern cultivation as well as martial arts. It was an excellent piece of artifact, but something that didn''t go well with me. Internal energy cultivation was close to Mana cultivation but... the energy cultivation that I used, the full body Solnova cultivation which naturally collected Mana too, was the best method that suited me. Even better than high-sensitivity Mana cultivation. If I do internal energy cultivation too, then it will just hinder the Mana and Aura. Solnova was just as fast manifesting as internal energy and it was simrly thin so it was alright to just use Solnova, which had fundamentally diverse uses than the internal energy. One can''t use internal energy in spell manifestation. The techniques they used were fundamentally different things and very few people can use the ''attributes'' in internal energy cultivation. It was mostly focused on physical strengthening, martial techniques, and things like that. Master did teach me a few of those things and some special techniques in my special energy cirction arts were based on eastern techniques. Well, I still didn''t like to use those things. I was neither strong nor good enough to use them just yet. I will need time to get stronger and specific situations when I would absolutely need to use them. They were dangerous, and one could tell just how much lethal they were from the fact that I made an archmage bleed with a single punch. Those techniques were dangerous, and not something I can use carelessly. But those useless things were not something I wanted to think about while standing before the branch manager of one of the strongest adventurer''s association branches. And as I said... the stereotypical appearance of an old, wise mage. The room was big, and the two sides were also amazing, but the center of this office was the main thing. An open area with some couches, an enormous table for discussion, and sitting at the very back of this room, just before the background''s endless ss window, on hisfortable chair, behind his peepers-filled desk, he smiled at all of us. A long, pure white beard. Same long white mustache that bes a part of his beard. And the mage hat on his head. The same cone-shaped hat everyone knew of, and his one was dark purple. A bit darker than Rein''s real hair. There were golden designs on it too and this hat was a (level-8) artifact that increased the Mana gathering speed by 0.5% and decreased the temperature of his head... I genuinely do not know why he would even wear such a weird thing. He didn''t wear the reading sses, but his pure golden eyes definitely shined better than anything on his old face. The special eyes of a (tier-8) mage, and something that those on the top possessed. The light in them wasn''t because of his strength but because of his special life experiences and unimaginable life-and-death situations. Something simr to dad and me. But it was different for both of us. It didn''t have the desperately gained strength, nor the one that was achieved after surviving desperate situations. This was strength gained after eradicating the impossible. The strength realized during the desperate situations was greater than he himself had ever expected. Wearing a purple mage robe with the same golden designs, he sat in that ce, with his hands interlocked, and watched us with the all-famous old smile on his face. He was an amazing person, someone who had been a ranked adventurer in his old days, and he was really famous. He was famous enough to have many books on him and the most famous ones of them were about... why the hell would a high-level mage who should look like in his primes would look like the wrinkled old man he looked right now. It wasn''t because of some normal reason, like being different from other mages and such. The fact that one possessing high magic is naturally young looking was the same for all in this world. More than that, there were potions of alchemy that could make far older-looking people as young as my dad and uncles. He was a mage, and he wasn''t much older than our grandparents. Just some years older even if I had to say but, he was definitely younger than even Rein. So, what could be the reason this great mage would look like the special, old, fantasy mage who is well known throughout many world''s pieces of literature? The reason behind it was funny, and that story was well known and children were given the teachings of not messing with a particr kind of being and magic in this world with these kinds of stories. The same beings as this person I fell for¡­ haaa¡­ ''Witches and witchcraft... if possible, never go on their bad side. Especially the adult ones...'' Chapter 287 The Witchcraft Witchcraft Something very different from just the alchemy-like thing where the old-looking or hot-looking witches puts questionable things inrge pots and mix the weird, colorful substances. Different from the process done behind closed doors in the form of sacrificing rituals where innocent lives are taken. Something even different from the famous concept of the magic or dark magic used to harm others from my previous world. It is not the evil magic of the pure evil that the witches make contact with or control in this world. No. The concept of witchcraft and witches in this world is one of the oldest things known to the beings of today. Witches aren''t the evil creatures who were killed or emunicated or exiled or mostly burned at the stake in this world. The witches aren''t the evil creatures who kill others, spread devastation, and are the center of chaos and carnage. Witches in this world... have the same standing as the holy churches and priests. Many times even greater than them and they are even worshiped in many faraway viges, towns, and separated ces. They have a high standing in society from birth and just the fact that any household has a witch among them makes them a prominent family of the nation they are affiliated with. Witches in this world... aren''t just the varianting from a human bloodline but, a species that is born in any intelligent race irrespective of their form or identical to humans. Same with wizards, but they are different from witches. Very different. And wizardry is not as deep as witchcraft, as wizardry is just the pure, premier power and ability tomand the element itself. But witches and witchcraft are special, far more rare and magical than wizardry. I can''t do wizardry. Even if I want to, there''s nothing much to it than pure power and the unreal high ability tomand the element. But, witchcraft... I can do that despite not being a special being like them. The origin of witches is believed to be [The Genesis]. They are creatures who were among the first beings toe into existence and were part of the (High races) who came along with (Divine beasts), and (Demonic beings). The [Genesis] in this world is something with countless stories and theories. Even grandma didn''t know the actual thing. At least she never told me a specific one or the most probable ones. I had read and heard hundreds of stories that could be the ''real start'' of this world and I don''t know what the real one is just yet but, most of them have one thing inmon. Witches. They were present at that time, and they are present today too. Some of the longest-surviving beings that appear among any race, for some unknown reason, defy the things I know about bloodlines and gics. But using logic here was meaningless. Witches... creatures who have the same physical structure as their parental race, have a very high affinity with the element they possess, and have some kind of special innate power that might or might be rted to the [[( Witchcraft )]] they can use. The racial traits are mostly simr to the parental side but, there are exceptions. Though not Rein, there definitely were some other witches in this capital as well as in this very hexagon building of adventurer association, who were of human origin but had somewhat different physical features. Some could have elven pointed ears as well as the look, or long fingers with sharp nails or a childlike body despite being very old¡­ yes, lolies, as well as some ''mommy'' like ones who were actually far younger than their looks. The racial characteristic charm and beauty they all possessed were real, though. All witches, young or old, are mesmerizing. But the ones here weren''t the reason this person ''looked'' old. The reason he was like that was definitely witchcraft, and the one that cast it on him was some of the most well-known witches in this world. How he became like this was a long story for some other time but, in short, the reason was her witchcraft. Considered be one of the strongest kinds of magic on par with [[( Grand Arcanums )]], high-level [[( Rune magic )]], and even high-stage origin skills in some cases. Witchcraft at its finest is almost world-ss magic. And the one cast on him was one such most powerful spell. Angering a witch is naturally asking for a punishment worse than death, and this was the best example. Witchcraft is actually a [(< Truth >)]. Watches, like the ruler beasts like Taiga, are enlightened about one of the truths at a certain time in their life. When they learn it is random but, all the witches learn the same thing at its core. And this power, this ''truth'' is¡­ ''reality''. The power they gain has the potential to grant them the ability that can alter the whole of reality. They can add something to this world, even if it is unreal, or has partial restrictions of ''existence''. They can remove something that''s already here, in this reality, in this ''realm''. They can even take things from this world and add them to others, or go to those other worlds where most beings are prohibited from even knowing their existence of. It isn''t restricted to being able to cast it as magic, use it to make some weird potions that alchemy can never produce, or do something simr to this person before us. All witches realize one single truth, and how they manifest that ability, that truth depends on the situations of their awakening, their desire, and their life. So their special witchcraft is ultimately the manifestation of this ''truth''. Yes, it can be dangerous for the world and witches have a minuscule chance of [ckening] if the things they want to do are dark or bad or harmful to nature but, witches in the three great councils prevent such things even before they could happen. And even if things like that do happen... chances of it are close to null, actually. It has never happened in millennia, but the devastation of this catastrophic event is always worldwide. Anyway, there are natural restrictions in the world, so not much could happen. And divine beasts are there to take care of matters like that, too. Grandma, my master, had told me many stories in our times together, and one of them was about a witch who had fallen into darkness. From how she vividly described most of the things, I can at the very least tell that witches are some of the strongest beings in this world. I never actually thought about these stories much but, the countless stories she told me were definitely something more than what I can think. Well... this pitiful branch manager made the mistake of angering thatdy and even to this day, when the two of them had be friends, he has this appearance. And there was nothing he could do about it unless a witch with the ability exactly opposite of the one that did this appeared. Witchcraft... it was as difficult to script as the [()] and same as them, there were very few times I could use it. Well, I had a witch as my genuine closest friend, and her witchcraft... Nah... she was called a witch on those battlefields because of her that very ability. Her witchcraft focused on death, killing, and not spilling any blood in the process. ''How dumb is she to not realize her talent in handling the scythe at that time, lol...?'' She was genuinely a reaper, and maybe she would be better being a (Necro scytheman) than the magic scytheman she was. She had the high darkness attribute and though it would be close to impossible, we might just be able to meet a divine beast of darkness attribute who can allow her the [Shadow] attribute. ''Not that we know how, when, and why something like that would happen but, who said we couldn''t try?'' I at least knew her enough to know that she wasn''t going to beg before the so-called gods who did nothing much when she needed it. She detested them, not that I was much fond of those beings. I knew not all were bad gods. A few rare ones like the ones who gave their blessing and protection to grandmother and Anna were the small majority of better ones. But they were still gods in the end and their core nature was not much different from the others of that kind. Though the two of my family members had their blessings, wholeheartedly trusting them and epting more than this was not good. I wouldn''t rmend that at the very least. ? Grandma knew that and also about how to best use the powers bestowed upon her. Anna was too young so she might not understand this stuff much so, thankfully, I can teach her and it would be alright. After all, if the gods offered and blessed ones ept their stigmata, the people would be theirs for eternity. Well... All this talk, just to make the point that witches are crazy strong and to do some not-so-good foreshadowing. Tomorrow is something not even I know. But, I just hoped I can do those adventurous things with this friend of mine. She is my partner, and will always be, hopefully. And we were just standing by the entrance of this door as the old-looking branch manager looked at us and I looked at him... while Rein was fully focused on the choctes decorated in the left side room of this ce. Her eyes were sparkling, and he was surprised to actually see us in person. Ste was here, and he also waved at her, and she bowed her head respectfully, having a genuine smile on her face. He nodded while shaking his head at her unrequited respectful behavior and then looked at me. His eyes were special, and I know many things might definitely have happened in his life that we had no idea of. I might just hear some of his stories while working as an adventurer from people and him. But for now... we had to get the things we were here for. And he understood that we were in a hurry from how we finished the matches in just a few moments. So... he took a deep breath and nodded at us. "Wee to the adventurers association, young ones. I saw both your matches and... they were amazing~." Chapter 288 Some Normal Talk "That spell-casting method... it was refined, perfect and I could tell you have practiced very hard to achieve that Mana channeling speed. I was in utter awe while looking at those beautiful spells, and all of them were not the normal spells mages use, right? Just the fact that you used original spells in that match was a surprise, but almost overpowering the instructor? Just amazing... I can just think of the burden that spell-casting technique would put on your body so, thinking your base stats are above the average mage''s would be natural, right? You are amazing, young girl~!" He was genuinely surprised from what I can tell and Rein could just see the truth, so she knew this was not some empty ttery but genuine praise. And she liked this behavior. "Thanks~," she answered cheerfully and nodded at this ''old-looking'' person. Even with our eyes, we can only see him as this old man. Her eyes of truth judged this appearance as truth, and just from this much, we could tell just how lethal the witchcraft is to even deceive our highest-grade abilities. His eyes were sparkling while looking at us and I knew he wanted to talk far more than this much but, Ste was here so he couldn''t say much. We weren''t by the door anymore and were sitting on the couches before the study table and he was on the opposite side of us. And this was actually really peculiar... Looking at someone like him for the first time in my dear life. His appearance was the most stereotypical image of an old mage I could think of, and seeing him really fulfilled one of my wishes far earlier than I had thought. People who were actually old mages who really looked somewhat like him were few, and most of them were part of the great councils. Even the old witch that made him like this looked... astonishingly stunning, from what I have read. Thatdy... I already knew we will cross paths someday and meeting someone as amazing as her was something I wouldn''t want to miss. She wasn''t bad, not at all. Just that angering any witch inmon was asking for punishment, and that is general knowledge. As long as you don''t do something that would genuinely anger them, you will have a fun time with them. Well, she was finding someone opposite to her abilities at this moment, so no one knew her whereabouts. She knew her mistake, and he had, atst, epted his fate of forever being this old man... This wasn''t anything bad, though. It was just the appearance. He was just as strong as he has been in the past and he was definitely an amazing mage. He only had an affinity for light attribute, and it wasn''t at the level of Rein''s grandma. But it definitely was as great as Rein''s water attribute affinity or my dad''s affinity with the three elements, and it was great in itself. He was a great mage and master of destructive series magic. Light attribute, destructive series... a peculiarbination, truthfully. But everyone who knew this person knew just how strong the light attribute could be in any kind of situation. The pure destructive power it had was powerful, not only against the dark and demonic creatures, but also against normal beings. He was strong, and the way he was acting right now was more than just amazing. He was fascinating, and I already knew he knew our real identity. He wanted to talk for real but, Ste was here so he could do nothing. For him, she really was like a daughter... for reasons unknown. His words were genuine, but he couldn''t say all the things he wanted to at this moment. Not until she goes out. But... he didn''t hurry to send her away, too. From the look he gave her, it was clear that they rarely met each other. Well, we knew our time would waste here, and that was the very reason we both finished the practical even quicker than the time we took to reach this top floor by that elevator. We didn''t mind giving them a moment, but it wasn''t like they wouldn''t ever meet each other again. They worked and also lived in this very ce, so there was no way they wouldn''t see each other again. He knew this, so he was definitely trying to keep things short and simple. But... just like any dad, he couldn''t do anything against that star-filled eyes she had. She was a maturedy, and she behaved like a good receptionist while doing her job. But now, she was acting differently before him. And¡­ he had to finish this quickly and get to the real talk. He knew from the normal look in my eyes that I knew this, and he couldn''t help but sigh at that. Looking at me with that normal look, he nodded his head, saying he would be ending the small talk now. And I just smiled calmly. I knew we two would need a bit to talk personally and also that Rein had no interest in any of the things going on. She was here for the choctes and that was it. IDs were important, but not as much as the date. If not for this person being one of the few grandmaster sweet makers of the continent, and the choctes being his specialty, she wouldn''t even have wasted the time in this small talk. Rein... oh Reinelle... Well, she loved the chocte with roasted almonds. And this chocte was different from my special ice cream. She had the chance to buy as much as she wanted from him today, a really special thing, actually. This meeting was important for her to get her hands on some really fine chocte... which she only realized after I told her. ''dumb girl...'' Well, the special choctes were premium things even high nobility like us would have a hard time getting our hands on. And in the end, it was on the mood of this very person if he wanted to give it away or not. I also wanted to buy... a lot of it, if I can but before we can discuss that thing, we had to finish the small talk. He looked me in the eye, a strange warmth filling his eyes. "You were... just amazing, Lucifer. That prowess and power... made me speechless and I genuinely have no words for it. Just... marvelous." Short, sweet, and true... he also knew how to use genuine words like my second uncle. This was good enough to satisfy this bigdy''s curiosity and, after saying some more necessary things, he finally sighed. While he was looking at me and saying things, his eyes were seeing various things of their own. And one thing that surprised him far more than our performance was the fact that he couldn''t see our status windows. Rein''s mental fortitude and skills were naturally marvelous, but Lucy told me how he tried using the skill multiple times on me and failed miserably. And it was natural anyway... His skill wasn''t even as good as my [Appraisal]. How can he breach through Lucy with only a ''normal'' (Blue) rank skill? Even Rein''s eyes failed to see through. The strongest innate skill I had seen aftering to this world. If Rein''s cheat skill fails, what more could we expect from that kind of skill? Well, it was at leastmendable that his skill got activated on us, and maybe that was the reason he tried using it many times. He could understand Rein was a mage and could deflect the skill, but I was only a strong archer and physically strong person. I knew he might have called both our houses to ask about us. And naturally, aside from confirming the basic things, I knew neither of our families would have told him anything about us. They definitely told him to see for himself and... he was genuinely confused about how I could deny his powerful skill. I was covering all my Mana with Solnova so he couldn''t sense Mana of even a (tier-0) from me. He could never sense it actually, it wasn''t possible. The spell I was using was an almost passive thing and I can just have it work with my energy cirction. It was easy on my side, and he just gave up after some tries. He understood just from this much, just what they meant by seeing for himself, if they said something like this, but, anyway, his small talk was finished. And he briefly talked with Ste too, asking some normal things about her job and how things were going. She was happy to talk with him from start to finish and both of us had nothing to do so... we were ying with each other''s hands. Well... no need to tell that inside stuff to you all so, he finished the small talk and our smart receptionist understood this was it for her. And without even anyone telling her, she stood up and respectfully bowed to sir Lucius. And as a parting gift, he handed her something special before she left the room. And that something was the reason Rein was here... Yes, that was a small, red pouch of choctes of different shapes and I knew there were six, so... the dear receptionist just received something very, very, very special for free. In the market, those six choctes were sixty gold... something one would never pay for some simple small choctes. But, they were made by a grandmaster... only those who had eaten it can imagine the taste. I could tell how much he cared for her just from this much but, his act of kindness was making this partner of mine drool and be restless. She can''t take it for much and I was also having difficulty calming her by just holding her gentle hand. I knew even before we could talk, the first topic would be the choctes and... I really wanted those special choctes in more than the necessary quantity if I can. Who knew when I would meet him again, so the best thing was to stock up when I have the chance, right? So, for now, my first task was... to refuse his invitation to join the association and bargain for the choctes. Chapter 289 Some Serious Talk As soon as Ste left, the warm, good atmosphere in this room had taken a one-eighty-degree turn. A sharp, cold, and expected one no less. I knew this would happen, and from the way I was holding her hand, she knew that I knew this would happen. Right now, the atmosphere was silent, cold, and definitely serious. The warmth and genuine surprise in his eyes from a moment ago had been reced by the serious look of the ''branch manager'' of the adventurer association. This was the serious face of the person who managed this ce and not the grandpa-like person we were looking at just a moment ago. I knew this was going to start from this one, and it was natural for him to act like this when it was time for the main topic of the conversation. What we just disyed on the training ground was something far above what any young adventurer would be capable of. He had talked with our parents, who probably knew most about us after our own shelves, and the reply he must have got from them was most probably weird too. But one thing was for sure, they definitely did not deny him for something like recruiting us as a part of the association. Working with the association and working in an association were naturally different things. We can just be normal adventurers of the association or else we can join the association as different executives and have far better benefits than just being an affiliated adventurers. Talents like us were rare, actually too rare. Talents like us were just too rare and if he missed the chance to get us when he had the chance, he would be a fool. This was a job, and he was a senior executive of thispany. Even if he knew we were children from high noble families and had far more financial support than anyone could ask for, he had to do whatever he could to bring us to thispany. She was the sole heir of the entire duchy, while my dear mom was one of the richest on the continent. On the ''continent''. Just this much should be enough to tell how much resources we can get even without the help of the association. But I knew he might have thought that he could talk us out by saying things like association have rare things that one could never get in the outside market. And it was actually true, from all my knowledge. Association had ties with all three continents'' prominent as well asmonces and the best thing one can get by being part of the association was... ess to all the information about things happening in the entire world. And it was tempting, really. If not for Celes, I might just be part of the association for the sole purpose of having ess to all kinds of secret and confidential information on the things happening in the world. But if I have THE BEST info-gathering partner, why would I need the help of a third party ce that might not actually give the whole or the factual information? With Celes, I can just infiltrate ces that are forbidden to normal people, can disguise them as someone else, and infiltrate other secret ces and just steal the information that would usually cost an unreal price. Aside from information, the association definitely had some pretty good stuff from all around the world that only inside people have knowledge of. But, if I need something of that, mom definitely has people inside the association to help me with the things I would need. Mom was a merchant after all... and one of the best there existed. Information and connections were something she yed with her fingers. It hasn''t been long since my return but, from all the information I have gathered with Celes''s clones, and from our ''private conversation'' I knew mom was far more amazing than I had calcted. Her nickname, (Golden demoness) was definitely the perfect name I could think of for her. The money she possessed didn''te from just having excellent business skills but also from her exceptional talent for finding the right people, good foresight, and her special eye for the ''golden'' things. Mom... I love her. So, I can get anything I wanted... if I wanted, that is. I had enough resources to be the richest if I wanted but, most of the things I had were dangerous from the outside world''s perspective. They were alright in my white storage crack, and... that was it. There was nothing much he could appeal to us with, me especially. I knew Rein had no interest in what was going on either. She was sitting here because of me and the choctes and nothing more. She had done everything on her own and she was already a pro, so there was nothing she couldn''t do as an adventurer. She already knew everything, from basics and deeper things. She had survived in the wild for years, even if it wasn''t as dangerous as the ones I had lived in. She wanted to do things with me, and I wanted the same. We weren''t here to join the association in the first ce. We were here for the IDs... and choctes. He wasn''t the only one with a serious expression at this moment. He could tell, there was nothing I wanted, and that I knew what he would try to do. The look in my eyes was nothing a child my age should have, and besides me, the carefree Rein wasn''t affected by the pressure of his gaze. The pressure of his gaze was real, not much serious, but nothing that a young mage girl and archer boy could bear. He knew we were stronger than what we had shown and even if he was acquainted with our grandparents, there was actually no way for an outsider to know about us. He definitely knows about the incident a few years ago, stuff like how I was separated and the crown''s schemes of how I became a child hero, but most of the things were made up and exaggerated in that children''s stories. High-ranking people like him could never believe things like these stories after knowing the inside things that few knew about. Seeing with your own eyes was the main thing and currently, however hard he tried, he couldn''t sense much strength in these perfectly disguised bodies of us that might be ''unimaginably stronger''. He was a bit confused, and this¡­ impressed him a lot. I could feel it, even if he didn''t show it on his face. And that was even more of a reason for him to have us. Not that this even more serious look in my eyes and this behavior that had no effect from this small pressure was giving him any chance to utter even a single word. Well, if I can, I would have finished things early, but we needed choctes, and angering this person was a no-no. He was an excellent chef, if not the great light mage. He wanted us, and the look in his eyes was all I needed to know. But the two of us only belong to each other... definitely a cringe line. Well, I also belong to someone else, and it was marked on my body. Not that she was here anymore... Rein wasn''t interested in joining anything like this association or anything. She wasn''t even interested in being the student council member, but, well, we were already deep down in that swamp. And we definitely had no need for another one. So, looking deep into his eyes with an unreal serious look that made him flinch visibly, I said just one thing. "We have no interest in it." And his eyes widened in surprise at this sudden answer even before he asked anything, and... he sighed in disbelief. It was a simple response to the question that was never asked, and this much was enough to tell him we were not interested at all. My voice was stern enough that he would understand the situation, and he did understand the situation clearly. After his sigh, the heavy expression from his side vanished, and he returned to his normal behavior and smiled at us helplessly. What he wanted to say, but never actually said and still got the rey of, was all over and he had nothing else to discuss seriously, so... why were both of us still serious like this? "I... do not have more to say, so... is there anything... you want? Why are you... looking at me like that?" The old serious voice and the clear hesitation in his voice were genuine and the way he paused while speaking just that much was definitely not something a high-grade mage like him would do before some mere children. Well, we were definitely not the average children or even the ''a bit strong'' children. We were somewhat better than a bit strong, so, now, the pressure both our gazes had was definitely not something a normal person could fathom. He was fine though, just covered in some sweat. His question was also genuine and even before I could open my mouth for the answer, Rein''s stern voice, one that was far heavier than what he had heard in the time we were here, entered our ears, and... she was serious. "Choctes..." Her eyes were wide, and she was ring at him like one edged de. Her eyes were stern and... really? One can be this much serious for some choctes? Damn... Chapter 290 Her Chocolate Deal "You are a good chocte maker from what I know. Your choctes... even our house has difficulties getting them. Though we weren''t here for that at first, if we have the chance of getting the famous choctes of the mage of the light pir, how can we miss this chance? So... how much can you sell? I would have taken as much as you could give, but I know it''s different, even with the great money we both have. I don''t know about this ''friend'' of mine, but I want the ones with roasted almonds. So¡­ I am looking for around ten pouches of six. It''s a lot from a general perspective and I know that much. And as you don''t sell these to even nobles, I know it might be difficult to have more than this much. If you are alright with this small amount... how much discount can I have as an aspiring adventurer?" She took her sweet time saying that much, not that it mattered much. And she was, at the end of the day... Rein. Ten pouches? Like... really? That''s it? I know it is a lot from any normal point of view as we were talking about some of the best ones in the empire, maybe the world but, ten pouches of six? That was only around two or three Kg. Not that much, even from his point of view. If he could just give away a pouch of six like that to his favorite person, his child-like Ste, then we were talking about the sole heir of a duchy who was his friend''s granddaughter, wanting to buy it from him. He knew we both had enough money. Naturally, we would have some dumb money that we didn''t even care about but, that wasn''t the interesting thing here. She was asking if we could have a ''discount'' even after having far more money to buy three times, she asked at this moment. And I was definitely talking about her own hard-earned money. She was the same as me when it came to this stupid money thing. Using her own first if it is not an emergency. It was still quite something that she was asking for a discount even after we just rejected his invitation to be a part of the association on his face. More than that, it wasn''t even about the association. The choctes were his personal thing, and he was the one to make them and had the sole monopoly over those things. He can ask for whatever amount he wanted andpared to the demand and high society''s desire for his delicious choctes, his price was just a constant ten gold per small piece. And only this ce sold it every weekend, so there was no ''easy'' way to even get it from some other source. And if it does appear on the market on the outside, the seller wouldn''t hesitate to even ask for five times the original. This thing was that famous and¡­ only lucky people could directly have a meeting with him in his own office like this. We were lucky to have this talk, not with the association branch manager, that talk was over already but, with the creator of some of the most famous choctes of this empire. And even after getting this chance... she was asking for a discount. ''She''s amazing...'' But, well, I didn''t believe he would lower the price than it already was and I would say he was just generous to ask just that much. It wasn''t something normal folks could afford but, ten coins for a simple piece of chocte was something adventurers could aim for. The adventurer parties can make a target to earn that much in a certain time and then, as a reward for achieving that goal, they can try buying these blissfully awesome choctes. They were for adventurers like himself to begin with, and not for outsiders or high-ranking people. Yes, he did sell some to some special acquaintances of his but, the price when ''buying'' has never gone down from what I knew. Not that I knew much about this person on a personal level just yet, but, at the very least, ording to statistics, he wouldn''t lower the price... is what I believed. But, as she asked him for the price and was looking at him with the now half-serious and half-hopeful gaze of a little child she definitely was, he couldn''t help his amusement. I was here, ring at him seriously, perfectly in my character for the moment but, she couldn''t hold the seriousness when it wasn''t even needed. She judged this person before us as ''good'' and was now not much on guard or even cared about being cautious of him. She was Rein, she can do whatever she wanted, and asking for a discount was one of her things. And, for some reason, this branch manager liked this hopeful look on her face. He knew she wasn''t just showing off or anything, and even after being from a noble family, she was just far more different from any nobledy. She was more like any regr girl from the town who would try to get the best thing with however low she had to pay. She knew what ''money'' was, unlike most of thedies from a noble household, and this intrigued him even more. And she wasn''t even asking for an abnormal amount of these choctes¡­ From what I heard, some of the capital''s active and higher-ranking adventurers, especially a certain group of them, loved these choctes and bought just around that much every month. She definitely won''t being here every week and fighting to get a small amount every time and waste money so, that much would be more than enough for her for more than some months¡­ maybe? He understood this too, and still, the look on her face was just precious. He looked at her with his old smile, in her eyes, deep within, and found no trace of act or lie. She was true to whatever she said, and that was enough for him. Then he looked at me and, well, everything was blown away, so even my eyes weren''t stern anymore. I shook my head with a helpless smile as he looked at me, and he smiled deeper after this one. I knew the one asking for a discount in this kind of scenario would be this friend of mine. And this intrigued him even more. Then, looking back at my dear Rein, at her currently innocent eyes, he sighed happily. "Hoho, youngdy. Didn''t expect the one that had that amazing casting method and spells, as well as is from the grand house of Atraxia, would be this... normal. Reinelle, was it? For me, it is Uriel. A good name, I must say. I can sell you that much, but sadly, there might not be more than twenty chocte almonds in the small size. And you can''t have more than twelve of them, so I must apologize. As for the discount... you definitely will be amazing adventurers in the future, that is inevitable. So, just for you adorable Uriel. How about ten percent? Can''t go lower than that, you know. Instead, you can choose the rest of the ones yourself in that room and even pack in the pouches yourself. How about it?" Chapter 291 Her Chocolate Deal (2) Stars literary came out from her eyes with an overjoyed expression from this ''young'' girl as jumped from her seat and grabbed his hand. "Yes! That would be more than amazing~! Thank you, sir~!" And he helplessly shook her head, having a nostalgic look in his eyes. I could imagine what he might be thinking, many of you can maybe, but, well, that''s not important. He just smiled at her behavior and, even without thinking much, she ran toward the other side of the room like some curious little girl. I can''t help my chuckles as I looked at her back as she reached the other side and in the wonderful room in no time at all... There were counters full of choctes decorated on the front as soon as you enter, the small choctes of course and the back of the room was making ce, or simply the kitchen. There were different kinds of choctes on the front counter and there was storage in the back of that room, too. And that ce was enhanced with spatial magic, despite this ce is far bigger than even my house''s floor. I could see the things in the storage area with my third eye and it was amazing, actually. The big chocte which was sold to the higher standing people and in small amounts in this ce too was stored in that cool ce and it was really~ amazing. Just like some factory storage of old times from my past world, the room was designed to store arge number of things. Though they were finely decorated as a single piece with a finely designed wrapper of his original brand on the shelf, there was a lot~. And I knew after seeing this one, he can definitely give me the amount I wanted. So, it was up to me how I convince him to actually give away thatrge of his stock. And he knew I, as ''her'' son, won''t be just asking for that small of an amount like her. And he definitely said ''especially'' when talking about discounts so, there was no discount for me. What more... I had a serious negotiation ahead of me. He was a creator, and his products had absurd market value. Personal eating aside, I was here for a professional deal too. I knew he had at least caught up from my behavior that I wasn''t going to ask for something small, and also that I was no normal person. No normal child or even any simple person one could see every day. He knew I was special, and also that the famous food chain that sold burgers and ice cream all over the continent was actually mine. On paper, at least, it was mine. Even if he knew nothing about me, he definitely knew a lot about my family and my mom. And I knew that he doesn''t sell his products torge associations like mom''s merchant guild. He also wasn''t much interested in something simple like money when talking about thatrge of a scale so, our deal won''t only be based on some normal money. Thankfully, I had something far better than money and something that would actually pique his interest. I wasn''t just an archer and mage... I was also a good enchanter and alchemist too~. I had some things that would definitely be catching his interest, the safe ones, of course. And I knew he couldn''t help but want that from me. So, we would be doing some bartering now. The steaks were high, and the choctes were on the line. I will just be selling a part of it to mom, but I needed a good amount for myself. It was a grandmaster''s chocte for all I know. They wouldn''t be anything but delicious. I had yet to taste any as none was avable even in my own house and that showed the rarity of this product, so... I had to get as much as I could. And for that, for this sale to work, I had to first show the sample, no? So, I took out something ''normal'' from my storage device, and... this something normal for me, was definitely something abnormal for him as his eyes widened as soon as they fell on these four things. The three small ss bottles, and a single piece of ss with a weird pattern on it. These were the things that I made and even though he won''t be knowing that, just the appearance of these things made his eyes that had appraised them, the widest they had ever been for me. He was the adventurer''s association branch manager, and he had a far deep understanding of usable items like these so, my trade with this person who was not only a dessert chef but also a person of high position in this world-ss association would be fascinating. The items were my originals, and I wanted his original choctes. My master''s choctes were the best, and it was an eternal fact but, I knew I would need good quality choctes for normal things in my life. And if I was getting his, the best ones there were, then there was nothing for me to even think about. I had enough potions and these one-time enchantment cards to fight a war so I wouldn''t be affected, even if I exchanged a few hundred with this person. We had artifacts that were almostrge-scale factories that can produce my lowly creations in a bunch back at our tower home, so it was alright in the end. And by giving it to him... I knew I would have a good business partner in the future. The items had surprised him, and why wouldn''t they? They were something he, someone who had been an adventurer all his life and had ventured into almost all the nations on the continent, the branch manager of the capital city of the great empire, was seeing for the first time in his life. And even with the simple description, he might be getting from his average appraisal skill, I knew he understood just how precious these potions could be in times of need for any adventurer. He couldn''t look away from these three potions and one square piece of ss. And the reason... ''Three eyes.'' Chapter 292 His Chocolate Deal ============ [Swiftness potion] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï ---> Can increase the natural running speed of the user for one minute. ---> The potion can increase not only speed but stamina, oxygen capacity, and joint strength. ---> It is an excellent option and one can use it to run away in dangerous situations. ---> The creator of this thing must have had pretty rough circumstances to make something like this. We pity him. ---> The potion is excellent though. The one taking it could run even faster than a normal predator bird could fly. ============ ''Thank you very much, you little thing~.'' ============ [Invisibly potion] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï ---> A good quality potion that can make the being takeing it invisible for one minute. ---> It is a miraculous potion that erases the presence of one being as well as camouges their physical body. ---> Though the effective time is short and one can''t take the potion more than two times in a single hour, it is good to avoid certain dangerous situations. ---> One can also use it to sneak into secret pces, but those with high awareness and good detection skills might detect the perpetrator if they are not strong enough. ---> This one is good too, but still, you are a fool to make these useless things. ============ ''What do you mean, useless!? They are wonderful items that will bring a revolution all over this world. I didn''t make them just for adventurers, little one~. They will be useful in many ces. I know as a skill, you wouldn''t like things that could work as something like a skill but, don''t be too closed-minded. Learn from the things that you have gathered data on. Not just the spections and theoretical uselessness. You are awesome, I knew that already so, please don''t say something so harsh about small things like these, ok?'' ? After Rein, maybe this dear skill of mine was the most handful of the little babies I had. And Lucy was the eldest and wisest one of all so I was just thankful to have her. ============ [Motion medicine] ¡ï¡ï¡ï --->A wonderful medicine that can be used as a definite cure for motion sickness. ---> Be it a weird feeling caused by high-speed travel, long-distance warps, or even against the skill or ability of a high-ranking beast, this potion is the best. ---> There is just one use of this thing and it is to stabilize the internal body parts of a person. ---> As you said, this is something that can be of great use to others even if it is almost useless and we will try thinking over what you said. ============ ''Yes. Think deeply and clearly. It is something you have to learn sooner orter. Start now so that you can have a better understanding of things in the future. You are amazing already and still young and growing. I know you will do great~!'' ============ [Elemental attribute enchantment] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï¡î ---> An amazing item that can grant a specific elemental attribute to the weapon or object it is used on. ---> It is an amazing item and aside from the fact that it can only be used once, it is something that can grant the weapon a special attribute for a whole five minutes. ---> It is a revolutionary item that has the power to change many things in this world, as the master said. ---> Master is amazing, his creations are amazing, his foresight is unlike no other, the master is great, he''s so great no one cane close to master when ites to overpowering~. ---> This item is also amazing. Something no mortal can think of! ---> To be able to think and make something so great like this is just out of this mere world~! ---> Oh, great master... ============ ''Enough, you little rascal! I get it, ok! Yes, I am great and mighty, so. Please. Shut. The. Hell. Up!'' Sometimes this bastard of a skill acts weird like this and just continues to write some long useless bullshit on this glowing, pure white or gold appraisal screen. I don''t know if this skill is just shy to thepliments or what but, well, whatever... ''This asional crap is the reason I prefer [Appraisal] over you for small things, you know?'' Aside from thatst weirdness, everything else was alright. The exnation of the things was simple to understand and there was nothing much to these things, actually. They all were just raked alchemy potions with a small effect time and some good quality but, well, they were nothingpared to their higher versions that I won''t be selling to him. Selling these to him in exchange for the great chocte was the main objective here. He was getting a good deal with the enchantment ss tes and I knew there won''t be anyone to make something like that one for the next some years. It wasn''t just an enchantment sticker that was on some ss te but it was more like a strong permanent tattoo that just vanishes after a while... in terms of difficulty of production, that is. Yes, it was like a sticker and it was a ime use item thatsts for a small time but, just the fact that this thing gives an elemental attribute to anything one wanted without any restriction was a great thing on its own. Only high-level magic artifacts possessed an elemental attribute and not all people could get their hands on these things. And even if they do get it, no one aside from the mages with that specific attribute could control those things for a longer time. But these enchantments would be different from that. Anyone can use it. Be it a mage, worrier, knight, or even any craftsman. But, most adventurers would use this thing in situations when they unexpectedly face a creature with specific elemental powers. And in those situations, what would happen if they have no mage with the opposite attribute on their side? What would happen if some creature which can use ice elements appeared out of nowhere? You might be able to survive the cold with a strong body but, when ites to attacking the beast, there''s nothing one could do aside from using brute force. And if they just have bruit force, the chances of their survival decrease exponentially. But¡­ what if they can have these things with them? What if they can run away from that creature, hide from their sight, or even just fight against them with the weapons of fire attribute? The chances of their survival increase like no other time in that case and they can live to see the next sun. These items were genuinely amazing, and he could see that with his skill. It was clear just how much they would help the adventurers, but... We weren''t here for some potion or enchantment deal but his chocte dealing. I had presented my products, and he knew from the look in my eyes that these things weren''t the only pieces I had. Only a good bunch of this product would do for an extensive amount of his magnificent choctes. And so, I looked deep into his eyes, and he knew I would be starting this thing so, his eyes also got serious and a pressure even greater than the previous one bore down on me. It was a great pressure, and I knew he was far more serious about this thing than he had been while asking about joining the association. The pressure was concentrated on me but, with a small invisibleyer of Solnova covering my entire body, I can at the very least act normal against this much pressure. The room was now quiet, only the two of us present in this small imaginary space of ours, the atmosphere is colder than before, his clear eyes are sharp, and his old face which only had a small all this time now had a serious expression. This was nothing less than a mental battle between two people who knew the ''business''. Chapter 293 His Chocolate Deal (2) Choctes and potions and a special kind of enchantment that has never been seen before. Though there was a ''young girl'' happily selecting choctes on the other side of this room, there were only the two of us right now. And my starting demand of this deal... "Forty kilogram-" "Don''t be absurd and speak realistically." "Thirty-nine." "Young boy. You know we aren''t talking about something that is mass-produced, right?" "Thirty-eight. I have a rough idea of how much you might have in that big of storage. My demand is naturally reasonable." "And you think you can have something that even your household can''t easily get in that big of a quantity?" "I know I can and I will get the amount I want. You have no say in it, sir Lucius. You see these things right? I am the only person who knows the creator and the only one who actually has a pretty good quantity of all four of those. What I can give you isn''tparable to the amount of chocte I am asking, you know? You already know just how precious these potions and enchantments could be and I can give you fifty of each of those potions and twenty of those enchantments for thirty-seven kilograms." "Well, it is tempting to see something of this quality and something with these effects that only a dungeon item could give as a selling product. I can understand just how precious they are and I know you know just how precious my choctes are too, right? You are asking for thirty-seven kilograms and that is more than the amount that is sold in this ce in three months. And you are only offering fifty bottles of these potions that have no actual practical data. I can''t just give these things to my employees without testing, much less to the adventurers. Young boy... make it a hundred potion bottles each with fifty of those enchantments and I can give out twenty-five kilograms while still having a rock on my poor old heart-" "Let''s not go into the sweet talk, old man. You won''t be able to handle my honey words. And what did you just say? Twenty-five for a hundred potion bottles and fifty enchantments? Do you know just how much loss I would be facing with that? Do you think you can make these things after a simple analysis with just a hundred samples? It''s practically useless even if someone gets the recipe for this absurdly difficult potion. The ingredients used to make these things are something even I have barely any idea of. I am naturally restricted to tell the maker''s identity and I don''t think you would try to harm me, much less leak the information about me when you are the first ever person to get these things. I have yet to discuss things with mom but you are getting these things even before her, so why be so stingy? Though I can provide a hundred potions each, there''s no way for me to even have fifty of the enchantments. And twenty-five? Really old man? Do you think I''m some na?ve kid that would be conned on this gorgeous evening? I was right when I said forty, but I''m still taking a loss here, so at least let go of thirty-five kilograms." ''Stingy old man...'' "I at least know you aren''t some regr kid from how naturally you aren''t affected by this pressure that would make even a rank adventurer faint. Yes, I know I am stingy and there''s no helping that fact, so just tell me how many of these little enchantment things do you have?" "Thirty. And I can only give out twenty-five, so just give me thirty-five-" "Well, you having only thirty of these seems statistically a load of crap so-" "You don''t believe me, hm? We can go lower and you won''t even have the chance to get thirsty-" "Don''t get angry at me for that one, Lucifer. Let''s do this. Just give me those thirty and I will give you twenty-eight kilograms. Even the emperor might not be able to get this great amount from me, you know-" "You know I know that''s a lie, right? The second princess loves your choctes and that''s a publically well-known fact. Adventurer''s association''s capital city office alone gets an absurd amount of funds and you, especially, have a good rtionship with the emperor, don''t you? Most of your chocte reserve is for the imperial family, from my understanding. And twenty-eight kilogram would be nothing for the great royal family. That''s not even their full month''s quota and just the parties that take ce in any wing of the pce use your choctes for certain special things. It''s just my deduction though, no one could know if this thing is true or not. And that thing again. Twenty-eight? Why be so stingy over some choctes that you can make yourself whenever you want? The finest cocoa beanse from her and my house''snds anyway, no? Forty kilograms was small in the first ce. And you even yed small talk with me. Haaa... just give me thirty-three kilograms old man..." And, after this nonstop heated conversation that had just gone on with the pressure just kept increasing with each passing moment, it finally came to a brief stop after I said thatst line in an exhausted manner. Handling this pressure was no small thing, even with my Solnova. I was fine this whole time because I could protect my whole body with Solnova and cover my Mana at the same time all this time and I knew I would be alright for a while like this but... this was the best moment for me. After this minute-long conversation, he had finally fallen into this thought process, and even though I wanted to smirk happily right now, I needed to hold back for a bit. He was good; I had to say but, not even close to my mom or that damn headmaster. He would barelye close to my own skills, but he was still soft and, more than that, he had underestimated me at the start. He would have gone as low as thirty kilograms if he had started seriously but, at this point, he had no choice but to part ways with thirty-three kilograms of his dear choctes. The imperial family thing was a heavy blow to his concentration and... it was a lie from my side. I had just heard from someone that the second princess likes his choctes with one of Celes''s clones on the street, and it was purely by chance. All the other things were made up and an arrow in the dark from my side. I didn''t even know if there was a target there or not but, I just said all that stuff and from the serious expression and the very small hesitation deep down in him, I now knew something new. The branch manager of the adventurer''s association having a good connection with the ruler of a country would be a pretty controversial thing if even a small rumores out so, there was no way he would let go of me just like that. He wouldn''t confirm these too, though. That would be even more disastrous than just me ''specting'' about some weird things. He knew I was smart enough to not say these things outside of these walls and he was right. Who would even want to make enemies with this person? He was a grand master chef, a branch manager of the capital city of the great empire, and also a (tier-8) mage of destructive power. He was amazing, but I was better at these negotiations than him. And the way all the previous pressure just vanished with his deep sigh proved that I was the victor of this small thing. Chapter 294 His Chocolate Deal (3) "You are quite something, Axion Heliox Kromet. That strength, that knowledge that even shocked elders of the high council when I told them how a young child solved the entire theory paper, these weird potions and enchantment thing, your negotiation skills... far more special than I had thought. And I haven''t even seen everything from you just yet, right? Maybe you are the youngest to receive and it was even more of a reason to have you as a part of this ce, but... looks like you want true freedom with that young miss, hmm? Well, there would be a time when you will have to make a choice. There definitely will, and the adventurers association will always wee you will open arms. I will. At the very least. Your mom and family must be proud to have such an amazing child..." His voice was warm at the end and I can feel his genuine emotions. His old smile was genuine, and I knew what he was talking about when he talked about that ''choice''. Well, sadly for him, if things doe to the point that I would need to belong to a specific ce, then instead of being part of anything, I would make others part of something of my own. There was no need to think about something which will be in a faraway future so, instead, I just nodded at him with a genuinely warm smile of my own. "Hmm~. I''m grateful to have all of them too. So... please sign here." I took out a paper and put it before him. Naturally, it was the legal paper of this deal stating that I was purchasing this specific amount of choctes from him in exchange for some random goods. A shocked expression naturally appeared on his face for a moment but, it was quirkily reced by a cheerfulugh. "Hohoho... quite amazing indeed~." He signed the document without saying anything much and took out something I was looking forward to seeing from his dimensional storage and also put it on the paper before passing them to me. "Congrattions. It is actually an honor to do business with a such wise young boy like you. I would be happy to help whenever you need me, sir Lucifer~." His voice was cheerful and the badge he gave me with the paper was the . Something that would definitely be useful in the future and something that I had no use for right now. So, with a tired smile on my face, I put the paper back in my storage bracelet and the small box-like hexagon badge inside my white crack. Thirty-three kilograms of the finest chocte for the potions that I had in unimaginable numbers. Though the enchantments were a different case, I had them in hundreds too. And I can make this enchantment ss tes any day I wanted with the simple materials needed. Potions and these enchantments were different things altogether. One can analyze and remake the potion but the enchantments needed someone like him, a creator, an experienced person who knew how to make it. And this was no normal enchantment in the first ce. ,m Just the fact that these things can give elemental attributes to any weapon was something worth the special choctes. And only I could make it for now. Without me specifically teaching every single thing and providing the special ingredients of the normal-looking ss tes, there was no normal way to actually make these things. Not as good as these at the very least. This deal was definitely in my favor as I got three kilograms more than I had expected even while giving just the amount I had thought of. Our deal was finished and after that, I asked him if we could have a rank adventurer license even while showing the power close to a rank. He agreed easily, and making IDs was not much big of a deal for him as he just had to do some small work on the magic crystal and insert the nk cards and after that, the IDs were ready in an instant. And as I held my ID with the name Lucifer, adventurer rank , the logo of the association, and the profession as (Archer), as well as [M] points of the adventurer''s association at the back numbering 100, 000; I smiled with a warm and excited smile. The [M] points are the main points used as the primal currency in any association owned facility throughout the continent. Rein had 50,000 starting points, and they were only because of us being the special VIPs or simply because we paid for the confidentiality of our profiles. I also got the mark of wisdom, so that also added more than 50,000 to the starting points. Every one of these points was worth around one silver and getting it is quite difficult, so¡­ that is that. Questing was the fundamental way to earn reward money as well as these points and they took a bed fees when converting the real money to [M] points, so this was only something those with a lot of money did. Anyway, thinking about this was not necessary right now. We have finished our main business here. Now... we can go on our date. The long-awaited date that she nned thoroughly all this time was here, so I just wanted to have some fun till nightfall. We had a lot to do so after today so, we won''t just be ying around in the city for the next two weeks and after that one... there''s my birthday. I had not forgotten just how much my parents loved celebrating birthdays and even when we started writing letters, they would at least sing me a song in the voice letters. Grandma did celebrate my birthday uniquely, but this time, it would be with my family. Not in the letters but, while me being with them. There was a dungeon raid too... but that was still faraway. Well, first things first. ''Let''s collect the chocte and go to whatever ce she takes me~!'' She was still in that room, looking through the choctes as if confused about what type to choose from but, well, I bought all the types and kinds, some inrge quantities some in small so, she won''t actually have to worry about this one. I can share these choctes... they weren''t as good as master''s anyway. But still... seeing that adorable confused face of hers was just... blissful. Chapter 295 Chocolate And Us "Here you go." Handing over the new ID to the cheerful girl who was still not done with choosing the small choctes, I grabbed her free hand. She was started, but she continued looking over the many different varieties of choctes on the front shelf after storing the ID in her storage ring. Sir Lucious had just passed us, leaving us alone in this ce and going back to pick up the choctes I asked for. I knew he won''t actually need much time so, I had a while to chat with my dear ''friend''. Rein liked chocte, just like me and Anna. And she liked the chocte with almonds or roasted almonds more than anything. But there weren''t many of them in the small size avable. She had taken all of her favorite ones she can but she couldn''t actually choose the other ones. Of the sixty she was supposed to take, she had hardly chosen forty of the choctes. Well, she was Rein after all. I could have left her choosing like that and she would just take her sweet hours to finish this thing. Sadly, we had no time for that today. "Rein. Just so you know, I bought a big one for every variety here. And a few big ones for chocte almonds. He also makes salted roasted almonds and premium dark chocte that is only avable in the big versions. You can just take what you feel like for now because we will have what you need on me anytime. We have to go, right? Do all the things you nned for today. So, if you can, please finish this quickly. Please?" I had a genuine expression on my face and as soon as she heard me, her eyes widened in shock for a moment but, went back to normal and she smiled helplessly while looking at me. Her ck eyes at the moment... in my eyes, they were her original pink ones. Her gorgeous eyes, that sweet smile, those rosy lips, her pretty face... "Eon... oh Eon. You are amazing~. And that look in your eyes..." "You are gorgeous, Rein." "That I definitely am. But not as much as you, little one. Hehe." "Nah... you are just amazing, young girl~." "Young girl you say... Wanna-" "Ahem. I don''t actually want to interrupt your sweet talk, young ones. But, I think you should hurry up and finish this first. Didn''t you say you have somewhere to go?" And with his voice, the two of us who had unknowingly gotten a bit too close took a step back. His voice was sudden, and we didn''t sense him at all. Rein was also suddenly getting bold so, this was actually good but... ''Damn, I wanted to hear what she had to say on thatst one!'' She sometimes says some really funny things but now, the mood was ruined. Not that it was his fault or anything. The situation was just like that. We were in this sacred ce where he devotes himself to the production of these divine delicacies the world likes. And as he said, we had somewhere to go. I knew he would finish things pretty quickly but, this was even more quickly than I anticipated. He was looking at us with a calm smile as she just stood and turned around with a definitely blushing face. Well, yes. We had to go, and there were many things for this evening for us. First, some shopping with her, eating at a famous ce and many stalls, and going around the capital''s garden, which was second only to the one in the free city in Rein''s territory. Chatting, walking, some ying maybe, and just some sightseeing. That was the n for now. We had to get back home by dinner time and we only had so much time to do all the things today. I was nning to explore and set up my room tomorrow with her maybe, so we might not actually have a lot of time to go on another date like this. I had many things to talk about with everyone and mom especially. But that was just some business talk, and I still had to explore the underground area of my own house as well as Alf''s entire house. She will also have things to do here, in my house, with me, and on her own. As well as in the capital. She had some work of her own and there was also studying my diary. We had today, and after that, we will have to wait for next week to have more free time to go out like this. Well, we would be free after this week so we can y around however we wanted next week. Maybe we can go have some fun with my dear siblings and I can even help three of them in their training or magic. Not Anna, though. I meant Rein, Alf, and Ca. The three of them. Anna was the dear, adorable sister whom I wanted to y with as much as can. Well... for now, we had to go out of this ce first. The room we were standing in right now was filled with different kinds of choctes and I can tell from my excellent senses that all these choctes were top-tier. Any normal person would just start drooling from this amazing scent but, we were alright. And after a while of his sudden appearance and gathering all her thoughts and calming down this sudden blush on her face, she just picked random choctes from the counter and finished her count of sixty. That was somewhat funny, actually, and after that, she just finished the packing masterfully. It surprised both of us just how well she did that and after finishing the packing in mere seconds; she stored the choctes in her rind and just walked out of the room and stood by the door with her head on the door. She did all this so quickly that I couldn''t help but think of her as a cute squirrel trying to gather and hide her food. ''Cute...'' Smiling warmly at that foolish friend of mine, I looked at him. He had the same smile on his face as me, and he just shook his head helplessly at this young girl''s behavior. "Those three so-called prodigies, that boy, and then you two... This really seems like the era golden of geniuses. Hohoho~! Lucifer... here. Hope we can have another wonderful talk, better than this one if fate allows it." Handing me the square storage device, he extended his hand. epting the box and storing it in my white crack with a radiant smile, I humbly epted this handshake. "I hope so too, sir Lucius. It was a good talk and I, too, hope we can have a long, normal chat if fate allows it." I was smiling radiantly at him, but there was definitely something on my mind after hearing what he had just said. I could guess which three prodigies he was talking about, but... he also said something about ''that boy. So, there was someone who was on par with them that he didn''t know about. This was something interesting... not that he would tell me what he was talking about if I asked myself. If he meant what he said, then I knew we would meet sooner orter. I will know about him someday for sure so, for now, there was an adorabledy waiting for me with her face on the door. ''Let''s see how this first date of mine in this world goes... I know it will be far different from ''those things'', at the very least.'' Chapter 296 Something Weird In Market Walking in the open market area of the imperial capital, a young girl and boy walked together with their hands imprisoned in each other, fingers intertwined with each other and they had a radiant mood as they walked through the busy streets. This was the outer part of the capital and the shops on both sides of the road were either stalls or small one-floor shops. But despite that, the various distinct types of street food this ce had were something even more amazing than the regr hotels of the capital. There were countless types of food on the street and the girl with normal-looking short brown hair was really excited while looking at all those things. From different beast meat to the special nts, sds, eggs, different drinks, and such things were all around this ce. They perhaps were here to try all of these things and the girl was genuinely excited about this... unlike the boy who only had a radiant face with a masterfully hidden concern for something that was approaching them. This was an open street, bustling with countless normal people and some adventurers as well as some ''unique'' people and¡­ two hooded figures were walking toward this young couple, or more precisely, they were walking in the opposite direction of the two of them. The road was well made with refined stones as its base, with a goodyer of some fine soil. The street wasrge, people were shopping, working, smiling, some angry and crying. This was a main street and not any alleyway, so there was more brightness than the back alleys. But the two people walking on the opposite side as the two of them were something that shouldn''t walk this freely on a main street like this one. Wearing a ck hood, the two figures walked naturally as the two of the young ones walked just as naturally while looking around the amazing street and food items like the clueless children they should. But the boy was not as pure as the young girl with them. He knew about these two hooded people and was doing an excellent job not showing this fact. Some butterflies could be seen wandering this area, which was just as natural as anything else here. Just that they were roaming around the two hooded figures and the surrounding vicinity more than the follower shops and sweet shops on the street. The two groups walked without stopping. The boy''s heart was as calm as ever. There was no hesitation in his actions at all either. They were both walking on the same side of the road, so it was natural that their paths would cross in a while. But there was no reaction from him. And even as the two of them passed by these ck hooded figures, naturally, there was no reaction from him and he just nodded at the excited voice of the young girl with him. The two groups crossed paths and... just naturally continued walking with no special pause at all. Just like any other person walking on the street, this interaction which couldn''t even be considered an interaction, was definitely just¡­ normal. The boy and girl continued towards the small rabbit meat shop some distance away as the two hooded figures just walked further away from this ce on the same road. There were five butterflies visible in the sky some distance away from each other, and all of them had different colors. Red, light red, light yellow, green and ck. And they all had a unique patterns on their bodies. All five were gathered around each other, ying in a group, exchanging information. But they parted ways after a while. Three of those butterflies had just randomly started floating in the same direction as the two hooded figures, while the two just parted ways and went in a random direction. They were butterflies, so their flight was just normal with a weird path, as if just floating with the wind currents. ,m The boy and girl were now at their destination, the cooked rabbit meat shop, and the boy sighed deeply out of the blue, surprising the young girl. She hesitated and looked back from the old but healthy shop owner, at him, and asked ''what''s wrong'' with her eyes. This was sudden, and she was genuinely worried because of this concern-filled sigh. But the calm smile he gave as an answer said that he was perfectly fine, and she barely believed that¡­ but just for now. Three butterflies flew, far away from each other, following the hooded figures, which, too, were naturally three. Three hooded figures, the two that the boy and girl had passed by, as well as another figure that was ''walking in the same direction as them'' on the other side of the door. This third hooded figure was different from the two of them and was wearing a far better hood than the two. Both groups were wearing ck hoods, but they were different from each other. Even the materials and texture of their hoods were different. The inside part of the two hooded figures was red, from what was visible, while the one he was wearing had blue. It was also a high-ranking artifact and not just a simple hood with high enchantments like them. There was a sword hanging around the waist of this young person and the sword looked just like any normal Katana de one can find in the weapon shops. But there was definitely something different about this sword. This single hooded figure was shorter than them, and maybe younger too, from the hand that was visible on the outside. The same hand which was pointed at the two red hooded figures a moment ago. The butterfly was flying in front of him, so maybe this unintelligent creature had seen something strange in that split second, or at least the more intelligent creature who could see with the eyes of these butterflies had definitely seen that... In the subtle moment he lifted his hand, inside his sleeves, two small golden lights flushed and then he just put his hand down, without any more movements. This was not much quick so if focused, one could see that and from how the butterfly was before him, they had seen this more clearly than anyone. The light was strange, as if some creature looking at them from that sleeve. From a normal perspective, his movements until then were natural in anyone''s eyes but, what he did atst before just stopping at a fruit center was definitely not normal. This person had walked from the same direction as the two of them and he was too normal to wear that high-quality artifact in the broader evening light. He was strange, not as much as some truly weird things in this market but hisst action was truly suspicious. And maybe because of these things until now... there were now two more butterflies flying around the area this figure was standing. The young couple enjoyed their delicious food, and the single hooded young figure started walking in the opposite direction, the two hooded figures from before just continued walking towards the south-west gate of the capital, and the butterflies in the area danced with the winds, flying away as the winds lead them¡­ or at least that''s how it looked. Chapter 297 That Night... "Eon... care to tell me what is going on with you? You are acting a bit weird since we were in the market¡­ Even at dinner. Everyone was worried about you, you know? Even with your spectacr acting, your mom and I could easily tell something is worrying you. Everything was alright till we went out of the adventurer association and even till the time we were seeing the garden. I know you don''t want to worry any of us like that and try your best but, at least tell me... I don''t like seeing that look in my darling friend''s eyes¡­" She was genuinely worried, and I could feel her hesitation in those words that were normal sounding. I knew she was worried as well as the fact that I was not being myself since we crossed paths with those rakshasas on the food street. They weren''t even the ones that had killed those innocent weak people in the morning that Celes had started following. They were a different group, but with the same attire as the previous ones. The two of them had teleported to some distance away from the ce we were and I knew the two of them were stronger than the ones that had killed those people. Actually, the bunch that had killed countless people since the morning were now at some kind of base, with many different people in the same attire as them. But the two we passed by and were stronger than those gathered at this ce had just gone out of the capital and into the wilderness outside the capital city. Celes''s clones were following those two but, some other clones that were surveying this base had witnessed something I wasn''t expecting at all. There were around fifteen mages who had killed hundreds of people just today, with no one noticing. Even after a whole day, no one actually had any idea of these deaths, as the barriers they had set in the area were still there. I didn''t think they would gather like this anytime soon but, the fifteen of them weren''t the only ones here. There was another person in a red hood with them who was almost as strong as the ones I had seen on the streets. And from the looks of the things, they had already found the thing they were stretching like mad men¡­ I had seen everything and right now; they were just gathered in that ce and were preparing for some kind of ritual. All these people were excellent mages. Most were (tier-3) ck mages, and the one leading this thing was a strong (tier-4) ck mage. This base of theirs was on almost the outskirts of the capital and it was naturally an underground ce. These people, I at least knew they were the so-called cultic Rakshasas but, the thing they were doing right now was no normal thing. It was genuinely concerning and I didn''t know if I should tell others about this or not. I had read about many things in our tower library and these demonic people and their ancient practices, tools, magic, and artifacts were one of them. And right now, the sixteen people were preparing for the¡­ ritual of summoning. The thing they had been finding in the normal houses of themoner houses was a peculiar-looking small statue. A small decorative statue of some weird humanoid creature with three hands, each holding a different colored marble. This was peculiar, but there wasn''t anything special about this statue in general. I could only see all this with Celes''s clone''s eyes, but I knew about what this statue was, so I could tell there wouldn''t be any Mana fluctuation or even an energy reading of this thing. Even the high-level appraisals would just show it as a normal, old statue. And there was no way some inferior skill could ever apprise an ancient artifact. And more than that, this ancient artifact was some of the forbidden creations of ancient times. [Inferior Demon swarm] was the name the thing was known as. Its primary use was to summon many low-level demons after a very long ritual that takes around a month just in preparation. I thankfully knew this fact, so I wasn''t much worried as I wouldn''t have immediate action to take. There was some time before they could actually do the summoning but, thankfully, there was time. They had killed many people to get this thing, which was most definitely just sitting around in one of thesemon houses, and no one could do anything about this now. Not that I much cared about the lives that were already lost but, there was a bigger situation at hand now. They found this thing sooner than I had expected, and though we were strong enough to take the lower mages down on our own, there was no guarantee we would be fine while fighting them alone. I wanted to kill them for doing something so unsightly before Celes, but telling others was also a choice. I can just tell them about this thing and they would all just take care of these people. I was in deep thought about what to do all this time about this and in the process, even after trying my best to hide this, I couldn''t hide it from this girl sitting beside me, holding my hand. Our date was overall fun, and we had done many fun things beforeing back. She was an amazing person, already seeing through my white lies. We have already had dinner, and this was night already. Everyone was almost fine, and they didn''t actually know if I was actually not well or something. They could definitely feel something was weird with me, but they just shook it off as their own imagination. She, Anna, and mom might be the only ones who were genuinely worried, but mom left whatever I was worried about to Rein. And now, we were here, sitting in the front garden, by the fountain, on that special bench I was looking at this morning. This ce was actually perfect¡­ The freshness of air here was like no other. The flowers and nts, which were marvelously glowing on this calm night, looked amazing. And... she also looked gorgeous in this simple purple nightgown. It matched her beautiful short hair that I loved and these clothes didn''t fail to show her alluring self. She looked hooooot, and I don''t want to go into the description of this one because... this was for me. That aside, in this cool night''s breeze, her hand felt warm. It felt so warm, soothing, and calming that I couldn''t help but forget about this bunch of lunatics and actually focus on her. Focus on her pretty face, bathed in the gentle moonlight of this clear night. Something unpleasant had happened in the middle of our fun outing and I worried her uselessly. There was nothing to worry about for now and we can just go finish those bunch of ck mages off after I settle down and get a bit stronger than now. Taking them out one by one or in small groups would be the perfect thing as they had good synergy when working as a group or team. And if many of them were connected with a single demon, then they can actually share their senses, bing one being altogether. So, even with all our prowess, skills, special magic, and strength, we can''t just go against arge group of ck mages. I wanted to tell her these things after she gotfortable in my house, just like me, so I didn''t want to worry her about these things just yet. But now, when she had shown me the capital city, taken care of me in those streets filled with countless people, and eaten those weird things with me on my request, how can I worry her like this? So... holding her hand, interlocking our fingers, and looking deep into her eyes with a helpless expression, creating a sound-blocking Solnova barrier, I started exining the situation starting from the moment how Celes identally witnessed that gruesome scene. She knew how I can talk with Celes through our mental link and how I can also see the things Celes''s clones and she was seeing. It was easy for her to understand those things from my excellent descriptions and she was smart enough to guess most of the things that I didn''t talk about. Most of the things I talk about angered her, and she was cussing loudly, shouting at those bastards. It was devastating to hear about the countless deaths that would have happened in the search of a single dumb statue in a general sense... not that she cared one bit about lost lives. I knew she would be thest one to care about some unknown weak person''s life when it was already lost. She had seen death, devastation, agony, and misery. What''s more, she was the one to cause those things in some cases. She was different from normal humans and had different points of view about general things, and this personality of hers was even more charming in my eyes. She was cussing because I was worried because of them and that her date experience could have been far better if they hadn''t done such atrocious things. Plus, she loathed these demon worshipers, dark mages, and all the Rakshasas in the world, not as much as me, but somewhere close. She despised the demons even more than them, though, far more than I did. She hated their mere existence, and they were the reason many lives had been lost on ''that'' day. She was enraged after I was finished with all the things I had to say, and she was in her own thoughts as she continued cussing so ''harshly'' I couldn''t even recite those things. She was... good at cussing. I had to give her that much. So good that maybe even I could learn a thing or two from her. But, from all the things I told her just now, something I said caught her attention. And I was thinking about that one for a while too. It was a weird thing, from his appearance, high-level cape, that sword which I can tell definitely was a divine artifact just from the making, and that light in his sleeves. As if some creature''s eyes had shined in there, those two lights were definitely abnormal. And the more weird thing was just how that person disappeared from Celes''s clone''s sight as if teleporting with a skill like hers. It was sudden, and just from this much, I knew I won''t be seeing him much even if Celes''s clones follow him. He was suspicious, and I knew I would see him again. He was definitely following the two hooded ck mages even before we crossed paths, so I knew one day for sure, we would also see each other. One day... But I didn''t think I would ''see'' him today once again. And in proper action, no less. [[ Master. You... should see this. ]] Chapter 298 Their Cave And Him In a dark ce filled with red light, some clich¨¦ dark sorcery stuff covering the ce, weird people wearing ck hoods as if of some dark cult, all their eyes pure ck, as if void, were preparing for some kind of weird ritual at full pace. All of them had human-like bodies and aside from their eyes and a strange, unnoticeableyer of ck energy covering their skin, they looked normal. Setting the red crystals that looked like blood crystals all over the ce, drawing an absurd-looking magic circle in the middle of this cave-like ce with the things being prepared on the left side of this ce, they did their work with exciting evil smiles. Every single one of them was wearing these ck hoodies, except for one who was wearing a weird red one and was doing his own stuff on the right side of the cave with a strange-looking statue. The left side of this ce was almost a big alchemyb, filled with glowing green, red, and yellow fluids. They were doing the old-fashioned alchemy that looked like chemical witchcraft but, this wasn''t as refined as theirs. This looked messy, the ingredients used in the processing were disgusting, the liquid in these giant pots was ugly, and more than anything, the flesh, blood, and raw body parts of different beasts they used were... unsightly. Some of these hooded people were even enjoying the raw flesh and meat, which looked fresh and crimson red. This side of the room was a mess, but they were doing their work, producing the needed materials in this grand ritual for freedom. One would never want to watch something gruesome like this, never, and if someone had to describe the things happening in this hell-forsaken ce, they could just try their best as even the best narrators would want to gauge out their eyeballs at this scene. At the very back of this cave-like undergrad ce, there was something like a prison and many people were ''stored'' there, alive but not conscious at all. Naturally, one could guess what the purpose of these weak people was in this demonic ceremony. So, the back side of this ce was just a storage room for the currently living human sacrifices. On the right side where the person with the red hood and the statue was... fucked up too. The one in the red hood was an old-looking bald man, and he was ''caressing'' every inch of the weird-looking statue. Gently, carefully, and with extreme pleasure on his face. His eyes were also pure ck, and what he was doing was definitely not something that one even want to know. The statue was a humanoid creature with three hands, a strong-looking body, three hands holding three different colored crystal balls, bat-like wings, and a beastly, cow-like tail. The creature''s face was that of a bull and its horns were the only ck thing aside from the fully gray body and colorful crystals. This old bald bastard looked like the leader of this lunatic group and the sticky, ckyer of demonic energy was denser on him than the others. This dark energy was ominous, cold and something that one would instinctively run away from. He was, naturally, a small viin in a big story, destined to get beaten up by the hero. Or... maybe just directly killed without him having any chance to even understand what had just happened. And that hero had already started his work a while ago. The cleanup of this bunch of lunatics. There was a butterfly sitting on one of the cave walls some distance away, and her angle was high enough to see a significant part of the entrance to this ce. One butterfly was at the entrance, three at the different angles of the cave, and one outside of this cave. The cave was made underground and the upper path leading to this ce was connected to a single simple-looking house on the edges of the great empire''s capital city. A while ago, a figure, covered in dark clothing, wearing a ck mask that covered his face, a ck sword on his waist, and glowing golden eyes had infiltrated this base of the ck mages after silently killing the guards. There were two (tier-3) dark mages guarding the outside of this cave. Dark mages were different from normal mages. Strong, better at casting, and good with energy maniption too. The ck mages of just this level could go on par with strong mages of one tier higher than them. This dark-clothed figure, however, didn''t even need more than a moment to just... obliterate them. He first silently, without any presence, absolutely nothing to his presence, sneaked into the house filled with many traps and rms without triggering a single one of them. He moved like a ghost or a shadow and, after reaching the underground passage, his eyes started glowing in a strange golden light. They currently seemed as if the eyes of some reptilian creature, and the golden glow was somewhat familiar to the ones watching him through the butterfly on the wall. He swiftly moved down the dark passage, reached the gate of this cave, and waited at the end of the cave. Maybe he had observed all he needed in the time he was just standing at the entrance without them noticing anything abnormal. His stealth was unparalleled and just this much was amazing but, that wasn''t all to him. Some time passed in this entrance and suddenly, when there were just the normal winds blowing from the venttion system, a ck light shed for a moment. And, even though the light was just blinding, what it did to the two (tier-3) ck mages was definitely unreal¡­ Two mages were doing their work diligently even though there was nothing in this underground area to worry about but, as this ck light shed, they weren''t just surprised... they had left this world. Their bodies silently fell to the ground, but there were no heads to these bodies. They were headless now, and the one that did this had suddenly appeared before the gate behind them as if teleported. This was genuinely shocking but, this shock didn''t just end there. Their bodies turned into partials of golden light and these particles flew towards his head, his neck more precisely, and vanished into his dark clothes. There was blood around where they were killed, ck blood no less. The same one that demons had and which polluted nature. And... this ck-clothed person, which looked like some kind of an assassin in that outfit with his sword, started cleaning up the blood with a small unique ck cloth that he took out of his storage glove. Chapter 299 Their Cave And Him (2) This was no simple storage device, and anyone could tell it just from the fact that it was a glove. No one made a glove storage device in this age and time so, it was most definitely an artifact recovered from a dungeon, from the simple understanding. But that didn''t exin this weird light that ate the bodies of two good ck mages as well as their magic and everything on them, as well as that ck light and their missing heads. The way those heads vanished seemed like they were obliterated to dust and less in that slight moment that ck light shed. And... this was weird. The dark-clothed person walked into the cave without any hesitation in his eyes and even while he was inside, with the fifteen (tier-3) mages working in this seeminglyrge ce, there was no hesitation in his eyes. His glowing, cold, emotionless eyes were somewhat familiar to the spectators but, the ward smile he had when moving his neck at the ce the light had vanished was yet another strange thing about him. He had a sword, a normal-looking ck Katana that we can find in any weapon shop, so we can specte he might be a swordsman. But that ck light, that unreal stealth, andstly, the strange golden light that ate the bodies of those mages¡­ This was strange, but things were going to be even more strange than now. There were sixteen mages in total inside this cave and as soon as he entered, he encountered three mages just on the outside of the ce. But they didn''t notice him at all, even after he stood just a few steps away from them. He was just walking straight in with his hand on his sword and even though he stood before them as if invisible to their high mage senses, detection spells, and skills, as well as the demonic detection, they just continued their guarding duty. And suddenly... a subtle clicking sound rang in the surrounding. -Click! -Thud. Thud. Thud. Three bodies fell to the ground at once and their heads... went flying in the air. That was a lightning-fast attack that the normal butterflies couldn''t perceive, but they at least knew what had just happened from how the ck-clothed person had his hands on the sword. It rained ck blood this time in the path these three heads went flying and this one gave away the intruder. But he was still calm in this situation. He just moved forward with no hesitation and got close to the two mages on the left side, who were mixing some weird things in a big pot filled with red-colored liquids. His eyes turned furious as he looked at these people, which was different from his previous calmness, and he didn''t use the same attack he used a moment before. Instead, he just took out his Katana and slowly got close to the targets who still had no knowledge of what had just happened and where this blood came from. His sword de was perfect, and he... just poked the tip of this magnificent de into the part where the heart should be, and then a white light covered the de¡­ The light had appeared there for just a moment and as soon as it appeared; the de passed through the body of the mage like a hot knife through butter. And the mage still had no idea what was going on until he felt something pocking him for a moment and then the sudden weirdness in his chest. But before any reaction coulde from this mage, the ck-clothed person had moved ahead after doing the same with the other mage with him. And after he moved forward and reached the next target, the previous two men who had been stabbed through their hearts screamed in agony as they started burning from the inside with some strange fire. A strong silver fire burned them from the inside and didn''t even take three seconds for the mages to fall to the ground and start their journey to the underworld. This was strange from many points of view, and five of the fifteen mages had just died without anyone noticing or finding the cause of the death. But, even though the reason, the person in ck clothing was standing right there, in the middle of the room after killing five more mages on the left side, they had no idea about their current situation. But suddenly, as if some magic spell had been lifted from him or some skill duration was ended, everyone was able to see him for the first time. He appeared before them like a sh of light and as soon as they saw him, another ck light shed in the surrounding, binding thest remaining bald mage leader on the right side, who had fully grasped the situation and was ready with his spell. But this light was powerful and as soon as he was able to see and looked at the ce the figure was standing a moment ago, only the unreal view of five bodies of mages that were drawing the magic circle was seen... without heads of course. All this happened in the short span of five minutes and now... only the one in ck clothing and this ck magician in the red hood were left in this silent undergrad cave. There were many butterflies here too but, the ones watching all this through their eyes were the most shocked by the things happening at the moment. Someone signal-handily had killed fifteen ck mages despite being not too stronger than them. His techniques were unreally good, and his skills and that strange skills were also undoubtedly fascinating. He was a marvelous swordsman, and they acknowledged that with just the swordy they had seen until now. But... there was still this main fight with the strongest of the bunch left. And the figure in ck clothing, who now stood at the far right of the ck mage, had an excited smirk on his face. What he had done till now wasn''t enough just yet so, he wanted to do some more crazy shit and defeat the mage leader of this bunch of lunatics. He was excited, the ck mage was clearly enraged, and... their battle would naturally be anything but normal. Chapter 300 That Person... ck magic. They used the magic with the demonic energy gained from the contract with the demon, negative energies gathered from others'' suffering, and deeds are done against nature. Though not at the level of demonic magic or the skills and abilities that demons use, this kind of magic is the most disgusting magic used by the ck mage rakshasas of this world. The ck magic, though sounds like something of any normal fantasy novel, is something much different from the normal magic and low to mid-level magic skills people use. It''s not normal magic but somewhat more powerful than simr-tier magic spells, but in the end, it is still magic. Sticky, dark, and disgusting magic. Most mages loth this magic and mages who use it. They hate it so much that the ck mages aren''t even considered mages by society. And naturally, they aren''t even considered part of humanity. In this ce where there was a ritual for the summoning of demons going on, anyone would just want to cold-heartedly kill this bunch with no hesitation. Any strong person would just go against these fools and do their best to kill them as properly as possible. But taking down fifteen (tier-3) ck mages was no simple task at all! Dark mages could work together like a single being, if not taken down in a bunch or at once. Their simple (tier-1) spells could easily carry power equal to (tier-3) spells, they can easily cast (tier-3) spells with rtively low physical restrictions, unlike mages. These were rakshasas, those who had forsaken humanity and fully be the subordinates of demons. The restricted demons who can''t properly interfere with the human realm on their own used them as their puppets to ''legally''e to this world and do things while still being under the rules of nature. These people are the gue that is present in all parts of humanity, society, and culture. Hidden while wearing masks, or foolishly showing it far openly like these people. The hidden ones are stronger, like this (tier-4) old mage priest. But they are far more sane and dangerous than this bunch. This bunch was just disgustingly strong and dumb. They were just insane lunatics and the person killing them was something so amazing that the ones watching this fight were genuinely surprised by his prowess. They could guess he was just a young person like them and still, he was strong enough to just kill those fifteen mages in the blink of an eye like they were nothing before him. His stealth, or more like a high magical skill thatpletely erased him from their senses, was amazing, unreal, actually. Standing before someone and they have absolutely no idea that there is someone before them or anything is even abnormal in this ce is just that amazing. His attacks, that ck sh of light, were even more amazing. A quick moment, so quick that he traveled to his target in the sh of light, destroys his enemies, and endured all the possible recoil like it is nothing at all. This person... he was strong and they could tell this without even considering his skills, techniques, and weapons. He was physically strong enough to use this kind of swordsmanship as well as techniques. He was mentally strong enough to naturally handle the recoil of the attacks and skills without any problem. He was amazing as well as strange. The light that had devoured the mage''s bodies was even more strange and something very, very rare to consider as a possibility. But that wasn''t as amazing as the current fight that was going on right now. The ck mages were killed without resistance, their leader was alone in this ce now, and the blood of ck mages seeping out of the headless bodies was just increasing his rage. This (tier-4) mage was now enraged, almost berserk, as he shot spell after spell at this person. His attacks, the countless (tier-3) spells that were difficult to cast at the normal mage level, were made of their unique ck energy. They were different from normal magic that naturally felt weak, strong, and just normal. They had a strange sticky, murky, and unnatural feeling to them. But they were definitely strong. He used fire, electric, and ice attacks, most probably meaning he was a dual elemental mage with fire and water elements. His spells were strong, but they were still disgustingly weird from any general point of view. But the one they were pointed at, the person in ck clothing, was as calm as he had been the whole time against them. His eyes were sharp, calm, and cool, and there was no hesitation. He was like a supreme beast who knew the attacksing at him were nothing but mere sparks. As the spells came close to him, he put his left hand on the sheath of his sword, pulled the sword with his thumb out of the sheath, grabbed the sword with his right hand, took an attacking stance, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and... -Click. Another clicking sound echoed in the closed cave and the many spellsing at him at once... were cut in half by a sh of white light. There was no blinding light this time, just a click and a crescent sh of white light that appeared before him after the clicking sound, and as this sh cut the spells in half... they just disappear. A spell has a core, and that one attack had precisely destroyed the core of every spelling at him. And it was weird how the white light that barely touched just the spell was able to destroy the whole spell. The core was definitely destroyed, but the attack only barely touched the core of some of the spells. The power behind the spells was great enough that a single attack should never cut off them. But it did happen, and the reason was the white sh of this dark-clothed person. A powerful and strange attack that definitely shouldn''t be anything normal. But this thing didn''t shock the already mad ck magician, and he just continued attacking with a chaotic mind and almost red eyes. His ck eyes were starting to turn red, meaning he was going berserk for real now. And a rakshasa going berserk was moreplicated than a high-ranking beast going berserk. Unlike the beast who just knew violence and lost their mind while berserk, the creatures like this dark mage just continued trying to destroy, kill, and survive until they achieved their goals for going berserk. It was an innate characteristic of Rakshasas and it meant total chaos. They were nothing less than half-demons in that state and the negative energy, demonic energy, and dead Mana they produced in the process also destroyed the surroundings. Those things could happen and this area of the capital would be destroyed if that happens but¡­ this person in dark clothing had no n of letting him go. His normal, stoic golden eyes glowed with golden light, and¡­ a great pressure surrounded the whole cave. The magic attacks wereing at him with the same swiftness as a while ago but, this time, he didn''t do the same thing asst time and instead just took out his Katana from the sheath and held it with both hands. The thin, sharp, single-de Katana sword shined with golden light and changed into a two-edged, long sword. And though this sword looked different from the previous one, they were the same swords. A sword had changed its form and now he was fully ready. The de of the sword was shining with the same metallic silver glow as the previous sword and his eyes were looking at the spellsing at him as well as the mage with furious eyes. The magic he was using was already unsightly in his eyes but, the appearance of this whole ce was even more unsightly than that. Holding the sword in his right hand, he looked at the spells and all these had happened in moments so, maybe the butterflies didn''t make out some of it with their currentcking eyes. His eyes were glowing with ferocious golden light and he was looking at the spells. These eyes were moving swiftly between spells, and the vines that appeared on his somewhat visible forehead were signs of deep critical thinking. It was as if he was calcting at a lot faster speed than he was used to, almost as if using a skill that was stronger than normal. But he was on the time. As soon as the spells were just before his person... he moved forward with a quick movement and his sword was covered by a ck-white aura. An aura that was white, as well as ck. And this was bnced. Two colors, perfectly harmonized, and with this sword covered in this strange aura, he just shot forward and¡­ in a blink of an eye, he reached the other side of this spell barrage. And he didn''t just stop at that point. In the split second, he was on the other side, he took a firm stance, held his sword with nothing in his head, took a deep breath, intensified the ck-white energy on his sword like fueling an already strong fire, and took a deep breath while closing his glowing stern gold eyes. The ck magician was a good mage despite being just a (tier-4). To consistently cast these many spells at once was a huge thing and not many can do that. It was a high-level casting rate and method, and right now; he was gathering all the demonic energy from the dead bodies at the same time as he cast these spells. He was almost fallen to a berserk state after his precious n to summon the great demons for the destruction of this part of the capital failed. But that thing before him, the thing that even a (tier-4) ck mage like him was worried about, was... dangerous. Chapter 301 That Person... (2) He had prepared everything, and he even got his hands on this strange statue after days of finding and boring killings. His great preparation and devotion... everything was ruined by this one MF that appeared out of nowhere! The mage was angry, doing his best but, when he saw the split second that boy had disappeared from his ce and was now standing in front of him with his sword held in both hands... he knew something was wrong. His spells were shot at him in all directions this time, even at the back, and he still slipped past them and was now preparing a great attack that might really be a problem. His eyes widened as soon as he spotted him and seeing his closed eyes and this sudden pressure was something unreal in itself. But... before he could do anything at all, he saw a sh of ck-white light, and the very next second, the world inside this cave started spinning in his eyes. The finely made cave, the properly shaped pirs and ces, the ceiling, and when he was almost going to see the ground, instead of the ce he was standing... a vision of a headless body entered his eyes. A headless body... his headless body... so... What he was seeing right now was only his head, right? There was no head to his body and there was no head to his head, meaning... The head of this ck magician falls to the ground, his pure ck eyes turning white and his body falling to the ground. A pool of blood started covering the right side of the cave. The person in dark clothing shed his sword to remove the ck blood from the de, then the blood sshed on the ground. He looked at the de as it turned back into the normal Katana and he put it back into its sheath. Two ck mages outside, fifteen here, and one (tier-4) ck mage who didn''t even get to show what things he can do... all wiped out. And as soon as he was done with this one, he fell to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of hot red blood, his face still covered with a ck mask. It was normal how these powerful attacks would take a heavy toll on one''s body. And he was young, not that strong to use the unreal skills he had shown. Just the fact that he was fine and just coughed a little blood was enough to show just how strong he was, and he didn''t even need more than a few minutes to stop this bacsh. ,m He stood again, took out some potion bottles with holy water-like liquid in them, and drank them without hesitation. A dull white light covered his body, and he seemed fully recovered after that much. He had killed these ck mages who were trying to summon the demons using an ancient artifact, and that ancient artifact was sitting on the altar-like table just behind the body of this old mage. He walked back, looked at the statue, and thoroughly observed it, and after weirdly nodding to himself a couple of times, he walked a few steps back. His behavior was weird and there was once again that warm smile on his ck, mask-covered face. He patted his neck in a careful manner and extended his hand forward. This was, once again, strange. But... this time, something happened that somewhat exined his weird behavior of patting his own neck and warm smiles. A creature crawled out of the sleeves of his ck clothing and looked at him with a warm smile that looked... cute? This was a genuinely cute creature and the ones looking at this couldn''t help but have the same thoughts while looking at it. Yes, it was shocking how this specific creature could appear at a ce like this but, that thinking was after the fact that this was adorable. This was a small snake... a snake with wings. He was small, maybe smaller than this person''s hand, less than half a meter or so. This creature had metallic feather-like pointed scales that were almost like steel feathers all over his body. Its body with these feather-like scales was a light greenish blue. A teal color. The feathers it had were a royal purple andstly, its eyes... they were the same golden as him¡­ result of first assimtion (?). They looked like the original onespared to him, but they definitely were gorgeous. Its young snake face was cute and the way it smiled at him was also adorable... This was a creature that shocked the ones watching with the vision of the butterfly. It was justmonly unbelievable to see this creature here, like this, with a person, smiling like this. This was surpassing... but this creature was still cute. It smiled and talked with him in his snake-like hissing voice, and he responded without any words as if talking with telepathy. They talked warmly and this radiant side of this person was nothing like the cold-blooded killer he was just a few moments ago. There was no cold, stoic expression and just the happiness of aplishing something great. This was their moment, and they enjoyed it like some parent and child with radiant smiles and excited voices. Itsted for some minutes, but then he said something and nodded at this creature and the snake nodded back happily. After that, the snake spread its majestic wings, which were just barely one meter in wingspan, and started slowly started ying with no difficulty. It could easily pull up his own weight, not that it would mind a few more hundred kilograms. It was a mythical creature after all. The young snake floated almost to the ceiling of this cave and stopped only when it could see most of the cave and the dead body from that angle. After that, its eyes started glowing with a more refined and beautiful gold than him and every single dead bodyying on the ground, the fifteen mages and this old mage, turned into particles of golden light... Every one of these particles was unique in size and brightness, and the (tier-4) old mage had some of the biggest and brightest particles of light. And a very dull white particle of light also came out of the weird statue and started floating upward at the snake-like creature. Though as soon as this white light hade out of this statue, it had lost all its color and became ash, almost ready to crumble down, it was better than it ever being able to summon the demons. All these particles of light floated in the air to the mouth of this snake-like creature and the young snake slowly started happily eating these special lights. And it didn''t take it more than three minutes to finish this and after joyfully finishing its meal, it floated down to this person and he hugged it with his warm embrace. He had a happy expression as if a mother asking her child if they had a good meal, and the snake nodded his cute-looking head while hissing with its light pink serpent tongue. The two of them were as great a pair as the ones watching them were with their families, and maybe this bond was somewhat special too, ording to what was known about this serpent creature. Right now, the behavior this cute snake had would most definitely confuse the one watching this who knew about this creature in detail. But it was ultimately alright as ''there are always exceptions.'' The two of them had a special rtionship, and it was clear just from this interaction they had. And after more small talk, the snake-like creature crawled back in his sleeves, and a golden light appeared on the bottom part of his neck. He sighed after that and took a deep breath and after that, started doing something even more strange than killing all those mages. He first erased every single particle of ash from that weird statue that had turned to dust a while ago. Then he started messing with the blood and the marks of the fight and even finally cleaned his own blood with some strange acid-like liquid to not leave a single trace. After that, he went to the left side, checked the ce with most of the things, and picked up some good things like two skill stones and one energy coreying by the butchered beast''s body. ...it was genuinely envious how people could just find such things lying around on the ground. And the ones who just left them there were even bigger fools. But, he took all the important stuff, cleaned up the mess, his own unique attack traces, and then, without looking at the people trapped in the back, he took out a strange hexagon blue crystal and activated it. Talking in the crystal in an inaudible voice, he quickly finished this talk and put back the crystal, and just normally walked out of this ce. There was a smile on his face as he was walking out after achieving his goal and achieving more than he thought. He walked out, leaving this cave all alone, with the corrupting ck blood of the ck mages that will slowly corrupt the air and, in a while, make the air so poisonous that the imprisoned people will just die from a single inhale of it. Not that it will happen as he had taken the measures to rescue them, so it was alright. They will be safe, the demon worshippers were dead, the summoning was prevented as a great tragedy was also prevented with it and, with that... a few butterflies vanished in the air, became invisible, and started following this person out of the cave who had killed the strong mages so much effortlessly. Chapter 302 Shocked Duo In the quiet garden, silent winds passed freely, grazing the marvelous selves of the two young people sitting on a bench with a nk expressions. A boy with red eyes, reflecting the glowing blue water from the fountain, his golden blond hair mirroring the blue moonlight of the half moon ying in the sky with his friend stars, and his clear, attractive face, set there with a nk expression as if deeply thinking about something. Just beside him, a gorgeous-looking girl was sitting, holding his hand and simrly thinking something deeply, just like the boy. Her marvelous short purple hair reflected the night''s darkness instead of light, but still, they looked so attractive that one couldn''t help but get drawn towards her. But... her eyes had a strange blue light in them, and even though this nk state was quite simr to the boy, it was still quite unique. It was as if the girl was seeing something from a distance with someone else''s vision, while the boy was seeing things firsthand, being there at this very moment. They were in the garden in front of an enormous mansion. The fountain in front of them produced a calming voice. The sounds of the night were even more calming than usual. The fresh air of this area was rejuvenating¡­ The garden with many flowers, most of them glowing on this wonderful night, also producing a mix of pleasant fragrances. The bench they were sitting on was finely made for two people to sitfortably. The bench was old, but it looked as new as a newly carved piece of wooden art. The lights of most rooms in the mansion were off, windows closed and curtains covering them. This... was a quiet and beautiful night. Perfect for love to bloom. The two of them were sitting on this bench, in this wonderful ce, with this special atmosphere. With this nk look on their face and eyes. And after a while of this nk state, the boy first flinched visibly, his eyes shaking in surprise and shock. And after a moment of his reaction, the blue light in the girl''s gorgeous pink eyes vanished as she, too, shook visibly with surprise and an unbelieving expression. The boy was smiling with a preposterous expression as if he had seen something more absurd than a normal ghost. The girl was shocked, but she was more confused and there was no smile on her face at the moment. Both of them were now in their right state, back to this wonderful ce from some strange one. He looked at her, and she looked at him after a bit and, the confused look on her face surprised him more than he currently was. His eyes asked her what was wrong, the radiant smile on his face still stuck on his face. She saw the question in his eyes and wanted to answer but, she couldn''t actually find the right words and just open and closed her mouth a few times. She was calm right now. There was no chaos in her eyes but, the things they had just witnessed were that much absurd to believe. He squeezed the held hand to further calm the calm self of the girl and asked her to take a deep breath and continue. And she did just that after a calm nod. He had seen what things had happened there, and although only he can see the things through the clone''s visual after Celes transferred than to him, he had the spell (: Share) so she saw those things too. And they were definitely no normal things. "Huu... that, was amazing. It was eastern swordsmanship, right?" She asked with an excited smile and the boy happily nodded with even more excitement. "Yes! And I can definitely say it was a lost one! I have only read a bit about it but, it is considered some of the finest in the known history~! Past legendary swordsman and some of the earlier alliance masters of the adventurer''s association from the eastern continent, sword heaven Akimitsu''s lost style, and I definitely know it wascking in many ways but that was real! Someone who knew the actually lost style of a legendary figure! Damn~! And that wasn''t just the sword style of one person he used. I don''t know if you saw that but he changed the form of his divine artifact sword and used a different style too. And that one looked far more refined than his ''light swords''!" He was truly excited when talking like that, and she was naturally enjoying his every single word and excited expression. He had started talking, and retelling everything that had happened there and they witnessed, and seeing him talk so happily made her smile warmly at him with a happy gaze. It was rare to see him excited like this and this atmosphere and situation made it even more special. Everything they could see with the low efficiency of the clone''s eyes was limited but, they could definitelyprehend things that might have happened in the time that they couldn''t see anything. They had seen someone amazing just now. Someone truly strong. Someone who knew how to use his strength as well as someone who possessed amazing skills in the sword, Aura, and Internal energy. They knew this person used eastern techniques and his sword style was also something of old times. This person was special. From his weapons, clothing, artifacts, skills, techniques, energy-using prowess, and atst... the being that was with him. From what they had seen, it was clear that this person had deep experience with actualbat and unfair situations like this one but, he was amazing with how he dealt with things. The core reason his attack on this group of ck mages was sessful was the way he started the whole thing. The way he entered the ce with some kind of powerful invisibility skill or magic, caused chaos, swiftly moved to ces, killed those people without any hesitation, to how he fought against that ck mage leader. The start yed the main role and that start was most probably only possible because of the cute being with him. The smile on the boy''s face deepened, the excitement intensified, and his genuine excitement made her excited too. "A real Ocagi~!" he shouted loudly and she followed after his loud voice. "To think we will be able to see one~!" Both of their voices were loud and guards in the shadow were surprised by these sudden loud voices. They knew the two of them were talking here for a while now and the angle of this bench was something that couldn''t be seen from anywhere other than the front. It was a special ce and they knew who was there so they didn''t do anything and just stayed in their positions. But the excitement of the two was natural as they had actually seen a creature that is only talked about in legends of the eastern continent about a legendary creature that few had ever seen with their own eyes. A creature of great power and something that had the potential to grow strong enough to be on par with small and primary divine beasts. The highest of purple-ranking creatures, a being that was said to be ferocious, rare, something that rarely got involved with other species, and possessed some of the greatest magical abilities. Beings that had the greatest stealth, illusion, and camouge abilities among the known creatures in the world, knew diverse kinds of magic, are ''wise'' from birth, had the ability to change their size, and could fly while carrying far more weight than their size... Creatures that didn''t get much close to those aside from their parents, masters, and guardians. Okay so¡­ the legendary winged snakes. Creatures that are talked about in almost all towns and viges of the eastern continent and are believed to be residents of the deep forests, gorgeous valleys, and mountaintops. A creature that is sometimes depicted as a being that must never be hindered even if you are fortunate enough to see it with your own eyes. Many stores say that this creature just kills all the beings that anger them. And that too happens so quickly that no one that has done such a thing has even been able to understand what had happened to them. But... the creature they had seen was a cute small snake. It was cute, his reaction to the person with him was pure, just like a child talking with his mom. And this one, this cute-looking Ocagi, had a special skill that''s considered rarest among any creature of this nature. An ability that is so rare that its rarity is closer to the existence of high divine beasts. "[Gluttony]. A skill that can rival a 3rd stage origin skill. A rare ability that only a few strongest could possess. One of the fifteen ''pinnacle'' skills. And Something that holds the ability to consume anything as long as they fulfill certain conditions. The conditions vary from creature to creature but, mostly, they have to kill something in a certain way to be able to consume it if it''s something ''alive''. If it''s something that''s not ''alive'' then they can consume all the energy from it and grow stronger. This snake had that very very rare ability to convert everything in those beings that he killed into golden particles that were condensed natural energies. And the small snake with wings looked cute~! "It was adorable~!" He shouted with another loud voice and she nodded in agreement. "Nothing like the ferocious beast that I have heard about~. And¡­" she stopped when feeling the sudden transition and vibration from his hand and blinking at him with surprise. She looked at his still ''happy looking'' expression, sighed deeply, and moved a bit on the left side, at the edge of this bench. She was still holding his hand so from how she moved to that side, he could guess what she was thinking about. She patted herp, asking him what he was thinking with a calm smile, and the boy couldn''t help but shake his head at this caring behavior. She was asking him to put his head on her wonderfulp and... why would he say no to this splendid chance in this near-perfect atmosphere? The night couldn''t get red for them just yet but there was no reason he would mind if it got a little light pink. Chapter 303 Something Wrong ''So... my head is on herp right now. Shit...'' I didn''t think much when she asked me to do this and she didn''t think much when asking about it either. She is... as pink as our Anna''s heart and this look is very damn hottttttt but, I''m as red as my eyes right now. It was just on a whim but, this sudden embarrassment is quite something. The reason she asked me to do this was because of the sudden question that I had but, that wasn''t important at the moment. -Ba-dum. Ba-dum. My heart was a loudspeaker right now, beating in harmony with her heartbeat. The sound of heartbeats filled this quiet and lovely garden and I didn''t even know what I should think at this moment¡­ Herp was soft, warm, and wooooonderful, and her shaking hand that was lovingly caressing my head was strangely even more... good~. Many weird thoughts were clouding my mind which shouldn''t be there as an almost twelve-year-old and I knew if someone reads them, they would definitely not like it because I was practically young but... this can''t be helped right now. I knew if I can read minds, her mind especially, then the things I will get would be pretty ''colorful'' but... that wasn''t even the thought on my mind right now. The situation is dangerous, we have to calm down, one of us must calm down and calm the other and I knew this person, this girl, this ''friend'' of mine, won''t be stopping her gooooood hand or let me stand up from herp. So I had to do something... I must do something! I must! I don''t want to but I have to! Even my ever-calm heart wasn''t helping me right now, and neither my mind was on the right track. We shouldn''t do this. I should not. It hasn''t been some days since we met. We had juste back from our first date too. This strange feeling I was feeling right now was soooooo good that I genuinely did not want to stand up but... oh. Why do I have to stand up and move away from this wonderful warmp and this gentle smooth hand? I just have to clear this atmosphere and make things calm down right? It should be easy when thinking with this somewhat calm mind. First, I should calm this wildly beating bastard heart. Then say something to take her out of her wild fantasies, which will calm her heart, and she wille back to this moment. Then this strange atmosphere that was making the two of us who had some of the strongest minds here behave like this, the atmosphere that ''they'' were created, should also clear up, hopefully. It was their fun, and I could confirm that they actually were here from this, just like Anna said. The situation was strange and I only noticed it after a few moments but, this was definitely potent. I knew their existence and Lucy was helping me right now so I was somewhat better but, Rein had no one like Lucy to wake her up on her own. This warm fuzzy feeling, this red-pink colorful experience was definitely amazing but, those innocent ones didn''t know we couldn''t go much farther. I had to stop. I still don''t want to but I have to... ''The experience was nice~ and I... we, will definitely try it some other time but, not today. And I should go there and talk with them after this too.'' As Anna said, this should be their home so I could do nothing about it but, there was no need to do anything about them in the first ce. They must be here from a long time ago if I was thinking right and, they were an inseparable part of this ce. It was quite something to have them here but, well, the current situation was not right. ''Haaa... this was sweet~.'' Clearing my mind from this pink spirit influence, which was definitely strong despite being from some lowest-grade spiritual creatures. So, well, this meant there was a good bunch of them here. After my mind was out of that nice~ fog, I looked at this innocent pink blush she had right now. She looked cute, and her hands felt warm on my head but this nk expression was too much for us poor little kids. "Rein? Wake up, ma''am," I said a little loudly and covered my hand with some materialized Solnova and caressed her head. I was now caressing her head the same way as her and it didn''t take even a minute after that one. "Hmm? E-Eon? What...?" she asked as soon as she calmed down with that warm touch and looked at me on herp. This was strange. I knew she felt this was very very strange. She was the one to ask me to get on herp, she was the one that was ying with my hair for thest ten minutes and she was the one that was doing this because she wanted to do this but... she didn''t know the reason. I knew and I will tell herter but, she was back and that was enough for now. This started because I was worried about something and the way I just grabbed her hand after she came back to reality reminded her why this all started. She was confused about something and I knew she didn''t have known the reason but she couldn''t do anything about something that wasn''t even present in this realm, right? She was strong and I knew that more than well. After I teach her properly, in a few more years, she will be able to do that too. But that wasn''t important right now. I was genuinely concerned about something after watching that young ck-clothed person. Looking up at the now calm but confused Rein, in her beautiful eyes, I blinked my eyes with a different confusion of my own. "Do... you think there''s some kind of hero of this world. Not the ones people believe in. A hero like those in a novel or story. A real hero of an actual story that is super strong or has those super strong skills, great wisdom, godly weapons, and unmatched subordinates? What do you think the purpose of those people desiring a hero''s life is if there''s such a being? What do you think would happen if this world is actually just a novel, we are some side characters, and the main characters also exist elsewhere. Just like this person we just saw. Just like you, Ca, Alf, or even Anna. If there''s already you all here, then what could be the reason for an anomaly, a reincarnation¡­ like me?" Chapter 304 Something Wrong (2) It was really a question I asked myself many times. It was amon thing where one is transported to a different world. Reincarnated in some novel character''s body. Possess the body of an already existing character in a story. Travel to a different world because of some weird phenomenon. Or even travel back in very past time. I had a life fitting to be called a character like that. This life had been like thesemon plots. I had been through a lot... And still, I wasn''t the greatest in this ce. Rein was far better than me. Alf was an amazing mage. Ca was an amazing swordsman. And this person we just saw. He was definitely young like us but the strength he showed in this small time was something I didn''t actually expect to see the same day I came to the capital. My questions were genuine and it surprised her how I just so causally said that I was a reincarnation. It was a stereotype that reincarnation is an MC of a fantasy story but, I didn''t want to be such a figure. Why would I want to be someone who naturally had problems as part of their life? I have had enough already. I have survived in a ce I wished no one was thrown to. I have also lost someone dear to me. What else can this world show me? Devastation? Destruction? Blood bath? Death? I didn''t want that. Not one bit. Asking for a normal life was no crime and I was asking for just that. A normal life with this family of mine. A calm life with her. A lovely life with people I cherish. Heroes can''t have these ''normal'' things. I know that much. I just wanted peace... Will be possible? I was looking at her and after thinking for a brief moment, she looked at me and shook her head with a smile. "Well... why think about something that''s already so absurd sounding? You don''t want those things right? Then just don''t care about things like that. People? World? Rakshasas? ck mages? Heros? We don''t know what will happen tomorrow. The past has already passed. What we have is just... this moment, darling. Do you want to worry about something that doesn''t concern you at all after just seeing a special person kill some bad people? I know this world is fucked up as it is. There''s peace on the outside but people like them already exist all over the world. Bad, good, heroes, viins, demons, angels, gods, beasts, divine creatures, creatures born from nature directly. Everything exists here. Disturbance, wars, and deaths are all facts even with this visible peace. But, at the very least, there''s some peace, right? We have strength but how we use it is entirely up to us. Saving lives. Doing absolutely nothing. Doing things from the shadows so that it doesn''t getpared to good or bad. Just because you are a reincarnation, doesn''t make you some great main character of this story-like world, my love. Maybe, there are many other reincarnations in this world. People with strength, knowledge, and resources far surpassing your own. There already are those who wants to protect as well as viins who want to destroy. And every one of these concepts of good or bad is, in the end, equivocal. Someone''s hero might be another''s arch-enemy. What you want to do at this very moment is everything there is to life, no? The choice is yours, and I will follow you unconditionally. You are someone I want to be with for the rest of my life and after that so, whatever you want to be, some kind of hero, viin, good, bad, or just a normal person, I am with you. And sadly, now you are stuck with me~." That¡­ was quite a speech. Anding from her, it made so great impact that I was speechless for a moment and just nkly stared at her face that found my astonishment cute. "Wow... Rein... aren''t you amazing?" "Right? Is that even a question~? Huhuhu." What she said was absolutely true. And I didn''t imagine I would ever hear something like this from her. She said things that were just the things I needed to hear. And thatst thing of being stuck with her... "Rein," I called her name and she looked down at my face. My head was still on herp after all. "I''m d I''m stuck with you. For now. In the future. In this life... and sure, after that too. And thanks. Just hearing I will have someone like you with me forever is more than enough pain and blessing. As for the future... let''s just go with how life leads us to. Together, as much as possible." I smiled warmly and she nodded with excitement. Has it been three days? Four days? I just met her but it already feels like we have been together for a long time. My feelings were already clear. They were also pure. And certain. Maybe the speed we were progressing would seem too fast to some, but, we were certain about this. And I knew one thing. Neither of us was going to go away saying something stupid like this didn''t work out. We weren''t dating or anything. We were certain we will be together for as long as we were in this nature. Wasn''t that good enough? Things like quarrels and fights would be natural, if they happen that is, but if our foundation is this firm... I have no doubt we will be alright in the end. She said some really awesome things just now and it helped me clear up my mind quite a lot. I knew this moment and her words will be something highlighted in this mind of mine and to make this even more special... "Rein? Wanna see something fascinating?" My sudden question confused her and the way I lifted my hand, which was glowing with a pure white light, enhanced this confusion even more. But she didn''t hesitate to ept this hand and¡­ the thing that we saw after that... were quite colorful. Chapter 305 Astral Realm [Realms] There are different dimensions in this nature and different beings reside in these different dimensions. Humans, elves, dwarfs, the normal energy beasts, and other beings that a human can naturally perceive reside in this normal perceivable realm, [[( Cognition World )]]. Demons, the real low rank and noble strong ones, reside in the lowest realm, [[( Hell )]]. And this hell itself is believed to have nine different levels, but that was in that specific realm, so they were called [Floors] of a realm. Just like how demons reside in the lowest area of the world, gods reside in the highest one, [[( Heaven )]]. And there are believed to have six such [Floors] there too. The six levels of heaven are divided by the strengths of lords and gods. Aside from them, there exist another three ''known'' realms. The famous [[( Mirror World )]] that some powerful sorcerers and wizards can enter. It is just like this perceivable realm, but with no other being and the sorcerers and wizards can alter the reality there without harming the real world. The [[( Astral Realm )]]. The gateway of the other major realms. The physical body mostly does not hold any value when talking about the grand scale of nature and that is the major reason only a handful of the strongest even know about the existence of different strengths of the soul. As one gets stronger, one understands themselves better. In this process, they learn more about their soul. After starting to learn what the soul is, how it is important and how it can be controlled, one gains a better understanding of the world. As the understanding of the soul increases, the soul itself strengthens and gains a certain shape that resembles the body or, in some cases, something else. At one point, they be able to separate the physical body and the intangible soul, which marks their first step into the grand scale of this nature and different realms. At first, it is difficult to understand what this ce is, but after some time, one naturally understands the things and bes familiar with the base pathway called Astral World. Here, one can see things that one can''t perceive with normal eyes or even with special eyes. These ces are totally different from the world we know and, ording to the ''truth'' we know and the strength of one''s soul, we can travel to different realms of this world. But a strong soul and ''knowledge'' and permission of nature are required to travel to the higher realm, like Heaven or Hell. Thest known realm is [[( Spirit Realm )]]. The ce where spirits reside. A wonderful and colorful ce. But, one can''t enter this ce as they want through the Astral pathways. Only the gates to there could let you enter the ce. The gates to the spirit realm are special, protected, and mostly unknown. We have one at our home tower that I have never seen so, well; I know I will go there at least once. One can see the spirits from the base Astral Realm if the spirits are roaming around there, just like many other residents of this realm. Many spirits y around in the Astral realm with Feys, Fays, Fairies, Pixies, and some spirit animals and spirit beasts who reside there. But, the beasts that reside there are sometimes, negative, dark, and ferocious. The creatures there or people who can enter this realm can hunt these beasts. And the energy obtained from them also helps to further strengthen their souls. But what we were doing right now didn''t concern something like fighting an impossible opponent like those spirit creatures. I can separate my soul from the physical body and actually much more than that. But, right now, I was just helping her temporarily separate her soul from her body. I was doing it for her and this experience will help her when she does it by herself in the future but... I knew she will be astonished. After she epted my hand, I came out from my body with her holding my hand and this was my first time doing this after meeting Ronna. Before her, my soul looked normal like it usually is in my normal form but now that I was looking at my appearance as well as hers in this form, it sure was quite something. Normally, everyone has a different color and characteristics of their soul and mine was this pure white color. It has always been like this since the first time I saw it. A pure white replica of my body. It was the same thest time I did this too. But now... there was a golden mark of an extraordinary bow on the left side chest of my soul. Well, that was it. There was nothing much different than that. Those with origin skills retained those skills in Astral form too but all the other skills are useless. And weapons too. Though world authorities, witchcraft, soul armaments, demonic magic, spirit magic, divine skills, and origin magic works here, aside from that, nothing works in these different realms. There''s no physical body to start with so, everything is a pure form of different energies. And what magic one can use depends on the soul''s strength so, the weapons that don''t use the soul''s energy, soul armaments, are some of the strongest things in this ce. So, the mark on my chest was Ronna, my dear partner bow. It has been a while since I was here with someone else, in a ce different than our tower, and this ce definitely was spectacr~! [[ "What the hell?" ]] She said in my mind as the mental conversation was the only way of speech in this ce. Her soul was the same color as her eyes and just like me, she was a bright pink self of herself with an unmatched alluring body. [[ "Amazing, right?" ]] The Astral world wasn''t much different from the normal world. Even right now, aside from the spectacr things we can see, the physical elements were no different in our current eyes. Chapter 306 Astral Realm (2) The garden we were sitting in was the same. Our bodies were still there on the bench with my bodyying on the bench, my head on herp. She was holding one of my hands while her other hand was on my head. And just like there, she was holding my hand here too. We were floating somece above the bench we were sitting on and were looking at the garden and the fountain that looked beautiful even as normal. But right now... this was quite something. A ce filled with different colored lights, small lights covering this fountain and circling around it in a cheerful manner, while many of the pink lights and human-like creatures glowing in pink light were ying around the bench we were sitting on. They were the reason we were having those uncontroble sudden trains of thoughts, and looking at them cheerfully y around our bodies was quite something. The humanoid creatures looked like Fay. They had colorful, fur-like bodies but these were all pink. Two hands and two legs with three fingers on them. A rabbit-like nose and cheerful ck eyes. Two big ears, bigpared to their faces and they didn''t have a mouth. Though they had long pointed tails the same color as their glowing bodies. Fay creatures were the lowest ranking of fairies and sometimes were considered a different creature altogether. And with those finger-sized Fay creatures ying around our bodies¡­ there was an actual Fairy too! I didn''t think a being like her would be here but this was real! Unexpected but real! A fairy... Anna would make this fairy her best friend if they meet. Not that Anna was anywhere near strong enough to even have a properly strong soul. She knew about the secret that this fountain was special and the reason was her extremetent affinity with nature and spiritual beings so, she can directly sense the cheerful feelings and dense presence of the spirits around this fountain. And she told me she sometimes sensed many funny things that she sometimes felt from the couples of the family and the two of us. So, well, I could naturally guess the presence of these Fay creatures but this little miss Fairy was still unexpected. I knew the little fairy would have already figured out there was something strange with the white light and unmoving bodies and was looking around because of her strange feeling, and she found it when she looked up and our eyes met. I was certain about these Fay creatures but, I never thought there would actually be a Fairy living in my front yard! Faries were rare creatures and their size in non-winged form signified their rank among the fairies. Unlike the Fay creatures who were close to spirits, Faries were a species in this world. They were creatures of special powers and though this one before us looked small, it was just her winged form. This one was definitely young. Maybe around Rein''s grand parent''s age. She was young in the sense that the normal lifespan of fairies is naturally more than a thousand years, so this young one was here, ying with these Fay creatures with the special power of love. Not the cute and calm love like Anna''s. A passionate one. She, with her friends who were simr to her, was most definitely the reason this bench and this ce were so special for couples. Faries are rare creatures. And they mostly live in their own separate viges in deep forests and beautiful ces with high natural energy or some ''special'' aspects. Maybe this ce also had something that was special and this young fairy liked but, I can understand her reasoning. This garden and the fountain were unnaturally filled with spirits. Maybe the strange concentration of natural energy around this fountain was one of the reasons but that wasn''t all. I couldn''t say for certain but my own family could be the reason for this phenomenon. Well, this garden and the whole ce were spectacr. Different small spirits that looked like small dots of light, many colorful creatures, small and big, flying in the sky, the whole concentrated light area around this fountain and garden, and then this fairy. Rein was just astonished by all this and she couldn''t even move her eyes away from the exquisite-looking fountain. But, she naturally came out of this enchanted state when the tiny fairy flew up from the ground and looked at us with her hands at her back, her pink sandal-wearing legs stretched out in the front, a little confusion on her tiny but cute face, and her four wings flipping on her back. [< Hmm... isn''t this boy Havi''s grandchild or something? >] [< "You know my grandpa?" >] [< Kyaaaa! How?! >] She was surprised, and so was this friend beside me. Both their sudden surprise reactions were cute and I can''t help the smile on my face. For Rein, I knew this tiny fairy''s question definitely sounded just like a small tickling noise of a tiny bell. It was a surprise how there was a fairy here in front of her right now. I knew this wasn''t her first time seeing a fairy, considering she has traveled the world and many ces that usually even adventurers don''t go to. She knew fairies make strange small noises but, what was even more shocking to hear was the same kinds of small, tinkling, weird bell-like noisesing from me. Well, theirnguage was already a mouthful. Others don''t understand that while spoken which was another matter altogether. And Rein didn''t even have her special eyes skill right now so, there was no way she would even understand what was going on. But, she was surprised, and so was this cute little fairy. It was natural though. I was the weird one to actually know all thenguages without the use of any skill. When a young boy of amon race speaks one of the weirdest and toughest knownnguages, it would naturally be shocking. But, well... both of these girls were cute. Chapter 307 Astral Realm (3) [< H-how do you know fairy tongue, b-boy? >] [< "I learned it, of course. How else? Hehe." >] She was cute, and her expression right now was even cuter than that. I definitely told the truth but, her face was as if she had heard someone say something absurd that doesn''t even make sense. [< Aren''t you young? How can a young one learn this difficultnguage?! Even I have barely learned how to write it, even though it is my own kind''snguage! >] [< "Oh? I can teach you if you want. It was definitely difficult. But nothingpared to runs, right?" >] [< Definitely... that thing is a bouncer- wait! Do you also know runs?! The real ones?! How?!! >] [< "Hehe. I had an awesome teacher~!" >] [< But how can having an awesome teacher define this!? How can you learn those things when you are so young?! If it were this beautiful girl with you, I would understand but, you? How?! And... you... ''had'' an awesome teacher? >] I smiled with a helpless smile and a small sigh and the fairy fell silent and closed her eyes to offer her prayers to nature. She is definitely cute... and so is this friend of mine who is just moving her head, seeing the fairy who is just praying with her eyes closed and me with a sudden helpless face. [[ "What... is wrong Eon?" ]] [[ "She was asking how I knew hernguage. I said I ''had'' an awesome master. She couldn''t believe it and said it would be different if ''the beautiful girl beside me'' was saying this instead of the young me. Then she realized something and went silent, praying to offer her prayers to mother nature." ]] [[ "The beautiful girl...?" ]] She blinked her eyes a few times, looking between the fairy and me while questioning where this beautye from. I looked fantastic, even more in this Astral form. This fairy looked cute, even more, while praying with her eyes closed. ''So how was she the beautiful one?'' was the question in her eyes. [[ "You look spectacr if you don''t know. Even more than normal. Your charm is enough to charm even me right now so this fairy is nothing much." ]] And as I knew, my words surprised her. Well, it was natural when it''s your first time in this realm but, one can''t hide their true self here. They would appear as their true self, the one that is actually them. Rein, with her physical body gone, had such celestial charm and allure that even the night would bow before her. Rein looked just as frekin hot as a delicious piece of meat that one can''t resist. But that wasn''t important right now. I already knew just how amazing she was so looks and charm didn''t matter much. Well, she was surprised but she calmed down and a sudden sad look appeared in her fully pink eyes. She looked at me with a sorry expression and I just shook my head. As she said a while back, the past is something that has already happened. So, there''s no meaning to morn over it anymore. So, I just shook my head and smiled warmly at her. And, at that, the fairy also opened her eyes. The prayer offering of fairies is special and they don''t usually do that for people they have just met so, it was even more amazing to think just how much she knew my grandpa. She opened her silver eyes, her pink hair glowing as usual, and she looked back at me. [< Your master must be someone like those coooooool big divine beasts to teach such young boy something like this. And you are even more amazing to learn such a difficultnguage and have this ''special strength'' to already be able to not only separate the soul from your own body but also help someone else do it. I can think how great the burden this might be and it just shows how important this person is to you. The two of you are like Havi and Griz. Lovely~! >] She chuckled happily and Rein smiled happily while looking at herughing self. This spirit was cute, and seeing both of them smile happily was also refreshing. She alsopared us two with my grandparents. And I knew she was talking about the special connection and bond. She was a fairy of love, someone who knew the meaning of love and also what true love was and felt like. Maybe she could feel it but I believed we were still not at the level of our grandparents. Maybe our bond was but we had little to no experience together. We were just starting so, we would be like them when we have lived at least a decade with each other. But, well, maintaining this state with her for much longer wasn''t possible after what things I have done in thest two days. I was already weakened, the reason I didn''t go after the ck mages immediately. And maintaining this state for more than a few minutes in normal time wasn''t possible. ? But, thankfully, time flowed differently in the Astral realm than normal. And it was another reason I was able to read more books from our special tower library than anticipated. We can talk for more if this fairy wanted and I knew that as their nature was, this one too would just love talking for a long time. We had that time here, so, at the start of our conversation with this fairy who was probably close with my grandparents, I asked with a genuine voice. [< "So? Can I know your name, pretty fairy?" >] [< Oh! Right! We forger the introduction. Hello~. My name is Astilbe. It is very nice to meet you, amazing children ~! >] [< "Pleasure is all ours~. To think we would meet an awesome fairy like you here. My name is Axion. This here is my dear friend Reinelle." >] I introduced ourselves and this was genuinely my first time meeting a fairy even though I have met many high-grade spirits. Fairies were special species and I had never tried it like this but, right now, was the best opportunity. And we had a good person with us too, so, it was even better. ''Three eyes.'' Chapter 308 New Ability [[ *Skill [Three eyes] has been used on a spiritual target. The skill has collided with the natural mental defense of the target. The attempt to ''see through'' the target is initiated. Processing¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Sess~! You have safely seen through the target''splicated mental defense. The target''s base race is [Fairy]. This marks the twelfth core ''kinds'' of mental defense understood by you, Eon. My second ability, [Analysis] is now unsealed~! With analysis, you can ask me to analyze any one thing that might even have an extremelyplicated structure, once a week. And this one is stackable~! You know what I mean, right? Congrattions~!* ]] It wasn''t surprising that the processing took this much long time, but what happened after that was surprising. ''Well, this was actually unexpected, but...'' Analyze... that''s actually awesome! And if Lucy is the one analyzing something, then I don''t have to even worry about something like an ancient artifact, divine artifact, potent herb, poison, illnesses, or even magic or skill! To analyze something would mean to deeply gather information on something from the data we gather from other cognitive senses or by extensive research in short. I knew what she meant by me knowing what it meant and I was actually quite surprised. Even dwarves usedplicated artifacts that might even reach the ''divine artifact'' level to analyzeplicated minerals, circuits, dungeon findings, as well as organic things that are the most difficult to understand. And Lucy just said she now has the ability to do those things... isn''t that just awesome~! I wanted to shout in excitement just now but this situation wasn''t ideal. I was in my Astral form, Rein was by my side, clueless about the reason why my grip so suddenly tightened. Astilbe, this cute fairy with us, definitely felt something tingly, I can tell from that subtle shaking but, she didn''t think much about it. It was actually rare to have the ability to see through other beings in these Astral and other realms, except the two high realms of Heaven and Hell. And usually, seeing through a fairy''s mental defense, which is consist of some of the most diverse,plicated, and narrow channels, is almost impossible. Without a skill like my eyes and Lucy who can share the task to observe, decode, and understand with other skills and my mind, I knew I wouldn''t be able to actually do such a thing. Their mental defense was different from Rein''s grandfather''s. I didn''t have to use much concentration but rather, it required an absurd understanding of ''truth'' as well as bio-magical construction. In simple terms, this natural mental defense, which doesn''t consist of any skills but only the intangible mind, is something like a defensive structure. It could be a simple wooden fence, a strong wooden wall, a tall brick wall, or a thick wall like any city''s, and this defensive structure''s strength could go as far as an entire defensive fortress, heavily guarded with defensive structures. Every mind is different andplicated and though she said the natural defenses ''understood'' by me, I actually didn''t even know what they were. Maybe she meant I knew deep inside my mind or she knew herself but, that wasn''t important right now. Humans: Normal humans; any mage, priest, or knight; the transcendents like Rein''s grandfather; a blessed one like Anna, and a special one like myself. Demonic humans, or Rakshasas. A normal energy beast of low or mid-higher strength. Some berserk beast like the teddy in the forest or that boar. A close to the strongest creature like Taika or Leo. A spirit like Clover. A fairy like this one before me. A dwarven or elven mind that is simrlyplicated to see through has great defenses, and strong constitutions but stillcks many things to make it imprable, like a special overseer such as Lucy. These twelve were most probably the ones she talked about, from my understanding. And when I counted my mental defense separately, I was genuine. My mental defense was too different from any other normal person''s and too strong to even be infiltrated by a skill like Rein''s eyes. And Lucy strengthened it even further. If I wanted to say myself, then my mind could be considered something so heavily guarded that aside from someone like the headmaster, no one can infiltrate it. And that was only while not counting Lucy. I wasn''t nearly strong enough to use her full power just yet. Just like how this analysis ability came out of nowhere, I had no idea just how many abilities Lucy possessed. Maybe she herself had no idea but, that didn''t matter. She was amazing and I just had to work hard to be strong enough to unlock all her abilities. Well, anyway... ===Status=== Name: Astilbe O. Verdure Age: 63 Race: Fairy (Pinkdust) ? Strength: 138 Dexterity: 129 Stamina: 125 Magic Power: 123 Intelligence: 102 Luck: 54 Charm: 66 [Skill: Intimacy, Pink presence, Stardust, Fairy magic, Sleepdust, Warm poison, Realm jump, Purification waves, Link view.] ---> A ''special'' fairy with unique characteristics than the usual racial features. ---> As she doesn''t have the characteristic golden fairy dust of normal fairies or silver one that signifies nobility, she is a unique individual with a unique standing among her kind. ---> She is a rare fairy of love, affection, warmth, and pure desires. A cheerful and unique individual. ---> She is adorable for sure but, she is also quite strong. ---> She has a pair of two wings, meaning she has a noble origin. And she also has three unique skills aside from other racial skills and the fairy dust from her is a rare material with a unique ability. ---> She is special, I suggest you respect her and don''t do anything to anger her. ---> She is pure and has abilities too. ---> She also has the very rare racial ability to see a special kind of connection or link between two beings. ---> She is neither amon fairy nor an arrogant noble one. ---> It''s also fascinating how you have a spirit cluster just in front of your house like this. ---> Instead of worrying about useless things, as this breathtakingdy said, look at the good things like this one. ---> You are an idiot so listen to what this wisedy and we say and don''t do dumb things. ============ * ''Idiot... well, I definitely am. Thanks for the advice, O'' great one. I shall follow thy wise words with my whole being.'' This one has also grown quite a bit and now instead of cussing at me left and right, it gives cute pieces of advice like this one. Not that its speaking method has changed at all. It''s still the same little child I know of. Anyway¡­ Special fares are rare. Mostly, fairies produce golden or silver or even snow white fairy dust while fluttering their wings and this is a natural, biological process for them. This fairy dust is a rare material for enchantments, magic research, magic engineering, or as a raw material. And right now, even as she pped her pink fairy wings, which weren''t like some butterfly''s but the pointed ones, a strange pink star-like powder wasing out of it and it just disappeared into the surroundings. One has to collect this dust in a special container made of pure silver to actually have it. Or just like right now, it fades away in the surrounding. They had numerous special powers and that made these fairies even more amazing~! Chapter 309 A Special Friend And Us Fairies... They have some very special powers and from their individual abilities that they are born with to the general ability to easily use the fairy magic, one of the toughest kinds of magic, is one of them. Some fairies are born with the [Stardust] skill and this skill produces a different kind of dust which can also be used as material but one can get it through the right channels so it wasn''t as unique as her pink fairy dust. She also had many special skills and just from seeing their names, I could tell they wereparable to at least (Blue) ranked skills. All of her skills were either racial skills or unique ones that were special to her. All her skills were no doubt amazing but her racial skills were quite something too. Fairies were some of the few spiritual creatures who had the racial skill [Realm jump]. A special ability that allows them to travel to certain realms without restriction like other beings. They are called spiritual creatures because they actually don''t have a physical body and instead just have a pure energy body like elemental spirits and spirit beasts. They are one of the most special and fascinating races in this world and I never thought I would meet one in my front garden~. And this one was cute too... strong but cute. She had ast name, which naturally meant she was from some actual noble family among the fairies. It was strange how she was just ying around my house though. Looking at her, I asked with a genuine voice... or I was just about to ask something after our interaction but she just remembered something and tapped closed fist on her palm. [< Eon! Elle! Wait just a minute~! Now that we have someone who knows both ournguages, I can finally talk with Havi and Griz! >] And just saying that much, she flew away with her eyes shining with a sudden excitement and almost hopeful eyes. This departure was sudden and the way she just ran away while showering her fairy dust in her line of flight was quite the spectacle. This confused Rein, just how this fairy ran away after just some twinkle sound and she looked at me with questioning eyes. Her innocent look was even more dangerous and I really don''t want toment on her body right now. This was really too¡­ ahem! [[ "Well, we introduced each other, and then I was just about to ask how a special fairy like her knows my grandparents but, before I could do so, she just ran away saying she can finally talk with grandpa and grandmother. Maybe she went in, to their room, to bring them here. I think grandma can''t do this but grandpa should know how to do something like what I''m doing right now. So... well, we might meet them here." ]] [[ "...y-you means the two of them knew about all of the t-these coooooool things? This fountain, these creatures, this world, and... this fairy?" ]] There was a shocked expression on her face and the way she looked right now, this gorgeous soul of hers, enhanced the beauty of her shock even more. We were in this Astral form and some people did some very ''red'' things while in this form but, well, neither of us was strong enough just yet. I was pretty good with these soul things but, she didn''t even know the basics of Astral projection yet. I know she will learn far faster than me but, well, right now, however marrrrrvolus she looked, I couldn''t do anything. I wanted to but we couldn''t. Shouldn''t. Mustn''t. Not yet¡­ ''Haaa... damn.'' My sudden sad expression confused her... this innocent girl¡­ [[ "Well, nothing. And yes, her name is Astilbe. She''s special, you know that much right? And yes. Not only mine, but your grandpas would also naturally know about this ce. And, there should be a few ces like this and even better ones around your house too. You never knew just how amazing these ces were, right? You might just lose your voice when you see the ce I lived with my master~. It''s not much bright around here aside from this garden and Alf''s garden over there but, in the area around your house, the forest, it must be filled with bright lights like this as well as far more than that. Actually¡­ don''t think too much about it. You aren''t ready to do this by yourself just yet. This time is special so, just enjoy. We can slowly practice it with time~!" ]] Her eyes were wide open now, her pure pink eyes... cute~. She looked at our hands. They were holding each other. And then looked at me with that... thankful look that I didn''t like. She was thankful for showing this amazing ce to her but, even without me, she would definitely have seen this sometimeter. That helpless, powerless, weak look in her eyes was something I never wanted to see. And I knew she will say thanks for this, so even before she could prepare to utter those words, I looked at her with stern eyes. [[ "Suddup. Get back to normal or I won''t bring you here anymore. You are strong, smart, wise, and amazing, Rein. You would have gained knowledge about the soul, realms, and other higher stuff pretty naturally. Don''t be like that when you are that old-" ]] And as I knew, she punched my stomach with her free hand... or at least tried to punch me. Her hand passes right through my Astral body and she remembered this wasn''t a ce she can use her normal physical force. She can if she uses her witchcraft or origin skills but she thankfully didn''t know how to use that. Well, good for me. [[ "Tsk. You bastard. Stop using that word or you could get bedridden! Maybe¡­ I should just do that. I will have a good time ying with your hurt body~. You can try my potions and medicines and I can do some stuff with that good body of yours too~!" ]] ''And I have no doubt she can actually do that. The look in her eyes was actually thinking that this was a good idea. Not that she will do that ''right now'' but I have to prepare myself because what she just said... might actuallye true someday. She had her dark chains so I didn''t doubt she could do those things with my poor self just being helpless. Well, thankfully her mood had changed back to normal and that was for the best. She was out of that sorry state of hers and that was for the better. She got angry every time I mentioned the old thing and that was also good for me. I had something that can cancel her sorry state. And it would be alright even if I had to go through pain because of that. Well, we were alone now. And there was nothing much for us after I talked with the small Fay creatures with a strong voice. They were somewhat cute too, I liked them quite a bit. We were alone so flirting was the truth. And as we had already had an episode with the pink embarrassment, so we didn''t go much far. And¡­ at the time we were talking about useless things, our new fairy friend was back... with two familiar people, of course. Chapter 310 Grandpa, Grandma, And A Fairy In the Astral realm, shining with countless small spirits, a fountain twinkled with its fabulous lights. The garden this celestial fountain stood was just as gorgeous as this and Fay creatures, as well as small spirits, roamed around there, happily ying and dancing with cheerful expressions. Some distance above the special bunch in this garden, two young people in their astral forms were looking on the other side, at the two older people who were also in their Astral forms. But, unlike the two of them, these two, who had juste out of the house, looked far more special... Their soul bodies were far more clear and more detailed than these two. The older man, who looked like a personification of the old era''s noble knights, was wearing heavy silver armor and a strange blue water current was surrounding his body. The olderdy, who looked no less than a goddess, had long blue hair which seems as though the waves of the ocean, flowing like actual water. She looked far more fabulous than the girl and both of them were standing with a charming little fairy. Tiny body size of a normal human''s palm, her body glowing in a bright pink light same as her clothes and hair, wearing a cute tiny skirt and dress with some cute sandals, her long hair braided in two ponytails, she looked at two young ones with her silver eyes. Her eyes were still shining with excitement while looking at them. A radiant smile was also stered on her face. The two older ones were confused but, as soon as they saw the two young ones, they looked at each other, sighed with a relieved smile, and then... the armor around the older man''s body disappeared. It was reced with a casual outfit just like thedy, but the blue current of water was still surrounding his body. Both of them then looked at the two young ones with confused gazes, questioning how they can be there. The old man, who looked like a middle-aged man in his prime, far better than even many normal young adults, was holding the gorgeousdy''s hand, just like how the two young ones were. The boy and girl were expecting their arrival, but the two of them who just came out were more in a battle form than a normal night walk. They were floating in the air right now and in the moments this area had fallen silent, the two older ones had concluded many things after observing these surroundings. And... now there was a proud expression on their faces as they looked at the boy and the boy can''t help but smile weakly. The girl had the same expression as them, as she understood that they already know what was happening there. But, before any of them could say anything, the fairy who had been confused all this time by their actions flew before the older one''s face and pointed towards the two young ones. And the older ones understood her without even her saying anything at all. They first moved to the ce the two young ones were and looked at the boy with an even more proud, shocked, unbelievable look. They were older even with this spectacr appearance but, this young boy of theirs was actually just young. Entering this realm was something even some [Rank-6] knights couldn''t do. Just entering the Astral realm required a tremendously powerful soul but, what this boy was doing right now was beyond that. He was strengthening the girl''s soul as well as grinding the soul energy to stay in this state and maintain it. This was something even few of this old man''s rank, few [Rank-7] knight kings or (tier-9) elder mages could do. This already meant that he was far stronger than what they had thought before and knew about the world even better than maybe themselves. They genuinely didn''t expect to see them here, not when their long-time friend just barged into their room and instructed them to quicklye out. They were ready for battle, but definitely not to see the two of their grandchildren who they left alone for tonight. Their dear grandson who had just returned to them after these long years and the pitiful child that had lived with them for some years after an unbearable life. And the two of them were now together, with each other, bound by some good fate. They left them with each other for the night, not disturbing their private time. Two of them could see these two young ones were doing great as their bodies were on the ground, with his head on herp, while their souls were now in this world full of wonders. When doing what these two were doing, bringing someone who wasn''t strong enough toe there on their own, both parties must have a selfless belief in the other party for it to actually work. And they were doing it. This means they were doing well on their own. It was good to see the happy smiles on their physical faces but, they also wanted to know the reason their friend brought them here like this. They were looking at him and their little friend was also looking at him, excited about something she had longed for. A golden magic circle of her own size that looked strange to their eyes appeared before her tiny self... as well as above every one of their heads. This was something strange, but the boy knew what she was doing just from this familiar magic circle. [[ "Fairy connection. Wow¡­ actually. A spell that connects people with amonmunication line and everyone canmunicate with each other as long as two parties know thenguage. A difficult fairy magic that''s too difficult even while being only a mid-level spell. Since ancient times, this spell is used in important discussions held in the Astral realm and everyone is thankful for fairies who sacrifice their life force just for the sake of others by using the spell. Ast sure is amazing to know such a difficult spell~! So this was what she meant when she said she will finally be able tomunicate with you two." ]] [[ "You are more amazing to actually know stuff like that. Even I can''t tell from just the look what spell this is. And those Astral discussions... you actually know far more than I thought, child. Now I''m certain you know even more than me... which is absurd considering you are actually just a soon-to-be twelve-year-old. Plus that bow mark on your chest... I don''t even know how that is possible. But... you actually know fairy tongue? How...?" ]] His grandfather was shocked just by the fact that he knew all these things and was able to do what he was doing right now but, it was even more surprising to actually know anguage that was close to impossible for other species to learn. It wasn''t even anguage in some people''s point of view and just a senseless ringing sound. But their grandchild, this young boy actually knew thenguage. It was shocking and unbelievable but still amazing. The fairy herself was more than just excited and this boy had surprised them more than enough in these past few days that they ultimately just epted the fact that their little young boy was just that amazing. And at his question, the boy had just smiled warmly at them, expressing that they already knew just how he could know such difficultnguage. And they nodded helplessly, already knowing all this was thanks to his amazing master. They didn''t say anything much about this thing. They knew their strong little grandson was in the end just a normal person with deep emotions. The agony because of close ones'' loss being more powerful than the other pains of the world. The magic this little fairy was casting was almostplete too so, they just nodded while looking at each other and just waited for the magic circuit that was actually connecting all the magic circles above their heads to finish the connection. This took a while longer than the casting of normal high-grade magic spells, but, after some time the two couples had privately talked with their gazes, the magic finished and a golden light wrapped the fairy. And after that¡­ all of them heard some tinkling sound along with a unique, young, thin voice. [[ "H-hello?" ]] Chapter 311 Grandma, Grandpa, And Ast [[ "Ast?" ]] Grandma looked at the little fairy with surprise-filled eyes, an excited expression covering her face. Ast had the same excited expression and couldn''t contain her happy smile. [[ "Isn''t your voice young, old friend?" ]] Grandpa asked with a happy smile, and both of them chuckled at his words. This was their first time hearing their friend''s voice and I could only imagine how they could have conversed until now. They were happy they were able to speak with each other for the first time, and this was only possible because of their young grandson. They happily talked for a while and greeted each other. And after some basic chat, they nodded at each other and looked at me with thankful gazes. Well, I didn''t even do anything here. They were more amazing to actually know this amazing fairy. I was thankful to them~. Maybe I will be able to get some rare fairy dust from her. It would be amazing if I did~! But that wasn''t the point right now. And someone might misunderstand me for thinking things like that. Well... anyway. They were looking at me, ready for something long, and I was expecting a short story from them. Or at least something about the three of them. Grandpa nodded at the two, ready to take the lead in this small story or¡­ a brief overview. [[ "Eon, Elle. Ast is a friend who is with us since the time we were newly married. Her home is actually on a small ind near our first home and I know you already know that she is special among other fairies. Her stardust is pink, something that has a property to induce love, affection, and truth. She is rare because this special kind of fairy dust is rarely produced by the unique fries or only by some rare nobles. Her dad is a cool person and a noble of their kind, but that isn''t much important right now. As you already know, the north is a coastal area with many inds, ships, and the maind of the north that your grandma guarded in her time. It was a time just after the ''great maroon war'' and when the northern parts had sessfully defended their borders from enemy invasions. We were married after your wonderful grandma waited for me for years at the time of the long war. And that was after our six-year-long fights and skirmishes between our families. She was a cute one like Elle in her younger days; I tell ya~. She was called by many names at that time, but she was also a wonderful leader and lord that others still unconditionally bow before. And you will be surprised to hear how the pirates of that time were... hohoho. That was a fun time for me, and a headache for your grandma. From our first meeting in the middle of the ocean, on two different burning ships, to our long strange time spend by each other''s side, everything was magical... The first meeting, those coincidental meetings, her days spent in the oceans with me to my nights spend onnd with her, we were enemies, then we grew closer, which still seems unrealistic. But then one day, as you might already know, the maroon war, the war that was so unexpected that even the empire failed to predict it, threatened the entire nation and the seas. Land sky and seas, everything was the target and the coastalnd was considered the second weakest border of the nation. Her duty was the protection ofnds from the invading forces and she did her best, to make the Griffin archipgo an imprable fortress. We, the owners of the sea, took over the task of protecting what was ours from the one who dared to threaten our peace. And to block them from even reaching the coast, the defensive parameters were set far away from the main coast, making inds the navy camps. That was the time the dumb pirates of the north, for the very first time in their lives, met the royal knights of the empire and their powerful fleets. Those were the times¡­ that turned the tyrant of Mavis into the warm golden hammer everyone knows about. The war continued, and every soldier risked their life for a better future and for their family that might hopefully be safe until they return to them, safe, at least alive. Lives were lost, blood was shed, and the brothers in arms¡­ were taken away by strong foes. Deep waters of the great northern Mavis sea were burned, painted in crimson red, and sometimes even ck¡­ Those were tough times. Not the worst, but still¡­ some of the longest and coldest ones. And after suffering for that long time, when peace had returned to thends, she who had waited this long, decided to retire and gave her position to Luther. Then... well, we went on vacation and on a fun journey of the vast wide sea. And one day, by chance, on a distant, unknown small ind, we met this fairy who was just a kid at that time. A young kid who had injured herself. This little thing was running away from her home just because her genuinely wonderful dad wanted to protect her while she wanted to see the outside world. Well, she met a ''dangerous'' beast and injured herself, and then... we met. But, even before we could help the little hurt fairy, her dad reached that ce, and seeing her dear daughter like that, he couldn''t help but naturally get angry and... as any parent would do in that situation, he attacked us. And, well, Griz and I still remember that day. A fourth of the ind vanished during that fight and even as a [Rank-6] bishop, I was barely a match for that angry father who was ready to give away his life for her. Thankfully, Griz was there to clear the misunderstanding and Ast also helped after Griz healed her. That fight concluded with the whole tribe living on that inding out to the ce this fight had happened. The two of us talked, Ast and her father apologized, and after things were cleared up, he asked us about the outside world as we were the first visitors of that ce in all the years they had lived there, ording to them. Thankfully, her father has a unique skill that could trante everything he said for us, somewhat different from this one though, so... that was our first talk with fairies. Our talk went on for a long time in that fairy city at the core of the ind, and he was surprised at how the world had changed from the times he could remember. Things were naturally different, and the world was a safer ce for his daughter than he had thought. But still, at that time, she was young, weak, and inexperienced. Both of them were thankful to us and because of our talk, he decided to give her permission to go out only after she was strong enough in his eyes. Haaaaaa... impatient, passionate, talented, carrying a great desire for adventure in her heart, she learned everything there was to learn from her father as well as everything else in that ce in just a few years. And her dad, in the end, couldn''t help but ept that her wish was more powerful than his fears. A helpless parent, something all of you young ones'' parents believe they are while looking at you... Well, we weren''t there to see her training and all as there was our own fun at that time but, after a few years, we met again when Nol was newly born. We were at our home on the northern coastline. And this one had appeared out of nowhere, surprising us like the anti-hero of midnight. She had grown up at that time but was still the little young person she was back then. It is a memorable day and then... well, we talked for a long time. Nol and El do know that we have a fairy friend and that she visits us asionally like this but, you are the first ones to meet her like this. And this is our first time hearing her voice like this too. Before that, we had only ever known each other through our feelings, behavior, writing, and hand signs. Thanks to you, Eon, we are finally able to talk like this..." ]] Well, this was long and though he said this in brief, the asional reactions from grandma and Ast were adding more colors to this story. I at least had some idea of how my grandparents were in their younger days and... well, they were just supppppper cool~! One was a pirate who plundered thends and ships and caused chaos. The other was a wise ruler of thosends who could createrge waves in the calm ocean. People might have already forgotten but he was called (Tyrant of Maris). Captain of thergest pirate group who had ruled the seas for a long time. They plundered the ships of other nations and had a long treaty with the Griffin archipgo and Heliox house. They didn''t interfere with the coastalnds and the ship belonging to the empire and Heliox. But for anyone else, they were a source of fear and dread. Every time they entered the waters of their territory, only the ocean god and goddess of luck could help them from going broke. And entering these waters was inevitable. Be it the ships or the ferocious sea monsters that frequently attacked the coast as well as many inds. Grandmother protected the coastline from the famous white lighthouse and grandpa and his big family eradicated any threat to their homes. I wanted to know more about them, things that weren''t written and known, things like how a special fairy was their friend and the destruction of arge part of the ind they had discovered themselves. I was excited from the moment he started speaking and I still couldn''t contain my happiness. I had just heard many things that no one knew as well as some very amazing stuff like Ast''s father. It was evident that beings that live in seclusion wouldn''t know anything about the outside world, and there will always be someone, a unique being among amon group of people who will question things that they hadn''t seen. They would want to go outside of the secluded ce they live and explore the vast world mentioned in their folklore. This was a fact and in this group that they discovered, this little fairy was the one to break the normal mindset and point of view. She was here right now, and from what they said, it was clear that she didn''t just visit this ce and stayed here. We were lucky to meet her here today but she definitely was an adventurer, an explorer, a being that roamed the world in search of new experiences. This fairy was a traveler, and I liked her even more now. Grandfather''s talk was over and then grandma started with Ast speaking with him. Both of them looked closer than she was with grandpa but this was understandable. Twodies with simr likings would obviously be good friends. We talked for a while, and I knew they knew that I couldn''t do what I was doing right now for a long time, and they were the same. The great burden aside, the amount of energy it required for us to stay in this form was even more than using high-grade spells and techniques. So... after talking for hours in this form, which wasn''t even an hour in real time, it was finally time for our talk to finish. And that finishing was naturally going to be from Ast, the fairy of love who was able to talk with her long-time friends for the first time in this long they knew each other. Chapter 312 End Of Night... [[ "Well, I should first apologize to both of you. In the heat of the moment, I didn''t even realize that we could have just done this discussion in the physical world instead of like this. You are hurting yourself like this because of me, and Eon, the reason I was able to actually talk with the two of them is in pain because of me now. And the two of you aren''t evenining about this which is making me feel more sad now. Eon... thanks. It was a surprise encounter but, meeting the two of you was amazing~! Havi. Griz. You two are lucky to have such amazing children. And these two... you would be surprised by their ''bright'' thoughts~. Hehe. Well, both of them are pure and just like the two of you... perfect~. Anyways, this was a good time. It''ste at night and the two of you young ones look exhausted from a long cheerful day. I saw Eon was worried about some things and Elle took care of those concerns, and really... you two look lovely together~! It was a nice talk but, it''ste at night so I think you two couples should get going now. We will see each other soon anyway, so go for now and rest~!" ]] Her words were simple but contained warmth like my dear grandparents. And I like this quite a bit. It was strange how we started talking in this astral form and just stayed like this even when knowing full well that we could have done the same with our physical bodies and not this. Well, it started like that, and this was alright at the end. And as she said, she will be around here if she''s in the capital. So, I could talk with her about the fairy dust some other time. It wasn''t thatte at night and we can just stay up all night talking if we wanted anyway. There was that person in ck cloth I was worried about for a while as well as those ck mage bastards but, well, I don''t have to worry about that stuff now. With great powerses great responsibilities, or something was a famous saying back in my previous world but, what is this responsibility we are talking about? To save people? To defeat bad people like some friendly neighborhood hero? Stopping secret invasions? There definitely are people like that dark-clothed dude in this world so, I can leave the small things like these ck mages to them. Maybe, in the end, he could be the hero of this world doing what he has to do. So... I can just focus on what I want to do, right? I can do the stuff I wanted when I get back to my family. y with my siblings, read about the events of the recent past, hear their stories, and just happily stay like this. There will definitely be times when I will be needed, and times when the so-called heroes would miss some of the very important people that could cause trouble, as well as the times Rein and I will have to do things that the headmaster ask of us. There will be times like those when they will need someone who can fire many arrows, cast some special spells, understand many unknownnguages and runes, and times when ''they'' will need people like ''us''. There will be plenty of action during our adventures too, like the future dungeon raid Rein and I were preparing for. But that was after my birthday and I won''t be doing much interesting stuff for the week. Just the normal personal training, setting up my room, preparing some small things, and sorting out things in my white crack that I will give mom for auction in the future. We will visit mom''s auction house on my birthday or maybe after the dungeon raid but that has to wait bes of the new renovations going on there. I will be going to Rein''s house for a few days and exploring that ce with Zoe, Anna, and her so, I know it will be fun~. I wanted to see thoserge coffee fields too, and I knew that would be fun~. So, aside from that, I know there will be nothing much to these two weeks. And I know my dear family will do everything in their power to keep me there until my birthday. I still remember those ''surprise'' birthday parties from when I was young and I had no doubt my smart parents already knew that if I was here, I would know of the secret party they would be nning. And that secret won''t be secret if I was anywhere near the house. Not that I can''t know. I had Celes''s clones here even if we were in the southern territory. Well, I don''t have to worry about that anyways. We will do something about that but before that¡­ I have to return to my body first. This talk has strangely gone on for hours in this ce even though only some time had passed over there. I only thought I would show her this ce and see if there were actually spirits and Fay like Anna said over here but, I neither thought that I would see a spirit cluster around this fountain that was still strange nor did I think I would get to meet a fairy. And a fairy that was a long-time friend of my grandparents no less. It was a fun time, this little fairy was cute, Rein was hotter in this form, my dear grandparents looked spectacr in this form too, and my grandpa knew about Ronna now. Well, I have never used her but I knew just how special and powerful she actually is. It''s instinctual and I knew everything there is to know about her, and she knows everything about me. Well, unlike Asta, she couldn''t speak right now but I know when I will be able to use her and materialize her, she will speak more than even Celes. For now, only I, Lucy, Celes, and Zoe fully knew about her. And though radiant, she was like a childish adult, unlike the other children I had with me. Anyway, right now, Ast''s goodbye was done and everyone also said goodbye and goodnight. Grandpa and grandma... both of them were really lovely and they only said good luck to both of us before going back in with a warm and mischievous voice. That was just like the two of them... looking forward to seeing the two of us going forward, in and out. Anyways... after saying my dearest goodbye to Ast, we returned to the garden, to the very ce where I wasying on this special bench in herp. -Sweeeeeesh... Cool winds of midnight, this blue moonlight, this twinkle of stars, her pink eyes filled with warmth, and our two calmly beating hearts in perfect sync. "Thanks, Eon... I know you will say I would have seen this ce, this realm, on my own but, I saw it for the first time with you. While holding your hand. It was you who showed me that ce and because of you, we were able to talk with that cute little fairy. You are amazing as you are so, don''t think about those vignte shit people do, those anti-hero factions that cause chaos, or those shitty things that cause crimson maroon bloodshed. We will inevitably have to deal with that stuff one day or another. But, living a normal life with this awesome family and a hot girl like me isn''t such a bad idea, no? In the end, your ''goal'' is to protect your family, and my goal... can I make ''us'' my goal?" Chapter 313 End Of Night... (2) She was looking into my eyes, her eyes asking that very same question with sincerity. She meant that and she actually never had a goal before this day. At least not something she wanted to chase after for her entire life. That''s what the actual goal meant in the end. And... "It''s up to you what you want to set as your true goal for this life, Rein. If you want that, why not? I would feel blessed to have someone like you too. Who wouldn''t actually? Just that... I doubt most people aside from me will have grave difficulty handling a wild, red, pink, gold, and... adorable one like you. Well, you are part of the family I want to protect anyway. I know you know how absurdly difficult this will be, mostly because of me too but, in the end, if it''s what you truly want, who am I to stop you?" It meant many things when she said she wanted ''us'' as her goal. It was crazy actually. We had only ever been together for some hours, and she wanted this small ''us'' to be the same forever. And she would do whatever it took to make this true even if the world denied this. Or at least this was what this meant at the very least. I knew she would actually do that, and so would I. My goal was just simple protection from anything and everything. And the lengths she wanted to go for her gaol was up to her. There was no harm to me in that... hopefully. I believed she was smart and liked me enough to not actually do something ''too stupid''. Aside from that, everything was alright, right? There was a smile on my face as I tried to get up from herfortablep but, she also smiled and pressed my head down back on herp... I should say thighs but as I have been, I will sayp. Yes... if I start with the word ''thighs'', the topic can be stretched to at least half of the chapter... So, I was back on herp, she was just smiling normally and looking up at the clear sky, at the blue moon who just smiled down on us warmly, not in a creepy way. "Let''s just... stay like this. The day we had today was quite good at first but the way it end was definitely not much special. You know how excited I was and I know you were too but¡­ we couldn''t do anything about the things that have already happened and that this was not something you had predicted or were even expecting. It''s not your fault but neither of us was fully focused on our first date. It definitely wasn''t perfect so... let''s at least spend the night like this." There was a blush on her face and though she looked gorgeous, what she said was another thing. I knew about those people from the start of the day and I should have thought about the possibility that they would be desperate and just find the thing that they were finding the same day. Maybe they were on it for a while and I didn''t know but... I didn''t think of the possibility that we might see them on our way. More so that we would see two far stronger than the ones that the ck-clothed person killed. The two were at the level of the leader they had there and those two we saw were at a different ce altogether. I do not know if this person will deal with them too but I know he knew of their existence after seeing that Ocagi. They had a high-level ability to track and mark their prey. I don''t have to worry about them if their opponent was someone like that guy. Just his pure swordsmanship was astonishing, his other abilities and that special legendary creature with him being even more shocking things. His sword was fast. Too fast if I said so myself. His sword Aura was special too. One of the rarest types. Aura of yin-yang harmony¡­ something outstandingly rare. And he also used internal energy so it was even more surprising. I didn''t know much about him because of watching that super high-speed fight through Celes''s clone. If it were Celes herself, it would have been better and I could have been able to see more clearly but, it couldn''t be helped now. Our paths have crossed once, even though we couldn''t meet each other. And I know, in the future, we will definitely meet again because of this bitch fate of mine. Well... we will see when that timees. ''But for now, as she gracefully offered with that cute face, let''s just spend the night like this.'' Closing my eyes after saying thanks to her, I sighed deeply... Thest few days had been long. And by long... I mean more than a hundred chapters long if converted into chapters. The next few days will be just in so I don''t think I will have this many long days now. Next, some days will go by quickly with everyone having their own work and both of us having things that we had to finish. I had to set up my room, oversee Chry''s progress, help him train a bit and teach him how to take those herbs, go out and buy some things that I might need, read a lot of books, y with my dear siblings, do some training with Rein, and much more. Days will pass quickly and I don''t think many things should happen in the time I would be busy like this. Today was also quite unique, from how I just came here and am sleeping on herp like this... the time that we experience and the time that one read these long days is different but still... unique. I could feel that she was happy to have someone this much close to her lonesome heart, just like how I was d to have someone like her in my not-so ''main character'' life. This cool breeze of the night was calm, I felt warm in this ce, under these celestial objects, among these glowing flowers, on thisfortable bench, on thisfortablep, with this special person, in thisplicated life... But I can breathe freely now. Because... I feel free... Chapter 314 Tea Party A week passed, and I didn''t think there would be anything much happening in these fast-paced days but, right now, even though I had expected something like this to happen someday, I didn''t think it would be this... cute? She had said this the first time we were talking through that divine artifact, the day I was talking with my whole family for the first time, and at the time Anna first introduced my lovely aunts to me. But still, at that time, and till this day, I hadn''t thought it would be this unique. Like, this is my first actual tea party with Anna, Zoe, mom, and my aunts but... we were sitting in Anna''s room, on small chairs, with a round pink table before us with some teapots and cups and a lot of cake and... we all were wearing a tiara. ... ''Well, after such a quick passing week, this is probably alright...'' I took the teacup from my dear little sister, which was the perfect size for Anna''s little hands. Not for us, though. These cups were tiny, just like the small teapot. The pieces of cake weren''t the same size as these teacups, but bigger than usual, quite peculiar actually. Small teacups, big cake slices. And these were naturally chocte cakes of different verity, which she helped in making... without a question they were as good as my master''s cooking. We were sitting in Anna''s pink room, with all these different dolls on the shelves, her bed, and also on the ground, systematically arranged instead of just randomly thrown around, and a few story books on her bookshelves too. A perfect ''princess room'' is what I called this ce. The room was almost half the size of the normal rooms of this house, but this was still big enough to have everything, including this big round tea table as well as these many chairs. This was the perfect size for a young child''s room and even more perfect because she knew how to keep things clean. Aside from her dear dolls, that she herself arranged, there was nothing out of this ce in this room... my dear sister~! I loved her even more just from this much, but she was even more adorable while carefully serving every one of us this tea with great care. There were Nine chairs around this big tea table which covered arge part of this room at this moment. Aside from Anna, Zoe, my two lovely aunts, mom, Rein, and me, the two remaining chairs were upied by a miniature kitty Taika, and Rein''s favorite doll, the white teddy bear I gave her that she named Mr. Rice. This was her tea party, and there were naturally her own rules everyone had to follow. Finishing the tea, cake, and cookies that she prepared were the normal conditions but, everyone also had to wear flower tiaras. There was also the rule of wearing a cute dress but, thankfully, my dear sister took pity on me and allowed a good price-like attire, and that was a must. My dear aunts, mom, and even Rein strongly supported this suggestion so... here we were, on a weekend evening, in her room, wearing great clothes, bearing a spectacr tiara on our heads, drinking tea in these small teacups. They were wearing their pretty and colorful dresses while I was wearing thisvish thing that they took me and some other servants hours to prepare. And even after grandpa Zhen''s help, it took me a while to get this thing on, reminding me how good it would be when I reach (tier-4) and can cast plenty of my scripted (tier-5) easiest spells of (Cloth changing). Well, anyway, even though I knew how to wear most of theseplicated clothes by myself with Celes''s clone''s help, I couldn''t use them for this one. This was my first time with these kinds of high-ss noble attire ording to them, so I had to at least rely on others this time. The servants knew their work and with grandpa Zhen there; we had nothing to worry about over here and were able to finish in a few hours. But even after that, thesedies, who looked... divine right now, took far more than me to get ready just for this normal afternoon tea. Every one of them was wearing a pretty dress, almost as if they were ready for some high society party. Mom was wearing a fine red dress with blue jewels connected to a golden in chain covering its surface, which wasvish beyond measure, as every single of those jewels was worth hundreds of gold. She was also wearing a special small ne that looked super attractive and the colorful small jewels on it were quite something... They were all quite rare jewels, hard to get but too valuable and they were also finely crafted, too. She was looking extravagant considering this was just a tea party, but, well; she looked dignified and as she didn''t attend many parties or things like that, she naturally wouldn''t miss this chance to wear something so pretty~! She was cheerfully drinking the tea from her small cup while holding the teacup in a systematic manner with her first two fingers and thumb holding the cup and the pinky finger straight out. She was elegant... but even more, was my gorgeous first aunt. She was wearing an orange dress, adored with beautiful shining green embroidery and smaller jewels, and this appearanceplimented her dark red hair and lovely green eyes pretty spectacrly. She looked like a jewel in a burning fire and the way she handled the tea in that small teapot was exceptional¡­ Even though the pot was just enough size to be handled by Anna properly, the tea that my aunt was making was actually super refreshing. And thankfully for us, even though the pot looked small and was light, it can store a lot of tea for our long chat. My lovely second aunt had made these beautiful flower crowns that we were wearing and all of them were masterfully crafted. They looked beautiful, and the flowers were also fresh so I cast a preservation spell on them so they would stay like this for... a long time now. And just like these flowers, she looked just like a flower... or a flower garden? Well, she was wearing a light green dress decorated with fresh and preserved flowers that looked more like artificial ones but were perfectly natural and the fragrance they gave was also fresh~. Anna was wearing a pink dress and... she. Looked. So. Adorable. I had to hold myself back. From just thoroughly describing this marvelous angel. I had to hold myself back because... The way she was dressed was so cute, adorable, exceptional, outstanding, eye-catching, mind-blowing, cute, cute, cute, that I couldn''t help but just smile warmly~! Her bright pink dress was covered with white ribbons, those two light pink ribbons tying her head in two ponytails, her little sky blue sandals, those tiny white gloves she wore, those heart-shaped jewels on her skirt... and the way she served everyone this marvelous tea... She was amazing, adorable, and cute~! And though not as much as her, the kittens sitting just beside her also looked adorable~! Chapter 315 Tea Party (2) Taika and Tuuli had safely returned home the next morning Rein and I had met Ast in that realm. These two were just as happy to see the two of us sleeping in the garden as we were to see them in the early morning. And though I had woken up because of Celes''s loud, cheerful voices in my head, the way this big tiger cheerfully jumped on us had caused quite themotion. The loud voices were enough to wake everyone up and even Rein, whosep I was sleeping on, was surprised by this wonderful big cat''s behavior. The wooden bench we were sitting on had fallen back and we were on the ground just after we woke up and... well, that was quite something. But right now, that same big kitten had turned small, drinking fresh milk while wearing a pink skirt and a flower princess crown on her head. And that one, that special tiara that this ferocious purple rank creature was wearing had pink heart-like flowers on it, making this kitten look soooooo lovely that my dear mom who set just beside her couldn''t help but gently caress her body to express her boundless love. Zoe sat beside me in just the same spectacr bright orange dress as her hair which seemed like the fire itself, adored with golden embroidery which was actually done with pure gold threads, was covered with the red me diamonds. Mom specially brought these jewels that were hard to get in this whole empire, just for this marvelous daughter of hers. Mom loved Zoe, as much as Anna and me. Not just because she was the daughter of the person that I called grandma and master but also because she was a lovely kid one can''t help but adore. Zoe was just that charming. And aside from the fact that she has a great affinity with fire, there was nothing much special about her. At least no one can sense anything more than that from her. And actually, she was so normal to the ordinary senses that she seemed just like Anna. A normal young child. Which... was the best thing for the people in this house~. She was just like Anna to them ever since she had arrived here. They adored her, and as cheerful and lovely as she was, no one could help but cherish her. She wasn''t a battle maniac like the usual children of this house. And she didn''t have any interest in the weapon or magic like us. Or was she much interested in books and studying that she would forget the world. Well, she was so talented that if she wanted, she can cast any spell she wanted or perform anyplex fighting technique just after seeing it once. But, this sister of mine loved spending time with other people in this house. She loved watching people do their work, talking with them if she was interested in their small work, and helping them whenever she can. She helped all the people in this house. Anyone who just needed even a slight bit of help. And even though she was shy at our first meeting, when we came here, she had changedpletely in just a single day. She was cheerful, talkative, lovely, and someone who just loved watching every new and fascinating thing. Just like a child seeing the world for the first time. She was adorable... and they all loved her just like Anna now. Zoe was with my aunts most of the time and she was now part of their small gang. I did spend a lot of time with them but, I had many things that I had to do and because of it, Zoe was with them far longer than me. And they were overjoyed to have not only me but also her now. Zoe and Anna were naturally best friends now. And also almost inseparable. They were so close now that I sometimes thought they were even closer to each other than they were to me. And even though it hurts to know that... well, I was happy. If my two darling sisters were happy, then I am happy too. Zoe was now everyone''s favorite and her dress was also a great piece of art~. All three of these adultdies had poured their hearts to dress this young sister of mine this spectacrly. Anna was on my right side, Zoe on my left. Besides Anna who served her great guest''s warm tea was the happily milk-drinking cat or little tiger. Then there was my dear mom, happily ying with Taiga the little tiger, and Clover the spirit cat who loved being patted by my mom and Anna. Beside mom was Mr. Rice, a teddy bear who was happily drinking water... actually drinking, even though he looked just like a normal doll. Well, everyone knew that I gave this one to her so, they wouldn''t even feel strange if this little teddy could use magic or other weapons. It definitely could, no doubt about that. It could even turn into a weapon of the highest normal grade. It resulted from a high phoenix''s lifelong research so, this teddy bear was naturally that amazing. And it can drink water, its secondary energy source. It looked happy, and it was lovely seeing a cute little teddy bear drink simple mineral water with that adorable delighted face. I was counting counterclockwise so after him was my first aunt and beside her was my second aunt, and after her was thest person who I couldn''t take my eyes away from even after trying with my whole heart. But this heart bastard was insisting on keep looking at her. Just one more nce, for just a moment, minute, maybe hours... and continue looking at her breathtaking beauty. Cloths sure had a grand impact on one''s perception of other people and the girl, the dear friend that I always saw in a normal atter all the time, with no makeup whatsoever, with just a simple appearance suited for training or hunting, looked so¡­ breathtaking right now that I could not look away from her. I don''t want to even if I can. She looked just that spectacr¡­ Chapter 316 Tea Party (3) I was wearing this three-piece blue-white coat decorated with golden essories, as well as some blue and light purple jewels. My pants were pure white, just like the inner coat with golden lining and jeweled buttons. There was a darker blue tie-like thing with a diamond-shaped blue gem, which went well with this entire outfit. The outer coat was long and was just resting on my shoulders, tied like some cape. The end of this tailcoat was the same dark blue as the tie I was wearing, and there was golden embroidery on it, looking even more extravagant than usual. The buttons of this outer coat were jewels embedded in a gold case, and there wasn''t actually any need to button them. They were on both sides, and this outer tailcoat was just like a cape. The same buttons with sky-blue jewels were on the cors of the outer coat, and the shoulder part of the coat was made with golden threads. With a pair of dark blue shoes, the same color as my tie, with a simr golden pattern as my cape, this wonderful extravagant prince-like outfit finished with the crystal blue rose on my chest. I looked quite spectacr in this outfit, almost would be a heart stealer like my dear sisters if I was a bit older, but... I was nothingpared to my alluring friend, Rein. She... looked majestic. And just like how I can''t take my eyes away from her, she couldn''t take her eyes away from me... which put both of us in a simrly awkward position. She was blushing and she couldn''t help but just slowly sip her tea, almost the same as me. I wasn''t blushing, or at least I tried my very best not to, and remain normal. But... Rein knew I was in the same situation as her, and so did these three adults. They were enjoying our misery, delightfully eating their snacks with their fresh tea. Anna was chuckling asionally while looking at us and I knew she could feel this tangling feeling we were feeling. It was inevitable at this point... they had set things up and we stepped on this sharp axe ourselves even while knowing how the deep cut will hurt. She was like this from the moment she saw me and I''m like this from the moment I saw her in that... different kind of dress. We have been together for more than a week and this was her first time wearing something so... amazing~. I had only seen her in normal dress and mostly in the usual outfit of weapon wielders. Like, she mostly wore pants and a thick shirt with some inner clothes, and a simple dress if we were going out. She mostly wore long boots, and those clothes were what she liked, which was just like Ca. But Ca didn''t like the usual girly dresses at all. And I had never ever seen her wear one. And though I knew Rein was an actual representative of Atraxia house in noble society and attended the core noble gatherings, where these kinds of clothes were actual requirements, I didn''t expect to get the chance to see her in one of these noble dresses anytime soon. But... thanks to Anna''s special tea party, and most definitely some scheming of these three adultdies, I got to see her in this splendid outfit. This was a purple dress, the same color as her hair. The normal upper part of the dress... I don''t even know what to think about that fiiiiiine~ chest so, let''s just go with the upper part. The upper part of the dress was fitted perfectly to suit her body, and it was tight, especially at her waist. After the tight waist, the lower part was a skirt, which was unique too. The frontal part of the skirt only reached her knees, and at the back, it was just long enough to slightly touch the ground. The frontal part was wavy, and aside from the normal fabric of the skirt, some inside parts had a more-like design which partially showed the lower parts of the legs, which were obviously covered by long purple stockings. This dress design was not that famous at the moment but, if this friend of mine ever goes to an official gathering in this kind of open front skirt design, which was definitely alluring at the first nce, it would be the trend of the whole empire. That was just the lower part too. The upper part was just as unique as this one. ''I know they had experimented quite a lot to make this one this perfect and special. And they excitedly dressed her in this one, which definitely was made for her, as if they were waiting for this day for a while. And the level of fun they were having right now, oh god... how ferocious were these innocent aunts of mine?'' Theting andce work on the sleeves part of her dress was something I was seeing for the first time, quite surprising actually. It was a ck sleeve with purple flower pattern endings. This whole ck sleeve was a and had flower patterns on them, and they connected the upper part of the dress with a line of pearls as a border. There were big purple-white flower essories on the waist part where the skirt and the upper part were connected and these three flowers were even decorated with golden leaves and some quite big diamonds. Some small white stars were there on her upper chest area, the area where my eyes were strangely going again and again, and there was also a blue crystal butterfly-shaped hairpin on her spectacr hair. Wearing long crystal and gold earrings, and some star-like twinking decorations on her skirt this friend of mine looked just... breathtaking. She wasn''t wearing gloves, and I could see those bare hands and I wanted to grab them at this very moment but, Zoe was sitting between us, and for some reason, these adults had fixed their gazes on us. This was a tea party, we two have been together this whole week, and they knew just how much our ''thing'' had progressed in just three days just from how we spent a whole night alone outside in the garden and now, with this perfect chance they had, teasing us was a chance they couldn''t let go. And by preparing these outfits, making us sit in this situation, taking my dear Zoe on their side to prevent us from doing anything, to this calm atmosphere of the room. Nothing grand happened in this past week and we were mostly swept up in our work and Rein herself had many things to do in the capital. So, from the morning to evening, we mostly did our own work and all we had was our nighttime to early morning to talk about each other and tell about our days. There was our morning training too, which neither of us can''t neglect so we merged that time and did the training together. I had many things I wanted to teach her and also many things I wanted to learn from her. She was strong after all. An exceptional mage who used magic with her own methods, as well as a fabulous scythesman who knew how to use her weapon. We also trained as a duo, practiced as one, and used different methods and techniques tobine our own techniques. She was a great person, a fast learner, and someone who I loved teasing during this difficult training. She was a cute one, actually. A lovely person who looked even more spectacrly in that dress. She didn''t understand why I had set so many restrictions on ''us'', not doing most things that she so deeply wanted but, she was strong enough to endure those desires. This was also the mental training that she will have to do for a long time but, there were a few things we could do. Some rare hugs, some cuddling, and a lot of hand-holding were some of that. We now made something like the nguage of hand holding'' which was just as its name said. We can just understand our thoughts from the way we held each other''s hands. It was something unique. Something more than talking with eye contact. We can talk even without having to look at each other. Almost like telepathy. And that was the best way to talk in scenarios when we couldn''t even look at each other like right now. Chapter 317 Tea Party (4) Because of this awkward situation, we couldn''t look at each other, much less clearly think straight. My mom was even more excited than the two of them at this strange behavior of ours. And as the three of them talked about worldly things, most of the things being BS in this situation, their eyes never left us. My first aunt was calmly smiling while preparing this delicious tea and our futile attempt to have each other''s hand under the table was easily seen through by her. Even my second aunt... even though she felt that we had already had enough of this, we were just too nostalgic and entertaining for her to let go just yet. Zoe was doing her work properly, and even though I asked her, actually begged her to just let us do it for a while, she politely declined, saying she has made a secret deal with the threedies. Unknown to all these schemes even while knowing the distinct feels of each of us right now, my pure innocent Anna just poured tea, milk, and water to her dear guests. ''You are using her party aunts... this isn''t too much fun, ok? At least... don''t do this to us...'' I looked genuinely pitiful right now, and Rein could see that despite her own troubles. This was a trail for her from thesedies who all had ''loved'' in their own way, and they wanted to see what she will do in these kinds of situations. And naturally, because I understood this, just like they knew I would, I couldn''t even do anything in this situation. I was in the middle, sacrificing myself for good and evil. Now, the executioner, my dear friend Rein, had all the power to decide what she wanted. They cared about me, as much as their own children, and that was even more of the reason to do what they were doing. I knew this was just the first time, not that I would know when they will be satisfied with this ''bride test'' of theirs. It was just their fun, and it was with her... I shouldn''t have anything to do with this in normal situations. But here, I also wanted to see what she would do even if I had to endure these stupid things. It was actually hrious if one thought about it... They helped her dress up this well, prepared these amazing things, prepared my own clothes, and set this tea party. It actually should have been a time to have some fun, talk about things we usually don''t, and enjoy our time. But because this situation was this perfectly set up, who would think the two young people who liked each other couldn''t even simply hold hands, much less talk lovely things? Our spectacr appearance made things worse, so, in the end, all I could do now was wait until Rein somehow grasp the situation and... well, that would be enough. If this girl, who was also oblivious to their schemes, could just clear up her head a bit and think about it... I already knew what kind of decision she would make. I even knew what her first words would be in that kind of situation. But this dead shot gaze of theirs... just like the folk of ferocious hunter birds, watching over the couple prays they had left to grow with an evil smile... well, I went too dramatic but they sure were enjoying this. It was a fact that she looked fiiiiiiiine~ and things will be difficult in the future when we have to dress like this in official gatherings, if we couldn''t get over this deep desire for skinship... hand holding should fit this line better. ''Well, anyway... tea is nice. The cake is delicious too~.'' I continued my perfect acting which wasn''ting out so perfectly in this situation and in this particr setting, before these experienced people. Some time passed since then, not much though, just a few minutes. An hour from the very start of this tea party and ten minutes since I ate my first piece of cake. From the looks of things, Rein had thought things through and had now grasped the situation. She had been mostly looking down, avoiding eye contact and talking as less as she can, as if actually feard by them, but now, she was looking into all their eyes with a calm smile on her face. She definitely took longer, not that I would me the girl who had been oblivious to this scheme in the first ce. But after she saw the fake calmness on my face, sensed the desire, tension, anger, and reluctance, and deeply thought about everything from the start from her true ''Reinelle'' point of view, which was that ''difficult to handle'' one, she came to the slow realization. She was enlightened at that moment, understanding that there existed family members like these who cared about someone so much they would even do something like this... though with pure intention and for fun at the end. She wasn''t angry right now, this was actually funny when thinking about it. The three of them already knew this was funny, but they were also serious to see what she would do. She was smiling calmly at them right now, both with eyes and a smile. Three of them were also smiling at her, calm and happy but actually serious. I was free from the moment I knew that she had realized that, so I was just looking forward to hearing what she will say. Anna was chuckling, Taika was drinking her third bowl of milk even though mom had taken her in herp for a while to y a while ago, clover was just sleeping there, knowing things were alright and nothing to worry about, and Mr. Rice didn''t have anything to do in thisplicated situation. So, the fourdies were looking at each other, Rein asking with her calm eyes that now that she knew, if she could hold hands. And they just smiled nkly in reply, clearly meaning try it if you can. Zoe''s work was only to prevent the hands from bing one with each other under the table, so... it was simple what she will do now. And as I had expected, the first words toe out of her mouth at the end of thisplicated situation... "Well,dies... fuck this shit." And without caring, she grabbed my hand on the table and interlocked our fingers, clearly iming me for eternity. Chapter 318 Tea Party (5) Well, these olderdies were pleased with the straightforward behavior of this girl who was supposedly older than them. She was clear about what she wanted and if she wanted it, she would get it even if she had to walk over to the ferociousdies like them. Well, if anything, she would walk over any dead body to have what she wanted. She was a dangerous one, after all, a dangerous one who had impressed thedies and masterminds of this tea party. She was now talking with them, and I was breathing freely while holding her hand on the table. Rein was no bad girl but, they knew about her. Who she was, what she was, as well as howplicated her life had been. She was a good girl, and they knew it. But there were still some things they wanted to know about. There were also some things they wanted to confirm by themselves. And there were some things they wanted to teach her, too. That was their thing, and I had nothing to do with it but, this tea party had been quite fun if we just take out ''that'' one thing. They were happy over the fact that they set up such an amazing thing, and were even nning to do something like this every once in a while. Well, they can do whatever they wanted, not that I would be at these special tea parties every time. I couldn''t be here every time, even if I wanted to. And, even though I wanted to just stay with these three beautifuldies and my cute Anna as long as I can, we will be going to school after just three years. So Rein, Zoe, Ca, Alf, and I only had three years to y with our dear youngest one. Anna would be left alone, and we wouldn''t be here all the time. Though we would definitely visit during our vacations as during the time we were in the academy, we mostly had to stay there. And not only it was far away, students couldn''t leave the ind even on weekends. We were different, though. As council members, we had permission to go off the ind whenever we wanted but, we couldn''te home at that time. So... we have three years with my darling sister. We were ying with Mr. Rice now that our tea was finished and that little angel of mine had eaten three whole pieces of cake. And that was almost one-fourth of a big cake... ''A sweet tooth... it''s cute~! And there''s nothing like cavities problem in this world, just many some basic diseases, so she can have as much of it as she wanted~!'' They especially used ''normal'' choctes in everything Anna would be eating, so there was no need to worry at all. So, well, I had some time to y around with this little sister of mine who was ying with a happy teddy bear and a minimized, ferocious but adorable-looking tiger. Anna looked just soooooooooooo cute right now I couldn''t help but wanna hug her~! And I didn''t wait and just hugged her as she was just sitting beside me, and as I knew, she was surprised. "Bigggggg brother~. My prince big brother~! What are you doing?" The little girl was sitting just beside me, a teddy bear on herp, two cats before her on the table, and I was hugging her with one hand while the other one was still on the table, intertwined with hers. My cheeks were caressing Anna''s as I just continued hugging her and it must have been tickling even more because it was out of the blue. She giggled and after kissing her soft cheeks; I returned to my ce, and I didn''t expect it but... Anna kissed me back~! "Thank you, little darling~!" I thanked them enthusiastically and all of them, including the teddy bear, chuckled at this cheerful behavior. It was funny to see the actual prince-like boy who had been handling himself so well he seemed like an actual royal, acting like a little child before his little sister. I must have looked adorable in their eyes, just like how Anna was divinely adorable whileughing like this. The clothes we were wearing were too proper to wear in the house just for a simple tea party, but, well, this was fun... It was definitely fun, and I knew they were... smirking right now? Rein once again had no idea about this one but, I did see that one. And that was precisely after I gave my dear little sister a ''kiss''. So... the reason behind their smirks was clear. Which Rein definitely didn''t understand. Her aside, I knew what was going on in their minds right now. And certainty... that wasn''t happening anytime soon. So, I looked at them, with an excited smile, and clear, certain, warm eyes, and just from this much, they knew I knew what they were thinking, and also that I was thinking that what they were thinking was not happening. "It''s not time yet, lovelydies. It would be up to me, alright?" And as I had thought, the one who had the first smirk among the threedies, the most caring, awesome, cool, and wonderful mom of mine, sighed in defeat at these utterly stern words. "Tsk. Tsk. Why are you so adult-like, darling? Not even your ''mate'' is this mature to understand what we think. Can you read minds~? My darling little son can read minds~?" "I can''t, mom. But... I can read some other things. And that smirk on your face gives you away. Both aunts didn''t just cough out of nowhere. Mom is bad! Two of you too!" They very well could have just gone from bride testing to a kiss scene of us if they wanted to, and I knew they could have definitely achieved that with their sharp special minds after knowing them for this much long now. Rein was confused right now and was asking ''what the hell was going on'' while holding my hand and I just answered with ''nothing'' so, ma''am was even more confused. ''Don''t think about this one. Just as I said, it was something you have to wait for a while. And certain conditions have to meet first, probably, for that to happen.'' This was something I told her while just holding her hand, and we don''t know how we understand this, but we sure do. She understood what I said and nodded her head, surprising the three adults who actually noticed this nod and my relieved expression even more. "Eon? Well, I know I''m bad and all, but... what was that just now? You were looking here the whole time, no?" Mom was confused, and naturally, the other twodies with her were too. It was natural that anyone would be surprised by this and there was nothing much to this one. "Mom... my dear mom. Well, it''s nothing much, actually. Let''s just say we can magically talk if we are holding hands. But that aside, we will be going the day after tomorrow. You will have enough time with that much, right?" I was smiling now, and this was important, so Rein also gathered her attention on her. Zoe and Anna wereing with us, so the two of them joyfully smiled, purely excited about the trip, and mom smiled helplessly while looking at me. My lovely aunts were sad as well as excited about this but... mom had a helpless look on her face, which was different from the other two. Chapter 319 Tea Party (6) "I know... I''m a bad mom. The precious little boy I had is probably gone now. You have grown up without me, and we can''t change the past. In this very present, I have you, I have my dear grown-up son, alive and fine, and that''s enough for me. It''s good, I''m happy, you will soon properly be twelve, and it will be fun~. And even though won''t do much as you like, it will be quite fun, and that I''m sure of~. You will be going to your friend''s house, again, with my two lovely daughters, so you better take care of them until youe back. Besides, I have a faint idea about the thing you two are nning. And seeing this stubborn future daughter-inw of mine, that one must be inevitable. Huuuu... so, don''t worry and just go~. We will do our best this time too~! Far better than yourst birthday we celebrated~." She was cheerful and I knew she would find out from the way the both of us had spent this past week. The past week had been pretty quick. From setting up my room and secret room, preparing materials to fill a full room of empty selves just beside the one with full shelves, training with Rein in Ca''s training room, teaching Ca when Rein was doing her training, reading books in my room as well as in Alf''s house. Teaching Alf things that weren''t in the diary or solving his doubts, and learning about the society of this current time. Learning other basic subjects, gathering information through Celes''s clones, observing the knight training, and also Chry''s training. In the middle of these things doing my special own training was also part of these things. And if I have free time, then do things like this tea party, talk with other people in this house, help with their work, prepare food for everyone like I did on the second day, and also work on some of my projects if I havest bit of time. The way we were doing this in a hurry as well as the fact that mom was mom, a merchant guild master, and a countess with high, long, wide,plicated connections, she would naturally know we were preparing for something. Not that we actually needed this much preparation, and Rein also didn''t understand this thinking of mine. But, my mom would know... I liked being prepared if not over-prepared for situations. And even after knowing that we might be doing something dangerous, she wasn''t stopping me anymore, like she used to do before. She was like apletely different person now and I knew that for a while now but, it was still surprising to see my dear mom with that expression of helplessness. But... she genuinely was not worried about me anymore. She was warmly smiling, hoping for me best of luck in whatever I wanted to do, supporting me unconditionally. She was different from how she had been but, this was still my dear mom, and I was the same Eon she knew, which she knew and couldn''t change. ''It should be called character growth. Both of us had lived differently in these six years I was away. She knows my life was full of unimaginable things. She knows I have suffered. And she knows I am now fundamentally a grown-up person than the child she had taken care of. I also know that she has been with her parents in this ce, with the young Anna. She had taken care of that normal child, learned from others as well as from her mistakes, and improved a lot. She is sad that the past she had lived won''t be the same anymore, but also happy that the present where she has me, the present where I am here with her, is all that matters. Well... that''s the strong mom that I know.'' Smiling at her, I grabbed her hand with my free hand and looked into those gorgeous light brown eyes. They were warm, happy, sad, and a harmony of emotions. And the smile on my face was also the same but reassuring. "Yes~. We will be fine and don''t worry at all~. I will take care of my lovely sisters~. And I know you will have a spectacr birthday celebration for me when Ie back. So... I''m looking forward to the party~!" "Yei~! We too~!" I was naturally cheerful but, Anna and Zoe spoke just after me with cheerful voices and star-filled eyes, Taika and Clover having the same excited expression, these children''s and cute ones'' reply was far more powerful than mine. And what could we do butugh lovingly at this excitement of the children? This was our tea party and this... should be alright, right? The past week was in haste so it passed by without any noticeable event aside from this one so, right now, this tea party, was the only ''quite something'' that had happened. Tomorrow, we all will be busy packing and I had to take care of Anna and Zoe all the time we will travel to different ces in the city and the area around her house. It will be fun, and I was looking forward to seeing those chocte and coffee farms. I knew Anna and Zoe would love seeing those things and I knew I would love that too. Maybe I should buy some fruits from there if possible but, we can think about that there. That would be fun but, even more fun would be when wee back here. Mom and dad both just loved the birthday surprise thing and I wanted to see just how awesome they would prepare if given full time and they already had all the resources. The tea party was fun, something I genuinely enjoyed. Rein loved it too... most of it, at least. I could tell just from looking at her cheerful smile while talking with my first aunt that she would be a good friend with all three of thesedies, maybe grandmother too. Things were pretty and much normal after the day we all met Ast in the Astral realm and nothing much changed between us. They both already liked her, and just like them, Ast liked us too. The love fairy was now our friend, and it would be pretty fun having a fairy friend like her. She was here the day before yesterday and I asked her about the pink fairy dust too, and she epted without hesitation. So, thanks to her, I now had a good amount of that special pink dust with me. It will definitelye in handy in something but, for now, this is the end of the tea party. ''Now... how would our peaceful ytime at her ce be? Should be pretty fun, considering I would be seeing the natural fruit and coffee gardens. She knows everything there so I know it would be pretty fun with an awesome guide like her. So, let''s see~!'' Chapter 320 Fight In Farm [[ Master~! Thirteen hundred meters to the north. Two thousand to the west. A ck monkey with basic fur skin~! ]] [[ "Hmm. Thanks, Celes~. What about Rein''s side?" ]] -Swiiiiiiiiiiish! [[ Sister Elle is ying with a big white monkey on the far north end of the garden~! She is having fun! ]] [[ "Having fun? Damn... having fun while ''plying'' with a (Yellow) rank leader ss beast. Remember how we used to avoid those types? And here she is, ying with one such being like a ything. Quite scary, if I said so myself." ]] [[ "You know I can hear you right, darling~? And it''s not my fault this group of beasts decided to attack the garden today. Not that we didn''t know, but wasn''t it you who said not to ask knights and take care of them ourselves? And the ones you are talking about must be far scarier than these cute ones." ]] [[ "Well, that''s true. The ones we came across were... I will show you someday. You will be actually shocked to see those ''unique'' ones." ]] [[ "Hehehe. Why not~? Well, I see you killed that one on the northwest. You sure are an amazing archer every time I see your archery." ]] [[ "You didn''t even see this one, ma''am. Anyway, you have seen enough to imagine just from the results. Well, sir crow with you is also amazing to have this ability to let you see with his eyes." ]] [[ A blue monkey on far east~! His body is shiny and looks like metal armor. He''s far and his speed is slower than the other group that came from that side. He''s almost two kilometers away. ]] ''Metal body, hmmm... looks like a captain rank. But, well, that''s just (Orange) rank. An arrow with me enchantment should do for this one.'' [[ "Hmm. Thanks, Celes. Zoe is handling Anna well, right?" ]] [[ Yes~! Young Anna is cute~! Sister Zoe and Anna are ying in flower fields in the central area of the farm. They look cute~! ]] [[ "Right~! They must be looking adorable among those beautiful flowers~! Let them have some fun alone. They were just stuck with us these past two days. We should also have some fun here, with these cute monkeys, right darling?" ]] [[ "You know I wanna y with them, right? And they aren''t even much. You are ying with that white one for thest ten minutes. He''s bleeding all over with those small cuts. If you keep going, he will go berserk like that teddy bear... wait, it won''t. Damn, you are cruel." ]] ''Huuu... take the positions. Distance calcted. Target in sight. Alright... rest in peace monkey~.'' -Swiiiiiish... boom... Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! [[ "That arrow with boom sound! Give me some next time too please~." ]] [[ "Not a chance, ma''am. I know you will just randomly throw them and they might very well explode around you." ]] ''You already are ying around with a poor (Yellow) rank boss monster who can''t even go berserk. Do you want these arrows that I barely made to fit the standards of the monsters here? The ones that explode and increase the attack power, no less? That''s not happening ma''am.'' [[ "A~. My darling cares about me so much~." ]] [[ "I care about the beasts that you fight and the poor people that might be around you when that arrow explodes." ]] [[ "So my darling doesn''t care about me? I''m sad..." ]] [[ "Shut that act and finish that poor dude. I pity him in that condition." ]] [[ Hehehe. Sister Elle is as funny as always~. ]] [[ "Don''t enjoy the madness of that one, Celes. She''s a bad person, making others suffer like that. Just look at that big gori-like monkey. His pure white fur is now crimson red. Look at those eyes... those big golden eyes, filled with courage, vitality, and charisma that are now defeated, helpless, and they just want to either die trying or he might just kill himself if that torcher continues. I know he destroyed some of the almond fields but, that is no way to torcher a beast that lead this forty-eight, wait, now it''s fifty. He lead these many beasts and now he''s struggling for even a breath of Mana." ]] [[ Hmm? But they did a bad thing, right? They attacked this ce first just to steal the fruits and other things. They might have killed some of the weak humans that grow these wonderful fruits and flowers, no? They were at fault so are we doing wrong? ]] ''Huuu... my little partner is now smart and has learned this much in this short time. I still remember our old days in that dammed forest and it''s amazing to see my darling partner talk like that.'' [[ "Well, you are definitely right, Celes. They interrupted our time on this farm. They were the reason those gardens of flowers and some fruit storage were destroyed. And they are the reason we are here, on this tower, away from our adorable sisters. But, they didn''t kill the other humans yet, right? Neither they harmed any of us. Many of their gang didn''t even reach the inner part because we snipped them. The leader bastard Rein is fighting in different situations. I understand that much. But... that much torcher should be alright now, right? Celes is right but Rein isn''t wrong either. Well, watch more. Observe more. Don''t miss any chance to learn something new. And don''t stop learning. Ever. Remember these things and you will grow to understand these difficult beings named humans." ]] [[ Okay master~! I will keep learning~. Forever~! ]] [[ "A~. Look at this master-servant duo. Teach my old crow some pretty things like too, Eon~." ]] [[ "Shut up Rein. Finish this quickly. Looks like the blue one was thest one from this side. That one you''re holding is thest one. Finish him or else I will." ]] [[ "You darey a tip of those arrows on my prey! I will finish this one on my own. How dare he walk carelessly like this on my fruit fields! What would you do if he had harmed Anna or- wait. Yes... The bastard who killed thirty of these annoying monkeys with a single arrow each, while still standing causally on that archer tower, would naturally just one shot this white one as soon as it exits the forest borders. My dear Eon is a one-shot killer~! Oh¡­ that''s why you are annoyed at this torcher, hmm?" ]] [[ "That''s not it, Rein. I know torcher methods far uglier than yours. And I can use many arrows just to make them go through hell-like pain. But you know me, right?" ]] [[ "Yes, yes, Mr. good but not good. My Eon is amazing. Yei~. Yei~. Wow, wow, wow. My darling is awesome~. p, p, p." ]] [[ "That p sound with your mouth... weird Rein. Finish him. I will inform your knights in the meantime. It was a pretty fun exercise, but the opponents were not much fun. You took the best one, so I had nothing to do. And we couldn''t expect anything toe out of the ones you killed so, let''s just hope we get some energy core from my ones." ]] [[ "I will y a bit more, so take your time. They all are shocked by your archery, anyway. It will take time for them toe to their senses. It''s not every day you see a beast that was running toward you just a while ago fall to the ground with its brains or other vitals obliterated. You didn''t even use magic this time, bastard. They will take a while to gather the dead bodies too, so just take your time with them. They already know about the new young master from Heliox house, anyway." ]] [[ "Finish quickly¡­" ]] [[ "Don''t worry. I''m fine so, just go. This ce isn''t that big, anyway. And you can see me even if you are that far away. Take care. And don''t worry about your dear... ''friend''. Alright?" ]] ''Friend... yes. Try to be happy with just that much for now, dear. The day we change that title is still some time away.'' Anyway... everyone should already have an idea of most of the things from this conversation, right? We just talked in dialogs lol. But there was nothing grand about this situation right now. This was a fun ce with some asional fun things happening here and we were lucky to be here on the lucky day that the beasts that asionally attacked came to y with us. We hadn''t had any fun thing past few days and this one... was definitely a good y thing to the two of us. Well, just that, nothing great. Chapter 321 Fight In Farm (2) We were on a big farm. Some of the biggest ones in the south. This was on a mountain and surrounded by a wild forest with some low-level energy beasts. There are knights and mages in this one along with the many workers and they mostly just live here, on this mountain, on this farm for most of their time. This area was actually quite big if I had to say so but, the periodic beast attack was the truth in this ce. Even with the barriers, knights, and mages in this ce, in the rare cases when a big beast group like this one attacks the ce, some people get injured at the very least. Though deaths don''t happen because of the trained knights from Atraxia house that owned this biiiiiig farm with fruit gardens, vegetable farms, coffee farms, and also some lovely cocoa trees. There were also many flower gardens separating different sections of the farm. This one was just one of the biggest ones and Rein had seen much bigger ones, the reason she didn''t consider this one much big. But for me, Anna or Zoe who hadn''t seen even thisrge ce which was this much green, filled with natural energy, vitality, and nts, as well as beautiful big flower gardens, was a new kind of ce. This was an amazing ce and everyone on this farm, from workers to knights and mages, everyone knew Rein. They all liked her and respected her. She was an amazing person in their eyes. And she definitely was an amazing person. But they were surprised to meet the three of us from the house of Heliox. Half a day had passed since we were here and soon, it will be evening. And, well, tomorrow is my birthday¡­ That aside, they were surprised by not only the three of our marvelous appearance, look, and charm, but they were also surprised by how there were two people from the house of Heliox that they hadn''t known about. But, well, from my appearance and how Anna, the so-called ruler of Heliox treated me, it was clear who I was. The way how Rein never left my side even told them there was something special between the two of us. They were like the other Atraxia house guards, finely chosen by their masters and trained by their chosen personnel. They were already strong, the reason this ce filled with strong beasts never had any casualties. And even today, one of the rare days when a group with an actual strong leader attacked this ce, they were more than ready to defeat them. But... well, we were getting bored from these past two days which had just gone on without anything. In utter peace. We came to the south by the warp gate, stayed in her house for half a day, and wondered the main city with that biiiiig and beautiful garden, the main city Temani. yed in the garden with my two lovely sisters, and both of them were adorable~! I used Celes''s ability to ''normalize'' Anna''s appearance, even though she had Mr. Rice with an appearance-changing function, as well as a powerful special artifact specially made for Anna. It was a special ne mom requested from a master craftsman for Anna and she must wear it when going outside, as the first rule. Well, Mr. Rice was her bound item and she liked having him more than that somewhat heavy ne. That pretty teddy bear was one of her best friends and one of our secrets. Even in our house, not everyone knew much about this pure white teddy bear who can walk around freely as if an alive being and understand things like an intelligent creature. Well, there would be a cat just like him one day but, that one will look like a real cat and also be just like a real cat. I needed some time for that, some years actually, but I knew mom will definitely like it. For now, I was on one of the archer towers and there was a group of these knights, some swordsmen, some archers, and a mage gathered just under the tower. It wasn''t that tall, just three-four floors tall, but, that was more than enough for me. They all had nk faces and there were actually a few beast bodiesying behind them too. We were fighting a group of monkeys, and this mountain was their natural habitat. These knights, archers, and mages faced them on regr bases and they knew a lot about thesemon but strong beasts but¡­ they couldn''t believe that these bests that took them at least a few moments were killed with a single arrow, they couldn''t, even if they wanted to. I really didn''t need more than one arrow for these weak beasts. And I was using long-range archery, sniping to be exact, so it was even easier. Using the arrows with the lesser enchantment was good too. The beasts couldn''t handle their force at all. So, they had seen me in action, even though it was nothing more than ytime for me. They had a really admiring expressions and I knew just from this much... dealing with them would be prettyplicated. Well, Anna and Zoe were ying in the middle garden and they were having fun with those flowers and special nts. The maids that came here with us were with them and they allowed the two of us to go y by ourselves for a bit so were alright. The two of those angels were the best sisters who knew their brother and their brother''s ''friend''. They were the best... but now that I had defeated the ones on my side and she was still ying with her one, I have to take care of the clean up as well as the restoration of the fields. ''Well... I''m looking forward to tonight. I knew she will do everything to be the first to celebrate my birthday but, what will she do? I don''t think my lovely sisters would let her take me away that easily. And we will be in her house by that time so, I wonder how they will deal with her.'' That was something between the three of them but how... should I deal with this bunch of awestruck knights? "Haaa... let''s think after going down." I descended the stairs and just there, in the small open area, a group of knights and a mage were standing stiff, still looking at different dead bodies around them. Chapter 322 Night Of Birthday In the dark of night, the stars light up the sky, twinkling with the light of their own, ying in the faraway sky. The twinkle of the little stars, the winds of the cloudy night, the lights of the faraway stars reaching this, gracing the earth with their beauty. A blue moon shins among them, smiling down at us from his high stage. His light glistens the Gaia, the gentle, cool, caring moonlight blesses the organisms of this world. Night arrives at her regr time, after the passing of a beautiful sunset, which shows the fall of the eternal sun. The night that blesses the world after the downfall of an all-powerful being that homes the sixth heaven¡­ The night was cheery, there were faint clouds, but the stars were all visible, and the moon was, as always, smiling down on me. I was sitting on the chair of her house''s terrace, the same ce we first had our first private conversation. She wasn''t here yet and it will soon be midnight. The blue, white, and gray of the night were the same as every night, the colorful glowing flowers on the small garden on the other side of this terrace were beautiful, the calm breezes of the night carrying a fresh, earthly scent, mixed with the essence of the forest, is also quite refreshing. We have already finished dinner aftering back from that big garden farm. We had finely cooked fish and chips for the dinner, something pretty unique from this world''s point of view. The dinner was superb. Not disappointing at all. Just the finest thing one could expect from a ducal household. Anna and Zoe also liked the dinner and after the long day we had, with all the walking around and ying with all that cheerful energy, Anna was naturally exhausted. So¡­ Rein took us to that big farm just so she could exhaust my two little sisters. It was a good n, actually. Something I only understood after seeing the fatigued Anna when we joined them after the monkey killing. Her n definitely worked for Anna, a pretty genius n for that little thing. But Zoe was different. At this point, I know Zoe had almost reached Alf''s level of strength. She was a far more difficult opponent to defeat in actualbat. And this kind of small mind game wouldn''t work with her at all. She was a phoenix. Master of all wisdom. All trickery was futile against her. So, thest and best option she had would be to make a mutually beneficial deal with Zoe. And Rein was doing just that right now. The both of them were talking right now, and I couldn''t see or hear what they were talking about because of the promise Zoe asked me. Well, that was their discussion, but she had to hurry because soon, it would be midnight, the ssic time for first birthday wishes. The night is normal, even though it is my birthday. My first birthday outside of the great forest in the six years I was away from my family. I''m still away from them, but that doesn''t matter because they know I''m safe and will be there for my birthday party they were so carefully preparing. For now, I was with Rein, in her house, in our personal favorite spot, on a rooftop that shows a spectacr view both day and night. This ce was like the bench in our garden, made for two people, though there was nothing like a spirit cluster in this ce like that one. There aren''t any fairies around here. At least there weren''t these past two days I checked myself. But still, the view from this high ce, the way these big trees look tiny, and I can see far away in the forest surrounding this estate, and the beasts and creatures of the night. There were pretty rare creatures in the area around the estate. Small but rare ones. And I liked this ce even more because of that. We can''t see many things like this in the capital, so this ce was something I really liked. The night was calm, the smell of forest earth was fresh, and it was a bit cold as this was thest month of the year and winter is approaching so my first winter with her will be fun too. The sounds of the night, the wind''s passing, creatures singing for their mates, predators hunting with their special voices, the sound of rustling leaves, andstly... the sound of some familiar footsteps. She was walking upstairs, slowly but excitedly. I could just tell how ecstatic she was right now from those tip-toeing footsteps, which were almost dancing with their every move. She was happy, and of course, she would be happy. She must have seeded in making that deal with Zoe. Both of them were smart ones, so I knew they wouldn''t have settled for anything small. But she got what she wanted: the first moments of the midnight with me. And now, I was looking forward to what she will do. A normal nice talk? A small celebration? Did she prepare a gift or something? Or did she prepare something grand? I didn''t know many things that had happened in this big mansion when we were gone; I didn''t even try to know that with Celes''s clones. She was good at what she was serious about, and that was enough. It was my birthday, and it''s not been much longer since we were together. We were closer than ever, knowing each other more than enough to know what the other is thinking or might think. So, this was something I was looking forward to even though it might not be something as awesome as my other dear family members would do at the capital. The terrace''s entrance was in the middle of this side and the other side with the greenhouse. There was no door, so I could see the stairs lit with a dim yellow light, and the light didn''t suit the natural beauty that she had. Maybe a soft blue, bright red, or even white would have been better but, this was only passable. Her footsteps became clear as she reached thest of these stairs, and the tip-toeing in her steps slowed down and then almost stopped. Maybe she suddenly got nervous? ''That funny girl...'' But the footsteps never actually stooped, and she continued despite her sudden hesitation. Maybe she might not even have nned anything at all, and that would be the most Rein-like thing I can think of. She wasn''t the nner, thinker, and strategy maker between us. No... she was the hyperactive wild one who just charges forward and dominates with sheer pure power. That was her and... she was better that way. I would love it if she had nothing prepared at all. And that would make her a real person, different from the ''fake'' ones. And, well, I had nothing to think too deeply about, anyway. A birthday is just like any other simple day, just holding some historical meaning, some sentiments, and a bunch of different things in a person''s life. Personally, I hadn''t thought much about the dates we were born, the dates that wee to this world, have our first cry, and start a life, in my case... start a new life. Chapter 323 Night Of Birthday (2) In that previous world, I had no one to celebrate these birthdays and I don''t even remember what day was my birthday back then. Days just passed with normal work, personal work, andmissions. There was nothing much in those ck and white, colorless days aside from a crimson presence of regr blood. That darkness inside has almost faded away with the love and affection I have received from the awesome people I have met in this life but, grandma knew and she tried her best to erase that darkness. She is the reason I am a better human being now, even though I don''t like calling myself one. It still exists, in the deep dark corner of this warm heart, suppressed by her teachings. My desire to protect my family, and now... maybe also to be with this foolish witch. I want to tell her everything about the past life I had, even though I know she has no interest in the past after hearing that warm reply after I told her about me being a reincarnation. She had no particrly different reaction to that fact and she just continued to y with my hair as she had been on that bench. She didn''t care about others'' pasts. Her own was no good thing to talk about. But she has already told me most of the things there are about her long, more than a hundred and twenty years of life in this small time we have been together. She knew I knew most of the things about her, as well as the fact that she knew only small parts of just this life of mine. She knew about me the most, after Lucy, Zoe, and Celes, of course. But still, she didn''t know the fact that I was in a forbidden forest, the fact that I have been nearly killed by a demonic beast in this life, the fact that my master was a divine beast, a high phoenix no less. She had seen the bow-like mark on my soul, but she never questioned what it was. She was curious, and she knew my grandpa knew what this was, but still, she had no idea about what a [[( Soul Armament )]] was. Well, there was no way she would know when she wasn''t even able to separate her soul from the physical body yet. She also didn''t know the fact that Zoe was a young phoenix, nor the fact that I was a sessor of a high phoenix. Or that... I was a stigma holder of a higher divine beast. I was also someone who currently possessed numerous treasures that can create or destroy a prominent kingdom. I knew secrets that maybe only some divine beasts with the permission of nature herself were permitted to know. And despite knowing practically nothing about me... that foolish old witch loved me unconditionally. She knew there were many things I didn''t tell her, and she was fine with that. She was happy with just being with me... and just this much was some of the happiest things that could happen to me. I had many restrictions on ''us''. I had many barriers around this heart, which she had barged in without even a knock. She has already be a part of that shielded heart and I had given her the keys to this house already. It''s not even been that long since we met but, as if the world wanted us together, nature had done her best to the point we were right now. And¡­ She is here now, at this open entrance to this terrace, with a smile on her pretty face, wearing her normal ck tight pants and that big white shirt. This was the appearance she mostly had, and it was good, not that I wanted to see her in that spectacrly marvelous gorgeous hot dress from the tea party. She was smiling happily. The hesitation her steps carried had also vanished now. The yellow light was making her perfect skin look more yellowish, her beautiful pink eyes looking somewhat dull, but even then... she was as beautiful as the divine swan of ughter. Her outer appearance is beautiful, her persona is charming, her soul is gorgeous, and her craziness, shyness, purity, and weirdness are something I cannot help but fall for. She isn''t perfect, no one can be, and her endless imperfectness makes her a real person. ''Why am I praising her this much like this? Has the night cast a spell on me or have I been spellbound by her?'' "You look mesmerized, hmm? It''s your birthday, not mine darling~." "Haaa... did you put a spell on me?" The sudden weird question confused her, but she didn''t take long to understand this one. And from the helpless, happy look in my eyes, it was too easy for her to understand what was going on in my calm mind. She smiled helplessly and walked up to me. "A spell..." she mumbled, sitting down on her chair and never breaking this eye contact. Her piercing pink eyes, the ones that will be able to see through the very truth of the world someday, locked with mine, saying nothing but... just staring at them. "Maybe I did put a spell on you." There was a lovely smirk on her face¡­ so she did understand what I meant. But then she just lightly shook her head before I could say anything and continued¡­ "A spell that was unintentional. A spell far more powerful than any witchcraft in this world. A spell you will never be able to understand. An unparalleled, unfathomable, powerful like no other. And one with no remedy. The same spell... that you put on me." My eyes widened in surprise as the cloud blocking the moon cleared up and our special eyes glistened in the soothing blue moonlight. I now knew she definitely had the good talent and qualities to be a great poet or something like that. It couldn''t be just by chance that she says these amazing things so easily, right? Like damn... even I doubt I can say something like that while looking straight in her eyes while being this calm. There was just a simple smile on her face after saying this but the one who those words were for, the poor little me, was on the verge of loosing myself... Chapter 324 Night Of Birthday (3) We have been together for a while, and I can tell for sure now... just like how looked more attractive in the morning sunlight, this ''friend'' of mine looked far more charming in the darkness of night. And maybe night also enhanced her ability to speak sweet things like this one. A smile appeared on my face without notice and I knew the consequences of my next words, but still¡­ "A spell hmm... fine, then. I don''t mind being spellbound if the caster is such a wonderful old-" -Smack. "Do you think I wouldn''t smack you just because it''s your birthday?" ''The hit definitely was weaker, though. Didn''t hurt like it usually does.'' Smiling at her with a happy smile and rubbing my head, which definitely hurt a bit, I shook my head with a deeper smile while looking at her suddenly grumpy face and grabbed her hand. "So? When are you gonna wish me a happy birthday? It''s already midnight." And at my question, the grumpy face vanished as soon as it hade and she shook her head. Her eyes became more sincere, and a unique seriousness shined in those already gorgeous eyes. "Must I wish ''happy birthday'' as everyone does? People who say this to others on their birthday mostly don''t mean anything at all. In my hundred years of life on this earth, I have rarely seen people saying something like: have a sad birthday you bitch or bastard, may you have a life filled with utter disparity, and may god bless you with their greatest protection for the rest of your life, or something like may you have eternal life¡­ Having eternal life would be a curse, so let''s just put that aside. So some do wish others to have a long and happy life... which is understandable. But, mostly, why do people say happy birthday? And why at midnight when the day ends and a new day starts? Not everyone is born at midnight, right? I don''t understand where this custom came from or why we just do that and I''m not interested in knowing either. So, well, I actually don''t believe in this saying happy birthday stuff. And I genuinely apologize if you were expecting something like that. Instead of saying a simple happy birthday to the person I love, I would very well greet them good morning, afternoon, evening, and night every day. Even wishing for a good day is fine to a certain extent when wishing for others, but we still don''t actually know what will happen to them through that day, right?" ''Another reason I couldn''t stop liking her...'' Sometimes, she says stuff that seems weirdly true. This was just like that night when we were on that bench and I said some weird concerning stuff. Her words sometimes hit differently even though they might not be much to others. And I could tell she meant every single word she said... "Haaa¡­" This birthday of mine just became so special I couldn''t even express those in words. She was just something else... something like no other. And this overflowing joy I felt from her words shouldn''t be just mine, right? It was too soon even now, so the most I could do to show her my thanks would be... She was smiling warmly at me after those words, and I didn''t know if she knew just how much those simple words meant to me. She might not actually have thought about it and had just said what came from her heart. And it was even more special because of that. It was my birthday but there was no rule that only the one having a birthday should receive any gifts, right? I was holding her hand, and as I could understand her emotions, she could understand mine the same. And the sudden joy I felt naturally confused her. It was just a bunch of random words from her side but, the true personal value they held for a person like me was enormous. She practically meant instead of wishing me to be happy for a single special day that might be filled with uncertainty, she would very well be a part of my life forever and wish me to be happy in every moment of this life. It was peculiar from a general perspective, but, at the same time, the words were realistic. And who wouldn''t want a partner who says such sweet words from their heart? I certainly would love to have her greet me every day, every hour, and every moment. And this lovely girl who didn''t know the reason behind this happiness, joy, and bliss I was feeling got even more confused when I lifted her hand, which was locked with mine. Her hand, this special hand, a beautiful hand that was one with mine, came closer to my face and... I kissed the back of this hand. "You might not understand this much, but... thanks, Rein. Just these words mean a lot." But I knew even though she heard those words, I would get no reply for a while now. It was just a kiss on the back of her hand, but she knew just how big of a deal this was. She must have thought it would be a long time before I do this and I thought so too but, her words... I have just fallen in love with them. Her mind has just gone chaotic, and she has nk eyes as she just looked down, trying to understand what just happened. She looked cute even now and this night... it will be a bit longer, from what I can tell. A night that is long, and the deep conversations will make it longer. And if we find a good topic to talk about... we might not get to sleep either. Not that I minded that. Sleep is necessary, but we can still manage a busy tomorrow without that. Or, if needed, we can just sleep here. Under this starry sky, moonlight being our nkets. Her hand is cool but my warm one should be good enough to ease her, just like it has always done. Anyway... we still have some things to talk about when she gets out of this train of thought. Like, my birthday gift from her. Chapter 325 Our Pink Night "You alright now?" She took her sweet five minutes fantasizing about different ''pink'' stuff after that simple backhand kiss and if not for the fact that I can practically read her thoughts just from her heartbeat, micro-movements, and this hand that has crushed mine a few times during her ckout, I wouldn''t have known these depths of her¡­ thoughts. She looked perfectly normal now, even while knowing just what kinds of thoughts she was having just from that small kiss. A kiss on the back of ady''s palm was a general way of greeting in this empire. But... it was different for us. She knew, the person that has never even said ''I love you'' once in these past few days they were together, and the fact that she wouldn''t be hearing that for a very, very, very long time, was enough to show just how great of a thing this one small genuine kiss meant. She didn''t expect it and it was even more of a reason that those wild-wild thoughts surged without her knowing. And she definitely enjoyed whatever absurd things happened in those fantasies of hers. From what I can tell, in these five minutes, she definitely had lived for almost a day, doing stuff with me that came after a kiss like this. And whates a kiss on the back of a palm? A kiss on some other parts of one''s body, on the sacred lips, the lips on one''s face, of course, the other onees wayter. So, some long kissing, great intimacy, skinship, moans... wait. No... I''m just a twelve-year-old boy. I don''t know what any of these means, ok... So, let''s ignore the fact that those things are natural in most cases and she was very good at hiding these ''pink'' emotions and even better at controlling them. She was out of that pinnd and now had a simple normal smile on her face, clearly meaning not to talk about what had just happened AT ALL. So, in fear of getting some real beating from this happy witch who has just received a good unexpected gift, I also asked her a simple question, and she answered with that same smile. "Yup~. Thanks for that~¡­ may I?" she unexpectedly asked while looking at our hands, the locked ones that I kissed a while back, of course. It was easy to understand what this girl meant and, well, why not? So, I just nodded, and she cheerfully brought my hand closer to her marvelous lips and kissed the back of my hand... three times? All three of those kisses felt different as if they all carried different meanings and actually... one of them meant devoted affection. The second and quickest one was for longevity, and thest and longest one was for eternal love. This one surprised me. It genuinely surprised me because this wasn''t something many knew, even among her own kind. And there was no way she would have learned this on her own. And the fact that she never told me about this... was even more surprising. My shock was clear on my face and she knew just from this one that I knew what she just did. And... she just shook her head with a helpless smile on her face, a warm, helpless smile. "Yes, yes. I know I never told you, but yes... I know a few things about the ancient witch traditions. But no one actually taught me anything. A long time ago, when I was just roaming around the deep forests of Diva on the southern end of the continent, I stumbled upon a small hut in the middle of a swamp. As you can imagine, how curious I must have been to find a decent hut in the middle of nowhere. I checked the house, which seemed pretty normal from the outside, but... that was quite an amazing ce. The inside of that small hut was as big as one of our rooms downstairs. And though it was modest and not much fancy, it was a pretty clean ce with only a smallyer of dust and two skeletons. One was human-like, and another one was some kind of lizard species. My eyes weren''t much powerful back then, or I should say that I was a lot weaker and dumber than now. There was nothing much in that house aside from some normal jewels, elemental jewels, some good quality old books that I believe you might already have read, and a diary of maybe thatdy. Apparently, she was also a witch from what I understood from that diary, but most of the things in there were in someplicatednguage, so I couldn''t fully understand them with my weaker eyes. Maybe, if I see it now, I could probably understand a little better, but still, most of the things in there were in some kind of ancientnguage. And, well, I already lost that diary so, can''t do much about this. Thedy''s name, who had definitelypleted her life span and be one with nature, was something like Sabrina. But, well, I don''t remember many things from that aside from some witch culture traditions from the old times." ''wow... to think she even traveled to ''that'' ce and came back alive. Her crappy luck sure is quite something. Being low but protecting her when needed like no other. Anyway...'' ? Looking at her with a sudden happy, curious, and exciting look, which made her look down in fear and hesitation, which... somewhat exined why she never told me this thing. "Those skeletons must be because of that lizard. Her familiar lizard preserved her physical body after her death with its own remaining life force. If not for that, the bodies of special creatures like energy beasts and witches mostly parish a short time after their death, as you must know. And to do such a thing, to at least preserve their physical body as itsst wish, to even be able to do such a thing, that lizard must have been of earth attribute. And a very close one to nature. Well, anyway... Sabrina. I think I might know who that person was and if I''m right... I couldn''t help but want that diary. So¡­ you know it''s inevitable now, right? I will help you find that one thing from your ''room of relics'', so don''t worry~! We can finally sort that mountain of junk you have in that room~!" Chapter 326 Our Pink Night (2) A crestfallen, helpless, annoyed, frustrated, unwaning, angry, and atst, another helpless expression passes through that pretty face while the bright smile on my face stayed the same. She never wanted to, and she had never even tried, but she had a room with a mountain full of things she had collected through her journeys around the world. She was a unique one, and from how much she had traveled around the world, I know one can imagine just how many useless things might be in a room that almost covered one-sixth part of the first underground floor. She liked collecting stuff, but she didn''t do any sort of systematic sorting, arranging, and ssification. I have seen that ce, not in person, though. But still, from what had seen with my third eye was enough to show just how great of a dump yard that ce was. And it was so messed up that one would definitely need weeks, if not months, just to arrange those things in a proper manner. She was amazing to have every single thing she had collected throughout her life on her, not losing a single thing, and I already know that fact. So, even if she might forget where she put her stuff for a while, her saying that she lost something was a useless attempt to lie. Well... I can understand why this anger and frustration wasing from this still-calm friend of mine. She might already be in tears if this was some other asion and the one asking her this might already have passed out from her beating if it were to be someone aside from me. And today was my birthday too, so she couldn''t just reject this request of mine. She knew from the moment she started talking about that hut that my rare interest would be piqued, and also that she would have no choice but to do the thing she had avoided for years. She will have fun, though. I will be there with her. In a big room, alone with her, with no other person allowed to enter, just the two of us, cleaning a mountain of junk. It will be fun~. For both of us. I also wanted to see the treasures she had collected throughout her long journeys and maybe hear some stories of how she got those things if possible. Many of them were even actually hundred-year-old stuff from other wars and war souvenirs. No one was allowed to go in that room, no one could actually. There was a powerful barrier of darkness attribute in that ce that no one could even see, much less understand. But, well, that ce will definitely be amazing. She was frustrated just from thinking about the great work it will need and even though she knew the fact that it will be far easier and more fun with me there, she couldn''t help but punch this poor table in her cute bitterness. But the table was fragile, and also some of her favorites, so she couldn''t crush it even if the situation was like this. Her anger was cute, and I couldn''t help but smile at this one. Well, she shook her head helplessly after a while and looked at me with a bitter look. "You are a bad person... very, very, very bad one. Haaa... ok. We will do that. But not now. After wee back from that ce, alright?" "Alright~. Thanks, Rein~!" It will be fun looking through her treasures, and I was looking forward to the untold stories like this diary and hut. There was still a bitter smile on her face while looking at my cheerful smile. She knew many things in there would be difficult to deal with. And there were already so many things that even if we use magic to create shelves, and cupboards, and arrange things ording to their type, kind, time, and memories, it will take a loooooong time. It was a too boring, painful, and tough thing. She never did it herself, even while adding new things once in a while precisely because those things were important to her. And among many useless things in that ce, I had seen quite some interesting things so... it will be fun~. Just this much excited me a lot and there was still the gift left if there was any that is. And this sudden hopeful look that came after my cheerful one didn''t go unnoticed by her. She didn''t believe in saying happy birthday, but giving gifts was a cultural tradition and a personal activity. The type, kind, and price of that gift didn''t matter at all, and she knew that much. And she also knew that I already had everything one would want, including her and this peaceful life, so there was nothing materialistic she can offer. She understood this much, and this was even more of a reason she was thinking of some appropriate gift for a long time now. I didn''t know what it was but I am definitely looking forward to this and she could also read this eagerness. A smile took over the bitterness she felt from having to clean up her room and shook her head. "I really thought too much about this, you know?" I definitely know you did. "You are someone who carries rare things as if they are just a bottle of normal water. You have all resources, gems, money, and everything a human could greed for. You also have power and a goal, as well as a family and me. So, what can I give a person like you, someone closest to my heart? What can I give to my darling, which would be more special than anyone else? I thought deep and long about this, as you might have already known but, that long thinking was for naught. The answer was really simple..." She smiled and took out something from her special storage space. There was an excited and hopeful smile on her face as she took out this... coin? A strange pure ck coin that seemed just like a normal coin but, there was definitely something special about this. Something very special, actually. This coin radiated pure Mana. Her Mana... "A condensed-materialized coin?" Chapter 327 Our Pink Night (3) Mana condensing-materialization. Something I didn''t expect to see at this moment. Creating solid objects from one''s pure Mana requires high concentration, arge amount of Mana, as well as a deep understanding of one''s own Mana. Though I could easily do it with Solnova without any problem, this was something I could barely do with Mana, even with my high Mana and mastery over it. It was a very difficult thing and something that few could actually pull off. I knew she could do it, maybe better than me but, why make this coin from it? Is this my special gift from her...? Not bad, actually. This definitely was special. Creating something like this requires a veryrge amount of one''s Mana. And Creating this small coin must have taken some day''s worth of her Mana, so I could only imagine just how hard she must have worked to make this. Mages used something like this as an emergency Mana supply as the condensed Mana these objects are made of could be used by the mages as they pleased with the least burden because of the Mana being their own. This was definitely a special gift but, instead of giving it to me, it was far more logical to have it on her. I knew she would need something like this in the future, so, instead of giving it to me... wait. "This isn''t the gift, right?" "I knew my darling would catch up quickly~." Her smile said it all... There was no way she woulde to some normal conclusion like this after thinking this much longer. The gift was something else. And the coin was just part of it. And this excited me even more~! Just what could she use this good amount of her pure Mana for? She seeded in creating rare stars of excitement in my eyes, and this sudden excitement I showed made her chuckle with delight. But what she did after that was even more surprising... -Oooooooong. A night-like dark light, ck but filled with starlight light, covered the hand that was holding this pure ck coin and she took a deep breath with an excitement-filled smile. "I don''t know if you have ever thought about this thing but, to mark the first special day for the two of us, I thought of a fun game that we can y forever~. The game is quite simple. asionally, we will give each other these coins made from our Mana with an origin promise. I know you know so, the oath of origin is the most powerful one. We will take this oath that as long as one gives this coin to the other, the receiver has to grant any wish of the one giving it. You must have the coin at the moment for the wish to be granted and to earn this coin... well, it''s up to us. We can make some kind of bet depending on the situation and use these coins as a reward or gift when we feel like it, or reward it for some kind of aplishment. The one using their coin can ask for absolutely any~thing. Unconditionally. It will be fun~, right?" "Frekin genius..." "Hmm? Padron?" "You are an amazing genius, Rein...!" It was just a simple game, but the value it held for both of us was immeasurable! I genuinely didn''t think about this, certainly not the coin thing. And to take the original oath to grant any wish one wanted... just thinking about what crazy things she could ask me or I can ask her was endless. Taking the origin oath would practically mean I wouldplete it, even if I didn''t want to. It was the most powerful, most secure, and a non-cheatable way to go about this game. This was amazing, this coin, the oath, the conditions, and the price. Granting a wish that could be anything from a small thing to something re~ally big and important. One can make others do absolutely anything and that was risky but, she will give the coins with her Mana to me, and I would give the coins with my Mana to her, and at the end, the coins wille back to us when the wish is granted. The conditions are not bnced, the one with more coins would have more advantage in this game of absolute wishing, and this made the game even more ''real''. We both knew the reason for using these precious coins that would naturally take a long time and effort to make. One''s Mana grew more difficult to condense as we grow stronger. And it was naturally up to us if we wanted to give the other personmand of our life for that moment or not. This was actually quite a well-thought thing and I really, genuinely, absolutely~ loved this game. "You are awesome, amazing, outstanding, exceptional, lovely, cool-" "Yes, yes. I knew you would love the idea~!" "Yes~! I love this~! Thanks for the wonderful thought Rein~!" "Hmmm~!" This really is exciting. Something special. Something for only the two of us. Something that is not only a blessing and curse but also a weapon. I can already think how we can use this... how I can use this ''system''. This was an unexpected and beautiful gift, this coin in my hand and the hand I was holding right now. "Thanks..." It was just like the special thing she said a while ago, which meant a lot to me, and this game thing which is even more special because it was something that would be for ''us''. She nodded happily, and she had taken the oath to faithfully follow the rules of this game so, I had to do the same, right? -Oooooooooong. That ck light that seemed more like the night sky filled with stars was her original energy, the one unlike my white one that seemed more like bright sunlight. It was different from my Solnova, though. This was closer to the light of pure source light than that one. My Solnova was the same color as her mes and origin energy, and the origin energy I possessed was just slightly different. Well, how to put it... let''s just say it was like daylight. The light appeared in my hand and I promised the same way she had just a moment ago and when I was finished and the light from my hand disappeared, something we both expected happened. -Oooooooong. The origin oath lights from both of us a moment ago reappeared, became a sphere, and came before us. A small marble-sized sphere of night starry sky and daylight illuminated this small round table and a small surrounding area, and we just looked at this phenomenon. This was something that happens after a two-way origin oath, the phenomena of oath strengthening. Two origin energyes together, resonates with each other, and establishes a harmonic symphony, strengthening the oath''s strength even further. And, when the same situation happens with a group of origin skill users, when they agree upon a single thing and take an origin oath for that, a simr but even more spectacr phenomenon happens. And that one doesn''t just strengthen the oath, but also partially makes it a ''truth'' that the ''world'' oversees. But that thing, a group of origin skill holders taking an oath, is a rare asion that requires special ces to seed. Anyway, the two marbles of energy spun slowly around each other, and though there was some kind of weird sound for a moment, it strangely vanished quicker than I expected and the two spheres became one and just¡­ vanished. This thing looked quite spectacr and both our eyes were shining at this. This was beautiful... and she looked gorgeous in that dim ck-white light. I knew she had the same thought while looking at me, and it was understandable. But, as this thing didn''tst for much longer, we didn''t get the chance to admire each other for longer. Chapter 328 Our Pink Night (4) The light vanished, everything returned to normal, the night was still young, and we have found a fun game for us. It will be fun, and I''m looking forward to seeing what she asks me, as well as what I ask her. She gave me this ck coin, and I knew the ones that I give her would be pure white. And this ck and white coin thing reminded me of an old fun board game from my past life. Well, she invented a ''couple game'' for us, so I had to reward her, right? I have to, and there''s no need to even think twice about this. But, well, even if I wanted to give one of these coins to her right now, I would need two days to make it at the very least. The coin wasn''t in. There was a special pattern she herself made with both our initials on one side and beautiful designs on the other. The coin looked beautiful, and so were the finely made initials. [A.R.] This strangely looked fine~ together. So, I will need a while to make something simr or maybe better. But these initials will have the same design as hers. That would be the most appropriate thing. This was probably some of the best gifts I have received ever... And she was an amazing friend as well as something else to think about and create something like this¡­ "You know..." Her gift was something really good, and I wanted to tell her some things now that we had this whole night for just the two of us. Zoe was fine with just being by herself tonight, watching the little sleeping Anna. She also had a gift for me, but she said she would give me that one after everyone else, totally different from Anna. Anna wanted to be the first one to give her a gift and¡­ I was reaaaaaaaaaaaaly excited about Anna''s gift~! My first ever gift from my lovely sisters~. The morning will definitely be fun. But for now... "When I celebrated my first birthday with my master around three years ago, she prepared a grand banquet hall, a lot of different special delicacies, and yed harmonious rare musical instruments that we can''t see nowadays. She didn''t know much about how one celebrates birthdays, so she overdid all that and the absurd amount of food she prepared was enough to feed a small army-" "Ptff. Damn that''s... lol. Was your master some ancientdy from old times?" "She actually was. She was very old. Far older than even headmaster." "Hmm? Really?" That sudden surprise on her face was cuter than that smile under this gentle moonlight. But then, there was confusion on her face that was a really sudden change. "So? What did you do with all that food?" Instead of asking about how could she be older than the headmaster, who was more than millennia old, and anything about Zoe, she asked about the food. Something she would do and something that put a smile on my face, as always. "What do you do with food, dum dum? We ate that for the enter night and somehow managed to finish that byte morning. Do you know how divine her cooking is? You wouldn''t dare leave a single thing on the te-. Oh, right... you never ate something like that." My eyes were locked with hers. We both looked into each other''s eyes, deep within, and the way I suddenly asked that question... was enough to tell her that I had some of her dishes with me. And a smile appeared on her face as she knew that I knew what she was thinking¡­ which was actually true. "You do have it!" she eximed, mming her hands on the table with her signature ear-piercing loud voice. What can I do with that loud voice of hers? What will we do in the future? Or will I have to do a thorough soundproofing in our rooms? Damn, that is someplicated stuff. But, well, she wants to eat her cooking. Sad... "Even if I want to give you it right now, it''s not time yet, dear. But, well, don''t worry. When the timees, you will definitely have it and I assure you, the things you will eat at that time will be the best things you might have ever tasted." There was sadness and happiness in my eyes as I said that, and I really meant what I said. Not that there was any problem with her eating those wonderful things right now. It was just that I didn''t want her to eat that stuff for now. It wasn''t time yet, and she has to suffer, endure, and harden her resolve for some things. It was better for her and it will be good to build up her mental fortitude even further. So, she could tell from the rare helpless look in my eyes that there was no way in hell I was giving her the delicacies my master made like my special ice cream she had tasted twice. "Alright..." Now, the sudden excitement was reced by some hope and disappointment. She looked even cuter in this sad look, just like some child who didn''t get the toy she was hoping for. And at the same time, she was promised she would have it sometimeter. A smile appeared on my face and my hand just moved on its own as I patted her head. Her hair was straight, smooth, and silky. And as they were short, just neck long and braided in some ponytails and then intertwined in a fine design, they were cute to y with. She naturally epted my touch without hesitation, moving her head to move my hand to her favorite spots. I already know every one of the soft spots on her head and hand, maybe feet too, but yes, this girl loved my head pats. "Hmmm~. Yes... nice darling. You are thhhhhhhhe oh~. Best~~." These weird moans of hers¡­ definitely reminded me of a particr big white squirrel. Weird and totally wrong sounding but, cute. Well, this was cute, and I knew we would be having a long night filled with some of my stories like this, some of her stories, some cuddling, some hand-holding, eating some snacks and coffee, and a lot of flirting. The night should just pass like this without many special events, from what I can tell. The night was calm; the sky was cloudy; the moon was smiling down on us, a loving smile not a creepy one. Stars were twinkling, and pre-winter winds were cool and calm. The smell of forest on this rooftop was unique, and this girl, my friend, was beautiful. So, yes, envy me, you poor souls. But remember that I pray for every one of you. That one day, the heavens shall bless you with a fortunate encounter and a special person, too. May the ones on my journey be happy and the ones creating this be at least lucky enough to have the right person in their life. ... Thatst one should have been the end, but while Rein and I were talking about some ''normal'' stuff, Lucy spoke up. [[ *So master... today is your birthday and I have something for you from my creator.* ]] Chapter 329 Her Words... [[ "What... do you mean?" ]] This was something quite unexpected and the way she talked out of the blue was the first time. She mostly stayed silent when I was talking with someone like this. The way she talked so suddenly was surprising and even more, was the thing that she said. Something from her creator... something from my master? This was something unexpected and shocking and even though it was believable, I didn''t think there would actually be something like this from her. "Eon?" Rein called out, squeezing our joint hand with a sudden confused look. We were in the middle of talking about something but then I suddenly stopped so this would naturally be surpassing for her. But this thing Lucy was talking about was more important than her shock so, I needed some time alone to listen to what she had to say. Looking at her with a suddenly serious look, I said with my eyes, ''Rein, please give me a moment.'' This confused her even more but this look was sudden and genuine so she just nodded¡­ with a concerned look. She was worried now, but, I gripped her hand and she understood it was alright and I was telling her not to worry so, she nodded once again, this time with a calm smile. She was still worried but this was alright for now. Looking down with a serious and hopeful heart, I closed my eyes. [[ "You really mean you have something from grandma?" ]] [[ *Yes master. I didn''t know before but just now, I realized something. Creator left many messages in me that are to be revealed only when certain ''unknown'' conditions are met. One of them just met the conditions which were simply your birthday so I think there could be something like this for every birthday. So, I have this mental image with a recorded mental voice. Should I y it now?* ]] [[ "Yes... please." ]] I didn''t know what this would be but, at the very least, I was happy this was something from her. My eyes were closed and there was now a bright light in my mind. This was just like watching a movie with closed eyes but even more realistic than virtual reality. Her image, the one I could never forget even after forgetting everything else, appeared before me as if she was in front of me... which I knew she definitely was not. After spending so much time with her, it was too easy to differentiate between the real her that I felt from Lucy and this mental image that I was seeing right now. But still, this was something amazing. I thought I would never be able to see her again, but, I was wrong. At least, I could now see her like this. And she was smiling right now. With that same divine smile, I had seen countless times. I wanted to cry right now, but, the happy smile on my face was more overwhelming than the urge to cry. She was smiling at me, almost as if she could see me, this ''image'' could see me. [[ *Happy birthday, Eon~. I know by the time you see something like this, I would be gone and you might have also ovee that fact. I already know you will do well, and also that you know I''m always with you. This might be the first time you see me like this, and this one can''t be much longer so... this is it. Don''t worry though. You just turned twelve, and there are many years ahead of you. I don''t know if you have already met her but, she''s the one, and you will just know that from the first day, take good care of her. I believe you already gave my beloved child a name, so, thanks for that. A name of my own is something I never had myself so, I would feel genuinely happy if she has one now. So, take good care~. I know you will do fine~. Ba-bye~. Until... next time.* ]] In the end, there was a sad and helpless expression on her face, and... just like how she appeared with this white light, the white light clouded my eyes and I returned back to this state of closed eyes, seeing this usual color. It was short, and I knew she would have known about Rein from the start. As she said, I already found the one for me. And I know I will have to take good care of this little, childish, older than many, strong, smart, hot, cute, and adorable girl. She didn''t say much, and I could understand what the reason for that might be. But one thing was true... this one wasn''t thest time I would be seeing her. And... these were also some of the greatest gifts I could have ever received. My birthday has already been this amazing... and I still have a party at home. It was an unexpected one but still, I am happy... very happy to hear her voice, her genuine voice, once again. "Haaa... anyway, what were we talking about?" This was something good, I was happy, so... instead of worrying and falling into the past memories, I returned to the conversation I was having with my dear Rein. And this sudden change definitely surprised her but, well, she knew me. Changing from a face filled with tension and despair to a cheerful, genuinely happy, and bright one was no big deal for me. And though this worried her, she knew I won''t tell her anything about this one. She knew I was happy, she could feel it, and that was enough for this understanding one. Smiling with a sigh and shaking her head, she patted my head with her gentle hands. "We were talking about how you will kiss me." "...no? I definitely know we were talking about the integral form of three elemental harmonic magic circuits." My eyes were wide, and what she said definitely made me think about what she said. And I definitely have thought about it... countless times but, she definitely saw the look in my eyes after she said that. And even after I brought up the main topic, which was a pretty interesting thing too, the one on hand that involved the red word ''kiss'' was far more interesting to this girl. ''How I would kiss her... I already had some, ahem, hundred scenarios in mind for that, ahem, not that anything was stopping the new ones to pop up in my mind every day.'' "Hmm? What? What was that? hundreds, every day, and coughing in thoughts? Hmm~, I see my darling is also quite something~." She bit her lips in a genuinely seductive way, which definitely was something I know of, and the moment was also perfect for this. Not that ''kissing'' more than the back of her hand was happening anytime soon. ...hopefully. She is an alluring witch in the end, with special skills and an even more special way with the words backed up by her endless wild desires. Well, thankfully, it''s my birthday so I don''t think she will do anything so, it was alright. I can handle her flirting. I have survived hell, her sweet abyss should also be manageable. "Do you want some-" "Don''t change the topic darling~. I''m not falling for it this time~." "Some sweet, hot, fine-" "N-no! Don''t trick me with that calm smile, you bastard! I know you will say tea at the end!" "Don''t you want my special, hot, warm, fine, sweet, delicious, wet, passionate-" "Noooo you bastard! Stop that and just take out the teapot! Don''t y around like this!" "I wasn''t the one that started you know. Anyway, here. My special warm, sweet, strong, fine~ coffee. See, it''s not tea~!" "Yes, it''s not but! It''s not much different either!!" I chuckled at her angry expression which was far better than a flirtatious one and this one was more favorable to me than her leading me to think weird things. She was cute when angry and that was a fact. Her flirting gaze was fine too but, her anger and shyness were expressions I liked far better than this. Chapter 330 Her Words... (2) With a victorious smile on my face, I served her the pre-made coffee, and it was a sweet one with good quality milk, just the way she liked it. There was also a foam heart on the surface of this one, and her anger didn''t grow after seeing this one. Still, the anger was there, just as it had been. And I would neverin about this cute anger when I could see her rare red blush of anger. From our time together, I have concluded this lovely friend of mine has a total of six major kinds of blushes. A light pink of love and embarrassment, A gentle pink which would be the most normal pink everyone thinks about when hearing the word ''pink''. And this one is for genuine embarrassment. And the darker pink that only I knew about because that was the blush she has whenever I call her ''old''. She was old, no doubt about that, but whenever I called her ''old'', it was something very different. That feeling she has at times like that is something even she can''t exin but I understood it so, I liked it even more. Then there was this light red blush of cute anger, the normal red of anger, something even I fear... genuinely, and the color of total embarrassment that she has when she gets too embarrassed and goes (poof!) or something like that. Haaa... that was her, and I know she also had detailed data of blushes like this one on me. Not that I cared about that one. Just like how I loved these reactions from her, she loved some of mine. And that was just natural. Well, anyway... "We will depart after breakfast as nned. Your family will be there for breakfast and I think they also have some kind of gifts for me. We are practically part of each other''s family now, nice~ right?" She nodded with a happy expression and took a sip from the coffee and... an expression of pure bliss appeared on her face, as usual. And this one was adorable too... "Mom sees you as her son-inw, you know right? Dad also likes you very much. Grandma is just speechless after studying your diary on basic magic. So was grandpa when she told him about the fascinating things in that marvelous book. That thing genuinely is just that amazing, you know? -Sips. Hmm~. She even agreed with me that some of the ''basic'' concepts in it could even be separated as independent new mage data and made into a research paper. And even though some of the things written in that look like utter garbage just like your marvelous-looking shit, fucked up nonprehensible writing, the knowledge it contains is really something else. The thing that I liked the most in that was definitely the . Even after using those things in practice all the time, to actually think the ''fire'' or ''water'' elemental attribute can be manifested in the pure form independent of any external factors. And to think you consider that stuff ''basic'' magic... that stuff is professional-level research stuff dude~. -Sips. Hmmm~! Heavens. Not only me but my grandma and Alf who studied and copied the whole of your notebook''s notes would agree with me on this too. Those two did even practically lose all sense of time and the world just to deeply research these new things of pure element and pure magic. It is in no way basic and seeing how you left the things unfinished in that, you definitely have a whole different notebook on that one, right? -Sips. Damn~." Well... yes. What should I say now? Pure magic is an ancient concept forgotten throughout known history. Pure element is actually the pure scientific implementation of elements in their purest forms. Should I say that it''s something I specialize in as a mage? Something that is second only to runes to me? Well, it was too early for these mages who are just introduced to this new thing called pure elements and magic and I know they will take their sweet time understanding the information that was just avable in that diary. And, well, pure magic is something I''m studying to this day and will continue for the longest because all magic has a pure form and the depths of this pure magic is just as deep as the runes and truths. So... to her question, I just winked at her and she understood that when the timees, they will have it. Actually... "There are many diaries like that one. Some of them are with me right now while some are back at our home. The one with witchcraft is actually there so, in the future, if fate allows it and we have the miraculous chance to go to that ce, not the outside though, I think you can have a look at that one. You will be surprised how much is there to be a witch, the customs, traditions, and witchcraft. But, well, for now, the only thing you have is me¡­ So let''s learn slowly. You are already doing great with the (Source understanding) so, your [[( Death cut )]] will be far more flexible and powerful if you understand this onepletely. After this, we will do the [Manifestation] study and that will be even more fun than this one~." A radiant exnation covered her face as she started shaking her head in excitement and just this much showed how much happy she was. Well, she was definitely smart. Truly talented and a pure genius if I said so myself. Just like how I was overwhelmingly talented in energy maniption, Anna will be for summoning and weapon, Rein was like no other when it came to understanding night, darkness, the nature of living, her own body, and death. She was quick to understand the things that took me weeks or even months. Her mind was better than mine but not as much as my dad''s when it came to calctions, and her control over Mana was refined through real-life experience so it was almost as good as mine. Well, she knew how to kill the best. What death was. What darkness was. What life was. And also what spending her life for someone else would mean. So, she was just amazing, and also adorable. She was also a one-of-a-kind sparing partner and though we decided to have an all-out fight after a month, we definitely had a great time while fighting against each other. She was good at following instructions and because of our exceptional chemistry, we both worked best with each other. An ''absolute duo'' would be a nice name for our teamwork. Maybe a good title for our adventurer duo too. Because we both could use magic, weapons, short-range, long-range, and mid-range attacking with our weapons, skills, techniques, magic, and specialties, having each other''s back was the easiest. So, even if we don''t have any other person supporting us, we were more than enough for more than anyone or anything of a ''slightly'' higher power than usbined. Even taking down a mid-range (Indigo) ranked creature would be possible to defeat for us. But still, we weren''t that strong and experienced to have a stronger opponent than that demonic slime for now. Well... we were just starting and we will be going on an expedition to the dungeon she had found some distance away from here. It was deep in the forest beyond a ''boundary'' so sending Celes''s clones wouldn''t be a good idea. So, I will only be seeing that ce after we go there myself. And that would be our first time against real opponents. I was looking forward to that but for now... I''m looking forward to the birthday party prepared for me in the capital, as well as my dear two sister''s gifts. ''Zoe, and Anna... hehehe. What did my dear little adorable sisters have prepared~?'' It will definitely be fun in the morning~! Chapter 331 Gifts... "Big brotherrrrrr~! Happy birthday~!" She ran toward me as soon as she spotted us entering the dining room and I caught this little angel running toward me in that angelic sky-blue dress. She looked as cute as always, even more with that especially radiant smile, and when she said happy birthday filled with great genuine love, I couldn''t help but feel blessed to have a little sister like her. It wasn''t just some empty greeting. There was care, love, happiness, as well as some cute anger behind those words. "Big sister always takes big brothers first times~! We wanted to greet you first but even today, big sister was your first, right~? I''m angry~!" ''And saying she''s angry with that smile is even more extraordinary¡­'' How was she angry when there was no anger, sadness, or ''hate'' in her voice? Instead, she looked even more adorable when saying it like that. And though the way she said that was really unique... and I know Rein is smirking or has a wide grin on her pretty face while standing behind me, that context wasn''t actually false. She is my first time in many things... and I hope that continues like that. But, this angry sister of mine has no reason to be angry... "Anna~. Big sister doesn''t like saying ''happy birthday'' so you''re technically the first one to say that~. And thank you, you adorable cutie~!" Her marvelous pretty eyes widened in surprise and she shouted while looking at me. These jewel-like eyes look even more special when looking this close actually. "Really~?! I am the first to wish big brother~! Yeiiiiii! Now you will have a great day~!" "To be blessed by a such gorgeous angel! I have no doubt my day will be the best now~! Thanks, Anna~!" I hugged her tightly, rubbing my cheeks against hers and patting her small back. ''My little sister is the best~!'' It was already time for breakfast by the time we finished our morning training and lessons and came here after getting ready. The night has been long and we talked about many things in this passing night, doing stuff like flirting, chatting, academic discussion, and some debates on our worldviews. It was a fun night and the sunrise on the other side of the terrace looked fantastic. And then, after our long fun night, we went to the morning training in the underground training hall. The training was some of the things in our daily schedule that can''t be skipped even if we wanted to. If I don''t want to do that someday, she will have to drag me while if she doesn''t want to, which has never happened before, I would have to drag her to whatever ce we were going to train in. Well, anyway, we had made a proper schedule for every day and it wasn''t thatplicated and we also had a lot of time free after that. All these people in this room, from all her family and my two little sisters, knew of this morning''s training of ours. They had watched us on the first day for a few minutes but... the things we practiced were far more intense than the fight I had with Ca. Though the things don''t get destroyed and we wouldn''t need barriers, our training wasn''t something they could handle watching for long so... well, that''s that. Who would even want to watch the long magic mathematical equation practices on an absurdly big ckboard that''s enough to even put her grandma into a daze? Or a magic manifestation training no one aside from mages could even see. Or the actual spars we had that were either too slow boring and basic that it seemed we both were teaching each other as a child or toooooo fast that it would end even before they can understand what happens. That was our morning routine and something they knew they don''t want to know much about. The old ones though left us alone knowing full well that what we were doing was right and good for each other so, they didn''t interfere with this. No one disturbed us. Not here or back at my home in the capital. Anyway, that was that. Anna is the cutest. Her family that watching us from the big dining table was smiling warmly at us. Her amazing grandparents, her cool mom who has been to our house and has be best friends with the three beautifuldies of my family, and her dad... He''s amazing. Truly amazing... he''s music to be more precise. I have been to one of his shows in the capital a while back and that was... just impable~. I now knew why he was so much famous in the whole of the continent. He was just that great and his music was just that amazing. I could confidently say he was just halfway behind my master and just this muchpliment was more than enough to show just how amazing he was. Well, I was just saying from my own experience. I know master never actually yed all the music she knew. She hasn''t shown me the extent of many things but I know she had already given me so many hints and information that even I myself have to look through that unimaginable amount of data properly to understand it. Anyway, they were awesome people and they were smiling at us, genuinely and warmly. Rein was the same, and so was Zoe. She had the most radiant expression after Anna, and her eyes were really excited about something. I knew what that is... well, everyone was excited about that thing. But before that, we were hungry after that long training so, eating was important. There were six servants in this big dining hall for serving so, as soon as we set on our seats, they served our favorite usual things for breakfast. Anna was sitting on myp with me, Zoe on my left, and Rein on my right and they were sitting on the other side of the table. They have already wished me happy birthdays, her mom is the most cheerful one, just like my second aunt, and her dad is a mix of my two uncles. Her grandpa was just like my grandpa but her grandma... she was a mix of Ca''s and Alf''s personalities. She was somewhat fiery, more of an adventurer type. But she is also like a curious little child when ites to magic. She''s the wise one in this house but, instead of being calm, proper noble, and elegant like my grandmother, she''s a more natural, proud, yful, and cool person. Rein is just one of a kind so there was no way anything would be like her so, she is an original one of a kind. The breakfast was great and after we were finished and the room was empty after the clearing. Now that everything is finished and we were settled down... this was gift time. Giving gifts is a tradition that is just followed since ancient times. ording to folklores, many groups in ancient times worshiped the strongest person of the tribes, the kings. Their birthdays have been considered to be the greatest days of their lives as they were born on that day. The world was blessed by their presence on that day. And these days are the day of their origin. So, the subjects of these rulers gather together and offer their kings several offerings on this special day. They gave their kings ''gifts''. And this tradition carried on from those old times to the following days. People continued worshiping the ruler, the strongest as their guardian, offering them different gifts on special asions, and when the proper aristocratic society or something simr was established, the birthdays of the kings and rulers were considered special and were dered national holidays. On these days, the royal ces are open to the public for a few days and the noble people give their sincere gifts to the rulers. This started maybe even before the men were present if we go by the Dharmic Evolution theory that exins genesis. But, well, that is just the theory in the end. Anyway, the tradition of giving gifts had been present from the oldest times. And this tradition of gifts continued even now, to this very day, and I know it will be followed by the civilizations of the far future. In today''s modern society of this world which is far more diverse, special, proper, and advanced, the tradition of gifts is still something practiced bymoners or even the slum folks, to the aristocracy and royalty. Giving a gift is a tradition but what you are giving and to whom you are giving these gifts depends on variousmon and umon factors. Commoners and those who have even the most basic of houses and resources celebrate the birthday of their children and give them gifts. The children grow up and give their parents gifts when they be somewhat understanding. I won''t say the world is just peaceful, ideal, and perfect. There are people who kill others just to find some demon-summoning statue just to cause greater carnage. Many go hungry and die from theck of a single water drop in some areas. Discrimination, status, wealth... power, are truths of this world and if one is strong enough, wealth is obtainable and vice versa. The world may have greater technology, the presence of magic, a medieval setting, greater life expectancy, and peace but that was only the truth of the surface. [[ *Master... from what I have the knowledge of, and from what I have learned, I have concluded that nothing could be perfect. Even nature is imperfect and a truly perfect thing is just an illusion or lie. Well, it''s your birthday and everyone might actually know what the gifts are and why we give them, and also the imperfection of the world. So... you shouldn''t worry, right?* ]] Lucy... well, that''s right. [[ "Thanks..." ]] Well, the things I care about are with me. Thinking about things like others, and the world is already useless. So... this little angel of mine is smiling mysteriously. Everyone is holding back theirugh while looking at her proud expression. There''s also a gift wrapped box in her cute hands, just like everyone else. And these people were looking at each other with apetitive gaze as if to see whose gift I like the most in thispetition. But Anna, who knew she will be the undoubted winner of thispetition with her small pink gift box, was standing at the dining table, with a proud expression, her hand on her waist, and a big proud smile on her face. ''This little girl... haaa... well, she will be the winner anyway. There is no doubt about that question. But... what is there in this pretty box~?'' Chapter 332 Annas Gift~! I couldn''t believe my eyes as soon as I saw the thing as soon as I opened her gift. I... couldn''t. My eyes must be ying tricks on me. ''Y-yes! That''s the only way to exin this... this...'' This thing that we all saw as soon as the box opened was something none of us had expected. Well, I did think about something like this but, this... this... This was far beyond my expectations. This was just... adorable~! I even checked and rubbed my eyes a few times to check if the eyes that had seen far more than reality were working properly right now. This was just that amazing... I looked at this adorable angel who was standing on the dining table, looking down on all of us, her head held high and with a cute, proud expression. I looked at her; she met my eyes, and I pointed at the heavenly treasure in this box. She understood what I was asking and nodded with confidence. Just this one bright smile and joyous nod were enough to shake every one of us. Just like how I was shockingly looking at her, all of them were also looking at this box. They might have thought that their gifts are the best in this giftpetition of theirs and even while knowing just how much adored this little girl and that her gift would undeniably be the best in my eyes, they still had hope. Anna was a little girl. She might be my favorite, but the gifts were far different things. If they could just prepare something better than this little girl, then thepetition was just among the big ones. But this gift, the gift in this little insignificant box that was just a thirty-centimeter long twenty centimeter wide t rectangr box, was something that far shattered their expectations and view of this little girl. They had only seen Anna as a young little girl who was although special and gifted, had no current special talents. But they were wrong... Not many knew this, even in our estate, but Anna liked drawing, painting, and embroidery. I had only heard about that and seen some small pieces that she made for fun, but they sure were good. She also made some of her dolls and made designs on them with her own hand. The dolls in her room all looked amazing, so good that no one would even think that they were remodeled by this little girl. So, I knew she was just... amazing. But the work on those dolls and this... this piece was far beyond professionals. This one was just... marvelous! There was a pink handkerchief in this pink box¡­ Made of think and good quality material, covered with a rich golden color paint print pattern, which was covered with a silver thread embroidery on the inside and borders of this pattern, and atst, a marvelous looking red heart made of A to Z. The golden pattern on the pink surface looked pale but enchantingly beautiful. They looked printed at first nce, but when looked closely, you can see the impable details of every brush stroke that was so perfectly made it looked just like machine work. This permanent golden paint was a special and rare product. A costly one too, from what I know. Not that getting it would be anything difficult when you have a mom like ours. It was a special magic painting that didn''t fade or get destroyed after a few moments of its application. The silver threads used in it were also simr to this gold paint. A special thread only used in super high-quality clothing for perfect finishings. The red thread of the heart and all A to Z letters was a normal high-quality thread, but the way they were made... there was no way even I could do something like this with one try. I don''t know if she came up with the whole thing herself, but this special handkerchief was something she made with her own little hands. Materials were no big deal for her. She can ask any maid or butler and she would get even high-level artifacts. But this is definitely something she herself made. I could feel this from every stroke of the golden paint, every thread of this embroidery, as well as this wonderful design and concept. There was a meaning behind this A to Z that this red heart was made of. Something that this little one definitely didn''te up with on her own. ''Zoe... really, you two...'' I had the best sisters that I might actually not be deserving of. Anna used a pink base because, well, it''s her favorite color, so she just liked that as a base. The golden color of the designs resembled my hair. Maybe some light strokes resembled grandpa and mom''s hair color too. The silver used with gold was the perfect color to go with the golden. ''Andstly, that red heart made with alphabets¡­'' Name¡­ Something one is identified with. And if there''s a name, there would be initials for that name, right? Whatevernguage, when understanding it in the main basguage of oneself, we would start these names with A to Z. And making the heart with that very A to Z without leaving anyone... ''I interpret it as keeping everyone and everything I experience in my life close to my heart or in my heart.'' Everything in life teaches us something and even though we would naturally forget most of the things, when we are living that moment, we should keep those things in our hearts, or something like that. Well, it was deeper than just this much but, Anna didn''t know. This idea was amazing, and she made it as the finishing touch of this already marvelous gift. Anna made this one. For me. For no one but me. Not everyone knew about Anna''s innate talents and she was the main child everyone can freely y with. She mostly doesn''t do things that are too difficult even though she can do them better than professionals. She had never made anything, especially for anyone. She knew how to do things, but she had never actually given many gifts, even on the birthdays she had consciously witnessed. She was no reincarnation like me. She was just a six-year-old child with immense, innate talent and potential. But¡­ she was just a six-year-old kid. And this was her first handmade gift ever... My gift. No one would believe Anna made this. The same six-year-old girl that everyone loved with their whole heart. But she definitely made this one herself. And this is marvelous~! I took the handkerchief out from the box with shaking hands and everyone still had their eyes glued to this one. There was no way we can actually look away from this one. This was just that amazing. The feel this handkerchief had was just divine~. This was just that amazing. Something I never wanted to change from its current appearance. This was my first-ever gift from my little angelic sister. And this is a handkerchief, so I wanted to actually use this instead of just keeping it as a decoration. I wanted to use this handkerchief. Now and forever. ''But if I use it, it will be damaged or will stain, or maybe this beautiful work might also be ruined because of something weird.'' I had to protect the current state of this marvelous piece of divine art. But I needed the creator''s permission for that. But before that... Standing up from my chair and gaining the appropriate height for this little girl standing on the dining table, I warmly hugged my little angel. She knew just from this much just how much I loved this gift. And truly... this was wonderful. She is talented, maybe more than we were estimating. And as she grows, and her powers bloom, she will have many difficulties in her path. Well, we all are here for her, so there''s no need to worry about this little one. She was hugging me back, her eyes closed, and I could hear her cute heartbeats. "Is it okay if I put a spell on this one so that it never damages and I can use it forever?" "Hehehe. Why is big brother even asking me that~? It is your gift so you can do what~ever you want with it. I will naturally be happy if big brother uses it forever~!." And with an even more cheerfulugh, she released her hands from my neck and returned. She was standing on the table so she was somewhat taller than me right now and as I also released this hug and she took a step back, she almost lost her bnce and was about to fall but... Well, how can she fall when I was right here? I caught this little girl from her waist and¡­ being on top of the table wasn''t good for kids. So, lifting her from her high ground, I just put her back on her chair and gave her a forehead kiss. She had a confused face as to why I just put her down, but, well, her show was already over. She was the star of this gifting session. Her gift had been already been judged superior to theirs, so they had a bit of sad expression, but they knew something like this would happen. I knew they might have wholeheartedly prepared something best from their side, but this one gift, the very first thing created by my little sister, would always be the best gift for me. And Rein''s one would be after that. I didn''t know about Zoe''s gift and she already decided to show it at the end but, I could feel that she knew she couldn''t beat Anna this time. Anna was just that amazing. But she was still excited about the very first gift she would give someone in her life. I hope it isn''t something too amazing, but I knew her the best, so I knew she understood the normal and abnormal of the world. She is my second dearest sister, after all. And even though I say it like that, she is even more precious to me than Anna in certain aspects. Her gift would naturally be amazing, but there were these adults and everyone back at home before her. I had already put one of my best original enchantments which takes me a month to prepare on the handkerchief. The enchantment of (Eternal sustenance). This handkerchief will now return to this state, whatever happens. Even if it ispletely destroyed and just a thread of it remains. It was some of my greatest spells. And I only had scripted a handful of these specific enchantments. But using it on this one is definitely worth it. I was happy and they could feel this endless happiness of the moment on my face. Anyway, Anna''s turn was over now, and things calmed down after everyone returned to their shocked expression. The youngest in the room, Anna, had given her present to the birthday boy so, the cycle now shifted from youngest to the eldest. And from the old ones present, Rein''s wonderful grandmother stood up first, a proud smile bigger than Anna covering her face. She was excited about this and this really would be quite fun for all of us. We all knew her and as a former ranked adventurer as well as the duchess, there was no way her gift would be anything less precious than a young girl''s handmade handkerchief. Not in practical value, at the very least. Anna''s gift was an iparable and invaluable treasure to me. But, well, I was also excited to see what she will be giving away as a birthday gift to me. I had a vague idea of what it would be and... from the looks of it; I was right. Chapter 333 A Usable Sword She took out a smaller box than Anna. This box... definitely looked better than hers though. There was a proud expression on her pretty face, just like Anna. And she was confident in her gift. She was probably one of the mostpetitive ones in this family and even though she couldn''t get first ce, her eyes screamed that the second ce is just made for her. She was more like a child right now, instead of the wise ''sorceress of metals'' she is praised as. It was fine though, it was a cute expression. The box in her hand was dark purple, a royal purple covered with golden patterns that screamed of containing something very costly. The bird wing-shaped lock of this box looked very well made and just the value of this box was in some gold coins from my understanding. But the box wasn''t the gift, it was the thing inside it¡­ And we all knew it, so, she just handed the box to me without much speaking and I gulped a mouthful of saliva at the thought of what this could be. She was a master craftsman, someone who had created some of the very famous pieces of essories. And this small box could be nothing but some small essory. Maybe a ring? That was the most likely thing to store in a good box like this one. I was excited and not because this would be something extraordinary. Well, no¡­ I already had some out-of-the-norm essories that will help me in the future and they were made by my master so there was no need to even think about the craftsmanship and powers of those things but... this one would be special. My very first gifted essory from someone, something I would love to cherish for a long time. So, with anticipation-filled eyes, I prepared myself and opened the box, and everyone glued their eyes to the small box. And just as we thought... "Wow... grandmother. I didn''t think about this one. But wow... actually. This is quite good?" She could feel the surprise and everyone else was the same. In the small hand-size ring box a pin wasying on a beautiful blue pillow. A beautiful silver suit brooch pin. It had a pointed sharp thin tip with beautiful micro carvings. And they looked too precise and professional and so amazing that I genuinely thought they were made by ser mechanics''. But the beautiful patterns on this thing were even greater than that. One end of this pin was a sharp tip while the other end was the essential part of this one. A finely made silver crown covered with beautiful colorful small jewels. This crown-like design looked spectacr and so was the special-looking jewels on it. This crown... I didn''t know what but it looked like the handle of some sword while looking thoroughly with my eyes. I used the long-range vision of my red eyes, and looked at the wonderful structure of the craftsmanship of this thing and couldn''t help but wonder just how great this essory was. I actually understood the efforts and feelings put behind this spectacr pin as a fellow ''creator'' and¡­ I didn''t actually have anything like this one. Yes, I had a lot of rings and stuff from the artifact room of our tower but not a pin brooch like this one. The craftsmanship of this thing was amazing. The pin itself couldn''t be a normal essory either. The sharp tip of the pin reminded me of a finely forged rapier and by looking with my blue eyes... I was even more surprised by its information. ''Three eyes...'' ============ [Arina''s gifted pin] ¡ï¡ï¡î ---> A fine piece of essory made from fine alloys of different normal ores and magic iron. ---> The tiny jewels used in the sword are Mana crystals and just the fact that they used that many Mana crystals show the creator''s desire to make this thing exceptional. ---> Naturally, as you might have already thought, this one has the skill [Form release] that turns the pin into a fine sword. ---> The Mana crystals used in this one are mid-low quality. Something definitely amazing. ---> The crafting of the de itself is nothing less than a master cksmith''s work and in terms of artifacts, though this would just be a normal (level-6) sword, when used with its innate magic amplification, it can be used as a good magic sword that can rival (level-9) artifact sword. ---> The harmony of metals used in this one is amazing. And the resulting alloy is two times stronger than magic iron. ---> Today is a special day for you so have a nice day. And don''t foolishly forget to thank this greatdy who made this fabulous and amazing thing. ============ ''No way you just gave this stars... really? That good...?'' Now, there was even more need to use this pin sword for normal uses. This bastard skill of mine rarely gave stars to things others made and I had tested it all of the time I have been here. From the time I had obtained this little baby-like skill, it had always only given stars to the things that were more than just outstanding. Even many of my own creations sometimes didn''t get any stars. And the things that do get the stars are just that much exceptionally good~! Back when I checked the de Ca used, the red de during our first fight, the finely made (level-11) artifact, it deemed it unworthy of any stars. And most of my master''s things are beyond itsprehension for now so it rarely had any stars for the things my master made. The highest I had seen from this little one was six full status and the thing that it gave those six stars is the golden fruit pendant I am wearing. Aside from that, even the standards for a five-star thing are too high for it. I don''t know on what criteria this little skill of mine gives these stars but if it gave this gifted pin stars then it meant this was just that good. Even the choctes from the branch manager sir Lucius were three and a half stars in this one''s opinion. And if these precious stars that even a (level-11) finely crafted weapon couldn''t get were given to this normal magic rapier sword, there was no way this one was something ordinary. Taking out this small pin and holding it with my two fingers, I turned around to the other side of the room. Anna was sitting with me¡­ obviously. She might get hurt if not careful with this sharp de. So, I just turned around and the beautiful grandma was pleased to see how casually I caught onto her creation''s functions. And Rein knew about this too. She had seen the information about this special needle pin brooch and a simr excited expression was on her face too. Her grandpa probably also knew about this one so, there was a happy smile on his face. He didn''t have as muchpetitive spirit as her and that bnced the two of them. They were cute and I really liked them but, right now, this sword was the topic. Chapter 334 A Usable Sword (2) They all knew by now that even though I was a pure magic archer, I knew a good bit of swordsmanship. And they also had seen me fight with Ca so they knew I used my arrow/spear/sword Asta. When used as a sword, it was just like any normal rapier sword. Asta can change the size so it made her a cute one that can be used for multiple things. But even she can''t turn this much small just yet so, having something like this was really convenient. I held the pin, channeled some Mana, and activated the skill of the essory by saying its name. "Form release." As soon as I said this, a small metallic silver light came out of the pin and the pin turned into an appropriate rapier-sized sword. And just like the small version, this one was also spectacr looking. The micro designs that were on the pin shaft of the small version were not on this big de and the small Mana crystals that looked amazing were just some small decorative stones on this sword''s handles but this sword... definitely had a good feel. This wasn''t the work of any master cksmith but a work of a better-than-master-level craftsman. "Good right? That thing took many of my nights. I know this one is more than good enough for the second ce, right~!" "This one is... just amazing, grandmother. I really~ loved this one! Thank you. Really! I''m an archer and many might just give me a bow but, to give this wonderful sword... unique, and something a true adventurer like you would do. This is really as special as Anna''s gift but, yes... this is more than just amazing." I had a radiant expression and she shouted in excitement after seeing this genuine expression on me. And we allughed at this old grandma. She really was quite something. ''It''s fabulous...'' ''Yes. Something I didn''t have.'' ''No way... really?'' ''Yup. Asta can''t shrink this much just yet. So this one is very useful. I can cut apples with this one anytime and anywhere~.'' ''...apples? Well¡­ weird. My Eon, that was a bad joke.'' ''I know... that''s why no oneughed.'' ''Ptff... now this one was a joke.'' I sighed at her weak attempt to hold back herughter and after the grandmother, it was her grandpa''s turn. Not that something as exciting as this one happened after this. They all had already known the game was over and the rankings were clear to all of them this time. This was my first birthday with them so, they wanted to give me the best gift they could and after seeing all this excitement they had for me, I couldn''t help but vow to do my best on their birthdays. Rein''s grandpa gave me a special book that had records of every herbal and agricultural product,nd type and properties, the beasts and their natural habitats, and some ''safe'' confidential things of the north. And even though it was something I couldn''t possibly ept because of its astronomical value on the imperial scale, he insisted, saying it''s no big secret that I can''t find out on my own. This would help me in some way or another, was what he said after forcefully making me put the book in my storage space and I was helpless as well as genuinely thankful for this one. Data was always more valuable than any material thing and I can''t say this out loud so, we just moved on to the two other people''s gifts. Rein''s mom and dad... They were also good people. Pure too, if I said so. His dad, one of the greatest musicians of the continent, gave me a recording artifact of very excellent quality, filled with many of his music records and some special ones that not many knew about. This was also something invaluable to me as I just loved his music and if he didn''t give me this one today, I would have just requested something simr like this. But thankfully, this was a wonderful gift and I loooooooved it as much as every other gift. Andstly, her mom gave me something special. Something just as invaluable as every other gift and something that I might actually use at many ces. A golden ID card, not the normal ones used for identification of one''s origin and nationality or something that at least showed their affiliation to a prominent corporation like an adventurer''s association. Rein''s mom is the manager of one of the most famous people on the continent and someone famous throughout the world for Rein''s dad''s music and talent. And being the manager of such a person was naturally a super difficult task. Not only it was tiring, but it also required talent, a proper industrial mindset, and tenacity. People called her (Sky''s handler). One of the most reliable managers of the continent. She had connections in every industry in the entertainment line one can think of. She was second only to my mom in terms of connections, information handling, and human resource management, and if one wanted someone to manage something on a super grand scale, then she was one of the people others would think of. And she just gave me an unnamed golden ID card that was associated with the world music association, [Melody]. It wasn''t something that was epted everywhere like an adventurer''s license but in some ces where you couldn''t go to even while being a high-ss adventurer, like some high-ss theater, this golden ID can at least give me noble-like ess. Getting these nk IDs was difficult. Too difficult actually. Even my mom might have to wait for a while if she wanted something like this. Even Rein didn''t have this one. Not that she needed it. The value of her purple ID, the one that identified her as the direct maid of the house of Atraxia, was far more in the entertainment industry than even this golden ID. Who wouldn''t want to form any kind of connection with someone who directly served a world-ss musician and manager? So, this golden nk ID... was something that will be genuinely useful. Maybe even more than the sword, but I still showed the same excitement as her time. If this old grandma gets sad because her gift wasparatively just ''good'', I would also feel bad. The sword was amazing alright. No need to show any different excitement over something I didn''t even need anytime soon. So... that was the gifting party at Rein''s home. We had fun there. With all those fun talks and a good story of how Rein''s parents met. It was a good morning. And after that, as we had already familiarized ourselves with, we went back to the capital through the underground warp gate after our warm goodbyes. We all were excited. And my excitement was even more than all three of these beautifuldiesbined. But... different from what we all had imagined, when we walked out of the warp gate in our garden in the capital''s house, there was no one there to greet us aside from grandpa Zhen. And even he... had a tough look on his face. Chapter 335 Gift Search "Grandpa Zhen...? What happened? Where''s everyone?" The garden was empty, and he was the only one greeting us here with some other butlers of his shadow squad. They were handling the gate, so they were naturally the mage ones. But he was alone here, with aplicated expression, no less. He had thisplicated expression that was wondering how to tell what was on his mind. He wasn''t worried, and it didn''t seem like anything had happened while we were gone, so I wasn''t worried. Just that my whole family wasn''t home. Not in this home, at least. I had already used (: Scan) and they weren''t in this entire estate at the very least and¡­ now that I was looking at him, there was also something in his hand. A piece of paper? Maybe atter? Did they have somewhere they just had to go, so they weren''t here or something? If so, then... well, I can understand. Everyone was busy, and this was a weekday, so they all had their duties to attend to. But then again, where were Alf and Ca? I was in this deep thought when grandpa Zhen just shook off the feeling in his mind and just walked forward. It was still morning and our morning had gone pretty fun till now, so I wasn''t expecting something like this. I was holding Anna''s hand while my other hand was holding Rein''s. She also saw hisplicated expression, and even in her eyes, this was not normal. Anna was just confused while I looked to the other side at Zoe¡­ there was a knowing smile on her face? As if she knew what was going on and everything that would happen now. Maybe this was something good? Like, this was something that was part of their n for my birthday party? But, at the very least, Zoe was smiling, so I had nothing to worry about. I told Rein not to worry with this touch of our interlocked hands, so her heart was also at ease now. Grandpa Zhen saw Zoe smiling and shook his head like he was just helpless in this matter and didn''t understand their minds. He first came up to us, bowed respectfully, and then handed me the letter. Without saying anything more than that, he asked Anna if he could pick her up and, as confused as she was right now, she couldn''t help but just nkly nod at him. He picked her up and asked for Zoe''s hand and she just cheerfully held his gloved hand and he bowed onest time. I was still confused as the mage assassins that had set the gate also went to their guarding posts. Zoe waved her hand at the two of us, and... grandpa Zhen disappeared. Like he literary vanished, and this wasn''t stealth but more of a teleportation skill like Rein''s. So he was gone, and¡­ this was really weird. This big garden now only had some servants doing their own garden work while the two of us were here, waiting, alone. "Is this... some kind of game?" she asked as I released her hand to see what this piece of paper that grandpa Zhen gave me was. "Maybe? Let''s see what''s this..." There were actually two papers when I opened the folded one and when we looked at the first one filled with mom''s handwriting, a smile appeared on our hands. [ Hello baby~! Today''s your birthday and I wish you a very fine day from everyone~! Remember how we used to celebrate your birthday, your daddy''s birthday, and mine in our small house? I still remember how the little five-year-old you urately figured out everything your dad and I had prepared and then you even guessed our gifts, right? Huhuhu... I remember how that little baby looked when already knowing everything going on around him from those toddler days. I know you remember everything and I know how smart you are. If we prepare anything there, I knew you would just figure out everything the moment you set foot there. So~! We prepared everything in Theo''s house~! And there''s just your favorite food and some special dishes prepared by your grandma and daddy here. The main thing is over there, which is our main event we prepared with a looooooot of work. People call it a treasure hunt game nowadays, so I will also call it just that. A treasure hunt~! You are the finder and there are gifts from all of us hidden throughout the house. There is a clue for the first gift and you will get another clue if you get the gift from the first clue. This is really exciting, huhuhu! We all did our best to prepare an awesome gift from our side and I already know you will consider Anna''s gift the best, but I know you won''t be able to decide on any second or third rank~! Every one of those things is just awesome~! Especially mine. Hehehe. If you want, you can give the second spot to me, but then again, I don''t know what Zoe and Elle would be giving, so I can''t say... But! I know you will have fun in this game~! Looooooooove you baby! Do your best~! Ah! If you can''t find anyone or more of the gifts, which seems highly unlikely to me, you will have to grant any one wish of the people the gift belongs to. Ca and Alf had faith in their hiding abilities, children~, hehehe, so they even made a bet with me. But I know my baby Eon and he will find everything before the afternoon ande here to thank us all~! But, Eon, I know you already used magic to see the whole house but, after you read this one, you are prohibited from using any magic or skills. Elle is there to supervise you, so... Elle. Don''t let him cheat or if we find out you helped him or he used any magic or skills, you both will be punished and won''t be able to meet for a month~! And I mean it will all my heart so~ don''t do anything foolish and just use your awesome mind, strengths, and talent~! It''s just a fun game for your birthday so don''t worry~! Ba-bye~. -Your best mom~.] "You heard her. No magic, skills, or cheating. Ptff. This really is fun. Hehehe... I should have thought of something simr. Hiding a coin in the forest and then giving you a small clue to find it. Let''s do it next time~!" She was really excited after hearing this and I also couldn''t help my excitement on this one. They had prepared something really fun for me to y and if I think about it, this was a really good method for celebrating my birthday. I would have fun. They would be fine while doing their work and I would also have fun with Rein by my side. It was... really a good game. Rein wouldn''t do anything that could have her stay away from me for much longer. And a month-long restriction from the meeting would be like a year-long separation plus torture for her. Not that I disagree with that. It would be good for her to learn to be away from me so that she can understand the true meaning of staying together. It would also increase her mental fortitude, so it was alright in the end. We were standing in the garden, and my dear family was preparing in Alf''s house. So... what are they actually doing? ''I can''t use the skills and spells, but there were no restrictions on having Celes''s help, right?'' And just as I was thinking of this thing, to pour cold water on these thoughts of mine, Celes spoke up in my mind. [[ Sorry... master. Little Anna and Zoe just requested me not to help you this time. Their pleading eyes were soooooo innocent and pure that I couldn''t help... I''m really sorry master... hick. hick. I-if you really want... t-then please feel free to ask for anything. I will just... t-tell them I couldn''t help it. Or j-just apologize... ]] ''This little pure one... they sure know how to trick someone even though they are pure.'' One of Celes''s clones always stayed with Anna and Zoe so they can talk with her through them and then she would tell me if there was anything important. Her main body stayed with me most of the time and that was the most ideal, as her clones were something that was more ''normal''pared to her. So, as she said, they masterfully tricked her into agreeing to their request, and... the sudden helpless look on my face was all it needed for Rein to understand that they had dealt with myst option, Celes, already. Chapter 336 Gift Search (2) Rein was already happy, and the excitement on her face was even more than mine. ''Does she wanna watch me find all those hidden special things? Well, from her perspective, it will definitely be fun but, that aside... what did mom hide for her to be that much confident when saying she would be better than others? Considering that crazy nature of hers, and definitely knowing what she was capable of, the possibilities were endless. I won''t even be surprised if it is a divine artifact or something simr.'' I know she had worried about not being able to give me the best things in the past, and the sad look in her eyes is still fresh in my mind. But things are different from back then. I knew Rein couldn''t feel the excitement and joy in this letter as well as I did. And everyone else would be the same. The bond mom and I had was something too unique to bepared to even the bond dad and I have. Dad is dad. Someone I will always want to look up to and learn everything I could from him. He was awesome and he will be even more awesome and that much was a fact. But the bond between mom and me... it was something too precious for me. Her actions might be misunderstood by others many times but, that wasn''t something they actually try to understand from her point of view. Any mother in her ce would want a normal life for her child. At least most would, from my point of view. But she still did her best and allowed me to learn those dangerous things that the children my age just read and marvel about. Well, in the first ce, what would you even expect from a mere child who isn''t even six years old? My growth had been faster than others my age and just the fact that I was able to use the most basic magic at that young age was absurd. It wasparable to the geniuses of the nation or the continent. Like those transcendent beings that appear in fantasy novels. She just wanted to protect me back then and her reason for restricting many things for me was better in the end. I could never think negatively of her, even if the world was thinking otherwise. And her actions after I came back had been far better than her past self. Maybe she learned many things after Anna but, she was certainly the best mom for me from the start and will be in the future. Anyway... Rein is excited, and from the looks of things, this first clue I have is written in grandmother''s handwriting. She had a unique way with words and I know I''m stillcking to write the things that I want to convey through words like this. [ Warm wishes to my dear Axion for being able to survive for twelve years in this harsh world. You have always been like the first rays of light that shine upon us, guiding us on our separate paths, waking up the asleep ones, and giving hope when feeling despair. I have watched the ones around me praising the young you, I have watched the one''s around me getting stronger without meeting you, and I have watched the growth of my family that might have been too different without you. I have watched them having diverse emotions while just talking about you. Happiness, envy, sadness, hope, positivity as well as negativity. I have watched all this, as well as felt that myself. You are the most unique one in this family, despite everyone being a weird one themselves, and I know everyone would agree with me without a single thought. I love you and thank you for returning to us. Returning to the family I love so dearly. You protracted, just like you said. And you returned, just like you promised. For that, thanks again. ] As I said, special. She thanked me, which was unnecessary, and I know she actually meant everything from just these words. She was amazing, with this letter, as well as the way she gave clues about the gift''s location. "Hmm... your grandma sure has great writing skills. I see why every book said she was famous for her letters in her past days. It''s neat, pretty, gorgeous, shows feelings, and makes me feel the actual warmth of the writer. It''s amazing... but, where''s the clue for your gift in this?" She looked amused by looking at the letter but she still failed to understand the very simple things written in this. This one just straight out told where the treasure is hidden... I mean where my gift is. Looking at her a smiling warmly, I stored the two papers in my storage crack and moved to the eastern side of the estate. It was the very end of the left side of the garden. A flower field of grandmother''s favorite flowers, (Hues of the sky). There was a statue of a holy maiden holding an overflowing water vase. This was the ce that grandmother loved the most in the whole of our garden as well as the first ce where the rays of the morning sun touches our estate. And just when looking at the other side, we can see the windows of most of our personal bedrooms where sunlight greeted us in the mornings. First Anna, Ca, her mom and dad, my mom and dad, our grandparents, and thenstly mine, the terrace room. Zoe''s room wasn''t here yet. There was a long discussion on where her special room should be while she temporarily stayed with Anna and both of them just wanted to be together forever but... that was no option. Mom insisted she would personally prepare the greatest special room for her just beside Anna''s room so there were constructions going on beside Anna''s room while the two of them temporarily used a different room on the first floor. Anna''s room was fine for ying and the tea party thing but, things continued for day and night so even with the absurd security of her room that included super high soundproofing, both of them slept together in a different room. I knew mom was nning on making a door between those two rooms for them to actually be together but they would certainly get separate rooms. Well, that wasn''t the point right now... "And you know this just from the words like first rays of light and house?" "Hmm. If you read the letter carefully, you will know that she could have worded that thing a hundred times better but she went with the simple words. Knowing her, this was more like going too easy on me or just outright telling me the answer. So~ like my dear grandmother..." There was a small box just under this statue behind the bushes. There was a letter like the previous two ones and the box wasn''t much big either. It was a cubic box and unlike the normal boxes of jewelry, this one was surrounded by high enchantments, and the box itself was made of blue mithril, a magical metal that was super hard to find. But, aside from the enchantments that might not be visible to normal eyes, the box was too ordinary looking. A simple silver-blue box that I picked up from the ground and held in my hands. A gift from a marchioness. Patriarch of one of the old families that had existed for hundreds of years. A blessed one that loves me dearly. What would her gift be? And what was this thing that she needed a special box like this one just to store it? Like, this box had some of the highest levels of enchantments I could create and the thing it was made of was also specially used to store things that radiated high energy into the surroundings. So... what was in this thing? Definitely not something any elder would give to a twelve-year-old, right? Rein observed the box and was simrly confused, but, there was now an even bigger smile on her face. This metallic box that had a smooth clean surface and shone with a blue hue looked spectacr. Just the box was a good gift but, there was something inside this and she was excited just from thinking of possibilities of the things that might be there. I was excited too. There was also as big of a smile as her on my face. My heart was beating calmly so I was alright but, even I wasn''t expecting to see something of this level as my birthday present... Chapter 337 Grandmothers Gift -"A... divine stone..." "Unbelievable..." As soon as I opened the box, a blinding light escaped the box, and the light was truly blinding, but Rein and I could see the thingying in the box finely. An egg-shaped small stone almost Anna''s palm size was securely sitting in this special box. The blinding light that escaped the box was rainbow-like, a mix of countless different colors. This stone... I knew quite a lot about this one and this was my first time seeing one myself like this. [[ Master... this... ]] [[ "Yes. A stone of concentrated pure energy. A phenomenal mineral that contains the ability to strengthen the origin connection of those with the powers of [Origin skill] and their respective origin." ]] It was natural Celes would sense what this was. It was something like her, after all. A mineral created by mother nature himself. Something that just appeared in nature by itself. In random locations. At random times. It stays there for a certain period, and if not preserved in a certain period of time, then it just bes one with nature. Vanishing in thin air, just like it appears. This was my first time seeing this thing. And just the fact that I was seeing this was enough of a reward. But... this was mine? My birthday gift? "Damn..." A holy stone. A natural mineral made of a high concentration of natural energy. It is believed that these stones appear in areas with a sudden high-energy concentration bombardment or space collisions. Special stones that appear in random ces after these catastrophic moments and after a while, they disappear as their energy empties out in the surrounding. Sometimes, adventurers find these things in random forests, dungeons, orbyrinths. They are more frequently found in remote ces with no frequent human presence, so wanderers that roam the world mostlye across something like this, if they are lucky. They are also found in ces like in some ancient abandoned cities, inds in the middle of the sea, high mountains, or... maybe sometime in your house? Well, the appearance of these things was too rare, so there hasn''t been an incident where this thing appeared in ces with human activities. I have read about these things and the most basic use of these stones is to train your origin skills. As the stone is made of pure natural energy, if one properly trains in the presence of this stone, the radiating natural energy will help change the closed-off environment and if you use proper breathing methods to absorb the surrounding energy, you can progress in the origin skill''s stages. But this is something rarely known by people and no book contains this knowledge as these stones are so precious that even if someone manages to secure them, they don''t have legal permission to sell them off to anyone other than the ind of magic''s wealth, in other words, the academy. You can keep it as a family heirloom and wait for a child with a rare gift like [Origin skill] to appear, but selling it is a crime punishable by exile if found out by the authorities. Few know the existence of this stone, and maybe I would be the only one who actually knows how to properly use this precious mineral. The great forest of Kamut is a ce filled with high-density special Mana and natural energy. That was a ce too bnced for something like this to appear. Master never needed something like this so she had never used it. But she still taught me how I can properly absorb the energy of this thing if I evere across one. I had thought that I woulde across this one at least once. I was going to join the academy, anyway. The only ce that trained the best of the best and the ones with origin skills were treated even more special. Anyway, I now had this divine stone in my hands. As a birthday gift. From my grandma. I don''t know if it''s true or not, but I have definitely heard that there''s a secret ind in the north that periodically produces these stones. That ce must be quite a dangerous ce to survive if that were true, though. But... this phenomenon is just a momentary thing in the end. Maybe the rumors were true? But giving it to her grandchild, who just turned twelve, was definitely quite something. -p. Closing the box with a surprised smile on my face and surprising my friend beside me, I took a deep breath and just stored the box in my white crack. It is a superb gift and something I won''t be using for a while. The divine stone is only usable until someone reaches the Advanced Origin mastery. The reason they are specifically sold to the best educational institution that trains young ones. I am at the upper-intermediate stage right now, so that means I can only use this stone till I reach the higher stage of this level. But... I had just reached this level a while back and it hasn''t even been a month since then. I have to first grasp the more profound functions of Lucy and I am still not the best with my eyes, heart, and white crack. I haven''t even gone through the true origin awakening. So, this one could help me with that, and actually... this one is a really, really amazing gift. Rein''s eyes were shining like stars while looking at that stone and box and I couldn''t help but smile while looking at her sad expression when I just stored back the spectacr-looking stone. It was actually very pretty. Anna might also love holding it... not that any one of us would let her do something that was life-threatening. Rein and I both wereparatively high-origin skill users, so we would feel attracted to this stone, just like Celes or her crow would. But, for normal people, just the high natural energy radiating from this thing would be too much to even withstand. Rein was attracted to this. And actually, she would naturally crave this stone more than I did. She had already gone through her true origin awakening a long time ago, so she can use her skills far better than I do. Her origin skill, [Maiden of dusk], was a very rare armor skill... and I know she will use that during our dungeon raid, so I won''t say much about that one for now. She definitely had some very special skills. A skill like her dark chains, which can be used as a weapon skill, defense skill, or restriction skill. The ability to travel through shadows. A teleportation ability that just had one limitation, limited travel distance. Thest of her origin skill... it was a conditional skill like my [Stark''s triangle] but the one she had was far more powerful and dangerous than any of my skills. But as dangerous and powerful as it may be, the condition of use was far moreplex than my simple stark triangle. She knew how to best use her skills and as her origin skills were primarily focused on fights and hunting or travel, my origin skills were focused on survival, sustenance, and magic archery. She had high-grade special skills and they all are skills she specifically chose after her origin awakening. ording to her, the skills she had prior to go through the Origin awakening were focused on battle and high physical and magical output. They were just too unbnced, so she was d they just disappeared and then... she made a good arsenal of skills. She had twelve skills right now, all of thempatible with her and greatly useful in most situations. Well, for now, I could have one more skill after I gained [Vital Healing] from the jewelry storest time. I was thinking of a good (Indigo) or (Purple) raked skill as myst one but I know aside from mom''s auction house, things like that aren''t sold anywhere in this empire. I don''t know when I will have my own origin awakening. Not that I wanted to even know that. When I do go through my true origin awakening, most of my skills would just be one with my existing skills, and gain new abilities. Maybe my heart will gain the healing power while the appraisal just vanishes and the white crack would have the functions of a ''mana shield'' and ''energy burst''. Well, I am looking forward to that day and I know it will be a long time before I do go through that, as the master had said, but for now... I received my first gift. And even though she had this sad expression, she won''t be having this precious gift that grandma gave me. It was too precious for me to not have. So... I just patted her head and opened the piece of paper that was with the box. She understood from just the head pat that her absurd desire to have something that precious was really absurd. She just shook her head and smiled at me, and I smiled back with a helpless expression. She was strong, but still, I know she will grow and be far stronger even without a shortcut like this one. Thetter... this one had the handwriting of grandpa. ''Are they going from elders to children in decreasing order or something? I''m getting even more excited for mom''s gift now~!'' If I consider that they all knew what gift the other was giving and I knew my dear mom would know at the very least so, what was there that was even more precious than this divine stone? There was only one way to find that one out. Reach her gift and get it myself... now I''m worried it will be difficult. Chapter 338 Grandpas Gift ''Huuu... let''s just keep going and see.'' Clearing my mind, I looked at grandpa''s letter. [ Your grandma said everything, so there''s nothing much for me to say. They prepared this very fun game and I should warn you, but Alf and Ca poured all their minds and heart into hiding your gift that they prepared with all their very being. I know you will find it anyway. This is just a game at the end. Your grandma''s gift is quite extravagant and even I didn''t think she will give that precious stone to you. You''re quite lucky, young boy. Getting the attention, love, and trust of Griz was a heavenly trial for me, but you passed that without any problems. Just know this means that she adores you as much as your mom does, even if she doesn''t show it. The idea of this game first came from Haze, and then after Alf brought up how he would give you his treasure, El came up with the idea of this treasure hunt. Your academy has this thing as one of their most famous examination ways, so we even thought to do it on other''s birthdays. But then again... not everyone is as amazing as you that we would need this kind of thing so, we ended up just making this treasure hunt the main event for your birthday every time. Not that we know you will be here or not but, at least however long we have you, we might just do things like this. Well, anyway, my gift is nothing grand like others and I don''t think a mere knight like me can have any precious things like others. What I have is... I think you already know by now, right? ] "Hmm? What did he mean by that...?" She was confused by how he just ended the letter like that, but, yes... as he said, I already know. Looking at my confused friend, I smiled warmly. It was cute when she didn''t understand things. The face she makes is cute. "Zahavi Heliox Von Ethan Griffin, the name everyone knows. Zahavi Zale Mavis, the name he had when he was just a pirate of Mavis. There''s only one thing both of them have inmon. His name. He is a person who is just himself. A unique knight that was born in the sea, raised in the sea and had been with the ocean in his early life. Then he found the reason to be onnd with the one he loves for his entire life. But he didn''t abandon his people in any situation. Neither while he was on water nor when he was onnd. As someone who had nothing, and just the family that he had been with, he put his people before anyone or anything. He grew strong for others, learned, trained, went through hellish things, and till this day, he has lived for those he cherishes. He wasn''t born a noble, nor he is anything more than a knight. The best thing that a true knight like him can give to the most precious young child whom he had admired since a long ago... is his selfless trust and people. ...his people." Grandpa is an awesome person and now that I knew a few more things about him, I admired him even more than before. He was awesome just from his known stories, but after I listened and read about the things that no one knew about him, I couldn''t help feeling blessed to have him as my grandpa. And this was a really fine gift. He outright gave me the authority to utilize any person under him. And anyone who knew him reading this letter was enough to understand this fact, most people at least. There was a calm smile on my face and she also understood what my gift was from myst words. She was surprised as she heard that, anyone would actually. My grandpa was a King ranked knight and just this much was a big deal. His full support meant he would help me, even if he had to sacrifice everything. The same for all of his most trusted aids. His people. The ones he has saved as well as spent his life with. Well¡­ this was a nice gift. I can definitely use their help with some things I might require in the future. Something like a dungeon exploration or daily training. Or maybe even some mecha testing. They would be good test sub- ahem. I mean, they would be good helping hands. Anyway... this was it. I was genuinely happy to have such a wonderful gift, and I know I will not use any of his people anytime soon. And he was my grandpa anyway, so getting his trust as a knight was something I couldn''t express at this moment. It wasn''t something I can convey with words, but when the timees, I will be able to show it... or we will. But for now... "But what about the clue? How will you find the next gift now?" She took her time to sort out herplicated thoughts and though this gift from my grandpa surprised her, it clearly wasn''t something physical we had to find. So, how was I going to get the clue for the next gift? "Well, it''s simple actually." Smiling with an excited smile, I stored the letter in my storage crack and started walking ahead. My next destination was the training grounds at the back of this house. That open area was the ce I first saw Chry. Our future best rapier swordsman. From what I knew, the clue would be there. And actually... I was right. The clue was here. In the backyard of the house, in the big training area, which was in the middle of our house, the knight barracks, and the mage facility. Mages were training at the far back of this ce, the knights were training in the front. This looked just like any other day... well, no. This was nothing like the regr training these knights did. I have watched them these past few days I had been in this house and I knew how knights trained. They were knights, and this act was enough to deceive any normal person. But the most obvious thing about this fake training was their... "Real weapons? And where are the young apprentice knights and mages?" "They have a holiday. Obviously." I chuckled without saying much to this smart friend of mine, who grasped what I was doing here and what was going on in an instant. And this one definitely surprised her. As it should. I just walked forward while she was stuck in her ce and she better just find some good ce to watch the show that will start now. Even I thought they wouldn''t do this moderately but, well, knights of Heliox sure are full of enthusiasm. Rein was stuck in her ce as an observer. I was walking forward in the middle of this training ground where the mage and knight captains, sir Mel anddy Niss, were happily chatting. They didn''t move or even react respectfully as they usually do after seeing me walk toward them and after this one; I knew I will have more work. Well, it waste morning, and soon it will be afternoon and lunchtime, so this will be a good game. I walked forward, and from the back, I heard almost unnoticeable footsteps. There were one hundred and twenty knights as well as fifty-one mages, including the two captains in the middle. Of them, ten knights have started their futile ambush on me while six mages have already started chanting (tier-3) spells on the other side of the ground. The conditions of not using magic and skills were for the time I was finding the gifts, but this one was different. I wasn''t finding ''gifts'' right now. At this moment, I was after the clue to the next gift that sir Mel was holding onto right now. The two of them were making a bet on how I will deal with these knights, mages, and atst with them and I knew I will at least have fun in this fun fight. Everyone in this ce was a close aide of grandpa. Grandpa Zhen was too, but he held a special standing in our little family, so he wasn''t here right now. They were people directly under him and the people grandpa might have asked to swear their loyalty to me. Well, they definitely respected him and if I was acknowledged by him, then there was nothing to worry about for them. But... every knight, mage, and even normal human knew this fact in this world: ''Respect, trust, and loyalty... they aren''t given. They are some of the most valuable emotions which are earned.'' And every knight in this ce, as well as the mages on the other side, as well as the captains, knew what they had to do to test my eligibility for being their master. Master. Someone of the same standing as the one they served with their whole heart. So, well, I will now have to fight these one hundred and twenty knights as well as fifty mages. It won''t be any serious battle to the death, though. They just wanted to see my qualifications and... I knew how I will show them what they wanted to see. Chapter 339 Fight In Backyard In an open area with a solid ground with harsh soil, small to big sharp rocks, some wild grass, and some sand, many young men were training with their special weapons a moment ago on one side. They wore thin shirts and pants that they can freely move in, and there were their special ''real'' weapons in their hands. Actual weapons made of metal and not the normal training swords of wood or something like that. They were all also training with just the weapons and not the basic strength training and running. These men had an excited expression as soon as a young boy reached the training ground a while back and when he started moving to the middle of the ground, they were ready for their ''thing''. Just like these knights with weapons ranging from diverse kinds of swords, hammers, knives, and mace, as well as bows and arrows, there were mages on the other side of this ground. Mages dressed in special mage clothes were rxed, and there was a cape unique to these mages. They were training their magic and these dark blue, light blue, and cyan-colored mage cloaks helped their Mana gathering speed and Mana recovery. These were artifacts that shouldn''t be worn during ''training''. But every one of these mages was wearing these, and there was also a smirk or excited smile on their faces. They were excited about something and as soon as the young boy was on the ground, just like these knights on the other side, their formation started changing. Some of the mages in the cyan cloaks were channeling their Mana and manifesting a spell. The front side was knights, the back side was mages, and in the perfect center of this training ground, two people, the strongest of these knights and mages were standing, chatting, and evaluating the boy as well as the knights on the ground. There was a smile on their faces, but the surrounding atmosphere was serious. They were all serious, and they knew what they were doing and they were excited about what they will see from this small training test fight. The boy, even after knowing all these things, was just moving forward without showing any hesitation or fear. There were hundreds of knights, ranging from [Rank-2] to [Rank-4], while the mages on the other side were (tier-3) and (tier-4). The mage in the middle, the captain of the mages behind her, was wearing a purple cloak, and she was a (tier-7) mage. The knight beside her, the knight in full armor and a good single-edged de hanging behind his back, was a [Rank-6] knight. He wasparatively stronger than the mage beside him, but he was a human with all the normal human features, while the mage was an elf. Her racial long pointed ears and enchanting beauty were the most astonishing thing on this training ground. The two were the strongest in this ce and when they saw no reaction from the obvious actions of the knights and mages from the boy, they were actually... impressed. And what happened as the attack truly started surprised them even more. The knights training in the front of the training grounds all turned around when the young boy crossed them and was exactly in the middle of the two captains and the knights, and prepared their weapons. The archers fired their arrows while the weapon users who used two-handed weapons or throwables'', threw the weapons with actual force behind them and this was enough to cause harm to any strong person. Some of them were disappointed when they didn''t get any strange reaction from the young boy, but the captains were different. Their smile deepened as they saw the small smile on the boy''s face before he... disappeared from his ce. As is a fake, his body turned dark and melted in shadows. This was something different from what the assassins of their house did. He didn''t use the stealth that assassins use to vanish from normal eyes but his body actually melted into shadows. The arrows, weapons, and knives flying toward him just crashed on the ground with a loud noise, and debris, sand, and smoke rose from the ground, creating a curtain between the middle area and the front. Their action was very coordinated, they were trained knight squads after all. The attacks had all targeted the vital areas of the young boy. If the weapons had so much as just touched the boy''s body, he might have been seriously injured. Though they had aimed for the vitals, there was no bloodlust in their behavior. They all had unparalleled faith in their captains that the boy wouldn''t die at the very least in this petty fight. They knew the prowess of the young boy after seeing him for this long time and they believed he was more than strong enough to detect their attacks even before they hadunched them. They also knew he would easily dodge most of the attacks but¡­ even they knew just how powerful this sudden but obvious attack was. Not every weapon was aimed at the point he was standing. Many were aimed at the possible locations that any normal high-ranking knight could think of moving to avoid the attack. But, he already knew all their minds, so the young boy had already predicted their predictions. Dodging normally was no option from the very moment he stepped foot in this ce. He knew how dangerous these attacks would be and the conclusion he reached after this simple thinking was... using his skill, moving to a different location, preparing his weapons while in shadows, and... a surprise attack. And he did just that. After the sudden rise of the smoke in the middle of the training ground, where the mages'' spell had fallen after the weapons, they started searching for the young boy in the training ground. He couldn''t have gotten much far after this sudden attack. He wasn''t some high-level mage to use (teleportation) spell, or strong enough to have an actual teleportation skill that was no less than (Purple) ranked in normal situations. But that was only what they were thinking and had spected. Though his ability wasn''t a teleportation ability like the young girl watching this absurd thing from a distance, he was definitely able to use (teleportation) a few times as well as be fine after having a (Purple) ranked skill. He was strong after all... physically and mentally. But right now, he had reached the very left of the training ground, under one of the few fine trees of this ce, and there was a fine magic bow in his hand and a quiver full of enchanted arrows on his back. Even the captains only sensed him after he had appeared on the other side of the ground. He was good. And they didn''t mean just the way he used his skills. There might be some skills that allowed one to do what he just did but there certainly was no skill that allowed the person to change positions while being the in the shadow and equip the weapons as quickly as he did. The knights noticedte but by the time they noticed him, he had already started his preparation for the attack. The young boy, the young master that they were fighting to recognize as their master, was looking at every one of their eyes with his red glowing eyes. The green magic bow in his hand was special and intimidating but not as much as his gaze. He has just turned twelve today, and all of them knew this fact. He was a young, tented boy who knew both magic and weapon wielding. He was an admirable child but, at the end of the day, he was just a young boy. Swearing their loyalty to someone else besides their master was certainly absurd but if he was sure, they didn''t hesitate to agree. But¡­ as any knight, they wouldn''t just ept him without confirming his skills. He was young, doesn''t mean they would go too easy on him. They at least had to confirm the strength their master believed in. And the look in his eyes right now, the eyes that were giving them goosebumps, was just the thing they were looking for. The bow he held was naturally amazing looking with those fine crafting that they could tell without the deep knowledge that was made by the best craftsmen. It was a green wooden bow with blue patterns all over its body. The shape was unique to the normal bows and it was more like a crescent shape than the normal bow arch. The bow was fantastic and there were two bow strings to this bow, something one rarely saw. Just pulling a single bowstring requires tremendous strength and techniques but, when there is more than one string, the power of the bow certainly increases but the difficulty of use also increases ording to it. The bow was also bigpared to a normal bow everyone used, and they could tell just from looking that this bow must be super heavy. But the young boy was handling it as normally as any normal small, strong bow. This was surprising to all eyes in this room... even more, was the excited smile on his face. From the knights to the mages at the back, everyone could see the young boy on the left side clearly, and... they hadn''t forgotten that he was their target. But this one move was surprising enough to stun them for a moment, not the captains but surely everyone else. Even the girl that came with him was astonished by all the things that were happening right now. But, she wasn''t worried about anything. Certainly not the boy. He was more than strong enough to defeat this bunch if they don''t work properly. First, they made the mistake of doing a starting ranged attack and giving him time and the perfect chance to create enough distance to have both of the attacking parties in his attack range. Then, despite being knights under one of the finest knight kings, they allowed themselves to be shocked by a mere child''s sharp gaze. They had already lost at this point but there was still a small chance ording to her. She believed if they do things right, not doing foolish things like underestimating a monster like him, and starting a closebat with perfect harmony between them, while mages supporting from the back, they could defeat him in this fight. He was definitely strong, and he was using one of his finest Bowes. A (level-12) artifact that had some special features. She had seen him use this one once in their training and even after reading the details of the bow, she couldn''t properly grasp its strength. ? But, that big frame of the bow was best when firing a lot of arrows. If you can that is. But, well, mages would be the problem anyway. This fight won''t be easy for him at the very least. He was up against hundreds of knights and tens of mages after all. And a mage was rare as well as the ones here were properly trained by an elf mage, so, they were better than average. The girl knew that, and so did the boy. He would be using the bow for the six-arrow precision fire but, the bow wasn''t here for just that purpose. The thing he would do now will surpass even the girl that probably knew the most about him after his marvelous young sister. He took out a specialnce-like arrow partner from his white storage and loaded it on the bow. The bignce visibly shrunk to the size of a normal arrow, its handle-like side with the heart-like gem at the back, on the bowstring, while the other pointed tip was on the front. The special green bow, one of its special abilities was that one can''t see the arrows fired from this one but the strong ones like the captains could see through this ability so this one wasn''t here for that. He took this arrow out because of its other ability that made the arrows fired with it uninterruptible. This was a special skill that can only be used once every day so, using it to eliminate the fifty mages was a good result from his point of view. He loaded his special Asta, the arrow closest to a divine artifact, took off his sharp gaze from the knights, looked at the mages, and found the best spot in the middle of them that covered every one of them in the effective range, and ordered. "Asta, execute Act 12, paragraph 1." There was an excited smile on his face as he imagined the reactions he would be seeing in a while and released the strong bowstring that he had pulled back with genuine ease. But the effects after he released this cool golden arrow were not normal at all... Chapter 340 Young, Flawless, Unreal The voice as the countless weapons and spells hit a single ce was loud. The concentrated force that was born from it wasparable to a strong (tier-5) spell, the smoke that came up after that and the crater that was created after this was quite something too. But the shock one would have from seeing this was nothingpared to the shock they had after seeing the abnormal-looking bow that the young boy was lifting so casually. As soon as the young boy released the bowstring, holding a golden metallic spear that became an arrow, as if a storm had descended upon the entire training grounds with a boy at its center, the whole ground shook with strong winds. They hadn''t taken away their eyes from him from the moment he appeared on the other side of the ground, and just this much was enough for them to tell the source of the fierce winds that carried enough power to cut at their hardened knightly skins. Just the aftershock of the attack was this much stronger than their imagination that aside from the captains, no one was able to think anything about actually fired arrow with this much force. Just the fact that he could exert this much power proved that he was on an equal level to most knights here. Most knights who were trained for years by the best of the best. The young boy was already on the same level as them, from pure power to basic techniques. Maybe no one aside from the captains saw this, but the two of them had seen how the boy was able to produce this grand of an aftershock. They had seen this, and they felt admiration just from seeing him do that with a smile on his face. They could tell that¡­ first of all, the weapon he was holding was an artifact that was made by a great craftsman and they, normal people, couldn''t even fathom the value of this artifact. Secondly, the bow was heavy beyond the look. And even if one was strong enough to lift it, they couldn''t do so unless they actually understand the weapon called a bow. They, the best in their fields, had already known the existence of an ego weapon, and this was one of them. A weapon that had a will of its own. Artificial intelligence that was not any normal existence. Just being acknowledged by these weapons was a task one might fail even after training with their blood and sweat for their entire life and still fail to match their noble standards. The bow he was holding was one such entity that all archers or knights in this ce might fail to even lift if it was justying on the ground that casually. Just being its wielder, understanding the weapon to this degree that high knights spend their lives understanding, and being skilled enough to handle that weapon made him far greater than most knights on this ground. Maybe far greater than many mages too, because this was a magic weapon and not just a simple bow. A magic weapon that enhanced the performance of magic and something that very rare magic archers used. Using it required precise control over the Mana, as well as an understanding ofplex spells and enchantments that the weapon was created with. He used it effortlessly, and this much was enough to admire him, but that wasn''t all he did while shooting the one arrow-like artifact. The knight captain, people called him Iron Heart. He was the right hand of marquis Heliox. Someone who had been trained by him from a young age and had been with him since the time of the great maroon war. He was a talented individual, and he probably knew about his master as much as the adults of this family. He was an excellent knight. A true knight. And knights are naturally proficient with a great variety of weapons aside from the main weapon they have the most affinity with. He has trained many weapon wielders in his life with the knight king Golden Hammer, and countless of them were archers. Some of them were even magic archers, so he knew just what the art called archery was. He had discerning eyes, and he was able to fully see the series of processes the young boy did before releasing his arrow. His basic posture, the most basic form of an archer, something a top-grade archer has, the form he had was at that level. Maybe it was even more perfect that transcended his own understanding and he was sure of this fact. His breathing was calm, so calm that it seemed as if he stopped his heartbeats just to understand the terrain of the ground and stretch his focus to the extremes of his body''s limits. Just this much was amazing but still, that wasn''t all. Form, breathing, the unreal focus in those ferocious eyes, all of his muscle alignments, the atmosphere he created around himself prior to arrow release, the harmony between his movements and breathing... they were so great that he epted his failure. These were the most basic of basics. Something he had refined to the degree that a strong knight like himself, someone who had numerous achievements, wasn''t able to achieve yet. There was nothing extravagant, shy, or sophisticated about his archery. No, it was the most basic thing that any archer or knight is taught at the start of their training. But he... his form, breathing, his archery itself, it was so thoroughly refined in basics that it looked charming, beautiful, and out of the norm. He was surprised by this physical refinement that the boy had achieved at this young age while the elf, the mage captain, was astonished at the degree of control the boy showed with his Mana. He himself didn''t use any magic on this attack. The arrow carrying a strong magical power was a different fact at that moment but, he didn''t use any spells. He just moved his Mana at a speed that was close to, maybe even greater than a pureblood elf like herself. She was an elf so she could perceive what others normally couldn''t when it came to natural energy like Mana. She had been doubtful for a long time but today, she confirmed her suspicions. The young boy before them didn''t just store the Mana in his Mana nucleus. It was the most basic Mana storage and mostly the only ce to store one''s Mana. But it was different for elves as well as some other magical species as well as high-level mages like ''elders''. Aside from the basic Mana nucleus, their body can hold the Mana in the entirety of their bodies. Just like the elves, witches, wizards, and some other beings close to nature. He was the same. This young boy was the same in the aspects that normal humans hardly ever achieve. He could store the Mana in his entire body, and the speed he exerted the needed Mana from the nucleus, refined with his entire body, took in the atmospheric Mana with his full body Mana breathing, and channeled the Mana into the magic bow and the arrow was astonishing! She was genuinely surprised by all these facts. She, a pureblood elf and high mage was surprised just by the Mana utilization of a young boy who had just reached twelve. And this was just surprising. The admiration she was feeling from the arrow that was actually fired was even greater. Both of them knew where the arrow wouldnd. Many of the mages and knights could tell from the way he felt it. And even though the others aside from the two captains couldn''t see the arrow, they had a firm understanding that the arrow was never meant to hit anyone. The aftershock of his arrow release was great, many knights were shocked stiff because of it, but, even in this mess, the mage captain who was looking at the arrow that wasing down at the mages at her back, couldn''t do anything to stop or hinder it. Not just the force was that great but the arrow was surrounded by a high Magic and physical attack nullification field that even she couldn''t understand. There was practically no way to stop this arrow and the great magic this arrow was carrying. She could tell even as the arrow was falling in the middle of the mages in that split second, a spell even she would be seeing for the first time was going to unfold here. The aftereffect of the arrow release, his still sharp eyes filled with unique confidence, and that certain smile of excitement over his own attack. This was... attractive? They certainly thought it was. The girl that came with him, the youngdy everyone in this ce knew about, was sighing at that excited smile on his face. She had seen it many times during their special training. And she could tell he had done something crazy again. But... this was charming in her eyes. Something that put a smile on her already pretty face making it even more alluring. She could also see the arrow with her special eyes and even her eyes failed to understand the spell that was on both of this arrow''s tips. There certainly were the fluctuations of spells, the early effects that indicated a strong spell, and something even she was going to see for the first time. From the looks of it, it wasn''t an explosions-type destruction series spell but something else. And the twodies who were looking at the arrow falling in the middle of the mages didn''t have to wait long as the arrow that was first fired towards the sky reached maximum height and gravity was doing its work. The arrow fell, the speed elerated in mere moments, and when it collided with the ground, it didn''t cause any explosion¡­ Instead, the arrow just naturally pierced the ground and gently stood up. It was like a sword or pointed rod falling from a small distance and just its tip being dug into the ground. The arrow, even after that much force, even after carrying that much kic energy, didn''t fully pierce the ground or create any huge explosions. But, the moment the arrow was one with the ground, it became visible again. And now, everyone could see the arrow that had suddenly appeared in the middle of tens of mages without their noticing. It was also calm, with no great reaction around it, at least for now. Theplicated invisible shield protecting it was still there and the red gem on the tip of the arrow that blinked as if heartbeat, as well as the weird white light just above it, on the de tip of the arrow, were especially eye-catching. Everyone saw this arrow. From the knights to all of the mages who had been surprised by its sudden appearance. But this surprise deepened as soon as the white light at the spear-like sharp tip shot up into the sky and created a weird white translucent barrier. This happened too fast. Even faster than how the arrow was shot and hit the ground in the middle of them. And this was the moment, every one of the people present on this ground, witnessed an unexinable phenomenon for the first time in their lives. The effect of Act 12, paragraph 1 of the greatest arrow, Asta. The... Mana-sucking barrier. Chapter 341 His Archery Act. A group ofmands in Asta that, as a whole, creates a special effect that a single spell, enchantment, or magic, can''t actually pull off. Of the 36 Acts currently existing in Acts, and something that most definitely won''t ever change, he used the twelfth one. A peculiar barrier that had the ability to empty out a particr type of energy from the enclosed area. And paragraph 1 of this was Mana. So, the barrier that suddenly appeared after the weird golden arrow surrounded by peculiar magic suddenly appeared in the middle of tens of experienced mages. The appearance itself was shocking as the arrow had neglected their magic detection and just from looking at theplex structure of the magic surrounding the arrow, they can tell any attack from them will be for naught. This caused chaos in these mages and even before they moved away from the arrow, a barrier that was covering the entire half of the training ground, their mana started sucking out of them. And the speed was nothing like they had ever experienced in their lives. It didn''t even take a few seconds before their Mana fell to the bottom and just remained enough for them to be able to move freely or be in a fine state. Without the Mana inside them, there was no way for them to cast any spells, and they can''t even recover their Mana as the Mana in the entire area had been sucked in by this weird arrow. The red gem that was beating like a heartbeat on the top side was glowing brightly as if smiling with satisfaction. This shocked them a bunch, and they started looking at each other, tried casting spells, and even took out potions to recover their Mana, but, as soon as the Mana increased from a certain point, it was sucked out of them¡­ The arrow was like a hungry vampire, sucking all the extra blood from his ''food'', only leaving them alive to generate more delicious drinks for him... or her. They were literally shocked stiff by this shocking barrier, arrow as well as the absolute magic covering the arrow. All they could do right now was move freely and ess their storage devices. That was all. The mages were surprised and their captain had her eyes wide open, as big as a curious owl, doing their best to decipher the barrier, the magic on the arrow, and the arrow itself. She had a deep smile on her face and even though her efforts were futile and blood drops slid through her pretty eyes, painting her fair beautiful elven skin in crimson red, she didn''t stop until the blue elven magic circle before her eyes that was trying to understand these spells was¡­ shattered into minuscule particles. This wasn''t natural and definitely not because she had overextended herself, no. The reason her perfect scanning magic was disabled was that someone broke the spell. Someone else... someone intelligent enough to understand a spell she herself had created. And someone strong enough that they can interfere with theplex elven magic. Elven magic. Something beyond human understanding. Someone no human in this ce should ever be able to even understand. But¡­ someone did understand her personal spell perfectly. They understood it, reverse-calcted the structure, and broke the spell withplex core destruction. She was probably the only pure-blood elf in this whole part of the capital, and if there was someone other than a human here in this ce, then it would be the girl that was astonishingly looking at the Mana-sucking barrier. There was genuine surprise and shock on her face and she was amazed how can there be such a thing as this barrier. Just this shock was enough for her to tell that she wasn''t the one that broke her spell. So, if not some non-human, then... there was only one other person who could do that. One that they all were trying to defeat right now. The boy that shot this arrow covered with this strange spell that was hard to understand, even for her. The boy that was holding that strange Ego weapon in his hand, and the boy that currently had a white magic circle before his ruby-red eye. A strange magic circle, soplex that even she failed to understand it. Her eyes widened even more from seeing this strange spell before his right eye. And from the looks of things, he was the only one who could have canceled her spell. But... how?! How was this even possible?! He was just a twelve-year-old kid who was fairly stronger and more mysterious than their miss, and young master Alf. But he was still human and just a twelve-year-old at that. He was nothing like even this girl that was the oldest after her in this ce. If it was from her, it might have been somewhat believable but, a ''boy'' who was definitely strong in her eyes, having the ability to cancel a spell made by her? Even though it was just amon analyzing spell, this was truly unbelievable because it was an elven spell. Something a noble creature of nature, like she had created. And indeed... she couldn''t help her smile at this moment. The very bizarre magic circle before his eye had stayed for only a moment so she couldn''t get a good look at it but, her first expression of his magical ability was something more than she could have ever expected. This barrier was amazing too, something she couldn''t even think should ever be possible for any being to make unless they were divine beings. This barrier, his wless archery, this special arrow, that special bow, and now his understanding of elven magic and the ability to cancel an elven spell. "Indeed. As master said... he is far above what we could ever fathom. A special kid who can''t ever be understood by the understanding of us lowly mortals." She expressed in her enchanting voice while looking at those sharp ruby-red eyes that had already set their next target on the knights. He just incapacitated the entire mage unit that she was proud of just by simply cutting off their Mana. And from the look of things, this wasn''t even the full power of the spell that was being demonstrated right now. A barrier that can suck out the Mana in an enclosed space, just leaving enough to sustain the living beings inside the barrier. The spell itself needed an unreal control ability that might be impossible for even a pure-blooded elf like her. But that weapon, that unreally intelligent Ego, was doing it so perfectly that it reminded her of something she had only ever heard in her vige''s folklore. But this was different from those world-level weapons that only transcendent beings could possess. This weapon was not even a divine artifact that could bepared to their Master''s spectacr war-crazy hammer. The arrow itself didn''t seem that much powerful. Same for the bow that the young boy was using right now. It was just the highest-level artifact, a magnificently made one for sure, and one that had the skill to create a very interesting barrier around the things shot by it. Not that this barrier wouldst forever or that one can use it all the time. There were certain limits to the weapon and its skills. The power was also certainly far below even this arrow from her observation. She couldn''t see the status window of any of his weapons. But as an elf, a race that had deep roots in weapons like bows, arrows, and archery itself, she could understand the bows and arrows just from a look. But even for her... the things that he used were beyondprehension. This was just that amazing... And all the mages that were fearful and chaotic a moment ago had cleared their minds and had started analyzing the spell on the arrow after gathering near it. They didn''t have Mana to use spells or scanning artifacts, so they used traditional ways and took out notebooks and pens to note what they can understand from observation. They were mages. True crazy mages that would even wager their lives if that meant learning new things about the magic and truths of the world. They all were gathering near the bow, and the knight captain beside her couldn''t take his eyes away from the new skeptical happening before their eyes. He had definitely heard the shocking words of defeat from his colleague captain but, this magic or spell wasn''t his thing. He was a knight who appreciated his wless archery skills. He had already admitted the young boy''s prowess in basics and he knew when talking by pure basics, he had already reached the level of their master. The daring thought of him being better than their master even crossed his mind¡­ He was that good. Something he, a person who had closely observed their master, a knight king, could understand far better than any other knights of lower rank. The title and power of kings were absolute. Something few could ever possess even after tirelessly training for their whole lives. The world granted them special authority for their achievement of transcendence, and just that much was an unreal feat. And if his mind had even a little thought about a mere child being superior to those transcendent beings in something, then it was more than enough acknowledgment. He had already decided that this young boy was a qualified master for his loyalty, but... what he was seeing right now had far more impact on his heart and mind than anything he had seen. He was seeing his own men, the people he had looked after and trained with, getting pierced by arrows so perfectly aimed at them that they didn''t even get the chance to react to them. They... the closest aids of the knight king couldn''t react to a mere arrow. And these arrows hit them perfectly at non-vital but painful ces. And as a result of being hit, a hit that they didn''t even see, their bodies couldn''t help but fell down to the ground. And if this process was being done individually, taking down one knight at a time, it might have been pretty good, but... taking down ''knights'' six at a time with a single arrow each? "I... want to fight him." Those were the only words that came out of his mouth while watching the fierce fall of countless knights that was happening so naturally, it seemed like natural drops of early rain. Somewhat far, slow, but powerful arrows carefully aimed at the best weak spots of every individual knight. Just seeing this was making his heart burn with excitement and passion and the respect was turning into apetitive fighting sprite. There was now a fire in his eyes, a fire aimed at the young boy. And this fire... the boy didn''t know the reason, but he couldn''t help the cold shiver that ran down his spine as he shot thest batch of his arrow and nced to the other side. And when the young boy saw it, those eyes dying to fight with him, he couldn''t help but gulp down a mouthful of saliva with clear fear and cold sweat... ''It''s not every day your innocent efforts ignite a fire like that in a knight like him... haaa...'' He will have to make them lunch after all this is over. Chapter 342 Defeating Knights ''Good. Asta is the best~.'' She was the best partner weapon for me. Maybe Ronna will be as good as her, or maybe better. But Asta had a separate ce in my heart that couldn''t be reced by even a godly divine artifact. Ronna already had such a separate ce in my heart, but we hadn''t properly had any interaction yet. I could definitely feel her, but even she knew she was of no help to me right now... I was too weak to even manifest her after all. She was far more awesome for a weak child like me. I was still too weak and undeserving of her. So, for now, Asta was everything. The bow I was using right now was also special and his name is Neem. He is also one of my nine core bows and something I have actively practiced with when training with my master. This one, unlike the others, is an old grandpa. Just like that ancient willow tree. It was also made from a root of an ancient tree, so maybe the Ego it had was simr to the creating material instead of the creator''s desired one. A natural Ego. Something simr to Ronna. Asta was a special one that my master specifically created... or tried to create, at least. Asta was her unintentional masterpiece that she regarded as high as our tower and some very special artifacts, like themunication divine artifact on the flower garden floor. The weapon that she wanted to make was something that could perfectly adapt to the situation and learn constantly by itself, but, in the process, she ended up creating something more than the highest-level artifact and lower than a divine artifact. Actually, it would be better to say that independently, Asta is the weakest divine weapon there could be. It was just a normal spear that had many strong abilities which were so powerful and unstable that she had to seal most of her abilities. And those sealed abilities are [Law]. Something that only the weapon''s master, meaning only I, had the ability to unseal for a small duration. I also can''t break more than one Law at once or the powers would sh with each other, creating more mess than needed. And the duration I could maintain the broken Laws totally depended on my strength. And currently, that time limit was ten minutes. There were a total of twelve Laws and for now, I could only break the first twows. Gravitation and eleration. I knew about the other things but, well, that wasn''t important right now. As soon as my attack on mages was sessful and they were deprived of their Mana, I knew this specific bunch would be more interested in studying the magic shield surrounding the golden arrow Asta, so it was good for me. And these knights who boasted physical strength more than anything were more interested in a physical fight rather than this Mana thing and barrier. They were definitely surprised by this sudden after-effect of using Neem, but that was it. There was no chaos in this organized bunch of knights and they still had many of their weapons on them, even after throwing those countless weapons at me. They all had their eyes already locked on me and I knew many of them had even sketched out a perfect n, attack path, movement pattern, and attack method for me. The bow I was using right now was absurdly big in their eyes and it would be definitely heavy for anyone other than me when lifting but, I was different. This wasn''t the biggest bow I had. This one was the second greatest. The first one resembled a harp. And that one was definitely a bow, despite its appearance as a musical instrument. That aside, the thing in front of my eyes was a lot of knights with their sharp and blunt weapons aimed at me and I had nothing but the arrows for them. I knewdy Nissa was surprised by the arrow, barrier, and some other stuff but, she was using some really bad magic to ''read'' and decipher those things. The magic itself was good, and it was an elven spell developed by pure blood like her, so it was no doubt good. But... it was only at the level of ''good''. It was good, but I knew just from a look with my ''blue'' eyes that this spell could be perfected if she tried. It was amazing magic that can read, understand, and recreate a mental image of the Magic around Asta, Asta herself, and the barrier. That was actually a good spell from the knowledge I had, and she really had worked hard on that. But... "(: Despell)" ''She will be surprised but, it is better than seeing her eyes getting even more damaged and bloody. She was a beautifuldy, so there was no need for her to go through that just to understand this level of magic. She might be reaching her full potential, but there definitely was room for some improvement. I know she will be able to perfect that already good spell, so for now... A white magic circle appeared before my right eye, a Solnova spell that directly attacked the ''known'' core of the spell, and canceled the spell. ''Lady Niss, I know you are interested in those spells, but we can learn from each other some other time.'' The blue magic circles before her eyes shattered and the eyes that had blood vines returned to normal. There was still that drop of blood on her fair white skin, but it was alright. I would collect that blood drop if I can... don''t get me wrong. A pure elf''s blood is actually a precious enchantment material. Well, maybe some other time. ''For now...'' The eyes of these knights were furious, with crazy smiles on their faces and excitement filling their hearts. ''I can''t do physical closebat with these many people. Then¡­ well, I will make sure to heal you all so, sorry for now.'' My eyes sharpened, the magic circle before my eye had vanished, the grip on my bow increased, and I scanned all of these knights with my normal red eyes. I had already read their weak points after watching them train here these past few days, so it was somewhat easier. ''3... no, 6 arrows at a time. They are gathered in a bunch and in a group of simr weapon users, so their weaknesses are somewhat the same.'' Legs, thighs, shoulders, eyes, hands, and abdomen¡­ ''Ok... let''s rain some arrows~!'' Taking a cool deep breath, preparing my hands, gathering a good amount of Mana for some hundred spells, channeling light attribute Mana on my bow, pulling back the strong bowstring, aligning my hand, shoulder, and leg muscles... I summoned the (Light arrows). ''Short range multifire: Early raindrops.'' -Xiu. -Xiu. Xiu. -Xiu. Xiu. Xiu. This was faster than the time I used something like this against that instructor of the adventurer association. The arrows of light moved at a speed even their eyes couldn''t follow and the arrows moved at a speed that in their eyes, in the line of fire the arrows moved, from the perspective of the two captains, it must have seemed like the arrows aren''t that fast and can be avoided. Just as the initial slow raindrops, the arrows moved at a speed and way that even before they could react, their bodies gave up, and before they noticed, they were on the ground¡­ -Thud. -Thud. Thud. -Thud. Thud. Thud. Tall men with strong bodies, fine muscles, good power, fair experience, and strong weapons in their hands fell to the ground, their eyes still wide open and locked on me. The (Light arrow) I was using was a modified version of normal light arrows which are the same as a (tier-1) Mana materialization. But these spells were at the level of (tier-2) spells. Though the weakest (time-2) spells. They were some of my fastest spells that I can use for a long time in veryrge quantities. They don''t even take 3MP and my Mana recovery is quite fast with just the golden fruit, Asta, Ronna, and the bow with me, so, as long as my stamina allows it, I can even use these low-level spells infinitely. When someone is hit by it, it causes actual pain to normal humans and other species, but it''s life-threatening for demons, dark creatures, demonic beasts, and the undead. I fired these at their most unguarded and weakest spots, so it not only worked as a pressure point but also as a lethal weakness of the opponents. They all will understand this weakness in the future and work on it. They were smart, after all. So... the arrows continued, and they just fell to the ground, and it continued until thest one of them was on the ground, grasping the parts hit by the arrows. It was rtively easy until thest one fell and I thought it was my win and I can go earlier than I had thought after getting the letter, but¡­ the knight captain had a different reaction than just the normal administration likedy Niss. I knew I will be fighting the knights, and the captains were here just to observe me, but... I was hoping it didn''te to this point. ''Was he impressed by my archery? Maybe he saw the wless perfection in my form... well, damn.'' [[ *His eyes say it all. They are almost like you when you are excited. Huhuhu.* ]] ''That''s why I''m more worried...'' Knight''s captain, sir Melor, the supervisor of the test, had a fire burning in his eyes right now. Something I didn''t want to see but... it''s toote from the looks of it. His heart was dead set on having a spar with me. I was focused on taking down these knights so I didn''t notice it earlier but after finishing this when I nced back at the two of them, a defeated elf who seemed to have fallen into deep thinking after I dispelled her magic and the knight captain burning with a fighting spirit. I could have done something to prevent this situation if I had seen it earlier, but now was definitely toote. ''This fight with knights finished quite quickly, but if I fight with him, which is definitely inevitable¡­ it will take a while.'' It won''t be a quick match I had with Ca or Rein and my practice spars. He is a high-ranking knight with the potential to reach the realm of kings and the right-hand man of my grandpa. I know he has observed grandpa closely and trained with all his whole being, all his life. He is also an awesome de user, something slightly different from the traditional double-edged sword. His own swordsmanship is quite unique too, something focused on defending rather than powerful attacks. It... will definitely be fun, no doubt about that but, let''s see what happens. [[ "Haaa... Celes, can you please tell Anna I will have lunch by myself here?" ]] [[ Okey~! ]] Chapter 343 Before The Spar "Are you alright?" Helping the fallen knight to stand back up, I looked at his happy smile¡­ This was just like every other knight I had helped and this face full of happiness was something I couldn''t properly express in words. They were d, excited, and happy that they were wrong about me. ? It was really good that they lost to me and they really appreciated the fact that instead of actually injuring them, I finished things off with no more than some small bruises and cuts. They were all fine, and still, defeated. They lost to a young one like me while not even having the ability to show what they had got and to what extent they had nned to show. They were never going to use their Auras in this fight but it was necessary to go to a certain length to be able to acknowledge me as their master. Even after their master''s ''request'', they had to see for themselves. They had to see the things that their master saw in me and now... they had seen it. The ability to control body, breathing, and weapon. The eyes that were as sharp as their master when attacking. And the current gentleness. Happiness and excitement were written all over their faces and they were looking forward to something. Well... yes. Just as I had seen the burning fire in his eyes, thoughte, they had clearly seen it too. At first, they didn''t believe their eyes, naturally, they wouldn''t. Sir Mel was a high-ranking knight as well as someone very famous. They were here to test me but, he was different. He was here just for the supervision and to give me that clue to the next gift. But now, here he was, having a burning desire to spar with me at this very moment. And from my look, it was clear that I needed that piece of paper towfully finish this game. I could just use (: Scan) and find every abnormal thing in the house and they would be the gifts but, that would be utter cheating and Anna wouldn''t like it if she finds out. Zoe won''t like it either. Same with mom. So, I needed that piece of paper but, if I wanted that, I had to spar with him. Lady Niss was out already and I had stored back Asta a while ago so the mages were also disappointed they didn''t get the chance to either cast magic themselves or analyze the spells and structure of Asta. Well, they were all young and still had days ahead of them but, she was different. Lady Niss was first shocked but then, she epted the fact that I knew more than her in terms of pure knowledge. I was nowhere near her level in actual magic but yes, I could help her be better than she currently was. She understood this so there was a bright smile on her face as she treated the knights. I just finished helping thest knight and moved to the center of the ground and stood before the two captains. "You were amazing young master~." Lady Niss was genuinely happy right now and excited. Her beautiful eyes were shining at this very moment and Rein, who was helping the knights with their recovery as she distributed the potions I gave her, was also excited. They were normal potions but their value was far better than normal ones just from the fact that I made them. But they didn''t have to know that fact. She was helping there and I was before the two of them, looking specifically into sir Mel''s eyes. "You want to have a spar, don''t you, sir Mel?" "Of course I do, master Axion." "¡­" A sigh escaped my mouth at his blunt and pure reply. There was pure admiration in those sharp eyes, and while standing in the middle of thisrge ground, under this shining sun, these warm winds carrying sharp sand, they looked more sincere than ever. He was already amazing and from this spar, I¡­ will also have a chance to witness his power. The power of a [Rank-6] knight. A [Bishop]. Just one rank away from a king but still far away from that realm. He must have recently reached his current level so it was fine but he definitely had the talent needed to achieve that dream. The power of [King] is far away from the realm he currently was and his soul was still not strong enough to enter even the Astral realm. He was a strong knight. Strongest I have seen after my and Rein''s grandpa. So the fight agast him won''t be something normal. Even if we use only the most basic Aura application. One reaches [Rank-3] when one achieves Aura. When they are able to release it in the atmosphere freely in a form of a sh or attack then that marks [Rank-4] which is called theplete [Knight] stage. When one can freely strengthen their bodies, cover their weapons with Aura, and are able to give a specific fixed shape to their Aura then that marks [Rank-5]. They are called [Rook] stage knights. When that mental image of Aura is able to move on its own as if having a separate will, as if being an alive creature regardless of its shape, it marks the [Rank-6]. The level sir Mel is at right now. The level of [Bishop]. Andstly, there are [Rank-7] kings and queens. They are transcendent beings that had crossed the realm of humans. Possesses strength beyond humanprehension. And are able to create an entire fortress or special structure with their Aura alone. Not only do they possess power beyond human limits, but they all also have a special power granted to them by mother nature herself. The [World Authorities]. A very special power that is unique to them alone. A power that could affect nature itself. A power that could destroy many things. A power that could also protect many things. And a power that not many are fortunate enough to even witness. The distance between a bishop and a king is like the difference between a mountaintop and the sky. Others seeing from the ground might think that one could touch the sky if they reach that top but, only the one at the top knows just how far away that sky actually is. Few could reach the level he is at right now but, that couldn''t bepared to that realm. But, few on that top, very few who have actually achieved that realm called [Sky] actually knows the truth. The truth¡­ that the realm of [King] is not the end. My master was far beyond the realm of a [King] but, she never showed me more than what a king could actually do. I know she must have hinted at what things happen beyond that realm and things that one can do beyond the realm of a king but, I was still only near the base of that mountain, far away from that spectacr sky. But I was at least at the base of this mountain. Something many couldn''t even achieve throughout their whole lives. And I had all the time in the world so, there was no need to rush. Ca will reach [Rank-4] before any of us but the two of us weren''t that much behind. Alf will reach (tier-4) before us too but, I will need longer because of my higher Mana requirement. But still, Rein and I would be stronger than both of them in terms of overall power. I was trained by a being beyond thinking and Rein was just that talented to follow my lead even with her racial restrictions. She is a witch but, if she were to be a human who had the greatest potential with the least restrictions of the world, she might have reached far beyond me and maybe most others in this house. But, her life was no happy flower garden. She didn''t even have any actual goal to chase after. No goal, no proper knowledge about her power, and just pure life experience. She was amazing to achieve her current power... but that wasn''t the point right now. ''Sir Mel... this will be fun.'' A smile appeared on my face as I looked at his sincere expression and nodded. "Let''s do it~." The smile on his face deepened anddy Niss standing beside him sighed with a nostalgic smile. I was watching Rein with my third eye and she had her usual warm reaction while standing with the blushing knights who were enchanted by her allure. Her beauty was unnatural so that reaction from the knights with high mental fortitude was definitely understandable. But I was excited about this fight we would be having now. The knights were excited, and the two of us were ready¡­ Rein anddy Niss cleared the area and were waiting with their respective groups of knights and mages, and even mages were looking forward to seeing this match. The main fight has already been over but, if I do give their most powerful knight captain a hard time, then it was clear what they would do. ... The ground was clear now, everything was ready, we were prepared,dy Niss, other mages, Rein, and I had cast some protection barriers and now... we were standing before each other, with a special me burning in our eyes. Chapter 344 The Great Spar In arge open training ground just behind arge estate building simr to a castle and between tworge buildings which were knight and mage houses¡­ Some strong-looking barriers were covering two people, and these two people had a fire burning in their eyes. A young man with light indigo hair, strong muscles, and a tall body covered in light armor was standing with his peculiar de in one hand, his sharp gray eyes locked on the boy on the other side. This was a saber sword. A single-edged de with a curved shape at the frontal part of the de. This was a saber and a de that can be used in both thrustings, cutting, slicing, and quickly attacking opponents at a high speed. The de itself looked ferocious and the clear blue metallic surface of the de, the finest making, the golden handle, and the guard, was enough to tell that this was a high-level de. On the other hand, there was a boy with gold-like blond hair, ruby red eyes, clear skin, and a tall, strong, attractive build standing with a normal-looking wooden bow and a silver quiver filled with arrows on his back. His eyes were shining and there was a simr smile on his handsome face as the man on the other side. They both were excited and so were the two groups of people on the other side of the ground. A group of mages with a gorgeous elfdy at the front and a group of knights with a beautiful girl at the front. Bothdies were the most attractive beings on this big ground after the two men in the barriers so many eyes which couldn''t focus on the two inside the barrier were locked on these two. But most of them weren''t looking at them for their beauty, but for the interesting conversation, they were having right now. "My barrier was just a normal (tier-6) earth element barrier. And my mages are stillckingpared to the two of you." The elfdy said as she looked at the barriers and smiled at the girl. The hot ahem! The beautiful-looking girl smiled back at her and shook her head. "Mine is alright and I know it''s strongerpared to same-tier magic as the other mages, but... you can also see his spells right now. His astonishingly gorgeous spells that even my grandma couldn''t help but admire. Oh... you know the headmaster, right? He was shocked stiff when he saw him cast a special kind of magic. I won''t say what magic it was, but just the fact that it was great enough to shock that person is shocking, no?" Her words sounded genuine and the beautiful eyes of thedy elf widened with deep shock. "You mean THE headmaster? He... was shocked by something? R-really...?" Her wide eyes looked cute, but the way her long, pointed ears were moving as if expressing her hidden excitement was even more adorable. The beautiful girl nodded seriously with a smile and confirmed again. "Hmm~. That very (bitch like) headmaster." This was actually shocking to her even though she knew the boy inside the barrier had fought with the headmaster, but... he did something that shocked him? That old geezer? Just this fact was enough to earn her respect, but she couldn''t help looking at the beautiful magic barrier he had created in the innermost area of the other barriers. This was a strong barrier, and just the simple, understandable, but unique structure of the spell was spellbinding. And his special magic wasn''t the only thing special about him. His bow was special too¡­ "Why is master Eon using that simple bow? Doesn''t he have that special green bow that he used against us? Is it because it''s too big and can''t be used when moving swiftly and in a one-on-one fight?" Someone closely observing the two of them asked from behind them. It was from the knight''s side and the mages as well as the twodiesughed at this question. Mostly because he called the bow that the boy was holding ''simple''. The elfdy shook her head at them and started speaking while looking at the very simple looking but... something too unreal kind of bow in the boy''s hand. It was a short wooden bow with a white bowstring. It was also shorter than his height. Even less than a meter in height. But... this was definitely anything but an ordinary bow. "It''s a bow that even my (Indigo) level appraisal skill couldn''t understand. A bow that has power far exceeding a simple (level-11) artifact from energy flow alone. A bow literary covered with enchantments that I''m astonished could be ced at the same time on a single simple-looking bow. It''s not even a magic bow and just a normal bow. So the power it has doesn''t even make sense, much less the bowstring made from a high-level energy beast material. It''s a bow that''s anything... but normal." Her exnation in her charming voice... exquisite. Just this much was enough for the knights who couldn''t see the magical enchantments of the bow and mages that didn''t know about the actual power of the bowstring to fall silent. They all fell quiet after her words, but... the things that the girl standing before the knights said made them even more shocked. And this included the elfdy. "His sixth favorite bow. The bow he only uses when using his special technique of pure physical archery. The bow of strength and swiftness, Tay. Pure physical archery. Something you won''t be able to see anywhere else, respectable knights and mages. I don''t know how good your eyes are and if you will actually be able to even see what will now happen there, but I advise you to forget to even blink if you want to see something unreal. Something inspirational. Something that every one of us may never be able to ever achieve. Archery is the art of breathing, eyes, muscles, bows, and arrows¡­ but his version of these simple actions is quite fabulous. Stick your eyes to see just how deep that simple archery can go if perfected to the very soul. And still, be not at the epitome of it; from what he says... Damn bastard." There was a bright smile on her gorgeous face. And what she had just said was¡­ absurd sounding to all of these knights and mages. But the elfdy wholeheartedly believed what this girl was saying was true. Maybe these still young people couldn''t see it but, inside those barriers where only the two of them were standing still, ring into each other''s eyes, a fierce battle had already taken ce. A battle that even she failed to properly follow. She had already lost the track of how many times the both of them had exchanged these mental imaginary blows or just how can that young boy was following up with Mel''s absurd attacks. But from what this young witch was saying, she was sure the actual fight the two of them will now have will be even grander than she had thought. There was a simr smile as the girl on her face now, and the knights and mages were even more confused by this strange smile on their faces¡­ "How many of you have experienced the [ZONE]?" The young girl asked whiteout taking her eyes away from the fabulous fight happening inside that barrier. They were knights directly under a king-ranked knight and they were actually elites of their field, be it mages or knights. But even for them, the well-known concept of the [ZONE] was something they couldn''t even dream of reaching at their level. In the first ce, however strong a person was, achieving the state of the [ZONE] was not something up to them. Many worldly things yed a part in that process. Unless they were at the level of their vice-captains who were on a separate mission right now, they couldn''t even think they were qualified to even touch the surface of that realm. But... when she didn''t get any reply from her back and not even from the mage captaindy elf that didn''t understand her sudden question, the girl spoke unbelievably outrageous words. "You all are strong enough so, look with wide eyes and open hearts. Give yourself away to just this fight and... I know every one of you will at the very least understand the surface of [ZONE]. Maybe some of you will actually enter [ZONE] and see the absurd fight that will happen in a while." The elfdy, as well as many mages'' and knights'' faces, distorted as if they had just heard something absurd. Something that clearly didn''t make any sense at all, but something that was strangely but surely seemed believable. The one who said this was the closest person to the boy they all had just lost to a moment ago and someone that they knew very well. They knew just how strong this person was and if... just if this person was saying these absurdly mindless words, they just wanted to believe her words. She didn''t say anything after that. They didn''t ask either. Everyone fell silent¡­ even the ground and almost the whole world in their minds. The match they were so eagerly looking forward to... has just started after all. Chapter 345 We Start... ''He''s amazing...'' It had been a while since we started this spar in this barrier and this was definitely a heavy environment even though we hadn''t even started yet. He was strong and far different from Ca, Rein, or that foolish instructor from the adventurer association. He was amazing and someone that vaguely reminded me of the times when I used to do these kinds of spars with my grandma back at the tower home. He didn''t move from his ce and just stood there at the start and epted the arrows I shot at him into this imaginary world we had created. I was using my pure physical archery, so there was no way we would not go into the [ZONE] and use Aura in this match. Just the start was intense when he blocked my countless arrows and I avoided his countless cuts and thrusts. He was good and had experience in imagerybat. And it was far better than anything I had faced until now. Even Rein wasn''t this proficient in imagery fights even after her deep experience in actualbat. The way he avoided my attacks, the way he cut down those enchanted arrows with that saber, and the way he attacked with high speed and proficiency were exceptional. Our fightsted long and even though I was using one of my best bows, Tay, just the imagery pushed me to use the actual power of bows and arrows. And throughout this confrontation, there was a wide smile on his face¡­ ''He''s excited. He''s not joking around with his power, either.'' He also knows just how powerful I am and just how good I can be with just my physical archery. I won''t actually use magic because I don''t want to. No... definitely not. If I can, I wanted to use my magic, archery, and maybe runes if needed. But, he wasn''t called iron heart for nothing. He is good and has a deep understanding of magic and his agility is so much better than mine that if I stuck up to using magic and give him even a point-nk gap, I will have his sharp (level-11) artifact sword on my throat. I didn''t have to win here. At the very least, don''t do things that would disappoint him. I wanted that clue letter but, I also had to get him to actually acknowledge my abilities if I wanted him for anything at all. I had tost long and show him some great part of my actual strength. Something like how I train with Rein and more. This imaginary confrontation we just had was quick, so I don''t know if many of them could actually keep up with the speed we would be fighting at. This fight that hadn''t even started yet... I already know it would be fun. I was looking into his eyes, and his eyes were locked with mine. His saber was a good weapon and looking at how he didn''t give me any opening in our imagery fight, it was clear that he wouldn''t actually give me any chance to start either. I will have to start this fight, knowing full well he has the upper advantage in almost everything statistically. My loss was ny-nine percent guaranteed but, luckily, I had this bow and quiver. This bow, Tay, was practically made for pure physical archery, and the quiver on my back was something filled with countless normal, special, and super-special arrows. Just like my main nine bows, I had six main arrow holders like this quiver, and this one was the sixth one among those. This one had the most diverse variety of arrows. From normal, and some enchanted, some with special enchantments on them, and a few with high enchantments that I don''t want to use here. So, I had a lot of arrows, and a strong bow that won''t get destroyed even if I do ''that'' thing and go deep or reach the bottom. So, he was ready; I was ready, and so were the spectators. The bowstring of this short bow was made of something that would be too unreal to even think about, so I won''t say it, but it alone was able to stabilize all the enchantments I put on this small bow with many difficulties. Ok then... ''Pure physical archery:'' Taking a deep breath, preparing my mind and all the possible scenarios in my mind, aligning the muscles needed for the fight, lifting up my bow and aiming at him, smiling at him for thest time as a signal of start, I prepared my hand and fingers after seeing his sharp eyes and smile. And... ''Friendly battlefield.'' We both vanished from our positions, creating a powerful storm that instantly broke the barriers created by low-tier mages. *** "Hmm? Nuuu~. Big brother won''t evene for lunch~? Did everyone hide their gifts in secret ces to confuse big brother? Hoooooow can you do that? Didn''t mamma and daddy say he will have fun ying this game~?" Sitting on a pure white bench in the middle of a beautiful greenhouse with a spherical ss ceiling, countless great nts and trees with fresh flowers and fruits, and a big garden on the back side of this bench, a young girl was sitting with an angelic little girl. Both of them looked amazing, cute, and adorable~! There were many people sitting on the grass ground just on the other side of this white bench in this greenhouse garden. Somedies were having tea with some snacks, some old ones were chatting among themselves with a bright expressions, and some men were talking among themselves with a purple diary ced in the middle of them. A young boy was drawing aplicated geometrical structure with a small stone tablet as support to his papers, and a young girl with red hair was gracefully swinging her wooden sword, looking marvelous with her every move. The young girls sitting at a distance on a white bench were adorable and even more so was the older one of them, who was chuckling with a sweet smile at the younger angel''s puffed cheeks. The little girl in a cute outfit was grumpy and angry at the thing that she just heard from the butterfly on the girl''s hand and everyone seeing her cute angerughed at the same time. There was a crystal blue butterfly on the girl''s finger which looked pretty and after what the young girl said, her older sister and best friend couldn''t just enjoy the young one''s cute anger and started talking. "Anna~. I know big brother is having fun right now~. Maybe he wants to have lunch with the knights, mages, and others at home. You know how he is usually busy, but they all still love it when he makes something for them, right? I think he''s having fun there while ying the game. He will be here before dinner, so let''s just wait alright~? When hees here, let''s surprise him even more~!" There was a divine smile on her face and as the little one saw her smile like that and felt her genuine feelings, a smile took over that grumpy, cute face. "Okey~!" Truly adorable~. They both had somewhat different appearances, but they were just like an inseparable sister duo. The fourdies were genuinely delighted at the thoughts of the young girl, agreeing to what she said. The males had no interest in anything right now as they intensely analyzed the purple diary and deciphered the ''masterfully'' written things. The writing in it was so good that it looked as if written in gold in their eyes, needing this extreme concentration just to properly understand the written part. They were determined to do it by themselves instead of using any artifact, so this was taking them far longer than any other one that had received the book. They were the proud male mages, and the eldest of the three was a magic engineer. They all were admiring their young boy who might be having fun in his treasure hunt right now but, the two old men standing on the far left under a tree had different thoughts in their minds. "Master Eon will spar with sir Melor." "I knew he won''t be able to resist after seeing his archery~!" "Master Eon, he is that amazing." "Indeed." "But... can he win?" "Of course... he will lose this time." "Yes. Of course..." "Hohoho. He''s amazing, right Zhen?" "Of course. Master Eon is more than amazing." "Oho~. Even you can''t help butpliment him." "Master Eon... he''s more special than he shows, master." "We all know that already, old man." "Won''t you ask him about his unreal strengths?" "We already know, don''t we? It''s mostly thanks to his master and his own talent." "His master..." A bitter smile appeared on the old butler''s face and he just shook his head with a helpless smile on his face as he looked on the other side... at the older girl with a butterfly on her finger. ''Master Eon has grown a lot. A lot more than I could have ever imagined¡­ He survived a forbidden zone and came back with an unknown girl that even I can''t understand. He says she''s his master''s daughter, but... what was his master and what is this girl...? Haaa... I hope I can be of help to them in at least some way. Maybe not young miss Zoe, but... to protect this family I cherish, he surely needs a shadow. Even after walking the path of a shadow, he will need a shadow to protect his loved ones. I''m here, young master... so, use this lowly assassin however you like. Grow stronger so that when the timees... I can ask for my long-cherished wish. A wish that may be only you... will be able to fulfill.'' Chapter 346 Exciting Battle In an open training ground... yes, inside those barriers, there was now something finally happening after that long staringpetition between two opponents. They had started their spar and their first movements had shattered the poor spells of the weaker mages. But that was the story of a few minutes before this current situation. Right now, the open ground filled with small stones, sand, dirt, and hard soil, was covered with... countless arrows. Some arrows were whole, unharmed by anything, and just halfway dug into the hard soil that was stronger than a soft armor metal sheet. Some arrows were cut in half or multiple pieces and nowy on the ground like some normal piece of wood. They were strong arrows, better than the normal arrows made of just any normal wood and this was evident from the fact that they were able to pierce the ground. But the arrows weren''t the only things that pierced the ground. There were many sword cuts on this rock-hard ground. Solid, deep, and smooth sword cuts. It was as if a sharp magic sword covered by a high-level fire, water, or wind attribute spell had made this cut. It was also a special cut, something that was more than enough to kill even a normal soldier covered in heavy armor. But there was not a single drop of blood in this area inside the barrier. As the matter of fact, there was no one visible in these barriers. No one¡­ There was actually no one visible inside the barrier but, the asional noises of the shes of two metallic objects, countless fierce sparks of fire, sts of energy, and blows of winds were more than enough to understand what was going in there by anyone watching this. And spectators were definitely shocked¡­ Aside from twodies in the front, there was no one that could even blink at this moment. They all knew, taking their eyes away from this fight meant that they would lose the two people fighting inside there forever and wouldn''t be able to understand anything until the match ends. But that was thest thing they wanted. Their concentration was at the highest ever right now, their eyes weren''t even blinking, water drooped from those open eyes and their eyes turned red but they kept them open. Their mind could barely make out the things happening in there but, this was still not enough for all of them to understand all the things perfectly. They would definitely reach their limits at one point but before that, they just wanted to see the things that the two inside that barrier were feeling. Even if it was just a fraction of their power, they wanted to absorb anything they can from watching the two fighting in there like that. They were amazing, and every one of them felt pure admiration for the two of them. But they didn''t even have time for that. There was only a thin sheet between their own feelings and this great experience they were gaining just from watching two people spar. And at this moment, be it knights or mages, only this fight mattered to everyone. ? The young girl before the knights was watching the fight with her glowing pink eyes that could fully understand everything going on inside and ''see'' it more clearly. Thedy elf before mages was watching them fight with peculiar white translucent magic circles before her eyes and she also understood everything happening inside there. Though she couldn''t see things as well as the young girl beside her, she could see better than the others. But both of them who could see the two fighting inside the barrier couldn''t help their bitter smiles. It had been three minutes since the fight had started and the boy had fired more than three hundred arrows from his bow, meaning he fired at least a hundred arrows every minute despite evading the knight captain''s absurd attacks. From the beginning of this fight, the knight captain didn''t go easy or underestimated his opponent''s strength and started with strong attacks. His attacks were brutal, something no one would dare use against a mere twelve-year-old kid. These were attacks that not even knights could handle much less a mere kid but, the reality was totally different. Not only did the young boy evade all of those strong cuts, stabs, slices, and physical attacks, he shot countless arrows in a response to those fierce attacks. If looked closely, he even aimed every single one of those arrows at his vital spots or the very narrow gaps in his defense but¡­ he couldn''t break through the knight captain''s defenses. The knight captain was strong, and so was the boy. They were giving each other a clear challenge, something both of them were experiencing for the first time in their lives. There was a deep smile on their faces even after facing deadly blows and the smile just continued to deepen even more as time passed. They both were strong, and every one of them knew this by now. Their knight captain had swordsmanship iparable to anyone they knew of aside from king-ranked knights that everyone knew of. It was unique¡­ He used a saber that was specialized for slicing, cutting, and stabbing. His mastery of the sword was the reason for his current position as their captain. But what they all couldn''t even fathom to withstand was being neutralized by some arrows fired by a twelve-year-old. A twelve-year-old that had defeated all of them in seconds no less. If their captain''s swordsmanship was that of a hundred-year-old wine, the archery that the boy showed right now was the pure alcohol refined for hundreds of years. There was nothing special to the boy''s archery. It was different from his opponent''s swordsmanship. Their knight captain had swordsmanship that was dazzling, impable, eye-catching, refined with time, and mastered with effort. On the other hand, the archery that the boy used was just the normal things they all had learned as knights. Just the basic form, the simple movements, his unique breathing that suited his movements, the way to pulling back the string, loading the arrow after retrieving it from his back, loading it, and shooting... all were normal. They were something they all knew about and had practiced but the young boy had already transcended humans in the aspects of these same simple steps. His control was refined beyond they could ever imagine and they could see in his every action that they were able to see even at the cost of blood slipping from their eyes. His posture as an archer was perfect, something they hadn''t even seen in some seasoned archers, his breathing and judgments were calm, as if this high-speed fight that they were having this great difficulty didn''t affect his heart and breathing at all. His hands already knew what they had to do when their captain''s attacks had reached him so they used the bow they were holding to block and the simple-looking bow that they now knew was super special¡­ easily blocked the attack without any problems. His hands moved on their own. For retrieving the arrows from the quiver, setting them on the bow, adjusting more than one arrow, and pulling back the naturally strong bowstring. Every action they did were almost on their own as if he had repeated that so many times that his body already knew what to do. This wasn''t something they, the knights as well as mages, were able to achieve even after training for their whole life till now. This was also something their captainscked. The young boy was faithful to the basics, maybe too much that he transcended humans like them in this aspect even at this very young age. They were speechless just from this but... all of these weren''t the main source of their admiration, awe, shock, and fear. It was the eyes that all of them were fortunate enough to see for themselves. His clear eyes, filled with certainty. Those were anything but the eyes of a special twelve-year-old boy. They could never believe it even after seeing this with their own eyes. They were no naive soldiers to not know them. They wereplete knights under one of the king-ranked knights. All of them can deduce a person with their eyes, behavior, and character. And right now, they could tell by just those eyes¡­ even if they disregard the fact of his impable prowess in weapons and archery. Those eyes... they resembled their master''s eyes as well as their master Brian''s eyes. They were also the eyes that they had seen on many distinguished people. And this boy, this twelve-year-old had those same unparalleled eyes. The eyes with a burning me in them. Eyes that had seen death, survived that death, and ovee some of the greatest trials of nature. The me of a survived one burned in those eyes. But that wasn''t all about this one. These mes... they were different. Different from their master and different from their master Brian. They seemed like a mix of both but, at the same time, greater than both of them. It was as if they had seen death multiple times as if he had almost died ande back from the underworld and now knew the deepest truths of this world. Eyes that contained mes of strength, eyes that contained waters of wisdom, eyes that contained winds of nature, and eyes that had witnessed wonders of the earth. These eyes had darkness but that darkness was overpowered by the strongest and brightest of light. Those ruby-red eyes read, saw, and understood every attack of their captain. This was something they were witnessing for the first time and even though most of them couldn''t follow this almost four minuet fight, they had already learned a lot. Some of them had given up by the time the simple exchange of the first round of bow, arrows, and sword was over and they were entering the end of this fight but¡­ most of them were dead set to follow this spar to the end. The eyes can be healed with divine healing but this experience might be something they might never get the chance to witness on this scale in the future¡­ -Booooooom! An explosion rang out from the sh of their sword and bow and both of them stepped up their high-intensity fight. They might be strong but there existed something called stamina. Even if they had great strength, physical and mental exhaustion was a thing. These four minutes might not be a great thing in normal cases but the way the two of them were fighting was... definitely anything but normal. Even if the young boy was strong, definitely stronger than them, there was a naturalck in his current statspared to their captain. He was great to fight on equal terms with their captain but he was still young and his natural strength and stamina were not on par with a pure high knight just yet. But... this didn''t mean he was going to ept defeat just yet. The bright smile on his face was still fresh even with the clear indications of exhaustion. But he wasn''t going to fall just yet. His recovery speed was better than the captain after all. He wasn''t a knight, he was a magic achar. He knew he was far behind him in terms of natural stats but, even he didn''t have something like his golden fruit that recovered his stamina alongside Mana and concentration. He even used the most basic movements so his stamina was at a good level to give him a properst fight. He knew he will lose, it was natural. But he didn''t mind that. This was also a good learning experience for him. His opponent wasn''t praised as the ''iron heart'' for his exceptional swordsmanship anyway. It was because of his special Aura and absurd vitality that was beyond any shield-wilding tanker. He was a swordsman but, because of his high vitality, he could stand against thousands of enemies and still be fine after getting countless fatal attacks. That was his unique skill. The one and only unique skill that could be called on par with Chry''s unique skills. The famous, [Sustenance of Aegis]. A passive skill that increases vitality, bravery, blood volume, and resistance to almost all mental abnormalities. His base vitality is just that high, and so was his greatly trained stamina. Even though the boy could recover faster, he was still not yet beyond the limits of a human body. He was a young boy and... he had a me in him. A me strong enough that was determined to challenge those limitations as many times as it needed. This would be thest part of their ''spar'' but they were certain to show the spectators something that would improve them greatly. At this end that started after a loud boom... something expectedly unexpected happened. The two of them stopped for a moment. The knights and twodies... as well as all assassins in the shadows could see them now. But the spectators dare not blink for even a moment. They knew their reason for stopping and they weren''t going to miss this chance for something trivial like blinking. The two people that were fighting fiercely for thest few minutes... this was a rare chance to witness the special Auras of these great people. Chapter 347 Great End... Two Auras. Both with special characteristics. One was a bright pink me. The other was a fluidic metallic silver. But both of them were unique. His bright pink mes were fierce. Brighter and bigger than most normal me-type Auras. His opponent''s Aura was a heavy fluid. Opposite of his burning one. It was like some kind of melted metal. Heavy. Thick. Strong. Beautiful... They both looked amazing in the eyes of spectators and their hearts couldn''t help beating faster because of this spectacr scene. They also saw the changed look in both their eyes... the eyes covered with sparks. They all knew what this was... the confirmation of two people having fully entered [ZONE]. This was something they had only rarely seen, and just this much made their heartbeat race like crazy. They just wanted to look at this look, at this form, of the two people and engrave it in their minds. They knew if they could just observe them for a while, they will reach some new heights. Just that¡­ their racing hearts and eyes could only perceive the two of them for a brief moment. Their stop didn''tst long and the two inside barriers just vanished for real this time. They weren''t there anymore. Their eyes couldn''t perceive them at the very least... The inside of the barrier looked silent for a while, but that too was just for a moment. -Kruuu. Kruuu. Krushhhhhhhhh! The spectators heard a cracking voice first and then the barriers of the stronger mages started shattering down one by one. At the same time... -Xiu. Xiu. Xiu. Xiu. They heard the loud sounds of arrows moving through the air, cutting it with a speed that seemed unreal. But the more unreal thing in all this... was the number of arrows they heard and the number of arrows that started appearing on the ground¡­ were far different from each other. If they heard one arrow being released, then there were at least six new arrows on the ground. And by now, almost the whole of the area inside the barrier had been fully covered by these arrows. There was almost no ce to even step on these arrows, so the two of them either had to just fly or lightly step on these arrows. There was no sound audible to most of these people, so they had already given up and most of them were just trying to recover their eyes with potions or the water mage''s healing skills. It wasn''t enough to fully recover their vision, but this was enough as first aid, at the very least. Most had given up at this moment, but the twodies at the front and some members of knight and mage groups were still staring inside that crazy barrier. There were drops of blood flowing down their eyes, the blood vessels in those eyes almost covering the white area of their eyes, making them red. They all might prominently lose their eyes if this goes on, but they were adamant about following them to the end. This was foolish, and the dots of unique lights in their eyes were their reward for this foolishness. A few of these foolish people were experiencing a totally new realm because of their foolishness, but the smiles on their faces and quick heartbeats were enough to tell they didn''t regret their decisions. The twodies knew something like this would happen, but they didn''t look back at them after the start of this fight. Their eyes were locked on the two people inside the three remaining barriers. The two of them were witnessing a truly exciting fight between some of the rarest kinds of people right now. Their fight was simple yet... indescribably beautiful. They used the most basic of their weapon techniques. The young boy just moved after seeing the shortest route and shot the arrows after deciding on his targets. The older adult man, knight captain, used his sword simply, but just those simple but precise cuts, shes, and stabs were perfectly executed. Both their battle senses seemed to be on the same level, which was absurd when thinking about it. The young boy was actually young and the knight captain was a bit older than he looked. But this battle sense, the way they both predicted and reacted to each other''s attacks, was iprehensible for both of thedies. They were excellent strong fighters themselves, but even they failed to understand this impable battle between a well-known swordsman and a young magic archer who wasn''t using magic. ...he wasn''t using magic. And they understood that it was only because he wanted to win this fight, no matter what. He was giving his very best because he still wasn''t strong enough to use his physical powers and magical powers at the same time, with simr proficiencies. His pure archery was unreal. His knowledge of magic and spell constructions was phenomenal. He could bring out most of his strengths because of his abundant battle experience and survival instincts. He could instantly cast the recorded spells in his unique brain that didn''t make any sense, however one looked. He was special... but he was still weak. He was weak. His stats were all lowpared to people like this knight captain. And he was stillcking in many ways. He might be strong, but he wasn''t even the strongest in this house. But he sure was the most special one and no one would disagree with this... except himself, of course. He loved his sister too much, so she was the most special one to him. But that aside... Both of them were using their Aura-covered weapons and thedies could see all the things the two were doing. A bow covered in a pink Aura fired special arrows that absorbed the strength of the Aura and shot at his opponent. A sword covered in a metallic silver Aura that easily cut through the strong arrows that were difficult to even perceive by normal means. The boy fired three to six arrows at once and rarely shot a single arrow, too, but his arrows couldn''t even leave a scar on him. At least it couldn''t before they started using Aura. Now¡­ there were scars on the knight captain''s face and bare body parts. Small and not much deep, but¡­ he was definitely bleeding. On the other hand, the boy had deep cuts on his hands... not because of the sword, but because he used his bow and arrows in that absurd way. He should have worn some kind of gloves, but, well, he was bleeding from the scratches and cuts by his bowstrings. Thankfully, a weird green light was healing the wounds constantly, so he was fine. His eyes were sharp, and he had been using his shadow-diving skill for a while now. That was the only skill he used in this time they were fighting and this healing skill. But the Mana using had long crossed the Mana regeneration speed, so there wasn''t much time left for him. He knew he will soon reach his limits, and the opponent wasn''t giving him any chance to deal a final blow before forfeiting. It was a wonderful fight, but he had to finish quickly. He had many other gifts to find, but he couldn''t use up all his strength, stamina, and concentration here. The twodies could see he was trying his best, but they didn''t know his thoughts. But his opponent was just that much strong even though he wasn''t even using 30% of his strength¡­ The captain of knights of the house of Heliox. He was strong, calm, talented, and definitely amazing. He didn''t use his signature defensive swordy throughout this fight. The opponent was just a young child, so there was no way he would need to use something that could block even a drake''s breath, so it was fine. He used the basic form of his special heavy Aura which was a surprising thing in itself. He could already feel that his pink Aura was special. So special that his lowly (level-11) sword might not be able to survive those special arrows that broke through his (Blue) ranked passive skill [Adamantium Skin]. This young boy forced him to use his Aura, and that much was more than enough to earn his deep respect. But the battle sense this boy had... ''I can''t help thinking his teacher almost practically killed him during their training. There''s no other way to exin that fire in those bright eyes, those automated micro-movements, and his calmness even in this situation.'' He was well aware of the fact that the boy before him was strong, special, and interesting. He was also mysterious and weird, but he didn''t think much deeper about this. He wanted to fight him and he did fight him. This ''spar'', this great battle was satisfying for him... more than satisfying, actually. He had fun after a long time. Genuine fun~. He was happy so... he wanted to finish his strong opponent, who was finding a gap in his defense for a while for a finishing move for a while. He was an amazing archer, even without his magic. Magic archers. They were rare, and he had seen few throughout his whole life. This young boy was one of those magic archers, but his mastery in pure archery was nothing less than a master walking the path of bow and arrow. ''Whoever his master was, whatever their method, they taught him better than anyone else could have. Something beyond human understanding... something phenomenal.'' He didn''t know their objective in teaching so thoroughly to this young child, no... this master. He didn''t know it, but he was grateful for whatever they did. A smile suddenly appeared on his face for a moment when he thought about the future where his master, the one before him right now, would grow enough to use his amazing magic and archery with equal power. How great would it be when he can shoot spell arrows in a simr high-intensity fight like this one? This thought had just crossed his mind for a small moment... which was his unexpected mistake. The boy fighting with him had been thoroughly observing his every single movement, and they were just that great. He hadn''t even thought when moving his sword for all this time, almost instinctively doing everything in this state of [ZONE]. He was an amazing person, and he respected him greatly. This match had been tough, and he was just thinking of giving up when... he saw a gap in his attacks. It was more of a pause rather than a gap as if he suddenly had a weird thought, but whatever it was, the smile on his face deepened by this. ''Well, thanks.'' Chapter 348 Great End... (2) "Energy burst! Mana shield!" He shouted in that fierce battle while still blocking him and the captain''s eyes widened in surprise as he sensed immediate danger. He was going to sh his sword from left to right, but recalled the bouncer sword mid-air and took a step back as he saw a transparent blue shield suddenly appear around the boy''s body. At the same time, a dot of white energy appeared in the exact ce he was standing just a moment before. The dot of energy started getting bigger, growing at an unreal rate, and before he could understand what was happening, the dot had grown as big as his hands. The powering from this sphere was strong, something he wasn''t expecting to see in a quick fight like this one. He didn''t think the boy could cast magic in this short time, even if it is his special scripted spells. He believed he didn''t give him more than a quarter of a second and the boy created an opportunity from just that much by allowing his Aura-covered sword that directly hit his blue shield and then this white sphere of energy started manifesting. The power from this sphere of white light was close to a high-ranking (tier-6) spell. He was facing a young boy, a magic archer who specialized in magic and archery. But... he didn''t think he would also have a skill like this. This one was beyond his expectation. ''In the first ce, what skills manifest that quickly!?'' He was astonished by the way this ''young'' master used his skills and the skills he had. They were something special, and he didn''t need appraisal skills to tell that. Strength, mana consumption, cooldown, power, and duration, were all more powerful in all aspects in all these cases. Even if he can justify that absurd Mana regeneration speed and Mana pool by some artifact and natural special physique¡­ where the hell did he find such a powerful skill?! He didn''t know, and he didn''t have time to know. The skill didn''t even take three full seconds to finish, and he knew this one skill had more than enough power to break the remaining three barriers around them. That meant this skill was enough to actually hurt him... ''I didn''t think I would actually use it...'' A helpless smile appeared on his face as he saw the young boy inside that blue shield that blocked his Aura sword. Blood slid down his nose and he was smiling, too. A smile with his somewhat blood-colored white teeth. It was ridiculous how he would have to use a sword technique against a twelve-year-old child. Even if it was just the most basic first form, it was his swordsmanship. His greatest achievement was his greatest role in the raid against a me drake, a top-rank (Purple) level beast. He yed the greatest role in defending against that creature''s mes and they seeded in deting it because he was there. At least, that was what people all over the empire talked about. His techniques were purely for defense. And that raid had seeded purely because there were also powerful people that attacked the creature with their strong attack power. But he did endure those extremely hot mes and came out alive because of this sword technique. And now, this small attack was forcing him to use one of those very techniques. Not that he couldn''t survive after being hit by it. It wasn''t strong enough to prate his passive defenses. Just that... the boy had aimed the skill precisely at the weak point of the skill... his neck. Whether it was intentional or not, this definitely was not good, so... "Steel sword first form." He smacked his saber into the ground and a pir of rock rose up as soon as the energy st shot from that ball of white energy reached him. "Rock..." -Zyuuuuuuuuuuuu! -Booooooooooooooom! The pir of white energy collided with a yellow rock andpletely blocked the ray of energy thatsted for a whole six seconds. The hard yellow rock burned in the ze of strong energy that was even more than what he had exacted. Maybe this one was enough to even scratch his active defenses? The strong knight captain genuinely wondered this as he saw the scorching orange-ck surface of the yellow rock that slowly had started scattering and crumbling down into the same sand and debris of the training ground. The part that was hit by the energy ray had almost beva and was converting the pile of sand into something simr. It was a strong attack and everyone knew this. Everyone who had given up on trying to watch the fight mid-way that is. Those who were stubborn enough to persist were all being treated by the water mages for they had fainted by the time thisst attack had happened. And all this, from the start of the white energy dot to the summoning of the rock pir and its crumbling into a sandpile, not even half a minute had passed. Not even the mages and knights who were helping them were able to see what had happened in thesest ten seconds but... the twodies as well as some knights who were just nkly looking into those barriers had seen a glimpse of that spectacr scene. The twodies were looking at this fight without any disturbance from the start so they were even more astonished. They had mostly seen the things that happened in that closed barrier area. And that end was one of the few things that they clearly saw. The beautiful elfdy was surprised... stunned would be more appropriate to describe her current outer self. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth also opens not closing even after the rock wall crumbled down, and her hands were shaking as if it was extremely cold. This was just the outer appearance too... her mind was more chaotic than that. But the young girl beside her had a different expression. As soon as the rock wall turned into a pile of sand, she vanished from her ce and reappeared behind the young boy who had shot that white energyser. She caught his falling body and shouted angrily at him while sitting down slowly. "You fool! Dumb son of a b... Your piece of a shit idiot!! Giving up normally is a thing you know?! Why even do shy things like this when you know it''s not necessary one bit?!" There was a smile on his face as he looked at the angry red face she had right now. There was blood all over his face, his Mana almost depleted, his stamina less than one-sixth, and his eyes blurry with red tears¡­ aftereffects of that amazing skill. She was almost on the verge of crying while looking at him, a tear was already at the ends of her eyes. But the smile on his face didn''t disappear and instead¡­ deepened even more. Shaking his head and gently wiping away her tears with a white handkerchief and storing it back in his white crack, he took out a red potion and looked into her eyes. ''You know I''m alright, no?'' "Y-you!! Dumb f¡­!" She furiously raised her fist at his smile and strongly swung down at his chest... but then stopped midway and lightly tapped his heart. "Today is your birthday... at least don''t get all bloody like this..." She was cute right now, genuinely cute. He just shook his head at this expected reaction and drank his red potion, recovering all his health, Mana, stamina and some vitality lost because of all this spilled blood. He got up from herp, looked at her worried self that had a mix of anger, sadness, and worry on her face, and... gently hugged her. "There, there. It''s alright so stop cursing and just calm down little girl." "Shut up you bastard! You-" He hugged her more tightly as she shouted that and her heartbeat raised, even more, a pink blush appeared on her pretty face and she calmed down... and hugged him back. Two pretty kids, hugging each other with great love... everyone in this training ground watched this scene with envious, happy, and embarrassed gazes. The knight captain that he fought was sitting on the ground, breathing deeply, looking at the young couple with envy and dness. He envied the boy, for reasons unknown, and was happy for the two of them. The oldest one in this ce, the pure elf, looked at the two with a pretty smile and blushed while remembering someone else... The fight was over and the game treasure hunt that had started with a special stone would now continue... Chapter 349 Happy Moment "Vital Healing." A green light radiated from his palm that was on the eye area of a knight. He kept it for a moment and then released his hand and stood up from the ground. "It''s healed, but take some medicine to be perfectly fine." "Yes!" The knight shouted and bowed his head from his sitting position, following his order to stay seated. Eon... my darling healed everyone with a rare but still known skill that everyone knew about. I knew this skill too, and I had seen him use it on himself multiple times these past few weeks, but this was even my first time to see this skill work on others like this. It was a skill that used a person''s vitality, their own life force, and health to generate a healing aura that worked better than healing spells of water attribute. It wasn''t an attributed healing spell, but a skill that generated results on par with a healing spell of a priest. This was amazing and just the way he used it without any problem on those foolish knights that persisted in observing till the end and observed the fight till the end. ''I don''t me them, though. He definitely was amazing~ when fighting against that fool Melor.'' I know his feelings but... it''s good that he''s happy about ''us''. Well, this damn fool was bleeding just a moment ago and now he''s perfectly fine... healing others with this weird power. "You never told me about this healing skill." "You never trained hard enough to get hurt like this." His reply was instantaneous... as if this bastard longed for me to ask this specific question. "Fucking bastard... saying that after not even giving me a three-minute rest during that hellish training. Haaa... okay, then. I will just get hurt today-" There was a yful smile on my face just a moment ago, but when those words fell from my mouth, he reflexively turned around with his big, shocked open eyes and covered my mouth with his hand. "Don''t you dare do anything foolish to get hurt... Reinelle Atraxia Von Babylon Ur Alicia O. Night." Just the fact that he remembers this ridiculously long and the tricky name is a problem, but the way he said it with a serious look just now... "Haaa... I''m not a fool like you to hurt myself." He was a weird one. A good weird one. "Alright then~!" And after shouting like that with a bright smile, he returned to his treatment of knights as if nothing had happened. ''This weird dude... how will I do with you?'' Anyway, he''s my darling and we can figure that one outter, but for now, the knights were healed. Melon was gone to his work after giving us the clue, and I knew he definitely had a lot of fun with that match. His excitement and that fire in his eyes, as well as the fact that he used his noble sword technique against Eon, was definitely quite something. Eon... surprises me almost every day with a new awesome thing. "Thanks, master Eon!!!" All the knights that he treated personally shouted with a bright expressions of joy and respect. He nodded at them with a happy smile and just walked back to me with the same kind of letter in his hand. This game had just started, and it definitely was fun for both of us, so I was looking forward to the next gift. ''Now that his grandparents'' turn is over, maybe uncle or aunt is next.'' A cheerful smile ran down my face as I thought about my good friends. Haze, Aug, and ''our'' mother Nol. They were the bestdies¡­ aside from the time they did their crazy and weird things that were still beyond me. What can I even expect? They were grown-updies while I was still a little girl. I was thankful that I was this little girl, but, well; they were far above me when it came to this weird feeling of restless heart and stomach butterflies. This bastard knew their thoughts because of his experience, but I was still oblivious to many of thesemon things. ''Wait... are they evenmon?'' "So, this one is from... Ca? Well, that''s surprising. I thought they were doing it from old to young, but I guess this is just a normal random order." ''Doesn''t matter at all~. You will look awesome while finding whatever little Ca hid~!'' I didn''t think too deeply about thatdy stuff. It was beyond me for now, but I knew I was a good learner... as he says every day so, I know it will be alright in the end. Right now, we had Ca''s gift before us. The hot-headed, cool young knight dreaming of greatness. What would she give to her first and lifelong opponent of her path to glory? ¡­ "She writes better than you," were the first words that unexpectedly came out of my mouth as soon as I saw this not best but at least readable writing. "Say then when I show you my writing practice book. Hump!" ''Damn... he''s cute in times like this one.'' A smirk appeared on my face as I looked at those acting puffed cheeks. He knew I didn''t mean a single thing and still; he was acting like that... cute little baby. Looking at each other and shaking our heads with a smile, we looked at the letter. [ My little brother Eon... well, fuck the pretty words. I don''t like that or even understand why people write simple things so sweetly. This whole game of hiding gifts also doesn''t make sense, but today is the birthday of my great rival, so I won''t lose either. I still don''t have any idea how they are going to do this letter and gift hiding, but if you get this one, then that means you deserve it. The awesome little brother that''s the hope of everyone... you know you''re strong, right? From the fact that how you gave me that amazing sword, I believe you already have spectacr weapons to use for yourself. I didn''t know what different kind of gift to give since you already had everything and it''s just bothersome to think too deeply about that. Instead of wasting much time, I would rather just train by myself. So, well, your gift isn''t something that great. It''s amon thing that you know how to use the best and it''s there somewhere in this house... so! Go find it if you can, loser! Muhahahahaha! ] "Did... she just wroteughter at the end? Lol, that girl. Ptff¡­ hehe." I couldn''t help myugh when thinking about thatst thing. Thatugh... I could genuinely see her pretty face in those words. Her beautiful face with a smirk and mockery. That girl is also cute in her own way. And in this clue that she tried so hard to not speak out loud, even I knew what and where her gift might be. He could tell I knew it, and a bitter expression appeared on her face. "If even you know... I feel sorry for her. Grandpa said she tried her best to hide it and she definitely did, but, well, she''s older than me but younger than Alf in this kind of normal thing." He sighed with a helpless smile and stored the letter in his storage space. Then, he looked at the knights that were preparing to get back to their work or start the proper training and shouted. "Everyone! I will be making lunch for everyone so train well! You can eat as much as you want today. And call the young ones too. Call everyone by lunchtime!" I knew he would eat with them but... he will make it himself?! "Wo!" Every knight and mage in this ce, some servants working around who heard this thing, and I cheerfully eximed. Our joy at the thought of being able to eat the thing he makes, and as much as we want on top of that, was crazy! Our shouts pierced the sky and everyone in the house came out or looked out of the windows of the hallways. They were surprised by this sudden uproar but as soon as they heard the reason for this suddenmotion, they also cheered up with bright smiles~! They knew today was his birthday but, as mere servants of a noble house, however good their rtionship may be with the family, they were still not actually of the same status as them. They could wish him a happy birthday, and many of them did with a bright smile during the time we were on this training ground, but that was it. As servants, they didn''t have anything more than themselves to offer to their spectacr young master. They could be a part of the joy of this day but, they couldn''t offer a suitable gift to a young nobleman like him who had everything and maybe more. They had no gift to present to this young master who took great care of them and they weren''t yet worthy enough to ept anything from a great young master like him. But, Eon''s cooking was a different thing. The first day he came here, he talked with everyone and made breakfast for them. And everyone meant every single person working, serving, or guarding this house. They tasted his cooking for the first time back then, and now was the second time they had the chance to taste that bliss once again. I loved his cooking and so did everyone else and now, just from those words, a festive atmosphere covered the whole estate. He had a bitter smile on his face now and that smile was just the opposite of my bright smile. ''How good would it be when we will live alone and he will cook for me every morning, afternoon, evening, and night? Yes~! Just thinking about that time... does he fantasize things like this about me too? Things like... I wearing only an apron...'' "Let''s go find the treasures, dum dum." He didn''t know my thoughts this time, or maybe he did know, but didn''t say anything. Well... there were just a few years left until this thinges true, anyway. Thinking about it is fun but living those moments would be even more fun~! "Yes~! Let''s go in. And... I''m not a dum dum! So stop that!" "Yes, yes. Don''t be angry like that, my dear pink panther." The hell?! Why a pink panther all of a sudden? ''Wait... THE pink panther?! The great purple-ranked monarch?!'' My face unexpectedly turned hot when thinking about the majestic great creature that was thought to have disappeared from the world. He called me by the same name as that great being¡­ Am I... that awesome? That gorgeous and majestic? That powerful in those ruby red eyes that had seen the greatest powers? "Hehehe..." I couldn''t help but chuckle in a low voice while looking down as he held my hand and lead me inside the house. I was in my own wonderful thoughts, so I didn''t see that helpless look and a delightful smile on his face that screamed ''cute!'' words over and over. The pink panther... he definitely meant it some other simple way. Chapter 350 Blaze Arrow Little Ca''s gift... it was clear that it would be something like a bow or arrow or something rted to these things. She was a proper knight already. A strong one. We all knew her goal by now and the dream she was chasing. She was more interested in weapons than anything else. Mainly swords but as a knight, she would naturally learn various things aside from the simple sword. She had a special talent, something too extraordinary to consider normal. She can store any kind of de in a special space, just like our storage skills. But unlike the limited space we would have, her infinite sword inventory was something special to herself. She was amazing and so was her gift that she just simply hid in her closet. She was definitely cute, smart, and strong but she was more innocent than maybe even Alf. Hiding something in her own room, thinking we would never enter here, and not giving us any clue was more than enough to realize it would be in the most normal ce. Well, the house was big. There were countless ces one could hide their gifts. There were also underground rooms where anyone could hide their presents. But the best ce and the one with the most probability of having presents was the secret rooms in everyone''s room. Everyone had one of these private spaces in their rooms and we already had visited some of them. I had also seen Eon''s secret room but... well, that ce was difficult to understand even for me. It was like some kind of dwarf lord''s most precious room filled withplicated artifacts, tools, and weird things. He called it hisb but, well, it was a special kind ofb rather than the normal magic or alchemybs I had seen. Anyway, we were in Ca''s secret room for the first time today. A normal room unlike her underground special training room filled with countless weapons and swords. This room was just a normal one with some books, some handwritten notebooks, a peaceful bed, some ''girly'' clothes... that she had genuinely never worn in front of us, and some of her personal things. Every private room is one''s own responsibility in this house so they all had to take care of it themselves. All the passages and buttons leading to these special rooms are the most personal ces for every one of them, I have one too, filled with things I have collected throughout my life, back at home. But here, everyone takes good care of these special rooms. His grandpa and grandma''s special rooms were one of the most secure ces I had ever seen because there were some very important stuff and files there but they allowed the two of us to see it a while back. We had also seen the awesome rooms of his first uncle and aunt and they were the ces that resembled the two of them perfectly. His first uncle''s room was filled with weird magic engineering stuff that I could barely understand and that ce was almost as big as the artifact room. And his aunt''s room was just filled with her spectacr collection of tea, teapots, and teacups. We have yet to see his mom, dad, and Anna''s secret room but we shouldn''t intrude on those special ces unless invited by the owner. And... Ca practically gave us permission to be here by hiding this gift here so she couldn''t me us for intruding and seeing her special things. We couldn''t tell anyone about the things in one''s secret room, the strongw of the house, so she knew her cute secret was safe with us. Well, every one of these secret rooms is defended by special artifacts, spells, magic, traps, and whatnot. The most absurdly secure ce in this house would be this bastard Eon''s secret room if I had to say so myself. It was even more fortified than his mom''s room. Anna''s room was one thing but in just a few days¡­ this bastard transformed his entire ce, from the whole terrace floor to the special room, into something like a highly ssified zone 0 area. He used spells, magic arrays, and even runes to safeguard that ce. Without his own willing permission, even he couldn''t enter that ce, much less an intruder. Well, that ce is one hell of a madness, just like the things he does there. This normal ce with just a few artifacts and two difficult magic arrays was better than that shit. So we were here right now, looking at a long rectangr wooden box with a yellow sticky note on it with ''don''t you dare talk about this ce. Forgot it. Absolutely erase it from your mind.'' written on it. "Cute... hehe." I couldn''t help my reaction on this one and a chuckle escaped my mouth¡­ "She definitely is cute. Anyway, this is quite amazing too." "Quite¡­ amazing? Of course, in your eyes, even this superb thing would look just ''quite'' amazing..." This bastard just smiled and shook his head as his eyes turned blue for a brief moment and his smile deepened even more. "You aren''t supposed to use your skills Eon. You have one penalty now." "What penalty? I''m not supposed to use skills and spells while finding a gift. I can use it when I already have it. And I used my Origin skill so it doesn''t count anyway." "Loophole finding bastard..." I just smiled at this cunning bastard and looked at the beautiful metallic arrow inside the box. I can tell this one was an old artifact just from the feeling it''s giving off but it really was quite something¡­ ''Eyes of truth.'' ============ ¡ñ[ze sparker] ~~~> An old artifact with the special energy of a dungeon. ~~~> Its a dungeon artifact as strong as a normal (level-11) artifact. ~~~> The user can use this arrow to call upon the high magic (zing hell), a mid-level (tier-9) spell. ~~~> Its a special artifact with an innate spell and can be used three times. After that, the arrow will perish. ~~~> The arrow body is made of the rare metal, ck iron so the arrow itself is more durable than any lower-level artifact. ~~~> The de is still sharp despite being hundreds of years old. The enchantments of that time sure were awesome. ~~~> This arrow''s core is an unknown high beast''s part containing a significant amount of its energy, which had a very high affinity with fire, the reason why the high spell is so stable despite being this old. ~~~> It would take arge amount of Mana to activate the spell and the purity of Mana would determine the output power of the spell. ~~~> It is enviable how someone can give such a precious thing to someone else as a birthday gift. It just shows their respect and affection toward that person. ~~~> It''s a gooooood~ thing the receiver of such a gift, the one who calls such an amazing piece of art ''quite amazing'' is your precious someone. ~~~> Take care of each other you two~! ============ ''Hehe. Cute as always~. Thanks, and don''t worry. I will take good care of this cute bastard~!'' "Bones of a volcanic Tricer? Indeed, the core used ispatible with the fire attribute, destruction series spell, very well. Just being able to smelt and refine such difficult material of a powerful top-ss (Indigo) rank creature would need a grandmaster-level craftsman. Those creatures are close to none in today''s time but the craftsman who can process such material is countable on hand¡­" ''Well, I''m not even surprised anymore. He has deeper knowledge than me even though our eye ability is almost the same.'' His eyes were special but my eyes were different from his in some aspects. He said my eyes are something too special to bepared to anything so I will just wait till the day it grows. These pink eyes are a cute one, so I don''t actually mind even if it stays the same~. "How many times did your eyes say this one can be used?" His sudden question startled me but I answered with a normal expression. "Three? ...why? Did your little cussing baby say something different?" "Well, they said four but I think it can be stretched to five times if used well and not recklessly." "...what?" "You know the principles of a magic artifact like this one right? The core magic attached to the artifact will vanish if the spell is used three or four times. In other words, the durability of the arrow itself will fall every time it is used. It will be damaged by the force of the high magic but if we can maintain the output and lower it to the power of a (tier-8) destructive spell, it can be used more times. The spell itself is engraved on the whole of the arrow so as long as the arrow is at least in its full form, it can be used. So... well, this is better than I expected. I wonder where she found something like this." There were those cute stars in his eyes as he looked at this almost one-meter-long metallic arrow with a sharp, triangle but a wavy tip. The arrow itself was deep ck with fire-like patterns on it. A cksmith''s work was spectacr but the magic engraving was also spectacr on this one. Finding such a good artifact in a dungeon was mostly a stroke of luck. And maybe this was something found in a treasure chest from how it''s in this good condition. I nodded at him with a helpless smile as he closed the box and stored the arrow in his storage bracelet. "Eon..." "Don''t even think about it. It''s too dangerous." "Petty bastard." "Rein? It''s (tier-9). I said we can increase the usage count but there is no way I want to waste something this precious." "Tsk!" He can use it at least three times. Why can''t I use it just once?? Just think about the giant explosion that would be enough to create a pool ofva! we can just destroy a barren mountain with something so fun~. But this bastard didn''t know just how fun those big explosions were... "Hump. If I get a gift like that, I would definitely-" "That''s why no one gives you something like this. We all know you are half crazy." "I''m not! I do what I like!!" "No, you don''t. Now shut up and look at this one. It''s from uncle El." This bastard! I''m not some little girl he can order to shut up every time! ... ''But today is his birthday so let''s just hear him out¡­ just this once.'' When I get a precious gift like this one, I will st this bastard first. Hopefully, he will survive. It''s his specialty after all... "If I die-" "You won''t." You can''t die darling. You won''t. My reply to him was instantaneous and he just shook his head at my serious eyes. He knew this serious look was something he can''t speak anything before. So we both just returned to the letter we found with the box and forget the weird conversation a moment ago. I knew he can easily survive one (tier-9) spell so I can say and think whatever I wanted but... him dying? Not happening until I''m in this world. Chapter 351 Special Black Box [Dear Eon~! Happy happy happy birthday, darling nephew~! I''m sooo~ happy to greet my precious nephew for the first time in all these years like this. I have greeted you in letters before, but those were different from this one! This time, you are here... though I''m in the house next door, well; you are here~! You are with us and for the first time... ... ... ...so, for my dear Eon''s birthday gift, I have made a verrrrrry special thing. It''s in myb somewhere. Use form #334251 HBD with the Stringuler Manablock detector. It''s something fun~! Happppppy birthhhhhhh dayyyy.] "Wow..." A freaking three-page greeting. And most of them are filled with those loooooong words. I couldn''t even read the whole thing and we didn''t have time to read these long words, so he just read all the pages at once and the main thing in them was thest part. He directly said the gift is in hisb... which is underground and is almost as big as one-fourth of the whole underground area. Damn... "It''s good that he gave us the way to find the gift in that bigb but, how can we solve that absurd form and operate that thing?" First of all, the form he mentioned was something very difficult and even on the academic level, we have to be on the academic researcher level to solve it. And that was only the specific Stringuler Manablock form. The general one. I didn''t even know what this specific one he said was! To operate that Manablock detector, a special device simr to a metal detector or a GPS, coordinates were required. This one device was able to search where the specific Mana block, the specific special part of the ''space'' would be. From what I can understand, he wanted us to solve the form, find the ce shown with the device, and the gift would be there. This whole thing was absurd! It was absurd... until we reached the undergroundb and found the device that looked just like a metal detector with a floating magic disy. Then¡­ he entered some code in it, and the device pointed at a specific shelf on the south side of the room. We walked there, and he opened the drawer of a shelf and took out a pure ck metallic box. That was it... the box, this special ck box... we found the gift! "How the hell do you even- no. That''s not even a question. You know, because you have seen and solved that #332451 thing." "Of course. And we will have it in our first year if you select superior magic engineering as one of your subjects. I heard uncle''s master and best friend is the teacher for that ss." I looked at him as soon as I heard that thing. The wide eyes and shocked look in my eyes were something he already anticipated. "You have no choice~. We would have done this eventually, subjects, but now that we have this chance, let''s start magic engineering in morning training~! ? It''s not as difficult as you think, though. Most of the things in that one area are for memorization. If you just memorize three books worth of research, you will be more than good to top that ss~." There was a very calm, very positive, very very normal smile on his face. The devilish smile I hated the most about him... ''Fucking bastard...'' He knew I wanted to be with him most of the time, so we decided to be together for most of our sses. Practically all sses except three. He would be going for cooking, high magic theory, and all energy utilization. And I would go for weapon understanding, energy beast research, and spirit bonding sses. We can only have twelve sses every year in the academy, six of which arepulsory. So, we can choose from countless sses which one we want to have as our core subjects. There was no restriction on attending any ss we want though. You can only give exams in it, those twelve subjects, but you can attend any ss in the whole of the academy you want. It was a fun ce, so, even though I didn''t want to, magic engineering was something he wanted to do and I will have to do it with him. Thankfully, he was a good teacher and the things he taught were easy to understand than thoseplex books. As for memorizing... well, I have some years for that. It''s not like we will have to top the whole academy. Getting the highest in a single ss would be a piece of cake~. But for now... the ck box. "The box itself is a gift," he said with a smile on his face after his eyes turned blue for a moment. I didn''t understand what he meant but, finding out was easy. ''Eyes of truth.'' ============ ?[Compact material analyzer] ~~~> A magic equipment that can analyze theponents of presented material with a 75% uracy. ~~~> It is easy to carry in the storage space and can show the elements of presented materials. ~~~> It has the limitation of being able to analyze only the known elements. All the unknown elements would be recorded within it along with different collected data. ~~~> The analysis would take one minute to an unknown period depending on the materials, the configuration, and theplexity of the element. ~~~> Magic analysis is not possible with this device, thing, but all the basic physical matter could be vaguely deciphered. ~~~> It''s a good device made by a great person who knows their work properly~! ============ "It''s... good?" "Good?" He lifted his eyebrow as he looked at me with a serious questioning gaze. And¡­ ''He''s actually serious this time...?'' It was just a small ck metallic box that could analyze things. I didn''t know much about it so I couldn''t actually understand the deep meaning of this thing but from the serious look on his face as I said that thing was a rare sight. "Rein..." He called out my name and then looked back at the box and lifted it in the air as if showing a trophy to the world. "This is a masterpiece." ... ''The fuck?'' He said that as if he was genuinely admiring a great piece of art. I was confused, thinking if my eyes didn''t see the actual functions of this thing, things, it, but that was highly unlikely. It was something made in the current time and it was a magic engineering artifact. It was different from the items of ancient times. My eyes had never been wrong when it came to modern things so why the hell was this bastard this amazed? "If I can create and program a suitable AI, it will be something that can learn by itself. Something closer to a Ego. It''s too amazing, Rein. Too amazing..." There were stars in his eyes and though I didn''t understand what he meant, it was fun to see those starry eyes. The rare sight, his excited heart, those amazing eyes, and his twitching smile. He was too excited to even show it and I could feel it even if he tried to suppress it with all his might. ''He is excited about this thing, there''s a cute smile on his face, what else do I even need?'' A smile covered my face as I watched him y with his new toy. The machine was a rectangr box that you put things in. Its surface was shiny. A metallic surface that reflected his pretty face like a mirror. When he put a normal Mana stone in it, a magic disy floated up from the surface of the closed box. A blue holographic disy snowing not just the information about the Mana stone but also all the other organic and inorganic elements in the stone. Its purity value and even the statistics about how it is a little above average in qualitypared to the usual stones on the market. This one actually was quite amazing... maybe Eon can make this even better? He was amazed because he found this thing exciting and fun to y with. And he yed with it for a strong five minutes before his curiosity was fulfilled and he stored the box in his storage space and looked at the letter that was in the same drawer as the box. It was most probably from his first aunt, my lovely friend Aug, from how the order was going on. And¡­ we were right! "She''s definitely different when ites to writing something. Her words are different from my grandma but they are special at the same time." "Right? She''s amazing~!" I couldn''t help eximing at his words. She definitely was amazing, and so was her tea. ''Oh! Did she prepare some great tea for Eon for his gift? If so, it will be amazing if she brews the tea herself~. I would love to have some cups.'' "I don''t think it''s tea..." He poured cold water on my excited thoughts... just like he does every time. Bastard... I looked at him and then at the letter in his hand and tried to read it while controlling my anger. I would punch him in the face if this wasn''t his birthday but I had to control myself today... Though... tomorrow will definitely be different. Chapter 352 Tea Cups [ Birthdays, the days we are born. Just like the nt, how first a seed is nted into the ground and then that seed sprouts to be a beautiful nt after great care, and then a majestic tree. Some fortunate ones be old big trees that guide the lost ones, bless others with their great wisdom, and support many other creatures under their vast reach. I hope a young nt like you can be a great old being like those ancient trees too. It''s your birthday and the gift that I prepared with my dear heart andcking capabilities is ced on my favorite ce. It''s not something grand like others but it''s something I made with great care. I hope you like it~. ] That clearly said she made the thing so it was clear that it wasn''t tea. Maybe it was something else but it definitely wasn''t tea because, well, you can''t ''make'' tea. Not in the actual sense of creation. So he was right. And I still want to punch him. He''s a bastard who deserves it. ''But... damn that smile.'' There was a warm smile on his face as he looked at the letter with warm eyes. They were different from his previous reactions and he was genuinely happy to read this thing. I couldn''t help but feel this strange feeling while looking at him but he definitely was... hat! ''Ahem! Anyway... maybe he''s happy to see that live-long thing? There might be some special story I don''t know yet. But anyway-'' "Let''s go dum dum." "I. Am. Not. Dum dum!!" "Of course, you aren''t. Haha~." He wasughing now after making fun of me. In the first ce, what does this dum dum even mean?! I had no idea where this weirdness of hises from some of the times but, I know I won''t get some of my answers from him even if I wanted to. ''He hides some things deep within his mind and heart. Things that even I''m not allowed to know just yet. Maybe I will know someday in the future but for now, it was something I can''t know and shouldn''t think too deeply about in the first ce.'' I was lost in my thoughts so he just grabbed my hand and led me to the front garden where a single white umbre, a tea table and two white-blue chairs were set. This area was the front garden area on the right side and Aug''s favorite tea spot. This was afortable area where the calm wind that carried the fresh scent of the flowers on the left side of the garden flowed most of the time. Especially in the evening. This ce bes the best outdoor dinner and tea ce for us. But this was still justte morning so there was bright sunlight all over this big front garden. There was also a neat gift-wrapped box on the table so we knew that was Aug''s gift. ''The area here was good and this waste morning... wasn''t this perfect atmosphere for a cup of warm sweet tea?'' Maybe he understood my mind so he didn''t waste any time and we reached the table. He stood behind one of the chairs and pulled it back, politely requesting me to have a seat. He was also bowing respectfully at me and I couldn''t help my absurd smile at this sudden thing. ''But it''s cute...'' With a pink blush on my face and bowing respectfully at him, I set down on the chair. ''A bit awkward too...'' "Ahem. Ahem." He faked some cough and set down across me on his chair and picked up the box. It was finely decorated, so good that no one would want to open the box just to take out the things inside it. His thoughts were the same but we had to open it one way or another. So... this bastard darling of mine first masterfully removed the golden ribbon on the box, turned it upside-down, used some kind of spell to relieve the packing of the cover on the box, took out the box and the two tea cups inside it, and put everything back, making the box exactly how it was a moment ago. "Did... your master teach you how to pack a gift too?" I couldn''t help this question. The way he did it was just that amazing. "For a matter of fact... she wanted to but I decided to learn that one on my own. And she was surprised by my prowess after a few months of practice-." "Shut that crap and look at these cups. Isn''t one mine?" I knew he was talking shit when he said that thing so as to not waste either of our time precious time, I interrupted him in the middle and just pointed at the two beautiful tea cups. Two simr tea cups, one painted in gold and another one in purple. There were pink patterns on the golden cup while there were red patterns on the purple one. There was also a small pink crown on the golden cup while there was a simr red crown on the purple cup. Both of them looked beautiful and I knew from a single nce that Aug made them and also that one of these two was mine. But he narrowed his eyes and looked at me with confusion¡­ "They are my gifts. Why would one be yours?" "Don''t joke around, Eon. You also know both of them resemble us. One is like you while the other one is like me. It''s only natural that one of them is mine, right?" The confusion in his eyes turned into seriousness as he looked at me with sharp eyes. "Do you think I''m joking right now?" ... "No." This bastard was seriously serious. He actually meant it when he said that both of them were his. ''Petty bastard...'' Both of the tea cups were beautiful, and I really wanted one. But now that wasn''t possible. He imed both beautiful tea cups as his own. "Hump..." I turned my face away from him as he started preparing this special secret tea in a small teapot. He also decorated the table with some fresh flowers and some snacks. The fresh scent that covered the table was amazing and he was humming peacefully right now but I didn''t look at him. He didn''t give me the teacup after having me sit here so respectfully then prepared some amazing tea. He wasn''t going to give the teacup to me then why was he even doing this?! ... ''Can''t refuse the tea though...'' Especially his special milk tea. That sweet thing is just amazing, almost like an eternal elixir. ''Not that I know what eternal elixir tastes like. But I bet even that thing would note close to his special tea. "Here. Three sugar cubes, more milk, average tea." And now he was saying that with a bright smile on his face. The seriousness from a moment ago was nowhere to be seen. And the bastard gave me that golden cup that I liked more than the pink one. He knew it and served me tea in something I can''t ever have even if I wanted it dearly. Something you can''t buy with money¡­ "You can''t have the cup but it can always belong to you if you want. How about it?" "...?" As soon as those words came out of his mouth, my eyes shot up at him and I looked at him with wide-open eyes, confused, shocked, and angry. ''I can''t have it but it will always belong to me? Isn''t this same as having the cup if we both will just stay with each other forever?'' This fucjking bastard! "Why?!" I mumbled under my breath as I held the warm tea cup and looked down at the brown-gold color of the fantastic tea. There were two foam hearts on this one too. Something he usually does. But I was angry right now... "Hmm? What did you say cute dum dum?" -Thump! "First of all, cut that dum dum crap!! Second of all, you are a son of a... third thing, if you were going to let me use the cup anyway, what do you even get from these things?" My poor cry and teary eyes would be soul-wreaking for any normal human but for him, this was just something... cute. My misery, pain, and hurt, were fun to watch for this bastard. There was a teardrop on the end of my eyes and he wiped it with his usual white handkerchief. "The same thing you get from seeing me excited or focused. Don''t worry about it little pink one~. You are a good person. You can use the cup as your personal cup but I will have the cup with me all the time. It''s nothing stranger than the usual things, right? Just be happy that you got an exclusive teacup." He patted my head after that and I just sipped his tea while looking down. He was a cruel person but¡­ what can I even do now? I was trapped with him so there is nothing more I want. ''These cookies he makes are good too... as always.'' I know I''m already addicted to his cooking but we have to maintain some things. Like, the kiss. We have to hasten that date so that I can control my poor desires a bit better. ... Anyway, after our deep chat and some pass time, we opened the letter and this time... it was his second uncle. The great advocate famous in the whole empire, Theo. And just like how Aug''s words are special, this one''s writing itself is special, Short, unique, beautiful, and attractive¡­ Chapter 353 Simple? [ The new sun shining upon us, the new ray of warm light born to illuminate the world, the heroic child born with a fatal w of fate, and the lovely little boy that we all love. The world is a cruel ce and I believe you know that by now, dear Eon. But in this harsh world, finding your own happiness is something special to every normal being. It is my greatest joy to be your uncle, and I''m always thankful to you for things you might not even be aware of. But still, as the ray of light that binds this lovely family, I wish you a long, happy, peaceful, and a life that you desire. The true wheel of time spins forward, always following thew it has been assigned. The world follows worldlyws, nature being its creator. Thews are truths, the ones breaking them are transcendents. The nature is author, we mortal her children. The strings of fate might be present, deciding the flow of life; but don''t forget oh my dear nephew, nothing is certain nor absolute in the world or life. ] ''It is a bit longer, somewhatplicated, and definitely not something with a shallow meaning.'' He said more than needed with just those words and, even thoughplicated, it was easy to understand what he wanted to say. Even I understood what it meant and this bastard was smiling the same warm smile asst time. The letter itself was only talking to him with the wishing for his well-being. It was alright and well thought out but, we weren''t doing some writingpetition. These letters were the clues to finding the gifts for him. All the previous letters definitely had the clues, though difficult to understand, they definitely had them. This one, however, was different. ''There''s definitely no clue in this one...'' What thing in this letter can even point at something? I definitely wouldn''t think of this one as a clue to a present, but it definitely was. So, how will my great darling deal with this~? "How simple of you, uncle Theo..." "Hum?" Simple? What simple...? "You got the clue?" "Nope. I got the location of the gift." What in the nine hells?! "Where?!" "Inside." "What inside?!!" "Shut up dum dum. It''s easy. The gift is inside the house, so don''t worry. Just finish your tea and calm down. Here, have some more." I was shouting with wide-open eyes while he just drank tea from his beautiful purple cup. I was angry! And¡­ he poured more tea into my half cup. And more than anything¡­ ''He said dum dum again...'' What the fuck does that even mean?! -Sips. And what does he mean inside?! -Spis. What the hell can he even understand from that letter to say that he knows the exact location of the gift?! -Sips. "Hmm... pass the sugar, please." "Here you go." -dup. ''He is confident too¡­ did he use some kind of spell because he knew there wasn''t any clue in this one to begin with? [[ That''s a highly unlikely master. The confidence and happiness on his face are of pure certainty. Knowing him, he would have just epted the punishment, or at least had some signs of guilt. But right now, it doesn''t look like he cheated in any way. ]] [[ "Hmm. Right. You are right as always, Branwen." ]] Fortunately, I had this old crow who was smarter than me. He was a special one to me, so... wait. [[ "Hey Branwen. Did you understand the clue in that letter? You must have seen it, right?" ]] [[ Unfortunately, no. Even I failed to actually grasp the hidden deep meaning in the depths of that divinenguage. My poor knowledge of this grand nature and ocean of worlds is still far behind master Eon. This old soul that has wandered the world in the pursuit of greater truths and gained a vast knowledge of the world has failed to decipher the insignificant hint to acquire a mere present. I''m truly ashamed to be called a crow of wisdom... ]] ''Right... he''s my dear old crow.'' The way he talks with me and people close to him is very weirdpared to the cute Clover or Celes. His way of talking is so weird it would give anyone hearing it for the first time a strange chill down their spine. ''Eon called him a chunni¡­ I don''t know the meaning of that word, but that definitely sounds like something that would exin his peculiar way with words.'' Anyway, even my smart crow had no idea of what the gift was or any clue about it. Then¡­ how the hell did this bastard know of it? How the hell did he know the exact location of it to say it with that much surely?! -Sips... -nk. -Nom, nom, nom. "Ok, let''s go. Let''s see if you are right." I finished my entire cup and ate a whole chocte cookie and looked at him with a serious gaze. I didn''t doubt that he was telling the truth. He didn''t have any reason to lie to me in all this time we were together. It was not long when technically speaking, but this definitely was long for us, so I know him a great lot. So he was serious about knowing the location and I wanted to see just how right he was and what thing there would be from awyer who can write such aplicated yet simple things. I looked down at him who was still calmly sipping his tea with a cupcake in his other hand. He finished his cup and gave me a smile that screamed that I looked cute right now. I know this smile now, one of his nine signature smiles. Well, that wasn''t the point right now. I wanted to see the gift, his reasoning behind knowing the location of the gift, and the reason he was so excited right now-. "Rein. Chill darling. We will be making lunch for hundreds of people after this one and maybe one after this. We have a lot of work ahead of us. And you will have to go deliver some of the lunch I make to all of them at Alf''s house. It will be fun and tiring, so cool down and focus on resting a bit instead of being so obsessed with a simple gift. It''s my birthday and gift anyway. So, sit down and have some of this chocteva cake. It''s a good one~." He took out a big cupcake-like small cake from his storage space, which looked hot and delicious from the very first nce. The delicious scent of the cake had already filled the surrounding atmosphere. ''This thing... I don''t think he had ever made something like this one.'' I also don''t think it''s something ordinary from the looks of it. It''s most definitely a mix of his brownie, a cupcake, and melted chocte. The cake looked fresh, as if freshly taken out of an oven too... ''That special storage space... I know it''s one of his origin skills, but to think a skill canpletely freeze time for something when put inside... just amazing.'' Even my (Indigo) ranked storage skill wasn''t like this. It can store a loooooot of things in it, but even that one can''t hold a candle before his skill. I don''t think even an ancient artifact can stop time for things inside, as his skill does. It''s just that amazing... Anyway, the cake. It looked mouth-watering, so I had to eat that. We also had to prepare food for everyone, just as he said. As for the cake... "Hmm~." Twelve out of twelve. Chapter 354 Clock, Key, And The Paper In The Box Well, we moved inside after finishing our small snack. It was good. Definitely a semi-top-tier thing. Anyway, we were now on the ground floor''s great dance hall and were standing before thergest hall clock. It was a clock situated on the upper balcony''s back side. It was a good ce and the clock was almost twice as big as both of us. It was an antique Mana key clock, something of old times that only operated when one put Mana inside it with the help of a special key. One had to give this clock key every month and sacrifice almost fifty MP worth of Mana for this clock to work properly. And it didn''t support a Mana stone or crystal. One had to personally reel this key while willingly letting their Mana flow out of them. I know in this house, his grandma and his second uncle Theo were the only two people who loved this clock dearly. Maybe master Zhen too but he liked it more because the two of them cherished it so much. There was an unknown story about this clock but we didn''t know about it. Well, that wasn''t important right now. We were finding the gift and there was nothing around here. "Where''s the gift?" The question marks on my head were white meaning I was utterly confused right now. He had confidently walked in and directly stood before this clock so the gift should have been here, right? There was no way he was just bluffing previously and is now embarrassed for being wrong. There was still a confident look in those zing eyes as he looked at the clock. I could tell from this look that he was confident but was thinking about something else. Maybe the reason why this clock was so special to those people? We can just know the reason if we ask but there was definitely a reason they hadn''t told us that thing just yet. Just why no one but those two had such great affection towards this clock? Anyway... He shook off his deep thoughts after a moment and took a deep breath. Then, he looked at me with a calm smile and nodded, as if telling me to just wait for a bit and watch him. And I just nodded in response, not that I could do much else anyway. He nodded back and took out a peculiar white ket from his storage space. A pure white normal-looking key. A normal key that was definitely not the key for the lock of this clock. There was a cupboard-like ce inside this clock so there was a special key to open this wooden clock and there was a separate key for this ce. The key in his hand was definitely not the key for this thing and we can say it just from the fact that the keyhole to this shelf was triangr, a special shape. On the other hand, this normal key was just like a normal key to any normal lock. There was nothing special to this key aside from its pure white body but, well, when he inserted this key in the triangr lock, the rectangle key easily went in like it was a perfect match and he just twisted the key to open the lock. It was strange how the key went in¡­ A solid-looking key that had a normal key-like shape just went inside a weird triangr lock! And even though I doubted that this old lock would open with some different key, when I heard a familiar sound, my eyes widened and I looked at him and the white key with surprised eyes. -Click. "The keys to things like this one are mostly with grandpa Zhen but he is busy ying with Anna and Zoe back there so I shouldn''t disturb him for something like this." He just smiled and opened the door while the strange white key stayed inside that lock. There was a normal wooden box and a clue letter inside the empty area but that wasn''t important right now. ''Is this white key... some kind of master key artifact?'' I was genuinely interested in this key rather than the normal box so I looked at the key and used my eyes¡­ which I definitely should not have done without asking him first¡­ ''Eyes of truth.'' ============ [Error!] [Error!] [Information about the targeted object is tooplex to decipher.] [The answer to the asked questions are only vaguely understood.] [*Master key*] ~~~> A special artifact that can open any lock wished by the user. ~~~> The specific functions are only usable by the chosen being. ~~~> The item contains a high Ego so the requirements to be the chosen one are unrealistic from the general point of view. ~~~> Sorry master! I''m too weak! ============ ''You.. aren''t the only weak one, dummy.'' As soon as I read that information on this strange red screen, a stinging pain covered my head as if a volcano had erupted. "You dum dum... it''s amazing you are standing even after seeing the information of a divine artifact with a high Ego. I literally fainted and woke up half a day after that incident. Come here..." I grabbed my spinning head and was almost on the verge of falling down when he grabbed me by the waist. "A d-divine arti... fact?" My head was spinning as if the world was spinning to torture me. It felt like I could feel the speed at which the spins. It was... bad and definitely absurd. Having a side effect this absurd just by looking at the information of a divine artifact? I know it''s my first time and all but what the hell was this?! First, my skill acted weirdly, that red screen, and now this shitty headache is worse than being under the effect of a high-grade mental skill. In the first ce... the white key? A divine artifact? This thing...? And what''s a high Ego? Something even more fucked up than the narcissistic Egos? But don''t the things with a will of their owne after the Ego and are the only thing better than an Ego? What the hell is a high Ego then?! "Ummm..." "Don''t think deeply about useless things and try focusing on your breathing. Control your breathing. You are doing fine with your energy cirction so just take a deep breath, open your mouth and drink this." My vision was the only properly working thing right now so I could see the golden liquid in a small ss bottle. It... looked beautiful? And he just held me by my waist, my head on his shoulder, and dropped a small drop of that golden liquid in my mouth. "It''s a divine artifact that can unlock any door or lock. It''s a special gift from my master. It has a special kind of Ego despite it being a simple key so I know you know it can do more than just unlock some doors. It''s not something normal and maybe some of the craziest things so don''t think too much about it." I don''t know what that golden liquid was but as soon as I drank it, which was just a single drop, the unbearable pain in my mind disappeared in an instant. It was so sudden I felt like the pain from just a moment ago was an illusion. "Mmm¡­" I was fine now and... I was still in his arms? "Y-you can relieve me now, you know." It was strange every time something like this happens. The headache aside, now I''m all hot and my heart is... well, you know. Those weird symptoms. He released me instantly... I wasn''t the only one with these symptoms after all. He was hiding it but he was also somewhat red after doing something unexpected like that out of the blue. ''That was really close too.'' Not only my head was on his shoulder, my face too close to his, and we were alone in this ce for some reason. There should be some minds or butlers or even some servants around here at this time but there was no one in this entire area? Were everyone around the kitchen, waiting for him and his cooking? ''Well, damn, fuck, whatever¡­'' If not for him, I wouldn''t mind doing things that aren''t allowed but¡­ he had those absurd restrictions... I don''t even wanna talk about those things. We both were almost the same height even though there was almost a one hundred and eleven-year difference in the technical age. But... well, let''s not think about this shit. He was already over this disaster at the time I was in this weird train of thought and put back the key in his storage space. He had found the gift, which was this wooden box or the thing inside it, and a letter with the next clue was with it so maybe we can find this one before going back too. So for now... "Ahem. Let''s see what this is..." I took the initiative to refresh the atmosphere this time and also sighed deeply. It was small but he was definitely blushing. His rare cute blushing... adorable~. "Yes. Let''s see..." He was calm now and nodded at me. I nodded back and he put the wooden box on an empty table beside the clock. It was good that the so-called ''red'' atmosphere vanished quickly this time and we can get back to the main thing. It was a normal wooden box. A gift from one of the topwyers in the greatest empire. Someone who specialized in all manner of legal things and someone who had won countless high-profile cases without any expanded court sessions. People called him (God''s second attorney). A strange but grand title thatpared him, a mere human, to the gods, some of the highest being''s attorneys. He was a viscount but the title itself was of no value before his name and achievements in this empire as well as the whole of a continent. ''And in a time, ce, and society like this one, legal practitioners like him are more honored than just the normal noble titles.'' He turned the whole structure of the nobility when he got his legal license back in time and even I know just how much turmoil the whole empire was in at that time. The title he inherited was from histe father, lord of the Bell family, one of the three vessel families of the house of Heliox, and was of no grand value back then. His father died an honorable death on the battlefield and his mother... well, she had passed away when he was born so no one talks about her much. She was a gooddy from what I heard from my grandpa and grandma, and ording to them, the unparalleled talent for magic that little Alf has, definitely came from her. They didn''t talk about her much for some reason and the sad look in the two of them as well as his grandparent''s eyes when talking about her is something... I can feel it but couldn''t exactly say what it is. Anyway, this gift... what treasure could there be in this normal-looking box? He opened the box and a strange orange or saffron-colored paper entered my eyes. There was something written on the paper but even before I could have a proper look at the strange paper... -Takk. He mmed down the box cover as soon as it opened. "Eon? What-" "Shhh..." He didn''t even look at me and just made a sound to quiet me down. His eyes were wide open at this moment and for the first time in the entire day we were together, I saw the drops of cold sweat on his neck, slowly sliding down his perfect neck. I just knew at this moment¡­ ''This is serious...'' I had hardly seen him with a cold sweat like this one in all the time we had been together. And this reaction was just from seeing some weird piece of paper... ''What the hell is that thing?'' I was confused but didn''t say anything. The tension was visible on his face right now, and he wasn''t even smiling so this was weirder than ever. ... After a while of thinking, he once again opened the box and closed it even more quickly than before so I didn''t even have the chance to have a glimpse of this thing. He had a gifted mind so he could remember everything and his eyes were good enough to read things at that speed. Whatever the paper inside the box was, it was something he had never dreamed of seeing as a ''gift''. It was a new kind of reaction for me but he was having a serious mental conversation now. It was strange but, there was nothing for me to worry about right now. This was a gift from his uncle, there was no way it would be something dangerous. Whatever it was, it must be just too good to have as a gift even from his perspective. And he just shook his head after a while, took a deep breath, and stored away the box. "It''s something amazing, as well as something too absurd to have. And it''s even more absurd to give it to your twelve-year-old nephew as a birthday present. What''s more... it''s too good to refuse. Something actually good to have." "But what the hell is that thing?" Now he was smiling with his warm smile that was d to receive something so precious and invaluable. What the hell even was that thing for him to be so shocked and excited about? I thought he would tell me at least what it was but, this basted just shook his head while still continuing his sexy smile. "You will know when the timees. It''s not something that important anyway. It wille in handy only in a certain specific scenario. And I will try my best we don''t fall into that scenario." He smiled and patted my head with his warm hands and... why did he pet my poor head out of nowhere like that?! And the bastard just smiled without saying anything. And after that, he just opened the letter which was as long as his first uncle''s, and from the flowery scent, it was clear that it was from Haze. This bastard grabbed my hand and locked his fingers with mine out of the blue too. ''The hell?'' I looked at him with a shocked expression and saw his new smile that appeared as he started reading her letter. I''m surprised every time I see this but... how is he so good at changing his mood, expression, and the whole air around him so quickly? He was better at this thing than the form-changing chameleon I had defeated in the past. He was quite amazing in some things but still mysterious in a few. Anyway... his warm hand was one with mine and we had to quickly get this one. It will soon be afternoon after our long thinking and chaotic atmosphere, but we can go to the kitchen after finding this one. Or maybe Haze also just gave the location of the gift like master El. It would be good if she did. Anyway... the letter was genuinely long, flowery, cheerful, and fresh. Just like her. But the end of this letter, the only thing that caught my attention in the whole of the long letter, made this darling friend of mine... a little too excited. Chapter 355 Favorite Flower? [ Heeey dear Eoooooon~! Happpppppy birthhhhhh dayyyyy~! Your dear aunt Haze is so so so~ happy that you are here with us for your birthday like this for the first time... ... ... ... So! Have a great day~! As for your gift... hehehe. I got your favorite flower~! ] ''His favorite flower...?'' What''s his favorite flower, though? I don''t even know such a simple thing despite being together with him for thest few days. Haze loved flowers, so it was natural for her to know his favorite flower. But still, what was this flower that she, someone holding the title of (Miraculous florist), had to find? And a flower, not flowers? Was it something that special? It must be... his excitement just after reading thatst line confirmed it. "S-she did? But... the hell?" His hands were trembling, his eyes were wide open, and a wide shaky smile on his face showed his boundless excitement. This was, again, a reaction that was too rare from his side. He was someone who could stay calm even in the face of death, but a flower made him this much excitemeted? ''And this excitement of his isparable to a normal person who had found a flower from a legendary ancient tree. Hehehe.'' It was cute to see this exciting reaction of his but... he hurriedly stored the letter in his storage space and grabbed our held hand. "Rein! Quickly! My room!" He shouted like a restless child, desperate to see something exciting. His charming red eyes were wide open, the smile on his face was fascinating, and his uneven breathing was raising my heartbeats. He said his room so... he asked to take him to his room, right? "Well..." ''Shadow''s travel.'' I used my teleportation skill and our bodies melted in shadows, or darkness would be better to exin this one. Then we were standing inside the front office of his room. The familiar ce we had seen many times throughout these past few days. I was suddenly shocked by how he just grabbed my hands out of nowhere, but as soon as we reached his room, he just ran in and directly over the outside terrace without any care for me. He was a cute bastard, but right now, this flower was more important to him. So I also followed behind him and reached the very back of the floor, the outside training ground, and the small garden. He was sitting on the left side, by his flowers, and looking radiantly at a peculiar flower. I surprisingly knew about this flower, so it was hard to believe I would see this one here, but it actually was shocking. There were many nts, a small garden for flowers, and some grass, and we were staring at this particr flower inside a transparent ss case. This flower was the only one in a newly created part of this small garden and it was natural to be for this one to be alone. It was a carnivorous nt, as well as something that must not be cut from anywhere for it to grow naturally. It was called [White Ash flower], something that only grew in the areas filled with demonic energy or dead Mana. It was a very rare flower that the lucky ones can only see in the graveyards of some powerful people or demonic territories. It was a flower that produced a peculiar pure white ash constantly. It also grew independently, so it was something that one can only find as a single flower. It sucked out the very life force of the weaker organisms around its roots after all. This flower, which looked just like any normal lily, was three times as big as those normal flowers and there was no green part to this flower. The flower was pure white, white star-like ash slowly but constantly fell down from the flower petals, the stem of the flower was red, and the soil this star-like ash fell on, inside the ss, was ck. The ck soil inside the ss also had some red crystals, most probably pieces of dead Mana stones, ced there to sustain the flower. The other part of the soil of this garden was normal futile soil, which was slowly turning ck. The ss that covered this flower was enchanted with a high-level protection spell. The dead Mana stone wasn''t good for everyone after all. Though we won''t have any problem with the dead Mana because of our natural physique, skills, and affinities. But still, this was a flower that the royal family desired, so they had a strong monopoly over them. Not that getting it was something one can do with money, power, or influence anyway. It required extreme luck, an informationworkparable to my or his mom, and the area that this flower grew required someone with at least his dad''s strength to clear, enter and return at least alive. Demonic and undead territories are something I have experienced firsthand, so I know just how dangerous they are. Those ces were dangerous, so no normal one dared to go there if possible. The royal family had a special person that had the power of necromancer and this flower increased one''s dead Mana pool, so it was invaluable to them. Getting it must definitely not be something easy, it was a precious flower for sure. It was even more surprising that this was his favorite flower and he could see it in person. His eyes were looking nostalgic even at this moment as he saw the star-like ash particles falling from the flower. ''It''s almost like he''s living a special moment of the past when looking at this one...'' He looked adorable right now~ and I would just love to see that look every day on his face, but from what I know, these rare flowers can''t be sustained for longer than a week outside their natural habitat. Even at this moment, the flower looked a bit dull than what I had seen in the wild, in its natural habitat, and it meant it was nearly a few days old. After its roots absorb all the vitality and life in the soil of this specially created mini garden, it will wither down and just die because ofck of essential dead Mana, natural atmosphere, andck of ''red moonlight''. Half of the garden had already turned ck so maybe the flower could only stay like this for two or so days now. I now knew from the look in his eyes that he wanted to see the actual live flower and didn''t want to dead flower that only had two uses. Either as a very high-grade fertilizer or enchantment material. ''But it sure was amazing to see this entire setup.'' Haze put it inside the protective case for them, she used the top-grade soil to sustain the flower as long as possible, just the fact that she got it was amazing but she also used the super rare dead Mana stone''s pieces to preserve it in the best condition. "It would be amazing if I could preserve it forever but even with all the knowledge I have, the most important condition to preserve this one is a ce with the natural aura of death. Haaa... I can definitely do something and preserve it for at least a few months but it''s disappointing I won''t be able to see it after that." ''It''s already amazing you can preserve this beautiful flower for months greedy bastard...'' There was a rare sad expression on his face right now. Some of his rare genuine expressions. Well, the aura of death he talked about can''t be reproduced artificially. It was a natural phenomenon that urred in certain special ces like dungeons,byrinths, graveyards, or tombs. Maybe it also appeared on the battlefields during arge-scale war. But that is mostly a rare asion. Anyway... that wasn''t important right now. Thinking about battlefields and war isn''t something I wanna do right now. Those times are past now. Eon was happy and he took his sweet time reminiscing about his special past events while I just enjoyed his rare expression. There was a sad expression in his eyes too, so maybe this one was rted to his master. It was still early so I will wait for as long as it takes to hear everything about him and his master and their precious time together. I know it will be fun but for now, he had finished his thinking of the past time. There were almost some tears at the end of his eyes but he didn''t let them out. Maybe there was no need to as they had vanished by themselves. He stood up from his ce, took off the ss case covering the flower, cast some kind of spell on it, and ced the ss back. It was aplicated spell and from the looks of it. It was a darkness attribute spell too, my primary attribute. "It will be alright for now. Let''s go make some lunch, Rein~." Now there was a smile on his face, a genuine smile¡­ In the serenity of the moment, I had almost forgotten we had to make lunch for some hundred people. It was definitely fun to see his rare and different expressions but now we had to do the hard work... not that it will be any less fun~! Seeing him cook is also an amazing experience that thrills my very being~. "Yes~! Let''s gooo~!" The letter with the next clue was just beside this garden so we didn''t have to worry about this one now. There weren''t many people left anyway. Just little Alf, his dad, and his mom. Then we can go to the other side, to Haze''s house, and tell them thanks for the amazing gifts and enjoy the rest of his birthday party~. It will be fun, that much is for sure. But anyway, for now... "What''s the menu for lunch today, dear chef darling?" I grabbed his hand, locked out hands, and looked at him with an excited and loving gaze. His cooking is some of the best things about him after all... Chapter 356 Lunch In Backyard "This... is heavenly." "Hmmm~. Just delicious..." "The bread is so soft it feels like I''m eating clouds!" "This rice is even more amazing~. Just look at this taste, these small chicken pieces go impably with the softness of rice... it''s like food of gods!!" "T-this! What is this thickness?! This white milk-like color! Wow~!" "It''s thicker than soup but thinner than the gravy of those high-ss dishes from expensive restaurants. I once had a chance to have a meal at that kind of restaurant because of my brother-inw but that thing doesn''t evene close to this!" "Young master Axion~! I will serve you for the rest of my life~!" "I heard rice is mostly eaten in the east but to think those people eat this amazing thing every day... damn~." "You fool! How can youpare our lord''s heavenly cooking with those lowly things?! It''s not about the ingredients but the skills of the maker!" "...looks like we have a very long way to go, fellow chefs." "Indeed head chef! We all should learn from master Eon! If we beg on our knees, he will surely ept our unseasonable demands! He''s different from other nobles! Just like master and others of our house!" "Indeed he is exceptional. Looks like he''s blessed by multiple gods. The god of cooking, Pochimi being one of them." "Practically, it''s rare to be blessed with multiple gods. And if it is true then lord Axion''s wonderful talent in those countless things can be justified. But, well, whatever the reason, I feel blessed to have these things. It''s just impable..." The lunch was happening in the open backyard. It was best this way. The only other option for us would have been the front hall but then it would be ufortable for many of the people who were mostly servants of the house. So we prepared food in the kitchen and served it to everyone here in the open area of the backyard training ground. Everyone was happy right now, and there was a warm smile on each and every one of their ces. They all loved the food and even though I used the biggest utensils with the most capacity... from how they were enjoying this, I doubted I will have to make everything a second time. Not that I minded though. Cooking was fun and seeing all these smiles on their faces was even more fun~! -Shhhhhhup. "Huuu... Anna ordered us toe there as soon as possible." Rein appeared from the shadows behind me as I watched everyone from under this single tree on the left side of the training ground. She went to the other side at Alf''s home to deliver the lunch I made and I believe they all would like it just like all these people who had delighted smiles on their faces. "We must follow the order of her majesty. It would be catastrophic if she gets upset." I replied with a smile on my face as I thought about Anna''s happy expression while eating the special ice cream I sent for her. It was only for her and Zoe too, a little secret between the four of us. Hopefully, they like it and our punishments are halved. "They all look happy..." Her voice was filled with warmth and after how she helped me make all of those things, all these smiles and positive expressions were just as special for her as they were for me. Maybe this was her first time making things for so many people but I already knew this feeling... it was amazing when you see the smiles on countless faces because of something you made. "It''s special, right?" A special feeling only certain people with professions that are called insignificant could ever feel. It was different from the joy any worrier, knight, mage, or any person with abat-rted profession felt after helping many people. It was simr to the joy of a farmer, a normal chef, or any other creator who creates makes, grows, and prepares things for not themselves but others. It was hard to exin but, it was definitely special. "It is special..." There was a pleasant smile on her face now, and she looked over everyone onest time. She saw the smiles, the warm conversations happening between knights and mages, thepetition happening between young Chery and his friends, the debate and worship of other chefs, maids, and butlers who actually helped us prepare all these, andstly at the food that was being served by some other maids and butlers who didn''t get the chance to help in the cooking process. It was such a rare asion because there were no ill words, negative reactions, or displeasure in any person present. And there were hundreds of people we were talking about. The things they were eating were different from their usual lunch or food, but not that different from what we normally ate. There was a red-colored, properly cooked soft rice cooked with different spices, sauces, and vegetables. There were also small pieces of neatly chopped chicken, which was first properly fried to be crispy, were mixed in the rice. Then there was a white stew, the thick but not too much kind of soup-like thing that tasted spicy, sour, and sweet at the same time. And a crescent moon-shaped bread that was softer than normal but crispier at the same time. Lastly, everyone can have the most famous and loved ice cream of their desired vor but we hadn''t told that to others. Only those who helped in making it knows and even they are excited because I was the one who personally took the lead in making that ice cream. They will have fun eating it and I know the young ones will be even happier with this. Chry will be happy too. He deserved praise to work this hard and already being strong enough to somewhat catch up to the knights of his age during normal practice. He was growing well and he should be able to realize his skills and be strong enough to use his power in a few months. He was using a rapier now so his sword mastery had at least reached the level of a beginner but it will take time for now. His growth will be exponential and he might not be able to y with his friends like right now after his skill awakening but for now, it was good that he was happy. "Should we eat?" She asked with a calm expression but I could tell she just wanted to go there, fill up her te, and taste the fruits of herbor. She was cute and I know she had enjoyed my expressions, the new kind of expression she saw for the first time today, for the whole day. But I also had fun finding my gifts this time. It was genuinely a good time but now, we only had two gifts left. Yes... two. "What did dad say?" As soon as I asked that, a helpless smile appeared on her pretty face and she just shook her head. "He was embarrassed. Everyone was alsoughing at him for hiding the gift in the kitchen. It was uncertain but everyone did think the kitchen would be the most normal ce if you start looking at every random ce in the house. Then they justforted him and they said it''s okay because you didn''t open the box. Master Zhen said the order was Alf, your dad, andstly your mom, so we can just find Alf''s gift, then open your dad''s, and then find the one from your mom. I shouldn''t say this but... it was hrious over there. Your dad definitely looks cute when he''s embarrassed and blushing... but you''re cuter when blushing~~!" She smiled radiantly after saying that and I sighed at her as well as my poor dear dad. Well, his gift, something packed in a square ck box, was hidden on the lower shelf where most of the rare spices used in the race were kept. We don''t usually use those spices and workers didn''t have any use for those spices so they had no reason to see that ce. The hiding ce was good but it was a pure dumb coincidence that we found it. "Haaa... let''s go eat and start with Alf''s. I wanna see the clue that the genius mage of our house has prepared." So... we only had two gifts to hunt, I mean to find. There was a possibility of us having to remake arge portion of these things so we should eat a bit before that. We needed a bit of strength for the work ahead anyway. "Young master~! It is the greatest honor of our lives to be able to eat with you like this~! We will forever cherish these memories!" "Young master! Please, sit with us!" "Hey move aside! Clear the path for young master and youngdy Reinelle!" "Ahem. Here you go, master Eon. Please have this te." "I will be the first one to serve master Axion! Yei~!" "No! Hey chief chef! You weren''t the only one that made everything! We also worked as much as you! We will also serve master Eon!" "Oye you bunch. How can you steal their work like that? Everyone wants to help! You did your part so let them do their work!" ''It''s peaceful...'' It was much better than the soul-chilling voices of the night in the great forest of Kamut. More radiant than the colorless dark forest. And more cheerful than our empty tower home. ''Thanks, grandma...'' Well, anyway... "How''s the lunch everyone~!" I shouted and a cheerful atmosphere filled with overjoyed reactions filled the area. It would be even more fun over there but next time, we all should just prepare everything here so that all of us can celebrate the special asion. But that was something for the future me to think about. As for now... a lunch with my dear friend and great people who were an undeniable part of our family. Chapter 357 Alfs Letter... "That went well..." "Yup." It finished earlier than expected because we didn''t have to make everything for the second time. They all just finished with three servings at most. I had anticipated at least four servings. The remaining ones were better for them, anyway. They can take it back to their homes, maybe store it for ater date and enjoy it among themselves. It was a good thing, and they loved the ice cream too, so it was a win-win for the makers like us. It was a fun thing and now that we had finished all the necessary things and moved inside Anna''s room; we were free to do the thing we needed. "Let''s see Alf''s letter~!" "It''s a clue to his gift, not a letter, dum dum." "It''s a letter from the way it''s packed in an envelope and stuff from what I can tell. I bet it''s a love letter expressing his true feelings for his big brother..." I looked at her with a worried gaze as soon as I heard that and¡­ she flinched at this reaction. I was genuinely worried my aunts'' and mom''s influence was affecting her greatly and this was definitely not a good thing. But this sudden look of worry that I just gave her was more surprising than anything for her. ? It was worrisome for me and it definitely wasn''t something she normally sees so it was clear that this kind of joke didn''t suit her at all... "Stop that look and just open the letter, idiot..." She said in a low voice and a blush of embarrassment appeared on her pretttttty face. This one was definitely cute, but the previousment was not. Anyway, I just opened the envelope and took out three pages... now this was definitely surprising. "All of them are high-quality magic papers?" Even she could tell just from a single nce. All three papers had a trademark blue line of high-quality magic paper, and this kind of magic paper usually had ten to fifty pages. And from what I can feel from the texture... this one definitely had twenty-one pages. So... this was a sixty-nine, I mean sixty-three-page letter? "The hell did he write for it to be sixty-three pages long?" A frown of sudden confusion appeared on my face and even Rein was confused. "Sixty-three...? Now I actually doubt this is a confession..." Even I had doubts that this was something weird, but that was only one of many scenarios in my mind. "Shut up and let''s see what this is..." My voice was stern, and she understood her joke didn''t help in this situation at all. I just unfolded the letter, and the first page of the letter appeared before us. Surprisingly, it wasn''t that long. [ Happy birthday, big brother Eon~! You are the best rival and goal of my life and I promise to be strong enough to defeat you soon~! It is a blessing to have you as my big brother and aside from a long and great life; I pray that you continue getting stronger even if you reach new peaks. I will try my best to get stronger to match you. It will be fun, and I know I am still not strong enough, so I promise to get smarter and stronger to match you~. I will defeat you one day for sure and I know my strengths, so I did a good job and prepared some questions that will give you the location of your gift. I hope you can solve them in time~! Khahahahahaha~! ] It was short and definitely devilish... theugh at the end was even more creepy. It was definitely not right. And the questions he prepared... ''The hell are these things...?'' I skimmed through the paper only to be shocked by the absurdly long and mathematical questions. Even Rein had wide-open eyes as she looked through all three papers with twenty-one pages fully covered by the equations, questions, and long theories that needed precise knowledge of the subject, and most of all... not a single question was something I had already solved. They were all original questions he made himself using the understanding he had of the subjects themselves... "Mana theory, advanced elemental understanding, casting formtion, M-quantum theory based location formtion, advanced magic algebra, and even calculus based on ancient runes and texts? The hack is that boy been doing all his life? Just studying for this day to make these questions?" There was a deep frown on her face as she said that. I can understand from her point of view, it was just absurd that an eleven-year-old knew things that were difficult for even her who had lived for more than a hundred years. The difficult and mind-boggling questions in these three papers were enough to make even academic experts excited... The boy was a pure genius for a reason. Just the fact that he understands the advanced concepts of magic casting, forming, and application is amazing but the fact that he can make questions on his own and that too having the answers that would give out the coordinates of his gift which was somewhat in this house. I can tell he had worked for countless days and nights to get to the point he was at right now. He studied during the time other children yed around, matured his mind, understood his talent, devoted his life to achieving a goal that he had just heard about, and... just worked and worked and worked to get better. He was amazing, and I genuinely admire his efforts. He is just incredible... He knows stuff that he can''t even put into practice, and some of these things are examples of it. But he knew the theory already, and he knew that he needed to make spells on his own, so he was working his way up to implement the things he had gathered his entire life. He will be a great mage. It was unquestionable. He will be a leading figure in the magicmunity in the future and it was good... I was proud of my dear little brother. But... "Oh dear Alfred... sadly, these are things I finished mastering two years ago. You could definitely do better and you already are the best among countless people but, you will need more deep knowledge to hold me back in terms of pure knowledge and wisdom. Don''t worry though... I will try my best to see you be the best mage history has seen. You will definitely surpass the headmaster in terms of pure magic, but... it''s still too early for you." My words surprised even her... not that I already knew this stuff. She knew I had already crossed the realm of mortals in terms of knowledge and diverse things one could know. As a sessor of a high phoenix, the rules of wisdom, I carried wisdom that even I didn''t know about. I even had Lucy who carried all knowledge and experience of her creator and more so it might not be easy to win against me in terms of knowledge unless it''s things about recently discovered things, happened events, and established knowledge and theories. Alf had the upper hand in those things, but that poor little child asked questions that have stayed the same from the old times till this day. If he had asked questions from the recently established things like the M-wave travel theory, physicalw creations, understanding of basic new world magic, or things like that, I would definitely have had a hard time. I was still studying those things and Rein knew them pretty well, so she was teaching me and I also had mom, so getting the new books and research papers weren''t that difficult. I will learn the things in the academy too, but by that time, I think I will be good enough to have at least a basic understanding of those concepts. I had Rein, who was here at the time when those things were being created, so she already knew those things better than those written in books. I was behind in only that and maybe only Rein and mom knew that. In Alf''s POV, I was a being that already knew everything and every answer, just that I couldn''t calcte as well as him. If he had presented the most basic calculus questions that were new in the field of magic, then it would have taken me half of the day, but these... "Let''s start." Rein knew I would finish his thing quickly. They were some of our morning training things that I was teaching her... without any book or material. Just with my words like oral traditions. It wouldn''t be surprising for her to see me solve these things that he might have taken a day just to write in just a few hours. The thing that surprised her was the fact that I said that he could be a better mage than even headmaster, meaning he can go beyond the level of an Archmage. It was shocking that there was even a level beyond the level of archmages, the epitome of magic and standing at the top of the world. But she thought it was possible... the headmaster was walking towards that realm and there were beings in history that were called gods or Lords and even are praised in today''s world. So... I just said that little Alf could reach the level of those gods. She didn''t think his potential is that great, but it defiantly is. ''If he wants topete with me, he needs at least that level. I do have a dream of going to that realm of mind. Not that it matters more than my great family...'' Rein was surprised, and it was tooplicated to think too deeply, so she just shook her head and took out some paper and a pen. I will need her help with arranging and keeping the papers as I solve these things. She knew it and there was not that much time... So, we started the solution and... ... ... "Well, it was tiring..." It took us exactly three hours. And the coordinates that we got as an answer were... "He sure is daring." "No shit... Haze adores that ce..." The location was under a flower garden on the right side of the courtyard. A ce full of the most flowers. And a ce that aunt Haze maintained personally every day. To take something out of there, we needed to do the digging, and it meant I would inevitably have to damage the garden. "It won''t be your fault... he should have thought of there being a condition when you can''t use magic. In the first ce, he just had to use magic in her precious flower garden. He''s dead if she finds out..." Now, I was worried about my dear little brother. ying with fire might have been alright, but he directly dared to go against a river ofva... aunt Haze''s unique anger is definitely as scary as mom''s. And the pink tulips are there too... he''s dead for sure if he dared to hinder that area... "I''m worried..." She was worried too. About little Alf as well as me, who couldn''t do anything without that gift. "Let''s go take a look. We might be able to do something if things aren''t that bad." He was still young and innocent if he thought his own mom wouldn''t mind if he did something with those flowers. If he was her son... those flowers are her precious babies, as important as him. "Haaa... a chill runs down my spine every time I think about her angry look. It will be even more difficult than solving these questions..." Rein patted my back as we started walking. She understood just what it meant to be a florist... ''Help us... oh, mother nature...'' Chapter 358 Excavation... "It''s better than expected..." The garden area was better than expected. He used quite a stable magic spell, and the ground was cut precisely from what I can tell. It was cut in a square manner and this one was a precise cut, good enough to not be visible from normal means, but the way this grass was subtly disturbed was enough to let the gardener know there was something different about this one for certain. They could tell there was something weird and if they looked closely at the ground, the small deep lines that shouldn''t be there were the most likely cause of this new change. Thankfully, it wasn''t around her favorite flowers. The boy didn''t take the greater risk. Well... these lines were a problem too anyway, but even I couldn''t tell from these lines alone just how deep the thing was hidden or just in what exact ce it was. I had to get the ce right, and I didn''t want to destroy this ce more than needed. It was chilly whenever I thought about the face my gorgeous aunt would make if she found out... which she definitely will. "Well... no magic or skill. That''s the rule. Maybe you should just ask them what to do about this. I will just go there and tell Haze about this thing. We will do as she says..." "What do you mean to tell her...? You think Alf will be alright after that?" She realized the gravity of the situation and stopped using her teleportation skill. she looked at me with a confused gaze, worried about me. She didn''t know how I would be able to get out of this crisis. I couldn''t use magic or else I could have just covered everything perfectly and they wouldn''t have anything to feel weird. But... well, it''s not like I only had my magic and skills. "Don''t worry. It will be alright. Just don''t talk about this thing. Especially don''t tell aunt Haze." I patted her head for a moment and stepped into the flower fields. It was on the far right side of our house and this ce was just filled with gorgeous flowers, small nts, and fresh greenery. This whole block that we were standing in was the best ce among them and one can easily tell that these flowers were somewhat different from the surrounding others. They were more lively, more alive, and fresher than the flowers of simr species in other areas. These were flowers grown by my great aunty. They were the flowers that were captivated by her and the flowers that loved her. They were special ones, and I had to be careful while doing anything here. I had something that can recover the damage done by my foolish brother, but that thing can''t be used forrge areas. In the first ce, making that thing requires a lot of rare things. So I had to be careful while excavating in this area. I channeled some Mana and took out a square metallic cube with blue mechanical patterns from my storage space. "Using storage space is alright, right?" She was speechless... as she neutrally would. She could read the things about the thing that I just took out from my storage space, and they were just that shocking. My storage space, the blue bracelet that my dad gave me years ago to calm my anger at him, the same bracelet that master modified, now had a lot more space than maybe even Rein''s storage skill. And it contained a lot of things that I might need immediately. There were many useful things there, not as useful and dangerous as my weapons and elixirs, but there were definitely many of my self-made medicines and potions. There were some other ''normal'' things too, so it was as good thing as my white crack. The thing that I took out was one of those great things. This small cube was apact GPR. A small version of something that was as big as a big box, which was enough to crush the flowers here. But thispact and a bit different version was different from that. This one was an artifact that I personally made. And this was definitely useful here. "My skill says that thing is revolutionary... and also that it is something that uses normal materials. Your master was definitely amazing..." "I made this one, ma''am..." "...?!" She was speechless again. And I knew this one was definitely revolutionary. Mages were rare and even more were the mages who could use high-grade underground surveince magic. My (: Scan) could do it if I focus solely on the ground, but I don''t think even Rein can pinpoint the location of a ''small'' thing under more than twenty or thirty meters without using magic or some skill. So we could use this GPR in some situations that required better and morepact devices. I had a few other inventions, and I was thinking of giving mom the sole authority over their production after I patent them. It was the most profitable that way and mom knew the best how to sell and mass produce these kind of things. Magic engineering was something that created artifacts or devices that normal folks can use. And this one was one of the things in that field. Well, I want to show uncle this too, but the three men of my dear house are busy decoding my great handwriting by themselves. They are doing it for days and I know they haven''t finished even now. ''Those guys...'' I shook my mind and just put the metallic box down. It was a simple device. The use was also simple. One just had to press a button on top of this box and it will show the underground imagery surveince of the ground in a thirty meters radius and sixty-meter depth on a projected three-dimensional screen. The use was easy, and the floating screen stayed like that until the box was picked up from the ground. The only downfall of this device was that it was a consumable product. Or more like the battery inside, it was consumable. I had to make the battery separately, and it would be the main profit if sold to the public or a specific group of people. This device can be used by adventurers, treasure hunters, or architects so the market wasrge and the demand would be amazing... anyway, that wasn''t important right now. The screen with the underground scan was presented before us and we could see the images that were simr to the vague image we always get after using a detection spell. The image was vague, but just like how mages could decipher those images instinctively, the experts who knew how to read a normal GPR report can easily decipher this image. And the two of us could also read it, so ording to this thing... there was something underground. And it was somewhere around ten meters deep inside the ground. "He took out ten meter-deep ground in pieces and put the gift box there? What was everyone else doing at that time?" My confusion was genuine, and I really needed the answer to that. Fortunately, she knew the answer... "Well, they said they took turns hiding the things. Everyone waited in the grand hall while others hid their things and some people had already hidden theirs, like your uncles and aunts, so they didn''t need to. No one knows where others hid their gifts." "Good..." It was good that they took turns, but anyway, the current situation wasn''t good. Ten meters weren''t that deep if I said so myself, but it was fatal for this flower field. I can''t actually dig the pit too wide... I had to be careful. "It can''t be helped." I sighed and took out another thing from my storage space. It was a long, snake-like silver machine, and it looked just like a snake. The scales on its body were divided into different sections, the heavy body, the blue eyes of the machine, and there was a triangle transparent disy with Dwarven inscriptions. "A dwarven artifact?" "Nope. Check it with your eyes." She was shocked and confused but when she checked the details of the artifact... "Y-you made this too, didn''t you?" She was shocked, her eyes wide open, and it was a genuinely cute expression. Though I used dwarvennguage as the main programmingnguage in this one, I was the one to make this ''artifact''. Yes, this was an artifact. Not everyone can use this one, but this one can also be mass-produced. Though the materials were rare and this too used the same kind of ''battery'' as the metallic GPR box, this one can be used for longer periods of time and its use was also great. This snake was an artifact recovery item. Something that can go to narrow ces or even go into a dungeon or simr ce and survive the area from there. It can also be connected to a separate disy that can show the vision of the snake, which... was actually too expensive to mass produce. Anyway, if one had this box and snake together, they can use it together. So... I entered the coordinations of the box that we located with this special metallic cube and the snake dug into the ground. This one was an artifact and can only be produced with a dwarf''s hands... it had a small storage space to store the recovered artifact and the intelligence to recognize the artifact itself after all. The snake vanished inside the ground and after a while came back from the same small hole it dug in this beautiful garden. There was a small storage device inside its mouth, which was as big as the small-size storage devices avable on the market. I caressed the snake after taking out a big wooden box with the letter to the next gift stuck on it, patted the cute snake that reminded me of a certain mother, and put everything back. After that, I took out a weird test tube with a weird bubbling green liquid inside it. Which made Rein feel weird as soon as it appeared. "Body fluid of a forest tod, the essence of desert earthworm, the saliva ofrge red ants, dung beetle''s extracts... the fuck is this?!" She was first shocked by this weird liquid, but then she was angry at the weird things that this liquid was made of. It was amazing her eyes can read the ingredients of my original fertilizer, but the ingredients are definitely known to everyone in the outside world. This fertilizer, or more like recovery fluid, was made with the richest earthly things that helped the earth. Just some drops were enough to return the partially damaged flower garden to its best state and it will further increase the growth of the flowers, which will be good overall. "I call this . It''s a lifesaver, so erase that disgusted expression, please." The frown on her face deepened, and she looked at me with an even more bewildered expression... I shook my head at her and dropped a drop of this liquid on the cleaned-up hole of the snake, the lines that were still visible on the ground, and the surrounding area around the lines that were harmed because of the whole grounding out. As soon as these drops touched the ground, the distorted ground started reacting to the liquid. It ttened on its own and became the same way the other parts around this area were. The lines started disappearing, and in just a few seconds, the lines werepletely gone. She was surprised by the sudden and instantaneous effect, but the fact that this small test tube contained the most disgusting things and had a smell even worse than that didn''t go well with her. She couldn''t tolerate the bubbles in this liquid or its strong smell, so I just stored it back in my storage space. Maybe she was sensitive to this kind of smell... or maybe she just didn''t like the creatures that this one was made with. She just looked down even after I stored that thing back, calmed her thoughts, and then looked at me with a sad expression. "Don''t take out that thing while I''m around... please." She was on the verge of crying and¡­ now I knew this one was somewhat serious. Well... I also didn''t want to waste this one liquid if possible¡­ not that it was as important as her. I hurriedly patted her head and took her out of this flower garden. We got the gift, so there was no need to be here anymore. She wasn''t feeling well, and it DEFINITELY wasn''t good. We set down on a bench some distance away, and I handed her some fresh orange juice to calm her internal reactions. "It''s just bad, on... it''s bad..." I didn''t feel anything while making or using this thing, but from her reaction, this thing is definitely fatal to others... "Sorry..." I didn''t know the things that I think are just normal could be fatal for some other individuals. And mostly the things from the great forest and our tower home. Some of those things might actually be deadly outside. Or maybe some of those things can affect a particr species differently than some other species. Maybe? There can be any kind of psychological reaction, physical difort, and natural hate towards a certain kind of smell or weird-looking thing. I¡­ have to look deep into this one. ''Haaa... at least we got the gift. And from the looks of things, this one seems like something unique...'' It was a square box. A wooden square box and when I carried it with me, and¡­ it was definitely the heaviest thing in all the gifts I had received today. It was something unique and I really wanted to have a look at this one, but Rein wasn''t feeling well, so... I had to take care of her first. It was early evening anyway... we had time. Chapter 359 Maginet "I''m alright now so, let''s see the young genius mage''s gift~!" She definitely wasn''t fully recovered from the effects of that smell from a moment ago. ''I could have never thought it could be this bad for someone...'' It was new knowledge so I will have to be more careful from now on. I had made many things and many weird potions with weird effects in our towerb, but even the analyzing equipment there couldn''t tell that the things that I made could be fatal to some particr species or people. I will have to be careful with this one from now, but for now, she definitely had recovered a lot, so it was alright. I looked at the big heavy wooden box and the letter stick on it. We knew it was from dad from the start but, well, before opening the letter, we opened the gift box. The box was definitely ordinary. Nothing like some other boxes I had received as a gift today. I was excited and without much thinking; I opened the box, and... saw a big crystal ball on a finely wrapped purple cushion. "Nice... you didn''t have one of these, right?" Rein had a pleased expression while looking at this normal-looking crystal ball. Well... I had an idea of what this could be. "What is this...?" And on this question, she looked at me with first surprise, then confusion, and then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she made an understanding expression and nodded. "Right. You were living in a deep forest not long ago. So, my dear Eon darling, this simple-looking crystal ball is called [Mag]. It''s costly, but it''s a tool many ''special'' rich kids and adults have these days. You do know about themunication devices, right? This one is like a tool that connects you with a cobweb of countless connections where people share news, different research materials, and even rare information. There are information guilds and even special people you canmission for different things there. They only deal in the information or a special currency in this ce, but there are a lot of free materials, news outlets that publish news faster than anyone, and even some special games that people y to earn the special currency. They call the currency wisdom coin . But it is very difficult to earn for normal people who have this thing. The games are super difficult to y and almost impossible to clear while the informationwork of guilds is so strong that an individual could never earn through that means. Even I barely have nine of those coins. I don''t need it so I don''t use it this much and Ca too, but Alf is crazy about that thing. I thought you knew about your mom''s dealings and Alf''s favorite game?" ''Of course I knew about these things. I was asking what this cool purple fabric is... well, whatever.'' She exined all that with a great smile on her face, as if telling me something I didn''t know about for the first time. She was feeling unwell a moment before, but now she was in a good mood. It was better for her to be this way. But this thing sure was interesting... "The concept is just like the inte while this thing is totally a PC..." "Hmm? What''s that?" "Maybe something a bit moreplex and special than this one? Well, it connected people of all continents, space, and even differents in my previous life, while this one only works here on the western continent, right?" "Hmm? No? This one also connects to all continents, space, ands. You see, this one you got from Alf is a bit special. The general public, I mean the normal aristocrats, knows about the Mag but even they only know the basic stuff as it could connect with the whole of the empire or continent. Only the royal families of each nation and high-standing people of the ind of magic''s wealth could have this special one that actually connects to all the avable regions on earth, Dwarinon, Elenor, Bairian, Titen, and other smalls with creatures with high intelligence. That purple cushion under it proves its higher rank." ''Now that''s something that I didn''t know...'' Thes she mentioned were the main ces where the main habitats of races of this, aside from humans, resided. It was strange how there were intergctic species and even that intergctic travel was possible to a certain extent, but it was true. And if this thing connected those alls with the earth, something more than I had ever imagined. This thing gave ess to that, so yes... this was definitely something I could have never imagined. This was an amazing gift and just the fact that I didn''t know about this thing, this special version of the mag, spoke the greatness of the gift. I didn''t know just how he got this, but this gift was definitely something I would love to use frequently. And I was excited to see those difficult games she talked about. A smile appeared on my face. A warm smile... and it was pleasing for her to see me like this. This was an amazing gift that I might not even have the time to use because of my countless tasks. In any case... I loved this gift~. "He''s amazing, right? The oldies of academy ind favor him too. Maybe he asked for this from them. They are wicked, but I know he is super wise to use them as he wishes." She was genuinely surprised how someone not part of the royal family can easily have ess to such valuable things. And giving it as a gift was even more absurd, but... after seeing all those things, I believed she was used to these absurd things. She was smiling with a bitter-sweet expression and I just patted the head of my dear one. She was startled by the sudden head pat but, as always, she just loved my hand on her head. Storing the box with the special Mag, I looked at my dear poor dad''s letter... It was no one''s fault that I found his gift first. But, well, I knew how my great dada would be feeling right now. Anna must be having a hard time because of me, but I could only read his letter and open his gift box with a smiling face. But before that... the letter. "let''s see..." We opened the envelope and looked at the letter we got with this heavy box. [Eon~! My lovely boy Eon~! Happy birthday, brave son... Do you know just how blessed I feel whenever I look at you? To have a son like you¡­ an amazing son that is just awesome in whatever he does. I know you might have read a few letters like this one by the time you get mine, but I know you won''t be able to find the spicy, vourful gift I have prepared for you~. Maybe you will find it, but by that time, I think it will be a littlete, so you will have even more difficulty finding your mom''s gift... or more like getting over the absurdity of ''that'' thing. Anyway, I''m the most blessed dad to have not only you but also the best daughter in this whole world~. I remember those days when you were just a newborn. The newborn who had the same eyes as an adult. The eyes of a newborn that looked simr to mine but were far purer than mine. Pure, fearless, eyes that had great joy and a mystery that couldn''t be deciphered. They were different from mine, which had already seen the greater darkness of the world. The eyes that had seen thewlessness, corruption, and darkness of the world and lived with it. Your mom was my light in that darkness, but I always hoped you wouldn''t have to suffer through that kind of pain¡­ever. But... I failed that. I know you will say I haven''t, but I know I have at the very least failed that dad who only wished for the joys of his young child. I let that filthy thing take you away. You were taken away from us in those days and... I was... helpless once again. But your mom supported me. The promise you asked from your mom saved me from going into that darkness again. Anna took care of me and you... shielded me. I don''t know if I would have been able to survive what you have ande back like this, but at least... you did. You came back and proved to me that you were far different from this ipetent father of yours. You had eyes different from all of us when you came back... eyes that were your own and eyes that reflected your own unique journey. I was confused when I first observed those eyes that had seen far more than any child your age should have. I thought I was looking at the eyes of some wise one, someone who had deciphered countless truths of the world, someone who had experienced countless hardships of the world and ovee many of nature''s trials. I know it must have been difficult... all because of this bad dad... But, maybe, that was what fate had decided. You met your master and experienced something that you could have never experienced in your entire life. You gained far more from that journey than maybe your whole life with me and now¡­ you are already above many of us in terms of pure knowledge, onlycking the main strengths and experience. I know you will naturally gain those things with time and be stronger than anyone, and walk your own path. You have also already found your light, so I know you''re reading this one, Elle... take care of my dear son when he does something foolish. He definitely will do many foolish things. I know that he will. His mom and I both were the same, so I know he will definitely do bigger and worse things than your normal small blunders. And from how his wisdom, talent, and knowledge are, I know the problems he will try to knowingly create for the sake of all of us will be on the grand level of maybe some city, kingdom, or worse, on the level of the whole empire. He will definitely handle your small mistakes and foolishness, thinking most of the things you do are cute, but... just take care of him when he tries to do the bigger things. I would hope you would never have to face anything like that or do things like that, but I know it is inevitable at this point, so... just take care of each other. I''m here for both of you. Always¡­ And just like me, everyone else is also here, so don''t ever worry, even if you are in really difficult situations. ] "It''s inevitable..." "Maybe... yes. But we don''t know tomorrow, right?" We both sighed after his unique letter and smiled bitterly at each other. I was expecting some words speaking something inevitable from him from the start. He was just like this. A forever helpless but always loving father. We both don''t know what awaited us in the future, but we definitely believed it would be something... that we can handle. Well, anyway... this was too heavy to think too deeply about. I just stored his letter after caressing his words and took out the blue gift box that I found in the kitchen''s spice section. It was a normal square box, and it wasn''t that big, but it was big enough to fit cute Clover inside it. Maybe the mini Taika too, but she was big even when she was small, so this one wasn''t that big. It was smaller than Alf''s big crystal ball box. So... my dear dad... what was there in this box? I opened the box and saw something... special? "A book?" Very special, actually. "No... it''s a dairy. His diary..." Chapter 360 His Diary "His diary...?" "Hmmm~." I knew about this book, this one diary that mom talked about on rare nights. She told me stories of how dad writes this special diary from even before the time she met him and he wrote this special diary till I was born. I can tell this one red book, this leather cover that looks practically ancient but, at the same time, well preserved. I can tell from the look, the smell, this feeling when I touch this diary, and this special kind of connection I could feel with it. It is also a dungeon artifact that he found a long, long time ago... from maybe his early childhood days when he hadn''t even met Rein''s grandma. He wrote his life in this one, from his point of view. From the first thing he could remember from his childhood, the destruction of his family and vige, his darkness, to the process where he found his light. This old red book was his one friend, partner, and his only ce of salvation until he met mom. This book is his life... and he gave me his life... "Haaa... he''s the best." From the time I was still a child, or I should say from the time I was just a newborn, he had taken care of me more than mom. He looked after me, and all my needs. He yed with me and taught me things that weren''t something you would teach a five-year-old child. He is my first friend. The best friend of my life... and I love him more than I love this new life I have gained. ''Dad... only you call yourself ipetent. For me, you have always been the best. Always...'' A smile spread out on my face, and I took out the red book and skimmed through some pages. ''Yes... it''s him.'' This diary had close to infinite pages, it was an artifact after all... but it looked just a normal book from the outside and it contained the words and handwriting of a young boy, an adult boy, a hunter, pages written with actual blood, pages written with some different materials, and pages written by the adult man who was going to be a father. He recorded most of his life in this book and... what greater gift can there be if not this for a son like me? I can easily call it something closest to Anna''s gift and this one was even more special, and I knew Rein could tell it just from my expression. It was a wonderful gift, and it was mine, so¡­ she couldn''t read the things in this one. Maybe I will tell her some things myself or we would read some pretty things when we would be alone, but aside from that, I wanted to keep this book, this incredible piece of his life that he entrusted to me to myself. He didn''t have any need for the past anymore and nothing to do with it, but... this was still the very epic of one of the greatest characters in this world. This was my gift from my father and friend... "Thanks, dad..." It actually meant a lot when you give someone even a part of your life, but giving your whole past to someone meant even greater things. I sighed onest time and safely stored the book in my white storage space. "Your mom''sst. What can be more special than this book? What do you think will it be?" "Well... now even I''m doubtful." It could be anything at this point, but what I know for sure is... it won''t be something with a sentimental value like this one. If I had to say then I would say that dad''s gift was something that could never bepared to anything. Definitely not any kind of money or materialistic thing. It was simr to Anna''s gift that I want to just preserve and use forever. But mom''s gift would definitely be something very different from these two things. She was my mom. My dearest, greatest, lovely mom. She was also some of the richest individuals on the entire continent. She was that one person that can give me something invaluable and unreal and I would believe that it is not a dream and she actually just gave me that as a present. Her gift could be anything from a divine artifact to maybe even an ancient artifact or ancient tomes or data on different dungeons, tombs, andbyrinths. It would be just that amazing and I would just sigh at whatever it is. Well, I was definitely looking forward to seeing her gift, so just smiling bitterly at my dear friend, which told her I was also clueless about her gift, I opened thest letter of the day. It was her handwriting, as we thought, and it wasn''t that short either. [ Congrattions baby~! You reached the end of this special birthday treasure hunt~! You have seen everyone''s gifts and it must have been a great experience, right~? I know you have already received more than anything we could give from your master, but I know you wouldn''t have expected the gifts you received or at the very least, you must have liked all the things you received~. Everyone gave you gifts with all their hearts, and everything you received until now must have been invaluable from anyone''s perspective. Some have a special meaning, some are things you can use, some are things that will be useful to you in the future, and some things that couldn''t be measured in value. They definitely are wonderful gifts, especially your dad and Theo''s. I didn''t think those two would give you some of the most cherished things as a gift. Those things are special and I know you know just how valuable those things are. So please cherish and use them when you need them. They are yours now, after all. Same with the gift I have prepared for you. I know you remember how you asked for a bow on your fifth birthday and how you made something for me for the first time on that day~. The taste of those things is still fresh in my mind and that is a memory¡­ I could never forget. You asked me for a bow even though you were interested in magic. You loved magic like no other person I had seen. And you were still a child at that time. I didn''t know then, but when I realized you were thinking of bing a magic archer, I was even more proud of my little boy~! You know just how difficult it would be, but you still chose a difficult path and now, you actually have be a better magic archer than many others I have seen. You know about magic more than most of us. You have been trained perfectly by your master in the physical aspect too¡­ My little baby has be big and strong, he has already found a partner too... this mom is very happy~! I wanted to reward my cute little baby to keep his promise and for many more so¡­ I thought deeply about what to give you as your first birthday gift after you got back to me. I don''t know if even the entire wealth of this world would be enough to express my love... no; I know it won''t even be one percent of how much I adore my darling baby. I thought about many things, from high-grade artifacts to magic tomes. But then again, you can get those things whenever you want if you just visit our auction house. I also thought about giving you a dungeon... but you''re too young to own something like that just yet, so I promise I will gift you one when you be an adult~! There were a few divine artifact bows I was thinking about, but then again, the fact that you can give Ca that amazing artifact speaks the weight of your wealth and resources. I don''t know what or who little Zoe''s mom was, but if you tell me she was a dragon and you have treasures from a dragonyer, I would actually believe you~. But that''s unrealistic, so¡­ that aside, I know you might already have some good bows that can''t bepared to those lowly divine artifacts. Your favorite arrow Asta too. Even dad says that one is better than his own hammer or uncle''s scythe. It wasplicated as to just what to give my best baby who will be the best magic archer in the entire known and unknown history~! I was already searching for the best bows in the world, but you already had something better than some of the best artifacts in entire history. So¡­ things became even more difficult. I didn''t think I would find something that can be called ''best'' at first, but then... I unexpectedly found something that was totally unexpected, something beyond my expectations, something... mystical. It isn''t a bow or an arrow, but I believe it will be useful to you in making a bow that is the best for you. If you can find someone who can process that thing, that is... It is one of the best materials in this world, the closest and most direct part of nature, something that will develop ording to your life. Its power will depend on your will, knowledge about the truths, grasp on energy, and creator''s mastery to handle the material. I know if it''s you, you will find someone above anyone in terms of creating a special personal weapon or magic bow. That thing is something invaluable in itself, and maybe you have almost guessed what it is so... Happy birthday baby~! Go to my personal room. You will find that fascinating thing there~! ] This one was definitely long, but the things written in this letter were even more unbelievable. I knew she was more than strong and crazy enough to gift me something like a divine or ancient artifact and still not call it enough. It was absurd, but I would still somewhat believe it if she actually gave me a whole dungeon. That much was believable, but... what she just wrote here pointed toward only one thing I can think about. Something that I had only seen in books, something that was very famous in fantasy stories, and something that held greater value than those artifacts or ancient knowledge in books. I was doubtful, Rein was confused about what the hell did she mean, and there was no fucking way it was something I was thinking about. We were talking about one of the most important parts of the world here, something from a being like that, something that was used to make weapons like Ronna. If it was actually what I was thinking, it was... I had severely underestimated my mom''s abilities. This would be the most shocking gift of today and one of the most absurd gifts I had ever received in my life. I was excited and my heart was running wild at the excitement of the expectations... and she could tell this from just a nce. This was one of the rarest times I was this excited and she could tell whatever this special gift from my mom was... it was absurd and amazing! We didn''t waste much time and just rushed inside and to directly my mom''s office... only to realize that mom''s private space was something we had never visited. What''s more, it was a ce with even more security than Anna''s room or this whole house. This was the main room that mom used for her work so it was expectable that there would be some security measures but... I only realized after standing in mom''s room and looking around the countless security artifacts hidden in every corner of the messy room that... this was not going to be easy. Chapter 361 Moms Room "Thest time I checked... there were 156 defensive artifacts, 6 defensive arrays, and 21 magic barriers of (tier-4) to (tier-6) strength. I don''t think without the key, her permission, and the registration of biometrics, anyone could infiltrate that ce." "And all these things just to protect a door...?" "Yup." Rein was looking around the room with her eyes to check the artifacts. We can already see the hidden barriers and the magic arrays, so there was no need to be too surprised. We already knew about this highly fortified door. Actually, any mage walking in this room would notice these highly concentrated magic auras first before anything. It was just too obvious that she was trying to prevent anyone from entering the room. And there was certainly no way even I was capable enough to decipher all these high-level barriers as well as the highest-level magic arrays in a short time. It was impossible without the use of magic or any skills. And I can''t use them right now so... well... "What now?" Even she was confused and worried right now. She knew it was impossible to dismantle the barriers and magic arrays for me. This was difficult... not that I was worried much. "It''s mom we are talking about. So, well, I at least know she won''t cheat in her own game. She must have already left the key here. We already have her permission and we already have master ess to the mainmand system of the house, so it should be registered in this system too. It should be alright if we find the key..." I hoped I was right or, well, from how unpredictable she was, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that I lost this one. I would have to fulfill her wish after that and I feared it would be something... difficult. So we have to hope that we find the key in this room. "Do you know how does this special key look like?" "Hmm..." The key to her most personal room can only be one thing. The thing that she used the most and always carried around with her. "It''s a fountain pen. It also has a beautiful image of a griffin inscribed on its silver surface. It''s a wonderful pen that I have been seeing her use since my childhood days and there is also a special ocean blue gem on top of it. You will know it''s the key as soon as you see it, so... let''s start searching..." I started from the front drawers of her room, and Rein went to the left side. There were countless shelves and drawers filled with documents and papers, many artifacts, countless books, and her favorite desk buried in a pile of papers in this room. I knew she was one of the hardest-working people in this house. Her mental stamina, concentration, willpower, and special stat [Domination] were also genuinely high. I have already seen everyone''s status window at the cost of a lot of my blood, but I now knew everyone''s skills, stats, and some special things. And mom''s status window was even more special... ===Status=== Name: Nolen Heliox Kromet Von Aishwa Ethan Griffin. Age: 39 Race: Human Strength: 165 Dexterity: 189 Stamina: 171 Magic Power: 192 Intelligence: 180 Domination: 111 Luck: 108 Charm: 99 [Skill: Communication, Golden analysis, Pure insight, Parallel minds, Gold eyes, Red goblin power, Jupiter''s gravity, Indomitable, Golden lion wings, Silver needle threads.] [Authority holder] ... ============ The only one in our family as well as the whole of the capital with not one or two, but four innate skills. Hermunication skills were like no other because of the first skill that allowed her tomunicate with any person as long as it is anguage she knows a little about, her analysis skill made her some of the best analysis experts there was, and her special insight allowed her to have great knowledge of her surrounding area, andstly¡­ a special mind like Alf''s, something that can work on different tasks at once. She was the best for a reason, and her great skills didn''t stop just there. She had a restriction on the skills she can have because of her special innate skills but, all the skills she had, though nonbat skills and something she had only acquired after our ''that'' incident, those skills were not somethingmon. They were the extraordinary skills of much rare creatures and just the fact that she possessed them was astonishing! Back at the time when we faced that damn demon, she only had her power and authority to help me. Her physical stats were of no use because she had no experience in physicalbat, and her special power of domination and authority prevented her from using any Mana or simr energy. She¡­ couldn''t help me as much back then. There were also the fucked up restrictions of the world and the effect of energy furnace¡­ ''Well, the situation at that time was just ridiculous, so let''s not think too much about it.'' My [Three eyes] called mom the most fascinating person, praising unlike it had ever done. It was even greater than the time with grandpa, grandpa Zhen, and grandmother. Anyway... Mom''s room was big, and the special door was on the far left of the room. There was a door at the end of the room, which was supposed to be a room at the end of the house. So... just like the window beside the strange door, the door shouldn''t have anything behind it. The door would technically just open outside the house, but even a fool could tell the door was a special thing in this room. There was no lock or doorknob to this door, so it was an even stranger thing. Just thinking about how great efforts, resources, and manpower it would have required for her to build something like this was amazing. The key to this was also something special... An artifact pen and the first gift she received from my grandmother. She got that pen when she had just started her carrier as a professional merchant. That pen was a special artifact that made writing easy and the ink inside it practically never finished. She made that pen into the key to her special personal space and I was excited to see just what kind of ce there was behind that peculiar door. But for that, we had to find the key- "I found it!" She shouted from behind, and I looked back at her radiant face, smiling as brightly as the full moon of the clear night. She was standing near mom''s desk and the pen she just took out was buried under that pile of paper on her desk. ''It was obvious... should have guessed.'' Anyway, she was smiling, and we had found the key. "Good work, darling pink panther." I praised her with a head pat as soon as we walked toward the left door and stood before it. She was blushing because I called her by that name again, definitely misunderstanding something here. It was even cuter this way, so, well; I didn''t say much and epted the special pen from her. It definitely was a fine pen, actually. The image of the griffin on it was also perfect. Griffins. The guardian beasts of our family and creatures that are imed to live in the areas around the griffin archipgo. Said to be the rulers of winds and earth, they are one of the most important divine beasts on par with phoenixes and unicorns. Griffins have many special powers, one of them being the absolute healing power. Their feathers are said to be one of the holiest objects that can cure any illness, disease, or injury. ''And one such feather is possessed by our family and preserved at the estate at the archipgo...'' That thing is one of our family heirlooms and as a direct descendent of grandmother and most likely sessor of this family after uncle El, I knew things that even Rein, Alf, and Ca didn''t. We had even more special things there and I am still learning about all that... ''But I must say... our family sure is amazing~!'' Well, as one of the four gatekeeper families that guarded the doors of the empire, our family had a special position in the empire despite its forever neutral standing. I also knew that this standing was even more special than the other gatekeeper families. They also had a guardian divine beast and their natural treasures, but they didn''t have as rich history as our family. Even when seeing independently, our family was more mysterious to others and special to members of our family. ''And not all the patriarchs of these special families have met, fought, and received a gift from their guardian beasts like my grandparents...'' The two of them were amazing, but, well, that was a special story for some other time. For now... "How do you use this key?" She asked with a cute excited smile on her face and I nodded with a smile,ing out of my train of thoughts. "Well, easy..." Just think about a veryplex equation that solves the three main magic arrays and creates a numerical code with a key shape in your mind. Channel some energy with that same frequency of the key through the pen and then... -Oooooooooooooong. The ocean blue gem on top of the pen will start glowing. "...?!" After a while of bright blue glow, a blue light will shoot out from the tip of the pen... or from the gem on top of it, and the light will hit the door. "...wow." The door which is hit by this special ray of ocean blue light will start glowing with the same blue light and then... the door will open, revealing a dark area or more like a total void. A pure dark, absolute darkness. We can''t see anything beyond this door, even with our eyes. "It''s cool~. Let''s go in~!" Any girl would call this creepy or doubtful, but this one was different. She just grabbed my hands and shouted in her loud, excited voice. Her pure eyes had stars in them and it was just... adorable~. "Yes... let''s go in." I smiled warmly at my dear friend and interlocked our hands as we walked into this dark ce together. ¡­ -nk. The door we walked in from closed behind us and in this totally dark ce, lights started turning up one by one. This was my mom''s private room, so I expected it to be something remarkable, something like a castle treasury, a ce filled with special artifacts, papers, or important documents. But instead of that... "Oh, lord... is that... you?!" "Hmm... a mother''s special room." The area that appeared before our eyes after the lights turned on was a narrow hallway filled with photos on both sides of the wall. My photos. My childhood photos no less... ''Rein... this friend of mine will have more fun than me while watching these photos.'' I knew she will have a st just from the red look on her face and excited heavy breathing. This private room of my dear mom... this was heaven for my darling friend. Chapter 362 Photos And Doors A young girl looked at a photo of a young baby with golden hair, fair glowing skin, and sharp red eyes, ying in thep of a handsome young man with night ck hair and simr red eyes as the boy. There was a wide smile on her face, stars glimmering in her eyes as she looked at this photo on the left wall of this long hallway. "Cute~!!!" She shouted while observing the cuteness of the baby boy in this picture and moved her eyes to the next photo. In this one, the same young boy was ying in thep of a youngdy with blond hair and light brown eyes. There was a book in her hand and the young boy attentively looked at the book as she smiled while looking at him. It was as if the young baby was trying to read the book. "Cute~~!" Her heart was beating wildly while looking at every photo of the young boy as she walked forward in this long corridor covered with photos of this young boy, the beautifuldy, and the handsome man. She was excited, her mind and body not being able to handle the cuteness of each and every photo on these walls. The young boy was adorable~ in every photo and the boy in all these pictures, the same boy who had now grown up and was standing behind her, looking at her expressions helplessly, couldn''t help his sigh that escaped his mouth asionally. The walls on both sides were filled with photos of the young boy and his mother or his father. All three of them were rarely together in a single photo and if the three of them were together, then the image was either of slightly lower quality than the others or was almost like a painted portrait. But most of the photos from a single point of view were so vivid, it seemed like the one looking at them is witnessing that moment first-hand. The girl was more excited because of that fact and the boy was just amazed at this long hallway filled with his and his lovely family''s photos. They looked amazing and as he practically remembered every single thing from these photos, he couldn''t help feeling nostalgic every time a photo with something exciting or funny appeared. He remembered those days he had lived and felt warm while remembering those things, but she was just delighted to see her darling''s childhood like this. They continued walking forward and thankfully; she was walking forward faster than he had thought. She wasn''t stopping at a single photo for a longer time and just continued forward. The boy in the photos grew older as they walked forward and after a certain photo of the boy ying with some red horses, the photos of the young boy stopped. The walls on both sides were empty for a while, but then, new photos started and now in these photos simr to the previous ones, there was a baby with ck hair. These were the photos of a young girl, a newborn young girl, who looked even more amazing than the boy. Both of them knew, and the boy had a lot warmer eyes as he looked at this baby, that this was their youngest little one. The one that ruled this family and the one that already possessed the hearts of all the people in this house. This was the young Anastacia. The young girl who the boy from the previous photos loved the most. Right now¡­ his heart was warm just from being able to have a look at the memories that he couldn''t be part of. He looked at every single photo of the baby girl and the photos full of life started being engraved in his special mind. From the first one when she was a newborn, the first time she opened her special gem-like eyes, the surprised expression on the faces of every member of their family, and the first irresistible charm of the young baby. He took his time and watched every single image which showed the special moments of the young girl, and some images with long moving photos that were almost like video clips that contained the most special, cute, adorable, charming, funny, spectacr, and awesome moments of this amazing baby girl. She was adorable in everything she did, just like a little baby. Her adorable smile was amazing, her grumpy baby face was even cuter, and her toothless smile was something he can''t help his chuckles at. He was seeing the growing life that he couldn''t see by himself. He was thankful to her for this experience... this was a gift on its own. This was a greater gift for him than anything he had received today. He loved Anna just that much. She was a life that came into this amazing world because of him, and he felt the most responsible for her. He wasn''t just her big brother... he was more than grateful to be her big brother and he couldn''t express his joy over that fact even with his tears. But just like his other special little sister, he was this little one''s guardian. He loved her more than he cherished himself and he couldn''t deny the fact that she was the most amazing child in his lowly life. The special child Anna... she was more special than maybe the amazing Zoe. And he was seeing that little one grow with each passing picture. There was life with the first six years of the young boy on these walls, as well as the five years of the young girl. This whole hallway... he was thankful to the great mom that made all this possible. Her personal space... if just this hallway to the main room was this much special, just how great would the actual room be? He was excited, but he took his time as he watched every photo and moving photos on the walls, caressed the photos with the image of the little girl and his parents, as well as other special members of his family. He was smiling warmly, and the girl behind him was just enjoying this warm smile on his face. The walls with his younger day''s photos were heaven for her, the walls with photos of the young girl were nirvana for him, and his warm smile was something that delighted her more than his young self''s photos. They both took their time looking at these photos but, the time they had was short, and they knew it. They had somewhere to go and if they werete, the little girl from these photos would be very~ angry at them. It waste evening already, so they should quickly get the thing they were there for and go back to their family. So... the young boy caressed thest photo with the young girl dressed in a cute outfit serving tea to the grown-up boy that looked like a gorgeous prince. Both of them looked amazing, but the smiles on both their faces made the photo even warmer. He also sighed as he looked at the gorgeous girl smiling warmly, dressed in a hoooooot outfit, in the same picture. She was just... breathtaking. ''I should borrow the artifact mom used to create all these too. I can recreate some amazing scenes that all of them would just fall in love with~.'' He was excited after thinking that... of course, he wanted that artifact for some other ''special'' reasons too. Anyway, the two of them reached the end of the hallway and a bedroom with three doors entered their vision. The three doors... one on the far left was white, one on the far right was ck, while the one exactly behind the bed was bright red. All three of them were peculiar and the room itself was just a simple room. There was nothing much. Just this simple but ''strong'' bed made of ''strong'' materials. It also had four pirs at the four ends of it, which had many ''important'' uses for the master of the room. But the young couple had no interest in this bed¡­ on the surface. She knew the limitations and just from his indifferent look; she knew this kind of thing was a story of a distant future. They moved to the white door first, and the door was open, so they just went inside. The room was filled with different papers. Some looked important stuff and they could tell they were rted to her work just from a look. "We shouldn''t look around much in this one." He suggested and the friend beside him, who was just going to open a file on top of a pile of paper, stopped and retrieved her hand. "O-ok..." They moved out of the room and walked toward the red door. He was in the lead, so he opened the door first... -Dham! Just to m the door back. "L-let''s not look into this one." There was a bright red blush on his face. A sudden rare blush that very rarely appeared on his pretty face. "W-what happen?" She was confused, but as she looked at his face, a simr blush appeared on her face, too. It was weird and confusing and cute to look at the sudden blush that rarely showed up on his face. She was curious about this sudden thing and she really wanted to have a look, but he grabbed her hand and pressed it tightly in a serious manner. "Please. Don''t." He was serious this time and she could tell he really wanted her to never look into that ce. It was a natural reaction, though. That ce was something... red, pink, something that not all liked, and definitely not something that a twelve-year-old should definitely look at. The red door was the sign that one should keep away from it until and unless they want to fall into a different kind of darkness that would be more... different from most things. She could tell he was serious despite that red blush that was still on his face, and her red face became even redder from this. The blood rushed up her cheek and her mind was filled with screams of pleasure from this unexpected encounter with his unique reaction, so even though she wanted to have a look inside that room, she stopped herself and nodded at him. "Alright..." She was interested in the room that made him blush so hard like that, but it wasn''t theirst time in this special room. His mom was her friend, so she can just ask her about this ce when they get back or request her to let her have a look inside this room. So... they just moved to thest ck door and entered the main room that they were searching for. They wondered a bit and took their sweet time looking through the pictures outside the room, but they were finally here. They were now standing in the treasury of one of the richest people on the continent. Of course, this wasn''t her main treasury, but just the fact that this was one of her treasure-keeping rooms made this ce a lot more... phenomenal than anyone can think. Chapter 363 The Special Branch A room filled with countless different artifacts, finally packed boxes filled with artifact weapons, shelves filled with shiny golden and silver things, drawers filled with rare and important herbs and gems, as well as a big table in the center that was practically dressed up with countless high-grade artifacts and important stuff. "Mom, oh great mother..." I couldn''t help my deep sigh at this warehouse-like room that was actually too big to be on the first floor of my house and on the end of the wing, no less. This was practically amazing and just the fact that this ce was filled with great artifacts, countless weapons, important magic devices, and special resources was... unbelievable. This was amazing and the gift that I was looking for was as easy to spot as a ck cat in a pack of white sheep in this room. In the middle of the room, on the middle part of the table, there was an altar, and a golden grail was ced in the middle of that thing. The grail looked holy and there was a glowing blue liquid glittering in it. If one looked closely, there was a small tree branch in this holy grail. A pure white tree branch with small crystal gem-like green leaves on one side of this branch. That branch... that was my birthday gift from my great-mom. And I didn''t need my eyes to identify this thing that I had seen in countless books and had dreamed of seeing at least once in my life. ''Technically, I want to see the actual tree that branch belongs to but, well, few in the whole world have ever been fortunate enough to find it and get back to the human world to tell the tale.'' This special-looking tree branch that, in the end, was just a tree branch, was something genuinely unfathomable... "What the hell is that...?" ''I knew it. Well, it was natural her eyes wouldn''t even activate.'' This was a tree branch, and it was one of a kind tree branch. There was only one tree that this branch can be obtained from, and the tree was something that no one could reach, even though even children knew of its existence. A tree that every adventurer dream of seeing at least once in their life and something that almost every fantasy story mentions. Yes... this was that very branch from that super famous tree... "A branch... from the world tree." Of course, it was a fallen branch from that grand tree. Andpared to the enormous world tree talked to be as big as the whole world, this tree branch was just a toothpick. This was maybe even less than a toothpick, but this branch was definitely far smaller than the original tree. It did not mean this branch was something else... well, that was impossible. Master had taught me what the world tree is and all the most important things about it herself. And because of that substantial amount of information and knowing some truths about the world tree itself, I should even be able to see the branch with my eyes... ''Three eyes.'' [[ *Master... one of the conditions for the recorded messages just met after I failed to block the mental attack from that branch. I know about the world tree and about one of its greatest powers granted to it directly by mother nature but, even I didn''t know its fallen branch can have some of its power still left in it.* ] ''It''s because of that leave. This one is a special branch. I know even mom wouldn''t have known this.'' World tree doesn''t shade the branch with leaves on their own. If thought carefully, this branch has a leaf, which means it isn''t actually shed by the world tree willingly. ''I don''t know much but I think it''s because of that leave that the branch is still connected to the world tree to a certain extent and can use some of its powers. But it actually isn''t part of it anymore, so we can''t do anything with it.'' [[ *yes... I was short-sighted.* ]] I could feel her sadness even though she was a skill... ''Well, don''t worry much and we will y the video after a while. For now, I know the branch already knows all the things about us...'' [[ You... ]] [[ Hmm? What was that, master? ]] A weird old voice entered my mind and spoke just like Celes does. But it wasn''t Celes herself and it surprised Celes, who was already astonished by all the things in this room. Celes loved different special lights and there were many glowing things, so she was excited as soon as we entered this ce, but the weird voice we heard was surprising for her. Well, it would naturally be surprising. In fact, this was less than what I was prepared for. ''This is just a detached branch of the great world tree, so the power the world tree can exert through it is naturally too limited. Well... it''s better for me. I didn''t want to hear a just yet.'' The world tree. In this world and nature, this was a special tree that represented the ''world'' or technically a ''dimension''. A part of the world tree existed in every dimension and was protected by several guardians, and only a few could practically see the true ''tree'' and be ''alive'' after that. The guardians of the world tree were mostly aggressive beings. And they were mostly as strong as high divine creatures, so they were special in themselves. The strongest existence that maintained on each, a being that can''t bepared to anything ''normal''. A tree, a living organism, a mythical creature, and something that was far above the mere gods on its own. In a way, it was an [Offsprings] of nature, just like the origins and origin beasts, but their standing was very high among them. It was even higher than the top divine beasts, the reason the strongest existences guarded it against the evil of each world. All demons, the ones on the earth and the ones in hell loathed the world tree and considered it an enemy on par with the high divine beasts. The demons... well, that was a heavy topic. The fallen branches of the world tree were also something fatal to them, and they did their best to destroy anything rted to the world tree. That''s why possessing one was a dangerous thing in itself. ''Well, it wasn''t like I could use the branch itself, and finding someone that can do something with it was something that I wasn''t going to do anytime soon. '' So, for now, I just had to store it away in my very special white storage crack. Not even demon kings should know of it after that, right? [[ You... are special. ]] [[ "I definitely am, I think? Not everyone is as unluckily blessed as me." ]] [[ A reincarnation, survivor, sessor of a special child, a stigma holder, and one of ''them''. It must be fate that this special branch reached you... ]] [[ "Well, I don''t know what ''them'' is, but yes, the other titles definitely belong to me. Thanks for the praise~." ]] [[ Very well. Take care of the branch until fate leads you to someone who can create something that even I can''t foresee. Your fate is weird, unpredictable, and constantly changing. Maybe it will lead you to me someday, too. I await that time... ]] The voice slowly vanished after that, and the subtle light in the crystal leaf vanished. [[ *The special presence is gone. Now, there''s only the power of the branch left in it.* ]] ''Hmm... well, it is understandable. It''s a special branch as well as something that was spatially still connected with its source. It would have been dangerous if I carried it around in that active state, anyway.'' It was good that the branch was now fully disconnected from the world tree. [[ *It''s fascinating that you are so calm and normal even after all these things...* ]] ''What can I do, Lucy? After living with a divine beast that even the world tree called a ''special child'', seeing her true form and seeing the birth of a new divine beast, it isn''t surprising that I just talked with the great world tree anymore.'' [[ *Right. Master is amazing~.* ]] I shook my head and looked at the still confused Rein and shook my head with a smile. She had a confused, cute, and unbelieving expression. I knew it was just that absurd, anyway. There were only three branches of the world tree known to have been in possession of someone throughout the three continents. And all three of them were the royal families or the strongest rulers of that continent. And now... something like that was before us. In our house, in a special room of my mom, and just before our eyes. Her eyes couldn''t actually ''see'' the details of this tree branch, so it was even more believable, but still, this... was absurd. Well, my eyes finished processing the information about the world tree''s special branch after it had be fully disconnected and the information window, the short version of the course, appeared before my eyes. Chapter 364 The Special Branch (2) ============ [Branch of the world tree] (Bound to you) ---> It is difficult for us toprehend the true extent of the power this one branch in its current condition can exert but as aparison, we may say that this branch itself could be as powerful as a mid-grade divine artifact. ---> It has practically infinite durability, and it still contains a considerable amount of purest [Amrita] because of its weird origin. ---> The branch is different from the conventional branches of the world tree that we have knowledge about. ---> This branch actually shouldn''t exist here, but because of some unknown circumstances, it is here, and now it belongs to you. ---> It is unmeasurable in practical value and the potential it has as a material is actually infinite. ---> Once again... it''s just absurd how you get things like these so easily like this! Hump! ---> The branch itself is only usable as a normal branch that can''t be destroyed. The magical power is stably sealed and it would require craftsmanship at the very least, transcendent level, to turn this thing into something actually usable. ---> A-anyway. C-congrattions. ============ A smile appeared on my face as I read thatst thing. ''As cute as always, no? Well, thanks for the wishes~.'' I shook my head at this and looked back at my dear Rein, who was still confused. It was absurd how there could be a branch of the world tree in front of us. It was just absurd, and it was no less than untrue. But my behavior until now meant that it was true, so she was even more confused. Her confused face was cute, but she had stabilized herself by the time I finished confirming everything. She took a deep breath and looked at me with a serious expression. "Show me the details." Her voice was grave, and she was actually serious this time. Her eyes screamed to not say anything foolish or else she will just cut me in half regardless of today being my birthday. It was actually... effective, so I just grabbed her hand and used (: Vision sharing). A white light appeared in our held hands and her eyes shone with the same white light. This Solnova spell was something we used regrly, so she was already ustomed to the strange feeling of seeing things in the third-person perspective. It was a special spell, thankfully not that difficult to cast. Using this thing meant she would actually see my current vision or an actual piece of memory. I can share the things I see through Celes''s vision with this spell, but it was just limited to one person, on the condition of holding hands. Anyway, this serious pink panther of mine actually read the screen of the white twig and was shocked and stiff even after the spell ended and she came back to the present. Her eyes were wide open and... she turned her head toward me with those same nk eyes. "Bastard..." That was the only word that came out of her pretty mouth. She was frustrated, angry, sad, and disappointed. It was a bound item. She might not actually even be able to lift it that easily now that it was bound to me. She also wanted something like this, but everything today was his. The only thing she got today was a fun experience, a personal teacup, and some good food. She knew she would not even get the chance to shoot that zing arrow even once. Her cute misery was definitely... adorable~. So, I just smiled warmly at her and gave her a deep hug. It was surprising, but it calmed her, and she forgot her newborn anger. I stored the branch in my white crack, which was safely resting in a grail made of blessed adamantium full of holy water, and climbed down the big table. It was just absurd how much holy water she used and put the branch in a grail made of god''s mineral, no less. I can''t even think how much money and other resources she must have used to get and preserve this one branch... it was actually ludicrous. Before bing a bound item, it was actually just a branch of the world tree, and, though it wasn''t necessary, preserving it in things like these definitely made the dposition process slower. The reason it was actually absurd that it is now mine was the sole fact that the branches of the world tree mostly just degenerate within a week of their separation from the tree. The fallen branches of the world tree sometime experience some weird phenomena and get teleported to unknown random locations. Mostly, these locations are deste, lifeless ces, and when it dposes, it makes the deste or condemn ce into a new green ce, returning life to that area. Mostly no one finds these branches and the only reason someone gets in possession of one is because of... well, pure luck. We can call it fate or destiny, but those things are forever equivocal. Anyway, this thing was now mine, and I definitely wanted to know how mom got it but, I knew it won''t actually mean much. So... putting thatplicated thought aside, I looked at my blushing Rein and shook my head with a smile. I walked up to her and grabbed her hand, and... said the words that I wanted to say for thest few chapters. "Let''s go to Anna... they all must be waiting, right? We have to finish this great birthday with a night party~." She was fine now, and soon as I said those words with a warm smile on my face, she blinked a few times and then... sighed with a smile. "Yes... let''s go." There was a smile on both our faces as we walked out of the room after looking around this amazing treasure-filled room for a while. It was alreadyte evening, and the sky might be starting to get dark after the sunset. This treasure hunt, gift hunt actually, was definitely amazing~. All of their gifts were also amazing, and I genuinely looooooved every single one of them~! There was still Zoe''s gift left and I do think she will give it to me after we reach there, but I wasn''t worried about that one bit. This was my first birthday, and I enjoyed this small game. And now... I will enjoy the party with my lovely family. ''Today... was just amazing~.'' I only hoped that they didn''t ask me to rank their gifts. That would be pandemonium, even for me. All the gifts were amazing and I can''t just put one above the other. The first ce was Anna''s, and even though I got something unthinkable from mom, it was still different from dad''s or aunt Aug''s gift, which had more emotional value. ''Well, let''s see once we get there...'' At least, one thing was certain now... this was the best birthday outside of that forest for me. If she were with us now, it would have been the best day ever, but, well, she was not. And that was the truth. So... anyway, I was excited to see my darling Anna''s cute smiling face~! Chapter 365 Conclusion Of A Great Birthday ''It''s because of you.'' ''No? You were the one that was just lost in thoughts while looking through my photos.'' ''Should I remind you who was lost in this little girl''s photos more?'' ''...still, you were too busy looking around mom''s treasure room.'' ''What the hell? Was I the one that took their sweet time observing all the artifacts? Shut up and apologize bastard.'' ''Haven''t I already done that?! She''s just standing there, ring at us for thest five minutes and not even saying a thing!'' ''Calm down, little boy. She doesn''t look that angry so it should be alright.'' ''But look at her! How can she make such an angry face before me?! It''s my birthday too!'' ''Yes, yes... calm down. She is just a little grumpy that we arete. It can''t be helped anyway, right? We were just too absorbed in those photos that it took a while. Let''s wait until she says something. It shouldn''t be that great of a deal.'' I sighed internally as she patted my back. Our faces were just looking forward, at this angry little sister of mine, who just looked at the smiling faces of the two of us with an angry but cuuuuuute expression. It was already dark outside and we were just waiting at the door of Alf''s house, looking down at the little angel who wasn''t saying a thing and just ring at us. And she was alone too. Maybe everyone is inside? Anyway... this was catastrophic. My Anna is angry at me... what will I do now?!! It was all my fault, all my mistakes, and all of that was my sin. But... who could help to look at those sweet, cute, adorable~ photos of this little girl? ''Even her cute face right now... just like a little angry bird~.'' I was smiling genuinely at her cute expression while Rein had a tense twitching smile whileforting me through our joined hands. We were just standing at the door and we tried everything, talking, apologizing, bribing (?), and even trying to get in but she blocked us at the door, not even letting us in for thest five minutes. She wasn''t even talking... and I had already counted the sins I havemitted to deserve this kind of grave punishment. This situation was bad. Not that she wasn''t letting us in but the fact that she was looking at me angrily like that. I felt sad~ about this one. My heart couldn''t handle that fake anger. She was a good actor but this anger was something that will definitely just stay in my heart. This moment... unfortunately sad. "Anna..." "Okey Anna~! Everything''s ready~!" We heard mom''s voice from inside and the grumpy, stoic, salient little angel glowed up with a cheerful smile. "Sooorrryyy big brother~! Mommy asked Anna to stop you two for a while. Sary I made you sad~!" I knew that much but, yes, my darling little sister made me sad... "Bad Anna. Don''t do something like this to your weak dummy brother again, ok?" Rein patted her cute little head while saying that and picked her up, knowing full well that she was just acting from the start. It was natural though, I... was just overreacting. She looked at me apologetically and begged me to take her in my embrace with open arms. Her gem-like eyes were now sad to make me sad but she was also sorry for her behavior. Looking at her with an even sad expression, I sighed and took her from Rein, and hugged her little angelic self. "The as big sister said, please don''t do something like that. You know I''m weak against you, right? And I will remember this moment forever, and think how my dear Anna was angry at me." She nodded after our little hug and kissed my cheeks, washing away all the sadness from my mind and heart. "Anna won''t do anything like this. Promise!" She promised and... her kiss and this cute look in her amazing eyes were enough to ease my pained heart. "I said we are ready~! You cane in~!" Mom shouted again just when I nodded at Anna with a smile and after her voice, I smiled helplessly at her and nodded at the warmly smiling Rein. "Let''s see the ''surprise'' they prepared as thest thing." "It''s amazing~!" Anna was excited and I knew she really meant it. ''I call it Alf''s house but this whole house is practically aunt Haze''s.'' The whole house was filled with various nts and flowers, there was a big greenhouse with countless flowers of different kinds and types, as well as a few big trees. She grew all these things herself and she loved every single nt like she loved Alf. She was amazing when it came to the flowers and the birthday party held in her amazing house would also be just as amazing, right? We walked in through the door which also had two nts on each side. Then we just walked in and more in and then walked through the kitchen, then the gardening storage room and atst... reached the garden area on the other side. This was a good ce... a really beautiful one too. There were many nts here that used carbon dioxide at night, many that actually increased Mana density all the time, and many that had increased oxygen production during the night. They decorated the whole ce with small magicmps, there was mostly dark aside from that but the green of the garden looked gorgeous. The lights were of different colors, and there was a big table filled with delicious-looking things. My family was just standing in the middle of this amazing ce and I... well, what can I do but smile bitterly? "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EON~!" They all shouted at once and there were... almost tears at the ends of my eyes. ''Six years? No... it is my first time.'' This was the very first time I was spending my birthday party with every single person in my family. Every single special person that had longed for my return and hoped for my well-being for all their long time. Grandpa, grandma Zhen, and grandmother were smiling at me warmly with a warm smile. Uncle El and aunty Aug watched me with cheerful expressions. Uncle Theo had his usual dignified air and a warm smile as he looked at us and aunt Haze pped her hand in a more cheerful manner. I looked at mom and dad with a bitter smile, especially at mom, asking her where the hell she found such a gift. And she just winked at me, simply meaning that wasn''t something I should think about. Dad was also smiling warmly at me but he had also looked around this whole thing a while ago, even though he was surprised by all these things. Ca and Alf and an embarrassed looks on their faces. They knew I would find their gifts and they had done their best to hide those things. Both of them were cute and even Anna can''t help but giggle at the two''s behavior. ''Yes...'' I also had my little sisters now. My dear darling Anna in my hands, the little Zoe watching from the side, and... I also had this little pink panther holding my hand. I didn''t have a special person that was dear to me right now but... that was alright. ''I had all of these now...'' I had a family that I couldn''t have in the past. The dear family that I had lost a few years ago. Surviving in that hell was definitely not easy but... I survived that. I survived, got strong, met beings that were impossible to defeat, saw beings that were rare or not present in this outside world, and even met the most special being of my life, my master, my savior... my dear grandma. She definitely was amazing, but all these people... they are my family. The family that I long to see. The family that I longed to meet in that hell. And the family that I wanted to celebrate my birthday with during those hellish days of the past. ''And I''m doing it now... finally... I''m here.'' The ce I long for, the people I longed to see, and the special experiences that I have had before reaching this point... I won''t forget that. I can''t forget them even if I want to. But this moment right now... "Biiiiiig brother~! Let''s go~!" "Let''s cut the cake~! We made your favorite one~!" "Hmm... chocte. Just the way you like it." "Oy Brian! Don''t eat it!" "Huhu. It''s alright, Nol. It''s so delicious even Brian couldn''t help it, right~? Little Eon will love it~!" "Anna helped make it so it would be the best birthday cake you have ever tried~!" "Yeiii~!!!" Anna shouted cheerfully as the atmosphere became lively. ''I know it''s uncertain but I want every day to be just this special.'' And yes, if Anna helped in making that cake, I know it would definitely be the best cake of all time~! Taika, Tuuli, Celes, and Branwen were cheering from the other side, excited to try the delicious-looking delicacies. Clover was with them and she was just happy if everyone was happy. Her presence alone was amazing for this radiant atmosphere. ''Good...'' Everything felt more than good, more than what I had expected, and there were even more special people around me than I had dreamed of. The tears in my eyes were visible to them but they didn''te out. Instead of those useless tears, a warm smile appeared on my sad face and I looked at my dear little sister, Rein, and everyone else. And nodded with that same warm smile... "Yes~. Let''s cut the best cake ever~!" They knew the depth behind those words and... they just nodded with even more cheerful voices. The bright mood intensified and a festive atmosphere arrived. The end of something long, the moment that I had dreamed, and a small end to something that was definitely long... ''Thankfully... the dungeon with that evil spirit won''t be as much long, difficult, and full of unexpected variables.'' I was looking forward to the thing we have been preparing for a long time and now that this thing was finished... it will finally be time for that. She would be the main lead for that thing in most things but I knew it will be fun. Just like this amazing cake~! Chapter 366 Forest And Boundary In a forest surrounded by big, green, lush trees, two young-looking adventurers walked, calmness, and genuine happiness covering their faces. The forest they walked through wasrge and dark, and the narrow sunlight passing through the leaves created a wonderful view. The voice of the calm forest was tranquil. The voices of birds, and small creatures, and the smell of earthly soil were also fresh. Mixed in this fresh smell was an even more fresh smell of beastly blood, the metallic smell that most adventurers are familiar with. The green forest, gentle sunlight, soft, fertile soil, small rocks in their path, small creatures of this forest, the strong tree trunks painted with the different colored blood of the bigger, stronger, and foolish creatures that tried to attack them, they didn''t mean much to this duo who walked through the forest with a calm expression. Both of them looked young. So young that they shouldn''t be in a dangerous forest like this one. But the blood from the big corpses that had painted almost half of the tree trunks was doing of the two of them who had killed these creatures without a single drop of sweat. Looking closely at these big corpses, it was even easy to tell that they were killed instantly as if their lives were taken away even before they had the chance to think. They must have approached the two young people but the way their eyes were wide open, their bodies either having arge hole or deep cut, and the fresh blood all over the ce, it was clear that they were killed instantly. And this number didn''t increase after a certain time, the creatures that wanted to aim at the two of these young people had felt instinctive fear and threat to their lowly lives after seeing the deaths that even they didn''t know when, or how happened. The creatures that had waited before approaching the two of them felt relieved and they knew... the two monsters that had appeared in their habitat can kill them anytime they wanted but¡­ they were shown mercy. Any wild animal would know what this kind of great mercy meant so the remaining creatures just backed off, leaving the two monsters alone. They all were just mere (Red) or (Orange) ranked creatures, and they knew they had no chance against these two small-looking monsters. In their eyes, the two of them were already great demons and they epted their mercy with bowed heads and just vanished, clearing their path, and not even daring to think of approaching them. On the other hand, the two young ones that had been perceived as great demons by the small, cute, creatures of the forest were checking the bodies of the creatures they had killed without any hesitation. There was an amazing-looking scythe in the girl''s hand, and this scythe wasn''t covered by blood even after killing tens of beasts in this area. It was a beautiful white scythe, and one knowledge in artifacts could tell just from a nce that this was no normal weapon. And same was true for the boy, who had a silver quiver hanging on his waist and a simple-looking wooden bow on his back. They were checking each corpse one by one. The boy cut open the bodies of creatures that looked like either, deer, horses, monkeys, snakes, or some birds, shoving his hands in their bloody bodies, and trying to find something inside it. His work was just this much and he didn''t find anything even after cutting every single body in the area. They could only me the young girl''s bad luck for this. There were tens of bodies in this area after all. Normally, they should have at least found something. Butdy luck wasn''t with them this time. Actually, the small creatures of this forest were just small fry, even though there were many so they weren''t expecting much. But not getting anything could only make them sigh in disbelief. Well... they can''t do anything about that so the young girl just used her skill [Dismantle corpses], and a ck light covered one corpse at a time and the bodies were separated into different parts. Internals and blood on one side, which mainly wasn''t of any use, the skin, teeth, and bones, the main materials of a beast''s body, and eyes, heart, or internal parts that were useful in alchemy or other practices. This skill could also separate the energy nucleus or skill stone if there was one but the girl had terrible luck, he wouldn''t let her touch the corpses first even if she wanted. The two of them finished their work after gathering the useful things from the beast corpses, and the young boy praised the girl for her great skills. "Good work." He said while petting her head and she epted his gentle, clean hand with a pleasant smile. They continued forward after cleaning out the area with some magic and proceeded forward. Their destination was already set and both of them were perfectly prepared for what was toe. It had been three days since the young boy Eon''s birthday, and they had finished the training they would need for their raid. The too much careful young Eon was confident this time, and he enjoyed his birthday with great happiness. He was still thankful and thinking about it but their goal right now was the secret dungeon that will most definitely have far greater difficulty than what the girl had faced. So he had prepared weapons, arrows, medicines, food, and strategies that might be actually just too excessive but from his point of view, this was the bare minimum. They had also made and perfected a smallbination attack that mighte in handy so they were just excited. And there were definitely problems for them at first, like his mom and her grandmother''s restrictions and nagging, but they couldn''t stop the determined girl. They failed to convince her that it was alright and that her grandmother was ok but the girl was also determined to just go there and obliterated that ursed being that dared toy their dead hands on her dear grandma. The young-looking old witch was stubborn and no one could do anything when she had already made up her mind, not even her dear friend that walked beside her right now. Anyway, they were walking in the dark forest filled with rays that made their way to the ground through all the great tree leaves. The forest was immense, and finding a particr ce in this big forest was actually a difficult task. But for the two of them, it was much easier than a knight party. They had far fewer obstacles in their path and it was too easy agast whatever creature they were fighting. It was fine, and... with the help of her marvelous ck crow, who perfectly remembered the location of the boundary leading to the dungeon, they reached their destination even before the evening. "Good work Branwen~." She gently stroked the gorgeous feathers of her big crow with a cheerful smile and the crow almost blushed because of his master''s touch. This young girl did not think much of the old crow''s feelings as they were his normal reaction to her but the boy with her could definitely understand the position and feelings of the old crow. Well, he couldn''t do anything about this even if he wanted to so it was fine in the end. They were standing before a weird big tree with blue leaves and there was a big cut in this tree, almost arge crack that made it possible for a single person to pass through. The tree trunk was light brown, while the leaves were all blue so the tree itself looked peculiar but the crack was also strange. The girl nodded at him after the crow went inside his mark and spoke in an excited manner. "The boundary." Boundaries were special ces with rare phenomena called [Space distortion]. By passing through these certain ces, people cross [Space-time] and reach unknown locations in uncertain worlds or realities. Not many can find these special boundaries and they are mostly just discovered by luck or unexpected circumstances. But some special people like Rein can actually see these boundaries and that is a super special ability. Not even the young boy Eon''s eyes can perceive the boundaries but she can and he naturally found it fascinating. In her eyes, this crack in the tree that almost looked like a gate, looked pure void, as if there is a long cave behind this... But this was the entrance for them. Entrance to the house of the enemy they must defeat. The girl, at least, was dead set on obliterating that wretched evil corrupted soul. "Last time grandma and I were here, we faced some low-ranked creatures, then in the middle parts, there were some undead creatures, andstly there was a corrupted undead captain. Overall, we judged it was red to the orange-ranked dungeon. But when the knights came, their reports stated it was a mid-orange ranked dungeon. The monster reports were also different and stronger than expected so they just retreated after the basic evaluation. There was nothing more suspicious or something that indicated the cause of her illness. If not for you, I would never have thought there was a possibility of her being coursed. Tha-" "Okey. Step back for a moment. Lemme check something here." She was starting to get emotional so he just interrupted her and took a step forward. Both of them were just standing before this tree and there was a cave on the other side of this boundary. And that cave was the dungeon they had to clear. It would certainly be difficult to capture a dungeon all by themselves but¡­ they weren''t afraid. They were confident that the two of them could capture this one and the boy also had the light attribute spells, so they weren''t worried about the weak undead. So... after his interruption that clearly meant for her to not go all emotional, he stood before the tree, put his hand just before the start of the boundary, and closed his eyes. This was confusing and surprising but she didn''t question his actions right now. She could tell just from looking at him, he was serious about whatever he was doing right now. His eyes were closed, his hands stretched out before the entrance of the boundary, and then... a pure white light came out of his hand, and something flew out of it... Chapter 367 Analysis ''Lucy, analyze this boundary please.'' [[ *Master? Don''t you already know a great lot about the boundaries, space distortions, and space-time phenomena?* ]] ''You already know the results of an analysis?'' [[ *...no?* ]] ''Then, please. Let''s try your new power on something grand. It''s alright anyway, right? You will understand your power better with this.'' [[ *Alright master~.* ]] After that, I felt a strange sensation deep in my mind and on my forehead. My eyes were closed but a strange white light shed before my closed eyes and I saw a strange bird of white light pass through my mind, and my entire body, and then it escaped through my hand and collided with the boundary. My eyes were still closed this time, and I didn''t open them even after the strange bird vanished. But, after a while, I saw the birde out of the boundary with my still closed eyes, and the bird collided with my open palm and... I felt a strange pain in my palm. It was a stinging pain as if someone poked a few needles in it. The pain from this one was manageable but after a while, I felt another strong pain, and this one was in my mind... And this was unbearable... [[ *Master! Master! Take mind-healing tears! Quickly!!* ]] Her voice was urgent, and I knew this severe pain was just the start of something bad from that fearful voice. ''White crack!'' Hurriedly taking out a transparent bottle with golden liquid, I dropped a few droplets of the golden liquid in my mouth and at that very moment, I almost lost my bnce and fell... Thankfully, she was just beside me and caught me safely. Now I was in her arms, my head on her shoulders, her eyes wide open from my sudden fall, and shock and fear dominated those usually calm eyes, even more so because I drank more than one drop of the same liquid that cured her immeasurable headache with just one drop. "The fuck is wrong with you!? You bastard! If you want to die so dearly, just tell me! I will be more than happy to give you a more painful death than humanly imaginable!" She was definitely angry and, as I thought; it puts a great burden on mind and body when I use analysis on something grand like this boundary. "I will make sure to tell you when the timees. For now, I''m alright, so¡­ can I go?" She was holding me tighter than necessary and I had already recovered from the mental pain because of one of my ultimate potions. There were nine such ultimate potions, and this one was ranked seventh, so it was a great thing. Just that the making cost, the ingredients and technology to refine the things required for the creation of this thing, and the overall difficulty were very high. I only had three bottles of this thing and I would need a long time to make this potion here, without the help of the marvelous artifacts of our tower house. Anyway, I thankfully had the rare ingredients, so it will be possible with a bit lot of time. Anyway, she squeezed me even more after I said that and hugged me in that awkward position. I could hear her raising heartbeat and warm breaths on my face, but we actually didn''t have time for this one. [[ *Master, the results of the analysis are ready. And yes... I apologize for my ipetence once again. I should have been the one to know the extent of this power and the effect that it would have on you.* ]] ''It''s alright. You didn''t know, so just learn from this mistake and make better judgments in the future.'' [[ *Yes... master.* ]] "Rein... we can do this after we clear the dungeon, alright?" I was calm this time, on the outside, of course. My dynamic heart helped me maintain myposure by beating normally, and she knew from this much that the situation wasn''t right for this kind of thing and that I was perfectly fine. She released me with a red blush on her face and tried her best to look alright. Well, she clearly failed and was in her own train of thought, so I left her for her a while and closed my eyes again. ''So, what''s the result of the analyses? Great Lucy?'' [[ *It''s... actually more than even I had expected, master. I got the space-time distortion value, a detailed report of what the boundary is, and the report on the other side of the boundary. The data I got was too much, so I sorted out most of the unimportant things and converted most into statistical data, charts, and summaries.* ]] She continued to talk while different kinds of data reports and charts showing the details of the boundary, the area we were standing on, as well as the area on the other side of this boundary, appeared before my closed eyes. The information was too detailed even after she sorted the gathered data and just from this much... I can tell this ability was far more than what I had expected. I can say for certain that this report was as detailed as high-ranking divine artifacts specialized in analyses of special structures like this boundary. And I managed to stay alive only because of my extensive knowledge of space-time and boundaries, as well as because I had Lucy, or else, I knew my mind could have very well popped like a balloon because of the absurd amount of information over my low processing power. If it were Alf instead of me, he would have been perfectly fine even after getting this much information all at once. His capable mind and unique skill are something that can process this kind of data as well as thoseplicated spells as easily as breathing. Well, I had Lucy, so it was fine and this whole analysis showed me some really interesting things. "The other side of this boundary is an empty ind on the far southern sea. That part is practically surrounded by bad weather, so no ships go that way. The boundary itself is a rare permanent distortion and is permanently connected to that ce. This very area is just normal, and this boundary is also naturally a rare phenomenon. This Grape tree also looks safe, so maybe we can use this boundary, the things on the other side, and that dungeon. The ind itself should only have some low-grade creatures or maybe some difficult ones too, but the atmosphere there is perfect for any tropical beast. We should just focus on the dungeon instead of exploring the ind for this time." I said these things out of the blue so she was surprised, but I knew she heard almost most of the things I said, so there was now a confused expression on her face, almost a nonsensical one. "What the hell?" Yes... I knew she would curse first before asking what I just said, but, well, that habit of cussing was most definitely something that I won''t be able to erase. "I know you heard what I just said. Those are the things that I found out just now." "How?!" Now the embarrassment was gone, and only shock was covering her pretty face. ''Cute...'' "Well, I have my ways. Don''t worry, just know that the ind that dungeon is on might be difficult itself, so let''s not wander around much. I don''t know much about the dungeon itself, so we will have to check it before entering." The ability to analyze was much more amazing and useful than I had thought. It was difficult to know the type of boundary, after all. There were three types of main known boundaries. A permanent one that had connected two ces permanently, one with a limited time, which had a weaker connection with the other side and would disappear after a certain period, andstly the [Sudden brakes], a phenomenon that happens in an instant and just takes people to unknown dangerous ces. The boundaries are difficult concepts and most of the time; they are dangerous. The permanent boundaries connect two ces within the same, while in limited time weaker boundaries can connect with differents. The sudden brakes are considered the most dangerous as they happen suddenly and connect to a very dangerous or different reality or or world. It is theoretically impossible for the people who vanish in these sudden breaks toe back and only another sudden break in that ce can bring them back. The people who came back from this kind of sudden brakes are called [Returnees], a broken concept mentioned in many fantasy novels. This kind of person is far rare than even the reincarnations in this world, almost countable on hand. But they definitely exist and they sure also possess great power. Anyway, that was all about the boundary and the cracks, but to know if a boundary is there for only a while or for a long time or forever, many different kinds of great equipment are required. And I definitely didn''t use any kind of artifact, so it confused her even more. It was just absurd. She knew that. But, after being with me all this time, she was ustomed to things like this. So... she just nodded with a mix of anger, pain, and difficulty, and sighed deeply. "Let''s go. Wasting time here is meaningless now that we know this thing won''t just close off behind our backs. We should finish everything quickly and go back or else your mom and the greatdy Anna would be furious." "Yes... so, let''s go." I can imagine how Anna would react when we get back home. We left without telling her after all. She would definitely be angry and worried and... I didn''t want that. She knew we would go on a small trip and convincing mom was a task that took me a whole day. She didn''t know just how much difficult it was to make her understand that we would be fine, and it was fine that way. I couldn''t just let her go all by herself and mom knew that, so she had no choice but to ept my unreasonable request on the premise that I will just stay home and help her with her work for a whole month. We didn''t have any ns to go out after this, anyway. Helping mom and learning about her business would be much better... So! We walked through this single-person gate-like boundary and appeared in an open area with many trees behind us. It was a half-circle kind of open area that reminded me of the spider caves from the past. The atmosphere was a bit more humid from the previous forest we were in and there was also a bit more Mana in the atmosphere, so this ce definitely had stronger beings than that weak forest. That was that, but... I didn''t expect this one. She said this was a dungeon, and I had assumed that this was a dungeon this whole time, but... this situation... "Fuck..." I cussed, and she jerked her head towards me, shocked to hear something very unexpected. She had furious eyes as she looked at this cave or what she thought was a dungeon, but I can tell from a nce, and the structure, and the inscriptions that would be difficult to see from normal and inexperienced eyes... "This... is not a dungeon." Now what? Chapter 368 ...Tomb? There are four types of supernatural structures in this world. Dungeons. A ce where one or more types of monstermunities reside, all under a colony leader and a dungeon ruler. They are the most loved structures of any adventurer party or guild. They ur naturally and the monsters inside this structure steadily and quickly regenerates, making it a good ce to collect, gather, and research materials of a different kind. After thates Labyrinths. Aplicated maze-like structure that could have multiple strong creatures on the level of dungeon rulers as well as countless weaker creatures. The area coverage of this kind of natural structure is mostly veryrge and could be as big as the coverage of a few cities. The climates inside thesebyrinths could be very different, and they are divided into different areas. Explorers explore these kinds of ces because of the great and rare materials that could only grow in those special environments. From herbs, nts, and ores, to some special monster materials and by-products. The third kind is the most famous, graveyards. A ce where the dead, undead and lost ones reside. Different from normal cemeteries, here, the only ces with high dead Mana density and the presence of roaming undead are called graveyards. They also have the greatest aura of death around them. Undead creatures wander these ces freely, and mostly just live in the premise of these ces. These ces produce some very rare and important materials for alchemy and medicine. There are great chances of finding rare old artifacts and wonderful wealth from the graves of these undead beings, so adventurer parties and guilds, mainly those with members with light attribute affinity, go there to cleanse these ces. Unlike dungeons andbyrinths, graveyards don''t produce monsters after the existing ones are cleansed. Simr to these graveyards are the Tombs, the fourth and most sought-after structure of old times. Containing great artifacts of the past, rarely even containing ancient artifacts, these structures are only rarely found and, though have grave difficulty, they attract attention from adventurers, explorers, archeologists, scientists, and high mages. Tombs. A ce of rest for important figures of the past. They are the final resting pces made by the people for the final rest of the ones they cherished. The graves that they build in a certain part of the tomb were mostly protected by countless traps, while the outer parts mostly got infested with monster colonies, making it somewhat like a dungeon. That''s why most of the tomb discoveries throughout history are idental. And when the adventurers, strong people or maybe even normal folks in some cases, stumbled upon these unknown ces filled with great wealth, danger, and ounts of history, their names be engraved in present history itself. Well, that is, if they can survive that ce and go back to the higher-ups and report their findings. Wealth wouldn''t be the only thing they get from these findings. The rights of the findings, the things inside, and all the things would ''partially'' belong to them. Well, that''s that but, I should have thought that when we were talking about an evil spirit, there is a high chance of the person in the tombs turning into an evil spirit after some hundred years. Rein and her grandma found this boundary and came here, the ce that was just before this weird ce they all thought was a dungeon. It wasmon to confuse a dungeon and a tome in most cases, so not even the most skilled people could differentiate between a dungeon,byrinth, and tomb. All three of them are very old structures and people many times find century-old artifacts in normal dungeons. Things that can''t be produced with current known technology. Same with tombs. They are considered one of the greatest sources of the past. And right now, the structure we were standing before was a tomb. I can tell from the still somewhat remaining sharp edges of the gate of this dungeon. There were also some very faint inscriptions beside the gate, on the rock wall of this cliff, and even I could only see them because of my eyes. The base function of my [Three eyes], is the ability to see faraway things ''clearly''. I can practically use my eyes as a microscope or telescope by adjusting my eye lens, without activating the skill itself. Even Rein''s eyes couldn''t see the inscriptions that might have existed on that rock a long time ago. Strictly speaking... "Around four hundred years ago." I can faintly see the inscriptions on the wall and even after the time''s corrosions, from what I could tell... "These inscriptions look very much like a famous traditionalnguage that existed around the extreme east end forest and belonged to the indigenous people there. These people were famous for their medical techniques, which were believed to be the most famous at that time. Their civilization actually perished around six hundred years ago because of the destruction of that entire area from what I know, so this tomb here, in the middle of nowhere, can only be exined as a strange urrence. They werend people, and this ind was far away from the maind. And from the old text, it is believed that that part of the continent was destroyed by the legendary creature [Kraken]. Well, finding the traces of that civilization here sure is quite something, but... now what? You still want to go in despite knowing it might be even more dangerous than we originally thought?" Tombs were ces that inevitably had many defense systems and guards to contend against intruders. The monster in the early parts was mostly just the inhabitants of the ind that gathered inside this ce because of some kind of attraction or from the fear of something else. Well, it wouldn''t be possible for them to be systematic if it were from fear or some other being. Maybe the evil spirit was much stronger than we thought that can actually control the other monsters? That was very much possible. This was outside the zone of my predictions, so now... I was definitely against going into this thing. But... well... it wasn''t up to me from the start. It was her desire to eliminate that being. I was here to look after this foolish one. She looked at me withplicated eyes. The situation was far more difficult than she had thought. She knew about tombs. And she also knew just how dangerous they can be. And now that we knew there was an evil spirit with high intact intelligence, and maybe overall strength reaching close to even a high grade (Indigo) ranked creature, it was difficult to decide¡­ I would have been in aplicated situation but, as a pure knight and an ''old'' person, she kept her cool. "What''s written on the wall?" She asked while still in deep thought whiteout even looking at me and I replied in a calm tone. One of us had to stay calm in this situation. Actually, calm like me, not the chaotic calm like her. "The great master. Doctor. Wife. Sleeps here. I can only make out this much from what I can see." She nodded and thought even more seriously about this one. Now, this wasn''t just about revenge against a creature that cursed her grandma, it was also an opportunity for her and her family. A permanent boundary in their territory, near their main estate, leading to a tomb that belongs to a prominent figure from an ancient tribe that specialized in medicine and doctor''s practices. They can actually monopolize the whole thing, and no one could even question them. She was maybe the only one who can defeat that evil spirit too. She can clearly understand that a being that can curse her grandmother, a strong (tier-8) mage, could very well kill most of the people from her house. The only reason she didn''t get cursed thest time they made it so far inside this tomb was because of her special mental and physical physique. I can undoubtedly say that her mental defense was second only to mine, so she can actually resist the mental course from that time. So, maybe only she or her grandfather had any chance to fight against this being. But then again, she was better in this case. It was a great learning opportunity, the ce to show off her power, and test the results of her great training from the past few days. I wouldn''t fight against an enemy that I didn''t know anything about, even if it was an evil spirit that I knew a lot about. Intelligent beings are fundamentally different from normal energy beasts, and even after putting their strength into the same category as the beasts, I knew they were just too different. I wouldn''t want to fight against a being like this, but... she was different. She would get even more excited at the thought of fighting a strong opponent. But still, she was thinking deeply about this situation. ''She definitely learned a thing or two in this time we were together... cute girl.'' "What are the chances that we will defeat the boss?" "Nice question." Even I was curious about this one. Not that I had any data to judge the current scenario. Thankfully, I had Lucy and today''s question... ''Lucy.'' [[ *Yes master.* ]] ''Question. What are the chances that we will deal with all the monsters inside this tomb, be safe from all the traps, defeat the evil spirit and all the bosses, and safely get out?'' It was something I learned from using the question of ability these past few days. I can just connect the questions and make them a single question. Lucy can answer it as long as there aren''t too many things linked, and the question isn''t tooplicated. [[ *You also know I would suggest you rather not go in without just that many preparations, right? The answer to your question is 48%. But those are just chances. No one knows what might happen inside and what unthinkable things you might encounter. It is difficult to understand, but I know you will still go with Reinelle. I''m worried...* ]] She had even started understanding emotions. She definitely was¡­ something else. A skill with a will of her own... my dear Lucy. ''Don''t worry about me, dear. Don''t I have you? I know you will always be with me and protect me~.'' [[ *...that I definitely will, master.* ]] Her answer was almost shy, and it made me chuckle. She was surprised by this suddenugh, but I just shook my head at her. "I think it''s more than 45% but definitely not as high as 50%. Difficult, but there''s a chance for survival and safe return as well as the defeat of all the bosses and the evil spirit." My answer was confident, and she knew she could trust these answers. Neglecting my sudden chuckle from a moment ago, she nodded with an excited and serious look. "We will go in. Let''s defeat the dead bastard that dared to harm my dear family." She was nothing like the cute girl she usually was at this moment. The distinct dignity and her natural air were just too different from what I had seen during our training and throughout our time together. ''The true appearance and air of an experienced explorer. One that has fought against countless unexpected variables, strong beings, and harsh trails of nature.'' This was the person that had survived countless dangerous situations for tens or more like hundreds of years. This was a fascinating change, but it sure was charming. I liked this change, this confidence, her excitement, and the deep anger in those clear fiery pink eyes. A smile appeared on my face and I nodded at her. She understood this pleased smile and just shook her head with a smile of her own. We walked into this normal-looking cave with a square gate, and... as soon as we were inside, we heard a chilly voice in our minds... a variable that urred from the very start. [< You!? You aren''t dead yet?! How dare you walk here again after disturbing our slumber! You witch! And... hmm? Y-you brought someone who can use that disgusting light?!! You damned girl! Did you think someone with the power of light is enough to defeat me? Kukukuku! You both will have the same end as that old hag! Kukuku! Kuku! This time will be different! If the curse isn''t enough, then I will just separate you from this pretty face! I bet the loss of such charms will be enough to weaken that strong mind! Kukukukukukukukukukukukukuku! >] After that voice, well, I fell... And as I fell... I saw the door of the tomb close, Rein''s shocked eyes, and in thest moments that our eyes were still connected, I reassured her... ''Emergency scenario 3. Calm down and quickly reach the tomb room. See you there~.'' There was a smile on my face. She was tense and worried, but... she knew what she had to do now. This was a tomb, and there were many paths to start, we both knew that, but all those paths ended at the same ce, the room with the body of the owner of the tomb, aka the boss'' room. We might have been separated, but we didn''t have anything to worry about until we reach the boss''s room. So... now was the race to see who reaches that ce first. ''But one thing is for sure. The winner will get a coin~. Hehe...'' Maybe this was a more fun scenario than the normal fights. Chapter 369 Separated [[ It''s dark~! ]] "It sure is. Well, we have lived in a dark forest for quite a while so this much is alright." [[ Hmmm~. Will there be big monsters like them here too? ]] "I don''t think so. That ce was far more dangerous than this one. There might be monsters but, it should be manageable." [[ I will protect master~! ]] "Just like you always do..." [[ Hehehe~. ]] After we fell to who knows where, Celes and I started surveying the ce. We at least knew that this tomb was divided into different sections and there were straight paths leading to the center, although filled with countless different traps, monsters, and unknown things. Well, thankfully, both of us were alright. [[ "Any changes for you?" ]] [[ "Nope. The same path that grandma and I cleared previously. You are really alright, right?" ]] Now she reminded me of my worried mom, cute... [[ "I am. I have my strong guardian Celestine. What can happen to me~?" ]] [[ Hehehe. Yes~! Master is safe, so don''t worry sister Elle~! ]] Rein always had one of Celes''s clones with her and we can always talk with this originmunication line that worked even in ces like this tomb where not even some artifact might function properly. Celes''s ability to create clones, leave them with a person, and use the connection of the clone, her main body, and me, to create a super stablemunication line was terrific. I had anticipated something like this separation at the very least, so we both knew what to do in situations where we get separated and do not know what to do at all. [[ "Please take care of that fool Celes..." ]] [[ "You don''t have to tell her, you know, right? I can reach the bedroom of that bastard before you, so just get the coin ready." ]] [[ "Reach there before me? I think you are mistaken, darling. You are the one in a dark and unknown ce. Who knows, that one might be the longest route. Hehehe. I already know whates on this path. I will reach there before you, so get my second coin ready~." ]] Making this chaotic situation a game... was better than feeling distressed at the separation. And if this cute friend of mine was thinking that her path would be the same as before¡­ I will pray that she cusses a bit less. Not that these prayers would be heard by anyone. [[ "We will see that one. Celes, let''s start. ]] ''Mana vision.'' [[ Yes~~. ]] My special vision skill, the Mana vision. I can confidently say that I survived in that damn dark forest thanks to this one skill. I had this skill only that''s why I was able to avoid countless ''bad things'' and witness some of the very amazing sceneries in that hellish forest. ============ [Mana vision] ---> A rare skill of (Yellow) ranked creature, (Mirror owl). ---> One can see in different environments, heighten sensitivity to a different wavelength of light, and mainly see ''clearly''. ---> The power of skill depends on the natural power of eyes and depending on the eye ability and natural construction, the skill can show great powers. ---> In your holy case, the normal skill bes a skill on par with the (Purple) ranked eye skill. ---> Maybe it is so fraudulent that you can practically see in any environment, be it too dark or too bright. Maybe even in ces with a unique wavelength or frequency of light. ---> This skill... Hump! It''s just a weak skill that can is only so good because of us! [Mana consumption: 15 M.P.] ============ ''Of course. Don''t I always say you are the best~?'' So, well, I had a vision skill that made this grave darkness meaningless. We started walking forward. There was nothing on this big cave path, anyway. I had already used (: Scan) as soon as I safely crashed here. The force that pulled me was great enough that I couldn''t do anything. There wasn''t anything here aside from the sharp rock corners and great darkness. Well, that voice we heard before my fall definitely knew that I could use light attributes. It must be the evil spirit, the famous undead creature we were here for if it sensed only the light attribute. The reaction would have been much different if it could have sensed all the six attributes in a single body. Not that it was that easy. I hid the attribute energy with my Solnova all the time so if someone is not at least at the level of an (Elder) or has an extremely high affinity with a certain attribute; it wasn''t possible for them to sense my six attribute harmonious affiliates. It meant the voice that ridiculed my dear Rein and threatened her in their ownnguage, was a strong undead that felt an instinctive fear of the faint traces of light attributed on me. ''Well, the undead feared light and holy energy the most in this whole world. They could cope with the even rare darkness power, but not the light.'' Darkness attribute magic also damaged undead and evil creatures, but light attribute magic and skills actually hurt them. It was painful. They felt like burning from the inside out because of the light attribute magic and that was the reason even the lowest level light attribute magic was dangerous for them. "But light attributes have a great disadvantage... when in lower stages, it can''t actually hurt normal energy beasts. The actual powerful destruction series light attribute spells require a lot of Mana, talent, and greater calctions. The rare light attribute possessors are coveted by many people, but they can only heal others or deal damage to undead creatures and demons. In normal beast hunting, they are as weak as a normal human as light attribute magic of lower tier doesn''t contain any destructive power at all. And that definitely was the reason... the evil spirit threw me into this ce that most definitely contained normal energy beasts. "That evil spirit definitely is smart." It was very smart for an undead, so it was possible that it was as good as or maybe even better than normal humans. The cave was dark, but it was easy to walk thanks to my dear eyes. I walked forward, and after a while¡­ met my very first opponents. They were energy beasts, ferocious ones, no less. If any other light attribute user, even an adult (tier-4) mage, were here, they would do their best to just run away from here. ''Actually, their light magic used in an attempt to see in this darkness would attract them first. And the sudden ambush would definitely kill them.'' There were tens of them from what I can tell with my (: Scan). And they were just a little distance from here. "They are strong creatures that-" [[ Master~! There are some small weak creatures with long noses ahead of us! Let''s kill them~! ]] "...yes, yes." They were definitely strong, from a normal person''s point of view. They were actually beasts that lived in the outside forests and I had no idea why the hell they were here, but now; they were before me. So... this was theirst day. They had lost their will from the looks in their eyes, anyway. They were also some of the very famous beings that have many tribes that vary from the level of intelligence they possess. The ones before me, however, were the lowest of their kind... [[ There~! ]] The sight of those wild, hungry, and mad-looking beasts entered my vision, and their green skin, humanoid small bodies, ragged, dirty clothes, and weak weapons... ''They kind of look weak and miserable.'' "Three eyes." ============ [Yellow-eyed green goblins] Strength: 45 Dexterity: 51 Stamina: 47 Magic Power: 54 Intelligence: 9 [Skills: Heavy m, Fight, scream, Steal, Evilugh, Light adaptation.] ---> Weak creature. You already know most of the things about them. ---> There''s no need to waste much time. Just finish this quickly. [Brainwashed]. ============ "Right. No need to waste much time. Let''s finish them and move forward." Taking out a normal (level-9) magic bow artifact, and my silver quiver, I looked at the... "One, two, three... fifty-seven. There are quite a lot, actually. And many of them have the [Steal] skill. People would pay hundreds of gold for it. Let''s hope we find one or two." [[ *Two skill stones? Well... there''s nothing wrong in hoping. I hope you can find three skill stones.* ]] [[ Master will definitely get skill stones~! ]] ''Rein isn''t here, so the chances might actually be higher.'' I wouldn''t say this in front of her. I really meant it when I say her punch hurts... she''s strong. Anyway, mindless creatures were wandering in a small ce like this. Devoid of any emotions, and just moving on their instincts. They were (Orange) ranked creatures and naturally should have good intelligence but, in this specific bunch, it was too low... the result of a high-level brainwashing skill. Well, I should give them rest... Holding my bow, standing some distance away from these light-sensitive goblins, preparing my body, fingers, and some Mana, I controlled my breathing. I didn''t need many great preparations for this bunch... -Swish! Swish! Swish! They were definitely much weaker than their perfect self. Chapter 370 Weak (?) Zombies Two minutes. The time it took for me to finish those poor monsters. [[ Nooooooo... ]] We finished them quickly as they were just some low-grade weak monsters and as the normal, after-hunt procedure went, we started checking the bodies of the small goblins one by one. I didn''t have a skill like Rein and using my rare dismantle Solnova spell wasn''t needed for normal creatures like these. [[ Whyyyy! whaaaaaaa! ]] They were strong monsters, famous among normal folks for being one of the most notorious beings that kidnapped humans, mainly females, for ''X'' things. These monsters were considered to be the demon descendants among the normal public, but I would say their instinctive actions were worse than demons from a normal human pov. [[ *Master...* ]] They were definitely stronger than normal adult human males, even though they were the same height as me. But for my strong arrows aimed at their weak spots, they were just easy prays. "I''m fine, you cute little butterfly. Nowe here. There, there. It wasn''t your fault that we didn''t get anything." [[ Noooo! ]] So, well, apparently, we didn''t get anything from these fifty-plus dead bodies. Celes thought it was her fault for no reason, so it was getting difficult to calm her down. This little butterfly partner of mine was cute, but we have to move forward. We had already finished collecting and storing the bodies of the dead creatures. I stroked her little white head and crystal blue feathers, which she, as usual, found good~. She at least stopped crying after that one, made three clones, and went inside the mark. [[ I-I will check this ce for a while so please rest master. O-Or just starts going forward... slowly. There might be t-traps. ]] And after that... the red, blue, and green butterflies flew ahead, dancing in the low breeze flowing throughout this cave. Celes also knew how to survey any area and create a mental map of the ce. She was good with many things, and she was definitely a smart one. She was also trained by my master in many ''special'' things, so I couldn''t even fathom just how awesome my dear partner was. Anyway, she was cute... and amazing. I moved forward and looked around the cave. I didn''t find any traps and there shouldn''t be any monster groups near this ce. They mostly made territories, after all. So, there weren''t any traps in this area, so things were easy for me over here. But my dear friend, Rein... she was definitely suffering right now¡­ [[ "Damn bastard..." ]] She was just cussing like this for a while and I knew it was because of the unexpected things in her path. My path was mostly clear. There were only monsters... on the other hand, Rein was practically facing armies of undead and monsters on her own... Not that I was worried about her in this scenario. I had no need to, actually. They were definitely strong monsters... and so was she. She was even stronger than thest time she was here. And she also had a clear goal in her mind, as well as a great motivation named my promise coin. If anything... I was worried that she will reach there before me. She was a beautiful swan of ughter when she was excited and there was definitely no way those weak beings would be strong enough to stop her for much longer. So! "Let''s pick up the pace, Celes!" And then, I just started running... only to stop some distance away from the second beast that I would be going against. Surprisingly... "They are actually the strong ones..." I was up against a real threat this time. A ferocious but cute-looking threat... *** "Fucking bastard..." Standing some distance away from her very first opponents, the young girl we all know, our dear, lovely, kind, and smart Reinelle, looked at the numbers of her enemies. ''Eyes of truth.'' ============ [Zombies] ~~~> Weak undead monsters. Weak against light attribute magic. Nothing too grand about them so the master can easily defeat them~! ~~~> Oh, they are mostly (Orange) rank or below, can use skills, [Steel undead strength], [Run], And [Corrosion]. ~~~> There are exactly one hundred and eighty-three there, so be careful master~! ============ There was a frown on her face as she looked at the weakly moving undead creatures, humanoids with rotting bodies and a strange yellow smoke of corrosioning out of them. "Tsk. There was nothing herest time..." She now understood just how much this ce had changed from thest time she was there. The strength and number of these creatures were just that great. Any normal person would feel despair before them, but she found this one annoying. "That bastard will actually reach there first." The undead weren''t important to her right now. All her mind was on her dear friend that must have known this kind of thing would happen. She was afraid she would have to give out her second coin and... she definitely wasn''t going to let that happen. With an undesirable face of disgust on her face, she looked at the undead and took out her weapon. "Let''s try that thing." Her weapon was a (level-12) Ego weapon, something one would rarely see but also something that was definitely inferior to her dear friend''s weapons. She wasn''t worried about that, though. This wasn''t her partner''s weapon. She didn''t actually have one, so she wasn''t worried about things like weapons. A good-looking scythe with a sharp half-moon de and a long handle. The whole purple body perfectly matching with the silver de. But she knew this de alone won''t be enough for the creatures that wouldn''t receive death even after being sliced in half. By the nature of the undead, only a strong explosive or power of light and dark could actually kill them. And even in that, the power of the dark took too much time. She didn''t have time to waste against small fires like these. So, she took out a ss te with something painted on it. A normal-looking ss te with a yellow pattern painting, and she just put the ss on the surface of her de. "Channel Mana like any normal enchantment... and, oh!" Her eyes widened as soon as she channeled some Mana through the ss te. The ss te with a weird drawing just... melted as soon as she applied enough Mana and the small drawing got imprinted on the surface of its de. The beautiful imprint started glowing in a brilliant yellow light and the energy covered the surface of the de. A smile appeared on her face as she saw this, and the sudden bright light attracted the attention of the brainless zombies. "Khaaaaaaaa! Khaaa!" "Kat kat kat kat!" "Thuuuuuuuuu!" Hundreds of zombies started running toward the source of light! Unlike the normal, slow, foolish zombies, these were quick. Their steps that hit the ground made a solid sound as if someone in steel boots or armor was walking, and they were all aiming for this new light on instincts. Now, there was a delighted expression on her face and she wielded her glowing scythe with her pretty, delicate, experienced, and powerful hands. The new imprint on the crescent de of the scythe was something that gave the weapon a light attribute, something that would sound practically absurd to any normal person. A weapon receiving the attribute by just a single enchantment. It was absurd, but it had just happened here and this amazing creation was the work of her dear friend. The weapon had the most deadly attribute to this undead now, and they were running toward her, making her work even easier. She smiled... and then just vanished from her ce. -Skech!! At the same time, tens of zombies received a deep cuts on the weaker parts of their bodies. Some heads were almost cut in chunks, and many bodies were actually sliced in half, while some of them had their hands and legs separated from their bodies. "KHHHH!!!" Painful screams of these monsters were heard in the area and she just continued her ughter without caring about the corrosive blood spraying from their bodies. Her [Quick reflexes] and sharp judgments naturally avoided this dangerous blood and there was also a thinyer of dark Mana covering her entire body. This was a strengthened version of a normal (tier-3) darkness attribute magic (Dark protection). Her special skill [Old magic], a special ability that could strengthen magic, increase her understanding of magic, increase her learning ability, and even strengthen her mental fortitude, helped her even more. She moved like an elegant swan, dancing through the countless zombies with the scythe of death in her hand. -Thud! Thud! Thud! -Skhhhhhh! Wherever she passed through, bodies fell. Corrosive blood that was potent enough to even melt the solid ground sshed like fountains. The zombies with steel-like sturdy bodies would have still been standing if this was some normal attack. They were undead, after all. But these attacks were definitely anything but normal for these ''weak'' creatures. Even normal [Rank-3] knights would have been in a difficult situation if they were against this kind of monster. And the numbers of these beings would even make a normal [Rank-4] knight sweat with genuine concern. But her weapon, which now had the power of the light attribute, the eternal nemesis of the undead creatures, was now thoroughly obliterating these unthinkable numbers of opponents. There were more than a hundred monsters and she was slicing them left and right, her pretty face devoid of any expression at this moment. From her perspective, these weak zombies were just weak and boring opponents. She could have had some fun if she was alone and if she hadn''t had the power of the light attribute that actually just gave instant death to this undead, she could have taken her sweet time ying with these toys... but, there was someonepeting with her at this moment. "Fucking bastard..." She repeated these words as she cut through the corrosive flesh of the monsters. She was swinging her big scythe with great ease. The bodies of the undead were constantly falling, and as the yellow light on the de of her scythe got dimmer, she increased her pace of killing. The way her crescent de moved, the way it cut, pierced, and gave eternal rest to these undead, was a spectacr sight. But it didn''tst long. There was a natural time limit to this light attribute enchantment after all. There were hundreds of undead and the duration of this enchantment only had a short five minutes. But she was determined to finish the fight in the remaining small time. In less than one minute remaining to this light enchantment, she was determined to finish thesest thirty remaining enemies. So... she took a step back and looked at the thirty bastards standing separately in the pool of corrosive blood and the dead bodies of their fellow mates. A map and strategy of movements she will have to perform to finish them off quickly flowed through her mind after a careful observation with her ''eyes''. She used [Old magic] to further strengthen the strategy. And after that... it was show time! "Speed enhancement!" -Swish! She vanished from her ce once again! A fierce wind passed through the pool of corrosive green blood. A strange disturbance appeared on the blood exactly below the bodies, as if someone was throwing a rock in a calmke, and the zombies around these upheavals fell to the ground. The speechless fellow zombies had red question marks above their heads, but that only either grew more or their bodies also became one of the fallen ones. She moved, unseen by the naked eyes, inducing a thrill in the hearts of the spectators with every move, every cut that appeared on the bodies of the undead before their fall, and with every other fountain of bubbling corrosive green blood, was gorgeous. The first zombie that fell among those thirty was the one at the very back, after that, the ones that became thest ones, and following this order, like cascading dominos, the thirty zombies, strong enough to rip apart normal human, joined their brethren to the staircase of the eternal rest. All this happened in the span of mere seconds, and... after the fall of thest one, the girl, the divine swan of ughter that had killed these hundreds of monsters, appeared on the ground still unaffected by the corrosive blood at some distance away, breathing heavily. Sparkling drops of clear sweat sliding down her forehead fell to the clear ground. It looked same as a drop of pure water falling from a high stctite on the earthly stalemate. A dive smile covered her alluring face, the dim light on the tall weapon in her hand and the imprint emitting this light, disappearedpletely, and... the area that was dominated by the stomach-shaking sounds of the filthy undead regained its past silence. "Clover." She called out and... with a brilliant green light, an adorable kitten appeared in front of her. "Me~!" As if returning to a good ce after a long time, the little kitten cheered up with a beautiful voice. Her morous eyes glowed brightest in this dark ce, her spirit body illuminated the surrounding with fresh green light, and just her mere presence was enough to heal the spectators. "Me! Me~!" The little kitten cheerfully danced around her master, already knowing she was perfectly fine. She was only tired because of using a good amount of stamina in that fight. She was only tired, and that was precisely the reason the adorable creature was called here. The cute small cat gently licked the pretty cheek of the tired girl with an overjoyed smile and as soon as she felt the ethereal touch on her cheeks, a rejuvenating wave covered her mind and body, reincarnating the perfectly fine allure of our dear Reinelle~! She smiled at the little kitten, gently caressed her little hand, and kissed her tiny forehead, making her smile even more brightly. "Mewoooooo~!" This was a warm scene that should havested for long, maybe forever if possible, but our now fully recovered girl didn''t want to waste much time here. This was just the first fight and there were definitely going to be much worse opponents from the looks of things. So... she wanted to quickly finish these creatures and reach the final destination before her dear friend. "Damn bastard..." Well, her cussing had just continued all throughout this fight but, not only she was angry at her darling, but she was also worried about our Axion. She did know that he was fine and that he had already finished his first fight, but it was uncertain just how dangerous the ce he was in could be. There might actually be stronger monsters in his path, so she had to at least reach the end of her path and reach the center first so that she could go to the ce he was at right now if needed. She had no doubt that he could take care of himself, but she was still worried about her foolish darling. So, she had to quickly clear out this ce. She got up from the ground and checked if everything was fine with her weapon. She had endured the corrosive blood of these zombies. Fortunately, it was a strong one and her darling had put some great enchantments on it, so she didn''t have anything to worry about. The main thing she had to worry about right now... "Me~! Mew! Mew!" The little kitten warned the brightly smiling girl, who had a face full of expectations. [[ Master... well, I know you also know just how blessed your luck is, but sometimes not expecting also leads to unforeseen happiness. ]] "Let''s go~! Hehe~." She was excited to check the harvest after a tough fight, so... she stood before the pool of bubbling green blood that released an acidic yellowish gas. The steel bodies of her prey were floating in this pool of blood and, unlike her darling, she didn''t need to cut open the bodies of the beasts. She had a skill that, though rare, many people dependent on to dismantle the bodies obtained from their hunt. So! She lifted her hand toward the pool of blood and used her very reliable (Blue) ranked skill... "Dismantle corpses~!" Chapter 371 Fluffy Furballs After finishing the goblins, the other opponents we came across were a different kind of creature than the brainwashed goblins. Not only were these furballs mostly only (Red) rank creatures, they weren''t brainwashed and were perfectly fine. They were also just jumping and ying around in the big garden-like ce covered with glowing flowers that made their beautiful furry skin look even more morous. There was low light in this underground area but the countless glowing flower produced by the power of the strongest one among them. Their mother and the boss that was responsible for these tens of fluffy furballs that can use low-level elemental magic, just like spirits. But they were different from spirits as they used Mana. But they sure were intelligent beings, enough to have a specialnguage tomunicate. Unlike the goblins with low intelligence, just the fact that they can use magic from birth spoke the volume of their great intelligence and... ''I don''t know why these cute furballs are here but, I definitely want to take them home instead of killing them.'' They were... adorable~. Just the fact that they were very rare creatures hardly ever found in deep forests, as well as the fact that they were a protected species by the magic tower, spoke for their value. They were cute and strong, but when they got angry and revealed their nine-centimeter-long steel teeth that could easily chew the hard rock and ores, even experienced adventurers might get frightened. Their appearance after showing their teeth was a scary thing but, well, I had seen creatures covered with mouths full of sharp teeth in the dark forest, so these fluffy furballs were cute in all aspects. I knew their value, and they looked just adorable~ so I knew Anna will love them. They will make good ymates for Anna and... they liked greenery, flowers, and big ces. Just the fact that they were here, in this underground ce, which was small andcked any great greenery, was absolutely wrong. They weren''t in their natural habitat right now... it was easy to guess the reason for this one, too. The strongest one in this scary ce, the evil spirit and our ultimate enemy that must have just gone back to sleep after throwing me here, thinking that we would just die from the obstacle in our paths, was the only probable cause. It was so overconfident in the traps and the monsters in our path that it wasn''t even trying to look and hinder our constant march. It could have just appeared in our path after separating us and the difficulty would have increased by many times. But the evil spirit might just be sleeping in its chamber after doing the most ideal thing from its point of view. So... we were fine and Celes and Lucy were also excited to see the fluffy furball monsters. [[ Master~!!! What are those cuuuuute things!? ]] [[ *Oh? To think the nature-loving Povpoi would live in this underground ce. If not for those morous flowers, their leader, and their simple nature, they would have just preferred death instead of living in this small ce. But they definitely are adorable creatures.* ]] Their outer fur bodies were of different colors and the color signified the magic they could use and the special ''attribute'' of their spell powers. They were round balls of fur, had big clear eyes and two long canine teeth showing out of their cute small mouth, and they just jumped around the glimmering flower garden, slept in groups, or yed with a particr golden furball that was a bit bigger than them. There were exactly thirty-three of them and I could tell from the facial expression of the big golden one, she had sensed my weird natural presence. I was hiding it pretty well and just the fact that this golden one sensed it from this distance was a surprise to even me. It was peculiar... "They are called Povpoi, Celes. They can use the magic of up to (tier-3) and have good intelligence so they can actually learn new magic. They are amazing creatures that mages of magic tower love.. for many reasons, of course. They are cute, right?" [[ Yesss~! They are adorable~! ]] Even she liked them. They might also be a good ymate for Celes. A butterfly, a small tiger, a spirit cat, a big eagle, and now we had a chance to add some fluffy furballs to this family. All of them would look amazing when they y together in the front garden... ''Hmmm~. Yes!'' I dreamed of getting these good-looking furballs. I knew they will also be happy to hear they can finally go to a good new ce. But before that... ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Povpoi] Strength: 39 Dexterity: 30 Stemina:28 Magic power: 33 Intelligence: 15 [Skills: Strong teeth, Magicprehension, Bash, Learning, Skill creation.] ---> Special creatures with great intelligence and the ability to understand and perform basic magic. ---> They have the innate ability to learn various things and make them into skills. ---> After taming, they can be a great asset as a tool as well as research subjects, but I know just how good you are so these small fluffs would just be used as friends. ---> Well, it is not every day you meet creatures like these, and not one or two, but a small family. ---> That damn luck is still present. Hump! ============ ============ [Povpoi] (Specialist: Caretaker) Strength: 66 Dexterity: 70 Stamina: 72 Magic power: 83 Intelligence: 45 [Skills: Hardworking, Strong will, Teaching, Harsh words, Nature''s powers, Strong teeth, Magicprehension, Bash, Learning, Skill creation.] ---> A special monster!!! You bastard! A special monster! ---> Just how much have the heavens blessed you? You plot armor blessed main character?! ---> You already know just how special this creature is just from this much, so I know you will make damn sure that it reached the ce it would be more suitable than this damn lonely cave! ---> This one has great potential and if you nurture her properly, she might just be a being responsible for all your future babies! ---> So take these cute creatures out of this fucking ce~! ============ ''Yes, yes, little angry birds. I know you also like them but lower those cursings. Little children should learn to handle their words carefully.'' Well, I can understand this sudden excitement from my dear little eyes. This was a monster with a specialty, something as rare as the [Wise one] or even maybe pinnacle skills holders. This one was rare, so now I wanted them even more so... I put my bow back inside my storage device. [Mana shield], (: Anti-magic barrier). "Let''s go meet them, Celes." [[ Yei~! ]] We walked forward toward a garden full of glowing flowers and, as I knew, as soon as they sensed a different presence, they became alert and looked in our direction. [< Intruders! Intruders! >] [< Intruders~! Who dares to approach my brothers~? >] [< Intruder! Intruder! Intruder! >] [< Let''s go y everyone~~! >] All of them had big transparent, innocent blue eyes, just like little children. And as they were just some fluffy furballs, all of them started jumping in our direction. Just looking at these colorful balls jumping with pure excited smiles was amazing but, well, when some of the asleep ones woke up and revealed their teeth during a cute yawn... well, I knew the young knights as well as the old knights would be terrified. ''But, they are nothingpared to those nightmares and dead ones.'' But they also weren''t just some cute fluffy furballs. They were magical creatures, and they knew magic that was deadly to any normal human. -Ooooooooooooooong! Magic circles appeared before their cute mouths as we reached the border of their small home, and spells ranging from wind magic, water, fire, earth magic, and even their higher forms, thunder, ice, and metal thorns shot toward me. -Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa! They were mostly (tier-1) or (tier-2)mon spells, but my Mana shield and Solnova anti-magic barrier were enough to block their ''dangerous'' bombardment of tens of different attribute spells. -Boooooooooom! Even an expert (tier-4) mage would get seriously wounded by these many diverse spells, but... none of their spells even touch me, their dear guest intruder, which created a great upheaval among them. [< Intruder strong! He isn''t hurt at all! >] [< Strong intruder! Strong intruder! >] [< Everyone~! Let''s do that again~. >] [< L''s magic didn''t work? Nuuuuu... how can that be~? >] [< Everyone? Do you smell something good? >] [< Even L''s magic was useless?! >] [< Everyone! You terrible children! How many times have I told you to not use magic without my permission? How can you go and attack someone like that?! >] The confused furballs were in a chaotic situation when they all fell silent and looked back because of the voice from behind. They were the closest ones ying around the edge, so they had moved without any instruction from their elder, after all. The golden furball, the special one, and their caretaker, hurriedly ran here and started shouting at her naughty children. But, even before she could properly say anything¡­ [< Ohhh! It''s from the intruder! He smells niceeeee~! >] And this particr green one that was just sniffing something for a while finally found the source of the fresh unfamiliar smell. [< Intruder smells nice? Hmmm... Ohh! Yes! >] And after his loud cry, all the other furballs looked at me with wide eyes, surprised by the amazing scent. Well, they were creatures of nature, so they must have sensed the high natural affinity and a harmonic mix of six main elements. I can guess just how this special scent must be, but their excited reaction after that was even greater than what I had thought. They started jumping in excitement and some of them even used [Bash] on me and I fell down because of their unexpected behavior. And as I fell to the ground, they just climbed on my fallen body, started sniffing my body from head to toe, and their furry bodies started tickling me. They were fluffy, but their actual weight was no joke. They could easily crush a normal person if just these ten furballs climb their bodies like this. Fortunately, I was fine, and¡­ it was actually fun~. [[ Oy! What do you think you are doing!? ]] [[ "It''s alright Celes. They are just ying." ]] Celes was somewhat angry at these furballs that made me fall and were all over me without my permission. But as soon as they saw her, they were even more amazed. [< Butterfly! Butterfly~! >] [< Waaaaaaoooooow! Shiny butterfly! >] [< Hmm? The butterfly... doesn''t she smell somewhat like mama? >] [< Nooo... it''s different from mama. It''s more like grandma from mama''s stories. >] [< Grandma...! >] [< How many times do I have to say?! Come down, you little rascals! This instance! >] The older one shouted again. And this time, her voice contained a strange power that made even me shiver. It was a powerful and angry voice. And as soon as these children heard this, their eyes widened. They knew this was thest warning from her, and also that they had pushed her to her limits. Their eyes were shaky and they just silently climbed down from my body as I stoppedughing. They were actually fluffy and tickling, lol... All of them gathered around her, and she started scolding the ten of them, her eyes filled with clear anger and helplessness. It was just like a mom lecturing her kids for their very, very, very wrong behavior. Her eyes were filled with a question ''this is what I taught you, you little fluffy furballs?!''. It looked quite cute actually, so I just stood back up with a smile and shook my head at them and patted the furious Celes who had be grumpy from these cute povpoi''s behavior. Celes could feel me, so she knew I wasn''t hurt and instead was happy and was enjoying things, so she calmed down and sighed at me for this behavior. I could also feel her, so I knew she was fine now without needing any words, so I just looked at the angry mom and her cute little children with warm smiles on their faces. [< "It is alright. They didn''t harm me and they are cute so it was fine~." >] They turned their heads towards me in unison with sudden surprise and excitement. All of them were astonished by how I suddenly spoke something in theirnguage, and it was even more surprising to the golden mother furball. Her transparent blue eyes became as big as a love-requesting cat and I... couldn''t help those cute, big blinking eyes of confusion from the children. [< Intruder... spoke? >] [< Intruder spoke to us! Everyone! The intruder is like us! >] [< The big intruder doesn''t look like us but he is one of us~! That''s why our magic didn''t work on him! >] [< Intruder is our brother~. So he isn''t an intruder~! >] [< Yes~. And he stopped mama too~. He is a good intruder brother~! >] They started shouting with excitement once again. Some of them even came close to me and started asking countless questions. And as I was being bombarded by their questions, their mama shouted once again... and this time, it was too serious that they just froze in their ces, almost as if under the effect of dragon fear. [< Now, until I say, none of you will utter a single word. If... anyone of you dares to disobey this ''request''... I don''t think I need to repeat myself, right? >] They just nodded without a single sound... and this was astonishing. She was amazing and I could tell from this just how much these fluffy furballs respected, feared, and loved their mother. She walked forward, and they made a pathway for her as naturally as an ant colony giving a queen some ce to step on. She reached me, I bent down and looked closely into her clear blue eyes with a smile but... she first bowed her head and spoke in a respectful voice filled with sincerity. [< I apologize in the stand of my innocent children from the bottom of my heart, oh divine being. They are worthy of grave punishment, but I beg thee to spare them. I will ept any kind of punishment in their stand. Even... if it is eternal death. >] Chapter 372 Weak Skeletons -nk! nk! nk! -Ktktktktktktktkt! -Boooooooooom! A fierce battle! That was the only word that could describe the beautiful confrontation happening between a heavenly maiden, who looked no different from a ferocious demon as she ughtered tens of skeletons at the same time. Swinging a big scythe with its crescent de glowing with a dull yellow light, the sounds of skeleton bodies falling to the ground echoed in the area every time the de was wielded. The opponents were normal skeletons. Mostmon undead creatures that normal necromancers could summon or one found in areas with a thick aura of death, like a graveyard. The mostmon monsters hardly had any special characteristics other than their steel-like strong bones filled with Mana and dead Mana. They were dead and their bodies only moved on instincts, they themselves have no intelligence at all. Defeating a normal skeleton undead of a normal human was somewhat easy, but the undead of knights and mages were hard to defeat. And they were also the main creatures that certainly gave an energy nucleus or sometimes a skill stone. But unfortunately, this big open area was only filled with some hundreds of these lowly skeletons. Almost worthless creatures that she didn''t even want to spare a nce at. There were only normal skeletons, not knights, nor mages, so she was he bored by all this, but... she had to finish these worthless, weak, foolish fuckers. Their bones were worth a pretty silver and there were hundreds of them, all unarmed, just relying on their basic high strength and instinctive response-ability. They were all (Red) ranked creatures, so they were definitely easy prey for her. Just that their numbers were great, so she wasn''t having a hard time dealing with them. She had Clover, the adorable kitten who was ying with a ck crow at the far back of this fight, who can restore her lost stamina and concentration. She was necessary for her here. The long fights were always a hassle. And the thought of something unexpected happening or something weird appearing was high during any battle, so she was prepared for that. She used a minimum of movements to conserve her stamina. She wanted to save her Mana too, so she wasn''t using any skills or spells, just the basic movements of swinging her scythe that destroyed close to ten skeletons with every swing. The skeletons were also just gathering around her, not giving her any time to rest. Not that she was in a disadvantageous position... she could very well finish all this with a single big blow and it will be alright. But she was worried about just what cane after this group. The possibility of an entire army, a death knight, or a lich couldn''t be ignored. There was also the evil spirit, so she just wanted to be in the best condition before reaching that ce. So... fighting in this wide ce, handling the hundreds of strong undead by herself, her eyes full of longing and boredom, she asked the invisible butterfly that was always with her on her neck. "Hmmm... what is my dear darling doing Celes?" She was worried. She was worried about her ''friend''. If she was facing this much difficulty, what would he, the one thrown to the lowest level of this now uncertain ce, would be facing? Maybe... he was fighting opponents far more difficult than these easy skeletons. She knew if he were to be here, he would have finished them within moments with his countless strong light arrows. But he was away, in some deep darkness, probably fighting opponents or armies of far stronger creatures than these weak bunches. She wanted to know about his current situation without disturbing him, that''s why she asked Celes about his current state and didn''t just demand to talk with him personally. But... the answer she got from the forever cheerful butterfly wasn''t something she was expecting. [[ We found some fluffy furballs. They were cute~ so we wanted to y with them but then they just made him fall to the ground and climbed on top of him! Bad furballs! ]] She stopped for a moment as she heard that and suddenly created a barrier around her body. Her face was covered with grave fear, her heartbeat rising with each passing second, and the confusion in her eyes was clearly visible. "W-what do you mean by f-furballs?" She was agitated by the unexpected anger in this forever cheerful butterfly. She thought something concerning had happened to him and didn''t even think that she was in her usual lively mood. Celes was rarely upset by something and most of the things that could make her upset were focused on her master. So, whatever the case, she must be worried about the thing happening to her master. The fact that some ''fluffy furballs'' climbed him was especially concerning for her. No one was allowed to climb him before her, so they were also prohibited, even though the smart butterfly found them cute. [[ Do not worry, big sis. They were just... ying? They are little children and their mommy is angry with them now. She is scary to them, they just fell silent at her angry shout~! You don''t have to worry about him, so do not worry~! I am here so nothing could happen to him~! ]] Well, she was reliable and now at she had exined some things in a bit more detail, the ''young'' girl was relieved for a bit. The matter that someone climbed him was something concerning, but if they were just some little furballs... "What are these furballs? Some kind of cute beast?" She asked as she released the barrier and the skeletons started their onught once again. But she was ready and started the ughter of the helpless, mindless creatures once again. [[ They are some fluffy furballs~. They have a cute appearance but freeeeeeeeky looking teeth. They are colorful and the master called them povpoi. There are thirty-three here and one bit bigger one is probably their mother or caretaker! They all seem to respect her but she is as scary asdy Nolen~. Hehehe. Master wants to take them home, so I think he will now just take them with us. There isn''t much happening, but be careful. You are the one in the middle of a fight right now. Take care~! ]] "That bastard..." Now she knew the identity of these fluffy furballs. And the fact that there were thirty in his path as well as he was trying to tame them was an even more surprising thing. She knew about the great magical beasts, and she also knew they could use magic. And there were children who just stayed true to their instincts most of the time, so it was just more amazing how he would deal with them. Their magic was a real deal, and she knew they were dangerous creatures from the fact that some adventurers just fainted from looking at their dangerous, fatal appearance. They were infamous for their ferocious look when they showed their teeth that could even chew steel like it is nothing, fear unwantedly surged from deep within their soul. They were pretty cute when they were calm, but they were still strong creatures. Mages used them as familiars, ves, pets, research materials, and test subjects in the magic tower, so they also prohibited the harm of these creatures throughout the continent. They were rare creatures and still that bastard of darling got more than thirty of them to his own... it was really a loss to her house, but she couldn''t do anything here, anyway. She knew from the things she had heard from her dear old crow that¡­ he held a great natural presence and affinity, as well asbined with his mix of six natural elemental affinities, he was like an energy beast of higher rank itself. From her perspective, she wouldn''t be surprised if some weaker creature with high intelligence mistakes him for some divine beast in humanoid form. Well, he was amazing already, and now that he was going to get some new children and apparently a mom (?) too, he would definitely raise them at his house with the other children, right? Maybe she will get to make friends with these cute little furballs, too? A smile was spreading out on her face just from thinking about how it would be to y with some fluffy balls of fur. She had seen and killed some of these creatures, so she was already familiar with them. They were cute until they were calm, but when these same creatures goes out of control, they were far more dangerous than they were useful... She knew just how dangerous a crazy povpoi would be, so she wasn''t obsessed over them, but she sure wasn''t worried either. She knew the abilities of her darling friend that even her old crow had bowed before. If it was him, she was sure that he could make those naughty little children into obedient kids, just like this mother figure she talked about. Anyway, it meant he was doing something important that required time more than anything. He was actually more than strong enough to defeat those fluffy furballs, but he will talk with them. So... he was dying his advancement by trying to have sweet small talk with an adult mother and many children. It was a good chance for her to widen the distance between them so... She got serious and started using ''dangerous'' (tier-1) darkness attribute spells like (Dark thorns), (Dark spears), and (Dark cut) with her scythe. -Ktktktktktktktkt! The skull heads with a blue light in their eye sockets made a weird sound with their teeth and started rushing toward her without any care in the world. Now, there was a smile on her face as she thought about how he would look under her- under those cute creatures. She was also somewhat worried that Anna would be scared of their sharp and dangerous teeth, but she knew Anna... so she knew she would be alright. A real adult tiger was a meek kitten before her, a giant turtle bing a warm grandpa. What can some ferocious-looking teeth of some pure and cute furballs do to her? "Good luck, darling..." She sighed with a smile on her face, and as the light on the de of her scythe started bing even dimmer, she increased her speed and vanished from our normal eyes. Chapter 373 Mave... [< "I''m just a normal human. Not some divine beast." >] I chuckled at the way the mother golden furball talked. She was definitely cute~. [< No! How can that be!? A great being like that majestic butterfly could only serve a noble being of nature! You also have the legendary blessing from all six elements! That natural aura is not something a ''normal'' human could possess at the very least! >] She was shouting with great confidence in her voice as if she had great knowledge about beings with all six elemental affinities. She was firm with her words. I can also understand that from her point of view¡­ I could only be a great presence like divine beasts to hold this much affinity with nature. Well, I couldn''t do anything about this one aside from doing my best to convince her. But before that... [< "Can I have your name?" >] [< Ohhh! I apologize once again! My mother graced me with the name Mave, but I would be honored to be called anything by you! >] [< "Hmm. Mave... it''s actually a beautiful name. Your mom must love you to give you such a beautiful name." >] She blinked with her big blue eyes, which were genuinely surprised by this sudden admiration of her mother. Her eyes were almost teary as they unknowingly started living some past memories once again. Even some children had sad looks in their eyes, but they didn''t dare go against the order of their mother and kept silent. [< "Why are you all here? Your kind shouldn''t be in a small ce like this. You are creatures of nature, blessed with the power to use magic and learn new things. But this... even I can''t bear to look at you all y in this small ce." >] And on this question, pure loathing, fear, and hope shed in her eyes. The children had genuinely confused expressions at this question. But their eyes definitely contained fear from something... or actually someone. [< Oh great being- >] [< "Please call me Axion or Eon or something like that. That is the name my great-parents bestowed on me. And this little one here is Celestine. She also says all of you are cute~." >] The sudden stern voice startled her, but the cheerful tone at the end reassured her that I wasn''t actually angry. [< "O-ok. Master Eon... From the way you asked that question, it is clear that you have great knowledge about our lowly kind. It is as you say... we are creatures of vast nature and this isn''t some ce we all should be. The children do not even know what the outside world actually is, so they will definitely not understand what we mean. They are children born here and my only remaining family after that incident. It is a painful memory... and before I tell you that... I beg of you. Please... kill the owner of this tomb and avenge the people of my family and my mother who gave her life just to protect these young ones. >] ''The mes of revenge...'' I was very familiar with these mes. I used to have fiercer and deadlier than hers. She purely loathed the owner of this tomb. Of course, it meant she loathed the evil spirit residing in the center of this ce. She knew she wasn''t strong enough to defeat that being, and these fluffy furballs were good ''emergency food'' or ''cute test subjects'' or something like that. I will know when I hear her story, but I know one thing for sure... [< "You do not have to worry about that. I came here with my special someone and she is currently ughtering some brainless weak skeletons. The master of this ce, that bastard evil spirit, dared to hurt her grandmother so she will make sure that creature dies as painfully as possible. Its death was decided from the moment it used that curse on her grandma, or maybe when we met... anyway, I will make sure she is fine and the creature is dead. So... don''t worry and rest assured." >] I smiled warmly and petted the fluffy furball and yes... she actually was soft and fluffy. The golden furball blushed at this sudden, warm, and gentle touch. It definitely was a cute thing, seeing this cute sight. For me and Celes, as well as all the children who hadn''t taken away their gazes from me even once in this whole time. [< A-ahem! T-thank you for your generous grace! I will be forever indebted to you!! >] Resting my head on my hand, I looked at her with a smile, as well as the children who were seeing this kind of behavior from their mama for the first time. But... as creatures with intelligence, they had the basic instinctive knowledge about emotions and general things. They were definitely young in their age, so I knew just what kind of innocent thoughts would be popping up in their minds. But this big golden furball, Mave, was an adult and knew how to handle sudden emotions, unlike my dear friend. [< "I''m really a human at the very least, ok? Maybe a special human, but I''m a human. My master was a special being, though. You will understand when you meet her daughter and my darling little sister~." >] I knew she was hearing me quite well and as I knew... as soon as she heard my unexpected words, her cute big eyes widened and she looked at me with a surprised expression. [< W-what do you mean... when we meet her?! >] [< "You surely want to go out of this ce after that evil creature is gone, right? You see... this ind would be dangerous and there isn''t much to see here. I know you all live around flowers and good ces with the presence of nature. So... why don''t you alle with me to my house? We have a big ce and my sisters and family would be very pleased to have great new friends like you all~. I assure you, that ce is far better than this dark, deste, empty ce. Though there won''t be many big rocks and natural minerals for you immediately, I know mom will willingly arrange it. She would be pleased to have such marvelous creatures as new members of our family~." >] They all heard my words, and though Mave was shocked, the children suddenly had a festive atmosphere among them. They even ignored Mave''s warning and started their chirping once again. And this time, with even more cheerful voices. [< Outside...! The big world with a beautiful sky! The ce from mama''s stories! >] [< The intruder- no, brother Axion will take us all outside~! >] [< We will go to a new ce~! Yei~~! >] [< W-wait... does that mean we will go away from h-home? >] [< Didn''t master Axion say he will take us to his house, which is under the beautiful, ever-changing sky? We will go to his house~! >] [< Yes! His house! And flowers~! We will see many new fresh flowers~! >] [< Hehehe. And we will see new people~! Master Axion''s family~. Will they have the same special scent as him~? >] [< Yei~!!! >] [< W-we won''t have to feel that scary thing again, right? I will be very happy if we don''t have to suffer from that dangerous thing... >] [< Don''t worry~! Don''t you see brother Axion~? He is definitely strong~. >] [< Yei~! He will defeat that bad thing~! >] [< He also said his special someone is here and fighting those scarrrrrrry looking skulls! She must be veeeerrrryyy strong too~! >] [< Yeah! His special someone! Does that mean mama can''t have him? >] [< Aw... I wanted master Axion to be papa~! >] [< Me too! Papa Axion~! >] [< Shut up. If I hear a single more word from you all... >] [< Yes~. Master Axion can have two special people, right- >] [< Oyyyy! Shhhh! >] She was angry at them once again. And this time, even her eyes were red from the stuff that these children unknowingly spoke. It meant too much when thinking about it, and she understood it. She thought I can''t tolerate such insolent things and would be angry and punish them for their grave sins. She spoke up before their words got out of hand and while watching all this, instead of anger, there was a bright smile on my face. They were cute creatures, and they were children, so their words didn''t mean anything to me. And even if they knew what they were talking about, these cute fluffy furballs were just small beasts at the end of the day. But Mave was now serious. I can feel the great sense of danger in her eyes and she was still considering me as some kind of great being that can crush them any time I wanted. Well, it wasn''t false... but I would rather take them home and give them to Anna. She will be happy to have cute little friends like them. [< You... will take us to your home? >] [< "Yes~. But I''m definitely not forcing you all. There are many dangerous creatures in this forest and outside the world, just like this tomb. Instead of being under the threat of such disgusting creatures,e with me~. You won''t regret this decision~." >] [< How can we?!! How can we dare regret such grand generosity?! It will be the greatest honor of our entire family to serve a great being like you! >] I shook my head at her continuous, respectful words. Well, she will understand with time, so there''s nothing to worry about for now. But she agreed. And that was a good thing. She definitely is special... [< "Then it''s settled~. You all wille with me~. But before that... please tell me what happened to you and the rest of the family. What happened to their parents and how did you end up being their sole mother? And what type of person was this grandma they talked about to have a simr scent to me?" >] It was a genuine question. And she knew she will have to now tell the story she had buried deep in her heart. She turned around and looked at her children who were once again confused by what I just asked... for them, Mave was the one and only mom they all ever had. Even these children didn''t know what had actually happened to their former home and family. These children were smart, so they at least understood they will now know what they hadn''t. And the look in her eyes confirmed their thoughts. [< Children... I may not have given birth to you all, but I have been the one to hatch you all in this once totally dark, deste ce. I love you all and I have always loved you like my own children. I am responsible for everything you do and maybe, after hearing this, if you want to think I''m not your mama... it can''t be helped- >] [< Nooooo! Mama is a mama! >] [< Don''t say that! >] [< Mamaaaaaa! >] [< "Yeah, Mave. Don''t say that. A mother is someone that takes care of their children. One that takes care of their children with all her heart and does everything required for the safety of their children. A mother is someone that loves, adores, and protects, and maybe someone who restricts her children from doing dangerous things. That is a mother... Giving birth to a new life is a special event, but a mother only bes a mom in true meaning when she devotes her life to the well-being of her child. I also have a mom, and I know she is best in this whole wide nature, at least for me... And these smart children know just how much you have done for them, so don''t be discouraged. You are their mama. And always be... even if they don''t want to." >] [< Yes! Brother Axion is right!! >] [< Mama is the best for us as well! >] [< Mamaaaaaa! Mamaaaaaa! >] Her eyes became teary once again, and the children embraced her. Some even started crying. She watched all this and embraced them with her bigger body, remembering the fact that she was their mother. She was... and nothing could deny it. She calmed down, took her time to finish her small conversation with her children, and then looked at me... [< Thanks... for everything. >] [< "No... don''t say that. I did nothing with pure intentions. Every word I said might be true, but the reason I want you all is my pure greed. So don''t thank me." >] [< You say that but your eyes say something else... well, alright. As long as my family is safe, I don''t need anything more. >] I gave her a warm smile, and she nodded with her own simr smile... Well, the sight of her sharp raw teeth seemed more like a warning than anything, but I understood her emotions. She was an actual adult. Maybe mom and the gang will like her at their party. Anyway... she started her story. And as I heard these things, I could think of some things that might have led to these things. And Mave''s mother and their grandma... it would have been great if she were alive. She wasn''t just some special creature. She was definitely special but it was more than that and... more than anything... Adding a wise one to our family would have been... nice, right? Chapter 374 Maves Story [< Long time ago, in our vige situated in the middle of this dense forest, all the families of these children and my own family of five, my brothers'' sister and mom, lived with every day being a new kind of festive atmosphere. My dear mother, the eldest and wisest one among us was someone respected by not only every one of us but also other intelligent creatures of the forest. She... was a wise one. And also a being blessed by all six attributes. She was a powerful being that was able to use high earth magic to create beautiful gardens or create food for vigers. She could use strong winds to drynds or even trim, big grass. She could use the power of mes to destroy the forces threatening our family or use water magic to ease the periodic cruel heat. She could create light to help others during dark days or create special images with the natural darkness of the world. She was an amazing creature. Her body was just like a cloud, pure white, while some part at the end of her fur was colorful. She was blessed by all elements with stable power, even though she wasn''t a child of nature like yourpanion. She was wise in true meaning, but... at the end of the day... she was bound by her race and couldn''t ovee her limitations. But she was always a stubborn person and that attitude at least granted her enough strength to rule the entire central part of this ind. Haaa... Our lives were peaceful, the whole ind had peace in a way, but then... that wretched day came... Twenty years ago... the ancient evil spirit that had been slumbering deep beneath this ind woke up because of some fuck-, some intruders. And as soon as it woke up, it was filled with rage. I had seen it with my own eyes and... it was just a swirling mass of impure dark energy. As soon as it woke up, it finished off the intruders, flew out of its tomb, this very ce, and spread devastation throughout this ind. Everywhere it flew, it left destruction in its wake. Trees were uprooted, giant boulders were shattered, and creatures of all kinds were just sted away by its powerful magic power. It mostly either killed or captured the beings of the ind and eventually reached our home... It was a small ce, but far bigger than this one. There were also countless flowers around our home, but when that bastard reached us, all the green withered away and the once colorful home that we all loved became ck and white... The enemy... was a master of dark magic. It smelled the worst thing I had ever encountered in my whole life. And when this filthy bastard reached our home, it just mindlessly started its massacre... I was still a child, and these kids weren''t even hatched at that time. Being the youngest and a special one that even my mom recognized, they all did their best to protect me but, in the end, just before my eyes... ... But mother stood against that creature. She tried her best to make him calm down and regain his senses. She tried her best, thinking she could save everyone. She used grand spells that even that creature couldn''t fathom and weakened the spirit and¡­ it actually regained its senses. But by that time, most of my beloved family was destroyed... and mom was critically injured. She saved countless beings from the blind ughter of that bastard, but... That mother-faking son of a bitch!! He just killed the remaining adults, my big brothers, and sisters, and was about to destroy the eggs! That good-for-nothing worthless cowered! But thankfully¡­ it found me interesting, bought me and the eggs in this ursed ce, and just threw us here, never even actually showing its face again... >] Tears unwantedly slid down her clear eyes, and her golden fur, and touched the ground. And the ce where this teardrop touched the ground, a new beautiful flower instantly grew up. A beautiful blue glowing flower grew so beautifully that even I was astonished by this. And the flower wasn''t alone. Some des of fresh grass also apanied it. This was the effect of her high affinity with high earth attributes and her special skill [Nature''s power]. Her power wasparable to a [Florist]. Though not at that level, I think she can at least rejuvenate a small piece of destend if she can make this beautiful garden in a deep cave with almost no water or futile soil like this one. But her tears were sad. Something I did not like. So... I just picked her up, even though she was super heavy, almost like a block of pure metal, it was manageable. Caressing her fluffy golden fur, I tried to calm down this now surprised fluffy furball. "You are strong, Mave... very strong, if I say so. I don''t know many who would love their family like you do and protect them with such great devotion. You couldn''t do anything when that bastard killed your family. But it wasn''t your fault. You were young and naturally couldn''t do anything. Yes, you were weak at that time. But now things are different, right? Now... you have a big family to look after. You gained strength to better protect this family you so dearly cherish, right? So don''t worry... you are free now~. We will defeat that bastard with whatever means needed. You won''t have to live in this deste ce from now on. You can again live in a big ce that you deserve. You''re a great mother... and I know my own mom and aunts will like you a lot~." I was smiling brightly, and she had calmed down, so she too gave me a thankful smile. But the children who had seen her cry a moment ago were silently crying on their own. Their tears were also sad and not just me, but she also didn''t like these innocent tears. She jumped down from my hug and once again embraced them. [[ *They look adorable...* ]] ''It''s the moments like these that I feel grateful for my memory...'' I can show this scene to Rein and I know she will just love it~. ''Oh... right.'' [[ "Celes, what''s she doing now?" ]] [[ ...Oh. Yes, master. Sorry, I was absorbed in their cuteness. Sister Elle finished the skeletons a while ago and now she is on her way to the undead hounds. She should be able to finish them off far quicker than the skeletons. ]] [[ "Which means we have to move too. Did you see what''s ahead of us?" ]] [[ Hmm~. They are big monsters with long noses and green skin. There are also some big wooden bats in their hands. There''s a simr but bigger creature with gray skin which has great magic power and a wand-like thing. ]] [[ "Most probably trolls. Alright, thanks Celes~." ]] [[ Hehe. Yesss~. ]] So, I will have to face some difficult creatures now. Just that mage would be a problem, but overall, everything should be alright. Well, their cuteness overwhelms my tension... "Haaa..." I sighed with a smile as the furballs finished their special moment. Mave calmed the kids, talked with them for a while, and then returned her attention to me. I looked at every one of them with a warm gaze and they smiled with... their mouth closed so they looked cute. [< "Let''s go..." >] I smile, and the children nodded with a smile, but Mave had a confused expression on her face. [< But how will you fight the opponents ahead with us there? Won''t we all just be a hindrance more than anything? >] [< "Hmmm, yes. Why don''t you stay in my storage space until I reach home then? I will call Mave out during the spirit raid and you can watch from the side with our families." >] [< Storage... space? Do you mean something like personal storage skills? But... how can we live in a closed space for such a long time? >] ''She didn''t even question if living creatures can even stay in my storage space. She actually trusts me that much...'' The smile on my face deepened, and I shook my head at this cute, worried person. [< "My storage space is special. Instead of exining, why don''t you experience it yourself first?" >] I extended my hand and, though confused; she walked forward and her head touched my fingers. ''White crack.'' The familiar white crack that only I could see opened behind her and her body vanished inside the endless space in that ce. She vanished without any precursor of anything which shocked the children. They were creatures that could feel Mana, but¡­ they didn''t sense anything. The natural aura she possessed also must have vanished with her, so this was even more catastrophic for them. [< Mama? >] [< Mama!? Where did she go?! >] [< M-mama!!! >] They were confused, and some even got afraid that something had happened to their mama. I didn''t want to see them crying again, so I just called the white crack back and took her out of that space. And she soon as she came back, her eyes still open and looking in the direction they were looking at before she vanished, she heard the sudden cries of her children. [< W-what happened? W-why are you all suddenly crying? >] ''She must be confused...'' In the white crack, the truth called [Time] actually didn''t exist. I don''t know just how that was possible. It actually shouldn''t be possible. Maybe the time there was just too slow it seemed to be stopped, but when I put alive creatures inside it, time practically stops for them and when theye back, they would be in exactly the same position as they were before going in. The same thing happened to her... For her, it was just a moment as short as a blink, but for these children, it was some solid seconds. [< Mamaaaaa! Mama vanished for a while! >] [< Mama actually disappeared! We couldn''t even sense mama''s energy! >] She was confused by their sudden hugs and looked at me. I sighed with a smile and shook my head as I looked at her. [< "Special, right?" >] She was confused, but she just shook her head... there was only a head, yes, but whatever... With a new smile after calming her children, she nodded at me with eyes full of absolute trust... [< We will be in your care. >] [< "I know you will be happy~." >] *** "When will big brothere back...?" "Soon. They went on a short trip, so they should be back in a day or two. Don''t worry~. I know they will be alright~." "Hmm... he will be alright, right?" "Definitely~. You know Celes and big sister Elle are with him, right? They aren''t doing anything dangerous, anyway." "You know where they went?" "No, cute one. I know because I know. I can feel him, you know." "Even if he is far away?" "Even if he is far away in the sky~." "Wow~! Sister Zoe is amazing~!" "Huhuhu. I''m not that amazing~. My Anna is the most amazing~!" "Hehehe~." Two gorgeous young girls, sitting in a small pink room filled with beautiful dolls, were dressing up a small cat... or more urately, a miniaturized tiger. The tiger was unwilling. The older girl knew what this little one was doing would be madness in normal circumstances, but even the cat herself couldn''t yield to the charms of the little girl. The tiger had an unwilling expression, but she was just helplessly wearing the specially made dress of the young girl. Well, they had a cheerful expressions, and the tiger wasn''t particrly offended despite this grave act. She had be ustomed to things like these over time, anyway. She wanted to go spend some time with her hubby, but, well, ying with these cute girls was also fun. So... a normal afternoon was going on in this house, with everyone doing their own work. But the two people these girls were worried about... were going to face an opponent that would be ''a bit'' outside of their predictions, which would force them to show something more than they might have thought... Chapter 375 Fall Of Trolls A young boy, standing some distance away from a group of big and strong-looking ugly creatures, was thinking to himself in this dark cave¡­ ''Twenty (Orange) rank male trolls and one (Yellow) rank troll mage. From the structure and magic power, the staff in his hand is an artifact wand of around (level-9). Maybe it can easily cast (tier-3) spells and up to (tier-5) ones on asion, too. Have to be careful...'' He observed the quietly wandering normal tolls, some of the mostmon humanoid creatures with low intelligence that, though living in groups, don''t possess much intelligence and hunt humans. Well, they had low intelligence but some of them did asionally born with considerable intelligence and a special ability to use magic. Humans who first have to understand the magic form, process it in mind, finish the spell, and consume concentration as well as Mana in the Mana nucleus, and then the spell is cast, must have to go through a series of steps to cast magic of the element that has a particrly high affinity with. Different from them, a beast only has to know what magic they want to cast, their natural limitations, and sufficient intelligence. A beast''s body, which fundamentally is mostly made of natural energies like Mana, Aether, or maybe even Solnova, can naturally use the Mana in the atmosphere with their body that can process Mana naturally. If they just know what kind of magic they want to use, the basic structure of magic, and have a solid will to use this magic, the spell is manifested easily. They don''t needplex mathematical calctions, or more like their minds do it on their own. The beasts skip many steps and cast spells far more easily than humans, elves, and dwarfs with high intelligence. Comparatively, humans don''t have as high nature and Mana affinity as elves. They also don''t have gifted bodies and minds like dwarves to createplex magical structures. But they had the highest potential and desire for survival, greed, and hunger. And those special qualities made them the most prominent species of today''s time. They learned the magic of other creatures, even improved it to fit themselves, and took the normal magical studies to levels never seen before by these creatures. They even learned the technology and techniques of the dwarves and pioneered a new field called magic engineering. But humans that could stand on the same level as these superior species were low. Maybe even minuscule in numbers. But there definitely were humans that were able to ovee the limitations of their species or were naturally more gifted by nature than these superior species. Or... some of them were anomalies in this perfect nature. Just like this pretty boy. His opponents this time were strong creatures with the ability to heal wounds, had strong physiques, and one of them even had the ability to cast high-level magic that even the boy couldn''t cast causally. He was going to fight against these creatures, knowing full well that they could kill him, even with his strengths. But he was calm even when facing these dumb, dangerous creatures. His ruby red eyes glowed in the dark cave as he looked at the big open area covered with torches and the twenty-one trolls patrolling in this ce. On one side of this open area, there were dead creatures piled up like food storage and some tent-like houses. He knew they were the ces where their family rested, but he had no hesitation or actually any emotions on his face. His eyes were calm, his face straight, and the coldness of his expressions was so great it seemed like an experienced, bloodless hunter conquering his normal prey. He surveyed the area, thought of the things he would do from that point on, and took out a brown magic bow with red patterns on it and his partner arrow Asta. -Heeeeeee~. -Zaaaaaaa! Both of them were ego weapons and Asta was naturally happy to be of any help at any time. But the other weapon, his fifth favorite bow, Seb, was angry about being out after a long time. He was like an adult man with a spirit that only lit up when he was working. A being that liked doing something, but at the same time, a being that was so strong that its strength wasn''t needed in most cases. But right now, he was needed. So after a while of anger, it calmed down and Axion sighed at this difficult bow. Asta was almostughing at this old person, but thankfully they understood that this wasn''t the time for ideal chit-chat. "Asta, execute Act 12, paragraph 1. And be ready to execute Act 1 on mymand." -Heeeeeeee~. The smart Asta understood it and gave a positive answer. He had already checked, and from the looks of it, there was no way to ''easily'' defeat the mage in a frontal battle. He had to lower his natural defenses, weaken his sharp thinking, and make his 60 points in intelligence meaningless. Only then he would be able to win against this mage that was a special one with the skill, [Continuous casting]. The outer body of the trolls was tough. And their physical resistance was naturally high. They also had the ability to regenerate, and a heightened nose that can smell any intruder in their range. He wasn''t worried about getting detected by them. He was going to snipe them from around six hundred meters, after all. The mage would be thest target, and he would deal with it from close range. The troll had a strong affinity with fire and wind, so it was natural that its continuous ranged attacks would be difficult to deal with. The not-that-close range would be even better, but he had the advantage in close range. A smile appeared on his pretty face and he moved back using his [Quick steps]. Taking a deep breath, he pulled back the bowstring of his strong small bow, channeled some Mana, which enlightened the red patterns on the bow, and looked forward to where the trolls were patrolling. -Ooooooooong. A brown arrow with a red tip materialized on the bowstring. His eyes adjusted ording to the opponents and... "Sorry... and thanks." -Swiiiiiiiiish! *** In the open ground lit by torches on all sides, some humanoid creatures roamed with strong-looking weapons in their hands. Giant monsters with green bodies, their strength easily estimable by their strong hard muscles, the giant wooden bats, hammers, and swords in their hands. They had long noses and broad pointed ears and only their lower bodies were covered with a dirty cloth. They had a pair of long teething out of the sides of their mouth and the yellow, sharp teeth of these creatures looked ferocious. There was a bigger creature with simr physical features at the very back of this open area. But his body was gray instead of green and the wand in his hand was surrounded by a visible cloud of Mana, indicating the high Mana gathering ability of the wand. His eyes were glowing golden in those narrow sockets as he stood before a cave-like ce. He guarded the door to the next part of this tomb and looked after the other trolls as well as protected the tents on the other side with a wind barrier. It was a normal day for them and he was looking around the same open area when... a weird sound, never heard before, reached his ears. Their hearing wasn''t as good as their nose, but it wasn''t as bad as their eyes either. "Khuuu¡­!" So they heard the sound of something quickly moving through the air, and his eyes sharpened. But¡­ before he could make any move, a new sound of something popping as well as the smell of the blood of his family member entered his harp nose. He was smart enough to figure out what must have happened, so he immediately started channeling Mana through his wand but, just then, he heard another sound of something moving through the air. -Swish. He was ready this time, but even before he could cast any spell to block the thinging toward him, he felt something colliding with the ground beside him! And as soon as that happened¡­ he felt all his power, all his Mana draining out of him! "Khuuuu¡­? Khu, khuuuu!" This drain was severe. Something That happened in mere moments and his power was almostpletely lost. "Khu, khaaaaaa!!" Confused and frightened, he hurriedly used [Detection], a skill that enhanced his eyesight, and requested only a small amount of Mana. The drop of Mana wasn''t much of a problem for him. He wasn''t a human mage that would die if all the Mana were sucked out of him. He could move the Mana in the atmosphere that was restored bit by bit every other moment. So, even against the quick drain of the unknown object that he could neither see nor feel on the ground, he managed to activate his skill. And... as soon as he was able to see properly, the view before his eyes... devastated him. "¡­" There were bodies of his family members on the ground... but there were no heads on these bodies. They only had their bodies remaining, and those bodies were on the ground. Blood had painted the whole ground in dark green¡­ More than ten bodies were already on the ground. And it hadn''t even been a minute since he had heard the first weird sound and lost his Mana. He could barely gather any Mana to maintain his skill, but the chaotic atmosphere among the other trolls was even worse than his own. They were confused, the normal order they followed every day was already lost, and they were screaming with fear at how the brethren who had suddenly lost their heads and their bodies now coldlyy on the ground¡­ "Khuuuuuu¡­!" He could hear their screams, and he could see them too, but¡­ with each passing second, more of them were falling to the ground because of some weird arrows that easily pierced through their hard skin and skulls. And these nasty arrows not only pierced through them but¡­ they also exploded! The arrows that had struck their heads could easily be removed and the damage could have been regenerated, but when the head itself gets destroyed¡­ their deaths be the painful truth. They knew this and that was also the reason many of them wore helmets made of hard skulls on their heads, but these weird arrows even ignored the helmets and popped the heads of his family. "Khuuu!!!" Time passed, the screams of the creatures became louder, the chaos deepened and the mage tried its best to do something¡­ something¡­ He tried using magic, but the unknown thing was sucking out the Mana as soon as it gathered. He could sense the Mana flux, but he couldn''t exactly pinpoint the location of this weird thing. So, after his quick judgments, he gave up on magic and abandoned his position¡­ "KHUAAAAAA!" He could hear their screams, but from the looks of it¡­ they couldn''t hear his voice. The chaos and loud confusion were definitely not the reason for this thing. His voice andmand were the absolute sentences among them, after all. "Khuuuuu¡­" So, it was clear that whatever was blocking his Mana was also blocking his sound. He knew he had to do something if he wanted to save his family. He knew he had to do something now¡­ So he moved from his position and started walking toward his children... only to be stopped by another weird barrier that blocked his way. He hadn''t seen this barrier in the time he was focused on his family but now that he saw it, there was an earth-brown barrier blocking his way and there seemed no way to pass this barrier other than to just shatter it to pieces!! So... he started his struggles and mmed his strong hand as well as his magic wand on this barrier. "Khu, khu, khuuuuuu!" He tried, and tried and... tried, as he watched his family fall to the ground without their precious, handsome heads. One by one... bodies fell, and blood rained from the sky¡­ covering the ground. The mming of a desperate elder troll filled the surroundings, and the fire on the torches lighting up the area flickered as even the shadows on the ground were painted by the thick, green blood¡­ The noise of the area was loud, and the wind barrier protecting the tents was lifted so¡­ the family, his wives, and little children walked also out with confused expressions. "Khuuuu! Khuaaaa!!" They were unknown to all the chaos happening in this ce, and the troll mage cried his lungs out to stop them froming out too. But they couldn''t even hear his soul-shaking voice. He watched hisst of elder children fall without his head and almost gave up¡­ thinking he had already lost everything. But, now, his remaining family, who weren''t even strong enough to lift the worrier''s weapons, were in a confused state as they couldn''t understand anything. The female trolls, the babies in their hands, the young children beside them... the image of the blood-filled floor entered their eyes. They were frightened as they watched theke of green blood as well as the bodies of their childrenying on the ground without their heads¡­ The image of the trapped father also entered their eyes... but maybe it was thest thing they saw. Their father, the brave mage that protected them from everything, was desperately mming a barrier, hitting it with his amazing magic wand and bloody hands, crying with his soul¡­ They knew he was desperate. They could see it, but... before any of them could do anything, their sharp noses picked up the scent of the intruder for the first time. And as soon as their eyes fell on the small person covered in a dark robe, and they saw the weird arrows on the bow in his hand... their visions started blurring. They lost their eyes, their thoughts, their will... as they lost their heads. "Khaaaaaaaa¡­!!!" One by one, the intruder shot his weird arrows at a speed that was far faster than how his elder children were killed. They had smelled the intruder, but he saw the dark-d appearance of the small intruder with his own eyes. He also saw his bow, and the glowing arrows, and the way those arrows vanished and reappeared, and how exactly in those intervals, his wives, young children... and even the newborns were obliterated¡­ His heart ached with each passing second. He cried, begged, did all he could... even mmed the barrier with all the strength he had... but all was futile. The small intruder killed, killed, and just killed every one of them. The two red eyes, glowing under that dark robe, were reminiscent of a demon to this troll mage. The deaths he saw, the lives he begged for, and the tears of blood he shed... nothing mattered now. His life, the life he gained from that bastard evil spirit, was now taken by this bastard small devil. The crying eyes that had lost everything, the mage that could only see the blood of his family on the ground, the father that had lost everything... he stopped mming the bloody barrier. He just stood there now, motionless, as if dead... He had lost everything, so there was no meaning to his life... giving it away wouldn''t even mean anything. Only thing, the onest thing that this alone father wanted, hisst wish... "WHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The death of the intruder. Death of this small, puny, fucking bastard that cold-bloodedly killed his family¡­ The troll was now enraged... he had gone berserk. And the intruder... had achieved his goal. Chapter 376 A Trolls End True berserk urs when a beast loses all sense of reason, let goes of its sanity, let goes their control over its powers, and just mindlessly runs wild and destroys everything or makes the reason for its berserk their target of obliteration. The boy had faced this kind of berserk once and almost lost his life to the berserk creature. He also met one of the most important persons in his life in this process but he definitely couldn''t defeat that truly berserk being. He couldn''t do that back then, but now he was different. He was stronger and had more equipment, strong weapons, and even some special powers. He was confident that he could win against a creature like that one, though after a bloody fight, he was sure he can. And if he could defeat that demonic beast, this pure one that had gone berserk and was one step lower than that one, was a definite easy target. ? Even more so after losing the sanity that made him the most difficult opponent just a moment ago. The troll mage that had seen the destruction of his family, the death of all his children and loved ones, only had onest thing remaining in his heart. A bloody revenge. He was quiet after the small intruder''s weird arrow pierced thest of his newborn. His silence, the micro sound of flowing blood that flooded the floor, the flickering of mes, the small winds flowing through the open area, and... the calm before a storm. The dangerous storm that started as soon as the brown shield covering his surroundings suddenly shattered into tiny particles of light. He walked out of the area without Mana, his head still looking down. The open area inside the cave only lit by the mes around the area was now only filled with one thing... -Thum. -Thum. -Chum. The giant troll walked out of the Mana-sucking barrier with his ground-shaking steps. Steps that just walked toward the intruder that was silently watching him walk toward him. His steps shook the ground. His big steps that fell on the blood of his children, creating a wave in the silent pool of clear green blood covering the surrounding, trembled ever so slightly that it was unnoticeable. But... the small intruder with a demon-like eye saw it clearly. He knew the ''thoughts'' of this creature that has fully gone insane after witnessing his family''s death. He knew he was to me for that but, right now, it wasn''t time to mourn over his decisions. -Sweeeeeeeee... The Mana in the surrounding, the Mana from the bodies of his fallen family, as well as the Mana from other parts of this cave, started gathering around this troll. The calm nature of Mana, which always stayed natural in all conditions, started bing chaotic as soon as it gathered around the berserk mage. The natural color of Mana that gathered around him started bing darker, darker... and darker, until it became as gray as his skin. A murky gray that looked unsightly, something that was very contrasting to the nature of the great Mana. But the boy, the small intruder, knew what this was. He could recognize the precursor of Mana storm just from that ugly gray color. He had expected this might happen, but the speed at which the Mana gathered around him was the unexpected factor. Mana gathered. Turned gray. The troll''s body also started emitting a weird ck fog. The ck fog was the result of the Mana circuits through his body bing flooded with extreme and unstable Mana. And this certain scenario leads to a rare phenomenon (Mana contamination). The nature of his stable, pure, noble, beastly Mana became chaotic and impure... The ck fog continued, and the gray cloud of Mana became thicker and thicker. The Troll''s strong gray body started losing hardness and became vulnerable because of the contamination. The small intruder just watched silently, his eyes still sharply observing the umon process. The red patterns on his brown magic bow were slowly turning brighter, a glow slowly filling the patterns from its root. This process was activation. Activation of the main power of this magic bow. This was naturally a special bow, and it had two major functions. First, creating a magic barrier that wouldn''t break until the impact limit exceeds a certain amount of damage. Second, the ability to ''prate''. The bow itself was called the bow of earth and strength and after a certain ''charging'', the bow gained the ability to almost prate anything. Even the hard scale of a [Drake] or any [Draconian] species. But the charging took time. So, he was waiting now that every piece was in ce. Target''s defenses were at their lowest right now. His [Damage return] ability was also unstable because of the Mana contamination. His continuous spell-casting was a problem, but he wasn''t sane anymore, so his uracy was practically at the bottom. The conditions were in his favor. And the storm of Mana was of no concern for him now. He could now defeat this creature with minimum damage... though the psychological damage will remain with him forever. ... The troll opened his eyes. His now red, blood-filled eyes. There were no emotions other than anger, rage, hatred, agony, and¡­ one wish. He looked at the small intruder, drops of bloody tears sliding down his sullen cheeks. He was empty now. The only thing in his being was the hate for the intruder, so... he started his attacks while still standing in the middle of this pool of blood made from his own children''s blood. The wand in his hand started glowing. The wand had the ability to gather Mana and make the spell casting faster. It was also a wand that increased the ability of wind-type spells. And the troll mage was also a wind and fire mage, so... spears made of dark wind, red fireballs of hateful mes, and arrows made of fire and windbined appeared all around its body. There were tens of spells, something normal mages couldn''t do. His continuous casting was also magnificent, even in an unstable state. But the magic itself... wasn''t strong enough. It was weak and unimpressive. One could tell that this wasn''t just because of impure Mana. The process of berserk itself made the mind weaker than it had been. The power of these (tier-3) spells fell, which was a naturally good thing for him. But the most important thing that he did all this for was... -Swuuuuung! -Swiiiiiish! -Spppppin! The fireballs, arrows, and spears shot in all directions of the cave. Some struck the strong walls of the cave, some destroyed the houses he had built with his children, and some even destroyed his food storage. Only a few were aimed at him and despite the spells being giant, they were far easy to dodgepared to an actual, sane mage''s attacks aimed for actually killing the target. This was the result of insanity. And the change wasplete. The pattern on his bow glowed pure red now. The attractive glow in a dimly lit cave gave it even more coolness. But that was it. The intruder moved from his position using [Quick steps] and moved back using [Shadow dive]. He pulled back his bowstring, materializing an arrow that looked just like a real solid red arrow. -Swuuuuung! -Swiiiiiish! -Spppppin! The fireballs, arrows, and spears continued without rest and the boy easily dodged the spells, secured a position, and shot his arrow... perfectly aimed at the head of the troll mage. The arrow he shot was a perfect materialized spell of earth and fire attribute, somewhat simr to the spells he used previously to kill the normal trolls. But, unlike those peak-level (tier-2) spells, this (tier-3) arrow was something superior to them. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! Like a wyvern flying through the air, cutting the air and everything in its path, this arrow also cut through the spells. Weak fireballs were dismissed, red arrows of fire enhanced by gray winds were broken down, and the spear tips that collided with the arrow tip were pierced as easily as a bullet piercing a sheet of paper. The arrow moved through the sharp and chaotic storm of Mana around the troll, collided with the dark murky gray storm that seemed like an imprable protective shield, and even pierced through it with simr ease. But... the mage perceived the arrow as a threat to his life, so he tried to block the arrow with his wand! The big wand, which had be as big as his size because of the size-changing skill attached to the old wand, was ced before his head. -Booooooooom! The arrow collided with the staff covered by a thick fog of dark and impure Mana. And... the little intruder clicked and shook his head. He had already anticipated this action from this insane being, so he had moved through the shadows and arrived just behind the troll mage. And as soon as the big collision with the arrow tore the Mana fog, collided with the wooden wand, and exploded... -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! He released another simr arrow; this time covered by a strong, sharp wind. The arrow moved without any sound this time. There was also no ''smell'' to this magic as the wind erased that characteristic. So, the arrow pierced the storm of Mana without resistance, and this time... it stuck the neck of the Mage troll. ... It was instinctive. He could sense something that just poked the back of his neck. He could guess what it might be from the sudden scent of the intruder that had somehow moved to his back. The scene of pandemonium where his family was ughtered by a single arrow that obliterated their heads was still there in his mind even though it had lost control. He knew instinctively that his time had alsoe. This was the first ever pain he felt after he lose against that damned evil spirit. He could feel the heat that was now moving from his neck to his spinal cord, through his nerves, and the muscles, to his skull, and his brain. It was a short time. A very short time since he lost control. He admitted... he was weak. Even after giving up on everything and gaining a momentary ultimate power... he was still weak agast the small demon that killed all his family. Every weak creature would yield before the strong at one point. He knew he was also weak against the true strength of nature. There were countless stronger creatures but, he was also strong. He was stronger than many alive beings on this ind. He was spared by the creature that devastated their home at one point because of this strength. And though he had to live in this dark, deste ce for the longest he could remember, he was still living with his family with whatever remaining happiness. But... his family was gone now. Every one of them. his home, this dark cave, was also on fire now. The bodies of his family were burning, the home they had built was burning, their food was burning... and the reason for all this, the devil that took away everything from him, was standing before his eyes as the storm of Mana disappeared. He met his eyes for the first time, though it was also hisst moment too. He saw the look in his eyes at that short moment. The look that was anything but like a devil''s. The eyes were red, glowing in the sea of fire he himself created. His eyes... those eyes of the devil that had done everything here. Those eyes... they contained insurmountable grief. Shame that definitely didn''t want to do the things he did. Eyes of a sinner that knew his sins. But... these eyes that contained so many emotions were devoid of guilt. He knew the things he had done wouldn''t be wrong from a hunter''s perspective. But he still felt sympathy for the creatures who had to live and die like this. He killed them, knowing full well that they were somewhat intelligent creatures, had families, and lived their own small, alone lives. But, in the end, he knew he had to do it if he wanted to go through the mage. And the dying mage, in hisst breaths, also knew he had to block anyone from going through this path. He would have done anything in his power to stop him, so the intruder did what he had to and just made the most ideal situation for his victory. But still, even after his win, he had a warm heart, a big vessel that could carry the known sins of his life. This wasn''t something the troll that momentarily gained his senses could ignore. This wasn''t what devils and demons would look like after the ''ughter'' that so much delighted them. These were the eyes of a noble creature, a being impressive enough to know the truths of good and bad in this world, and a person that deserved not hate and contempt but... respect. He didn''t live a single one alive, so now, he could actually reunite with his family in some different world. A better world where he neither has to worry about a bad fucking undead or any other ''good'' demon. He was thankful for this death. This painless, quick death. So... in hisst moments, the creature that had ruled over and guarded this middle part of the tomb smiled with his unique smile and said hisst words... [< Thank you... >] -Putch! And just after thatst hateful smile, his big gray head, his bleeding eyes, and bloody mouth... vanish as his head popped, just like his children''s and family. Chapter 377 Jealous Friend [[ "Move forward." ]] [[ "..." ]] [[ "Lift your ass and start moving you bastard!" ]] [[ "..." ]] [[ "Celes! Punch this fucker!" ]] [[ I... can''t? I wouldn''t do that even if I want to. ]] [[ "Ummm...!" ]] [[ "Calm down, pink panther. I''m alright..." ]] [[ "That you are!" ]] [[ "Haaa..." ]] She was angry. Naturally, she would be angry. She was fighting those undead dogs there, and I was just sitting here after destroying the trolls. I had already defeated all of them and I should move forward, but I was still here, sitting on this blood-soaked ground, thinking about the things that had just happened. I knew what I have to do here. I know my role in this ce and I also know just what things would happen after each of my decisions. I had already ovee the simple mindset of thinking during my life in the great forest. Or so I thought I did... ''It''s more like a curse as well as a blessing to understandnguages of creatures that no one even considers being anguage.'' That troll mage... he thanked me at hisst moment. He thanked the person who killed the other creatures close to him and himself and even understood the reason for me doing it. It was really fascinating to see how a normal creature that humans just hunted for their great, tough skin and byproducts could have such deep emotions and understanding. ? His intelligence stat was also just 60. ''A rare creature...'' Some monsters grow with their experience, and the stats couldn''t express this special mental growth. At the end of the day, stats were only ny percent of what a being actually was. A way to gauge the power and limitations that are ced on all the creatures of this nature. ''This time... he was an old creature.'' He must have experienced countless things in his life to have a big enough heart to thank the nemesis that destroyed his everything. ''Truly...'' I shook my head and took a deep breath. [[ "Stand up bastard! At least go check the bodies!" ]] [[ "Alright." ]] [[ "Stand up! Stand up! Stop thinking about that idiot!" ]] [[ "Yes, yes, ma''am." ]] [[ "What the fuck are you even thinking after just killing some weak beasts?!" ]] [[ Sister Elle... master already started cleanup. ]] [[ You bastard! What the fuck-... oh. Alright~! ]] ''She''s really cute.'' She knew I can understand thenguages of other energy beasts. She can ''read'' what they say when she sees them with her eyes, but it was actually different from purely understanding it like me. I actually knew what they say, feel the deep emotions of those words, and talk with them in theirnguage. She knew what it might be like to see the great turmoil happening. She knew what it was like to cause terror to tens of hundreds of beings and put them in great crisis. She knew how it felt to kill countless creatures, hearing their cries and begging to spare their lives, and what kind of anger the others watching their close ones being killed would feel. She somewhat understood their words and the heaviness of her doings. But still, she had obliterated countless creatures, and many times, it was only for fun or to relieve her anger. She had lived with her ability for decades, so she didn''t think much about the creatures that she didn''t consider worthwhile. But it hasn''t been that long since I gained the ability to understand and converse with different creatures. I had gone against countless powerful creatures in my time in the dark forest, but after my training with my master, there haven''t been many asions I was able to converse with different creatures in theirnguage. I didn''t feel bad for killing. I knew what it meant, and I understood it. ''Well, maybe killing is something I know too well...'' Some memories passed through my mind, and I shook my head once again. The reason I was so fascinated by thisst encounter was thest words of that troll mage. I did what I had to do, and I didn''t regret it. "Well... anyway." I checked all the bodies, starting from the normal big trolls. And sadly, there was nothing. Then I checked the corpse of the dead troll mage. He also didn''t have anything on him aside from the magic wand he used. This one was a good artifact. Something that many mages would lust after. Especially the wind mages. They would sell their house to get their hands on this special dungeon artifact. And it was still quite durable even after taking my spell head on so after some small repairs, it would be as good as new. ''At least this much is a gain.'' The fire on the walls of this open area was still bright while the fire on the other side, the fire that burned the house and damaged the clean bodies without heads was already dead. The bodies in the best condition were the most valuable and gave more money, but, well, I would be fine with whatever. The main reward was the entire boss'' room. All the things on the path were side dishes or bonuses. Rein hadn''t found anything until now, but she knew she will get some pretty good things from how things were going. She had yet to encounter any undead knight, mage, or lich. They were the creatures who gave an energy core with some of the highest probability. And a strong one would definitely carry some kind of artifact with them, so she was sure she would get some pretty good things in the time she easily cleared the ''things''. She was confident that she would get some artifacts and more energy cores despite her utterly unspeakable luck, so every new thing I found would be a plus in our littlepetition. The povpoi were now my responsibility, so maybe we shouldn''t count them, but I needed to get some good items if I wanted to get ahead of her and earn the ''coin'' that we agreed upon. So, I was checking... Every adult corpse, every small corpse, every area around the tent, as well as their food storage. And as I thought... [[ A skill stone~! ]] I didn''t even need to shout and tell her. Celes was happy to see me happy and couldn''t just stay silent anymore. She was a cute one that was happy if I was happy, so she was happy to see me finally smile. It was inside one of the white bat corpses. A good (Orange) rank skill from a top-ss predictor of (Orange) rank. It was a rare skill called [Echolocation]. And this skill... it wasn''t appropriate for me. In the first ce... [[ *Hmmm. Yes. It''s notpatible with you. And, you don''t need this one anyway.* ]] It was a rare skill of a rare creature but I had no use for it because of my existing skills. It could be a very useful skill because it can enable a person to use a special kind of echolocation that only a few creatures with light or darkness attributes could use. It was a good and famous skill despite its rarity. And I knew someone who could use this skill the best. [[ "S-skill stone?! The fuck?! What? How!!" ]] "Why''s her reaction sote?" [[ She was finishing off the dogs. She just finished, so the reaction camete. Hehehe. ]] [[ "Oye! Answer me, what skill is it?! [Regeneration]? some kind of strengthening skill? O-or a magic skill?!" ]] She sure was filled with fear and impatience. Well, finding a skill stone was already counted in thest total, so she couldn''t do anything about it now. ''I knew she would have finished the dogs in an instant with some magic after hearing that I found a skill stone.'' A smile appeared on my face as I thought about her cute, afraid face. I wanted to tease her, but she had finished, and I had to. I had to move now, so I started the cleanup as I talked with her. [[ "It''s not from trolls. I found it from one of the bodies in their food storage." ]] [[ "It''s not troll skill? Then...?" ]] [[ "It''s [Echolocation] from a white bat. I got lucky~." ]] [[ "Fucking bastard!" ]] [[ "Hehe. Hurry up if you want to catch up. Celes already surveyed this path. I will reach the trap area after two more opponents. They are solo, too." ]] [[ "What are they?" ]] ''She''s serious as soon as I said solo opponents. Damn protective girl. Haaa...'' [[ "A high golem which can use fire and a lizardman worrier of maybe around blue rank. They are just guesses. They might be weaker than I estimate." ]] [[ "Do you think I will fall for that? They must definitely be strong if you say it like that. Bastard... Meeting and ying with some furballs, fighting weak opponents at the start, and even getting a skill that you won''t even use. Hump... at least gift wrap it when you give it to her!" ]] [[ "You think that hot head will like a gift packing?" ]] [[ "Right... our red princesses." ]] [[ "Hmmm. Anyway... I got a skill stone and magic wand before you got anything~! Hahaha~!" ]] [[ "...fucker." ]] She was furious. I knew from how she said thatst thing in a low voice. And from how she didn''t say anything after that¡­ [[ She moved forward. ]] "Of course she did. Now she will just mindlessly destroy everything until she gets something." [[ Right... weird master and sister Elle. ]] My dear familiar was feeling weird while seeing the two of us. She was the link connecting the two of us, so she had an important role in this subjugation, but even in this dangerous ce and with the threat of a powerful opponent upon our head; we were ying around andpeting to see who gets more good things. My dear darlingpanion wanted to sigh but held herself back. Not that she could hide her emotions from me. ''Well... it''s fun.'' I smiled and entered the cave that the troll mage might have desperately protected if I did a normal attack. The area behind me only had a pool of blood, some remains of the once tall standing houses, and the torches flickering on the walls of the open area. This was the ce where a family once lived. The same ce where that family took theirst breaths, and the same ce where they made countless memories. I did have the question: ''what if this was my family?'' But, well, I already had the answer to that question for as long as I could remember. ''I wouldn''t let anyone have even a single thought... of harming my family. My loved ones. My everything.'' Even if I have to... Chapter 378 A Death Knight What is happiness? Well, the answerers to this ambiguous question can vary depending on the person, situation, nature, and life. One can answer it in respect of their whole life, or maybe a certain part of their life. Maybe a certain year, month, day, hour, or maybe a certain moment. One''s answer to this question can change depending on countless scenarios in their life. But there would definitely be an answer to this equivocal question. Maybe people would answer with many philosophical angles. Some may call the moment of their wish fulfillment as true happiness. For some, even getting food, maybe even some fresh water, would mean the greatest happiness. But right now, for one of the most beloved characters, our main female lead, the significant other half of our dear main character, Reinelle, happiness was the moment when she gets her hands on more valuable things than her dear, fucker bastard, darling. He got a skill stone andughed like he had won the world, and thatugh still rang in her ears. She also wanted tough like him, tease him, make fun of him, and maybe see his cute reaction if she can. Personal thought but, isn''t she cute? Not that anyone will answer, so let''s get to the main point. She was angry, so she moved faster without caring about saving her energy for the main raid. She ughtered the group of acid zombies, which numbered in hundreds, and moved to the next location. She already knew what things, what beings, and what fuckers woulde on the path she walked thanks to her cute friend, Celestine. She knew there were four more stops before she reached the trap zone, which was two times the hurdles her friend was going to face, so she was hurrying. Her opponents were weak, even more against the light attribute that her scythe received thanks to the special enchantments that he created. She was thankful to him but, her utter garbage luck... She maybe had ughtered ten times more beings than him after entering this ce, but she had obtained absolutely nothing aside from their dead bodies. It was a grave bad luck that went beyond the probability. In normal cases, she should have at the very least received an energy core from the undead she had killed, but there was nothing... some damned skeletons were so weak even their bones shattered and turned into powder after her attacks. She couldn''t believe how she was so damn unlucky and even still found such a great being like her darling... "Maybe it was his luck that found the poor, miserable, little me... damn. So, my bad luck was still the same?!" It was revealed now that they were separated in this damn tomb. She was reminded of her garbage luck... something she didn''t think much about. She had lived for a century already, something many creatures don''t even dream could be possible for them. But she had lived for this long, and still... she only truly started growing now after her childhood. She was in her second growth phase now, so she believed with her physical body, maybe, just maybe, her shitty luck will have some effect too. And by living in his presence, she was certain there would be some positive change. But... the poor her didn''t get a single point increase in her luck. Though her intelligence increased by three points, something really fascinating considering the short time they had been together, she sure hadn''t gained a single dust of luck. The poor girl didn''t know that the boy she was admiring had lost two pints of luck because of her but, she wouldn''t know this fact deeply buried in his heart. The young boy living his second life really loved her, so making her genuinely sad wasn''t something he wanted. Anyway... that was luck and she was born unlucky. She didn''t have any hope in her luck from the start, so she wanted to achieve things through her own efforts. She was sure she can do better and gain equal things or maybe, though presumptuous, she also believed that she can defeat him when it came to getting better or more physical resources than him. She had wonderful eyes which she had relied on them for a long time, but she was still far behind and na?¡¥ve if she thought she knew any great about the world she lived in. She knew she didn''t even know as much as him, so she couldn''t say much, but, at the very least, she was brave, dignified, and a survivor at the heart. She already knew that on the path she was walking right now, there will be a strong death knight, then a small army of undead soldiers and mages, andstly a lich before she reached the maze-like structure full of traps. That would be an easy ce for her... and for him as well, she knew that. But she was certain that what she will gain from the undead on her path would be significantly greater than the things he will gain on his path where there were only two strong monsters on the level of the knight or lich. But she also knew that his opponents were stronger than the ones on her path. And even more so after he said that there was a golem and lizardman. They truly were tough opponents, so even she would have different times with them. And unlike her undead, his opponents were energy beasts and even the sane ones with great intelligence. His battle would be exhausting in most ways, and she was no exception. She knew the fight against the enemies she will have to face would require her to use a few strong cards, but she didn''t hesitate anymore. She knew what she had to do now and so she had already reached the open area where a single undead, covered with a sparkling full red armor and a good heavy sword in hand, stood with a calm expression. He would be fighting his battles, but she had to fight hers and win in all of them to reach the enemy she was looking forward to meeting. Their main goal was the great evil spirit, and they never lost sight of that certain goal. They knew what they had to do, and that burned in their eyes. In her eyes... She stood before an open area where the dead, or... more like the undead knight that looked strong at a single nce, stood, waiting for his challenger. Death knights were one of the highest ranking creatures that held intelligence even after not being ''alive''. "The armor..." She wondered what this special-looking red armor, the sword in his hand, and the undead itself were. It was red armor, something that caught her attention because it reminded her of her dear ''friend''. The armor was the same color as his eyes and the sword in his hand was an artifact, without a doubt. A stable heavy sword, something that was hard to see even in today''s advanced weapon shops. This silver de of the sword, its blue handle, and the guard with a lion engraved on it... the sword was special and so was the calm undead knight. She felt that it was like the calm before the storm... "There''s a unique presence to this skeleton." She knew... he was a death knight, specially positioned here to defend this ce. It will move as soon as it senses the intruder and it will definitely sense the intruder, even if she used magic. This was a knight... a being, an undead, that can use Aura. She knew she would have to use her own Aura if necessary, so she was ready for it when the timees. But she didn''t recklessly approach the still-standing death knight. She observed the area, the terrine, the green magic lights illuminating the open area just like every previous fight. Unlike him, she didn''t have to worry about the darkness because the lights and natural lights were installed everywhere in the upper caves. "Eyes of truth." Her eyes shone... her pink eyes that seemed like the fairy pink sky during a coastal sunset. The information about the red armor, the sword, as well as the knight itself was revealed to her in an instant. ============ [Ruby''s lifeline] a¨C?a¨C?a¡ª€ ~~~> An armor personally made for a brave knight by the person he served. ~~~> The armor is splendid, and the craftsmanship is at least at the level of a master. ~~~> The aesthetic design is something that carries a faint reminiscence of the old elven art. But it is crude, so the creator themselves couldn''t be the perfectionist elves. ~~~> The armor reduces the damage taken by 30%. Increases the natural vitality of the user by 11%. And it also carries a certain chance of emitting a bright light when struck. ~~~> It is a great armor made from red mithril andparatively, it can be called a (level-10) artifact. ~~~> Cheer up master~! Just this much is more amazing than a simple skill stone~!! ============ ============ [Strong heavy sword of bnce] a?¡ªa?¨C ~~~> The sword is made from a very old stone, so it is very heavy. Lifting it alone would require great strength. While using it would require great mastery over the swords. ~~~> The sword is bnced. Very bnced that it would be an ideal design if it was made with better materials and by a higher-level craftsman. ~~~> The sword can be used as an inspiration to make a better weapon, but the craftsmanship required for handling high-grade materials and producing something of a simr level is very high. ~~~> Anyway, the sword, depending upon the user''s mastery, can increase the attack power of the weapon. ~~~> The weight can increase the damage by cuts and sh attacks, but recalling the sword in the middle of an attack would be difficult because of its weight. ~~~> Comparatively, it is the highest grade (tier-9) weapon! Another gain~!! ============ ============ [Death knight] e?''€ Strength: 138 Dexterity: 98 Stamina: 105 Magic Power: 138 Intelligence: 30 [Skills: Iron body, Magic resistance, Keen senses, Battle view, Raise dead, Cool Swordsmanship, Paralytic scream, Dark absorption. ] ~~~> ...well, damn. ~~~> A powerful undead with a good bnce of attack and defense skills. High strength, good magic power, and even stamina. ~~~> This one is a... strong blue-rank creature with good skills, something that looks difficult to deal with from a single nce. ~~~> This is a strong opponent with a strong body and even swordsmanship... something that really deserves to have those amazing artifacts. ~~~> It will be a difficult fight, master... take care... and try finishing things quickly. As you can see, this one can summon some weaker skeletons and absorb power from the dark and grow stronger with battle progression. ============ "Well... fuck." She cussed, as everyone might have thought her to do first before thinking about the situation. Well, that''s our- oh, sorry. That''s his Rein after all. She cussed. Not at how much difficult this would be and how dangerous things could get. She cussed at the thought of damaging the armor, as well as the sword. The durability of these two artifacts would have naturally decreased over time, so they needed repairs, even with their current splendid appearance. Just the thought of her damaging the splendid equipment of this crazy piece of bones was unimaginable. She knew a death knight dropped an energy core at death with certainty, so that was one thing she was looking for, but she now wanted this armor and sword. "I will get them... and thenugh... just like that fucking bastard did." And for that, she had to finish this undead as quickly as possible. An undead''s Aura was powerful. Maybe as powerful as the high-grade spells. But the destructive power of the Aura and the probability of it having a special characteristic was a force to be reckoned with. They weren''t called one of the ultimate weapons of the necromancers for nothing. So... she decided to start strong. She decided to use her special, morous, gorgeous Aura from the start. She took out her scythe, the symbol of death, and took a step inside the open area and the battlefield of this battle. "Consider yourself blessed to die by my hands, little skeleton." She applied the light enchantment on her de like she had been doing before each fight and brandished her spectacr weapons. -Shkiiiiim. It was sharp. So sharp that the air was sliced down as if a head was being chopped by a guillotine. Then... as if the blood of air was sliding down the scythe, drops of a red fluid started flowing down her palm. The drops became a slow stream of tap water, then a fully open water flowing down the tap, and then suddenly a fountain carrying a wave of water... and in this case, blood. -Ktktktktktkt! The guardian awakened as soon as she stepped into his field, and as soon as it woke up, a bloody de appeared just before his eyes. The death knight, true to his instincts, backstepped as soon as he sensed danger, and the appearance of a maiden... no, a death reaper wielding a scythe covered with pure blood like Aura, entered the red light burning in his blue sockets. He knew at this moment, the opponent of a lifetime was standing before him... so, this was either eternal rest or more suffering for some unknown long time. So, he was looking forward to the fight. ... Well, while the maiden of dusk was fighting this one, her darling was having a... rtively easy battle while standing in the middle of a scorchingke ofva. Chapter 379 Blood Aura And Purple Flames The blood-red Aura that wrapped around the de of the scythe was amazing. It was pure like blood, the rad, sma that humans drop when cut or hurt by a de. The fluid attribute of Aura was thick, unlike most liquid, just like the actual blood. It was thick and heavy, and the way it was shaped perfectly around the scythe also made it sharper than most. This aura... it actually seemed like the aura of a reaper thirsty for blood. It could have also been close to the blood energy used by vampires, but the main characteristics of Aura were still present. So it was closely different. The color was perfectly bloody. The distinct Aura energy that always carried a special explosive power was also present and the fluid form gave it even more heaviness. On the other hand, the death knight that sensed the presence of the aura had also revealed his aura. And this one was a sharp purple. A me of purple energy warped around his perfect sword. This was a perfect sword, and the Aura that covered this sword held special characteristics, just like his opponent. But his opponent knew about the undead, while the undead, true to its basicmands and instincts, was only focused on defeating the opponent with all he had got. This was a battle for both of them and they were ready... so, as soon as the blood-red aura wrapped around her scythe, and the purple mes covered the metallic sword of the death knight... both of them vanished. ... -Boooooom! -nk. nk. nk. -Kllnk! The first sh created an explosion that was unlike anything previously shown by the girl. Her previous opponents had all been weak, but this one, this death knight who was also just a mass of bones covered in perfect armor, was no small fry. He was strong. Strong enough to match her speed, attacks, and the Aura that was covering his sword was giving a match to her great blood-red aura. The first sh gave them the idea of the strength their opponent possessed, so they then started earnestly giving their all to them. The dark shadows around the area started gathering and slowly going inside the shadow of the undead, while her eyes became even sharper and she created a dark barrier around them, trying to block the shadows from moving inside their battleground. But it was futile... the skill of the undead was high level and unconditional. The low level of the barrier was unable to do anything. His skill continued absorbing the darkness and their fight continued. His sword, covered in purple mes, was astonishing but her scythe covered in bloody red Aura was not something one could look away from. In normal cases, people wouldn''t want to look at the sight of blood or the red color of fresh blood itself, but in this case, the Aura that had gained the color of blood was something captivating for mortal eyes. The Auras were one thing, but the way the two moved, used their weapons, and used their techniques was something amazing too. The way she wielded her scythe was captivating. Her crescent moon scythe, the shiny de, the body of the purple scythe that matched her hair perfectly, and the pink eyes that were fully focused on the eternal death of the undead. He was also cool, even though he was undead. His cool swordsmanship was something that caught her attention. It wasn''t some normal swordsmanship of a mere knight. It was a high-level movement that only an experienced knight could perform. These movements were shy and used the characteristics of his perfectly bnced de. The way it moved seemed like a reptilian creature moving solely to hunt its prey. The eyes of the undead, the empty sockets of the creature, were lit with a special light that contained the expression of the creature. They were reflecting his shock and admiration but they were nothing but some instinctive responses of a dead creature at the end. She didn''t even look at his face, only looking at the de, his foot movements, and the trajectory of his sword. He moved through the small area as the dark shadows continued to get absorbed in his shadow and as the fight continued, his speed increased, his movements became even more amazing, and the weight behind his sword strike that was previously easy to block was hitting her with even more power. She knew if this continued, she would have no choice but to try harder and use more than the required amount of resources to hunt this creature. So she had also started her special attack. The orbit of her swings had be strange, the way she simply used her scythe had also changed. And the Aura flow was also starting to take a shape. She was now performing strange footwork, and the undead had no idea about what was toe. But he knew there was something different with the movements of the opponents, so he sensed that something might have changed. Maybe the opponent was getting tired and weaker, so this was clearly a chance for him. "Khaaaaa!" He cried out as soon as he found another gap in her attacks and used two skills at the same time. The first one, his scream that was enough to shake the rocks of the cave, was enough to paralyze the small creatures flying in the corners of the cave. As well as the small gap that was created between them was enough to use his undead power to call upon some other undead with his dead-raising skill. He took advantage of the weird gap that was just normal in his eyes until now, but the girl had no expression on her face to the end. She continued her footwork, the dance that seemed weird, and the scythe that she masterfully swung, as well as the Aura that had condensed at the de only¡­ was a precursor to her special technique. But it needed a bit more time to finish. She continued her dance while blocking the sword of the enemy and cast some powerful defensive barriers around herself. She was unfazed by the suddenly summoned undead and the paralyzing scheme from before had no effect on her. She just continued to dance, even ignoring the normal skeletons that were far weaker than the ones that she had previously fought. But from the normal perceptive of two people battling against each other, the sudden appearance of these skeletons could have been a great problem for them. They could very well hinder their movements and then it would be a certain death if they revealed any gap and allowed the enemy to attack. It was the same as inviting death with open arms or going into the open embrace of the death reaper. But the girl that was at a disadvantage here had no thoughts right now. The weak skeletons could do whatever they want but her opponent right now was this death knight. His innate strength and keen senses that blocked her special movements as well as the body that had no great effects even after fighting against her for that long of a time were the greater problems than some weak undead that she knew would disappear as soon as the knight was dead. Her eyes were focused on the knight and the knight''s special eyes were seeing the entire battle happening in real-time. His skill to see the entire closed ground of the battle would have been a great help if it was a real war and he was somemandermanding some small army but right now, his opponent was a mere girl that was giving him time and gaps to attack. But she was avoiding them at the same time, and there was not even a scratch on her body, so she was perfectly fine even after this long fight. It had been a while since the battle started and he was 20% stronger than he was a while ago, meaning the burden on the girl was increasing. The skeletons summoned by him were obviously weak and as soon as they came near the girl and tried anything, the way her scythe was swinging in all directions would just destroy them on the spot. The scythe contained the disgusting light attribute, so it was even more frustrating. But with the passing of time, the death knight could sense the light energy getting weaker, so he was excited that he would finally finish the intruder off. He was nearing yet another boring win, but there was still the main thing remaining. The girl had danced for a while and the Aura had perfectly covered only the de of her scythe now. There were six skeletons beside the knight, but they were just some useless spectators. The knight that had summoned them had already stopped summoning more after knowing they were useless in a fight against a truly strong one like this girl, whose scythe orbits destroyed them as soon as they neared her, and he was now fighting her alone. But he still took full advantage of his great strength, skills, and the gaps that the opponent was making in her defenses, knowingly or unknowingly. -nk! nk! nk! Their fight was nearing the end, as the light attribute energy at the end of her scythe had almostpletely gone. But she had hardly, but definitely, finished her technique. Her scythe technique would have been far easier toplete if the opponent was some weaker creature, but the opponent that she was facing right now was tough and she knew that. She acknowledged the creature, but it was her opponent in the end. She wanted those artifacts he was wearing, as well as the core that powered him. His swordsmanship was good, but it wasn''t at the level that she would acknowledge as one of the best, but it definitely was a good one. It would have been much better and amazing if the one that made those techniques was still alive, but the state this one was in right now couldn''t be considered a threat. The opponent was strong, but she wasn''t weak either. She fought with this creature till the end of the enchantment''s time limit and now was the end. ... [ "Hey skull face~." ] The girl used her skill... a skill that could enchant someone, or create a voice that could beparable to themand of an authority holder. This was a special skill that can''t be ignored even if this opponent was an undead. The death knight that would naturally have resisted most types of illusion series magic, as well as control magic, was now affected by a skill. He lost control of his body and stopped for a moment, and the same was true for the skeletons summoned by him. Everyone was frozen, even though it was for just a moment, they had definitely stopped. And this was the moment to unleash the attack she had prepared for all this time¡­ ''Death scythe first unleash: Net." A single moment before the duration of the light enchantment ended... it was stretched to infinity in the eye sockets of the death knight watching the goddess of death in person. He wished it for a long time, but he knew at this moment when he saw his opponent suddenly appearing before him, that he had reached that point. The point that he had wished woulde soon. He had waited for a time which was now unknown to this creature, but he was definitely feeling the emotion of happiness even after being an undead. ... The girl vanished the moment the time had almost stopped, lifted her scythe with only her de covered in her blood-red Aura, and swung it for the final time with the same emotionless eyes. She only wanted this armor and the sword, so she precisely cut through the bare parts of the armor, the thin gaps that were still revealing the dark ck bones of the creature. She made several cuts in that small time. -Skim! Skim! Skim! Horizontal, vertical, diagonal. She created a of red lights in that mere moment that seemed humanly impossible to aplish. But she had done just that¡­ Her blood-red Aura which was based on a high cutting ability had cut off the iron body of the death knight! ... The moment ended, and she appeared on the ground back on the spot she previously was, and at the same time¡­ a beautiful of red light appeared before the knight. And this light just passed through the body of the still-standing knight and then¡­ it just disappeared like it had all been a lie. But the very next moment after that, the knight''s body that had been alive somewhere for a long time fell for the first time, finally reaching the end of his eternal life¡­ His soul, which had never wanted this undead life, had been shed along with the bones and was now free! So... a light came out of the undead knights and became particles and... just scattered into the surrounding. The Area was now left with the girl, the ck bones which had no outer energy, its purple energy core, and the artifacts that he was using. The girl had won the fight... but she was tired, so she immediately called out her kitten as well as some potions to get better. She had achieved her goal here, not that she was finished with the main task, but she definitely received something more valuable than her dear friend had previously did. So without wasting any more time... she called out to her dear friend as shey on the ground, this time genuinely exhausted from the battle. Chapter 380 Magma Golem As Rein was fighting with the death knight in a different part of the tomb, her dear friend was standing before a wide area of scorching mes. The ground was solid but burning red. The heat that one could feel from the ground was bad enough to almost burn normal humans'' skin. It was like standing before the surface of an active volcano. The hot red-orange ground, some pces with actual bubbling magma, a giant creature standing before an enormous cave on the other side of the entrance, and our main character standing at the entrance of the cave. He observed the situation, the ground, the low (Blue) ranked creature with a ck-red magma stone body, white light eyes, and a ck diamond heart. The creature was a golem, and he was observing this rock creature with his special eyes... "It would have been definitely impossible to clear easily..." The creature before him, the weapon that had only one task of protecting that cave behind him, and the different environment of this part of the cave. This was different, and he knew that even Rein would have had difficulty facing the golem in this harsh environment. The creature wasn''t smart like the troll mage, but this one was definitely strong, really strong. ============ [Magma golem] Strength: 166 Dexterity: 92 Stamina: 88 Magic power: 133 Intelligence: 25 [Skills: Guardian''s protection, me spheres, Magma eruptions, m, Crashing finger, Terrain adaptation, Energy breath, Strength burning. ] ---> A strong creature trained for guarding a specific area. ---> It is naturally a strong, strength-based creature with high fire affinity, and great physical resistance, but poor magic resistance. ---> As you already know, water and ice attacks would be better against this one, but make sure you aren''t exhausting too much strength. ---> The field is disadvantages so use that thing and thank the greatdy who gave you such a precious gift. ---> The skill [Strength burning] might be a problem. Try to do your best to finish it off before it uses the skill. ============ "Yes, yes... I also know Zoe is amazing." He shook his head with a smile and prepared his weapons. This one was the blue bow that increased the power of water attribute spells that he used against his fight with the headmaster. The silver quiver on his back was still full, even after facing some small monsters on his path to this part of the cave. Currently, he was standing at just the mouth of the cave he, and the hotnd was just a few steps away from him. The golem was ''mostly'' a low-intelligence creature and humans were able to artificially create something like them with the use of magic, magic engineering, and alchemy. But this one was a natural creature, as well as one that had only one goal andmand to follow. He didn''t have a strong enough will to understand even the basic things, but he knew how to fulfill themand given to him by the ''master''. Anyway, he didn''t think much about this creature. He had to go on the other side, and there was an opponent standing in his path. The creature was a master of magma, the higher element of fire attribute. He must be in this ce for a long time. The whole wide area had adapted to him, after all. The hot ground, the bubblingva, the hot gases filling this closed area of the cave, and the shield covering the other side of the cave the golem was standing in. It was ''protecting'' the cave, and that was his only goal that would stay true until the end of his life. So, he had to defeat the creature and it would have been difficult to raid this creature through conventional methods. He knew just how difficult it is to neutralize a field of mes. His master was the ruler of mes, after all. His affinity with mes and heat was naturally high. He could also use me magic to help in this fight, but¡­ he didn''t need to either neutralize the field or use me against the strong magma of the golem. "Thanks again... Zoe." His eyes became warm as he thought about his sister... but this wasn''t the time to dwell on some warm memories. ''White crack'' He took out a beautiful red finger ornament and put it on his index finger. It was a metallic ornament that covered his index finger. Made beautifully, this gorgeous-looking finger ornament was like a bird wrapped around the finger, flying from the base of the finger to the tip. There were some special-looking colorful gems all over this ornament and it was also so well made that it didn''t hinder the movements of the finger. This was the special gift that he received from his dear sister, something she made herself, something like his other little one. It was also no simple artifact... his sister was a divine creature, after all. And though this was her very first creation, and was far more insignificant than the artifacts created by her mother, this was something she specifically made for him, with her ''insignificant'' abilities and greatest love. It was an essory, so it would be normally difficult to fit it into the normal artifact category, and this one was even more extraordinary because of its special options. ============ [first creation and present of Zoe] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï¡î ---> A magnificent gift and creation of a young divine beast. ---> The creation is something that could not bepared to normal trash artifacts. ---> The craftsmanship is unique and gorgeous, and the power and affection this simple ornament is made with are greater than a pure devotion of a craftsman who has devoted their life to the creation. ---> The artifact contains the ability to create a practically absolute shield that resists mes, fire, heat, and all elemental abnormalities rted to me attributes. [Shield can only be used once a month. But the effects of the shield are absolute for one hour.] ---> It increases the damage of me magic when worn and also strengthens light attribute spells. ---> The artifact is made from blessed adamantium, a drop of purest Amrita, and Mana crystals of purest perfect Mana. ---> It is a great creation and represents the creator''s affection toward you. ---> You are a bastard but we love the creator and this piece. ============ "Her grandma would be shocked stiff if she sees this one..." He smiled bitterly as he said that. His friend''s dear grandma was also someone who made some of the best ornaments in the entire empire. She wouldn''t believe this masterpiece-like thing was made by a young girl. Well... a young phoenix that could control, bend, change, and create things just by thoughts, as well as someone who held the greatest of potential, talent, and knowledge. That was his little sister. He could have used one of his ultimate potions for fire resistance, but that was something that had some side effects. He also had a special bow, one of his favorite ones, that was absolute when it came to fire, but that strong thing wasn''t needed against a weak one like this golem. He was going to spend his month with his mother, so it was better to test out the effects of this special gift he received from his amazing sister. He was excited, and the stage was already ready... His opponent would detect him as soon as he steps into his field, so he prepared for some variables from the start. And after his preparation, yes, the boring part was finally over... he stood before the ck solid ground, filled with red cracks of hot mes. He channeled some Mana through his finger ornament in his right hand, and as soon as a translucent thin red shield covered his body... he stepped onto the soil of hell. *** The opponent was a golem, a creature that had one clear purpose, and that was to defend the cave behind him. The intruder was a small kid that had a strange red light covering his body. There was a gorgeous blue bow in his hand and the power of water and ice radiating from him was very stimting for this ck golem with red cracks. As soon as the boy stepped into his field, the golem''s one eye, the big red triangle in his head, lit up with a bright red light. The guard sensed the intruder, and this intruder was strong from his point of view. The cool energy surrounding him was great, so great that he felt threatened for the first time in his long life. He was a golem, a creature with sufficient intelligence to recognize danger at the very least. He knew this intruder would be a great problem, so he knew he must not underestimate his opponent. "Khwaaaaaa!" So, the giant golem moved his big hands and used [m]. It was a wide area skill that covered his ck rock hand with a hot me and the hand became evenrger, covering an area of three meters. -Swish! But even before the hand crushed the puny target, the intruder aimed his bow at him, exactly at his eye, and fired a blue light. Blue light with a piercing, chilly, strong tip passed right through his mes as well as his strong hands and made its way to the golem! His size was already big so he couldn''t properly avoid the attack, but the golem had a sharp judgment ability so he adjusted his head and the arrow aimed at his vulnerable part crashed into his wide forehead. -Booooooooom! It was a great crash, and the golem could tell from the small part of his head that blew away because of the crashing light that the opponent was more dangerous than he thought. "Gwuu? Khwaaaaaaa...!" But the sudden, excruciating pain and coldness that appeared on the spot with the crash was painful for the golem so he screamed so loudly... that the ground suddenly cracked and a pir ofva shot from the ground!! It was painful! A golem, a creature that shouldn''t feel pain, was feeling those emotions...! And the cause of the sudden pain, the intruder that shot that wretched arrow of swirling light... was nowhere to be seen? It was strange, the frosty energy that he felt earlier also vanished from the surrounding. His field... now suddenly felt empty. There was practically nothing here anymore. Not before his eyes, in his area of sensitivity, or the ground that had now started filling with hot magma after his sudden use of [Magma eruption]. It was strange... but the intruder was even more dangerous than anything. He had seen it with his own eyes. The intruder wasn''t affected by either the heat, the ''warm'' ground, or the fresh mes in the area. It was doubtful if the balls of fire would work against him, so... the golem started using the best and most efficient skill he could! He raised his index finger and aimed at the entrance of the cave first, and shot arge energy beam. -Shiiiiiiiin~! -Booooooom! And as soon as the beam of energy collided with the scorching ground, it exploded, as if a powerful explosive had been activated¡­! But there was no response... there were no signs of the intruder, so... he changed the direction of his finger pointing, and another beam was fired. -Shiiiiiiiin~! -Booooooom! No result here either. But he didn''t despair and did it again. -Shiiiiiiiin~! -Booooooom! No results. Repeat at a different location. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. And it continued until he covered all parts of his field ''on the ground''. But the intruder was nowhere to be found. Strange thing was that the intruder hadn''t left his field either. Someone had definitely entered the area that he denominated, but there was not even a single butterfly that had left his territory. It was... actually horrifying. Where the hell was the intruder if not on the ground?! In the air? Flying!? He wasn''t some fly or insect that he would fly in this cave where the ceiling was so high and covered with dangerous, poisonous sharp rocks that even bats avoided it. Confused, he even used his [Energy breath] in the surrounding space and rotated around 360 degrees but... there was no reaction. He still had some vague feeling that there was something... something was here, in his house, in this territory. And he was definitely right... -Swish. Swish. Swish. As silently as the dead of the night, pirs... not arrows, not spread, but actual pirs of water, ice, and soul-chilling water aimed at three vulnerable parts of his body from the upside... Yup. The intruder was on that very poisonous ceiling covered with poisonous gases, poison-covered rocks, and fatally weak burned rocks. The pirs of spells... he knew they were dangerous. He knew they were fatally deadly, and that they can destroy him. But... s... by the time these thoughts came to his brainless head, he was crumbling down... His head, heart, and middle body had been pierced by the pirs of exceptionally powerful spells, and he had lost all his strength. The ice pir that pierced his heart had actually taken out the heart and froze the heart that gave the golem all his strength. He had been defeated by a small intruder that he failed to crush under his fingers, and was now on his deathbed. This was his end. He had died even without using his full powers. He should have used them from the start, but still... he couldn''t do anything now. He was dead... and the intruder that killed him was still... nowhere to be felt. Chapter 381 Loot Discussions -Thump! [[ "Thanks Celes." ]] [[ Hehe. Yei~! ]] It was still only for a short time but we can use this topletely disappear from surroundings, plus my dear special shoes were something amazing. ''It was a good idea to add wall sticking enchantment. They are almost like the legs of some amazing spider.'' I smiled and looked around the still hot area... The fight was difficult, but I was able to win thanks to my dear partner and amazing sister''s great gift. The golem was also smart but, well; it was defeated in the end. So, now, in this ck soil with red hot cracks, there was a pile of rocks, the body of the golem,ying on the ground before me. It took some strong scripted spells, but it ended quickly. ''He was a strong... good thing we didn''t let him use that dangerous skill.'' I was even more thankful to have this cute butterfly now. Not only was the golem in an extremely confused state because we suddenly vanished from the ground, but there were also the dangerous water attribute spells. Had the golem been moreposed and judged it was time to use his skill, [Strength burning], which actually reduced his core size and increased his agility, Mana, as well as reflexes, I might have had some pretty awful fight. It would have been difficult to deal with two opponents who had high agility, stamina, and magic power in a row, so it was even better than we defeated this one quickly before the lizardman. ''He will definitely be different from all my previous opponents, and difficult too.'' I knew he will take more time than anyone... well, we will see thatter. So... anyway... I walked toward the pile of the golem''s fallen body after the dust cleared up. The area was already filled with poisonous gases, and the ceiling of this cave section was so saturated with poison that I had to limit my movements to a minimum as well as block my breathing, even after using a safety spell. Well, it was all worth it in the end... I cleared the giant ck magma rocks and took out three glowing objects from the pile of rocks. Smiling at the triangle gem, a transparent sphere, and the distinctive small red ball, I looked at them with my blue eyes and a pleasing smile. "Good." ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Golem heart] ---> Heart of a magma golem. A dense material with concentrated primary Mana of the creature. ---> It had weakened because of the death of the carrier, but it is still as good as a (Red) ranked pure energy nucleus. ============ * ============ [Golem eye] ---> The main ''brain'' of the magma golem. It is a primary processor of a creature and also contains some basicmand patterns. ---> Can be used in the creation of an artificial golem, in magic engineering, or in magic experimental purposes. ============ * ============ [Energy nucleus] ¡ï ---> Energy core of a low (Blue) ranked creature. ---> The energy inside the core is [420 Units] of themon grading system. ---> In terms of the ancient measuring system, this one holds 1.01 times the normal (Blue) ranked core''s energy. ---> Lucky bastard... ---> The energy body this corees from should have a great fire affinity. It will be good enough to sell out to normal humans. ============ "Hehehe..." I was even more ahead of her now! I had an artifact wand, a skill stone, an energy nucleus, a natural processor, and a refiner heart! She was still stuck with that knight with some good artifact but I had defeated the opponent faster, which meant...! "Heheh~." [[ Master... ]] "Right Celes~. Thanks again~." It was thanks to her that we got ahead in this race. Though he was killed by my three Solnova spells, without Celes, this one was definitely something impossible. She was amazing, and I wanted to just kiss her when... she poured cold water on my short-lived happiness. [[ No... I wanted to say that sister Elle finished that cool skeleton and recovered the artifact armor and sword. She also got an energy core with [450 Units] of energy. ]] "...what?" [[ "Darling~! I heard you won against that giant~ golem, hmm? I won too~! And I know Celes already told you what I got~. You already are ahead of me so I will leave first~. Rest well~!" ]] I couldn''t help but blink nkly as I stared into the space. ''She got those artifacts in perfect condition? As well as a core with more energy than this one? Wow...'' Indeed, the opponent she was facing for that long was a high-rank creature. But the fact that she not only recovered the items perfectly but also that she got a good energy nucleus meant she was almost the same as me... So, now, if she somehow defeated the lich in her path and got its nucleus too, it would be my defeat... ''High-grade undead''s bones are more valuable than the high-grade beast corpses... she is already ahead of me after fighting close to a thousand undead until now.'' This tomb was a difficult ce and aside from the groups of monsters, there were countless others scattered around the long paths we walked to reach the open areas with the mini-bosses. This ce was difficult and contained some rare creatures like (Cave grasshoppers), (White bats), and (Four color centipedes) that varied from (Rare) to (Yellow) rank. But that was the case of my path... her long paths were covered with countless undead scattered all over the ce as well as had stronger opponents like that death knight or lich. She could have dealt with them anyway, but my light enchantment gave wings to her killing speed. She was strong but still... to defeat that death knight and not damage the old, worn-out artifacts... "She used her scythe technique, didn''t she?" [[ Hmmm! It was a beautiful dance and attack~! The bones of the skeleton were chopped through the gaps in the armor~! ]] "Right... that''s why." Well, she does have Clover, but there is a limit to Clover''s full recovery ability. That cute kitten can''t recover someone''s stamina, recover fatigue, and relieve a mental burden indefinitely. Both of them were still growing, so neither the spirit could use her infinite powers, nor can Rein maintain her summoned state for much longer. "How many times has Clover healed her Celes?" [[ "This one was the fifth time..." ]] "Thinking that she will use it two more times until reaching the core chamber, we will only have two times left." It was... critical. Clover was her kitten, but I still told her to save at least two recoveries for thest one... and she will leave just that much. "Damn... I should have said three or four!" [[ Don''t cry over spilled milk, master... ]] "I''m not crying. Haa... Anyway, that was considering that we will only have ''trap'' like traps on the trap path. If we meet some more difficult opponents..." [[ Master- ]] "It''s not your fault, so don''t even dare apologize. It''s a grate that you helped us and surveyed the tomb, but the strong shield that blocks even small creatures isn''t something we can do anything about." [[ ...ok, master. D-don''t worry though! I know it will be alright!" ]] "Of course, I will be alright. But I''m worried about her, you know, right? I have you to protect me, but she doesn''t have any strong one like you. Clover is just a healer spirit, she has many limitations, and Branwen... well, that one isn''t suitable for this whole thing, anyway." [[ Crow grandpa was sad the whole time... ]] "Of course... just like you, he wants to protect her. It''s natural." [[ Hmmm... ]] "Anyway... let''s go. We should clear that trap zone so that we can join her if she needs it." [[ Yei~! ]] I sighed... and got up from the warm ground. It would be best if things are ok but the worry still remained. She was the most important right now, so I entered the cave to thest destination. Thest mini-boss was a warrior. Maybe a different creature than the ones I had faced until now. And he was also a lizardman, a swamp habitat species that were rare in this part of the continent. They were rare and had considerable intelligence. They were also mostly creatures of strength, but sometimes, there were special ones who can use magic, just like the troll mage. But the lizardman was one level above the trolls, maybe two levels. If we say the Orcs are the best warriors onnd, the lizardman is the best warriors of swamps thate just after them. And still, some strong lizardman with [Evolution] skill had a great chance to evolve into a low draconian creature if their fates allowed it. I was worried about this one. It was uncertain if this one was sane or brainwashed like those goblins or not. It was difficult to understand, but still, I was prepared. If the opponent was going to use pure strength and techniques, I was ready, too. The difference in natural stamina was something troublesome, but that monster didn''t have an ultimate potion like mine that can restore lost stamina to some extent. I also had the golden fruit so, well... it would be alright. ''You be alright too, dum dum.'' "Haaa..." My eyes sharpened as I nced ahead. It would be a warrior I face the next. Chapter 382 Lyzardman Worrier -Chhum. Chhum. Chhum. He walked through the long cave and reached the secondst battlefield. A big open area reminiscent of a swamp. A wide open part of the cave with countless bioluminescent creatures ranging from water creatures, flowers, and grass, to the algae on the rocks, filled this ce. The water was a bit greenish, but there were small glowing organisms in the water, so the water was glowing. The glowing water was illuminating the whole area and the carefully walking boy was one of the things that gained even greater beauty because of this. His gold-like hair shone in the dark of the natural lights, his sharp, ruby-red eyes staring at the only big creature in this vast, open water area. [[ He''s biiiiiig~! ]] ''No, she didn''t say that. She meant the creature is big.'' He nodded at his brilliantpanion with a smile as they looked at the faraway creature standing in the middle of this ce. It was a genuinely big ce but, the creature standing in the center was actually a three-meter-tall humanoid creature standing on his two strong legs. His body was covered with hard green scales, his face was like an alligator, and there was a thick long tail on his back. His crossed long teeth shown out on his mouth also looked ferocious. The sharp eyes of this lizardman were reminiscent of a true worrier. And the big forearms of the scale-covered being looked rock solid even from this distance. This was a big creature, but even after that, it wouldn''t take great insight to tell that the creature was more agile than it looked. His whole aerodynamic body made for quick movements, stronger legs, great affinity with water, and the innate agility of the species, as well as the strange ne surrounded by dense wind mana, was enough to show just how great its strength would be. The creature was strong, but strength wasn''t his greatest asset. It was the high agility, vitality, and wild survival instincts of the creature. ''He is a lizardman... a warrior in true meaning, too.'' [[ *It would be a waste to kill him.* ]] ''Right? Let''s just take him.'' [[ "It would be difficult though. Check his status window. He''s an impressive one that could grow pretty well, but the reason he is like that must be because of some one-sided threat of that evil spirit, right? He looks strong so I don''t think the evil spirit would have just taken him here like those povpoi. He is a warrior... but there is also a restriction on his neck. It would be a good idea to take him. He is intelligent and experienced too.* ]] ''Hmmm... I think so too.'' His eyes had turned blue a moment ago, and that much was enough to give him a detailed idea of the strengths of the creature before them. This one was a smart and strong creature. A big lizard that had a strong tail and high agility. The great skills it possessed as a warrior of mid (Blue) rank were also amazing~. ============ [Green lizardman worrior] Strength: 144 Dexterity: 108 Stamina: 125 Magic Power: 135 Intelligence: 78 [Skills: Heroic senses, Stone armor body, Territory boost, Weapon mastery, Gator jaws, Battle adaptation, Advanced stamina recovery, Learning, Leading qualities, Warrior''s will, Berserk, Evolution. ] ---> A warrior with great potential to be a high creature. ---> Its strength is clear just from these stats and skills and the first skill... it''s a rare innate skill. ---> This one is a special warrior. Its ability to learn and grow makes him stand out even more. ---> It can use weapons, fight and grow during its fight with tough opponents. ---> He can also leadrge numbers of worriers. Hisrge will to devote himself to the fights and clear goals makes him a tough opponent. ---> As an enemy, he is highly dangerous, but as an alley, he would be a great help. ---> ...go get him. ============ He was looking at the warrior with an observing gaze and a small smile. They were far away from the creature right now, but his third eye was there so he can analyze the creature thoroughly. He already knew just how much strong this warrior was as well as what the special-looking ne around his neck was. It definitely was a good artifact that increased his movement speed with wind elemental Mana, granting him a rare skill called (Free steps), but this special-looking ne... was a cursed artifact. The wearer couldn''t take it off themselves and they have to follow the absolute order of the master of the curse. It wasn''t a curse that one could perceive even with heroic senses, so it was exinable how he was here, even with that strength. ''Well... it also means that evil spirit is more dangerous than we thought.'' They had already deducted some facts from what information they had until now. First of all, the evil spirit had exceptional skills that could produce undead, so ultimately, the evil spirit was a necromancer. Second, the evil spirit could use powerful curses that are powerful enough that could even affect a mage with an elder''s qualifications. Third, that evil spirit is smart enough to ''use'' weaker creatures and dominate them through power, intelligence, and schemes. Ultimately, the opponent was very tough, and they had to be careful of it. But at least, this warrior was different. He had his will intact. And as a warrior of the great lizardman race, he must be bound by some cultural norms. Warriors respected the strong, they enjoyed fighting with the stronger, and the loss meant a boost in motivation to get stronger. But there was still one thing that all warriors had inmon... they respected their opponent and took pleasure in the ''fair'' fights. They also only challenged worthy to a duel. The ones they acknowledged. And this was true to any n''s warrior. This lizardman, a prominent one with the qualifications of evolution, was also a worrier to the heart. But right now, he was just trapped here. In this undergraduate cave. With nothing more than a vast mushy ne. And this water-filled ground. He was alone. He had been alone, without any fights, without any excitement for a very long time. Maybe he was lonely too... It was regrettable to see a warrior in this state. And he was his opponent, too. So he had to do something. If he can''t get the warrior itself, he at least had to free him from his current misery. So he finished his observation and started walking toward the opponent. His goal here was to get through him and reach the other side of the ce, where there was a cave leading to the maze full of traps. He had to defeat this creature anyway, so it would be better if he got him as a whole and not just the ne artifact, his sword, and his dead body. The chances of getting a core or skill stone of a high-ranking intelligent creature like this one were low anyway, so he was even more adamant about taking the risk. He walked through the water, his partner weapon Asta in his hand, and eyes sharp. He was approaching the lizardman warrior and, in normal circumstances, the warrior would have rushed forward as soon as the boy walked into his field of senses. But the big warrior with sharp green eyes just stood there, in his ce, not moving an inch... as if frozen. He was the possessor of heroic senses, an extremely rare skill that very few creatures were born with. His senses were so sharp he could tell how many scales a fish swimming a hundred meters away from him would have. He could gauge his opponent''s strength just by looking at them. Maybe even before he looked at them. He could tell what creatures were called strong and as a worrier who respected the strong... he knew that the opponent standing before him... wasn''t something he could easily face. He couldn''t even measure the level of his opponents even though the small humanoid child-like being had almost reached him. He was approaching from the front, even though he knew it was more than foolish. It was definitely ludicrous that his small opponent wasn''t even fearing his enormous size and was just walking from the front as if the big lizardman was just a small fly. The warrior should have already killed this small intruder by now. He was more than capable of obliterating a group of small opponents like this one. But he didn''t attack. He didn''t even dare move from his ce at this moment. His sharp green eyes were filled with confusion as he looked at the two red eyes shining from the reflecting blue light of the water. All six of his senses were telling him to not make a single wrong move or he will be killed on the spot. Fear, more ferocious than the time hest met that bastard evil spirit, filled the surface of his heart. His opponent was also only a small creature. Almost smaller than the children of their race. But the way even his extreme senses couldn''t precisely guess the extent of his powers¡­ He looked weak, but he was anything but weak. The long weapon in his hand was even more mysterious. Something like a needle, but also something that shook his sickle-covered skin. He knew this weapon could easily pierce through his body, absolutely neglecting his passive defense. It would be difficult for him, he knew... but as a warrior, this was more exhrating for this lizardman than his absolute duty to fend off any intruder. He had to follow his so-called duty, defeat the intruder, and get back to his eternal life of solitude. That was the only way for him to survive, get his revenge, and someday get back to his kind. He had to defeat this intruder, and for that, even though his senses denied it, he will have to defeat this small intruder. He had to do it... he must... But before he could start moving and attacking the intruder, the intruder who was standing just before him started doing something. He was just standing still for a moment after reaching him, but when he moved, the thing he did actually shocked the lizardman. The boy first touched the surface of the water, then tapped his thighs, made a fist with his right hand, tapped it on his heart, opened his left palm, and sshed the water... Then he moved his wet palm on his chest. From right to left and atst... mmed his palm on his chest while speaking in anguage the big lizardman wasn''t expecting to hear from a small intruder... [< "Axion, a mage archer of the human race, greets the great warrior lizardman." >] [< You...! >] The small intruder greeted him with the traditional greeting of his kind. He spoke in anguage only their kind could... and he was so perfect with his greeting that the big lizardman, a creature three times bigger than the boy, could not believe what he had just seen... or heard. Chapter 383 Miserable... ''How can a small child-like being speak our tongue!?'' This was something he found very disturbing and shocking, but this was even more sudden than anything else. [< "What are you doing, warrior? It is disrespectful to one''s kind to not greet someone, right?" >] The boy asked with a sharp eye and looked at the lizardman standing before him. He was waiting for the greeting from the lizardman... It was a basic norm to greet someone back when they greet you and the warriors must follow their basic traditions more thoroughly than the normal folks. They are creatures of nature and, as a warrior, truer creatures born to fight, they had to follow the traditions of their kind. And as the strongest one in their tribe, this one also had to instinctively follow that. Just that he was first astonished by the sudden greeting from the boy or the small creature. [< Zuroro of Van green lizardman, the strongest warrior greets the Axion of humans. >] He was surprised, but he also followed the same greeting the boy had shown. He first touched the surface of the water, tapped his thighs, punched his heart with his big right hand, opened his big palm with sharp ws, and sshed the surface of the water, which created a wave that collided with the small intruder. But the water just passed from around him without touching his body and he nodded at him. [< "You look miserable, Zuroro of Van green lizardman." >] His voice contained pity, warmth, and a strange superiority. He was looking up at him with his sharp, glowing red eyes, but it seemed like he was looking down at the big creature. It was strange... even more because the threat his senses were telling him about had suddenly grown even more than before. He felt pressured by his own senses that had always been right as well as the best. He had lived for a long time and fought countless wild battles, but never in his life had he felt a simr threat from any strong creature as he was feeling from this small creature. It was strange, but a true warrior like him was feelingrge to submit to this small creature... and it was uneptable! [< You...! You small weakling! I will- >] [< "Weak?" >] His eyes narrowed as he asked the question. His voice contained genuine questions. He was looking at him with his red eyes that seemed like the eyes of a bird of prey, eyes of a warrior that had fought more battles than him, and he could clearly see the ''experience'' in those clear eyes deeper than anyke he had seen. [< "Does your heroic senses, the senses of the greatest warrior, also say that I am weak?" >] There was weight behind those simple words. But it was even more surprising how he knew about his great senses. He was just a small mortal. A small creature with a simple weapon in his hand. A child he could crush at any moment. He tried to convince himself of these things, but however many times he tried, he couldn''t go against his senses. [< You!! What are you?! >] And in the end, he just gave up on underestimating the opponent and took a defensive posture. Pointing his sword at him, even his senses heightened far more than before. He was ready for anything this weird creature would throw at him. He was small, but maybe he was one of those formidable beings that would disguise themselves as weak creatures so that creatures like him would put their guards down. Maybe this small-looking creature before him was another great being who even knew the traditions of their kind. Maybe he was the warrior of another lizardman tribe...! [< Yes! You must be a mystic from some other lizardman tribe! You have a special ability to change forms! But I won''t be fooled anymore! >] The warrior started thrusting his sword, shing, striking, and waving at the intruder without thinking. He was using a sword passed down through their tribe to the greatest of warriors and it was something he had cherished the most ever since he was tricked by that wicked being. He was the greatest warrior, a special being that even that evil bastard acknowledged¡­ But he didn''t simply bring him here to guard this ce, and it wasn''t even of his own will. He was here after the destruction of his family and tribe. And he couldn''t do anything to protect them. Neither could he do anything to that bastard that put him here. He was weak and dumb to fall into its trap and actually miserable to be in this ce. He was bound by the task of protecting this ce and fending off the intruders that ever step into this ce until the day he dies. He was miserable... he was truly miserable... And the one that reminded him of his misery, this small-looking strong creature... he had to kill him! He had to at least defeat him! Those were only his thoughts, though... [< "No. I said I''m human. A different species from you all. This is my true appearance. Warrior. Remember. If the opponent is smaller than you doesn''t mean that they are also weaker. Small ones could sometime possess power far greater than giants. Just think about the small round furball-like creatures that dominated one part of your ind. >] The lizardman warrior''s green eyes widened in shock as the small-looking creature reminded him of the past that he had almost forgotten. [< You are... right. >] But his sword still continued its fierce attacks. He shed, trusted, stabbed... but there was no damage to the small intruder. The small looking ''human'' avoided the one-meter-long de. Even the sharp winds generated by the brandished de. The lizardman was just randomly swinging his de, but there was still great pressure behind his attacks and there was also the strong wind that flowed from the de''s edge. The normal attacks were enough to obliterate any normal opponent, but this small ''human'' avoided all of his attacks. The way he avoided every single attack was also something that clearly told the experienced worrier that this being before him was used to avoiding fiercer attacks than his movements. This wasn''t his actual power and technique, but this was still something that normal beings couldn''t avoid. It was surprising, but even more surprising thing was the dead-calm expression on the face of this small human creature. He didn''t even feel pressured by the strength, anger, and bloodthirst oozing out from the enormous body of this lizardman warrior. The evasive actions were also impable... something he could tell was instinctive from his experience. He was trained for this. He had already experienced many sudden attacks like this one, maybe even more dangerous than this one, but the small human boy, Axion, knew how to fight. [< "Do you want to be freed from this misery, warrior Zuroro?" >] The boy, the small human, Axion, asked with a small smile while still evading his continuous barrage of attacks. His simple yet confident voice that suddenly strangely echoed throughout the cave... unwantedly created a spark of hope in his dried heart. He felt an instinctive reliability from that voice... something he himself couldn''t exin. It was strange... but once again, his senses told him that what he said could actuallye true. There was a mysterious certainty in this voice that can''t be exined with simple words. He had absolute trust in his senses, but he wanted to deny them at this moment. He wanted to refuse. He wanted to keep attacking and take a proper position for his real attacks. He wanted to use his actual strength at this very moment, but... he couldn''t. He just stopped attacking after hearing him say that. He himself didn''t know why he stopped, but he stopped. And that was enough for the small boy, Axion. [< "A worrier''s ce should be on the battlefields, by his close ones, among his own people. And yet, a special one like you is here, rotting away in these stagnant waters. I know it is all because of the bastard evil spirit. That leash on your neck is more than enough evidence for what I wanted to know. Past is something that has already passed, so thinking and talking about it would be more of a waste than anything. So worrier Zuroro. I can free you from those shackles. But as you know... there''s nothing free in this world. Hmmm... Nah. This won''t do." >] The boy had a dark smile on his face when he was talking about the free things in the world. It was really dark and even the lizardman warrior suddenly felt chills down his scales while seeing that creepy expression. But then he suddenly stopped. He shook his head and just moved back and... looked at the lizardman before him with an approving gaze and a wide smile. [< "You are a warrior..." >] It was confusing, even for the lizardman himself. This baseless question came out of nowhere, but from the tone, he wasn''t actually asking it like a question. He was thinking something while saying that, and the confused lizardman grasped that fact. He truly was more intelligent than his previous opponents. Anyway, the boy nodded at him with a smile and looked around the open area. There was light, but it wascking in many ways. He was going to get this lizardman in all the ways. So he needed to defeat him first. He was a warrior with a strong pride after all. A fight was inevitable in most of the simple scenarios he had thought, so a proper fight was better than a lone, boring fight, right? [< "Apologies but, please wait for a moment, great warrior." >] [< What...? >] But without even listening to the startled warrior''s confused cries, the boy took a few steps to their left side and then used a movement skill to move to the end part of the open area. Then, he used some kind of earth magic and erected a big tform some meters above the water level. [< What are you...? >] The warrior was surprised by the small ''human'' creature''s sudden behavior, but even at this moment when it looked like the boy was rxed and had left his guard down, his senses said something different. They told him to be prepared to receive any surprise attacks from the ferocious boy who actually had no openings, even while showing his back to the opponent. He stood before the tform, looked around, selected some spots around the cave, and nodded with satisfaction. Then he closed his eyes for a moment, covered his hand with a strange white light, snapped his fingers, and... suddenly, blue mes lit up all over the cave one by one. -Sub! Burrr¡­ -Sub! Burrr¡­ -Sub! Burrr¡­ mes. Something that shouldn''t be easily possible in this humid, water-covered area. And these mes had lit up without any dry wood in this ce... Was this even possible!? [< You...!? >] His belief that this small ''human'' creature, Axion, was a mystic lizardman in disguise, was getting stronger as he saw the pale blue mes calmly burning on the walls of this wet ce. His reflexes, the mysterious strength that his senses warned him about, and now this bizarre magic... As if this much wasn''t enough, this small person did something even more fascinating. He summoned creatures out of nowhere! And the creatures he summoned... [< Yei~! Master Eon''s house~~! >] [< New home. New home~! We can see the sky now~! >] [< Sky! Skyyyyyy~! Where''s the endless, ever-changing blue sky~? >] [< Master Axion~! How are you~? >] [< Brother Axion~! How long were we gone~? Did you defeat that bad creature~? >] [< Hmm? Eon? Where''s this ce? >] [< Mama~. We arrived~. >] They were some colorful furballs. Small, round creatures with a row of sharp teeth and blessings of elementals. The lizardman worrier knew of these creatures. At least their kind. And never in his life... had he thought that he would be able to see these creatures once again. Especially a particr one among them... [< You... >] His eyes fixed on one particr golden blob of fur as he recalled the old days of his glorious past and the fall of his home. Chapter 384 Sacred Battle ''It couldn''t be... just how?! He killed all of them back then! I saw it with my own eyes...'' He was shocked as soon as he saw the small round creatures who held considerable strength even after being so small. They were creatures with the blessing of elementals. They were the intelligent ones that were naturally gifted with fearful magical abilities. They were strong... especially their leader. That great wise being was someone even their n respected. These magical creatures had dominated the central part of their home for a long time. But unlike the other four ruling tribes of the ind, these small creatures mostly persuaded peace. They loved being by themselves and their ruler wanted nothing more than the safety of her family. She was a strong creature. This lizardman warrior could still remember how these small creatures had helped the other beings on the ind many times. Their tribe was naturally one of the beings that had received help from their tribes. Even after being small, they possessed great strength. And even after having strength, they believed in pursuing the happiness and safety of their kind. In a way, they all were indebted to them. And even on the day of the destruction, their leader, that wise great being, even after being small, had calmed the enraged evil and saved countless lives on the ind. It was nothing less than a miracle that a small creature with such great powers was present at that time with them. But he didn''t understand the gravity of the situation until he saw the calm and sane evil spirit with his own eyes. The epic of their leader had been witnessed by many familiars of all four ns. Her tale of bravery was already immortal among the people of the ind. But the evil spirit had already destroyed arge part of the ind before it calmed down. ''Their leader had imed the evil spirit by almost sacrificing her life but the bastard...! That fucker had killed them all! Then he didn''t stop, moved around the ind, mostly destroyed the other four tribes, and took the most special beings among the creatures with him and left them here. He had turned many creatures it killed into filthy undead, impure creatures that spread death on their paths. In the case of this lizardman tribe, Zuroro was the most special. He was their champion and hero. Someone who held considerable strength in the entire ind. He even gave a good fight to the weakened evil spirit but, in the end, he wasn''t even strong enough to beat it in its weakened state. He was weak... far weaker than he was right now. But the evil spirit said something different. ''That bitch...!'' It said that it acknowledged the strength of the great warrior and even presented a beautiful artifact as a token of its acknowledgment. Their tribe, the wounded people, the elders and leaders of their tribe, everyone was weaker than Zuroro, but they knew that the evil would never show kindness. They knew there was something wrong with the goodwill of the evil. They all knew that it was a trap of evil that devastated their homes. They mustn''t ept that ''gift''. But the gift was attractive. The conditions were against them. The pressure from the evil spirit was so great that some of their children couldn''t even breathe in the presence of it. It was a one-sided goodwill, but it was also the only silver of hope they all had. They all were going to die, just like the small magical creatures that were killed indiscriminately. This small light of hope was almost like a brightly rising sun on the horizon in their eyes. But there was hope. There was still a chance that they would be spared if they quietly epted the goodwill of the evil. Any animal would do their hardest if it was for survival. And their situation was even more unique than any creature of that time on thatnd. Their greatest warrior epted the gift after the permission of his leaders. They were the people he trusted more than himself, after all. And that... was the greatest mistake and sin of his life. The gift, this ursed artifact... it was nothing less than a ve cor. It was really a plot devised for their rune. The evil had truly sought their death. Zuroro¡­ was the ve that he gained from the mindless ughter of the lizardmen. The ne was a cursed artifact, something that absolutely prevented the wearer from disobeying themands of the owner. It was a ve cor and the hero warrior was the eternal ve that had to unconditionally follow the will of the evil that had mindlessly ughtered his kind and countless other creatures of the ind. He had probably survived alone among his people, and this was an uneptable truth that had stigmatized him as an eternal sinner. He was at fault, but he unwantedly followed the evil after the ughter of his family. He loathed the evil bastard who ughtered creatures of many kinds and just returned to his tomb, his resting ce, with the prisoners like him, the trolls, countless undead, the brainwashed goblins, and so on. They all were scattered all around the paths to this tomb in either an imprisoned state like him or a mindless one like the brainwashed ones. There were many creatures who he made into high-grade undead, but the lizardman warrior didn''t know this. So even Axion couldn''t tell there was something more surprising waiting for both of them ahead of their path. His train of thought was focused on the small round furball creatures. He had seen the golden one among them, but at that time, she was just a small child. So he knew she wouldn''t remember him. But he could tell that this one was the same child that followed around her mother, the great savior of the ind creatures. It was surprising to see the creatures that he thought werepletely vanished from thesends. It was absolutely unpleasant to recall the memories that he had buried deep in his heart and mind throughout the unknown time he had been here, in this underground ce,pletely alone, gaining strength for the day that he could take his revenge or... maybe just pass away with the regrets still making his heart heavy. But the memories, his goal, his wish once again returned to him because of this unknown being that even know the tongue of those special creatures that even the elders of their kind couldn''t converse with. But he was definitely doing it right now... He was talking with them the same way he was talking with him. And it was also without the use of any skill, Aura, or nature''s power. It was his own power, his own techniques, and his own wisdom that he was able to converse with those creatures. It was fascinating...! It was his thoughts, and he was in genuine awe of this sight, but, on the other hand, after a long talk and scolding from their mama, he had seeded in his task. [< "Alright? I will be fighting with that big uncle there. I will fight and you all just have to watch quietly from here. Maybe it will be boring or something that you can''t even see or understand but I know my Celes will be able to tell you what is happening. Ok? Mave, please take care of them if they get too confused. It will be fun when they could still see us and it will be good for them, but still, if anything dangerous happens, don''t get scared. I am here." >] [< There''s nothing for us to worry about as long as you are here, anyway. >] The golden furball, their mom, smiled at him with a confident smile almost overflowing with trust. And the innocent children followed behind her, almost jumping with joy because of the unexpected, but extremely exciting scenario. [< Yeiiii~! Brother Axion will defeat the big lizard uncle~! >] [< We will cheer for you, master Eon~!! >] [< Hehe. I know brother Eon will defeat that big lizard uncle with ease. He has the blessing of all six attributes while the big uncle only has water and wind~! >] [< But... isn''t there a weird smell like that bad person around lizard uncle? W-will it be alright, brother Eon? >] [< "It''s alright. He''s a good person. Just that his heart is wounded. That bad thing also did something bad to him. We will surely take him back with us, ok~?" >] The little ones were then sted out in cheers, excited voices, and joy to meet another cool person. They talked about them, praised Eon and the lizardman, and even wanted to go greet them. But the ominous feeling around him was something that scared them a little. These small furballs, these creatures, were afraid of the dark energy around him. Not his big, scary self with sharp ws and teeth. It was interesting for them to see this new kind of creature, this new big uncle that they had never seen before, and that fascinated them even more. But Mave knew of this kind of creature. He definitely remembered seeing lizardmen in her past, after all. She knew they were dangerous creatures, but she also knew that they were good to her mom many times. So, if Eon trusted him, then there was no need for her to worry about it. It would be fine, and getting the chance to witness the fight of the savior she trusted so much and watching his strengths was a chance she didn''t wanna miss. So... they were set. The audience was ready. Celes was out of her mark and was now chatting with the povpoi after sitting on their soft heads. They liked her. They actually loved her from the look in their eyes and now Celes was somewhat like a big sister to them. And it all happened so quickly that even Eon couldn''t help wondering just how great his partner was. Or just how innocent and pure these children were. Anyway, this was concluded, so he said his bye-bye and took a step back, created a ''strong'' Solnova shield around them, and returned to the lizardman warrior. [< "Apologies worrier. But the audience is the important part of the ritual, right?" >] He smiled at him, and this calm smile, filled with something deep and mysterious, confusing him more than his words. [< What... ritual? >] He was confused by what he was saying all of a sudden. But even before he could understand what was going on, the boy, the intruder, the small human Axion, ''tapped'' his long weird weapon on the ground, and created a unique frequency of sound. And as soon as the lizardman heard this sound, as if on instinct, he straightened his back, sharpened his eyes, calmed the muscles in his long tail, and looked down at the small Axion. His response was instinctive, something he didn''t think would ever happen in his life again was happening right now, in this ce that he had never thought could be the grounds for this practice. Not this scared one, at the very least. The sound he heard was perfect. Something only the warriors who had trained all their lives could produce. And this lifelong training and practice were for only one thing. For one fight in their life. For a goal they dreamed of achieving. This was something that only a warrior, a true warrior, could perform. This was a calling that they carried throughout their heart and soul until the day they die. This was... the ritual of the sacred duel. [< "Lizardman worrier Zuroro, the champion of Van green lizardman tribe, I, Axion, challenge you to the sacred battle of true warriors." >] And his response, the response he had given to countless challengers in his life, also came out instinctively. [< I, warrior Zuroro, ept the duel. Challenger, state the thing you want as your prize. >] His answer was instinctive, so only after saying this much did he realize what was happening at this moment. And by the time he realized that and looked at his opponent, at the divine smile on his face that was no less than the evil spirit''s, a shiver passed throughout his body. [< "I want you warrior Zuroro... your whole being." >] This... those words genuinely horrified the strong lizardman who had stood as a champion for decades. Chapter 385 Red Start [< My... being? >] [< "That is what I said, warrior. If I win, that is, if I win, then you will belong to me. You will have to do the things I say and things that would be favorable to me. You wille with me to wherever I take you and do what I tell you." >] [< Absurd...! >] [< "That is what I want, warrior. And you must give it to me if I win." >] [< This doesn''t make sense! How can a small bastard like you have me?! You aren''t even one of my kind!! >] [< "Warrior. The sacred ritual doesn''t say anything about race. A challenger challenges the champion in the presence of any spectators, the challengers gain the respect of the champion, then the champion epts the challenge. The challenger can ask anything from the champion if they win and be the new champion. The loser has to fulfill the order of the new champion. He would have to give his life if the champion wants it. That is the dignity of the previous champion, warrior. Remember your roots." >] [< This is absurd! If you aren''t one of our kind, how do you even know this?!! And the champion also has to receive something of the same value from the challenger! What can someone like you- >] [< "Isn''t your life, your freedom, the chance you so desperately wanted, something of equal value as your whole being? Instead of rotting here, serving me would be better, right?" >] [< Absurd!! How is it any different from right now?! >] He shook his head at this absolutely wrong question. It was just too wrong topare his kind, little self to the bad, evil spirit. [< "Warrior." >] He looked up at the big lizardman with a nk expression. Looking straight into his eyes. His glowing red eyes pierced deep inside him. Almost piercing his soul as he said his next words with this gaze that induced a strange emotion in him. [< "Do not worry. Neither am I like that evil spirit nor do I n to ever treat my own people so lowly. Instead, you can look forward to it. Of course, it is on the basis that you defeat me. I will do anything if that happens." >] He smiled by the end of his words and the lizardman came out of his focused state. His eyes were fully focused on him. His words seemed like the words of a champion like himself. Words that could give hope to his close ones, a voice that could give despair to his enemies, and a voice that was filled with strange reliability. It was strange, but the lizardman... [< Khahahaha! I see! Thene, challenger! Fight! >] He firstughed to his heart''s content and then... a new seriousness overtook him. He was a warrior, after all. And this conversation, this whole meeting with this strange creature, reminded him who and what he was. A champion stronger than anyone, a being who everyone looked up to, and someone who absolutely enjoyed a true and fair duel. The boy seeded in bringing back the Zuroro of the past. The one that was self-imprisoned in the person of despair and hate. His mind was now clear, and he had only one true fun thought on his mind. And it was to enjoy... To truly enjoy to his heart''s content. A true battle with a strong opponent after a long time. He rxed his muscles, wielded his sword, and closed his eyes. This was the battle posture he hade up with after evaluating the opponent''s strength from their previous short spar. He knew the opponent was a master of long-range fighting. His whole body was molded to be used as a weapon of long-range destruction. But that wasn''t all. He also knew that the opponent had a deep-rooted understanding of close-range fights, physicalbat, and richer battle experience than himself. He knew his opponent was anything but weak, and after this little person opened his eyes and closed heart, he was in aplete state, fully aware of his situation. He will have to be prepared for any long-range attacks, be ready for surprise attacks that might dominate his own field, and engage the opponent in as many close-range fights as possible. He would gain more understanding of the opponent as the battle progresses and defeat the strong opponent! There was certain hesitation, but a warrior was a being that put his all on the line to win for the things they believed to be true. And right now, the opponent before him, regardless of what weapon he used, was a warrior. He believed in something; it was clearly reflected in his eyes. And the lizardman was the same. He wanted his freedom. Serving under someone wasn''t something he would do, even if the master was a great person who had gained the trust of a magical creature tribe. He was a strong opponent. And he will defeat him! He will at least give this fight his all... just like a champion should when facing enemies of unknown strength. He was ready, and the small intruder had a smile on his face as he looked at the now calm, more ferocious, stronger, and sharper lizardman warrior. There were no openings in his defenses. Not even a single one... Even if he did a surprise attack, his heroic senses had activated in earnest now. He knew with this skill, this lizardman could pick up even a slight change in his field even before it urred. He already knew this one would be a battle even more awesome than his battle with that whatever strong evil spirit~! Just like the lizardman, he was also excited about this fight. [< "Do your best... warrior." >] He smiled warmly, and took out a normal-looking wooden bow, or more like his special bow, Tay, the bow of strength and swiftness. There was no need for more words here. If wanted, they would talk with their weapons¡­ ... Two excited strong beings, a vast open area filled with dense water, a calm surrounding illuminated by the blue mes, exciting small furballs on one side of the open area, their faces full of excitement and innocence, some happy butterflies on their heads, and a single golden arrow shining in the middle of the two opponents. The stage was set. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish... And neither of them was going to hold back this time. At least to a certain extent... *** "I think I''m feeling anxious...?" "Oh? What would worry my dear lovely husband~?" "Don''t know... just, I suddenly have this unexinable feeling." She was scrabbling something on the paper with her special-looking pen with a design of a beautiful griffin and a blue gem on top when she stopped and looked at the gorgeous man sitting on the other side. This was her workroom, but her desk, bathing in the warm paint of the setting sun, brushed by the huge open window behind her, contained fewer piles of papers. Sitting before her was her worried husband with a cute expression. And she couldn''t help her smirk after his sudden words. His gorgeous face, high nose, perfectly clean face, bright red eyes, and shoulder-length hair made him a sight of heartache. But his pretty face was stained with a cute, worried expression right now. So she stopped her writing and spoke to her darling husband with her marvelous smile. She also looked like a heavenly maiden because of the golden rays of the evening, after all. Her bright blond hair shined like an endless field of young wheat. Her light brown eyes were the gentle earth containing the newborn sprouts. Both of them looked breathtaking together... but maybe not the red thoughts on her mind right now. "So, my dear husband is worried. What might be the damn cause of this bad bad worry~?" He looked at her gorgeous smile and sighed deeply. "Maybe something will happen to Eon?" "And why do you think that?" She was still smiling, something that her old self would never have done. "Well... they just went to that unknown ce. It''s already evening and they haven''te back yet. What if something dangerous happens to him?" "Brian... at least worry a bit about your future daughter-inw." A sad smile covered her bright face after that, clearly showing she didn''t like her charming husband''s wording. "O-oh yes... I meant what if something dangerous happens to t-them?" A subtle blush brushed his face. He wasn''t thinking about the big picture a moment before. "Hmmm~. Well, both of them are strong. Why would anything dangerous happen to them? And if something does happen, you know both of them to know how to survive, right?" This wasn''t something the Nolen from a few days ago would have said. And this made an even greater impact on him. He realized his mistake. ''Yes... both of them are special. As well as strong.'' he thought as he looked down with embarrassment. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. It wasn''t like the two of them were going to fight a powerful creature beyond their caliber. At least... not alone, right? "But it''s not like it''s certain that they will be perfectly fine. Maybe¡­ they will be hurt? After all, we don''t know what will happen." "Hmmm?" She now had a genuine, sad smile. Something far more gorgeous that enhanced her beauty. But it was confusing... She wasn''t worried about their return or if they will face something dangerous. She was worried they will be hurt when theye back. Well, it was understandable from a mother''s perspective. An always worried mother. But right now, she was a strong one that believed in her child more than ever. "Hmmm... well, it''s possible. They went to an unknown ce, so unknown things might happen after all. But let''s not worry... Celes is with him, right? They will be alright." And after this, she smiled again. The worry and sadness from just a moment ago were nowhere to be seen. His anxiety vanished as soon as he saw that healing face... and smiled the same as her. "Right. He will be back at least..." "Hmm~! And I have a feeling that he won''t be alone~." "What?" Her words confused him¡­ again. Not only was it sudden, but it was also out of the blue. "What do you mean, he won''t be alone?" "Well..." She smiled again and stood up from her ce. "Just a mother''s hunch?" She walked behind him and hugged his calmly sitting self from behind. Surprising him once again. "N-Nolen?" "Yes, dear husband?" "W-what is t-this...!?" She leaned closer to his face... and kissed his neck. Still standing behind him. He was... surprised would be a small word to describe his astonishment. The room was silent. Only the voices of nature from the window dominated the big, empty room. He could hear her worried heartbeats... ''A worrying heart filled with hope, faith, and belief...'' She hadn''t changed much, but she definitely had be a better person, mom, and guardian. She worried, but didn''t let that worry affect her much. "He will be back. Don''t wo-...?!" He was going tofort her, but she then bit the neck she was kissing a while ago. "Who''s worrying?" She smiled... her warm breaths feeling even more clearly on his wet neck. Shivering... he looked to the side, at her smiling face, with his blushing one. She had a distinctive smile on her face, something probably only he and his son knew about. The pen was still in her hand, and the blue gem on top of it started glowing as soon as he understood her red intentions. "N-now...?" "It''s a good time, no? I''m finished with the work. Eon''s away with his friend. Zoe and Anna are ying. The atmosphere is perfect. And your blushing is making me even more hungry..." "B-but...!" A light shot out from the gem on the pen and hit the door on the other side of the room. At the same time... she started unbuttoning his thick shirt. "It''s still time for dinnertime. Until then, let''s..." He could still feel her warm breathing on his skin... her raising heartbeat... her touch... She was looking at his expression from the side; he was looking at her with a swat-covered pink face, a thin gap between their faces... Two heartbeats dominated the quiet room, small sounds of gulping being of no interest here. His deep red eyes reflected her hungry face, her soft eyes reflecting his adorable reaction. The beam of light opened the door on the other side of the room was ready... and so was she... to eat her pretty prey after a long time. She was ready, he was helpless, their faces were too close, he didn''t deny it... so she didn''t dy anymore. Their lips met each other. The burning hearts ready to quench their thirst. She was a beast right now, he was her prey... a helpless prey. They began their usual y... or at least that was the desire. "Mommy~! Daddy~! Let''s make a cake~!" Their lovely little daughter jumped in without any warning. "Anna! You should always knock and ask for permission before going in like that!" Their second lovely daughter, probably the most special child among the young ones in the house, followed behind her. Their faces had separated instinctively as soon as she barged in without worrying like that... and now an awkward smile dominated their faces. She was unhappy... he was too, probably. But they were helpless now that the redness of the atmosphere had vanished. Their daughters were here. The little one asking for something. So... they couldn''t do anything right now. "Mom~? Daddy~? Let''s gooo~!" A helpless expression covered her face as she smiled and shook her head at him, and stepped back. "Okay~! Let''s gooo~!" She replied with a smile as she turned back alone and he buttoned his shirt. The little girl was confused by the sudden atmosphere... she could feel their emotions and right now, they somewhat varied from their expression. She could guess she did something she shouldn''t have right now but... well, they weren''t sad or angry so it was alright~! She didn''t understand their helplessness, but their other daughter was different. A wise young divine being... the strange atmosphere, their expressions, the sweet scent of the atmosphere, and the open door on the other side of the room exined everything. Not that she could do anything now that everything had calmed down. Their dad also turned toward them with a smile and looked at them, and then at her... and she said something through her eyes. ''Tonight...'' ''...'' The special young girl understood those unspoken words and was relieved. They were fine with this behavior, so there was no need to worry... probably. So... The lovely family gathered and went out with various different emotions filling their hearts. The room was left empty. The sky outside the window showed marvelous natural scenery. But... The clouds were gathering for the first time after a long time. Darker clouds. Amon, unique, yet... new atmosphere. A cold wind blew through the room, house, and the city, marking the beginning of a new season. They all were going to greet this new weather with diverse different feelings. For some, this would be something they would see for the first time. For some, this would be a trigger that would remind them of a ''particr'' event. For some, this would be the season most dear to them. And for some... this would be the season they loathed the most. But that wasn''t something for us to think about. It was a beginning of a new season. A new start. Maybe an end to something. And maybe the continuations of the old ways. Whatever it may be, one thing was true... Winter was here. Chapter 386 R-Ritual...?! -nk! nk! nk! -Booooooom! -Crackkkk... The sound of metal colliding with each other,rge explosions, and the breaking of bones, or more like cutting of bones, was ringing throughout the open cave area. In the vast in area with dim lights illuminating the surroundings, a cluster of undead skeleton soldiers, knights, mages, as well as some strong zombies were in a sudden turmoil. Their day had been going normally as it had always been, but today, suddenly, they engaged in a battle first time after an unknown period of time since their creation. It started with a sudden explosion that blew away the skeleton bodies, and these explosions went off simultaneously at many ces in this open area. Many of their troops were wiped out because of these explosions that happened out of nowhere, but that wasn''t all. After these trap-like explosives went off, an intruder appeared and started ughtering the skeleton soldiers, knights, and mages. And the first targets were naturally¡­ mages. The intruder appeared at the very back of their formation out of nowhere, as it had been there for the whole time or as if it teleported there. But the mages didn''t sense the intruder at all. All they had sensed was the power of light elemental, and that was enough for them to lift their guards. It would have been easy if the mages cooperated with the knights, but the intruder who held the power of light started ughtering the mages! It was strange, the mages could detect the presence of light element but they couldn''t even feel where the intruder was even after using their skills and magic... The intruder appeared, disappeared, and every time a strange sound rang throughout the cave, more than one body fell to the ground, either cut in many pieces or blown away by therge shockwave. It was strange and dangerous... But they couldn''t detect the intruder with normal means either. There was only their kind, the undead, in this cave. However they tried, there was no being who looked different from them, felt different from them, or didn''t have the dead energy around them. They were all the same and still the mages were falling... or had fallen. Mages were wiped out in a matter of minutes, but that didn''t stop the intruder. This strange being who seemed to have no form or possessed a form simr to theirs wasing, hunting, and vanishing from their senses in such a precise manner that not a single one of them could detect the intruder. But then, after a while, when one-fourth of their troops had fallen to the ground, every one of the ''stronger'' knights sensed something. It was faint, but they definitely felt a strange aura from one of their own soldiers. It was strange, as if someone was disguised as their kind. And this disguise was even enhanced by the unmistakable aura of death that they possessed. It wasn''t possible for an alive being to possess the aura of death or even recreate something simr through normal means. But this particr solder''s aura was fluctuating. Something that shouldn''t happen to a true undead. So... they now knew the cause of the sudden turmoil they were facing! The intruder was capable of changing its form and even able to duplicate their presence for a short time. But now, after finishing off arge number of their troops, the strange power that granted the intruder the presence of death was fading away. It was simple what they had to do now. Just attack anyone in sight! "Ktktktktktktkt!" "Ktktk! Ktktktktktkt!!" The knights, the remaining strongest ones that possessed some form of intelligence among these mindless skeletons, gave the order to the remaining troop and the soldiers, as well as the knights themselves, started fighting among each other. It was a clever decision from their point of view, but from the point of view of the intruder, our smart Rein, this was precisely what she was aiming for. [[ "You are amazing Celes~!" ]] [[ Nuuuu... I can''t do much through the clones. I could have helped you a bit more if I were there! ]] [[ "No~. This much is plenty. Those skull heads will do the rest of the work and the remaining traps will work as catalysts, increasing their doubt, confusion, and fear. Let''s just hope their cores are safe after this internal fight~." ]] [[ Sister Elle is awesome~! ]] [[ "Not at all, dear friend. You are the most amazing~! My skill can only change appearance, but with your help, this obvious fake appearance bes a perfect disguise~!" ]] [[ Hehehe. But sister Elle did everything~. You are strong~. Very strong! Even I can''t move through shadows like you do and set magic traps like that~. ]] [[ "Oh? I think Celes is strong enough without these simple things. You are strong~. And you are still young and growing. I know you will be even stronger and protect my fool darling~." ]] [[ Yeeeiii! I will always protect master~! ]] -Boooooom! "Khaaaaaa!" "Ktktktktktktktktkt!!!" The girl was covered by a darkness attribute spell (Dark curtain) as she set some distance away from the internal fight of the skeleton monsters. There were hundreds of skeletons when she came here. All set in a battle formation. Parties of knights and soldiers at the front, and the mages at the back. The zombies were used as shields, so the whole formation of main damage dealer knights, front support soldiers, tanking zombies, and rear support mages was a formidable opponent even without the presence of a leading figure. If the death knight she had fought before these small ones were here, she knew things would have been three to four times more difficult than right now. But without the presence of a dominant figure, destroying the battle formation, creating turmoil, and conserving energy became easier for her~. And she received Celes''s help, so it was even better for her. She took her time, and set explosive and illusion traps throughout the formation after using her disguise skill with Celes''s perfect disguise ability. She had to use arge amount of Mana in this thing, but she had already recovered her Mana using potions. She didn''t even need Clover''s help in this fight. It was easy to kill the mages who couldn''t sense her presence thanks to Celes''s ability, and killing them was easy with the power of light elemental. Mage also didn''t have any great defensive skill, so even though they created magic barriers around them, the magic of low level was nothing in front of her who possessed the ability to use [Old magic). She was also trained by her darling, who possessed an absurd sea of knowledge, so destroying their weak and simple magic barriers was no different from cutting fruits for her. So... her work here was easily done. And she now had a good time ying with her familiar old crow and spirit partner, Clover. There was a pretty fun fight happening among the skeletons and knights and it was quite a decent show to watch them for the passing time. Her opponent in thepetition, her darling, had wasted a lot of time analyzing the power of the lizardman anding up with the idea of obtaining him, anyway. He was still just doing something... [[ "What''s he doing, actually?" ]] [[ Master had his usual weird smile when as he was talking with lizard uncle but then he stopped. And now... ]] She stopped for a moment and then suddenly shouted in an excited voice, [[ He took out the fun furballs~! I''m going to y with them~! ]] [[ "Huh...?" ]] Her face was covered with a confused expression. It was strange how he would take out those cute little dangerous creatures before his fight with the giant lizardman. Was he going to use them as magic support? He surely wouldn''t need them against a single lizardman, right? And he couldn''t even gain him unless he defeats him in a ''fair'' fight. What was he doing there?! Celes didn''t answer her for a while... but she kept calling her from time to time as she watched the knight and soldier skeletons dying. They were actually quite slow and their proficiency in destroying the opponent was quite low, but at least everything was happening without her lifting a finger, so she was fine with this. The more questionable thing here was... why the hell did that lizardman just stood still that whole time?! He should have just attacked a lone boy like him from behind. Things would have ended quickly for both of them. But the big strong lizardman just stood there? Without doing anything? Well... his pride wasmendable. Even she wouldn''t let go of a chance like that. It was just too easy a way to get killed by her amazing darling. Anyway... she definitely thought that the reason he didn''t attack him was that he had good senses and already knew of the consequences, but, well, it was fine. The warrior was going to lose, anyway. ''But what were they doing with some weak furballs there?! Preparing for some ritual?!'' [[ He is doing something like a ritual~! ]] [[ "Heh...?!" ]] ''What the fuck kind of ritual was he performing with a big male lizard?! That bastard!'' She couldn''t hide her emotions and wanted to shout out loud¡­ but there were still some skeleton knights who could sense loud noises fighting his own kind there. So she held back her curses and Celes exined how this ritual thing was important to the warrior collection thing. She understood her simple exnation and was relieved. The thought of her darling and a big strong lizard... definitely no! Surely he wasn''t into ''those'' kinds of¡­ Well, anyway... thest fight on his end had finally started, which meant the end fight on her end should start too, right? The opponent next was a lich. And a lich was a master of magic which also possessed close to infinite energy. It would be a difficult match, but she was ready. But before that... [[ "Let''s collect the loot~!" ]] [[ Yeeeiii~! ]] Chapter 387 Strong Lizardman -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish... A subtle sound of something flying through the air rang, and the boy vanished from where he was standing. -Ssh...! At the same time, a sharp gust of wind flew and cut apart the ce the boy was standing, creating a deep rupture in the calm water¡­! As the lizardman opened his green eyes, he slightly turned his body and avoided the brown arrow of light with a red tip. He could tell this arrow would have hurt him even with his active defense, but he avoided his attack and so did his opponent. The lizardman had used his senses and detected the opponent in an instant as he brandished his sword once more on the right side, where there was practically nothing. "Tsk." A clicking of tongue rang out in the quiet surrounding as the wind cut through the shadow of that ce. The boy was hiding in the shadows and the wind somehow disturbed the shadows themselves, not the source of the shadow, not the source of light, but directly the shadow. It was something strange, but the boy knew this was because of the [Territory boost] skill. This whole area was the lizardman''s territory and he could exert his authority over his own ce however he liked. And affecting the elements inside the ce was one of the abilities he possessed. But the short time brought him enough time to prepare for his next few attacks¡­ As soon as the shadow was destroyed, he vanished once again, reappearing just behind him. This time, there was a pure red arrow of light, a spell arrow, on his bow. He was a few meters away from him, but this was just behind the back of the lizardman. And the lizardman knew this. He knew there was no perfect way to avoid the arrow safely, so he sshed his giant tail, and¡­ as the arrow left his bow, a pir of water rose from the ce the lizardman sshed the ground. -Spshhhhhhh! Arrow collided with the water and this bought him enough time to move away from his ce. So he took advantage of the force created by the tail and moved to a different ce. -Swiiiiiish! But that was also something he had anticipated. With the ce where he could appear after this move. His second arrow was already on its way and there was no way the lizardman could avoid this. Or maybe there was one way... The lizardman turned ever so slightly after receiving the signal of the attack that his arm could move. He was a lizardman. Different from normal humans, he could move his limbs as stically as a fish without any unnecessary skeleton. So he swung his sword at a weird angle, and the sword collided with his sword. [< That was a good one! >] He smiled as the arrow was actually absorbed into his sword as soon as it touched the sword. The boy saw iting, but it was still astonishing to see just how lucky the lizardman was. [< "Can I have a closer look at that after the fight?" >] the boy shouted as he changed his position using his high mobility and battle experience and avoided trying his best tond a fatal blow using his magic arrows. [< Of course! That is! If you defeat me! >] he shouted back, almost effortlessly avoiding or destroying, or absorbing the magic. The artifact sword he was using, the blue-ded curved longsword with a teeth-like edge was a divine artifact. A very old one at that. It was something he wanted to take a closer look to truly analyze the main stuff as his three eyes only told him three things at this moment. ''A sword that can absorb Mana and cancel magic, a rare kind of artifact. Something that was definitely made by a craftsman of grandmaster level. And something that was so great that my cute eyes gave it full five stars.'' Those were his thoughts and the smile, the widespread smile on his face, was something that was the incarnation of delight''s reflection. -Boooooooooom! Their battle continued. The boy threw the spells, sometimes many arrows mixed in his spells, and many times arrows with enchanted magic. His heroic senses distinguished between all the different things and made quick judgments as he learned how to avoid, take, or defend against a different type of attack from the opponent. The lizardman''s impressive ability to adapt to the battle was terrifying. So was his ability to learn quickly! In just a few minutes, he was fully able to avoid his simple as well as magical attacks. Though some of them passed through his defenses, despite his extreme senses, he was fine because of his body armor skill. The attacks hurt him, but not enough to make him bleed... so he was able to grasp a few things. It had been a while since they were fighting in this simple way. And the lizardman understood just how he was evaluating his opponent''s strengths right now, his opponent was doing the same... Maybe, his opponent was one step ahead of him and was thinking in scenarios... thinking about how his learning ability worked, how long it took for him to learn new things, how great was his defense skill and just how great was his weapon mastery. It was frightening... but he could tell from those sharp eyes that were looking at him as if cutting him open, his opponent was someone that didn''t hesitate to try and learn new things or do these dangerous experiments in the middle of the battle. His attack pattern was changing in a way, but the attacks had stayed simple this whole time. The lizardman knew this wasn''t the boy''s all strength, but at least this one was a fraction of what the boy was actually capable of. So this much was enough to make a primary deduction. [< ''He''s absurdly strong...'' >] The lizardman was a champion. He had fought countless other members of his tribe, other creatures of other tribes, some other creatures from the sea, and some creatures that rule the sky. He was a being that had lived for more than a century and had a rich battle experience, but before this particr opponent, all previous knowledge seemed to be useless. He was like a creature of the deep sea... someone who looked calm, but its depths were immeasurable. Just these simple normal attacks were giving him a hard time, forcing him to consume more stamina than he would normally need to handle a purely close or long-range attacker. The fundamental of a battle was simple and opponents always had a particr kind of way to use their weapons. Either from a long distance, from a close range, or maybe from an average medium range. But this one, this boy, this being, this Axion, shot his arrows from all distances! Sometimes his arrows flew from faraway ces, something he did after using his strange movement skill consecutively. Or by using magic techniques that must consume a lot of resources. He sometimes hid his presence perfectly with some weird technique and closed the distance with him and used close-range stabbing, thirsting, or shing attacks with his arrows. He mostly fired his arrow from an average distance that he think he could reach, but this boy had better reflexes that could make heroic senses feel shy! He perfectly avoided all his attacks and was mostly fine, even after this seemingly long confrontation. Even the absolute stamina, which couldn''t be recovered with herbs... he was recovering it as fast as him, someone with an advanced stamina recovery ability. Maybe it was better than him, something practically absurd! But he definitely received a few small cuts. But that was it. He could only find out that the opponent could use various types of arrows, had many pre-prepared arrows, and knew how to use his surroundings. His evasive ability was unbelievably good... but the way he used all the small nts, rocks, water creatures, as well as the walls to use as a support while doing something fast-paced, was close to the [Release] of the transcendent beings. And his greatest strength... it was his mind. A mind so amazing it could actually perfectly analyze his attacks, skills, and habits. He knew from how his attack patterns stayed the same despite so much time passing, the same attacks that actually hurt him despite being the same, and attacks that were now hurting him while ignoring the heroic senses, he had grasped more things about him than he did about him. And... it was actually true. He definitely had grasped far more about this champion lizardman than he could think. And the most basic thing that he concluded after his thorough understanding was... ''He is smart and strong...'' A monster that could learn far faster than normal humans, something that was almost cheating from their perspective. A being that had the best senses he had seen after his master and the elders of his house, someone that had great control and authority over his territory, had a skill that recovered his stamina far quicker than one can imagine. He still hadn''t used his water attribute skill or physical boost or berserk, so his threat level was far above the normal blue-ranked creatures. He also had the cursed artifact and his divine artifact sword. This was a great creature... and his Aura would be just this amazing too, right? He was a warrior, some of the few ''creatures'' that could use Aura. It was almost time for him to bring out that special energy and use his remaining skills, and the boy was waiting for that moment. He had tormented him by using the same kind of but different frequency attacks. Not only had he fully analyzed this creature on his own, but he was also now almost prepared, waiting for the chance that he wanted. His stone-like armor body could only handle so much of his attacks. He had lost a few drops of blood, too. His fresh green blood was making the already dirty water even dark. But with each passing second, both of them were gaining more insight into the opponent. Knowledge and information on the opponent were a great help in a first fight like theirs. But... a great deal of time had already passed since the intruder entered this part of the cave. His friend must be fighting with the lich by now, and that was a good thing. She had given him a good fight, but he would win in the end. He wanted to talk with her right now, but he had no time for that. Any distraction meant defeat when the lizardman was that much serious about this fight. He couldn''t divert his attention much, but he at least knew that his dear partner and the little povpoi were having fun watching this fight from the side. Even Mave had stars in her eyes like her children~. And it was so cute he just wanted to take a picture of them and distribute it throughout the empire. Maybe the illness and health ratio will improve thanks to it. He actually considered that fact, but... he blocked it for a moment. He was in the middle of a fight, and the opponent was finally getting serious. [< Human mystic Axion. You truly are a great warrior. >] Those were the words of acknowledgment. And just after those words... the atmosphere in the whole cave started to change! Water started reacting, and the winds were gathering around his body. From themon perspective, he could tell that the warrior was an [Rank-4] Aura user. But to witness the manifestation of a duel-natured Aura... [ < "Wow..." >] He can''t express his shock and amusement at the sight that was manifesting before him. Not only was it something dangerous... it was also... beautiful~. Chapter 388 Green Aura Green. A bright green simr to his eyes. It was different from his scales, which were the same color as dark green tree leaves. It was closer to lime, but not as much closer to the neon side. It was a strong color. Something rare... But that wasn''t all. This was an Aura with two distinct natures. Its first characteristic was the color green. The second was its state, a simple fluid mixed with sharp winds. It was a rare type of Aura, and he wasn''t a human, so it was even rare. The green water-like base was just like the water we were standing on right now. The winds surrounding it were something that reassembled the wind attacks that he used throughout their fight. It was strong, and sharp and had a unique dominance over the surrounding calm air. It was a mix of water and wind. Something that looked good, but at the same time, it was something obviously dangerous. Materializing Aura is naturally more difficult for humans than energy beasts who have a body that can easily handle strong destructive energy. The intelligent beasts who can use Aura like this lizardman could maintain this materialized form for far longer than humans who had clear limitations. That was one of the reasons there was a rule that if a knight shows their Aura in a fight, the opponent has to show theirs as well. That was the most basic respect one gave to their opponent as a knight. Not that all the people followed this in all situations. And not definitely in situations like this one. He was fighting a lizardman who had clearly different beliefs, traditions, and strengths than the humans. Maybe he was even hearing about the humans for the first time or had little knowledge about the humans, but he clearly acknowledged the strength of his opponent to show the Aura just after this rtively short fight. The opponent was strong and smart. He was clearly better than himself and that much he knew for certain. So he called his special power and got ready to start the ''real'' fight. The evaluation waspleted and the conclusion the lizardman reached was that the opponent was strong but probably something that he had a chance to defeat. He clearly had limitations, and the terrain was also unfavorable to him, something that was a strength for the lizardman. If the opponent was strong, he wasn''t weak either... But he was excited, and the toothy smile on his face showed his excitement. -Ooooooooong! The winding form of Aura covered his body while the thin green fluid covered the sword, elevating the beauty of the blue de even more. The boy knew the lizardman was finally going to start his onught, so he was ready too...! But before he could react, this time, the lizardman vanished from his ce first and appeared just before the ce he was standing in and¡­ -Swing! A sharp sound of a de cutting the air reverberated throughout the open cave. It was a sharp sound, but... the sound just passed through the air and vanished. Nothing was hit by the sword or the sharp wind. "Pure physical archery!" A shout rang out in the surroundings and a strong gust of wind followed after a loud sound of explosion! "True spar!" -Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! -Boooooooooom! At the same time, the lizardman and his opponent both vanished from the naked eyes of the spectators, confusing the little furballs. They were confused. Just what was going on...? Their brother-master was fighting the big lizard uncle and both of them looked super cool! But then both of them just vanished and now there were countless explosions that shook the water as well as created big waves that hit the barrier that he had created before leaving. The water blocked their sight even more, so they had no idea what was going on, but thankfully the butterflies with them were telling them what was happening in real time! They had seen the bright colorful Aura that the big lizardman had created as well as how the lines of green light were moving all over the area like someser light with a will of its own. They could also see the shes of colorful lights that either shed with the green light or collided with the ground and water. The lights that hit the ground were then turned into arrows and were starting to cover the ground, but one thing was undeniably true¡­ It looked cool! The pretty colors, the lights that collided with each other in this dimly lit vast area. And the blue color of the mes increased the effect of bright green even more. The lizardman was a big creature, and he moved throughout the area with his sword covered in a brighter light than his body, which was the reason for the effects ofser light. He had his senses sharpened even further, so he was able to follow the movements of the boy. And though he couldn''t reach himpletely, he definitely shot some of his Aura, something only a [Rank-4] knight could do, towards the boy, which became straight lines of beautiful green. But the boy also countered them with countless arrows that he took out from his weird silver quiver that seemed to have infinite arrows. His arrows too... they weren''t fully the arrows of light that he was using previously. These were normal wooden arrows with some weird glowing patterns. But one thing was amazing here too... These wooden arrows, maybe some if not all, were strong enough to cancel his Aura attacks! A simple piece of wood could cancel his powerful attacks, and the ranged ones, not the simple ones at that? It was impossible for even the wood of an ancient tree, so it was simple to understand what the reason for this could be. [< ''The special patterns...'' >] The lizardman smiled deeper as he blocked four arrows parallellying at him from behind. They not only contained more weight than the weird golden arrow standing some distance away but these arrows were also filled with the power of the elements. More precisely, the power of the earth and fire attribute! It was impossible to make these kinds of weapons with a shallow knowledge of nature and elements, so he acknowledged the fact that this person was amazing enough to make or obtain them. They were no less valuable than his sword, a relic passed down to their kind throughout generations. And the boy was using them in this mere fight. Which meant he also acknowledged the champion lizardman as a worthy, strong opponent. He was happy about this fact, but his life was on the line right now... he had to defeat this opponent instead of praising him for his weapons. There was still the threat of that golden arrow on his head. The boy had yet to even use that weapon and the lizardman was already feeling the pressure. His stamina recovery was great, amazing maybe. But there were also some limitations to him. He knew... from how things were going on... one hour. That was the limit he could go on like this and maintain his Aura and fight this fast-paced battle. His opponent shouldn''t evenst for a few minutes if this pace continued... or so he previously thought. [< ''He''s... not normal.'' >] From the looks of it, he was using the most efficient way to avoid his attack at the same time as he used the most simple techniques to shoot his arrows. Not only was his stamina consumption less than the lizardman, but his recovery rate was also close to him, something far disadvantaged for a big creature like himself. If the fight continued, he would be the one in the most disadvantageous position. And he didn''t want to lose at all. He was a champion! A winner who had only lost once in his lifetime! He couldn''t lose to a simple intruder who was stronger, better, and superior to him in some ways. He was still better in physical aspects! He was stronger, faster, and had more advantages in terrain, weapon, and senses. He could also learn during the fight and adapt to the new changes and enemy attacks! Though the opponent was smarter and had edges, he was still not something impossible to defeat. Not at least for the current him. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish~! An arrow flew through the surroundings, strangely changed paths, and, unlike the others that hade in a group of three to six to his way a moment before, this one was alone. A single arrow fired from the same bow, but surprisingly, this one contained more power and speed... something that he can''t avoid even after already being ustomed to the opponent''s attack pattern. The arrow was also a bit longer and filled with more designs than the previous ones. He had also aimed at his tail, something he hadn''t done throughout this whole confrontation. [< "...!" >] But the tail was one of his most vital weak spots. A detached organ that was practically far stronger than even his hands, but at the same time, if hit with greater force, it could cause him a great injury! He had faintly but surely perceived the iing stronger arrow. He had a fraction of a second to avoid this fatal injury... thankfully, that was enough this time. [< Hump! >] The big lizardman used his water attribute skill, [Gator jaws] on his tail, surrounding his tail in a shell of water... which was definitely painful as the skill actually bit off the designated target. But the shell of water that was created after the use of skill was enough to at least reduce the impact of the unique arrow. -Shpsh-booooooooom! ''Smart...'' That was the only thing the boy could think of while seeing his special arrow, one of the high-enchanted arrows failing to prate the only weak spot he had found on the lizardman. The decision to cover his tail with that water attribute skill was good. Not all could make a quick decision to hurt their own bodies while in a fast-paced fight like that one. He didn''t even have a second to think about what would be the best way to defend against this attack. That decision was instinctive. Something only a being who had faced deathly situations coulde up with. ''But... he will lose.'' The boy smiled as he saw the arrow with fire attribute enchantment that collided with the water shell. His defense was effective, as the shell itself was reminiscent of a predator finish with a hard body. He was fine even after the attack... and as soon as the arrow collided with the shell, evaporated the water attribute shell, and even collided with his tail, the lizardman turned his body to the left and blocked another arrowing from that side as¡­ the previous arrow had failed to damage the active defense of rock hard body armor. [< "Let''s end this... warrior." >] The boy was personally holding the golden arrow this time. The bow he was holding just a moment before was now hanging on his back. His red eyes now had a glowing dot of white light and his wide smile was enough for the opponent to know the opponent, the challenger, was now finally going to get serious. Serious enough to be ready to end the fight. His heart and wish were conveyed to the lizardman warrior... so he, too, strengthened the grip on the sword. They increased their speed... and the lights that were at least understandable by Celes also vanished from their field of view. Chapter 389 Golden End... [< Where did master gooo? >] [< Lizardman uncle also vanished! >] [< Lady Celestine...! Did something happen to Axion?! >] [[ Well... no. He''s enjoying whatever he is doing. Just that you all can''t see them anymore. But yes, you can see that- ]] -Boooooom! A loud voice created by strong shes between a beautiful green and pink light. [[ See. Both of them are just there. But we can''t see them anymore because they are just too fast for our eyes. Master once said this happens when strong weapon users like master or very strong magicians enjoy a fight too much~. It also means they would finish their match soon~! ]] She exined the worried small creatures and her words fascinated them~! It was just amazing how someone can vanish from one''s eyes just because they move so fast that their eyes can''t follow their movements. Even the lights from the moment ago be so quick that their eyes can''t register their movements. It was... fascinating! Their big blue eyes widened in surprise as they watched the only thing they could see... the colorful explosions created by their shes. It was actually pretty~! And the butterflies on their colorful heads were happy to see their cute reactions. Celes, she could feel her master through their bond, and right now, she knew he was having as great fun as he had when fighting with his big sister. She was happy because he was happy... and she absolutely did not want him to suddenly start worrying about her sister Elle, who was having a strange encounter with a weird skeleton. A weird skeleton who can... talk? *** He was a warrior, a champion of his tribe, and a being who had reigned as the best for decades. It wasn''t even a question that he wouldn''t have gained a deep knowledge of his own body and mind. [ZONE] It was a realm few lucky ones could experience in their lives. But luck wasn''t the only factor needed for one to experience this unique realm. A life-threatening situation, great passion, skills, talent, and a strong opponent were also needed for one to go into this realm. The lizardman, not many times, but certainly had experienced what it felt like to be in the state of [ZONE]. He knew what this special kind of rush felt like... as well as how it was a realm he could only stay in for a short time. He had great physical strength, far greater than a strong human. But he didn''t have a great enough mind to maintain this state. He could only maintain it for a short time. Maybe as long as the boy, his opponent ''normally'' could. Which... was a great achievement in itself. The boy was special, but the lizardman could maintain this special state as long as him, which naturally wasn''t a good thing for him. -nk! nk! nk! It was a very small sound, but Asta was definitely damaging his scales. His hard scales were reinforced by his skill. It wasn''t something even his enchanted arrows could scratch. But Asta was doing it right now... though very slowly. -Boooooooom! They were practically floating above the water as they moved so fast that not even the water was disturbed by their movements anymore. White sparks were shing in his ruby eyes, green sparks dominated his green reptilian eyes. The lizardman warrior was certainly strong. Especially... -Whip-ptttt! His long, strong tail regrly tried to hinder his footing and endured magic spells shot at him from the unknown location in every part of the cave. His opponent was a being who could use magic, a mystic art that only a few special creatures of nature could use. And his magic, especially, was something that fascinated him the most. He had never seen a creature who could use magic without chanting and specifically concentrating, or from locations far away from their main body. It was as if the magic was being cast from different parts of the cave and it was getting difficult for him to properly do any damage to the opponent. They both had started this battle a while ago, but it was still in the ending stages. This was something both of them were experiencing after a long time. ''A strong opponent...'' The boy was having fun even at this moment. Even after knowing that he was in a disadvantageous position. Even after not dealing any significant blows to the opponent. He was truly smiling. It was a deep smile that stayed the same as he avoided his special sword, tail, or punches. It stayed the same in the situation where he hurt him, or a spell finally hit him. It even stayed the same when his special spells were canceled by his sword. It was fun for them, especially the boy. Why wouldn''t it be fun when you know you will win even after the unfavorable elements? ''It''s fun...'' -nk! -Booooooooooom! -nk! nk-boooooom! -Whip-ptttttt! nk! ''But...'' He masterfully turned his body and changed his falling path mid-air as the previous spot he might havended on the water was eaten by an enormous jaw. The same jaw that had previously saved the tail of the lizardman. It was a fun y from his point of view. Maybe he won''t be able to have as much fun with the evil spirit as he had with this lizardman. He would have loved to continue just sparring like this. It was just too much fun to stop just with this much. The warrior was a being that could learn things quickly. Someone who can adapt to any form of the fight as time passes. It was an ability that couldn''t be found even if he went out in the public with a divinentern. And his strength and experience were something fascinating, too. His senses were already on par with the knight captain of their house. Someone who had devoted his all to the way of knights. His Aura... well, he couldn''t even stop admiring its beauty. Its strength was a different matter altogether. Not only was it a rare type, but his Aura was also as strong as someone specially trained in the usage of Aura. It was advanced, but at the same time, its dual nature made its utility far greater than his own current Aura. He could strengthen his body with the thin wind form at the same time, he could use the denser water like Aura to strengthen his weapon. Ifbined, he could enhance the sharpness of the de with water and wind characteristics. His Aura mainly focused on defense and destruction, while his opponent''s Aura could defend, enhance the weapon, as well as destroy the opponent with greater force. ''Not to mention he could shoot the Aura like some attack spell...'' He wanted him more than ever now~! He wanted him, and defeating him was the only way for that to happen. But if he defeats him, their beautiful sh, the gorgeous explosions that the children can''t take their eyes away from, would just stop... He truly just wanted to continue this duel. The lizardman warrior had the same desire. But... ''Maybe... we can continue this fight after we get out of here?'' -nk! He had another strong opponent he had to kill. Yes... well, they actually had no thought of sparing that creature. He was here to support her at first, but now that he had met these amazing creatures who that fucking bastard had harmed, he had to give eternal rest to that bastard. And for that, he needed to be in the best condition possible. Even after considering that his stamina would recover by the time he gets there and the potions would recover his physical state, the mental stamina wasn''t something that could be revoked with a simple potion. Even with the ''red potion'', his exhausted mind couldn''t fully be healed. And [ZONE] elerated the draining of this mental stamina and concentration. So, even if he could go on for a long time, he had to end this fight. It was sad. Really sad when considering the lizardman had just got a grasp of his archery and fencing. ''This bastard had even vaguely figured out the principle of coordinated magic activation.'' It was a high-level casting technique and consumed more resources than normal magic spells. Taking into ount that he was saving his Solnova for the evil spirit, only using it to strengthen Asta and his body, the Mana he had consumed during this whole fight... was close to his entire Mana pool. The only reason he could use spells even now was that he had chosen to use the enchanted arrows instead of spell arrows. His sword was a threat throughout his fight, but there were also limitations on his sword''s ability to cancel spells. Spells did hit him every so often. And that was enough. He was physically superior to him. But still... he was now considerably weaker than at the start of the fight. He hadn''t held back one bit, giving his all even after knowing he would lose in the end. He was a true warrior... so he deserved an awesome end, along with his respect. [< "Thanks warrior..." >] He said... and pushed the lizardman back with greater strength than he had sown throughout their fight. He backed off and stopped. Yes... he actually stopped attacking. And as his opponent suddenly stopped, the opponent, the lizardman warrior, also had no choice but to stop. He was pushed back with greater strength than himself, something that should have been impossible... but it was true. And it confused him. Both of them stopped. The children and Celes on the other side, cheered with excited, admiring shouts, as they saw the two people with their special Aura surrounding their weapons. The lizardman uncle with his dark green body and light green water-wind currents. Their master brother Axion, with his gorgeous appearance and special pink mes. This was just too amazing and their shouts and a cute, excited voice echoed throughout the cave. But it didn''t reach either of them. They were in the [ZONE], a personal world with only the two of them after all. For them, only the other one existed. Nothing other than the opponent. Not even the world they were actually in. And in this state where white and green sparks were filling their eyes, this sudden stop¡­ seemed like an eternal stop. As if time had stopped... maybe even worse than that. The two of them stood there, facing each other, their guards still up against each other, and their smiles still stuck on their faces. He looked excited. His opponent looked ferocious with that beastly smile. But still, after a moment, which was far more than a moment for the two of them, his heart was conveyed to him. His eyes were bitter at the thought of stopping the ''spar'' that was turned into some of the most fun things in their lives. He could, and wanted to go on for a bit longer. Maybe forever, if possible. But... this was neither the right ce nor the right time. They had been performing a sacred ritual. One would be the winner, while the other would lose and fulfill the agreed promise. The fun was one thing, but this thing that they didn''t want to end... had to end. [< Thank you. >] There was no regret in his eyes. He had epted he lose halfway through their fight, anyway. But the smile that still didn''t fade away from his face was enough for him to know that this warrior won''t be giving up till the end! And he liked that better... The lizardman strengthened his grip on his sword. His green Aura covering his body and weapon thickened. -Oooooooooooooong! The pink mes, his gorgeous Aura, also intensified. But unlike the lizardman, he didn''t just stop there. -Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuung! A ball of light started materializing before him. -Swish. Swish. Swish. Ten magic circles, every one of them with different colors and structures, appeared all around the cave. -Oooooooooooomg! And atst... he summoned a golden bow, his third favorite bow, Bion. The golden bow of life. Their eyes were already sharp enough to cut a tree. So... -Swish! Swish! Swish! Ten different kinds of magic shot at him from different directions, but the lizardman, without having even a shred of fear, vanished from his position. The de of his sword collided with six of the spells, while he sessfully avoided the rest of them. The spells that collided with the sword were cut in half and also vanished! -Shpiiiiiiiiiiii...! The ball that manifested into a bigger ball of light in an instant shot a beam of light towards exact the location the lizardman was standing on after canceling the spells! Hemanded the opponent''s ability to thoroughly understand his opponent. Enough to predict their next move and set the attacks. [< But still...! >] He roared in a loud voice that almost shook the whole cave, which was already detested by their previous sh! The beam of light almost reached him but, just before it came before him, the special sword lizardman''s hand shed with a blue light! He brandished his sword in a lightning-fast manner and a blue sh of light, totally different from his Aura, shot from the de and collided with the white ray of light! -Boooooooooom! There was a collision that evaporated a great amount of remaining water, shook the cave, cracked the walls, almost took away all the light from the bio-luminescent organisms, and created the biggest crater in this area! The area with the povpoi, the area protracted with a ''strong'' Solnova barrier, was the only remaining thing in this previously glowing area. The blue mes from before were still flickering, but they weren''t exhausted even after the great fight that took ce in this ce... at least most of them. Some of the mes had vanished after the rocks they were on were destroyed because of their fight, but many of the mes were alive and strong. Maybe they were the only reason there was any light in this ce. Not that this light mattered after the whole cave was filled with the fog of evaporated water from the previous collision. It blocked the sense of sightpletely. Not that the warrior or the opponent needed it. The lizardman champion had five other senses he could rely on. [< There...! >] And it was enough for him to tell the location of the opponent! -Swish! -Pachak!! -Thud... But s... it was toote. The opponent had changed his location during the explosion using the [Shadow dive]. And by the time he detected the opponent, he was ready with Asta ready on his golden bow. He released the bowstring just on time when lizardman worrior detacted him and Asta, which was covered in not just the absorbed pink Aura but also a special golden energy. [< "Well done warrior..." >] Asta was as fast as light after being shot by the golden bow and the strength it contained after being fired... was so absurd that it not just prated the strong defense of the lizardman... it actually pierced his boy, came out from the other side, and struck a wall of the cave... and created a giant creator on the wall. But the lizardman warrior, who had given him a great fight, had already fallen to the ground... with a hole in his ''strong'' body of course. Chapter 390 Lich... In the dark cave... well, yes. I and my dear fucking bad luck were walking towards ourst target. The lich that was ''most probably'' thest guard I would face before facing that fucker evil spirit. "I know the lich would be tough, but what the hell, man... how can I not get an energy core when there''s a certain chance of getting one after killing an undead knight and mage?! This is crazy!!" [[ Master... I understand your anger, but it''s not certain that you will get an energy core from undead creatures of high rank. It is just that there is a very high possibility because the undead''s energy core is already active when they are functioning. As they already have the core when they are ''alive'' after their ''death'', the chances of the core remaining intact are the best. When we think about the normal energy beast, as the great mother nature has devised, after their death, the creatures unconsciously condense all of their remaining energies, including their soul energy, into a condensed form. But, normally, the condensation process rarely finishes, and the ''core'' that ''others'' use is created. In a case like you... when the undead ''die'', their cores mostly retain their form. Which didn''t happen in your case. You also didn''t kill many of them on your own and they destroyed themselves... maybe it was a variable other than your luck? ]] "I know you are a wise crow, but shut the fuck up if you don''t want to increase my misery! I already know that stuff!" [[ Y-yes master... ]] "Haaa..." Maybe he loved to talk because he knew too much? Well, my dear partner was old and totally different from his cute Celes. "What is he doing Celes?" [[ Fighting~! ]] "The lizardman? Still?" [[ Yei~! The two of them look amazing~! Master is having fuuuuuuuun~! ]] "Damn... he''s having fun while facing a strong opponent. And here I am, even after defeating hundreds of high-grade undead, not getting even a single good thing." I was sad... I knew my dear partner''s old crow was also sad too because I was sad, but, well; it wasn''t his fault I was this darn unlucky. But one thing was intriguing. "He is having fun..." It was something amazing if I think about it. He was having fun. My dear darling was truly having fun. And he was fighting nothing but a lizardman warrior. There was no way this lizardman warrior was some regr lizard if he was having actual fun while sparring against him. And it has been a few minutes since they started fighting and were still going... which meant they were going to go all the way... in that fight! Not that way! "I know he wouldn''t be interested in that lizardman. Not at least in that way! ...I hope he isn''t." It was difficult to know his thought even now, but at least I had faith that he wouldn''t introduce me to his second partner someday... He even said I would be the only one... [[ Sister Elle...? The lizardman is an uncle. I said that, right? He. Is. An. Uncle. Why are you still worried? He isn''t even an aunty... ]] "Oh, innocent little one... it''s more concerning if he is an uncle." My heart would sink every time I thought about this scenario. No one could ever actually understand a human mind after all. Definitely not aplex one like his... [[ Master... I don''t think master Axion... ]] "I know that already. Why would he be interested in a lizardman uncle? But what''s wrong in hoping that something that most probably won''t ever happen must never happen?" [[ Master... you have be even weirder. ]] [[ Sister Elle is weird... but I still like sister Elle~! ]] "See. Learn from our cute Celes~. See good in people. Everyone has their own imperfections." [[ But I don''t think- ]] "When did I say you could talk? Shut up!" [[ Uam...! ]] He just shut up as soon as I ordered him. He was cute, too. ''Hehe...'' Celes returned to watching their amazing fight. I also wanted to watch it but s... I had to face a creature that might be life-threatening. "It''s also actually a lich... ironic." [[ Actually, right? Master Eon is fighting with a pure creature of nature, while you will face a being who had defied aw of nature and gained great power and partial immortality. It''s fascinating how mages have such great desires they can even turn themselves into undead. ]] "We still don''t know if it is a pure lich or an evolved being. Don''t reach your own conclusions. And... I told you to stay quiet, right? Now, until I don''t ask, you won''t say a word." [[ ...ok- ]] "What? Did I hear something?" [[ ... ]] "Good. So, yes. I''m freaking unlucky. Celes, can I ask him if he has something like a potion to enhance luck?" [[ ... ]] I asked Celes, but my dear crow also wanted to say something. I could feel him, just like how he and Celes could feel about each other, so I can tell that he wanted to add to the thing I asked her. ''He wants to say something. Definitely, something like a potion that increases luck is an absurd thing all in itself. Hehehe.'' I wouldn''t take it even if it existed, though. My dear luck... however it may be, it is special to me. Though it doesn''t work in most cases, when truly needed, it has always helped me better than the ones with natural high luck. ''It''s the reason I met him. So, doing anything about it aside from mourning over it and cursing it isn''t something needed. So, yes... my luck is garbage.'' Anyway, there was a smile on my face as I moved through the now somewhat different corridor. Celes didn''t answer myst question. Maybe she was too absolutely into observing their fight? Well, it would be fun if this lich is someone who can give me as good a fight as them. Finishing him quickly should actually be impossible, so I was already expecting some fun things. ''Maybe I can also chat with him? Their both kinds are special, anyway.'' Yes... now I at least had some expectations. ''He will be easy to defeat if he is under a normal human''s evil spirit anyway, right?'' Lich... There were two kinds to these creatures, or more urately, beings. First, the evolved high-grade undead monsters. The high-grade undead mages gain experience and self enlightened and be a lich. These kinds of creatures don''t consume many resources of their master as they are evolved and already were loyal servants of their masters. But these kinds of lich are rare. And most of them aren''t purely evolved through their own understanding of the world, life, and death. They somehow possess the innate ability of [Evolution]. And this innate ability helps them to evolve into a strong (Blue) rank creature, normally at least. They are some of the greatest creatures who can use magic. Their magic power is far greater than their ranks. But when they gain true self enlightened, they be some of the most formidable forces in existence. They almost reach the peak of (Purple) rank after all. Maybe sometimes beyond that... but creatures like that are only a myth. ''The second kind of lich is, as my dear wise crow said, mages who go too far with their desires.'' Humans have a finite life. Some of the shortest ones too. But at the same time, they possess the greatest ambitions, greatest greed, and actual mad desire to achieve that goal. And mages, the stronger humans among the innumerable poption, mostly have a desire for knowledge, truth, and power. They are the ones with the greater greed and desires. Their goals are so important to them that their finite life bes short for them. And then... they perform some weird ritual and turn themselves into undead. They leave their life after the ritual, but they don''t cross over to the river of death. They stay between the boundary of life and death after sealing their soul, the main living energy, into some special object. They gain conditional immortality at the end of their ritual. Gaining great power and a long time to pursue their goal. Some of them even actually achieve their goal and be so strong that they could even challenge the greatest powers of the world. One such example is one of the three archmages of the world. The master of the magic tower... "But he''s a fucking bastard. I hope this one is better." Not that I cared. All I had to do here was kill this creature, get his things, and go to that bastard evil spirit. That''s all I had to do, and it would be good if this was wrapped up quickly. I was already certain that I would lose to him in thepetition of things collected throughout their mini-boss fights. After not getting anything from those hundreds of undead, the chances were low that my great luck would shine and give me something good. But at least, one thing was for certain... "Lich has a hundred percent chance of leaving their energy core after their death. And it must also have some pretty artifacts if it is a good lich. He will also be intelligent, so exerting information from him would be a great thing. Maybe, if I can get information on the evil spirit''s weakness, I will be able to get that coin~!" Yeiiii~. That was also a thing, right? Lich mostly were creatures with as high intelligence as humans, maybe higher in some cases, so I could talk with him~. With a cheerful smile on my face, as I reached the open area, which looked a bit more well built than the previous ones, and saw a ck hooded being standing some distance away, the torcher methods rted to bones crossed my mind. I was ready to use force to make him talk if things didn''t go the way I wanted but maybe it wasn''t actually needed as... without me needing to do anything, as soon as I entered the open area and saw the lich, the creature itself spoke up in an extremely surprising voice that didn''t fit my view of the grand masters of magic, lich. [ "Aikk...! Y-you! What are you...!?" ] He spoke with [Mana speech] but his voice was extremely frightened. His head, the skull head, was covered by the hood, but the frightened light in his eyes was something that surprised me more than the fact that... there were green nts behind the ce he was standing. I didn''t understand what he was doing, what he was saying, or what he was afraid of, but from his unique reaction... a sudden thought crossed my mind. ''Is it possible to ''obtain'' this lich...?'' Chapter 391 Darkness Fanatic [ "Y-you! Great respectfuldy! W-w-why are you here?!" ] He was a lich. He was a lich... A lich... ''I can tell just from his shivering bones that he was previously a human.'' Creatures who were thought to have broken through the chains called ''truths'' of the world. Beings who had given up their being for the sake of their goal. Creatures who were masters of magic as well as high magic. Monsters are thought to be able to use a minimum of (tier-6) spells to be what they were. Beings with an inherent ability to use some form of necromancy. A conditional immortal being that can naturally live for as long as it wanted. Creatures who could even resurrect their body even after their deaths thanks to their immortal souls. Strong, intelligent, fearless... masters. Those were some of the descriptions used to introduce the creatures called a lich. Then what was this...? Great respectfuldy? Not even my Eon had ever called me this respectfully. Trembling bones... and people called these creatures fearless, powerful beings¡­ Or was this one special? "Why the hell are you afraid? Shouldn''t you attack or restrict the intruder?" [ "I-intruder?" ] ''This one isn''t normal...'' "I''m an intruder, you bastard. And what''s with this polite greeting? Is this an act to make me let my guard down? If yes, then it is working pretty well." [ "N-no! How can I do that? I wouldn''t dare do something like that before..." ] He stopped and his trembling eye-like lights inside his skull glowed yellow before going back to normal blue and just after that... his trembling increased. [ "Aick...!" ] I didn''t need a skill to tell that he tried an appraisal skill on me and failed miserably. It was natural, though. Aside from people like the headmaster and my darling, no one had ever been able to use a skill like that one on me. This trembling pile of bones would naturally fail to activate an appraisal skill even if it was a (Blue) rank¡­ He would definitely ssify as a creature, but he was close to a human in terms of skills and stats. Failing to use appraisal was one thing, but was he that weak that this little old me looked scary in his eyes? ''Certainly not if he is guarding thisst point of the path... right?'' ''Eyes of truth.'' ===Status=== ~Name: Morris Orpheus ~Race: Undead (Lich) Strength: 141 Dexterity: 117 Stamina: 144 Magic Power: 142 Intelligence: 130 Luck: 51 Charm: 9 Domination: 87 [~> Skills: Loyal to darkness, Green necromancy, Performing rituals, Cerebral barrier, Undead summoning, Magicprehension, Magic boost, Soul tampering, Greater Mana speech, Eyes of Bubakm, Hexagon item box. ] [¡ïAuthority holder~!] ?[[( Soul origin: Book of souls )]] ? ~~~> This one is a special person, master! He is undead, but he has still retained his unique skill from when he was alive! ~~~> [Loyal to darkness] isn''t just some boost skill that increases his ability to use his one and only elemental attribute but also something that allows him to use deeper abilities of the element. ~~~> It is a unique skill that boosts his ability with the attribute, but even after having that skill, his affinity with the darkness attribute isn''t even close to yours~! ~~~> But it is still very amazing that it is that great! He is a smart one, uses rare green necromancy, and has a deep knowledge of magic, life, and death. ~~~> Your decision is the best! I think he will actually follow you because of his innate skill too! ============ ''He isn''t weak, at the very least. But more than his special-looking skills, it is more fascinating to see that you can see through the origin and tell what the lich''s soul origin is. You actually are awesome~!.'' My eyes can show the true origin of a lich''s soul. Something that was the core of their being. Lichs''... for a human to be a lich, they must seal their soul into an object. They can recreate their physical body even after it ispletely destroyed. Something amazing and, at the same time, dangerous. Finding these objects,monly known as ''soul origins'', meant getting the lives of these creatures. And my dear eyes, they just told me what this special soul vessel was. It was my first time actually meeting a lich even after knowing about quite a few, but this certainly was something special. And the reason for his great respect and his current attitude... this was all due to his special innate skill. I hadn''t noticed it at first, but this creature certainly possessed some of the greatest darkness affinities I had ever seen. It means that the lich was a darkness attribute mage and actually someone who followed the path of darkness '' attribute''. This one definitely wasn''t evil, but instead, was so sane and ''good'' that he was a green necromancer. A nt-based necromancer who could turn the nts into undead if he wished. It didn''t mean he couldn''t use normal necromancy. No... he just liked the nts more... something the people of both our houses might like. ''My luck actually is quite amazing...'' I had twenty-one in my luck stat and it was mostly fixed at that point for most of my life. It definitely increased or decreased periodically, but in the end, it returned to this particr number. I did tell him about this strange phenomenon and he told me to not think much about it with a smile that genuinely found the thing interesting. Well, he said not to think about it so I stopped thinking about this thing but now that I was seeing this coincidence; it was just fascinating... ''Anyway...'' The lich, Morris, was trembling even now. This was an area I had already cleared with my grandmast time, but now, the whole area was filled with new things. It was as if this trembling one had reassembled all the things and made the ce into his personal ce. There were nts, bookshelves, some magicb equipment, and even many flowers behind him. It was a strange sight, considering the fact that this was an area dominated by a high-grade undead. It was fascinating... so much that I smiled while looking at the lich who was somewhat afraid of me and spoke in my deep voice. "Morris Orpheus." [ "Y-yes? ] His eyes were wide open with surprise as I called his name. But, he wasn''t shocked that I knew his name despite him being a lich and having a strong mental barrier skill. From his behavior, it seemed like he knew I would know his name. As if it was just a natural thing. Maybe he knew I had special eyes? Well... whatever it may be, he actually respected me. And maybe this sudden respect was deeper than a knight serving their masters. It was actually as if he was looking at a holy figure like the agent of the god he served for his whole life. ''Loyal to darkness... it''s clear he is too much influenced by my darkness affinity. And if I think about this as my darling meeting some magical creature who perceives his special six attribute affinity as some holy creature''s, shouldn''t this lich be the same?'' I thought about this for a bit and spoke in a serious tone. "What is the reason for your current behavior? Why are you afraid? Shouldn''t youe before me and bow down?" [ "Y-yes...!" ] And this fool actually floated towards me and kneeled down respectfully. ''Hehe. I''m right~.'' I was excited and things were also right, so there was definitely a chance that I could do something simr to my dear darling! I wanted tough and dance excitedly with my dear old crow- ''Oh, right...'' [[ Branwen. Come out. ]] [[ So... I can speak now? ]] [[ You can. But not more than necessary. I need you right now, soe out. ]] -Swwish. [[ Yes master. What do you want to do with this lich? ]] He came out from his mark and set down on my shoulder. He was quite lite despite his bigger size than normal. He was a good crow. He even listened to the small request to stay quiet this whole time and didn''t say anything despite seeing this special lich. This one was ''normal'', which wasn''t normal in any way. This whole neat and clean ce aside, this normal skeleton mage with the height of a normal adult human and green-brown bones, only had a strong blue light-like fire in his eye sockets. He also only wore his long ck cloak, and some cool-looking jewelry, and was floating one meter above the ground just like most of the lich do. [Floating] and (Flying) being one of their basic characteristics, unlike usual lichs'' who show aggressive behavior from the moment they sense the intruder of the ces they guard, this one was most definitely watering his nts. But surprisingly, as soon as Branwen came out and set on my shoulder, he flinched and pointed his finger at him. [ "A-a night crow! Indeed! You are a great divine creature!" ] His voice was loud, but what he called me definitely didn''t go well with me. "Oyy. I''m not some creature. I''m a good witch. Watch your words. And... you know about night crows?" [ "How can I not?! They are wise creatures who know many truths of the world, can assimte with darkness, and ''use'' darkness. They only bond with the great creatures of the night, shadow, and darkness! They are the nobles of darkness!" ] "Noble...?" This was even my first time seeing someone call him a noble. But... noble? My old Branwen? Him...? A noble? ''Well... no.'' "He''s indeed amazing, but noble? Nah. He''s my Branwen. Don''t call him noble or anything. Anyway... Branwen. What are your thoughts on this lich? And you. Morris. Be ready. You will tell me everything about yourself in as few words as possible." I looked at him with a sharp gaze and saw his still unchanging admiration. If this was acting, this was on the level of my dear darling. He was a creature at the end of the day. A lich who had most definitely made a pact with the evil spirit in return for something. It was foolish to take any further risk. "Chains of fallen night." I restricted him with the dark chains, which surprised him even further, and focused on Branwen. [[ So, master... as you know, lichs'' are creatures who have obtained partial immortality. We know his soul''s origin. Please check his reaction to the fact that we know about his lifeline. ]] [[ "Hmmm... ok." ]] "Oyy. Morris. We know about the book of souls. Don''t try anything funny if you want to live more." [ "Y-you know about that too...? Indeed! You certainly are someone who possesses mythical eyes which can see through the truths of the world! What can I even do before a great being like you...? These chains, this pure symbol of true darkness... just witnessing such great power... ahh... I won''t have any regrets even if you kill me~." ] ''Another weird one...'' "Hmmm." [[ Ok, so. He knows that we know and still maintains the same behavior. It is also true behavior from his calm soul energy. The first conclusion is... he is truly a lunatic. The second I can say is that he isn''t here by his own will. He is strong enough to damage even a (Purple) rank creature so that the evil spirit can''t have enough domination to control him. He might have made a deal with him, but that can only be known after knowing his story. Well, just ask him if he wants toe with you. His reaction would be good enough to know if he is a good candidate to take away or not. ]] [[ "Ask him if he wants toe with me? Why...?" ]] [[ Master... use your eyes at that time and just know if he really is willing to go away or is determined to guard this ce. Who knows, maybe he is acting like this because he respects you and will let you pass without any fight, but won''t leave this ce himself because of certain things. And if you also say that you are going to kill that evil spirit, then you can also know if he is with that evil spirit or just a ve to it. It is easy if you think about it, but if he were the subordinate of evil, he wouldn''t actually fear when knowing someone knows about his soul''s origin. If it was someone with an evil, they would have just acted calm to the end and it would have been their mistake. This one is clever, wise, and strong, and from what I can tell, he is good. He would only be with the evil for some positive gain or if he was tricked by the evil into something he didn''t want. ]] ''He really talks a lot. Thankfully, he said all those things in simple words instead of his usual chunni way.'' "Haaa..." I sighed while looking into his eyes, which resembled mine, and patted his soft head. He was at least a cute one. "Morris." I looked at him, looked down at him would be better, with a genuine sharp eye and asked the important question that his life would depend on... "Do you want to get out of here?" His eyes had a confused expression for a moment but when he grasped what I was asking, the blue mes in his eye sockets, his eyes, first widened, then they returned to normal... he looked down, thought for a moment, and gave me an answer that... I genuinely wasn''t hoping. [ "No." ] Chapter 392 Lichs Story His answer was clear and stern. He said it with certainty and sad but true eyes. He was a good skeleton, and I wanted him but, s... "Ok then. Rest in p-" [ "It is not that I do not want to but... I can''t. Haaa... I do not know how I should retell my great loss and inabilities but this is a story of not much distant past. Oh, great being-" ] " Cut that crap of great being. Call me Reinelle or master or something. It''s too ufortable to be perceived as a grand figure too, so leave down that utter reverence bullshit in your eyes or just look down while speaking." He was just staring at me with admiring eyes, as if seeing the god he worshipped standing before him. ''How does Eon cope with these things? Did he learn this too?'' It was really surprising but, well, whatever... The lich understood that I was serious too, so he, a lich, a master of magic and practically immortal being, lowered his gaze at my words. [[ "Why though? Isn''t he stronger than me in stats? He should also know that he is strong enough to critically injure me and still he is behaving like a devotee. Can a skill cause this much effect on a being?" ]] [[ It certainly can, master. It''s an innate skill. Something he was born with and something that is part of his being itself. Sometimes innate skills can practically define a person. Those types of innate skills are the special ones. Just look at yours and master Eon''s skills. Your eyes, which are practically special and limited to you, or master Eon''s energy cirction skill, that has made him what he is right now. Or, just look back at how you first discovered little Chry. He has never seen his own status window. Something that actually is absurd, considering its importance in nature. His innate skill blocks him from ''perceiving'' the thing called the status window temporarily. It doesn''t mean it doesn''t exist. It does. He isn''t beyond the bounds of stats yet, like the transcendent beings. Innate skills are just like that. Something that is part of your whole being. Morris. His behavior is understandable because it is because of his special skill. He is...a special one. Ahh~. My soul trembles with joy- ]] [[ "Thanks for the long information and normal words. That much is enough." ]] I knew he was going to start his special words again. Instead of his good, pretty, long words, I would rather hear Morris''s interesting story. So we focused on the story... which actually... wasn''t that special. [ "I was a normal boy with a humble origin from the Vibha kingdom of the southern part of the west continent. The story of how I be a mage and all isn''t something that special. I wasn''t even much special back in my time. But throughout my life, I had one wish that drove me to the path of lichdom... Darkness. It was something that I was attracted to for as long as I can remember. I definitely wasn''t the best mage, but I was good enough to have reached (tier-4) by myself back in the day. It was a great achievement for a young person, but it actually meant nothing in my eyes. I didn''t want praise from my parents or the normal people around me. I wanted something greater. I had but one wish... bing a part of the darkness that I admired, or better, serving the darkness for eternity. It was a strange desire, I knew even without others telling me that it was a dumb and bad-sounding thing. Who in their sane mind would want to serve darkness? The evil that everyone loathed. They thought I was a dark being in disguise, a follower of evil, a Rakshasa. Some even imed that I was a crazy person possessed by evil. They called me by various things, tormented me, and at the end started chasing me with a desire to hand me over to the [Temple]. Well, most of them were the people that were jealous of my talent and achievements. But, I didn''t give a shit about those bastards. They were blind people who couldn''t fathom the beauty, the greatness, the majesty, the PURITY! of the darkness. Evil does possess great darkness, butparing their filthy, polluted darkness with the actual, noble darkness that beings like you, great master, and this great night crow possess, is something likeparing a filthy animal with the greatest of divine beings. Anyway... The people that chased me away from my own home... I didn''t kill those bastards. They were nothing before a strong mage at the end of the day. Their fates were decided when they harmed people that I cared for. I didn''t punish them. Darkness itself punished them. They couldn''t even beg for mercy, as being punished by the great darkness was the greatest honor of their lives. That is a certain important memory that I remember as clearly as this very moment, it was the foundation for what I am today... I wandered the world in search of the darkness and beings possessing the pure darkness that I can serve. I remember I was wandering the southern part of the great empire some years ago and then I stumbled upon a boundary and came to this ind-like ce. It was fascinating to see something so amazing, so I stayed here and made the ind''s rtively easy northern part my home. The ind was fascinating because of the unique and rare creatures on the ind but, more than that, there was a great source of darkness here, something that I can sense but cannot pinpoint the location of. That''s why I stayed here, then¡­ the evil spirit woke up one day, almost destroyed half of the ind, and then came to my previous house. It... that bastard was cunning! It saw through my mental defenses and discovered my innate weakness and strengths. That fucker instantly knew that I was searching for the source of the pure darkness and it promised me to give some great information on it if I make a ''deal'' with him... He was an evil creature. It had killed countless cute creatures that I liked and stayed with. They were my cute little observation subjects, and it took them away from me! B-but... I was a fool... It was a being with a lot of pure darkness... it had the power to weird that pure darkness and use it better than I thought. That bastard was strong... and I foolishly believed it. Failing to see the great, great... great impure darkness hidden under the veil of goodness. That bastard... was cunning, evil, held great intelligence, and was definitely strong. The deal ''offered'' was, in return for following his twomands, it will tell me about the strange source of pure darkness, which definitely wasn''t him. He had darkness, I acknowledged it too, but not even as good as me to admire him. He was evil...and the evil also does not know the greatness of pure darkness! ... It first ordered me toe with him, taking my home, my only ce on the ind. And, even though I was hesitant, I had no choice but to follow that order. I was a fool... I still am. But I didn''t see his ploy at that time. He took me out of my home, the ce that I had never left for years, and then...destroyed it. He destroyed it! And I couldn''t do anything but stand still, frozen against my will because his second order... was to follow all his orders. I managed to save my soul origin from it... but it is of no use now. As stated in the deal, I have to unconditionally follow its will. Do things it asks and live with it for the rest of my life. I''m nothing more than a mere puppet of that evil bastard and still do not know what that source of pure darkness is... Even now, it''s somewhere on thesends, I know for sure. It is so great that my own darkness is nothingpared to it. And the ''deal'' never stated when he should tell me about it. So the chance that I will ever know of it is unknown. But still... It is nothingpared to your unparalleled purity of great darkness. It is special, truly majestic, and more than anything...it is something beings like me couldn''t help but admire. Not anyone can bond with a night crow and especially not an older one who holds deeper truths than the easy, cute, and less intelligent young ones. Lady witch... The moment I saw you... I knew you are the one! The one that I want to, with my whole being, follow for the rest of my life! I can do anything if it means that I can achieve that. I would do anything you ask of me willingly and with my utmost respect! If I can be free from here, I want nothing more than to follow you. But... It is impossible. It is impossible for a ''deal'' of a lich to be undone. The deal, as you must already know, is close to an origin oath. Something that will be unconditionally followed by the two parties. I''m trapped here. I''m a ve to that evil. I''m the fool unworthy of serving a great being such as yourself, and... I''m the ''tool'' that bastard can use to hurt you. I do not want to hurt the only being that I want to serve, so... please, kill me." ] ''The story was... fucking long. But, at least, it contained some simple bullshit with simple words. Hmm... I understand.'' I knew all the things he said were true, and he truly resented his foolish self to fall for such an obvious trap. I also knew how it felt to get tricked by such obvious things. And he wasn''t to me here... He wasn''t a dumb skeleton. He justcked the experience of dealing with people like the evil spirit, the headmaster, and my darling. Their ploys weren''t something one could escape from even after knowing the whole trap... ''Especially my darling Axion... he''s a one-of-a-kind bastard.'' Well... it was good that he knew what hecked and worked on it. But killing him was an utter waste. His concerns about this so-called deal with the evil spirit were just unnecessary. As long as it wasn''t actually an origin oath, I can take care of those small things. An absurd amount of stamina will be consumed, but I had Clover, so it was fine. I wanted him and now that I knew about this good lich called Morris a bit, I will definitely take him. But before that... "Morris. Let''s say you do get out of here and follow me, but... what if we meet someone with greater darkness than me? Will you just betray-" [ "No great master. I only ever wanted to follow one being with my whole being and that person is you. If I do manage to get out of here, I will follow you and no one else. If you want me to give you my undead life, I will happily do so. This imprisoned life is something that I would give away everything for... Just that... it is actually impossible." ] He actually interrupted me, the one he revered, and spoke with unshaken eyes... or more like unflinching fire in his eye sockets. "I like those eyes, Morris." There was a wide, pleased smile on my face and he somewhat smiled while seeing this. A sad, gloomy, heavy smile. He still believed that it was impossible for him to get out of there. Fool... -Snap! The dark chains around his body vanished, and he looked up with surprise. "Stand up." The smile was still there and my voice was amand, a divinemand, for him, so he just hurriedly stood up and looked at me with a confused gaze. "You are going with me, Morris. I like that look in your eyes, so do good from now on." He couldn''t understand... Neither my smile nor the confident atmosphere I had. I knew he was thinking it was impossible. His fate was already sealed. Even if I kill the evil spirit, unless that bastard itself releases him, he was just imprisoned here. But... he was wrong. He can be freed even without the permission of that bastard. His confused eyes were asking me what the hell was I talking about... so, I answered those cute blue mes. "You know about witchcraft, right?" And just that much was enough for him to know... the reason for my confident eyes, as well as one of the most beautiful smiles on my face. Chapter 393 Freeing And Obtaining [ "Witchcraft..." ] The light, the blue mes in his eye sockets, flickered and burned brighter than ever. There was a new light of hope in them, something he didn''t think he would ever see after being trapped in that ce for so long. The being before him was the most special one he had ever met, and his desire to serve her was as solid as the divine stone. He had wanted that, but the chains restricting him were the toughest things... or so he had thought until just a moment before. Witchcraft... He obviously knew what it was and the person before him had said that she was a witch just a moment before, so he knew what she meant from that question. It was obvious that she wanted him and he also wanted to serve under her. And if they were talking about witchcraft, one of the most powerful forces of this nature, then his misery, the chains binding him, could very well be shaken off! He could be free, follow her just like he wanted, and probably could also help her in the fight with the bastard evil spirit. Witchcraft. It was a powerful technique exclusive to only witches. It was a manifestation of the truth of reality and the abilities of these witchcrafts varied from witch to witch. His master, this great person standing before him, possessed the greatest and purest darkness he had ever seen. So the witchcraft she possesses would also be just as special, right? There was expectation and hope in his previously dead, disappointed, hopeless eyes. He was looking up at her, and she was, naturally, smiling. She also had no doubt she could free him from this misery. She actually possessed that much power, after all. Her witchcraft... It was the ability to cut off anything she wanted with just one move. Anything. And it included the bonds like Mana and Aura oaths, rtions, memories, physical objects, and any part of one''s body. Of course, there were restrictions, but they were something like the inability to instantly kill the opponent, the inability to harm spiritual creatures, and the inability to harm anything rted to origins. So, she can''t actually kill him by destroying his soul origin, but he didn''t have to know that. She can use her witchcraft three times a day, for now, and with these many restrictions. But just one use consumed too much of her mental and physical stamina as well as concentration, so she rarely used it. Maybe her growth will increase her abilities, decrease the restrictions and be more useful, but for now, she knew it was enough. It was just a deal and not even an origin oath. The bonding of these two things was totally different. She knew it would be possible to free him, so she didn''t waste much time. "Get ready Morries." shemended, and he nodded without a word. He could see the seriousness in her eyes, after all. [[ Good luck master. ]] She smiled again and nodded at him as he went back into his mark. She took out a good-looking (level-6) artifact scythe which was one of the many spare ones that she carried just to use her witchcraft and got ready. "Haaa..." Standing behind the lich, she first took a deep breath, gripped the scythe in her hand, closed her eyes, looked deep inside her own self, and started manifesting her own interpretation of the truth called ''reality''. "Manifesting witchcraft," she raised her scythe, entered a state of extreme concentration, reached the ce deep in her mind that contained her purple gate in an infinite dark ce, ced her hand on the gate... and opened it. "[[( Severing the life )]]!" And as soon as those words left her mouth, in a fraction of a second, the scythe in her hand, the (level-6) artifact, was covered in a bright, blinding purple light and she swung it... -Scythan. The scythe of light was swung before an empty area but in the short moment she swung it, a strange red chain had manifested behind him, and when the scythe of purple light touched it, the chains, the thing that signified the ''deal'' of the evil spirit and this lich, was severed! The red chains that manifested just for a moment and were cut off by the sh of light vanished the other moment and the deal that bound the two beings was no more and¡­ the lich, Morris, was now free. [ "...?!" ] Of course, he was also shocked by the sudden freedom that he was blessed with by the great witch standing behind him... or the witch that ''was'' standing behind him. "Haaa... haa..." Right now, she was on the ground, covered by sweat, and the weapon in her hand was also disintegrating into particles of purple light. She looked too tired after just that one technique, but the lich understood what it must have felt like. He hadn''t seen or known exactly how bad the after-effects that vary from witch to witch would be for her. But it certainly didn''t look good. He only now realized just how much she was sacrificing by freeing a lowly being like him. The being that he praised as the master was now suffering before him and this was so sudden that he didn''t even know what he should do. He was frozen in his ce and looked at her with a worried expression, but thankfully... she didn''t take this unwanted suffering for long and called out her cute kitten, Clover. -Ooooooooong. "...?! Meoooooow!" And as soon as the kitten appeared out of thin air, it shouted at Reinelle like she was angry and her master was a fool! She was angry, but she hurriedly flew to her side and licked her cheeks with her ethereal tongue. -Shwaaaaa¡­ "Yes, yes. Master is a fool. He says that too. But, well, what can I do? Getting a servant and a good lich at that was an achievement even he couldn''t overlook, right?" "Meeeee! Meow!" "Yes. I know it was dangerous, but you knew I would be ok anyway, right? And I have you, so what was there for me to worry about?" "Meeeeeeew!" "Ok. I will be more careful next time." "Mew." "Hmm." She caressed the head and neck of the cute green-white spirit kitten and got up from her ce. Now, she looked fine... something that astonished the lich. But as he looked at the spirit beside her, he instantly grasped the identity of the adorable-looking creature. [ "A healer... even after living for hundreds of years, this is my first time seeing one that can restore stamina and concentration. Indeed... master is amazing." ] "Her name is Clover," she said while drinking a special light blue potion that he gave her, which restored all her lost Mana. She introduced him to her dear spirit partner but the lich, her first ever ve-, her first ever follower, took a step back and nodded at her. [ "Master. As you know, the pure spiritual creatures of nature, like this amazing spirit creature, do not like the undead like us much." ] There was a sad expression on his face as he said that, and Reinelle understood his feelings. Clover was already worried about this creature, this skeleton, just like she was worried about the previous undead they had encountered. She naturally didn''t like them. They were probably even disgusting to her. She also practically didn''t like this lich and was reluctant, but if this one was one of her master''s pets now, then she at least didn''t show it obviously. "Me..." But her natural dislike of the undead couldn''t be ovee just yet. At least not at their first meeting. Rein also understood that and nodded back at him. He had just been freed, but there was someone who didn''t like him before him. He knew that he would have to face countless situations like this in the future, but he was ready for that. His determination to follow and serve her was solid. She talked with Clover for a bit, reassured her that she will take care of herself, and then said goodbye to her. She was only going back inside her, but still, the little kitten knew that she wouldn''t be able toe back for a while now. "So Morries..." She was looking at him with a look that a master gave their faithful knights and he understood that his will, his wish, will now be something that could be reality. He was free now, the evil spirit had no control over him anymore, and the source of darkness that he was looking for on this ind for so long... it didn''t matter now that he was serving the greater and purer darkness than that thing. The lich and witch duo were finished with their work, so... at the same time in another part of this tomb... [< I lost... >] The lizardman stood up with arge hole in his abdomen, which was covered by a strange golden light. He might have died if this golden light wasn''t there, but he survived the dual, and... he lost. The champion that hadn''t fallen before anyone other than that evil bastard fell once again. And this time, in an official scared dual. He lost, and the winner was standing before him with the weapon that had pierced his solid body in his hand with a sad expression on his face. He could understand that sadness... he also just wanted to go on for a bit longer if possible, but... s. He was weak, and the opponent was strong. He lost and there was nothing more than this fact to this whole duel. [< "Thanks for the duel." >] but his opponent said this while washing off the sadness and covering his face with a new brightness. The lizardman also smiled at this smile. The winner was saying thanks for the fight that he had won. It was his first time hearing something like that. And it certainly didn''t feel that bad. [< Axion of humans... no. Master... please take care of me from now on. >] He smiled more warmly and nodded at him with sincerity. [< "I will certainly do so. So the first thing..." >] He called his white crack and took out a bottle with a strange, glowing white liquid. After that, he asked the lizardman to bend over-, to kneel down, and the lizardman did so without a question. He could already guess what he was trying to do. He also felt some strange energy from the glowing white liquid in the small bottle, and just this much was more reassuring than ever. The hole in his middle body was vanishing with the golden light and his body was returning to a normal state. Thest blow he felt would most certainly have killed him and that was even in his best state, so he knew that thest one was something the opponent, his master, used to show him the extent of his strength. And he saw it. He felt it. He lived the moment when he almost died. And if not for this strange, unexinable light, he knew that he was as good as dead. So he knew he could trust this person, this small but strong master, with all his being. He kneeled down and his master, Eon, dropped a single drop of his strange glowing white liquid on the cursed artifact that the lizardman was wearing. -Tap¡­ A single, pure white drop fell on the silver-gray ne and as soon as it touched the surface of the artifact, the whole ne, which was previously covered by a strange, thin dark smoke, glowed up! It glowed in a strange mix of white-silver-gray and the light slowly turned darker and darker with each moment. -Khaaaaaaaaaa! After a while, something like a scream was heard from now pure ck smoke that was floating before the ne, and then... it turned into fine particles of white light and vanished into the surrounding. [< "You are free now, Zuroro. I''m looking forward to your good work in the future." >] He smiled, and the lizardman nodded while still kneeling before him. [< I may becking but I will do my best. Please take care of me, too." >] Axion nodded with the same warm smile and told him to stand up. He moved to the other side of the cave while the lizardman was standing up and thanked his dear povpoi friends for the great interest they showed in their fight. The povpoi and Mave were excited and wanted to talk about the things they saw for the first time~! The cheerful Celes was the same as she absorbed all the clones and went back into her mark with a lively and cheerful voice. She had great fun watching them, just like how he had fun fighting there. He was thankful to her, and he too wanted to talk with the povpoi and lizardman for a while before moving forward but, at this unexpected time, he, as well as Reinelle, heard a voice they weren''t expecting before reaching the core room of this tomb. [< Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! How the hell are the two of you still alive?! @#$#@#$@@#$$@! How the hell is a light user alive even after facing so many dumb creatures?! What did the two of you do to my toys?! Why can''t I use them?! And why the fuck are they standing by your side?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!! >] They knew it was an emergency from that point on¡­ Chapter 394 Running For The End! Both of them knew who this voice belonged to and Eon especially knew what those weird words spoken in the nativenguage of the evil spirit''s time were. The angry emotions were clear in that loud voice that rang out throughout the tomb was a clear sign that they had to change their slow ns. ... "Celes! Specialmand line 2!" [[ Yes! ]] Eon knew just what this enraged voice meant, so he didn''t waste even a second and started putting the confused and suddenly horrified cute looking povpoi into his white crack. He didn''t even have a second to exin anything, so they were even more confused. But he didn''t say anything to the young ones and just gave a quick nce to their mom, Mave. She understood it too, so she did not say anything and went into the white crack after her children were safely ced in. [< Whyyyyyy! You both should have died! What the hell were those fucking weaklings doing! Not even able to block two fucking children?! >] -Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaamble! The evil spirit was still just shouting and with every word it uttered, the whole cave, if not the whole tomb, shook like a high degree of earthquake! He was doing his best to quickly leave this ce, and he still had to safely store the lizardman, his newly acquired sword, warrior, and person. He had to get out of here and reach the ce with this evil spirit as soon as possible. And the same was true for his friend! [[ "What are you doing?! Have you taken care of the lich or not?!" ]] His voice was filled with concern and even though he seemed angry, she understood that he was worried about her. She was fighting a creature who can give hard time to his lizardman champion even after being a mage. A lich had almost eternal life and she might have to destroy the lich''s whole physical body to do any damage. It would still be alive because of his immortal soul, but it wasn''t something that can threaten her. She could have very well cleared the lich and reached the trap zone, but he had to confirm things. He hadn''t talked with her throughout his fight, after all. His voice contained fear as he asked her through Celes''s connection too, and she understood that the gravity of the situation was denser than she had thought. [[ "I didn''t need to do that! I freed the lich, and he is some crazy darkness fanatic. He is also old. But he is now my faithful follower! His name is Morris! Maybe you have heard of him!" ]] [[ "Morris Orpheus?! How the hell is that person here?!" ]] [[ "So you do know him! Well, it''s a long story, but he is with me now! I''m finished here so I will use shadow''s travel and quickly clear the trap zone! You quickly reach to the core too!" ]] [[ "It''s crazy! Ok! I''m off... don''t get hurt! I will punish you if you do something stupid!" ]] [[ "There''s nothing stupid to do! I will reach there before you, so take care of yourself and be on time!" ]] [[ "We will see that!" ]] Their small conversation ended, and he didn''t waste any more time and reached the lizardman. [< "Let''s go!" >] Unlike the povpoi, he asked the lizardman before pushing him into the white crack. He was too big to easily push, anyway. -Traaaaaaaaaamble! [< Master! Allow me to carry you! I can at least do that much! Save your strength! The small traps and the long ride are nothing for this strong body! >] The cave was going to fall, and he had no time to save anything else here. It will crumble down soon, so they had to get out of there as soon as possible. The lizardman had just recovered from that attack and wasn''t in his best condition, but he still offered himself and the Eon didn''t deny the help. He agreed that the lizardman''s superability and recovery power will be better. He also had hisst trump card, [Berserk ], unused. His speed and mobility would be much better, so without hesitation, he climbed the green scale-covered back of the lizardman champion. [< "Ok! Let''s go!" >] The lizardman confirmed that his master had adjusted properly and used his berserk skill. It was a skill that increased his physical ability and decreased his sanity or just left him with a single objective. It was a dangerous ability in normal raids and monster fights, but right now, the lizardman only had the safety of his master as his priority. His goal was to cross the path ahead of him as quickly as he could. "Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" So he didn''t dy any longer! As soon as the red aura of madness covered his body, he took a running stance and, with a sharp roar, shot his body forward! The cave was falling because of the evil spirit''s anger. This whole ce was that bastard''s territory, after all. Just like how the lizardman and the magma golem could exert their authority in their fields, this bastard could also control the whole of the tomb. He could destroy, remove, shuffle, and recreate any part of the tomb. But this ability, as known by humans, requires tremendous energy and resources, and the creatures only seldom use it. And right now, this evil spirit was so enraged that the whole of the ce was getting affected! -Tremble! Tremble!! Both of the caves the two of them were in were falling, and they knew they had to move as quickly as they can. He had already started moving with the berserk lizardman, who had his agility, strength, and stamina enhanced after using his skill. He was riding him, but not that way! Reinelle would kill us if she hears this! But talking about Reinelle... "Oy! Morris! Come here! Let''s get out of here!!" [ "Master! Wait for a minute!" ] He shouted with confidence and started chanting a spell. "Oyy! What the fuck are you doing!?" she shouted with an angry voice, but the lich didn''t say anything and continued chanting. She didn''t know what he was doing, but she was fucking angry at this bastard who was doing this chanting shit at this crucial time! They can escape from here quickly and reach that ce with her skill, but this bastard was doing something shitty thing and wasn''t even answering her anymore. She thought that he was still working for that evil spirit, but she wiped that thought as soon as she noticed the kind of spell that he was chanting. She had a deep knowledge ofmon magic, so she could tell just from the chants that this spell, this weird long chanting he was doing, was a true (Teleportation) spell! He was a lich, so it wasn''t surprising that he could use a teleportation spell. And from how smart he was, she believed that he knew the coordinates of the core part where the evil spirit was and was preparing a spell to directly go there. Which was a fucking genius idea! "Finish quickly!" she shouted and looked around the ce. She knew he would take a bit. And if he was doing this important work, she couldn''t just stay still and just wait for the spell toplete. -Traaaaaaaaaamble! The ground and the ceiling were shaking and... [< You fucking witch! What the fuck did you do to my lich and knight! >] The evil spirit can exert its authority in this ce, but even it couldn''t use its actual skills when we weren''t in its range. It was using its power to destroy its own home... which it can definitely build backter, but the destruction of the intruders was the only thing on its mind. The ce they were in was getting destroyed and this was the ce that belong to this lich until not long ago. There were things that were important to the rich as well as some things that were usable, unique, and interesting. Books were one of the things she coveted the most. There was a whole fucking giant shelf filled with old books here! She was, no way in hell, going to miss them now that she had the chance to get them. So! -Traaaaaaaaaamble! The trembling continued, and she moved from ce to ce, opened her skill, [Storage of brass coin], and started storing anything that was grabbed by her hurrying hands. -Suuuuuuuuuuuung. Her storage skill was special. As soon as it manifested in the form of a nk brass coin, the coin expanded and became a loop with a dark void in the center and she started throwing things inside it. ''The skill uses up too much Mana, but it is worth it!'' The skill was so convenient that she could move the hoop at her will. And she took the advantage of this ability and moved theplete loop above the bookshelf and moved it down from there! The hoop ate the whole bookshelf, and she moved to the next things! -Traaaaaaaaamble! -Crack! Crack! Crack! The solid ground had started cracking, and the area had almost been devastated! [ "Master...!" ] And by the time he stopped his chanting and turned back, she had almost cleared out the entire area, including all his dear nts and watering can. His nonexistent heart was moved once again as he saw her tired face and once again swore to serve her to the best of his abilities. "Let''s go!" She shouted at the nk lich as soon as she heard his voice and moved to his side. -Booooooooooom! The area was almost destroyed and only the ground beneath the barrier protecting the two of them was intact. But it was alright... he had finished the teleportation spell and now there was a dark gate before him. The barrier was also almost destroyed, and it couldn''t hold on much longer. Both of them knew this fact, so they just looked at each other and nodded. She believed in him and they just jumped inside the gate without any other word and vanished from the ce... -Booooooooooom! And as soon as they vanished, the barrier-covered ce they were in, the only ce remaining that wasn''t destroyed until now, was crushed down under the sharp-hard rocks of the ceiling of the open cave area! -Swiiiiiiiiish... The area became deste after that, almost a barrennd with no life. Maybe a simr scene was taking ce throughout all the paths of the cave, but the possibility that only the two caves with the intruders were being destroyed was higher inparison. But she was safe now. Her faithful servant-, her faithful follower had taken her to the ce where the evil spirit can''t exciter the territory authority even if it wanted to. Maybe that bastard can see everything happening throughout the tomb, but there would definitely be a gate, the so-called boss gate, to his chamber. And that was the ce that it wouldn''te out of even if it knew the intruders had reached there. It was arrogant,zy, as well as crazy, after all. It was also underestimating the two intruders, even to this moment. It will soon change though... That being wasn''t a fool. It had conned a sane lich and masterfully destroyed half of the ind they were on. It would soon calm down and go back to its cunning, evil self. And it would be the creepy thing when they meet it. And they were going to meet soon. Very soon... Welp. For now... Eon was being carried by his new follower and the two of them were breaking through the countless traps like it was just a normal road. The lizardman was moving at a pace that was hard to believe considering he had just finished a spar and as the duration of his berserk skill was nearing its end, their speed, instead of decreasing, was getting even faster. The path they were following was straight and full of different physical and magical traps. Even so¡­ The lizardman possessed senses that could even detect an ant in an empty room, so the traps were a small thing for him. Still, even he couldn''t avoid all the traps. At least not his berserk self. Some were activated, and some also hurt him, but he didn''t care about his own body at this moment. These small traps were nothingpared to the near-death experience he had felt just a moment ago when his body was holed by an arrow. He was defeated by an arrow far stronger than the lowly arrows that were used in the traps on this path. The traps were nothing for this team, so they cleared the path and reached the core in a time that would be impossible for even a high ranked experienced adventurer party. They reached this ce in minutes... and still; it was strange that the other group, the lich, and his dear Rein, were already there, and were engaged in a battle with a swamp of mad monsters. She had arrived here before him but the monsters throughout the tomb, all the remaining small fires had gathered here and were now attacking her and her newly acquired ve-, her newly acquired follower. Their opponents ranged from the normal (Red) rank skeletons to the three mad creatures with simr strength as the troll mage that he had defeated. There was also one on the same level as her lich and his lizardman, but that one wasn''t attacking them and was just watching from the side. It was surprising, but this creature... was a ghost. It was a humanoid ghost who was clearly analyzing the opponents and nning on how to deal with them. The girl strangely possessed a weapon with the power of light and the lich was a being that could most certainly do damage to a creature like this ghost. It was destroying the attacks even now, with its special nt undead which were unnaturally more powerful than the regr undead creatures. He was an undead himself, but he was helping a living... and this fact didn''t go well with this ghost. He was analyzing the two of them and now, two new intruders had appeared from behind them. He wanted to keep analyzing the two of them, but among these two new intruders, there was something concerning. One of the two new intruders possessed the power of light. The ghost was sure that this person possessed the actual power of light and not just some weapon like the girl. This new intruder was more dangerous, so the ghost had to take care of this one before that girl. And Eon, after talking with his dear friend through their nces, also knew that this ghost was a bigger problem than the other creatures which were just mindlessly rushing toward his Rein and the lich. He was prepared for the fight with the ghost, so he sent the lizardman away to fight the troll mage-level beings. He looked at the ghost, which looked different from the one that he had faced in the past, and took out Asta and an attractive white bow with an eye-catching design and three mysterious golden jewels embedded in it. This was his seventh favorite bow. The white bow of light, the nemesis of all undead, Don. And just as its name, as soon as he took out this bow, all the stronger undead, including the ghost flying towards him and the evil spirit watching from behind the gate of this ce, were... frightened to their soul and bones. Chapter 395 Don. An open area, a giant strange stone gate with strange carvings on one side, a gorgeous girl fighting undead creatures and a lich fighting live creatures in front of the gate, six cave endings on the other side of this door, and bright magical light on the walls illuminating the whole area. This was the stage where the boy with gold-like hair and red eyes entered and shocked all undead creatures present with his white bow... Undead creatures were innately afraid of the light attribute. But, they were frightened of the higher version of this attribute. They are always wary of those possessing the light attribute, but these same creatures, these undead, wouldn''t even want to approach the ones possessing the holy attribute. Their innermost consciousness screamed to just run away at the sight of this certain high attribute. And right now, as soon as he took out his white bow, the atmosphere among the undead creatures throughout the area had be something simr. They were frightened of this strange thing, this strange light that was far stronger than the normal light they were aware of, and they knew they wouldn''t be able to endure if this strange light so much as even touched them. Every one of the strong undead that felt this strange new presence stopped their offensive toward the lich and Rein and shivered with fear. Don. He wasn''t something as good as the other favorite bows among his partners, but this specific one had a special use that it was best in. And by best, he actually meant THE best. Made with special materials with light and holy attributes, with the core of an angel''s condensed essence, made by his master''s, a divine creature''s own hands, and enhanced with not one but three [Crystals of life], this bow was one of its kind. His master used to call this one one of her best works and certainly, this bow was worthy of that title. It was made to only be used against the undead. And that was its only function. The projectiles shot from this bow couldn''t even touch the creatures who had a life... yes, they could definitely heal them, but that would be disadvantageous in a fight against enemies. The bow enhanced their master''s light attribute, granted this enhanced light attribute or more like the (White light) attribute to the arrows, and decreased the overall resource consumption. It didn''t have any great skills and had disadvantages like being unable to hit an alive creature and a high intake of Solnova, but for undead... this bow was nemeses. "KHAAAAAAA!" And the frightened voices that could only contain their instinctive fear were the sign that the undead, who usually shouldn''t have any emotions, had fallen into the state of fear just by being in the presence of this bow. And the undead in this area weren''t the only ones frightened by this weird, dangerous weapon. [< That thing...! >] The evil spirit watching this fight from the room behind the gates was also shocked. It could feel better than the lowly undead present outside the gates that this bow, this dangerous weapon, was something that even someone like itself would get hurt with! The whole tomb was its territory and the strange weapon that this small boy with the power of light summoned was something that almost made the evil spirit noxious. It was a fearful thing, and the evil spirit definitely didn''t want to be hit by the arrows fired by this particr bow. It was bad... the situation, as well as the fact that it underestimated the intruder and, in particr, the small boy. He had the power of light, but now that the evil spirit thought about it, this small boy who was just a young child had defeated many of its toys with ease and was now holding a weapon that induced primal fear in even its great self. He was a dangerous presence and someone who most probably had some blessing of a bastard god or something to have such powerful light energy. The evil spirit watching from its coffin room was certain that was the case... but then, the evil spirit noticed something strange. Something that it had neglected all this time... [< He has darkness too...? >] There was a considerable presence of darkness, pure, deep darkness, inside this boy... something impossible! [< How can this be?! No! It''s wrong! It''s... no. Wait... light, darkness... fire? Water, earth, and wind too...? This...! >] Only now the evil spirit noticed this. This boy, this small boy who had the power of light and a weird and dangerous weapon... the light wasn''t his only power. He was someone who was blessed by all six major elements. Just like that small furball the evil spirit had killed in the past. And this thing... it wasn''t just unbelievable for the evil spirit... this fact threw the spirit into great chaos! ...on the other hand, as soon as Eon appeared with his lizardman champion, Rein''s lich, Morris, couldn''t help his shock and admiration. [ "Master that..." ] He was fighting with hobgoblins, creatures that looked somewhat like normal goblins but at the same time had a tough physique simr to a troll or orc. They were strong creatures, and he was fighting them with his darkness attribute spells as well as nt undead, creatures that had humanoid figures, different flower heads, and long whip-like thorny wines as their weapons and shield. He was controlling six of these undead creatures that he had created with his own hard-grown nts, but that wasn''t important right now. The new person, this being that seemed as special as his master... maybe more, had captivated him. "Yup! He''s my dear darling~!" she shouted while cutting off another skeleton knight with her light-covered scythe. There was a unique expression on her face that told him that this new person was far more special to her than she was to him. And he could most definitely agree with those emotions. This person was most certainly special... [ "He has the power to use all six elements... something one would say is unfortunate, but this person... he''s special. Far more special than one can think. Not only the attributes that he possesses are in perfect harmony, but instead of the overall affinity value decreasing or shifting toward one particr attribute, his one increases, multiples, and most probably increases as a whole! It''s fascinating! The light and darkness he possesses are something amazing too~!" ] She smiled as he said those things, and she definitely liked those words. Her darling was definitely the most special. He was so special that if the lich wants to follow him instead of her, she wouldn''t mind... Though the lich had already made his decision and he wasn''t going to change, even if a divine creature of darkness asked him. This one with the blessing of all six attributes? Well... there were already some problems with him. [ "His darkness is certainly so pure that¡­ it''s frightening. And though it''s pure, it''s not as great as yours, master. Your darkness is like a ck ocean. Wast, pure, and endless, while his darkness is like a well of fresh water. Certainly full of water, but endlessly deep. As if... the abyss. It''s admirable but also fearful... but the more strange thing is the light that coexists with it. A light so bright, so pure, so independent and warm... it''s like seeing the sun itself. I don''t know how it is possible for these two particr natures of elements to exist together and still be harmonized, but I know one thing... I definitely wouldn''t want to follow someone like him. Not because he isn''t a proper master, but... because his light as well as darkness isn''t something I''m looking for. Master is best because you are perfect... and I mean it. Your partner is definitely someone who will find better creatures than me and I would definitely want to learn from him but, you would be the only one I want to serve, and you should also know that by now." ] "You are crazy~! But I like those words so you are ok for now! And Yes~! He definitely is amazing~! He-... ohh! His Don! I will be able to breathefortably now~!" This was the moment he took out the white bow light for them... and as soon as the lich sensed the bow and saw it with his own eyes, the fear and strange feeling he got from him increased exponentially! [ "That thing..." ] Just like other undead in this area, he was afraid of this bow... but unlike them; he was a unique undead who held true human emotions. He was afraid, but bounced back easily and looked to the side at his master, almost failing to block the attack from the goblining from the left! -Kaaaaaaa! -nk! Whiiiiipt! Thankfully, his undead nt soldier with a gray flower head took care of it. Rein was confused by this sudden reaction, but she suddenly realized that her first-ever ve-, first-ever follower was an undead himself. She knew that he was alright, and that was considering her knowledge of just how amazing that weapon was against the undead, so her smile widened as she answered him, "Hmm~. It is a weapon to go against undead beings, one of that bastard''s many awesome weapons. Amazing, right~?" He was shocked just how she described a divine artifact that simply. And from how she said ''one of his amazing weapons''... he didn''t even want to guess how rice his master''s partner was. Anyway... He was also surprised by the person that came with him. He knew him very well. Too well, actually. Their entire tribe was angry at him after all... He knew handling him after things were over would be difficult, but, well, for now, in the situation where they were surrounded by enemies, they couldn''t do anything. Not to each other, at least. He was safe for now and he had a duty to follow, so he focused his attention on the enemies. But just before he was going to divert his attention from the white bow in his hand, he saw the bastard ghost move from his ce! All the undead were afraid, but that ghost regained his senses and vanished from his ce... This was a ghost. A strong undead. And this particr one... was especially strong. ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Ghost] Strength: 131 Dexterity: 98 Stamina: 125 Magic Power: 129 Intelligence: 51 [ Skills: Possession, Life drain, Ethereal, Telekinesis, Fear control, Flight, Power of cursing, Death grip, Soul shield. ] ---> A strong ghost... well, finish him quickly without many long words. He is nothing before cool Don, anyway. ============ And he agreed with the words of his dear eyes. The opponent was just a ghost. -Shim. Shim. Shim. A ghost that can erase its ethereal body and confuse the opponent while observing them and gauging their strength. -Kaaaakt. But this power had no meaning before eyes that can see through these ''special'' abilities. The white bow had an angel''s wing-like design that could attract anyone''s attention and as he pulled back its string with three arrows arranged on the bow, he looked no less attractive than the bow itself. He was like the protagonist of a novel just before using an amazing new ability that would shock the readers... maybe that was actually true. There were three arrows with golden patterns on his bow right now, arrows that strangely gathered the light particles around them, and the arrows themselves were covered with a strange white light. It was strange, but the ghost that was appearing and disappearing so suddenly was giving a sense of despair to even the lich who knew the concept of an ethereal body. It would be impossible to hurt an ethereal body, so Eon had to perfectly aim at him when he was actually present in this world''s normal state. The lich was worried that he would miss that small moment and would get hurt by the curse skills of the ghost, but his master, who was at more ease now, wasn''t worried one bit. In fact, the lizardman who came with him and was fighting the monsters here after his berserk skill duration was over also had unnaturally great confidence in his master. Their strange confidence was something unfathomable to him, someone who mostly only knew about the darkness and magic. And that was even more reason for his great shock over the thing that happened in the course of the next few moments. -Swish! Swish! Swish! He released the arrows, and they moved in a straight line with nothing in their path. It was strange because the ghost was actually on the other side at the moment when the arrows left his bowstring but... even more strange thing was that the arrows, which fundamentally should just move in a straight line, took a strange curve and appeared on precisely at the point where the ghost appeared the next moment! -Pachak! "Khaaaaaa!" The arrows covered by bright white light pierced the ghost''s head, middle and lower body in a straight line and as soon as the arrows, which actually passed through him were gone, three strange white holes appeared in the ces where the arrows had struck... The holes of white light were brighter than its gray body and these three parallel holes were something like three strong arrows that were pierced through the bodies of weak people for this ghost! It was a strange sight but the ghost, after being hit by these arrows, fell to the ground, and its body, which was affected by the (White light) started emitting a strange ck smoke as it turned to the particles of light. ... "Let''s start..." And that was the point where Eon truly started using the bow for what it was meant for. -Kadank. -Kaaaaaakt. There was a silver quiver on his back, full of arrows. He was using his Solnova to handle the white bow, so using spell arrows with them was not necessary. His bow gave the white light to all the arrows shot by it, so all he had to do now was... ''Long-range sniping: Multi-kill!'' It was a sight to behold because, while standing on the other side of the battlefield and still seeing it as a whole with his third eye, Eon started shooting arrows. Simple arrows covered by the white light attribute that precisely went towards the undead creatures hindering the lich and his friend. -Swish! Swish! Swish! He used one to three arrows depending on the target of killing, as the undead also ranged from (Red) to (Green) rank over there, so he had to use appropriate forces. -Swish! Swish! But one thing was true: every time he took out the arrow from behind him and shot it with a clean movement... -Swish...! -Cruuuumb! -Trrrrrr... -nkkk... thum. Every time the sound of an arrow moving through the air was heard, the sound of a skeleton body sting and their bones scattering on the ground, a zombie body falling to the ground, or the sound of the armor the knights and soldiers were wearing falling to the ground was heard. -Swish. Swish. Swish. -Thump. nk! Thruuuuuum. And the fight that only the two of them were having, the undead that were far greater in number, were now decreasing in tens with each passing second. As she said... she could breathe now that he was here now. Chapter 396 Their Beef It didn''t take him more than a few minutes to kill off every single undead, including the troll mage-level beings, as well as some of the normal creatures that passed through the lizardman''s defenses. It was a short time and his presence made pressure on the lich and Rein, who was struggling against tens of enemies at the same time, mitigated. There was a limit to how long he could use the Don. The divine artifact was naturally too powerful for the current him after all. It worked after he used arge amount of Solnova as well as Mana to wield it. And they had a tough opponent behind those good-looking gates. So, he finished the lowly undead quickly and obtained three energy cores. One from the ghost and the other two from the skeleton knights and mages he had killed. There was also a skill stone from a goblin with the skill [Scream], so it was a gain too. It was sad that even after killing close to forty skeleton knights and mages, they only obtained two energy cores, but he didn''tin about this part. Rein was already happy that they got those things. In their race to get to the boss''s room first, Rein naturally won with her own power and he epted his loss there. But she also had to consider the fact that he was the one that obtained more ''things'' and not followers. Thest cores and skill stones also technically belonged to him. So after they sorted everything before the gate and gathered around each other, it was clear that they both owed each other one of their special coin. But their own ount settlement was of less importance right now. "Khuaaaa! Kuuuuaaaa!!" [< You bastard lich of the north! You fucking thief!! >] As soon as their small things were finished, the lizardman had turned his gaze toward the being with his master''s partner. He had spotted this creature as soon as he was back to his senses after using his [Berserk] skill and he wanted to just crush the skull of this fucker on the spot! But he didn''t have time or any chance at that time. His master told him that the person fighting with the tens of creatures with her splendid movements and mastery of the scythe was his partner and he genuinely felt awe after seeing her strength. Just like his master, he instantly acknowledged her. His heroic senses screamed at him that he would die while facing her, just like him. He also acknowledged her beauty, which was unlike anything he had seen in any creature in his lifetime. Her beauty... was truly unparalleled. Even an old lizardman like him couldn''t dare look into her eyes that seemed like a sweet but most potent poison. She was truly the best mate for his amazing master, and he knew that much for sure. But one thing... he couldn''t ept one thing. "Khua! Khuaaaaa!" [< Master! Please let me kill him just once! >] [< "I don''t know what beef you two have but you can''t kill him Zuroro! Please calm down!" >] Eon was holding back the big lizardman alone while Rein was standing before the lich with her scythe in her hand. Even she didn''t know why the strong lizardman that had shown her such amazingbat just a while ago was acting like that toward her first follower. This was a peculiar sight. His follower was trying to attack her follower while the person being attacked, the strong lich, instead of defending himself, was just standing behind her¡­ He was just standing there with no reaction the whole time until the lizardman calmed down and just red at him with his sharp eyes filled with deadly killing intent. It took them a considerable amount of time and that too was after their fight and cleanup. They were also just before the gate of the core of the tomb where the evil spirit resided, but¡­ the evil spirit was just silent from the moment Eon had taken out the white bow. Its silence was concerning, but for now, the immediate problem was their subordinates. "Ok... let''s start then. Why the hell is a great lizardman champion angry at the ck lich of Vibha?" It was a name that he hadn''t heard in years and it felt somewhat nostalgic to the lich. He also acknowledged that his master''s partner was an amazing existence. [ "So-" ] "What''s the ck lich of Vibha? Is Morris that famous?" He wanted to exin how his rtionship was rocky with the whole lizardman n, but his master cut him mid-sentence and asked her partner, master Axion, a genuine question. "Morris Orpheus, one of the rare darkness attribute mages who reached (tier-6) before he entered the lichdome. The unlucky genius was chased away from his own hometown because they thought his amazing talent and feats were the result of some evil presence. They were actually fucking fools to chase away someone so amazing, but that was their grave mistake in the end. He was the one who created the [Understanding of darkness], one of the books used for teaching the darkness attribute at the origin academy, something that we will learn from in the future. And not only that, he was someone who devoted his whole life to magic and truths rted to the darkness attribute. One of his sayings is, ''The pure darkness is different from evil. Even the holy light might have to submit to darkness in certain circumstances.'' is still debated over among many mages. Famous? He''s a mysterious figure whose name is spoken every day in today''s mage society. No one actually knows his whereabouts or what happened to him in thest few decades. Thest known thing about him was also that he became a lich and went on a long journey. And to meet a famous person like this, after he had gone under my dear friend, and is hostile to my worrier, is definitely something I never thought would happen." His introduction to him was long and she genuinely never knew such an amazing figure existed. And even more so that someone so highly praised by her darling would be a fanatic that started following her. He sighed after saying just that and ignored his ignorant friend. Then he looked the lich in the eye with a somewhat interesting and respectful expression and then nodded at him, telling him to continue what he was saying. The lich also understood the look in his eye. It was a bit scary, but still, this at least wasn''t a death threat. He was safe for now, so he continued, just as he said to do with those cool eyes. [ "I already told the master a bit about myself but the ''friendship'' between me and the lizardman tribe goes way back to the days that I had just started to observe the creatures of this ind. At first, I was only interested in finding the source of that great pure darkness on the ind, but then, I also found something that was just as peculiar as that great presence. The [Gray-ck Lynx]. One of the rare species of creatures with a darkness attribute. I think they mainly stayed in the western part of the ind, the most dangerous area, which stayed untouched from the anger of the evil spirit because of a certain creature inhabiting the coastal regain of that ce. But one family of these big cats used to roam around my house... They were creatures of darkness and I also wanted to get close to them, but I didn''t have any exact idea how to do so. Days went by and I just continued thinking about what to do. But I clearly wanted to get close to them. That was my definite will. I thought and thought and searched the ind in search of something that can interest those amazing creatures. And I actually found it. It was sudden and unexpected but I definitely found it... and it was something that belonged to the lizardman tribe..." ] He stopped for a moment and looked into the eyes of the furious lizardman. In the past, he only regarded their race as strong, but not much praiseworthy. They were creatures of water, and some of the special ones had the powers to wield other elements. But there was none that could wield darkness among their kind. The lich, the darkness fanatic, didn''t regard them as much of a great threat or useful creatures other than good targets to observe, so he wasn''t much considerate of their kind. But the thing that they grew, the thing that was a magnificent feat for their great tribe, was something that he couldn''t help but acknowledge. "They grew [Blue salmon]?" Eon asked with a genuinely astonished expression. He had a vague idea of what the topic of their dispute and animosity could be, but even he wasn''t expecting the name of a rare creature like gray-ck Lynx toe up here. He obviously knew what these creatures of darkness were and also what they would like the most in a habitat like this ind. He obtained great analytical data after using Lucy''s skill and knew the basic environment of the overall ind. The ind was definitely fit for creatures like the gray-ck lynx and they were omnivorous, so they had plenty of things to eat on a diverse andrge ind like this one. Commonly, these darkness-attributed creatures ranged from (Red) to (Green) rank, but there were instances when they were born with special abilities as well as an evolution skill and be something entirely different. They were famous because of their ability to travel long distances with shadows as medium... just like Rein or his grandpa Zhen. Anyway... though they were omnivorous creatures, they all had one thing inmon. Just like any ''cat''... they loved fish. And ording to the perfect environment of the ind, the lizardman tribe, a species known for their fish cultivation talent, was most likely to grow the blue salmon, a freshwater and sea fish species. This was a simple conclusion based on facts that he knew, and there was definitely a chance for his question to be answered negatively. But surprisingly... he was right. [ "I-indeed... I didn''t think master Eon was this amazing. Indeed... my understanding and thinking are limited to assuming you were only a ''great'' person... you are the great person that actually can''t be fathomed! Well, yes... they grew blue salmon, but the amount they produced was lowpared to their big tribe. They used these fish as a special delicacy that was only used at important events. The fish held great meaning to them, but... the lynx loved the fish. After the first time I gave them some, they started showing interest in me~! And after that... I just continued stealing from the lizardman. Fought to get the fish, and just continued stealing from them until ''that day'' came." ] He had the [Mana speech] so it was natural that he could understand a lizardman''snguage. And still, he continued stealing their rare and important property. It was petty, but understandable from both parties'' perspectives. One was a darkness fanatic, while the other was a proud warrior who heartily followed the customs of his kind. It wasn''t possible for the lizardman''s years-long hatred to calm quickly. They knew they would need a long time for him to forgive the lich. It was pointless for now, so they had to focus on the main thing for now. [< "Zuroro. You can''t kill the lich. Not at least until we are here. You will get your chance for revenge, I assure you of that. So, for now, at least don''t kill him. He is a subordinate of my dear friend and someone who will be of great use to me, so I need him." >] [< I...! I... understand, master. >] He was angry and the killing intent in his eyes was still as hot as mes, but it was alright for now. He had resolved one thing from his point, and Rein also had onest thing she had to take care of. "Morris. Give your book of souls to Eon," she said with a normal expression, but these casual words of hers surprised the hell out of him. [ "M-master?! What-" ] "I won''t repeat myself." She cut him mid-sentence and said with stern eyes and a calm smile. And that much was enough for him to understand she was the most serious he had ever seen her. He had no choice but to follow her order. [ "Please take care of it." ] and he didn''t say much, took out a simple-looking old book with a brown cover from his storage skill, and handed it to Eon. Eon nced at the book with his blue eyes, nodded with a smile on his face, and stored the book in his white crack. "Thanks, Rein~." he was happy to receive such a magnificent gift, and she nodded back at him with the same radiant smile as him. Her first follower''s life was in the most secure hands, after all. She could rest assured now, and he was naturally happy to get a good, unique, and cool divine artifact which contained the origin soul of a prominent person. It was cool from her side... and that was it. Their preparations were alreadyplete, so they got ready. The party of four. A warrior, a scytheman, a lich, andstly, the party leader, a magic archer. It was a pretty good party considering the opponent was only a single evil spirit... or so they thought until the lizardman opened the giant rock gates and they entered the core chamber that contained two golden coffins, walls made of pure silver which were covered with carvings of a weird oldnguage, an army of undead, and the evil spirit floating in the air. This was... definitely ''a bit'' more overwhelming than any of them had thought. From the smirking evil, spirit... to the morous room. Chapter 397 Evil Spirit: Anomaly The inner core area of the tomb was covered in only two colors: silver and gold. Walls on all six sides of this room were made of silver. Pure silver of very amazing quality. The carvings on these silver walls were done with gold. Pure liquid gold that was now cool and solid. Thenguage on those walls, as I had thought, was the ancientnguage of the eastern part''s indigenous people. All six sides were covered with these words and I wanted to read them, but... we had no time for that. [< Wee~! Wee you fucking bastards~! You truly destroyed my hard-earned peace. Not only did you disturb me, but you fucking little kids also destroyed my toys and stole my lizard and lich... You are strong. I give you that much~. And from the looks of it... you bastard. Yes. You who possess not only all six attributes, that fucked up white Aura, and that filthy white energy... it was my mistake that I overlooked you but, not anymore! I took too long to see those eyes of yours... that strangely powerful soul... and that powerful creature that looks like a butterfly, too. But thankfully... I noticed these before it was toote. You are a strange boy. I don''t know if calling you human would be appropriate or not, but you sure definitely aren''t just any strong human. That young-looking witch is one thing, but a human having a mind like that? Either a reincarnation or a returnee from a hellish ce, right? That''s the only usible answer I can think of... Oh! You could also be one of those fucking bastards raised by gods, but that darkness inside you definitely wouldn''t excite many gods. You are strange and have eyes that have seen things that shouldn''t be known by someone who''s alive... so I know one thing for sure now. You will die here today. I will kill you. I will definitely kill you! All of you!!! KHAHAHAHAHAHA! DIE! >] Those were the words of the evil spirit, the ghost-like translucent purple figure which looked just like a human male. Its body was surrounded by a strange purple energy and I could tell it was a mix of dense dead Mana, darkness attribute Mana, and a faint but noticeable evil energy that almost reminded me of the presence that the demon and the demonic slime possessed. It was strange but also different from them. This evil spirit definitely hadn''t seen my screen, and it still concluded a lot of things about me. Which just increased the evaluation I gave to this evil spirit by a dangerous level. The evil spirit was strong, the words it used were precisely aimed at me, and at the end of its talk, the way it madly gave themand to its hundreds of undead was also... cheating! As soon as we entered this room, the big rock door had locked behind us and the ce before us wasn''t something one would call ''one room''. It was an enormous space, a six-sided room with silver walls, silver pirs, two golden coffins in the middle, and a ceiling covered with light stones which gave the feeling that there was no ceiling and light wasing from up, illuminating the whole ce. There was also a giant crystal ball on one side of this ce, but maybe it was something that the sprint used. Aside from that and four of us, in this enormous ce totally covered with hundreds if not thousands of white skeletons, parties made with tens of skeleton knights and mages, the boss, the evil spirit, was floating above all of them. The evil smirk on its face was one thing, but after he finished speaking and shouted at his elite skeleton knights and mages, his evilugh was echoing throughout the room. -Khaaaaaaaaaa! -Ktktktktktktktktktktkt! -nk! nk! nk! -nk!! [< Master! Don''t worry about these small fires! I will take care of them! >] [ "Master... I don''t know what you are doing by just standing still like that, but I believe you." ] The two of them had moved before us. Both Rein and I were at the back, just at the ce we were standing on, as we just nkly stared into the air with nk eyes andplicated emotions. [[ "This is... difficult, right?" ]] She asked through Celes''s connection and my answer was instantaneous. [[ "Yup... it will be ''a bit'' moreplicated and difficult than I thought. It''s still possible if I used my eyes on the skeletons and we y our cards right, though. I know that bastard knows a lot about us from all the fights it had seen or might have seen with that surveince orb, so we have to consider the fact that he knows the moves that we have used until now. Still... passable." ]] [[ "Then I don''t have to worry too much. Or... think that my fucking crazy darling only has a few screws loose and not all of his brain damaged." ]] There was a twitching smile on her face as she stared into the air nkly. And I could definitely understand her feelings... ''This is just that much unexpected.'' ============ [Evil spirit] (Salvio Neron Ned) Strength: 174 Dexterity: 167 Stamina: 162 Magic Power: 165 Intelligence: 139 Domination: 132 [Skills: Soul sight, High necromancy, Perfect domination, Soul drain, Art of cursing, Unholy blight, Death sentence, Red nightmare, Elder wisdom, Territory ruling, Learning, Despell, Light resistance, Dark octagon barrier, Half-true essence. ] [Authority holder] [Anomaly!!] ---> M-master... this creature... isn''t this a bit too much for an (Indigo) rank? It''s definitely no normal creature in any meaning! You should take care while dealing with this one... ---> Not only its physical stats are abnormally high, but it also possesses far more skills than a normal (Indigo) rank creature! And its domination is too high for its magic power! ---> You know what it means when a creature has such high intelligence stat... please be worried about this being. ---> Its soul sight can read a being from their essence, something a bit like me and the beautiful truth-seeing eyes of your partner. While I use your knowledge and whole energy body as a base and her eyes see the actual truth of something, that evil spirit can see through the souls and guess one''s strengths far better than any appraisal skills! ---> Its death sentence is a bad skill that could leave a mark of death so at least use your fucking good brain and do something about it! ---> Its elder wisdom skill can increase his analytical and technical skills during the needed time and help him despell even highlyplicated spells. ---> The light resistance will make the low-level light attribute magic meaningless on this one and maybe even the high-level spell could be weakened. But it''s half-true essence... it allows him to be one with nature, so it will be difficult to hit it with frontal attacks. ---> You are an idiot to call your situation cool and this creature easy...! Don''t do more foolish things and be sure to safely defeat this one! ============ There was a reason my little skill was reacting so much to the information of this evil spirit... it was naturally fucked up. Not only the number and quality of skills this one possessed more than my predictions, but this evil bastard also had high intelligence, wisdom to implement it, and the ability to use necromancy easier than usual. So not only it had a high domination stat, which was even higher than the lich, the creature that could use necromancy the best, and my mom, this bastard also possessed skills that could make the use of light magic meaningless, but it also had a deep understanding of curses. It could use curses freely and if my lizardman or her lich are caught up in some high-grade curse, it would be a loooooot more difficult for us. I want my lizardman in perfect condition and alive and her lich was also the same. He was a very useful being. His reputation as well as his knowledge and powers. He was important for my future home, so he must not die here. I also had to take out Mave so that she can watch the definite fall of this bastard. It was difficult, but I knew we could defeat this bastard... we had to defeat it no matter what. ''It is an evil presence, truly evil. Even if it reached the limits of its growth as an Indigo-ranked creature, there are chances that it bes so strong that it would beparable to noble demons if not the Purple-ranked creatures. It was good that I saw it when it has only this much power, but this one will continue to grow and the army it has right now... it would be nothing before its future army if left alone now.'' It also had a tendency to repay the grudges, like us, and this evil spirit was previously a human, so it was natural that it knew a great lot about the world and the creatures within it. It was no doubt an evil spirit now, but it definitely used to be a human. Then the human soul, which had unfulfilled strong desires, stayed in this world without crossing over to the world of the dead, gathered undead and evil energies, and became what it is right now. It was a very rare phenomenon, but the powers it currently has are even more abnormal. Its presence was a curse itself and if we left it right now, after doing so much bad to it, I had no doubt that it wille to our side, find us, and do many dangerous things. So we had to defeat the evil spirit, its entire army, and be ''alright'' after that. The two of us at least had to be fine after this. It was difficult, but there was one way... one way to deal with the evil spirit and one way to deal with the whole of its army. The army was an easy opponent too, but the evil spirit was the most dangerous being she and I had faced. I would even put this one above the level of the demonic slime that I encountered in the past. It was dangerous, but the most dangerous aspect of this evil spirit was something that my dear little eyes forgot to mention... [[ *This one has the ability to learn new and diverse things. So, aside from its existing knowledge and skill powers, there is certainly arge possibility that it could learn during an ongoing battle. That aside, the evil spirit knows a lot about the two of you already. It must be an innate characteristic that it was sozy that it underestimated you so much and just stayed in this ce. But it definitely isn''t an easy foe to underestimate.* ]] ''Yup. My dear little eyes forgot to consider this fact. But it''s amazing that Rein''s eyes didn''t.'' We quickly shared the status windows that both our eyes showed through my sharing spell, so we both almost knew all the things that the other''s eyes showed. And unlike my eyes, which didn''t consider the ability to learn during the fight, her eyes clearly told her that it would be dangerous because the spirit could actually learn new things quickly. They were experienced, unlike mine, so it was understandable. Not that mine would fall behind with their tremendous learning ability. Anyway... I knew what we had to do first. [[ "Rein. I will use silver eyes, so be ready to use witchcraft. I will cover you for the time you recover, so try to finish their entire army. Order Morris to fall back first." ]] [[ Yei~! Master''s gorgeous silver eyes~! ]] [[ "Will you even be alright after using it? I mean... don''t they take a great toll on your mind and Solnova?" ]] [[ "Nah. It will be alright. Don''t worry. You will have to cut their connection with the evil spirit and they will be finished. It will be difficult, so I''m sorry and thanks... Once they are finished, we can just go with the final raid strategy 3 alpha. Let''s think about the things after that during the fight. Ah. Take this. It will nullify the physical and magical curses." ]] saying that much, I threw a small golden ring with six very small jewels embedded in it at her. It was a special divine artifact that nullified the curses. Yes, it was definitely something priceless, but I can resist the curses with my light elemental Mana and Solnova. She, on the other hand, had some chances of falling to some curses that affected her physically and magically. She checked the ring''s details and was surprised how I just threw such a priceless artifact at her and¡­ as she thankfully caught it, there was anger in her eyes. ''Bastard! At least show some care for these great artifacts!!'' This wasn''t the first time I just threw something so valuable at her. And she also knew that those things that one would worship or keep as their family heirloom didn''t mean much to me. And when it was something concerning her safety, I wouldn''t even care if it was something even a god would covet. ''And surprisingly, I do have some things that gods would fight to have. My own selfes first in it.'' Anyway... [< "Zuroro. Get behind me." >] I ordered with a strong voice and he threw back the skeleton knight that he was fighting as soon as he heard that voice. "Khua?!" [< Master?! >] [< "I won''t repeat myself." >] His voice when he called me out with surprise was filled with concerns. There was a sea of an enemy army before them and in a time like this, his master was asking him to get behind him?! I knew a warrior like him wouldn''t do such a thing easily, but it was a stern order from me, and he sensed the confidence in my voice, so he had faith. He backed off and Rein''s lich did something simr. He had seen her power and ability that could render the chains of reality he knew useless after all. The two of them backed off now and only we were left facing the whole army of undead and the evil spirit still smirking at us as if we were fools that he will crush no matter what happens. His arrogance was understandable from his own point of view. It heald strength, knowledge, wisdom as well as great domination over his subject skeletons after all. It was pure domination that could make them do anything they wanted. Something few are gifted with in this whole nature. The evil spirit defiantly had pride in its strength and great domination stat. It also knew many things about us from the fights we had after entering this ce. That surveince crystal on the other side wasn''t just for show after all. Anyway... this evil spirit hadn''t seen everything there was to us or understood the concept of everything we did. It naturally couldn''t even think that Rein could use a powerful ability like her witchcraft more than once a day and what things it could actually ''cut''. And just like that... "Three eyes!" It hadn''t even seen a fraction of what cool things I could do. Chapter 398 Pushing Back! Three eyes... just like their name, they were three. The basic and passive red eyes allowed him to see things far away from him, and his blue eyes allowed him to apprise things even if they were far away. He could use his third eye, the special mind''s eye, when using these blue eyes. And his third silver eyes, the most powerful, and something that his master warned him to not use against any other weaker human. But the undead army before them was a different thing altogether. He activated his eye''s third special power and his eyes, along with the white part of his eyes, glowed with a silver color, and his hair also started glowing with a glimmer of gold. He looked like a different being altogether with those two special features, but as soon as his eyes turned to this strange silver, the pressure of the whole ce inside this room''s space became unbearable... -Oooooooooooooong! The pressure he emitted was great and the immediate sense of fear that not only skeletons before him but also the evil spirit felt was too great! The evil spirit''s entire soul body was shaken to the core as he looked at him and especially into the eyes that attracted the attention of all the creatures that he looked toward. Everything Eon saw felt fear, and this fear was so great that most of them were either frozen in their ces or were already kneeling on the ground. It was amazing... the sight of hundreds of thousands of undead kneeling,ying, or frozen before a single person. And two of the three people behind him were so surprised by the current situation, they couldn''t help their open mouths. They could feel the strange pressure that didn''t seem that much to them, but they couldn''t understand just what he did for the undead to react with such a great reaction. The lizardman was surprised that his master had a power that he hadn''t used in the fight the two of them had some time ago. The lich was surprised just how a human and a child at that could be allowed to hold this much power. And Rein... well, she had finished her witchcraft in the time the two of them were wondering how this was possible. She had already seen him use this ability during the spars he had with her. And even her dear old crow acknowledged this skill as some of the most serious things he had seen. The ability was powerful. So powerful that she would almost pass out within three to six seconds of facing those silver eyes. ''They are something that intensifies the inner fear of one to the extreme without them noticing. It''s an exceptional skill as long as the master of this skill, he himself, isn''t an enemy. For the enemies facing this skill... well, it''s some of the worse experiences one could have.'' He made her endure this skill during their training. Saying something like it would help her improve her mental body, mental stamina, and mental endurance and resistance. She definitely thought she was improving slowly, so she didn''t mind, but it was still too bad an experience that she wished even her enemies wouldn''t have to endure. Anyway... the enemies right now were dangerous and something they had no time to deal with. So finishing them was the best. She used her witchcraft with another normal (level-6) artifact, a simr purple light as before covered the scythe, she swung it at that very moment, and some ck chains were manifested above every single skeleton present in the room, and her sh, her one sh manifested as the [[( Severing the life )]], cut off all the thousands of chains at once...! -SHAKKK!!! It was a sharp sound. A metallic noise resonated throughout the humongous room. And just after this noise... -Dakdakdakdakdak... -nknknk... -Thut. Thut. Thut. Thut. Thut. Thut. The bond that bound with the evil spirit was the only thing making these specific undead ''alive''. Its domination was the main thing that kept them standing and if this practically intangible bond was cut off, what would happen to them? -Ktktktktktktktkt. They were just skeletons who the evil spirit summoned at the end, right? If there was nothing to hold them together, they couldn''t stand or function like they had been doing. It was natural that they would fall, and they did fall... and their bones, armor, and weapons also just fell and scattered on the ground just like the falling of a group of dominoes set in arge vertical as well as a horizontal frame. Or a huge castle of cards falling after just a small touch, wind, or mistake. It was a mysterious and amazing scene for the two people standing at the back, as well as the two young-looking people who had caused this issue. ''Well, it would naturally look amazing if hundreds of strongly standing creatures just withered away like a fragile sandcastle. Thankfully, it couldn''t create something like them in a short time.'' he thought as he turned off the silver eyes and returned to his normal-looking gorgeous self. She had called out Clover while the Evil spirit was on guard and was shocked by how his army that it thought would deal a significant blow to the enemy fell like dead leaves of an autumn tree. He was standing before her with Tae in his hands, ready to take out whatever arrow was required for the next move of the evil spirit. But... surprisingly, the evil spirit just stayed silent in the air like that for a while. Its toys were destroyed, but the evil spirit had no immediate reaction. It was strange, but she got a good time to recover and send the lizardman and lich away from this ce. He also called Make out and sent her with the two of them and though it was sudden and surprising, she was at least relieved that Eon was alright. Thest time she saw him was in the lizardman''s cave and now she was here, in this good-looking ce, where the evil resided. She could see the evil spirit was just floating on the ground while looking down and the countless bones, weapons, and armor of the skeleton army scattered on the vast in room. She was with the lizardman from thest time and a weird-looking skeleton lich who strangely seemed like a good being to her. He was actually a good person who followed his friend Eon''s partner. But she only figured that out after a while. Anyway, the three of them were now just watching the whole scene from one corner of the room withplicated feelings in their heart. The evil spirit didn''t move this whole time, but he didn''t leave his guard down this whole time. She also was ready after she recovered with the help of his potion and Clover. The spirit bastard was either too shocked, which had low probability, or it was thinking about the thing he had just witnessed and reevaluating the two of his opponents. They were young looking fucking bastards, but they were definitely strong. Far more than the spirit had previously thought through all its calctions. So now it was making all the calctions again and thinking about what it could do. Maybe they were right as... when the evil spirit finally looked up and into the now normal eyes of the boy and the strangely young-looking bitch, the first thing it did... [< Khahahahahaha! >] It startedughing maniacally. [< KHAHAHAHA! >] And thisugh suddenly became so loud that it almost shook the whole ce...!? [< What was I even expecting from those useless bunch of bones~?! Of course, they would be defeated in mere seconds by these amazing creatures!! I see now! You two are also irregr beings in this nature~!! We are the same! But still...! You will die, you fucking witch! You fucking underling of filthy god! >] And after saying that, the evil spirit looked straight into the two''s eyes with an angry, disgusted, and hateful expression. Its purple eyes of light were strange and as they looked into them, they felt as if someone was directly ncing into the depths of their soul. "Rein! Snap out!" he shouted as he took out an arrow from his quiver and aimed at the evil spirit. The evil was using its [Soul sight] skill to assess the nature of her soul and he knew from the dark red light swirling around his hands that he will use [Soul drain] after reappearing around her. -Swiiiiish! "I know bastard!" she replied and took out her purple-pink scythe and used her quick reflexes to avoid the strange ck throne that suddenly rose from the ground! His strong mind just negated the use of any mental skill, but still, the skills that this evil spirit bastard possessed were strong. It could affect her, but her recovery speed was far greater than any normal high mage. She recovered and dodged the ck throne made of strange ck liquid. Their eyes told them this was a condensed dark essence of undead covered with the curse of stiffness. Something made from fusing two different skills! "It knows skill fusion! Shit! Switch to raid strategy 1 gamma!" he shouted again and covered his body with a blue shield. -Swish! Swish! Swish! And as soon as he did that, three bone arrows made of bones on the ground and covered by thick dark energy collided with his skill! -Boooooooom! But remarkably, the shield blocked the curse-covered bone arrows, and he returned beside her. [[ *You gave it an endless supply of ammo...* ]] Lucy said in a worried voice, but he shook his head. ''Even if there are countless bones, the energy that evil spirit bastard has is limited. It can''t use arge number of bones and curses, and still maintain that barrier around the coffins. He''s protecting that coffin as his life. And we will use that.'' [[ *...good luck* ]] it was a sad voice that must have wanted to say that it was evil, but there was nothing wrong when it was about their own survival. ¡­ "Eon! Just defending won''t work! Start the offensive!" The two of them dodged many arrows, spears, and swords made of bones, different curses that would affect someone''s physical body if only even a cut was made. But they avoided the unexpected, surprise attacks that came from ces that they couldn''t even think of! The evil spirit was still floating in the air. [< Khahahahaha! >] It wasughing, but its eyes were sharply observing every move, every movement, and every magic they used to defend against its attacks. -Swash! Swash! Swash! And the offensive just continued. -nk. -Swiiiiiish. Swiiiiiish. Swiiiiiish! Eon continued using light attribute arrows as he, too, observed the curses and the weapons that the evil spirit was using with its necro skills. It had a strange domination over its weapons made of these bones, just like its control over its undead. The weapons moved in a strange orbit and kept changing from one to another. So now, before them, were bone weapons consistently shooting toward them out of nowhere, and some of their weapons would practically engage them in a small battle. -nk! nk! nk! It was difficult, but they still masterfully dodged all the projectiles and defended against the controlled weapons, and thanks to the light enchantments and his arrows, the weapons were destroyed without much difficulty. But they were still in a stalemate! Neither the spirit was doing any damage to them, nor they had done any damage to the spirit. Just like she said, being on the defensive was only disadvantageous for them. The evil spirit had higher stats than them and it wasn''t using any physical movements like them, so their stamina also could not keep up if things went like that. Eon also knew that, and he had now finished the initial evaluation of the spirit''s attack methods. He knew how he could overturn this utter stalemate and go on the offensive and push the evil spirit into the defensive¡­ [[ "Rein. Prepare to defend from left." ]] [[ "W-what?! What do you-" ]] But before she could finish, he moved to the very right using his [Quick steps] and caught the spear of bones that came flying from that direction with his bare hands covered with a strange pure white energy. -Swiiiiiiiiiish! But at the same time, from the far left, another spear came flying toward the girl and because her bastard darling had disappeared from his position, there was a gap in that specific area of defense. It would have been difficult if he hadn''t told her about this beforehand. She could have very well gotten wounded by the spear covered with a red curse of bleeding, but he told her beforehand... -nk! Swishck...! She was ready and with her quick reflexes; she spun in a full circle with her heavy scythe in her one hand, caught the spear with the curved tip of her de, and redirected it toward the front where another simr spear wasing from. -Swiiiiiiiiish- boooooooom! The two spears collided, and this sudden variable surprised the stoic evil spirit! An attack that they would have easily defended against if they maintained their position was left to pass. And not only that, but they also predicted the path of the next attacks and actually defended against something that was impossible until you can see the future! But... [< Bastard!!! @#$$@#$#@#$! >] It cursed loudly and moved from its ce for the first time since they entered this room. And the reason for that was naturally... -Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! -Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! -Swiiiiiish! Six wooden arrows covered with a strange light enchantment came flying toward him from different directions just when he took his attention off that boy for a moment. And they were no normal arrows that would just pass through his spirit body... he knew he would have to suffer like that ghost if he was stuck by them. So it moved from its ce, and that marked the breaking point of the stalemate that was just going on for a while. -Swiiiiiish! And also the point when the majestic evil spirit that ruled this whole ce and once terrorized this whole ind... was pushed back on the defensive. Chapter 399 What... How?! It was just one mistake and the evil spirit wasn''t even underestimating the opponents this time. The attack pattern that it was using with the curses, spears, and the other weapons was random and set up using the most predictable moves of the opponents. The degree of finesse the evil spirit put in the attacks was the best from its side, but this situation... -nk! nk! nk! The weapons that it was using to attack just a moment before had be useless defensive shields. It was strange how the boy, that small bastard, did something so unexpected! Not only he left his ce and the back of his partner alone, he almost endangered her life there. The evil spirit had one goal, and that was to kill the two of these bastards and after that reim its toys, hiding some distance away under those powerful shields. It was confident in its strength and also knew the strength of the enemy to some extent. So it was confident that the most the two of them should do would be to use some great magic or skill to make an opening in the existing situation. And the evil spirit was already ready for whatever spell or skill they were going to show it. Both of them had some pretty amazing skills and their magic was just amazing too, but though it took time, the evil spirit had finished finding the cores of the spells that it could use its [Despell] skill on. It was true that one needed the opposite attribute of the spell to cancel the opponent''s magic, but this skill directly affected the core of the spell so it was just as much dangerous to all attribute''s spells. Once the cores were pierced and the spells were canceled, the evil spirit was ready to increase the power of the offensive, and once again, put them into a battle of attrition. And as the evil spirit had the [Learning] skill, and superior stats, it was confident that it could most definitely drain them of their mental and physical stamina. It was a good n and if they surprise it once more; it was confident that it could at least use the countless bones on the ground, use some sticky curses and make a suit that could save it during the fight. Its analytical ability was exceptional. So great that it already knew that the white bow that the boy used outside put too much burden on him. And also the ability that the girl just used also can''t be used more than once anymore. It knew that he was the one thinking most things here as well as that he trusted her so much that he knew she will be safe even if he abandoned her back. And he trusted that she trusted him, too. This was crazy! Both of them were crazy! She could have seriously gotten hurt and he just suddenly left her and believed in her and she believed in him and came out safely from the attacks that were too absurd to even think about...! Even the evil spirit itself didn''t know where it will attack before it actually attacked, but that fucking bastard... as if he could see in the future, he actually read the evil spirit, understood its nature and the whole persona, and made an urate judgment of where the next attack woulde from. It was a gamble that would need blessed luck to seed and he took the risk while taking his own ''read'' judgments into ount. And they were on the spot... He won the gamble and was now on the offensive with the upper hand. -Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! -nk. nk. nk. He was shooting light attribute enchanted arrows with Tay and the arrows were, though not that effective, definitely making the evil spirit lose his calmposure. But he wasn''t the only one threatening his life right now. "Haiyaaa!" The girl, the witch, was also a threat to him right now. It was only possible for the evil spirit to control a maximum of ten bone weapons with its powers and of these two weapons, even if it used most to just throw at them as projectiles, there were still six spears that it maintained as a moving weapon. Its control over it was exceptional. Almost as if someone had been trained in controlling the weapons for a long time. But this ability that could threaten anyone was practically nothing before this fucking bitch. She just moved... no. She just danced through the gaps between the barrage of arrows and spears, avoided all of the attacks even if they were targeted ones, closed her gap with the evil spirit, and even attacked the shield protecting it. It was a skill, and the shield had a limited damage threshold, so both of them knew that the evil spirit can''t actually keep the shield up for a long time. It was strange, but the two of them were in perfect harmony too. -nk! nk! nk! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! -Booooooooom! She attacked the enemy from close range while he supported her from the back, dealt damage, and even healed her with healing spell arrows if she allowed any attacks. Though that rarely happened, the two of them were smiling while fighting this dangerous battle¡­ The evil spirit also only had a few things it can actually attack with. The curses and dominated skeleton weapons, the light ray skill and its ultimate skill [Death sentence]. Its high necromancy and domination were the things it used to make the weapons but it must consume a great deal of energy and even if this spirit bastard looked no different from it did at the start of the fight, both of them could tell that it was getting a bit weaker with each passing second. Still, it would be tough on them if the fight got stretched out like that. It was clear that they had to pick up their pace now that they had the upper hand, but it was still tough for them, The evil spirit had few offensive skills, but it was loaded with support skills and a barrier so strong it didn''t even crack at their continuous attacks. And it was the same barrier as the one around the coffins some distance away from there, so it was more admirable how the evil spirit was using this skill in two different ces at once. It was a great skill, and the barrier was also strong. They knew by now that neither the normal arrow nor the simple swinging of her scythe would affect the barrier. It was a strange barrier. Its base was dark, but it had a strange eight-faced design that not only increased its strength but also increased the shield''s overall magic resistance. But still, the spells the two of them used threatened him... [< Fucking bastards...! >] The spells they used were personal spells made to suit them. It was also something that was tooplex to easily understand, but the evil spirit had definitely seeded in understanding the base of the girl''s water attribute spells as well as the boy''s light attribute spells. -Swiiiiiish! Bet when it actually started using its [Despell] on their spells and the two of them caught on to the fact that their spells were useless before the spirit after that point... the fuckers stopped using those spells. Yes. They stopped using those specific spells that they had kept using throughout the battle. The girl started using the spells with darkness attributes which were just totally different from her water attribute spells while the boy... that BASTARD! started light attribute spells even moreplex and powerful than the ones before. And these stronger ones were not just asplex and powerful as just a few moments ago, they actually had a totally different structure than the previous spells. And he was using these spells as if he was just as much familiar with them as the previous ones. [< You bastards dare trick me!! >] Commonly, mages only used certain spells they had mastered in a quick fight like theirs, so even if there was someone like Eon with all six attributes'' affinity, it was just too difficult to think that he would have mastered more than one spell structure. The evil spirit misunderstood the situation as their pre-decided n. And it acknowledged the boy foring up with this scenario that even a great plotter like itself hadn''t thought of. It was definitely a counter against someone possessing a despell skill that worked better than reverse calction magic and was too easy to use. But it was mistaken about this thing. The two of them never knew what exact skills the evil spirit had and had no certain n to deal with them. They had the strategy to defeat it and ording to what they were following, they had to make the evil spirit as wary of them as possible, decrease its focus, and allow Eon to leave a ''mark'' on this spirit. That was the only thing they had to do for now and the current situation where the evil spirit was angry because they could use diverse kinds of magic was¡­ just a coincidence. Rein could naturally only use darkness and water spells, so he had taught her differentplex and powerful spells, while when talking about Eon himself... well, he could use countless kinds of spells which produce simr results. His mind was a storage castle that had countless mysteries stored in it, so the light attribute spells were nothing that surprising. If the enemy knew how the enemy''s guns worked, it was just logical that they should change the guns. But thismonsense was a great blow to the pride of the evil spirit. -Oooooooooooooong! The evil spirit, enraged by their actions that were a clear mockery to its great self, started summoning a strange gray light in its hands. It was murky light that gave off the opposite kind of feeling than the light he was using, and it clearly meant one thing. It was the manifestation of its [Unholy blight] skill. -Shhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiimmmm! And this skill, well... it was just too easy to dodge. [< Bastards!!! >] the evil spirit was even more enraged after they just easily dodged its beam of light. And from the looks of it, it was going to stop the defensive and start a proper physical offensive. They had tormented him this whole time with their physical weapons and that filthy light energy. There was no way it would make the two''s deaths painless. Its physical powers were far greater than the two of them and the shield around it was something that no normal weak or even strong attacks will be able to break anytime soon. It was something that won''t even break with a (tier-9) offensive spell, so it was the two with far below that level who won''t ever be able to break it. The indirect fight didn''t work on it, so it was now determined to finish them off with its own hands. It would crush the two of them himself, cut them to pieces in front of them, recapture its toys, and then make the two intruders who made him suffer so much as his own precious undead! It was confident the two of them would make the best toys that can''t ever bepared to his useless junk~! It was ready, so it allowed his disgusting arrow, vanished from the ce it was floating, and reappeared just behind the girl that he so much cherished. It still had control of the six moving swords, but now there weren''t any new weapons being thrown at them. Just that the cunning evil spirit had be more aggressive. ''Well... it''s good for us anyway.'' he thought as he said just one thing to her through their connection. [[ "Start." ]] There was a wide smile on his face when he said it and as soon as she heard those words, a simr smile also appeared on her face and used her origin travel skill and vanished... -Booooooooooom! And the exact ce that she had vanished from was punched by the evil spirit as a crater appeared in this ce, shocking the entire room filled with bones! It was a strong punch that damaged a solid rock ground, but the surprised reaction it got from this unexpected development confused him even more. But the evil spirit''s unexpected move was a boon for Eon. As soon as its attack finished and there was a crater before the evil spirit, Eon just moved before the evil spirit without thinking a thing, called out his conditional skill [Stark triangle], and just when a strange triangle of red light manifested on his palm, he... -p!! He pped the evil spirit, or the barrier with it, and returned back to the other side where Rein appeared using his [Shadow dive]. It was too sudden, unexpected, and confusing for the evil spirit, and it had no idea what just happened in a matter of seconds. It didn''t even feel the attack from the boy and it was just a child''s p, so it seemed more than another mockery than anything! [< You @#$#@#$##!! Just die bastards! >] [< "No. You will be the one to die today. Neron." >] [< ...?! >] This one was also unexpected! The boy who had been recognized as the biggest threat, the biggest eyesore, the greatest enemy, just spoke of its death and its past name in its own nativenguage! Anguage of old times that only those with the ability to understand thenguage of Mana could understand. But he spoke in thatnguage! Something even they who understand it can''t do! It wasn''t just shocking... it once again shook the whole world of the evil spirit!!! But the words he spoke... [< Nooooo! You all will dieeeee! >] The evil spirit disappeared again after saying that, but at the time it was confused, Eon had called out a red triangle simr to one before and ced it on Rein''s hand. And just like with the evil spirit, this one also disappeared into her body. He had already ced the first one in his body, so the things were ready now. The conditions had been met, and the skill was now fully usable so... he used quick steps without wasting any time, she used [Air steps] and started running on the air, and the evil spirit that had disappeared just a moment before reappeared in the air before her face! -Swiiiiiiiiiing...! He swung his strong, ethereal fist! But... there was not even a shred of fear on her face, even though she had sensed the uing attack. The evil spirit knew that she knew just how strong it was and if this attack stuck her, it would be a great problem, but she was... smiling? And the reason for this smile... -Shazak! "What do you think?" "A few hours?" "Nah... one is more than enough." "Can youst for that long?" "Can you?" "Who do you think I am?" "My dear Rein?" "Bastard... go start." She smiled and ced another light elemental enchantment on her scythe de, and gave him a sweet smile before going to the left of the evil spirit, to her position. He also went to his position after taking out Don and smiled as he looked at the nk, shocked eyes of the evil spirit who was standing in the ce where he was just a moment ago. There was just air before him so his punch had gone to waste, but this sudden thing definitely told it one thing... The situation... had be so dangerous for it that it could now actually... die. Chapter 400 Anger And Resentment Conditional skills are special skills that are innate from the start. Either in humans or the creatures or some other race, like humans. The innate skills, which are sometimes conditional skills, are one of the rarest but at the same time, one of the most unique skills in practice. Though their uses are diverse and can be used in different ways depending on the possessor''s imagination, they are skills that are most extraordinary. They are powerful skills from the start and if a skill stone contains one such innate skill of some creature, which would have been lost forever if not been in a skill stone found by someone on time. Well, anyway... [Stark triangle] is a skill that, though unexpectedly, I just found outying on the ground. ''There was also a mess of corpse which looked a looooot gruesome than one can think, so let''s not think about it.'' I once stumbled across a dead body of a creature that had gone through true berserk after getting corrupted but was not able to handle the madness of power. It was a creature that resembled a bear or some big creature, but the messy body couldn''t be recognized from the way it was. But, well, I did find one skill stone just lying around in that dark forest, shining in the moonlight, almost calling my name. And, well, I could never refuse such an amazing gift. This skill was also just too amazing to refuse. A conditional skill that can almost grant the person the ability to ''teleport'' the connected targets~! And aside from the one having this ability, others wouldn''t have any idea what had just happened. Just like right now... -Shazak! The spirit was confused for a moment and when it looked back at the two of us, it couldn''t fathom the current situation, so¡­ it tried the physical attack again. -Pam-sweeeeeee¡­ But this time too, as it appeared before me, I vanished from my ce, or more like took evil spirit''s ce and it just punched the empty air once again. ''It''s an amazing skill...'' There were three conditions to activate this skill and, though they were troublesome, it wasn''t as difficult as Rein''s skill. All I needed were two people aside from me. One alley, and the other one an opponent who would be stronger than both of us. The alley must have a deep faith in the caster of the skill and the caster had to have a deep understanding of the opponent they were fighting. And... yeah. That much was it. Then the three triangles which directly affect the positions of one being would be avable and I just had to give this one to the opponent and alley. I also had to have a precise grasp of both of their current locations, but that much was easy. So... -Shazak! [< What is this, you bastard?! >] It would be easy to damage the spirit for a while now. And this time, we had to deal with as much damage as possible. It was a great skill and before easy opponents, it would be unusable as Rein and my actualbined strength already go beyond thebined strength of her lich and my warrior. This skill is powerful and it can actually work on even creatures of the highest rank, but using it against a purple-rank creature would eat up too much of my concentration... Anyway, this one was easy. I can handle the pressure from this spirit, but still, it would work for only a short while, even if I can keep it up for longer. ''The evil spirit can learn during the fight so it will figure out what it has to do to avoid being hit by the skill. It is just that much strong that even both our strengths are low before it.'' Anyway... -Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! -Shazak! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish... -Boooooooooom! It was good that its amazing dark shield was crumbling down faster now that the attacks were actually hitting it. And the white light from Don was even more helpful. It was the actual opposite of the darkness attribute, so when it got into contact with its shield, it not just damaged the shield, it actually pierced it and sometimes even touched the evil spirit! And it was super effective as the whole spiritual body of the spirit actually shook and pained. I knew it must be agonizing and the expression on its face was all the things needed for us to know. It was getting pushed back, but it still wasn''t easy... It was an evil spirit, a spiritual creature, and more than anything, it was a powerful foe with great wisdom. As the fight progressed and it started getting pushed back, it mostly stopped caring about small things that it had already learned about us and left it to its sharp instincts. ¡­ The arrows with a simple, starlight trajectory were something that it can evade easily now. Her simple shing attacks were also getting difficult to connect as time passed. But we definitely did some damage to the spirit... The shield skill it had was great, something that could create multiple shields around a designated target. And it can create more than one shield and all the shields will share the received damage from the opponents. It was an amazing skill and something rare that one doesn''t see in just any creature. There were two shields. The first one around him and the second one, which was sturdier than his own, were protecting the two golden coffins in the middle of the room. But as time passed, the shields were getting weaker and weaker. The arrows with white light that the evil spirit failed to deflect or dodge pierced the shields and even sometimes damaged the spirit. It was strange to see the spirit without its cynicalugh that we had heard throughout the long fight we had, but it was better. Itsugh was something that also contained an essence of its cursing power and could probably increase our resource consumption rate. -nk! nk! -Swiiiiiiiiish~! -Kha-chum! The shield was getting damaged, and at the same time, the weapon like swords and spears that the evil spirit was controlling was getting better and better. But one thing was true... -Shazak! In the air, as all three of us just floated with our skills, spells, and basic characteristics, the three of us were making an extraordinary canvas! The evil spirit was getting angrier with each passing second and whenever its attacks came, its basic positions changed with either Rein or me. -Swiiiiiish~! -Swish. Swish. Swish. -aaaaaash! -Shazak! ''Just think about it...'' A fast-paced fight between three people. The two of us and this evil spirit. Three lights, pink, red, and dark purple, flying through the air like some lights with a will of their own... or some spiritual creatures ying tag. -nk! Boooooom! Swiiiiiish~! Sounds of weapons collide with the hard surface of the shield multiple times, arrows flying through the air after missing the target, and strong physical attacks strong enough to create a gust of winds so strong that they can even throw away a strong giant creature. And most importantly... -Shazak! The strange sound signifying the changing of positions in this amazing fight~! -nk! nk! nk! The evil spirit had a red face now. Its previous calm orugh was nowhere to be seen. I can say it was feeling it now for the earnest... the weakness. Its own weakness against the two of us. Its weakness of underestimating the two of us. It''s a weakness to not foresee the things we could do, and its weak thoughts of not being able to ''protect'' it... It was still a strong foe, though. ¡­ Most of the spells we were using were useless against it now. Including my highlyplex ones. The simple attacks were mostly useless, so she had to use her special footwork to increase the attack power and speed. The arrows that I fired simply were also mostly blocked or dodged by it. This evil spirit... -Swiiiiiish! It was improving with each passing second. And even though our attacks were passing through, the frequency of attacks connecting was going down... And after some time things stayed like this, the three lights in the air continued colliding, and as the three spectators from our side watched it with wildly beating hearts, we continued pushing the evil spirit... -nk- boooooom! -Swiiiiiish! Swiiiiiish! -nk-nk-nk! [< Don''t fuck with me, bastards!!! >] Just until it used one of its unused cards. [Red nightmare]. It was a mental illustration skill, and it showed the targets gruesome things like ****. It was already frustrated by our onught, but it can''t lose. I knew how it felt perfectly so I can tell it was not going to give up easily. Even though its body was burning from the wounds of white light, it still persisted and continued attacking us with its curses, bone weapons, and random punches. Its hatred toward us was increasing with each passing moment, but it endured the pain from the poisonous light attribute. It endured, endured, and all hatred was conveyed from the nightmare we saw from its skill¡­ [ In a world full of only red. Red sky and red, endless ocean, the evil spirit was torturing my Rein tied in the middle of this ce. It had a new wide smirk that went from its ear to ear as it cut her body multiple times, pulled out her nails, and broke down her fingers... Rein screamed, cried, and begged for her life¡­ something the real her would never do. She had a fearful expression on her face. Something that I had never seen her make. Not at least so fearful that she cries and screams for help while just looking at me, who can''t even move from his ce. The bastard then continues its fucked up torture, gouges out her beautiful eyes, burns her skin with acid-like dark curses, and then, after doing countless **** things, it drains out her soul energy. ] That was something I saw, and I knew it actually didn''t just end there. The fucking evil bastard continued to do things in different scenarios with a new ''Rein-like person''. My mind was strong, so I came out of that illusion in just a moment. I knew they were illusions, so they weren''t that effective on me. That wasn''t actually my Rein. No illusion could recreate her amazing eyes. No fucking bastard could do anything to those eyes, even if they wanted to. In the first ce, the things I saw in that fucking red world weren''t something that will ever happen. I know... it won''t. I came out of that illusion in just a moment, even though a long time had passed in that red world. But that small moment was enough for the bastard evil spirit too... [< KHAHAHAHAHA! >] -SLAM-DUNK! -Booooooooooom! The moment my eyes opened, I saw three things. Aughing crazy evil spirit. My Rein who was just nkly staring into the air with a red light in her eyes. And a bright ceiling with countless light stones. And the very next moment, the evil spirit was before me, its eyes saying that ''even if I do not get the chance to do much, I will at least punch that crappy face of yours!''. And it did punch me with its tremendous strength and threw me on the ground... Thankfully, I activated my barrier skill and wasn''t much hurt, but his strength was actually so great that my shield skill that could even endure (tier-6) spells was shattered into small particles. It was a great pure physical force but thankfully I was only coughing up blood after that, but the bastard who did this to me... "You mother @#$$#@@#$!!" Rein shouted with her face red with anger and eyes filled with tears of resentment. She also only stayed in that illusion for a moment more than me, but by the time she was out, I was on the ground, coughing up blood. And when she saw me like that just aftering out of that horrible illusion, the way her eyes were filled with blood and her killing intent... I knew the battle that was just going on one-sidedly would enter itsst stage. And the start of that all... (+Blessing of water), (+Dark enhanced shield), (+Essence of darkness), (+Frost steps), (+Greater energy enhancement), (+High physical resistance) Enhancement series personal spells, and all of them were the highest grade spells of (tier-3) which would easily be considered above their level. And how she cast those spells on her own was the reason she was so amazing... But she didn''t just stop there. The anger in her eyes as she appeared before the evil spirit was greater than I had ever seen. She raised her Aura-covered scythe with both hands and swung it at the bbergasted evil spirit like it was some ball she was hitting with her bat¡­! And the way this ball, the evil spirit with its darkness barriers, was thrown to the very other side of the room was... reminiscent of seeing the best hits of history. Chapter 401 Evil Spirit The evil spirit crashed on the other side of the giant room after her spectacr hit and after it crashed with a loud BOOM!, shended on the ground, performed the footwork for her scythe technique with the same bloodshot eyes, vanished from her ce, reappeared before the evil spirit, and swung her scythe precisely twelve times. -Shem! Shem! Shem! Three horizontal and nine vertical cuts. And these cuts were powered by her special Mana, so it was as if the evil spirit was trapped in a prison. It was the second unleash of her scythe technique: Cage. Not only it restricted the opponent, but it also restricted the use of any magic from the opponent. The evil spirit was restricted at this moment, and the shock from the crash the moment before was still fresh, so it couldn''t react to any of it. But this was the golden chance for her. And after it showed her those horrible nightmares, the evil spirit had hastened its own boat to death. This whole fight was going to be her fight alone and the difficult situation required a change of that n, but now that she was angry, I knew she was going to beat the crap out of that evil spirit. At least for a while until it recovers. So after the evil spirit was in this strange cage that had the special characteristic of increasing the damage done to the target, she started her thing... -Boom! Booom! Boooooom! She started attacking the dark barrier with her full strength, not caring about saving her energy anymore. ''I don''t know what she saw, but considering what I saw, it definitely wasn''t something pleasant. And from how she stayed there longer than me...'' I also wanted to torcher this bastard the same way it did to my Rein''s fake illusion. I wanted to do even worse things and do the things that even its evil self could never think about. It dared harm my Rein... it had to pay the appropriate price... It had to. And it will definitely pay the price with its life that I will take with my arrows. But for now, her anger was ferocious. -Boom! Booom! Boooooom! She smashed the barrier with her scythe. And this scythe was covered with her gorgeous Aura and Mana, so it was given an even more attractive look. But this look... it just looked nice. It wasn''t something ordinary. And if possible, I definitely wouldn''t even want my ''innocent'' enemies to be hit with that scythe. Her Aura was as destructive as mine while it was something made from the desire to actually kill... The killing power of her Aura was surprisingly high, and it was so great that the light enchantment on the de of the scythe was almost into tatters. But it was still functioning. And she was still smashing. -Boom! Booom! Boooooom! The dark elemental barrier was strong but after enduring the barrages from the two of us and now from her like that, it was starting to shake like a soap bubble. It was shaking with each of her shes and the sharp edge of the scythe was filled with power so great that the wall behind her, the silver wall with golden inscriptions was getting damaged just from the wind waves created from it. She was strong and the way she used her weapon was also amazing, but the cage didn''tst for much longer. [< Aaaaaaaa! >] By the time the evil spirit regained its mind and endured the mindless onught from her, the barrier was starting to crack. But then the evil spirit regained its form, gathered its strength, and punched her weapon with whatever strength it had mustered...! -Boooooooooom! Its strength was already very great, so it was natural that she was thrown back. And this one must have been painful, as the strong vibrations from the weapon in her hand were enough to shake the insides of one hit by it. -Dhummmmmmmm! She was thrown back and the evil spirit hardly stood up from the destroyed ground. Her power was enough to destroy the whole area they were in. It was difficult for both sides now that we had used much of our resources. The fight had already gone on for more than an hour from the start and we only had less than half of our overall stamina and energy remaining. So... we had to finish this now. -Xiu. Xiu. Xiu. I was hit badly by that bastard, so recovery took a while, but after drinking a red potion, I was ready with my arrows. -Xiu. Xiu. And these arrows were shot from Don, so they all had one thing inmon. -Xiu. They were covered by white light and by the time the evil spirit stood up after shaking her off, these first six arrows were at an unavoidable distance. It was impossible to avoid, even with its transcendent strength. So it also only had one choice... -Oooooooooooong. The arrows flew threw the air like a predator bird diving for its prey from the high sky but... as if the prey had a special skill to vanish from its ce, this bastard evil spirit became one with nature using its [Half-true essence] skill. The arrows passed through the cracking shield and as soon as all of them touched it, the shield cracked and shattered! Though it was sad that the evil spirit was fine, the shields were broken. The one around him, as well as the one around the two coffins. The spirit itself was never the goal of this attack. It was the barrier... and now that the barriers were down... "Asta. Execute Act 1." There was a smile on my blood, sweat, and dirt-covered face. And when the evil spirit who barely managed to save its life saw this smile and the look in my eyes... I knew it actually got goosebumps on its ethereal body. One could only deduct a few possibilities from this smile from the person who had been actually punched by the evil just a moment before¡­ We all were on low energy. Our mental and physical stamina was also decreasing after this long and fast-paced fight. Neither of us was in good condition. Of course, this only included the three of us. The three on the other side of this room, the three spectators from our side, were praying for our victory with high hearts. I had seen their expressions that wanted to just rush to our side when they saw the two of us struggling, but it was impossible even for them. The barrier that was protecting them was something made using... well, never mind that. [< No. No, no, no! No!! Not even demons would do that! >] Asta appeared in my hand after themand. She was quietly gathering energy from the surrounding from the start of the fight, so it was her turn now. I took a deep breath, got into my position, channeled my Mana and Solnova throughout my body and Don, confirmed the atmospheric variables, confirmed the target using my third eye, and pulled back my bowstring with Asta on it. It was a slow process, but the evil spirit didn''te to attack me. And the reason for that... was the ce I was aiming for. [< You dare!!! You fucking bastards!! You son of a bitch!! Don''t you fucking dareeeeeeeee!!! >] Yup. As I said earlier... the coffins. The only thing in this whole tomb that it cared about. This coffin... it was the sole reason for its existence. ''Second stance of sniping: Crash.'' The distance between the two of us wasn''t that much, but I still used the long-range shooting technique. It was required in this particr situation and as my energy was gathering on the tip of Asta, the evil spirit reappeared before the two golden coffins. My eyes were closed, but I could see Rein was guarding me. It knew it would be foolish if it tried to harm me right now. ''Her anger is still fresh too...'' She was dangerous when she was angry and I feared the day when she goes berserk because of some unforeseen scenarios. It would be a disaster that won''t just concern a small area but the entire nation. Well... I had no n to let that happen, so it was alright for now. ''It is ridiculous. But... can I still call this one evil?'' What was evil, actually? Beings that did wrong to others? Beings that did wrong and harmed others for their selfish gains? Was being selfish a sin? Was wishing to protect something they love a sin? Or was it a sin to kill someone like this evil spirit who did everything it ever did for its own peace? To protect the thing that it always wanted to protect? Well... it harmed my friend, some creatures who will be with me in the future, and showed me something too much unpleasant to ignore. It will die today. Maybe not by my hands, but surely... this bastard will die here. The energy gathered on the frontal tip of my Asta; I was ready, the evil spirit had an enraged, fearful expression as it stood before the coffins and hurriedly created another darkness shield. Fundamentally, his dark octagon barrier got stronger with time so it was useless when it was summoned freshly. It would be just a bit stronger than a (tier-6) barrier. The condensed power on Asta right now was far greater than that amount, so it was normal that it wouldn''t be able to protect his precious thing. The most it could do was endure this attack with his own body, but it would kill him on the spot along with the coffins. It had no way to live aside from just giving up on protecting the coffins and when the coffins are destroyed and it has used up most of its energy, it would most probably go berserk and lose its control. It would be weakened even further in that state, so it would be easier for us to kill him. Though it would also mean damage to this ce made of pure precious materials. It was still ok. Once this bastard was gone, we will be able to talk and breathefortably. So... the time was up. The power one could feel from this one golden arrow was so obvious that they can''t help but just step away from its path. Anything in the path was already going to get obliterated... and the evil spirit also felt that. My Solnova was already as dangerous for him as the light attribute, so this attack filled with condensed Solnova and light attribute Mana, as well as covered with white light... the evil spirit could see its end. The most valuable thing of his existence was on the line and there was no way to protect it. There was no way... There wasn''t. Not at least while protecting his own life. So... -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish...! The ''evil'' spirit decided to give up its life. Chapter 402 Foolishness The golden arrow with a red gem heart on the back, covered with yellow-white energy, moved through the air like some meteor moving through space. The evil spirit standing before the golden coffins, created dark shields one by one by squeezing all its power. -Swiiiiiiiiish! The arrow moved through the air and reached the dark shields. Naturally passing through all of them like a hot knife passing through butter. The arrow was strong and the power it carried was meant to kill the evil spirit... but the evil spirit who looked no different from a human with that desperate look was not letting go of its wish. The arrow pierced thest of the shield but when it was about to hit the evil spirit, a gray murky light suddenly appeared before him and shot toward the arrow! -Boooooooom! The golden arrow covered with white light, and the gray light of darkness collided! And the explosion they made was enough to cause great shockwaves. -Wuuw. Wuuw. Wuuw. Wuuw. The shockwaves were great enough to shake the whole room, but the arrow wasn''t changing its path. Instead, its speed was increasing with each passing second. And the evil spirit wasn''t letting go of its gray light, either. It was a strong force, but it also was used at the cost of all of its reserved energy. -Zuuuuuuuuu! But maintaining this one light wasn''t the only thing it was doing. Its whole dark purple body shined with a darker purple light, its eyes glowed with red, and the spiritual robes around its body fluttered as every single bone on the ground started vibrating! And there were thousands of them, so... it was obviously dangerous! The bones started floating after shaking for a bit and all the bones, all the thousands of white bones, flew toward the evil spirit. -Dooooooo... The bones gathered before the evil spirit, started taking a new shape, and in just a few seconds the gray light was stopping the golden arrow, they became a thick shield of bones! -Swiiiiiiiiish...! But the golden arrow didn''t take that long to actually pierce the gray unholy light and passed through it, creating even bigger shockwaves. -Wuuuuuuw! Wuuuuuuw! It was also powerful enough to almost crack the silver pirs supporting this room. But it definitely pierced the light and collided with the newly created shield! -Boooooooom! They were strong and it would have been difficult if they were devoid of their undead energy, but the bones still contained some amount of undead essence, so they couldn''t block the arrow for that long. -Ktktktktkt... The arrow covered by white light destroyed the bones and passed through them. Its energy was now starting to get lower with each moment! The evil spirit also felt this, so it felt some form of hope... only to feel despair the next moment when the red gem on the arrow blinked with crimson light and the yellow energy around the arrow decreased... elerating the speed of the arrow once again. It was despair for the evil spirit. Despair even greater than its own red nightmare. It was dangerous and the evil spirit would get destroyed by it if it stayed like this! It would die if the arrow continued to advance like that. It knew this would be its demise if it stayed like that. It should just move away and let those coffins be destroyed. It was foolish to sacrifice so much of its energy just to protect some coffin. -Swiiiiiiiiish...! The arrow was still pushing the wall of bones that was increasing with each second without stopping. New bones were sticking in the wall to make it thicker, but the arrow carried more power than the creation speed of the wall. The evil spirit should just give up now. It didn''t even have much energy after moving those thousands of bones. But still, it was just stuck in its ce. The evil spirit didn''t move. It just stayed there, used up all itsst remaining power to block the arrow, and when all of its energy was used up and it was visibly noticeable that it was no longer the majestic evil spirit that once terrorized the whole ind, killed countless creatures, and did bad things, the bastard, instead of moving away, did even more crazy thing. It was something that Eon wasn''t expecting it would do at all. It was just too shocking for him. And if even his eyes were wide open from the shock, the enraged Rein''s shock was naturally something far greater than anything she had felt during their whole expedition. The evil spirit was doing something no one, not a single alive person in this whole ce would think it would do. It was just that absurd... The evil spirit, the creature which should have been a selfish being from nature, was using up its own life force, its own soul energy, its ownst remaining essence, to power his skills! Its purple-glowing body was now dull. There were many ces that had started degenerating, and the spirit was using its soul energy and giving its own life to protect the coffins. It created more dark shields and continued using the bones to strengthen the wall like a shield. [< KHAAAAAAAA! >] Its screams as the pain from its own spiritual body degenerating must have been worse than any alive person aside from Eon might possibly fathom! It was just too great, but the weapon they were trying to stop wasn''t going to stop until it achieved its purpose. Its purpose is to just pierce anything in its path and crash on the other side of this room. It was an Ego weapon and currently the secondw binding it, [eleration], was temporarily broken. It would use all the energy provided to it and achieve its goal, just elerating with each passing moment. And it did just that... -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish...! It continued elerating, absorbed the white Solnova around it after the red glow from its gem heart, and pushed the bones, the light, and even the shield. The evil spirit had done everything it could to protect the thing it wanted to. And in thest efforts of protecting the coffins, the evil spirit even poured down half of its soul energy and... managed to just slightly change the direction of the arrow. It was difficult because of the white energy surrounding the arrow but it actually seeded and the arrow, which was just slightly curved upwards, passed through the bones, shed the wall, passed through the gray light, the weak darkness shield, andstly, it passed through the evil spirit who''s body was now almost translucent... It already had some part of its body disintegrating into nature, but after Asta passed through it and just passed from above the coffins, it sighed weakly and slowly descended on the ground. -Swiiiiiiiish! Booooom! It wasn''t that loud, but Asta crashed on the other side of the wall and returned to its normal state. It had achieved its goal, and the evil spirit was the same. It had protected the reason for its existence. But still... it couldn''t protect it forever like it wanted to do. All it wanted from the start was to protect this ce and one of the coffins and just stay with it till the end of everything. The reason it woke up was the humans who interrupted its long slumber. The reason it killed the weaker creature of the ind was to gather useful toys that can kill the future intruders in his home. All it wanted was to spend a slow, eternal, quiet life with its special someone and protect her body. Her soul wasn''t with him anymore, but it was determined to at least keep the body that homed her soul for her whole life safe. The evil spirit gave its life to the being that was already dead. For just a corpse that was of little value before the lives of countless lives, it had been destroyed. Maybe the value of its own peace and this ce was too great for this one. Maybe it was the most selfish being in existence. Maybe it was evil and bad to do the things that it did. Maybe all of that was wrong, but by doing those things, it definitely had achieved its goal. It protected this ce and the body of the one he devoted his life to. He protected and gave his life doing the thing it was reborn to do. Maybe all it did was wrong. This was the karma of those bad things. But at this moment, in thesest moments of its life, the evil spirit... it was smiling. Its body was scattering into the particles of purple light. Its life had ended now... It was bing one with nature. And Eon couldn''t understand why an evil spirit, a creature which, though bound by its past human desires, would actually follow those mortal goals and do something like giving up its life just to protect a dead body. He had some questions... so he didn''t hesitate to ask. The one who could give him answers was on his deathbed, and they both knew there was no point in fighting anymore. Both of them gathered around him. The three spectators watching from the corner of the room also gathered around the evil spirit. They had great resentment in their eyes. Especially Mave and Zuroro. Their families had been killed, and they were left alone with no one to look after them. One had healed because of the children she had to look after in a dark ce with nothing, while the other just sharpened his des for the day so that he could get his revenge on the evil bastard. Rein was still angry, but her anger was like a frozen flower. Something that would melt away with just a few rays of sunlight. They were standing around the evil spirit that they all hated with their hearts. And the bastard that was on his deathbed had a smile on his face. [< You all... I''m not sorry for whatever I did. >] They were just staring down at the evil spirit silently, but the one who broke this silence was the evil spirit itself. It meant the words it spoke just now. But, aside from Rein, Eon, and the lich, the two others couldn''t understand what it was speaking. But what it said made sense to Eon. And he epted it. He even thought that he didn''t regret the things that he had done until now. There was nothing to regret when you had done the things that you desired. The current situation was also something that he desired and managed to achieve. Even though the cost was its life. [< You... >] Then, the evil spirit looked at Eon. Its ghost-like eyes, which had been sharp enough to cut a tree a while ago, were now almost like a dead fish. He was looking at him with anger and resentment, but right now, there was no hate anymore. [< Can I ask for something? >] It spoke few words, but the eyes, its scattering body, and the deeper meaning of words were enough for Eon to understand the true heart of the evil spirit. [< "I was never going to do anything to these coffins. Asta would naturally have changed paths. You were foolish to do this to yourself... Is this... your love?" >] Eon asked with the same deep meaning with few words while answering the request of the evil spirit. He was never going to cause harm to the tombs. They were equally important to him because of the value of the materials they were made of and the [[( Rune )]] inscribed on them. They were important and valuable. So the actions of an evil spirit were something only real love could cause in his eyes. But the evil spirit said something different... [< It''s not love anymore when you are willing to give your life, young boy. It''s... foolishness. I am a fool. I was a fool... and you two are fools. >] It looked at him, then at her. The look in his eyes was now suddenly warm. And she didn''t like this look. After all... both of them were thirsty for each other''s life just moments ago. But Eon smiled at this answer. His view of this whole world and the great nature changed once again at this moment. [< "I will make sure nothing happens to both of them." >] Eon said as he crouched down. He had a somewhat sad expression and a smile on his face. Both contradicting each other. [< Don''t make that absurd face you fucking young boy... you are strong. I was weak. That is it. I was an enemy you had to defeat. I did bad to the ones close to you. I did bad to countless creatures. I knew my death would be anything but painless... and this fucked up white light is hell... You defeated me and this is my end... you have great beings around you. You also have great powers. You are special. And you have someone you can do most foolish things for. I was weak so I couldn''t protect her body till the end. I believe... you will do better than me... >] And with thosest words... the hole in his body, the wound made by the white light covered Asta, expanded, and the whole being of the evil spirit... vanished into the particles of light. Chapter 403 Book Of Souls Its soul body vanished from this world but, I knew there were remains of its soul energy in the surrounding area so I hurriedly pulled out the book of souls Rein just gave me and activated it. It was an amazing divine artifact. And I was genuinely surprised when I got it because of one thing. ''The stars my stingy eyes gave it...'' ============ [Book of souls] a?¡­a?¡­a?¡­a?¡­a?? ---> It is an amazing artifact made with the use of ancient craftsmen and alchemy techniques of old times... bastard. ---> The simple-looking book has many innate skills like form change, magic amplification, reduction of magic casting time, protection shield, and Mana recovery enhancement. But its main skill is [Soul collection]. ---> A skill that can collect a part of the soul energy of spiritual creatures, and create special undead beings with some characteristics of the soul owner. ---> The master holding the book is the only one who can summon the special undead stored in the book or cancel the summoning, which can be a disadvantageous point in some cases. ---> The book of souls is the origin of the stored undead. Once registered, they can''t be changed or destroyed and the created undead will have high intelligence which will be further dependent on their actual state before ''collection''. ---> There can be multiple masters who can use the artifact itself but the undead will follow the will of the one they consider their master. It will also highly depend on their intelligence. ---> The special undead will have most of the characteristics of their previous form and their skills will also depend on their actual form. ---> The collection of the soul is only possible from the being in a critical state or with their consent. But the undead created from this artifact will be an independent beings from their soul''s origin. ---> The artifact is a masterpiece. Something created from the hands of a true grandmaster. ---> We don''t even have curses for you anymore... [Number of souls the artifact can hold: (1/6). The undead creation time will be subject to the strength of the target being''s spiritual strength.] ---> The book holds a strong Ego and only the people acknowledged by the artifact can use it. [The artifact acknowledges your presence and further resonates with your strong, pure soul. It likes you.] [e??? The artifact is also the [Soul origin] of a powerful soul. Its destruction would mean the destruction of that being.] ============ It was an amazing artifact. And its value was astronomical. Just the fact that it could create some special undead creatures was amazing, but the fact that it had even more small skills was even more amazing. But the most important thing right now was the fading soul energy of the evil spirit. -Oooooooooooooong! As soon as I activated the simple-looking book, a small silver-purple energy ball manifested in the ce where the evil spirit had died and the ball of energy that felt like the evil spirit who had died a moment ago directly went inside the normal-looking book. The book glowed dark purple after that, and a strange glowing silver timer appeared on the first page of the book. It said a bit more than fifteen days in rune numbers, so it meant I will be able to summon the special undead after a few days~! I was already looking forward to seeing it. Excited about what kind of skills it would have, too. It was exciting... -Thud. But I was exhausted after that long and anticlimactic fight. The evil spirit really should have just stayed away and gone berserk so that we could have a bit more fun fighting it. But still, I was he exhausted. -Thud. And she was the same as she too justy down beside me. "He was weird," she said as she took a deep breath of relief. She had suffered more than me in this small expedition of ours. Her goal for this small trip was the death of the evil spirit and we achieved it without any great troubles. The evil spirit died and though it was fucked up that she didn''t get the chance to kill it with her own hands... saying that I killed it would also be wrong. It actually killed itself by not letting go of the coffins. "He definitely was a weird one," I answered, handing her some potions to help her recover better. The evil spirit was a weird creature, but however weird it was, one thing was true. It was a smart and strong foe. It was an opponent that got careless and, most importantly, it met the wrong opponents. In this world, the light attribute is a nightmare and sure death for the undead. And he met me, someone who had a special and higher version of that fearful power. The evil spirit had an absurdlyrge army but, in the end, it didn''t even get the chance to use them. The evil spirit, Salvio Neron Ned... he was a foolish person. Right now, when he was an evil spirit as well as when he was a leader leading one of the famous groups of eastern regions. "Wanna know his story written on these walls?" I asked and looked on the other side, at her beautiful face covered with sweat, dirt, and some drops of blood. Zuroro and Morris, her lich, and my lizardman were standing on one side. The two of them were just searching the room for traps withplicated minds. Morris had exined to the two of them just what happened in thosest moments and all three of them hadplicated feelings now. Especially Mave. She was trying to sort out her thoughts, so I left her alone. Rein was a bit more important than her right now. She had suffered a lot in these past two days. Physically and mentally. She fought countless undead on her own. Fought actual armies of the undead by herself with only the help of light attribute enchantments. Used her witchcraft twice in a single day and even fought foes like the dark night. She used more stamina than me. Both physical and mental stamina. And unlike me, who can recover faster naturally, she only had clover to help her in her recovery. It was her revenge, and the evil spirit was dead now. She had achieved her short-term goal and we can just live happily for a while now. The festival was on its way too, so we will be busy for a while. But that is still a few weeks away. We had all the time to spend and y around now. And there were only three years left before mying of age. And after I be an adult... we can actually be together. On that sky ind. In that amazing school. And in that special home that I will build there. It will be fun but for now... we can breathe now that everything was finished. But we had time before that and if the two of us were just going to lie here, staring into each other''s eyes, telling the story... epic would be better to describe this magnificent piece of literary art on these walls. ''Walls that are now greatly damaged...'' The aftermath of this fight was devastating. The floor was almost entirely destroyed. The walls had countless deep cuts and some parts of the golden words had fallen to the ground. And even some of the pirs supporting the ce had received significant damage. Thankfully, the first thing I did after entering this ce was to scan the whole ce with my third eye. I remembered everything, and I had just finished sorting out this amazing story of two great people that went against an entire nation and came out victorious. It was written by someone who knew how to use words, how to describe, as well as how to narrate so beautifully that the ones reading it would just feel as though they are living that moment. It was a great story that I thought she would definitely like, but the reply from her was negative. "I already know you will write the story left on these walls. I will be the first one to read then, so not now." She had a warm smile on her face as she said that and her eyes were looking into mine... asking for the reward for her hard work. "You did well," so Iplimented her with a warm smile and patted her head. She actually had suffered a lot. She smiled happily at my touch and her soft hair... they were amazing, as always. ... We were just staring into each other''s eyes, talking with eyes and not words, when we heard a cute sound that was familiar to us. -Pomp. Pomp. Pomp. [< E-Eon? >] It was Mave. And her voice was as sweet as a little child''s. ''Though she is older than me...'' Rein still would be her mom''s age, but still, for us, Mave was a cute friend. [< "Are you ok now?" >] I asked while looking into her now clear deep blue eyes and she nodded with her football-like head. [< I''m ok now. And... I think I would still have wanted to kill the evil spirit. It might be a good being overall, but it took away so many things from me... from us, that I could never forgive it. I''m not sad that it''s dead now. >] [< "It''s good then~." >] I smiled warmly and pattered her golden furry head. It was different from Rein''s smooth hair and was almost fluffy, like a pillow. She was heavy, but her body was soft enough to be a cuddle toy. "Rein, this is Mave. A good mom and an amazing person. Her children are marvelous and cute and I know you will like those naughty furballs." Rein didn''t need long words to understand just how extraordinary this special creature was. Mave was a specialized one and Rein instantly knew her worth as well as the fact that I liked her, so she needed to treat her appropriately. So I introduced the two of them. She got up and hugged the little creature and even though she was surprised, being the mother had taught her a great lot of things. The twodies talked with each other after that with me as their trantor and after getting to know each other, they instantly became friends~. But sadly, we didn''t have much time to spend in this tomb. Not at least while chit-chatting like this. The tomb was captured, and we had to collect the rewards aside from the knowledge on the walls. And there was knowledge on these walls. A deep one that was even high level for someone like me. Anyway, I promised to keep the body inside the tomb safe. The body of his one and only love that was everything to him. But that was only for the body... not the other things indie these two golden coffins big enough to contain two lizardmen like Zuroro. It was too big for a normal human coffin that contained just a normal human body. So it was clear that there were other things aside from the body in them. There certainly were [[( Runes of preservation )]] inscribed on the outer side of the coffins, so it was possible that the bodies inside coffins were still in as perfect condition as just after their death. It was possible that the face of the protagonists of the story on these walls was still like how it was back at that time. The power of an inscribed rune is genuinely very remarkable, and if one thought about it, there might actually be some special things inside these coffins. I was eager to find that out, so I requested Mave to go back into the white crack. And she agreed happily. She was only there to see the fall of the evil spirit, after all. She had no interest in the aftermath at all. Zuroro and Morris were just ying with the tomb''s surveince crystal in one corner and had no interest in this thing, too. But we needed the big lizardman to open therge, heavy coffins. So, there were just the four of us and these two big coffins, most probably made of pure gold. The artistry on the coffin, the designs, the patterns, and the amazing arts that told a story of their own were just amazing. And when we actually opened these coffins... the contents inside the coffin... It made both of us speechless... though for different reasons. Chapter 404 Corpses -Dhruuuuuuuuuuuuum! Bhum! -Dhruuuuuuuuum! Bhum! ... "Wow... fuck." "Amazing..." [< O-oh my... >] [ "G-gorgeous...!" ] [[ Preeeeeeeeety~! ]] [[ A moment of perfection... ]] As soon as Zuroro moved therge bs of gold covering the coffins opening the covers and we saw the two bodies, preserved perfectly, lying in thefortable space, we all were just... speechless. As Branwen said, it was an impable beauty. A moment of perfection. Something that would make anyone looking at it speechless. And more than anything, ''he'' was far prettier than ''her''. "It''s the same person we fought just now?" she asked, her eyes glowing with genuine admiration. She usually only has that kind of look while looking at me, Celes, or some super pretty beings like us, so it was even more amazing she was astonished by another person''s looks. But, I could understand her heart. The body of the man lying in one of the coffins was something inexplicable. It was almost at the level of the headmaster, but... not just like him. He was a wizard with unreal strengths while this person was a normal human. Or more like the dead body of the human who had died a long, long time ago. The runes inscribed on the tomb preserved the two bodies with the greatest effect and the inscription of the rune was great enough that even I couldn''t do better than this. It was amazing... but the two people lying in the coffins... ''Just... amazing.'' One was a woman with long, reddish-brown hair, a smooth face, cherry lips, and an alluring body with ''great assets'', adorned with a pretty head, ear, and neck jewelry, she possessed gorgeous blue eyes when looking with my three eyes. She looked breathtaking in that amazing green one-piece. Young looking, but definitely someone who must have been a strong person during her time... just like what this epic written on the walls recorded. "She was called sorceress of red winds, Salvio Ae Zephyros. ording to this epic, she was an amazing person." Their story was something cool. It started with the small introduction of their tribe and the small civilization that, from the description, was, surprisingly, just as modern as today''s time. Then, there was the introduction of the wise ruler of their tribe, Salvio Neron Ned. The enemies who coveted their knowledge as well as their kind, even wanting to make them their ves. Andstly, one of such enemies who identally met Neron, received his help in a difficult time and formed a special friendship that bloomed to be unconditional love. The main plot is normal sounding and all but, the way all of it is described... god, it''s fabulous~. The main element of the epic is the two main characters and their time together, starting from their meeting to their tragic fate that asked for both their lives for the sake of the future of the people they cherished. The epic on these walls is a poet, a heartwarming love story, and aedy-drama, and at the end, it is also a tragic ount of events that lead to the demise of the protagonists. It is an amazing literary piece of the past that should be known by the world. And I know I will make sure to do that. But for now... there were two dead bodies before us. One of a chief that held great knowledge of medicine, life, and creatures. And the other one being his greatdy. She was gorgeous, but the beauty that this man''s body lying before us couldn''t be described with just my lowly words. His long green-blue hair of light shade was like the gorgeous waters of the coral reef. A perfect face so perfectly molded in the golden ratio of nature that it was perhaps the personification of beauty. The dress he was wearing right now wasn''t much different from thevish, fashionable noble clothes. And the eyes that I can see with my three eyes were... pure gold. He looked amazing, maybe even mesmerizing. And it took all of us a while to get over this dead body. Thankfully, no one here had necrophilia... things would have been very difficult if someone did have such attractions. "Anyway..." I spoke up first and their attention to the corpse was broken as they came to their senses and focused on me. "They were amazing people to have such amazing artifacts and resources. And most importantly..." I was looking through all the things in the two coffins with my blue eyes and aside from the special gifts left behind by the people that made this ce, three things caught my eye. A ne embedded with a special gem lying in her coffin, and a book and strange box lying in his coffin. I picked up the book, and she picked up the pure white metallic box. She was attracted to it more than I thought. But it was understandable as aside from her unparalleled darkness attribute affinity, her water attribute affinity was not something to look down upon. And as I thought... it happened as soon as she picked it. -Ooooooooooooooong! -Shimmmmmmmm!! -Kuuuuuu~. "...?!" her eyes widened as soon as the white light from the box turned the whole box blue and this simple-looking metallic box vanished inside her hands. She was naturally perfect for it, so it chose her. "Congrattions. I know he would have smirked if he were alive." I smiled warmly as I looked at her surprised expression. It was natural, though. It was her first time binding with an ancient artifact, after all. ? ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Drop of Nir] (Owner: Reinelle Atraxia Von Babylon Ur Alicia O. Night.) ---> It''s a weapon. No shit it chose her... ---> It''s peculiar that the one who possessed it previously wasn''t even a weapon wielder, but right now, it is in the hands of the perfect person. ---> An artifact that can change ording to the will of the master, one of rare and very old [EFMW]. ---> As with most EFMWs, this one''s strength also depends on the strength of the owner. And as this one''s a special ancient artifact, the actual limitations of its strengths are unknown. ---> As the core of this artifact is, very surprisingly, the breath of a [World turtle], the weapon possesses practically eternal life. ---> In the current state, the artifact increases the owner''s vitality, quickens the natural healing ability, and makes the use of the whole of the water attribute easy. ---> Its base ability grants the owner natural control over water and when molded in the form of a weapon, its sharpness bes enough to cut even the hard Mana stones. ---> She is amazing. Learn something from her... and her pretty eyes. ============ ''My eyes like her eyes...?'' Well, I really didn''t want to think too deeply about this thing. So moving to the main thing... EFMW: Ethereal Formless Moldable Weapons. A rare kind of weapon that possesses no certain form and the owner of the weapon can change the form of the weapon at their own will. They are very rare as few people in the whole world are ever able to create something like them and not many even know the methods to create such unreal artifacts. They are a special kind of ego weapon that grows with the master and this growth is not just the mental growth of the Ego but also the physical growth of the whole artifact. Rein is as gifted in wielding her weapon as my energy maniption, so it was just natural that an EFMW made from one of the creatures of [Mythos], a pir-like divine creature''s byproduct as the core would choose her. ''It''s useless for me, anyway...'' I was an archer, and these EFMWs were not something that can be arrows. Fly, hit the target, and return to the master. It was sometimes possible to detach a small part from the core body, but in any archer''s case, it can be a bow, not an arrow. EFMWs weren''t for archers. And Rein was the perfect candidate to have this one. This weapon was still an armature and actually a child. I was looking forward to how it will grow with her. It was an amazing artifact to take the ce of her main weapon, as she still didn''t have that. So... it was ultimately best that we came here and defeated the evil spirit. Rein got something she can use as her main weapon. Still, it will take a while for this weapon to grow to the point that it could rece her (level-11) scythe. That thing was a good artifact too. I was looking forward to seeing how she uses this new toy and she read this highest grade of curiosity in my eyes and sighed in disbelief... "Fool. So... what''s that?" she asked with a warm smile that genuinely believed I was a fool. She had just obtained something so valuable that could cause wars and my attitude towards it was as casual as a parent giving their child some simple candy. But she also understood this casual behavior. I was someone who threw divine artifacts at her casually. An ancient artifact, a bound one which I couldn''t even use, was of no great value to me. I was just happy that she got something amazing, and she found it even funnier... But the thing in my hand, this simple-looking book, was nothing less valuable than that ancient artifact. "This... this is the great knowledge of the past. Something the whole world should know about." I had looked through the book, so I handed it to her with a genuine expression of admiration. She flipped through the pages, and her eyes also widened at the detailed and amazing degree of fitness that the simple-looking book contained. "It''s at least half a level higher than the current medical knowledge the world knows for some fields. Some of these weird parts are even revolutionary¡­!" Though she might not be able to understand some of the verbal things of unknownnguages, her amazing eyes could definitely decipher the oldnguage in that book. She was also a true noble and possessed general medical knowledge, so she knew just how great it was. I knew most of the things would still be strange, unknown, and unreal to her, but she knew the value this one book held was far more than her one artifact. It could help the whole world if they did things properly, so she understood the genuine admiration in my eyes. And the book in her hands was an artifact book, with each page having a hundred magic pages. And the book itself had hundreds of pages, so it was even more amazing. It was an unbelievable reward. Something that was definitely worth our almost two days of torturous work. I was the happiest one because I will be able to read something new after such a long time andpare the things in this book with the things I already knew about. ''It will be fun~!'' I was happy, and I knew Celes was also happy that I was happy. An ancient artifact and this old knowledge weren''t the only things in these coffins, either. There were many herbs, flowers, and different natural things that were also preserved in perfect condition with the bodies. They were invaluable things that would be worth hundreds of tinum in today''s market and with the almost null supply of them, one could actually ask for any price if they put it for auction. They were unbelievable things, but I had no great interest in any of them. Rein can have them all, or her grandparents can take care of these things for her. This whole ce fell under their name, so these small things should go to them. I had already obtained plenty from here. From a great group of povpoi. A special one among them. A strong lizardman that will definitely surprise her grandparents, the book of souls, and the things we obtained from fighting the enemies. This entire experience and the knowledge of this whole marvelous epic on these walls were also no less than a blessing. I learned many things from this small expedition, but still, thatst thing was something that I was really interested in... "A ne with an Arcane crystal... it''s definitely gorgeous. But why are you interested in this one?" "It will look pretty on Anna," I answered her genuine question with a warm smile. And that much was enough for her to understand the interested look in my eyes. Condensed crystals of Arcane energy were rare but not as rare as the golden tear that I already had. This particr ne was small and only had this one red crystal with a golden chain. It wasn''t even as amazing as the other artifacts in her coffin. But as I said... it would definitely look on Anna. Its red gem would be a perfect match with her eyes. Rein understood that much, so she smiled and handed me the ne. "This time..." she said with an expression that was convincing herself to give up something obviously important. She loved Anna as much as me and she knew that Anna would love to have this ne as a gift, too. It was natural that she would be happy to receive this gift, so she had to give it to her and receive her prize and love. She could definitely do as much. And I would definitely try my best to have this ne, but... she just gave up on it this time. She would let me have my lovely Anna''s praise this time and thinking from my perspective... it was genuinely a great sacrifice! "Thanks~!" I cheered and hugged her... which was out of the blue for her, so she suddenly blushed. I liked this blushing face... She liked it too, even with that blush. So she didn''t mind it. And instead, just coughed and looked back at the things in the two enormous coffins. [[ Hehehe. ]] Celes wasughing at thismon reaction again while the lich Morris and my lizardman Zuroro were genuinely surprised. This was their first time seeing the tough and strong Reinelle acting like some actually cute girl. ''Good thing they are smart enough to not show it obviously. A punch would hit them and they would be sent flying otherwise...'' The two of them were good at controlling themselves. And their lizardman and skeleton faces were hard to read, so it was better. ''Good.'' I gave the two a thumbs up that told them their decision was the right one and, as she was still looking down, she thankfully didn''t notice this. They also gave me a thumbs up with obvious cold shivers running down their spines. They could understand that if even I feared this person, they would be no better than an ant before her. So we were safe... the expedition was finished too. We had searched the ce and wrapped the things up after a while... and when we came out of this ce after two days, after a few years for the two of them, the first thing that greeted us was the cool night breeze of the ind. The night was cool, and the moon was smiling down at us just as most of the time. The stars in the sky weren''t much visible because of the dark clouds but I can definitely say that the sky here was amazingly beautiful~! It was a nice ce, but we didn''t stay there for long. The fear of night and the night''s ferocious creatures was high in a ce that housed creatures of darkness and night. So, we just crossed the boundary, and this time... the thing that greeted us was something nostalgic for me, something hateful for her, something pretty for Celes, and something fascinating for the two of our newpanions. "Snow..." "Tsk. It hase again." [[ Woww~! ]] [[ It will be different from now on master... ]] Chapter 405 Back Outside It was snowing... and the snow reminded me of a particr memory. A nostalgic, good, and painful, but also something that reminded me of a warmth that was one of a kind. The scene of her death... it wasn''t something I will ever forget. And this snow, my first snow after her death, was now something special for me. But, Rein had a sad and hateful look on her face. [[ What''s wrong... sister Rein? ]] Celes saw her distorted face too so she asked her with a concerned voice. And she smiled at her voice, washing off the bad expression that she knew wasn''t something I... any of us would like. "Haaa..." she sighed and looked at all of us one by one, andstly at me. Her eyes said she didn''t want to talk about this but still, she talked through Celes''s connection. [[ "Winter and snow... I don''t like it much. My mom died when it was snowing. It was snowing when I fought my first battle and was badly injured. It snowed when I encountered a (Green) ranked creature for the first time, when I almost lost one of my arms, after the day one of my close friends died, and also before the day I lost my first group of friends. Winter and these falling crystals of white snow... it''s beautiful. But, I don''t know if I ever am able to like it..." ]] [[ "You don''t have to." ]] I patted her head and the many words I wanted to say tofort her were conveyed to her. I smiled, she smiled, the two of them behind us also smiled and... I thought about how I still didn''t know everything about her. ''She has lived a long, painful life of more than a hundred and twenty years... of course, I don''t know everything about her. She also doesn''t have a cursed memory like me so it''s not possible that she herself remembers everything that has happened throughout her long life. Hopefully... I will know more things as our time passes.'' Hopefully... "Okay then. Let''s go everyone~. I think mom and grandma would be dying to greet their dear Eon~!" And I had no doubt her cheerful words would be true. "Haaa... yes. let''s go." It was night so we will spend the night at her house and then go back in the morning. The two of us were actually stronger than just a few days ago with the knowledge and powers that we gained during this small expedition. I knew her grandparents would be surprised by just seeing us and the beings that we brought with us from the ce that was the cause of her grandma''s almost death. ''I should take the povpoi out so they can see the forest, snow, and sky too, right?'' They would be surprised... and I knew she will love to meet all of them too. She had met Mave and she liked her from just that one short meeting. They were fun children too. So... "Rein. Wait a minute." "Hmm?" She had started walking, just to stop at my call to look back. But I didn''t answer her confusion and just called out my white crack. -Ooooooooooong. The surprised young colorful furry blobs appeared on the snow-covered ground and started looking around the area with an astonished expressions. The view around the ce was very different from the home that they had lived for their whole lives. And the cutest reaction of them... [< Sky!!! >] [< Endless ce that one can see when they lol up~! It''s covered by dark clouds and snow''s falling so it must be winter~! It''s really the sky~~! And, and! Moon~! >] [< Woooooow! look at these things~! They are trees but they look far better than the ones we saw there. They are also bigger than the ones mommy made! it''s cooooooool~! >] [< Outside~~~! >] There were many unique reactions from the young ones but all of them were definitely happy to see the pretty snow and the open nature. The young ones admired nature''s beauty, talked among themselves, and thanked me without even looking at me. They were just amazed so Mave just sighed, came to us, and just apologized on their behalf. It wasn''t needed though. And I tried to tell her that but she still bowed. It was an apology from a mom. Well... I epted it this time and started my chat with Mave after she cheerfully greeted Rein. She liked her too. And Rein was also cheerful after seeing the cute small furballs~. Her eyes genuinely wanted to just pick up some of them and hug them to her heart''s content. They were creatures that can use magic but they were just some cute children for her. But she didn''t interrupt their experience of the first time seeing the outside world. She already knew their sad story after all. The children were in a world of their own too. They just continued admiring and looking around when they suddenly saw a scary-looking person! [< Aiiiik!? >] They all jumped up in surprise at the sight of our lich Morris. He looked fearful to these children but, they then felt the great natural energy of darkness from him and were surprised. There was one brother among them who was blessed by the darkness attribute and he especially liked this person. They knew their mommy was talking with him a while ago so he wasn''t a dangerous person. So they were at ease rtively quickly. But after they saw him, and the lizard uncle that they had met a while ago... their cute blue eyes finally fell on Rein. And this time, the reaction these children had was a lot simr to the one they had when they saw me. [< WOW~! >] And they did the same thing they did when they first saw me... they jumped towards her, smashed into her, and climbed her when she had fallen to the ground,ughing because of the tickles from their furry body. ''Maybe she will understand how fun it is to be buried under them and not think strange things. Though their weight is still hard to handle...'' "Kyahahahaha~!" She was happy and they liked her because of her unreal affinity with one of nature''s prominent elemental attributes. It was amazing for them to meet someone who was so close to nature''s element that they might not have thought was possible. ''Will they jump on her and my grandparents too? On Anna and Ca? If so...it actually would be an amazing site to see. Hehehe...'' I wasughing in my mind while she wasughing out loud. The bond between them had started to form and some of them were really interested in her. I knew all of them including Mave will be interested in Anna and also that their teeth and weight would be a problem but it will be alright. I knew things will y out somehow... "Let''s go now... let''s do the introductions as we walk," I said and extended my hand for her to get up from the small povpoi on her. They previously climbed me and I knew she couldn''t bare to hear that... I know it''s petty but I still didn''t like them being on top of my Rein for much longer... *** In the Atraxia mansion... "Eon~! My dear son finally arrived~!" her mom cheerfully greeted us as soon as she climbed down the stairs and saw us. We walked for a while and used her travel skill after I stored back the povpoi for a while. We had arrived inside the house directly and because of the obvious presence of monsters, tens of knights and almost a hundred guards appeared out of many corners of the house and surrounded us. It was great that she hurriedly calmed them and exined the situation and they grasped everything quickly, admiring their young miss, their master, for having acquired a powerful being like Morris the lich. And some of them who actually had heard the name Morris were further astonished. They all then bowed deeply, not wasting more of our time and vanishing into the corners they were guarding. It''s amazing but more than that... Everyone had heard themotion and was then informed of what had happened by the assassins. They heard the news that we had arrived and her mom was the first person toe running to greet us. They all naturally had heard about how we brought some interesting creatures with us from our small trip but still... The first thing her mom did was to give me a warm hug, then one to her, and then hold both our hands with hers. She was a cheerful person. A very capable one too. She already had the talent to deal with a strong presence and the beings of different races were among them. So, she wasn''t affected by the great presence the two of ourpanions had in the slightest. She even smiled warmly at the two and they gave her a respect-filled bow. And she just gave the two a pat on the shoulder and asked them to look after the two of us. Morris answered her with as great respect as his master. She was the great mother of his master after all. And as he saw from the situations just now, both of us loved her as much as she loved us. It was important for him to maintain a good rtionship with her and he had great appraisal skills so he must have seen her status window and understood that looking down on her would be some of the worst mistakes he would ever do in his two lives. She was amazing for two reasons. Her insane capabilities in handling all the matters of the world-famous musician, her husband, the silver sky, Dorian. The second one... her one and only unique skill. It was a terrifying ability and something that no one would think belonged to a normal person like her. Well... it wasn''t that important to us. She was amazing. As a mom as well as a partner. After she hurriedly came down, the first thing she did was observe us for any scar or injury we might have had and she was relieved that we had not a single visible cut on our bodies anymore. It was the best idea to thoroughly clean up, heal, and recover before returning. There was no need to worry for her. The opponent had almostmitted suicide before either of us could open up our cool cards. We were fine right now. And she was relieved by that fact. We were able to avoid the punishment thanks to that. Still, it wasn''t like she didn''t know that we had suffered a great deal of damage in this small expedition. And even though she knew that it was a great enough result after fighting a strong foe, her heart still ached. She was awesome... and so were the rest of them. They were one stepte but the other three people also came down looking as amazing as they had always been. They also evaluated us, and checked their skills, and only after they were fully convinced that we were fine did they all sit down to hear our story. ... It was a great night with snow continuing to cascade down from the starry, moonlit sky. We were talking about the great experiences we had in this small time. It was fun to introduce the children to her family and... in this time of peace, unknown to any of us, preparation for another great disturbance was taking ce. A great disturbance that would take many things form many people. But still... it would be just a fun scenario for us and... this time, both our families. Chapter 406 Home [< Bye everyone ~! >] [< See you sooooooon good aunty, uncle, grandpa, and grandma~! >] [< Thank you for everything~! We wille back soon~~! >] It was a fresh morning, and we were now standing before the gate in the underground room. The children were thanking her family while the four of us just stood before the active gate, looking at the cute little furballs with warm gazes. They couldn''t understand their words, but their cheerful expressions and their cute, excited voices were enough to convey their feelings. "We will miss you too, everyone~!" her mom said while embracing some of the little round creatures. She was crouching down while hugging them. She had epted that they really were a bit too heavy for her when they hugged in groups. And it was somewhat difficult for us to make that much understanding. Rein''s grandparents were talking with Mave... yes, her grandma could alsomunicate with creatures of earth and earth''s higher attributes. It was a small time, but she definitely was interested in Mave as much as me, but I sternly declined her every conscious or unconscious attempt of obtaining Mave from us. I knew how she must have felt, but it couldn''t be helped. Mave was someone who would be a great help to me. I can''t just let her go, right? So that was it... All the new ''people'' and children we brought with us were surprised, shocked, amazed, or in awe of her grandparents and the two of them were the same... ''Last night was longggggg...'' We told them everything that happened when we were gone, and they were speechless at our foolishness. She used too much of her strength before an opponent that could have very well killed us if it only had been more ''evil'' and careful. They even scolded me... but there was nothing much I could do. We were separated, and I knew, we all knew, that we would havee out alive one way or another if things really got out of hand. So, we were alright... but it was still shocking that one of the famous people that even they remembered and acknowledged was now serving their dear granddaughter. It was one thing that Zuroro, a lizardman champion, was serving me, but Morris was a unique case altogether. If we say that they were surprised to see a strong creature with great potential and senses that transcended human thinking, just meeting a known lich, a strong mage who had broken the bounds of human limitations, and devoted his life in the pursuit of his pure desires, was a spark of fortune for them. No one in the world knew where that lunatic of pure darkness had vanished in thest few decades, after all. So, her grandparents talked with him a lottttt... and were excited about how he would stay with her, with them, from then on. ''But that shocked face Zuroro made was just adorable~! LOL...'' It was when her grandparents came down and he saw them for the first time. How his senses didn''t tell him of their power was understandable as them being just out of his understanding but, it was another thing when the two of them suddenly showed their concentrated ''bloodlust'' to him to test him... They were smiling while doing that, thinking no one would notice because it was a precisely concentrated bloodlust, but they at least couldn''t deceive me in matters rted to energy... Anyway, Zuroro was probably the most afraid he had been his entire life at that moment. They cared for me, and a famous lich was one thing but, a monster? They believed me more than maybe even their close aids, but they couldn''t possibly believe a creature without testing him... Thankfully, he passed... this time. His expression when I told him he would be facing people of simr as well as higher strengths at my house was just... priceless, too. ''Just imagine a frightened crocodile-like lizardman, hehe...'' "Eon?" she called me out when she felt that I wasughing in my own thoughts and was suddenly confused. "Just suddenly remembered Zuroro''s expression fromst night. Hehe." I couldn''t help the small chuckles at this moment and when I brought this up, even she couldn''t help the unwanted chuckles. It was funny... and it was time. I had already informed everyone at home that we will be back by this time, so they must be waiting. ''Especially Anna...'' She was almost half sleepy when I called home in the early morning, but when she heard that I would be bringing some new friends with me, her sleepy eyes opened wide, and she ordered us to quickly get back. ''I said it''s a surprise who these friends would be, so her excitement must be sky high by now...'' It would be fun to see her amazed reaction when she meets these small round furry balls. I know they would also just love to spend a good time with her. She was the best, after all. So, it was time now... We had to go, and they all had to say goodbyes to this family so that they can meet another great family and people. [< "It''s time everyone. Let''s goooooo~!" >] I shouted cheerfully, and the children finished their goodbyes with everyone. Her mom was sad to part ways with these amazing children after such a short time, and her dad was the same. He had strangely gotten a lot close to two of the povpoi with wind attribute powers. They were the same, and I knew if not for the fact that we had to go back to my house, I knew the two povpoi would have just stuck with him. s, we had to go back now. But they can definitelye back here whenever they licked. This was also their home, after all~. So they also said see you soon to him and came towards us. "Take care of everyone, Eon." Her grandpa said and gave me a warm smile. Same as her grandma. "I definitely will," I answered with a confident tone that was enough for him for everything. "Come back soon dear Eon~!" her mom shouted with many meanings behind her words. And... well, I sighed with a ''deep'' smile that answered her ''deep'' request. She was also bing mischievous, like the other women in my family. ''Hopefully... she wouldn''t be as weird as them.'' I prayed to nature sincerely and sighed... "Ok. Let''s go." -Ooooooooooooooong. The warp gate was the same blue vortex it had always been. But unlike a few days ago, when the two of us were the only ones passing through it, we had thirty-five morepanions with us this time. It was going to be fun living with them~! *** "Is he here~?" a gorgeous little girl, our dear little Anna asked with a restless voice. And this was her fifth time asking the same question in thest ten minutes they were standing here. This was the front garden and most of the family was here to wee their precious little boy back. He had gone for just a few days and the entire house seemed to be empty without him. A house that had be cheerful after such a long time was once again missing something important after a long time. But, though it felt empty, there certainly was no gloomy or less cheerful atmosphere. There was this little girl to invigorate the whole big mansion, after all. But now she was anxious. She had an excited heart as she stood before the gate, waiting for the arrival of her amazing big brother. He was amazing, and he had said he was bringing some new friends with him. She knew him too well, so she knew that whoever her big brother brought with him will definitely be as awesome as him~! She was looking forward to meeting these new friends, but it was taking too long. "Is he here yet~?" she asked again. And this marked the sixth time. But her big sister Zoe, the one who was holding her left hand, just shook her head in ''no'' again, smiling at the miserably cute look this little angel was making. Their mom also chuckled at the two again. It was just too much fun to see her anxious little daughter and smiling older daughter. Both of them were best friends and sisters that couldn''t be separated. And they both looked perfect together, so it was best that way. "Are they here yet~?" Seventh time. But still, the answer was ''no'' with the same smile. She was starting to get grumpy that her big brother waste, but she still held back. She was just too excited to think about other things. The other people in the garden, the two little girl''s father, the two aunts, the big tiger in her original form resting under a tree, two grandparents, and the guarding knights and mages were here. Well, they were only doing their work, so that was it, but the family members were happily waiting for their boy. They were waiting, but the members who were absent right now will definitely be surprised when they meet the beings that wille with their Eon. But before the meeting of the family and Eon''s new friends... "Are they-" -Oooooooooooong! "They''re here!" "Yeiiii~!" The patterns on the warp gate started glowing in blue one by one and the inside of the hollow gate started filling with a white light... which quickly turned blue and then became turbulent and then a vortex appeared in it. Then, two ''not that tall'' figures walked out of it, some small balls were jumping just behind them and then at the very back were two bigger presences, one being a little too big for a human. They were Eon, Rein, Mave, and her children, Zuroro and Morris. But, as soon as they walked out of the gate, something strange happened. -Shrrrrim. -Swiiiiiiish... "Stop." -Thum. It was strange, but many knights and guards who always stayed in the shadows came out with their weapons ready and aimed their des at the lizardman and the floating undead. But before they could move from their positions, Eon''s voice reached their ears, and they froze in their positions. It was just a normal voice, but it was strange to describe how they just couldn''t move their bodies after that point. "They all are with us, so just rx." He said again and after those words, they were freed from the strange restrictions. They were confused as well as felt awe at the powers of their ''master''. They only needed his few words to understand the whole situation, so they just rxed and this entire scene was mostly only known by the grandparents and his dad. The others? Well... "Woooooooow~!" "Cute..." "E-Eon?! A-are they really... povpoi?!" His sisters were smiling with wide eyes, his aunts were awestruck by the cute eyes of the children, and his dad had an unbelieving look on his face. They were the reactions that he had anticipated but, one thing he didn''t think... [< WOW~~~! >] All the povpoi children gasped at once and started jumping toward his family members. And their destination was naturally... his dear little sisters. Chapter 407 Anna And Them -Pomp. Pomp. Pomp. -Pomp. pomp. -Pomp...! They started jumping and their destination was naturally the most fascinating person in this whole area, my dear little Anna. They were running towards her with wide eyes, surprised faces, and wide cute eyes but, this wasn''t good. -Swish! [< "No, no, children. Not this time... she''s young like you all, so she can''t handle your weight, alright? Just greet her slowly." >] I quickly appeared before Anna using a quick step and warned the overexcited children. They were going to jump at her, just like they did with Rein and me. And it may be cute to see, but I definitely didn''t want my Anna to suffer or get hurt. So, even though I was smiling, they understood what I meant and slowed down their advance. And though Anna was confused by my sudden attitude, she knew I was worried and that it could have been harmful to her. The povpoi were just young innocent children, so it would take a while for their extreme curiosity and habit of jumping at interesting people to lessen. So... it was manageable for now. "Big brotherrrrr~. Are they your friends~?" she asked while crouching down before the children gathered around her and started patting all of their colorful fur bodies. They all had different shades and colors, so it was easy to distinguish between them if one tried, but normally, it didn''t matter. Anna liked all of them equally, and they were the same too. They were even more attracted to her than the two of us or any of us. She was special, after all. [< Master Eon... is that your sister? >] Mave asked with an astonished voice and her eyes were wide open as she looked at Anna. [< "You can tell? Well, isn''t she just amazing~?" >] I chuckled internally while answering her. I knew she would be surprised. She was more sensitive to the core natural energy, after all. And this natural energy meant the total of elemental affinities, affinity with nature itself as well as the natural energy Mave can use, Mana. And Anna... well, she was close to anomalies when it came to those things. As well as her natural affinity with all creatures of nature. [< Anyone can tell from the simr looks but, she... I know the powers are still dormant, but it''s fascinating. Just thinking about when she awakens them... >] [< "Not much will change for her. I know that much." >] My reply was stern and contained my usual protective voice that she was seeing for the first time. It was naturally surprising for her... how I was sure about my words as well as my determination behind those words. [< I believe it will all be fine. After all, she has such amazing people guarding her~. >] she chuckled in her cute voice as she looked around the people gathered here. All of them were amazing. From the threedies to the two older-looking amazing people... who were staring at the back of our party from the moment we arrived home. I knew what the of them two were doing right now¡­ And they were looking at Zuroro and Morris, so it was easy to guess what they were doing. Thankfully, the two will pass their test. ''It won''t be surprising if they faint though...'' Especially if grandpa was going to greet them with his killing intent. Morris would definitely faint, even with his mental barrier. They all heard me when I said the creatures here are with me, so thedies weren''t worried at all. There was something more attractive for them than a big, scary-looking lizard and an undead skeleton. "Cute~!" They were in a daze after seeing the povpoi, but after a while, they too crouched down and started greeting the cheerful small creatures. Dad was the same. But, unlike them, he didn''t just run before them and started touching them. He was reluctant because he knew about these creatures as a former adventurer and not just as protected creatures of magic like thedies. Not that mom didn''t know that, but she believed if Anna was showing such love to the creatures I brought with me, they would be nothing like those harmful few people talk about. They were protected creatures, but still, their appearance with their mouths open wasn''t something most would be fond of. ''Well... thesedies are still different.'' Who made a tiger, a ruler of nature, wear a skirt, and made them their tea party member? They were already familiar with giant creatures with countless sharp teeth, so these creatures were just cute in their eyes. ''But my Anna still looks best with them~!'' I chuckled once again. It couldn''t be helped, anyway. The scene of my little Anna gently patting and talking with some little colorful furball was just amazing~! And Rein was the same too... I was holding her hand so I can feel that she was trying her best to handle this high dose of cuteness from this scene. It was just adorable~! Her cute voice while talking with them, their cute reply with words that she could feel without understanding, her smile, those wide jewel eyes looking into their blue ones, and thedies making simr expressions as Rein. Zoe was also having fun with this whole thing. She already knew everything that we did to everything that happened and though I knew she had worried for a long time, she was happy right now. The bond we had didn''t need words for the other to understand one''s inner feelings. We didn''t talk much when I was gone, but still; I knew what she felt as well as knew that she knew what things I had felt throughout the time I was gone. It was us. And she was amazed to ''see'' the children with different pure colors, their mom with a mother hugging their child, the lizardman with an endless swamp covered with a dull fog, and an amazing lich with a pure dark book, filled with knowledge written in pure white words. She was the most amazed by the lich''s true self that she saw with her eyes. It was as clear as the ones our grandparents or the two of us had, but unlike us, this wasn''t as powerful. It was a clear image that she knew was close to achieving fullness, even though it hadn''t reached that level of strength. It meant that the lich Morris already knew about himself and his goals as well as ''his world'' as much as we did. Which was fascinating, considering Zuroro was still far from even knowing everything about himself. She liked the two regardless of that, but still, Mave and her children were the most fascinating for her~. They were pure and cute. Innocent and funny. Beings that would definitely spread smiles if we just forgot their dangerous-looking teeth. ''No being is actually perfect in nature, anyway. Everything has ws, and she knows that the best.'' Anyway... she wasn''t the only one who found them interesting. [< Eooooooon~! My dear soooooon~! You have brought some amazing friends for me~! Thankkksss~! >] Taika shouted cheerfully, or more like what dad and I understood she did. For the rest of them, it was more like... "ROARRRRRRR!" It was a loud roar of a beast that sent chills down their spines or electrified their fur in fear. -Thump. Thump. Thump. Taika was in her full form, so she was almost as big as Zuroro, meaning she was actually bigger than him. She was on all fours right now, after all. She ran towards us, and it was so quick that I couldn''t even react. [< Hahaha. Wow, wow, wow~! >] She was, at the core, a cat. And right now, there were tens of small furballs before her... something that I didn''t consider would happen. [< AAAAAA! >] The young povpoi screamed in surprise when Taika suddenly appeared beside Anna and thedies, picked up some of them, and started snuggling with them like they were some toys. We knew she knew that they were our friends, so she wasn''t going to harm them, but still, it was too surprising for the young kids. She was having fun but her way wasn''t appropriate and¡­ I didn''t need to intervene and tell her that. "Taika! What do you think you''re doinggggggg!?" Anna shouted and the otherdies followed behind. "Taika! Put them down! How can you do that to those children?!" aunt Haze shouted and tried to stop her from picking other povpoi and throwing them in the air. "Yes! Please don''t lick them like that! They are shocked, Taika!" aunt Aug shouted and stood before the frightened ones, looking furiously at the big tiger who was still in her own fun. Butstly, mom spoke up... and her chill-inducing words were filled with her authority... [Taika. Stop that. Right now...] It was a rare asion when she actually just openly showed her authority and her voice filled with domination was enough to shock Zuroro and Morris, who were still in the middle of grandpa''s test. I knew the two of them, especially Zuroro, were now understanding what I meant. This house was filled with strong people... ''And my dear uncles and cousins are still not here...'' There was a smile on my face as I looked at the tiger who just obeyed the order from her ''sisters'' and daughter, caught the povpoi in the air, put everyone down, used her wind magic, and cleaned their fur. Then she just stood quietly as the fourdies and dad started scolding her. It was an uneptable behavior, and she now had to hear an earful... and it seemed fun, so Zoe also joined in~. The big tiger was being scolded and had a sad and sorry expression and this unbelievable scene... was something fun for the two of us. We wereughing, and the atmosphere here was perfect for a wee party... as well as to remind my dear friend of something we had agreed upon. ''So, when should we do the cleaning?'' ''Hmm? What cleaning?'' ''Your personal room filled with countless things, of course. We have to find that diary as promised, no?'' ''W-what diary...?'' ''Too bad acting, deardy.'' ''Noooo! Please no!'' ''Nope. Can''t be helped. So, let''s do it next weekend.'' ''But I don''t want to!!'' ''Doesn''t matter, alright. We will do it. So be prepared for that.'' ''Ummmm...!'' ''Cry all you want, but it''s inevitable. Still, it''s a few days away, so just enjoy this moment~! Look, even the little ones areughing now. Hehe~.'' ''Bastard...!'' ''Hehehe.'' ''Bastard!!'' Chapter 408 Mom Talk After Taika was scolded properly and I introduced everyone to the cute children and their mom Mave, thedies just continued their talk with them and Rein also joined. They couldn''t understand their words but, surprisingly, Taika can. And as she tranted their words and dad conveyed them to thedies, the group continued their fun talk while still standing in the garden. Mom... well, I wanted to talk about the povpoi''s food, but she was just lost in those cute creatures. I knew it would take a while for her toe out of her excited state. So, I just told grandpa Zhan about the things we would need for them for a short time. Mom would arrange the main stock after she''s done with her ying. So, they were ying and my grandpa was done testing my first follower... second if we add Chry, but he still has a long way to go before he can actually be of any use to us. "Eon." grandpa called me and I hurriedly moved before him. Zuroro was already looking straight into his eyes, still feeling as though he were looking ''up'' at everyone here with a weak gaze. Well, just the fact that he was looking grandpa in the eye was enough to make himugh... "Hohoho. You have picked up an interesting one. His senses are good, but I believe you have not told him about its ws yet, right?" He was someone that has almost achieved transcendence, so it was easy for him to understand how a skill worked. And if we were talking about a skill that was directly rted to senses, I knew it was just too easy for him to understand. But he was right. "Yes. He is a great worrier but I do not think anyone has ever taught him. I will have to start from the ground and when the timees, I know he will understand it on his own. He''s a smart one, right~?" I smiled and looked at Zuroro, who just nervously looked at grandpa without any words. The fact that his senses couldn''t even understand the strength that grandpa possessed was probably too much for him to handle. ''He might have seen a purple-ranked creature in that forest, but grandpa is a different case altogether.'' A purple-ranked creature could neverpare with a [King] ranked knight after all. "Hohoho. Right! Excellent~! Ask Mel if you want his help with training. I believe the two of them will suit each other." "That was certainly my thoughts. Thanks, grandpa~." I agreed with him and smiled enthusiastically. The two of them would really be a great help to each other and I knew that much. He was excited to see a worrier with great potential like him and he had the power of evolution, so it was possible that he would grow into a draconic species in the future. He was my first follower now, and as my follower and my strength, he was also a part of this family''s strengths. "Ah... right. Ca will like him, too. His Aura has two different natures. Maybe he will be a good dual partner for her, too." "Hmmm. Certainly. But aren''t you going to be her sparring partner? Do you think she will just let you go that simply?" he smirked while saying that. Not that I was going to abandon her. "You know that I have many more people to spar with, right grandpa? I just meant she will have him when I''m not avable." "Yes, yes. I know you know, smart boy." then heughed and started talking with Zuroro. Yes, well... he had a skill that can let himmunicate with creatures who had some deeper rtion to water. He was talking with him, grandma was talking with Morris, so there was nothing much for me to observe here aside from watching everyone... And I just watched everyone smiling and ying until thedies were finished with the povpoi children and Anna had taken up the task to be their tour guide of the house. We would be living together from now on, so she had to show them their new home. And my dear aunts, Zoe, and Taika were also going with her. My lovely Anna had thanked me many times to bring such adorable friends, and the others were the same. They were happy, and so were Mave and the children. So, they went on their home tour. Dad said bye and went to prepare lunch. Grandpa led Zuroro to the backyard training grounds, and Rein said her sad bye and went with grandma to discuss some important things with Morris. So now, only mom and I were left there. And we also had something serious to talk about, so mom nodded at me with a smile and we went to her office. ''It was time for some good scolding and important mom talk, after all.'' [[ I''m here master... fighting! ]] *** "Wounds?" "9 big cuts, 22 small scratches, 6 bone fractures, 2 serious injuries. Nothing much." "You ungrateful child... this isn''t much?!" she shouted and hit my head with an angry but worried expression. It may be only small wounds to me, but she knew it was enough to kill a person. But she also understood they were not much for me now. I was strong, after all. So, she just sighed and continued... "Dungeon? I don''t think so from the way you brought back amazing creatures like them. And a big name like Morris the corrupted wouldn''t stay in some normal dungeon. Hmm... a tomb?" She was probably some of the smartest people I knew, and her analyzing skills were just as amazing. She deduced that the ce we went to wasn''t just some simple dungeon, just from the fact that we brought back such ''intelligent'' creatures with us. Naturally, dungeons were a different and special ce after all. "Yes... it was a tomb. And have you heard about the ancient Medhel people who are believed to have lived in the eastern part of the continent?" Her eyes widened in shock as soon as she heard that and shouted with a surprised voice, "The medical geniuses?!" Of course, she knew about them... they were somewhat famous people mentioned in some important history books of the empire. "Yes, so... there was this important figure among the earlier chiefs of their people, and the tomb belonged to him and his wife. The passage to this tomb was surprisingly a stable boundary in the deeper forest in Rein''s backyard. I already told duke about the important things and he entrusted me with the old book containing the wisdom of those people. I will need your help when I''m done with trantion and editing." She was speechless right now... and there were genuinely no wordsing to her mind so she just set back down. "Eon... Eon... my good boy Eon..." she mumbled under her breath and tried to calm herself down. The value of what I was talking about was astronomical in itself, but she also understood that this newly discovered old knowledge had to be passed to the appropriate people or else there could be bacsh. Still, the one who has the upper hand in the distribution would be her and the pricing of such grand information would naturally be beyond normal understanding... "H-how much did you promise, uncle?" she asked in a shaky but excitement-filled voice. "65%." "What?!" And just like that, all the excitement was gone and only shock remained. "Why?! You could have very well gone down to fifty percent! How-" Her sudden shock and anger were reasonable. I¡­ we were the ones to discover, explore, and clear the whole tomb after all. She also understood that I had great data on the whole of the tomb, the boundary, its location, and the other factors on the other side of the boundary. It would be just foolish to give up sixty-five percent of the share of such grand information of the past just because the book obtained from the tomb was located on theirnd. Not at least when it was an artifact that I can take out and negotiate over. I was also going to practically trante and sort it out for them for free at that rate. Not only was it a loss on my side, but also something that a merchant like her couldn''t understand... well, I already knew this would happen. "Mom... the book on medicine wasn''t the only thing there that gave the glimpse of the past," I said with a warm smile on my face that calmed her down. She knew this simple-looking smile and from those words; she understood something important wasing... "The tomb we found, the main chamber of the coffins, was made of silver and gold. The walls were made of very high-quality silver and they were fully covered with words made of gold. Though the main room was damaged during our fight with the evil spirit of the man I told you about, I already had everything memorized. And what I found in those simple, long words was far more fascinating than this medical knowledge for me... See for yourself." There was a white light covering my hand as I said that and I knew she understood most things by now, so she just grabbed my hand without hesitation. I was using the Solnova spell (: Vision sharing) that Rein and I used frequently to show her the tomb. And as I showed her the tomb and the walls, I exined the contents of those walls. It was an epic, but this epic itself briefly contained the knowledge of history, society, culture, magic, alchemy, surgical procedures, as well as many such aspects of that time. And, when presented before the right people, they wouldn''t even hesitate to give a fortune for a piece of such amazing knowledge. "So, I have the full rights to publish this whole epic. He is a smart person, but still, we agreed on thirty-seventy shares for the information on the walls ''aside from'' the epic. So, I will probably be the publisher of an honorable work of all the known history." I was still smiling, and now she had a bewildered smile on her face. "Y-you tricked your own future grandfather-inw, didn''t you?!" She was saying that, but there was an absurd smile on her face right now. The most valuable thing in this whole of our expedition, the grand epic on those walls... I had the right to that one thing that anyone on this whole continent would be interested in. And from anyone, we were talking about amoner teenage girl to the empire''s princes and princesses. It was a great story and as a merchant who had a deep knowledge of the flow of money; she knew the long-term profit I would get along with the praise and honor would be astronomical~! Still, tricking Rein''s grandpa? Nah... "Tricking would be a bad word, mama. I just asked for the gift and he gave it to me with a smile~. Isn''t he the best~?" I smiled brightly while saying this and... she burst intoughter. "Ptff- hahaha! Right. It''s a gift~. You really are quite something, baby~. Amazing~! Mama loves youuuuuu!" She shouted, stood up from her ce, and hugged me with that same cheerful smile. I would be happy with what I do, and I would naturally publish this epic after some simplification through her publishing house, so the ''white'' profit she would make would be just as amazing. Not just that, she loved reading, so maybe after Rein, she would be the second one to read this amazing piece of art. She was happy just from that much, but the fact that people would praise me, her dear son, was the most exhrating for her. She was happy, and this cheerful smile continued till she suddenly remembered the great lot of work she had pending. She was waiting since the early morning for my return and now she had to work faster to finish the piles of paperwork on her desk. "Eon~. Won''t you help mama?" She cheerfully asked, and she knew I still remembered that I had to work for her for a month. Still... I didn''t think I would have to start as soon as Ie back. "Haaa... bad mom." I set back down and she handed me a pen. I knew just from that particr smile that I had no choice. So, we just started the work, and I waited till someone came to tell us that it was lunchtime. ... "You know about the next month''s event at our auction house, right?" "Um-hmm. I''m looking forward to seeing the greatest auction house in the capital and the special things you have prepared." "Yes~. So, you will be helping me prepare for it starting tomorrow~. Elle too." "...do we have, like, a break time or weekend?" "You want one?" "Yes... well, we will need the next weekend. We have to do something important." "UwU. My baby has another date~." "Yes... a room cleaning date..." "Hehe. You two sure do fun things~." "Yes, fun thing-...?! No! Not anything like that!" "Huhuhu." A normal talk between the two of us and maybe, most of the things were nowplete. The next good event should now directly be the next week, so, putting aside my misery, let''s just look forward to the cool collection Rein had made throughout her life. ''I am looking forward to the special things that even she wouldn''t know about... hopefully, I find something fun there.'' We would be finding gold in a junkyard... no, an ancient artifact in a pile of grass would be better. Chapter 409 Her Messy Room Well... actually, nothing much happened throughout the week. "Bastard..." It was a normal week and the two of us just yed with Anna and the povpoi children, trained with my dear big sister and little brother, and helped mom with some of her ''interesting'' paperwork, which she called hardbor. "Bastard..." The two of them were surprised when they heard that I brought some amazing creatures with me and as soon as they came back from their training, they rushed to find the povpoi, Zuroro and Morris. Alf was especially interested in the povpoi. They were cute and all, but they have actually protected creatures because of their ability to learn new things and create new skills. They were creatures protected by the magic tower but, at the same time, they were the easiest source of the [Skill creation] skill stones. Their value was obviously unbelievably high but there was close to no supply because of the rarity of the creatures as well as the low creation rate of the skill. "Fucking bastard..." Alf naturally wanted to befriend such amazing creatures, and I knew he was hoping that he would find his familiar among them... but, s. They all definitely jumped on him like us, but none of them was the one for him. A familiar is naturally an important part of a mage and many actually don''t find one in their whole life, so he at least wasn''t hopeless. ''Even dad found his familiar in histe thirties. He has a good long time. And, there will be an event at the academy when many mages will get the chance to bond with appreciate familiar. Maybe even knights will find some suitable partners. But that was the story of the future... "Bastard..." "Yes, yes ma''am. I''m a bastard. But at least remember that I''m your bastard..." She looked at me as I said that for a moment with an angry, poison-filled look and... went back to her work. All she had to do was pick up the big-looking things and put them on the other side. We were in the middle of sorting the junk in her personal room, after all, and the first step in this absurd process was to sort the stuff by size. And in the consideration of her utter boredom, I gave her the easiest ones as her first sorting target. But still, it wasn''t something she wanted to do but had to do if she wanted to get one of the ''coins''. "Bastard..." And though with a continues cussing like this, she just continued doing her work. This room was genuinely quiterge and there were hundreds of thousands of things here, ranging from a simple piece of the knife to actualrge siege weapons. She had been to many ces throughout her long life, but as she told me, battlefields used to be her home. She had actually fought in many historical wars and there actually is mention of her nickname (Bloodthirsty witch) in some of the recent history books. Veterans of the battlefield, war heroes, and retired army personnel of the south, east, and west part of the continent would actually tell you the infamous tales of this particr mercenary who genuinely just fought in wars to kill... That was her dark past, and this whole wide room was filled with her relics of the past. Anyway... that were the things of the past. ''But it''s still fun to see so many things with a particr story behind them. Surely she might not remember everything about them, but she had a pretty good memory, so I knew she would remember about a great number of things here.'' The things that happened this past week, from how Alf got close to the povpoi and Ca''s battle with Zuroro, were memorable things, and ultimately, the povpoi family, our great lizardman, and the crazy lich were getting closer with each passing day. So, I should calmly focus on the thing before me. My primary goal of finding the diary she found in that special witch hut and sorting out everything, making some shelves, and decorating the room was ongoing. "Bastard..." But Rein wanted to just finish this fucking boring thing as soon as possible and go out of here or at least take a break and y with me, so she was doing her work with amazing speed and uracy. But she wasn''t having fun... which wasn''t something that I actually liked. "So Rein... do you remember anything about that cannonball?" I asked while pointing at the biggest cannonball in the room. It was a big thing that would be easy to remember, but her reply wasn''t much great. "Just some junk I picked up somewhere." She didn''t even look at that big thing for more than a few seconds before replying. And surprisingly, her voice was genuine. ''Haaa... well, let''s try again.'' "What about that cannon?" "Don''t remember. Sorry, darling." "That catapult?" "Ohh~. I stole that one from an enemy camp in the Hgile-Ftuk war. They were shocked at how a siege weapon can vanish overnight. Hahaha." Good. This was better. "Ohh! I had a medal from that war. It''s a small octagon-shaped medal. Tell me if you find it, please~." She requested with a wide smile and cheerful expression, which was far better than her cussing. "Alright~," I answered with a warm smile and continued asking her about the stuff while doing my own work and she continued talking about the bigger things like they were just a fun memory for her. But more than the bigger things, her heart remembered the smaller things that contained bigger meaning to her. "Ohh! My knife! You know Eon, I killed my very first slime with this knife!" * "Ohh! That de~! Yes. I remember it clearly! The very first orc I killed used it. It was a tough fight~." * "Damnnnn! I still have that medal? Yes... good old days. They used to give medals on the battlefield to people with the most kills." * "Oh? That''s a rare scene. Was this scroll from the ruse war or the Germo war? (tier-4) spells used to be a source of fear among soldiers there. * "Well, I certainly remember smashing the enemymander''s head with that throne shield. He was a fucking asshole." * "Wohh... you found this too? Damn... that''s the bowl I tasted my first-ever dose of potent poison with. One of the reasons I have [Poison resistance of Belinda] is rted to this one. Thankfully, this skill does more than just resist all poisons." * "Yei~. Hello mister Hamham. Your dear master didn''t know you were here. Sorry~." (She was saying this to a peculiar red-eyed rabbit made with some rabbit monster''s fur... creepy.) * "Ohh! Ohh! This...! No way! You know Eon, this is the sword used by a (Rook) ranked knight who died because a bitch from our side used a powerful artifact and blew up half of the battlefield. It was total chaos at that time~." * "This..." her excited talk of her killings and bloodbaths only stopped when I suddenly took out a simple ribbon with the high preservation spell cast on it from under a pile of books. Her eyes were wide open when she saw this ribbon, almost tearful even, and the way she quickly appeared before me and gently took the ribbon from my hands told me this one contained a deeper story than many simple things in this ce. And those rare drops of tears in her eyes were genuinely quite a great deal... "Thanks... Eon..." She suddenly hugged me and then just looked at the simple orange ribbon with anger, resentment, and sadness in her eyes. There was also helplessness, but there also existed forgiveness, so it was difficult to deduct anything from just that much. But she didn''t take much time in her nostalgia dive and looked back at me with a sighing smile. "Not many people you meet on the battlefield are kind to you. Not at least when we are talking about a battlefield of a big war like Frankie''s great conflict. And certainly, not many females fight in a war. But there was this one girl... a dumb young girl fighting for the revenge of her maltreated mother. She was a good sword welder, knew basic magic, and more than that, she knew how to fight... Talented, ferocious, funny, and also someone who, well, treated a lone person like me as apanion and a friend... It was a time of war. Anding out of it alive was more based on luck than strength and talent. So... her demises was certain, and it definitely came. And she died. In my arms... I didn''t know what friends are at that time. Certainly just pushed back anyone that tried getting along with me. Maybe even killed the ones who were being too much... but that mad girl was different. She treated death like a certain, normal, and momentary thing. She came back to annoy me every night, and during every break, and even spend her time around me during the fights. The fool was even sometimes injured because I went into a frenzy... still, she continued being around, and then died on the battlefield... showing me there existed emotions like affection. This ribbon... maybe it''s some of the most important things in this room for me." She sighed again at the end and put the ribbon on a side and shook her head. The past was mainly painful for her because of things like these, and she avoided diving into those days. It was one of the reasons she subconsciously avoided this ce that contained her past. But now, after me, maybe she had epted that the past was something that had passed. The reason she actually talked about her past days right now. But still, some. memories were something that was good when they were buried. And this memory was one of the things she didn''t want to think much about. So... "Ok then. Shell we take a look at this diary~?" It was a voice that meant that I understood her heart and the words were something that reminded her of the primary objective of this whole cleaning shit. It had urred because she helplessly brought up the topic of a strange diary that she found in a swamp house and right now; I was holding that diary. That simple-looking book contained the memories and knowledge of some of the greatest-known witches in the history of the continent. ''And I hope my guess is true...'' It would be amazing if this book did belong to a witch that had fended off many great demons on her own during her time. ''Even the most basic magic or wisdom of (Witch of greens) would be crazy helpful for us after all.'' I was excited and her face, which still contained some difort, turned into surprise as soon as I opened the normal-looking diary... Or more like when we heard a voice as soon as I opened the diary. [[ "Ohh~? The young witch finally remembered me. Look at you~. Haven''t you grown stronger~? This young appearance is quite something, but it''s good that you''re growing. And Oola~. What do we have here~?" ]] This was a voice that we heard in our heads and this alluring voice of a growndy was definitely... a strange thing. Chapter 410 Natural Ego "E-Eon...?" her eyes were wide open as she looked at the simple diary. It genuinely was just a simple diary and both our eyes told us that. So, this sudden voice in our heads didn''t make any sense to her. But I knew exactly what this sudden voice in our heads from a normal-looking book was... "It''s a natural ego. Something born from a normal, but very personal thing belonging to a strong person. Just like how a skilled craftsman makes artifacts that sometimes had a personality of their own, an important thing belonging to a strong as well as a significant person sometimes gains a special ego. This one''s the same... this pleasant voice must be something it gained from the one this diary belonged to... fascinating..." My voice was filled with great curiosity and when she heard it, she knew it was some of the rare things I found too interesting. And the voice from the book was the same too. [[ "Ohh~? Beauty with brains? A handsome cutie with good wisdom? Fascinating~." ]] Her voice was cheerful, just like aunt Haze''s. It was quite good to hear, too. Well, it was cool and if we think about it, this book had been here for more than a decade now... "How did you spend all this time alone in a ce like this?" the question suddenly just flowed out of my mouth and though it was offending for the owner of this ce standing beside me... she also understood those words were true. [[ "Well... aren''t you a good boy to ask such a question before anything? I see the young witch has met a good partner." ]] It was as if she was an old grandma, smiling at the children. But she didn''t avoid my question. [[ "It''s not that difficult when you have practically been by yourself all your life. Not that I can call myself something alive in the first ce, but I definitely did have fun in this ce and with this young witch. She has changed a lot since thest time I saw her and from the looks of it, it is because of you, right, cute stuff?" ]] "I think so..." I smiled, and she nodded confidently. She was sure that she had changed in just these past few weeks since we had been together. [[ "Hohoho. How great to be young and alive-" ]] "Miss. I don''t know what you think being alive means, but I certainly think a bring who can talk like you is very much alive. And you can think, right? Isn''t that enough to call yourself alive?" It wasn''t me who said this, but Rein. She was probably better at things rted to life and death and being alive and dead. And her words probablyforted her more than she can think... [[ "You are like an elegant swan, little girl. Saying those sweet words... you might not even know just how moved I''m right now. Okay then~! You two are good children so I will tell you the things in this diary~. I believe both of you are interested in the life of an amazing witch, right~?" ]] Of course we were interested, but she didn''t have to describe and narrate everything this the book. "I don''t think it will be needed, gooddy~." I cheerfully said and flipped through the pages of the normal-looking old book. -Flip. Flip. Flip. "Yup. It''s Arsenian. The owner of the book was Sabrina tinum, wasn''t she?" There was great excitement and anticipation in my voice as I asked that and as Rein looked at me with confusion and astonishment, the diary replied positively. [[ "It''s surprising you know my owner despite her tales already being forgotten with the passing winds of time..." ]] "Of course I know her! The winds of time may have washed away the blessing like deeds of her, but many in this world could never forget the witch of greens!" my excitement intensified with that agreement. It was a name that was unconditionally present in the world''s history even though it wasst mentioned thousands of years ago. Sabrina tinum. One of the few great witches the world had ever known. She was called the witch of greens because of her amazing ability to revitalize barrennds, grow trees, and heal a great number of people. She was a witch who had, fromst spections, lived for more than three thousand years. And throughout her life, she had helped nature in many ways. She was born to human parents and her life wasn''t that good from the point of view of that time''s world. But still, there was a time when she was praised by the folks of the entire continent and even called a saintess. If I remembered the founders of the greatest institutes in the world, I couldn''t not remember a big name like hers. Having something that belongs to such a great person was a blessing in itself and it definitely was something to be proud of. Rein didn''t know just how great this one book would go for if sold to professional historians. But it would just be foolish to sell such a precious relic. [[ "Huhuhu, children. You reminded me of some great times. It''s also surprising to see someone who knows anguage of such a distant past. You definitely are no normal boy, child. I''m even more d to meet you two~." ]] The voice was more cheerful than before and this time; the voice contained even more depth. It was genuinelyfortable when an ego knows that the new beings holding them know about their original owners. The power an ego possesses varies but one thing they have inmon, be it a natural ego or a created ego, or even a ''thing'' with a will of its own, they all can actually think consciously like intelligent beings. As she said, they are definitely alive beings. And just that much was enough to want these beings. Anyway, this book or diary was interesting... "You can read it now, right?" I asked as I slowly turned the pages and observed the things written in gorgeous handwriting. "Hmmm... it''s mostly readable," she answered while tracing the letters with her beautiful fingers. ''I should arrange a nail polish testing tea party. I think they will like it...'' Anyway... we looked through the book slowly and it was mostly filled with thete life of the owner of this book, the witch of greens. I could feel a strange energy from the book and it was most probably the residual energy of the book''s owner. Just the fact that the traces of the energy were still present in the book showed just how great she must have been. And I really was looking forward to finding some of her magic or casting methods or at least some data of the past, but... there was nothing like that in this book. There were just the ounts of her daily life in the middle of the forest with her familiar [Earth dragon lizard] named Pruth and the creatures of nature in the forest. It was an interesting diary, but there were few mentions of special magic or even some good potion-making recipes. Potions and poison were witches'' specialty, but there was no record of how to make one and just the mentions of some of their uses. And mostly, they weremon potions aside from one named [Nature''s blessing] that could actually save a person from a mortal wound as long as they are alive. It was also just mentioned one time thought the book and as we read and didn''t find anything that I was mainly looking for, a subtle sadness crossed my face. But that brief moment was enough for her to know I didn''t get what I was hoping for. Still, she gained a good lot of things. There was a lot of talk about the old witch traditions and many such things, and even some deep talk over witchcraft. I already knew those things and was going to teach her in the future, but now that we had found this diary, she can learn them quicker. If she finds time to train in those things, that is... "There there. We don''t always get everything we wish for. Maybe next time?" she tried tofort me and patted my back. And it was good enough to calm me down and smile back at her. The diary was good, and I had already memorized the contents of the book so I can go over it whenever I have time. Still, it would have been good if there was some talk about the magic she used... [[ "Oh...? Why is the pretty boy sad? Did you want something like my owner''s magic or medicine recipe? Sorry, but... she had special books for that and she used to store them in her special room..." ]] And that much was enough to reignite the dying mes of my curiosity. "You think those special books would still be there?" [[ "I think so. Why...?" ]] "You know where this secret room is in that house?" [[ "I do? Owner did write on me while sitting there. It''s a beautiful ce." ]] "Good..." Now, there was a wide smile on my face, close to a grin. And as soon as she was that smile, a cold shiver ran down her spine... "Don''t tell me we will be going there again..." "You bet we will. I need those books now. It''s practically priceless knowledge, Rein. Priceless." "No, you bastard! That''s the forest of Diva! The home of dark elves! No mortal has returned from there! It''s practically an unofficial forbidden zone!" She was shouting, but the only expression on her face was annoyance. It was just annoying to go there, do difficult things for survival, and even safely return from there... again. "It''s quite good to say, but Rein, you were a ''lucky'' mortal who actually came back from that ce." "I didn''t even know that ce was that dangerous! It was pure foolishness and luck!" "That''s what I''m saying. You have already done it once, and that was even unknowingly. We can definitely do it again if we are together, no?" There was a good smirk on my face, and she was speechless right now. She only made angry notices with her lips tightly closed. Even hitting me in the process... She always does this thing when she can''t find any words and expresses her anger and this was one of her cute points. [[ "Children? You will go there again? But will you even be able to find that small-looking ce in that huge forest? I don''t know the path you see..." ]] She was concerned about us, and it was a good sign that meant this diary liked us. But her concerns weren''t needed this time. "You know about memory tracing magic?" I asked while looking at Rein, who had the same question as the diary. She genuinely had no idea about the path she took or even how she escaped that ce... or did she just walk out of it like a walk in the park? Well, my words made her eyes open wide, and she asked with surprise just after the diary answered negatively. "You mean THE memory tracing?! Isn''t that a specialized ancient magic art that''s already gone extinct?!" I smirked at her again and nodded meaningfully. "Turns out your darling is quite gifted in mental magic. Haven''t you already seen it many times? Our vision sharing hand holding? Hehe..." "XX bastard! It''s a bad ce! A bad bad ce! Please, no...!" Now she was showing her anger, but still, it wasn''t something needed. "Calm down, dum dum. We aren''t going there anytime soon. Maybe during our second year of school? Yes... we would be strong enough by that time. And maybe we will have more helping hands with us, so don''t worry." "...?" I was patting her head, and she was calming down with each stroke. She was also a hothead many times, but unlike Ca, she calmed down pretty quickly. Well, she was thankfully calm now so... "Ok. Go back to your work. Let''s finish this quickly and cuddle-, I mean y something..." Her eyes became as big as a cat seeing her favorite fish at my words and a new energy to work overwhelmed her whole being. "See you, X bastard~!" She ran back and continued when she had left and Iughed and the diaryughed with me. [[ "Huhuhu. So good to be young..." ]] She was back to work and I should go back, too. There were still a few amazing thingsying in the corners of this whole mountain of relics. I had to sort everything and make this ce a museum she would want toe every day to. ''Hmm. Yes! Let''s go~.'' Chapter 411 Children Playing "Stoooooop~. Anna''s tired now~!" she shouted and fell to the grass-filled ground. She was chasing after the small furballs and they were just jumping around with wide smiles on their cute faces. She looked cute while chasing after the young povpoi, but she was now tired. But still, she was smiling as happily as she had been. They were ying in the open garden before their house and her lovely big sister Zoe was watching over them with her dad, uncles, and big brother Alf carefully studying the small, round, colorful creatures. They were all people interested in these creatures and as this was a weekend, a good holiday, they had a pretty good time watching and studying the young creatures. They were genuinely cute, but the way they were ying with the gorgeous young Anna was a scene that they still weren''t ustomed to. It was just too much for them to see such good behavior as suitable for a young child. The other young ones had grown up with mostly weapons or books in their hands, after all. This actual childish behavior was something these fathers could rarely experience. And as right now was one of those rare moments, they just wanted to live it fully. [< Hehehe. Sister Anna lost~! >] [< We won. Yei~~! >] The cheerful povpoi jumped in excitement and came before little Anna with bright eyes. [< "You did not win! We are taking a break~!" >]she shouted at the cheerful creatures and their happiness intensified at her strong denial. [< Nooo~! Anna lost~! >] Some of them jumped with even more excitement and some turned toward Zoe. [< Sister Zoe! We won, right~? >] They were ying a game where one had to catch everyone and when the ones with turn touch them; they lose. It was a simple childish game, but it was great fun for the children. Still, it was amazing to see how the two girls were naturally talking with the young povpoi in their specialnguage so easily. [< "Hehehe. Let''s take a break everyone~. We will continue after that~!" >] [< Nuuuu! Sister Zoe is taking Anna''s side! >] many of them retorted at her words but she just smiled and patted L''s red head. [< "It''s not like that. You see, it''s time for lunch, anyway." >] she smiled warmly at them and, though sad, they definitely were hungry from ying around for so long. They were ying this game since the early morning and only now did little Anna had stopped. Just the enormous energy these kids had was surprising for the adults watching them, but they were so lost in the y that they themselves had forgotten that they hadn''t eaten anything after their breakfast. The children were just that much mesmerizing, but now that the little girl had set down in exhaustion, they were out of their zone. "Zoe~! Will we do lunch here? Should I call thedies here?" the young girl''s dad asked with a bright expression as he looked at his exhausted but smiling daughter. She was ying with children for the first time and he was also seeing his awesome daughter ying happily like that for the first time. He had never seen his young boy ying with children like this, so this was an even more special experience for him. The young creatures his son brought with him were now his young daughter''s good friends. And he was genuinely thankful to him. He wasn''t here right now, but he knew that he was having fun with his good friend. It was good that he was having fun and they were having fun too, so it was all good~. The young girl was exhausted, but the povpoi gathered around her, and the two of them used their light magic, catching adults off guard. Their natural magic was nothing like what the mages used, but the povpoi were using light magic right now. That much was clear. There was a white and yellow light shining around the three of their bodies and after a while, it vanished and they smiled at her. And the yellow and white lights eased her exhibition in just that short moment. [< Anna is OK now, right~? >] the yellow and white povpoi asked, and she replied with a thankful smile. [< "Yesss~! Thank you, Ray and Ely~!" >] she patted their heads and stood up with new energy... almost ready to y again. "Ok dad~. We should call mom and aunts and grandpa and grandma here~. Ohhh! Grandpa Zhen too~!" she shouted at her dad and he nodded vigorously. "Sister...?" but the little Anna full of fresh energy to y was confused by her words. "No more ying for a while. Take a break, little one. Healing magic can heal the symptoms and quicken the recovery process, but your stamina hasn''t recovered yet. It would have been different if we had Clover with us. Still, it''s lunchtime so let''s go~." She picked the little one up and gave her a small kiss. The little povpoi also wanted a kiss, but there were thirty-two of them before her. She couldn''t kiss every single one of them one by one, so she winked at them and gave them a ''special'' flying kiss. And as soon as she did that, they felt a strange calmness wash over their bodies. The children found it strange, but they smiled at her and restarted their excited jumping. "Aww... alright." the little girl in her embrace answered with a low voice and gave a kiss to her good sister. The young boy watching with the adults, our future great mage Alf, was fascinated by the magic the povpoi used. It was their special magic and unlike most humans who had to do a long process to conjure magic, they can do so with just a single thought. It was more fascinating for him than their cute appearance, so his mouth was just open. At a distance, the mothers of the children were having a quiet talk over a good tea. The mothers were talking happily and their conversation with the golden furball, the mother of the thirty-two young povpoi, was especially... unique. "It must have been difficult to raise so many children by yourself, right Mave?" Haze asked with an interested expression and the twodies and the tiger in a skirt looked at her interestingly. [ "Yes... well, it was difficult, but they are good children. It was lucky that we got by just fine. Seeing them y like this is really heartwarming too. It''s all thanks to Eon..." ] All the povpoi could learn new things quickly and create new skills for themselves. It hadn''t been that long since they came here but, just like how the two young girls learned theirnguage to talk with them, she, too, learned [Mana speech] as well as the basics of theirnguage. She could talk with them quite well now and as this was a weekend, everyone had decided to take a break from their work. They were just talking right now, under the big umbre, with their good sisters. "Right~? My Eon''s amazing~!" Nolen cheerfully stated and others nodded in clear agreement. "Eon is definitely amazing. Even the lizardman he brought with him has be a favorite sparring partner for Ca. She always uses bad words for him but there''s always a smile on her face because she has more fun when losing to him than training by herself~." Aug added with her special dignified voice and others nodded again. "Just look at Alf too. He follows Anna and the children whenever he''s not studying. Then Anna drags him to y with them~. It''s just too good to see my little baby actually y around like that~." Haze was the most cheerful right now. It was just too blissful to see her bookworm bibliophile doing something that children actually do. Still, she knew his heart was in magic, and she understood him. He was a bright child. "Roar~!" Taika roared with a smile, but no one here, aside from the young girl''s father, who had a worried look after that roar, understood what she said. If Eon or even Rein were here, they would pray for the future of this pitiful father... so the contents of that small, cheerful roar were good when untold. "Mother~! Aunties~! Taika~! Mave~! We will be having lunch here~!" the young Zoe shouted, and they nodded at her with a smile. She was a good girl and a smart one, too. They knew Anna was special and could learn things she wanted faster than any of their kids, but Zoe was no less special. She was the one that learned thenguage the povpoi spoke first and taught to the little one. And that all happened in a matter of just a few days. They needed this much time just to get familiar with the ''unique'' way of their eating in the time it took for the young girls to learn a creature''snguage. And the fact that they found the sharp-teethed creatures eating hard huge Mana rocks ''cute'' was a new thing in itself. Anna was innocent, but Zoe was her best friend, sister, and mentor. She taught her basic things and even scolded her strongly when she did something foolish. They loved her too much to be able to say any harsh words, so the presence of Zoe was a blessing in all their eyes. So... the girls were an inseparable entity, their other children were having fun in their own way, it was also a good feeling to watch their children happy, andstly, the presence of the new members to this family was only positive until now. And thedies, as well as the grandpa, always watching from shadows, prayed it stays the same... or many of them wouldn''t even hesitate to... That was their duty, and they will do it to the best of their abilities. Thankfully, they had nothing to worry about for now. So, the afternoon continued. The work on the back of the house was also going in full swing. Some of the most famous events of the whole capital were just around the corner, and the venue for the event was the next target for some dark forces. But neither the cheerful family nor the two young people staring at the peculiar box knew about the summoning taking ce not much faraway from their capital. Well, for now, the family''s lunch and the strange box that had picked the interest of both their special eyes were the most important... Chapter 412 Disturbance Preparation In a dark underground ce in a deep forest near the capital city of the great Roxana empire, something strange was going on... Arge group of strange people wearing the same kind of hooded clothing were standing before a grand altar. Three people were standing before this altar on the higher ground and were looking down at their people with approving gazes... a gaze which definitely was anything but human. These people looked like humans, but they had pale skin and pure ck eyes without any whites. And just that much was enough to tell they were the infamous Rakshasas, the enemies of all the beings in this grand nature. There were nearly fifty of them and the three standing before the altar were even more sinister, with a sticky dark aura covering their bodies. But more than their sinister look, more than the whole dark ce with only red lights, more than the unconscious humans stored in the back room, or the alter with still beating human hearts on top of it... the heinous looking statue all of them were standing before was enough to make any normal creature to throw up or faint just at its sight. But the lunatics with ck hoods covering their heads were respectfully standing before them, some even feeling in awe of the greatness of the statue... which was definitely insane. The whole setting of this dark underground ce was one thing, but the way the three people standing beside the altar were smiling warmly at these people was... < "Our brethren. The time is approaching." > < "WHHHHHHH!" > The people below the altar cheered up and shouted in a voice that, though spoken in normal humannguage, sounded disgustingly fearful... It was filled with demonic power and induced oppression of all natural beings. < "Just three more prayers! Three! Just a few more offerings! Few! And then... then! We will finally reunite with the master!" > < "WHHHHHHHHHHHH!" > They were shouting and hugging each other at the thought of seeing a creature of hell that they hadn''t even interacted with in their entire lives. < "Yes! We need more pure creatures... masters love young souls, so let''s collect some pure young blood!" > < "PURE BLOOD!" > They were shouting in such precise unity that it would seem that they were one soul in multiple vessels. But that wasn''t the exact case... they all were just connected to one single demonic entity, so they were practically one being. The three ''presets'' beside the altar were just like them, but they had more intelligence than the people on the ground... as well as more strength. Probably the demons that they were contracted with were different, but still, the people below the altar treated them as obvious superiors. Anyway, they all were ultimately psychopaths. < "We will need more eyes and hearts. More mana hearts of mages. One elf''s if possible. Andstly, we need the core of some high-energy beasts. Prepare them, brethren! We shalt dy no longer!" > < "FOR THE MASTERS!" > < "Indeed. For the master!" > They started moving after that. But their destination wasn''t the closest human habitat: the capital city, but some human viges situated some distance away in the other direction. They had already tasted one defeat when they movedst time, but they had no wish to repeat the same mistake once again. Their new base was also in a normal-looking, deep ce. Unlike the guessable house on the edges of the capital, this one had a door that only they can open. There was no way for the people that harmed their other brethren to find this ce or to interrupt their noble work. They would do the thing they couldn''t dost time at this time''s big festival! The lives their masters could take would also be greater! Just thinking about how the insignificant humans would scream...! Ahh~. That bliss was as rejuvenating as a drink of holy water for normal injured humans. And the scarier thing was¡­ their dream was mostly going toe true this time... *** "So Rein. Aside from that painting and that big chunk of Mana crystal, this box is the only unsorted thing... And surprisingly, there''s something in there." [[ Yeiiii~! There''s someone in there~! ]] She was thinking deeply for a while now, sitting in the middle of this now clean room, pressuring her forehead with her fingers. She was trying to remember where did she get this particr good-looking box. ''A big box that most definitely has something or someone inside it...'' Well, we could be wrong as we were just specting about it from the faint soul energy we could feel from inside the box, but it would be unknown until we opened it... ''And there''s no key to open the box...'' The strangest thing was that it was dwarven craftsmanship. And there were countless protection spells on this one-by-one-meter box. There were some spells that would cause a wide-range explosion close to (tier-6) spell if we tried to forcefully open it... Thankfully, I had the universal key so we can actually open it, but I gave her time to remember where the hell she picked up such important-looking stuff... ''There is nothing written on it too, so I can''t tell much from just the structure aside from how it is made to protect the object stored inside the box.'' It was a strange and sudden situation after we almost finished sorting almost everything. And there were close to three thousand important things in this room. At least that much she could recognize. There was a lot of junk in this room too, but thest three things¡­ we couldn''t just put them in any category. They were treasures on their own and their values could be unimaginable if they were revealed to the world. One was a big chunk of Mana crystal with a very great purity that she says she found in a ''normal'' old mineral mine. A historical painting of some of the greatest artists of known history, which she gained as a spoil of some war...? Andstly was this strange box that she- "Ohhh! Yes! I remembered!" thankfully, after an hour-long thinking, she finally remembered something and looked at me with new excitement and a smirk on her face. "Would you believe me if I say I once fought a very young [Golden goblin]?" She asked with a bit of hesitation, but... my reply was instantaneous. "I would believe you even if you told me you have met a dragon, dum dum." She smiled and nodded at me. And I understood what she wanted to say. And if we were talking about, though young, a [Golden goblin], some of the very few creatures who could move between space and sometimes even realms, and were called some of the greatest thieves, the origin of this mysterious box was understandable. It must have been stolen by that thief, then she fought it as they don''t actually have many physical powers and tried to just run away, and got this box from the sack they always carry. Anyway... it was her strange luck this time too. "Haaa¡­ so? Should I open it?" I asked with an interested expression but, she was already tired from doing all the sorting and cleaning so she wasn''t much excited about this box and just shrugged her shoulder. ''It''s like we are opening a sure-win mystery box, Rein!'' I wanted to shout in excitement but didn''t. I understood her position... which was now myp. "Be careful. If there''s some creature inside it, as you say, it would be dangerous," she said with genuine worry, but still just continued her rest on my legs. "At least say that after getting up. How will I even protect myself if you''re like this?" I took out the white key that reminded her of her very first total mental drainage. But she had ovee it long ago already. "Just create some barriers. Or, well, we have Celes anyway, right?" she asked, and the butterfly floating just before us circled in excitement. [[ Yeiii~! I will always protect my master and sister~! ]] "See... no need to worry. Just open the box already~." Her voice was cheerful, at least. So I didn''t hesitate and just inserted the key and opened the box. -Click. It also opened with a refreshing clicking sound, but the thing inside the box was... even more interesting than any actual creature or the soul essence that I was thinking about. It was... [[ An egg~!! ]] "Wow. That''s a big one... but..." she became speechless as soon as she used her eyes on the big green egg. Now, there was a horrified expression and an absurd smile on her face. The reason for that... ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Wyvern egg] -Well, it''s a draconian egg... something too absurd for us toprehend so bye... ============ Yup. It was something very, very, very unexpected. Enough that she and I just stood up in shock as soon as we saw the egg. And there was clear soul energy inside it as well as the energy fluctuations were subtly changing with each passing second, indicating the creature inside was still perfectly fine. But this matter... "What should we do now...?" she asked, and I was in my own train of thought. ''A draconian egg... a wyvern''s egg...! Holy mother of goblins!!'' I was expecting something but... not this! It was just too... mind-blowing. Chapter 413 The Egg "So Rein... a wyvern egg, hn? That''s some great treasure you found from fighting a goblin." There was a smile on my face that couldn''t ever exin the mixture of emotions that I was feeling right now... It was just too absurd. And unbelievable. And amazing... We were actually talking about a wyvern egg here. A creature that was one of the closest rtives of the epitome of all existence, dragons. This egg had a top-grade purple-ranked creature inside it. And yes... it was alive, fully born, and just waiting for the right moments toe into this world. ''Now the dangerous thing is this one''s parents.'' Wyverns are some of the most loving parents and, unlike many fantasy stories in this world, they were not that different from the wise dragons. Though they were only as powerful as the fully evolved tigers and were actually definitely bonded and tamed by people. But, the people like them only numbered fifteen to sixteen... They were all strong too, so it was understandable, but no known person had a newborn wyvern. To begin with, the parents never left their eggs, and at least one of them always protected them. So, if what we were seeing right and what our eyes told us was true, it meant that the parents of this egg were either dead or maybe the egg itself was stolen from them by some stronger beings. And if we were talking about dwarves... it was most definitely possible that they could have done either of those things. If the parents were dead already, it was well and good, but, if the parents of the egg were alive and searching for it, it might getplicated if they do find it... find us. ''But what could be the chances of that, right?'' "Treasure... bastard. Calling a draconian egg a treasure... what the hell do you think will happen if the child searches for its parents, goes wild, or falls in the hands of some bad people?" The result might certainly be dangerous and if we were talking about a newborn here... the whole world would certainly want such a treasure. It was easy to ''domesticate'' a powerless child than a strong adult, after all. "But it''s more of a reason we should bring him back with us and teach about the world ourselves, right?" "But wouldn''t this be dangerous? I mean..." She was genuinely worried about this unexpected thing. But still, this was something that we found in her room, so it was theoretically hers. But there was nothing to worry about. It was just a great purple-ranked creature. We already had an adult one back at home, so a child was more than manageable. Besides... "It''s your egg Rein. Wouldn''t it be better to take it out of this closed-off ce? The creature inside the egg could quite possibly be someone who would rule the skies of the capital. You would let him just be here, caged in this box, in this room? What if it breaks everything here or worse... what if he doesn''t even get the chance to see this amazing world? It was fate that we found this box and this good egg. What would have happened if it wasn''t for us?" And as soon as I said it like that, she looked at me with wide eyes full of self-loathing... "It wasn''t your fault, so don''t think too much about it." I patted her head before she could fall into the depths of despair... She didn''t say it on purpose, though. And she was thinking about the people back home... "Ok then. We will take this baby with us~." I cheerfully smiled and her weak expression was washed away. She also smiled while shaking her head and took out the big egg from the box. "It''s heavy. More than three of the povpoi children, actually." She was really astonished as soon as she picked it up. And being heavy was just a natural thing. "A wyvern femaleys three to six eggs during their mating season. But those ferocious mating seasons mostly happen in dense forests andrge valleys only once in ten to twenty years. The egg''s outer shell is made of a very dense organic concentration which has hardness close to purple Mithril. It''s a rare material and, as you might have heard, is super costly. Maybe we will see some at the auction after a few weeks." As a pure draconic species, they possessed various powers and affinity with most elements of nature. But different from the other magical beasts, they were some of the few special creatures who possessed a special ability simr to Celes''s . Well, that ability was something they were born with and it varied. So, they were strong creatures from the moment they were born. And they were born with great intelligence, too. I knew a good much about them, so I was confident we would be alright even if it acted aggressively as soon as it hatched. The chances were low, though. And I ultimately had more expectations than concerns about this one. It was ultimately an awesome thing that we possessed something of this grand level. The image of my family, Rein and I, or the knights riding a giant wyvern, was... soul thrilling! ''Just thinking about it is amazing~!'' And if Anna and I were the ones riding on top of it... -Smack! "Bastard! I''m asking you something here! What the hell are you thinking so deeply about?!" she shouted, and the pain from her p on my back brought me back to the present. "That was painful..." really painful. "That''s what you get to just get lost in thoughts by yourself. Hump!" She turned her head to the other side and puffed her cheeks while still hugging the big egg. I remember she asked me something like how I know so much about the wyverns and she only asked about it nine times. It wasn''t that much, but I was still punished... "Well, damn... anyway, you look cute with that face and as for your question, I read an old book on wyverns. Maybe I will lend it to you sometime in the future, ok?" "Of course! Book... bastard!" She was still pissed off, so I had difficulty calming her down. *** It took a while, but she calmed down and we decided to go up and discuss this egg-matter with her family first. Her parents and grandparents were shocked how something like this one was justying under their house. They felt sympathy for the unborn baby, but they finally decided that I should take care of it. I knew about them the most and also about how to handle the children if something happened and they got angry. They were also happy that her room was finally cleaned and that they can also go there if they wanted. They thanked me, and we said goodbye after dinner. It may seem like they were taking this serious matter lightly, but unlike the povpoi children, we were talking about an unborn child which would be hatching very soon. They definitely understood the greatness of the situation, but Rein wasn''t much interested in the egg in the first ce. She felt guilty for not ever looking after her things and even thinking of just leaving the egg there. She said she was already unworthy of having it, but she was ready to right her wrongs and do her best to raise this child. So, with a new strong heart, we went back to my home at night and... surprisingly, everyone was still up, so I asked everyone to gather in my room so that I could show them the egg. It was in my white crack at that time so it was alright, but when I took it out before everyone, until the moment I showed this special creature to my special family members, I hadn''t thought of one possibility... -Shiiiiiiiiiiim! -Sweeeeeeeeesh! "Eon?! What''s happening?!" "Eon?! W-what''s this...?!" "Alf...?" "Hahaha. It''s early and unexpected, but he will be a mage in true meaning now!" That was my grandpa atst and right now the office of my room was in an utter mess, but it didn''t matter. As some had already thought, the egg that we identally found and brought back with us... the special creature that had stayed in a closed box for a long time, and my little brother who definitely was a better mage than many experienced ones had found each other... It was an event that mostly only happened once in a mage''s lifetime. And this one was a special one among those special events. Bonding with a draconic species... was a special event all in itself. And this time, the bonding was happening between a creature that had just hatched from its egg and a boy that had searched far and wide for a being that was ''the one'' for him. At this moment, the two of them, the newborn cute wyvern and Alf, were surrounded by a strange storm, and Alf was just holding the baby while looking into its eyes, as if talking with it. It reminded me of the time I bonded with Celes in that dark cave, but the current situation was different from back then. My room was being destroyed by these winds! A torrent of energy was filling my room, and the impact had already activated my protection spells, so there were now barriers around everyone''s body but still... everything was being destroyed! Just the fact that I would have to do more work was something, but at least this current situation was worth it. "Beautiful..." Rein eximed with admiration while dad and uncle Theo had a nostalgic expressions. Thedies were worried while grandpa Zhen was protecting Anna and the povpoi children by grandpa''s side while Anna and the children and even Mave were spellbound by the jade-green light surrounding the two of them. I knew Anna especially liked what was happening right now. It was her first time seeing someone bond with an energy beast. And this one was even more special than the normal times. This moment... she would definitely remember it and it would be a good spark of growth for her. She might even want to do the things she had avoided until now but, that would be for good. The young povpoi''s big blue eyes reflected the green light as they just looked at the two of them like Anna. It would also definitely be helpful for them. So that was the children and... the atmosphere right now was more captivating than I thought. It was good... but my words were insufficient to describe what this special feeling was like for him. It was his moment... and it was better shown from his eyes. But for us bystanders... this was certainly spectacr~! Chapter 414 Alfs Bond Big brother Eon came back a while ago and requested us to gather in his room. From the looks of it, he had something important to talk about... ''Or, did he bring back someone else this time too? Hehe. It would be fun if he did~.'' He was amazing~. And so were the beings he brings back with him every time hees back home from a small trip. I was looking forward to what it might be... but even I didn''t expect this. "A wyvern egg we found in Rein''s relic room. It will be difficult and maybe dangerous, but I believe it would be alright. I... we have a few children with us. I believe one more would be manageable, right?" And he was smiling warmly while saying that. It was absurd to just so casually say that they ''found'' a wyvern eggying in her room. But sister Elle was also casually nodding at his words. She was also like him... We were talking about a wyvern here... a WYVERN! They were called the rulers of the sky and some were even protecting some of the important points of the empire. ''And there are only six in the empire! It''s certainly absurd!!'' And they just casually said it was an egg of a draconic species as if they were introducing a cute cat. It was absurd... but we were also talking about my big brother. It was most certainly believable if he was saying it. And Anna had a bright face with star-filled eyes, so it was even more believable. It was just a big green egg, but I can tell it was special from the special Mana around it. The egg was on the table of his office desk and we were standing around it, looking at it with surprise and a few more emotions. But we all were just looking at the egg. That much was true. It was something with the most presence, after all. And in this perfect atmosphere... "It wants toe out~!" Anna shouted in an excitement-filled voice and at the same time, we all saw the small shaking of the big egg. "...!" And it was astonishing for all of us. Most certainly for me because I was going to see the birth of a wyvern! It was my first time seeing the birth of an energy creature too! It was just too exciting~! The situation was sudden for the two who brought it here too, but they probably knew something like this was soon going to happen anyway, so their reactions were milder. They moved away from the desk with smiles, and we all focused our eyes on this special event. ''A wyvern...'' They were some of the most amazing creatures and I had seen one once from afar. That one belongs to the imperial family. And it was majestic! ''Would this one be something like that in the future, too? I will be able to ride it, right? It will be fun~!'' But brother Eon will be the one to rise it... wouldn''t it just follow him then? Brother will be even more powerful with the addition of such a powerful force... ''No problem though! I will definitely catch up and surpass him!'' I knew I will at least be a better mage than him. Far better that he will have to rely on me for the things he couldn''t do. But that was the story of some other time. I was still weak, and the egg was starting to crack now... -Uu. -Kraaaaaa-triiiiiiip! A weird sound rang out with the cracking of the egg and after a slice of breathtaking moments, the cracking intensified and a big, sharp nail came out after breaking the hard-looking shell. "Kreeeeee-ptttt!" the sound rang again, but we knew this time that the sound wasing from the egg, meaning it was the baby''s voice. ''Beautiful...'' I didn''t know why, but this strange voice just sounded pleasing to me. Another big nail simr to the previous one pierced the egg and the two nails opened the egg as if opening curtains. After that, while taking the hard egg as support, the creature imed out of the egg, its only known world. Then, it was out... ''And it''s gorgeous...'' A scale-covered green body, a beast''s sharp features, and a draconian''s unique eyes with reddish gold pupils. It was a wyvern, so it had the wings like hands and two back legs. Its wing-like hands had a sharply curved talon and its legs also had sharp ws. This creature was young, but still... I could feel the great Mana fluctuations caused by its presence in this room. ''But it''s strange...'' I was feeling weird for some reason and the wyvern was also just looking around calmly without crying or causing any kind of ruckus. They were depicted as ferocious creatures who spread devastation in their paths. ''Well, this one''s cute...'' It was a little bigger than the povpoi, almost as big as Tuuli, but it was certainly a cute one. It was also looking around the room as if it was searching for something... or someone? And when its eyes met mine... the wyvern baby just kept looking at them. It was looking at me with a strange gaze, and it certainly wasn''t something normal. The strange feeling I had from the moment I saw this creature was increasing as it looked at me. And after a few moments of this staring that seemed eternal to me, the newborn wyvern blinked, and a smile appeared on its small cute face. It lifted its wing-like front hands and tried flipping them in an attempt to fly... and unlike newborn birds who take a long time just to understand the thing called flying, this one already knew how to use its wings and suddenly started floating... "Kreeeeeee-ptttttt~!" it made another cheerful sound but then suddenly... -Sweeeeeeeesh...! There was a storm in this room¡­!? -Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeesh! A powerful whirlwind shook the entire room and destroyed many papers as soon as it appeared. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh! And it continued until it covered half of the room with the wyvern as its center. ''This feeling...'' I knew everyone was shocked by the sudden appearance of the storm, but there were protective spells of my brother to help them. They were also strong enough to protect themselves and everyone else so I could do this... "Alf...? Alf?! Alf stop!" mom shouted as soon as she saw me walking forward and toward the whirlwind. It certainly was dangerous, but I didn''t know why my whole being urged me to take these steps and go toward this dangerous ce. "Alf?! What do you think you are doing?!!" That was pretty much everything they all were shouting, but there was nothing on my mind aside from this pretty creature right now. "No way... damn! Amazing~!" But still, this cheerful cry of my big brother was as clear to me as the flipping sound of the wings of this wyvern. I knew he would have already understood what was going on when I was still in the dark about it. Still, I knew one thing... "Kreeeeeee-ptttttt~!" it shouted again, now a strange green energy surrounding her small self. Well, she was big if we took into ount her whip-like sleek tail. But that wasn''t important right now. The newborn wyvern was smiling at me and only I was standing here right now. There was still this strange feeling inside me... a strange feeling of longing? Well, I didn''t understand it, but it was definitely there. There weren''t many things that could cause this strange feeling and thinking deeply about it, the most probable answer to this strangeness was... "You... want to be my familiar?" "Kreeeee-ptttt~!" I didn''t know if it was an illusion or something, but maybe I could feel what she was saying. It wasn''t just that I understood what she was saying, but also that I could feel the endless affection hidden in that voice. It was the same feeling as he had described. But still, the question remained... "Why me?" I asked with genuine curiosity. I desperately wanted a familiar but never such a grand creature. I had never ever thought that I could make a draconian my familiar. It was just an absurd thought, even when thinking that people called me the mage genius of the continent. It wasn''t like I was someone strong, like my brother or even my sisters... I was still weak and young. "Why me...?" It was a genuine question and the wyvern just looked at me with a confused expression. "Kreeee!" then it just cheerfully smiled and hugged me with its long neck. Maybe because she was just a kid, but she still didn''t understand much about all the things that she herself was doing. "Understandable..." She did most of the things on instinct, even though she had basic wisdom. She was also just following instincts right now, so I should just be lucky that I was the one this one chose and this was how we met... Familiar was like a lifelong family and part of one''s life. Just finding these special creatures was one of the greatest tasks for a mage, so I should be happy that this unexpected event brought the two of us together. ''And I have to thank big brother and sister for this...'' but that was for after I finish things with this one. Smiling weakly at the cute creature and looking around the devastation around the room, the myriad emotions of my family members, from the overly excited grandpa to my mom, who was almost on the verge of tears. They were my family, and so will this little one from now on. "So? Would you like to be my friend and be with me until fate allows it? I''m not that strong, but I know I will be the best mage out there someday. I also have a pretty amazing family and I know everyone will just love you~." "Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-pttttttttttt~!" That loud answer was vigorous. And as soon as she said that, the green light surrounding her intensified and covered both of us. I had already heard the stories of everyone in my family who had a familiar, so I knew after this secondst step of bond-forming thest thing thatpletes this sacred ritual was... "How about... Utopia? I believe you are already perfect. And I will make sure you also don''t feel the absence of your parents when you stay with us. At least, I will try my best so that you can be happy and smiling... just like right now." I really had no words to express this special feeling... I had genuinely dreamed of the day that I finally find my own familiar and be aplete mage, but now that I was living this moment, I now understood what they meant by feeling... special. "Kreeeeeee-ptttttttt!" she answered with another cheerful voice and then suddenly bit my right hand. "Ouch! That was-" But before I could say anything, the green light covering the two of us was absorbed into our bodies, and the ce she had just bitten off just now twitched with a strange burning sensation. [[ I loooooooove that name~! ]] "Hmm?!" [[ Thanks papa~. ]] "...!?" It was the voice of a kid younger than Anna or the povpoi children. And it felt like I had already heard this voice countless times in my life. And on the back of my right palm, there was now a strange mark that looked... just like her. It was a familiar mark. Something that big brother, sister Elle, and uncle Brian had. And now, me too... It was the mark signifying the bond between a strong creature of nature and a normal person. I was some of the special few who had this special mark and... a special friend like this young one here. It was really a fulfilling feeling now that we had each other, and grandpa was right when he said a familiarpletes a mage. I really felt like a new person now. It was an ineffable feeling... but certainly amazing. Utopia... was definitely a cute name, too. And I knew aside from my big brother... this new little friend of mine was going to be a good friend and ymate of the little girl who was still looking at the two of us with those same sparkling eyes. And this room was almost destroyed because of the winds from Uto, so that amazing smile despite the destruction around her was also unique~. But whatever it was, I could see everyone was happily looking at the two of us with warm gazes. Especially the big brother who made this possible... he had a proud, warm smile as he looked at me and Uto. She was happily floating around me, too. Excited to see the new world awaiting her... ''It''s the start for me, right?'' I was aplete mage now that I had her. ''Then I should try harder than before.'' I still had to catch up to him and then surpass him. He was my goal after all~. ''Hopefully... he won''t ''request'' me to clean up this messed up room. Hopefully...'' We were talking about some of the biggest rooms in this house after all... it would be... tiring. Chapter 415 Utopia The light surrounding them vanished and after a while; the storm covering them also vanished. This was the end of their bonding process, and the two really looked cute together~. Now, the youngest in this family wasn''t Anna or the children anymore. It was this special creature, Alf''s bond, the newborn green wyvern. [[ She looks cuttttte~! ]] Celes also liked this new child. She was cute, even with her sharp talons. ''Not that anyone in this house would be afraid of them.'' We had a tiger, a big eagle, the povpoi, many mounts if we include the ones at the stables, and now a wyvern too. It was most certainly manageable. But the most important thing right now was that the newborn bonded with my good little brother. It was something that I had never thought about. This baby was a wyvern, a draconic creature of nature that had a natural affinity with most of the natural elements and was among some of the creatures that can theoretically bond with anyone. ''Just that the chance of them finding the right person is even less than someone finding a [[( Star fragment )]] in their local antique shop.'' The stronger creatures and mostly the important (Purple) ranked creatures hardly ever find their ''the one''. It was very nice that this one found someone she could be with forever as soon as she came into this world... ''Maybe she came out because she sensed the strange feeling of belonging that the creature and master naturally feel? Hmm... that certainly exins the eyes that were searching for something or someone as soon as she came out.'' Well, that look was cute. And this one has some pretty eyes too. They definitely suit each other~. His light green hair and her darker green scale-covered body. His purple eyes and her reddish-golden ones. ''Even their smiles and the two of them look good together. Hehehe.'' I was smiling, almostughing internally, but the others expressed their excitement openly. Especially... "Woooooow~! Big brother Alf! What was that~?" Anna was the first one to run towards them and the first one that Alf introduced his new baby to. "Anna~. It was a special event where mages and creatures like Taika, Celes, or the povpois'' be eternal friends. It mostly happens when the two of them see each other for the first time and after that, we give them a name if they don''t have one and establish a special bond~. Cool isn''t it~? This little one''s Utopia. And she says you''re pretty~!" His exnation and thatst cheerful smile excited Anna even more and as he said, the newborn, the youngest of the house, this wyvern was also excited to see her. "Kreeeeee-pttttt~." Alf was holding her and from how he was using three strength enhancement spells on himself, it was easy to guess just how heavy that little creature must be. But she was a cheerful one that licked Anna''s cheeks as soon as Alf introduced the two of them. Anna was cheerfully giggling, and I called Celes out. She was also just as much excited to meet this new young creature. So, she flew ahead and first greeted Anna and then set on the head of the newborn and most probably secretly started talking with her. Celes was also just a young child, butparably, she was almost as old as us in mental age. So she was now the older sister of yet one more child. ''Utopia...'' Even I agreed that she was a perfect partner for him. I liked that name. "She will be a strong kid. She''s also special..." Rein said with an absurd smile on her face. But it was a smile. She had used her eyes, so she had already read about her while I was lost in the cheerful smile of my little sister, like everyone else. They knew by now what had just happened, but this small incident had taken a bit too much of their energy. Grandfathers and grandma were naturally just smiling at the smiling Alf and Uto. I can tell they were looking forward to the future growth he will show from now on. ''Well, he just became a daddy. He will naturally grow with a new speed after all.'' I smiled while looking at the new cheerful ones. She had green scales like the green forest. But, again, she was cute... ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Crown Wyvern] (Familiar name: Utopia) Strength: 18 Dexterity: 15 Stamina: 21 Magic Power: 27 Intelligence: 22 [Skills: Bite, sh, Breath, Purple learning, Skill creation, Evolution.] [Ability: Whirlwind.] ---> Haaa... it was just a while ago that we met this creature or the egg, but now it has be familiar... ---> Not only you, but this whole family is just something else. Still, we hope you do not corrupt the two young souls. ---> They look good together... ---> She has good skills, can learn faster, create new skills, and evolve in the future and she is a royal too. What more do you need? ---> She is new to this world. This bad world. And she will surely be a genuinely strong creature too. It would be best to raise her with the greatest care and love. Enough that she always looks at the brighter side of events. ============ ''Of course...'' She had the power of evolution, the ability to learn faster than her own kind and create skills like the povpoi. But a more surprising fact was that she was a special one, someone like Tuuli. A creature with higher status among her kind, the royal ones. It was surprising and even more worrisome, but it was alright now that she was a bond. If something difficult does happen, I believe Alf will be able to take care of it on his own. She was his responsibility now, after all. But this papa won''t have to raise this daughter all by himself. He had the support of the greatest mothers, a fantastic grandmother, and me who knew a great lot about the wyvern. I even knew what things they liked and had books that could help him in his daddy duties. He will definitely be alright, so it wasn''t something to worry about. So... just like the whole family gathered around the two of them, the two of us also approached them. Rein was surprised by the stats of this newly born creature, which were more than enough to kill any normal human being. But I knew about them quite a bit, so it was understandable. "Big brother~! Sister Elle~! It''s thanks to you! Even Uto says she''s thanks to you!" "Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-pttttttt~!" The newborn Uto jumped on the two of us as soon as we were close and we were thest ones to greet her, so she was even more excited. She called me uncle and Rein aunty before she jumped on us and I barely caught her. The uncle and aunty were technically correct words, as she called Alf papa. Well, I didn''t mind that. I was already familiar with being called uncle, so it wasn''t that bad and Rein, who actually should technically be familiar with being called grandma, also didn''t mind it. But Uto was heavy... like, really healthily heavy. She was also happy while being in my embrace. She was so happy that she was rubbing her long neck and head all over me, as well as her. Her sharp tail was razor sharp. Her ws could rip any normal human apart. And the pointed scales weren''t something that children should carelessly touch. This little girl was smart and Alf must have already told her about this, so she didn''t jump at Anna like this. Our bodies can handle those strong body parts, but Anna was still just a young, fragile little girl. We will have to first teach her about herself and how her normal body could possibly hurt others around her, as well as how to handle these body features so that they could be harmless. She will have to learn a lot of things as she lives with us and I knew it won''t be that long before she bes big enough to not lift like this. ''She will be a lot bigger than she is now in just a few months. Hopefully, she will be able to learn miniaturization like or better than Taika.'' But, well, that was the story of the distant future. We don''t have to worry about that right now. She was smart, so I believe she will be able to learn things quickly. So for now... "Uto~. It tickles~! Hehehe-hahaha." Iughed and Rein was the same. This was our first cuddle from a draconic species, from the great wyvern who was now the youngest member of our family. And everyoneughed at these scenes as they let go of the things that had happened some moments before. So... In the devastated room, surrounded by his people, apleted future great mage wasughing at the situation with his family. He had even more determination now and seeing his fairy gaze gave his big sister Ca a new motivation. She was also chasing after something, and to achieve that, she knew she will need friends like this newborn creature. She also had fire as fierce as him and the family members were even more delighted at their cool determination. Ans Anna was also the same. The seed of curiosity about the things her brother and sisters do was now nted in her in true meaning. And her heart, the best soil one could find in any realm, would naturally grow this seed with the help of the best water-like time. The family wasplete at this moment. The night was gorgeous. The blue moon was also smiling down at them like usual. Maybe the smile was brighter today. But the scene was ending at this moment. The sky was already covered with dark snow and small crystals of snow were going to start falling soon. It was already winter, and the festival was also just around the corner... and so was the bad event. But, it will definitely be fun for them, as well as for ''them'', and for us. ''Ahh, yes. We will see the auction house soon too...'' Chapter 416 Winter Festival Culturally, there''s a unique festival celebrated on each special asion thought the world. And seasonal festivals are some of the most important ones for themon folks as well as the upper ss, nobility, and even royalty. One such seasonal festival is celebrated throughout the great Roxana empire every four major seasons. The summer and winter festivals are some of the grandest ones celebrated by themoners and nobles with simr enthusiasm, the spring festival being the bringer of joy for themon folks, and the fall festival, whiches around the birthday of the emperor and empresses, being important for the nobles. Festivals. A cultural event where a certain group of peoplees together to celibate something festive. Now there sure is discrimination againstmon folks and the upper ss holds great pride in their superiority. In general, the nobility is a minor group that just looks down upon themoners, the vast majority. And it''s a truth that''s deeply rooted in any culture or society with a unique upper and lower cast. The people in higher position looks down upon themon people, forgetting the important fact that the existence ofmon folks themselves makes them superior. Without themon people that do most of themon things, there would be no nobility or maybe even the monarchy. But still, the nobles understand the importance of the lowlymoners. And their own ''nobility'', their own power and superiority make the winter festival of the Roxana empire special... Celebrated during the middle to end of November, the winter festival is held for three days, and during these three days, the privileged upper sses down from their higher houses and does ''good deeds'' for their underprivileged citizens. Winter being a cold season inappropriate for farming or harvesting, greatly affects the people who do not have food storage or are just too poor to afford even warm clothing. Now it may be propaganda or whatever but in the Roxana empire, the upperssmen must do these certain ''good deeds'' during this season regardless of their wills. And the ''good deeds'' involves helping the ''actually'' needy people who might suffer during the harsh season without their help. The help doesn''t have any upper limit but they must help people ording to their ranks in society, their ''ck'' and ''white'' ie, and their strengths. It would naturally be impossible to keep track of every single person''s good deeds but as this was a tradition that has been going on since the founding of the great empire, it had be deeply rooted in the culture itself. People do good deeds. And may it be because of their inner pride or because of the eternal rumor among the people that the emperor actually keeps track of these good deeds through some ''special means'', they sure do these good deeds. Nobles with money donate their resources, people with strength help in the construction or by hunting and securing food supplies, and the normal people who can help with their talents and skills help in various different ways. Common folks try to live through the winter while the nobles actually have itfortable with their food storages and stored resources. The three-day festival might be just to keep the spirits of the people from falling into despair but it has helped the society as well as the people making this great society. And there definitely are people in this society who do things without keeping the small things like a ''good deed goal'' in mind. People who ''use'' the festival but ultimately help society, people who are just too good and believe in sharing their happiness, or the select few who try taking from those who have it and giving back to those who would need it... The royal family would fall in the first category while the families like Atraxia household follow the second one, gaining an eternal name of true nobles. As for the third category... The house of Heliox, and even among them, the one holding many nicknames like (Golden demoness), (Cold demoness), (Auction master of Hiraani), or the (Guild master) of [Faron merchant alliance], has been known by the whole of the empire and world for her special events held during this season. They started just a few years ago when she got back her rights to all her confiscated property and her trading rights in the empire. Today the name Nolen Heliox was known throughout the empire by the most normal child to the emperor. There would hardly be any person who hadn''t heard her name or the famous names of the establishments she had created. From her firstpanies focusing on food, jewelry, potions, and literature, to her new food chains and artifact business that overtook the markets of the entire continent one by one, bing one of the greatest known names. And one such establishment, her very first business be one of the greatest infrastructures of the known imperial history. Hiraani. One of the six great structures of the capital city Gwh. And the greatest auction house of the holy capital. This one building is one of the greatest symbols of the Nolen. The demoness who ''mercilessly'' crushed herpetitors and established a foundation that has already gone down in the empire''s and world''s history. And in this building that she raised from the ground up, she holds the greatest (Annual great auction) and (Great ball) on the first day, the greatest (Open trade fest) on the second day, and the (Charity giveback) on the third day when she donates half the money earned from the first day''s grand auction. That one auction house bes some of the most cheerful ces in the whole capital on the second and third days but the most important of the three days, the first day holds the greatest impotence for not just themon people but also the nobles. Some of the greatest items appear in this grand auction and nobles who value the resources and artifacts far above the ''good deeds'' don''t hesitate to spend a fortune on their desired items. There had already been great instances when unbelievable items like a very rare resource, jewelry, or even artifacts with an unbelievable rating of (Divine artifact) had appeared for auction these past few years. For this reason, the nobility does their very best to free their schedules and attend the auction at all costs. They never disy the details of the product after all. They never do and it hypes the buyers even more. No one knows what they are purchasing, even from the name of the product too. One has to use appraisal skills or basic analyzing knowledge to win the lottery. And luck ys a crucial part in this whole blind auction process. One can strick gold or end up buying junk after giving a fortune. But that''s what one calls legal and noble gambling. And every nobleman is given an ''equal'' opportunity to put their own item in the auction with their desired name. After dedicating ten percent charges, the amount one can earn in this event if they get lucky is just off the charts! And the entertainment-seeking nobles would never miss such an amazing event. Even the royal family attends this event. And just that fact should be enough to show just how great importance this event has on the whole of the empire. But the preparations for this great event are naturally no easy thing. Not only it requires a great workforce but just the data analysis, paperwork, resource handling, and other important factors could make a normal person faint. And that was when handling everything individually. One person doing most of these things? It was unimaginable and absurd in itself. But the owner of this auction house, the main organizer of this event, actually did most of the work all by herself these past few years. At least most of the things she could do from her office, and that included more than half of the off-site work. And she used to do those things by herself, almost pushing herself too far. And even with that, she controlled the entire auction day with a smile, and that smile stayed on her face most of the time till the very end of the third day... Anyone who knew just how much she worked admired her and all her subordinates considered her no less than a transcendent. But this year was different... Not only she had her son this time, he was sopetent that he handled a great lot of paperwork with her, cutting her burden by almost half. His ''friend'' was also so good with actual resource management that no one preparing for the event at the auction house had toin about a single thing. They got all the materials and important items safely and either on time or before the scheduled time. Her war experience and habit of handling a great lot of stuff were part of her persona now. She naturally was good with a lot of things. So, the preparations for this year''s winter festival and the great annual auction were finished safely anddy Nolen was in a better condition than she had ever been. It was already the day of the auction, the first day of the winter festival, and they were ready with their fancy clothes. The whole of the Heliox family was going for the auction for the first time and... a ballroom party would be held at night so, there would certainly be some fun moments. But for now... It''s time for the auction everyone~! Chapter 417 Dressing Up "Eon~! Ready~?" Mom shouted from the room and I slowly answered with a fast-beating heart, "Yes..." Today was the big day, and we had worked to almost death for this event. It was a tiring experience and just the fact that mom used to do most of those things all by herself was admirable... but she definitely deserved her name with demoness. She worked a little child like me to exhaustion! "Haaa..." -Click. I entered the room where my fabulously dressed mom and otherdies were helping my dear friend with her dress, and now she was ready. "..." And as soon as I entered the room and saw... my dear friend dressed in that gorgeous dark pink dress that matched her eyes perfectly... this feeling was ineffable. "Huhu. Look at that. He''s speechless~." Aunt Aug chuckled with her mouth covered with a fan. She looked beautiful in her green dress, as always. "Hehehe. Isn''t she gorgeous Eon~? We did our best!" Aunt Haze also cheerfully expressed her cheerful feelings and my dear mom, dressed in the most vish'' looking red-ck dress, followed behind them, "Congrattions Elle. You have seeded in making my ever-cool Eon flustered~!" I definitely was flustered. She looked... just too gorgeous in that bright pink dress. Far more than the purple dress she wore during our tea party in the past. It was... "Ahem. Less staring dear," mom fucked a low cough, and I blinked for the first time. I was too obvious when staring at her. The three of them were chuckling at this behavior they were seeing for the first time from me. But my heart was helping me calm down quickly. "Ahum! Y-yes. You look good Rein." I admired her and met her gaze for the first time... but she had the same reaction as me. She was also just staring at me with a visibly red blush on her pretty face, which didn''t need makeup to be enhanced to this level. ''Adorable as always...'' I smiled, but she still didn''t answer and after the moment of unexpected silence from her, thedies finally looked at her and grasped that she was more flustered than me. "Elleee~? We worked so hard and you...?" Aunt Haze shook her head in defeat and the other two of them had simr reactions. Mom even looked as if she had lost a bet... which she definitely did. ''Wearing this difficult thing worked, hehe...'' Rein was far more flustered than me. Enough that she was almost frozen in her ce and only came to her mind when mom actually shook her. Then she finally looked at them and then at me and saw the smirk on my face... "I win," I said and walked before them as the husbands of the threedies, the men''s group, entered the room. "Yeahhhhh~! Good work Eon~!" Dad shouted cheerfully and the other two were the same. "I knew my amazing nephew would shock his friend! I knew this kind of clothes work~!" uncle Theo was out of his forever dignified persona and was cheerfully hugging my dad and uncle El. That was quite a rare sight... but, an even more fascinating one was my dear uncle El. "Hahaha! See! We can be pretty enough to makedies speechless too! Hahaha!" He actually said it while sticking out his tongue in a mocking tone. Something too unlike his normally careful and calcting self. But that expression of his most definitely seeded in earning the rare angry face of my aunt Aug. "Of course, anydy would be flustered if a pretty face like Eon would dress so well! And with that hair and sses...! Even I would be speechless if you appear before me out of nowhere dressed like that!" Oh, she was gorgeous alright. But this rare sweet anger made one of the pirs of high society even more attractive. "Yes! And you dear! It''s not just the clothes that make one breathtaking! The moment was just right too! Plus the fresh flowery scent! You used Lavandra Gwone Allen! That''s cheating!" It was aunt Haze shouting at uncle Theo. Apparently, uncle Theo was best when it came to manly grooming, clothing, and overall appearance. He helped me with all this dressing after thedies and the three of them made this bet about dies would always make the men flustered when they dress so well.'' The three men showed pretty strong oppression to this and argued that the men (I) can make thedies (Rein) speechless with just appearance, too. And on this important day, mom was naturally pretty fired up and dad was the same because it involved me... So, we were here now. And the three couples were in a heated argument. "Those sses... damn, that was a good one. Ok, I lost this one. Here. And lemme try those," Rein said with a defeated sigh and asked me to show her the specs I was wearing while handing me ''our'' ck coin. "Thanks. I didn''t think it would escte this way." I was surprised at how they were arguing with a smile on their faces. It was a rare asion, so they just wanted to enjoy each other. "Typical adult stuff. They will certainly end this with a hug, kiss, or p in a bit. Anyway, how do I look?" She was wearing my specs, which were pretty normal, with just a sleek golden frame. But the difference, it made to one''s appearance... "Holy mother nature... is this an artifact that increases charm or something?!" Blood instantly rushed to my cheeks as soon as I saw her with those specs. I was also standing right before her, so it was even more effective... "They are yours, dummy. And hmm... I don''t think they are an artifact. But now that I look at you... they certainly make a lot of change, don''t they?" "Yes they most certainly do, ma''am... it''s like you have be more elegant and sophisticated." Can some simple sses make such an absurd change? Or was this some sort of world sorcery...? "Hmmm... here. I don''t like them too much so your win is fair. And it''s already time for departure. Shouldn''t we stop them?" She looked actually AMAZING in them, but she didn''t like the sses much, so we can''t do anything about this. But we at least didn''t have to stop the arguing couples. "Let''s just go. Anna and others would be ready so we can y with them until they finish ande there." We would be going there via horse carriages, so Anna was already in the garden ying with the horses. Celes was with her and we had great difficulty convincing her that we can''t bring the povpoi children and they would have to stay here. I knew it would be lonely being all by themselves, but the knights, servants, and grandpa Zhen would be here, so they had goodpany. So... it would be fine. It was only for today and Mave understood it. She said they would be ok, so I wasn''t worried about them. It would be alright... so I politely asked for her hand and she smiled warmly. "Say, darling..." she epted my hand, and we started walking towards the front door. Everyone should be gathered there. I looked at her smiling face and she continued, "Let''s do this thing again during the ball. You will lose this time, though. sses won''t work again." "Sure. We will see about that." I answered with the same warm smile and we reached the front garden. Anna was dressed in a blue dress, which was naturally covered by cute white ribbons. This dress, just like all our clothes, had a temperature maintenance enchantment, so despite the snow-covered ce and chilly winds, she was happily patting the white horses. They were already close to her as their master, the uncle that I was seeing after an entire week. He was the same person that was taking us home, taking us here, a few years back. He was also a part of that tragedy like us, and he had felt guilty about that incident. Calming him down was difficult when I met him for the first time while preparing for the event and calming his openly crying self was genuinely difficult. Things were good now and Anna was loving the gorgeous [White wind horses]. They were a rare species. Difficult to tame, but some of the most beautiful ones that could be used as a mount. They were gorgeous... but when Celes told Anna that we had arrived; she looked at us and cheerfully started running towards me. I caught her, gently threw her in the air, used wind magic and circled her around the garden, and then caught her when she was content with this flying. She was cute, the most beautiful one, and today would be some of the rare asions she actually gets out of the house, so she was super excited. But unlike her previous outings, she didn''t have to wear some heavy nes or artifacts. I had given her one special divine artifact ring, and it had more options other than just changing appearance. And I knew she liked it more than those previous artifacts. She also had Mr. Rice who was always with her in a unique form, like the small dress decoration right now, and one of Celes''s clones, so her safety was perfectly imprable. She would be safe, so that was fine, and... it was finally time. There were three golden carriages with our family''s insignia and they were huge too, so were ready. Everyone was also here aside from the three couples and our smart Uto had learned miniaturization from Taika in this short time, creating it as a skill so she was small enough that she could stay in Alf''s pocket. Ca was wearing her usual swordsman attire while my awesome grandparents looked freaking amazing! So, everything was ready and the three couples came out after a while too. Of course with different ''evidence'' of p, kiss, or hug. Anyway... it was time to finally see one of the six great structures that one could easily recognize if they fly over this vast capital city. ''Hiraani...'' Chapter 418 Hiraani The capital city of Gwh, one of the greatest cities of the great Roxana empire, is very vast in area of coverage. The city is surrounded by giant walls and someone flying over the capital would say it''s circr but, in fact, the city walls create an enneagon, having nine angles. The city is vast, so vast that it homes more than thirty million ''humans'' as well as a vast number of non-humans. And the city traffic itself is hard to measure. The city is decided into three parts where the outer part of the city is home to themon people, the core part of the city which homes to the upper ss and nobility, and the center which homes to the royal pce, the [Celestial castle], where the royal family resides. And the royal pce is one of the six structures that anyone could recognize if they fly over to the capital, actually, they can spot this grand structure as soon as they enter the capital city itself. The pce is the greatest structure in the capital city of Gwh and it actually covers more than nine percent of the wholendmass of the city. The outer part of the city is where the most number of people reside and the ce where nobility reside also covers a significant part of thend, nearly the same as the part which homes the big majority ofmon people. It is a clear difference but it is what it is... The outer part and core part as well as the core part and central part are decided by arge industrial street that contains most of the shopping districts of the empire. One can easily differentiate between themoner with lower status and the upper ss by the ce they live in. The closer they are to the imperial castle, the higher their status. But there are natural exceptions to that. Like the people who reside near the other five grand structures of the capital city. Like how the adventurers mostly resided near the heaven-piercing hexagon tower of the adventurer''s association. And adventurers naturally have a special ce in society ording to their ranks and powers. The prism-shaped ss building of the knights, the imperial capital''s branch of the house of prism. And most of the independent knights reside the establishments near there. The holy temple is some of the most important ces of the capital as well as a ce that everyone frommon people to royalty visits. The priests, nuns, and helpers reside near this holy establishment. The cube building of the elder council which is naturally made of the mages is surrounded by the tower-like houses that mages had created for themselves. It is a peculiar ce that houses the nation''s strongest people. Andstly, there''s Hiraani. The one building that although do not have any long history like the other five, is still one of the greatest structures of this blessed great city. It has a charm and history of its own. As well as a grand story of a single noblewoman who became someone the whole world knew about. An auction house that started just like any other auction house in the whole wide world but after that, it saw fall, long stability, great rises, and then the normal building which was just a good shop started evolving, and only stopped when it had be a grand structure of the capital city of their great empire. Its story is great, something one would definitely want to write if they are given a chance, but it''s just a dream until it''s realized by the messy words of the creator. But that great story isn''t a part of this great story so... s. Hiraani is situated near the greatest industrial street between the area ofmon folks and nobility. It''s a castle-like structure that covers a vast part of thend and also boasts an architectural elegance that few could ever achieve. Situated in the middle of an open area covered by green nts, it is a gold-white castle with red outer designs. It is a great construction made of strong materials that wouldn''t break even in the face of a natural cmity, but aside from that, it''s actually a pretty normal ce usually open to everyone. It''s an auction house, a ce to trade items, and a ce that deals with items ranging from somemon man''s farm products to national treasure-grade artifacts. It has three floors above the ground, and all three of them have enough space to hold hundreds of thousands of people. The employee number of the ce as well as the guards, mages, special forces for protection, and all the people working here also number in thousands. But still... for the creator and owner of this ce, for the mother of such an amazing structure, who couldn''t ess her child-like building for years because of some crappy people, the happiness of her children and family was the most important thing. It wasn''t the goal when she started her journey, but as her journey came to the current time, the smile of her children, and the happiness of her own people, became the fuel for her growth. *** ''It''s fascinating however many times I see this.'' We were almost near Hiraani and I could see it with my third eye. It was snow-coverednd everywhere but still, the whole street was filled with people today. Commoners who needed help from the upper ss, the servants of the upperssmen distributing food, clothing, money, and other important things to the needy, as well as the normal people who helped with whatever they could. It was mostly a cheerful atmosphere everywhere. But this wasn''t actually the best ce to see the true winter festival. As one moved towards the periphery of the city, the real festive and cheerful things happening there were the actual winter festival. This was a famous street wheremoners, as well as the nobility, did their shopping at the same time so even with snow covering the roads, the street was alive. Our carriage was attractive and people naturally recognized it and made way for it so we were able to reach our destination a bit before needed time. And today, this ce was the greatest gathering ce for the nobles of the empire. There were many carriages when we entered the premises of Hiraani and most of the people recognized ours so the carriage in the very front with mom took a turn and stopped only at the back side of the auction house which was actually a restricted area for non-employees. The front area was getting crowded and after seeing our carriages even more, people started chasing after us. We were a secretive family that mostly no one knew much about. There were certainly some rumors about our family outside but they were either just too absurd to believe or too normal that no one would pay any great attention to them. Of course, most of the things were blocked and difficult rumors were manipted. Rumors were rumors after all. There was no credibility that it was any factual information after all. So rumors were rumors and we had arrived at the back gate that only those few lucky and mom''s handpicked people could use was better than the front gate and right now, it was even more gorgeous than the main front gate that would be used by even the royal family. It was Anna''s first time seeing this ce and she didn''t yet know just how awesome our mom was~. But she liked the ce and as we walked inside after the warm wee of the employees and moved inside after greeting the general manager of this whole ce, national talent, and valedictorian of the greatest academy from a few years ago, we were even more amazed. He had graduated from the greatest educational institute as the top person so he was certainly talented. But aside from his two and only special unique skills, he was a pretty normal (tier-4) fire mage. He was also a good person and I knew we would be seeing each other quite often so we can talk with himter. He was an interesting person after all. But right now, the gorgeous, shiny things around us were enough to catch even my attention. The outside of Hiraani is attractive but notvish or anything and the open hallway from the front door is the same. But this backdoor and the hallway we walked through caught the attention of not only me but also Anna, Rein, Celes, and Uto who were seeing such ''sparkling'' things for the first time. The hallway was just that much amazing... There were different items on disy, many artistic pictures, and even artifacts. It was a hallway that was built to grab the attention of the onlookers. And it worked perfectly for us, just like she had expected. Mom was delighted to have surprised us and seeing Anna as well as my cute reactions was just a priceless moment for her. And as we moved forward, reached the magic elevator, and moved to the third-floor auction room where today''s auction would be held, we were even more amazed at the grand structure and size of the ce... ''Well... damn.'' I had read about this ce in many books but reading something and actually experiencing it are totally different things. I realized that once again today. ''Mom...'' I knew this day was going to be longer than I had thought now. marvelous Chapter 419 Before Auction "Hehe. Amazing right?" mom asked with a yful smile as soon as we reached the third floor of the auction house that only opens up for special auctions for a certain time. It was actually a great ce, covered by essories, decorations, and things that screamed of wealth. And the innocent Anna was definitely enchanted by them. "Wowy mama! Everything''s so shiny-shiny~!" She was as adorable as ever. But even Celes, who only got excited by colorful lights, was amazed. [[ Master~! So many lights! Everything is shiny~! I wanna eat them~!" ]] Well, all the things were shiny because of the reflections. There were countless different magic lights,mps, and jewels that produced light everywhere. And Celes naturally loved those things. She was understandable but even the youngest one among us, the few-week-old wyvern, Uto was also cheerful... just that her voice was so low that only a few of us and Alf could hear it. The ce was naturally that much amazing. Hiraani has three floors. The first one was dedicated to general trade and bartering exchange. Everyone frommon people to merchants and nobles does business on this floor. The second floor is where most general auction rooms are located. It''s also a ce where the main regr business auction takes ce. The third and main floor where we were currently dumbfoundedly standing was the stage for today''s annual auction. The whole floor only contains three rooms, unlike the vast ces on the first and second floors. One for the storage of the ''general'' items, one for the overall surveince and management of the auction house, and thest one was this enormous one-room auction that we were standing before... "UwU. My little Eon also likes this humble ce so much that you are speechless? Mama''s happy~!" And she really was happy. Almost happy enough to cry tears of joy... but she held them back. She was a mom, my mom, and this was her first time showing me the ce that made her what she was. This was the moment that she saw the surprise on my face at the greatness of something that was a part of my dear mom... of course, the caringdy would want to cry whileughing. She was happy... so I just nodded and gently hugged her. "This ce is amazing, mom. This whole ce, Hiraani, is amazing. And you too." She was startled at the sudden hug, but she liked it more than the words of praise that she always wanted to hear. "Yesss~! Mama is amazing~!" Anna hugged her, too. The bliss of her two lovely children hugging her was something she could never deny. It was a pleasant atmosphere. And the other family members with us mostly just gave us warm looks. They had seen this endless-looking room with many chairs and the higher tform with the giant water screen floating right beside the podium. They had seen this ce many times, but this time was different. Anna was here for the first time and so was I. It was just fascinating for all of us. This amazing-looking ce, the whole building, many people doing their work with not much pressure, everything was new and amazing. And mom was even more amazing to build something like this. "Okay, okay. Let''s go to the balconies now. The emperor and empresses would be arriving soon. The nobles should also have already finished the registration of their items. It would be best to just quickly greet the royal family and go to our special room. I don''t like them that much, anyway." Mom specifically whispered thatst line in my ear, and I understood what she meant. "It''s alright." My answer was short but clear. There was no anxiety nor any doubt in those words. And she was naturally impressed by that and patted my head. "Alright. Let''s go~." She was even happier now. And so was everyone else. The mood improved from just this small incident and we all moved up to greet the great royal family of our great empire. *** But, the meeting was short. "ording to what I once heard, he says his children are still not qualified enough to attend any events with him," Rein said in a low voice as we reached our special room. ''The emperor... he''s frighteningly stronger than I thought.'' This was my first time meeting the great current father of the empire and his three wives. ''And the empresses are also a bit stronger than the rumors and books said.'' Emperor himself was a [King] ranked swordsman and a (tier-9) mage, probably the best magic swordsman on the continent. He was strong and his natural presence itself was also so strong that I couldn''t even have thought a human could also possess such frightening strength. It would be suicidal to even think of using any skill on him, even if it is my origin skill. He also had his own origin skill and crystal butterfly, so it was enough that I just greeted him and the things finished quickly. This was his first time seeing Anna and, naturally, he couldn''t be deceived by just some artifacts. He naturally grasped her enormous hidden talent and gave her a meaningful smile and head pat. She was just happy and greeted him politely, actually knowing the emperor is the supreme power of the ce they live in. And he liked her even more because of that. His three partners, a high elf, a witch, and the best chef of the continent, were astonished to see the representative of Atraxia house with us... as well as somewhat surprised to see me, a new boy they had only ever heard about. Not just my appearance was fascinating for them, the supremedies of the nation, but they were also surprised how their skills couldn''t show my screen even after being activated on me. Well, it would be one thing if they didn''t even activate like when they used it on Anna and Zoe, as it would simply mean they are blessed beings but, their skills did activate on me... only ending up helping in Lucy''s growth. And they all definitely were skills on par with Rein''s eyes... giving a glimpse of their actual strength. And the emperor was the same in this matter. He was someone who was the closest being to an absolute here. Also closest to achieving transcendence. And someone who defiantly held more than one world authority like the headmaster. But still, his skill was only strong enough to dig into basic stats, but Lucy managed to block the other ''special'' things. Only the headmaster had ever seen everything on my screen, so this was genuinely the greatest after him. And it intrigued him enough that he asked me for a private dinner chat. This was surprising for his partners, but they also naturally wanted to have a nice long chat with me... and today was just the right day, so... I would be seeing them again tonight. Well, mom didn''t like it, but she also couldn''t do anything. We were talking about the emperor here. She naturally had no space to retort. But I also wanted to have a talk with him, so I politely epted his generous grace that even his children hardly ever get. And by his children, I meant the three imperial princes and princesses who were almost as young as us. He was a great character, and I liked his stories when I was young, but after growing up and knowing this world and all the ck-and-white history of this great blessed empire, I knew what being the emperor actually meant. And he was some of the smartest ones in his history... a kind that I didn''t like much. Just like mom. Well, my dinner would be away from my family today, something I didn''t like much but had no choice but to ept. "Haaa..." He was a strange, strong person. It would be quite something to have a talk with him. But for now... "Master, here. It''s good to see you in better health than usual." The general manager of Hiraani bowed with deep respect and handed mom a tray full of some things. "It''s all thanks to these two, Zack. Oh, and Anna too. Without her, even the three of us would have been useless." Mom chuckled while answering him and looked at our little Anna, who was watching the stage, seats, and people below us. She was fascinated with how we were sitting far above everyone else and also how the ce that was empty just a few moments ago was filling up with many people. She was smiling, and the manager nodded at her words. "Hahaha. Indeed. Lady Anastasia is definitely amazing. And it is also a blessing to finally meet her. And you too master Axion. I can''t even express my gratitude for the countless things that you have knowingly or unknowingly done for all of us. Thank you very much!" He bowed after saying that and I had no idea what the hell was he even talking about. But, well... it was ok because his bow finished quickly and then he looked at Rein with a calm but indifferent gaze. "Nice to see you again,dy Reinelle. I hope sir duke anddy duchess are in good health." It was a different attitude from the one he showed towards us... and mom didn''t like it so she whispered something in his ear with a smile and his eyes widened as he looked at me and then at Rein, now with the same respect that he had when looking at us. "I apologize mady. I had no idea about this. Please have a good time. And thanks very much for all your great work!" Now she was smiling brightly and both of us could vaguely guess what she might have said. Not that it actually mattered... anyway. "Brian darling, can you please distribute these?" she asked dad and handed him a piece of paper and some white bidding sticks with red numbers on them. They were an artifact that worked within Hiraani and specifically during a particr auction. One can make a bid by shouting their bidding amount while pressing the small button and the auctioneer would confirm their bids. It was how things worked and one didn''t have to actually shout that loudly for it. Just raising the stick and saying the amount in a voice that the operating system could understand was enough. It was convenient and everyone here had got their number sticks, aside from Anna, of course. She was young, so dad would do the bidding for her if she wanted anything. Rein and I also got our bidding sticks, but that wasn''t the only thing that mom gave us... "Here, you two. Eon is A2 and Elle is A3. Please help this damsel onest time~." The very and boring hard work that we thought we wouldn''t have to endure for a while after thest of preparations was still not over just yet... Chapter 420 Operators Aplex system of boratemands and orders, as well as the appropriate responses and actions, were important in the daily operations of Hiraani. And on a day like today, they had to be even more sophisticated to evade any unnatural, unwanted, and unprofessional thing from happening. There were more than a thousand employees in this one structure, and every one of them had to be managed appropriately. What''s more, from what I knew, mom was the only operator (A), the supreme power that was the heart of this whole operating structure. But now, as she handed us the magic earpiece that only operators of Hiraani, the most talented individuals specialized in actual management could have, she gave us the operating numbers (A2) and (A3), meaning we would be directly below her in this framework. It was something that shocked even the general manager, the two of our reactions were naturally stronger. "I believe in you two, so be prepared. The aristocrats spend money blindly every year during this function. Elle already knows that, so Eon, darling, look forward to it~." It was work that we definitely didn''t want, but at the same time; it was a responsibility that no one in this ce was ever given. The level of work one would have to do as a higher-level operator was known to every employee in this ce, so the sudden addition to the top of this system was just too abrupt. But the two of us understood the weight of this responsibility and this test... So, we looked at each other, mourned for a while, and put on the metallic silver earpiece that had an antenna stretched over to be just over the eye. And as soon as we put that, a blue screen appeared before that eye... something almost like the hologram sses from my previous world. "Yes~. Thanks, you two~!" she cheerfully shouted and hugged the two of us. The general manager, Zack, was still confused and bewildered. He understood the weight of this situation, after all. ''Well, I know he will be surprised very soon.'' I hugged mom back, and she also put on her earpiece and tapped on it one time. "Operator B. Register the two newly initiated devices as A2 and A3 and open the general announcement channel." Her voice was nothing like a moment ago when she hugged us... now, she was in her auction master form. And maybe the one on the other side understood it as the two of us saw a small A2 and A3 on the corner of the small blue screen. There was also a retina scan before that, maybe for identity registration, but after that, the nk blue screen bes a proper operational device that we can use for givingmands and revivingmands, as well as seeing the different data. It was convenient that we can operate everything in it with just our thoughts. It definitely was a convenient thing. [ "Good morning everyone." ] It was mom who spoke just after we saw the general announcement message on this magic screen. And her voice was the same professional one as it had been. [ "We will have A2 and A3 with us today who will be looking after things with me. I believe we will all do our best and look through this day just like every other year. Thanks for your great work." ] The message was short and after that; she tapped on her earpiece twice as the blue screen became a bit dull than before. "Okay than~. I believe the two of you know what you have to do, right? Ask me anything you need help with... not that you would need me for something small like this. Huhuhu." And on that cheerful note, manager Zack had a frightened look on his face that was clearly screaming that: ''how could these two young people even do such work?!'' Well, his work was to go to the operating room and look for things that could be concerning. So, after we waved at him with a warm smile, he left the room with a concerned heart. "Okey then~. Mom would be ying with Anna~... oh! Right. Eon." She had already turned away with a cheerful smile and we were almost starting to discuss the main things when she turned back and looked at me with a deep smile. "Your items are going to crush our previous records. Thanks for that~." That deep smile was something that only a few of us could understand. But it was obvious. "I should be the one thinking you mom~," I answered with a simr smile and she turned back with a cheerful nod. It was a great deal for both of us, so there was nothing to lose here. Those items were also something I had in good quantity. But this brief chat between a mom and son shocked my dear friend. "Eon..." She called out my name with a serious look and I looked at her with a fun smile. "How many?" she asked with a serious tone and a rare Q&A started between us. "36." "Kinds?" "Some jewels, some fruits flowers, some artifacts, and one potion." "Fuck... bait?" "A few. Mostly good stuff." "Holy... it would be foolish to even ask what you put there. You ain''t gonna tell me, anyway." "Right? What''s the fun in that? Hehe~." "Bastard... oh right. You know about the mysterious, crazy trio?" "Who doesn''t? They are crazy people who spend a fortune on things that people think are normal and simple. Of course, I didn''t know you were one of those three until today, mysterious 21." I smiled at her with a teasing smile, and she shook her head. The event of three people fighting over something that looked normal with their eyes and appraisal skills was famous. People even gambled how much they would spend every year. Rein was the representative of the Atraxia house, some of the richest in the empire, with their unrivaled agricultural products. So it wasn''t that surprising that she would be one of the mysterious spenders. "Yeah, so emperor is no. 3, and well... headmaster is no.12. I didn''t know untilst year, but I''m sure now. Your mom can''t say it because of obvious reasons, so be prepared to go against the two of them even if I surrender. Not that I will..." She was smirking, and it was reasonable. It would be fun if something actually does catch my attention. The war would be fun~. "Hehehe. Ok then. We will see it when the timees. For now..." I nodded, and she understood what I meant. We had work to do, so the war can wait until the horns were blown. ... "Okay... let''s start." "Yeah..." Taking a deep breath and apologizing to Anna, we stood in the corner of the big balcony room and exhaled. There were only a few rooms above the general seats, and mostly everyone just set there. These higher special rooms were only for the actual important people and close ones to mom. They are pretty big too, and these ss windows directly show the stage, so it''s also easy to analyze the item up for the auction. But before the auction actually starts, there are many things that have to be in ce. -Tap tap. "Operator B. y all the avable data of the event before my screen at the fastest speed you can," I asked after reconnecting my device. It was time for some work. And though there was a brief pause, a vast amount of information started passing before my eyes. At the same time... "Operator B. y the status of all operational personnel, the resource status, auction hall condition, the refreshments that will be served, and the ongoing tasks. Don''t make it too quick but also not averagely fast." Rein asked with a serious tone. Operator B referred to the whole operation body that operated everything in the operating room. They were also only below mom, meaning they reported everything to her... and now us too. And though it was strange for them that they suddenly have to follow the orders from two unknown people, they didn''t question the decision of the one they served. ''She has a pretty good team. That much was clear...'' Ok, so... I was done with memorizing all the content and, thanks to Lucy''s question ability, almost everything was sorted out. I was ready so... "Ok, then. Operator B. y the live footage from all the surveince devices throughout Hiraani on loop and leave it there. Also, inform operators C, D3, and E2 that they can take a break now. Send the whole F division to clear out the carriage parking area. The nobles could start fighting over the ces. Marking ces specific to ranks would be good, so send everyone in division M. Release remote surveince devices only after 1:20. Nobles take their sweet time thinking everything is left behind by their ancestors. There is no need to worry about item number #4554, instead, take out #3240. It''s a turbulent Mana rock, practically an explosive. Continue sending the newly generated data every half an hour. Also, send some people from divisions G, H, and I, to instruct themon people to not be near the first-floor elevator or all the stairs that pass through the west and eastern gates. It would be preferable if they aredies like G12-15, H32 and 34, and I10-15. Also, connect me to the kitchen." The other side was speechless after I said that but, there was soon a green OK on my screen. There was a lot of work ahead of us and under this balcony, the chairs were starting to be upied by the people of higher status, some important people from organizations like Temple, magic towers, and adventurers. The fun would start soon and there were hundreds of items for auction today. There would also be hundreds of people participating in today''s auction, and I was mostly looking forward to those things. The treasures already present in this ce''s secret underground storage? Well... mom and I would visit that ce before today''s ball. ''She said that ce is amazing... so I am hoping to see some good skill stones. Hope there are some in the auction too.'' But before that... "Kitchen head chef? Yes, this is A2. Is there any chance we can change today''s menus?" Chapter 421 The Auction The wide room full offortable chairs was now filled with people in different clothing. Some worevish noble clothes, while some were wearing normal clothing or even armor. But everyone sitting here definitely had the white stick with red numbers in their hands. Before these chairs, there was a big stage and a big fountain-like structure with flowing water in a thinyer. There were some images and messages appearing on this water slide. And just beside this big floating water, there was a small podium. The podium and the big table in the middle were the only things on this big stage, but everyone had their attention focused on it. It was about to start very soon now... There were special rooms around this room, like a balcony from which one can look down. And being one of the people in those rooms meant that they are naturally special and close to the master of this whole ce, the cold golden demoness. Their rank in society was irrelevant in this ce, as even some of the empire''s dukes and even kings of some other country who secretly attended this auction had to sit in those chairs below the balcony. So, just being one of the people sitting there was an honor in itself, but that wasn''t all either. Their confidentiality was always maintained. It was a well-thought-out setting that told everyone attending this event that they all would be in the presence of some of the most important people in the world, but that too, in the end, didn''t matter here. Wealth, money, resources, and the will to spend the money that one had were all limited. Everyone knew that they couldn''t get everything with whatever money they had and there would naturally be people among them who would have far more money to buy a few more items. They couldn''t buy more than a few things either and they certainly couldn''t buy that even remotely looks and felt unprofitable. They were there for things that others didn''t have. They were there to get rare things that one couldn''t buy, even with all the money they had. They were here to gamble and get things that could make them even richer than they were. They were there to get the things that they could boast about to their fellow nobles. And they were here for the exhrating experience they would feel after winning even a single more important item from the hands of hundreds of them. But they also had to be careful here... the auction had its reputation for offering rare, even extremely rare, items, but there was a twist when ites to the annual auction. There were going to be things from each and every person sitting in this room. In those chairs. Among them and maybe just beside them. There were baits that might look and feel profitable but might just turn out to be fake or garbages that they paid their entire fortune for... And that''s why they had to be faster, sharper, and more knowledgeable than their fellow bidders. Eyes. They were some of the most important things that guaranteed a treasure. And just after that came luck. There were many among the bidders who were taking part in this auction while just believing in their instincts, intuition, and luck. And it definitely worked many times. ... There were many types and kinds of bidders in this ce, but every one of them had one thing inmon... money. They were people who were confident in their wealth, and not all the people here were wealthy nobles. Many were unknown people, many were solo mages or knights, many were adventurer parties, and some were even explorers and merchants who possessed wealth iparable to even high-ranking nobles. They were all people with good eyes, appraisal, and analyzing skills, good luck, and special wisdom. Or... many were here to just have some fun. It certainly was fun to watch people ssh their entire fortune and get a simple rock in return because of their wrong judgment. Who wouldn''t want tough at the misfortune of others? Most humans certainly would, right? Anyway... [ "Ahem. Hello, hello. Check. Ok." ] The cheerful room quickly fell silent as soon as they heard a warm voice and looked at the stage. A gorgeous woman in ''attractive''vish clothing was standing behind the podium wearing something on her eyes. They knew the identity of this device well, so that was unimportant, but they also knew the identity of this person standing before them. Some of them were there just to see a glimpse of this person every year and it definitely was worth the effort... The maiden standing on the podium was no less than an angel freshly fallen from heaven. She was beautiful... so much so that one could actuallypare her to the humanoid form of divine beasts talked about in the myths. Her tinum hair attracted the attention of upperssmen, and her simple but deep blue eyes attracted the attention of all the important people present there. Her face was giving off light as though the light from holy objects and the physical body of thisdy were so carefully crafted and perfect in every area that it seemed a god had personally taken their eternal time to perfect her. That was the simplest description one could give about her, but in true meaning... she was ineffable. But her physical appearance wasn''t the only thing that made her special... [ "Alright. X3 all check. Requesting permission to start the event... ok. Thanks A2." ] Her voice was warm and every one hearing it, felt a wave of calmness wash over them. And that was just the voice before the actual start of the event, too. Most of them attended this event more than one time so they knew what this meant and some sharp ones were even surprised by the A2 and not ''A'' thing she said. But hardly anyone among them gave much attention to it. The auction was starting after all... And they certainly couldn''t miss- [ "A very good afternoon to everyone~!" ] Yes, this. Sarah An Luke. Ady of unknown origin but someone known throughout the continent for her beauty and breathtaking, cheerful voice as (Auctioneer Angel). If the general manager Zack is considered the right hand of the master of Hiraani, she is the left hand and the heart of all the special auctions held throughout the year. Ady who attends only a few events and mostly operates in the Hiraani. Many people attend every event as her just to hear that special voice too. And especially during the auctions like this one. [ "Worm wees to all the guests gathered here. Thank you for sparing your time for this noble cause. I believe everyone already knows about the specifics of the event. Well, you can read the process from the papers being distributed by our good, hardworking people. The auction items will appear on this table. Its image will be disyed on the big water screen before you all. It''s big and cool so everyone will be able to observe the item~. The observation time will be ten seconds as usual and the bidding will start immediately afterward. The highest bidder wins, so... let''s not waste any more time and call the very first item~!" ] Her divine voice created an immediate, heated response from the bidders, and the silent room became filled with different voices and talks again. That was the magic of her voice, which marked the start of the annual winter auction of the greatest auction house, Hiraani. -Thump. Thump. Thump. And with the three thumps of the special golden gavel, the middle part of the big table in the center shook and sank down... -Skeeeeee... And then something came up from the sunken part of the table. [ "Alright people~! What do we have for the very first item for our great auction~? Ohhh! A red flower? Certainly not something normal if it''s in a ss case with some red rocks, right? How much would one start with for such a pretty flower~?" ] Her voice was provocative and even though she simply described the first item, the way she pointed out the ss case made many people think positively about the first item of the day... But mages and the ones who knew about the identity of this flower were in great turmoil...! "Langsdorf?!!" a person in mage clothing and hood, who certainly looked old from the outside, was the first one to shout that, but he certainly wasn''t thest one. "Vampire flower...?! Is that real?!" "What is this...? A natural treasure from the start? Is the pattern different this time?" "It''s only the first item, and it''s something this good? Does that mean this year''s auction is different?! Or... or... will the things after this actually be better than this?" "It''s real! It''s teal! Look at those rocks! They are blood stones! It''s the real deal!!" "Not only that... look at that state. It''s like the flower was picked out just yesterday." "Chief! Chief! We must have that! We can finally work on that if we have that!!" "Oyyy! Give me one of those auction ns!" "Langsdorf...!" [ "Ok so, observation time ends-" ] "100 gold!" "You cheap ass old man! Go somewhere else! 500 gold!" "No, you don''t! 550 Gold!" "Just for a flower...?" "You fool! That''s a natural treasure! 700 gold! We must have it!" And just like that, the very first heated betting started among the participants. The bids and the number of bidders bidding with that price were disyed just above the image of the flower on the big water-screen. And as the numbers were heatedly increasing, it easily crossed the price of 3 tinum and only stopped when it reached 30 tinum and 400 gold, not just an absurd price for the general public but also something that only appeared after a few items in this annual winter auction. It was something big... and the one who bought this was definitely someone crazy. It may be a natural treasure, but paying 30,400 gold for a flower? Everyone attending this auction knew just after this that the annual winter auction they all knew was going to be different this time. And the second item of this very auction affirmed their doubts... Chapter 422 Unique Items -Skeeeeee... [ "Oho! What do we have here~? A gorgeous gemstone? It looks nice~. Even more from up close~! So let''s-" ] But before she could even finish speaking, there was a bid of 800 good on the blue screen before her eye, as well as the big water screen. [ "O...k? We have our very first bid but everyone can take their time-" ] Again, before she could even finish her sentence, there was a second bid, and this was directly 2 tinum 500 gold... And it wasn''t the end either. By the time the first ten seconds of observation finished, there were five bids already ced, and the price was already 7 tinum pieces. It was just the second item of this auction, but the cheerful atmosphere from just a moment ago had cooled down by a considerable amount. Most people in mage clothing,vish aristocratic clothing, simple clothing, and even good armor were looking at the diamond-shaped gemstone with wide-open eyes. It was just a transparent crystal, but those who had good appraisal skills knew the real identity of this gem from just a nce. [Frost diamond] A very rare gemstone that contained the properties of ice attribute Mana. Something that mages and alchemists used in their experiments. Something that nobles collected as a treasure, and knights as material to enhance their armor. It was something rare, something they would never slide away from their hands, and also something that many of them coveted. So... after ten seconds, there was a fierce fight. "7 tinum 500 gold! That gem is mine! Go away, you idiots!" "7 tinum 800 gold! Fuck off, bastards! You don''t even know the true value of that amazing piece!" "What does a jeweler know about magic crystals?! 9 tinum!" "A jeweler knows the best! 10 tinum!" Then the value on the big screen suddenly jumped from 10 to 20 tinum. A whopping 10,000 gold increase... something that made many people shut their mouths. "A jeweler knows the best. Of course, you have to say a real jeweler. Not just any uncle from the street-side shop." Maybe this was the person who ced the shocking bid but, it stayed there just for a moment and then be 23 tinum. Someone was willing to pay that absurd price for a gem... It wasn''t like this one was as great as the perfectly crafted ones that were only produced in the old times. This was a good item, but not of the best quality. But it had the power of an elemental attribute. So, it was reasonable. And that wasn''t the end of the second item, anyway. [ "Ahem. Wow. That was a rare sight... well, we have thest bid with 35 tinum and 340 gold. Anyone willing to bid a bit more for this amazing piece?" ] There was something in the auctioneer''s voice... But it was definitely effective as the price slightly increased for a bit more time and finally stopped again at 38 tinum and 100 gold. [ "It definitely is a good deal to get this beautiful~ piece at that price. And no one''s willing to give more either, so... 38,100 going for once. 38,100 going twice..." ] Nope. She had already done this twice, so no one was willing to give more than that. The price had already reached the market price, so it was just a loss for them. -Thump. Thump. Thump. [ "Beautiful gemstone sold to the number 143~!" ] Usually, there should be pping sounds, but there were none this time. No one even knew who this number 143 even was. But they definitely got something from this auction... [ "Okay~! Going forward..." ] And the auction continued like that. As the setting of every year, the auction was divided into three sections. The start usually had good quality items, every other one is better or simr to the previous one. The middle part happened after the break. Which ''mostly'' contained items from the people attending the auction. And the sweet of the day, the closing part that contained some of the best items that one could ever find. And this year''s first part contained some of the most amazing items ever! They started with a vampire flower, then the gemstone, the gorgeous-looking artifact weapons, artifacts that had functions that were unbelievable even though multiple skills confirmed that, and even more rare herbs, flowers, and fruits. Yes... well, there were fruits and people fought crazily for each one of them. They were all natural treasures and some of the most amazing known delicacies, after all. [Pink ruby bananas], [Rainbow fruits], [Golden apple]. No one had thought that they would see such treasures today. And all in one ce too... It was chaos among the bidders and aside from the ones without hoods and ones who hadn''t covered their numbers, no one actually knew who was buying what... aside from the ones who fought like crazy over some specific kind of items, of course. Numbers 33,34, and 35, were fighting over all the fruits and herbs. Number 540 was trying their best to get the ''swords'' and number 369 was just trying to hinder all the people who wanted something desperately. They were angering many people with how they increased the price at thest moment just for the people to pay more than necessary. It was an obvious act of picking bad blood and there would definitely be a fight if their identity was known. But it would actually be better if they forget the matter altogether if they wanted to attend this auction in the future. Anyway... the first half of the auction was going smoothly. So smoothly that there was no problem, no hindering, not even a slight thing that was out of ce. The employees were doing the work as normally as they did while following the small instructions given to them by the operators. Though some instructions sounded weird, like going and gathering around the ground floor za to stop a fight that happened as soon as they reached there. Like clearing the parking spots for the nobles, which visually canceled all the problems that used to happen. Using good-looking employees to manage the stairs and elevators. Even how urately they gave orders to the people working inside the ongoing auctions was remarkable. They knew the current highest authority operating the things behind the scenes wasn''t their auction master, but the two new persons. But from the point of view of the employees, they were actually as amazing as her... some even dared to think they were better. Some were afraid to have such sphemous thoughts about their master, but... their master who got the chance to y with her dear daughter during an auction for the first time would actually agree with their thoughts. The two amazing people working, bidding, and ying with their family at the same time were definitely something else~! And Operator B, the one who was helping the two of them, would actually agree with her even with their utter shock and disbelief. The atmosphere in the operating room was already far different from what it used to be. Their work was to assist their master, but today, the two new people, the two children that only they knew about, were doing most of the things on their own... Today, they genuinely remembered that their division actually was (First assistant team) instead of (Operator team B). They just assisted the two that did everything on their own... from analyzing new data, monitoring the whole Hiraani, handling the event-rted personnel, and even keeping the resources in check. They took turns doing some things, so the operators knew that the number 369 that hindered the nobles was their operators themselves. And they knew the consequences of leaking this information so they just forgot the thing altogether and did their work. An interesting item was on the way anyway, so even they all, who looked at the whole of the Hiraani in real time, were looking forward to seeing the fun that would unfold there. And they didn''t have to wait much longer as after a (Blue) skill stone of [Inferno] was sold for 120 tinum, a single artifact that even they knew a little about rose up on the big table. It was an artifact, but not many would call it an artifact. It was just a ss b with a strange yellow thunderbolt mark inside it. Most people seeing it with their low-level appraisal skills wouldn''t even know what that actually is and even with a (Blue) rank appraisal skill, it would just show that it was an EFMW or formless artifact. Well, just that much would make its price astronomical even though it was just a (level-11) artifact, many of them would most certainly do their best to obtain such a treasure. The price can very well go as high as 300 tinum, which is 300,000 gold... an unimaginable amount for a (level-11) artifact, but it was quite certainly possible if the three mysterious ones fought for it. It was good for all the employees anyway. However high their profits from this event, the higher their winter bonuses. So, in a way, they were thankful for the wreath-inducing actions of their A2. Anyway... they were going to be even more thankful for him after this one-item bidding. The item that had caught the eyes of numbers 3, and 12, had also attracted the newly infamous number 369, after all. This time, he wanted not only the ire of other opponents but also the item itself... Chapter 423 Costly Artifact On the big table, a ss b rose up. It looked just like some simple decorative ss piece, but there was also a strange thunderbolt-like mark inside this paperweight-like thing. It didn''t look much special, nor did it attract the eyes of aristocrats sitting on thefortable chairs. They understood it was some kind of artifact and the knights were showing some reaction to it, but it was of no use to them. But some people were different... On the balcony, some people had a smile on their faces as they looked at the ss b. Especially that strange mark inside the ss b. It required good eyes to scale the value of this particr artifact. And some eyes could definitely read its great value... Operator A2. The one who had been ticking many nobles from the beginning was smiling while looking at his friend. ============ [Thunderbolt] ¡ï ¡ï ---> A good formless weapon that has strengthened thunderstone as its core. ---> A one-word basic rune, [[( Vajram )]] is engraved on the core of the weapon, granting it great affinity and the power of lightning. ---> The engraving of the rune is meh, but the core material is good enough to handle the power of the rune. ---> Though it is a good artifact, borrowing the power of the rune would weaken the core. So, every time the power of the rune is used, the artifact will decay. ---> Still, it''s an excellent piece and definitely something created with a master dwarf''s techniques. ---> It would be a good gift and temporary weapon for him until he bes strong enough to handle that one. ============ That was what his eyes said, and they gave this artifact stars, so he knew this one was better than the other things in the auction. He wanted this one and his friend beside him sighed. She already had one formless weapon, so she had no interest in this one. But she knew her friend would have great difficulty getting his hands on this artifact. She could imagine that just like his smiling face, the other two ''mysterious'' people would also have warm smiles on their faces. She looked forward to seeing this betting, so she asked operator B to take over for a while... not that there was any work for them. The two of them looked down from the balcony after asking for little Anna''s good luck kiss and she was happy to see the fun smile on her big brother''s face. His mom was also happy that something had actually caught his attention. She was having fun watching the distorted faces of the nobles and their furious expressions. It was fun, but now he was really going to buy something. He could have most of the things in this auction house anyway, and there were many better things than that artifact. But he always had insisted on using his own money, which was no less than any high-ranking noble''s total assets, first. She would love it if he uses her money. It was all his anyway. But he always said that he will use it when he actually needs it. Well, he already had far more money than anyone down there. As well as far more natural treasures, artifacts, and wisdom than maybe even her. This simple artifact was already his if he wished it but, she knew he will buy it. With his own money. And if he was happy with that, she was too~. [ "Okey~ everyone. Who would ce the first bid on this cool-looking thing~?" ] That was the clue for them and as soon as her words rang throughout the auction room, the very first number that appeared on the big water screen even before any knight looking at the artifact with sparkling eyes could raise their hands, almost killed all the voices. [ 50 tinum ] It was a grand amount as a starting price for some artifacts. But the more shocking thing was the bidding number written just above it. [ 50 tinum - no.3 ] It was the mysterious spender who they had seen spending thousands of tinum on something that looked pretty normal. And this time too... the ss b that looked like just some paperweight had earned the very first bet from them. But that didn''tst on the screen much longer. [ 70 tinum - no.21 ] Another big name that had bought many of the special herbs today. They were also one of the mysterious people in the auction room, but even their bid didn''tst there much longer. [ 100 tinum - no.369 ] A number that many people wanted to kill with their whole being. A bastard who they thought was just an annoying crazy ass bitch was now starting from the beginning instead of the end like they used to. [ 110 tinum - no.3 ] And more than anything, this bastard was going against the anonymous kings of the annual auction who had dominated special items all these years. [ 150 tinum - no.21 ] The people at least knew that one who could spend thousands of tinum, meaning millions of gold, in a single day, was no normal person. And the annoying bitch who had bought nothing this whole time was annoying the ones they admired. [ 170 tinum - no.3 ] For them, the three mysterious figures were like kings. It had be a norm that when two or all three of these kings fought over something, the others would just quietly forget about that item. But now, a new fellow was thinking of annoying these kings. [ 200 tinum - no.369 ] "Do they even have that kind of money?" That was the question many of them asked, but no one had the answer. As a basic rule of Hiraani, one must only spend what they had. [ 210 tinum - no.21 ] One had to pay the price that they bought their stuff at, or else the charges of not being able to pay the prices were quite severe. Everyone here knew about the bad temper of the master of this auction, and they would genuinely avoid angering her by doing something crazy. [ 240 tinum - no.3 ] But right now, this person was doing just that if they really actually didn''t have the money. Anyway, they would be delighted if this unknown bastard was punished. They didn''t know the identity of this person, so they couldn''t punish the bastards themselves. Only a few of the workers here knew the identities of the unknown people after all. [ 250 tinum - no.21 ] The price of the simple artifact had reached a point where the buyers would have to think deeply if they really wanted it or not. But the momentum of the bets was far from stopping just yet. [ 260 tinum - no.3 ] [ 270 tinum - no.21 ] [ 280 tinum - no. 3 ] [ 290 tinum - no. 21 ] [ 333 tinum - no.369 ] That odd number paused the whole auction house, as well as the two bidders, for a brief moment. Some cursed unknowingly. Some cussed knowingly. While some even spilled their drinks as they stared at the big numbers that had frozen the entire room. Thankfully... the moment that felt like an eternity returned to normal and the other two resumed their battle. [ 335 tinum - no.21 ] [ 340 tinum - no.3 ] [ 345 tinum - no.21 ] [ 350 tinum - no.3 ] [ 355 tinum - no.21 ] [ 369 tinum - no.369 ] "..." Again. The silence. It was already a tense atmosphere among the people who were watching this slowed-down battle of bets. It was a tense atmosphere because even though the bets were ced quickly, people familiar with the auction could feel the brief pause every time the two of them were cing the close-looking bets. But it only looked small... every single one of theirst bets had a 5000 gold difference. It wasn''t an amount one would pay for even a good artifact, so for those who actually didn''t know about this ss b, the atmosphere right now was just absurd. Just thinking about the mental decisions the bidders were making right now, the amount of thinking going on in their minds, and the tension in the moment was enough to make normal nobles like them, speechless. There was a great tension, but then there was this son of a bitch who ced unknown odd bets as if a child ying around. Many were already cussing at this shit but the two participants, the two mysterious bidders knew that it was an obvious mind''s y. The number 369 was a good one. He read the atmosphere and ced the oddest things that threw the others off. ording to them, either he was a mastermind... or he was actually just ying around. And when they find him, many of them were actually swearing to rip him apart. But the two mysterious kings were excited after this obvious provocation. [ 400 tinum - no.21 ] They still thought there was some value in spending at least this much. [ 500 tinum - no.3 ] Even after the provocation, there would still be some value if this thing was given to the right person. And though it would be a tough task to find the right person, they believed they could definitely find one if they did their best. One was the emperor of the great empire, while the other was the strongest archmage of the continent, as well as the headmaster of the greatest learning institute. They knew now who their opponent actually was, but still... they could spend a little more if it meant beating a kid with some money and getting a good, rare kind of artifact with an even rare rune core. They still had some fuel left. They can still go on for a while. They can still y along with his mindful tactics. How long will he evenst? He was a child¡­ or so they thought. [ 666 tinum 666 gold 666 silver 666 bronze - no.369 ] "..." The people stared at the big water screen, speechless at what they were seeing in that moment. "...?" The emperor and his three partners were shocked, confused, and speechless as they stared down at the long-looking number. "...hahahahaha!" In some other balcony room, the strongest archmage burst outughing at the sudden realization. It was never about money anymore after they crossed halfway to this price. The boy with a lot of money was actually just ying around. And it was absurd! "Hahahaha." Yes, it was absurd. Even the emperor and his three partners who understood him couldn''t help butugh at this. Not just the nk reactions on every noble''s face, but also the speechless atmosphere and the sudden shock from seeing an absurdly long number in that perfectly cooked moment was enough to make themugh. The two bidders who had fought for this item were nowughing, just like the one who won the bid, his friend who had almost rolled on the ground, and his mom who couldn''t stop herugh at the still nk reactions of the nobles. Maybe even the whole operator room who had known what happened just now here was alsoughing. They had witnessed something very fun today and they couldn''t help to show their fellow employees the recordings of this spectacr event. Even the auctioneer, the gorgeousdy who had walked at the back of the stage for a moment, came back with a fresh face and announced to the still bank people. [ "The amazing item goes to no.369~! Thanks for a great deal~!" ] She chuckled and the item that had caused such great chaos sank down in the table. A new item appeared, and the frozen auction continued with a bit of difficulty. It was a fun moment for them, but at this very moment when most of the people on the balcony wereughing... [[ *Master...!* ]] The strong people who had great perceiving powers that could detect certain things far away from their location jerked their heads in a single direction. It was a strange feeling, but those who knew the meaning of this feeling had their blood boiling. Only one kind of being in this whole nature could produce this kind of sinister feeling. This dark, sinister, murky, evil feeling... only one creature was capable of this. Demon. Chapter 424 Demon Summoning A dark underground cave near the forest of the capital city. A group of Rakshasa ck mages had seeded in fulfilling their calling... < "O'' great lord master! Descend upon this unholy world and grace thy humble subjects!" > The dark cave was only lit by the strange lighting from the red-eye-like gems on the unfathomable statue. It was a vast cave; the ceiling was low, but it was more than enough for this one giant, distorted statue. There were headless human bodies lying before the hooded people standing before this hideous monstrosity. The bodies of people looked young, and many were young girls. The scene was gruesome and devastating, but the even more devastating scene was before the now lifeless bodies. Many ck-clothed hooded people were standing below the aisle. Their eyes fixed before them, on not the lifeless bodies but the fabulous altar filled with fresh, important human organs, as well as a separate table with their ultimate sacrifice... The final and most important sacrifice. A being that was closer to nature than any normal human. A young soul that hadn''t even seen much of the world yet. Lying on the empty altar just before the weird statue, an unconscious young boy was the center of attention of these sinners. The boy had attractive features that couldn''t be defined by human standards. His ears were pointy, indicating his unique spices. The boy was an elf, but he was unconscious, probably already on the death''s door. He was almost dead now but thankfully he was unconscious... he wouldn''t have to experience the things that the now-dead people had suffered through the time they were imprisoned here. The statue''s red eyes were looking down at the people gathered here and the lighting from the jewel eyes was intensifying with each passing moment. The delight on the faces of the people was increasing, and the three priests were even more excited than anyone else here. Everyone was crazy... The fresh-looking ''things'' on the altar were perfect, the blood-stained ground was excellent, and the auspicious time has arrived after their many long restless nights. They had waited long enough, but not anymore. < "For the master!" > < "FOR THE MASTERS!" > -Putch! The three priests were holding three weird bone knives with red, nerve web-like patterns... which they stabbed into the eyes and heart of the unconscious young creature. He was theirst sacrifice... and as soon as they stabbed their knives into the body of this young soul, the knives glowed, and the boy lost his life on the spot. -Oooooooooong! A dark light, unlike any pure color, rose from the three knives and at the same time, the red lighting from the statue intensified and painted the entire cave in its bloody red! -Shuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Dark energy came out of the eyes and covered the whole statue and at the same time, the dead bodies, the offerings on the first altar as well as their main offering of a creature of nature melted in a ck fluid and flowed towards the strange statue. -Oooooooooooo... A weird sound reverberated throughout the cave and the statue, covered by the dark red energy, sucked in all the red light around the cave... And then, -Booooooooom! With a booming sound, the ck-red light exploded and the two red eyes melted in the statue, and atst... -Oooooooooooong! < "Wee... master." > A red magic circle that could never be defied by thews of natural magic that every being knew about covered the entire open area where the statue previously stood. The light that shot out from the magic circle was so intense that it pierced through the ceiling of the cave and created a giant hole, evaporating everything in its path. A ck-red magic circle made of sticky, evil demonic magic covered the cave and a creature slowly ascended from the magic circle. A demon ascending from the depths of hell would be the most appropriate word as the figure that rose from the red ground was the personification of the ''scary demons'' talked about in the tales of the world''s countless folklores. A tall, muscr body bigger than the known trolls that were taller than the previous ceiling of the cave appeared on the earth. The body seemed to be only made of muscles and there was no skin like a human to this creature, showing the nerves and red muscles. The body was red and there were strange desing out of its arms, and legs just like any demon noble. This one also had tworge horns and bat-like wings on its back. The eyes of the creature were as red as fresh blood filling the ground below and as soon as it appeared... -Booooooooooom! Dark energy sted from its body that practically destroyed all of nature in the surrounding! The air was polluted with its dark demonic essence, the nts that got into contact with this energy died, the trees withered and the color of the soil changed to murky ash white. The creatures in the area that touched the waves of this energy either died, vent berserk, or epted this dark essence and turned into ferocious demonic beasts. But they were few, as most outright just rejected the darkness and chose death instead. The demon in a humanoid formughed and inhaled deeply this fresh air of nature. < "Human world. Truly, it''s as delicious as the rumors say." > It spoke in the human tongue, but the voice contained an evil aura that could shake the very soul of every pure creature of this nature. < "Hoh? You are the ones who summoned me to this wonderful~ realm?" > He was looking straight at the puny humans who had signed the contracts with his kind. Not with him, though. The chances of summoning a demon with the corrupted artifacts were random. They might be the ones who betrayed their kind and became the followers of evil, but they certainly weren''t rted to him in any way. Still, he got the chance toe up to this sweet world thanks to them. They had at least earned the right to live. And they were delighted by just the grand appearance of this demon. Their souls were also shaking a bit. The presence of this demon, who definitely was a noble, was too overwhelming. < "We greet the master!" > Still, the three priests walked forward and bowed before the demon. < "I am not your master though? Hmm... from the looks of it, your master is some other demon noble of simr rank as me." > He was smirking with his sharp teeth and though they knew he wasn''t their master, they still showed the greatest respect. < "We know that. But just being in the presence of thy majestic self is our greatest honor." > The three priests were like loyal subjects of a king who wouldy down their lives at the moment''s notice. The demon smirked even more at that and nodded his head. < "You three are cute. But the ones shivering behind you aren''t much fun. How about you get rid of them? I might just give you a little gift if I''m entertained." > He was a being that would induce fear in every creature in its presence. But the three stood strong before him. So the demons liked their tough act. He knew about the ones that betrayed their own kind and helped in the summoning of the demons and their ploys. Every noble in hell knew about them. And among the ones that summoned him here, the three were acting as respectfully as a little dog. He would certainly reward them if they entertained him for a while. He needed dogs and servants in his new life in this sweet world anyway. < "It would be our pleasure." > They said just that much and turned around. Looking at the fellow kin that helped them in this wonderful work with delight in their pure ck eyes, they raised their hands toward the frightened hooded ck mages. < "Thank you for your amazing work, everyone. Now die so that we can be of some help to the great master." > The mages who had helped them in this ritual weren''t afraid to give up their lives for their master. But to their utter foolishness, they didn''t know someone other than their master would be summoned. The priests had lied when they said they could liberate their master, but now some unknown demon was asking for their lives and the priests had naturally agreed. They betrayed them without a single thought, maybe with delightful thoughts, but they were tricked. And as they saw the smiling faces of the bastard three people, they bit their lips enough that their ck blood flowed down. They wanted to resist but the ck thrones that rose from the ground like vines just cut away their limbs one by one, grounded them, and then their heads were severed just like they had cut down the heads of the lowly humans. They could only scream as they died and their screams were even more grave than the screams of the humans that had seen countless inhuman things before they died. The ck blood from their torn and grounded bodies further polluted nature, but the three priests just smiled as the blood of their fellow kin stained their pale white faces. < "Hahaha. Yes. Humans. You definitely are amusing creatures. But I guess you don''t want to be called human anymore, right?" > He smirked at them, and the three priests in hooded outfits knelt down to receive their rewards. It was cute, so the demonughed once again and pped. Then he moved his razor-sharp nail that was part of his finger on the finger of his other hand and made a small cut. The cut wasn''t that deep and was already healing, but before it healed, the demon moved the finger above the kneeling trio, and a single drop of pure ck blood, as dark as the abyss, fell down on the three of them. It was a single drop of blood, but just when it was above their heads, a strange reaction happened to this blood and it exploded above their heads like a water balloon popping. A very big water balloon too, as a single drop of blood covered all three of them. < "Leave the limitations of those insignificant bugs and be reborn as beings worthy enough to serve me!" > The demon''sugh rang throughout the forest and at the same time, the three priests felt a strange sensation washing over their bodies. They felt strong. A strength that they had never felt in their human bodies. They had left their humanity a long time ago, but they couldn''t escape the limitations of human bodies. They were trapped in their insignificant bodies, which couldn''t even be as powerful as some filthy creatures. They used to feel disgusted... but not anymore. Now, they didn''t have those restrictions. Their bodies became stronger,rger, and more conducive to the amazing dark energy. They were reincarnated with this. They felt joy and looked down at their evolved limbs, body, wings, and horn that resembled the one standing before them. They weren''t just some Rakshasas anymore. They were now a kind that was even closer to their masters. They were now demonkins. A new, powerful race that could definitely be helpful for their new master. The one before them. They were rejoicing. Examining their new powers as being that was above their puny human selves. The giant demon was smirking at these toys... when he twisted his head to the other side. "What a mess..." "We were a bitte, it seems." "Fucking bastards!" An adult, good-looking and strong man, a young boy, and a young girl suddenly appeared in the air before them. "It''s fine though." The strangely good-looking man said with a smile as he looked at the two children. He was looking straight into the eyes of the demon noble, but then he nodded at the two of them. "He''s just a viscount. It will be quite easy so you can take the three bastards and the wild beasts over there, ok? The demon viscount..." He looked at the demon again. Straight in the eyes. And when the boy gave him a smile, he smirked while looking at the giant demon. "He''s weak anyway." < "...?!" > And these words shook the whole being of the freshly ascended demon. Chapter 425 Demon Viscount Just after my first sessful bidding, while we wereughing merrily at the astonished expressions of the public, I suddenly felt a terrible thing as my heartbeat quickened harshly. It was a terrible feeling... as well as a sinister one. I remembered feeling something like this. This bad, evil, stomach-crunching feeling. And the heart that stayed calm in even the firecrest situations was beating wildly, so I knew the first thought that came to my mind was absolutely correct. It was a sign of a demonic presence. And though it wasing from afar, I knew this was the strongest one I had ever encountered. Even Lucy confirmed that I was right... a demon did actually appear somewhere near thesends. And I wasn''t the only one that felt this strange thing that wasing from probably outside the city. Grandpa also looked in the other direction just as me and then back at me, astonished that I could feel something from so far away. Well, maybe this was possible because of my [Dynamic heart] but there is definitely something sinister going on outside the capital. Rein and others also noticed that something was wrong with us, but then grandpa shrugged the feeling and looked at me as if there was nothing to worry about. It was strange how he was so calm even after knowing that there was a powerful demon around the city. It mighte to the city and destroy things. Bloodbaths and crimson massacres would also be inevitable. I wanted to just ask him about the reason, but then, as my heart calmed down, my thoughts also became straight. ''There is no need to panic.'' Today was the first day of the winter festival and there were many strong people here, some of the strongest in the nation and continent, too. The city already had many strong people, so the chances were low that the intelligent demon would actuallye here. It would be different if there were more than one, but maybe his king-rank knight senses were enough to analyze the numbers and strengths of the demons, something I couldn''t do yet. That would exin his calm demeanor. Still, I was worried and Rein couldn''t tolerate this strange behavior, so she just took off my earpiece device and told operator B that both of us will be taking a break. And it was time for the break, anyway. The preparations were also almostplete. They gave the green light, and she also took off the device and stored them. Words weren''t needed between us, so I told her what happened and she definitely wanted to shout curses, but just when she was about to do so, the headmaster appeared in our room out of nowhere. Everyone was surprised and Anna was happy to meet him again but the situation was somewhat important so he finished his quick greetings, asked for permission from my grandpa, and offered us a one-of-a-kind chance to help him subjugate the newly appeared demon. Rein would never turn down such a great opportunity, and I was the same this time. So, after convincing Anna that we would be back soon and patting my confused little brother, and giving Ca a bitter smile, we vanished with the headmaster. And now we were here, in this devastatednd, polluted with demonic energy. We were facing a demon right now. I was facing a real demon after that terrible incident for the first time right now. She had encountered demons in her past, but she too was facing one after more than a decade. She couldn''t stop cursing as she looked around and especially at those dead bodies of some ck mages and three demonkins. Those bastards didn''t even care about their own people. She was disgusted, and so was I. I wanted to go down and just shower that fucking demon with my arrows, but... "A demon viscount is still early for the two of you. Maybe it will be alright by the time you join the academy, but before that, no. The demonkins and demonic beasts should be good enough to practice. We have to eat lunch when we go back, right? Haha." He wasughing while the demon was still before our faces. And it made the demon angrier than when he called him weak. "Fuckers." Rein continued her cussing and walked down with her [Air steps], ced a light enchantment on her scythe, and directly used her special footwork in the air. -Chiiiiiiiiiin! The way she moved her scythe in her fiery pink dress was astonishing and as soon as she reached the ground and unleashed her attack in the form of a toward the demonkins standing at the very front, the three newborn demonkins were surprised and couldn''t react to her attack even with their evolved limbs. They knew little about their bodies right now and her attack could be fatal, they knew that much. Still, dodging her was impossible at that moment and they received the attacks with their bare bodies... their greatest mistake. Her scythe was covered with light elemental powers, the poison of the demon race. And they were only as powerful as some (Blue) rank creature right now. There was nothing for her to worry about when the opponents were just some shitty-ass bastards. She would take care of herself, and the costly dress with the three of them. And the newly born demonic beasts, the creatures who were far weaker than the demonic slime that I once fought, were manageable. Instead of them, I was more interested in this demon. A demon viscount with a now anger-filled red face. < "Bastard! How dare you call a noble like me...! I am Orchus of the second hell! Subordinate of count Bze! I will destroy...!" > The demons are (ck) ranked creatures. Their strengths fluctuate greatly with their position in hell and the other nobles they are under. There are a limited number of dukes, marques, and counts, but there are an undefined number of lower-rank nobles. But even though this one wasn''t as strong as a prominent demon noble, he was still the strongest I had ever encountered. I knew I would lose even if I used all my strength against this one. But I also knew he would be barely alive after fighting me all out. I was strong, but still, I was just a spectator today. I wasn''t here to fight the demon but to watch the strongest archmage fight an opponent that was giving me chills. But before that... ''Three eyes.'' [[ *Using skill [Three Eyes] on a powerful being with high mental defense. The nature of the target is evil. Enhancing the skill effect. Starting the understanding of the mental defense. ... The defense is further enhanced by a strong mental barrier. Processing both as a unit. Processing... The skill is a special creation, and the energy used to maintain it is unique. Understanding the energy. ... Matchplete. Skill understanding in progress. ... Skill understandingpetes. Mental defense understanding is in progress. ... Defense breached sessfully! A high-grade (Demonic) mental defense has been breached sessfully~. Intelligence increased by 2.* ]] This one took a lot of time. Even more than the time it took for me to breach the mental defense of Rein''s grandpa. It was difficult, but by the time I reached the ground and the headmaster had evaded all his strong, nature-shaking attacks, the process wasplete. And as soon as it wasplete and a strange, ck status window appeared before my eyes, the demon jerked his head in my direction and shouted in astonishment. < "You puny child...! How?!" > It somehow knew that I had just breached his mental defense and seen through his status window, and the headmaster had a smirk as he saw that shocked expression. But that refreshing reaction wasn''t much fun for me. There was the status window of a demon before me, after all. ===Status=== Name: Orchus Age: 239 Race: Demon (Viscount) Strength: 199 Dexterity: 189 Stamina: 181 Magic Power: 210 Intelligence: 110 Domination: 180 Demonic power: 250 [Skill: Demonic energy control, Strength enhancement, Blood coating, Demonkin creation, Territory making, Blood magic, Strength magic, Speed magic, Magic resistance, Light resistance, Blood scream, Hell in connection, Noble mental barrier, Strength sacrifice, High regeneration, Demonic domination, Hell breathing, Nature resistance, Corruption ray, Dark energy barrier, Blood sacrifice.] [=> Second hell authority: Demon viscount.] [208th demon count subordinate.] [Summoned creature.] ... ============ ''A true demon noble...'' My head was spinning, and I had drained all of my mental stamina, concentration, and power just from looking at this much information. Blood didn''t flow down my eyes, but my throat was still full of blood. I wanted to throw up but hardly endured. Just looking at this ck status window was overwhelming, and I now knew why the demons were given a separate category among creatures. They were strong. And even though this one wasn''t even a prominent noble, he was freaking strong. The number of skills they possessed was extraordinary, but the fact that he had such a diverse varsity of skills, as well as those stats, was unexpected, even for me. Anyway... I was drained and almost on the verge of falling, so I hurriedly took out the golden recovery liquid, mind-healing tears, and dropped a few drops in my mouth. It was an amazing experience. Definitely something that Rein will be cursing at me for. But she was dealing with three demonkins right now... and my targets were the small demonic beasts that were currently trying to run outside the pollution zone and towards the nearest ce with the most lives. They were running away with madness, so I had to put those poor things to rest. "Alright, Celes. Let''s quickly finish this." The demon was now again focused on the headmaster, who was constantly provoking him. The headmaster was ying with him until we finish our targets, so we should finish things quickly and go watch him finish a demon with his cooooool magic... [[ Okay master~. The nearest one is 39 meters to the west! A big ck rat~! ]] She was cheerful even in the presence of a demonic noble. That''s the amazing Celes I knew~. Chapter 426 Archmage Vs. Demon The newborn demonic beasts weren''t as strong as the pure demonic slime that I fought in the great forest. That slime, which wasn''t anything like a slime after turning into a demonic beast, was born directly from absorbing the thin demonic energy in nature. epting the pure demonic nature on his own, without anything forcing it. That slime was different, but these creatures were born because of the dense demonic energy that must have exploded from the demon. Compared to that one, these all were just kids. My enchanted arrows were enough to one-shot them. There were also just a few of them, so I was done with my part in a few moments. Rein was also finished as she mercilessly severed the heads of the three demonkins. They had tried their best, using the power of their evolved bodies and the new demonic magic that they had gained after evolution. They used some strange dark hands made of demonic energy. They were strange magical hands, more like dark tentacles but, she used her movement skill and high evasion techniques. She was proficient in dealing with a semi-wild creatures like them so she was fine. They tried their best. Destroyed the entire area. But she didn''t have a scratch on her body after their brief confrontation that would definitely have felt like the longest eternity of their life. They gained strength that few could ever achieve in their entire lifetime and we were talking about demonkins, beings that were a separate category from demons and humans. They could gain strength and live in this nature as if demons having the ability to ''freely'' live on earth. They could also travel from hell and earth if they be as strong as higher nobles, the greatest and most absurd power they possessed. That was the strength of a proper demonkin, but these newborn ones who didn''t even know what they could do were just punching bags for her. They died and theirst words were naturally... ''how could a mortal have that much power?!'' "Fucking bastards." She cussed for thest time as she looked at her previously stunning dress. Well, she was a witch who had more power than the three of them. She also had her origin chains and short teleportation skill so their defeat was already decided. But still, those bastards seeded in destroying her amazing dress. She cussed at themst time and walked towards me with a frown. "Good work anyway. I can take care of that, so don''t worry." I patted her head, and she moved it to feel more of my hand. She was confused about what I meant, but she didn''t care about that. The fight was exhausting even though she had only used her Aura and scythe techniques. They took a lot of stamina, and three demonkins were no small thing. She did great, and the dress was something mom and otherdies prepared for her, so the emotional value was more than the actual price. It was important for her so I could use it this time. (: Restore) A special Solnova spell that could restore anything as long as it was entirely made of a certain energy. And thankfully, her special dress was made of Mana thread, something that made the whole dress no less than a (tier-6) artifact. It was a costly thing for a reason and the spell restored the damaged dress to the perfect shape, surprising her once again. It was a difficult spell that usually takes me months to prepare. I only a had few of them so it was foolish to use them on a dress... "Thanks, darling~! You''re the best~!" But seeing this smile while a demon was just trying to destroy the headmaster before us was worth it. "Good work, you two. Looks like I can start the cleanup." The headmaster was flying up, and he didn''t shout those words. He just said it casually, and we heard them as if he was standing just before us. That was strange but also cool at the same time. But after he said those words... -Ooooooooooooong. A white shield covered the whole area we were in, as well as a transparent shield covered the two of us. The headmaster was going to fight the demon... or kill him quickly so that we can go back, but he was going to show us something cool. The demon was strong already. But he was also a lot more furious than he had been. The surrounding area was devastated by the aftermath of their fight until now. The trees were already gone, and the ashen ground had deep cracks from the strong blows the demon used, but none actually even touched the headmaster. His servants were also dead now, so he was even redder. They could only produce a limited number of demonkins after all. It was a waste, using his power on those useless bastards, but he wasn''t going to live to mourn over this loss. He was angry. We were in an area that was already destroyed. There was a barrier covering this ce andstly, the headmaster was smiling. "Eon, Elle. What do you think the specialty of this demon is?" he asked as he evaded another punch from the demon that again made a sound as if lightning struck just before us. He was definitely strong, and the way he was using his innate physical strength was enough to answer his simple question. "High physical strength, resistance, and demonic energy control?" Rein answered in an uncertain tone. She couldn''t see the stats of the demon, but she could easily read his basic strengths. But her answer was only half correct. "Blood magic and higher level strengthening techniques too. You already know those things though, headmaster." I added to her answer, and she looked back at the demon with a confused expression. She didn''t know how I came up with the blood magic but then she looked closely, very closely, used (Far see), a basic spell, and only then noticed a very thin skin-like redyer. "Damn..." It was unnoticeable, and she was surprised by how easily I noticed it. The headmaster was alsoughing at this, but he nodded at my question. "You did see his status window. You''re more interesting than I thought. Hahaha!" He wasughing while standing before the demon and it angered the demon even more. He was at his limit and couldn''t go on as he had been anymore. The demon took a step back as Rein looked at me with a surprised expression. She was cute with that look, but the demon was boiling with anger. His pride as a noble was shattered when just a puny mortal was continuouslyughing at his face, taking him for granted. He was as red asva now. The blood covering his body sprung out like a fountain and covered his whole body. -Zuuuuuuuuu! At the same time, ck smoke starteding out of his body. His huge body shrunk down and his big muscle became thinker but stronger. His red eyes shined with new strength and the ground shattered as a huge wave of demonic energy covered the area. -Booooooooooooom! The ground was filled with a strange ck liquid, and the area became something that would resemble a part of hell. The atmosphere had already changed, and the dark clouds were ominous, but the demon was now smiling. < "Die you, filthy bastard!" > A strange murky brown light materialized on his hands and he aimed the hand towards the sky where the headmaster was still flying, looking down at the demon with a cool expression. The demon frowned as he saw the calm expression on his face and the ray shot from his hands. -Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim! The power of that ray was unparalleled. It was close to a (tier-8) destruction magic spell. He wasughing as he shot that ray at the small target in the air, but the headmaster also smiled at the cute expression of the demon. "It''s a meaningless, poor demon." The headmaster aimed his index finger toward the ray of lighting toward him. He was far away, but I could see the small particles of Mana gathering on the tip of his finger. The Mana had the color that was a mix of red, yellow, green, blue, and brown, all the five Mana affinities that he had. The purity of the colors was also amazing and though I couldn''t feel it, I knew this Mana was of the highest purity I had ever seen. And this was Mana. Not even the Aether that he was mostpatible with. And as soon as this ray of pure Mana gathered and shot from his fingertip, the small ray of light that looked like a needle in front of the waterfall, like a ck ray, pierced through the ck ray! -Boooooooooooooom! The pure ray of Mana canceled his skill that could have been enough to kill a few demonkins. And it was just Mana! The ray he used was a high-level skill that could corrupt any kind of protective barrier and pass through it, but this simple ray canceled that great skill. It was unbelievable... and the demon was speechless at the unexpected things. "Didn''t I say? You came at the wrong time in the wrong ce. Now... bye-bye~." The demon was stunned, the headmaster was smiling while looking at the two of us as if telling us to pay attention, and the sky was changing¡­ -Oooooooooooooooooong. Yellow lines appeared in the sky. They first created a circle that covered the whole area under the barrier that was affected by the demonic energy, then the lines started making a magic circle. "High magic?" Rein mumbled as she looked at the one-kilometer big magic circle in the sky. The scale of this magic circle was too great, so thinking that it was high-grade magic was normal just that it wasn''t high magic. "(tier-4) spell, the sword of light..." It was somewhat modified, perfected would be a better word, but this giant magic circle was definitely the (tier-4)mon light magic spell that we knew. She was shocked at my words, but she didn''t doubt them. When looking closer at the half-finished magic circle, she could tell that it actually was the simple magic that even she knew about. "Though the input energy is Aether." I could tell from the structure of the spell... it was made to be used with a denser energy than Mana. The magic circle itself was enough to remind me of the magic circles'' grandma used, but they were special ones for Solnova. They were perfect ones for Solnova, a level I was still far away from but this magic circle special for Aether... it was the perfection* every mage dreams about. The magic circle that covered the sky looked impable. We were speechless as we looked up but the demon had an earthquake urring in his eyes. He didn''t know what that thing was but he could clearly sense the great power that spells contained. I knew he must have felt death at this moment. A powerless feeling one would feel even though one considers themselves strong. It was natural though... he might be a noble of the second hell, but he was facing the worst opponent he could. His death was decided as soon as he was summoned here. It was foolish to summon him near the city, to begin with. ''Which dumb person summons a demon some distance away from the capital city of the greatest nation?'' It would be different if it was inside the capital or in some faraway ce, like some remote human habitat. But, well, it was the end for him... -Ooooooooooong. Light started to gather around the center of the giant magic circle. The gathered light condensed and took a shape of a giant sword, and the sword started descending towards the ground, towards the demon. The demon was startled, but he gathered the demonic energy and created a dark shield, as well as many thin red shields. -Shuuuuuuuuuuuuu. The sword of light that seemed like a (Sword of judgment) a (tier-6) holy spell fell towards the ground. -Crk. Crk. Crk. Crk... The spell sword was big enough to cover the whole sky and as it fell towards the demon, as soon as the tip of the sword touched the barriers, the barriers popped off like some soap balloons. < "Bastards...!" > The demon screamed as he looked up at the headmaster and then at the two of us who were safely watching the demise of the demon. The ones who created the spell were one thing, but we were different. ''Why were two kids who helped that bastard unharmed?'' would have been the thought on his mind. He couldn''t look at the two unharmed children... so he gathered the ck ray of light once again and the light was shot toward us. "Tsk." Rein clicked her tongue. It was a uselessst-ditch try. This was an Aether barrier. Not even high magic would have been able to pierce through this one. -Biiiiiiiiiim. And it happened just like she thought. The ray of light that was shot towards us faster than we could have been able to react to collided with the barrier and just vanished into thin air as if the barrier ate it. We were fine, just as we had been, and still looking at the falling sword and the shocked demon. -Creeeeeek. The sword broke thest ck barrier and fell on the head of the demon. < "KHAAAAAAAAAAA!" > A spell with a purity that was as good as my (White light) attribute from Don. And he was a demon, too. The way his body was burned as the sword of light bisected him would be simr to the highest known pain unit. The way he screamed was evidence of the unbearable pain from his whole being slowly sliced in half and at the same time burning from the inside out. It must have been terrible... but she was happy. "Good." she nodded as the sword finished its work and vanished. He hadn''t done anything yet, but he deserved it. And he was dead now. The light from the spell affected his whole being. And he was just a low-level demon noble, too. It would have been difficult if he were a great demon, but he wasn''t, so it was finished. The demon was dead and the body that was cut in half was filling the area with the demon''s blood. The area was being polluted even further. ''It would be good to collect some materials before he cleans things up.'' It might be useful, so that was it. The headmaster came down from the air and I looked around the destroyed area. There was a demon body, the bodies of three demonkins, and some of the demonic beasts. There would be corrupted energy cores from each one of them too. It was a nice experience, but more than that, I was looking forward to how he cleaned this polluted area. ''As well as if we get our share from this hunt...'' We killed some of them, so it was only natural that some of them would belong to us, right? Chapter 427 (: Harvest) "Don''t even think about it. The bodies of demonic beings must be handed to either the temple or the academy for research. Just be happy that you even got the chance to see these cool things. Ah... you can take some materials if you want. I give you thirty seconds. Go start." Both of us knew he was serious and what he said was also true. There was nothing we could do to the intact bodies of the demonic creatures, anyway. Though I would never let go of the chance to collect the materials that could be helpful in some unknown scenario. ''He''s really smart to know what I wanted, too. Really, a bastard...'' [Quick steps] (: Speed enhancement), (: Light protection). He was the headmaster and the words he spoke might sound normal, but from how much I knew him, he was dead serious this time. Just the fact that we were here and there was a demon noble''s corpseying before us was something unbelievable. One would die or go crazy just from being in this presence of demonic energy, after all. Though I could circte this demonic energy and still survive for a long time thanks to my special physique, it was still harmful. If mom were to know of the current situation, she would most definitely cut off all the trades with the academy, causing this bastard headmaster to suffer. It was a dangerous ce and a potent poison to any being of nature, so cleansing it as soon as possible was a must. I understood that much, so I didn''t hold back this time. I didn''t know when else I will have a chance to collect the demonic materials so I went all out. -Swish! First, I appeared before the bisected demon corpse that was covered by ake of ck blood that was creating a ck fog and collected some of this blood from the ground, from the body, and from the ck heart-like crystal that I could see, and stored it in a special purple vial. I knew he was smirking again at this scene while Rein was collecting materials from the demonic beasts and the demonkins. She was a witch. Just like the wizards, their physical bodies were also different and didn''t get affected by the demonic energy to as severe an extent as the normal or even strong humans. She understood this would be helpful and how important it was for me, so she was helping me... good girl. Anyway, after blood, I jumped in the air using my special shoe enchantments and collected some samples of its bone powder, some samples of the clothing materials he was wearing, andstly samples of his demonic energy. The work was easy with the thinyer of light elemental Solnova spell around my body. And after storing the energy sample in a unique white vial, I backed off. There were still ten seconds left so, I closed my eyes and looked at my ''spell storage''. There was one special, very difficult, and unique spell that will shock the headmaster among the nearly countless spells that I had already scripted. I didn''t even have fifteen of them, the encoding taking more than a few months for just one in this outside world. But there was a freshly dead demon before us. So it was worth it. [[ *You will be using it for the first time in the outsidends. It will be different from our previous home, so be careful. It might feel different.* ]] ? Even Lucy was worried about this, and I knew it would be difficult. But it was worth it. ''I will be fine.'' "Haaa..." I closed my eyes, walked into the floor of books in my mind tower, reached the ce where the spell I wanted was stored, took out the book of the spell, and ripped one page from it... "(: Harvest)." A golden magic circle appeared before my hands. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! A ck magic circle that looked like a void, an empty space, or a ck hole appeared before the golden one and started sucking all kinds of energies in. It was a two-circle spell, high-level magic that shouldn''t be possible with my current (tier-3) mage status. But I was using almost all the Solnova I had. The demonic energy polluting the air, the natural Mana and other ones present in the air, and most importantly, the soul energy of the dead demon that was still present there. Every energy was sucked in by the ck magic circle while it all gathered behind it. A reaction was happening in the middle of golden and ck magic circles, and something was materializing there. A soul would only stay in the atmosphere for a minute or half after the death of the physical body and then be one with nature, so I only had a short time. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! The ck magic circle continued sucking while Rein had finished her work and was looking at me nkly. The headmaster had a rare astonished reaction while looking at one of my original masterpieces. I was also proud of this one. But the burden that this one spell put on my body was far more than seeing three status windows of these demon-like beings. The speed at which the Solnova was being used was more than I had thought, but the small thing appearing between two magic circles was worth it. "Ahem!" I coughed up some blood. I couldn''t hold back this time. But it was better holding it in and risking the aftermath. "Eon...!" Rein was worried, but she saw the smile on my face as well as the absurd smirk on the headmaster''s face, so she understood it was alright. -Swiiiiiish. The ck magic circle became blurry after just a few moments, while the golden one became brighter. And then... -Ooooooooooong! The ck magic circle disappeared while a light shot out from the golden one into the transparent crystal that had materialized there. "You damn bastard..." the headmaster cussed and appeared behind me and caught me just when I was almost falling down. "What are you?" He asked with a smile that was warm, happy, and shocked at the same time. I was in his arm and though this time my mind was better than a while back when I looked at the statue window of the demon, my body had close to no energy. I used almost all the Solnova as well as Mana in the process... I was still weak to use my own scripted spells. Well, I was fine enough to take out a potion from my white crack and drink it. So, with the headmaster''s support, I opened the white crack with much difficulty, took out a red potion, and drank it as Rein also appeared to support me. -Smack! Of course, she first hit my back with actual strength, which hurt like hell in this difficult moment. "You will be punished when we get back." Maybe she was crying. Her voice certainly told so. "Aye aye, ma''am. But after our lunch. I''m super hungry after this thing." Red potions that grandma made were my lifesavers. Without them, I don''t even know what would have happened to me. "Haaa..." I stood up after someying in herp and then looked at the small crystal in the headmaster''s hand. He was looking at the transparent crystal with strange ck particles swirling inside it. "What do you call this?" he asked as he observed the crystal with his special rainbow-like eyes. He was the strongest archmage, had more than one world authority, and one of them was rted to seeing things. He was able to see through me. Something a demon and even the king-ranked knights failed to do. Knowing what this crystal was and how it can be used was naturally easy for him, but the name was a totally personal thing. "I call it . Cool right?" Just like how anymon energy beast materializes an energy core inside their bodies after death, the crystal was something like that one core that contained the base soul energy and other natural energy that the target had. "Gluttony right? You recreated functions of gluttony. But instead of directly ingesting the energies, you turn them into a crystallized form. Fascinating..." He really was shocked by this. Something to really be proud of. "Yes. The ck magic circle is based on the pinnacle skill [Gluttony] while the golden one is based on the pinnacle skill [Harmony]. It''s nowhere near those amazing skills though, and it''s also still not a perfect version of the spell. I still have a long way to go..." It was true. I still had many things to learn and achieve. "Hahaha. Right. You have surprised me so many times that I forget that you are still young. Still... how do you even know so much about the greatest skills of nature to be able to create spells based on them?" He was curious, and the answer to that question was actually very simple. "I-" "He must have read it in some books. Right, darling?" "Yes..." Maybe the answer was so simple that Rein couldn''t help but answer on my behalf. It wasn''t wrong, though. Most of my knowledge came from books, my own experiences, and things that my master taught me. This particr spell was something that I created on my own with the things that I learned from her as well as from the books. "Hmm... can you tell me which book? Or better, can you teach me this spell yourself when the timees? I assure you thepensation will be good enough to please you." "...what?!" Rein shouted at his words, but I understood that actual desire to learn from me. "It would be my pleasure. Though we could only do that after we are in the academy. That''s ok, right?" I could just produce some copies of the books that I read for him, but that wouldn''t be as effective. He was asking me to teach him my own personal spell. It was my work and something that could shake the whole world; we were talking about artificially creating the natural cores from the environmental energies after all. It was also something that only a few with the power to use special energy better than Mana or Aura could use. He was the greatest mage, and he just came across something that he didn''t know about. This was a piece of new knowledge for him. Something that he couldn''t have thought he would ever get the chance to witness or learn. Not from a child like me, at least. I knew this new knowledge would help him grow further and maybe he will improve this spell on his own, creating his own perfect version. I would love to see that too, so it wasn''t a bad deal at all. I was... we were in a profitable position. "You bastard..." Rein knew me better than the headmaster, so she understood I was aiming for this very opportunity. She was amazed, the look on her face was adorable, and the headmaster, who understood the situation, was even more astonished. "Hahaha. You two are quite the fun ones. They will definitely like the two of you." The headmaster wasughing and there was something mysterious in his voice. He mentioned someone, and I knew he wasn''t going to tell us who he was talking about. We will know eventually, though. Anyway... "Ok then. Let''s finish this and go back or else your mom will slice me into fine pieces." I had no doubt that she will so without any more words; he snapped his fingers. -Snap! The corpses of the demonic beasts, the demonkins, and the demon vanished. And at the same time, a magic circle that was even bigger than thest one appeared in the high sky. "Cleansing rain..." I mumbled as we looked up at the changing sky and observed the magic circle. Now this one really was high-level magic... Chapter 428 Bliss Of Youth A (tier-7) light attribute spell (Cleansing rain). A spell can affect the environment of a small area and create rain. And it was raining right now. -Shhhhhhhhhhh... It was raining gold. Strange, but this really was amazing. The spell finished and the dark clouds in the sky had turned as white as the snow covering the rest of the forest. Then, a slow but warm downpour started. The waterdrops were golden, and all of them were glowing. The atmosphere was dark because of the demonic energy and the clouds, so the golden rain was enhanced even further. The gold fell from the white clouds and as soon as it touched the polluted gray-ck soil, the moment a golden drop touched this dark soil producing a ripple effect of a water drop touching the surface of calm water, the soil turned gold, and the dark demonic pollution was washed away. And that wasn''t all. As life returned to the soil, the newborn soil gave birth to new life. Grass, nts, and even trees started growing at a speed that was hard to believe was the effect of a simple (tier-7) spell. The rain didn''t just contain the light properties that could cleanse the polluted area; it had earthly power to return life to the devastated earth. And all of this... was breathtaking. I felt as amazed as the first time grandma showed me how one could create countless other elements from just a single one right now. It was an enchanting sight and so was this one... It was a power that couldn''t be achieved by many mortals, but it wasn''t impossible to reach that point. I could do it too... maybe. It was possible to reach a point that was unlike any other and do things that I had only seen from all the incredible beings I had met. It was possible. And just knowing that much was enough. "You''re a jerk, but you''re amazing..." "Oh my? Did I hear that right? My greatdy Reinelle justplimented me. Is this a great day~?" Yeah. He was amazing, even with his unique personality. His special magic was quite something, too. It didn''t take long for the whole area destroyed by the demon to return to an even better state than before and now, only the hole in the ground that the demon hade out from reminded me. That was most certainly the ce where they summoned the demon from. It was foolish to summon him here, and maybe the two people Rein and I saw in the market during our date were among two of the demonkins that Rein killed. The cave was still there and though the magic that was concealing it was lifted after their deaths, this ce was really disgusting. As we went down and looked around, we saw the dead bodies, the cells where the people might have been locked, and the storage with the things that belonged to them. This ce was like the dark cave that was under that house inside the capital/. If a demon was summoned in that ce, things would have been dangerous, but these dumb people did something that was... strange? "Why would they even summon a demon in a ce like this and on a day like today?" It was a genuine question and as the headmaster looked at my curious expression, he smiled excitedly. "Someone else was behind them, right? Someone who controlled or used them?" It was the most simple exnation I coulde up with. And he smiled even more at this. "Maybe? Who knows what these Rakshasa bastards would do? Using their own kind for some experiment or a diversion or maybe even as a test wouldn''t be impossible for them. They are unpredictable and their high priests, knights, bishops, saints, and popes are even worse enemies of nature than the lower-ranking priests like those who just became a demonkin. Many things happen around the world, children... but you can rest for a few years before you actually fall into this mess. Especially Eon. I know you want to just live happily with your family, but there will be many things you will inevitably have to do for that dream to be a reality." "I know..." I know there are still countless things that I don''t know. I''m still weak. I''m far from being good enough that I can protect them if something really bad happened. I''m not even good enough to defeat a nameless, true demon noble. I have a long way before I can achieve those things. But I know, I hope, and I believe that I will be able to achieve that. "It will be fine," Rein said as she grabbed my hand. Her hand was soft and cool, as usual. Still, it was more than enough for now. "Haaa... ok. So, headmaster. We get half of the loot, right?" I smiled warmly at him and... -Snap! Everything from the storage before us, the energy cores, some skill stones, those usable hearts and materials, even the butchered energy beast bodies and weird potions, everything vanished. "Yes? Did you say something, Eon? Ahh... looks like this ce has nothing. Let''s go back~." And just like that, the three of us vanished and reappeared in the sky. "He''s a real stingy jerk. Bastard..." Rein was holding my hand as we flew towards the capital. And, well, it is what it is... There was nothing that great anyway, so it was fine, even if we didn''t get anything more from there. I got to use my harvest spell and got a core crystal. That thing with the materials we collect was more than enough. He did most of the work anyway... ah! My dream of being a bystander and just collecting materials after someone else defeated some powerful creature came true. "Nice..." "What''s nice?!" "Nothing. I''m just happy right now." I was happy. This experience was special. And just like every other one of my experiences, unforgettable. I was genuinely happy. I knew she could strangely feel this happiness of mine. Well, she was alright if I was happy. She at least stopped cussing at the ever-stingy headmaster and looked around. -Skkkkkkkkkkk... We were flying. Something different from when we came to this ce. Previously, we had just teleported here. But right now, we were flying over the enormous trees, and definitely above the level of the capital city. I wanted to see the vast capital city from above for a long time and surprisingly, that wish was also going toe true this time. "You''re excited," she said with a smile and the headmaster looked back towards the two of us with a smirk. "I''m excited." Maybe this was some kind ofpensation in return for that entire storage that he took for himself. Well, it was eptable. -Skkkkkkkkkk... We flew for a while and the forest ended, and the city walls became visible. It was almost like the horizon itself was the walls. The capital city was truly big¡­ and just after that, we saw the tip of the imperial pce. It was in the center of the city and was thergest structure in the city. But just after that, when the whole snow-covered city became visible, we saw the small houses, the ant-like people, some houses that were just a bit bigger than the others, but the same ant-like people, and some real big structures that stood out among everything else, just like the magnificent imperial pce. And one of them was the golden-white castle, Hiraani. ''Amazing...'' It was cool, and from above, the snow-coverednd really gave the feeling of winter. The winds were also cooler from the high altitude and if not for these special clothes, we would be preserved in a cube of ice. The city... was gorgeous. And it was even more special with the person holding my hand. "You''re beautiful..." I mumbled as I looked beside me at this gorgeousdy. The way her short purple hair fluttered, her gorgeous pink eyes reflected the entire city, the low rays of sun illuminated her white skin, and the way her cherry lips parted ways, everything was gorgeous about her. "T-thanks?" And now this red blush, too. She was cute. "Hahaha. The bliss of youth..." The headmaster was watching us as I watched her and her happy, embarrassed face. It was cute, and the city was majestic. It was fun looking at it from above like this and I wanted to stay for a bit more and see the special structures of the capital aside from the six main ones. The capital city was vast and there were countless cool ces and things there. It would take us a long time if we wanted to visit every single ce. And I certainly wanted to visit all the cool ces as well as the ones she liked with her. It will be fun, and we would do it before going to the academy. There was enough time for that, but not for looking over the sky like this. We reached the capital and flew down and teleported inside. There were protocols, protractions, and barriers that not anyone could cross without authority. But he was someone who can''t be stopped even with the restrictions of the greatest city. So, we were inside now and on the ground. "Hmm?" But we weren''t anywhere near Hiraani. We were in the outer parts ofmoner people''s houses. "I have something to do here. It''s just a small thing, so it will be quick." He smiled with a mysterious smile and lifted his hand. Then, a white owl flew towards us from the nearby rooftop and sat down on his hand. It was Harry. His famous familiar owl. He said something to him and the headmaster nodded, and then... he flew away. "This year really is different." He looked at me for a moment and shook his head as we started floating in the air once again. For some reason, there was an invisibility spell around us, too. And by around us, I meant in the half-kilometer area around us. After that, he looked around with his special rainbow-like eyes and different things like food and toys started appearing before us. "What''s he doing?" she was confused as we floated above the houses but I had a thought about what was happening right now. "You''re the winter fairy?" Those words were filled with an unbelieving voice. We were talking about being like Santa here. Someone who gives gifts to the people who wished for them. And we were talking about countless people all around many nations of the continent. It was absurd, but this certainly was a possibility if we were talking about the greatest archmage. And Rein''s eyes were wide open as she heard me. Not wanting to believe the great person who brought a warm smile to the faces of countless people was this stingy jerk. "Hahaha. It would be honorable if I was. Sadly, I''m just one of the helpers who help the real ''winter fairy''. Don''t tell anyone but, I think you know this fairy very well." He smiled again while looking at me. It was even more surprising, but... I knew who he was talking about. "Amazing..." I was even happier now. The winter festival that Rein didn''t like much was probably something very special to mom. Well... she''s the best. -Oooooooooooooooong. Many things appeared in the sky, then a magic circle appeared before his hand. The things that had appeared around us were sucked into the multicolor magic circle and then, the magic circle became invisible and floated away from his hand. As it reached the ground, it was divided into countless simr magic circles that fixed themselves over the houses of people or around the streets. "Okay~. All done here. Let''s go~." His work here was done. So we will be going back now. It was a short trip, but I saw many things in this short time. I also learned a few new things, so it was all worth the time spent away from my Anna. It was fun, more to watch her fight in her beautiful dress. We saw the death of a demon noble. I even saw his status window. And I know from this strange magic circle, and the other cool magic I saw throughout my time with this (Perfect being), they all were something that will take a long time to get analyzed in my mind tower. It was fun, though. And I''m hungry too. The day has also only half finished and there is half of the auction before us. There''s the night''s ball and dinner with the emperor... The day is still far from finished. Chapter 429 A Spellbook [ Alright~. The amazing golden apple goes to no.34 again for 170 tinum. Good deal for such amazing and rare stuff, dear customer! ] The auction had gone on in our absence and it was already time for lunch. But before that, there was onest item up for auction. And we were so fortunate that we came back as soon as thisst item came up to the giant table. [ "Alright! What do we have for ourst auction item before we go to the lunch and taste the exotic delicacies prepared exclusively by our best chefs~?" ] Right¡­ they were previously going to serve avish three-course meal for all these people. It wasn''t a loss, considering these customers were mostly nobles and people of higher standing, so that much spending was understandable. But still, there were countless people who didn''t buy shit and attended the auction to munch on the delicious things served during the ongoing auction, lunch, and the after-auction celebration. It wasn''t something that hindered the finances, but it also wasn''t something that would make any difference if it was just tweaked a little bit. ''Actually, the head chef had a reaction like his lifelong wish had been fulfilled when I told them about the change of menu.'' Today, one of the greatest things I did in this ce was to change the entire menu of the event. It was something that was ever-changing throughout these years, but the money spent on the food of these people in just a single day was enough for manymon people to eatvishly for months. It couldn''t be called a bad decision as mom too wouldn''t have liked feeding many pigs that were here just to have fun. It was something essential to maintain the image of the great Hiraani. Nobles naturally knew how to cause a ruckus when they didn''t like things. And it would hinder the image of this great ce that mom so greatly cherished. She didn''t care about the bad words of the shitty nobles, but the aftereffects of the words from a noble could very well cause great losses in many ways. She was a merchant. She naturally didn''t like the loss just because a piece of trash said something about the food served at an event that was mainly organized to raise money for the people of their nation. It was negative in many ways, so the great spending of money was a problem they all had just epted as inevitable. ''Well, that changed today.'' Yes, the food would bevish. It would be some of the best meals they would have in their entire life spans. Just that the food that would be served could be made from some savings of amon family. ''If only they hadn''t finished making the starters and refreshments.'' The cost would have been cut to thirty percent more. ''Anyway¡­'' [ "Oh~? What do we have here? A book? Looks old and cool, almost as if the old books in a mage''s library. So~? Who will start?" ] The menu was my personal creation and the head chef was pretty impressive in how he understood everything so easily. He was good from the notes and I believed he would carry all the finely detailed instructions I gave him masterfully. He was impressive and a master of his field and also someone mom trusted enough to give him all the kitchen responsibilities. I trusted him and all the other people in that special kitchen. I knew their minds would be blown when they eat that banana~. Anyway, the item on the big round table was called a [Spellbook]. A consumable item that contained a certain type of spell that could be used a few times. It was a rare artifact and only a few wizards, or witches, could produce one of these. The magic one of these spellbooks contains is at least (tier-7) and it could be used at least three times. But the one on the table was even more special. It was a thick tome with a red leather cover and old pages. It looked quite normal, as if an old book was picked up from some old library. Normal appraisal skills would also only show that it is an old book, too. It was nothing like the traditional spell books that one could tell it was a spell book just by looking at it. They looked that much more attractive, after all. But this simple-looking book that contained a (tier-8) spell that could be used four times was something close to a national treasure. There was no way I, the three mysterious spenders, and all the mages, high nobles, great mages, ''unknown'' big shots, and so on down there would miss this one. "It''s mine," Rein said in a serious tone while looking deep into my eyes. "To finally go and explode some mountain that you want for so long?" I asked as I gave her a look that totally denied her im on that item. "Obviously," she answered¡­ with a straight face that was damn serious. This crazy girl actually wanted to have some fun by creating some tremendous explosions. That book with (Bubble of ignition) was just the right thing to do. If that book falls into the hands of this crazy witch, this tactical weapon would definitely be wasted on something useless. "And that''s even more of a reason you aren''t getting that." My voice was stern, and Anna was smirking while looking at the two of us. Mom and the otherdies were the same, and it hadn''t even been a few minutes since we came back from that short trip with the beautiful (?) headmaster. Our timing and the timing of this thinging up was just right, and it was good. I will take that thing so that this witch and many others like her don''t use that great thing for useless stuff. "Oh, darling~. I''m not just your Rein right now, remember? I''m also the representative of our house. I can spend all the money I want~. Try it if you can, but that thing is mine~." She had a smirk that was saying she wasn''t going to back down this time. This was foolish. Something many wouldn''t understand. And also petty. But that thing was worth the war¡­ She understood the value of that artifact and even with the smirk that genuinely wanted to go there and blow up some ce, her greed waspletely understandable. She was here as a representative of her house and that artifact down there was something that could totally be of great use to her household. They were one of the only six dukedoms of the great empire, after all. The scale of her household was, in fact, far greater than I had yet seen. There was far more than just a huge estate in the middle of a forest to the name Atraxia. It was a great ce, and that artifact spell book was a difficult object to get my hands on. Not that I was worried. It was mine even if the opponent was my beloved friend and the emperor of this country himself. [ "Ohh~! We have our first bid, second, and now fifth. Wow, looks like everyone does like books." ] The numbers on the big water screen were rapidly increasing. [ 40 tinum - no.78 ] [ 69 tinum - no.69] [ 150 tinum - no.56] [ 190 tinum - no.70 ] Many people knew the value of that simple-looking old book and the price for this one item was going to reach new seas. [ 300 tinum - no.3 ] That was the emperor¡­ and he definitely didn''t need that book down there. ''He''s doing the same thing I did. Well, it''s alright.'' [ 400 tinum - no.21 ] He didn''t have to hinder me this time. There was someone who actually was going topete for this item. [ 420 tinum - no.369 ] [ 430 tinum - no.21 ] [ 440 tinum - no.369 ] [ 450 tinum - no.21 ] ¡­ The numbers that had only fixed with no.21 and 369 after we suddenly crossed 400 tinum astonished many people, but the even more interesting thing was how the no.3, the biggest spender, just backed off from this fight after making one bet. It was also interesting how the two of us were going so slowly. The price was growing by ten tinum, which was understandable, but then Rein did something Rein liked. [ 501 tinum - no.21 ] [ 510 tinum - no.369 ] [ 511 tinum - no.21 ] The others didn''t understand it but, this was so like her¡­ only spending the minimum amount. "You started this minimum too early, dear. I understand that you are representing the entire house, but that doesn''t mean you have more money than me. Neither does it mean that I have reached my limit for today''s spending." [ 999 tinum - no.360 ] The numbers suddenly jumped dimensions. "You fu-" "Mm-hum hu, manners, nobledy. There is a gorgeous young girl with us." "..." [ 999 tinum 100 gold - no.21 ] Her reaction was cute right now, but the reactions of others, including my little brother and big sister, were also unique. For Anna who was cheering for both of us and didn''t practically understand the concept of money, the two of us were just ying a fun game. But the other two were different. I don''t know if they had bet such a high sum themselves on some particr item, but me doing so was genuinely surprising. We were talking about 999k gold. Something that had made the jaws of the nobles down there falls to the ground. It was an absurd sum of money. But definitely something payable if you actually know the value of that simple-looking book. And Rein also knew that, so she increased the price, though it was a little increasepared to the big number beside it. But that was also close to my limit for this book. Now, everything depended on psychological warfare. [ 999 tinum 111 gold - no.369 ] "..." [ 999 tinum 120 gold - no.21 ] [ 999 tinum 121 gold - no.369 ] "...?" [ 999 tinum 122 gold - no.21 ] [ 999 tinum 122 gold 100 silver - no.369 ] "...!" [ 999 tinum 130 gold - no.21 ] [ 999 tinum 130 gold 100 silver - no.369 ] "Why¡­!?" [ 999 tinum 300 gold - no.21 ] [ 999 tinum 300 gold 300 silver - no.369 ] "You''re a devil!" She was really pissed off. Anyone would, actually. The bids that looked very close to each other were actually very slow, as if I was in deep thought. And just when she thought she got it, I jumped in with an absurdly close but mocking bet. "Big brother is teasing sister Elle~. Hehehe." Anna was giggling while seeing the two of us. She could feel that this friend of mine wasn''t at least hurt or anything. She was upset, and it was fun seeing her make that rare, cute face. [ 999 tinum 301 gold - no.21 ] "I''m not backing away just yet! I don''t know, but I will chase you till the end!" She had a flushed face, but she actually meant those words. She would follow my every bet with the bare minimum amount she could afford, trying to go as far away as possible, taking whatever time it needed to get over the item. Now¡­ the bad thing was her bad habit of doing what she actually meant. And she meant this one. She would take the whole day if it meant getting that old book. But we didn''t have that privilege¡­ the nobles who were first surprised were now getting bored, and many were already leaving the room. Still, many were waiting to see the oue of this absurd but fun battle. It was the entertainment of a kind but still, many would startining or might already have startedining. This round couldn''t go on for long. We had to finish it quickly. And she wasn''t going to back down now that I had pushed her to this limit. ''I made a mistake¡­'' Should have known she might react like this instead of just backing away. It wasn''t the question of getting the item anymore but instead, saving as much as possible while getting the item. She was something¡­ but, she wasn''t getting this spellbook. "Rein." I called her out instead of cing a bid and she looked at me with anger and hatred-filled eyes. "How about I get that spellbook this time but¡­ I will help you with blowing up whatever mountain you want. How about it? You know you can''t win this time, right? Why waste everyone''s time? Let''s have some lunch. I said I was hungry after ''that thing'' right?" She understood what I was saying and still looked at me with a hateful gaze. The hunger part was genuine, though. I could eat a whole big chicken right now. She read my eyes¡­ and sighed in defeat. "UwU~? Why is my grown-up amazing son hungry hmm~? What did you two do~?" "Nothing." "Nothing at all..." My voice was stern, while she was a bit sad that we did nothing. Nothing at all¡­ "Huhuhu." Sheughed with a smirk and the otherdies also giggles. Well, that was them¡­ [ 1000 tinum - no.369 ] That much was enough for a good item like that. And she wasn''t going to follow anymore. ¡­ [ 1111 tinum - no.3 ] "He''s an a**hole." "The reason I don''t like him." That was Rein and my dear mom¡­ well, it was petty. And strangely, I saw iting. [ 1111 tinum 1 copper - no.369 ] Yup. That was the end. He didn''t bid any further, and I had to pay a gooooood 111k gold and one copper more than it would have been. ''He might turn out to be a variable after all¡­'' Well, that wasn''t something for the current me to think about. I got the spellbook, so it was finally lunchtime now~. Chapter 430 T-This...! In one of the balcony rooms, lunch was being served. There was a lovely family who knew the things before them and was delighted to eat something normal and familiar in this ce for the first time. Of course, the things before them were normal for them. It wasn''t somethingmon people or even the higher ss people like the ones down there knew anything about. There was some kind of sd with greens and meat, weird things wrapped in strangely bigttice leaves, and a strange but too much attractive-looking thing that they knew was somethingvish just from the looks. It was like those very, very, costly foods from the highest-grade restaurants, so they didn''t mind the strange other things. Everything was served before their separate chairs, so they also didn''t have to move anywhere. There were servants as well as strange magical machines that roamed the room and distributed beverages of various kinds. People were familiar with them and the good quality drinks they served, but there were some new things that attracted the attention of many people. They were cool-sounding drinks and when they asked for them, the thing they got also was something they had never seen in high-ss bars. This was better treatment and food than the previous years, just like the items that were better than ever. If not for the appearance of that son of a gun no.369, every buyer would have enjoyed their food without any problem. But they were already in aplicated mood because of thest item. That person, that unknown person that had hindered many of them without buying anything, had bought a simple-looking book for more than a million gold. Though one of their unknown kings did them justice by increasing the price by more than a hundred thousand gold, the fact that the unknown bastard still bought that book was a historical event. Maybe he was also someone like their three unknown kings, but different from those three nobles, he was a bastard. Many had thoughts that he was someone from the staff of the Hiraani who helped the internal people, but that thought was pointless. Everyone knew the strict policies of this ce and employees were never allowed to bid for any item. And the auction master wasn''t someone who would set up someone to increase her profits. She wouldn''t do such a thing¡­ they all believed that. So the unknown bastard was someone who either voluntarily did this to help the auction or he was someone with absurd money to back his bloody actions. And the second thing was most likely the case. Not many even had a hundred thousand gold to spare for a useless book and some decorative ss b, much less millions. The people with that kind of money were few in the empire. Maybe he was someone from outside, like many people sitting around them? That bastard might also be here somewhere,ughing at them while munching on these things. So, they, either in helplessness, hate towards the person, or in disbelief that they would see such an amazing thing today, took their first bites from the normal, abnormal, and amazing-looking delicacies before them. And regardless of what they were eating. The sd, the bigttice that was instructed to best be eaten like a sandwich by hand, the pyramid made of three bright colors, or even the new drinks. Whatever they eat¡­ produced a particr kind of reaction. "T-this¡­!" "What is a thing!? The taste¡­!" "The looks aren''t that great, but the tender meat inside it full of exotic vors feels like the highest grade meat famous in !" "Delicious!" "Divine!" "Heavenly!" They all were either so speechless by the taste that they forgot the basic manners and ate the whole thing or were so surprised just from the first bite that they started analyzing or praising the delicacies. Many of them also noticed that the ingredients themselves weren''t that great and might even be called of lower quality than usual, but they couldn''t exin the unreal richness of the food they were eating. It was amazing. And even though they didn''t know what they did to the simple ingredients or what special, secret thing they used, the things they were eating were just¡­ impable. They were surprised. And so were the people above them. "Mom, the chefs are amazing. And the head chef too. I give these things a gold star. Can''t wait to meet them after these things are over." The family was delightfully eating their lunch. And Anna was sitting between her big brother and sister Elle, having her cute face stained with her special chocte milk. She liked the food too. It was just like they made at home, so she also gave her approval. "I give them two stars~! Chocte milk is the best~!" She was cute, but he smiled and wiped the milk from her face. This was already her second cup. She was drinking this special milk he asked from the head chef more than the food. It was good but eating was also important so he fed her a piece of meat from the sd. It was crispy and exactly like he instructed so he was happy. "Hehe. They said you were the one to tell them about such amazing cooking methods. These normal ingredients didn''t just turn into these fine things on their own baby. They also can''t wait to meet you. Even the head chef serving his majesty and her highnesses would be praising you." Who would think thevish looking three colored pyramids were something made of simple meat, eggs, bananas, and some unique species? The cooking methods used today were like divine knowledge to the chefs and head chef. And the best cook of the continent, thedy who had received the highest blessing from the god of cooking, also agreed with them. "Head chef¡­" In the greatest balcony room reserved for the greatest family of the empire, the four people eating a special menu that ''he'' decided for the royal family were unexpectedly surprised. And most surprised of them was empress Madeleine, the best chef of the continent and (Seconding of Pochimi). "How do you know this cooking method? Just what kind of epiphany inspired you to use such unconventional methods?" She had a rare surprise on her face. It was rare, but this rare sight was seen on the faces of all four of them. The dishes they were eating were naturally quite different from the rest of the people. And all of them had a special menu item aside from themon things. The emperor had a dark red piece of steak that didn''t look anything normal. One can tell it was spicy just from the look, but it was actually spicy enough to amaze the emperor who was known as (Ruler of mes). The elfdy Aina, sitting on the end of the table one chair away from the three, was eating the warm thing that looked like meat but was purely made of beans, potatoes, and vegetables. She was a pure high elf, so she was surprised when the head chef who had severed them for past years served her this strange thing. But, when she looked, smelled, and tasted it, she actually was surprised to find this strange sensation. It was something she only felt from the things Madeleine made, so it was even more surprising. She wasn''t eating only sd for the first time outside the pce. It was delightful for her but, just as much delighted was empress Vera, the oldest, wisest, and some of the most beautifuldies of that world. She was a witch and a royal adviser of the royal court who had stood by the side of many previous emperors. Though the current times were different, as she and the emperor had a deeper rtionship than just an employee and employer. Well, their stories were famous, but not her current delighted mood. It was something that reminded her of her mother''s and master''s cooking, something not perfectly at that level but certainly nostalgic. She wanted to reward the chef for this, but before she could finish her bowl of thick, green soup, empress Madeleine spoke up while eating her normal-looking meat and eggs. "Cooking the meat then pressure cooking it, and after that, working on it with Mana condenser. Not using just any top-ss ingredients but ones that could be best suited with the unique methods. Condensing milk extracts to make this unique blend cheese. The method to increase spiciness by using a concentrated spice essence. And this meat that looks like eggs while this egg that looks like meat¡­ Unconventional, but definitely innovative. You surprised me with this one chef. Truly, you''re amazing." She was called the best chef for two reasons. One, because she made some of the best delicacies in the world, and second because she was some of the best supertasters. And getting apliment from her was a dream of anyone who called themselves a chef. He was one of those people, too. He also wanted thepliment of this person. He was a chef before he was a dwarf, but this praise from the greatest chef of the continent¡­ he wasn''t deserving of it this time. "I''m undeserving of this praise, your majesty. It wasn''t me who came up with these special methods. In fact, the only thing my fellow men and I did was follow the instructions we received to the best of our abilities. I do not know him yet but, your praise should belong to the one who gave us such divine knowledge." The head chef was a dwarf. Not one of those tiny, muscr people with awesome beards¡­ well, his beard was awesome too, but he wasn''t the dwarfs depicted in many stories we know. He was a dwarf, but unlike the normal ones who were naturally shorter than the average humans, this one was as tall as a normal human. He was different from his kind. He didn''t have either the higher strength of the dwarves or their high intelligence. He was also not some mech fanatic and instead¡­ he was a chef. Not many knew him, but he was a famous person and a master chef, though not someone nearly on her level. His height was as tall as a normal human, his ears wererger and round, the racial characteristic of a dwarf, and he had a muscr body and a white beard, indicating his old age. Still, his humble presence and decline of her praise as well as admiration for this unknown person intrigued her. "Divine knowledge, you say¡­" She had a rare smirk on her face as she ate her food that truly deceived even her heightened senses. "Can''t wait to meet this special person." She liked the food, strangely, but definitely. It was good. Not the best, but better than the usual stuff she ate. There was only one variable in this year''s auction that could have caused this ripple effect. She knew who he was. She knew this young, capable, interesting person¡­ and she will soon meet him. "Yes~. I''m excited too." The chef was innocent, so he didn''t understand her unique smirk. The three partners who enjoyed their food were also eager to meet this special person. He was cool enough to excite even the highest powers of the greatest empire. They naturally looked forward to meeting the boy and having a long chat with him. It was well and good but, at this moment, they didn''t know what unique events this same special boy was going to cause in this empire, this world, and in this whole great nature¡­ Chapter 431 Final Items The day was fine and so was the lunch. The chefs did great work and after that whole demon thing and using a spell beyond my capacity; the food tasted more heavenly than usual. It was alright until we finished the lunch¡­ then we stepped out of the room for a second and Rein gave me an earful about the whole harvest spell thing. She was worried and all¡­ anyway, we passed that. The middle stage of the auction started after that wonderful lunch and I was looking forward to the bad talks about this lunch we served, if there were any. That were some of the great simple techniques I learned from my master. There was no way I will let the ones who dare speak badly about this amazing work of vorful delicacies go without any punishment. I was sincere when I said the chefs would get a star for this great work and it would really be fun to meet them. At least it would be for me. Don''t know much about you people. Anyway, the second phase of the auction ended like the previous ones, and Rein bought some good stuff that some dumb nobles set for auction without knowing their worth. Like¡­ some dumb person actually tried selling a handgun without even realizing it was a specially engineered RTF-2206 modal made by a master dwarf craftsman. The other two mysterious people weren''t interested in this one. From their perspective, it was a fine weapon, but not something to spend crazy money on, like my fanaticdy Rein. They had to let it go for some hundred tinum. And she was happy to get such an amazing item for so cheap¡­ And she was actually amazing. I didn''t realize untilter that we can track the maker of this thing¡­ if he was alive, and request a better gun for myself. Having a gun would be amazing too. I was even more familiar with them than with the bow and arrow. ''I used to use those things after all...'' Anyway, the second part of the auction finished with me buying only a piece of rock. Well, I fought with the headmaster and emperor again, but they didn''t go more than 1026 tinum for that very, very, very rare piece of Omium. It was some of the most unique things in the whole world, if not nature. It was a piece of rock from the outside look, but as a mage, a knight, or any person sensitive to a particr kind of energy, you would want to star at this rock unconditionally. It was just a piece of rock, but even Zoe and Anna were interested in that one. I had to buy it even if I just use it as a paperweight until the right timees. But it was far more useful than some mere paperweight. It was so important that I wouldpare it with a one-step-low material from the branch of the world tree that I had. Even the emperor and headmaster didn''t know the actual greatness of that simple piece of rock. ''If they even remotely knew that it could be used as¡­ well anyway.'' It was the final and main event of the annual auction now. And there were going to be nine precious items up for the auction. I wanted one of those things, Rein wanted two, Ca would want the best sword of today''s auction, and considering how she had bought almost every single one up for today, it was possible she would fight to get her hands on this one too. Anyway, I knew she would have to fight with the emperor for that and she might also not get it, but it was fine. She was good without that. I had plenty of good swords for her. They would be hers when she is ready. Alright, so, this was going to be a bad war and the people who were here for entertainment were on the edge of their seats with excitement. Thisst battle was going to be the legen¡ªdary. The staff was just that much special after all. The first one would be a mirror artifact that can be used to see through any illusions, after that would be three special herbs that can increase Mana capacity as well as affinity with elements rted to them. Then the thing I wanted¡­ a piece ofnd on the northwest part of the continent. It was a remote area near the main city Lagoon, the only city that is near one of the forbidden zones, (Labyrinth of Aroa). It would be a good ce to make a secret second base. And if we ever need to go into thebyrinth, we will have a base nearby. So, I wanted that. Ca wanted the divine artifact sword, which she will definitely be able to handle in the future, but not now. It would just beying in her special space for the time being if she actually get it. But¡­ it would be difficult to handle the psychological pressure during the bidding, not the money. She had the support of the house and mom, she could buy anything she wanted here. But the process of buying, the pressure, the mental processes while spending such a bad amount of money, and the usefulness of the bought thing, are factors that would decide the owner of that sword. Rein wanted the automatic enchantment artifact production method, a special artifact that could put enchantments on any organic or inorganic thing by using energy cores as a power source. It was a production method, meaning the rights to this particr artifact would belong to the buyer. It was something she had to get. The fact that it could put enchantments on organic things meant that it could be turned into an automatic preservation spell enchantment artifact. Thest two were books. But one was the learning method of a secret sword technique, while the other one was a very, very, very, rare book on magical theory. Something I have read and something I didn''t think I would see outside the tower library. It was called (Raytick''s idea-Structures of building blocks). It was an ancient book on the different fundamental particles of unique energies present in nature. The book itself was maybe three to four thousand years old, so seeing such a good copy was a surprising thing in itself. We already had seen the little details as well as their photos, so I could tell there was a powerful preservation and protection spell cast on it. It was great, but I had already read it in my time with my master. She even thought me further on the topic of (Creation particles) and I was able to create the basic foundation for ''my'' magic. This book was great, and I had no interest in it. I knew whoever buys it won''t even be able to read thenguage it was written in. The incredible illustrations inside the book would just reinforce their curiosity. Learning thatnguage from the ground up took me three months. And that was after memorizing a few dozen books written in a simrnguage. It was also some of the first ancientnguages I learned, but now, after having a good grasp of the runenguage, and looking back at my struggles with thesenguages looks¡­ cute. So, that was it. That were the nine things up for auction next. I want to go into details like how Sarah''s voice was when exining some small ''visible'' details of the items, how the three empresses fought tooth and nail for the herbs, and how my ''war'' with other rich people aside from the headmaster and emperor was for thend. I would love to exin the silent moments, the cheers of excitement, the diverse expressions of people, and especially the fun time with my family, Anna, and Rein. It would be fun to be detailed about these fun things but, maybe, it was fine without them. I had fun in this auction. Had fun ying with the funny nobles. It was fun operating this big ce and being in a higher position than hundreds of thousands of people. It was also an amazing experience facing a demon noble and seeing the magic of the greatest mage. It was fun seeing my friend in her gorgeous clothes, seeing her gorgeous smile, her cute blush, that bad anger, and her every aspect. Still, we had a long way to go. We were still only friends and the day this status would change was still far. It was alright though. She knew how to wait, unlike many people. So¡­ The grand annual auction of Hiraani ended with me and Rein getting the items we wanted. Though she couldn''t get that herb rted to the darkness attribute. Ca didn''t get the sword, and the emperor was really a petty bastard. It was a bad experience for her, going against that bastard for a mere sword. But instead of cing higher bids to lower her morale, he yed with her mentality. It was bad and dirty, I would say, but she needed such experience early in her life. She was fine¡­ furious, enraged, sad, and almost on the verge of crying, but she was fine. Her family, we all were with her so she was ok. The auction ended on a high note, too. Many people wanted that ancient book. Headmaster, emperor, his wives, the kings, mages, rich people, everyone fought tooth and nail for an old book that they might not even be able to properly decipher. The book was a hot sensation. And it ended in the hands of the headmaster, the one who seeks the knowledge the most among people of this continent. ''Probably after me. Hehe.'' I would have tried my best if it were some uniquenguage or unique book but I knew about this, and there were already many chances that the headmaster would require my help in deciphering the text. It would be fun if he did, but he was a great person. I shouldn''t doubt his capabilities. So, that was the end of their long annual auction, but for us, the new employees, there was still the ball event to prepare. I even had to first go with mom, meet the other staff, then go to the underground storage to pick up some useful items, and then¡­ go to the special ce to have dinner with the imperial family. The first event of the day, which started perfectly, ended with the highest profits ever. It was an impressive feat and maybe it was somewhat because of me, but every other factor yed a part. The first event was just a rushed end to that good tale, but the tale of this day, the tale of today, wasn''t finished just yet¡­ Chapter 432 Afterevent Gathering "And this is the head chef uncle Tan. And uncle, this is operator A2, my amazing little baby Axion, and operator A3, his good ''friend'' Reinelle." We were in the conference room right now with most employees of Hiraani present. The auction had ended, and this was an important after-event meeting and she was introducing the two of us to everyone. Everyone was on the second floor, in their rooms, preparing for the night ball, so only the two of us were with her. It was an amazing experience handling all these people and the fact that she used to do all this by herself¡­ she was the best. Everyone working in Hiraani was present there except the guards. We would meet them someday, but for now, every other employee was here. From general manager Zack to the gorgeous and cheerful miss Sarah. The operators were here too. And the whole operator B unit was filled with people who had some pretty amazing talents. Actually, everyone here was special in their own way. From the normal people with no special skills to the people with worldly aplishments. There were many people here, and the fact that they all looked up to her was just amazing. Her way of selecting personnel, her analyzing skills, the way she won over them and just the fact that she had them with her in this amazing ce were ineffable. She was amazing, and she was introducing the two of us to everyone right now. Rein was somewhat shy, but she was used to this stuff, so she was on her best behavior. The people here knew her. Most of them did, so it was even more surprising how a noble house''s representative whom no one knew much about was suddenly with them. Then she kept emphasizing the word ''friend'' every time she introduced us and it became too obvious for everyone here to ignore. It wasn''t umon for people to find their future partners before they be adults, but it sure was a fact that most of those things ended early. It was either the fluke of adolescence or some political propaganda or arrangements, but the thing between the two of us¡­ Well, two of our physical appearance was far more mature than our age and the way the two of us masterfully handled things today was enough proof of our higher intelligence and capabilities. There was no way they would believe we were some immature, childish couple who would grow up and end things soon. The way we handled things required experience. Solid experience with the people, society, and the whole gray world. So, the smart people here knew what the two of us had was special. It was special enough for their masters to announce it to them like that. I knew they were surprised because she was also in a strangely good mood, but seeing her smile like that was my eternal wish. And many people here wished for the same. Their reactions to this simr wish were eptable, but not the ones they gave me and Rein as they looked at us individually, as well as a whole. I had hair like mom and grandpa, a bit more on the gold side, but they resembled hers. My eyes were like Dad''s but their eyes were clearly admiring how mine were strangely special. I looked good and all and it was a family thing, but Rein¡­ the gorgeous girl stole many young hearts in this room with her bewitching beauty. I sometimes forget it because of the things I have seen and my master, but she was one heavenly gorgeous masterpiece. Her beautiful hair, her shiny pink eyes, that noble aura around her, and the way she was dressed made her even more¡­ divine? Well, she looked impable, I looked good, and as a whole, the two of us must have looked fascinating, envious, cute, and special to them. It was what it was, and they were already amazed by our skills, the looks fueled the mes. So, they were impressed, and it pleased my dear naughty mom. "Hello, head chef. It is very nice to finally meet you and all the other kitchen staff. The food was perfect. You respected my master''s cooking methods with such impable execution." I smiled while shaking his big hand. This hand of a special dwarf was actually different. "Hahaha! I''m the honored one to receive such divine knowledge. And thepliment should belong to them." He pointed at the kitchen staff behind him. There were chiefs, maids, and helpers looking at us with shy faces. "Without them, even I wouldn''t have been able to make some of the greatest meals of my life." They were embarrassed by his praise, but I nodded at his words with a smile of my own. "Definitely. A kitchen is made of every element, person, and ingredient used in cooking. A sessful meal is created by everyone who helps in its making. From the ones washing the ingredients to the ones ting them. Everyone has done amazing work today. I''m truly happy to work with such amazing people today." Their eyes were wide open, staring at me at those words. Even the head chef and others hearing it were surprised. My words¡­ well, maybe they were too effective. Many of them almost started crying just from hearing it. "Indeed¡­ you''re amazing." One of the people who was almost crying was the head chef himself. He was a nice person. I smiled helplessly at his behavior and talked with him for a bit. Then we met the other people, talked,ughed, watched the special highlights of today''s auction events, and some funny reactions from the audience. It was a warm atmosphere and Rein liked it there. Maybe we can take her ce when the timees¡­ but it was still too early for that. We would help her whenever she needed it, but the primary goal was to avoid the hellish work she makes us do. Anyway, there were many interesting and capable people here. But the most fascinating one among them was Miss Sarah. [[ "Celes, can you send a clone to that beautifuldy and connect us?" ]] [[ Yeiiiiiii~. She''s beautiful! And strong~! ]] [[ "Yup. Stronger than one can think." ]] [[ Hehe. She''s special! But she''s good~. ]] Yes, well, I don''t know. She was good at hiding her strength, but Rein and I, who could see her status window, couldn''t ignore the fact that she was also a witch¡­ as well as the fact that she had some pretty unique skills. A short, fun conversation with her was inevitable, so a red butterfly came out of my hand, flew towards Sarah, andnded on her gorgeous silver hair. [[ "Hello miss Sarah." ]] She definitely heard my voice, but without reacting to it, she just continued her conversation with her friend colleagues. We were in a big conference room and there was a big magic screen before us ying some statistical data from today''s event now. Rein was connected to this small conversation already, but she was chatting with the resources department and giving them some good tips. They had stars in their eyes as they noted down her precious pieces of advice, so that was her. But my conversation with miss Sarah was known to her. [[ "Eon, Eon. Dear good Axion. You know how much Nol talks about her?" ]] Her way of speaking as well as her voice was different from what we had heard till now. She really was quite unique. [[ "Hehe. She''s my mom. I would naturally know about it. More than that¡­ not many people know about you here, right?" ]] [[ "Well of course. Just Zack and Nol do. It''s a big secret so you two should keep it to yourself too, ok?" ]] Maybe it was only me, but those calmly said words seemed threatening. But I convinced myself it was just a misunderstanding. [[ "Of course. You''re a great help to my mom. She believes in you, so we''re alright. But that aside¡­ why?" ]] Why was she here? Why was someone like her doing simple auctioneering? Why was she helping mom and why was she hiding? Those were genuine questions and there was definitely a separate story to them. But she understood what I meant by my short question. And her answer¡­ [[ "Well, we know each other ever since she was a young girl. If it''s you, I believe you would understand how long this story would be, right? But if I had to give an eptable answer to someone like you¡­ I love her. Is that enough?" ]] She looked at me while saying that with a warm smile on her face. Her colleagues didn''t understand her sudden behavior, but I understood her smile. Her answer was more than eptable. Those clear eyes said it all. Rein understood it, too. So she looked at me with a smile and just shook her head. [[ "It''s more than enough. Please keep looking after her." ]] [[ "You really are quite fun, little boy. How would you two like some tea one these days?" ]] Rein looked at me again with a smile and nodded happily. And I nodded back, looked at my smiling mom who presented the data, and then back at Miss Sarah. [[ "It would be our pleasure." ]] I wouldn''t miss the chance to hear some amazing stories about my mom and especially her childhood. It would be fun. And this whole experience was fun. The people here were amazing and from the ones who cleaned the countless rooms in this castle to the high mages and great knights guarding this ce, I was thankful to them all. Of course not the ones polluting this ce. They would be dealt with sooner orter. It was not concerning so that aside¡­ [[ "Oh right! The two of you would be going to the room of treasures, right?" ]] Miss Sarah spoke up, and her words suddenly caught our attention. [[ "Yes? That''s the n." ]] [[ "Huhu. Eon and Elle are in for a good surprise~. I suggest you take your time going through the skill stone area. There are quite a number of skills that would bepatible with you special couple. Ah! And Eon. Look closely around the left section. There''s something quite special that must have been waiting for you all this time." ]] Her words were filled with pure excitement. And those suggestionsing from someone like her were always appreciated. [[ "Thanks for the precious great advice, gooddy." ]] The skill of stone storage was the goal from the start. Those pointers would be quite helpful if I actually get something I was looking for. And I was looking for something¡­ unique. Something that I can use openly and still be fine. It wouldn''t matter what type or kind of skill it is, but I wanted something versatile. Something like mom''s silver thread skill. Few skills were actuallypatible with my existing set of skills. So¡­ I would make sure to give her a useful present if this was helpful. Anyway¡­ mom was almost done with her presentation. It was time to announce the profits and everyone''s winter bonus. And after that¡­ we were going to the room of treasures. Chapter 433 Room Of Treasures "Be careful. It''s a bit strange path now." Mom was taking the lead as the two of us walked on this strange narrow path. It had many curves and turns and strange divided paths. But we were fine as we followed her. The underground passage of Hiraani. It was used for many things, but there was a ce that was very important. The room of treasures. It was the ce where most of the very important items were stored. Not many knew about this ce, and fewer actually knew what it housed. It was a treasuryparable to the treasure vaults of many powerful kingdoms from what I had heard. And this strangely secured ce was proof of it¡­ ''There''s a pool?'' Rein asked as she looked in the other direction with her eyes. It was dark, but she could see that pool full of murky green water. But she didn''t look closely. ''Yup. A pool full of hungry, flesh-eating fishes.'' Her eyes widened as she looked back at me with surprise. But it wasn''t that big as we had seen many things like this one on our path in thest half hour we were walking on it. From traps full of hungry, carnivorous nts, to magic traps, ssic traps where one would be holed by the sudden arrowsing out of the walls or squished by the walls with pointed metal on both ends. There were many magic traps, too. And many tamed monsters of (Red) to (Green) rank guarding some spots. The monsters weren''t aggressive before her, but they certainly showed strange reactions to the two of us. It was a naturally conflicting reaction that contradicted their duty and their natural attraction toward us. It was fine, though. We were with her, and they didn''t leave their ce. So, we walked through thisplicatedbyrinth of traps and finally, after a while, we reached an open area with a biiiiiig gate and many caves on the walls around us. The caves looked strange and empty normally, but Rein and I could tell there were high-level monsters trapped with strong spells in there. They were as strong as the stronger (Blue) rank monsters. Which was definitely¡­ a lot of security. But that wasn''t all either. ''Three eyes.'' ============ [Neo Guardians] ¡ï ¡ï ¡î ¡ª> Artificial golems made from the cores of (Purple) ranked golem cores. A good artifact. ¡ª> They have been made with great care and by the hands of at least a master dwarf. ¡ª> The craftsmanship is good, there are signs of Bwud''s techniques but not exactly like them. ¡ª> They are somewhat good guardians and both of them could use elemental magic of at least (tier-3). ¡ª> Well, the guardians aside¡­ that door is interesting. ¡ª> It''s interesting. Complicated. Complex. And most importantly, the creator of that door inscribed the [[( Pruthdva )]] rune on it. It''s good. ============ There were two armored knight-like stone statues by the two sides of the gate. They looked like any fictional treasure guardians which would start moving when they sense the intruders and these two were the same. They looked amazing too. Especially the way their armor was created with such details. They were fascinating and so was this whole ce¡­ "Who would have thought there''s something like this just under this auction house¡­?" She was surprised as she looked around with a surprise-filled voice. "Huhu. You haven''t been to the 12/12th street, Elle?" That was one of the rareughs from mom that came just because she seeded in surprising me with something. It was natural, but her words weren''t. "That ce actually exists?" I had to ask it. We were talking about a market of magical items, after all. It was a rumored ce that was somewhere under this empire, and only a few special people could visit it. From all the books I had read about the empire, I had only ever read bits of information about that ce. And many of them were mystical and unclear. I did doubt that it was a real ce, but it was only created around a hundred or two hundred years ago, so I didn''t know much about it. Most of the knowledge I had was far older, and I was still learning about the recent stuff. So this was a good piece of information. "That''s a different thing than this amazing ce. If just the outside, door, and guardians are this much extravagant, I can''t even imagine what''s past those doors." She didn''t address mom as anything while saying that, something she had been doing for a while now. She didn''t call her countess,dy, or anything formal like that. She didn''t even call her mother like mom had told her many times to do. Rein was shy about that for now, but mom knew she would befortable with time. So, she just smiled for now and walked forward after giving her a warm smile. She stood before the gate, took out a strange brown metallic card, and ced it on the surface of the gate. -Ooooooooong. A brown light came out of the card and mechanic patterns of the same color started appearing on the gate. The reaction stopped only when the strange patterns had covered the whole gate and illuminated the strange runic pattern on top of it. That was the rune and after it was activated, she stored back the card as the giant gates started opening with a powerful sound. -Creeeeeek¡­ "Come on." Mom waved her hand as she walked inside the dark room, and we followed behind her with excited hearts. It would be fun to see this treasure room. It would be my second one ever, but the first one was a special case so it can''t be included. ''And we would need a dragonyer full of treasures topare our tower treasury.'' It was a magnificent ce, iparable to anything, so this was going to be a special experience. Treasure boxes, chests full of cool shiny things, cool artifacts, important things just lying around the room, actually important things stored inside special cases, things like that were my primary thoughts after hearing the name ''treasure room'' but, as I had thought, it was different. "Wee¡­ to Hiraani''s room of treasures." It was a ce simr to a warehouse or item storage area with a systematic arrangement of the items. "Different from what you thought, right? Huhu, it used to look like those usual treasure rooms, but it was difficult to find the items we needed ording to the auction event and everything. Storing things like this makes it far easier to find them among the innumerable things. Go around. Find things that suit you. But we only have around twenty minutes, and Elle can have only one item while Eon gets three. Choose carefully and quickly~." Mom and my deal was forty-five percent of the profit from my items, as well as one item for every certain amount of profit she gained. One item to both of us was a gift from her for our hellishbor. Two more I could get were from the profits. And we didn''t have to think deeply about what we wanted the most. As per Sarah''s advice, we quickly ran towards the skill stone area. It was on the very back and, just like the other ones, there were big shelves filled with skill stones of different shapes, colors, and sizes. This was a special area as there weren''t as many skill stones as the other artifacts, books, perfectly preserved herbs, and other things. There were skills from (Red) to even (Purple) rank¡­ a sight we couldn''t see in many ces. This ce was great so¡­ "Good luck~!" "You too, darling!" And she ran after saying that. She even called out Branwen, and he knew the situation, so he flew up and started looking through the skills and things. We only had a little time, so we had to find the things best for us in this enormous ce. She had to find one thing that would stand out among the countless things present in this ce while I had to find three. It was going to be a difficult task, so I called out Celes too and she divided into tens of clones. [[ Do not worry, master! I''m gonna find the best thing for you~! ]] She left in the search of the best things on the other side, towards the artifacts, and other things. I was enough for these shelves full of cool-looking stones, crystals, and stuff containing skills. ''Lady Sarah said to look towards that side¡­'' I walked toward the end of the shelves and took a turn. The ce that I ended up in was full of skill stones that were either too small or too big. It was unique and these skills themselves were unique, too. The skill rank was irrelevant in this ce, as the skills were rare and from beings that couldn''t be found by just anyone. ''(Red blizzard), (Icy mes), (Soundwave wasp), (Talisman paper dummies)... wait, what?'' I was looking through the skills, but my eyes went back to a small cylinder. "She has this¡­?" It wasn''t just any skill. It was the thing that I was looking for. "Damn!" I calmed my heart and hurriedly looked through the remaining skill stones. There were pretty amazing skills here that could y a big role in the destruction of this empire. I understood the reason for that great security from just these powerful destructive skills. Some skill stones were even as big as huge boulders, but among them all¡­ ============ [Talisman paper dummies] ¡ï ¡ï ¡ï ¡ª> A skill that can automatically recreate the enchantments that the possessor has a total understanding about. ¡ª> It is an (Indigo) ranked unique skill seldom found in (Purple) ranked creatures (Natural shamans). ¡ª> It is a skill of nature and only someone with a high affinity with nature and affinity with many natural attributes could use it. ¡ª> The skill usage consumes a great amount of energy from the possessor. But the required energy is not specific. ¡ª> The used energy would define the strength of the skill output. Higher grade energy would increase the strength of the skill. ¡ª> The created dummies of enchantment could be used as the user likes. But how much of these encashments one could materialize at a time depends on the mental strength of the individual. ¡ª> Get it. This one''s it. Dumbass¡­ ============ Yup. The usual cursing aside, this one must be the one she talked about. It was a rare skill and had the versatility that I was looking for. It was a skill that could create effects like many skills in this ce. ''Hell, I could even use basic runes more easily with this.'' And the skill stone was uniquely smaller than many of the small crystals here. Anyway¡­ it was a good skill, so I picked it up, ran forward, and stopped before a biiiiiig skill stone that was like a boulder and stored it in my white crack. It was a skill called [shlight], a strong (Purple) ranked skill unique to the rare creature (Red-yellow kangaroo). It was a good skill and would be very good for Chry. So that was it from the skills and I hurriedly used some movement skills and magic to go to the ce where Celes had found the perfect thing for me. Well, she could feel soul energy and Solnova probably better than me, so there was a great possibility that the thing she would find would be rted to them. And I was right. [[ It''s perfect, right~? ]] "Couldn''t be more perfect¡­ thanks Celes. You''re legen¡ªdary!" This really was perfect. Chapter 434 An Excited Little Girl The thing she found was a fossil. Yup¡­ a fossil of a perfectly preserved being that was still alive inside that stone. It was a being that was technically lost, but right now, there was one before me in the unidentifiable object section of this treasury. The things in this ce were all very, very, rare, unbelievable, and something that even my eyes could provide little information about. But this one was the most amazing of them. It was something that I would only be able to use in the future and, as it was a parasitic being, I had to be strong enough to gain control over this thing. I was confident I could do that much, but not now. ''If I actually free it and try it right now, I would just bemitting a dumb suicide. It was some of the few old Solnova-using creatures that could only live by relying on a partner, host, or¡­ a weak individual that they could use as a temporary shell. They vanished long ago, but this one before me¡­ I knew I could resurrect it with appropriate things. ''But¡­ not now.'' The hosts of the parasites received tremendous strength. But at the same time, the sacrifices would be just as great¡­ It consumed the total energy of the individual, so death would be just a step away from them if they were weak or had low energy pools. ''Anyway¡­'' I found my three things and returned just in time. Rein was already here, happily chatting with mom¡­ They looked good together, but Rein had found something good for herself. It was a skill, naturally, and it was perfect for her too. "Found something good?" She asked as she hugged me. She was now open enough to do this stuff before some close people, but she was still shy. ''Cute¡­'' Nodding at her with a smile, I patted her back. "Something good, something good for Chry, and something very good for the future." She shook her head as we finished our little hug and looked into each other''s eyes. ''Bastard. Thinking about someone else even in this kind of moment. Haaa¡­ So? What did you find in this treasury?'' ''A secret~.'' I grinned, and she knew I wasn''t going to tell her anything, so she just nodded and ended the question. "Huhu. Looks like Eon got some good things~. Mama''s happy~!" She hugged me and then added her in this hug, too. "So now dinner with the jerk emperor?" Mom was upset while saying that, but she couldn''t do anything about this. She actually didn''t like the emperor, but she didn''t argue about the invitation from the emperor himself. I didn''t mind it, he wasn''t totally a bad person yet, and she knew I would be fine even if something happened there. Nothing would happen, but still¡­ "It will be fine, mom. I will be alright and be back by the time the ball starts." I reassured her and if that wasn''t enough¡­ "Celes and I are with this dummy, too. At least nothing would happen before he enters the dining hall." [[ "Yes~! I''m here~!" ]] Celes set down on her head and reassured herself. And that much was enough to reassure my worry-worry mom. It was going to be fine, hopefully, so I just hugged her back. ''There''s emperor''s crystal butterfly too. It would be fun meeting an older one¡­'' I was excited to meet some of the four current highest authorities of this empire. Empress Madeleine also known as (The seconding of Pochimi), empress Aina the (Blue healer), empress Vera (Witch of immortal winds), and emperor August, are some of the greatest characters this empire had ever had, also well-known as (The ruler of mes). They were at the very least strong people, so my heart was jumping in excitement. ''It is going to be a good experience. And I would meet the imperial princes and princesses so¡­'' "He''s excited." "I know, sweetie. I know." It wasn''t obvious. They just knew it¡­ But it was true. The day was about to end after all¡­ *** "Brother! Did you hear-" "Yes, yes, Sophie. I heard father invited someone for dinner with him." In arge,vish, and shiny hall room, two young boys and a girl were reading some books when this little young girl hurriedly ran in while shouting. "Sophie! How many times do I have to tell you to not run like that? Sit down!" The other girl shouted at the little one. Both girls looked simr with their matching light brown hair that looked like a fresh breath of earth, something different from normal brown, but simr. But the little one had fresh blue eyes while the older girl had golden eyes like the young boy beside her. The young girl was startled to see her sister, the other girl, in this ce. Only the boy she sat beside was usually there, so she wasn''t expecting her sister and another brother here. Well, it was better that all of them were here, so the little girl started talking with even more excitement. "Yes~! So, I heard that dad and moms met this amazing person and were so interested that they invited them for a private dinner! Can you believe that~?" The young girl with little pointed ears was excited. It was natural, after all. Even they haven''t had a private dinner with their father aside from some special asions. The other girl with simr pointed hair was interested in this news, but there were certainly qualified people to have a private audience with their father. And their father and mothers had gone to the annual auction where many famous, rich, and important people gathered. It wasn''t unnatural that they met some interesting person and invited them for dinner. The weak-looking boy beside her was looking at the little girl with a smile, enjoying her happy face and cheerful expression. The other one though, for who she had run this far, wasn''t much interested in this talk. "Yes! I also heard they are someone young like you~!" Now, this piece of information surprised the older girl. It was their first time hearing that their father, the great emperor of the greatest nation, would invite someone young for a private dinner. They must be too extraordinary to have gained this amazing reward that even they hadn''t been able to achieve. She was surprised and if the one saying this all was this little girl with special gifts; she knew she could believe those words. Still, she was surprised and there was some anger boiling up inside her, but she didn''t let it out. She just set there and continued reading. The boy beside her was still simply smiling as he handed the little girl a ss of water. The little girl thanked him with a warm smile and looked at the brother that was still not interested in anything she was saying. He was indifferent to all this, despite the matter being of such great impotence. But she knew her next words would attract the attention of this indifferent person, and she was excited to see his reaction. So, a smirk appeared on her face as she put down the ss of water. "I also heard that miss Reinelle was there, and she looked gorgeous~!" "What?! Really!?" And as she knew, as all three of them knew, the stoic boy with light indigo hair and golden eyes jerked his head towards her and asked that with wide-open eyes. The young girl giggled at this reaction and nodded with confidence. "She greeted father and mothers with thedy auction master and her family for some reason. But I''m not sure about this because there were only very small rumors." She wasn''t sure. It was a rare word from the mouth of this youngest sister of theirs. It meant that the information could only be half true. But that was enough to believe that there was a solid probability that it was true. "And¡­ I think she might attend today''s dance you all will be going to~!" She thought. It meant there was a greater probability that it woulde true. And this excited the boy even more. "Really?! Thanks, Sophie! Just tell me if you need anything and I will bring it when returning!" And after saying that, he ran out of the room to start preparing for the night ball. He had to be perfect now that he knew someone special was going to attend that thing too. His behavior was cute for a little girl, so sheughed and almost fell down from the chair whileughing. "You dummy..." But a strange wind blew out of nowhere and caught her in the air. She flew andnded just beside the older girl. "Read me a story sister~!" She requested and tried to stand down from the chair, but her big sister shook her head. "Nope. You will fall asleep like always. You still haven''t had dinner, so you can''t sleep. Go help brother ud. Maybe he will need your amazing expertise." "Okey~!" And after that, the little girl ran out just as fast as she entered this room. The energy she possessed was really something else. "Sophie¡­ Sophie." She was cute, young, smart, gifted, and loved by all her siblings. They envied her, but more than that, they loved her. "Hmm? Alph? Isn''t that book¡­ upside down?" The boy with bright red hair with orangish ends and golden eyes who had a visibly weak constitution was reading the book upside down. Well, certainly not right? "Oh?! Right!" So he hurriedly turned it back and returned to his reading with an embarrassed blush on his pale face. "Dumbass¡­" She shook her head and returned to her reading, too. This youngest brother of hers was the same age as her, but he was just too clumsy, weak, and somewhat dumb. But he was a good person, so no one at least hated him yet. He was also not much special among the imperial princes. Even calling him the weakest would be best. Still, he was fine and was their brother, so she was fine with him. He wasn''t someone who would get a personal dinner with their father anytime soon. So¡­ she was more interested in this special young person who was so special that even her father couldn''t help but want to invite them to a private dinner. She was interested. And maybe, just maybe, this special person will be present at the night ball today. She was already looking forward to it because of the usual chocte fountain of her favorite chocte, but now there was another reason to attend that boring thing. ''Let''s see¡­'' She continued reading her special book on choctes and the boy beside her gave her a look as if she was cute. Not in that way, though. She was a cute sister with cuter habits and reactions. Still, that was her, so he just shook his head and returned to reading his storybook. It was a fun story about a rabbit and turtle, so he was having fun¡­ Chapter 435 Royal Dinner Standing before a giant luxurious restaurant named (Royal ind), Rein and I said our goodbyes to uncle Besnick, our usual carriage driver, and looked at each other. ''You''re nervous.'' She was nervous for some reason. The one who was going to have dinner with them was me, so there was no reason for her to be nervous. ''Haaa¡­ and you''re still excited.'' She was worried that something would happen to me or to the food, depending on the situation. Something could happen to the royal family too and as this was the greatest restaurant owned by empress Madeleine, the food was definitely questionable. Well, I had no n to at least disappoint their expectations¡­ or the food, hopefully. ''Haaa¡­ you have tasted it too, no? Can you me me?'' There was only one person in this world that was the best cook for me. And she wasn''t in this world anymore. Her cooking was just too out of the world that even if I knew this person was called the best cook on the continent, her cooking couldn''t just reach that level of divinity. ''It''s not. I know better than anyone, maybe. Still, I believe in those great acting skills of yours. I believe you will be just fine.'' ''Then wish me luck, darling¡­'' Taking a deep breath and squeezing her hand thrice, I let go of it and we walked towards the grand gates of the best restaurant. This was a ce few could actually afford, so mostly only rich people could ever set foot here. And most of them were gourmets from all over the continent. It was a special ce situated near the imperial pce, so its splendor was even more amazing. But, on this special day, just like every year, this ce was closed to the general public. Which included even the kings of other nations. The emperor himself, with the three empresses, dined here on the first day of the winter festival. The ce was closed and heavily guarded, like right now, and the procedures to follow, even after receiving an invitation from his majesty himself, were strict. The strong, high-ranking knights covered in full-body solid armor first checked us, made us sign some written documents, and only then led Rein and me to different rooms. The one emperor invited was me and Rein was my date for today, which was mostly how things went in this society, so even though she was allowed the entrance, she couldn''t be in the same hall as them. ''Which we already knew was going to happen¡­'' So, after that long, almost half-hour inspection and stuff, I was standing before one of the most amazing gates I had ever seen on the top floor of the restaurant. "Haaa¡­" It was time for dinner, so I didn''t hesitate and nodded at the mages beside the jewel-covered gate. -Ooooooooooong! They were stoic as they imbued the gate with their dense Mana, and it slowly opened. ''Let''s¡­ see.'' I was expecting some kind of announcement and stuff. Seeing the four of them eating with noble manners, maybe empress Madeleine making the dinner herself. But unlike my expectations, only the thinking that empress Madeleine was making something was true. Aside from that¡­ "Hahaha. That was a funny one." Emperor wasughing? "Let me finish, dear. There is more~. So, Sophie was ying suddenly and there was this big doll¡­" Empress Aina, the calm gorgeous pure elf, wasughing while holding a knife. "Med? Is it ready yet¡­? My little tummy is roaring¡­" The way empress Vera, the royal advisor, said those words seemed unreal. She was spread out on the table when the gates opened, and I saw them. While just behind her, there was a tornado of fire. "Almost done, almost done. Just two minutes!" Empress Madeleine was wearing an apron but unlike dad, this one was red, something that matched her orangish hair. There was a pan in her hand and a tornado of mes on this pan¡­ and she was controlling those mes masterfully. ''The title of best on the continent is at least true¡­'' This was a friendly family image, nothing like what I had imagined. Or nothing like the stereotypical royal family where the emperor is old or stoic, empresses have some dark internal conflicts going on, or they want their children to be the next sessors of the throne. No, well, instead of something like that, this scene reminded me of my own family¡­ something I do not want to believe, so I will just ignore this. "Oh~! That young child is here!" Empress Vera was the first to shout and break their attention. Not that they didn''t know I was here. They just ignored the small presence and were immersed in their conversations. She had nothing to do right now, so she was naturally the first to shout. "Oh, hoho. Come, young Axion. Take a seat. She will be done in a minute." "She said that three minutes before too¡­" Empress Vera mumbled with a hungry, powerless expression. She quite certainly was starving. "No really! I have to try my best today! We have a special guest, you see!" The tornado of mes died down as if they weren''t anything and she put the pan with a big piece of green-colored meat down. Was this for real or some kind of y¡­? It was a question, but I respectfully bowed and treated them in proper manners before sitting down. Maybe it was some kind of test or something- "It''s not some kind of test, little boy. It might be weird, but just try to rx for today." The emperor was the one saying that, so I was even more unsure of what to do. He was a weird guy, after all. "I will try my very best to follow those words, your majesty." I will try. That''s the best I can do in this situation anyway. "Hahaha. Alright." His answer was short, ambiguous, and, just like him, weird. So, I just waited in the room as I looked over the splendid room and these four people. They were at least not acting. And if they were, I was definitely falling for it. It was a weird situation, so I couldn''t do much and just look at the cooking process, look at their expressions, and hear their family stories¡­ which was a personal thing and there was no way I was going to leak this information. I signed a Mana contract after all¡­ Anyway, they were interesting. "So, Sophie goes to Mr. Martial and says there''s this big fight going on in the west wing and he runs without thinking, only to find two squirrels fighting~." "Poor Mart. She sure has be mischievous." The two of them were most certainly talking about the third and youngest princess, who is rumored to have special powers. She certainly sounded interesting if even they were talking about her with such cheerful expressions. "Bell is still the same, though. Aside from studies and choctes, there seems to be nothing that interests her." Now, this was the talk about the second princess Isabe, the one who loves the choctes from the branch manager of the adventurers association. "Haaa. That girl is still young. She will find more interest by the time she enters the academy." Right. Two imperial princes and this second princess were going to be in the academy at the same time as all of us. But I was going to see them at tonight''s ball anyway, so it was going to be fun seeing the future highest powers of the empire. "Vera? Anything new with Charles and ud?" She wasying her head on the table and didn''t lift while answering. "Nah. Both are the same. One is traveling around while the other one just reads and trains. They are no fun, hump! They don''t care about their mama." She looked upset. But still, her alluring anger seemed attractive. Emperor sighed at her behavior and didn''t say anything more, the food was ready too. "Alright then!" There were tens of attractive-looking delicacies served on the round table and some special ones made just for the people present there. There was some kind of weird soup and fish for empress Vera, a sd and a piece of tofu-like thing but different from that basic thing, this one looked just like meat stake; a whole red chicken for the emperor, spicy just from the looks, and there were things for me and Rein too. Like, for me, it was a weird burger with a red bun, green meat, blue vegetables, and silver sauce. For Rein, though, it was something that looked¡­vish? Well, everything on this table was top-ss. From the looks to the¡­ "Please. Have a bite. Tell me how you like it, the young owner of some of the greatest food chains~." She was the chef right now, and there were great expectations on her pretty face. The thing before me, however unique it was, looked delicious. But before I started eating by myself¡­ "Celes," I called out to my partner to join me for this special dinner. "Apologies for my rude behavior but my fam-" "Wow~! Another crystal butterfly!" That was empress Vera. And she was so excited that she stood up straight in her chair. "Wow¡­ this creature. This one is special, too." And that was empress Aina. The surprise on her cute, small face and those wide, blue eyes were also astonishing. "You also have a crystal butterfly as familiar? Doesn''t that mean there are seven people with a crystal butterfly familiar now?" Empress Madeleine was surprised, but not as much as them. She was more interested in hearing my review of her food, so her eyes were telling me to eat. I really didn''t want to cause trouble, but it was inevitable to a certain point, so having Celes out was a good choice. "Hoh? Aurora. You were right! He does have a partner like you." And as soon as the emperor said that to his hand, with a bright light blinding the room, a biiiiiig butterfly came out of his hand. A golden butterfly with a wingspan of almost one meter came out and hovered behind him. And after a moment, it shrunk down into a normal butterfly size and sat down before him. The butterfly with crystal-like golden wings and a golden body looked at me Celes, who had a pure white body and blue crystal wings. This was my first time seeing another crystal butterfly and this one certainly looked cool! ''Will Celes grow that big too?'' She might. Her primary growth depended on my growth, so it was most certainly possible. [[ You two¡­ ]] I was almost lost in my thoughts when I heard this new, mature voice in my mind. It was simr to how Celes talked with me, but this voice was not hers. [[ How are you alive? ]] "What¡­?" Was it a question or some kind of joke? Why were we alive? We were alive because we wanted to survive, meet my family, gain strength, and not die. That was the best basic answer to that question from our perspective. But I knew we can''t say that. Celes felt it from me too, so she didn''t say anything. The question was strange¡­ and so were the reactions of the four of them to this question. Chapter 436 Why Not The Best...? "They are alive because they are strong, bad Aurora." The emperor had narrow eyes as he looked at the butterfly. "Aurora¡­ how many times do we have to tell you? That''s a very bad question to ask of every special person you meet." Empress Vera slowly tapped her spoon on her head in a scolding. "Haaa¡­ Axion, new miss butterfly Celes, she didn''t mean it like that. She only wanted to say you are unique." And even empress Aina was scolding the little butterfly. But the butterfly in question pped her wings. [[ Nooo! I meant it this time! Their soul energies are too dense for their bodies! And even if it''s justifiable for her, it''s definitely not for that boy! ]] She was confident with what she was saying and they just now understood the meaning behind her words. Just like how Celes can sense the soul energy, she could do the same. And Celes could do it from her mark, so maybe she wasn''t as proficient in this thing as Celes. Anyway¡­ [[ You! Boy! How are you alive! And why is the soul energy so unstable and spinning in your body like Mana!? ]] Well, it shouldn''t be like this in most natural circumstances, but my case was special. I knew about my soul, had good control over it, and my innate skill could circte it like other energies, so it was natural for me. Just that no one ever pointed it out. "Oh? You mean it like that, hmm? Interesting¡­" The emperor was intrigued by this new piece of information about me. And then the two empresses that were paying attention to this conversation had a sudden realization. "You can separate the soul from the body already?!" "That''s¡­ how?!" Empress Madeleine had an expression that was almost begging us to start eating instead of this baseless chitchat. But she endured because this new topic was at least a bit interesting. To separate the soul from the body, one had to understand the concept of the soul and their own soul to a certain degree and be strong enough to have a strong soul that could be separated from the mortal body. And my soul was strong and, ording to Aurora, it was spinning, which meant it wasn''t stable like the usual souls. It was something only those who could separate their souls from their bodies could do, so it was natural they could reach that conclusion¡­ "Separating the soul from the body already? Hahaha! That''s quite the feat, young boy!" Emperor August looked very young if I never mentioned it. Like, almost as young as uncle El. His young appearance, clean face, dark red hair with orangish ends, gold eyes, and that good-looking,ughing appearance were definitely overshadowing his true self. But now, their eyes were on me, asking for an answer that I had to give in a way that I don''t tell them much about myself, so there was only one simple answer. "Yes. It''s because of my innate skill." Saying that much was enough. There were many types, kinds, and verities of skills that had many of their application. And I specified it was my unique skill, so that answered most of their questions about me. Like, why their skills didn''t work on me or why was I still alive with this unusually strange soul energy, or¡­ even why I was still not (poof!)ed. [[ Must be something on the simr level as an exponential skill to keep you alive like that, you boy. ]] She was referring to thest of pinnacle skills. A separate section is given to the innate skills that manage to break through their limitations and grow as strong as the other fourteen pinnacle skills. Special ultimate skills, also known as (EX-skills). Anyway, it might be true in the future, but not now. I still couldn''t naturally control the surrounding energies. The three of them understood it and scolded the little butterfly again. ''And they like scolding her¡­'' They were strange people, scolding a little, powerless, and innocent butterfly. They really were bad and had no shame. [[ Yes, yes. Scold me all you want, you son of bitches. I will take my revenge when the timees. Just like always, when you have absolutely no clue about it, I will tickle your soul out of you. You will scream. Scream for mercy. Beg for forgiveness. Hahaha! ]] ''I take back the innocent part.'' "Oh? You will? But then we will just scold you again. Right¡­ we will call others to scold you too-" Now I think they actually forgot that I was even here. And empress Madeleine was on the verge of exploding like a volcano. We were talking about useless stuff here while the food was served before us and the chef was already waiting for the review of her hard-made food. It was disrespectful, and I knew that but unless they don''t start eating, I couldn''t do so too. It was the basic manners. I had given her a bitter smile three times already, and she shook her head, telling me she understands it. Her own family was doing this useless shit, so there was nothing I could do about it. They were chatting with this new crystal butterfly while Celes was looking around the room. The guards, butlers, and maids in the room had a close eye on her and were obviously suspicious of her, but they didn''t try to do anything stupid. They would be stupid to even try something funny on my Celes. [[ Okay! Geez! Stop! I''m sorry! Back to the main topic. ]] And they all set back straight, and the butterfly turned towards us once again. [[ It''s cool to see a new, young one like me, but you''re strong for your young age. Looks like you''re a genius or your master has an abnormal origin, or you absurdly had someone teach you how to cultivate the power from the [[( Source )]] and use the properly. Well, whatever the case, the two of you are interesting. And from how that kid has a natural affinity with all six major attributes, your special power must be special too, right? ]] She was asking Celes so Celes came and set down before her and respectfully bowed. [[ I still don''t think this ability to disguise someone is that cool but when I first met the master he said it''s the best skill so I think it''s cool too~! ]] We were dining with the imperial family and even I had this weird feeling from sensing their concealed strengths. But Celes was cool as always. And it was true. Her skill was the best. It was definitely better than Aurora''s ability to make shields and protect people because Celes could do something simr, too. But this other older crystal butterfly had a different opinion. [[ Celes, right? And what was that, the ability to disguise someone? Ptff, that''s themest kind of skill I had heard among all the crystal butterflies I know about. ]] [[ It''s notme! ]] "It''s definitely notme, but if you think it is, then it''s alright. That''s your point of view and we appreciate it. Thanks,dy Aurora." There was no need to go in deep to correct her and tell them more about her ability. And Celes understood that there was no need for her to speak anymore too, so she just quieted down and came back to me. I couldn''t eat until they start and after this bad conversation, she didn''t have to starve because of me. So, I took out a special flower with her favorite pizza vor and she quietly went down on the glowing flower and started eating the colorful light. [[ Hmm? Why is that little butterfly sucking that weird flower''s light? ]] The golden crystal butterfly was confused by her actions and by this time, empress Madeleine was on the verge of destroying everything from just that calm look. Still, the three of them were interested in this thing far more than her anger¡­ inconsiderate jerks. "You don''t eat the different lights? Well, it''s more like just tasting and absorbing the unique lights. You actually don''t do that?" The three, no, even empress Madeleine had a confused expression all of a sudden. [[ Eat? Light? Absorb? Ptff-hahaha! Why would a crystal butterfly need something to eat? In the first ce, how could a crystal butterfly even eat anything? Hahaha. We gain energy from nature and our bond, young boy, we don''t need to do anything. That''s a funny thing, really. Eating? Lights? Hahaha! ]] She wasughing, and her voice was ringing in my head. I didn''t like this, but it was a good opportunity. "I never said she needs it. It''s just that she likes it and especially some special lights like the one from this flower. If it is alright with you, I would humbly request fordy Aurora to try it too. It''s alright if you do not want it, but Celes likes it a lot. Maybe you will find it somewhat interesting, too?" I was sincere, and empress Madeleine was clenching her teeth. Even I had joined in their useless conversation while the food was getting cold. But it was important for me and my dear partner''s honor. No one was allowed to make fun of my dear Celes. [[ Ptff. Sure. Why not? Let me try this amazing thing of sucking the light from this weird flower. ]] She was arrogant, so she epted it without a doubt. And though there was a quick reaction from the guards as if they were going to aim their swords at my throats, the emperor lifted his finger and they returned to their positions. It was so quick that a young child like me shouldn''t have been able to notice that, but I did notice it, and he noticed that I noticed what he did, so he was even more intrigued. Anyway, Aurora came and set down on Celes''s flower, which Celes definitely didn''t like, but endured because of me, and when this older butterfly tried eating the light or sucking on it or something like that, she was amazed. She was so amazed that she didn''t say anything and ate away almost all the light from the flower and angered my dear Celes. [[ It was mine! How can you do that?! ]] Celes was enraged and almost pushed Aurora down the flower. But the older one regained her lost senses and safely went down on the table. [[ What¡­ was that? ]] She was baffled. It must almost be like earth vanishing from beneath her tiny legs. [[ Why didn''t I know something like this was possible? Why¡­? Why?! August?! Why didn''t I know?! Why didn''t you tell me I can do something like this?! Taste. That''s what you call it, right? Why didn''t you tell me I can taste things too?! ]] Maybe she was overreacting a bit, but that reaction was justifiable. She had tasted something for the first time in her life. And something so amazing too. "First of all, you should apologize to Axion for your inappropriate behavior. And as for your question¡­ I''m sorry. I wascking and never tried knowing more things that could be good for you. I am ashamed¡­ but I will try my best to look after things that you would like more." He was apologizing to his own familiar and still, it was shocking for the guards, butlers, and three empresses. It was a rare sight to see the emperor apologize. And witnessing it meant great things. One of them being¡­ signing more papers. Anyway, skipping the part of Aurora apologizing, some more useless chit chat and just a step before empress Madeline''s st point, we started eating. Yeah, it was a rough journey, but the elixir-like food from the best chef on the continent had finally reached the mouths of their respective eaters. They knew she was angry. They knew she was angry and still yed with her feelings to thest moment. I didn''t know what that little-known or unknown act of theirs would result in but the three were definitely getting some kind of punishment. That was their personal matter, and I was here for a simple dinner with them. So I ate the first bite from this colorful burger and¡­ man this was divine! It was delicious, every other bite was mouth-watering, the diverse taste of all those unique ingredients exploded and changed with each bite, and the exotic richness of this amazing food made even me speechless. But still, I tried to express my heart with the best words I could. Her cooking was artistic, full of vision and deep meaning, explosive taste, and harmony of vors. She definitely deserved the title of the best chef on the continent. This food was the best I had ever eaten. The best. Of course, I wasn''t counting the iparable cooking of my master. That was the food that could never be defined by mere words. But I could define this food. With pretty, attractive, and professional words, I could definitely define it. Still, I ate more than talk. Everything here was amazing. Even the sd was outstanding. They were eating their own food while empress Madeleine was happy to receive such praise. She was happy. But I knew she wanted to hear something that I hadn''t said yet. She waited. And I continued eating everything at the big round table. The eating was eventful. We talked about many things like what I like and what I want to do. The emperor did his best to extract more information from me, even using the empresses in the conversation to manipte conversation. He was good. As good as the headmaster. But then again, I had Lucy. She kept the track of all the conversations and changes happening, telling me what he was up to. Well, I managed to filter most of the information so I was fine by the time our dinner ended, but still, empress Madeleine didn''t hear what she wanted the most. This whole dinner where her family yed around and talked about useless stuff wasn''t as hurting to her pride as the beast chef of the continent as the fact that I didn''t, ever, not even once, call her food ''the best''. I could definitely think this was the best food, but saying it out openly? Call it whatever, but I can''t. I can''t lie about it because I respected her as a chef, and I couldn''t call it the best because this wasn''t the best food that I had in this short life of mine. This food was amazing. And I would love it if she could serve a meal to my family with me. It would be a great honor to me and us, but on this first honorable dinner of ours, I couldn''t say one thing. "Empress Madeline. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. This dinner, all these amazing delicacies were impable. I don''t think there could be any human as good as you on this entire continent. This food, these amazing, ineffable delicacies, was out of the norm. But¡­ I can''t call them the best. I''m sorry. It''s not you but me¡­" I was confident in my words so I could look her straight in her eyes. She was also looking at me with her heartbroken, sad, andplicated expression. "Why¡­?" As if she was a young girl rejected by her love¡­ no, scratch that. There was a pressure unlike any other I had felt filling this room now. "Why not the best...?" Her words were stern. Those calm eyes were asking for a solid reason that could be sufficient to fill that broken pride of hers. She was serious and if I was anywhere nearly joking, well, I was gonna get in trouble. Even the emperor and the two other empresses were interested in what way this conversation was going. The pressure in the room was great, but it wasn''t something hurtful, like the killing intent. I was at least alright and I told that much to Celes too so she didn''t move her clones to subdue the guards in the room. It was fine, so I sighed and gave a smile to the prettydy chef. "Pardon my rudeness in a situation like this, but¡­ would you all like some ice cream?" We had to eat dessert after dinner and though she might have been going to make some herself, why not have some made specially by my grandma? Ice cream was the answer to almost any question after all¡­ Chapter 437 The Best Food "Ice cream¡­?" She looked at me with a confused expression and then looked at her partners. They nodded with no hesitation, so she, too, nodded and gave her permission. The guards were once again on edge, but when it came to food, she was the expert. They could only taste the food to know if there was poison, but her mere senses were enough to analyze all the ingredients the food was made of. She could tell about the quality of the food from the smell of the food item alone, so she was looking forward to what I was doing. So, though I only had a few of these, I took out a gold te covered by a transparent crystal round dish covering this te. The appearance of the te and the one covering it were amazing and eye-pleasing, and the same was true for the thing visible inside it. "Beautiful¡­" Empress Madeline was the only one to exim those words with surprise, as the others were almost speechless for a moment. Inside the transparent crystal round dish covering this golden te, there was almost an ind. There was sea blue liquid with white salt-like sparkles, and in the center of it was a small ind full of greenery, tree-like very small mint decorations were nted. The ind, the ice cream, was shaped like a pyramid and this pyramid itself was threeyered. The first baseyers had a yellow area, the second middle part was bright red. So red it seemed like real blood. And the tip was a greennd with trees. And above these trees, there were clouds. Clouds that one can eat. That was the best I could describe that amazing ice cream my master made herself. And also the one that was the inspiration for the menu item the nobles had today. The best chef of the continent was amazed by just the way the creator had used the ting, the elements of color, angle, and reference. It was ice cream, and this was an ind. It was cool how whoever created this thing made it so vividly. This was my master''s creation, something that seemed as amazing to me as the first time I saw, smelled, felt, and tasted it. It was amazing, and empress Madeline understood my reason to not call her amazing food the best just after she opened the round crystal te of the dish, and an aroma iparable to any food item present in this room filled the entire room. "Empress Madeline, the best chef of the continent, I humbly present to you one of thest remaining delicacies from myte master. Some of the few things she loved making again and again, an ice cream that was more than just some cream or ice, more than just a cold, creamy, and smooth edible liquid, or a mixture of crystalized water, milk, and sugar. She gave this one the name: A warm morning. Please, have some starting from the blue base and slowly going upyer byyer. Taste each one individually and after that, as a whole. I hope¡­ it is to your liking, too." She was looking at me as if I was a ghost now. I knew she would know just what amazing of food that is just from its smell and if the smell was that stimting that even the guards were looking at this thing, so mesmerized by this ineffable aroma that they had definitely forgotten their duties. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth shuddering, her throat dry, and her lips cold. The other three didn''t have as strong reactions, but their reactions were strong. Very strong. Both other empresses were looking at this ice cream like zombies hungry for flesh. They both were special and close to nature than us, so this thing made by a being so close to nature was naturally like an electroma for them. The Emperor was observing this thing unlike anything he had done in this whole meeting of ours, and the shocked look on his face was new and strange. I wasted today''s ''question'' for this thing and Lucy said it was fine with this particr ice cream, so it was fine. They were looking at it as if it was some alien object and after they were finished with their observations; they picked up their spoons and started eating it as I told them to. Their eyes were closed, but I could tell just what kind of thoughts, feelings, and emotions would be bubbling inside them. Each passing second that vor stayed in their mouth would feel like an eternity, and they would be in a state of trance for that eternity. But for me and the guards, these long moments of silence were awkward, bad, and ufortable. They weren''t moving after just one bite and there was a solid chance that something was wrong, so they were looking at me. Celes didn''t like it, so it was more difficult to calm Celes than ignore those bastards. But I somehow survived the difficult situation as I talked with Rein through Celes''s connection. She was envious of these people who were enjoying that delicious thing, but it was alright for now. We can eat that in the future while they won''t. Time passed, and the four people slowly finished the whole ice cream without a single word and the most blessed expression. They were happy. And that happiness was visible in their eyes. "What kind of person was this master of yours? To make something so¡­ good? How''s this even possible?" The best chef on the continent was speechless from the cooking of my master. Zoe must be smiling right now. "She was an amazing person. The most amazing I have ever met." I was smiling, and they were smart people with abundant experience in life, so maybe they knew the sad-happy look in my eyes. "She must be¡­" Emperor August nodded and patted my back. "It was the best thing I have ever had in my life, Axion. It was the best, and Madeline, sorry, but it was the best. I''m happy and honored to have such a blessed meal that I don''t think I will ever get the chance to have in the future¡­ I won''t, right?" He paused and looked at me, and I just gave him a silent smile. There was no way I was going to give him something grandma made again in normal circumstances, but this silent smile was enough of an answer. He understood it and continued his talk. "It was amazing. And even though it was supposed to be ice cream, I am feeling a strange warmth after eating it. A warmth that is far warmer than eating the spiciest food or being before the hottest mes. It''s strange but warm. It''s mysterious. And it''s amazing. Thanks, Axion." He wasughing, but there was no way I was falling for that simple smile. But the smiles of his three partners were good. "I felt like I was back to my childhood in my hometown, ying in the cool meadows. It was really mysterious, but it was amazing~!" Empress Aina''s long ears were fluttering, so she was genuinely too excited right now. "For me, it was like eating the hot soup full of countless vors that mom and master used to make! I remembered those times, those textures, vors, everything perfectly. It was something I thought I forgot long ago, but no¡­ I remembered it again today thanks to this thing. It was¡­ trigenaeasta." ''Wow¡­'' That was maybe too effective, but she just used a unique word rted to old witches signifying things that are out of this reality. It was mostly used to refer to bad things, but maybe she didn''t know it, so I didn''t want to say anything about it. So we looked at empress Madeline, and she nodded in agreement. "It was the best. The best thing. Really¡­ the best¡­ But, I will reach this level someday. I will practice, study, learn, practice, and do my best. I thought bing the best here was enough, but now it doesn''t seem like it. The world is wide and there are things I have no idea about¡­ so I will be better. And when I do, I will make you say my food is the best thing you ever had, so prepare yourself, young Eon." There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling and that much was enough. The dinner was done, and the ice cream was finished, so¡­ it was time for me to take my leave too. So I looked at them and said myst goodbyes, I wanted to go to that ball with my Rein and do that amazing dance we had been practicing for so long. But as soon as I got ready to leave, the emperor spoke up¡­ "Axion. Please ept this as a fragment of my unmeasurable gratitude for today. It''s my direct symbol, so you can use it in any ce belonging to me or the empire." He was holding a locket with a crystal pendant with the empire''s mark on one side and a magical zing golden me on the other side. It¡­ was shocking. I didn''t know how to respond to that, but having that thing could be helpful in many things. It could grant ess to almost any ce in the empire and ces affiliated with the empire and as the insignia was given directly by the emperor, it was more effective. So¡­ well, why not? "I''m honored to receive such-" "Axion! Take this too~!" Empress Aina held out a leaf-shaped locket, too. It was easy to understand it was her insignia that would be useful in the elven kingdom of Elvigia. "Ohh! Two pendants! Then I will give you a ring~!" This was empress Vera, and her gift wasn''t an insignia. This was a calling ring. A special artifact of witches and wizards that can summon the owner of the artifact to the person having it. It can only be used a few times, but giving it to me was more absurd than giving me those insignias. But empress Madeline also couldn''t fall behind so she took out a weird tinum crystal card and handed it to me first. "If you go to any high-ss restaurant, just show them this and you will receive VIP treatment!" This was a special ID that said I was a helper of chef Madeline. And this really was a special gift to give just because I gave her something my master made. I would naturally ept it with open arms, but thispetitive reaction of these four people definitely resembled my family. And if I was right, as soon as I leave this ce, first they will fight, then calm down and seriously talk about this entire dinner, and after that, go back to their fighting andughing. But I wasn''t going to be there for this, so I don''t know about that. What I know for sure, though, is the fact that I was going to my first ever and amazing official ball with the best date. She was already excited about the dance and all the other things we had nned and I was, too. I just wanted to go out and hold her hand, take her to the carriage, help her climb down the carriage, and enter a banquet hall full of people while holding her hand. She was excited about this one, too. More than me, actually. This was going to be her first time in something like this, so she was nervous and restless. ''So¡­ let''s do this.'' I was nervous too, but I believed in my heart as I walked out of the dining room, walked down, and saw her gorgeous figure standing there waiting for me with a smile. She was gorgeous. And yeah¡­ she was the one. Chapter 438 Bright Person "He''s gone¡­" "He''s strong." "The two of them actually look good together, no? What will my little udy do now?" "Haaa¡­ I knew he was special, but not this much." The emperor and empresses sighed in unison as Eon left the room. There were diverse expressions on their faces. Empress Madeline had cried for real, and others had quite difficulties calming her down. She was still not fine, but she wasn''t crying anymore. And their talk about the young boy was serious. There were no smiles on their faces like from moments ago, but only sadness, interest, and calmness. They talked and analyzed the boy with their different point of view about him. They even took the food they just had into ount. A unique food that recovered their stamina, energy, and Mana. It was amazing and if it meant it was made by histe master, then it meant he was able to eat things like them every day. He was lost when he was six years old, so saying that he ate things like them for at least five years was envious, but still amazing. And that master of his¡­ "The headmaster didn''t just call dibs on him for nothing, alright." the emperor wasn''t smiling, but there was a dark smirk on his face. He was thinking about the young child that just walked out of this room as he had caught his attention, as no other man had done in thest decade. "He''s strong, hardworking, talented, had survival experience, teachings from an unknown ''sadhu'' and he even has many unique resources to sell in the auction. He is quite something¡­" He sighed again after saying that and shook his head. His eyes had greed in them, but the boy had chosen a different path, and someone better than him already had his eyes on the young boy. Still, as someone ruling over countless people of the greatest nation of the continent, he knew one thing: the working of causality. A person''s very own strength invites challenges, challenges lead to conflicts, and conflicts give birth to catastrophes. The wisdom and strengths he holds will never go unnoticed by those who lust after that world-changing knowledge and strength. He will inevitably be the center of this world at one point in time, he will be a leading figure that writes the first chapters of the new era of this world and writes great epics, and heroic stories. He will see falls and rise after seeing the bottoms he had never touched. He is smart, so his some of the greatest wars will be with his own self over the decisions he will have to make and the sacrifices he will have to ept. His future is bright but, his decisions, and his actions, will either be the cause of the end of this world or a blessing that will evolve the world from its core. Their empire will also have to make many decisions. And as the emperor and ruler of this nation, it was in his hands what he does. He had dined with a monster today, he knew that much. A monster who was young and still had every single top-ss guard in that room in check all this time he was sitting here. His eyes were always moving, seeing, reading, and keeping every single movement in this giant room in check. He had unbelievable eyes and vision. And still, he managed to dine with such finesse that even a ruler like him would be put to shame. His heartbeat was calm in all situations. It didn''t even change while suddenly facing empress Madeline''s sudden pressure as if he was expecting it from the moment he walked in through those doors. He was a terrifying person with unknown depths, a kind that he personally didn''t like. But still, he didn''t want to make this person an enemy as much as possible. But if his actions be harmful to the stability of this empire that was like a child to him¡­ well, he hoped times didn''t take that turn. He was an important aspect of the growth of this empire, so he hoped he would make rational decisions. And the emperor knew this boy was good enough to make the best decisions in the worst situations. There was only one thing, one variable, that could lead to dangerous situations. And that was his family. The little fellow was a reincarnation, that much was easy for the four people to know. Maybe his past yed a big role, but the affection he had towards his family, and his own people, was more than his care for this world. He had known that much from the things that happened today. And he had seen his love, too. His love for an old, close to a crazy person. But still, a love so pure¡­ when he saw them look at each other in the eyes, he felt like not only they were made for each other, they attracted each other so much that even the bounds of this world couldn''t keep them away from each other till the appropriate moment. It was peculiar, but what the two of them had right now was something countless romantics search for their entire lives. There was no way someone else deserved them better than them. Not even his own son, who was long attracted by the natural attraction of her bewitching beauty. She was a miserable girl, he knew better than many as he had seen her during the days she used to ughter entire battlefields in grief. And he was young back then, just a young prince looking over his assigned part of the battlefield. He knew just how hopeless, and miserable that girl was¡­ but when he looked at her today, that same bloodthirsty witch that people feared to even mention in certain parts of the world, smile so warmly that no flower field in a warm spring valley couldpare to, he knew it too. That young boy was amazing to cast such a fatal spell on her, and even as the emperor who ruled a part of the world, he did not know how such a thing could be possible. But he made it possible. He was with her. They were with each other. And they looked enviously attractive together. They were going to attract many other people to them, but he knew that the two of them were already bound together with something far stronger than the strings of mere fate. It was them¡­ and there was a ball dance before them. "Will ud cause some trouble?" Empress Vera asked as she hugged one hand of empress Madeline. "He''s a smart boy, but I still think he will definitely cause some trouble. It''s fine though. He should learn the taste of defeat, fall, and weakness. He needs it and it will help in his growth." Emperor''s answer was stern, and empress Vera puffed her cheeks after hearing it. "My baby is young~! How can you say that? Hump!" Nah, he was the same age as Eon. He would be considered a teen, if anything, so she was just joking. And her smirk confirmed that. "But it''s fine if he learns new things and grows strong. And even finer if he cries in myp~!" She was weird. Just like a certaindy that Eon knew very well. "Oh, right! You''re always wee toe and rest in myp if you want to. Even now¡­" She wasn''t just looking at the emperor, but at all three of them. And the other twodies had blush on their faces. Empress Aina''s ears were even fluttering, indicating she was ''excited''. And it was time anyway, so¡­ "Shall we go,dies?" Emperor August politely asked as he stood up from his chair. And the threedies stood up with smiles, too. It was already nighttime and their bath time. It would be bedtime after that and many things in between those two so, it was the end of the wonderful day for them, but for the two young people¡­ the night was still young. *** Hiraani''s first floor, which had now turned into a fine open hall, was filled with people of great importance. Most of the aristocrats of the great empire and their young children were here, and the natural socializing was ongoing, just like any usual important gathering. Slow music was ying on one aisle while on the other side, there were tables full of food of diverse variety. Sweets were among them and one gorgeous girl with little pointy ears in a beautiful blue dress was standing beside a fountain of chocte, admiring the unique choctes for today''s special gathering¡­ "Delicious¡­" She was enjoying the fountain of chocte and the other chocte sweets around it all by herself, and though many young boys in the distance wanted to greet her, or were forced to go greet her, couldn''t go anywhere near her because of the usual uneasiness they felt while approaching her. So, they were afraid, and she was freely eating her food. Something simr was happening with a young boy sitting some distance away near the gate. He looked handsome and attracted many young girls, but these nobledies couldn''t go near him even if they wanted to. The weird uneasiness forced their steps to turn back as if telling them they weren''t qualified. There were a few groups already gathered around some important people and they were introducing their young children to other nobles and their children. One boy with a pale face and weak-looking constitution was eating by himself and no one was approaching him even while knowing his status. And he was happy with that. This was an important event for the nobles and they wanted to make connections with the auction master at any cost, so using their own children for things wasn''t anything new to these aristocrats. They were waiting for the auction master and her family to enter, as well as the rumored amazing boy. Making connections with the other two geniuses of their house would be fine, too. It would be better that way, actually. They knew little about them anyway, knowing that they would make public appearances was a big thing in itself. So they all were waiting like little puppies waiting for their food. And these ''cute'' puppies didn''t have to wait for long. [ "ATTENTION! The auction master, countess Nolen Heliox Kromet, viscount Brian Heliox Kromet, Lady Augustine Heliox Alga, Master Elkan Heliox Ethan Griffin, viscount Theophilus Bell, Lady Hazel Bell, youngdy Ca Heliox, and young master Alfred Bell are entering!" ] There was no mention ofdy Nolen''s son, but it was fine. They weren''t here for that person, but the auction master, anyway. They wanted to socialize and make connections¡­ of course, the wish to nce over their divine figures was always there. Be it, males or females, they were here to also take a look at the gorgeous people of the mysterious family, and even if they fail to even go near them, watching them from afar was definitely worth it. They made the ce fall silent as soon as they entered, anyway. And this time was the same¡­ Chapter 439 Perfect Noble The three couples attracted the attention of everyone present in the room. The auction master walked in the very front with her usually masked husband, who was rumored to be very handsome. After them were the faces of the Heliox, some of the most attractive couples in the empire. Some of the best minds of the empire and his dear partner, a pir of the empire''s high society. Following them were thewyer and florist duo that attracted a lot of attention because of their unique clothing. They were just fabulous¡­ And following them, thest entering duo was the genius brother-sister, famous among many circles of the empire. One was a genius mage while the other one was a famous knight already far above many famous knights. Both of them were famous, but didn''t give much attention to the people in this room. They weren''t the main duo of today''s party, anyway. Their brother would be on his way here from his dinner with the emperor himself so he was going to steal all the attention soon. They just had to sit and pass the time until then. They could go and meet their acquaintances, so they were calm about things. And the auction master was the same as she knew she would have to stall for time until the two of them were there. It was fine if it meant he could make an unforgettable impression on everyone here, so she was fine with it. There were few people they could talk to aside from the shady nobles, so the four duos separated and engaged in different conversations or went away and sat down and waited for people toe to them. They were going toe there and sit there anyway, so they were ready for them. So¡­ time passed as the annual winter ball of Hiraani continued as usual until one of the butlers came up to the auction master and whispered something in her ears. There was a smile on her face after that, and she nodded and asked for an announcement device. [ "Can I please have your attention, honorable guests?" ] Her voice instantly attracted everyone''s attention, and people looked at her with confused expressions. She was just talking with one of the famous merchant viscounts, but now she was announcing something. It wasn''t like her to do something like this. She had never done the announcement herself, so it was even more surpassing. But it was the cold demoness they were talking about, so all eyes focused on her. [ "It is my greatest honor to introduce my dear little son to everyone for the first time. He has been away from his family and has only now reunited with us recently so he doesn''t know many people personally. I would be happy if everyone could wee him with open arms so¡­ Please wee my amazing little son, Axion Heliox Kromet and, everyone already knows her, his date miss Reinelle Atraxia." ] It was shocking to actually meet that famous boy, but even more shocking was the person entering with him. -Kneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. The giant doors to the hall opened with a sound that reverberated loudly throughout the room, and two young but mature figures walked into the dead silent room. Everyone had different reactions to her announcement, but many were curious why a prominent figure like the representative of the great dukedom was being escorted by her son. It was weird, and many didn''t care about it, but they all definitely were interested in finally seeing that boy who was famous in children''s fairytales and was the talk of the empire. They had unique expectations, but as soon as the boy and the girl walked in and they all saw them together¡­ they were genuinely mesmerized. The youngdy of Atraxia was as gorgeous as ever, spreading peace just with her enchanting beauty. But her first-ever escort was no less attractive than her. "Wow¡­" "Amazing." "Elegance, calmness, and a spark of true nobility¡­" "Beautiful~." "H-hot!" There were countless unique reactions from the young and old. Older nobles were attracted by his unreal elegance and the way he handled the entire atmosphere around him. He was different from the young children. They could tell just from a nce that this boy was no child. From the way he walked, his perfect posture, those sharp eyes, his clothing, his fragrance, and his attractive golden hair. He was the personification of true noble etiquettes. They were impressed by this very first impression. And the youngdies, even boys, couldn''t take their eyes away from them. Ladies had uncontroble blushes on their faces as they looked at this amazing person. The very first thought on their minds was that they should have been the ones being escorted by him. But then they looked at his partner, whom they could never hold a candle to. So those thoughts were limited to just their fantasies. It was the same for the boys. They also wanted to be the escort of that amazingdy. But then again, they couldn''t even match the boy in looks, let alone challenge him in terms of strength when there were stories of him facing a demon at the young age of six. They could only sigh and think that the world was unfair. But not every girl and boy was included in thismon bunch. The young imperial princess was intrigued by his appearance, but that was it. Those unique choctes and things made of chocte were more interesting for her than for him. The imperial prince that no one was interested in was definitely interested in this duo. So much so that he had a unique smile on his pale face. But then he looked to the other side, and that smile deepened. He knew something interesting was going to happen very soon. Sitting alone in the front chair, the second imperial prince looked at this person walking withdy Reinelle. He was holding her, smiling while looking at her, and she was smiling back? -Crack. The ss in his hand was full of small cracks and after just a moment, it shattered into fine powder. His expression was calm, the same as it had been, but the opposing air around him got more unapproachable than before. He just sat there and watched as the two of them reached the auction master, the party resumed, and everyone started gathering around the two of them. Everyone wanted to greet the person that even the cold auction master, countess Nolen, couldn''t help praising. Few saw it, but she even smiled a few times, so it was even more unbelievable. It was clear that she loved him, so he was inevitably going to be a famous person in the future. So, making a solid connection with him starting now was surely going to be profitable. So, people started greeting him. And he, too, greeted back to everyone. Every single person with their name, origin, profession, and even background. It was as if this young person knew everything about every one of them. It was just like his mother. And this impressed them even more. But still, the best thing about this good-looking young one was that he was approachable. He was so approachable that it reminded them of his grandfather. His grandfather was a great man and there was a reason everyone knew they could go and talk to him. It was a strange feeling of innate trust. Something few could ever achieve. And this young boy before them, though not quite there, had definitely achieved something simr. They all could approach him and talk as freely as they could with their long-time close acquaintance. And he knew them, their children, and their work, so the conversation with him was even more smooth. He genuinely knew about every one of them, so the people who hesitated before were overjoyed that someone like him knew even about someone like them. They all were happy, and this happiness was clear to see for every person in the giant hall. Countess Nolen was smiling at this. As a mother, she couldn''t be happier. His other family members were the same, especially his older sister and younger brother. Anna and Zoe went back home with their grandparents, but it was fine. They were still young for these things, so they didn''t need to be here. So, the banquet continued. People came and chatted with Eon for a while and everyone was getting their chances, so no one had anyints. Of course, there were exceptions to this, just like any other thing in the world. "Lady Reinelle. Can I have this dance?" The second prince politely asked Rein, who was just quietly standing with Ca and a bunch of other girls. It was out of the blue and the request came directly from the prince so the other girls had a surprised expressions and smiles on their faces. But Ca and Reinelle were calm. They just looked at the prince with a bitter expressions and this reaction ticked the prince even more. "I will have to apologize, prince udius. But I have already promised my first dance to master Axion and after that, I do not think I will have any more strength. Today has been long and difficult for me, so I hope you understand." Her reply was calm and Ca nodded as if she knew this was going to happen. The other youngdies were sad to hear that, but the fact that the person that had never danced in any social gathering had promised a dance to someone excited them even more than before. "I¡­ understand. Enjoy your night mdy." The prince walked away with a still calm expression and thedies started asking Reinelle about her rtionship with Eon and she replied that they were ''just friends''. Well, it was the truth. But the youngdies saw that sadness in her eyes and understood there was more to their story and started their inquiries with their unique smirks. They were some of the fewdies that knew a bit about Reinelle and Ca, so they werefortable around them. They thought of her as a friend so they could ask about these personal things, and Ca was also naturally the target of their interest. So, they talked, and meanwhile, the second prince had reached the famous Eon. "I greet the great second imperial prince udius. It is an honor to make your acquaintance." "Likewise, young master Axion. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. It might be sudden, but can I take some of your precious time?" He was asking for a private chat while looking at him, and the crowd gathered around them understood what he meant. So, when Eon nodded and looked around at the people, they nodded and gave some space to the two of them. Eon already knew something like this wasing from a while ago, so he was already ready with his answers. "It might be selfish of me to ask this, but young master Axion, can I have the dance you promised tody Reinelle? You must know about the fact that she could only have one dance today because of her poor condition, right? I will make sure to properly repay you, but can I please have this dance?" An imperial prince was requesting something like that. Many people hearing it would definitely be shocked, but Eon was calmly looking at him. Of course, he knew Reinelle was tired. She would definitely be after all the things they did throughout that day. They both had a wonderful time, but to end the awesome day, the dance was a must. And she was only going to dance with him even if she had enough energy to go on for the entire night. So, it was an already decided n. It wasn''t in his hand anyway, so there was nothing he could do. It was up to her what she wanted, so Eon tried to respectfully decline while telling him all that. But¡­ "So, in short, you can''t not dance with miss Reinelle today. Am I right?" "Something like that? But it''s still not up to me-" "Alright then¡­" He nodded and took out one of his gloves and threw it at Eon. "Young master Axion, I challenge you to a duel." Eon had seen iting. And maybe this was inevitable, as he thought. He wanted to show his most annoyed expression, but everyone was looking and it was an imperial prince they were talking about. ''It''s going to be annoying¡­'' He could only click his tongue and look at the person before him, his partner on the other side, and his lovely mom with an excited smirk on her pretty face. ''Haaa¡­'' It was a small thing, so he wanted to finish it as soon as possible. Their dance was more important than some child''s tantrum, after all. Chapter 440 Challenged Duel "Duel, your highness? But I just said it is not up to me if she wants to dance with anyone or not. It''s just my honor that I''m receiving this one dance, but I can not do anything about this. We don''t have to fight for something small like this." And I knew he wasn''t going to back down until I settled things with actual strength. He was one of the geniuses famous for his deep knowledge and talent for magic and sword. Of the twelve geniuses known throughout the empire and continent, he was known for his ability to perfectly integrate magic and sword. He was good, and also good-looking. It was clear that he was attracted to Rein, but I knew she wasn''t going to dance with this young boy. We were going to do our dance, talk with some people here, eat something lite if we needed, and just go back and sleep. We were tired already, and we had done enough awesome things that we will just stay at home and y around for at least a few months. That was the n, but this person¡­ "Something small? Haha. It might be nothing from your point of view, but for many people here, it is the greatest honor they could receive in their lives. They would ept death if it meant they could have this dance with someone so amazing asdy Reinelle. You should consider it a great honor, but you call it a small thing? Indeed, you can only y with words. But if you do think you are worthy of such great honor, please ept this duel. It would be an honor to learn a few things from the empire''s young hero." [[ "I wanna p this bastard. Just tell him to piss off." ]] She could naturally hear what we were talking about, just like many strong people with excellent senses. I also wanted to just tell this young person off, but I couldn''t do that. At the end of the day, he was an imperial prince. [[ "You know I can''t do that too, right? He is famous, young and strong too. It would be a problem if I do something childish like him." ]] [[ "Yeah, yeah. You and your grand spectrum of ns. Do whatever you want, but I''m only dancing with you and you are only dancing with me. Then we go home and cuddle." ]] [[ "Oy? Where did thate from?" ]] [[ "You already know, bastard. This long day almost killed me. I need some sugar." ]] [[ "Then go eat some chocte with the princess." ]] [[ "You are the only chocte I want, darling." ]] I nced at her, and she blinked. And then I shook my head at her, confusing half of the public looking at us. Most didn''t understand. But I knew at least my family and mainly mom knew what was going on between the two of us. I was having this important talk about this duel thing with the empire''s brightest crown prince candidate, and she was talking dirty in my mind. Even Zoe back at home would beughing at this absurdity much less Celes and mom. Many people were confused by my actions and many sharp ones concluded that the representative of Atraxia and I had a deeper rtionship than just being acquaintances. There was something, and the public was interested in it. There would be rumors, and that''s perfectly what I wanted. But that aside¡­ "I do think it is the greatest honor to have this dance with such an amazing person like her, prince. Alright then, I ept the duel. But please take care of me. I''m not too sure about my abilities so the one learning from this duel will be me. Not many get the chance to receive teachings from the genius magic swordsman. Ah, right. I should mention that I have some interest in bing a magic archer too. Receiving your guidance will definitely be helpful." Now, this was interesting for many people. A magic archer. It was something very difficult and there was one very famous archer that utilized magic and his arrows perfectly. He was famous as the third seat of the house of prism, (Godly archer). The most famous magic archer known in the known history. People dreamed of bing someone like him when they said they wanted to be a magic archer, but no one in thest two hundred years had been able to actually aplish that. It was a feat that only one person had reached, so archers were mostly made fun of by society. From their point of view, archers were the weakest of weapon welders, who were limited to a bow and some arrows. Their physical strengths were some of the weakest, which was naturally only a stereotype about the archers. They needed far more strength to pull a strong bowstring than a normal knight needed the strength to swing a sword. Training archers was a tough task, so archers were rare. And magic archers, people who were gifted with the ability to use magic, choosing a bow as their weapon, were even rare. But I just said I wanted to be a magic archer, and this intrigued one of the future best magic swordsmen. "A magic archer, you say. It''s unique and the path of weapon and magicbined is definitely no easy path. But if you have strong will and determination to follow through, you can definitely achieve what you desire." ''At least, he isn''t just a young child.'' He was strong, and I knew that much. He had a crush on Rein and wanted to have a dance with her, but he wasn''t arrogant right now. He was calm, trying to read my every move, and asses my strength. But he had gotten nothing till that point, which must have been confusing for him. But he will have to try as hard as ''that bastard'' if he really wanted to gauge my strength. ''Still, he''s quite unique.'' I was talking about the third prince. The pale person with a weak-looking constitution. He was quite something, and even Lucy had the same opinion. [[ *I suggest you use analysis on him. It''s just a feeling but you will get something interesting.* ]] ''I was thinking the same.'' My eyes had never been wrong until now. But they were confused this time. The inner stats they read of that person didn''t match the outer stats. It was conflicting, but they knew their work, so they could tell what they were seeing wasn''t the right thing. Lucy also felt that the person was strange, so she suggested using analysis. The question wasn''t going to work if we didn''t even know a thing about what was wrong after all. Anyway, that can wait. For now¡­ ===Status=== Name: udius Ember Vera Taxion F. Ghidron Vermilion August Xino Roxana. Age: 13 Race: Human Strength: 129 Dexterity: 131 Stamina: 133 Magic Power: 121 Intelligence: 109 Domination: 87 Luck: 71 Charm: 72 [Skill: Blue harmony, Lightsword, Magic casting of Garuda, Parallel minds, Green safe, Yellow eyes, Hundred winds, Hand of destruction, Area detection, True sword, True magic, Calmness, Aspect strengthening, Connection. ] [Authority holder] [Blessing of golden mes] ... ============ Imperial names sure were long. And in the imperial family, they even wrote their forefathers'' names, so it was even more unique. Anyway, the long names aside, the person before me was a light elemental attribute mage and a proper long-sword swordsman. His stats spoke for themselves and he definitely was far stronger than the kids our age. And he had some pretty good skills. Even two unique ones. And one of his unique skills was offensive, a rare kind of unique skill. Anyway, he was strong, and I epted his challenge. He was going to lose either way, so¡­ "So? Where should we do this duel?" "Backyard has plenty of space for us and the spectators to watch, too. Let me ask mom real quick and we will be ready to go~." He was surprisingly calm and excited. This was different from the normal scenario where the arrogant prince challenges MC and then loses miserably. He had strength, skills, and a proper mindset to back his arrogance, dignity, and desires. He was a good boy, just that he was blinded by her beauty and wanted to impress her. It was cute and all, but I doubted a good boy like him would be able to handle a witch like her, even in the future. She was simply too much for him, so it was better that he forget about her. And I knew it would take a solid beating to shatter his great pride, and I was ready for that. It was best for him that way. So¡­ "Mom-" "Why are you even asking, baby~? This ce is yours, so do whatever you want!" "I didn''t say anything though-" "Oh silly. You were so loud that many of us already heard you two. Go out. It will be fun seeing you y with an amazing person like his highness, prince udius." She wanted to see me crush this good young boy. My dear bad mother¡­ ''She''s certainly bad.'' But maybe she will get to see what she wants today. So, I nodded and thanked her, told prince udius that we got permission and we walked out after I looked at Rein. She was calm as she talked with Ca, but she gave me a nce that definitely meant some bad things. She really didn''t care about the pure feelings of this pure boy, and it was more of a reason for him to let go of his feelings. Well, it wasn''t actually up to me. I could only do this duel and shut him up for today. His feelings were all his. I can''t control them. And he couldn''t control someone else''s feelings, either. He would have to win them if he desired them. And I would wish him good luck if he really wanted to chase after something he could never have. He was strong, good enough to have any good person as his partner, but this particr bad witch was definitely not for him¡­ She was mine. And they could try, but she was mine. Nothing could change that fact. He will have to understand that, and for that, he will have to face a downfall. It was fine, though. I will make sure to be gentle so that this pure person could at least stand back from that defeat. "What''s happening?" "You didn''t hear? Young master Axion and prince udius are going to duel~!" "What?! Really? But why all of a sudden?" "They said it''s something concerningdy Reinelle. But anyway, they are going to duel! Let''s gooo!" "Yes~!" People were excited as they walked out towards the open backyard. There was a crowd already gathered here and some distance away from this big open balcony, two handsome-looking boys were standing as they looked into each other''s eyes. They looked attractive and as soon as they took out their weapons, the cheers and surprised voices that erupted were more than they had expected¡­ Chapter 441 Sword Vs. Bow They both looked at each other and nodded with serious expressions. Everyone was watching from the other side and their family and friends were there, so they couldn''t disappoint them. They also couldn''t disappoint their opponent. They were technically teaching them and learning from them, so they at least had to take what they can and give what they could. So, Eon took out Chip. His ninth favorite bow, which looked just like any normal, good-looking red-blue magic bow. It was a divine artifact that can boost strength and energy recovery rate and could also fire deadly energy beams if needed, but mostly, he preferred using it for public spars. It was a good-looking artifact and something people would easily mistake for a weaker (level-11) or 12 artifact, so it was best when used in minor spars like this one. He didn''t need something as strong as Tay, his normal-looking wooden bow of strength and swiftness, for something easy like this, so Chip was the best for now. So, Eon was using his magic bow and udius was using a (level-12) magic sword that increased speed, strength, stamina recovery, and granted the skill [Charge] to the user. People knew this sword and Eon''s bow was eye-catching too, so there were cheers of excitement and well wishes to both sidesing from the other side. It was a magnificent sword from an outside perspective, but Eon and Rein, who had seen many worldly artifacts just a while ago in that treasury, didn''t find it much attractive. Anyway, they both had to show the curtsey, so Eon started it. "It is a nice sword, your highness." If he had let him start the conversation, it could have been stretched much longer, and he didn''t have much time. The clock was ticking, and the night was growing old. "Likewise, young master Axion. It is rare to see such a perfect bow. The craftsman of that piece must have been amazing." His eyes and appraisal skills could tell the bow was amazing even if he couldn''t read its details, and Eon had a smile when he heard thepliments to the creator of this bow. "Yes¡­ she was amazing. Haaa¡­ I wish you good luck." The good kid was smart enough to understand he didn''t want to talk about this when Eon just took out a silver quiver and ced it on his back. He responded by taking a proper stance where he held his long sword in one hand, the de tip facing down and a bit backward, and the beautiful blue de gleamed under the clear moonlight. He was a strong person, but his opponent was a long-range dealer who can definitely use magic, so he had to be careful of long and mid-range attacks. He had faced magic archers before and he knew most were weak to close-range attacks, but getting near them was a tough task. Their defenses were just too powerful in general. And the opponent he was facing was definitely strong. He couldn''t take him lightly, even if he was just an archer. He couldn''t read his status window, so it was clear that the person before him was either very strong or had a very strong mental defense. He knew he couldn''t be careless, so he was going to give his all to this small spar. Learning from him was a secondary thing but, why not? If he had anything new to offer, he would dly ept it. But he doubted he could do such a thing. He was called a genius of magic and sword and could already integrate Mana and Aura to near perfection. His innate skills allowed him to harmonize all the energies he could control. What''s more, he could affect the harmony of the opponent''s Mana or Aura. He was confident of winning this if he yed his cards right but, the cute guy was in for a surprise. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" They needed someone as a referee for their official duel and who would be best for the work if not their famous mysterious grandpa Zhen. He was the referee for most of Eon''s, Ca, Alf, other knights, and Rein''s duels, so he was here this time too. Technically, he was back at home and at a few other ces too, but he was also certainly there and was a great help. The two of them were ready, so, at his signal, the two young people nodded without any words. They were excited, and so was everyone watching this spar from the other side. They could see the clear smile on the auction master''s face now that something fun was happening and even though he was facing a national genius, neither his mom nor he himself had a shred of hesitation in their eyes. His mom and the family even had pity in their eyes, which confused them a little. Sure, this boy was the hero of children''s fairytales, but that was it. No one actually knew he was strong enough to even hold a candle against a normal knight, much less a genius like prince udius. This was the first time they all were going to see this young one fight, but their pitiful expressions confused the strong people of the upper ss. There were strong knights and mages present in that crowd. Some of them even had high positions in the house of prism. They felt strange while looking at the two young boys before them right now, and when they looked closely, they somewhat understood the reason for those pitiful reactions. Prince udius was amazing. Everyone knew that. He was a genius seen once in centuries. His calm demeanor right now was definitely attractive to them. But¡­ his opponent was different. They had years and years of experience, so some of them could see it. They could see the impable posture of the young boy, his utter calmness in the face of a strong opponent, and more than anything, his utterly unbelievable eyes. Those were no eyes of a child, that much was clear. And their hearts rose as they saw those eyes looking, observing, reading his opponent from top to down and from the skin to soul. It strangely felt as if those eyes were looking at them, too. But they didn''t know about his third eye and they had no need to know. He sure was looking at them, but mostly, he was focused on his opponent. They were excited to see them fight and this fight of theirs¡­ was about to start. He looked into his golden eyes while he kept looking into his bright red ones. The breeze of the calm night flowed as the blue moonlight glistened on the perfect skins of two brave warriors. They stood in the open area surrounded by beautiful nts holding their weapons as the people awaited their fight with excited hearts. The two brave worriers finished examining their opponents, held their weapons strong, and when the signal from their old referee followed, a storm overtook the calmness of this serene night. -Boooooooooooooom! An explosion caused by the collision of strong weapons shook the area, created a giant crater in the middle of the two young warriors, and the shockwave almost threw back some of the young and weak spectators. But thankfully, it was blocked by the countless magical barriers created by the mages of the crowd. There were too many barriers. Enough that they wouldn''t have to worry about this ongoing spar that had already surpassed their expectations. It was difficult, and not many were able to catch what happened in that brief moment, but the eyes of the strong were able to clearly see that magnificent sight. It happened in a brief moment, but as soon as they received the signal, the young archer had taken out three enchanted arrows with the properties of fire, wind, and earth. The earth arrow was special as itbined with the fire arrow midway and the arrow with wind properties ignited the mes. The resulting attack was strong, but the young prince saw it, covered his sword with dense light Mana particles, and perfectly cut the arrows in half, resulting in that enormous explosion. But that wasn''t the end¡­ Prince udius spun in the air, gathered wind under his feet, and kicked forward toward the opponent on the other side. The bright young archer had seen iting, so as soon as he finished his first attack, his body melted in the shadow under him and vanished from the ce. Prince udius was surprised, but it was toote to turn the sword. The opponent had vanished from his ce too quickly to understand, so the long sword ended up only thrusting into the ground, creating another giant crater. It was easy to guess, but another attack wasing from his opponent, who had probably achieved more distance in that short moment. He had to defend, so he cast a (tier-2) light attribute defensive barrier around himself. The magic casting speed was too fast for a young person like him and it was as if he had used a skill, but that wasn''t the case. His parallel mind, special spell-casting skill that cut the magic casting time in half, coupled with his unique skill to harmonize and utilize the environmental Mana granted him a speed simr to skills. It was a unique method of spell casting, just like Alf and Eon. But Eon had a better grasp on his spells. And it was proven when as soon as he saw the barrier of light attribute when he came out of the shadow of the other side, he pulled back his bowstring, channeled some Mana, and materialized three of his scripted darkness attribute arrows. Light and darkness, the opposite attributes naturally canceled each other, but as the spell arrows were stronger, they were going to be the best against the light attribute barrier. The young prince had to do something¡­ his powerful barrier was going to be crushed by the arrows after all. Chapter 442 Sword Vs. Bow (2) The prince definitely wasn''t expecting to see someone with a darkness attribute so as soon as he perceived the arrival of three arrows from different directions that were going to destroy his shield even while being weak (tier-1) personal spells, he used the winds that were still under his feet, took a half turn, and faced the arrows head on. They were darkness attribute arrows, so technically, they should only be powerful against weaker light attribute spells. He thought he could easily face them with his Aura-covered sword, but he was wrong this time. His Aura was indigo, a very bright shade from his light indigo hair. It was a unique Aura with the properties of light and it was also just like a ray of light swirling around his blue de. As soon as the three arrows passed through his shield and he tried cutting through the three spell arrows, to his surprise, he felt as great of pressure as facing a solid sword. It was strange, and he was thrown back a few steps in shock by the arrows, but he was able to see the uniqueness of those darkness attribute arrows in that small moment. Their spell structure was impable. Woven with as great of care as a grandma''s sweater for her grandchildren. He was able to discern just how magnificent those spells were and also ept that he couldn''t take this opponent as anything but normal. He was strong, his spells were unique, and his casting speed was abnormally as good as his own, maybe more than his considering the kind of spell he just used. Spells so unique he wanted to call it a skill, but he knew the difference between a skill and a magic spell perfectly. Skill wasn''t so borate and good-looking. But his magic carried a unique elegance and attractiveness that he had only seen in elder mages. He was already using his own magic, something a prince like him was still some distance away from. He didn''t want to admit it, but he was definitely weaker than this person. He could tell it just from that brief confrontation. But that didn''t mean he was going to win. -Swiiiiiiiiish! He used his winds to get away from him while facing the enchanted arrows that were fired at him in that short moment. It was crazy how someone could fire that many arrows in just that small moment. He was distracted by the weight of his spell arrows, but he definitely sensed twelve arrowsing at him at that moment. Defending against every single one of them was impossible, so with the use of his winds, he avoided most of the arrows and cut down the other ones. Those arrows were also enchanted with powerful spells that impressed him even more. Sure, they were deadly and powerful enough to kill a few people, but he utilized his [True magic] and [True sword] skills that pierced the core of magical and physical objects to cut down the strong enchanted arrows. But using those skills at once took away a great lot of Mana and using the wind skill was already using up a great amount of stamina. If not for all the essory artifacts he was wearing, he could have already lost just from that much, but he was fine, and his stamina was slowly recovering from his sword. -Schiiiiiiiiim! He was done with his defense too, so as soon as the barrage of arrows wasplete, he used his sword''s charging skill and narrowed the distance between him and his opponent. Eon was expecting this one too, so he used [Shadow curtain] as soon as his opponent was close enough and created a smokescreen of darkness. This surprised ud even more, but he didn''t stop. He used his senses, detection skill, and high eyesight, but after a brief moment when he could not perceive the opponent, he gave up on finding him and just ced his hand on the ground and used another one of his skills. -Boooooooooooooom! [Hand of destruction]. A destructive area of effect skill created a great explosion that devastated half of the garden and created the biggest craters of that night. Of course, it was only the biggest at that point. The biggest of the night would be from Eon, but there was still time for that. Eon was taking his sweet time with this good boy, after all. He could finish things even now, and Rein was nagging him to finish it soon so that they can have their dance, but he was interested in this person. He was an imperial prince, and his strength spoke for itself. He sure was strong enough to give Ca a hard time. He had received proper training and his exceptional talent was clearly visible to him. He was like Ca and Alf in terms of talent, definitely great enough to reach the top of his field if he cultivated it properly. He was a nice person, but he was still not strong enough. He was young and had a bright path ahead of him, but he didn''t have a goal. He was different from Ca, who wanted to be great enough to chase after my greatness and be a hero for others, or Alf, who always wanted to surpass me with his magic. They had goals, a wish, and a deep desire that made them strive for more. It made them work harder and harder every single day to achieve what they wanted. They had a goal they wanted to aplish, and it made them better than many other geniuses in this world. But his opponent, prince udius, was different. He had immense talent, fortitude to work harder, and perseverance to achieve more and better, but¡­ he didn''t have any goal. He was someone with a bright path, but his path was nk. He was like a newborn spirit that can have any elemental powers it wanted but different from them, he didn''t know what he wanted in his life or for what purpose he gained his strengths. He didn''t know, and Eon could see that in those eyes they just wanted to win, even while epting the situation he was in. He was struggling. Struggling to defend against his arrows, struggling to dodge the arrows that strangely changed their path and came at him again, struggling to cast more spells to attack and defend against an enemy that could easily neutralize them. He was struggling, maybe not for the first time in his life, but he was stubbornly refusing to give up. He continued, trying magic and different kinds of swordsmanship, which looked fancy but definitely wasn''t something that belonged to him. He had a unique way to cast spells, but he didn''t have his own magic. He had a unique talent to wield his sword, but he didn''t have his own sword style. He was good enough to have them both, but the world already called him a genius without those things, so he must have thought it was enough. He must have thought what he was doing was more than most people did. And it was definitely true. He didn''tck the efforts; hecked the path, a wish, a goal, a reason to achieve something¡­ And today, even with his strengths, skills, and powers, he was going to lose because of his carelessness. He was going to lose because he didn''t have a path, and it definitely wasn''t his fault. He was young, he had a long way ahead of him, and he had all the time in the world, but still¡­ he wasn''t going to win today. He couldn''t defeat this person before him, he couldn''t defeat this simply superior magic archer, he couldn''t have that dance with that one person he wanted to get close to, he was weak, for the first time in his life, he knew he was weak. He knew it¡­ and still, he wasn''t going to give up just because of that. He would fight, he would fight until hisst breath, he would fight and fight and keep fighting until one of them wasn''t able to continue anymore. He was exhausted. The fight had already gone on for more than a few minutes. The spectators who could see the things happening in that obliteratednd knew from a while back what the oue was going to be¡­ They were surprised by Eon''s unique strength, his wless archery, his unbelievable magic, and his amazing techniques with bow and arrow. It had already far surpassed their expectations, but none of them knew about this ''ugly'' stubbornness of their imperial prince. It was unsightly how he was struggling in that one-sided fight, refusing to admit defeat to the challenge he himself had proposed. Maybe there was a reason for this behavior, and maybe that reason was that calmly standing stoicdy from a powerful dukedom. Whatever it may be but they knew one thing¡­ that spar wasn''t going tost much longer. A winner will soon be decided. And even though it was clear who the winner would be, there was still a chance they could be wrong. Their prince had still not shown all his cards and some of his famous things were still unrevealed. Many knew the definite oue, and some wanted to see something interesting. This was entertaining for most of them, but all of them were excited. It had been fun, but the long fight was on the verge of ending now. And this end started when prince udius spoke some funny words while defending himself against a few more enchanted arrows. "I didn''t think it woulde to this. I apologize." And as he said that, his eyes shone with a strange blue light and Eon felt the flow of the Mana inside his body flowing weirdly. It was a small change that could have almost killed an attacking knight or given a Mana reflux to some mage casting a spell. It was dangerous. Even more dangerous than your blood flow suddenly changing. Someone could have died even with this intensity, but¡­ "I''m afraid that doesn''t work on me." Chapter 443 Sword Vs. Bow (3) His answer was as normal as saying sorry for sneezing. Eon''s special body circted all the energies on its own and if, by any chance, something like a Mana reflux did happen, his body automatically changed the energy flow in that direction. Not even a chaotic energy turbulence was a problem for his body. A little forced reflux wasn''t even something to be concerned about. It was normal for him. He had felt worse things anyway, so this much was nothing, even if it happened extremely. But this normal thing shocked the prince and many other people who understood what was happening. "H-how?! How''s that even possible?!!" "Just like your innate skill, I, too, have a small innate skill that does some good stuff like this." "..." He was speechless and almost allowed an arrow to pass through his defenses. But his head instinctively moved to one side and the arrow only gave him a small scratch on his cheek. "Let''s finish this, your highness." Eon jumped up in the air and started floating with his enchanted shoes. A dot of energy materialized before him in the air and started growing. The prince, even some of the more sensitive spectators, could tell it was a powerful skill and with how fast it materialized at the higher altitude, there was no way to avoid this thing. It was too strong. He knew this was strong. So, he lifted his sword high, and the sword turned into a giant sword of light. This was his second unique skill andst trump card. That was all he had to show to him, while he knew the opponent hadn''t even used half of his strength. It was strange and he couldn''t definitely name it, but the feeling of weakness, this utter helplessness, and the feeling of having nothing were new to him. He had used this offensive innate skill many times in his life, and every time he used it, he felt the meaning of power. This giant lightsword had always cut through anything and everythinging at him, and it had always defeated the strong opponents he had fought with. But today, as he saw the giant beam of energying at him, as he felt his sword colliding with the burst of energy, and as he felt his sword of light breaking for the first time, he felt a strange emptiness. He felt lost. He felt like he was powerless. He felt like he was nothing, not even the lowest of the peasants. He looked up as the burst of energy still came towards him after crushing his giant lightsword. The figure of a single boy, the figure of a boy who escorted his favorite person, the figure of the person who was going to dance with the person he wanted to talk, hold, and embrace, was looking down at him from that high sky. With the big full moon behind him, his golden hair fluttering in the strong winds of the tranquil night, his bright red eyes, so calm and filled with pity as if he knew of this oue from the start, and that strange calmness of those sharp eyes, that seemed like a bird of prey looking at a helpless prey that he would let go just because he is full for the day, seemed like his father to him. No, it was even worse than his. Or maybe better than his? He didn''t know. His mind wasn''t working properly right now. The huge ray of energy wasing at him and he had no strength, no power to avoid it. He didn''t have any strength to even move, so he just fell to the ground, barely standing with his sword half dug into the rough soil. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish! It was here. His demise was here. But¡­ he would survive. He would live because this was just a spar. There would be someone to protect him, so he wasn''t worried about living. But what if this wasn''t a spar? What if this was a real battle on the battlefield? What if his opponent hadn''t gone as easy on him today as he did? What would have happened if this was an actual attack and this burst of powerful energy was really going to hit him? He would have died, no? He would be dead, and the reason for it was that he was weak. He was weak, but¡­ he had to be strong. He needed strength to at the very least protect himself from people far stronger than this person. Strong people like his father. He needed strength, but¡­ did he really? Did what he needed actually strength? Why did he have to get strong, though? If he just wanted to survive, he could just live in his house and people would protect him. That was definitely something he could do, so why did he need more strength? What was the reason he needed strength? What was the reason he started gaining strength in the first ce? Did it actually mean anything at all if he was going to lose and couldn''t have the one thing, the one person he wanted in his life? He didn''t know¡­ he didn''t know anything. He suddenly felt nk and even as he was covered by a ck barrier, and the burst of lightnded on him, creating the biggest and deepest crater in this open area that seemed unreal, he just stayed there. Helpless, powerless, and thoughtless¡­ He didn''t know what he should do. He didn''t know what he could do. And he didn''t even know why he should do anything at all. He wanted strength. He wanted that person to look at him, talk with him, hold him like they did when this person walked into that enormous room with them. He wanted her¡­ but he can''t have her. Not atst for tonight. Maybe he will never get to have that person at all. She wasn''t a thing that one could own after all. It was, as he had said, up to her. All he could do was be a more likable person to her. Maybe if he could do that, he will be able to gain her friendship and could even have that dance he couldn''t have today. Yes, maybe all he wanted was that, but still, he wasn''t sure yet. He wasn''t sure¡­ but he at least knew one thing. "It was my utter defeat." He was defeated. He was utterly crushed. He was weak. And he wasn''t qualified. "It was a great match. I had fun, so let''s do it again. Right, your unique way of casting magic was amazing. I learned a lot today so thanks a lot~." Eon came down and was now smiling while looking at him. This sudden thanks gave him confusion and mixed feelings, but he knew he only meant half of those things. "You''re a fucking asshole, you know that?" Prince udius smiled and epted his hand to stand up from that pile of rubble. He was a rag already while his opponent neither had any scratches nor his clothes had any damage. So, aside from his fatigued face, weak look, and visible tiredness, he was mostly fine. He felt even more lowly because of this. For a moment, he felt like everything had been a lie. Still, this person saying bullshit like he had fun from this ugly fight was definitely a jerk. "Miss Reinelle always says that. Actually, she says much more than that. She''s different from what you think, and I personally believe you will find someone better. You have a long way ahead of you, so find someone or something you want to chase after for the rest of your life and strive to achieve that. It will all be fine." He patted his back, and this felt strange to him. He hated this person but, did he actually hate him? He did not know that either. So he could only smile bitterly at those familiar-sounding words. He hadplicated feelings filling up all his being, and he wanted to go ask about them to someone who actually understood these things. There were few people who could help him with this, and his mom was the only one he could actually go to right now. So he wanted to go back home, to his awesome mom, but before that¡­ He was going to watch them dance. He couldn''t have this honor and the one who received it understood the greatness of what he had and had more than enough strength to back up his words. He was different from an unqualified person like him. So he wanted to see what it would feel like to have what he longed for. He wanted to see their dance. He didn''t know anything else. The reason, the goal, his own heart, he knew nothing, but at the very least, he knew he wanted to watch their dance and then¡­ go back home. And now that things were over, Eon was also excited to finally have the dance they practiced for so long. Actually, he mostly thought her a few things, and they had practiced the things already multiple times, but doing it before that big of an audience that was already fired up from the duel from a moment ago was going to be more difficult than they had thought. She was nervous, and he found it cute. She was quite something¡­ talking about the dance throughout their fight and now that the time hade, she was nervous. She was cute at times and if she didn''t have her bad side, she would be a perfect person. But that was just a fantasy. It would be far less attractive if things were perfect. The imperfections of people were the things that attracted others after all. She had her imperfections, and though few knew it, they liked her because of them. He was the same. Maybe the reason he loved her so much was that she was someone furthest from perfection one could be from his point of view. She was a bad girl, difficult to handle, a needy one, a crazy one, sometimes uncontroble, sometimes smart, sometimes foolish, sometimes cute, but most of the time, she was his Rein. She had her imperfections, and they just made her even more likable. Still, he knew not many could handle this bloodthirsty witch if it was that much difficult even for him. But¡­ she was an amazing person. And this amazing person belonged to him. He knew she did because¡­ well, he didn''t need a reason. He just knew she did. The two of them were perfect as one. Their family knew that too. They were waiting for the day they be more than just friends and they could finally tease them openly like they wanted. And that time was far closer than they thought, but before that¡­ "Can I have this great honor, my gorgeousdy?" "The honor is all mine." She was nervous, he could feel it, but she was also excited. She was smiling, and they were finally going to do this dance before this many people. They prayed to mother nature that things would go fine, so finally, they walked into the center of the ballroom as people naturally cleared the area and the song he had prepared for their amazing first night started to slowly y in the background¡­ Chapter 444 First Dance In the middle of the open ballroom, Eon and Rein stood before each other, the area around them cleared of people. People who had witnessed a great spar just a moment ago that was already carved into their minds were now looking at the two young people who were the stars of this party. One refused the dance from their imperial prince while the other one fought for this one dance. The spar was magnificent, so enchantingly beautiful that they weren''t even able to look away from this young person before them. They saw him for the first time today, and they already knew he had a bright future ahead of him. He was special and strong, but more than that, he was graceful. He was elegant, his every move in that spar, his magic, his arrows, everything about the way he fought was a piece of art itself. Most of them were nobles and some of the most important virtues of true nobles were their unwavering dignity, their eternal grace, as well as the aesthetic way they handled themselves. It took one a long time in their life to learn these things and it could actually only be truly learned with time and professional practice. One of the reasons the representative of Atraxia was so famous was because of the unreal graceful way she handled herself. It was genuinely unbelievable. It was like she was a far older person who had long mastered what even the old people present in that room were trying to imitate. She was special in that aspect, and that naturally attracted many souls. Till now, she was the only young one with this unique charm, but now there was this person, her very first escort, her very first dance partner, with a simr uniqueness to her. But still, the ones who had a deeper understanding of noble etiquette would catch on to the slight difference between the two of them. She was like an old painting who had seen the world over a long time, understood it better than any of them, and survived the harsh disasters of time. He was different from that. He wasn''t old or experienced, but instead, he was a masterpiece. Pottery made with the greatest finesse; molded, shaped, failed but seeded after countless trials; then cooked in the harshest and hottest fire, a fire unlike any other, and when it was ready, the celestial artist painted it with all their life''s experience. This boy wasn''t some genius like her, they could tell, but he was so unbelievably refined¡­ it was preposterous. It was as if he had learned everything, from the way to stand to the way he should walk. Fighting gracefully was a small thing, it was like he had even learned how to breathe perfectly. The boy was like a masterpiece created by an artist who had even surpassed the gods. He was unbelievable, and this uniqueness made him look even more attractive to the amazing youngdy before him. Well, of course, it was the public''s opinion. For the two of them, the other one was a totally different being. She was nowhere near a perfect girl. Definitely not young at the very least. She was imperfect. And that was her most attractive aspect. He, in her opinion, was a jerk who was actually just amazing. Far more amazing than people could think. He was also someone who carried more pain than even her. Someone who had worked harder than any of them to have what he had today. Someone who was so perfect it was just too unattractive. It was difficult to like him if one knew about him as she did. He was like an artifact in a museum showcase that you would admire from the outside but have no actual attachment to if it belonged to you. He was an annoying asshole that would endure all the pain by himself because he didn''t want to hurt people close to him. He carried deep darkness inside his always calm heart and was also someone who didn''t tell others his close secrets. All this actually wouldn''t be attractive to otherdies, but for her, all of this was even more of the reason to like him. He was a helpless rock. Dumb, solid, and unmoving. But someone had to keep this unique rock. He was too good for her, that was what she thought. She was too good for him, that was what he thought. They were hopelessly, irretrievably, foolishly, in love with each other. It wasn''t understandable most of the time. But they knew they had to live with what they had. -Slow music starts. He bowed, and she also gave him a respectful bow. He had a low smile on his face, she was also smiling. The two young people looked good together. So good that now they couldn''t even imagine their own selves in their ce. It was strange, but as their dance started, this feeling became solid and unavoidable with each passing moment. They were just perfect together, and so was their unique dance on that uniquely slow melody. -p. "It''s an original." Someone said those words in a normal voice, but the reaction among the spectators was strong. As that person said, the song ying right now was original, and their unique dance was perfectly in sync with this beautiful melody. The two young people were dancing on a slow tempo and their movements included the use of their hands and feet. -mp. They used ps and strong ground taps in their dance. It was new to most of the nobles present, but if empress Vera was here, she would recognize these unique movements. But it still wasn''t exactly something she would recognize¡­ this was a version. The dance was an original creation. Something they created together. -Music slowly intensifies. And as the tempo slowly increased and their speed, the unique movements, the use of their clothes, their unique chemistry, and their closeness were open for everyone to see. They were just friends. Yeah, sure. They would happily believe this obvious lie. This dance, this magnificent collection of body movements, this absurdly good show of chemistry, and those moments of intimacy¡­ it was incredible. It was so incredible that the couples watching them couldn''t resist the urge to dance like them. It was irresistible, so¡­ the auction master first asked for a dance from her masked husband and after her, many of them followed behind them. -The medium tempo continued. The ballroom filled with couples following the lead of the young couple in the center. -p! They all were experts, so it didn''t take long for them to catch up to their unique rhythm. -mp! It was difficult at first, but this dance wasn''t that difficult. It was easier than the traditional dance that they all knew. This new dance of theirs was more free than thatmon rigid dance style. It was free, the dancers felt free while performing it, the pping and thumping movements were exciting, and overall, if they had to exin this new dance in one word¡­ fun. That would be the mostmon answer. -p! -Tempo slowly rising. This was fun. It was different from the traditional dance, where they had to follow the same repetitive movements. p¨¤§ád¨¢-¨¾?¦Í¨º¦É.§ã¨®§® Mistakes were allowed in this dance. The main goal of it was to have some fun with your partner. And for certain¡­ -mp! This was fun. There were smiles on their faces. They made mistakes but still continued with the way others were doing. Many even let go of the usual movements and created something of their own in that short time. Their versions were better suited for them and their partners, and the funny thing was that they still harmonized with the main dance. [ "We are amazing." ] She was looking into his eyes while smiling, and he was smiling back as he held her one hand, stretched it, and took a turn. -p! [ "Good work to you too. Now get ready!" ] The end of the song wasing, and she was already waiting for it. She just gave him a smile and followed his body as naturally as a leaf floating in the river. He was the same as he followed her leads and continued the dance while looking around the entire room with his third eye. Their dance attracted many couples to join them. Even Ca was dancing with Alf. But still, there were many people who enjoyed just watching this ongoing show. Few of them didn''t like this new dance that went against the traditions. But most of the people who weren''t part of this dance were single people or the ones who wanted to ask someone but couldn''t muster the courage to ask for it. Their prince udius was just watching them, and the other couples dancing with envy oozing out of him. ''I also want that.'' It was written all over his face as he looked at the smiling couples and this dance that brought them even closer. He was seeing love in true meaning for maybe the first time in his life. And he didn''t have it even though he had so many things that others could even think about. He was looking at Eon and Rein in particr. They couldn''t hide the look in their eyes, even with their great skills. And when he looked at that look, that warm smile she gave him as he held her, touched her, moved with her to create those beautiful movements¡­ something broke inside him. It was strange, but it wasn''t his ss of wine. He felt something breaking inside him this time. He felt heaviness, an unexinable weight that was strangely growing with each passing moment he watched them. There were many more attractive people in the room, like the auction master and her partner, sir Elkan and his gorgeous partner,dy Hazel and sir Theophilus, and many more. There were many other ces to look at in that room, but his unblinking eyes were fixed on Rein and Eon. They were smiling; they were holding each other; they were happy; they were together; they looked good; they looked perfect actually¡­ he knew all that, and still, he didn''t want to ept it. He couldn''t ept it. He just looked at them, at her, at her cier-melting warm smile that he had never seen in the past, and the one who gave her that smile was holding her. He was also as happy as her, maybe more, but he could tell he thought of himself as lucky. He was strong; he was better than him; he was a good person, and they looked at each other the same way many of the married couples looked at their spouse. He had never received such a gaze. Not from her, not even from the manydies that wanted to talk to him. He knew this was special. Not something many could have in the short lives they had. They had found it, just like the small number of people in this room. They were perfect for each other, he could see that. But still¡­ ''It''s¡­ painful.'' It was unbearable. He tried to calm himself, think about things rationally, and tell himself he couldn''t have what could never belong to him. He knew all that and still, the weird feeling in his chest wouldn''t go away. He watched them, and his eyes didn''t blink till the end, but after the eyes had be red and there was water in those golden eyes, he had reached his limit. He had seen all he needed so with that heavy chest, broken heart, and empty mind¡­ he stood up and walked out of this ballroom with aplicated, calm, and smiling expression. Many people saw him leave, his sister and brother included. But the chocte-eating sister only sighed while his weak-looking brother smiled bitterly at his poor brother. He was miserable. But regardless of his actions andplicated feelings, the cool dance led by the two continued¡­ -p! Chapter 445 Amazed Audience -mp! The dance wasing to an end. I was holding her close. The music had suddenly be slow, so we were moving slowly, but everyone knew what wasing. They just knew so, when the time came and the music took a sharp jump, they were ready to lift their partners. It was familiar to them, but the next step was going to be even more fun. -p, p! Two ps. That was a new thing. But the music was still far faster for them to stop. Their legs just moved on their own, surprising even them with how they were doing what they were doing. But it was just how the simplew of synchronization worked. They were following us after this long dance and their bodies followed us in most cases. There were some people who fell on each other, but they justughed with the spectators about this fun thing. But some of them were still naturally following us. -mp, mp, mp! The tempo was very high and few could actually follow that fast speed, but experts like mom and others were following us perfectly. They had almost connected to us now, so they did what we did as naturally as a trained group of dancers. When we pped, they were pping. When we tapped our shoes on the ground, they were doing the same. When I lifted her, they also lifted their partners and when we took various spins, turns, and circles, they were doing it with us. It was fun, and these amazing movements happening in a perfect sync were unbelievable for the spectators and the people who had lost or given up midway. It looked good from above, so people watching from above must be feeling even more excited. -Final high music. It was here, so I looked at my gorgeous partner and our eyes were everything we needed. She smiled and nodded as we separated when the music was on a high note, and the others followed us, so it confused those who weren''t in a zone like us. But the dancers who were with us also understood some of them couldn''t do this next thing even if they wanted to. Many of them couldn''t, at the very least. Rein was a few steps away from me, same for the others who were confident in their magic, Aura, skills, and partners, and, when she ran towards me, a slow gust of wind covered my hands and her body at the same time¡­ -Thump! She took a jump with the winds as support,nded on the wind on one of my hands, took three impable turns, same for me in opposite directions, and with the same winds supporting her, holding both my hands, she gently cascaded down to the ground. "WHAAAAAAAAA!" Cheers and ps full of surprise filled the room, which had fallen silent just a moment ago. They were astonished by this unique movement that none of them were expecting, not even the ones who followed us. They didn''t even know what they did themselves, but that was the fun of a shared zone. They were drunk on the boundless fun. But a few couples definitely pulled off something that took us the practice of an entire month. These people were amazing. But this just showed how blindly they trusted their partners. It wasn''t something just anyone could pull off. The main element wasn''t magic, after all. Those who could use Aura or those with special skills and artifacts like uncle El could definitely pull it off. The trust of their partner was the key element. These people were amazing, and this dance was at its end. -Ending melody. And after that stunt, the end had to be a slow one. Not many possessed as high of stamina as a few of us, so the end came, and we just held each other in thesest moments. She was amazing. And¡­ well, she was amazing. ''You''re amazing.'' She said through her eyes, and I nodded with a smile. ''We are amazing.'' Sheughed at that remark and in thesest slow moments where the other couples were kissing their partners, we could only hold each other, enjoy the other''s beautiful eyes, and feel our entire being. She wanted something like them, but there were these damned restrictions in ce. She was sad, but what we had at this moment, just the way we had each other at this moment, even while the world was watching, was enough for her. She was happy, those clear eyes, those curved lips, her wild heart, and her warm breaths said it all. She was cute¡­ and the best. "Thanks." I couldn''t help but say it out loud when our feet finally stopped with the music. "The pleasure was all mine." She slightly lifted her dress with both hands and politely bowed. It wasn''t that long, but we just had our very first official and the best-ever dance. She was tired, just like the other people who had already fallen down to the ground with exhaustion. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" But they all were smiling. That much was true for all of them. And most of the people were smiling, cheering, or pping for our legen¡ªdary performance. It was fun, but now that the music stopped, even the two of us understood how difficult the thing that we just pulled out was. "Hahaha." "Hehehe. Still, it was some of the most fun things ever~!" We bothughed, and she almost fell back from exhaustion, but I caught her hand and helped her to one of the closest chairs. The ball had taken a short break. Even the musicians were tired and excited like all of us, so a break was a must. Well, there were others who could take their positions so they can take as long of a break as they wanted. We all also needed breaks. People couldn''t just stand still after watching that amazing performance. They starteding to the two of us andmanded the two of us for our coooooooooool performance. They had fun, and the ones who had continued till the end with us were even more interested in us now. They had a great time just now. And just a small thank you could never express their genuine heart. So, we were now being invited to their estates. And they were prominent figures, so there was no way to politely refuse their honest invitations. It was a chaotic time, but I handled it so well that she didn''t even have to say a word. And this impressed the older ones even more. We just had a great dance, and I was asposed as I had been before. The approachable air around me was the same, so they continueding and talking about worldly things. [ "Let''s just go." ] She had no interest in them and her now stoic face, too different from her warm one from just some moment ago, was familiar to me. [ "Wait for a bit more. We have to check him, remember?" ] And the person I was talking about was walking towards us, so she remembered there was this person too. He was good at vanishing from people''s eyes and minds. He was almost like a presenceless ghost. No one actually noticed him and those who did just ignored him. Or¡­ he made them ignore him. He was probably obsessed with lying low. But those tricks and wishes were of little importance before Lucy and my curiosity. Even at this moment, he just walked through the people, as they were unconsciously giving way to someone who wasn''t even there. He was something¡­ and when he stood before me, I could tell he was one of those MC material characters who loved hiding their strengths. "That was a gorgeous performance, master Axion. I couldn''t take my eyes away from the two of you." "It is our pleasure you enjoyed it, your highness, prince Alpheus. I was looking forward to greeting you for a while. You''re quite a unique person yourself." I offered him a hand for a handshake and I knew he sensed something was fishy from that very subtle change in his expression, but¡­ he had to ept it. ''Lucy. Analyze.'' [[ *Yes! Finally~!* ]] A familiar small bird of light only visible to me came out of my hand and directly went inside him. His eyes widened at that moment, and he tried retracting his hand. [ What do you think you''re doing!? ] He openly used mental telepathy. A difficult technique that mostly eastern martial artists and stronger species on this continent use. [[ It''s best to not do that in public, your highness. People are able to sense it nowadays. ]] It was a technique that, if not used perfectly, could be tapped in by the people with good control over Mana and knights with higher senses. His execution was very good for his age, but it wasn''t perfect. And I couldn''t take the risk. The bird of white light finished its survey after thoroughly scanning the person before me and came back. [[ *As we thought, his status window was masked.* ]] A new status window opened before my eyes and his face was filled with visible fear, astonishment, and confusion. [[ Y-you¡­ how did you do that?! And what is this thing¡­ a mental connection used with an origin bond¡­? No, wait! A crystal butterfly!! ]] He figured it out quickly, too much quickly actually. It was so quick that there were only a few answers to how he did what he just did. [[ *Who would have thought¡­* ]] ''I definitely didn''t. It''s unexpected, even for me.'' This was just that much unbelievable and absurd. ===Status=== Name: Alpheus Trion Madeline Wito M. Franklin Canoton August Xino Roxana Race: High human (Conditional) Age: 12 Strength: 74 Dexterity: 78 Stamina: 76 Magic Power: 138 Intelligence: 147 Luck: 84 Charm: 57 [Skill: Solodinel, Evolution trigger, Universal mental protection, Mana mastery, Octagram space, Azure eyes, Summon Goliath, Wall creation, Earth domination, Imprisonment, Healing wave.] [Origin Skill: Cosmic shelter: Beginner mastery. -Ruby brickwork (Stage-1) -Labour of truth (Stage-1) ] [Possessor of pinnacle] [Blessing of golden mes] ¡­ ============ This person before me, this weak-looking imperial prince, was someone who possessed one of the fourteen main pinnacle skills. But even more surprising than that was his second unique skill. It was doubtful something like that should even be possible. But there was one way someone could justify the existence of something so absurd as this¡­ ''Just like us¡­ an anomaly.'' And this fact made this person even more unbelievable. Chapter 446 Solodinel In this world, there are innate skills that are special. Innate skills are basically something that are unique to that person, so aside from them, no one in that particr timeline has exactly the same thing. The innate skills are something that represents a person, a creature, or even the ''beings that can''t be defined''. But, there are some skills that can be passed down through natural means and they are mostly racial skills or gic skills. The racial skills that energy beasts possess, as well as special skills like Alf and aunt Haze''s eye powers, are an example of these skills. But there are also some special innate skills that appear in the world with the same names and functioning throughout the passing of time. They are skills with such absurd functions, such great strengths, and such diverse utilizations that they are termed pinnacle skills. These skills are something that only that being in that particr timeline possesses, and those possessing them are inevitably powerful in some ways. There have been fourteen key skills that have been the same in this time-immortal. They are the main pinnacle skills. And the skills that be as powerful as these fourteen main skills are categorized in the fifteenth subcategory of EX skills. Rein and I had innate skills that had the potential to grow into these exponential skills, but this person before us had one of the main pinnacle skills, and one of the most famous ones like [Gluttony]. [Solodinel] the pinnacle skill based on one of the seven virtues, wisdom. It was one of the most famous skills and something I knew a great lot of things about. He was someone who had an amazing skill like this one and the possessors of this particr skill have been very famous in the known and unknown history. ''Though, from what I know, it hasn''t appeared in humans in thest nine or ten centuries.'' It was an amazing skill, and maybe grandma used some aspects of this skill in Lucy¡­ ''Nah. Lucy is something totally unique.'' Solodinel was a skill that granted the user unparalleled wisdom, information about the world, some of its ''small truths'' and a mind that was like an endless ocean. ''It''s simr to my mind that can''t forget but different from me, his mind is so great that it can remember too much information without any problem.'' I can''t forget anything, and it was more of a curse than a blessing while his skill was a blessing in true meaning. The possessors of this particr skill have been some of the greatest people the world has ever known. And they were famous not just because of their special powers, but the unique wisdom they possessed. ''They are even said to have been blessed by the great phoenix¡­ ironic.'' I was looking into his eyes with a calm expression and he was looking at me with a simr calm expression. But only Rein knew about the conversation we were having through Celes''s connection. [[ "Master Axion. Oh, master Eon¡­ a unique power that can analyze someone''s whole being, a power that can ignore the highest grade mental barriers and even bypass a pinnacle skill. Amazing? No. Awesome, nah. Exceptional, hmm, tsk. You are beyond words, master Axion." ]] [[ "He''s cursing you, darling." ]] [[ "I can tell that too Rein." ]] Wisdom, the ability to contemte, have prior knowledge of something, knowing the positive as well as negative consequences of most, if not all, avable scenarios, and act productively using the existing knowledge, experience, understandingmon sense and insight. It also includes the willingness to yield to someone else''s opinions and take the options with the most advantage for the present and future. Solodinel was a skill with diverse utilizations, as its main purpose or use was to assist the possessor of the skill in all possible mental activities. It was an assistant skill, while on the other hand, Lucy wasn''t my assistant. She was a unique entity that existed with and within me. That skill might be able to interact with him like our eyes, but that was its limit. I don''t think it could ever reach the level of Lucy. Well¡­ I wasn''t interested in his pinnacle skill as much as I was interested in his second unique skill. That one was the main thing that made this weak-looking person an anomaly. A being that was a ''mistake''. Someone who was simr to the two of us. But still, his abnormality was totally on another level from my existence or Rein''s natural inability to perceive time as a witch like her should. [[ "Can you believe that Rein? This boy could literally change his race and evolve into the high human at his will." ]] [[ "Well, it is unbelievable. But I''m more surprised by that attitude that doesn''t even give a shit about his ultimate skill." ]] [[ "But you aren''t even surprised by either of them." ]] [[ "You need strength for that shit, my dear. Look at me. Do I look like I have any energy left in me after you did those amazing~ things to me?" ]] Her voice was usual, and by usual I meant alluring in the wrong way. It was good that he couldn''t hear us or else things would be more difficult. Well, anyone would be tired after all that. The other couples were naturally resting with their partners in different corners of this ballroom. But she was different. Yes, the day had been tough and long and tiring, but she definitely was more energetic than she had been before this dance. [[ "You''re tired? Aww¡­ no cuddling then." ]] [[ "Cuddling doesn''t require energy, darling. Just say the word and we can do it all night and the next morning. But remember that it''s inevitable." ]] [[ "Master Axion?" ]] Rein was talking about some usual things and I was more focused on that. I was distracted and didn''t answer his obviously made-up words while we both could see his true, well-hidden emotions. He was astonished that someone unexpected actually saw through his skill, but this ultimately angered him because of the many consequences this thing would result in. He was cussing at me, and he was a good actor to control his emotions so well. But sadly, we both had more worldly experiences than him. The acting was naturally futile. I also wanted to answer him, but it could wait for a moment. [[ "Alright ma''am, we can do that. But before that, I have something on my mind. You will like it." ]] [[ "...? What is it? Tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me!" ]] [[ "Look forward to it~." ]] I looked at her and gave her a smile, which sparked a cute chain reaction of countless emotions. She will be quiet for a while with that. [[ "Yes, your highness. I apologize for my rudeness, but I was just curious. If this awfully wretched conduct had inconvenienced you in any way, I will sincerely ept any damnation to atone for my ineffable transgression." ]] He looked at me nkly as he stood before me and while he was still there, as if he was invisible, other people just came and greeted the two of us. He was right there, but people really seemed to not notice him at all. This just showed that he was good, but my words surprised this smart person. [[ "You already know everything, don''t you?" ]] He looked at me with a sudden defeated gaze, as if he had realized just how bad of a situation he was in. That skill was quite good. Not anyone could figure out we already knew his feelings. As expected of a skill even Lucy admired. [[ "It''s fine, your highness. Don''t worry about anything. I love my peace too." ]] I gave him a warm smile, and he nodded with a deeper, helpless smile. [[ "Just call me Alph. Is there any chance I will be able to be your friend?" ]] He was directly asking something like that. He sure was bold, like his father. [[ "Depends, your highness. A friend is a big thing for me, you see. Not right now, but maybe with time? I would love to have a special friend like you." ]] It was better to keep a person who knew about you close to you than to go on their bad side. If I ept his friendship right away, there would only be a contractual meaning to this friendship. I didn''t want that. It was neither profitable for me in any way nor useful for the things I had in mind for the future. It would be a loss to have an amazing person like him as nothing more than someone who I shared some secrets with. Having him as a true friend would be better, but that wasn''t easy for us. He was a smart one, and though he was still not at the level of his dad, he had great potential and prowess. He could achieve some great things if he wasn''t hiding his strengths, but as he was right now, he was really the lowest of the imperial heirs. But he was smart, and that was a great variable that prevented me from epting him as a friend right away. He was good, but only his willingness, devotion, and actions could grant him my true friendship. [[ "I¡­ understand. I will try to earn that friendship. But can I ask you a question?" ]] He had a sad expression as well asplicated feelings, but he gave me a smile with his answer and then he was back to normal, curious about something. [[ "Sure." ]] I wasn''t doing the formal talk now, but I wasn''t exactly friendly either. It was neutral, and he wasn''t offended by this. [[ "I can tell that you anddy Reinelle have a special rtionship, but she knows about me too, right?" ]] He was curious about something proper. And I could answer his question with ease now that we were trying to be friends. [[ "To tell you the truth, she was listening to our conversation until just a moment ago. She''s contemting something I said, so she''s not exactly even listening to these people." ]] The answer surprised him. Not many knew about Rein''s past and the fact that she was a witch older than their grandma, after all. [[ "So she also has secrets¡­ damn. Now it suddenly feels like I know nothing." ]] [[ "You do know nothing, your highness. But that''s fine. Knowing a lot isn''t as good as it sounds." ]] It was painful. Even agonizing when ites to things that you can''t tell anyone, not even dead souls. It was the worldly restrictions and the smart person before me understood what I was talking about. So, we smiled, and I greeted the special, expected person who had walked up to me with a small te and a piece of chocte cake in it. "It is a great honor to greet you like this princess Isabe." I was expecting her, and she took her time, but finally, she was here. ''She''s special too, but this is rted to business, so I hope she says the words I am expecting.'' And it was just like I thought, thankfully. "I loved it," she said with a bright and impressed smile, and I smiled back. This should check out another thing from today''s to-do list. Chapter 447 Balls Conclusion "It was amazing. So amazing I couldn''t stop eating once I started. It was some of the best ones I have eaten in my life. I thought it was made by some new chef on par with the maker of my favorite choctes so I went to see sir head chef. But then he praised how you were the one to give them all the methods and recipes for them and also that I should talk with you about these things. The chocte was so good¡­ especially that unique thing which seemed wafer-like from the inside. Those candies were sweet too. And not to mention this amazing chocte cake with such richness and a bit of a spicy tick. It''s amazing~. Anyway, I went to the head chef to ask if we could get the methods and recipes for these things, but he said to ask for things rted to this from you. I would really appreciate it if you do think about it. Just say the price you want and I will send someone to finalize things when I get back. Being able to eat such precious things would be pretty wonderful~." This was the second princess Isabe of this great empire, the gourmet who had eaten almost all types and kinds of choctesmonly avable in this empire. This wasn''t as much of a famous fact as her being a super genius elementalist and Arcane energy user, but few did know about this. She was a half-elf, so it was natural that she would have a natural high affinity for Mana and natural powers, plus she had a great pedigree from being the child of the imperial family. But, this gorgeous youngdy before me sure was head over heels for the chocty things I specially prepared for her. ''The fish is caught on the hook. Now, let''s pull it out~.'' "I''m honored princess likes it. And of course, it would be a greater honor to serve you with mycking knowledge and abilities. This is great, and as for the prices, mother had instructed me to not sell the recipes and methods directly. Instead, she suggested we sell the items individually. She had already decided we do twelve golds per piece for everything so you can just send someone and we will sign the contract." I gave her a calm, confident, ''pure'' smile and the pretty girl with long hair nodded with a calm smile of her own. "It''s good then. You will have a big order from me, so I expect a quick delivery. Have a nice time~." She turned around while taking a bite from her cake and walked away without greeting Rein. Prince Alph was invisible to all, but she noticed him, stopped, and told him to not disturb me much. He just answered casually, and she walked back towards the chocte fountain. He was hiding his strengths, but he sure wasn''t on bad terms with his siblings. ''Though it''s rumored that his big sister loves him a little too much.'' The eldest princess and said to be some of the greatest artists who specialized in fine arts of painting, sculpting, and writing; princess Julietta. ''Also some of the most beautifuldies of the continent.'' She was cool, nothing like his ''normal'' little brother. She showed off her skills like it was her second nature and not just the continent, but the whole world praised the great arts of (Vangausten). She was in the academy right now as a first-year student and the most likely candidate for the valedictorian position in her batch. She was amazing, and so was her art. It was amazing, but her brother, this guy, wasn''t any less special. [[ "So prince Alph¡­ you have a pretty special skill there." ]] I finally resumed our conversation, so he looked back at me. The guy had a floating concentration as he was just looking around, lost in not-so-important thoughts. [[ "Oh, right! Thanks, but it''s a pinnacle skill. It is just natural that it would be amazing-" ]] [[ "I''m not talking about Solodinel." ]] I shook my head and nced back to see if Rein was doing any better. She wasn''t saying anything for a while and only greeted the people with small nods, and a few words. That was a natural behavior ofdy Reinelle for them, but it wasn''t anything normal for me. She was far more talkative than anyone knew. Even our own families, if I have to say. Our normal private talks were one thing, but as we had Celes''s connection, she mostly talked about ''stuff'' that was more private than our private talks. Only the two of us, and Celes, knew them¡­ and Zoe too, but Rein was fine with her. She knew Zoe was special and especially more special for me and someone too good at keeping secrets than anyone can think. She was fine, but Rein''s current silence was not. But she was doing well when I checked those calm eyes and heart, so I turned back and looked at his confused expression. [[ "Are you talking about the [Evolution trigger]?" ]] [[ "Certainly. It''s more of an amazing thing than the pinnacle skill. I don''t think there are many higher spices and you could evolve into one at will, so it''s naturally more fascinating than-" ]] [[ "I should stop you there if you think that this one is some skill that lets me turn into a high human and then back to a normal one like some transformation skill. It''s not something like that but instead, a strangely unique skill that can only be used once. It''s weird but from what I can understand, it''s simr to the evolution skill of energy beasts but different from them, I can decide when I want to evolve but that would be it. As you know, I won''t be able to turn back if I do that, and I have no n to forsake this peace." ]] [[ "Well, that''s more realistic and useless then." ]] [[ "...?! Lady Reinelle?! ]] [[ "Why are you so surprised? Eon said I was listening, right? Anyway, continue your talk." ]] [[ "I thought you were deeply thinking about that thing. What happened? Got the answer?" ]] [[ "Shut up and finish this quickly or else I will die thinking what that thing is." ]] [[ "Hehe. Keep thinking~." ]] [[ "You sadistic bastard!" ]] [[ "Ahum? Master Axion? Lady Reinelle?" ]] [[ "Right. Wrong channel." ]] We were talking in the joint channel, so Celes hurriedly changed it and Rein started a river of curses. It was good that he didn''t hear much or else he definitely would have fainted from hearing such stuff. Anyway, his skill¡­ was just like I thought. Not many humans possessed Solodinel in all the historical records that I knew. And those who possessed it were either blessed humans or ones with natural high strengths. Alpheus was only stronger than lower knights, but that wasn''t enough. As time passes and Solodinel expands the mind, gives new knowledge, and opens new truths, he will inevitably need a physique far stronger than the current one. But if he really didn''t want it, the skill won''t install data that was greater than his capacity. And that would be a waste of a pinnacle skill like his. Well, that was a decision that was up to him, but if he ever decides to use his evolution skill, he will be a higher species of human on par with wizards and witches. But high humans weren''t witches or wizards. They were just humans but the most superior ones who could use the actual unlimited potential of the human race. From what I know, high humans are beings of high strength like dwarfs, could use the energy inside their bodies like orcs, were sensitive to nature like elves, and were the favorites of the higher beings. They attracted the attention of those higher powers like an electroma. He, too, will attract them if he evolves, and the attention of the whole world would also follow their gaze. It was natural and something inevitable, but if he strongly tried, he will be fine. That pinnacle skill was amazing enough to follow the wish of its master as best as it can even at the cost of its own growth. Well, it was up to him¡­ and again, it was inevitable, but if someone like him really was my friend, it would be pretty good. [[ "I understand, your highness. It is still an amazing ability. You''re amazing, but I understand how it is to just be at peace. If not for some inevitable things, I would have loved a quiet life with my family and close ones too but, maybe it''s not entirely possible. Still, I love my peace, and you can rest assured. You won''t have to worry about the disturbance of yours. It was nice greeting you like this and I do wish we can be friends. We will be at the academy with you, so that would be a good time to y, too. But keep it a secret when you recognize us. We will mostly be there for some fun, after all." ]] He was surprised, but he understood what I said quickly and nodded with a smile. [[ "I will still try as best as I can until then." ]] He politely bowed and walked away with an intrigued smile and a calm, positive, emotion-filled heart. He was an interesting person too, so I was looking forward to the future but that aside¡­ [[ "Alright Rein. On the terrace in three." ]] [[ "Finally~!" ]] She was excited. And that was her cute side. I smiled onest time while looking back at her and excused myself from the ocean of people who were interested in the chocte things that the princess liked. The start of the new chocte business was good, and I was expecting that my expectations would be broken, so it was something I was excited to see. There were people they can talk to about this thing aside from me, so there was no need for me to be here anymore. The first day of the winter festival and the day of the grand annual auction were over for the two of us. The day had been great from the start of the auction management, the demon, to this grand ball where we had our very first official dance. It was long but fun and we enjoyed these things, but this was it¡­ I walked towards mom and she understood it was time for the two of us to take our leave from this ballroom, so when I reached there, she just said it was fine and that she can handle everything there. She was awesome, and dad was here too, so she will be fine. So, I walked up and silently vanished from the ballroom. Alpheus''s stealth and natural presence hiding abilities were great, but Rein and I weren''t anything less than him. No one noticed as I vanished from the ce and Rein also slid away from her acquaintances, used her shadow travel, and reached the terrace a while after me. I was sitting on a chair before a candlelit table and when she appeared in this moonlit open area, her appearance was, as always, like a maiden. She always looked more gorgeous under the moonlight, but today, she had a unique celestial beauty decorating her usual face. It was strange, and I kept looking at her, at her pretty face, at those pretty pink eyes, her attractive clothes, that perfect body and soul, andstly¡­ that smirk on her face. "See? I won." Chapter 448 Nights Myriad Colors A blue night in a world of fantasy. A continent of magic, unique weapons, Aura, and energies. In a great nation, on a floating ind, in a distant part of the continent, and in the seas of this world, countless stories of the near future were brewing poorly. Somewhere in the capital city of the great empire, in a great castle of gold and marble, in an ongoing ballet, a weak-looking boy with a pale face was looking over the three special attractive couples. The master of that auction house and her partner, the masked genius mage rumored to be attractive and ''good''. The young teacher of the greatest academy, the famous magic engineer, and his partner, one of the pirs of high society, the only daughter and jewel of the scariest dukedom: Alga. The youngwyer famous throughout the empire for his crazy boldness and his attractive partner, the florist famous for her amazing prowess. He looked over at them and thought back to his meeting with the young son of their family. There was a smirk on his face as he drank his ss of fruit juice. The future materializing in his mind was fascinating, and his amusement was reflected in his zing golden eyes. On the other side of the room, the second princess, eating another chocte cake with a little sour red spongeyer, looked over the ballroom that wasn''t as cheerful as a while ago. The cool person with the representative of Atraxia gave a new life to this usually boring ball, but now that they weren''t here, things had mostly gone back to normal. Yes there were some couples doing things that were different from usual, but she didn''t mind them. There was a person she was looking at for a while now. It was strange, but she felt a strange attractiveness that she had never felt in the past from this person. Today was different for some reason, but she didn''t know what this strange feeling was. She just continued looking at him, his strangely attractive purple eyes, those forest-like fresh green hair, and his calm smile as heughed with the elder mages of the empire. He was strange today. But she didn''t know why¡­ In the middle of the room, the famous swordsman and youngdy of Heliox were bored from the bastards trying to suck up to her. She just wanted to get out, but she was waiting for her little brother, who could not refuse the talk from those old bastards. That was the auction house Hiraani and our core main characters were on the top of this grand pce but they are always on the screen so skipping them for now¡­ In a different part of the city were some people dressed in ck hoods and one person in a unique ck hood silently chasing them with a beautiful katana de on his waist. His beastly golden eyes were shining under his unique hood and there was fear in the pure ck eyes of the people he was chasing. This person was going to be a focal character of the future so we will know more about him, as well as the girl flying above the other part of the capital city, in the near future. In a famous house, the house of marchioness Heliox, under the serene blue moonlight, a young boy with light ck hair and dull gold eyes stood in the middle of the open backyard, standing tall with a rapier sword in one of his hands, he practiced his sword with calm, sharp, and confident eyes. Chryses, the very first knight of Eon. He was going to shake the world soon with his great achievements, talent, and power. But that will mostly only start when he clears the entrance exam of the academy with astonishing results. He was doing great and so were the sisters whoy on the bed in the younger one''s room. The little girl was sleeping soundly and the older one, our young phoenix Zoe, looked over her with a loving gaze. The two of their journeys would also be quite good to tell, but doing so in a different story would probably be better. Anyway, they looked cute together. Moving on, there are twelve prodigies of this era. And all of them will appear when the academy starts. Some more unique ones would also appear but, not having the strength to think that far was true at this moment. So, the uncertain stuff aside, there were two known unique characters who might be variables in the ns of other characters. Both were the remaining two imperial heirs, the eldest ones at that. The first and eldest imperial prince, prince Charles, in a dead forest full of ferocious monsters, was standing on the body of a giant scorpion with his greatsword thirsted in its head, the scorpion''s limbs already cut off. The monster was a strong (Indigo) ranked beast, but the sword he used was a normal sword. Yes, he had a physique that could only belong to an older, experienced knight, but he was younger than his grown body, but still the eldest among the imperial princes. He was a swordsman and some of the top-ranking adventurers. He was a free sprint, but it didn''t mean he wasn''t suited for the throne. He was well qualified for anything. He was extremely talented, but he chose the path of adventurers, the eminent ones who lived for the great experience, thrill, mysteries, and fun of seeing the great world they lived in. He was an interesting character, and to tell you all something about him, he was standing on top of a strong scorpion, and¡­ there were at least ten simr scorpion corpses around him. Ok, so, that was him¡­ as for the other one, the eldest princess and famous artist Julietta aka (Vangausten). She was on a floating ind, in the greatest dorm of the greatest academy. She was a gorgeousdy with brown-red eyes and short silver-white hair. As she looked out of therge window, down from the high room, the tranquil blue moonlight raining inside from the window wetted her impable white skin. The greenery outside reflected in her calm eyes and she moved her paintbrush on the already colorful canvas. She was using bright colors and all of them were ck and shades of red. The painting she was making was weird and there seemed to be a mysterious ck figure with wings on a red background in her picture. It was unique, but certainly, something that would attract the one looking at it. And the looker would be drawn towards it, and then maybe inside it¡­ It was strange, but it was a unique art. And the artist of the art looked bored as she painted this. She was an artist, and Eon had a desire for art that was unique to him. Though it won''t be anytime soon, the encounter of the two would definitely be a good one. But for now, she continued her unique painting as the giant bat inside her room yawned¡­ There would be more characters like the ones that have popped up one or so times, and the emperor, his three partners, the second prince who wept bitterly on thep of his mom, and the youngest princess who looked out of her window and observed the whole northern part of the capital, would y a rainbow part. The butler of Heliox who was present at the ballroom, in the house, by the side of his master, in a few other parts of the capital as well as at the main house in the Griffin archipgo. A few people of the Griffin and Mavis, but they wouldn''t show up anytime soon. It would hopefully be better than this whole Vol, but that was just hope. Things woulde and go as the intangible mind allows it but, my role as a narrator would be the same. So¡­ back to the terrace of Hiraani at our Eon and Rein. * "Hot right? You didn''t see it when we danced together the whole time, but now that you see it, you can''t help but look right~? How are they? And this? And my pretty face?" She slowly walked towards him with each alluring wording out of her pretty mouth and when she stood just before him, she couldn''t help but smirk down at his blushing face. "That''s cheating, you know¡­ you can''t use those¡­" Yes, they were talking about what you think they were talking about, the specs. She was wearing a unique pair and as they went perfectly with her facial structure; she looked like an older, more provocative witch. That was a good one and sure, this was his loss. "My reward?" She smirked and rested her hands on his shoulder and slowly leaned in toward him. "Too close, Rein," he blushed but had a confident, straight face. He knew even as her face was before his and her warm, desperate breath glistened his facial skin, she wouldn''t do that. "Fuck off." Or maybe not¡­ With her face before his, looking down at her ''friend'' sitting on a chair, taking in this moment when he was genuinely flustered, looking into his red eyes while biting her lips with anguish, she sighed and tapped her forehead with his. "You will pay for this torture," holding his face and closing her eyes, she stayed like that for a moment. He could tell just what kind of emotions she was feeling. He felt the same, maybe not as intense as hers, but they were the same. The time was tormenting, and even if they had minds far older than their bodies¡­ it wasn''t time yet. He was strong and special, but still, he was young. And although she was old and perfect, she still wasn''t ready. Their time wille soon, actually, after a few chapters hopefully if [[( You )]] don''t screw things up likest time. But that would only push them to the appetizers. As for the main course¡­ would that ever even get described? We don''t know that, but what we know is¡­ "Alright. What are we here for?" she kissed his hand and set down before him. The night was young and so were they. They had time to spend, and space to grow, so the two set down with simr myriad emotions, with their hands held and fingers intertwined. The end of the night, as well as a long going arc, was nearing its conclusion¡­ Chapter 449 Music, Moonlight, And Them. "How are you feeling, Rein?" I asked with a small smile, and she smiled back. "That''s a move?" She asked, her lips curved upwards in a smirk while her eyes were filled with the sorrow of helplessness. She was miserable. We both were, but she was rtively more miserable than one can think. I was fine with all the things I had and feelings I have to keep because I had a solid excuse, but she was different. She had no actual need to restrain herself. If she forces it, I won''t be in any position to actually get out of her grasp either¡­ But she didn''t do anything that would upset me. And that meant she was determined to do anything if it meant being with me. Well, it was sweet and all, but we had to wait for just a bit longer, even if it feels like an eternity to her. Anyway¡­ "We are here for another dance. But this time, a normal, slow one. On your dad''s music." She was surprised by those words, but she nodded with a calm smile. "Sounds nice. Anything before that?" With her fingers ying with mine, she rested her head on her other hand. "Want some milk?" "Sure." It was a genuine question, and she understood it, unlike some weird people. She sat before me with her face bejeweled by the light of night. She was gorgeous, and I knew with each passing day, as her body actually grows into an adult form, it would be difficult even for me to hold back. The feelings and stuff were more intense here at this age in this world than in my previous one. We were teens right now, and almost in the initial phases of our adolescence. We would be adults in just three years and the young adults of this world were physically almost like college students. We would grow up quickly now and I knew mom would still treat me as a baby, but I liked that. She was my mom. She was allowed to do everything. -Pourrrrrrrr¡­ "Here." Handing her her special cup full of unique warm milk, I took out the special cookies my master made, and she understood this was a special asion. I never shared these cookies. Not even with her. So I knew she understood this was special. "What''s the asion?" She asked as she picked up one cookie and took a bite. Her exhrated expression as the soft, sweet, and ineffable vors rushed through her mouth, and her mind was cute as usual. "Today was¡­ long. The dumb you are more tired than you show, mentally and physically. What you need is that warm milk, those good cookies, my presence, and cuddles if needed. Sleep is also inevitable, so you will sleep after we reach home. No arguments. But more than anything, thanks." It was thanks for everything that happened today. He had fun, and it could never have been as good as it was without her. It was mostly perfect, even with the unexpected demon noble, but it was fine because she was there. Not only did she make things easier, but she also scolded me for doing foolish things. She was nice¡­ and so was this night. "I should be the one to say thanks. What would I do without my darling? If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t be me." With a deep sigh and eyes that were clearly thinking back to the past, she was momentarily lost in her thoughts. Thinking back, not much time has passed since the two of us met. Our first encounter was fate breaking in a distant forest. She had killed most of the creatures there and when we met, the first thing she did was attack me just because I said her name was beautiful. ''It is beautiful, though. Even more now that I know so much about the person that name belongs to.'' We met, talked, saw a city for the first time, and met her family and then my family. We got close too quickly, almost as those fairytale first-sight love things. But I can say it wasn''t love at first sight for either of us. If anything, it should be called love at third sight. I remember those days as clearly as yesterday when we just sat before each other like right now, looking at the other one, and just stayed like that as the night passed. It has been a while but still, this time which seemed to be far longer than one can think was actually wasn''t that long. ''And considering how mom waited for dad to open up and grandma waited for grandpa for years¡­ we are only like young infants.'' We were just starting and weren''t ready to go beyond what we already had. It was the limit for now, but, at the very least, we can stretch these limits to their extremes. So, I took out the recording crystal her dad gave me on my birthday and started the song that had be close to my heart in this short time. -Slow melodious tune. "F¨¹r Elle? That''s¡­" "The song he made when you went away in search of a cure. And then¡­ we met." It was a song filled with an artist''s passion, a father''s love, a guardian''s sorrow, and the loneliness of someone lost in their path. It was music born from the pain of a father asking for the safe return of his daughter. But the unique thing about it: this piece wasn''t sorrowful. It was calm, filled with the love the artist wanted to express, and was something fully dedicated to his daughter. It was a great musical masterpiece. And few knew about it. Rein loved this song, and so did I. "Have strength for another dance?" I stood up and sincerely requested, with a warm smile on my face. She was surprised, but she shook her head with a smile of her own and finished the cookie in her hand, ate two more, finished the warm milk, and then epted my hand as she gracefully stood up. "Bastard." Holding my hand, one hand closely wrapped around her waist, being close to the other half, and almost hugging while slowly moving with the serene melody. It was fulfilling. I don''t forget anything, and at this moment, it was a blessing. Thinking back, when I first saw her, the first thing I noticed in her was her eyes, then her face, then her name, and at the end, the strong body that pushed me back with nothing but pure strength. After that, we had lunch, and she tasted those special cookies for the first time and told me who she was. She only looked at me as a strangely interesting person until that moment, and I only saw her as an interestingdy. Then weughed at some things the other said and that smile¡­ maybe that was the thing that made us start falling for each other. We roamed the city and stopped for lunch in that food joint with my name. I remember how she tried stealing my fries, and she still does that to anger me. She''s mostly the same as she was, but now, she is growing physically and mentally. She was emotionally stronger than she had been at the start. She''s clingy, needs my presence most of the time, and tries her best to get things that she wants. She was smart, talented, and strong, but she had been through a lot, resulting in her asional unusual behavior. I can''t actually change her or her thinking and habits, but I can surely help her with this new growth phase. She needed to learn new things that she can''t do half-heartedly. She had to experience what it meant to be close to someone. She needed more time to heal from all her past that she didn''t even show to her family. This Rein of mine will still remain the bloodthirsty witch, but her behavior, thinking, and views were up to her. And even with all her problems, she was better than me. The one needing the most help between us was me. I can not bring myself to fully devote myself to one person because of that wretched past life and bad experiences in that great forest. I needed more time than her, but I knew I will be ready to ept things soon. So¡­ I just enjoyed this moment. This moment of holding her hand, holding her as whole, feeling her warm breaths on my neck, hearing her calm heartbeat which was strangely in sync with mine, looking at her gorgeous face bathed in the tranquil moonlight, and her eyes¡­ Eyes that can see the truths of this world, eyes that can read the truth of a being, and eyes that were the third prettiest pair I had ever seen. She was pretty. And maybe, her thoughts were simr to mine as she looked at me with that loving, sad, desperate, and hopeful gaze. "You''re pretty. Especially those zing red eyes. I look prettier in them." A smile iparable to any happiness depicting joy was painting her face. Her lips were curved, inviting one to dive in¡­ It was aesthetic. "You''re prettier though. Ma''am witch." Love¡­ it wasn''t a feeling, but an addiction. And we were addicted to this euphoric cocktail of indescribable emotions. Sheughed at those words, but then tightened her grip on my hand. "You''re pretty, special, and so magnificent that¡­ I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, these eyes that couldn''t reflect your eyes that are beyond even my descriptions. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you, maybe that''s the only way to express my inexpressible heart." Those were her words. And they were conveyed to me thanks to those amazing unblinking eyes. Tonight. It was tonight¡­ "Rein," I called her name in a low voice and she looked at me. "One day¡­" I said as I held her tighter. "One day, there will be no distance, no boundaries, and no barriers between us." My words, they were unexpected, but she knew they meant something. Something that she wasn''t expecting to be today. "It isn''t that great, but¡­ I hope you keep it to yourself." Long words weren''t needed. She knew the barriers, my biggest barriers, were the chains of my past life that imprisoned me in the depths of my own darkness. "I promise to try my best," she answered with her highest confidence. And that was enough¡­ "It was a world different from this one¡­" We danced under the idyllic blue moon, holding each other, feeling the other''s body and soul. I was telling her about something no one knew. And something I might not tell anyone about. She knew the most about me after Zoe, but after I tell her about my life in my previous world, she will share my self-created darkness. She will share my pain, many reasons for things I do, and restrictions that I was bound to. Tonight, we will reach the point of shared secrets. And that will be a new gate for our rtionship. It was this night that I will finally be freed from one of the burdens, but she had to stay strong¡­ this wasn''t going to be easy for her. I knew she would be fine, though. She was strong and perfect. But more than anything¡­ she was the one. I knew as this night passes, the distance between us close, the music of nature and her father guide us, and we will be closer, connected, and open. It was time¡­ for her to know and for us to take a step forward. But this was only a necessary mental step. Her desires, her thirst, will only clench when we are grown up. And it won''t be long until we are grown up. But until then¡­ we had hands, our hugs, her sweet talk, and myself to entertain and take care of us. Chapter 450 Recalling Past Sitting in the garden of Heliox estate, a young adult boy with golden blond hair and sharp red eyes was sitting on a chair, drinking tea with a gorgeousdy with blond hair and light brown eyes. She was gorgeous and the boy resembling her, our cool grown-up Eon, was also a charming person that the maids, butlers, and even the birds flying around the ce can''t help but nce at. "Did you check the invitations?" Nolen asked as she gracefully took a sip from her cup. There was no sign of flowing time in her appearance, even though three years had passed. "Yes. Everything is fine, but tell them to remove the invitation to count Bnora. I don''t like that person. Also, write invitations to baron Cava, baron Gram, and viscount Quim. They are better people than those pretentious, humble people." Eon. He was taller, more mature, and a lot different from what he was in the past. He was grown up, physically and mentally. His grown body was far stronger than in the past and under those fine noble clothes, there was a physique so perfect, and aspects so solid that even the older knights would envy him. But that was just the gist of it. He was still only a [Rank-3] knight, but his Mana nucleus had reached (tier-4) a while back. His magic was stronger after learning new things from Lucy, his special skill, and going through the things his master had taught him. He was better than most people, far older than his age, but the more special thing about him was his greater Solnova. He had broken through the second blockage, the so-called blockage of spirituality. It was another great achievement for a young one like him¡­ or young adult would be a better word. Well, there sure were problems like the destruction of a third of the garden area back then and then scolding from his dear aunt Haze, but it was fine now. Things were better and as the mother-son duo enjoyed their tea, there were things going on all around them. "Is the hall ready?" "It''s done, food too. Check the gates and garden. Also, send someone to check the windows." "Sir! There''s a problem in the backyard!" "Alright. All fine. Finish these things and inform madam Ruka." "Oyyy! Not there! I said left. On the left!" "Hmm~. So baby. How''s Elle doing?" Nolen had an excited smile on her face as she looked at him and he nodded while putting down his special tea cup. "Still upset. But I think she will be fine. Her mom is here, so she will handle her." His eyes were calm while the helpless smile on his face was familiar to this mother. "You should call her mother-inw or mother. She is always sad, you know?" She chuckled softly and looked at her bitterly smiling, amazing son. He didn''t answer her question and just continued with his tea. Then he suddenly looked to one side where another person with a solid build and light knight armor was walking towards them. "Yes, Chry?" Eon looked at the grown-up boy with a smile as the boy in armor bowed respectfully. "Sir Malor anddy Ca were having a spar and the standing ce almost burnt down. The mages couldn''t calm the Aura fire, so sir Mel used his Aura, but then the whole ce was covered in mud, dust, and sand. The two were fine, but thendy Nissa came and is now scolding both of them." It was something normal, so he didn''t have toe there to tell him this, but the young knight that had sworn his knighthood to Eon as soon as he awakened his skills was taking his duty as a knight as seriously as always. "It''s fine. Just go and tell her it''s alright." The boy, who was nothing like his past weak, small self, bowed again and turned around. Both of them just shook their heads as they saw the wide shoulders, tall body, and bigger self of their young knight. They could remember the day of his awakening like yesterday when he shook the entire house. The thunderous explosion he created was less destructive than Eon''s, but the shockwave he created was enough to break the enchanted ss windows of the mage and knight''s house. He changed visibly that evening and as soon as he safely finished the process, he went to Eon, who silently watched the process with excitement, and took the oath of knights. It was an Aura oath, so it was almost eternal and that was as Eon had expected but, the strict knight-like behavior he followed after that was something he couldn''t change till this day. It was fine, though. It was a behavior that can be changed in the future. But that wasn''t important right now¡­ "Sir Mel needs to use his Aura to deal with hers now. She sure has be stronger." Nolen was impressed. But Eon just nodded with a smile. "She''s been doing well since that day." He remembered everything, and this event was a highlight in that. It was a fine day when he had finished sparring with his grandpa for the first time and she was enlightened from that fight. She wanted to just fight someone as soon as she could, and Alf was the same. But he wasn''t as confident in his abilities as hers, so she was the only one to challenge him. He was somewhat tired, but he still epted to fight after some rest and their fight was so great that the spectators who could see them couldn''t help but admire the two young ones. They were amazing, and Ca was losing back then. He wasn''t showing any mercy or even trying to hold back as he pushed her back with his normal and spell arrows. It was a grand fight thatsted for hours but by the end, when she was finished with everything and even the mes of her Aura were on the brink of exhaustion, she remembered the words Eon spoke during their first fight and gained her very first true enlightenment. She broke the barrier binding her and reached the new realm of [Rank-4], gaining the ability to release her Aura in a form of an attack. Her mes, born from the pure desire to surpass everyone, could burn anything. And that was the first time she realized the meaning of the words: fire isn''t the only thing that burns. Still, she lost that fight. She was smart and strong. And so was the youngest mage to reach (tier-4), the young boy who couldn''t do anything back then. Alf. He reached (tier-4) faster than Eon and only then was he confident enough to challenge him in true meaning. That fight was also amazing and more colorful than the fight of mes he had with Ca. Alf had only reached (tier-4) and he was using personal spells of that rank in their fight. His spells, they were like the spells Eon used. Spells that looked gorgeous and at the same time were as destructive as spells of a higher level. He had improved his ''folding'' method and the way he could use his innate skill had improved a lot, too. He was amazing to use spells like those, and their fight that gave the young mage satisfaction was magnificent. p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® Still, he also lost the fight. In the three years, Alf had challenged Eon one hundred and nine times and lost every single time, while Ca had challenged him one hundred fifty-six times and her result was the same as Alf''s. Rein had challenged him a total of sixty-three times, and they had a close score of thirty draws and thirty-two loses. The two of their fights were the most amazing things they witnessed once in a while and when they see them fight with most of their strengths and with the same smile as always, they recall the true meaning of a spar. The two of them were amazing. But the grown-up Rein¡­ "Who would get upset over some pieces of metal, mom?" "Ladies do, dear. The young ones like her hold some things very close to their heart." "Even if it was mine to begin with?" "Even if it was yours." She smiled merrily at her son''s misery. It was true that not manydies would care about some metal bullets or some old gun when it actually belonged to someone else, but their Reinelle was different. She was so different that they all can''t help but like that uniqueness of a girl far older than even them, and still as young as anydy at heart. She was cute, and so was her anger, which would always calm down at most at the end of the week. But maybe they won''t have to wait for much longer today. "Ready?" she asked as she proudly looked at her grown son, at her adult son. "Thanks to you, yes¡­" Today was a big day, and he was stressing out over everything from the dawn of the first rays of the sun. This tea was the first thing he had since the morning, and it was only because his mom forced him to sit down and rx. There were people to do all the work, so he had no need to stress out about his own birthday. Yes, his birthday. He was finally fifteen and an adult, so, though it wasn''t necessary, there was a hugeing-of-age party in their house today. Yesterday night was fine, and he received the rare metal (Almikum) from his uncle El. But, the thing was used to making unique firearms in the past so it was in a form of a gun. He didn''t need that old thing, but just the metal, so¡­ Yeah. Rein was upset. But he knew she would be fine by the night. There was a great party ahead of him as well as some of the most important things of his life¡­ Today was the day, after all. Chapter 451 Good Luck~! Time flies¡­ Sixty tick-tock-tick of a clock makes a minute, sixty steps of the bigger hand make an hour. Hours gather and we y by the side of the ever-flowing river of time. Hours pass as we sit with a loved one, or talk with a stranger about things that make us forget the ever-present passing of a moment. Days pass as we y with our little ones. Months pass as we learn, forget, live, and die. Years pass as we reach the destination only to find that wasn''t the end, and¡­ continue the eternal cycle of time. Time is an illusion we create. A lie we can''t separate from ourselves. It is vicious, hurts people, and makes us vulnerable. If passed, it doesn''te back. Once lost, it just vanishes from our worlds. It doesn''te back, doesn''t reply even while called with broken words and bloody tears. It is ruthless. If it contains the power to heal the deepest wounds, the power to cure incurable diseases, the power to create the greatest arts of the world or show the greatest miracles of nature¡­ it also possesses the ruthlessness to rip anything apart. It is a lie so veracious and yet, people can''t ever separate from it. Yes, it is a lie but, aren''t lies some beautiful stories until someone ruins them with the truth? Isn''t it great that we aremonly subjected to this beautiful lie? Time¡­ it is eternal, unlike us born with a limited period in this amazing world. How good would it be to just enjoy the sweet moments, ept the bitterness of loss and move on, or wee the inevitable future with a happy smile rather than eyes full of resentment? We don''t know what will happen in the next moment. We don''t know when or how our prediction will go wrong. We don''t know when we will receive a wound or the opportunity of a lifetime. We don''t know¡­ "So isn''t it great to live in the present and hope for a better future?" I was in my room, surrounded by round furballs, a huge lizardman, my dear sister Zoe, and my grown Celes who was now as big as my hand. "Hehe. But isn''t hope also sometimes poisonous?" Zoe asked as cheerfully as always. With this passing time, I had grown up into a fine young adult. The physical growth was more than I had expected as [Energy cirction] boosted the growth during my adolescence more than I thought and then there was new enlightenment and Solnova breakthrough. I was on the taller side among young adults like Ca, but just like me, others changed a lot too. Ca was technically the eldest in the house now, Alf was just a bit shorter than us, and Chry was tall like me and Ca but he was also bigger in physical size. Zoe was a fine youngdy now. Gorgeous enough to stop even adult hearts with her ethereal beauty. It was sad but my cute, awesome, best, little Anna was also grown up. She was cuter than before but she was cuter for me when she was little. Every one of us changed, except for our parents and elders. They were the same, but with us, Rein also changed. She started her second growth phase after her grandma was cursed. She was a handful. Difficult to handle. A little kid few could handle. But she was a finedy in true meaning now. She looked¡­ haaa¡­ too divine to ignore. These past few years were special for us as many things happened but we were in the present right now, on the night of my birthday anding-of-age ceremony. The day could have been too hectic if it wasn''t for mom and everyone else. I was preparing everything by myself which definitely wasn''t necessary but I couldn''t help these things. The time that passed was small for many others but for the two of us, it was longer than it could ever be. We were close. Far more than that night of the winter festival. There were obvious difficult times and these small anger moments but they were necessary elements of a rtionship. Both our families knew about us and they also knew what would happen today, of course except one person. She could have barely noticed it if she wasn''t angry over something as futile as a piece of metal but she was ying upset, which was cute on its own, but she had no idea what would happen today. She was still the little dum-dum as back then but unlike before¡­ she was ready now. She was ready to ept things and I was ready to take a step. It will be difficult but¡­ "Hope¡­ I have it and it gives me strength." With a warm smile, I looked at my wise little sister who had an excited smile on her pretty face. "Sure it can be poisonous. Simply thinking of having it could be poisonous in some cases. Hope is just like time, going hand in hand with the eternally flowing river. But Zoe, children, Mave, and Zuroro¡­ Isn''t it better to have an undying hope rather than be trapped in a self-made abyss with no light?" I smiled at them and the smart children jumped in excitement. "Brother Eon is right~! We always hoped mama will save us if we encountered that evil thing in our previous house!" "The glowing flowers mama creates always help me sleep at night! It''s my hope~." "I¡­ hoped to see the surface. And if not that, I always hoped to live a good life with my children. But now, I have a different hope." The golden furball with bright blue eyes looked at me with a warm smile and I patted her soft fur head. She was a cool mom who everyone in the house loved. [ "Haha. Yes! I always had hope that I will kill that baster-, I mean that bad evil being who killed my family and trapped me there. I was able to gain strength because I had that hope but sure, I overdid many things, so my own hope was like poison for me." ] Zuroro''s ent while talking with mana speech was unique, just like those old uncles who gave children candy. He was good and he had definitely helped Ca with many things. He had grown strong, just like all these children who were now a bit bigger but they were still just cute little furballs. "Right. Right~. Hope is as important as eptance of the present. So, dear present living big brother~. Wanna know how sister Rein is dressed?" There was a smirk on her pretty face, her long zing orange hair and serene blue eyes making it seem more mischievous. "I would have loved to but Zoe, please don''t. They have done some wonderful work on her, as mom said, so I want to see it with my own eyes. It would be even more fun with her angry cuteness." [[ Yei~! That''s why I said no thest five times you asked. Hehe~. ]] They all chuckled at the words of my partner which pierced right through my heart. My own Celes was restricting me from seeing my Rein. And if that wasn''t enough, she said it all before all these people. She was bigger now, far stronger too as I had grown stronger, but she was still the same mischievous being I knew. "Alright, alright you all. It happens alright? It''s a big day for me!" It was embarrassing. Who wouldn''t want to see their finely dressed friend when the ones helping her had teased you for hours with all those tempting things?! "Hehe, big brother. You should go now. It''s time~. Go greet everyone with others. We will be there soon~." It was still early so not many people would be there but as I was the one to organize everything today and as it was my birthday, it was only proper for me to greet everyone first. Thedies will definitely take their time as almost all the nobles and important people of this empire would be here. It was more than a birthday party. It wasing of age party of one of the most famous people in this empire as well as nearbynds. It was only three years ago that I first appeared before the world and society. Things were fine before that but after the first day of the winter festival, I was a topic present almost everywhere in this empire as well as in other nations of the continent. The rumors spread like wildfire and as Rein and I were already invited by all those people who danced with us, things became even more intense. Far more because the famous representative of Atraxia actually attended all those invitations with me. Time passed, and now I was probably more famous than the twelve prodigies or imperial princes and princesses. This was mying-of-age ceremony so there were naturally going to be daughters of all the invited people present here. I was famous, strong enough to beat even the famous prince, and noble enough to attract the eyes of those old people who didn''t even pay much attention to royals. I was naturally rich from being one of the most important families of the empire, plus I was the son of one of the richest people, and already had many things to my name. I was probably the best person nobles would want their daughters to be with. So ultimately, I was the best bachelor possible right now. They all knew about the unique rtionship I had with Rein but, what reason was there not to try? Certainly, there was no reason. But there will be one after tonight. It wasn''t just a special night for them but for Rein and me too. Everything was ready. I had done my best. They were doing their best to prepare Rein. And things were preparing themselves to be true. She wanted to be with me and throughout our time, we couldn''t do so because of many things. But after today¡­ we would be one, hopefully. "Hopefully¡­" Looking back at these creatures who were nothing less than a family to me, and my special sister, I nodded at them with a smile. "Good luck big brother~." She was cheerful. And I knew Anna would be the same cheerful while helping thedies and her big sister. They were my best sisters and these jumping furballs were good support. Things were ready so the only thing left was¡­ "Rein." Shaking my head with a smile as I thought about her blushing face, I left the room and walked downstairs. Chapter 452 Celebration Of Adulthood "Hahaha. Young master Axion is the same as always. It seems just like yesterday when I first saw you at the winter ball." Before me stood a tall man with a long mustache. He was Count Dolkan, and he was in charge of overseeing a vast northeastern territory. "Your words tter me, count. Still, you are the same as thest time I saw you. Even as an adult, you were drinking the orange juice and you''re still the same." I smiled at him and heughed again. "Haha. It''s my honor you remember that young master. But oranges are way better and healthy than that intoxicating grape juice." He was one of the few people famous for his dislike of alcohol in the empire. It was an even more well-known fact because Dolkan county was famous for its fine wine production. He was a unique person, but theirnd and wine factories were undoubtedly amazing. It was really fun when we went there. "Right. I almost forgot." As if he suddenly remembered something, he looked to his other side. "Maybe you already know, but this is my daughter-" "Of course, I knowdy J. We have met on asions. But count¡­" I was smiling, but then my eyes became sad. "She already has someone she likes. I didn''t think you would be the same as those people." There were few people in the hall as it was still early, but most of them were talking with their daughters, telling them the obvious things silently. ''And I don''t even need Celes''s clones to know their talks.'' Anyway, the count before me had a confused expression. "Ahh¡­ no, no master Axion. I think you''re mistaken about something. I already know about them. I wanted to say that Jan here is your fan. I mean, she loves your book. She wanted to meet you for a while, and this was the perfect asion. I hope you will hear her out." ''Right¡­ he wasn''t that kind of person to begin with.'' Looks like this stuff with Rein really is making me anxious. He was famous and had good trade rtions with my mom''s merchantpany, and his daughter was also a famous young literary critic. She was beautiful, had dark gray hair like her father, and was beautiful. But she fancied baron Cava''s son. He was a nice person, pure like Alf. And though he was clumsy and not much special or strong, he sure was famous for his ssical poetry. Few knew about them, and it was natural that her father would be one of them. But it was interesting that a famous person like her still loved my year-old book. "Father! You just¡­!" She was angry at her father and as they chatted, I thought back to the chaotic time when I first published my book, the epic we found in that evil spirit''s tomb. It was a genuinely hard time, as the book became so famous that the emperor wanted to award me with a noble title. It was difficult to turn him down, even more so to the three empresses who were still one of the top fans of that book. It was a story that I didn''t write, and there was little I did to spread that magnificent piece of literature to as many people as I can. It was a book that was already noted down in history as the sales it had were off the charts for any general book in known history. It was something that made me as famous as I am now throughout the empire and continent. But meeting a fan was still a weird task for me. "Umm¡­ master Axion? C-can I have your autograph!" She held out a copy of her book, one of the first editions for sure, and looked down. There was probably an embarrassed face she wanted to hide. But still, just like every other fan I had met till now, my answer to her was the same. "I humbly decline,dy J. I believe you already know my reason." I smiled bitterly as she looked up, her face now painted with sadness. "But still, you were the one to make it into what it is right now. I want your signature, the person who did all the work on his own. To decipher, edit, cut, and rewrite things from an ancient script all by yourself... I know from experience how hard it is to do all that. And even more so when we are talking about an unknownnguage. But you did it. And for that¡­ I respect you from the bottom of my heart." She was sincere. But still, I can''t do something I didn''t believe in for some pretty words. So I just shook my head without any words and she understood the negative answer. But still, she didn''t lose hope, stored the book in her storage device, and took out a blue diary. "Then can I at least have your autograph on this?" It was her personal diary, a famous artifact she always carried with her.please visit "Never thought I would get the chance to be on the same list as those great people¡­" I shook my head with a bitter sigh at her adamant behavior. She sure was a tough youngdy. "Ginger is a lucky guy¡­" This diary was an artifact that contained autographs of almost all the finest artists on this continent. Something she had worked hard to create and maintain. Only the best ones had their names in this personal property that had value far beyond a collector''s collection. So it was obviously an honor to be one of the people in the blue diary of the literature prodigy, J Jeremiah Dolkan Von Vionna. "He sure is," she giggled with a bright smile. The two sure had a tough but beautiful future ahead of them. "Here. Hope you both enjoy your time here." She was excited when she received my sign in her book. It was as much of an honor to have that for her as it was for me to be on that list. It will be fun to see them at the academy. They will definitely be a famous couple like uncle El and aunt Aug. With ast smile, I left the two of them and greeted some other ''good'' people in a way it seemed I wasn''t avoiding the interaction with the bastards camping in this hall. Time passed as my birthday night became cheerful and the hall started crowding with people. There was still time for the thing to start though, so I waited for mom and otherdies with dad, two uncles, and grandpa. They all, like me, were also a little too excited to see their partners. It was a fine night, and each passing moment was tormenting. Thedies were definitely teasing us by beingte. "Eon, what are they doing?" Dad asked while scratching his cheeks under his mask. "They shouldn''t take this long, even if they were making clothes by themselves." Uncle Theo mumbled under his breath with a subtle hint of impatience on his ever-calm face. "Calcting their behavior pattern, adding the certain variables, and subtracting the unpredictability of their wills, I think they will be here in a minute or two." Uncle El was visibly in anguish. I could tell I wasn''t the only one thedies had teased. "Haha, you all. Rx a little and give some advice to our little one¡­ oh, right. It should be our grown-up little one now. Hahaha! You all married adults should give some advice to the little brave one. Can''t you see his nervousness that isn''t visible even while facing me?" Grandpaughed at all of us, mostly at the three of them, and patted my shoulder. The three of them looked at him with a confused gaze, then noticed my faint signs of nervousness, exchanged some nces among themselves, and then shrugged. "I don''t think he needs it. He knows almost all the things, maybe more than necessary, so I think he will be alright." Dad had no doubt in his voice while saying that. "We did try it yesterday, but we received a good ss on rtionships from him and ended up learning a few interesting things. He''s quite knowledgeable about certain stuff that none of us knew about." Uncle El was the same as dad and uncle Theo nodded at his words. "If anything, I think it should be us who need to worry about the aftermath after they are done." Uncle Theo sighed, and the other two nodded. Grandpa was astonished at the three of their carefree behavior but then burst outughing. The male trio of their house sure was as adorable as ever. I smiled at the three of them, and their desperate gazes. Then I looked at grandpa and his subtle, very subtle, and almost unnoticeable eye movements. ''He''s the same as us¡­'' Age definitely wasn''t relevant when talking about things like these. The two were prime examples of how love can be the same even after such a long time. ''And Rein''s grandparents, too. It would have been perfect if they were also here.'' It was unfortunate, but there was suddenly a small problem in the south that required their attention. I made sure they see everything with a livemunication device, but it still would have been best if they were here. ''Damn the hoard of grasshoppers.'' It was a natural urrence in the south and something which always happened on unusual asions every year. And it started exactly before they all were leaving for the capital this time. Bastard insects. ''Haaa¡­ it can''t be helped now, anyway.'' I shook my head with a sad expression and they understood its meaning. But then I felt something different and my heart started beating a bit faster. "They are here everyone," I spoke in a low voice and all five of our eyes looked in the direction of the stairs in unison. We were speechless as we looked in one direction, the clock ticked, the sweat on our necks slid down gently, and as our breathing became unusual, they appeared on the horizon¡­ "Gulp!" Chapter 453 Pretty Ladies At the very front was my grandmother with my adorable grown-up Anna. They walked down in their matching dark blue outfits, one giving off a feeling as though it was a moonlit ocean, primordial and ever-flowing, while the other one seemed like a newborn river, still young and starting its journey down the dark mountain. But both looked astonishing. Especially my Anna. She looked cute~!!! Her long ck hair was finely braided and decorated with some light jewelry and flowers. But more than that, her pretty smile as her eyes found me among this big crowd was most special. She waved at me as they walked down, and I waved back with a warm smile. Grandmother also waved at us, and as grandpa gulped down a mouthful of saliva as soon as his eyes found her, one can think of the joy on his face right now. After those two were my two gorgeous aunts. One was dressed in pink while the other was in red. ''But different from usual, aunt Aug is wearing a pretty pink this time, and aunt Haze is in a zing bright red, which makes her look more provocative.'' Aunt Aug looked softer in that pink, but her natural noble appearance and red hair weren''t matching with the softness of the pink. Nheless, she looked as attractive as aunt Haze. The two of their innocent husbands, my cute uncles, also gulped audibly when their eyes met their partners. They received special smiles, and their long, unbearable thirst was clenched. They were sweet, and so was my dad, who still had his eyes fixed on the bright star walking down behind my gorgeous aunts. She was wearing avish golden dress which went perfectly with her blond hair. She looked amazing, just like the morning sun and the first rays of the dawn. She was breathtaking. And not just dad but she took away many breaths from the crowd gathered here. She was the sunlight, and just behind her walked a new face, a unique beauty, my little sister Zoe who no one aside from us had ever seen till this day. If mom was the bright sun who people were familiar with, Zoe was the personification of that heart-fluttering me that reminded us of some special moments of our lives and was warm just from the looks. She looked mature and as lovely as Anna. The green dress enhanced her beauty, and just like how mom''s appearance made dad gulp like others, many young people, as well as the older ones, couldn''t help but be amazed by her beauty. She was among some of the most attractivedies of the empire and still shined as uniquely as the other individuals. She was amazing and she could have been the spotlight of this moment if it wasn''t for the night walking behind her. A night so pure and captivating that¡­ ''Damn. They actually did some splendid work there¡­'' The whole hall was staring at mom and Zoe who were shining like the sun but everything changed when Rein walked in, dressing the night itself. Her exquisite ck-purple dress, decorated with fine little Mana crystals that gave off the feeling as though they were stars in her grand sky, those simple yet attractive light pieces of jewelry, her natural impable face that made even my heart skip a beat, her dark light lipstick made her lips even more irresistible, but more than anything, her long hair cascading down that revealing back and those bewitching deep pink eyes¡­ -Gulp. Even I can''t help but slowly swallow down this unexpected saliva. She nced at me but gave no reaction, which felt wholesomely violent. From the looks of it, not all her anger was calmed. Well, she was older now, looked more mature, was grown up in all areas, was perfect in all aspects, was strong, physically, mentally, and in terms of soul, and was ready for almost anything. The anger was a little problem, so there was no need to think much of it, but¡­ "They overdid it," I mumbled as I looked all around the hall. Rein was already too attractive, and they enhanced her witch charm by doing all that stuff to her. ''They are just nkly staring at her. Even Ca and Alf. Haaa¡­'' It wasn''t fine but I can handle this much. I knew I can, hopefully, so I just looked at her like the other four people were looking at their partners. I didn''t get any attention from her, but the otherdies were talking with their partners through secret eye contact. Anna was looking over everyone, feeling strange from some people or feeling dislike from a few. She was transparent, so it was easy to read her face. She can feel the emotions others feel, so she knew what the good and bad people here were thinking and feeling. It was her first time feeling this distinct feeling, but I knew my smart Anna understood some of them were good while others were bastards. She was a good girl, and her smile was adorable. She was looking around as they reached the ground and started their private conversations with others and, as Rein wasn''t even looking at me anymore, I only had Zoe to talk to. "Ready for the grand debut?" I asked with a smile while ncing at Rein, who was now surrounded by other girls anddies present in the hall. They seemed like flies humming around something sweet or attractive, which was as it looked, so she was handling them on their own instead of justing here and standing with me. "Hehe. I''m fine~. It''s nothing big for me and they won''t pay much attention to me after you are done with your thing, anyway." "It will be fine. Don''t worry." I patted her head gently, and some people who were looking in our direction flinched with surprise. They didn''t know who this gorgeous girl was and my sudden head pet must be like a destructive spell for them. The pitiful people were already resentful towards me, but now it was probably even worse. ''Well, it''s not important either.'' The party continued, and the hall became crowded. The important people also came and the emperor and three empresses, as well as the two princes and the second princess, were some of them. I greeted everyone and the emperor and empresses were different in public. They were more like the actual highest authorities of thisnd, different from how they mostly were in the private. Princess Isabe, prince udius, and prince Alph were also grown up now, and they looked more attractive and royal than a few years ago. Prince udius had grown considerably after that day and was now more focused on getting stronger. From what I know, he also traveled a lot in these past years. Even more than the two of us. Maybe he found his goal, but he was truly far more impressive now. He was amazing, someone even grandpa and Rein''s grandma acknowledged. We were on good terms, thankfully, and though he didn''t like me much, there was no bad blood. ''It thankfully didn''t turn into the bad prince and main character fighting over a female lead plot.''please visit I had thankeddy Vera for whatever she did, but she didn''t ever take my thanks. ording to her, he changed on his own. And it must have been difficult, I know, and he was even more amazing for that. Andstly, prince Alph. He did try the friendship thing, but his peace was more attractive to him than me, perhaps. Still, he tried, and that wasmendable. Princess was the same and after greeting me, and talking with Alf for a while with a unique attitude, she went to the choctes. ''She was probably more sensitive to Uto''s scent. But it would be fun seeing where this goes.'' Anyway, the night progressed, and we set on the upper balcony with the emperor and empresses. The others down there were having fun, and the people continueding to me with their daughters. It was tiring and even Rein had given up on her anger and came back to us, exhausted by the useless stuff. "They are persistent¡­" She sighed as she sat down on the right side of Anna while I was on the left side. The little girl was excited and giggling about something with Zoe, but I didn''t know what the sisters wereughing over. They had a hint of excitement on their pretty faces but then, mom, who was sitting with the emperor and others, stood up and walked towards the railing. The musicians were on the left side of us on this upper balcony, where two stairs leading downstairs ended. We can see most of the ground below us from here and all from the edges, so as mom stood there, with an announcement crystal in her hand, I knew the thing was starting. [ "Hello everyone." ] They were confused by the sudden voice from the auction master of Hiraani. But they had a faint idea, so they gazed at the two young girls one by one, and then looked back at her. [ "Yes. It is as you think. Today''s a good asion so I would like to take this moment and introduce these two adorable young girls from our house." ] Some were surprised by how she took advantage of the moment, while some were talking about the true identity of this unknown girl being introduced as a member of their family. They knew about Anna from rumors, the so-called ruler of Heliox. But from the moment they saw Zoe for the first time, they knew something interesting was going to happen. [ "Alright. I think I have everyone''s attention so I will make this short. This little one here is my jewel, pride, joy, and life, Anastasia. The so-called ruler of Heliox. And yes. She sure is the ruler. None of us could do anything before. None of us, except¡­" ] Anna waved at everyone with a smile, and they were captivated by her pureness. She sure was cute, even with her suppressed charm and hidden eyes. She was special. And not even the emperor and the three empresses knew about her crystal eyes. This was her first public appearance, and even the four of them were seeing her for the first time. It was best that way but it won''t be long before she awakens her powers and after that, it would be very difficult to hide her from the gazes of the world. But, if possible, I hoped that her awakening was dyed a bit more than I anticipated. I also needed time to be prepared for that time and after she awakens her powers, she will have a great lot of things to learn. But mom was now looking at Zoe. And all their eyes were on her. [ "Zoe. She''s a special member of this little family. She''s amazing. Not special like the others, but surely, she is no less special to all of us than our little Anna. She''s a good girl. And though she might not be rted to us by blood, she''s too special to my Eon. So, she''s special to all of us, too." ] Mom gave her a warm smile, and Zoe nodded at her with a cheerful smile. [ "I hope everyone will wee her with open arms." ] Zoe stood up, walked forward, and bowed before everyone. She already introduced herself to the emperor and others, so they had the same calm expression, but the others weren''t the same as them. The people who were interested, and the others who were looking forward to hearing who this person was¡­ showed different kinds of reactions to this new introduction. ''Fucking bastards¡­'' Rein''s eyes said this as she looked at some of the uninterested faces of the people down there. It was fine until they didn''t know about her, but when they heard that she was an adopted child¡­ their interest died down. At least the other interest aside from the interest towards her physical appearance. ''Blood is more important to these nobles, after all.'' She sure was someone from a famous family, and sure they can use her as a medium to bind with our family, but she didn''t have the blood necessary to be called a real Heliox. Yes, her looks were stunning, but that was it. They knew nothing about her and she didn''te out as someone as special as Rein in terms of nobleness. So, in most of their eyes, she was even lower than the lowest-ranking nobles here. Society would never ept her without knowing her actual background or bloodline. Or until she shows them something far more than what deserves this family name. She will have difficulties proving herself. ''But if mom were to specifically mention that she was adopted by ''our house'' then things would have been quite different.'' Officially, Zoe''s name was long. Too long as she was jointly adopted by mom, my two uncles, and aunts, grandma and grandpa. Thus, she belonged to the whole house, owned a part in every one of their belongings, and technically, had as high authority in the empire as the next head of our house. They were looking down on her, and it was a mistake of their lifetime. They will find it out one day, but until then, Zoe had more freedom than Rein and me. But talking about Rein and me¡­ [ "Right. Eon also has something he would like to say." ] It was time. Chapter 454 The Proposal Standing up from my seat and ncing over the people around me, I walked towards mom. She was smiling while Rein was confused by the sudden thing that was happening. She didn''t know anything about this announcement stuff. Not at least my announcement. She was confused. But only she was the confused one among the people in this room. As she looked around, she found most of them smiling. Especially Anna, who was sitting beside her. She was the easiest to read, so she grasped that something special rted to her was going to happen. Something special. Something rted to her. On my birthday when I ''officially'' became an adult. And she was dressed too well today¡­ She was smart, so she didn''t need more to grasp what this announcement might be, and if it was something that she was thinking it was, then¡­ [[ "Oyy! Bastard! Why now and here!? Everyone is watching!" ]] She shouted through our Celes private connection line and I gazed back at her with a smile as I stood before everyone. [[ "Isn''t it good this way?" ]] Her calm face distorted in a cute way as her lips fluttered with astonishment. Her dad ying the giant piano had stopped since mom stood up and now that he was looking at her, the smile on his face and the joy in his eyes was clear for us to see. Her mom was sitting with grandmother and the otherdies as she, too, smiled excitedly with them, even holding their hands as she looked at Rein and then towards me. They always wished good for her, for her happiness. She was always happy when she was around me. Sad that she can''t have everything she wanted, but she sure was far more different from how she might have been before meeting me. And she was now a grown-up too. So this event, something all of them had looked forward to for a long time, was now before them. Mom was excited and smiling. And others were the same. Some people down there had looked as if they caught onto something fishy so they were chaotic. The imperial family had caught onto what was happening, so they had interested smiles too. They had known about the two of us for a long time, so they also knew this day woulde. Just that they all were surprised to witness it like this, too. Ca and Alf were pping from our right side at the food tables while princess Isabe looked at them with confusion. Still, the most astonished one was my Rein. She had spent the whole day ignoring me and in genuine sweet anger, only nowing back and having a proper word but all of a sudden; I was here, standing before literally most of the high society of the empire, ready to propose to her while everyone was watching. She had lived for hundreds of years, but still, this was her first time witnessing something like this. ''But that shocked, messy face is cute.'' It was fun to see her like that but today was a special day so I didn''t wait for long. Looking over the people below us, gathering some Mana to strengthen my voice, I spoke in a voice clearly audible to all the people present. "Thank you all foring to this humble celebration. Today is a special day and I know the elders know better how it feels to be an adult. Age is a number and nothing else. I believe most, if not all, people would agree with me. It is a number that can''t actually define if a person is an adult or not. One can reach the age of adulthood and still be an immature kid from the inside. But still, it is this unique number that restrains those like me, those who willingly or unwillingly mature earlier than their age. The circumstances, the difficulties life presents before us individuals, and the decisions we make help us understand the surroundings, the world, society, and nature. The fall helps us, people close to us support us, we see the highs and lows of our life, and only then do we truly be mature enough to make some important decisions in our lives. But what happens when you are ready and capable enough to make those decisions earlier than the set age that society epts you as a qualified person? Well, it sure is up to us if we want to ept our own happiness or see what society thinks of us. Regardless of what others might think, I believe one should be free enough to chase their own happiness. But doing so while having their own beliefs isn''t wrong either, right? So¡­ I have beliefs too, and a happiness I want to have for a long time now. Talking in general terms, I have had this ''happiness'' for a while now. Long enough to know I want a greater one than the one I possess. You know, sometimes you want more than what you have, but there are barriers blocking you from achieving them. Barriers of ss, barriers of feelings, barriers of society, barriers ofw, barriers of nationality or race, barriers of nature, or barriers of personal beliefs? I also had some of my own beliefs, my restrictions, my foolishness, and because of them, my happiness had to go through a lot of undesirable inner conflicts. But today¡­ as I am free from those wretched shackles of self-restraint, in the presence of the great people of this nation, I would like to ask my happiness, my joy, and life, for the thing we have waited for a time which has felt like several eternities." Looking back at her, straight into her eyes with a warm smile, I slowly walked back and humbly asked for her hand. [[ "You''re fucking crazy, you know?" ]] She sighed deeply as she epted my hand with those words. She had waited for a long time, and I know she had her own fantasies of where our first kiss might be, but¡­ I know she wasn''t expecting a crowd this big and full of shitty people to be that ''perfect'' ce. Well, it was beyond her expectations, and she understood the goal behind this whole stunt, and it excited her even more. The people down there had myriad emotions. Some were angry, some dissatisfied, but most who were finding meaning behind my earlier speech were lost in thought, unsure of what to even think. Their reactions were funny and as the two of us stood on the edge of the balcony, holding both our hands gently, looking into each other''s eyes¡­ "Excuse us for a moment." Prince udius stood up and walked upstairs from the other side with a calm-looking face and empress Vera followed him. The people down there couldn''t see them, so the emperor suggested we continue with his eyes. We knew something like this could happen so we went back to looking into each other''s eyes, stayed there for a moment, and then¡­ I went on my knees. Both knees, surprisingly. Looking up at her and taking out a small box from my white crack, I took a deep breath as she looked down at me with her emotionally gorgeous eyes, a wildly beating heart, and a smile that had waited for more than me. Opening the box and revealing the special ring that took me months to create, a ring that appealed to all the eyes to get drawn towards it, I slowly released my breath and asked with the happiest smile on my face, "Rein. Ready to apany thiscking one for the illusionary forever?" We had waited. For a time that can''t be exined in numbers. But we are here now, after facing many things, and our own selves, in this moment, in a far better state than years back at our first encounter. She was healed, and was more grown up than even me. I was ready, in a far better state than I was back then. The moment was ours. The world was watching us. We owned each other at this moment. And the answer to these words she had longed to hear was naturally¡­ "No." Her answer created a wave of confusion and loud noises, and most of them were happy. They couldn''t see her blissful smile from below like all of us here, but they were happy that I was rejected. ''Poor people¡­'' They rejoiced and were too happy about this, but then, they suddenly stopped. Rein was smiling and the negative answer was just the thing I was looking forward to. "Axion my love¡­" She also took out a small box from her storage ring and sat down on both her knees, like me. "Why not actually be together for as long as we exist? Why limit our time to the little frame of ''eternity''?" Holding her own ring her grandma gave her long ago for this special asion, she looked into my eyes filled with an emotion that shattered the smiling faces of the people down there. It was a strange tradition of witches where the person first asking had to be on their knees like this, then the other partner proposes back after rejecting them. It was something they didn''t know, not even our families, but they could see our faces and that much was enough. The eyes said it all, and she had received my answer through these calm eyes, so she nodded at me, and I nodded back with the same smile bearing uncontainable happiness, excitement, and love. "Yes." Holding her hand with the ring in my other hand, we just looked into each other''s eyes, not saying a word, not minding the countless gazes on us, not caring about the noble traditions. As the golden ring with a small red jewel perfectly slid down to her uniquely soft ring finger and settled down as perfectly as I made it for her, she turned my palm and put the slightly big ring on my ring finger, which magically shrunk down and became perfect to my finger. The purple ring with three small pink jewels was gorgeous, and also an amazing divine artifact. Receiving it was an honor on its own, and far more when it was our engagement ring, one that bound the two of us together. "It''s done¡­" she said, looking at me with a gaze that had longed for another thing. "Good luck to us." I closed my eyes, she closed her eyes. I leaned closer, she was already before my face. I felt her warm breath on my face, my heart was beating as wildly as hers. She had waited, she had starved. I had also waited, ming myself for letting her suffer like that. She had endured for a long time, and I had stopped myself from crossing the line many times too. I had held back, a lot. Still, maybe it wasn''t as much as hers. We both suffered in the tormenting eternal flow of time, but all that¡­ "Mmm¡­" It was worth it. Chapter 455 The Approaching End The first kiss. It''s special, too special in some cases, actually. You feel the special, tingly sensation that you have only imagined in your mind. The feeling of two lips touching each other, the warmth, the taste as you eat your partner''s lips, the feeling of being one¡­ It''s an experience that breaks your world. And if this special experience is achieved after a long wait, after suffering for time unknown, after longing for this one sensation of having the partner all to yourself, it has a unique, ineffable feel to it that they can''t possibly put into tangible words. It''s special, and it bes more special from person to person. People remember their first times, and the feeling when you feel their lips, their tongue, and their soul, for the first time, is always inseparable. The feeling as that ever-burning fire inside them clenches, the feeling as the person lost in the sea finally finding a piece ofnd, the feeling of salvation, the couple who wait for the perfect kiss that grants many of the things they had wished for in their lives, in their time of suffering, and when they actually get it, when they truly revive the fiction perfect kiss they had starved for¡­ it is this moment that strengthens that already unbreakable bond of closeness. They receive the thing they had longed for, they fulfill their wish, they be one with their partners, and then¡­ neither of them would want to stop. Who wouldn''t want to just continue this blissful sensory input? It is sweet. It is giving them the pleasure they had waited for. It is hot and burning, something more than what they might have expected. It is an amazing feeling¡­ more so when the partner is someone like Rein, who had lived for more than a hundred years without feeling this grand ecstasy. Eon was different in this aspect. He had far deep experience with human bodies from all the experiences of hisst life. He was an expert, so he knew all the things. And still, in that instant, as they dived into the experience of their magical moment as everyone watched the two with even more diverse feelings, they were lost in their world. They had got what they wanted; he had achieved his goal, and they should have just finished with a soft kiss, but even if their minds wanted it, their hearts didn''t allow them to stop with just that much. So, their moment was stretched, and they were lost, and both of them knew it wasn''t good to be there anymore so¡­ -Ooooooooong-swish! Rein used her shadow travel skill, and the two vanished from the grand hall. It confused people how the two just vanished from there, but it wasn''t as surprising as what had happened in the past few seconds. They had just witnessed an engagement. An engagement of two of the most influential young people in their empire. This was a special moment, and it was very wrong in many eyes. So, as soon as they vanished from their spot, they burst out in loud noises filled with confusion, dissatisfaction, questions, and anger. The hall was left in chaos as Nolen talked with the emperor and two empresses. The music from Rein''s dad resumed, and it helped to calm the people down. The otherdies and the dads went down and started handling the chaos. There were some people causing a ruckus and were so exasperated that the knights had to step in to handle them. Their grand ns to get close to Heliox or Atraxia had been crushed, so even some young ones there were agitated. The aftermath of a single event that the two of their families had waited for such a long time was handleable overall and there was no great physical damage. They handled it and things returned to the moment before Nolen introduced their two young daughters. There were fewer people than before, but the volume was still great enough. It was difficult for them, but as the parents were doing all that, the young people had their own unique reactions to the lovely moment they had witnessed. Ca was relieved that the two people she looked up to were finally together, but the feeling as she watched them kiss sure was tingly for her. Alf was better in that aspect, but he was just as happy that his big brother finally got together with the person he liked for that long time. The young wyvern in his pocket, his amazing familiar Utopia, was also happy to see her uncle and aunt truly getting together. She was a cute one. And after these years, she had also grown up into a strong being. She was still not big enough to have someone ride her as they fly over the clouds, but she wasrger, smarter, stronger, and still just as cute as ever. The second princess of this empire, princess Isabe, had a clear blush on her face as she hid behind the fountain of liquid chocte. She was unfamiliar with things like these, and the one person that ever piqued her interest was standing just ahead of her. It was difficult for some reason and she herself had no idea what was going on, so she just hid away, contemting what was wrong with her. The pale prince Alpheus with a weak body, the one possessing the pinnacle skill of wisdom, was just happily smiling at the two people. He knew something special like this was going to happen. And this was an inevitable event, anyway. But the way Eon orchestrated this whole thing, starting from the exact group of people in this room to the exact moment when he had the most attention of people here, the whole setting of the ce allowed everyone from any angle to see that exact spot, the lights, the food, to everyst detail¡­ everything was set for that one special moment. He invited mostly those people he could profit from, had a connection with, were influential, could tell the story with exaggeration, and spread rumors as naturally as breathing without knowing themselves. The food was good, and the ingredients used heightened their sense of hearing ever so slightly that not even strong people like his family members would notice. The drinks were good. Too good, actually. The amount of alcohol and its concentration was a little bit greater than the usual drinks served at any event. There was a quote that went like this: ''A drunk audience is a magician''s best friend.'' And this person, this person he wanted to befriend, was a grand magician so terrifying, a person like him who actually noticed all these things got goosebumps just from thinking about what kind of thinking he must have gone through to set this perfect of a stage. The one having the greatest skill for wisdom was him, but every time he saw this person, this Axion, he couldn''t help but be genuinely more motivated to try to be his friend. Going on his bad side? He would be the worst bearer of the wisdom pinnacle if he even considered this possibility. That was them and just outside the gates, in full knight armor, there was a young knight who had also witnessed the special events. His master finally got together with someone he had been with for years. He saw their happiness, and he was happy. His master was strong and amazing. So he knew he would be able to achieve his goal if he served him properly¡­ He was outside and so were the two people, a son and mother duo, on the other side of the house. Prince udius and empress Vera. They were just sitting there as he looked up in the sky at the lone moon and faraway twinkling stars. He was sitting there for a while now, with the same calm face as before, but his mother could tell just how chaotic of a storm was passing below this surface of calmness. The inner conflicts can very well lead to some very bad decisions in one''s life and in turbulent times like these, one needs someone they could tell things to, someone to rely on, a shoulder to cry on. He had been fine for thest few years, but now, he was feeling that inner war between rationality and his feelings toward a person he could never have once again. He was a miserable child, she knew it the best. And she wanted to help him¡­ even if it meant just sitting with him here for hours. He liked her, he knew it wasn''t just because of her beauty or the strange attraction everyone felt for her. It was something more than that. He was attracted, sure, but that attraction was towards her nobleness. From how she walked to how she spoke with everyone, and mostly her smile¡­ He had seen it a few times, and most of them were when she was with ''him''. He had never earned that gorgeous smile from her. He had never seeded in attracting her attention, even with all the work he did. He had moved on after the spar he lost on that winter festival. The one she chose, the soulmate she found by the silver of fate, was also an amazing person. He was strong, noble like her, smart, and far better than him. He epted that. He had moved on. Tried roaming the world in the hope of finding something the two of them had, something his mother had with his father. He also wanted that, and he searched the empire and continent but he was unlucky. The one this nature had made for him was probably too far away from him. He had convinced himself that she wasn''t that person. He had moved on¡­ or what he thought until tonight, when he saw the two of them looking at each other, going for something too obvious to guess. He was feeling a strange, excruciating pain in his chest. It was unbearable, so much so that his body moved on its own, walking out of that ce with the same calmness as he had learned to maintain in his small journey. He was miserable, and as that storm inside him calms down, the one beside him knew she would have to witness another downpour from her dear child. She didn''t like seeing him cry, even if calming him and being with him was fun. If it was any other scenario, she would have punished the perpetrator as harshly as possible. But in this particr case¡­ she was helpless. Again. It was the misery of a mom and, as Eon saw them with his third eye as the two sat on their spot on the terrace after their perfect kiss, he also couldn''t help but sigh. "The world is an unfair bitch. A viin in one story originates from a simple character in someone else''s story. There are characters, there are plots, there are scenarios, and the story onlypletes with the presence of a viin, some undesirable things, and many wretched endings." His sudden words astonished her, but she understood those words without needing any kind of context. "The heroes have their heroines, who were once the hearts of someone else. One desired her, but she belonged to someone else. They wanted her with all their heart, but the wickedness of time was mighty. The treasure they long to own was already owned by someone else." Her words astonished him even more than his own senseless mumbling. She sure had quite the arsenal of fine words. "Haaa¡­" But it sure was a tough day for them. "Dear amazing fiancee..." He smiled and shook his head as she smiled back at him. "It''s nice to hear¡­ directly from friends to betrothed. I like it." And that warm smile said it all. She was happy, overjoyed even. And he loved that happiness, his happiness. "It was great-" [[ *Sorry to interrupt, master. But¡­ I checked the message from yesterday and I think you should see it too.* ]] He heard Lucy''s voice and suddenly stopped. ''It''s important? Really?'' [[ *I believe so, yes.* ]] Every time on his birthday, Lucy unlocked a message from his master. It was mostly congrattions and best wishes. And he loved every time he got to see her again. Yesterday was hectic and his whole day was spent in preparation for their special moment, so he didn''t get the quiet time to see the message. He wanted to have a lone time like right now and he had it, and if Lucy said it was important, it definitely was something concerning. So, he looked at Rein and she didn''t need more words to understand what he wanted to say. It wasn''t their first time he just stopped mid-sentence. She knew a bit about Lucy and the fact that there were sudden messages he could see from his master. She was fine, and she had already got what she wanted and she can have it again whenever she wanted now that she had the clear right to it. He was hers now. And they weren''t just friends anymore. So it was fine¡­ He thanked her and closed his eyes. The night was young, the story was about to take a new turn, the end of a long volume was near, and the journey that had started with his birth was going to start a new chapter of his life. Chapter 456 Unsettling Information Reappearing in a new colorless world, I was floating in the endless space of nothingness. There was nothing here, practically nothing. And aside from my own, and Lucy, who was in a form of a fragment of light that had countless interchanging colors, everything in this ce was nk white. Lucy looked unique, but there was actually nothing in this ce aside from the two of us. "..." (What''s happening?) I asked, but no voice came out of my mouth. It was surprising, and Lucy noticed it, too. [[ *It will start now, master.* ]] And as soon as she said that, a strong light burst out in the distance and my vision was blinded. It was even more strange, nothing like how it had been in the past where the only thing I saw was her pretty self in an empty space. As Lucy said, this was different. -Cassssssssssss¡­ When I opened my eyes, I was floating in a ck space, and different from the endless empty room, there was a realistic hologram-like image of the earth floating before me. It was my that I was familiar with, and just after I saw this, the whole of our sr system manifested before me. After that, the entireary system started shrinking. It became smaller and smaller with each passing second¡­ no. I was going away from this sr system. It was as if someone was zooming back. Zooming back a little too much as after our sr system was left behind, we saw many other sr systems, then we saw our gxy, then the speed increased a little too much and before I could even perceive anything, I was far outside known space, and I don''t know if I can call it, but this ce where I took a brief stop seemed like the edge of our gxy. But then the zoom-out resumed at a speed far faster than before and only stopped when I was in a weird ce where there was an undescribable web of colorful light, so attractive that one would just keep staring towards it, and these lights in the web were moving. I didn''t understand what this was, but from this angle, this looked like some unique cosmic structure. It was undeniably beautiful, though. So gorgeous it reminded me of the true form of my master. It was¡­amazing, and I knew there was something beyond this side of the web, but I couldn''t see past want was being shown to me. So, we stayed there, and Lucy started talking. [[ *I was curious when I started watching this, and the most interesting thing is at the end, but from what I could think, this whole thing looks like the [[( Periphery of Cosmos )]]. Beyond this should be the outer space, then the bubbles of [[< Reality >]], then the great [[(< Mid >)]]. We only know till the center of all where it is said that the second avatar of mother nature resides. But this information is all from the data we have from books and there might be a lot of differences between the things we know and the truth. There are many things we do not know, but if the creator showed us this ce, it must be because she is pointing at something, right?* ]] ''There must be something. But from how much I know her, it must be mostly because she wants us to see this amazing view.'' I smiled as, after spending exactly three seconds, we zoomed in. And the ce we ended up this time was the earth we were before. This was a sacred experience that I had to share with Rein when I get back, but for now, I had to focus on the before me. It was earth, the normal blue with white clouds and countless colorfulnds. I could see thergest continent, the western continent I was on, before me as the earth slowly rotated on its axis. The northern continent of frost, blizzards, and aurora lights was visible from this angle and I saw as the only forbidden zone of that continent, the , that was just as visible as the great forest, grandbyrinth, and colossal desert of our continent. Those were the forbidden zones of the west and north continent. As for the other five, there was the , , and of the eastern continent; the unique area between the north and west continent, the which was genuinely covered in a thick fog that ''eats'' everything entering it; and the present between west and east continent. As the image of the earth before us moved, all of these nine greatnds passed through our vision. We already had a good idea of the map of this but strangely¡­ I saw something new, and unprecedented. [[ *That¡­* ]] Lucy gasped with surprise, something that very rarely happened. ''Who would have thought¡­'' We knew about the uniquendmass hidden behind the , the forgotten southern continent and we had some ns for that ce but, what actually surprised us was thendmass that even we did not know about. [[ *Is that ce the reason for¡­?* ]] ''I think so, too. That must be why that hell in in the east exists without any near prominent demon existence. The higher ranked ones were never on that continent to begin with.'' [[ *I watched till this pointst time.* ]] We stared at the unbelievable sight before us and concluded the reason why my master was showing us all of this. ''Fucking demons¡­'' There was andmass some distance away from the end of the eastern continent and its forbidden hell ins. They were already the most polluted ces and the demonic beasts there were also as strong as that slime I had faced in the great forest. That ce was terrifying, but an even more absurd thing we discovered today was the area far greater and simrly polluted with demonic energy in the sea some distance away from there. It was a bad thing because from what I knew, there was nothing in that ce in the high records of thest two centuries, but right now, there was thatnd, and it was probably growing at a terrifying speed. It was thend of demons, the bastards who only desired the destruction of nature. And the existence of thatnd meant only one thing¡­ [[ *I know something like this on the day you be an adult wouldn''t be something you like much, but as you might have already guessed, it might just be the scenario you are thinking about.* ]] That was the voice of my master, not the one Lucy had, her real voice. And as soon as we heard that, with another sh of light, we vanished from that dark ce, and appeared in the usual white ce with my master sitting in her usual chair. [[ *Happy fifteenth birthday, my adult kiddo. I believe your day was nice? Must have kissed that cutedy of yours by now, right? Huhu~.* ]] She was smiling like her usual self, and it was really lovely seeing her like that. [[ *Eon¡­* ]] Then she looked at me with her special sad-happy expression and spoke in that usual warm voice. [[ *What you saw was something that will all be useful to you. But knowing it doesn''t mean you have to tell all the strong people you know and start preparing for the thing that might not even start for decades or centuries.* ]] With a sweet smile, she shook her head. [[ *I know what you might be thinking, but wars with demon kind had been a usual routine of the past. There are strong weapons and advanced magic, as well as siege weapons and war artifacts, but back then, there were swords, some other weapons, and just the power of runes. And people who could actually even use the runes were numbered in small digits. Times were different back then, but people were still happy. They were happy, had families, and a better society than the ss-based society of current times, and even the ones with higher authority among them were like a father or mothers and heroes to them. If it was possible in those times of chaos, utter disparity, and dread, the times right now are different, no?* ]] She stopped for a moment and smiled warmly for thest time. [[ *Your happiness is in your hands, my child. It sure might be true that with great powers one revives great responsibilities, but I don''t think it''spulsory. Not all dragons roam the world to protect other kinds and not all phoenix shares their wisdom with anyone they meet. The world is selfish, dear; I know you might know it as well as me. It is selfish, a bitch, a bad poison everyone is subjected to. And if it''s so atrocious, following your heart wouldn''t matter to it either, right?* ]] She stopped, and again that look of a sad-happy heart covered her face. I knew this was the goodbye. [[ *Huhu~. I know you will be fine. You will start school soon and meet some amazing people, have great experiences, and do fun stuff with your gorgeous fiancee. She''s a luckydy, and I know you think you''re the licker one but, it''s still a blessing to have such an amazing future husband as my grandson~! Alright now. This is enough for today from my side. I believe we will meet sooner but we don''t actually know what will happen next so¡­ take care little one~!* ]] And with that, after another sh of light, she vanished, and the recording ended. It was a fun one this time, and she showed me some very interesting things. Some things from that content were worrisome, but as she said, it was up to me what I wanted to do. I didn''t know what would I do with the information about those demons but, for now¡­ "Haaa¡­" I just wanted to spend this night with my lovely future wife. Chapter 457 End And The True Beginning... "Hmm? What''s wrong?" She asked with a concerned expression, her face soaked in the tranquil rays of moonlight passing through the tall umbre. "You''re gorgeous." I prised with a genuine voice, and she just nodded and looked at me with the same concerned expression. "I know that but what''s wrong? That was the sigh you have when something unpredictable happens. It''s rare so something has to be wrong. What is it? Was there something concerning with the message from your master this time¡­ yes. That must be it. That''s why you had to see it asap. What''s wrong?" She was truly concerned this time. Those worried eyes were looking at me for the answer. She wanted to help, even if she didn''t know what was wrong. She was cute, and this was her usual behavior. And I know she will do whatever to get me to tell her what was wrong until it was¡­ "World-level confidential information. Half of it at least." I looked at her with a bitter smile and her lips fluttered, bit themselves, and she sat back on her chair. We knew almost everything about each other aside from the stuff that we termed ''confidential''. There were levels and the world level was the third highest level of confidential information. She knew she would have to be too prepared if she wanted to know this because many of them may be dangerous for her and the people around her. "Is it rted to some political propaganda?" she asked as she kept looking up at the sky, her enhanced beauty under this nightlight being far grander than inside the house. ''It''s good that people don''t see her in the open at night like this. They would actually just get captivated for time unknown.'' Well, some have actually been captivated and still have an undeniable crush on her. But we can''t do much about them. "Hmm¡­" I looked at her and thought about this whole thing. Few people must already know about it and seeing how it''s kept such tightly regted that even I only found out like this, it must be handled by powers like the headmaster and such. So¡­ "No. It''s far more concerning than that." My answer was clear and she looked me straight in the eye as she heard that. "Demons¡­?" She asked after a while of scanning my face and this smart fiancee of mine was on the spot this time, so I couldn''t help but nod lightly. "Fucking bastards¡­" She frowned with genuine disgust and shook her head in understanding. She hated them to the core, as always. Then she looked at me with a worried expression that pitied me for how I always just carry the burden of things like these all by myself. She was lovely to think like that. But that distorted expression wasn''t much good on her ecstatic face. "Let''s forget about that. Master said some cool things and we saw even cooler things. Here, look at this." -Ooooooooooong. A white light shone on my hand and she knew what it meant, so she grabbed my hand and experienced the same things, from zooming back from the earth, seeing that amazing view of the end, to hearing my master''s words. I naturally skipped the part with the rotating earth and the demonnd so she only saw good stuff. And when she got back¡­ "Damn¡­ fuck. That was sexy!" Her eyes sparkled with true excitement as she stood up from her chair, walked behind mine, and hugged me. "Thanks~." Kissing my cheeks, she went back and happily sat down in her ce. "It was simply amazing! Did you see those weird creatures behind that colorful nket of light webs~? Cute~!" Thosest words surprised me as I didn''t see anything like that, but if she saw them, her eyes that can see the truth perceived that, then it meant she nced behind the veil of the cosmic boundary. "Did you see some very dark creatures with cloud-like uncertain forms, some colorful creatures with the appearance that''s normally called ''heinous'' and beings that were just too uncertain and had many eyes to put into words?" I had to ask this. Even I couldn''t see the beings of the outer space from my great eyes. "Yes~. And you asking me would mean you didn''t see them. Meaning only I saw them~! One coin if you want to know the details." She smirked with an excited smile and I had to know what she saw so I had no choice but to give her a white coin. "Hehe~. Thanks! So they were¡­" She was great with her words and knew how to exin in detail so I just stayed there and listened to her, enjoyed her smiling face, enjoyed her presence, and this moment. Thinking back, many things happened after I met this diabolical love of mine. She was the first ever person I met aftering back from that horrible forest and the best home where I met your master. We met, then the first thing she did was attack me with an excited smile. She was strong back then but had scars like mine. She was cute from the start but as I spent my days, months, and years together with her, I knew she was more than just a pretty, strong, and amazing person. She was a poet and a poem so poetic that every lister would fall in love with her deep emotions. She was a warrior and survivor who had won many battles, survived many unexpected things, got in and out of the ces that people call hell, and even lived through the changing times to see nations rise and empires fall. She was a mage who had deep pure darkness at hermand, and she was a witch who knew death better than even those like me, who had gone through the experience of death more than once. She was the moon people admired, and the star that gave hope to the lone. But for me, this crazy witch of mine was a nk sky. The dark night sky I can color with any bright shade I want. Life with her was fulfilling, and though she was still as difficult to handle as ever, she was a finedy who can handle herself well enough to steal hearts just by being present in a ce. She was mine though. And I belonged to her. And now that we were engaged, she had far fewer restrictions on us than yesterday. Still, there were restrictions. But we can take care of ourselves and that much was enough. "So, yes. That''s all I can say about them. It was short, so that''s the most I could perceive. And even if we see them again, I don''t think much wille up." She sighed with relief now that our hour-long conversation was finished. I gave her a coin so I had to get my money''s worth and I wanted to know more but this was the limit for my spending today. "Thank you for the great work, Rein." "You''re a bad bastard, you know?" "Of course I know. And you will have to deal with it." I gave her a small smile and lifted her hand with my hand with our engagement rings. Closing my eyes, (going to the special floor of my mind tower, reaching the special ce with single floating books on disy, walking to the special area with the very thin red-pink book, taking it out as the book started vanishing into fine particles,) I cast the spell. "(: Bond)" A bright white light came out of my hand and covered both our hands. A small magic circle that was tooplex that even she was dumbfounded seeing it materialize above our hands. Then, strange white strings came out of the magic circle, went into our rings, settled down, and then intertwined with each other. "Done." "What¡­?" "A special enchantment to our special rings." I gave her a small smile, and she tried checking what the enchantment was but still couldn''t figure out much just from her eyes. "From the magic circle I saw, it''s something more special than I can think. Haaa¡­ it''s tooplicated and I''m toozy right now." She just leaned back on her chair and sat there, smiling with more excitement than before. "We aren''t just friends anymore¡­" She mumbled with a dark grin on her face that looked even more adorable. "That''s right." -Snap. With simple telekinesis, I removed the table separating the two of us, lifted my chair, and got exactly before her. "And you''re still that bad girl to have those bad-bad thoughts." Holding her chin and getting close to her face, earning that beautiful pink blush of surprise, I enjoyed the view that belonged only to me. "School from next week. Excited?" I asked, and stayed like that, seeing as the blush of surprise changed into a smirk of joy. "Very excited. Afterall¡­" She stopped, held my face with both her hands, and closed her eyes, still smiling as if she held the world in her hand. "We will live together there, alone. And do gooooood things, alone. How can I possibly wait for that¡­" She leaned in for another kiss but I had to break those fantasies a little bit and see the resulting reaction of my deardy. So before our lips touched each other, I spoke up in a low voice, enough that she could hear. "You know we will have many other people in the house we make there right?" We had a great amount ofnd to ourselves on that floating ind, and I had good ns to develop it into our first base. She was surprised when she heard that. She knew we would do something like that but it was still not good for her n to live alone with me. "Fuck that. ''We'' will live in domes anyway." And after that, she cleared the dark sad expression from her face and bit my lips. Our first kiss, whichsted for a long six minutes, was amazing. And even though she had no experience, and was a terrible kisser at first, she had deep knowledge because of her life experiences and thedies of the house, so she became better than most midway through our kiss. And now, as she dived in for the kiss herself, she was unlike any otherdies I had ever kissed. She was the best in other aspects and she was now the best kiss. Anyway¡­ putting aside our good private time, the new chapter of our lives wasing. The time till now had been about us, but going forward, we had academy, the new things I wanted, the finding of capable people for many of my necessary ns, and setting up my dream team: The Lightshade. In the process of finding and obtaining the love, we deviated from the main storyline and it was now time to get back on track. Things were messed up a lot but there''s always hope. Someone had said: if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you. And someone else had added to that saying: and if you gaze long enough into this abyss, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was lost in the love and I don''t regret it. But now that we were free, aside from the natural stuff, the academy, and important things, we had to look after our duties as student council members, and also achieve our personal goals. She had been with me and she will be with me on this journey, but there were many people for us to meet, many things to see, many things to gain, and many things to show. Thest end we had was sad but this one, this end as the partner of my life and I were one with each other¡­ It was as warm as the feeling when I saw ''her'' vanish into her gorgeous mes and turn into ashes. This was our moment, and an end, a different plot, the academy arc, and hopefully a better future were waiting for us. And people who have been with us on this journey as well as the others who will join in the future¡­ I believe it will be fun. Chapter 458 Setting Off [Eon''s POV: ] "Biggggggggg brotherrrrrr! Sisterrrrrrrr! Please take care~~!!" Anna was crying as she hugged us one by one and the six of us could only smile sweetly at this little girl. She was cute, and as everyone watched us with warm eyes, none of us could help but bow deeply toward them. We were departing for the airship station and from there, we would be leaving for the academy. There were Rein, Zoe, and me, and Alf, Ca, and Chry here, before our two normal-looking carriages. Everyone was also here to send us off. Mom and dad were here with a warm and confident gaze, already aware that we would be fine and have fun. Aunt Aug was here and uncle El was already back at the academy. He was a teacher there after all. Aunt Haze was crying like Anna, emotional that she won''t see us for a while now. And uncle Theo was there to calm her just as usual. Grandpa and grandma also had confident smiles as they looked at all of us. Already knowing we will be pretty famous in that unique ce. Rein''s family was watching from amunication device and they all were confident too. Except for her mom, of course. She was like Anna and aunt Haze right now. Sir Mel anddy Nissa were also here to send us off but as they looked at us, they had a nostalgic look and a subtle pitiful gaze. They were finally seeing us leave after teaching us for so many years and being with us for so long. They knew we would be more than fine and have a good time but they pitied the opponents that would have to go against any of us. ''Maybe not Zoe as they had never seen her do anything but they had also never been able to gauge her in any aspect so maybe she too. But, we all sure were overpowered.'' At least in the basic aspect of academic excellence, we were well-qualified in our subjects. We would be fine, but who would tell that to this little cute sister of mine who will only have these furballs, that big lizardman uncle, her big cat Taika, and the others? How will this little soul live without her big brother and big sister? "I think I should just stay-" "Not happening darling." Rein''s voice was stern. Her ns of living with me would be crushed if we stayed here after all. "Sister Zoeeeeee! Take careeeeeeeee!" Yes. Anna and Zoe loved each other. Zoe would be fine but it would really be difficult for Anna to be without Zoe for long. ''But it will help in her growth.'' It was inevitable so we all just said our goodbyes and after a gentlest kiss from all of us, Anna finally calmed down and got ready to send us off with a smile. "Be a good girl, take your meals properly, no too much cake; dad will be punished if I find out she got ill because of that; sleep well, study properly but not excessively, y with others, y by yourself, and if it ever bes too much, just call me. I wille running, and drag big brother if it''s necessary." Zoe wiped thest lingering tears around her eyes and kissed her forehead. "See you soon¡­" After ast warm smile, Zoe got up and walked back towards our carriage. "Be healthy everyone! Make new friends, and try to attend at least thepulsory sses! You are good enough to handle yourself well, so I know you will all be fine~! So take care of each other, shamelessly ask for help if you ever need it, don''t hesitate to ask for anything if you ever need something from us, and Eon." Mom stopped and looked at me with a proud warm smile. "Take care of everyone." Her smile was the same as always and I just nodded back with the same smile. "Don''t worry. We will all be fine~." My answer was enough for her so she just nodded and said herst words. "Celes, Uto. Take care of your lovely masters~!" And with that, she also waved her hand at us. All their gazes were the same for us, and yes, for Chry, too. "Stay well Chry! Don''t think about the knightly duties too much while you are there and study more! Get strong and better than others and thoroughly crush them so that you can bring glory to your and your master''s name!" sir Mel shouted and everyone elseughed at those words. He sure was a true knight. "No dumbass! What kind of advice is that? Chry! Don''t listen to this fool¡­ no, actually, do as he said. Crush your opponents and make sure everyone knows your name, and yes, the name of your master and your house." Lady Nissa first pped sir Mel''s back but then agreed with his words, adding even more fuel to the previous words. And the strict young knight of mine bowed deeply with a moved smile on his face. He knew everyone considered him one of them, as well as that he was part of this small family of ours, but his revenge was still blocking him from entirely bing one of us. That thing was deep andplicated, so I needed some time and he believed in me a little too much. He was a unique case but he was still as good as these two cousins of mine. It was good and all, and Anna liked him as much as us, even called him big brother, so he had a unique attachment to this adorable girl like us. So¡­ that was us, and we were now leaving for the airship station. The academy entrance exam was a unique and unpredictable event so the three of them would have to clear that thing but as Zoe, Rein, and I were already in clear¡­ no. ''The specially admitted students also at least have to take part in the entrance exam and the new council members have their own tasks so none of us actually would be free when we get there.'' Rein and I was student council members and right now, we were in our unique Lucifer and Uriel disguise. Most of the people here didn''t know about the council fact so they were only aware of the fact that we would attend the academy for fun in this unique disguise of ours. Ca, Alf, and Chry already promised they wouldn''t know us once we were there, so things were fine. It wasn''t like we were going to have this peace of ours for long anyway. People will naturally know our identities soon so at most, we had a year to three to this life of peace as some random people. It will be fun and we all were looking forward to it so¡­ "Ba-bye everyone~!" As the carriages set off, we rode towards a fun airship ride to the great ind of magic''s wealth and the grand academy of time. The four of us had the experience of riding the airships but Zoe and Chry were going to the capital''s magnificent airship station for the first time. It was a fine ce, vast enough to be visible from the sky above the capital, and the airships there were also quite fascinating. The station here was one of the finest in the continent so many people traveled to the capital for the day of the academy entrance exam. The academy itself was closed off before the exam date and it was strongly advised that people wishing to give the test also board the special airship leading to the academy ind on the day of the test. The test itself was conducted on these airships many times so it was natural that people boarded the special ship for the academy exam on the test day. It was mostly uncertain though so people didn''t care about it much. The four of them aside from me and Zoe also didn''t care about this stuff so it was even more surprising when¡­ [ "Hohoho! Wee, young and passionate people! Thanks for joining us in this great 3693rd entrance exam~! The test will start in a bit so be prepared~! Hahaha!" ] Yeah. This time, they were going to probably have to give this entrance test while being on these airships, far above the ground level, and they weren''t the only ones facing sudden problems like them¡­ [ "Hehe. Hello, new batch of hand-picked elites~. I believe at least some of you might have heard about me but for those who don''t know, I''m your awesome and legen¡ªdary student council president~! I know a bit about you and am dying to meet with you all but for now, the vice president will give you your very first assignment~! Do well everyone. We all are watching~~!" ] Yeah. That was the president and our superior so Rein and I were going to probably have to do a good lot of work now. ''Well, fuck¡­'' "Well, what the fuck¡­" Even Rein, who was only thinking about how the two of us will live together, was surprised by the whole new scenario. Not only our airship but also other eight ships like ours, which were now flying in sync with us, and held tens of thousands of people wishing to give the entrance exam, were now going to have to give their exams tens of thousands of meters above the ground, and we had some harder task to deal with¡­ ''How the hell did it get to this?'' Of course, I knew it. But it was long, and there were many things that actually led us to this point. And it all started when¡­ Chapter 459 The Station [Eon''s POV: ] "Wo¡­" As we arrived at the airship station and Zoe first saw the impressive building, which wasn''t as tall as our auction house but was considerablyrger inparison, she was astounded. We observed the enormous building, the crowd entering and leaving, and thought it was a fantastic site as we entered through the high walls. Some distance away, we could see the giant floating ships, far greater than the normal sea boats, made with the finest knowledge of this world. It worked on the same principles as any modern-day high-tech aircraft but in this world, there were magic and special energy sources like that giant Mana stone on the frontal side of the airships. The engines were made with the magic engineering knowledge born from thebined efforts of humans and dwarves. Although the ship''s design wasn''t particrly aerodynamic, when it was in flight, a magic shield would surround the entire craft, making it much more efficient than mostmercial aircraft. These airships were amazing, and there were different sizes, uses, and owners of these grand artifacts. But still, anyone present in the vicinity couldn''t help but focus on a particr airship present in the airship apron. It was some of the grandest structures present in the ce that was visible even from the entrance to the building where we were standing. The ship was a magnificent sight to behold, its golden-brown wooden frame covered in brilliant carvings of enchantments. The magic crystals that had been imnted all around the frame caused the enchantments to glow, giving the impression that they hade to life. Amidst the enchantments, we could see a giant Mana stone sitting atop the ship. The stone was pulsing with magical energy, and it was clear that it was the source of the ship''s power. The engine, the power thrusters at the end of the unique ship, and the main sail, which was thergest among the nine sails of the airships and had the insignia of the great academy imprinted on it in bright metallic gold, gave birth to that alluring entity. The Mana stone was the heart of the ship and provided the energy that kept it afloat. ''In simple words, this was majestic.'' "It''s amazing every time I see it. And the engine of that particr one was designed by your amazing dad, Ca." Rein emphasized the word ''dad'' while smirking at Ca and the little anger on her face was clear to us. "Enough! Let''s go in." ''She doesn''t like studies much, even more when ites to her enthusiastic father.'' We all giggled at our big sister and walked into the station building. She loved her dad, but the study part was different. And we knew just how earnestly she worked to avoid the study sessions, so it was natural that regrly seeing her dad in the academy wouldn''t be so good. It wasn''t like she was going to attend any of his sses anyway, so she would be free for most of the time unless he became her ss''s homeroom teacher. ''It would be pretty fun if he did, though. Hehe.'' We entered the magnificent airship station of the imperial capital, which was on par with the best, busiest, and most exciting stations in my former world. Welp, this ce wasn''t some of the best ces of the great empire for nothing. But still, this ce was crowded, and we had to get the tickets for boarding the academy ship ording to the academy rules so¡­ "Alright. Rein, Chry, and I will go to the left one and you three can finish it at the right one. There isn''t a big line, so we should be done in five or so minutes. So let''s meet back here." They nodded and walked away with a normal expression. Zoe was unique, but the two of my good cousins also knew how to hide their emotions quite well. "Alright, let''s go~." Rein raised my hand up in the sky and the three of us stood in the general line for the tickets. Zoe and the two of them were in the special line for the nobles, but because of today''s special circumstances, both lines were simrly crowded. But things were thankfully not chaotic even with this many people and things going on. The staff and managers of this ce must be quite talented to maintain the ce as well as any other day, despite all the diverse people and nobles. ''It''s respectable.'' Things were going great, so we stayed in line, got my and Rein''s tickets with our adventurer IDs, and got out of the line. But then there was a smallmotion¡­ "A-an official knight f-from Heliox?!" The two of us were prettymon in our IDs. But even with his non-noble ID, Chry wasn''t any less than a mid-ranking noble''s child. Heliox was a big name, after all. And an official knight of the Heliox was a greater position than even the actual rank of baron or viscount. "Here. H-have a safe voyage." The people behind him were surprised why a person like him was in the general line, but the receptionist finished her process and gave Chry his ticket as quickly as all of us. They definitely were talented. "Alright. Now that this is done¡­" I looked around to see if the four of them were done, but there were still two young nobles before them. Two of the other people were talking with them, or were at least trying to talk with them. The two at the front were hindering the receptionist, while the two at the back could get more time to ''talk'' with them. It was clear what they were doing and both Ca and the receptionistdy had veins popping up from their foreheads. "They are blind if they don''t see that obvious anger," Rein muttered as she also looked at the bunch. "It''s not that they are blind, but it''s because of the pressure from the superiors. Look there." I pointed to the other side where a middle-aged man in noble clothing was standing, looking at the four boys and our siblings. "Baron Ahole¡­ right. I heard his business was in decline. He sure looks desperate, and that must be his son and probably his friends. Hmm. Assholes." She had a disgusted look as she looked back at them and then moved away her gaze from the filthy bunch. She knew if they continued for more, Ca would really cut their tongues off. The receptionistdy could see it too and seeing unnecessary blood would just increase their workload, so she looked to the other side of the room and a guard nodded at her. Another reason this ce was working so well was because of the good, strong, and scary-looking ogre guards in the armor. They were strong, somewhat intelligent creatures known as human-eating giants who looked scary and were enough to clear out anyone causing a problem like these noble brats. "Ohhh! He''s lifting them, Eon! Hahaha! Oh! Ohhh! He actually lifted five people with two hands! Lol~!" Rein wasughing loudly, and it attracted a good lot of attention. But then they looked at the hrious sight andughed themselves. It was a rare sight that spread a smile on many faces, but the five people being thrown out of the gates were miserable as neither did the older one gain anything, nor the young ones will get the chance to get on the airship this year. It was a great tragedy for them, but they only had themselves to me. ¡­ "Fucking bastards." "There, there." When they came back, my strong big sister had a little headache. Rein found her sulking face cute and hugged her. They looked good together, and it would be alright. She would be fine after a while. It was a good day overall, so even this hot-headed grown-updy wouldn''t actually let a small thing like this get to her. So, with a new spirit, the six of us walked out of the building and towards the grand airship. We stood at the edge of the clearing, and Ca, Alf, Chry, and Zoe''s eyes transfixed the grand airship hovering above us. Their faces were in awe and wonder as they gazed up at the marvelous artifact born from long, continuous efforts of magic engineering. This was amazing. The golden glow of the ship was amazing. The carved enchantments on its body were as realistic as a living being. The Mana crystals that powered the enchantments were all of the highest quality and as we looked at the giant Mana rock, the main power source of the airship floating atop the airship, we couldn''t help but marvel at just how much work, money, resources, and manpower would have needed to create just one of these academy ships. ''And the academy has a total of twelve such grand airships. It naturally lives up to its name as the greatest teaching institute in the world.'' And after the great academy of hope, the second greatest is the secret eastern martial arts sects. But those are far away in this story. Anyway, we boarded the airship and, after some admiration, went into the rooms assigned to us that were written on our tickets. It was mostly random, or it should have been random, but by some strange coincidence, Rein and my rooms were on the second floor while everyone else was on the first one. I knew something was strange from that point, so I tried looking around the whole airship with my third eye. However, the huge airship not only had three floors for amodations but there were also the basement engine room and upper control room floor. The whole ship was also heavily magic based, so the creators probably used every coin of their budget and used spatial expansion to their heart''s desire. But the f-... the good people ended up making thousands of rooms on each floor and even added some extra stuff like pools, buffets, and entertainment rooms. ''Haaa¡­ anyway, it waste anyway.'' By the time Rein and I found out things were weird, the airship had taken off, and not just that, but after a boosted start, the airship met up with other eight ships simr to ours in the high sky and the thought I had before leaving, one of the scenarios I was hoping doesn''te true, was unfolding before our eyes¡­ Chapter 460 Entrance Exam [OP: ] As soon as anyone boarded the airship of the academy, they were immediately requested to go inside the ship. When others inquired about the reason from higher-ups, it was coldly exined that the airship would take off quickly due to the tight schedule, making it challenging for many of them to even stand properly on the deck. All of the people, understanding the difficulties of the employees, did as they were directed and went straight to their rooms or were looking around inside the marvelous ship that had fascinating things all around them. There was good food in the vast dining rooms, and ces to take a good look outside, the rooms everyone got were all the same but they were good enough from even the young noble''s point of view. Eon and others went to their rooms for now while Rein was in Eon''s room when the airship took off. The engine of the enormous airship roared to life and the lower part even trembled at the tremendous force but those inside didn''t feel anything because of the ''good'' materials used in the making of the aircraft. The airship slowly started to ascend into the air, but the passengers weren''t affected by gravity as they would be in a conventional vehicle. The magic''s technological prowess was astounding. As the ship ascended higher and higher, Eon and Rein, Ca and Zoe, Alf and Chry, all looked out the windows in awe at the world below them. The ground grew smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a distant blur. The sky stretched out before them, vast and endless, and the ones feeling this exhrating moment felt a sense of freedom like birds that they had never experienced before. Then, all of a sudden, the ship picked up speed, sending the passengers into an adrenaline rush as they watched the view disappear at an even faster rate. The airship continued to gain speed, and soon they were flying through the clouds. As the airship slowed down after reaching the highest point of their journey, the thing that made Eon doubt the entire setting came to pass¡­ Those looking out of their windows could see one or two but Eon, looking at the whole of the surrounding high sky with his third eye as if the eye of a god, could clearly see the eight airships almost perfectly identical to their ship slowlying together. He knew just from this much that this whole scenario, from the tickets to their separate rooms, the hurried flight, to the cautious employees on the ship, all held a purpose. It wasn''t pleasant but as he watched from above, the ships began to move as one, and even their sails with different color insignias waved in perfect synchronization. The speechless passengers, who had no idea what was going on, felt a sense of awe and wonder as they watched the ships dance through the sky, their movements truly graceful and fluid. But just like Eon, a few other people on these ships also figured out something wasn''t right. From their perspective, their ship was suddenly operating with other ships, and the confusion and shock would be the same for the others. In their eyes, as they looked out of their windows, the other ships were the ones meeting up with their ships. It was strange and only Eon knew the truth of how all these ships were working impably with each other. One naturally couldn''t figure out what was going on until they had some ability to see from above, like Eon or some amazing flying familiars. But few actually had anything like that, so things boiled down to ''something was wrong''. And all who thought that way were right as when all the young adults going to the academy for the entrance exam on these nine ships in total heard the same announcement from a familiar voice, their excited hearts sank, and myriad emotions painted their beings. [ "Hohoho! Wee, young and passionate people! Thanks for showing interest in joining us in this great 3693rd entrance exam~! You might think this is sudden or you have no preparation and even want to curse at me but, the entrance exam you all were looking forward to nevertheless will start in a bit so be prepared~! Hahaha!" ] That was the voice of the person known as the (Perfect being), the headmaster of the great academy of hope, and most, if not all, of them were familiar with his voice. He was called a perfect being, but still, those who had ever attended the academy or even had some rtion with it were all familiar with his crazy nature. Some knew of this, so this announcement reminded them of that fact, but others who only thought of the headmaster as the greatest archmage of the world all had weird expressions when they heard hisst happy and excitedugh. It was weird for some, but Eon, as he set in his room with Rein, knew full well this was his natural behavior. In thesest years, he had known a lot more about this character named Aldrich Merlin. They were close already, so he wasn''t shocked at all. He had recognized the ongoing scenario and the people on the ships were going to be thrown into some illusionary space where they will be judged by the expert councils observing every aspect of every examinee. It was a fact that anyone could join the grand academy of hope if they were qualified. And that was the reason this ticket process only needed the presence of the one wanting to join the academy and their IDs. They even gave the tickets if the reason for someone not having an ID sounded conversing enough, so it all came back to their strength, wisdom, and desire to actually join this institute. And the academy also only needed those who at least had the desire to study in this institute for any reason they have. The goal of the academy was to create capable people who knew about their talent, the world, and about the society they live in. The academy was there to create people who would be helpful to the whole world in some way, be it by aplishing great achievements or by serving healthy food to themon people. The test, regardless of the test location, was always focused on finding the ones who had something the academy can polish or the ones who can bring some change to the academy, their nations, or the world. There sure were rankings in the entrance exam, but it was the secondary thing that counted on unique bases and points of view of the different people in the grading panels. It was easy, though. Most of the people who at least were strong and almost all who could even use the most basic of magic passed the test. It was only normal that Ca, Alf, and Chry would have their names in higher rankings whatever the judging criteria might be, but for Eon and Rein, there was something more concerning to look forward to. [ "Hehe. Hello, new batch of hand-picked elites~. I believe at least some of you might have heard about me from the ''rumors'' but for those who don''t know, I''m your awesome and legen¡ªdary student council president~! I know a bit about you all and am dying to meet you, but for now, the vice president will give you your very first assignment~! Do well everyone. We all are watching~~!" ] Yeah, they had heard about him from the rumors. But the rumors described him as a calm, collected, individual whose origin, though unknown, he was said to have a unique grace to everything he did. Rumors¡­ yeah. They were unreliable. The voice and speech they heard just now from their legen¡ªdary student council precedent was definitely not something that rumors described. "I like that tone. He seems fun." "Right~? The way he said legendary was even more fun. Haha! I will call him legen¡ªdary president~." But Rein and Eon had a higher opinion of this cool-sounding guy than that in-ass person from the rumors. [ "You dumbass. Did you leave your brain at the dorm beforeing here or did dogs eat it? Bastard. They are people headmaster Merlin chose, so they will at least be good enough to pull their weight. The ones from our batch were all a mess at the start, don''t you remember? Those fuckers almost ruined the whole entrance examst time. The hell I suffered to clean you all''s mess still haunts me. Ugh! Fuck. Listen newbies¡­" ] "She''s good," Eon mumbled with a smile as if he found it funny, but Rein had a different opinion than him. "No! I don''t like her! She sounds upright!" She was angry, but only on the surface. Both of them knew they had to do well in this thing. It was only natural that the two of them would perform as good as they can to get the rewards. After all, if there was one of the greatest advantages of being a student council member, then it was surely the reward one gets after any of their assignments. And, the whole great academy of hope worked only on global currencies like the adventurer association''s [M] points, natural resources, and the mag''s wisdom coin , so the rewards they get for even the smallest of the tasks were stunning. The two were unique, and this was their first assignment, so they were excited. And their excitement hiked up when they saw the unexpectedndmass in the sky¡­ "Headmaster Merlin. He is phenomenal." The location for their entrance exam this time was a small floating ind entirely made with magic, something probably only their crazy headmaster could pull off... Chapter 461 The Illusionary Island [Eon''s POV: ] While the vice president was exining the fundamentals of student council to us, I was using my third eye to scan the skies and noticed a bignd mass out in the distance. This seemed odd because there shouldn''t be any sky inds nearby, and certainly not in such a wide-open area. It was peculiar, so I showed it to Rein with our vision sharing. And as we got closer, and it became more visible, the vice president arrived at the crucial part of our task in this examination. [ "Alright. Listen up, newbies. In nearly three minutes from now, every single examinee, including all of you, will be thrown onto the illusionary sky ind. It is a special space headmaster created and will maintain for the three-hour time period of examination, which will be three days on that ind. That space is an illusion, but they are illusions created by our crazy headmaster, so they will be nothing less than the real thing. On that ind, there is every single thing one might encounter on a remote ind, from monsters to treasures. The examinees will have to either survive there for the given time or jump off the ind if they want to forfeit the exams. Now your work, little chicks, will be to save the others if they encounter anything they can''t handle on the part of the ind assigned to you. The fucking realistic illusions can actually hurt them physically and mentally, just that they won''t die. Not even by jumping off the ind. But if someone actually gets hurt in your assigned area, not only will you have to pay the full cost of their recovery, but you will also lose your position and memories of ever being a part of the student council. These positions are no joke even if the headmaster has picked all of you from the countless children for this year, but if you can''t even handle some thousand people, you would be better off being a regr student than doing this horrible work. At the end of the day, the whole student council, including this dumbass and me, are dogs of that crazy headmaster, anyway. Having one or two less would not only be better for the academy''s finances, but it would also be pleasing for many of us to see him lose something he wanted. Alright. You will be thrown out in 30 seconds, so quickly check the envelope on your beds and see your assigned areas. You all already know about the ''being hidden'' rule, so I won''t say much. Do well and try not to screw anything up. I will have you pay with your life if I''m annoyed. Now¡­ piss off." ] And with that, the blue magic screen that had appeared in the hall room turned into the map of the sky ind that I was seeing with my third eye with different numbers marked on it. The map was divided into thirty sections, each being unique from the other, and thirty was the set number of student council members the council can have, so it was easy to guess what the numbers on the map meant. "Be back in a sec!" Rein shouted, used her shadow travel skill, vanished from the room, and reappeared with a red envelope in her hand. I also went in and collected my own red envelope as we checked our assigned locations when only ten seconds were left for the ejection. "We are close!" She shouted when we found out we were around the same central area. And though the whole central area was some of thergest ones, it wasn''t impossible for us to meet up if things were going smoothly in our areas. We both knew we can observe arger area assigned to us with our eyes and our familiars, anyway. She had her crow Branwen, and I had my third eye, but Celes was far better when it came to stuff like this. She can even monitor the whole of the ind with her clones, so we had a pretty good advantage here. It might even be possible to find out who the other council members are with this event, so it was exciting for both of us. And Rein was smiling with a unique smile only I knew right now. "Bet." She said with a smirk and without a second of wait, I asked, "Who gets more points?". She nodded quickly and stated once again, "Three coins." Her face as she said that was full of confidence, but the amount was absurd. "Two, no negotiations. Additional condition, people saved." I was confident in myself, too. But she clearly shook her head. "Declined. No information on the ind." It was a reasonable excuse, so I had to concede this time. She also knew this one wasn''t favorable to her in any way. Things would be far different if they had given us some information about the ind and what kind of dangers there would be. But we had no information so all we could do was go there, see what this ind was, take things in our hands, save the others from getting in danger, kill some monsters and find treasures if we can, and get more points from the exclusive panel that would grade our performance. We knew things would be difficult at the start, but both of us were confident, so we looked into each other''s eyes, nodded, kissed for thest three seconds we had, and as soon as that was done¡­ -Ooooooooooong-Swiiiiish! We felt a sudden jolt and the next thing we knew, we all were hurtling through the air, tumbling head over heels out of the airships with all the other passengers. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡­!" Panic set in the air as the others who had no idea what was going to happen to them, unlike the few of us, struggled to catch even their breath and adjust themselves in the chaos of the moment. As we all fell towards the ground, we saw below a sky ind, a lush oasis floating in the clouds, surrounded by a dense green forest and sandy borders. The dense foliage of the forest looked like a soft, cushiony bed, but the examinees knew that hitting the ground at that speed would be suicidal. And the chaos of falling towards the ground intensified their emotions. But as we all were falling towards this illusory ground, amidst this chaos and scream-filled surroundings, all of us thousands of people suddenly stopped. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ A strange wind had enveloped us and prevented our fall, but that wasn''t all. This strange wind also calmed their minds, helping them think rationally and make decisions. As we continued falling down slowly, the examinees felt like a metal ball sliding down into a viscous liquid. Many people had grasped what was going on, so they used their magic or other skills to quickly go down towards different areas of the forest that seemed fit to them. It was a pretty ssic thing where you are abandoned on a strange ind, so the young people who were familiar with this scenario took the lead and those who didn''t have the appropriate skills just changed their directions with swimming hand movements or something simr. Many people chose to be in the outer area and edge with sand, while many chose to be in different parts of the forest. With the help of this unique wind and some wind magic, I also slowly flew down towards my assigned location in the middle part of the area. The forest was thick, as well as surreal. I knew this ind was made with illusion magic. I knew there was a magic core or circle somewhere, but to think this ce felt as real as an actual forest¡­ "Fascinating." I was in awe of this grand show of magic. Even after understanding how this whole thing could have been created, I was still doubtful if I will ever be able to create something so magical. The leaves had a real texture, the winds carried the same scent of nature that I was familiar with, there were small natural noises around me and it all seemed too real to categorize as a mere illusion. "Archmage¡­ and a wizard''s wizardry, no less." An excited smile overtook my face as I thought about my deal with the headmaster. We were going to teach each other our unique magic spells, so after witnessing this grand spectacle, there was no way I was going to hold back on that offer. It was going to be fun but, for now¡­ "Celes." [[ Yes~! ]] She understood what I was asking for, so some of her clones, already in an invisible state, came out of my hand and spread all across the surrounding area and the ind. We could easily cover the area assigned to us even though it was thergest one, but aside from that, we could practically have this entire ind under our personal surveince. ''Not that there''s anyck of surveince here. They are definitely watching everything right now¡­'' The ind was made with the headmaster''s magic, so it was evident that the surveince they had was far better than our little tricks. I wasn''t ying on the same level as back then anymore. The stage was higher, the rewards were greater, the risks were grander, and the variables to my ns would be a lot more than I might be able to foresee. But one thing was sure, even with the higher stakes¡­ "Let''s get started." I will get what I want. The observers can have their chicken and drinks. The entrance exam was starting for them, and for the ''hand-picked elites'' like us, this was the start of our first assignment. Chapter 462 Spectators In Dark [OP: ] A conversation between people wearing unique hooded clothes was taking ce in a dimly lit room. There were several magical screens before them as they observed the young adults shown on the blue screens that disyed the examinees as well as the elite student council members performing their assigned tasks. There were several opinions about these people and among those myriad opinions, a few strong voices were leading the debates. "He''s the one headmaster keeps talking about isn''t he?" A female voice filled with authority marveled as she watched a young boy on the screen. The boy had ck hair and blue eyes and he walked through the most dangerous area of the illusion forest as easily as taking a stroll in a park. "He''s good." A deep male voice spoke up and thedy looked at him. "Those eyes¡­ he''s familiar with the forest terrain." He analyzed with a small smile that surprised many other people present. "Not just familiar." Then a new young male voice spoke up, baring even more depth than the previous voice. "Skills, magic, and experience might be one thing but from the way he moves through the forest with that unreal finesse, it is as if he has lived in the forest for most of his life." His words sounded convincing to the people watching the wall full of innumerable magic screens. "He''s good. And her too." Then a young female voice spoke up, attracting the gazes of the people present. They looked at the girl who used her familiar crow and the higher-level familiar vision-sharing ability to detect the most dangerous creatures for the group of people in the area and eliminate them before they even encounter them. It could have been negative had she eliminated the creatures without any reason or thinking but she was meticulous, and the people watching her could clearly see it. "She definitely has a special eye skill that''s far better than the conventional appraisal skills. She''s trained in using that scythe by someone almost on the same level as sir Maweth. It''s amazing. But more than that, her bored expression while facing creatures of (Blue) rank, creatures that many examinees might even faint while facing, is definitely cute." "What¡­?!" "The hell?" "I heard she''s engaged with that boy though." Her words earned gasps, curses, and astonishment from all the people present but the girl ignored them. "Aside from these two¡­" She turned her emerald eyes and observed the other screens. "Meh. They are good enough." There were many screens in this room, all showing the prominent individuals on the ind. But the focus of these screens was a few peeps who were termed ''elites''. They were observing the new student council members and if seen from a general point of view, every one of the people seen on the screens was exceptional. There were few who were mages andmanded different elements as finely as the high mages. But they were mostly only (tier-3) or (tier-4) mages so their control over their magic was truly exceptional. Just like them, there were a few swordsmen and weapon-wielders who handled their weapons no worse than experienced seasonal knights. There were assassins who roamed the shadows and darkness while there were also rangers who already held a solid grasp on the surroundings. There were a few who disguised themselves and hid among themon examinees on the sandy outskirts, while some were pretending to be normal examinees like them while maintaining their assigned areas. They all were far better than the hundreds and thousands of normal examinees and still, in the eyes of many of the people in this dark room, they were only good enough to deserve their ranks. Then there were them¡­ "The twelve prodigies of the golden era¡­ I would deny it but they at least deserve that fancy title." She had a light smile but this time, the young boy voice from before had an opinion of his own. "At least give them some praise! Some of them are as good as our council members!" He couldn''t help his admiration as he watched the screen disying these prodigies they were talking about. "The two from Heliox house are especially better than what we predicted." They looked at the youngdy with a blood-stained de, standing alone among the tens of (Yellow) ranked direwolves. She was as calm as a highly experienced knight who has had deep experience with dealing with her opponents. They could tell she was trained far better than perfect from the way she moved, used her de, wildly cut down the monsters, and didn''t even flinch as if considering them lifeforms far lower than her own. She was like a wild beast, a ruler, a predator when she hunted the creatures and the way she used her swords surprised them just as much as her strength. She was good, and so was the youngest mage that even some people present in this dark room praised highly. He was the youngest to reach (tier-4) in the empire''s ''known'' history and the oldies of the elder council favored him a lot among the other mage prodigies. Well, it was mostly because of their greed and his family so they were bastards. Still, he admired his magic and right now, the people here also couldn''t help but admire the unique spells that contained power far higher than their base circles. "She knows how to use her absurd strength perfectly while this fe knows how to use his unique ability and the fundamentals of magic. Their basics are clear, simr to those people, but ''he'' is especially too abnormal to keep as only a normal student. He''s good and I can see why the headmaster praised them so much even with his unique personality." He was ncing between the two of their good student council members and the members of Heliox. He smelled something fishy but that only earned a smile from him. "Hmm?" Then he moved his neck a bit as if he had a sudden itch and the smile on his face deepened. "Right¡­ isn''t he good? I almost didn''t notice that. Hahaha!" He suddenly startedughing while he was looking at the boy with ck hair and blue eyes. Others were confused as they looked at him, but then saw his finger that was pointing towards the ces the boy had passed from the start of the test to right now. It was tiny but a few of them noticed the small paper dolls. They were surprised so they zoomed in on the dolls and their eyes widened in even more surprise. "Aren''t they [Talisman paper dummies]? Where the hell did that boy get a skill like that?!" Some older voices eximed with utter shock behind their voice and many voices after them had simr astonished expression. But the young girl from before moved her emerald eyes around the wall of screens, used the magic crystal before her to change some of the screens, and focused on the paper dolls, their positions, the path they were set on, and when she noticed something¡­ "Damn, that''s quite something." A deep smile appeared on her face and she almost smirked. This expression shocked the others even more, even theughing boy from before, and when they looked at the new bigger screen that was showing the positions of the monsters on that specific part of the ind, their movement patterns, and talisman paper dummies, all stacked on each other¡­ "Hahahaha! I want to meet them right now, lol~! Let''s just call them out and have some fun~!" The boy shouted while most of them just stared at the screen, too shocked to even think what they should say. "That is only possible if he knew about all the monsters, their near unpredictable movement patterns, and the nature of the whole terrain¡­ he figured it all out in a matter of few hours?" The deep male voice from before was also shocked to see the talisman locations that matched exactly with the monster''s movement patterns. "Even while considering the talisman carry low-quality enchantments¡­ which I don''t think is the case after seeing his magic, to think heid them out like that¡­ But what if the students don''t meet the monsters in these locations? He might have predicted the movements of the monsters, their possible intersection points with the students, and the paths of other monsters, but he can''t possibly predict how those examinees would move, right?" The authoritative female voice from before looked around the dark room for a positive answer. But the young girl shook her head despite the other old one''s affirmation. "I think there''s more to things than what meets our eyes. In the first ce, the fact that he pulled out something like this means he already has full grasp on that entire area. He knows the position of every element and individual on thatnd. And it''s not like he just knows it. He fucking has that ton of information memorized. That''s the only way he''s still setting up those dummies while moving masterfully like that. It''s basically absurd but what if he actually has the behavior patterns of all the individuals in that part too? And let''s say the enchantments on those dummies are strong attack spells that can kill the monsters in one hit. He has done it so it''s more than possible that it''s possible. As we know, the one possessing [Talisman paper dummies] can use the dummies at will. He can trigger the spells when the examinees are in danger, if we consider he is able to see them even at that time, then doesn''t that practically mean he already has the whole area 12 under his full control?" A new silence dominated the dark room, everyone including that young,ughing boy fell silent, and most of them didn''t believe what she had just said. It was absurd, theoretically, practically, and verbally. Even they, the special instructors, couldn''t do something like that, so it should practically be impossible for a new student. They didn''t believe it, their rational minds denied it, and they needed proof of the theory the girl had just presented before them. They needed proof and they didn''t have to wait for this ''proof'' for long as a group of examinees on the screen before them were already nearing a point with one of these thin paper dummies. At the same time, a strong (Blue) ranked monster was nearing this group, or more like was naturally walking towards this exact same spot. It was somewhat of an open area and the encounter of this bull and the examinees was going to verify her theory¡­ or not. Maybe they will have to wait for the next group. Chapter 463 Examinees On The Island [OP: ] On the small sky ind, the examinees were thrown down without any care of the consequences. They were nobles and royals of different kingdoms, nations, and empires, but the way those people treated them the same as the other lowlymoners were uneptable! They wanted to sue the academy with all their hearts, but that was only their thoughts for a while. Most of them understood this exam was the real thing, so they had to get good grades and not just pass to enter that academy. They were better than others, after all. The pedigree they had could never even bepared to the many lowly and fake nobles. And they had physical, magical, and financial power too, so they either went into the forest as soon as the wind stopped them,nded on the outskirts to check the whole situation, or started gathering manpower with their connections and resources. Many people teamed up as it wasn''t against the rules and many of them roamed the ind solo. There were things they can get from this ind and they had to find them if they wanted to increase their scores on the exam. So, most of them were in the search of these so-called treasures. And many did find the treasures in the form of either natural resources like rare flowers, fruits, rocks, and herbs or in the form of treasure chests. But, these treasure chests were mostly guarded by strong monsters that many of them couldn''t possibly handle all by themselves. There sure were exceptions like the twelve prodigies and a few raising stars but for even the nobles and royals, the task of handling a creature of (Green) rank or above was something impossible for now. Those who had entered the forest and had run into such powerful creatures were already in a bad situation. And the creatures were nothing less than real so even facing them was a task even many adventurers couldn''t handle. Though, those who actually knew the true powers of the real creatures shown through these lifelike illusions could clearly say that the ones on that ind were nothing close to the real thing. Their test was just to enter the academy, so there was no way they would use the real monsters. But It would be different in the academy exams of course. It was difficult and varied from every higher-ranking ss one took. Anyway, the monsters in the outer part of the jungle were mostly normal, unranked, and (Red) ranked beasts. And it increased as one ventured toward the center of the ind. There were monsters one wouldmonly see if they have seen the quests of any adventurer association quest board. They weremon, and though weak, their appraisal skills were showing them the same data as the stat data of original creatures. It was fine that many of them had the appraisal skills but those who didn''t and had jumped deeper inside the forest were mostly now facing the monsters stronger than they could handle. And even though many battles were going on inside the forest, the people on the outskirts were in a rtively better state. But these outskirts weren''t calm either as there were many people on the ind now, and they had suddenly heard the instructions that all of them will have to survive three days on that ind. Though they said that one can quit anytime by just jumping off the ind and it wouldn''t actually affect their result of whether they would be epted in the academy or not, none has done something like that till now. But they knew they would have to survive¡­ and because of the obvious reasons, their storage devices weren''t working anymore. So all they had would be the food in their storage skill spaces, or the food from the forest before them. It would be difficult for them to just survive here and that was the reason many of them wouldn''t make it past the third day. The psychological pressure, especially for the nobles and royals who have never experienced something like that in their lifetime, was going to be more than the physical one. But still, they were rich people with good skills, so they had enough to sustain for three days. Actually, some had more, so they were ''sharing'' with others on the ind. Many were actually with pure intentions, too. But, as nature''s rule, they were in a higher position, and every action was counted in points, so there were many doing their own business on the outskirts of the ind. Many stronger and more knowledgeable ones even went into the forest, gathered materials, and were selling food to the arrogant, desperate nobles. The whole sandy outskirts of the ind were cheerful. At least better than the deadly forest. It had already driven out many examinees. Many of them were even strong ones. Their battles had been good, too. And some of them might even pass with just that much, but the battles that were the candy of every examination grading panel member were the battles of the twelve prodigies and the raising unknowns. The twelve prodigies. They were the twelve young ones of the golden era, the most potential leading figures of the near future. They all were amazing on their own, but every one of them, for sure, was exceptionally strong. The Ca of Heliox used her des to clear out the enemies, sometimes using many des to defeat a strong foe and gain the treasures. Alfred, the youngest magician to reach a realm that most of the mages work their entire lives but can''t surpass. He was famous, and his exceptional mind was something even the elders praised. His use of his true magic, made with pure magical calctions, was a sight to behold. And it was so strong that not a single monster could withstand more than three of his spells, even though they all were (tier-2) usual spells. The imperial prince udius and princess Isabe of the Roxana empire were also the same, and their strength that carried a unique spark had attracted a lot more attention than predicted. Prince udius was a magic swordsman, and he lived up to his profession as he used the destructive series light attribute magic and his rough swordy. Princess Isabe didn''t even have to lift a finger as she just walked through the forest normally with her strong, rank spirits as they used their powers to defeat even the strong creatures as if it was a simple game. She was the youngest elementalist to have contracted with a fire spirit, but she had a high affinity with fire, water, and wind, so she wished to contract a rank wind, and water spirit, too. But, she had hit her current limit of six basic, three intermediate, and one advanced spirit, which was absurd in itself, as even the normal high elementalist could only ever have six to seven contracts with lower spirits. Maybe her natural talent and high affinity with [Arcana] yed a role, but she sure was amazing. And so was the Xlor the origin me spearman, Drowslotm the Elf magician of green magic, Hide the Wizard of charming water, Mia Knives the Alchemist of silver, Deleon Necrom the Summoner of slimes, Luna Sabestion the Witch of the blizzard, Newtine the magic engineer of the mech, and J Vionna, the harsh critique that possessed a unique origin skill rted topositions. She wasn''t physically strong, so she didn''t kill any monsters that hindered her. She just told them to go y somewhere else¡­ and the creatures, the illusions, actually obeyed her ''request''. They all were fascinating and there were unexpected ones aside from them that caught many eyes on the grading panel. And one of them was now going to face a strong opponent so their eyes were on the screens that showed a part of the inner forest, with a boy with dull ck hair and sandy gold eyes, the new member of Heliox, and the useless prince of Roxana. The two people were being carried around by the strong boy, who defeated all the monsters that came in their paths with such speed that not even the general examination graders were able to understand. But now, his opponent was different. On the screen just beside this one, there appeared a giant red bull with three horns, his body strong and his size frightening. The bull was walking towards the group of three and the boy had already noticed its presence, so he had stopped their march. ¡­ Chry, as he stood in the small open area, had a calm expression as he looked at the front. Zoe and prince Alph also stopped as they had already known something wasing. It didn''t take long but after the small rustling of the bushes, trees would be the better word topare its size, but a strong (Blue) ranked creature (Three horned red bull) was now standing before them, his eyes bloody red as he saw the prince in a red cape before him. It was the trigger stimulus for their kind, so the enraged bull released hot steam of vapor from his nostrils, his whole body glowing up with a red glow that made the entire atmosphere boil. The bull was enraged, his three horns were pointing towards the three of them, and as it took its stance for the attack, Chry called out his EFMW. The shape he molded his formless weapon into was naturally a rapier. And even while facing the bull, he had no evidence of fear, tension, or doubt on his face. -Mooooooooah! The bull, enraged by the trigger color, roared and scratched the ground with his frontal right leg, his ck horn burning with fire as red as his body, and as it happened, Chry was also finished taking his traditional rapier sword stance. But he didn''t need any buildup as the red bull. "[shlight]" He said something in a low voice, but the observers only saw the movements of his lips. "Low output." -ZAP! The bull shot forward and at the same time, a shing yellow light blinded many screens that showed the fight in this particr area. The light was sudden and strange and the next moment when they could see the ce again¡­ the fight had ended. Chapter 464 Astonished Spectators [OP: ] "..." "What¡­?" "What was¡­ that?" "Ohhhhhhh!" The people in the wide room observing the general examinees were either speechless or so surprised by the scene before them that loud cheers just came out of their mouths unintentionally. Chry, Zoe, and prince Alph were on the screen and the giant bull that was standing before them was now on the ground, dead with a hole going straight from his head to the back. The creature was now turning into blue particles and vanishing as the three of them just continued walking forward. The general grading team was surprised but the situation was different in the dark room where they were observing the members of the student council¡­ "Change the angle!" The young sounding female voice shouted as soon as the screens were covered by the sh of light. "It''s the same with every one of them!" The deep male voice replied with astonishment but the young female voice was still focused on them. "Damn it!" She hurriedly sat down on her chair, put her hand on the transparent magic crystal ball before her, put some Mana in it, and manipted a few things. And as she did that, the boy who wasughing with great bliss stopped and looked at the new screen with a new pleased smile. "That''s a rare sight." On this new green screen, they could see what happened when the screens were cked out. And it was slowed down by a great time so it was even easier for them to understand. It was shocking but the bull did move from its ce and initiated his skill [me rush] in which its speed should have been too great to even react for high-ranking adventurers. It was a skill that generally terrorized the adventurers but even though the skill was activated, Chry had released his stance and made a very, very quick thrust just when the bull was airborne. His movement was quick, quick enough to surprise these people who were calling their own student council members only good enough. It was precise too. Too good for any beginner. But the actual stuff was what happened after that. "I have only seen that creature once but I can tell this one''s the same skill as that¡­ just that in a controlled diluted state." The authoritative female voice was calm this time, and there was a hint of nostalgia in it. "But can we control the skill output like that?" A new male voice that had a natural tone expressed their confusion and the boy with beastly ember gold eyes nodded at the gentleman. "It is possible. Difficult to master and needs help from someone who can control the skill magic circle engraved on the physical body but once finished, one canmand a skill as if it''s a part of their body. In the east, people call this process [Formation of individual techniques]. And I can tell the one that boy Chryses used must have been mastered impably~." His praise was rare, even more in matters involving the sword and pure arts. This was surprising for everyone but, the girl who showed them all that, only sighed in exhaustion. "His master, the young master from Heliox, that crazy bastard who vanished with his new fiancee¡­ as I thought, there''s more to him than just the wild rumors." Her strong voice brought everyone back to their main work and topic. They were there to grade the performance of the council members, not the ordinary examinees. So, they looked ahead and focused on their main topic, which was if the paper dummies would work as she had predicted or not. The first group defeated the giant bull and even collected the rare jade grass from among the endless wild grass, earning more points and boosting their scores. Zoe and prince Alph were being carried around by Chry but both of them also needed those points so prince Alph told Chry about the treasures and Zoe enjoyed the free bus ride. She was having fun experiencing all this and from the spectator''s perspective, she really seemed just like an ordinarydy being escorted by a good knight. So that was them. And the moment that the people of the dark room wanted, had manifested on the other side of the ind... A different group of four was now nearing the area intersecting with a (Three tail gori). They watched as the group was ambushed by the huge monkey and this group consisting of a tank, a damage dealer, a mage, and a healer, still couldn''t contend with the illusion of that physically powerful (Blue) ranked creature. They fought bravely, received wounds, fell back, and tried with all their might but they couldn''t defeat the monster that had force so powerful that the ground around them was already in tatters. It was tough, the gori was strong, and its blue fur was metallic and resilient. It had physical skills, as well as magical defense. It was strong, and there was no prodigy or rising star among this good group of examinees. So, at the end when they were pushed to the wall, covered in physical wounds, their whole being aching with pain, and hearts given up¡­ -Ooooooooooooooong! Suddenly, they saw something on a distant tree spark, and the very next moment when the creature was dealing his final blow, he fell. -Thud. It was strange how the creature suddenly fell, even more because there was no new visible wound on his body or anything like that. It just fell, lifeless, cold, and its eyes still open, as if the sudden death was unexpected even for him. It was mysterious and they didn''t get what just happened. But the spectators in the dark room were different. They watched the fight from start to finish from many different angles and one thing they focused on was the paper talisman doll. That thing didn''t react to the happenings and stayed still till the veryst moment, and at the same time, the boy on the other screen had also stopped on a tree branch, his eyes closed, as if he was thinking, or observing something. He didn''t react till things were just right, the group had done everything in their power, had done their best, and had shown almost everything they could. And only when they had given up in true meaning, did the paper doll react and shot a beam of simple Mana, so powerful and thin that neither did it leave any mark after piercing and actually obliterating the creature''s brain from the inside, nor did it make even a hint of sound for them to perceive what had happened. From their, as well as the general grading panel''s perspective, the creature which was already covered in wounds thanks to their genuine efforts, fell down because their excruciating efforts had paid off. As it turned to particles of light, the festive atmosphere the four survivors felt was like the greatest achievement of their lives. They faced a challenge, gave their all, tried everything they could, stayed true to their party members, and fell after trying. They gave up, but their efforts had paid them off. The creature was dead, and they had won the battle. They were victorious, at least in their small world, and in that special moment. For the spectators of dark room who at least knew they weren''t the ones to finish the creature, the whole scenario was absurd. Even more for the group who knew what had actually happened. The spectators in the dark room were shocked that the girl''s theory was correct but even more so over how the boy on the screens did the things that he did. "He just helped them, didn''t he¡­?" The girl''s voice, the one who had proposed how things would y out, was the only thing echoing in this dead-calm room. Not even the cheerfullyughing boy was saying anything and just watched the boy on the screen with a convinced happy smile. "That boy is good¡­ like gooooood-good." The authoritative female voice that had only sounded strict, now seemed very different. "Alright. That''s good enough for me. Full points from my side." The deep male voice that seemed sharp-witted from the start was now saying something absurd like her. The speechless people in the room could also only stare at the four who could react to the happenings. Their tongues had partially left them so they could only stare at things in a daze. It was fascinating for some, absurd for others, confusing for a few, and for the girl and boy looking at the screens, it was something they weren''t expecting today even in their wildest dreams. Things were silent and a moment passed like that. And the voice that broke the tranquil silence was not a voice present in the room. [ "Hahaha~! Isn''t he amazing?" ] It was the headmaster, and they all came to their senses as soon as they heard this unforgettable voice of the person they would love to beat up with their own hands someday. [ "He is good¡­ actually, his partner is just as special as him too. Only that small ind with scattered creatures and weak monsters isn''t her cup of tea. You will definitely see something exciting when the two go into the bonus dungeon though. Khahaha~!" ] He was happy. Genuinely happy. And his words made every one of their eyes widen. "That¡­! Is that why the two¡­?!" With her emerald eyes wide open, she looked back at the screens in shock, finding the words from the headmaster preposterous. "Ohhh! That''s why they were running towards each other! Damn, I love them already~! Hahaha!" They all were now in a new chaos that came totally out of the blue. But the words of the headmaster happily continued. [ "The two are special. More than you all think~. Hmm¡­ right. They will reach that point in a bit. Watch closely everyone~. Another fun thing ising~." ] The voice vanished after that and the spectators looked back at the screen. It was almost an hour since the exam started so the sun was setting over there. It would soon be night and the two of them who were running towards each other from the start of the exam were soon going to meet. But before that would be the shadow doppelganger zone. They will face each other sooner and it would sure be fun to see how they deal with them but none, not a single one of them, had thought things would y out like¡­ this? Chapter 465 Night On The Island [OP: ] As the illusory sun on the ind continued falling towards the sharp horizon, the sky ind was bathed in a bright golden orange, the trees turning a shy gold, and the ind turning into a fantastical piece of natural beauty. The examinees on the ind were mostly returning back to the sandy outskirts, their mood either cheerful after their victories or gloomy after their miserable losses. But all of them were at least fine, and there were no great problems. The outskirts were getting crowded with more people and there was a bloom in the business of those who had worked for the whole day to set up their unique stalls. The creatures of the ind would disappear in the particles of blue light but that wasn''t the story of the normal and weak (Red) ranked edible beasts. They stayed in their normal form and those who were experienced enough could work on their bodies, creating a good meal from their meat and the forest vegetables and herbs. So the outskirts were cheerful but there were still battles ongoing inside the dense forest. Some examinees were doing their best to get what they could while some were setting up camping sites inside the forest, in a simple open area that the creatures didn''t approach. Some continued roaming in the search of unique treasures and the student council continued what they were meant to. And though they were student council members, the treasures were also meant for them. At least the natural ones were meant for anyone who could recognize and find them, so the student council was actually the one that monopolized most of the unique, small but rare treasures. Eon and Rein had also collected many things, earning more individual points than many of their colleagues. But their main objective of meeting with each other has remained the same. They were walking in the same direction, their meeting point most probably being inside the area assigned to her. And they could already talk through Celes''s connection, so they were having some unique fun of their own. Eon had a deep smile as he moved through the forest while jumping from one tree branch to another, his blue eyes and dark ck hair shining in the light of twilight. [[ "Ok so, as I was saying, there was this group of four, cute with all their good heart and strong performance, and they actually almost defeated the big monkey. It was so cute when they all cheered up like that~." ]] He was talking about a while back when he sneakily killed the strong enemy and helped the group of examiners. And at some distance away from him, Rein had a frown on her still pretty face, her long brown hair seeming normal but strangely attractive, and her ck eyes carrying a charm of their own. [[ "You bastard. You stopped for that shitty thing? We could have been together already if you hadn''t stopped." ]] Eon was moving by jumping on trees while Rein just ran on the ground, using her EFMW scythe to cut down the bushes in her path. The special weapon she obtained from the tomb had grown up a lot with her in these years. It was now her personal primary weapon. But still, she sometimes felt something was missing. Anyway, the ancient weapon was strong and the two of them were close. [[ "Need I remind you who stopped to observe the (Red blood wolves)?" ]] He had a smile on his face as he said that. And even Celes was giggling at this fact. [[ "They are cute, ok! Their whole family was eating their lunch and the little cubs looked adorable!" ]] She had an angry expression. A cute angry expression from his point of view. [[ "Yeah sure. Their nine eyes, those mouths full of rows of teeth, their long furless tails, and those hobgoblins they were feasting on surely looked adorable. Especially how they first chopped them, drained their blood, and only then left their bodies to rot. That was cutest right?" ]] What he said wasn''t traditionally cute in any way, but for this particr girl, the weirdest stuff was the definition of cool. [[ "Yes~! Those things and their cute eyes that all blink at once~. They are adorable! Let''s have a few of them when we finish our first home~." ]] They were rare (Blue) ranked creaturesmonly known as (Vampire wolves). They were only found in rare ces with a dense aura of death, mostly in graveyards. They were a rare kind and some of the very strong ones. There was no way to tame them normally but theoretically, it wasn''t impossible. So he could only shake his head with a helpless smile. [[ "Sure¡­ we can try that." ]] [[ "Yeiii~!" ]] She was an adult, a strong worrier, a bloodthirsty scythesman, a near impossibledy to fathom and at the end of the day, for those who knew her closely, she was also one of the young children of their house. A forever child at the heart. However unique, this side of her was cute to him¡­ and they were here. Spectators in the dark attentively watched as Eon stood in an open area, bushes rustling before him. Rein also cut down the bushes before her and the two of them saw them standing before each other. Rein walked out of the bushes and Eon was standing before Rein. The two of them saw them and smiled warmly. It was a genuine, warm smile. And then, Eon lifted his hand, and waved at the Rein before him. Rein also nodded at the Eon and took a little breath. Then, with his palm closing, Eon pointed his smooth-strong index finger at her. Rein also loosened her grip on her sharp scythe and took a step towards him. A red-orange magic circle materialized on his fingertip as a red beam shot towards the Rein before him. Rein had also taken her step but the next moment, she was on the other side, behind the Eon before her. The red beam of light pierced her forehead as she fell to the ground, her eyes still wide open, the warm smile still on her face, with the big hole in her head. Rein walked away as Eon''s body fell to the ground, his head flying in the air, blood gushing out of the headless body, staining the smooth natural soil. Eon also jumped on the tree before him and started moving forward while Rein sighed a little, retracted the EFMW scythe inside her, and started running on the innd, the smile on her pretty face still there. [[ "Ah, so where was I?" ]] She asked with a little confused look and Eon smiled, shaking his head again. [[ "We were talking about the puppies" ]] [[ "Right~! Let''s have a lot of different pets~!" ]] [[ "O'' ma''am? Who will take care of those ''many'' pets?" ]] [[ "We have Mave~!" ]] She giggled and passed through thest bushes, reaching their pre-decided open area. "Yes, we do have Mave but show mercy to that little furball. She will already have many to take care of and now you want to put the burden of ''a lot of different pets'' on that cute round soul?" Eon jumped down from the tree while saying that and first came to her, hugged her, she hugged him back, they kissed for a few seconds, and looked back at each other. "She can handle a few hundred more. I know she will love all of them anyway so I believe her~." He could only look at her with a bitter smile and shake his head at this grown-up witch of his. The sun was already set and the light was getting dimmer with each passing cloud in the sky. It was a nice ce so they were going to rest there for a while and then continue on their n. They were finally together on this ind and their official work was already taken care of for their assigned areas. The two were free now¡­ but their actions from a while ago had made the dark room with spectators silent once again. And this time, the silence was thick. ¡­ Nobody uttered a single word, the sounds of the flickering magic screens the only thing dominating the spacious room. The girl with emerald eyes stared at the screen, her eyes fixated on the girl on the screen, and the smile on her face was the only thing on her mind. The boy with beastly golden eyes was smiling widely, the ends of his grin touching his ears on both ends of his face, and the tickling sensation from his partner making the smirk deeper and deeper. The man with a deep voice was stunned at how the two of them killed a perfect imitation of their partners like it was nothing, not even showing any signs of anxiety after the ineffable deed. Thedy with an authoritative voice could only stare at the other screen that was repeatedly ying the moment when the two of them killed the (Perfect doppelgangers), the unique monsters that were infamous for their impable disguise as if it was nothing more than cutting a mere worthless creature. What they did just now wasn''t just surprising, it was straight-out absurd. So¡­ the room continued its deep silence. And on the screen, Rein and Eon were finishing up the preparation for their ind night camp. Chapter 466 Someone New [Eon''s POV: ] "Here." "Thanks." As we sat in this good open area, with this familiar atmosphere of the night in a forest and the bonfire burning bright before us, the lights of the night sky beautified this disguised witch of mine. "Hmm~. Good, good. This all could have been perfect if it wasn''t on this illusionary ind like this, or even maybe if it wasn''t [1:12] in the afternoon." "Well, yeah. We should do a night camping on the real sky ind someday." "But there''s no forest there¡­" She sighed sadly, and I could only smile bitterly at her factual words. "Maybe we can create a little forest around our house there?" She looked at me with an interested gaze, thought about it for a while, then nodded vigorously. "Yes~! But let''s do that as soon as we go to check the ce!" She was excited, and that happy smile was better than her sad look from a moment ago. Rein¡­ she perceived the flow of time as a normal human. And that abnormality continued even in this perfectly created illusionary space. The grand magic affected every single person on the ind, including the two of us. But just as these illusions couldn''t convince me that this wasn''t reality, they also couldn''t affect her perfect inner clock. "Alright. We can do that." This open area was good, the fire was fine; the coffee was wonderful, and there were people watching us, but it was still a good time. From her perspective, it would still be a few hours when we finished this, and this whole ce would still be an illusion from my perspective, so we had to get what we can with these advantages. "Hmm¡­ so, there''s a dungeon here? I didn''t see one though?" She had an interested look on her face, and that excited smirk only meant she was looking forward to killing some real stuff. "Yup. And I want the core that makes this whole illusionary ind from there." "UwU¡­ so that''s why you were excited~." Magic of a grand scale like this either would need a constant great input of energy or a medium through which they can constantly convert the environmental energy to power the magic circle, or a core that can sustain the magic for a certain period. "This ind specifically stands because of a condensed materialized Mana core with the headmaster''s unique illusion magic circle. It''s the most valuable stuff on this ind, so we have to have it, right?" There was an excited smile on my face, and she also smirked at this smile of mine. "Are there monsters? Like, the real string ones?" she had some expectations as she asked that, her eyes shining in the orange light of the bonfire. "Yup. There are strong monsters. There are also so many that you can go wild." "Yes~! Let''s go there asap!" She was so overjoyed that she finished her cup of sweet coffee in one gulp and stood up. Only to see me still sitting down. "Sit down and rx, girl. We can''t just steal the core when the exam is still ongoing. And I don''t think the headmaster is here himself, anyway. We will go there when it''s thest day of their exam. They will also have fun with our good show~." I looked to the other side and smiled warmly. The fun president and vice president should be there too. Anyway¡­ "Tsk. What would we even do for the time being, then?" She asked with a sad expression and sat down next to me. "How about watching others like them? Let''s see if there''s anyone good enough to have." My suggestion was natural, and she thought about this for another moment, thinking if she should reject me and suggest something like just staying here and talking, or epting what I said. Then she shook her head and nodded at me, realizing why I didn''t suggest the thing that she was thinking. "Well, they could only watch anyway. But, fine. Let''s see if there''s anyone fun. Also, show me the list of creatures on the ind. Lemme see if there''s another one like those cute puppies~." She grabbed my hand and kissed my cheeks. Then looked to the other side where I was looking a while back and stuck out her tongue at the tree. ''She''s a child. An old-'' -Smack! "You were thinking something like the good word ''old''? Hmm, darling?" She smacked my back this time. Still, it was the same strong force that made my stomach hurt every time. "I was thinking how cute and childlike you are sometimes. That smack was unnecessary!" She scanned me with narrow eyes, and that suspicious look was sometimes scary. Attractive too, actually. Thankfully, she just nodded this time and forgave this little thing. "Fine¡­ let''s see." Closing her eyes with little puffed cheeks, she rested her head on my shoulder. [[ Sister Elle seems happy~. ]] [[ "Of course she is. This whole day-night confusion and contradicting sensory inputs would naturally be tiring and on top of that, the creatures on the ind are a little too nerfed. The news that there are ''many'' actual ''strong'' creatures here was too good for her." ]] "Wrong channel Celes¡­" [[ "Celes?!" ]] It was in no way a mistake! [[ Hehehe~. It''s alright master~. ]] [[ "Just show us the most interesting one you found already!" ]] "Don''t shout at her." [[ "Why is the line still connected?! Celes¡­?" ]] [[ Hehe. Yes, yes~. Let''s goooooo~. ]] She was being a little too yful today, but thankfully, the dark view before my closed eyes finally vanished and I saw the view of the outskirts of the sky ind. [[ "Which one?" ]] Rein excitedly asked as she saw this view with our vision sharing. We were seeing the outskirts and there were many people there. Most of them were nobles of different nations, so we can practically call this whole ce the noble''s zone. And there were many people here, so it was difficult for us to guess who she was talking about. [[ The one with light blond hair. She has a strong soul, but she''s too weak. It''s interesting~! ]] There were many people, manydies, with blond hair, but when we say blond, there''s a certain dark color in our mind. My hair was more on the gold side and mom''s were purely blond like grandpa but this light blond was more light and soft so we could distinguish the ''light'' one from those hundreds of people. [[ "She''s talking about her, right?" ]] Rein also found her and we looked at the girl Celes found the most interesting. She was wearing normal clothing and selling food to the nobles for an absurd price. But they were buying her food, which looked like fried spicy chicken, even with a guilty frown. It was a perfectly made thing from what I can say, from the color, their expression, the ingredients, and the methods she was using. It was interesting. And what Celes said was also exciting. [[ "She looks normal. Hmm¡­ is she something other than a human? A higher species, probably?" ]] Rein''s deductions were pretty impressive. There were only a few ways where a person would have a stronger soul than their physical body. ''And it''s not like all of them are good things.'' Someone can have a stronger soul in cases like they are from a mixed bloodline of humans and a higher power, like high elves or great dwarves, witches and wizards who are very strong or have achieved divinity, fairies or probably spirits. Maybe even giant half-bloods, but there have only been a handful of such cases. So if the other gic part is more dominant, there''s a chance that it somehow affects just the soul, but it ultimately results in problematic situations where the person would only die. It''s called the true [Soul oddity]. It is a very, very, very rare phenomenon that can be exined by thew of perpetual transmutation of energy. Anyway, aside from this, a soul can also be stronger if the person is a blessed being, but if that were the case, they would also be physically more powerful. In other cases, they might be an anomaly like us, but then they would have a totally different reason for a stronger soul. ''Andstly, if a person is like me, someone with a unique trait to handle all energies and is specially trained in soul maniption, they might also have a stronger soul than their body.'' Well, it sure was interesting so¡­ [[ "What''s her name Celes?" ]] [[ She introduced herself as Savior~. Hehe. But from what I observed until now, it looks like she is an orphan and has grown up in the kingdom of Manisa. ]] [[ "Good work, partner." ]] [[ "Yeah, yeah. Do it quickly." ]] she seemed impatient after I didn''t answer her questions from before. It was normal, though. ''Three eyes.'' My third eye could hover above this ind and look below at things from the sky like birds. It was easier to move it to a particr person or object that way and use the appraisal on them. I had checked a few people here, but none were impressive. It was also exciting for me now that Celes was saying this particr normal-looking girl was the most impressive from her point of view. We were mostly free for now and this thing was exciting, so we looked forward to seeing what this unique girl was but¡­ [[ *Using skill: [Three Eyes] on a unique being with natural high mental defense. The nature of the target is uncertain. Halting danger rating calctions. Starting the understanding of the unique mental defense. ... The defense is further enhanced by aplex mental barrier. Processing both as a unit. Processing... The ability is a special gift, and the energy used to maintain it is unique. Understanding the energy. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Matchplete. Gift understanding in progress. ... Gift understandingpete. Mental defense understanding is in progress. ... ... Defense breached sessfully! A low-grade (Holevil) mental defense has been breached sessfully~. Intelligence increased by 3.* ]] An unbearable scream of pure agony escaped my blood-covered mouth¡­ This wasn''t something any of us were expecting. At least definitely not how Lucy continued processing the information for a damn three minutes, even though it made my entire brain feel as if it was being fried! This was the first time something so insane had ever happened to me, and also the thing that happened after that. [[ *Someone from the deeper hell has perceived your presence¡­! Activating the first defense mechanism!* ]] "Caugh! Ahem-caught! Haaaa! Haaa!" I coughed up more blood and at the same time, it felt like my entire body was being frozen in ice. But the burning headache still persisted and this sudden unnatural and absurd thing even shook the ever-strong Rein. "Eon¡­!?" Chapter 467 The Half-Angel [OP: ] The two of them were just sitting down before the bonfire, their hands held, her head resting on his shoulder. It was a good and calm ce, strangely devoid of any monsters, but it was nice. The two of them were just sitting there, or so it seemed to the observers of the dark room. Everything was fine¡­ until she suddenly released his hand and stood up, chaotic and face covered with grave fear. ''They'' could see she was genuinely shocked and tense right now, but then¡­ everything vanished. The screens that showed the two of them and their surrounding area nked out, throwing the people of the dark room into chaos. From their perspective, something like this shouldn''t be possible¡­ but it was good that they weren''t looking at the things happening inside there. Eon, as soon as Rein finished setting up the unique barrier, jerked his body up and coughed a mouthful of hot red blood. Immediately after that, he screamed so loudly that his voice shook the closed surroundings and, even she was seeing him like that for the first time, putting her mind in an even more difficult situation. Celes, the big glowing crystal butterfly, came out of her mark as even she didn''t know what she should do. She had just pointed out the most interesting person he had asked of her, but now, because of her, he was¡­ She was in utter disarray, but Rein was rtively calm. She knew this was one of their most urgent, most unexpected situations where she had to remain calm rather than get messed up and fuck the situation. So she was calm, and from the looks of things, she quickly concluded that he was feeling the aftereffects of using his special appraisal skill. She had seen simr situations before, but this time, things were just far more severe than even the time they faced the demon viscount. She remembered what things she must do in emergency situations like this, so she hurriedly took out three potion bottles and supported her screaming fiance. He was screaming in pain unlike ever before and she couldn''t help but feel chaotic, but he needed her at this moment, so she couldn''t lose herself. Holding him by his shoulders, she first used her magic to remove his shirt. Then, when he stopped screaming and started coughing up more blood, this time far colder than the previous one, she held him with one hand, took out a thick, ocean-blue liquid from a weird vial, and rubbed it on his back and chest. The blue liquid glowed as soon as it touched his skin and melted into his body, helping his coughing to calm down. Then, opening another vial with the mind-healing tears, the golden liquid, she poured a few drops into his mouth as he heavily gasped for air. His body was returning to its normal state, but his mind was still suffering from severe burning pain. Thankfully, the few drops helped him with that. But she could feel this wasn''t enough, so she poured thest vial of red potion into his mouth, not even caring for the part that just fell down. He was the most important right now, and she couldn''t lose herself till he was perfectly fine. So, she did what she could. Helped him in the time that the potions were showing their full effect. And stayed by him. She even reassured and calmed the big butterfly that could also feel her master''s pain and was releasing a pressure that was enough to even crush someone like her. But Rein managed to calm her down, and after a while¡­ Eon also came to his senses. "Haaa¡­ haaa¡­ thanks, Rein." He fell down to the ground and took calm, deep breaths as he looked up at the sky, some clean drops of blood sliding down his eyes. [[ Masterrrrrrrrrr! Masterrrrrrrrrr! ]] Celes flew down and set on his body that rested on the blood-covered ground, signs of the earth cracking because of her just a few steps beside them. "I''m¡­ haaa¡­ alright, Celes." The big butterfly was crying, and the big girl who had been brave for that long, eternal moment, was also staring down at him with tears gathering up at the ends of her eyes. "Bastard¡­" Her legs gave up as she fell beside him, embracing him as a steam of uncontroble tears flowed down her pretty eyes. "I''m sorry. Really¡­" He caressed her head with his gentle hand and looked around the mess that happened in those few minutes he was feeling the aftereffects of his unwanted actions. And the reason for all that, his unique origin skill, couldn''t help but feel ashamed at this moment. [[ *I have no words for my mistake master¡­* ]] "Haaa¡­" He sighed, and first focused on the two cryingdies before him. He was familiar with pain, one far greater than what he had felt right now. This was the most severe in a long time too, but death would still be the most painful from his perspective. He was now fine though, and he, though with difficulty, had seeded with glimpsing at the status window of the unique girl that had onlye off as a normal person at first sight. And although he saw that screen just for a moment, that moment was more than enough for his exceptional eyes and brain. The guardian of that girl was too strong. So strong that he reinforced the mental protection of the girl as soon as he sensed that brief breach in the defense. Eon knew it would have been far better to use analysis instead of this dangerous direct appraisal. He wasn''t expecting something like this, and probably that very fact led to this unforeseen oue. Still, he got to see something new and amazing. He had just found out the new greatness of his special gift from his master. And this much was worth the new smile on his face after going through that hellish experience. ''It''s all fine now, but tell me, Lucy. Why did you continue the process even though it was too much for my body? Why didn''t you stop the process even though you knew it was too much?'' He was looking up, Celes and Rein were starting to calm down, and the gray clouds of the night sky were continuing their travel. [[ *This was a special case master. As soon as you used your skill, the eyes, as always, started digging into the mental forts of the target mind. I was analyzing the information normally, but then I suddenly found some weird structures in their mental defenses. I knew at that very moment that things were different from what we thought and that mental defenses shouldn''t be examined by this conventional means. However, the moment I was going to cancel the entire process, the weird structures of the target''s mental defenses started to fight back, the core even trying to reverse search the intruding factors. It would have been dangerous had we pulled back and the other side continued their attack, so I had no choice but to continue the offensive. The opponent was tough, and though simr to the great skill [Solodinel] in some ways, different from their defensive priorities, this one seemed more aggressive. It was a unique creation of holy and demonic knowledge, a product born from a fallen, a gift given to his abnormal descendent, and something that I promise will never harm you ever again.* ]] Her voice seemed confident, and Eon understood the situation from her words. She was trying to protect him as always, so she had nothing to apologize for in the first ce. [[ *That child is special, master. She herself doesn''t know of her abilities and from what we saw, it seemed like the gift of that being was not only restricting her true growth, but it also served as a link that allowed that being to interfere with this world. This could be dangerous for not only us but for the entire world, master. That being¡­ we don''t know anything about it, but I didn''t feel the ''good'' or evil side of it in that brief moment.* ]] She stopped talking after that, and Eon looked at the now-calm Rein. Celes was still crying hurricanes though. "Sorry, and thanks. You did great." He kissed her forehead and cleaned thest drops of tears from the ends of her eyes. "Don''t¡­ do that again." She requested with a genuinely sad expression. And he nodded with a bitter smile. "I will try." Tapping his forehead with hers, he finally sighed with relief. He knew she had suffered, but she did great and that was amazing on its own. "Perhaps we found the healer, Rein. It would be tough to free her, train, and get ready for the big things, though." He smiled at his beautiful fiancee, and she looked at him with a confused look. She did understand the context of what he said, but she couldn''t understand how this fucking bitch that hurt her husband could be one of the core members of their super special, super amazing, family-like team. Then he showed her the screen he saw in that brief moment¡­ ===Status=== Name: Lizzy Race: Half-angel (Descendant of a fallen) Age: 16 Strength: 78 Dexterity: 81 Stamina: 78 Magic Power: 108 Holevil: 45 Intelligence: 148 Luck: 135 Charm: 67 [Skill: Light of halo, Crown of light, Domination of original glory, Magic contemtion, Light arrows, Blink, Cooking knowledge, Item box.] [Origin Skill: Heaven-hell integration: Basic mastery. -Grace to Radix (Stage-1) ] [Samael''s protection: Immunity] [Blessing of hell ruler] [Blessing of the fallen] ¡­ ============ "Well¡­ damn." She was shocked, and one name on this screen made her angry and confused at the same time. He understood that, so he grabbed her hand tighter and looked up at the starry sky. "Wanna hear a bad story?" He asked in a low tone and caressed the big butterfly who had finally stopped crying. Rein was already filled with a number of different emotions as she saw the screen before her, but she nodded at him with confidence. This small hectic episode had been difficult for both of them, all of them actually, and they had free time anyway so even a bad story would be fun. So¡­ he smiled, and started a story that involved this unique character, a true angel that fell from grace, and became a ruler that dominated the sixth hell. In their times though, this unique character was known by its different name famous throughout the world: the ninth demon king, master of death, Satanel. Chapter 468 First Story Of Genesis [OP: ] It isrgely debated in the current era but there are three theories about the [[( Beginning )]] of everything. One of those stories starts with the eternal empty space, the great [[( Void )]]. There are people who believe that there was nothing at the start, nothing. Well, it''s just a theory so they can think what they want. But a great philosopher has quoted, "Nothing cannot exist. Because to speak of something is to speak of something that exists". So, believing that the great [[( Void )]] was the only thing that existed at the start for a time unknown is the core of this theory. It has many holes, but it is what it is. So, at the start, there was nothing but this void, and after countless eons of amalgamation between the identical elements of this void, the very first anomaly urred in that perfectly synchronized system, probably because of the perpetually happening transmutation of [[( Origin true energy )]]. It''s the origin of all energy and matter so you can understand it as that supernatural thing that things are born from. This ident was the craziest thing ever and after this¡­ an explosion so great it changed everything, took ce in this [[( Void )]]. An explosion simr to the big bang. ''Something'' came into existence. And this thing, this very first conscious existence that came into being, was what we call ''nature''. The first existence came and seeing from a different point of view, this something that appeared in this nothing would naturally be ''everything'', right? The [[( Void )]] wasn''t the only thing there anymore, and different from nature, it was just a process, a perpetual process that was disturbed and had be chaotic. In simple words that we all can understand, the [[( Void )]] was everything and then nature came, so there was only the [[( Void )]] and nature. They were everything. But that good boy [[( Void )]] continued its process and was sucking in everything that was born as a result of the st. Things that make ''this world'' came into existence after that explosion, but because of the chaotic energies, many things were bing part of the [[( Void )]] once again. Nature grasped the situation, took control of the daddy Voidy that had lost most of its power after the st, harnessed the power eternallying from it, and sealed this great Voidy. Welp, end of the problem? One would think obviously, but no. That''s when the things started getting interesting. Now the sole existence, the nature with ultimate power, who was conscious that she was the only thing left and what was going on, was left alone with nothing to do. She had no knowledge of what to do or what to think. There was no concept of knowledge or set concepts to begin with, so she literally had nothing to do. Left alone in the eternal space with nothing to do, she just existed and observed everything around her. Observing the happenings, she spent an ineffable amount of time, found the reasons, developed the understanding, understood thews and ''truths'' that existed from the moment she came into being, and learned from her own questions and experiments. From our human point of view, it would seem like a normal thing but just try thinking about it from a godly point of view. You are everything, so you are omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. You are everything and you can do anything. Creating and destroying worlds would be small, but you were the world itself. Saying you are everything is deeper than being an author, you know? Armed with the eternal origin power from the Void, the existence that we call nature, began the creation of everything. You can''t destroy, so creating something and letting that something create things so that you can watch and have fun should be the obvious thing¡­ even from a reader''s point of view. So she started with a domain that only housed her and the voidy which was in the form of ''a giant unnatural shape, chained by the strings of her ethereal hair'' from the point of view of the good people of today. Then she created the [[( Reality )]], different origins thatter produced different unique energies, the actual concept of [[( Time )]], gave birth to other known concepts and realms, and all these things were created in the very outeryer of herself, in the outeryer of nature. She was everything, after all. The creations would naturally be a part of her. So inside this colossal foil of true reality, she created her first avatar, and that avatar became what we call the [[(< Creator >)]]. The avatar was the personification of her will and after her, nature created the great [[(< Mid >)]] that was the center of everything, and there, nature established her second avatar, the one we call [[(< Overseer >)]]. Both of these avatars are now called the representative of the world, but no one had ever seen or known much about either of them, aside from the famous unreal characteristics, of course. Anyway, when the creation of overseer wasplete, nature created different bubbles of [[< Reality >]] that held a unique separate but interconnected set of rules,ws, space, time, and limitations that was true to its own concept. Inside these bubbles, after an empty area forter pass time that we call outer space, she created a gigantic cosmic structure that is what we know as the observable universe. She sure was cool, no? Then, when these basic foundations wereplete, she made the , the editors of the universes, and through her first avatar, she begin experimenting with creation in the previously left outer space. The earliest creations that came into being at this time, the prototypes for the actual first progenitors, are what are now known as the creatures of outer space and divine beasts. The first avatar learned a great lot from their experiments and then, when the time came, it created the very first men, elves, dwarves, demons, angels, witches, wizards, spirits, and giants. These initial beings that came into the world were the originators and all of them were the supreme races and their descendants are the beings of today¡­ all the beings in the world. From the time of their birth till a certain incident is of [Unknown history], to the beings of today, the known history starts from that ''certain'' point, and everything happening to the day is included in this [Known history]. The progenitors gave birth to their descendants and all of them, except the descendants of demons, live in the heavenly realm. Demons were created as the opposing party for all other natural elements. Their purpose in life itself was to go against the natural elements and destroy them. They were great in numbers from the start too, and thister became aplicated matter. Their numbers grew so out of control that the progenitor of demons, the sole demonic existence still residing in the heavenly realm, the demon god, had to request a separate realm for the demons. Call it whatever you like, but he was an amazing figure to actually request for something from their creator. Others only thought of what they had as everything there could be. It was a great turning point in this mythology as when the creation of hell was going on, the other progenitors, dear jealous bastards, also demanded a separatend for their kind. They all were always against this being who was the sole progenitor of the damn demons. And this incident must have only fanned the mes. And that was when the first bricks of the middle world, the earth, and the maind where most of the natural elements possessing creatures reside wereid down¡­ yeah. The same jealousy plot. Hell and earth were created. A separate realm was given to the spirits, as most of the descendants couldn''t handle their simple presence. Racial disputes naturally arose because the discrimination between racial power and characteristics was evident even at that time, and with that¡­ all the races were separated. Demons continued their genuine work and invaded thends of the descendants, plundering their resources and killing their children. The numbers of demons were the greatest and wherever they went, they increased their numbers even more. Wars were waged and in these wars¡­ more time passed. The descendants grew distant from their predecessors and grew weaker with each generation. At one point, they even forgot the originators entirely, and this angered these forefathers. They incurred their divine wrath and lost a great lot of their knowledge and wisdom. But doing the same as others was a mistake from one side as the ''humans'' only had their superior wisdom, adaptability, and unique will to stand against the demons in the wars and, they took away that small advantage these physically and magically weak beings had. Ultimately ruining the [[(< Great bnce >)]]. This was a mistake from those dumb bastards, and their mistake almost led to the extinction of humankind. They at least had good eyes and mind to see and understand the situation and regretted their decision, but¡­ they also couldn''t undo what they had done, so they begged to a being on par with them to help clean up their mess. Dragons, that''s what people of today call them, and the one that the human progenitors pleaded to was the strongest of that time. But the supreme creature refused, finding them foolish and unworthy of its attention. Nheless, the humans were dying, and they had to do something aside from what they were already doing. And, by the wind of fortune, in this time, the second avatar of nature, the overseer who foresaw a great disturbance ahead of them, also asked all the divine beings for help. It was annoying, not only for the dragon but also for most of the beings that already had their hands full with their good lives or the ongoing mess that resulted from their stupidity. Angels straight out refused the help, as they were busy dealing with the demons. Their existence was based on the protection and maintenance of nature, so they always considered the demons their archenemies. Many were like them, but the dragon had to listen to the avatar''s request, and so he gave the knowledge of magic, weapons, and runes to humankind once again. Many other beings did the same and helped humankind as well as the other descendants and seeded in regaining the great bnce. One of the helpers among them was a young angel who, by its calling, was only doing its work of punishing the sinners. Once upon a time in the era of great decline, this angel was doing its work of punishing the evil in the middlends but it ended up helping a normal human female, andter he was thanked by the human progenitors as his help ended up being very crucial to the restoration of their kind. But things took a weird turn when the demons who were driven out of the middlend were somehow able to return back to heaven and wreak havoc. The destruction was great and the pride and code of other angels and their progenitor was hurt by the devastating results of war, and even though it was a misunderstanding, the young angel was used of some ineffable transgressions that he had not evenmitted. He was judged guilty and was outcasted from heaven, just like the angels who embraced the dark side and were banished like this young one, but unlike those true evil and sinners, he hadmitted no crime to deserve such absurd and ruthless punishment. He had a family, and even they were blocked by those outrageous beings who called themselves noble warriors of nature. He must have cried and begged and pleaded to the others, to the human progenitors who praised them, but no one helped him. No one aside from one. And that one wasn''t someone he was ever expecting. He was an angel and demons were their enemies but, only the demon god extended his hand to him when he had no one to rely on or ce to go. He sheltered him, gave him a ce to live, and asked for nothing in return. He was benevolent, and kind, andpared to those bastards and bitches, he was someone worthy of his title as a God, as a being that was the progenitor of a kind that terrorized the entire world and all races from their sheer numbers. He epted his grace and the false fallenhood that he had done no crime to deserve. He became the demon God''s subordinate, and even with that, he continued following his calling and punishing the evil. He was despised by the descendants before because he took the lives of their people but after he fell from the grace, he was portrayed as a true demon, a devil who seduced the humans into sin or falsehood, and a fallen who was one of the worst demon kings. He ruled over demons even though he was no demon. He was an angel, but the world mostly forgot that fact. He was the angel of death who took the lives and not the Satanel that terrorized the natural beings with just his name. He wasn''t a demon, he wasn''t an angel after his banishment, and he also wasn''t truly a fallen because he had always stayed true to his calling, even while residing in hell. He wasn''t evil, and he wasn''t holy in true meaning either. "So, he is a holy-evil being. Some of the few, and one of the most tragic ones that are neither truly evil nor actually good from the worldly perspective. That is Satanel, and that is Samael. The angel of death who punishes the evil, the false fallen who rules over an entire floor of hell, and the devil who corrupts the pure." Eon looked at her surprised face as he finished his short story and as he said¡­ "It was bad." She blinked with confused eyes, looked into his pitifully smiling eyes, and thought deeply about what she had just heard. The night had passed and the daylight was about to grace the two of them. It had been a wonderful story night and she was having a great war with her view on the demons and the possibilities of the truth behind them. She had learned something new today, and this news, the fact that it was connected with the normal girl who probably would be one of their colleagues in the future, and also that it was somehow connected to a demon king¡­ "Haaa¡­ it''s too much for my little mind to process." It wasplicated, but it was concerning too, so she continued her contemtion while hugging him tightly. The night and story might have ended, but their entrance exam¡­ was still a long way from its end. Chapter 469 Dungeon On The Island [OP: ] The people of the dark room had been confused, bewildered, astonished, and so strangely excited that they almost went nuts. The two promising members of their new student council proved to be far more amazing than they had estimated and far beyond the calction that they had concluded beforehand. Not only the two were surprisingly strong, but two of them were also strangely normal even after killing a creature that was a perfect replica of their partner¡­ and they killed that (Blue) ranked being with one attack so it was even more ''unique'' for the people of this dark room. The boy from before was now only silently staring at the screen, his face painted with an unchanging smile. The girl was excited until a while ago but now she was just sitting back on herfortable chair, her green-white hair messed up from a long try to understand the strange barrier that had blocked the view of the area the two of them were camping in. It was a strange situation as technically, the people in this room should have a full view of every area of the ind, but they couldn''t see the two of them for a while now, and they had also all given up at this point. It was absurd and the first night was about to end on the ind, but they at least had a possible hypothesis of why they couldn''t see in that ce anymore. On the screens, the area was the same as before, but just the part with the two of them, and the bonfire was nowhere to be seen. One would say that they used some kind of barrier but even with the barrier, they would still be on this ind and be visible to the people in this room. But they weren''t visible anymore, so there could be two other points of view. First would be that the girl, the one who most probably used some kind of magic or skill after that strange and sudden reaction, somehow separated themselves from that illusionary space or create a domain of her own inside this existing magic structure of an archmage. Or the other option would be that this girl is someone so strong that she can disperse the magic of an archmage like their headmaster, but¡­ that probability was absurd, so they had their money on the first one. It was still strange though. Thedy with burgundy hair wearing a suit, the one with an authoritative voice, couldn''t help but doubt that there would be any weaker skills that can create a domain or distorted space as this girl did. It was strange, but she had also given up on thinking deeply about this uncertain thing. They had better work to do than waste time thinking about something such as this. They would naturally get higher points now that they had shown these amazing powers, but this strange power to vanish from even their near omnipresent eyes seeing this ind¡­ it was peculiar. Even the man with a deep voice was observing the ce with the two of them attentively, searching for some kind of clue, ying with the crystal ball before him, changing the blue magic screen just before that transparent ball. He was still searching for why the two would just vanish, as even with a skill or magic, there had to be some spectrum of light that would show their magic or skill frequency. s, it would have been easier had he expanded the search spectrum and searched for any unique frequency on that part of the ind. He would have at least found out the strange sheet of water covering this area they had vanished from. It wasn''t magic, and it wasn''t a skill either. It was simple water. Specifically, water from her special ancient artifact EFMW. It was covering them and making a unique domain. It was convenient and made from a formless weapon that had a grown-up Ego. It was automatically changing the barrier''s frequency, and it also didn''t need any kind of extra energy input from her. Rein was able to do things freely and rest with Eon thanks to her dear weapon and even Eon, who taught her to use it this way, was surprised how this one weapon was a universal tool in true meaning. It was amazing, the spectators of the dark were doing their work and evaluating the other members of the student council, and the first morning lights were gracing the people on the ind. The spectators hadn''t had too bad of an impression of any of the members, so we could say that they were better than the previous batch where more than three people were released from their duties just after the entrance exam. They all were fine and were doing their work appropriately. It looked like they were doing very well, at the very least. In reality though, aside from the two of our dear unique ones, all the other members were doing their best, giving their all to cover their huge piece ofnd, examining the examinees fighting the extreme monsters, and eliminating undesirable ones. Their ultimate goal was to save people, and they were doing it. But unlike that strange couple who were camping and doing some ''unknown activity'' in their invisible domain instead of handling their areas, they all had their hands, minds, and body full with their work. The people of the dark room understood that too, but still, this batch of council members was good. And it was now morning so¡­ the curtain blocking the two of them finally lifted and the spectators saw the new images of their most unique and surprising members¡­ Eon and Rein stood up and looked around, Eon especially wearing different clothes from before, as she had to rip them off. The bonfire had died down and the blood-stained ground was cleansed. The destroyed ground was also back to its original state. The two of them had recovered from the episode ofst night, so it was time for them to go around and gather the treasures. The examinees that had stopped to restst night would alsoe back, so they had to finish setting up the talisman paper dummies in her zone too. Thankfully, she had set some magic traps in crucial ces so they wouldn''t have much work. They had nned things already, and they were going to the hidden core area, the special dungeon, after that. So¡­ skipping to the time after they finished their work and moved to an empty area of the forest, the spectators got on the edge of their seats. They were standing before a certain tree in their lush green forest. Eon knew this was the ce, his higher version (: Scan) could clearly detect the slightly higher Mana density and the distorted space around this area. He had learned a lot from his past experience with the (Boundary) near her house with that tomb so things were clear from their side. There was a boundary somewhere here, maybe not the permanent one like the one they had back home but hopefully a usual one that only let someone pass through once. It was their destination and, in this case, the entrance to the dungeon. This ind was just an illusion, after all. There couldn''t be some actual [Space-Time] distortion. But yes¡­ even the spectators of the dark room who knew about this ce admired the crazy headmaster''s amazing magic. He hid the magic core in the center of the illusion ind, and the path to that ce was hidden in the same way as a boundary. For most people, the concept of spatial boundaries was clear, but no one would be able to actually pinpoint the small location that was the boundary entrance of this one. They admired the fact that the two of them could locate the ce with this unique dungeon, but they all were the most excited to see how the two would get inside. There was no way to know where this boundary was, so they only had the option of destroying everything in the area with a powerful spell or attack which would reveal the indestructible entrance. They were excited to see something more surprising than they had seen till now. But contrary to their excited thoughts¡­ "Rein?" Eon looked at her and she looked at the left side of the tree before them. Then, she took the lead while holding his hand, walked forward, stood before an aerial root of the tree, calmly touched one of the root caps, and¡­ -Oooooooooong! They vanished and reached a new open area, a lush grassy in, endlessly stretching before their horizon, with the same bright blue sky of the evening. The clouds passedzily, the des of green grass danced with the gentle winds, and as soon as this view entered their eyes¡­ -Shwa! Shwa! Shwa! Shwa! Shwa! Shwa! Strange needles flew towards them from all over the ce but failed to reach them as a transparent barrier blocked them. They had reached their destination and had received a warm wee already. It was a quick response and Rein had an excited smile on her face as she looked around the grasnd with her eyes. They were surrounded by at least a hundred (Yellow) ranked (Poison weasels). And this bunch wasn''t nerfed like the ones on the ind. She was excited, and he was happy to see her smile at the cute creatures. They were inside the dungeon and the opponents were here, so they took out their weapons and prepared their spells. The spectators were shocked and disappointed that they couldn''t see them do something cool before the boundary, but now that they were here, they prepared their poor hearts and minds for the new shocks. The headmaster had said the girl would be able to demonstrate her abilities better here, but she wasn''t one to give them their first surprise in this dungeon. It was the boy who they had only seen moving through the forest, setting up the talisman paper dolls, and using absurdly powerful magic. "A¡­ bow?" "No, but, isn''t he¡­?" "He was an archer!? The hack?!" "A magic archer~!! I knew there was more to him than just magic~! He had to be an archer with those good eyes, sensitivity, and the way of moving~!" Their dungeon conquest was starting and, at the same time¡­ the examinees on the ind were entering the second night of their exam. Chapter 470 Island Night For Examinees [OP: ] An attractive young-adult girl with bright red hair and ocean-like deep blue eyes is camping in the dangerous but peaceful forest of the sky ind beneath a canopy of shimmering stars. A mesmerizing bonfire crackled close by, providing warmth and light in the darkness as she looked around, feeling a unique but familiar presence around her out of the blue. It closed in calmly and before long, the surrounding bushes rustled, and a boy with light, fresh green hair and violet eyes walked in, a smile on his face as he confirmed the person before him and gave her a happy smile. She watched as his silhouette was illuminated by the dancing embers of the fire, and she smiled back, inviting her little brother to join her modest camp. This tranquil night, surrounded by nature, took on a magical ambiance and filled her spirit with new excitement as he sat beside her, his heart excited with the same questions as his elder sister. And as the crackles of the bright fire sparked, both of them spoke up at once, asking the exact same question, filled with the same excitement¡­ "Did you see them?" "You saw those-..." But he finished his question first and they both got the answers they wanted, earning a sad look from the other one. Ca and Alf. Both of them were grown up and looked mature for their age, far cooler with their special clothes with magical and defensive properties. And they were especially enchanted by the special person, their cool brother, they were talking about right now. It was already the second day and they hadn''t seen him even after wandering in and out of this forest multiple times. The two hoped the other might have got a glimpse of him and Rein at the very least but¡­ s. "Perhaps they are doing something more exciting than wandering the forest?" she asked with genuine curiosity, and he nodded positively after a quick thinking. "The ind is as big as some main cities. It''s definitely possible that there are cooler things than just the weak monsters." He theorized, speaking as if he understood the ind very well. And probably, after Eon and Rein, he was some of the most informed people about this ind. He had Uto, and she was as good at gathering information about new terrains as Branwen. Her magical abilities were amazing too soparing her total information-gathering skills to Celes was actually possible in certain scenarios. She was amazing but even with her help, he couldn''t find a trace of the two of them. Ca was even more sad to hear that but then, she just sighed and smiled back at him. And he also smiled back bitterly, remembering their promise with the two, and shook his head in understanding. They didn''t know the two of them, and they had to keep this secret as best as they could. Things might get undesirable for the two of them if they were caught up in something unnecessary because of them and he refused to make an oath, so they only had themselves on this matter. But hey¡­ it wasn''t like they had to avoid all interaction with the two of them when they were in the academy. They didn''t know the two of them were their brother and sister but they wouldn''t miss the chance to befriend their disguised favorite people who would definitely be as famous as them when the academy starts, whether they wanted it or not. So, for now, without worrying about the two of them, they focused on the main thing before them. "How many did you kill, little Alf?" She asked with a smirk, sparking a ze of excitement in her young brother. "243 yellow, 112 green, and 29 blue ranked ones. I think you got more?" There was a smile on his face as he asked that too. "Of course~! They are far easier than that bastard lizard, maybe even some of our furballs too. Their numbers are good in the inner parts so it''s easier and the respawn rate is pretty good too. If they were real and this was a dungeon, it would have been far more fun hunting them~. I already got close to three hundred yellow, a hundred and fifty green, and forty blue rank monsters. I even helped a few groups, hehe. Don''t know why they all think the monsters are difficult though." She was happy, and her pretty smile as her gorgeous face was illuminated by the light of blue moonlight and her hair with the light of the zing bonfire, was dangerously breathtaking. "Hehe. Right. I knew you would be ahead~. But we don''t know the score criteria for monsters so more treasures are better, no? I got two treasure chests and four natural ones~!" He was excited, he knew she can''t beat him in this field when he had Uto and her exceptional senses after all. "If it wasn''t for Uto, I would be ahead with my four treasure chests. Hump!" She looked to the other side with a grumpy expression but then she felt a tickling sensation around her neck. [[ "Uto loves aunt Carry~! But I will help papa this time! He said it''s important for him~." ]] She used her Mana speech with telepathy like usual and Ca patted the invisible little creature on her shoulder. "It is important for me too, you know? Why such discrimination?" She asked the wise creature, only to hear another cheerful childishugh. [[ "Hehehe. Because he is papa~! As aunt Celestine always says, masters before anyone else~!" ]] She was surprised at how easily this young one said that. But she had expected something like this. So she could only smile at this cheerful response. "I wish I also had a familiar like you all. It sure makes life easier even with the basic master duties." She sighed and shook her head with a sad smile. Alf smiled butterly at her and thought about it for a while. Then, he remembered some special cases and spoke up with new shiny eyes, "It''s not impossible though! You might also meet someone that''s meant to be yours~!" She was surprised by his confident excitement but only shook her head with a bitter smile. She also knew it wasn''t impossible but familiar of a knight was too rare of a concept to get one''s hopes high. But, well, if they all found someone this early, she had a long time before her. She could very well meet beings that would be far more amazing than theirs on her path. "You cheeky little bastard." Shaking her head with a new smile, she lightly bonked his head. The night was fine for the two of them but not for the lone princess who sat in the middle of the forest, only with thepany of her spirits. She looked bored AF and the only thought on her mind as she yed with her strong spirits was to get the fuck out of that boring ce. Her two brothers were here too but unlike the one who was still hunting every strong creature he came across and the other one who was happily having a delicious meal with the knight and youngdy of Heliox, she had nothing to do in this ce. She was bored and wanted to get out of there but there was still an entire day left before this booooooring thing was over. So, she wasn''t much interested in things like Alf and Ca, and many of the twelve prodigies were the same as her. The origin me spearman Xlor, and the young pure elf Drowslotm of green magic. Both were doing their best in finding things and defeating the creatures but things were boring for them too. They were originally from a small ce but among the adventurers, the two were so famous that even the manager of the capital''s association had his eyes on the two of them. The two were renowned prodigies and could be called normalpared to others. The two were doing things like every other examinee, after all, the other prodigies were different in this aspect. The only wizard among these prodigies, the prince of the eastern empire, Qin Fa Shen aka Hide, was resting on the outskirts, with arge group of attractivedies surrounding him. He was purely having fun with them, doing nothing at all like the other strong people. They didn''t have to kill the creatures to pass after all. And he knew he was going to pass anyway so he was outside, having good food and soft fun with all thedies around him. He was strong, everyone knew that, but he was probably one with the worst reputation among these prodigies. Mia Knives and Newtine were the ones with the most reputation on the other hand. They were creators, and their glory in their own fields of alchemy and magic engineering was famous even on other continents. But right now, the two of them were doing something other than hunting too. The two smart ones, on this too-real ind, had found some interesting stuff and were researching those things, learning from the magic of a great archmage and his realistic creation. They were unique, but still, they were better than Deleon Necrom, the famous slime tamer, summoner, and researcher who had gathered every single slime on the ind in a cave and was examining, researching, and killing them after he was done. He had gathered hundreds of slimes and had definitely killed hundreds of them, but throughout his research time, he had not shown a silver of reaction¡­ having a more stoic face than the princess of the northern continent, Luna Sabestion, the sole witch who had covered an entire section of the ind in ice. She was pretty, and at the very least, her expression of surprise and anger at the strange person who kept hindering her was prettier than Delon''s scary stoic face. That person was just too dark even for spectators examining the examinees. Compared to him, the sweet girl that extorted money from the desperate nobles with her yummy-looking chicken seemed like an angel¡­ right. Talking about the spectators, the ones in the dark room all had their mouths dropped on the table at the surprise far, far bigger than the one they had prepared themselves for. There was utter silence in the room once again, and this time, on the screen before them, was an image of the girl they all were surprised by, stained by the acidic blood and poison from hundreds of creaturesying dead around her, and she stood there in the middle of these hundreds of corpses¡­ smiling excitedly as she looked at her fiance, who had killed a greater number of creatures at a distance the spectators can''t possibly fathom¡­ Chapter 471 Slaughterer Duo [Rein''s POV: ] Alright~! We were finally inside the dungeon with proper fun monsters! ''Good, good ~! They look stronge-strong!'' ============ [Poison weasels] ? ~~~> Goood! They are better than the previous ones! ~~~> There seems to be a hundred and twenty-three here~! And they are just the replica of their original (Yellow) ranked self! ~~~> Go on master! They are easy and their poison skills are nothing before your amazing poison skill! ============ Even my eyes had the same thoughts! "Hehehe¡­ hahaha! Let''s go Nept!" -Kuuuuuu! Just like every time I called my dear weapon out, a sharp stream of water gushed out of my hand and molded in a form of a scythe. We had reallye a long way after bonding in that tomb. "Let''s start~." The area around me was a in grasnd and the cute small creatures with ck eyes and poisonous purple bodies with white stripes all over their body looked attractive! But this was theirst day~. -Swish! -Khachak! -Booooooooom! "Done~!" The creatures were like vegetables so cutting them with my sharp Nept was pretty easy and fun! This was a good start and as I moved through the grass, and sliced their bodies with the scythe, the sensation of the realistic bodies being sliced, the thrilling feeling of flesh being cut down by the edge of the de¡­ ahh~! ''This is what I was talking about bitches~!'' "Muhahahaha!" The tingling flesh and poison of the little creatures felt good too but more than this sensation, the heartwarming feeling as I saw my darling use his bow in this appearance once again was¡­ "Ah! Yes~!" There he was, standing with one of his countless bows, in a stance that I hadn''t seen for a whole damn week after our engagement, and as I looked around, there they were, dead bodies of more than two hundred creatures, simr and different from the cuties I sliced. He was starting, so it would be more fun than I thought! "Challenge." He said, a smile of pure excitement painted on his hot face. "Numbers?" I asked as I moved away from him with my shadow travel skill and reached another group of creatures, this time, a group of (Orange) ranked (Blue earthworms). [[ "Numbers, types, time, and¡­ headshot." ]] [[ "Headshots hmm? Let''s add creatures sliced in a number of pieces too, bastard." ]] [[ "...ok fine. No headshots. Reward? Three?" ]] [[ "No thanks. We already have one with two coins going on. This will reflect in points so two for this one too. Now start!" ]] -Swish¡­! I moved, my speed so fast it created a gust of winds, and as I moved, the force that was generated was all transferred to the tip of my scythe. -Swish, swish, swish! I moved, the creature before me, the disgusting looking creatures¡­ yak. I just cut the creatures off and used my darkness attribute (Earthquake) to pull the blue squishy creatures out. -Shhhhhh-shak! -Thud, thud, thud. They were disgusting but easier to deal with even with their hard bodies and earthly defense. So, quickly finishing these some hundred small fries, I moved on to the bigger one that I found some distance away while searching the area through Branwen from the sky. Eon, that bastard, I was seeing from above so I knew he wasn''t moving from his ce and just killing creatures of any and all fucking rank with his absurdly powerful arrows. ''That cocky bastard!'' This ins were too favorable to him! And the fucking creatures were also just roaming the ins like this was actually some kind of dungeon! It was disadvantageous for me but I wasn''t going to back down. At the very least, this match would be a tie! So, I moved and found the (Hollow Ox), a (Blue) ranked creature, and quickly used my enchanting speech skill to freeze the creature on its spot. -Swish! Killing it in two shes, I moved ahead and reached a (Grasnd viper) roaming around some thick bushes. But before I used any magic or skill to attack the creature, I heard something moving through the air, and as soon as I perceived that thing¡­ -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish-Khachk-Boooooom! A blue arrow of light flew past me, went straight inside the open mouth of the snake, and then its head sted. [[ "Fuck off bastard! That was mine!" ]] I knew he was smirking as I shouted that but I couldn''t waste time here. And from as much as I knew him¡­ ''Alright, darling.'' -Swish! -Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! -Pitssssssssss¡­! -Khachak! [[ "Oyyyy?!" ]] I moved to the very other side from where I found the viper and there was another same snake but this one was a (Grass cobra). Its weakness was fire and I knew the next arrow releasing from his bow would be just that. ''If you steal mine, be prepared for the consequences. Hehe.'' -Swish! I moved to the back this time, and there was a cluster of (Green) ranked (Bloody wasps). "[Air steps]!" There were somewhere around fifty of them but I just moved through the air, used them as steps when needed, and sliced them into pieces. They weren''t ugly but their eyes weren''t pretty! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! -Booooooooom! It was close by and this time, that bastard used some kind of explosive arrow. Must be a group. [[ A band of ck gazelle master. All were obliterated in that explosion. ]] See! I was right! ''Anyway¡­ an explosion hmm?'' -Swish! I moved to the northwest this time, and there was a family of (Yellow deers) having their peaceful time. There were ten or so creatures here and excluding the three babies, all of them were (Blue) ranked. They were weak too so¡­ well. (Blue darkdrop) -Boooooooooooooom! They weren''t much work with my special water-darkness explosive spell. This amazing cutie could very well even destroy an (Indigo) ranked creature. ''Sadly it eats up a lot of Mana¡­'' Anyway, I finished them with that explosion. Wasn''t as fun as I thought though. -Swish! Welp, after that, we continued shing, sting, ultimately killing whatever fall into our sight. -Swish! I moved through the ins on the northern side and when there was nothing to kill from his spot, he moved to the south and continued killing the creatures on that side. Our goal was to finish the creatures as fast as possible. Preferably before nightfall. It was difficult but midway through our killings¡­ I forgot we were doing something like thispetition. I just moved, and moved, and just moved from ce to ce, slicing, shing, bisecting, chopping, and sting creatures, and bathing in their illusionary blood. It was too realistic though. Unnecessarily realistic. I didn''t think much though. It was fun slicing these creatures. Most of them were weak but there were many fun ones too. The (Silver leopard), (Guardian toad), and (ck mane lion) that I encountered were all (Indigo) ranked and were all pretty tough. The fight I had with them was genuinely fun! Sad thing these all creatures were illusions. Had they been a bit more realistic and had their wills intact they would have been even more fun to y with~. I killed them. It took a bit longer than others though. It was fun but¡­ that was the end on my side. I had reached the boundary of this illusion dungeon and I had to go back at this time. -Swish! My side was empty but my dear darling was still going on, covering the whole west part with his south one. That bastard was ahead of me but sadly for him, I was going to win~! "Hehehahahah!" I knew he was seeing me and that bastard had killed creatures without leaving his ce most of the time. He called it his hitzone. And the fucking thing had a radius of more than a few kilometers. Just the fact that he could hit and kill things with his magic arrows, practically magic spells molded in a form of an arrow that could travel that far and have an even greater effect than normal, was practically absurd~. ''The spectators must definitely be bleeding tears of absurd excitement, hehe.'' Anyway, killing was fun and the sun was only setting so I moved to the eastern side and started finishing the creatures there. It was fun~. But the night was near. He was on his killing spree, uninterrupted by things like speaking in the middle like me right now, haaa¡­ Anyway, I went to the other side, killed a bunch of weak creatures, a bunch of flying creatures, a bunch of crawlers, a lot of cute ones, and a lot more ugly ones. It was a fun kill time and though he wasn''t having fun like me he sure was serious about winning this one. ''Sad for him, hehe.'' It wasn''t his fault but both of us knew I had won this round with just the sheer number of creatures I killed. There were more of the weak ones on the path that I took so it was easy to move faster. It was a fact that he killed stronger ones than me but I knew from how my current area was filled with stronger monsters, I was going to match his strong headcount. ''My bastard luck showed its powers this time, hahaha!'' This was fun, and I knew he would try to interfere with me but I had already taken care of that. [[ "It was cheating sister Elle~!" ]] Celes was angry but it wasn''t like I was doing anything. I just used my [Shadow clone] skill and I only ordered them to hinder him, so the clones were acting on their own. He was having difficulty as he had to kill multiple of my fake clones that although weren''t as good at copying me as the perfect doppelgangers we killed in the forest, they sure were strong enough to hinder my beloved darling. So he didn''t steal my prey this time and when our littlepetition ended, and as the strange moonless red sky of night greeted us, we were standing before each other, his hawt face sad from losing their little bet. I killed with fun I won, he killed without fun he lost. Simple mathematics. The ughter had ended from our side and I knew, we both knew, the spectators must have had quite the heated debate among themselves. We did ughter a few thousand creatures in these ins after all. ''Shock'' would be a little word to describe their reactions. But that was them¡­ I won our little match but the dungeon wasn''t cleared yet. We definitely had killed the thousands of creatures here, but, the main boss, thest part of the dungeon clearance, was now going to start¡­ ''And I''m not going to talk with you bunch for a loooooong time! Hump! It''s too much distraction!!'' Alright. Ba-bye~! Chapter 472 A... Minotaur?! [OP: ] As she saidst time, the spectators were genuinely crying tears of blood. In a metaphorical way of course. Actual blood wasn''ting out of their eyes like it happens most of the time with Eon. They were just too surprised. This ind part was a new thing for them after all. They knew almost everything about the sky ind but aside from the fact that the core of the whole magical illusion was somewhere in this dungeon was the only information they had on this ce. They didn''t know anything about what was inside this dungeon at all. They were excited to see the inside more than anything when the two of them reached the ce and went inside, but what happened after just a few moments when they entered the strange ce was the most unexpected for them. For the first time, they saw him using his weapon. And for the first time, they saw her in actual action, reminding them of the headmaster''s words. They were bbergasted to see her move through the hundreds of strong creatures and just slice them in different ways with her strangely strong formless weapon. It was an amazing artifact and they knew that much but aside from the cool blue weapon of water, they were more attracted to her impable movements. They didn''t see her move like that in the ind forest even when she killed the ''strong'' monsters there. They saw it for the first time and all weapon wielders of the dark room observing the student council members, including the cheerful boy and woman with the authoritative voice, were mesmerized by her movements and way of killing. They just stared at her with unblinking eyes¡­ and the same was true for all kinds of magic users in the room who couldn''t help but nkly look at the boy who though was using a bow, used arrows of magic so sophisticated and so intricately woven into an impable form that it was enough to stall the hearts of even the girl in the darkroom and the man with a deep voice. They all were stunned and just nkly stared at the one new screen that showed the two of them in the dungeon. They couldn''t control this screen as it was in the hands of the headmaster but just the privilege of seeing their thoughtless massacre on those green, devastated grasnds was enough entertainment. They all were nkly staring at the screen but they all definitely were having fun as they watched her kill the creatures, slice them into pieces, disregard everything and just lose herself in the pleasure of killing; and see his gorgeous, inexplicably beautiful spells that, too, indiscriminately destroyed everything they touched. It was fun and they were bleeding tears of excitement. Their eyes were fixed on the screen but there were heated discussions going on among them over the techniques, skills, and magic the two of them were using. It was a noisy room now. And there were smiles. Every moment of their activity was fun for them and when they stopped because they had nothing to kill anymore¡­ there was even a sad moment of silence. They wanted to see more and in those childish thoughts, even as some of the greatest experts, they forgot the dungeon wasn''t cleared yet. The sun that wasn''t visible in this ce was now gone and the sky above them was a deep shade of red, casting an eerie glow on the scene below. The clouds were still white, probably even whiter than before, and the green grass was now turning into a gloomy shade of blue. The creatures of the dungeon, probably every single one of them, were now gone, and as Eon and Rein stood in the middle of these vast ins, unknown to the spectators, there were some weird things happening around them that only they knew. The ground was subtly trembling, the air was getting denser with tension, and a distinct sound of breathing wasing from a distance away. Both Rein and Eon had excellent senses so both of them knew something big, something stronger and more dangerous than anything they had faced until now wasing towards them. The night was red, the ground was blue, the two of them stood there, the tension further grew. The spectators watched, creepy winds of the night blew. The blue des of grass danced, the breathing of the two unchanged, their eyes locked in distance, their hearts pulsed the same. A moment passed like that, and then¡­ The trembling of the ground escted, the small rocks in the distance reverberated. The serene eyes flickered suddenly, the grip of their held hands tightened suddenly. Confused, she looked at him. And in confusion his eyes blinked. He wasn''t sure for a moment, she grasped that much. She didn''t understand for the moment, he grasped that much. Then a smile spread out on his face, a tiny light sparked on his hand. Her eyes also blinked in that moment, and she also smiled in that moment. In the distance was theirst enemy of the day, in the distance was a monster. In the distance was a mountain, in the distance was that creature. Still, the ground near them roared of its presence, blew the horns of its arrival, informed the spectators of its grandeur, spoke the might of its mere steps. Still, he wasn''t visible to others. Others but the two of course. For the two had long perceived its existence. For they had seen its extravagance. For they still watched the creature. And for the thick smiles on their faces screamed of their emotions. They were excited, they were overjoyed. They looked ahead, and there he was¡­ their nemesis and nightmare, their challenge and trial, their fun and excitement, their key to rewards. It was a monster, a creature standing under the tranquil red of the sky, a breathing mountain of furry skin and herculean muscles, a giant with features of a bull and human, a catastrophe holding a giant axe. The breaths that came from its snout created a momentary haze, the steps that touched the ground destroyed the eternally beautiful grasnds. The old rags around its body waved quietly, the colossal axe it held with one hand shone bloody brightly. The shadow from its ginormous being cast a dark curtain over the endless fields, and as it closed in, its shadow touched the two, their smiles stayed the same, hearts beat with excitement, eyes fixated on the creature, they called forth their weapons. The creature looked at them with eyes filled with anger and rage so great it would destroy the mortal with its presence alone¡­ nevertheless, they stood tall, fearless, and brightly smiling, challenging the creature toe at them with utter confidence. Spectators of the dark now watched, the great creature and their two ineffable council members, unknown to what reaction they should show, unknown to what feeling they should have. It was a minotaur. It was¡­ a minotaur? It was a¡­ minotaur! A¡­ minotaur?! F*cking hell a bull¡­ They wanted to express, at least think, of some kind of emotions like them but they just stared at the mighty creature, and blinked at their ''excited'' reactions. They were standing before a creature of legends, a being of epics, an inevitable obstacle in the chronicles of renowned, and an inseparable part of myths. Some of the rare few among them grew and joined the ranks of the strongest of nature, but even in their natural forms, they were a cmity, a prominent (Purple) ranked creature only a few in the world could ever go against. A minotaur¡­ one armed with a weapon that could endure the grand innate power of the creature no less¡­ It wasn''t something two young people giving their academy entrance exam could ever defeat, not even if they were one of the student council members. It was surely an illusion, everything there was an illusion. Everyone in the darkroom and the two of them standing before the creature knew that. But they also knew the power of the creatures in this dungeon was the same as the actual beings. This wasn''t something even an experienced high-level adventurer ''guild'' could defeat even after amassing all their resources and manpower. Yet, for some unknown strange reason, all the smart, logical, different, and unique people in the darkroom had a peculiar feeling that those two smiling bastards could, in some strange and attractive manner, defeat this creature before them. It was an absurd feeling and their mind conflicted with those feelings but still, the feeling stayed the same. They have had innumerable surprises in these past two hours and they were almost mentally drained at this point too. They had finished their basic grading and there were only bonus calctions and extra credits left. They could rx at this point and they wanted to rx while watching their battle with some good food and refreshments. Their minds denied it but their hearts that throbbed in genuine anticipation were looking forward to their battle. They all were excited, so¡­ With thick smiles on their faces, their hearts beating as one, their eyes fixated on the enemy, and their weapons aimed at the opponent, they released their powers, and started their shocking plus exciting plus THRILLING armed conflict! Chapter 473 Zeal Of Battle [OP: ] Rein was excited as she looked at the giant creature and Eon was smiling at her excited face. The being before them was not something they could go against individually right now, they both knew that much. But they didn''t have to fight this thing alone. The two were together andbined, they were more than enough to take down this illusionary creature. Still¡­ the opponent was strong. ============ [Minotaur] (Illusion guardian form) Strength: 231 Dexterity: 188 Stamina: 201 Magic Power: 146 Intelligence: 30 [Skills: Earth-fire sovereignty, Strength super reinforcement, Magic nullification, Weapon charge, mes of fury, Domain summoning, Terrain ruling, Focal navigation, Almer orders, Distraction blocking, Nazal force, Blue key, Guardian fortress, Sense disturbance, Expanding magnitude, Melting heatwave, Beast instincts, Berserk, Arc of destruction. ] [Perfect replication] [Archwizard''s trial] ¡ª> Well¡­ if this one was something real, it would have been fun, and our certain deaths but, thanks to that shitty headmaster, we got to have a free test of such a cute target. ¡ª> This one''s strong and though you can defeat it, prepare for the worst. It''s the second most near-perfect illusion ever. ============ Eon agreed with those words, but sadly, it was actually just an illusion at the end of the day. "Moooooooooooo!" The monster with red, furious eyes, roared as it perceived its opponents. It was a monster of earth, fire, and anger, so its rage was heating from the start. -Thump! Thump! Thump! -Dhum! Dhum! Dhum! Previously, when it merely walked, its footsteps shook the grounds of a farawaynd, but now that it was starting its attack, when it stomped towards them this time, the earth beneath its hoofs. It was a strong creature, big like a mountain, and its anger was in a league of its own. The axe in his hands was also just like him, a weapon that can''t be graded in normal human terms. It was colossal, as tall as one-third of the creature, as wide as the lower parts of its muscr chest, as sharp as those eyes looking down on the microorganism like two children quietly standing there, waiting for its arrival. And it closed it in the blink of an eye too, trumpeting the beginning of their monumental battle¡­ -Boooooooooooooom! It brandished its axe at the two with lightning-fast speed, shattering the ground and creating a crater so deep it could birth ake. But the two had vanished already, reappearing some distance away from the creature, ready for the battle with their weapons. It was quick so the minotaur couldn''t do any damage to them this time. Its giant size naturally made it difficult for it to have high movement speed. It was natural but its raw power that made even the spectators of the dark room dumbstruck was mighty. Both Eon and Rein knew they had disadvantages in strength. The size was also a problem as the creature was too difficult to reach for the two of them. The adjective of ''mountainous'' was a fact here. The creature was genuinely so big that even its eyes were bigger than the two of them. It would be difficult to execute the ''the bigger they are, the harder they fall'' thing. The masculine thighs and rock-solid legs of the creature were its most protected areas. "But that doesn''t mean it will be impossible though." Rein smiled as she looked at her darling and Eon nodded back with the same smile. "Should I mark it?" He asked, pulling the string of a good and expensive-looking magic bow that wasn''t one of his nine favorite ones. He was using a good (level-11) artifact bow though. It was good enough to attract the eyes of the dwarves in the dark room. "Yup~. Let''s start with KS beta 4 and then gamma 2 should be good finishing one, right~?" She Sneed excited as she caressed the de of her scythe. She was also using a (level-10) artifact scythe for some reason instead of her EFMW. It was peculiar even to the spectators but the weapon she was using was good too. Especially the unique high enchantment on the weapon''s de. "Moooooooahh!" The creature, the humanoid bull mountain, roared once again and took out its axe from the ground which was almost splitting the crater in half. "Let''s do gamma 3. We will need that much force to finish this bastard. It has those defensive and offensive skills after all." He smirked after that and pulled back his bowstring. Taking a small breath and arranging the unique green arrow from his white crack on the bow, he looked ahead at the giant creature and focused on his right leg. Their objective was clear here, to make the creature taste some of the fresh grass on the ground, and from how much Eon knew about this creature, their habits, and all the natural responses, Rein knew they were at the very least going to win. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish! He released the arrow and the strange green arrow that looked as if made of ss containing a strange liquid, hit the leg of the creature and sshed some green liquid on its fur-covered leg. "Moooooooo!" The bull wasn''t hurt but even with his giant body, he felt the strange sting of not the arrow but the liquid that seemed to have seeped straight into his skin and body. The bull knew it wasn''t harmful though, so it continued walking towards the two insects and the insects were done with their preparations so they vanished from that ce too and reappeared on just the spot the mountain was going to step next. "Khahahaha!" Rein was in the front and sheughed as some shadow clones came out from her shadow. Eon stood there too but his bowstring was pulled back, and there was a (tier-4) magic circle materializing into an arrow on the string... [[ "Three." ]] He counted as the spell (Hurricane arrow) finished materializing into the form of a chaotic storm. [[ "Two" ]] She and her three clones also prepared a (tier-3) spell, (Aqua vortex sh) on their scythes. The minotaur, with its impable senses, perceived the strong spells and was ready to react but just when he was about to reinforce its muscles around that area, their countdown ended and Eon released the arrow of magic. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! The arrow moved at an unbelievable speed difficult for the mere screens to record and as soon as it reached before the brightly shining green spot that he previously marked, Rein also released all the spells. -Shash! -Ooooooooooong¡­! -Zhaaaaaa! Four chaotic currents of water collided with the arrow of frantically moving water and instead of negativity affecting each other, the five magic circles synchronized with each other. They were in perfect harmony so the des of dark blue water started spinning around the light blue water arrow, giving a great boost to its already astonishing speed. It happened in a fraction of the moment and the resultingbined magic spell collided with the sturdy body of the giant bull! "Mhuoooooooooo?!" It was unexpected, even for the spectators¡­ The individual attacksbined, meaning it was a perfectly calctedbination attack that they had nned perfectly beforehand. It was rare so they all were surprised but the attack had be so powerful that it actually destroyed ayer of fur from the body of the giant creature. It was an incredible achievement for a single attack from young ones like them but the bull was only enraged even more because of that. Disregarding the small scratch, it continued its attack and smashed his axe just on the spot he was standing. The two were there and saw the colossal axeing down toward them. But instead of feeling any wind of fear, the two of them were calm like an empty pond. They used their movement skills and vanished from the spot on that very moment and reappeared somewhere far, not taking damage from the attack this time too. But that didn''tst for long as the ground they had appeared on wiggled and long sharp spikes of earth sprang out from there. They knew at that moment¡­ the battle was starting in true meaning. A thin aura of zing red fire was now covering the angrily breathing bull. A steam of hot fog came out of his wide-open nostrils. The creature was annoyed by the bugs, and though that annoyance came pretty early, that was just expected from a minotaur, the creature was portrayed as a personification of rage. The big bull was now using their racial skill, a skill that made them one of the strong ones that ruled over the earth and mes. They were sovereigns who had mastered the two elements and their size told their mastery over the elements. The one before them was an adult minotaur, one that was grown pretty well but Eon did know the location of a few that were older, bugger, and stronger than this one. But that wasn''t necessary right now¡­ "That was close." He said as he dusted off the sand from the spike that barely grazed his shoulder. "This is going to be legen¡ªdary~!" She was smiling brightly, even more as she felt the strong spike of earth before her. It was an illusion, but this experience was new and better than just ying with some weak illusions. She was smiling, smirking actually, as she saw the colossal mountain burning with a strange red me of anger. Their battle was going to be long, probably the whole night would be spent in this long fight. But they didn''t have to worry about the time in this ce. "It''s good that bastard cared for the little us and made this ce two times faster than outside." Nodding at him, she vanished from her ce and he shook his head at his crazy fiancee. The opponent was strong. They might get hurt. But that just made her even more excited. He knew he will have a difficult time saving his little witch¡­ Chapter 474 Strong Illusionary Minotaur [Eon''s POV: ] Rein was excited and the minotaur was genuinely strong. -Boooooooom! It was strong on its own but the little intelligence it possessed made it an illusion that can learn like some artificial intelligence. It was an illusion for sure but this thing was unique. The headmaster sure was an amazing person to make something like this. ''Now I want the core and that magic circle even more.'' -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! -Boooooooooooooom! It was an undeniably robust creature. Its muscles were harder than the normal mental ores. The weapon he was holding, though as an illusion, was an old divine artifact. One made with adamantium no less. It must have been abyrinth guardian. And the headmaster is strong enough to defeat a real creature like that alone. ''That means he has the real version of this axe. Damn¡­ should get it when I have the chance.'' -Booooooooom! "Hahahahaha!" -Swish! Swish! Swish! She was having fun attacking the same area of its body. But that bastard creature wasn''t going to take it for long. Soon, it will- "Mhooooooooooo!!" -Ooooooooooong. "Tsk. It used the fortress skill." She was disappointed that she can''t hinder the creature normally like we were doing for thest hour. It sure endured her attacks better than I expected. But now that the creature had received that much damage on one part of its body, it was naturally going to try and rest or heal it. Minotaurs have a high natural regeneration rate. It would have healed if we left it inside that strange fortified barrier it summoned but sadly for him, we were expecting this situation from the moment I marked his leg with that green marking arrow. ''Headmaster made the test to show one''s power, our power most probably, but there sure isn''t much to this whole raid at all.'' Different from an actual minotaur raid we just had to first make the giant thing fall to the ground, stick it to the ground for a while, destroy some of its very crucial inner muscles in the time it was on the ground, and at the end, deal the final blow to finish the thing. If this creature was real, we would have had to take countless things into ount. A minotaur was smart and a master of instincts too, after all. It wasn''t some wild creature that roamed their area and killed everything in sight. ''Actually, different from the usual beliefs and stories about these creatures, minotaurs are some of the most caring parents and beings that chose partners only once in their lifetime. They have natural high intelligence and that''s the very reason they were and are guardians of some of the very important ces.'' Their senses are some of the sharpest and they could tell the location, strength, and danger level of anything and anyone even better than Zuroro''s heroic senses. They aren''t actually always mad, not at least when they are doing their work. Even taking this one, for example, the creature had perceived the two of us from a long distance away. It is a mere illusion and the headmaster tried making it as close to the real being as he knew. He did a great job actually. And that''s why the illusion minotaur first stopped and looked at us, judged us, and only when it thought, not actually thought-thought but as he was programmed, that we were weak and it could easily defeat us, it started its attack. A real minotaur would never actually attack us outright if we ever encounter one. It would sense that however strong it was, if the two of us were together, there was no way for it to defeat us. They didn''t enjoy fights that would be disadvantages for them, and they didn''t back off from a fight they had already engaged in. They prioritized the protection of their assigned goal or their family or the things they cherished and had collected. In some circumstances, it would even let you pass through the guarded zone without a fight but if, by some fate-forsaken chance, they were actually dragged into a fight, they wouldn''t stop until they were either dead or had killed everything that was part of the battle. They knew their racial fault and that''s why they avoided shing with anyone and lived in empty ces. They were cute creatures from my darling''s perspective, and from mine, they were beings that deserved respect. Not this illusion though. It was poor in many ways. "Now? We take a break?" She asked while brandishing her scythe and clearing the blood on her de. She sure had done a number on that thing. Both of us were stronger than in the past and we had perfected manybined attacks. It was practically easier with all our pre-nned raid strategy but still, she was ferocious. She had grown a lot, a by a lot I mean a freaking lot, in these past few years. She already had physical strength transcending her stats but after she bonded with that ancient artifact EFMW, which she named Nept when its ''Ego'' was born, she had a burst of new growth. She also got that shadow clone skill from Hiraani''s treasury and two more from past years so she was even more amazing now. ''And I naturally helped her however I can.'' Her growth was my growth and our growth was the growth of every person closely connected to the two of us. All in all, she was strong now, and so was I. It was a fun time and a time wille when we reveal our new, amazing, and unbelievable status windows but that thing aside¡­ "Nope. Let''s finish this quickly." I smiled at her and looked at the creature with red eyes and thick ck-brown fur. It was strong but even with her frenzied attacks at a single marked point, those relentless grinding shes and magic attacks, and the attacks from her clones, had only managed to make a deep scar on that ce. Its body was strong and we were using a lot of stamina just dodging his attacks. The area around us had turned into a hell in already. The endless grasnds were gone and countless deep craters, deep cracks made from the strong attacks of his weapon were deadly, the area was dead now, but the creature was still only recovering from a single potentially bad wound. That just showed we weren''t yet strong enough to go up against things like this dude. Still, this one wasn''t real and was going to enter the second phase of this battle. ''Lucy.'' [[ *It''s finished, master.* ]] "Good. Huu¡­" Taking a deep breath and nodding at her, I took a step forward and watched the creature standing inside the yellow fortified barrier that resembled a small fortress. It huffed with that same steamy breathing, his eyes still red with anger and a continuous ripple flowed through his bulging muscles. It had used some of its strength and the result was the devastation of thend around us. That was probably the boring part of this battle that had ended quickly, but now, I knew after I break that skill he was using, the creature was going to use the unique power of purple-ranked creatures and above and summon his own domain. That would be the start of the main battle so¡­ sorry for this filler-like chapter to those poor readers. Still, to make things worthwhile¡­ I took a deep breath, pulled back my bowstring, looked at the creature with my third eye, and went into my mind tower. There, picking up the newly created book that looked like a simple notebook, I opened it, and an arrow materialized on my bowstring. The arrow would seem strange, from the other''s perspective of course. Rein had seen this strange blue arrow that had unique mechanical lines all over it. It was different from a simple materialized magic spell and one of the specialties that I developed in these recent years. It was only possible because I had my Lucy so I can instantly decipher a skill and create a single-use magic arrow that could cancel that skill. I can only do this thanks to the question ability and the new [Process canction] ability Lucy gained two and a half years ago. She was amazing but as the limitations went, I could usually only create this certain skill destruction arrow once a day. And from how much we had tested it in thest years, from what I concluded, this ability can very well destroy any and all skills up to (Purple) ranked skills. ''I want to test it against beings of (ck) and (White) rank too but it would probably be a while till we encounter another demon and Zoe was still not strong enough to actually be on the level of a divine creature.'' Well, I had this, and for today, this much should be enough. So, I looked at the creature, found the weakest spot in the impable skill structure, and slowly released the arrow. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! -Khachh! -crack¡­! The arrow flew towards the barrier skill, collided with the barrier that resembled a giant fortress¡­ it was actually huge, lol. And then the arrow vanished after painting the yellow barrier in blue. It was a quick process but then, the barrier crumbled down like a fallen piece of mirror ss. It must have been astonishing for the dear spectators and even our ''good'' headmaster but for the minotaur, it was nothing less than a curse of mockery. I just destroyed one of the most cherished skills he must have relied on and had thought was indestructible. It wasn''t something any creature of his caliber would enjoy so, as his nature of rage went, the creature was now literary burning with anger. There was a fire on its dark body, its horns were growing and burning with fire, the steaming out of his body was whiter and denser¡­ and the area around it was starting to change. "Yes~! We can finish early thanks to you darling. Umhaaa~." She kissed my cheeks as we saw the terrain before us change. The battle would be interesting now, so¡­ "Let''s get started, dum dum." Wiping the unique sensation from my cheeks, we started the second phase and the actual fight of the end. Chapter 475 An Illusions Domain [OP: ] The domain summoning. A skill that many strong (Purple) ranked creatures possess in simple or unique names. And no, this isn''t domain expansion. It mostly varies a lot from the type, kind, and individuality of the creature, but the general purpose of the skill is to summon, change, or turn the surrounding area into a terrain that''s perfect for them. It could be a ce that they had created in the past or the home they lived in for most of their lives, but when one summoned their domain, they were taking over a certain space around them under their sole control. It was, in true meaning as a skill, only something that energy beasts possessed, or some uniquely strong individuals were able to gain as their branch origin skills. The ones who gained it naturally were held highly in today''s time, but that wasn''t the only domain summoning or domain creation present in today''s time. High mages, very high-ranking knights, deeply devoted priests, and a few unique individuals are able to do something simr, like taking control of a certain space and controlling it. They call it [Control domain], a unique technique that basically works on the same principles as the summoned domain. They are mostly simr but not the same though. The control domain could never bepared to an impable ability like a summoned domain. It''s just phenomenal, like right now¡­ The minotaur was enraged when the strange arrow from Eon destroyed its one and only magical protection skill that took a great pool of energy to activate. It was destroyed in an instant and his wound was also not healed yet. His pride was hurt as it was from the wound, but now that his skill was destroyed before his eyes by some mere bugs, he was even more furious. How dare the tiny insects dare something so daring? Don''t they fear his mighty self?! It was enraged. The red aura covering his dark body grew wildly and spread out all over and the ground beneath his feet started changing. The two of them felt as though the world was changing. A new illusion was being born in this existing illusionary space that was inside an ultimate illusionary space. Its ck body became charcoal ck, eyes bright red, veins bulging all over his solid muscr body and pure red mes of anger burned him and the devastated area all around him. The ground changed and burned with the same fire that was covering his body. The shattered, torn, and craterfull of earth around them started trembling and the ground started rising up. The two of them were expecting something like this and they were ready too, so they vanished from their ces. "Moooooooooooo!" -Kraaaaaaachkt¡­! The mountainous creature roared and his heaven-shaking voice shattered the world, literally shattered as the space with the red sky that was trembling all around them shattered, and a new scenery took its ce. The world that was previously a blue grasnd bathed in the red light of the night was now gone and a ce that resembled a canyon with high walls covering both ends and a river of zing red mes flowing in the middle of these walls. The view was fearful and the creature, the mountainous being, stood alone in the middle of this ce with his giant axe, and a dense vapor wasing out of his body. He was breathing a dense steam of angry fog, and it was clear that everything that touched him, or the fire under him, would just melt down like ice under the summer sun. The temperature here was very high, enough to kill any normal person just by being there. The creature was angry previously, and it had known that just summoning this domain wouldn''t be much of a problem for those persistent peasants that had annoyed him for thest whole hour. And as it had known, the bastards were perfectly fine right now. Smiling down at him from the left side of this valley. They were all the way to the top of the gorge right now, and their calmness was disgusting in his glowing, enraged eyes. "MMHUOOOOOOAAA!" It wasn''t going to tolerate it in his domain anymore. Not that cheeky smirk they gave him asionally. The two were good at running away, but not anymore. Now that this whole ce was under his control, those fucking bastards didn''t even have to right to stand there anymore. -Ooooooooooong! -Swash! Swash! Swash! Swash! Spikes of rock rose from the ground just at the moment when they magically disappeared from their ces. And that moment marked the start for both parties and the spectators. -Swiiiiiiiiiish-KAAAboom¡­! An arrow covered with blue mes came out of nowhere and collided in the same ce that they had marked beforehand. "Take this Mr.moo-moo~!" Her voice echoed in the endless valley when she also appeared out of nowhere, took a lot of turns midair and gathered force at the end of her scythe, sparked a ck me of darkness, and shed the still burning wound! "Muuuuuaaaaaaaa!" It screamed its lungs out and instinctively shed its axe randomly, almost destroying the surrounding walls. There was destruction once again, but it was just starting right now. -Swish! She vanished, and the minotaur swung its axe all around, trying to sense any and all presences around him. The area was now under his control, and he could sense each and all micro-movements. Which was a mistake in this case because Eon had our dear little Celes. He could manipte this kind of high senses or low proficiency domains very easily. It naturally wouldn''t work on some [King] ranked knight or (Elder) mage''s domain, proficient warrior, or not even some higher stage martial artist or the actual strong creatures, but for a mere illusion, this much was more than enough. So, right now, it was receiving too much incorrect sensory information that was ticking its brain and it was perfect against a mad creature of strength and rage. -Shwang! Swang! Swang! It continued swinging its axe all around and the canyon continued falling and getting destroyed. It was surprising to see how that destroyed ce was getting restored in no time at all, but things sure were looking cool. And with the addition of the two of their bright and radiant attacks, things were looking even cooler~. -Swish! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! -Boooooooooooooom! Eon continued changing his ce from the top of the canyon to the left top of the canyon to the area right under where the minotaur was standing and continued using his magic arrows. They were strong, naturally, and they were beautiful too, so they had beauty with strength. -Shwash! Swash! Shwash! "Khekhekhe-muhahahahahaha!" Rein continued using her shadow clones and scythe attacks, movement skills, and magic to anger the minotaur by relentlessly attacking at that same ce, and that cuteugh of hers also continued. She moved from ce to ce by using her air stepping skill and even moved across the giant body of the creature and therge canyon. Her movement patterns were close to impossible to understand and the way she moved in the air and turned her body midair, avoided the critical attacks from the bull, took advantage of all the centrifugal force she created by spinning in circles at that high speed, andbined it with her magic to create attacks so powerful that even a high-grade offensive skill would look childish in front of her simple attacks, was gorgeous. She was flexible¡­ acrobatic, too. Eon sure was a lucky- [[ *He sure is, so don''t think weird stuff and continue your description, bastard.* ]] ¡­ Well, yeah. She was cool and the way she moved was cooler. It made her charming, and it sure was pretty despite the perfect disguise. -Boooooooooooooom! The way he used his spell arrows and normal arrows in those quick sessions was eye-widening for the spectators. He fired three to six normal but lethally enchanted arrows at a time after all, and even for spell arrows, he sometimes used three (tier-3) personal spells at a time, astonishing the mages even further. His archery was impable on its own, but the way he integrated that with his magic was jaw-dropping for both the mages and knights of the dark room. Even their student council president and vice president were speechless. The same was true in the case of magic using scythesman Rein. She even managed to take away the breaths ofdies and old ones, let alone the young and strong men. They also looked incredibly beautiful when they worked together and used their strong, those very, very, very strongbo attacks. Their chemistry¡­ ahh~. They even made the cold-hearted ones feel the warmth and beauty of love and that unquestionably explicit romance. They were unfathomable on their own, but while the two were working together to take down this big one, their teamwork was no less than the epically famous teamwork of those heroic groups who understood and trusted their partners more than their own lives. The two of them also trusted the other more than their own lives, the reason he could unblinkingly shoot an arrow while standing just under the humongous minotaur and trust that he won''t ever be able to hurt even his hair. He already knew she had his back and sides and not even another unknown thinging out of nowhere could hurt him. She was the same as she fearlessly moved even on the nose and horns of the giant creature, mocked him, and only continued attacking that one ce where they had marked before. She didn''t even care about the spikes of rocks relentlessly shooting at her from all around the canyon. She knew he had her covered from all possible directions. Not even a rock was touching her on his watch. The two of them were romantic, and even the spectators couldn''t help that weird feeling as they saw these two fucking bastards having fun while battling with a freaking minotaur! They could die, not actually die-die because this was only an illusion, but they could very well lose or get hurt very badly. It would reflect negatively on their scores ultimately too, so they couldn''t lose. Still, their romantic show of strength and ''flexibility'' was quite something for all of them. It was all like watching some theatre y masterfully written and centered around the two of them. They were having fun, and many scenes were food dropping for them but then there came a moment when Eon shot an arrow that created a giant ball of water above the minotaur and Rein failed tobine her water vortex with his spell¡­ and as a result, both spells just flopped down on the head of the angrily burning minotaur, instantly putting out the fire covering him for some reason. It was strange, but someone just threw water on the face of an angry person, and the result of such noble action¡­ "Oops." "It was my fault. Sorry, darling." ¡­ -Gulp! The audience gulped and the two of them sweated with tension as all activities across the canyon suddenly stopped and the minotaur froze on his spot, still, as if lifeless. They had just fast-forwarded to the third andst stage of the battle by mistake and it was going to be difficult from now on. "MUOOOOOOOOOHAAAAAA!!!" -Ooooooooong! -Shwaaaaaaaaaa! -Boom! Boom! Boom! Berserk. Another thing the minotaurs were famous for. And this time, the one the two of them were facing was the angriest berserk of their lifetime¡­ Chapter 476 Dreadful Minotaur [OP: ] A blue smoke starteding out of the minotaur''s body, the high walls started vanishing, the valley started turning into a rocky hilly area, and¡­ the body of the giant minotaur started shrinking down. The blue smokeing out of his body mostly vanished after the mountainous creature had taken the size of a simple, three-meter-tall creature, and there was a new glowing blue mark on his chest that resembled a key. The monster had used its special skill [Blue key]. A rare ability that appears in a few creatures who have the major characteristics of a (Guardian). It was a skill that they can only use once in a long time and after using that absurd skill, the skill granted them the ability to use any physical skill they understand. This enraged minotaur of ours chose to use something simr to [Strength burning], another rare skill of a guardian. He had be smaller, the area was now a calm rocky ce where they had nowhere to hide, and just bing smaller wasn''t the end. -Boooooooooooooom! -Zazazazazazaza¡­! Pirs of me, notva but just fire, shot out from the holes in the ground. And there was one hole in every other meter of thend now, making the eternity of this rockynd almost like hell. -Zaaaaaaaaaaaa¡­ The fire was shooting up now, a few parts of thend were also shooting up sharp spikes of rocks, the minotaur was still just standing there calmly, and Eon and Rein were looking at him from a very distant ce. They knew from the calmness this ever-angry creature was showing that it had already entered its berserk mode. It was peculiar but different from usual, as when creatures like minotaurs used their berserk skills, they would enter a calm state, think more than their usual self, be calcting about their next actions, and use more of their powerful skills. Both of them were to me for that previous mistake but it had already happened and they can''t change that thing. They could only do something and stall for time until the duration of that absurd blue key ends. There was no freaking way they could deal with the natural physical power of a minotaur in its full form; a smaller form with even greater power was a big no already. Eon knew the duration of such skill was three minutes at best, so they had to do something for at least three minutes¡­ which was almost impossible! It wasn''t only about the berserk, the minotaur before them had just eliminated its biggest weakness: the speed. Its size had gotten smaller too, which directly meant it could now turn and move unlike before his transformation. It was calmer, which meant it could use its skills better than it was able to do before and it also meant that it could use its [Distraction blocking] and [Focal navigation] skills at once, targeting just the two of them and not the other useless things flying around them. It was also going to use all its offensive skills in the time it was in this smaller state and its healing power was increased in this new state, meaning the wound they had worked their ass off to create was already gone now. Their hours of work had gone down the drain and now, there was an almost impossible creature before them that they had to stall for three fucking minutes and still be alright to deal with its ''weakened'' state. "For fuck''s sake¡­" Rein mumbled under her sigh and used her shadow travail skill while holding Eon''s hand. -Swish! They vanished from their ces but this time, it was different from how they reappeared somewhere faraway every time. -Shick¨Cbruuuuuuuuuuuuuuh! They had reappeared somewhere near and Eon was stretching his bowstring at this moment but the previous ce they were standing on had been demolished by a strange red sh of energy. -Swish! -Shick¨Cbruuuuuuuuuuuuuuh! And the two of them vanished from that ce too when Eon had materialized his arrow on the pulled bow string as that ce also fall victim to the wreath of the minotaur. He was using his [Arc of destruction] while calmly standing in his ce. His actions of moving his hand and brandishing his axe in a simple manner were fast but as he was using this skill, the area he shed towards was first illuminated by a sudden ray of light, and then the earth in that straight line was disintegrated by the sudden burst of energy that traveled through that straight line in the shape of an arc. Everything the arc touched just vanished into thin air and that included the mes of the minotaur too. It was strong and it happened two more times, but then Eon finished his spell and another unique arrow was shot toward the creature, an arrow of light this time. It was a special arrow but the minotaur perceived the iing arrow even though it was too fast for spectators and shed the arrow with his red aura-covered axe. -Buzzzzzzzzz! But sadly for him, as Eon wanted, the magic from the arrow was still activated and a bright light blinded not only his vision but also took away all the senses of the creature for a brief moment, rendering him stunned for exactly six seconds. And that much time was enough for the two of them to finish all the preparations for their three-minute-long struggle that would decide the winner of this fight¡­ -Swish! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! Eon and Rein were going to attack the creature from different angles to divide its attention and have the best effect of their new n. They knew things would be the same even then and they would be pushed back the same but they only had this one chance. Their n this time was to skip to the ending part of their n directly but that was it. There was no borate exnation of how the two of them would do what they were going to do. But they trusted the other and had deep faith that things would be alright. So, Eon was on the left end, and Rein was on the right side. The creature was in the middle and it was still calm, but his enraged eyes were ncing at the two of them one by one. They had be sharp like some predator bird and it was as if the minotaur was making judgments based on their current situation. It knew the boy would use long-range attacks and the girl would attack from a distance and now that they had separated from each other, there was no way they would be able to protect the other one. So, it chose the boy and moved from its ce at a speed that wasn''t fathomable even to the spectators. -Shwash! It closed in in an instant and stood before the boy with his axe shing down at him, ready to sh the little insect in two. -Bong! -Booooooooooom! But even before the axe could touch him, he had vanished from his ce, and the axe only managed to sh the afterimage he had left behind. The increased force behind his axe also shattered everything around him and created not a crater but a freaking pond size hole in the ground. The axe edge had also created a deep crack in the ground but still, the thing that happened after his attack was the more surpassing one. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! An arrow came from the very left side from where he was standing at an rming speed and straight up passed from a distinct green spot on his left leg. The minotaur had gotten smaller but that was at the cost of his unbelievable defensive abilities. It was easier for them to hurt him now but that easier still didn''t mean a single arrow could dig a hole in his skin. The hole was created to be the special enchanted arrow that Eon had used this time. And that was one of the arrows that he had brought from his forest home tower. That shit was strong and right now¡­ there were sparks of white shing in his eyes, signifying the advent of a very unique ability only a few of them possessed and everyone knew about. Yes, the zone. He was in the [ZONE] right now and Rein was the same as when the arrow of wind had dug a hole in his strong skin, which healed in a blink of an eye of course, she vanished from her ce, got before the bull with pink sparks in her eyes, shed at the same spot that had healed just now with her unique bloody red aura covering her scythe, and slipped away from the area that the minotaur suddenly covered with sharp spikes while dancing, and vanished from the area. Both of them knew they were no match for the bull in a game of strength and the bull also knew even with his enhanced new gained speed the two of them were faster than him. This one interaction was expected to the smart berserk creature and it also grasped the new hit-and-run strategy of the two peasants. So, when Eon was visible to him again, even with his ZONE boost, the creature used his [Earth-fire sovereignty], blocked all possible reappearing points, erected a few burning walls that they can''t climb while in a high-speedbat, and even activated his some of the strongest but costly skill [Magic nullification]. It was smarter than Eon expected¡­ or should we say the headmaster''s magic was more special and better than they had predicted? Eon was in the ZONE and his thinking, processing power, cognition, and recovery rate had increased drastically. But still, now neither his enchanted arrows nor the magic ones were having that great of an effect on the creature. But Eon continued using them and Rein also continued using her physical attacks to injure that marked spot. They were near the end. They knew it when the creature had used almost every skill it possessed. The end was near and all three of them knew it but the fight of thest three minutes seemed like a fight of eternity to all parties involved. Things were first going well at the start with Eon''s ranged and Rein''s close proximity attacks but after that, the minotaur started pushing back with his absurd strength. The two of them managed to avoid its attacks thanks to their ZONE boosts but when it seemed that the minotaur was about to push backpletely¡­ it made a mistake. [[ "Ouch! That hurt!" ]] [[ "What happe-..." ]] Eon nced at her when she reappeared on the very opposite side from him and saw the small cut that must have appeared because of the wind current from the minotaur''s axe attack. After more than a few hours of long tedious fight, it finally managed to hurt one of these shit peasants. There was a pleased smirk on his face right now and a stark contrast of that¡­ [[ "Eon¡­?" ]] There was a dark stoic expression on his face. An expression so stoic and sharp that neither the witch of blizzard nor that crazy slime tamer would ever evene close to this deadly expression. For the first time since the examination started, they were seeing this expression from him for the first time. And even some of the spectators felt a weirdly dark feeling as they saw him. "You made a mistake, dear illusionary minotaur." He mumbled in a low voice that strangely reverberated around the surrounding area. "You made a mistake." The world strangely froze, everything stopped, a grave pressure suddenly dominated all the space and Rein shook her head with a sigh and a helpless smile on her face. She knew this was the end and it was time for her to deal the final blow. She knew they had won this long, fucked up battle at this moment. After all¡­ there was no way this little minotaur could ever resist her darling''s silver eyes. Chapter 477 Death Of The Boss Eon and Rein. The two of them were in a disguise. It should generally mean the two of them were trying to hide their powers. It was normal that they would want to conceal their powers if they wanted toy low and have a quiet, fun time at the academy. They were also hoping to hide as many powers as they can while being in the student council and their goal was to finish this entrance exam while showing only fifty percent or less of their powers. It was a good and surely usible n until the moment they made that bet to get more points andtere to this ce while lusting after the core that made this whole ce. Eon knew if he took away the core of the ind, the magic would disappear and the children might get hurt. It would be difficult but he wanted that core and for that, he would have to defeat the guardian. And Rein was getting bored so she just wanted to have fun. Everything was fine and all until their n almost failed and the creature before them entered itsst stage and it became difficult to deal with it. Still, both of them knew that they were strong enough to defeat it if they worked properly. They knew that and were working on that but then the minotaur wounded Rein lightly, and Eon didn''t like it. It was childish but he was angry not because the creature wounded Rein but because the creature that wasn''t even real was able to hurt her. He was angry at himself for not being able to strong enough to allow such a thing and that anger was directed toward the one who hurt his beloved fiancee. She understood that much so she just took a step back and started preparing for her finishing move while Eon was ring down at the insane creature that had managed to hurt her. He was using the third ability of his [Three eyes], the silver eyes of domination. His eyes were glowing silver but it was visually a different silver from the one she was used to. He was in a disguise and it meant he had to conceal most of his abilities that told the world that he was the very, very, famous young nobleman Axion that had run away with his fianc¨¦e. He can''t reveal the color of his Aura and he also can''t use his distinct Solnova. He also had to conceal his special abilities that the world knew about. So he was doing that hiding the ability thing right now and the color of his eyes was metallic silver and not the pure silver that it usually is while using his ability. His hair also didn''t shine like bright gold and just stayed ck¡­ Celes sure was far more amazing than anyone can think. So, Eon was using his silver eyes right now and the effect of this ability was known to the people who were present when they fought with that evil spirit in its tomb. The area around them was dominated by a strangely dense pressure, the minotaur, the illusion with little intelligence, was feeling a primordial fear, the activities had stopped all around them, and in this frozen time, the minotaur was just looking at the boy with dreadful silver eyes before him, with his entire body covered in a cold sweat. It was an illusion so such skills shouldn''t work on it. But for some unfathomable reason, it was happening right now. It was fearful and was trying to gather its strength and keep itself up. But its left leg, the one marked with that green arrow from the start of their battle, the same one that had been damaged and healed countless times in their battle, had be too weak to handle its weight under that immense pleasure. It was shaking under fear and then, when it became too much, the leg gave up, and the big minotaur fell back on his tail. Its red eyes shook with fear, the mes of fear had already vanished, and even its nostrils were fluttering at this moment. It was on the ground and then¡­ -Ooooooooooong! -nk! Shank! nk! Pure ck chains came out of the ground and bounded the creature, pinning it down in its ce. They were Rein''s chains and right now, she was dancing behind Eon. It was a unique dance, the footwork of her unique scythe technique would be a better thing to describe it but it sure had a lot of rotations in this footwork. She was practically a spinning top right now. Not the top-bottom one but the toy top. Not that toy! Simple toy top! It was quick too. So much so that the scythe she was holding was strangely glowing with a weird ck light. She looked¡­ strange while doing that but that strange was also just as beautiful as her other aspects. It was cool and Eon was having a headache. It was difficult for him to maintain those eyes but, well, it was better than the previous years when he would have to take a drop of mind-healing tears after using these silver eyes for just a while. He can do it for much longer now that he was stronger but still, a minute was his limit. The power of this ability increased far more as he grew after all. Well, he was fine as he used it and looked at the creature with that angry gaze. He was angry and he knew the creature was now done for. It was the end¡­ -Zoooooooooooooooo! Rein finished her dance, a strange purple wave of Mana covered her body, the scythe glowed with a stronger purple color and as that happened, when looking closely, one could see the strangest particles of lighting out of that good artifact. It was easy to guess that the weapon was disintegrating and the strange ck light was the only possible reason the spectators could think. It was intriguing but they all were already mesmerized by the dance that she had shown and the strange ability the boy had shown. Both of them were peculiar and Rein was ready¡­ -Zup. Zup. Zup. Zup. She took thest of her turns, infused her bloody red aura in that pitch ck Mana-covered scythe, adjusted her angle, and gathered all the energy generated from her dance, and when everything was in ce, including the minotaur that was chained by the night ck chains and was looking at Eon with those still dreadful eyes. It looked miserable but there was no need to show any pity to the creature that had hurt her. So, Eon also increased the force of his silver eyes, made the trembling creature dead still, and gave his final signal while saying a single word ''now'' through their connections. Rein smiled with excitement and with ast look at the giant creature¡­ she released the grip from her scythe. -Shiiim! She was spinning like a top just a moment before and then she released the scythe that she was spinning for that long moment. The force it had gathered was out of the norm on its own but that wasn''t all. The magic infused in it and the way it had been prepared with her special scythe technique was also something that made the weapon far more deadly than it could ever be. The great energy she had infused in the scythe and the strange but unique way she moved turned the scythe into an unimaginable power. She would have to lose a good weapon but she had plenty of simr ones. She was happy she could perform her special scythe dance, the death scythe''s third unleash: Reaper. It was a technique that was created to kill the target, and this time too, it was unleashed for killing the target. The scythe was released at a very high speed from her hands, too fast that even Eon admired it, and as the ck thing spun at that speed, became a straight line instead of the spinning scythe, and passed through the space, it cut everything in its path, including the space and illusion, and reached the minotaur even before the blink of an eye. It was just too fast even for the headmaster and when that blinking moment finished, all that they all saw, all that was recorded in the eyes of the spectators, was the headless minotaur, and the head that was still flying in the air. They all didn''t see it but the pure horror in the eyes of that illusion when it saw the scythebining at him was so deep and dark that the demons would have loved to devour that moment but Eon who was already looking at it saw that emotion clearly. It was strange that an illusion would show something like that and that just showed just how great the headmaster and his special magic were. He had mastered the illusion series of magic and it was his specialty and the moment he saw that ''emotion'' from an illusion, Eon was impressed to his core. He found it genuinely fascinating and that increased the respect he had for that fucking crazy bastard. Well, he will probably be like that forever, and they will have to deal with him for a freaking three years. More actually, but they didn''t know that for now. Anyway¡­ it was the end for the Minotaur and a fountain of blood gushed out of the giant body that was nowying on the ground without its head. The head actually vanished when it was in the air but the bloody fountain was now creating a rain of blood and both Rein and Eon were being bathed in the thick fluid of the giant mortal body. The scene right now was truly too graphic to describe but the cool thing in this area with blood raining from a giant creature''s corpse in the middle of nowhere was definitely¡­ "Hahahaha~!" An evil witchlyughter of pure ecstasy dominated the area as Eon looked at his cutelyughing fianc¨¦e with warm eyes. She sure looked adorable while covered in that hot red illusionary blood. It was cool but the fun was momentary as¡­ after a few moments of this unique rain, everything started vanishing into fine particles of colorful lights. Everything was vanishing from the surrounding area aside from the two of them, and a new ce was materializing before them. They had fought for the whole night if they had to say and on the ind, at least fifteen or so hours had passed for sure. The second phase of the battle was the longest where they had to fight the creature in his own domain and even if it might have seemed short for us, it was a struggle that couldn''t be put into proper words. They had worked hard¡­ so, it was time for the reward that he hade into this dungeon for. The new ce that was materializing before them was their treasure room but as this materializing was progressing and Rein wasughing merrily, they heard a very melodious but unpleasant voice. "Hohoho! Hello, you two~! Looks like you had quite the fun with my little Minotaur." ''The headmaster¡­ was this bastard here now?'' Even spectators seeing all this had the same question right now. Chapter 478 The Core [OP: ] It had been a long time since all of them were thrown on this strange ind. It was, at the very least, clear to most of the normal examinees that the ind was real and they would have to survive here for the stated time or jump off the ind if they really do not want to be there for any reason. They had a choice and their choice in this matter wasn''t going to affect their exam results in any way. They were free to do whatever they want and, they acutely didn''t know that, but anyone who was mentally strong enough to jump off the ind for any reason was definitely a well-qualified student for their academy. They would get a passing grade for that great stunt and probably a good score from some of the examiners too. It was no easy task to ovee a primordial fear like the natural fear of hight. Death would be the second thing they would experience if they jump off from that high of a ce. The fear as they experience that absurd free-fall, that fluctuating air pressure, the winds as they pass through the clouds, and the mind that would constantly remind them what would happen when their bodies would hit the ground would be more hellish torture than a simple death. It was difficult and that''s why there was no one on the ind that did that absurd thing on the first day of their exam¡­ but on the second day, a very unexpected person initiated a chain reaction that gave the students courage to fight against their fear of hight. They all knew that they wouldn''t die here. They were the responsibility of the academy as long as they were giving the entrance exam after all. So they wouldn''t die. Getting hurt was part of everyday life for most of them so that much was far more weed than the continuous harassment of the upper-ss nobles, the monsters from the forest that had started invading the sandy outskirts from the second day, and theck of food and drinking water. Many of the nobles and even the normal young adults on that ind would rather die than beg for food and water from the bastard nobles who had the food or ept the sincere mercy of the ''good'' people. They would rather starve, get their own food, or¡­ now they had a new option that solved almost everything. They could just give up and jump off the sky ind that would probably transport them to the airships that they were on before they threw them on this wretched ce. It was easy and the one who started this was the great prodigy and master of any field he entered, the wizard of enchanting waters, Hide. He didn''t like his original name Qin Fa Shen but he surely was an interesting character. He was fooling around for the whole first day with gorgeous girls anddies and when he was bored from the scene of forest and sandy outskirts, he said his goodbyes to thedies who stayed there and jumped off the ind with those who wanted to go out with him. He was quite the detestable person but to many of them there, he was an inspiration¡­ so they followed their inspiration and jumped off on the second day. Some of them would pass while some would just fail for their in foolishness and no big or interesting achievements. Some of them were fools and some were gems among them and the expert graders would clearly pick out every hidden gem from the corroding piece of rock. But that were them¡­ as for the other prodigies on the ind, it was a battle against time and theirpetitors. They were there to get a high score and not just pass like that wizard who jumped off the ind and created a wave of change. His actions might also put him on the rankings but that wasn''t going to be anywhere near the ones who actually got inside the forest, roamed the ce, fought and defeated the creatures, and found the treasures that added more points to their totals. They had struggled and their struggles would surely be rewarded when they reached the academy. There were some really interesting ones this year that astonished all the examiners. The general ones and also the ones who observed the student council members had seen some really new things today. The shocking ones were more than the previous records. This batch was in general very intriguing and the reason for that wasn''t just the twelve prodigies but also the new stars that shined on the ind for the first time today. They were quite interesting for all the spectators and their actions were as astonishing as the prodigies. The examiners termed them the [Nine raising stars]. And be it the boy who escorted the youngdy of Heliox and the youngest prince of the Roxana, or the normal girl that extorted money from the young nobles with her unique cooking, or the strangely strong elf elemental archer, they all were good enough to be put on the same level as the world recognized prodigies. Still, they all were good and the third day was already half finished so, they all only had to endure for a bit longer and they would be free~! They were looking forward to finishing that damned test and going to their room and resting on thefortable beds of their rooms but¡­ the miserable survivors wouldn''t have to wait for that long anymore thanks to the tremendous efforts of two certain people. They had worked hard to achieve their own selfish goals and were now almost before their rewards but before they tasted the sweet fruits of their efforts, they had to deal with the person that made this whole ind they were on. ¡­ "Hello to you too, headmaster Merlin." Eon, as always, greeted him respectfully and bowed a little while Rein just gave him her usual unpleasant look and clicked her tongue. "What are you here for, bastard? We earned this¡­ my darling earned this so don''t even think of saying something funny." She warned with a serious look and that just put a smile on their headmaster''s pretty face. The ce that materialized around them was a small-dark empty room with only a simple-looking ball of light glowing in the center of a ce that resembled a magic circle. The whole room was empty with only six pirs around this ball of light and there was also a unique magic circle on each of these pirs. It was a nice, small, ce and it looked normal in most spectrums of light but in the eyes of the two of them, this was a world far different from what any one of the spectators could ever fathom. In their eyes, the room was filled with colors and rays of light so gorgeous that it reminded them of the first time they saw the spirit cluster in Eon''s garden. It was simply gorgeous and even Eon admired it. The core that looked simple in its usual state was especially pretty in their eyes. It was cool, but the presence of the headmaster before them was hindering them from admiring that astonishing work of his. And he was smiling with his ''normal'' smile right now, irritating Rein even more. "Haha. How could I ever do that, deardy? I was just mesmerized by your mind-blowing performance that I couldn''t help but rush here as quickly as I could~." He was smirking like his usual self but there was definitely truth behind those words so she didn''t react much to his words and just looked at the smile Eon gave her. She understood his words from that and left everything up to him. "Oh, dear headmaster," Eon said with a pure smile, and the smile on the headmaster''s face started going down. "I know that is another illusion and you are away from here. It must be some important work that you are doing but do not worry. Just fast forward and finish the exam and tell the general spectators that something came up and you had to finish things early. From what I believe, they must have finished the general grading and just the calctions of the bonuses and the stuff should be left. They can finish it quickly anyway so things shouldn''t be difficult. So¡­ just go back, finish the exam, tell them something eptable, and empty the ind. We will be back on the boat without a problem so everything''s ok, right?" He smiled at him with a ''calm smile'' but in the eyes of the headmaster before them, it was less than a smile of the devil. He liked the boy a lot more than most of the things in the world but that smile of his still wasn''t something he could go against even now. And that girl beside him was still ring daggers into him which was so bad that he was feeling the spine-freezing sensations in his real body right now. So, he just helplessly nodded and vanished from the ce, changed the time and the people on the ind didn''t actually notice anything, told the examiners something and they all epted things without any question and at the end, when the fourth sun rose on the sky ind, the lovely examinees finally finished their hellish exam. Then the headmaster came back, shook his head with a helpless smile at the two''s smiling faces, and gave hisst smile to the two of them. "It was fun watching you two and all of them. There are some interesting ones and I know you two must have already found some interesting ones that even I do not know about. I''m looking forward to seeing you two but from the looks of things, I don''t think I will be done here for at least today. Don''t worry though. I will make sure to finish things here quickly and give my speech at tomorrow''s inauguration. It was fun and again¡­" he started vanishing and there was a true warm smile on his face. "You two sure are as surprising as ever." He waved his hand and vanished from the small room and the two of them nodded with a smile. They also knew him and respected him but still, his nature would always be unpleasant to her and difficult to predict for Eon. At the very least though¡­ their entrance exam had finished at this point and the ball of light, the solid core under this light, and the corer magic circle sustaining this whole structure were now free for him to own. What he did with that thing would be interesting to see for the headmaster too if he ever got to actually see it but for now¡­ "Alright." Eon took a deep breath and stood before the ball of light with his hand stretched out. Rein was smiling at him, the whole giant sky ind above them was empty now, and so, it was safe to destroy the whole structure with everything on it¡­ And for that, he just called forth his amazing unique storage skill that many of you still make fun of. "Origin skill¡­ White crack." Chapter 479 After Exams [Eon''s POV: ] As soon as I used my white crack skill, the ever same white-colored crack with an unfathomable depth appeared on the other side of the gorgeous core before me. It looked nice and that much was a fact as the Aether particles that were visible to the two of us thanks to our amazing eyes, as well as the Mana, Aura, Arcana, and other natural energies in the atmosphere that were influenced by the presence of that strong Aether and five attribute pure Mana making that small ball of condensed-materialized Aether inside this light was quite attractive. But, its practical use was more than the pretty appearance. -Oooooooooooong! ''And they could have just used it as some simple power core if I didn''t take it anyway. It''s better to use it to test some potential [Lightshade] members rather than waste it for some trivial things like that.'' So, I just extended my hand and lightly touched the light before me. -Gulup! The white crack was already open before me so it was as easy as always to store something inside it. ''This absurd skill can gulp down the spells so this spell-carved Aether core is nothing more than a good meal.'' The core was slightly pushed back from my touch and after that, the strange white light inside the crack sucked in the core in an instant. It was easy and quite fun actually. I just achieved my goal for this exam so it felt really fulfilling~. "Finished?" Rein asked with a joyous face as she saw the core vanish from its ce and the beautiful lights inside the room slowly scatter in the atmosphere. She was happy and the smile on her alluring face was as gorgeous as ever. She was happy that we got something so valuable but even more because I got something that I wanted. I was happy so¡­ she was even happier. There were few things that caught my eye after all, so she tried her best so that I could have them or she could prevent me from having them. ''She''s a bad-bad girl after all. She likes to steal the things that I want and then demand some coins in exchange for those things.'' Then use those very coins to make me do stuff that even she knew I didn''t like much. I was probably lucky this time around. She knew she couldn''t have this core and store it anywhere to carry it with her. It wasn''t possible for one to store a nucleus of this scale in some storage device or weak storage skill after all. One would need a special device or skill for this and having a skill like my white crack was also a plus point for me. I would get a little bit more bonus points with this too so it was even more satisfying~! "Yup. Thank you very much dear~." Walking close to her, I hugged her, gave her a light kiss, and grabbed her hand. "Let''s go quickly," I said. "The ind must have started vanishing. We would have to use a lot more energy and fly all the way to ships if we don''t leave now." It was a fact¡­ and yeah. I knew the consequences of taking away the core of an entire operating magic system. And in this situation, it was an illusion magic ind with many normal people on it. If not for Rein and her teleportation skill, I wouldn''t have considered the option of taking away the core today but, we had Rein and there was a yful smirk on her face right now. "Let''s fall," she suggested with squinted eyes and curved lips, actually meaning what she just said. ''Oh, great nature¡­'' "Rein I-" [[ Sister Elle~!? You just finished your big fight and now you want to use more energy for something like that~?! Master is exhausted from all that! If you don''t go back right now, I will tell little Anna about this one~!! ]] [[ "Thanks Celes! You are the best~!" ]] Rein looked at me with a sad face now, her eyes full of displeasure at that cute-sounding serious threat from my good partner. She said it well and thanks to her, I just saved a good amount of energy and probably a coin that I would have had to use to order her to go back. "Tsk." She clicked her tongue and gave me a displeased look. She also knew we couldn''t do what she had genuinely suggested but she just gave up on something precious like that core, there was no way she would be satisfied without any reward¡­ "It''s only been two hours and forty-two minutes since the exam started, so we should have around two more hours before we reach the academy ind. So until then¡­ we are ying." -Swish! We vanished from that dark room-like ce which had also started disintegrating and reappeared inside my previous room on the airship that we had been assigned before. I already checked with Celes''s clones and there were no changes with the amodations but there sure were many new things in ours as well as the other ships that were now sailing through the sky in that same synchronized order as before. The decks of the ships that were previously empty were now filled with the students who were still intrigued over what had just happened. Some had now grasped that the things that they all experienced were unique and only around three hours had passed since the start of the exam. Some of them were recovering from the aftereffects of experiencing that weird time difference and sudden motion sickness. The ones who had followed Hide''s footsteps and jumped off the ind were already enjoying their meals or were resting in thefortable beds of their rooms. Some of them would pass and some might not but even I couldn''t urately guess who would pass and who wouldn''t. The one thing I could urately say though would be that we all, and by we I mean the ones who actually put any conscious effort into this exam, did a very good job. It was after a long time that the entrance exam was taken on a sky ind in the sky like this but people didn''t fall into a chaotic state of fear or were sozy that they practically did nothing like Hide. The batch this time was full of some of the best people and these kinds of weird coincidences weren''t just some weird coincidences anymore. Things were pointing at something that would happen in the future but right now¡­ the one thing that most of them were pointing at was the distant sky ind that was still visible to all of them on the deck. The megastructure was slowly vanishing into fine particles of colorful light and most of them guessed that the entire ind was made with magic from that much. And if one put more thought behind that thought, they might be able to link it to their world-famous headmaster who specialized in illusion magic. From what I was able to see with my third eye, some did seem to notice that the ind that all of them were thinking was a real hell hole, was actually nothing more than an illusion. Some of them might actively be able to conclude that it was an ind made of the headmaster''s magic and that the illusionary creatures on the ind were all just like any real monsters. After learning this new theory, some were surprised and some were outright cursing him openly. Some of them were receiving professional help right now from the staff and doctors on the deck too, but that was it. They had just finished their exam and though it was less than three days of real-time, the potent magic from the headmaster directly affected their minds. Unlike Rein who perceived the flow of time normally, and me who could tell most of the things about the spaces I was in thanks to my unique physical structure, they had no natural abnormality like us. For them, actual three days had passed and many of them had not eaten anything for three days so, they were also receiving help from either the docs or the waiters and personal chefs of the dining halls. Their exam just ended so many individuals and groups were celebrating and the cheerful atmosphere as our ships sailed further away from the ind continued rising in a weirdly unique way. Probably it was another one of the headmaster''s doings but I didn''t have the freedom to think of things like them right now. -Thud. She pushed me onto the bed and looked down at me from there with a dangerous smirk on her face. I knew what she was thinking but that wasn''t something great enough for everyone to hear. We couldn''t go beyond kissing until the marriage anyway so shoo-shoo now. Go look at something else¡­ Let us have our little fun until we reach the great ind of magic''s wealth, the well-known academy ind. It was going to be a new chapter in our lives and it was going to be fun~! It was a cool ce and we will be given our [House] by the famous ancient tree there, so all of us were looking forward to that, but for now¡­ I was going to enjoy this moment and prepare myself, and thisdy of mine, for the results that might turn out to be a little different from what we all might have imagined. Chapter 480 Results And Rankings [ OP: ] The exams had ended and after a while, it was time for their results. Everyone was either eating or resting by this point or was recovering from whatever mental or physical injuries they had received on the ind. Everyone was fine though and all were excited about their results and were looking forward to it. There had been an announcement a while ago that their results would be released in a while and that they can collect the envelope containing their grades and the results from the receptions in the inner lobby. They also said that the names and scores of the top hundred out of all the passing students would be shown on the giant inner announcement boards of all the ships. Everyone was excited and had gathered in the inner lobby for that and even Ca, Alf, Zoe, prince Alph, and Chry who stood around each other were excited about the results. Almost everyone was there, and it was amazing that this open area of the airship was able to hold these hundreds and thousands of people at once. It was good but the people here couldn''t see some of the famous faces or the familiar faces that they hoped to see. The most famous prince of the Roxana empire, prince Cloudious wasn''t there. And the same could be said for most of the twelve prodigies. There were many famous faces here that they didn''t know were also on their ships so things were even more exciting. It was fun and all but Eon and Rein were also among the people absent from this hall room. Ca and all were looking around to find the two but sadly for them, the two were having tea in Rein''s room right now. Their names weren''t going to be on this list so they had no great interest in this small event. These results and grades didn''t mean much anyway. And if their names were going to be there with their scores, the staff might get into trouble because of the certain difference between them and whoever the first ce would be among these people. So they were in their rooms right now, waiting for their individual results. Just like all of them, they had received instructions to stay in their rooms and the map containing scores was soon going to be revealed so, the student council members were also excitedly waiting in their rooms or in the rooms of their partners. Rein and Eon weren''t the only couple or group in the student council after all. The trick that the headmaster yed on the two of them also naturally worked on a few more. So that was them and most of them were looking forward to the scores. They would soon reach the academy ind and they were given a small summary of the things that would happen after they reached there. It was mostly simple. They would receive their grades and points now and these points they get in this exam would be added to their [Wealth] points. As they already knew, the great academy of hope only worked on the global currencies and these wealth points were exclusive money of the ind of magic''s wealth. One could purchase almost anything with these points on the ind but the conversion fees to convert other money to this certain currency were one of the most absurd charges in the world. The conversion was difficult and so was obtaining it through fair means. And that was the reason having more was always good. Anyway, that was unnecessary information for now. They all would be assigned dormitories and if they didn''t wish to stay in one, they had full freedom to get their own amodations anywhere around the academy. The academy didn''t mind where they were staying but it waspulsory for them to have at least seventy percent attendance to all of their chosen subjects and fifty percent to the general subjects. In their three years of the academy, they had six subjects every year they all had inmon, but they had the freedom of choosing six personal subjects from the long list full of numerous courses that had different difficulty levels. Anyone can choose any subject but they sure would have to live through it throughout that year so the decision was a difficult thing in this matter. But most people just chose the subjects that they liked or were most suitable for them. At the end of the day, they had to score in their chosen subjects too so they had to be careful of what they chose. The process of changing the chosen subjects midway was very tedious so it wasmon knowledge that one must choose the six yearly subjects very carefully. Most of the people here knew that but for those who did not, the announcement was a great help to them. Aside from that, they were also told some basic things about the ''houses'', the special groups that were somewhat simr concepts to a certain, very famous novel series that everyone must have heard about. People were excitedly looking forward to seeing the famous ancient tree of the academy that assigned everyone their special houses but that excitement was smallpared to the excitement they all had as the giant blue magic screen in the middle of the room turned on. It was time for their exam results and the rankings were getting updated on the screens. The judgment criteria of the exam were unique and no one actually knew how they all graded them so the chances of someone who had done absolutely nothing great in all their time during the exam getting a ranking score wasn''t low in this scenario. There had been incidents where themon and normal students got high scores so many people stalled their hearts, joined their hands, prayed for a miracle like that, and looked at the list that was now open for every one of them on all of those airships. There were exactly one hundred names on the giant screens and a hundred names were the same throughout the nine airships. And yeah, there were only names. The main first names of the students and not their full names or names with their middle andst names. In the academy, you were just yourself and nothing much. Status, social standing, rank, family, background¡­ those things didn''t matter in a ce that had educated even the emperors and some of the strongest people in the world. You were just yourself here, and everyone had no choice but just ept that fact. It didn''t mean there won''t be any kind of hierarchy or rankings or standings in the academy anyway. Strength and money were the greatest factors that separated one individual from another in this academy. There were going to be groups, and standings, one above the other, and all of that would start with these rankings before them¡­ "As expected." "I knew it! He is the greatest!" "Tsk. I''m not there¡­" "Ohh! Hey! Hey! Look! There they are! All on the rankings!" "Hmmm¡­ who is this Cheris guy? How is he sixth on the rankings?" "Shit! You are higher than me this time¡­" "Hmm? Is there something wrong with the ranking? Who are all these people? Who is this¡­ Chrysis? And how the heck did that useless prince get thirty-ninth in the ranking?" "Zoe? As in Zoe from the Heliox?" "Yes~! Our princess is better than their princess~!!" "Brother! Brother! I''m on the rankings! No! I don''t know but I''m somehow on the rankings~!" "Haaa¡­ let''s try harder in the first midterms." "Heh? Why am I so high when I didn''t even do anything?" There were diverse reactions as they saw the rankings and this sure was a unique sight to see¡­ ============ #1 [udius: A+++: 999 Pt.] #2 [Ca: A+++: 996 Pt.] #3 [Alfred: A+++: 990 Pt.] #4 [Isabe: A+++: 987 Pt.] #5 [Gabriel: A+++: 978 Pt.] #6 [Chrysis: A+++: 975 Pt.] #7 [Deleon: A+++: 960 Pt.] #8 [Mia: A+++: 950 Pt.] #9 [Newtine: A+++: 930 Pt.] #10 [Luna: A+++: 921 Pt.] #11 [Xlor: A+++: 903 Pt.] #12 [J: A+++: 900 Pt.] #13 [Drowslotm: A+++: 888 Pt.] ¡­ #36 [Alpheus: A++: 669 Pt.] ¡­ #45 [Zoe: A++: 633 Pt.] ¡­ #87 [Lizzy: A+: 561 Pt.] ¡­ #96 [Hide: A+: 531Pt.] ¡­ #100 [Ginger: A+: 501 Pt.] ============ It sure was a surprise to all of them but just like the unique reactions all of them had from seeing this list, the same was true for those student council members who were watching the blue magic screen that had materialized in the middle of their rooms. It was simr to the one the students outside were seeing but instead of their names, the screen with the photo of the map that they all saw before the exam was beside a list of the thirty areas the ind was divided into. Instead of names, the areas that each one of those thirty people might have administered was on this ranking list, and beside them were their scores. Rein was excited to see these results but as soon as she actually saw them, the smile on her face vanished. Most of the list was just as she had thought but there was a slight variation to the actual results from what she had predicted, and when she looked at Eon''s calm expression, she knew this bastard already knew something like this might happen. She was sad but still, she was calm and epted the situation and put her face down with puffed cheeks and a sad look. He knew he would have difficulty soothing that adorable sad face but still, this was a result that he was only half sure about. It was sad but, well, it was what it was and they couldn''t do anything about this. The one who beat Rein and got second ce was one of the unique ones that Eon was keeping a close watch on from the start of the exam and he certainly surprised even him with some of the things that he did. He was a unique one so yeah¡­ the results before them were mostly within his predictions. ============ #1 [Area 12: 10,341 Pt.] #2 [Area 30: 6687 Pt.] #3 [Area 15: 6684 Pt.] #4 [Area 11: 2034 Pt.] #5 [Area 16: 2013 Pt.] #6 [Area 3: 2007 Pt.] #7 [Area 1: 2006 Pt.] #8 [Area 19: 1806 Pt.] #9 [Area 22: 1798 Pt.] ¡­ ============ ''Yup. Just the way I thought.'' He sighed lightly and nodded at the screen with no great joy. He won their bet and won two coins from her and lost his bet in that minotaur dungeon and gave her two coins, so he didn''t actually get much from this entrance exam aside from the experience, fun, that core, and the fun opportunity to soothe his sulking fianc¨¦e. It was a great time and all but he was also sad that she fell behind that bastard who used different means to guard his assigned area and gain the hidden treasures on the ind. He used things, people, surroundings, and even illusory monsters, to get what he wanted. He didn''t get that score with pure strength and fitness like Rein so there was nothing for her to be sad about. Yes, that person was strong and did his best and all but¡­ Rein didn''t even show half of what amazing things she could do. He won this time but she will win in the actualpetition during their midterms. He knew she will so, as the actual sky ind, the great ind of magic''s wealth and on it, the greatest academy of the world, the grand academy of hope, became visible on the horizon before the nine flying airships, the students who passed their exams prepared their hearts for what was toe and all of our focal characters looked forward to the new lives and special events that would start as soon as they pass through the gates of their new school¡­ Chapter 481 Island Of Magic’s Wealth [Eon''s POV: ] ''Now this is the real sky ind¡­'' We all stood on the decks of our ships and looked ahead as the massivendmass suspended in the sky became visible at some distance away. Everyone gasped as they saw the majestic ce and the great, unexpected beauty of all the magical structures in that ce. For those who were seeing the ind for the first time, this was a ce full of magic and some worldly phenomena. We were close so we could see most of the ind in front of us and even from only this front view, it was undeniably a massive ce with many colossal structures on it. It was an ethereal ce. A ce so full of wonders, beauty, and danger that even to many of the students who would be spending a great deal of time on this uniquendmass, this ce seemed out of reach, and to a few, it might even seem too grand for someone like them to stay on. ''They will get used to it though. People change every day when they are on this ind¡­ or so they say.'' At the heart of the sky ind stood a giant castle, a magnificent structure that towered over thendscape before us. It was tall, grand, broad, vast, and much more. It covered a third of the ind after all. That castle¡­ it was the ce where we all will spend most of our time for the next three years. The grand academy of hope. It was big, and more than that, it was so tall it seemed to pierce the sky itself. "That thing¡­" Rein gripped my hand as she looked at the tip of the castle that was barely visible to us thanks to the bright light shining at the top of it. I knew if someone aside from me among the students is able to see the true form of that light, it would be this pretty girl beside me. [[ "The [Source] that is said to exist there from the birth of this great institution. Looks gorgeous, right?" ]] She looked at me with big eyes and nodded like an impressed child. She had lived a long life but in those many years, she had only been to wars on the continent or had roamed around the ces. Not just anyone could be on this ind after all. So even for the two of us, this was the first time we were seeing this amazing ind, and that gorgeous academy castle. ''Still, the things the two of us know about this ce, especially me, are even more than probably the teachers that had been a part of the academy for hundreds of years...'' And though bad sounding, the two of us were gifted with a very unique ability to see things that others might not be able to ever even fathom during their lives. Just like right now¡­ everyone here was looking at the academy castle and the bright light glowing at the top of it but only we could truly see the beauty, the ethereal ecstasy that small light possessed. It wasn''t just some light, it was the light from the source that was powering most of the systems, magics, barriers, and facilities that were part of this academy. It looked more phenomenal than the Aether core that we got during the exam in that room. For us, the simple yellow or white light was a mix of all existing colors. Something so ineffably attractive that even I couldn''t help butpare it to the image of my master''s true form that was still as fresh as ever in my mind. Beingpared to her would be the second greatestpliment something or someone could ever receive from me but that thing at the top definitely deserved it. ''And considering how it was made after the long,bined efforts of all the original [< Masters >], it definitely deserves that much praise¡­'' Anyway, the ind looked amazing and now¡­ we were about tond. The nine ships that had been in sync were still in sync as they formed a parallelogram of three rows and columns to fit thending area of the academy. The small journey was magnificent and fun and now that we had finally reached our destination, I looked at my partner and nodded at her with a smile. "Wee to the academy, Uriel." "You too, my dear-dear, darling Lucifer," she replied with the same warm smile as me and kissed my cheeks. Here, we weren''t Axion of Heliox and Reinelle of Atraxia. We were simply Lucifer and Uniel, some simple rank adventurers with no unique background. We were here for mostly a simple life and fun but both of us also had many things we needed to learn from this ce. Yes, we were strong and knowledgeablepared to most of the students present in this ce but we still weren''t the best. We needed to be the best in our fields to achieve the small goals that we had set for ourselves and to lead the group that would probably someday be the core of the whole world. That was a faraway dream though and we didn''t have to think much about that for now. What we should think right now though¡­ [ Wee to the academy of hope, 4434 young ones of the 3693rd batch. I hope your journey was at least bearable, Huhuhu~. ] It wasn''t the voice of the headmaster but a voice just as distinct and recognizable as him. It was a female voice. Gentle, and sharp. Filled with strength and spoken without using any unique energy or magic or skill. It was a strong, authoritative voice that rang throughout the area and entered our ears as gently as the voice of the headmaster. It clearly came from above though, so everyone looked up and the two of us followed their gazes. Almost everyone here knew this person so there actually was no doubt about their identity. If one was talking about the academy and some of the most important people of the academy, she would be some of the very first individuals people would name after our dear, ''good'' headmaster Merlin. If he was the heart of the academy, the one who maintains and sustains everything and looks after everyone, then this person was the protector that protects and helps every one of the people belonging to this great institute. One of the strongest in the world, a being that had famous aplishments probably even greater known than the headmaster''s, someone who had personally taught some of the greatest of the world, the proxy of the headmaster, the former first seat of the house of prism, one of the most famous [Hero] of past era, and someone who was one of the most beloved characters in this world. "Vice headmaster Oddfrid. [Master of all weapons] and the person who taught basics to my grandpa, your great uncle, that bastard emperor of ours, and many more [King] ranked knights, as well as to many mages, and those with multiple fields of mastery." Rein smiled as she looked up at the gorgeousdy flying above us with her royal blue cape fluttering with the winds. She personally liked her and even for me, there was no reason to not respect her. She was an amazing person and someone we would see often now that we were in the academy. ''Still, she looks more attractive and intimidating from close than I thought.'' With a full silver armor covering her body, she flew above us, her dark green hair dancing with the passing currents of air, and her sharp but gentle eyes overlooking every one of us one by one, personally observing and finding strengths and ws in us. That gaze was like that of a ferocious beast who was looking over her own children, observing them with care but still with great precision. Her pointed ears reported her elven lineage, but she was an anomaly like us. Someone who was an elf, one of the closest races to nature, and still, she had a unique condition where she couldn''t use the Mana in nature. It wasn''t like she couldn''t feel or perceive it but her strange physique naturally just rejected the Mana like the ''ones cursed by Mana''. It was strange but that strange condition made her what she was right now, the master of any and all weapons known to the world, as well as someone who had long surpassed the rank of a [King] ranked knight. It was cool but¡­ [[ "Aick! She just smiled at us didn''t she?!" ]] Rein eximed with surprise as hugged my hand as soon as our eyes met with the light green eyes of our vice headmaster and we saw her smile at us. It was a quick small smile so I knew not many noticed it but we saw it clearly, and I could even tell that smile was a smile of excitement and fun. [[ "After what absurd things we did during the exam, it is natural that she would be excited to meet and have some fun time with us, no?" ]] It would naturally be absurd that some duo cleared an area full of thousands of monsters, guarded their assigned locations and prevented any and all harmful incidents, took down a freaking minotaur, and even took away the core of that grand magic creating the ind. She would naturally be interested to meet and talk with someone like that so that smile was easy to interpret. It would be fun to meet her personally but it wasn''t time for that now. So, she finished her greetings, gave the small instructions after the airships passed through the giant golden gates of the academy, andnded on the open tform before the academy castle. The academy castle itself was a unique ce divided into outer parts which were just beyond the golden walls before us, then there was the main middle part where all of our sses would take ce and then there was the inner area, the special area that was used for most of the extracurricr activities. Academy would be a nice ce but¡­ I didn''t think someone would try to touch my Rein as soon as we walked down the airship. Not at least touch her with their souls¡­ Chapter 482 Punishment Of Transgression [OP: ] The outside station of the great academy where the airships were docked. Students, the ones who had passed and the ones who didn''t get the passing grades this time but still were here for some reason, were all walking down the giant airships. There was a cheerful atmosphere all around and there was also gloom in the air as they stood there, gathered, made groups, and looked around to find the people they might have met on the illusion ind and might have got close to. There were many things happening right now on this tform and Rein and Eon were looking around the ce, looking at the young children, their joyous expressions, looking at their brother and sisters at a distance surrounded by many people who wanted to talk to them. They were fine and the two of them didn''t have to worry about any of them from now on. They were here as someone else so until they got acquainted here, they didn''t know the two of them. So¡­ the two just followed the instructions of the people of the academy and the vice headmaster and stood there listening to the things they were saying. Most of it was gibberish so they had no interest in it but there sure were many things that were important like the general schedule so they were paying attention. The things here were fine, the atmosphere was calm, a serene wind was blowing all around them, the Mana in the atmosphere was also strangely calm and fresh, a bit different from one in the air or the one they might be familiar with. At a distance away from them, there was a golden wall that led to the very outer part of the academy and it was a garden from what they had seen beforending on the ground. There were trees and also a grand tree that they would visit after this small lecture from the vice headmaster was finished. Sooo¡­ things were fine around here, Rein was looking around, bored and waiting for when they would be freed and she would be able to visit the dorm that ''only'' two of them would stay in. Eon was enjoying everything as Celes''s clones were looking around the ce, enjoying things on their own or just roaming around, searching for colorful lights that Celes mightter go and taste. The little butterfly was really excited to see all the things around them and Eon was happy to hear the cheerful voice of his dear partner. He was having fun, smiling and listening to things, watching the area with his third eye, and taking in everything around him. The winds were calm, the atmosphere was cheerful for most of the parts, there was a scent of youth in the air around them and the bored expression of his fianc¨¦e was quite enjoyable for him. But then, suddenly, that smile on his face vanished as the purple ring around his finger gleamed lightly, sending a small electric current that shook his entire mind and soul¡­ His eyes widened, his heart ran wild, cold sweat slid down his back, and his throat went dry. He looked beside him, at his gorgeous fianc¨¦e that still maintained her bored expression, and then his pupils became wider, as a sudden thought crossed his mind. She didn''t know something was happening but he knew, he was just informed by their ''bond'' of the ineffable transgression that some wretched being had dared to perform. The blood in his body ran hot, his eyes went back to normal, the energies inside his body aligned, and¡­ his soul left his body. It wasn''t new to him to separate his soul from his body anymore but he knew, he believed that in this academy at the very least, someone shouldn''t do something like that in this normal environment ande to the two of them, the two who were perfectly disguised and had no rtion to any of them, with not a good or neutral but some other intention on their minds. So, he separated his soul from his body, entered the astral realm, and the first thing that he looked for, was naturally his clueless fianc¨¦e beside him. She didn''t know it but there was someone touching her. Touching her in their soul form from what he concluded in that small moment when he found nothing and no one around her in the physical world. But there was a perpetrator, a criminal who knowingly or unknowingly tried something so funny that they would think back to this moment throughout their lives and think how they shouldn''t have done it or even thought about it¡­ So, in the astral world where souls and spirits, astral and spiritual beings, monsters of darkness and creatures of nowhere reside, inside the great academy of hope, on the sky ind that looked no less gorgeous than the top of this academy that was home to some of the most unique features of this arc, in a ce full of many young souls who had faith and great goals, some darkness and a deep light in their core, besides the most fascinating individual present, an ember green female soul, a youngdy who looked no older than in her pre-twenties, was hovering before his fianc¨¦e, looking at her with the eyes that had the same color as her entire soul. Her eyes were filled with greed and excitement, question and sorrow, fascination and questions, and her hand was caressing the cheeks of the girl beside him, genially touching what wasn''t hers. She wanted this unique person, but she belonged to someone else and there was no helping that fact so she could only look, touch without anyone noticing, and admire it from where anyone wasn''t looking. She thought it would be fine in this ce, in this ethereal world where only those like her, or only those who were qualified, held great strength, or those who were special could enter. There shouldn''t be anyone like that here, there shouldn''t be anyone who could separate their souls and enter the astral realm at their will here like her aside from the vice headmaster who was busy giving the instructions and her small speech. It was a safe ce where she could take a closer look at the one who intrigued her unlike anyone was able to do in her life. This was a proper ce¡­ or what she had thought when she leaned her head towards the lips of the girl who had a smile that had enchanted her from the moment sheid her eyes on her reflection on that screen in that dark room. The open area they stood in was wide, there was enough ce for thousands of people to stand at once, they were quite a distance away from the tform from where the vice headmaster was telling the things, and the area was covered by the gorgeous lights from the young, small spiritual creatures, but different from a moment ago, there was someone aside from her, looking at the same things that were avable to only a few in the world. Time flowed differently in the other realms, and it should have been the same in this one too. But, as the jade-green soul of the girl watched, a teardrop slid down from the eyes of the boy beside her. The eyes that the tear came out of glowed in ruby red, filled with anger and resentment towards someone who touched something very precious to him. She watched the tear flow down those cheeks at a normal speed which shouldn''t be possible right now, and before she could think more than that, the eyes that had suddenly transitioned from blue to red¡­ were looking at her, ring at her very soul. It was strange and she had never felt something unfamiliar like this but right now, she could feel her entire soul-body shake as if in fear from the eyes looking at her. She felt weird all of a sudden and as she looked, the red eyes came out of that physical body, and took the form of an astral body, form of a soul so more detailed than hers, and with eyes so unique from what she could ever fathom, he looked at her with eyes full of anger that screamed that she had done something very wrong. He was angry, and the anger grew deeper when his eyes met hers, and saw how her lips were just a moment away from his fianc¨¦e''s. He was enraged, and that anger materialized in the form of a white magic circle that appeared just before Rein''s head. It was the same circle that bound the two of their rings together, and as the circle had materialized, the two rings on their physical bodies were growing as the gems on them blinked brightly for a moment. She was surprised by the sudden appearance of the magic circle so she hurriedly turned her head but as soon as she did that, her eyes which were still interlocked with the ruby red eyes of the boy, took in the image of him shaking his head in denial, telling her to never even think of something like that again. It was strange and she didn''t understand why he would be angry at such a trivial thing that didn''t even happen in the physical world but even before this thought could cross her soul¡­ -Ooooooooooooz. Pew! A white beam of light was shot from the small white circle which pierced straight through her head and sted away a major part of her soul''s head! It was an attack, she was attacked in the astral realm when she was in her soul form, thest thing she would have expected. And as soon as that happened, her soul body vanished and returned back to the physical body that would share the pain of her damaged soul. It was damage to the very soul and it would weaken her physically and spiritually for a long time. But that was her punishment and she will have to live with this experience for the rest of her life. He would have to live with it too and he knew it will be difficult for him to exin what had just happened when he goes back to her. It will be difficult, but he was able to send away the criminal guilty of a grave crime. The criminal had received her punishment and Eon knew, he knew very well that the punishment was neither small nor painless. If anything, that person, their very own student council vice president, had just experienced the worst pain of her life, and wherever she was right now, as her soul body returned to her and the mental pain of her head being blown away is shared with her mind, she would scream so loud that even the people around her would get scared. If there were any people around her that is. But that wasn''t important. She was punished for a crime that was a crime probably only his book, and he had sent away the criminal with the third-best gift he could right now. The punishment was painful but she would live through it. The resulting weakness would be temporary but she will experience hellish things for a few days if she doesn''t receive proper medication. It will be difficult for her, probably, but Rein was safe now, so Eon sighed in relief in his soul form, kissed his partner''s general lips that were curved downwards, and returned to his body, and her. It was an unpleasant experience but it had possessed now. So¡­ he could thankfullygo back to the moment that they all were in right now. Chapter 483 The Eight Houses [Eon''s POV: ] "Oh? What happen-¡­ hmm? Did you just?" She touched her lips gently for a moment and looked at me with a sudden surprised gaze. [[ "Damn! You just kissed me in the astral realm! I was supposed to do that first!" ]] And after she shouted that, I immediately felt a distinct sensation on my lips. A sensation many sadly do not know. ''She thought I did it just to have fun¡­ well, it is better if she keeps thinking that w-'' [[ "Yeiii~! It''s different and even cooler! We should do it at night again after you tell me what the fuck just happened and why the hack my ring reacted like that." ]] She had a deep, warm smile on her face and she was serious at the same time while smiling like that. It was somewhat pretty from my perspective but, well, I knew she would catch up that something was wrong. "Of course. It''splicated anyway so let''s just talk about it when we are alone." The expression on my face was rather convincing for her so she just gave me a suspicious look for a moment, then a sad look, and then a helpless smile and shook her head and patted my back. "There there. It is natural people would want to have such an amazing person like yours truly. You will need to work hard to keep the flies away if you want to eat this sweet-sweet fruit all by yourself." She smiled like an angel after that and, it was so pure one would think those words from before were spoken with innocent intentions. ''Well sorry for them, this witch before me is anything but pure like some angel.'' I gave her an unbelievable look and shook my head in clear denial of what she had just thought about. Then I looked around, and that nod of ''no'' slowly turned into a nod of yes. "I should do that actually. Not the thing you are thinking, dummy, but¡­" I was looking around, and I was also looking at her with a distinct smirk that she recognized very well. "You and your borate ns¡­ haaa. Bad bastard." She shook her head with a genuinely disgusted smile, which was some of the cutest ones from her, and focused back on the tform before us where the big, pretty, but intimidating vice headmaster was finishing hermon gibberish anding to the main point. [ "Alright then. That should be enough boring things for now. The sses start the day after tomorrow but your sses will be assigned to you tomorrow and you will also have your inauguration ceremony tomorrow. You can also rest for the day after we are done with the most exciting things for today. And I know just how excited you all must have been for this after that long, tiring journey. So~! Let''s go in and begin the very first and definitely some of the most important events of your life in this humble institution~!" ] -Papapapa~! Musical sounds starteding from all over the ce as the atmosphere also changed to a new festive atmosphere and some fireworks were shot into the sky at the same time from different locations. -Boooooooooooom! -Skaaaaaa-tatata. A gorgeous artwork announcing our arrival painted the sky that also showed a message of wee as people, teachers, and staff mostly rted to the academy, came out flying with some magic item or skill rted to flying and greeted us with their own magics. That wasn''t all though. Aside from mages, there were knights riding their unique flying mounts and tamers or summoners using their friends and partners. Almost every member of this institution was here right now probably and aside from our vice headmaster, if I had to say who was the greatest authority present here, then it would undoubtedly be the person raiding that artifact that resembled a very advanced ancient artifact which can be simply exined as a ''robot'' or gundam for those who wants a better picture but, this one wasn''t the actual ancient artifact that the people of past were able to create perfectly. ''This one was a unique creation of his own, but my dear uncle El had also helped in this one''s creation, and he thinks of it as the greatest honor of his life.'' Everyone knew it even if it wasn''t on paper so anyway, that person, that dwarf, was uncle''s teacher and probably the only one who can givepetition to the headmaster and vice headmaster in regards to the time they had lived. ''Like, Sir Merlin is easily more than a thousand years old whiledy Oddfird is around eight hundred years old. The two of them are looking after the academy for ages now, and Sir Muller, the dwarf magic engineering grandmaster is also someone who has seen the world for more than six hundred years, even if he had only joined as a professor recently some three or four hundred years ago.'' Anyway, that was that, but the other unique thing about any and all these people who were once a student in this very ce, were the houses, themunity, their extracurricr activity sects, that they all once were part of. ''The eight great houses of the grand academy of hope. Something that also ys a major role in deciding your standing in the academy, and certainly in the social circles outside the academy too.'' It iswfully stated that all of the eight houses of the academy are equal and unrted to anything that students have to do during their school time but, that thing is mostly disregarded on the smaller scales and in the normal circles of the academy. ''Nevertheless, all houses have their own uniqueness. One''s thoughts and feelings towards a particr house can influence which one they are assigned to but after assigning, they can''t change it throughout their academic years.'' And I knew some pretty unique things were going to happen today. ''Like most of us being assigned to our individual houses that suited us the most.'' So it clearly also meant that Rein, Ca and group, the prodigies, the rising stars, and even I would be assigned to a house that would be unique for us. "Hehe, good luck darling." Rein had an excited look on her face as we walked through the opening without gates in the golden wall and entered the outer parts of the academy. "Wow¡­" Many gasps of surprise and amazement range throughout the area as most of the students present here watched the amazing scenery around them. It was a lush green garden with many flower fields, trees, fountains, and also many roads passing through the ce or connecting to the main wide road that we were on right now. The ce looked phenomenal. Something out of fairytale even for the nobles and royals standing here. But as we all looked around, one thing at the north end of the garden attracted more eyes than the marvelous castle gates of our school at the end of this path. "Damn¡­" Rein gasped again, seeing yet another spectacr sight before her eyes. "Quesnel. The ancient oak tree of the floating ind of magic''s wealth. Truly a more magnificent sight than I had imagined." She was mesmerized by the great tree that although wasn''t as tall as the ancient willow that I met in the past, this one surely was more mesmerizing with its bright colorful leaves and fruits, the countless branchesing out of him, and the wide area it covered. Its body and branches were normal brown and there were also many small creatures hosing it. The tree itself was a small ecosystem and from how its roots were spread out in this entire wide garden, there was no denying that this ancient tree had been a part of this academy from the time of its creation. It was pretty and... ''I know the real beauty of this already gorgeous ce in the astral realm would be far more stunning than right now.'' But we were going to be here for a long time so we can describe that when a good timees so moving on to one of the primary things this ancient tree does: the house assignments. There were only four core houses at the establishment of the academy but, as the founders had wished, the individuals who were the most qualified by their standards were to be given the right to create their own houses. The ancient tree was also responsible for that task however, the ancient tree before us only became an ancient tree some five or six thousand years ago so the actual addition to the four primary houses started at that time and is still something this old tree before us is tasked to do. However, thest time a house was founded was by our current headmaster when he was only a new student of this very academy. So his house, [Facinated mages], is the youngest of the current houses. And also some of the most influential in today''s time as its founder is still among us. Then there was the first house that was founded after the four major ones, the [Eternal tigers], whose founder was genuinely a tiger. After that was [Dark society], a perfect ce for those rare few who carried pure darkness within them. ''And ironically, its founder was said to be one of the most famous and powerful darkness mages ever known to the current world¡­ not that any of his known stories are actually true.'' After them was a unique case where a twin duo of fairies founded their house, something that now stands right under the top in the hierarchy: [Fusion stardust]. ''As for the four primary houses of the academy, there is a great imbnce between them from how things used to be in the past.'' The [True dragon] that used to be second in the old times, has been the supreme overlord of the rankings of these houses while the one that had always been the best before their rise, the [Wisdom phoenix], now faces the dust at the bottom of the hierarchy. [Aqua mirror] and [Turtle defenders] maintain their position in certain ces but they too aren''t anything like they used to be and mostly for what they were known for. People forgot about the true meaning of these houses and there haven''t been many great leaders to lead their suitable houses. People want to join other famous houses so they wish for it from the bottom of their hearts and then the ancient tree doesn''t have any choice but to give them what they desire. ''And this ancient tree before us is older and greater than the willow tree I met in the great forest. So it is naturally stronger than it too.'' The topic of the houses is deep and containing it in a single chapter is impossible so¡­ with unique expectations in our hearts and feelings in our minds, we all stood before the giant tree, looking at its magnificence with admiring eyes and quickly beating hearts. And as soon as everyone was gathered here every one of us simultaneously heard a deep and profound voice filled with wisdom and an unknown power that seemed so strangely unique that even I couldn''t put it into understandable words. [[ A long time has passed but it still feels like yesterday when I met the very first of the batch that belonged to this ce. ]] As we stood before the giant tree, a rough outline of a face with a big mouth and two eyes came out of the trunk of the great ancient tree and surprised many of us who weren''t expecting anything like this. [[ And from the looks, those powerful and unique auras, those hearts full of wishes and those mind baring certain goals¡­ there are far more unusual ones this time. ]] The voice was ringing directly in our minds and it seemed to know all about us. It was slow, full of something that even I can''t understand, unique and different from anything I hade across, and more than that, the strange feeling of being seen naked by someone was something I was feeling for the first time since my goodbye to my master¡­ Chapter 484 Ancient Oak Tree ? [Eon''s POV: ] His voice was unique but as he talked to us, everyone just looked at him, at his unique face that they first feared for a moment, with awe in their eyes. It was charismatic and mind-pleasing so all the students were looking at him with awestruck looks and he too looked around the wide area filled with students. His roots were covering a huge area of the ind already and he could scan us with his roots and branches that we were standing under so it wasn''t actually like he was looking at us with those two eyes that hade out of his trunk. They were there just so that things are easier or ''for show'' would be better words too. Anyway, the profound tree didn''t beat around the bush and got straight to the main thing that everyone was here for. [[ Haha. I am and will be here for at least a thousand more years so small talks can happen any time you all want. I love talking to new people as well as any new beings or even the old fes that have been talking with me for decades or centuries or probably even millenniums, Haha. I like talking, so let us start with the introductions, new young ones. ]] And as soon as he said that, a unique door materialized in the trunk right before us and as it opened, a dark passage became visible. The door itself was gorgeous and while it happened at that moment, the vice headmaster also got in front of the materialized door with a simple-looking magic paper in her hand. "Please step forward when I call your names." She said in a strong voice while holding the paper before her face and a new wave of excitement passed among the students present under this magnificent tree as even Rein cheered up while holding my hand. This was exciting for them and I was the same as I was looking forward to what house everyone will be assigned to. ''We would all be in different houses, ying for different teams, and up against every one of the others during all the extracurricr activities that would take ce alongside the school during our time here. It would be fun but one thing is concerning me a little right now.'' With my third eye, I looked some distance away from my location and nced at Zoe who stood with Ca, Alf, Chry, Prince Alph, and a certain normal-looking fat boy that she and Chry met during the exam. He looked normal but thatmoner boy had some pretty interesting secret. The house gaining him would definitely have a good advantage if they can use him well¡­ and probably that was the very reason Zoe kept him with them. Anyway, Zoe was a worrisome factor here. The ancient tree can read the stats and status windows of people but it could only estimate things about those who did not have a status window to begin with. ''And being a divine beast, she not only didn''t have a status window but she was also a true descendant of a high phoenix, meaning the talent, skills, abilities, powers, knowledge, and experience she possessed were impossible to measure even by someone like this ancient tree before us.'' I don''t know how he would assign her a house but if I can, it would be better to have her in the same one as me. However, it wasn''t in my hand, and the event had already started. "udius." She called the first name and everyone cheered loudly as the prince walked out of the crowd in his royal clothes, his light indigo hair fluttering with the calm winds and his calm golden eyes sparkling with profound light. He walked straight inside the passage and the gates closed behind him, filling the crowd with expectations and excitement. [[ Hmm¡­ intriguing. You are still young and the world is wider than you think. Probably this very ce will be the destination you were searching for. Hmm, alright. ]] The gates opened and he walked out with the same calmness as the huge face on the tree trunk smiled happily. [[ True dragons! ]] "Yeah!!" "I knew it!" "You are amazing Prince udius!" Many of them cheered up while many from different nations who didn''t have a favorable rtionship with the Roxana empire made a distorted face. Still, they all also acknowledged his abilities, and from how he was first in the rankings in the entrance exam, they had no choice but to acknowledge his abilities. But that was that, and just like the first one, the names continued to be called and people continued going in that special space where the ancient tree appraised them for a better decision-making process. It was three in the afternoon when we started and it should have taken a long time to assign houses to all the four-thousand-plus people in this ce but the process itself was quick and the vice headmaster called out many names at once in some cases too so there were sometimes small and long lines of students before the gate. We sat around the garden if we were bored with the process and after Prince udius, there weren''t many noteworthy people. There were many that got the house of their choice and also who were disappointed to be assigned to the one they didn''t wish to. In most cases, they wanted to be a part of [True dragons], and most if not all of them didn''t want to be part of the [Wisdom phoenix] for some reason. The houses didn''t matter much on the inner level anyway, you were just a student here. Someone who attends the institution for learning and honing their skills and knowledge. Anyway, that were just normal things. Of twelve prodigies, udius, Xlor, and Drowslotm got in [Blue dragon]; Princess Isabe and my little Alf got in the [Fascinated mages]; Hide and Lady J was in [Fusion stardust]; Deleon and Princess Luna were assigned to the [Dark society]; Miss Mia was assigned to the [Wisdom phoenix] while Sir Newtine was assigned to the [Turtle defenders]. ''And now it was Ca''s turn¡­'' My big sister who prohibited me from calling her big sister now stood before the gates as the sun which wasn''t visible from the garden we were sitting in started its journey back to its home. She was calm, and her long red hair tied in a bun behind her increased the attractiveness of her pretty clothes that I had enchanted with great care. It was a nice,fortable outfit that mostly swordsmen wore during training but it was attractive andfortable so she loved it. ''And it also doesn''t get dirty thanks to my special enchantment so she loves it so much that she mostly only wore that thing all the time.'' That was my big sister but her face had her usual calmness while she passed through the doors. She definitely wanted to face Alf, the other strong ones, Rein and me at once so she was naturally going to request the house that was the best for those things and the ancient tree had a smile on its face as soon as those doors closed behind her. [[ Another fool I see. Hmm? Hmmm¡­ nice. I like that pure heart and burning mes of yours. You can lead the [True dragon] quite well if you wish. Yes, that boy is good but you are suited for that position the best in my opinion. Hmmm¡­ really? You don''t say¡­ alright I ept. Meet me again when you have time. I will tell you a fun story. ]] And after that, the gates opened and Ca came out with a triumphant smile on her face. ''Looks like she made some kind of deal with him. Hehe, she has learned some pretty good things from us.'' [[ Aqua mirror! ]] The ancient tree announced with a joyous expression and shocked everyone once again. It was different from what it had said a moment ago to so many people, who looked up to her as the best swordsman among them, and knew for certain that she would go to [True dragon]. They believed it to the end but at the announcement from the ancient tree, their mouths were left wide open, and they just stared at her rare smiling face. She was strong and she had grown stronger, sharper, and nobler than many students present here. She had a long way to go though and this academy was going to help her a lot in her growth. ''Still, she will have fun for most of the parts while she is here.'' It will be fun for most of us too so I was also looking forward to how things go. "Chryses." The Vice headmaster shouted again after some time and it was Chry''s turn now. I had some idea where he would go but this time, it was thankfully just as I had thought. [[ Eternal tigers! ]] And on that announcement, the groups belonging to that house cheered up loudly, overjoyed on gaining not one but two of the top rankers from their batch! Gabriel the elven archer was also in that house so they were finally going to have a good chance of pushing their rankings higher. Everyone knew it was going to be a fun year this time and I agreed with every one of their excitement too. But then I was suddenly worried because something I wasn''t hoping to happen, happened anyway. "Zoe." Zoe was called before me and I just stared as she came forward, assured me that she would be fine through our unique connection, and went inside the gates after looking in the direction of my third eye and giving me a warm smile. She, as always, knew that I was worried thanks to our unique bond but I also felt the confidence and clearness she possessed as she walked in that gate so I was a little less worried after that. But then the ancient tree suddenly quieted down for a moment and then smiled mysteriously through the giant face on its trunk. [[ Wisdom phoenix! ]] The gates opened and she came out with a smile, giving a thumbs up in our direction as well as smiling bitterly at Ca and Alf who looked at her with betrayed expressions. She didn''t ask for the same houses as any of them and went to one different from both of them. Now I had more chances to get the same house as hers and I was going to do just that. And to do that, I also had something that will definitely be pretty useful while talking with him. Now I was looking forward to my chance with an excited heart however, Rein was also before me this time. "Uriel." Vice headmaster Oddfrid called out her name and after a small kiss on my cheeks, she quickly used her movement skill that seemed like [Blink] to the others and reached the doors of the gate. ''What house will you join now, my deardy daring?'' It would be fun to see which house she chooses and depending on her choice, I would also have a rough idea of how I will have to n things for the extracurricr activities that we will have after our school hours. It was going to be fun in many ways but depending on her choice, things were going to change. And not only I, but Ca, Alf, Zoe, Alph and even Chry were also looking forward to her answer with anxiously beating hearts now¡­ Chapter 485 Rein’s Encounter ? [OP: ] Rein walked in the gate with an excited expression with her pretty face that was attractive even with Celes''s perfect disguise. Her brown hair was mostly normal and her ck eyes were deep and attractive on their own but as she was in her modest clothes, no one aside from Eon and the group was actually interested in this girl that they couldn''t feel much strength from. She wasn''t on the rankings and none of them had seen her on the ind to recognize her so as she entered the gate and the door closed behind her, they all just waited for the other famous people''s turn. They weren''t interested in which house this unknown girl bes part of but they all were going to be surprised at the end of their little event. So, Rein entered the ce and the gates closed behind her. -Oooooooooooooooooong. In the dark ce, a green light covered her and she looked around the dark ce, surprised at the abnormally high concentration of natural energy she felt from all around her. She was surprised but then in the middle of this small dark room, a green light materialized and surprised Rein even more. [[ Hoh? How peculiar¡­ ]] The green light pulsed and she heard the voiceing out of it instead of directly in her mind this time. [[ You see the truth don''t you young girl? ]] The ball of light that had materialized before her, came closer and started circling her like some blob of spirit that had taken an interest in her. However this green light was no normal spirit but the materialized consciousness of the ancient tree, something that few strong are able to perceive and even fewer are able to actually ''see''. And in her eyes, the small light before her was far more than just a tiny blob of green light. If we had to give it a shape, it would be something like a giant superior spirit which though didn''t have a specific face, was definitely a perfectly overwhelming humanoid figure. This was the small part of its consciousness that the ancient tree was using to greet the children but Rein was probably the first one to see him as not only the green blob of light but as that colossal faceless figure that was looking at her with excitement and many questions. [[ You have good eyes and this unique energy that you used to hide that pretty appearance of your eyes seems just as interesting as you. ]] The light blob passed before her eyes and her eyes, her original gorgeous pink eyes became visible for a moment, then went back to normal ck when the blob of light went back before her. [[ It doesn''t look like this unique ''disguise'' is your power though. And a simr energy as this disguise is alsoing from that unique ring of yours. Hmmm¡­ looks like you are one of the two that little Merlin keeps talking about. You certainly are an interesting witch. Someone with many wounds, someone with darkness, and at the same time, someone who had found her light not too long ago. So, this light of yours is here too, right? I''m getting excited to see that little boy even more now. ]] Rein was stunned at first but as this consciousness or the being before her continued talking, it felt like she had known him for a very long. As if she was talking to a close friend that she had met after a long time. She was surprised at first but she regained herposure quickly and a smile was spread out on her pretty face bathed in his natural green light. "Yes, he is just outside waiting anxiously for what house I will get and it was going to be dark soon so I thought we would finish things early but¡­" she looked around for a moment and then looked back up at the giant being before her eyes. "This is a special ce where time flows differently. Almost five times slower, right? That means we have a good long time so let''s talk misters tree~!" The light pulsed as if surprised and then she heard a burst of calmingughter that made even her heart calm. [[ Hahaha. So you are an irregr too? An anomalous witch that perceives time with her own inner clock that is linear in all circumstances? Haha, truly amazing people havee to this ce this year. ]] The light shook and the giant creature gripped around his belly like he had heard something really fun right now. Then he nodded at her and she did the same with a unique look on her face as she looked at the creature and started a conversation with some off-topic questions and answers. The ancient tree had a fun time with her but however much he wanted to let this talk go on, they didn''t have time today. Rein knew this too and she wanted to be here for longer, feel this creature and this strange natural power that made her feel at home, and be with this voice that was a fun conversation partner itself. But she knew she had to go now, so she got to the point and looked straight up at the colossal being sitting before her. "Nel. What house were you going to assign me at first?" She asked with genuine curiosity and the consciousness before her just answered truthfully. [[ You already know that little Elle, so why even ask? That pure darkness you possess would attract even the higher elementals, maybe even the powerful creatures closely rted to the darkness itself. I believe you already know the actual past of the [Dark society] but the house itself has stayed true to the principles that it was made upon. The darkness you possess is so pure and vast that even someone like me who had lived for this long time thinks that kind of affinity had already long surpassed the level of just abnormal. If you continue honing your elemental abilities then you might even achieve sovereignty over the element itself and liberate yourself from the bounds of this world. ]] A bitter smile appeared on her face and she nodded at his words. "He said something like that in the past too but hearing it from you makes it sound more serious than his casual words. Well, I don''t like the [Dark society]. Can''t I get the [True dragon]? You know Ca, Zoe, Chrysis, and Alfred? My darling and we all want topete against each other so if I go to the [True dragon], we will be able to do it pretty well. It isn''t like I don''t want to join that house just because of the bad reputation of the house and the past but I just don''t like it as a whole. So?" She looked up at it and the giant body before her held his chin with his one and wrapped the other one around his waist. He seemed to be deep in thought and after a moment of silence, he nodded his giant head and put his hands down. [[ It was fun talking with you little Elle and I can not wait to meet this Axion honey of yours. He definitely seems like a more special one than the Zoe girl you speak of and you. You made me excited about something so I will definitely consider what you want. And I also hope to see you again soon. Both of you together would be even better. ]] And as soon as he said that, a door leading to the outside world opened up just behind her. She looked at him with a suspicious look but there was no face to this guy so she didn''t get any more information. "Take care¡­" she gave him thest iffy nce and waved her hand at him as she walked out through the gate. This consciousness before her also waved back as she went out and at the same time, the face on the tree trunk that had been quiet from the moment she went in also opened its mouth and announced the house that the girl that just got out of the gates would be a part of for the rest of her time in this ce. [[ Dark society! ]] "?!" She looked back before even thinking anything as soon as the voice that had been with her for that long time entered her mind again. She was stunned as she looked back, her eyes wide open as if she had just seen the biggest betrayal of her lifetime, but the others around the tree had no great reaction to him at all. She was a nobody from their point of view so they had no reaction to this reaction of hers however¡­ it was different for the ones that knew her. They weren''t ustomed to seeing her like that in any situation so they could tell just how much of a surprise it would have been for her. Eon especially knew it must have been something very unpleasant for her but she was assigned to a good house that was different from theirs so as she went back to him, he happily weed her and even more happily epted an angry punch in his gut from her. Well, he didn''t mind her and continued calming her down as she relentlessly cursed the ancient tree with words so profound and full of wisdom that even the students sitting around them walked away with ''calm'' expressions. The power behind her mere words was so great and the sybles used to convey those feelings so fearfully deep that even the ancient tree had an anxious expression as it continued its work of assigning houses to the students. Ca and the others didn''t worry much about her as they knew Eon was with her and Eon had also calmed her down after a while, convincing her that the things that happened had already passed and she couldn''t do anything to change at least this specific thing. She understood it too and epted her fate of being in the [Dark society] that was strangely filled with not as dark people as some of the bastards she hade across in her life. She couldn''t change her house now so that was it for her turn and Eon was guiltily enjoying her rare genuine sadness. She knew what this bastard fianc¨¦ of hers was thinking and he would receive his punishment when things were done so she left him for now and soon, it was his turn to meet the great ancient tree, Quesnel. "Lucifer." The Vice headmaster called out and Eon walked towards the crowd, used his movement skill, appeared before the doors, and observed the doors for a solid second before entering with an excited smirk on his face. His dear darling was betrayed by this oldie, he was the reason she was sad and he was able to enjoy something fun even though it was only for a while, but even if it was with good intentions, he was going to punish him for that bad behavior right now. Well, he knew he couldn''t so much as make a permanent scratch on this tree with his current strength but he had something that will be more than enough to get what he wanted and more and, at the same time, tease the tree and punish him for his wrongdoing. He knew it was going to be interesting so... that unique experience of his started as soon as he entered the gates that were embedded with a piece of knowledge that even he couldn''t help but admire. Chapter 486 Eon And The Tree ? [Eon''s POV: ] As I walked in, a strange, expected sensation ran through my mind and I heard Lucy''s warning voice. [[ *A powerful natural being has tried to read your status window and defense is impossible¡­* ]] She sounded sad but we both knew we couldn''t possibly stop an ability of a being that could even extract information from some transcendent being like a headmaster. Quesnel. He was a being of great power. And that very being of great power was gasping with surprise as soon as that green light appeared before our eyes. [[ I was not expecting something like this. ]] he said in a voice so surprised one could feel the sensation of a surprise run through their bones. And that wasn''t the end of his surprised voice. [[ A skill that births from a peculiar constitution, the irregr elemental affinities you gain thanks to that, that otherworldly knowledge, that excruciatingly powerful experiences still fresh in those depths of your mind, thatrge volume of Solnova, that soul which had already achieved spiritual enlightenment, that uniquely strong Origin connection and connection with the great world tree too, that powerful soul armament even I can not gauge the power of, and after all this¡­ that stigma. ]] He stopped for a moment and the green light pulsed visibly, burned brightly grew bigger, and then turned into a simr face that everyone was seeing outside. [[ You¡­ who are you? ]] The face that materialized before me showed human-like emotions¡­ no. They were more than that. They were true, deep, and filled with questions that few mages devoted to their goal would have, a few romantics devoted to their open would have. His eyes right now, so green and burning with that light, so deep and unblinking even with time, he only looked, filled with nothing but questions, asking nothing but one thing. And the answer to that question was simple, in my past life it could have been as difficult as the greatest questions of nature but at this time, right now, I knew the answer to this particr question better than any simplest question the world had to offer. "I am Eon, Axion to be precise. However for a brief time I''m on this ind, I would be happy if you can address me as Lucifer please." I gave him a simple warm smile with a look that was confident in what I was talking about and also confident in just how deep of a question I was answering. I knew who I was, and the simple-sounding answer made the green face that had appeared before me, blink with a stunned expression. He couldn''t grasp the deepness of the simple answer for a moment, but then he blinked twice more, processed the answered and the feelings the answer was spoken with, no then a burst ofughter rang through the small room-like space I was in. [[ Hahahaha. Yes, nice to meet you special Eon, Elle''s beloved darling. ]] He wasughing, and as I predicted, he was surprised at the answer he had just received. It was a deep question when someone was asking who the person actually was. And knowing oneself meant much more than just knowing and telling them their full names, family backgrounds, upation, or even their good and bad points. A name. That much was enough to define who you were at the most basic level. And on a little deeper one, it was enough to know the meaning of your name in your life, what it meant for you and for nature, as well as what it meant for the subconscious. Well, that were some fun things, but we didn''t have the privilege of time in this moment to talk about the worldly philosophies and ''questions''. "So Sir Quesnel. I know you have your questions and I have the answers but, we can talk some other time when Rein is also with us, no? So for now, why don''t we make a little deal?" I smiled lightly as I said that and looked deeply into the green eyes of the bright green face that had suddenly lit up with a new smirk that probably even Rein wasn''t familiar with. [[ Little Merlin does highly talk about your prowess in these simple yet primordial things called ''deals''. But what would a special young one like you possibly have for an old inhuman entity like myself? From how unique you are, I believe you already know there''s no physical or abstract object in these nes that could possibly tter me. And in the first ce, what is this deal you might possibly talking about? ]] He was smirking. Not smiling but he was smirking. Wasn''t just that much enough confirmation that he already knew what I was talking about? "Sir Quesnel. I believe you already know what being''s stigma I carry?" I asked simply this time too, with the same calm smile that I had maintained throughout this conversation. And he also maintained his smirk as he answered again, talking in all the deep pleasures of this entire scenario. [[ But of course. It is still unbelievable that someone as weak as you could possess a power such as that but how wouldn''t I not know that majestic presence which was able to remind me of my masters? You wouldn''t understand even if I tell you just how much happy I am in this moment. ]] I can feel his happiness from that sudden surge of warmth from my question so I knew was even easier now. "[[( Atheenttinee )]]." That was Rune speech, something that consumed a bad amount of energy just to say. But the result of mentioning that simple name that practically had no actual effect was immense. [[ You!? How do you know that name?! ]] The ancient tree was so bbergasted that the whole I was standing on shook as a whole, as if a cube of water shaking because of a powerful ripple on one end of it. ''It was critically effective.'' I smiled at the ever-calm being that was strangely in chaos right now, shocked and confused beyond anything it had ever been. ''It is understandable considering how I just mentioned a name that had mentored his master in the far past from the current time.'' She had never mentioned something like this when we were together, or so I believed until the day I came across this knowledge while going through many memories. She had mentioned it when I was sleeping and it was also in our early days. It was quite the information to know that she had once taught a normal young phoenix how to survive in this ferocious nature by beating the shit out of him with her normal Solnova. And also how that young phoenix considered her his very first till the day he was burned to ashes and was reborn again as a new being. That phoenix was one of the four founding masters of this very academy and then his one and only student, the very third headmaster of this great institution, founded the house of [Wisdom phoenix]. ''So yeah. However cliche, the one who created [Wisdom phoenix] was a high elf blessed by the divine creature phoenix, and the fact that it is true is probably more believable than the fact that the first headmaster of the academy was a normal humandy and the second one was a [Reincarnator] whomanded powers on the equal level as many of the divine beings.'' Welp, few know these things and this good ancient tree is also one of them. He was someone who could be called an idental experiment of the ''masters'', but he was a good sess so they grew him at the start, and when he was ready, they said their goodbyes to him and this very ind. Four of the original masters had already passed away but one still lurks the grounds of this world, old but still strong enough to destroy this whole ce, and then half of the world. ''He is one of the [< Masters >] of this sky ind and helps the descendants of the other three founding fathers of this great academy.'' Well, that was unnecessary information for now, the thing we currently had to do was¡­ "The deal is simple Sir Quesnel. I know the principles that you are bound to. And I know that even if you want, without a very, very, solid reason, you can''t assign someone to a house that they belong less to than the house they can do far more great things for. And ording to the foundation guidelines, even if I want to join some other house with all my will, you will have to put me in [Aqua mirror]. I have an idea why you put Rein in [Dark society] even against her will and I agree that she will understand it is for the better for her someday. But¡­ Put me in the [Wisdom phoenix] and I will show you a glimpse of how the master of one of your masters looked." The deal was simple and he was smart enough to understand many things that I didn''t say from just the things that he had just heard. And he was dead silent now, too surprised to even process the information he had received from a mere young boy. He was old though, so he was able to regain hisposure soon thanks to his countless unique experiences. And he looked at me with eyes calmed to normal, his face filled with unique emotions, and a subtle green sparking deep inside his natural green eyes. The face nodded and came closer with now a single question on his mind. [[ If you are talking about the image of that person that you im is the one that gave you their stigma, isn''t it naturally impossible to share anything personally rted to them? I can''t see anything like that in your memories avable to me so it should not be possible right? ]] He was asking a genuine question and that meant he was really interested in this deal. "Not if I share the image from my unconscious mind." He was sincere so I also just genuinely answered his simple questions. [[ Ha. That''s impossible then- ]] "No." I cut him off from denying that and looked deep into his eyes with confidence. "It is possible," I reassured with a calm expression, one that he could tell knew what absurdity I was talking about. Tapping into the unconscious mind for a moment and showing an image from there was very much possible for me. And actually, showing even a short clip was possible but he doesn''t have to know this personal thing. "Do we have a deal?" I asked with a calm smile and looked at the good consciousness that was surprised despite having seen his fair share of the world and people. He was duty-bound, somewhat mysterious, and a little mischievous, but still he was a good person so I knew he would definitely ept this deal that practically wasn''t in any way bad for him. He would have a solid reason and he would have my trust, someone who knew the master of the one that created him, and it was only natural that he would think I would know more about him, about his own existence, and the reason he was the way he was. ''Well, I know a little and I have Lucy to ask for more but, I know we aren''t close enough to talk about a deep existential topic like that. So for now¡­ [[ Alright Axion. I ept this ''deal'' of yours. You can be a part of [Wisdom phoenix] if you show me the image of that exalted one. However, if I''m not convinced, you will have to ept the things as they are. ]] A green light then came out of that face and covered me entirely, giving me a feel of the enormous natural power surrounding me. It was a little concentration of his consciousness and for me, it was actually warm and helpful rather than pressuring and ufortable. It was just a pure mass of natural energy that boosted my mind and body even more so¡­ it was easy to tap into my mind, then fly through my consciousness, go through some doors, climb a wall that already had many small holes to step on, and when I reached on the other side, I saw a familiarke of a fluid so dense it would seem as though solid metal, and at the same time, so delicate one might feel it would break at just a touch. That was my destination and I just jumped down from that high wall with my head towards the fluid down below. I knew my deal was going to be a critical sess so there was no need to worry about the house issues anymore. This part wasplete so there was only onest thing remaining in this whole entrance exam episode¡­ ''And it is also something that would be the most difficult to deal with.'' I was talking about the captain selections that were also entirely up to this ancient tree and this particr matter was near impossible to deal with even for me. One would have to ept whatever or whoever the ancient tree appoints as the captains of each house and the captains can not be changed in any and all circumstances. They all will either have to properly follow the captain or in some cases, use their captains well enough to survive the battles they will have to fight through their years in this academy. It must be exciting for many of them but for me and Rein, this was probably going to be the most annoying thing to deal with for a short while. ''Hopefully, things will somehow y out the way I want.'' I had faith and hope both in this matter but anything could go wrong at any time so¡­ ''I will have to be careful from now on.'' Chapter 487 Star Leaves ? [OP: ] [[ Dark society! ]] The unique voice of the tree that had be familiar to them at this point rang again as Eon came out of that room and just like Rein, he also looked back at him with a little surprised look. He wasn''t expecting something like that but the way a little chuckle was heard after his announcement and the tree saw the shocked look on his face, the ancient treeughed and corrected himself. [[ Haha. No no. That is not right. Let us do that again. ]] Eon was genuinely surprised for a moment but he grasped the little yful joke of the old tree from thatugh. And thankfully that was just a joke as the things he had done to make this deal were no small matter. He was just betting on the natural restrictions that ancient tree had otherwise if there was any chance that the tree was able to tell someone their conversation it had during a deal then he would never have considered revealing that name to him this early in the game. He knew the tree had no choice but to follow through with their deal but for a moment there, that yful nature managed to give even him a heart attack. [[ Wisdom phoenix! ]] But things were fine and though the other students had no interest in a loser who had been assigned to the rock bottom house, the teachers and especially the headmaster had a little surprised look on their faces as they looked at the tree and then at that boy who had juste out of the gates. It was surprising for them for some reason and from a closer analysis, many of them grasped they were surprised at the actions of the tree and not the boy who just walked back to the very back. It was surprising for some but there was no information on their unique behavior and the area was already dark, only illuminated by the magical lights floating around the gardens, so the only thing on most of their minds was to just finish this thing, see who would be the ones to lead the houses and manage the things there, go in and have dinner, and then go rest. It had been a long day for all of them but after standing here and sitting around, pping and cheering for the ones who were famous or got into [True dragons] or [Fusion stardust], they were tired. Every famous person was assigned to their houses already at this point so the enthusiasm that they all had at the start was nowhere to be seen anymore. So¡­ after this small event where the ancient tree had almost made some kind of joke, things returned back to quiet and normal and the house-assigning event came to a certain end. Some unexpected things happened, some people who they were expecting to join some certain house joined some other house while some also got into the one they all had thought they would be in. Some people unexpectedly got into the house they had never thought about while some got into the house they had never wished to be in. The atmosphere was normal as always for the teachers and the vice headmaster who watched over the bored children and gave them a smile from the pedestal at the end of their very first event. "Bored?" She asked while looking at the children and many of them nodded, some even shouted in agreement while some were toozy or busy to even say anything or even nod their heads. "Hungry and sleepy?" She asked again but on this second question, some answered positively, some negatively, some with neutral expressions and the bored ones mostly ignored these questions too. "Excited to see who would be the captains and vice captains of your houses? To see if you can be that one, that special lucky person chosen by the great ancient tree?" "YESSSSSS!" She had a particr smile while asking this question and the reaction she got from this question was also particrly more enthusiastic than the previous ones. The young ones cheered up and the atmosphere became so cheerful that even the ones who had been toozy to even move, looked around with surprise, and then some even joined the enthusiastic crowd. Everyone was filled with a new light and, on a signal from the vice headmaster, the area was also filled with a new magical light. -Ooooooooooooong! And this distinct green light was familiar to a few of them. "Pretty¡­" Rein praised it and Eon concurred her as both of them and Ca and the group stood before the now glowing tree, admiring the bright green body of the tree, as well as the innumerable leaves that now glowed with unique colors. Everyone seeing this phenomenon was mesmerized and even more when all the trees suddenly shook and some of them slowly cascaded down from the high sky. The tree was tall after all, and between the leaves and them, there was a considerable distance so as the colorfully glowing leaves fell from the tree, they changed their shapes and took the form of a small star, and when looking closely, one could see a green fire was imprinting something on these colorful stars. It looked bizarre but it was strangely attractive so everyone was just looking up, their eyes locked in the direction as if they were hypnotized by the marvel before them. And even in this marvel, there were certain stars that attracted the attention of the thousands of students present in the vicinity. "Looks like this year will be more fun than all of us had thought." The vice headmaster said in a low voice and the dwarf standing behind her nodded with a calm expression, and the attractive man wearing avish suit beside the dwarf nodded with a smile. The blue eyes of the man were locked in one direction as his long blue hair fluttered with the newborn winds from the wonderful tree before them. That was Eon''s first uncle El, someone who will definitely be the homeroom teacher of someone from their group. And however duty-bound he was, he wanted to teach his dear nephew and daughter at the same time. Sadly though, even if Eon and Rein attended his magic engineering sses, Ca wasn''t going to learn from her amazing father. At least not this year. But that wasn''t as important as the unique silver and golden stars that stood out among all the other colorful star leaves falling from the sky. They had a maic glow unlike no other and most of the students looking up at these stars knew just what these peculiar stars were. "It''s different from what I expected too. Every one of them is different from my thoughts and that just makes this batch even more delightful." The dwarf in unique clothing stained with some ck-white stains smiled while looking at the twinkling stars and nodded at the smiling headmaster. "It''s gonna be fun~!" He caressed his white beard andughed joyfully, making many of the teachers behind him shake their heads with a pitiful expressions for the young students. They didn''t know what they were going to be stepping in after the overmorrow. Especially the brave souls who willingly or identally choose his ss. But that was for them to worry about so for now, they all looked up as the normal colorful star leaves marked with a symbol of their houses came down and stopped right before their owner''s eyes. Those stars made from the special leaves of the ancient tree were something special and bound to them and throughout their time in this academy, they would have to have these stars on them. This wasn''t just a mark of which house they all belong to but also their one and only identification cards on this floating ind of magic''s wealth and this academy. The stars that looked normal and somewhat solid were practically indestructible objects that would grow back to their current state even if they were decapitated into particles of light. And even among them, the silver and golden ones that slowly came down to their owners with a unique shine of their own were all special. The silver ones signified their vice captains and the golden ones were naturally for the captains who would represent their houses for their academic time in this school. And though there were exactly eight golden stars, there were surprisingly twelve silver ones, meaning some of the houses had more than one vice-captain. And what was even more surprising in all of this wasn''t the fact that the top house [True dragon] had three vice-captains, but the fact that not a single one of the twelve prodigies that were the center of the world''s attention right now was chosen as the captains who represented their houses. Yes some of them were chosen as the vice captains but even among the vice captains, there were many known and unknown people now holding ranks far above them in this certain role. The thousands of them were surprised how some unknown boy wearing a simple-looking hood was chosen as the captain of [True dragon] and also how the new ''normal'' girl that had recently be famous, the new member of Heliox household of Roxana, now held the brightly glimmering golden star representing the lowest house. It was somewhat eptable that the famous crown prince of a small beast kingdom was chosen as the captain of [Eternal tigers] and the captain of [Fusion stardust] was an actual fairy, but it was absurd that somemoner was chosen as the leader of [Aqua mirror] instead of Ca. Well, some people recognized the girl as a strong mage who was pretty high in the rankings so it was at least eptable from the othermoner''s point of view but to think the useless prince of Roxana, the prince with a fragile body who somehow attained a high rank in the entrance exam, was chosen as the leader of [Turtle defenders]¡­ they didn''t even know just how this absurd selection worked after that. But there was no way they could possibly question the decisions of the ancient tree in the open right now so they just epted that much, just like they epted that unknown girl who was previously surprised at the choice of the ancient tree, who now held the golden star representing her house. From most of their perspectives, everything was fucked up, and they cannot do anything about this anymore. The decision was made and Rein, Prince Alpheus, and Zoe were now representatives of their house. Ca, Alf, Prince udius, and Eon were now vice representatives but there were two others aside from Prince udius in his house who would have to support the captain and their house, Ca also had another one, and in the second-ranking house, Princess Luna and Hide were the vice representatives who would have to look after the young fairy captain and others. [[ It has been a while since I was this excited over a batch so I have faith that you all will do some fun things and achieve something of your desire. I wish you all a fun time and, wee to the academy. ]] A green light burst out from the tree and a unique green stardust started falling from the tree, falling over the students and the teachers, rejuvenating them with its abundant natural energy. That was the start of their academic journey and everyone was at least happy about this fact¡­ and also the most important fact that they will finally get some good food and rest for now. It was already night and most of them were mentally exhausted. Still, they had smiles, and the smiles on the faces of Rein and Eon, Ca and the group; the ones who had gained more than their thoughts; and the ones who were going to start their new journeys to achieve the solid goals in their heart were brighter and livelier than the rest who had just as much potential as the others in their own special fields. They all were there to find and hone those special fields and talents so they were definitely in for a humongous roller coaster ride. Chapter 488 Night In The Academy ? [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "I want to gouge those eyes out." ]] Rein swore with pure anger in her eyes and chewed out her sd leaves. [[ "I should be the angry one here dum dum. They are ring at you more than me. Especially the ones from your own house. What''s the problem with those bastards?" ]] My answer was also filled with anger as I took a bite from the freshly decorated fruits before us and nced at the other side where a group of students from our houses was ring at the two of us. [[ Should I punish them, sister Elle? ]] I could feel Celes also didn''t like the look they gave us or their malevolent gazes. But nothing woulde out of a fight with a bunch of kids who hadn''t even spent a day in this academy. [[ "Yes Celes~! Let''s do that~!!" ]] But who would tell that simple thing to this weird fianc¨¦e of mine? [[ "There is no need to harm those kids you two. They are weak anyway so Celes, no ying with kids here. Go y in the academy castle or talk with the ancient tree grandpa outside. He said he wanted to tell you a story anyway. He should have some sweet lights so you will have fun but no fighting. And Rein¡­ well, you could do something for self-defense if they do something to you first but don''t hurt them too much." ]] [[ Whaaa¡­ I wanted to beat them! But alright master~! See you sister Elle~! ]] And after saying that, Celes came out of her mark from my hand in an invisible state and flew out of this giant dining hall that housed hundreds and thousands of us. It was dinner time right now and they had instructed us about the temporary resting rooms for tonight already. We can do the process of dormitory assignment or house finding on this floating ind tomorrow after the inauguration ceremony early in the morning so we mostly had tomorrow free to look around and get familiar with the academy and the ces around the ind. A few nobles and royals present here already had their family''s amodations on this ind. And though I also hadnd on the ind in my name, and mom''s vi nearby where Ca, Alf, Zoe, and Chry will stay, for this year, the two of us were going to stay in a special dormitory... A young-looking girl withvender-colored hair and silver eyes came to Rein as we were eating our dinner and asked politely, "H-hello? Can I sit here?". She was wearing an attractive dress and there was a silver star on her not-at-all-modest chest and, there was a certain star-like mark that had a crescent moon in it imprinted on her star. "Yeah sure. You are our vice-captain?" Rein asked while taking a sip from her ss of water and the girl nodded shyly as she sat down beside her. The room was big so there were many empty ces and for some unknown reason, the chairs on both our sides were empty right now. "Y-yes! I''m Neb Paras G¡­ may goddess Diya bestow her grace on you c-captain!" She seemed to be one of those cute shy types of girls who liked befriending others but unlike stereotypical tbords, she had a little too good assets. ''Neb, the young holy swordsman of the holy kingdom of Rahum. Seems like Rein has someone interesting on her side.'' She greeted me too after her and I gave her a calm smile, at which she blushed again. And Rein didn''t like that. "Hello, little Neb. I see you are a pretty special one. You can call me Uriel, and¡­ this bastard here is called Lucifer, my amazing fianc¨¦." Her introduction was simple but she certainly emphasized the word ''fianc¨¦'' a little too much. So much so that the students sitting six chairs away from us also heard it and got a shiver running down their spines. The girl before her was only surprised though. And the blush on her face had be a dark blush of embarrassment now. "N-no! I didn''t mean to¡­ I mean I just thought he feels weird, No! I-I I''m sorry!" "What?" Rein had a frown on her face now. Confused about what this girl was even trying to say. "Nothing! May the goddess bless you with a good night and tomorrow!" She got up, bowed down toward both of us and ran away while covering her embarrassed face. [[ "Seems like she is sensitive to the divine energy of my stigma and Ronna. Huhu looks like you will havepetition, Rein." ]] -Smack! A smack on the back. Just the thing I expected after thatugh. But it was a fact that she will havepetition, not from just the girl after me but also the ones after her house. And I would be one of the people she will have to face while leading her house. "Shut up and let''s go if you are done. I''m sleepy." Sheined with a look that certainly contained a warning to not say shit like that again. "You are sleepy? Really? Weren''t we going to stay up all night and talk about stuff that happened today and then ''y''?" There was no way I could ask that without a grin on my face. And the frown on her face after that was also inevitable after her previous words. "It''s the same. Let''s go!" And then she dragged me by the end of my shirt, and instead of going to the rooms, we came out of the dining hall, passed the long lobby, and walked out of the gates of the middle part of the academy, ending up outside before the garden. "Why here?" It was confusing why this weird girl brought me outside but when I sensed some activities from the area around us and the area behind the door that we just walked out from, I grasped the wicked intentions of this bad girl of mine. "Seriously? We just ate." "And this is after dinner exercise!" She grinned and looked around the area covered with greenery bathed in the bright moonlight of night. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! -nk. A knife flew towards us from somewhere in the bushes but they were blocked by Rein''s water magic shield. There was a grin on her face after that, and as we saw, new figures popped up around us in this garden, and, at the same time, the doors behind us also slowly opened. A group of four walked out from the door as two hooded figures also jumped off from the bushes and took off their hoods, revealing their young faces. ''What bad cliche entry¡­'' "Hello, house captain~! I think there was some misunderstanding here. We just came here to halve a little talk-" "Yeah. Well, now get ready." The two of the four that had walked out and one of the hooded ones were wearing luxurious items of clothing so it was easy to guess that they were some spoiled brats who thought they could ''talk'' with Rein and gain some position in their house. But sadly for them, they chose the wrong time and ce, and opponent. -Dhum! Bam! Boooooom! -Ooooooooooooooong! -Boooooooooooooooom! "Good. Now you little brats. Tell anyone and everyone you see after today who has some problem with me or the vice house captain toe straight to meet me. I will listen to them like right now and we could talk for a long time and clear out any doubt or question they have, ok?" She was already bored and pissed from their gazes from earlier so they were genuinely the best punching bags for her. "You¡­! You fucking bitch!! Do you know who we even are?! Do you know my father-" "Of course she does Mike Goolen Boorav, son of Count Boorav from the southern kingdom of Bonak. We heard your father recently faced some ''small'' losses while investing in ve markets? Our sincere condolences." I smiled sadly at the boy whoy on the ground with his nose bleeding and his clothes in tatters. He wasn''t seriously hurt though, and the rest of them were the same. Thankfully I told her to not hurt anyone or she might already have started the things that we weren''t supposed to do for at least after the midterms. But this much was good enough and she only used her water magic and nothing more so it was fine. "Y-you¡­! How do you know-" "Shut the fuck up you pig." -Thum! She stomped her foot right beside the ce he wasying on the ground and the boy looked up at her with a wide-open gaze filled with pure horror. "Your family is already on the path of ruins so you should hone that little talent of yours instead of trying to forcefully get on the good grace of someone in this fucked upical way. And you¡­" The boy she was intimidating was scared shitless so there was no need for more words to him so she looked beside him and looked at the boy in a hood who wore normalmoner clothing under that. "The day after tomorrow in the evening. Meet me right here if you are free." The boy she was looking at had an old scar on his face and from his weak body, he didn''t seem to be taking proper meals¡­ or was blocked from having proper meals. "Are you talking to me miss?" He asked with a straight fearless look in his eyes even though he was just beaten up by her and had a fresh wound on his hand. That was quite a nice look he had in those deep brown eyes. "Yes, you. Why? You can do that?" She asked again with eyes full of serious questions. "Yes. I''m afraid I can not do that. You see, the one you are scaring right now-" "He is your master, I know. Doesn''t change shit. He would naturally agree to that if I''m the one asking this." She menacingly smiled at the boy practically under her feet and the boy looked at her with a new smile that was so full of confidence which even surprised me. "Hahaha! Now I understand! You filthymoner bitch! You like this ve bastard, don''t you?! You filthy-" "That would be enough, Mike. Show some respect if you want to study here peacefully. Not only as your house captain she has the authority to file an expulsion order against her house members at any given moment, she is neither your ve nor someone you should even talk to while looking up as long as you are on this ind." His words were being too much so I had no choice but to say something. And saying it simply wouldn''t have worked much so I infused some Aura in my voice and concentrated it on him and his lowly group. "It''s fine darling. They aren''t worth your attention. Except for this one. What''s your name boy." -Thump. "Khaaaa!" She stomped on the leg of the boy she was only intimidating just a moment ago even though he was stunned by the weight behind my voice and smiled at the ve boy. But the boy was also horrified after feeling the dangerous force behind those mere words from me. "Oy? I''m asking you something." She snapped her finger before his eyes and the boy snapped out of that state of fright, looked at her with wide eyes, and then looked at his master, the boy who now cried in pain while holding his leg. "Nox. My big sister used to call me that before they took her away and I was given to master." "You damn ve! You are nothing more than a bastard who is supposed to do my chores here!" -Thump! "Khaaaaaaa!" "Nox? Alright. Nox, listen. The fact that you are in this academy wearing that star means that you are a student here just like this bastard. Yes you might have been his ve or whatever but, the moment you were given that star you wear now, meant that you had regained your individuality. You aren''t his ve or anything like that anymore so stop this bullshit. You can talk to some teacher or authority and ask them to help you remove that ve mark and you would be free to do whatever you want here. And don''t worry about the costs of anything as long as you are in this academy. They take care of most of the things for special cases like yours and also support them to the best of their abilities. And you got 96th rank during the entrance exam anyway. You have more than enough points to remove that mark, get a good dorm room, and even go shop to your heart''s content on the ind after that. Use that talent of yours to do something for yourself and find this big sister of yours instead of following these filthy bastards. And as I said, meet me the day after tomorrow right here with a better look than that. You are free from this filth." -Thump! "Khaaaaaaaa! You will pay for this bitch!!! You will pay!" "Why not? I am rich anyway soe at me with as big of a force as you can. I will even ept official duels with a bunch of you chicks." She red at them, gave the special boy a little smile, and walked back toward me. "That was refreshing. Haaa~. Alright. Let''s go darling~." Well, that wasn''t as much fun for me but she was smiling so that much was enough for me. "Do whatever you want but watch that mouth of yours." I red at the boys onest time and then looked at the boy who had caught her eyes. He was quite a normal boy from any normal perspective but that particr innate skill of his¡­ ===Status=== Name: Nox Race: Human Age: 15 Strength: 81 Dexterity: 78 Stamina: 75 Magic Power: 54 Intelligence: 63 Luck: 33 Charm: 18 [Skill: Night walk, Dagger handling, Acrobatics. ] ¡­ ============ "Nox. Follow her. You will get stronger than you can ever possibly imagine." Nodding at him, I walked away with her from this serene moonlit garden. It was a unique skill that probably even he doesn''t understand at this moment but Rein was a master of darkness. With her help, she can turn that currently fragile boy into someone that might even catch grandpa Zhen''s attention and get into his good grace after graduating from the academy. ''And he can even be a formidable foe for our house so if he gets strong, thepetition would be even more exciting, and ultimately, things would be even more exciting for all of us.'' It was a good one to invest her energy and the boy had potential, probably on the same level as the boy that Zoe and Chry met during their exam. And by the arrow of luck, that boy was in our house anyway, so I also had a good prospect that I will have to teach and polish from the start but, Zoe was there to help me and lead our great house to the pinnacle that it once owned, so I wasn''t alone there. Things were going to be fun but for now¡­ "Alright. This ce looks nice." Rein used her shadow travel skill and we were now on a high branch of the ancient tree, standing right under the eternal blue moon and looking at each other. A green ball of light also materialized beside us so I knew we at least won''t be alone today. And we didn''t need to be alone anyway so I started my story of how some girl tried kissing Rein in the astral realm this morning. It was a fun time and the night was young, and we knew tomorrow was going to be fun, hectic, and full of work too so we sat on the tree branch with her gentle head on myp and I caressed her brown hair that did nothing to hide her bewitching beauty. The night was fine, things were going to be quite something when the headmaster gives his special speech to the students tomorrow, it was going to be difficult to get the dorm that would let the two of us stay in the same room, but I knew as I saw her deep ck eyes looking into my blue ones that¡­ ''Well, you already know.'' Chapter 489 Morning And Bees ? [Eon''s POV: ] -Chirp, chirpy, chirp. -Koo-hooo~! -Buzzzzzz-zzzzzzu. -Buzzz! Buzzz! [< "Yes yes mister bee. But we aren''t trying to steal your house. We got permission from the lord tree so it is fine, right?" >] -Buzzzzzzzzz! [< "Yes I understand but we will leave in a bit anyway so just for a little bit? Please?" >] -Buzzz! [< "No, no. There is no need to hinder the queen. We will probably have a chance to greet her in the future anyway. As for now, this should be a good gift for her, right?" >] I took out a special blue flower from my storage space and handed it to the big honeybee that hovered before the two of us. It was morning and the sun was already halfway up on the horizon. The birds were chirping, clouds were being driven with the winds through the high sky, the area was filled with nature''s natural energies, and as the two of us sat on this high branch of the ancient tree, the bees were getting disturbed by our presence. This area was part of their house and even though we were guests of their patron, we were hindering their work, and they couldn''t ept it. This was their house and we were specifically blocking their path that leads to the flower area of the tree where they collect their lifeline-like nectar. We were on a pretty lower branch of the ancient tree but just like the ancient willow I met in the past, this ancient tree also housed innumerable creatures, colonies, and families of some pretty rare creatures. ''And these blue honeybees are one of those rare creatures.'' Thirty centimeters to a meter in height, and with a bit longer wingspan with their silver wings, the bees were intelligent creatures unlike the normal honeybees and they were special too, so not just anything was enough to please them. -Buzzzzzzzzz¡­! [< "The guests of the great tree wouldn''t be just some normal beings, right? And this is a sincere gift to the queen from us. We would love to hear if the queen likes it before we depart from here." >] -Buzzz-zzz! -BUZZZZZZ! And as soon as I said that in their unique tongue, the bigger soldier leading the group of ten workers hurriedly took the crystal blue flower from my hand and ran away upwards to their home. It was a rare flower and something their kind was innately attracted to: Felix Azure. I know the queen would love it so we were alright for now. And this strange fianc¨¦e of mine was still sleeping after all thatmotion so I didn''t want to wake her up and move from there. [[ *She looks happy though.* ]] ''She is happy. In fact, she is probably dreaming some wrong things about how the past night could have been, or how things would go after we get our own ce after today.'' [[ *Haha. She is quite something, master.* ]] ''She is Rein after all. The dumb fun Rein.'' "Mmmm¡­" And after a while, with new rays of sun gracing us, her eyelids shook and she slowly opened her eyes while looking up at me with her beautiful eyes and with an immediate smile on her pretty face. Haaa, she was hot... ''The sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and still, most of the audience is always asleep. And here is a moon, weakening up with those gentle rays of the raising sun, smiling just as beautifully as the solis, not for the asleep audience but for me. For only me¡­'' "Morning darling." She lifted her head from myp, came closer, and kissed me gently like the sunlight greeting a tender flower petal. "Morning to you too." I greeted her back the same way, probably a bit more roughly than her. "Haha, oyy? Hahaha, Eon!" "We don''t have any Eon here, miss." "What-Kay! Hahaha, Hey, cut it!" -Buzzzz¡­ "Alright." So I let her go and she stood up and looked at the new being she was seeing for the first time. -Buzzz. This new being wasn''t looking at her for the first time though, so itnded on the branch and bowed down at her, unlike our previous greeting. "He came back earlier than I expected. Rein this-" "Cute." "What¡­?" "Cute!!!" She ran forward, picked the big bee that was as big as some big stuffed doll, and hugged it while avoiding its sharp ws and that metallic sting at its end. From any general point of view, this creature would most certainly seem weirdly intimidating and dangerous with those big eyes, that vivid color, and those sharp w-like feet. But as always, this creature was cute for thisdy of mine. -Buzzzzzz¡­! But the bee didn''t like her embrace and tried pushing her back, however, Rein continued her warm embrace and even kissed the bee on his metallic face. ''Just as I thought.'' There was a blush on the blue face of the honeybee and even the new smaller bee that came after that big one couldn''t escape from her embrace. So she now stood there with two big bees in her hand, all happy and cheerful this early in the morning, with a delighted smile on her face. Seeing her like that was even more delightful for me so I didn''t disturb her and the bees also just stayed with her, having fun probably simr to how they have while being around their queen. ''Her naturally high natural energy and affinity make her simr to those colony leaders and it''s some of the most attractive things about her.'' She was practically holding a (Yellow) and an (Orange) ranked creature right now. And in normal circumstances, these bees would have already tried their best to kill the one that hindered them but with her, they were as calm as perfectly tamed beasts. It looked nice and though it seemed like she would just hug them for the entire day, she let them go pretty soon. -Buzzzzzz¡­ And as soon as she left them, the bees had a sad expression that clearly said they wanted more. "No little cuties. We have to go now you see. Our inauguration ceremony will start soon." She patted their big heads and gave them a little forehead kiss as she walked back to me and gave me one too. "Can I take that little one?" She asked with genuine eyes that screamed she wanted the little bee that was a unique blue shade from the big one but, even before I answered her, the solder bee came back to its senses and sternly shook his head. "You can''t have her dear. That one is a Kayria." I petted her head and nodded at the solder bee with a smile. "What''s that?" She asked and looked at the little honey bee with a light blue body, white stripes, and big ck eyes that surely looked somewhat chibi and cute. "She is one of the rare ones that serve the queen directly. You can think of her as the queen''s favorite. Only a few are born every decade in a [Cerulean apis] colony." I patted her shoulder and the little honeybee buzzed, hovered around her as if telling her to not be sad, and then from its somewhat pouch-like space, it took out a bottle that seemed like made of ss but definitely was a product of natural skill, and handed it to her. -Buzzz! Buzzzzzzzzz~! [< "Oh? The queen was happy with the gift? She said she would also love to meet us when the timees? We are truly honored and would surely visit when the timees but until then, we would be grateful if she allows us to stay here on asion." >] -Buzzzzzz~! [< "Really? She said that? It is ttering but I will humbly ept that. Oh right. Please tell her that we are honored to receive such a precious gift¡­ actually, just a thank you wouldn''t suffice. Please give her this too." >] I took out a small wooden box from my storage space and handed it to the little bee. And as the bee held it with her big w-like hands, the confused look on her face made Rein even more excited than before. -Buzzzzzz? [< "Well, the queen will know when she sees it. Please tell her we apologize we couldn''t visit her now, and also that we probably won''t be able to do so for a few days but please try to reassure her that we will undoubtedlye to see her." >] -Buzzzzzz~! Buzzz! [< "Yes. I can tell she is a great person." >] -Buzzz~. I gave her a small respectful bow and Rein did the same. And then the soldier bee bowed towards both of us as both of them slowly flew away and I grabbed her hand. "Let''s go." I smiled at her and she looked at me with a distinct frown on her face as she used her shadow travel skill and we reappeared on the ground. "You devilish bastard. What do you want with those cute bees?" She was asking that with a serious look in her eyes but I justughed at my adorable fianc¨¦e who knew me too well at this point. "Well, something important I would say?" My answer was obviously vague but she got the answer she asked the question for. "You fucking bastard. I will cut your limbs if you hurt these bees." The look in her eyes was genuine and I had no doubt she was strong enough to do what she had said just now. And she was mentally strong too so it could have been a very possible oue if I ever had any thoughts of hurting those useful creatures. "You silly. Why would I do that?" I smiled and she carefully looked at me as if trying to scan and find out if I was telling the truth or not. As a matter of fact though, I would do my best to protect them. They were just that much useful creatures. There was no need to hurt them, but it was very important to have a good rtionship with them and their queen. It would help us in many of our future tasks and even during our time in the academy. "Ok¡­" she nodded when she saw nothing wrong with me, my face, my behavior, my soul, the micro-movements of my heart and muscles, and the flow of Mana around me. She was at the very least sure that I didn''t mean those ''adorable'' bees any harm. "Hmmm. So? What will I get from this?" She asked while maintaining her serious face and I answered casually. It was a very expected question from my lovely fianc¨¦e after all. "You, my dear, will get your own Kayria. Possibly a younger one than we just saw." My answer was full of confidence so her eyes immediately became big like an excited cat and she shouted, "Are they cuter?!". That was just the question I thought she would shout and my answer to that was also something I had prepared with great caution. "Yup. Big ws, a body that might look like it is furry but actually is sharper than fine katanas, and with eyes bigger than their older forms, they are some of the creepiest creatures so, yes. They are the epitome of cuteness from your dictionary." "Yesssss~! I will happily allow your devious n then~!" She hugged me and out of nowhere, a waterfall fell on us? -Shwaaaaaa¡­ And it was cold water. "What the fuck?" That was strangely unexpected but the one who did that was hiding just before us. "Hello? At leaste here and apologize." I looked to the other side and after ring at that ce for a while, a certain girl, a certain girl that had gotten famous since yesterday, the captain of Ca''s house, turned off her hiding skill and came out with an embarrassed expression. There was a strange-looking book in her hand that attracted my attention but before that¡­ "Me, I, nomonnguage." "Talk in anynguage you arefortable with, girl. And have some confidence. How are you going to lead those bunch of people with that attitude." "I-I! I apologize!" "Wow. Now that is unexpected." It really was more unexpected than the grimoire that she was holding. ''Actually¡­ what the heck!?'' "I didn''t know the Xivinikini tribe still existed?!" This was quite a surprise for me. Rein didn''t understand my surprise but it was really a big deal. We were talking about one of the oldest human tribes here and their nativenguage that this girl had just spoken that easily so this was really surprising for me who was still uncertain about the [Genesis]. ''Maybe she¡­'' I wasn''t sure and I was hoping what I was thinking was true but hope was sometimes a bitch so I hurriedly calmed myself, took a small breath, and looked at the girl that was now looking at us with a surprised expression and wide eyes. This was probably going to be difficult but I had to give it a shot. I had to, because this new thing¡­ it was something I wanted to know with all my heart. Chapter 490 A New Friend ? [Eon''s POV: ] There are six truths of this world and nature that I believe I havee to know. The very first one was the truth about the [[( Origin true energy )]] and the perpetual transmutation of all energies. The second one, we could say, was the truth of [[( Death )]]. Something that is certain and has just as profound meaning as the third truth that I learned, the truth of [[( Life )]]. Those three were the things I naturally learned while reading, learning, and practicing things with my master. And then there was my fourth truth, and the first one that master taught me, the truth of [[( Soul )]] and its connection with our mind, consciousness, and body, the phenomenon of the [ZONE], and also the purpose of astral projection. When I learned more about the Soul and practiced it and was able to clear the first ''blockage'' of my physical body, I saw the astral realm for the first time, and shortly after that, she taught me about the realms, worlds, space, outer space, reality, and with that, I learned the truth of ''basic'' [[( Reality )]], something that witches innately be aware of and manifest it as their Witchcraft. It is a formidable power and even I can''t actually use it like them. However, I can, with a near life-draining amount of my total energy, manifest that truth in a form that I understand the best. It was like a new world had opened before me when I learned that, but just after that, a new question popped into my mind. ''Are reality and space different things? Are they different truths with different meanings and different applications? What is space and does time have something to do with it? Did it already exist in this world or did ite after some certain point or someone created it? Time is rtive but does time even exist or is it something that we made up ourselves? Are space and time even rted like we believe they are?'' I questioned, read countless materials to find the answer that I was looking for, asked my master, questioned more, and at the end of my quest, I found the answer to one of the questions. I got a satisfying answer to ''what space actually is?'' and with that, I was able to grasp the truth of [[( Space )]]. I probably spent a year learning that, and I still think it was more than tens of years, but I got the answer, which only pointed me toward new questions. >What is this world and what is the nature that we live in? >How was this world created? >How did everything start and what genesis actually is? >How many truths are there? >Who made these ''truths'' or if someone didn''t make them, were they always there before the ''beginning'' or even before that? >How does the world work and is there actually some higher power that we call ''nature'' operating this world? >What are anomalies or irregrs? >What is the purpose of origin skills? >And what is the reason for the existence of every single thing that actually exists? I wanted the answers to at least these nine questions if I could in this life that I had decided to live in peace with my family and close ones. It wasn''t that important however, a being needs a purpose to live aside from their main goal. It is also something that makes living and spending your free time fun. ''And thenguage of the tribe she just spoke used to be thest surviving primordial human tribe that vanished some ten millennia ago without a trace. So this girl, not as the house captain but as an entire entity, had just be very crucial to getting my eptable answer to the [Genesis].'' But from the look on her face, I knew I can''t be aggressive and ask her multiple personal questions out of nowhere. So¡­ a general approach. "You know thenguage I speak?" She asked with genuine surprise and Rein firmly shook her head in denial. "I don''t but he surely knows it though. He probably knows all thenguages out there." Her answer surprised her but more than that, it confused her because Rein had just spoken in thenguage that she said she didn''t know. "T-then how can you speak so well?" The girl, the newly famous house captain of [Aqua mirror], Aleequinn, asked while clenching the magical book in her hand and nced between me and her with suspicious eyes. "I have-" "There is no need to be on guard like that." I grabbed Rein''s hand and told her to let me take the lead for a while through our touch speech and she also looked at me with a questioning gaze. But I had no ill intentions here so I just shook my head and she understood it so she stopped and we looked at the girl before us. "She has an innate skill that lets her understand things that she sees and then she just uses her Mana-infused voice to replicate thenguage that the other said. It''s quite a special ability but Miss Aleequinn, if you can, please keep it a secret. You understand it right? Having a special gift that the world might get envious of and might want to take for themselves?" I gave her a warm smile, Rein shook her head, and the girl before us flinched for a moment and the grimoire in her hand became particles of light and vanished inside her. My words probably triggered something inside her and she nodded lightly while looking down, avoiding our gazes. "Miss Aleequinn?" I called her name and only then she came out of her sea of thoughts and looked back at us. "Would you like to be our friend?" I asked and at the question, Rein''s eyes became wide open as she looked at me. ''The hack bastard?! You don''t ask anyone to be your friend! You said you won''t do anything to her!'' She was shouted through her eyes and those ring eyes were intimidating as always. ''Rein? How many times do I have to say it? I am Lucifer remember? We are in the academy and we will need good friends. And this girl¡­ she is worth it darling. And more than that, I think you will like her.'' I gave her a unique warm smile and she looked at me with a tilted head. She didn''t understand what I meant so she looked back at the girl and used her eyes, and then understood what I was trying to say. ''Damn¡­'' ''See. You will have fun with her. Make her your ymate for our time in the academy. She will have many things to learn about the world anyway.'' "Yes! Let''s be friends~!" Rein shouted, ran forward, and grabbed her hands. She was surprised and the sudden hand grabbing stunned her. And then Rein shook the hands harshly, confusing the poor girl even more. "Uriel¡­ slow down please." "Oh! Sorry." She let her go and shouldered her. Then she made a chair with her water magic and sat her down. "Let''s be friends." She said again and now looked at the calmed girl with stars in her eyes and the other one looked at her with shock and confusion. "B-but we don''t even know each other¡­" "Oh! Don''t worry about that! I''m Uriel, he is my darling Lucifer. He is my fiance so you can''t have him, and I''m his fiancee so don''t worry I''m safe. I''m a water mage, he is an archer. I''m captain of [Dark society], and he is vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]. We don''t have a grand background but we can proudly say we are ranked adventurers and have seen plenty of this empire and other parts of the continent. He is the smarter one between us but he doesn''t show it most of the time, but I assure you that bastard probably knows all the answers there would ever be in our curriculum books. I''m more on the wilder side so he has a bit of difficulty handling me but he is the only one who managed to do it so yeah, he''s the best. We have known each other for three years and we both have lived up to this point to tell you this so you can rest assured and be friends with us." ''That damn girl said all that in one breath¡­ that''s my Rein.'' I smiled helplessly at her words that were too perfect to criticize and walked forward, tapped her head with my palm, and looked at the one sitting on the water chair. "I apologize for this. She''s just, you know, enthusiastic. She really wants to be your friend and so do I." Rein took a step back, and we looked at Aleequinn. She had calmed down and was now looking at us with a new look that was thoroughly evaluating this whole scenario. Her eyes were trying to see through us, or more like see our status windows. Her fingers were caressing the chair she was sitting on, trying to figure out Rein''s personal spell''s structure and its strength. Her breathing had calmed down a lot now, and the Mana around her was getting denser as if she was preparing for anything bad. But her heartbeat was calm so I can tell she wasn''t as much on guard as before. She was thinking of giving us a shot and epting our friendship. She was convincing herself but before that, she had some questions she needed answers of. "Why do you want to be my friend?" She asked while looking at Rein and not me, and Rein smiled cheerfully at her question. "Why wouldn''t we want to be friends with the person that attacked us with a true spell? Hehe. Besides, you are strong and mysterious, have some pretty unique skills, and are also a house captain. You must be all alone in this academy and by yourself and we are pretty much the same so we thought it would be fun to have more friends and you are the first person we are meeting like this who actually seems like a good person. All the other people just stared at us and talked bad things behind our backs. Those MFs are bastards, probably you faced a few of them too. Hopefully, they haven''t attacked you like the two of usst night. Bastards were weak anyway so that''s that but yeah. There are plenty of reasons to befriend you. We can slowly get to know each other, talk, roam the ind, and help each other. We know the academy pretty well from the things we have heard and read but exploring it with someone I can trust will be far better than going around by myself, right?" That was a good persuasion attempt and I would be convinced if someone said that to me. And Rein was able to get through her heart a little bit, thankfully. "Alright then¡­" The Mana around her calmed down and she stood up from her chair. "You can call me Quin and I will be in your care, Miss Uriel and Mister Lucifer. I don''t know practically anything about the ind and embarrassingly enough, I have also never learned any othernguage than the one myte grandfather taught me since I was a kid. I know water magic that he taught me and he used to say I have great talent but I do not know about that. I had only lived with him on some faraway ind for as long as I can remember. Haaa¡­ I am practically alone on this ind too so thank you very much for asking first. I would love to be your friend. He would have liked it this way too¡­" She had a bitter smile on her face, but she washed it away soon and smiled at the two of us. "Do you want to cry Quinny?" Rein hugged her gently and sighed deeply at the same time. "We both know how it feels to lose someone so you can cry if you want. I''m here, we are here for you. And don''t worry. Now that you are here, we are here, it will be fine." Rein knew what to say in these special situations and in those times, she is better than me. She expressed our hearts better than I could have and it managed to touch her heart better than I was ever expecting. "I''m fine Miss-" "No Miss or Mister between friends. Call us Uriel and Lucifer." Quin smiled warmly and shook her head with a positive vibe. "Thank you for your mesmerizing words, Uriel. However, I''m alright now. I had cried enough when things ended but he had requested me to never cry after that over something that wasn''t worthy of my tears. So, I''m alright. And¡­ I think we are gettingte for the inauguration ceremony." Yeah. That was true. The sun was already up and we were doing this friendship greetings in this secluded ce around the giant tree. We should be there by now but we were here, and it was bad. And as always, Rein didn''t give a fuck about that. "They can wait if they want us to be there or just go ahead and start their little pass time. It is alright anyway. We have exactly 15 minutes before they start and we can reach the auditorium in ten minutes if we run. We still have five minutes so rx." And then she just continued hugging her after that. Quin didn''t understand herx behavior and instead of finding it weird, she found it better and more attractive so she, too, just continued hugging her. "Oh, dear." How could I just watch quietly when two pretty girls were happily hugging like that? Well technically I should do just that but not when one of the girls hugging the other one was my fiancee. I could do something better than that. So I did that something better and hugged Rein from behind. She knew I would do that and she liked it anyway so she didn''t mind it, and strangely, Quin also didn''t mind me hugging the two like them. It was a warm feeling and we stayed like that for exactly four minutes and then¡­ "Alright! Thest one will pay for lunch!" And after saying that, she ran away towards the gates. "Haaa¡­ what do I do with that girl?" She was weird. But that weirdness was always attractive. "Hahaha~." But she did well this time leaving the two of us behind. I wanted to have a little private talk with this girl anyway so this was a good chance to ask her the things I wanted to ask for a long while now so, I looked at her innocent looking smiling face and called her name in a gentle voice¡­ "Quin?" Chapter 491 Inauguration ? [Eon''s POV: ] "So, Quin, I had many questions for you but before that, just out of curiosity, was your grandfather''s name Yulious Kapamir Nyok or something like that?" It was an important question and I asked it while we were running so it was more shocking for her. "How do you know Grandpa''s name?!" She shouted while resuming her running after almost stooping from the shock that someone knew her grandpa''s name. We were running towards the inner area of the academy towards the general auditorium 3 where our inauguration was taking ce. Rein was already there but we were still running in the hallway. And we were running while using our movement skills so it was even more dangerous to stop suddenly like that. But it was surprising for her, and I can understand how it would feel if someone called your guardian''s name out of nowhere that you thought no one in the world aside from you knew. But, this scenario was different. The name I had just called out was far more famous than she can think. ''And from how she just said they lived on some ind, it is clear that she lived with him in hisst days and he raised her as his child.'' Well, it was quite a story but her positive answer meant that she had no connection with the ancient tribe that I was interested in. Sooo¡­ there wasn''t much I could gain from her in regard to my personal question. But, that didn''t mean she was useless to me or anything like that. She was strong after all. Not fit for a core position of the Lightshade but she can definitely be very useful. ''And she has that grimoire too, so she will definitely be strong enough to do pretty great things.'' And considering her rtionship with one of the greatest adventurers to ever live¡­ "How long has it been since you got away from the ind the two of you used to live on, Quin?" I asked again without answering her question and though she was confused, she answered immediately, "Two months, I believe." That wasn''t much of a long time so I can say she didn''t know much about the outside world. "Did the two of you used to live on that ind alone?" I asked again but this time, she seemed hastiest to answer the question. Still, she wanted to know how I knew her grandpa so she answered the best she could, "Kind of?" The answer was vague but that much was enough to quench my curiosity. "Your grandpa was and still is a famous person, Quin." I smiled at her warmly as I was saying that and continued with the same expression. "He must have given you some list of instructions before he left with a letter of rmendation from the adventurer''s association and told you toe to the academy right? It was a wise decision and I am d you followed that advice so well. I should be able to tell you some important things if you let me take a look at those instructors but before that, did he specifically give you some ne or ring or a badge saying it would be helpful to you when you get out?" She suddenly stopped on her spot when she heard that, and I stopped just before her too. The doors to the auditorium were just ahead of us and students were also going in from the other side so it was fine to talk for a bit. We had a minute to finish this small but important talk now. p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® "How do you know all this¡­?" She was stunned and the Mana around her was getting denser again, meaning she was getting ready for anything wronging out of my mouth. But that behavior was unnecessary. "I am your friend and it is my duty to help you, right? Don''t worry, I just know those things because that''s just how I am. Didn''t Uriel say I know everything? Just believe that for now and show me that thing if you can. It is important and you might get hurt if some wrong people know this information." I was serious this time, and she could see that in my eyes. She could also sense the genuine concern I had right now so she calmed down, nodded, and took out a normal-looking ring, a diary, and a badge from her storage space, and showed it to me. "He wrote to go to the adventurer''s association branch on this ind when I get here and ask them to let me meet the branch manager, and show him this badge and ring." I took them, looked at the ring with my eyes, and then skimmed through the diary. It was quite interesting and more than I had thought but it was just as I was thinking. ''Good¡­'' "Thanks." I returned the two things and looked back at her after a deep breath, and then turned back. "Alright let''s go in first." "Hmm? What? Lucifer?!" I entered the auditorium, searched for my fianc¨¦e, and waved at her when my eyes met hers. Thankfully, she had reserved seats for us in this colossal room and the stage far below us was still empty. "Heyyy! At least answer me!!" Quin came running behind me but before she could even say anything more than that, I walked ahead, reached Rein, gave her a peck on her cherry cheeks, and sat down. "Lucifer! You bastard!" And she came running, her face covered with a look that Rein was seeing for the first time, and she obviously liked it. "It''s starting Quin. Please take a seat." -Oooooooooong! I gave her a warm smile as the stage was illuminated with a few colorful lights and people started appearing on therge stage. "I need an exnation, good gentleman." Quin smiled at me with a good warmth behind it, good enough to burn something down to a crisp. [[ "I do have a good exnation gooddy so please have a seat." ]] With another smile on my face, I pointed at the seat beside me... however, Rein stood up walked up to Quin, grabbed her hand, walked to her ce, and ''requested'' the girl to sit beside her. "Is this seat taken?" Just then, a boy walked up to me and asked with aplicated expression. He was wearing a silver star with [Eternal tigers] house''s mark on it and though his clothes were better than themon clothing, they weren''t asvish as a noble or royal clothing. He seemed embarrassed but the entire room was almost filled and the seats were already upied by the students so our row was also the same. "Yeah¡­ sure." I smiled bitterly at him and he nodded back, understanding the situation I was in right now. "Chrysis." He extended his hand and I shook it with the same bitter feeling as I looked at my fianc¨¦e who now sat between Quin and me. "Lucifer. Sorry about that." He looked older than us with his bit bigger and more muscr body and from his eyes, I can tell he had lived through his fair share of difficulties. "Don''t be. I got a seat thanks to your girlfriend." He sighed as he looked at Rein and then on the other side at Quin who still had a confused look clouding her face after I talked with her through Celes''s connection. I had to answer her previous questions but before that, I looked at this ''new'' person who sat beside me. "She is my fianc¨¦e Mister Chrysis. My dear lovely fianc¨¦e." I gave him a true smile and he smiled with a perfect surprise behind his still-calm eyes. "The captain of [Dark society] and vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix] are betrothed. What a nice thing to be a part of." He smiled and nodded at me, and then finally, I nced back at the girl who sat on the other side of my weird girl. [[ "Quin? Can you hear me?" ]] "Y-yes?" [[ "You are supposed to say that in your mind like using the Mana speech transfer but with only your mental power. Just focus and you will be fine." ]] "Uriel¡­?" Rein said all that and it was almost perfect but she forgot one crucial thing. [[ "You can just think out loud and it will work so no need to think too deeply about this. And this is a special ability too so don''t tell anyone Miss house captain." ]] Rein chuckled and looked at her, and then me, and then looked at the person beside me, nodded at him, and focused on the stage below us like everyone else. [[ "Like this?" ]] [[ "Yes. Exactly like that." ]] [ "Good morning young students." ] The vice headmaster suddenly walked up on the stage and marked the start of the inauguration ceremony but before the vice headmaster started, I gave Quin a short summary of important answers. [[ "Alright Quin. First of all, your grandpa was a famous adventurer known on all three continents. There was an era people only talked about him throughout the three continents. However, that was one hundred and fifty years ago. He retired in his old days and is said to be dead for thest hundred years but now here you are with a ring that clearly means that he has dubbed you as his sessor... He was called the definition of an adventurer Quin, someone who roamed the dangers of this world, someone who collected countless treasures, and someone who had a strange interest in the Xivinikini tribe, and the solenguage you know was thenguage of that very primordial tribe that is said to have survived for the longest. Quin, I know you do not know this but Master Yulious¡­ was rich. So famous, rich, and noble at his core that the world envied what he possessed and what they could never have. I don''t know how much you trust us right now but, doing something wrong might put the word out that ''the sessor of master Yulious had appeared on the ind of magic''s wealth'' and that ultimately might put you in danger. The academy is no doubt the safest ce there is but not the ind itself. There are bad people and you will need help." ]] I didn''t need more words to tell her just how important this matter was and that she really might get into something troublesome. [ "Alright everyone. Wee to the academy again and we will now start your inauguration ceremony so please give a round of apuse to these important people that you all will be seeing regrly during your time here." ] The Vice headmaster was done with the preparations and the stage was starting to be filled with other important people so this was the start. Quin was contemting the things that I had just said and Rein was happy because she knew that Quin will also being with us on our shopping trip today. She was having her own fun and Chry was doing fine too so there was nothing to be worried about. Everyone else had settled down and Ca, Zoe, and others were together, and I could tell they were cursing at Chry to make the first move and get acquainted with ''me''. It was fine though, we all will get acquainted with time so nothing much to think about that too. There was this small matter with our new friend here and it will be fine as long as we don''t encounter some high-ranking authority on the ind who was behind the treasures of Sir Yulious. So, things were fine, and they became finer than ever when we saw a strangely familiar male figure walking up on the stage and standing on the other side of the group of teachers that were already there. [[ "Darling! That''s him right?!!" ]] I knew Rein would recognize that special person and there was no way I could ever forget someone as important as him. ''It was you¡­'' We didn''t think we would see him here but now that we know¡­ ''Yes!'' He is going to join us. I don''t know how but he will be one of the core members of the Lightshade. Chapter 492 A Word For Them ? [OP: ] In a dark ce illuminated with only the low glow of some mysterious eyes in it, a fierce fight was going on. -Ptssssssss! A reptilian hiss was filling the area asionally and it had many emotions behind those heavily wounded sounds. Sometimes it was a wail of agony while sometimes it was a scream of anger. Sometimes it was the plea for salvation, while other times, they were curses towards the person that had just ughtered the countless children this snake had carefully nurtured with blood, sweat, and tears. However, the person that was standing atop a pile of corpses of creatures that resembles snakes but possessed the body of a demon had a serene look as he looked at the bleeding, wound-covered, defeated creature. He didn''t have any great pity or sympathy towards the giant creature with a feminine body and a Naga''s head. A sinister ck miasma was oozing from the creature''s body and it was a clear sign that it was already toote for the creature. The demonic essence had already turned them into demonic beasts and there was no saving them anymore. "In some different ce, at some different time, it might have been different. But¡­" The man who had eyes glowing in a rainbow color lifted his hand and a ball of colorful light materialized on it. "I am sorry. It wasn''t your mistake." -Swash! A beam of light was shot from the ball and pierced right through the colossal creature, obliterating all of its upper body and only leaving the tail part, which sprayed thick ck blood that painted everything in the dark cave in a thicker, darker shade. "But thanks though." The man, the greatest archmage in the world, the headmaster, lifted his hand again and snapped his fingers. -Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim! A burst of light so bright it can blind any living creature for their lifetime and turn any undead creature in particles of pure light overflowed the cave, and even continued moving through all the caves, holes, junctions, and exists of thebyrinth All these ces including the core room the headmaster was in were filled with innumerable corpses and as soon as this burst of light touched these things, the corpses just vanished with this light, as if vanishing from existence itself. The dark cave was also being illuminated with new lights that started appearing in the ces that the previous burst of light had passed from and the area, the cave, thisbyrinth that he was in started gaining new shades of colors that it had never seen. From darkness to warm colors that were pleasing to normal eyes, this transformation was a sight to behold, and anyone seeing this spectacle might have fallen into a daze of eternal admiration. However, the handsome headmaster was the only alive being left in this entire structure, and of course, the treasures, the piles of silver and gold, the unique riches that these creatures had gathered and stored in the room he was in, which was filled with a pile of treasure as big as the demonized beast he had just finished. "After those three days of boring work, this much is good enough." -Snap! He snapped his finger again and this time, a white triangr ring materialized just above the top of this pile of treasure, and then a thin blue sheet appeared in this white ring. Then the ring starteding down and as it descended towards the ground, it grew bigger with the pile of treasure it devoured, and by the time it had eaten everything there, the headmaster had also finished collecting the energy cores and skill stones saturated with the demonic energy of the snake-like demonic creatures he had just killed. "Alright then. This is finally done." The ring that had devoured the things vanished and he also looked around the cave for thest time. "Haaaa..." He sighed with a calm but bitter look after that and a magic circle appeared under his feet. This whole trip was short but difficult for him. The creatures he just killed were all (Indigo) to the top grade of (Purple) ranked and they could have caused a cmity if they came out to the outside world but, it was fine now. He got to the ce on time, dealt with the bastard Rakshasas that caused the mutation of creatures in this entirebyrinth, dealt with the source of mutation, and at the end, finished off the creatures that had to go through that excruciatingly painful and unwanted experience. That was a lot of work and though he obtained some riches, they weren''t all his for taking. Anyway, things ended here, so he can go back to the academy and see the new batch of students that he will be looking after and teaching for the course of the next few years. He was excited and from the unique results of the entrance exam, he was even more excited to see the new batch of students, his new student council members, the rising stars, and the special ones that appeared out of who knows where. "And the house leaders too of course¡­ how I can''t wait to see all those young ones." There was an excited smile on his face as he vanished in a ray of light and, as he reappeared in the room full of his students, on the stage filled with his teachers, vice headmaster, and two special individuals who used to be students like everyone of them until justst year, he took a deep breath and first nced all around the auditorium. ¡­ He was just quietly looking around at every one of them, looking into their eyes individually, seeing them as a whole from that stage, and as he looked at them, all of them also noticed his eyes, and either straightened their backs in surprise, smiled and waved at him like Zoe, or just sat there as they were and gazed back into his eyes like Rein and Eon. There were also some clueless ones like Quin who only looked at him with surprise as if seeing a magnificent man like him for the first time. But the room which was bustling with voices from the students, their bad talk about certain people, the excitement over the group of people that were standing on the stage, and all that had stopped when the headmaster suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And he was just watching everyone equally right now. He was watching his students, everyone who sat there, and yes there were many who were not there, he would have seen them just like he looked at them right now too. There was no profound meaning behind his gaze, he was just looking at them, looking at all the amazing young children that will hopefully achieve things that they desire or are best for them. His gaze was still unique from each of their perspectives though. Even for Eon and Rein, and others, this gaze was something¡­ special. And it continued for three solid seconds. "Hello everyone," he said after he was done with his observation and his voice was as unique as always as it rang in everyone''s ears as if he was saying it while standing just beside them. It easily caught everyone''s attention and they focused their eyes on him, looking at his indescribably gorgeous physical appearance while gasping in their minds. They didn''t understand why but just looking at him was giving them a feeling of just how charismatic a character he was. And none of them actually disliked this ttery-ttery feeling. "Everyone must have weed you all with the greatest care and I know you all also mostly don''t like the big useless talks. This is an inauguration ceremony but I don''t think there is much left to wee you all. This is the academy you will all be staying in for a few years and I don''t know how much you will be able to gain from this institution that has so many things to offer that even I, someone who had been here for hundreds of years, am still gaining something new asionally from different parts, ces, mysteries, and secrets. There are many basic things you should know about this ce but I think many already know most of those things and I also know many don''t even have the slightest idea what this ce actually is but, I still believe with time, you all will learn many things, and probably some of you will learn more things than others, and probably some of you will also discover some secrets of this ce that even I don''t know. The possibilities of what you do here, how much you explore, how much you want to know, and your desire to gain new things, information, treasures, facilities, and all that, are practically endless if you want. You can go to any of the ces that aren''t strictly forbidden to you all and spend your free time however you like. The basic information is just the basics and you can definitely get by just fine with that much but this academy, this great institution, has far more to offer than just the good lectures, learning opportunities, opportunities to get stronger, or any simple thing like that. Yes, you might be here for your own unique reasons but now that you all are here, you have been connected to not just me but all these special people you see with me on this grand stage." He stopped after that and this time looked at only a few certain individuals who had unique reactions to his special gaze. He wasn''t saying anything to them however, the ones being looked at instinctively knew that this hot headmaster of theirs had some sort of expectations from these special few individuals. "A word for all of you young ones." Everyone stalled their hearts and focused on the special words of their headmaster. And thismon behavior of theirs put a smile on the face of not only him but all of the people standing on the stage, including the not much older-looking mature boy and the beautiful girl with a calm demeanor and emerald eyes. "Have fun," he said. "Have fun, make friends, y in the many facilities in the academy, do the things you like, and find new things you mighte to love. Find something to love, and it could be a person, an activity, a ce, or something else but try putting in a little effort for it or probably just in the thought of it. It is up to you but it would be one of my best pieces of advice to you all for not just your academic life but also your life outside this ce. And after you find something you love, start exploring. Explore the academy, explore your own hearts, minds, and body, explore the things unseen to the mere eyes, and explore the wide world that has even greater things than this floating ind and this school. And after you have explored enough, settle down in the ce that made you feel most like your home. And I''m not talking about your ''house'' here where you live. A home is different from a dwelling. It is actually so different that the two things are worlds apart from each other. Do just that much, and you will find something that you might not have or have ever thought to possess. eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Remember that you all are special. Every single one of you. Everyone has a unique talent they are born with, and if someone isn''t, they create their own te with continuous, excruciating practice, repeated trials, and an unwavering passion. You have it, and you will all find it during your time in this academy. Every single person at this stage will help you find that, and will always be there for you for any kind of help you want. The ancient tree outside must have told you all he likes hearing, talking with new people, and telling stories, right? Well, I like making friends and talking with them too. So, I''m here, everyone is here, the ancient tree outdoors has been here longer than any of us too, and we will hear whatever you have to say, whenever you want. But I do expect that all of you, not just the unique people here but all of you will be able to find and nurture your unique gifts because those who know of their gifts and still ignore them¡­ are ultimately betraying their own selves. I wouldn''t like that, but those who do actually do that will be the ones getting the most wanted and unwanted help on these premises." He smiled again after that, and this time, it was a warm smile. Everyone understood what they had to do after that and those who didn''t, or weren''t present, would also surelye to know this ''wish'' of their headmaster. It was a simple wish from the academy''s perspective though. It corresponded with the iron solid aspect of this unique institution that was famous for turning any and all of their students into someone this world could profit from in a simple or probably a veryplex way, after all. His words were simple for them to understand, and they were all excited after hearing all of that spectacr stuff. "Alright then. That much should be enough for now, right? I will leave you all with your great, special, certainly a troublemaker, and now also a great gentleman student council president who, with your calm, problem-solver, excellent, and some of the best I can proudly say I have taught myself, your vice president, will be with you throughout this year and guide you through the basic steps and traditions of our home like school." He walked back after saying that, nodded at the two younger-looking ones on the stage, gave them a pleased smile, and after giving a simr smile to the headmaster, the two of them walked towards the podium and looked at all the students present with a simr warm smile as the headmaster and took a deep breath¡­ "Haaa¡­ hello again everyone." Chapter 493 Zodiac ? [OP: ] With hair as white as the pure clouds and eyes as blue as the clear sky, he looked at the students with a smile, and then pointed at a certain seat where a girl inmon clothing was sitting. "I sat there during our inauguration ceremony," he said. Then he moved up his finger a bit and pointed at the very back of the seats where a boy in noble clothing was sitting. "And this amazing vice president of yours sat there." He sighed after saying that and the sigh was certainly deep, and filled with nostalgia. "It was just three years ago and it feels so distant, and at the same time, it also feels like it was just yesterday." The girl with short ck hair that had white ends and emerald green eyes smiled as if she, too, remembered some good old days and shook her head. He smiled at her while looking back and then returned to his fellow students. "We were there and we are here now, standing with these amazing teachers that taught us, handled unique creatures like the two of us, and helped us reach the point we all are at. It still isn''t much different from you all though, we just have to do a lot of boring work now that we have this big of a student body to look after." He made a genuinely sad expression that made many of them chuckle at his funny and confident way of saying it all while the teachers and the headmasters were still there. However, some of them were also chuckling at his miserable look, actually knowing just how much more difficult the things they did were than he made them out to be. Not just any person could handle thousands of students, teachers, facilities, other people, some core matters of this sky ind, and while doing that,plete the unique tasks assigned by their headmaster. The two of them were the best of the best from their batch, actually some of the best the academy had seen, and they were very much qualified toin about their work. "But it has been and still is a fun task." He scratched his neck while saying that and some of the students had a confused expressions asking what could be fun in doing those treacherous things. He caught onto their questions and as a simple response to their same question, he answered in a low voice as if whispering to them, "You can bunk as many sses as you want, go in and out of the academy whenever you want, and even go off the ind at your will, and it''s the best privilege only the student council presidents have." -WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHT! Cheers,ints, shouts, and curses erupted from the audience as they heard those words, and the teachers, headmaster, and vice headmaster, shook their heads in disbelief at his words. They weren''t allowed to get off the ind whenever they wanted and they also had to have the required sum of attendance for the general and chosen subjects. They basically had to attend a total of twelve sses in a year and of them, six werepulsory sses and the other six were of their choice. They cannot change their sses midway and the required attendance waspulsory. And, the worst thing of that, that most of them knew was a fact, was that if you don''t have the required attendance, you will be forced to have the sses however they can if the reason for the low attendance wasn''t toooooo great. You can''t bunk sses too, which was an iron-d rule of the academy. If you came and sat in a lecture, whatever it may be, however it may be, you must sit till the very end. Because of these things, bunking the sses was something that rarely happened outside a certain volume, and here was their student council president, saying all those things as if mocking them, not in the bad way but at least teasing them in a bad way. He didn''t say it but what he said could also be interpreted as him having the authority of leaving the ss whenever he wanted and that power could naturally be very helpful when attending the unwanted highest-level courses like the (Superior) sses. He made them jelly with those simple words and Eon and Rein couldn''t help but admire this unique person who had astonished them multiple times for so long. He was an awesome person in their perspective, and the legen~dary president for Rein; however, the woman standing beside him was a bitch who tried doing something unforgivable from Eon''s perspective, and a bad-bad girl from Rein''s. As the two looked at each other, they knew what the other party was thinking about them however, right now wasn''t the time or the ce to sort out their personal matters. So¡­ the student council president nodded at the crowd and continued with a happy nod at her. "Alright, alright everyone. I know some of you might not believe me but I say it from the bottom of my heart when I say being a student council member, president, and vice president are tough tasks so exhausting that after every day of our work, we are drained beyond thinking¡­ but that''s not what we are here to talk about. It''s just your first day and I don''t think you all have to stress over things just yet. You will understand many things with your time here so for the most basic of things you should know about the grand academy of Hope would be your sses, all these amazing teachers present here, the facilities, the extracurricr activities, the clubs, and alsost but not least, the currency points." He then pointed at the teachers and gave a very brief ount of his own experience with the teachers, then he stopped aside and the vice president started exining the basic things about the sses, the avablemon facilities, thepulsory and nonpulsory extracurricr activities, the clubs, how to apply for one, how to create new ones, and after talking about her own experience with the teacher, she also stepped aside and the president started exining the currency system of not just their academy but also the entire ind. "Alright, so I believe you all already know that trades on the ind of magic''s wealth only happen in currencies epted globally or at least on our. The wisdom coin is the mostly epted currency and just after thates natural resources like some magical herbs or Mana stones, or maybe skill stones. So yeah, bartering is the mostmon trading method here, and after thates the use of adventurers association [M] points. There are a few other globally epted currencies but probably not all work in every ce you visit inside or outside of the academy, however, one thing I can assure you all would be that the [Wealth] points are epted throughout all the ces on this ind. I can say for certain that every one of you will have to spend some money during your time on this ind even with the free academic services and the result points you received during your entrance exam were added in the form of [Wealth] points in your ount which you all can ess through the ID stars you have. Those stars are more than just some house identifiers if anyone didn''t know. They are practically a highly advanced natural artifact that acts as your identification, a very small storage space, amon small light, your [Wealth] point holders, a direct link with the ancient tree Sir Quesnel, an emergency protection shield, and a special artifact that can work as a wonderous item depending on the usage. So, yeah, I would advise you all to treat it as nothing less than a (level-12) artifact. Alright so, one [Wealth] point is around a thousand [M] points, which is around a hundred gold in the western continent general currency, ten gold Shi eastern continent general currency, and around one blue ruby in the northern continent general currency. It would also be equivalent to 0.1 coin so you can estimate the value for other currencies with this." He looked around the hall for just a short moment and observed some of the surprised faces that were calcting anding up to some pretty unique conclusions on their own. And yes, the vice president had a smile on her face as she looked at them but the cool president was good at heart so he couldn''t let them go on some unrealistic wild path. "Hold your horses'' young blood. Your thoughts that you will be rich just by staying in the academy are perfectly true however, they are only good in fantasies. It is naturally unrealistic that you will get an amount such as the one you got from your entrance exam just like that. Getting the score points will be difficult as it is but an even more heartbreaking thing would be when the points you have gathered in your stars just vanished when you graduate from here. You also can''t convert or transfer it with some different method so it will be best to just spend what you have there and, there are countless things you can do to waste, or systematically invest that money. But that is up to you and that is all I have to say to you all for today." He sighed and looked back at the teachers and his headmasters and they all nodded at the two of them with a smile. "Alright then. You will all get the information about your assigned ssrooms on the general notice board or on the private terminal of the academy essible through your stars. You will have to submit the list of your personal sses by tomorrow dawn and you will have to do that with your stars too. To the house captains and vice captains only; we will have a meeting tomorrow evening so please make sure to attend and if any of them don''te, please make sure to drag them to my office on the third floor you all." He nodded with a fulfilled expression at everyone and then nodded at the vice president as the two of them walked a bit back from the podium. "I know it iste but I''m your student council president for this year, the 3693rd batch of this badly good institution. I go by the name Zodiac but you can call me whatever you like, curses and pseudo-names included. I am a pure swordsman however having an eastern origin, I am pretty good with internal energy cultivation and utilization and some unique arts. I have a partner and family like little snake but I''m more of his father than a master. I like spicy food but mostly prefer things with a more diverse variety of spices so if anyone ever wants to bribe me,e with something delicious." He bowed towards the crowd which though definitely surprised them, had a very positive effect on them than any of them had ever expected. He was probably just as charismatic as the headmaster and the crowd loved him for most parts. And though there were exceptions, well, there are always exceptions. So most of those thousands of people were happy with him, and those who weren''t, were at least somewhat charmed by their vice president who spoke with a unique authority or probably charm or maybe some kind of supernatural power behind her voice. "You all little children can call me Cradle. Miss or ma''am will be epted but nothing other than that. I have pretty good tolerance but I wouldn''t suggest you all test my patience. You might get hurt." She only said them much and at her words, the president gave a nod of his confirmation. eaglesnov?1,§ão§® They could see in both their eyes that neither of them was joking right now. "Alright then, you can have fun, go look around the academy, and the ind, and find a good dormitory to stay in. The Coral dorm is the cheapest but isn''t good if you have never lived in small and dirty spaces so I would suggest the Prawn dormitory for a low budget but the best overall experience. For those of you who have just too much money to throw around, I would suggest Leviathan dormitory instead of Hydra. I have experienced all of them so I can certainly say the Leviathan''s food is more diverse and they have the most freedom and the least restrictions on student activities." He waved his hand after saying that and the two of them turned towards the teachers as the room was filled with different voices again and many students started leaving the auditorium. "Thank you for everything! Please take care of us!" However, before any of them had reached the exits, Quin, the girl sitting beside Rein stood up, bowed towards the stage deeply, and shouted in a unique voice that strangely rang all over the auditorium. And yes it surprised people, however, this voice hade directly from the house captain of the [Aqua mirror] so there was no way the other captains and the house members present there could just sit there or go out. Eon and Rein knew she just did it out of her natural innocence and she didn''t have much world experience so it was just an act of her innocent nature. And thanks to that pureness of hers¡­ "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! PLEASE TAKE CARE OF US!" Everyone, those who were still sitting in their ces and those who were just by the door, including Eon, Rein, Ca and the group, and everyone else was now bowing to the people on the stage, thanking them for their work, something they probably had never seen or had thought to experience. And everyone was doing this, so even the headmasters who had seen something simr many times in their lifetimes, couldn''t help but smile happily at this effect created by a certain innocent girl and a certain boy whose tricks no one noticed. But it was good, and their president and vice president were genuinely impressed with the bunch that was probably better than the bunch the two of them belonged to. The teachers were joyous and the atmosphere had be far better than it could have been if they had just left the auditorium like usual. It wasn''t something they had to do but they all didn''t know right now that this unique way of unified thanking was going to be something their batch would be known for, and also something that will be a tradition even after their batch graduates from this great institution. Their school curriculum was going to start tomorrow and it was naturally going to be fun so they were all excited right now. But they had some free time before that, so¡­ it is time for some fun fillers, don''t you think~? Chapter 494 Island And Academy ? [OP: ] The ind of magic''s wealth is the biggest, oldest, and safest sky ind in the world. It is divided into three major sections which aremonly known as The Academy, the city, and the outskirts. The academy holds the major part of this ind which, if seen from the front side where mostly everything is situated, covers almost one-third of the sky-ind. Of the remaining two-thirds of the sky ind, three-fifth of the part is a city area where many important structures are situated and the remaining two-fifths of the area is the backside outskirts of the sky ind filled with many dangerous creatures, hunting zones, dungeons, and also mines. Primarily, the entire sky ind belongs to the academy, and the areas owned by the other organizations that have their branches on this ind are also part of it. The headmasters of the academy have the highest administrative authority on the ind, on this entire piece of floatingnd, which includes the other structures on the ind aside from the academy. So, he holds some of the highest positions in the entire world. But that aside, there are many important structures on the ind aside from the academy like some of the biggest adventurer''s association buildings, the biggest building of the elder council, and even the prismatic structure of the House of Prism. They look mind-blowingly attractive however, that wasn''t all. There were inns, hotels, noble and royal mansions,rge vis of important people of the ind and the high-ranking mages, some research facilities, and also the six great magic towers. The entire ind was primarily dedicated to magic from a few people''s point of view however, it was just a false notion. Even though the name of this beautiful floating ind was the ind of magic''s wealth, the ind was primarily dedicated to the academy that was dedicated to the growth of the entire world. The goal of the academy was to nurture people that could, in some way, help in the growth of this world, and they didn''t see if the young one attending the institute was a knight, schr, or just some normal person who can cook. If they were good enough, can do something to help in the growth of other people, get strong and contribute to the world, or at least had some desire to study in this prestigious academy, then they were mostly epted into the academy, and if they couldn''t get in in their early days, they can just try again next time, there was no strict upper limit to age restriction anyway. So, the academy was the center of this ind, and this center of everything couldn''t be just anymon ce, right? The great academy of Hope¡­ it was divided into three major structural parts and as it started from the very start of the ind front itself and ended before the outskirts, one can just imagine the colossal volume of the academy castle. Yes it was ginormous but that wasn''t the greatest thing in the academy. The garden part, the very outer part of the academy, housed a special tree that though wasn''t as tall as many other trees of his age, this special one was still greatpared to the sky-piercing academy castle. It was also so widespread that the area it converted with its branches and leaves was almost a third of the garden. The ancient tree Quesnel. It was the wonder of nature that was an inseparable part of this academy and the ind itself. The natural energy it produced and processed, the unique creatures it houses, the entire ecosystem that was solely based around it, and the indescribable powers it held were ineffable to the simple-minded humans, elves, dwarves, orcs or any other race that studied in this academy. It was just that great, and a single chapter was never going to be enough to tell everything about a focal character like him. So, going around the academy, there was this giant garden all around the outer part which housed many energy beasts, and many practical sses were held around these areas with these energy beasts for the students to have actual practical experience. And there were creatures from (Red) to (Blue) rank just safely, quietly, and happily roaming around the garden that didn''t attack anyone without initial provocation so, the students were safe. And there were unique guards patrolling around some areas so they never needed to worry about them. The ancient tree was always there, and even he didn''t have much to worry about thanks to the strong familiars, tamed beasts, and bonded summon creatures strolling around the garden. There were surely some unfaithful encounters with the angry beasts for some unlucky students but that experience was precious so the ancient tree didn''t interfere in the scenarios that might be faithful encounters to the young students. But that was a rare asion that strangely only happened when the students were gathering herbs, just like how students only encountered the strange spiritual creatures during a certain timeframe or how the greenhouse on the eastern end of the academy was lit with some strange blue fireballs at night that didn''t burn the nts but instead attacked whoever entered there at night. Those were just myths though. Some of the nine myths of the great academy of hope. They weren''t very important so moving on¡­ the garden was a vast ce, and there were countless kinds, types, and families of nts present in this garden. There was also a grand greenhouse on the east end of the academy which housed a great variety of unique, rare, andmon nts. And just like this greenhouse, there were some grand structures on all nine sides of the academy castle. They all called these structures at the end side of the castle (Castle wings), and most of the famous superior-level sses were held either there, in the inner part of the academy castle, or outside the academy. But the superior sses were the most difficult sses of the academy so the ones taking it each year were also only a handful of the total students. Those who just wanted to learn and live their lives happily took (Basic) level coursespatible with them, while the ones who actually were determined to try something out and had experience in the given field took (Intermediate) level courses. Those who took the (High) level sses were experts in the subjects and were mostly those who wanted to learn deeply and chose that subject as their field of work for the future. They were the sses with a fixed level of difficulty and after those three were the sses that had no set level of difficulty so they were categorized as either (Exploration) level sses or (Adventure) level sses. Their difficulty level changed depending on the scenario and the situation but they were the least famous sses of the academy excluding the few exceptions to this list. And after thates the (Superior) level sses which were famous sses of the famous professors of the academy and the most difficult ones to pass, as well as some of the most difficult ones with a difficulty level that though beguines from the basic level, it esctes to a level far beyond even the global research level in some cases. They were also called crazy sses and only the elite of the elites or the foolish of the fools attended them. The number of people attending each superior level course was always only two or in some rare batch''s cases, in three digits. But still, people knew just how much of a difficult course those were so not even the fools dared to choose more than one superior-level course. But then again, there are always exceptions to everything. And in this batch, some of those exceptions were Rein and Eon who were going for three superior-level courses for this year. It was crazy but we wille to themter. For now, the (Castle wings). The first one, as mentioned before, was the (Greenhouse) on the eastern end. You would remember the blue fire creatures mentioned earlier too if you haven''t got bored and dropped the chapter. After that is the (Alchemyb) on the northern end, the (Magic engineeringb) on the southern end, the (Library of Time) on the western end, and the (Summoning Arena) in the unique ''center'' of the academy. e¦Áglesn?¦Íel In the northwest is the (Sanctuary of Weapons), in the northeast is the (Cemetery of Past), in the southwest is the (Shrine of Origin), and in the southeast is some of the most famous structures in the academy, the (Tower of Iris). Those nine ces are special and we will explore these ces, and much more as we all move forward and see the uncertain next moment. And this was only a brief description of the very outer part of the academy too as the middle and inner parts would require a whole dedicated section of pages. That was the greatness, majesty, beauty, and uniqueness of this ind suspended high in the sky, and this academy made with not much precious but definitely invaluable materials, experience, times, and lives. It was amazing and fillers like this are important¡­ and just as important as them is the current moment where Rein, Eon, and their first friend in the academy, the innocent but smart and talented girl Quin, were sitting before the branch manager of this biggest adventurer association building¡­ actually, no. Only Eon was sitting and ring straight into the eyes of the branch manager with long pointed ears, a bit wrinkly face, deep green eyes, and that fashionable suit. There were many magic circles behind the branch manager as he sat on that couch and just red solemnly at the boy sitting before him, pointing the fiery orange des connected to chains of blue fire, burning so hotly that half of the room was bathed in the extreme heat. And the other half of the room was frozen in extreme cold created by the two girls who stood beside Eon, red wrathfully at the old elf sitting before them, and pointed their spears,nces, and even refined weapons made of solid-sharp ice. There was a lot of water covering the floor too and this was even colder than the ice itself. It was so lethal that anything touching it turned into solid ice and if even a gentle touch graced it, it would shatter like the most delicately broken piece of ss. The situation was unexpected, Rein had a pure rage in her ck eyes, Eon was as calm as ever, and Quin¡­ well, she didn''t have much idea why she was doing it but she was also angrily looking at the person calmly sitting before them, pointing her own unique magic towards the person who used to be her grandfather''s close friend, and ncing warily between him and the two of her friends who were doing what they were doing for her sake. And the elf branch manager knew that too, however, this boy before him¡­ he didn''t know who he was, where he came from, what his background was, what he himself was, and why he was here but, he knew one thing and that didn''t go well with him: the damned bastard boy knew awfully too much. Chapter 495 Island’s Adventurers Association ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Can''t we eat first¡­?" Rein, no, Urielined with a sad expression as we walked through the bustling streets of the ind''smercial area. There were good-looking shops, caf¨¦s, buildings, houses, and much more all around us and the street was full of people with good-looking clothing, mostly mage clothing, and people wearing, using, and utilizing their magical artifacts for normal things. Magical beasts, people of different races, gorgeous lights, and magic were all around us as we walked towards the big spherical building some distance away from us. It was the adventurer''s association branch of this floating ind and our very first destination after leaving the academy premises. We had to do some shopping and this waste morning so we also had to eat something as well as we hadn''t eaten anything since the early morning. Uriel wasining but we had to finish the most pressing matter as soon as we could so we were going to the adventurer''s association with our first friend. Quin was surprised how we were helping her so much and she was concerned as she saw Uriel''s hungry face but she didn''t have anything to worry about. "We will eat whatever you want after this is finished, alright? It will be Quin''s treat anyway." I said that in a simple voice but it surprised Quin more than it calmed my fianc¨¦e who was only overacting before her good new friend. "W-why would it be my treat?" She was really surprised but I didn''t have to answer her innocent question. "Because you were thest one to reach the auditorium~!" She hugged her as she shouted that. "Remember the bet she talked about? One of the bad things about this simple-looking girl is her bad habit of taking the ''serious'' bets too seriously. And she is always serious when she herself calls the bet so¡­ yeah. You werest, and you will be paying." That Much was enough exnation for her to understand the bad situation she was in right now; however, she only made a sad face, clicked her tongue, and epted her fate. She will be giving us a treat, the very first one dedicated to our healthy friendship. And she didn''t mind that even though it was unexpected. -Shaaaaaaa¡­ We finally passed through the long passage and stood before the gates of the colossal donut-shaped structure where a bigger crowd of people in different clothing, armor, and gears was going in and out of the building and these gates before us, which were guarded by four strong guards and two mages, weren''t just some simple gates. "Wow¡­" Quin was surprised as she saw the scene before her and the area surrounded by different people and bustling voices was somewhat overwhelming for her too. "Aiyoo~! Did you hear? Someone caught a green rank bird all by themselves today." "Humph! Those are just half-true things. That bitch must have stolen some big monster''s prey. It is a miracle she is even alive." "Leader! Leader! I heard the new batch of students just came here yesterday! Let''s go recruit them!" "Hmmm? I think I was scammed. This just looks like amon sword with low-level enchantments. I should have had it appraised before purchasing it for three gold." "Fuck¡­ not again." "No! It was your fault! Who just opens a treasure chest in a dungeon like that you fucking newbie! We had to suffer because of you!" "Hahaha! Chief, chief! Did you hear~! Pirate caps got hit by a mimic again~!" "Heh. Noobs. My master is much stronger and smarter than those bunch." "Alright. This time, we will open the door with the knob of the weakest creature." "Yes, I memorized everything. There is no way we will get lost again." "Muhahahahaha! With the power of my new magical wand, I will demolish every existence that dares to cross my path!" "Kyaaaa! Who is that hottie~?" "It is alright darling. We will buy another balloon." "Fuck this! I''m outta here!" The area around us was filled with adventurers and different people but one thing wasmon in every person that walked passed us. They were wearing either expensive-looking gear and clothes or were wearing capes and hoods to cover thempletely. None of them were like the three of us who were wearing not-so-attractive clothes or had any attractive gear. And Quin was also rtively shorter than the two of us who had a proper height that matched some of the younger adventurers in the area. But it was fine, we didn''t have any problem with those people so we just walked forward after Quin calmed herself down with Uriel''s help. Some people were watching us as if watching total strangers or some alien creatures but mostly, it was fine as the area was already filled with many elves, orcs, beast people, and even dwarves. There was no reason for them to pay any great attention to some young humans like the three of us so we just walked forward and when we reached the gates, we took out our adventurer IDs and held them before one of the eye-like markings on the open gates. For a moment, it seemed like the eye-like marking blinked but that was just the sign that our registration wasplete and that we were alright to go. "Wait a moment." But Quin was different. She didn''t have the adventurer''s ID so she had to pay the toll fees of around one [M] like every other person without an ID. But the girl didn''t have that either. Or it would be better to say that she didn''t have the spare change. "It is alright. You can use this one sir." I looked up at the person in the enchanted knight armor and handed him my ID. Quin didn''t know the procedure but she was quick to catch on so she caught onto what was happening. "It''s alright. We will get an ID for you while we are here so you don''t have to face something bothersome like this again." I said that in the specialnguage that the guards didn''t understand but that wasn''t important to them. The guards, all six of them including the one to that I gave my ID, were now gathered around each other, whispering something that Uriel and I obviously knew about. But we didn''t have much time here and she was hungry so I just walked up to them and asked in a calm voice, "Is something wrong sir?" "Oh! Nothing! You can take this!" All six of them turned back in surprise and bowed instinctively as if greeting an important person. "It''s alright. Keep up the good work." I bowed to them too and walked back to Rein who looked at me with a dissatisfied expression and Quin who had an even more confused look on her face. "Why did they do that Lucifer?" Quin asked with genuine curiosity as she looked back at the six strong guards who were far stronger than the people that wereing in and out of this ce. There was no reason for strong people like them who treated even those important-looking people normally to bow to someone like me who they didn''t even know or was far more simple looking than the others. And yes others around us were surprised with their behavior too but some of them just minded their own business or some that were in the group just whispered to their curiouspanions and walked away from the ce. Quin didn''t know what all this meant and even if she understood the unique reason for their behavior was the guards and their actions, she couldn''t understand just what I even did for them to behave like that. "Oh. Was it because of your ID card? But Uriel said you two are rank so there shouldn''t be a reaction like that right? Grandpa''s diary said rank is impressive but rtivelymon and achievable by strong people." eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "Well yeah." She was pretty amazing to figure it out just from the clues avable around the surroundings but I didn''t know how to exin the reason for their behavior to her in simple words. "Didn''t I tell you, Quin?" But in situations like these, as always, my Rein, no, Uriel was always there to help me. "That bastard is rich. And by rich, I mean freaking rich! He is so rich sometimes I think he has looted some dragon''syer and stored it all in some endless secret space." She snatched my ID from my hand and held it before her eyes. ''Well, her words are pretty correct and that wording was also right but I didn''t loot any dragon''syer. Sadly, I hadn''t even seen any dragon.'' She knew that too and she also hadn''t seen any dragon so one of our couple goals was to see or meet a dragon¡­ or at least some famous divine beast during our after-marriage vacation. Anyway, that was something for the far future so right now, Quin was looking at me with wide eyes as if I was some ghost she seeing for the first time in her life. "Who are you, master Lucifer? Some hidden important person that is helping me with the intention of gaining something big from me in the future? But¡­ what would you even want from me if you have that much money?" She was surprised and she had already grasped why the six of them behaved like that, it was only natural they would. The bnce showing up behind my card was¡­ well, [3,369,090,030 M]. Yes yes, It was absurd I know but it was all the courtesy of my good mother who was worried that we won''t have enough money to spend during our time in the academy. Rein also had a big sum attached to her adventurer''s ID but that sum was nowhere near mine. And seeing from my mom''s perspective, the sum I had right now was also nothing at all. ''I mean, it was just a little more than three thousand tinum coins so it actually wasn''t that much to me but, to anyone else, it surely was a sum unimaginable to them unless they were a prominent king or an emperor or someone who had a substantial influence on the world economy like my mom.'' "Hehe. He is a very important hidden person Quin. To tell you the truth, I am too. And if you tell this to anyone, you might get hurt badly by some unknown people~." Uriel answered instead of us and as Quin looked at her, strangely, she couldn''t find any signs of those words being just yful or a joke. She knew even though she was smiling, this friend of hers was the most serious she had ever been and she was saying that with a smile so it gave her pure goosebumps. "Don''t scare her like that Uriel. And Quin. Yeah, it may be true that I am rich and we might be some hidden important people but, we aren''t helping you because we want something from you. Well, at least not specifically something. Your friendship and trust would be more than enough for us and you are already so special that just having a friend like you will be a lot more profitable to us than any amount of money or treasure." I warmly smiled at her and she looked at me with an observing gaze, finding nothing but truth and purity. Then she looked at Uriel and she also nodded at her with confidence and this made her smile warmly back at us. "Thanks, you two¡­" Rein grabbed her hand and the three of us walked inside the colossal donut-like building and as the two girls looked around and Uriel showed Quin the area and every cool thing around, I walked up to the reception and smiled at the happily smiling receptionist. "How can I help you sir?" She asked with the same smile that she must have shown to every other person and I smiled back at her. "Where can I find the receptionist named Bk beautiful miss?" I asked in a gentle tone that surprised thedy and sparked a unique emotion in her as she nodded at me with a better smile that was her own and pointed to the very right corner of the wide room. "He would be there young sir. But I do not think he would be much of a help to you." She had a new concern deep in her eyes as she answered me but I just smiled and bowed to her a little. "I appreciate your concerns gooddy however do not worry. It is not something important that you can not do. Alright then, have a wonderful day miss~!" She was looking at me with confused eyes now, her smile vanished from its ever-present ce, and she tilted her head at me. However, I just smiled at her and walked to the other side, leaving her to her own thoughts and a certain strange feeling of meeting a stranger like me. But that was that, and I walked to this Bk person who looked gloomy, had dark circles under his eyes, stood in the corner where everyone just avoided him, and as I approached him and stood before him, he just looked at me with a dead look as if tried to his very soul. "Hello, mister." I greeted him and he just nodded at me while looking down at me as if I was annoying. "The weather is so nice outside and the day is bright too so why are you so gloomy mister?" I asked with concern but he just scoffed and looked around as if annoyed by the talk of some little kid. "Even the birds singing yesterday''s news are happy and singing. At least talk to the one trying to greet you." And as soon as he heard those strange words, he looked back at me and into my eyes, seeing my smiling face and looking around to see if someone was near. "Yes. The songs of yesterday are melodious but the winds of the present are more calming, don''t you think young sir?" He asked in a low but calm voice, which didn''t contain any fatigue at all. It was contrary to his looks but that wasn''t something I had to pay any attention to. "Certainly good sir. The winds of the present are calming and soothing, always guiding the sailors during their journey in the search of the ultimate treasure. But wouldn''t the storm of tomorrow be considered more helpful to all the brave who dare face it head-on?" "Certainly it would. However, they can also just avoid it like everyone, no? Good sir?" "Yes, they can but then they wouldn''t be the ones who saw through destiny, went against fate, and conquered the impossible, no? Good sir?" "Haha, you are right. It is important to go straight." "Certainly it is. And I would be happy if the good sir helps me in my conquest to the other side." "Certainly it is. It would be my pleasure. Do you have anypanions, sir?" "None but those two prettydies captain. We entrust lives to you¡­ but I won''t hesitate to aim the cannon at you if a knife is pointed at them, good sir." I smiled warmly at him and he gulped as he saw that smile. My calm but a little dark smile which meant not much, but at the same time, a lot more than anyone can think about. "Just give me a moment please." And after saying that, he walked away inside the employee area somewhere, and I went back to the two prettydies with me. The arrangements to meet this branch''s manager was in ce and we just had to wait a little bit now. ''Just a little bit¡­'' Chapter 496 Old Elf ? [OP: ] Eon, Rein, Quin, and that employee of the adventurers association was now riding a magical lift and they were going up, to meet the association branch manager of course. Eon was quiet as he looked ahead and Rein and Quin were behind him, talking about something that confused the employee even more. But Eon was just seriously looking ahead and the employee was sweating even more. The situation was weird right now as the boy, this weird person quietly looked ahead with the two girls who probably didn''t even know what was going on. He was confused so just to try his luck, he opened his mouth and tried to ask "Um? Sir¡­" "Rule 33, section 12, paragraph 45. You can''t ask anything." "But!" "Rule 21, section 3, paragraph 3. You must never exim before the client." "¡­but sir, I-" "Did you study nothing when they were teaching all that? What''s rule 18, section 6, paragraph 9?" "T-that, sir, I-" "It''s to never discuss the rules in the presence of those who do not know anything about what they are, you fool." And as soon as the employee heard Eon''s strict-sounding words, he just quieted down and shut his mouth with a fearful face but Eon wasn''t done with him yet. "What is your name?" "I-It''s Cope-" "Why are you a Bk you bastard? Why did the branch manager employ someone so ipetent and foolish? Don''t you know rule 1, section 2, paragraph 3?" Eon had a strong dissatisfied look on his face as he looked at him but the look on the employee''s face changed into a calm one and he firmly shook his head. "It is to never disclose your personal information like name, identity, or anything simr. Sorry to have doubted you, sir. I was merely executing my master''s orders under Rule 1, section 3, paragraph 5." His sudden change of tone surprised Quin who was listening to the two''s silent conversation but Eon still had the same calm face. "Do not apologize. Your master was only exercising his given right and I was also only executing special rule 45. It is a rare procedure but you must already know it, right private lieutenant?" The employee had a surprised expression as soon as he heard him say those words and a smile appeared on his face. "Indeed, good sir." He shook his head with a smile and pressed some buttons from the list of sixty buttons before him and the lift they were on sped up. "What was that Lucifer?" Quin asked seriously with a curious expression but Rein tapped her shoulder and shook her head at her. "Trust me, honey. You are better off not knowing some of the weird things this bastard of mine has stored in the deep depths of his unique mind." She was looking straight into her eyes with a t smile so the innocent Quin could only nod and looked back straight ahead of her as the closed view of the magical thing they were riding on, or were inside of, shook strangely and she felt as if something was pulling down on feet. But itsted only for a moment and then the doors of the small ce opened up, and a new bright light blinded the two girls for a fraction of a moment. "Let''s godies." Eon requested after nodding at the employee that was bowing at them and stepped out of the elevator. The two of them followed his lead with Rein walking at the very back with a bored expression and Quin walking between the two of them with a worried expression. They were here just to help her and though she previously didn''t know how she was going to meet with the branch manager of this ce, Eon had said everything was already arranged. She didn''t know how he did it or what he was even doing right now but she at least knew that they were now going to meet the branch manager that her grandfather said was his good friend in his diary. She knew that this person would be able to help her and the two of them were helping her meet that person so she only had gratitude towards her two mysterious but good friends. So, the three of them walked inside the office that the door had opened to and they looked around as they felt a very subtle, warm but mysterious, calm yet strangely tense aura somewhere inside this office-like ce. "Wee unknown guests." An old-sounding but strangely youth-baring voice rang all around the room. "Please take a seat," the voice said and then the chair that was facing to the other side slowly spun and a person they were seeing for the first time, a person who himself did not have an aura, and a person who was not a human looked at the three of them, and focused his attention on the boy standing before the two girls, looking at him with a unique gaze for a moment. He had pointed ears which was the most basic racial trait of the elves, his face was a bit wrinkly so it was clear that despite being an elf who lived for hundreds of years he was quite old; he was wearing a fine suit so one could say that despite his age he was walking with the changing trends; his green eyes were sharp and deep, just like the eyes those strong and experienced people who had seen their fair share of the world; andstly, his eyes that were a deep shade of green had turned blue just for a moment as he was looking at Eon, so it was clear that he had just used some kind of appraisal skill on him. But it was just for a moment and then there was a subtle confused look on his face as Eon walked forward and sat down on the couch that the mister sitting on the chair behind his desk was pointing towards. It was strange and confusing so as Rein watched, his eyes turned blue for another moment but the look of confusion on his face just became more obvious when he failed to activate his skill on the boy again. He didn''t understand it and Rein just shook her head and sat down after Quin and the three of them looked at him. "Strange¡­" he said under his breath and stood up from his ce and walked towards the trio sitting on the couch. But on his way, he tried using his skill again on three but just like Eon, he failed to activate his skill on Rein too. "Hmmm?" But Quin was different. She didn''t have a highly fortified mental defense like the two of them that could directly block the appraisal skills from working on them. "Who are you?" He asked while looking at Quin as he sat down¡­ but then he blinked twice, noticing something that had escaped his eyes from a moment before. "That spirit aura¡­ Yulious?" His eyes widened and he focused his attention solely on her, his hands shaking and his heart pounding faster than before. "H-hello!" And then Quin stood up and shouted at him with a bow, sat down, and took out the diary and a ring from her storage space. "Grandpa told me you were his good friend and that you can help me, sir Joy. I was going toe here alone and ask you about everything but then I met these two good friends in the academy who helped me get here. I was originally going to ask you about everything regarding this ind, the academy, and the outside world as I had only lived with him on a distant ind, but now that I have my friends, I think I won''t have to waste your precious time. And my friend Lucifer here said that grandpa dubbed me as his sessor and he had a lot of money and all but I don''t think I will be needing that anytime soon. But grandpa said you would be helpful to me and I will know what that help was when I meet you, so¡­" Well, Quin was here for help but what kind of help she wanted she didn''t know herself. She basically needed someone to tell her about the world and everything about it which she had no idea about but now she had her friends and they had seen enough of the world, from what she knew, that they were good enough to help her. And she trusted them just like she trusted the person before her that her grandpa trusted enough to tell her to go see him. The two of them were cool too and they liked them as her good first friends but¡­ the association leader had a sudden sad expression on his face. "Is he gone?" He asked in a low, sad voice while looking down and a simr sad expression appeared on Quin''s face. "Yes¡­" she answered and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became chill, as if someone had turned off the only fire burning in the middle of a frozen ce. "Haaa¡­" he sighed and the sudden cool atmosphere vanished as if it was never there. "He was an amazing person, young girl." He said in a low voice, joined his hand as if praying, looked down for a moment, and then looked back up at the three of them, this time, warmly looking into Quin''s eyes. "Grandpa, was it?" He smiled at her and looked at the ring in her hand, as well as particrly at that diary that he seemed to remember very well. "Do you want to know something about your grandpa?" He asked warmly and she nodded positively with a hopeful expression, and the two partners that came with her just sat backfortably and looked at their happy friend with happy expressions of their own. They were happy to see her happy and hearing about her old man was better from someone who personally knew him like this old elf than reading it from some book. It was better if he told her, and he was the only one that can actually help her with the important matters so they didn''t have anything to worry about¡­ or so they thought until their talk was over, the two of them had bonded a bit, he had talked with the two of them for a while and both parties were pointing their spells at each other. Things escted suddenly and the one that summoned their spells was technically the old elf but, Eon was the reason that this old but fashionable elf who was telling the young innocent girl stories about his good friend with a warm smile, got so confused and stunned that he had no choice but to question the origin of his confidential knowledge that a ''normal'' boy like him should never have. Chapter 497 Knowledge And Problem ? [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "They look happy." ]] [[ "They sure do. Especially this old grandpa. Seeing him smile like that is totally different from what the rumors portray him as." ]] [[ Master! Master! I found a shiny thing! A biiiiiig shiny thing~! ]] Uriel and I were sitting here in this goodfortable room with Quin and the branch manager of this association when Celes suddenly shouted in my mind through our personal connection. [[ "What do you mean by a big shiny thing Celes? Did you find something on this ind?" ]] [[ It is a shiny thing in this underground ce I stumbled upon~! And the blue light it is emitting feels cooooool~! ]] [[ "Blue thing? Cool¡­? Wait¡­ are there many flowers around, the ground is on fire, and that thing has small shiny ck crystals on it?" ]] [[ Yes~! Hmmm¡­ is this thing dangerous master? It looks like it''s sleeping though. ]] [[ "It is dangerous, you little thing. It''s called (Tenanotrix), a genuine (Purple) ranked beast. It is strong, very strong actually. Even your sister Elle would have difficulty defeating one." ]] [[ Hehe. You are just exaggerating, master. Sister Elle is stroooooong~! This turtle is just cute~. ]] Well, I might be exaggerating but at least I knew for certain that the creature she was calling cute wasn''t something even some of the top-ranking adventurer teams could face even while utilizing all their power. [[ "Whatever you say Celes but don''t hinder the sleeping creature too much. They are nocturnal creatures so it''s their sleeping time." ]] [[ Okay master~! ]] She was as unique as always calling a cmity ''cute''. ''But why is a creature like that here? Is it a tamed beast or someone''s familiar?'' They were rare beings and there naturally shouldn''t be one on this sky ind. But there was one here, and it wasn''t in its natural habitat, and it was still quiet. Which was naturally strange¡­ [[ "Eon? What happened?" ]] Uriel asked with a confused voice as I had suddenly quited down because of Celes. [[ "Celes found a Tenanotrix somewhere on the ind." ]] I answered her worried voice with a sigh behind my words but, as I knew, she eximed with surprise as soon as she heard my words. [[ "Celes! Where did you find such an amazing being~!? Eon! Let''s go get it~!" ]] She was suddenly excited and that excitement was visible on her pretty face. The branch manager, one of the few (Elder) ranked mages in the world, Sir Vetsdryad, or Sir Joy from what Quin has been calling him for a while, obviously noticed that sudden happiness on her face. But he ignore it and just continued his joyous chat with the ''grand daughter'' of his dear old friend while I looked at my overjoyeddy with my eyebrows stretched upwards. [[ "We don''t know anything about that one dear. And just think about why a being like that would be in a ce like this. We can''t have it. Not at least we confirm why, how, and for what reason it is there. We will also have to see if it already belongs to someone and if it does, we can''t have it." ]] [[ "Which means if it doesn''t belong to anyone I can have that fire-ice turtle right~? Yeiii~!" ]] [[ Yeiiiiii~! ]] Even Celes was happy to hear that optimistic response from her sister Elle. [[ "Hehe. Cute." ]] And that was Zoe. The only one who was always listening to whatever we were talking about on this unique telepathic line. [[ "How''s it going captain?" ]] I asked while shaking my head at the joyous expression of my weird as always fianc¨¦e and my dear sister, who must be surrounded by other students even now, answered with a happy tone behind her voice. [[ "Fine fine. Talking and ying with all these people is actually more fun than I thought. Especially these funnydies. They are quite fun and helpful." ]] She had grown up just like every one of us but different from us, she had grown in far more ways than us normal humans. She was a divine beast and a pure descendant of a high divine creature. Just physical, mental, and spiritual growths weren''t every area of her growth but she had growth in all aspects and had be closer to her status as a true divine beast. Still, she was still not at the level of a pure phoenix. Not even their young versions. She still had a pretty long way to go before her first awakening, and I still had who knows how long before my origin awakening, but for now, I knew that she was having fun with those cunning, vicious, and evil nobledies and she was more than good enough to handle children like them. [[ "Don''t overdo it and try not to disappoint those women. Look after the good ones from our house and also the weakest and worst ones. We will have a meeting tomorrow evening so you can restfortably for now." ]] [[ "Yes yes, my worry-worry brother. I''m alright. You take care of yourself, sister Elle, and sister Ca''s captain too." ]] She said her ba-byes quickly and I returned to our current situation where Quin and Sir Joy had finished their private talk about the great adventurer who had seen the world more than most of the other adventurers to ever exist. "Hmmm. You are quite fun little Quin. But, what about your two unique friends? I don''t actually know anything about them so¡­" He looked at the two of us and just like from the start, his gaze was focused on me like I was some kind of criminal guilty of some hidden crime. "Hello, sir." But that didn''t mean much anyway. We were here to help our friend and not anything rted to him today. "I''m Lucifer, and she is my fianc¨¦e, friend, and partner Uriel. We are rank adventurers primarily from the Roxana empire and right now, we are students at the academy like Quin." I was talking with a calm expression and a small smile but nothing more than that. "Hello." Uriel waved at him with a small smile like me and got closer to me. "Hello to you too." He knew from our behavior that we didn''t want to get involved with him just yet and that we wanted to keep things to ourselves for now. It was obvious to Quin too and she didn''t have any great reaction toward it. It was our choice how much we told him about us or how much we wanted to get friendly with him. It was up to us but still, the mister before us wasn''t satisfied with the information he got from us so he looked at Quin, the one who knew more about us and the one that had a kind of new bond with him after that small chat. "Little Quin. What do you like about these special friends of yours?" It was the twisted questions and Quin was smart enough to know what it meant so she first looked at the two of us as if asking for our permission. The old elf was just smiling warmly as he looked at her with closed eyes and I knew she was pressed between her friends and the person she should trust the most in this situation. It was her first time being in these situations but she didn''t have to deal with something so bothersome like this today. "Branch manager of adventurers association #33216BF. Management rule 12, segment 3. You can''t force a client in any way that hase to seek help." I just looked at him with calm and confident eyes and rested my chin on my interlocked hands. "I know that well young boy. However, I am privy to ''request'' something from someone I know under special rule 33. You must know what it is if you already know that much confidential information about the association." There was a serious look on his face now as he looked straight into my eyes with a serious, questioning, and solemn gaze, nothing like the warm grandpa look that he had while talking with Quin. But there was nothing for me to worry about or even think too deeply about in this situation of ours. "I know very well sir. However, special rule 33 goes as: The manager holding a (Brigadier) rank or above can, in certain situations mentioned under special rule 6, can request or force the other party that hase to them to seek ''help'' personally or professionally, to tell them information regarding the apanying parties or the information that they have wilfully decided to not tell, only if the client has a direct personal rtionship with the manager in the question. And it goes on to say that this personal rtionship with the client must be proportional to the degree of the information that the client is unwilling to share." I looked back at him straight into his solemn eyes as I said that and¡­ his look that was only filled with question suddenly changed to uncertainty. -Oooooooooooooooooong! The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed, magic circles appeared right behind the old elf sitting before us, a sudden heat filled the room as strange des attached to a red chain came out from those red-blue magic circles, and as soon as that happened and Uriel sensed it, she suddenly stood up with her eyes wide open. "You fucking old bastard!!" -Oooooooooooooooong! Now, a sudden cold sprang forth with Rein as its center and covered half of the room, dominating it and giving toughpetition to the heat from the magic of the manager. "¡­!" And Quin also stood up in shock and instinctively summoned spears and arrows made of ice magic. Her response was instinctive and it wasn''t to defend me but instead to defend her own self from the sudden danger. And, those (tier-1) and (tier-2) spells weren''t all she had summoned. ''As interesting as I thought¡­'' A unique wave of water came out of nowhere and started covering the floor as Quin as its center and, this strange water that seemed metallic even with its simple viscosity was so dangerous that anything that touched it, aside from the four of us, started turning into ice and became so solid and brittle that even a touch would brake those things made of solid metals. It was a skill that Quin possessed. Not a unique skill but a skill from a creature that was probably near impossible to find in today''s time. [Freezeing cry of ck frost]. A skill from a sovereign species of frost that is almost said to have gone extinct from the current world. It was some of the few growth-type skills of (Purple) rank that grew with its master and even in this unfinished state, this skill was lethal enough to kill a (Green) rank creature all by itself. "You dare!" Rein shouted with pure anger behind her voice as she pointed her weapons, yes, perfectly refined weapons made of simple (tier-2) ice magic that were nothing less than (level-6) or higher artifact weapons. "U-Uriel¡­" Quin watched her, nced at me, and then nced at her new uncle that just quietly looked at me with the same look that I was looking at him with. I knew she was confused, well anyone would be confused as to what actions they should take if they were in a situation like this. But she was calm right now. Her mind was chaotic but it was searching for answers to what to do to calm things down, and that only showed just how well-suited she was for our [Lightshade]. "Well¡­" I grabbed my angry bird''s hand and gave her a calm smile, then looked at Quin and shook my head and told her not to worry like that, looked at the manager who still looked at me with that questioning look, and took out a certain thing from my storage space. "This should be good enough to answer your many questions right?" I showed him a certain badge-like insignia, a hexagonal mark, and something any higher up of the adventurers association would recognize in a heartbeat. "¡­!?" And he recognized it too as his eyes widened, his mind filled with new questions, his eyes turned blue in a hurry, and when he checked the authenticity of the thing in my hand, there was only one thing he could do. eaglesnov?1,§ão§® "I apologize for my misbehavior lord wisdom bearer." And this sudden apology and the genuine bow from this ''old geezer'' surprised my Rein as well as our special friend Quin. "The hack?" And the surprise was probably greater for Rein than I had thought it would be... Chapter 498 Her Grandpa’s Legacy ? [Eon''s POV: ] "What''s up with him? A sudden bow after he pointed his spells at you out of nowhere like that? I don''t want to say it but is the actually crazy?" Rein didn''t like it if someone tried harming me in unexpected situations like this. Especially with the intent to seriously harm me. And the spells that he had summoned, different from the two of them, were spells of (tier-4) and he was a elder magician himself so those simple (tier-4) spells were nothing less than Lowe end (tier-6) spells. He could have definitely harmed me if not for this thing I had in my hand and Reihn was never going to let that happen on her watch even if she''s had to break our promise and go all out. She was even more serious than this old uncle before us. The reason she summoned those spell weapons and even prepared her skills just showed the braveness of the situation however¡­ she was just overreacting as always. "It is nothing. He made a mistake and he is apologizing. He isn''t crazy so don''t say something like that. Everyone makes mistakes so just give him a chance. It was partially my fault anyway so I should be the one apologizing right now." First of all, I used the secret meeting code that few knows to meet with him, then I showed off my knowledge about the private and confidential things of the association, then I just decided to not reveal anything much about the two of us. We were friends with his famous good friend''s only remaining family, his sessor, and someone who was special herself and knew thenguage that probably only a few people including him knew, we were strange enough for his high-level skill to not work on us, were strong enough to respond to his magic in that mere fraction of moment, and even had such calmness that not even some of the strong people possessed while standing before his strong magical spells. Yes, we were strange and things would have been different and probably better if I had just revealed this as soon as we sat down. Well, that time had already possessed and there was nothing either of us could do to change it so Sir Joy could only apologize and try something to make up for her. "I really apologize to youngdy Uriel. Please tell me how I can gain your forgiveness." He was sincere as he said that and my previous word had already calmed her down quite a bit so she looked at him with an angry gaze for a moment, calmed down, and sat down while still looking at him with an angry gaze. "I''m not going to forgive you that easily for this mistake, mister." She said in an angry voice and the bowing old elf looked up at her with a unique confident gaze from before. Qui also sat down at that moment and looked at me, then at the unique box-like badge that I put down on the table before us, and then at Rein who was angrily looking at her uncle. She didn''t know why he acted that way a while ago and also why he was so different as soon as he saw this strange insignia that I had but, she sure knew that the anger Rein had right now was far deeper than it should be, and her uncle didn''t do anything to her so it was even more surprising for her just what she was this much angry. She didn''t know right now¡­ but she will know the reason for her strange behavior as she learns new things about the world, about the other mortal kind, about humans, and about the strangeness of this nature and life. Anyway, that was her but, the branch manager of this association was still looking at her with a sincere look. "Please tell me. It was my mistake to take that hasty action which turned out to be a crime I should be punishable for¡­ I do not know if Lady Uriel knows this but pointing their weapons or spells at an honorary person like your fiance is considered a great crime. I made a mistake and he generously forgave me but I will do anything within my power to repent for this crime." Well, yeah. The holders of marks of wisdom are important people who have cleared one of the toughest question papers in the world. They are people who hold great knowledge and wisdom unparalleled to most other intelligent beings on all thes that the adventurers association is active in. They are honorary and special people and each of the branch managers of the association is obliged to lend them help in usible situations. So me being a wisdom mark holder meant much more to him than me being his friend''s granddaughter''s friend. And the same was true in the case of Rein. ''She is the dearest person to me and not only could he see that in our eyes but her actions from earlier were also proof enough of our rtionship.'' We loved each other and his actions were disrespectful to her too so he had to gain her forgiveness too. And it wasn''t just because he had obligations to do so as the branch manager of the association. It was just how the character of Vestdryad, the (Sorcerer of burning steel) was. "Alright then." Uriel looked at him with a serious expression and he readied himself for whatever she was going to ask for. "I will forgive you if you give me your ID." She had a serious look on her face and the branch manager looked at her with a confused look covering his face. "¡­just that?" What she had asked for was more valuable to us than he can think and though it was something we didn''t need for at least a week, her thinking of using this moment to get it in this way was certainly admirable. [[ "Nice work." ]] And I had to admire her actions. She had a chance to get probably anything she wanted from this person and she chose something that thought would be helpful to us, it was only something important and something that could have been difficult to get. My n to get it was filled with a few uncertainties and would have taken a while but now that she had done this, we could easily go see ournd and the ce where we will build our base. "Yup. That is the minimum. You can''t even do that much?" She looked at him with a disappointed and questioning gaze however, the old elf politely shook his head. "Not at all. I just don''t think it is enough for my mistake-" "No mister. That is more than enough. We will have ess to all the restricted ces on this ind with that so it is more than enough." He looked at her for a while, then looked at me with doubtful eyes that were clearly asking: ''Are you going to go to the outskirts?''. And I nodded at him with a small smile in a response to his genuine curiosity. "Will you be¡­ no. You would obviously be fine since you are the academy''s students. And you are strong enough too so it should be fine. Alright, Take this. And please take this too as a token of my apology." He took out a star-shaped ne as well as a strange blue-red metallic spike from his dimensional space and handed them to her. "There is no need-" Uriel was almost going to reject the other thing however, she looked at it with her eyes when it was in her hand and her eyes widened in utter surprise. "Thank-" However, as soon as a bright expression lit up on her face, I took the spike from her hands and stored it away in my white crack. "Why?!! That was mine!" And she shouted at me as soon as I did that. "Of course it is yours but there is no way I am going to let you carry something like this around." There was no way I would let her do that. She was a little too fond of explosions and (boom!)s after all. So there was no way I would let her carry around a (level-10) chargeable artifact that practically blows up and destroyers mostly any creature within a three-meter radius. It was a good artifact and considering how it was a personal present from him, I knew it was more amazing in practical use than we knew. But, there was no way I was giving her that thing. I still remember what she did with the spell book I bought at our first auction and that was more of a reason to keep the explosives away from her until and unless it was properly necessary. "You bastard!!!" She was ready to be wild now that her pretty toy was stolen from her so¡­ I kissed her. "Y- Hmmm. Ba- smmm~. Mmmm~!" Yeah. Old and effective. Doesn''t work every time but in this situation, it was good enough and she quieted down, and just looked the other way, avoiding our gazes like the shy girl she definitely wasn''t. "Alright." I looked before me at the warmly smiling branch manager and then looked beside me on the other side at Quin who though had a surprised expression and a blushing face, she was quiteposed in this situation. It was totally different from how Princess Isabe would react but this was better. "Let''s discuss the matters regarding her inheritance." The look on my face was pretty serious so Quin cleared her bbergasted face and the branch manager nodded at me. "Alright so listen closely Quin," he addressed her with a serious tone and focused on his words carefully. "Your grandfather, as I told you, was an amazing person who had probably been to every single known ce on this. He was a rank adventurer, some of the few that has ever existed, a [Rank-6] knight as well as a true explorer who has discovered many ces in many of the parts of this world. Now, by thews determined by the high council, elder council, and the triangle table, the founder of a hidden territory that has never been imed by anyone has the first right to have that territory as their own. And that bastard discovered a little over fifteen territories all over the world and epted the right to have their territories as his own. He founded [Bloom foundation], did business with the nearby territories and their original inhabitants, built an economical empire with his great skills and prowess, and then turned it into an organization that helped the ones in need. He took in the homeless, gave them a ce, taught them, and further developed his little shop that, by the time of his retirement, had grown into a world-level association, and in current times, that same organization is ranked fifteenth in all of the worlds. And you are his rightful sessor so it is yours now. Not only that, he was an explorer who had found countless special ces, defeated countless dungeons, and obtained countless treasures that are still talked about in today''s time when his namees up in any conversation. The three greatest treasures he obtained were the [Sword of sovereignty] a divine artifact of old times which is now in the possession of association; a skill stone of the legendary creature (Golden lion) which that bastard said he "lost on a certain fortunate day"; andstly the [Grimoire of Mira], an ancient artifact that he always carried with him with the fear that it would be too dangerous for the world if ''they'' got their hands on it. I believe you have that grimoire from how I can feel that strange energy of water around you and it chose you, so I will have faith that you will keep it safe." He smiled at her and she nodded confidently but with a spark of worry still deep inside her. But that much was natural considering the weight of the matter so our smart Quin also knew that she shouldn''t just carelessly show her grimoire to anyone like she did when she first greeted us with a fountain of water. She had learned her lesson and we were with her now so it was fine and, the branch manager could see it too so he continued, exined just how much wealth was technically in her name, exined the volume of treasures that were quietly sitting in the banks the world as well as in the special safes of the association. He briefly exined how his corporation worked and how it was still managed impably without his presence. He also told her how he himself looked over the most crucial issues of the corporation after his retirement and the general functioning from the top of thepany to what happened at the very fundamental level. Quin was smart enough to grasp everything he said and we were talking in anguage that she probably knew the best after me, the divine beasts, and the original tribesmen so everything just settled down in her mind. It was still absurd for her though. She didn''t know how to react to such sudden and absurd things and what to do about all thend, things,pany, people, and other uncountable worldly things that she mostly still didn''t have any freakin idea what they were or how they worked. She just got even more confused as he continued telling her new things and the thoughts she had be even more intertwined as she thought about all these new waves of information being thrown at her. Yes, what he was telling was the most basic things in the most basic words but just think about it from her perspective. She had lived her entire life on a remote ind with only a single person. She had juste out into this world and she had no basic information of how the world worked like me when I came out of the forest. She was all alone just till a day ago and only now was she introduced to all the worldly information and the things that are considered mostmon. And yes she was talented, smart, strong, and quick to grasp things but she had only seen the world from the stories that her grandpa might have told her or the books she had read. She hadn''t seen anything and she was still just starting her journey into this dark, bad, thorny, and pretty world like a child, so this was difficult for her to process but still, there was a pressing question she had to find the answer of in this very moment. "So Quin" Which was obviously¡­ "What will you do?" Chapter 499 Dormetory ? [Eon''s POV: ] Quin had a tough decision to make and it was naturally too difficult for her. She didn''t have much information or even experience with these kinds of situations. She was also taking her sweet time, but Rein was hungry and it was already lunchtime. "What? What do you mean go away?" She knew it was difficult for her too and also that her friend was getting bored on the other side so she just shook off her thoughts, asked her uncle if it was alright for her to first just finish her academy, and speeded up the process. "It''s just as we said, youngdy. This dormitory isn''t for someone like you." Well, it was perfectly fine what she wanted to do with all her things and she chose to think about itter, which was also a decision so things ended there. "What did you just say? Someone like us?" The branch manager was also alright about it and it was actually the best decision. She will learn more about the world and everything she needs to know about the workings of the world, the system, and all the other things that she needed to know to handle what her grandpa had left for her. "Yes miss, someone like you two. This ce shouldn''t be fit for you so you should look for somewhere else." So, that was that, and we said our goodbyes to him after talking with him for a bit over some major issues, and personal things. "Heh. You just told us to go fuck somewhere else and that this is a ce only for the rich people who can afford it and not some presents like us, didn''t you?" She decided to not take anything from her grandpa''s wealth for now but the branch manager still gave her a rank adventurer license with ''a bit'' of money in it and reassured her that he would take care of everything and that she didn''t have to worry. "If you are smart enough to understand that much you should be at least smart enough to understand that wasting someone''s precious time isn''t a good thing too, right miss?" He asked her to enjoy her school life and have fun and meet him whenever she wanted. And she already had good friends like us so she would naturally have more fun than if she had been alone or with someone who wanted to just use her and her resources. "You bitch! Wasting time?! Who is wasting who''s time?!" He also asked us to take good care of her and that he was thankful for everything we were doing. Maybe it was just fate that brought us together but now that he knew that his good old friend had left the world and that his sessor, this little girl was safe and a student in the safest academy, he could breathe a sigh of remorse and take a breath of reassurance. "You shouldn''t use such words, miss. And there is no need to shout like that. If you have some problem with getting out on your own, I believe the security will be good enough to help you with that." He didn''t know why we were helping her or what our motive was or how we even ended up meeting her but at least he could tell that we didn''t have any malicious intentions toward his friend''s granddaughter. If anything, being friends with someone who had the mark of wisdom and a strange girl with such unique magic that he had faced a moment before, would be only helpful for her growth and well-being. "Hahaha. Security huh? Yes, I believe security would be good enough to show a bitch the doors to the outside. But you messed up wrong bitch. So wrong that you will regret this for a long time now. Especially the way you didn''t say the things you mean and just used some sugar-coated pretty words. That was freaking annoying. Guards!" So that was that, we said our goodbyes, ate lunch at a good ce where¡­ well, Rein didn''t hold back and Quin had to spend more than she was expecting, and then reached the za just outside the academy where all the dormitories were situated. -Thump. Thump. Thump. "Yes miss how can we-¡­?!" -Thud! "We greet the new house captain of dark society! How can we help you today?" "H-house captain¡­?" "Yeah so, call the manager of this ce. I have a formalint against an employee." "Right away ma''am!" -Thump! Thump! Thump! So, there were a total of nine dormitories in the great academy of hope. And though we had to pay to stay in one, a few of them were so cheap that anyone passing the entrance exam could afford one. They were good andfortable enough to get by so they were fine and if one didn''t want to stay in them, there were some very amazing options too¡­ just that they cost a bad amount of money so not even some of the nobles and royals are able to afford the best ones. Like, the nine dormitories, in the order of the money they cost per single-person room, were: Coral Reef< nkton Pack< Prawn Lake< Lobster Bay< Salmon Tavern< Dolphin Warkin< Whale Marine< Leviathan < Hydra. And just from the unique names, one can think of their individual scale. All of them had their unique set of rules, guidelines, protocols, and specialties. ''And originally, they were designed for a unique group of individuals.'' Coral dormitory was the cheapest one and one can stay there for five [Wisdom] points for a month however, it was a ce that students had to maintain for themselves so it wasn''t afortable ce like a dormitory should originally be. -Thump. Thump. Thump. "Hello miss. I''m Fayz, this ce''s manager. I heard someone diforted you?" nkton was better in that regard as you didn''t have any work to do but that ce cost fifteen [Wisdom] points and the rules were strict there and they also didn''t give any food there like the coral dorm so it wasn''t the best ce. "S-sir Fayz?" The two of those dormitories were still manageable but as the legen~dary student council president said, the prawn dorm, which though cost thirty [Wisdom] coin a month, was the best ce that not only gave you good food, the facilities there were also the best and the rules there weren''t as strict as the other two. But still, it had restrictions, so the lower nobility and the rich children who wanted a bit more than that went for lobster, salmon, or dolphin dormitory which though cost fifty, hundred, and three hundred [Wisdom] points, were a good andfortable ce where they can enjoy the good lone time of their lives. "You¡­ Mary? Was it thisdy ma''am?" But still, the best dormitories of this academy, though very, very, very costlier than the others, were the best ces, better than some of the great vis and houses on the ind. ''And they actually are some pretty great ces which serve great delicacies and have many good ces for the students to enjoy their free times.'' "Yes, mister. I am very pissed at this bitch who assumed we were some brokemoners and cussed at us indirectly. It was very fucking annoying and more so the way she talked with us. She literally not only disrespected the house captain of the [Dark society] but she also cussed at the vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]. And yeah we might not be the captains of the top houses, what is this behavior, hmm? Mister Fayz? I''m very fucking pissed right now so you better do something about this woman or I will have to file an openint about the greatest, most prestigious, and unparalleled Hydra dormitory. And believe me when I say this mister, I know what my rights and powers are and how to use them as well as the mag and adventurers association." "Calm down dear. Going that far won''t be necessary." She was serious right now but this anger of hers was surely justifiable. We were standing in the greatest and the costliest dormitory of the academy, the Hydra dorm, and the receptionist that should treat people equally and with her greatest care was outright telling her to get lost. ''And as the true nature of my dear Rein went, she couldn''t possibly ept this kind of behavior towards us.'' This dormitory was the best and a ce that stood out even among the top three dormitories. And yes it wasn''t better than the Leviathan dorm in an overall way, this was the best ce for what we wanted. ''And Rein couldn''t possibly deal with a nuisance that told her to piss off every single day after we settled down here.'' Whale dormitory cost a thousand [Wisdom] points a month but there was no room with a kitchen inside it. The Leviathan dormitory cost two thousand [Wisdom] points a month and though it had not just individual kitchens, but also much more, it was strictly divided into male and female sections so technically, we couldn''t live there together. So, Hydra was the best option for us and though it normally cost five thousand [Wisdom] points a month to stay here, there were dorm rooms with practically everything that a small house or apartment has. And it was the least restricted ce for couples so this was our best pick. So, after we came here after helping Quin settle down in her dorm room in Leviathan dormitory and got into this war of words with this receptionistdy, the way she talked with Rein and me, the way Rein was pissed at her right now, and the way Rein was practically threatening to ruin the reputation of this entire dormitory, it was obvious just how much of a mess this foul-mouthed woman was in. "Mary. I didn''t expect you would do something like this. I have ignored your past bad behavior and left you with a little p on the wrist because of your great talent but you messed up big time today." The manager Fayz was a pretty strong person and looked to be in histe thirties. But truthfully, he was a high-grade mage in histe fifties, and from the serious look on his face right now, he seemed to really know just what kind of trouble even some words from a house captain could put them in. "Please take her outside for now. I will finish your resignation paperwork and send it to your ce." -Thump. "N-No! Manager! I¡­! I didn''t-" "It''s toote now youngdy. Just be happy that you are still unharmed." -Thump. Thump. Thump. They took her away and she could only stare back at the manager, at Rein who had not even a shred of guilt or even some other expression like happiness, and then at me who could only shake my head helplessly at that guilt-filled face. "I apologize for the trouble our employee has caused you, miss. Please allow me to personally assist you with whatever you need." He bowed down and the people and the students watching everything happening in the surrounding area just looked at us with a wide open mouths. "Alright then show us your best ces for an engaged couple with a kitchen, a good workshop, and a big balcony from where we can see the night sky." "Right away ma''am. Pleasee this way." There was argemotion but the guards came, the two of us looked around at the people watching the free show, and then as we walked away to a nearby cabin, they cleared the area and things went normal there. We also saw the list of dorm rooms that the manager showed us on a big holographic magic screen in that cabin and the two of us settled down on a certain room after a half-hour discussion. "Wonderful choice! We will prepare the room for the two of you to the best of our abilities and as an apology for the misbehavior of the employee, please allow us to renovate the room the way you like. " "Nice~! I like that but we will tell you the renovation details by tomorrow or something. Let''s settle the payments and go see the ce~!" She was happy and the ce we selected was also great too so it was just natural to be happy. And this would be our ce so she was even more excited right now. ''And by our ce¡­ yeah, no. We weren''t going to do more than what was allowed, hopefully.'' "Of course ma''am. The base monthly rate for this one is six thousand, so what payment method would you like?" The manager was professional and he was doing far better than I had expected right now. I really liked this person. "We will be paying in [M] points and we would like to pay for a year right now. That''s fine, right?" I was asking that to Rein as I answered the manager and though surprised, the manager answered pretty calmly. "A year Sir? Of course, it would be fine. Just give me a moment." He was tense but he didn''t show it, stepped back, and started doing something on an unique artifact there. ''Yes~!'' Rein was excited and she genuinely couldn''t wait anymore. "Here sir. You can just tap your ID card here for the payment process." The manager walked back to us with a ck te-like thing and I just tapped my adventurer''s ID on the thing, looking at the big number visible on the back of the card going down. And yes, the manager was looking at that number too, with an expression that carried a storm underneath that calmness. "O-ok. Thank you, sir, ma''am. Please wait here for just a bit. I will guide you to your new ce in just a moment." And after saying that, with quick and light movements, he walked out of the room, leaving the two of us alone. "Yei~! Finally~!" "Yes. Finally¡­" We can live alone now. Alone, only the two of us, under the same roof, with no one but the two of us. I was a little afraid of what unknown things might happen in our time alone in this ce but, even I was excited, probably more than her and more than she can think. It was the start of a new chapter in our personal journey so¡­ there was no reason not to be excited. Chapter 500 Their New Dwellings ? [OP: ] "Wow¡­" "Better than the pictures." "We wish you a great time." The manager of the ce walked out of the room and Rein and Eon stood at the door, observing the room with happy and surprised looks. "Nice¡­" Rein looked around the ce, observing the vast hallway, therge window that was almost like a wall on the other side, a single door near the end of the right side, and three doors on the left side with unique carvings on them. "Pretty good," Eon nodded with approval as he looked around the big hall of their ce which hadfortable couches, a magical chandelier illuminating the room, pretty paintings decorating the velvet walls, a piano sitting on one corner of the room, a circr carpet in the middle middle of the room, a few shelves and paintings before the piano and beside the doors, a firece behind the couches, and few shelves filled with books on the right side of the firece. It was a nice ce and though the shelves were currently filled with some stuff, they were going to renovate the room for them anyway so they didn''t have to do anything by themselves. So, as soon as the manager walked away, Rein grabbed Eon''s hand, dragged him to one of the couches before them, and pushed him down on it, looking down at him with a happy gaze. "Hello mister fianc¨¦." She was smiling right now, and he knew very well what this smile meant so¡­ he prepared himself and, after a while of cuddling, he got up and looked at his fianc¨¦e who was hugging the soft but not perfectly soft pillow. "Hello miss fianc¨¦e. Get up. Let''s look around and go. Quin must be waiting." But she was smiling at him while he was saying that, in another wrong way, exactly meaning the same thing as a while before. So, after another long kissing session, both of them got up, tied up their hair and clothes, and with a still unsatisfied expression on her face, they first walked towards the left side and opened the first door with an image of a magnifying ss drowned on the door. "UwU? Pretty good actually. I didn''t expect it would be this well maintained." Rein was surprised however, Eon wasn''t as happy as her to see this ce. "There is no security system here, the humidity is a little on the higher side, the temperature management magic they used is practically garbage, the utensils are pretty decent but they are used so I can''t use them. They don''t even have any high-end devices. This ce needs a lot more work than just some renovations." He sighed, shook his head, left one of Celes''s clones in there, and closed the doors. "The library better not be like this." Heined and she shook her head at her handsome darling. They walked out, passed by an empty shelf, reached the second door with a unique magical book''s design, and Rein opened the doors. "..." "Looks like we wasted our money on this once Uriel." Before them was arge ce, full of shelves filled with books, and from even Rein''s perspective, this was a pretty decent ce. And they had even used spatial expansion magic in this ce so it was far better than probably many personal house libraries. However, Eon''s standards were probably a little too high for things like these. "We will fix this, together. Don''t worry." Rein reassured him while petting his back and closed the doors without waiting any longer. "It is more concerning that way. I''m afraid of what countless things we will do there aside from fixing that ce." Eon was worried and his worries were obviously natural. We were talking about Rein, who had engaged him in a certain activity twice in thest half hour, and he knew those weren''t the end as they had yet to check the bedroom, kitchen, and their big balcony, the ces where the two of them will engage in some certain activities more than anywhere else. He was worried about her and about himself, but his pretty darling was smiling excitedly the same way as she was when they entered here. She was cheerful too and the gloomy expression on Eon''s face turned into a simr cheerful one as soon as she opened the door with a unique pattern that resembled a chemical form and they entered inside. "Wow¡­" He was surprised. Her Eon was surprised. And the room, their kitchen he was surprised by wasn''t much of a high-tech, fancy, amazing, orvish ce. "Wow!" It was a normal-looking ce that was just like any other big kitchen in a fancy restaurant and the kitchen wasparatively smaller than the open ind of the kitchen as well as the big windows on the other side of the room and the vast area with a few dining tables and chairs. "This is good~!" He really was so excited to see this kitchen that he ran inside, started checking the ce, examined the cooking area, checked the tables and chairs, and even looked around the whole ce with his sharp eyes. And yes, Rein had no idea why he was so excited over this so normal-looking ce, she knew this was one of those times when he was in a world of his own, thinking about things that weren''t even rted to this kitchen of theirs. "A~." But he was excited and happily smiling right now, and this smile on his face heated the strong heart of his thirty Rein. "Come here¡­" She walked up to him, climbed and sat down on the kitchen ind, pulled his supposed head closer, and bit his shaking lips that still had the marks of their engagement from just a while before. "Alright enough." But this time, Eon managed to pull back quickly, picked her up, and walked out of their kitchen that he was going to turn into a ce where he would love to cook for arge number of people. So, out of the kitchen, the two of them first walked towards the wall-like window that lead them to their big balcony and as soon as they were out, they could see the sun going down the horizon, the clouds that seemed too close from their ce, the moon on the other side that was just starting to rise, the chairs and a big table in the middle of this ce, andstly a few nts ced all around the big balcony, giving the open area filled with freshness a better atmosphere than inside their ce. "It''s fresh¡­" she said as she looked around and he nodded at her, looked at the table and the chairs in the middle of this ce used simple telekinesis and moved them to the edge of the balcony, and shook his head in denial while looking at her excited eyes. "No. Not today. We will first fix this whole ce and only then have a good dinner here at good nighttime." He was serious, and he was requesting her to ept at least this much. And she could see her darling''s sincerity, so she agreed and the two walked out and walked towards thest and the core room with a fancy bed drowned on the wooden enchanted doors on their left side. "Haaa¡­ ok." The two of them looked at each other, took a deep breath, nodded at each other, and then opened the door with a hopeful expression¡­ which turned into a solid frown as soon as the image of the inside of their bedroom, which was supposed to be the most special ce for the two of them, entered their special eyes. "I hate it." "It''s despicable." "It would be pretty good as it is but¡­ they ruined it." "I am going to kill that manager bastard." "Let''s¡­ let''s just go." "Yeah¡­" The room was dark and only illuminated by the lights of many candles lit all around the ce. There was a big bed at the very back of the room and there was a prettyrge window on the left side of it. There were a few chairs before the window and on the right side, there was a firece as well as a door leading to their big bathroom. There was also a full-size mirror and a ce with a lot of cosmetics that Rein hated with all her heart, and then there was the shit they pulled to ruin a decent ce. The room was dim, but they had lit candles everywhere. There was a big window but it was also blocked by a curtain. The room was good and the bed was made of fine materials too however, there were rose petrels all around the bed, the curtains they used were all red and white, the pillow covered were pink, and the other colors used in other things were also either a stunning warm color or a contrasting cool colors. It might have been pretty attractive in the eyes of any normal couple but two of them saw more than what they could and understood what even most of them could ever fathom. And the two of them were so dissatisfied with all of it that they just closed the door, walked out of their ce, imed an elevator and went to the ground floor, found the manager, and put their hands on both of his shoulders. "By the time wee back, I want the bedroom changed from how that fucked up ce looks." She was directly whispering it in his ears while squeezing his shoulders and there was a sudden shock, and fear visible on his face. "Take this. Do the changes exactly written ording to this. And¡­ I''m very dissatisfied, Fayz." Eon looked straight into his eyes with his calm eyes, which were different from Rein''s enraged eyes, and even though he didn''t pressure his shoulder like Rein, the pressure and authority he felt from him at that moment were far more than anything he had felt in a long, long time. "Don''t repeat this mistake." He tapped his shoulder twice and the two of them walked out, leaving the still-stunned manager at his own fate. He didn''t understand what had just happened and what was that strange feeling he felt from those two but he, at that very moment, knew at least two things¡­ "Guards! Call Murin, Jake, and Zhou Fan! Tell them to leave whatever they are doing ande meet me on the twelfth floor!" First of all, he had to do what they had told him, and second of all, never do something that would dissatisfy these two individuals ever again. "Yes sir!" He had learned his lesson in this small interaction and he had gotten more than enough information about them to know what were the best actions to take when dealing with this particr couple. They weren''t some normal people that he could categorize or even fathom even with his decades of experience. They were some of those rare shooting stars, those rare storms who one only encounters by the funny y of fate, but even that mere encounter was enough to cause a tremendous change in the serene life of those fate-blessed individuals. He had to do many things if he wanted to be someone who was blessed by this fated encounter and not some fool who didn''t even understand the peculiarity of those two''s attention. So now, he and the most proficient employees of this great dormitory had to quickly work, and while they were working, the ones who caused such a storm in all their schedules were walking through the streets of the sky ind, going to their predestined meeting ce to meet some certain people including their first friend Quin. And talking about Quin and taking the title of this chapter into ount, she had settled well in one of the good dorm rooms of the Leviathan dormitory and though she didn''t have anyone she knew there, she was going to start learning themonnguage as well as the other importantnguage to better interact with the others around her. She was smart and had a great grasp of a primordialnguage so learning modernnguages would be pretty easy for her to learn. She had her friends too so she would be fine, so she was doing well. And the same could be said for the others on the ind who didn''t face any great problems on their first day on this ind. Ca, Alf, Chry, and Zoe were in their vi on the eastern side of the city which though was pretty far from the academy, they could travel there pretty easily if they ran there as a routine exercise. Prince Alph, Princess Isabe, and Prince udius also lived in the imperial family''s vi but the three were in different houses so they knew their interactions were going to be just as limited as they used to be when they lived in the pce. The other house captains and vice captains had also settled in either their dorms or in the ces owned by them or their families, or somece that they paid more than necessary to just live in. Some who didn''t want to pay or didn''t like the dorms and houses made the open areas of the ind, the trees, and garden of their academy, or the roofs of other''s houses their new home. Andstly, there were also some who made the big and important ces on the ind like the mage towers or the adventurer''s association their new residences or were given residences in their buildings by someone else, by someone who had sponsored them¡­ That was the students and their living situations andmonly speaking, they all were fine and doing pretty wellpared to the other mon'' batches of the previous years from theirs. They were well, good, and smiling on this sky ind in the far high sky but¡­ a certain someone, a certain person, a certain young girl that one couldn''t help but love, the most amazing, the best character in this story, our beloved Anna, wasn''t doing as well as most of them. Chapter 501 Angels Under The Moonlight ? [OP: ] In a small room that resembles the room of a child, with a bed in one corner of the room, some dolls ced on the shelves above this bed, some dolls lying around the room, with a round table in the middle of the room, some empty chairs ced all around it, there were a few open books lying on the ground, and an adorable little girl looking out of the window, looking up at the moon that was strangely looking straight at her. "Sister¡­" Some little creatures resembling little fluffy balls of fur gathered around her and looked up at her as her long ck hair even more beautiful than the cloud covered night sky, and her red jewelled eyes shining under the serene blue moonlight with sad expressions on their adorable colourful faces. "I''m¡­ ok." Wearing a little, white night dress, holding a white teddy bare in her left hand, ying with her little ne with her other hand and looking at the half moon in the sky, she sighed deeply, looked at the furballs gathered around her, and shook her head. "Really." "Noooooo¡­" They all denied her words in unison and jumped a step closer to her, looking at her with a sad expression. "Sister is sad¡­" Their clear blue eyes looking at her were bigger and almost filled with tears and she couldn''t see her little friends like that so she sat down, the blue moonlight from the window still giving her a strange ethereal look, so pure it would even surprise the celestial angels that watched over the world as some of the few primordial beings. "I''m alright. It''s just¡­ everything feels more quiet now that they are really gone." She sighed and hugged the dull white furball who was the most tearful after seeing her sadness. "But it''s alright, Dome, Haru, L, Ely. I will be alright. I have Mr. Rice and Celes too, right? If I feel alone, I will just tell them to contact big brother so that we all can talk. I''m just not¡­ used to this loneliness." She hugged the furball more genially and the others also jumped ahead, surrounded her, and hugged her with the same gentle care as her. Anna¡­ today was the first day she had spent without her brothers and sisters. She already knew this day woulde and she had prepared herself to live without their presence. She knew it would take time and it won''t be like this for that long of a time so she was alright, she was unfamiliar with this strange feeling but she still had many people, Marty friends, many other family members that she can y with, talk with, and learn new things from. And now that they aren''t here, she can spend more of her time doing something new. Something that they all liked. Something that they all loved so much that they all practised it every single day when they were almost as young as her. She liked those cool things that they all did, probably even loved them, but she wasn''t much interested in actually practising those when they all were here. But now that they were all gone¡­ "I will be fine," she mumbled andy down on the floor, covered by the warm colourful furballs, closed her eyes, and in the room only lit by the light of the half moon raining through the big window, our little angel fell asleep, and one by one, her round friends also followed her in the magical slumber of this lone night. ¡­ -Click. The door of the room cracked opened a bit and a pair of brown, green, blue, and violet eyes looked inside one by one. ¡­ They observed the room for a while, looked around the messy floor covered by books and dolls, then as they looked at the ethereal scenery of thier little ck haired angel and the thirty two povpoi sleeping on the floor under the light of the window, those four pairs of eyes warmed up. -Click. Then the door closed just as silently as it was opened. "She is doing better than I thought." The older voice among them, the voice of Anna''s blue eyed grandma, first spoke up and followed behind her a worried voice of her violet eyed second aunt, "But she is sleeping on the floor. Shouldn''t we move her to her bed?" "It''s alright," reassured the gentle voice of her green eyed first aunt, and adding to her words, the voice of her dear mom whispered quietly, "It''s alright. She has a habit on sleeping on the floor so Eon put some kind of special enchantment on her entire floor that makes it probably morefortable than her bed". Her mom,dy Nn, was relived to see her dear daughter''s current condition. She was sleeping with a better expression right now, which was better than the whole day where she didnt talk with anyone much and just stayed by herself and the povpois''. She was better now, and at least as her mom, she was relived to see this. "Then it''s better." Hazel, her second aunt, also had a relived expression on her face now that she heard that. And though there was the matter regarding the weight of all the povpois'' they weren''t much worried about it thanks to the eternal presence of Anna''s Mr. Rice by her side. "Alright then. Let''s godies." Their elder mother Griz suggested with a happy smile on her face and all of them nodded reassuringly and walked away with careful, silent steps. "I wonder what they all are doing." Lady Augustine wondered, catching interest of both the other moms who had spent a day without seeing thier little children or even hearing thier voices. "I know they all are doing great so you three also go and rest." Lady Griz pushed all three of them from behind just when they were about to engage in a new conversation that was undoubtedly going to be a long one. And these threedies who had been just as lonely as thier little one, far more worried than usual in a long time, and far, far more tired after working too hard to not worry this entire day, there was only one thing these three needed and that wasn''t another long conversation that might branch off to new things and take thier entire night. No, she couldn''t let that happen. They needed rest and if they really wanted to have any chat, thier husbands were there waiting for them. And thoughdy Aug didn''t have her partner, she had Mave. They can chat if they wanted to and fall asleep while talking in thier rooms. That was the wish of thier elder mother and they couldn''t ignore that. At least not today where she meant this for thier own good. So¡­ those were the worrieddies on this part of thend and then there were the twodies sitting on the terrace of thier house on the southern part of the empire. "Elle and Eon must have got a good ce." The olddy with silver shimmering hair who didn''t look old in any manner said while looking up at the moon on her left side and thedy with brown hair that though looked normal but still carried an unknown allure, nodded at her words while simrly looking up at the moon on her right side. "I think they are also looking at this sky, actually¡­ a better, more clear, and bigger sky filled with many more visible stars from that high up sky ind than us. But still, though at different distance, their moon and our moon would be the same, right mother?" She smiled while saying that and thedy before her nodded with a same happy smile as her. "Poor little Elle." And then she sighed, put her hands on the table before her, and rested her head on them. "Haaaa¡­" Anddy Oran, Rein''s mother, did the same asdy Arian Rein''s grandmother, and the two rested on the spot that had always belonged to thier two young children¡­ who were now somewhere high up in the sky, starting a new chapter of thier lives, not doing many things that a newly enguaged couple should do. But they didn''t have any say in ther personal matter so¡­ they just sat there, looking up at the sky and the moon, lost in thier thoughts, roaming thier own special worlds. And the sky of empire was clouded today, stars had lost thier way to their usual path that took them to them, and only the brave moon was visible, fighting against the calm clouds, maintaining his eternal ce as the sole ruler of this night sky. But thesedies weren''t the only angelic figures looking up at the moon, asking him questions, talking with him about the worldly tings, or writing poetry that could still never portray the ecstasy that this ruler of the nightly sky spread. There were the three emperesses who praised the unique sky from thier pce chamber; there was thedy elf and mage captain of Eon''s house who sat under a tree reading a book in her delicate, but deadly hands; there was the assassin squad captain of Rein''s house, carrying out her usual tasks, bathed in the blood of the enemies of her masters. There was the vice principal on the sky ind, bathing in the secret mystical hotsprings of their academy; there was the vice student council president who roamed the ind in her spectral form, observing the pretty vice captain of dark society, trying to get over the incident that took ce yesterday. There was Ca who swung her sword in the calm of this night; there was Princess Isabe who studied her magic under the shadow of a cool foliage; there was Quin who read a certain book under the moonlighting from the window before her study table that her friend Lucifer had handed her after thier dinner and shopping; and then there was the fairy captain of fusion stardust who slept on the head of her familiar, that dominated a new part of this bordend wilderness. They were angelic, the moonlight was thier nket today, and though there were many other angelicdies, we will end the chapter with thest moments of this genital, serene nket that graced the threedies that sparkled just as beautifully as the little sleeping Anna. And, well, they couldn''t be just any prettydy if we wereparing them to the best existence in this world right? So¡­ Of the three prettydies, one was naturally Rein who was happily ying a certain fun game on the Mag with her darling as they sat in thier new balcony under thiste night sky; the other was also obviously Zoe who looked down from the window of her room with a smile on her face that seemed like she was smiling while looking at something down there; andstly¡­ there was Lizzy. The unique girl who ced in high rankings just by selling some food, who then became the house captain of the [Fascinated mages], the girl that caught the eyes of many spectators, and the girl that caused a serious situation for Eon just by being there. She was the half-angel that made Eon cough bad blood, she was the one protected by a demon king of hell, she was the one that practically no one knew anything about, and she was the one that Eon wanted to be a part of their family. She wasn''t practically gorgeous in her current appearance or anything as she peacefully slept in her dorm room however, even with just the glimmer of the celestial light sparkling on her face, was illuminating her entire being. She was an anomaly, an element that shouldn''t exist in this perfect nature. However, she was special. And she was somewhat like a mix of Quin who didn''t know much about the world, Zoe who wouldn''t do much even with her great powers, and Ca who dreamed of something too difficult but not impossible to achieve. She was special, she was an angel¡­ and this special night that was going to mark a new chapter of her life, also belonged to her as much as the image of our happily sleeping Anna. Chapter 502 First Day ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Uriel! It''s already time! We will bete!" "Yes, yes. Almost finished." "Finished what?! You are just polishing your scythe from thest hour! It''s clean and sharp enough to cut a bunch of paper with a simple touch! Let''s go already!" "Rx dude. It''s still an hour before our ss starts. And we can just reach the academy with shadow travel in an instant. What''s the rush?" "What is there to not rush? Only an hour is left for the ss to start! Just an hour! How many times have I said it already?! Many things can happen between the academy gates and the ssrooms! Many, many things! We can miss our very first ss ma''am! That can''t happen!" She was too rxed right now but I couldn''t help but worry about what would happen if we werete. This was the first day of our school and she was humming cheerfully, polishing her secondary scythe that she wasn''t even going to use anytime soon. She was rxed and I couldn''t help but look at her with an anxious expression. "Uriel!" "Yes." And without listening to my desperate requests, she just continued her usual work. [[ Hehe. ]] The clock was ticking, the sky was blue, the sun was bright, and we werete! "Uriel." "Yes." "Uriel." "Yes." "Alright,e there by yourself. I''m going." "Yes. Try it if you want to." "Ughhhh!" I knew she was doing it to tease me. I knew she was doing it just to see this reaction of mine. I knew she didn''t care about the first day or beingte, I knew this moment was fun and she wanted to have more fun but! We were still gettingte! "Huuu¡­ alright. Do whatever you want." I just sat down beside her and calmed myself down, took out a book¡­ no. This wasn''t going to work. "Ok, then I will be waiting outside. Come out whenever you like." -Swish. And without waiting, I used my shadow dive and vanished from the ce, reappearing outside of our dorm room, and continued reading that book as I stood there. -Click. -Thumb! "Bastard." Not even a minute had passed when she pushed open the door, came out, and mmed the door behind her. "It''s not my fault. You had your fun, you were greedy, you wanted more, and we were gettingte." "There are still 54 minutes left!!" She shouted with a red face and I offered her a water bottle. "''Just'' 54 minutes." "Hump!" She stomped her feet, swiped a triangr key on the door, took the ss bottle from my hand, drank half of the water from it, grabbed my hand, used her shadow travel skill, and took me to the area before the academy gates. "Happy now?!" She shouted and suddenly attracted the attention of all the nearby students that were also going inside the academy. And though there were many eyes watching us right now, I firmly just shook my head at my angry bird. "No, I''m not. We are still outside. Reaching the (I) ssroom would still require a long, long time." "5 minutes! That ss is five minutes away if we run! Just five minutes!" "That''s a whole five minutes, ma''am. We can gette-" "Shut up! Just shut up and let''s go!" And then, she started dragging me inside. ¡­ -Shwaaaaaaaa! "Ohh! Did you hear about the house captains? They say everyone is not only unexpected but strangely they all are mysterious too." "Hello, friend~. You do know how to y." "Hello? Are you Derek?" "Student council president is hot! I wonder if he has a partner yet." "Well of course the teachers are amazing. This is the best academy after all." "Hey everyone! Which ss did you get?" "I wonder who will be our homeroom teacher." "Rol! Rol! I heard Master H2O was ying yesterday! I heard they broke into the top hundred." "Damn fucking hell¡­ did you watch BTW''s stream yesterday? It definitely looks like they are adamant about reaching the high rankings!" "Kyaaaaa! I''m in the same ss as my ideal master Alfred!" "Alright, so how can I get the Mag? I want to y this too." "I was ying duo yesterday. In randoms. Met a strange yer that didn''t say a word, carried only the basic and low-level cards, and still, they managed to wipe out almost half of the lobby single-handedly." "I think¡­ I''m in love." "Alright fuck. I have cursed luck." We were passing through the cheerful garden area and there were many student groups, new friends, new circles, and many loners who still didn''t know anyone or had any acquaintances. But they will find someone, hopefully, and not foolishly think that they can do everything all by themselves. This wasn''t afortable ce that one can pass from that easily after all. In the academy, there was only graduation or expulsion. And the graduation rate of this institute was far higher than any other institute in the world. However, the expulsion rate was also some of the lowest in this ce. Their work here was to create and nurture aspects that could contribute to the world and they mostly managed to do so after their strict schedules, rules, freedom, and secret techniques. This was a unique ce¡­ and being dragged by my cor wasn''t as bad of an experience as I thought. "Uriel! Lucifer! Wait~!" A voice called us in a uniquenguage and in this garden, there was only one person that could call us that way. "See! Even Quin is here! We arete!" "Now what does that even mean¡­?" She shook her head and looked at me with an expression that didn''t find my attempt to joke even a little bit funny. "Hello, Quin~. Did you have a good sleep?" Rein asked and wrapped her hand around my neck. "I¡­" She looked at me, then looked back at Uriel, asking what she was doing and that I might get hurt if she did that but she didn''t respond and Quin understood it must be somethingmon that she didn''t know about so she just shook her head and continued. "I didn''t sleep. I was reading the book that Lucifer gave me. It¡­ was unbelievable. And beautiful. And thrilling. And more fun than anything I had ever read." There was a warm smile on her face and then she looked at me and held a book before us. "Thank you for this. And, was everything in this book really about my grandpa?" She asked with a curious and hopeful expression and I nodded at her while asking Uriel to take the hand away. But she didn''t do that and though confused once again, Quin nodded with that same warm smile while looking down at that simple-looking book. [[ She looks happy~! ]] The title of this book was [The adventurer who saw the World] a biography that caused a grand controversy at its release, was banned by all of the Western continent nations, and then was confiscated and burned. Well, the one in her hand was a copy of the original one that I had read back in our tower library and I can make a copy anytime I needed so I didn''t need this one. "You can keep this one Quin. And yes. It is about your grandpa. He was that much of a special person so, read it again when you feel lost. It will help." I was telling that from experience as the protagonist in that book, her grandfather, was one of the most iconic and my personally beloved people that had ever existed. ''And considering his connection with Lady Sarah and mom, well, he is naturally one of my favorites.'' I smiled at her, and it was a little unique smile, that though Quin didn''t notice at all, wasn''t something that could escape Uriel''s attention. [[ "What''s the story?" ]] she asked with a curious voice and increased the strength behind her grip. [[ "Will tell you when the timees. It is a funny one. You will like it." ]] [[ "Tell me now!" ]] [[ "I could have. But we arete because of you so no. Now wait till the right momentes, stars align, the moment mentioned in the ancient prophecy arrives, and my heart thinks this story is not top-level confidential information that could cause a war." ]] [[ "Tsk. Bastard." ]] And after that clicking sound, she not only quieted down, but she thankfully also released the grip on my neck, letting a little bird like me fly freely. "Thanks, Lucifer¡­" She was happy, and it was gettingte! "Ok let''s talk as we walk. What sses did you choose Quin?" I grabbed Uriel''s hand and started walking, and Quin answered while following beside her. "I chose the Language of past and present ss which people call [Adventuer] level something? And the [Supirior] level business management as you suggested. Aside from those two, I chose [Exploration] level spirit bonding ss, the [Basic] level deeper understanding of the world, [High] level ss of political science, and [Intermidiate] level ss ofws of individual countries." Hmmm. It was good. And though it might seem like she just chose one ss from each level of difficulty, she made the best decisions that would be helpful to her in the future. And more than that¡­ "Yei~! I took the spirit bonding sses too~! We will be together there~!" Rein hugged her while saying, no, shouting that, and everyone around us looked at us, no, looked at these two girls hugging each other. And though there was no particr reaction from them to their beauty, the two of them were house captains so the ones from their house as well as the famous people from other houses sure were very surprised to see something like this. After all, two house captains who should be each other''s opponents were happily greeting and hugging each other right now. And this fact was more unsettling for many than the all too well fact that I, the vice-captain of the [Wisdom phoenix] was her fiance. ''And if someone knew that our house captain was my little sister, Quin''s house captain was my big sister, and about Chry, Alf, and Prince Alph, things would be a lot moreplicated than it is right now.'' It would be difficult and I didn''t wantplicated things like that just yet. So that was that and Uriel and Quin had amon ss. ''Uriel and I have threemon ones and all three of them were superior sses.'' We had decided this a long ago so this ss choosing was easy for us and aside from the superior magic engineering; superior magic and weapon training; and superior alchemy sses, she and I will have to spend three of our lectures physically separated from each other. She was going to go to a [Adventure] level weapon understanding ss, a [High] grade energy beast research ss, and the [Exploration] grade spirit bonding ss. On the other hand, I would go to a [Exploration] grade cooking ss, a [Adventuer] grade high magic theory ss, and a special basic course called all energy utilization taught by a certain person that though not famous, was a core figure of this academy. So we will be away from each other for some lectures but if possible, both of us knew that we would apany the other to their lectures. After all, in this academy, you can attend any ss of any grade you wanted even if you weren''t part of it. The selection of the sses was only for exam purposes and if someone chooses all six of their subjects as basic ones that they have a full grasp over then even if they yed around in some other fun sses, they all would be perfectly fine. And, our goal was to attend each ss of this academy at least once in our three years of time here. And considering there were hundreds of sses that went on at the same time in different parts of the academy, then one can just think how difficult it would be to attend them at the same time maintaining your own attendance in the subjects of your exams. And there were sixpulsory sses for everyone too. We can''t possibly attend all the sses in a short period of time. But we had a long time to do that so, as the very first footstep toward our goal to achieve the wish of having attended every single ss at least once, we said our goodbyes to Quin before her ssroom (C), and, stood before our own ssroom (I), looking at the ss that we would see almost every single day for a long time, for the very first time... Chapter 503 Classes ? [OP: ] There are twelve main homeroom ssrooms in the great academy each being big enough to fit nearly four hundred and fifty students at a time and that''s just the homeroom sses. The academy has many ces that could hold thousands of people at a time and thanks to the spatial expansion magic, many ces have the capacity to hold tens of thousands of people at a time in the inner area of the academy. But, the twelve homerooms are the ces where the students start each of their days, and that is also the ce where they take their firstpulsory ss from their homeroom teachers. And being a homeroom teacher is considered a tougher task than just teaching at the academy as they would not only have to handle hundreds of students every day, they would have to look after their ss, students, their quarries, their problems, and be there if they need any kind of help or even if they didn''t ask for it, it was their duty to look after every single student of their ss. So, every twelve homeroom teachers of every batch are personally looked up to by the students of their sses, and in many of the cases, they hold a great position in the lives of their students. That was the blessing only a teacher could have and these homeroom teachers, who though might be selected on some unknown bases that only the headmaster was aware of, hold a key role in the lives of their ss''s students. But their work is tough, very tough while seeing from a general perspective. And even many students, being the young adult students they are, aren''t mostly aware of the work that they have to do in this ce. But still, they are cool people, and they know their work. So, aside from these twelve teachers, there are hundreds of other teachers who have their own unique sses that they handle and they teach all the personal subjects that they are masters of so they are also looked up to by the students that leave this academy after their graduation. Studentse and go but they stay in the same ss, get new students, make new bonds, and separate from them, and the cycle repeats, but¡­ on some corner of their life, they meet the children that they once taught, the ones who used to respect them, and also the ones who used to cuss them for some certain things. But they do certainly remember these people that taught them something, probably even better than their fellow friends that they attended the academy with. That is the charm of the teachers of the academy, and the teachers who were going to teach a batch so special as theirs were naturally going to be as special as them, right? So there was a lobby on the ground floor of the academy and the twelve sses were lined one after the other in a wide corridor that could easily hold hundreds of people. There was a white interior to this lobby and there were red-pink-maroon patterns all around this white wall, enhancing the beauty of the ce by many folds. The area was lit by the magical lights on the ceiling and the floor was made of fine marble. The ce was clean with absolutely not even a spark of dust but at the same time, there was a strange fragrance all around the area, making the mornings of all the new students attending their first sses and the teachers who were well familiar with this fragrance, as fresh as a freshly brewed cup of tea. And this fragrance was unique to only this corridor as for the other ces of the academy, all of them possessed a unique scent of their own and if someone had a good sense of smell, they could easily distinguish the area they were in this humongous academy. So, that were the corridors, and then there were the doorless ces which were usually called the ssrooms. And every ssroom was a unique ce in itself too so even though they had many aspects inmon with the other sses on the same floor, one with unique eyesight can definitely spot all the strange differences between these ssrooms. Especially the twelve homeroom sses of the academy. They were the most identical ces to each other but still maintained their unique individuality in the eyes of those who knew it. So, those who knew, knew the secret of the twelve homerooms. Anyway, the twelve ssrooms were given a unique alphabet from (A) to (L) as amon identifier, and this alphabet was engraved on the right side of the doors to all the sses, on the left side being the area with a giant shelf that contained the countless important trophies and awards earned by the students from the previous batches who used to be part of these sses. They were some of the most inspirational things in this entire academy and they were ced right next to their ssroom, holding a deeper meaning than being there as a decoration. And though the number of students that paid attention to things like these were little, every once in a while, there were a few that took these achievements of others to their heart and strived to be someone like them and earn something that would be decorated in a ce like this. It was their motivation as they entered these big ssrooms, found a seat, and met new people and their fellow ssmates, they would not only start a new journey in their lives, but they would also start a new journey towards their newfound goals. So in this academy, on their very first day, almost all of the students sat in their designated sses, on the long wooden seats that could hold ten to twelve students at a time, and chatted, looked around, went through some stuff on the academy forums with their unique ID stars, and waited for their teacher''s arrival. Right, these colorful stars. They were a special natural artifact, something that every one of them had, and aside from the captains of their houses, everyone had a unique color that not many knew represented many things about them. They were the IDs of the students of the academy and they did far more than just be there for show. But the extent of the things that these stars could do was unknown to even those who had graduated from the academy and served there as a teacher afterward. They were special, and it was almost time for the ss to start so the students rtively quieted down and looked ahead of them, excited to see who would be their homeroom teacher. Ca and Alf were in ssroom (B), Chry and Quin were in the same ss, Rein and Eon were in the same ss as the house captain of the [True dragon], Zoe was in ss (A) that was quite far away from Eon and Rein''s ss, but Lizzy was in her ss too so she knew what she had to do. The sses were assigned randomly and it was probably just a coincidence, but it was a good coincidence that the two of them were in the same ss, and even better one that both of them were sitting on the same front seat. It was good for their future n and¡­ the teachers were here. -Whaaaaashhhhhkkkkkkktttt. -Tap, tap, tap. ¡­ In the ssroom (A), the one who walked in was surprisingly someone we all knew, Ca''s dad Sir Elkan. However, as he walked in in his unique mage clothing, his long sea-blue hair tied behind in a ponytail, and simple square sses resting before his eyes, he gave off a strict and intellectual feeling that attracted all the eyes in their ssroom. In the ssroom (B), the teacher walking in wasn''t human or even a dwarf or an elf but a female Orc wearing a fashionable blue suit that went strangely well with her lite cyan or almost tale-colored skin. And though her racial traits were a little intimidating, the genital aura around her made them feel as if they could be just as normal before her as when they were with their close ones. In the ssroom (C), the teacher that walked in was a short dwarf who had arms so visibly strong that they caught the eyes of almost all the male knights of their ss, while in room (D), the teacher was a short, cute looking beast person with cat ears so¡­ yeah, everyone was attracted to her. In rooms (E), (F), (G), the teachers were all human, however, they were some of the very famous ones that everyone recognized as soon as they walked inside their ssrooms. In ssroom (H), the teacher was a fairy, however, she was in her human form so this teacher looked just like an adult, attractive, eye-catching, and charming maturedy to all the students present in the room. In ssroom (I), the teacher that walked in¡­ flew in would be a better word as he was floating above the ground when he entered their ssroom in very attractive-looking pitch ck nobles'' clothing, adorned with jewels and gold. And he had dark red hair with simr dark red eyes and two long, sharp teeth so, it should be easy to guess his race. In ssroom (J), the teacher was a simple-looking male elf who seemed to be a little under the weather today; in ssroom (K), the teacher was again a simple-looking person but she had unique scale-covered skin and pupilless white eyes, clearly indicating her mermaiden lineage; andstly, in the room (I), the teacher was a tiger. A genuine evolved tiger in a pure human form who wore mage clothing and sses just like Sir El. Those were the basic information that students got as they saw them and this arrival of theirs in their sses marked the start of their very first lecture in this academy... Chapter 504 Jezebel Ivy Athan Velorina ? [Eon''s POV: ] -Shwiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ -Tap. "Good morning children." [[ "Sir Jezebel. Quite unexpected but still, it would be fun with this person as our homeroom teacher." ]] I smiled while looking at him from our veryst seat. [[ "He''s a vampire, right? Aren''t you seeing one for the first time? No surprise?" ]] Rein asked while looking at me and I shook my head. [[ "Nope. But yeah, they certainly have a cool fashion style. I like him for that much." ]] My answer would be quite unexpected from a general perspective as even the nobles and royals in this ss were surprised to see someone like him for the first time. Vampires are a rare race after all. There were only six major families of them known in this world. And not much surprisingly, the Velorina family he belonged to was one of those six major families who were some of the oldest families in this world. Probably as old as the empire and unlike the humans, these near-immortal beings still have their founders, the so-called , among them. And they are some of the oldest and most powerful beings that hold godly powers. Even the headmaster would have to listen to them in certain cases and they possess powers above the simple (Origin grandmasters) so they for one don''t interact with the outside world and live in seclusion, and second, hold wealthparable to mom and mebined so they have no interest in materialistic things. And that wasn''t all either. Their special blood magic was something that only their kind could use and no, in this world, vampires weren''t some bloodthirsty creatures that hunted young virgin girls and drank their blood. In this world, yes they drank the blood of the other beings, but as the [Law] of their kind, they could only drink the blood of either any dead being or any other being with their consent, or else, if they try to do so forcefully, they would face the wreath of their entire kind and the world. So, traditionally, vampires only drank the blood of their true partners or the beasts that they hunt. But that was something many storybooks might have already talked about. And that was pretty much it, aside from some interesting facts about them that we will see with time. And they were people too, with far more intelligence than the normal people so every vampire was a special individual and I wanted one such person in our Lightshade too so that was that, but our ss teacher was also a famous person who has been affiliated with the academy for a few hundred years now. "I''m Jezebel Ivy Aethan Velorina, your ss teacher and the one that will endure you all dumb nuisances for the next three years." Hended on the ground as he said that and looked at everyone with his shining blood-red eyes. "Hmmm¡­" She looked around, starting from the closest seats at the very front, and went up, looking at each one of us in the eyes and as soon as his ferocious-looking eyes met ours, the children must have felt a strange chill run down their spine, so they were stunned. "Hmmmm¡­" He was looking around and many students were either stunned or surprised by his gaze. But there sure also those that didn''t feel anything from his gaze. And he looked at those people a little more than others, trying to analyze whatever he can. And when it came to Rein, me, and the house captain of the [True dragon], the person that beat Rein''s score during our entrance exam, the strangely smart and strong student council member, and the one that used others too well to ignore, the ss teacher Sir Jezebel blinked his eyes, showing a visible spark of surprise on his pale face. And the three of us weren''t the only ones to gain his attention like that. There were a few more but I didn''t have much information on many of them for now, so I didn''t pay attention to this little detail. "Ok, at least not everyone is a young child or dumb nuisance." -Tap-pat. "Hmmm. Alright. Let''s take attendance and do brief intros first. There are technically a total of 333 students in my ss, quite a lovely number, and there are 303 present, quite a lovely number again." -Tap. He moved behind his desk after saying that and if someone didn''t have good eyesight, they would definitely miss his subtle satisfaction with his ss, and would only see the ever-stoic expression on his face that would seem even more chilly to them. But he was a cool person from my perspective. And If Alf was in this ss, he would have been overjoyed as this person, this vampire teacher of ours, was one of his ideals. Someone he respected as much as he respected us. "''Key, then I will start with myself and then call your names so please stand up and say three to twelve words. Don''t make it something too long and don''t just sit down with a simple hello. I want to know what kind of bunch I am in charge of too." He looked around the ss again, blinked thrice, took out a diary from his storage space, and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Ok, so, I''m Jezebel but you can call me Sir Jez. I''m a few hundred years old so I would like it if you treat me as such or there''s no need to attend your homerooms. I specialize in (True magic), something you all must have heard about. And for those who don''t know what it is, don''t worry, you will know during your time here. I will be taking yourpulsory ''Understanding of Mana'' ss this year and your new schedules must already be avable on the forums so do check as soon as our ss ends. Aside from that, I''m a (tier-9) mage, a [Rank-3] swordsman, a Master alchemist, a Master gardener, and a rank adventurer. And those are mostly things that I like, just like how I really like teaching. And even if you all might be dumb, young, immature, and foolish, at least you are my students now, and I will have to deal with you even while enduring the many headaches that I''ll have." [[ "Hey¡­ is he cussing at us or genuinely pitying himself?" ]] Rein asked and to her question that I was expecting from the moment he walked in, I answered while patting her hand. [[ "Both ma''am. He actually likes teaching but he absolutely gets annoyed when he has to start things from scratch or teach someone from the ground up. That''s the reason his superplicated ss ''True magic emphasis'' is a (High) grade ss and not a (Superior) grade one where he would have to start from the basic and then go up to the higher levels." ]] He was a unique character but from what I can tell, even with that chilly air around him, with those blood-red eyes being too intimidating to meet, and his two long vampire teeth, he was a good person. And his sses were also going to be quite interesting from what I think. "Alright so introduce yourself when I call your names," he instructed and opened the dairy in his hand, and at the same time, snapped his finger. -Snap. -Ooooooooooong. [[ "Eon! Eon!!" ]] [[ "Yup. Blood magic, and specifically, the true magic cast with his inherent blood magic. And not just that, this is not summoning magic but animation magic of the Illusion series!" ]] It was amazing to see those three bats just appear out of nowhere after his snap and the three bats naturally looked cute in her eyes so she was excited to see them, and I was excited to see that magic that he used only to have better control over this room with his cute familiars that had scared some of the students at their arrival. "Eryndor." He called out the first name and a girl in some pretty clothing from our left side stood up, bowed to him, and spoke up in a loud voice that rang in the room. "Hello, sir and everyone! I''m Eryndor R. Saltic from the Calito kingdom. I''m Count Saltic''s second daughter and a (tier-1) wind mage. I like magic and sweet things!" She bowed again and sat down with a beet-red face, embarrassed by the things she herself said. "Good start, Miss Eryndor. And thanks to your good introduction, I got a good idea." -Snap! "I believe everyone has seen something like this or knows what this is right?" He asked while holding a big crystal ball in his hand that though looked big and heavy, was nothing more than a simple ss ball in his hand. And yes, we knew what that was. [[ "Can''t he just check elemental affinities with his detection magic or skills? Why use an artifact to do something simple like that?" ]] Rein asked with a curious voice as we looked at the big ss ball like everyone else and I answered her in a pretty certain voice. [[ "First of all, that artifact is for more than six primary elements, and second of all, he wants to know more about us and the ones like us." ]] "Alright so, what do you all know about Mana?" Now, there was a curious look on his face as he licked his canines, and his simple-sounding question¡­ was actually far deeper depending on how much one knew about the energy. ''And the subtle smile on his face and the way he licked his teeth surely meant he was expecting more than just a simple answer¡­'' Chapter 505 What Is Mana? ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Doron. What is Mana?" He asked while looking at a certain boy in our column a few seats ahead of us and then the crystal ball he was holding shrunk down a little as the bats he created earlier lifted it and ced it before him. The boy was wearingmon clothing with nothing fancy and this out-of-the-blue question surprised him more than necessary. He was stunned and even after a moment had passed, we didn''t get an answer from him. "It looks like I robbed young Doron of all his words, hm? Well, it is fine. Just put your hand on the crystal before you so we could see your elemental affinity." The boy was still stunned even after his question and just kept looking ahead like a frozen statue, and when it looked like he wasn''t going to say anything, a girl wearing an attractive dress raised her hand. "Oh-ho? We have our first hand-raise. Then let''s go to the youngdy...?" He looked at her with a curious eye and the girl spoke up with a great confidence behind her voice. "It''s Rashel De Brikanin, sir." Her voice was confident and from what I can see, she seemed to be a royal from the Brikanin kingdom as well as a (tier-2) mage with Fire and Water attribute affinity. "Hmm... Rashel. Alright, Rashel. The reason to raise your hand?" He asked with a normal expression as he looked up at her on the very left side of the ss. "To answer the question, and ask a question of my own sir." She answered with still good confidence even though there was no great change on his face at her courageous behavior. "To answer the question you would have to wait for your turn Rashel, but yeah. Ask the question." He answered with the same expression but again, when looking closely, one could see his interest as if he found the actions of the girl interesting. And the girl on the other hand, though she was denied the first chance to answer his first question and was humiliated in a way, didn''t lose the courage or tried keeping her head calm as the teacher looked at her with his red eyes without blinking and asked truthfully. "Why do we have to check the elemental affinity of someone that isn''t a mage? Like, you are just asking a¡­ someone who isn''t a mage to check their elemental affinity. They can''t use Mana without the Mana nucleons so, I was curious as to why you would ask for that." [[ "Is she-" ]] [[ "Yes she is." ]] [[ "Bitch." ]] She was trying to call the boy amoner and even though indirectly, she was looking down on him. And the teacher also knew that very well. "Well youngdy, your question is quite interesting so I will overlook your behavior and your choice of words. None of you are above or below the other in this ce, and I mean it when I say it. Don''t pull something like this again and if you want to look down on someone, bully them, indirectly curse at them, or hurt them, do that outside of my ss." He looked at her with narrow eyes and I knew she must have felt a great seriousness from those red eyes so as she sat down, she knew that she had made a mistake. "Discussions and debates among each other are allowed but not something like that, alright? As for the answer to your good question, let me add something to our previous question." He stopped for a moment and looked at the crystal ball that was glowing with a dull blue color, took a quick nce in his diary, and then looked up at us again. "Haruto. What is Mana and how are elemental affinities rted to it?" He was looking up at a certain person now and asking the new questions that were actually two independent questions on their own. And yes, Mana and elemental affinities were rted to each other but there was no deeper connection to them with each other. It was quite a simple question from my perspective and Rein was already bored so her head was on the table as she looked around the ss and studied the other students and especially the house captain of the [True dragon] that sat at the very front and who took away her spot in the entrance exam rankings. And I was now looking at the boy who wore traditional Eastern clothing and was pretty much fine even though he was asked a question. "I think sir, Mana is an energy in the environment that mages use to cast spells and the elemental affinities are¡­ something that everyone has?" "Hmm. Good answer. Something that everyone has. Hmm. Ok. Celicilia. What is Mana and how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" He looked at some other student and asked the exact same question and she answered somewhat the same. Then he asked someone else, and they answered, then he asked someone else, and then someone else, and then someone else and it continued for a few minutes without any change in the question. And everyone that answered also either said something like Mana is energy that mages use to cast spells, it is a sacred force that is present everywhere in this nature, or something that is used as a source of energy to charge a spell or to cause some kind of a change. And there was nothing wrong with these answers so the teacher alsoplimented everyone on their answers, corrected some who tried saying something unique of their own, and helped those who tried to answer in their own words but couldn''t find the right phrases. And though everything went on pretty much the same for a while like that, things changed when¡­ "Uriel. What is Mana and how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" He looked at the very back of the left side at us and focused his eyes on Uriel who still had her head ced on the bench. There was a unique expression on his face as he looked at the two of us and though it was hard to notice, I knew he was expecting something new from the two of us and for now, from my dear half-asleep partner. [[ "Uriel. Your turn. Answer the question sleepy head." ]] "Hmm? What?" And only after I said that did she wake up from her momentary magical slumber. "The question. Answer it." I smiled at the pretty girl as she sat straight, looked around as the entire ss including the teacher were looking at her, and shook her head to wipe her sleepiness and answered in a confident, calm, and probably the simplest way one could possibly answer those questions. "Sir, Mana is Mana and elemental affinities are elemental affinities." ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ "Kek." "Khahahahahaha!" "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" And the general audience who couldn''t possibly understand theplexity of her simple words could onlyugh at her answer that not even a single one of those hundreds of people had even tried to think about. The onesughing at her right now were in the hundreds, and even still, she was just calm and was looking straight into the eyes of our teacher who was also calmly and unblinkingly looking back at her. Some students noticed this strange thing as technically, she should have been embarrassed as the whole ss wasughing at her but she was not, and the teacher was also looking at her mysteriously, so, they knew something was strange. And, they thought back to her answer, and then remembered the question that was asked to them, and when some thought deeply about her answer and contemted it, their eyes widened as they looked back at her with wide eyes, surprised as if they had just found out the treasure that was always before their eyes. "Hahaha. Right, Mana is Mana and elemental affinities are elemental affinities. That is correct. There is no great rtion to the two of them but, can you tell what they are and how they might be rted to each other in a way?" He asked again, and from the way he had actuallyughed or somewhat smiled a moment before her answer, had already made the entire ss dead silent. And everyone was looking up at Uriel again with different reactions, feelings, and emotions in their heart, waiting for what new hrious thing she would speak that would make even their teacherugh. But s to them, from how much I knew my Rein, I knew she was going to do something crazy now that everyone hadughed at her and tried looking down on her as well as me, the one sitting beside her, her fianc¨¦. "Yes sir so¡­" She smirked and looked around the big ssroom and specifically looked at certain people who had previously talked something bad about us or had looked at me with the wrong gaze. She meant this one was for them, and one of the people that she was smirking at was the blue-haired boy sitting at the very front who though had been quiet since the start of the ss, has scored just a little more than rein on their entrance exam. She knew a good lot about him and she didn''t like him, so, this one was for him too. "Mana is one of the many fundamental energies present in nature that naturally stays in a particle form. It is present in most ces, one could even say it is present everywhere however, that is not true. Many ces show ack of Mana entirely and those ces are on the same dimensional ins as this one so we can''t say that Mana is present everywhere. From Frantik''s perspective, Mana is the mostmon energy that every single being aside from those cursed by Mana possesses. And it is also the power source that continues to gather in a person''s body from a young age and manifests in the form of a nucleolus that is simr to an energy beast''s nucleus that they use to channel Mana throughout their body and use it to change the atmospheric Mana, mold it, reshape it, or eliminate it with either the use of a mathematical structure called magic circle or by pure means of mental calctions and physical phenomena creation. From Trimonic''s perspective¡­ ¡­ ¡­ So, the Mana that we simply feel, and channel throughout our body, mind, and heart, or don''t do any of that and just live in a Mana-dense ce is a natural phenomenon that is closely a part of eternally changing, mixing, and dividing forms of energies. And when we talk about elemental affinities, we would first have to talk about what magic is and how we understand it in different ways, and how different races use it in different ways. But simply speaking, we can say that everyone is born with some kind of affinity with some element, and in this case, we aren''t just talking about the six major elementals but all the known elements and their affinities. Everyone possesses some affinity with some element and if we could pinpoint that certain element and work with it, and try to increase our affinity with that element, we can certainly grow to be more proficient in using that element. When we talk about elemental affinities, they only have three major rtions with Mana from my perspective. The first would be the importance of elements in magic and how Mana is the mostmon energy source used to channel the power of nature and manifest unique phenomenons. The second would be the worldly stereotype that Mana is only something used by mages and only they can use the ''Mana'' to cast many elemental magic spells that are mostmonly rted to the six major elements. And third would be simple unawareness that there are many, many elements aside from the major natural elements that people could have an affinity for, and also that there could be many people who would have an affinity with only a higher or unique form of somemon element, which would still be categorized as that major element. We do not have a proper means to find exactly what element, or what thing, a person has an affinity with. And truthfully, I don''t think anything like that should even exist. The journey that we have to go on to find the thing that we are best at is some of the most amazing ones and yes, some find it early while some take their lifetime, but, if they do find that one thing that they are best at and love at the same time, one could achieve that fictional well-known happiness. Mana is all around us and it is also a part of us, an elemental affinity isn''t something only a mage has or something that is ''used'' to cast magical spells. Mana is an energy and we are made of masses of energy, and this mass of energy has something called ''affinity'' for ''elements'' that aren''t just limited to fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness. Anything, from blood, ice, tools, weapon, hammer, or jewels can be an elemental affinity however, Mana is Mana. An energy that is energy just like countless other energies that are ultimately energy. So¡­ Mana is Mana and elemental affinities are elemental affinities." And she finally sighed after that long, really long speech that had already taken away the breath, attention, and gasps of the entire ss. Chapter 506 Alpha ? [Eon''s POV: ] Now, the ss was silent, everyone was looking at her, speechless, thoughtless, and motionless. It seemed as if time had frozen as everyone looked at us, who set on thest seat, and this also included the ones that were sitting at the very front. This moment was quite amazing, a bit more amazing because she had just ruined our happy and quiet academy time thing. [[ "All set Celes?" ]] [[ Yes master~! ]] This was a good moment and there was no way I could just let this moment pass. So, I quickly closed my eyes and took a quick look at the entire ssroom from the point of view of Celes''s clones that had upied all areas of the ssroom. I knew this special moment was only going tost for a moment, just like the blue hour, so I had to do this quickly, and thankfully I managed to take a look at the entire ss and store the image in my mind as I wanted. And as soon as I finished¡­ "Good, good Miss Uriel. That was a fantastic answer. And I liked how even after quoting several famous figures, you finished with your own opinion. That was how a typical theoretical answer should be. I''m impressed. Please continue with your introduction. And... what sses would you be taking this year?" He asked with visibility curved lips that surprised everyone and brought them back to the current time and the frozen time was resumed. "I''m Uriel. A adventurer and a (tier-3) mage. I believe if you want to know more about me, we can have a good personal chat, however, one thing to note about me would be that this person here is my fianc¨¦ and he is mine." That was a warning as well as a fact. So everyone that wanted to harm me or ''get close to me'' would have to take care because as she said, she was a (tier-3) mage. ''(Tier-4) actually but for our whatever little remaining happiness and quiet life, she was better saying she was (tier-3). Her magic was powerful beyond the tiers anyway so they would have to face her if they wanted to reach me. And vice versa was also the same. "As for the sses, I''m taking weapon understanding, energy beast research, and spirit bonding sses. The two of us will also take the superior level of magic engineering; magic, and weapon practice; as well as alchemy sses." She bowed down a little at him, put her hand on the ss ball before her that shined in bright blue, and sat back down after rendering the entire ss speechless again. And this time, most of them had their mouths wide open as they red at not just her but at me too. [[ Hehe. They look funny, master. ]] And yes, they all looked funny too. "Three Superior sses? Well, they surely seem strange too. It is sad that you two won''t be in my ss. We could have had fun with peculiar ones like you two." There was a normal expression on his face even after hearing that the two of us will take three Superior grade sses. And that much was to be expected from the person that had always taken a Superior grade ss in his time here as a student and topped every single one of them with andslide even with the least possible attendance. He wasn''t surprised but there sure was a little sadness that the two of us weren''t in his personal ss. "We will drop by whenever we have a chance so don''t be sad sir~!" As she said, he had nothing to be sad about. We were going to roam around all the sses so there was no need to even ask when it was about our own homeroom teacher''s ss that my little brother liked. It was true but the way she said it sounded as if she was mocking sir or as if she was mocking every one of them that looked at her with wide-open eyes and ground-touching open mouths. "Haha. Is that so? I will be looking forward to that then." He shook his head with excited visibility on his stoic face and then flipped the page from his diary. "Alright. Barcitia. What is Mana and how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" He looked at a girl sitting at the front and confused half of the ss. The girl he had asked the question visibly looked like a noble in her attractive dress and as he asked her the question while looking at her, she quietly stood up, confused as to what to answer. "Didn''t she answer the question already sir?" A male voice rang from the other side of her and it seemed like he was a friend of hers, or probably someone that fancied her. But the teacher didn''t like his question so he looked at him with an expression that screamed that he was a fool to even ask such questions. "Luke, right? What do you think we are doing right now young man?" It was an obvious question and anyone that wasn''t in a daze after Rein''s pretty answer would know what the core objective of this whole question actually was. And the boy that had asked that question was obviously not one of those people so, he fell silent, just like the girl that was standing silently. And I could see some of the students did know what we were doing but they were too afraid to answer so, the teacher answered it himself. "Dumb people. At least remember what is happening in the ss. We are doing the attendance and introduction. I am asking for everyone''s opinions so of course there is no actual answer to these questions. Just state your opinion and if you can''t even do that much, then just introduce yourself and sit down. Hump. Dumb people." And after saying that to the boy, he looked back at the girl, asking her to speak up with his eyes filled with a little anger. "I-I am¡­" And so with hesitation, uncertainty, and tension, the girl finished her introduction and though she was neither a mage nor a knight, she had an affinity with sound, the higher element of wind, and good for her, she was aiming to be a musician. It was the same and uninteresting and after her, the introductions continued in the same boring way it was before Uriel''s answer. But this time, things became heated quickly when it was the turn of the house captain of [True dragon], and both Uriel and I were excited to hear his answer and introduction. "Alpha. What is Mana and how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" The name he chose was quite unique and of course, it wasn''t his real name, but it sure was something peculiar and attractive. But more than that, the way he was calm during and after Uriel''s answer was a bit unexpected because all the simple things that she said, which obviously weren''t so simple that everyone in this ss actually understood them, were something that I was expecting from him. He was smart after all. Some of the most mysterious and smart ones that I knew in this academy. And he was a student council member too, so it was even more interesting how the headmaster found someone like him. Anyway, what Uriel had said was the best answer he could have given so, now that quoting famous people wasn''t a choice, it was even more exciting to see how he answers this first question of our first ss. "Mana¡­" He was almost the same height as us, which was on the taller side in this ss, and had dark blue hair and light blue eyes, but, his eyes were unique as the pupil area of his eyes had a unique ring of white. I knew he was a special person and he was smart too, and someone that knew how to use his smartness to get the best personal results. And also the kind of person that I didn''t like much. "Mana is one of the many kinds of energies as Miss Uriel previously said. It is separate from the elemental affinities too. Even the fact that Mana is a kind of energy while the elemental affinities are independent factors that one is born with is also true. However, Mana or Aura or Aether or any kind of energy is also closely rted to these affinities that one is born with. Just like how we can build affinity with some element that we already have some form of affinity with, we can also increase the capacity of the Mana, the energy our vessel body can hold or circte through nature directly. But, that amount is primarily limited. Just like how one is born with some form of affinity with some element, one is also born with limitations. There are inherent limits to every being, to every one of the people, and though some could break them and go beyond the mortal understanding, there are some limits that aremon to all of them too. And one of them would be the power to understand what ''energy'' truly is. So, from my perspective, everything has a certain limit, wanting to break these limits is the step towards self-improvement, and through only that could we be truly strong. Mana is one of the mediums that helps us nurture innate talents and gain new ones, and affinities are paths that lead us to these talents. Showing us what ''we'' are good at." He stopped after that and I looked at my partner beside me who had a surprised expression on her pretty face. [[ "Is he-" ]] [[ "Nope." ]] [[ "Then that means¡­" ]] [[ "Yup. Half of it isn''t urate." ]] [[ "Damn¡­ then, doesn''t that mean-" ]] [[ "Yup. Not as much as we thought." ]] [[ "But it sounded so convincing?" ]] [[ "That''s the thing. He is a good orator before he is anything else. Probably the best I have seen. No shit he is the house captain of a house that''s practically filled with a bunch of individually strong people." ]] [[ "shit. I thought he was some super strong dude disguised as a normal person!" ]] [[ "He is a disguised strong person, ma''am. I showed you his screen on the ind." ]] [[ "But that was only strong! Not super strong! I at least thought he knows a lot about the world like Alpheus!" ]] [[ "Prince Alpheus has a pinnacle skill dear. Don''t at leastpare him to just anyone. And even though he said those things like that, I think he at least knows a good lot about the world. He probably wants to¡­ mislead us." ]] I looked at the person standing at the front, his face calm and almost emotionless. He was strange, someone that even Uriel considered strong. And from the way he said those things¡­ ''Alpha, are you an opportunity or a threat?'' Chapter 507 A Heartily Laughter ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Hmmm. Quite a peculiar answer you have young man. It was deep and mysterious for some reason. Alright, let us do the introduction young Alpha." There was a smile on his face this time too and different from how everyone reacted after Uriel''s answer, there was an epting, cheerful, and impressed expression on everyone''s face in the ss. And it almost felt like the ss was rejuvenated after his answer as everyone seemed to have a high opinion of whatever he had said. And, this strange positive atmosphere took a new hike when he put his hand on the crystal ball and the artifact started shining with not one or two but a total of five bright colors, that indicated his affinity with water, fire, wind, earth, and darkness, as well as with six light colors that showed his affinity with ice, mist, lightning, sound, sand, and a familiar shade of purple that was generally used for indicating only one thing¡­ "No way¡­" "Really? Is this the house captain of the [True dragon]?" "H-how can someone have so many elemental affinities?!" "T-that''s impossible!" "Aether! He has an affinity for Aether!" "I-is he secretly a wizard or something?" "Hmm? Why is everyone-" "Aether!" "Hmmm? No. It''s not right. It''s not, right?" He had an affinity for using Aether. Something so rare that mostly only wizards and witches or some special individual had. And he had it, like everyone was seeing right now, so it was evident that he was special and the rumors were bound to spread about this. Aether was one of the fundamental energies after all and though it was considered the toughest thing to master by any being, just having the affinity to use that strange power that was present in nature as much as the Mana. And it was a denser particle than Mana so it was obviously more powerful than any energy particle weaker than Mana. Everyone''s surprise was obvious and though many of them didn''t know why they were so surprised like that, when they roughly grasped what was happening, they were also surprised. Many of them had already understood that this crystal ball was showing them if someone had an affinity for not just the basic and secondary elements but also the special energies different from Mana, Aether was an energy that we were able to check if anyone had an affinity for just like the Arcana, spirit Mana, or internal energy. Until now, there was only one person in our ss that had an affinity for Aether and many people already knew that fact as he was a crown prince from a famous kingdom so there was not as much fuss as right now when an unknown person that they had only thought was some unknown person from an unknown ce and was only chosen as the house captain of the best house by luck, was also revealed to have an affinity with not just the aether but also with five main elements as well as five other higher elements. "I''m Alpha, a rank adventurer, a (tier-4) mage, a [Rank-4] knight, an advanced alchemist, an intermediate rank cksmith, and a beginner stage enchanter. I like trying new things so I can do many things pretty well and even though I might look young, I''m much older. But age is just a number that''s irrelevant among us students. There are many in our batch that are far older than me, probably even hundreds of years old, and still, they are here to study, just like all of us. You all are students and I''m your fellow ssmate so I would like it if you just treat me as a fellow acquaintance that you can talk to at any time. And sorry if I seem unapproachable, that''s just an innate thing. But please do not hesitate to approach me. I''m here to find strongpanions for the future after we graduate and I know there are many strong people even in this ss, so feel free toe and talk to me." He sat down after that and the teacher, as well as everyone else, looked at him with a unique look. Sir Jez had a smile simr to the one that he gave her when she answered and there was also great interest in his smile as he looked at him, as well as when he stealthily nced back up at the two of us. [[ "I still don''t like him but at least, he has charisma to attract others. Well, he isn''ting to the team anyway so he isn''t that much important." ]] [[ "Yes but, he is still good enough to be useful outside the team." ]] [[ "Bad bastard." ]] There was a smile on her pretty face while there was shock on everyone else''s faces. And their shock was obvious after he revealed his mage and knight levels. They were as great as the twelve prodigies so this was genuinely the most shocking reveal of our ss today. "You are also an interesting fellow, Alpha. Alright, then. Let''s continue and finish quickly for today as we only have a little time and few people left." We had a total of twelve sses every year and six of them were of our choice and the other six arepulsory ones. Our current ss was one of thepulsory ones and every day, we only had six sses that we needed to attend and of those six, three were thepulsory ones while the other three were personal ones. And aside from the personal sses and homeroom sses, thepulsory sses were: Basic magic and weapon understanding; Society, culture, and history; Understanding nature; Economy and currency; andnguage and manners. And the reason to include boring courses like them in the curriculum was only because of the goal of the academy which was focused on creating aspects that could contribute to the world. And one had to have appropriate knowledge and skills to be a part of this world, so boring courses like history and manners were absolutely necessary from their perspective. Anyway, the ss was about to end, and it was my turn now. "Lucifer. What is Mana and how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" Now, everyone was again looking back, and this time, they were looking at me, the finance of someone that had probably given the longest and shortest answers today and also the one that warned them. Her response and the response from Alpha were so great that they strangely had high expectations from me too. But regardless of their understanding of Mana or even the question, the answer, the unique answer that the teacher was looking for, was surprisingly far more simple than one could actually think. The question was simple, this was our first ss, the teacher was looking at me with a somewhat simr expression as the others, and my partner beside me had a yful smile as I answered in a calm tone and confident manner. "Mana is number 3 and elemental affinities are all the positive numbers except 1 multiplied by 3." "What?" ¡­ "?" "??" "???" Not just Uriel beside me but also the entire ss that was looking at me suddenly had question marks above their heads. But different from all of them, there was a deep smile on our teacher''s face that mostly had been stoic all this time. He was smiling and everyone was looking back at me, so there was almost no one that noticed that reaction of his. "Why all the numbers?" But as soon as he asked that, many of them turned around and looked at him, but by that time, that deep smile had been reduced to just the small one that everyone was aware of. ''Sadly for them, they missed a cool and spooky expression from our vampire homeroom teacher.'' "Nature, sir. We have to say all plosive numbers or else it would be considered wrong, no?" I answered his question with a smile and as soon as he heard that answer... "Hahaha!" He startedughing, and this time, he wasughing loudly, nothing like that simple smile that has appeared a few times till now and surprised those who were lucky enough to notice it. This wasn''t that small smile orughing voice. No. He wasughing out loud this time, his two sharp teeth visible to the ones looking at his strangeughter, and as heughed, the entire ss focused back on him, confused as to why he was like that and what was the reason he was evenughing for. And, well, as the answer to them, there was only one thing that I could say. ''He liked number 3 a little too much.'' And anyone observing him closely could definitely notice how he blinked three times while looking at someone or at the ss as a whole. How he tapped the table three times whenever he touched it. Or just by how he summoned exactly three bats at the start. Not one more or less but three. All this was not some coincidence and if someone studies his past like me, they would definitely know that number three really meant something far more than some of his own questions to him. And, he had made the number three a part of himself so he just loved it unconditionally for some reason. It was strange and interesting, and I liked that aspect of him even more. There was a number that I liked a lot too but, I still had a long way to go before I could integrate it with my entire being like him. So, long story short, the way I answered was peculiar, and it was on point too that answered both his questions, so he was happy. And the way he wasughing joyfully right now really confused many of the students. Laughing an adult vampire like himughing was frightening too in a way, so he stopped quickly, looked at me with a happy gaze, and nodded with full approval. "You get a ss point for that wonderful answer and I can''t wait to have the two of you in my ss now. You two Alpha. Drop by when you are free and want to learn some wonderful things about true magic. Hmmm~. Alright! Let''s finish your intro and this great first ss. I''m pretty happy after that wonderful response." And he was happy right now, really happy as he looked at me and my partner beside me who had a sulking face. She was angry at what I did just now and her cheeks were puffed up like some fruit-eating squirrel. She looked cute, the ss was surprised, Alpha was looking at the two of us with calm eyes, and the teacher was smiling¡­ and just after that moment when I ced my hand on the crystal ball, the atmosphere changed again and this time, it was even quieter than the time after Rein''s answer. Chapter 508 Another Surprise ? [Eon''s POV: ] My answer was unique and he liked it so now, it was time for introductions. But before that came the elemental affinity check. And though it was pretty easy to deceive the artifact, just like how Rein did and hid her unparalleled affinity with the darkness attribute, there was a little problem in my case. [[ *Master, better go with the basic option instead of showing them nothing. That would be more suspicious and that vampire already has a faint idea so revealing the fact that you can manipte this artifact would be a bad idea. We can''t show them all the affinities but showing the six main ones should be fine. You can dy the use of magic that way.* ]] That was Lucy''s suggestion and yes, I was considering the same thing. -Ooooooong. Rein had darkness and water attribute affinities and even in that the darkness attribute affinity was so great that it was even greater than my six attribute affinities. Hiding that much was pretty easy if we knew how this artifact worked and had good control over our Mana but that was also only possible thanks to our unique physiques. She could do it pretty easily while on the other hand, I had a bnced affinity for all six major attributes and thanks to that, I also had a good affinity with all their higher forms, as well as many elemental affinities that I had built on my own. And that wasn''t all as we had to count in Solnova, something that not even the headmaster had any great knowledge about. Thanks to my unreal affinity with Solnova, I also had an affinity with many elements of nature, especially the things that had some form of rtionship with the Sun. So, I had many affinities and in normal circumstances, this orb would have glowed with all possibilities colors it could, and if I had tried blocking any elemental affinity that was rted to the six mahjong ones, then there could have been some imbnce and the entire thing might have crashed. Lucy''s opinion in this matter was useful, so just as she suggested, I only showed the necessary part and covered my face with a sad expression as the entire ss looked at the ss orb glowing with six bright colors. "Lucifer, a [Rank-3] knight, specifically an archer, and as you can see, I''m one of those unlucky ones liked by all six elemental attributes. There is a chance that I will die if I awaken a Mana nucleus so I can''t use Mana in the usual way. I know there is little chance that I will be able to achieve this but still, I dream to be a magic archer. And no, even with the dangers, I have faith that I can achieve this little, absurd, funny, but still, possible dream of mine. And right, thisdy here is my fianc¨¦e and I have lived with her for a long time now, so I can clearly say that she is a little crazy. But by some miracle, she listens to me and my little requests. So, please practice caution around her and please inform me if she does anything to you. I will make sure to scold her properly." I bowed down to him and proceeded to sit down however, as soon as I sat down, his voice entered my ears. "What sses are you taking Lucifer? Aside from the superior ones." "Sir Jamie''s high magic theory ss, Lady Cleo''s cooking ss, and Master Zarathurielm''s all energy utilization ss, sir," I answered while looking at him with a little curious but calm face and he smiled deeply at my reaction. "All three of them still scold me sometimes saying the children of the present are far better than me when I was a student. Haha. Good picks. I wish you good luck on your journey. Ande to me any time if you ever need help. The same goes for you all. And snap out of your daze. Don''t act like you are seeing someone with a six-elemental affinity for the first time. Yes, they are rare but a few of your teachers in the academy also have an affinity with six major elements as well as many other higher forms of elements. He has such a major weakness and he is still a pretty high-ranking knight that can use Aura so learn something from him and sit properly. Let''s finish this quickly or else we would have to make your next teacher wait." -Tap, tap, tap. "Alright, Geode. What is Mana how are the elemental affinities rted to it?" And the ss continued after that as I put my head on the table like the girl beside me and we looked at each other and talked just talked about some game stuff. ''We have to get a Mag for Quin.'' She said with her eyes and I nodded lightly. ''Yup. Let''s do that after tomorrow''s sses.'' ''Will she like ?'' ''You eventually liked it so there is no reason she wouldn''t. And she is calm and thinks before doing things unlike you so she will have good fun.'' ''You understand you are cursing your fiancee and praising some other girl before her right?'' ''Of course I do but I''m just stating facts.'' ''Facts hmm? Facts.'' "Ouch! Oyy." She pinched me out of nowhere. This difficult girl¡­! Thankfully, only the ones sitting on the same seat as us noticed this and were shaking their heads with variant emotions. The teacher was wrapping up things and the first attendance and introductions wereplete. It was time for his departure too so he put his diary back and looked around the ss for thest time. "Thanks for this good first-ss everyone. We will start our main topics tomorrow so make sure to bring your books if you want and even if you don''t want them, don''t forget to bring a notebook and something to write on it." -Snap! He snapped again, and the three bats he had summoned at the start of our ss vanished after giving him his crystal ball back. "See you tomorrow." And saying that, he started floating again and want out of the ss. -Whaheheheykolmeshhh¡­ And as soon as he left the ss, the ssroom became cheerful again as people started talking about how the ss was, about the teacher, about the other students, about us, and while some came up to us and Alpha, some quickly checked the academy forums through their stars and looked at our current schedule. "Shit man¡­ it''s society, culture, and history." Someone said in a saddened voice and as soon as others heard his cry, there was also a gloomy expression on many of their faces. And one of the sad people that didn''t like these subjects was the one sitting beside me. My cute little fiancee. "Why must we have to study something like that¡­?" She really didn''t like social subjects like them and, seeing from the perspective of high society that knew her as the representative of Atraxia, she was already someone who was a master of these subjects so it was even more boring for her to learn what she already knew a gooooood lot about. But there was nothing for her to worry about. [[ "The one teaching us will be Lady Ad. You already know who she is so don''t be sad just yet. If she is the one teaching this ss, it would be more than enough fun." ]] "But still¡­" [[ "Don''t worry we will have the basic magic and weapon understanding ss after that. And from how infamous Sir Fr¨®r is, I think we will most likely be going to the practical grounds." ]] "Him?! Really~? Yeiii~!" She shouted cheerfully and just then, we all saw a new figure walking in the room, stealing all the light and attention, as well as many hearts and breaths from the young adults in the room. "Mornin'' children." A new teacher walked in and this time, she was a maturedy, wearing an attractive dress that caught the attention of many young males in the room, her long wavy hair danced with every step she took so their hearts also ttered with her every move. And as she stopped on the stage before the ckboard, her deep creamy hair stopped their alluring dance and her unique blue and green eyes moved around the big ssroom, observing the young ones that she would be teaching. "I''m Ad but you all can call me Miss, or big sister, or probably Aunty if you want. Teacher would be fine too however when we are outside the ss, I am not your teacher. Just remember that much. I will be taking your society, culture, and history ss, one of the most boring ones I know. But don''t be too discouraged. We will make it fun." She was only smiling lightly and still, many of the students, boys and girls alike had their hearts raising at her every word. She was attractive on her own and her bewitching beauty was not a result of her high charm stat but the natural way she maintained herself. She was a human, a unique person, and though she was only a low-ranking mage, she had something none in this ss possessed. ''And that was superior knowledge and worldly experience.'' She was an archduchess from the second most powerful empire on our continent and someone that was simply intelligent and fond of history and the past. Some of the most well-known archeologists, one of the greatest anthropologists, and also one of the pirs of the continental high society. ''The [Empyrean pearl] of Mason, Duchess Ad Ozker Nile De Artoc Grinever. Someone that will definitely make this not as much boring ss, bearable and fun for the children and this little Uriel of mine.'' Chapter 509 Classteachers ? [OP: ] The first sses had just ended for all the twelve sses and every student in every ss had a different opinion about their very first ss in this academy. They had their own opinion about the teachers, the students, the ssrooms, the way they taught, and the way they interacted with them. Some liked it while others didn''t like or despised them for their normal bavarois. But ultimately, they all had pretty simr reactions to their teachers and that reaction varied greatly from ss (A) to ss (L). The students in the ss (A) were happy with their new teacher Sir Elkan, too happy actually. He was a noble so the upper-ss students liked him without any reason and he was kind to children from amon background too. He scolded those who were bullying or looking down on them too but even his scolding was as if a hidden knowledge in the eyes of the young nobles. And he was a magic engineer too, famous on the three continents thanks to his many inventions that helped in changing the world in a fine way. They liked him, and even though his outer personality was a little strict and cold, he waspletely neutral toward everyone in his ss. And he even treated his own niece like everyone else so they were even more convinced that he, their ss teacher, was a true teacher that was only there to teach them about economy and currency. And most of them knew his younger sister, the well-knowndy Nolen, so he was one of the best teachers to teach them how the money actually worked. And in their very first ss, he had shared his personal ''secrets'' to earn good money with them so they were all happy and excited to try out his tips and collect some good pocket money. In the eyes of all of his students, he was like a guardian angel and many of them had evenically pledged to follow him to the end if they managed to earn something with his ''ways''. It was funny from Zoe''s perspective and she had managed to make a new friend today so she was also going to try these tips with her and teach her some unique tricks of her own. But they were just starting to get closer so that was them, and in the ssroom right next to them, a simr but a little different episode had taken ce. The ss teacher of ss (B), Lady Sam, had almost be a mother figure to her ss. And now, everyone respected her as much as they would respect a true mother that took care of her child. And it was peculiar from a third party''s perspective how such an absurd thing could happen when the teacher''s race was Orc, the beings specialized in innate strength, and ''force''. But her subject was ''understanding nature''. Apulsory course in which the students were to learn about nature. And by nature, it meant everything rted to that noun. And, if someone understood what the unique energy called the force that the Orcs possessed was, then it would be easier for them to understand how she was able to warm the hearts of those hundreds of unique individuals in her ss. Still, to actually understand what had happened there, one had to at least be in that room. Without that, one can''t understand the true feeling of¡­ well, it was not ineffable but surely too precious to put into words. That was ss (B), and something simr¡­ or not, had happened in ss (C) too. The teacher there was Master Brok, a grandmaster rank craftsman and renowned cksmith, artifact forger, and metal worker. He wasn''t a knight who can properly use a de or a mage who can castplex magic however, he could control both Mana and Aura without them. He had already forged more des in his lifetime than many of the studentsbined might have even wielded in their life. And though he was a dwarf, different from the stereotypical perspective, he was a jolly person and the boys, especially the knights in that room had epted him as his great master. And though he found their behaviors funny, and the cringed behavior of the others who didn''t like what those meatheads were doing funnier, his work there was to teach them their subject ''basic magic and weapon understanding'', and as the general nature of any craftsman, he was going to finish his task with perfection. His students, every single present or not, by the end of their term, were going to know every basic thing about magic and weapons. He was going to make sure these bunch of young zes evolve into a fine, forgoing fire. They didn''t know that, but slowly, as time passes and they know more, they will understand what teachers'' jobs were in this ce. Anyway, these three sses went well as they all epted their teachers, and on the other hand, in ss (D) where they all first thought that their teacher was a cute little cat person, turned out to be one of their biggest mistakes. Yes, she had cat ears but she was more of a tiger than a harmless kitten, and all those who had been warned and terrified by her piercing gaze had been stunned and traumatized for their entire first ss. She was strict and dangerous so they just knew after their first ss never to bother or hinder her or else they might not be in any physical pain but they might surely receive a deep pain-inducing wound. But still, their personal opinion of her didn''t mean that she was a bad teacher. That surely wasn''t the case as those who had survived her ss knew that they surely had learned a good lot about her subject nguage and manners''. They had learned something and she was good at teaching so they knew they just had to behave appropriately and not go on her bad side. And that was good. At least better than the next three sses where some students were genuinely dissatisfied with the teachings of the ''famous'' teachers. It wasn''t anything like they had expected and things were inly in. They only took attendance, and one of them didn''t even do that, taught their subjects from the books, and just finished it when the time was up. There were no introductions like in other sses, no fun, noughs or anything, and just a boring pastime that they truly weren''t expecting from the teachers of this grand institute. But they were young while their teachers were old, experienced people that knew how to do everything. This was their way and they didn''t know about it so¡­ they didn''t mind some curses from some young children who might not even attend many of their sses. Those were sses (E), (F), and (G). And then, ssroom (H) was pretty happy with their hot-, with their attractive teacher. Her subject was also ''understanding nature'' and the young ones started understanding nature. Big, good, pretty, and round-, infinite nature. Their ss teacher was good and good-natured, so they fell in love with her. And this was every one of them. Everyone loving the same person indiscriminately¡­ many things could be done with a ss like this and the enchantress fairy teacher knew that better than probably anyone in their ss. So ss (H) had fallen, and after that our ss (I) that as we saw, was pretty impressed with their cool vampire teacher. They all liked him, and different from other sses, though this one had unique opinions of their own about him, there was at least one thing true for all of them and that was their vampire teacher''s open and truthful behavior. They all could tell as soon as he left that even though he didn''t like teaching from the ground up, he did his best and made their very first ss memorable. His ways were unconventional and even though it was only their first ss and they didn''t even open a single book, they now knew about Mana better than they ever had. If they learned that much from just an introduction ss, they were all at least excited to see what more they would learn from the teacher that almost treated them as his young students. And thanks to him, they were also able to learn a good lot of things about the mysterious house captains in their ss. They could now sell this information on the forearms, spread rumors, and gossip about the three of them. It was good and they were excited, and just as much excited as them were the students of the ss after them. ssroom (J) had a simple-looking male elf as their ss teacher and at first, everyone had thought that they wouldn''t be learning anything as the teacher seemed pale and sickly but he reassured them that that was his usual look and he was perfectly fine. In fact, he told them that he was feeling better after seeing his new ss and after he did the introductions and attendance, he took them all outside the ss and showed them the humongous shelf filled with trophies, awards, medals, and rare rewards. There were names engraved on the ce these things were ced and some even had a photo or a magical moving photo beside their awards and trophies. He exined to them what those awarded were and how the ones who got it were able to achieve it. And he knew how to use his arsenal of precise vocabry to touch the souls of his students so by the end of his small introduction to some of the most important awards on the shelf beside the ssroom (J), they all had a strange feeling boiling up inside them. And that exact feeling was just the thing this elf teacher of theirs who was the specialist in psychology wanted to give them before their separation for the day. He had achieved his goal and the teacher beside his ss had miserably failed all her goals as the entire ss was filled with water that she had to summon to extinguish a sudden magical fire created by one of her students. And he wasn''t at fault for all the disasters this ss had to go through. It was her fault and only she was to me from her perspective. Things had been washed away today and she couldn''t properly teach the things that she had prepared for her ss. A ss was wasted today, and she heartfully apologized to the students that had to go through those things because of her. But thankfully, no one was hurt. And she was relieved by that little fact. So, ss (K) didn''t learn much today, while on the other hand, in thest ssroom, the students in the ssroom (L) finished the first chapter from their books, practiced the things that they learned, and even had a little individual discussion filled with happyughs and cheerful voices. Their tiger teacher knew what to do and the best way to get the best results like certain people and as he said his goodbyes to his ss, they also sent him off with the proper respect that the students would give to their master. His subject was also ''understanding Mana'' and his students understood more than enough basics about the Mana in that ss. And yes, everyone liked him. He was a freaking tiger so he was cool from the start and he was also a pretty good teacher so they all liked him as a teacher. So¡­ that was everyone''s very first ss and they were allpulsory ones. There were sixpulsory sses and there were twelve ssrooms so it was obvious that the same ss would be going on in two different ssrooms by two different teachers. Sometimes the teacher would decide to take abined ss or sometimes they would even take the sses of other teachers and bring the students somewhere to teach some new things that might or might not be in the books. All the teachers know what they were supposed to teach and all the teachers knew how to teach. That was the very reason they were teachers of that academy in the first ce so even with different ways of teaching, they all were good teachers. And so, the first sses of these good teachers came to an end without any great disaster and whatever disasters were caused, were also taken care of by the good teachers. That was that, and now their second sses were ongoing. And they were meeting their new teachers¡­ Chapter 510 Lady Adela ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Hmmm. Who wants to study today?" She asked with a small smile on her pretty face and looked at us with her mismatched eyes. And that question was out of the blue so not everyone knew how to answer her question. But still, some of the students did raise their hands at her question. And one of them was the girl sitting beside me. "Oh? That''s more than a hundred. Looks like you little ones really aren''t in the mood for something serious today. Well then, let''s have a casual talk. Consider me your friend and talkfortably and tell me about what you understand about culture and what unique things you do in your culture that you don''t usually see." She was still looking around and as her eyes passed by the students, the ones looking back in her eyes flinched slightly, probably feeling a strange sensation running throughout their body. And no, that wasn''t some kind of micro orgasm. It was more of an instinctive response to her ''authority''. [[ "Every time I look at her, I somehow feel like she is more of a scary person rather than just a normal person of great importance in the higher society." ]] That was Rein, and she wasn''tying on the bench like she was in thest ss. She was looking at the teacher sitting on the stage, and though there was a strange uneasiness in her heart, she wasn''t actually afraid of her. It was probably just that she was used to seeing her in the important functions and even in those ces, she would be surrounded by other important people so seeing her for the first time as the teacher was new to her. And though I had also only seen her from afar till now, and those were only three times, she definitely looked pretty, and interesting from what I can see right now. "So, who''s going first?" She had a smile as she looked at the ss with a unique expectation and as we saw, a few hands were raised and she picked a certain boy in pretty normal clothing and he stood up. "Right. Start with your names, everyone. Whenever we are in the ss, if you are speeding up for the first time, say your names first. Hm-hmmm, ok. Con- Right, right, right! I almost forgot." She apologized to the boy, quickly stood up from her chair, went behind the desk, and took out a crystal-like transparent chalk from her storage device ring. She then started drawing something on the ckboard and just after a little less than two minutes had passed, she had finished drawing a rough sketch of all three continents, the oceans, and most prominent kingdoms, cities, and the nine forbidden zones. And even though I was calling it a rough drawing, from the perspective of the students who didn''t deeply understand drawing, painting, and art, this rough sketch was nothing less than a finely drawn world map. "Drawing isn''t my strongest skill so I apologize for this rough sketch but I believe this one should be enough for our little personal talk. And sorry to keep you standing, Luke. You can sit down for now. Let me tell you all something about myself, the culture of the ce that Ie from, and the high society of the Western continent." She looked at the boy as if she was sorry and the boy shook her head with a helpless smile, telling her it was alright. She nodded at him as if saying thanks and the boy blushed shyly, hiding his face like a shy little girl. "Alright so, I believe a few of you already know me?" She asked while looking at the entire ss and smiling at the shy boy, and saw a few students in attractive clothing, as well as a fewmon ones nodding at her question. "Anyone from the state of Artoc?" And on this next question, six hands stood up, five of which were students wearing normal clothing. "Woah. There actually are some. Fine then. You know a little about me, right children? Anyints about the state? You have a good opportunity to directlyin to the lord of state right now." And her question, not just the five of them, but even the sixth boy in noble clothing strictly shook their heads. And two even shouted that they could never have such a thing as aint from a state that treated evenmoners like them as important humans. ''And for a matter of fact, the state of Artoc is one of thergest areas of the Mason empire and it is oftenpared to the southern Babylon region of the Roxana empire, the Atraxia territory.'' It was considered one of the most beautiful ces on the continent and thanks to the small mountains and valleys in that region, that ce was already on our visiting lists. And that ce was prospering with a treasure of natural resources so people were happy there, and thanks to the presence of her husband, the archduke, and her amazing son¡­ well, that was good information so some other time. "Looks like none have anyints, hmm? Well, as a lord I''m happy but as a teacher of your good ss, I am a little sad. Haaa¡­ Well, it''s alright. Tell me whenever you find anything toin about." She looked at the six of them and they nodded vigorously, putting another smile on her attractive face. "Alright, so some know me, some are from mynd, and some who don''t know me, might have at least heard about my two big monkeys. But that isn''t a topic for now. We are talking about society, culture, and history so¡­ How many of you have heard the name: ruins of Inmeg?" I raised my hand at her question like almost ny percent of the ss and the teacher nodded at the great number with a smile. "Good number actually. It means you all are at least interested in history." She cheerfully smiled at everyone and many of them looked down with embarrassment. They were the students that said they didn''t want to study today but Rein was obviously not embarrassed at all. It would take far more than this to embarrass this little witch of mine. "Haha. You little ones are cute." Sheughed gracefully for a while and shook her head as she looked back at us again. "You know, when we found those ruins, I was pretty young. Probably just a little older than you all. At that time, I did know what ruins are, their importance, and also the dangers that lurked all around one. But what we did not have even the slightest bit of idea, was that the pretty-looking gates in the middle of a flower field could possibly be some ancient ruins. Back then, we were probably lucky enough toe out of that ce alive. And I was probably even luckier to have taken a strange stone tablet with me... Call it fate, a fluke of luck, or an epiphany of the heavens, but that was my first ever motivation to learn about the past. I wanted to read what was written on that strange stone and know if those strange, magical words were even anguage or not. So, I started studying about the oldnguages, about old civilizations, about their cultures, and how they were able to form strong societies that were able to survive in the era where (Purple) ranked creatures roamed thends like it were a grand garden and demons terrorized the realm as if it was the only thing in the universe for them which, by whatever means, they had to destroy. I learned by myself, from books, from the ones that knew, and then I came here, to this academy, learned even deeper, and when it was time and we had men strong enough to take down the terrors lurking in those ruins, we departed on an adventure that is now known as . And the treasures we found after defeating unthinkingly powerful guardians, is what we all call the [Sixth cradle legacy]." She stopped after that for a moment and looked around at the ss that had fallen dead silent. [[ "Damn¡­" ]] And even Rein was looking at her with wide eyes right now and it was understandable as the way she had said those few things made it so deep and dramatic that without hearing those words themselves, one couldn''t possibly understand how¡­ well-spoken it was. "And after we found that, we were able to know how the people of that civilization lived, about their unique culture, about that ancient society which possessed knowledge and wisdom far greater than our current times. We found out how they lived in y houses, ate processed energy beast meat, and identified and gathered proper herbs, and spices. Used magic and weapons made of hard stones and unique metal like blue wood. How they lived, spent their free time, how much they knew about themselves, and how there were intercultural rtionships among them and the other nearbymunities. For the first time ever, we were able to find out how they engraved the ''holy words'' or as we know them, ruins, on the weapons for those weapons possessing that tremendous strength to even be in fine condition in current time. We also found out how they were able to cultivate onnds and how they were able to ''assimte'' with their magicalpanions and with nature and natural elements." She stopped for a moment and looked at everyone who was still looking at her with focused eyes, and then looked at the very back at me, smiling mysteriously out of nowhere...? "That was my first expedition and after the ruins of Inmeg, I was lucky enough to be part of , , , many small scales but important sites visits, and the most recent one of them, some of you might have probably heard of it, was a special visit to the site that gave birth to one of the most famous books in history, the tomb of two important figures of a small but special civilization, the . The resting ce of well-known characters, sorceress of red winds, Lady Ae, and her partner, the great ruler, the hero chief, Master Neron. And let me tell you everyone as I have seen them myself¡­ they are far more gorgeous than the illustrations. Especially Master Neron. Even I was mesmerized when I saw them." And as soon as she paused, as if a volcano had erupted, the entire ss burst into questions, excitement, confusion, joy, and voices that wanted to know more about the characters that they all had loved after only reading them from pages between two thick red-blue book covers... that took me a great long time to finalize. Chapter 511 Our Culture ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Miss! Miss! Did you really see them?! Is that really a ce?!" "Ma''am! What did Master Neron exactly look like?! Please can you exin in detail!?" "Lady Ad! Were the walls really made of gold and silver there?! What about the coffins?!" "Miss, can we go there?! How were you able to go there?!" "Is it true that the tomb is inside some cave that was previously infested with monsters and Lady Arina defeated it all by herself?!" "Ma''am!!! Did you meet Lady Reinelle?! How did she look? What did she wear? Was she there~?!" "Madam! Is the rumor about the empire keeping that ce highly confidential true or can people still visit it?!" "Miss! Is it true that there are many wild energy beasts in the forests of the southern part of the empire?!" "How were you able to go there when it is on empire''s territory ma''am!? Is it that only those invited by the empire or the Atraxia family can go in there!" "Ma''am! Have you met Master Axion?! Was he there?!" "Haaa¡­" [[ "Why are our namesing up?" ]] [[ "Because we are famous dear. Especially when ites to [Epic Of Burning Hearts]. Whenever that name is spoken, my name is spoken. And whenever my namees up, your name undoubtedly follows." ]] [[ "That''s¡­ kind of romantic. I like it~!" ]] [[ "I like that too. But not the way our names areing up right now. I don''t like it, and for some reason, I believe ma''am knows who we are." ]] [[ "What? Did headmaster-" ]] [[ "No. I think she figured it out on her own. Did you forget? She has special eyes that can see the spiritual aura of a creature. Something simr to the eyes that could see through one''s Soul like that evil spirit." ]] [[ "So she already knows? Damn¡­ is that the reason she brought up the tomb?" ]] [[ "No, the tomb was sure toe up anyway. She is one of the major fans of the book and though I did think it was a possibility, I didn''t think she would actually just follow her heart and ''indirectly'' interact with us." ]] [[ "So we are her targets?" ]] Rein had a face that screamed she didn''t like where this was going but, she didn''t have to worry about this mess as much as me. [[ "I don''t know about you but I think I''m definitely going to be a target in her ss. At least until I show clear displeasure towards her ways." ]] [[ "which you won''t ever do because you are too good." ]] She gave me a pitiful look out of nowhere that was also feeling helpless in this matter. [[ "Well, at least until things get too out of hand. It''s fine if it is just a little. Or, I have you if things get weird. Not that they will, I believe." ]] "Haaa¡­ hopefully. But I will do it if that actually happens." "I''m always happy I have you." She grabbed my hand and we looked ahead at our teacher who was still quietly looking at the children as they bombarded her with those questions. From her perspective, they seemed just like little children overexcited over somethingmonly exciting. But then there were also those who didn''t know what was happening and why were they acting like that. From their eyes, this behavior of theirs was inappropriate and somewhat bad but from the teacher''s perspective, though she might not show it, she was definitely pitying them. They were missing out on a really great thing but now that she had mentioned this, it was only natural that they would ask around and check out that novel, read it, and be one of the countless fans. ''Which... would ultimately be helpful to me as I wanted as many people to read it as possible. It was something everyone should read anyway.'' But this strange feeling I have right now that soon something is going to happen is unsettling. "Alright, alright everyone. We don''t have that long of a time that I would be able to answer every one of your questions. Let''s do this. Someone will create a private chat group on the academy''s forums and you can ask your questions there. I will try to answer everyone if possible but only one question per person so choose what question you want to ask, and depending on the importance of the question, the quality of my question will vary. Okay so, who will be the volunteer? I want someone who knows how the interface works and has experience with L-hexa coding." L-hexa was one of themon programmingnguages here but it was one of the difficult ones and still, there were a few hands raised right now. "Wow. It''s amazing you young ones already know something that even I am not that good at. Alright then, who is sure they will be able to design it simr to the Chatbox on Mag?" Now that was a difficult task as the Chatbox thing she was talking about was something made of some of the highly advanced multplexary programmingnguages. But they just had to make it simr looking using that simplenguage. It was an easy task if you had yed around on mag, yed theplex games, and tried your hand at creating one of your own. It was pretty easy, but still, many hands went down, and of those who were still standing, I can tell only three to six of them were fully confident in their abilities. "Alright then, you, you, and you, mister house captain." She pointed at three students and the others slowly took down their hands with a sad expression. "Don''t be discouraged like that you all. There will be another chance to do something simr in my ss. You see, I''m not as talented as you all so I will need a lot of your help during our time this year." She smiled at others and though it seemed convincing to them, I knew that was a pretty ssic technique. But that actually wasn''t necessary. "You three should work together and tell me and the others when it is done, alright?" She only said that much, and she said them to work together so there was no leader in this group of three. Not at least officially. And that was a statement aimed at Alpha. And he understood that so as they rested their hands, he respectfully nodded at her and the atmosphere of the ss went back to normal once more. "Haaa¡­ alright, Luke. You can start now." And so, we went back to the chat where she had asked us about the uniqueness of our culture. ... [[ "What''s unique in our culture darling?" ]] Rein asked as the ss was going on and now, her head was again on the bench and she was looking at me with a mischievous smile. She knew more than enough about many cultures on three continents as she had lived among different groups of people throughout her life, so her question wasn''t actually about the culture. Those smiling eyes meant something entirely different and she wanted to hear a unique answer that only I could give her. And my answer was a private thing so- "Alright. As for the next one, how about that young boy at the very back? Mister vice-captain?" -Swaaash. [[ Master. ]] I was almost going to answer her but then I heard Celes''s voice and from the sounds from the moment before, I knew the one she asked this question was none other than me. [[ "But you didn''t even raise your hand¡­?" ]] Rein looked at me with surprise and everyone was looking back at me as I stood up while looking at our pretty teacher. [[ "That''s what you call a surprise question." ]] [[ "Tsk." ]] I knew she wanted to curse but she held back. In a way, she also respected this teacher of ours. "So young one. Tell us about your unique culture." She smiled at us, and now that I was already in this situation where the ss was looking at us with eyes that though didn''t like us for many reasons, was looking forward to what kind of answer I would give. For some, this was more gossip material, for others this was good information, while for some like our teacher, they genuinely just wanted to hear what I would say. It was¡­ bad. But this question was something Uriel had just asked a moment before and I was going to answer her anyway, so¡­ "I''m Lucifer, and I speaking for both of us, that''s alright, right ma''am?" I started with a question and she simply just nodded a little, telling me to speak as I want. "Alright so¡­" So, I started the little story of my culture, our culture, our small traditions, and something that I, something that we were part of. "Both of us are primarily from the Roxana empire. I was born in the central part of a southeastern border town while she was born in the south, exactly near the estate of the Atraxia. But she left the ce and her family when she was very young and went around ces while I stayed with my family in that town, and I grew up healthily. Truthfully, I only got to know more about the cultures and the society when we came to the capital as before that, I had mostly only stayed in our home there. So, the most I know about the unique culture of the capital would be the way people are so used to the free way of living, how things are cheerful in times of festival, how everyone helps each other, and how the nobles willingly or unwillingly support themon people over there. The winter festival is some of the most exciting times of the year that we both love, and the important events like the birthdays of everyone from the imperial family turn out to be a joyous day for every citizen of the capital. Still, the most unique aspect of the culture that I am used to, that we are used to, would be the birthdays, celebrations, and¡­ fireworks." Taking a brief pause, I looked around at my ssmates that were looking at me with surprised eyes, at the teacher that was smiling warmly at me with all-knowing eyes, and at my partner sitting beside me that had a unique happy look that only a few of us knew could recognize. "We, both our families and people around us, ce great importance on birthdays and consider them one of the most important events in one''s life. And we have our own little way of celebrating birthdays, giving gifts, and good wishes to each other. And we improve it every year too. My siblings, me, this prettydy of mine. We do our best to celebrate the day that marks the finishing of a cycle, of a year that gave us new knowledge and experiences, and as fireworks hold some certain special meaning to some of our family members, we also do that, though, only on a personal scale. Our culture¡­ truthfully, is limited to our family and close ones even though we have experienced many other cities, kingdoms, ces, groups, and societies. It is enclosed, personal, and special, and not just anyone can be a part of it. But those who do actually are part of it, part of us and our little family, these little things are something special all of them too. Very special, actually." I bowed down a little, looked around at my shocked ssmates, and then looked at my fiancee that gave me a look that meant whatever I said just now, she loved it. And she loved it so much that¡­ she couldn''t help but kiss me before these hundreds of students watching the two of us. Chapter 512 Council Office ? [OP: ] In some big office-like room of the academy, two familiar figures were going through some paperwork,pletely focused on their work. One was the white-haired legendary student council president and the other one was the vice president that though seemed pretty well, had a needle attached to her free right hand which was attached to a sk hanging by the stool by her side. A strange glowing green liquid was inside this container and it was being supplied into her bloodstream by a thin pipe. It was a strange sight but she was calmly doing her work, handling the papers with her other hand, more focused on her work than the president sitting before her on the other hand. The atmosphere was calm there, the room was filled with the scrabbling voices of two pens, and a cool breeze flowing from therge window behind him was ventting the room. And though there were clouds visible just outside the window, there was good enough oxygen for the two of them to work finely at that high altitude. And the room was also well illuminated by the lighting from the outside so their work was going well¡­ or not. -Thump! All of a sudden in the middle of her scrabbling, she mmed her pen on the table, took a deep breath, and looked at the president before her with a somewhat angry gaze. "Look Zod. You know I don''t say this¡­" "Yes, I know and you don''t have to. I did what I had to and you will pay me back many folds more for what I did so you don''t have to do it." "Still, this strange sticky feeling of guilt is killing me from inside and I don''t like it." "Haaa¡­ that I can see. Alright then. It''s all up to you. Do as you please." And after saying that, he also put his pen down and looked before him, at the pretty but serious vice president. She closed her eyes after that, clenched her hand tightly to calm herself down, took a deep breath, and as she did all these preparations, the president looked at her with a helpless look and also sighed. Those grand mental preparations of hers were something unique to her, and so was what she was preparing herself for. -Ptssssss¡­ He moved his neck lightly in a curve after that low voice was heard in this tranquil room. And after he did that, he shook his head which was followed by another helpless nod. It was just the day before yesterday but he could see it happening before his eyes as if he was in that very moment when the vice president, who was preparing herselffortably on the chair next to him, suddenly screamed so loud that all the guards and employees on their airship were alerted. But even before they came, he was faced with some of the most urgent situations in his life where his fellow vice president, the friend that he knew for more than three years now, was kneeling on the ground, screaming as if she had been suddenly hurt¡­ no it was worse than that. There was no scar or blood or visible injury on her but, thanks to his partner, he could tell that something had happened to her very soul. And this was one of the most critical situations he had faced in his entire life as ording to what his partner told him, she could have been thrown into a critic if she wasn''t treated immediately. She was screaming at that time, screaming so loud that even he hadn''t heard something like that in his nearly hundred years of life¡­ She was and had been a crucial member of the student council, and she was some of his few real friends so he knew her more than enough to know some of her close secrets that probably no one else knew about. He knew her family background and her unique lineage and also that she can separate her soul from her body like his partner and go into the astral realm and stay there for a pretty long time. And though he himself can not do that just yet, he knew about the realms more than her so he knew about the dark creatures that lived there and the dangers of the realm that acted as a gateway to the other realms. He knew many things could happen there but never in his life had he thought being affected by something over there could cause so great pain that someone like her, someone that had stayed calm and sharp even when an unexpectedly evolved energy beast cut off one of her arms and legs, could be in such bad pain that she would scream her heart and soul out. He had felt as if he was seeing someone that thought they were dead but wasn''t actually dead and only possessed the sensation of being dead, aka the worst possible sensation a mortal could feel. She had suffered great damage to her soul, ultimately suffering even greater psychological damage. And if he had just stood there, she would have¡­ She was his friend and a great colleague that he couldn''t do anything without in this academy, so he had to do something. And he knew what he had to do. She had taken direct damage to her soul and this damage was unbearably great too. Not just any medicine, magic, or potion was going to help her. He knew that not even a high-quality elixir would be of much help in matters regarding the soul. So, there was only one option, and he used that one option, and thankfully, she was able to at least stabilize after that. She wasn''tpletely healed but he was able to prevent the worst-case scenario. And then the guards came, and then the vice headmaster came, and then she told the two of them what had happened, and then they both scolded her for her usual unusual behavior. She was hurt and she could have been badly hurt and, though it was her fault entirely¡­ just to think that she was hurt that badly just because she tried kissing someone''s fiancee? He was interested in the ''two of them'' for a long time now but after that incident, he couldn''t stop thinking about them, and mostly about the one that caused this ocean-like sturdy person to scream with that horrible kind of agony. He had never been more impressed in his long life and was already dying to meet the amazing boy that even the crazy headmaster praised openly. And he was soon going to meet him. Today was that golden day. But this moment right now¡­ he would never show it but at this moment as this tormenting friend of his was preparing herself for the most difficult thing possible for her, he was thanking the one that blessed him with this heaven-defying experience that was definitely worth it even at the cost of his divine elixir. "Haaaa¡­" She took a deep breath, looked into the calm hazel eyes of the bastard that she knew was thinking something weird, nodded at herself as if telling her own soul that she was ready now, clenched her hands so tightly that the blood flow almost stopped for them, cleared her throat three times, caressed her pretty neck genially, closed her eyes, looked down for a moment, and with a deep release of her long-held breath, she said two simple words that she had never uttered for thest three years. "Thank you." "Gratefully and sincerely epted." "Ex-" "Just go." He waved his hand with a calm smile on his face and she looked at him, at his calm smile, at the calm face that was definitely smirking,ughing, shouting, and thanking all the factors that showed him this day, gave him an angry re, and she was almost going to punch him in the face but she controlled herself, stood up and just walked out of the room. Her destination was her personal room where she would first wash her mouth a few ten times, take a bath, and then eat the best food she liked with the best alcohol she had to forget this utterly bitter feeling of saying that most unwanted thing. She was going to take a few hours and wasn''ting back anytime soon so he was alone in this room now¡­ but that wasn''t enough. -Snap. He first covered the entire room in a thinyer of internal energy and then costed it with Aura. Then he called out his partner, a pretty-looking adorable snake, and without any words from him, the little one cast twenty-oneyers of different magic on this entire room and further put a few magic shields around the table they were sitting on. And only after all these preparations¡­ "Hhahahahahahahahahahaha! San-San! She said thanks! Hahahahahaha! Lol! Did you record that right~? It will be one of our family heirlooms! Hahahahahahaha!" He wasughing out loud,ughing loudly while holding his belly, andughing while rolling on the ground. His little partner who looked down at him from the desk alsoughed with his smiling face, and just while they wereughing like that¡­ -Boooooooooooooooooom! An explosion took ce from six sides of the room and it happened out of nowhere, and... they were so powerful that they clearly destroyed two shields that the little one put around them and almost destroyed the third one too. "Hahahahahahahahaha!" However, the entire room was fine as the explosions couldn''t pierce through theyer of the aura and internal energy but, three carpets in the room were on fire, and even when all this happened, the president that was rolling on the ground, was still rolling on the ground whileughing so joyfully that most of the students in the academy right now wouldn''t believe this person is the same calm and collective president that gave that amazing speech just the previous day. "Hehehe-hahaha!" He wasughing, and he clearly had a grand reason tough to his heart''s content today. Something unbelievable had happened, so he was enjoying this moment. And his partner, the unique snake on the table that looked adorable~ when smiling also liked him seeing happy like that so, it quickly looked around the room, put out the fire with some water magic, cleaned the room, and brought it back to its previous state, and continuedughing with his papa. And it looked even more adorable~! It was cute, absolutely heartwarming, and as the president wasughing on the floor of his office, one of the reasons he was able tough like that, was facing the teacher of his second ss, looking at her alone with surprised eyes while the entire ss was salient yet once again, but this time, the reason for that silence wasn''t him... but his fianc¨¦e that was boldly kissing him before the entire ss. Chapter 513 End Of Second Class ? [OP: ] Everyone in the ss looked at them, some were surprised, some were embarrassed, some jealous, and some had a pretty normal reaction to seeing her kiss him in the middle of the ss. And though that kiss was only on the cheeks, it was more than enough to earn them a scolding from their teacher. But the teacher right now didn''t say anything as Eon sat back down and Rein also sat back with a cheerful smile. The ss was having unique reactions but from most of their perspective, that speech or whatever he had said was pretty normal. Nothing with some grand backstory or some secret and deep or too unique cultural traits. Most of themon students liked whatever he said while even some nobles and royals liked it. And yes there were many that didn''t like those simple ways that almost confirmed that they weremoners from the empire and one was even from some border town. They now knew that they were just somemoners and though they might have some talent and good enough luck to have be house captains, they were, at the end of the day, onlymoners and mere adventurers. They weren''t even that special like the house captain of the [True dragon]. There was no reason to actually be on guard against them. They can instead use them and gain power, authority, and control in this academy themselves. Some of them thought this way while some were still careful of them as they hadn''t seen their actual powers just yet. One''s family lineage meant nothing in this academy anyway. If they had strength and wisdom greater than them, then there was no meaning even if the person pressuring them was the prince of some empire. And the two of them had just said that the smart girl that had answered with thoseplicated theories from the famous higher-level books and was fearless enough to kiss her partner in the ss like that was a (tier-3) water mage, which was far above average and the one that earned the first-ever ss point was an [Rank-3] archer, meaning he can use Aura. It was fine if they were also lucky enough to have reached their current level but they exactly didn''t know if it was just dumb luck or talent and hard work. But the ones thinking like that knew that soon, there will be a chance for them to see their powers. So they just sat back quietly, while the ones that were convinced that the two of them were nothing more than weakmoner chicks started their plotting of how they will take control over the two of them who weren''t even in the ranking of the entrance exam. But different from all their thinking, one person in their ss was thinking somethingpletely different. From his point of view, the ones that had reached their level possessed enough power that even his unique appraisal skill didn''t work on them and was so mysterious that even his senses were telling him that they already knew most of the things about him even though he had one of the strongest possible mental defense skill. From his point of view, the two of them were no doubt student council members. That was the only reason they weren''t on the general rankings. But, his conclusions didn''t just stop there. There was a good chance that the two of them were the ones that got as great of a score as him, someone that had practically used all the prodigies and their powers to his advantage. And if the two of them were really those two, then, that also meant that there was one that got a score far, far greater than him. And different from what others might think, there was only a three-point difference in the second and third rank in the test of entrance exam while on the other hand, the difference between first and second rank was a whopping three thousand six hundred and fifty-four points. Which was obviously absurd! He didn''t know how they did it or if he was one of the two sitting up there but what he was sure about was that the two of these people were far more than what met to one''s eyes and also that they were strong. So¡­ he wanted to make the two of them a part of his adventurer party. And they were already pretty decent-ranking adventurers so they were fine as they were. Now he just needed to see their strengths and to do that, the next lecture was the best chance. So, he was now waiting for this one to end¡­ while some simr reactions were clouding the minds of some other students of the other sses who were ''enjoying'' their second ss. And every ss had a unique teacher for the basic sses so even when learning the same thing, they were being taught by a different teacher and every teacher had their own way of teaching so not all of them liked the way they taught some things. And the ssroom (A) students were in the worst situation right now as their second lecture was basic magic and weapon understanding, and the teacher had started talking about magic and weapons in their first ss, and with the mostplex part of magic and weapons at that. And even though his teaching method was pretty good and some liked it, some of them couldn''t keep up with his seed and even failed to take note of the things that he said or wrote on the big ckboard. They were in a tough spot but some of them were enjoying it. And Zoe and Lizzy were two of them. In ss (B), there were pretty chill atmosphere as their teacher ofnguage and manners was a pretty good grandpa. And his only w was that he was talking too calmly and slowly so some at the back were unable to hear while some were too board of whatever was happening. In ss (C), they were studying society, culture, and history, and just like ss (A), the teacher was teaching from the books so they were doing pretty decent considering only a few of them were sleeping and other few were doing whatever they wanted. In ss (D), after facing their cute but dangerous teacher, they all were happy to now get another pretty teacher but this time, she was nothing like that angry lioness that almost ripped a few of them open right before the entire ss. This time, their teacher was a gentle, pretty elf and she had big, perfect, attractive assets so the boys were thankful and resentful to have such an angel like a teacher not as their homeroom teacher. In sses (E), (F), and (G), things were finally better but this time, they were also fortunate that their teachers were good, were interacting with them, and were making their important sses of magic and weapons understanding, understanding nature, and understanding Mana. They were in a better mood, and there were also very few that didn''t enjoy their sses there. In ss (H), they also had an understanding nature ss but this particr ss was having a st right now as their teacher, this fun beast person that had a wolf-like tail and ears, was giving them an experience of how the wild nature felt like and how the lurking dangers of a forest were nothing but an everyday struggle for a predator beast. He was utilizing his unique magic to temporarily alter some elements of their ssroom so his ss had just gained a basic introduction to how the nature of wildlife felt like. And then there was ss (I) that didn''t practically learn much, but they heard stories of the unique culture of the different students as well as stories of how their teacher had seen two world-famous characters, more urately their corpses, in person. They all had fun and the atmosphere was pretty positive even right now as their second ss was almost near its conclusion. ss (J) was also in a pretty simr position as they all didn''t actually study and chatted about the understanding of Mana and there was an attractive debate so their teacher, a famous battle mage, was pretty satisfied with his ss as well as the two boys that everyone called prodigies. They had what it took to be battle mages but sadly, only one of them was interested in being a battle mage, but he couldn''t teach him personally as the boy was a specialist in green magic, something out of his area of expertise, while the other one was aiming to be the best magic spearman. It was an admirable goal considering the current best spearman in the world that had been upying the seventh seat of the House of Prism. He would support him however he could as his teacher, and the same went for all his students. In sses (K) and (L), things were pretty much the same as in the other sses that taught them directly from the given books but the strange thing about both these sses was that the teacher taught from the books that weren''t in their curriculum, and even gave them a spare copy of the book to study from, saying they were better than their course books when it came to economy and currency as well asnguage and manners. Those things weren''t something one can learn from the books anyway but they had to teach something from the books so the teachers chose the best books ording to themselves as the starting point for these new children. That was everyone''s second ss and now that it was almost about to end, after their third ss finishes, it would be their lunch break and after that, they all can go attend their personal sses in the designated ssrooms of this humongous academy. But before that, they had their third ss, and before the starting of their third ss, it was time for the teachers of the second ss to say their goodbyes and give instructions for their next ss that would most likely take ce the day after tomorrow. So, in the ssroom (I), the teacher that had excited all the fans of a certain novel that was actually born thanks to the efforts of a certain someone in their own ssroom, was saying her byes to all the cute children¡­ "Alright everyone, that is it for today''s ss. You three. Just inform me whenever you are ready with the forum site and we will start the Q&A. You can ask me any other kind of question there too or directly on the Chatbox but those who want my Chatbox ID would have to meet me when I''m free. Huhuhu. And I know it won''t be easy so good luck with that. Ok, so, from the next ss, we will start the main studying but you don''t have to bring books. I will teach from the materials that I prepare myself so juste, bring some paper, pens, and ink or pencils to write things down if you need them, and be ready to answer my questions whenever I ask, to whomever I ask. They would be simple questions that you all amazing kids could easily answer so don''t worry and just be present, it will be fun. Andstly¡­" She looked around the ss and focused on certain students, and pointed at them as she said herst words. "Luke, for being the first one to talk; Sasha for being thest one; Lucifer for sharing such personal things; Uriel for being so bold and daring; Alpha for trying something funny; Lily for being too cute, and Fin for staying strong despite your fears. You all get a ss point. See you, everyone. Until fate allows it~." She waved her hand at everyone with a smile and walked out just as gracefully as she hade in, and after that, just like after their first ss, the ssroom was filled with cheerful voices of the students that were too excited for their uing ss¡­ Chapter 514 Practical Training Grounds ? [Eon''s POV: ] The ss was cheerful once again and this time, there were many talks about the ss point thing around us so for just a quick information, ss points were the points that the teachers gave to certain students during or after their sses. They were the same as the points that we received after our entrance exams and at the end of every week, these ss points were added to the grand total of points of [Wealth] points that a student possessed in their stars. It was a kind of reward system of the academy and every teacher can give a total of ten points to any student or a bunch of students after their ss but it was all up to them. Mostly, they only gave these points to those who did something very extraordinary that surprised the teacher or something simr to that, so getting a ss point was a difficult task and certainly not something up to us. But still, I just got two ss points in two of our very first sses and even Rein got one for something that we weren''t supposed to do in the ss. And, well, she was genuinely in a good mood thanks to that. "Hm-hmmm~." Yeah. A really good mood. "So Miss Uriel? Any ns for the next ss?" I asked while smiling at my cheerfuldy and she looked at me with a big, closed-mouth smirk and nodded vigorously. "I''m going to have fun~." And then she startedughing slowly like a little girl that tried to act evil but instead of finding it cool or cute, this only made me more concerned about our slow, happy, and problem-free life. But well, thanks to my pretty speech from ourst ss, things were all pretty well now... just that the captain of [True dragon] our great Alpha, was having some weird thoughts like making ''us'' part of ''his'' team. Those were some funny thoughts but probably, under certain circumstances, we might just join his little party for a short fun. But that wasn''t happening anytime soon. -Thump. Thump. Thump. We heard some new footsteps and this time, different from thest one where they were so light that most of the students didn''t even notice it, this time, they were so heavy that none of the students couldn''t not notice something so loud. So, as soon as everyone heard them, they quieted down and looked towards the doors and excitedly looked at the entrance with quickened hearts. -Thump. Thump. [[ "Woh¡­ he really is different from the typical ones." ]] [[ "Different from half-elves, half-dwarfs are some of the rarest minorities so he would obviously be unique." ]] -Thump. The teacher that walked in this time was more than a six-foot-tall person who had arms that seemed bigger than the heads of some of the students in our ss and unique round ears that signified his dwarven lineage. But he was too tall for a dwarf, and too strong looking for a normal human so everyone could just tell he was a special one like their vampire teacher. And he was tall, had strong-looking legs visible under his short tight pants, had a big brown beard that almost made him look like a bear, and also had a pair of zing orange eyes that any experienced person could tell were as special as those unique people that had faced and cheated death more than a few time in their lives now. He was special, and he was also one of the few that had obtained the knight rank of a [King]. And he was a famous person too. One of the most famous ones in this academy for his¡­ "Atteeeentionnnn students!" "SIR YES SIR!" A few of us including Uriel and I shouted with a smile on our faces and many others were the same. "Whhhhhhat is thisctureeee!" "MAGIC AND WEAPON UNDERSTANDINGGGG, SIR!" She was having fun, and I was also enjoying this exciting little thing. "Magc and weapon! What do we do to understand theeemmmmmm!" "WE PRACTICEEEE, SIR!" "Whaereeeee do we practice, student!" "IN THE TRAINING GROUNDSSSS, SIR!" "Then whaaaaaaat are we still doing here!" "AWAITING FOR YOUR ORDERSSSS, SIR!" "Alright, that''s good enough." He couldn''t hold back hisughter so he justughed out while pressing his eyes and shaking his head. "Everyone has seen the practical training grounds, right? Those who don''t know, please follow your ssmates, everyone. If anyone gets lost, I will send some of my puppies to fetch them." "SIR YES SIR!" Rein was the loudest in thisst one and even he noticed how a girl sitting at the very end of this ssroom could shout so loudly without any special means. I can tell he already had his eyes on the two of us but now, he was even more interested in us. [[ Hehehe master. I like this grandpa. He also has many~ puppies. I saw them with him before he came here! ]] [[ "They are actually wolves, Celes." ]] [[ They are just cute puppies, master! Some even yed with me~! ]] [[ "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you saydy powerful butterfly." ]] The puppies this time were (Blue) rank creatures called elemental wolves that possessed different elemental powers depending on their upbringing and lives. They were rare creatures simr to povpois'' but not as much rare and special as them. ''Still, the fact that this person has fourteen of them just shows how special he is. And also the fact that he calls them puppies like this weird partner butterfly of mine.'' And we can''t forget his weird as always asional sounds that were a famous thing on the Mag that many of the students present here were already aware of. ''He is pretty much a celebrity.'' Still, that voice filled with great care and warmth that he shows when not shouting in that weird manner makes him one of the most loved characters of this academy. ''The aura around him is almost like Grandpa and Uriel''s grandpa too. And, almost everyone knows all his sses happen in the training grounds so his poprity among the students who have some knowledge about the academy, the famous teachers, and the facilities, is just great.'' And Uriel likes him, his teaching method involving direct one-on-one duels and on-fight instructions, and his puppies are some of the most famous pets on the Mag. ''But at least they don''t look ''unique'' like the usual standards she uses to define ''cute''.'' Those wolves look cool, and even though they look cool, she never said she wanted one, showing her eternal love towards peculiar-looking creatures. "Right right right. If I forgot to mention, you are supposed to go to the indoor training grounds." "SIR YES SIR!" "Hahaha. You guys are just as funny as your previous batch. Probably filled with more unique hidden, rough gems that need proper polish. Hohoho. Quickly reach there in five minutes. I will be there shortly." "SIIIIIIR, YES SIR~!" He smiled at us this time as the entire ss shouted that, and I knew we were loud enough to be audible to the sses next to us but thankfully, the ssrooms were covered with special magic. We can be as loud as we wanted¡­ no. I didn''t mean it that way. Anyway, there were outdoor and indoor practical training grounds and the indoor ones were some of the most modern facilities after the castle wings in this academy. It had a wide area and, as soon as we all left the ss, ran to the other side of the castle, or just used some skills to reach there quickly, we saw our great facility, which had much advanced magical equipment, ces dedicated to the personal duels, many pieces of equipment for those who used physical strength, and also mage equipment who used magical and mental strength. The ce was entirely made of solid mana stones that were further enhanced into something that was safe for the students to use, was good enough to prevent any serious injuries, and was strong enough to withstand even the power of the teachers. There were magical lights on the ceiling, mechanics that produced lights, magically engineered equipment resembling artificial training drones, andst but the most important aspect of this training ground¡­ was definitely that wall of weapons. "Wow! They really have real weapons here! Look at those swords!" "Forget the swords, look at those magic wands and staffs! I want that one, damnnn!" "My god, my god! Look at those shields! Look at them! They shine brighter than my future!" "Hahaha! Shields? Look at those des! Look at them!" "Hmm? Just now¡­" I suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned around to look behind us and¡­ "Hmm? What? Why are you¡­?" [[ Master~! Sister Ca~! ]] As soon as I turned around, aside from the students of our ss, the students of ss (B) entering this training grounds entered my vision and at the very front of the students of ss (B) was my lovely big sister Ca... whom Lucifer had no connection to. She had excited starry eyes as she looked at all the swords, daggers, des, and weapons on the wall of weapons, a ce full of normal weapons and basic to intermediate-level artifacts. But that excitement calmed down when her eyes fell on me, and then on Uriel standing beside me. She knew who we were but she didn''t actually have any prior acquaintance with the two of us. She knew she wasn''t supposed to interact with those she didn''t know, but she was also smart enough to grasp what it meant when not just their ss but, we and our ss were also in the practical training grounds. And as soon as she figured this little thing out, the surprise on her face vanished and she calmed herself down quickly, looked at the floor, and stealthily smirked like she usually did when things unexpectedly went a good way and started walking in our direction while looking at the two of us. [[ "Chry first, Ca second. Alf would probably be third sost would be Zoe. It sure is a pretty simple sequence." ]] Uriel was smiling as she looked back at Ca and I couldn''t help but shake my head at these two girls. They were pretty simr when it came to some certain things and one of them was their liking towards duels. And this was a training ground meant for duels. Rein already had an opponent in mind, and I was just going to sit back and watch them fight but now that this big sister of mine was here¡­ "Hello, captain of [Dark society] and vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]." That little dream of mine was as good as lost. Chapter 515 First Duels ? [OP: ] "I''m Ca, nice to meet you famous ones." She was smiling but there was confusion in the area around them. The students who witnessed this scene, something not unbelievable but so rare that they didn''t expect it, and it was even more strange considering the kind of person Ca was in their eyes. Ca Helios, the eldest of the house of Heliox, the rulers of the northern seas. In the eyes of other students, she wasn''t the kind of person that would first approach the person and she had almost avoided interacting with those she didn''t know or those that she had never met even though they may be famous people that everyone knew about. In the small time they had been here, this was the first time she approached someone herself first, and the ones she approached were also some of the most strange people among the students of this academy. And she was smiling too¡­ something they were seeing for the first time. So for the spectators, things were strange right now. But as soon as Alfred, her brother, their brother actually, came there and saw his big sister talking with those two certain people, there was a subtle shock on his face that almost none of them noticed, which was followed by an even faint expression of sadness, which probably only Princess Isabe noticed for some strange reason. But it vanished right away so she just shook her head thinking it was her misunderstanding. He was good at controlling his emotions and she didn''t know that. And she wouldn''t know that for a while. "Hello,dy Ca. It is an honor to make your acquaintance. I''m Lucifer and this-" "I''m Uriel~! Nice to meet you too~." Ca was extending her hand for a handshake but Rein just grabbed it and shook it with excitement and many students, mostly males of course, were either angry at this girl that was only a randommoner in their eyes or were having some weird thoughts as they looked at the two of them. But their weird thoughts were understandable as even after the disguise, she was on the attractive side, and even in her modest clothing, there was nothing they couldn''t actually hate about her physically. In fact, if not for her openly announcing she was already taken, people might have approached her as well¡­ and some will probably approach her too, and she will have fun watching what happens after that. Anyway, Ca was caught off guard by her behavior but that helpless look on her brother''s face made her certain that there was nothing wrong with what she did. And she hadn''t done anything foolish just yet. She had nned things from the moment she saw them. And her n was starting right now. "Hahaha. Yes. I wasn''t going to but since it was you, I thought why not?" The half-dwarf teacher of ss (I) walked in after therge training grounds were crowded with the students and with him was the teacher of ss (B), another person bigger than him with as strong looking muscles as him. But, he was an Orc, the race specialized inbat. And as soon as everyone saw them, the crowd that was talking, shouting, admiring the wall filled with weapons and other facilities, or watching the three of their house captains greeting each other, quieted down and looked at their teachers. "Alright." Their teachers also looked at them, smiling. "Hello everyone." Their other teacher, the famous orc hero Sir Scarth, greeted them with a warm smile that, just like ss (B)''s ss teacher, was special. He had a special attractive aura around him and even though it was different from the mother-like aura of their ss teacher, he was someone with a green skin tone, unlike their teacher''s tale-colored skin, so this attractive aura, just like the person beside him, was charismatic, something few like them possessed. "We weren''t nning this and it is your first day too so we didn''t think we would do it but both of us got sses at the same time, so we decided why not? It would be double fun having abined ss with a special batch like yours." His eyes were glowing green and there was a scar on the left side of his manly face, his beard was light and trimmed unlike the teacher beside him, his attractive hair had a few strands of white, and his pointed orc ears only enhanced his good looks and sharp jawline, and those two teeth visible outside his mouth were pretty small so they were negligible before his handsome face. His looks were more on the human side, probably a result of his natural evolution from his basic racial state. But he was amazing, and he was also just as famous as the person beside him in a way. "Alright then¡­" One was a king-ranked swordsman, a half-dwarf that had single-handedly fended off a frenzied Drake and saved his small kingdom, protected the people there, and then used his golden sword and unbelievable explosive strength to drive off many other dangers throughout the west; the other was a retired hero of Bairian, the Orc in our nearby sr system. He was a special person in that academy among the many other special people and if their teacher Sir Fr¨®r was famous on Mag for his pet wolves and unique way of addressing his ss, then their teacher Sir Scarth was famous for his holy sword and multiple rumored affairs with famousdies of the northern continent. But there was no factual information so for now, they were all just rumours¡­ "Listen up everyone." Anyway, this was their first everbined ss on their first ever day, so these practical teachers were naturally not going to teach themplicated theoretical things. For this ss, they all can go and have fun. "This is a pretty good ce so we decided you can use it however you want for today. The two of us will just sit back and instruct the ones we find fun. You can use the things here, including the weapons on that wall, but you can''t take them. It''s not possible anyway. You can use the different facilities, not do anything if you don''t want, or use the duel arenas to fight and learn from your ssmates. This is abined ss and both of us specialize in wielding a sword so the sword users will get a helpful review from both of us. But mages and others have nothing to be discouraged. We know about other weapons, magic, and fighting styles more than enough to help you all. Alright. Lastly, for those using the duel arena, make sure you choose a proper opponent. Use of Aura or magic above (tier-2) is not allowed since this is just your first duel. This isn''t a ce for bullying others so if we think what you are doing is not good for your opponent then you will be asked to leave this ce." He stopped and looked at the hundreds of students before him. They were all smart enough to understand what he meant so after a good look at their unique faces, reactions to a few unique ones among them, and with a smile on his face, Sir Scarth nodded at them and at Sir Fr¨®r. "Alright~! Go, everyone. y and be hungry enough to eat a lot during your break after this!" "SIR YES SIR!!!" Not only the students from ss (I), but many from ss (B) also shouted that, shaking the room with their grand voices. But even among all of them, the girl from earlier, the one that was previously the loudest in the ss (I), Eon''s Uriel, was still the loudest. And as soon as their loud shouts finished, and everyone shouted in a loud voice, the loudest one, Uriel, ran straight towards a certain person on the other side of the room, leaving her darling and Ca, and attracting the attention of all the students and teachers. "Hello, mister Alpha!" She shouted as she greeted the house captain of the [True dragon] with an excited smile on her face and he looked at her with a surprised look as she approached him out of the blue. And even before he had the chance to understand what was happening, she stood up straight and shouted again. "Let''s have a duel!" And as soon as she said that, students thought the entire room looked at her with shocked expressions, especially the ones from her own ss who knew that he was a [Rank-4] knight and (tier-4) mage. There were few who could be a match for him in this ce right now, but she certainly wasn''t one of them. At least, they didn''t think she was. But, her request was out of the blue and, truthfully, he didn''t dislike that. "It would be my pleasure." He quickly epted her out-of-the-blue request in a gentlemanly manner with a bow and earned a chaotic reaction from his fellow students. But the two teachers who quietly watched over them from the balcony area above them were smiling, excited to see what the two house captains of this time would show them in their first-ever duel. "Fool." Eon, Lucifer in this ce, smiled as he looked at her overexcited, childish expression that she couldn''t show this openly when she is acting as the representative of Atraxia. He loved her seeing free like that. "She got her opponent, so¡­" Ca looked at him, and he looked at her with a look that screamed ''if they really had to do this''. And her unchanged smiling face was enough answer for him. "Can I have a duel?" She asked with a polite bow, stealing the eyes that were focused on the two of them. "Haaa¡­" And instead of being flustered, shocked, or excited that the great Ca Heliox asked him for a duel personally, he sighed and just nodded as if this was no big deal. This ignorant behavior enraged some of them even more than it angered them that somemoner girl just out of the blue asked for a duel with the amazing house captain of their greatest house. That was disrespect and that disrespect towards their house captain was the disrespect towards all of them. They would pay for that kind of behavior, they would make them pay¡­ or what many of them were thinking before the two of their duels took ce. Their reactions were impulsive at that time, and that impulse calmed down, by the end-, no, by the midway through their fights. And though both of their duels onlysted for a short while¡­ the first ever duels that took ce on that training ground, the duel between the house captains of [True dragon] and [Dark society], as well as vice-captains of [Wisdom phoenix] and [Aqua mirror], was unexpectedly grand even from the point of view of their amazing teachers¡­ Chapter 516 Show Of Strength ? [OP: ] [Initiating duel mode.] [Preparing resources¡­] [Generating protection fields.] [Asking for battle start confirmation.] There were two duel arenas with two opponents standing in each of them. Students were gathered around the two of them and the training ground was silent. Two captains looked at each other with excited looks, while the two vice-captains were calm andposed, examining the opponent like a predator beast looking at its prey from the shadows. But in the eyes of most of the students, the two just seemed like two opponents calmly looking at each other, giving off a casual vibe, nothing like the actualpetitive atmosphere that the two of their captains were giving off. The atmosphere in the training ground was quiet, calm, and heated as the students debated over who would win and what techniques they would use. They were excited, cheerful, and also serious. This wasn''t just a duel between two students but a duel between four houses. The students belonging to these four houses couldn''t help but stall their hearts for what was toe and who was going to win¡­ And yes, the chances that the house captain of [True dragon] and vice-captain of [Aqua mirror] would win their matches were too great but, they hadn''t seen any of their strengths with their own eyes so they weren''t certain just yet. Something interesting might happen. The two of their opponents might show them something that they weren''t expecting, the result might be even more boring than their thoughts, and many other thoughts were clouding their minds but, one thing was certain in this¡­ they were going to see four of their house captains show their powers for the first time. "Interesting¡­" And the two teachers standing on the balcony, looking at the two duel arenas with their four interesting students, shared the same opinion. "All four have experience." The dwarven teacherplimented with a smile as he observed the four of them and the handsome Orc teacher beside him nodded and added to hispliments. "They certainly know what mock duels are. And I wasn''t expecting this level from the very first day. The two vice-captains are observing the opponent as if they have faced strong opponents in official duels countless times. And the captains have a unique aura around them which almost gives away the fact that they have actual war battle experience." He paused for a moment, and smiled while looking at the girl with brown hair and ck eyes, the house captain of the [Dark society], and then shifted his gaze towards the boy with ck hair and blue eyes. "The girl from Heliox, Ca was it? She certainly resembles Captain Golden Hammer." He wasplimenting her but right now, his eyes were only locked on her opponent. "The captain of [True dragons], I think he chose to go by Alpha? He is a rare otherworlder too. I''m seeing one like him after more than two centuries." Again, his eyes were only focused on the boy as heplimented him and revealed something unprecedented about the house captain Alpha. "His opponent, that gorgeousdy, is also a special witch. So special that even I''m seeing one like her for the first time in my two lives." His eyes never left him as he said those¡­ strange things. "But that boy¡­" And then, he finally started speaking about the one that had stolen all his attention. "What do you call someone like him, uncle Fr¨®r?" He warmly smiled at the dwarf teacher beside him while addressing him politely. And at his warm smile that could certainly melt even the coldest ofdies, the dwarf teacher just shook his head and gave him a helpless look. "We used to call Sir Alexander (A star that descends only once). Perhaps, in the future, people will address him as such too?" As soon as those words left his mouth and he sighed at his own words, the orc teacher looked at him with wide, surprised eyes that couldn''t believe those unfathomable words even after directly hearing them from him with his sharp ears. -Tirrrr-ring! But before he could pose any questions, a ring reverberated throughout the balcony, informing them that the students in the arena were ready. "Watch it," the dwarven teacher said, "You will understand." He suggested with a serious expression while looking down at the four of them. "Yes¡­" And after seeing that serious look, he knew there was no need for more words and looked down at the ground where the two groups were starting their duels with- -Boooooooooooooom! An explosion from the right side where the captains were and sounds of metal shing from the left one. -nk! nk! nk! But, there was something strange on both sides. -Boooooooooooooom! There were explosions from the right side where the house captains were fighting. And no, these explosions weren''t caused by some me-type spell. -Boooom! Boooom! Boooom! They were explosions of water. Strange explosions that even though were caused by simple water attribute spells were so potent that even her sword-wielding opponent was caught off guard by how some water bubbles suddenly appeared all through their arena out of nowhere and started exploding with the same intensity as high grade (tier-2) spells. But, they were in no way (tier-2) spells. Their structure, which was visible to the mages for a very, very brief moment, was too different for a high-grade spell like that. But, at the same time, it was so strangelyplicated that even the protective shields that he summoned instinctively at thest moments weren''t actually able to withstand them. But, Captain Alpha didn''t get hit by these sudden water explosions. -Booooooom! He grasped what was going on in an instant, formted a strategy on the spot, moved through the exploding bubbles with his nimble movements, and quickly reached the caster, their captain Uriel, and swung down his Mana-covered sword at her. -Swish¡­ But the sword only cut through a strange mist, missing its targetpletely. -Boooooooooooooom! And to make things worse, as soon as that happened, an explosion took ce just on the spot where he was standing, almost cracking his new protective shields and throwing him back. ¡­ The spectators were surprised at what the hack happened in that brief moment and many of them didn''t notice what had actually happened, but, many of them were recording this on their Mag or recording crystals so they were certainly going to grasp itter. But, for now, those who did notice what had happened were surprised by what they had just seen¡­ but they weren''t as surprised as the students who were watching the fight of their vice-captains¡­ actually, they didn''t see anything. They couldn''t actually see what was happening at all right now in the arena where their vice-captains were fighting. This ce was aplete mess as there were deep scars on the ground, swords, des, and daggers, covering the entire floor of their arena, and arrows, some intact and some cut in pieces, were covering not just the floor but the blue protective shield that was surrounding their area as well. It was strange, so strange that they didn''t even know how to react to this situation right now. -Swish! nk! Swish! It had only been a minute since their fight started and there was not a single person here that understood what was going on. The deep cracks that appeared on the floor were out of the blue and they didn''t even know where the hell those countless swords and arrows came from. They didn''t know what was going on and they weren''t going to understand it either. The things going on inside their arena might also be hard to follow for Alf, the person that had seen all their duels back home and knew what they did during their fights with each other. He knew all that, and back home, he could also tell what was going on even when they were fighting in their own ZONE. But here, in a ce crowded with this many people, there wasn''t a way for him to grasp all the movements unless he was right before their arena. But, that ce was long taken by the house members of their houses. He couldn''t go there even if he wanted to so he was watching the fight of his sister-inw instead. Seeing her enjoy the time with the strange yet unique house captain of the first-ranking house was enjoyable too. Things were fun here as the two of them were going at each other at a moderate speed unlike his big brother and sister that didn''t care that this was just their first day and the first duel in the academy¡­ actually no. The two of them holding back quite a lot, especially his big brother. He had gotten too strong during theirst few years and he was now strong enough to beat two of them, their sister-inw, and the worrier lizardman in mere moments. His raw power had increased a lot in the past few months after he broke through the second Blockage of his Solnova physical body. And yes, both of them weren''t discouraged by this fact one bit. He was his goal while someone she had to defeat before she embarked on the journey to be a true hero. If he was strong, they had to be stronger than him in the way they wanted and achieve what they truly desired. That was their goal¡­ but right now, this goal of theirs, their big brother, was attracting far more attention than their sister-inw Elle, as their fight came to an abrupt end. "I surrender¡­" Nope. This wasn''t him. This was Ca, and there was a sharp sword tip right before her eyes. Chapter 517 Show Of Strength (2) ? [OP: ] Before the start of their battle, Ca and her opponent had a brief conversation about how they should fight. Should they use their usual ways, should they just do the basic one-on-onebat, should they fight with their normal weapons, or should they usemon weapons? Should they use one weapon or more than one like they usually do? How much strength they should use and if they should use skills or not? It was a brief conversation but, Eon just shook his head and requested her to do whatever she wanted. This was their first fight in the academy after all, and she didn''t know much about him, about Lucifer, the vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]. He wasn''t the little brother that she had caught almost every day beforeing here, he was a stranger she was fighting for the first time. She did not know how he would fight, she didn''t know what methods or weapons he would use, but she didn''t know practically anything. He was an opponent she was fighting for the first time so she had to show it that way. And though this had slipped her mind, when he pointed it out, she remembered this fact, calmed herself¡­ and decided to go all out, starting with a moderate speed and intensifying it as if testing how much the opponent can handle. That was her n and her opponent had an obligation to give her an ''honest'' fight. Yes, he would hide most of his strength, and he also couldn''t use magic, Aura, or skills like [Energy burst] or [Talisman paper dummies] anyway. What he could do would be, use his archery and swords if needed but even among the swords, bows, and arrows, he couldn''t use the enchanted things or the higher-grade artifacts. So, he had decided to use his one of the normal bows and a lot of arrows while she decided to use the normal swords and des in her armory filled with nearly countless ones of them¡­ which of course also housed all of her treasured swords that she had gathered during all her time as a swordsman. The gifted swords from her amazing little brother were the most amazing among those countless des. But this was no ce or proper time to use her treasured swords. So¡­ she decided to do the same as she would with any new, fun, strong opponent and their match started when she took out a sword with wind elemental properties and cut off three arrowsing at her from the front in half. -nk! nk! nk! And their fight started as she went in for the attack, avoiding the arrows with her [Wild instinct]. And he shot arrows just the way he would in their usual fights, just that he limited himself to three arrows. He was an amazing archer, one of a kind that even their grandpa couldn''t help but praise highly. He had even expressed a wish for him to meet with the heavenly archer, the third seat of the House of Prism, and not just learn more from him, but teach him his unique ways too. And that was the biggestponent any archer could ever receive from a grand knight such as him. He was good with his bows, those arrows, and his eyes that could see not just the entire area before him but genuinely everything in a vastnd. He could fire as many as twelve arrows at once while being still and even aim at individual targets many times away from the normal archery range. He could shoot six arrows at once in a fast fight like theirs, and he could almost fire three consecutive arrows in a single moment. He could bend arrows at his will, move them as he wants without using any kind of magic or skill, he can urately hit targets absurdly far away from their location, could shoot multiple moving targets in a vast area while being in the center, and he could also move so fast and shoot at the same time that even after seeing all that, one couldn''t ever fathom how the hall that was even possible. He was that amazing, and these were just the basic things he could do with his pure archery. Just the basic ones. He wasn''t a pure archer to be limited to these things that any other dedicated archer can achieve in a few centuries, he was a magic archer, someone that integrates magic with archery. And he knew very well how to do that. Actually, he knew it so well that he had almost defeated their knight captain Sir Mel¡­ but that was a special urrence, and they had to count that entire match invalid at the end. But it was a fine match, and they all had fun watching the two of them. Anyway, their duel was going pretty well until the first few seconds, so Ca decided to increase the intensity and started her barrage of des, countering his barrage of arrows and attacking at the same time. And this was the point where the students, the spectators lost them. -nk! nk! nk! Ca continued using the wind element enchanted sword as her main weapon and continued throwing or using the ones in her other hand to get an advantage over the opponent that used arrows, shooting them at the same time while dodging all her attacks, moving through the big space of their arena to avoid her attacks and predict her movement patterns to have a better location advantage. But even with all those powers he showed, she was faster and had more strength, explosive strength, and agility to stand against them. Her physical skills, [All body reinforcement] and [Wild instincts] were more than enough to stand against six arrows at a time when she had the experience to stand against twelve. And her passive skill [Battle wisdom] helped her stand against this ''new'' opponent that she was facing for the first time. It wasn''t as difficult as it used to be and midway through their fight, she thought she can win this, if she increased the intensity of their fight just a little, she can win¡­ but that was a mistake. -Swish! nk! Swish! Something strange happened out of nowhere. Her opponent took the dagger she threw right in his chest, created an opening, disappeared from his ce, reappeared right before her, and stole the sword from her hand, stopping her momentum abruptly and, pushing her down¡­ pointing her own sword at her. This came out of nowhere and he was bleeding right now, something she wasn''t expecting he would do in a mere duel. But, his blue eyes had seriousness in them, telling her something he had already mentioned during many of their spars where she lost because of silly mistakes like these. ''Rule 6: expect the unexpected, don''t think of winning but defeating the opponent, and don''t lose sight of your target, his actions, his eyes, and his breathing.'' "I surrender¡­" It was her mistake. She made a silly mistake again. She could have died if this was a real battle and not a spar. She knew all that and she also knew that she wouldn''t have given the opponent this kind of opening if this was a real battle with their life on the line. She got flustered when the dagger hit him and she saw him bleeding, something she had hardly ever seen. Her attention was disrupted and for that moment, she forgot the opponent before her isn''t her brother but the house captain that she was fighting for the first time. If she hadn''t forgotten that then, she could have blocked him as soon as he took the dagger, or when he passed through the other short sword flying towards him, or when he got just before her, or when he took her sword from her hands, or when he was about to point that sword at her. There were many chances that she could have used and turned the tables but, now she was on the ground with a sword before her eyes¡­ pathetic. "Next time-" "There might have been no next time, Miss Ca." He interrupted her and extended his hand with a serious look that was shouting at her that she was dumb. "Yes¡­" And she was also angry at herself but she maintained her calm. That was also one of the things she learned from this bastard and her grandpa. Keeping the head cool in all situations as when the head is cool, everything else is too. [Announcing the end of the duel in arena 6. Winner: Lucifer.] [Scanning for the damage¡­] [Ground damage: 12%. Primary shield damage: 15.3%. Secondary shield damage: None. Tertiary shield damage: 0.03%.] [Assessing damage to the participants.] After a green light came out of the ground and scanned the sword-covered floor, the first shield covering the arena that had arrows struck in it, the other shield just outside of it, and the one around the area where the students were standing all glowed in green, and after that, that same green light scanned the two of them. [Damage to one participant found.] [Damage to the skin, skin tissues, and muscles. Damage level: Non-fatal injuries.] [Advising the wounded participant to slowly take out the sharp weapon and use the potions provided.] A unique magic machine resembling a short robot flew into the arena and with its unique expressions, shouted at Eon to sit down. This was part of this training ground''s administration feature, something highly advanced and something that has existed here for as long as this ce was standing. It was normal here just like the ancient tree''swork and star IDs so he didn''t mind the angry reaction of the helper, sat down, and focused his eyes on the other side of their arena where Rein''s fight was still going on as the little helper gently took out a dagger, healed the wound with a potion and sealed the wound like it was never there. Their fight was over, he had won, she had lost, but the fight on the other side was yet to conclude so the two watched them... Right, the spectators were dead silent. Chapter 518 Show Of Strength (3) ? [OP: ] After their match started, Rein first used her personal (tier-1) water magic and spells that were super easy to prepare and even easier to explode. They were normal water bubbles with apressed fog of Mana inside them and when overcharged with more Mana, the bubbles would explode and the energy inside them would release in the form of a shockwave and burst of energy. And there were many of these bubbles so her opponent, house captain Alpha was surprised. But his senses were sharp enough to pull him out of the area of the explosion and help him move through the safe ces without the explosions. And the reason he was avoiding those explosions wasn''t that he can''t endure the intensity of those little sts but the knockback effect of those shockwaves contained within themselves. If he was caught up in them even a little and lost his footing, he would give a fatal opening to a mage, one with water attribute at hermand no less. He knew from that opening act filled with sparking-sting bubbles that there was more to her than he was expecting and there was also more to her water attribute mastery than he could see right now. The spells she was using were something even he was seeing for the first time even after almost having read every single famous book avable on magic in the libraries and markets of the western continent. There was only one meaning if he was seeing a spell for the first time. They were a personal creation. Something the caster had made themselves. Meaning they have the highest level of mastery of that spell¡­ or it could also mean she had learned it from someone that could utilize simple yetplex spells more efficiently than she was doing right now. But that was less usible sounding than the other hypothesis so he went with it and maneuvered through the explosions with his high agility and reached the caster on the other side, brandished his sword, and tried just slicing through the visible barrier covering her but¡­ -Sweeeeeeeshhh¡­ As soon as he sliced through her, or what it seems like her, his sword just passed through the air, as if there was nothing before him and what he was seeing was just an illusion. -Swish! And it was definitely an illusion as he soon looked at the image of his opponent vanishing like a fog, and when he heard a familiar sound of some water des passing through the air from behind, his instincts kicked in and he used his [Side step] skill, avoiding the three (tier-1) water des that were remade into spells baring power close to (tier-3) spells. But they still had structural limitations like the (tier-1) spells. They still had the most basic ''lines'' and only one ''boundary'' to them, just the boundary was absurdly refined and the lines were highlyplex. He was surprised such spells could even exist but he was facing them, and those simple, the most basic of the basic magic spells were, as his senses screamed, deadly. And yes he avoided those spells, but there was nothing to be happy about for him. He had just discovered his opponent could not only use spells of Destruction, and Support series, but Illusion series too. It was rare to see someone use three different series of magic at once in a fight like this but this wasn''t that rare. The rare thing when talking about the series of magic was someone who can proficiently use magic from all six series. But the situation right now was manageable. He had fought with people and beings with more than three elemental powers who used three to five spell series so this girl should also be manageable¡­ or what he thought after avoiding the water des and activating his [Magic detection] skill. "¡­?!" As soon as he activated the (Green) ranked skill, his Mana sensitivity increased and he was able to perceive even the hidden spells all through their arena. And what entered his mind surprised him, no, it shocked him so much that he almost stopped moving and just barely avoided the other water deing at him. There, in the vast training ground they were standing on right now, were more than four prepared spell circles of water, des, ice, spears, and freeze spells. Aside from them, another batch was those explosive water bubbles getting ready in the air all around him. And to make everything worse, his opponent, the caster that was standing just before him a while ago, was now nowhere to be seen. Not even his magic detection or high senses were able to detect her right now and based on what he could tell, the skill she was using to deceive all his senses and magic was no small thing. It was at least a (Blue) rank skill and that was absurd! But he also had no time to think right now. His opponent, even though he couldn''t see, was still in the arena and was waiting for his wrong move. He couldn''t give her the chance she was looking for and there was no way he was going to ept his defeat with just this much. This was a little intimidating, yes, but he had faced worse so he knew there were more than enough things he could do right now. So, he again strategized the n in a quick moment, covered his sword in ayer of fire and wind element Mana, used his magic to create two new shields all around him, and with a quick loss of his posture, he summoned not one or two but four (tier-2) magic circles of fire, ice, wind, and lightning elements around him. His opponent gave him time and he used It to his advantage to prepare for what was toe and, the way he prepared himself, the way he prepared those spells, shocked the audience around their arena just as much as the students watching the duel of the vice captains on the other side who had witnessed something unprecedented. Over there, the two of them had started with something amazing but just after a moment, most of them couldn''t see them or what was happening. All they can see were swords and daggers and arrows that appeared out of nowhere and covered the ground. They had decently also seen the deep cracks on the ground that seemed like made out of a cut from some sharp sword but even that was hard to believe as the power needed to do so would be absurd! But it was true, and still, after all that fight, when the two of them reappeared, the one on the ground was their Lady Ca and her opponent was holding her own sword, pointing it towards her with the same calm expression that he had when their fight hadn''t even started. Almost none of them knew what had actually happened and maybe they will only know it when they see the thing that they had recorded, probably. But still, when their fight ended and they took a closer look at the two of their vice-captain, some could see that Ca still had somewhat of a surprised look while all of them could see there was a dagger right in his chest and blood was staining his cloths now, something they didn''t think they would see at all! They were surprised and there was silence on this side, and though there had been gasps of surprise within the silence on the other side, the silence also turned into something simr to theirs when their captain Uriel reappeared on the other side of their captain Alpha with a smile on her pretty face. A kind of smile that her opponent was never expecting after preparing those spells, shields, and strategies¡­ "You lose, Alpha." -Snap! -Oooooooooooong! -Swiiiiiiiiiin-Booooooooooooooooom. She had a smile that went from her ear to ear, a creepy smile that gave him instinctive chills, and then she snapped her finger, summoning the ultimatum she was preparing during the moment her opponent was doing his futile preparations. And what happened after her snap was unreal in the eyes of the spectating students. First, a magic barrier strong enough to restrict his movements appeared, then the bubbles that she had summoned previously appeared out of nowhere, and after that, six magic circles, four that her opponent had already noticed and two new ones revealed themselves, glowed with new power, and moved exactly above the shield covering her opponent. Everyone knew something was going to happen now, but everything was happening too quickly for them to focus on one thing, but still, her opponent, Captain Alpha knew this was dangerous and he had underestimated his opponent too much. She was far more than just a (tier-3) water mage. She was dangerous! The barrier covering him was sturdy enough to be unscratched even after he used all four of the spells he had prepared! He could use his sword but a strange cold from the bubbles was freezing him inside this barrier and there was no freaking way this barrier was a (tier-2) spell! And there was also no way the threatening power he was feeling right now from above was from some mere (tier-2) spells! It was at least high (tier-3), no, it was a power only possible from almost highest grade (tier-4) magic! But she was only a (tier-3) mage! And even if that wasn''t the truth, she wasn''t above (tier-4)! He knew she wasn''t, he was certain. And he was certain it was impossible for someone lower than (tier-5) to cast such a terrifying spell in that short of a time! He knew what he was seeing was true, there were six magic circles above him, and all of them were about to activate right now. And he didn''t think it was possible before but he could certainly tell from his insight of magic and his senses, and his other skills that¡­ Of these six magic circles, the first one was a simple water spell that would create a lot of water, then the water would pass through the second magic circle that would crystalize it, then after passing through the third one it would freeze, then be small chunks of ice, then these chunks would be bigger as they pass through the fifth one, and as soon as they touch the sixth one, all the energy generated by going through that perfect refinement process would concentrate, condense, and release all of it from a single burst point, ultimately making this spell no less than a (tier-5) destruction spell. There were only three ways to escape this situation, and he chose the most logical one. -Ooooooong! And it wasn''t forfeiting the match. It would be dangerous if he did that and she tried canceling this spell and got hurt. He had lost fair and square, there was no forfeiting, and to mark his defeat, he also had to disobey the warning from their teacher and use spells higher than (tier-2) to defend himself¡­ and he did just that. As the spell took the form of a burst of powerful energy, he covered himself with three (tier-4) fire-wind attribute shields, two of which broke down by the end of this spell. [Announcing the end of the duel in Arena 9. Winner: Uriel.] [Scanning for the damage¡­] [Ground damage: 15%. Primary shield damage: 9%. Secondary shield damage: None. Tertiary shield damage: 3.12%.] [Assessing damage to the participants.] The same phenomenon of a green light covering everything happened again but this time, both of the participants were on the ground, one gasping for breath while the otherying still on the frozen floor. [¡­!] [Emergency! Internal injuries were found in one participant, and signs of Mana depletion were found in the other participant!] [Emergency treatment required!] He had used most of his Mana in this little fight and was breathing heavily, trying to calm his heart and replenish his Mana, while she was on the ground, with internal injuries after doing something so foolish that even her fianc¨¦ and his younger brother watching her from the audience below their arena could only sigh in disbelief at that smiling dumb girl happilyying on the ground. Chapter 519 Expert’s Feedback ? [Eon''s POV: ] As soon as my treatment was over and Rein''s fight was done, I went down, passed through the shocked students who were still speechless, and reached the other side where three artificial helpers were helping and nagging at her as they healed her internal injuries with rare and precious healing stones and potions. She was still on the ground and the students watching their fight below their arena were also just as silent as the ones on our side but in this bunch, the mages were even more still, holding their breaths and not blinking at all, they just stared at the two of them on this duel arena, especially my Rein who had tried pulling out a good stunt but ended up getting hurt. ''Dumb girl¡­'' She couldn''t have been injured had she used that magic properly but if she had used it properly, then her opponent might actually have ended up getting hurt. It was a unique spell integration method that was difficult to perform and even high mages rarely used it in difficult situations. She was a master when it came to this kind of spellbination that required perfectly synchronized timing but she couldn''t use her actual version of this spell¡­ and there was no need to do something this shy anyway! She could have won with simple things if she wanted but, she wanted to show off in a way it wouldn''t seem too absurd. So, as a middle option, she tried using the basic version of this method, quickly did the calctions, made the spells, and aligned them, but during the release, her personal magic circles started using more Mana than she intended, and as she tried blocking that, she ended up in that nearly paralyzed state. She couldn''t move, actually, she could but it would be a little painful, so she was on the ground, thinking back to how she made wrong calctions and how things might have ended badly for her opponent. But she was happy. She fought a good opponent after all, and got hurt during their fight. It was fun but above all, she won. And that unchanging smile screamed her happiness. "You are dumb." Looking down at her as the artificial helpers yelled at her for being stooopid, I gave her the same look an Eastern parent would give to their disappointment. But this disappointment of mine gave me a wider smile after hearing that. "I am dumb¡­ dumb for you of course." No that wasn''t a smile anymore, but a smirk that meant more than what cheeky thing she said. "Dummy, dum-dum." The helpers were done with her and she was fine now so she extended her hands while looking at me with a warm expression that was expectingpliments and, though I wanted to yell at her for pulling out a stunt like that¡­ I couldn''t. She did something unnecessary and got hurt but this yed an effective role to regte our standing among the students. My match with Ca was in and simple but it was too fast for them to properly understand so I knew the effect of it would be very limited. On the other hand, everyone saw the explosion and how it almost broke through three protective spells of (tier-4). Yes, she got hurt while doing so but she did it. Which meant she could do it again anytime she wanted and get better at this during her time in this amazing academy. Not only her foolish actions served as a warning, but they also gave them an idea that though having stronger power, she can be defeated if more people with good foundations worked together. Her injuries, even though unexpected, were positive to our certain n that might just start today, so this was ultimately good. ''And she knew it too well hence, the flirty smirk.'' "Good work." Helping her stand up, I gave her a little hug and stopped her from kissing me again. There were two sses watching this time so the kiss was a big no. Though, she can have a hand kiss from me. "Ummm¡­" And just when our little chat was going on, her opponent, the elder otherworldly alpha came to greet his opponent that defeated him fairly. ''Right¡­ he wasn''t even using half of his strength during this match.'' He was much stronger than people thought and we knew that very well. Still, Rein wasn''t even using twenty percent of her strength in this fight. Just like my handicap of magic, she couldn''t use her superior physical abilities and her scythe. She only had magic she could show and I had my physical abilities so we naturally couldn''t show more than a third of our actual strength. And that was good enough for now. "Ohh! Hello Captain Alpha! Thanks for the amazing fight~." Rein went to him and first bowed, and bowed back ording to amon tradition. And after that, he extended his hand for a handshake¡­ but she looked back at me instead of epting it. "Really? Right now? You want that pending kiss or not?" "Hump! Bastard." She was thinking of ying around once again but it wasn''t a good idea to pretend to ask for my permission just for a handshake. ''She was being too yful right now, haaa¡­'' "Ah, sorry." She looked back and epted his handshake. "I should be the one to thank you. I learned a lot from this experience. I hope we can do it again sometime." "Of course~. We have yet to see the great true strength of Captain Alpha so it''s only natural we would ''duel'' again." She was happy. And she meant it. She wanted to see his otherworldly powers and it was the same for me too. "Haha. I''m not that special. You are the special one. I didn''t expect to see such amazing personal magic spells. Simple in theory yetplex in structure. It is also rare to see someone using three different series of magic at once and I still don''t know what skill you used to vanish but it¡­ was amazing. And the most amazing one was how you synchronized those spells at the end and enchanted their powers this much. I''m speechless as even I had never thought of using such methods in a spar with such restrictions. I''m amazed, and I hope you are alright. Thatst move might certainly have been exhausting." He was concerned but his eyes were observing her, and me, with questions and suspicions hidden deep beneath them. He was good at hiding his thoughts and feelings but not from us at least. It was cute how he was still thinking he was doing good at deceiving us while still knowing we knew a lot about him. It was funny too, and her happy smile was enough for me to know that. "It''s fin-" "Good fight you four!" We heard the loud voice of our dwarven teacher and looked up at the balcony area where the two of them were standing. The three of us were standing together and Ca was walking up towards us so he first waited for her to reach us and then two of them started their feedback on our matches. "Your duel was certainly good! We enjoyed it dearly. Many things were unexpected and surprising but you four certainly surprised us. It was fun, however, there are still a few things you can work on." He looked beside him, and the Orc teacher Sir Scarth nodded at him and took a step forward. "First of all, Lady Uriel." He looked at her- [[ Master! That person is weird! He looks at sister Elle strangely! ]] [[ "Of course he does little one. He can see how she looks and even with her disguised charm, she still looks like her mom." ]] [[ Sister Elle''s mom¡­? Do you mean that amazing person you talk so highly about? ]] [[ "Hmmm. He used to be her friend and seeing Rein must have reminded him of her." ]] [[ Ohhh~! I thought he was another pervert! Hehe, it''s good he doesn''t have weird ideas." ]] [[ "No dummy. He isn''t like those rumors¡­ well, at least not exactly how rumors make him." ]] "You have a good grasp of your magic but it seemed like you were somewhat ufortable during your fight. Your casting speed and uracy were phenomenal too but the spells were a little tooplex. I understand you can handle them well since they are your own spells but if you can''t handle them in a quick fight like this, try using somemon spells when there are no restrictions like the spells being limited to (tier-2). You have a great pool of Mana and its purity, from what I can tell, is amazing too so you shouldn''t have any problems casting higher-level spells if you practice well. I wanted to tell you to try using a weapon that would suit you with magic too as you seem to have a gifted physical body but it is not my ce to say that. I can only suggest it but I hope you do consider that." "Yes sir~!" She shouted with just as much excitement that she does when shouting after Sir Fr¨®r''s special shouts. And they can''t help but shake their heads with a smile. "Alright so, after that would be Lady Ca. You are an amazing swordsman youngdy and I heartily wish to teach you personally. Are you perhaps taking the (Understanding Sword) course this year?" He asked with expectations in his special green eyes and Ca nodded with a happy smile. There was no way she was going to miss out on some of the best courses in this ce. "Then I look forward to seeing you there. Haaa¡­ you have a perfect understanding of the basics as if someone forcefully taught you even the basics of the basics that many young students take years to even realize are important but, considering your family, it isn''t unbelievable. Still, the efforts you must have put to learn them, then develop that unique gentle, knightly, aggressive style of yours, and improve it this much... it must have been difficult. Still, the reason you lost was silly and not something I would expect from someone of your caliber. It was the first time, but learn from this and don''t repeat it. You might hurt yourself if you are distracted in situations like that." Ca looked down for a moment, promised herself to never repeat this mistake, and nodded at him with serious eyes who knew what they had to do. And both of the teachers liked those eyes. They were the foundations she needed to achieve what she wanted. "Then next is Mister Alpha¡­ well, I''m speechless from that performance. The way you handle swords is pretty good but a sword like the one you used isn''t your main weapon, right?" They looked at him with a pleased smirk as if they found him the most fun one among us in a different way. "It is a heavy weapon. Something like a greatsword, right?" They were smiling and Alpha had no choice but to truthfully nod his head. Just like us, he couldn''t hide these little things from those experts. "Well, considering you didn''t use your main weapon, the way you cast your spells, and the way you can assess the situation is admirable. And considering what you showed today, you definitely are good and can do even better with some experience in this academy. It was pretty good and I know you know your mistakes so I believe you will correct them when you have to face a real challenge." It was apliment, and all the students hearing it were shocked. Someone had just received a genuinepliment from a hero! What can they do but gasp with surprise in this situation? "Alright so forst, Mister Lucifer." And atst, he looked at me¡­ and I knew his reaction was going to be something different from the others. "You were good Lucifer. Continue what you are doing and just tell us if you need anything," He nodded at me with a smile and the person beside him, our dwarf teacher, also gave me a simple happy smile. Those words, however simple and confusing for the students, were enoughpliments I could ask from figures like them. It was amazing so I nodded at them with a smile of my own, confusing the confused students a little more. ... "You are a bad person," Reinined as the two teachers asked everyone else to start doing something instead of just standing there like that and the two others beside me looked at us. "We know that, still, not now. Perhaps, after we go back home." She puffed her cheeks like a little girl again, surprising Captain Alpha. "You two certainly are quite something¡­ well, I hope we can get along." "We wish the same." I shook his hand and he walked down the arena with a smile and a great lot ofplicated thoughts of his own. "So, we are friends now right?" Ca asked and extended her hand for another handshake and this time, I epted it before Rein could jump on it. "Let''s have lunch together. We should know more about each other if we are going to be friends," "Certainly." She smiled at me and then looked at Rein who was again angry that I didn''t let her have that handshake. "Uriel. Let''s go sword shopping someday." "Yes~!!" But after shouting that and attracting more attention than before, she gave her a little hug and we said goodbye to her too, saying we would meet again at lunch. Our duels were over and there was still some time before lunchtime so, I begged her to go do something else or talk with people while I do something important. I needed to do something now that Rein had shown that magic and if things went well, we will be able to take down an annoying group by tomorrow. But for that, I had to do some things by myself, and thankfully¡­ she understood it. ''Well, she asked for a reward but we can do thatter.'' For now, I have time till this lecture ends. We have our lunchtime after that and personal sses after that and I didn''t want to do this boring work during that time. So¡­ ''Let''s set mouse traps for some naughty-nasty mice.'' [[ Yeiii~! ]] ''Tonight is going to be colorful~.'' Chapter 520 Lunchtime Meeting ? [OP: ] -WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! -WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Their very first practical ss, a joint one at that, had just ended and the students were going out for their lunch break. It was a cheerful atmosphere all around them and Eon was walking towards a crowd with Ca. As they agreed, they were going for lunch together. Alf, her brother and the most famous mage among the twelve prodigies was with her and he was also talking with Eon, or more properly, with Lucifer and the three of them were walking towards a particr crowd to pick up theirst member. And the sight before them was surprising to them. At least the two of them weren''t expecting something like that just after her first duel. But then again, what she had shown was more than enough to attract all the geeks that loved magic and things rted to magic too much. However, the crowd she was surrounded by wasn''t just a crowd of male and female mages, but also many other students that were either noble ormon people who just wanted to know more about her. But more than anything, the crowd ofdies and pretty boys surrounding her was created by a particr youngdy with her. A youngdy that was just too cute¡­ "So Med? You like apples?" "Y-yes. I love apple pies." "Ohh? Pies? What about peaches and bananas then? They certainly are something everyone has a unique preference for, right? How do you like them?" "H-how are peaches and bananas rted to pies?" The girl had a blushing face as had understood what she meant from those words but she was so embarrassed that she was red like a rose now¡­ and everyone around the two was enjoying her reactions just as much as Rein. She was teasing her with different things as they all talked about worldly things that were not only inappropriate and unfit for the ce they were in but she knew how to put the most improper things into eptable words and this show of her teasing an innocent girl that just wanted to learn more about her was too fun to miss out on. The nobledies and some gentlemen especially liked this kind of thing and the person she was teasing was famous too so this was even more fun. "At least tell us what you like dear~." "U-ummm¡­ I like o-oranges!" "Ptfff." "No, lol, shuuu." "Khehehe. Oranges or melons?" "No, no. Quite." "Ohhh~. Nice, nice. You know what Med? Have lunch with us. My darling makes a reallllllly~ good orange milkshake." She was smirking and the girl found it not as inappropriate as before but, she was innocent, and so was her reply. "T-thank you. But I like whole oranges. Especially ones from the Eastern penins." "Ptffff-haha-ahem! Right, the peaches there are pretty juicy too." "Have you tried the special dumplings from the Wuxia empire''s capital? They have some pretty juicy ones." "Ahem, ahem! Too far people, too far. Some teacher might pop out of nowhere and scold us." "We are simply talking about fruits and delicacies man. Hehe, quite done, and just listen." They all looked at her with another flushed expression that was nose-bleedingly adorable. And Rein wanted to take it further but the three of her lunch partners were there. And from the look of interest her Eon gave her, she knew she had to end this fun session here for the free audience. "Alright, alright everyone. Looks like mypany is here and we are nning to eat in the garden so, see you allter~! I will be taking this little pretty adorable Med with me soe to us if you have anything you want to say, propose, or ask, or¡­ if you want to have another fun chat about the fruits, vegetables, and food from all around the world. Med knows a lot so she will tell us more about her favorites~." Her words were discouraging for some mages and also saddening for others but they also knew they couldn''t stop her or tell her to continue bullying this cute girl from a famous family. She was having fun and they were just spectators who hadn''t even paid for the tickets to this splendid little show. But she was going now, and they couldn''t let this amazing, fun, and pretty person go just like that. "Miss Uriel! Do you use Chatbox?! Can we have your ID?" "What sses are you taking Miss Uriel?!" "Oh, gorgeousdy. Can I apany you to your-" "She is already engaged, dude. And the basic information about her is already avable on academy forums." "Miss! Can you tell us how you were able to pull off that level of magic spell integration, circle alignment, area management, environmental control, designated point release, Mana management, micro time management, and all the calctions required for that?!" "Can I have your ID miss?!" "Lady Uriel! Do you y ?!" "Yes, I do. I also use Chatbox and many other things on the Mag but the house captains aren''t allowed to disclose that for obvious reasons so I can''t give you that but, you can tag me on the general chat forum if any of you have any kind of question for me. You all shouldn''t apany me right now as I won''t pay any attention to you all during our talk but it was nice meeting you all. It would be fun if we can have another talk like this and I know we will have a few asions to do so in the future so for now, excuse me and this pretty littledy." And after saying all that, she grabbed the girl''s hand and masterfully slipped out of the small crowd surrounding her and reached the three of herpanions. "Haaa. Good." She sighed with relief and smiled at the still-flustered girl. She was a little shorter than Rein, Eon, and Ca, almost the same height as Alf even though she was a year older than Eon. Her eyes were dark blue and her pink hair had a hint of dark pink on them. Her face was little and cute and the clothes she was wearing were a little more attractive than the noble students present in this room. They were almost like the clothes some of the high royals wore but she wasn''t from a royal family. In fact, she wasn''t even from a high noble family. [[ "Of all people in this training ground, you targeted little Media? Do you really have some grudge against Sir Nayer?" ]] Eon asked with a look that genuinely thought she was a bad girl for doing something like this but, instead of a yful smirk, a surprised expression clouded her face. [[ "Wait what? She is Media Glory? Grumpy Nay''s granddaughter and not some other Media with the same name?" ]] [[ "You teased her without knowing that?" ]] Now, there was a sudden surprised expression on his face. He wasn''t expecting this kind of answer. [[ "Wait... no, yes! Damn that''s really her!" ]] [[ "Why are you surprised like that? You just saw her a little more than a year ago. You couldn''t have forgotten a pretty face like that, now have you?" ]] [[ "I thought she looked familiar! But I never got the chance to see her screen as she approached me first and had such a cute look that I couldn''t help teasing her! And she looks totally different from that time! It''s not my fault!" ]] [[ "Yes, yes darling but that''s how normal growing up works in this era in the east. But perhaps, this exins the reason she is in your house." ]] [[ "¡­well, whatever. Now that I know she is the same Med as that cold, quiet, gloomy one from that time, it would be more fun knowing what changed her so much and how she became thiiiiiiiiis much adorable~!" ]] [[ "Go easy on her ma''am. I will have to answer Sir Nayer if she is actually bullied because of your actions." ]] [[ "Nah. She''s mine now. No one should dare even think of such foolishness. Only I have the right to tease this pretty one. They would be courting death if they are even having thoughts of doing something like that. And besides¡­" ]] She looked beside her and Med, their new friend, who was looking at Ca and Alfred as if she wanted to talk with them, suddenly flinched like a surprised bunny when she sensed her gaze. "Let''s do the talking after we find a good spot. I''m starving already~!" She shouted that loudly and her fianc¨¦ before them nodded helplessly. [[ "She is strong. One of the strongest among the normal students of our batch." ]] [[ "That certainly is true." ]] She smiled at him, and he smiled back, causing the girl in question to flinch again as she had just felt something weird. But still, she was cute. As cute as that cutest short character you love who isn''t a loli but just perfectly short and in good shape. And she was strong too so, well, she was going to be a fun one to see with this bunch. They were excited to know more about her, know more about how she was so different from thest time they saw her, and Rein was excited to tease her more and see some new reactions from her. It was rare she found someone as fun as her but she did find this one fun to y with. And she wasn''t going to give away what was hers¡­ But this new friend of theirs wasn''t going to face any difficulties anytime soon. This was their lunchtime and they were going to eat in the open garden, under the shed of the great ancient tree with the nts, greenery, fresh clear sky¡­ and attractive blue honeybees. Chapter 521 A Lunch With Everyone ? [OP: ] The five, no, nine people were now sitting in the wide garden of the academy under the shed of the great ancient tree. Five of them were of course Eon, Rein, Ca, Alf, and their new friend Med, and the other four were Quin, Zoe, Chry, and Zoe''s new friend whom she invited to this little lunch, Lizzy. They were there and the atmosphere was peaceful so the nine of them were peacefully eating the lunch specially made by their vice-captain Lucifer. And though others had pretty normal reactions while eating everything decorated on their little pic table, their new friend Med, Quin, as well as Lizzy, was astonished, blown away by the exotic vors, the popping-up explosions, and the uniqueness of the divine delicacies they were eating as their lunch. They wanted to praise the creator of that great art but their hands, mouths, heads, and tongues couldn''t help but continue eating, taking more, and eating, then repeat, and repeat, and repeat. It was quite a sight seeing four house captains and vice captains eating together like this, and it was their first day too so this sight was practically absurdly eye-catching. Anyone seeing this might have been shocked to their bones but it was true, and though anyone couldn''t go close to them because of all the things going around in the area, they could see this sight. And it was already a hotly debated topic on the Mag and the official forums of the academy. Many students wanted to go near them and take proper pictures of what they were doing, eating, drinking, or recording what they were talking about, but right now, none of them could do something like that. The area the nine of these people were sitting in was almost a normal area before they came there but as soon as they finished setting up their things, out of nowhere, the residents of the ancient tree, the famous [Cerulean apis] honeybees started flying around them. They were quite a distance away from them so the group wasn''t worried about them. If anything, it was fascinating observing these amazing creatures this closely. But, this little observation that was fun to this group of nine, was a hindrance to the spectators that wanted to know what was going on in their meeting. They couldn''t get close as the bees were on the ground, collecting flowers that were also avable all around them. But they were here, and thanks to them, the group of nine could talk, eat, and enjoy their time without any disruption¡­ but talking would have to wait till they finish this batch of their food. [[ "Hehe. Lizzy is a cute big brother~. ]] [[ "Kyaaaaaa! Eon! Look at Quin and Med! They look like squirrels~." ]] [[ "You look like squirrel too when you try my new dishes. And you look cuter than a squirrel with food in her mouth. You¡­ look like a little kitten." ]] [[ "Ahem. Eon? In general channel?" ]] Ca nced over at her brother and Alf was looking at his sister-inw, seeing her surprised look that was a rare sight even for them. [[ "He didn''t mean it in a weird way, sister Carry. Big brother was just saying she looked like happy Clover when she is like them, hehe." ]] Ca believed her words as they came from none other than their little Zoe but she still gave him a smirk that said she was always fine with their little things. It was fun for her too, but it was most fun for them to look at the three new people among them. The first one was Zoe''s new friend Lizzy that though was surprised to be invited to a group lunch like this in the garden, was even more surprised to taste the things from Zoe''s vice-captain. They had done their initial hi-hello but the two of them werest to be here and the lunch was already served so they didn''t get the chance to talk for long. Chry and Quin were the first to arrive after the five of them and they seemed to befortable around each other now. And it was good from the perspective of her only friends as she still had to learn a lot about themonnguage here. Chry was nice and tall, and he was a good listener who could read the other person well thanks to all the training from the two sitting with them and he found this simple girl¡­ unique. He still wasn''t attracted to her or anything though. He had one thing he had to do before he even starts to think about stuff like this. And going against a kingdom wasn''t an easy task for them so the preparations were still ongoing. But the time of his revenge woulde one day, and at that time, things would have to take many turns for many of the people we know. And these turns could be bad and good, but no one has seen tomorrow. They were having their first-ever lunch, and just like their ss, this was a group thing where people who had known each other only for a little while had gathered¡­ at least from the other''s perspective. They were eating their lunch and the talk was going on between the family members as they watched their new friends being enchanted by the divine delicacies made from the blessed, experienced hands of their amazing brother. And this was only the start so they were excited to see what cute things would happen by the time they tasted his extra amazing desserts. And on the topic of cute, Med was so cute while eating that the other girls couldn''t help but nce at her with a helpless expression. They wanted to pet this adorable bunny, hug her, kiss her little head, and y with her more. She was cute, and they were watching her eat without the proper manners that most nobles should follow. It was a pretty sight and a surprising sight was seeing Quin, the person they were meeting for the first time but knew she wasn''t from a noble origin, eating so properly but quickly that even some high-ranking nobles would be ashamed before her manners. She was a pro, and though not as good as her, even Lizzy was eating in a quick but gentle way, tasting all the vors of those delicacies, and analyzing everything she could with her other senses. She was like a gourmet, and she was a chef herself so it was only natural she would take great pleasure in tasting fine food like this. It was her first time eating something so simple yet ineffable that not even her mind could process with what ancient divine knowledge this food was made of! She was charmed by this food and the maker of this food who¡­ strangely felt different to her. But it was just a doubtful feeling right now. The time she will stand beside him, and a few other special ones like her, was still far away. It isn''t certain, everything that has yet to happen is always uncertain. But, probably, in a certain future where the world would be turned upside down, she would be in the center of it all with the two people that she was seeing for the first time today. She will not only be their colleague, friend, and partner but also a member of their special family. Many of them there would call her healer Liz, some Lady Liza, a few close ones would call her Lizzy as usual, while the world would know her as (Saintess Alize of Morana). But it was uncertain, and in some other possibility, at some other time after going through some other scenarios, she might even be a kind of catastrophe this world hadn''t seen for the past few eons. She was a child of light whose ancestor was a demon king and ruler of an entire floor of hell. Her fate was unique and had many knots. It was intertwined and full of uncertainties. What she wanted to do and what she wanted to be were all the things that would decide her future¡­ but we don''t know what she would do in that uncertain future. As a matter of fact, we didn''t even know anything about her. And the same was true for all of them, including Zoe who had been with her throughout their three lectures. And yes they wanted to ask her about herself but she was busy finishing all the things on the table before them. So they waited and chatted, and ate with a cheerful expression while... a certain shadow grew a pair of eyes and looked at the scene of these four captains and vice captains chatting away with warmth. And from their perspective, there shouldn''t be this kind of warmth between the captains that were enemies. They had to be at each other''s throats all the time,pete, try crushing each other, and be weaker than the other. These pair of eyes¡­ they were unhappy with the progression going on the very first day of their academic life that was supposed to be full ofpetition, blood, and animosity. They didn''t like it, but when an evil thought crossed through their mind that involved malice¡­ a pair of ruby red and zing pink eyes looked down on these shadow eyes, and in the very next moment, a silhouette of some dark predator bird graced them, smashing away one of the eyeballs, while a bright light from an uncertain tiny lifeform pierced right through the second one, stealing away their remaining vision. The perpetrator did not know what had just happened, but one thing was for certain. There was something, someone, very dangerous among this batch of captains. Or maybe it was someone protecting one of these captains? But¡­ they were surely dangerous. And these dangers would certainly be a threat to their ns as well, so¡­ they had to eliminate them when the fire was still a candle. They can do it. They can deal with any of them as long as they were together. It would be easier if they took care of them one by one too, so they had decided. Their n would be set in motion from tonight and the very first and most threatening ones they would deal with would be none other than¡­ "Pass this to her~!" "Yes." "And this, and this~." "Yes." "And-" "We still have other things to eat after this ma''am. I understand you are excited and they are cute but slow down. They can just ask me directly." "No! I will feed them!" "Huhu, they aren''t your pets, Miss Uriel." "But just look how they eat~. Aren''t they just adorable~?" She was happy, and the others couldn''t help butugh at once, excluding the three prettydies of course. They were too busy eating that amazing lunch and now there was a kind ofpetition between the three of them, and though the people behind those shadow eyes wouldn''t know this anymore, there certainly were things happening behind the curtains, and those movements weren''t covert to the eyes of those little butterflies watching over many areas of this ginormous academy¡­ Chapter 522 Reintroductions ? [OP: ] "Haaa¡­" They finished their lunch, finally. "It was divine¡­" Quin eximed with joy as she said that and looked at her friends. "Thank you for the food." "Y-yes, thank you!" "Yes, thank you very much for letting us taste such fine things. I don''t know if you would befortable with it, but I would also like to know how you made all this." That was Lizzy and she had a genuine look of admiration as she asked that. She really was charmed by his normal lunch items and wanted to learn how he made it and there was no reason for him to deny this positive offer. "It would be my pleasure. Oh, if you are taking Lady Cleo''s (Cooking) ss, we can help each other there too." "Hmm? Actually, I am taking that ss. I would be happy to have someone familiar around." She was surprised as that came out of nowhere but after that positive reply, she thanked him and in their little conversation, he had started his certain long-term n. But its results would only show after a certain little incident. "Alright, so, why don''t we introduce each other first?" Ca spoke up with an excited expression and attracted everyone''s attention. "Yes~. Then I will go first." And after her, Zoe cheerfully spoke up, stealing away all the attention from her big sister. "Yeah, sure. Then we will go counterclockwise. It''s fine right?" She was asking everyone present and they nodded with no hesitation. She was the most leader-like figure right now so there was no reason to deny her simple suggestion. And when going counterclockwise as she said, it would be Zoe''s turn first, then her own, then Alf, Chry, Quin, Eon, Rein, Med, and atst Lizzy. And their little lunch table was circr so their conversation would naturally be audible to everyone. So, everyone agreed, and Zoe started. "Hello to everyone here~. I''m Zoe, and I like to y with others, help others when needed, and do a loooooot of fun things! I also like ying with my gooooood brothers and sisters and they all are amazing~. Apparently, I''m a house captain too so I''m super~ excited to meet everyone! I''m taking (High magic theory), (Energy beast research), (Theoretical cosmology), (Geographical world), (Artifact creation), and (Humanities). Please take care of me if we happen to be in the same ss~." She was taking a (Superior) level course of many humanitarian studies but aside from that, all five of her courses were (Expedition) or (Adventure) level. It was a unique selection but everyone was impressed by the subjects she chose. They were unique and aside from (Artifact creation), all the other courses were mostly theoretical. This choice of subjects said a lot about her and even though her start was vague, they strangely felt nothing weird from it. "Zoe will be Zoe, as expected. Well, I guess it''s my turn then." Ca patted her little sister''s little head and looked at everyone with confidence, especially at the person who had defeated her in their first-ever spar. "I''m Ca, most of you already know me but for the rest of you all, I''m a swordsman. I like collecting swords, actually, my younger brothers that probably most of you know, always say I have more interest in collecting new swords than swordsmanship itself, huhuhu. He''s an amazing person but he''s not here so let''s not talk about him." She smiled at everyone and continued after noticing no sign from her brother in question. He sure knew how to not react to certain things. "I like fighting strong opponents, collecting unique swords and storing them in a unique space I have, and using them during fights. I have countless types and kinds of des but I know there are still countless more types and kinds there in the world. I wish to collect many of them, many of the unique ones on my journey and use them the way they are supposed to. I don''t like having unknown, bastard people around but I like being with friends, fighting, and doing fun things like right now. I''m attending (Superior Magic and weapon practice), (de practical ss), (Weapon Maintenance), (Aura Utilization), (Intercontinentalbat training), and (Weapon Theory) sses. Please take care of me too if we are taking anymon sses." She finished her intro, smiled at others, and after a simr reaction as before, it was Alf''s turn. "Ummm¡­ I''m Alfred. I like magic and things retaliated to magic. First of all, I want to say the magic Miss Uriel used was amazing. I was genuinely impressed and the way it was used was also pretty impressive. It was a sight to behold and I just want to say I want to learn from you if fate ever allows it." Looking at her with an impressed expression and an almost serious look, he requested her and she couldn''t possibly say no to that sincere look¡­ or so they thought. "Well young Alfred, I wish I could teach you but however much I want to, I can''t. You see, those spells weren''t entirely my own creation and the one who helped me isn''t in the academy so I can''t do that." Her apology and answer were twisted and sounded so eptable that none of them had any choice in the matter anymore and Alf epted that denial, continuing with his introduction once again after a light apology. "Haaa¡­ so, I''m a mage. And I want to be the best one out there. I know it will be difficult and take time, effort, and whatnot, but I''m determined to achieve that. I like reading books, so much so that arge part of our house is filled with books. I also like writing about magic theories and examining magical objects, creatures, and phenomena. It is fun, and so is ying, fighting, and learning with all the people around me. I''m taking the (High magic theory), (Deeper understanding of Mana), (Historical magic theories), (Spell building andplex construction techniques), (Superior magic engineering), and (Complex geometry theorems and mathematical models of ancient-modern magic). I wish to learn from you all if we share a simr ss too, thank you." His introduction ended and there was a surprised reaction on many of their faces. "You do love magic sir Alfred," Med gasped with a surprised reaction, and Quin and Lizzy nodded after her. He was taking three superior-level sses all rted to magic and ones so difficult that barely anyone attended them. In fact, the theoretical sses he was taking were so difficult and incredible that older people who weren''t part of the academy specially attended them for their deeper learning. Those sses were mostly filled with the older, experienced mages and there were many times heated debates among them sparked during the lectures. And they attended them just to learn after paying an absurd price so they knew how to get their money''s worth. And what was more precious than new magical knowledge? Nothing for the mages at least. So the three of them were impressed, and all three were mages too so they wanted to learn more from him now. "Alright, then it''s Chry''s turn," Ca said after tapping her little brother''s shoulder and all eyes turned to him. He was probably the tallest among them and had the most impressive physical build so he was a spitting image of ideal knights. "I''m Chryses, a knight under Master Axion. I like listening to people talk and I wish to have enough strength to protect the ones precious to me and achieve a certain goal with all my heart and soul. I don''t think I have anything more than this to talk about so, I apologize for myck of words but I do hope we can get along. I''m taking (Knighthood training), (Aura utilization), (Political science), (State management), (Siege artillery training), and (Art of war). I know they are strange subjects but I liked them the most when going through that long list so, for this year, I''m going with them." They sure were peculiar subjects and all of them were high-level courses so they were certainly surprised. But with a surprise, there was also a dim happy reaction on Quin''s face. "I''m taking the political science ss too¡­" she mumbled under her breath while looking down but everyone there heard her clearly. And she had used themonnguage too, though, in a crude manner, but Chry heard her clearly with his super sensitive hearing so he replied. "Hmm? Then we can help each other out when needed, right?" Quin wasn''t expecting he would actually hear that slow voice and even reply with that gentle response so she was almost surprised¡­ but that didn''tst even for a second as she caught her falling heart and nodded in simple agreement. "Alright then, let''s look after each other there too. I heard the teacher of the ss is strict but very good so it might be tough at the start, but we can do it." He gave her a warm smile, and the others gave them a warm smile. The boy was saying it innocently, but the others were seeing a ship sailing. Though that ship wasn''t departing anytime soon¡­ "Alright then! Quin still has difficulty with themonnguage so I will help interpret her words and feelings. Quin darling, don''t hesitate and speak your heart." Lizzy and Med were pretty sure their new friend Uriel was changing the topic but they understood her reasoning. And they knew she was the only one with actual rtionship experience among them so they didn''t destroy her redirection and the conversation flow resumed. And it was Quin''s turn now, as well as the start of the introduction of the ''new'' people that the others did not know much about. They were going to introduce themselves and tell a few things about themselves, and it would start with Quin. She was ready, she was prepared, she didn''t know what that strange feeling she felt a moment before was, but she sure knew she had to make good friends like Uriel and Lucifer so she started her introduction. And of course, it was in anguage that she was the mostfortable with¡­ Chapter 523 Quin, Med, And Lizzy ? [OP: ] "Mi lok tel zemivoni¡­" "Hello everyone. My name is Aleequinn but feel free to call me Quin." Everyone was looking at the two of them as Quin talked in that unusualnguage with that unusual tone that almost gave them a creepy feeling but they all managed to not be taken away by that strangenguage or the feeling. It was pretty normal for one to feel strange whening across people who originally spoke only a differentnguage than what they are capable of. The difference innguage, however, was only a thin sheet for those who had a broader perspective so they all were looking at her with impressed smiles, listening to anguage they had never heard before. They had never thought they would meet some human, a normal person like them, who wouldn''t know themonnguage or even some nativenguage that they all knew about. Alf, especially, was surprised because even though he was fluent in nearly thirtynguages and roughly knew many more, this was his first timeing across one as strange as this one. It was a unique experience for him and he could feel something unique from the mere words she was speaking, something magical that he felt familiar but couldn''t exactly say where he had felt this feeling from. He wanted to know more about thisnguage now, and though he could have just asked the two people before him, his brother and sister-inw, he could not do so just yet. This was still their first meeting so teaching him anguage that he could tell was more special than they all thought, was not something he could do. Yes, there would soone a time when he would be able to ask them those questions or even more intimate ones that he only asked his brother and sisters. That time woulde soon, but for now, his mage mind had to learn all he could on his own from this unique person who used that uniquenguage. "Tasha mme hiku tokau¡­" "I''m sorry for not speaking in anguage you all arefortable with but please ept my apology and please try to cope with this simple solution. I''m doing my best to learn themonnguage the best I could but even though it is an easy one, it would still take me a few days. I hope you all can help me as I''m not only new to the academy but also to this world." She took a brief pause and looked at her friend Uriel who was reciting all the things she said so perfectly with the same feeling behind them that she couldn''t help but be surprised at how good she was with this trantion thing. Her amazing friend was far more reliable than she thought so she was even more at ease now. "Fatui mira le Ehu fa¡­" "You see, I have been living with my grandpa till now and the ind we lived in was a small ce with not much there. Things were peaceful with the little people we had there but then my grandpa passed away, leaving behind hisst will for me to attend a ce that was the most amazing in the entire world. I didn''t know it before he became one with mother nature but he was an adventurer, probably not a famous one that everyone knew about, but certainly someone who had seen the world more than many others. He was a great man, and I only came to know more about him when I got here. Still, what I know probably isn''t even half of what he might have lived through. A person''s life and journey can''t actually be contained in a limited canvas or a boundary between two book covers, after all. Life is more than what words could contain, what books could talk, or what bards could sing. Life is a unique journey, an experience that has a certain start, an uncertain end, and in between those two certain moments, there is an intangible road of choices we had made, an endless ocean of memories we have collected, and an endless sky full of possibilities we never got to experience. It is unique, has many things that aremon, and has many things that are not. Have many elements that we will take with us and keep in the pockets of our fragile cardigan that could hold many of these elements at the same time, or tear down with a single touch of some other simr-looking, yet vastly different element from what we know, what we carry with us in those pockets. Life is short, only limited to two points named the start and the end and everything in between. But, at the same time, this in-between is something so vast, something so deep, something so profound yet something so simple, it is just fascinating thinking how this ineffable idea of living is understood so easily as a natural concept." She stopped, took a little breath, and sighed as she looked at the open-mouthed faces of most of the people present at their lunch table¡­ There was silence for a moment but they all were looking at her, trying toprehend what they had just witnessed. "Did someone record that?" Then Ca suddenly spoke up and everyone instinctively looked at her, and then around them, wanting to know the answer to the same question. "I did." And just then, Eon raised his hands, showing a purple recording crystal, something too rare and costly to see with someone that was neither a noble nor someone from a rich family like their Med. But he showed it to them, so at least their eyes weren''t deceiving them right now. "Good work. Post it on the poetry and philosophy pages of forumster." "Aye, aye captain." Giving her a salute, he ced the crystal back, more like back under the table, and everyone came out of their daze, looking at the person that put them in that state. "You should do poetry, Quin." "And make a unique page of your own and ask for money to see your new posts every month. You would earn as much as those streamers. Probably more if it is something of this level. The first to suggest that was Chry and after her, the one who gave that good idea was Lizzy. She wasn''t exactly a merchant or someone rted to one but she had good insight and talent to earn necessary money through various means. And her cooking talent helped her most of the time. She had that talent, coupled with a certain aspect about her, and that was the very reason she was able to survive in the hellish slums of the holy kingdom. "I will t¡­ think a-a-about that." It was difficult but Quin answered them while looking at Chry with a smile and then nodded at Rein, and finished her introduction after that point. Rein, and Eon also finished their introductions with small things and things that they had already said in their ss, adding a little something to them to make them tastier and a little unique. Rein didn''t miss any of his suggestions this time so their turn ended finely, so it was their very new friend Med''s turn now. "H-hello! I''m Media Glory, a (tier-2) mage with the most affinity with Null attributes. I like magic, alchemy, coffee, and talking with friends about our favorite books. And I love the epic of burning hearts! It''s the best thing to exist~!" She was too excited as she shouted that and the ones sitting beside her, Rein and Lizzy, were stunned to see that passionate reaction. She was red with excitement, hot blood painting her cheeks with a rare shade that even Rein wasn''t expecting to see from this cute girl¡­ which just made her even more likable! "That book is not just some book but a life! An emotion! A basket full of strong hearts that¡­ masterfully shows the impermanence of our fragile little lives." A sad expression overtook her pretty face and Rein patted her cute little head and hugged her after that. It wasn''t rare for someone to get attached to a story this much, but she was different. They didn''t know what changed her before, but now that the two heard this, they could certainly tell what had caused this drastic change. She was a special case that became one with that story, and it wasn''t something bad from at least Rein''s point of view. It happened naturally, so there was nothing for them to worry about. At least not for a while. "So that is me, and I''m taking sses of (Superior alchemy), (Null magic research), (Theoretical literature), (Insight to taste), (Visual representation of literature), and (Advanced Film studies). Please take care of me too." "Of course I will~." Rein hugged her again, and from the subjects she mentioned, everyone present there already knew what the cute reason behind her unique selection was. And they liked her even more because of that. Who wouldn''t like a rich, cute girl who was strong and talented and also knew what she wanted to achieve in her life? She was attractive with just those cute reactions of her, but this little intro made her even more attractive for them. "Alright~! Lizzy''s turn~." Zoe shouted and shifted everyone''s focus on her new pretty friend, exiting them with her mere voice as usual. Zoe was so special that what she did felt so natural to the new people around her that they didn''t even feel the need to question anything about her. She was as special as usual, but the introduction¡­ or more like the story her new friend Lizzy told them was also unusual, shocking, and definitelynot something any of them were expecting. Chapter 524 Lizzy And Sweets ? [OP: ] "Hello everyone, I''m Lizzy. A bigger healer who likes cooking. First of all, I would like to thank all of you here because this is my first time having people like this around me that I can talk this much freely with. Truthfully speaking, I''m an orphan from the holy kingdom and I grew up in the slums there in my early childhood days. Back then in that filthy ce, I was just like some little kid that had no one to be with and no close person to talk to. But, then I met a certain person that helped me and showed me the little talent I had, the powers I never knew I possessed, and things that I never knew I could do. But then they vanished all of a sudden on a cursed day, leaving me alone once again. I don''t know who they were, or¡­ strangely, I don''t even remember how they looked. Still, I clearly remember their warm presence and that voice that was just too different from any voice I have heard till today. Haaa¡­ I don''t know why I''m telling these things like this but, somehow I feel you all understand how I feel. I owe a great lot to that person and thanks to them, I was able to get out of that ce, earn some money, get a little better life, and when I got to know about this ce, I thought of giving it a try and see if the little unique gifts I have could be honed further, and used in a way that it could help the world. After hearing you all, I at least know even after being of different origins, you all have had your own unique difficulties and challenges in your lives. I know you all are already more amazing than this little young me, so I would love it if you help me with all the things I would greedily ask for, and teach me many basic things that I''m oblivious to. And I''m pretty sure I don''t know many things, manymon things even. Just like Miss Quin. I''m taking (Insight to Healing), (Humanities), (Cooking), (Science of Life), (Makings of support magic), and (Origin power harnessing) sses. I have an origin skill but I don''t know how to properly use any of the innate skills that I have so if you can, please help me with that too. I would be heartily grateful to you all." She bowed before them, and there was a surprise on their faces. They weren''t expecting she would tell them something personal and on top of that, the fact that she was from some slum ce. The reaction she would have gotten from any other group of people would have obviously been something much more different and definitely negative. She would have been cursed, disrespected, or looked down upon if it was some other higher ss group of people but, she knew, and they knew it too, that the group around them was nothing like themon people that they would see or usually deal with. They were special themselves, had unique personalities and interests, and more than anything, they were also house captains that the great ancient tree behind them had chosen from the hundreds and thousands of people. This group was different, and though Med wasn''t a house captain, she certainly was no less than the people around her. Lizzy had even guessed their cute Med probably had the most epting personality. Which was true to some extent too. She was a good person, a young noble that was from a wealthy family and still ate the amazing food prepared by two amazing people like some normal person that was eating the best meal of their entire lives. She was cute, her first friend Zoe was amazing, her big sister Ca was admirable, and her brother Alfred was also very humble even with all his genius and talent. Her fellow house captain Quin was unique and sweet, the one she would struggle with, knight Chryses, was also a gentle person. Andstly, the two most unique people she met today, the one sitting beside her, Miss Uriel, and her amazing partner that created all these amazingly beautiful delicacies was the most ''different'' person she had met today. They all were unique on their own, and she didn''t know why even after living in a hellish ce like that, she could feel the people around her had, strangely but surely, lived through their own hells and are still struggling there, something different from her. Their hells were inside them, while she had escaped the physical hell that bound her for probably not even as long as their hells were restraining them. They were special people and now she wanted to be with them even more than she was previously thinking. But still, she couldn''t ept thempletely just yet. Maybe because of that dirty past, but she was still not ready to ept anyonepletely in her life. She had lost one, and she was still not yet ready to lose someone just as close and special as them. "Aww Lizzy¡­" Rein hugged her from one side and Zoe joined in from the other side. Wrapping her from both sides. "You have suffered. But don''t try to suffer alone anymore. Drag us in your troubles. We will help you wherever you want, dear." Zoe''s words were strange but they were as effective as always. And this hug from her ''friends'' sparked something warm inside the heart of the healer that wouldter spark warmth inside the hearts of the helpless. This moment, this lunch table, would be the start of a unique friendship that would first create many new waves in this great academy, andter, throughout this entire world. But that was forter. Their lunch wasn''t finished yet so Eon looked at this warm scene before him for a moment, and then shook his head with a happy smile. "Alright, alright everyone. Now that we have finished the introductions, let''s have our desserts while continuing with the chat. We only have a little while left before the first personal sses so we should go early. Beingte for the first ss isn''t very good, right?" He was looking at Rein while saying thatst line as he reminded her how she almost wasted most of their time this morning. She also knew what he was saying but she would do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and this fianc¨¦ of hers wouldn''t have any choice but to wait for her with that same cute expression he had this morning. It was the greatest fun seeing him like that for her, and the smirk she gave him told everyone about this fact. "If you are thinking I wouldn''t do anything if you do something like today every day then just remember the special ice cream, your favorite choctes, and that certain thing you love so much are all in my possession. Do something like that again and say goodbye to them for at least a week." He was smiling as a reply to her smirk and the smirk on her face instantly transitioned into a frown of dislike. "Bastard. Hump!" She turned her face from him and moved a little towards her cute Med. She was trying to act angry but that just seemed cute and funny to people around her so they all startedughing. "Huhuhu." "Hahaha¡­" "Hehe, Uriel is cute." "Hmmm, true true." "Usual Uriel, hehe." "Mhmm." Med also wanted tough like everyone but Rein in was holding her, and her cute anger was a punishment for Med as this new friend of hers was strangely stronger than she looked. That grip and arms were quite something¡­ "Alright then. What sweets do you all like?" Eon asked, and everyone around him swiftly shifted their attention from the two girls and looked at him, and shouted in almost perfect harmony. "Hot ice cream~!" "Orange milkshake with fresh ice cream!" "Strawberry cake!" "Mint chocte chip cookies for me." Those were Zoe, Ca, Alf, and Chry, and their answers were instantaneous. And though not as quick as them, the other three also spoke up after them. "Ummm, I like ice cream too but prefer the rolled ones that chef uncle used to make with fresh strawberries." Med was finally able to speak up when Eon forcefully pulled Rein away from her and made her sit there properly. And this scene surprised everyone there again, but they were used to this peculiar couple by now. "I like hot chocte the most, and one that''s still warm and served with fresh cream is precisely something I would like at this special moment." Lizzy was smiling at Zoe and everyone else but others were too focused on Eon to respond to her happiness. "For me-" "I already have the thing you talked about yesterday." Quin was speaking up but he cut her off midway and her eyes widened as soon as she heard him. "Really?! But how?! The ingredients-" "Don''t underestimate the inventory of countless things he has, Quin. This bastard has almost everything and if he doesn''t, he somehow knows how to get it. Hump! Bastard!" Quin was surprised again and Eon was giving his partner a helpless look as if she was a headache he couldn''t help but enjoy. "Alright." But then he shook his head with a sigh that wanted to kiss his partner and started taking out things from his storage space, his unique white crack. Chapter 525 A Special Sweet ? [OP: ] "A special, hot ice cream for my captain," he took out a bright red ice cream bowl that looked stunning and delicious, took out a unique looking lighter, and after lighting it, as soon as the me touched the bawl, it was set ame. "It''s not the best I can make, but I hope you enjoy it." "Thanks~!" He handed the zing bawl to her but the blue mes lighting the ice cream weren''t burning the content itself, which enhanced its appeal by many folds. "A fresh ss of milkshake for Ca." The ss he took out this time was already pretty attractive and the fluid inside it was so fresh and thick that as soon as he took it out, the atmosphere was filled with a fresh smell of orange. But he added a slice of orange, and a scoop of ice cream of the same vor before handing the amazing-looking ss to her. And Lizzy was surprised to see him prepare this with those quick movements. She was almost mesmerized once again. "Strawberry cake for our amazing mage Alf." This time, he handed the te of cake directly to him without any additions. And there actually was no need for additions as the te already contained the best-looking cake with the most fresh-looking strawberries inside it. Hindering this perfection would have meant disrespecting the cake itself. "Cookies for the knight Chry. Tell me if you need more." He took out a box full of cookies and a ss full of warm milk and asked Quin to pass it to him. And the cookies looked the most normal among the previous things, but they will know their richness when they try them for themselves. "Ice cream rolls for cute Med. They are made with fresh strawberries too so I hope they are to your liking." He handed her a container that held the rolled ice cream that almost looked like flowers from the outside. "Hot chocte made from fresh chocte for Lady Lizzy." He handed her the big cup of hot chocte after adding some cream on top of it, and she epted it while still looking at him as if he was some kind of magician that had a bag that contained everything in it. "Andstly, the special sweet that my dear friend Quin loved." He took out a te covered with a round dish and ced it on the table. "I tried making it the way you described but I know even though I tried my hardest, I could never produce the same thing your grandpa used to. It is outside of my capabilities but I tried my best. And I hope you like it." Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened the round dish and revealed another te that contained a few things. Some of which were round, some shaped in certain shapes, and some in uncertain forms. They looked like some simple things and they were made of simple ingredients like some unique fruits and dry fruits, processed milk products, and other sweet ingredients. From what they could tell with their appraisal skills and senses, there certainly were one or two unknown ingredients making these things, and though the rest were normal things, in the teary eyes of Quin, they were nothing less than a miracle she couldn''t believe was real right now. Her fingers were shaking as she looked at those things, and she knew what she was seeing wasn''t an illusion. It was real, there were really the sweets she loved before her. And she couldn''t control her hands, and mind that just went ahead, took up a diamond-shaped whitish silver thing with a golden varak on it, took a tiny little bite from it¡­ and the tears lingering on her eyes became too heavy to just hold on there anymore. "He made it a little less sweet." The tears glistened down her warm cheeks as she looked at her friend. "But I like this sweet version more." She was smiling, while the tears flowed down her cheeks continuously. She was happy, but the sadness washing over her was understandable to the people around her¡­ "I''m grateful you think that way." And the friend that gave her this unique outburst of emotions, only had a warm smile to answer those iparablepliments. "Thank you. Thank you, Lucifer." She wiped the tears with a handkerchief Chry handed her and cleaned her nose. And she was giving it back to him after cleaning it with her magic, but as in usual tales, he told her to keep it. She also epted it without any hesitation and asked him, as well as everyone around her to have a taste of the amazing sweets. "He loved these sweets that he first tasted in a certain small, hidden kingdom in the east. He always used to say that ce was heaven on earth even though it was small, and if I ever get the chance, I also want to go to this ce. He was infatuated with the sweets there, and also their unique culture, festivals, and people. Haaa¡­ though I don''t know where it is as he never told me that, but still, if possible, I want to go there. And if possible, I at least want you two there." She was looking at the two of her very first friends, Lucifer and Uriel, while maintaining that same warm smile. And the others understood the three close friends, and the special bond they shared¡­ "Mmmm~! This is good!" Ca eximed as soon as she ate the orange ball-like thing that seemed to be made out of tiny orange balls. And it was sweet, so it set her taste buds on a new kind of fire. "Yes~! This one is sweet too! I love this~!" And Zoe followed behind her as she took a little bite from the uneven roundish brown thing that seemed to be covered with powdered sugar. The two brought back the cheerful atmosphere they previously had and now there was a new excitement in the air as everyone tasted their own sweets as well as the ones others were willing to share. And Ca, Eon, and Med didn''t like sharing so when Rein hindered them, they were angry at her for making such bad jokes with their food. Their sweets were their sweets. And she could have something else if she wanted but their sweets were not for sharing¡­ but they still failed to stop her from having at least a little bite from their desserts. She was vicious and they were even more angry at her, but the most angry one among them was Med who got almost half of her ice cream rolls stolen away. And the reactions of anger, sadness, and crying she made were¡­ just priceless. They were adorable and worth the mischief but they weren''t good when maintained for longer, so Eon gave her more of it, and this time she ate them while hiding behind Ca and Zoe on the other side. It was cute, and the cheerfulughs in the atmosphere were undoubtedly priceless. ''They'' certainly didn''t like this progress but they were determined they could destroy them, and that unusual bond they had formed. Their ns were in motion already, but this progress would still be unhindered by any external factor thanks to theplex workings of the person who had made all the food they had eaten today. Their first-ever group lunch was a critical sess and it was going to continue, bing a tradition of most special people of this batch of students. They would dine together almost every day and the number of people dining with them would only increase further, and probably by the end of their time here, the entire batch of students would be part of this group lunch program¡­ But it was uncertain too, just like many other possibilities. Their lunchtime was almost over now, so it was time for their personal sses to start. And Eon and Rein had two sses they would have to be apart from each other today. But thankfully, there was an alchemy ss between those two sses so they were fine and excited to attend their individual sses. Eon and Alf had a (High magic theory) ss together while Rein and Zoe had a (Energy beast research) ss together. Ca was excited as she was going for a de practical ss and as it was just after their lunch, she was full of energy, ready to beat down any and all of the strong opponents she could face there. Chry was going for his (Knighthood training) ss where the world and other students would know that he is a direct knight of the famous master Axion for the first time today. Quin was nervous as she was going to the (Language of Present and Past) ss where she would be by herself but she was relieved as after this ss, she would have (Political Science) and (Spirit Bonding) sses so she would have Chry and Rein with her. But she had to face a ss all by herself¡­ or perhaps not. She always had her threepanions with her who only her two friends knew about for now, so she at least wasn''t alone. Med and Lizzy were pretty chill as they had simple sses of (Null magic research) and (Insight to healing), but they were excited to see how they would teach the things they already knew about and new things that they didn''t know were possible in this great academy. They all were excited about their sses, and the other known characters like Prince Alpheus and udius, Princesses Isabe and Luna, Hide, other prodigies, and house captains aside from the eight of them, and the boy Zoe and Chry saved during their entrance exam were simrly looking forward to seeing the others in the same ss as them. Chapter 526 High Magic Theory ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Alright go." "Hmm¡­" "Go, ma''am." "Yes." "It''s only a little while. Go have fun." "Alright." "Ok, then I''m going." "Yes, go." "You have to release me first. Let go so we can go, and thene back after the ss." "Yes, yes. One more minu-" "Uriel." "Ok." She let me go at the end and I looked at her, and Zoe as they stood on the corner of a corridor leading upstairs. They were going to their own sses and we had to go to ours. And for a certain strange reason, she wasn''t leaving me. ''Childish old-'' -Dhum! "You just thought something weird didn''t you, darling?" She was smiling at me after that hard p on my back that really hurt! ''How the hack does she even know when I''m specifically thinking of the word old?!'' "Erase those weird thoughts and go studyplex magic theories with mages." She kissed my cheeks and took a step back, and waved at the two of us. "Take care of her captain." "Don''t worry," Zoe smiled at me and it was a good, reassuring smile so I was at least relieved. Thankfully, she had Zoe, Quin, and Med in two of her sses so aside from the mostplicated ss she was in, the weapon understanding ss, I was relieved that nothing too bad would happen in the rest of the two sses. ''Hopefully¡­'' Taking a step forward and returning her kiss, we said goodbye to the two of them. It was a theoretical ss so it was fine and she can show off all the knowledge she wanted there and it would be alright. ''A few others there would know more theoretical things about the beasts anyway.'' But that was until the topic isn''t about how one could defeat those energy beasts. She knew how to do that better than anyone else even for the creatures that don''t exist in today''s world anymore. She was abat expert after all. That was her stronger aspect between the magic and the scythe. Still, it didn''t mean she could use her amazing magic any less effectively than her scythe. She was just as proficient in both, but she used her magic through her scythe. Just like how I used my magic through my bow and arrows. Anyway, she was good in physicalbat and she couldn''t use her physical abilities, at least her scythe during our time here, at least not until something totally unexpected happens. "So¡­ master Lucifer-" "It''s fine. Just call me Lucifer." Alf and I were going to our magic theory ss on the eastern side of the academy castle and there were many students around us going to their sses themselves. There was a cheerful atmosphere as this would be the first ss for the subjects of their own choice so they were excited like us, and after that wildfire-like news of eight of the captains having lunch together, it wasn''t unnatural for him to call me by my name directly. It would be better that way rather than still addressing me, someone people considered amoner with lowly background, with respect like that. "Right. So Lucifer. Why are taking high magic theory sses? Shouldn''t you go with something better?" He was asking that because apparently, the teacher for this ss was a famous person that though had a great way of teaching, was someone that gave importance to the origin, background, and one''s true talent. He was famous for targeting themoners in his ss so there were many bad rumors about him going around. ''But at the same time, some of the most famous high magicians of the current time, who had amon origin, are what they are thanks to all the difficulties they had to face because of him.'' He wasn''t a bad person, just that his unconventional ways weren''t much epted by the students of this academy. "It''s fine. I personally think we will have fun in his ss." I gave him a certain smile that, as my dear little brother, was more than enough for him to know that something was going to be very different in this batch''s ss. I was going to have fun, and he knew when I desired fun, the consequences were always even more fun for the bystanders. "I''m looking forward to it then." He nodded with a smile that was also enough for me to know just how excited he was. [[ Master, it seems like they have someone strange among them. ]] [[ "It''s fine. They aren''t a threat anyway, right?" ]] [[ No~. How could anything be a threat to master when I''m here~. Hehe. ]] She was as cheerful as ever, my strong little partner. "We''re here." Alf stopped before a certain room that was visibly different from our ssrooms. From the inside and out too. There was no door but instead of big shelves with awards and trophies on the sides of the door, there was a statue on the left side that held a blue, glowing crystal ball. On the right side of it was a transparent natural crystal. Both of these objects were special attributes to this magic ss and their purpose was to filter out those who were eligible for this ss and give a test to someone who wanted to attend the ss even with their nonpatibility with this ss. ''The crystal ball tested the Mana pools and Mana capacity one held, their naturalpatibility with some other energy, and their ability in processing the spells. The crystal, on the other hand, gave a test to those that didn''t meet the basic criteria suited to this ss ording to all the data it get from their ID stars. It was a system for those stubborn people that wanted to be an oddball and didn''t give shit about others that thought bad of them. And they are the cool people.'' But there was no need for the two of us to take the test as we were well above the basic critical for this ss. -Oooooooooooong. We just had to walk in after cing our hands on the crystal ball, and thankfully I used only a little bit of my Aura in this process or else the Solnova might have broken the ss ball- -Ooooooooooo¡­! -Crrrrrrrrrrack!!! "Huh? W-what? I didn''t even¡­?" I heard the sound of the crystal ball breaking as soon as I took a step inside the ss and looked back as my dear little brother had a surprised look covering his face. "Haaa¡­ it''s alright. Come in. The artificial helpers will rece it. Just don''t forget to tell this to the teacher after the ss ends." I doubted something like this would happen even if he tried holding back. His amazing mind was so powerful with magical calctions that I''m surprised every time I see it. He was amazing back when we met for the first time that day, but he became far more amazing than we had thought. ''And then he reached (tier-4), started creating his own unique spells, found his [[( Perspective )]], something that took even me a whole two years while staying with my master and took his (Folding) spell casting method to a length that belonged entirely to him. And I know for those not having a mind simr to his, they would have to at least be headmaster''s level to mimic what he could do.'' The time he shows off his true magic skills shouldn''te anytime soon but it would be fun having a spar with him. "Hey¡­ aren''t they?" "Oh, my? To see the two of them together¡­" "What is he doing here? Isn''t he a knight?" "How is that lowlymoner apanying young master Alfred? The audacity of that bastard¡­!" "In our first ss, he said he wanted to be a magic archer even though he can''t have a Mana nucleus because he has hexa elemental affinity." "What? Doesn''t that mean he will die if he awakens a Mana nucleus? Holy fuck?" "Kekeke. My heavenly insight was right. There''s something strange about that person." "Oh lord¡­ how far the world has fallen for us to see such a cruel sight." There were less than a hundred students in this ss and from what I knew, there weren''t more than a hundred and eleven who would attend this one this year. And most of them were either noble young mages with sses, bookworms that only had magic in their heads, people with talent that wanted to improve their foundation of magic, and a few familiar faces. ''Prince Alph, Princess Luna and Isabe, and the one that lost to my Rein today, Captain Alpha.'' They all were sitting in their ces and they noticed the two of us as soon as we walked in. Prince Alph had definitely noticed us way before that but only looked at us when we were walking up toward the seats at the very back. He had also nodded at Alf, a signal to normal hello, and Alf nodded back, knowing full well that he knew who I was. We had gotten pretty close over thest few years so he knew he was more special than he looked, but even this amazing brother of mine didn''t know about the pinnacle skill he possessed. ''But at least he knew how to behave around someone he had never met before.'' We still weren''t even close enough to share any secrets or show him the strengths we possessed so it was only natural that our friendship would start with this academy. "Nice to see you here too, mister Lucifer." "Feeling is mutual. I hope you enjoy your ss." Captain of the current greatest house and someone who probably had the most revealed strength among the students, Alpha. He was quite a peculiar person. But that aside¡­ ''Princess Luna. I wonder how she feels about him after how much he hindered her during the entrance exam.'' He had used all the strong people and especially prodigies, and even in them, especially this witch Lady, Princess Luna, to get that absurd score that we were only able to get after going to that secret dungeon and defeating that near-impossible target. I knew from that subtle expression that she at least was angry at him, and he knew it too so he should do something to make it up to her or¡­ ''A witch''s wreath is no good. I have good experience with it and I would always suggest one to not incur it. Ever.'' He would be a fool if he didn''t know that, but I at least believed he wasn''t one of the many in this ssroom. Anyway, so, we sat at the very back, and apparently, Princess Isabe was sitting just beside Alf. And don''t get me wrong, I''m only hoping good for my little brother, but I would love to see how they progress. We were on the left side of the ss and I was sitting on the outer corner while she was on the other, and this sitting arrangement was pretty good. I was looking forward to this ss, just like everyone else, and after a while, when the teacher, the old elf with silver, short hair, and a long goatee, endowed with avish mage outfit, holding a wooden staff with a red, blue, and yellow glowing crystal ball, walked in, everyone''s attention was focused towards him. "Alright new bunch of students. It''s your first day and first personal ss so¡­ get ready for a surprise QnA." And not long after, the look of excitement, fun, and seriousness, took a turn and mostly became a frowning, confused, or shocked one. Chapter 527 Surprise Quiz ? [Eon''s POV: ] The teacher was an Elf and it was definitely not their usual behavior to joke around. They were mostly serious when they were doing their jobs and the teacher that walked in also was genuinely serious, I can tell from that smirk on his face. "It''s a simple oral test so just answer me if you know the answer or don''t say anything at all. Though, if you do decide to talk and the answer isn''t something I would like, then you can spend the rest of this ss outside and have fun." His blue eyes were moving across the room, looking at the people that he found amusing or eptable and also the people that seemed of humble origin and were also not as special as his standards. But he was excited, I can tell again, because his eyes were looking at me a little too much, trying to read me, see through my screen, and fathom the powers that I possessed. But he was naturally not getting much of anything. He might be able to sense my Aura, a bit of Mana but my Mana nucleus was perfectly concealed with Solnova. There was nothing higher ss about my way of dressing up, and there was also no noob feeling to me that other students with simr characteristics as me here had. He could see there was something unique but couldn''t pinpoint what that special thing was¡­ but he had this little surprise test to figure it out. "Alright, the first question to the house captain of the [True dragon]. How is Mana weaving rted to the strength of the magic." He was asking the first question to Alpha, another person who wasn''t wearing some attractive clothing and was rtively normal looking but special. "Mana weaving is the process of creating the spell from the most basic elements to its release. It is a process at the end of which, as a result, we get the magic circle that represents the magic that we would be manifesting in the form of change, phenomena, or removal. The process of spell weaving is directly rted to the structure of the spell, and the structure of the spell is directly rted to the strength of the spell. Not only the spell of two simr tiers but different structural constructions produce a different result from the other, this structure also determines their strength, release patterns, and other characteristics. Simply speaking, the spell weaved with a better structural bnce andplexity, its formation which is directly rted to the kind of spell it is used to channel, and its affinity with the individual caster, determines the output which is, simply speaking, the result of what and how we want to change what already exists." He stopped after saying that and looked at the smiling teacher who looked at him with a new epting gaze. "Good, good. Next, Captain of [Turtle defenders]. What is the final integral result of a spell circle made with three separate elements with a numerical structure that looks something like this." He lifted his hand and a in white magic circle appeared on it, surprising everyone with how it was only made of circles and no lines. ''Magic circles have two elements, Circles and Lines. Though magic casting without a circle is possible and happens widely, this is a theoretical ss that is mainly focused on the theory part of higher-level magic. So there were mostly only going to be theoretical discussions in this ss.'' But they weren''t expecting to see a rare magic circle with only circles. It looked simple but also strangelyplicated. And to tell a long, difficult mathematical calction just from a look wasn''t something many of them could do. And the students in the ss also thought the good-for-nothing Prince of Roxana would also just shut up and pass on the question instead of doing something foolish. But he did something foolish and spoke up, surprising everyone that thought like that. "It would be the total of the second, third, and first circle when taking the sixth one as a center and the fifth, fourth, and sixth''s when taking the first as the center. Taking a different point in space as a center, the answer would depend on the integrated calctions of the magic''s element and properties but taking all of them as A, B, C, D, E, and F, we can say that it would be sigma (A+B/D-F) upon C+E." Many students in the ss were surprised. Many of those surprises were from the people that didn''t know the answer and thought whatever he had said was wrong, while some who did know the answer to the question and could tell what he said was right, had a surprise of unexpectedness. They had thought he was just a good-for-nothing Prince that mostly just cooped up in his castle and didn''t do much. But the story was different¡­ maybe he was hiding what he was truly capable of all this time. "Right, but I should have specified this structure is three-dimensional and the center of it is the north pole from seeing from the front." As he said that, the structure in his hand which was only made of six circles until now, transformed into a three-dimensional structure with the upper tip of it glowing in a light blue. He then looked in our direction, but not at me but at the one sitting beside me. "Vice-captain of [Fascinated mages]. What do you think the answer to the same question would be when assigning six major elemental attributes to these circles like this, and specifying they are the lowest power of (tier-1) spells." The circle in his hand which was previously in white, glowed with red, blue, green, brown, yellow, and ck but the tip still remained unique. It was a three-dimensional structure and for any other students, I would say many mages below high level, this question would be near impossible to answer but the one he had asked was far above thosemon high-level mages when it came to mathematical calctions like that. ''And three-dimensional magic structures and circles are his specialty so¡­'' "It would be the central integral bracket, integral of sigma (fire+water+wind/earth+fire+water+wind) plus¡­" His answer was long, and with each passing moment, everyone was getting a greater absurd look than before. They believed if the one answering was Alf, the prodigy dubbed as the greatest young mage of the era, the answer could never be wrong. But from the answer they were hearing, it was just absurd to them how he could calcte all that in mere moments, even absurd that there was a smile on their teacher''s face. And it was a smile and not a smirk like the one he gave to everyone when he first came in. It was absurd in itself that he received such reactions from an elder mage, someone that was one of the few that were far above the general magician''s level. "Good. That was the perfect answer I wasn''t expecting to hear on the first day. Your current vice president from thest batch was the quickest to answer but even she took three minutes toe to an answer eptable to her, and even that wasn''t as perfect as that. Good. You get a ss point for the answer. Next, the famous elementalist Miss Isabe. borate on the elemental spirit summoning magic circlemonly used on the western continent." "It''s ineffective from my point of view actually, but¡­" She first expressed her opinion but gave a perfect textbook answer that was the best one can give, and the teacher was happy with that answer. It was good, and the atmosphere of the ss was getting better as they let go of the shock they had received after Alf''s answer. The teacher was asking questions to everyone randomly but if one looked closely, they could tell the questions he was askingrgely depended on the areas the students werefortable with. As a teacher of the academy, he already had his unique teaching methods, and though his questions were something the students could answer if they knew their own field of expertise, they weren''t as simple as something normally asked. Not everyone here had read countless books like some of us, had minds like some of us, or had skills like some that could help us with the answers. Many of the students couldn''t answer the kind of questions they were asked so intend of gambling, they just decided to stay quiet. And yes, there were some exceptions who spoke their mind or answered with their own unique life experiences, thankfully no one was too foolish to say some crap and go out of the ss. If anything, those who couldn''t answer and decided to stay quiet were good people as because of them, we got to know the answers to those questions from the teacher himself. And his answers weren''t something one can find in books so it was good stuff. It was also a good experience listening to the answers from the other students. It told me many things about them and helped me decide how useful they would be for certain things. ''Ah, and I was especially taking notes of those in my house. We had to put them to good use to regain the lost glory of our house, after all.'' Anyway, time passed and the teacher was asking everyone questions, and everyone''s turn had ended by the time he finally looked back at us again, and this time, he was looking at me. "Vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]¡­ can I know your reason to attend this ss?" As I thought, instead of directly receiving the question, I was faced with a personal question, something that happened for the first time in our entire lecture. And everyone was looking back at me again, looking back at us, just like how it was in our previous sses. It was peculiar, but I had a question to answer, and curiosity of a (elder) mage to quench. So¡­ "I like magic, sir." Chapter 528 Surprise Quiz (2) ? [Eon''s POV: ] Everyone was looking back, the teacher had a smirk on his face again, there was a boiling hot silence in the ssroom, and everyone had a unique feeling as they looked back at me. Some were from my ss, some were from other''s ss, but the rumors of the eight-captain lunch were widespread, and so was the fact that I defeated the great swordsman Lady Ca. There probably was no question I was strong, and there was also no question that I was good with my weapons. But the magic was an entirely different subject. At one time, things would have been different if Rein was here. She defeated Captain Alpha after all. And though she received an internal injury in the process, she did create a spell strong enough to break almost three (tier-4) defensive magic shields with mere (tier-2) spells. But I was different. From what they knew, I wasn''t a mage and I would die if I awakened a Mana nucleus thanks to my hexa elemental affinity. But they also knew I wanted to be a magic archer regardless of those difficulties. So there was no reason for them to deny that I liked magic. "But is liking magic enough of a reason to attend a theory ss like this? Do you believe you will be able to keep up with everything that is going on? Do you have a proper foundation to even attend this ss?" He asked again, and these questions were precisely aimed at finding out the basic things ording to which he can ask me questions and find out more about me. But they were simple questions and so were their answers. "I believe having attraction towards whatever field one wants to pursue is the most basic element without which, even high ranking people in their individual fields would be nothing but empty shells. And as for me being able to follow the ongoing ss, rest assured sir. I''m prepared to put in as much effort as required to not hinder this ss. And I trust my foundation and ability to remember, so you can rest assured." My voice was confident and I even gave a few good points to him to continue his questions. "Hoh? Your ability to remember, ay? Do you mean you have a good enough memory to remember everything happening in the ss and learn the things even though they might be too difficult to understand with simple memories?" "I believe so, yes." I nodded at him and the smirk on his face widened in an instant when he saw the calmness in my eyes, the confidence, and that clear resolve. "Alright then let''s test this im you so boldly make, young vice-captain of [Wisdom phoenix]." And I knew the questionsing at me from now would be nothing less than a profound, rapid-fire test. "Answer as quickly as you can from the first things from your memory." "Yes." "Have you read [Total understanding of theoretical magic] from Sir Quidich?" "Yes, I have." "Then how many chapters are there? How many pages, and what are the names of all the chapters?" "Thirty-three chapters, a thousand and ny-six chapters with just words, hundred and thirty pages of illustrations, twelve pages of basic introduction at the start, forty-two pages of ending page appendix containing summaries, bibliography, and umon words, and the names of the chapters are¡­" I answered his question and in an instant, the faces that were looking down on ''amoner'' had fallen wide open, the ones that had no interest in me and were reading whatever was on their desk now had wide eyes of surprise, andstly, those others who knew something was different about me were looking at me with a smile that knew something exciting was going to happen¡­ but this was just the start. "Hmm. First page, first line." "The book of my life¡­" "The unique words mentioned on the three hundred thirty-third page." "Fol Nitxuoton, G Frutonis, and Xoulous shimmmet." "Third chapter''s fifth page third paragraph second line, fourth word." "Thus." "What was the fifth rule mentioned in the ninth chapter?" "Contradicting linear formations are always nonparallel." "borate on it." "Linear formations that are made of two opposing natures but equal structural properties cannot be parallel to each other¡­" "Hmmm. Then what are the ending lines of the book?" "The magic thus ys a great role in the world''s¡­" "From your opinion, is the twelfth theory of perpetual transmission of Mana correctly presented there?" "No." "Then which book do you think best exins that theory?" "From my perspective, it would be Alist''s [Understanding Universal Laws: How Do Things Work]." "Hmm? You have read that? But isn''t it a far higher level one than what we would start with?" "I like reading sir." "You like reading, huh? How many books have you read then?" "It''s hard to tell sir, but it''s well over a few thousand." "¡­oh? Isn''t this peculiar¡­? To see someone so young with the knowledge of thousands of books? Good, good. So, do you remember everything from all of them?" Now that was the end of the rapid-fire questions. And from that point, I knew, it was another shock therapy period for the students attending this ss with us. "I¡­ probably, yes." The smirk on his face calmed down at my answer and he looked at me with a serious look. "Do you get headaches regrly?" "Yes." "Are they too much or bearable?" "They are manageable. I have learned to cope with them." "Do you take any medication for it or have you learned through your knight training?" "The training. I don''t like medications much and our bodies as more than capable enough to handle all the internal problems." "Do you use mental fortification? You definitely have a skill for that but do you also use your Aura and body energies to calm those sudden bursts of headache or are you able to control them to some extent?" "I can control them in normal situations and if they are too sudden and too severe, I have created a mental schema to partially block them, and then I channel the Aura to fortify the specific areas around the epicenter of the headache." "¡­fascinating." He looked at me with another smile now, a warmer, almost pitiful smile that he was giving someone for the first time in probably a very long time. "It was a hundred and eight years ago that we had one such as you, child. A pitiful one that cannot forget." He spoke those words directly into my mind as if using advanced telepathy but it was different from how we used Celes''s connection. It was as if he was speaking normally but he had blocked everyone else''s hearing except for mine. It was unique, but the emotions behind that voice were certainly not something I was expecting from a teacher like him. "And you are hiding many things from what I can tell, just like the Mana you are concealing. It isn''t easy to notice even for me but the Mana circuits throughout your body cannot be concealed with just that unique energy, young boy. You would have to overflow the Mana circuits with it instead of wrapping it around them. But it would be extremely painful so do it when you are free and have someone who can look after you around you." He sighed after that, and the silence that seemed to have taken away everyone''s hearing vanished. "That is a really gifted memory you have there, young boy. But it is also a curse that is undeniable. You have the qualities and qualifications and I could only imagine how much effort you must have put into the things that you have right now. It is admirable. I''m looking forward to what cool things you show me during our time here." Seeing him like that, that smile, his smirkless face, his words, and the normal expressions of the people like Alf, Prince Alph, and Captain Alpha were so surprising to the people that even the arrogant ones couldn''t help but openly show their looks of surprise. The ss was shocked, our surprise quiz was over, but the ss had still yet to conclude so the teacher pped his hand, and the unique vibrations attracted the attention of everyone around us. "Alright, everyone. You all are fine and good. Some of you are extra special while some of you are not quitepatible with this ss from my perspective but I will observe you few for our next six sses before making any decisions. For those who have answered today''s questions correctly, good work. For those who didn''t answer, try speaking whatever is on your mind during our ss. And for those who just said things from your experiences, work harder and at least know what the question is so that you can mix the experience with theoretical knowledge. We will now start with the ss and the first topic, just like the first question from today, will be about magic circles, the most basic medium one uses to create, edit, or destroy phenomena, or in simpler words, cast magical spells." That was the start of our lecture, and though full of wide eyes and open mouths, this one was at least better than the lecture my dear little sister and fianc¨¦e were attending. ''Haaaa¡­ that weird girl.'' She wasn''t the only difficult one there. This time, they were faced with pretty unusual ssmates and a teacher that was some of the most peculiar ones in this academy. Chapter 529 Energy Beasts Research ? [Zoe''s POV: ] "Hello~." "Hmmm?" "Hello~." "H-hello!" "Hello~." "Hey, captain!" "Hello~." "What-¡­ oh, hey." "Is there any reason to do this?" "Yes~. A very profound one!" Answering the simple question of my sister, friend, sister-inw, fellow student, and house captain, I returned to what I was doing. "Hello~." "Hello~!" "Hello~." "Ummm. Hello?" "Hello~." "Hello, gorgeousdies. How goes-" "Hello~." "Ptfff. Yes, hello." We were walking towards our ss on the second floor of the academy building and right now, we were walking in the big hallway that wasn''t crowded with many people. Our destination was naturally the energy beast research ssroom on the northeastern side of the castle and as we walked towards our ss, as always, I was saying hello to everyone~! It was a usual thing I did so many of the students were already used to this thing by now. And yes there was a deep reason to do this, but mostly, it was something I did because it was fun! "We are here Zoe. Let''s go." "Yes~!" I could see some more studentsing towards this us from the other side and I wanted to say hello to them too but we had arrived, so I just waved at them, and they waved back, confused as to why I even did that. ''Hehe.'' "Where do we s-" "Hello~ everyone!" Everyone looked at us as soon as I said that and though there were a little more than fifty people here right now, not everyone was that shocked by this greeting of mine. "Hello, Lady Zoe." "Lady Zoe! Hello~!" "Tsk." There were many reactions from the students present but the mostmon reaction was ignorance. ''They ignored me~. Hehe, cute people.'' But there were many that greeted me back and I waved at everyone as we sat on the very front seats. It was sister Elle''s and big brother''s usual way to sit at the very back but he wasn''t there so she had to sit at the front with me~. And this ssroom was different from our homerooms too so there was a unique sitting arrangement. In our homeroom ssrooms, the seats were divided into two sides, the left one and the right one. Both sides had three rows of long seats where three to six students could sitfortably. But in this ssroom, there were no two sides, and the ssroom itself was smaller than the other sses. But, different from many other sses, this ssroom was made to show the students many different things about the energy beasts and their habitats, so the entire room was made with a special material, was covered in special enchantments, and they had even used runes to make this one as perfect as it was right now. The walls of the room were white but they were shiny, almost as if metallic. And the ground was the same, but it was ck. There was no ckboard in this ssroom as we would be seeing things directly but the students here didn''t know that for now. They actually didn''t know many things, and it was better to not know than know too much. "Haaa¡­" I sighed, and sister Elle looked at me with surprise as that sigh hade out of the blue. "Everything alright?" "Yeah. Just had a thought." She looked at me with narrow eyes as I had said that with a warm smile and her next words were obvious, but I still waited for her to say it. "Do you like someone, Zoe? There doesn''t seem to be anyone proper in this ss aside from Prince udius though?" This sister Elle of mine was cute. It was no wonder big brother loved her that much. "Hehe, of course, I don''t like anyone. And don''t say there is no one proper in this ss like that. From what I can tell¡­" I looked around the ss, and the way I looked at the world, the world in my eyes, the unique world represented in many colorful elements, abstract shapes, and materialistic forms entered my eyes. ''The room was made of blue color mixed with many other colorful particles, there were some red orbs in the corner of the sses, hidden beneath the blue light, and everyone in the ss also looked unique from others.'' My sister Elle looked the same as she looked when we first met, but the boundaries she had were now sharper, and more vivid, and the dark night sky full of colorful stars she possessed back then, was now a vivid, abstract shape that though seemed endless, was certainly prettier~! Then there was Prince udius, someone who fell for someone he could never have, and also someone who was some of the most miserable among the many I hade across in this short life of mine. He had light, he was made of light. But there was a thinyer of darkness covering his moon-like heart. There were colors inside him, colors brighter than others, and colors more sincere than most others. But they were shrouded in a dark curtain. A dark curtain that wasn''t his own, and its owner was also unknown to anyone. It was also unknown if he will ever find someone to lift that curtain and reveal the light he possessed¡­ But there was light, and light always finds its way. ''But I hope he doesn''t have to go through the same thing he had gone through once again. He deserves something. Something better, someone that can finally give him what he longed for so long¡­'' He was pitiful and lonely, and still, he hadn''t lost his light. Which was admirable. He was definitely amazing, but then there was the person that sat at the very back, his head on the table, his pink hair reminding me of my aunt Haze. He was the most special after these two, and his true self that I could see was filled with an endless green garden, with only red flowers so vivid they resembled blood, and above it a sky so¡­ limited, that it felt as if even the winged bird soaring through it could be caught with an extension of one''s hand. It was strange and unique, and gorgeous, and at the same time, dangerous. And it was still a little blur, so he had many possibilities ahead of him. ''I should tell big brother about this one. But, not now.'' His ss was ongoing right now and his teacher had just announced they would have a surprise test so there was no need to disturb him right now. And our teacher was on her way too, so we only had time till she walked through the corridor and reached the ss. It would be fun seeing her and learning from her but before that, there was one more person in this ss that was interesting. "Uriel. Can you introduce that person to brother when you have time?" "Hmm? Who- oh? ¡­ohhh? How did we miss someone like him?" "Probably because the change is new, like very new. Almost as if the person changed overnight. You know¡­" "Possession, you say? Interesting¡­" She was smiling right now, a smile of interest so rare we hardly ever saw her use it for someone from outside of our family. It just showed how interesting this person was, and he would definitely be helpful to him so, as his house captain, sister Elle had enough reason to do the introductions. -Step. Step. Step. Well, our teacher was here, and her footsteps, not something too loud, were strangely intimidating for the normal students hearing it. They were unique, not heavy, not sharp but, almost like a hunter, a hunter that was walking towards its prey. They were inducing fear in the hearts of many students right now, but as soon as she actually walked in through that doorless ce, a flower garden bloomed in the small ssroom, making most of the hearts beat wildly, painting many cheeks with a blush, and fixing their eyes at a certain ce. ''And that certain ce wasn''t her cleavage or her big breasts but her bare legs that looked too hot to ignore.'' But though most of the eyes were focused on those dangerous legs, some still sane ones like us were definitely seeing her normally, and we knew from that smile she had, those poisonous smirking teeth, those three snakes wrapped around her neck, and that ferocious aura around her that, she was a hunter¡­ and we were her prey. "What up children~! How ya doin''~?" Or probably not. Chapter 530 Vivian S. Homer ? [Rein''s POV: ] The teacher that walked in was hawt! And by hot, I mean burning, sizzling, boiling hot! And the three snakes wrapped around her neck made her even more hawt! *Rough breaths* "Uriel. She''s our teacher¡­ and those snakes are already married to each other. You can''t have them." "I know. Still, they are sexy!" Zoe was fulfilling the role of my darling by reminding me of those unwanted things but at least she was smiling in understanding. She also agreed those snakes looked cool on this cool teacher, and there was no denying it! Maybe it might be intimidating for the students here but they were cool! They were definitely as cute as the president''s mythical Ocagi! "Huhu, ya two girls seem to like these cuties?" She looked at us and as she turned her head in our direction, the three snakes, one yellow, one green, and the other light blue, all also turned towards us. They looked cool, and it was fun seeing those sharp eyes, those hissing tongues, and that smile they all had. "They are cool~! Just like you, teacher!" I couldn''t help myself when they were looking at me with that interested look. Snakes were some of the coolest reptiles after all~. "That so? Do you want to greet them?" "Yes please!" Everyone in the ss that was mesmerized by her legs finally came back to their senses when I shouted that and looked at us, more precisely, at me. They hadn''t noticed her before because her legs under that pretty andfortable dress, that were killer¡­ and I mean it literally. They could kill and definitely had killed many during their lifetime. This teacher of ours was famous¡­ not her snakes but she was some of the most famous magic beast experts in this entire world. And her expertise wasn''t only the energy beast research. Mainly, she was known for something else that was also rted to the energy beasts. ''Lady Vivian S. Homer. The hunter that had hunted most of the beasts people can name. And that included all known types of slime to even the draconian species.'' She was a mage, a weapon expert, and a tamer, but more than these professions, she was a hunter in true meaning that had mastered the art of hunting. She was famous throughout the world, but she taught a theoretical ss in this academy so it wasn''t as famous as her actual work-rted stuff. And more than that, she wasn''t as active as she used to be a decade ago. ''In the prime of her career though, she was so famous that people on my battlefields talked about her many times, and her achievements were well known throughout the continent. She was almost feared by many and moms used her names to scar their children and put them to sleep.'' -Ptsssss¡­ -Ptsss. Ptssssss. -Ptssssssss~. The main reason I was attending this ss was also that I wanted to learn from her, see her for myself, and get close to the person that was known and feared as (Huntress of Pawn). "Hello~ to you too." The ss was looking at us as the teacher put her hand on our desk and the three snakes, who were apparently a very, very, very rare species called (Megalits) that can grow to be veryrge creatures of (Indigo) rank. I don''t know where she got three of these cuties but they were adorable~! -Ptssss¡­ ptssss? -Ptssssssssssssssss? -Ptsss?! Ptssssssss~! They had a diamond-shaped head and their scale-covered bodies were so sharp any weak creature merely touching them would get covered in cuts. And they were poisonous too. So poisonous that their poison was a very rare material used in the production of miraculous medicines. But they knew how to control their body parts and poison so it was safe to touch them. Others didn''t know this though, so they were afraid of these kiddos. "Oho? They like you already? That''s new¡­" The teacher was surprised, well, it would naturally be surprising to see her children y happily with someone else. But I knew how to handle reptiles and my natural affinity with poison was also pretty good so they liked when I touched their little heads and caressed their tail parts. It was a sensitive area and if not handled well, they could be aggressive. But at the same time, if handled right, one can befriend these amazing creatures rtively easily. "Hello~." And Zoe was just too naturallypatible when it came to energy beasts and especially birds. I had seen it many times in our time together but, just like how they are attracted towards little Anna, they couldn''t help but get drawn towards her. ''And it was also different when it came to Zoe.'' Energy beasts¡­ be it the unranked creatures with a little Mana in them or the high-ranking special creatures with uniqueness like no other creatures even of their same kind, all were different from the normal animals. They were special, possessed something special, and all of them had twomon factors to them. ''Attraction and submission.'' It was natural but as a creature of nature, there was only domination or subordination to these special creatures gifted with unique powers and qualities that made them different from all other creatures. They would either be one with their surroundings and ept a leader to walk behind, or get stronger, and make others kneel before them. It was thew of nature but when it came to attraction towards the other intelligent species like humans or other intelligent humanoids, it was a pretty simple matter. They either liked one with a good affinity with nature or nature''s certain element that they also possessed or those with something special about them that drew them toward them. This attraction varied depending on their many factors but to put it simply¡­ ''Energy beasts liked me because I was a witch, someone like them in certain ways. They liked my darling because he possessed affinity with all six elements which increased his overall affinity with nature, and they instantly felt fascinated by this. They liked Anna because she had a very high affinity with nature itself. And even though she hadn''t awakened her elemental powers, she had an affinity with five elements and Arcana, something closely associated with higher-ss energy beasts. They liked someone like our teacher because of her affinity towards not only nature but also the creatures of nature, the energy beasts. They felt a unique kind of attraction to her, and it could be an attraction, sometimes a feeling of submission, or simply curiosity. But it was different from what they felt from us.'' And then there was Zoe¡­ someone they willingly wanted to submit before for no great reason. ''It was as if submitting before a ruler or parent figure or, probably, submitting themselves to a god.'' It was peculiar however many times I saw it, but all the energy beasts were instantly respectful towards her. And many times, they themselves didn''t know the reason for it. My ownpanion old crow was like a servant in her hands, and many times, he didn''t understand why he was even doing what he was doing. She was unique, and even right now, her uniqueness remained the same as the three snakes that were like cute yful kids in my hands, were like disciplined, obedient children standing before their teacher, parent, mother, or probably master. They were attracted to her, yes, but they also felt the absolute need to not do anything that she wouldn''t like. It was fascinating, and seeing them like that was also cute~. "Can we have them for now teacher~? Please?" I looked at her with pleading eyes and though she was fascinated to see her children behave like that before Zoe, it was fun seeing them like that for her too- "What a fucking annoying bunch." Someone spoke up from behind and we looked back at the veryst seat from where the voice hade from. It was surprising for everyone that were already shocked by us but no one was expecting to hear curses as loudly as this when the teacher was right there. "You got any problems pink head?" And he had cursed at me¡­ that son of a bitch cursed at me my Zoe and these little cuties! There was no way in this unholy hell I was going to stay quiet! "It''s been over five minutes and you are ying with those dangerous snakes as if they are little children. And every other fucker here''s just watching you now. They were watching the teacher''s legs when she came in like they were some jewels and now they don''t even fucking know what is happening. I was here to learn about the beasts so that I can stay alive if faced with them, not see this annoying y where two girls are ying with deadly snakes. For the world''s sake, they are dangerous beings that can kill every one of us here any moment they want. Why are they even allowed here?" The one speaking all this was a pink-haired punk. And he was looking at these snakes with a frightened look as if he couldn''t even bare the sight of them. He looked weak, and from his screen that was not much special, I can tell he wasn''t that special. But there was the factor that Zoe found him interesting so I didn''t know if he was really someone capable enough to mask his screen like Prince Alph, but the audacity of this bastard¡­! How dare he speak like that about these adorable babies!? Chapter 531 Her Solution Test ? [Rein''s POV: ] "What''s your problem, bastard?" "Nothing bitch. Just shut the hack up and let the teacher continue with the ss. I want this to end already." "What did you just say, you sonovabitch? Say that again." "Bitch. Give. Those. Snakes. Back. And. Let. Ma''am. Start. The. ss." "Haha¡­ hahahaha! You-" "Alright, you two." I looked back when I heard her voice and her pretty face covered with a delighted smirk entered my eyes. She was really having fun with whatever was happening but we couldn''t just start a verbal curse war in her ss like that. I knew it wasn''t good but that bastard had sessfully ticked me off. And he was still looking at these little guys with a disgusted look! This bastard¡­! "Alright, alright girl. Calm down. I understand you can''t bare his look and words and it''s fun seeing young people fighting like this. It almost gives me nostalgia. Hahaha. But, this isn''t the right way to fight. You should fight, I want to watch a fight in my first ss too, but since we are in my ss, the method of fighting should be corresponding, no?" -Snap! She was smiling, that basted was showing that clear disgust, the ssroom was in a confused state, and the snakes also didn''t like that person at the back so they were hissing at him as if telling him they didn''t like him. But as soon as teacher Vivi snapped her finger, a b of white rock same as the walls sealed off the entrance, and the room glowed in a new light. And this light was blinding so most of the students covered their eyes, while the rest of us saw the normal-looking room we were in transforming into a vast grasnd with a clear sky above, and many trees at a distance. "Wow¡­" "Seeing it for the first time really is quite something." "This is how an artificial reality ssroom feels? I wasn''t expecting it to be thiiiiiis real." "Right? I can feel the winds and the smell of grass." ''A ssroom made for students to experience the real deal¡­ for a so-called theory ss, this really is exciting.'' The ssroom had turned into a different ce and it was almost like we had been teleported to a different ce. Everything felt real, even the touch of wind on our skins. It was fascinating. "Wee to the Great ins of Adanca, the northern entrance to the forbidden zone known as the original paradise of the energy beasts, the great forest of Kamut." "The great forest¡­?" I looked beside me, at my little Zoe, with surprised eyes and she looked back with a smile, and of course a spark of sadness. This great forest, the central area of it more specifically, was her birthce and also the ce my darling met his master and her mom, and also the ce he learned many things he knows, and also the ce that became the reason we met. It sure was surprising hearing about it and even more surprising seeing this ce near that special ce, but, as he had always said, that great forest, be it the greatest ce he could have ever been, was also a hell that showed him darker things than a pile of corpses on a battlefield. ''We will go there when the timees, but this grasnd before us right now wasn''t that forbidden zone. It was only the ce from where one can enter that ce, and then get lost for eternity.'' He once told me he met another ancient tree there that told him about the four exists of that great forest and also how he made his first friend there¡­ ''Fern¡­ he often wonders how she might be doing, expressing how that meeting gave him enough strength to meet that ancient willow tree, and how thanks to that old willow''s gift, he was able to survive that newborn demonic creature, and finally meet the person that holds the greatest ce in his life.'' I wanted to go there, see the ces I had only seen through his memories, meet the beings that helped him, and thank them for doing the great things that they didn''t know about. ''But that was a story for that ''eternally uncertain future'' as he says. We were in a theoretical ss right now and there was a bastard I had to take care of.'' "Alright~ you two. Tell me the strongest energy beasts you know the most about and we will have the two fight each other~. I will even give two ss points to the winner but-" "That''s unfair!" Everyone looked on the right side as soon as we heard that voice and this time, it was the special person Zoe found. "Why do only two people get such a chance?!" He objected with that loud voice and it certainly made sense. There was a dispute between two people and the teacher was trying to resolve it in her own way¡­ or was having fun but she definitely didn''t want a verbal battle in her ss. It was up to her as the teacher of the ss what she did but giving two people a chance to see how this virtual room system worked on top of giving the winner ss points would certainly seem unfair because all of it had actually started with his curses, for which we should be punished. ''Whatever was happening right now was confusing to many, but well fuck them.'' "Hmmm? What''s up, sweetie? You don''t like that only two people will have fun? Then what about this¡­" Now, there was a wide smirk on her pretty face, her red-ck hair dancing with the artificial winds, and her sharp blue-like eyes looking at not just the boy that had spoken up but also the entire ss. "Everyone who wants to y with us will tell me about the strongest energy beast they know, we will create them here, they will fight under your ownmand, and the winner will get three ss points and a date with me~." She chuckled after saying that while hiding her pretty lips behind her hand fan, and just when everyone was being cheerful over this new opportunity especially since the date thing was added, everyone felt a sudden sense of danger and were stunned¡­ -Tap! "But remember cuties. You have to at least roughly know their natural habitats, habits, preference for food, natural enemies, physical and biological characteristics, the racial skills they possess and the special skills they can possess, and a ce you think you can find one of them. This naturally means you can''t just foolishly bring up some divine, demonic, or draconian species at least without knowing those things about them." She was serious now, her eyes said that, and the energy we felt, the presence of her sharp authority, was more than enough for everyone to realize this was a game that wasn''t just for fun. It was also a test to check the understanding we had of the energy beasts, and the fights we would have were also totally dependent on how much we knew about the opponents and how to take advantage of them. ''It would have been more fun if we could fight them ourselves but even the creatures would also be just illusions so there was no need to get much hyped over this. But one thing was again certain¡­ "You are gonna die bastard. And death won''t be painless¡­" "Same to you bitch." That bastard had a smirk on his face now, a smirk that was confident enough that he actually was thinking he could beat me. ''Funny bastard!'' He still had that look of fear when he looked at me and the cute snakes with us. And though that look and his confidence both were ugly from my perspective, that smirk he gave me after the teacher''s announcement was even more disgusting. "Alright then, who is taking this chance to show off their great knowledge?" She was excited now, that look of excitement making her seem even more dangerously pretty. ''And that shade of red lipstick looked perfect on her lips¡­'' A total of ten hands rose up in this ss of fifty-seven excluding the two of us, and thankfully, Zoe wasn''t participating in this little ''test'' of ours. ''There was no chance for even someone with a dragon to win otherwise.'' But she wasn''t participating so I had a chance to win this and crush that unknown bastard and the one that had possessed someone like some novel character who seemed to be in need of money. "Alright then let''s start from the back~." She knew exactly what she was saying but that aside, she started with that bastard and everyone looked back, a simr scene to how the entire ss looked back at us. ''Haaa¡­ I wonder if my bastard is having fun.'' "What beast do you think is the strongest, little one?" She looked at him with a smile, I looked at him with anger, and the three snakes with us were still angry at that bastard but they were now resting with Zoe, happily sleeping with adorable expressions. But the bastard smirked at me and that fishy smirk wasn''t pleasant¡­ "I think the strongest energy beasts are the eight original divine beasts but I don''t know much about them so for this ''test'', I would like to choose an evolved [Origin Dracoudines] that has adapted to demonic energy, aka catastrophe 3D6EMP." "¡­oh?" The teacher looked at his smirking face with a surprised expression as if she had just heard something she wasn''t expecting here. "That bastard¡­" And he really was a fucking sonovabitch to bring something like that up in a petty dispute like this. ''But just the fact that he knows information like that shows he really isn''t as simple as he looks.'' Still, he was a bastard, and his foolish actions¡­ were enough to widen the smirk on our pretty teacher''s face. Chapter 532 Catastrophes ? [OP: ] "You know a pretty good name young one but, do you think you really know much about the being you talk about?" She looked at him with a smile and half of the ss was confused while a little minority was stunned to hear something they weren''t expecting. And most of them didn''t even know what actually he was talking about. The thing they all were shocked by was the name he had spoken of just now. [Origin Dracoudines], some of the few famous origin beasts that were famous because of their enormous size. They were origin creatures and some of the most unique ones thanks to their unbreakable defense and mountain like size and as a few people who were truly interested in the energy beast research in this ss knew, they weren''t creatures that even advanced books contained much knowledge of. The creature was little known to the ones from the higher upper-ss thanks to the rumors that a family in the eastern continent had one as their familiar. And some others knew it because of the old written legends that portrayed this creature as an offspring between a World Turtle and a Dragon. But still, the avable books didn''t contain the information that the teacher had asked for as the creature itself was more of a legend to normal folks, and information about it was regted by the higher powers of this world. But the boy that had first cursed at their teacher''s snakes had again dared and spoke a name that even some of them took a while to remember. And the smile on their teacher''s face right was enough for them to know what would happen to that bastard if he couldn''t answer her question. And he was definitely going to get punished, most of them thought that, but¡­ "Current habitat: east end demonic ins, central area, near first gate entrance; basic habits include uncontrolled rage and aggressive hunt of any being in a hundred meters around it, strange narcolepsy that puts it into exactly six-hour long slumber, advancements of roughly ten kilometers every month, and purification of all the demonic energy around it. The preferred food of his race is radiations from sunlight, moonlight, and starlight but as an origin beast without a master, it consumes any energy it can get from any source it can find. Their natural racial enemies are original mythos, [Hydra] and [Kraken] but it is reported by Robert M. Rthurors that [Griffins] show a unique animosity toward them. However, catastrophe 3D6EMP has adapted to the demonic energy and even though it is strictly confined to a demonic territory, its aggressive nature towards all lifeforms makes it a threat to all of the world and so is targeted by all of the higher powers. It''s physical and biological characteristics¡­" The boy recited all of it like some expert in simple terms and the smile on their teacher''s face widened, while the frown on Rein''s face depended. The bastard knew more than he should and revealing all of it in a ss meant it was technically fine. But the rumors the student council will have to work to erase would be a tedious task. This wasn''t a problem on its own but they will have to deal with it so that something greater doesn''te out of it. And¡­ if the mess was already this deep, there was no way for Rein to hold back anymore. She wasn''t going to do anything too difficult that her darling would scold her for, but now that someone had given her a challenge, there was no way she would just back out now. "Hahaha. To think I would have someone who has this kind of knowledge. You are fun, little one. What''s your name?" "Nova, ma''am." "Cute boy''s cute name. Alright then~. You can have Grex. It has a pretty cool name but it''s mostly known as Grex among us." She was happy and the ss was dead shocked. They weren''t expecting she would allow such a creature and they also weren''t expecting someone to know all of those things that he had spoken just now. All that information should mostly be confidential but he said it like it was no big deal and however pissing it may be for the students, this was their loss if they were going to face a being they had only ever heard about. And as a result of his deadly first attack, many of the students already gave up on this little test and bitterly bit their lips in anger. A nobody had just defeated them without knowing anything, and he would have to pay for that. They would make sure he pays the price for this¡­ "Aw¡­? So we will only have six people now? Well, that''s fine too." She smiled and went to the next person that was still participating and there were only six including the two from the start. The first one had chosen a being most of them didn''t even understand the meaning of; the second one chose a [me drake] a historical being that had taken manybined powers to defeat; the one after that chose a [Divine swan], a being that had only ever been seen by a few fortunate ones, and then it was the turn of that unique person even Zoe found useful. "So young one, what do think is the strongest energy beast that could win you a date with a pretty old me~?" Their teacher mischievously winked at him and a strange expression of confusion clouded his expression instead of a flustered one. Which most of the others obviously found strangely offensive. "I-" But he didn''t mind them and was just about to speak up¡­ when he suddenly stopped as if he was stunned. "Hello? Boya? You alright?" The teacher was confused when she looked at his stunned self and it was strange. It was so strange that thinking someone had cast a (Pause) spell on him would also sound usible. But he blinked a few times just after her voice and came back to his senses. "Ummm¡­ yes. Sorry, this happens sometimes." He was covered in sweat by that time and it seemed as if his eyes were glowing with a unique colour but it didn''tst more than a moment so everyone thought they were just seeing things. Or some also thought that the boy might have used some kind of skill but they didn''t know what kind of skill. And most of them also wouldn''t ever know about it. "You alright? Need something?" The teacher asked but he declined again and after she observed him and found nothing wrong, she shook her head and asked him to continue. "Ahem! Alright so, I would love to see a [Aquario Scythus Majin] with the pinnacle skill of [Purity] with my own eyes and would be honored for my life if I could fight a great being such as Drex." He said that humbly but what he had said earned surprised expressions greater than the one from the boy named Nova. "Are we allowed to give any creature skills of our choice? Isn''t that cheating then?" "Hey! You can''t just give them skills as you please!" "You are talking about pinnacle skills-" "Do you even know what you are talking about?!" Some girl was shouting but a louder voice from behind, a familiar one they wouldn''t forget after this ss, cut her off and everyone looked behind again. "Do you even know-" There was a shocked expression on his face and seeing that shock was shocking for others. But there was a strange calmness on the face of the one that had spoken before and he cut him midway with that same calmness. "Catastrophe 6D21ECG? The most probable devil of Meronics Ind? Well, why not?" He looked back at him as if telling him if he could have a confidential creature as its battle beast then why can''t he? He was the one to think someone wouldn''t know about this particr being. Actually, he himself didn''t know about it a moment before but he knew now, and it was all thanks to¡­ "You bastard!" Rein shouted while looking at him with a poisonous look that wanted to just jump at him and p that calm look on his bastard face. "What do-" "You bastard!!" The students looking at her got chills and he was the same. And he could feel that held-back hint of bloodlust from her, and that was more than enough to partially stop his heartbeat. He was shocked to see that look on her and he wanted to ask her why she had that look but when he tried speaking, she just cursed at him and he felt another pulse of that dangerous feeling. "Miss I-" "You think I don''t know?! You bastard!!!" She was angry and her anger was understandable to her little sister beside her. That boy, that new person possessing someone else''s body, had a skill that can look into the future, and he had nced into the future just now. And whatever he was saying right now, the creature he was mentioning, was something she was going to say and use to torture that bastard at the back. But he imed it first, and if he had looked into the future far enough, it was natural from his confidence that he knew all the things she might have said about this creature. He stole her key to crush that bastard and he had the audacity to act that calmly before her. There was no way in hell she, the Reinelle, was going to let this one go just like that. "Nothing personal miss¡­" "You bastard¡­!" And from that expression, he knew that she knew what he was doing. And their teacher was smart enough to guess what might have happened but there was no way for Rein to calm that his passive [Future sight] had triggered at that exact time and he was saying the things she was supposed to say. No one had seen the next moment so there was no way to say it¡­ and he was the one to say the things she was supposed to, which means she never said it and will never say it. The future that was supposed to happen ording to what he saw had changed¡­ or a unique scenario was created that changed everything. And there was nothing she could do now. "Haaa¡­" Their teacher just enjoyed this new development by enjoying the cute expression from that unique girl. There was no reason for her to say anything to the person that knew more interesting thing than the boy at the back. There was no need for him to tell her how he knew it as this was just an energy beast research ss and a simple test to give the young ones a date with a hot teacher. He knew everything she wanted them to know so he could rightfully have the creature as his battle beast. And all the other students were even more shocked by this strange development and were now looking at Rein, the person that had started everything with that boy at the back. Her opponents were creatures of powers that even they couldn''t fathom even after hearing about it. They didn''t know what the two catastrophic creatures the two boys were talking about but one thing was clear for them. The boy from before had taken the beast she was gonna use to defeat the one that originally cursed at her and the now awake snakes. Her battle beast was taken by someone else and now¡­ she was in a tough situation. She didn''t know what to do¡­ actually, she knew pretty well what to do but now that there were two bastards that had ticked her off, the offensive she had to show had doubled. She could defeat those illusions of catastrophic creatures even with normal beasts but she wanted to torture these two and crush them so hard they never dare to do something like this again against her. She was angry¡­ and as her fianc¨¦e says: one should never incur the wreath of a witch that knew how to use her powers. "What beast do you think will be able to defeat all of them now, hmmm dear?" Their teacher was some of the most excited she had ever been in her life right now, and she knew something even more exciting was going to happen when she looked at that calm look on this girl''s face. "A turtle and a mantis." Rein looked the two boys straight in the eyes with anger, sending chills down their spines. Then she looked at her teacher with a gorgeous smirk that made her heart skip a beat. "[Cran Terror Exuvia]¡­ that fellow''s good enough, right Miss?" And those made her weak heart skip another beat. Chapter 533 First Battle Of Catastrophes ? [OP: ] "You crazy girl¡­" Their teacher had a smile none had seen throughout their ss while the students were once again confused. This time, they had no idea what she was even talking about, and this included the boy at the back. The one on their other side was also confused what she was saying but everyone could tell that at least the teacher knew what she was talking about and from that reaction of hers, it was also clear that whatever creature she had called up was so extraordinary that it was too absurd that someone like her actually knew about it. Her smirk towards the two people was also proof enough that she was confident in whatever she was choosing as her battle beast¡­ but they won''t be seeing it in this ss. "Uriel, it''s overkill for something little like this. Did you forget about¡­" Zoe caressed the little heads of the snakes, whispered something in her sister''s ear and as a lightbulb had lit up in her mind, her eyes widened and she nodded vigorously. "Yes yes yes! Sorry, there was that one too. It slipped my mind for a second because of these two bastards. Thanks for reminding me Zoe." She thanked her with a blissful expression and a sinister expression took over her previously smirking face. "Kekeke¡­" Sheughed while looking at the bastard at the back and the sterd on the other side, and then looked at her teacher who now had a surprised look. "You want someone else? Why though? The ones you mentioned just now can very well dpose them. What else can work against two Catastrophes?" She was genuinely asking that, and the ss was in silent chaos after her words. Thier teacher had just confirmed the being she spoke of, whatever it was, was more than strong enough to single handedly not only defeat two catastrophes but also turn them into something like a fertiliser. It was naturally shocking, but not as much as her next words. "To go against catastrophes, we naturally need someone of the same or higher power level or¡­ someone with a very deeper understanding of that creature, thier natural predators, or someone with exceptional control, defence, and resistance against them. And I believe in my control so, a slime with [Mimic] speciality, and unique skills of [Rapid growth], [Attribute absorption], [Skill creation], [Comprehensive Learning], and [Evolution] would be more than enough to defeat these bastards." Sheughed again after saying that, but their ssroom, that was in the middle of a vast grasnd right now, was thrown into turmoil. "A slime?! What the hall?!" "Heyyy! I said it before! You can''t just give creatures skills as you please!" "How can a slime defeat them?!" "What¡­ is [Mimic] speciality? Is it some kind of unique skill that make them a specialist?" "¡­what did you just say?" "Ptfff." Everyone was speaking up as the thing their ears had correctly heard was too absurd to evenprehend. They couldn''t think what she was trying to say and make sense of her simple sounding words. But just when they all were arguing and trying to understand her words, they heard thier teacher''s lowughter and turned towerds her, only to see a new look of intrest that they were seeing for the first time. And the subject of this intrest was a girl that was saying a slime was all it needed to defeat two catastrophes, a drake, a holy creature, and a leader Wyvern. It was just too foolish to even consider and some thought she wasughing at this foolishness, but that wasn''t the case. Her eyes said something different, and they weren''t stupid enough to not understand that. "You know what you are talking about, don''t you?" She asked her with a smile and her dear student nodded with respect. "How~?" She smiled at her warmly this time, a warm smile that contained admiration. "Definitely because my dear darling forcefully made me study many unnecessary things. I know a good little about many things but it''s nowhere near knowledge of that bastard." "Oh¡­? Darling you say?" "Yup~. My awesome fianc¨¦. He must be doing something shocking even in his high magic theory ss." "High magic theory? He''s attending grandpa Jamie''s ss and you say he would do something shocking? It''s hard to believe but¡­ I strangely do believe what you just said. Alright~! This amazing ''darling'' of yours sounds as fun as you so I''m cheering for you! Win this so we can go on a double date~!" She was happy right now and the ss was still silent. They didn''t know what this strange girl was thinking and they also didn''t know what that strange teacher of theirs was so excited about. They had already lost them but more than that, they had lost the entire topic that had started with hot legs and was now somewhere over double dates¡­ "Alright then~! Let''s start you six! Get ready to see something really cool everyone~!" -Snap! Snap! A loud noise reverberated through it the area where they were sitting and in the very next moment, at a distance away from them, in the vast grasnd, some new giant shadows materialized themselves. -Ooooooooooooong! These shadows were ginormous, especially the mountain-like ck creature''s shadow that had a sinister feeling to it. The other creatures, be it the giant swan that possessed a beauty so radiant it was almost blinding, or the fire drake that was no less intimidating than the fictional dragons, all of them were insignificant before that dark mountain. It was humongous, and if one wanted to know how big it was, then saying it was taller than ten of the tallest statues stacked above one another wouldn''t be wrong. It was a giant mountain, and just its mere presence was intimidating to all the creatures beside it. The ferocious drake was visibly tensed in its presence, the Wyvern was on the ground instead of flying, the swan had moved far away from the dark mountain, but, there was one ck slime right beneath this mountainous creature''s head, and a distance away from was the second greatest creature in size, a shiny white creature made of small des who possessed three great des so sharp and strong looking that it was just as intimidating as the other mountain. All six of them were magnificent¡­ no, the five of them were magnificent. The slime, on the other hand, was a creature everyone saw in their everyday life. And aside from it''s pitch ck appearance, there was nothing special about this creature. Absolutely nothing. It was a odd sight seeing a being like it among splendid creatures like the others but however much their minds were in an abnormal state, the slime was there, and all the other creatures were looking at it as if it was an insect unworthy to be in their presence. But they were ignorant of reality and didn''t know whose great presence they were actually in. But they will know¡­ after they die of course. But all of these creatures were mere illusions, controlled by the original operational system of the academy and ultimately by the ancient tree, that were given to some children for ying around. They weren''t real but in this ce, this artificial reality, they were nothing less than real. The students watching from afar had a view that was far away from these creatures and they were still stunned at the sheer volume of all those creatures. It was thrilling, enough to steal their hearts away. But that slime was still strangely unsightly¡­ "The creatures you see before you are all unique, possess powers great enough to rival even the kings and elder mages, and however intimidating they might look, one thing is true for at least the illusions you see before you¡­ all of them can be defeated. There are six creatures before you and six students that will give themmands ording to their knowledge of the creatures. Observe them and their actions. Analyze them. See their tactics and how they use their knowledge and take advantage of the knowledge they have about their opponents. Find mistakes in their y and after this is over, tell me what you learned and what you found to be ineffective or wrong in their battle. Three students I find the best among you will also get a little something from me but if you decide to just enjoy this cool fight, it would be alright too. This started with a dispute and there''s no grand reason we are doing it. I want to have fun and things until now have been much more fun than I had expected. I''m looking forward to this little fight between not so little creatures so¡­ please me cuties~." She was excited, everyone else was excited now that they had something to do along with watching a fight between creatures far beyond the standard (Purple) rank, the boy at the back was excited because he knew he could win, the boy on the side was confident in what absurd things he had seen in that short time, Zoe was excited to see something fun, and Rein was¡­ calm. She was calm, so calm she didn''t seem like the cheerful person from a while ago, and this rare seriousness of her, as the people close to her knew, was always lethal to her opponents. Chapter 534 First Battle Of Catastrophes (2) ? [OP: ] A vast grasnd had be a battleground for six unique energy beasts. But the fight had yet to start. They had revived a five-minute grace period but it was also about to end. The six participants, or more like the six creatures in this scenario, had done their best to do whatever they could in this enormous ce they were given as a battleground. But even here, the two giants, the one resembling a mantis that seemed to be made of jewel-like white crystals, and the mountainous creature resembling a mix of turtle, a draconian, a mountain, and a dead forest. While the looks this mantis possessed were blended seeing from afar, they were so terrifying that one looking at it from close might even get a momentary heart attack. It was dangerous and that passive-angry look it had made everyone that tried taking a closer look at it, gasp with great terror. On the other hand, the turtle like other creatures was too big, so big that even after using all the skills they had or devices they used, they could only clearly see up to the end of its four ginormous legs. It was a thrilling experience just to see this creature, and even if they couldn''t take a closer look at it themselves, they were provided a small image of this creature from which they could tell one thing¡­ this being was nothing as they had known till this day. The power it possessed was off the charts, and they could tell it only from the outer observations. They had known about its kind and how strong they were and what absurd things they could do but even among them, this one was different and special. From their new knowledge, this one could use demonic energy, a power only avable to demons and demonic beings. It was also an origin beast that had the origin of [Celestial mountains], a realm of only mountains and hignds, a unique ce few in the world knew about. It meant it could also use the origin energy only avable to it, andbined with the special powers that came with it, and the skills, and the powers it ultimately gained after going through all those changes. Some of them were positive and gave it enormous strength, while some were negative and almost poisonous that took away many things including its rationality from it. They had revived a brief information on this creature so they knew it had a serious narcolepsy because of which it stayed in an uncontroble slumber for a pretty long period of time. And right now, it was asleep. The person using this creature couldn''t do anything in this grace period because of this but he also had nothing to do when he could use a creature like this one. He was carefree about his own creature as well as most of the other creatures, but just like everyone else, there was a certain ''normal'' looking creature that he was worried about. And a simr thought was also true for the holy swan that had a natural hate towards the turtle but at the same time a fear so intense that it was nothing like the other creatures. It seemed like it knew just how dangerous this creature was and it was also true as it possessed the holy power, the opposite of the demonic one it possessed. It was on guard and the girl that this swan belonged to, couldn''t do anything when the swan had decided to not get close to it. It naturally meant she couldn''t win this fight, but still, she couldn''t help but worry about that dark slime that was strangely eating a tree far deep in the forest area. The drake and wyvern were also worried about that turtle and slime but for the two of them, that white mantis was far more intimidating and almost frightful than any other creature present there. From their perspective, this mantis seemed like their natural predator, and just being in its presence was so bad for them that the two of them had moved away from it just like how the swan had moved away from the turtle. This scene before everyone right now was not something they were expecting and the three people, the one with a holy swan, a me drake, and a unique wyvern, all had almost given up on this test. They didn''t know their creatures would behave on their own and act like this so they had also figured out that throughout the fight, the creatures would fight on their own and they actually would only give themmands, which these creatures could defy if they find it naturally inappropriate. They weren''t simply their puppets but actually replicas of the creatures they would be fighting. They didn''t know this so now there were many variables¡­ Their chance of winning had gone down to the bottom already so, all three of them were at least having a simr thought. Which was obviously to take out the weakest before dying themselves so that they can be at least not the first person to get eliminated. So, even with their guts screaming at them to not do it, all three of them had surrounded the single ck slime which was eating the trees and grass in the forest, sometimes shining with a dim light that everyone thought to be a sunlight reflection. They knew something was wrong, the girl that had known about the giant creatures like the two in the open grasnd was too quiet and only whispered her instructions, and the slime being a low intelligence creature, might definitely follow any instructions from their ''master'' in this case. But they didn''t know why she would tell this creature to eat nts¡­ and they had no time to think deeply about this. Their preparation time was over, the clock before every one of them had turned red, and at the same time, the creature that was in a deep slumber, opened its big red eyes with a roar that pierced the heaven itself. -GHAAAAAAAAAAAA! "Breath O'' great being. Let this illusionary world know of your presence!" The boy from the back shouted right after his great roar and just after that, the creature breathed in almost all the air in the surrounding, creating a suction area that seemed to be devoid of gravity itself. But this effectsted only for a moment as right after this area of non-gravity was formed, the creature breathed out¡­ and with its breath, it breathed out the demonic energy that was an innate part of it. -SHHHHHHHHHHH¡­! But it was demonic energy, something that opposed all-natural elements themselves, so as soon as this dark breath touched anything around, above and below it, everything died, and turned into something that resembled nothing but hell and the hellishnds that the demons created on this world, the demonic hell ins. This was a sight to behold but, everyone was focused on something else¡­ and that something was certainly not the mantis that still stood in this hell in in a perfectly fine state. It was, as everyone certainly knows, the ck slime that was exactly a step outside this domain of demonic energy created by the turtle''s breath. There was a scene before everyone that they couldn''t believe even if they wanted to, and this scene wasn''t anything anyone, not even elder mages or king-ranked knights would expect to see in the short time this ''test'' had started. "..." And even their teacher was silent right now, shocked to see something that absurd, and that much unrealistic. There were three corpses in that area just outside the domain of demonic energy, and all three were smashed into pieces. The giant me drake, a historic creature that took experts an entire month to defeat, was now in a state that could best be exined as a finely chopped piece of delicious meat. The swan¡­ well, that holy creature with grace second to none was now chopped in a way it seemed like a butcher had prepared it with the finest cuts. The wyvern, the ruler of the sky, was now in a state that could be exined with one word: sliced in half. Vertically no less. Three creatures that were nothing less than the two catastrophes inside this demonic energy domain, were decapitated in mere moments, and this happened so quickly that many of the students had no idea what actually had even happened. And probably most of them will never know it too, but one thing was certain¡­ they could see the being that had done that bloodbath standing in the middle of all these corpses, and¡­ it wasn''t a ck blob of slime that they were seeing before this moment of devastation. There was a humanoid figure standing there, with a weapon that resembled scythes in its hand, but from any angle they saw, this humanoid with pure dark form, as if made of the dark itself, was in no way a human. No¡­ if anything, that face with only a smiling mouth that had sharp, long teeth, resembled those infamous demons. And they would certainly only believe it if this was actually a demonic creature because¡­ there was no way in hell these ''students'' would ever believe the power that killed not one but three creatures of unique rank in that mere moment, belonged to a human, specifically a witch, and even more specifically, a witch that was sitting among them right at this moment. Chapter 535 Bob The Butcher ? [Rein''s POV: ] ''Eye of truth.'' ============ [Slime] (Specialist: Mimic)?? Strength: 27 Dexterity: 12 Stamina: 9 Magic power: 30 Intelligence: 12 [Skills: Impersonation, Rapid growth, Attribute absorption, Skill creation, Skill Analysis, Rapid skill adaptation, Comprehensive learning, Data analysis, Question, Evolution.] ~~~> ¡­ummm. Better than expected? It''s more than enough to win against them, I think. ============ It really was more than I asked for. From its stats to the skills. ''Just the addition of [Rapid skill adaptation] makes this guy a disaster candidate. But that low intelligence makes the proper use of his skills nearly impossible for a creature of his kind.'' Of course, the story would be different if someone reincarnates in a body of a creature like this slime as ''him'' but the chances of that happening are as low as someone like us appearing. But everything changes in a scenario like this one. I can use this little cutie and even his current state is more than enough for the three of those fools. ''And they will obviouslye at me after realizing the creatures they are tomand aren''t their puppets so it makes things easier.'' "Alright~!" With a low shout that only Zoe heard and chuckled at, I looked at my dark blob of amazing potential and whispered in a low voice. "Bob. That''s your name from now on." It reacted to that voice and its body wiggled as a light came out of it, forming a connection between us as if forming a bond. It was the most basic step in taming any beast to give them a name, but usually, this process happened after the creaturepletely submits to the tamer. ''But this dumb blob doesn''t even have good enough intelligence to resist my force, making it easier to tame than a chick.'' Still, it epted me because it was me. It has greater intelligence than many of its kind after all. But the first step was done. "Now feel the winds. Feel their swiftness, the properties they carry, and do as I say." I gave it instructions in a low voice and they were almost silent so there was no chance for others to hear it. And though it took a while, the results were good. "Good boy." ============ ~~~> Bob has acquired [Sensitivity] and [Wind enjoyer] from your teachings. As a result, it has learned what winds are, how they are formed, what atmosphere is, and how he exists in a ce with many other natural elements. ~~~> The skills [Comprehensive learning], [Rapid growth], and [Data analysis] have been activated and Bob has learned about the world, resulting in an increase in intelligence. ~~~> Skill: [Question] has been triggered after acquiring new knowledge and Bob has started acquiring new knowledge through new questions it has formed. ~~~> Bob has triggered [Skill creation] and has created a new skill: [World eyes]. As a result of this sudden surge of knowledge, insight, and wisdom, Bob has gained enlightenment and has triggered [Evolution]. ~~~> Bob is evolving! ============ This specific slime was something very close to an anomaly but it wasn''t one thanks to its low intelligence skills with strict usage conditions. And as the world''s restrictions went, if a slime like this one even existed somewhere, it would be killed by people that didn''t even know its worth or would just die after finishing its short natural lifespan without ever using its skills the way it should. In a very, very, very rare case, if someone that knew the importance of a creature such as thises across one like this one, they mostly don''t understand how to properly nurture them, and end up destroying a rock that could have turned into a one of a kind jewel. Or if they do manage to nurture one in a good way, they be famous throughout the world, and theirpanions be someone the world respects even after their ''lowly'' race. ''But something like that has only happened twice throughout the history that I know. And these people held ranks higher than someone in today''s time can fathom.'' But there was an even more absurd situation that turned a simple slime into a being feared throughout the current world, and it was no little being as the catastrophes. But we aren''t talking about that right now¡­ ''Eyes of truth.'' ============ [Genius Slime] (Specialist: Mimic)?? Strength: 120 Dexterity: 110 Stamina: 90 Magic power: 130 Intelligence: 60 [Skills: Impersonation, World eyes, Rapid growth, Attribute absorption, Skill creation, Skill Analysis, Rapid skill adaptation, Comprehensive learning, Data analysis, Question, Sensitivity, Wind enjoyer, Earth enjoyer, Light enjoyer, Darkness admirer, Warmth appreciator, Nature''s element, Wisdom barer.] ~~~> Ummm¡­ we should go out and find a real one like this. Life would be easier. ============ ''Yeah¡­ I couldn''t agree more.'' This little blob of slime was amazing. Even though it was just an illusion it had potential that I have hardly ever seen in any being in the world. The skills he possessed, though mostly conditional and not easy to activate, were all (Blue) or higher-grade skills in pure power. He was strong now, and usable enough. ''He can kill¡­ and it was time to kill!'' [01:02] The swan, drake, and wyvern were surrounding him, and he was inside the forest area, barely outside of the turtle''s breathing zone. I knew very well about that big turtle as it was one of the most favorite creatures of my Eon so it was pretty disadvantageous to that backbench bastard. Of course he didn''t know this fact though, just like how these threeing at me didn''t know much about what abyss they were walking into. [00:45] The time to have a good meal hade, so, looking at my newborn genius Bob, I gave thest bit of my long instructions to him. But this time, this bastard of mine had be a new creature as it understood most of the things I was saying on the spot and was even responding to them, telling me what would be right and what wouldn''t. [00:30] The n was set, the evolved slime was ready, and for the first time since its birth in this vast ins, it was going to use the skill he was best at from his birth: impersonation. ''Yes yes, many know Mimic is a shape-shifting creature that mostly haunts the adventurers in a dungeon while in a treasure chest form, but to mimic is to impersonate. And this one is best at it.'' So my instructions to it were clear. ''Take a physical form of a humanoid that you would be mostfortable with while impersonating ''me''. Use the wood, water, wind, and light you have absorbed, mix it with a condensed essence of your energy, and after that, create a weapon that I''m best with, the scythe. While mimicking me, learn from my battle experience, use the new energies in your own way, and cut down the creatures the same way I would. And after finishing them off, stop.'' Simple, right? It was simple for my new temporary baby so he took on a gorgeous form and materialized a pretty scythe and just when they had neared him, he used his new [Nature''s element] skill and became one with nature,pletely erasing his presence from their senses and even their magic senses. [00:09] It was almost time for us to start and now the three creatures surrounding us were confused as the slime that stood there just a moment before had vanishedpletely. [00:06] They used their skills and looked around, and even showed hostility towards the other two, telling them my Bob was their prey. ''Cute fools.'' Bob was preparing his attack, and he was about to use one of my original stances that he had just learned after impersonating ''me''. There was no way they would live if the force generated from it was the same as I knew but I wasn''t sure about it. It was a difficult technique that took even me a very, very long time to perfect. And even a mimic specialist slime probably couldn''t perfectly reproduce it. ''Still, it''s more than enough to finish the three of them. And if he couldn''t even defeat these threemon creatures-'' [00:01]? [00:00]! The click before us turned red and Bob finished preparation for his great first attempt. He had taken the form of a nearly seven-foot tall dark creature that resembled a [Night Crawler] with slim limbs and a face with only a mouth. He looked cool and his scythe was cool too, but, as I looked at his end part of the preparations, I saw something unique¡­ something that wasn''t entirely mine. My instructions were perfectly limited to what I knew and what I believed would do good for him, however, it did something unexpected. It improvised on my technique and melded it into his own, added some new things he had just learned, jumped off the ground, and started a bloodbath that was overly gorgeous, and fascinatingly beautiful¡­ His new scythe technique contained a hint of wildness, something different from my sophisticated technique. The way he swung his de and sliced through the draconic and holy creatures like they were mere tofu was sweet~ and the way he didn''t constrain itself one bit and just flowed with nature and his instincts was also somewhat like Ca''s style. It wasn''t wless like my style and it wasn''t perfectly wild like Ca''s. However, the way he had harmonized this little thing was¡­ new. And inspirational. ''Well¡­ damn.'' I wasn''t expecting to see something like this, and by the time everything ended and he had butchered all three of them, the ss was in another dead silence. And there was a sweet smile on my Bob''s face, while at the same time, I also had a deep smirk on my face that every single one of them looking at me must have found no less than a demon''s¡­ but fuck them! Bob!! Bob the butcher was phenomenal!!! Chapter 536 Entering The Real Battlefield ? [Rein''s POV: ] Bob was a really amazing creature, and I had to talk with the old tree about him. But that was forter. Right now, we had a test to finish and two bastards to crush. And for us to do that, we still needed a little preparation. ''Going against catastrophes would naturally be more difficult than these draconian and holy creatures that were practically caught off guard. And Bob, ording to how much I can tell from its current state, will die after using a move with the same intensity as this one.'' They were illusions created within these four walls after all. They had inherent limits that actually made them far weaker than their originals. However greater the strength, the greater would be the restrictions on their use of this strength in this room. ''Just like how that giant turtle can''t use any of his actual skills or how that mantis won''t be able to use more than what he innately possesses, every creature here had the limitation of the projection room, and that was the main reason Bob was able to cut the drake and wyvern down even with their hard scales.'' His attack power exceeded the threshold they can withstand, making them nothing less than a piece of soft meat before a sharp knife. But the same can''t be done to those two creatures inside the demonic energy domain. They were in a league of their own, beings that can''t just be defeated with brute force. To kill them, we needed something more. Something whole that the three of them individually possessed¡­ "Now Bob." The humanoid Bob looked in my direction as if looking at me, and the smile on his face also vanished with his mouth, bing featurelesspletely. Then he sat on one knee respectfully, his hand on his area where most human hearts should be, and I could feel the great reverence and sincerity from those actions. ''UwU~. Cool!'' This was cool and again, shocking for my fellow students. "Anyway, start analyzing the powers of the swan first. Learn about the holy energy and corresponding light element, then start with the¡­" I gave him the next set of instructions and he listened to them quietly as if he understood everything I was saying on the spot instead of needing long, detailedmands. ''This bastard had grown more than I expected, but too bad he is only here temporarily.'' But my main objective here was clear. "Ok? Start the plunder then~." He looked back up with even greater admiration now and bowed respectfully for thest time. ''That''s cool for sure.'' Then my Bob went before the corpse of the swan he had killed beautifully and extended his hand with long, creepy fingers before it. -Ooooooooong! Everyone saw a dot of light materialize before his hands, and just after that, that dot started getting bigger and brighter. -Swish! Another light starteding out of the corpse''s body, feathers, and other elements and went inside the ball of light before his hands... They had at least guessed at this point that the creature was stealing that brilliant light from the dead swan which was just as absurd as him killing them in mere moments. They were shocked by this scene which seemed to be a winner iming his rewards from the defeated. But it was more than that. ''This was the preparation for the true battle that had yet to begin inside that demonic energy zone.'' Origin Dracoudines and Aquario Scythus Majin. A turtle and a mantis. One with demonic power and the other bearing an original pinnacle skill. Both were opponents that couldn''t be faced alone without proper preparation, especially that mantis. ''I really wanted to use that one, damn!'' It was a creature few in the world knew about¡­ until a while ago. Now our entire ss and probably after that, the whole school would know about it. ''Which I know would be a problem the headmaster would have to look after.'' But it was fine for now, and he was done with the first corpse. -Ooooooooong! ============ ~~~> Bob has triggered [Attribute absorption] and has seeded in absorbing the (Holy) attribute of the target. He has also analyzed its properties and created new skills: [Super regeneration], [Reinforcement of light], and [Wings of light]. ~~~> The acquisition of new knowledge has triggered [Question], and [World eyes] initiating a new series of knowledge processing. Intelligence is increasing! ~~~> Through the skills: [Skill Analysis], [Rapid skill adaptation], and [Comprehensive learning], Bob has seeded inpletely understanding his new skills. Stats have risen as a result! ~~~> Bob has gained more skills than his limits, earning the title: [[( Limit breaker )]]! ============ "Good, good. Move on to the wyvern, and then the drake." The battle inside the demonic energy zone was starting, and everyone, even with all the shock, was now focusing inside the dark zone where the white mantis had vanished, leaving my Bob to his own little stuff because he was too much for their fragile brains to fathom. Still, it sure was quite a sight inside that demonic energy zone¡­ -Boooooooooooooom! The mantis, as I knew, made his move first and his destination was the left back leg of the giant turtle. ''Bastards.'' One was using a creature he shouldn''t in this first ss while the other bastard was using the one I wanted to use before. ''It won''t be painless¡­'' Just seeing and hearing it would give them enough sensation to gasp for air. That would the minimum! For now! But let''s look at the turtle Vs mantis till Bob''s finished with his work. ¡­ The turtle was silent after its breath and it was hungry, as it always is. So it started with the soil and took away all the natural energy from the ground, turning the already dark ce into something only found in the demonic ins it came from. After the ground came the sky and the atmosphere, and after it absorbed all the natural energies from there, the grayish, cloud-covered sky turned into a pitch ck that was murky and unsightly, different from the pure night sky. The giant draconic-origin-demonic turtle was still ever-hungry like usual so it turned its attention to thest living being in its zone, the white mantis that must have strangely seemed delicious to it. The mantis was a unique creature, and an anomaly just like the big turtle, but different from it, this bug was pure, too pure that it possessed the pinnacle skill [Purity]. This purity referred to its will to keep nature pure and devoid of any unnatural element, and the ones who possessed this particr skill were beings that were the most threatening to any unnatural elements such as demons. The reason the information about them was so restricted was also because of this reason but, they actually didn''t have as much information about them as my darling. That bastard knew just too much about too many things. ''I should punish him when we go back home after the sses and other stuff''s over.'' [[ Master¡­? Be sure to not push him too much or else you might be the one getting punished. ]] [[ I know that the best. Don''t worry. ]] -Boooooooooooooom! The mantis reappeared out of nowhere after preparing for his next few attacks and the first thing he did was jump off the ground and step on air, and jump off again, and again, and reach the top point visible to others, jumped again for thest time, and shes the hard scale area of that part, jamming the tip of his scythe-like front limbs there, and jolting them with force, taking out the scale itself, revealing a strange, spot in that ce. Others can''t see this but they could certainly hear- -KHEAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Another loud scream which seemed to pierce the heavens. And this one was filled with agony and pain, suffering and anger that they didn''t understand coulde from a creature of that caliber. It was also filled with power, and if this creature was real, the force from this kind of scream would have been more than enough to demolish all of the creatures in a far bigger area than its demonic energy zone. It was a dangerous scream, but the mantis had taken out a weak scale from his body, something we couldpare with a reverse dragon scale, so that scream was certainly understandable. But this wasn''t actually some ultimate weak point like some fantastical reverse scale that could kill the creature with some damage. If anything this was just a weak spot on its enormous body that can be simply disregarded. But it was a weak spot for certain, and the turtle didn''t have all its powers and skills so it couldn''t alsopletely regenerate its weak scale quickly. The mantis knew it the best¡­ just like how I knew how much fucked they were when my Bob finished absorbing the skills and attributes of the two draconic creatures. ============ ~~~> Bob has absorbed the attributes, skills, and characteristics of the draconic creatures. ~~~> The new knowledge of draconic beings are resonating with already present natural and holy energies. ~~~> Bob has gained new knowledge and has received another enlightenment! ~~~> Bob is awakening the origin powers of his innate nature! ============ "Hehehe¡­ Bob, oh Bobby ~." It was time to take those two bastards down. And the first one to suffer today is naturally that back-bench bastard! "Kekekeke¡­!" Chapter 537 Mantis, Bob Vs Turtle ? [OP: ] On one side was a creature that wanted to exterminate the unnatural element that was destroying nature, and on the other side was a mad being that wanted nothing more than to fill his hunger and survive in this world with no great meaning. And then there was a creature reborn with new knowledge and insight about his own self. There was a battle going on, but all three had a unique purpose in their minds, and so had the students that these creatures belonged to in this illusion room. One wanted to prove to his fellow ssmates and the world just how dangerous these creatures can be, the other wanted funds to survive in this new and unknown world. Thest one however, the one that newborn awakened creature belonged to in true meaning, only wanted to have fun with these amazing creatures and crush those bitches that ticked her off on this fine first day of their school. ============ [Mystic Slime] (Bob) ?? Strength: 210 Dexterity: 204 Stamina: 180 Magic power: 213 Intelligence: 120 Holiness: 69 Domination: 108 Void: 12 [Origin skill: Creator''s grace: Basic mastery. -Ending existence. ] [Skills: Impersonation, World eyes, Wisdom barer, Draconic tongue, Weapon master, Aura integration, Geo mental defense, Scythe synchronization, Interpretation, True world, Domination domain, Assistance to master, Imprable, Natural element.] [The enlightened one] ~~~> ¡­ ============ Awakening is basically referred to as the process in which humans awaken a Mana nucleolus and just like it, in the process called Origin awakening, all the beings with an origin skill awaken the true potentials of their origin skills. The same process is also possible in the energy beasts and anything that exists in this world as everything has a certain origin to them¡­ but it is so rare of a thing that even the history books have little information about this unique process. And this one actually happens when the energy beasts, the creatures that aren''t supposed to know about the world in that much detail like the other normal beings, gain excessive knowledge about the world and nature. They know the meaning of their existence and also what the world is. They see the world in a different way from others and possess the power to cause great changes in the world. But Bob was a special case even here. It wasn''t a real creature and he still went through a process even some of the ''special'' creatures don''t. And he gained powers that even the one that helped him achieve that power didn''t think was possible. All of this was purely a coincidence but it was ultimately in her favour. She was happy with what her little blob of slime had turned into, and after that awakening process where he gained the status of a [Mystic], a being whose existence itself cannot be exined with natural means or those whopletely ignore thews of nature, her preparations had finished. The creature that looked like a blob of slime at the start now possessed a tall humanoid physique, a face that previously only had a mouth with long rows of sharp teeth, now possessed eyes while his face was covered with a mask-like feature, and there was also a unique crescent mark on his forehead from where the light wasing out. A simr cross shape was also there on his chest and there was also lighting out of it. His entire body was dark aside from these two marks on his chest and forehead with light. And there was also a huge scythe with a unique shape in his hand as he looked in the direction the students were sitting with a look that expressed great reverence towards the girl sitting at the very front. He wasplete now, and it was all thanks to her. And she was satisfied with what she had now, excited to use him against those two bastards that were now getting serious with their fight so¡­ looking right at him just like he was doing, she nodded, and that much was enough for him to know what he had to do here. He bowed at her respectfully after receiving that signal and put his hand inside the area with demonic energy and started analyzing it with closed eyes. -Ooooooooooooong! Another light like the previous one entered the others'' vision but their attention was focused on the mantis that had removed the scale of the turtle so they didn''t notice him. It was better that way so he finished his analysis and opened his white eyes of light and walked right inside the demonic energy zone with a new white me burning on his head. He looked cool, and just after he entered the area, he tightened the grip on his weapon and vanished from the ce he was standing. -Booooooooooom! And at the same time some distance away, the turtle-dragon-mountain stomped his foot and created an earthquake so great the earth in arge area around it shattered and a hole appeared in that ce. The shockwave created by it was also more than enough that it broke the sound barrier and as a result, the resulting shockwave hit the white mantis and was thrown away inside the deep void from before. -Swiiiiiish! But he didn''t fall and a white wind surrounded his body midway, and he flew up, anger burning in his dangerous eyes. His scythes burned with a deep red after that and it vanished again, reappearing before the spot it had taken his scale from. There was still that white spot there so he aimed at that spot and shed his scythe-like front hands, shooting a red energy cross that perfectly collided at that spot, and another scream loud enough to destroy the sky echoed throughout the ssroom, shattering the area even outside the demonic energy zone. The person this turtle belonged to was suddenly tense to see this development but another shock came just after that as they saw the new Bob suddenly appear right above the same spot the mantis had attacked right now. This was their first time seeing his new form that actually looked cool but the weapon, the scythe in his hand was somewhat absurd in their eyes as just like the mantis''s red me-covered hands, his scythe was also covered in a white me so white it was the stark contrast of his pitch ck body. And he, too, shed his scythe at that spot while the turtle was reacting to the previous pain, and a sh of white light collided with the same spot that the red cross had hit¡­! And this time the reaction was even more intense than before¡­ -KHUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A shockwave louder than ever before reverberated throughout the area and students that heard it were all almost blocking their ears, trying to cope with it. But what they were hearing was already a concerned versionpletely under the safety guidelines. If they were to hear the real version of this noise, they might die on the spot by exploding like a balloon. The result of this utterly agonizing scream was the destruction of the space itself and now, the area that at least was a ce with ground and sky and atmosphere was now apletely nk space, dark and without any atmosphere. Most of the creature would have died just from being in a ce like that but, the turtle was fine, the mantis was also fine, and both of them now were aware of the presence of the third one, the creature they were seeing for the first time, and a creature that just like the mantis, was an attractive food for the turtle. But for mantis this new creature that had a dark body and head burning with white mes was unique and different from an unnatural element of nature, this one was so close to nature that it possessed power great enough to defy the almighty nature. It wasn''t a bad thing like being someone harmful to nature, it was an admirable thing that there was a being powerful enough to have the understanding great enough to change the ultimate reality and manifest their wills to change the near omnipotentws. The mantis was captivated by this being instantly, but its first priority was the turtle, the heinous creature that was still destroying nature. He had to finish him as soon as possible and Bob knew his thoughts too so he looked straight into the intermediating eyes of the mantis, and he understood the will of this unique being possessing that great level of strength. It was a proposal and the mantis agreed. So now¡­ they were going to do it. The famous thing that happened in a three-way fight. They were going to team up. And they were going to destroy this fucking unnatural son of a bitch turtle! Chapter 538 Mantis, Bob Vs. Turtle (2) ? [OP: ] "KHYAAAAAAAAA!" The turtle couldn''t use his skills and he also couldn''t use much of his powers because of the restrictions. The same was true for the mantis but he could use his basic innate energy and simple techniques it naturally knew. But things were different for Bob. -nk! He was a slime before with a lot of restricted skills but then he learned new things and gained new powers while staying within thews of the core system of the ancient tree. He can use the skills he had and he can also use the stats he had gained to their fullest. Technically seeing, his restrictions were far lower than the two of them but still, it wasn''t he was overpoweredpared to the two of them. Nope, that wasn''t the case. As a matter of fact, the form he had right now was hisplete form, something he couldn''t go beyond even if he wanted to. Maybe he can increase his stats a little but after a point, as everyone knows, stats are nothing but mere numbers. Bob was Bob. But the other two who didn''t have their full power and the main thing, theplete ess to their skills, were far superior to him when they were in theirplete forms. They were cmities after all, and Bob was only a being that had the potential to be a cmity like them if things went wrong. There certainly were many ways for the others to get stronger if they wanted and the same was true for Bob. He can get stronger with a positive approach or join the dark forces and be a demon king like the sixth demon king. It was up to him or would have been if he was in fact real. But he wasn''t, and it was saddening to her. -nk! nk! nk! Still, she just focalized her eyes on the scene that was ying out before her without blinking, just seeing her new admirer and having fun with what good stuff was going on in that empty space. -Boooooooooooom! Her Bob was fighting with the white mantis, the creature she wanted to use previously but couldn''t thanks to that bastard. The two of them had a great synergy as both were scythe users and as they fought and their Red-White Auras shed with the turtle, the sounds they produced, the harmony of those beautiful battle screams of the turtle, were all just aesthetic to her. But it was certainly something else to the other spectators that were present at the scene. What they were seeing was only a bloodbath where two creatures with scythes were destroying the certain scales of a giant turtle and then attacking those scale-less areas to produce a space-shattering noise from their opponent. There were many things happening here, the first was two of their relentless attacks while the main thing now happening in this demonic zone without any atmosphere was the turtle''s fight back. And he was fighting back with the only resources he possessed at the moment. Which were naturally his unique giant body and the demonic energy at his disposal. Those were the only powers he could use and he knew how to use them very well. -Boooooooom! His size was a problem for him in this ''small'' area but he used the space to attack the two bastards that were giving him stings of pain that he wasn''t used to. And this pain was severe, but not something threatening to his humongous size. It was his weakness and strength at the same time but he was nerfed too much at this moment. He didn''t even have his most basic of regeneration abilities so he had to use alternatives. So, first of all, he created a protective barrier using demonic energy and then used his body mass to cause ripples in this space. They were formidable attacks that could certainly cause many great threats to the creatures all around the world but the two of them, the two with crescent scythes that were no less than reapers were strangely immune to the corrosive demonic energy and at the same time possessed power great enough to mostly avoid the space ripples. But they also weren''t almighty here. They also received many attacks and were certainly injured but¡­ the two bastards also possessed healing and regeneration powers so even after their limbs were separated from their bodies, they were still going on with their bad attacks. It was bad from the point of view of the turtle, as it naturally wasn''t just fighting against two formidable foes but he also didn''t have the great arsenal of powers he truthfully possessed. He knew the two of them were dangerous but there was nothing for him to do aside from just endure their tiny attacks, and wait till their regeneration powers reached their limits and they didn''t have any stamina left to dodge the space ripples. The demonic energy was also there and if stayed in contact with it long enough, even the holy creatures could be affected. So, he just had to stall for the time from his side and he was damn good at it. Not all creatures could block demons for as much time as he had. Not many could hold, and endure the offensive of the demonic army for hours every day with that strange narcolepsy he possessed. He was in a constant struggle to survive and he had survived in that hellish environment for hundreds or thousands of years so he, even as a mere illusion art projection, knew just how to endure. And the two attackers also knew this fact as they thought of their next course of action. They could resist the demonic energy but they had their limits. And they were nearing that limit with each moment they endured the shockwaves caused by that giant creature. There was no way they can go for too long against this creature and there was also a limit to their ss that was nearing its end so they also had to finish these things quickly. But there was no way to actually get too close to his weak points and just continue as they were till now. This bastard was too sturdy that the normal attacks were never going to be enough to defeat him. The masters of these creatures, the three students that these creatures belonged to, also knew all these facts. But, there was a certain unique scenario happening between the three students, the three masters of these creatures that only their teacher was aware of... Chapter 539 Mantis, Bob Vs. Turtle (3) ? [OP: ] The two boys, the ones who had the two catastrophes, weren''t actually able to control ormand the two of them. The turtle was doing what it wanted and after those attacks from the two of them, he was in a frenzied state so there was no way anyone could control such a being. The mantis was a creature of great origin and was almost an embodiment of pureness. There was no way he would sumb to any mortal creatures that were OP: primarily lowly creatures. And eptingmands from such beings would be the secondst thing they would do. Bob was different though. Very different from the two of them. He had respect for his master like no other. And this respect was far more than one could understand. The respect he had for her, could be very wellpared to her first ve, the corrupted lich Morris. Her words for him were as if the words of their gods for the devotees. And she was also the one that knew the most about these other creatures after Zoe. She knew what she had to do in this situation, and she had already given newermands which Bob had already started working on as he calcted the time difference between each ripple. He was finding the opening in that nigh imprable defense and his analysis was almost at the end stage. The mantis was an easy opponent for him and he trusted him, so killing him brutally wasn''t going to be a big deal. What he had to do though, was to fulfill his master''s wish of seeing that bastard son of a bitch turtle suffer even more, and make even the one behind this bastard suffer at least a fraction of what he would''ve felt. There were certainly many things that could happen while he tried attempting this but there was also no doubt in his mind that his master''s n, that divinely crafted, unfathomable n, could ever be wrong. Hepletely trusted her and she believed in this little one. So, he also smiled underneath that cloth-covered mouth of his and lifted his white burning scythe, vanishing from the ce he stood on, leaving the white mantis alone. And the mantis was surprised at this moment because the next shockwave was just about to hit them and they had to change their ces. The mantis knew they would be in the safest ce possible over there and going anywhere else would be courting early death, but the following events surprised the mantis, the teacher of their ss, and many students that had their eyes pinned on the battle. There was a sudden white flesh of boom in the ce the ripple had just passed through and in the very next moment, a blinding light exploded in the empty space that was so bright even their teacher had to close her eyes to avoid it. But it was only a blink for that mountainous turtle, but that unnatural blink was all Bob needed to start the endgame. There was a certain ce the turtle was protecting too much and it wasn''t something anyone could notice. And it was also far above the ce they were fighting, it was around the turtle''s head, the top of this mountain that most of them couldn''t even see. Noticing the anxiety of that giant creature in that chaotic fight wasn''t something even Bob was capable of. So this was all thanks to the divinemands he had received from his master. And he had the unshakable will to execute them perfectly too. So he was doing it. He was going behind the giant head of the creature. There was a certain ce that was hollow there, something that wouldn''t be visible to even the omnipotent eye but there was one, and it was covered by a thick foliage of the scales. And he had something that the mantis didn''t to quickly clean this blockage. [Scythe synchronisation] His body melted away in his scythe and the size of the scythe grew twelve folds, bing too big for others to not notice...! It was another sight that made them gasp in surprise but the master of the turtle that knew what was happening was gasping with terror as he looked at the giant scythe and the girl that was smiling like a demon. He knew his defeat was near but, the way his giant creature would die was beyond even his wildest dreams. -Burrrrrrrrrr! The scythe burned with a white me so bright it gave off the grace of holiness but this grace didn''tst for long as the scythe¡­ shed in the very next moment. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! "KHAAAAAAAAAA!" And the scream that came out this time, shattered the reality itself. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! But Bob wasn''t done at this moment. He still had more to do so as soon as this transformation ended, he regained back his previous form and flew right inside the ce he had shed this giant bastard. That was probably the only ce one could enter his body and after that happened¡­ silence covered the ss as everything stopped. ¡­ The time had almost stopped at this moment, the ripples had stopped, there were blue cracks signifying their entire system had cracked, and the giant creature that caused this was also dead calm. There was something happening inside him. Someone had entered him. And he was doing something to him. And it was so painful that the giant catastrophe didn''t even have screams to express that in. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~¡­ But then a unique wind passed through the area, and the next moment- [Origin skill: Ending existence] A giant sh cut open the head of the turtle as a rain of ck blood rained down heavily, almost like pressured water falling from a dam. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~. And then another cut appeared on the neck below him. Tearing off his under neck. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~! Then another on his stomach area that was visible to a few of them like their teacher. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~! And then under that. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~! And then under that reaching the backside of the giant body with his shell and scales. -Sweeeeeeeeeesh~! And atst¡­ cuts appeared on the leg area that the other students could see, and another few dams of ck blood broke out. -Oooooooooong! But that wasn''t the end as, in the very next moment, the entire body of the turtle started glowing with the white mes that resembled the ones on that scythe from just a moment ago. -PUTCH! And after that light from those cuts and every open part of his body¡­ the turtle popped, and all the blood, insides, *censored*¡­ And amidst this rain of utterly horrible ck blood, the creature that had caused this disaster appeared floating in space, the cloth-like thing around his mouth nowhere to be seen, and only the rows of sharp teeth smirking down at his fabulous masterpiece were visible to everyone... a sight no one had ever thought they would see in a ''theory'' ss. Chapter 540 That Was Fun ? [OP: ] "Ugh¡­" "Gasp¡­!" "Ughaaaaa¡­" The students were in turmoil after witnessing that¡­ scene. Actually, many of them weren''t actually strong enough to look at the whole scene so they were avoiding looking there and had turned away from the scene or shut their eyes strongly. Some students were in an even worse condition after looking at that but it wasn''t serious thanks to the restricted parts that were censored for them. Still, this wasn''t appropriate for them, and this wasn''t stuff for theory ss in the first ce. Some were fine and just shocked but the others were almost about to throw up from witnessing that stuff. But some were happy to see this, and one of them was the teacher that was sitting at the very front with the two girls. She had a smile not exactly like the pleasure-filled devilish smile of the girl beside her but one that was amazed by what she had just witnessed. The scene that took ce here today, the death of a catastrophe, something she wasn''t looking forward to at the start of her day, was definitely something more fun to her than killing a bunch of weak creatures or teaching a ss that already knew a little about the subject they were here to learn. The teaching can happen anytime she wanted but to have a unique experience like this was just too exciting for her. And it hadn''t ended yet. There was still one more left for her to finish for her to earn that little date with her. And she knew after witnessing this much that the winner was already decided. But, she was even more excited to see how the winner crosses that ribbon of win. The turtle was cut from inside out, something many experts had already known was possible in a way, then what was going to happen to the mantis that had helped that unique creature get this half-victory? Death was inevitable, she knew it as she saw the creature reaper behind the mantis after killing the turtle. But what kind of death the mantis, which was originally a creature his master wanted to use, would receive from him? She was having fun, and the answer was just about to mail itself to her and all the students there. But there were also some things happening with the three remaining participants of this ss. Rein, as usual, was smiling with pleasure at the even more unexpected development. She hadn''t thought about this kind of death, she wanted only for the turtle''s master''s suffering. But what she received instead was far more than she was looking forward to. For her, the evolution of her Bob was expected, the first power-up was expected, the initial skills were expected, but the enlightenment, the new skills and powers, the origin skills, andstly this fabulous disy of that enormous turtle''s end were not something she was expecting first when her little Zoe suggested her to use this creature. These unexpected advancements and turns were exciting to her¡­ but she also knew this was the end. She knew as she looked at the blue particles of lighting out of her Bob after that ultimate attack that his end was arriving. And he knew it too but before he vanishedpletely, he had two tasks he had to aplish. And first of that was the death of that dumb white mantis. He was onto that task, and the one this mantis belonged to was perfectly aware of this fact. But he knew however he yelled at that damn creature, it wasn''t going to listen to him. Just like how it hadn''t listened to him throughout the fight where he tried to give him the same set ofmands that he saw in his vision. He didn''t know what was different¡­ no, he did know the one different thing here was the person the creatures belonged to. But he still couldn''t understand how the creature that followed every singlemand from one person could not even pay attention to someone else. Was he that much below her? Was he that much weaker than her that even after knowing what was the best way to win this fight, he couldn''t even speak to the creature that was supposed to be his winning ticket? He knew by this time that she was far, far more than one could fathom. But he still couldn''t bring himself to see the death of that creature he considered his partner, or see it die after how much he had done here. He was also afraid of what she would do to him after this ss considering she knew about his future sight, and he also didn''t know a thing about this girl aside from the fact that she was a house captain and she was far stronger than him. He was anxious, sweat almost bathing him. He couldn''t take his eyes away from the scene that was about to happen in that blood-covered empty space and the girl whose smile was no less than a devil''s to him. But the creature''s master this raining blood belonged to, was having an internal crisis at this moment. He knew a great lot about the creature this blood belonged to and there was actually no way any creature could just kill it like that bastard slime had. It was impossible! He didn''t know what he did or just how much his damn turtle was nerfed that he couldn''t even defeat a damn blob of slime. Yes, he would consider if the one killing him the way he died was the white mantis but, a slime? Really? A catastrophe possessing powers to fend off those disgusting demons for centuries could be defeated by a damn slime!? And especially the way he died¡­ His eyes were still as they stuck at the ce the mountainous turtle stood before, the ce that now only housed a pile of censored stuff from that creature, sweat streaming down his head, neck, back, and almost his entire body. His heart had almost stopped too many times today but it was beating faster than ever now, pumping blood right to his brain for it to process the shit ton of information that he was receiving from all six of his senses. He wanted to understand what was going on but his eyes were blurry for some reason. He wanted to calm down but he was having difficulty breathing and he was also feeling something heavy in his chest, and¡­ all this intensified when he moved his head only slightly and the still smirking expression of that girl from the front seat that seemed to him as if the girl was looking down on him, entered his mind. He didn''t know what was happening to him, but one thing he was sure of now... was the fact that that girl, that damn demonic girl was, in fact, dangerous! And his unique feeling that he wouldter find out is termed ''fear'', intensified even more when he saw the damn demonic creature that started as a mere slime but became something else, do those¡­ horrible things to a holy creature his kind admired. ¡­ And the scene was really gruesome from anyone''s point of view. The slime, the person, Bob, was moving his me-covered scythe through therge body of the mantis as the mantisy on the blood-covered ground, limbless, his eyes that terrified others before, terrified at what was happening to him right now. And it all started when Bob appeared behind the mantis, and as the mantis had bigger size, he stood below the creature, and first shed off the wings of the mantis, the weakest spot on his body, rendering him momentarily paralyzed. After that, Bob turned into that giant scythe again and cut off the limbs of the mantis, still keeping the body fully intact and conscious. And as all this happened, the mantis also screamed so sharply that the blue cracks in the space got bigger, and red lights started glowing all around the room. But Bob continued even with all those blue particles of lighting off him, returning him to the nk data state that he was originally made of. He chopped the limbs of the white mantis, chopped off his wings, fed on the energy he possessed to prolong his own death, cut the hard, sharp body of his with his own scythe-like limbs, took out the energy nucleus of the creature that was the same as taking out the heart from a living human, and by the end of all this, he separated the head of that near immortal creature¡­ giving him a death the real him might never even consider was a possibility. But Bob ate that head after cutting it off, and just when he was almost a blur of blue light, he came back to his original state, his slime form that everyone had seen at the start, jumped at a clean ce right before the students, and almost bowed to his master, to Rein, to the girl sitting at the front, with sad eyes that knew their time in the world was limited but wanted to spend a factional eternity with their master, and stayed like that until he vanished, giving her a happy look in his veryst moment, telling her the short time he lived, was all any alive could ever ask for¡­ It marked the end of their little ''test''. And also the end of a sight that many didn''t possess a strong enough stomach to witness till the end. But few did it. Including Rein, Zoe, and their teacher, there actually were a few that stuck to this show till the end and there was only one thing they had to stay about all of this¡­ "That was fun." "It was fun!" "Damn! That was awesome!" "Yes¡­ that was really fun." They were happy, some were sad, Rein had mixed feelings, and as the room they were in, the one that used to be an endless grasnd at the start and a barren wastnd with broken system elements at the end, returned back to its original state, their teacher that was stilling there with a smile all this time, stood up, looked at her miserable students, and also said the same thing as them. "That was fun." And even though she, too, had a bitter smile on her pretty face, she was happy. She was truly happy. But the reason for her happiness, the girl sitting right before her, had a little sad look and a happy smile, something only someone experienced like her, could certainly understand. Chapter 541 About Energy Beast Research ? [Zoe''s POV: ] -Ptssssssss¡­ -Ptssss? Ptssss¡­ -Ptssssss! "She''s fine. Don''t worry." "Yeah¡­ it was inevitable from the start." She took the three snakes and the three also quickly climbed her hand and wrapped themselves on her neck. "Hehe, it tickles~." The snakes were hugging her as they felt her sadness and this scene was cute~! "You really are something, girlie girl." And our cool teacher wasughing at her so this was even more cool~! But some students in the ss were in a bad condition after witnessing that somewhat bitter thing and I knew how they all felt. ''Poor people¡­'' [[ That was cooooool sister Zoe~! But the end was a little saddening. ]] [[ "Oh? Celes thinks so too? Then tell brother about this when he''s done with his ss~." ]] [[ It''s almost over~! They are doing that little speech thingy~. ]] [[ "Nice~! Then our ss is also almost over~!" ]] [[ Yeiiiii~! ]] [[ "Yeiiiiii~!" ]] Little Celes was cute as always but she was smart too. Just like that little one sister Elle names Bob. He was a good creature but s¡­ ''We won''t be seeing him for a while now.'' Anyway, he hadn''t vanished. And that was good. There is a possibility that the two of them can get him back but we don''t know about it~. "Alright, alright everyone." -Snap! Teacher snapped her finger and a strange wave of fresh air passed through the ssroom and the students that were feeling unwell, regained their normal state. "I know it wasn''t a scene that everyone can handle but remember students¡­" She looked at the two of us, at the ss, at the boy on the other side and at the back and, took a deep breath as the air around her changed from a casual one to a unique professional one. "Research is a difficult thing and when ites to energy beasts, this research bes even more difficult. It is inevitable to be away from energy beasts when working in this field and you will have to interact with them to learn more about them. You will also have to visit ces that are especially their natural habitats or are closed areas for their preservation. And in these habitats, you will definitelye across events, scenes, and situations far more gruesome than what you saw today. You might see the death of a giant creature like that for real and without any censored version. Or you might alsoe across a massacred colony of creatures with bodies spread all around you with not even blood visible on the ground. If any if you actually wants to be a energy beast researcher and isn''t here because of the easy paper of the subject, then a stomach stronger than iron is a must. The me to be fascinated by the wonders of nature and these creatures of naturees right after that. And the most important thing to be a researcher in this field, isn''t new idea, talent, or even strength but a curiosity far greater than other research subjects and a fearlessness surpassing even the seasoned adventurers. You all are young and still have endless time before you to find a field you truly want to give your life to, but if your heart still is fixed on this particr subject, then be prepared to learn endless things about the beings of simplest origin, like your house bugs, to the special creatures that you saw just now. Also, be prepared to see things worse than today and even perform and witness some anatomical processes by the end of your year. We don''t tell this openly but this subject is easy to pass, but the sses themselves, that I know most of you will only attend to maintain the required attendance, are far more difficult to stick through. And they are also fun, just like you witnessed today~. A fight of that caliber isn''t something we do here before your midterms are over but we got to do it on our very first day thanks to Nova and Uriel. But Uri won, so as promised, she gets three ss points and a date with me~!" Teacher smiled cheerfully at this after her serious talk was over and the ss that was in a daze at that serious look that they were seeing for the first time, which definitely felt dangerous to them, she was back to her cheerful state, and they came out of their daze. ''Hehe, still cute people.'' And her words, the fact that she really was going to give a precious date to a girl, were like a poison covered needle to many of them. "Hehe¡­" It was funny~. "And, what''s your name again, mantis boy?" She looked at the special person on the other side from us and everyone in the ss followed their gaze, and witnessed his look of almost extreme existential crisis. "H-huh? M-me? Are you asking me ma''am?" But this time his neighbor shook him as soon as everyone was looking at him to not waste much of their time and he looked at the calmly smiling teacher. "Yes, you. Your name. And also that girl beside you, the boy on the right side over there, and you, Uri''s friend. What''s your name?" She was asking me too? Well~! "I''m Zoe~!" If a teacher was asking your name, isn''t it always a good thing in a way~? "I-I am Dan." "I''m Gwen ma''am." "Kaivn here~!" ''Dan was the person whose body he was possessing. Hehehe, good thing he at least knew his name.'' "Alright so~! Nova, Dan, Gwen, Kaivn, and Zoe also get a ss point~. Zoe, your report on all six of the creatures was especially phenomenal. I don''t know if you have a genuine interest in this field but if you do, feel free toe to me. My teacher will definitely love a talent like you." She smiled at me warmly and I nodded with a simple smile. And it wasn''t very positive response so she wasn''t exactly happy, but it wasn''t a negative one either, meaning I wasn''t sure about my future field of particr expertise, so she wasn''t sad either. ''But¡­ I think I will know soon what I want to do, so it''s fine.'' "Ummm! Ma''am? How do you know-" "About what you wrote on those papers dear? Well~." She smirked at the pretty girl with ruffled hair and lifted her index finger. -Ooooooooooong! "I was reading when you all were writing it. And that much''s enough for a researcher that works with endless data and countless test subjects, no?" Little yellowish gold lights resembling fireflies appeared out of nowhere and everyone was surprised to see these creatures in their ssroom. "They are usually called golden psyflies or more professionally [Psychic mbits]. Found in the dark forest of northern continent, these little picky ones have the ability to share visual information with their masters. Fascinating right?" She was just amazing to have found these rare creatures that avoids almost all unfamiliar presence and even more amazing to have not one or two but twenty seven of these cute creatures. [[ They are like me~? ]] [[ "A little simr, little one. But you are always the most amazing~." ]] [[ Really~ sister Zoe? ]] [[ "Of course little one. After all, you are one of a kind in this entire nature. Just like big brother~." ]] [[ Like master? Yeiii~! ]] ''As cute as ever, hehe.'' Celes was happy to receive thatpliment. But it was certainly true that she was one of a kind. ''She had cheated her own destiny after all. And on top of that, she even got my brother as his master, someone that had defied the entire nature and still retained a core position here, so of course the two of my amazing family members were amazing~!'' And big brother was also probably the only human in current world that has heard the voice of¡ª ''Oops. Its not for right now. Sorry there.'' "These little one are like my family, just like these snakes, and just like all the other beings back at my other homes. They are the creatures I have met during my travels and they are the creatures I share a unique story with. And just like me, probably all the professionals of this field have creatures they share their unique stories with. And yes I know many of you probably know I am a hunter that has hunted countless of this energy beasts but, that''s just my way of doing it. To understand a creature, I understand how to hunt them. And everyone has their unique way. Some people observe them from close and gather data, some people eat their body parts, some do research with their fluids, while some that I know even has a specific area of a creature''s body as their focus element. The world of these energy beats is vast, most probably endless, and that''s the fun of it. You can do anything for your research, and it might sound crazy to most, but if you do it within the guidelines, and while not harming their poption too much¡­" She smirked while looking at everyone once again,and this time, she was also looking at a few people in the ss, people like sister Elle and that poor boy at the back. "You can do as you please to gather new data and find new things that you believe have never been brought up by anyone. And a little inside secret everyone¡­" She leaned in closer and put her hand on the side of her mouth, ready to whisper something. And everyone Al''s leaned in closer in an funny attempt to hear her next words. "You get a lot of money when you do this. A lot. And if you have only a theory or hypothesis that the other researchers can borate on, you still get a little something. You also get something if you help the others only a little bit with your knowledge and you can practically do as you like, name it as research, and probably no one will question you if there are visible results. Fun right?" She smiled warmly as she said this. And yes it was a very wrong thinging from a teacher but, it was truth. Magic beast research had more money than artifact and alchemy researchbined¡­ ''Probably that''s also a reason sister Elle chose this subject. Hahaha~.'' She was fun and the words of our pretty teacher had opened the eyes and hearts of many of the students present abd they wanted to ask her many things. But s again. Just when some of them prepared their words, she shook her head and took a step back. "I know you have a lot to ask but our time together for today ends here. Your next ss will be soon so we can talk for a looooong time then. Sorry for this but please just swallow down your questions, worries, and sadness for just a little while. Today was fun. Probably the most fun day of this month for me. And I thank Uri and Nova for that. You all are fun and there''s no need to worry that much Nova. You are already very good. Aim to win next time as, we might do something like today again in the future so, everyone should also prepare~. Alright then. Ba-bye~. And Uri. Don''t think too much about him. He was special but we can''t do anything now aside from asking old Q. Wash that sad look and go kiss your darling. He would also hate to see you all down like that. And here. My Chatbox ID. Hit me to discuss about our double date." She gave her a little card and a little head pat. Looked at me, and gave me one too. Then she looked at her snakes that wanted to stay with sister Elle and shook her head with another pretty warm smile. Taking them from her neck and kissing their heads. Then she said goodbye to our ss, making the end of our pretty chaotic ss¡­ that I can say for sure wasn''t as chaotic as sister Carry''s practical where she almost sparked a war. ''But they also didn''t have any biiiiiig creatures fighting like our ss so this was the most fun~!'' But it was over now, and though sister Elle was sad, she was now looking forward to meeting big brother and tell him everything that happened here. ''And then they will have fun together in their alchemy ss. Hehe.'' I also had an important ss now but this ss, this whole experience, will certainly remain special to me and whole of our ss. ''Still, before going to the next ss, I should talk to brother a little. I''m still a little anxious.'' My next ss was a unique one afterall. And something... I might end up taking as my main profession. ''Still, brother and sister Elle are definitely going to y happily in their next ss. Hahahaha~.'' Chapter 542 After Their Classes ? [OP: ] Back in the corridor junction where they had left each other, Eon, Rein and the group had gathered again. Their first personal ss had ended just now and while a few had already gone to their second ones, those who hadmon sses again were here now, with a bucket of new experience in their abundant empty oceans. And the first thing Rein did after seeing Eon, was run up to him and hug him out of the blue, surprising him with that sudden, emotional thing. He didn''t know what had happened in their ss for her to be like that. But she was sad, he could feel that much, and he didn''t like seeing her like that. But he knew this little hug was also a cure to calm her down and bring her back to normal¡­ so they were hugging, passionately, in the middle of a corridor, while everyone was watching. They mostly didn''t care about others, and a sight like a couple kissing in some corner was usually a normal sight, but they were special cases. They were house captains and every single move from them would be the talk of the town. And the house captains here were from two opposite teams so the level of importance these two''s actions had for their houses was far beyond anything normal and on top of that, there were house captains Zoe and Aleequinn here as well, so the attraction was too obvious. But the two were in their own world as they hugged, continuing their hug for exactly three minutes before kissing lightly and looking at each other. "So? What happened?" Eon asked, looking into her pretty ck eyes. "A lot," she answered, giving him a positive smile that simply indicated she was fine now. "Want to tell me now or should we keep heading towards the ss first?" He asked again, kissing the forehead of his pretty and now in better condition fianc¨¦e. "Let''s start walking first. It''s long and cool, you will love it, and also be jealous of me and my ssmates," she smirked while saying that and grabbed his free hand. "Jealous you say? Interesting¡­" A smile appeared on his face as he looked at her smirk and held her hand back, feeling the coolness of her touch that he had been momentarily deprived of. "Hehe. Yeah. Let''s go-¡­ right." She stopped midway and looked behind her at the girl standing right there with a warm smile, remembering something important. "Zoe had something to talk about so you should do that first before we go. And she got a ss point and greatpliments from the teacher so¡­ you should praise her too." She whispered thatst thing in his ear and then smiled at both of them, a different smile that was unique from her previous ones. But he knew what she wanted to say so he nodded, and walked back to Zoe, asking her if he could have a precious moment with her. And Zoe being Zoe, obviously agreed with a little loud and cheerful smile. [[ Master~! Master~! Sister Elle and Zoe''s ss was funnnnn~! There were cute snakes and flies over there too~. ]] And Celes spoke up just then, telling her master about this new thing for the first time. [[ "I see you really were having fun too, little one. Well, I missed a lot of good things if even you are this much excited and happy about this." ]] [[ Yes~. Sister Elle was having fun¡­ but then she lost Bob. ]] She sounded sad at thatst thing, and hearing a name from his familiar was a unique thing for Eon. But he stopped himself from asking more. He would hear that directly from his darling. "So big brother." Zoe created a unique barrier around them as soon as they were some distance away from the others. "I see you got apliment from your teacher. That''s great~." He patted her head while saying that and she smiled warmly at that familiar warm touch she was feeling after a few sunrises. "And I know you want to talk about your artifact creation ss." He said in a low voice while smiling down warmly at his special little sister. "But you have nothing to worry about, dear. Your mom was a creator of a level that I doubt I will ever see again. Her specialty was the artefacts with all kinds of effects but they were all derived from the technology of the past. She had lived a long life, and she had seen the world from the moment it wasn''t even in a state to be called a proper world, however, you are different from her. If you like creation, which I know you love, then just go for it. There''s nothing holding you back and there is no need to even have someone else''s opinion for something you want to do in your life. Besides, your mom was far more than just a creator. She was an artist, a chef, a mage, a weapon wielder, a force that the world feared at one point, a teacher, and a being that the current world knows by many names. She had lived long and seen it all, and in herst moment, she wanted you, my dear little Zoe, to live your life your own way. She wanted her dear little daughter to be happy, and she asked me to take care of her. That is all. Yes, you have all the knowledge of abundant talents she had honed throughout those countless years, but you know that you actually have no experience to execute all those things, right? Yes you might be able to wield a weapon better than any of us if you want, yes you might be able to cast spells even the headmaster has never seen before, and yes you might be able to do anything you want, but that''s just the thing! What do you want to do? Do you want to do this or that? Or this and this? If that seems good, then do it. And if you want to try doing everything like your mom, then it''s fine too. It alles down to what you want to do and if you will be happy doing that. There are some constraints on your sister Elle and me but that''s by our own choices. You, on the other hand, are different, my captain. You have a house to lead and houses to beat. And how you want to do it is your own choice too. Just, do whatever you want as you did in this ss and you will receive all thepliments and praise you want. You are already strong enough to use us however you want without any powers anyway. So do whatever you want and live however you want. Just do what makes you happy. And it will make me, make us, happy too." He said that all, and patted her head again, almost making the forever-smiling Zoe teary. "There was no need to answer all my questions like that, meanie." But she was still smiling right now, happy to hear all that from the dearest person in her life. "We have sses dear. And your sister Elle will punch me if I''mte to hear her grand tale." And so he smiled for thest time, put his hand on her warm cheeks, looked at her warmly for thest time, and took a step back. "Don''t worry. You already know your teacher is a unique person himself, right? You will have fun, so just go and have fun." Then, the barrier of illusion series vanished with a snap of his finger, and he bowed to her respectfully before taking a step back, and escorting her to everyone else. "Alright. Now that this is done, let''s go~." Rein, more properly Uriel, shouted cheerfully, and everyoneughed at her sudden change of emotions. There were Zoe, Eon, Rein, their cute Med, Quin, and Chry here so Ca, Lizzy, and Alf were in their sses now. And though Zoe was going in a different direction from others, she was still here with others. But Eon, Rein, and Med had their alchemy ss while Quin and Chry were going for their political science ss which was almost in the same direction. But Eon and others had to hurry now if they wanted to reach their ss held on the northern castle wing in the main alchemyb so they all finished their talking, shared the highlights of their sses and some floating rumors that they had heard, which included some peculiar details about their group, and parted ways. They were going to their own sses, Zoe was in a unique situation right now, Quin and Chry were getting along well, the other prodigies were also on their way to their next sses that would ovep with the people we know, and in the midst of all this, Eon heard about a unique person from his personal talk with his Rein. "A possessed person called Dan, hun¡­? And one with ''holy eyes'' at that, you say? Now that''s an interesting one." He was smiling, and she knew from that rare and unique smile that her dear darling was on his way to get his very first ve in this great academy¡­ Chapter 543 Mia Silver ? [Eon''s POV: ] "And then¡­ he died." She looked down with another bitter smile, and shook her head, quickly washing away her useless sadness. "So!" And then she shouted, just like I knew she would. "Yes, yes. We will go and ask Sir Quesnel. And I do believe there is a chance that your amazing-sounding Bob is still alive since he obtained an origin. But I suggest you don''t get your hopes up just yet. I don''t think he will allow a creature with that much power to exist just like that. " We stood before our ssroom as I said that and she looked at me with a surprised expression. "So there''s still a possibility right~?! And since you said it like that, there''s something even more to this than I know, right~!?" Her voice was loud so again, other students were looking at us. And this time, even our teacher was looking at us from inside the ss with a displeased look. ''Thankfully we aren''tte or else he would have already kicked us out.'' "Alright, slow down. We are here so go get yourb coat and meet me at table No. fifteen." With another surprised look, she realized something and came back to her senses, and looked around her, especially inside the ssroom. A humanoid figure with hands of gold and silver colors, a tall build, and eyes without any pupils was looking at us from the canter of the ssroom, and as he looked at us, there was a frown of displeasure on his not-so-attractive face. "Ohh¡­ I didn''t realize we were already here. Apologies, teacher." She bowed down respectfully, epting her mistake and the teacher in the center of the giant room shook his head with the same expression and signaled us toe inside and not block the door for the other students. And after I bowed with her, we entered the giant ssroom bigger than our homerooms filled with unique equipment, shelves full of materials and ingredients, and countless colorless and colorful bottles of unique fluids. [[ "He''s the homunculus teacher you were praising¡­? What''s with that dangerous aura and terrifying stats, man?" ]] Rein was surprised right now, and anyone would obviously be surprised to see a being like our alchemy teacher. [[ "He''s one of the only few of his kind on this so it''s natural you would feel that much overwhelmed. But he''s a nice person so don''t worry about him. You will get it soon." ]] She walked on the other side of the ss while I looked around the giantb and our teacher was looking at the two of us with a better look than before. And it was hidden, but I knew he was also surprised at not being able to see either of our screens. ''It''s going to be fun learning from him¡­'' I was smiling right now, and Rein would know this smile wasn''t something I had when I was happy about a ss but when I had ulterior motives. Anyway, there was still a little time left before our ss starts so we quickly grabbed the specialb coats from the designated sides of the ssroom and met on the fifteenth experiment table. But there was a little problem here¡­ "I think this ce was upied," I mumbled as soon as I saw the pyramid-shaped storage device on our table, and just then, a familiar person approached us. "Oh. Excuse me-" And she was surprised to see someone on her reserved desk too, but she stopped midway and looked at us with a surprised look. "Vice-captain? So you really are taking this ss¡­?" she said with a yful grin and got closer to the two of us, looking at the two us with a unique smile on her attractive face. ''The alchemist of silver. The dark elf known throughout the nations for her prowess and talent¡­ Miss Mia Knives.'' She wasn''t a young adult like most of the students here but an adult, grown-updy with a greyish skin tone, silver-grey hair, light yellow eyes, a very attractive physique, facial features, and clothing. She was a dark elf by race but her characteristics were a little unique from the usual dark elves. Still, she was pretty as heaven and had long ears- [[ "Star at her a microsecond more and you will get a punch right on your kidney." ]] ¡­ [[ "Yes ma''am." ]] "Yes, Miss Mia. It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance-" "What do you mean acquaintances vice captain~? If anything, we arerades and it is my pleasure to meet a well-known person like you." She was smiling¡­ she was smiling? "Well known? I don''t think I''m the well-known person here, Miss. The world knows about the creator of Aswagid and Secondary elixirs more than a new house captain, Miss Mia." She was famous, definitely as much as me. And by me, I meant Axion, the publisher of a world-famous novel, creator of some revolutionary artifacts, and the one that owned a world-leading food brand. She was that much famous, so calling a little-known person like Lucifer ''famous'' was only a joke. "Ohe on~ vice-captain. You are quite famous you know? Everyone talks about how you two-" "Hello, Miss Mia." Rein cut her mid-sentence and smiled at the pretty. [[ "You are getting punishment today." ]] [[ "I didn''t do anything-!" ]] [[ "Tell it to your soft eyes." ]] [[ "Rein?!" ]] I was innocent here! I wasn''t even doing anything like the other males in the ss but even admiration of art was inappropriate now?! ''And I was only looking at her familiar mark too! Not even at anything else! What the hell?'' "I''m Uriel. His fianc¨¦e-" "Of course, you are his fianc¨¦e dear. I have heard and seen quite a lot about you two in thest two days. You are a fascinating couple, and I''m not trying to do anything funny here~." She had a happy smile on her face as if she found Uriel''s reaction funnier than mine that wasn''t attracted towards a pretty person like her. But her happy answer wasn''t quite eptable to my dear witch. "Hump! I know you are trying something but I''m not falling for that smile so you better keep your vines and these little creatures to yourself." She hugged my hand in a cute attempt to tell her I belonged to her. ''She doesn''t have to show this obvious thing but it''s always cute seeing her like that. Hehe.'' But thedy before us immediately had a surprised look when Rein mentioned the little creatures. "You can see them?" She asked, her surprised face making many people including our cute Med on the seat beside us skip a beat. "Hump! They are big enough to be visible so of course I can see them. And they are hindering me for some reason anyway. Please put them back. Especially that vine that wants to touch my darling. I will have to hurt it if it''s too close." But Rein was the same as before as she moved her face to the other side with an adorable angry look and answered the person before her. And however surprised, she could see that the alive fungus of her familiar was actually attracted to her too much. So, she looked at the thin green vine wrapped around her neck and her left hand, and it vanished inside the unique nt-like marks on her neck. "Apologies from their side. Looks like she likes you so much she can''t help but get close to you, hehe." Sheughed and flowers bloomed at herughter. Well, real flowers. But there were only a few so it was alright. The students can fight over who will get it after the ss was over. "That aside, you two are using this ce so let me take the one beside you." She looked at the table beside us and Med blushed herder when her eyes met Mia''s. "She is mine too!" But Rein hugged one of her hands too, making her the little Med forget what was even going on. "Hahaha~. You can have her too dear. But at least let me use this ce. How am I gonna do the test if you do this?" Sheughed again, and this time, it was even more cheerful than before, so the new flowers that bloomed afterwords were even livelier. However, her simple words surprised Rein and Med. "Test? What test?" She instantly looked at me with surprised eyes and I shook my head helplessly at the two strange girls that didn''t even notice the only words written on the giant ckboard. "Look." I pointed at the front, at the giant ckboard behind our teacher, and they followed the direction of my finger. "Prepare the best healing potion you can or as many Mana potions you can in the given time after the ss starts?" Rein repeated the first line with an astonished expression and then Med mumbled after her. "Good works will be rewarded ordingly? What does that mean? Will the teacher give ss points if we do well?" Her question was genuine but if she had researched more about this teacher of ours, she would have known he gives far more than ss points when ites to rewarding exceptional work. He was a unique being and pleasing him was no easy task so every test with a reward from him was always a great opportunity for every student in his ss. And this first ss was our first opportunity to get something actually valuable from an original Giant like him so as I said, this was going to be a fun ss. "See? There''s a test. Can I pretty please use this ce? I promise I won''t steal your two darlings~." She smiled again, but this one was a genuine smile so, after examining her with narrow eyes for a few seconds, Rein nodded lightly, and released the two of our hands. But as soon as she did that, she looked at Mia and spoke up in a confident tone. "Let''s see who gets a higher score on this test Miss prettydy Mia. And you too darling." There was a smile on her face now¡­ apetitive smile she only has when she really means what she says. ''And the simplest meaning of this certain smile, is uncertain scenarios.'' Something was going to happen in this alchemy ss, and I was already dragged right in the middle of everything. Chapter 544 Potion Making ? [OP: ] "Are you suggesting we do something like apetition, Uriel?" Mia asked, a look of interest painting her face. "You can say it like that but if we are actually doing apetition, there would also be something like a prize for the winner right?" Rein smiled just like her, showing it wasn''t her intention but a healthypetition was always weed. But Eon knew very well she wanted thispetition thing from the start and he also knew what the next words falling off her pretty lips would be. "How about the ones losing following an order from the winner? They can decline if the thing asked of them is too difficult for them too so it would just be a ''friendly'' thing." She suggested that with a little thinking but the smile, no, the smirk she openly showed was enough hint for thedy before her. "An order you say? I like that idea very much. Too much actually." With an excited smirk on her pretty face, Mia looked at Eon up and down, and the way she checked him out didn''t go well with Rein. But she didn''t say much here. She knew the attractivedy with pointed ears before her didn''t have any weird thoughts about her darling¡­ at least not now. "Alright then~. Let''s do it." Mia shouted cheerfully, but it wasn''t loud enough for the voice to reach their teacher that was already looking at this group of four with a uniquely calm gaze. He knew about the famous alchemy genius and as a matter of fact, he had already worked with her outside the academy so he was familiar with her prowess. And he was also familiar with this special couple that was the talk of the entire academy right now. He could tell both of them were special but, at the end of the day, they were also just young childrenpared to him so he was also looking forward to their littlepetition with anticipation of what cool things they would show him. ¡­ His body in this ssroom, the homunculus that was only a shell with a part of his consciousness had a calm look with a in expression, but his real body, his giant body present in the underground level of the academy, was smiling right now as he saw them, and the cute sparks ofpetition sparking between them. "Do I have a say in this?" "Of course not, darling." But the poor little boy Eon didn''t have a say in this. He had to participate in the two of their littlepetition and do well so that even if his dear darling fails by some cuts and inches, he can save her from their agreed mand'' rewards. "A-umm¡­ good luck you two!" Med cheered for her two friends and even though Mia''s attractive aura was too much for her, she wanted her friends to win. And especially the person that fed her those amazing things during their lunch. She wanted Eon to win more than Rein and Mia, and both girls could see that in her adorable eyes. -p. p! "It''s time everyone. Start. Just raise your hand when you are finished." "Yes sir!" Everyone washed away their charmed look and got to work. They couldn''t waste their time if they wanted to remain in this ss as the third line on the big ckboard said, ''Those who don''t finish one of the two potions by end of given time, won''t be allowed in the rest of their ss''. For everyone else who knew making either a health potion or Mana potion without any automated equipment and specified method and ingredients, was a task one might not be able to finish even after they were given twice the amount of their current ss, so they were afraid right now. But for the three at the back right now, a unique opportunity to order around a famous person and their partner was on the line, something far more important than being able to attend one of their sses. So there was something on the line for everyone here. And as soon as they started the preparations for their potion making, everyone was again surprised by what absurd things the three people they were looking at till a while ago, took out of their storage devices and spaces. -Thadum! The first thing, and the biggest thing present in this big ssroom now, came from none other than the girl that defeated the house captain of the first-ranking house, our dear Uriel. "Phew. Let''s get started." Behind her stood a giant cauldron, a ck pot used in ssic alchemy practice. But there were few people in the current world that used something like this. There were many easier ways and simple methods than using these pots, throwing in ingredients, and mixing them while maintaining perfect heat. But they cannot deny their usability as their course also contained the learning of this ssical way of producing potions. Still, to see a cauldron this big¡­? It was new to them, and also questionable if creating potions in something of this caliber is even possible. "Ohh? Your darling sure is quite a special person, it seems vice captain. The enchantments on that pot look too amazing to be something a normal person''s possession. Still, it is nothing before that catalyst, dear captain. Isn''t it cheating to use an enchanted ?" She was smirking while looking at the unique floating object on the table before him, a subtle look of surprise also present in her precious eyes. But Eon maintained his calm and acted just like he had been in all this time. "If we are talking about cheating, Miss Mia, then I believe anyone present in this ss would consider thattest model of present on your table the biggest cheat. Not even renowned professional researchers get the chance to have the older versions of these mechanical masterpieces, and even the academy itself has only three of these, so the little things that we got by pure luck are as fair as this test, no? Besides, isn''t there a famous saying which goes as, "Everything is fair in love, war, and games?" For her it''s a war, for you, it''s a game, and for me¡­" He nced at Rein for a moment and smiled warmly, which was enough for her to know what he wished to express. "A war and a game¡­ alright then. You said it yourself, vice captain. Don''t make excuses when you lose~." She warned cheerfully and looked at the girl beside him that was preparing pure water to clean up her pot. She found Uriel charming, but Eon was more valuable to her than this little charming girl so the battle started. "Of course. If it is within my power, I will do anything you wish, Miss Mia. If you win, that is." And as he gave her a little smile, thepetition truly begin for all three of them. "Good luck darling~," Uriel said, and ran off towards the back of the ss towards the shelves that contained all the materials needed to make most of the potions the world knew about. And these ingredients were in an abundant quantity here so they can make nearly countless sets ofmon potions like the one for healing and restoring Mana. "You too. Don''t lose to her." He waved at her and also walked towards the shelves on the other side. Rein and Med were going to make Mana potions while Eon and Mia were making health potions. One side was focusing on quantity while the other was on quality. But both things were equally difficult processes. After all, potion-making was an art that required not only experience and talent but also deep knowledge about the ingredients, insight into equilibrium, and ultimately, good enough luck to get the final product. Still, the techniques one prepared their potions with also yed a major role in all this. And the techniques of the three people that surprised everyone here not once but twice till now were obviously going to be something equally shocking. Seeing a giant cauldron like that was new to them and seeing that much of arge-scale making of a potion that they all found difficult to produce as a single batch, would be nothing less than mind-blowing to them. Seeing someone use equipment that they had only ever heard about would also be breathtaking for them. But, the most spectacr view they would get would definitely be seeing the refinement process, filtering process, and something they hadn''t even heard about till this day, something that was even a rare sight for their teacher, something unique yet simple, but also something few could ever master. In simple terms, it was called Mana-Aura infusion, but their astonished teacher, the person that knew about old alchemy the best in their ssroom, could certainly tell the boy wasn''t using his own Mana in his process. He was using the Mana of the environment by using his own Aura¡­ which was in itself an absurd disy of his control over his body, as well as the unique Aura that he possessed. In his eyes, the boy was doing something strangely exciting¡­ and exciting someone like him, someone that belonged to a race known for their natural superiority to every other ''normal'' creature, was a grand feat in itself. So, he was smiling in his original body now, and the end result, the product of his long, tedious, andplex process, would widen his smile even further¡­ Chapter 545 Potion Brewing Methods ? [OP: ] "This much should be enough. Then, let''s start." Rein stood before the giant pile of materials, mainly a kind of white flowers and blue rocks, and nodded with satisfaction. -Snap! Then she snapped, and the entire pile of material started floating, showcasing her extraordinary control of telekinesis. The students were shocked to see how she walked gracefully towards her giant pot with that pile of materials behind her. Following her like she was their master. It was a scene that made them forget about their own potions for a moment but thankfully, they soon came back to their senses when the girl they all were looking at¡­ just threw the entire pile of materials into her cauldron, giving a shock to the students who knew the worth of all those Tapis flowers and Mana rocks. And she used many rare ingredients too, some being costlier than even what some lower aristocrats can afford. But there were no restrictions on what materials one wanted to use in this alchemy ssroom as long as the teacher didn''t say anything. And this time their teacher was just silently observing her. Still, it was painful for their hearts to witness a scene of all those ingredients that can probably produce hundreds or bottles of potions, go to utter waste. There was no way one could make potions on thisrge of a scale with no equipment to control the heat, with no way of making proper measurements, without any filtering devices to remove the impurities, and without any external catalyst to quicken the process. They were all back to their senses from her shock because they knew what she was doing was already foolish¡­ but that was a misunderstanding from their side. "Alright." Rein stood before her giant cauldron as their professor closely observed her, and took a deep breath. -Snap! Then, with a snap of her finger, she first produced some water and started filling the pot. -Snap! Snap! And with two more snaps of her finger, the entire cauldron was lit up with unique patterns and magic circles already painted on its surface. "Huuuuu¡­" And then, with a deep exhale, she looked up at the cauldron with a serious look and put her hand on its surface. -Ooooooooooooong! And as soon as she did that, the entire pot was set aze with a strange green fire that¡­ a few of them were actually familiar with. "P-potion brewing touch! How?!" "No¡­! That''s cheating!" "Teacher! How''s using a skill like that allowed?!" "Before that! How does she even have a skill like that?!" They were surprised, no, they were shocked out of their pants would be a better way to exin their current reaction. They were seeing something, as the students of alchemy, they had only ever heard about by their superiors. [Potion brewing touch], the only known skill that can do nearly all the processes required to craft a proper potion. And though the effect itself depended on the person''s mastery of the skill, the effect was guaranteed. Originally a skill belonging to an extremely rare and dangerous carnivore nt named [Qwerty Poiu], it was a skill mentioned in the history books, and something they all were familiar with because the current top alchemist in the world, someone holding the title of [Alchemy emperor] also possessed this famous skill. It was a rare skill of (Blue) rank, but, it wasn''t so rare that mere possession of this skill would have such absurd reactions from the students. They were just overreacting, and the others that knew this rare skill was infamous for its notoriety to master, were not worried about what she would do with her giant cauldron. She can destroy everything there, and might also have to pay if she messed up so, instead of an uncertain case like her, they were more focused on the two other people in this littlepetition. -Shimmmmmmm¡­ On one side was ady known throughout the continents for her advanced alchemical methods. Mia Knives. She was one of the many advanced technology users that used the mostplex and unique pieces of equipment in her productions. And even right now, what she was doing had stolen many eyes, stopping them from doing the important task they had to perform before them. It was an attractive sight for the tech fans as on the table before her was ced a masterpiece created through the techniques of ancient times and the best knowledge of their current era by the most proficient hands with a reputation as grand as the alchemy emperor. It was a strange artifact, divided into three parts resembling a cylinder, a sphere, and a strange part with teardrop shape, and deep red color. Behind that artifact was a stand full of tens of empty test tubes, already cleaned and prepared for her use, and on both sides of this artifact were ced normal-looking equipment with not-so-normal functions. She was performing alchemy, and they had to make only a simple healing potion. But her preparations seemed to many as if she was getting ready to start the research of a cure for some newfound disease. And she had also selected many rare ingredients that they didn''t even know could be used in the making of a simple healing potion. From their poor knowledge, all they had to do was take some healing herbs, mix them at a precise ratio, purify the mixture, filter the impurities, boil it on a Mana me, filter it again, add some required catalysts and harmonizing reagents, and boil it again. That was the simple process of creating a healing potion and normally, it would take a few hours to prepare one without catalysts but if one follows their books word by word, they can surely make one proper potion in a few minutes¡­ But alchemy isn''t only about following the recipes properly. It is an art that requires an artist. An artist with passion, in true meaning actually. And these students, though many themselves weren''t yet of the level to understand their art, were definitely seeing three artists create art with their own unique techniques. One was using ingredients to mass produce something they feared to prepare in a greater quantity, the other was using technology that they understood little about, but could still tell was aplex process involving unconventional techniques that they were unfamiliar with, and thest one¡­ well, was the true artist in all the eyes present in this room right now. Eon, no, the vice-captain of Wisdom Phoenix, Lucifer. He was doing something¡­ unique right now. First of all, he wasn''t using any mechanical equipment like their burner, me te, filtering devices, or even the droppers. All he was using right now, was the red orb floating before him with a golden, silver, and white band of strange enchantments circling around it. Some people who were knowledgeable about ssical potion brewing recognized this device as a catalyst orb used as a radiation source used when working with very potent ingredients. But, he wasn''t using any potent ingredients at all. Yes, there was a big pile of materials beside him, but all those things were something they all could recognize as things avable in all apothecaries andmon markets. They couldn''t understand why he would use something like that formon ingredients like those¡­ actually, they also couldn''t understand what those circling enchantments around the orb were and what he would use all those ingredients unrted to the health potion for. They were confused, but that was a moment before. Right now, they were all in awe as they looked at his focused self that was doing all those magical things without caring about his surroundings. He was doing his work, and as a first step, he was processing the ingredients to make them into what he wanted. The three rings around the orb kept rotating constantly and when he wanted to crush any material and turn it into fine powder, he wouldmand the golden ring and it would wrap around the orb, producing a strange golden light that would turn everything under it into a fine powder. When he wanted to separate impurities from that power, he wouldmand the silver ring to wrap around the orb too, and the resulting silver light would realize its wish. Andstly, when he gathered that powder, mixed in some more power from some other processed ingredients, and put them under the final white light from the white band, the resulting material he got was something¡­ totally different and radiant than the previous dull elements. It was quite a sight to see something like this but, it was only the start of his masterful artwork, the basic lines that were the foundation of his unique creation. -Tap. He tapped the surface of the orb and all three rings went back to normal. His filtering process was over and now, it was time for the real work. So, with the same focus as ever, he called out the Aura on his hand, a blue Aura resembling his eyes that we all weren''t familiar with. The color of his true Aura was, as we knew, a radiant pink. But thanks to Celes, he could disguise this too. Still, it was difficult for even her near absolute power to hide the strange uniqueness of his Aura with white purity, so this glorious blue was just as attractive to everyone''s eyes as that green me behind him and the golden me of Mia''s equipment beside him. But he still shined the brightest among them, and the way he channeled this Aura, used what they could feel was Mana, and used both to further temper and strength the properties of his processed materials was a gifted sight to their poor eyes. He wouldter turn that into the final fluid product¡­ and their teacher was getting even more excited to see that final product, that final ''healing potion'', with a kindsmile he didn''t have forst few decades. Chapter 546 Final Products ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­" First, feel the aura that lies deep inside your mind, deep in consciousness, channel it throughout the body, take in other energies from Mana core and Solnova reserve, mix it to strengthen the Aura, take the strengthened Aura out, materialize it in a thin form, spreads it thinly in the atmosphere, grab the Mana in the surrounding with it, drag the Mana and move it towards the prepared material. ''Slowly¡­'' Feel the Mana that''s being dragged with Aura, and twist it. Make a thin string with this new waisted Mana and twist the string again. Wrap the string around the container with the tempered powdered material, and without ovepping the strings, continue wrapping it around it. ''Good.'' Next, focus on the Aura that''s dragging the Mana and passing the Mana through the container directly inside the material. ''Gentle pressure or there might be an explosion¡­'' Carefully as the wrapped strings of Mana covered by Aura pass through the container, slowly loosen the Aura wrapping around the Mana and let the Mana flow through the material. ''Good, good.'' As the powered materials get in contact with the Mana and Aura, the material will start dissolving, turning into a fluid form. That fluid will be the final material of thest stage of the creation so I had to get this part right. It was the most important. ''Stop.'' I could feel the first material had reached the point of saturation and had started dissolving. So this was done. ''Now onto the second one.'' I had a total of twenty-four of these materials to prepare, and then mix two, do the same thing, mix two of them again, and repeat the process, do it onest time while under the white light of the catalyst, and the final three will be the end products with the most potency. ''Usually, I use it after dissolving it, but it is for the test so thest three will be the final products.'' Mixing thest three would give no actual retractions as all three of them would be the same product with the same quality so they would just mix in. ''Yes, they might lower the ultimate potency a little so keeping the three separate is better.'' ''Good. Now onto the next one¡­'' I had a lot of work to do there was no time to even look around. I knew I would take the most time, and probably finish on the clock, but that was a little price before what I was creating right now. ''Alright.'' I could feel the gazes on me and also the warm feeling Rein was feeling while looking at me right now but, even if I wanted to look at them, I couldn''t. ''All four of us will be washed by a weird colorful foam otherwise so I had to focus¡­'' *** [Rein''s POV: ] ''Good. This is great.'' [[ "Celes, Does the color of the things inside the pot look anything like green?" ]] [[ Noooo~. It''s still blue sister Elle. ]] [[ "Alright, thanks." ]] ''Three more minutes.'' I was halfway done with my work so there was only the heating process and filtering process left. ''I will probably have enough time to put the final product in bottles and watch my dear darling do his cool work with that great focus~.'' And that bitch is going to lose. I knew she would because he was making one of his original potions. ''Not one of his nine ultimate potions but one of the original recipients that he sometimes uses to heal the people and creatures in emergency situations.'' It was a potion far better than the current advanced potions on the market and though not at the level of holy water, it was nothing less than that thing. ''But his ultimate healing potion sure is far, far better than any kind of holy water. That thing is practically miraculous.'' Anyway¡­ focus. ''This is draining.'' Potion brewing touch was a skill that depended on one''s proficiency with the environmental elements, the natural processes, and then ultimately on how much one wanted to sacrifice. ''Thew of equivalent exchange.'' That was the alchemy in one word. You give something and you receive something of equal value in return. ''And I''m giving up my precious Mana right now which I was already pretty deprived of after that fight this morning.'' The amount draining from my body to continue this process was already more than my regeneration rate and if I had to keep this up for more than what I calcted, I would have needed a Mana potion myself. But thankfully, I would finish it before I had to tap into my first Mana reserve. ''Still¡­'' My darling looked cute, amazing, and beautiful as he was coved by all those colorful lights, that strangely colorful form of environmental Mana, and in the core of it, his jewel-like Aura. ''Only if it was his original Aura, it would have looked even more beautiful. But this isn''t that bad either.'' This was pretty, and I loved his focused self more than his usual self so this was just pure bliss for me~. And I did want to properly look at and admire this spectacle, but I couldn''t divert my attention much with this process going on. ''Haaaa¡­ damn.'' I wanted to finish this quickly but I also wanted to win against those pretty pointy ears. I can''t ck off or make any mistakes if I wanted that win but the scene of my focused darling was rare too¡­ [[ Master. I think you should not think about anything. Just do what you are doing. The skill will work better that way. ]] My old crow spoke up and his words definitely made sense. It was better to not think¡­ actually, it was even better to go into ZONE and finish everything quickly. [[ "Thanks Branwen~." ]] [[ Ahem. That''s what I do master. Besides, if you are thinking of going into ZONE, I would suggest you don''t do it right now. Instead of wasting your mental energy while the basic process is still going on, do it when you are done using Potion Brewing Touch. ]] [[ "Right! Thanks again Branwen~!" ]] Having a smart crow was always a good thing~. ''Alright!'' I focused on my cauldron and increased the Mana output to quicken the process. I won''t have to worry about Mana when using ZONE anyway. *** [Mia''s POV: ] A hyperactive gateway was an easy-to-use artifact. All one had to do while using it was calcte all the factors, errors, elements, and reactions that we wanted to happen, break down the structure of materials we were going to use on the molecr level and enter all the reactions we wanted to happen with them; andstly, when we get the final product, put it through the refinement, purification, and condensation process. Most of it was automatic, only requiring a good enough control of Mana, so it was a pretty easy process. It was just a silly health potion anyway so winning against two people was naturally a piece of cake¡­ ''That''s what I thought until a while ago, at least.'' We arepeting to see who would do better here, or more like who would get the higher score in our teacher''s evaluation. And the criteria were either quality or quantity. I was naturally confident in my abilities to make a better potion than any child here but¡­ ''Who are these two? Where did they evene from? And how are they unknown even with all those talents?'' One thing I concluded after seeing how well she used the potion brewing touch and how he was using that strange Aura technique to practically change the very molecr structure of the elements, was that these two were no ordinary adventurers. ''I''m going to lose¡­'' I knew it. I knew just how much different a good potion like mine was from her absurd number of potions or his absurdly good potion. I underestimated them, probably a little too much¡­ ''And now I have to feel that disgusting self-loathing and humiliation of defeat once again. Haaaa¡­'' It was bitter, and something I didn''t want to feel ever again. But maybe this time¡­ I looked at the two of them, one focused on the long and tedious process he choose to create some strangely extraordinary thing, while the other one, the cute girl that goes around warning the world how he was her fianc¨¦ and how he belonged to her, and an unexpected smile took over my face. The defeat wasn''t unfamiliar to me. If anything, in my long life, I had faced defeat, cusses, discouragement, separation, discrimination, powerlessness, and much, much more. My life is better now, but it didn''t use to be anything like this, far from anything like this actually¡­ and reminiscing about that passed time is useless. I wanted to never see the face of that cruel defeat again, but I knew I will lose now. And still, I''m not feeling that same¡­ heaviness, as usual. ''If anything, I''m¡­ excited?'' It was difficult to put this feeling into words, but I surely knew one thing here. ''The two of them are special. And maybe, spending time with them might give me the answers to the questions I have been searching for all this time¡­'' *** [OP: ] Time passed and the students started raising their hands, indicating they had finished their work. The first one to finish this test was their Med, and her work was splendid as she had produced nine basic Mana potions of perfect quality. It was a pretty good result and the teacher was pretty impressed with the perfectlypleted potions even though they were just the basic potions. Not many could create stuff like that even while following the books word by word. But she achieved a good result and as the second line on the big board at the front said, he rewarded her with a little chunk of Mana crystal, something that would cost nearly thirty gold on the market. She was actually surprised to receive something like that, however, denying a reward from their intimidating teacher was a bad idea in itself so she couldn''t speak anything as he just moved to the other students. He was a strange teacher, and after Med, he also gave many of the students present in the ss a reward or scolding ording to their performance. His looks were intimidating as is, but his voice still contained that strange hint of gentleness that they only felt from people like their headmaster or vice headmaster. It was strange, but getting those precious things for free wasn''t something most of them present there would say no to. And ording to the work, the reward also varied¡­ There was a cheerful expression on everyone who got something and a sad one for those that didn''t get anything and an even more devastated one for the students that got scolded so badly they were almost crying, but¡­ all these three kinds of students were now looking forward to the three unique individuals that were creating those unique arts. And though thest one to finish in the whole ss was their vice-captain of Wisdom Phoenix, what he had created looked nothing less than the twodies on each of his sides¡­ Uriel, after defying all the thoughts from the students, managed to create a whooping fifty-one bottles of Mana potion with a quality so good it was actually as good as intermediate-grade potions. Mia, after finishing all herplex processes, produced a golden healing potion, something very different from the green one that others created. And simply looking at it was enough for them to know it was a product far above the simple intermediate level. But still¡­ that thing was still visibly inferior to the pure, transparent red potions that Lucifer had created. And there were three vials of it, so even after not looking at their teacher''s surprised, happy expression, they all knew who the winner of their littleputation was¡­ Chapter 547 Good Work ? [OP: ] "What do you call it, young boy?" The intimidating alchemy teacher standing before the table with theirplete works asked with a spark in his eyes. Everyone was looking at the two of them, especially the attractive looking three potion bottles that were ced on the ground. There was something special about them and they could tell it simply by looking at it. But, only their teacher knew from just a look just how amazing of a concoction he was in the presence of. "Nothing special sir. It is a form I rarely make and mostly just save for emergency usage. If I had to give it a general name, I wound call this a superior healing potion. But, if we have to please the upper ss and sell this to them at the base price of around three coins, I would call it [Smander''s tears]." He smiled lightly as he saw his teacher pick up one of the ss bottles ced on the table with his golden hand and examine it closely. He was astonished to see this thing. Actually, this had also picked up his curiosity. "Why did you use the catalysis that you were using? Is there something special about it that the other types of equipment couldn''t do?" He asked, opening the lid of the vial and dropping a single drop of the red liquid on a little cut on his hand, and as soon as the liquid touched the wound, it vanished with a dull sh of red light. "No sir. This catalyst isn''t much special than a usual but the enchantments ced on it make it very convenient, and also bring out the actual potential of the material." "Fascinating¡­" The students were looking at their teacher''s unique, curious face and they couldn''t help but innately admire the person that made the stoic teacher so full of reactions. "What about the ingredients? How did youe up with such an idea of mixing simple things, making them potent, using the Aura and Mana, and finally turning it into something this unique?" His curiosity was still running wild and as he examined the young boy''s work, he was already concluding the reasoning behind every single one of his actions. "Trial and error, sir. That''s the core of any scientific or magical experiment. As for how I got this idea¡­ it was actually from the tale of ." He smiled nostalgically as he mentioned that name, and many students, the ones from the northern continent mainly, looked at him with surprised expressions. "The fairy tale? You got inspired to make something like this from a tale of a lion and duck?" "Not a lion and duck dummy. It was a Leopard and a swan. And they were specifically (Winter blue panther) and a (Persoline green swan)." "Y-yes. But still, a children''s fairy tale¡­ and that?" "I think the moral of the story was something like looking at a problem from different perspectives, using the unconventional method, and never fearing failures. My little sister likes the fox in the story so I remember that well." "Ohh? I almost forgot the fox since it''s been so long since Ist heard that tale." "But still, how does one get the inspiration of using unrted ingredients to create something like this?" "That¡­ only the creator can answer." After their little discussion, they all looked at him with the same curiosity as their teacher, but he shook his head with a humble smile. "There''s nothing too deep to this. I was just reading (Arbenco''s thesis on molecr structure) on a fine afternoon, and myte grandma brought me a cup of fruit sd. She had used some very unique kinds of fruits and berries that we all would usually never put together but, strangely, the resulting taste of that unusual dish was very tongue pleasing. It was simply some things dropped in cool milk but the taste still lingers on my tongue, and the inspiration of this potion, which took me months to perfect, still seems as clear as yesterday to my heart. Haaa¡­" It was a true story. Rein knew it and her bitter reaction was enough for Mia to confirm that. And from the two of their sad faces, and how he mentioned his grandma, they all guessed just how close he must have been to hers. "An interesting potion and its interesting backstory. Today seems to be a special day for some reason." He paused for a moment and put the potion bottle down carefully. And then heughed. "Hohoho. Young boy, have you already patented this work?" He wasughing, and everyone looking at him were surprised to see this reaction of his. Everyone except the three people that hadpeted for the first spot, of course. "Well, sir. You can say that I have, but¡­ the production rights of it are exclusively sold to a capable client whose information, for obvious reasons, I cannot disclose until the product itself is resealed in the markets." "Sold?" He looked at him with a newfound surprise now. He wasn''t expecting to hear something like this from a young boy. And all the students in the ss were just as surprised as him at this news which they, as mostly young adults, couldn''t help but wonder about. "H-how much did you get for it, if I may ask?" Someone spoke up from the other side and he looked at the boy with a simple smile. "Things like that are usually confidential and bound by Mana oaths, Luke. All I can say about this transaction would be that both parties are getting good profits and neither is at too much of a disadvantage. We had a good legal authority with us so I can say it was all pretty profitable." A few students looked at the timid-looking boy with expressions that said they already knew the answer would be something like this. It was obvious one wouldn''t tell just anyone about things like that but still, some of them were thankful that he asked this obvious question that none of them had the courage to ask. And the answer from the person in question impressed their teacher even more. "It really makes me happy to see young children know about stuff that many ''adults'' never learn in their lives. You really made me smile today, young one. So here''s a little something for you. Good work." He raised his hand and a strange ck card materialized on his hand. Then he moved on to the person beside him without waiting anything anymore. "That was a spectacr scene, you girl. I don''t think you would believe it but in this ss of mine, thest time someone made this quantity of potion on the first day was exactly nine years, seven months, and two days ago. And no, that weird bastard didn''t use the obvious thing like your special big cauldron, but instead a spatially enhanced teapot. He''s quite famous now so I think you all might already know who I''m talking about but still¡­ to make this quantity in this little time and still have this good of a quality, it''s nothing short of miraculous. I also loved how well you used your skill and the cauldron. And it really made me think that you were a witch in disguise for a moment there. But those things aside, that was great. And this result is just as surprising as your ''fianc¨¦''s''." He smiled and nodded at her, and summoned a green metallic box just like that ck card. "Good work," he said, and then looked at the girl just on the next table, and the shimmering golden fluid in the attractive-looking vial before her. "Why the sad face?" He asked warmly, a smile on his intimidating face. "We had apetition, you know, right? I''m not a child that wouldn''t understand what it means when youpare her work with his. I could have done better, I underestimated them, and I lost. That''s all." She gave him a butter smile. And Rein gave her a happy smirk. She won, at least between the two of them. "You know it right? Then that''s fine already. You know what you did wrong, you know what you have to do. Then that''s all you have to do. You already made your famous (Golden raindrops) perfectly in this little time. Even I need more time than this for the same." He tapped her silver head with his silver hand and summoned a book like the previous two items. "They will help. Aren''t about alchemy itself but they will surely help. Good work." He walked back after saying that, and¡­ than addressed to his entire ss. "Then let''s start the ss!" Their ss would start. And the ss that was going on the other side of their ss, the ss with Zoe in it, was facing the same astonishment as this ss had for the three of thembined. There was admiration and awe in this ss too, and the Zoe we all knew, the same Zoe with that cute form and smiling face, was now totally different here now as she hammered on the anvil with a metal few could ever work with. And this was... hot. Just like her mature look. Chapter 548 Accounts Of Minor Events ? [OP: ] It was early evening and their sses had almoste to an end. Everyone was starting to understand what this great academy of hope actually is by this time and for most of them, this was an even more amazing ce than they had thought at the start. The atmosphere here was fresh and refreshing, the sses were pretty good too, and the teachers, even with their unique ways of teaching, were all pretty good with their work. The cafeteria was some of the best ces too as the grand variety of food choices they offered, which raged from the most basic thingsmon people were used to, to the most luxurious foods served in the great royal banquets. And that was also just the basic facility of the academy. There were ces of all kinds and types here, and most of them were open to every student within the academy. They can go anywhere they wanted or do anything they wanted so it was all a really new experience for them. Still, there was a curfew time at the academy, so aside from a few night sses, most of the other facilities were closed off inside the academy and students had to return to their dorm rooms or the ces they all were staying at for the nights. Still, that didn''t mean they couldn''t stay in the academy or the academy garden. They can¡­ at their own risk. Anyway, their second sses after the lunch break were going on, and aside from Eon and Rein''s ss, there were some pretty attractive things going on in the other people''s sses too. And just like those two, everyone else had also made some new acquaintances. Ca stood out among them all as she had fought her entire ss in her first (de practice) ss after lunch and in the second one (Weapon theory), against all of their expectations, she debated against Xlor and Prince udius about what the best weapon in the world is and even defeated them in the argument with ''mind is the true strongest weapon''. She used proven factual points and undeniable data to do that, something people who knew her dislike of theoretical things were never expecting to witness. But she did it, andter, she even had a debate with the house captain of Fusion Stardust, the now-famous fairy Titania, over how Aura was more destructive and stronger than the ''general'' fairy magic. This argument was also filled with facts and actual solid data and not some baseless debate of personal point of views and childish ims. So, everyone hearing the two of them was also surprised to know all those things that they were hearing for the first time. Their teacher of that ss, their all-famous vice headmaster, the one who knew about the use of weapons the best on this magic ind, was having fun teaching this ss more than she had expected. Usually, if the students have some arguments on some topic and have a debate over it, involvement of mostly personal opinions, personal feelings, and stuff totally unrted to the topic and such things would bemon. And she was used to that kind of thing since a long time ago. Still, she didn''t like it too much. So, the one they had today, the one where the points were proven with actual knowledge and in a healthy way, was something she liked a lot. So she was happy. And thanks to that argument Ca and Titania had, they had be pretty close¡­ Alf, on the other hand, was attending (Historical magic theories) after parting ways with Eon after their first ss, he met Princess Isabe again and coincidentally ended up sitting with her, again. And there were only the two of them this time in their seat, so they ended up talking. And identally, she ended up asking him why he smelled so nice. But ironically, he was paying attention to something Uto was saying so he didn''t catch her words that could have been the beginning¡­ but he didn''t. And she didn''t say anything anymore, creating an awkward silence between them for the rest of the ss. Chry and Quin, on the other hand, were proceeding well as she got used to themonnguage and the two of them talked during their ss time. They were friends now, but their ship would not sail anytime soon. Lizzy¡­ well, she had a (Making of support magic) ss where they had to do a group test, and she got paired up with Drowslotm and Deleon, two famous prodigies that many students in the school considered weird. But, as they did their test and she understood these two not-so-young people famous for their green magic and summoning skills, she understood they weren''t anything weird at all. They were pretty cool if she had to say, but they were just shy to express anything at all. Especially the Deleon guy. He was strangely in love with slimes, almost obsessed with them. And she didn''t know the reason why he wanted to do everything by himself without needing any of their help. But, she was probably the same as him, and also the elf that worked with the nts and their natural energy to create magical phenomena. She understood them, and maybe, that was the reason she was able to convince them to do their tests properly even if they felt defeated by doing that. And both of them didn''t like her for how she practically used them, so they wanted nothing more than to never get involved with this person¡­ which their teacher ruined by saying the pairs they had right now, would be permanent in all her sses who would have to do practically everything together. So, they were stuck, and even though the two didn''t like it, Lizzy didn''t think it was that bad of a thing and even looked forward to working with these two weird people. Everyone had made acquaintances and friends, some loners were still alone, doing what they were doing and what they wanted to do. And Zoe was also doing what she wanted to do even though she wasn''t actually a lone person¡­ Zoe, by appearance, was a pretty girl and a new member of a prestigious noble house. People didn''t know much about her more than what was known to everyone so she was a mysterious person if seeing from a logical point of view. There was no background data on her, and her origin was unclear, people didn''t know how strong or talented she was or if she had any talent at all, or if she was just a pretty-looking girl from a top-tier house that they can try to use as a key to their growth. That was most of themon perspectives of everyone that didn''t know much about her so, the students present in the (Artifact creation) ssroom, the top minds with top talents and physical bodies to handle the basic heat of a forge, also had the same thoughts when they saw her in that ss. She was the only person there wearing a pretty dress instead of the usual clothes of an artifact cksmith, so some had negative thoughts about her while some looked down on her for being in that ce. Artifact creation was no small thing and it was a profession few could master and reach a certain level of even after spending their entire lives. It required strength, perseverance, an unbreakable mentality, talent, and affinity to handle different kinds of mes, and ultimately, a strong will to bend an unshakable chunk of metal. It asked for sincerity, and the way Zoe appeared in their ss didn''t show even a shred of it but disrespected the profession and art that they all wanted to learn with all their hearts. And their teacher, one of the few famous grandmaster cksmiths of this world, was also offended by her appearance so he scolded her, even asking her to leave his ss. But she didn''t move an inch from her ce, gently asking the teacher for the reason for his angry behavior. And this made him angrier. Enough to unconsciously give off a strong opposing aura. Someone was practically disrespecting their art, the object of their worship right now, but he can''t be angry at a student for something so trivial as that. He was a teacher and she was still his student. He did not mean to but he still did something wrong, and he epted his mistake when he realized it. But in the meantime, everyone just motionlessly looked at her when they felt that great pressure from him concentrated on her, and she still stood there as if it was nothing, earning greater surprise and awe from her fellow ssmates. And after their teacher apologized to her for his great misbehavior, even asking her for any chance to right his wrongs, she humbly forgave him, saying that mistakes are an inevitable part of mortal lives. Still, she was determined about taking this ss, and their teacher could see that in her unshaken blue eyes resembling the purest of the blue mes. Now that he looked closely at her, even with that weak-looking appearance and pretty dress, he could see some very fine pieces of artifacts on her, some so great that even he admired them. And when he looked even more closely, he finally caught on to the fact that the very dress she was wearing, was an artifact in itself. And it was a very fine work, even finer were all thoseplex enchantments carefully sculpted on it. He was blinded by his sudden anger and did something very wrong and even if she forgave her, he cannot forgive himself for something like this. He would repent over this, but first, he had to test his new batch of students and see the talents of these children of the golden era. So, he opened the workshop to them, presented them with an ingot of magic iron, a jade of fire, and some verymon materials, and asked them to make the best thing they can with it. It was a test, they all knew it, so they had to give their all and make something that would at least meet the passing standards of their teacher. So, they got to work and so did Zoe. Artifact creation was much more than forging, cksmithing, science, and technology but the cksmithing part was the basics. And they had to start with the basics in this exploration ss. The ce they were in was a giant workshop enhanced with spatial expansion magic and there were tens of forges, equipment,mon ingredients, creatures, and forever zing spirit mes. Forging, as everyone might know, basically involved fire, bellows, hammers, anvil, and materials. They had materials, a hammer, anvil, and bellows were there, but, their personal forges were not yet on fire. So, their first step was to turn on the forge and produce a workable fire¡­ and there were many ways one could do it. With magic, with Aura, with other artifacts, or by traditional means. There were many ways to do it, and Zoe chose the hardest, weirdest, and craziest one. She walked up to the master forge, the ce only their teacher could work on, and stood before the strongest spirit mes that they had heard were produced by a superior me spirit. It was very difficult for someone to merely handle the intensity of that me so it was situated quite a distance away from their personal forges, but she just walked up to that ce without breaking a sweat, stood right before the zing forge of pure red mes, ''talked'' with the mes with a smile, and after a while tried picking up the mes with her bare hands as if picking up water from a pond. It almost gave the ones looking at her a heart attack when she did that, but to their surprise, she wasn''t hurt. No, more than that, when she walked back to her ce, there was a me of the same color burning on her hands. It was the very first time in their lives they had seen something like that, but, their teacher was even more surprised at how she still had a calm expression while holding those powerful mes. If he tried something like that, he might be able to do it, but would still have to face the heat of those mes. And they knew they were very intense, definitely not something just anyone could handle. But her expression at that time was as if she wasn''t even feeling those mes¡­ making him question just how great her affinity with fire must be to cause such absurd phenomena. It was the first time in his life that he was so surprised like this. But that was just the start. By the end of their ss, the techniques she would use in her forging, the way she would totally erase the image of a delicate girl from their minds, and how she would create something so unbelievable with those seeminglymon materials, would nearly give their teacher the same heart attack as some of the students were feeling right now¡­ But, that was something we probably wouldn''t get to see as when this ss was ongoing, a certain group of people was finishing the decoration of a certain auditorium. And on the stage of this auditorium, looking at everything going smoothly, stood the current student council president Zodiac, caressing the little head of his dear family member and mythical creature, excitedly smiling with the thoughts of his meeting with his new student body, as well as some certain people that had be the talk of the entire academy and also some parts of this very sky ind¡­ Chapter 549 First Gathering Of House Captains ? [OP: ] "Wee, captains and vice captains~. It''s a great pleasure of mine to host you all for the first time like this!" Their sses had ended for the day, including the third ss where rtively little things happened in total. But still, there were some very, very surprising moments for each of the sses or at least each of the sses with the special people we know about. But that was all over now. Their sses were done, and the house captains, with some little push from their ssmates, had also gathered from the office of their president to this fine,mon house meeting chamber with a big round table in the middle, some good lightings, decorated with gs of all eight houses on the walls, and an area with a stage, some pieces of equipment, and some unique artifacts around it. Ultimately, it was a nice ce considering it was only essible for the house captains, vice captains, the student council staff, and a few teachers. And it was the first meeting of the house captains¡­ and of course, the president and their ferocious vice president. "Please don''t hesitate and ask for anything you like from Miss Morgan. She''s a very capable and important part of this, and all individual student house gathering halls." He was sitting on a chair that looked bigger and fancier than the others, clearly indicating his higher position among them. But the chair beside him, the one bejeweled with the presence of their vice president, was even more luxurious, confusing them of the higher authority between the two of them. "Then can I please have some water? It was a really fun ss so I almost forgot to have any." Ca requested the pretty-looking female artificial person, the special caretaker of houses, and some of the earliest members of this fine institution. And she bowed a little with that same smile on her face, walked to the other side, prepared some jugs of water and sses, and arranged them on the big table in a matter of seconds. She was efficient and a being of great importance, and they could tell her prowess just from her way of preparing water. This was obviously surprising for people seeing it for the first time, but those who already knew about it just admired the technology of the past. "Thanks, Miss Morgan." Ca thanked her, and she seemed to be flustered to receive apliment like that. It was a unique reaction and everyone was just about to get into a discussion about it, but vice president Cradle didn''t like wasting time like her president beside her. "Alright, listen here you newbies," she attracted their attention with her authoritative voice, and all eyes were unwantedly fixed on her. "You fresh chicks were picked from those thousands of people by the great ancient tree so there is undoubtedly something special about you all. I don''t know what is special about you or what outstanding talent you have and I don''t care either. It is up to you to figure it out anyway. But you all are undoubtedly leading figures of your houses, and there are a few things you all have to know, follow, and never even think of attempting. At least during my watch this year." She looked at all the twenty people present in this room with sharp eyes and they all looked back at her, with many unique emotions popping inside their hearts. Their sitting arrangements were unique as the two presidents sat on the eastern side of everyone, just on the opposite side of the door they entered from. On the exact opposite side of them sat the four captains of the current best house, captain Alpha and his vice captains udius, a normal-looking dwarf named Crox, and an elf boy named Francis. And their chairs were almost the same, just that the captain''s chair had the symbol of their house imprinted behind them. So, that was [True dragon] and on the two sides of them were [Fascinated mages] and [Fusion stardust]. And, different from a little awkward atmosphere between Alpha and his fellow vice-captains, Lizzy and Alf had a friendly atmosphere while Titania, Luna, and Hide had a professional atmosphere as if they were swornrades in this ce, where the currently tiniest one of them held the most important position. [Eternal tigers] sat just beside Alf and Lizzy so the captain of that house, the beast kingdom''s crown prince Eugene, was getting acquainted through Chry with others. And the same was true on the other side as [Aqua mirror] was beside Titania and others so as she was a new friend of Ca, they were introducing each other''s dear friends. Beside them sat [Turtle defenders] and Prince Alpheus was pretty familiar with Ca so he was also getting to know this special person Quin while introducing them to his vice-captain Bjorn, the tallest and toughest looking male orc in the room. Lastly, [Wisdom Phoenix] and [Dark society] sat beside the president and vice president for obvious reasons, so¡­ that was the arrangement. And even though a few already knew the reason for this meeting and mostly all the things that were going to be addressed during this time, many had no idea about anything, so it was an important little event for them. -Tap. Tap. "Then let''s start with the basics," vice president Cradle said, and tapped twice on the table. And as soon as she did that, a few colorful magical screens appeared above the table before them. The sses till now had been fun for them all, but now, the other part of their academy life, the part that though wouldn''t reflect in their academic results that greatly, but would surely stay immortal in the grand archives of the academy, would start from here. And as the students that represented their houses, the groups that suited them the most ording to the oldest being on this ind, they had many things they had to keep in mind. "First of all, you all are the captains, and though the roles are divided between a captain and a vice-captain, something that would sound above and below the other, truthfully, both of them have the same level of role in a house. You all are already captains so I don''t think I need to exin to you what the houses are but remember this, the authority both kinds of captains possess have its own ce of execution, and even though the captains can file a expulsion request against their own house members, the final decision would be in our and headmaster''s hands. And, just like them, if a house has any kind ofint against the captains, then the vice captains would have the right to bring it to the headmaster directly. The captains of a house are the leading voices, the one that guides the others, while the vice captains are the voice of the house members themselves, so you must know what is happening among your own members. The position you hold is rtively permanent for your academic years but, that doesn''t mean you can never get punished for your mistakes. Your behavior would reflect your very house and the hundreds of students that you need to take care of, and!" -Thump! She suddenly shouted and mmed her hand on the table, surprising the others as they were already paying close attention to her. "Though the one that holds the highest authority after headmasters in this school is this bastard, I hold the highest position among all the students. So, if ever, and I mean ever during this entire fucking year that I''m here, I get any seriousints about any of you¡­ then be prepared to live a hellish life for the rest of your time in this academy, and probably even worse when you get out of here." She looked everyone in the eye with her bright glowing green eyes and some of them gulped down a mouthful of saliva unintentionally. But a few of them present were totally unaffected by her serious show of powerful authority, and that painted a smirk on her pretty face. "Aside from this basic stuff, as the house captains, you just need to remember three basic things from my side," she said and continued with a serious expression. "The first would obviously be that you all are ultimately only students of this academy, so there''s no need to have any hate or any hostility towards the other house members or captains. Second, would obviously be knowing that all you need to do as the house captain is to lead your houses in all the required extracurricr activities, have fun, and make the others have fun doing the things that are obviously fun. The games, clubs, inter and intra-academypetitions, research projects that can be used in any field of the world, and fun things that can bring you and your house members closer are the core meaning of having these houses and captains, so always keep that in mind and participate in things that you enjoy or are good at, or at the very least, make people from your house participate in important events that can bring glory to you, your houses, and ultimately this academy. Study is important, I know very well how it feels to be the top student in the ss and receive the medals as the valedictorian. But the extra activities are just as important. They are the easiest way to get your name and photos on the grand award shelves that you see outside of your homerooms, so, if you wish to be immortalized by being there, then do something enough to earn it. And as for the third andst part¡­ don''t waste your gifts. It''s an undeniable fact that you have it, maybe you haven''t found what it is, but you are the chosen captains, so you definitely have it. Well, it''s a fact that everyone has a gift, but you, little new captains, have a gift that stands out from any other of your batch. So hone it if you already know what it is, find it if you don''t know, and forever be shameless to ask for help from us or anyone you arefortable with, but use it, grow it, and show it to the world. This is the best ce in probably the entire world to do that. So do something. And help your fellow students to do the same if you ever can." Her voice, which has been powerful and full of authority all this time, was gentle, softer, and totally different from before at the end, but at the same time, it was far more powerful than what it was before. Her words directly touched their hearts and went straight to their minds, making a home in that ce as if she had painted it directly into their minds. It was strange, but not in a bad way. They now understood that their vice president was a lot more than just a strict person the world might call a bitch. And these little suggestions from her were something all the twenty in this room would remember closely as they move forward with their actual duties and responsibilities as important figures among the thousands of students. "Alright. That''s it from me, and remember this forever little chicks, I hate dealing with unwanted annoying things. So never ever make me clean up your messes." She gave everyone a warm smile as she said that. And¡­ that was THE scariest thing they had seen in their time in this academy. They knew something very wrong might happen if they did that, so half of them nodded at her with a little stiff expression, while the other half nodded simply, showing their confidence in themselves or their confidence in their ability to handle the oue if they ever crossed her line. But ultimately, they all got what she wanted them to know. So, she nodded at them, and the person beside them, their legen¡ªdary president who had made her clean after practically every single one of his messes, shook his head at her with a little smile. She was a strong, cruel, and difficult person for anyone to handle, but he knew the best just what kind of person she really was. "Alright madam vice president. I will dly take it from here." She was his friend. Probably the one and only true, and closest friend in this world, but there was someone that was the peak of his current interest present in this room. And even though there was still a while left for their personal chat, just observing him like this was exciting for him. -Ptsssssss¡­! And of course, his little family member was just as curious and excited to see such amazing people at the same time like this. Chapter 550 Titania And Hide ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Alright then, see you all good new captains," he stood up and gave everyone a happy smile. "If you want to ask me anything, just message me through the school''s official channel ore to my office. I''m almost there all the time. And if I''m not there then you can just leave a note there. I will surely read it as soon as I''m there, or if anyone wants, I can give them Cradle''s work Chatbox ID. You can contact her if it''s too important and urgent." He was still smiling while saying that but many of them saw that genuine smile as the smile of a devil that wanted their demise. ''Special, I say.'' Still, there were nine hands raised at his offer, and we brave foolish souls were obviously Zoe, me, Rein, Ca, Alf, Alph, Quin, Lizzy, and Titania. "Oh? You all want it? Looks like we have more Vice President fans this time. Alright then, here you go. But just a reminder that she would absolutely hunt you down if you message her something useless and she doesn''t like it." He was surprised but he still handed me a little piece of paper and walked back to the door. "See you everyone~. Please talk with your house members and start preparing for the first event we will have after this weekend. It''s an important event for all the students and especially the mages, so make sure they are ready for the precious chance of meeting their lifelongpanions~." He was talking about the familiar finding event that''s held at the start of every academic year in the academy. The very first event where we, the student council members, would donate our preciousbor force. ''It would be fun though. I''m really excited about it~!'' It would be the first grand event of our lives here where the teachers would summon some energy beasts with the special magic circle of the ancient tree or we would be given a chance to try it for ourselves. It''s uncertain but most of the people do get their familiars during this event, one of the few things the academy is famous for throughout the world. ''A familiar is a very special being to a mage after all, and in some cases, to any person that''s lucky enough to receive one.'' [[ Master~. We will go meet with them personally now, right~? ]] And I was one of those few that were lucky enough to get one early in our lives. "Alright. Then see you, everyone." Some people walked out after saying their goodbyes, some walked out without saying anything and some of us stayed behind in the room. "Lucifer, Uriel, Zoe, this is Titania. She''s shy but she''s quite an amazing person." And one of the people that strayed behind was the captain of [Fusion stardust], the red fairy with a secret special background. "Hello, pretty Titania~. I''m Zoe, sister Carry''s younger sister. It''s a great pleasure to meet you~!" Zoe, as always, cheerfully greeted her, but she had a calm expression and a strange seriousness when looking at her. "You are special, aren''t you?" She asked while shaking hands with her, and Zoe answered just as cheerfully as before. "Of course I''m special~. I''m verrrrrrry special and young so please take care of me in the future~." She was the same as ever, but the fact that Titania was the oldest in the room right now after Rein was definitely true. She was a unique fairy with unique fairy dust so having a connection with her was obviously a good idea. "Hello miss fairy~. Can I please have a hug~?" Rein asked with a happy smile, excited to see another special fairy. "Hug¡­ um, alright. You also feel special so I will allow it. But only this once!" "Yes~!" Titania. She was special. Very special. And just the fact that she could talk in thenguage we all were speaking, made her as special as Ast''s dad. But she was younger than Ast, so she looked cuter than her. And her red fairy dust was more eye-catching than Ast''s pink one too. [[ *Master, it is bad to think things like that. You can just try and ask her for some if you want it.* ]] ''Right. We can do that too.'' I was distracted for a moment when I saw the little fairy hug Rein''s face so let''s clean up the head first. "Am I not getting introduced to the amazing fairy captain?" Alpha asked from the other side¡­ why was he still here again? "I already know you mister Alpha, but I don''t like your name and it seems my vice-captain doesn''t like you either for some reason so you can happily get lost." "So harsh. It hurts my fragile little heart, Miss Titania." "I can say it even more harshly, captain of [True dragon]. I''m really in no mood to talk with you right now so try againter. Preferably after a few days, with some good gifts, and with your real name if there is any." A hurt expression painted Captain Alpha''s face and he nodded, looked at Luna with an apologetic expression, but she continued looking at him with an angry expression, and he had no choice but to just nod and walk back towards the door. "I will try my best to do as you have asked Miss Titania. Anddy Luna¡­ we will have plenty of opportunities so I promise I will do my hardest to ovee this wall between us." He bowed towards her and left the room with his elf vice-captain. ''The [True dragon] really does have a good lot of talents. It would be fun watching how he cultivates them, hehe.'' "You are Lucifer, right? I heard a lot about you from Ca, and the entire school is practically talking about you so now that I see it myself, I''m really surprised to see someone like you. You are also as special as Zoe¡­ but you are different from all of us. Somehow, very different. But it''s in a good way different so I won''t ask anything just yet, not that you would tell me anything anyway. So, what I wanted to ask-" "She wants you to make her something she likes. A traditional dish of fairies if I remember correctly." Ca cut her mid-sentence and spoke up with a smirk and, an embarrassed expression instantly covered our new fairy friend''s cute face. "Ca!" She shouted, her face painted red, and we chuckled at this unique sight of a blushing fairy. "You want me to make a traditional fairy dish hun? Well, I have tried them before and I''m pretty confident in making Frtin, Luminocules, Dedleno''s sweet puffs, and Jaloquin F?rB. Still, they are difficult to prepare so I can''t do it right away." "Y-you know how to make all that?!" She shouted on top of her lunges and surprised everyone in the room, including Hide who was probably trying to get close to Rein''s vice-captain Neb. "We have a fairy acquaintance so I make it sometimes. What do you want though? Tell me before I can give you a definite answer." I was asking it with a smile, a smile that Rein can tell wanted something in return from this deal, and looked forward to her answer. "I¡­ actually, I don''t know you if have heard about it, but it is called Redienceangicle Hydropudding. But I-" "Condensed jello, right? I might be able to make it. What vor?" "Orange!" She shouted again, and this time, it was an instinctual response. "Why are you people so loud? Don''t you see we are doing something important here?" Hide asked with a frown on his face, and as soon as he said that, Rein and Ca looked at him with an angry look. "From what we can see, you are only bullying our vice-captains. Just leave them alone if they don''t want to fall for your obvious tricks, you bastard." He was talking with Neb sitting before him as well as with another one of Quin''s vice-captains, Araxie, a unique mer person that looked as attractive as some of the otherdies present here but seemed like an easy target from the atmosphere around her. And neither of them was there because they wanted to listen to his gibberish but only because their captains were here, so him getting hindered was none of our business. "Hide. Get lost too. Go y with your other friends. The two you are trying to seduce are actually just the type you would regret ever approaching the most. One will actually kill you if you continue that shit, and the other will kill you after she is done sucking out every single drop of your soul. It is a friendly warning as your captain so make a rational decision here and go. There are plenty out there you can y with. But none in this room are one of them." Titania was serious as she said that, and Rein and I could tell just how urate she was. Her look of seriousness and the pressure she gave off were great too, and they were finely concentrated on him, so it was also easy to tell just how good she was at handling her powers. And the poor young man that had no idea what he''ll he was stepping into looked back towards the two girls he was trying to talk with¡­ and saw the sharp eyes of Neb, so sharp and full of anger that they almost gave him a heart attack, and then, with shaking hands, he stiffly turned his head to the other side, and an evil smirking expression of the previously timid girl entered his vision. "A-ah¡­" He fell from his chair, pure horror covering his handsome face, and with his eyes still locked on the two dangerous girls, he picked himself up with much difficulty and ran out of the room while still looking at the two girls, one''s eyes and other''s smirk, till the end. "I was having fun~ Tia," Araxieined with a little chuckle and Titania shook her head at her sudden shift to her true colors. Neb was also back to her calm, and normal self. The one that probably suited her better¡­ ''She has a strange side too¡­ maybe this is the reason she is in Rein''s house?'' Still, one thing was for certain. She is a dangerous one, despite her usual normalness. But there was nothing for me to worry about. I understood a little what kind of person she was and aside from the fact that she housed a deep darkness inside her holy heart, she was quite a normal person. ''At least, she was normalpared to the few of us.'' Compared to Rein and me, at the very least... Chapter 551 ‘Little Something’ ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­ anyway, Miss Titania. Orange vor¡­ I think it will be a little difficult." "Why?" She asked with a sudden worried expression and I shook my head with a sad smile. "It''s nothing serious, but I ended up using all the usable orange slime''s condensed essence on mest time so I think it will take a while for us to get our hands on one since it is so rare and always monopolized by the big organizations on this ind." Titania was sad to hear that but my words also meant that what I said wasn''t hopeless so she looked at me and was just about to answer with a happy smile when¡­ "Oh!" Lizzy shouted all of a sudden when I said those sixty percent true words of mine and we all looked at her. "I think Deleon has a few orange slimes. I can ask him if he has any condensed essence on him." It was quite a surprising suggestioning from her, and Titania had no reason to deny such a great offer. "Liz! I don''t know how you do it, but go ask him as soon as you can! And don''t worry about the price! Ask for anything he wants in return! I have a rare if he wants to trade that essence with me too!" She shouted once again and this time, she even went up to Lizzy and lifted her hand with her little hands. ''She really is far stronger than she looks. Amazing¡­'' Deleon was some of the most famous energy beast researchers already and his area specialty was slimes. I wanted to get acquainted with him too but it was not time for that yet even though he is in Rein''s house. But it was still a good thing Lizzy was already acquainted with thatplicated person. "Yes, yes. I will go find him as soon as we are done here. I think if I ask really nicely, he will arrange the thing for us." "Yes~! Thanks, Liz!" She hugged her face too with an excited smile, totally forgetting the person that was supposed to make the dish she wanted to eat so dearly. "Thanks to you too Lucifer! If you do make it is like I know, then I will repay you to the best of my abilities too~!" She cheerfully said and bowed before me while still flying with her butterfly-like red wings. ''She didn''t forget about me but would only truly express her happiness when I make that sweet for her. A peculiar fairy indeed.'' She was adorable and strong, dangerous and smart, mature and friendly too. She was indeed as special as her background. "Look forward to it then. I will do my best to finish it as soon as I get the condensed essence." "Yes! Look forward to it~!" Rein shouted cheerfully and Zoe, Ca, and Quin added their voices as a show of approval. "Yes! Then let us get going quickly so that Liz can find that Deleon person quickly and Lucifer can make the thing as quickly as possible~! I''m really excited about this! You all will loooooove it when you taste it too~!" That was definitely true. This unique sweet was far more delicate to prepare andplex to make than its simple-sounding name so it was only natural that they would like it. "Look forward to it everyone. Especially Ca. You said orange was your favorite right? You will definitely love this thing." "Really?" "Certainly." I nodded with a smile that she very well knew meant for her to actually look forward to this thing, so a smile answering to mine also appeared on her face. "I will," she assured and the tiny fairy flew up in the room and shouted while looking at everyone below her. "Alright, everyone! Go! The first house captain meeting concludes here~! Talk with your other captains and finish asking if you have anything. We will all have to gather our house''s people anyway so let''s go~!" She flew out first and Princess Luna walked out after her with a graceful bow. "Alright, Quin and Ara. Let''s go too," Ca suggested to her fellow captains and they nodded at her, said her goodbyes to their friends beside them, and went out too. "Ok then. We will be going too. See you soon everyone." Then Alph, Chry, and their fellow captains walked out, leaving a few of us there alone. "Today was fun. I can''t wait for the next cooking ss." Lizzy gave me a happy smile and I nodded, defiantly agreeing with her words. "Let''s do well next time too." "Of course~!" She extended her hand and I dly shook it. We had a fun cooking ss and ended up making a good lot for the rest of the ss to feast on so the sses had ended with a fun moment. It was simr for Rein too as she and Clover had their fair share of fun with Quin''s surprisingly amazing spirits and the other spirits of their ss. ''And she especially learned a new fact about our little kitty. A fact that even I found unbelievably surprising.'' "Alright then. See ya everyone." She waved at us, Alf waved at us and they also left the ss. Now, the ss was almost empty with only the four of us present¡­ and Rein and I had a little something to do so¡­ "Captain Zoe. You can go ahead to our house''s gathering hall. I have a little something to do here so I will join you as quickly as I can. I have already informed everyone so everyone should be there soon so just hold the field till I''m there." "Don''t worry and take your time~." She smiled cheerfully knowing full well what my ''little something'' meant. "E~. You can go too. Or did you have something to ask?" Rein asked her vice-captain and she nodded with her usual flustered face that also had some idea about what was going on. "Just that Captain, there seems to be a few people from our house that are still unconvinced that you are a good enough person to lead them." There was a worried expression on her face but Rein shook her head with a simple smile that, in true meaning, she only had when she wanted to beat up a few people. "Don''t worry and just go to the gathering hall as we instructed everyone. See if these opposing people are there and take everyone there to themon practice arena. Post on the house forums that whoever has any kind ofint or problem with me, can meet me there. And also add that if they think I''m not good enough to lead the house, then I will duel with all of them at once. If they lose, then they would just have to shut the fuck up and do what I tell them. And if they allbined managed to defeat me, no, if they managed to even touch my hair, then I will do everything within my power to give them as much authority as a house captain and if needed, leave the academy myself." She was smiling excitedly, and even though Neb was worried about her as the things she had just said were too extreme, she strangely didn''t doubt that thisdy before her, her captain that had even defeated the captain of the first ranked house without using any great powers this morning, can take down a bunch of young people that only knew how toin. "As you wish captain¡­" she bowed respectfully and walked out of the room with a hint of embarrassment still present on her pretty white face. "Alright then¡­" Now, we were left alone in this room. "Three minutes only." And she was biting her dry lips seductively, inviting me to moisturize them. "No talking¡­" She couldn''t do much, we couldn''t do much, but what we were allowed, was not something we would miss even a single chance of when we had it¡­ At least, for the most part. * "Haaa¡­ haaa¡­ alright, let us go meet your legen¡ªdary president." "Haaaa¡­ yes. We also have to talk about that little incident from the day before yesterday. Haaaaa¡­ or else there will be a bigger crack between the vice president and us." "But what she did was wrong, alright. That is undeniable and unforgivable from my side. Here." I handed her a ss of water and stood up. "Thanks. But, that doesn''t mean we should keep this bad blood going on between us. She''s an important figure, and from what I can tell, she''s close to the president." She was sitting on the table, her clothes and hair in a mess, just like mine. If just kissing made us like this, I can''t even imagine what would happen when we¡­ "She is close to the president. Perhaps she''s the only one close to him. And I know that but still, what she did was wrong and I know she will never apologize for that." "Haaa¡­ you are too stubborn sometimes. I love it." She was a weirdo as always. A cute weirdo. "Alright get up. Come here." Lifting her from the table and cing her on her own seat, I started tidying up her dark long messy hair. They were long in this disguise but her original short hair looked the best on her. "What are we going to give to the two of them as presents though? Food and one of your fun games?" She asked as she also started tiedying up two of our clothes and I nodded while answering, "Yup. And I know for sure they are going to love it so much they will thank us every day for the next few days, and of course, ask for more." I was smiling, and even though she couldn''t see it, she knew I was smiling. Just like I knew she had a bittersweet smile on her pretty face. "You bad bad boy darling¡­" She was happy now. And I knew just like me, she couldn''t wait to end things here, take care of a little mouse group, and go to our dorm house. "Once more," she grabbed the end of my shirt just when I turned back and gave me a very bad look. ''Haaa...'' But we had to go now, so¡­ I gave her a forehead kiss and picked her up, knowing very well she would do as she wanted if I left her like that. "Hump. You are a bad person." "Others will have to wait if we arete so let''s go finish the stuff with the president already. It''s going to take a while anyway." Looking at my fianc¨¦e with a bitter smile, I requested her again with my poor eyes. And she took pity on a helpless soul like me and finally nodded. "Alright let''s go." She asked me to put her down, I did, and she used her shadow travel skill after kissing me, just like I knew she would¡­ It was finally time for our meeting with the person that had fascinated us during our early days and with an old and almost forgotten sword style, a unique aura that few in this very nature possessed, and a mythical beast with a pinnacle skill as his family and partner. He was a person that I truly wanted¡­ and this first meeting would set the foundation of a probable future where he might lead our [Lightshade] as the sword that cuts the very essence of nature''sws and truths¡­ Chapter 552 Meeting With President ? [OP: ] In a room freshly lit by the natural light of the evening sky, in the office of the student council president situated high up in this academy castle, the president sitting behind his desk with a smile and his vice president with not so good expression looked as two people materialized before them from the shadows. "Wee again to this humble abode, Captain Uriel and vice-captain Lucifer¡­ or am I now allowed to call you council member Reinelle, the famous representative of Atraxia and, the creator of a world-famous book, revolutionary artifacts, owner of a leading food brand, and someone with reputation, demand, and mysteries far surpassing the so-called prodigies of golden era themselves, Master Axion of Heliox, the mystery that imed another gorgeous mystery for himself." He smiled at him, his frowning vice president looked at him with a deeper frown, and he replied to this frown with his own little frown, but thedy beside him just gave a sweet smile to both of them before them. "Just the names will do Mr. legen¡ªdary president. But before we start anything, I have a little something to sort out." She let go of her hand, walked forward and sat down on the chair before the president, and requested her darling as well as the vice president with that bad expression to take a seat. And though both were reluctant, only ring at the other person directly in the eye with a mix of emotions, on the request of her pretty eyes, both had no choice but to end their illusionary warfare and just sit down. "Alright, so, I believe the president already knows how the vice president tried kissing me in the astral form and how she was punished for her behavior. And yes, it was bad behavior. But that thing has already passed, no? You are a good person, vice president, but I belong to him. You are pretty, smart, and attractive, but I''m not interested in anyone else but him so I believe you will understand this situation so that we all can start from a proper beginning." She smiled at her, and the vice president looked up at her with a calmer expression. "You think I''m pretty?" She asked in a low voice, almost inaudible to many normal people''s ears. But everyone present in this ce right now was special so they heard her, and her words made the form on Eon''s face even deeper. "Of course, you are pretty. President is also very handsome and attractive." She excitedly gave him a smile too and grabbed the hand of the angry young man sitting beside her. "Well thank you very much for such warm praise, Lady Reinelle. However, my humble looks are nothingpared to the ones that have charmed princes, even kings of many nations across the world. The look you have right now isn''t exactly the one the world knows but, if I may be so bold as to ask for myself and my dear friend here, can we please have the auspicious chance to witness your true forms from up close?" His request sure was bold considering the scenario in the y but instead of putting an angry expression on her face like the one on her darling, this ''request'' from. the cool person before her made her smirk happily instead. "We can do that, sure, but in return, let us meet your special family member, president, and please talk things out with my dear little baby here, vice president. I do forgive you for that grave transgression but he won''t ever forgive for something so serious. But you can at least let go of the thing that has already passed and start a new thing, right? We all are already bound in this unique rtionship so having this kinda bad blood, isn''t a good thing right?" "Of course!" The president shouted happily right after her calm words and caressed his neck and¡­ with a unique hissing sound, someone crawled out from the sleeve of his fine shirt. "Introducing my pride and joy, the love of my life and my salvation, my dear little baby, family, partner, and life support, San-San." "Ptssssss~!" A snake with golden eyes and a tale-colored, blue-green body. It looked cute just from the looks even though it wasn''t its true form but, just meeting this being they had first seen years ago was a dreame true for her. "San-San~! Hello!!!" She shouted as she tried to hug the creature, but the little snake that was smiling just a moment ago instinctively moved his head back, unintentionally avoiding her embrace. "Hmmm? Oh¡­ sorry. It seems I scared you, little one." The smiling snake was surprised at his own reaction too but, Rein just smiled warmly at him, and extended her hand before the unique creature. "Ptssssss¡­?" The snake looked at his father and the president nodded with a smile, intrigued to see his dear partner even consider epting someone else''s touch. "Ptssss¡­" But the little creature at least received his father''s permission so, with a careful gaze looking at her, it slowly started crawling towards her, touched her hand with his head, then tasted her smell with his unique pink tongue, and slowly crawled into her hand with an intrigued expression himself. "Aww¡­ to finally meet the cute mythical creature after this long time. I''m almost in tears¡­" she said in a low voice while touching her face with the snake''s little head in a hug and, shocked the two people before her. "M-mythical creature?" The president had a sudden flustered look when he heard her words while the vice president had a look of sudden sudden surprise but, there was no need to hide the fact that they knew about them more than they thought. There was a great thing he had to achieve here so he had to y his words right. "We know prez. We have seen you two do your work once in the capital a few years ago. Probably you would remember it when I mention the word demon worshipers and the cave or the ancient demonic artifact. We watched that entire thing and¡­ you were amazing sir President. Amazing¡­ really." He praised him and it was genuine praiseing from the bottom of his heart. He had been impressed the first time, and the impression of that first time was highlighted in his mind that couldn''t forget. "¡­ch¨¬." -Swish! Swaaaaaaaaaaash! -Twishukkkkk! But, his words didn''t go too well with the president and, he said something in a low voice, and at the same time, the atmosphere suddenly changed in this serene room. The snake vanished from her hand and the president stood up with the tip of his katana sword aimed at the girl before him, his eyes glowing with a dull gold all of a sudden. There were also suddenly many shields all around them and magic of many elements and kinds aimed directly at them. The vice president had also reacted in response to the emergency signal from him instinctively, ready at the very back of the room with six magic circles of the highest grade (tier-4) magic of ice, wind, and fire element. The room that was previously lit by natural lights was also suddenly illuminated by the lights of the spells and a sudden redness of the security system of this special room¡­ and as a response to this, the two were just sitting there, Eon looking straight in the eyes of his serious president, and Rein looking at both of them sadly as they had taken away the little snake that she had got her hands after that long of a time. "Haaa¡­ why do we have to do this drama? There''s no need anyway. You two¡­ would lose even if we just sit like this." -Snap! Rein snapped her pretty fingers, and at the same time, the security system went back to normal, many strange purple magic circles covered the entire room, shadows materialized into a figure resembling her, and the shadow of a crow with bright pink eyes loomed over their backs¡­ but that was only from her. "Right? It''s a formality, I understand too, but, we can do stuff without this too. Isn''t that right Celes?" Eon spoke up, and at his words, strange paper dolls of different colors swarmed out from him and covered the walls of this room, magic circles appeared in the area all around them and arrows of molded magic aimed at the opposing parties, many butterflies appeared out of thin air and became a ray of light that destroyed all the protective shields around them before vanishing again, andstly, a crow and a small butterfly with crystal-like wings appeared on his finger as the perfect disguise they were wearing, vanished and revealed their true selves¡­ "Hello, President Zodiac. I''m Axion and this is my partner Celes, and as you know, this gorgeousdy here is Rein, my beloved fianc¨¦e, and her familiar Branwen." He introduced themselves again¡­ but, this sudden development they were under, this one-sided domination that they had hardly ever faced before, was absurd and absolutely, ridiculously shocking to them. "¡­" "Aaaumm¡­" "Ptssss¡­" And after seeing that much of a surprise offensive from them, the three that had gotten up and ready to ''test'' and surprise these two, had no choice but to sit back down in their ces. "So, would you like some tea? I will personally brew you some." "Do you take sugar? One cube or two?" The two presidents that had been unrivaled through their years in this academy as students, were ''theoretically'' overpowered by these two special people with special familiars before them. Of course, they already passed his little test too but, instead of only flying colors, they practically overpowered the test itself¡­ Chapter 553 Defeats And Surprises ? [OP: ] "Ahem. You can rx now. I''m convinced you two are perfectly fine. And it would be in foolishness to harm important people like you two." The president was smiling with little drops of sweat on his forehead visible¡­ splendid acting, for sure. "Of course, we will calm down. But, shouldn''t you tell San-San and the vice president to calm down first? It''s too obvious they would do a little something if we reflex just yet. And you president, of course, shouldn''t also be that obvious with your intent to do a quick draw with your sword." Eon looked at the hand that was still on the sheath of his sword and the president, after concluding there was nothing he could do in this situation, finally sat back down, and, after dispelling her many invisible magic circles all around the room, the vice president also calmed down and sat back down with a defeated sigh. "Come San-San. We lost this time. We lost twice in a single fight actually." "Ptsssssss¡­ ptsss!" The little snake that had instantly transported at the back side after his signal, vanished with a little light and came back to the table again, with an angry look of course. "Pttttssssss¡­!" He couldn''t feel any kind of hostility from the two of them from the start so he was sure from the beginning that these two unique people were no threat to them. This little one was an Ocagi and his innate senses were some of the true greatest among the creatures roaming throughout this nature. He knew they were good people, one of the best among a selfish, weak, and unfaithful race that he had ever seen actually. There was no need to be on guard before them, and he still surprised him and announced an emergency of third highest priority against them! "Ptsssss!" He was having a strangelyfortable time in her hands, a uniquefort that he hadn''t felt in the embrace of his papa. And then he surprised him with that announcement and the poor little him had to point his spells at them. "Yes, yes. I know. I was in the wrong there. I ept it already. I''m sorry¡­" The president held him and genially touched his forehead with his. It was an adorable sight and they would have loved to just watch it, but... "Alright. So, can you please turn off thest defense system so that we can finally start with the tea? Ah, and you don''t have to trouble yourself. Eon will treat you to his special tea on this good asion." Rein offered with a smile and the two of them looked at her with a shocked expression, and then at the boy beside her that still had a serious calmness painted on his face. "How the hell do you even know that?! The trap spells, I understand we couldn''t notice because of the situation, your clone skill, well it''s good, your familiars are special too so we were caught off guard but how the fuck do you know about the defense system of this room?!" The vice president and a shocked expression. An absurdly shocked expression that even the president rarely ever saw her with. "This marks the third andst defeat of the day then¡­ to think after spending three years defeating every single opponent in this academy, I would lose on myst year by a new student. Haaaa¡­ San-San. Looks like we can cross out the first tactical defeat." The president sighed and stretched his back on hisfortable chair. He was defeated so, he can rx now too. -Snap! Snap! ¡­ Snap! So, he snapped twice, waited a moment, and snapped once again. And as he did that, a certain crystal ball in the room that was ced on the shelf as a decoration, blinked with a blue-red-green-blue light. Indicating the neutralization of emergency mode. They were defeated in the true meaning now that even thest option of a surprise attack was gone. And they had lost in their own territory so the unfamiliar feeling of defeat they were feeling right now, was new to them. "Ptsssssssssss~! " But the little snake was happy. He was so happy that he was even dancing and singing with his hissing sound. The defeat of his dada in any kind of match,petition, or fight was a joyous asion for both of them as they had actually hardly ever faced it throughout their time on this ind, this academy, this continent, or even this world. They were almost undefeatable in this office filled with their own defense system and the internal defense system of this room. But, they were defeated. And this wasn''t a bad defeat like the few they had faced andmented over for hours, days, months, or years. This was a healthy defeat and his papa was just overjoyed to face a defeat of this kind. "Ptssssss~!" And if his dad was happy. He was also always happy! But he had to note down this amazing moment so the little snake hurriedly summoned a unique diary that looked too attractive and magical, a feather pen that definitely held a feather from some holy bird, flipped the pages with his exceptional magic, and crossed something written in the diary, wrote a few things in a uniquenguage, drew some funny and adorable emojis resembling all of them present there and presented the book and pen to his father¡­ And the president just signed at the bottom of the page with a smile and patted the little one. "Ptssssss~!" "Alright then~!" Rein also cheered up alongside the snake this time and called off the clones, erased the spells, took down the strange shadows, and dispelled all the traps she had set with her special skill. And then she took up the little snake again and started ying with him with a delighted smile. "So, President-" "San-San! Can you show us your true form~? I really wanna see those cuteeeeee feathers." Right, Rein and Eon were now in their true form and she looked far, far, far¡­ far more gorgeous than a moment before. Her witchly charm was dangerous. And it was working wonders on the vice president if not on the president too. But the one beside her was also not that far behind her as the way his gold-like hair shined in the current evening light of nature, and how his gem-like red eyes with long eyshes blinked at the two of them with a happy calmness, would defiantly have been breathtaking for both of them if it was out of the blue. But, they were in a state ofbat when it happened so their breaths survived. Still, it was undeniable that he was handsome as hell. And undeniably a perfect match for her. "Ptssssss¡­ Ptsss?" But the looks had nothing to do with the little snake so he just asked for permission from his dada. The permission to show them his true form that only their vice president and the headmasters of the academy had seen until now. "They have already seen it long ago anyway so it''s fine¡­" President was still thinking over what had just happened so he just gave his permission with a smile and returned to his thinking and analysis of their previous match. But the vice president was staring at the two before her and was in deep thoughts of her own so they all left her there, and the little snake cheered joyfully after receiving permission from his guardian. "Ptssssssss~!" -Oooooooooooong! He first started floating and then golden light same as his eyes covered his body. A moment passed like that as they saw the visible changes happening to the body of the little snake inside that light. "Ptssssssss~!" But then the light vanished, and a winged snake-like creature, the Ocagi, the mythical creature that preferred living in solitude ording to the lores, emerged from it like a legendary bird emerging above the clouds. "Kyaaaaa~. Cute, cute, cute~!" But to her eyes, it was nothing but cute. Actually, as once mentioned, it was just too adorable looking creature to consider a being feared by folks of countless viges in many hilly parts of the world. "Ok, so, now that this is over¡­" Eon smiled at the president that still looked to be lost in thoughts but, his smile brought him back and he focused on him. "What did you use when she was in that bad state after that incident, sir president? I''m thinking she was with you at that time so you must have almost saved her life back then, right?" His question reached his ears and his mind processed it too. But as soon as the understanding hit him, he was surprised once again at how sharp he was to figure out something like that without any information about them, the locations of theirs at that time, or anything rted to them. It was just too surprising for him, shocking truthfully, and he was now seeing this person that had fascinated him for a while in a new light too. "Hahaha. Master Axion really is an amazing individual. Well, you can say that I used a personal divine elixir that San-San and I produced with his skills and the knowledge of ssical alchemy that I had from my homnd. It is very difficult to make so I only have three of them now, but she''s still notpletely healed from what San-San says so it''s really eye-opening to me just how bad the injuries to the soul are that even an elixir of that level couldn''t cure." He was smiling at him, but Eon was looking at him calmly with an interested but slightly serious gaze. "Do you have one on you right now? Can I see it?" He asked with that same look and the president didn''t understand why, but his heart just told him to show this person before him the thing that he had kept a secret from even his dear close friend. "Haaa¡­ here. But, it takes very precious ingredients and a very long time to make so I can''t guarantee I would trade it with you even for hundreds of tinum." Which meant he would sell it as long as the price was right and in the league that would soothe his greedy heart. And Eon understood that perfectly as he looked at the shimmering golden ball-like pill ced before him. "Wow¡­ you used something like this for me Zod? Now that''s generous of you man¡­" All of them could tell just how precious this thing was just by looking at it with their special eyes. And Eon could tell it too, but he wanted to know more¡­ so, he lifted his hand and ced it right above the pill, and closed his eyes. Lucy already knew what to do at this moment so, without any dy, she activated her analysis ability and a white bird came out of his palm, went inside the golden medicine, and came back to him by the same path. "Fascinating¡­" And when he opened his eyes overflowing with awe and administration, he looked at not the person before him, the one that had created this, but the creature ying with Rein without whom, this amazing creation could never have been possible. [ "You are amazing, San-San." ] "Ptssss? ¡­ptttsssssssssssss?!" He was praising him, many had done that in the past so it shouldn''t have been as surprising to him as it was right now, but, this was his first time hearing someone using the same nguage'' as him, something he was hearing for the first time in his life, so it was just absurdly surprising to him¡­ as well as the two unique people sitting before them. Chapter 554 A Little Bribe ? [Eon''s POV: ] "You¡­ what did you just¡­?" There was a shocked expression on his face as he looked at me with wide eyes, however, I had to finish praising this little one first. "Ptsssssss?! Ptssssss! Ptssss!" He was surprised, very surprised from what I can tell from this reaction. ''Actually, it shouldn''t be like this considering the nature of his kind.'' [ "Yup. I can understand and speak like you. It must be strange hearing the same ''voice'' as yours from someone that looks so different from you, right?" ] But I smiled at the little one warmly anyway and tapped Rein''s leg in a particr way. And she was surprised by this sudden signal, but thankfully, instead of taking it as ''the signal'' she took it as a signal and lightly nodded at me. "San-San~!" She shouted and picked him up, and started caressing his feathers, stopping him from asking me anything momentarily. "So president¡­" I looked at him, and beside him at the person that I will never forgive for that one mistake. [[ "It seems like San-San has never been with a being of his kind, which is very strange considering how Ocagis don''t leave their children from the moment of their birth till their adulthood. And looking at his feathers, it''s obvious he still has a year left to enter his adulthood stage. And, I slightly have an idea what might be the reason he''s like this and why you are together so¡­ I won''t ask much, but, just in case you don''t know, when Ocagis awakens as an adult being, they need their parents or at least those with the knowledge of how to handle them during that process. It would be difficult to do it alone so just in case, please do tell us when that timees." ]] He looked at me with a shocked expression, and then at the butterfly with crystal-like wings sitting on his hand, with a greater shock inside them. [[ "Do I just think¡­ oh? It''s a little simr to what San-San and I do but this is too refinedpared to that, as well as too unique to imitate." ]] It was impressive how he figured out how to use Celes''s connection instantly but it was expected given just how ''special'' he was. [[ "This little partner of yours is quite an amazing being, Master Eon. Not only she is powerful on her own, but she can also use illusion to change one''s form, and even allow you tomunicate with others through this unique¡­ connection, should I say? It''s just fascinating¡­" ]] [[ Hehe. I''m special~. Just like your little San-San mister president~. ]] Celes excitedly danced and moved on his head. She seemed to be too happy to meet this person we had admired for so long. And again, the president was surprised to hear the voice of someone else familiar. [[ "Hello little one. You''re Celestine, I presume? You have quite a sweet voice, deardy. Just hearing it somehow calms my soul." ]] [[ Hehehe. You have a sweet voice too, mister sweet-talking President~. I look forward to the shining future ahead of us. ]] She was happy, but she knew I had to talk to him about something, so she didn''t say much after that greeting. And the president too also knew I wanted to talk about something so he, too, said his momentary goodbye and looked back at me with a perfectly normal expression. [[ "Well master Eon. You are far more fascinating than I had previously thought. And it''s still strangely unique how even after all that reputation, money, fame, power, wisdom, and resources, you are still living a rtively normal life with your partner. I admire it, actually, and I don''t know how much you know about Ocagi and San-San, but, if I may be so greedy to ask, would you please share your learnings and wisdom with us?" ]] Now he was smiling lightly. And the vice president that was still focused on my Rein, gave us a look of surprise when she noticed this. But I was still calm. So, she couldn''t actually figure out if we were really having some secret conversation that she did not know about. [[ "It would be our pleasure, sir president. But still, it really is fascinating how San-San can use the power of [Gluttony] to produce a rtively perfect condensed essence of all the unique energies he absorbs. I''m sure it must take a long time bymon means but, if you use¡­" ]] I continued and exined aplex but efficient method to use his little one''s ability efficiently to him quickly. I had gathered a great lot of data from this unique divine elixir before us with Lucy''s ability, and the new things I got to know from it, coupled with the knowledge I already had¡­ probably, it was possible to create an actual imitation of grandma''s red potions. And if we try a few bolder things¡­ [[ "Elixir of life¡­" ]] A mythical concoction said to hold the power to bring back the dead on its own. Something mentioned in many ancient records as an ancient remedy of the old gods¡­ "I¡­ I think we should talk about that with the headmasterter. My mind won''t be able to handle all the processing required to understand even the previous method you mentioned, let alone the possibility of something so absurd like that thing, so¡­ let''s put this topic aside." It was absurd even for me when Lucy suggested it. So the reaction he had right now, was truthfully quite good. But, there was a possibility of this absurdity. She saw it first and I confirmed it with my own knowledge. "Haaa¡­" And from the look he had, I can tell he also didn''t deny this possibility. Which, again, was strange yet expected. "Alright then. Let''s change the topic a little." We had spent a good time here but we had to go now. Our vice captains and house members were waiting for us. ''Alright then¡­'' "Rein." Looking at her and the little winged creature in her hands, I requested, and though she wanted to y with him more, she knew our time wasing to an end here. "Here San-San. I think you will like him more than me." She gently handed me the little snake and I caressed the feathers of this adorable creature gently. "Ptssssssssss..." And as I did that, like a kitten melting in her experienced owner''s hands, the little Ocagi also melted down. "Little San-San is amazing. He knows how to fly and how to use amazing magic. Little San-San is adorable too, and friendly, and smart, and strong, and full of amazing tes. Little San-San is a good boy that listens to everyone and helps his dada. He talks with him and ys with him. He does good things and punishes bad people with his papa. And San-San is cute too. So he''s the best little one." "Ptssssssss¡­" He was melting even more and was almost spread out on the desk now. And it was surely surprising for his papa but, after all the things he had witnessed in this little time with us, this much wasn''t that surprising anymore. [[ Hehehe. He''s adorable, master~. I wanna y with him too~! ]] "Really? You can stay here then. That''s alright, right president? Celes wants to y with cute little San-San." "Of course. It would be my pleasure to have such an illuminated being with us." "See Celes. He agreed. Have fun~! And vice president¡­" The happy look I had suddenly changed into a not-so-happy one when I looked at her. And she looked back at me too, with the same unpleasant expression as mine. "Take this. You will be perfectly fine in a little bit. And this doesn''t mean I forgive you or anything. I won''t ever do that. Not for what you tried. And the consequences might be worse if you try it again so I''m warning you beforehand." I turned my head away from her after saying that and ced a little vial with some glittering silver liquid inside it on the table. "Is this¡­ whates out of some old great tree''s top? Isn''t it impossible to separate it from there though?" He knew about this too. His ny-six years of life in two different worlds surely must have been full of unique things. "It-" "I don''t want it." But before I could answer him, the vice president spoke up and turned her head away with an angry expression. "Vice president Cradle~. Please take this. You will feel better~. Please~?" But Rein requested her. In her unique way. And it would have worked wonders on anyone, but, it birthed a miracle on the ever-cold, sharp, and serious vice president of ours. "She¡­ blushed." The president mumbled and San-San looked back up with surprise at the one beside his papa. "Ptssssssssss!" And shouted with surprise. This wasn''t something either of them were familiar with. And though itsted only for a moment, that moment was one of the most precious ones of their lives, probably. "Zodiac and San-San." But she called out their names and looked at them with a smile that they understood perfectly. "Our lips are sealed, ma''am. We saw it but never witnessed it." The smart president knew what he had to say and do in this special situation too. He really was smart and, well, this was it for this meeting¡­ "Alright then. Now that this is done¡­ we should take our leave." I stood up and looked at my dear Rein. "We still have a lot to talk about Master Axion, especially about your deep mastery of ruins that allows you ess to the nguage'' itself. I await our next meeting. I¡­ we had fun." He smiled warmly, and San-San gave us a sad look. It seems he really wanted more of my unique touch. But the vice president still had that same look of anger towards me, and the same attraction towards my Rein. ''This is going to be very difficult¡­'' It was a fact. I knew things would turn ugly at some point too. For all four of us. But, we had to look things through, somehow. "Let''s go¡­" Asking for her hand and gently holding it, Rein also stood up and reminded me of an important thing with her eyes. "Right. Here sir legen¡ªdary president and¡­ vice president Cradle." cing two attractive-looking boxes before them, we gave them ourst respectful bow of the day. "What''s¡­ this?" The vice president asked, confused why I would give her something more than that little medicine. "A little bribe from us? I hope it''s to your liking." I smiled at the president and San-San. And also gave a little better look to the vice president. We at least needed her here, so she was important. So, we got ready to leave the special office after that, and I remembered something important. "Right. I almost forgot to mention." Looking at the president as Rein was activating her skill, I smirked in a unique way. "We will be taking out the (Reformation instigators) tonight." "Wait, what?! You little-!" And with thosest words, a heart full of questions, surprises, and emotions, we left them there and vanished with smiles. This ''meeting'' had been surprising for them and us alike. But, they were defeated and were surprised, while we were fascinated and victorious¡­ "Ptssssss~." [[ Yei~! Let''s y~! ]] Right. Celes was here. And she wasn''t here only to y with the little mythical creature. Chapter 555 Attraction And Foolish Kids ? [OP: ] After Rein and Eon left the council office, the president and vice president breathed a sigh of relief. This was really their first time meeting a couple like them. "She is gorgeous. Especially her eyes. They are¡­ I want to worship them." "Woah, woah, woah. Cradle? That''s too pure. You don''t say stuff like that." The vice president was sitting there, stretching on the chair, smiling like she had found something precious in her life. But in the eyes of her friend that knew her well, this was some absurd stuff she would only say after getting stoned. "She is special, Zod¡­" She was smiling warmly, looking at the ceiling, thinking about a few things, some appropriate, some too unsafe to mention here. But, there was also hesitation and anger deep in her eyes. "You can''t have her, Cred. She already belongs to someone." Even the president had a bitter expression as he could tell from her strange behavior that this girl, Reinelle, had something special about her, and his friend wasn''t just attracted by that ''something special''. His dear smart friend had been with many partners throughout her life, but not once had she been this much charmed by anyone. Charm didn''t work against her anyway, so it was even more absurd how she was this infatuated with someone. He can tell she wanted more than just some nightly pleasure from her. She felt a kind of attraction towards her that he understood very well. And this was the very reason he knew it would be difficult for him to prevent her from doing something foolish. And, he knew the boy that hade up with the idea of creating a miraculous elixir possessed enough power to kill her. And he would kill her without hesitation. He was the kind that wouldn''t hesitate to take out anomalies from his path if they crossed the great line, the kind that he himself was part of. No, probably, that ''boy'' was an even more dangerous kind than that. But it was also true that he was good enough to find and erase any factor that might be a hindrance to him in the future. That was the reason he presented his idea to him, gave him a hint that he already knew a lot more about his kid than himself, and even left his familiar to befriend his innocent little one. He knew he was smart. Smart enough to even over-smart people like him and the headmaster. And that made him dangerous. He was an opportunity and a precious treasure that had crossed his path, but at the same time, he was a de that possessed enough powers to hinder his own ns and hurt people that he cherished. He had to be cautious when he was with him, take as much as he could from him, give him what little he needed from him, and be careful not to get too attached to him. And to do that, he had to look after his friend and prevent this new affection she had towards that person to turn into something¡­ dangerous. "Haaaa¡­ anyway, let''s see what this little bribe from one of the youngest geniuses of the current era is." He changed the topic and attracted her attention to the two boxes they had left for the two of them. And now that the two of them were gone, the vice president truly was curious to see what that bastard left her as a ''bribe''. He was lucky enough to have a special partner like her. He was a bastard. She didn''t like him. But his status, wisdom, and strength were naturally undeniable. So she was just as curious as him as she looked at this costly-looking box before her. "Oh?" "What the¡­" But when the two of them opened the boxes, the contents of the box surprised them both. Actually, they weren''t something they were expecting but, it was certainly something they liked seeing in these attractive-looking boxes. "I''ve heard he is a chef recognized by her majesty Madeleine. Some wild rumors even im that he has been invited to personal dinners with Emperor August on many asions and that he has some specialties that they like dearly. He is the person that invented world-famous delicacies and is the owner of a leading food brand anyway so¡­ this sure is the most special gift we can receive from him." He smiled as he looked at the food inside this box. And from the looks of it, there seemed to be a little bowl of soup, some cooked rice, a unique wrap with chicken and vegetable filling, and thenstly there was a little container with something cool inside it, probably ice cream from what he can tell. This sure was unexpected but, after hearing about the lunch meeting of eight house captains a while back, he also wanted to try his special food that apparently had the power to charm people. And after eating that meal full of vors and spices that he would experience for the first time, he was surely going to get charmed. "Hmmm?" And the same would be true for the vice president but, her box contained something more than attractive-looking food. "A letter?" "Seems like it." There was a letter inside it with ''please read in private'' written outside it. She would love the food even if she didn''t want to. She will curse at him while eating it all but, she would eat it, even with tears. And she would shout curses when she read this letter. Curses of normal nature, as well as curses of thanks towards that lucky bastard¡­ * That was them, but after Eon and Rein parted ways and left for their house gathering halls, the scene both of them witnessed was moreplicated than they had previously thought it would be. And they were also notte, so the things happening there didn''t make any sense to them. In Rein''s house room, there were a bunch of people surrounding her vice-captain and even though she had ordered them to go to the arena, all of them were still there for some reason. And they were surrounding her vice-captain Neb, asking her questions with high voices, shouting at her, and cussing for some unknown reason. And, what surprised her, even more, was the fact that many of them were young nobles of reputable families from all around the world¡­ bastards. "What''s going on here?" She asked while addressing the crowd and looking at Neb''s expression that wanted nothing more than to sentence them to divine punishment. But she was holding back quite well, so they were still not hurt yet. "Captain. Finally, you are here." And as soon as she saw Rein, she used a unique movement skill, vanished from the encirclement of the crowd, and appeared before Rein. "I delivered your message but they all stillined and stayed here instead of going to the arena. The others here waited for me to see what was going on so it isn''t their fault but, this bunch, with that person as the central figure, seems to have a lot of problems with you and what you have told me to tell everyone." Neb was in a better state than before and the little hint of anger she had before was gone now that Rein was here. She knew now that she was here, the little matters would be resolved instantly. And Rein looked at her with a proud gaze, even patted her head for the good work before walking towards the bunch that was causing all themotion in her house''s gathering hall. "Second son of the Gate ducal family, Brandon. What problem do you have to cause all thismotion, man?" She asked, an annoyed expression on her face as she looked at the young bastards that didn''t know their ce. "You must be our dear captain Uriel~. We heard that you would give authority simr to the house captain if we so much as even touch your hair. And you would even leave the academy if we wanted? How could we do that to our great captain without whom this house would be nothing but an empty shell~? You are an important part of this whole academy now,dy captain. And as a proud member of the noble society, how can I let someone who has no experience with leading people be in charge of such an important task? Don''t get me wrong captain, but I worry about our house and cherish the opportunity to study in this prestigious ce that I have received. I just wish the good of our house so, if under the same conditions you had presented before, if you are willing to listen to everything we say for the rest of our time in this academy and lead the others with our experienced guidance, we would surely do whatever you ask of us at our lose too." He was speaking of leading people before someone that has single-handedly led armies to victories when he wasn''t even born, as well as single-handedly obliterated armies with fine generals and military tacticians when his father was only learning how to wield his spear he was so famous for. His foolish and absurd words were cute to Rein, and there was a smirk on her face right now¡­ it was obvious what was going to happen to this dumb little bunch. And, an exactly simr situation was ying out in Eon''s house gathering room. Some students were surrounding Zoe and asking her inappropriate questions like who she was, where she came from, who her parents were, and why was she now part of the Heliox house. They didn''t care that she might be ufortable with those questions and many other students present in the hall could tell she didn''t like what they were doing. But, she was still smiling at them without answering anything. She just smiled, and she only answered if the question was proper, appropriate, and answerable. Others knew that she wasn''t feeling too good about this so they even wanted to step up and help but, some were scared of the students from the upper ss in the crowd that was harassing her while the others that had enough courage stepped forward to try and help, but were denied their true noble help as she shook her head at them with a smile. Her smile told them she was fine and she can handle them for a bit longer, and if she herself didn''t want to receive their help, they couldn''t do anything even if they wanted to. And, most of the students in this house already liked her and her gentle character so it was even more bitter for them that they were just watching her getting bullied by those bad people like that. But then, everyone surrounding her suddenly felt a soul-chilling pressure and got stunned in their ce as the others watched their vice-captain Lucifer walk into the room with an attractive-looking rapier in his hand. He looked serious as he looked at the things happening here, and the not-so-well expression of their captain. This was the first time he was seeing his little sister in that tough of a spot and things here were even more difficult as the things attacking her were questions and not des or spells. He didn''t like the look she had and the feeling she was lightly trying to suppress, and the ones that caused her to be like that, these all inconsiderate bastards, were the house members that he had to turn into usable subjects at all costs so, this was a very bad first impression of theirs. He didn''t mean to at first but he had to show all of them a little difference in strength if he wanted to take over the full control from this point forward. So he did just that, stopped others with a little pressure and walked before Zoe with the rapier in his hand burning blue with his unique, disguised Aura. -Tap. And when he was there, looking at his fellow housemates, the others that had a suddenly relieved expression and a few that were looking at the current situation curiously, he addressed every one of them after thrusting his sword into the ground. "I''m disappointed everyone." There was a bad expression on his ever-calm and normal face, and when the ones that bullied her, their captain, with all their questions saw it, the strange pressure they were already feeling, seemed to be intensified by another level¡­ Chapter 556 Rules And Goals ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Wisdom phoenix is a house that only those with the potential to achieve true wisdom in the field of one''s choice could join. In the past, it once reigned as the greatest house that produced the greatest people of many eras. And even when its greatness fell with the newer generations, the fact that it remained the house where people stuck together and looked after each other never changed. Yes, other house captains are respected within their houses, but the respect this weakest house filled with losers that don''t even know how to do things, throughout history, has followed, admired, and respected their captains, the ones that would lead the bunch that knows nothing about themselves and their talents. As a captain, they would do everything they have to do for their houses and their members. And there are qualified people to guide and look after us for that. But, when ites to the members, they have no one but us to actually teach them what the meaning of the house is, and guide them throughout the amazing journey that would help them grow into a better version of themselves. We know what we have to do so you don''t have to worry about us. All you all have to do as members of the house is to follow what we say, or if you don''t want to do that, then at least just mind your own business. It''s alright if you don''t want to show respect to some unknown person that''s been adopted by a prestigious house or amoner boy that just luckily has some strength and knowledge. If you don''t want to, then don''t do it. It''s not like doing extracurricr activities ispulsory. But¡­" Looking at the bunch before me with a little heavier look, I shook my head with a clear frown. "What you were doing just now was inappropriate behavior for which you could undoubtedly be punished severely. If anyone here doesn''t know, the captains have the authority to file an expulsion request against their house members so, putting aside whatever high status your families have, she holds the greatest authority over all of you in this academy. And of course, she is a member of the Heliox household. So, even if you might think she is nothing more than an adopted child, just remember you would still be offending the Heliox name itself. So, if you have the power, resources, and authority to handle the consequences of your actions, feel free to do whatever you want. But¡­ as long as she is the captain, bear in mind that if any voice is raised against her or she is looked down upon, you will be facing me and my arrows before anything else. Just how foolish can you be to do that anyway. Is this how low the high society has fallen?" They looked frightened. Perhaps I went too far with the pressure thing. "I''m disappointed." Erasing the Aura from my sword, I shrunk it back down and returned it to my chest pocket area. This was the pin sword that Rein''s grandma gifted me a few years back and it was a rtively simple weapon so it was fine to use it normally. "It''s alright, vice-captain Lucifer. They didn''t do anything so don''t be too harsh on them." Zoe requested from behind me with a smile and then looked pitifully at the others that had to endure my anger. "Just look at this you people. She''s looking after you even after you asked her those obviously ufortable questions. Tsk. How would you feel if I ask you about yourte parents whose faces you had never even seen or the reason your parents raised you the way they did only for you to bully other good people and take pleasure from it? Tsk. Actually, you all should just go. You have lost the right to be here when you did that." I really would have kicked them out if I could, but by some bad coincidence, there were some talents among them that I needed while there were also some innocent people that didn''t mean to do what they ended up doing. "There is no need for that, vice-captain Lucifer. It''s fine. Looks like they have learned their lesson already so there''s no need for them to miss this important session." Zoe was a good person they all did not deserve. But they had her now, by some heaven-bestowed luck, so I can''t do much about them. "As you say, captain." I bowed to her respectfully and took off all the pressure from them, and they finally breathed a breath of relief. "Alright, everyone. Gather around." Zoe was sitting on the solely dedicated chair of the captain in thisrge open hall with many chairs before us. This room was the same as every other house gathering room as there was a tform where we were standing, behind us was an empty wall that we can use for presentations, and also some unique rooms like a recording studio and housebs that would be avable only to the ones we allow. It wasn''t grand but the academy''s general house activity tower that we were in, provided many necessary and extra facilities to the houses that they would need. ''So this was ultimately a good enough ce to let the students run wild with their talents and imaginations during their free time.'' They provided all this for free too so it was obvious just how much funding they would have to secure to run this entire ce properly too. "What''re we doing, Captain Lucifer~?" I heard a familiar voice from the door and saw Miss Mia smiling at me as she entered. She wasn''tte but she came right after all themotion ended. "Hello, Miss Mia. We will be giving a brief overview of our house, and then I will list a few rules that we would like every member to follow so that we can achieve our ultimate goal." She was probablyte because herst ss was with the other academic professors of alchemy, and she looked tired too so that smile was admirable. ''I wouldn''t have had to do all that if she was here early but, well, it was better at the end.'' "Oh~? By that, do you mean winning the year-end festival''s inter-house tournaments?" She knew her stuff well. But, that wasn''t all that we were aiming for. "The ultimate goal that we have for our academic years here, Miss Mia, is to win all thepetitions happening in the academy and outside, push the deadst scores of houses to the top, and ultimately¡­ rise as the me bearers." me bearer was a term used for the house that has the most house points at the end of the third year''s festival, the ones that are given the opportunity to carry the divine mes to the top of the school and offer it to the [Source].I think you should take a look at It was a privilege only given to the house that finishes first among all eight of them, something this house had not been privileged of since thest nine hundred and sixty-three years ago. But here I was, saying this absurd thing before young people that didn''t even know this very house had ruled as the (Unbeatable me holders) from the dawn of this institution. Most of them had a dumbfounded expression right now, but the person I told this to, Miss Mia the alchemist prodigy, gained a cheerful smile as she heard this absurdity. "Hahaha. That''s quite some ambition, captain. But our opponents are powerful, both have quality and quantity of great talents, and we clearly fall behind in terms of powerhouses that can lead each and every field that we will have to conquer to realize that grand goal of yours." She wasughing. She knew what I just said was absurd considering the rtivelymon bunch of people present in this hall, but, I knew she felt it was possible. Somehow, if I was here, she knew I would make it possible. And yes, I have all the motivation to do this absurdity even if I have to lead all of them myself. But, that wasn''t necessary¡­ "Who said we don''t have powerhouses? We have you, Miss Mia, we have some unrefined diamonds that I know how to polish very well, we have myself, and ultimately, we have our amazing captain to lead all of us to this seemingly impossible goal." And it was very much of a fact considering Zoe herself was a true young phoenix with knowledge of abundant fields of mastery. She was Zoe, and just that much was enough of a plus point that this house had above every other one. ''And we have to win. I have to make sure we win every single thing if I want to¡­'' They all were looking at us like we were someedians saying something absurd andughable. But, some surely had a spark of hope when they thought about our achievements made during just this first day. And I knew it would be difficult with Rein, Ca, Alf, Prince Alph, Chry, Quin, and other talented people as our opponents. They would do their best and I couldn''t go against all of them myself even if I wanted to because of the rules. That''s why we had to build ourselves from scratch. Get stronger until the timees, and gather as many points as possible even before that timees. And for that¡­ "But even with the few of us, there are a few things that we have to follow together if we want to remove this stigma ofst standing house with only a bunch of useless people." I looked everyone in the eye seriously, and the people that were still standing quickly settled down and looked back at me with a mix of emotions bubbling inside their hearts. And when I confirmed everyone was paying attention willingly or unwillingly, I started speaking about the rules¡­ that if followed correctly, will definitely lead us to the summit. "The first rule that everyone including me would have to follow, would be to respect the captain. I don''t know what you think about her and how much you believe in her prowess, but I can vouch for her capabilities. I have seen and experienced all I need to confirm her eligibility, and if anything, she''s one of the most capable and amazing people I have ever seen and you will ever meet in your life. Just give her a chance and when the timees, you will know what I mean. And if you can''t do it, at least don''t disrespect the person that will carry most of the burdens among us. The second rule would be to follow the things that we suggest. You can overlook it if you want to just stay like how you are, but if you really have any motivation to change yourself even a little bit, then follow our suggestions. We probably know even more about your selves, talents, and capabilities than you, and if we do not know everything just yet, it won''t take us long to figure out everything about your being and background. You don''t need to do much aside from that and no one will force you for anything, but just remember what we suggest, would be better for you all than even some of the masters of that particr field. I give my word for that. The third rule would be to attend all the meetings we arrange, be it physical or on chats orworks. They will be important, and attending that will only be better for all of us. The fourth rule would be to believe in us and yourselves. As well as the goal that we just spoke about. I know many of you still think it would be impossible to achieve, but I reassure you if we do it right, we are very much capable of achieving it rtively easily. And for those who have any doubts about that, I''m open to duels anytime you want in whatever way or field you want. The Fifth, would be to at least participate in the events andpetitions we suggest. And these suggestions would be very much thought after, and perfectly evaluated so even if you think it would be tough or boring or a hassle, I suggest you consider our suggestions and participate. There would be prices anyway and any winnings, or even mere participation, would gain you fame, money, and status in this academy, as well as outside of it. Commoners have graduated from the academy with noble titles of multiple nations, some low-ranking nobles have imed the status queues by many steps as a result of even little achievements, and at the same time, even the royals have been disowned by their families for not doing something that could have been easy for them and good for their families. We know what thepetitions are and who would be good for what so, believe in us, and at least try your hands at things that you might never even have considered before. Andstly, the sixth rule would be to learn how to enjoy even the most boring things. I want my house to find enjoyment even in the simple act of eating the most normal food, and to make this rule a ''rule'', I know what I have to do and I will do it. So, just try your best to do it from your side. If we only follow these simple things, I know just what great heights we can achieve. Our opponents, from all other seven houses, are tougher than you can ever think. We are practically up against seven great walls all taller than the other, and we have to climb them, even break and pass right through some of them, but, I know it is possible. With all of you present here, and those that didn''t attend today, I know it is possible. We can do it¡­ so let''s do it and show them we aren''t just some lousy bunch of deadst freaks." That was my little speech imbued with a little Solnova, and my words had made a home right in their minds and heart, so, one can just guess what kind of atmosphere this little hall with a few hundred students had right now... Chapter 557 Events And Afterwards ? [Eon''s POV: ] We finished the basic little chat and after hearing the rules and all that stuff about how the houses and the extracurricr activities work, everyone was seeing the school in new lights. But, that was obviously expected considering how generous this academy is when rewarding the students for their achievements. And as I said, just participation is rewarded so for themon students and students in need of financial support, thesepetitions, tests, and activities are nothing less than a great opportunity. "Alright then. Listen here, everyone." A while has passed since we were sitting in this room and there were only a few things remaining from our side for today. "First of all, the famous familiar bonding event will take ce next week. So I request you read about it in the official forum and gain at least a basic understanding of it. For the mages, it is obviously a great opportunity but for the weapon wielders and others, it is also a chance to see and experience many energy beasts and their powers. It is going to be a great event so I suggest you all look forward to it." It really was a big thing and most of the people here already had a little idea what I was talking about. So, it was fine. "After that, the famous annual alchemypetition of the Principality of Lakmer will be the first event we, as students, would be able to attend. It is a good learning opportunity as people from all around the continent will participate in it, so those interested, please inform me anytime three days before the scheduled date. Not many would be interested in alchemy but I would suggest Miss Granbell, Mister Fang, Lady Persephone, and Sir Kuro to consider participating. You might end up finding the things you were looking for." They were talented people and had unique skills with good applicationpatibility with alchemical works. If they could realize their true usage through thispetition, it would be better for our house. "After that, there are a few events that would take ce outside the academy, but not just anyone will be able to attend them. There will be a test to select individuals that would represent the academy and these tests would be carefully examined by the representative teacher of the respective subjects." Thesepetitions were a good opportunity but, Rein and I weren''t going to attend any of them anytime soon so we had to do all we can to prepare those who would actually participate. Academy was the best institution in the world but it wasn''t the only institute. There were many different nations with many hidden talents and then there are people from differents too so some of the specialpetitions are more difficult to win than one can think. "That is that for the activities outside the academy, but the ones that would start inside the academy from tomorrow, the famous club activities, famous sports, and ones unique to this academy, as well as the mandatory weekend activities, which would also start from the following day, are also important. President Zodiac is the one in charge of the clubs so those interested can talk to him after this or you can tell me and I will deliver your message. But, if you want to talk about the house activities, house-rted things, or discuss something with me or Captain Zoe directly, just check the link I sent to you all just now and you will see a personal chatroom forum. It is unique only to our house so it will surely be helpful to everyone. There are some useful resources there too, so explore that ce extensively. You will find good and unique things." Looking at everyone with a smile that was the usual one they all recognized, I took a deep breath and addressed them for thest time for today. "Lastly, I know I have been harsh at the start today and there are a few things I really don''t like. But, they are few, and I don''t like getting angry either. Captain Zoe is friendly and most, if not all of you, will inevitably end up bing her friend sooner orter. And though not as well versed in the art of friendship, I wish to at least have enough closeness with everyone here tomunicate about the basic things properly. For that, we will all have a house lunch every now and then so I hope you attend it. I''m not very special, but people have surely praised my cooking on many asions. So I wish to share some meals with you all too. I''m dearly looking forward to working with you all, so I hope we all take care of each other." Yes, only speeches have been going on since thest few chapters but it is what it is. Everyone is bound by the circumstances after all. We are no exception to that. [[ *Master. I finished analyzing the rest of the elemental properties of that elixir and I think I was sessful in extracting the purification and extraction method the president might have used. I have prepared the simtion so you can check it whenever you want.* ]] Lucy has grown up quite well in these years so she knew how to use her powers well. And throughout these past years, I have wondered many times just how great her potential and limitations are but, I still couldn''t figure out even a fraction of it. She surprises me every time with every other task we share, and the notion that she is a separate entity that resides within me turns out to be an actual fact. She''s amazing¡­ ''Thanks, Lucy. We will examine thatter.'' [[ *Yes master. And that boy is not present here. Do you think he is the type to just skip a meeting like this?* ]] ''That''s a mystery to me too dear. After all, considering what Zoe did for him during and after the entrance exam, I thought he would be doing his best to repay her. Looks like he got intertwined into something bad. We will have to look into this.'' It was really strange how that boy wasn''t here. I think you should take a look at He should have been here from what I thought but, he wasn''t here. And I needed him as one of the wings of this house so I had to look into him more. [[ "Celes? Do you see him anywhere?" ]] [[ Hmm? Do you mean the healthy boy master? ]] She was ying with little San-San. But of course, I knew the smart president must have figured out what she was actually doing there. [[ "Yes. That one." ]] Calling anyone fat was bad manners and so she called him healthy. Something she picked up from mom¡­ cute little one. [[ I did see him a while back in the garden master. But then there was a cool-looking creature at the edges of the ind so I sent them to observe it. We also saw the little fairy from before with him. So I think that biiiiiig and scarrrrrrrry and stroooooong creature is her familiar. ]] It was her habit to say things longer when she wants toically emphasize something. And it was certainly cute from my perspective whenever she did that, considering how she was mocking those strong creatures that were still below her. She was a good one like Lucy and Rein. And definitely, a fun person to have around. [[ "That must be the rumored guardian holy beast that bonded with her. We will meet it soon so please leave him for now and look for that boy." ]] [[ Yes~ master. ]] The number of clones she could maintain has increased significantly in these past few years but it was still not even close to uncountable. Yes, she has learned a few tricks that make her an even greater survival expert but she still isn''t close to the level at which she can show her true potential. She needs more time and my growth. So, I have to grow stronger, and she still has a great more of this world to see. "Alright, captain. Then I will take my leave." "Take care, vice-captain, Lucifer~. And give my warm regards to Uriel." "Of course. You take care of yourself as well as others too." I bowed towards her respectfully and turned around. My work here was done and Rein was done with her work too. So¡­ a little skip, and now Rein and I were standing in the garden before each other. ... "How did it go?" I asked as I sat down on the grassy park of the garden. And she also sat down, on myp. "They were no fun. I thought they will at least have something if they had the balls to say that shit but they were all shit themselves." She put her head on my chest, closed her eyes, and continued feeling the fresh breeze of twilight. "You still beat them up. Well, how did other things go? How''s Neb?" She was tired. I can feel it. The day had been long and we did many things that were tiring so it was natural that even she would get tired. "She''s better than I expected. She does her work well and follows whatever I say. It''s just as you said. She treats me like someone with higher status that she has to follow unconditionally." I thought as much. She really feels the same kind of attraction from her as the goddess she follows. "Haaa... well, it''s fine actually. She''s good. Take care of her." "Of course..." She hugged me, as she sat there, and we talked about the worldly stuff and things that happened during our personal sses. It was peaceful, but how can the main characters enjoy their momentary peace? [[ Master! That boy...! ]] Celes shouted and immediately showed me something that was happening in this very garden. "Shit..." And it wasn''t something that we can take lightly at all... Chapter 558 Ball Marvin ? [OP: ] The gorgeous garden of the academy, greenery all around the ce, trees growing merrily, and some bees buzzing happily. In a joyous ce such as this, under a young tree, surrounded by bees, huge squirrels, giant birds,rge animals, and a unique energy beast that resembled a rose, a healthy youth looked fearfully at all these creatures that had an angry expression. He didn''t know the reason he was in this situation. He had done nothing to be in such a situation. He was innocent. Picking flowers for a thank-you bouquet was no crime right? Why would they be this angry when his crime was nothing? He couldn''t understand the reason but¡­ he could see the anger and resentment in the eyes of each and every creature surrounding him. They were all angry, he didn''t know why but they were genuinely angry¡­ and though they had not harmed him yet, he knew even a wrong breath could lead him to his end. So, he was just standing there, stuck to the tree, waiting for a knight in shining armor toe to his rescue. And funnily enough, the knights in shining armor did actuallye to his rescue. Though by that time, he had made the little mistake he shouldn''t have and was on the ground with his normal clothes torn to tatters. "Stop, stop, stop! What''s going on here?!" Eon shouted as soon as he reached there and took in everything that was happening. The fat boy was on the ground, the creatures were dancing around him, a little fire was burning on the other side and the rose-like creature was on top of the boy, with an angry frown on her face. "Oh lol¡­ we also had Bitter Roselisas in this garden?" Rein also reached the area in question and as soon as she saw this scene, a fun smile spread out on her face. She was trying to hold back herughter, and Eon couldn''t help but shake his head at her reaction. Someone was getting prepared as an offering here and she wasughing. What a cruel person¡­ "Just what-" "Peeeeep! Peep! Peeeep-peeeep!" [ "You mean he tried to assault your children?" ] He couldn''t believe what he was hearing, and Rein can''t hold back herughter as she listened to what this creature was trying to say. "She''s cursing at him, darling. He probably tried picking up her babies after mistaking them as simple, bigger flowers." He could understand all thenguages, but she can see and understand the meaning behind those words even if they weren''t used correctly. And after hearing what she said, Eon finally understood what exactly was happening. "Oh, honey¡­" He stored Asta back in his white crack and walked closer to the surprised rose-like little humanoid creature with leaf-like hands. [ "He made a mistake, I understand. But isn''t this extreme? What''s this ceremony? Are you going to turn him into fertilizer or offer his soup to the lord father?" ] The inhabitants of this garden refer to the great ancient tree as lord father, and what he said might sound cute, funny, or normal from the way this was going on but, seeing it from a literal perspective¡­ ''Scary.'' That was the only word he could think of right now. But of course, even if these creatures wanted to do that, Sir Quesnel wouldn''t have let this escte further. "Peeeeeeep! Peep. Pee-Peeepep!" [ "He did what? No, that''s surely an exaggeration, right?" ] "Peeeep! Pep!" From the look, one could imagine this creature as a certain creature with Roselia''s name from a certain legendary show that just came to an end recently. But anyway, she was angry right now. The boy not only tried picking up her children, he actually¡­ "Oy Ball. What the hell kind of inappropriate thing did you do with those big-looking flowers? From what she''s saying, I think you deserve this." "I''m innocent! Please save me, captain! Ple- akhum!" She choked him with a vine, that thankfully wasn''t thorny. The boy really was in a tough situation. "Hahahahaha! It was worth running all the way here. Hehehe-haha~." And Rein was nowughing uncontrobly without caring about the creatures here or her darling, or the scared boy. "Rein." Eon looked at her with his one eyebrow up, and, knowing this was a look that wanted a quick exnation, she tried stopping herself for a moment, failed miserably andughed even loudly, tried again, and after a stronger attempt this time, she finally managed to speak up. "Haha, he just tried picking up the flower-like creatures at first growing from the ground, but you know how the young Blue Roselisas are born from the ground, he must have failed to take them out so, haha, that boy tried licking them ptfff, he licked the flower heads. You get what I mean right, ptffff, flower heads, khehehe." She continuedughing after that, and Eon looked at the boy on the ground with a weird expression. "¡­" And the boy looked at him with a pleading gaze, requesting him to save him from these dangerous creatures. "Let''s go, Rein-" "Vice captainnnnnn!! Ahem! Pleaseeeeee!" Eon really wanted to leave him be and let them do whatever they wanted with him. He wouldn''t die for sure and Sir Quesnel would save him from any great harm so there was nothing for them to worry about. But, what would you do with a person that goes around licking strange things growing from the ground? What if that thing was poisonous like many other things in this garden? He surely might have been in a bad condition, so¡­ even after knowing the area he was in right now was not safe for flower picking he was going around licking flowers that were obviously not flowers, then he was the most sus person he was seeing in his entire day¡­ "Peeeeep! Peeeeeeep!" [ "Wait what?" ] "Really? Direct attendant?" Even Rein stoppedughing at what the rose-like creature had said. It surely was surprising for them. "Peeeep! Peeee-Pee-pepep!"I think you should take a look at [ "Oh¡­?" ] "That actually exins all these creatures. And if we are talking about the eastern side, then it''s definitely the overseer of the greenhouse." "You are unlucky, Ball. You fell too deep." "Akum! Please¡­" Apparently, there were beings that oversaw all four sides of the outdoor garden and this Roselisa was a direct attendant to the one that looked after the eastern side of the garden where the castle''s east wing greenhouse was situated. And this boy had practically assaulted the children of one of the few attendants of a super strong being. Eon knew it wouldn''t be easy to get him out of this mess, and even more to convince a mother that had seen someone do something very inappropriate to her young children. "Akhum!" If anything, she would have killed him long ago if she wasn''t restricted by the great ancient tree, and she was a (Green) ranked creature that can use green magic, so she had all the power needed to kill one weak criminal. And aside from her, there were around thirty more energy beasts here to help her, so he himself would have been in tatters like his clothes if this was wild and not their academy garden. It was a bad experience but at least, he wouldn''t go around licking things after this day. He had learned his lesson, probably, so there was no need for the extremes. Besides, Eon needed this weird bastard, so he had to bargain with a wounded mother. And since she was a nt-type energy beast, he thankfully had just the thing that could help him in this situation. But he couldn''t take it out carelessly with hisughing fianc¨¦e around. "Rein." He looked at her again and this time, with only the look in his eyes, she knew what he wanted her to do. "Do it quickly and tell her to put it away." She didn''t have a very good expression right now. And she walked back after saying that quickly, so it was easy to tell she didn''t want to be here when he took that thing out. She was stronger now, physically and mentally, but still, she preferred avoiding his fertilizer. That thing was still the most disgusting thing for her in the world. But for a nt, it was nothing less than holy water. So, as soon as Eon took out a very tiny crystallized version of that thing, the blue eyes of the blue rose lit up and she looked at him with a new different expression than anger. [ "I know he has made a mistake but, I believe he didn''t know they were your children, or even that they were energy beasts and not ''flowers''. As you can tell, he is innocent. And yes I agree he should be punished for that but, what you have already done is plenty, no? Just look at him. He''s weak, not particrly liked by Mana or nature, and he''s just normal, right? We can talk with your master but, if you have heard of us, we are special guests of the lord father, and also the Queen, so I request you to understand. Just tell us what kind of punishment you want for him, and he will make sure to repent. And he knows what wrong he had done so he is and will be sorry for that. Please consider this as a token of our apology and please, just overlook this one mistake of his." ] It was a request, but, the Roselisa was instantly charmed by the little green crystal in his hand. "Peeeeep¡­" [ "It is yours, of course. Just give us that boy. We need him." ] "Peeeeeep¡­ ppep! Peeeeep! Pep! Peeee-pe-p!" [ "Of course. He will be forbidden from that area itself. You do not have to worry about that." ] "Peeep¡­ Pep!" After giving Eon ast sad expression, she kicked the boy and he flew back and crashed into the tree behind them. -Dhum! "Pep." She extended her leaf-like hand and asked for the unique thing that was nothing like anything she had seen in her entire life. [ "Ahh. Please store-" ] Eon wanted to tell her to put it away but, the rose, without waiting, just put the little crystal in her mouth and gulped it down. "Eh?" It was his first time giving his unique fertilizer to a nt-based energy beast so he didn''t know what would this thing do to her. He knew there shouldn''t be any problems or strange changes considering the little dosage but, he was still looking forward to what would happen to this rose. But, after it ate it, there wasn''t much change in the creature, aside from the change of her look that now seemed to be high on ecstasy. ''It''s¡­ not good for them.'' He knew something new about his unique fertilizer now. And though he would have loved to check what a greater dose of it could do to the nt creatures and if it could cause any physical change, he knew this was neither the right ce nor the right time to do that. So, without waiting for Rein toe back here, he slipped back, picked up the fat boy easily, bowed to the rose, and gave his goodbye to all the creatures present there, that thankfully thought nothing could be wrong here since Eon possessed such high affinity with nature, and slipped away from that ce. He was hoping she could remember their little deal aftering out of her little fantasy world¡­ or there were others that listened to their conversation anyway so they would be fine, so! The rescue of the fat boy, Ball Marvin, the one that possessed a special innate skill to control gravity and atent talent for fighting and protection, was sessfully carried out. And though he had been hurt a little, he was safe now. They were out of aplicated situation that they knew wasn''t fully concluded just yet. But for now, they were at least out of the immediate problem. And the one that caused them to burn this much energy on this fine afternoon, was just about to wake up from his little, painful slumber¡­ Chapter 559 Dinnertime abduction Chapter 559 Dinnertime abduction [Eon''s POV: ] "Ugh¡­" The sleeping boy woke up, and Rein smiled down at him. "Did I¡­ die?" "Of course you didn''t, you bastard." Rein had a funugh so she wasn''t angry at him for ruining ourte evening peaceful time, but we were stillte thanks to him, and it was already night so she wanted to go already. "¡­" The boy looked around and saw that we were just beside the road leading to the academy castle''s outer entrance gate and the exit gates on the other side of it. They were in the middle of it so he can choose to go into the academy and tell the teachers what happened or just ept his foolishness and go home. "Thank you¡­" And from the sudden look of relief he had, it seemed like he was fine and had epted reality as well as his foolishness. "Why were you picking flowers in the restricted area anyway." Eon also wanted to just end things here and go back for today but, he had to see this boy off first. In his current condition, he was weak, he was also just amon person from probably amon background so there really was nothing special about him, for now at least. "I¡­" No, there was something special about him. "I just wanted to give the best flowers to the captain for all her help in the entrance exam. I''m only here because of her so¡­" He wasn''t exactly smart but he was courageous. After going through that horrific experience, one wouldn''t be in their right mind to even speak properly. But he was fine, and more than that, he was calm. This showed just how strong of a mentality this normald had. "Haaa boy¡­ your intentions were good but you still ended up doing something absolutely foolish. We haveplicated work to do now thanks to that but, it''s fine." Looking at him with a warm expression and helping him stand up, I shook my head with another sigh. "Ball. Captain would definitely have appreciated even the most normal flowers. That''s just how she is. You missed an important meeting because of that but, it''s alright now. Things have passed and you seem to realize your mistake. So please, do not do that ever again. And, you are banned from that part of the garden now so don''t go there without a good enough reason to risk your life." It was dark already, and the people that wanted to pick us up were already on the move. And we had to move too, so, I looked at the boy with a calm smile and patted his shoulder. "Look Ball¡­ we have to go now so I''m ending this conversation here. Let''s continue after tomorrow''s sses. And here. These are the basic points that we discussed today and some things that you will have to keep in mind. Read them, check your flower menu and follow my link, and read and watch the resources avable there. Ask me, the captain, or others if you don''t understand anything or want to know about it, and I''m sure someone will help you if the two of us aren''t avable. Take care¡­" Tapping his shoulders two more times, I turned around after giving him a smile. Rein also walked back with me after giving him a smile, and just when we were a few steps away, we heard his voice again for thest time today. "Thank you for saving my life vice captain and captain Uriel!" His words were sincere and he was crying rivers right now. The shock must already have been great but he managed his best to stay calm. And for a rtively weak person like him, it was a great feat all in itself. "Take care, Ball Marvin. And go rest after eating a good, healthy meal." We walked towards the exit gate and I could see he was bowing to the two of us. ''Amusing kid, I must say¡­'' Training him to be the shield that blocks any harm to our house members would be fun, and when he is actually ready and realizes his talents, he''s going to drastically change like Chry. ''I await that time.'' Even Rein was excited when she thought just what kind of shield he would be that even her magic cannot pierce through it. But she knew if I was the one to train him personally, just like the other house captains that had grown under my watch, he would be a splendid character too. So, she was excited, but at this moment, nothing was more fun to her than the thought of how she would take out some useless crappy trash from this academy ind. She wanted to have fun so, we left the academy and as the shadows around us moved in a vicious manner, clouded by the gray clouds was this night sky, insects weren''t singing their precious melodies today, but still, the streets of this floating ind was bustling with people and magical activities. The night shops were open and the voices of many kinds of people were ringing in the surroundings. It was time for dinner, and our destination for this nightly dinner was a famous restaurant that served very fine quality food at a rtively cheap price. The bossdy of this restaurant probably had magic in her hands that went beyond skills, but the food surely had a hint of uniqueness as if it was forged in a furnace and not merely cooked on a stove. "Wee, dear customers- Oh~! It''s you two. Come in. Have a seat." "Thanks, ma''am~." Rein cheerfully answered to the strong and healthy-lookingdy and thedy gave us a happy smirk just like yesterday. "Your friend isn''t here today? She''s a cute one." And when we sat at the same table as yesterday and she brought us some water, she asked about Quin. We were here with her yesterday and she paid for the food. And of course, she paid more than she was expecting because she didn''t know about the grand appetite the two of us had. ''Especially Rein. She eats hopelessly a lot and still has a perfect figure and muscles that seem to be crafted by the divine mother Nature herself.'' "Haaa¡­" "Hmmm? I asked a question and you sigh in response. Is everything alright?" The bossdy was confused by my sudden sigh. But what could I do? Rein was hot and cute, difficult to handle, yes, but definitely worth all the trouble I have to go through. "Nothing ma''am. I was just thinking¡­ just how hot, and perfect¡­ my lovely fianc¨¦e is." I sighed again after saying that, and though this sudden admiration sent a blush of surprise on her cute face, the bossdy startedughing as soon as she heard that. "Hahaha. You two definitely are a fun couple~! Hahaha! Nice young ones. I can''t even imagine how you two might be in private if you say such amusing things in ces full of people like this." She sure had a point since we were sitting in a ce with a good big crowd with some people looking at us with surprise, but still, there was nothing that could stop me from praising my own dear girl. "We aren''t much different in private ma''am. If anything, we are rtively ''normal'' when there''s just the two of us." She knew exactly what I meant. She was an experienceddy that has been running this fine establishment for decades so she certainly knew what ''normal'' meant. "Kekekeke. You certainly know how to speak, young man. And this young girl is even more fun~. Hahaha!" She wasughing, and I can tell she was thinking about other things from the past that made herugh even more. It was fun and all but¡­ -Ooooooooooong! Suddenly, the lights went out and, I felt the space we were in, shift to a totally new location. -Swiiiiiiiiiii¡­ And the new location we ended up in, was a dark ce, to be more exact, a dark ce inside a prison-like structure, with magic enchantments all around us. "Hello, captains." We were expecting this from a long time ago and the lunch that we had today was the trigger I set for them. ''The notorious group that resides on the ind of magic''s wealth and interferes with the perfectly neutral culture of the academy, Reformation instigators.'' They consist of an extensive group of people but there actually aren''t that many higher powers supporting them. But still, they have good mary backing and resources so they manipte the houses and strive for keeping a clear animosity between all the houses. house captains that do not know much about the ind and the inner working of the system. They manipte the students, mainly the seeminglymon house captains that do not know much about the ind and the inner working of the system. They use materialistic things to first entice them then slowly use them, to ultimately cause an imbnce in the academic circles. These bastards call themselves Reformation instigators because their ultimate goal is to bring a total change in the seemingly perpetual neutral nature of the academy and the students, which in itself is a funny thought as not even higher powers have been able to do that in these long millennials. Still, they have a leader that has been working relentlessly to realize the goal of their group, and in the little over a decade of his career, he sure has managed to cause a great lot of distress in the academy. ''Our previous batch was their peak time as they almost managed to bring down more than half of the house captains under them at the start of their first year and from what info I gathered, the vice president had a severe headache clearing this bunch out.'' But she failed to find the mastermind of this group, the leader that had enough genius to not only closely infiltrate the academy''s initial defenses against people like them; but also convince the house captains, some of their house members, as well as people they had close connections with; that the other house captains were plotting against them and had some people backing them that could directly hurt their family. ''The interesting part is that some of those house captains were important high society figures. And ''he'' managed to convince them too.'' The one that managed to cause the academy ident two years ago, the one that managed to cause the little-known idents throughout the inds in thest few years that point to a very certain distress, the one that slipped away from even the ''amazing'' vice president Cradle and president Zodiac, and the one that hides behind not one, but two masks¡­ "Pardon me for this unusual way of greeting, however, it is surely my pleasure to greet you." Standing before us was a mere illusion of him that he was maintaining effortlessly from a corner of this very underground space we were in, the very establishment that would soon submerge in the screams of these secretive shitty people. "Can I have a precious moment with you two?" Few would die in this ce today but there was surely going to be blood, and screams, and of course¡­ "Let us out first." This bastard before us, this maniptive bastard that was using the very organization he was leading, the seed that had the potential to turn into a disaster¡­ he was going to join me in the future as the [Bait] of the Lightshade, but, before that, he was going to get his ns, hopes and dreams crushed by our ''gentle'' beating. Chapter 560 Play a game? Chapter 560 y a game? [Eon''s POV: ] "I can certainly take you out, young gentleman and prettydy. However, you will have to promise me you won''t try to do anything funny." He wormed with a heavy voice. "This is a safe ce, I can reassure you of this fact, so I believe you will at least try to listen to what I have to say." He reassured with a smoother tone. "I''m not a bad person, and this isn''t very far from the ce you were, so, we will send you back just the way you are right now and nothing much will happen. My men have already taken care of the people in the ce you were in so they won''t remember you were here. So, please, give me a little chance to present myself properly." Andstly, he requested with a warmer tone. He was a unique abductor, just like this unique room we were in. It wasn''t very fancy or attractive, and just consisted of a room that had the little cage, or prison that we were kept in, a table and some chairs in the center of it, and some little elements that didn''t fit with the overall design and colors of the room. ''It would seem strange but, it is a nice work actually. They specifically made it this way to mess with the senses of the ones that aren''t familiar with this room.'' It was a technique we rarely see in the West but in the East, this was something people of higher status often do to some of the rooms of their houses to fuck the senses of the intruders, the enemies, or the unwanted guests. Just sitting here for longer would start making even the sharp people let their guards down¡­ It''s traditionally called something different but it can trante to (Dema no heya) or (Room of Hoax). And to even know the traditional techniques to build ces like these isn''t something just anyone can understand without proper training. ''So, this ce was ultimately cool. s¡­ it wasn''t going to work on us.'' Looking at the person, or more like the illusion before us, I nodded and agreed with what it was saying. We can get out by ourselves but this was fine too. "Fine decision from fine people. Please join me." -Snap! The gate opened and the person walked back and sat down on the chair at the northern side, the ce that technically gives the most advantage. "Something is weird, isn''t it." "Probably. Well, it might just be our imagination." Rein might have seen this kind of room but she wouldn''t know the exact information about them. It wasn''t famous and too talked about after all. But, her eyes can figure out the weirdness of this ce in an instant. So, it was fine. We sat down and I told her the exact details while the illusionary man, downed in a silver-grey hood, looked at us with surprise. "From the calm you have, it seems you have faced simr situations like this before¡­ indeed. The unknown house captains with practically no background that can defeat strong opponents on their very first day and can afford the costliest ce to live surely aren''t normal people." He had strangely glowing blue eyes under that hood but his voice was calm as if he had everything under control. "And on top of that, you hosted a lunch for six other captains, became buddy-buddy with them, and even calmed the resistance in your houses. Amusing, certainly." The aura around him was normal until now but as he said these things, the air around him seemed to be getting heavier. "But¡­" He was starting to show his true colors now. But I knew he won''t have the chance to do that. "I think you didn''t know the house captains weren''t allowed to be friendly and cozy like this, right?" An even greater pressure was covering the table now, and the eyes beneath that hood seemed to have a hint of anger- "Oh fuck this. This is actually annoying ." -Snap! -Ooooooooooong! -Boooooooooooooooom! I knew Rein would get pissed off at this ce soon. But, it was sooner than I expected. But, as I knew, she used one of her (tier-4) explosion spells and blew up all the walls and ceiling of the room, and the impact from this blew away the people that were anywhere close to the point of impact. "Oh dear¡­ could have had a little more patience." Maybe she was restless and annoyed because I brought out that fertilizer potion a while back, but thankfully, she controlled the power of that spell, and the ones blown away from the impact managed to preserve their lives. "¡­!" But, everything aside, the eyes that were looking at us with anger just a moment ago, now had an utterly shocked reaction. "You¡­!" He must have been confused by the magnitude of her spell which was clearly beyond the normal (tier-3) spells. And all the intel they had must have confirmed that she was a (tier-3) mage and I actually was just an [Rank-3] archer. "¡­!" I knew he must have figured something was amiss and was just about to call off this illusion and run away from here but before he could do that¡­ "One shouldn''t break an ongoing conversation midway, dear sir." I summoned eight paper dolls and they created a translucent green barrier around this illusion that was directly connected to that person right now. "You! You¡­!" From what I can tell, I knew he must have figured out this was all nned and was a trap by this point, and he must have been prepared to run away from this ce just like he always does, but, he wasn''t allowed to do that this time. I had to do a long, thorough research on him from the unsolid data I can gather and though the preparation for this operation was simple, we still had to go against hundreds of people in this ce, if not thousands. And while doing all that, we had to make sure he doesn''t escape from this ce [{ "Celes, get ready." }] [{ Yesssss~ master! }] She would be the key to this operation so I wanted to have a little more time for her clones to settle down in the ces that could be the most probable exit routes of this basted. But Rein''s actions brought an end to that prep time. Still, he was the end goal of today. The underlings didn''t matter if the mastermind was taken out entirely anyway. ''Lucy, question.'' [{ *Yes master.* }] ''The leader''s current location.'' [{ *It is here, master.* }] A red dot appeared in the three-dimensional mental structure of this entire underground ce that I had prepared with my (: Scan). And the good-natured Lucy even gave me the data on all the elements currently present in this underground building. "Uriel. He''s six floors below us. The stairs to go down are on the right side, in the ce outside that room. There seem to be around nine hundred sixty people here, averagely [Rank-2] knights, (tier-2) mages, some fighters, a few healers, and as we go down the security get stronger. The traps and security system are trivial but there seem to be a few strong opponents on the sixth floor so go have some fun, try not to kill any of them, and wait for me there. I will be there soon after dealing with a few things." "Okay~!" She walked away while cheerfully jumping like a little girl but, she was here exactly for doing some fun things and beating up these people. There was no need for her to listen to our boring conversation anyway. And, she can take care of herself the best when she''s alone so I wasn''t worried at all. "Alright so, the leader of these little Reformation instigator groups, code name Captain Monex. It is nice to finally meet you, mister." I smiled at him, and he obviously gave me a look of horror. "You¡­! You are from the student council! How did that girl-" "I think you are misunderstanding something here mister." Looking at him with a warmer smile and blocking his attempts to break this barrier, I started exining to him what actually was going on right now. "So, you see, we are new here but we have done our fair share of reading. At first, we wanted nothing more than to just live our days here in peace and y around by ourselves. Yes, I was nning to take you people out at some point, but it surely wasn''t going to be this soon. But then, we became captains, and I knew I had to take out the trash before doing anything so, here we are, taking out the trash¡­ Oh, of course, I''m not referring to you when I say trash, it''s just the real people belonging to the Reformation instigators. You, the person using the reformation instigators to gain powers and connections, the person behind the total of a hundred and fifty minor incidents linking to a certain graveyard, someone that''s most anything, you are just a normal person that''s driven by a single hopeless goal that isn''t-" probably trying to do something very foolish¡­ you aren''t trash. If anything, you are just a normal person that''s driven by a single hopeless goal that isn''t-" "It''s possible!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, a shout that only a desperate person lingering on the thread of thest hope could express. "Wand of true resurrection, an ancient item that you won''t ever get your hands on; the origin divine ritual that would require the authority of at least three high gods, they would never be interested in someone as trivial as you; sostly¡­ the forbidden ritual of necromancy. Sure it can bring the dead back, but they won''t have their wills intact, and the performer of the ritual itself won''t be alive when the ritual is finished." He looked at me with still eyes now, still, motionless eyes that couldn''t understand what was going on and how I knew about the things I was talking about. "Well, I know you won''t listen to me anyway. And considering how you are still trying to break this barrier, I know you are determined too. Haaa¡­ breaking that barrier won''t be easy, so¡­ let''s y a game, mister." It was night, the operation was simple, and things wereplicated a little, but there was no need to stretch this little thing more than necessary just yet. "y a game?" He looked at me with eyes that couldn''t fathom what I was saying or, what the hack was even going on at this moment. He was the mastermind, the leader of all the people present here, and they believed in him. Of course, from what I knew, this person saw them as nothing more than useful pieces to realize his own ultimate goal. ''And actually, this was just the kind of person I needed to fill that specific spot.'' I wanted this person too, but, there were many things I will have to do for that. So, for the starters, I had to make him realize something¡­ "Yes, a simple game. I will leave now ande down and, if you can escape from here before I reach there, I will do whatever you want, even follow every order you give me. But, if we managed to catch you¡­ well, you know your crimes, the punishment would be inevitable." He had a chance, of course, that was only a fantasy but I gave him hope he could look forward to as I left this room and walked to the other side. "What is the guarantee that you will keep your word." He asked in thest moment just when I was at the door and, I smiled at the poor fe. "There is no way to show the guarantee, mister. You will just have to take my word for it." I smiled and left the ce, but with my third eye, I could still see he was desperate, angry, and determined to achieve what he believed in. ''But sorry to him, his unique third eyes weren''t going to be much help when I had my Celes.'' He would lose today. And get caught. His long dream to meet the close person that he was so desperately trying to bring back, would fade today. And when he knows the depressing truth atst, he would have to let go of the hopeless wish, that would only bring disaster upon innocent people¡­ Chapter 561 Impossible! Chapter 561 Impossible! [OP: ] The ce they were in was quite simple in structure, however, it was entirely made three floors under the ground of this sky ind, so this was a very fine construction from Eon''s point of view. He was going to make an underground construction of his own, though far better than this ce, so seeing this at least gave him an idea of how it would turn out in the end. [{ Sister Elle is having fun~. Hehe. }] The two of them were walking down towards their destination but Rein was already ahead of them. "She is punching and pping them from the look of these bodies¡­ looks like she really had it tough today." They were walking through a corridor right now and all around them were bodies of unconscious people, and there were also rooms on both sides of them which were also filled with bodies of unconscious people. And they were only unconscious, mostly didn''t have any visible wounds, and whatever wounds they had were all from their own people or mistakes. Well, they all sure had red cheeks and dark spots all over their bodies indicating they were punched and pped so hard that they passed out on the spot and, in a way, this was brutal. Rein was a floor below them, engaged in yet another battle where her opponents, people welding weapons, and magic wands were shaking with pure horror as they saw the dangerous witch walking towards them. She was crazy, they knew it by now. They had witnessed the way a single p or punch from her rendered their people unconscious, and how their magic just disappeared before even touching her. They didn''t know who she was or where she came from and also how she could move so fast that even their eyes couldn''t properly keep track of her. They were all confused, afraid, and angry but they could do nothing before the mighty hands of this unknown brown-haired girl. "Khaaaaaaaa!" -p. "Stop! Noooooo!" -p. "Hauyaaaaaa!" -Bum! There were countless of them in a single ce, there were countless of them all throughout a single floor. Their numbers were their greatest power if not the individual talents and strengths that had brought them this far. But, before this demoness, neither those numbers nor their strength mattered one bit. They were like a switch, and a single, painful touch (p) from her was enough to turn them off. There was chaos all around this ce and things were even more chaotic because they didn''t have a proper line ofmunication ormand system anymore. Their signals were blocked, someone had entirely taken over their main system that controlled most of the things, and there wasn''t even proper light in some ces for them to see the approaching enemy. They didn''t know how this happened, they didn''t know what was happening, and they didn''t know where their leader had gone. In a situation simr to this, he would be the first to step forward and give out propermands. And under hismands, they all knew they could even take down a (Purple) ranked creature all by themselves. He was also the strongest among them, but¡­ he wasn''t here. Where was he?! Where was he right now?! What could he be doing when a witch was taking out their people like that with that delighted smugness?! Where was he¡­?! [{ There~! Master I found it! }] Rein was beating them up, the happy smile of delight stuck on her face. Her hands were red from beating them but instead of slowing down, she was increasing her intensity, pping them harder, sometimes forgetting to control her strength and almost breaking a few jaws. But she knew her limits, and the limits of her opponents, so Eon wasn''t worried about her and looked at the new footage Celes was showing him. She had found the door to the ce his target was hiding, and he could see he had prepared well to make this little hiding ce. It was protected by an entirely different set of systems than the one that maintained this ce. And it was stronger too. He strolled through the ce like this was just some normal ce and not the hideout of the criminals that had caused great "Not that it is good enough." He strolled through the ce like this was just some normal ce and not the hideout of the criminals that had caused great problems throughout this ind They weren''t notorious enough to have many killings to their name but the cases of abductions, threats, market maniption, and such were mainly done by this bunch that called themselves ''reformation instigators''. Anyway, Eon was walking towards thest floor, Rein was clearing their path, and the target they were approaching couldn''t help his anxiety that was growing with each passing moment. He was on the lowest floor, and he wasn''t in the ce that was being guarded by the strongest people in his group. As Lucy had informed him before, his actual location was even below this ce in a small area that was covered in a few illusion magic, then by a fewyers of defense magic, and connecting everything was a unique kind of magic that gave all those spells a form simr to a cobweb with him as the spider in the center of it all. It was well made, even Eon admired those skills, but something like that wasn''t going to be enough. They were approaching, and the leader, the real one observing every ce of this building with his unique eye ability, was bathing in his warm sweat as he watched the dangerous girl, the girl that was supposed to be only a mage, overpower even the toughest members of his group with no more than a single p. Still, he was able to handle the shock given by her actions, but¡­ "Impossible!" He could understand what was going on right now. "Impossible¡­!" His special eye ability was called [World''s eye] and it was an origin skill he was born with. He could see anything happening at any ce he knew about in real-time. And, he could also tell if the things he was looking at were authentic or just some illusion. This ability of his had saved him many times in the past, and probably it was the very reason he was able to reach the point he was at right now. His preparations had almost beenpleted. He was ready to follow with what he knew was a bad idea, but that was thest thing he could do. And there was nothing in this world that could stop him from doing that. And there actually was nothing to stop him on this ind till a while ago¡­ but then these two came, and he had to follow with his side ns, only to end up in this hell hole¡­ "But how¡­?!" However, he could still not understand one thing. That boy was here, he was strangely stronger than they had anticipated, he was foolish enough to also give him a golden chance to escape, but¡­ "That''s absurd!" All the escape routes he had previously prepared were blocked by some unknown power, there was interference with themunicationwork, the defensive system was destroyed long ago, and the magic spells he had set throughout the building weren''t working either. And while all this was happening, as he looked for the emergency escape routes that only he knew about, a strange figure appeared before his special eye. And this figure was none other than the boy that gave him the absurdly obvious trap-like hope that he could escape from this damned ce. That bastard was smart, he knew that much already, but it was still absurd how he was blocking not one or two but all his twelve emergency exits! It was absurd and impossible for a single figure to be present in all those ces! And some of those ces weren''t even properly exist and only some holes that were dug to lead above the ground. How did he know about these ces was the second absurd thing here. How was this little basted present in all those ces?! It was impossible, and all the versions of him that were his exact copies were able to use their powers and techniques so it was even obvious that it wasn''t some cheap illusion or simple skill. It could only be an innate skill or an origin skill that required a shit ton of energy to maintain. And still! Even the elder mages couldn''t maintain this kind of ability for this long where they would have to split their consciousness to maintain all those copies of themselves. He couldn''t understand how he was doing it, but he was certain that all those versions that could see and destroy his eye and wound his mind so many times with so little effort was not something he could defeat if he went out from there. And, if he actually went out and they found him, it was obvious what they would do to him, so¡­ he believed he was at least safe in this ce, which, once again, was nothing more than a hopeless thought. -Booooooooooom1 He heard an explosion from the sixth-floor gate and hurriedly created another eye to look at what was going on there, and, the scene that met his eyes left him speechless once again. "Im¡­ possible." Eon and Rein, both of the bastards that had ruined his years of careful n now stood before the inner room gate of the sixth floor with the strongest people of their group, the strongest swordsmen, the strongest mages, assassins, healers, everyone of themying unconscious on the ground. And he could tell they weren''t silenced with some simple ps or anything but, they were most probably hit by a strong sound wave that directly blocked their blood flow to their brains for a moment. He knew they must have used some kind of highly powerful high wind attribute magic or skill, but¡­ it was powerful enough to render tens of strong people senseless. But, that was only the start¡­ As he watched, and the two of them watched back straight into his eyes, he knew they knew his actual location. And that was the most dangerous situation¡­ "Shit. Shit shit shit!" Without waiting a single moment, he took out a very precious high-level teleportation magic scroll from his storage device and tried to activate it. "Fuck!" After spending most of their avable funds, he could only afford to secure two of these scrolls and, he used the first one to bring these two devils here. He had to save thisst one for another important task, but he had no choice anymore. The destination of this scroll wasn''t set either but, he had to do something to get away from these bastards, or else everything will be over! His heart was running wild, his eyes couldn''t calm down, and his mind was a little calm but there was also chaos clouding most of it. He was worried they mighte there and catch him, and he was afraid he would lose everything he had prepared after doing all those things, he didn''t know what he had to do or how he ended up in this situation, but one thing was clear to him¡­ "You won''t be catching me you fucking bustards! You will pay for today!!" The scroll in his hands started glowing with a bright golden light. He didn''t know where he would end up, but he knew any ce without the two of them would be better at this moment. He believed he could escape, he knew as soon as this scroll activates, he will be far away from their grasp and ording to their deal, that fucking boy would have to listen to all he would ask of him¡­ fuck! No! It was all because of that boy, that basted! He was in this state because of him, he had to use a precious item because of him! His pawns were all defeated because of him! He will have to pay for what he did. He knew it would take a long time to gather back all his forces but, that wasn''t important. If he gets out of here, he will be able to bring back everything like always and only if he was out of here, he will be abler to bring his love back- -Ooooooooong! Suddenly, a strange white light came out of nowhere and pierced right through his scroll, and the activation process was ruined. "You knew it was futile from the start yet you still persisted¡­ that is some admirable determination, mister Captain Monex." He heard the most unwanted voice he needed to hear at this moment. And as he looked back from where the voice had rung¡­ the figure of a devil with glowing blue eyes, deeper than he could ever have, and wiser than he could ever hope to have fell on his eyes. The figure of the monster he didn''t want to look ever again now stood before him, announcing his defeat and the end of everything he had built with his sweat, blood, and tears. "Or¡­ should I call you Miss Monnem Extengia?" And, it didn''t matter to him that he knew about her anymore¡­ Chapter 562 Forbidden knowlage Chapter 562 Forbidden knoge [OP: ] -Snap. "It''s useless." -Snap. "It''s over, just calm down and listen to what we have to say." -Ooooooooong! -Swish. Swish. Swish. -Snap! "Haaaa¡­ please. Calm down." Eon used {Quick steps} and reached the womanying on the ground, covered by a strange dark fluid. "Shut up." She wasn''t wearing any clothes other than a unique ck cape with the same color as the fluid all around her. Long ck hair, bright blue eyes, a weak-looking pale constitution, and the dense Mana around her indicating her unique lineage while the appearance that though was covered by the strange fluid covering the entire room, did little to hide her attractive appearance. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" And the magic that she was constantly firing at them, which of course just vanished even before it could touch them, did no harm to them even after carrying all that explosive power. "Why?!!" She was calm a moment ago, but now she was in a frenzied state, shouting meaningless things with her being burning with anger and bloody tears flowing from her eyes. She wasn''t in her right mind anymore and the two couldn''t see her in that state. Even though she was a bad person that had done many bad things, her foolish goal wasn''t malevolent. "Because it had to be us." Eon appeared right before her, his hand covered with a sheet of Solnova. And as soon as he appeared there, he put his hand on her head, calming her with the power of his unique Solnova. "If it were someone else, you would have no other choice than to rot in Trigon Tower for the rest of your life." The white energy spread throughout her body and calmed her mind, washed away the dark fluid covering her body, and brought rity to her hazy eyes. "But now, you have two options." This unique room they were in was filled withplex artifacts, the walls were covered with alchemy forms, and there wererge shelves filled with materials that even the high mages would have difficulty finding on this sky ind. However, amidst all these, there was a corner with some very sinister-looking things. And these sinister things were the reason this room was covered by this strange thick fluid. "Do you want to hear them? Or do you want to just face the punishment by legal means?" Eon did not know the true identity of the person that was doing all this. He had only done his research and didn''t have any solid data that could lead him to the identity of the person that was capable enough to even get away from their vice president. And he knew just how smart, strong, and capable she was. He had seen it with his own eyes. So he had no doubt that if there was someone that could beat her, then they had something far more extraordinary to them than just the ability to see things happening in some faraway ce. He knew a little about the intention this captain person had but, all he knew was the fact that this captain of a reformation group was trying to revive someone. Specifically, someone that had passed away quite a while back, not someone that had recently died and could be brought back with normal rival rituals. The time they had died was long ago, so, truthfully, there was no way to revive them now. Even with the forbidden ritual this person before them was trying to perform either. And, as a student council member, he couldn''t just give out options to people with such criminal records like this. He actually had no power to do something like this. She couldn''t understand why he was doing it or what he was even trying to do. She knew everything had ended already so, what nonsense was this bastard spouting right now? Just what kind of tricks was he ying and what did he want from her? She didn''t know who this bastard was but she sure knew he was no normal human. No human was capable of what he could do so just thinking that he was a normal human being was a foolish thought from her point of view. But still, he was giving her a choice? Can he even do that? She didn''t know what choices she could have aside from being sentenced to life imprisonment in that hellish ce but, she didn''t know why she was feeling it or didn''t like what she was feeling but, she, in this moment, wanted to believe in the possibility that there was another oue to all of this¡­ "Tell me." At least, she wanted to hear what choices she had. And, depending on those choices, she would know if she wanted to just kill herself right now, or ept one of the choices presented to her. And Eon knew her thoughts. He had figured out most of the things about this person that carried the name Extengia with her as soon as his eyes showed her screen to him. And now, he also knew who the person she so desperately trying to bring back was. "First, you can swear an oath of origin to follow me for the rest of your life and I will make sure you stay safe and perfectly fine. Or second, you can go ahead and perform the forbidden ritual of life exchange right here and right now. I will provide you with all the required materials you need, however, just see for yourself what the actual oue of this shitty joke actually is." "¡­?!" He took out a very, very, very strange-looking book from his white crack. A book with skulls, snakes, and thrones carved on its metallic silver cover, and a big dark purple jewel embedded on its front. It was a strange book, but thedy before him was already shocked by his absurd words, so she didn''t pay much attention to the strange book and hurriedly focused on the page he had opened and started reading what was titled <12th holy ritual: calling a great lord of salvation>. There were very detailed illustrations present in this book depicting ingredients, the process, the method¡­ as well as the results. And, as she read these things, her eyes keep getting wider and wider with each passing paragraph, her mind bing chaotic and corrupted and her heart beating faster than it was a while before, and by the time she reached only the end of the page on the other side from when she started, a horror so great she had never experienced something simr overtook her entire being, and, she shouted louder than she had ever done in her entire life¡­ "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" She threw that book far away and threw her own body to the wall behind her, trying to logicallyprehend what she had just read with that look of extreme dread still stuck on her face. Eon knew he was going to get a reaction like this but, he also knew there was nothing for him to worry about. So, first, he picked up that dark manual of Rakshasas and stored it away. And then, after reassuring Rein everything was fine, he walked towards thedy that was still looking in the direction she had thrown that book. It was a very normal reaction and even he had a simr reaction back when he had unknowingly just started reading this book in their tower library. He knew how it felt and not just anyone can read those things in the first ce. It was forbidden knowledge for a reason, and, because it was forbidden knowledge for those without the proper understanding of the dark arts and those that weren''t allowed to have such knowledge that¡­ "¡­? What just-" "It''s alright. Don''t try to remember it." All that content would get erased from their minds soon, only leaving behind the feeling they had experienced when they had ''consumed'' that knowledge. But one thing was a fact here. And it was the horror that was produced from the unimaginable content of this knowledge, as well as the rituals that were ultimately aimed towards the destruction of the nature. "You¡­" She couldn''t understand what had just happened. It was a natural response of a person that had lost a part of their memory but surely possessed the memory and feeling of having that specific memory. "Why¡­?" But she was rtively calmer than he had thought. She had done extensive research on this subject and this ritual she was going to perform but, never in her entire time doing this had shee across the actual results that were produced from it or the data on the previous times it had been performed. The method was mysteriously avable if one specifically searched the world for it, but not the results. And now that she had experienced what the results actually were, she understood why they were so strictly unknown to the world. And even though she might have forgotten what the contents were, she knew they weren''t something even someone like herself could handle. It wasn''t something any normal student, a young one at that, should know about. Hack there shouldn''t even be some young student that knows about what some of the words mentioned there actually meant! She didn''t know how this boy knew about it, but¡­ she wanted nothing more than to hear one thing first. "Why?" Why did he let her read this? Why did he do it!? Why did he show her the truth and crush the only remaining hope she had?! Why did he do it¡­?! "Do you know the meaning of death?" However, instead of answering her question, he asked her a question of his own, surprising her once again. "Death¡­" Eon looked back at Rein when thisdy on the ground shook her head hesitantly and started talking about something, that only few could ever have the chance to know or understand¡­ Chapter 563 Meaning of death Chapter 563 Meaning of death [Eon''s POV: ] Death. It was a familiar word to me. "Death, people say it is the opposite of life, but truthfully, death is an entirely separate phenomenon or, how I like to address it, a separate entity altogether." I have died, so it would seem easy to tell I knew how death actually felt. "But to die means much more than the eternal separation of the ultimate soul from the mortal body." I have died and reborn, but, at that time, I did not understand what death actually meant. At least, my interpretation of death was only confined to the bordered point of view of one''s eternal rest, or simply put, the end of one''s life by natural or external means. "To die and to receive the gift of death, ording to the change of context, the meaning of both of these sentences might change so drastically that the contrast they create might feel like the snow-covered mountains in a volcanic region or, a sandstorm in the middle of the ocean." The first time I started thinking what death would actually mean, I was roaming the ferocious woods of the forbidden great forest with a little butterfly that had just been on the verge of death. "Toy down a motionless body in the ground, to burn the body that has used all the fuel it could, toplete the lifespan that we were blessed with and be one with nature at the end, or to be undead and live longer than our mortal limits. Are all of these things called death? Or can we call a being that has only lost the power to control its physical body a dead being?" There are many interpretations of death, but then again, the resurrection also exists and is possible by different means so defining true death, is moreplicated than understanding theplex magic of the past. "If a person is dead but we still remember them, their work, their life, and their names, can we really say they have died and left this world?" There is a lovely saying that a person truly only dies when everyone in the world forgets about them. And truthfully, it is true to some extent. "Death isplicated to understand but one can simply express it as one''s importance to this world and the elements of this world. So, as long as there exists someone that remembers the one that has lost their physical body long ago and even their soul has gone to the realms of the afterlife, it isn''t proper to say that they have ''died'' in true meaning." There are many kinds of deaths that one can receive, but ultimately, there is only one death. Everyone, in their purest form, is a product of the energies and all the energy originates from the ''origin true energy''. When someone dies, the significant half of their consciousness, the mental body that we call the Soul, escapes the body knowingly or unknowingly and tries returning to the ce it had ultimately originated from. And this unique process is the reason when someone with deep rtion with nature dies, the people or beings that have either used all their lifespan or the total energy they were made of, they turn into particles of light, the visible form of their own energies, and be one with nature. This fundamental process is also the reason the strengthening of the very soul is considered the true enlightenment and ultimate process of bing stronger, and the stronger people who know about the importance of the soul spent their lifetimes amassing enough ''strength'' to strengthen their soul. "Be it west where people are more interested in magic, be it east where people are more interested in the internal energies and the swords, or be it the north where people pursue all the fields of arts with equal interest. Everywhere one can see, the word ''death'' is closely rted to our ''soul'' and ''body''. And yes it is also true that they are inseparable from each other. But¡­ the true meaning of death is the decay of all memories rted to a being, person, or thing; their achievement, and any kind of legacies they have left behind." One can be forgotten but as long as these elements that in some way belonged to them exist in nature, we cannot say that they have died. "If the existence remains, then so do the fragments of the soul. And if the fragments of the soul remain, then it simply means the person or being in question had only shifted their ne of existence and live on as either a thread of energy circling the ''void'', or a fog that is about to be reborn as a new elemental spirit, or a consciousness spending their remaining time in higher ins like heaven and hell, waiting to start their ''afterlife''." The ones that are called [Lords] in today''s time, the people that had achieved godhood, or status on par with them, have achieved enough soul strength to exist without a physical body, have obtained divinity on their own, and have gained achievements and enough recognition that they could exist in the higher nes of existence on their own, and live almost eternally. And the same is true for those we call [Transcendents], but even after having that much power and perhaps divinity too, these people tend to have lesser recognition, their achievements tend to be known by small masses, and the true extent of their powers known by only a few fortunate ones that survive after witnessing it. They are people, simr to the ones that obtain lichhood, people that go beyond the mortal limits and obtain powers, permissions, and authorities, that go beyond even the confines of the world they live in. They redefine death in their own way, but even they would agree that the meaning of death, remains eternally the same for every existence in this nature. "So, if you had tried using that ritual, not only would you have sacrificed your own body to open the gate of hell and summon a hoard of demonic creatures, but your soul would be a ve to the ''master'' that hears your calling and you would also have to experience hell until your soul crumbles down and there''s nothing left, and a part of that unimaginable pain would be shared by the person you have the deepest connection with, the person you tried bringing back, yourte father and the merchant that died protecting his hometown from the sudden invasion of Rakshasas, the wizards of earnest winds, Sir Notus Extengia." I looked at her with a look that was enough for this smart person to know that I knew a great lot about her than she had imagined and though she didn''t know how I knew all that she was certain that I knew it. And she also understood death a little more after my exnation so she knew what she did, was actually all futile. Thest resort of this forbidden ritual wouldn''t work, she would never have the power to ask three people with the stigmas of high gods, or original gods as I called them, to bring him back to her, and there was no way for her to know if the wand of true resurrection mentioned in the ancient texts is even something real or not. Her father was a wizard and he just vanished in the particles of light in hisst moments ording to some people that were present there at that time. He stood against hundreds of those bastards and only fell to the ground when the veryst one of them had been obliteratedpletely. He stood tall and took everything they threw at him, and in thest moments, he even burned his own life to keep his people alive. He was a great figure, a hero that saved many people. But¡­ her thoughts were different. ''Why did he do that?!'' ''He had no obligation to save some people of the same town that he grew up in, he had no reason to save a bunch that had looked down on him and shunned him in the past for being a ''dark wizard''.'' ''They feared him so the people of that ce chased him out, and when he grew up and became a little famous, they called him back, apologized for their ''mistakes'', and asked him to look after their little town.'' ''And that good person actually epted their apology and developed the town into a better ce than it could have ever wished it be.'' ''And then¡­ those selfish, greedy fucking bustards even pushed him to death.'' ''Why did he do it? Why did he leave her alone in the capital of their kingdom and lived in some small cottage of a shitty town?'' ''Why did he use all his wealth for people that had nothing to do with him and why was he so devoted to a ce that should mean nothing to him?'' She didn''t know, but she wanted to ask him all that, and much, much more. He was probably the best person in the entire world for her. He was the best, there was no one like him in this world. But, he left her and this world, and she would never ept it. Still, she had tried her best, and¡­ there was nothing else left in this world anymore. "Death isn''t the answer, Miss Monnem. You could still choose the first method ande with me. And if you do, I swear upon my Aura that I will let you meet yourte father. However, only for a brief moment." Every emotion and expression she had were too easy to read for both of us, so we were just observing her while she drowned in remorse and the dark past she must have never wanted to remember again. But her thoughts of death weren''t something I could allow, so, I told her about the only thing that could attract her right now, and as soon as my words fell on her ears, she looked up at me, her eyes wider than ever before and the thoughts that couldn''t leave her mouth in the form of a shout, also clearly audible to both us¡­ Chapter 564 9-star soul array Chapter 564 9-star soul array [OP: ] "You will let me¡­ meet my father?" She was confused, but the confusion was the secondary thought in her mind. The first one, as one can tell from the frown on her face, was the thought of disbelief in his words. And the second, as one can see in the eyes that had suddenly gained a new light, was the thought about another method that she didn''t know about. She had been searching for ways to bring one back to life for more than a decade now. And she had found many leads one can follow to bring back a normal person that would have died not long ago. But her father had burned his lifespan, the very essence that allowed him to exist, and vanished into nature. His very soul had vanished so there was no normal way to bring him back anymore. And that was the very reason she first searched for alternatives that could allow her to at least meet him onest time¡­ but she had found nothing even after searching all over their world. Maybe there used to be some techniques and ways tomunicate with one that has lost the very soul in the ancient past, but such things didn''t exist anymore. So, she had no other choice than to turn to these strictly confidential ways and end up settling on the most gruesome method among them all. It was herst hope¡­ and this bastard crushed it, shattering whatever faith she had in herself and her father that had taught her to never lose faith in the things she believed in. And now he was saying he can do something that she couldn''t, even after trying her whole life? She didn''t want to believe how a boy that, from the looks, didn''t even seem to have been born at the time this ident took ce, could do something like that. It was absurd and thus she had a frown, but, there was also the fact that he had that strange power to directly restrict her illusion, the power to be present at multiple locations at the same time, the intelligence to so effortlessly break through her defensive system and dismantle all the magic she threw at him. She didn''t know who this bastard was¡­ but if he was saying it, even though she didn''t want to believe his words, she had nothing else to believe in anymore. And thus, the eyes. "Do it right now," she whispered in an almost inaudible voice, but both of them still heard it. "We should get out-" "Do it right now!" A kite only hanging by an almost broken thread. Ready to break and fly away in the endless sky. Her mind was extremely chaotic right now after going through all of that and it was a miracle just how she was even sanely cooperating with them and not hopelessly trying to just run away or take her own life right now. Rein understood what she must be feeling right now. She hade across many like her and it was best to just listen to them quietly when dealing with them. "Alright¡­" And Eon knew it too so, he didn''t say anything much and just walked ahead to a small empty area. "Right." But if he wanted her, he would have to deal with a person that must have been quietly observing thisdy for a long time now. "I can see you Harry so, can you pleasee out?" Eon looked towards an empty wall of the room with practically nothing over there. And even Rein was confused when he said those words and looked in the direction he was looking, and still found nothing. But then she focused her eyes and analyzed all the details of that wall, and finally caught onto something that was as small as a grain of dust. "Haaaa¡­" She couldn''t believe it however many times she saw him do this. It was just absurd how his eyes saw things and this entire world. Her dear darling was amazing¡­ but the one spying on them right now was a bastard. -Shwoooooooooong! With a bright white light, the tiny creature, the owl familiar of their headmaster, grew bigger and flew toward them like a ray of light, and ultimately sat on a pile of boxes before him and looked straight into his eyes. "Celes." [{ Yes master~. Grandpa owl just said he''s only here to observe so you do not have to worry about him. }] Eon knew he was here just to observe. That''s what the neutral headmaster would always do after all. But right now, Eon knew if he wanted to have thisdy, he would first have to deal with him. "Can you ask him if he could call the headmaster here?" The owl looked at Eon with a serious gaze, something he only had when he was doing his work and following strict orders from his master. And Eon knew that too, but he needed his master here, or else he knew what would happen to that brokendy when he gets her out of there. [{ Master! Grandpa owl says he''s busy! Hump! And he''s talking rudely! }] He expected it already. And he had recentlye across a vital piece of information so he knew the headmaster was actually busy with the aftermath of the incident from a few days ago. But he had no choice but to disturb him. "Haaa¡­ I know you are listening too headmaster. And I know you have a lot of work on your hands with thebyrinth incident but¡­ please spare me a moment here. It won''t be long and besides, this will be worth your precious time." He smiled gently after saying that and the owl that knew his master and this person before him very well, couldn''t help but shake his head at this familiar smile. -Ooooooooooong. "You better have a proper exnation-" "I''m going to cast the lost 9-star soul array." "¡­? Alright." The handsome headmaster with ruffled hair appeared and asked a question, Eon answered without beating around the bush, and the headmaster was convinced so he just sat down beside his owl. "And I''m taking this woman." But his following words weren''t as easy to digest as him, as usual, knowing things that almost no one knew about. "It will be difficult, young boy. You know she is a criminal right? I can''t just let go of someone that has directly tried to hinder the academy''s bnce so many times already." Headmaster looked at him with narrow eyes while staying that. And Eon nodded again with a new smile. "A criminal that you have only been observing for probably years now, right?" The smile he had was all familiar to all of them present there except for thedy that was just looking down with stillplicated feelings and had no idea someone else had appeared in this room. "A criminal you must have had countless chances to catch, a criminal that you have only been observing for so long even after knowing they were trying to perform a forbidden ritual, a criminal that has caused problems directly within the academy and is still alive and doing as they intended. Was it because she''s the daughter of your acquaintance or is it because you feel guilty of not saving a prominent figure with great potential? I know you would have no choice but to catch her if she had actually performed the ritual or if her identity is known to the public, but, she neither performed the thing nor does anyone even know the leader of Reformation instigators is actually a woman. You haven''t done anything to her yet and as the person that must always be neutral, you aren''t even nning to do anything about her after this, so what does it matter if I take her anyway?" Headmaster Merlin was bound by his position even though it gave him great power and authority in the entire world. He had to be neutral in most circumstances and except some certain situations, he had to proceed with some scenarios while keeping in mind the impact his actions would have on this world, the political situation on the surface and behind the curtain, as well as the involvement of unnatural forces that he would have to deal with special care. And the current situation involving a criminal that had seeded in causing a disturbance in the academy wasn''t something he, as the headmaster, can just overlook. "You see Eon-" "I won''t ask what the situation was back then or your reason to do nothing but, let''s settle the matter involving thisdy like this. I will provide you with any threeplex array creation and casting methods you want as long as it is within my abilities. I believe the president has already told you about the possibility of that elixir. And I know you will take it as your personal project and not as the headmaster so, how about I personally supply a few hundred elixirs of your choice to the academy? We can discuss the specificster. And on top of that, I will answer any one of your questions truthfully to the best of my abilities. This much is more than enough for all the little problems she has caused until now and after she joins me, you won''t have any reason to worry about her or the involvement of those little Reformation instigators with any of the academy''s affairs anymore. This is good enough, right, headmaster?" He was still smiling shamelessly after literally proposing a dirty deal of this level. And the headmaster¡­ "Of course, it is good enough~." Was obviously happy with this. "We can overlook this situation entirely and consider it your personal operation~. Let''s discuss the details on another date. For now, please proceed with that 9-star soul array that''s considered to be one of the thirty miraculous spiritual wonders~!" As the headmaster, he was sold out. But as the archmage Merlin, he still had many things to say. But he knew this was no ce or time to discuss that, and Eon was the same. So, he ended things at that for now. And Eon nodded¡­ He had to cast a veryplicated spell, one of the mostplex ones that he only had four copies of scripted in his mind. He would have to go into his mind''s tower, retrieve the spell, and cast it in the presence of all the materials and catalysts. So, he first brought out the things needed to cast the spell, which, obviously, surprised a breath out of the headmaster¡­ Chapter 565 A Father And A Daughter ? [OP: ] A golden flower shining with bright light, so warm it seemed like the gentle rays of the sun: the golden sunflower; a simple-looking rock that seemed to be cold from its icy blue color, but from close, it gave off an opposing, ghastly feeling: a spirit stone; a container with simple looking water inside it, but from a closer look, one could feel the strange holiness and spiritual energy contained within it: processed spiritual holy water. Coupled with these ingredients were countless hand-drawn talismans floating in a circle around Eon, and he was still, with his eyes closed as he focused inside of him. He walked through a dark path, passed through a bright light, ended up in a ce with two strange trees that seemed to create a gate, and walked straight in. Then, he ended up before a ce that resembled a tower that towered through the sky and without actually going inside, he directly teleported to a special ce, a giant library that was filled with countless books, and started walking toward a special door on one side of it. He opened the door, and the ce before him, the unique ce he ended up in, was filled with unique disys with very attractive-looking books. Some were singr, some of them seemed normal but had something very special about them, and some of them were so unique that they were one of a kind in this vast ce. But Eon walked toward the right side and stood before a shelf that contained four books with a celestial blue cover with many tiny stars and nine bigger stars that were arranged in a special arrangement. He sighed as he looked at these four books, and shifted his gaze slightly to the left as the image of a book with a yellow-orange color, chained by red chains with a magical spell ring circling around it fell on his eyes but¡­ he immediately shook his head. Picking up one of the four books before him, taking a deep breath, he opened it¡­ and at the same time he did that, in the outer world, a bright light erupted and engulfed the entire room, stealing even the attention of the brokendy that had been drowning in the darkness of her life. It was a bright light, however, itsted only for a moment, and that moment was enough for the headmaster that had seen countless unbelievable things throughout his long life, to be surprised once again at the specialness of this one boy that didn''t seem to get tired of surprising him. -Ooooooooong! The bright light subsided and the new scene unfolded. Eon stood before that empty wall with the talismans circling around him. There seemed to be strange lights resembling stars around his body too, and they were further illuminated by the white threads of Solnova circling around him, so this mystical scene made their hearts tter. The golden sunflower, the spirit stone, and the water that was also floating before him shined with the aura of the blue light that they all had just witnessed. They were the key ingredients and the preparations wereplete so, he called forth the sunflower with one hand and directed the talismans circling around him toward the wall before him, and started creating a new structure with them. The golden sunflower, glowing with the blue light, came before him, and its petals, the steam as well as the seeds separated from each other under the instructions of his hand movements. His blue eyes were glowing with a spatial blue light, and what he was doing, the strange preparation of his, seemed to be as if he was dedicating a prayer dance to a deity. The way the sunflower was separated, the way the spirit stone shattered into fine dust, the way the water that was used to cure fatally injured mixed with these two other elements and created a strange fluid that resembled the celestial light around him, the way he created aplex, grand array of eastern magical spell formation structure, with the nguage'' used in its creation being something the headmaster recognized as the ancient Quinxue texts, andstly how he used the end materials to illuminate the spell¡­ everything about this casting process was a dance in itself. Rein was warmly watching him, happy to see a rare sight like this one, and the headmaster was observing the process and how he actually created something of this scale this quickly. While the person in the room for whom this process was being done was¡­ strangely captivated by this scenery before her. However, the results of this would shock her the most. "Ohm nam Sam Tanjore tram¡­" Eon started reciting a strange chant and the array resembling a circr gate that he had created started glowing with the light that had been around him and the materials a moment before. "Tatak karim hoon¡­ wizard of Ernest winds, father of reformation instigator''s leader, the merchant of golden jewels." He opened his eyes again at the end of his chant and recited the titles that thisdy''s father was usually called by, and looked back at the one that was still on the ground behind him. "We request a meeting with the noble soul of Sir Notus Extengia. Your daughter has something to say, so we hope you answer our calling." The light around him as well as the light in his eyes vanished and only the light of gate like magic array remained after that. He had cast the array and his part was done, so now, it all depended on the soul in question if it wanted to materialize here or not. It was always up to them and this spell only worked as a gateway, but most of the time, if the intentions of calling upon them were just and pure, they dly epts this moment''s chance to see the mortal world again. However, it was also true that if they did not like this calling, they might even punish the one calling them, and if the creator of the gate isn''t strong enough to handle their wreaths, they might be put into very serious trouble. This was an array with its own good and bad sides and the people of the past knew about the degrading powers of mankind so for their safety, they themselves erased the method and process to create this grand array, only leaving behind hints for the future generations. But they did not have to worry about something like that happening here¡­ -Oooooooooong! He knew that person would ept this calling. After all, just like how a daughter desperately wanted to see her father, in thest moments of that dying father, the first thinging to his mind must have been the image of his young daughter. He must also have many things to say to her¡­ and the opportunity to do so would be nothing less than a blessing he receives in his afterlife. "Cheer up miss Monnem." The gate was glowing, and particles of light were starting to gather before it, joining together and taking a new form of their own. The soul had answered and the soul fragments that were scatted all around the world where his existence was known were gathering, giving him a form at this moment. And as she saw these particles move, as she saw them gather and form a familiar outline, her heart started beating faster with anticipation. She didn''t know what he did or she didn''t know if all of this was even real and not just some illusion, but she knew what she had longed for all this time was happening right now, she could feel it¡­ and as soon as the particles of light finished taking a humanoid form, her tears gave up and glistened down from her eyes. [ "Look at you, little Moonie. You are tall like this ipetent pappy." ] And when she heard those words, those words with that voice with those emotions behind them that no divine illusion magic in this world could create, shepletely broke down into tears, her face red, and her heart that had almost forgotten the necessary emotions needed to be a human was washed away with the new rain of forgotten good memories. [ "How are you, little one?" ] He had a pitiful, bitter expression as he looked at her current state, looked at this ce he was in and the people that were the reason he was able to meet her like this, and the scattered energies in this room that he can experience naturally. He could figure out a little bit of what was going on and guess a few things that must have happened after his departure, however, he was before the little love of his life right now. "Whhhhhhhhhhhh!" And the now adultdy, who was seeing her father after so long, instinctively stood up and ran toward him, crying like a little girl that was seeing her father after her first day of school. However, the poor father¡­ -Swish¡­ Even if he wanted to catch her with open arms, even if he wanted to hug her once again, even if he wished with all his remaining being that he could wipe those tears off her frail cheeks, he couldn''t do it. "Hunh?" He was just an animation of energy. He had no mass of his own, no body that could touch her like it so desperately wanted. "F-father¡­?" Thus, she just passed right through him like one passing through an illusion and realized again that, he was here right now, but he had truly passed away years ago. "WHHHHHHHHH!" And this fact, only made her cry louder¡­ Chapter 566 Last Memories ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Why didn''t I know you had spells like this one?" Rein asked with a yful warm smile as we sat down with the headmaster and looked at the father-daughter duo chat about their past and time after what happened after he was gone, with that unique smile. "You have someone you want to see again? I don''t think there should be anyone like that aside from those six important people from your past though. And we both know you aren''t ready to face any of them yet so, I had no reason to talk about it. And besides, you already had an idea I would have something like this, right?" Looking at her with a warm smile of my own, the loving expression of my lovely fianc¨¦e graced my eyes. "I did. But if we are talking about ideas, I have an idea that you will have most of the things one can think about or, at least, the way to get them. You are my dear soon-to-be husband after all. Of course, you can do amazing stuff like that." After saying all that with a cheerful but low voice, she kissed me on my right cheek, and of course, I returned the little kiss on her left one. "So Lucifer." And yes we knew the headmaster was right there, but he didn''t mind us. In fact, all his attention was focused on the magic array that was slowly losing its bright light. "How did you create the core of this spell? From what I can see, it''s a four-dimensional superstructure that shouldn''t be possible unless you use some kind of artifact that is capable of calctions like those. Even if you say you had scripted this spell in your mind with your special method, I don''t understand how you were able to do this with that weak physical body of yours." He was extremely curious about this magic array and this wasn''t his first question. There were many things about this spell that were intriguing to him, and he was asking me the things he doubted. ''And there''s no way I would tell him about Lucy so I had to eithere up with some excuses to not tell him or just tell him about the alternate method that I knew about.'' Just like right now. "I know I don''t have the physical capabilities to handle such processes yet but, if we do the same processes in the astral form and then encode the results directly into the mind like I do, we can most certainly solve many problems that are beyond our physical capabilities." It was a good possibility and technique that I actually use for many things however, it didn''t mean it was as easy as it sounded. "But that would require a mind like yours as well as the ability to do the astral projection. But still, this isn''t something you can make in a short time. How long can you stay in the astral realm again?" He looked at me for the first time in a while with a curious gaze, however, even I didn''t have the answer to his question. "I can actually stay there for quite a while but even I don''t know for how long now. I probably knew until some time ago but I believe my soul strength increased recently, so I don''t know for now." It wasn''t long ago that I opened my second blockage and gained new Solnova strengthening. And I didn''t have the chance to go wander around in the astral Realm to find my new limits. I had an idea how long it could be but, it would make the headmaster question many things about me so, I was better keeping it to myself. "Hmmm¡­ a sudden increase in soul strength, you say? The Monks that spend years meditating and self-exploring to increase the strength of their souls by even a fraction would want to bald their heads if they hear you say that. Haha, I still wonder though. What could be the reason behind such a strange power-up?" He looked at me with squinted eyes but I just shook my head and Rein gave him a look that screamed at him to just quiet down and leave us alone. "Fascinating¡­" And he actually just looked away from us and focused on the array that had be quite dim now. "Last three minutes, I guess?" But he still mumbled those words, and though the father seemed to have heard it but gave no reaction, thedy with him was definitely unaware of it. "You should finish soon sir." And I positively answered him indirectly while looking on the other side. And the father also answered indirectly while nodding at his little daughter''s words. This was their special conversation so we were staying out of it. And perhaps this could really be thest time he would meet her, so thesest moments were special for them. [ "Oh, right." ] But, as if to have remembered something, the father, Sir Notus looked in our direction and asked with a polite tone. [ "Would it be possible to share a fragment of memory with her?" ] He was asking me, but even though I was far younger than him, he was talking to me politely for some reason. However, what he was asking¡­ "If you are talking about directly sharing a fragment of memory with her, then I would have to serve as a link. It is possible, but considering how much my physical body can handle right now, the memory could only either be a few hours long or be a few hours long clips of many shorter moments." It would put a great stroll on my body though. ''Thankfully, we had Rein and the headmaster here so I won''t be in any great danger.'' So, I was just about to stand up and help him with that task but, Rein grabbed my hand. "It''s¡­ safe, right? You won''t be hurting yourself again with this, right? It hasn''t been long since that ident, and I know you still haven''t recovered fully yet¡­ you will be alright even if you do whatever this memory thing is¡­ right?" She was worried, and it hasn''t been that long since the ident during our entrance exam. She was worried something like that might happen again while I do the necessary things but, she didn''t have anything to worry about this time. "It''s alright. I will be alright so don''t worry." I patted her head, stood up, looked at her and gave her a forehead kiss, and walked toward the father-daughter duo. I knew she was still looking at me worriedly, but, it was alright. The thing that happened with Lizzy was a weird thing that wouldn''t happen again, so I knew I will be fine. But her words sure were surprising to the rest of the people present, and they could tell it was true so they were surprised why I was even helping this woman and going to such lengths anyway. ''Well, I would answer that she is worth these troubles, and even that would be an understatement.'' She was perfect for the role I wanted someone, so she was worth all these and much more. "Start whenever you are ready." Memory fragments were the memories of the things that had happened to the person in the past which could be rted to the present situation. There were different kinds of these fragments but, for someone who was already dead, there was only one kind of memory fragment, the one which contained his own memories of the past. [ "This would probably be thest gift from me, little one." ] She looked at him with a confused look. She didn''t know what he meant by those words, or what he was about to do, but, he then closed his eyes, stood up, and ced her hand above her head. -Oooooooooooong. I was the caster of the array so I was the link that was practically keeping him in this world. And as he was just a pocket of energy, for whatever he wanted to do, he would need a body that can channel the powers and handle the flow of his energy, and ultimately serve as the bridge. I was that bridge and he was gathering his own soul energy body to create the fragment I of memory. But the process was still straining my body. ''But¡­ it''s manageable.'' It was at least better than what I had experienced during the entrance exam so, I was fine. And the blood that I wanted to cough out was easy to swallow down. [ "I was a fool, I know that, but my little moon. I would still do what I did. Not to protect thend where I was born, not to protect the people that used to curse me and took advantage of me, but¡­ for the ce where I met your mother. For the ce that I wanted to turn into a ce where you could be happy. For you¡­ I would have done that again, though, probably with a little less foolishness." ] A golden crystal the same color as his soul materialized before his hand and slowly went into her head. She must have been confused by his words, she must have wanted to ask what he was talking about, but the rest of us knew his intentions. [ "We never had a chance to talk about her but, you had an amazing mom. And without her, I probably wouldn''t have been the person I was. But, remember this little moonie. She loved you unconditionally. And I was the same. We loved you, but she couldn''t apany us for longer and I left you because of my selfishness. I couldn''t be the father she wanted me to be, and now¡­ I couldn''t do anything about it. I''m not part of this world anymore, dear, but. You are still here. And though you seem to have made a few mistakes, they aren''t unforgivable like mine. You can start again, you can do better than this bad father of yours. You still have a good time ahead of you and¡­" ] The fragment-sharing process wasplete so I was looking up, and his eyes were on me. [ "I don''t know what your goals are, but, I feel she will be happy if she is with you. So, I selfishly ask you to look after her if you can. She doesn''t seem to know her own self very much yet, but I know she is a good child and a fast learner so if she wants to follow you, I hope you can teach her." ] His request wasn''t selfish when seen from a father''s perspective. If anything, he was asking it for the good of his child just like any parent would. And I obviously also wanted to do the same. So, I simply nodded at him with a little smile, and he understood my feelings. [ "So¡­ little moonie. I think this is where we part ways-" ] "No! Father!" His body was bing dimmer, so by the time she realized it, he was already going. [ "We love you, Monnem. So take better care of yourself from now on. And do what you want. There are few people in this world that can stop you if you really wish for something with your whole heart, so, just follow that heart. And live this precious life the way you want¡­" ] He had almost be transparent by the time she was back to her senses and had epted everything. [ "Goodbye, little love." ] And when the young, attractive person with special blue eyes like hers, and silver-gray hair like that of a dark storm, vanished from the room with the array that was on the wall, thedy before us, looked down and sorted out her mind, wiped all the tears from her eyes and face, and took a step closer to me. "I, Monnem Extengia, sware upon my origin, [Scred wind''s ward] to eternally follow you, my master, my savior, and my light." She was on her knees before me, her hand on her heart as a unique, dark blue wind rose from all around her. She had followed our deal and made the oath of origin. And now, she was connected with me by her origin. This was probably the moment we got our first official member of the [Lightshade]. The member that though had a long road ahead of them, would be a name that would rise in this world like a storm and obtain a position that will be our first line of defense before any threat. She was the [Bait] and this title didn''t refer to just the person that would be used as a literal bait, but also the person who would be the decoy if any threates to the [Lightshade]. She will hold some of the greatest responsibilities among us but, for now¡­ "Please take care of me." She was the wounded damsel that needed time and support from others to recoverpletely. "Of course." And we had to do all we can to do that. Chapter 567 Before A Weekend ? [Eon''s POV: ] [ "It''s my pleasure to finally meet the special guests of the great father. I hope our humble abode is to your liking." ] A few days have passed since the academy started and after that rollercoaster-like first day, many interesting, normal, and boring things happened. "Kyaaaaa~! So many cuties~!!" The sses were going fine now, and we had adjusted to them pretty well. The regr and personal sses both were going smoothly and aside from some little hups here and there, things were perfectly fine. "It is our pleasure to meet the great queen that keeps the garden of the academy alive. And please forgive the behavior of my fianc¨¦e but she fancies Kayrias dearly, and even wishes to have one as herpanion if possible. But I don''t believe it would be possible, am I right?" The house activities were going smoothly, we had set up the most ground-level stuff too, and the clubs and extracurricr activities had also started. [ "Oh? Your gorgeous mate fancies my little favorites?" ] Things were fine now, and after we cleared the reformation instigators, the atmosphere was only getting livelier and livelier among the other students. They were also getting adjusted just fine, but it was still early. So, there was no need to go into the academy stuff just yet. It was our first weekend and as I promised to Zoe and my dear Rein, we were going to the outskirts of the sky ind to see ournd tomorrow morning. It was going to be a fun trip but, before that, we were currently in the nest of the blue honeybees that homed the great ancient tree. And, we were standing before the queen herself so it was definitely a thrilling experience. ''And considering how she was one of the only few fully developed (Purple) ranked creatures with very high intelligence on this ind, it was natural to feel the awe just by being in her presence.'' "Yesssss~ ma''am! They are super! Duper! Cute~! I will take very good care of them and I only ask for one that wants toe with me of their own will. Pleaseeeeee~. I really promise they will be in my good care so there will be nothing for you to worry about. And, I will make sure this mate of mine fulfills any desire you have to the best of our abilities. Can I have one? Please?" She really wanted a Kayria. And considering they were actually cute looking, it was surprising how she was so attracted towards a rtively normal creature like them, but, it was better than asking for one of the solder bees. The students here would run away if they see them even from afar¡­ and they might also run away when they see the young Kyarias'' but, the immediate response from seeing a bigger creature would always be quicker than seeing a non-dangerous looking smaller one. ''The creepiness of the creature can be familiarised with the passing of time and sensory adaptation. So, it wouldn''t be a problem even if she has a little bee as her baby. That is, though, if she gets it right away.'' [ "Hahaha. You sure are a cute girl. However, it looks like you do not know the fact that all my children could not live away from me for long. They woulde back to the ce they were born, to the mother that raised them. They are connected to me from the moment theye to this world and see me. Thus, you cannot have any of my cuddlers here. Be it young or the older ones." ] The Cerulean apis are one of the species that are closely connected to their ''rulers'' or parents. And be it their kings or queens, they are inseparable from them from the moment they are born. I knew the fact that it wasn''t possible for her to have any of the bees present in this nest, in fact, none of the bees born in this family could even stay away from the nest and this tree for much longer. ''They are connected and very closely dependent on one another. They cannot survive outside of this particr environment they are born in, so it wasn''t possible even to forcefully take them away from here.'' They would die or go berserk and uncontrobly attack anyone that is around them if that happens. So, for them, the great tree and the queen were something they could never part way from. "¡­so, I can''t have them?" Rein looked at the queen, the humanoid creature with unique physical features but certainly a giant bee body, with an utterly gloomy and heartbroken expression. She wanted one of those cuties and this sudden negative news was surely surprising for her. She didn''t know that she could never have the ones present there and I had also told her that she would get one of her own bees, but not when or how she would get it. I knew she was cursing me right now, but if the queen said that we couldn''t have the ones already present there, it obviously didn''t mean we could also not have the ones that hadn''t been born yet. [ "Haha, of course, it doesn''t mean you couldn''t have any of them, little sister. It just means I can''t give you any of my children that have alreadye into this world. I believe someone like you will understand how difficult it would be for a mother to part ways with her children, be it any normal or special one of her babies. She cannot do it, but, if I know for sure my children will be in safe and capable hands such as yours, you could certainly have one of my unborns and raise it as your own. If the one being born is a cuddler, then it''s your fortune, and if they are someone meant to be for a diffident service, then that is it. Depending on the will of this world, I might hand over more of my unborns to you, but depending on the will of this world and our lord father, you might also have to hand over the child that you will raise. Are you ready for such responsibility?" ] She was using Mana speech but her voice contained the power of her authority. The emotions behind those words were as clearlymunicated to us as it did with the two of us and our family. It was the uniqueness of her mere words, which genuinely reflected the unbound powers she possessed. "Yes, I am ready." But Rein was firm with her decision. She grabbed my hand and looked straight into the eyes of the queen, showing her confidence and determination. Raising a child was a difficult task, she knew that, but she wasn''t afraid of it anymore. With that ring on her finger, she was afraid of no factor other than the ones harmful to me, and us. "I also believe she is ready for that responsibility." And I vouched for her undoubtedly. She was ready for responsibilities like these, we were ready for greater responsibilities that we would have to look after as we go forward. But, we knew, there was nothing for us to worry about anymore. [ "Hahaha." ] And the queenughed at our behavior. We were looking straight into her eyes fearlessly, and considering her appearance couldn''t be called attractive for a long shot from the human point of view, we were obviously the unique ones in her eyes. [ "I love the look in your eyes, dear guests. I almost get the feeling that you are already ready for your own children. It sure is funny, but I understand. When spring graces us and the new flowers bloom, the new eggs will beid, so, wait until then. And prepare for your baby." ] It was early winter right now so she was telling us to wait for nearly three months, just what I had expected. "Yes¡­" "Yes, your majesty. We understand." Rein was a bit down by the sudden news that she would have to wait for so long but there was a warm smile on her face as she thought weird things after hearing the queen''s words. I was happy we were done talking about this secondary thing so quickly. [ "Alright then, so shall we move on to the first main topic of today''s discussion?" ] And also that we would be finally moving to the main topic of today, which was rted to¡­ [ "Ivy. Come forward and state your case." ] The flower that we drugged a few days ago and her master that strangely took a deep interest in my Drop of natural recovery fertilizer and had been constantly hindering me to give her some of it even though I clearly refused many times. ''We didn''t check it at that time, but that thing does many things to the nt-based creatures.'' And considering the one pressing me to hand over my precious fertilizer was a being too closely rted to the nts, mainly forest, and nature, I knew there could be more difficulties than a sudden increase in the creature''s strength, physical changes, and slight permanent impact on their personalities. [ "I present myself to you, queen of the illustrious maintainers of thisnd." ] And when she materialized in this nest located very high on the great ancient tree and bowed to her majesty with that same smile that she always had when asking me for the weed-, for the fertilizer, I couldn''t help but sigh internally. [ "It is my honor to see you two here too~." ] She was a Druid, a being closely rted to nature, and yes she was very pretty by her human appearance but¡­ that was the very reason Rein didn''t like her or that seductive pretty smile of hers. Chapter 568 A Trivial Request ? [OP: ] "It is nice to meet you again too,dy Ivy. I believe you have been well?" Eon rarely ever had an annoyed expression but right now, he was annoyed at her smile, and Rein was squeezing his hand so tightly that he knew it was going to get crushed soon. He might be annoyed at the presence of this person but, it was only because of the happenings of the past few days and how she practically invaded most of their private moments and asked for his weed-, that fertilizer. She was a Druid, a creature that can travel through all the nts present within their territory. The two couldn''t have anyfortable lone time with her interference and she just feigned ignorance when she appeared out of nowhere just when they were getting cozy. ''And thankfully she didn''t approach us when we were inside the academy, or else I would really have had to take serious actions.'' Eon was at least relieved thanks to this. She didn''t leave them even when they were in their own dorm house, so she was obviously being a little too much. And the queen knew of this fact already, so this was the first matter they had to resolve right now. [ "Ivy. Why are you so interested in that substance that you would even hinder them when they are going to sleep? I know you too well to wrap my head around this indecent behavior of yours." ] They were in the nest of the blue bees, the somewhat mascots of the grand academy of Hope, and, this ce was no less than a castle of its own. Though not as grand as the academy castle, this ce was as big as somerge estates or smaller castles, which definitely was a grand size for a honeybee nest. But it was a much more amazing ce from the inside and the grand chamber of the queen they were in was also a phenomenal ce. And they were before the queen, the ruler of the garden of this academy, a creature with so great powers that even Eon couldn''t see her screen without her knowing. She was a unique creature and even a Druid like thisdy was nothing more than a child before her. [ "Pardon me for my poor use ofnguage, my queen, but the reason for my unsightly behavior is only the freakin amazing smell of that substance and the fucked up effects it had on one of my attendants. She practically became an entirely new person one day, and though the creatures that usually apanies her said there were no great incidents aside from these two giving her a strange-looking drug that she took with her won will, a desperately mesmerized will, which must have caused her to be like that. However, the changes were too drastic, and though not in any negative way, they did affect her whole persona so any Druid like myself would be curious about such a potent yet natural substance that could cause such drastic yet mostly plosive changes. I have a trivial request for them, my queen. A trivial request. I just want a little of that substance and I-" ] "I can''t do it." Eon cut her off mid-sentence and looked directly at her in the eye. "I know you are curious, but I cannot give you my fertilizer." She was surprised how he just outright denied her even before she had finished her statement. And even the queen was a little surprised but at his reaction, and the look in his eyes, a smile was painted on her face. [ "But, I''m just asking for a little bit of it. Not much, even less than the amount you gave to my little attendant." ] She was a Druid and in her entire life, she had never begged for something like this. And it was also the first time in her life that she was so sternly denied like this. Usually, it should have made her angry too, but she wasn''t angry. In fact, for some reason, she couldn''t be angry before him even if she wanted to. He had something special about him, something more special than his partner, but however hard she tried, she couldn''t pinpoint what that strange thing was. "I can''t,dy Ivy, please try to understand. It is not something that should be shared with anyone, and I know you will know theponents of that mixture just with a little fraction of it. It was a mistake from my side that I gave your attendant that thing but in that moment, there was a member of my house being practically assaulted by her and the creatures with her. My house member made a mistake, I acknowledge that, and he was punished so I never asked forpensation from you but, at that moment, to save him, I had no choice but to do something. I didn''t know the effects of my fertilizer on the nt-based creatures then, but I know now. I did some tests and reached the conclusion that that thing is definitely not safe for nt-based creatures and it can be more of a poison than a simple hallucinogen. It was fortunate that I only gave your attendant a very small dose of it and she still went through the initial phase of that drug''s effects. If she had taken even a few milligrams more, then not only would she have died, but she would practically have turned into a dangerous carnivore, had gone berserk, and could have been a threat to not just us and the garden but also the students and the academy. I''m not ready to take such risks again, and besides, my partner has a very strong oppressive reaction to that substance so I can not give it to you or any other soul even if I wanted to." His voice was strong and stern. And he meant those words with his whole heart. Even if he put everything aside, if his won fertilizer fell into the wrong hands, it could be used against her. And even though he had done his best to help her build tolerance against it and anything simr to it, he couldn''t take any risks. His behavior right now was surprising to them both, but to Rein, this was pretty familiar. If anything, they were before the queen so he was behaving well, and if this was some other ce, she knew stuff would have happened and this matter that could be solved with peaceful means would have been stained with bitterness. [ "The boy has a solid reason and will to back up his decision, little Ivy. So, I won''t be forcing him. If anything, I think you should be punished for letting your subordinate hurt a student of this academy. Have you apologized to him yet?" ] The queen had a human like face but big eyes like the bees, and it was still pretty easy to tell she was upset right now. The way she looked at the Druid was definitely not just some simple gaze. She was looking at her with her authority concentrated on her, and she defiantly was striking, so, it was easy to tell just how great pressure she must be feeling from her. But, the Druid maintained her form and expression and simply bowed to her. [ "It is my inability that I failed to properly teach a subordinate, my queen. I have made a mistake and I apologize to both of our guests for my actions. I knew the incident that happened back then but not the fact that she had hurt a student. I ask you to please forgive me. I wille to that boy when he is in the right environment and apologize too. And please also pardon me for hampering you. I won''t be asking for the fertilizer anymore, so please overlook mine and my subordinate''s insolence." ] She was saying that with a normal voice but both of them could feel that even someone like her wasn''t strong enough to stand against the queen properly. "As long as you know your mistakes¡­" Eon didn''t actually have a grudge against her or anything like that. She had just annoyed him too much to earn those previous reactions from him. A grudge from Eon and Rein would be thest thing anyone in the world would want to have, but there is still a while before someone who can actually earn their grudge appears. [ "They forgive you but the matter that you, someone that oversees one of therger parts with most of our flowers made a mistake like this doesn''t sit well with me. Your subordinate''s mistake is your mistake. And you have to take the punishment." ] The queen was strict with all four of her overseers and they knew this fact quite well. A mistake is punished, and the intensity of any punishment depends on the seriousness of the mistake. And her mistake, her attendant''s mistake, was obviously no small thing even if she had a very solid reason to impulsively act like that. [ "I will dly ept the punishment." ] Her voice sounded better than before so it was possible that the pressure that was so concentrated even the two of them couldn''t exactly feel it must have lifted from her. Eon and Rein didn''t mind her punishment in the slightest. Rein even wanted her to be punished. As severely as possible at that. She was totally angry at how she even popped up in their bathrooms twice and how she tried using her to persuade Eon. She liked her before but not so much anymore. So, this punishment was definitely what she deserved. [ "Alright then. Your supply of nectar, ashes, and carcasses will be halved for a month. Maintain the quality of the garden and greenhouse however you can." ] [ "¡­?! My queen-" ] [ "It is a punishment. And I have said it already." ] The punishment was too severe. Not having the materials she had just spoken of meant not having enough nutrients to maintain many of the unique nts. She would have to use her power constantly if she were to maintain them and keep them safe for an entire month without those necessary supplies. It would use up a great amount of her energy and she would weaken a lot after this punishment. But¡­ she had no say in this. Even if her life is in danger, this was a punishment and she will have to see it through. [ "Yes¡­ my queen." ] The queen was strict. She was looking at her with a disappointed gaze. But there was a smile on her face as she thought about everything that was hoping on right now. [ "You are dismissed then." ] She waved one of her hands and the druid, after looking at her with a little bit of hesitation and looking at the two of them with a little bit of reluctance, bowed to her queen and vanished in a nearby flowerpot just like she hade here. Their first matter had ended and how the queen was even more interested in these two people. [ "Alright then. Let''s move on to the next topic." ] "Yes, your majesty." She was smiling at them, particrly at him. Their first matter had ended and now, it was time for the main thing he was here. And she had a little idea what it might be, but she was still looking forward to how he persuaded her to give up on it. "I have a trivial request, your majesty." However, even though her guess was right and his end goal was actually ''that'', who started negotiations for something they didn''t need for the next three years even while knowing it would bear no fruits? Instead¡­ "Just a trivial request." He was ready to spend those three years getting so close to her that she would happily hand over her most prized possession even without him asking for it specifically. That was how he was gonna y against someone that had lived as long as their headmaster. And he was confident and what he had nned¡­ [[ "Bastard." ]] Chapter 569 A night with Moon Chapter 569 A night with Moon [OP: ] "If you can, your majesty, I request you to restrict the entrance of any creature or person in the northwestern outskirts area for tomorrow." His request was simple and he was smiling humbly, however his request, though surprising, picked up the interest of the queen. { "You mean the territory of Chise, right? I did hear that Lin sold that ce to some capable people, but to think it was the honored guests of the great father? What a surprise indeed." } She really was surprised. The Chise person, or more appropriately ''being'', she was talking about was also a queen like her, and also a (Purple) ranked creature that ruled the northern and western outskirts of this grand ind. There had been many talks about the mingo queen among adventurers, however, not many had ever seen that creature. But, as a queen, she surely knew the existence of a being of the same or maybe greater power than hers. The rainbow mingo queen was even older than her, after all. And though they had met only on certain asions and did not have any deeper rtionship, she knew if this person was going to im a part of the territory of that olddy, then he would surely have something up his sleeves. "It is nothing great, your majesty. I only wish to build a home there, and the queen of northwestern skies would surely not mind some little human like us, right?" He was speaking politely and one can feel theck of hesitation or fear in that voice. And his smile added more vor to his words. { "Hahaha. You sure know how to speak, young one. Alright, there''s no harm blocking the people and creatures there, not like you will be meeting with the old queen anyways. That shall not be of any concern, so, what else do you want?" } Her question was aimed at the ''thing'' that anyone who understood the value of standing before her like this could understand. If a smart person like him was here, one that knew so much about their kind that he even gifted her their most treasured flower and its seeds, then he would also know what the greatest thing one can ask from a queen like her was. "Nothing, your majesty. That is all I ask, for now." But he only smiled again and bowed before her. And¡­ this much was enough for her to understand this smart bastard knew the meaning and the consequences of being too straightforward about that thing. { "Alright then. Would you two like to join me for a meal? We can have a good talk over there." } And at her invitation, a unique smile appeared on Eon''s face that only Rein knew the meaning of. A meal was something that could bring people close, too close in some cases but this one wasn''t going to be one of them or, it could break people apart, and this one also not going to be one of them. It would be a healthy meal where her darling Eon would present some of his own delicacies that he specially prepared for the queen, and then, well, the story will roll as it should. There was not much left to see here. They were going to dine, chat about the seeds Eon gifted her, talk about the bees and how he had such deep knowledge about her kind, and then¡­ they would go home. So, let''s go home too. *** -Swish. The ind of magic''s wealth was a vast structure suspended very high in the sky. -Ooooooong! Home to many magicians, and important people that wants to live freely without belonging anywhere, as well as a central educational organization, the grand academy of Hope. But, aside from them, this ce also had many houses, residencies, and mansions of important and rich nobles from all over the world. -Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. One such resident was of the Heliox family, situated not far from the academy but also not near the big ces like the Adventurer''s Association or the magic towers. -Oooooooong-Pam! Pam! Pam! And at this nighttime, just as every day, there were noises of spells being materialized and swords shing them, or other swords, or the air, or sometimes also intruders. But there were no intruders there today. Only Ca and Alf were practicing like always. She was shing his spells with her special sword without using Aura and just by the sheer strength of her swings she produced enough energy to destroy the core of his spells. The sword in her hand, the unique longsword that she got from her dear little brother, had the power to cut spells, an anti-magic sword. It was an amazing weapon but she mostly only used it to increase her understanding of magic and how she can deal with strong magicians when she couldn''t use any kind of weapon or her Aura. It was their special training and Alf was learning how to fight against an opponent that can cut his spells like this. They were doing their routine thing, and watching them from a window of the house, ady in a maid outfit, with ck hair and blue eyes covered by sses, an attractive face, but frail-looking physique, couldn''t help her admiration. "If these two practices like this, how do the master and hisdy do this thing called ''training''? And if this is training, how do they even do the thing Lady Zoe calls their amazing ''duels''?" She was asking questions, she was new in this ce, in this family, so her curiosity and surprise were obvious to her current mentor. "They are naturally amazing. Their training, their duels, even the way they do the special personal sses among each other and teach others what they can do the best. Just seeing them reminds me how old I have be." An old voice, but without any hint of the weakness of old age. "You will get the chance to see that soon too, I guess?" He was also looking out of the window, a smile on his normal face, his dark blue eyes shining under the moonlight as he nodded at the Moon beside him. "I''m looking forward to it." She smiled. The new maid of Heliox, and their master Eon''s first direct aid, smiled excitedly as she thought about the moment she will be able to actually witness the power of the people that defeated her without using probably even half of their power. "You should look forward to it. You won''t be the only one to see them practice or duel for the first time when we go back to the ground." He was smiling, but as always, he admired his master Eon as much as his own master. He was the only person he knew that had survived and came back from a forbidden area, with new strength, new secrets, and new wounds. The head butler, the right-hand man of knight king Sir Golden And he also knew that he already knew about this ''wish'' of his. But, his old and experienced self knew the young person already had hammer, already knew his master Eon had what he required to fulfill his wish. And he also knew that he already knew about this ''wish'' of his. But, his old and experienced self knew the young person already had many other wishes to grant and prepare for something so grand that even he couldn''t fathom it. So, he was in no hurry. Despite his increasing age, he still had a happy long time ahead of him. "Sir Zhen? Lady Uriel, I understand she is a witch and far older than her look, but why do I feel like even master is far older than how he looks?" Her eyes were still stuck on the two that practiced with their magic and sword, there was also another young person practicing his rapier on the other side of their garden, but he wasn''t doing anything there, at least, she can''t see him lift his sword so, from her point of view, he was just doing form and breathing training today, just like every other day she had seen him. Her Lady Zoe was probably the most normal of the bunch, and she must be in her room doing her homework so from her perspective, she was the most normal person here¡­ which will change tomorrow when they go to the outskirts for ''site seeing''. "Master Eon has always been that way. Far mature for his age, possessing understanding like no other child. Well, young master Alfred and youngdy Ca are prodigies of their field, world-renowned for what they do from a young age, however, master Eon has always been different. He awakened his Mana nucleons when he was very young and started practicing archery around that same time. And-" "Wait! Archery? He''s professionally an archer too?" This was probably her first time hearing this from him. She had heard rumors that he used a bow but even after witnessing all his magical abilities, she hadn''t seen him use any weapons so this came as a little surprise. "You never knew? Well¡­ that''s expected. It hasn''t even been two days since you have recovered. Well, you will learn new things with time. So don''t worry about things too much if you do not know about them. Just ask right away like right now. But, yes. He''s an archer. A magic archer, more precisely. And, he''s some of the best I have ever seen, some of the best even sir Merlin and my master have evere across. But that isn''t all. He is a chef acknowledged by her majesty, Madeline. He''s a magic engineer, anguage and ruin master, a potion expert, a master enchanter, an unparalleled businessman, and much more. Miss Moon. He''s special. You will find out more since you will be by his side personally." He smiled at her with warmth, confidence, and admiration behind it. And even though she could clearly see it, it only made her more curious about something. "I already know that he''s special¡­ but, what could be the reason he saved someone like me? What is it that I don''t know about myself?" She looked straight into his dark blue eyes, and the old grandpa with white hair covered his smile as if her question was funny. "You are special too, Miss Moon. He must have seen it as soon as he saw you, just like he always does." He shook his head and sighed while looking at her with a smile. He had lived a long enough life to meet multiple people that didn''t know about their own talents, their own great potentials, the unknown powers that someone like him could see even without skills like his master''s. His young masters were different in that aspect, even his master Eon was different in that aspect. They all knew the things they were good at, though their little Cherry was different. He was a normal child that didn''t know about his skills and strengths, but thanks to his master Eon, he also learned about those powers rtively early. He was young, on the other hand, many people be as old as him or even die of old age without finding that one gift that they were born with. Thedy before him was the same. She was old. She had figured out some of her strengths and had developed them with hard work. But, she still didn''t know about the powers she was born with, the powers that few in the entire world possessed. The powers that made them different from any other normal mortal. The power that even he was seeing after decades. "Haaa¡­" He sighed again as he looked at her, at her curious face, and remembered the dumb young boy that wasted his own precious life for a worthless person like him. "So Miss Moon. How much do you know about a [Magus]?" He was smiling at her warmly, but his question had already created a storm in her eyes, mind, and heart¡­ Chapter 570 Morning meet-up Chapter 570 Morning meet-up [Eon''s POV: ] "Hello, master." "Sister Elle~. Big brother~. You two look good~!" "You too Zoe. You look gorgeous in that light blue." The meeting point for today was a certain cafe near the gate to the outskirts. And Zoe was with Monnem alone, in the disguise that she usually uses when going out. But she sure looked good in this outfit. "How have you been?" I patted her head, her pretty brown hair, with a smile and she chuckled like usual. "Hehe, I''m fine~. The academy''s very fun~." She was liking it here. So, what else can I ask for? "That''s good to hear. And Monnem? Are you getting familiar with the things over there? We have a few things to finish in the academy before we start your ''real'' training so you will have to wait until then." She at least looked better now. Herplexion was better and the effects of all the impurities in her body from the preparation of that rituals seemed to have cleaned up as well. This was good, and I believe Grandpa Zhen must have already told her about herself so it was even better. "Yes, master. The people there are nice. Very nice actually. Sir Zhen is very helpful and young master Alfred and young Lady Ca are fun people too. It is nothing like the usual noble family residents I have been to. There''s¡­ joy and radiance. I like it here." The look and smile she had were proof enough that she meant her words. Which was nice too. "So little Zoe. Excited to see those pretty birds~?" Rein asked with an excited smile, and I gave her a quick nce which clearly warned her that we weren''t going there to kill those creatures and only for the site seeing. "I know, darling. But we don''t know what will happen, right?" She was smirking and it only meant she was actually looking forward to¡­ "Hehe, no sister Elle. We can''t do it. They are rare and protected creatures, right? Their family will be upset if they leave them. And besides~. They wouldn''t do us anything if I''m there anyway~." Zoe was smiling, and her words were enough to remind my dear fianc¨¦e why I was so fearless about going into the middle of an omnivore bird territory with thousands or probably tens of thousands of (Yellow) to (Indigo) ranked creatures. "Right¡­ but still~. Who knows? We might have to~." She was looking forward to something going wrong. She wanted something to go wrong just a little so that she can have some fun in that ce. Bad girl¡­ "Rein." I looked at her, in the eye, and she looked back, still smiling. And she continued smiling even though I asked her the reason for that not-so-safe smile with my eyebrows. But she just shook her head in a cheerful mood. "Celes." I knew her well enough to understand she wouldn''t engage in a frontal confrontation that would be to her disadvantage. She liked fighting and winning but not engaging in an obviously dangerous situation. So, if she was happy like this¡­ [{ Yes master~. Sister Elle''s probably happy because of this. There weren''t many a while back but now they have flooded the ces we would be passing through. }] She showed me the current footage of areas swarming with giant ants. And many of these ants were fighting with big blue honeybees. "Right. The northwestern ants. They must have sensed the presence of the bees and came out thinking there would be good food." But, why were they fighting? These ants only collected corpses of dead creatures and were mostly peaceful. They didn''t usually fight with other creatures and minded their own business. But it wasn''t like they couldn''t fight the other creatures. ''After the blue bees of the academy, the rainbow mingoes of the northwestern skies, they were one of the spices on this ind that were under a powerful, intelligent queen. And no. I wasn''t talking about the ent''s ent queen.'' The third main queen of the ind of magic''s wealth, the one that controlled the entire northwestern outer area of the outskirts, a major part of the undergrounds of the higher districts on the east of the ind where significant traffic flows, and also some of the central underground parts of it. Queen of undergrounds and scavengers, the [Green marite]. ''A unique being that would have been nothing more than a normal fungus of nearly no intelligence but, it was born directly from nature, like Celes, Branwen, Harry, and Fran. So, she was special. And under certain conditions, also the most powerful of all three great queens.'' But she didn''t have anything to do with the bees and ants at this kind of time. Winter was here so she must be on her way to hibernation already. This wasn''t an incident that would have her involvement so, the strange behaviors of ants, the way they had swarmed those areas, and how they were fighting the bees that blocked any creature from entering the ce that I asked their queen to secure, surely was a newfound mystery to me. "Reinelle." But from that smile, I could tell this was surely no mystery to her. And all this had happened after we left home toe here, so she also wasn''t the one behind any of this, hopefully. "I didn''t do anything, darling." That was true and a little relief for me. But, I was still looking her in the eye. She also knew this wasn''t the answer I was looking for. It was simple to tell that if she didn''t do it, she at least knew how this mess happened. But she didn''t answer, and continued looking back into my eyes¡­ and we stayed like that for a dangerously long time, and, as I knew, she leaned in for a kiss. "No.'' But I moved my head aside, three times eventually, and avoided her kiss. I wanted an answer, she knew that, so she had to answer first. "Ugh! Stay still." "Rein." She wasn''t getting this kiss until I knew the culprit. Fighting those ants would be fun for her but I didn''t ask the queen specifically to clear that area toe out here for fighting. We were going to talk with the oldest queen, the oldest known being on this ind, so I wanted peace. But the ants on our path were definitely a no-no. "Tsk. Alright, alright. It was Titania. Specifically, her hungry familiar. It ran wild in the search for breakfast this morning, killed anything it saw, and just left the carcasses there. It was back when you asked Celes to keep a close look at the assignment targets and she went to check up on it. Branwen was roaming and he saw it so I saw it too. And so did the ants. They came, and just then, the bees arrived as well. There was no sh by that time but then the ants suddenly became suspiciously angry. it is because their pheromoneworks got smashed by the power of her familiar." I don''t know the reason they are acting like this but most probably it is because their pheromoneworks got smashed by the power of her familiar." -Smooooch. So, she got her kiss after saying all that so fast that someone might have missed most of it. But the two people here were more than good enough toprehend this little thing. "Haaa¡­" But it was still the same bad as before. And Rein was smiling still. Excited to have some fun with not colorful mingoes, but ugly red ants. "Ummm¡­" Monnem was confused, we can tell from her look, but she was smart enough to understand what was going on, so she didn''t ask anything about the situation. "Will you be fighting? I mean with a bow?" But she still asked one unrted to the actual matter. And I answered with a simple sideway nod. "Nope. I won''t. But she will though. And with her weapon too, so look forward to it." Rein had gotten stronger with her magic and far more with her scythe. She can handle her EFMW as her main weapon now too, but she was still unsure if she could call it her partner weapon. "Hmm? What''s up?" She suddenly seemed confused when I answered her question, and I was smiling so I didn''t think there would be anything confusing about my answer. "Lady Reinelle uses a weapon too?" ''Right¡­ she doesn''t know.'' Miss Moon was still new among us so she didn''t know many things. And from the look of it, grandpa zhen must have forgotten to tell her Rein is a magic scythesman. ''But perhaps it is for the better.'' Looking at her with a smile, and looking at Rein''s still excited smile, I shook my head at my little sister that already knew everything that would happen once we were out on the field. "Yes, she does. So, look forward to it." Monnem was in for a lot of surprises today. And maybe she will learn a lot of new things about this ce, this world, and about herself too. So, she had to be prepared to take in everything she could. And she was smart already, so a special chocte drink should be pretty enough for her, I think? "Take up the orders please." "Coming right up, master." The person behind the counter was the only one in this cafe aside from us. And he had a smile stuck on his face. This was my ce, my first ce, and thoughpletely barren for now¡­ it will certainly be a good ce for open meetings in the near future. Chapter 571 Antxercise Chapter 571 Antxercise [OP: ] The party finished their breakfast and went straight to the gate leading to the outskirts of the sky ind. And, it was a very dangerous ce already, only avable through special means so, mostly, normal people couldn''t go to that area. But, the four of them were obviously no normal people. Eon and Rein had their adventurer''s license, Moon had her own unique identification that granted her entry to many restricted areas of the magic ind, and Zoe, well, she also had something her moms prepared for her so she was fine too. Thus, they all exited the safe area of the sky ind and entered the unknown territory ruled by ferocious beasts, magical phenomena, and the strength of nature. Yes, it was a rule that only the strong survived here but, if something was special in itself, had a close connection to nature, and could contribute to the ecosystem of the different areas of the outskirts, they had a better chance to survive than the normal strong beasts. As the name suggested, this was the border territory of the ind, that covered all the back side area starting from northwest to the northeast region. One can even think of it as the part of thend on the back side of the habited area of the sky ind. However, though it was called the border area or outskirts as most residents of the ind preferred to call it, this wasn''t some barren ce with sand dunes or lifeless mountain ins. This was a unique ce just like the magic ind, and depending on the area we were talking about, it had its own unique ecosystem, different biomes, and soil types. The ind of magic''s wealth was a special ce, so just as its name suggested, the entire ind was a magical ce full of wonders, mysteries, and secrets. But¡­ all that aside. "Hehehe- hahaha~!" Rein was having fun right now. Delightful fun. -Swish! Swish! Swish! They were on their way to area #69MF, the ce that now entirely belonged to Eon on paper, but while on their path, this was their first encounter with the bunch of red ants that had suddenly gone crazy. Eon was still figuring out the reason but he had a few things in mind that could be the reason for something this strange. Well, he knew he will get his answers once he reaches there so he wasn''t worried. He was just sitting back with his little sister under the shade of a fine blue coconut tree, observing his fianc¨¦e having fun with the ants with a warm smile. "Sister Elle~. Watch out on your left~." -Booooooom! She didn''t get the chance to go wild like this when they were in the academy and it had been over a week since their entrance exam so she sure was having fun running wild like that. And since she was using her weapon, her ancient EFMW Nept, she was especially having a joyous time with those (Orange) ranked creatures. "Hmmm-umhu-uhmmm~." She was humming as she swung the scythe that seemed to be made out of the water, however, this water was so sharp, so powerful, and dangerous that the exoskeleton of the creatures that not even some (Level-6) artifacts could put a scratch on, was being cut down like butter by a hot knife. There were nearly thirty of them, and though she could finish all of them with a single move, she wasn''t doing such a boring thing. She had so many punching bags before her so there was no need to kill them directly. She cut their limbs, waited till they were almost on the verge of death, and just when they were about to pass out, she gave them an even more painful end. She was having fun with them. They were like exercise. And they were ants so this was antxercise. She jumped, danced, moved on their heads, and considering these ents were creatures a little bigger than her in height, and even bigger in volume, they were certainly good short-time ymates. And, these ants were pretty good when it came to teamwork. They were using good strategies to avoid her, making openings to escape from this ce, and even trying to do sneak attacks like right now where one ant attacked her while leaping up from under the ground. They were pretty good even though they were under the effects of a strange substance that made them more aggressive than they usually are. They were peaceful creatures that didn''t mind it even if other creatures got too close to them or even interacted with them. They would curiously try to learn from someone that gets too close to them, which made them pretty good research subjects for many of their academic subjects. Rein and Zoe would have a little trip to a ce with their energy beast research ss that ran solely on the physicalbor of these ants, but that would be after their midsams. So, for now, Rein was having fun with them. And though they were strong and smart and all, they were still nowhere near enough to even alert her keen senses. "She will be done soon so, let''s go." His eyes were still stuck on her, observing her every move, at every angle, with every measurement. He didn''t praise her enough but whenever he looked closely at her like this, he couldn''t help but admire the perfect piece of art she was. "What are you looking at, big brother~?" But perhaps he looked too long and too obviously that not only did Zoe notice it, but the person in question also looked back and winked mischievously at him. "I''m just admiring art little one. Art that belongs to me." He was smiling, but then he just shook his head with that same smile and stood up while sighing. "Hehe, help me~." Zoe knew the meaning behind that smile very well. Their moms and grandmas would know too if they were here, probably the males too but it wasn''t certain for them, except for his grandpa. He would know and even rte to his feelings. "Of course mydy." He helped her get up gracefully and looked at the other person with them with a new smile. "She''s amazing, right?" Monnem, or as they called her, Miss Moon. She was shocked when she looked at the new sight before her that she had never thought she would witness. Not at least as the representative of Atraxia, the nobledy of the prestigious house, being in the center of it. From her intel, all she knew about the representative of Atraxia was that she held a central role in the family. There was no great information on her or what talents or powers she possessed. All everyone knew about her were her fascinatingly graceful abilities to handle herself in the noble world, the way she clearly presented herself to the public, and the way she dealt with any and all official stuff behind the doors. Those who knew her a little closely knew her prowess in handling any problem, especially ones rted to humans, and many even feared how she openly executed her authority over the masses present behind those closed doors. She was, in a way, terrifying. And, she was, in a way, the most elegant young person in the current noble society. But that was it. That was all known to the public or low or higher upper ss. None had ever heard if she was a mage or a weapon weirder or something other than the representative of her household. But now that she was seeing it with her own eyes, she understood how this person who had lived for far more than her, was a stark contradiction from her public image. Not only she was a very strong mage like her grandmother, but she was also a scythe wielder like her grandfather, and a damn good one at that. Miss Moon herself was no professional of weapons but she had seen her fair share of experts during her time of wandering. And, from all that experience, she could tell this person, this nobledy that had a very crazy side to her, was a better weapon wilder than any of those masters or young prodigies, or maybe even some of the fake famous heroes. Her control was unbelievably exceptional. And her sheer raw strength¡­ "She''s awesome¡­" Just this little antxercise, a fun activity from her side, was enough to mesmerize her. So she couldn''t even fathom how much more she had yet to see from her. And, if this was her, she couldn''t even imagine how much more she had to see from him. "Master." But now that they were on this topic and the moment was perfectly right¡­ "Can I see your archery?" She couldn''t help her request and bubbling curiosity that she thought she had lost long ago. "Of course." And they still had many ant blockages ahead of them, so it wasn''t a bad idea to show their core member what he was capable of. "Look forward to it Miss Moon~." And, if even Zoe asked her to look forward to it, how can she help this elerating excitement of hers?" But... "Oh, right. I remembered something." Rein suddenly spoke up when she appeared before them after collecting her loot and obviously not finding any core or spell stones like usual. And, at the same time, at the end of their path, many red eyes glowed bloody after hearing about the approaching individuals from the forever passing winds¡­ Chapter 572 A strange bird Chapter 572 A strange bird [OP: ] Standing in a pretty open area in the outskirts, Eon prepared his bow and some normal arrows. Some distance away from them, well, actually, far away from them, was a group of twenty ants operating on a dead body of a giant wolf-like creature. They seemed to be cutting it in pieces to take it with them since the creature was far bigger than them, but, they were only clearly visible to Eon''s eyes. Rein could see them but not very clearly, and Zoe wasn''t looking at them otherwise she could have been able to see them clearly too. However, Miss Moon had no idea where her master was aiming. Rein did tell her that there were ants ahead of them, but even in this clear in, there was nothing as far as her eyes could see. However, she didn''t doubt them. At least for now, she just followed their eyes and looked in the same direction as them. "Do you know how to use the basic (Farsight) spell, Moon?" But, she was the one who asked him to show her his archery. It wasn''t good that she couldn''t see it herself. "I obviously do¡­? Why?" His question was strange, like, she was a (tier-5) wind-water elemental mage, so she obviously knew most of themon basic (tier-0) spells. "Good. Then cast (Farsight), (Water mirror), (Light refraction), and (Vacume) precisely before your eyes." He suggested that with a pretty normal tone but, from what instructions he gave her, she could tell what he was trying to do. "We can''t get a telescopic vision like you with simple spells like them master. We would at least need stronger spells or ones-" "No." Eon sternly shook his head. "You don''t need strong orplicated spells just to look a few kilometers in the distance. Those spells are enough. Just cast them in the order I mentioned." He stared at her calmly and even Rein looked back at the two that were doing pass time after begging her to give them these ants for their little demonstration. She was having fun but for the sake of her darling, she gave up on her prey and now instead of hunting them, they were doing a magic lesion in the middle of nowhere. "Alright." And, their calm gazes were not intimidating, we can say, but they were definitely serious about this spell things. So, she just gave it a try and cast all those basic spells he mentioned in the order, and¡­ "It might not work with normal mages, but, when a Magi uses these basic (tier-0) spells, or more precisely as elders call it, the Root magic spells, they enhance their physical abilities naturally, thus, enhancing their senses. Remember this and trybining all the Root magic spells you know to see the different results." She was a unique person that didn''t know about her uniqueness at all. Which wasn''t that bad since she was still young and with them now. She was smart and she had a long time before her to learn. "Yes¡­" She could now see things from afar clearly like someone had fit a telescope right before her eyes. And she could even adjust this telescope without much problem which was even more amazing! "Haaa¡­" It was her first time experiencing something like this, but, she was defiantly starting to understand what Sir Zhen meant when he said it would be best to learn things directly from him. "Alright then." Eon got into position once again and was just about to set the arrows on his bow when¡­ "Big brother~! You were right~! It really was because of a Pink nightangle~!" Zoe suddenly spoke up and ran towards them with that magic screen in her hands, which was connected to an artificial surveince device that was observing a certain bird on the other end of the ind. "Damn~! Let''s go get it Eon~!" On the monitor, there was an image of an unsightly bird that seemed to have multiple tongues and looked nothing like a usual bird, and it was big, really big. But more than that, there seemed to be two unique blue egg-like rocks sitting inside a nest-like ce, which was surrounded by many kinds of fine crops. "Fascinating¡­" It was an arrow in the dark but it did hit the target. And maybe, he hit three targets this time. "The unique pheromones a new mother pink nightingale releases have a tendency to confuse the senses of other creatures and the chemicalposition of two pheromones could cause distress in the senses of red ants. But the chances are thin, and the ants work quickly to change their own pheromoneswork type if something like this happens. Still, this is a very rare phenomenon. And, a Pink nigtangle¡­ they are considered a symbol of luck despite its unique appearance. This one must have lost its way, ended up in a wind current, and dragged to this ind. It''s a miracle she''s alive and actually managed to give birth. But, after going through all this, there''s no way in hell she would even wee her own husband in her nest. We can''t go there until the eggs hatch. And since they are very fascinating (Purplr) ranked magic lie creatures, we have to report this to the headmaster." There was a smile on his face. A rare, warm, happy smile he only had when he sees something he himself couldn''t believe. "And you guessed it was a Pink nightingale just from some missing crops¡­ you are the fascinating one, master." She was surprised, but she had learned that he was full of surprises already. It was amazing to guess something so unique from that little piece of information. "Pink nightingales are the only picky ones about their food. They only eat crops despite their strangely aggressive appearance, and they only eat the best. If something doesn''t qualify their standards, they wouldn''t even touch their tongues to that thing, and everyone knows the best golden wheat growers in the center of the golden ins. It would obviously be strange if the best goes missing overnight." His exnation and logic didn''t make much sense to her but she got the idea. And, Rein had an excited expression as she closely looked at the monitor and the creature visible inside it. It looked quite attractive to her and the eggs with real eye-like patterns are also cute. "I want the mom¡­" But her heart was taken by the big one. Her loving eyes were proof enough that she wanted this one as much as the blue bees. However, just like the bee egg, she would have to wait till these eggs hatch to even safely get close to her. "Sheid eggs today, so¡­ at least four months. You will have to wait for them too. And it would still be uncertain if that mom wants to follow you, so you should start thinking about how you will convince her." Eon smiled at her and patted her shoulders but she was too busy to look back at him and continued observing the marvelous creature with excitement. "Hehehe, you should continue your demonstration, brother. Those ants seem to have finished collecting." "Right." He left her and the monitor by themselves and moved back with Moon and Zoe. "Miss Moon~. You should see how he shoots the arrows first and then the targets. They will hit anyway, and when they hit, they will surely finish them~." Moon didn''t know if she was using some skill or something but Zoe seemed to be able to see those things clearly like Eon. And her suggestion meant she didn''t have to use the spells from the start so, she canceled them quickly and focused on Eon as he got into position. Holding his bow and arrows, in his hands, he set four arrows on the bow at once and prepared the next five sets of four that he would use consecutively. "Huuuu¡­" Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at something far away on the horizon, pulled back his bowstrings, positioned his bow, prepared the hands, and¡­ -Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. He released the bowstring and, at the exact same moment... -Swash. Swash. Swash. Swash! A little current of wind exploded in that ce as Miss Moon saw all the arrows from the quiver vanish without a trace. "Look." But, she heard his voice, and quickly looked back at the distance where the ants were just about to leave when¡­ Suddenly, something came down from the sky and crushed right into their skulls, pierced the hard exoskeletons, and obliterated itpletely. And, it happened with all twenty of them almost at once, confusing, even shocking Miss Moon even more. "That''s my basic long-range archery." She canceled the spells and looked back at him with genuine surprise. The way he called what he just did ''basic'' meant many things and many of them were not believable in many ways. "I can do more but, you will see it when the timees." And then, he just smiled at her mysteriously. It hadn''t been much longer since she was with them but she was learning new things about this strange person. Most of the things he was learning were also mostly only surprising or shocking for her but, as she got used to it and epted the awesomeness of this person she swore to follow forever, she was understanding how little she knew about the world and the limits of human life. "Alright then. Let''s meet the colorful mingos." He smiled at her, took away the monitor from Rein''s hands and stored it in his storage space, and patted Zoe''s head. "Oyyyy!" And though Rein was angry he did that, she thankfully didn''t retaliate much. They had a n for today and ording to that n, they were supposed to have lunch with the mingo queen. And, it was almost lunchtime already so, they couldn''t just y around with ants or y with arrows anymore. They had to pick up the pace now. This meant it was time to meet the famous, colorful, protected creatures that terrorize the airships even remotely passing through their territories¡­ Chapter 573 Rainbow flamingos Chapter 573 Rainbow mingos [OP: ] Eon and thepany walked on a dryndscape, their destination just ahead of them. The creatures that resided around theirnd, or theirnd situated near the home of these creatures were visible to them, even though they were still quite a distance away. This was their first time to actually see these creatures themselves and they sure were just as the books and illustrations depicted them. Long legs and necks, a long wide beak curved at the end, dark red eyes that induced fear from just a look, and vivid colorful feathers covering their bodies that made them look even more dangerous. Everyone knew they should never get too close to creatures with vibrant colors, and red eyes as dangerous as theirs would definitely be enough to drive any normal person away. But again, they weren''t normal, and the way these creatures were flying or standing, or dancing with their partners was an attractive sight for all four of them. "Let''s-" "We don''t have to. They all will be our neighbors." "Right¡­" Rein had an excited smile as she looked at all those colorful creatures. They were vibrant, they looked dangerous, they had sharp and dangerous beaks and sharper ws, and even a long neck that made their big heads seemed strangely intimidating. They perfectly fit her definition of ''cute'' creatures. And they had adorable red eyes like her darling so, how can she not want to take them with her? But, well, their future home was going to be right here so she didn''t actually have any need to ''take'' them with her. "Big brother~. They actually are beautiful~! They have different colors even though they all look almost the same!" Zoe saw things differently. And in her eyes, these colorful creatures were not as colorful as they seemed. They were colorful, yes, but all of them had a unique color to them, and a very clear unique color that one can actually differentiate between if they see it properly. They were unique and pure, so she liked all of them. "They are creatures of magic, possess the power to control a unique element like some other special creatures. And every part of their body is a unique material, so they are prime targets for protected energy beast smugglers." There was a helpless smile on Miss Moon''s face, as if she had seen something terrible and pitied these creatures but, Eon had a positive smile, as if what she was thinking would never happen after they settle here. "They are special creatures." Nodding at Zoe and Rein, they approached the area with the frontline of these colorful beasts. "Hope they keep their calm when they see us." Taking a deep breath, they approached the creatures, and though kicked in and everyone seeing them was alerted. [{ Intrudersssssssssssssss! }] they had hoped with all their heart, when the mingoes saw some unknown figures approaching them from a distance, their instincts kicked in and everyone seeing them was alerted. [{ Intrudersssssssssssssss! }] A bigger mingo among a group of shorter ones curled in his long neck, opened its colorful wings wide, extended the neck back as if gathering force, and screamed so loudly that his scream was audible even almost as far as the middle area of this mingo territory. And when a simr tall mingo heard that voice, he also did the same, cured in his neck and straightened it, releasing a scream that was heard till the area with another one of these tall mingoes. [{ Intruderrrrrrsssssssss! }] Their longer necks probably made them louder but as Eon, Rein, and Zoe understood what these creatures were saying, their tone, which was funny in a way, was enough for them to know what they weren''t hoping was inevitable now. "Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" There were hundreds of them and they all shouted in unison once they heard the emergency signal. And at the same time, many of them prepared their elemental skills to fight against these intruders. And the intruder''s response¡­ "You are lucky today." Eon looked at his dear fianc¨¦e that had a wide smirk on her pretty face with a frown. He did not want this, he knew it was a possibility but he was sure once they sense Zoe, all of them, or at least their queen would stop ande out to greet her. But instead of that, they considered them an enemy and were acting like in any situation they would sense an invader. She wanted something like this to happen so that she could fight against those hundreds of mingoes at once and have some actual fun. She had a terrible luck that only shined when she really wanted or needed it and right now was one of those rare moments when something that shouldn''t have happened actually was happening against the great odds. It was a bad situation, which, for her, was nothing more than a fun opportunity. And, her totally excited smile was enough of an answer he needed. "Don''t kill any of them." "Of course~!" And, she ran forward at the hundreds of elemental skills without any hesitation. He shook his head at that fearless girl and called out Asta his partner arrow and Chip, thest of his nine favorite bows. "Miss Moon, looks like you will be seeing some more of my archery." Eon smiled at them after saying that and nodded at Zoe, asking both of them to just stay there and watch the two of them. Rein, while running towards the hundreds of skills, called out Nept, and just like always, a powerful stream of water flowed out from her hand and materialized in the form of a unique scythe. And just like how she was in position, he also took his stance aftermanding Asta to do a certain thing and throwing him high in the sky. Then, he observed the iing rain of skills carefully, and just when they were in the right range¡­ [{ "Go." }] He gave her the signal, and¡­ "Death scythe first unleash: Cage!" In a swift movement, she finished a veryplicated footwork and swung her dark Mana-covered scythe at all the spells as if hitting an iing ball with her bat. And, just after that brief moment, a was created in the sky. -Ooooooooooooong! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish! -Booooooooooooooooom! A strange of purple energy collided with all of those hundreds of skills in the sky and as if a trap catching a helpless animal, this cage bound all of those spells and exploded in the sky, creating a colorful explosion more beautiful and dangerous than the conventional fireworks. Just this much was enough to wake up the slumbering queen, Eon knew that, so it was only a race against time now. "Huuuu¡­" He had more than enough faith in her to know none of these beautiful birds would die by her scythe today, but, he didn''t know if they will knowingly or unknowingly get hurt too much. He couldn''t let that happen, or there will beplications so, he also took his stance for multifire pure physical archery, prepared his silver quiver, and switched the arrows to the special enchanted arrows. He couldn''t kill them, nor could he harm them so much that he would regret even engaging in this confrontation. He could do little about Rein but she knew they couldn''t die so, after clearing his mind and taking another deep breath, he looked at the creatures before him and prepared himself. There were a total of three hundred seventy-two of them in this particr area. Rein would take care of almost a hundred and twenty of them, so, he had around two-fifty of them. He could leave around a hundred and thirty of them that were too far away from them and would take a long time to even reach them so he was also left with a hundred and twenty of them that needed immediate attention. If he fires three arrows at a time, he would be firing forty times, and if he took it easy and fired twice every second, he would be done in twenty seconds. He can do it faster but considering the tempo of Rein''s attacks and these mingo''s resistance, twice every second was enough. And, He had sent Asta at the back so if anything happens here, he can tie down the ones at the back to stop them and distract their back lines with some fake things. His little n was prepared, so, he released the first batch of the three enchanted arrows that flew to the creatures a little further away from Rein and when they collided with them, they turned into a magic that immediately put them to sleep. "Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" It was a special enchanted arrow and they were more than enough to buy the needed time. -Swish. Swish. Swish. And after that, he continued his barrage of arrows which mesmerized their Miss Moon, while Rein continued ying with the mingos and their offensive skills, and knocked them out with a little bonk on top of their heads. It was their weak point, but she only used enough force to put them to sleep so they weren''t hurt much. However, there were hundreds of them, and some were good at fighting closebat too so sometimes, she had no choice but to defend herself with Nept or take the attacks with her body... Thankfully, the clothes she was wearing had multipleyers of advanced protective enchantments so she wasn''t hurt, but, some of the attacks were reflected back to them, which ended up hurting them. Still, the rebounds weren''t too severe, so they were pretty fine. But it sure was fun ying with them like this. They were strong, and if she wasn''t overgeared like she was right now, she sure would have loved fighting them even more properly. And the creatures were also fighting back properly without hesitation. They were intruders invading their homnd so they had to be driven out or more of their kin would be taken away like it happened in the past. They couldn''t risk it. They were also one of the rare creatures that considered their entire pack a family, and any young one their own children. They were special in this regard, even more special than the bees and the ants. So, they fought back. Even though their other members were being caught in that strange or were being knocked out by this strangely strong witch, they were fighting back for their remaining family. But¡­ just when everyone was in the middle of what they were doing, arge shadow fell upon every one of them. [{ Stop, everyone. }] A voice simr to these mingos but strangely filled with power, warmth, and authority was heard throughout the vast area and Eon looked up with a relieved smile. [{ They are not intruders. }] The one that would surely know of Zoe''s identity just by being there was here now. The one that all these hundreds of mingoes looked up to the most was here. Atst, he could now breathe a sigh of relief. Though short, Rein did have her own fun so she was happy. Moon was astonished by his archery but that surprise was nothing before the shock of seeing the creature standing above them with her own eyes. And Zoe was surprised too. Not at the level and magnitude of the creature before them, but, the way her eyes perceived this giant bird with countless colorful feathers covering her body, and not red, but sky blue eyes that looked strangely attractive. This creature, the queen of these mingoes, was already beautiful, but in her eyes, which saw the truth of everything... "Gorgeous~!" The mingo queen looked gorgeous in Zoe''s eyes, and in the eyes of the mingo queen, Zoe looked like the being she could not help but bow her head before. So, she bowed her giant head before the queen of not just her kind, but all the kinds that the nature considered ''birds''. She was feeling blessed to be in the presence of a divine being like her, and the one seeing this, the one that still considered Zoe a ''normal'' person until a moment ago, could not help but bitterlyugh at her foolishness¡­ Chapter 574 Queens Chapter 574 Queens [Eon''s POV: ] "Hello~. You look gorgeous, miss~." Zoe patted the long beak that now rested before her and the mingo queen found her praise nothing less than praise from the greatest person she could even look up to. [{ It is my pleasure that you think that way. }] She was still bowing before Zoe and her strange behavior surprised all the hundreds of smaller mingoes that were still not asleep from our previous resistance attempt. [{ My queen¡­?! How can you submit before the trespassers?! }] A taller mingo that had screamed and alerted everyone at our arrival spoke up and asked the queen in their native tongue. But, his question somewhat angered the queen, and she was just about to shout angrily at that insolent one, but Zoe tapped on her beak and shook her head. "They don''t know yet. Tell them, guide them, just the way you always do." The queen had the {Mana speech} skill but she didn''t need that skill to understand what the queen of all birds was telling a child like being like herself. ''I knew this would happen but, seeing it sure is quite something.'' The queen was humongous, almost ten or twenty meters with her long neck and big beak, and even as she was bowing before Zoe right now, her actual body was far back, even behind thest of the mingoes that were surprised at their Queen''s arrival at some trivial matter like this. And she was bowing before something, so it was obviously a big surprise for them. For a queen like her, someone who had lived for thousands of years and held unparalleled strength, to bow before someone was not something they had witnessed in their entire lifetimes. Nor they had heard an instance like this one where something like this had happened. They couldn''t understand what their queen was doing and the one questioning her sensed she was upset with his question instinctively but the queen didn''t yell at him, nor did she say anything to him. After giving an apology to Zoe, she just retrieved her head and looked at all of the little children that had done something so unforgivable as attacking the great queen. It was their fortune that the great queen wasn''t angry at them and forgave them easily. They should be thankful to her for sparing their lives even after that unforgivable thing. And, even though she had forgiven them already, they still had to apologize for their mistake. [{ Wake up everyone. }] And though they all had failed to recognize Zoe, she was here now, and it was her duty to introduce her young children to the esteemed great queen, especially this one that she couldn''t help but notice was a special one even among the other great queens. -Ooooooooooong! So, he used some of her power, destroyed all of mys that bound half of the unconscious mingoes, and with a unique green light, she woke up all of the mingoes and shouted at them. [{ Listen everyone! You are in the presence of a divine being! You have alreadymitted the crime to attack her but are generously forgiven! Thank her, and show your respect for her generous forgiveness! }] She was saying that but, in actuality, what thismand sounded to us, and the one with us that couldn''t understand thenguage of these creatures like the rest of us was something like¡­ "KHYAAAAAAAAAA!" It was a continuous scream so loud that Miss Moon was startled and got into a defensive position as if she thought something had gone wrong. "Master they-!" "No, Miss Moon. It is fine. She is just telling others that they made a mistake and should apologize to us." My response to her was casual but, the response I got from her, that look that couldn''t even believe her eyes or ears, was the same as the reaction all these hundreds of creatures before us had after hearing her words and focusing on the person she was pointing towards. Miss Moon was shocked and confused and the same was true for the hundreds of mingoes that now suddenly had wide eyes as if they had realized something. [{ Ohhhhhh¡­! }] And when they all finally realized it, their heads, just like the queen when they saw her, bowed before Zoe involuntarily. "Oh damn¡­" "It looks pretty~!" "Oh lord¡­" Even I was surprised by the sudden gorgeous scene of these hundreds of colorful creatures bowing down at once and gasped with a smile. Rein, on the other hand, only found this scene very pretty and was happily taking pictures of it with her personal Kemera. It definitely was a pretty scene, undeniably even, but for Miss Moon that must not be familiar with things like these, this was nothing less than an absurd scenario. From her perspective, Zoe must have been a normal girl that seemed most normal among the young people in our house, but, now that she was witnessing this, she must have realized just how wrong she had been. ''Zoe. My special little sister was no normal child that yed around and did her homework.'' She was the most strange among the people in my house. So strange that not only a creature like that giant intimidating mingo but the hundreds of others that were dead set on taking us out just a moment ago were now bowing before her as if she was some kind of god¡­ ''Which she was not, actually. Yet, at least.'' Miss Moon couldn''t understand what was going on and she couldn''t even think of many reasons behind this strange event but she was sure at this moment, she just knew, that the girl she was thinking to be the most normal among the children of Heliox, was, in fact, the strangest one of the bunch¡­ ''But she has yet to see anything.'' This was just another thing she was learning today, which obviously wasn''t the end of her lessons. [{ We apologize for our grave mistake¡­! }] They all shouted at once and once again, this seemed like all of them were angrily warning them to get out of here. But now that Miss Moon knew these shouts weren''t something negative, she was at least at ease, though still not nearly ready enough to understand most of the things they were saying. [{ "It is alright everyone. You can raise your head. We are not here to do something like that but only to see the ce we would be making our home~." }] Zoe spoke theirnguage for the first time, surprising the smaller mingos but earning a meaningful nod from many other bigger ones and their queen. They all knew now that the person before them that looked like nothing more than a normal girl was in fact the wisest being that naturally had the greatest knowledge and powers beyond any mortal understanding. They all knew her real identity now, and just this fact was enough for many of them to understand she was, in all ways, a near-perfect being. And, she forgave them, so they could now be at peace¡­ or want they thought. [{ "Alright Zoe. I will be taking Care of stuff from here." }] I spoke up and took a step forward and not only the smaller creatures but the queen also suddenly looked at me with curiosity. "Alright, big brother~." And Zoe also took a step back after I only said that. She didn''t even hesitate and went back to standing there quietly. She was obedient and it was strange for even the queen why a being of her caliber was epting orders from me. In their eyes, I must have been a servant that was only here as her guard or servant for something small like cooking and cleaning and stuff. But, I knew the curious queen quickly tried checking out my status window but practically failed to even activate her skill before me. She didn''t know or would have understood what was going on since she was practically far youngerpared to Zoe''s mom and my master, but she at least must have figured out that I was no normal person. But I was here exactly to talk with her about something important. So I started with getting to the point. [{ "So miss mingo queen¡­ Can we lowly creatures have your name?" }] That was the basic thing that we would start any negotiations from and though what I will be doing was not much of a negotiation, I would still do something inside her territory and if this was her territory, there was no way I would be satisfied with having them only as our neighbors. [{ Right¡­ I apologize. It has been a long time since I have been referred to by my given name. I''m already acquainted with being called something like a queen but, yes¡­ My name. It is Fiotreata. The people of my time, my mother and father used to call me Fio. So if it is the great queen and herpanions, I would be honored to be referred to by that name once again. }] She was doubtful about my identity and the look in her eyes was still not so good but, there was no need for her to understand everything just yet. [{ "Fio. Alright,dy Fio. It is a great name. I know Zoe, the illuminated one before you, the one I call my sister, and the one I''m supposed to protect with my life, also likes it¡­ But everything aside, we have a piece ofnd here, so I hope you can use your Authority and help us with a few things." }] I smiled at her, Zoe did too, and this direct and absurd request from me, caused a wildfire among the mingoes that had been quieted down with much difficulty. "KYHHHHHHHH!" And, this wildfire was definitely not much friendly... Chapter 575 Ancestral oath Chapter 575 Ancestral oath [Eon''s POV: ] [{ What did you say?! Do you have any idea what you are talking about, you insolent little human!? }] That same taller one shouted again and he was really angry, and, with him, the shorter ones, I would say his girlfriends, were also angry. The way they all red at me with their red eyes was something very intimidating however, I had already experienced more intimidation than a few hundred brightly colorful mingos with bright red eyes ring at me with pure anger. But, their queen was calm right now. My words definitely ticked her off but she was certainly calm in this moment and was looking at me carefully, scanning me from head to toe, trying to figure out what I was or even anything at all. [{ Master~. She is pretty cool~. }] But my Celes was also not intimidated by those res. She was enjoying this, especially the way the queen of all these creatures was looking at me with worry hidden under those big sky-like eyes. [{ "Oy, darling, should I take some of their feathers for my ma''am? She would like it, right? It would be fun to see that bastard''s face turn red~." }] [{ "Rein?" }] What did those poor people do to her that she still had that petty grudge? I was looking at her with a sad smile bit just then, as if to have remembered something, the mingo queen had a sudden realization and spoke up, cutting the taller mingo that was still cussing at me midway and asking questions that I obviously knew answers of better than him. [{ Quiet, Crklolk. }] She first asked that chatterbox to stop those unnecessary cursing and looked me in the eye, with a hint of respect in those eyes. [{ I failed to realize it before because of myck of knowledge, but, you must be her guardian, am I right? }] [{ "That is correct. However, her mother, and my master, asked me to always protect her as my little sister. And while we are on that note, your predecessor, Queen Fio, had made a certain pact with my master." }] That was the main reason I wanted this specific piece ofnd out of any part of this ind. [{ My predecessor¡­? What does that-¡­! Are you talking about the great oath?! }] [{ "Precisely. The pact is to aid the great queen Atheenttinee with everything they have and, if she is fortunate enough to ever have one, her descendant and sessor. The one before you is her descendant and, she had chosen me as her sessor¡­" }] Taking a step forward, I called out my Solnova and aligned it in a certain manner to cast my ( :Vision sharing) spell with a thread of my total energy. It was a spell, and she was already stunned by my words so she just epted the vision I was sharing and showed her some images and moments of me and my master. I didn''t show her Zoe''s birth and my grandma''s death though. That memory was only allowed to a few of us. [{ Oh¡­ my¡­ }] She was in tears. Real tears even. And these tears were tears of joy, something extremely rare and almost impossible to find in this world. [{ "Celes." }] [{ I''m already prepared master~! }] -Snap. The queen was in her own world as the moments I showed her those things, it evoked the ancestral memories passed down to her from the previous queens. She was the first one after their first ancestors that was fortunate enough to see the true form of the great queen that had saved them from great danger and allowed them this part of the ind. It was a special moment for her and those tears were something I was expecting from the start so, when I slowly snapped, Asta, who was already around the area where the queen was standing in its invisible form, flew up and reached the ce around the queen''s eyes and activated the special storage space encoded inside it. Then, many of Celes''s invisible clones gathered around the queen''s eyes without hindering her one bit and very gently guided the tear that had already started vaporizing to the invisible Asta. It was a very delicate process that we had practiced already so I believed in both of them. ''They are pretty good at this anyway.'' The queen didn''t know what was happening, the smaller mingoes were the same, but they were mostly confused and worried as they didn''t know what was happening. Their queen was suddenly crying and this was the first time in their lives that they were seeing her cry like that. Some were angry that I did something to her, some that had heard our conversation were confused, and the taller ones that had a faint idea what the contents of our conversation meant, had a shocked stiff look that they were having for the first time. It was all just absurd for them so they were just focused on me like all the other mingoes so, none were seeing what Asta and Celes were doing right now. [{ "You are a good thief, darling." }] [{ "Of course I am. I stole you from the world so, I should actually be called the best." }] She looked at me with a sudden blush, and I winked at her cute reaction. It really was fun catching her off guard at these unexpected moments. [{ "Bastard¡­" }] And she didn''t like getting embarrassed so whenever she was embarrassed because of these little things, it was even more embarrassing for her. ''Which is cuter, hehe.'' 15:47 [{ Thank you¡­ }] But the queen calmed down soon and when thest of those sparking sky-blue drops slid down inside Asta, Celes dispersed all of her clones and Asta sneakily returned to me via the safest route. [{ Thank you for showing me something all my previous ancestors had longed for their entire lifetimes¡­ }] [{ "You can now see them, see her, whenever you want but, those are moments that have already been passed. It is the past that is not going to return to us, so, I believe it is better to look at the moment we are currently in, the moment that is the foundation of the uing future." }] She was almost smiling, and her smile at least relieved the worried hearts of all the other mingoes. [{ Right. Those words of wisdom sound like something the lord queen would say¡­ }] What I was here for, was almost halfplete at this point. The mingo queen had realized who we were, and mainly who Zoe and I were. And ording to what their ancestors had pledged, they would have to help Zoe and me in whatever way I can. [{ But¡­ }] But? Wait, no. There shouldn''t be any questions remaining anymore. At least not about our authenticity. [{ How are you her sessor despite being a human, and how is she her descendant but not someone that seeded her memories and talents? }] She was confused about how Zoe wasn''t grandma''s sessor. This a very valid and safe question. ''Phew¡­'' [{ "It is a littleplicated but, I will try to exin it as simply as I can with the permissions I have." }] There were a lot of things I was restricted to share with anyone that didn''t have permission to have that knowledge. The bounds of the world were the same for me, though lose and filled with gaps, I was still an element of this great nature. So¡­ I exined to her how grandma was unique from other phoenixs'', how I learned whatever I could from her, how she left me with all she had, and how Zoe, a being that retained her mother''s talents, was an entirely different person, was born. Some of those things were bitter for Zoe but she managed to smile her way through them, some of the things were bitter for me to retell so Rein helped me get through them, and all of this was just outside her zone of understanding so Miss Moon just sat out of this whole little exnation. But Queen Fio listened to everything quietly, listened to every word I said carefully, and the light of respect hidden in her sky-like eyes became more visible with each passing moment. What I was saying wasn''t something any of her past predecessors had known, and the younger ones here were too young to understand theplexity of the words I was speaking, so though they were listening, they understood nothing at all. [{ "Thus, I seed her knowledge and wisdom, while Zoe is her child, someone she entrusted to me¡­" }] It was always heavy whenever I remembered her, remembered us, and the happy days we had spent. But, I havee a long way, and though it seems just like yesterday, it is past, and it has passed¡­ [{ I appreciate your answer to my lowly question with all my heart. And I apologize again but, I have failed to ask for your names even after all this time. }] Right¡­ she introduced herself but we didn''t. That unified attack at the start sure messed up many things. [{ "It was my discourtesy. I should have introduced myself first. I apologize for thete introduction. On this ind, for the time I''m in the academy, I''m referring to myself as Lucifer. However, my given name is Axion Heliox Kromet. And this is my little sister Zoe, my partner and love, Reinelle Atraxia, who is going by the name Uriel in the academy, and this here is a new member of our special little family Miss Moon. It is our pleasure to make your acquaintance, Queen Fio." }] [{ "Hello~ miss big mingo~. I love your eyes~." }] Rein really liked her eyes. She had been saying it for a while now. "Miss Moon. I just introduced us." "Oh!" She was unaware of everything that was happening here, and I really meant everything, but still, as soon as I said that, she bowed before her respectfully. [{ "She has been through a lot, but now she has joined us. So she will slowly learn everything about herself and the world." }] I smiled at her, my Rein, and of course at my Zoe. And, we all received a big smile from the queen as well. [{ Alright then, lord Axion,dy Reinelle and Master Zoe¡­ We have been dyed but, as the pledge of Reorespis, we, the current generation, great the great lords. }] Once again, all the mingoes and the queen bowed before us respectfully. And this time, it wasn''t only dedicated to Zoe or was involuntary. It was dedicated to us and was respectful. Which meant¡­ we could finally go see ournd and start a basic little construction. And, of course, go down to the ce that would be an important part of our future great house¡­ Chapter 576 Our land… Chapter 576 Ournd¡­ [Eon''s POV: ] "Alright then. Let''s go check the area 69MF." Queen Fio had minimized her size and was now just big enough to stand eye to eye with the rest of us. The introductory stuff had finished so it was time to go to the ce we were here for. { "I will guide you there. It is a special ce for us too." } It sure would be a special ce after all, it was a kind of oasis in this dry piece ofnd. And, Queen Fio was talking with the Mana speech so that Miss Moon could understand us too, which was definitely convenient since speaking theirnguage continuously was also not that easy. But, it was fine now, and as we followed behind her in this crowd of mingos all around us, it was a kind of unique experience. "They are cute." Especially since Rein was holding my hand as we walked among the hundreds of big colorful mingos with red intimidating eyes that, just looked back at us with not anger, but actually cute faces of admiration and closeness. They weren''t as scary looking as they had been a while ago. But passing through these hundreds of mingoes all big and small, some even cute children, while some unique ones among them with unique features, was quite an amazing experience. However, it ended soon when we reached the other side of the mingoes and stopped before a clearly normal area. { "Since the old times, we have called this ce the inner court. And though it has been forgotten, there definitely was a certain name associated with the area beyond this curtain." } The area before us looked just the same as all the other areas around here, but there certainly was a very powerful illusionary curtain spell cast here that hid the special area beyond it. "It''s¡­ unique? Certainly, something I''m seeing for the first time. But, it looks pretty, though not as much as you Fio~." My eyes couldn''t see it, this magic was that much powerful, I would even say it was made into a ''truth'' by the people with very powerful Origin skills. But Rein''s eyes could see it, and through our vision-sharing spell, I could see it too. { "Hahaha. I am honored to receive such praises,dy Reinelle, however, it is more amazing you could see something even us queens had never been able to. You are special in your own way, and of course, more beautiful than most beings I have seen." } Rein was happy right now. We were finally going to see the ce we would build ''our'' home under so she surely couldn''t contain her happiness. But she was in for a few surprises. "If I''m not wrong, there are records of a ce called [Crypt of Afterglow] in these parts of the ind. Probably, this is the same ce?" I wasn''t sure since I had never heard it directly from grandma but from whatever records I had read about the academy and this floating ind in our tower library, that was the only name that came to mind when thinking about this ce. { "Right¡­ that name actually sparks something deep inside me, however, it is faint, so I''m not sure. But I do not think the name matters much-" } "No, it does matter. In those times, names held deep meaning and were chosen very carefully. The name would definitely help, but, seeing as the name causes even that little reaction in your soul, I believe we are right." The status of the mingo queen was passed down to the most qualified one of the young ones in the queen''sst years. And, when she is confirmed, prepared, and trained properly enough, in herst moment, the queen passes down a fragment of her soul and a part of her memories. The fragment that has been passed down among them retains at least some of the memories of the past queens so, though it was faint, just the fact that it reacted with the name, meant the name at least meant something. ''Which was at least enough in this scenario.'' { "...if you say so, master Axion. I apologize for my-" } "There is nothing to be sorry about so refrain from apologizing carelessly like this. You are with us but you are still the queen of countless special beings. Do not forget your dignity." { "...yes. I will forever keep that in mind." } She had a respectful smile when she looked at me like that, but I only shook my head and asked her to lead the way. She nodded with that same smile and walked forward and¡­ just vanished into thin air. "Let''s go." Looking at my Rein, Zoe, and Miss Moon, I nodded with a calm smile. And they nodded back, one excited, one happy, and thest still uncertain of what was happening. But she also nodded back and the four of us walked forward and also vanished into a thinyer of air beyond which¡­ rested a paradise. "Holy mother nature¡­" "Wow~. Just wow~." "This¡­!" It was evening, almost time for sunset, so the sun was going down on the horizon. It had painted the entire vast nd before us in striking gold, there was a vast but shallowke before us and, just like the colorful mingos that we had seen outside, there were hundreds of them more here, bathing in the golden shower of twilight, their feathers shining brightly with the natural light, and¡­ they were dancing. They were all dancing in unison as if a single element vibrating at the melodious strings, dancing, jumping, following their partners, and helping them if needed. They incorporated their colorful feathers, the long necks, and their sturdy long legs in this dance and created a scene that¡­ only a few fortunate ones could ever witness in their lifetimes. "It sure is gorgeous." It was a scene we would love to see every evening when having a cup of tea with the two of us as well as the people close to us. { "They are doing their prayers of thest moments. It is a dance we perform when the sun starts setting and the light vanishes. Itsts till the sun ispletely out and then, the next batch performs the prayers of stars. They perform the prayer of beginning when the sun starts raising from the horizon and personally, I like it the most." } I was familiar with the three periodic dances of these golden mingoes and wherever in the world they are found, there is a simr kind of shallow water body around it where they perform these dances. But, they are one of the rarest creatures and from what I knew, there were hardly any ces that housed as many rainbow mingoes as this ce. And, this ce and scene were just too gorgeous to be the same anywhere else in this world. ''We were on a sky ind after all, and this scenery before us¡­'' I was speechless. Mesmerized even. This looked too attractive and their dance was just too attractive to look away from¡­ but we had to look away, at least for now. "This entirend is technically ours I believe. But we will still only take a small part of this area to build a small house above the ground that will have one floor, and then extend the house properly underground for five more floors. The area around that side looks perfect so we will start the basic digging from tomorrow. That is alright, right Queen Fio?" I already had the n for how I was going to create the base and all the other elements of this house and we can customize it after the base construction wasplete so it was all mostly fine. { "I think that area is a little¡­" } But the Queen was hesitant. Thankfully not because of my n but the ce I selected. "Is something wrong with that ce?" There shouldn''t be anything wrong since I used a question to ask Lucy what the best ce in this area was. and she suggested that ce, so if I can, I wanted that specific ce. { "Nothing too great if I say so, but, that is where some of the children y during the morning and evening. There is a special kid among the children of this generation and I''m watching over her, I believe you have seen her already?" } If she was talking about a young kid of this generation¡­ "The one with green eyes, correct?" I did see her, and she definitely was special from the other children, but, if even the Queen was keeping an eye on her, it meant she had the qualities of a good queen. However, the current Queen was in perfect condition and was definitely healthy enough to guide them for a few hundred years more. She didn''t have to select a candidate just yet- ''Right! There''s that too.'' I looked at Queen Fio with a sudden shock and she knew that I knew her thoughts just from that much. "You n to make her into a secretary¡­?" It was rare but the queens did sometimes choose someone very extraordinary among the younger generations and directly train them to be their proxy. It is a special position that required someone with more talent, power, experience, and skills than probably even the new Queen that learns everything from the start. However¡­ any Queen only selected a secretary when they had something very important elsewhere that needed their frequent attention. But, there could only be two things that could make even a Queen leave her duties to someone else, one of which was a Great War which was not happening yet, and the second was¡­ "Who is this lucky person?" I gave her a smirk, and Rein understood what I meant by that so she looked between us, and smirked at her too. Zoe only giggled as if she found this even more fun, and though she guessed what I was talking about, Miss Moon just kept looking at the old Queen with shock, and absurdity filling her eyes¡­ Chapter 577 Going down Chapter 577 Going down [Eon''s POV: ] She was smiling back, almost with a blush on her pretty face. { "It is nothing special. And he lives on the northern continent. We met identally and then¡­ well¡­" } She almost hid away her face like a young person, which certainly was adorable. [{ "Damn she is adorable~." }] [{ "Yesssssss!" }] The two of them also thought the same. It sure was true that there was no set age to fall in love, and for a pretty one like her, it certainly was a special asion since the queens hardly ever found actual love in their entire lives. It was special for them as well as for her entire family. So, it was certainly something we couldn''t just ignore. "Alright then. We should talk with this special candidate of yours as soon as possible. When do you think-" [{ Hello~. What is everyone doing here~? }] We were looking at the scene before us just when we heard the young voice from behind and looked back as a young mingo almost half our height smiled at us happily. She had pretty green hair and her feathers were especially lighter than the other mingoes. And, she had a joyous smile as she looked at us, which was the cutest aspect about her. [{ We were just thinking about you Demitree. How are you doing on this not-so-fine morning? }] The Queen answered her and the young mingo, Demitree, nodded at her with a pretty smile. [{ I''m doing fine~. Everyone was scared from what happened some time ago but I was fine~. I knew you would be there to protect us so I wasn''t scared at all~! Everyone is recovering so there''s no one to help you, right? I came to help the great lords~. }] She was a brave one, we could tell, and, more than bravery, I sensed something unique from her. "I understand what you meant now. She really is special." I smiled at her, and when Rein took a look at this little one with her eyes, she was also surprised, but then a smile appeared on her face too as she smiled in agreement. This little mingo, brave and special from others, possessed a unique origin skill. Yes¡­ an origin skill. ''It is very rare for intelligent creatures other than humanoids to possess origin skills but I would say the rainbow mingoes are some of the few creatures that do have a rare chance to be born with unique origin skills thanks to their high affinities with different natural elements.'' So, there''s a chance there would be a mingo other than the Queen with an origin skill every few other centuries. This little one was the special one born with a unique ability, had great bravery, talent, and from what we have heard from Fio, good that needed to be discussed since she was here. [{ Hahaha, the lords were also just talking about you too. Looks like leadership skills to lead all the children of their family. She was good, I definitely approved of her and would also love to teach a thing or two. But, before that, we had something important that needed to be discussed since she was here. [{ Hahaha, the lords were also just talking about you too. Looks like they need your help with something. }] And the Queen naturally knew my thoughts too so she directly told her and the little mingo looked at us with the sparkling eyes of a child ready for any work. [{ "Right¡­ so Demitree. Do you see that ce? Queen said it was everyone''s favorite yground but we want to build a little house there. It will take a few days but when it is ready, I promise to make some special things for everyone to y with over there too." }] I pointed in that direction and she followed my finger and looked at the empty piece ofnd we wanted as our home. And, her pretty eyes widened with surprise. [{ Lord big brother wants to make a nest in that ce? But isn''t it too big? And besides, that is the ce that makes even the crying babiesugh~. }] She said it innocently, and I can tell what she meant by those words. That piece ofnd was the ce with the most concentrated natural energies and coincidentally, there was also a spirit cluster in this area which exined the effects of inducing happiness into the creatures of nature standing on it. That was exactly why I wanted that ce. But I can''t just take away the yground of those children so I will make a fun yground for them besides our house. And, we could just watch them from there whenever we wanted which was a clear win-win. So, I had to convince the leader and caretaker of all those young children if I wanted that ce first. [{ "We need a big ce to make a big house, right? So, if we use that ce, we will be able to create our house and also a good open guarded park for all of you there." }] I had a pretty good n prepared for a small outdoor mingo-friendly garden. And Rein was looking at me excitedly so I had to look this little dream through. [{ What do you mean by¡­ oven guardian peark? }] She didn''t know what a garden was, well, someone that had lived their entire life confined to a nice ce like this without much greenery would surely be oblivious to the existence of a ce filled with nts, trees, and little instruments of fun. But, she was smart enough to be able to imagine it, so, I just gave her a few pretty descriptions and when I was only halfway done, she started jumping with excitement like the little girl she was. [{ Do you really mean all that lord big brother~? }] [{ "Of course I do. And you haven''t even heard all of it. There will be more things." }] [{ Really~?! Wo! Yesssss~! Please make your house here~! I will handle everyone when they stop crying~! }] And, without saying anything anymore, she just ran back outside, probably to check up on all the young mingoes and tell them about what we had just told her. "She''s adorable~!" "She really is. Though I would have liked her excited reaction more if I knew the context of everything that''s happening right now." Miss Moon suddenly spoke up and we all looked at her at once with the same bitter smiles on our faces. "Looks like you have finally epted things. Took you long enough, I would say." Rein said those words with not any negative intent but surely with a little disappointment. She was expecting more from her since I went to such great lengths to liberate her from her past self. But, she had been mostly surprised and speechless all the time we had been here so, it sure was a little disappointing from her point of view since she would be seeing a great lot of things like this and things even more absurd than this in the future. She can''t just freeze out like this in those times and just follow them around like some speechless shocked puppet. She would have to take charge of the situation and coordinate with them and the others perfectly to resolve every matter at their fingertips. And, she was going to be their first line of defense so she had to be even more careful, aggressive, and patient than anyone else depending on the situation. And, she was as smart as her, probably smarter when it came to certain things, so, Rein had great expectations from her, and, Miss Moon could see that in her eyes perfectly. "I will try my best to behave a little more appropriately next time, but it was my first time seeing something of this scale and I''m not sorry for my actions. Anyone else would have already fainted multiple times, probably even lose their cool before those hundreds of creatures and the real form of the Queen. I was doing pretty good managing all the things I saw today so, I believe I wouldn''t act like today in situations simr to today''s. At least until they are only as absurd as what we have seen until now." Her answer was pretty eptable to me so I just nodded and Zoe did the same. Queen Fio didn''t have anything to do in this situation so she just stood there while Rein red at her with a questioning gaze and looked her up and down, but, there was no sign of any hesitation on her face so she just nodded at her. "We were talking about how the ce we chose was the favorite yground for the mingo children and how we would build a yground for them if they let us build a home there. The little kid was happy to hear those pretty descriptions from my darling so she just ran away to tell everyone." And, she just answered her previous query casually, which certainly was enough for someone like her to understand most things. So¡­ that was that for the littlend confirmation and we can start the construction process whenever we wanted. ''I''m going to use our special artificial golems anyway, who will do everything on their own since I have programmed them already so we actually won''t have anything to worry about.'' We were almost done with everything today. So, only thest little thing remained. "Let''s go down." There was a unique ce hidden beneath thesends and not only did it contain the Mana stone vine that we would be developing, but it also housed something very precious. And, we were going to go down to get that precious thing. "But, how will we do that?" Even Rein was confused about this fact but, Zoe and I knew, this was precisely the moment we would need the Queen''s authority for¡­ Chapter 578 Vine and crypt Chapter 578 Vine and crypt [OP: ] "Lady Fio?" They looked at her when they all reached a suitable location and the queen nodded, took a step forward, spread her wings wide, and looked up as a unique bead of light appeared before her and started getting brighter and brighter. It was a unique blue light simr to her eyes, and though it was blinding, it was nothing for the four people with her. Even Miss Moon was fine since she had learned to use different root spells and was using them to see clearly. But, this light was definitely something unique, so unique that only the queens that had ruled over the territory for a long time were granted this unique ability to have full control over all the fixed elements of that ce. It was her authority. And she can use it to practically control anything that was on thisnd. On hernd. And, she was using that ability right now to make a path for them to go down to the interconnected tunnel paths containing precious ores that had been present there for as long as she could remember. It was something they had no use for but, her lords, the people she was obligated to help however she could, wanted these useless rocks and she was happy to help them. -Oooooooooooooong! -Dhurrr-dhurrrrrr-drrrrrrrr! As the blue light started vanishing, they all heard weird noisesing from below the ground and just after a moment, the ground below her started trembling. -Trrrrrrrrrr¡­! And the trembling only grew stronger as a moment passed and as they saw, the ground before them started opening up like some door. { "I directly connected to the nearest tunnel so it would be easy for us." } She said, and, stairs made of strong rocks leading underground finished materializing before them. "Oh, that''s very nice Lady Fio. We can keep this as the first permanent entry point." Eon nodded with a smile, pleased to see the fine stairs to the underground, and called forth his [White crack], taking out a few unique ball-like objects and small bags full of prismatic yellow stones. "Alright then. Let''s go." -Zuuuuuu¡­ He first activated the small drones that were powered by a unique artificial magic intelligence that connected them together and grated them a basic level of understanding and intelligence. They were some of the special ones that were directly connected to him through a unique ring he was wearing and, at hismands, these bronze spherical drones with blue eye-like cores started floating before him. He can give themmands by infusing special frequencies of Mana in his ring directly without even speaking so, he did that and handed the six drones a small bag of those yellow stones. "What are those things, master?" Moon asked with curiosity just when the round drones flew ahead and started inserting the yellow stones in the walls on both sides of the stairs leading to the underground. And though Eon was just about to answer her, Rein spoke up before him. "Those yellow rocks are a special material he created that glows for a very long time once infused with Mana, and those round things are some of his basic mechanical creations. They are cool and cute and he calls them [K.Spectors]." He didn''t understand why she was still acting like that but her exnation was pretty good so he just nodded at them and started walking inside the newly created stairs to the underground. "Fascinating¡­ so, do these Spector things do anything you ask them? Like, are they working on the same principles as the artificial helpers in the academy?" Moon was asking questions, which was better than her being mute and surprised and, though Eon wanted to answer her questions, for some reason, Rein was in the mood of talking today. "You could say that, but the ones in the academy are highly advanced and are ultimately run by the great ancient tree. They have many functions besides maintaining safety and security in the academy premises and intelligence to take actions based on the data they gather at the moment. He does have some who are as good as them, some that are probably far better in those regards, but these spectators aren''t that advanced. They can share basic data with each other but they ultimately have many restrictions. You can just think of them as low intelligence creatures of around (Orange) rank that are good at many things, but ultimately weakpared to a little smarter creatures of around (Green) rank." She knew a lot about them, even how to create them, so she was good with her exnations but still, what she called weak, was something that even adventurers with a few years of experience would call greatly strong. But Miss Moon was somewhat used to their unique categorization of creatures by now so she just nodded with an excited smile as she walked into the dark tunnel illuminated by a gentle lighting from the stones those Spectors had installed. She had been to dark ces and dangerous dungeons but this was her first time going to an actual ore vine, something that''s usually monopolised by the central power controlling thatnd. But they had told her this entirend was theirs and that they had made a deal with the headmaster to share the profits from the ore mines, specifically, from the Mana ores of the vine so they were going to develop this ce. An ore vine is a concentrated mass of associated ore minerals upying a certain piece ofnd. They ur naturally over time and expand in a unique way. Many times, they end up creating a kind of undergroundbyrinth-like structure with many long caves interconnecting with each other and this one was one of those rare ces. "Wee to the underground ''Mana ore'' vine." Eon smirked as he looked before him at the cave-like ce illuminated by the natural blue lightsing from multiple ces all around this cave. Some of the lights were dim while some were very bright and there weren''t only these blue lights in this ce. "You damn bastard¡­ you were scamming him all along?" Rein couldn''t help her absurd smirk as she also looked around her with her eyes and found not just the Mana ores that they were supposed to find in this ce but, a lot more than that. "This isn''t a Mana ore vine¡­ isn''t this one of those rare mines that produce more than one kind of mineral?!" Miss Moon shouted at the top of her lungs, almost giving the Queen a heart attack from how she did it out of the blue, but, even Rein didn''t mind this surprised exmation from her. Even she wanted to shout, scream and jump on her darling and do things to him right this moment. Not only was what she was seeing with her special eyes absurdly beautiful, but it was also far more than what he had agreed to in that contract. "Well¡­ this isn''t tricking him if I myself wasn''t sure of this right? There is a possibility for any kind of ore vine to mutate and produce different kinds of ores depending on the wavelength of energy saturating that vine. We are just lucky, I would say?" He was smiling happily, and she could tell there was no way this bastard didn''t know of this change. He must have already predicted this or would have known there is a high chance of something like this to happen or appear so he made the deal specifically that way. And, she was actually right. He did know there is a big possibility, but he purposely never even tried confirming it. He ''actually'' didn''t know about this until this point but he had surely known there was a possibility and even the headmaster, the master of illusion magic, couldn''t possibly see through something that wasn''t even there. He didn''t know, so their deal regarding the vine was pretty genuine and professional, and she knew her lovely bastard would tell that bastard headmaster of this fact and do the negotiations once again, but this time, with many stronger cards in his hand. They were here to see a Mana ore vine but what they were standing on, was a rare mixed ore vine caused by very rare natural phenomenons, and though the volume of Mana ore was greater than the other ores, from how her eyes were seeing this dark long cave as an endless space full of many colorful lights, she knew this ce housed more than even her wild expectations. "But¡­" There could be many reasons such diverse kinds of ore would ur in a single vine like this. It was a phenomenon that only urred in the nests of very powerful divine creatures. But they knew no divine creature housed this ind anymore, which meant there certainly was some reason behind this. And Eon was ultimately here to obtain that very reason. "This must be because of that thing hidden inside the center of all the caves here, in the crypt¡­" The crypt was here and the thing he was looking for, also most probably resided here. "So let''s go get it." He was excited. He was looking forward to this for a long time now. And¡­ there was something else in the depths of the crypt he was talking about, waiting for their arrival. Chapter 579 Jumping down Chapter 579 Jumping down [Eon''s POV: ] A vine with more than one kind of ore was a very rare urrence geologically as well as seen from the perspective of magic, alchemy, and science. The special ores in this world were formed by the condensation of unique energies and their properties due to the passage of time or high pressure, or even sometimes without any kind of outer forces. ''And to find many different kinds of ores in a single ce first meant it was an unnatural urrence that should not happen naturally.'' There certainly is a reason behind a phenomenon like this, and, we were going towards that very reason right now. "Master, aren''t they¡­" Miss Moon was worried as she looked around her, looking at the creatures that were hiding in the dark or under the ground because of Queen Fio''s intimidating presence. And, her worries were certainly understandable. "Yes. They are the so-called ''creatures of the deep''. Some people think they don''t exist anymore but the experts do know of their presence and the spections of the schoolers that believe some of them reside in the deeper part of this ind are certainly true." There were creatures resembling fishes, octopuses, and even deep sea creatures. However, the ones present here specifically had a unique featuremon to them. They didn''t have gills or needed water to breathe. ''But instead of that, they had a unique crystal on their foreheads through which they absorbed excess energy from the ores and maintained the equilibrium of the total energy and the earth''sposition.'' They were a unique part of this special ecosystem and this entire underground ce was able to survive thanks to their presence. "Aren''t they special¡­ master?" "Of cou-" "Of course, they are specia~! And cute too~." Rein was excited as she shouted that and from how weird these creatures that were neither creatures ofnd nor sea looked, it was given that she was going to like them. And of course, I also knew what the words that would follow her excited shouts were going to be. "Let''s take them!" It had almost be her catchphrase now. Every time she saw a unique creature, she would say let''s take them¡­ like ma''am? Yes, we can have some of them but where would we keep so many creatures and keep them in good condition? She has said this word many times just today, but thinking back, it was also true how we were seeing so many interesting creatures all at once. The mingoes, that Pink nightingale, the bees and ants, and now these weird little things that even though had the size of only a small catfish, were (Orange) to (Green) ranking creatures. The MP they possessed was absurdly high and the skills they had were genuinely not even enough to harm the normal adventurers. They had the strength of numbers but even they were practically weak creatures with a lot of Mana¡­ a kind of creation that the researchers would definitely go crazy over if they know of their existence. ''Which, they aren''t going to know. Hopefully, ever.'' This was a special mine that would need years to empty out even with my high-efficiency equipment and helpers. And, this was a mixed ore vine, which meant we had to be careful while mining each and every single one of the ores, or else, if a reaction urs between two ores, in the worst-case scenario, it could even lead to a very dangerous situation. ''This entire ce had been untouched since probably the moment the crypt was closed out and these unique maze-like tunnels were created as the very basic protection measure.'' Thanks to the multiple kinds of energy ores in these caves, the energy interference here is quite severe. So, using even the basic magic is nearly impossible here, let alone artifacts that are practically powered by some simr kind of ore present in this cavern. It would be practically impossible to navigate through these hundreds of tunnels, especially without someone like Queen Fio to fend off these thousands of weird creatures. Right. Weird creatures¡­ "No. We can''t take them away from here. They could neither survive any ce other than these caves nor have enough intelligence to follow any kind of order from anyone. The reason they are so afraid of Queen Fio is exactly because of her presence, which has a very high volume of a certain energy that they are not familiar with at all because of which, they couldn''t even move when she is here. They cannot live outside, and they cannot live in the presence of a being like her, which also included you and my darling, so we can''t ''take'' them. But this would be right in the backyard of our house so you can alwayse down here to observe them, right? Isn''t that better than killing them ourselves?" They must be the creatures belonging to the waters of that time, creatures that were trapped in this ce when they closed it, and then, they somehow survived here long enough, went through many evolutions, and became what we see today. Yes, they looked unsightly but, they were creatures brimming with magic power¡­ and there were many ways one can use them to their great advantage. "Alright¡­ but we will take that cute nightingale at least. I want to look at her pretty face every morning~!" Normal people, probably even those who had experience dealing with creatures like them, might not want to see a bird like that every morning, but since it was her, well¡­ I didn''t mind it. "I will try my best." "Yeiiiii~!" "Yeeeee~! We will have a birdie and little bird babies~!" Even Zoe was excited about this. But they had to keep their voices down if we didn''t want to trigger some noise-sensitive ore and get crushed under this cave. "Alright you two, keep it down." It was pretty much impossible to navigate through these caves but, I had my Solnova (: Scan) and a navigation expert crystal butterfly to aid us. We were almost there too, so, they should focus on the important task before us. "Celes." [{ Yes master~! This way~. }] This ce was a paradise for Celes, someone that liked tasting different kinds of lights. But she was still focused on her work since she knew they coulde here anytime they wanted now. There were around ten or so different routes we could take from the ce we were standing on and Celes was checking which route led to the wide open ce with a deep hole in the ground that I exined to her. These caves were all strange and were divided into the main and sub caves that might lead to the destination or not. Some of the main caves and even fewer sub caves ended up in that specific area so it at least wasn''t the intersection of all the caves making this vine. Many caves had dead ends, many were worse and were so delicate that one would either die by getting crushed under the rocks or would die even miserably by the strange magical reactions from the ores of that ce. We had to be careful with which path we took so Celes was using her clones to confirm the safety of each path and, she had already found the ce so we walked quickly. And¡­ "Damn, I didn''t think it would be like this." { "It is an astonishing sight to my eyes also. To think there existed such a ce just under thend we were all born." } "Pretttyyyyyy~." "Good work Celes." [{ Hehe, thanks~! }] Standing before a vast opera area, we looked around us at the brightly illuminated walls all around us that were covered with strange crystal-like flowers that glowed with their individual colors, which looked breathtakingly gorgeous, and just below their light, was a dark abyss, pitch ck with no light what so ever, ring back at us as we looked at it. This open area was a strange ce with stranger objects and even I couldn''t quite tell what these flowers which were not flowers at all, were made of for them to have such a diverse and attractive glow. But, we weren''t here for them. "So everyone? Should we go to the Crypt of Afterglow?" I looked at them all with a sweet smile, excited to see the ce that was once used to be the center of attention of all of the ind natives, as well as the people keeping a close eye on this ind that was a kind of threat to all of their kinds too. "Hmmm?" "What? Where is it?" { "I am ready. Shall I lead the way?" } "Ummmm¡­ I will go with big brother." Reina and Miss Moon didn''t understand it yet. Actually, they both knew it already but didn''t want to admit it. ''And still, both had their own reasons to think that way.'' Miss Moon was naturally hastiest to just jump down into such a strange ce. It could very well be an entrance to some dungeon that they might not be arable to escape from in their lifetime. But Rein on the other hand¡­ was so excited that she didn''t want to believe we really were going to jump into an endless-looking unknown hole. It was something on her bucket list and, this was the chance she would be able to cross that off. "It would be better if you lead the way, Queen Fio. We will follow closely." { "Alright." } -Oooooooooong! Queen Fio summoned a bright green light, covered her own body as well as ours with it, and¡­ flew down without any kind of hesitation. "Alright then! I will go first~!" And then, Rein jumped. "Ummm¡­" "It''s alright. Just go¡­" I nodded at Miss Moon and she nodded back and also jumped. "Alright, Zoe. Let''s go." "Yes~." And so, we also jumped down into this endless looking abyss-like hole which, at its end, was nothing even close to some abyss, but instead resembled a¡­ Chapter 580 The Keeper Chapter 580 The Keeper [Eon''s POV: ] "Whaaaaaa¡ªhahaha~." -Shwaaaaaa¡­! "I see the surface! Get ready!" "How can you even see anything at all in this kind of darkness?! I can''t even see you, master?!" "I have a skill. Anyway, we will hit the ground in ten seconds. Nine, eight¡­" "Hahaha! Thanks for this darling~!" She was having fun with this free falling and we had been falling for thest twenty seconds so this pit surely was deep. And, if it wasn''t for this light protecting us, not only would we have been crushed by the dense energies saturating this hole, the speed at which we were falling would have been enough to make even a spark of dust as deadly as a bullet. But thankfully we had this protection, so as we almost reached the end, and as a light became visible to them, they prepared spells and covered their body to protect themselves from this fall¡­ which didn''t evenst for a second and the spells vanished. "It won''t work! But don''t worry!" (: Shield) (: Reinforcement) (: Feather falling) Mana was the least useful in this ce. It couldn''t possibly handle the pressure of other denser energies in this atmosphere. But Solnova was effective. So by the time we had almost reached the ground, our speed which was absurdly fast, closed down, and a blue cube covered the three of us. ''Zoe was already down there with Queen Fio.'' She got the hang of this falling speed and found it fun so she increased her speed herself and glided ahead of us after telling me. She rarely was excited like this and since this little free fall made her happy, I didn''t mind it either. The light was bing brighter as we got closer and just after it became the brightest, we experienced the falling impact. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiii¡­! -Dhum! "Hehe, hello everyone~!" Thankfully, we were safe. The fall was strong and difficult even with my spells but, we survived it. "Easy there." And Rein was too excited during the fall so when she was on the ground, she experienced the aftereffects and almost lost her bnce. "Thanks." She was almost about to fall down with her spinning head, but thankfully I caught her. "Haaaa! I''m not doing this again!" But Miss Moon was in a bad state after that fall. Not physically but the shock she suffered definitely caused some psychological distress. She had fallen to the ground and was breathing roughly, but, I knew she was fine so I didn''t have to worry about her. "Hehe¡­ hehe¡­" And though her head was spinning still, she wasughing, so we knew she was fine too. "Don''t do those kinds of acrobatics in the air from the next time." "From the next time?!" Rein was stillughing slowly but my words almost gave a heart attack to Miss Moon. "No, I mean if we ever have to do this kind of free fall again. You don''t have to do it again if you don''t want to¡­ or at least if the situation isn''t too dire." We will defiantly have to do this kind of free fall again multiple times in the future but, I at least knew they won''t be as dangerous as jumping into this hole. ''This was dangerous, and if not for Queen Fio''s protection and my Solnova spells, us normal humans or even someone like Rein couldn''t handle this fall.'' But we were here, and before us¡­ was a man-made interior. A very unique and attractive looking one at that. The ground below us was sold marble, while the ce that we had fallen to was a kind of open area before an entrance to some kind of hallway. And the hallway that we were seeing before us was a fine area with unique carvings, patterns, and small paintings. It was a ce entirely carved into this ground and the ceiling was illuminated by words. More specifically¡­ "Runes." This was the ce I was looking for. This was the ce grandma mentioned in one of her stories. This was the ce that housed a treasure that one couldn''t find anywhere else. "Let''s go." Rein was back to her senses and Eva was back on her feet. We were ready, and hopefully, the following path was going to be a little better than this fall. { "I suggest Moon stay at the back with me. Master Axion and Lady Reinelle should take the lead and lord queen should be in the middle. This formation would be pretty effective." } Her suggestion was good, certainly, but, if we considered this ce an ancient ruin or even a dungeon filled with traps and enemies, this positioning would only be sixty percent effective. "Rein, Zoe. Beta three. Celes, theta four." "Yes. Branwen, thirty-three N two." "Alright~!" [{ Taking positions. Releasing advanced reconnaissance team. }] The position would be a triangle with Rein in the front, Queen Fio and Miss Moon in the center, and Zoe and me at the back. Celes will check the area and the presence of traps, and Branwen will be aerial support. Rein will be ready to summon Clover if we have to engage in some prolonged fight, and I will ready Lucy if things get too difficult. "Isn''t this¡­" Miss Moon had a confused expression but Rein immediately answered her query. "Too much? Yes. That''s how he does things every time." Miss Moon didn''t know most of the things, especially how we engage in difficult confrontations. We had trained for hours, days, and even weeks sometimes to just prepare for a certain kind of situation. And though the chances that we will encounter any dangers in this ce were very uncertain, we couldn''t let our guards down even for a moment. "Alright. Let''s-" [{ Master¡­ there is only this one path here and it ends in a giant room that you should see. }] We were just about to advance but Celes spoke up, and she seemed to be a little worried about something. "Wait, everyone." [{ "Show me Celes." }] I stopped and closed my eyes as Celes shared the visions from multiple clones that were currently examining the area at the end of this path. And, though I didn''t expect this, this ce was bigger than I thought. ''A humongous room where one such as us would feel lowly. Structures that contained a hint of advanced technology from the old times. Writing that the current world would not be able to recognize, and¡­'' A simple-looking pyramidal crystal floating in the hands of a giant statue resembling a bird person, something that actually held power beyond one''s understanding, something that I was here for, and something¡­ that would be very difficult to obtain, well, it would be near impossible. "Damn¡­" This humongous room that I was seeing right now contained three giant golems of that time, and they were highly advanced ones, almost as good as the ones in the academy, but even if we somehow deal with them, there were two mechanical arrays so powerful those golems would seem like nothing at all before them. ''But still¡­ what worried me was neither of those two things.'' "There''s a [{(Keeper)}] here." "What?!" "What the hell is that now?" "Ummm¡­ what are we going to do now, big brother?" A being that though created artificially by the people, powers, and higher powers of that time, possessed strength great enough to stand against an adult divine beast. And, truthfully, they were no ordinary machines. They possessed intelligence surpassing human understanding, strengths that no strong person could ever imagine, and in some cases, they were also blessed by multiple gods or possessed their stigmas, granting them the title of the mightiest mechanical masterpieces, the ''Keepers''. They had cores simr to what master and I created, the things that actually birthed the most perfect artificial intelligence but, nothing I have created so far was blessed, which meant they were the actual most perfect artificial life forms that existed till this day. And just being in the presence of one such phenomenal being was enough to kill themon humans. So, if we were up against something like that¡­ ''It''s better to just give up.'' And by giving up, I meant giving up on a direct frontal confrontation. "Forget the battle formations. Just¡­ follow me." I had a feeling the people that put things like them here definitely did that for a reason and, master did tell me this story and revealed to me the existence of this miraculous wonder so, there had to be some kind of a connection between these two. { "I have been waiting, descendants of the (White mes of life)." } And as soon as we passed through that long corridor and stepped into the vast, humongous room before us, the voice that greeted us confirmed my suspicions. { "It is our honor to greet you." } The Keeper was a ginormous humanoid with long arms and legs, a wide body, and in ce of the head, it had a single round mechanical disy that represented its facial expression in a pixel-like form. And, the name this voice just spoke of, this creature that was probably tens of times bigger than us used to address us, also enlightened me about many other things that could be rted to this ce, this being, as well as the precious treasure floating up there¡­ Chapter 581 Core Fragment Chapter 581 Core Fragment [Eon''s POV: ] "Master¡­" It was a humongous being, probably bigger than Rein''s grandma''s turtle. And it was made with one of the strongest metals on this, the Alcheum. And, it was further fortified with ruins, enchantments, magic, and skills, and I didn''t know how but, I could feel it¡­ { "Oh? You could feel them as well. Looks like you seed more than her knowledge." } This thing was just like the Keepers I have read about. Sharp, smart, intelligent, and absolutely loyal to the task they were assigned to. But still, I could also feel a unique thing from him. Something I had only felt from a few people I have met before. "Yes. And I see you are blessed by multiple higher gods. Looks like the thing you were guarding is more important than I had previously thought. But that aside, is there a reason they are like this?" I looked the creature straight in the eye, or at least the thing that resembled an eye on that disy-like screen. It had a unique body, the way he was made was phenomenal, and I really wanted to examine and learn from him, but¡­ "Eon, ahem! This is ufortable!" Everyone was fine until we stepped inside this chamber but, as soon as we were here, aside from me and Zoe, everyone else started feeling unwell and strangely suffocating. It was almost as if they were having difficulty even breathing normally so, I knew we couldn''t stay here for much longer. Or at least, we will have to deal with their symptoms as soon as we could. { "Oh, hahaha. It is because they aren''t permitted to be here. They can just take a step back and get out of this chamber and they would not feel the restrictions anymore." } It was as I thought. This ce itself was a unique space where only those with this strange ''permission'' could enter. "Everyone, it''s alright. Just watch from the back." "I won''t!" I knew she wouldn''t go out. She was stubborn, after all. "Rein." She would continue feeling this uneasy feeling, maybe it will get worse over time, maybe it will suddenly get far more severe than I can think. Or maybe worse¡­ I couldn''t risk it here. Especially when this creature obviously only wanted the two of us here. "I will not. Do what-" She would remain stubborn till the end, I had known this bad habit of hers for quite a while now. And since there was a danger this colossal in front of us, her anxiety was obvious. But, I had faith that the creature that could call a name that only a few of her acquaintances knew, would not harm her own sessors. So, Rein had nothing to worry about. And just telling that to her wasn''t going to be enough. "I will have to use a coin then." I took out a ck coin from my white crack and held it before her. And, her eyes widened as soon as she saw it. "No, you-¡­!" "I can. But don''t worry, I will be alright so, please. Just stay back. You would still be here, right?" "Do I look-¡­!?" "No, you are not dumb nor a child. But, I will be ok. Zoe is here, and Celes is too. Nothing''s happening to me, alright?" Stepping closer to her and handing her the coin, I gave her a kiss and pushed her back at Miss Moon and Queen Fio. Both of them couldn''t bare that ufortable sensation so they were already standing out. "You bastard¡­!" -Oooooooooong! And, we both knew it was a possibility, so, as soon as she was out, a transparent barrier covered the entrance and sealed them all out. { "Alright then. Now that we are free of distractions¡­" } The Keeper looked at us, smiling, and I knew there was something strange going on here, but I stood straight. Zoe was fearlessly looking at him as if she didn''t like his actions so I couldn''t just shrink out here. I was prepared for anything right now, and even the worst thing if the situation asked for it. However, different from my thoughts, the Keeper, the towering creature that was standing straight with his head held high, went on his knees and looked down as if a knight was greeting his master. { "I apologize for my behavior, however, it is my duty to only allow those permitted by my creators into this sacred chamber." } This was getting confusing. I practically knew nothing about him or what he was talking about so things were even more confusing but¡­ just when he was about to look up, Lucy spoke up. [{ *Master, just now¡­* }] ''It''s fine. Show it now.'' She didn''t have to finish that sentence. I already had an idea what she was going to say so, when she was being hesitant about something, I just told her to show me one of the messages from my grandma that must have been unlocked just now. And I believed it was rted to this situation so, I had to see it first to have a grasp of the current situation. "I''m sorry but, please stop for a moment," Looking at the Keeper and stopping him, I looked at Zoe and just a look was more than enough for her to understand what was happening. And, for some strange reason, the Keeper was smiling too. { "You are having a vision, right? I will stop then." } I didn''t know what he meant by the ''vision'' but I definitely knew he didn''t mean the vision from my master. So, there was definitely some different story in ce here, and perhaps, this message left behind by the master was the key to everything¡­ So, I closed my eyes and looked at the memory with Lucy and, what we saw in this message, was more difficult than all those messages I get at my birthdays or when I''m in certain scenarios. ''Lucy¡­'' [{ *Yes master¡­ this is probably a fragment of her actual memory.* }] Usually, I would see a nk white room with my master sitting on some chair but what I was seeing right now was far different from that. And far more amazing too if I said it myself. ''Fascinating¡­'' First, I saw the creation of something that I would say was the reason the ind of magic''s wealth was floating in the sky like this. I saw the process, the materials, the techniques, and the reasons. More interestingly, I also saw the true hearts and souls that the creators of that unbelievable piece possessed when making it, and their motivation for its creation. I was seeing everything from a higher perspective as if someone from a higher ce was seeing everything happening here, and this perspective that belonged to the being that asionally also guided the creators of this ce, was most probably my master. It was a new experience for me to see something she had actually experienced herself, which also meant that there were more of these memory fragments that contained the things she herself had experienced. But that fact aside, what I saw in those mere moments, were scenes of how the Inner Core was created, the reason the floating ind existed, the reason the ''Masters'' didn''t reside on this ind anymore, a fraction of what the Divine beasts was actually capable of, andstly¡­ the reason why this [< Core fragment >] existed. And why a being like this was guarding it. I didn''t see how he was created though, but the new knowledge that I had just gained, this sudden surge of so many things that was almost making me feel dizzy, was something that definitely opened many doors before me. ''And also something that bound me in the shackles of the worldly restrictions even more.'' At the end of this memory fragment, I heard her voice, and she just said a few things that¡­ were definitely something she would say. ''This was a long time ago. And it is past, history that is already far behind you. Still, knowing it will be helpful to you in your current situation. Just do what you always do. And, take care of yourself. Just say those certain words if there are anyplications on that ind. It will be alright.'' She was looking after us as always. And though this was the first time I had seen her memories, I¡­ strangely felt like I had already lived them before. It was, kind of ineffable. I can''t put that strange feeling into words. It was unique, and maybe it was because of Lucy but, I didn''t know it yet. And, I didn''t have to know it either. I know something important now. I know what he was doing, and why he was here. ''Though I still do not know how he was made. Haaa¡­'' Still¡­ "Alright, Codex Azmail. Speak." Knowing about what you are dealing with in all kinds of situations makes things a lot easier. Especially in situations like this where the speaker is a mechanical creation mainly based on the same principles that grandma and I used in the creation of the perfect cores, the hearts that gave birth to Anna''s Mr. Rice, mom''s little Xzavier, and also my threemanders. Chapter 582 Powerhouse of the island Chapter 582 Powerhouse of the ind [Eon''s POV: ] { "You really¡­ you have the ability to see the events of past and future just like your master¡­" } The Keeper, Azmail, which I just got to know was also a being that guarded not only the fragment of the inner core floating up there but also someone that possessed a great deal of knowledge of the past. He was a creation that the [< Masters >], those who created this ind a long time ago, and also someone with the eternal duty to protect the relic that was directly connected to the Inner core, and was a key to make another inner core if anything ever happens to it. ''Which though is unlikely but, it is just a reassurance on their part.'' The inner core was the powerhouse maintaining this ind so high up in the sky¡­ or it would be better to say that it was the reason it was still floating in the sky after so long. ording to what I know now, the ind of magic''s wealth was created due to a natural phenomenon a long time ago and was lifted up too high in the sky. The divine beings of that time, those who held the greatest power at that time, were at first astonished by the sudden phenomenon, however, someone soon realized the critical emergency this phenomenon had caused. ''The ind was too high¡­'' It was a problem that a piece ofnd was suspended so high up in the sky, and the even bigger problem was how this particr piece ofnd contained so many natural resources and mines. If such a structure were to ever fall off from such an absurd height, the end of this world was guaranteed. ''But thankfully, they foresaw this possibility fairly early thanks to grandma.'' They had a problem before them, and they were curious beings that found this situation fun. The end of this world wasn''t something they could allow so they had to do something anyway, so, at that time, they all came together for the first time and started creating something that could help them with this problem, and at the end of their endeavors, they created the Inner core. ''I knew about the inner core before, but, the fact that it was created like this for this and the purpose of leaving behind this small fragment that could channel the power from the main core was something like reassurance was not something I would expect at least from those beings.'' But anyway, that was that, and the chances that this ind''s core which was guarded by much stronger forces than here, was not something I had to worry about. So, focusing on the thing before us right now¡­ ''I still don''t know what this vision thing he''s talking about is.'' Yes, my master had the ability to see the events of past and future but the way she could see both of those events worked entirely differently. And at the end of the day, even if we can ept the past events in most cases, believing something that might happen, was not something she ever did. Especially after meeting an anomaly like me. Master had mentioned many times how the future is a perpetually changing process and how the past which might have a one-dimensional perspective for me, could be an entirely different story for someone else. The events, yes, maybe they could be the same for everyone, but the way they happened and the results they produced might change how one looked at those events. So, the ''vision'' ability, the ability to foresee the events of the past and future, was not something he should know about. ''But he did know about it, and he was smiling right now as if he had remembered something.'' { "Perhaps¡­" } He was quiet for a moment but he finally looked back at us with a hopeful expression and asked with somewhat hope in his voice. { "Can I know if you saw my creators? Maybe, how they made me?" } It¡­ sure was unique how a machine wanted to know about its creators but, since I at least knew what kind of being he was, I wasn''t really surprised anymore. "I did. I saw them, however, not the process of your creation. They were, excited, I would say. I would say they were happy when they made you." Divine beasts, gods, lords, and demigods. If such beings had created him together, it was obvious why I was not feeling any kind of ''machine'' from him. He was as much alive as us. And, it was actually made into a truth by the power of their origin oaths. { "Then, it is good¡­" } There was a smile on that disy¡­ I want to modify that disy if he allows it and give him an actual face. That pixel screen doesn''t look up to date with modern technology and personally, it''s a bit weird how that big of a creature makes those cutesy images. But, it got what he wanted from those little words, sighed, or at least did something like that, and smoke came out from his shoulder area, and then, he stood back up. { "Since you have already seen the past, you must already know I cannot give this fragment to even the sessors of (White mes of life) themselves. I am bound by my duty, and it is what I will continue to follow until my end." } "I know." Thanks to my master, I also knew it was utter foolishness to engage in a battle against someone like him with my current strengths. There was no way I would survive even if I used everything I had, even with Celes and Zoe with me. This being, no. This person, Azmail, was just that much powerful. And in the space specifically created for him, there was no way even the headmaster could win against him. ''His mission is simple: guarding the inner core fragment until the moment it is needed. So, we cannot have it even if wanted to. Not until the core is actually destroyed and the is about to get destroyed.'' There was a very creepy and unrealistic scenario ying out at the back of my head and I do wish with all my heart that it is just a thought. But, just the fact that I had this thought also meant there was a possibility that what I was thinking was a possibility and there actually was a chance that there was a threat to the core so¡­ the information about it would have to be concealed even more thoroughly. ''And Miss Moon will have to forget about this.'' Still, that was a matter for after we get out of here. Well, we didn''t have to worry about it too much for now. ''I can''t take the core, I can''t defeat the guardian, but I want the power that core can produce. So, what I can do in this situation that would grant me what I wanted and also fulfill protect his duties¡­'' "We can''t take it out of this chamber, however, isn''t just transferring the energy from it possible?" We can''t create a wired system for the energy transfer since it might be easy to detect and difficult to pass through those ore vines and that pit, but we could certainly create batteries and charge them with the core fragment''s energy, and take them with us. That was a pretty good n, which would only seed if I manage to create the batteries that could actually withstand the output from that core, and at the same time, store a good enough amount of its special energy. And my question made Azmail smile once again. { "I have records stating only someone like the (White mes of life) could suggest something like that. And they also say even they were never able to create vessels that could hold something so extreme. They weren''t able to do it, but they knew someone wille here someday, think of the same thing and suggest it, and maybe, just maybe if the world had advanced in the fields of science, magic, and technology by then, they will be able to do something that even they couldn''t. The only way to harness the power of the Inner core is through the method you just suggested, and, I''m allowed to grant permission to use the core fragment''s power in that scenario. I''m even instructed to share the Codes I have with the person that manages to do it. So if you ever manage to aplish-" } "Three years." { "Hmmm?" } "Be prepared, Azmail. To present us with the power of the fragment as well as your knowledge. By the time I graduate from the academy, I give you my word I will have a vessel, maybe more than one, that can aplish that." I gave him a confident smile that was born from factual knowledge, faith in that knowledge and resources grandma has left for us, and the confidence I had in myself and the people around me. It was difficult to harness the energy from something that resembled the Sun so closely, but, they were able to do it in my previous world, this one was more than capable enough to achieve something simr. { "Hahaha. That look you have¡­ they used to call it the look of lunatics. Especially when it came to father Azayal. Mother Archester frequently used that phrase for him." } The voice that his Mana speech produced wasughing, and there was a smile on that disy. ''I want to open him up. Or at least go inside him and take a look¡­'' He was a mechanical miracle, and it really was a being of curiosity for me. Haaa¡­ "Then looks like this will be it for our meeting, guardian of Spare source." I couldn''t have it, but I never thought it would be that easy in the first ce. This ce had already exceeded my expectations so, having a new project on top of everything I was already doing wasn''t¡­ probably too difficult, right? { "I will await your return." } "Yeah, see you next week." There were too many interesting things here that made it a good ce to hang out. And though I couldn''t have Rein with me, it was still a good thing to y. { "Hmmm? Next¡­ week?" } He probably wasn''t expecting it but now that we had met, how can I not hang around such an amazing creature like him? ''Hehe, we will be good friends soon~.'' He was here for thousands of years, alone. So, having someone who knew about the things here, and had a good topic like his creators to talk about¡­ how could I miss such a blessed opportunity? It would certainly be fun anyway, he holds the knowledge that those people, his great created had originally blessed him with. Something even the gods would list after¡­ But, none were going to have it aside from us. ''I will make sure of it.'' Chapter 583 Night on the outskirts Chapter 583 Night on the outskirts [Eon''s POV: ] We came out after our talk with Azmail and yes Rein was afraid and confused and all but, a very long hug and a few long kisses were enough to calm her down¡­ thankfully. It was a nice experience and yes it was fearful for Rein and others at the end, but it was mostly fun. ''And a quite unique kind of fun since we saw that amazing ce, the pretty mine, the creatures that were also cute from Rein''s perspective, and the experience of falling into that great pit that we had.'' Well, that was that, but thanks to Azmail, we were able to create a magic array at the start of the path that we can use to directly teleport down there. And since the only way to climb up that pit was to fly up, we received Queen Fio''s help once again. We didn''t spend a long time down there and just came out by the time it was night since I had a few things to do out here at the night so, we were out now, and Rein and I were sitting by the shallowke with a few newly grown trees around us, and a bonfire before us. "You remembered¡­" "Do I forget anything?" "That''s true too." She smiled warmly as shey in myp, looking up at the starry sky that looked strangely even brighter and filled with even more stars than the one we saw on that illustration ind during our entrance exam. "It was fun, now that I think about it. It was just a few days ago that we were sitting just like this on that illusionary ind, but it seems like a long time has passed already." I do also thought a long time has passed. Months probably. I would even say many chapters of our life had passed already. Things were different now. We were academy students, the student council members that were under the task to find a certain lost creature on this ind right now. Which we had already found but that aside, the time right now¡­ was ours. "Haaa¡­ I was really afraid back then," she said in her sweet low voice, and I smiled at my fianc¨¦e and kissed her. "It''s alright to afraid, it shows you truly love that person. But I know you also had faith that nothing would happen to me, so, isn''t that fine? It''s just a normal response and even I would be afraid if you were in the same situation. Hell, I would break that barrier or cut right through those restrictions toe to you." She sighed with a prettier smile when she heard those words and nodded as if realizing something. "I should have done that." She said that, but, we both knew she couldn''t have been able to cut through that barrier and stayed well afterward. She could certainly cut through anything, even the things that were abstract. She had that power. As long as anything existed within themon reality, she can cut that with her witchcraft. But, had she done that during the situation we were in a while ago, she would have weakened significantly, and then she wouldn''t have been able to handle the restrictions at all. She would get hurt and, seeing her hurt was thest thing I wanted in this life. "Haaa¡­" I sighed, the night breeze passed through the surroundings, nature was quiet now, and the nightly creatures were singing the song of love. "What is the meaning of all the things we do, darling?" She asked with genuine curiosity and it was a question I had also thought about in detail for a long time. Still¡­ "I do not know either. But, I believe the reason we live, is to find that uncertain meaning. Probably it is something grand, which I do not want it to be. Maybe it is nothing at all, which isn''t something you would want it to be. Then we would think it''s something normal like, to achieve true happiness and achieve the goals we set for ourselves, which would disappoint both of us since we had given this thing called ''life'' too much for it to not be something satisfactory. I wish to know the meaning too, but, what does it matter actually?" I looked at her with that question in my eyes, smiling. And there was the same smile on her face, showing how she understood those simple-sounding yetplex words. "Life is like a river, it flows. Life is like a tree, it grows. Life is like that sun that has shone eternally but still certainly has an end. Life, oh dear life. It is a bird that could certainly fly, but, has forgotten this fact after childhood. People grow, and then they question the meaning of existence. But they were once young¡­ and the only thing they did back then, was to enjoy this ''life'' with so many diverse meanings." She quoted a poem, certainly something she just came up with. And yes it didn''t flow well since she had just spoken it on the spot but, it certainly carried the messages across. And in response to such a beautiful piece, how could I not respond with something of my own? "Life, oh dear life. Did death say she loves you? Death oh death. Did you hear? Life is afraid of you. Child, oh child of the earth. Did you hear, both life, and death favor you? Oh men of the earth, did you forget, they both, favored you?" "Ptfff. It doesn''t make sense, silly~." Sheughed out loud at my sloppy response but, it was deep if you read between the lines, and something that was abstract, might change ording to one''s perspective, but still something that contained a single message at the end. And, she knew it too. So, after that cheerfulugh, she smiled bitterly and nodded in agreement. "We forgot. And it''s unavoidable, perhaps." "Or perhaps not?" Was it necessary to change as we grow up? Yes, change was an eternal truth but, was it necessary when it came to mortal life though? "Perhaps, we choose to change." Perhaps, we do it after going through multiple experiments, phases of life, trials and difficulties, pain and suffering that the happiness we receive during that journey seems insignificant. Perhaps we change because we want to change so that we don''t have to go through the same thing ever again. Perhaps we change¡­ to avoid that pain we once felt. Perhaps¡­ the fear of pain, is the force behind this perpetual cycle of grief. "Perhaps. But, don''t some people experience the exact opposite thing? Don''t those who have suffered, been through something very horrible, been through loneliness and pain, or heartache and self-loathing¡­ find happiness too?" Her question¡­ she was looking at me, reflecting myself in those clear pink eyes that I loved dearly. Her question was aimed at the two of us, the miserable duo that had been through a lot, but by some fatal w in both our fates, met identally, and not long after¡­ became inseparable. "We did." We found the salvation that we always needed, the happiness that we deserved, and the love that we both had been thirsty for the entire time we had lived. We found something people don''t. We found each other but, it was not something that would have happened had I wasn''t in that forest on that certain day. Even grandma, someone who had seen the future, didn''t know when we would meet. So, it was best to say it was all a coincidence. "But it was a coincidence that might not happen for anyone else ever again." What about the people that never found someone? What about the people that found their salvation but were too unprepared to recognize it? What if they already had their salvation but were too dumb to cast it away? What about the ones who had their salvation, and lived with that salvation, but that person that liberated them from the bounds of the world, left for the afterlife before them? What we had, what happened to us, was not something that might happen with anyone else but¡­ "But I hope this great coincidence happens again. For the people who deserve it. For the people like Chry and Alph. And I also pray the people who have that light already before them, people like my little Alf and Captain Alpha, recognize it before it''s toote, and ept it if the light is good enough to greet them first." I sighed and looked at her. And she was smiling, bathing in the light of this bright blue moon, shining like a divine being, exuding her own light that drove me deeper inside her eyes. "Haaa¡­ fuck everything. Kiss me." We were alone in this ce, Zoe and others were outside, ying with the younger mingoes, and we were surrounded by these trees that we grew with magic so, aside from these celestial objects, there hopefully was no eye looking at us. "Of course mydy." We were alone, so we could do a few things. But still, we could only do a few things. The time that changes¡­ I long for the day we can do all the things we imagined. All the things that yed in our minds. All the bad thoughts, that we were barely controlling¡­ Chapter 584 Prayers of the beginning 584 Prayers of the beginning [Eon''s POV: ] We stayed like that for the rest of the night, slept for a few brief moments, talked for hours, and admired this amazing ce. "This is the best." "Certainly." This was the best ce. The best ce to make a house, the best ce to make a base, the best ce to spend our time together, and also the best ce to observe the nature that we loved so dearly. "It''s about time," she mumbled and just when she said, we heard voicesing from the entrance to this space. "Papapapapapapapapa!" The adult mingos walked in groups, and they weren''t expecting us so they were a little startled. It was time for the sunrise, something we loved seeing together. And since this ce was almost at the edge of the sky ind, seeing that special moment was going to be even more amazing. [{ WE GREET THE LORD! }] They all shouted together and bowed their long heads before us in unison, which definitely was a cute sight. [{ "You do not have to do that. Just rx and treat us as if we aren''t here. Or even better than that¡­" }] "Celes." [{ Yes master~. }] She erased us from that ce and the mingoes were suddenly surpassed so they all raised their heads at once, and started looking around in search of their master that had suddenly vanished. However, the taller mingos, the creatures of (Blue) and (Indigo) rank calmed the bunch and exined to them we were still there, just that they couldn''t see us. And it meant there were special people watching them, so, they couldn''t mess this time around. "They all are cuter when they are together like this," she looked happy. And I wanted nothing more than this pretty smiling face happily sitting beside me every morning. "You are the cutest though. Always have been." She was almost flustered and was also going to have a blush, but, she nodded and smirked instead. "Of course I am. I''m cuter than Celes and Anna, right?" There was a smirk on her pretty face as she looked at me¡­ but her question was too obvious to answer, even with that forceful smirk that wanted me to say that same thing again. "Of course. You are the cutest hopeless person, Celes is the cutest cheerful, and Anna, well, she is the best. There''s nothing in this world cuter than her in the aspect of true cuteness." "Bastard." She shook her head with a not-pleased look this time. She already knew when I called her the cutest, I meant it in some weird way. There was no way she could beat my lovely dear Anna in the matter of cuteness. And same was true with Celes. My little partner was just too loveable. "Shhh. They are about to start." Queen Fio, Zoe, and Miss Moon were here as well now, on the other side from us, watching the group of mingoes in the shallowke, standing in the group and groups. It was dawn, so the sun was going to start climbing now. And it was morning, so, the mingoes were going to perform the ''prayers of the beginning''. These prayers were something rted to their unique cultures, and, since they were some of the few species with such unique characteristics, there were bound to be more than normal rituals rted to their daily lives. ''The prayer of beginning.'' All prayers were like instinctive responses to the periodic natural events to them. They were creatures that obtained their powers from nature directly, something even rare among the energy beasts. They were special, and so were these dances that differed a little in all the mingomunities throughout the world. "Look¡­" I grabbed her hand tightly and locked our fingers as we saw the night sky transitioning into a bluer one. -Chaaaap! The group of mingoes, mostly with their partner if they had one or in a group of three to nine if they were still young or had yet to find their partners, stood in the middle of the shallowke, their legs submerged into the water. In were standing still with a unique harmony between all of them. It looked pretty just like that, and since they were all colorful beings that one couldn''t help but get attracted towards, we couldn''t possibly take our eyes away from them when they started with sshing the water in front of them¡­ -Chaaaap. Chap-chapak-chap! In perfect unison, as if they all were connected by some kind of threads, they all sshed the water to their right side and took a quick half-step forward with that same leg, after a bent that seemed to greet the rising sun on the horizon, they finished the step while sshing with their other leg. "Damn¡­" Rein was amazed at how they were all doing it perfectly in unison without even the slightest mistake, and yes she could see the little tension hidden under their casual faces, but they didn''t let the tension get to themselves. They wanted to do their best since they knew not only their queen, but also we all were also watching them, so, by the desire to do their best, today, in these outskirts, perfection was born. -Chaaaaap. Chaaaaap. They all took two side steps to different sides and expanded their area, creating more space between each mingo. They all were facing the direction of the sun and we were looking at them from the side. And since the blue of the horizon was slowly starting to get intense, and a golden hue was starting to mix in, it was time for them to begin the main steps. "Watch closely." She was liking this so much that she had even grabbed my other hand, and was looking at them without even blinking. It was going to get colorful now. The dance of early morning, the beginning of the prayer that was only the lines and forms, was going to meet colors now. "Myaaaaaaa~!" -Phltrrrrrrr¡­ One mingo in the very front, one of the tall ones, shouted and, opened his wings wide exactly when the first rays of sun greater thend of thisndscape. "MYAAAAAAAAA~!" -PHLTRRRRRRRR¡­ And, just after him, one by one, with a shout of their own, the other mingoes also opened up their colorful wings, greeting the gentle rays of our great father. "¡­" She was speechless now, her eyes were wide open and were still locked on them, unblinking, not wanting to miss a single moment of their divine greeting. "It''s just the start," I whispered in her ear, and when she still didn''t look at me and just answered through the touch of our hands. ''Shut up.'' She wanted to enjoy this moment, and I wanted to enjoy her enjoyment. -Swiiiish¡­! -Swaaaash. Swaaaash. -Frrrrrrrrr¡­ The mingoes had opened their wings, so, when the subtle moment of pause in this entire nature, the natural event before the early morning, passed, they all first waved both their wings when the winds started moving, then the right one when the clouds were given life and the right one when the earth was painted gold. And then, they all started fluttering their wings in a harmonic rhythm when the faraway clouds were vanishing with the arrival of the greatest celestial body. "Myaaaaa!" A tall one, different from the one that had initiated the previous wave, shouted this time, and, they all stopped waving their wings, and, took a step back. "Myaaaaaa!" And with the shout of yet another tall one, they bowed deeply with their heads almost touching the surface of the shallow water before them. -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ 13:49 They stayed like that for a moment, wind passed through the ins, the surface of water moved in the direction of the winds, and, when the faraway surface of water first reflected the light of the rising sun, the shortest one in the group, one that seemed to be the youngest one of them, shouted in his tinder voice. "Maaaaaa~." -Kat-takak. And at his single, after dipping their long curved beaks in the water, they all stood up and tapped their beaks with their partner or the group members. "Myaaaaa." "Myaaaaaaaa." "Myaaaa!" "Maaaaaaaa!" Then the tall mingo on the eastern end, the one that had initiated the prayer, shouted, announcing the end of their first offerings, and followed behind him the three that had led them afterward. It was the first time the youngest one was offering his prayers so he should have been nervous at this moment however, he was driven by the perfect harmony of his peers and had joined their resonating symphony. He was doing better than anyone his age would have been able to do. Which was ultimately a very positive oue for him. But still¡­ -Swiiiiiish¡­ This was just the main part of their morning prayers which would go on until the sun had perfectly settled above the horizon. However, just witnessing this much was enough for both of us to decide one thing once again. "Let''s make our home, darling." She was looking at me now, her pink eyes glimmering with the light of this good morning. There was a warm smile on her face, a smile I could never say no to. "Our home." With the same warm smile, I touched my forehead with hers. "Home¡­" She closed her eyes, and a white light appeared on our intertwined hands. "Yes." I also closed my eyes, opened my third eye, and with a shared view with my dear fianc¨¦e, we watched the rest of the prayer with a unique higher perspective. It was the morning of thest day of our weekend, tomorrow was the first big event of the academy, we had a mission toplete, and we had a home to start building. However, until this prayer was ongoing¡­ we wanted to stay like this, connected to each other, and just, look at this beautiful scene that few in this entire world had ever been permitted to¡­ Chapter 585 Telling a few things 585 Telling a few things [Eon''s POV: ] "This was your first breakfast with us right, Moon. How did you like my darling''s amazing cooking~?" The morning was beautiful and this new scenery was making a home in our hearts already. "It¡­ I can''t put this feeling into words¡­" "Hehe." The prayers of the morning ended a while ago and we had just finished our first breakfast on ournd with the four of us, Queen Fio, as well as¡­ [{ Amazing~! Amazing~! Amazing~! }] [{ Wow wow wow wow wow wow. }] [{ This is amazing lord brother~! We have never had something so amazing~! }] { "Hahaha, truly. I never knew I would taste something so amazing after living for so many years. You sure are amazing lord Axion." }] Most of the other mingos were here as well, and they were eating the special blend that I prepared for them. ''And they seem to have taken a liking to it.'' They all looked happy as they ate that blend, something I had previously invented specifically for the omnivore creatures that ate almost anything they wanted. Not that they needed it but they all sure were some of the pickiest creatures here, only eating things that fancied them, and if they can''t have it, they wouldn''t even eat anything for a long time. ''It was good they can generate energy from the atmospheric energiesparable with their bodies so they were fine even without actual feed.'' But they were all eating this special blend with happy smiles, finding the tast of their favourite foods hidden somewhere in there. And I could see the ones outside had the same happy expressions as they ate the same meal. ''I could certainly make something every one of them like individually but, we would need a few days to prepare things for these thousands of creatures here. So we weren''t doing that today.'' I would take my time and talk with all of them, ask all about them and their preferences and try creating something appropriate. But that would have to wait for a while so I wasn''t telling about this surprise to even their queen. "I''m d everyone likes my humble cooking." Miss Moon first and following her, all the other mingoes here had wide eyes when they heard the ''humble'' word. And I knew they were all going to burst out inints, so, I spoke up before they had the chance to say anything. [{ "I know I can make some good things, however, if wepare them to my teacher''s cooking, the great lord queen that your ancestors respected, it surely is nothing. I''m nowhere near that level yet, but I have faith if I try my best like I do, I might be able to achieve that level in a few centuries or so." }] I smiled at them, and at those words, most of them who heard them fell silent. And those who didn''t catch what I said, also quiet down when the ones around them repeated my words. They all were dealt with but there was still Miss Moon to deal with, but seeing how the creatures around her didn''t say anything, she knew whatever excuse I gave them in theirnguage was more than believable for them. She didn''t need to know much but, she was going to be a part of our family so, she shouldn''t be in too dark about what was going on around her. She was kind to not ask anything about everything that was going on since yesterday and mostly about me and Zoe, so, it was at least time for her to tell a few things. "Miss Moon. I told them I considered my cooking ''humble'' because of my master, my teacher, and Zoe''s mother, the person that the ancestors of this mingos swore to follow for help for as long as their kind remained here. My master¡­ she was the most special person in my life, and her cooking was something I might never forget. For me, for someone who has eaten something even some divine beings might not be able to think of in their lifetime, my own cooking is undoubtedly insignificant." She was surprised I was telling her something like that, and when she thought about what I said rationally, she was surprised even more and her eyes widened with uncertainty. "You must be curious who or better, what my master was for her to be someone that the ancestors of these special and powerful creatures considered great enough to make such an oath?" She was speechless, and Rein and Zoe were smiling at her with their unique smiles. But, even though surprised, she nodded positively, confirming she was curious. "Well¡­" It would be simpler if I can tell her everything but, she was neither ready for those things yet, nor had she proven herself to worthy of that kind of secret knowledge. "It is difficult for me to exin many things to you for now, however, let me tell you this. She is someone with many names that had appeared throughout the known and unknown history. Many creatures with a deep connection to the past knows her by different names. For the rainbow mingos, she is their lord queen. For the great ancient tree, she is someone connected to his own creators. For me, she is grandmother, for Zoe, mother, and for Rein, she is the person she is the most thankful for. Miss Moon, I believe you might not know any of her names, but you should understand a few things if I say she was a [Saint]. A powerful, wise, amazing, and miserable one." She almost dropped her te of spaghetti that had taken the most liking towards, but she thankfully caught it and put it down, and then¡­ continued looking at me nkly. I could understand the things that might be going on in her mind right now, but, it was only to a certain extent. The chaos in her eyes and the expression of disbelief she was making was, kind of funny? And also cute, I would say? "You¡­ you mean, you are a student of a¡­ [Saint]?" She asked, and blinked once, deeply, and continued looking at me with that same expression. "Technically, her sessor. But yes, she was my teacher. She taught me most of the things I know now." what it meant to be a ''sessor'' and not just a ''student''. 13:50 "So¡­ you mean you now have everything that was hers?" The absurdity she was feeling intensified at this moment, and someone like her clearly understood what it meant to be a ''sessor'' and not just a ''student''. "So¡­ you mean you now have everything that was hers?" Now, there was a light of admiration as well as a contradictory feeling that wanted to believe everything I was saying and her own logical reasoning opposing it. "Yes. It is as you just said. But, Zoe has all her talents and powers, and more of her own. She couldn''t use most of it though but still, I would say I might lose to her in a serious fight nine out of twelve fights." It was a fact. She was young, a little more than three years only, but she was still a divine being, and a direct reincarnation of a high phoenix. Probably one of the few original creatures that have existed since the dawn of this world. And even with everything I had from this life and the past, I was still just a mortal right now. Someone that didn''t even know how to use all the powers I possessed. For one knowing this fact, it would be surprising how I was certain I could win against her at all, but since Miss Moon had been seeing Zoe as the most normal person of our house until just yesterday, she was shocked how someone like me that knew the headmaster enough to be casual around him, and do something even he found interesting, was saying he would lose in most of their fights. She turned her head and looked in their direction and Zoe simply smiled at her the way she usually does and¡­ miss Moon still couldn''t believe it. She had seen how the Queen of all these powerful creatures bowed to her as soon as she saw her, she had seen how she can talk with these creatures, she had seen how they all respected her, and she had also seen how that giant being under this grounds was only respectful to her and me, but still¡­ she had only seen Zoe as Zoe. She was a sweet, cheerful, pure, and good child. That was all. She was neither a superhuman being that can render people unconscious by her mere ps, or someone capable enough to call the dead beings from the realm of afterlife. She was Zoe, so seeing her as someone that held saintly powers was something, difficult. "Haaa¡­ it''s a lot to process." "Yes, that''s why, let''s start the construction process. The two of us have to go out for the assignment we received from the headmaster so we would be out probably till the evening. Zoe and you can talk all you want by then." We had some work so I wanted to give out the basic instructions to the helpers and let them start the groundwork before we went out and since the two of them would be here, mostly by themselves, they had a good chance to get to actually know each other. And if it was Zoe, I had no doubt she would tell her more of the things that she needed to know and ultimately prepare her for everything. So¡­ "Alright¡­" Miss Moon nodded and agreed to my suggestion. She also found it better to ask things from her instead of someone else so Moon was a little calmer now. But the confusion and chaos remained deep in her heart. ''But it will be alright.'' She would be fine, and since the breakfast was finished¡­ "Alright then." I summoned my white crack and took out a certain thing that, once again made not only Miss Moon but also all the mingoes, stars up at it with a stunned expression. -Ooooooooooong. And then I took out a few more of the tall creatures like them, some smaller ones, some unique ones, and some strange ones that¡­ caused an explosion of mingo noises throughout theke area. Chapter 586 Doro 586 Doro [Eon''s POV: ] Artificial helpers, or in simpler terms, artificial-intelligence-powered lifeforms programmed and created through the help of magic, magic engineering, and alchemy of this world, and the technical knowledge of my previous world. They were fundamentally different from the usual helpers in the academy or the purely magic and alchemy-based artificial creatures like the Keepers. They had a detailed program running them and instead of only a magic ore powering them, there was a sophisticated heart created to function like an actual heart. And this heart was also different from a golem''s core. It wasn''t their weakness but rather a core strength that regted the power throughout their entire body and maintained the ''Axiostasis'' a term master gave this process that very closely resembled the homeostasis of a mortal''s body. ''These cores are a little lower versions of the one used in our creations like Mr. Rice but they certainly are superior to what one could usually find in the current world.'' [{ Woooooooooooow¡­ }] { "I wasn''t expecting this when you said you would make a house here in mere days." } All the mingos were surprised to see these creatures, these artificial helpers that closely resembled the advanced golems and earth creatures from the southeastern part of the outskirts. However different from them, these creatures were entirely made of shining metal and attractive colors that looked pretty in this early morning sunlight. [ "Sup boss~." ] There were a total of twenty-four of them here. Nine giant golems were almost half the size of Queen Fio''s real form, six were smaller than them, almost only a little taller than us, and six of them were like animals that included a giant snake, an ant with big mouth, a weasel with big ws, a giant mole, a bird that, well, was a creature with wings, not anything specific, andstly the biggest one of them all, a creature that was visibly big like Fio''s true form, something that looked more like a moving fortress than a helper. The remaining three were small balls with wings that fluttered like a dragonfly''s wings. Some might imagine these creatures as that certain golden ball used in that sport in that certain fantasy world. ''Right. We also have the extreme magic ball practice from next week.'' We also had unique games here, that was half of the point of the houses and the divisions. But that wasn''t important right now¡­ "Hello, Doro. How''re you doing?" [ "All well boss. You look fine too. Though, where were we now? Thest time I was seeing, we were eating with Loli and Hox. I see the bossdy here and little Zoe but what are all these colourful pigeons?" ] The two flying balls were silver while the third one, which was also a little bigger than the two, had a metallic ck color. There were also red glowing patterns all over his body and he was the only one among them that could speak with his human-like voice. Though the way he was producing this voice was something close to Mana speech so everyone here could understand what he was saying, which, of course, included Queen Fio and all the other mingoes here. { "Pigeons¡­?" } [{ Pigeonsssssssssssssss¡­? }] [{ We are called mingoes mister flying ball~. }] They were genuinely confused and were looking around to see if there were any pigeons around them but they found none. And only when Demitree pointed out that Doro was talking about them, the mingos grasped he was calling them pigeons. And though it made them angry and they were just about to start shouting at him, I spoke up before they had a chance to do so. "Doro, as Demitree said, they all are mingos. You should apologize to them." [ "Whatever boss. mingos, pigeons, all''s the same. But sorry anyway y''all. Enjoy your mingohood." ] He was one of the five creations that possessed the perfect core grandma and I had created. Which obviously made them one of my most special creations. { "A unique way to speak you have there, flying artificial creature." } [ "What pretty miss? Ya said something?" ] { "¡­nothing." } And he was the funniest one of them as well. I loved him, and so did Rein and Zoe. "Yo Doro. How ya hangin?" [ "By your grace bossdy, I''m still round and flying." ] He flew to Rein and as if to bow before her, he slowly flew down and returned to his original position. He was my creation but he strangely respected Rein even more than me. Which was funny but also something positive. He was created to be this way. "Hello, Doro~. I missed you~." [ "Hahaha. Can''t say the same little one. Aftering from boss''s special space, I always feel as if no time has passed. So for me, I had just seen you yesterday during boss''s birthday. And I remember perfectly, you looked more stunning than that sun on the horizon. He must envy you still." ] "Hehehe, you are as funny as always." He didn''t have a face, but he didn''t need one. His voice was created to reanimate abstract emotions so, just by hearing this unique voice, one can tell how he might be a middle-aged uncle making a warm smiling face. "Anyway Doro." I called him, and he flew back to me. But he surely noticed the unknown person beside us, and I can tell he was curious about her from how he almost stopped to evaluate her. He was an important part of me, so since we were telling her a few things, she also needed to be introduced to this little floating ball. "She is Miss Moon. What do you think about her?" Stepping to the side and letting him see Miss Moonpletely, we all looked at the reaction of the little ball. [ "Hmm¡­ is this a new recruiter boss?" ] He asked his first question, and I simply nodded in answer. He didn''t need long descriptions. [ "Hmmm¡­ what position does she have? From how pretty she looks, and considering how weak she looks physically, is she some reserved support unit?" ] "No silly. Look closely. She is more than that. And she will hold the position of a ''general manager''. She will be your superior soon but since she is still in training, I believe you can teach her a thing or two." [ "Oh?! You don''t say~! Then there must be something special about her that I can''t see with visible aspects. Lady Moon. Please grant me permission to check your status window." ] He was asking for permission to see his status window despite only being a flying ball, but, Miss Moon had seen more than enough in thest few hours that this little ball''s uncle-like words only made her smile. "Of course. You can see my status window if you can Mister Doro. You don''t have to ask for permission." [ "So kind of you to put it that way, good miss." ] His voice contained a hint of eptance, we all could feel it. He wasn''t like one of the helpers present here, nor like any other artificial being, but someone that had no less intelligence than a mature Ego, as well as powers rivaling even some of the (Purple) ranked creatures. He also possessed skills of pretty high rank and since he had our perfect core powering him, his processing powers were far superior than even mine. So, I had no doubt he could see Miss Moon''s screen. -Oooooooooong! There was a certain red mark on him that glowed brighter as he stood before Miss Moon, and, a few rays of red light came out of him, scanned her, and when they went back into him, that mark blinked with a blue light for a moment before returning to its original red. And, as soon as he was finished with that, I knew she must have felt a chill running down her spine. It wasmon when he did that, but, I was certain what he had seen from that scan. And whatever it was, I could tell he was surprised by it. [ "Wow¡­ you were right, boss. She really is quite special. I would definitely appoint her to the position of general manager. She is perfect for that." ] I knew he would understand the best. He was the best when it came to evaluating personnel and workers and I definitely trusted him as much as my own dear eyes. ''And I knew these bastard eyes would cuss at me for thinking this mere flying ball is as good as them but, well, they can''t deny this little floating ball was, in fact, someone that it had given six whole stats.'' [ "You are good future general manager. Allow me to teach you a few things when we have a spare moment." ] "Right. The spare moment¡­" I called him out because I wanted him to look over the construction work in my stand, one of his areas of specialty. And since Zoe and Miss Moon were going to stay here as well, it would be best if she could learn a few things about both of them. So¡­ "How does thisnd look, Doro?" [ "Hmmm? Thisnd? Hmmm¡­ surely some of the best soils I have seen, with the perfectbination of nature''s blessing and coincidental development through time. It''s unbelievably good but why are you suddenly asking this I kind of-" ] He stopped speaking midway when he noticed the unique smile I had. And, when he saw this unique smile, he flinched visibly. [ "I-is this it?" ] And then he asked a simple question and, I also simply nodded in answer. This was the ce. He had known already there would be a ce where we would build that amazing house that the two of us nned a long time ago. And now that he was on that verynd, even he could not control his amazement. [ "Yes! Finally~! The time hase for me to fulfill my first calling!" ] He was excited so the flying ball danced in the air, which certainly looked cute so thedies were smiling at him. "Yes, yes, mister excited Doro. Calm down for a moment and listen to these instructions. I have to leave for an important task so I will be leaving all of them in your care." [ "Oh. Alright." ] He calmed down quickly, came back to me, and silently listened to my instructions as exined how he should start, how there would be an addition of a yground to the surface house, and how the outlines would be. He already had the house blueprint in his database so he would be fine anyway, but my instructions were priority instructions for him, so they were the most important right now. [ "Alright. I will start right away~." ] We could feel the excitement in that voice, which was enough for Rein and me. We both had seen his prowess, and we had taught him ourselves so we had more faith in him than any professional administrator and manager. "I leave this ce in your care Doro. And this new recruit as well. She practically knows nothing so teach her from the ground basics as you would to any new young recruit." [ "Do not worry master. Rest assured and go do your ''important work''. I will take care of everything here. And of course, as you instructed, I will treat this pretty miss pigeon-, I mean, pretty miss mingo as a site manager." ] "Ok." He was good and amazing when it came to his work. I was proud as his father¡­ even though he is kind of like an uncle to all of us. "Ba-bye big brother~. I will take care of everyone here so don''t worry~." "I would never worry if I know you are there, Zoe. Just take care of yourself as well. And I''m sorry we won''t be having lunch together, but, I promise to make your favorites at dinner." "Yessssss~!" I patted her head, nodded at Miss Moon, bowed a little at Queen Fio, and turned around with Rein''s hand intertwined with mine. "Let''s go see that cutie." Celes had seen a certain creature on the day we arrived here and, that very creature was the target of our today''s mission. We had to track it down and either take it with us, or at least report its location to the headmaster so he could retrieve it. It was a simple task and since we already knew its location, it was even easier. So¡­ this mission was just a kind of excuse to get away from everyone. And even though neither of us said anything about it, we both knew what was going to happen in that gorgeous underground cave¡­ Chapter 587 Their weekend 587 Their weekend [OP: ] It was the first weekend after the academy started so as Eon and the others were having their fun time in the outskirts, everyone else were also enjoying their special weekend. It had been a few days since they started their new life in the great academy of this sky ind, and since it was a practically new ce for all of them, it surely wasn''t an easy task to adjust to all this new reality. Some were doing good, some were pulling their weight, while some were seeking help from all around just to understand the basic outer workings here. And those who could not ask for help themselves, well, there were teachers and at the end, the ancient tree for them. They were the students of the academy so they least would receive a better treatment than anywhere else, and that much was known to most, if not all, of them. Their time here until now was mostly introductory. They got familiar with the academy, the sses, the teachers, thebs, the clubs, the extracurricr activities, and the great garden of riches. They were adjusting still, but it was better than the first day when everything was unknown to them and their official school forums were flooded with messages asking for help. They all had a basic idea of how to approach things, and it was mostly thanks to the great efforts of their student council president Zodiac, and vice president Cradle. They had worked their asses off to guide the neers. They were students until a while ago too so they both knew just how difficult it is to settle in this kind of ce so they did the best from their side and helped wash and every freshman if they had any kind of problems. Their new student council members were also new here so they were treated the same by them, however, some of them like Rein, Eon, and Alpha were already familiar with the ind and the academy a little so they also helped them whenever they could. There were a total of thirty six council members and six of them excluding Rein and Eon were extraordinary even among their peers. But Eon and his partner stood out the most among this batch, be it in the academics, their house leading skills, or their strange internal rivalry. And of course, the bribes they paid them too. They were amazingly awesome. And even though they wanted to deny it from their side, they had to ept the fact that they were good¡­ And since tomorrow was their familiar bonding ceremony, an important event of the academy, something that had only finished the arrangements at the end moments at their time, was already done, triple checked, and twice more inspected, they couldn''t help but think where these two otherworldly talents hade from. They were amazing in whatever they did, they finished arranging this event in mere days, they even made arrangements of unique food items for everyone. And it was just so professional that they were left speechless, with no work to do in that ce at all. After a loooooong time, they didn''t know what thest time was but right now, they were enjoying their holiday. They didn''t have anything like a weekend, but today, they were free. So¡­ they were chilling in their own ways. One was resting in her personal swimming pool, drinking her favourite bottle of wine, while the other was hunting another bunch of Rakshasa, and feeding their bodies to his beloved little baby. They were chilling, and just like them, the other house captains that also had nothing to do today, were also either chilling, or preparing for tomorrow, or were dealing with some of their personal things. Alpha was in his dormitory, sitting on a chair, looking at a wall full of photos that were connected with each other with strange colourful threads. There were pictures of unknown people, some pictures of the students of the academy, some familiar ones that we could recognise, while some of them were pinned to the wall with a knife in their heads. He was free so he was dealing with some of his stuff, but he couldn''t help taking his eyes away from a certain photo at one of the corners of this wall full of pictures. "Just who are you¡­" ck hair and blue eyes¡­ yes, he was looking at Eon, or, more precisely, at Lucifer. It had been eating him for thest few days but this person was even more extraordinary than him despite being so normal that no one talked about him without reason. He was like a red rock on the normal ground. People would notice him, sure, but it would either be an involuntary action or just out of curiosity. At the end of the day, he was just a normal student¡­ that was the image he drew on all of the other student''s minds. But he knew it was a false image. He knew this person was more than what met one''s mind. And he was going to find out more about him at whatever cost necessary¡­ Well, that was him as the house captain of [True dragon], and then there was the captain of [Fascinated mages], going around the ind with a bunch of her friends and house members, trying to help those in need. She already had more than enough and since he had earned a few ss points this week, she was using it to help those who hade to this ind but had lost everything and were now living their life as nothing more than a beggar. She had been through poverty and she had seen the days these people were facing, so, even if she couldn''t help them move out of here, she was doing everything she could, and, her house members as well as Alf, were looking at her in a new light today. The captain of [Turtle defenders] prince Alph was aware of their charity work but, he didn''t want to get himself directly involved in this matter so, he was being thier secret supporter, helping the person Eon and Rein had the most interest in so that they could notice his work, and open up to him just a little more. Quin, the captain of [Aqua mirror] and her vice captains, Titania the captain of [Fusion stardust] and her vice captains, and Chry were exploring the artificial dungeons of the academy, ying with some powerful creatures and teaching each other some things that they can use. They were pretty close to each other now, but they were only ying right now. There was nothing much to do anyway. Tomorrow was a big day, but, they weren''t much excited about it. Titania had a familiar, Araxie and Hide did too. And since Ca and Chry were weapon welders, there was little chance that they would get a familiar in this little ceremony. So, it all came down to Quin and Luna. A water mage and an ice attributable specialist witch. And neither of them actually had any particr excitement towards it. It would be pretty handy if she gets it or else Luna didn''t actually need any familiar. She had her ice creations that does most of her work so she was fine without one. And since Quin also had her spirits, she was fine too. But she would be pretty happy to have another friend to y with. Eon, Rein, and Zoe were in the outskirts so their house members were also freely doing what they wanted, so there was nothing great there. And Neb was visiting the Temple as usual so it was also only usual. The [Eternal tigers], the entire house except Chry and Gabriel, were doing a special training in the deeper part of their garden today, and they all were having fun ying and learning from the creatures of the wild. Princess Isabe was reading a book in her room as usual, Nox was getting beaten up by sir Zhen, udius was training as usual, the other prodigies were doing their own fun works, while Baal was training as Eon instructed him. Med was visiting her shop on the industrial area of the ind, so she was pretty busy today. And just like her, the headmaster, the Queen of bees, the ancient tree, and a few trusted people were busy preparing for the summonings that would take ce after a few hours. They were busy but, not too much. A certain young boy was generous enough to sell the top quality materials for the summoning circle at a little below the market price for this event so, their work was made far easier than the previous years. And though he was a cunning bastard, they were grateful to his contributions. ¡­ The ind was alive on this fine Sunday morning, bustling with the magic and people. The holiday was salvation from their daily misery, and though joy was everywhere on this special sky ind, a holiday like this, and a break from the harsh daily grind¡­ was still an important necessity for all the residents here. Chapter 588 Emergency…! Chapter 588 Emergency¡­! [Zoe''s POV: ] Since big brother left with big sister for their mission a while ago, the housework had begun in this beautiful~ ce. The cute helpers were doing their work of digging and relocating the dug soil, while the cute mingoes were all observing them do their work with fascinated gazes. ''Which looked even cuter~!'' They were all looking at them, astonished, and curious, and some of them were even poking them with their beaks, curious about these strange creatures. "Hehe." They were adorable~. Especially the children that were trying to help these creatures with their work. Not that they needed their help but they all also didn''t mind a little help from these little ones. [ "So miss, these are the artificial helpers, some of the greatest of the mechanical creations of my boss." ] And since Doro and Miss Moon were here, things were even more fun~. "They sure are amazing¡­" Miss Moon was the new member of our family, and even though she was special she still didn''t know much about her own self yet. ''But big brother was helping her so she would be fine~.'' Still, he left her with me today for a reason. So I had to clear her doubts while still not telling her more than she needed to know. ''Some knowledge that we possess is restricted and if I tell her that as well, she would not only be put into a dangerous situation, she might even lose a significant part of her memories.'' She might even lose the entire part containing her memories with her father, so, it was too risky to tell her things that we usually would have told to someone that was a part of our family even with the risks. But she wasn''t ready yet so, I had to be careful with my words. ''So Miss Moon~. How about we y a game?" I sat down in a good ce with fine grass growing on the ground and, though a little surprised, she also sat down beside me while Doro continued floating before us. "What kind of game do you want to y Lady Zoe?" "Oh please~. Call me Zoe. I''m the youngest among us so don''t be so formal~." I can tell she had a lot of questions for one she must have thought to be a normal girl, only to find out she was anything but normal. But she was too shy to ask those questions openly, or, she was hesitant would be the right word here. She was seeing so many strong creatures in one ce for the first time, she was seeing a creature like Fio for the first time, she was seeing a creature like Fio bow before someone like me, someone that she thought to be only a normal young girl. She was seeing many things for the first time today but if the person you thought to be the most normal turned out to be the most extraordinary, and then you find out her mom was a [Saint], then of course she would be hesitant to have any kind of normal conversation with such a person. So~! I knew a game that could help us a little~. "Alright, Zoe¡­" "Yes~. It''s a simple game of twelve questions. You will ask me questions and I will answer them to the best of my abilities, and I will ask you a question too. But you can decline to answer if you think it would be too much for you. Easy, right~." It was simple, and if I was going to ask her questions too, she was more likely to agree to this little game. ''She didn''t have any reason to decline to y some game with a little young me anyway~.'' "Hmmm¡­ sounds nice actually." She agreed pretty easily, see! She also wanted to y~. [ "Looks like youdies will be doing some important talk so, I will leave you two alone. I have work to tend to anyway." ] Doro was cute, and smart too. He just bowed to us and left us without saying anything after that. "Alright~. Then you should start~." Letting her start would mean she can gradually get familiar with how much she can get from me. And since she was the smart type like big brother, she would definitely figure out how she could get all the information she needed by midway through this simple game. "Ok then¡­" She looked at me with her own curiosity and asked her very first question. "How can you all speak thenguage of these creatures? It could have been a skill if one was doing it but, to think all three of you could speak with a creature is something too absurd all in itself." Her first question was simple if I say so, but, I had to give her a little more information through a simple answer like how big brother told me what mom used to do with him. "Actually, only big brother and I have the ability to speak with them. Big sister Elle doesn''t actually know how to speak with them but she has a skill that lets her understand everything there is. She can understand, so, she just uses her Mana to reproduce the same kind of voice frequency that others use to create the replica of that nguage''. It''s something others can certainly do but, they would still have to have skill and control over Mana like sister Elle." I paused for a moment and smiled at the surprised reaction of our Miss Moon. She looked cute here as well~. "Big brother has mastered Many runes so he could naturally speak anynguage hees across. And, though it''s not a skill, I can also speak and understand anynguage Ie across." That was it for her first question, and my first answer, and I gave her a few points that a normal answer might not have contained so this was certainly good enough. And she seemed satisfied with the answer as well. "Alright then~. It''s my turn~." I knew pretty much a lot about her since my big brother told me everything he knew and I had gathered some things on my own with my eyes and our time together so, there actually weren''t many things I could ask here. But, there certainly were things that I can ask. "So miss moon~. What''s your favorite color~?" I can see the true self of people, and in my eyes, Miss Moon, though very blurry right now, is a gorgeous red flower surrounded by dangerous cactus nts with poisonous needles. It is a blurred image and still, it feels so beautiful that I could hardly imagine just how pretty it would look when she fully discovers her own self. And, asking for her favorite color held a deep meaning behind it. I can guide her toward the path she needed to take just by this question alone~. "Hmm? My favorite color? It''s¡­ green?" She was probably confused why I was suddenly asking for her favorite color but, since she answered with green, it also showed how she was more of a passive person. "Wowy~. Green would certainly suit you, Miss Moon. But I think you should give red a little chance~." Red was pretty, certainly. Big brother and little Anna both have pretty red eyes and sister Elle''s Aura is also beautiful~. Red is one of the primordial colors of this world so, just like how there is beauty hidden in her misery, I believe she is someone that can certainly bring out the potential of her thrones, use them to guard the genital flower hidden behind them, and nurture the flower to be even more beautiful. She had that power and though she had never realized it till this point, she could certainly do it~. "Red¡­ well, I will think about it? It sure is pretty though. Alright, is it my turn again?" "Yes~." This game was actually fun~. We all should y it someday~. "Then¡­ can you tell me more about your brother? I still don''t know practically anything about him." There was a sad look on her pretty face¡­ but, if it was about my brother, it wasn''t right if I tell her those things. "Sister Elle would be the right person for that question, Miss Moon. The way I see big brother and the way others do is vastly different. So, I believe it is best if you ask it from someone that has been with him the most, someone that has seen most aspects of him with her own eyes, and someone that has also seen this world more than enough to know how the same thing that we have been familiarised with is for the rest of the world." I wasn''t the right person to ask this question anyway. For me, big brother is the best and most important thing I cherish with my entire heart. ''And thenes little Anna, and then sister Elle, and then everyone in our family~.'' "Is that so¡­ alright. I will ask Lady Reinelle." She was smiling this time, and, that smile of understanding was pretty~. "Okay~. My turn~. What flower do you like, Miss Moon~?" It was the same simple question as thest time but just like thest time, there was a suuuuuuper secret hidden meaning behind this. "Hmm? Flower? We¡­ there isn''t any particr flower that I like but, my father used to love the red carnelians. He used to say my mother loved them too. So, perhaps, I like them too?" "Hehe, it is alright to be uncertain Miss Moon~. I know you will figure it out soon~." She was looking at me with a little confused look now, uncertain of what I to say here. But I was smiling~. So she just smiled too~. "Alright then. My turn?" "Yes~!" This was starting to get fun¡­ hmm? "Wait." What''s this? Why am I suddenly feeling tense? I wasn''t tense though, this was fun. I was having fun. I... was. ¡­no. No! "Celes! What happened?!" Something happened. Something definitely happened. Big brother was suddenly shocked, worried, uncertain, and much more! I can feel it, I knew these were his emotions. Something happened! [ "Emergency¡­! Emergency young Zoe! I sensed an emergency signal from Rice!" ] "Rice¡­ Anna?! Celes! What happened?!" What was going on¡­?! [{ Sister Zoe¡­ something happened to Anna. }] "I know that! But what?! What happened to her?!" This wasn''t right. Nothing should happen to her. She should be ying in her room with the other Povpoi, Taika, and Mr. Rice at this time. Nothing should happen to her¡­! "Wait¡­" [{ Big brother¡­ did she¡­? }] [{ Yes, Zoe. And¡­ it was worse than I expected. }] "No¡­" This was bad. This was bad! "Lady Zoe¡­? What-" "No!" Chapter 589 Awakening attempts Chapter 589 Awakening attempts [Eon''s POV: ] It was too sudden when Celes suddenly spoke up at the same time when I received that emergency signal on mymand ring. We were in the middle of the ''stuff'' at that time in that cute big dinosaur''s cave, but there could only be two meanings to this emergency signal, both of which were very bad¡­ ''And this one was even rted to Anna''s bestest ever friend Mr. Rice. There was no way in hell I was going to continue that kiss after that.'' It was an emergency, Rein knew it too, so, we quickly got out of that cave and returned to Zoe and the others. Zoe knew about this too since Doro was there so she was worried, looking at me with shocked eyes as soon as I arrived here, and, truthfully, I also didn''t know what actually happened there since we had practically rushed here. "Big brother!" She was tense, she was overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, and since Celes wasn''t even speaking anything, it made her even more anxious. The mingoes here were all looking at her worriedly, they knew something had happened but, didn''t know exactly what. They were all worried too, and the most worried among them was the little mingo Demitree as well as Queen Fio. They couldn''t see her like that, they couldn''t see their queen and big sister like that. But, I had a few words to calm her down. "Zoe¡­ It''s alright. She is fine. Nothing happened to her, thanks to Mr. Rice, she is fine." "But what happened exactly?! Tell me that first!!" She loved Anna as much as me, maybe even more, maybe in a way I did not. She couldn''t stand it if she was so much as scratched by some sharp papers she liked ying with. If I told her she had fainted, I knew she would just jump down this ind and fly to her. ''Which was obviously dangerous so, I had to calm her down first.'' I hugged her gently, patted her head, and waited until she was calmer. It would have been a problem if she were to get too worked up and unknowingly release her power. The young creatures here wouldn''t be able to handle that kind of force. They might also get hurt badly. And she knew this fact as well. "Haaaa¡­ alright. I''m fine now." She knew from my not-too-anxious heart that there was nothing to worry about yet, but still, she wasn''t going to be perfectly relieved until she confirmed everything herself. And for that, she needed to know what actually happened. And I also needed to know the details of what actually happened there so, I looked at Celes on my palm, and everyone followed my gaze. "Alright Celes. Start from the start." [{ Yes, so¡­ }] Celes was there, a part of hers was always there with my little angel, so she knew what happened in detail. Which was a good thing. ''It would be a bad problem if this wasn''t the case.'' [{ We all were ying like usual a while back, little Anna was hosting a tea party in the garden with Taika and Povpoi children, and the big Croc was there too. Everything was going as usual, but then Taika brought up master and everyone else, saying she missed you all. And when Anna heard that¡­ Something strange happened. }] She stopped for a moment, and I could feel her hesitation just from that much. She was hesitant to say this part however, Zoe was ring at her, worried and anxious, so Celes knew she couldn''t just stop at that point. [{ Anna suddenly stopped preparing her tea and looked down as if she was almost about to cry. Then, she got up, smiled at everyone, and told them she was going in to get some more cookies¡­ and when she had only taken a few steps away from them, a strange red light exploded from her. }] She stopped again and looked up at all of us. Rein was stunned from the start, but even she was getting restless now. And Zoe''s condition was practically getting worse as she looked at the innocent butterfly that couldn''t even have managed to do anything. [{ Mr. Rice sensed whatever that light was and suddenly shot a strange white light at her,pletely covering her in a stranger''s white bubble. He did a few more things that none of us present there understood, but Taika at least grasped that something was wrong so she went in and called for everyone present. Mom was worried since she found Anna sleeping on the ground, but since they all checked and confirmed that she was fine, they were a little relieved. Still, they don''t know what happened. I think you should call them quickly to exin the situation. They are all still worried. }] She was worried too, but she wasn''t at least as anxious as Zoe. At least, this much gave me enough idea to confirm all of my suspicions. "I checked the data Mr. Rice sent and, though her subconscious awakening attempt was subdued this time, there could have beenplications if he hadn''t reacted quickly. She ''almost awakened'' this time, even though her body isn''t strong enough to handle that intensity of awakening. But she is alright now. The vitals are stable, and the energies inside her are also back to their original state." Awakening attempt. The subconscious process in which the body tries to go through the awakening process and create the Mana nucleolus naturally. Most of these attempts seed, resulting in the concentrated mass of energy, mostly Mana. However, there are rare cases when people do almost go through the awakening process but fail to materialize the Mana nucleus. In these cases, they mostly just die because of the Mana overflow, or the counter flow abnormality, but, in even rare cases, like the one in Anna''s, where they possess high affinity with a stronger power than the Mana, they gather as much Mana from the surrounding as possible and practically be a ticking time bomb that would explode and destroy more things than one can imagine. ''The main reason I wanted to push her awakening further was to have her body time to grow physically to be able to handle this special awakening. But I also knew she would experience this kind of momentary awakening attempt.'' Still, I wasn''t expecting the first one to be this soon. It hadn''t even properly been a week since the academy started so if she was starting to have them so soon¡­ "Big brother?" "I think we should tell grandpa." "You mean¡­!" Yes, I was thinking what she was just thinking. She had yed around until now without any interference from us like a ''normal child'' but, if she was going to have more of these awakening attempts in the future, she needed to be ready. "She passed out just from the initiation of the process Zoe. Next time might be different. Her body is too weak to handle that sudden surge of power right now." I was serious, this whole thing was serious. I couldn''t possibly just sit back and watch my dear darling go through those dangerous processes. Mr. Rice was there and I trusted him more than enough but still, the awakening process was something she would have to go through herself. She had to do it herself. And she needed at least a certain level of physical and mental strength to reach that level. She needed it, there was no simple way she could pass that excruciating process by herself. "Let''s call them." I took out my mag and ced it on the ground. ''I had expected it would be at least after a month or so after our departure but, she started them after a mere week, which just showed how much she misses us.'' I had not called home since we came here purposefully but, I still didn''t think it would be this bad. "Rein?" "I''m alright. Just continue." She was worried too, but, she was more worried about me. She knew I loved that little girl more than anything else in this world, she was the most special element of this world for me. She knew just as well as Zoe that however normal and calm I was acting right now, I was more worried than the visibly anxious Zoe. But at the same time, I was thinking of what we had to do. And also what would be the right course of action after this moment. ''There could be multiple of these awakening attempt triggers on a periodic basis. She might not even be aware of what happens with her in most of these cases like this time, which was not so good either.'' She had to be conscious at the very least during her awakening. And I also had to be ready since after she awakens hertent powers, she might just be a totally different person than we all know right now, both physically and mentally. There were still chances of someplications but, if the worst happened and Mr. Rice couldn''t protect her like he did today, he would send the second emergency signal and move her to our safest ce. Still, I hoped that never happens. "Alright¡­" This was a bad incident, I know, but, Anna was more important than anything, than any scenario progress, than any narration. "Big brother¡­" I activated the crystal ball on the ground and asked the others to join me. It was going to be a long chat, so it was better to sit down rather than stand in this zing afternoon heat of the ind¡­ Chapter 590 She’s fine Chapter 590 She¡¯s fine [Eon''s POV: ] -Schiiiiik¡­! "Oh. Master Eon. It is very nice to see you after so-" [< "Grandpa Zhen, we know. Just take it to where everyone is." >] One would need a specialmunication device to connect somewhere outside the ind, the normal ones didn''t work here. But since Mag was something almost global here, I had created a special program that enabled us to do the visual chat as we did with the usualmunication crystals. ''And since everyone was with Anna as Celes said, I connected it to the main emergencymunication center of the house where one of Grandpa Zhen''s clones was present forever.'' He didn''t need many words to understand we already knew about all that was going on right now, so, he only bowed and took the ball to Anna''s room. -Knock. Knock. And though the door was open, he knocked on it and everyone looked back at once. "Hmm?" Everyone was here already. Mom, Dad, Aunt Aug, Grandpa and Grandma, Mave and other Povpoi, Zuror, Sir Mel, Lady Niss, and even Aunt Haze were here. They all had worried expressions and were looking at Anna. And she was in a deep sleep, unknown to all that was happening around her. "Is that Eon?" "Yes¡­" That was mom. She knew just from the crystal ball in Grandpa Zhen''s hand that it was us. "Eon¡­ Anna¡­" She was worried, everyone in this room was practically crying even though they could see Anna was fine and there was nothing to worry about. ''This was the first time she had copsed like that, and from what they must have heard from the everyone present there, they must be even more worried.'' But, thanks to Mr. Rice, there was nothing to worry about. At least this time. [< "It''s alright mom. There''s nothing to worry about. Nothing happened to her." >] "You mean something might have happened to her?!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, her expression distorted and a new fear suddenly clouding her entire face. ''I knew she would just know from those simple words...'' That was Mom, knowing what any of my twisted words meant without any great effort. [< "Yes, however, nothing happened right? See, she is smiling right now. Doesn''t she look rather happy?" >] She almost seemed to be glowing with a new light, and they all could see it too. But, that just made them even more worried about her. "Eon." She looked at us for a moment with serious eyes and observed me and my expressions. I knew she could tell Rein knew little about what was going on while as always, she could read nothing from the happy expression of Zoe. So, her only source of information here was me, and, after her thorough observation, she reached some kind of positive conclusion and sighed. "Haaaa¡­ she''s alright everyone." As if they were all holding their breaths all this time, when Mom finally announced that Anna was fine after her observations, not only she but the entire room filled with people here sighed with relief. "What happened to her, baby?" A heavy weight had lifted from all their chests, some had fallen to the ground, some evenid down on the ground with their foreheads covered with a sweat of exhaustion. { "Brotherrrrrrrrr Eonnnnnnnnn! We were worriedddd!" } The Povpoi children shouted with worried voices and were about to go on to say a lot more things when their mom and aunts reminded them that Anna was sleeping and they all should be quiet. Shouting would wake her up and from how she was sleeping with that pretty smile, they did not dare wake her up from her magical slumber. ''And perhaps she is seeing something unique from her special eyes for the first time in that dream so waking her up right now would be a really bad thing.'' Lady Nissa and the others with magical abilities had guessed there was something unique about this special sleep of hers so they first created a few barriers around her, and only then looked back at me for the answers to the grave question before them¡ªwhy? ''It''s funny how all of these influential people were so worried over a natural copse of a little girl. But, since that little girl was the best existence in this reality, even this much was nothing. I wouldn''t even be surprised if a bunch of gods and divine beasts are worried over something simr.'' She was destained for many great things and all the darker things in her paths would have to face my arrows before they could reach my beloved little darling. She was the best, but the worry of the people gathered in this room was something that had to be resolved as quickly as possible. [< "So¡­" >] They were looking at us, and I was looking at them, and, from how much they knew me, this strange hesitation did not go well with them. They knew something unprecedented was going toe out of my mouth¡­ [< "Anna was going to experience her first Awakening attempt, but we terminated the process somehow." >] ¡­and this simple sentence was more than enough to answer all of the questions they all possessed. ''She just went through her first awakening attempt, which meant it was not thest time something like this was going to happen to her and it was not something she could have been able to handle on her own so the need to artificially terminate the entire process, something that urs naturally, arose for us.'' And since the one that did it, even though through his creation that she cherished more than anything, her little Mr. Rice, was none other than me, some of them had figured out I had already known something like this might happen someday. And they knew I wasn''t going to exin to them how I knew something so strange so, they didn''t question it and instead just kept staring at me like I had more things to tell them¡­ which I most certainly did. But, the one I had to tell these things weren''t all of them but specifically my dear grandpa who was looking at Anna with a worried gaze. [< "Grandpa..." >] I called him out and he looked at me with a somewhat sad look and then, smiled weakly. "Is it already time for that?" He knew what I was going to say just from the heavy look I had on my face right now. And, it was better since I didn''t have enough strength to articte those bitter things. [< "Yes¡­" >] I also had the same bitter look as him, and, when Mom looked at this look of ours, and then looked back at Anna''s smiling face inside the barriers, she grasped what the two of us meant by those unspoken words. "Eon¡­ do you mean it''s time for her training?" [< "Yes¡­ and, she would have to work hard starting with her physical improvement as well as her magical ''vessel'' improvement in theter part of her training. Grandpa already knows where to start from and, I will tell everyone what they have to do to help her with this little predicament of hers. Mr. Rice saved her this time but, she really can''t handle the power of her special awakening. She might even¡­ But, I will make sure the worst neveres to pass, and, as you all know, I can''t face her with these kinds of indirect methods. She might cry if she feels too lonely but, if I talk with her through this method-" >] "You won''t be able to stay there anymore and would want toe back? She already knows that." Mom smiled at me warmly, knowing the heart of her lovely children all too well. [< "I know she knows¡­ she''s my Anna after all. She knows me too well." >] Rein knew me and my past but, this little angel had nothing to do with that past she wasn''t part of. She just loved ''me'' unconditionally. Just like I did. And this fact was never going to change, at least, from my side. were now free from this little predicament, they were happier. Sir Mel was especially looking forward to Anna''s training¡­ but Dad "I will tell her you called." [< "Yes¡­" >] "And also that you said you love her forever plus infinity." [< "Please do¡­" >] There was a smile on my face, a warm one, a happy one, a joyous one. Seeing them after this little time felt like I was seeing my own family after months. But, they all looked healthy and happy, and since they were now free from this little predicament, they were happier. Sir Mel was especially looking forward to Anna''s training¡­ but Dad had something he wanted to say but was holding it back. [< "Dad?" >] "It''s her eyes, right¡­?" He looked up for the first time since this chat started, Tears were hanging on the ends of his eyes, and the red emotional face of a father who would now have to see his dear little princess grow up was happy, and sad at the same time. But his question contained a deeper meaning that he knew, only I would be able to understand among us. [< "Probably¡­ we couldn''t say. It is a possibility, but not a certainty. However, if I have to answer that question, it would be a no. Her eyes are her greatest strength, nothing could change this fact." >] I smiled at him, and this reassuring smile did its work. "Stay healthy little one. And take care of yourself." He smiled at me, said his goodbyes, and, continued looking at the smiling little angel. He was the father of a young princess, so, the burden of the truth, the perpetual passage of time, was not something easy for him to handle. But, I knew he was more than strong enough to endure and win this battle of fatherhood. So, I smiled back, and returned to Mom and the others¡­ Everyone had a lot of things to say to me, to all of us, and many questions to ask of their own. And we had time today, so¡­ we all talked and enjoyed this little virtual meeting. ''We even called Ca, Chry, and Alf to join this conversation, talked about all the things that happened, the friends we made, and things we learned.'' They all knew tomorrow was a big day though so, they let us go early and after our parting, as I returned to the ce we were, the outskirts where our house was getting built, I finally sighed with relief too¡­ "Haaaa¡­ it was a long day too." It was almost night now, so, Rein just directly fell on myp after Iid down on the ground with my hands spread out, and Zoe put her head on one of my arms. The two had just been as worried as me but now that it was over, they were relived. It was a bad ident, but, it ended in a good resolution, so¡­ "You two existed for tomorrow?" "Yesssss~!" "Of course~." familiar summoning¡­ we already had ours but, we could still participate in the ritual. And though very, very, very rare, it was still possible for one to have more than one familiars. So, I was looking forward to it¡­ And so were everyone else, right Celes? Chapter 591 Morning of the summoning Chapter 591 Morning of the summoning [OP: ] "Hey~. You excited~?" "I will get a cool partner. I will get a cool partner. I will get a cool partner." "So you prepared a lucky charm? Lemme see." "You will get one dude. Chill~." "I wonder if I will get a familiar as well. I want a mount I can ride." "Yeah¡­ I also want something I can ride." "Remember my friend. Meeting your familiar is not about getting lucky while ying some kind of game, but, a fateful opportunity that you will be encountering before many others." "Hehehe, yes yes~. We already have each other but won''t it be fun seeing other~?" [{ Everyone looks so cheerful, master~. Hehehe. They are all smiling, worried, anxious, and nervous~. }] [{ "Of course. It''s a big day for all of us after all." }] Standing in the great garden of the academy, everyone was mentally preparing for the big event that would start in a short while. Including Eon and the others. "So Eon. What do you think the chances of me getting a familiar are?" A mature female voice from his red-haired ''friend'' Ca. And to her question, he answered with a simple smile. "There sure is a good chance you might get a familiar too. And from "Hmmm? Like me?" what I believe, a pretty strong one like Alfred." "Hmmm? Like me?" Alf himself was surprised by the sudden mention of his name while he was ying with Uto. She had turned into an iguana-like lizard and looked cute. And, since they all did not know about her until now, the others were having fun with her. She looked cute to them too, especially to Med and Neb. Those two loved this pretty lizard strangely a lot. "Yes. Uto is pretty unique so Ca might also get a familiar like her if she gets one. I have faith you will get a familiar, Ca, but still, the chances are low so I don''t think you should get your hopes too high." "You said it''s possible and that''s more than enough~. I''m fine even if I get a normal little snake~." She hugged him with an excited look and moved back to the others. She also liked this new look of Uto so she wanted to have a closer look at those unique features of hers. [{ "Haaaa¡­ It''s fascinating how she learned polymorphism already." }] [{ "Right? I was super surprised when Alf''s call came this morning. It was cute how he said he couldn''t find her even after calling her. She''s cute to think ying hide and seek like that was a fun thing and, he''s a proper papa to worry about his daughter like that." }] Rein smiled at the two of them warmly and looked up at her darling. [{ "Let''s have an adorable baby like her" }] There was a smirk that looked more like a shy smile on her face. She tried putting it in a more simpler way but still couldn''t handle what she said herself and broke out into a pink blush. [{ "Don''t say it if you''re going to get embarrassed over it yourself. Though, I don''t mind it. We will have a baby or, who knows, perhaps babies of our own, anyway. Starting from the young creatures we would have to handle today, their new parents who would know nothing about their own babies, then after a while, the bee egg that the queen bee promised, the pink nightingale, some other creatures you want, and perhaps more special ones that we will meet on our journey. We would be parents to all of them anyway. And of course¡­" }] He smirked at her, with not some twisted meaning like his words from earlier but actually what she understood he was saying. And her cute blush became deeper with that. "The entire school knows you are engaged at this point, which is still hard to believe. But anyway. Just what kind of telepathy do you two use to talk of that secretive stuff like that? Stuff that makes you blush, wet, and hot?" Their vice president Cradle mumbled while passing by and most of them heard her words. But she had just walked away toward the stage so even though they wanted to think and question more about the things she said, they stopped and returned to whatever they were doing before, leaving the two of them alone. "Elle, Eon, don''t you two already have familiars too? Will you still try the summoning circle?" "Of course. There''s no harm in trying, right? Who knows? We might just be those unique people destained for more than one familiars." Lizzy was surprised to hear that but at the same time, there was a smile on her face. "Then I wish you two good luck as well¡­ by the way, what actually happens if the people who already have a familiar try using the summoning circle?" She was curious, and perhaps Quin was curious of the same thing so she came running towards them, leaving the little Uto and others alone. "Well¡­" The two of them were looking at him, and since Rein was out of her flustered state, she looked at him as well, curious about the question she already knew the answer to. "If someone who already has a familiar tries to use the summoning circle, it might either not activate, to begin with, or, if someone was fated to have another familiar and that familiar is something that can be summoned here, it would appear normally like all the others. Or in the very rare cases, if the creatures aren''t something that can be summoned here, one''s consciousness is connected with theirs so that they can have a little moment to themselves, know each other, know that someone that is perfect for them for some reason exists somewhere in this world and that they two have to at least meet. It''s a very rare asion and whenever this happens, one either gets a grand quest to go find their destained partner or the partneres to them even if they have to cross six seas or the endless space itself." His words were pretty but prettier was his voice. However, he seemed to have forgotten to say some of the things so, Rein added right after he was finished. "It''s also possible that the person who loses consciousness never returns to their bodies, or something even unique, the creatures that weren''t supposed to be here appear instead of the certain creature one had most simrities with. In that case, like how it has happened before, people get hurt even with the presence of all the teachers and the headmasters." It sure was a possibility but something like that had even fewer chances than someone summoning a famous origin beast. She was just exaggerating things, but her words were still true to some extent. They were a possibility that had happened in the past so, he couldn''t call her wordspletely false either. He just gave her another smirk like a while ago and that blush immediately returned to her pretty face. "You bastard!" She shouted, but, he was still only finding her fun expressions cute. "Hehehe. You two~. Cut it out. Looks like they will be starting now~." Zoe couldn''t help how her brother and sister were having fun while many other people here were worried and anxious. But they were having fun so it was ultimately fine from her side~. Their entire group was together today which obviously included Eon, Rein, Zoe, Ca and Alf, Chry and Quin, Lizzy and Med, Neb and Titania, Hide and Luna, Araxie, and Lox. Ball was here as well. They all were either ying with the little Uto, or were chatting among themselves, or having their own special little things going around. They were a group now, and though it was in the process, Chry sometimes brought over his house captain and Gabriel the guardian. Princess Isabe also dropped by sometimes with udius and Alpha¡­ or perhaps alone to take a look at Alf. There were a few people here and there that attended their special lunch discussions but mainly, there were only these people during their lunch and practice thingy for now. It had only been a week in the academy so this progress was ultimately amazing. They all were standing in the garden, the area before the great tree was turned into the stage of today''s grand show, There was magic in the air today, something unique that excited all the people present here. The teachers were watching from the side, the stage prepared for today contained a giant magic circle, which even though was inactive at the moment, looked nothing less than a piece of absolutely brilliant art. The vice headmaster was instructing President Zodiac and a few teachers for some final touches while the students were looking forward to meeting the residents of this floating ind as well as their own familiar partners if today was that destained day for them. The headmaster was not here yet but his arrival would mark the start of the first big event of their academy career. However, before that¡­ [{ A very good morning to all of you young ones. }] It was time for a speech from the great ancient oak tree who had resided on this ind and helped countless people meet their soulmates, about the meaning of what it actually meant to form a bond of a ''master'' and a ''familiar''. Chapter 592 Meaning of a familiar 592 Meaning of a familiar [Eon''s POV: ] [{ Today is a big day for all of us here, I believe. So, before we get started with the main events, I would like to share some things with you all youngsters. }] Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, towards Sir Quesnel, and wondered what he was going to say now¡­ "Looks like it''s treech time." "Treech time?" "Um-hmm." All our dear friends looked towards me while Quin questioned that. She was near me like Rein and Lizzy so she had also caught that low mumbling. ''Well¡­ I knew some of the things sir Nel was about to say already and since it would start after a while, it wasn''t a bad idea to give them a little head start.'' The contents of his speech were mostly the same so if someone had researched the avable data of the academy they would certainly know of it already. Few of them had an idea as well but, well, why not? "Yes, the treech time. Every year, Sir Quesnel gives a speech before the start of big academy events like this one and they are sometimes deep, sometimes just informative, sometimes fun, but most of the time, it is a great speech that one couldn''t help but listen to attentively. His words carry unique powers and everyone just gets driven into them like sinking into quicksand slowly. It is fun, and since he is a tree, the speech is called a treech. But it''s just a inside word so don''t expect everyone to understand it. Anyway, he''s gonna share his profound knowledge about a familiar-master rtionship so listen carefully. You might learn some interesting things." They looked at me with a familiar expression that said ''You already know it, don''t you?'' And, well, I knew some things, didn''t mean I knew all that was going to happen or what exactly he was going to say. I only had some idea, so, I just shrugged my shoulders like always, answering ''perhaps, perhaps not'' with a simple expression. [{ Hehehe master. They all give you funny looks~. }] We had gotten pretty close in these past few days, and it was hard to believe only a week had passed since we joined the academy. ''Many things happened in this little time.'' A lot of things actually. But still, only a short while had passed. Many things still await us in this school life of ours. [{ So I would like to talk about the familiars first. }] "Alright everyone, please pay attention." They all were looking at me with that certain look but then at my instructions, everyone ying with Uto stood up and the ones engaged in their own heated conversation also returned to us and looked ahead. [{ As most of you already know, a familiar is a lifelong friend, partner, and family of any person who is able to control Mana. And, I''m not referring to only the mages or those who have a Mana nucleus. By the ability to control Mana, I do mean nearly every creature that has above a certain level of intelligence. Everyone in this nature, in the presence of this Mana, can influence the atmospheric Mana if they just try to focus their minds on the task. Those who are able to control some other kind of energy are also ultimately using Mana in an indirect way. The knights who train their bodies get the ability to handle Aura, which is ultimately a far denser kind of Mana, and the same is true for those who use spirit Mana, Aether, Arcane energy, or holy powers. Mana that I refer to is not simply what everyone with a Mana nucleus can feel and see but all the energies which are ultimately made up of a single ultimate form. So, in theory, anyone can have a familiar, but, what is a familiar that we speak of here? The perfect creatures that we are meant to be with? The beings who are a perfect match for one? Those who we can connect to perfectly? If you have answers like that young ones, your answers might be the right ones but, wrong at the same time too. }] He stopped and the rough outline of the face and big eyes that were visible right now seemed to be smiling warmly at all the confused faces before him. ''Just like every other time¡­'' It would obviously be confusing if an elder tells you the sky you see above is not actually the sky but just a reflection and refraction of light through countless unique particles. Some who had the knowledge can understand it while many who had no idea what it even was would have no idea what he had even said just now. ''It''s like me telling everyone here that I am a very ''knowledgeable'' person who was taught by a divine beast and that the thing they all had considered Mana or Aura until now was nothing more than a sub-form of a singr kind of energy.'' We were obviously referring to the ''origin true energy'' but saying it just like that would create even more confusion than right now. But, in short, he was saying anyone can have a familiar and that what we thought was a familiar, might not be the truth that we understand right now. ''A familiar is a unique entity that in some different contexts could just be nothing more than a simple energy beast, something even I took a long time to understand.'' [{ Hahaha. Don''t be too confused, everyone. What I mean is simple and not asplicated as you might think. }] He seemed to be happy. Maybe seeing all of their confused looks was a fun thing for him¡­ but there was something strange about that smile of his. Something, different. ''Is it just my imagination or something?'' [{ *I don''t think so, master. There sure is something unique about the elder''s smile. From what I can tell, it seems like he is looking forward to something greater than those expressions¡­* }] ''Right? Something like he is looking forward to seeing something of a grander scale than this. Or perhaps it''s just our imagination.'' [{ *Well¡­ perhaps? That face is too blurry to make out his inner emotions.* }] ''Hahaha, Lucy. It''s amazing we can even sense something at all just from that expression. I don''t think anyone else can do it.'' [{ "Eon? Do you think tree gramps''s thinking something strange?" }] ''Anyone else other than this darling fianc¨¦ of mine of course, haha.'' [{ *Elle is amazing.* }] Even Lucy considered her eyes that could see the true nature of something to be some of the most unique things. They were that much amazing after all. That''s why I loved kissing her around her eyes. [{ "Hello mister husband? Hello? You there or are you wandering in your world again?" }] [{ "I''m here. I''m right here mdy. I was just distracted by your joyous allure. An ineluctable moment of my everyday life that blesses me every now and then." }] [{ "¡­ok. Well, fuck you." }] She seemed to be mad at my heartfelt words. She was so mean. [{ "Yes, we will certainly do that when the timees." }] [{ "Ohhh! Ohhhh! Big brother?!" }] [{ "A-ahem..?" }] [{ "Sheesh¡­" }] ¡­wait. Not this again! [{ "Zoe and whoever was listening, you all heard nothing, ok? And Celes. I think we will need to have a long talk about this." }] [{ Hehehe. Of course master~. However, in my defense, only Zoe, sister Ca, little Alf, sister Elle, little Quin, and Uncle El were hearing you~. }] ''Which means everyone heard that¡­ well, damn.'' [{ *Celes has be even more mischievoustely. I wonder what could be the reason behind that.* }] ''This academy obviously. This new openness, vast sky, this higher density of energies that most of the others can''t sense, and all the unique lights she has all for herself. A child would obviously be more mischievous if they have so much new stuff to y around with.'' [{ *But she is not some child though¡­* }] view, or from the world''s. 10:01 It is sad, but it surely is the truth¡­ which isn''t the topic of discussion right now. ''Yes, she isn''t, dummy. Not as we know at least. But everyone is a child by heart and it always remains a fact.'' And when that inner child dies, a normal person bes a monster. Be it from one''s own point of view, or from the world''s. It is sad, but it surely is the truth¡­ which isn''t the topic of discussion right now. [{ Hohoho. Young ones. Remember this as you go forward even if you do not meet your familiar today. They are the creatures your soul resonates with to a certain extent. Something that only happens in the presence of a family member or the one you love with all your heart. However, when ites to our family, we consciously know that there is a bond between us that bounds us together. In the case of a familiar, however, it changes significantly. The moment you meet your familiar, the being of nature that your soul resonates with naturally, a unique bond is formed and your souls are connected with a unique thread. Mother Nature oversees the formation of this bond and from that point, the ''master'' and ''familiar'' rtionship is established, but, being a ''master'' in this rtionship is much more than one actually thinks. Sometimes, a master ys a role of a usual ''master'' in this unique rtionship while sometimes, the master has to take up the role of a father or mother, a caretaker or a guardian, a lover or sometimes a servant, and in some cases, even though you meet your familiar and a link is established, they decide to leave you and live their own life,ing back if you face any desperate need of their presence. They arepanions that we can rely on though. So, if one is fortunate enough to have them by their side, treat them just like you would treat your own self. They are a part of you, and anything happening to them would mean something happening to you. But, I don''t have to go into details about that. You will understand when you have apanion of yours. The main reason few could find a familiar of their own even after searching the entire world should now be clear, right? It is like finding a being among countless creatures who your soul resonates with¡­ certainly difficult, even with this magic circle we prepare for everyone. Truthfully, from what I believe, it is all a y of fate. There certainly exists a being your soul would resonate with, or perhaps they had existed but you werete and their time came before you could meet, or the other way around. It all isplicated so, I only wish if someone is meant to meet their partners, they do meet them before it is toote for both of them. }] He paused and gave everyone a smile. A unique and warmer one than before. "Oh? Looks like the treech is going on." And just then, the headmaster appeared on the stage with a small sh of light. ''Show off headmaster, huh¡­'' He already knew everything that was going on here. And, he was perfectly on time for this. Everyone was already in a daze after Sir Qes''s speech so, this was the most dramatic moment. His appearance was going to announce the start of the event and just before his arrival, the area was entirely engulfed in silence, so, when he appeared, everyone was taken aback even more¡­ [{ Oh? Merlin''s here. Looks like we will be starting the main event then. }] And then thisment. How can they all remain quiet after getting so much mental stimulus? A volcanic eruption was obviously inevitable. Chapter 593 Greatest event of the era 593 Greatest event of the era [Eon''s POV: ] The headmaster was here so it obviously meant the start of our event but, from the way Sir Quesnel had left everyone confused and speechless, I didn''t think there would be a quick start to the main event. ''And the headmaster was here, so, he might also use this moment to share his own opinions on some of the things rted to the familiars and the masters.'' At least I thought he would do that, but, it seems like he had a different thing in mind. "Hohoho. Sir Quesnel, you can continue if you are in the middle of something. We are ahead of our schedule from usual years anyway so we have a good bit of time." He was happy, I can tell that much, but even more than that, it seemed like he was looking forward to something very interesting. Something so interesting that it was exciting for him. ''Hmmm¡­ is it perhaps the summoning ritual?'' [{ *I believe so too, master. He must be looking forward to seeing what kind of creature everyone summons. And the materials you provided were all from the home tower so thanks to them, the summoning array they use has been enhanced even further.* }] ''Hmm? The magic array was enhanced because of the ingredients. That shouldn''t happen¡­ wait, does that mean the array resonated with those materials?!'' [{ *I cannot answer that, master. You will have to question me.* }] ''Your denial is more than enough answer, funny Lucy. But if that''s true¡­ does that mean the magic circle was originally created to be used with this kind of material?'' [{ *I think so? You should ask me if you want to know the details.* }] ''No thanks. This much information is good enough for now. Thanks~.'' [{ *¡­I did nothing though.* }] ''You helped me more than you can think. And I know you will understand it soon enough after doing your analysis.'' Lucy was cool, amazing, and special. But she was still learning the human ways and stuff that was far beyond the realm of any kind of artificial intelligence. She was better than many humans could ever be regarding some of the things, and that mattered the most. [{ Hohoho. No, no. I just finished everything I had to say. We can start with the meeting of creatures of this ind, and then move on to the summoning part, how about that? }] "Sounds good to me. What about you all? Are you all ready~?" His voice was magical as usual so as soon as everyone heard it, even those who were still in a daze from Sir Quesnel''s speech, came back to their senses and joined everyone in the cheerful shouts. [{ "Everyone seems excited." }] [{ "Right? It''s time for the creatures of the ind to gather here so even I''m excited." }] [{ "Hehehe. Will the pink nightingale and the mingos be here too~?" }] [{ "Ummm, I don''t think so. The queen doesn''t allow them to go too far from their home without reason and they already loath humankind. As for the nightingale, she isn''t even part of this ind. Why would shee here at Sir Quesnel''s calling?" }] [{ "Yeah well¡­ I just wanted to see them again." }] She was missing them already, cute Rein. [{ "It is fine. We will go back to check up on the house''s status tonight. And while we are at it, let''s go take a look at the nightingale as well." }] [{ "What?! Really~? Yes! Let''s do that~!" }] She was happy just from that much¡­ should I call this a mood swing or just a normal reaction from this unique fianc¨¦ of mine? "Looks like everyone is already excited, Sir Quesnel. We can start with natural selection then." The headmaster nodded at the great tree with a smile, and the face visible on the tree also nodded, starting a unique reaction that looked unfamiliar from anything we had seen until now. -Oooooooooong! Rays of green light starteding out of the ground and started to spread out in all directions, and they looked so mesmerizingly beautiful that the other students were all stunned once more, falling quiet or admiring the phenomenon of nature. They did not expect it to be this beautiful, but it was just the start of the process. The green lights under his shade starteding together and bing one, turning into a mystical ball of energy that painted the entire area around him into a jade green of the forest. It was his invitation to the creatures of this garden, creatures under his protection as well as creatures that resided outside of this garden. This ce was soon going to be the stage that would host the creatures that even the adventurers fear generally but to the students here, it was going to be an opportunity to witness thousands of energy beasts that they might have only seen in the books or from afar, from close, and even interact with them. The teachers were here, the headmaster was here, and Sir Quesnel was always there as well so there was nothing for them to worry about here. -Ooooooooooong! [{ "It''s pretty." }] [{ "Prettier than it looks?" }] [{ "Yeah. A lot more amazing¡­" }] Rein seemed to have been mesmerized by the attractiveness of this light ball''s formation. And since her eyes saw more than one can, it was fascinating how she had that look of wonder and excitement as well as that pretty smile on her face. [{ "Show me." }] Holding her hand and activating my (: Vision sharing), I looked back at the green light with a new perspective. Her perspective to be precise. [{ "It''s amazing." }] The green ball of light that seemed to be a gathering of all the lights that wereing out of the ground looked something entirely different from her eyes. It wasn''t just the ground that the green light wasing out of but the tree trunk, the high-up branches, and leaves that weren''t even visible from here as well as the other nts around us. It was like Sir Ques was borrowing the power of nature from all around him to create this gorgeous ball of green light which, in her eyes, was far more than just a green ball of light. ''It was a ball of many shades of green.'' ''A piece of artistic natural beauty'' was the only word that came to mind as we watched the green of the forest, nts, magic, and life. But sadly, it didn''tst for long and the light ball started floating upwards as soon as the process had reached its climax. ''Reading and hearing about this is definitely different from witnessing it firsthand.'' It was well known that during the academy''s familiar bonding event, they call upon the creatures of the ind in the vast garden of the academy, and after that, they also give a chance to all people present to use the unique summoning circle that is said to bring one''s familiar to them. There are rumors that the process itself looks cool but because of the restrictions of the academy, the information about it is rtively limited even on the mag. ''But this is cool. Certainly. And if the process itself is this cool, it is unimaginable how fascinating the end result would be.'' The ball of various green lights flew up in the sky, swirled around for a moment in an effort to focus all the gathered energy in the ball of light, calmed down, and became a simple green orb floating in the sky with a glowing yellow light inside of it, and then¡­ the light expanded exponentially, creating a marvelous firework that covered the entire sky above the garden. [{ "Wow¡­" }] [{ "It''s fascinating however many times I see it." }] All of the young people including Rein and I were gasping at the fireworks in the sky, but Uncle El had a rtively calm and happy mood even after witnessing something so unique¡­ but since this wasn''t his first time seeing this it was understandable. He was still happy though. When I looked at him standing on the stage with the other teachers with that calm smile, I couldn''t help but think how special all of this would feel to him as a teacher of this academy. All of this being fascinating was one thing, but, this time we all were here as well. So, not only as a teacher, but also as a good uncle, a fine father, and an elder of our family, the kind of emotions he would be feeling at the moment must be special in themselves. [{ Masterrrrrrrr! Look~. So pretty~!! }] And Celes was happy to see this special firework as well, just like all the other familiars already present in this garden. ''Greatest event of the era¡­ it surely isn''t a bad name for something of this scale. It definitely deserves that exaggerated title.'' The current era was called the ''golden era'' because of the presence of so many unique prodigies and young people with greater talents and powers. The academy was the central institution that gathered all those geniuses as well as people that the world did not know yet. The familiars were creatures that were mostly at least as strong as the person''s current strength or their innate potential for growth from the general public perspective. So, in this event where they all had a chance to bond with a creature of great powers, the world couldn''t possibly wait to know the fascinating familiars the famous people of the higher ss, and the well-known prodigies would summon in today''s event. That was undoubtedly going to be fun, but, before we moved on to the summoning part, we first had to meet all the unique creatures of the ind and this special garden... ''There are some intriguing creatures that I was to meet now that we have this chance¡­ hopefully, though, there will be some space for me to move.'' There was going to be a swarm of energy beasts in this garden soon, and, by nature, the energy beasts are attracted towards those with high affinity with nature and elements of nature that correspond with them. ''Which meant some of us were going to get more of their attention than most of the others.'' Especially Rein, Zoe, me, and a few simr to us. It is going to be a little difficult for us now. Chapter 594 Too many… Chapter 594 Too many¡­ [OP: ] The green firework ended soon and the green particles of light that came out of it flew with the winds and spread all over the sky ind, meeting the creatures on the ground, water, sky, and underground. It was an invitation to all the creatures for the periodic gatherings of this year''s summoning event. And, at the invitation of the guardian father of thisnd, just how many could decline the chance to visit his home and pay him their eternal greetings? Certainly not many, but there were still a few who refused this invitation either out of extremely personal circumstances, or, just because their presence wouldn''t be a good thing for the young and weak humans present here. The three great species that were under their great queens, the blue honeybees of the academy, the rainbow mingoes of the outskirt skies, and the earthly creatures that served the fungus queen of northeasternnds, had also received an invitation from the ancient tree. But, the mingoes rejected it, as usual, so only the other two species of creatures were visiting the academy. The creatures of the underground were going to arrive through the underground passageways that opened on the east side of the academy, and the creatures of the water were going to arrive through the open waterways that opened at the northern part of the academy. The creatures of the sky were going to arrive through the sky road that ended at the top of the library on the western end of the academy while the intelligent creatures with a teleportation ability will arrive through the central summoning area at the middle part of the academy. Thest few remaining creatures who lived in the city area of Sky Ind would arrive through the front gate and pass through the magic engineeringb''s area before reaching the ce all of them were in. And they all were on the move already so it wasn''t going to take long for them to reach their destination. It was only a little while away¡­ and the students gathered in the garden before the ancient tree couldn''t help but get excited as they thought about how they were soon going to be in the presence of arge number of energy beasts. They were excited, and though the speech of Sir Quesnel had confused them a little, they still knew a familiar, at the end of the day, was their partner and a friend. And¡­ the fact that some will consider the familiars their ves, servants, and tools, was going to remain unchanging, at least for the following few months. Disciplining their house members was the job of all the house captains and since the familiars were an undeniably important asset of a house, they couldn''t possibly overlook their existence¡­ All familiars were important, be it a simple (Red) rank poison rat, or an (Indigo) rank intelligent species. It was the house captain''s job to look after what their house members bond with, so, as the captains, all twenty of them were also looking forward to the creatures that were about to arrive in this garden. And though six out of the twenty of them already had familiars, they were looking forward to seeing the end results of this entire event. This familiar summoning event was going to be the start of the ''house battles'' so there was no way they wouldn''t take this event more seriously than any other person in this academy. Their careers as captains depended on this, so, they were serious¡­ or were having fun with everything that was going on, putting the unnecessary burden to a side, just enjoying everything happening at the moment. It was fun, certainly. From how there was a grand stage set under the great tree, how all the teachers of the academy were here, how the headmaster and vice headmaster were here, to how the familiars of the people who already had one were present here. There was excitement and anxiety in the air, happiness, and restlessness too. However, the most prominent emotion standing above all was the joy in this air¡­ which was quickly reced with uncertainty when the very first creatures of the ind arrived in the summoning area of the upper center of the academy, or it was better to say when they appeared outside of it. [{ Hahaha, Peripir seems to have missed the coordinates just like every time. }] From what they all could see, there was a giant elephant floating beside the central part with the grand summoning circle, and this giant elephant was so humongous that they didn''t even have to guess who or what it was. "That''s the speaking ancient mammoth?" "I¡­ didn''t think it would be this big¡­" "He''s one of thest surviving creatures of past times, his presence on this ind alone is a miracle." Quin and Lizzy were bbergasted at the appearance of that creature, but Eon''s answer reminded them of what they had read or heard about him in the books. "I have seen bigger ones though." But the way Rein said this while looking at Eon with a smilepletely distracted both of them, as well as a lot of the people around them, bringing them back to the present. It sounded totally inappropriate, she knew that and still said it, knowing full well he would know what she was referring to. "Certainly." Eon nodded too without giving any deep expression which made things even moreplicated¡­ however, they were talking about the keeper they had seen during their encounter yesterday so in truth, there was nothing inappropriate with this little talk of theirs. People weren''t going to know of it anyway though so, they started thinking about many worldly things, fantasizing about the two of them, flying in their own sky of imagination until¡­ "PHEMAAAAAAA!" The sound of an elephant''s roar rang all throughout the garden as the creature visible in the sky shrunk down and vanished after breaking all the fantasies of the poor students. Then, some creatures appeared on the open stage with a bright sh of light, standing on one or multiple legs, or floating in the air if they couldn''t normally stand for personal reasons. { "It ptssssssis nice to meet you all again." } "Nice to see you as well Master Cod and everyone else. It seems like you arrived before-" The headmaster''s voice was audible to all of them as always and he was talking with the snake-headed humanoid being, a Naga by species but someone who wore a mage outfit and carried an old-looking magic staff in his hand. With him were a few other Nagas, humanoid creatures that were unique in themselves, creatures that were floating or were inside a bubble like the giant elephant from before, and, normal energy beasts with eyes that contained a kind of wisdom that no normal creature could ever possess¡­ The elder Naga seemed to be an important figure among them but aside from a few, most students didn''t know of his identity, and it was fine that way. They were only students of this academy for now so they didn''t need to know the internal matters or the identity of all the people like him that would be present there today. They weren''t qualified to know it anyway and they could just spend some money to get the information about them if they were ever too curious. The info dealers charged an absurd amount of money for that though so they should just feel satisfied with what they all were getting already. The snake person, or Master Cod as the headmaster called him, greeted him first but just when he was greeting him back, they all felt a great presence from the back and turned around with a smile on their faces. "They are here as well." In the distance, if one focused a little, they could see a strange presence of arge wave of water, and above this wave of water was a creature resembling a whale, possessing even more majestic size than the elephant they had seen a moment ago. "The maintainer of the northernke." At the same time, from their right side, another strange voice was heard so some of them turned their heads to that side, and an enormous flock of flying creatures with a ginormous eagle-like bird in the lead. "The heavenly messenger of the gods." -Zum. ZuM. ZUm. ZUM,. Then from their back, vibrations of the earth''s shaking were felt so they all looked behind, only to find anotherrge wave of ground creatures, mostly small and medium ones with the size of an insect to a normal elephant. There were a fewrge creatures in the lead of these ground creatures but the most noteworthy ones were a normal-sized cat with majestic purple fur sitting atop a blue camel like some queen, a pure white rat that sat atop a pnquin lifted by six strangely muscr rats, and a lone tiger cub walking alone like the king of these creatures at the very left side. "The dealer, the owner, and the little tester." They looked cute¡­ at least for the most part and in the eyes of most people like Eon, Rein, and Zoe but, for the normal students, even some of thesemon creatures were a source of fear, uncertainty, and dread. Not only did they look intimidating, their presence was also making many of them ufortable. It was strange how all of it happened in only a few minutes but by the time the students had calmed their wildly beating hearts, they were all already surrounded by creatures on all sides¡­ And, there were too many creatures here now. Including the first ones who stood on the strange, the aquatic creatures inside the wave of water that circled around the giant whale, the ground creatures that covered the ground, the underground creatures that camest, and the flying creatures that were now either sitting on the branches of the ancient tree or other trees in the area, there were just¡­ too many of them here. It had all happened in a short while but, the moment of truth was here. The creatures had now gathered all around the ancient tree and, even though a little intimidating, they were their guests in this event today so the students had to be in their best behaviors. Still, the fact that their numbers were more than any of them expected was true. There were just, too many of them. Too many... Chapter 595 Island residents’s greetings Chapter 595 Ind residents¡¯s greetings [Eon''s POV: ] ''Well, well, well. It was sudden, and instead of surprising, I would say this usual thing was expected. At least for the teachers. For students, this was chaos once again.'' -Pum-parump-pum! It all happened moments after the Naga and other higher-intelligence beings arrived here so it was a huge surprise for all of them. To suddenly see a whale on a sky ind floating in the sky with such arge quantity of water that it seemed to be a river itself, a white eagle with shining feathers that seemed to be gold with so many birds that when they arrived here, a shadow was cast all through the garden, and then there were ground and underground creatures¡­ It was a hubaloo for the beasts but for the poor students who had never even seen a hundred energy beasts together, this sudden gathering of thousands of creatures was nothing less than a primordial shock if I said so myself. ''They were just too shocked, lol.'' "KHEHEHETRRRRSK." The time was flowing even quicker as the atmosphere was filled with the cheerful sounds of all the creatures, but for the students who were looking around at the creatures, this was more of a fearful experience than anything fun. [{ Hohoho. Wee, everyone. }] But as I knew, Sir Quesnel spoke up with his unique voice and a wave of calmness washed over all of their innate worries and at least calmed their hearts. { "WE GREET THE GREAT FATHER!" } "MUHOOOOOOOOON!" And then, the creatures who possessed Mana speech including the giant blue whale, the white eagle, the three city dwellers: the cat, mouse, and tiger trio, as well as the others, shouted their greeting all at once and paid their respects to the ancient tree in their own way. He was the oldest, wisest, and most respected being in thisnd so their greeting was obviously an expected thing, but the way the intelligent beings on the stage didn''t do anything in particr to show their respect to him, was something many students who noticed this found strange toprehend. They were special, the students could tell that much, but they were still the residents of this ind like all these creatures present here then, They should have also done something to show their respects to the great ancient oak. ''However, they just stood there and bowed a little, which, in my opinion, was some of the most sincere greeting those creatures would give to a being like him.'' One reason they were all in a separate group from all the other creatures was their intelligence and the ability to use aplicated technique like teleportation. However, the second reason was their understanding of the truth that the other creatures did not know about this ind and this tall ancient tree. ''Sir Quesnel, however respected he may be in this academy, was still something that was restricting many things to all the elements on this ind. He was controlling some aspects of this nature artificially, and as the creatures of nature who knew of this certain fact, they couldn''t respect him the way all the other ignorant creatures did.'' But these intelligent creatures also knew there was a certain reason he had to do what he did. They all might die otherwise if he stopped doing one of the core tasks he was assigned by his creators.'' He didn''t mind they didn''t like him that much as long as they were good to all the people here and these intelligent creatures had a strong friendship with the headmaster so he didn''t have to worry about them at all. They were all here for this event just like the other creatures and the creatures were here to meet all the students and find a partner they could be with and do unique and fun things with. ''Though, they were primarily here because Sir Ques had called them.'' There were thousands of energy beasts all around us and many of them were young children. Some of them were even infants carried by their mothers or guardians so it wasn''t like they were here specifically for the students. For them, the students were secondary things, perhaps tertiary. Some of them might not even know they were going to meet so many people in this ce. But for my fellow students, this amazing scenery before them was a piece of great amazement, fear, and reluctance. { "Hello to everyone present here. It is a pleasure to have you all here among us like this on this fine day." } Headmaster greeted all the creatures with his Mana-infused voice and I knew this was the start of the first phase of today''s grand event. He was smiling as well, so it was easy to say he was looking forward to something more unique. [{ "It''s starting Eon." }] [{ "Yeah. And I can see they have started noticing everyone''s unique presence." }] [{ "They will jump on us, won''t they?" }] [{ "I think so they will, yes. Be careful not to hurt them though. Most of them are weaker than what we are used to." }] [{ "Yes I know that¡­ but aren''t they cute~!" }] Here she goes again, calling things that are generally considered a source of fear by most others ''cute''. ''She''s the cutest thing here though. Even those googly-joogly babies paled before her cuteness¡­ or perhaps not? Hey, they are actually adorable this time.'' There were many baby creatures and they all looked so cute that even I was getting off the track from their innocence and pure charm. ''Ugh¡­ they are adorable~.'' There were many of those little cuties here, mostly with their mothers and older beings apanying them, but they were here so it was certain that we could y with them~. [{ These young ones are the academy''s new students so I hope you all will take care of them or at least give them a chance to learn some important things about life that will help them in their time forward. }] It was the announcement of the start by Sir Quesnel so the teachers all bowed to the headmaster before spreading out all over the garden, taking charge of a certain group of creatures that they had already been assigned to. I saw Uncle El going towards the giant whale, the guardian being of the onlyke on this sky ind, and an entity that''s perhaps as old as the headmaster. Our homeroom teacher Sir Jez, on the other hand, went towards the white-gold eagle, the holy bird that was a sixth-generation leader of all the birds on the ind. Some of them upied the area with the creatures they were most suited for but still, Lady Vivi was going to be in charge of thergest group here. ''But, the signal was given and it wasn''t just for the students, it was for the creatures as well, so¡­'' -Thudum. Thudum! Thudum!!! -Flop. Flop. Flop. Flop! -Shruuuuuuu¡­ "MUHAAAAAAAA!" "ZHAPTZHAPTZHAPT!" "Tktktktktktktkt!" The creatures were surrounding us students but at the signal, they all also spread out and started gathering around the students they all found the most attractive. It was the start, and some students were going to find their partners among them, but for some of us who already had a familiar, their presence was going to be a little different from the other hopeful love finders¡­ Chapter 596 Their excited reactions Chapter 596 Their excited reactions [Eon''s PoV: ] The ground creatures, the sky creatures, the aquatic creatures, and the underground creatures all followed their basic instincts and went around the ces that attracted them the most, and, some of us were like stuff carrying their most beloved food items¡­ they started running towards us madly. [{ "Haaa¡­ get ready darling." }] [{ "You too. Just don''t get-" }] Even before she could finish, some (Shadow minions), creatures resembling little puppies, jumped out of the shadows and hugged her with the purest and happiest smiles, some other darkness attribute creatures following right behind them. She possessed an extremely powerful darkness attribute affinity so she was like a ma to all of them. But that wasn''t all. The aquatic creatures will show a great interest in her as well thanks to the wonderful water attribute affinity but their movement speed was slower than even the turtles present here because of the way they were moving, so, they will take their sweet time. ''They were using their ability to control water to move the water around them, or they were getting help from the other creatures who could move them. The teachers were helping as well but themunication barrier was in ce here too. They couldn''t talk with the creatures directly so It wasn''t an easy task. But they all had their ways.'' But I shouldn''t worry about them¡­ "Mooooooooo!" The first creature that jumped on me was a light attribute (Moon calf), and right behind her was an (Amber bunny), a fire attribute creature resembling a teddybear, then a tall (Dark Horse), a female that seemed to be pregnant at the moment, then a (Blue Glueet), a small wind attribute creature with a ball like a form that was fluffy like cotton. They were the very first ones, but then in the blink of an eye, I was surrounded by so many creatures that it became difficult to even stand in that ce properly. ''Thankfully though, I wasn''t being crushed under them like Rein was right now.'' They were considerate and there were somerger creatures that made a barrier around me so the ones after them couldn''t pass through them. ''The way they were so excited though¡­ it could have undoubtedly hurt someone if they didn''t know how to handle themselves in situations like these.'' But thankfully, both Rein and I, even Alf, Ca, and others from our family had learned to handle situations like that after being buried under our dear little furball friends a few times. ''It was still fascinating though¡­'' I was greeted by a lot of creatures, Rein was buried under them, and the other house captains and vice captains were facing a simr situation as well, except for Prince Alph and Titania. None of the creatures seemed to be interested in them so the two just watched others from the side. ''They didn''t even seem to know those two were present here.'' Perhaps Prince Alph was doing it himself to continue maintaining his low profile but he had a very good affinity with earth attributes so if he hadn''t done that, he must definitely have been surrounded by some of thergest creatures present here. But it was different for Titania. ''She did say the other energy beasts didn''t even seem to catch her presence and that her familiar, the guardian holy beast was the only one who had ever shown any interest in her, but I can tell she was sad when looking at the others.'' Even the mostmon human who wasn''t a mage was getting some kind of attention from some creatures here while she, a fairy, a close being of nature, one possessing extraordinary abilities, was left alone. It was sad¡­ but she was fine and smiling while looking at the others. Most of the people here were searching for a familiar while she already had her partner, the one her soul resonated with the most, so she didn''t need anyone else. Watching the others, was more fun than being crushed by them. ''Haaaa¡­ the irony again.'' The garden was divided into groups now with a hoard of creatures surrounding certain students. I, for one, was doing fine, however, Rein was enjoying the dark and water attribute bunch on her side, Quin was surrounded by the water attribute creatures, and Alf had some creatures around him but they seemed reluctant to approach him since Uto was ring at all of them from his shoulder. Ca was greeted by some big creatures of fire attribute that one usually only see in wars, Lizzy was having fun with the most gentle light attribute fluffies, and Chry and his captain were surrounded by horses, elephant, bulls, and other beasts that knights use as their mounts. Neb was also greeted by the light attribute creatures, however, different from Liz, they were creatures that could kill others with their mere presence if they wanted to. Scary but divine on their own. Hide was there, surrounded by female and humanoid creatures as I knew he would, Lady Luna was greeted with the obedient ice attribute creatures, and Prince udius was¡­ he seemed to have found his partner already so others around him didn''t matter anymore. Captain Alpha was on the stage right now even though he was first surrounded by many other creatures of diverse elemental attributes. The bastard ditched them and went straight to have a talk with the higher-intelligence creatures over there since he confirmed none of them here were his eternalpanions. His two other house captains aside from Prince udius though, were unhappy with all the creatures following them. One found them annoying while the other didn''t like them since he had a familiar already. Quin''s other vice-captain, the Mer person Araxie, was inside the wave of water around the giant blue whale, actually ''talking'' with the aquatic creatures in there while Prince Alph''s vice-captain¡­ was arm wrestling with a (Crowned gori) for some reason. ''And even more strangely, creatures that loved fighting and strength above all else were waiting in line for their turn. Those people were probably on some weird shit lol...'' They were strange, but even strange thing for all the people, including the teachers, the headmasters, the intelligent creatures, as well as all the students present here, was how every single ''bird'', including their leader the holy white eagle, was currently bowing before Zoe, a familiar sight to how the mingos had reacted after recognizing her for the first time. ''But different from yesterday¡­ There were thousands of birds here, and¡­ all of them were of different species, attributes, affinities, natures, and personalities. And still, all were showing her greater respect than they did when greeting Sir Quesnel.'' I knew this was going to happen¡­ haaa. ''But I hope she takes care of this thing as she wanted.'' She wanted this to happen, she wanted to show others that she wasn''t someone they could take lightly. She wanted this, and there was no reason to interfere with her genuine wishes. ''It was all good for my ns anyway. I was happy she was doing something like this.'' This just made some of the things a tad bit easier¡­ ''But I hope this bunch calms down soon.'' I also had to go greet those on the stage so I had to deal with the ones around me. And for me to deal with them, they all had to calm down first, haaaa. Chapter 597 Prince and the cat Chapter 597 Prince and the cat [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "You fine there?" }] [{ "Yeah¡­ it''s better now." }] Some time had passed since the residents of the ind arrived in the academy garden and the students had gotten used to their presence. But all of them were still astonished by the scenery on one side of this garden. [{ "Looks like Zoe''s doing fine as well." }] [{ "Um-hmm. She looks like a fantasy princess who can talk with the birds." }] Rein was doing fine now that the creatures on her end had calmed down and were behaving like the little kids they were. But just like how it took a while for the situation with Zoe to calm down, it was chaotic on her end at first too. The dark attribute creatures had all covered her from all sides and they weremonly fighting for her attention, so she was almost buried under them. ''But things calmed down after a while.'' It was strange to other people how they were behaving around her, even more so because she had never used any of her dark attribute spells, but, the situation on her side was milderpared to what was happening around Zoe. It was unbelievable how all those birds came and bowed before Zoe on their own but even more unbelievable than that was the fact that one of the creatures showing his respect to her was the giant holy eagle... They couldn''t possibly believe the scene before their eyes at that time. It was just fantastic. There were thousands of them, many were asrge or evenrger than the students or the teachers, The giant eagle was taller than some of the trees in this garden and all of them were unconditionally bowing before Zoe, showing a kind of respect that they hadn''t even shown to the great ancient tree. ''It was a prettier sight than yesterday.'' But, Zoe asked all the birds to stand up and be at ease so they all had no choice but to follow hermand. Unlike yesterday, it didn''t take this group long to sumb to her natural authority. It was amon thing for the creatures of nature to show their respect to the beings who held great importance in this nature. And even though her true powers were still dormant, the fact that she was an original phoenix remained the truth. ''She was amazing though.'' She handled the situation on her own without needing anyone''s help and guided the birds towards all the other students, helping both the students and the other creatures in whatever way she could. ''And even though most of them didn''t understand what had just happened, they at least knew now that, the captain of Wisdom Phoenix this time was not the ordinary newly adopted aristocrat that the rest of the world knew about.'' She was special too, perhaps that was the reason she was a captain of a house. But, it didn''t matter that some birds listened to her at the end of the day, she was still just a student like them here and a house captain of the worst house. Things returned to normal pretty soon, but, students aside, I knew the teachers, the intelligent creatures on the stage, as well as the headmasters, had already grasped that Zoe was different. ''They all knew she felt like the most normal person one would see on the street but what they witnessed right now was not something a normal human being could perform. Perhaps, the headmaster had even reached a conclusion from his deduction of Zoe''s observations until now. Which, I knew he would never actually believe fully until he gets a solid proof of it.'' Believing someone before you is a divine creature, something that ranked above some of the gods, was not an easy task even for a transcendent being like him. He was, at the end of the day, a subject of this nature as well. And, however great his position in this nature may be, he was notparable to a divine creature, especially not the descendent of someone who had been the reason for the creation of this school in the first ce. Though, now that he has this little idea, he will try and do his best to protect and help Zoe in whatever way he can. Which was perfect at the of the day. [{ "Oh, by the way¡­ I wanted that cat!! Why the fuck did she go to someone else??!" }] [{ "Dummy..." }] Rein was talking about , a prominent figure of this sky ind, the majestic cat with purple fur, a unique creature that was a ''specialist'' like Mave. ''And on top of that, she was also a highly intelligent being like the others on the stage.'' She was pretty old too but more than that, she was a very rare creature called (Mystic Lightchaser), a very, very rare species that has been rare throughout the entire known and unknown history of this world. ''But they are certainly fascinating creatures.'' I knew there was one of them on this ind for a while now and was looking forward to meeting them but, now that she was here and we had a chance, we couldn''t do it. At least, not right now. ''She met her partner, the perfect one her soul resonated with. And that miserable person met his counterpart, the one he needed the most in this painful life of his.'' Prince udius was a stronger person than a few years ago. He was mature now, mentally stronger, sharper than his other siblings, and his physical-magical abilities were well-known throughout the empire and the continent. But still, even after epting the fact that the one whom his heart desired would never belong to him, even after searching the entire world for someone else, he had found no one and had be more isted from this world and his own family. Our engagement on that day was a great shock for him that reopened those wounds from his past, and he was devastated once again. ''He was only able to recover thanks to his mom but I knew he hadn''tpletely recovered from that incident.'' I watched him closely since that moment, noted his actions and the words he might have identally spoken in his sadness and rage, and I at least knew he wasn''t going to be a threat to us and the people around us. ''He was a good person at the end of the day, after all.'' He was good, which made his suffering even more miserable. The constant struggle he was having with his own self, the work he had to do as a student and member of this society, the loneliness that he had to endure all by himself, and the unbearable pain that he might be feeling every now and then¡­ even my heart aches at the thought of it. ''I was the reason he had been like that, but I had done nothing wrong.'' Rein and I loved each other, fate brought us together, she became mine and I became hers. It was all the little things that happened from start to the end that made us one. And I regret not a single one of my decisions. I would do it all again, perhaps in a better way if I was given the chance, but, things would still remain the same for both of us. He would still have to live without her, and the fact that she would never be his would remain the same. ''I can''t do anything about that, it was how things hade to be. So, I was doing what I could, and he was also trying his best too, even with all the suffering he had to go through.'' But now, he had finally met his partner, someone who could help him, be with him, and at the very least, share his burden with him. ''I don''t know what will happen or how they will do it, but, I have faith the two of them are going to stick together. Hopefully, until the end.'' A while back when all the creatures had arrived in the garden and had gone to the students they felt the most attracted towards, this cat also followed her instincts and ended up before Prince udius. He looked at her and she looked at him. And then, they both lost themselves in each other''s eyes. They were somewhere else right now, and a strong light was guiding their bonding process so some teachers had covered them in barriers. ''I''m happy for them.'' It was better for him, and for us as well. He can live a little better now, and perhaps I can help him with my knowledge regarding her as well. ''I''m looking forward to seeing them together. Hopefully, though, the two will be a healthy couple going forward.'' But we don''t know what kind of rtionship the two of them will have. It can be like Celes and mine, Rein and Branwen''s, or it might even be like Alf''s and Uto''s or Dad and Taika''s. They will decide that, and we all will have fun watching them during the house captain meetings. It would be fun, and since he was the only house captain to find a familiar among the residents of the ind, the fun had not ended yet. The other''s turn and the summoning was still pending, so it was going to get cheerful once again after a while. But before we did the summoning, there were a few things the teachers would teach the students now that we had so many creatures around us. And even before that, we had a chance to talk with the creatures present here. "Hello Headmaster, can I have a little chat with Master Codocodomi? I''m a fan of his research on the energies and matter." I was finally on the stage now, before the headmaster, the higher beasts. intelligence creature, some other students, and the Naga hermit who had been the central figure of the magic world a few hundred years ago. { "Oh? What do we have here¡­" } He lived in the northeastern woods of the outskirts with some of the other creatures present here and helped the other energy beasts. He was a evolved being among his kind but he was in his old days now, spending some of hisst decades in the nature that had birthed him. ''But still, he had been a central figure during his prime in the magical field, and his research was taught in this very academy during the graduating years.'' He was famous and strong, but more than that, he was perhaps the only fanatic who had researched the rtionship between energies and matters to such an extent that he had almost reached the realm of ''truth''. And, as someone who knew the truth of [{( Origin true energy )}], I wanted to have a personal private chat with him someday. ''And for that, I will have to make an unforgettable first impression.'' Which, I don''t think will be that much difficult... Chapter 598 Sir Codocodomi Chapter 598 Sir Codocodomi [Eon''s POV: ] He was a humanoid with a cobra-like head and a usual snake-like lower body. His skin was a mix of purple and green but some of his scales were more attractive and filled with Mana than the others, which were perhaps the scales that he used to store the excess energy generated in his body. ''He himself was a fascinating being if I said so myself. He could convert the energy in his body into a perfect wavelength of mana that he was the mostpatible with. And not only can he do that with the energies already present inside his body but also with the atmospheric energies.'' He directly absorbed all the energy in his body not through breathing but by his entire skin. He then circted that energy through his body and after absorbing the needed amount to continue the processes happening inside him at the moment, he released the remaining energy back into the atmosphere. ''He was a walking talking power bank.'' He stored Mana in every single cell of his body, something I couldn''t do yet even though my energy breathing method was more advanced than him. He was certainly amazing. And since he had found all the knowledge he possessed by his own experience, trial, and error, or by ''thinking'' of the questions in the proper way. He was like a monk who searched for the truth of the world by looking inside themselves instead of out in the physical world, which made him a great target of my admiration. As well as curiosity, of course. "Oh? Wisdom Phoenix vice-captain Lucifer. I knew you would be interested in meeting him." The headmaster smiled at me and everyone present here including Alpha, the other students, and the intelligent beings looked at me with a unique expression. I was pretty famous through the academy even though I didn''t want to because of my status as the vice-captain and ''fianc¨¦ of the person who defeated the captain of the best house''. But my poprity among students was thankfully low because of persistent efforts but, the house captains all knew there were many things that I was hiding. And they were curious as well as cautious about me. And that included all the other house''s captains, be it Quin and Titania, or Alpha or Prince Alph. ''They would be aiming for our house as soon as this event finishes and the real house battles start but it would just be a fun thing on my side.'' My house was weak, I knew that, but they had just as much potential as the students from other houses and there were some very pure hidden gems hidden around the bunch. ''I just had to polish them to perfection so that they could stand on a higher level than the best of the best from the other houses.'' And, we also had our ace cards like Lady Mia, myself, and Ball so we were in no way a weak team this time. ''They will have to be prepared for everything that''s going toe towards them. And prepare for an impact that most of the previous batches had not cared about since a very, very long time ago.'' Wisdom Phoenix was going to stand as a transparent but unbreakable in their paths this time, and, at the end of thepetitions, there was a chance even their finest of strategies wouldn''t work. ''But, they certainly have a chance. They do. Rein, Ca, and Alf know that.'' I wasn''t going to do my hundred percent and Zoe will most probably never get serious about thesepetition things and just support the others with her words, knowledge, and actions. ''Her powers weren''t needed in this children''s y. She can just sit back and have fun like the others from the audience that will be watching us¡­ but, that wasn''t the topic right now.'' { "Oho? Ssssso you are the one Merlin mentioned previoutssssly¡­ I see what special he saw inside you, youngtssss boy. It''s certainly very peculiar to tssssssee a being who has such amazing harmony of tsssssssix elementary elementssss." } He was smiling at me and that sudden smile made many of the students as well as some of the creatures floating in the air flinch visibly. "It is a blessing that keeps me alive but at the same time a curse that restricts me from doing anything else. The irony of the fate, the misery of my poor life." Few creatures of nature could actually tell what elemental attributes a person possesses, and he was one of them. And, his perception of elements was perhaps as sharp as Celes and Branwen''s. It was precise and sharp. He himself had an affinity with all basic elements, most of their known higher forms their higher forms, the ''matter'', ''space'', as well as ''harmony''. So he was able to perceive arger spectrum of elements of this world. { "Hahaha. You are certainly in a unique tssssssituatssssion. However, you sssssstill managed to obtain strengthsssssss and finesssssse that othersssss might never even dream of achieving. It isssssss certainly admirable." } He wasplimenting me already when I hadn''t even said anything much aftering here so the others now red at me with angry expressions or feelings of dislike. But, they did not show any kind of hostility, they couldn''t actually. The headmaster was here. "Oh? Were you this amazing of a person vice captain Lucifer? I never knew this fact~." This was the vice headmaster and the one who had mastered all the weapons avable in this world, and we were acquainted already¡­ very closely too since she had ''tested'' me once a few days back and now wanted me as her personal student. ''She''s a¡­ uniquedy. yes, that word fits her the best. But, the title of suits her perfectly. She can actually use any weapon as well as those who have trained with it for their entire lives. Which included a bow too.'' I mean it when I say I wouldn''t even stand a chance against her if we do an archeryption of overall strengths. However, if it is purely about the techniques, it might just be possible. ''I said that identally before her thest time so now she''s preparing for fulfilling that very wish of mine.'' She would set apetition, and invite famous archers to her private arena somewhere underground on this ind, and I don''t know exactly, but from how much I know about her personality and character, I know she will do her best to find the most suitable thing to give me as a reward if I satisfy her curiosity. But if I fail to do that¡­ well, they receive a famous punishment that no one is allowed to talk about. ''But it was fine. I knew I could do it¡­ I knew.'' Looking up at her with a unique smile of my own, I nodded at her. "You tter me, vice headmaster. I''m but a normal student here like everyone else. However unique sounding, it is still nothing before your vast knowledge and abundant experiences." She was someone that liked tter so if one ever wanted to annoy her, doing this was the best thing that wouldn''t get them in trouble. I just had to act innocent like I didn''t know what I said would be something that would trigger her annoyance. "Hoho, nice warding vice-captain. Would you like to have a private chat about this matter in my office tomorrow? I may be able to help you somehow with that ''eternal'' problem of yours." ''Well, damn¡­'' She was annoyed, I don''t know what triggered it but I had seen that smile of hers before and it was the smile she only has when she is not happy with something. And I didn''t even do anything this time! "I-it would be my greatest honor vice headmaster." I was either going to get scolded or there would actually be something she wanted to talk with me about. Something important that annoyed her somewhere else. ''Hey great Mother Nature, please let it be theter one.'' I didn''t need any more of a lecture from someone else. I had enough on my te already. "Alright then." She was happily smiling now, and since she was one of the protest beings here, she certainly was shining like a star right now. But that star was so sharp that anyone touching it might just get cut into small pieces of sunflower. "Haha, yes. Oh, I was going to ask Master Codocodomi something." The vice headmaster distracted me so we went off topic but there was something I needed to discuss with this smart Naga person. { "Oh? You can assssssssk that now, young boy" } He was looking at me with curiosity and the others here including the headmasters and the students had the same reaction. Perhaps there might have been many people who had asked him a question but it was the house vice-captain of wisdom phoenix. My question certainly was going to be different. So different that I hope their minds don''t go nk after hearing it¡­ Chapter 599 A weird question Chapter 599 A weird question [Eon''s POV: ] "So, I have read one of your older papers on the (Basic particles of matter) as well as the (Wave properties of energies), and then in one of yourter works on the (Rtionship between matter and energies and their natures), you have spected that the very basic particles that all matter is made of might just be a little pack of energies vibrating at a certain frequency that generates these basic particles, but you could never prove this theory so it was only limited to the books. But, what if you had a method to actually prove that the basic particles of matter, or howte grand magician Sir D. John termed them, ''atoms'' of Mana, are made up of energies and they in fact are the result of some kind of vibrations in the very fabric of this reality? And, what if even after using this method, you don''t get the results that you wished for and instead find out something totally new and different? What do you think would be the impact of such discovery on today''s world? Ah, and what-" "Vice-captain Lucifer, I think you have already asked more than one question with that ''question'' of yours. Won''t it be better to hear Sir Cod''s answers first?" "Oh, umm, yeah, sure. But, I haven''t asked the main question that I wanted to ask though." The question I wanted to ask was just on the way but the vice headmaster cut me mid-sentence so that question was also cut off. But since she wanted me to listen to the answers to these side questions first, I didn''t mind it actually. ''But¡­ perhaps my answer annoyed her even more for some unknown reason so she was smiling ''warmly'' at me once again. Which was terrifying, truthfully.'' { "Hissssssshahaha. Your ssssssub quesssssionsss are alsssso quite amussssing, young boy. Let me ansssssswer thossssse first. Right?" } He called my questions amusing, something he doesn''t say to just any question. And these questions were a littleplicated for some of the students present here already so they were having a little difficulty understanding what I have even said just now. Captain Alpha being the exception of course. However advanced in the field of magic and science, this still was dominated by magic and the unique powers that are difficult to describe with the limited understanding of science so, to the young adults like most of the people here who weren''t specifically part of the advanced scientific studies, the very question that the fundamental particles of creation were made of something else was a new concept. ''One would learn it in their graduating year but that would only be for students who had chosen fields rted to scientific knowledge like the alchemy sses or magic engineering sses or the sses of scientific fields themselves.'' There are many subjects one could study in the academy and they could change their subjects every year as well. So there were many options they could choose their sses from. But that was not what we were talking about right now. { "Ssssssssso , young one, assss you ssssaid, I could never prove that the matter issss ultimately jussssssst the energiesssss in a unique form, however, if there really wassssss ssssome method to prove that fact, I would love nothing more than to continue with that ressssssrch once again. And, even after doing the experimentsssss, if we do not find the evidence of the energiesssss, inssssted finding sssssomething entirely different, then, assssss sssssomeone walking the path of knowledge, I would be happier. Who wouldn''t like to know what they had believed to be true all thisssss time wasssss not the factual knowledge and insssssted their own believesss inssssted? It would clear one''sssss ignorance and lead them towerdssss their original path of true knowledge. The resultssss of thesssssse experiments, posssssitive or negative, would undoubtedly ssssshake the world. However, the anssssssswer we will get from it will ultimately benefit the world, not directly, but certainly in the perssssspective of true knowledge." } He was smiling. Just showed how much he enjoyed answering these little questions of mine. And his answers were just as I had expected as well. Just that what he said about being happy when proved wrong wasn''t something that would be the same for everyone. ''He was a creature born in the nature at the end of the day. Even if he might have lived among the humans, he still didn''t know all about how dark human greed and broken pride could be.'' Humans were political and social creatures by nature. They desperately looked for sess in the things that they put their great efforts into, going as far as doing hical things to seed in what they were doing. And when after doing all that, after wasting their precious lifetime, if they were told what they had chased after, what they believed in all this time was not the truth¡­ they might be devastated at first but afterward, they might ept the reality like sir Codocodomi and be happy with it, or, they might also fall into the deaths of despair and do things that would be harmful to the world and society they live in. ''I loth humans¡­ and sadly, even if I try to deny it, the world is filled with scums like that.'' He was different from them in this matter, and this fact truly made him the one with the true knowledge. { "Doessss thesssssse ansssswerssss sssssatify your curiossssity, young boy?" } "Yes, sir. They do to a great extent. However, my main question was going to be what if we create arge enough structure where we can elerate two single particles of matter nearly infinitely in an empty space and then collide them together? What do you think would happen?" "¡­what?" "What does that¡­ mean?" "elerate? You mean speeding them or something?" "How can we even separate a single particle from a big bunch of them that''s always stuck together? You are a dumb archer. You don''t even-" "Shut up. You are the dumb one who doesn''t even understand what he just said." There wasn''t just a single person who was bad-mouthing me after I said that, but, Captain Alpha''s voice shut all of them at once. ''He was looking at me with a shocked look just like the headmasters, the nearby teachers, and Sir Codocodomi. They really were shocked by what I had just said.'' { "Young boy¡­ what, do you mean by that?" } It was a question filled with curiosity, sincerity, and passion. And there was a new light in his eyes that was not present there before so, I have already achieved what I wanted here. As for his question, hehe¡­ "Oh, it''s nothing much¡­ I read your papers and was interested, so I did my own research and on one fine day while looking at a predator bird in the sky diving at its prey at a very fast speed which elerated even further as it dived down, I had a sudden thought of what would happen if we could somehow crash two isotopes or just simple particles of the same matter at a speed so fast that their collision would create a great explosion, then, would we be able to brake that particle to an even more fundamental level and measure what ising out of it? I was curious so I did my own calctions and researched on the topic with reference to the great people who have researched on simr subjects previously. And, during my search, I stumbled across a certain name, Nuclio-" { "Nuclio Barbovachok Luno¡­ I remember that old man. He wasssss crazy about ssssspeed and alwayssss talked about how ''fun'' it would be if two [Light bringer birds] tssssss collided with each other at full sssspeed. He wassss fortunate enough to have sssssen one, and he died wanting to sssssssee one once again." } He was a famous person unrted to the field of science. But, he was very famous because he was as crazy about the energy beasts as Miss Vivian of current times. He was also one of the known few people who had seen a divine beast with his own eyes and survived to tell that tale, but, his life was finite unlike the headmasters or this person before me. He was already old when these two must have met, so, I didn''t think he would remember his full name like that. They perhaps had an even deeper connection than I knew about. And if so, this made things easier for me. "Yes, in one of Sir Luno''s papers on energy beasts, he had mentioned that the divine beasts [Light bringer birds] always live in a pair as a couple from the moment they achieve maturity and their powers. When they find their partners during their search all over the world, they propose to them and if the other party epts, these special birds perform a unique ritual where they awaken their powers together, circle the moon and earth at their full speeds, return to a single point and collide with each other at that speed, creating a grand explosion that paints the moon and it''s gentle moonlight into pure gold, giving birth to the extremely rare phenomenon we call . It''s a piece of fascinating information but its credibility is unknown. So, the academic circles just discarded it as false information and fantasy and it was almost lost with the time. I was fortunate enough to have identally found it, but, it made me think of this question, and with that, I came up with this theory-" { "That you will ssssssshow me in private, right?" } I was about to take out my research papers from my white crack when he ced his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with a proud and amazed smile on his face. ''The rizz worked¡­'' I knew this made-up story would be pretty effective but I didn''t think he would just buy it without even questioning anything. However, he said he would talk about this topic when they were in private, which was what I wanted from the start. "Oh, yeah. Sure. We can talkter if you want it that way. Just that¡­ it is just a little question from my side. I''m capable of just that much. You would have to take a look at it to confirm whether it would help you with that question or not." { "Abssssssoultely, young boy. I will be happy to take a look at your honest work." } "You mean we will be happy, right Master Cod?" Headmaster smirked at him with clear excitement in his eyes, and there was no way Master Cod would deny a request with such sincere excitement from his close acquaintance. { "Of courseeeee. You are alwaysssss wee in my housssssse, Master Merlin." } "Hohoho, I''m happy to hear that. Ah, and I also look forward to what you have in store for us, Lucifer. I''m looking forward to this so don''t disappoint me." He meant it, really. This was one of the few things that excited him, so, he wanted it to be thorough. And it was me we were talking about, so, anything less than my absolute best would be thest thing I would ever present before two potential future business partners. ''If things go right¡­ I will have ''that thing'' all to myself as well. And if I have it, no one will be able to say shit against me or people close to me.'' Still, it would all be for her good future. So that she could have it a little easier. "Of course headmaster. I believe you will like this as well~." You have to like it and push for its approval in the three great councils. Only then we will be able to create it, and I will be able to move further with the ns. It was necessary, but, I knew now that the stage was prepared, I only had to go up there and give my presentation. The things after that¡­ will take care of themselves. Chapter 600 The giant whale Chapter 600 The giant whale [Rein''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­ alright you all. Listen here." There were too many of them here, two hundred and four to be exact. ''It was one of the highest numbers of energy beasts gathered around a single person. Haaaaaa.'' And they all were particrly excited around me. Like, a little too much! ''It took me half an hour just to calm them down and make them all behave properly!'' Other people had long started looking around the garden while I was still wound up with this bunch of mine¡­ even Eon was chatting with the others on the stage right now. ''That bastard had the obedient ones while mine were all naughty ones. Haaa¡­'' But what can I do now? It was what it was. And it wasn''t like they were inferior to the other creatures in any way. If anything, the bunch gathered around me was on more of a special side than all the other creatures in this ce. "Ku Ku~. Khuhuh~!" "Kyop~!! K¡ªtop~!" "Muop! Mu muop!" They were creatures of dark and water attributes and they were cute, that much was true. Especially these three. "Yes, yes. I know you want to y with me more but I have to go check up on the others, right? You also have to meet the others, you might find a better friend than me." "Kuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Ku!" "Kyoppppp!" "Mop-muuuuu!" "You three as well. Go y around with others. Meet others instead of just sticking with me. Meeting different people is the reason we all are here, right?" There were many cute ones here, not what I call cute, there weren''t that many good ''cute'' ones in this garden anyway, but the ones I had were the general cuties. ''Haaa¡­ naughty little ones. Would have been better if these little ones were actually, in fact, little.'' There wererger creatures that resembled bunnies, reptiles, cute spiders, and such around me, but, the three that stood out among them, therge (Purple weasel) that was as tall as the tiger ss teacher of ss (L), a cute big (Asic seal) with ocean blue fur, and a big (Shadow smander) that was one of the biggest creatures currently present in this garden. All three were pretty and cute, many of the students and even the teachers were ncing at them for a while now, wanting to meet them, greet them, and try to get close to them. Befriending the residents of this ind, these creatures gathered in this garden right now, was considered necessary since they might be of some help to us during and after our time on this. So, other ones. Especially that purple cat. I liked her quite a bit.'' She was now someone else''s familiar though so I can''t have her. at least meeting as many of them as we could was appreciated. ''That was the reason I wanted to go around and have a look at the other ones. Especially that purple cat. I liked her quite a bit.'' She was now someone else''s familiar though so I can''t have her. ''Still, bing friends was an option too, right?'' There were many others I wanted to meet, that big whale Quin was talking to being the first one, but these cuties of mine didn''t want to part ways with me. "Haaa¡­ look here, everyone." They were cute and all, but this bunch was stubborn. They weren''t listening even though I tried my best while being as calm as I could. They weren''t listening so if being gentle wasn''t working, I had no choice but to be harsh with them. "I will count three from now and after that, if I see a single one of you before me, or behind me, or anywhere near me, just remember I won''t be talking with them. Ever." I was serious, I showed that through my eyes and face. I even dropped a little pressure on them with my concentrated Mana. So¡­ all of them knew I was being serious. "Three." "Kuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" "K-kyoppppp!" "Muuuuu!" And all of them including the three big boys instantly jumped up in surprise when I started counting without any further words and many just ran away as quickly as they could. "Two." "Muop. Muop!" That round big seal was the healthiest among everyone else so he could barely run or jump or move¡­ well, he was doing something to go away from my sight, so his efforts were cute. ''The weasel and smander were quick on their feet so both vanished quickly, which was better since the two were the most attracted towards me.'' If they had insisted on staying, the consequences might have been bitter, and they knew it, so the little ones acted quickly. Most of them had gone away by the time I reached thest number, but some were still here, stubbornly standing here, looking up at me innocently. "One. And that''s it." They were the youngest ones so perhaps they didn''t understand how serious I was. Cute young dummies. "You all missed the timings, little ones." They kept looking at me with their big eyes that were too bigpared to their smaller heads. They were all just like any other little kid looking up at their moms after making a mistake. "What do you all have to say about this hun? Why are you all still here? Didn''t I say to go meet the others?" I couldn''t even be angry at these little chubbies. They were looking at me with stars in their eyes. And this was unbearable! "Speak little ones. Give some kind of excuse. Do you want me to never talk with you ever again?" "¡­!" They were young and many of them couldn''t even speak yet. Not even their ownnguage. So, they all just shook their heads negatively with a worried expressions while some of them who could speak shouted sorry in their adorable young voices. "Well, what should we do now? I was going to meet up with all of youter and have a long chat, even give you all the treats that my dear darling prepared, but you don''t want to go and meet with the others as I told you¡­ perhaps you don''t like me as much as I thought." "¡­?!" They all jumped up in surprise as soon as they heard that and first looked around them, seeing the chaotic looks of other babies that were the same as theirs, and then, in almost unison, they ran backward and scattered across the garden. ''Cuties, hehe.'' They were little gululuchomos, cuties. "Haaa. Finally, the bunch is taken care of. Now, shall we go see how Quin''s doing?" The giant whale, the guardian of the onlyke on this ind, had taken a unique liking to my dear friend. She wasn''t her familiar but since Quin possessed an absurdly high water attribute affinity, that whale was shocked and surprised. She was attracted to her, and they were chatting right now, so, perhaps they had already be good friends. "Heya Quin~. Watcha'' doin~?" "Ohhh! Urial!" She looked happy and excited as well. Her face was all bright and shiny. "Where were you all this time~?" "Well, taking care of a bunch of little cuties? They just gave me some space to breathe. Anyway, what''s up? Introduce your new friend to me, won''t ya?" The garden was currently divided into six major parts ording to the creatures and the group surrounding them. Creatures of water were all around where I was with this giant whale, then the birds with Zoe, the city creatures around that purple cat, the strong creatures on the side with most of the knights like Ca and Chry, the ones surrounding the center stage that had Eon and the other smart creatures, andstly the bunch that was just aimlessly wandering in this garden, without getting involved with the other people. They were all perhaps the introvert type or perhaps they were shy around others but they were in thepany of beings like them, and, the other students here who could rte to them were apanying them in their lone wandering. But everyone was ultimately having their fair share of fun, or headache depending on how they had treated others. "Oh, yes, yes! Come here, quick. Lady Lament, this is my friend Uriel. She''s more amazing than me!" The area contained all the aquatic creatures of the ind and the giant whale that was still floating in the air with arge ball of water covering her entirely. ''A whale that carries ake with her.'' She was a unique creature like many others here. Hermand over the water was so peculiar that even I was in awe as I looked up at her, and how she was handling all the waters around here, sustaining the other aquatic creatures who couldn''t live outside of it for long, and helping them reach the different ces with her water bubbles. She was doing a lot of work at once and still, she was freely ying with the young children who didn''t want to leave her, teaching them how meeting others is an important task in their lives, while at the same, talking with the students of the academy that she found interesting. [< Ohh? Your friend little one? Interesting¡­ hmmm? Wait. What? No¡­ how?! What are you?! >] She was amazing so I also wanted to meet her¡­ but I didn''t think she would have this kind of response after seeing me. ''Well, damn.'' She was shocked, afraid would be the better word since her eyes were horrified after looking at me as if I was some kind of evil entity. It was strange. That was a reaction that she must have shown for the first time in this ce. Even the teachers around here and the people on the stage looked towards us after hearing that loud scream from her. ''Haaaa¡­'' She must be misunderstanding something, that much I knew from my experience with the beings who were sensitive to the elemental affinities like her. But, she will calm down soon, hopefully, so¡­ there was no need for them to worry about thatrge scream of hers. It should be prettymon for the ground to shake a little for a moment afterrge creatures like her scream, right? Nothing too serious here... Chapter 601 Pure darkness that flows Chapter 601 Pure darkness that flows [Rein''s POV: ] "Hmmmmmm?! What happened?! Why are you shouting like that,dy Lament? Is something wrong? Uriel, what happened to her?!" My dear little friend was worried, well, there was no need to actually. "It''s nothing dear. She''s just, how should I say this, surprised? Well, how would you react if you ever see a pure ck sea out of nowhere? Surprised, right?" "Hmmm? What does that mean? Isn''t it pretty and attractive? Especially the calm one? Why would a calm sea without a storm be ck anyway?" "It''s weird right? It shouldn''t be like that, but if you do see one, wouldn''t you be surprised?" "I¡­ guess? But why does that matter?! There is no sea here! Why would Lady Lament react like that when she had been calm and happy all this time?!" Quin was a cute little girl, hehe. "Because of me, dummy. In her eyes, I''m like that endless sea that, though flows calmly, is ck. And though ck, it is surprisingly pure and attractive. It shouldn''t be like that, but it is, and that''s the cause of her ground-shaking surprise." My affinity for darkness was too great, but, my affinity for water attribute was not something to ignore either. One sensitive to the elements like her would sense the vast darkness first, but, they would certainly get a faint hint of water attribute alongside it, creating an illusion that the darkness I have is simr to a vast ck sea, something that cannot be described but only felt by a few special beings. ''He says it''s unique and lovely, while Zoe calls it pretty. But, I myself have never seen or felt it so I don''t know how it actually looks or ''feels'' like.'' But, well, I at least know there is something super special about my darkness attribute that I had never liked that much. And he likes it, so, I don''t hate it anymore. "Ummm¡­ so, it''s because of you that she shouted like that? And you are saying she will be fine soon, right?" "Exactly. See, it was nothing difficult to understand." She caught on to it quickly. My good girl Quin. "She should be fine any moment-" [< Ahhh¡­ now that I think about it, hmmm. Hmmmmmmmm. Oh? Is that how it is? How rare¡­ >] She came back to her senses and nodded positively after calming herself down. It didn''t take her that long of a time, which was impressive ording to what Eon once said. As expected of a (Purple) ranked creature. [< Hello. It''s nice to meet you too, Lady Lament. I have heard a lot about you from my darling. He admires you, and the same goes for me as well. >] [< Hmm? Woah. To think you can reproduce this frequency with your Mana¡­ your control is quite impressive. Just like those rare eyes. I have only ever heard about that kind from my predecessor, who had heard about them from their predecessors. I''m perhaps lucky to see someone who can see the truth, perhaps even luckier to see someone as special as you, young one. But, who is this ''darling'' you speak of? Your mate? Who would be the lucky one to have been chosen by such a precious person, I wonder. >] [< Ah, no. I wasn''t the one who chose him, not urately at least. It would be better to say we chose each other, or perhaps, he found me first, and then, we fell together. He''s over there, by the way, talking with Master Cod, perhaps surprising him with his usual charms. >] He came to me, I attacked him. He was strong, so he defeated me. Then we talked, and then we walked together. We went to a city, ate together, went around, and went back to my house. We belonged to each other from the first day, and then we became inseparable. ''We still are inseparable. He''s my best friend, my fianc¨¦, my darling, and the bastard that I want to beat the hell out of for never going easy on me during the ''actual'' training sessions.'' He''s a bastard. But, he''s my lovely bastard. [< Oh¡­? Just what kind of person is he for even someone like you to praise him so-, oh. It''s him? It''s understandable if it''s that person. I had been watching him from the moment I arrived here. And even still, I have no idea what this strange attraction I feel towards him means. He''s even more mysterious than the headmaster Merlin. >] The feeling of attraction she was talking about was perhaps the result of his extremely high affinity with natural elements. And, she was a guardian energy beast, so she was obviously an important part of this nature. She was attracted to him, just like most of the other creatures in this ce, but, she couldn''t approach him even if she wanted to because of her role here. ''She had to look after all the other aquatic creatures who couldn''t live by themselves so, she was bound here. She could only wait until he was done with his chat over there ande to her on his own. Which, will certainly take a while.'' ording to his nned schedule, he will first go to Zoe and talk to some of the birds, and only after that will he be here. So, she will have to wait for quite a long time for that. Well, he would be here, That much was true, so she would get her chance to talk with him and see with her own eyes just how amazing that bastard is. [< Yeah, so, anyway. He''s my darling, and it will be a while but he will definitely be here. But, that aside. I wanted to talk with you about my friend here. What do you think about Quin? Isn''t she impressive? >] Her affinity with water revealed mine, perhaps it would surpass mine under certain circumstances. Which was amazing in itself, but, that wasn''t all. Quin was a special person with special talent and powers of her own. Even if she had yet to find her familiar, she had powerful spirits guarding her. She was strong already, but she would be even more amazing in the future. But, since her main form of magic arts was the maniption of water, this being before us could teach her some things that even Eon and I could not. Therefore, if possible, I wanted to teach her a few tricks when she gets free in the future. There was no rush, we had a pretty long time on this ind and the academy. [< She is impressive. Really impressive actually. It''s fascinating to meet someone who possesses such a close friendship with water. And, from your expression, I believe you want me to teach her a few things, am I right? >] [< Well, not quite. >] She wasn''t someone who could or would teach anyone even if they had potential. She was a guardian of hernd and an impotent force of nature. She had many beings to look after, so, she couldn''t possibly leave them, or reveal the information about the secretke they lived in. There could be problems if some wicked people get the information about that ce, and she couldn''t let that happen. She had a duty to protect, and a responsibility to take care of those under her. She couldn''t risk it, we knew that already, so, Eon told me to offer her a deal. [< How about in exchange for teaching our friend, we repair the weakened ''barrier'' around theke, upgrade the ''guardian tower'', reinforce the ''border station'', and offer you food that all of you will love to have after eating the same ''grass'' every day? >] I didn''t even know what half of those things were but, he told me to say it exactly this way, which, certainly seemed very effective. [< You!! How do you know about all that?! How do you know- >] [< Calm down, Lady Lament. There are still people here who do understand everything that we are talking about. Not you headmaster, you already know all the problems but not the solutions. He said you can be there if you want to watch us work. >] I nced towards the strange and the bastard headmaster gave me a pleased nod, fucking bastard. I really didn''t like him sometimes. [< Haaaa¡­ right. You are someone who possesses those special eyes, and your weird darling is perhaps the one behind all this from what I understand. He surely seems to be an unfathomable person if even Merlin has such high regard for him. Now I''m curious just what kind of person he is. >] [< He''s the amazing kind of person that you will have no choice but to like even if you don''t want to with all your heart. Well, you will find out soon enough. And since you are curious about him, my work here''s done. >] There wasn''t much I wanted to talk with her. ying with the cute water creatures here was the main goal I had here. And since the work talk was over, I could go y with them like Araxie. She was inside the huge water wave around Lady Lament and she was ying with the young aquatic creatures that looked supppppppper fun! I wanted to go in there as well, and Quin wasing with me. [< Hmmm¡­ looks like you are more interested in ying with the children instead of talking with an old one like me, hunh? It''s fine, we can talk about some other things as you y with them. >] She didn''t mind it since I wasn''t going away just yet so, she was alright. She loved these children so she thought it was better if I yed with them instead of just standing among this crowd of surprisedpeople. "Let''s go Quin~." She could faintly understand Lady Lament''s words but not as well as I did. She didn''t know hernguagepletely like my darling did, and she didn''t have powers like mine to understand the truth of her words. It was still amazing how she couldmunicate with her even after not being a merperson like the people inside the water around her, so, she was impressive. Even Lady Lament acknowledged that. "Hmmm? Go? Where though? I want to watch things here a little more-" "No dummy. Let''s go in there~." She was a giant whale that carried a small pond''s worth of water with her. And the water was clear, so clear that we could see everything and everyone in there. [< Here you go. Hop in. >] Everything looked fun in there, and Lady Lament even gave us a water tform that would take us up there. circling her. We just had to hop on, so, without wasting any precious moments, I grabbed her hand and we jumped onto the tform that went up, and only stopped when we were before the surface of water circling her. "U-u-ummm, Uriel. I think-" "Don''t think dummy, just jump in~!" I had a pure darkness that flowed, but her pure, sparkling water attribute was better than mine inside this kind of environment. It wasn''t like we would have to breathe in there or face theck of oxygen. It wasn''t the usual water, nor were we the usual people. "Come~. Let''s go~." Water was part of us, and we were part of water. Hers loved her as a close friend, and mine followed me like a faithful friend. We were its friend so, water wouldn''t harm us. We just have to believe in it, our connection, and the rtionship we share¡­ Chapter 602 Helping fellow students Chapter 602 Helping fellow students [Eon''s POV: ] Sir Peripir, the ancient giant elephant; Sir Lkmahut, the enlightened grasshopper; Lady Gyomihok, the evolved goat; Master Kaleidoscope, one of the active magic researchers and one of thest few of his kind on this, the (Blue smirf); Madem Luciana, a unique origin beast of holy nature that closely resembled a cute and young red otter; Sir Aetter, an intelligent (Northern wolf) who wore a suit and sses; Sir Peliop, a gorgeous unique fish that was floating inside a water bubble andstly, Miss Missy¡­ someone second only to Master Cod in this group of intelligent creatures. ''She''s as amazing as described in the books¡­'' She was an evolved bird person who used to be a very rare kind of bird nicknamed as ''bird of paradise'', an endangered spicies that possesses the power to bestow ''one person'' with the immunity against any kind of illness or poison. However, different from her original species, her appearance was most like a human''s. Her charm was one thing, but the authority she possessed was perhaps even greater than my mom''s. ''Just being in her presence gave me a sense of awe. If only she was a little less talkative¡­ haaa¡­'' I was on the strange and was talking with all these intelligent creatures who were all, in one way or another, connected to the world of magic and all the students that were gathered here wanted to talk with them about the topics of their mastery, but they were hesitant to approach them at first, and them I came here, and took away all of their attention. They were all curious, so, they started talking with me, but then, out of nowhere, Miss Missy approached me and started asking me different questions about different things that were totally unrted to each other. She was asking personal questions like my family and background and how many members I had in my family, academic questions that we had learned and things that we won''t ever learn during our time in the academy, professional questions that confused even some of the teachers listening to our conversation, and, she went a step byond and asked a kind of questions that were difficult to answer even for me, questions about my romantic life and what ''things'' I liked doing with my partners. Some questions were easy to answer, at least they were for me, while some personal questions and those strange questions that came practically out of of the blue were a little tough, but since they were questions asked directly from someone on the elder council, from an elder mage of (tier-9), I couldn''t dare answer them half hartedly. ''I tried my best¡­ and still, she does not seem to have reached the state of satisfaction.'' She was trying to test many things at once, so many things that even I couldn''t pinpoint just what she was trying to gain from all those questions. Perhaps the headmaster was the only person who understood what she was doing right now so there was a smile on his face. A smile that was absent from the faces of even the vice headmaster and sir Codocodomi. Both of them, and the other intelligent beings, and the students as well. None of them could understand what was going on with her but, only the headmaster could stop her trains of question, which he didn''t seem to want to at all. He was enjoying these rapid fire question-answer rounds, everyone might have guessed that much if only they had looked at his smiling face but all thier attention was fully focaused on me. They all weren''t even looking towards the chaotic happenings all around the garden. They were all focaused on us, perhaps because of the questions she was asking, or perhaps it was because of the way I was answering all her questions without much of a dy. But, after my master, this was the first time I was seeing this kind of testing method. She also used to ask me many random questions to test many of my learning''s and current levels so I was familier with this method. However, different from master, the pretty person before me was asking things that were mostly unrted and all over the ce. They had no uniformity, no structure, no path, or no such thing connecting them. Or at least, I couldn''t understand this strange method at the moment. All I could do right now was to do my best to answer all those questions to the best of my abilities in as simple way as I could. "What is the mass of a cube molicule of atmospheric Mana in a normal ce?" "1.2651 Unit/AVm k!" "What if your urate age at the moment." "Fifteen years, one month, three days, nine hours, thirty six minutes, fifteen seconds dot!" "What will be the result of an alchemical reaction if A is an isotope of Hguolium and the process which it goes through is Klimton''s moliculer separation." "The mes produced will be of ck colour, while the more will be green!" Her questions were all around the ce. If not for this cursed memory of mine, I would have had to pause after every question to think of what she had just asked about. But, this was still fine. The questions she was asking were far milder than what master used to ask during our question-answer sessions like this one. They were good, easy and quick to reproduce on my tongue so I could maintain the high pace of this questioning. And since it had been going on for nearly twelve minutes now, I had faith it would conclude soon. Which it did, after three exact minutes, without any concrete conclusion. "Alright, good. I didn''t belive when Merlin praised you so much but I understand now. I got what I needed so, here. Let''s work on something revolutionary when you get some spare time." Her voice was amazing¡­ a voice that all of us students were hearing for the first time ever since they all had arrived here. "Thank you¡­?" She had handed me a strange metallic envelop that seemed to have made entirely of gold, with actual jewellers embaded on it. I didn''t know what this was exactly, however, ther other intelligent walked away from the stage towards Zoe and the other birds so, I didn''t even get the chance to ask her about this thing. creatures and sir Cod as well as even the vice headmaster seemed to know what this envelop was. And from the way all their mouths fell to the ground, this thing certainly was no normal envelop. It was certainly something of great importence. But, she had just walked away from the stage towards Zoe and the other birds so, I didn''t even get the chance to ask her about this thing. { "Young boy! Young boy! Listen here!" } And after she left, the remaining high intelligence beings around us surrounded me and started asking different questions of their own fields. Questions that they alredy knew the answers of, as well as questions that they wanted someone else''s opinion on. ''The headmaster¡­'' I didn''t think much of this before but now that I looked at his y smile that was stuck on his face like some electroma, I knew for certain he knew all of this was going to happen alredy, and even pushed all of us into this situation where I couldn''t have any chance but to answer all their questions as properly as I did with the questions from Miss Missy. ''Now I want to curse him as well.'' I wanted a quiet and normal life in this academy but if this continues and I say things that I had no need to, or the things that went byond all that was currently known, I knew that slow, quiet, happy academic life of mine will be limited to only a dream. Which, I couldn''t possibly ept. "Ahem,dies, gentlemen. Can I say something?" They were all asking question all the while but I found an opening and spoke up, asking them a question that will solve this little problem of mine. { "Hmm? Yes? You can speak your mind. We have time." } Sir Peripir had spoken for everyone else so everyone stopped talking and looked at me as if whatever I was going to say, would be very important. ''Which it will, at least for them.'' It was a good tactic to stop them with the excuse of a question, and from here on, the maniption would be simple. "Ah, so, I believe we all have little time on hand now that the summoning process time is nearing. I don''t think I will be able to satisfactorily provided you all with as good answers as you want in this short time, so, how about we do this. I have some notes I have prepared on all the fields you all follow, and we also have many students among us that wants to ask you all many questions and learn from your guidance. So, I will hand over the notes to them and you can ask the questions to them so that they could learn from you all while your answers get answered with my words on those notes. It would be easier and not only would it divide the fields and discussions, it will also increase the efficiency of overall talks. We will all be able to finish things up on a positive note by the end of time with this method, so, how does that sound?" It was a win win for them in a way since they would get my knoge that they were all after and the students, poor ones who were ring daggers at me since I was stealing all the attention of these important people, would get their chances to learn from the people they wanted. And, they would have my notes on hand, the ones with good handwriting, more specifically, so they will learn more than what they might while asking out in arger group discussion. { "Ummm¡­ this method sounds indirect, perhaps, but it''s fine as well as long as you are around." } "Oh I''m right here. Just how far a small child like me could go in this vast garden? It''s all fine~." It was an easy way out for me. I still had many other creatures to meet so wasting more time here was not alright. It was time for me to go and meet Zoe and her new friends, and, these intelligent people already knew what I was trying to do here, but they didn''t mind. They had faith that these ''notes'' that I was talking about, would be good enough to not disappoint them. Which it won''t. "Alright then. Here everyone~." Headmaster was impressed with this tactic while the students whom I was helping were all grateful to me. They were almost teary as they looked at me with those thanking gazes. And since it was all a little selfish of me, those looks were not thatfortable. ''But, well, that is what it is.'' It was done. I was free from this bunch. And now¡­ I am free to go see what my joyful sister was doing with her new bird friends. ''Certainly though, it should be fun.'' It was fun here, but over there, it should be more fun since the creatures would be a lot better than this excited bunch. And Zoe was there. I didn''t need to worry about anything like here happening over there¡­ Chapter 603 Starting the summoning process Chapter 603 Starting the summoning process [OP: ] Rein enjoyed her time with the creatures of water and yed around for some more with Quin. She was enjoying this whole fun event more than she had expected and she liked the creatures that were young, scary-looking, wired, and unique in some way. She liked the ones who were strange and those who not many were approaching, especially the ones who no one was approaching, and being with them gave her a familiar feeling of familiarity. She has also been alone for a long time. There were times when even after being among hundreds of people who werefortable around her, she was alone, as well as lonely. She knew very well just how it felt to be all by themselves, so, she went around and yed with the the lonely, gloomy, and ''cute'' looking creatures. She had fun with them, and after that, she went to the purple cat, and Prince udius, who was already surrounded by many other students as well as the teachers. The purple cat was a famous creature or more like a famous person throughout the ind of magic''s wealth, and people called her (Big Madem) out of respect. She was a special creature who possessed as high intelligence as the beings on the strange, and, she was a master when it came to finances, money, business, and things rted to the economy. She was a ''specialist'' born with an intellect greater than the usual humans, and she was so smart that she even knew thirtymonnguages of the three continents. She was amazing, and pretty, and smart, and attractive. But she was a free creature under the protection of not only the ancient tree but also many great powers residing on this sky ind. Rein wanted to make a connection with her, make her a friend, get close to her, and perhaps if she ever wanted to, convince her to go stay with them. She had prepared thoroughly for this meeting but s. She had a partner now. And from how happy they looked together, she could tell she would be spending the rest of her life with her master now. It was sad that she couldn''t have her, but, well, she could still be her friend and y with her cute royal fur. But to do that, she had to go through some great difficulties. There was a crowd gathered around the cat and her master, so first, she had to pass through the crowd or make them go to some other ce. She thought deeply about what could be the best way to deal with them and have a proper, good chat with the two of these people but, after some thinking, the conclusion she reached made her work for a while. She had to set some things here and there, set some ''traps'' using her skill, and after she was done with that she also had to take care of the attention of only this specific group for a longer time. But, when she was done with it, she was able to create an illusion that someone else had met their familiar a special bonding process like the one that Prince udius had was taking ce nearby. And only the group around the cat and him was targeted by it. The teachers knew about it of course so they ignored her and other students after their work with this new couple was done, and Rein was finally able to have her own special talk¡­ which ended in bad resolutions since people found out that she had tricked them. She was scolded by Titania afterward since she was also someone who fell for the illusion even though she was not a part of this group specifically. But Rein happily epted the scolding since she had already had her fun time with the cat and her new master. She was happy, and by the time she reached her darling Eon in a corner of the garden, he had also finished all the things he wanted to do and was chilling there with his own bunch of creatures surrounding him, ying with them with a smile on his face. She loved how happy he looked at that moment. She loved it, perhaps a little too much that she went to him, checked if someone was looking, signaled some of her creatures who were following her by that time to cover her, and kissed her darling quickly. Eon didn''t mind it, or the people and creatures who all had been looking at them when she was kissing him. He loved it, perhaps a little too much as well since he signaled his own party to cover them so that he could kiss her back. But asking his creatures, the ones who wereparatively more attractive than the ones currently following his fianc¨¦e, was a bad idea, and most of the students who saw it instantly knew just what was going on behind the wall of these creatures. But, they ignored it. The entire school knew by this time just how crazily these two loved each other¡­ It was just the way he wanted it all to be, so he was satisfied with this general point of view. His time here had been pretty fun anyway, so, he was satisfied. The talk with the beings on the stage went pretty well even though there was that little scene with Miss Missy, his talk with the giant whale was also pretty well and he was able to make the deal that Rein had proposed to her, then he talked with Prince udius and gifted the purple cat a special thing that his mom, the purple cat''s long time close acquaintance, had suggested him. His mom knew her pretty well, and now that they had made contact and she was a familiar of one of their lunchmates, he knew getting close to her even without revealing his identity would be an easy task. She was a useful character so having a positive rtionship with her was important, he knew that well. That''s why he had prepared the best greeting gift for her. And she liked it as much as he had expected, so, their initial bond was established at least. His work was done over there, so, he went ahead and joined Zoe and talked with all of the cool creatures present there, especially a special origin beast that did not belong to anyone yet. It was a rare creature, not too rare, but this one was specifically rare since it was special even among his kind. So he did it, he talked with a big fat seagull that was eating a te Not many knew about his uniqueness since the information regarding it was hidden pretty well, but he knew just as how Prince Alph had approached the bird and talked with him about something while knowing his true powers, he could also just do it simply as if it is normal. So he did it, he talked with a big fat seagull that was eating a te of hot chicken wings on his own in a side. It had white features with back tips and it was as big as Eon himself, and perhaps over four hundred pounds in weight. He had a long beak, but, this creature didn''t seem to have any proper flying abilities since it was such a fatty¡­ well, the fun fact was that this creature usually flew higher than the creatures who are regarded as the rulers of the sky. It was a special creature, and Eon just wanted a few of its feathers from here and there, so after receiving the payment for Eon''s original recipe of chicken wings, the fat birdy happily parted ways with the feathers that he knew would never grow back up ever in his lifetimes. But it was happy, the wings were just too good to mourn over some lost features. And, his work was done with that so Eon was free to talk with Zoe and other birds in the area as well. He was pretty happy among them and since he was almost done with all the work, he also stayed with her for a while before moving on, finishing his work, anding back to this ce where he was ying with his own bunch just as he had promised them at the start. He was happy to have such a cute group of creatures showing interest in him, and he knew just what all of these creatures liked so he had everything on him in his white crack. He fed them and yed with them until she was here after her work was done as well and though not all of the creatures she had at the start hade back to her, some of the young creatures were apanying her when she met up with him, and, after their kissing finished and the headmaster on the stage had confirmed that everything was going on better than the previous years throughout the garden, he announced with a smile in his usual voice... "Hohoho, looks like you all are having fun. It''s nice to see everyone happy like that¡­ so, why don''t we start the summonings and increase the happiness a little?" He knew exactly what his words would do in this garden, and as if to have heard the innerugh of their pretty headmaster, the students, who were already busy with the creatures, and the creatures who were already busy with the students, both parties¡­ shouted out with the greatest cheers of excitement. Which¡­ were so loud that the entire ground was shaking¡­ but people were happy, so this shaking was a rare positive one. Chapter 604 Summoner’s list Chapter 604 Summoner¡¯s list [Eon''s POV: ] "WOHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone was cheerful after hearing those words, so cheerful that they shouted so loudly that the atmosphere itself had been shakenpletely. There was no area of this entire garden that was not filled with the cheerful voices of the students and the resident creatures of the ind at this moment. The creatures were all happy and cheerful, not because of the announcement of the headmaster but because the others, the people they had bonded with in the past few hours, were cheerful. The summoning process didn''t mean much to them. The creatures who had been summoned here today would either be the familier of the one summoning them or, they would be free to do whatever they want. They could go back to the ce they hade from, go back to the ce that they wanted to, be partners with the students of this academy, or choose to stay in this vast garden. They were free to do whatever they wanted but if they chose to stay on this ind, not in the garden but in the wild outskirts, the creatures already present here or the ones who would be entering a new wild environment would be facing the other creatures of the wild where they could do anything they want. There were no restrictions on the creatures when they were in the wild. Only the rules andws of nature were applied there, but of course, Sir Quesnel still remained the one who oversaw the happenings of this entire ind. He could interfere with the creatures, their lives, and their actions to a certain extent since he was granted that much power and authority by his creators. But, he still only maintained his position as the observer who looked at all that was happening without interfering with it to any greater extent. He was an observer and preservation of this sky ind and guarding this academy, and the students, were some of his top priorities. So¡­ ''The shouts, screams, and cheers of excitement shaking the atmosphere were mostly produced because of the excitement of the students who were all looking forward to using the grand summoning circle present on the stage before them.'' The summoning process and the summoning circle of the academy¡­ It is said that the first founders of the academy created this summoning circle with the knowledge and power of some of the greatest beings of their time. They received help from higher beings and a unique w'' was established by the powerful Origin skill users that transcended time and space and made this magic circle powerful and special enough that it was able to summon the creatures that the souls of the summoner, or the students in our case, resonated with closely. ''It was nearly impossible to find the matching soul frequencies since they varied a lot on very small scales, however, this uniquebination ofplicated magic forms that even I have yet to fully understand, was able to achieve that impossible feat.'' It was phenomenal all in itself but what it could do was even more amazing. But, just as how amazing of a spell formation this magic circle was, the cost and resources required to create it every year were just as absurd as its use. Not only very rare resources were used that were very, very difficult to find in today''s time, their market prices were just too shocking that they were treated as treasures all over the world. The academy produced some of the materials themselves in the garden and there were special ces throughout the ind where they could find some more of these special materials. But still, every year, the academy had to spend an absurd amount toplete the required set of materials and they all had to be fresh for better quality of the magic circle so, not even the headmaster''s preservation spells worked when it came to these special ingredients. ''That''s why the headmaster was surprised when I offered to sell some of the most important materials to him for cheap.'' He at first did not believe that I even had those materials but when I showed them to him, and when he found out that they were of better quality than he had ever seen, he was the most surprised I had ever seen him. It was a good day, and I didn''t want anything in return for those It was a good deal for me anyway. Even though he felt it was too sus that I was giving them such important things for so cheap, he materials aside from the money I was getting. Those materials were all something from our tower garden from back in the forbidden forest so, they were free and the absurd amount of money I was getting for them was also free money. It was a good deal for me anyway. Even though he felt it was too sus that I was giving them such important things for so cheap, he epted them, and I was able to see him work on the creation of that unique magic circle. ''Which¡­ was absurd.'' I get goosebumps every time I remember that moment. It was just, mind-blowing. There were few magics in the world that I couldpare this one with, so calling it one of the most amazing magic spells of all time wasn''t false either. It was just amazing, so, when the crowd calmed down and the headmaster was the first person standing before therge magic circle, he looked over everyone else and spoke up with a smile. "Familiars are special. However, do not be disappointed even if you fail to summon anything today, or fail to find your familiar. I, myself, met Harry when I had reached (tier-8) and was receiving training to be the headmaster from my teacher, and our previous headmaster. I could never summon a familiar even though I tried using the summoning circle every time during my time as an assistant teacher, and an official teacher in the academy. I have traveled the three continents and many areas that not all people could visit, and, when I met Harry, I was roaming a ce where you would never expect to find an ''owl''. We have been together since, and he is a quirky one, but, he''s amazing, has lived more than me, and perhaps it was all thanks to him that I am what I am today." He stopped for a moment, turned around, and looked at all the students and the creatures looking at him with a warm smile, and thenughed cheerfully. "Hahaha, a familiar is the most important part of anyone''s life, especially those who want to be any kind of magician. Theyplete us, and meeting your partner is a sacred moment not just anyone gets to experience. They aren''t just some energy beasts. They are special. All familiars are. So, cherish them. And even if you do not have them, don''t ever lose hope and continue searching for one till the end. I know if they are out there, you both will find each other." His voice reached all the students in this garden and they heard him clearly. Many of the creatures present also understood his special voice even though he hadn''t spoken in Mana speech. There was silence for a moment, but it vanished after a moment and the grounds were again covered with atmosphere-shaking cheers. "It''s starting now, right?" "Yes. And perhaps the first group that tries the summoning, will include Alf and Prince Alph." Twelve people could try the summoning process at once and the order of the summoning was decided randomly¡­ or so the public thought. In truth though, the sequence of people that will try the summoning process was decided by a veryplex process that was so unpredictable that unless one knew the list itself, like us, it was impossible to know who would be up next. The process they used was veryplicated, and a lot of things were on the line when the teachers and the headmasters were creating this list, so every year, just the creation of this list resulted in the loss of many of the teacher''s sries of many months, and sometimes their precious belongings. ''I don''t want to describe thisplicated process but, I would say it includes the teachers, their belongings, a very special box full of all the names of the students and other participants of the summoning process, andstly, a generational, silver hammer that was passed down to the headmasters from the beginning of the academy.'' It was veryplicated and their mental health depended on it, so, the creation of this list was a special thing. ''We only got the list after I pulled some strings here and there and got help from Celes and her clones to get her all the information I could during these past few days.'' And still, the list I got wasn''t fully urate but, it could be trusted ny-six percent. "Alright then, calm down everyone. The vice headmaster will announce the groups that will being up here for their summonings.'' Everyone currently present in the academy, every student, teacher, and a few special people, were given a chance to use the summing circle. And there were thousands of people present here so, well, it will naturally take a few hours for this to conclude. "Alright, everyone. Pleasee up on the stage when your names are called." The vice headmaster was now on the edge of the stage, sitting down, with a magic paper in her hand, an excited smile present on her pretty face. She was excited as well, however, she looked in my direction and smirked at me, sending a bad shiver down my spine. "Aaron, Gulietta, Kaisers, Alfred, Alpheus, Uriel, Lucifer, Oleg, Pirimor, Farmir, Iris, Carmmer." She definitely messed it up. She definitely did it on purpose. We weren''t supposed to be there. There was no way. The other teachers and the headmaster''s devastated reactions proved it. Even Uncle El''s face was distorted. ''He lost his three month''s sry to the others and she was doing something like that on her own. It was cheating!'' Not that there were actually anyws against it anywhere, but she was breaking their social norm. Which was no good! She had the authority to do it so no one can say anything against her doing it but they had wasted their nights and mental energy on this freaking list! We weren''t supposed to be here yet! What the hell! "Pleasee up on the stage everyone." She was the worst! Ughhh! Now I''m going to lose the bet we made back then, fuck. [{ Master is angry, hehe. Cursing at your teacher is bad manners master~! }] [{ "Don''t worry, haaa¡­ she did it on purpose, I know. But, well, fuck it. Let''s just get done with this." }] Theirforting was useful but, this was still cheating! Man! I don''t wanna be her punching bag again...! Chapter 605 First group Chapter 605 First group [OP: ] Their names weren''t supposed to be there but now that they were called up to the stage already, there was no reason for them to decline this call. They couldn''t do it to begin with. The time was little already and there were many students right before them so they had to finish up the summoning process and go back so that the others could try it out. They would only be blocking the queue ahead of them so, when their names were called, Eon and Rein, along with Alf, Prince Alph, and the others, also went up to the stage. "Hello, students. All you have to do is stand at the pointed corners here and raise your hands before you while trying to channel the Mana or aura in the atmosphere. If you can''t do that, you can also tell me so that I can help you. Does anyone in this first group want my help with this Mana maniption?" She was asking nicely with a calm face even though she was sitting on the stage while saying that. But the twelve students on the stage all nodded negatively at her question. If it was only about Mana maniption, they all were capable of doing that since most of them were either knights or mages. They didn''t need her help so after their answer, she nodded and pointed at the ends of arge magic circle that was big enough to possess a radius of one and a half kilometers. The stage was big in itself and so was the garden but, when the students stood on the circles at the pointed ends of all twelve corners, they looked like toys ced at the ends of magic circles that children drew, the ones that mostly contained a star, a circle, and some gibberish words they drew which didn''t have any meaning¡­ most of the times at least. But that''s the children. Here, as Eon, Rein, and others stood on the summoning circle, they couldn''t help;p but be amazed at the overwhelming feeling they felt from the magic circle that wasn''t even in its active state. The mages especially Rein, Eon, Alf, and Prince Alph were amazed by theplexity and uniqueness of this phenomenal magic circle before them. [{ "Surprising, right Alf?" }] [{ "Hmmm? Big brother?" }] [{ "He meant the magic circle, Alf. It''s amazing isn''t it?" }] [{ "Ah, sister Uriel¡­ yes, yes. This is, certainly special." }] [{ "Watch it closely. Memorize the visible structure and try out calcting itter. It will help you with the research you have started recently. Tell me if you need a physical copy of that visible structure." }] [{ "Hmmm? Really? Thanks! I will memorise it ASAP~." }] [{ Hehe, little Alf is happy now. }] Alfred already had Uto now so he believed the chances of him summoning or meeting someone else were very low. He was thinking of what he should do when he fails the summoning and the other people are still in the process. The two of them knew it already. So, they gave this advice to him. And he was happy to have found something to pass his time while he looked at the other people''s summonings. [{ "Alright. Good luck everyone." }] Eon, Rein, and Alf already had their familiars so they weren''t expecting to summon anything in this process but Eon once made a bet with the vice headmaster where she imed that both Eon and Rein had better chances to have more than one familiars than other normal people. She imed that ording to her previous experience, those who were out of this world special and possessed something that no other being in this world, not even the gods or the divine beasts had, then their souls, that vibrated at a certain unique frequency will have an unnatural ''branching'' that had a chance to be connected to some other creature that might or might not exist in their own world. It was a strange spection and Eon denied her im indirectly. He knew about the Soul more than her so he knew that what she was saying about the stronger and special souls having this ''branching'' was certainly true, but, it didn''t particrly have any connection with the familiars. ording to him, the ''resonance'' that is established between the familiar and the master is special and when ites to the origin beasts like his Celes and her Branwen, things are even more special. The bond is established between them and their origin and they be not only a part of their but, their origin, and their afterlife as well. A familiar that is an origin beast is a part of the masters so, it is possible that they can be with them even when their physical bodies cease to exist or when they enter their astral forms. They knew it was possible since the headmaster confirmed that he could summon Harry in the astral release with him, which Eon and Rein will be able to do in the future as well. They just weren''t ready yet, and this fact solidified his argument. The vice headmaster still didn''t falter from her position though. She was adamant that the two of them would have another family if they did the summoning process and that was the reason she called them in the first batch. It was better to just check and be done with her im so their ''bet'' coulde to a conclusion. The stakes weren''t that high here. If Eon won, he just had to receive ''personal'' training from her for a few days while if she won, she would listen to anything he wanted from her. It was a profitable deal for anyone to receive a chance to receive something from the vice headmaster, the only known person who had mastered all weapons, and someone who had personally taught many of the heroes of the current world. And receiving personal teaching from her was also profitable¡­ at least, one would think that way. Only those who had received training from her personally would know just how¡­ hellish that particr few hours are. He knew it, and he didn''t want it even though they would be profitable to him, at least for now. It was unexpected, but as Rein believed, it was better to just be done with it quickly. It was good that they would be the first ones to do their summoning process anyway. They will be able to sit back with their bunch of cuties and watch others in their group and everyone else try it out for themselves. It was better this way so¡­ "Alright then. I will start. Good luck first group. Close your eyes." The headmaster was activating the summoning circle so everyone closed their eyes and focused their Mana with their hands pointed towards the center of the magic circle. -Ooooooooooooooooong! The magic circle glowed up with unique colorful light and became visible to the tall ones and flying ones. It was circr, filled withplicated geometric shapes and lines of all kinds. There were many things written on it in runes and that wasn''t all. Each part of this magic circle was made with so much detail that it was hard to believe that someone actually created thisrge structure. But it was real, and they were seeing it. They also saw how it had six kite-shaped points and they were standing at the ends of each of them. The core of the magic circle, the mostplicated Struve that, to most, only seemed like a nine-ended star glowing with bright light but to the mages and the people who could see it, they knew that thing¡­ that small ten-meter shape, was more than what it seemed to the naked eyes. Not only was it made of countlessplicated smaller structures, but how everything was connected with one another and was giving birth to newer things, which themselves were giving birth to this whole core that powered the spell, was a spectacle to all the eyes looking at it. But, to the closed eyes of twelve people standing on the summoning circle, a nee, unfamiliar sans Tino was taking over their minds and senses. They were starting to feel something, their mana was draining from their bodies, There was something happening that they couldn''t put into words but Rein, Eon, and Alf who had experienced something a little simr to this previously, could describe it as their ''souls'' trying to resonate with something. The magic circle was reading their soul frequencies and was reacting to them, initiating the process that the teachers and those who had witnessed the summoning process already were all familiar with. It was glowing, though, at different intensities in all twelve regents, it was certainly glowing differently from before. The color of the magic circle, which was mostly made of all colors one can think about, was turning to a certain color in all regions except the one with Eon and Rein, but the other areas certainly had their unique colors that somewhat matched with their unique color ID stars. For Rein and Eon, these areas were colorless, but that didn''t matter to them. They weren''t in this space anymore anyway. They were somewhere else, seeing something they had not expected in their wildest dreams, an experience of something that people rarely experience during this summoning process. But even in this rare process, what they were experiencing right now was very unique¡­ But people didn''t know that. They were all focused on one certain person and the summoning area before him. They called him a useless prince who somehow became the captain of the most inappropriate house. His image in the academy wasn''t positive or negative either. It was like he existed, but no one actually knew much about him. He was as invisible to them as some of the lowest-grade pesetas who didn''t even have the chance to showcase what they had yet. He was the useless prince of the greatest empire in the West¡­ but that image was going to change soon. And, he will have to work hard to get back his ''useless prince'' status¡­ There was a great brown light before his summoning area, he was the possessor of a pinnacle skill and a talent that was no less special than the future heroes of folklores. He was special, one of the most special in this world and era. The familiar he summoned obviously wasn''t going to be anything less than legendary. Chapter 606 Beyond the realities 606 Beyond the realities [OP: ] A bright ce filled with countless sources of light, a space filled with countless ineffable spatial objects that were perhaps stars, or perhaps they were just particles of energy, or perhaps they were gxies or perhaps it was just some lights dancing in this endless space. There was perhaps nothing here aside from these lights or perhaps, there were so many things in this endless space that counting them would be an impossible task even for someone like Eon. It was strange what this ce was or how they were here in this moment when thest thing they remembered was standing on the summoning circle in their academy. They didn''t know what was going on how much time had passed what this ce was or was even any space. [{ Master¡­ what are we doing¡­ }] [{ "I would like to know that as well Celes." }] They could see what there was all around them but they couldn''t feel anything. They could hear some noises but they seemed to be present in their heads instead of ringing in their ears like usual. They couldn''t feel any of their senses aside from their vision, but, after floating here for an unknown time, they believed what they were seeing was actually not what they were seeing through their vision either. Perhaps all of their senses were gone and in this moment, they were experiencing something that could neither be described nor could be put into words. They couldn''t understand it properly, they didn''t even seem to have any reason to do so either. They didn''t seem to have any reason to do anything at all actually. They were just floating, in this endless, colorful, beautiful space and they didn''t know if they really existed there, they certainly knew this was not their physical bodies. They were doing their summoning process thest time and after that, they found themselves in this unknown ce, floating, moving perhaps, perhaps still. Perhaps everything around them was moving except them, and perhaps all this was just a very powerful illusion from someone with a higher authority than a higher god. Perhaps this was all real and this was, in fact, a real ce and they were seeing it with their ''consciousnesses''. Perhaps this was the truth and perhaps not. They didn''t know. And even though he could ask Lucy for this answer since she was still with them, he didn''t want to do that. This ce¡­ this space¡­ this beauty¡­ He wanted to just float here for a little more, stay here for a little longer, observe these beautiful lights all around them for a moment more¡­ he wanted to exist in this ce for just a little longer. It was fine since ''death'' was not possible in this ce in this ''form'' they were in at the moment. He could feel some of the things that he couldn''t understand himself but, he was certain all of this had some kind of meaning. And if he waited here for just a little longer, floated in this pretty ce for a while more, and enjoyed it as he had been, he would be able to get the answers to the questions he couldn''t even ask since he did not have his voice. [{ This is all pretty master¡­ I want to eat them¡­ }] [{ "You can go try it if you want Celes. It''s alright, perhaps. It should be okay to just eat a little light, right?" }] "Ah¡­ I believe that won''t be possible this time. You see, this ce is just a memory fragment." He was allowing her to go y with these pretty lights, taste them, and perhaps if she finds out something about them, tell himter as well. He was hoping he would be able to know even a little about what was going on but, just when Celes was about to answer cheerfully ande out of her mark, an unknown voice spoke up, like someone actually spiked something. It wasn''t just telepathic talk like what they could do at the moment but, an actual voice that was saying something strange. But what she had just said caught his attention. He was prepared to ask his question, but he questioned how he would be able to say anything at all since he had lost his ability to speak, so he tried still, but his poor efforts didn''t bear any fruit. [{ "Haaa¡­ looks like I can''t talk for real." }] "Sucks right? I know that feeling well." [{ "Ohhh! You can understand what I''m saying with this? But how is that possible? And¡­ why did I feel sadness when you said that?" }] "UwU? You can tell it was sadness just from the feeling you got. Now that''s impressive." [{ "I¡­ well, I just felt it, and I knew it was sadness." }] "Do you know why you were able to identify my sadness when you are present among an abundant amount of solid emotions, Axion Helios Kromet¡­ or is calling you Htwoz An-" [{ "That''s not me. Please do not use that name. I''m Axion. And you don''t seem to be a bad person, so, you can just call me Eon." }] "Hahaha, apologies. I didn''t know that just mentioning that name would cause you so much pain. I could only feel the name in the memories of that other world. I did not know it would cause you so much pain. I apologize." Her voice was ethereal, and it didn''t have any particr direction it wasing from. It was a voice filled with power, a strange power that he could onlypare to his master''s. He had never felt something like this, it was a stranger feeling than when he first heard her ''true voice'' for the first time a few eternities back. He couldn''t describe this either, just like all the other things in this ce, but, he could certainly tell that the voice he was hearing, wasing from all directions, from all the things, from all the particles and all the lights present in this ce. It was like, this voice they were hearing right now¡­ it wasing from every single thing, every single source of light present in this ce. As if, everything was speaking the same thing, or in better words, she was everything present here speaking to them in her voice, from everything present here. However, she said something about memory fragments a moment ago. And, if they were talking about a memory fragment, something he knew very well, he could only say one thing about this ce right now. [{ "It is fine, but¡­ this ce. Is this, inside your mind, or something simr?" }] "Oh? You figured it out on your own, I see. You certainly are as smart as she said you were." [{ "She¡­?" }] "Your tea- no. You called her grandma, right? She talked about you like you were the only and most fascinating presence she had ever seen in all of her lives." [{ "Wait¡­ what? What, no, how¡­ actully, who-" }] "No, Eon. It''s alright. Don''t think too much about this. The time has note yet for us to meet. You two still have many things to go through before you reach me. This is the location you will need to reach first, so, observe it carefully. Engrave it as perfectly as you can." [{ "But what is this ce-" }] "You will find out on your own. I know you will. You don''t have to give this much thought either. As you walk on your path, experience things together, and know more about both your selves, about the uniqueness of your existence, and the meaning you now possess in this nature¡­ you wille to know more things and the truths." [{ "But-" } "Haha, no need to be so surprised little one. You will see beyond the realities in the future, that this ce, or myself, is not muchpared to what lies even further than this ce. I''m just a small resting spot you will stay at for a while, and perhaps I will join your journey, perhaps I might not, we do not know that. The future is constantly changing, right? And even we could not predict this change." [{ "¡­" }] He didn''t know what was going on right now. There was just too much to process right now. She was talking about the realities, his mastery, space, and truths, and she was talking in plural speech, so she was referring to them, but whom she was referring to, was a question to him as well. After she said all those things, it even seemed like he was feeling a strange pain in his head, a sensation he had not felt from the moment he had entered this strange space. "Alright then. Looks like our time ising to an end. Ask me one question before we part ways. And choose your words correctly, young one. This moment is precious." He couldn''t understand most of the things that were going on right now. And both Celes and Lucy were silent for a while as if their voices were blocked. He could feel them, their worried emotions but, their voices were not there, perhaps that''s why he heard that question even more clearly, and from what she said and what he understood¡­ There was one question he had to ask if it was thest between them. [{ "Can I help you with your¡­ pain?" }] He didn''t know why he was asking this question to a stranger he was only meeting for the first time today, but, that was the only question that came from his heart, or soul, or the deep mind, or from somewhere within him. it was an instinctual question¡­ and, she was happy to hear it. "You can, yes. Perhaps, you are the only one who can. However, little one, don''t be too concerned. Our meeting would still be a few years into the future in your time, even if the worlds are copsed or the universes are shattered. Even if the timelines are entangled, or the Truths are corrupted, we would certainly meet, perhaps in a little fifteen years, or perhaps in a little over five hundred years. Perhaps we will only be able to meet after you have more people in your life to protect, precious people you would certainly burn the world if needed to. I don''t know how long it will take for us to meet, but, little one, we will meet. Certainly. And I have faith that by then, you both will be strong enough to help me, as well as wise enough to make the decision¡­" The world around them started vanishing, the stars, the lights, the light, and brightness itself started to fade away. "Take care of them, Eon." And after that goodbye, with the disappearance of the pretty ce, they also disappeared from that now dark, empty ce, and reappeared on the stage of their garden, and looked around, only to find a small, cute looking turtle with a cuter looking snake wrapped around it, both floating in the air before them, looking straight in the eyes of the person beside him, Prince Alph, with a cheerful smile on their faces. Chapter 607 A young Eternity 607 A young Eternity [Eon''s POV: ] [{ Masterrrrrrrrr! Masterrrrrr! What happened to you?! What was that voice?! }] [{ *Master. You did say that you would be alright but it was really shocking when even I could not sense you for a moment. It was just too shocking how I was blocked from you when I was a part of you myself.* }] Both of them were surprised and worried, I knew, I could feel them. I can see, hear, smell, sense, and feel the other things around me, which confined that I was back to the academy, on the stage, in my original body, far away from that ce, from that being¡­ from her. [{ "It''s alright now you two. It was a special invitation. And we were inside someone else in a way, so, it wasn''t that special of an incident. Let''s be careful the next time. It''s alright now, and that person didn''t mean us any harm. If anything, they helped us with many things, right Lucy?" }] [{ *Yes¡­ master. But still, stealing you away from us all was not a polite thing.* }] [{ What do you mean helped with many things masterrrrrrr! I was so worrrrrrrried! }] [{ "Sorry for worrying you Celes. But, it was all rted to you, if I''m not wrong." }] Lucy was smart so she had already grasped most of the things that had gone down in that ce. And, she must have also learned many things from that experience if even I had gained such enlightenment. But, Celes was different. She wasn''t super smart or super knowledgeable. She was just a normal, super-talented, young, and cheerful crystal butterfly. She was different from Lucy, so, without me teaching her most of the things that went down when we were in that ce, or when we were seeing that particr piece of memory would be a better way to put into words, it would be difficult for her to understand most of the things that went down in that space. But that would be forter. Calming her was the most important task for now, and I knew just the way I could do it. [{ "Ah, it''s alright Celes. We are fine and back here, right? I''m fine as well, see? It''s alright now, but, what do you think about this cute turtle and snake? Do you know what they are?" }] The easiest way to calm down my little Celes was to distract her, just like a little child. And there was a very good distraction floating right before us, a very good and shocking one. [{ Hmmm¡­ this cute turtle and snake? Hmmm. Hmmmmm¡­ I think I have shown them before. Hmmm, let me think. }] She instantly forgot all about her worries and started thinking about this turtle and a snake, the creature that I was very, very surprised to see before me at that moment. And, it was cuter than what was depicted in any old records or the stories I had heard from Grandma. I never thought I woulde across one of them but there was one before me, and it was too cute to be the creature I had read and heard about, but, I''m sure this is that creature. ''And this one''s summoner is a special one himself so, it''s certain that I''m not hallucinating.'' But still, this is surprising. I had spent an unknown time in that strange space. Perhaps an hour had passed there, perhaps a day or a month, or perhaps a year or a few. A long time had passed there, that much I had been sure about but now that I was back here, it seemed like not that long had passed. The first group that I had climbed the stage with was still here and there were creatures before every one of them except Alf, Rein, and me. All of the others had creatures before them, some known, some rare. Alf was surprised to look at everyone who had summoned these creatures and was observing them closely with an excited, astonished expression. Uto was on his head, looking at everyone else with a simr look as him. Those two certainly looked quite pretty a father-daughter pair. On the other hand, El was still standing in the summoning proposition so, perhaps she was also experiencing something indescribable simr to us. But I don''t know about that. I will have to ask about her when she is back in this ce. For now, there were some interesting creatures right before us, and even among all of them, there was a certain one looking happily at his summoner, perhaps talking in a stronger voice than his young, cute looks. Well, it was a creature of Mythos. Something I didn''t expect to see in a ce like this. But his summoner was someone who possessed a Pinnacle skill, as well as a skill that would evolve him into a high species in the future. He was a smart person for one, and possessed a very powerful origin skill, and his talent was the main thing that allowed him to achieve everything he possessed today. He was a special person, someone who was trying his best to earn my friendship while maintaining his status as a ''useless'' person so that he could have his calm, carefree, easy life. He loved his peace and to maintain that, he could go to great lengths if needed. His life in the academy was going pretty well as well but now that this cutie was here¡­ [{ Ahhh! Master! I remembered! Isn''t this that guardian beast called, ummmm, Great Worrier? The protector something? I remember you said they are scarrrrrrry creatures, right? This cute-looking one has quite a strong soul and it is strong overall as well. It''s scary how this cute-looking thing is so dangerous that even you call it scary. Ah, but now that it is that guy''s partner, doesn''t that mean this one''s a good one and will be our friend? }] [{ "Yes, and don''t call him ''it''. He''s a being of greatness even though he seems to be a young one. From what I know, they have a very close familial bond and since he is a creature of mythos, I think his parents and ancestors were the only pairs remaining after the happenings before the known history. But, that aside, why do you still call Prince Alph ''that guy''? He''s not a bad person and he is kind of close to us as well, right?" }] [{ Hmmm? But, he''s still not your ''friend'' yet, right? You still want him to prove himself so that you can actually take him as one of your own. So, until that happens, isn''t he just a guy that ys with us sometimes? }] Well, she wasn''t wrong on this one. He certainly was more of an acquaintance simr to his brother and sister rather than a friend like Quin, Med, or Lizzy. He was still just a person who had greater interactions with his other two siblings but that was it. He was still a distant person who enjoyed his ownpany rather than the others. ''But he won''t be by himself from now on. From this moment forth, he is a parent and a guardian, and since the guardians of the north, the great [Gigentia], were creatures of mythos, and an eternity, they were very famous. That''s why the people here will never ept that this cute-looking creature is the same thing that was talked about in the stories and the folklores.'' I can tell from the look everyone had on their faces at the moment that even though everyone was surprised by the appearance of this little turtle and snake duo, they were more in-depth about this than they were surprised by their sureness. They didn''t want to believe that this duo was the same creature that they had heard about and seen in ferocious-looking paintings, they might never fully ept it, ever. But, what did it matter actually? [{ "They will finish the bonding now." }] They must have had a pretty long telepathic conversation and perhaps they had got to know each other from that little talk a little bit. His skill must have told him about this cutie a fair bit so he knew at least what he was dealing with, but, his soul was already resonating with his, so, the bond was inevitable. He just had to ept the fact that he will receive a bad lot of attention from now on thanks to his cute baby, and he will have to face many challenges to go and meet his parents to sort things out with them regarding their child, but, he was a strong person, and even though he might ask for help from us and the academy, he was capable enough to sort these things out on his own. ''He has someone to look after now, so, he will have to be a little lesszy and do a few things to take care of this cute baby.'' The turtle and snake had already moved before him and ced their heads on Prince Alph''s chest so a golden light had engulfed the two of them. The bond will be established soon and a familiar mark will be created. They will bind together and be part of each other, part of each other''s lives and souls. It will be the beguiling of their new lives, and I''m happy for them, as well as the others who found their families. They all were in the middle of finishing their binding process but, Rein was still just standing as she had been, and I couldn''t even sense any kind of energy movement from her as well, she wasn''t even present in this ce consciously. She was somewhere else, and though a lot more time than usual had passed since the start of the summoning, I knew she wasn''t in any kind of danger or anything. If I have to say myself, she was perhaps in a confused and puzzled state from what I could feel at the moment. She was perhaps experiencing something strange like we did but perhaps it was different from our experience. ''We do not know¡­'' We had no idea so, we could only ask her when she was out of this strange position of hers. Chapter 608 A rare excitement Chapter 608 A rare excitement [Eon''s POV: ] [{ So master¡­ when is sister Elle going toe back? }] [{ "Dunno. Well, she should be back anytime soon perhaps? I don''t know what she is doing there but it seems like she is having some fun talking with-" }] [{ *Ah, master, looks like she''s back.* }] Lucy spoke up after quite a while and I looked up from the corner of the stage, and she was falling down in that moment. It was like she had opened her eyes for a moment but then she lost control of her body and started falling¡­ but thankfully I was just beside her so I used {Quick steps} and caught her at the right time. "Hey, Uriel, you alright?!" She was almost unconscious and when this happened, the tenth group was just about to start their summoning process but the headmaster stopped midway through the process. "Hunnnn¡­ what¡­?" "Shuuuuu. Don''t speak." She seemed to be confused, the look on her face was quite distorted from a while ago. She had been standing on the stage without moving for more than half an hour after the first group''s summoning wasplete but now that I was looking at her, she seemed more worn out and even her face was pale. Even the Mana in her body was almost depleted. To the point that she needed immediate help or else her body might have fallen into a state of (Mana depletion). I thought she was fine since she looked and felt fine, but, this was not fine at all. ''Damn¡­'' I took out one of my Mana potions and slowly poured it into her mouth. She was good aside from this Mana depletion and since her mana pool was absurdlyrge, I had to pour three bottles of potions just to bring the Mana levels to a safer degree. "Haaaa¡­" The people in the stands and everyone looking at us were shocked or surprised, our friends were all worried as well, but after I confirmed her condition and confirmed the absence of any possible abnormalities, I was relieved. And seeing me sigh with relief made the others calm down as well. "You alright ma''am?" "Hmmmmm¡­? Yes, I''m fine." "It''s good then. Let''s go down." "Hmmm?" I used the movement skills a few times again and moved both of us to the ground below strange in a good ce, under a good shade, and signaled at the headmaster with a thumps up. He knew I would handle this one so he activated the magic circle with eleven people on the ends of the circle and the students who were looking at us at that time looked back towards the stage, most of them at least, Quin, Med, Lizzy, and others came running to the ce we were sitting and Quin hugged her with teary eyes. She was fine like me since she saw I wasn''t worried about her that much, but that sudden fall and what happened after that shocked her quite a lot. She was worried Rein saw that as well, so when she was hugging her, Rein smiled warmly and patted the back of her dear little friend. "Looks like I worried you all. Well¡­ I''m sorry. Even I don''t know what had happened. How much time has passed since our turn, darling?" "Thirty-three minutes and fifty seconds. You were still like a statue all this time and didn''t respond even after I called for you so the headmaster decided to leave you alone and continue forward with a pair of eleven students. He said it was a rare urrence where the people whose consciousness has traveled to some other ce at the location of the creature that might be their familiar takes quite a long time toe back. He said it was rare but not abnormal so we continued. This is the tenth group now. And everyone is looking forward to seeing what Princess Luna summons. There hasn''t been anything too attractive, aside from the fact that Prince Alph bonded with a cute-looking pair of a turtle and snake. He named him Gen. He''s cute. We all should go see them after this is over." Not much had happened while she was in that suspended state. None of the prominent students''s turn had arrived for the summoning after us. The current turn and Princess Luna were the first famous people after us who everyone was looking forward to seeing the results of the summonings. "Hmmmm¡­ well, alright. Looks like nearly the same time passed as that ce." She sighed and caressed the head of her friend, then patted the head of her cute Med who was also in tears, and hugged Lizzy, who had supported these two crybabies in her absence. She was reliable. "Thanks for worrying about me everyone, but I''m alright. In fact, I''m more than alright." She was smiling excitedly. She was happy. I was uncertain before but I knew now that whatever she had experienced in that ce, was better than the vague things that I went through. "You are alright and that''s everything that matters." I gave her a warm smile and she smiled bitterly, came back down to the ground, hugged me, and kissed me on the cheeks with her cool lips. "Sorry to worry you again. But I experienced something amazing. A little strange and frustrating but, amazing." She hugged me while we both were sitting and facing each other. Romantic, certainly, even though there were thousands of people around. "Ummmm¡­! Ummmmm! You two! There are people watching!" "Who cares dear?" Med was as cute as ever. She really said that even though she knew we didn''t care about it. "Ummm, guys? Care to look at that?" A minute passed and there were sounds all around us and they were certainly surprised about something on the stage. And since Ca asked us to look back with a surprised voice herself, we both looked back and a certain creature, a surprising one, greeted our eyes. "Holy moly¡­" "Wow, isn''t that a [Deep Blue]?! A mature one at that?!" "I thought they had gone extinct already though¡­" "Not really. There are currently around five or six packs of them known to be present in the very north of the northern continent. Perhaps more in the unexplored areas but they certainly do still exist." A shark-like creature far bigger than a shark, actually, it was as big as some of the biggest creatures present in this garden. And it looked ferocious, hungry, deadly, creepy as well. Totally different from the turtle and snake. And still, this was a young one, perhaps one that was just entering adulthood. It was a (Blue) ranked creature at the moment and their kind was one of the deadliest (Purple) ranked sea predators who dominated the cold seas since the old times. It was a species that was presumed to be lost but I had this secret information from a reliable source that confirmed their presence around certain hidden inds in the deeper parts of the northern seas. ''One of those inds was a ce we would be visiting if a need for a certain thing ever arose, so there is a chance we would be facing these creatures in their natural habitats. And since I don''t have that deep information about them, this is a good opportunity.'' Titania was our friend. She yed around with us most of the time whenever she got the chance and Princess Luna followed her everywhere. She didn''t have any actual friends aside from us, so she was with us most of the time as well. So, I had a good chance to observe this master predator of old times closely. "However¡­" There was one very unique thing about these creatures that were nicknamed ''Nightmares of the Old Seas''. They were creatures that respected superiority above everything else. "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" "What''s happening? Why is it¡­!?" "What''s it doing?!" The one that had been summoned on the stage knew what was going on and the fact that the one present before her was the being that its soul resonated with very closely. She was his master and he had a chance to be her familiar. But, before he epts her as his master, he has to test her. And since he was a being of the ''soul freezing waters'', the method of testing was obviously¡­ "He''s testing her affinity, right?" "Yup." Quin guessed it right. She was pretty sensitive to the water attribute so she guessed it just like Rein did. "The Deep Blues possess a very high affinity with water and ice and the ones who have higher affinity are regarded as superior to the others in their groups. They respect the superiority of affinity so that one''s testing hers. But his actions could only be regarded as cute, haha." He was trying to test a witch. A being closer to nature than most other races. She was called the (Witch of Blizzards), a title she stone from an Elder mage with her high affinity and innate skill rted to the ice attribute alone. Even her offensive Witchcraft was considered to be a catastrophe by the powers in the north. She was a very famous figure, and, there was no way that cute fewer. shark was gonna win against her when it came to the affinities even if he tried his hardest. [{ "Well¡­ that''s a pretty rare creature and from that look on your face, I can tell you are interested in it. Good for you, but let''s put that aside. Look here, darling!" }] She called me out excitedly and looked at me with eyes that were eager to tell me about something that I would undoubtedly find exciting. ''A rare sight I see¡­'' There were few things in this world that could excite her this much. Things that would excite me as well were undoubtedly even fewer. I didn''t know what it was but from that tone, I could tell it was pretty cool, but¡­ [{ "Yeah, so, I met a dragon!!!" }] I didn''t think it would be this much cool, orplicated in better words. Chapter 609 A dragon?! Chapter 609 A dragon?! [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "No wait¡­ what? What do you mean?" }] She was saying she met a dragon. A freaking dragon! The epitome of existence and the greatest creatures who exist above even some of the gods. ''She has to be joking¡­'' A dragon¡­ wow. Huuuuh. [{ "Well¡­" }] [{ "Rein¡­ no ying games, ok? Tell me. Please. Everything if possible. Every single thing." }] [{ Master is desparate, hehe. }] [{ "Hehe, right? Just like I knew." }] They wereughing, but this was no matter tough at. We were talking about a dragon! A real dragon!! Wait¡­ [{ "Was it really even a dragon? You sure Rein?" }] [{ "Well¡­ who knows?" }] Now that was a lie. I knew. I can tell. She was lying. She knew exactly what she was talking about. She was ying with me and my patience and my heart and my curiosity. She was ying with all that. I knew it. And it was no good! [{ "I just said no joking Rein! We are talking about a dragon here. A dragon! I''m not gonna take that yfulness! Tell me! How did it look? How did it feel? How was it? The ce? The presence? Where were you exactly?! What kind of eye did it have? What did it say and what were you two talking about for so long? Ah, right! Is that dragon your soul partner as well? But how is that possible?! How can you be the master of a dragon?! Was it really an original dragon or something else that you mistook as a dragon? Hnnn? Rein? Say something! Please-" }] [{ "Shut the hell up you basted. Stop those questions and Calm Down." }] ¡­ Ok, perhaps that was a little too much. [{ "Sorry." }] She grabbed my face with her two hands and since it was a little sudden, the others were stunned for a moment, but then they remembered it was us doing the normal things, so they focused back on the stage and the battle of affinities between a giant shark and a witch. [{ "Haaa¡­ alright. One thing at a time. Tell me about the dragon." }] [{ "What do I get in return?" }] ¡­she wanted something in return for telling me something that happened to her? Well, isn''t someone learning the business quickly here? [{ "You want something in rerun for telling me about this ''dragon'' you met, hunnn? Well, then we will have to do proper negotiations, miss. Say, what do you have in mind?" }] [{ "Hmmm¡­ how about three coins-" }] coins even if she was going to tell me about the world''s greatest secret that I had no way of finding out without her intel. [{ "I apologize, miss. I hate to say it but that won''t be possible." }] Nah, three coins were too much. I couldn''t possibly give up three coins even if she was going to tell me about the world''s greatest secret that I had no way of finding out without her intel. Three coins? Nah. That wasn''t happening. [{ "Tsk. Two coins?" }] [{ "No. hmmm¡­ I don''t think this is going to work, miss. How about I present you with an offer? I know you won''t be satisfied with one coin even if I offer it. So, would you like to hear my proposal?" }] sometimes.* }] ''Well, I''m happy you like that side of me, but thisdy of mine [{ "Desperate and still ying those mind games? Isn''t that unfair dude?" }] [{ "Pardon? What is unfair Miss Rein? I''m just asking you to hear me out and the decision will be yours to make afterward." }] [{ "You see this calm and easygoing attitude even though I have the upper hand? That''s being unfair. I''m gonna lose this negotiation if I hear that proposal." }] [{ "Ah, don''t be like that Rein. Just hear me out at least. You know me, I will listen to you and your negotiations for hours if you really want it. I love it when we do that, and then the other things after that. So, what do you think?" }] I don''t really want to go too deep in how this talk about a dragon became something like this negotiations but, it was a dragon we were talking about. A dragon! [{ *Haha master. I sometimes don''t understand your obsession with the dragons but it''s fun to see this rare side of yours.* }] ''Haha Lucy, they are dragons. Anyone would be excited about them.'' [{ *Not as much as you thought, right? Your obsession with them is the same as your obsession with Ruins and Truths. It fascinates me sometimes.* }] ''Well, I''m happy you like that side of me, but thisdy of mine thinks otherwise.'' She knew just how much I liked the dragons and things rted to them. They were more fascinating creatures to me than any other creature of Mythos or any other Eternity out there. They were just, too amazing. In all aspects for a matter of fact. Not only were they perhaps some of the earliest creations of nature, but even in the current world, the creature, or being originally known as a ''Dragon'', possess so great powers, knowledge, truths, and powers that even I don''t know what the dragons are truly capable of. ''I love dragons, it''s an unchanging fact that will remain the same forever. Even the fact that my master and grandma were a Phoenix or my little sister is a young Phoenix doesn''t affect that fact.'' Rein knew this love of mine, so, she knew this story of hers was more important to me than it was to her. But she didn''t like the fact that she would still get yed in the palm of my hand despite possessing a clear upper hand in this negotiation. Poor her¡­ [{ "Ughhh. I want to punch that smug face of yours sometimes." }] "Yeah, sure. But not here." "Shut up you fu-" "Ahem. Keep going with that deal you two. We all are having fun here." "¡­" "¡­Celes?" Not again. Why does she do this?! [{ Hehe, you were arguing about something fun~! I thought everyone should listen to it~. }] [{ "Yes, it was definitely a fun talk they were having there. I would like to know about this ''dragon'' thing as well." }] [{ "Hmmm? Headmaster? Celes? Why him?" }] Why was she giving ess to our privatemunication line to someone else? Why him actually? [{ Whatttttttt! Hey! Eavesdropping is bad mister! How did you- }] [{ "You used Uncle El didn''t you Headmaster? I knew it was a possibility that thismunication could be breached more easily with the ''direct'' method. Thanks for confirming my theory. Good luck doing this again the next time." }] The way Celes''smunication link worked was a littleplicated but in short, hacking into it was nearly impossible for someone below the level of the headmaster. Even for the headmaster, it was a task so difficult that he must have had to work for the entire week we were here just to figure out thework patterns and theplicated stuff just to finish up around today, more probably during the time my consciousness was in that other ce. [{ "Ah, dear Lucifer. I was hoping you would allow me ess to these channels of yours if I show you this-" }] [{ "Nice try headmaster. But no thanks. This is private, as well as personal, and sacred. Bye." }] I did some things here and there and instructed Lucy and Celes to [{ "We will need to have another long, personal chat Celes." }] do some things with the entiremunication system we had in ce. It was a special thing only for the family and the most trusted ones. Headmaster, was not one of them, yet. He had many things he had to prove before he was eligible for ess to thiswork. And that wasn''t happening anytime soon. [{ "We will need to have another long, personal chat Celes." }] [{ Yes master¡­ }] It wasn''t her fault this happened but, if the headmaster could do this, there was a possibility that any other being on his, or above his level could do this. It wasn''t good. We needed to work on thiswork and bring in help to make it into something none could breach, be it a god or the heavens themselves. ''But, that wasn''t happening anytime soon either. So, moving on to the main thing¡­'' [{ "Ah, so, Rein. My proposal was simple¡­ just tell me what happened with you over there, everything, anything you remember. And I will decide the appropriate payment depending on the information I get." }] [{ "You''re using Equivalent exchange on me? Really? Your wife?" }] [{ "You don''t like it? Well, we don''t have to do it that way then-" }] [{ "Who said I didn''t like it!" }] Well, of course you would like it. After what happened just now, all thest bit of fun you wanted to have has crumbled down so of course, you would take this deal. Sweet girl¡­ [{ "Haaa¡­ I''m going to beat you up." }] [{ "Yeah, sure. We can do that after we are done with everything here, over a ss of warm coffee preferably." }] [{ "Tsk. Bastard." }] Rein, my dear Rein. She was pretty easy to manipte with these little things¡­ she still has a long way to go with these negotiation things. ''Cutie.'' She epted the deal and shook my hand, so the deal was in ce. I would provide an appropriate reward based on the quality of the information I was getting, and since I was asking for everything she had, I had no choice but to give her the ''best'' reward I could. Which I will of course. She knows that well. [{ "So¡­ it all started when I appeared in that pretty looking dark ce and those eyes, those eyes that I cannot mistake for any other creature, the eyes of a dragon recorded in the books you gave me, appeared before me. And as soon as they appeared¡­" }] She was starting her story of what happened to her when she was gone from this ce to whatever world she had been in. At the same time, the group and Princess Luna were finished with their bonding processes. The next big name will be Quin perhaps, but that still had a little time left. We can focus on this story that¡­ [{ "They started cussing at me." }] Was certainly going to be interesting. Chapter 610 Golden eyes in darkness Chapter 610 Golden eyes in darkness [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "So, it all started with a dark ce so dark, but, strangely so pretty that it''s difficult to put into words how unique that ce was. Ah, I will just show you." }] She grabbed my hand and she was practically talking with me only, so this visual was only for me¡­ or it should have been only for me. [{ "Ummm? What is this? Why can''t I¡­?" }] I chanted out my (: Vision sharing) and it materialized but, when she tried to share the things she had seen there, for some reason, she couldn''t do it. ''I guessed that much.'' My dear fianc¨¦e¡­ [{ "Congrattions Rein. You now have one of your own top-secret memories that you couldn''t show to others even if you wanted to. Looks like you really did see a dragon. Or at least, a being on that high of a level." }] [{ "¡­" }] She didn''t understand what I said for a moment so she just looked at me with a confused look and blocked a few times, and then she just shook her head. [{ "whatever¡­ so, the unique darkness, it was amazing. The whole ce was dark so when I first appeared there, I couldn''t move my body at all. I couldn''t even feel it. It was like I didn''t have a body to begin with only my head. It was weird, but itsted for only a moment and then I got the hang of the ce. It felt sluggish for a moment after that but I managed to get the normal feeling and body again. I couldn''t use any kind of skills or spells though, but since I didn''t need that, it was alright. I was there after the summoning process anyway so it meant this was a ce where the creature other than Branwen, whose Soul resonated with mine the most, resided. I was happy at first that I would be getting another familiar, but the ce I was in confused me for a moment. Just what kind of creature was it that licked in a ce like this? I wondered. And walked a few moments only stopping when I suddenly heard a certain voice¡­" }] She stopped for a moment, cleared her throat, and took a deep breath before continuing. [{ "Oh? What do we have here~?" }] She tried saying it in a heavy voice that resembled a very old kind of grandpa with a strong voice who was trying to be yful at the strangely surprising thing before them. ''But she couldn''t replicate that voice that well and ended up saying it in a cute old grandma manner, hehehe.'' But it was better to not tell her¡­ we all thought it was the best at least. But, Ca ended upughing and she found out that whatever she tried doing, had failedpletely. [{ "Ughhh. You people are the worst." }] She was annoyed for a moment and didn''t say anything. But then Ca apologized, and she forgave her saying that she was a ''generous'' being who had met a real dragon. ''Funny girl.'' [{ "Ahem. So, I heard that voice. And it was the most powerful voice I had heard in my entire life. It contained a strangely great authority, power that was beyond words, and there was something in this voice that made even me feel inferior for a moment. It was a very¡­ unique voice. Very unique. It took me a minute to even snap out of the effects of this voice and I could tell this voice hade from the front, but, from how far, was unknown to me. There was no one before me, no one. I waited for that voice to say something again so that I could get some more information from it but even after waiting for a few minutes, it said nothing. The entire area was quiet the whole time, and strangely calming. I don''t know what the owner of that voice was doing in the meantime, but, when that voice appeared once again, it wasn''t just the voice that had rang this time. A pair of eyes also opened up right before the dark area in front of me¡­ a pair of golden eyes with a beastly, serpent-like, or more of a draconic pupil." }] She paused once again recalled those moments in her mind, and smiled happily as if the experience she had in that ce was greater and more profound than what she could put into words. [{ "Those eyes¡­ they were gorgeous." }] And she meant those words with all her heart. However grand they must have looked, the impression they left on her was deep enough to have been carved into her very soul. ''Perhaps something simr to how master''s eyes, the eyes of her original self, had been carved deep into my own soul.'' I genuinely wish to see just what kind of ''eyes'' had made so great of an impression on her, but, it won''t be possible anytime soon. At least, not until I get the appropriate clearance and authority to know that. ''And to get that information, I will have to guess just who was it that she had met in that ce.'' There were six known dragons with golden eyes, six unknown dragons that the master mentioned on a pretty sunny day, and there are also twelve creatures with golden eyes on the same level as a dragon, so, finding out who the one she talked with in that dark ce, was going to be a difficult task. [{ "Those golden eyes looking at me from the darkness like the gods looking over the beings of the lower realms were¡­ haaaa¡­ the owner of the voiceter turned out to be a bastard but those eyes remained as attractive as the first moment I saw them. They were gorgeous. Perhaps as pretty as yours darling, hehe." }] She certainly meant they were prettier than mine¡­ how dare she! It was just the previous night she was praising my eyes, kissing all over them, praising them and saying they were the priciest eyes in the world! Where did all of that go?! ''Ughhh. Now I have conflicting feelings.'' It was a dragon she was talking about, most probably, but she was also calling the dragon a ''bastard'' even while praising its eyes and calling them as pretty as mine at the same time. She was one hell of aplicated girl to fathom. [{ "So, the pretty golden eyes in the darkness were glowing like two moons in the sky while the voice that spoke up once again was a little milder than the previous one, and it seemed more like it had been adjusted to not make me feel ufortable like before." }] She paused for a moment once again, but unlike previously, her face distorted in a weird manner this time. [{ "That fucking bastard called me a pretty little girl! That bastard of a beast called me an interesting creature and he definitely wanted to say something like he wanted to do experiments on me or something to find out more about me! I don''t know how he even got the idea that I had fallen for his pretty eyes but that bastard started speaking informally to me as if we had been close friends for our entire lives! That fucking shithole called my eyes pretty but then went on bbering about how one of his acquaintances possessed the same eyes a long time ago! That bastard said it was his first time seeing eyes like mine after a very long time but that bastard then asked me if I wanted to exchange my eyes with his! That fucking bastard! Why would I want to exchange my eyes for something less prettier?! And you love my eyes more than many other parts of my body, right information about the things we did in our private time for them. Thankfully Rein knows how to not say some of the things but in darling? You were kiss-" }] [{ "Ahem. No, please. Everyone understood what you meant." }] She was going to say something that these people, at least Ca, would have loved to hear. She loved these juicy details between the sun and she was the only supplier of this juicy information to thedies back at home so, she had the responsibility to get as much information about the things we did in our private time for them. Thankfully Rein knows how to not say some of the things but in moments of anger like these, she ends up saying stuff that was NOT for anyone else. These slip-ups are sweet candies for her and she loves catching every single one of them. ''But she isn''t getting anything rted to yesterday. Our day had already been fucked with all those things happening in the outskirts so we did some things that were¡­ well, better off not saying them.'' [{ "Ah, right, ahem. We weren''t supposed to talk about yesterday. Right¡­ So, anyway, that creature, whatever it was, was a bastard. I cussed at it and argued with it most of the time I was in that ce but, he justughed at all the things I said and continued his bullshit. Some of the things he said were weird though. Things like how it was destiny and how we will meet one day for certain in the future. They were baseless things that didn''t make any sense. He didn''t give me any location or anything like that and just said we would meet one day for certain. And then, that was it. Before I knew it, I was back here, and perhaps I unconsciously used a lot of Thanks for saving me darling, umha~." }] She kissed my cheeks onest time and finished her absurd story Mana so I was in that state. Thanks for saving me darling, umha~." }] She kissed my cheeks onest time and finished her absurd story that¡­ didn''t really rify what these strange golden eyes in the darkness belonged to. It didn''t give her much information but, from the looks of it, it was certainly a creature on a simr level as my master. It was a being of- [{ "Ah, right. Before I was here, in thest moments, I also heard him say something in a strangenguage. Perhaps it was runenguage darling. You might know what it was." }] [{ "Hmmm? Really? Sure¡­ wait, no. Not now. Let''s do that after this is done, Rein. Looks like it''s Quin''s turn." }] Her story was interesting, certainly. But the only thing it did was to spike up my curiosity even more. The runes she mentioned. Perhaps she could say the same words she heard but it will be difficult for me to pinpoint what those ruins meant when said by that being. Ruins wereplicated, of course¡­ the mostplicated when it came to nguage'' and munication''. Chapter 611 Summoning an… egg? Chapter 611 Summoning an¡­ egg? [Eon''s POV: ] "Ah, Quin, looks like they called for you." "Hmmmmmmmmm? A-ah! Yes!" She was lost in her own thoughts after listening to Rein''s story. She didn''t even listen to the vice headmaster''s voice even though she had called her name not once but twice already. "What are you doing girl? Go~. Bring back a gorgeous cutie so that I can y with them~." "Ah¡­ yes." There was a blush of surprise on her face when she said yes to Rein and ran towards the stage in a hurry. Perhaps the story and the way I reacted to all of that made her curious about many things since this was her first time listening to our ''stories'' like this. But, I knew her well now. She will be fine after thinking and contemting everything here from a few different angles. She might also ask the opinions of her guardian spirits but, I don''t think they would be of much help to her in this regard¡­ wait, perhaps they will. Not that much, but if thinking about it, those guardian spirits have lived with her grandpa for all their lives, and her grandpa was the greatest adventurer and explorer in recent known history. He had mentioned in his diary that he hade across three divine beasts in his lifetime and though he had never seen a dragon himself, there are detailed records of him mentioning someone he met in a distant tribal vige who had not only seen and survived a dragon, but he mentioned that that person had even had a talk with them that saved their vige from a disaster a decade ago. ''Hmmm¡­ perhaps those spirits might have some more details about that. I should ask themter when we get the chance.'' But for now, just like all of our group members, I''m also looking forward to just what kind of creature our dear special friend Quin summons. She is a special person with special abilities, origins, as well as special talents. Even her elemental abilities are something that everyone considers as ''unique''. She is a house caption, and not only that, she is someone directly trained by one of the greatest adventurers to ever live. She was our friend as well if it was counted, but, well, even after considering every one of those things, she is a really nice, good, pure, and kind person. I wanted to see just what kind of being she summons and my interest in her summon was just as great as it was regarding Lizzy''s. ''Lizzy is the most unique person when ites to soul in this world. She''s perhaps even more special than Captain Alpha in that matter.'' There is light present there, an inherited evil and both are in harmony, so it makes her abilities on both sides stronger, granting her a unique characteristic that very, very few in the three main realms possess. Lizzy is special, very special. But, my interest in Quin''s summoning was just as great as hers. Quin was just that much of a unique person. "Are you suggesting we bet on what she will summon~?!" "What do you think everyone? What kind of creature will Quin summon?" "Are you suggesting we bet on what she will summon~?!" The one who shouted this was, ironically, our dear friend Liz. She liked these bets and gambling games a little too much apparently. "Ummm¡­ I was just asking for opinions but sure? Sounds fun! Let''s bet on every one from now on~." And then there was this wild miss fianc¨¦e of mine. Always ready to jump into anything that even remotely sounded fun. "Yes~. Then how about a hundred points~?" Some students who were listening to us turned their heads in shock when Liz mentioned a hundred [Wealth] points out of nowhere. It was arge sum. Veryrge if we were going to bet on more than one student here. They can do a lot of things with that much money, but, to have the guts to spend that much money on aplete blind gamble, was not something just anyone can do. "Alright~! Let''s do that~." But, the people surrounding me in this moment, were not someone who would need to worry about a little sum of money like this one. They already had hundreds of thousands in their ID star ounts and even more, if they were talking about the other form of currencies epted on this ind. They were all well off already, however, this friend of ours, Lizzy, wasparatively the poorest person among us. She earned her own money so it was a good thing that Alf, Ca, and other nobles and royals present didn''t have, but, even seeing from that perspective, she was poorer than Med who only used the money she earned or our Chry who received a monthly select from me for being my knight. She was financially stable, independent, and responsible, but she just liked these gambles and bets. Perhaps in the far future, we will all sit down and talk about this when she bes an important person for society and the world. "Alright then. What do you think Liz? What will Quin summon?" I asked her the question myself. It was a tactic that would naturally push mest in this queue. "Ah, umm, I think Quin will summon some creature of water attribute." "You will have to be a little more specific dear." "Ah¡­ then, I think she will summon an aquatic creature! Yes!" "Hmmm. Alright then." I took out a pen and paper from my storage space and wrote down her name, and a bet on it after drowning a proper outline. "Ok, so, what about you Uriel? What do you think?" "Quin will summon a cutie~. Whatever it is, it will be small, and cute, and pretty~. Just like her~." Now this was some vague answer. Nice one lol. However vague the answer, the better your chances of iming your answer to be true. "Alright, then¡­ Titania. What do you think?" I was just choosing the people randomly but, Titania was ready to answer with a fire in her eyes. This little red fairy was the mostpetitive among all of us if I said so myself. "I think it will be a powerful creature of around (Blue) rank with water attribute, will be perhaps older than her in age, and perhaps it will have a tail and teeth as well." "Ah, nice thinking¡­" I had a very strange feeling that this little fairy would be the one with the most losses in the entirety of our betting game, but, who has seen the future? "Hmmm, ok. Then Chry? Your thoughts?" "Ah¡­ I think it will be, a pretty creature. Just like her¡­" The boy was already staring at her without blinking. And then there was this answer. What do we think about this if not ''that''? "Hehe. He is falling." "Hasn''t he fallen already though? That look-" "Nah Liz. He hasn''t yet. But he will. Undoubtedly. I can tell. They will take a long time but, it will happen." Rein and Liz were whispering and others certainly heard them, except my dear knight. This person baring the mes of revenge in his heart was feeling the gentleness of someone else''s presence since he met her. They took their sses together, went around together when Rein and I were busy, and they had taught each other theirnguages as well. Though Quin''s pronunciations were broken and his way of speaking was simr to a bird''s chirping. But they were going somewhere, together, and it was fun seeing the two people with very different yet simrly strong desires, walking there together. Without their known knowing of course. They would deny it and perhaps there might be some tension between themter, but we didn''t want that. That was the reason we had left them on their own since the moment we noticed. "Ah, alright. So, Alf?" We all moved on and left the tall muscr knight staring at our pretty girl with a uniquely perfect smile. Alf said something too technical, Princess Isabe supported his words without a moment of hesitation¡­ these two were going to be the next super famous couple. I can bet a million points on this. Then it was Ca''s turn, finally, and she said something¡­ too unique? ''She said Quin would summon an older creature, that might take the ce of her grandpa. Which didn''t make any sense.'' The summoning didn''t work like that, but we didn''t need to exin that to her. She will figure it out when she loses. Princess Luna was standing a little distance away from us with her newrge shark, and she said Quin would summon a (Purple) ranked creature. Nothing more. Which was actually a bigplimenting from someone like her. Perhaps she acknowledged Quin in some way for some reason? Perhaps. I wasn''t sure but that was apliment. ''Then there was our fuckboy Hide. Who imed she wouldn''t summon anything? Which was a possibility, but, not that great one.'' Neb said whatever Quin summons will be blessed by her goddess Diya¡­ well, in short, she was betting that the creature will be a holy creature. Yeah, why not? Nox was with us¡­ but he didn''t bet. He didn''t know Quin that well yet so he was staying out of the betting. At least for this time around. The boy had pretty good judgment skills though. He was perhaps more talented in this guessing game than most of the people here. It was my turn soon, and my bet was simple actually. "Quin might summon a being blessed by nature, magic, Mana, and the elements. A creature that might be on a very weak level for now, but something that will possess an insurmountable potential, just like her." That was my im, or bet, or whatever¡­ and it was the closest to the results as well, in a way, at least. "Hmmm? What''s that?" "Is that¡­ an egg?" "Quin summoned an egg? How''s that¡­ possible?" "Beautiful." "Wow, that''s a very pretty egg. Are those jewels? What kind of egg is that?" "Well¡­ unbelievable¡­" Against all odds, our dear friend summoned an egg. And not just any kind of egg. ''Unbelievable¡­'' What she summoned, what I was never expecting to see in a ce like this, what I knew none in this entire ind, including the ancient tree had any knowledge of, was perhaps something that can bepared to Prince Alph''s turtle. Or perhaps¡­ perhaps, this was even more valuable than that. Perhaps¡­ this egg¡­ Chapter 612 Oceanoid Chapter 612 Oceanoid [Eon''s POV: ] Quin summoned an egg that had jewels-like scales that were mostly transparent but if looked closely, they contained a very rare tinge of blue right above them. These scales alone were attracting so much attention from all the students and creatures present in the garden that it was hard to find someone who was not looking at the egg that was as big as her in size. ''Summoning an egg was unheard of to the students but, if seen in the known academy records, there have been a few, very few instances where the students had summoned the eggs of very intelligent creatures, who had been conscious and mindful of everything around them even though they were still inside their eggs.'' It happened with the highly intelligent creature who had yet toe into this world physically, a creature who possessed a very strong soul as well as intelligence so great that they were called otherworldly creatures. ''And this one¡­ was actually an otherworldly creature.'' Extraterrestrial beasts. Very few, very rare, very little was known about them. But, they existed in this world. I had seen a few in the illustration of my master''s personal records so I had knowledge about a few of them but, she used to say that when ites to these otherworldly creatures, even the most detailed knowledge known to oneself would be useless. ''She used to say that, simr to some unfortunate ones who cross over to the other world because of some natural phenomenons, in an extremely rare case, some creatures would also cross over to different worlds in different times, and different ages.'' These creatures would find a certain home if they arepatible to live in the environment of these worlds, but if they aren''t, they would die soon and their bodies would either create a hell of absolutely ugly deaths or a heavenly paradise that none could possibly resist. That depends on the kind of energy they inherently have and how it reacts with the environment they fall into. Which mostly never ispatible with theirs actually. So, these otherworldly creatures can be, formon folks, known as the ''heavenly disasters''. ''But, that''s something everyone knows about.'' What people do not know about is the creature that will hatch from this particr egg. Not even the headmaster and the ancient trees should have any knowledge about this particr one. "Looks like we will have to cancel this round or, there are rather many winners if we think about it deeply." Continuing with the bets for this round would be meaningless since the creature she summoned, actually, the egg of the creature she summoned, wasn''t something that had any certain form to begin with. And it wasn''t born yet so, making assumptions about its characteristics was meaningless as well. ''Oceanoids. That''s at least what the natives of far southern inds called it when it had first appeared.'' At first, they refused it as a deity, but as time passed, that same being became the cause of the destruction of half of their people. The reason for it was unknown but, in the folktales passed down by the survivors, it was written that the cause was a jewel so attractive, and grand that the one owning it would be able tomand that deity. ''Master had confirmed that the records were talking about the egg and offspring of these Oceanoids. And what we see before us, is the same egg that had once been the cause of the destruction of not only some inds but, a fourth of the southern shores.'' I don''t know how much of those stories are true or just what had actually happened but from how much I know, I was concerned, so, when Quin brought therge egg to us using her magic to lift that heavy thing, the first thing I was¡­ ce my palm on the surface of the egg. [{ Hmmmm¡­? Is there someone¡­ oh! A human! }] And just as I knew, when I tried looking at the egg with my {Three eyes}, the voice I heard, belonged to some young creature. "She has a pretty voice¡­" It was pretty. So melodious and pretty that for a moment, I was lost in the waves that her simple voice had created. "You can hear her as well brother Lucifer?! I knew it~!" Quin shouted that, certainly, but not as loudly as the other girls here do. She knew just how strange and unique it was that a creature inside its egg was speaking with them the same way Celes and other familiars did with their masters. It was simr to what Celes did, which was not normal at all. So, as few people knew about this, was better. At least until she knew much about this. ''She is smart, but her words that everyone heard, caught the attention of our entire group and everyone gathered around the egg and put their hands on its surface. [{ Ahhhhhhhh! So many humans! I wasn''t expecting so many humans! }] The creature inside the egg shouted with a shocked voice, and, we all could just imagine a rough outline of what this creature might look like inside. Not that we were sure, or anywhere near correct perhaps. [{ Why are there so many humans, human Aleequinn?! Ah, wait. There are witches, a wizard, a fairy, a strange girl with strange origin, and a boy¡­ wait!!! What are you?! }] I knew how these special creatures gain a deep understanding and knowledge of the world they are in even before their birth, but, to see it with my own eyes, or ears more urately, was certainly amazing. [{ Why are you¡­! Why do you¡­?! How can¡­!! }] I knew she was talking about me but perhaps, she didn''t properly understand what I was herself. That''s why she was more confused than she should be. She was trying to understand me, something even the headmaster had failed. So, this confusion was understandable. And, she would have to reach the level of Sir Quesnel before she ''understands'' half of myself, which will not be that long after shees out of that egg, but, it wasn''t happening anytime soon. And her confusion is also going to remain just like that for quite a while. ''It''s kinda cute though.'' [{ "Ummm, hello dear unborn creature. How do you do?" }] [{ Ahhhhhhhhhhh! How is a human talking to me- no. How is this being talking to me?! What are you, different beings that I cannot fathom?! }] [{ "Ah, a simple human who has been through someplicated circumstances, I would say. Don''t be confused by what I have ''around'' myself. Looking at the center might help you relieve your doubts a little." }] [{ Ahhhhhhhh! Why do you know what I know you know?! What are you?! And what''s at the core¡­ oh¡­ I see¡­ ahhh, so that''s why¡­ Wait, but I thought¡­ no¡­ ohhh! It''s possible! But still¡­ oh, ok, I get it. Okay~! I have confirmed you are also a human, human. However, I will call you a special human from now on. }] [{ "Hahaha, would be my pleasure." }] "Oyyyy bastard! How are you talking with it?!" "Hmmm?" Rein was angry all of a sudden. She also wanted to talk with Quin''s new partner who was¡­ wait, will this creature be Quin''s partner or Quin be hers? ''Doubtful¡­'' Well, we will see what happens afterward. "Just try focusing on the Mana wavesing from the egg, try interfering with the waves, forces hard enough and you will see a ''link''. ess it by a simple cord simr to the link and there. You will have a personal connection line." "¡­no. I didn''t understand shit. That''s tooplicated. Join me in yours." "No can do ma''am. It doesn''t work like that." "Ugh¡­" I lied actually. I can let others join on my own line but this was good training for the others. They will be able to understand the Mana flow of the waves and see what the world of Mana feels like after creating and connecting to the ''link'' that I was talking about. But until others do that, only Quin and I can talk with this cutie. [{ Ok special human. You are to tell me everything you can about my current situation. }] [{ "But, isn''t it better to hear it from your summoner? Apologies if I''m being rude but, can I know the reason why it has to be me instead of her?" }] [{ I believe you know as well special human. Human Quin is my summoner and a very talented person, however, she still doesn''t yet know how to either see the world, or how to interpret the truths. You, on the other hand, possess more clearance than I. It intrigues me how a human could possess such a profound understanding of truths. You know you are a special, special human. So, do not ask what you already know. }] [{ "Asking about what I already know to someone who ''resonates'' with the world will only increase my own knowledge. After all, a stupid question is akin to enlightenment to a knowledgeable, whereas a knowledgable question is akin to nothing, to a fool." }] [{ Ohhh¡­ special human is good with words, I see. Does thate from your understanding of Truenguage? You certainly possess quite a solid understanding of it as I see it. Perhaps, it''s closer topletion too, I would say. }] Haha, hearing that from her reminded me she''s still an unborn creature. Such naive thinking for a being of the otherworld. [{ "There is much I want to talk with you about, oh great being. However, I have one question I would like to hear the answer to before anything else." }] [{ Hmmm? Oh? You may ask. I will do what I can to answer you, special human. }] They brought disaster and the reason was these eggs, then they vanished. There are hardly any records of them after this incident and though the master knew they existed, no one knew where, how, in what condition, and what were they even doing there. I don''t know where she came from and that would be my second question. The first and foremost one¡­ [{ "Does your mother know of this summoning and the fact that you are here?" }] I had to ask this. Or else, the Oceanoid that I know, are the most loving parents that would travel worlds if it was for their children. And they are beingsparable to the dragons. If an enraged mother appeared here when there were thousands of students and creatures present, even if we all worked together, it was questionable if we would be able to even calm her down. [{ "Please. I need to know that." }] As the student council member, as a student, and as someone who still had many things to gain from this academy and the ind, I had to know it, and prevent any great disasters from happening¡­ Chapter 613 Hugs… Chapter 613 Hugs¡­ [Eon''s POV: ] [{ My mother¡­ hmmm¡­ looks like you are worried that my mother woulde here to save me if I have been ''abducted'' without letting her know. }] [{ "Yes, that is my concern." }] [{ Haaa¡­ I can understand that concern. My kind sure is overprotective when ites to the rtionship between a parent and children but you do not have to worry about anything. My mother¡­ haaaa¡­ how should I say this¡­ }] I can feel a subtle confusion and concern in that voice of hers. It was strange and she genuinely didn''t know how to best exin her own situation. It was almost as if she couldn''t find the right words to describe some strange phenomenon that could normally not be put into words. But, she soon thought things through and reached a conclusion. [{ Right. The best way to exin my situation would be to say that I have never seen my own mother to begin with. The oldest memory I possess is someone, not my mother but some other creature who possessed as great of a strength as the divine beasts, protecting me from something¡­ dark. }] [{ "Hmmm? What do you mean by that, mydy? What does this ''dark'' mean?" }] Quin was calling the creature ''mydy'' just because the voice we were hearing was a little melodic and low-pitched. It didn''t necessarily have to be true that she was a dy''¡­ not that there was any concept like ''gender'' in the Oceanoids. As a matter of fact, they don''t even have a certain sex before they find their partners. But that wasn''t important right now. [{ "She means a demon, right?" }] [{ Yes¡­ and one so powerful that the one who was protecting me was having a hard time defending against them. }] [{ "Ah¡­ I''m sorry." }] Quin was apologizing with a heavy heart. This girl really was a pure person. [{ It is fine human Quin. You don''t have to feel sorry about something I do not even remember clearly. More importantly;y, the fact that I have never seen my own mother is true. And, even though I have tried multiple times, I couldn''t feel her presence in this realm at all, so, perhaps, she might not be here to begin with. }] So¡­ she was ultimately saying that her mother wasn''t here and was somewhere and there was a certain possibility that her mother might, someday, on some unfortunate asion, appear in this world and start destroying everything around her until she finds her child. ''It¡­ was bad, and difficult to take in, but since she says she has never even met her mother, then, the fact that we haven''t at least abducted her, stands true. Haaa,..'' But, if she had never met her mother and the oldest memory she has seems to be rtively older¡­ [{ "Mydy¡­ please pardon me for asking this question, however, how have you survived until now in that egg without the help or protection from anyone then?" }] She was a creature that hadn''t even been born yet. She had consciousness and knowledge about this world but she had no physical body or powers to defend herself against the wild creature who would relentlessly chase an egg of this caliber. It was pretty, but there was visibly an abundant chunk of Mana present just behind these crystals, the crystals were hard but at the end of the day, this was just a very hard eff. If a (Blue) rank or above creature whisked with all their heart that they had to destroy this egg, then there was no way she would have any way to defend against them. She was a formless consciousness only. So, if she had survived on her own for long enough to be in the end stage of her hatching, then there were only three possibilities I could think of for the probable reasons for her survival. [{ Huuuuu¡­ difficult question to answer, special human. }] She answered a question about her mother so easily but this question was difficult for her to answer. As I thought, she had been through hell. ''There were only three possibilities that she could have survived in whatever ce she had been in this world. Either she had someone to take care of her after this divine beast protector she mentioned, or she was in the ocean where the creatures of water instinctively protected her. I thought this was the case at first but, she has more diverse knowledge than just about the creatures of water. So, it means the chances of the third option being true increased by a lot.'' [{ Haaa¡­ but if I have to say myself, then I would only say that I have been in a quiet, lone, secure, ce. I had been there for a hundred and fifty-three years but then, one day, I suddenly heard a gentle voice from far away from where I had been, and the next moment I knew it, I was here, in this special garden full of so many humans and beasts and that giant ancient tree. I wouldn''t lie though¡­ this ce, and this person my soul resonates with, are pretty warm. I like it better-" }] [{ "Ahhhhhunhunhunhuhn. Mydyyyyyyyy. I hads no ideaaaaaaa! You were alone all this time¡­! Ahunhunhunhunhun. I''m sorrrrrrrrryyyyyy!" }] "H-hey Quin?! What to you happened all of a sudden?!" "H-hey Lucifer! What is this?! Why is she crying?!" "M-miss Quin1 w-what happened?!" Quin started crying. And everyone else stayed asking me the reason for her to cry all of a sudden like this. She was just fine a moment ago and now she was crying. Why was that, they asked. But, there was nothing grand for me to tell them other than the simple truth. "The egg and this creature inside it had been left alone in some lone dark corner of some ''safe'' ce for thest hundred and fifty years. She had been all alone all this time so, Quin was sad. The simple-sounding fact that a conscious creature had lived all by themselves, wondering about this world, thinking, feeling it by themselves without ever being able to ''touch'' anything at all, is something she found heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking, actually. And painful to hear. I wouldn''t have been able to maintain my sanity after living like that, waiting toe out of this prison-like ce, and greet the light that she had only ever felt to see though her imagination." It was sad, Rein understood and rted to this the most. That was the reason, perhaps, that as soon as I said those words, she hugged therge egg closely like Quin. Enclosing the egg, and therefore the creature inside it in their loving embrace. "Haaaa¡­ join us, Celes." [{ Whaaaaaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaa! How can someone live by themselves for so long?! Whaaaaaaaaa! }] I also hugged the egg with them, and my dear family joined us. She was crying dramatically as well. Good thing no one other than Rein and Zoe heard her heart-racing cries of sadness. She was cheerful and joyous one among us most of the time but she was sensitive when it came to the people close to us. Mostly, our family and friends. She knew how Rein had been by herself most of the time of her life. being present among the others but still being all by herself most of her life. She remembered how she herself had been alone at the beginning of her life or how I had lived by myself in that scary forest. She remembered how my grandma and master had lived by herself for longer than anyone else we knew, so, hearing that even this creature inside the egg had been all alone in some separate ce, she couldn''t help herself. Tears weren''t there but she still cried. And hugged the egg, just like the three of us. "Poor thing¡­" be known about Zoe''s true identity when she was born, so until then, we had to slowly prepare for that time. Then, Zoe joined us. And hugged this cute creature that had definitely considered her as a normal human. But, I knew it would be known about Zoe''s true identity when she was born, so until then, we had to slowly prepare for that time. Others joined us as well, starting with Chry¡­ who wanted to hug Quin subconsciously but ended up between Zoe and Rein. Then came Ca, Alf, Titania, and Nox who had been a ve most of his life and his sister was still one, serving in some other ce, and then Prince Alph joined us as well. Princess Luna came for the hug, but she didn''t find any ce on thedies'' side so, she hugged the egg from the other side beside me, Prince Alph, and Alf. Hide was surprisingly emotional but was avoiding the hug, but, one push from Neb and Araxie was enough to push him towards the egg. Others who had be strangely emotional after all this, or were thinking that we were ying some kind of game, also joined us, some for some weird reason, but that was that. The creature inside the egg, the unborn Oceanoid, was overwhelmed with the warmth of the people and also the creatures following us. She would have cried if she had aplete physical body to do so, but, our emotions and warmth certainly reached her. [{ T-thank you¡­ humans, other beings, beats, and everyone else. This¡­ }] She was emotional. All of us who heard her could tell that much. She will be Quin''s familiar when shees to this world, which means she would be party of our family. She will belong with us, and have a ce she could live in with us in. She would be a part of our group, family, this school, this garden, this ind, and, this group of people surrounding her. She will be a being of great status in the future, and, will be with her from her birth. So¡­ She was part of us now. And, the summonings had to continue now, so that we could finish it all, go home, and have some rest¡­ with our new partners. And to finish it¡­ Zoe had to go on the stage now. It was finally her turn. Chapter 614 Phenomenon and a butterfly 614 Phenomenon and a butterfly [Zoe''s POV: ] My name was called just now but, we all were still hugging this poor little baby. I should go but¡­ just a moment more. [{ "You should go now Zoe." }] The vice headmaster had alredy called my name the second time and was looking at all of us, actually, I knew everyone else was looking at us and how we were hugging the big egg. The confused and curious looks they all had was funny in a way but more importantly, it was my turn now, and, everyone else was waiting because I was here, doing this strange thing that they all did not understand. But, everyone around me, the people that were hugging the egg with us, understood my feelings and didn''t push me. Even big brother who was telling me to go now didn''t force me. He also understood just what kind of emotions I was feeling right now. ''Having to live alone for a long time¡­'' Mom had lived by herself for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years in that tower. She was alone and spent her days all by herself doing things that anyone with an abundant spare time on their hands could think about. She had done anyone can think and beyond in that time and after that¡­ she had nothing to do anymore. She must have just¡­ lived, all by herself in that lonely ce until big brother came there. But before him, she had nothing to do, no one to talk to, or anything else other than just existing in that ce. She couldn''t die, and even if she died, she would be reborn with all her memories. She would be the same person, just that she would be far weaker than she used to be. It would be a new start for her but, she would still have to repeat everything the same way she had, and since there was nothing to do to beguin with, it must have been even more lonely for her. ''I don''t have her memories but, just from what I have received from her, I can tell she had been in a constant pain caused by that eternal loneliness. I know just how difficult it must have been for her. That''s why I can rte with all the pain big brother has, all the pain that big sister Elle has, as well as all the pain this unborn creature must have had to go through all by themselves.'' I know that, that''s why I try my best to be nice to Heath, help them in any way I could, and do my best to heal that pain of theirs. ''I will do the same for this unique creature, but, even though I want to hug this cold egg forever and hive it my warmth, I couldn''t let everyone wait just because of my selfish wish.'' I can continue hugging her after doing the summoning process and I don''t think it will thke that long of a time anyway. ''Big brother said mom found her own familier after a very, very long time of searching all over the world. And just the fact that she found one was amazing since we divine beasts with a very pure and unique soul hardly ever find a creature whose soul resonates with us on any level.'' Summoning a creature that has the same soul resonance as me would be a near impossible task even for a summoning circle of that caliber. The chances were less than one percent anyway so I didn''t have any high expectations. For what we know, I will most probably end upsommmoning nothing at all¡­ or perhaps the summoning circle will break because of my energy. I don''t know. ''Still, everyone had to be waiting just because of me¡­ and that wasn''t right.'' [{ "I will be right back, little one." }] "Wish me luck everyone~." After giving everyone a warm smile and receiving their best wishes; Luna just waved at me with her two hands though, she was a uniquely cute person; I quickly went up to the stage. "I apologise, vice headmaster!" And the first thing I did after climbing the stage was to bow at the vice headmaster and the other people there. Some precious time was wasted because of me. "It''s alright now. Just, go there and get ready for the summoning." The vice headmaster didn''t seem to be angry about this incident. She was more interested in seeing just what kind of creature I was going to summon and was excited about that. She was good at hiding that excitement though so, no one noticed it. And the same was true for the headmaster. He was excited but, his expression remained the same like it had been from the start of these summonings. But, well, that expression contained a calm smile, sharp eyes, and positive bodynguage. It was difficult to make out what was actually going on in that strange head of his. "Alright everyone. We will start with the summonings- hmmm? What?" I wanted to try a little and make out what was going on in that strange head though, but, as soon as I stood on my ce on the end of the magic circle, for some unknown reason, atmospheric Mana started gathering around me and my own energy started flowing inside the summoning circle before us. ''Strange¡­'' The rate at which my energy was draining out of me wasn''t rming for me, butparatively speaking, all the energy that was going inside that magic circle and seeing how it was activated on its own, it was obvious that the headmaster wasn''t the one who activated the magic circle this time. ''At least, it was obvious to a few smart people, teachers, and some of the inteligent creatures. This was strange even to me.'' I didn''t know why this was happening but, the magic circle was activated on its own and it wasn''t even like it was summoning the creatures for all twelve people present on the magic circle. Different from each turn, this time, the magic circle was glowing on its own in a single red-orange colour that resembled my hair perfectly. The entire magic circle was glowing with that same colour and, I knew, I can tell from the unique feeling I suddenly had, that¡­ something wasing. Something was being summoned by this magic circle and though I had no idea what it was, I was pretty sure that whatever it was¡­ it was nothing ordinary. "No way¡­" "T-this¡­!" "A-a-a! An origin beast!" "Something special ising!" And then the entire area we were all in, the garden of the ancient tree that we were in, was dyed in a unique red hue, as well as a bright red me had covered the entire magic circle. Though, thankfully, it didn''t hurt anyone. The other students were safe and though there were mes, strong and pretty mes, there was no heat to this fire. It almost seemed like an illusion, but, it was too real to be an illusion. There was even Mana in these mes so they were at least real mes. Though, very strange. ''Hmmm¡­ something fun is happening.'' I thought the chances were less than one percent but now that all of this was happening, it was clear that I was getting my own familiar. I wasn''t excited before but, this phenomenon, this strange thing where the summoning circle produces some unique phenomenon that only happens when an origin beast is summoned, increased my excitements many folds. And, this magic circle had alredy sucked a third of my energy so, whoever was being summoned with this much power, was in no way anything simple. Whatever it was, I was happy it was possibilities my own lifelong partner. But¡­ even I wasn''t expecting it to be¡­ ''Haaaa. Wow.'' The magic circle stopped glowing after a few minutes and the mes vanished. After that, a tiny creature, which looked very simple, materialised above the magic circle, lifted its wings and, flew towards me. ''Beautiful¡­'' To others, I knew it must have looked like a simple colorless butterfly. However to my eyes, this creature was nowhere near the ''simple'' that we knew about. To my eyes that saw the true nature of everything, this creature¡­ was one of the prettiest beings I had ever seen. It was pretty, it was gorgeous, majestic as well. Not only it alredy knew most of the true about its own self, but, it was also a being of great strength. It was an origin beast as well, and I can tell it had lived a very long life until now. However, even after being an origin beast¡­ it currently belonged to nowhere. ''Pitiful one.'' It looked at me, and I looked back at it. There was something about this creature that made it different from anything else. I could feel something just by looking at it. It was a unique feeling. A strange one if I say so myself. It was like we alredy knew each other for a very long time and that this wasn''t our first time seeing each other in this manner. It was very strange, different from how big brother or others discribed it, but, I could at least feel the belonging I felt by this one''s side and perhaps, it felt the same so it flew towards me andnded on my arm. "Hello." [{ It is nice seeing you once again in this new form¡­ master. }] "Master¡­?" It spoke back to me in a way that definely seemed like an old friend was greeting their best friend after a very very long time¡­ no way. "You¡­!" [{ Haha, looks like you figured it out alredy. As expected of you¡­ ah, right. You aren''t my master yet. We should do the bonding first, right? }] This was strange. Veryyyyy strange! Big brother said it had died, but this¡­! ''New turn of events, haaaa¡­ and the turn was sharp. So sharp even my head is spinning now¡­'' it was strange, but, well¡­ let''s see what happens now that we are together. Chapter 615 An old friend 615 An old friend [Zoe''s POV: ] This butterfly¡­ it was the same familiar that belonged to mom. The same one that had been with her for a long time and though she she seemed to have told him that it had died, the one before him that I could feel this strange longing connection with, was undoubtedly a creature connected to my mom. And, it knew about me as well. It was calling me master even though we had just met and it even knew this was my new form, or more like it was me but it was mistaking me for mom. It was strange how this creature that big brother knew for a fact had passed away was before me right now¡­ but, what it said was true as well. We should finish the familiar bonding process before continuing with the further task. It will be helpful to have that unique connection big brother and sister Elle talks about¡­ "Alright then. Let us finish that." [{ Very well. }] This being was strange. But, in a way, it was the first creature to ever call me master that sincerely. I don''t like it most of the time but this felt different. It was pleasant. -Ooooooooooooooooong! A unique light came out of the butterfly and surrounded me, and, the same way, a red-orange light came out of me and surrounded the little one on my arm as well. [{ Oh great being, my savior, my lord, my everything, my soul¡­ do you ept this old friend, thiscking but, an eternal devotee yours, as your familiar, once again? }] "I do, but¡­ it looks like you are mistaking me for my mom. I''m a different person than all the things you have said, or known perhaps. [{ No. I know who you are and she knew it as well. Well¡­ it is more appropriate to say that you are her greatest wish that she wanted to fulfill more than anything else. My existence here is the proof that she was able to go back peacefully, and your existence, my dear master, is the proof that she achieved that wish of hers and found someone capable enough to entrust you to them. }] ¡­what? "She knew something like what happened would happen already?" [{ No. I do not know what happened to her or who the chosen one, her sessor is. However, her singr greatest wish was to have you, her child into this sorrowful yet beautiful world. All she had was hope, a thread of light that she had clung to forever, even during the time she lived in her mausoleum, and continued living that eternally painful life of suffering all by herself. She believed, with all her heart, for all the time I had been with her and even after that, and¡­ perhaps one day, her prayers were heard by Mother Nature and a miracle greeted her. That miracle became her light and she gave that light all she had, before breaking their heart, and leaving them behind with a request to be with you, my new master, and protect you just the way she would have. She waited for that one miracle for I do not know how long. But, she found it. And you came to this world. With that miracle by your side. }] "¡­" 21:38 Mother¡­ "¡­" Mother¡­ She just clung to that one imaginary ''hope'' and endured all the pain by herself. She continued believing and having faith in her onest wish, thinking that someone would definitelye her way if it was meant to be. She must have searched and searched and searched relentlessly for the one who could grant her everything before she decided to take herst stop in that forest and make that tower where she rested until herst days. She must have done many things just to get out of that miserable loop that repeated endlessly. The life, the death that was never the end. The same reputation in the same but changing world. Seeing people she had even the slightest bit of attachment die before her. She must have gone through many terrible things. Perhaps, I will have to go through them in the future as well. Perhaps. I don''t know what will happen to me once I die. She didn''t know either, not in that much detail. Even someone like her wasn''t capable of knowing this ever-changing future. She just had a hope and a wish that ''I'' would be able to see this world that, though filled with many dark things, was in fact filled with many different colors and pretty things as well. She wanted me to see these pretty things, things like Big Brother, our Celes, little Anna, or this school. ''I have seen many pretty things during my time until now. Many bad things as well, but, what I have seen in this little life until now, is more than enough to give me faith in this world.'' I liked it here, and I''m grateful to her for everything she did, for everything she endured alone to bring me here. And I''m thankful to Big Brother even more, for helping her with everything he did. For everything he had done and for everything he could have done if they had stayed with each other a little longer. ''She was selfish and stubborn, just like him. That''s why, I could never hate either of them.'' They helped each other heal their wounds and fulfill their wishes, and though wounds were left on both ends, things ended positively, and I was able to be here, at this moment, in this great school with so many great people all around me. Thanks to all of that, I was able to meet this old friend and partner of hers. And though I don''t know how this butterfly was here yet, we will know soon. We are going to be together from now on anyway until at least I die for the first time. And perhaps even after that. We will see how it goes. -Oooooooooong! The red light from me and the white light from this butterfly intertwined and became one. And soon after, the simple-looking white butterfly returned back to its original form. -Zhrrrrrrrrrr! [{ Your mother was an amazing person. I have many things to tell you about her, and many things to tell the person who seeded her. She had many things she must have wanted to tell you two, but, perhaps she might not have been able to. We have many things to talk about now, master and we have time to do so this time. I will be with you, master, forever until the day fate allows it. So, please¡­ give me a name and allow me to be by your side as well. }] The crimson fire around us intensified as the butterfly that had looked like any other white butterfly one could find in the garden, to something so astonishing that every single eye that had been on us until now, was left wide open and awestruck. His wings becamerger than even Celes''s, farrger than any other butterfly I had seen until now, and, they were on fire. They were crystal-like as well, indicating her identity as a [Crystal butterfly], and, the butterfly body that was white until now, had be as blue as my eyes. Pretty, and unbelievably attractive. He was gorgeous, something one of a kind. I had never seen a being like him until now. And, he had been with mom as well, so, he was an old friend of ours. ''He is mine now though. So, there''s one name that suited him the most ording to me.'' "Ray." [{ The protector, the friend, and the light. I like it. You are different from her in this regard. }] "I will call you Rayray though. It''s cuter~." [{ That¡­ is eptable as well. }] The light around us had vanished after I gave him his name and arge familiar mark resembling his outline covered half of my arm. It was bigger than the one big brother or sister Elle or perhaps even dad had. It just meant this creature, this being that I just bonded with, was more special than any of them in a certain way. And, if he was my mom''s familiar, he must really be one of the most amazing, special, and unique creatures existing in this world at the moment. Perhaps, he was stronger than most other creatures in the garden as well, just like Celes. Perhaps, I will find that out soon. But, we had a huge problem to deal with before we did any of that¡­ "Hey¡­ did I see that right?" "A-a-a Crystal butterfly! She summoned a crystal butterfly!" "This is big! This is biggg!" "Everyone! Inform the media! A new crystal butterfly master has appeared!" "Everyone! Listen! This is hugeeeeee!" "Ahhhhhhhh! A crystal butterfly!!" Everyone below the stage was going crazy while on the other hand, there was an internal discussion going on among the headmasters and the teachers. There was argemon toon on the way as well, there were things that we will have to do now that we had finished bonding. One could count the people who had a crystal butterfly as their familiar on two hands and that was also including the spected people who were unknown to the public. And now, I was another one that had a crystal butterfly as my familiar. And, everyone here knew it. Which obviously meant the entire world would know it soon as well. Things will get difficult soon¡­ so, there were many things we had to deal with first. Starting with this crowd of students and... creatures who were respectfully bowing to us. Chapter 616 Rayray

Chapter 616 Rayray

[Eon''s POV: ] [[ "Zoe, it''s fine. Don''t worry¡­ the headmaster will take care of it." ]] [[ "Really¡­? Won''t it be a problem if he erases memories of all these students and creatures? There are even some people from the outside so, won''t there be any problems?" ]] [[ "Nah. The people outside are no problem. As for the students and creatures here, the existence of a crystal butterfly master, or just the lone existence of a crystal butterfly is considered a world-level experience. There''s no way he would risk the leaking of such information when the crystal butterfly and you, dear, technically are part of the academy for now." ]] A being like the crystal butterfly, something that cannot exist without the presence of something else''s origin, was one of the rarest creatures in this world. There were only eight people known to have a crystal butterfly as their familiar, five on the western continent, one on the north, and two on the eastern continent. There were three more people who were spected to possess a crystal butterfly but, they were just spection. In truth, there were three people other than me who possessed a crystal butterfly as their familiar in this world, and now, Zoe was the ninth known person to possess a crystal butterfly. This was in no way a small news. The world would be shaken if the news of this got out, which, was no good to her, or the academy, mainly, the headmaster couldn''t have something like this to be known to the outside world just yet. ''He''s an absolute neutral figure in this world and holder of a very important position.'' If it was known that a student of the academy now possessed a crystal butterfly, someone that belonged to the empire, and was a daughter of the empire''s one of the central noble families, then not only politically, the bnce of the current world would be shaken economically, politically, spiritually, as well as socially. The world governments would be an absolute mess just because of this and, the worldly powers, as well as our own empire, would do anything in their power to capture the person known as Zoe to secure their new standings in this world. ''The headmaster promised me he would protect her from anything in exchange for me joining the academy as the council member. So, he couldn''t have this news get out of this giant garden.'' -Oooooooooong! Just the symbolic meaning of a crystal butterfly was on par with some countries having the protection of a divine beast. These creatures were that important and special to this world. Every known person to possess a crystal butterfly held an important ce in this world and society. The Pope of the [Temple], the Emperor of our empire, one of the only three archmages, in this world, a hero who was still going around, ying the demons that polluted this earth, the guardian of a holy sword said to be the weapon of the future chosen one, the central figure considered to be the real president of this world and things that happened behind the curtains, and the other like them. Every single person with a crystal butterfly as their familiar was either a very prominent figure, or, even if the world didn''t know about them yet, they were the pioneers and maintainers of many important things going on in this world, as well as the ces beyond this world. The fact that Zoe also had a crystal butterfly was changing the bnce of the world that had been maintained for thest hundreds of years. But, the disruption of bnce was thest thing the headmaster could allow. ''He was The Headmaster. He had some of the heaviest responsibility to maintain the world bnce, which was ultimately m, winning the bnce of everything on this sky ind. Things happening in the academy and the ind affected the world on a very deep level and things happening outside the ind affected the ind in a very deep way too. ''He couldn''t possibly let the world know the things that happened here at this moment, about the crystal butterfly and Zoe, so, he used his [Authority] on not just the garden, but on the entire sky ind, and altered the memories of everyone who had witnessed the crystal butterfly''s true form.'' [[ "Ah, right, big brother, his name is Ray. We will call him Rayray~." ]] I heard everything she talked about with that crystal butterfly through our connection. And, I was just as surprised as her. Master told me her partner Crystal Butterfly had passed away a long time ago. And, back then, I did question her how could an origin beast familiar could ''pass away''. The familiars and their masters are bound with unique connections, especially the origin beasts. Their origins be one so even if they get destroyed, as long as the master is alive, the familiarse back to life in a short while after their powers are recovered. They are connected with the masters so, how a familiar nearly immortal being could pass away was beyond me at that time. However, after I confirmed the fact that she was, in fact, a phoenix, it was clear to me that her death at one point, meant the death of the master that familiar butterfly had bonded with. ''Now technically, since the origin remained unchanging, the familiar should have been able toe back to life as well. But, it didn''t.'' I didn''t know what the reason could be but, I always had this feeling that someday in the future, I will find that out on my own. And, now, after all these years, the one who had been with my master for the longest turn of her life, was back to her¡­ well, to her daughter, but, it was back. And, perhaps, this Rayray was one of the oldest of any other crystal butterflies in this world, or not. I don''t know much about it for now so I couldn''t tell. ''But, to protect this Rayray, the headmaster used his authority and made an illusion so strong that the way he had reced the memories of his crystal butterfly with a rare (me redtail), was something I am thankful to him.'' It was better. Now, thanks to him, neither Zoe nor I will have to deal with this situation. "We should thank the headmasterter." "Obviously. Ah, right. Did you ask what [Skill] Rayray had?" Things could have been moreplicated than I can think about. Things could have be far more difficult if he hadn''t done that actually. The downside was that aside from Zoe, Rein, and me, almost everyone else had forgotten the fact that Rayray was actually a crystal butterfly. But we can deal with thatter. The first question right now was, what power did this unique being that my master had praised and cursed to no end for hours possess? "Hmmm? Ah, I did. He said it is called [Perfect support]. He says he has no offensive power, which I doubt is true. But, he said he can do many unique things that we will find interesting." "Ah I have no doubt he''s telling the truth. He really has no offensive power. From how much I know about his powers and him from master''s stories, his ability takes away all his offensive powers but, in exchange, he has support skills unparalleled to anything or anyone we could find. Master has praised and cursed his ability to no end, sometimes she just wanted on it for hours after drinking her unique dragon wine even though she wasn''t drunk. Anyway, since his Skill is the same, I think he really is the same being that he had been previously. So, the question remains¡­ what happened to him? And how is he back now?" "Yes¡­ I want to know too. But he won''t say anything. I don''t know why but since the moment I came back, he hasn''t been saying anything. And, I feel like he is tense and afraid for some reason. Can you please talk with him? He wanted to say something to you previously." "Ah, sure." This Rayray¡­ was an interesting creature. I knew about him and didn''t at the same time. I had heard many things about him but this was our first meeting. He had said that he knew about me¡­ no, he said he knew about master''s greatest wish. "¡­" Let''s not talk about this. Her greatest andst wish was the most painful moment I had lived through. I didn''t want to remember it once again. So, that aside, I connected Celes''s link with the creature¡­ with Rayray, and started our first-ever, conversation while the others in the garden, who had be stunned for a moment, returned back to normal and the summonings returned to what it had been like, with Ca''s turn approaching rapidly. [[ "Hello?" ]] [[ Aghhhhhhhh! What are you?! ]] Hmmm? Now why was this guy shouting like that? Chapter 617 Confusion and potential

Chapter 617 Confusion and potential

[Eon''s POV: ] [[ "What do you mean "what are you"? Don''t you know already? I''m grandma''s sessor, Axion." ]] [[ Axion who?! And who''s this grandma?! And why the hell do I sense my master''s presence from you?! ]] [[ "Your master''s presence? You mean Zoe''s presence? She''s my sister so why wouldn''t you feel her presence from me?" ]] [[ No! I wasn''t talking about her! And why is she your sister?! And why is it that you would have your sister''s presence in the first ce?! Do you two¡­!? ]] [[ Calm down Rayray. Whatever you are thinking is wrong. Take a deep breath and calm down. ]] [[ "Right, calm down and listen to them, or else you will be listening to me and Celes on this bullshit of yours." ]] [[ Sister Elle is right! Rayray is a pervert! ]] [[ Now who are these two?! ]] [[ "First of all, there''s too muchmotion going on here. Calm down or I will cut off everyone''s connections." ]] Everyone was speaking right after one another so everything was getting confusing for this new guy who knew nothing about how things worked between us. He was in even more panic because he was confusing me with something entirely else perhaps. The poor guy was in shock for some reason. I had to hear him out and sort out things with him but we cannot do that with everyone talking at the same time and him misunderstanding things even further by the simple-sounding things that I was saying. [[ "Huuuu¡­ ok. Looks like everyone has calmed down now. So, I will correct myself there, Rayray. You see, my master was like my grandmother. Actually, it wasn''t as if she was like my grandmother, she was much more than that to me. And perhaps, I was something simrly special to her so, that is that for our rtionship, and, as for Zoe, when she was leaving, in herst moments, she gave me her stigma and a special parting gift that resides inside me. Perhaps those are the things that you sense to be her right now. Zoe and I have a unique rtionship, however, not in that way. She is someone I will protect, support, and cherish as best as I can and, thedy with a beautiful voice who spoke up at the end there, that my love, my life, and the one I give myself to. You must be surprised how this entire conversation is happening right now as well, right? Well, that''s thanks to my familiar, Celestine, who also happens to be a Crystal butterfly like you, however, she is pretty young so she perhaps doesn''t know much about her powers yet. Master taught her many things though. So, she knows how to use her [Perfect disguise] Skill pretty well. And, she can create her clones through which we aremunicating right now." ]] That was quite a long exnation but that should have been enough to at least calm him down and give him some idea of what was happening right now¡­ [[ Looks like she ended up finding more than a sessor in thosest days hunnn? ]] His voice seemed, relieved. As if a huge burden had lifted off his shoulder¡­ not that he had shoulders. This is just metaphorical. ''He sure sounded much more positive than before though. That''s better.'' [[ Haaaa¡­ alright. So, to sum things up, you and my previous master had a very close rtionship and she not only gave you her stigma as her parting gift but all her knowledge condensed in the form of some kind of skill, am I right? ]] [[ "Certainly. That''s pretty much right." ]] [[ Ok then I will need a few weeks to process just how the fuck this is possible. ]] [[ "Rayray! Manners!" ]] [[ Yes Rayray! Manners! How can you curse at my master? Do you want a beating?! ]] ''Celes was angry and was talking about beating up someone bigger than her, lol. That''s my girl~. Go beat him up~. Teach him a lesson~.'' Ahem! No. On another thought, it was pretty much possible he would lose to Celes in an actual confrontation. She was pretty much an all-rounder while he was just a support specialist. He could help a weak party of adventurers y a draconian species with his skills, but he couldn''t even deal with a creature of mere (Red) rank if it actually came to a one-to-one confrontation. He was pretty weak, but, his strength wasn''t his own battle power. He could elevate someone else''s abilities beyond the heavens if he really wanted. That''s how he had earned the nickname [Annoying tonic] from my master. But, I myself have never experienced his buffs so, I have pretty much no idea just how effective they were. [[ Someone gives this little girl a glowing flower. Beating me after learning only the ''interpersonalmunication'', ''link'', ''utilize'', and ''channel'', haah! You still have a long way to go until you achieve your maximum potential young one¡­ ah, right. Master, can you hold the hand of your ''brother'' so I can check her potential for myself? I havee across plenty of my kind and it''s also been a long while since Ist went back to ''that ce'' so, seeing this young one piques my curiosity. ]] Hmmm. I don''t understand what he just said but he undoubtedlyplimented my Celes in a roundabout manner. Tsun-tsun butterfly bastard. He could just say she was amazing. She was just a little over five years old. How can she bepared to this old bastard¡­ I don''t know how old he is or if he is even a day old but, he had far more experience with his powers and the world than anyone else here. He certainly has more knowledge than my Celes still, it doesn''t mean he can beat her in any way. ''Bastard.'' [[ "Big brother?" ]] She was giggling while hiding her face like she always does when she finds something funny. ''I knew me cursing her familiar because he had cursed at my familiar after she scolded him for cursing at me is some of the funniest things for her. I could feel she was having a joyous time right now all by herself while we were almost on the verge of a Great War.'' Haaaa¡­ Anyway, I held her hand and her familiar mark that was so big it was almost covering her forearm. But, it looked pretty and suited her, so, it was fine. We can hide itter with Celes''s ability so it was alright for now. [[ Hmmmm¡­ hmmmmm¡­ hmmmmmmmmmmmm¡­ I see. Alright. ]] Rayray took his sweet three minutes to figure out whatever he was figuring out. Even Ca had walked up the stage and was beginning her summoning now¡­ by the way, Rein won thest round of our bettings. She said Zoe''s familiar was as cute as Celes and, things turned out this way, so she was the one and only clear winner. My horribly lucky witch. [[ Ok you two, listen here. ]] And now, this guy''s voice contained seriousness for the first time for some reason. Looks like he will finally say something meaningful now. [[ I can''t see the end of her potential. ]] Or perhaps not. He was really useless as Grandma always said. [[ And I''m not saying this because I''m useless so don''t you dare even think anything like that. ]] Warning people after things were said and over¡­ this side of him was the same as well. [[ What do you mean you can''t see the end of my potential mister?! Master used to say I''m special and talented! How can''t you see something as simple as my potential?! Look again! It should be right there! ]] She didn''t even know what he was talking about and was ordering him around to check again. She really has learned some good things from us. [[ Of course, she would say you are a special and talented, little girl. And the problem isn''t that I can''t find your potential. From what I can see, there seems to be no end to your potential. As if¡­ no. You people won''t understand without context and this doesn''t seem to be a good time or ce to talk about something like that. Haaaaa¡­ she left quite a bunch for me, hunh. Haaaaa¡­ Anyway, let''s just say our Celes here is so special and talented that there might be no one else like her in this entire nature. In fact¡­ nah. Let''s just talk about this some other time. Look over there. Seems like one of your friends summoned something interesting. ]] Ok so, he was saying Celes was so special there was no one else like her. Isn''t this something we all already know? How can there be someone as special as my Celes? She''s literally the best one out there. He didn''t have to say the facts and stop at the good parts. The bastard was now making me curious! ''I don''t know much about the crystal butterflies. No one does actually. All that I know is from three personal dirties written by people who had a crystal butterfly or knew someone who had one closely enough to have studied them for a long time. But, even those books contained pretty much nothing. I knew more about her kind after spending these years with her than mentioned in those books, but, I knew for a fact that what I knew about her was not even the surface of what her kind was capable of. ''They were quite literally the only creatures in the world who could use the power of their possessor''s origin unrestrictedly. It implied a lot of things and gave them a lot more diversity in using the unique skills they were born with. And still, there was a great lot unknown about them than one can think.'' I knew little about Celes and was still learning something new every single day, but now that we had someone like Rayray with us, someone who perhaps knew a lot more about his kind than any of us, things will get more enlightening in the future. But, he isn''t saying anything further. Looks like we gave him a little too strong of a shock, hehe. But, he was right. Something interesting was going on the stage. And, just like previously, no¡­ actually, this was the first time something like this was happening. ''Ca, a knight, summoning not something anyone would have expected¡­ I knew she would get a familiar! See. I win this round~.'' She got her familiar, and, she looked emotional. For the first time in a while¡­ Chapter 618 Last group

Chapter 618 Last group

[Rein''s POV: ] A mare bigger than any horse I had ever seen with my own eyes, modded with strong muscles and strong legs, her perfect body that looked so adept at running at a fast speed that she gave off the feeling that the world would shake with every step she took. Fur as white as the purest of the heavenly clouds and her red eyes went with her body so perfectly that she looked more amazing than any other of her kind. Her tail was also as beautiful as a swan dancing in a clear waterke, and, even with all these aggressive-looking features, when she stood before Ca, her eyes looking into hers, she seemed like the gentlest of the creatures I had ever met. ''To think I or any of us to be more precise, would ever see a real perfect mare from the old stories. Just amazing.'' It was a species called [Heavenly zewinds], an (Indigo) ranked species whose existence has always only been limited to the storybooks of the children. No one aside from a few with the titles of the [Hero] in the known history has ever been able to acquire this creature, let alone have them as their familiar. So, calling this creature, this horse, the rarest of the well-known summoned creatures of the day wouldn''t be wrong in any way. It was an amazing being, it looked amazing as well, but more than herrge size, the way she looked to my eyes and the status window that they showed me confined just how powerful thisrge mare was. It was pretty, however, the way Ca was emotional after actually getting her own familiar was a sight to behold for all of us who knew her closely. ''She was a strong person and even in the toughest times, she maintained her calm and stayedposed. She was amazing actually. I admire her dearly. And seeing her so emotional that right after finishing their bonding process she hugged her new partner with teary eyes, was not something I was even expecting to see today.'' I was happy for them, we all were. But there was one thing that just ate away at our hearts. "Alright then, I win. Everyone else loses." Most of the other people had bet that she wouldn''t get a familiar and even if she did, it would be something that we do see in our everyday life, somemon creature. But, different from their beliefs, she summoned something that was not only not something one sees in everyday life but they don''t even see these creatures in rare ces. So, they were out, and some more. And those who said something like she would summon something cute like me and Quin, were also out. Everyone else except this bastard who imed that she would summon something extraordinary and that she would also bond with it, and also that whatever that creature would be, it would be strong but gentle, just like her. And, that freaking near-urate prediction was the closest to the actual results. This bastard actually won the second time. Ah, anyway¡­ there was nothing much left to see or talk about anymore. I''m getting bored anyway so, let''s fast forward¡­ "So everyone! Now, as thest group to perform summoning, we have the special group with us." Many things happened during the rest of the summoning event but, nothing as Grenada as what had already happened. Those with us, some unique people like my Nox, E, and Med were the center of everyone''s praises and admiration after what they had bonded with. ''It was a fun time actually.'' Nox unexpectedly summoned a (Green) ranked [Shadow hound], a rare creature that matched his attributes and skills perfectly. Then Med summoned a fox spirit creature that was one of the very rare (Blue) ranked creatures that had the possibility of evolving since it possessed the evolution skill. And then E summoned the first andst holy beast of today''s summoning a very famous [Pink Twilight singer], also known as the messenger bird of the heavens. It was some of the most beautiful creatures that had been summoned today. It was gorgeous. Just, too beautiful to be dirtied by my impure description. ''But still, it was a very gorgeous light pink bird with eyes a shade of green so pretty that it reminded me of Taika''s green stripes. It was a veryyyyyy cute bird and since E was my vice-captain, this cute bird was mine as well.'' Anyway, that was that, but, Lizzy got depressed in the middle of all of this. We were all looking forward to seeing just what kind of special creature she summons but, she didn''t summon anything. Something strange happened and the summoning circle didn''t work when she was up there after trying a few times, the headmaster personally apologized to her and asked her to step out of the circle. She was sad after that and even though some of us tried our best to console her, there were no fruits on the tree. She was sad, but, Eon was talking with her right now so perhaps she will be back to normal after a while. ''We don''t know what caused this but the way we were all excited about her summons, especially my darling, hiked Liz''s hopes and excitement as well. She was full of energy when she went up to the stage for her summon but when she came down with that sad face, it was devastating to all of us.'' Perhaps the reason she couldn''t summon anything was rted to her ancestor and the demon king that was watching over her, but, perhaps the main reason she couldn''t summon anything and the deactivation of the summoning circle were indications of the interference of a very powerful higher power. ''Someone must have interfered with this, therefore the headmaster apologized even though there were no problems from his side or something else.'' Perhaps he knew what happened during her turn, perhaps he will tell uster as well. But, if he was misunderstanding Liz as something else, we would have to tell her all that we knew about her to get his support on this matter. ''Anyway, we will take care of that matter as well.'' There was one more special incident where Princess Isabe also summoned a young draconian [Dragonfly] so it was confirmed that she and Alf will be taking joint parenting sses from us. It would be better if they get closer while taking care of their children as well. It would be fun having another couple with us actually. ''Ah, right. Another cool thing happened.'' The house captain of the [True dragons], that bastard Alpha, summoned an origin beast, a [Helper] with offensive abilities that resembled a ''smander'' but that creature refused to bond with him and vanished from right there, lol. The great captain of the greatest house was humiliated before the entire school, hahaha, served him right! ''But it was annoying how he just sighed with a smile on his face. That fucking bastard was a good actor.'' Haaaa¡­ well, he''s a bastard so let''s forget him. ''Of the twelve prodigies of the current era, aside from Deleon, Newtine, and Mis who failed the summoningspletely, and J who was also rejected by the special creature she summoned, the other prodigies who weren''t known to possess a familiar, were now master and family of one.'' Prince udius got that pretty purple kitty, Xlor got a (me bringer) a pretty fiery bird, Ca got her horse, Downslotm was now the father of a twin nt of a species that belongs to a nt creature group called (Surreal nature ntations), that nt creature was real cute as well. Princess Isabe got her dragonfly, Alf already had Uto, Hide had his special fake dragon, and yeah. That''s it from our side. It was a fun event and now thest group of people who contained some of the new professions and Uncle El, our bitch vice president Cradle, a very famous adventurer who was an outsider but was here as a special guest, and a few others. They will now finish this thing and then we can go home and continue listening to that interesting story about Celes from Zoe''s Rayray. That pretty butterfly bastard was quite a creature actually, my eyes were pretty surprised when they saw him. He was far more than what met to our eyes and I knew Zoe saw things differently as well and that she knew about his specialness more than me. So, I was looking forward to that, and the story, and the night darling and I will spend afterward, and the kissing parts. We have been through a lot today and there was no way I was letting him sleep today. We have a lot to talk about and a lot to see. And we will do that in the shade of night, preferably under the cool moonlight of today''s full moon. ''Yeah. That''s what I want right now. And some coffee. And him on top of me. The other way would be fine as well. Hmmm¡­'' Meeting with that dragon, I know it was a dragon, was pretty fun but it took away a lot of my energy. I have still not recovered fully yet but things are better now. A night''s rest will be enough, and a night''s fun will be even better. It was better this way, so now, as soon as thisst summoning is finished- -Oooooooooooooong! "Rein! Zoe! Stay back!" -Booooooooooom! And, damn. Looks like things will go on for a little more now¡­ Chapter 619 Another failure

Chapter 619 Another failure

[Eon''s POV: ] There are many incidents that the academy blocks offpletely from the outside world, going as far as erasing the memories of any and all spectators just for the sake of keeping the matters that have transpired here as limited as possible. ''The headmaster took that extreme measure with Zoe and Rayray since it involved the global bnce and stability, but that''s the top-of-the-line extreme measure.'' There are times when the academy deals with different kinds of incidents in different ways so that at least the basic pieces of information about the happenings are buried and lost with time. There are some kinds of incidents happening each year that are better left unknown to the outside world as much as possible, and one such incident happened during the familiar summoning event of the previous batch three years ago that was strongly pressed down from all the ces possible. They had activated their ''top ss confidentiality'' protocol to deal with that situation but there were still some sources who managed to blindside the academy and seeded in retaining that information. ''I happened toe across that information when I purchased the data on all the known happenings of the academy that was avable from the top information dealers on Mag a few years ago, and through that, I learned the truth of that day and that unfortunate ident.'' Vice President Cradle. She summoned something¡­ catastrophic. She was just a normal student back in that time, a ranker of her batch who fell just a few marks short of the seat of the top-ranked among the previous generation student council members during the entrance exam. Her performance at that time was considered extraordinary so the teachers, the grading council members, and the headmasters all had high expectations of her. And since it was known that the top ranker, the current student council president, already had a familiar, everyone had been looking forward to seeing just what kind of creature she would summon back in that time. ''However, when it was her chance to perform the summoning, she ended up caucusing an unexpectedmotion.'' The creature she summoned turned out to be a creature who had gonepletely berserk and was in thest stages of its transformation, which was almost about to finish after it was summoned here. ''A creature who had lostplete reasoning and was just about to be something simr to that purely impure madness I had witnessed back in the forbidden great forest, but¡­ hopefully it wasn''t like that demonic slime shit, or else things would have been even more worse.'' Ten students who were on the stage, eleven more under the stage, three teachers, and around forty-five creatures present were injured, however, thanks to the quick response from the headmaster, our current president and the vice president Cradle herself, no life was lost and everything was able to be resolved rtively peacefully. It was an unfortunate event and the people who got hurt back then included some of the very famous faces of current times, students who were from powerful backgrounds, and those holding prominent political influences. The academy had to deal with it covertly and they did it by their protocols. It wasn''t the first time they were dealing with situations like these but, it was the first one in a very long time, so, it was still unforgettable to many who still retained the memories of that time, which included the president and vice president Cradel. ''The headmaster personally consulted her and told her it wasn''t her fault and went as far as promising her that she would be given another chance if she managed to be the president or the vice president of the council. And for that, for this opportunity, she worked tirelessly.'' Top of her ss in any theoretical field, top of any test she took which did not have presidentpeting in it, top of any outside activity she participated in, top of all the house activities, and the ace of previous [Fascinated mages] even though she wasn''t a captain, the previous valedictorian and one of the best direct pupils the headmaster had personally trained. What she achieved in her academic years was nothing short of phenomenal and there was no one in her time better suited for the position of the ''vice-president''. If not for President Zodiac being in the same batch as her, I have no doubt that she would be the current student council president but¡­ no. He was better than her, it was a fact she had long epted after facing countless bitter defeats. Shepeted with him to the end for the position of that top spot and the two of them and their passionate rivalry is well known throughout the continents, but, the fact that she had caused that incident always remained in her heart. Always. She wanted to believe that it was just an ident, that it was just a coincidence that the creature she summoned turned out to be that way, she wanted to ept that it wasn''t her fault but, she could never do it. She could never ept the fact that innocent students'' and creature''s lives were put into jeopardy because of her. She knew whatever had happened that day was all because of her, that it was because of her that that creature was summoned and people were hurt. She knew it, and that''s why she was looking forward to this day, even more, to try the summoning again and see if what she had feared was true all along. ''And, she confirmed it a moment ago.'' Once again, the creature she summoned, though of apletely different kind and type, was the same end-stage berserk creature that started spewing explosives as soon as it appeared. Its physical characteristics didn''t need any description since it was a mad creature already, and only death awaited it. ''I had feared something like this might happen so I already had many safety measures in ce, but, we didn''t need them.'' Cradle was not the same girl she had been those years ago. She was a different person now. She was the vice president and someone who had the responsibility of protecting her fellow students from any kind of harm. As soon as the creature finished materializing on the summoning circle, she confirmed her doubts and right after that creature''s first attacks thatnded directly in the ce we all were standing, she used her powerful offensive controlled explosions to one shot that near (Indigo) rank creature. It was a bit weaker than thest one and was a step behind into falling in thatpletely dark state so she finished it with one of her most powerful attacks, but¡­ right now, as I look at her climbing down the stairs, that heartbroken look she has seems¡­ bitter. ''I don''t like her. Not one bit. She tried to kiss my Rein for which I will never forgive her but, the fact that she wasn''t really a bad person and that still had many things I could get from her and her ''secret'' family remained present.'' Hmmm¡­ There certainly was somemotion since the ce our group was standing was now half destroyed, but since she took care of the matter in an instant, there was no great reaction from the crowd. If anything, half were confused about what had just happened and the other half had mostly even failed to see the creature that was summoned. Everything happened in a matter of seconds so the entire thing just calmed down instantly and the headmaster was announcing the end of the summoning event but still, that look on her face¡­ I didn''t like it. It was pathetic. It didn''t suit her usual dignified personality one bit. And, it was uneptable as well since she was misunderstanding something right now. [[ "Celes, connect me with Cradle please." ]] [[ Yes, master~. ]] [[ "Hmm? Eon?" ]] Rein wanted things to end so that we could go home, chat for a while, go to sleep, have some fun, and spend the nightfortably¡­ but still had to wait a little longer than nned. [[ "I''m sorry dear but, looks like we will have to stay here for a bit longer." ]] [[ "You will help her with this familiar summoning drama, right?" ]] She knew it already¡­ She knew about the things fromst time, things about the vice president and that incident and she was smart enough to figure out things on her own. And, she had seen the summoning, so, her pretty eyes must have caught the things mine couldn''t during that moment. [[ "Sorry, and thanks for understanding¡­" ]] [[ "Well, let''s try finishing it up quickly." ]] [[ "I will try my best." ]] There were things for us to gain from this, but, the most important thing we could gain after helping her with the matter, would be her eternal gratitude, and the I.O.U. that I will use very carefully. [[ "Hello vice president Cradle." ]] The summoning event was fun but it wasing to an end so, the creatures here, all these new friends we had made today, were going to return back to their homes now. We will have to say goodbye now and we all knew it would be difficult since the bond we have forged in this short while was stronger than we had expected. They were fun beings, and cute as well. My bunch especially liked smelling and licking me but since they were cute and Rein liked them more than me, they were good kiddos. [[ "Hmmm? What? What''s this? And this voice¡­ Lucifer?" ]] The goodbyes will take a while so it will be nighttime by the time the garden clears up for us to perform the summoning onest time. I had to tell her about these new ns but before that... [[ "Yes, vice president. It''s me. And¡­ it wasn''t your fault." ]] I had to tell her what actually happened over there with the summoning circle as well and why it summoned a creature that was neither fit nor her actual soulmate. ''And also how her unique half-blood lineage yed a significant part in this whole situation.'' It wasn''t her fault. She was just an absurd anomaly for this summoning circle that was made to bepatible with every being. That was all. Chapter 620 Saying goodbye to cuties

Chapter 620 Saying goodbye to cuties

[Eon''s POV: ] [< "Yes, yes. We will definitely meet again. I promise. You can ask sir Quesnel for permission if any of you want to stay in this garden as well. That way, we will be able to meet often." >] There were few left now, thankfully, and these were myst words to these cute creatures, hopefully. "Miiiii? Mi, mi?" [< "You can''t live away from your parents young one. Not until you are capable enough to survive on your own. And besides, if they do not allow, I can''t do anything about it." >] "Miiiiii¡­ Mi." [< "Yes, so, go home for now. As your parents and see what they say." >] This specific one was a special one among my bunch. She was young and belonged to a carnivore family of [Tusk Chinchi]. She wasn''t that special in terms of skills or abilities, but, her intelligence was a level higher than the othercreates present here. She was cute as well, just like Quin, so Rein ''ordered'' me to take special care of her. [< "Alright. See youter sweetheart." >] "Miiiiiii~. Miiii." She saluted me with her cute hands and tiptoed to the other side with thest batch of the creatures where the headmasters were standing with the master Codocodomi and our student council presidents. The headmaster then sent them back to the ces they all hade from, to their home, or the ces they wanted to go to. It was nighttime already so some creatures had taken shelter in this garden or the Greenhouse of the academy and some nocturnal creatures had just arrived in the academy so, some students who were still present in the garden were ying with them. ''The garden was rtively empty though since the event had officially ended, and the students as well as the creatures had gone to their dorm rooms.'' There weren''t many people around the stage anymore and aside from our group, most of the students were by themselves or in smaller pairs. The moon was hanging in the sky, serene moonlight was grazing our skins, Rein was looking even more beautiful than before and, a gentle breeze was cooling the warm earth. "Haaaa¡­ it was exhausting." Rein came to me after sending off the young ones of her own group and¡­ she jumped on me as we both crashed down to the ground. "Why do you do this? You know it hurts right?" She basically tackles me heavily to make me fall down. And since it is difficult to make me fall down thanks to my superior bnce, the amount of strength she uses is¡­ crazy. ''She is stronger than me when ites to physical strength so, when she does that thing, though fun for her, the impact is no joke on my side.'' She likes it though¡­ I can endure this much. "Anyway, looks like Zoe and that bird have be somewhat closer now." "Hum-hmm. Looks like it. I expected it but he certainly knows about her true identity. Well, he''s special and reliable. I don''t think he would ever reveal this fact to anyone else." On the ground with her on top of me, we nced at how Zoe was saying her goodbyes to the giant holy eagle with E by her side. "Haaaa¡­ today was fun." "Sure was." "Right~? I got my own familiar just like you said I would~." "Give us poor souls a moment, Ca. Go take a ride on Beth. Test out the skills while you are at it as well." "Right! I almost forgot! Let''s go, Elisabeth~." "Weeeeeehehehehe~!" She was emotional at first when they finished their bonding but after that, she became the happiest person on this ind. She talked with Beth about her life and shared her own, they talked, became close, and now, the two of them were very close friends. ''They looked cute together but Ca has never learned about how to handle the horses, certainly not the ones like Beth so we will have to teach her a lot of things.'' They still have a long way to go before they know about each other more than enough to have a bond simr to the one we had with our familiars. ''Thankfully, I have handled the wild horses of the great forest when the master was teaching me about the mounts, and Rein had enough experience with all kinds of military horses that she knew how to handle their needs and wants better than me.'' We will help herter like everyone else¡­ ohh! [[ "Should we charge the others for our services when we help them regarding their familiars?" ]] [[ "It''s our job to help the others as the council members dummy. And besides, why do we have to extort money from poor children?" ]] [[ "No no. I wasn''t talking about money. You see, there exists a certain thing called IOU. You get what I mean, right?" ]] [[ "Jeez you damn devil. At least leave the children alone." ]] [[ "Hehe, they mighte in handy sometimes dear." ]] Everybody has some form of use to someone at some turn in their lives. Who knows, some of the students that we help might just turn out to be high-ranking officials of a specific ce that we need some assistance with. There was always a possibility in ce. usibility as well, but predicting change is an annoying process. "Alright, enough resting. Let''s get over with thest thing and go get some sleep." "We aren''t sleeping today, darling." She had a warm smile on her face¡­ damn she was serious about this. Haaaaaaa. "Anyway, get up. Let''s get going." "Hehehehe." She smiled, no she smirked first and then tried to hide her smile but I noticed that subtle change. She knew that I had noticed it as well so she acted quickly, grabbed my hands with hers, used some of her ''shadow hands'' to distract the eyes looking at us, and quickly kissed me before getting up. "This isn''t fair Uriel." "Yes, headmaster? Ah, yes!" She ran away towards the headmaster and the others without a single word, which wasn''t right. This isn''t how we do it. It had to be two-sided, not one-sided like that one. This was uneptable. [[ Hehehe, master lost~. ]] [[ "Oy? This isn''t somepetition that I would lose!" ]] [[ Hehehehe, no you lost~. You know that as well~. ]] [[ "Shut up Celes." ]] [[ Hehehe. ]] What was loss in a one-sided kiss?! It wasn''t some game to lose in the first ce! Hump! She ruined the mood, ughhh. I don''t like this. "So Lucifer. Care to include us poor people in the fun thing you will be doing now?" "Of course headmaster. Everything is yours, this school, this garden, this stage, this summoning circle. Who am I to stop you from being part of anything?" He wanted to watch he will watch then. Why ask in the first ce?! It wasn''t like he would go away if I told him to! The vice headmaster would kick me in the face during the next training session if I dared to deny her. Why ask in the first ce then?! Hump! "What''s up with this fe? He was fine and kissing just a moment ago¡­" "Lover''s quarrel vice headmaster, lover''s quarrel. Don''t pay much attention to him." "¡­" The vice headmaster''s love life had been¡­ dry. I don''t me her for asking such a question but why the hell is the headmaster answering her?! He had been single ever since- "Alright, so Lucifer. What did you mean the summoning wasn''t my fault? I didn''t understand the things you said after that so exin it all again." "Yes, so, Simple''s put¡­" Let''s put personal matters aside. She and I will have to talk it outter. "This summoning circle that we have here works on three simple principles, scanning, searching, and finding a match. The way it is made makes it ''near-universal which means anyone could at the very least attempt the summoning process and the circle will go through the process of scanning the one attempting the summon, searching in its database as well as the database of the ''nature'', search for a match that is at least ny-three percent simr to each other and then it filters and finds an even closer match, pushing its uracy to almost ny-nine percent. The reason if the summon ever seeds, which means a scan is matched and a match is found, and the summoned creature has near-certain chances of bonding with the summoner, is because of this veryplex process that is difficult to exin with words. However, in your case Vice President Cradle, the main scanning that takes ce results in a call for information, creating an anomaly that affects the filtering system and the search itself fails, thus, resulting in the summoning of a creature that is neither a match nor even a proper creature that is safe to be present here. It isn''t your fault that you are one of those numbered beings that could cause such an anomaly with this summoning circle so do not me yourself for what happened today or three years ago. It was the fault of the system. And, the solution of this whole predicament, is pretty simple if you know good enough about the workings of the summoning circles." "And you are saying you know about this summoning circle better than the headmaster who drew it here?" "Ah, no. Of course, this summoning circle is fascinating to me equally. However, I know about the summoning circles as a whole. So, I believe I can edit the summoning circle to perform the summoning once more." "And¡­ how were you going to do this without the headmaster activating the summoning circle, student Lucifer?" "I have my ways, vice headmaster. Well, since you are here anyway, how about you help me with this as well?" "Me?" "Yes. There''s a certain matter that requires your expertise. Would you help me help someone meet the partner they deserve to be with, vice headmaster?" "But there''s no guarantee there will be anythinging out of the magic circle though." "It''s funny you are saying that, vice headmaster. Hehe." She betted that we would have another familiar. There was no way in hell she would deny the fact that the vice president could have her own healthy and pretty familiar. ''She is the one with most fail here, after all. Haha, no way she''s turning a blind eye to this matter.'' Chapter 621 The last summoning

Chapter 621 Thest summoning

[Rein''s POV: ] "I still do not understand everything but you simply mean you can help me with the summoning, is that correct?" She asked with a doubtful face while looking between the vice headmaster and Eon who were arguing about this whole shit¡­ why don''t they just finish things up with a few words so that everyone happily goes home?! Ughhhhhh! All of them are unbelievable! "Yes, that is correct. So, let''s get going with this thing. Or this partner of mine will explode like a volcano if we dy any longer." He held my hand to calm my anger a little bit, and thankfully it worked¡­ I really am bored at this point, people! "Alright then¡­ let''s start it right away." The headmaster''s voice was shaky since he could see the anger hidden beneath my calm and ''smiling'' face. The others though were confused since I was so good of an actor. They didn''t even catch that I was bored or angry or anything like that. Huuuu, why am I so talented? "Ok¡­ I will be back in a minute." He released my hand and went toward the now empty stage with a very dull but not invisible summoning circle. I had no doubt this basted could do what none could with that abundant knowledge of his, like, he and his ability to edit the existing magic circles was unbelievably incredible. He was the reason I had Clover with me as well so, yeah. He better finish this super quick way and get it over with. I had better things to do with him than watch him being thanked by the same person who had tried kissing me the moment we stepped foot into this academy¡­ not that I was angry at Cradle for that but this whole thing itself was frustrating for me, ugh! Anyway, he imed the stage, and the headmaster, as a safety precaution, covered the area around us in a powerful illusion spell and a barrier that I don''t think any student or teacher will be able to break or bypass. "Woah¡­ what is-" "His partner weapon." "He had one?" "Yup." Some of the others here didn''t know about Asta, not that they needed to know anyway. And, Eon had already turned Asta into the form of a normal thin sword that looked as attractive as the original Asta so, those who didn''t know about it, were just as astonished as I was when I first saw her. "But what is he-" "Just watch everyone." It was better to just watch what this bastard was doing right now. There were only trustworthy people here anyway so showing them his magical side was no problem at all. So, if everyone was going to ask questions one after another and stretch this thing even more, imma gonna beat the hell outta them. -Zuuuuuuuuu¡­ -Ooooooooooooong! Thankfully though, after that stern warning of mine, everyone just quieted down and looked as Eon released the stored magic power inside Asta to cover the magic circle beneath him. He was going to do something simr to what he did when we summoned Clover in my house by using some Acts and Paragraphs of Asta now, but, he will do the edit himself with the Solnova so it''s obviously going to be just as eye-catching as it was all those years ago, as well as a month back when we summoned ''that thing''. "Wow¡­" "Pretty and amazing right?" "Yes¡­ it''s amazing. Brother Lucifer is even more amazing than I knew." "Hehe. You haven''t seen anything yet Quin. Stay with us forever and you will see even cooler things~." "Will I see those cool things if I stay with you as well?" The one that asked was Cradle. And it was a genuine question, though she was asking ''me'' and not ''us'', but, it was a genuine question. She deserved a genuine answer at the very least. "You can, but, we can''t have what he and I have. Ever. So, I apologize. Being friends is all I can offer, Cradle." "It''s heart-raising when you call me by my name Uriel¡­ but what a pity. I wouldn''t have minded being the third wheel if you were going to be there but, welp, being rejected outright once again shatters my heart." "Haaaa¡­ focus on the stage miss vice president. He''s doing that for you. At least be considerate and stop flirting with his wife." "But you two aren''t married yet though, hehe." "We aren''t anything less than a married couple as well miss. It''s just that we are nning to do the official marriage ceremony after we graduate from the academy. You will have to be there even if you don''t want to, ok? Promise me this in exchange for the help he''s offering." She looked at me with her pretty green eyes that saw deep within mine, the eyes that had seen my true self, and the same eyes that showed her unique lineage and perhaps the reason this whole thing was happening in the first ce. "Hmmmm. Alright, I promise. I will be there, but not for you two, but for you dear. I still wanna be with you, dear. Just don''t forget to send me the invitation." "Ah, of course~." Quin beside me was blushing while thinking about the things we were talking about and what they actually meant. She was cute and wasn''t that familiar with love and date and partner and stuff, but, she already had a partner she was close with, and though we knew it would take time, those two would be together. I just know they will. "Something''s happening-" "He''s finally starting." The golden light from Asta had covered the circle and the magic circle that had been mostly a metallic green color in its deactivated state until now was now glowing in gold. "Perhaps prettier thanst time, right?" [[ Yes master. This one looks even prettier than the summoning circle he edited during the ''request'' from the emperor. ]] ''Hmmm¡­" The magic circle of the academy, the familiar summoning circle that was one of a kind and a world-level secret that was only passed down to the headmasters of the academy, was now being activated by a student of the first year who had only been a part of the academy for a week. And, that was just the start. He activated the magic circle and maintained it with Asta, after that, he called out arge amount of Solnova that only Zoe could actually perceive aside from him and, mixed it with some Mana to give it a visible form that we could perceive. ''And then, he started the magic.'' Like a musician of an orchestra ying the ''Summer'' or middle parts of ''Winter'', he frantically began to draw lines with his visible energy on top of the already present golden magic circle with such finesse that, just like his every other performance, this one also mesmerized all the audience present in the vicinity. -Ooooooooong! We couldn''t take our eyes away from this mad art. He was just, amazing. He was tracing the entire magic circle with his own energy while editing the parts that he wanted to edit midway and he was already in a deeper part of the [ZONE] so, I was sure there was nothing other than this whole of the ''process'' present for him in this ce. There was only him, his energy, this magic circle of summoning series that had fascinated him to no end, and, the ''tunes''. ''When one enters into the deeper parts of their [ZONE] they start to perceive more than what was present in the surrounding or in this realm. They start resonating with everything there is around them while at the same time maintaining their own existence in the present realm where they actually exist. There, things that are unprecedented happen with us as we stay there or go deeper and one of the things that happen while performing whatever task we are performing is the perceiving of the strange frequencies of sounds thate from abstract things like Mana, magic, Aura, steel, swing, grip, or even someone as basic as the ''reality'' that we are in.'' [ZONE] is a much deeper concept and I, no, we all who learned alongside him had ever known. And, when ites to that strange and unknown realm of consciousness, he had achieved far more than even I currently know of. ''Some of those things are ''top secrets'' that even I am not allowed to know yet. But, he said he will tell me when the timees so, until then, I am waiting for that day.'' Right now though, he was in the end stages of his performance and the magic circle that looked beautiful butplex thest time we saw it, was now still beautiful but, far more simpler than what was present right beneath it. His Solnova covering was white while the golden magic circle underneath it was gold. And, this white-over-gold was looking prettier than the original. However, the white vanished as soon as he stopped his performance, and right after that, the gold beneath it glowed even more brightly, almost blinding most of us in the process. ''Wow¡­'' But I was fine, and I saw what happened there. I saw how that magic circle lifted up before eating up the original magic circle beneath it and, when it did, something flew out of it and went directly inside his head. However, he was fine even after that happened. He looked the same and felt the same as well. I asked Celes and even she said nothing had happened to him so I didn''t worry about this¡­ at least until this bastard coughed up a mouthful of blood out of nowhere! "Lucifer?!" "H-hey! What just-" "It''s fine everyone, he''s alright. That happens with him asionally." I couldn''t help but shake my head with a bitter sigh. This basted pushed himself beyond what we needed in this school. Again. Haaa¡­ fucking bastard. "At least he finished it. Go Cradle. Go summon something cute." She was shocked at how he coughed up blood and still was standing and was giving us a thumbs up. She still didn''t know this crazy bastard yet, but I did. And he is a bastard. Perhaps forever will be. "Haaa¡­" At least though, he was done with his part. All that was left now, was the summoning of the familiar of a half-blooded being and a strange crossbreed of a race that lived on the blood of other creatures, and a race that was the embodiment of nature and forests themselves. Chapter 622 A Unique Bloodline ? [Eon''s POV: ] "Vice President Cradle, pleasee here." The editing was done and this was more fucked than I thought. ''Haaaah! Why does it have so much pressure?! How does the headmaster handle the original when the one-time recreation''s putting this fucked up pressure?!'' This was difficult! It was fun until I was recreating the existing summoning circle but after one point where I had to put it up, things started to get difficult. The strength of even the edited spell was so great that it was crushing my body. The pressure on my insides is so great right now that if things go south and I have to maintain this whole thing for more than three minutes then I would be half dead. ''Not that the headmaster should let that happen. He was here, and that was a very good safety precaution.'' This was going smoothly, I could maintain this, though with difficulty, I could do this. This was not as bad as the Aura training sessions Master and I used to have back in the days. "Please hurry if you can. I can''t maintain this for too long." "Ah, yes!" Everyone was shocked, even Ca, Alf, and Chry who had seen me do a lot of crazy things. What I was doing right was neither something they had expected to see nor was it something they had thought was possible not just for me, but for anyone in this world. We were talking about the lone summoning circle of the great academy after all, there was none aside from the headmaster who could recreate this creation magic circle. Not even the vice headmaster could do it, and that was the reason she would have been the most surprised one if she had been here. Sadly for her though, she was the only person that could help me the way I needed right now. ''She was an expert when it came to aerialbat so her aerial Aura control was better than anyone else in this world. And, I needed that for this whole thing that I was doing right now. She wasn''t here with us but somewhere in the center of the academy, concentrating her Aura to prevent the ''restrictions'' of the academy from affecting this process we were doing.'' Not just anyone was authorised to do the summoning even if they wanted to. The academy grounds had preventions and security measures in ce that not even the headmaster could turn off. The only way to bypass that system and for me to sessfully do this, someone had to concentrate arge amount of energy at certain points at certain intervals to confuse the system, and, only she could do it among the people here. The headmaster had to be with us in case something happened and she also understood the uniqueness of the situation so she epted it and moved away from us after I secretly told us the things she needed to do, things that not even the headmaster knew were possible. My knowledge came from my master and the lost books of the older past, knowledge that was dangerous and extremely helpful for not just the academy, but for the entire world and beyond. So, anyway, she was not here or else there would certainly be a very rare face of surprise and shock present from what I can see right now. "I just have to do the same thing that I did previously, right?" "Yes." There wasn''t much time on our hands, she understood that as well, and she knew the whole of the situation that was going on so, she nodded at me, looked over the people below the stage, and closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. ''Alright then.'' She started reselling her Mana in the summoning circle like we had done previously and, as soon as she started that, the pressure on my body started increasing exponentially. "Lucifer!" "Darling!" "Keep going without opening your eyes!" I fell to my knees but I had Asta so I had the support. I held her tightly and endured the exponentially increasing pressure on my body. Cradle knew everything that was happening even with her eyes closed but, she kept them close until the very end. Her Mana filled the magic circle and it started glowing in a unique mix of green and ck. The magic circle was active now so that much was a good sign, and the process had started. The summoning circle would now search for the being that matched the summoner the most without the restraints of the limited races, it would go through the second process, search the world data for the match, and select only the one that matched her Soul frequency as closely as it can. The uracy would increase a tad bit with just this much but after that, it would filter the selections even more, and only the best one that was the closest possible match for her, the one that would undoubtedly be her familiar, would be summoned. If there existed one out there, that is. ''Hopefully, there will be one.'' [[ *I have faith you will summon something master.* ]] ''Thanks for that Lucy. I needed someone to have faith since I myself don''t.'' [[ *It will be fine¡­ oh. Looks like we didn''t need to wait for long.* ]] ''Hmmm?'' Yes, something wasing. I could feel it. Something wasing out! -Ooooooooooooooooooong! "Muaaaaaaaaao!" A unique voice filled the surroundings as all the pressure on my bodypletely vanished. ''Strange¡­'' It was strange. The earlier-than-expected summoning, this loud yet melodious voice, this strange relief I felt right after hearing that voice, all of this¡­ this was strange. "Just what¡­?" I opened my eyes to see the creature that was being summoned and stood back up since the pressure was suddenly gone, however, what I saw¡­ was yet again something very, very unexpected. "Wow¡­" We all saw a creature with the head of a horned beast''s skull, a bodypletely covered with strange blue things that were neither hair nor something like skin or bones, legs that resembled a bird but the upper body of a humanoid, and a cape like external organ that was covering its back appeared before us. "¡­?! Is this another failure or something?!" "What is that thing?!" "Wo! How cool! That''s a cute one~! We are keeping this one even if this is a failure darling!" "No, everyone. The summoning was a sess." There was a warm, deep, proud smile on the headmaster''s face as he said that and looked at the unique humanoid creature that was summoned on the stage, how Cradle was looking right into the red glowing lights inside that skull, andstly at me¡­ the one who made the impossible possible. ''Haaaa. Thanks for having faith, Lucy.'' [[ *Haha master. Don''t thank me. I did nothing. And besides, isn''t this our first time seeing a creature of ''unique bloodline''? Shouldn''t you be fascinated by this instead?* ]] ''Haha, I am fascinated dear. Too much if I say so myself.'' Nature was the most supreme entity, however, it was the most mysterious as well. She created many beautiful things, things that one couldn''t help but stare at for hours or days or eternity. There certainly existed a unique beauty in all that was present in this nature. However, there were also things that were¡­ unique. Like this creature before us. It was a creature born directly without any parents. It was born naturally, not like the origin beasts, they were born in and from nature, and this creature wasn''t like them. ''A [Self-born] is what I know this creature as, however, it is just one of the many beings of a ''unique bloodline'' that existed in this nature. A bloodline that was unique from every single race. Independent from others, unique, and special.'' They were very rare creatures even on arger scale or when considering the greater areas of nature and this or other realities. They were very rare. Perhaps the one before us was the only one on this entire. Which certainly exined the quicker summon. "Muuuuuuaaaaao~?" "What? Shouldn''t I be the one asking you to be my familiar?" "Muuuuuuuaaaao~!" "Hahaha, I am honored. I don''t even know how to express this emotion.'' "Muuuuuuao~." She didn''t have a face but we could tell she was smiling warmly. They had talked through some unique connection and, I can tell just from their eyes just how perfect they were for each other. It didn''t even take them long to ept each other and, right after that, the creature walked forward and kneeled down before her, not to show respect but to be on the same height as her since she was much taller than Cradle. Then, they proceeded with the bonding process, and since they were already in the middle of that, I released my magic and took off Asta from the ground. "Mirror¡­ how do you like this name?" "Muuuuuaaaao! Muuuu~!" "Yes. Please take care of me as well." A unique light of green, ck, and blue covered the two of them and a unique mark covered her entire left hand that she had put on her familiar, Mirror''s head. ''Mirror¡­ hmmmm¡­ welp, not too bad I guess.'' It was a unique name and I can understand why she gave her that name, which had nothing to do with how she looked, but more like what she was, But, they were together now, and, the vice president knew better than anyone else that it was all because of me. So¡­ as soon as they were done with the bonding¡­ she came up to me, and hugged me. Chapter 623 Unique Way Of Communication ? [Eon''s POV: ] She hugged me, not out of the but she certainly hugged me and it was thest thing I was expecting from her. She was the first person who touched Rein on this ind, and that too in the astral realm when we had justnded in the academy. I was angry at her, very angry. And she certainly got what she deserved for what she had done to her. She suffered, perhaps a little too much, but she received what she deserved. That doesn''t mean I have forgiven her for that though. I still didn''t like her much. I know she still had eyes for her and that she still flirted with her but¡­ she was also a normal person with normal emotions and feelings. She also felt the same things that we normal people did. She was a unique being but she was still a normal person. A talented normal person at that. She could do many things and she was good at many things as well. She was a good person who cherished those close to her and the ones she had the duty to look after. She had her pride as the vice headmaster, as the one who was certainly better than many other students of the academy. I could understand very well how bad and bitter she must have felt after endangering all those students and creatures back then and even today, if she had been careless, many more could have been endangered. Thankfully though, nothing happened. She took care of the things and nothing happened. But something could have happened. Undoubtedly. She was the reason those dangerous creatures were summoned on this ground, it was because of her that the people and creatures'' lives were put into jeopardy. She med herself and she must have been in constant doubt over the things that were happening around her. I knew it must have been very difficult for her to deal with it all by herself, and since she was a prideful person, I knew she would have tried dealing with all of it by herself. She was that kind of person. That''s why¡­ Being told that the thing she believed wasn''t her fault with that doubtful heart, helping her with the summoning once again when she had lost all hope to ever perform this summoning, and, ultimately helping her meet her soulmate were things she would have never asked form anyone had she known the things would turn out this way, but, even without asking, she received ''our'' help, and she knew if it wasn''t for me activating the summoning circle once again with those improvement that not even the headmaster was aware of, she might never have met Mirror. That''s why, she was grateful to me. She didn''t like me much either since the things that had happened between us, but, after all of this, she couldn''t hate me either. Hugging her enemy was a big blow to her own pride in a way but, she didn''t care about that at this moment. She was just thankful for what had happened right now. That was all. "Thanks¡­" And her saying thanks was something¡­ yeah. President Zodiac had a very subtle change in his expression so I knew what was going on inside his mind now after hearing her say thanks to the one she didn''t like much. "Would you share-" "No." This is right here. That''s why I couldn''t get too good with her. ''She really is into Rein, hunhhh¡­'' It was more than just the attraction this time. She had seen her in her astral form so the attraction was more than to her physical body. She was practically attracted to her soul itself, perhaps the same way that others get attracted to others'' bodies but, in some off chance she actually had feelings for her, then there would be more pain in this whole thing for her. Some others were already enduring and living with the pain of not being able to have her and I really didn''t want her to be an addition to that whole list. It wasn''t a good ce for someone like her. ''She''s better off without that pain.'' I respected her talents and abilities. She certainly was a great person who had and will achieve even greater things in this world. She was amazing, and, seeing the person I respected suffer because of something like this¡­ I didn''t want this. "Alright then. My work here''s done." I hugged her back and after a moment, we separated, nodded at each other, and, with a smile on her face, she returned back to Mirror. ''She''s fascinating¡­'' This was my first time seeing a unique bloodline creature, one such as her especially. She was a fascinating creature with great intelligence and there were many things about her that I didn''t know yet. She relieved the great pressure on my body with her mere voice, she possessed physical features that were hard to define with normal logic, she was a creature with the ability tomand not just the elemental attributes but the natural factors themselves. She was much more than that, and, she was her familiar now. They were together. And, as their helper, I had every right to study her up close and be friends with her. Perhaps. "Muuuuuuaaaao~." "Hmmm?" Wait. What was this? "Special, right? She speaks with emotions and memories instead ofnguage. I was surprised at first as well, but after bonding with her and seeing the kind of life she had lived until now, I understood her reason to prefer the emotions overnguage." When Mirror looked at me with that happy look, for some strange reason, I remembered an old memory of my mom thanking me. It was perhaps the same kind of emotion she wanted to convey at the moment and this way ofmunication¡­ was new. It wasn''t anguage. She wasn''t speaking the words. She was using her voice to produce the emotions and memory that she wanted to convey. Perhaps she could share her own memory in this process for an even clearer understanding, which practically removed the whole nguage'' factor from themunication. We understand each other with not words as a medium but with the even more abstract thing called feelings. "Muuuuuuaaao~!" "Mirror¡­" But this method ofmunication¡­ "Muuuuaaao? Muuuu! Muaaao!" "Ah, don''t apologize. I understand you didn''t do it intentionally." My eyes were tearful and red. One teardrop had also managed to escape my left eye all of a sudden... She was thanking me sincerely for my help but she unintentionally brought up the memories of my master, the ones that I avoided remembering. It caused a burst of emotion that though positive individually, theirbination turned those sweet memories into the ones that would break down even the tough ones. Drops of elixir, whenbined, be poison. ''Haaaaa¡­ this method ofmunication won''t go well with the people like me. People who had good memories and a strong desire to erase many of them at any cost. She might unintentionally cause simr outbursts of emotions that might cause not-so-good memories to surface, and, Cradle will have the most problems dealing with it. "Come here. Don''t worry. I''m alright." I hugged the tall creature gently since it looked like she was also going to burst out in tears now. She didn''t mean to hurt me. I had helped her, and her master. Hurting me must be thest thing on her mind but she ended up making me cry¡­ something that happened first time after that incident with her master. But in this case, she didn''t do it intentionally. So I wasn''t angry at her at all. I hugged her, calmed her down, and used some Solnova to do it. And strangely, she actually perceived the Solnova! ''She''s more special than I thought¡­'' Few beings in this world could perceive Solnova and those are mostly with a close rtionship with Sun. She, on the other hand, didn''t seem to have that close of rtion with one particr element of nature, which meant she was a creature with a natural affinity to not just Solnova but many other energies of nature. ''Looks like Cradle and I will have much more to talk about from now on.'' This was a big news. If Mirror could actually perceive and control energies of a higher nature simr to Solnova then she might be able to grow beyond what a ''creature'' of this nature could. She was already a humanoid and perhaps in the future, she might just evolve into aplete, unique humanoid being. ''But, it''s just a possibility.'' When it came to energies, there were many positive as well as negative ones present in this nature. We didn''t know which one suited her the most yet, but, if she is moreparable with negative and darker energies, then there will be a lot more problems for her and her master going forward. They will have to face the world and make them understand how she was not some evil creature but instead, one that only looked like one and had abilities simr to ones. ''And, making others believe a creature that looked demonic, and could use powers of the negative spectrum wasn''t anything like that actually, would be a far more difficult task than making them understand how one plus one doesn''t always equal two.'' Anyway, that was between them. And, we will have fun helping them. "Take care of her. She''s a clumsy one. And you too vice president. Take good care of this pretty one." "Of course. And I''m not clumsy!" She certainly was, but I didn''t argue with her much. Thest summoning was done. I don''t want to talk about the things that happened afterward since they were a little chaotic, but all in all, we were finished with the first event of our school life. Which meant we could now go back and rest for the night ande back tomorrow to start the actual academic lives and, thepetition. ''We can go back now, but looking at the smile of my dear fianc¨¦e¡­ we certainly aren''t sleeping tonight.'' Chapter 624 Night Continues… ? [OP: ] -Dhumb. Tuck! Soun of a heavy thing crashing to the ground reverberated through the personal dorm room of the Lavaethan dormitory in the dark of the night and right after that, followed the sound of a a ss shattering. -Crrrreeeeek! "Umhhh. Not here-" "Toote." The desk table with the small but attractive painting that looked pretty costly was now destroyed however, the two current owners of this ce did not care about it. "Sorry." "D-don''t be¡­ ughh! Oyy!" "You said don''t be sorry, haha." "I didn''t mean it for the bite." "Just quiet down." "N-no¡­ oyyy!" -Crrrrrrreeeeek! In the dark of the night in a dimly lit room harmonized in perfect symphony, the two enjoyed themselves, away from the eyes of the world, away from the eyes of the society, away from the eyes of any interference¡­ they enjoyed themselves, enjoyed each other, and bathed in their partner''s scents. "You wanted this." "Ughhh." "You wanted us to not sleep tonight, remember?" "I-I didn''t-" He caressed her neck with his left hand, his fingers sliding down from her perfect neck shining under the moonlight directly gracing them from the window right in front of them. The moon wasn''t envious tonight. He was happy. Thus, the serene moonlight gracing the two of them as they continued enjoying the taste of their partner was cooler than usual, but still full of its usual warmth. There was a unique scent of love in the air, and some familiar sounds of happiness and pleasure as well. There were some broken pieces of ss scattered around the floor however, that meant nothing to them in this moment. "You wanted this. You can have-" "That''s enough." -Dhum! "That much should be enough of revenge for the thing I did earlier in the garden, right? Now it''s my-" "Yeah, sure." "W-¡­ mhmm!" With their eyes shining with a light of affection, their hair wet from the warmth of the moment, their bodies shaking with the pleasure of the touch of their partners, they continued on, taking turns, overtaking the other, leading the other with a force of technique, or, sometimes, with mere words. "You are beautiful, you know?" "Of course I know." "Ahhh, hey. Too up. Go down." "Here?" "Y-yes¡­" "Hmmmm~." "Mmmmm~. You are beautiful, a little too much, I love that, deeply even. But, the fact that you are too beautiful attracts too many-" "You talk too much." "Oye¡­ ahem! That''s bad!" "Hehe, just enjoy." The bed was right there in the middle of the room a little at the back but, it didn''t seem like they were in the mood to use it tonight. They had had a long day, one that was far, far longer than just their usual twenty-four hours. He had experienced a strange white species where the concept of time was unknown while she had experienced a presence so great that when standing before it, the concept of anything other than power difference stopped mattering. It had been a long day. Many things had happened. They had been through a great lot and since they had been with many people in the presence of so many people they couldn''t possibly do much even if they wanted to. It had been painful holding back when so much was happening all at once and, to make things even worse, they ended up doing a few things for very belief moments. They stole some time for themselves even amidst the chaos and all the things that were going on however, that turned out to be even more difficult since their hearts and lips wanted more of the other. They wanted more, a lot, all of it if they could, however, perhaps it was their own values, or perhaps it was because of the academy rules and regtions that they were bound with, but they couldn''t be too immoral when there was such an event going on. "Ummm~." It wasn''t about their own images or anything like that, however, simply because of the high values that were part of who they were. Nature and nurture. A debate that is eternal and too philosophical to limit to a certain field could be applied here as well to understand the reason behind their self-limitations and obsession with boundaries and controls. "Hehehehehe~! Yes~!" Both of them were of unique and noble lineage and from some of the most dominant families in this entire world. Their backgrounds were grounds for their superior nurture¡­ or one might at least think of it like that if they knew about them, however, that wasn''t the right way to evaluate the nurture side of the two of them. Yes, it was a fact that both of them were naturally unique beings that could not be put into the same categories as the normal humans or in fact the geniuses that the world recognized. They were special naturally. That much was a clear fact. However, one was a reincarnation who had not lived a happy life while the other was a miserable one who had lived a happy life at the start before there was nothing for her to be happy about anymore. He didn''t have a family there but he had one here, but that too was taken away from him because of a certain demon. He lived in a forest where death was everywhere. He survived hell and lived with the fear of death lurking on his head for several years before meeting his master and salvation right after a near-death experience at the hands of yet another demonic creature. He had been through hell and that experiences of hell made him what he was¡­ as well as all the nurturing his master did to help him get out of that forest and return back to his family. He was alone at first, then he met someone, but that someone said their goodbyes to him as well, leaving him with a duty, and thest memories of happiness. That was how he transformed from a young child who only wanted to be a magic archer to the sessor of a high pheonix who not only possessed knowledge of diverse fields but was one of the best magic archers this world possessed at the moment. His noble family and background certainly contributed to all the values he had in him but his experience in that forbidden forest, the life he had lived in his previous life, as well as what he learned from his master in that tower, were the main reasons behind his high moral values. On the other hand, after losing her everything and leaving the life of luxury behind, she went on to the battlefield and became familiar with death, discard, and darkness from a very young age¡­ She was an anomaly that perceived time a little too well. And that very thing that she was born with, became the cause of many hardships that followed herter in her life. "Umhhm~. Kya~! Hehehe!" "Oy, no, stop this. Uriel!" "Heheheh. Kyahahah~!" She lived in darkness, despair, loneliness, feeling what others couldn''t even fathom, going through things that were the results of her choices, perhaps, but were too negative to be a fair equivalent of all the positives she had put into the world. She received countless things that she did not deserve. Ill words, punishments, beatings, curses, hate, neglect, betrayal, and all kinds of negative things had happily befriended her. What she endured was not something anyone else could¡­ perhaps if it had continued just like that, even she might have crumbled down and gone down a path that she knew she would regret gravely. But, she found asylum in the house she had left a long time ago. People who understood her, shared her pain and wounds, and helped her heal from the state that was too broken to be fixed. And then, by the mistake of her fate, she met the one who helped her like none were able to until now¡­ "I love you, my pretty darling witch." "But not more than I do, right? My dear dumb hot husband?" "Well¡­ that''s arguable- ouch! Not again¡­" "Kehehehe. Then let''s argue over it~!" "You dummy¡­ umha." "Hehehe~!" He healed herpletely, made her stronger than she ever was, returned the person she cherished the most back to her, helped her take her patty revenge, and then¡­ if that wasn''t enough, he showed her a world she had never known existed. He shared with her things that were unprecedented in this world. He embraced her warmly and took her away from the darkness that was chasing her lustfully. He became her light that warded off the darkness, and she became the shade that embraced him in the scorching heat. They weren''t made for each other, perhaps, but they made each other what they were right now. So, even though she wanted more, even though she could ignore her own morals if it was with him, even if she could forget the world and their eyes and whatnot to have even more of him, she waited. She waited until the time came, and, she will continue to wait until the time to take things furtheres. She didn''t mind waiting for long since what she was already receiving, what he was giving her while maintaining his limitations, was already more than what her whole being actually needed. He gave her the world and what even the world could not contain. And, she received it all, and expended her vessel to receive even more, greedily, but he didn''t mind. If he could, he would also cross the line and give her the sky and stars, but, he would betray his own self by doing that. And, she would like that. She would rather wait than push him to that point, he knew that, so, he too, managed with what they could, with these small kisses, with these kisses thatstedically longer, with these picks on her bare skin that sent shivers down her spine, with his gentle touch all over her body, and with his fingers that roamed thend of her body like a wanderer of several worlds. She loved it. She loved all of it. And he loved her love. "A-alright¡­ haaaa¡­ haaa¡­ let''s show, change, and get going. They must be dying of boredom by now." "Five more minutes¡­ haaa¡­ please?" "Was also going to ask for seven but¡­ haaaa¡­ let''s manage with six more minutes." On the floor beside their bed, they looked at each other, with a smile of love and excitement. They had somewhere to go, but, before that, as thest time¡­ she rolled on top of him, he got up, with her wrapped around him, and continued with their lipsbined with one another. Chapter 625 Nighttime Gathering [Eon''s POV: ] "I thought you two would take an hour or so but nope. A minute before the agreed time. As punctual as usual, hun." "Time is a precious illusion, Ca. We should cherish it as much as we can." "Niiiiiiiiihihihihhih!" "See. Beth agrees as well. You should be punctual. Anyway, where''s Alf?" "Isabe asked him out for something so he''s still back home. I think she figured out Uto is a draconian." "Took her long enough." She was a half-elf and strangely, she had a unique attraction towards the dragon kind. ''She was attracted to Uto since the moment she saw him with her. Even today, when everyone was ying with Uto when she was in her iguana form, she was especially attracted to her. And after she got her familiar, Maximus the Dragonfly, she must have guessed the strange attraction she must have felt all this time, was from Uto, who was a draconian in disguise.'' Well, she had mistaken her attraction to Uto as attraction toward Alf, but now that she had actually figured it out, they would actually get closer through their simr kind of familiars, and us, of course. "Oh, by the way, are those two really studying that seriously right after a tiring day?" "Yup. They have been like that since a while back. Quin was here first and then I came with Zoe and Chry and they had been like this since. Med came after that but she got an urgent call so she''s out talking." "We met her. She sure feelspletely different when she is doing her work, doesn''t she?" Med was an independent business owner and just considering her shops on this ind, there were three of them, which was in no way a small number. She was one of the richest entrepreneurs of the current time and the indisputable sessor of her family business. She''s cool, and as they said, she really is apletely different person when she is working. ''An authoritative owner with an aura that is more prominent than her father and grandfather''s. I''m really looking forward to the day I meet her for some official work as Eon. It will be fun.'' We were in a cafe near the Heliox residence right now and, this ce belonged to us so this was reserved for us for tonight. There weren''t workers here tonight and Grandpa Zhen was here for us. It was nice seeing him as well. Quin and Chry were discussing something about their politics since ss homework and, well, they were actually studying. Our pure dense future couple. Ca was here with Beth resting on one side, Zoe was ying with Rayray, and the two of us had just arrived here right before the agreed time¡­ thankfully we finished early, or else we would have beente. She really didn''t want to finish things but I convinced her that, well, we would continue after wee back. ''Haaa¡­ it will be fun.'' -Taring~! "Sorry, everyone. It was important. Apparently, I will be opening another store in the western streets here." "Woooooh! Congrats Med~!" "Nice nice~. How would you like to open the store in coboration? We could be good business partners." "Hmmm? Ohhh! Nice idea~! Let''s start abined business!!" "Hmmm? Well¡­ that was out of the blue. But, knowing you two, the idea itself doesn''t sound bad. Hmmm¡­ alright. How about we discuss this matter tomorrow?" "Okey~!" "I look forward to it as well Med~!" This was a good opportunity, not for Med and Axion but for the three of us to create something unique and new of our own on this unique sky ind. It will be a fun thing. -Taring~! "Sorry. I had this small work¡­ hmm/ Is something happening?" "Med''s opening a new shop and we are thinking of bing business partners~!" "W-woah. That''s big." He came in and quickly took his seat beside Ca and without even him saying anything, Grandpa Zhen put his special coffee before him. "Thanks, grandpa." "You should call home. Lady Hazel would love to hear about the cool things you experienced today." "Ah, yes! I had almost forgotten everything going on. I will do so as soon as I can." Grandpa simply nodded and went back, and served Chry and Quin their usual snacks and teas. I know the two of them don''t even know it''s Grandpa Zhen¡­ not that Quin knows him closely but she has seen him a few times so recognizes him at least. Anyway, they were doing their work. And they looked cute. "Alright, everyone. So, why are we here again?" Rein asked, I don''t know why she asked that, but it was a question for all of us present here, which meant the two cute ones would have to end their study session now. "To hear what Rayray stopped back then." "Right~. Quin. Chry. Come now. Join us now~." "Oh, yes! Coming!" The two of them stored their books and materials and joined us with their unfinished snacks and drinks. "Alright, Zoe? Rayray? Shall we?" "Yes~! Let''s start Rayray~!" [[ Right. We were going to start with¡­ can we really trust this ce and the people here? This information is not something I would like just anyone to know. ]] "Don''t worry. This ce and people are perfectly fine. It would be better if Moon was here as well but she will bete. Do you wanna wait or should we just start with things?" Miss Moon was running an important errand for me and was out on the outskirts for a quick run. She will be back in a few minutes or so, but we don''t have to wait for her. Grandpa Zhen will fill her in on the remaining details. [[ What is this moon you talk about? Another one of your friends? ]] [[ "Ah, no. Monies is his subordinate. She used to be a criminal mastermind behind a dumb bunch until a while ago but he caught her and then he found out she was some prominent person''s daughter and helped her meet her father with that unique magic instead of punishing her for foolishly trying to do some demon summoning or something. Anyway, she met her father, some things happened, and she epted him as his master. She even took an origin oath so it''s alright, right?" ]] We made sure only he heard those things since for the two of them, Miss Moon was nothing more than a servent that I recruited who was training under Grandpa Zhen to serve me personallyter. They didn''t know about her secret past the crimes that she hadmitted and the things rted to the Reformation instigators or the summoning ritual. They were in the dark about these things but, they knew there was something special about Miss Moon since I recruited her personally, they never questioned her origin or identity. However, even though Rein knew a lot about her, she still didn''t know the most importuned thing that made Miss Moon one of the most special beings I have met until now. [[ "She''s also a pureblood. You perhaps know her mother, Agatha, as well, right? She''s a special one I found by chance, but she''s a good one. It''s fine to start without her-" ]] [[ No wait wait wait¡­ did you just say Agatha? Do you mean the ? She had a child? When?! And a pureblood?! Who''s this damn wizard that damn witch fell in love with?! ]] [[ "Herte father, of course, dummy. He was a good person." ]] [[ What the hell¡­ she lived for nearly three thousand years killing countless people to protect hernd and then she fell for someone and gave birth to a healthy pureblood in herst days as well? She used to be one hell of a scary woman back in the day but, she was some of the most powerful and respected ones as well. To think she left a child behind, wow¡­ but the fact that you have her as your subordinate fascinates me even more, you know? ]] [[ "Well, you have a lot more surprises left to see if you are shocked by just this much little friend." ]] [[ "Miss Moon is a good person~! She helps me a lot, you know Rayray~?" ]] She was a special person that had yet to learn a lot about herself and the powers she possessed but, we will do that slowly. There was no need to be impatient in this delicate matter. [[ Hmmmm. She sounds like an interesting person, but it''s alright if we just start without her. So, for starters, let''s talk about Celestine. ]] Right. The topics we needed to discuss tonight included things regarding Celes, this new friend Rayray, and some of the things he had to tell Zoe and me, perhaps simple things about my master, and also other things after that which included Quin and the Oceanoid, and other academic things if we have time. The first topic of discussion at hand, instead of talking about me and what I was, he decided it was better to talk about my familiar. Which was good as well. We were free tonight anyway. [[ So, how much do all of you know about us Crystal butterflies? Or in fact, all of the origin beasts and other kinds of energy bests? ]] He was asking us what we knew about the creatures¡­ hmmmm¡­ well, we all knew quite a lot about them- [[ And I''m not talking about the kinds and types, the species and skills and ability or habitat or behavior patterns or anything like that. Do you people know where wee from and what happens to us when we die? Or, to put it in simpler words, do you know where we ''origin'' from? ]] "Hmmm? What? There''s a ce youe from? Like an actual world?! For real?!" [[ Yes¡­ and if even you have that reaction, looks like none of you have no practically no idea about the ''Everlight'' ins. Haaa¡­ I will have to start from the start, it seems. ]] Wait, no, did he just say everlight ''in''? As in a in of existence?! ''There''s an entire realm for the energy beasts?!'' Now this¡­ this is what I can certainly call a new kind of knowledge! Chapter 626 A World Where Beasts Reside ? [OP: ] [[ So, let''s start with the basic stuff that all of you must already know: the realms. As you must have learned in school or read in books, the world is divided into many realms and there exist many faces of a single reality where many other kinds of beings exist while being in the same form of reality. The concept of the World is divided into many ins of existence is simple to understand since you know there exists heaven where the gods and angels reside, hell where the demons live, and the spirit world where spiritse from. And just like you understand these realms, it should be easy to understand there exist different forms of the same reality where perhaps something different is happening from the same person or your version of that reality¡­ actually, we don''t need the reality bubble part so let''s skip it. I know it will be a bouncer to those who do not know the reality store true or have no idea that the world actually functions on the Multidimensional Complex Hyperstructure System of Omioversal parallelism. So- ]] "Wait wait, mister Ray. What do you mean by Multidi-" [[ I said you wouldn''t understand, didn''t I? I was talking about you, the knight boy beside you, and also these two but they have seen more of the world than you and are pretty smart so they would at least understand what I am saying a little bit. But, since you two have yet to see the world as a whole ande out of the limitations you have set for yourself, things rted to the world outside of this one will be a little difficult for you to grasp. I don''t mean you won''t be able to understand what I am trying to say, but you will take a while so why don''t we continue with the simple ways sweetie? ]] "¡­if you say to mister Ray." "Don''t worry Quin~! It''s nothing too difficult~! You will understand what he meant by that funny long name when you understand what might be happening inside of a soap bubble that contains a cluster of smaller bubbles where countless microorganisms are living." [[ Yes. As Uriel said. You will understand roughly when you understand what she said¡­ so, moving on- ]] "Ah, no, wait, but-" "It''s alright Miss Quin. Don''t think too deeply about that useless thing and focus on what mister Ray is saying." [[ Yes. Don''t break my link and listen. If you have a question, wait until I pause for a little breather. ]] "¡­alright Minister Ray." She looked disheartened and confused but Rein patted her back and Eon reassured her he would help her understand these thingster so she at least cheered up and they all focused back on Rayray. [[ Alright so, back to the realms¡­ There are and have been many ins of existence in this world and their creation as well as destruction is a process that is respectively called [Realm creation] and [Extinction erase]. There exists a certain ''core'' of a realm and as long as they exist, the realm will continue to exist even if the entirety of other element poption in there is destroyed. This thing can be a person or a thing, or in some cases, aplex rule, a set of beliefs, a culture, or even something asplex as a certain abstract ritual. All realms have this certain unique ''core'' and we call these cores [[( Deto )]]. And, the realm we energy beasts, especially the origin beasts originate from is the same in this regard. ]] He stopped for a moment and turned his wings to face Celes first and then Branwen. [[ I''m not saying that we are all born in that realm, not necessarily. However, our souls certainly originate from that realm, and when weter find the masters we were meant to be with, or the people our soul frequencies match the most, our origins are then aligned with our masters. The process sounds simple and all but, we aren''t talking about that at the moment. The [Everlight] ins, the world of the energy beasts, the world where beasts reside, is a unique in of existence among the other ins. Not only is it a ce where the energy beasts are the only kind of beings present without being close to any other species like humans, elves, witches, or others, but that ce is also a unique one all in itself. There are intelligent beasts that like the humans do in this realm, beasts of lower intelligence that are treated as equally important beings. It''s a ce where liberty flourishes and even though the influence of equality for all beings is appreciated, the parts this realm is decided in have their own uniquews and ways. Just like this world, that world is also very unique when ites to intelligent beasts and non-intelligent beasts. There is a certain social hierarchy there that''s made of the royal family at the top, then three high aristocratic families, and eleven lower aristocratic families. But, the ''family'' isn''t something that''s always blood-rted. It''s just a structural thing where everyone who has the strength and abilities required for that position could obtain the position through normal means and have the chance to climb up the ranks equally. For them, the start is always the same regardless of where you are born or who your creator is. The strength that they gather on their own, the conditions that they fulfill to climb the socialdders if they wish to, and the limitations of their own abilities, for most parts, are judged by the ''potential'' that they possess innately. It''s something one is born with, something that they have nurtured with all their life''s experiences and knowledge, or something that was gifted to them by the ''fate'' or the ''supreme'' power. Innate potential ys a great part in what they can achieve and estimate at least the average or basic things that that being is capable of and, our problem starts here¡­ ]] He paused once more and looked at the two of them once again, and then nced at Beth on the other side behind us, and then at Alf, or more urately, at Uto who was resting on his head in her iguana form. [[ Beth has pretty good potential but not good enough to be too high in the aristocratic ranks. Uto could be a pretty prominent person but she still does not possess good enough ''visible'' potential to be at the level of a ''family head''. I can''t say anything about the Oceanoid since they haven''t been born yet but, Mister Branwen here has the most visually highest potential among everyone present. Depending on the circumstances, he could also be royalty in that realm, which is unprecedented over there since the members of the aristocracy change only every few hundred or thousands of years. It''s a very rare asion and thest time I witnessed someone be a part of the royalty, was around two thousand years ago during some of thest visits to that ce. However¡­ ]] And now, he stopped once again, this time, for a little longer, and then, instead of looking at the other beasts, he looked at Eon. [[ I can see the unique potential of even the royals so when I say Celes possesses a potential so great even I could not see it, what I''m talking about means a lot, lot more than me saying Celes is more special than anyone else. In the nearly six thousand years of long lives, I had lived before meeting you all, I have only evere across a few beings whose special potential I could not see at all and most of them were divine beasts. And even among them, Celes stands out as someone who is clear for me to understand and fathom, but, she possesses something so abnormal that it''s more unique than even the boundless but limited potential of a divine beast. It''s the most unique kind of potential I have everid my eyes on. It''s just¡­ absurd. I don''t know how it is possible but, one thing is for certain ording to what I can see right now. Celes, even without putting in any special efforts, will undoubtedly gain more than enough strength to be a ''crowned hair'' and the ninth legitimate sessor of the [[( Queen )]] in the near future, and, considering her master is also someone with just as absurd of a background, talents, skills, and fate, she might probably also have a shot at gaining the position that has been maintenance by a single entity for thest six thousand years¡­ ]] His words were serious. He had spoken them with even more seriousness so they seemed even more important than the others could possibly haveprehended. However, they had yet to hear the real concerning thing. [[ The world of Everlight ins is directly connected to all the nes of existence where any energy beasts reside. The Queen has absolute authority over all the beasts under her and though she is quite a nice person from what I remember from ourst kis- meeting, she was adamant on only passing her position to the actually qualified being. She would go to great lengths to find that certain perfect being for that important position and, her sessors, the crowded hairs who know the system that is in ce which not even the queen could go against, were adamant on doing whatever they could to eliminate thepletion, increase their own potential, and indirectly take out any the threats they came across. That was how they did it¡­ that was what they knew they could not do anything with their Celes. ]] And, to eliminate the one whom they couldn''t do much against in a more proper way, only a few actions like bing stronger, having more influence than them to hold on to their freedoms, and things that involved natural superiority would be more important to have than any other thing. Celes herself did not know about this all but even if she did not want to, things will get attracted towards her¡­ as well as her master. It was something that would certainly happen one day, and, if he wanted to avoid a disadvantageous situation at that time, he had no choice but to face the things that would appear before them with his own body¡­ Chapter 627 A Mishap… ? [OP: ] "So¡­ you mean there will be a time when I will have to protect Celes with my life from creatures that are as strong as the divine beasts?" [[ I am saying some of them are divine beasts themselves. The Queen exists above all the creatures that aren''t liberated from the chains of restrictions. ]] "Hmmm¡­" Eon thought about Ray''s words deeply for a moment, looked at his Celes, and then, shook his head with a smile on his face. "Well, when I epted her as mypanion, I epted everything that was and will be of her. I knew she was more special than the other beats but now that I know she is far more special than I had known, I am even more determined to protect her with whatever I have and all that I will have going forward." He caressed her tiny heart with his finger with a warm smile and Celes could feel the determination that he had right now so she also waved her wings excitedly. [[ Don''t worry master~. I will make sure all those bad people who want to bully us will pay the price to even think of such a bad thing~! ]] She was cheerful even after knowing so many new things about her and her kind and her powers that she must have never known about¡­ not that all theseplicated things mattered much to this aloof butterfly, but as Ray said, there was a constant threat to their life from beings of beyond this world, beings that would be as strong as the gods that the people worshiped. Or, perhaps even stronger than them. Both of them knew they weren''t even nearly close to that level yet. They could, even with all their current strength, only go against a creature of (Purple) rank. There was no way they could even defeat a prominent offensive power origin creature who knew how to use their skills as well as Celes did. They were stronger than they were some years ago however they were still nowhere near even the level of some of their own family members. "Welp, we will deal with them when the timees." "Yes, I will help in any way I can as well master. Please use me however you see fit." "Aaaaaaa! You startled me, Moon!" "Ah, apologies young Lady Zoe. I did not mean to do that." Zoe was acting, she knew that very well. She had seen just how special of a being Zoe was in their yesterday''s outing so, she wasn''t surprised even after knowing she was joining about being surprised. If anything, she doubted Zoe had noticed her presence long before she had even crossed the set parameter of this whole establishment. And after her, her master Eon, Rein, and Sir Zhen noticed her unique stealth. "Did I miss something important?" She asked as she stopped before Eon and passed him a piece of paper which he burned with his magic after only taking a nce at it. "Not much. But it looks like you already know the gist of the things that we have talked about until now so, could you please get filled on the details from Grandpa Zhenter?" "Of course master. Oh, right. I must report something urgent to you." Their discussion had suddenlye to a haunt after her arrival and the look on her face when she said she had something urgent that she must report to him as soon as possible was a serious one that Ca, Alf, and Chry weren''t much familiar with. "Hmmm? Yes, Miss Moon?" "I noticed signs of a pink entangle in the ce I was investigating the thing. I think-" "We already know about her Miss Moon. She seems to haveid eggs in the far northeastern parts around some cliff. The headmaster knows about that as well now and he asked us to keep it a secret until he evaluates the the creatures and the things around it. Keep it a secret everyone. There''s a very special creature currently residing on this ind''s outskirts-" "And we are going to have it~!" "Perhaps. We do not know yet." "Yessss~! Let''s keep it a secret everyone~!" "Yes, brother Lucifer." -Smack. "Since when has Lucifer be your brother little brother?" Alf slipped up for a moment there and addressed Eon the way he usually does. Thankfully though he called him Lucifer and not Axion or Eon. They could still make some excuse and put things straight. Quin still didn''t know about their identities as Eon and Rein and they wanted to keep it that way so they had asked these three to be extra careful when she was around but Alf slipped up this time, and earned a smack from his big sister. "W-well! Lucifer is older than me and he helped me a while back a few times I think we are close enough for me to address him as ''brother''. Do you mind me calling you brother, Lucifer?" There was sweat covering his forehead. He was good when it came to hiding things and especially better when it came to keeping secrets but perhaps it was because of the natural sitting arrangement that they had right now, or perhaps it was because of his meeting with Princess Bell a while ago but he made a mistake this time, and even though his attempt to make things right was sincere, a mistake was a mistake. "Yes, I do mind you calling me brother, master Alfred. A brother is much more to me than just someone more than a close friend. A brother¡­ is a more serious title than you make it out to be even though you are from a prominent aristocratic family, master Alfred Theophelious Hazel Bell. You should be careful when calling someone ''brother''. We might be as close as being real brothers but still, I still do not deserve to be called your brother. Not after we have only known each other for a week. Neither do I deserve it, nor could I stand being called brother by someone who makes such mistakes. I believe you understand, right? I polonaise but, the burden of being called brother is something I am not ready for yet. Perhaps in the future if fate allows it, but, not now. Not like this." His words were harsh, even Ca thought they were too harsh for something as small as this. "A-aren''t you being too harsh? He didn''t do anything that serious to deserve that kind of serious response, Lucifer." Even Quin herself thought this was a little too much. She felt it was weird that Alf was calling him brother out of nowhere but, to think he would critique someone just because they called them brother¡­ she was seeing Lucy in a new light in this moment. She never knew he could be as serious as this. Even Med was shocked when she heard Alfred call someone other than Eon ''brother''. She had yet to officially meet Axion, the master of countless inventions and businesses, the genius who was well known through thend for all the revolutionary things he had done in thest few years and he was notorious for the stunt he had pulled a while back at hising of age ceremony. Both Reinelle Atraxia and he were still the talk of the town and aside from their families, no one knew where they had gone. And, in time like this, Alf was calling a normal¡­ an abnormal person that he had only known for a short while ''brother''. It was suspicious to her, but, the kind of criticism she had heard from this person she had known for the past few days was a first even for her. She didn''t know he could be serious about something like this and she had never seen that kind of seriousness in those blue eyes of his. He really meant it when he said he was bothered by someone, even his own close friend, calling him brother. It was her first time seeing someone react like this to such a trivial thing. She couldn''t believe it for a moment, but, when she looked at Alf''s heavy expression, she knew he also knew just how serious this was for Lucifer. "Don''t worry about this time. I understand it was a slip of the tongue. However, please be careful next time." His eyes were sharp. He was serious. Alf had seen this side of him countless times when they were training so Alf, Ca, and Chry were familiar with this serious side of him. He was ruthless when it came to things that mattered this much to not just him and people around him, but to all of them equally. He had spent a month being this serious and shouting at them when he was teaching them the true telekinesis magic. Ca had the most difficulty since she was doing it with Aura but, she managed to pass through that hellish training. Chry had seen this serious side of him the most when he trained him personally. He had heard the most curses from Eon as well so he knew just how serious he could be when he needed to be. And, the situation right now demanded his seriousness. The people around them were trustworthy but, he wasn''t Eon but Lucifer on this ind. The two of them had promised him they would keep the secret and that''s why he asked them not to take the oaths. They had to do it without the help;p of those things and they were doing pretty well until now, but, he made a mistake for the first time. So, he deserved his harsh words which were the greatest forms of punishment to Alf. "It was a mistake, however, I still think of you as someone closer to a brother than a friend. I will keep this time in mind and wish to see the day I can call you ''brother''." Alf knew his mistake, and he epted it. But, he really had no regrets. Even though he was in disguise, he was still his big brother. And that fact would not change. [[ Alright alright everyone! Let''s end this useless thing already! Let''s move on to the next topic at hand! ]] Rayray attracted everyone''s attention when Alf was smiling at Eon and Lucifer was looking at his friend with a helpless expression. The two of them were vice captains so they had a great responsibility on their shoulders. And¡­ They are going to have fun going at each other without the restriction of their yet-unformed brotherhood. "Alright, everyone. What is the next topic again? Things about my darling or something or things about you Rayray?" [[ No. now that you all know about Celes, let us talk about Lucifer, her master. ]] "Alright~." The discussion would continue like this under the serene moonlight gracing them from the ss window before them. Thankfully though¡­ the discussion wouldn''tst as long as we all think. Chapter 628 A New Morning, A New Start ? [OP: ] -Chirp~! Chiiiirpy-chirp~! The sound of morning and songs of birds greeted them alongside the first rays of sun that fell on their eyes from the window on the left¡­ "Hmmmmm¡­ Uhhhhaaaaa~." Waiting up in the same manner that he had been from the past few days, he opened his eyes with a yawn and stretched out his hands a little before pulling them back inside the nckets. "Uhhhhhoooouhuhu! Winteres early on this sky ind, hun? It had almost slipped my mind." The window on the right was open and a chilly wind had blower the moment he took out his hands. He knew the atmosphere around the ind was going to change drasticalling in the uing weeks now. "Well¡­" However, he liked winter. He loved it actually. It was seeing snow, not that there will be snow on this ind since it exists in a unique atmospheric zone however, they will get a few days of winter break so when they go back home, they will be able to enjoy the pretty snow once again, even though it will be painful and will remind him of herst moments. -Oooooooong! -Cluck. He used telikanisis to close the window and turned on the temperature regtion feature of this room to bring the room to its usual normal temperature. But, he stayed inside the nket for now, and, looked at the beauty sleeping beside him with a loving gaze. ''Funny dummy girl¡­'' There was a smile on his face as he closely observed the witch whose face was bathed in the first rays of the morning, and looked so freaking attractive that he wanted to just¡­ have it all for himself for the rest of his life and more. ''Hehehe, silly little duckling.'' She said she wouldn''t let him sleep the whole night but, after they came back home after that long chat of theirs, she was so tired that just after a few hours of fun, she fell asleep herself without him reminding her she was tired and out of energy. ''Hehe.'' Thanks to that, he was thankfully able to have a good enough rest and now, on this new fresh morning, he was feeling rejuvenated. "I know you are smiling." "Of course, you know. But, keep pretending you are asleep. Let me look at a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that nature coincidentally created for me." "That''s cringe you know?" "Do you think it''s cringe?" "I think it''s cute." "Then keep sleeping.'' He moved his right hand through the nket and brought it out to move the store of hair covering her eye, however, his hand stopped on her face as he continued looking at her with a warm smile. "Good morning." And then, when he could not take it anymore, he just gave her the first good morning kiss on her forehead in a careful manner and continued looking at her like he had been. "Let us tell the sun to go back to its humble abode so that the moon and stars could dominate the skies once again. Let us tell them we have found the miracles. Let us bribe them, and ask for a few more moments all for ourselves." After hearing that¡­ she couldn''t take it anymore and opened her eyes, looked at her lovingly smiling fianc¨¦, and broke out into a sunny smile. "Lucifer, Lucifer. Oh my damn dumb bastard. You know? I asked the sun for a few moments. You know? I also looked up and asked the nightly celestial bodies to turn back time. You know? I even bribed them and told them about the lost treasures of the heavens. However, my fool. Theyughed at me and told me there was no such thing as a celestial treasure. How foolish must they be, don''t you think so as well darling? How foolish must they be, to not even recogasnize the brightest star that I have stolen from them. How foolish must they be¡­ to willingly decline what could never be theirs now anyway." She smiled at him, warmly. And ced her hand on his face as well with a warm look, some greed, and some love visible in her pretty eyes that reflected the sun''s warmth. "Haaaa¡­ yes, good morning to you too." She leaned in for their first kiss of this morning, however, before their lips touched¡­ "You know, thatst line didn''t go well with the whole thing." "Shut up, damn bastard." Her first angry look of the day, however, there was a happy smile on her face as she pressed her lips against his, and kept them like that for a moment. "Hmmm¡­ ha. Alright then, weaky. Weaky. Let''s start the morning with a good breakfast for the long, difficult day ahead of us. Things will start today so, we have to have enough strength, right? What do you want for breakfast?" "You." "¡­?" He was about to get up, however, she grabbed him, rolled on top of him, again, and, looked down at him. "Three minutes, please?" "No, hell, it''s early morning-" ''I will take that as yes." And then¡­ they kissed. (Exactly three minutester.) "Alright, that wasn''t enough. Let''s do three more-" "No." Ruffled hair and a broken button, of her shirt now his¡­ somehow she managed to break her own button. Their face was covered in red lip marks, he had no idea why she was even wearing that lipstick this early in the morning when she hated to even wear the basic markup at usual times. A bloody nose¡­ no, well, that was his mistake. He tried holding her face but his hand slipped and he ended up punching himself, a rare asion actually. Andstly a hungry fianc¨¦e on top of him. She had no strength left after thest night so even right now, even though she wanted to do more, her body was not in the best condition yet. She needed food, not his saliva¡­ actually, it could work as well-, no. Nutrition was important. "Ok, get down." He picked her up with his magic and put her down on the bed and, covered her with nket once again. "What do you wanna-" "Hump! You get down as well then! Stay here for a minute!" She pulled him down with her magic as well and covered him with the nket the same way he did, what more, she got closer to him, and put her hand around him. "How dare you." "What did I do?" "How dare you pick me up? Am I some kind of character card that you can just pull out?" "Hmmm¡­ do you want a character card of your own?" "You are changing the topic and agreeing to my insult at the same time¡­ one hell of clever bastard, aren''t you?" "Welp, I got caught red-handed. Time to make a run for it~." "Oh no mister. You ain''t going nowhere." He was going to make a run for it now that there was a chance however, she grabbed him¡­ no, she did something much more brutal to him. "Aghhhhh! No, you dumb girl! How many times do I have to tell you to not do that? It hurts!" It was one of the most painful things for those with male genitalia. Yes, it was what most of us could think it was. "Hehe. Would you feel pain if I touch it directly, or, perhaps¡­ lick-" "Alright, enough horny for the morning. What do you wanna eat?" He was red with embarrassment now. Actually, he wasn''t embarrassed. He was thinking of what she said with his super vivid imagination and, it made him blush. He knew how that sensation felt from his previous experiences, however, with her¡­ and her soft tongue¡­ It was better to stop here or else there would be a little problem. A pretty big oneparatively, but, we aren''t doing that at the moment. "Oy, wait." He was just about to get up, however, she spoke up again, and, even though he didn''t want to, he looked back at her with that still red face. "You look cute when you blush. So cute that-" "What is it, Uriel?" He knew her too well to know the exact next few paragraphs she would be saying from that point on, for most parts, at least. He wasn''t expecting what she said next. "Where''s your right hand, mister?" He looked beside him, and, saw that his hand was in a ce that it shouldn''t be. However, he hadn''t even noticed it was there until now. "Hmmm¡­" Well, he didn''t actually mind it being there though. "Hmmmm¡­" "O-oy! What the hell you doin?!" "Checking." "Checking what?! A-ah~." "Checking why this innocent hand of mine was on the best b-" "Fuck off you bastard!" -Dhum! He was too free now, not that she minded, she loved it, however, he started doing it suddenly, so she was streaked and pushed him down the bed. He fell, with half of the nket still wrapped around his legs. Thankfully though, he wasn''t hurt. He came out of the nket, tidied up his clothes, and looked at her with another loving smile. "So? What do you wanna eat?" "Haaa¡­" She wanted to yell at him, however, that smile of his, that damn smile¡­ she couldn''t argue against that one. "The usual." So, she also smiled at him, and covered herself with the entire nket. "Prinoca pancakes, the sandwisches and coffee?" "Nope. The other usual." "Stake with berries and the special fruit sd?" "Nah, my Friday evening usual." "Special fried rice, eggs, chicken, and stew it is then. By the way though, it''s Tuesday morning." "Just go, dude." She covered herself with the nketpletely and after giving her a helpless smile and shaking his head at her, he walked towards the kite hen after doing some light stretching. "A good morning it is." It was a pretty good morning to start the day with a good breakfast. It was going to be a long day and a very important one for all of the students and the houses so, they were excited for the house meetings that would individually happen after the end of today''s sses. "You want coffee or juice right now? I will need a few minutes to prepare everything." "Gimme a cup of hot chocte then." "Coming right up~." Today''s going to be fun. Chapter 629 Starting the council meetings Chapter 629 Starting the council meetings [Rein''s POV: ] "Yessss~! That was the best breakfast I have ever had~!" "You say that every day. Haha. It would make every chef feel happy. I''m d I''m the one that receives all that precious praise alone." "Hehehe~. There are few people in this world who could make as amazing dishes as you do darling~. You''re the best~." "Don''t praise me so much this early in the morning dear. Go get a warm bath. I will prepare your clothes." He liked it when I praised him but not when it got too much. He says the world might start ending him and send some misfortune their way so, we have this little thing where we prise each other just enough to not incur the envy of the world and nature. But praises were one thing, the flirting was an entirely different matter altogether. "Hehe, hey, Lucifer. Wannae to take a warm bath with me? We can do a little something-something, you know?" I stood right before him with a smirk-covered face, however, instead of getting aroused, this bastard of mine sighed instead. "I already took a bath when you were ying with Clover earlier, dear Uriel. Bathing too much would be -" "Alright, fine. Don''t bathe with me. But, you at least wannae with me and watch me wash myself-" "Nope. Go get freshen up. We have to leave for school." "Fuck school¡­e, a little peeking, ok? Who knows, I might slip and fall down in the bathroom. You will have toe help me then anyway, right?" I smiled at him warmly the same way I expressed my stubbornness so, he knew he had no choice but toe in with me, and at the very least, watch me so that I don''t slip and fall and hurt myself. "Ok¡­ you are being too needy nowadays, miss." "You will get used to this by the time I''m your wife." He was too easy sometimes. Following my little stubborn requests and doing the stuff that he avoided on usual days. ''Hehe, anyway, a little timeskip~. Let us do the little bad things~.'' * "You are a bad person, you know?" "Of course, I''m a bad person~. Not as bad as you thought. You are better than me!" "Haaaa¡­ what am I gonna do with you?" "Marry me? Oh, wait. That''s inevitable. Hmmm. How about you pat my head and call me by my real name once? There''s no one here, right? You can do that much." "No dear. The walls have their own ears and the winds carry words faster than a storm blooms in the middle of an ocean." "Please, please~. Pleaseeeee~?" [[ "No, Rein. Please, no." ]] "Ohhhhh! Thanks, thanks~! That felt so gooooooood~ you know? Sooooooo gooooooood-, oh. Help me with this please." "Ah, yes." I was wearing this pretty shirt today that he made for me a while back but, it had a little chain on the back like the dresses usually do. It was a unique design, so I asked him for a little hand in this. "You could have done it yourself though." "And miss the chance of you doing it for me? Nah. Never." The bath was done, and I was done with my clothes as well, so, now, it was time to annoy my bastard. "Alright then. Go do some chores. It will take me a while to clean my weapons-" "Ah, no. We aren''t doing that nonsense today. You have annoyed me enough with that thing with the soap and bubbles. I''m not taking the sword cleanup torture today." He grabbed my hand, used his shadow dive skill, and moved us to the stairs of this floor. "For heaven''s sake Lucifer. We are more than ten floors high up. And I think I forgot something-" "Nope, you did not. Just think of this as morning exercise and let''s go." Did he want to torture me this early in the morning? Was he really developing some sadistic tendencies like Mom Nol? Would I also have to go through all those devices? "Whatever trash you are thinking about dear, forget it. I''m getting chills even without knowing what you are actually thinking." He could sense what kind of things I''m thinking, which is a bother sometimes, but, it''s cute in a way, so, well, that is that. "I''m not thinking anything weird. Hump! Let''s go do this exercise!" "Or else you could use your skill and teleport us directly to somewhere near the academy gates, dummy." "Hump! No, we will walk there today!" There was still more than an hour left for the homeroom ss. Why were even going there so early?! "Alright. As you wish." "Bastard! At least try to pursue me! Tsk!" "Why would I try and talk you out of something as healthy as walking to school in the fresh early morning? The sun''s bright, the birds are chirping, and the ind must be waking up by this point, why would you not want us to enjoy this beautiful weather?" He was a bastard. Aplete bastard when it came to simple things like this. Walking to school in the early morning, not bathing together, not letting me clean up my weapons, doing simple things that were all annoying, he liked doing it all and dragging me into all those annoying things with him. "Haaaaa¡­" I didn''t like walking to the academy like this. There are a lot of bothering things when we walk there in the morning like people who are going to work, the people who are going home from a night''s long work, the shores that are opening up in the early and are arguing with their neighbors. There were also students who were walking there like us, and adventurers who were trying to get close to them. There are many shitty things going on alongside the beauty of this ce. People even forget to look at the dark things before them since the mystical Sky Ind is so full of pretty things. ''There are people who starve to death here as well, there is a dark side of this utopian paradise as well. Many people die in the outskirts at the hands of powerful creatures. Robbery, stealing, and betrayal are themon norm here. People kill each other, unthinkable shit happens in the urban area of this ind filled with nobles of various ces, mages who do unthinkable experiments out of their own greed, and bastards more evil, wicked, demonic than the demons of hell themselves.'' People neglect these things when ites to the ind of magic''s wealth. Even in the academy, only a handful of people actually care about the normal people struggling for their survival in this ce. ''Lizzy did a good job helping them over the weekend however, her approach was very wrong. Her life could have been threatened had Alf and others weren''t there. And, well, it was good Prince Alph was watching them from afar. He''s certainly putting in a good effort.'' Seeing her devastated was a sad thing though. Not getting familiar affected her more than any of us had thought. ''That kind of sadness and sorrow was beyond his expectations as well. He even suspects there was something wrong with the whole ''her being not able to summon anything'' scenario.'' Perhaps the demon king interfered somehow. Perhaps that''s why the headmaster looked in a bad state after her turn. ''Many things happened yesterday aside from the beast gatherings and the summonings. It was a good, pretty, and shitty day.'' We all visited herst night after our discussion was over but, Titania, Princess Luna, Princess Isabe, Neb, and even J were there already. They all coincidentally decided to check up on her and ended up filling her room, but, seeing us all made her happy. She seemed in a far better state than she was back then. "Uriel~! Lucifer~! Here!" Even as we reached the school gates and saw her walking with Quin and the others with a bright, transparent smile, we were relieved to have decided to drop by her dorm room. "Hey everyone~! How''s you all~? How''s this morning treating you all~?" I ran towards the girls while my darling went to the other side for a moment to talk with the student council president under a certain tree where he was ying with San-San. They two seemed to be talking about something fun. Cradle was present in this garden as well with Mirror. However, the two of them were having some lone time together and were napping under another tree so, no one even dared to approach these two. Those two were cute. "So, Uriel? Your house will be having a meeting as well?" "A silly question Liz. You know, I know, Quin doesn''t but she has Ca so she will be alright. Prince Eugene has strength Chry has the brains to utilise his strength in a proper way so they know it as well. Captain Alpha is, unquestionably the most on edge, Prince Alph is doing his usual plotting, that much I am certain of, and Titania, well, we don''t even have to mention, should be burning with passion by now. I wanna see her face, lol. When''s sheing?" All of us house captains knew just how important today''s meeting would be, and, since Darling is so chill and is freely chatting with the president, every single person on this campus who was knowledgeable about the House politics and the power struggle that was approaching, knew full well what stood as the greatest hurdle between us and the spot of the new top house of this year. ''The day right after the day of familiar summoning¡­ or, how the house captains refer to it as, the day of (Year schedule nning day). Today, the house captains gather everyone and tell them about their immediate goals and the things that they would be aiming for in the uing days. Mainly, things that grated us [House points] which would start from today.'' A point ranking table would open right after our homeroom today and all the houses would start from the baseline, zero. This will be a difficult day for all of us house captains. It should be at least. However, my bastard, the greatest threat to all of us, was smiling, chatting with the president, and ying with San-San like this whole thing meant nothing to him. He was a bastard to the core¡­ ''Bastard.'' So, well, time passed, the homeroom came and ended, and other sses passed with the same old, same old happening. We had lunch like we usually do, we all talked like we usually do, we all were normal until the moment we separated after sses with new serious expressions, ones that our house members were seeing for the first time, and, as each of us would start these meetings today, though we wouldn''t know the other topics that we needed to address today, one thing we all knew¡­ "Alright, everyone." ¡­if we wanted even a chance to have that top ce and be the next best house, then, there was one crucial thing we needed to do very thoroughly. "From this point on, [Wisdom Phoenix] will be our top priority target." Chapter 630 The one to look out for Chapter 630 The one to look out for [OP: ] It was the day after the familiar summoning event of the academy. The campus was bustling with students and their new familiars, their partners whom they would be spending the rest of their lives with. It was a lovely atmosphere all around them. Some students were already on close terms with their familiars, some were having difficulty properly understanding their partners so they weren''t fine, some were holding a dominating position in this rtionship while some were equals, friends, or like a family. Some were doing well, some were already on bad terms with each other. There were manly attributes to these rtionships and, it was just the start. They had juste together, there was a lot for them to learn about each other and how the other felt or liked being treated. The start is rough sometimes, however, their journeys will be a fun thing unique to only them. And, there were people in this ce to help them with their new partner''s needs, wants, and no-nos so they would be alright going forward. The campus was filled with mages and their partners, some knights, and other students who did not have a familiar, which was more than sixty percent of the students who attempted the summoning. However, statistically, there was a greater number of students who managed to summon the familiars than in the previous few hundred years. It was a very good number from the academy''s perspective. And, the credit for it all undoubtedly belonged to Eon and his contribution of the great high-quality ingredients. If not for him, perhaps this event would not have been as good as it was, the headmaster and a few others in the academy knew it very well. And for that, they were all grateful to him. Even though the boy was plotting something by doing so, they were happy to have received his help in this manner. However, well, that was the task and the event of yesterday. The day had passed and a new morning had greeted them already. The sses started as they usually do, though there was a change where instead of doing their usual study in the home room, they all talked about the newly bonded masters and their familiars and thoroughly examined, and analyzed them, helping them understand the other, and the ss ended with a little less than half of the students with new familiars being able to win a new understanding of their new partners. The students were all happy after the ss the homeroom teachers told them they would continue this certain activity for the following three days and also that they would show them their own familiars or partner beasts on thest days. The students were happy to have known this, there was a new excitement in the air, and the atmosphere of the academy was livelier than usual in the morning. Everyone was doing good, including the house captains and others in the house. They all were doing pretty great, totally unexpected of what some of the teachers had predicted it would be on such an important day. Even the normal house members were in the light and usual chills and there was no conflict or anything like that. It was as if no one knew anything about the meetings that were after their sses, however, that wasn''t true. They were all informed of the meeting in the early morning so it wasn''t certainly like they did not know about it. They all also knew about the house scoreboard and how some of the houses had already started gaining points somehow. They all knew about it and still, there was no different thing going on in the campus. The house captains, at least the group of Lucifer, Uriel, and their other friends that wasprised of more than half of the house captains and more also had their lunch together like they sully do. There was no change or problem. Some teachers found it strange. Very strange actually. However, some of the older teachers who had been in the academy for a few hundred years were all happy, overjoyed actually, to witness this form of control over their group after such a long time. Those who knew and had good senses all knew that it wasn''t like the students didn''t know or didn''t care. No, that was not the case. However, instead of that, the control the house captains of this time had on their house members, the level of authority they could have over thatrge of a group after just a week of the academy, was just like what it used to be in the old times. This had be an unfamiliar sight in the previous years, even during batches of the current president and vice president, the house captains were nothing like this, at least not all of them. Even the two of them were surprised to see how well they were managing their houses, and, as their presidents, they were proud to be the ones guiding this talented bunch of people. The house captains of all the houses, not some certain house but, every single house this time around had at least one person who knew how to handle the students, their subordinates, their assets, their chess pieces, or their weapons of the war that was on the horizon. Fascinated Mages had Lizzy who possessed the understanding of the human mind and this world better than Alf while Alf was there as a figure of authority, and, she knew very well how to make use of his standing in this society and the school. Chry and Eternal Tiger''s house captains were beasts with hidden ws. Beasts who were more than strong enough to hunt down prey far stronger than themselves however, they were both proficient enough to know how to gather a pack and hunt in a grouprge and strong enough that it would pose a threat to anyone eyeing it from anywhere. They were dangerous already but, the raw individual strength that the Eternal Tigers possessed was perhaps greater than any other house. Dark society had its ultimate sovereign power, Uriel. The strongest, smartest, and most capable one was already proving to be one of the best house captains this academy had ever seen. And, Neb followed her like a knight following their divine god, unconditionally, without showing any doubt about anything she decided. Fusion stardust of this time around was visibly an unfathomable force with a witch and a wizard as their vice captains and a fairy of high lineage as their captain. Just their natural influence was so dominating that there was no need to debate over their Human Resource handling. All three of them were from a royal family so, they knew better than most others how the humans could be controlled so thoroughly that there would not even be a question popping up about any move they were making, or any orders they were issuing. The true dragon had Alpha, a charismatic figure that the academy sees rarely every few centuries. Someone with so dominating raw charisma that, the others don''t even need a reason to follow him on their own. Aqua Mirror had the best young swordsman of their era as their vice-captain, and the girl that the entire school recognized as the ''thank you'' girl or ''the girl who summoned an egg''. The status quo was set there already because of Ca''s presence alone however, Quin''s abundant talents made the workings of the house far easier than it could have been with Ca doing everything on her own. Quin was a very reliable person, and amazing as well. Ca had learned that much over the course of this week. And, they had Araxie, a master when it came to being the ''brain'' of any kind of operation. So, the Aqua mirror of this time was also stronger than it had been in the previous years. Turtle defenders, well, from the outside perspective, this house was the weakest one of all eight houses this time around. However, all the other house captains knew better than any other student just how dangerous this house was for them. They had Prince Alpheus as their captain, the ''human'' with the pinnacle skill of wisdom, the one who arguably possessed one of the strongest defensive abilities. He knew how to use the weakest pieces he had to do as best as someone possibly could. He had hidden cards of a certain pink-haired boy and a certain possessed one that could see into the future. He knew the resources that were at his disposal, and, he would make sure to use them as best he could so that he himself never had to step in and reveal what he possessed himself. He had a bodyguard with him, his vice-captain who, well, wasn''t much special, but, he was a ''specialist'' so, there was no way Alph was going to miss this special opportunity. And, well,stly, there was Wisdom pheonix, thest standing house of the academy, a house that had been in thest ce for more than a thousand years now. "Alright." It was thest standing house, which had beenst even after having some of the world''s smartest people as its captains over the centuries. Every new student in the academy and outsiders knows that ''Wisdom phoenix is cursed to stay as thest ce house.'' It was a strange phenomenon that had be like a (Minor truth) in this academy. However, the house captains of this batch unanimously agreed to a single proven fact. "The [Wisdom phoenix]. We have to watch out for every single person and the familiars belonging to that house." They knew Lucifer, the one who defeated Ca on their first day. The same person who had earned the most ss points in the past week. The one that almost all the academic professions favored for different reasons. The one who made potions better than the potions of the best prodigy of the era, the one who was smart enough to know nearly every singlenguage that existed on this campus, the one who was perhaps also the best cook on this ind. Not everyone knew him very well however, for the people close to him, which included captains of all the other houses, he was a person known so well that there was no way they would worry about anyone else before this bastard. "But, captain. Why do we have to watch out for Wisdom Phoenix?" Many of the house members asked this question to the captains even while knowing about all the great feats of the person known as Lucifer. They knew he was a threat and all but, what can a single person do? They were all ignorant so this question was valid from their point of view. However, there were three more things that the house captains told their house members unanimously during the house meeting. The first of which¡­ "Vice-captain Lucifer. He is the greatest threat individually. That much is undoubtedly true, however, his greatest power is not his individual skills and powers, but instead, his ability to ''see'', ''infer'', and ''nurture'' a being to the near top of what they could ever achieve." Alf, Chry, Rein, and Ca had been with him for many years now so they knew how he could turn a weak and into any who could hunt down an elephant. They were the best examples of his phenomenal nurturing ability. They could not have been what they currently were if it wasn''t for him. So, they knew he could also turn his entire house into an individual imprable fortress that would be much, much more difficult to breach. Prince Alpheus knew Lucifer was in fact Axion of Heliox so, he knew about this threat as well as these four. However, even though they had been together for only a week, they all had been with him. And, he had given them pointers that had helped them improve individually unlike anything in the past few years. They knew about his ability to read, analyze, and temper the current state of something. They had witnessed it themselves therefore, they knew it. So, that was the first point. The second¡­ "In every single field and game including ''Material resources'', we have already lost the battles. And, if we want a ying chance, then we will need to maintain an impably good rtionship with him." He was an ocean of resources. They all had seen him create dishes that were impossible to create without ingredients which were considered a global scarcity over the past week. They had known about his abundant money and ''unknown'' special identity. They knew just how resourceful of a person he was, so, there was an absolute need to maintain a good rtionship with him. Offending him would mean cutting off a precious source of rare resources that they might not be able to secure from anywhere else in this world. Alpha was an amazing detective to have out Lucifer''s resourcefulness, and, his house should thank him for it. The resources, that was the second point. And, the captains knew Lucifer was a good bastard who loved fairpetitions if he could have them. But, he wanted to be the one to win against all of them as well, so, depending on the situation, his ''goodness'' might note in handy someday. That''s why they also had to keep a lookout for other sources of necessary resources. And then, there was the third and most important thing every single person in every single house aside from Wisdom Phoenix had to keep in mind. "The greatest threat in the Widom pheonix is not the vice-captain Lucifer." They all were friends, or at least close enough to have shared many dialogues with each other in the past week. And, through these interactions, they knew one fact better than anything else. "The greatest threat to all of us, in any of thepetitions and games, to any house individually or as a whole¡­ the greatest threat is not vice-captain Lucifer or any other of their house member but, the house captain of the Wisdom phoenix, Lady Zoe." All the captains possessed a unique sixth sense, and, whenever they looked at this person, at Zoe, they all felt nothing. Like, absolutely nothing at all. Something they only felt from some of their teachers, the headmaster, and true authoritive figures of this world. She¡­ was strange. She was a lovelydy, a very good person, and one of the best people one could ever be friends with, however, she possessed secrets deeper than any other person in this ce. She was unique, so unique she was the most threatening person by default. Even Ca and Alf knew little about her, however, they knew she was, at any time of any day, a better master of their own fields. If she wanted, she could cast a (tier-9) spell just by her will alone. If she wanted, she could be a [Rank-6] swordsman within days. If she wanted, she could be anything she wanted. However, she had chosen to be a ''creator'' and, even just as a creator, she was a threat greater than even Lucifer. She loved her calm, happy, quiet lifestyle, she was happy just ying around and staying alongside her friends. Thepetitions, the race, all this war stuff was unrted to her. She loved her peace. And, it was better this way. She was out of thepetitions and, it was a blessing for them however, the day she decided to step into anything rted to this housepetition, it would be the day they all would lose the first ce. Lucifer knew this fact as well as all the other things that were addressed in the meetings today. However, what he wanted to address to his house member was very simple and very straightforward¡­ "Alright everyone~. Starting tomorrow, we will be starting our trainings~!" He believed in actions rather than borate speeches. His house was weak as is, so, he needed to bring it up to a usible level first, and, only after that¡­ would he start the one-sided domination. Chapter 631 Special training programs Chapter 631 Special training programs [Eon''s POV: ] "Ummm¡­ vice captain Lucifer, what do you mean by training? And what do you mean by ''our training''? How many people are going to ethics straining thing?" The one asking this silly question was none other than our Ball Marvin. He was doing pretty great now that he had a direction to develop towards and from his betterplexion, it was obvious he was doing pretty well as well. But, he was still the same innocent person that he used to be a week before when I first saw him. "Well, Ball, we all are going to train. And by ''we'' I naturally mean every single person present in this room. The things we would train in would vary, I have sent the training ns to everyone personally ording to the thorough evaluations and close observations I have made this past week. It''s one of the best training ns devised ording to one''s capabilities and potential. Following it or not isn''t in your hands, you will follow it, even if you do not want to. So, when we start-" "Vice-captain! I have a question!" Someone on the left side raised their hands and the others looked back at that person, not that they needed to, they already knew who this pretty voice belonged to without even looking. "Yes, Lady Mia?" "You said you made these ''training ns'' after your week''s observation and evaluations but, how were able to observe and evaluate the thousand-plus students here ande up with a perfect n in just a week''s time for all the individuals? Did you use some kind of existing categorization method to sort out students with different characteristics and criteria? How were the standards set in the first ce, and how can you say for sure these personal training schedules will help us in any way to begin with?" Her question was a genuine one. She just wanted to know how I came up with these things and why the method I used just to learn from it. She certainly questioned the credibility of the training method I had just sent them, but that was a genuine question. It wasn''t like she was scoffing at these things or cursing at me for saying that but, she just wanted me to prove how this method would be helpful to all of them and, well, the answer to her question was simple. "Lady Mia, all of these training ns are made for a certain individual for their personal needs and potentials. Every individual is a different person after all, we could not say one method that works for a single person could be used for another and even if we do, the results would vary greatly. As you might already know, I have a pretty good memory and also pretty good eyes so, the results are pretty much what was produced after all the processes required for the creation of a certain person''s careful evaluation. Well, to understand everything in a better way, why don''t you all open the file I sent a while ago? You will understand after you see the first few pages. Some data of my evaluations are recorded there so you will get a better understanding of it." Observing a few hundred or thousand people was no big deal since I had my third eye as well as Celes. I could practically look at the whole of the school and everything in it if I wanted to at once for a few hours. And, since I had my cursed memory already, there was no need to observe a target for too long to get good enough data to create the training schedules. Interpreting their status windows gave a pretty good idea about what kind of people they were, and their unique skills, and then the evaluations my eyes made about them told me a great lot about a normal target like these students. Then, with all the data I purchased about them, coupled with whatever data I could gather from the school logs and recordings that I had special ess to, it wasn''t too difficult to create the training schedules for these people. I practically knew all there was to know about them after doing this anyway so, even in some unforeseen circumstances, the need to make any changes to these programs arose, I could do it pretty easily. And I am here to look after them anyway, so they were in good hands. "Vice captain¡­ how did you¡­" Mia was surprised. The file that I had sent them contained some of their usual habits, data about their routines, and the things they could do wrong while doing the things that were shown in the small animated videos attached to all the detailed illustrations and photo models. It was a pretty well-created file, certainly took me many of my night hours to finish this. But, it was all done and open before them, so, the look of surprise, confusion, and bewilderment they all had after looking at these files was a sweet reward for me. [[ "Hehe, big brother, looks like you worked hard to make these things. Thank you from all the people in our house~." ]] [[ "Call me Lucifer, Zoe. And no need to thank me. It''s my job. I''m just doing what I have to." ]] [[ "Hehehe. Helping them grow isn''t your work but your noble approach to the simple problem at hand. We could all win even without everyone bing stronger together but, you want it to be that way. That''s why you''re practically helping all of them." ]] [[ "Well, what can we do Zoe? I''m quite a greedy person, you know? We have to think about the future when they all be in a position where we need them. The students of our house tend to get recruited into official positions, remember? They would willingly help us the day we need them without asking for anything in return since all that they would have will be thanks to these ''special'' training methods I''m giving them." ]] [[ "Hehehehe~. You are a bad person big brother~!" ]] [[ Yesssssss~! Master is a verrrrrrrrrry bad person! ]] A smile appeared on my face as I looked behind me at her sitting on her house captain''s throne with Celes and Rayray on herp. She looked happy even though I was doing something out of pure greed. She was enjoying all of this actually. She was happy andughing¡­ that was all I wanted. "Alright, everyone? Looks like everyone has seen the files. ording to what you saw just now, we will be proceeding with your training after school hours and, I want every single person here doing exactly what is given over there. Don''t worry if it''s written as being strength training for mages or magic theory training for the knights. It''s just written like that. When you start doing those things, you will see the results within the course of twenty-one days. I guarantee it myself. It''s not too difficult and shouldn''t take more than three hours every day anyway. And, if you are joining us, remember that you will all get snacks made by yours truly~!" They were all confused for a moment once again, but as soon as I said they would get things that I made myself, all their eyes lit up suddenly. The entire school, all the students, and most of the teachers as well, have already tasted the things I made during our cooking sses. And those who had not tasted the things themselves had most certainly at least heard about it. They all knew what it meant to be able to eat the things that I made personally. They knew it very well, so, the motivation that sparked in their eyes next was a given. "Hahaha. We will have fun, everyone. Remember what I said on the first day we all met? We will be the top house this year, and the next year, and the year after that. We are going to reach the top. And I want all of us to reach that summit together. Following those things might be difficult after one point for some people but, you will get to eat only after you have achieved the daily goal. So, for your growth, and, for the growth of the house; to contend against the other houses that have countless famous people among them, and to beat those who have relentlessly called Wisdom phoenix thest standing house, let us show them what these losers, foreverst standing houses, can do when they are together. Let us show them how a phoenix can rise from the ashes and still soar to the pinnacle of the skies." I wanted to win. I would have aimed for aplete victory for all the years regardless of what house I was in. The position in the house also didn''t matter but I knew I would be a captain or at least the vice captain. Being vice-captain was also actually the better option since the freedoms and rights I had were more than what Zoe had. I can do many things that she could not, and, this made things even more easier. ''Wisdom Phoenix was the lucky house that received the privilege of bing the top house of this year. And, since had turned out like this anyway, it was better to just have theplete, one-sided victory and make things even easier for the future.'' What I wanted to achieve at the end of my academic years could only be achieved if my house took first ce in all thepetitions and had the highest score that meets the basic requirements for ''it''. The process wasplex, but not impossible¡­ ''It''s all for you, little one.'' I am greedy. But my greed purely belonged to the ultimate purpose of my presence in this academy. "Let us win, everyone." Chapter 632 About alchemy competition Chapter 632 About alchemypetition [Eon''s POV: ] Everyone was feeling a weird mix of emotions since thest house winning first ce in not onepetition but all three years was a big thing all in itself from their perspective. My words certainly sparked a light in their hearts but there were still few people who did not have that much confidence in themselves to ept everything that I said. ''It wasn''t even like they did not believe in the potential of the house of me, but, they just weren''t sure about this whole thing individually since the public opinions have conditioned their mindset over the years.'' Our house was bad-mouthed on a very, veryrge scale for realistically no reason. It wasn''t like we were some trash or defective pieces that were thrown into some certain trash bean. This very house used to dominate the entirety of the ind back in the day. Yes perhaps it was cursed, yes perhaps there were reasons that the house did not win all the years or there were some outer elements that hindered the group from getting that top spot, or helped the other groups get better scores so that they could one side this single house. There was certainly some power in y that wanted the Wisdom pheonix to never, even get even the secondst ce, that much was a fact that even the headmaster knew about, however, this power must be something that possessed a great power that even he, someone that could not stand anything hindering the academy, could take any kind of legal actions against. There was most certainly a reason for all of this but, all of it went to buy some milk. It did not matter to me what this power was or just why all of this had been happening over the hundreds or thousands of years. All that mattered to me was the first ces, and I would get them, they could do what they wanted ever they wanted. ''I will most certainly meet them, it''s certain. Perhaps somewhere around or after our midterms were over and the houses had gathered a substantial score to predict the year-end standings of the houses based on a good enough analysis.'' Perhaps it will be difficult and dangerous but, as the vice-captain of the house, it is my duty and a greedy desire to win in all thepetitions that we will participate in. And, this whole n of winning will start in three weeks. "Annual alchemypetition of Principality of Lakmer. We will get the top spot in thatpetition as the establishment of a winning streak that the academy must have never seen." Alchemy is a subject extensively studied in all parts of the world. And, by the world, I mean all thes and all the other realms that exist in this nature. Alchemy is the process of transformation, creation, orbination. An art that, technically, has existed since the beginning of existence when everything came into existence from something that existed even before the beginning. There are things about this unique process that are special from the usual chemistry we know about. Many more things are involved in the processes of the creation, transmutation, andbination of something than just some liquids and solid matter objects. Alchemy, properly all in itself, is a unique process that involves a wide range of processes, materials, rituals, luck, and, most important of them all, proficiency. "A saying by Richard Flemming, one of the greatest grandmasters of the field of alchemyes to mind when I think about alchemy as a whole which went something like this if I remember correctly: "The Genesis was the beginning of creation, the present is the transmutation of the true energy everything originates from, and, the uing future, my dearrades, will be thebination of all the efforts we put in today." He passed away two hundred and four years ago, however, if he had been present in this day and time, he would still have persisted with hisst work, the creation of the mystical Philosopher''s stone, something he was called crazy to even think of as reality back in his days. However, that person chased his dream of that mystical creation, and, in the process, created countless world-renowned items that the world knows him for. The world knows him as , the world knows him as , the world knows him as the , however, the world sometimes forgets to talk about some of his first and fundamental creations, the general creation method for (Advanced healing potion) that is present in today''s markets. He was much more than a crazy person, and, just like him, there will be people calling us crazy for something that might not sound more than a fantasy, however, Wisdom phoenix has been the dominator of rankings in ancient times, so, I don''t have a single reason to believe why we could not reach that position once again." The topic was diverted from the alchemypetition to this house motivation thing again, however, this was intentional, and aimed perfectly at the people that I wanted to take part in this alchemypetition. People that might soon be renowned throughout the world for their unique abilities. ''But, they all were the people with the most doubt in themselves, or some kind of external pressure, or some restrictions that they did not know how to deal with.'' They were needed to get this first ce since I would not be participating myself. And, without them, Mia will have a hell of a difficult time going against all the masters, grandmasters, or the national treasure rank personals in thatpetition. "I do not know how many of you have been to thispetition in the principality however, I and some of mypanions were therest year. It''s certainly not easy to win against people who have a life''s worth of experience even if we have the backing and full support of the academy so, I understand how unbelievable it might sound. However, the Principality is transparent and fair in its judgment. They do not judge just by the end results however, with all the fundamental properties of their work, their experience in the field, the methods, the performance, the eptance of the crowd that watches them, and also their true hearts when creating the alchemical products. I would have never even entertained the possibility of us winning had it been some simplepetition, however, thanks to the presence of one of the three judges of Meyat, the , Elder Theodore, the winner is the one that deserves it the most. Yes, the elder masters have been the winners most of the time, however, a twelve-year-old had also won thispetition once, a youngdy of this very academy in her second year, and, ording to the records, the youngest to ever win thepetition, was a six-year-old, who ''identally'' invented the cure for (Yellow cough) disease." Thispetition is a fun thing, I would have certainly attended it this year as well if I could, however, I had to attend it as not Lucifer but as Axion, since I got an invitation from Lord Jameous Openrian Lakmer, the current lord of that ce, and, Rein and I have decided to make our first official appearance in that ce as a couple. ''It''s a bit of a political move, the emperor knows about it as well, but, Mom and grandma reassured me making a connection with the principality would be far better than going to some other nation or the holy kingdom for the background political power I needed.'' It''s some personal stuff so we would use the holiday to finish up those side stuff and take a little break from the school. However, ultimately, I will not be with them, and, if I''m not with them, they at least had to be so prepared that they bring our first victory home. "It is a toughpetition, and, even after a week, I have only received twelve applications, three of which I will reject with my authority as the vice-captain." I looked over the crowd of the students present before me and my eyes met three certain shaking eyes at the right middle side of the room. "You three know it is not for you, the ones pushing you know it as well, and, I would have epted the applications even if they were out of the pure intention of observation, however, I don''t wish to waste time of you three talented ones with something like this. I know how much you love the (Wizard''s goal). I am amazed every time I see you three y as one. You will be our house''s center in the game, I announce that right now, so, stop wasting your talent and energy following some bunch of bullies who have been nice enough to treat you well in the past. Remember, circumstances change people. And so does the time." They were triplets, three brothers who were bing famous in the sports sections thanks to their amazing synergy and impable trust in one another. They were brothers, not from some great noble family but, also not from the lower ss. They were from a subordinate viscounty of a dukedom of a mid-size kingdom of the north. They were talented as well. However, the son of the duke, who was also coincidentally in the same house, as well as some of his friends did not leave these three alone. The three were stronger than them, they were talented enough that two of them were (tier-2) mages and one other was a [Rank-2] knight. They were famous thanks to their ystyle, and, there was absolutely no need for them to be in the alchemypetition. They should go y what they like instead. "Just try saying some curse words and punching the other party. This is the academy, they cannot do shit to you here anyway. And, if you are worried about your family, well, as my dear fianc¨¦e says, just beat them up enough that they know what would be of them if anything happens to their people. Try it, and make it so that I don''t have to bring this up ever again in a sitting like this. The meeting should be concluded at this point however, I would like Miss Mia, those who want to join the alchemypetition, and those who have already registered to discuss the details." This was a little distraction but, the three of them will take care of the things on their own end. And if they cannot, well, they were the keys to a few wins. I won''t just sit back and watch their performance fall from the point it used to be a day before. Chapter 633 The house score board Chapter 633 The house score board [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaaaa~. Today was exhausting." We had finished the tiring day individually and now that things were over, we were in the garden, chilling wit everyone for a bit before returning to our dorm rooms. "Do they give you that much of a hard time?" "Haaa¡­ don''t even ask. They are all useless. Talented, sure, but all of them are useless." We all were under our favorate tree in the garden, with Rein in myp, as usual, Zoe sitting in the front with all the other familiars, Quin was beside her with her egg as well, and, Ca was chatting with Beth. Alf was talking with Cory about something rted to the sports, Lizzy was reading about her own subjects, E was here, however, she was doing her evening prayers on the other side so no one was disturbing her. Titania was chatting with Princess Luna and Hide about their house stuff. I could see Prince udius sitting on a bench beside a fountain with his new partner, the purple cat, Lady Lavender. And, there were a few girls from his ss that were interested in approaching them, but, were too shy to do so. ''Thankfully though, we have already done our greting with the two of them.'' Captain Alpha was still searching for thepanion he had summoned, the smander like creature that had vanished from the ce when it had appeared here. Poor captain Alpha. He knew where this familiar was hiding but he was also pretending to not know, hoping at one point, the creature would juste out on his own. ''They were already a perfect match, they both knew that. So, it was better for them to stay together.'' However, the creature did not want it yet. He was adventurous and liked roaming and seeing new things. ''I have watched it all night and today as well with celes''s clones and, that little guy has already traveled thirty percent of this garden on his own.'' He''s quite amazing if I say so myself, but, he still tries to not get caught by captain Alpha. And, he''s a good person to y along with the childishness of a young creature¡­ Besides them, there were a few other people present here as well, however, I couldn''t see Prince Alpheus anywhere here. Perhaps he was still preparing for his sses and evaluating what they were going to do about the alchemypetition. ''He had the knowledge and brains however, he was still not very good when it came to the art of crafting something. He neither had the proficiency nor was he so lucky that he could make whatever his mind realized in one try.'' So, he needed someone that he could train as the representative of their house for the alchemypetition. ''His house has a few who could do pretty well in the field of alchemy, and especially good when ites to the process of transmutation through themon magic forms.'' He could produce some amazing results if he could manage to encode all of those techniques and knowledge into those people. And, right now, he must be looking for the best ways to approach this predicament at hand. ''Haaa¡­ everyone is practically working seriously now that the scoreboard is up.'' ============ True dragons: 109 Pt. Fascinated mages: 98 Pt. Fusion stardust: 89 Pt. Wisdom phoenix: 81 Pt. Dark society: 72 Pt. Aqua mirror: 69 Pt. Turtle defenders: 30 Pt. ============ Earning each one of these house points was a difficult task since they were given directly by either the sir Quesnel or the headmaster. The criteras to earn these points were different however, we don''t have to talk about thatplicated stuff. There were a lot of things going on in the garden now since many of the students have met their familiars, so, there were many creatures in the garden now. Much more than what it used to be. However, the atmosphere here was pretty good. Everyone wasughing band ying, some were doing somemon things like studying or eating food, some students couples were kissing under the trees, and, the golden sky of the academy''s evening was looking as pretty as it usually is. "Haaa. So darling, did you get the candidates for the alchemypetition?" She asked while looking up at the golden sky that was gradually turning dark and the starts that were appearing alongside the moon hanging in the sky. "A few. Thank goodness we have Lady Mia. If I manage to prepare some other onespatible with her talent, we might just be able to secure a win for this year''spetition." "¡­?" "O-oy! Did you just say win? Like a proper win-win?" Ca asked with a shocked expression that, well, looked funny for some reason. And Beth was trying to emirate her expression, so this whole thing looked even more funny. "Ptfff- oh, ahem. I mean yes. Yes we are going to aim for the victory. It''s not guaranteed but we have a shot if things go right." Ca and Alf both knew about our official visit to the Principality so they knew we would not be participating in thepetition itself so when I said we would be aiming for the win, they knew we would be doing it without me being there. My house members would be on their own. And, if we still managed to secure a win with the limited amount of people like that, then it wouldn''t be a surprise if we take on the top spot in the rankings from this point forward. So¡­ "Then I will have to propose a temporary alliance, how about it darling? Let''s win thepetition together." She smirked at me while stillying down however, the others present here who had heard her say that were stunned for a moment. Lizzy, Titania, her vice captains, Alf, Ca, and the others present here who had heard her clearly couldn''t help but stare at her nkly. Even Quin was speechless even though she knew little about thesepetitions stuff. She wasn''t going to participate in the alchemypetition either since her interest was in other fields but her house had some talented people who were very good at alchemy. Some of them were from the famous families of the alchemists and were considered the rivals of Lady Mia when it came to the best youngest alchemist. And, she knew her house members pretty well by now and still, she wasn''t sure they could aim for victory with their manpower. She was unsure while even with only one proper expert, I was iming we would get the victory in certain circumstances. It was fascinating, and that knowing me, the thought of coboration popping in other''s minds was something I had certainly expected. However, it was different for the others. ''The thought might have popped up in all of their minds at the same time but, Rein spoke up first, and that put them all off bnced.'' It was fun seeing their reactions though. Not that I had any thought of sharing a perfect victory with anyone else. Not this time. This one is a personal thing so I wanted to achieve it by myself. "Apologies darling. But as you already know, no coboration in the first major outsidepetition. It will reflect our abilities as the captains so, everyone, let''s do out best in training our house members as well as getting ready about it ourselves." The annual alchemypetition is the firstpetition that will happen outside the academy this time around so, just like every time, as the other captains knew, it would be apetition that will reflect the capabilities of the house captains and their abilities to manage their personal, to select talents and the ability to nurture them. Thepetition itself was one thing but, the house points we will get based on all our results in thepetition would be the first elerating factor in the house''s rankings on the score board. ''This will be important, she knew it as well, however, some others like Quinand Lizzy did not know about this fact, so, this silly question from her helped them in a way.'' And, ones like Titania did not know that we could do the coborations in certain circumstances so, this little question also gave her the idea of working together being possible. "Alright then, everyone? What are you all doing for dinner? We are having Quagmire style spaghetti and meatballs in the new shop Med bought. Does anyone wanna join-" "Me! I''ming!" "Yes! Me too!" "We areing as well! Where''s the shop! Tell us quick!!" "I have to quickly go and run an errand but tell me the location! I will be there in an hour!" "You''re not forgetting me everyone, right? I''m going as well~!" "Oy Lucifer! You should have told me sooner! Now I will have to tell the people back home we won''t be eating tonight! Ughhh!" They didn''t even let me finish the sentence, lol. They knew if I was inviting them, I would obviously be the one cooking. And they were in love with my cooking already, so they were all in even though we had to to the exact middle part of this ind where her shop was located. ''Med told us she would be opening a new shop on the ind yesterday, we discussed about the coboration in the morning, between the sses, and during the lunch and after I suggested an avable location I have had my eyes on for a while now, she informed her people and, that certain block and the small old shop now belonged to the three of uspletely.'' The discussion about the products and all was pending but, she was very positive about our rtionship about this thing. She was excited as well. So¡­ Aside from this school stuff, we were looking forward to this fun thing as well. Chapter 634 Spaghetti and meatballs Chapter 634 Spaghetti and meatballs [Rein''s POV: ] "Mmmmmm~! You have magic in your hand Lucifer." Ca eximed with a delighted expression while taking another bite from the finely cooked meatballs dipped in the bright red sauce that was prepared in a traditional way. "Nooo~. His cooking is sorcery itself! How can someone make something so delicious~!" Titania eximed while eating her own share of spaghetti¡­ oh, by the way, she was in her realized form, so she was as tall as most of us, and, she looked a lot more like Ca now that she was in that form. ''A cute little fairy when in her true form and when transformed, she bes a prettydy with an attractive body, long red hair, the usual clothes she wears most of the time, and her fairy wings vanished. She looks gorgeous~ in this form~!!!'' Hehe, I couldn''t help but keep ncing at her adorable look when she ate those long noodles and licked the sauce stuck on her face with her cute pink tongue. She''s nothing like she usually is in this form. Instead of being the rowdy, authoritative, fit-throwing little fairy, she bes an elegant, sexydy with a voluptuous allure to her appearance. ''This one''s a special form she only shows to us, and this was the third time she was doing it as well so not looking at her was even more difficult for me.'' Haaaa¡­ "Wow, oh lord oh lord! How can there be such vors present in something that is not made out of meat?! How amazing~!" Then there''s E, my dear vice-captain and the crazy religious girl who considered me a secret agent of her goddess while trying to hide that fact. She''s a unique one in our group actually since she does not eat meat. ''She as well as Chry''s house captain are ''vegetarians'' who only eat nt-based products and avoid meat of any kind.'' They are one strange kind actually. There aren''t that many vegetarians in this school so, they are some of the small poption who follow this unique tradition. ''Well, Eugene, I understand has an innate skill restriction so he cannot eat meat even if he wants to, but this dear E of mine, she follows this tradition due to the doctrine of her goddess.'' She is the most religious one among us, perhaps the most dedicated one to her religion and her goddess in this entire school. She''s a unique one, and, since this unique one of mine could not eat meat, just like every other time, Eon made a different vegetarian version of the same dish for her that she could eat without worrying about anything. And, she was swimming in the pool of joy that she felt after tasting this amazing st of vors, these species and the thickness of the sauce, the length, and wetness of these noodles¡­ she was enjoying this whole thing, of course, with a few of her own usual dishes she has every time she eats with us, but she was happy, and so were everyone else present in here. "Hahaha, we could have turned this ce into a unique food ce if we could, but I know even if we have the recipes of the same thing, only Lucifer could make them this delicious. This is unbelievably delicious. Just bravo~. Woo-hooooooo~!" Med had a delighted expression right now¡­ my little girl looked cute~ lol. ''It''s fascinating every time I see her like this, and then remember how she is during the work time. It''s like looking at twopletely different people.'' We were currently in the middle part of the ind, in her newly bought shop, a two-story old-looking building that used to be a clothing shop until this morning. However, she bought it at a higher price than the owner could have ever got for this shop and, since they hadn''t done any business for the past few years anyway, the owner happily smelled the shop with the hope of starting a new business in his hometown with his family. ''So, now this ce belongs to the three of us equally and, though the fact that we would be coborating was already decided, we still did not know what we would be selling in this ce just yet.'' As she said with that funny tone, Eon was the only one that could make these things taste the way they do and he would be in the school most of the time, or with me doing the important things so, we couldn''t run the shop ourselves. We have a location, and a good foundation, however, the ultimate goal of any business still remains the profit from whatever we are selling. And, this cute-looking girl has high expectations for our coboration so, she is expecting the profits to be especially amazing. ''She''s ready to invest all she has in this business however, what this business will actually be, was yet to be officially confirmed.'' "Can I have more?" "Of course Lizzy. Pass me your ce." We were on the second floor of this shop, sitting on therge dining table, eating together like one big family. I love this, damn! "Me too~. Gimme more as well baby~!" "Phuuuuuuu! That sounded so wrong!" Quin spits the water in her mouth right after I say that. And, no I didn''t say it in any weird tone, or else Med would have spitted her food as well or perhaps might have choked herself. "You are thinking some real weird stuff nowadays Quin. What''s up? Have you found your first crush or something~?" Teasing Med was fun and all but teasing Quin was a special experience altogether. She is very transparent most of the time so, even when someone is teasing her, seeing through her is a piece of cake for even someone as dense as Luna. ''Oh, right. Luna isn''t here yet. What kind of errand is she on for her to be sote.'' She said she would be here in half an hour but it''s been an hour already and there''s no sign of that girl. ''Eon even said he knows where she is and confirmed that she is doing something important right now so we started without her, but, I still don''t like this. Everyone should have been here¡­ except this guy. "Can I have some water?" "You can make your own with magic Captain Alpha. Why are you here again by the way?" "To eat some free food? Am I bothering you, Miss Uriel? I would go away if that is the case." "Ah no. It would be a different matter if you weren''t eating but now that you have already made yourself a guest, please feel free to have as much as you want. And if you have anything else you want to eat, please tell him about it as well. He might just have it prepared and ready already." "Ah, no no. Just this much is more than enough, Lady Uriel. I''m grateful you allowed me to be a part of this special gathering and eat this precious food. I''m forever grateful-" "Dude¡­ just drop the formality act. Do you see anyone here using honorifics? All of us here are friends and this is a private space for us. We are close enough to just y and have fun with each other after a long day like this and, we, at least I don''t want to be burdened by this formal tone of yours. We all know you want to get close to us and be friends. We know. So, just ask for it instead of doing these roundabout things and ying the ssic mind game of ''coincidences''. I have seen enough of that shit in my life and, I don''t expect the same from a fellow ssmate of mine. Just¡­ rx dude. Make an effort to get close to us openly. You were a student like us before you were a house captain, remember that. The conflict between all of us is inevitable but, we all want this conflict to be a healthy one wherepetition exists solely on its own. Independent from all the animosity shit. Come on. Try a little. Join our group lunches sometimes. Tell us about yourself. Let go of whatever burden you have from your special past and just be in the moment. Have fun, and be yourself." This wasn''t the first time he was joining us uninvited. Not that we didn''t like him being around but, it''s always awkward. And, he himself is the reason things get awkward every time, hump! ''He could juste and ask if he could join us normally. We would ept anyone who wants to join our group lunches anyway. This special dinner night was no different. Is there any need to y around and ''coincidentally'' find us eating here? I don''t think so since we know how he follows and tracks our movements covertly.'' He''s certainly good at it. Almost as good as those fictional characters who have mastered the art of bing one with their surroundings. He could fool most that were present on this ind however, Eon and I were specially trained by Grandpa Zhen in stealth and assassination techniques. There''s no way anyone below the ranks of a true origin master could fool us when it came to simple presence detection. ''Eon even has his Solnova Scan spell so, practically nothing is invisible to his eyes.'' I don''t want to tell him his attempt to follow us as a detective had all been for naught so, let''s end things there and let him eat the good meal. "Okay, everyone. Any idea what we should sell in this ce-" "Princess Luna is here. I will go get her." Med was just about to start the main topic we needed to discuss over this dinner but, just then, Eon said Luna had finally arrived and, left his seat to go down and fetch her. "Finally¡­ where was that girl anyway?" "No idea. I think Lucifer knew though. She had talked with him before we left the garden in the evening." "Yeah, I know that. But, what was this urgent errand of hers? I''m all curious now¡­ could it be a man? Her secret lover or something?" -Shiiiing! Shinnng-shiiiing! "Ahem. Apologies for my tardiness." Captain Alpha dropped his fork right when I said that¡­ hehe. Heheheh. ''Hehehehehe.'' "Hehehe. Captain Alpha. It''s alright. Here." I handed him a new fork and, since the seat beside him was empty anyway, I told him a little something to my darling through our personal link¡­ Chapter 635 What should we sell? Chapter 635 What should we sell? [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "But why do you want me to do that all of a sudden?" ]] [[ "Just do it lol. I have this feeling that these two will have something. He had a reaction when I said she might have been with some other man, and it was definitely subconscious so there''s definitely something in there. I don''t know about her since she always has this difficult-to-read expression but she is very blunt. And I love it about her." ]] [[ "Ughhhh¡­ Uriel. I know we are an engaged couple and all and also that you want more of our friends toe together if possible but this request is quite burdensome you know? She would definitely not like what we are doing if she finds out." ]] [[ "It''s if she finds out, right? Hehehe. Just do it darling~. Please, please, please~. Just pull the seat beside him for her and let her decide if she wants to sit with him or not. It would be up to her. There will be a ship if she doesn''t mind and tries to solve whatever problems they have between them over this good dinner and I have heard she loves spaghetti and meatballs since her mother used to make her some since she was young so, just do it~. Leave the rest to fate." ]] [[ "Uriel this is all on you alright? I''m not part of any of this." ]] [[ "Kehehehehehe. But you will exploit this rtionship if something does bloom, won''t you? You damn bastard~." ]] She was cussing at me in that cheerful voice again. She really is a strange one when ites to ships and stuff. ''But in the first ce, wasn''t there some kind of discord going on between Princess Luna and Captain Alpha? And now he''s attracted to her? Was she wrong with her judgment or something or am I looking at another one of Captain Alpha''s borate ns to achieve his goals.'' It was difficult to understand what was going on between these two but if there really was the possibility of some unique kind of rtionship between these two, then, I wouldn''t actually mind having these two be together. ''It would be a direct rtionship with one of the strongest powers of the north and a unique entity from some other world.'' Captain Alpha and Princess Luna¡­ well, the enemies-to-friends trope isn''t anything rare in this day and age so the possibility always exists out there. "It was a little difficult but we managed to secure the one exactly as per your descriptions and illustrations. I have checked it myself and it will be delivered to the location you gave us by morning." "I could not thank you enough Lady Luna. I was in desperate need of this material." "I have said it before but just Luna is fine-" "Not when doing business, miss. Business and personal affairs should always be separate as my mother has taught me." "Well, fine then. I will not ask you about why you would ever need something of such quantity and specific descriptions in such a short time however, we will forever be thankful for the things you have provided us. Father has personally told me to thank you and maintain a positive rtionship for any future business." "Of course. I wish for the same. Let this rtionship bloom like the plum blossoms of the spring." "Of course." I shook her hand right before stepping on the staircase and removing the silence spell I had put around us. And then, we climbed up, and the table with everyone looking at us came into the picture. "Oh~. Look who we finally have here~!" Uriel eximed with a joyous expression while holding her fork covered with spaghetti high. "Mannersdy. Manners." It was bad behavior but I know there was no way she would change doing these weird things while eating even if I yelled at her. I have given up by this point. So, I could only shake my head and sigh helplessly. "Excuse me, Luna." I pulled out the chair right next to Captain Alpha for her and though she gave him a ring, icy, annoyed look, she did not say anything and sat down¡­ which made my evil fianc¨¦e smirk with a pleased smile. ''Haaa¡­'' I needed a specific thing for my outskirt house, our future home, and the only ce I knew I could find something that specific was the northern end which fell under the kingdom of [Lutherop], thend where the renowned Sebastian family had ruled for centuries. I needed it urgently so I had askeddy Luna about it a few days ago and, no, Rein doesn''t know anything about this so she was inplete darkness. This will be a surprise for her so, it''s better if she doesn''t know. ''I traded quite a lot of resources with them in exchange for this specific thing but if it is as she has mentioned, then all those resources were well spent.'' And besides, there was this Cold War going on between Lutherop and three nearby territories so, coincidentally, they see me as some kind of savior now. Which is very good, I''m not gonna lie, it''s an unforeseen boon to me to have such a powerful family being indebted to me. "Should I serve you or will you be serving yourself as usual." "The usual." Luna was a person of few words in general however, it did not mean she couldn''t speak as well as any of us present here. She just didn''t like speaking unnecessarily, we all knew that fact by now. And, just as we were talking earlier, she is very much capable of speaking as normally as any of us. And she has this unique sweet voice that Uriel adores, so, hearing her a lot is always a fun thing in her eyes. "Here." I slid the pots with the food to her side and also the tes that already had her usual favorite dishes prepared. "Thank you." She didn''t seem to be bothered by Captain Alpha''s presence and he was fine as well. Though there was some kind of awkward silence between them that Uriel was finding funny, the two of them looked pretty well. ''Was it just a false call? Hmmm¡­ we will have to observe more.'' "Anyway, everyone. As I was saying, what should we sell in the shop? We have to decide it by the end of this dinner so that I can start preparation and we can do the grand opening by the next week or so-" "Woah woah woah. Next week? Won''t you need aplete renovation and stuff to finish setting up this shop if you are going to change it into a suitable one?" Captain Alpha asked a very¡­ simple question. A very simple one that anyone present here most certainly might have asked at one point in their lives, however, it was different for all of us since we knew what wealth could actually do for any of us. "Do you want some more sauce, Captain Alpha?" Everyone was looking at him with a surprised look, telling him something like ''You don''t know her, do you?'' Or ''poor captain Alpha. He must have had quite a difficult life'' or something along those lines. There was pity in their eyes and they were all, in unison, nodding with a bitter smile of realization that not everyone in this world is as privileged as them or as knowledgeable as them to understand the true power of wealth. "Hmmm¡­ y-yes please." He himself was surprised by how everyone was so casual about this whole one-week thing that he was feeling embarrassed for the first time since he had walked into this ce. Only now was this poor person realizing that we all knew what money and proper resources, which included connections and background, could make possible on this ''ind of magic''s Wealth''. One could practically change an entire district into something else if they owned it and wished for the changes. This was an ind of magic and wisdom, as well as wealth and diverse resources. Changing a small shop like this one into something we wanted? It was a day''s work, less if the personnel were good at their job. Med decided to open up the shop a weekter only because we would need that much time before the production of the items, the test trials, the surveys, and the promotional marketing. She was a professional who already had famous shops on this ind solely belonging to her. So, setting up a new one with the new budget allocated to her by her family was more of a thing of fun than anything else. "O¡­ k? Any suggestions?" Med looked at everyone present at the dining table, and since there were a good amount of people with diverse experiences of life and humans and society and cultures, she was expecting some good answers. However, what she got was aplete mess¡­ "Why not go with the artifacts? I have heard there are some new things that some of the creators on the ind want to sell so, getting them and mass-producing would be an easy task, right?" Of course not, Ca. Even with all of the resources and connections of our family, it took Mom and me more than a month just to mass-produce three of my inventions. There''s no way we could create enough within a week to fill up an entire two-story building. "How about magic items?" Nope, little Alf. The ind is already chock full of them. "Let''s sell artworks and antiques~. We can import things from the ground and target the nobles present on the ind~. It would be real profitable~." Well, darling, that''s a good idea but, the nobles only make up thirty percent of the ind''s total poption. Most of them are either adventurers, schrs, or mages of different affiliations. Or bureaucrats that have no interest in such things. So nope. That''s not gonna work here. "How about opening a magic perfume shop? You aren''t going to do anything like food or a bookstore so, might as well go with something that might be sold to anyone. Do you know about the special perfumes that could heal wounds and restore Mana? I don''t think they are much popr on this ind." The reason they aren''t popr here, Captain Alpha, is because of the strange nature of this ind''s winds. Those perfumes onlyst a few minutes here and be useless after a few hours if it''s even a little exposed so the people here mostly just avoid it. ''Haaaa¡­'' All of their suggestions were something Med must have scratched already so there was no good suggestion popping up, and, I wanted to save what was on my mind for thest part, so I was also waiting for something good¡­ which, unexpectedly, came from Titania. "How about selling mass-produced Mana clothes? Like, not the ones that are too expensive but, something that can actually be made in bulk¡­ not that I know if it is possible or not. But, this just popped into my mind when I saw everyone''s clothes here." And this, was our eureka moment. Chapter 636 Green-eyed Kalpic Apes Chapter 636 Green-eyed Kalpic Apes [Eon''s POV: ] "Wait¡­ but are mass-produced Mana clothes even possible? Like we need that certain person''s Mana to make the clothes react to that kind of change, no?" "Mass produced Mana clothing¡­" "The idea sounds nice Tia. But, I don''t know if it''s even possible to do so or not." "It''s possible." Everyone looked towards me as soon as I said that with a smile on my face. An excited one that only Uriel, Ca, Alf, and Chry were familiar with. "It is most certainly possible." These people were seeing this smile for perhaps the first time but, they will remember it after today. I knew that much. [[ Master is excited~! Hehehehe~! Something biiiiiiiiig is going to happen~! ]] Celes knew it as well, and, after seeing this smile, the way the look in their eyes changed was quite a fun sight to me. ''I was looking for a good enough idea to mix in my own and, this unexpectedly great one from Titania wasn''t something I was expecting. In fact, I had thought about what she had just said a while back, but, I never got the chance to actually go about it.'' But now that we have this chance¡­ ''White crack.'' -Oooooooooooong! I took out a certain rock from my storage space and the people here, aside from a few of them, were all able to recognize it clearly. "A Polyaesterin? How is this rted to the Mana clothing?" It was amon material that possessed many unique properties and was used in artifact creation in some of themercial fields however, there was one thing that the world did not know about yet about this certain material. "Watch this." I channeled some of my Aura and covered the rock in it. And, after that, with a little force, I shattered the rock in my hand and crushed it into a fine powder. The newly created power reacted to the Aura and, with precise control of my Mana, I molded the dust of the material into something like a string. "He has an unbelievable Aura control¡­" "It''s better than mine. I know that much. And one of the best I have ever seen." Captain Alpha and Ca were awestruck by the way I handled my Aura, a power that was destructive in nature and not something that one usually used for delicate works like thread creation. It was a usual sight to Uriel, and Ca as well but she is envious every time she sees me do something like this. ''She trains her Aura control day and night just to achieve this finesse even though I have told her multiple times the true nature of her Aura is based on wildness rather than this kind of delicate thing.'' But she just doesn''t listen to me¡­ proof that I was sessful in teaching her a few good things. "What the usual Mana clothing is made of is that person''s own Mana, or Aura like other energies in some cases. The workshops use Plokium, a certain mineral that could turn one''s energy into a physical thread format. However, there are many other natural materials that could produce a simr kind of conductivity when ites to Mana of any nature. I found out about this one day when I identally came across a (Green-eyed Kalpic Ape) doing something-" "Where the fuck did you see a creature like that?! Aren''t they almost gone extinct?!" Even before I could finish what I was saying, Captain Alpha eximed again and attracted everyone''s attention. They all did not know what creature I was talking about but this person knew this near extinct ape species. He really knew about a lot of things considering he wasn''t a native of this world. "It is confidential so I won''t say the exact location but just know that I saw it, there was a group of them in fact but this one certain ape was doing something very¡­ unique on its own. It was using Polyaesterin to break Mana rocks¡­ At first nce, I thought he was doing it to spark fire or something but that wasn''t the case. He was doing something else. Something unique. And I was fascinated by this wonder of nature so, I stayed there even though I knew being near a group of (Indigo) ranked creatures is no less than courting death myself. It looked fun and I was mesmerized so I stayed there, and, what I saw then surpassed me even more." Uriel knew full well I was talking about one of my experiences in the forbidden great forest so she knew even though thisical thing sounded no more than a fantasy, just like all the other strange things of that forest, this story was also very much a possible ount of my hellish days in that ce. "The creature was crashing one rock with the other, after which, he gathered the dust that was created at the end of his grinding, and, he mixed the dust in some kind of tree sap, spread it all over the ground over a sheet of leaves, and long after that, this mystical mixture he had spread all across the ce was turned into a silk-like, though translucent, material that was so strange and unique that¡­ Its appearance which seemed to be made of pure gold, heavy looking but, so light that it waved with the gentle winds of the surrounding, just settled down in my mind... It was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life." I paused for a moment and sighed weakly before looking back at them and continuing my little story. "Sometime after that incident, when I had the chance to recreate the happenings of that time, I tried doing the same things that the creature had done, however, I did not get the same results even after I tried mixing in all the tree saps that I was familiar with or could find in that same vicinity. However, I did not get the same results as that creature. I experimented and tried different things, and that was my first andst encounter with those creatures so, I also couldn''t find them even though I tried searching for them with different means. In the end, I asked myte teacher, the person who taught me most of what I know today, and, at that question¡­ sheughed with a smirk on her face, and told me how I was looking at the simple behavior of a beast with the logic and reasoning of a human. She advised me I just had to change my perspective and the answer would reveal itself¡­ so, I did just that, let go of all the logic and reasoning I had and continued experimenting with things that weren''t even remotely rted to each other like some animal trying to fulfill its pure curiosity with whatever is present before them. And at the end of my great endeavors, I found out a very fascinating fact." The dust in my hands that was turned into a thread, weaved itself together and became something resembling a small piece of cloth. It was a simple-looking brown fabric, however, when I took out a strange rock and a Mana crystal from my storage space and touched them to this cloth, it changed its color, texture, and, even the structure it was already weaved in. "The Polyaesterin has a high conductivity to Mana when turned into a fine powder and it reacts to a certain kind of energy frequency, as well as some foreign substances invisible to one''s eyes to create a stable fabric which could replicate the same effects as the Mana clothings¡­ holy Mother Nature¡­ that''s a revolutionary discovery Lucifer!" Med screamed and stood up while mming her hands on the table with her eyes wide open, and, though confused, everyone else was surprised as well. However, there was no need for them to be so surprised. "There''s a big catch here Med. So sit down and listen to me." The rock in my hand that was the main catalyst, wasn''t something that we could find just anywhere. "Procuring arge amount of Polyaesterin would be easy, I know, however, this catalysis is an alloy created with Alkalin crystals, Siiicon, and the radioactive substance Thoughtium. Turns out the Green-eyed Kalpic apes are creatures with the ability to produce, process, and manipte substances that are deadly to many other kinds. Stabilizing this metal is no simple task and turning it into an alloy that is safe to touch like this is no simple task as well. I was lucky I had my master back then and she was somehow able to find out the exact proportions of the materials required for the creation of this thing so, this is kind of a gift to me from her. Recreating this would not be as easy of a task as you think." I stored back the unique rock and continued looking at the others, at my friend Med, who suddenly had a heartbroken expression. She had just seen something that was practically revolutionary for this entire world however, now I was telling her it wasn''t possible to actually create this thing. She was now confused as to why I might have even told her about all this if there was no way to do it in the first ce. But, these worries were unnecessary as well. "I don''t mean creating something simr to Mana clothes would be impossible though." I never meant it in that way. Uriel knew if I was telling them something so borate, there would undoubtedly be some reason behind it. And, there was one this time as well. "What I showed you were the things I found out through my own curious experiments. What I concluded through that, and what I was ultimately able to produce with the results of these base experiments, is this." I took out a unique,rge, ck metallic box from my storage space next and since there was no space on the dining table anymore, I took out a table as well and put the box right behind where I was sitting. "You are the first people to see this invention after the person that owns it right now. Something that will most certainly change the way the world perceives many things in the future. I call it (GKA-Polymer synthesizer). And putting it in simple words, this Artifact of magic engineering is able to produce some natural polymers possessing different natures with the use of materials like Polyaesterin. Certainly something that is a state secret, however, also something that is approved by the three global councils and the headmaster so using it secretly won''t actually cause any great threat." It will bring world-changing changes when it is introduced to the world however, we were nning for that to happen only after two to three years. It was a new technology that would change many things that the world knew about and, this was one of the inventions I had created with my master, so it was obviously something very special to me. ''Very special...'' It will be helpful in many fields and, the textile industry would be one of them. Though, the possibility that it will rece the traditional artisans is there, we will have to make sure this technology is implemented properly so that we can avoid many negative things that had taken my previous world into a dark corner. ''We will do that much, but¡­ for now, what we need to do here is simple.'' I looked at everyone''s surpassed expressions that were full of questions and doubts, however, there weren''t many answers I had for their questions. They didn''t need to know all these things just yet. "Okay, so, Med. My n for the shop was something like this¡­" The primary means of production was introduced, and the silence had shrouded the dining room along with it. However, they were taking all this too seriously. There was nothing to worry about all of these little things~. Chapter 637 Training for competition Chapter 637 Training forpetition [Eon''a POV: ] Yesterday night, we discussed about what we would sell in our new shop in over the dinner and, after hearing everyopne''s suggestions, I showed them something that was not yet known to the public but was something that could be used by me and two other people who currently possessed the permissions to do so, namely, the headmaster and mom. It was one of my many patent items and some of the very special ones that possessed the power to revolutionise the entire wold and change many fields forever. Mass production of that artifact wasn''t possible yet however, even though it tackles a shit ton of resources just to create one of them, this special artifact was powerful and special enough to then massptroduce some very special polymers that were difficult to find in the nature or were entirely new to the fields they possessed the power to affect. ''They all were first very shocked when I showed them that artifact, and after I showed them how it actually worked and what amazing things it could do, they were shocked, surprised even, and Med was so surprised that after being stunned for an entire minute, she looked at us and started showrthing how i could possibility show them something so precious so casually.'' Rein was having fun seeing her agitated like that but, Med was serious back then. She requested me to just put it back after I was finished producing a few things with it. She was afraid something might happen if someone else got the wind of such an artifact''s existance. ''I told her it was fine since there were many defensive measures present around this entire store already but she was still anxious and could not fathom what was present before her. ''She was cute was she wass like that, all red and worried, hehe.'' Ca, Alf, Zoe, and Chry were famine after a moment. Even Quin had realized if I was saying it was fine then it was actually fine and there was no act6ual need too worry about something like this. The patents were in the ce fore the protection of the inventions that could affect the socity in some manner, not just anyone could use it even if they knew of its existance. In the first ce, just creating this one modal required resources that were worth hundreds of thousands of empire''s tinum coins, and even to perfectly create one piece, one would need information that way, currently only present in my mind, and on one physical copy that was being protected in the most secure ce of this ind, the ce that contained the physical data of all the revolutionary creations of this world, the [Grand Archives]. I had told them this artifact had already been patented so Med was only overreacting over nothing. She wasn''t thinking properly at that time, but, she thankfully calmed down soon and not long after she was back to normal, Captain Alpha asked me a question that must have popped into all of their minds for certain. ''They asked me who was the person that owned this inevention and why I even sold it for someone else where I could have gotten an insurmountable amount of money and fame from just a simple creation or use right.'' However, the reason the others did not ask the question was mostly because they believed in my inteligence by this point. And also my resourcefulness. They did not know my background or who I was or who I used to be or things like that but, they knew I possessed enough money to open up many shops like the one we were opening on this ind, as well as how I was smart enough to create something like that artifact. They did not know the past me, but they knew the me that I was after they met me, and for most of them, that much was more than enough. ''They knew if I said I had sold an invention like this, something that I created with my master that i mewnrtion many times so they know by now that I cherish her more than anything else in this world, then there was most certainly a certain reason to it. A reason so serious one that could be a threat to me and people around me.'' They understood it instinctively, that''s why not even Titania or Lizzy had asked me that question before him. And, after Med was back to normal. She shed some light on the matter and enlightened everyone by sharing her own understanding of the situation. ''She was a profession merchant, she knew the world and the markets and just how dangerous it could be just to survive in this field.'' She had seen her grandpa, mom''s one of closest associates, for as long as she could remember. She had known about him and his work, she had been with him, studied the skills and tactics from him, watched him from by his side, and, she had seen him do his work. She had seen how he was so¡­ loyal to mom. How strong his values and virtues were. How he could be the silver lion of glory when he needed to, and a loving, caring grandfather that cherished his family more than all the money that he possessed. She had also seen him work during the years mom was away, we were away, with all his passion and heart, mom had told me about this a while back. So, I knew Med knew about how even my mother, someone who possessed an unshakable ce in this world was thrown down her throne and had to hide away in a corner of the empire. ''She knew just how selfish this world was, so¡­ if someone of an unknown background was found to possess the ownership of something that we as revoludsionary as my (GKA-Polymer synthesiser), then there was no way I would be left in the kind of piece that I so dearly cherished.'' Not only my own life but the lives of all the people that were closer to me or knew the existance of this device, would be no less than hell. ''Their would be no piece, every day would be filled with anxiety and worries about the people that might being for us, and, the peace that we had at the moment, would just¡­ vanish.'' She knew just how diffult it was to have something that the others would even give their souls to possess. She knew about greed¡­ that''s why she knew how it was better for someone more appropriate, powerful, and actual authoritive person to possess something of that caliber. ''The others understood the reason I might have ''sold'' this invention for and, after telling them her opinion, which was as correct as it could ever be, she asked me if the one I sold this invention was a person that could be trusted, someone I believed was capable of handling something like that.'' And, as an answer to that simple question, I gave her a smile and told her the one that currently owned this invention was someone she looked up to¡­ There werent many people in this world she looked up to, however, if I was saying it was a person she admired then, there was nothing for her to worry about further. ''On a side note though, mom was her royal model. Someone she looked up to the most in this entire world, hehe.'' She listened to my idea afterwords, was surpassed how aside from a clothing store that would sell a unique kind of clothing that could change the appearance simr to the Mana clothings with the help of a special battery like crystal that we will separately, the shop we will open would also have two underground rooms for ''higher quality'' products that would only be sold to important people in exchange for something that was actually more important than the money that the people would spend upstairs. I suggested them how we would have the entire first floor dedicated to a essories and changing areas, how the settings on the ground floor would be, andstly how we would arrange the personal of this ce. ''She was surprised by my insight into this whole business thing. She wasn''t expecting this level of professionalism from me. It was fun looking her surprised looks and all but, well, business ran in my blood and soul. This much was just the basics.'' She loved my ideas, and, the others did as well. They were even looking forward to what kind of premium products we would sell in the undergoud levels. The night passed quickly over that chat and, after everyone had signed a total confidentiality Mana contract at Med''s insistence, we all left the ce, and returned to our dorms. Then the night passed, I got a little less sleep thanks to the Rein breaking my wrist during¡­ well, anyway, we got some sleep at least. And then morning came, where she broke her own wrist somehow. ''The morning today was another disaster. But thankfully, the sses went well. And tomorrow would be the day the teachers show us their own familiars so, everyone was excited.'' However though, sses had ended for today and we were doing our first ever group training. Others were having some difficulties, some were doing things recorded in the files that I gave them pretty well, some were cking off but I knew they will start soon after seeing me looking at them, and, though some were absent for this training, when i see them next, they will be in for a good long lecture. ''The others were good on their own so, I was free to train these fifteen people I had with me for the alchemypetition.'' Miss Mia was here, the ones I wanted to be with her thanks to their unique skills were here as well, thankfully, and, though unexpected, Ball was here as well. Not that he was needed, but, he was an oddball that I could pretty much use anywhere I wanted. ''He''s an universal experimental talent that can be used in many ways, however, i mostly wanted him to be the initiator of our house, and for that, he needed to have as much experience as he could of as many diverse fields as possible.'' He will bloom with his skill to ''absorbe''¡­ and it''s unique skill that could a lot of unique things like my Energy cirction or Anna''s Understanding, so, he was in. He wasn''t nowhere near ready yet but, I will make him useful. ''And to do that, these fifteen will have to go through my gooooood training~. Kehehehe, Hahahahahaha.'' Some of them were getting chills already by looking at my smiling face, but poor people didn''t know just how much more they were going to see in theseing three weeks. "Kehehe. So, shell we start?" Chapter 638 Process of the competition Chapter 638 Process of thepetition [Eon''s POV: ] The academy had dedicated ces, training grounds, practice areas, and even other special dedicated facilities for all the houses. One of these special facilities was an indoor joint training area where all of the house members could train or practice simultaneously. ''This ce is pretty amazing. It''s wonderful how those people had built these things thousands of years ago.'' A vast room with an open empty area, some equipment areas on the sides of the room, ces dedicated tobs of indoor fields like alchemy and creation, storage rooms with all the recourses one could require during their training, and even some othermon facilities found in the other parts of our house area. ''All of these house areas were situated in the inner part of the academy and ours is one of the eight present here.'' The inner part of the academy castle was divided into the ces with the house facilities, the ce we were in, the clubhouse areas for the different clubs existing in the academy, and the innermost part was dedicated to the sports activities, the academypetitions, and ces were some of the most important things took ce in this academy. ''The academy castle is a special structure so defining it by space and simple logical rules would be useless. But, putting it in simple terms, the academy castle is an awesome ce~.'' We were inside our house''smon training area, and everyone was following the things that were mentioned in the file I had given them, some of them were doing as they pleased and needed a piece of my heart, but overall, they were doing pretty well. And, considering how we are the only house doing a group activity like this, their anxiety and worries are valid. ''Social loafing and ignorance of the direct orders of the vice-captain was something I had already expected however, these results are better than I had expected.'' The students were doing good, Zoe was encouraging them with her sweet words of support while taking care of all the familiars of the house and training them separately. She was also helping out, so, things had be easier for me. "So¡­ vice captain Lucifer. What is the special training you mentioned yesterday? And, if we do the special training now, when will we be doing the regr one like everyone else? Or is it alright if we don''t do it-" "Oh no, no. The general training ispulsory. You will have to do it on your own after the special training until the end of thepetition. It is for your overall growth so we can''t have you avoid it, and I have faith you will not neglect the regr training just because you will be receiving special training for the alchemypetition. You will do it on your ownter, right? Dear friends?" I smiled at my dear house members and they, well¡­ ''Ball had asked that previous question because he was genuinely curious however, the others who were able to learn the answer to thismon question, were looking down with bitter smiles after looking at me ''warm'' smile. "Of course vice-captain. Don''t worry about it one bit~. Everyone here knows you are merciful and wouldn''t mind if we skip our training if there is a valid reason~." Lady Mia spoke for the others since she knew the regr training schedules were something that varied depending on the individual so, it might be difficult for them after they were done with their training for the alchemypetition. But she also did not give them any false hope. As she had said¡­ "Of course, if there is a ''valid'' reason, I will have no other choice but to ept the fact that it was inevitable. Not that my precious housemembers would ever feel the need to even try to deceive their vice president." Their training for the alchemypetition would start from the basics and with the short span of three weeks, I had to teach them how to use their special abilities in the way that would produce the best results. I knew it would be difficult, and when they looked at my warmer smile after I said that, the chills they got down their spines were also enough to tell them that it was difficult, but now there was no way they could back off from this whole situation. "Alright then, everyone~. What do you all know about the processes of the alchemypetition and how it progresses?" I asked them the question after tapping on therge table before them, which was already covered with many alchemical equipment, materials, and things that shouldn''t usually belong together with these things, like small caged creatures and bacterial and fungal spices. "Thepetition itself?" They all should have a little idea about thepetition since they applied to be a part of it; however, even though I had asked them the question, no one other than Lady Mia seemed to be up to the task of answering that simple question. "Yes. How does thepetition progress." The annual alchemypetition of the Principality was an important event and was famous all through the continent. Many nations have actively taken part in it and since it was a freeputation that anyone could join, its scale had been a great tform to showcase the abilities of all the participants. It was one of the most prominent events of the year to see and meet some of the most famous figures of this world, and, also to witness the new rising stars of the world of alchemy. East is considered apetitor of the West, and some famous alchemists made that tform a stage for their own internalpetition, old elders and masters of the various fields also visited the Principality to feel the new winds of the present times. ''It was a fun experience for them, and, the way it took proceeded from start to finish was also a fun thing to watch all in itself as well.'' All fifteen of us looked at Lady Mia with a curious look and, though a little burdened by my gaze, she cleared her throat and confidently spoke up. "The annual alchemypetition is a famous event that goes on for three days starting three days before the day of the full moon and ending on the evening of thest day. During these three days, apetition of six distinct phases takes ce, the first phase being the primary round where most of the people fail to identify and recreate the potion that was present by the lord of thend, or their closepanion which takes ce in the morning. In the evening, the main qualifiers take ce where the participants, whether it be individuals or the group that is participating, have to identify and analyze another batch of potions and write a detailed report of its use, the effects, and the method that was used to prepare it. On the second day of thepetition, the participants have to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating any of the alchemical products of their choice. And, whoever passes the two rounds on this day goes to the fifth round takes ce on the third day. This is the main stage where the most important part of thepetition happens and thest remaining alchemists are asked to create the best thing they are capable of making. For most of the years, this is considered the end of thepetition however, thepetition reallyes to a conclusion in the evening after a unique segment of thepetition where anyone from the audience or from the people who had not participated in thepetition or were disqualified midway, could present before the others their skills and abilities that they could not in a normalpetition format. They are not participating in thepetition so they would be rtively free to show off their skills, some impotent guests, masters, and grandmasters take up this special chance to showcase their skills, however, they are still considered part of this wholepetition. The winner of thepetition is chosen from all six of these stages that take ce. The judges present their own suggestions and the elder judge then deres the winner of thepetition, the ones on the second to ninth ce, and though rare, there are times when they choose a special candidate as the ''one above the winner'' of thatpetition. Though, that happens very rarely. Perhaps only once a decade or something." "Excellent exnation, Miss Mia." She exined the whole process as properly as it could ever be. She even included the lesser talked about fact that there could exist someone who was above the winner of thepetition as well. Someone who appeared like a (Midsummer rain) or aet that only appears every few years in the night sky. This was a pretty perfect exnation and thanks to it, all fifteen of them at least knew how the wholepetition would progress. "The first day, mainly the first-everpetition that happens to filter out those not professionally qualified to be there, is considered the most important one since you will not be participating as a group at that time. You will have to achieve a passing grade on your own in that phase and, only after that will the remaining of you will be able to join as a group afterward. It won''t be too difficult of a task to get past the first round, however, it will not be anything less than a proper exam of our academy. It will be difficult, so, to tackle that, we will have to make sure all of you pass the first round, and to do that, to increase your understanding of the potions and their creation materials, I have prepared a special gift for all of you~." I took out a unique-looking magic tome from my storage space and ced it on the table before them, and though the other''s did not have any great reaction to the thick attractive book, as soon as Miss Mia saw it a little closely, her eyes widened instantly¡­ "W-why do you have this thing?!" And she shouted, loudly, so loudly that she attracted the attention of over two hundred people in the vicinity around us. Chapter 639 Book of Alchemy Chapter 639 Book of Alchemy [Eon''s POV: ] She was shocked and the look in her eyes was quite a sight. Rein would have loved seeing this if she was here but just like how we were training, she was making her houseplete some certain assignments forcefully or they would be punished with the cleaning work of the entire house facility. Her image within her house was that of a ruthless leader who was stronger than all of them, and, at the same time, smart and more than enough qualified one to be right in any and all the things that she would do. She had defeated the house captain of the first-ranking house so, she was obviously someone they couldn''t possibly go up against. And, she had dominated the whole house area on the first day she had gathered every one of them, so, they all knew it was better to just do the impossible even at the cost of anything they possessed instead of going on her bad side. So, she was doing her work, doing what she can for at least the second ce among the other houses since I had imed I would try winning the whole damnpetition. She knew everyone did actually, that if one of the house teams did actually win thepetition this year, then there would be no need to even debate over that that house would instantly attain the current top spot in the house rankings. ''Stopping our momentum after that would be a task that even I want to know how they all tackle, but, I knew all of the house captains closely, and none of them were someone that would, ever, and I do mean it, ever, want to lose against anyone without giving anything they can or even deploying underhanded tactics.'' I wanted to see just how Prince Alph leads his house andes out of the shell to snatch the pray that would get too close to them. I wanted to see just how Captain Alpha employed his otherworldly deduction abilities to get what he wanted and maintain the unfathomable first rank of the house he was the leader of. I want to see just how Chry helps his captain win against my assault when ites to the games, I want to see how Ca and Quin challenge me during the alchemypetition, I want to see just how my dear darling goes about this whole ordeal and gives me a hard time, and, I also want to see just how my two cutedy friends, Titania and Lizzy, uses the resources and personal at their disposal to defeat me when it wille to all kinds of extra activities. ''Things will be fun going forward however, the start of my assault will start at the alchemypetition, and, when we, by the blessing of fate, do win thepetition, they will have to start their counterattack strategies as well since not long after the alchemypetition, it will be time for the very first selections for the inter academypetitions that will take ce in the Roxana empire''s capital, our second home.'' It will be one of the grandest events of the year and, since it is a five-yearpetition that will coincidentally happen right before the winter breaks, things will get even more spicy. [[ Hehe, master is excited while this pretty friend Mia is staring at you with wide open mouth~. At least reply to her master, hehehe~. ]] Right. I almost forgot about this whole thing before me for a moment and zoned out. "Ahem. So, yes. I believe you recognize this tome-" "Why do you have a book that''s only allowed to the teachers of people with that kind of authority?! Did they make some kind of special exception since you are so special, captain?! But how could it exin you having one of the most precious books of the eternal library of time?!" "Oho, I think there''s a misunderstanding here, Miss Mia." She was too agitated, anxious, and worried as well. I can tell she was thinking of some wired things like how I might have stolen this book or something like that, which is an absurd thought in the first ce since just like our tike library of the great forest, the books of the eternal library of the academy also could not be taken out by the permission of the greatest authority of the library¡­ who, actually, is an entity that not even the headmaster has ever met. ''They are, just like the ancient oak tree of our academy, one of the main guardians who have been present here for a great long time, and someone who manages a library that hides countless secrets that are yet to be found out by anyone.'' It is a library that even my master used to prise greatly, saying she got the idea of the creation of our tower library after she saw the eternal library of the academy, which was abined creation of the founders of the academy, just like Sir Ques. ''The library of time hides many things and I do want to visit there as soon as I can, but, in all the past week that I have been here, I was too busy to even sit foot in it. Haaa¡­'' And, since I haven''t even visited the library yet, even though I do possess a special clearance as well as the key to the secret rooms of the library especially given by Sir Merlin, there is no way the book before them would be the one that is present in the library. "This is another one of the original books that I obtained in exchange for an enormous amount of resources. And, though I will not reveal how I have this, I will say that this is not the same book as the one present in the library so, there is no need to worry unnecessarily, Miss Mia." The look of shock and confusion on her face became even more intense and, some of the students around us noticed this new kind of expression that she was making, and, gathered around us while some even took a photo of her surprised look and instantly uploaded it on the general forums of the academy. People will be surpassed to see how the one known as the Alchemist of Silver was also capable of making a face of that kind. ''She looks quite¡­ pretty though. Pretty funny as well, hehe.'' The others in our group were all surprised why this whole thing was even happening in the first ce, and why she had that kind of reaction. They did not know what the book that I had just taken out was, however, they knew that it was no ordinary magic tome. There was most certainly something special about it that could even make a person like her have an expression like that one. Some were very curious about this, so, they opened the data bank of our house, the one that I created and the one that possessed a shit tone of information about a shit tone of things, and, they tried searching about the book on the table. And, the results that got¡­ "Ohhhh! That''s the [Book of Alchemy: True knowledge of perception and inference]! One of the famous books that is said to possess the power to encode all of its information into someone else''s mind!" "Wowowow! Isn''t that one of the books in the restricted section of the library!? How does the captain have something like that?!" "It is said that one could absorb the knowledge of that book and ember it forever! Wow~!" "Captain! How do you have that book?! How did you get it in the first ce?!" There were questionsing from all around us¡­ why were there questionsing at me when the only thing I should be hearing right now was their screams of pain from the training? "Everyone. Is everyone who just spoke up done with their assignment for today? Should Ie to check?" Zoe spoke up with a little Maan behind her voice, and, for the first time since they had met her, they felt the serious version of my Zoe that, was not something even I like to face on a good day like this one. "Ah! Sorry, captain!" Everyone that had gathered around us instead of continuing their training dispersed and went back to their positions and continued with the training, and, also, thanks to Zoe''s pretty but dangerous serious voice, Miss Mia came back to her senses. "Captain Lucifer." And then, she looked at me with her own serious look, directly in the eye. "I know there''s no rule against using a precious magic tome like this one to gain an advantage over others, however, do we actually need this? Can''t we like¡­" "Take a more traditional approach and do the self-srudying? Yeah, sure. We can do that actually, but, is there really any need to do so? Five of you don''t actually continue with the field of Alchemy, three will go to some different field that''s better suited for them, and you and two more continue with the field of Alchemy, of course, however, the rest practically have no need for the burden of learning something in detail and waste their time in the process, no? We have something we can use, it will be a good enough mental training in itself for your future, and, for what I will be teaching you all next, the necessity of aplete absorption of all the knowledge of this book is a must. If we don''t do it like this¡­ you will not be able to understand the [Epistemology of Lnka] civilization or the [Alchemical techniques of Charvikk] school of ancient alchemy. I know you would love to learn something like that, however, the others will not either understand even a third of it with their knowledge or learn a single aspect of what I want to teach you all. Therefore, yes. We do need to do it like this. I suggest you go with the flow and enjoy everything you can instead of being so skeptical, Miss Mia." I gave her a smile. A little pretty smile. And, it evoked a little smile from her as well. Although, this smile contained a rare excitement of her deep consciousness that, she usually hides from everyone around her¡­ Chapter 640 The price of knowledge Chapter 640 The price of knowledge [Eon''s POV: ] She was smiling, which simply meant she at least wasn''t against the idea of us using this book for primary training purposes. "You know why it is restricted to the students, right captain?" "Of course, I know. That is why I have also prepared the countermeasures." I took out a ss te with a magic circle drawn on it and, ced it under the magic tome. "Knowledge and hardships have an inseparable rtionship. Knowledge of a transparent nature cannot be gained without paying something of equal price in return for that. Remember everyone, this is a chance you have gained yourself by choosing to participate in thispetition. You have a rare opportunity before you that will allow you to forever possess a kind of knowledge few in this school or the ce youe from would ever possess in their life. It is a special opportunity, however, the rtionship between knowledge and hardship is unique. Something all of you who are now thinking of participating in thepetition just to gain this rare opportunity will understand the meaning of today." The tome of ancient knowledge that I had just ced before them was one of the only six original known copies of the book remaining on this, the original book that was handwritten by a being that now resides in the higher realm as a ''Lord'' had already vanished a long time ago. It is a special book and aside from the academy and our tower library that contains the original one, was the only one that I had obtained by a stroke of luck during our visit to one of the small kingdoms of the East of the western continent that was famous for their rice fields. It was just sitting in one of the antique stores that we visited, eating dust among a box full of other old-looking books. However, this one was the most special and valuable thing in that ce, which, most certainly did not belong to such a ce. ''A strong illusion magic was cast on it so none must have known its value until that point but, I bought that book for¡­ it''s a funny story, actually.'' The shop owner first asked for one silver for that entire box of books. He certainly did not know what he was selling, really. Every one of those books was worth far more than a few silvers. For the one that we have before us, a few hundred tinum or, for a matter of fact, even a few hundred [W] coins would be nothing. ''The shop owner was a middle-aged man who seemed to have inherited the store after his predecessor. And, he most certainly didn''t seem to be someone who liked working in that ce so¡­ I did him a favor, and took that whole shop off his hands for a hundred and two tinum. An amount that was nothing for the things that were present in that ce, but certainly an amount he was seeing for the first time in his lifetime.'' He happily epted that deal and even thanked us for our ''generosity''. Haaa¡­ ''It reminds me just how some people in this world don''t know the treasures they already possess. Or how someone could be so ignorant as to sell a mountain of gold in exchange for a few loaves of bread.'' Haaaa¡­ well. That antique shop is now one of the most famous shops in that kingdom, as well as a few nearby ces, and has the kind of respect and reputation it should have already deserved. "Miss Mia? Would you mind demonstrating?" "Why would I? However, may I ask how you also have a top-grade safety device? Thest time I saw this, only a few people had ess to this technology." There was still an excited smile on her face when she asked that question. She knew what would happen if one used this magic tome. She was worried if she would evene out alive after using it, the others might not be as lucky as her. It was impossible for just anyone, any young adult like them, to possess what it required to use an artifact of this kind on their own. She knew that that''s why seeing some of the only things that could limit the dangers rted to an artifact of this kind surprised her even more. However, she did not have to worry about the origin of things that I possessed. "Well, would you believe me if I say a good person I helped once was good enough to pass it down to me?" Exining it would always beplicated like this time so, it was better left unexined. "From What I can tell, you are saying a fraction of the truth. So, I will believe you, Captain Lucifer." She answered with a smile, came forward, and, stood before the magic tome before her. ''She''s a nice person.'' The people around us were confused by this conversation we were having for a while now. They did not understand her shock at first, then they did not understand why I was talking about the hardships when all we had to do was just activate this artifact that would encode the knowledge recorded in it in their minds. They did not understand what the ss te with that simple-looking magic circle was, however, the conversation after that was even more confusing for them. They were very confused, however, now that Miss Mia was standing before the magic tome, they had dispersed all the other thoughts and were focusing on her. Even the other students in the room and Zoe were focusing on her at this moment. "Have you experienced something like this before?" I asked her before she was ready to open the book, and, she shook her head negatively with a bitter smile. "I have seen two people use something simr before. However, one of them died on the spot while the other went crazy after learning about the dark truths of space." It seemed like the people she was talking about were someone close to her. Someone who did not have a good end. "Nothing like that will happen to any of you. I will make sure of that. And the space is vast enough to bepared to a few oceans while not even the knowledge of this entire copy could sufficiently fill a mere well. You will be fine. All of you will be." I already had sealed a major portion of this book beforehand and cast some additional safety spells to prevent anything dangerous from happening. The ss te under it was also a good precaution so, I knew they would be fine. "What''s there to worry about then¡­" -Ooooooooooong! And, Miss Mia had faith in my faith so, she smiled again, opened the book, and channeled some Mana into the book, as golden light purer than the purest gold burst out from the pages of the magic tome. -Ptrrrrrrrr~! Ancient words of gold then burst out of the pages of the book alongside a wave of powerful energy that was so intense that it made a few people standing around Miss Mia step back a few steps. The words that had flowed out then hovered all around the room and then, shortly after, started circling around her. -Zhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! At the same time this was happening, a dense Mana started gathering around her body and, though the others could only sense it, I knew just how¡­ excruciatingly painful it must have been for her. However, she endured it¡­ she endured it. There was pain, her head, and her soul must have been shaken from the base as all that Data made home into her being. It was an easy method to acquire an astronomical amount of information about a certain topic, however, the price one has to pay in exchange¡­ "AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" ¡­was not something one with weak willpower could afford. -Oooooooooooooooooong...! ''That''s why it is a training method Rein, Ca, Alf, Chry, a few from our house, and I used to train our mentality, though on a different level from this one.'' There was a unique function about this book, one that only allowed as much information as the ''enabler'' could handle. It was a tricky method though, however, at the end of the day, it was nothing pretty. "You can stop anytime you want, Miss Mia." "NO! TKSSSS!" "Greed isn''t very good sometimes." "I SAID NO! AGHHHHHHH!" The pain as your mind bursts, or melts, or disintegrates; the pain as the whole body seems to crumble down into nothingness; the pain as one''s soul seems to shake, from the alien knowledge being pumped into their being¡­ that kind of thing, when I first felt it, I almost thought I had died the third time back then. "AGHHHHHH-Hahahaha!" ''But, it seems like she is enjoying this painful torture. Funny, I would say.'' Rein was crying on her first try, Ca threw up blood, Alf quit midway, Chry didn''t evenst ten seconds and the book we were using at that time was nowhere near this one. ''Mom was alright though, grandpa and grandma as well, however, dad did far better than I had expected from any of them.'' He absorbed the entire book in one go, one simr to this one¡­ however, that is something humanly impossible. So, it was impossible for her to pull off something like that as well. Even with her genius mind and abilities. "Alright, that''s enough." She was greedy and not yet ready to gain as much as she was currently capable of. This was the first-attempt, the training had just begun, she was starting and I knew she could finish this faster than anyone else. However, it wasn''t happening today¡­ A few pages were enough for the first try. We have at least a week to finish this process and, this magic tome is not going anywhere. Chapter 641 Painful attempts Chapter 641 Painful attempts [Eon''s POV: ] "On my first attempt, I had only managed to absorb thirty bags worth of data¡­ although I almost died after that, but thanks to my master, I was able to make survive at the very least. I had made a mistake touching something that I should not have but I was greedy for a little more as well, so, I know how it feels. But, belive me when I say this¡­ it''s not worth it." The Book of Alchemy is three hundred and sixty six page long, and, she managed to absorb sixty pages on her very first try. Just that much wasmendable. ''Not even Rein was able to finish sixty pages so, this just shows just how much alchemical knodge she already has and, how easy it is for her to understand the subject she has loved ever since her younger days.'' She is pretty cool, and she could most certainly could have gotten a little more, but, it was not required. She had a while before we start the method training so, she can finish leaning these things before that. "Haaaaa¡­ haaaaaa¡­ it is alright, captain. Just that much was¡­ hehehe, amazing." She was smirking excitedly, however, she was covered in sweat only after that much and, she was blocking it, but, I knew some blood was also about to slide down her nose. ''It was a painful experance, others had seen how this had actually taken ce. They knew it would be their turn next after this one, but, the way they saw it¡­ this book now, seemed to them, as nothing less than a excruciating trap that they will walk into with their own two feet.'' They saw her shivering with pain, they were seeing how she nowy t on the ground, gasping for air, smirking maniacally as though the words of the book had corrupted her very being. ''They were all excited before, but now, they are scared. But, there really isn''t any need to be scared after seeing just this much. They would go mad or lose themselves if they ever sees the things that I had witnessed in that dark forest in my childhood.'' Anyway, Miss Mia did good. "You should rest now, Miss Mia. Here, take these. It will help." I extended my hand to help her stand up but she stood up ion her own. However, she certainly epted the handkerchief and the small potion bottle that I was holding and thanked me with a warm smile and a bow before walking at the very back of the others, and taking a seat beside some of the familiars. "Alright then~. Who wants to try next~?" This was a unique experance that not just anyone will be able to get in their lives. Not many people will join as the participants anymore after seeing all this and, they had already signed up for it, so, there was no need to back out at this point. "I-it is safe, right, vice captain?" "I give you my word, Lea. It will be difficult, painful, sickening, but, you will understand why Miss Mia has such a positive expression after you do it." Of the remaining students, twelve of them were worried about the consequences. They had only ever heard about it in the ss and by the word of mouth but, if one does absorb an entire ancient tome, they gain knodgeparable to a master who has at least spent a few decades in this field. There were pros, Ball and Lea knew that, but, just like others, they were also mentally unprepared about this whole thing. "Huuuu¡­ please save me if something happens, captain." "You will do just fine, Lea. Don''t worry." She was a smart girl. Pretty averagepared to the others, but she certainly loved the alchemy subject like Miss Mia. She knew she wasn''t as good at in as her though, she epted it. And, she tried her best to get better, which was an attitude I admired in a person. "Haaa¡­ alright." She was brave. Perhaps more than this special Ball Marvin of ours. She took the lead when the others were hesitating, and, came forward to stand before the book that had caused severe pain to one of her most respected people in this world. "Here goes nothing¡­" She was certainly hesitant. Her had was instinctively pulled back twice after she had put it on the book. She knew it would be dangerous and painful¡­ but, she was determined. ''She was determined to gain this special knodge, get better after improving herself, and, be something that the people around her could look up to. Just like that look up to miss Mia right now.'' -Ooooooooong. However, she did not know there were already people out there who looked up to her for her courage, for her passion for improvement, and, her simplicity. She was amoner, however, she had friends. Good friends, from all walks of lives. Some of them were present in this ce as well. And, as she started the same process that they all had witnessed a while ago, they prayed for her safety. However, they had nothing to be worried about¡­ "Ughhhh¡­" This time, the reaction that happened was visibaly different from the one that had happened not long ago. When it was Mia Mia''s turn, the reaction was too grand and attractive while this time, only a slight burst of light happened, and, after that, a few streams of wordse out and covered her hands, and then her head. The words, as they vanished shortly, certainly gave her some pain, however, it was not as unbearable as it was for Miss Mia. She was in pain, certainly, however, it was manageable. She was able to endure it pretty well. She was able to get past a few pages before it became more painful, however, slowly and sturdily, she absorbed the knoge verse by verse and, at the end, she opened her eyes when she had seeded in absorbing twenty pages. "Wow¡­" And, when she came back to her senses, though she had simr exhorted look as Miss Mia, she was in a lot better condition as her. ''She wasn''t greedy and only took in a safe amount of knoge, which was just enough that she did not reach the threshold of the limitations from where the real pain starts.'' She understood her limitations pretty well for someone so young. She was undoubtedly admirable. "This feels¡­" "As if you are covered in fire?" "Yes¡­" It was the usual feeling one experances after taking in the knoge from a forgin origin forcefully. But, it isn''t as bad as it sounded. It was more of a fun thing. "Thank you, vice capin-" And, well, before she could finish her sentence, her legs gave up, and she was about to fall¡­ but, I caught her, and, moved her beside Miss Mia. "This method eats away at all the energy that one possesses so not only will you feel a Mana drain, but even your Auras and body energies will be used up in the forced encoding of the information. It is an unsafe method in general terms because not everyone uses as many precautions as we are doing right now. Some people don''t even care about the safety guidelines and are foolish enough to overestimate their abilities or not understanding the drain that was happeinibng in the first ce. I know it is dangerous, and, I''m still using this extreme method because I want to have any and all chances we could to achieve another victory in that grandpetition." I looked at the remaining thirteen people standing before me, with a smile, and nodded. "So, don''t worry. As long as I''m here, nothing will happen to you. And as long as you are willing to give up a little of yourself that will refill in a short while, and endure some pain, you will possess knoge to turn a simple wooden twig into a precious piece of gold." They were all determined people that stayed here even after seeing what happened to Miss Mia. They wanted to continue with this process and experience something that perhaps no other student in this school could. They wanted to do it¡­ "Alright." "Yes Mister Fang. Go ahead." -Oooooooooong! "Aghhhhhh!" They wanted to at least attempt this process one time¡­ "Haaaa¡­" "It is alright Lady Persephone. You can do it." -Ooooooooooooong! "It hurtssssss!" It was not easy or mandatory but, it was a chance that they might never receive in their lifetimes. "Okay-" "No, Ball. You will best. How would you like to give this a try next, Miss Granbell?" "Ah, Ummm, Me? Hahaha, of course! I will do¡­ it." She was afraid, jus like all the others have been, however, she also attempted the process, and, managed to absorb nine pages of the book. Which was pretty good, lowest number among her peers but, certainly an above average number. "Sir Kuro?" "Yes¡­ do you like watching people suffer, vice captain?" "I believe not? I understand how painful it is just to ept one page worth of knowledge from this book. It had taken me a month to finish my first Magic tome of simr kind. And, I had almost died three times while doing so. I know it is difficult, and I''m no sadist to enjoy my own housemates'' suffering because of my selfish methods." He had a perticuler talent when it came to logic and reason so he could certainly be a famous figure in schrly or theroritical sections¡­ however, this guy was trying to be a knight. Which, well, it wasn''t happening on my watch. He could continue with his knight training, but, he will have to understand his own gift and find a mentor which could guide him. Which he might if he goes to thispetition. I knew that much for certain. "AGHHHHHH!" He also epted the knodge of the book, and then others came after him, did the same, absorbed ten or so pages and, when all fourteen of them were finished and were resting at the back, only Ball and I remained on this table. "Ball." "Yes Vice captain." "Have you mustard the activation of your skill." "Yes, vice captain." "Can you do it?" "I¡­" He was uncertain. He shouldn''t be though. "You practiced right?" "Yes¡­" "You trained the way I told you without skipping anything, right?" "I¡­ I tried my best, vice captain." "Then you don''t have to worry about anything." I tapped his back, which certainly seemed less fatty and more muscr now which was proof enough that he was eating all the hearts I had given him and was doing all the vision practice, as well as physical training as I had instructed. ''Perhaps he had slipped up a few times here and there, but, he had a strong tenacity. I knew he did pretty well during this past week.'' He can do it. The others had endured a hell lot of pain. Two of them were even unconscious because of the aftershock. They had done their part for this attempt. And now, it was his turn¡­ Chapter 642 {Absorption} Chapter 642 {Absorption} [Eon''s POV: ] "Vice captain¡­" "Just close your eyes and start. Or else Captain Zoe will have to stand here instead of me." "N-no! It is alright!" He liked Zoe, or at least, it was more proper to say he admired her a lot. Which wasn''t only because of the fact that she had saved him during our entrance exam, but, also because of who she was and what she became despite all that. ''The society saw Zoe as nothing more than a waypoint they could exploit to form a connection with our family. They looked down on her because of her unknown origin. The high society didn''t even consider a legitimate part of our household and she had not received any opportunity to prove her talents.'' She was, for now, nothing more than a puppet that they could ''easily'' exploit and this whole notion will remain the same until the midterms ends and her ''full'' name is revealed to the world. ''The whole world will be shaken at that time since her official name is quite literally one of the longest ones ever in the known history of this world. And, just having this name makes her sessor to not only what belonged to mom, but also everything that belonged to mom, my both aunts, my both uncles, my dad, grandpa and grandma, and of course, everything that belonged to me in this world.'' It was an empire on its own, I would say. And, she, my dear sister, was a legitimate sessor of all that¡­ not that she needed any of that. She was a divine being. And, she alredy had far more than what any kingdom or the empire of this world will ever possess. ''But that''s not what we are talking about right now¡­'' Ball Marvin was amoner, one that was physically not good looking, didn''t belive he possessed anything special even though he had a unique skill that he was born with, he was perhaps abused and beaten up because of his looks in the past, and he had a very low self esteem. He had seen and experances how it felt when someone talked bad about you openly. He knew just how difficult it was to deal with people, words, rumours, abuse, and all those things. He had seen how even in this school despite her sunny nature, some people talked negative things about her and questioned her origins and existence itself. She was adopted but she looked nothing less than a royal of the greatest empire, she was smarter than most of them, she was talented like no other when it came to her subjects, she was better than them, and, it gave birth to jealousy filled negative questions about her that he knew she alredy knew about, however, she just slimed at all the people who spoke bad of her, and said hello to them every time they met. ''She was called the ''hello girl'' by the students and teachers of this academy, and, thanks to her efforts, her continuous efforts, the bad rumors and nagative attitude of people was vanishing'' They were bing more open to her, and he had seen that happen with his own eyes. He knew Zoe, and her attitude towards the world, and, he admired it. "Huuuuuu." -Ooooooooooooong! She had helped him, and now, he considered her his royal model. Someone he would do anything to help. That''s why he was participating in thispetition even though he knew practically nothing about the alchemy subject. "AGHHHHHHH! C-CAPTAIN!" ''That''s why he was ready to face this trial even though the pain and suffering of the process was going to be excruciating.'' "Keep going. Endure it. Try activating the skill." "No! I can''t!!" "You can." "You can do it, Ball~!" Zoe cheered for him, and, when he opened his eyes and looked at her determined expression, as if a new surge of energy had made way into his being, he firmed up his stance, tightened his arm that was above the magic tome, and, grabbed it with his other hand. "AGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Words of gold had burst forth the same way they had at the start when Miss MIa did it, a phenomenon that they had not witnessed after her turn. However, those words were all just hovering above him instead of going inside him like they had when she did it. -OOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! The words were just hovering above him, and, slowly, they were taking the shape of a sphere. The Mana that had gathered around him was far denser than it had been previously, the pressure was perceivable to the people standing a few meters away from us as well. The room itself was strangely bing hotter with each passing moment, however, the way there were vines popping up all over his head, his hands, his arms and his neck, concirrned the onlookers. They knew something was happening, they could tell something extraordinary was going on with him. Some believed he was in trouble however, after seeing my normal expression, they got confused and just continued focusing on him. -ZAHHHHHHHHH¡­ The words had been turned into a sphere, the vains that had appeared all around his body were turning green to blue to red to purple. They were starting to glow as well after reaching a certain shade of dark, murky purple, and, at this point, they had grasped that something was certainly up with this guy. ''Some of them thought he was in some kind of trouble, some even started feeling worried, some thought he was using some kind of dark arts, some even thought he was some kind of demonic follower or something, and some of them were just nk¡­ but many were worried about him and themselves, and had thoughts like he would explode anytime soon now.'' Their worries were quite something, but, they did not have to have these worries. He was alright, in fact, he was more than alright. ''[Absorption], his only innate skill and, one that was as unique as my energy circting skill or Rein''s eyes. Something that had diverse uses, some conditional and some just in out simple as it could understood.'' It was an amazing skill ording to my own eyes, something that could be used and expoited to great lengths. ''However, aside from the basic use of this skill, which lets him absorb nearly all the special properties of things that he eats, he had yet to know about the actual uses that this skill could be used for.'' Right now was the first time ever he was using this special skill in a different way, to absorb not some food''s properties, however, to absorb the information that was alredy being injected into his mind. ''He was using this skill, thus the purple vains. Which I know looks unattractive for now, they were something that will change with his body and after he reaches a certain level of physical state, this skill will be a weapon that other houses will have to worry about as much as my presence.'' Ball Marvin. Zoe found him and kept him. He belonged to her now, even though she did not own him. She was the only one he would loyally serve for time immortal, even if his conscious minds ever finds to do otherwise. ''He is an asset, and, I will have fun with him.'' [[ Masterrrrrr~. Don''t smile like a creep! It will scare someone who sees it! ]] [[ "I can''t help it Celes." ]] The purple wines first absorbed all the Mana around him, then the ball of golden words that were hovering in the air, came down and were covered in a strange purple murky light, and, as if a giant mew had came out of that purple light, the words were devouredpletely by whatever the illusion was. -Ooooooooooooong! "AGHHHHHHHHHHH!" And, as soon as the words and the golden light had vanished and the book was back to normal, a strange red light burst out from his body, and, Ball fell down to his knees, holding his head tightly, screaming so loud that all the students in the entire room stopped their training''s and looked our way instead. They were shocked, they were confused, they were spaced out after witnessing this absurd moment, however, this scream was something that made them all focus on him. "It''s alright. The pain is just the product of your imagination so stop thinking about it. You are perfectly fine Ball." The red light surrounding him was hot, but, I had experances hotter things, so it did not bother me much when I ced my hand on his head, and my thumb on his forehead. "Open your eyes." I channelled some Solnova and calmed the screaming body down with a small burst of energy directly into his mind, which was small enough to only forcefully bring him back to his senses. ''This was a special eastern technique which, after a certain mastery, could also pull out the soul of a person. But I''m not at that level yet.'' We are talking about forcefully separating the physical and metal body artificially. So, of course this was a big thing which, only a few people in the current world could do. "Good work, Ball. You managed topletely absorb ny pages of the Book of Alchemy." He endured pretty well, I would say. He possessed a skill that lets him absorb any kind of thing, however, it did not mean this skill was absolute and there was no aftereffect of using it, and it also did not mean that the existing negative effects of the process were canceled. ''The skill only lets him absorb things, the shock on his mind and body were all something he will have to deal with on his own. And that''s why he needed to train in both physical and mental aspect. "However, you are not allowed to attempt this process again for a week. Focus on understanding what you have gained." Absorption was only one part of the process of learning. ''If he was going to be the centre of operations starting thispetition, he needed to know the processes, the meanings, he had to absorb the entire Alchemy subject if he wanted to be sufficiently helpful to Miss Mia. And, he could not do it with just some information that he doesn''t understand at all.'' He needed to learn. Others did as well but, others will take longer time learning everything that he could do in a span of a few weeks. So, we will focus on their individual training and enhance their individual aspects instead of just making them all a good enough alchemist. "Listen here everyone." Knowledge will help them go past the first two parts of thepetition. But after that, they will have to be together and create things that will bepared to the masters of this field, people who had devoted decades, perhaps centuries in the art of alchemy. "Here''s what we will do starting tomorrow." This much was enough for today since they will need a long sleep to grasp what was just encoded into their minds. But, from tomorrow, we will start working on their individual talents, set the basic structure and rules that they will have to follow as strictly as possible, and since tomorrow is also the day the teachers will show us their familiars, we will have a basic topic to execute the first group potion brewing as well. ''Tomorrow will be a fun day and all¡­ but, what is happening with Rein? Why do I feel like, she is genuinely angry or something?'' This was weird, but I certain had this strange feeling¡­ I wonder why though? Chapter 643 Useless piece of…! Chapter 643 Useless piece of¡­! [Rein''s POV: ] ''Uum-hmm. This much is taking us nowhere¡­'' In our house room, we were doing the trials for the selection of the people that wanted to participate in the alchemypetition from our hose. And, we were approaching the predicament of having the strong enough team with only having the best people or those with best potential in the team. ''Since I can''t do something as absurd as training useless people from the ground up as my bastard Eon does, or have some magical book that encodes knodge into the minds of others, the only way to get any fucking change to have a good score in thispetition was by choosing the best people with the best shot at the different aspects of the things that I willter teach them so that they could have even a spark of them chance toepetation against those old masters and people who god jknows how proficient were in crushing their opponents.'' I was there thest time and I had seen the oldies who created things that were unpresidented from things that were so simple that we grew them in our gardens. Like¡­ they created hol;y water level healing potions, or higher than the highest grade Mana potions and, these were just the basi things that I was talking about. Those old bastards, as well as some super genius younger ones created things that were just too absurd to understand in thatpetitions¡­ ''Chimeras, homonculous, Golders, creations of alchemy that defined logic, such as the spirit solders, weapons that could destroy nations if it falls into the wrong hands, things that were even more unfathomable than those things, like special magic circles that could turn soil into gold, summon creatures of the world beyond this one, creatures that none had seen before, or take an alredy existing ''thing'' back in time or, as they called it, reverse the process of creation through aplex alchemical magic circle.'' That was the level we were talking about when we talked about the annual Alchemyepetation of the Princepality, and my damned fianc¨¦ bastard calm,ed they were going to go for the win? In those kind of circumstances? What, was he going to create some portion that could bring someone or something back to life? Like, that''s the only way i see they could win thisepetation¡­ but then again, it''s something practically impossible, and also something that even headmaster found crazy when he proposed the possibility of something like that. ''I know we are working on that thing but, it;''s not something we could possibility show in the alchemyetation even if we are sessful in making it. It''s practically impossible to create in a normal informant ording to our currnt spections.'' It would require some special conditions and a special ce so, we aren''t creating some true resurrection potion anytime soon. So, it made me doubt just what kind of absurd thing he was going to go for to get the victory. ''I would belive it if he was also part of the team that was going to particopate from his house, but, with us attending thepetition officially, his particiapation was out of the question.'' So, he was training his house members for the cvisctory, which was an absurd thing all in itself even with all his resources and knodge. ''I don''t know how he will pull this out but, if he said there is a chance they might win, I can''t just sit around and just watch him take the first spot. ''We also had to get at least a sport in the top rankings and something that would certainly be above the other houses. Only then we would have a chance to have a higher house score and the second spot on the house scoreboard.'' I was aiming for that¡­ but, this is fucked up. "None of you are taking the alchemy courses? Really?" I selected twelve people out of thousands of my house member that my eyes considered the best, aside from the six others who were the most proficient in the alchemypared to the others of my house. But, the fucked up problem was none, and i mean none of the twelve that I selected based on my judgement and their potential, were in any way rted to the alchemy subject¡­ at all! "Answer me, you idiots. Just say something instead of standing there nkly." All twelve of them were taking some kind of practical courses and even though three of them were mages, these bastards were taking the sses totally unrted to magic. "Captain¡­ we¡­ I don''t know why you chose me, but, I have never had anything to do with alchemy in my life. I grew up in the family of cksmiths and that''s all I have learned through my life." There was this dwarf boy, of of the smart Ione''s among these bunch of idiots, but he also didn''t know about his skills and abilities. Just like all the other bunch of idiots. "Don''t you know you have a skill called [Fusion]? Like, the name is so straightforward dude. Where have you been using that ''alchemy'' attributed skill until now?" All twelve of them¡­ all of them I say, every single one of them, were useless. They had skills that could be used to do so much in a specific field but some didn''t even knew that skill could be used in the way I was thinking or were totally unaware of the fact that the skills that possessed were something that could be used in a certain field in a better way than they were currently using it as. This entire bunch¡­ "Haaaaa¡­ speak up N?oB." "Yes maam! I had been using this skill to properly fuse the metals like my dad taught me! He said this was the perfect skill any dwarf could wish to have when it came to fusing different metals!" He was using this skill to fuse metals? ''Well¡­ his dad taught him to use it that way so, I don''t me him.'' He was pretty good when it came to the metalworks, that much I had heard from Zoe, but, if he was using that skill just for the metals, then, he was certainly missing out on the wider range of the functions this skill was able to possess. "Look, boy¡­ I won''t say what your dad taught you was wrong, but, now listen here. Not just him but all of you. You have skills that could be used in the alchemy and when we use those skills during some specific processes, we will have greater chances to win at least a spot in thepetation. I''m not saying what you were doing with those skills was wrong, but, what you will do from now on with those skills of yours, will be as I guide you all." It willl be difficult, it will certainly be difficult, I know. All of them are just a bunch of kids and dumb ones at that, there were some that didn''t even knew they could use their skills in a way they were intended to be used. They were miserable ones, and their house captain, it was my responsibility to bring that back top the right path so that they could- "Tsk. What do you know about our skills?" "Hmm? What was that?" "How can you know more about our skills when you haven''t even seen us use it even once? In the first ce, it''s hical to look at someone else''s skill and tell them they had been using it the wrong way all this time. Do you know just how much difficulties we have gone through to get that skill? Do you know just how much pain we have suffered in the process? Do you know just how difficult it was for us to learn the proper use of the skills that we had or had gained along the way in our life? Who are you to tell us how to use our skills? I don''t even want to participate in this fuckingpetation or this whole house shit drama. Why force someone to do something against their will?" "Because I have the authority to do so you fucking bastard." His name was Polin, amoner of the northern continent''s one of the small free cities. And, I was looking at him with, a genuinely angry expression right now. "What did you just say, difficulties? Pain? Learn skills on the process? Do you even know if I know it or not? Fucking bastard. Of course I know all there is to know about you you bastard. I know even the things that you don''t know about yourself. Things that you will never know if I don''t tell you. Things that are hidden from you, things that the world will deny even if you try to know them. You wanna test me, then do it. I''m right here to espt any quest or change you have. But if you want to question my authority, remember that you won''t be getting out of it unhurt. And what was all that about pain? You fucking piece of shit. If you don''t want to participate then just go. Did I ever say you can''t do the things i ask you to. Did you ever argue or express your disagreement? You bloody fucking trash. I''m helping you by going out of my way to pick you out of the crowd of thousand people and you are curing me? Fucking ungrateful bitch. You want to see what i know about you? Just ask. You want to know how I know more about your skills? Just asking will be enough. You don''t want to do things that I tell you? Just don''t do it. I never forced any one of you. You consented to do the things I ask of you, and that just shows that I have the authority in this ce I need. You not having done anything to be against my words just shows you have epted that authority. You have consented to do the things I ask or you even without me actually using force. And belive me when I say this, dear¡­ I haven''t even started with what I can do with you little bunch. You don''t want to do the things I tell you? Walk away. The doors opens up on its own so it''s convenient but as long as you are here¡­ don''t you ever fucking question my authority, or knodge, or decisions as a matter of fact. Following them will be helpful to you, and not doing it will make you regret it for the rest of your life. It all up to you at the end." Fucking trash. My house was full of useless trashes. Fucking bastards. This one that said all that just now was one of the biggest trashes I had. He had a skill that wasparable to Chry''s unique skills that might bloom out to be something extraordinary but he didnt give a shit about it at all? This fucking bastard really just wanted to life his life as a back alley thug hun? He was an ungrateful bastard. For real, fuck. He didn''t even give a shit about the one who pointed him towards this school, who saw his talent and guided him towards the right path. ''He carried the potential to be a grandmaster¡­ but he wanted to just live off stealing little things, it seems.'' It''s fine with me, fuck! What do I care?! Chapter 644 Independent practices Chapter 644 Independent practices [OP: ] Today was the first day of the practice for the alchemypetition of the annualpetition. And, all the houses were preparing for thepetition in their unique ways. The Wisdom Phoenix were doing their own thing where their captain had introduced a unique method of training for the people who wanted to participate in thepetition willingly. They were doing something pretty unconventional with the aim of winning thepetition however, the other houses were not that far behind them in terms of this whole house practice thing. The Dark Society had their absolute captain, Uriel, someone who had a firm grasp on her entire house and absolute authority over the people she was in charge of. Her words were as if the words of the gods and they had to follow it, willingly or unwillingly. However, the way she had established an absolute authority in her house was quite something. An authority that was so powerful that, the flow of power that usually affected the individuals in a relevant manner, was totally flowing one-sidedly. Something that wasparable to an absolute monarchy or dictatorship, however, something pretty different from that at the same time. Her authority was powerful because it was established on very firm legitimate grounds. She was practically the strongest and smartest in her house, she was also the most knowledgeable about them and the academy as well as the things that were going on in the academy as well as the things that would go on in the academy in the following time. She was amazing in herself, she was also rich, had more resources than they could think and her fianc¨¦ was the most amazing person currently known throughout the academy. Though their people did not know her background or who she was and since it was also impossible to find out anything about her since in any records of any ce, she did not exist until a few months ago, they were totally blind about her background¡­which mattered naught in this academy. Everyone was merely a student in this academy ording to which, she was the person they could not defy even if they wanted to. Actually, there was no reason for them to defy her. Some were controlled by consent while some were doing everything ording to her absolute will¡­ and, since there was her guard, the holy knight Neb, to establish a firmw and order, there were no gaps present in this system for anyone to defy her, or find any kind of loophole to exploit. She was the monarch and the goddess they must follow, and, Neb looked up to her even more because of this quality of hers. Fascinated Mages had the most number of mages and people rted to the field of magic, however, they did not possess highly skilled Alchemists even though there were many, many people who had a good enough understanding of alchemy. They had numbers, but not the quality that they required. However, they did not take this to heart and instead, turned this predicament into an opportunity. With their diverse and positive manpower, they crafted a solid system that relied solely on the numbers and a chain ofworks that, whenbined together, was able to create wonders under the leadership of their vice-captain Alfred. Ethereal tigers were all¡­ well, they had no interest in this wholepetition since it wasn''t to their attributions but, still, their vice-captain and captain discussed things with their house members, and a few people, skilled in the art of alchemy, came forward to take up the challenge that was presented before them. This was perhaps the first time the Eternal Tigers were showing genuine interest in something that required mental prowess rather than the physical one, and, since they had Prince Eugene as their Captain, the other houses would have to look out for them as well. The Fusion stardust¡­ was preparing for a trip today. It was an idea from their vice-captain Hide, someone that, though wasn''t skilled in the art of alchemy, was from a family that had produced many masters and even a few grandmasters in the field of alchemy. He proposed he could have someone, an expert of course,e down here to teach them, and the others had excitedly epted his rare but positive proposal. And then, he talked with his uncle who lived on this very ind, a grandmaster Alchemist, and, he also excitedly agreed to grant a favor to his nephew who would remember him in the future when he bes the patriarch of the Shen family. However, ording to his conditions, he would only teach them outside the academy, specifically, in the central garden located on the high-ss street of the ind. He would only spare three to six hours of his day and it would change, increase, or decrease, depending on their performance and talent. He also had standards and, since he was already a retired elder, there was nothing in this world that piqued his interest more than the young students who had big dreams and goals. He was a well-known person, and, to learn directly from him, was an honor for their entire house. It was a pretty good tactic, however, the True Dragons thought something even better. They ''paid'' their own alchemy teachers and ''hired'' them as their own personal instructors. It was a tactic their captain Alpha would never have thought of until yesterday, however, after seeing just how the money could be used in this world, he had learned the true use of what was pretty much nothing at all from a higher perspective. He pulled out something fun, and even the teachers that he hired with the collective funds of his house, were amused by his tactics. They weren''t looking forward to being hired by some certain house this soon in the game, but having experienced it previously, they knew what this actually meant. They found it fun, and since the True Dragons were filled with students of great talent, they didn''t mind teaching them personally and preparing them for thepetition that would bring glory to their own academy. At the end of the day, as one of the principals of the academy, one could practically buy ''nearly'' anything if they paid the right price for it, and the True Dragons demonstrated how that general privilege worked. The teachers found it fun, and, since the True Dragons were also aiming for the top spot as they had for the past few centuries, the other powers of the academy were looking forward to the endgame that they would witness at the end of this Great War. However, that aside, Aqua Mirror was the house with the most number of talented Alchemists. They were going to follow the normal tactics of self-learning and then improve through traditional means, however, their Captain Quin suddenly came up with something unique. She proposed since they already had a few talented Alchemists, learning through the past records would be better than learning through traditional means. And, since she was the possessor of a Grimore, she knew a spell that could let them ''experience'' something that was thoroughly recorded in some archive. She kept the Grimore a secret as Rein and Eon had instructed her, however, using the abilities of that book for their own gain was certainly something she was free to do. So, she proposed this idea to her house members who first did not understand what she wanted to say, however, since Ca believed there was a chance since Quin was the one saying it, she didn''t rely any longer and took some of her people to the Grand Archives present on the ind, the ce that contained the detailed records of mostly any and all things that had happened on this. They saw an opportunity, and though they did not know how they would go about it yet, they believed in their captains dearly. They knew if their captains had some idea, there was a chance that they could alsopete with the other great houses that were far more advanced than them. They believed in them¡­ and then there was Turtle Defender who had no interest in either thepetition or their captains. That house was practically filled with muscle heads or weirdos who were particrly dumb. And since their captain was a useless prince who was smaller and wearier than most of them, they had no interest in anything he said or imed. Their house was the most distorted one¡­ or at least, that was how it looked from an outside perspective. Their captain was Prince Alpheus, the one possessing the pinnacle skill of Wisdom. He was the sharpest, and one of the most dangerous people present on this ind. Also, he knew how to make people do what he wanted, how to connect the efforts of different individuals, how to create things that did not exist, and how to make the illusion of something happening when, in truth, something entirely else was happening¡­ Just like today. He was also determined to have a spot in the alchemypetition however, he would not be the one doing all the things that would happen from their house''s side in thatpetition. He was more than capable enough to create a tree that he could hide under. And, he had perfect candidates to do it. Fortunately, not one but three. A boy who could glimpse into the uncertain future, a boy that was mysterious, but very knowledgeable, and a girl that, well, was practically a hidden trump card that he could use anywhere he wanted. However though, to do that, he will have to first make her his own. Which¡­ was a task that required the expertise of a few of his other friends. Friends who already had partners, or, were masters in the art of wooing the opposite party. And, he will have to ask those experts first before he can make a ''move''. A perfect move which, must be the most fatal one she might have experienced in all of her twelve ''turns''¡­ Chapter 645 The familiars of the teachers Chapter 645 The familiars of the teachers [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "So, you alredy know all their familiars and all the details right? Why do you look so excited despite all that?" ]] She was asking me such a simple question in this early morning. Why was she asking me such a simple question with that smirk on her face when she alredy knew the andswer to that question herself? [[ "Well, what kind of answer would you like to know, my deardy?" ]] [[ "A kind of answer that will make this boredom vanish? Like, it''s been ten minutes we have been standing here waiting for the ss. Where are those people?" ]] [[ "They are, well, it is difficult to say, but they all are burning right now. In a attractive greeen spirit fire. Which isn''t something they should be doing all by herself! I want to experance that as wel!" ]] [[ "You¡­ bastard. Why do you want to burn alive? Is there something special in that green me?" ]] [[ "Something special? Uriel¡­ Master Bake''s familiar is a Supririor grade spirit, something higher than the Advanced rtagnked spirits that we encounter in your ss. He''s one of the only few people who had a superior grade spirit in this entire world, and that spirit is a me spirit as well! Just imagine what it''s mes would feel like!" ]] [[ "Well¡­ darling¡­ I can''t imagine it. You see, I have no idea what a Supirior ranked spirit even feels like. I have never seen or met one but, looks like you have?" ]] [[ "Nope. I wanted to but Master never let me meet one. She said I am not ready to meet one of them yet. I don''t know why though so, this would my first time mee4ting a superior ranked spirit as well! Also! This would be my first time seeing a Origin blood creature from our ss teacher, the unique familiar beaver of ss ''s ss teacher that he has to keep on the ind since it''s too dangerous for the outside world, and Lady Sam''s great warhorse that is famous for their great achievements on the battlefield. People call that horse the [Emperor of winds] lol. Can you imagine!? A horse that has obtained the title of an Emperor! And not just that! The other familiars as well! There are so many cool ones that we are going to see today! Some of them are evolved beings as well! How! Can! Not! Be! Excited!" ]] Today was the day we would meet the familiars of the ss teachers of all the sses, and the creatures that had been with me. Most of the teachers would let us meet their unique families, the vice headmaster would introduce her friends that she had gathered during her long years in this world, and those who did not have their own families, people like uncle El, would introduce us their unique friends from the ind, or some other ce who were visiting the ind just at their request. ''Uncle El had a special friend that he was very close with. A creature we had only heard the stories of. But, today, we would see that creature for real. And I am the most excited about that.'' But that wasn''t the only thing that excited me. There were many people here, many teachers sorry, who had so unique familiars that made it look like them being a teacher was an obvious thing. There are some teachers who don''t have familiars or have a very normal creature as their familiar, but, even they were something that the students were all excited to see. The familiars of the teachers would be creatures that had lived with their masters for at least longer than they had, so, learning from them and taking notes of their growth processes, and special points that they should remember when growing with them was something the other students were looking forward since a few days ago. There were things on their minds that they had found out during their time with their familiars in the past few days and, they would take this opportunity to ask the teachers about them as well. The students were all exited, and there was no reason to be excited actually! My own excitement was natural considering the things we would be witnessing today and the beings we would meet, special beings that would be more special than the residents of the ind. It was obvious, and the look of excitement that I had right now was something she loved. That''s why she was smirking while looking, staring at me. And though her eyes were more gentle on my skin than the other burning gazes I was getting because of the way we were sitting right now, I would rather focus on her and the things that we would see now insted of the people all around us. ''But truthfully though, all the students of all the sses we''re here and she was still sitting in myp, hugging me like it was no big Deal and it all just natural. Like, it was really no big deal since some people were kissing back there somewhere, but their attention was focasued on us. And, perhaps it was because all the families of our friends gathered around us, or perhaps because of the way there were bees around this garden but not us, but, their eyes were stuck on us, and, there insted of focusing on them, I found it morefortable to just, y around with whatever she was doing right now. Not that things would stay like this forever. The ss was alredy on their way now. They would be here shortly. "Uriel, you know why there is a saying in the empire that if someone is able to be a teacher of the great academy, they would inevitably be considered one of the strongest people of this?" "Hmmm? That came out of nowhere¡­? And, yes. People do say that. Why do they say that though? Why does bing a professsor here be thought of as bei9ng one of the strongest people in the world. And, they don''t even talk about politically or in some other terms but in the actual terms of the phtysical or magical powers. Why do they say it?" She still had her smile, which, was cool actually. I liked seeing her smile. ''I would see her smile for hours rather than see her ahead tears for even a moment. Even if that smile is some twisted one that means some othe r twisted thing.'' I looked at her, grabbed her right hand, and intertwined our fingers. "Because if someone is qualified enough to be a professor of the academy, they are qualified enough to amass enough physical, magical, or mental strength to contend against any strong people present in this world. It is said that one of the requirements to be a professor of this academy is to be one of the best of their fields. And, if someone is best in their field, they would either themselves have more than enough strength to fight those in the power or would possess enough ''power'' of some other origin that could certainly deal with them. The saying: A master is always far better than many of the normal onesbined, became famous after this fact. Or at least that''s what I think¡­ and, that should be enough chitchat. The teacher and students of ss are all here now¡­ and would you look at that. More gorgeous than I had imagined." The ss teacher of ss Master Bake, the dwarf, was walking here with the other students of his ss and a special creature, a burning green reptile that resembled a giant lizard and a chameleon. It was gorgeous though, burning so independently that her radiation was reaching all the way to where we will were sitting. It was not that big of a creature, just big enough to be three time my own size, but still, the way this creature was walking to the way the mes all around it were burning furiously without burning even a single de of grass under its feet showed just how amazing of a creature it was. It was a sight that was alredy ingrained in my mind, however, thanks to the way some of the students among the bunch of ss had burned their hairs, this moment will be remembered as the incident that burned the hair of the bad students. ''It was genuinely funny. Some of the girls had this strange puffed hair that lookedical andpletely charred¡­ lol. It was just hrious.'' Uriel startedughing and rolled off myp while doing so. It was, a memorable moment. Which ended soon when some other teacher cured their hairs and the other teachers all gathered before us students. "Alright students. Since you have already seen Master Bake''s partner, there''s no need to dy any longer. You all also have other sses to attend to after this is over. If any of you have any questions, go to the teachers you want or your ss teachers if it is just a general question. And don''t cause any trouble for others. Please." The one saying that was the ss teacher of ss , the awakened tiger and one of the most attractive looking males of this academy¡­ he had a wild beauty that many in the academy were attracted to, strangely. Or did they find him cute? I couldn''t say for sure. But he was the most charismatic teacher among all the other ss teachers, and his words were like a signal so, when he said that, with a unanimous nod among the teachers present, they all called out their familiars or summoned their bonded and tamed beings. Which, again, was a scene that reminded us of a few days ago when all the residents of the ind had appeared among us in that short moment. However, the difference this time, was that the creatures that had appeared here, were all familiars of the teachers of the academy, people considered to be one of the strongest in the world, so, they were certainly not some ordinary creatures. For a matter of fact, the ss teachers'' familiars, for most parts, were the most attractive ones that caught eyes of all the students present in this ce¡­ Chapter 646 Some special friends Chapter 646 Some special friends [Eon''s POV: ] Our ss teacher, Sir Jezebel''s familiar was an origin beast, a (Blood vampire bat) that was a very rare species among the many origin beasts of this world. A creature that though was called a ''bat'' was more of a bird in appearance than anything even close to a bat. She was beautiful, she and an entire body that was made of blood and sma, her appearance was graceful, and even among the real birds present in this garden right now, she was shining like the light of an eclipse. She was amazing, really, really eye-catching. There was something in her appearance that was attracting me towards her but, even though I wanted to go near her, there was also something that was telling me it was alright. That it was fine even if I didn''t pay attention to such a creature. It was a strange feeling, but, I disregarded it, and still went up to her and observed her closely¡­ which ended pretty normally actually. ''I thought there would be something since there was this strange feeling in my head but, seems like it was nothing.'' She was amazing though. She resembled a bird, did not have a beak but her face was more attractive than a normal bird''s. Her wings were sorge that they covered more than a meter in radius, and, not just that, her unique beast-like strong legs were so muscr that the students from the knight department had all gathered under her and were observing her closely for more information¡­ some of them were even asking her how she grew such strong legs, especially the female knights. My own sister Ca included. ''The funnier part in all this, was the creature they were asking these questions to, was answering their questions sincerely and Sir Jez was conveying her responses to them.'' The look of happiness and surprise they all had was priceless. Really priceless¡­ ''But then again, this special bird bat was not the only amazing creature we were seeing right now.'' Lady Sam''s familiar was also an attraction. ''A giant great horse taller than Ca''s familiar horse, purely ck in color with a unique mane, had a tail that looked weirdly strong, and, a body that seemed to be crafted by the divinities themselves. This special creature was a unique crossbreed between a horse of the same kind as Ca''s familiar and a special¡­ everyone knows what Centaurs are, right? The half-horse and half-human people? The kind that is very rare in this world? Yeah, so, this great warhorse''s father was from one of the few remaining tribes of that kind and her mother was, well, aplete horse¡­ ''It''s natural, alright? They can do it. There are far more weird crossbreeds present in this world like half goblin, half dragoids. Yeah, a daughter of a Centaure being a horse is pretty eptable in my opinion.'' In normal fantasies, crossbreeding among too much different kinds is naturally impossible but, since this world is pretty unique all in itself, possibilities of all possibilities exist in this world. Anyway, she was the familiar of Lady Sam, the mother-like ss teacher of ss , the orc that was too loving to be scared of. She is an amazing person who knows how to use her unique ''force'' better than anyone of her kind. I like that aspect about her and also want to learn energy control from her if I can someday. ''I might just be able to use my Solnova better with her help.'' Anyway, that was Lady Sam and her great warhorse. Master Brok and his superior grade me spirit were having a hell of fun with all the students around them since they were giving them a special ''me'' therapy where they were practically burning everyone alive, without hurting them, of course. They were all having fun and since they were on fire they were ying a game of tag, which seriously looked much more fun than what it sounded like. ''Just imagine ying tag while being on green fire, lol. It was he fun! If not for my curiosity about other creatures present here, I would have loved to join all of them for a game.'' Hehe, Chry was ying with them, and he was having fun. ''He looks happy¡­ and Quin does as well. The two of them ying together with a smile and all¡­ yup. They are pretty good together.'' They had my full support. That was the ss teacher of ss , and he was an amazing person as well, on the other hand though, the ss teacher of ss, the mean cat person who was too ''dangerous'' that her own ss students avoided her, was happily chilling with her own wyvern. An ice attribute wyvern no less. It was a special kind and rare one as well but right now, aside from Princess Luna and a few others, there was no other student interested in her or her advice, or anything rted to her in general. They preferred to keep away from her if possible and she loved it. And, something simr could be said with the ss teachers of ss , , and . The serious trio was more focused on their work and academics than the extracurricr or useless activities. Even now, the three of them were taking abined ss to describe the traits of their own unique familiars, which were a (Liocrocopus): a mountain species of herbivores beasts that prefer to thoroughly lick their food before eating it, a (Katakan Poison twinhead): a double-headed aquatic snake species that was twelve meters in size with two heads, and a (Pepper piper), a normal looking small bird that was, in fact, a (Blue) ranked rare creature that, was very very rare in the current world. They were some of the only species that had the ''space'' elemental attribute so, they were all amazing creatures as well. Well, they were professionals who liked being professional all the time, so, aside from a few who actually wanted to learn about their creature, no one was paying attention to them either. This was a joint free ss and it was meant to teach the students about the familiars and show their own bonded creatures so, if they were at least doing what they were meant to, they weren''t entirely an asshole like some other teachers who werepletely ignoring their own students. Anyway, the three of them had always been like that and, most of the students had already epted them for who or what they were. But, ss waspletely opposite in this aspect. Their hot teacher¡­ their attractive teacher and her attractive friends were stealing the hearts of yet another bunch of students at the moment... Well, she was an enchantress and a fairy at that and, since all her spiritual creature friends from the other realms were with her, the tree they were under hand became hubs for her worshippers and the fans of all those cute spirit beings. She was like a goddess in this school, and, though it was all a facade and her reality was somethingpletely different, it would be better if those things remained that way. Her image was better till it remained positive, but the day she revealed her true self to these poor students, it wouldn''t be a surprise if they all started fearing her. ''She was dangerous but, until she was happy and like this, and until this mask was on, she was a goddess for the students. And, it was better this way.'' I don''t want her to have any reason to put off this mask of hers, ever, if possible. But, since I knew she would be one of the people standing in our way when we will do some certain things on this ind and in the outside world, I knew our confrontation was also inevitable. If not all the students here, at least I and a few people around me will have to see her true side, and, though I had already told Rein about it, she still doubts my words to this day. Like, this was one of the only things I had told her which she still doubted. And, her doubt was obvious. What she was in reality and the other truths about her, were all not something that we all could possibly fathom. Like, she wasn''t even a real person in the first ce, but¡­ let''s not go too deep into this point. She was a good ss teacher for now, and the spiritual creatures she had invited here today were all very attractive to many of the students present in this garden. So, leaving her side, ss and the ss teacher of their ss... though he was one of the most normal-looking people among the teachers, he was the most amazing one with the most achievements among the younger teachers. He was a master of theory, he was a grandmaster of many schrly subjects like Psychology and Philosophy as well. He was, in truth though, like me. He had a mind that could not forget and because of that, he was physically very weak. But still, his vast knowledge was something that nations would kill for. In his mind, there were far more books, records, and stories present than I had ever read in this short life of mine. And, he was a two-hundred-year-old elf. Young, certainly, for an elf like him, but, something far olderpared to a normal human. Even with my vast resources, I had only lived for a few years in thisnd. I was still young, far younger than him, so, the difference in our knowledge was obviously too great. But, that aside, he had a uniquely normal familiar. A small white hamster actually. A simple (Orange) ranked light element (Blue Hill hamster) that wasn''t actually that umon in this world. It was pretty cute, Rein had been ying with it for quite a while now, but, it was the most normal creature present in this ce right now. But, that normalness made it the most special as well in a way, that''s why even though the crowd around them was small, it was filled with the most house captains and captains, as well as people with unique talents. Even Deleon the slime master was interested in this little hamster¡­ though for an entirely different reason, he was certainly interested in her. The ssteacher of ss was absent today, on leave for personal reasons actually, so, they weren''t here, but, the ss teacher of ss the tiger person, the most attractive one, along with his uniquepanion, was filling in for the ssteacher of ss and, the students were having a st with him. They were learning, they were, enjoying, they were happy, and they were being manipted very thoroughly, but, they were doing very good on their own as well.'' I couldment pretty lot on him, but, putting that aside, I was more interested in the friend of his rival. "Sir Elkin? Is your friend here yet?" "Ummm¡­ she should have been here-, oh. Talk about the coincidence. There she is. Look. I know your sharp eyes will catch her even in the faraway sky." I wanted to meet Uncle El''s friend for a long time, the unique being that had helped him in his dark days, and also when he was almost lost in a dangerous ce. She was like a guardian to him¡­ and, though it was only a suspicion until now, now that I was looking at this being, I have confirmed my suspicions. ''It''s Miss Sarah.'' Mom''s friend and the one that loved her unconditionally¡­ She was also Uncle El''s secret friend. Or, at least, her familiar that she was using right now, certainly was. Chapter 647 Silver Taigriel Chapter 647 Silver Taigriel [Eon''s POV: ] In the distance I could see. A creature so attractive that it was shining like a star in the earl,y morning. It''s body, covered with feathers that were made of silver, original silver that the people adored themselves with. Feathers so big that they could be used as ornaments these vest, wings sorge that they seemed to cover half of a small cloud in the vast blue sky, it''s green eyes looking straight at me as I looked back at it with my bluer ones, and, there was smile on his face, a smile that I had remembered from ourst meeting. ''He is the same as thest time I saw him. Attractive, shiny, egoistic, and cool. She sure has a nice familiar.'' Mom doesn''t know about the truth of Miss Sarah, and it was a secret that she, Rein and I had promised to keep only to ourselves. ''To mom, Miss Sarah was nothing more than a special friend that she could never part ways from. And, even though she loves her, Miss Sarah is happy just watching her from the sidelines even though it is much more painful for her to do so.'' Miss Sarah and the two of us have a secret between us, and that secret extends to keeping the existance of this specific creature a secret as well. "Alright everyone! Jade is here! I request you all to close your eyes for a moment if you don''t want to-" "I think it''s toote sir." "Kwyaiiiiiiiiiiiii~!" He increased his speed when he was in the range of this ce and in a moment of seconds, reappeared right above all of us, creating a gust of wind, and reflecting all the light of they sun towers the ce we werre standing with its shiny body, blinding everyone present for a brief moment. There were loud screams all around us for a moment and the students were stunned for a brief moment as well, however, after hearing that strong voice and feeling that strong gust of wind, they all came back to their senses, and, when they all opened their eyes, a special creature, something that resembled an eagle, but, had four legs like that of a tiger. And, it wasn''t something like a griffin, but, simply a mix of a tiger''s underbody and an eagle''s upper body. It had wingsrge enough to cover some of the trees present in the garden,. It was so tall that it was half the height of some of the taller trees, it''s green eyes were like a big round mirror that reflected their reflections in a unique manner, and, whenever it blinked with its silver eyelids, the shine it reflected back to the people under it was something unique all in itsel;f since this special reflection was unique from the prtrvious blinding reflections. This was more like a warm reflection f a gentle light that was intentionally given out to someone. It was special, but that wasn''t all there was to this special being. It''s body, feathers, other body parts, even the smaller feathers, all of the things about this creature was silver. It was made of original silver, the metal that was valued highly in the human socity. The eyes it had seemed to be jewles as well, but when looked closely, one could catch on that the green part was the ouster surface of the eyes, the inner surface of the eyes were, once again, made of silver. ''A being purely made of metal, something that makes its body heavy to lift and still allowed him the ability to fly higher than the clouds themselves, granting it enough strength to reach this sky isn''t on its own.'' When i met him the first timest year, I knew practically nothing about him, how he was one of the special origin beasts from a lesser known kind, or how there were even more specialities to this creatuyre that what met to one''s eyes. This was a unique being, and, the most amazing aspect that I found during our first meeting about this being¡­ [ "Hello Elkin. I see you have been doing well¡­" ] He was looking at me while saying that in his Mana voice. Yes, he was saying those words. Himself. To us. To uncle El. ''He''s one of the rare few highly intelligent creature that had the ability to converse with the other creatures. And, he was even more special since he himself had learned many specialnguages to support his speaking abilities.'' "Wow¡­ that bird just talked!" "Is that bird though? It looks like a golem." "It has legs with a tiger like stipe¡­ so I think it''s an animal rather than a bird?" "No, I think it;''s a bird. Did you even see how high it flew?" "Just to reach this sky ind, a creature would have to fly for hours if they don''t have the special abilities like the speed boosting abilities of the magic ships. It is impossible without that, so, it has to be a bird to be able to do that!" "It''s a beast!" "Shut up bastard. Just listen to what the teacher has to say before asrguying!" "Yes, and do not curse in a ss setting. We are out but we are still attending a lecture. Mind yournguage." "Okay pkay everyone! Please calm down!" Uncle El shouted with a megaphone that amplified his voice several times and made it possible for his voice to reach even to ther ces that were faraway. ce like the other aside of the garden where the small creatures were doing their daily chores. However, thanks to his loud voice, the creatures had to pause for a moment and look around for the source of that strange loud noise. It was too loud actually, we didn''t need that much on this early morning so, realizing his mistake, he corrected the settings of the megaphone and spoke up once again. "Everyone, this is Jade, a special friend of mine and someone I practically owe my life to. I was once lost in the (Woods of Jumilimp), and I would have died there if I hadn''t met him in a crucial moment. He was kind enough to give me shelter and show me the safe way out, and if that wasn''t enough, he even became my friend, and, promised to meet me every once in a while. I was eleven years old when we first met, and even after three decades, we meet each other, at least once every year. This year was good so this is the third time we are meeting personally but the previous year wasn''t as good since the only time we were able to meet was during a time I was busy with something else. Well, that aside, he is a origin beats, something called (Silver Taigriel) and as you all can see, he is quite intelligent. I owe all my passion of magic engineering to him, to his teaching that nothing is useless, and that even the simple twig on the ground could be used to make the deadliest weapon that could destroy anything, or, the greatest potion that could bring back even the lost ones. He is an amazing person, my guardian, and, my greatest friend." [ "Hahaha. I have said it many times and I will say it again Elkin, don''t praise me so much. The only thing I ever did was helping a little boy that was crying, a little boy that was covered in wounds all over his body, all over his heart, and little creature I first only thought as an amusing toy. Your intelligence and sharpness, the weird way to interpret things, the way you see the world makes all the difference. It turned a curious creature like me, into a friend that in your eyes, and for me¡­" ] He looked around the garden and then straight into my eyes for a moment, then into the eyes of Rein, then at Ca and Alf, and, then the other students present in this ce. [ "A young boy I helped out of curiosity, turned out to be a man that the world p[rises for his creations, a father that his child respects, an uncle that his nephews and neaces look up to, and, a teacher that has earned an eternal respect of many students who will be the future of this world. What I did was momentary, however, perhaps the fruits born from my curious actions will remain in this world even after I am gone." ] "And you aren''t going anywhere anytime soon, right?" Uncle El smiled at him warmly, and, with a look of happiness in his green eyes, he lightly bowed his head as well. [ "Not until I see the end of this world with you, friend." ] There was something in his eyes that I recoganized very clearly, and something simr was present in the eyes of uncle El¡­ ''When I first saw him here, I thought he was with uncle El because Miss Sarah, but, now that i have seen that look that special look of brotherhood that transcends simple friendship, I know I was wrong with my judgement.'' I thought he was with him because of Miss Sarah, but, in truth, the story seems to be a little different from that. ''It wasn''t that he was Uncle El''s friend because Miss Sarah asked him to be, but, perhaps, the reason he was Miss Sarah''s familiar, was exactly because he was Uncle El''s friend.'' I misjudged her for a moment. I misjudged the two of them as well. I shouldn''t have reached to conclusions this soon with such little information¡­ ''I made a mistake.'' [ "So, Elkin, who are the new seeds this year? Introduce me to your hew children. Ah, I see Ca for the first time as well. Hello little one. Your father loves you a lot, remember that please~." ] Uncle El and Jade, this special (Silver Taigriel) a, origin creature capable of transcending the realms on its own, were friends. The friendship they had was a sopecial rtionship than just the rtionship between two people that were acquired with each other and talked with one another on regr bases. The two of them had a strong bond that was nothing less than the bond between a familiar and their master, however, this bond had a different name. ''Brotherhood formed on the base of experience and trust, certainly something rare, and certainly something we don''t see in today''s world often.'' They weren''t bound by any practical power but still, there was a special bond present between them. A special bond that, perhaps, was simr to the bond mom and Miss Sarah had¡­ ''Though the only thing different here was the sexual attraction, but we can''t reallypare the two bonds on those bases.'' She loved mom because, well, she loved her. On the other hand, Sir Jade liked uncle for who he was and who he used to be. Both are different, and yet¡­ independently beautiful. Chapter 648 The connection of fates Chapter 648 The connection of fates [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "So, is it true that you and uncle met identally and then you met Miss Sarah?" ]] [[ "Not exactly so." ]] [[ "Hmmm?" ]] The other students were all around the garden now that the introductions with Sir Jade had ended. They had been surprised at first after knowing all the interesting things about him, his intelligence, his vast knowledge of various subjects, and, his ability to describe his experiences. They had only thought he was a shiny talking bird at first but after knowing a little more about him, they found him to be more amazing of a being than many other creatures present in this garden. His feathers were heavy and made of silver, and, he had even picked out one of his feathers for the students'' evaluations. ''That one feather alone was around a kilogram of silver, the price one could get for it was tens of gold coins, and since it was a feather of a creature, the natural details of this thing were unbelievably vivid.'' I already have a few of these feathers from ourst meeting so I know them better than others, but still, this one feather alone could be worth a fortune for some of the students present there. Just the thought that this was a feather of a bird who could grow more of these feathers was a thought that made their head spin with weird thoughts. But, they also knew it was better to just work and earn their own money than steal the feathers of some nine-meter-tall bird. A bird with the legs and ws of a tiger and the upper body and wings of an eagle no less. They would die even before they were able to touch the tip of those feathers, but, truthfully, they didn''t have to worry about this much. Sir Jade doesn''t actually care about a few feathers so, if one asked sincerely, I knew he would happily give them one. They were merely his feathers at the end of the day. He only needed a bunch of them for flight support. [[ "Well, you see Axion. I knew Sarah way before I met Elkin. We both also knew we were a perfect match and that I could be her familiar. However, back then, I had no interest in serving under some witch or being her partner for the rest of my life." ]] We were talking through Celes'' connection and, since there were still a bunch of students talking with him, this was a better way than attracting any unnecessary attention. [[ "Long, long ago. I used to live in the Woods of Jumilimp, a ce famous for its beauty and tall trees. A great tree existed there until six decades ago and it used to be the home for me and many other beings of nature. It was a small ce, pretty and quiet. It was peaceful. However, after the death of the great tree, the area started bing¡­ less attractive. Some creatures left the ce, some stayed, and some couldn''t leave even if they had the chance to do so. They were imprisoned in that ce by the memories of the past, by the memories of the time they had spent in that ce, by the moments that still remained there¡­ I, for one, loved that ce. The skies above the forest, the winds of home, the mountains, the small children that grew up right before my eyes¡­ it was a home I never wanted to let go of even after the house itself was gone. Haaaaa¡­" ]] I could feel his emotions, the things he was trying to say, as well as what it felt like to have a ''home''. Not a house where we just spend our days, but, a home where we live our life. I knew how it felt to have that kind of ce, a ce where one felt belonging, where one would want to spend the rest of their lives alongside the people who they called a family. I have a home as well, more than one if I say so, truthfully. ''The home that I was born and grew up in, the home where I met my master and spent the majority of my happy days in, and, the home in the capital city of the empire, the ce where I spent all my time in after I was reunited with my family.'' Rein''s house, well, I can call it her home, but, since I had only spent a few moments of my life there, I am not eligible to call that ce my home even though that ce means a lot to the two of us. ''Homes¡­ sweet, certainly, but also warm andfortable, weing, and calming.'' I can understand why he would want to stay in a ce that was slowly dying from the inside after the core, the great tree sustaining it, had passed away. [[ "I met Sarah when she was younger, and when the life in the forest was at peace. I was younger as well, loved skies more than anything else, and when I wasn''t in the sky, among the clouds, I was in my house, on the great maple tree, resting, with my friends and children of those friends. You must know since you have Celestine, all the original beasts have a certain Skill or a role or an ability that is unique to them, right? My power was, well, it was destructive, it still is, so it was never needed in a ce as peaceful as that one. Perhaps, asionally, to ward off the dangers to my home. Those were the only times I ever used that power. And, even to this day, I have only needed to use it a few times. But still, I never liked the destruction. I liked the peace I had, I had been born there so it was obvious I would grow up to love it instead of the violence and destruction that I was supposed to spread. I don''t know if you would believe me or not, but Sarah of that time used to live for destruction and chaos. She was a little crazy, I would say. Perhaps, that was the main reason I didn''t want to be her familiar even after ourpatibility¡­ Haaa¡­ I refused her, and she said she didn''t need anyone by her side anyway. She was arrogant, alone, and dangerous. Perhaps, that''s why when I saw her again, I was so shocked I could not even believe the reality itself." ]] He paused for a moment, nced at the two of us under a tree, looked at Rein with a smile, and shook his head lightly. [[ "I met Elkan identally when he wandered too deep into the woods after getting separated from his caravan. He was a small boy, left alone in the woods, covered in cuts and bruises from falling and nts, weak and pathetic¡­ and still, clinging to the hope that he would go back to his family. I don''t know if it was pity or curiosity or just my nature, but I helped him because I saw a light in him that I had not seen in many creatures of that dying forest for a long time. I had seen humans before him, young and old, children and adults, but, this young child¡­ he was different. He was smart, certainly, I would say. He understood the situation he was in, he understood what I was and how I still saved him, helped him recover, and told him about myself, my home, and things that, well, I had not told someone in a long time." ]] He paused once again and looked towards Uncle El who was ying the fire tag with the other children and Master Brok. He was a professional adult now, a father, but still, he smiled like a young boy who was having the fun of his life ying with others. [[ "He was a strange kid¡­ The first thing he asked me aftering to his senses, was not something simple like where he was, who I was, or what I would be doing with him. Instead of all the simple questions a young child could ask, he asked me, haha, it still makes meugh when I remember his face¡­ His question was: "Can the silver feathers on your body be hollow? It must hurt a lot to pull your weight if it wasn''t like that, right?" Hahaha, there was an unexpected curiosity in his eyes. He was certainly afraid of me, however, his curiosity triumphed over the fear or pain from the previous experience. He asked me a question not even I had thought of before that point and, during the one week we stayed together, in that hollow space of the dead tree, he had convinced me that¡­ there was something more attractive outside of this dying forest. He told me about the world he had seen himself, the ocean that he had been seeing since he was young, about the sky so much vaster than what I had experienced all my life. About the world beyond my home, beyond my prison... And, in the end, he made me take him out of that forest, and, for the first time in my life, I left the forest, and, witnessed the true vastness of this world, thisnd, this space, these winds¡­ these clouds. I had always thought the world was a small ce, and happiness could be found in a limited space only. But, perhaps I had been wrong about it all since only after I met this curious boy, I was able to see the true greatness of this world, and, perhaps, because of the y of our fates, just like how I met him and ended up doing what I thought I might never do until the end of my life, the girl that once was known for her destruction, the one I rejected due to her violent nature, had also found something that changed herpletely." ]] He sighed after that once again, and, after hearing all of this, though some of my questions had been answered, some new ones had popped up in my mind. [[ "There exists the fate of every element in this nature, Axion." ]] Some of the questions I had were baseless, some absurd, some logical, and some of them were just outrageous. [[ "And, the fate of one thing might be connected to something we might have expected the least." ]] My questions were making my head heavy, and Rein noticed it, so, she stood up and, hugged me gently, helping me calm down a little. [[ "Perhaps, everything is connected in this nature, or perhaps everything only gets connected when one''s fate intertwines with another after the first encounter." ]] He was talking about fates. He was saying nothing in this world is a coincidence. And, if what he was saying was true, then, thinking back, everything that had happened in my life until now, everything that I had been through¡­ [[ "The connection of fates is strange, Axion. Trying to understand them might bring no happiness to one but instead chaos, or at least, it is what I have learned from my own experiences." ]] The connection of fate, one thing leading to another, if we think it deeply enough, isn''t my existence in this world itself, a strange error? A strange error that led to thighs that were also strange in themselves? What if- [[ "If ''ifs'' and ''buts'' were candy and nuts, what a delightful world we''d have, Axion. Hahaha, I only said things are connected, that there exists a connection of fate, young boy. And also that it''s just what I have learned from my experiences. One thing leads to another, something leads to something that is not nothing, absolute''s existence blurs, and the possibilities of uncertainties arise." ]] My head hurts... [[ "Thinking too deeply about the hypothetical what-ifs and scenarios that haven''te to pass might be a good mental exercise but, at the end of the day, the present is what has just passed, child. You live there, we all do. And, to change what woulde, we do what we just have." ]] My head hurts...! [[ "Haha, I know you would want to dwell deep into your own thoughts, but, why not do it when you have the opportunity to do so in private? Why not enjoy the present a little? Look around. And since things are connected anyway, free yourself from the burden of the unknown possibilities." ]] He was saying all that to me¡­ why was saying all these things out of nowhere like that?! [[ "Me meeting her and the things after that, me meeting him and the things after that, and the two of us meeting again, were perhaps very simr to her meeting me and then her meeting your mother, but still, the moment we met each other was the moment unforeseen by either of us. Which just proves however you try to introspect, the past would remain unchanged, the future would remain uncertain, and the present¡­ would just pass like a fleeting winds of fate." ]] "Alright, everyone! Looks like Jade will be taking his leave now! Let''s gather and say our goodbye and thanks to him~!" [[ "Live, Axion. Live a little more." ]] -OOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! Arge gust of ''golden'' winds covered the area around him once again, and, after a light bow to us, the creature that had stood among us for quite a while, just¡­ vanished, along with the silver feather it had picked out earlier. "Uriel... something strange just happened." "Hmmm? Yes? I know something happened. You suddenly started worrying about something excessively. I thought you remembered something you didn''t want to¡­ what happened?" "You¡­ weren''t listening to what Sir Jade and I were talking about?" "You were talking with him?" What was she saying? Isn''t that obvious? "Yes¡­? Through Celes'' connection. Celes, you didn''t give her ess?" [[ Hmmm? What are you talking about master? What connection? I was watching the green fire lizard and the others for a while¡­ did, something happen? ]] "What¡­?! What did you just say!?" My head was hurting all of a sudden. The words of Sir Jade were ringing in my head! Something had happened. Something definitely happened! "This is strange..." This was¡­ strange¡­ Chapter 649 Minor truth… Chapter 649 Minor truth¡­ [Rein''s POV: ] [[ "So, you are saying that the two of you talked about all these fates and things and things and theplicated stuff but at the end he told you to¡­ live? I don''t understand what that means darling." ]] [[ "Me neither. Tha''s the thing. He was himself until the midday through the conversation and everything was going pretty well and ''normally'' but after a point, everything was drifted in some weird direction where he didn''t even seem himself. It was verity weird and then my head started hurting as I continued klistining to him¡­ It was the same kind of pain you would get after knowing the things that you shouldn''t." ]] [[ "You mean the Penalty?" ]] [[ "Yes¡­ something like the penalty but not as intense as that. Something like half panelty? You can say I heard things that I knew a little about but since they were too deep or connected to something that we still don''t have ess too, they became too much of a burden. Haaa¡­ it was weird. And the most weird aspect of all this was the fact that we were certainly using Celes'' connection all that time." ]] [[ But master! I didn''t- ]] [[ "Yes, yes. I know you have nothing to do here. But as I said, there was something strange going on with that whole conversation in the end. Sir Jade didn''t even seem like himself. It was like the one talking was apletely different being. And that golden light, you at saw that right? Don''t you think something was weird about all of it?" ]] [[ "Ah¡­ right. I did think that golden light was something unique but then again, he is an origin beast and somethig that we know little about. I thought it was some kind of skill so, I didn''t think too much about it." ]] [[ "Rein¡­ do you hear yourself?" ]] [[ "Hmmm? What do you mean?" ]] [[ "Repeat what you just said." ]] [[ "What I just said? You mean about Sir Jade using some skill that I didn''t think too much about? What about it?" ]] [[ "Repat it again." ]] [[ "Oy darling¡­ why are you being so paranoid about this small thing-" ]] [[ "Just do as I say!" ]] Now he was shouting? What the hell? ''It''s not like him to shout like this. He is usually calm andposed but since he was the one shouting¡­'' There was certainly something going on. [[ "Sir jade used a skill that produced a golden light but since we know little about him-¡­?! Wait wait! What the hell! Don''t we have a detailed report on his abilities and skills?! Thest time we saw him, we-¡­ ugh!" ]] [[ Master! What happened?! ]] I felt a sudden headache, a severe one that made me think like my head burst like a balloon for a moment there. But thankfully, it was only momentary and when i checked, my heads was also on its ce. Haaa.. good lord. This was freaking hellish! [[ "You get it now? The headache?" ]] [[ "Yes¡­ you were feeling this forst two and a half hours?" ]] [[ "¡­that''s not the point here." ]] [[ "How''s that not the point?! You were hurting like crazy and you didn''t even exin that?! Why did you do that?! And why didn''t I feel what you were feeling?!" ]] He had been in pain form the time Sir Jade or whatever that creature was had vanished from the garden before us and after that first ss, two sses had alredy passed. We were attending our individual sses right now and I was in my Spirit bonding ss, listening to the teacher alongside Quin and my other ssmates, but my attention was focused on our conversation for most parts. But that''s beside the point! He was enduring all that and I didn''t even knew about any of it?! What the hell?! [[ "Rein¡­ calm down. Whatever happened was not something as simple, as we think and I believe you already know the reason behind this headache, the fact that you thought we did not know much about sir Jade, and the things that happened during that moment." ]] [[ "I know but¡­ why would someone make the it into a ''truth'' just to hide it from us students? What was their motive?" ]] The reason we felt that headache and the fact that I was thinking Sir Jade producing a golden light was something normal was all because some people with an origin skill had taken an origin oath that created some kind of ''minor truth'' and became of this, we ultimately were thrown off focus form what was already before us. The method was absurd when we thought about it and the fact that it was employed only so that that bird or whatever it was could have the conversation with Eon and others could be kept away from it. ''The ''truth'' they must have employed should have kept the memories of the creature limited, should have kept the conversation going on without interruption through that unique connection that Eon thought was Celes'' and, it should have also kept the others from thinking it was something perfectly normal.'' It must have taken formidable powers toe together to create this unique ''minor truth'' but¡­ why? What could be the reason? [[ "They told me not to worry about things that are uncertain anyway. And, they told me to live. Live a little more¡­ or so they said. I never felt some kind of hostility or hidden intention from them so, I don''t think they meant harm to me in any way. And, they certainly told me about their time with uncle El and Miss Sarah, so, I think that being certainly had Sir Jade, or at least their memories or something. Perhaps they were a part of Sir Jade were inside him or were borrowing his body for a moment or something but the way it happened Rein¡­ I don''t think we should think about it too deeply." ]] Now that I had realized there was this ''minor truth'' in ce, I could feel him once again and, I could feel the strange relief he was feeling alongside that tinge of little pain. He really meant it when it said there was no need to worry, which wasn''t like him. [[ "Eon¡­ what happened?" ]] [[ "Actually¡­ nothing. It''s nothing we should worry about. That''s all I would say right now." ]] Which actually meant he didn''t want to talk about the things that had happened, that he already had an idea about all the stuff and that they were nothing I should be too concerned about since me getting involved would just make things even moreplicated. He was worried but, I know, even while listening to his boring high magic theory ss, he would be smiling bitterly at his own situation. [[ "Promise me you won''t get hurt because of this incident." ]] [[ "I certainly won''t, but, the thing is, I am worried the ones around me might." ]] [[ "If you believe it will be alright, then it will be alright. Remember that thing Sir Jade said about living a little more instead of thinking about things? Well, let''s just do that then. Let''s finish the sses and tell everyone that it was nothing. They are also worried since you looked off during the lunch today. Quin has been worried for a while as well now." ]] [[ "Haha, has she now? What is going on there anyway?" ]] [[ "Just the same old same old. Oh, right. Did I tell you some of the students will try their first spirit summoning next week? Wanna join us after sses for that?" ]] [[ "Sure~! Why now~. We can have our regr practice after finishing with that fun thing." ]] [[ "Hehe, then looks like everyone else will be there as well. It will be fun~!" ]] [[ "Haha, of course of course. Go focus on your lecture now. The teacher should now be starting with the hierarchy of spirits, I think? Focus on that. You will learn more about Clover." ]] [[ "Ah, right! About clover¡­ haha, I still can''t believe she is something so important" ]] [[ "She is important. But, the one she serves is even more important. That''s why you should take better care of her. And to do that, you will have to focus on your sses, for which, I will take my leave now. Take care." ]] This bastard¡­ he just said that and then, stopped speaking. And not just that, he turned on the connection link from his side as well so that I can''t contact him anymore. Bastard. "You look better now, Uriel. Looks like the thing with brother Lucifer has been resolved?" "It has. So don''t worry now. Look what madam is saying. It seems to be rted to the rank of your guardian spirit." "Right. Haaaaah. I''m just relive everything has been sorted out. That look on your face and the tension on brother Lucifer didn''t look good at all." "Of course you dummy, why would tension and confusion look good? Besides, it was nothing. He was just overthinking things like he sometimes does." "Still, overthinking or whatever it was, I am relived it''s over now." "Hmmm~? Is someone talking in my ss~? Is it Miss Uriel~? Do you have a question young miss~?" Our spirit bonding ss teacher was a special beast person and a very fundy. We all loved her after just this short time together. She was fun, pretty, hot, and most of all, she was amazing when it came to the understanding of the spirit creatures. "No ma''am! I''m just talking with my friend about something! I apologise! I will stop now!" "Don''t shout you dummy. I can hear just fine. Anyway, now that you have broken the ss and attracted everyone''s attention anyway, would you mind demonstrating this little thing I just taught?" "Shall I? Isn''t it better to demonstrate yourself first so others can learn?" "Hehe, what are you talking about Miss Uriel~? I know you also wanna do this~. Then just do it~!" Well, what she said wasn''t wrong either since I wanted to do it as well, but, now that she was insisting anyway¡­ "Then shall I?" "Yes~. Please~! Come Clover! Show us something amazing!" "Me~!" Even Clover was excited, hehe. ''We were talking about the spirit hierarchy, and spirts had this unique way of disying their ranks in their society. And, we were going to demonstrate it now!'' It would be fun! ''Even more so since Clover is a direct attendant of the spirit kind of Water element and hold the highest rank among all the spirits present here, hehe.'' Clover was amazing¡­ and now that the burden on my heart was listed, I can happily y with her, and everyone else, of course~! Chapter 650 The hierarchy of spirits Chapter 650 The hierarchy of spirits [OP: ] Everyone in the world knows that the spirits actually live in the spirit realm and that there exist different kinds of realms that not just anyone can ess. The spirits, for one, live in the spirit world and the basic ranks or the ranks of ssifications that the humans have given them are simply as follows: Newborn spirits, the spirits that have just been born in the spirit world in the kes of the creation'' where all the spirits are born< the Basic spirits that have learned about their powers and are able to use their powers in a simple way< the intermediate grade spirits that have learned a great deal about the elements and have mastered the powers that they possess to a certain degree. They are the spirits that are mostly found in the human world which are considered to be ''useful'' and something above the ''useless'' spirits. Then there are Advanced spirits who have mastered the elemental power or the power that they possess to a higher level and areparable to the high mages of this world inparison to the pure power. ''These kinds of spirits are the powerful ones that only the talented summoners could ever possess and only the geniuses of the world could ever have more than one contracted Advanced spirit. Thenes the Superior spirits, or the spirits that have mastered their powerspletely. Their powers have reached a point where they could use their power to influence the outside world at will and even the elements of nature that are usually not something that one has ess to are opened to them. They have such mastery over their powers that inparison, they are simr to the (tier-8) mages who have cultivated their magic for a long time and some of the Superior spirits who are older and have a higher standing in the Spirit society, are evenparable to the Elder mages. Above them are kings and queens, the sovereigns whomand the elements, assist nature, look after the other natural elements, and even fulfill certain duties as the pinnacles of this nature. Most of these kings and queens are, for most parts, Primordial beings, and if not, they are the sessors of these primordial beings that are some of the beings who have achieved the qualifications and powers that surpass the previous kings or queens. If they fall behind them in the manner they are chosen as the sessor, then they are denied the throne by nature itself and if they do seed in session then the memories of the previous rulers are passed down to them before the previous kings and queens say their farewell to the new rulers and be one with the nature... It was aplex process which was much moreplicated than it sounded. However, these all are things that the humans have found out about the spirits after their long association with them. The true systems of the spirit world are still a mystery to most of the creatures of the nature of the current world. Society avoided theseplicated things on one end and those who want to know more about theplicated things like the spirit mages and the mages who do have a deep interest in these things, do not have a proper means to get that kind of information since there are many natural restrictions in ce. The barriers of various physical, spiritual, natural, and metaphysical forms prevent the true transparency that could make these two kindse on an equal level but, it was a natural thing. If one really wanted to know these special things, they would first have to gain the qualifications and then an appropriate power to get to the truth by themselves. Not many are able to do so in these times but those who do manage to achieve something so unfathomable, are the beings of great power and authority. They know the truth of the spirit society that no normal human is allowed to know, and, though some of the ones who do have this true knowledge are willing to share this unique information with others, they also face some restrictions themselves. ¡­ In the past, many of the humans and other races had tried spreading a little more light on the spirit, but even after all their efforts, the things that they managed to find out were very limited. "Alright, Clover. Just as ma''am showed alright. Let''s focus and do it." "Meeeeeewooo~!" The things that they did manage to find out included the fact that there existed a hierarchal system among the spirits and that aside from the rankings known by the humans there existed another unique rankings that determined the true powers of the spirits and their authorities in the spirit world and this world. "Huuuuu¡­ take a deep breath, try looking deep into your heart, see a unique light¡­ oh, I see a green light. Must be yours right Clover? Hehe¡­ alright, so we bring that light outside now." "Meeeeeeew!" "Good good. Keep going keep going. I know you can do it!" "Mewooooooooo~!" -Ooooooooooooong! The spirits have a unique hierarchy where some are given special ranks and some spirits in special positions possess an authority that surpasses the other spirits in some of the cases. There are times when even a basic spirit that has a unique position in the spirit world would possess an authority higher than even the Supreme spirits. These are special creatures that are unique to that realm and rarely ever avable to humans for the bonding process. However, there are times when the humans do manage to summon and form a contract with the special spirits, and, Clover was one of those special cases that are one of a kind. "Mewoooooooo!" "Yes! Amazing Clover! You did it!" They were in their spirit bonding sses on some middle floor of the academy castle and there were many things present here side from the students, the teachers, the spirits of the students and the teacher, and the whiteboard that she was using to exin the things to these students. "Wow~! See everyone~! I knew she would seed! She is amazing!" The teacher was a wolf person with the face and tail of a wolf, a humanoid body, and an attractive face. She was a grandmaster rank spirit summoner and was the master of three [Supiror] grade spirits, as well as six Advanced, eight intermediate, and four basic rank spirits. However, even a teacher of her caliber did not possess something like Clover, a spirit that was a direct assistant to the crown, or the spirit queen of water. "Look, everyone. That''s the (Spirit rank insignia). Every spirit that is eligible to form a counteract with some other being possesses one of these insignia that are directly bestowed by their rulers. The one you see before you is a very, very, very special one. This is my third time seeing one in my two hundred years of life, so, just understand how special this is~!" She was genuinely excited as she saw the unique insignia that now floated above Clover. It was a unique mark with aplicated geometric pattern that was very difficult to understand and, without a clear understanding of these insignias, it was impossible for the others to recognise the meaning they held. However, their teacher had drawn all themon kinds of inginias on the whiteboard present before them at this moment so they were all looking at a certain one that was drawn away from all the other insignias. "Haha, don''t praise us too much teacher~." "You like it girl~. I know that kitty does as well! Look at that adorable face, hehe~." "Mewooooo~!" The teacher was a cheerful person that Rein liked a lot and Clover did as well, that''s why even as she floated around the open space with an excited smile, she knew she was doing pretty well. The praise from the teacher was quite something for both of them, however¡­ looking at this happy version of Clover, was not something the other spirits present in this ce were used to at all. "Hehehe. Clover, that''s enough. And don''t go there. They are afraid still. Don''t harness them much." "Mewooooo~!" There were many basic spirits present here and they were pretty good friends with Clover but, starting from the intermediate spirits to even the Superior spirits of their teacher were afraid of this happy Clover. They were in a coroner and were avoiding any kind of interaction with her or were avoiding offending her in any way since offending her meant challenging the authority of the Spirit Queen herself. She was a direct attendant of the Queen, one of the only six ones at that. And she was Rein''s familiar. This alone was a non-digestible fact for the other spirits who knew her from her time in the spirit world but even more absurd for them was this changed form they were seeing of her. "Haha, I can''t believe you all fear this cute kitty. She''s so adorable~. Why do you say she used to be a ruthless and evil one who punished others and even beat others if they bothered the queen? She is cute and I don''t even see anything ''bad'' anywhere around her. She''s pretty pure one instead~." The teacher knew what her spirits had told her but she could not believe them even now. How could such a cute little kitten be someone who could beat these big spirits? She didn''t know the reason they were all afraid of her but since they had seen the real version of this kitten¡­ they all knew¡­ The happy kitten with the royal insignia, was not something as simple as these kids, this teacher, or her own master, knew at this moment. She was something much more than a cute kitty, if anything, they all would collectively call her the reincarnation of danger itself. They were all afraid of her regardless of their higher power. She was their superior. And this cute appearance, or the opinion of their masters, will never change this fact... Chapter 651 Curious girls Chapter 651 Curious girls [OP: ] Their sses all ended and though Lucifer had been a little lost through the first few sses, as the others noticed, he had returned back to his old self in a little while. He was fine now as well, and now that they all had finished with their sses, they were resting a little and after this little rest in their usual ce in the garden, they would return to their housemates and continue with the practices and the training for the alchemy exam. They were chatting right now as usual and, the atmosphere was a lot better than what it was at their lunch earlier. And, though no one was bringing up the topic regarding what had happened to Lucifer, they knew he was fine now so, they weren''t worried like earlier either. "Hahaha~! Uriel! Clover really is that amazing? Even Lio is afraid of her~? Don''t joke~ like that~." Titania patted Uriel''s back as she said that whileughing and her familiar, the giant holy beast of the fairy kingdom, the special wolf,ughed alongside her. "See~? Even Mike isughing~. Hehe~." "But I am telling the truth though~! Really! Ask Quin! She was there as well~! Clover is a direct attendant of the spirit queen or something like that so she has more authority than Lio and the other superior rank spirits so they all are afraid of her. They either run away at the mention of her name or behave as obediently as a docile puppy does before the one that feeds them!" "Yesss! Uriel is telling the truth! They were all afraid of her~! Even my Pompom is still afraid of Clover~. Hehe, he acts cute when he is like that." They were all chatting like usual, the girls were having their evening tea together while the boys¡­ were doing something unique in a different corner today. "Hehe, alright! Alright! I will believe you~! But that aside~. What are all the boys doing~? Does anyone have any idea what they might be whispering about to each other while putting up so many protective barriers?" "It looks like they are talking about some top-secret thing lol. Even my darling seems pretty into whatever is going on in there. They all sure seem to be talking about some state-level confidential matter hehe." The way they had put powerful barriers all around them had a little different story but, right now, the girls were getting all curious about whatever was going on in that ce. At least, Uriel, Titania, Lizzy, Alquea, Rexie, and Ca had a little interest in whatever was going on in there. "Luna? Do have any idea what they all might be talking about?" Titania asked Luna but, she just shook her head and continued clearing the sharp teeth of her shark familiar with arge ice brush artifact. She didn''t know how but this familiar fish of hers always had bad teeth after returning from its evening walk of the garden. "Hmmm¡­ then Bell? Do you know anything? Can you try sending your familiar there?" "Hmmm? No. I tried but He didn''t want to go there. He says that there is something that he feels will eat him alive. Looks like they have put quite some powerful barriers to prevent anyone from interfering with their conversation." "Ughhhhh! Now this makes me even more curious! Damn those bastards! And it all started because of Prince Alpheus right?! What could he be talking about with all of them?" The boys inside those bunch of powerful barriers included Lucifer, Alf, Chry, Prince Alpheus, Captain Alpha, J''s poet lover, Hide, and for some reason, Prince udius and his cat familiar as well. It was a unique gathering that was happening for the first time and it was initiated by Prince Alpheus, the others just joined it one by one or were invited by the others for certain reasons. "I am curious, as well Uriel¡­ how many of you think it is something rted to a girl?" Lizzy proposed and at her question, stars appeared in the eyes of all the girls present in this ce. "A girl?! Like, you mean there is someone that Prince Alpheus likes and he wants advice from all the boys?!" Uriel shouted and right after her, Araxie spoke up in her usual tone. "No fucking way¡­ I understand a few but what are the others with no experience with dating or whatever are even doing in that ce with all of them?! They are practically a ma that attracts but are pr sides that deflect when things actually start!" She used more curses than Ca sometimes but, they all liked her even more because of this fact. She was like that older gangster girl in the middle of a bunch of good girls¡­ or at least something simr. "H-hen?! What are you guys talking about? That''s so inappropriate!" And then there was Neb. Someone who was always calm andposed but whenever it came to dating or anything even remotely close to that topic, there was always a blush present on her pretty face that made her prettier. Vice President Cradle loved seeing this reaction of hers and teased her secretly at every chance she got. "Alright girls. Shut up¡­ Zoe. I bet you know something. Tell us." But, then there was Ca, someone that was always calm andposed every time it came to dating and rtionships. She herself had no experience with any of the dating stuff itself but, only her close ones knew this fact, that she was someone who was obsessed with romance novels. Especially the ones with inappropriate content. She was an expert when it came to the theories of romantics or anything rted to interpersonal rtionships. And, at the topic that was brought up right now, her special secret instincts had kicked in. "Hmm? Right! Zoe must know something! She knows everything that is going on somehow!" She knew if something was going on and it involved Eon and Rein did not know about it, there was only one person that would know of that thing that was going on with him and others connected to him. "Ohhh! Right! Zoe! Tell us! Quick!" And, Titania was overly eager to know about the rtionships that were going on in this academy. She actually had a unique interest in love as a subject since one of the people she looked up to the most was an expert in the field of love, attraction, and sensual desires. "Ummm¡­" So, now, all eyes were on Zoe. The only person who allegedly knew of the affairs that were happening inside those walls of barriers at the moment. "You people know I can''t tell even if I knew something right?" "She knows! She definitely knows something!" "Right! She didn''t deny it outright! She definitely knows something!" "Girls! Grab her! Surround her! She might just run away now that we know! Quick!" "Oy wait wait! There''s no need to do that!" The girls didn''t listen to her even though she said that and surrounded her from all sides. The familiars that were present at the moment in this ce all also became the second wall that surrounded her from all sides. Even Luna and her shark that were in the middle of brushing were prepared for whatever she might do and had gotten behind her, in a ce that was the best escape route. "I said there is no need¡­ haaa¡­ you guys are unbelievable." Zoe sighed, but, there was a glint in her eyes. She found this scenario fun and there was no need for her to keep this secret a secret, but, there was also no reason for her to tell these curious girls about something personal of someone else that she ''technically'' should not know about. "Girls, you know I can''t tell¡­" There was no reason for her to tell these girls, yet. If they were able to persuade her, even they knew the secret the boys were trying to keep from them would be revealed in an instant. "Name your price Zoe." Ca offered first but, it only made Zoe smile with her usual joyous smile. "Sister Ca~. You know well that these things don''t work like that. If I say no then it''s a no~." "I can get you something really valuable Zoe. Something really really really valuable." And after Ca, Uriel looked right into her eyes and offered this mysterious thing. She didn''t say what this valuable thing was, but, while looking into her eyes, Uriel told her what this secret thing was through Celes'' connection that was still avable to them. "Ohhh! Wait¡­ hmmm¡­ it''s tempting. Very tempting. But no. I can get those if I try on my own so no. And besides, as I said, you can''t just bribe me! I can''t tell you all!" "You are being too much Zoe!" Rein offered her something very precious and valuable, something that was only valuable to the two of them and something that only Rein had at the moment, and, having this special thing was a big deal for Zoe. But, still, it wasn''t something she couldn''t get on her own. She just didn''t want it at the moment so her very very very special offer meant nothing to her. "Alright, Zoe. What will it take to convince you?" After Rein''s failed offer, Ca looked right into her eyes once again, and, this time, Zoe looked back with a smirk on her face. "A little something? From all of you, hehe. But if any of you says no, I won''t tell you!" It was a demand that wasn''t so simple. She was asking something from all of them present here, and, they all had to agree to this thing or else they couldn''t know this whatever secret they were hiding, this whatever secret that they would know anyway after their conversation was over. But, since they all were desperate at this point, they all looked at each other, and, after a little mental conversation and unanimous agreement, they nodded at once. "Tell us first and we will decide after hearing what you want Zoe." They knew Zoe well by this point. At least, more than enough to know she was far smarter, stronger, and more amazing than they could ever fathom. They knew some was special and there were many things special about her, so, whatever demand she was asking for, was certainly going to be nothing simple. "Hehe, it''s very simple~." She told the girls about her wish that she had been wanting to fulfill for a while now, a wish she couldn''t fulfill while they were all on this ind, a wish that could only be fulfilled in their home in the capital city. "So? What do you all say? It will be fun and I know for a fact she will loooooooove it." They were all speechless after hearing her request, which was more of a precious invitation than anything else. People would wage wars for this specific invitation and they were getting it just for agreeing to ept it? They all would be fools if they declined it¡­ and though Ca didn''t like the specifics, she could endure that much for her lovely sisters. "Alright then. I don''t see anyone disagreeing which means everyone is a yes! Yeiiiiiiiii~. It will be fun~." They all had agreed. "Alright, now. Tell us." "Yes!" So, it was time for her to fulfill her side of the deal. "It is about a girl that Prince Alpheus wants to befriend." "Ohhhhhh!" "I knew it!" "See! I am always right!" "But this girl¡­ it''s Ezra." "¡­oh?" "Holy shit¡­ that''s why all these barriers." "It exins everything¡­" "That bastard is asking for something impossible! Even those love experts can''t help him!" They all knew just after hearing this one name, that what the useless prince was asking for¡­ was truly impossible from whatever angle they saw it. Chapter 652 Dude, really? Chapter 652 Dude, really? [Eon''s POV: ] All of it started when Prince Alpheus asked me, Hide, and Ginger for a private chat, and, Alf, Chry, and Captain Alpha joined us out of curiosityter on. The topic of discussion here was that he wanted to ''befriend'' a certain someone however, even with his pinnacle skill of wisdom and all the knowledge and experience it provided, he had no idea how to go about this specific person who, well, every single student in the academy knew very well at this point. ''Ezra Penelope Zarak¡­ the most arrogant, most selfish, most unfriendly, and perhaps the most unique student of the academy at the moment.'' She was from a powerful royal family from the enemy empire of the Roxana empire and, the Zarak Orion empire, located right above the forbidden area, thebyrinth that covered the northwestern part of the empire''s border. It was an empire that rivaled the long-standing Roxana empire even after their short history in this world and the reason for their power and superiority were the many small demonic ins present on the other side of their borders, as well as the powerful individual born in thatnd. It was a ce that produced elites one after another and even themon citizens, conditioned by the harsher environment that they had survived, stood above themon folks of the safemon ce like the empire. They are special people by nature, and, this only princess of their whole big empire, the first in line for the session, was no normal character either. ''She was a regressor, or so my eyes had evaluated but, then again, the existence of the regressors in this world is a little different from all the normal known ones who travel back in time to achieve some kind of goal for some certain reason.'' Just like reincarnations, other worlders, special anomalies, and beings of unique origins, the regressors are beings that have been seen many times throughout known and unknown history. ''And usually, they are called the ones carrying (Curse of rebirth).'' They have some specific trigger that causes them to return back to some certain time, or in simpler terms, their consciousness and memories go back to a previous body of theirs, and repeat a cycle that is not only annoying and painful, but also agonizing and frustrating. It isn''t in their hands when they will go back or what will happen to them at any point in their life and it is always certain that whenever they do go back, they will have to experience nearly the same things that they had previously¡­ or perhaps not. Perhaps those things change. We don''t know that, and that''s not the point here. ''The thing here is, even though some of us do know that she is a regressor, it isn''t what makes her someone that everyone dislikes.'' Her natural personality, the way she is all by herself most of the time, the way she insults anyone that tries to get close to her, and the way she just¡­ hates everyone in this ce makes her the worst person to ''befriend''. ''In over a week of our time in this academy, she has been involved in twelve different situations where, in three, the students involved had been sent to the infirmary along with some other students that were hurt as coteral damage.'' In some incidents, some of the students'' families lost everything they had and it became news, some of the students were so badly injured that she was put into detention for two whole days, and right after she came out of it, she caused some more minor incidents where she carefully avoided the serious punishments by the careful way ofmitting those crimes. ''Some students were poisoned, some were bedridden but neverplied about the incident and instead buried it themselves, and sometimes, she publically badmouthed many of themon students for their ''inferiority''. If that wasn''t all, she genuinely hated the people from any part of the Roxana empire, and she was a bloody racist when it came to students of another kind. Her reputation spoke all about her, and, there was one incident involving her, Princess Isabe, and Prince udius, but details of that incident were better left undisclosed. "Dude, really?" "Of all the girls,dies, women, and everyone else, you want to ''be friends'' with that disaster?" "Why do you even want that¡­ or have you fallen for her beauty or something? She isn''t that attractive anyway." "Ummm¡­ Ginger, I think you should look at her once more. She might not be as attractive as Jen for you but she certainly is a maiden that stands out from most others." "That''s beside the point Alf. And shut up Ginger. If you don''t wanna say something useful, just stay quiet." "Meeeeeeeeow~! You boys have no idea how this poor fellow must be feeling, alright?! Just shut up and let him talk!" Ah, right. After we were halfway into our little talk, we saw Prince ud walking by with his familiar cat generally known as Lady Ore whom Rein loved. ''She was a good advisor and knowledge of all kinds of things so I thought she would be useful here, but since her master, Prince ud was having a difficult time with the topic at hand, she wasn''t engaging in the deeper conversations.'' She was offering small bits of advice but that was it¡­ which was still effective nheless. She really was good at these things. But still, the conversation was progressing nowhere. "Alright people. Let''s stop the arguments and think about the matter at hand here." I spoke up since nothing was going anywhere and we didn''t have the whole day for this silly discussion. He just wanted our advice and we were questioning about things, which wasn''t something he wanted at the moment. He needed advice and we had experience. So, all we could give was a little advice ording to our experiences. "Right. Lucifer would know about these things the most since he actually has a fianc¨¦e." "Hmmm? Wouldn''t Hide know more since he has been with more women than we know?" "Heyyyyy! That''s an inappropriate way to put it you know?! It''s not like I go to them baring gifts and wearing pheromones to get them to spend time with me! They do it themselves!" "Sounds pretty much the same to me¡­ but whatever. what Lucifer said was right. We should focus on the thing at hand here." Well, all of us knew here why he might want to befriend someone so¡­ inappropriate. She would certainly prove to be a good weapon for his house if used well since she was super strong and possessed a ton of talents that she did not use at all. But, he wasn''t asking us for advice on how he could utilize it as a resource, we all would have a list of good advice if the question was that but, no. He wanted to befriend her, and, our own point of view aside, we couldn''t figure out how we could even actually advise him about this thing. ''The person he was talking about had created a very negative image of herself and, if I said so myself, it was a very ingenious and genius idea while looking at the whole picture.'' But, we weren''t talking about her smartness here. Our good acquaintance here wanted to befriend her and, he needed advice. "Alright then everyone. How about we conclude this discussion with onest piece of advice that might actually be helpful to Prince Alpheus?" "I agree, mewwooooo! I have work to do!" "Right, let''s do that." "Hmmm. Hmm. So, who''s going first?" "Hide, take the honors." "Why me?!" "Because thest time I saw you, you were sitting in the middle of six girls all stuck to you like glue." "We were like that since yesterday alright! And, they will go away at the end of today anyway-" "Yes, yes. Do you have any advice for him or not?" Why was he being shy right now when he had all the confidence in the world when it came to flirting? ''Haaa¡­ these people are unbelievable.'' We had put up barriers since this conversation was full of absurd things, and inappropriate ones that were useless for others. But, if they hear us discussing something so stupid, the others will think many strange things about us and, that we couldn''t have. The topic was bad on its own but, the talk itself was also no good thing. "Hmmm¡­ well, considering the type of girl she is, I personally thought she was the kind that was a show-off on the surface but a warm home on the inside. But, I was terribly wrong. She is cold and hard inside out and, she is what she shows. Nothing is an act about her behavior or actions. She enjoys putting others in their ce, and she likes being around only the ones that acknowledge¡­" All of us can tell from his face that he had tried but he wasn''t acknowledged by her and instead was beaten to a pulp even before he could try and resist. We knew about this incident that other students did not since we had seen him right after Ezra had passed by that ce. ''His healing abilities were good so no one noticed this incident but, he deserved it if I say so myself.'' Many boys wanted to see this bastard getting beaten to a pulp, so it was sad that Celes'' clones weren''t watching them at that time, or else I would have done my best to spread the video of him getting beaten. "Hmmm¡­ so, you mean I should not try and pretend to be something that I am not around her, right? Alright¡­ that''s one helpful thing." Prince Alpheus nodded at him and thought about a few things before, looking up at the person that was next in line, Ginger. "I don''t know much about her but, since we are talking about a bully person that is practically bad, with all my knowledge of fiction and metaphysics, I would say however hard something is, if melted properly, the brighter it shines or the more smoothly it flows. Perhaps she has some soft side to her that we don''t know yet, so, finding out that might be helpful." "Ohhhh! Nyaaaaaaaa! That''s a very good advice! I would say you start from the observation, and then decide things ording to your perception!" "Hmmm¡­ alright." I knew he was thinking of how to implement this advice through his own devious ns, but, we had nothing to do with him and his quest for a forbidden friendship. "Lucifer?" Now, it was my turn to give him some advice on ''friendship''. Yeah¡­ he wasn''t even asking for rtionship advice and making things difficult for all of us by calling it friendship advice. Like dude? "Just go ask her if she wants to be your ''friend''." She would say yes if she wanted to and, the worst she could do would be insult him or beat him up a little but then again, he was the captain of her house so she couldn''t just do things to him directly. "Tell me something, Prince Alpheus." "Yes¡­" This whole drama was happening because he had no idea how to approach someone like her. And, also because he was thinking things too deeply and from a limited point of view. "Have you ever talked to her yourself?" I get that she was a regressor and had lived longer and had seen more of this world, but at the end of the day, she was also just a girl and mortal of this world. A miserable one at that. All he had to do was start talking with her and things would begin after that. What was the point when he hadn''t even shared a few words with her? Who knows, perhaps they might have been lovers or enemies, or at least acquaintances in some of her previous turns. He didn''t know that and even without having a word with her, he was asking for advice from us. "Hmmm? Talk with her? No. I haven''t approached her yet¡­ that''s why I am here in the first ce. To ask how should I approach her to make the best first impression." "¡­" "Man¡­" "Dude, really?" "This whole friendship thing was about making a good first impression?" "You are dumb you know?" "Dude¡­ you practically wasted a lot of time, you know?" He just wanted to make a good first impression things were led towards love and whatnot. Haaa¡­ I should have just guessed. "Anyway..." The pieces of advice that we were giving him would be just as much effective in that case as well. It was practically the same. ''A good first impression might lead to a good chance of friendship or a good enough chance to encounter the first sighted love as well. It was pretty much the same¡­ hopefully. ''We don''t know how she might react to whatever he was going to do.'' She might be impressed, which had a low chance of happening, she might punch him, which had a higher chance of happening, he might get beaten up or perhaps things will go well on their own¡­ We don''t know what will happen, actually. But, one thing I am certain was going to happen as soon as we finish this useless discussion here, would be a sudden surge of thedies and their own opinions and suggestions. ''We left them all by themselves and they forced Zoe, so she had no choice but to tell them about the topic of this whole dumb conversation.'' They were waiting right outside of this barrier now, and were prepared to yell at all of us for this absurd discussion we were having but¡­ more than myself, I was worried about Prince Alpheus. What these gossip-loving, rtionship-digging, romance-expertdies will do to him, would be a sight to behold for all of us. ¡­if we were able to get out of the mess ourselves, that is. Or else we will also be drowning in a pond of questions, and negative yelling. Chapter 653 An accident… Chapter 653 An ident¡­ [Eon''s POV: ] "You all guys are unbelievable! What kind of advice were you giving him for him to look so happy?!" "What did you tell him to do?!" "Hey! Alf! Tell me exactly what happened there! Everything! I wanna know every single thing that happened there!" Ca was shouting at us and she wasn''t alone at the moment. All the girls including Uriel, Titania, and Lizzy were shouting at us as if we hadmitted some kind of unforgivable crime and, this had been happening for thest six minutes now. "Lucifer! You are the biggest suspect here! Tell us what did you tell him!" "I have already told you many times and I will say the same thing again. He wanted advice to make a perfect first impression on her and not because he liked her or anything like that but only because he wanted to make her a friend." "Bullshit!" "Yes! Something thatme took you all twenty-one minutes?!" "Yes! That''sme even for him!" Prince Alph was walking on the other side with a smile on his face lost in his own thoughts and I could tell he was thinking of how he would go about all this and how he would befriend her. But, his normal expressions were making them think that he was having his own love fantasies and Ca especially found this concerning so, she told others how this was dangerous. And, since she was the romance theory expert in this group, others followed her words and were causing a ruckus all around us even as we were walking through the corridor leading to the inner parts of the academy castle. We all ultimately had to go to the house training areas so, we were walking together and the girls were yelling at us, just as I knew they would but it was getting too much at this point. "Haaa¡­ just stop everyone-" [[ Master! Something just happens in the joint house training room! ]] My feet suddenly stopped as soon as Celes shouted that and from her voice this didn''t seem to be one of her pranks. "Talk to me." The others were confused by how I suddenly stopped but this wasn''t the time to worry about all of this. They can continue yelling at meter but there was a pressing matter before us right now. [[ A while before, some other students came there and started asking about the book of alchemy and demanded that they let them use it. They said you stole the book and then there was a debate and though Mia tried sending them back, they just continued with their argument and- ]] [[ "Tell me what happened Celes?!" ]] The others were now worried and my expression didn''t look any great so they knew something was definitely wrong here. [[ Yes! So! They continued arguing and then one of them picked up the book from the protective ss te! The others tried their best to get the book back from them but they were taller than the others. Mia had just finished her turn so she was still weak and the healthy boy Ball tried getting the book back but was pushed back by the others. And then! Then! Something happened when the book was still in their hands! ]] [[ "Purple words? Smoke? Were there small sparks and the ones holding them three the book away because of some sudden shock?" ]] [[ Yes master! And then there was this- ]] [[ "Shit." ]] ''Quick steps!'' "Lucifer?" "Lucifer!" "What happened to him!" "Hey! Wait! Where are you running off to!" "Anyone knows what happened to him?!" "Forget that! Looks like something happened! Let''s follow him! He seems to be going towers his house hall! Let''s go!" "Hey wait!" "Heyyyy¡­!" They were chasing after me but I didn''t have enough time to look back at them or anywhere else! Something terrible happened! And, I had hoped nothing like that would happen. Not when there were hundreds of thousands of students present in the vicinity! "Haaaa! Haaaaa!" I hurried and reached the training hall but it was already covered in a dense fog, some students were outside and some must have been still in there, unconscious. "Vice-captain!" "V-vice captain! That-!" "Calm down everyone. It''s alright. Nothing will happen to them." I ran inside without talking much with them. Zoe was right behind me so she will take care of the things outside. What mattered right now was the inside. "Ahum! Ahum!" There was smoke all around me, some of the studentsy unconscious, and in a certain corner of the ce, the smoke was even denser than the other parts. ''The defense machines for the theft were triggered identally, fuck. It shouldn''t have happened normally if the threat was only from some student but, if it was triggered, it means there was something else. Something that triggered the mechanism.'' Or perhaps it was a malfunction but it shouldn''t have happened. If this was something like that, there were other protocols that should have been activated in the meantime but they didn''t. Which means there was something even more terrible at y here. "Celes. Tag all the students here. All of them." [[ Yes master! ]] Lights of different colors quickly started appearing all around me. They belonged to her but not all of them from her cores. This was another one of her abilities that worked in a unique way¡­ which wasn''t important right now! ''Lucy. Protection and purification mask spells.'' [[ *Yes master!* ]] -Ooooooooooong! Some spells covered them and now they will be safe and the effects of the strong sleeping potion in the air will be purified soon. They will be back to their senses and it will be fine- "Where''s the book Celes?" [[ Master! There''s someone here who seems to be in a worse condition! ¡­it''s the boy! ]] ''Shit¡­ no no no!'' Ball. He was sleeping in the back corner and there were his purple magic circuit-like vines all around his body. His body was trying to absorb this fog as well and doing it would mean he would die! ''He has the power to absorb but not purify! This is bad shit!'' The fog was a strong concentration of sleeping gas that quickly puts people in a deep sleep state, and though it doesn''t harm someone directly if one''s body tried to absorb this fog, which is not possible in normal cases, that body would be exposed to the various lethal toxins this nonlethal sleeping potion was made of. ''The defense mechanism creates a parameter that affects every single being present in its range so even the familiars who usually have a unique constitution from the humans and other humanoids, fall victim to this dangerous thing.'' But even they couldn''t do what this bastard''s skill was doing at the moment! "Shit, shit, shit. He will die at this rate!" His body was turning purple with each passing moment, and it was shivering like crazy! He was in no good state and to make things worse, he was having a seizure as well! "Celes! Tell Zoe and Rein to block everyone from this ce! Tell them it''s an emergency! Tell Rein it''s code Eta B 9!" [[ Yes master! ]] The skill was passive so it worked on its own even though he was uncloious! The skill was forcefully pumping the fog in his body and his body was in no state to handle something so lethal. His body was rejecting it, and there was no way to stop this skill¡­ which left me with only one thing. ''Lucy! I am going to perform an external extraction! Guide me!'' [[ *Yes master! Leave it to me!* ]] I had to extract the excess toxins from his body myself, which was in no way an easy procedure. "Alright!" But I had to do it or else this bastard will die in under five minutes! And I can''t possibly have that! I first activated my third eye called out to Asta and ced the tip of her de above his heart, and after that, a few images appeared before my eyes. ''Nice. This is it. Keep this up until the end Lucy.'' [[ *Yes!* ]] This was one of her abilities that we had discovered a while before. She could show me some of the things that I knew already or guide me through the procedures that I had performed before. She can show me the things that should be done to have the same kind of results as thest procedure and this was more helpful than one can think. ''Huuuuuu¡­'' This was just like tracing lines, but instead of normal lines on paper, there was a precise flow of Mana that I had to control, some certain spells that I had to employ on some certain parts of his body, and since we were going to extract these toxins, I will have to create an extraction pump with Asta as the center and have to take out all the toxins from his body that it was continuously gathering. It wasn''t easy but thanks to Lucy, I managed to pull it under the golden time, and right after that, I left the extraction to Asta and ran towards the source of this toxin, the book of alchemy that was still left cold in the other corner of the room. "Whoever bastard was here will have to pay for what they did." They weren''t getting out of this unharmed but that was a concern forter. "Alright." The book was the source of the fog and this fog would stay here until someone turned the security function off manually. And until the fog was gone, that bastard''s uncontroble skill would continue absorbing this toxin¡­ "Haaa¡­ but it''s alright now." I turned the function off and activated the other protocol that sucked in all the remaining fog in the room and after that was done, Asta also finished the extractionpletely on her own. The students would soone back to their senses but, this was a dangerous incident that must have been reported to the headmaster. "How the hell did this happen anyway? Who came here? Which bastard?" Thankfully, everyone was alright but, something bad could have happened¡­ and those bastards aside, it was my negligence of the normal human nature that led to this whole catastrophe. [[ I¡­ I am sorry master. I didn''t know something like this- ]] I didn''t take proper precautions and ultimately because of me¡­ "Something might have happened to them." I looked around myself, at the unconscious students who were my responsibility, at the housemates that I was supposed to protect from anything like what happened right now. "Nothing happened, yes, but¡­" I looked back at the gate and Zoe was standing there, blocking the path with a wall of fire behind her, and Rein was behind this wall of fire, assuring everyone that it was alright¡­ perhaps. I couldn''t see what was going on behind the wall of fire, but, I knew one thing after this incident¡­ ''We will have to change some of the things here.'' But before we do that¡­ "Celes, who were they? Which house did they belong to?" Some people will have to see a side of mine they will not forget for a long time. Chapter 654 Authorities of a house captain Chapter 654 Authorities of a house captain [Eon''s POV: ] "Lucifer¡­" "It''s alright now Zoe. Everything is fine now so you can take the firewall down." She had a worried expression as she looked behind me, at the students whoy on the floor unconscious. There were hundreds of them and they had done nothing to deserve such a thing. As their captain, she couldn''t bear looking at them in the state they were in and, as their friend that cherished them, she couldn''t help but feel guilty and angry at the situation before her. She was a good girl, and she loved her friends. I can feel she was upset and angry at the scene before her through our connection. However, she knew they were alright and that they would soon be back to normal, perhaps without the memories of what had happened to them a moment before. But they were fine, so, she breathed a sigh of relief and, took down the firewall that was stronger than even a (tier-5) magic spell. "Captain!" "Vice-captain! What happened!?" "Darling!" The students of our house who spotted us as soon as the wall was down shouted and attracted the attention of the students who had been sitting some distance away from them. The mental shock of what had happened to the others was severe and Uriel did her best to calm them down along with Ca and the others who¡­ weren''t present there at the moment. I didn''t know where they had gone but at least Rein was here, and as soon as she saw me, she came running toward me and hugged me tightly, worry clearly visible on her face. "It''s fine Uriel. Everything is alright and everyone is fine as well." I stroked her head gently and looked up at the others. "Listen up, everyone! Can you please take care of the others along with Captain? Please keep resting if you aren''t fine. It''s alright! But today''s practice will continue so don''t go without finishing it. We will have new sweets today!" They are asleep right now but they will soon wake up and when they wake up, they will be confused. They might have problems distinguishing between reality and their dream and since they would be waking up from a deeper state of sleep, their mental state might be unstable for a moment. They would be fine without assistance but, assistance would be helpful, and while they all do that, I will go out and find the bastards that caused this thing. "Leave it us, vice-captain!" "Yes!" "Make way, people. Let us go!" "Sweeeeeeets!" They had different motivations. Some were helping their friends, some out of their own house spirits, some for the rewards and sweets, and some were helping just out of goodwill but, they were helping the others and, that much was enough. "Where did they all go, Uriel? Where is Prince Alph?" Celes told me they were from Prince Alph''s house and that they were big strong people in good clothes. She didn''t know their names but, she certainly knew which house they belonged to, which was enough. "They went that way¡­ PrinceAlph dragged them there with the others." "Let''s go there then. Zoe, we will take care of the things there so take care of yourself and the others here. I will be back shortly." "Don''t worry about us. We will be fine~." She smiled reassuringly and nodded at me confidently, which was enough for now. "We will be back then." She was here so there was nothing for me to worry about. I can take care of those bastards on my own¡­ or at least, I was going to take care of them on my own until I reached the empty practice room where something else was going on. "What are they doing Ca? What is happening¡­ here?" This was an empty training hall that was only essible to the house captains for their personal training but right now, all our friends were here, and were watching the students in the middle of the training hall that was¡­ fighting against their own vice-captain. "Please stop! We didn''t mean to do any of it! Please!" "Vice-captain! I''m sorrrrrrrrrrry!" "Aghhhhhhhhhhh!" There were three of them, all three from royal families of some prominent nations of the eastern continent, and, all of them were also quite strong rankers who had achieved good results in their entrance exams. They were good athletes as well and more than their talents, they were famous for their arrogance and the pride they took in themselves for being ''superior'' to the other lowly students around them. ''They were the usual young masters from the novel and I doubted there would be something simr to this to this whole story but, what they are going through right now¡­ this isn''t the extent I was nning to go to in the normal circumstances.'' Prince Alpha stood on the sidelines in front of all of us and the vice-captain of his house, one of the strongest students currently present on campus, Orc Bjorn, was washing the three of them like they were mere worthless clothes. And by washing, I literally mean washing them like they were clothes. "AGHHHHHHHHHHH!" "STOPPPPPPP!" The three were big boys, certainly. Taller than the mass, one of them a little taller than even me and Ca. However, their opponent was a pureblood orc and one with the potential to be someone of great power in the future. ''He had strength and the talent as well as the skills required to be someone that the others could look up to, and, it all could be seen in the way he was treating these kids at the moment.'' With the power of his force, the innate ability of his kind to control things through an invisible force that is a little different from Telekic magic in the application, he was holding them above arge tub of water and, the waters inside of this tub was spinning like a whirlpool so, whenever he dipped them inside there, the pressure, the pain from the moving water that was nothing less sharp than small des, the powerlessness, the hurt to their pride by the pathetic state they were in, and the pain was far more severe than a few punches and insults from me. "AGHHHHHH! You cannot do this to us you pathetic loser! Stop this! Aghhhhhhhhh! You worthless fake prince! Stoooooooooop this!" Prince Alph was just looking at them with cold eyes of disappointment. There was a kind of anger in them that even I was seeing for the first time, and, it was real. He was angry at them, really angry. ''Damn.'' I got a strange feeling while looking at him that indicated, if he could, he would have cut their limbs off at this very moment, however, doing so would put him in a difficult situation. He couldn''t hurt them directly, however, if we were talking about the things he could and couldn''t do to his own house members, then, yes. What he was doing right now fellpletely under his rightful authority. "Oink! Captain! This one speaks badly! Oink! Captain! We throw this thing away!" "I would have loved that if I could Bjorn. But, they are useful even after the crime they havemitted. And, this is the best I can do at my position, so, just continue doing this until they break down." "Oink! Yes, captain!" The house captains had authorities granted to them by the academy, and ording to them, we had the right to punish the house members for any kind of disrespectful action they might havemitted against their own or the other house members, or captains. These punishments weren''t mentioned specifically so the house captain could do anything to them their wild imagination might allow however, there were guidelines as to what they could do to their house members. And, these guidelines were very specific. Like, very, very specific. ''The amount of mental or physical pain one can inflict on them, the degree of damage they can cause to them on the academy grounds, the things they could use to do anything to them and to any specific part of their bodies, the environmental factors, the external factors, the conditions, and the things that were absolutely forbidden were some of the things at least one of the house captain had to thoroughly understand and memorize.'' And, what he was doing right now, was the very limit of the punishment we could give to the offenders. ''A water that was spinning at a certain speed and was of a certain coldness, the air around them that was of a certain hotness, the energy that was binding them and restricting their use of defensive or protective skills, the rhythms in which they were dipped into this water and the time they were spending under the water, it was all so precise even I might mistake it for something too extreme.'' The condition the students were in was bad as a result which might make things even more difficult. There were cuts visible all over their bodies but since they were being washed so quickly, there were just red or white marks without blood left. The water had be somewhat red from their blood, however, since it was spinning constantly and was being refilled by the water spirits Princess Isabe was lending him, it was in a harmonic equilibrium. And, this very peaceful thing was making the results even more painful. "Prince Alph. You should stop now." "Oh~. Vice-captain Lucifer! I am terribly sorry for what my house members have done however, you can rest assured. Once I''m finished with them, which will certainly happen soon, you can take them to the headmaster for the proper disciplinary actions." There was a coldness in his voice that not just me, but the others found surprising as well¡­ and it felt dangerous for some reason. "I know that. However, this should be enough of a punishment." "It should be. However, as their captain, I know for a fact that it is not even nearly enough." "AGHHHHHHHHH!" "Stop this! Please! Captain! Aghhhhhhhh!" One of them was already unconscious, their skin was pale, the body temperature had dropped considerably, and they were barely hanging on to the safety line, and since their very internal energy passages were blocked, or the Qi points throughout their body were restricted would be a better way to say it, they couldn''t even use their own energy to keep their body warm, or conscious. They might get seriously injured if he continues that¡­ and since his vice-captain was like an extension of his own limb now, saying anything to that orc wouldn''t make any difference at all. "Stop it, Prince Alph. This is enough. It was a mistake on my part as well. They just did something innocently stupid. The smoke wasn''t caused by them¡­ most probably." "I know that much already, Captain Lucifer. However, I am not punishing them because of the smoke." The coldness in his eyes increased even more as he looked at the three of them, the serging anger barely stopping at the doors of his heart. [[ He looks scary, master¡­ ]] [[ *Anger of the purest kind that is being kept under control¡­ a rare sight, master.* ]] He was angry. "I am punishing them because they did something they shouldn''t have in the first ce." But that did not mean he could go this far. "And you have made your point, so, please stop this or I will do it myself." He was also at fault since he couldn''t handle his own house members and this punishment will do little to prevent anything like this from happening again. "This is enough." They were just students as well. As a captain, he could not go as far as keeping them barely alive even while doing things by the book. He, as the captain, could not go as far as he intended to¡­ or, what was being reflected through those enraged eyes. Chapter 655 Disciplinary actions Chapter 655 Disciplinary actions [Eon''s POV: ] Prince Alph was angry but he hadn''t lost his rationality over something small like that so he was able to calm himself down after dipping the boys in the water a few more times. They werepletely devoid of any strength when they hade out of the water and though there were bruises and swelling all over their body, he poured some very expensive potions on him and in their mouths, thanks to which they were able toplete their recovery in a short while. It was an ident caused by their stupidity but the reason for the security protocol triggering was not them. [[ "Are you sure this ring has some hidden properties that even I can see Eon?" ]] One of the kids was wearing a certain purple amethyst ring and it was no normal item. It was a powerful item that even my eyes couldn''t figure out the exact powers of since it was sealed with some kind of very powerful seal that was blocking even the headmaster''s eyes. ''But, my eyes gave this ring a freaking six stars, something it doesn''t do usually, so, this ring was certainly something far more than what mat to one''s eyes and I was certain of that.'' There was something about this ring that was vert special so special that even my special spells recognized it as a threat worthy enough to activate the protocols for therge-scale theft. It was special¡­ but, we can deal with the ring after we deal with the students themselves. [[ "I am certain headmaster. But if we are talking about the ring, I believe it will be more useful to me than to you." ]] [[ "Oho? And why do you think that way?" ]] We were currently in the headmaster''s office with me, Prince Alph, and the three perpetrators present in this normal looking special room. This was a special space that had belonged to the headmasters of the academy since the dawn of the academy itself and all the headmasters that had lived here after a certain point in time, do not know of the many things that this ce hides. Not even the headmaster before us knew some of the things that could be very useful to him present in this very room. And, I am not going to tell him about those things until the timees. [[ "Because headmaster, you cannot break the seal on this thing even if you want to, but, I can do it." ]] [[ "And how do you know I can not break the seal, young one?" ]] He was looking at the students with a serious look but the way he was talking with me in that happy voice showed just how good of an actor this person was. [[ "Well headmaster¡­ you are the headmaster and we are currently talking about some item that belongs to a student and perhaps something that is dry important to him. ording to the academy [Origin Order] use 33 article 12 paragraph 33, the headmaster could not take possession of something that belongs to a student in certain circumstances." ]] [[ "Yes, however, the ''certain circumstances'' are specific as you seem to already know¡­ oh, right. You are the son of someone that''s called a demoness. You can just make it so that the scenario follows all the conditions. Haaa¡­ you ungrateful child. You know I am overlooking the things that you are doing in the outskirts, right? I can juste there and watch what is going on in there for myself but I left you and the mingoes alone. And you do something like this to me? My old self feels hurt, child." ]] Well, he was overacting when he said this, and, no, it wasn''t great at all. It was bad instead, but who cares? [[ "The ring is mine. We can discuss the things after I actually unseal the thing but until then, let''s just say despite whatever it is, I will provide you with some books you will love to get your hands on. Books that aren''t even avable in the secret section of the library of time." ]] An almost unnoticeable light shed in his eyes as soon as I had said that but it was so subtle that not even Prince Alph had seemed to notice it. Or, perhaps he did notice it but he did not react to this at all since he was already dealing with the remaining anger. ''He was strangely angry for something that didn''t even concern him. Strange person¡­'' Like, I know he wants to be our friend and all and also just how much he wants to get close to me, but, what happened to our house members was my responsibility not his. Yes, he failed to control his house members but they weren''t his subordinates and he would have absolute control over their actions. He was just responsible here as the house captain and nothing else, so, the anger part was something I could not understand. ''It wasn''t even like him in the first ce. Why was he like this all of a sudden?'' It was strange, but, ultimately, as the captain of their house who had only been a captain for a little over a week, he was not at fault here. Not for the smoke and the things that happened to my house members at least. "Tell us why you did it," the headmaster asked with his serious eyes directly looking into theirs and the students shivered with a kind of fear they must be feeling for the first time in their lives. They were young and not some super special kinds like us but instead, just some kids who wereparatively a little better than the other students when it came to academics and strengths. There was nothing much special about them so they were just normal students and for a normal student to feel the disappointment of the headmaster, a transient being that was far above the normal mortals present on this, was not something simple. ''This was the first ident that happened in the academy during our time here, and the headmaster aside, Prince Alph was nning to file an expulsion report against them.'' He was doing something out of his character. We could just see in the enraged eyes of his just how much he wanted to go away, but, the grounds of expulsion were more strict than us Captains knew. It was ultimately in the hands of the headmaster if he wanted to do it or not and if he decided that whatever the basis of the filedint was, was not enough, then he would reject it. ''And, just bargaining into some other house''s room, doing some little fights, or identally triggering something that they did not even know existed, were not grounds for expulsion. ''He knew the headmaster wouldn''t expel them even if he did file theint so he was keeping his calm, but, he also knew the deciplinary actions were inevitable and, if they do not get something that satisfied his anger¡­'' Well, who knew what he might do with ''his'' house members? We did not know that, so, even as the three children told the story of how they heard about the training method we were using, their suspicion of how I might have stolen the book from the library, and their mistakes that they all epted truthfully, instead of focusing on the three, we were concerned about this angry housecaptain. ''What the hell had gotten into him?!'' His anger was subsiding then it suddenly rose again, then it went down and just when he waspletely calm, another volcano erupted. He was controlling it froming out but since we could see the deadly mes that could melt even rocks present in those dull golden eyes, we knew if the three received an inappropriate punishment, their livester in their house would be hell. We didn''t know the extent this anger could lead him but, we couldn''t take the chance. "Hmmm. I have heard your side of the story and as I had heard from the captains, I conclude what happened was indeed an ident at its core." A surprised expression appeared on their faces and they all looked up at the headmaster. "However¡­" But just this one word made the excitement transition into something darkerpared to it. "You did cause trouble for another house and even injured the students ording to Captain Lucifer''s report. Your actions were the reason that became the reason behind something that could have been catastrophic had they all not reached the ce in time. Your actions were what led to what happened there, and after reviewing the ident myself, I conclude you certainly deserve strict disciplinary actions." The colors on their faces backed darker again as they heard him say this and they looked down in shame and disbelief¡­ The three of them were from prominent families and perhaps this would be the first time in their lives that someone was going to punish them just because they did something that was obviously right. From their point of view, I was the thread that stole the precious magic tome from the academy library and they were the heroes that were going to retrieve this book. However, the book they were going to retrieve, and perhaps useter, turned out to be something that spewed poison at them and because of reason put hundreds of other students at risk. They managed to run away from the ce since they had sensed the danger however, the others weren''t as lucky and things happened to them. I remember they were there when I arrived there with the others and they were in apletely shocked state. They didn''t know what they had just done but they knew they were the reason it happened, and, they knew their mistakes. "You will face seven days of solitary confinement and your domes will be changed to the nkton dormitory. You cannot change the dorm on your own from now on so adapt to that ce. Ah, and, your house will lose twenty house points thanks to your actions." [[ "That is strict headmaster¡­ should be sufficient enough." ]] The punishment was appropriate and harsh so there was no way he would still go after them but, the anger in his eyes was still present. Though it had decreased significantly, it was still present. And¡­ Now, we could see something else present behind them as well. [[ "Oh boy.." ]] [[ "This is a problem¡­ is this a problem headmaster?" ]] [[ "Well¡­ we couldn''t say liking someone is a problem now can we? But, the fact that he was that angry because there is someone he unconsciously likes, makes this concerning." ]] There was someone he unconsciously liked and he did know who but not the reason behind it. It must be the reason for the anger, and instead of overthinking about it, he was trying to channel it somewhere else. And this was making his anger towards these three even more serious. He himself didn''t understand he was angry because of this reason, because he was thinking the person he liked might have also been hurt in that ident, but he knew that they were fine and, his logical mind redirected the surge of emotions to a different way. Now that the target of anger had received the punishment, the true emotions were surfacing a little. But still, perhaps he was still trying to understand the reason behind his behavior. [[ "I have read that the possessors of Solodinel sometimes have difficulty understanding their own mental processes because of the influence of the skill, but seeing this sure is different from what I thought it would be¡­ anyway Eon. Do you have any idea who this person maybe?" ]] The possessors of Wisdom Pinnacle have more than one simple mental problem but they surely get used to them all with the passage of time but, yes¡­ this was also my first time seeing it with my own eyes. [[ "I might have an idea who this person is, headmaster but, I couldn''t say for certain." ]] I had an idea that he cared so much for him to unconditionally be like this, and no, it wasn''t me. [[ "Is it perhaps¡­ Zoe?" ]] [[ "Perhaps. I am not sure though." ]] But, if there was even a remote possibility that the person that he was into was Zoe¡­ then he was another one of the miserable souls that will never have what they want. Still, though, I pray it isn''t her. For his sake and for the sake of all of us¡­ I pray it isn''t her. Chapter 656 Following changes Chapter 656 Following changes [OP: ] idents. They are bound to happen in a space where many people have to be together and corporate with each other. Especially in apetitive system like the one in the academy, there are always going to be idents and they are inevitable. Some were caused by the stupidity of the students themselves, some caused by environmental factors, some artificial ones that were caused by the forces of the outside ones, some ndestine powers that even the highest powers of the academy couldn''t do anything carelessly about, and other factors that will always be the cause which, ultimately produce the results, or in this case, the idents. It was an academy, an educational institute that focused on the holistic growth of the individuals, and in an environment like this one there was bound to be prejudice, personal stereotypes, as well as limitations that would be the cause of the conflict. And, wherever conflict was involved, politics followed behind. Individual and group, individual and individual, group and individual, or amunity and society. There is bound to be conflict all around us and there is bound to be idents in the process of facing these conflicts. And, since the society itself was based on a ss system for most of the parts of the continents, the students who did not understand the meaning of having no rank or particr status in the academy grounds, were bound to create these conflicts which would inevitably give rise to the idents. And, there are things that would still remain inevitable even after the presence of strong authority figures like the house captains, the ones who were the only ones aside from the teachers and student council presidents who actually possessed any kind of authority within the academy ground. Some things¡­ are inevitable. And idents of all nature are included in this. During every past year, there have been times when the students would act on their own and risk their time in the academy or the punishments after bing ustomed to the academy''s nature and the new environment. Conflict would start surfacing, things that the captains had not faced would start surfacing one by one, new powers would rise and the captains would have no means to deal with them even after knowing all about them. It was all enviable, and, the start of all of it, was always the first ever conflict or ident that took ce on the academy grounds. It acts as a signal that even after all the powers that the captains possess, even after the established system they were in, even after all the precautions and safety measures to maintain thew and order within the academy, there are certain loopholes that they can exploit and if not that, there is always an excuse before them for the things they want to do, for their own agendas. Propaganda, some tricks, some mischiefs, or some kind of powerful behind-the-curtain politics takes form in a system that was otherwise working normally, and, sometimes, if the captains are smart enough, they also y their own tricks and use all themotion going on in the environment to get ahead of a race that not only they, but the entire house they are in charge of, is running together. And, what happened with the wisdom phoenix, was the trigger that though very early inparison with the other previous batches, was something that started the ''rush hour'' for all the houses and their captains. Following the ident with the Wisdom Pheonix, the houses became more active. The captains started taking things seriously and the rosy atmosphere of the academy slowly started bing heated, or, from the eyes of the teachers, something that was actually normal. But still, it hadn''t reached the point ofpletely normal news ording to them. From what they all could tell, even after the ident and the trigger, the captain had phenomenal control over their house and their talents spoke for themselves. The students started doing daring things even after knowing of the punishments, they started following the rules and did things that were within the rules, things that although benefitted them or their houses in one way, were something entirely personal from the other side. Some of the students, nobles, and royals for most parts, gathered together and started creating new clubs or in their own words, the societies. And in response to the nobles, themoners also gathered and did the same. The houses and the distinction of house spirit were slowly starting to get blurry and starting with that, the Capetians of the houses, had to step up their games. ¡­ Every house felt with the chaos and the changes in their own way. Some employed some of the famous tactics and created their own systems of rights and wrongs, or (do)s and (don''t)s. Some of them established a system of reward for their contributions and some of them did things that were different from the norm. They continued doing things the way they were doing and even if the conflict arose at some point, they resolved it personally or by legal, liberal, or political means. They did not retaliate and showed their authority, and for that, their point umtion was increasedpared to the others. Some houses did something of their own with the support they had received from their housemates. They established rules to live, guidelines to follow, and habits that were unique to their own houses. Wisdom Phoenix and True Dragons were two houses that did not change their ways much from what they already were. They had no need to do so in the first ce. One house was the top of the leaderboard and even without them changing anything, it stayed like that. And, even though the house that initiated the change did not change its ways, it had managed to maintain its ce in the top three, sometimes overtaking the first ce for a brief moment, but not staying there for long enough to celebrate. The other houses were umting points, and thanks to their changing tactics, the interference from the students who did not care about the rules anymore or were following the rules while doing the wrong, as well as the outside interference that was slowly revealing itself, the Wisdom phoenix could not maintain their top spots for long. The other houses were receiving support from the outside, by the people who used to be from the same house or those who just wanted the fall of the other houses. The notion that the Great Academy was a closed-off space independent from the influence of the outside society was slowly crumbling, and still, no one who would want to support the wisdom pheonix was emerging. Or, if anyone did actually pop up and approached the captains or the vice captains, they rejected them outright, saying they were doing well on their own¡­ Even the members of the houses did not take help from them, be it themoners who would always be in need of money, or the nobles whose families had high expectations of them. They all rejected the help as per the rule of their house, and, for that, they were rewarded with delicates no money in this world could ever purchase. Their captains knew everything about them and the things that were happening all around them and the only reason they still followed their own ways, was because they had an absolute faith in themselves. They knew, they just knew even if the world said their ways were wrong and help from the outside, or a changed method or some leniency with the rules would be a better way, they rejected them all and followed themselves. They chose faith in themselves and discipline over the unreal hope of a better future and by doing so, even after countless difficulties, they managed to maintain their spot in the top rankings. There were new problems every day. Sometimes the house members were absent or went missing, sometimes they faced environmental problems when training in the garden, sometimes they received unexpected punishments because of the things they had not even done themselves, and sometimes, they had to lose their members to the probation punishments. They were attacked even though maintained their own business, but, their consistent top position in the eyes of the others, was not something they could possibly ept. Over the course of three weeks after the idents involving famous figures like the three that received harsh punishments just because they ventured into some other house''s training room ''by mistake'' and tried doing something obviously right, many things happened in the academy. Many things brought substantial changes, many of the things aimed at the peace of the other houses, and many things were positive as well, but that did not change the fact that many idents and negative things happened. Lines were drawn between houses, groups, and societies, and, though the lines had yet to extend themselves to the ygrounds, the ssrooms, and the captains themselves, ording to teachers'' experience, it wouldn''t take long before the differences of opinions, the house conflicts, and the politics reached those ces as well. It was only a matter of time from their experience, but, this time, they were at least wrong about one thing. "Uriel! I was going to eat that!" "Oh, you can have mine. I am full anyway. God, I ate too much today¡­" "Hmm? Really?! Thanks Lizzy~!" -"Alf? Are you done? I want to see what that thing is as well." "Just a minute Miss Bell. I am almost done." -"So, this is how we define the Oligarchy. It''s simple right?" "Hmmm¡­ everything bes simple when Miss Quin exins it." -"Ehehehe¡­" "Shut up Titania. Let them cook." "You shut up you bastard! Hump! Hehehe¡­" -"Haaaa¡­ anyone wants ice cream?" "MEEEEE!" Every single person present, despite of whatever they were doing, shouted in unison. And, their voices rang far away, just like it usually does during many of their lunches. "Haaa¡­ yes." Sitting in their reserved space in the garden, the group that had gottenrger now was having their usual lunch with not only the captains of the houses but, many of their ace members as well. They were closer than ever, at least when it came to this personal space that belonged only to them. Theirpetition could wait till they were doing the other things but, when it came to the food of their Lucifer¡­ there was no force in the world that could possibly separate them. "Help me." "YESSS~." They weren''t going to let things get in the way of their friendship. At least, not in the way of their group lunches and asional dinners, and the rare breakfasts, or the special snacks¡­ Chapter 657 The special ring Chapter 657 The special ring [Eon''s POV: ] Time passed by a little too quickly after that ident with our house members and many things happened in session. The academy had truly started now, and there were different societies, or factions in simpler terms, groups that had powers over the groups that did not possess any kind of power, and everyone had learned a thing or two about the guidelines of punishments and disciplinary actions. There were people who were taking outside help openly and the influence of those who possessed power in the outside world had reached a higher point. Many things have changed over the past three weeks and, now that we will have a short break starting tomorrow since it will mark the start of the annual Alchemypetition, I know many new things will surface when the academy starts again. ''One of those things would undoubtedly be the new scoreboards and the new first ce, and, I am confident that we have a solid chance to get the first spot on the scoreboard if not the first spot in the alchemypetition.'' Things had been difficult for us since all the other houses were doing their best to target us openly and from the shadows. They y all the tricks in the books and get innovative as well with their tricks to make more trouble for us. Rein, Ca, Alf, and even Captain Alpha were a threat that put a lot of pressure on us through lethal as well as illegal means however, we persisted. ''We faced their challenges, I stopped many that were too lethal for the others myself, and took on the responsibility for many of the things that were allegedly the fault of my house members.'' Things had been difficult but, thanks to all of ourbined efforts and thanks to their active participation, we still managed to deal with them, as well as the threats of the outside who somehow had managed to interfere with many of the other houses. ''Haaaaa¡­'' These past three weeks had been so tiring I had failed toplete proper sleep during some of the days, and, since Rein was getting worried about me as well, I couldn''t help but take some time off from the ton of work I had. ''If Zoe wasn''t here with me¡­ I don''t even know what I would have done with all the attacks, and plots, and propaganda, and whatnot.'' However, thanks to her influence, her goodness, her pureness, and her amazingness, we managed to survive through a very difficult period. But, we did what we needed to for thepetition. ''I prepared them for thepetition and after the ident, the house members had gotten unexpectedly closer so, thanks to the new unity that had been established between us, things had be a little easier.'' The ones who would be going for the alchemypetition from our house had all finished absorbing the book to at least thirty percent of what it actually is, with Miss Mia, Ball, and two other people finishing all of what was avable to them, which, truthfully, was a good seventy-one percent of theplete book. They had gained a kind of knowledge few in the world possess at the moment, which certainly won''t be nearly enough topete against those old masters and grandmasters, but, it would be more than enough to finish the first and second rounds of thepetition. And, once they all were through the first day of thepetition if not all of them, then with just twelve out of eighteen of them, they all should be able to get by the second day as well. ''The third day''s results would solely depend on them but, I have faith in them.'' I taught them techniques that have been forgotten in today''s age, I fine-tuned their skills and taught them how to use at least the basic functions of it, I gave them the basics for all the things they would need and, with Miss Mia having learned most of the things I could teach her, I had no need to worry as long as she was there. ''I knew they all could do just fine on their own, and that I can rest assured and attend the Alchemypetition as my real self with this pretty fianc¨¦e of mine who¡­ was trying to do somethingplicated right now.'' -Dhum! "Ughhh! What the hell is your problem!? Just do as I say!" She was screaming at the ring on her index finger, an attractive ring made of a unique metal called Adamantium that was also called the metal of the gods, with a unique amethyst jewel embedded in it, which, also contained the spirit of some unknown powerful creature. "Fuck you!" -Dhum! She fell to the ground due to the sudden increase in gravity around her and screamed once again like she had been doing for thest twenty-one minutes. "That is enough for today, Rein. We should go now." "NO! Once more!" This was the same ring that had been the cause of that certain ident we had, and, getting this from that bastard prince of that small country was a task much more difficult than I had anticipated. I didn''t approach him myself but instead, asked Miss Moon to approach him secretly when he was roaming in the streets of the sky ind. She did pretty well on her job however, that bastard, even though he did not give a fuck about the ring itself, refused to hand over something that belonged to him, something that he had received from histe old man who, he clearly did not respect at all. ''I offered him many things and even threatened him to hand it over once, but, all the attempts were futile. That bastard was just too stubborn!'' In the end, I approached him myself in a disguised form and asked him what he wanted in exchange for the ring, and, since I was intimidating him, he gave up and asked for something so¡­ fucking futile that I wanted to crack open that bastard''s head. -Dhum! "Ughhhhhhhh! Fuck you, you fucking useless piece of trash! Fuck you!" "Haaa¡­" That bastard wanted me to pull some strings and do something that would make Miss Mia have an interest in him¡­ he wasted my time, really. I asked Miss Mia for a favor and told her to y along with that bastard for a while and after a while, he handed over the ring himself, and, signed the Mana oath, Aura oath, and an Origin oath that stated that he was willfully handing over the ownership of the ring to us. ''It was a (Semi-bound) item that could only be truly obtained after the previous owner resigns the ownership in true meaning, and, since this specific ring was an artifact that in fact had a creature residing inside of it, even after I released the powerful seal ced on it, the artifact itself did not acknowledge me as worthy enough to wield it.'' But when Rein took it, the ring bound itself with her on the spot for some reason that I still could not figure out. And, even though it had bound itself with her, this ring did not let her use any of her skills or the power of the being residing inside of it. ''As a matter of fact, we don''t even know what even is inside of this so out-of-the-world amazing artifact that even my eyes gave six freaking whole stars.'' It was an unknown artifact so we couldn''t put it in any of the categories that we have so, this ring was a mystery to me that I very much enjoyed solving. It was fun seeing the face of that bastard that lost his ring when Miss Mia pped him the day before yesterday, but, it had been fun watching the misery of my dear fianc¨¦e. "Get up." The ring had some kind of gravitational power and from what our eyes told us, which was surprisingly pretty much nothing, this special ring and the one inside of it, was most certainly a being of great powers. So great that it enjoyed ying with a witch that had the power to cut anything that existed in this reality. "Ughhhh¡­ take this fucking trash away from me Eon. Just throw it away!" "Yes yes. We can''t do that obviously. Sit here." I sat her down on the couch, changed her clothing with my own Mana, and tidied her hair before cing her star leaf on her chest. "You are a bastard! You are enjoying seeing me like this! Right?!" "Of course I do. And I will keep enjoying this. All you can do is continue doing what you have been." I kissed her forehead, and she was certainly trying to push me away again, but she couldn''t do it since the ring in her hand was still a nice cue to her. "Bastard¡­" She had puffed cheeks and an upset face, a cute one, adorable perhaps. "We have to go see the headmaster now miss miserably. Get ready-" I was going to pick her up after she finished her drama, but, instead, she hugged me unexpectedly and, rubbed her head against my face. "Kissy." "No kissy. We are alredyte." ''There''s still four minutes left before the given time though. Kissy." "No, miss. I know you will continue biting me for at least three minutes." "That''s a given though¡­ kissy?" She looked up at me with an innocent look, a bloody innocent look that was too cute and something that definitely did not suit her. "Three minutes sharp-" She jumped up on me right after those words left my mouth and after exactly three minutes of biting my lips, which happened both ways obviously, she jumped down. "Alright!" And since we had no time at all now, we pressed the star leaves on our shoulders and activated the special features that only the house captains could use. -Oooooooooooong! And, it transported us right to the special ce of the headmaster, which, was not eptable by any other means. Chapter 658 The new assignment Chapter 658 The new assignment [Eon''s POV: ] In the great academy castle that was so tall that even from afar, we could not see the teal peak of it, there existed some special floors and some special room dedicated to some special people, or things. The floor of student council was president was one of them. It existed far above the normal floors of the academy and above many of thebs and even the offices of the teachers, however, there existed a magic lift that takes one right at that floor so it was easily essible to the students and the other teachers. Some of thebs of the teacher were special and was ristricted to the normal students and only the people with special permissions could go there. Some of the special storage rooms or the artificial environments were also special and contained some unique things that not just anyone could go to. The whole of the academy castle was, truthfully, shrouded in mystery. ''I bet not even the headmaster has seen every corner of this castle.'' I had a deep knoge of this castle and its entire structure thanks to my master''s detailed knowledge about the ce, however, even I couldn''t say for certain that I knew everything there was too know about this castle since the knoge I had came from someone who had not visited the ce in person for centuries. She did not know everything about this ce, and she had told me this when she was teaching me about this castle: "The academy building, the main one at least, is a ce that evolves with each batch so, no one knows just what its true extent is". She called it a special structure created by the best minds of all times and a structure that evolved with each batch, and, she also told me leave something of my own when Ie here. ''And, I am nning to do that for certain before graduating from this ce.'' But, that all wasn''t happening before the midterms. "Half a minute earlier, see. I win the bet." "Tsk." "You two! Bete at least once! I lost because of you! Hump!" Headmaster''s office was just a normal looking office however, there were three doors to this room, and, no door opened in some corridor or another room. ''Only the teachers, the house captains, the student council members, and presidents coulde to this room or allow someone entry to this room after taking the permission from the headmaster himself.'' Coming here was a difficult task in itself, and the only way toe here was through direct teleportation. So, the question of what was behind these three doors should be something obvious if there was not some corridor or another room behind them. "Why is it our mistake that we are on time? And in the first ce, we arete from my point of view since one should always be at least three to six minutes earlier for it to consider ''on time''." "That''s bullshit! Shut up! Fuck!" "Pay up young miss. Huhuhu." The headmaster wasughing, Cradle was frustrated since she lost some kind of bet with him, and Zodiac, well, he was ying with SanSan without minding the two of them before we came, but he was no looking at us now with his usual slime, and, SanSan was happily waving his head at us, all happy and cheerful as usual. ''There was something behind the three of these doors, and, it changed with every headmaster. I don''t know what the three doors contain behind them this time, however, I know one thing for certain.'' All three of these doors contain a unique world of their own. Not some normal extended space or special ce, but, quite literally an endless in that the headmasters could freely change at the start of their turn as the headmaster of the academy. ''It was a special privilege only given to them, and since I know what the previous headmasters had behind these three doors, I am super curious to look at what this headmasters of mine has there.'' It is confidential info so perhaps not even these two before us knows what the three of these doors have behind them, but, however difficult it is to see what they contain, one of my goals for these three years of mine here, was to see what all three of these doors contained. ''And I will pull every trick I can to achieve that goal.'' It will be difficult, but, it''s not impossible. This headmaster standing before me had achieved the impossible by looking at all three of the previous rooms of his headmaster back in his days, so, it certainly isn''t some impossible achievement. "Aghhhhhh. This was thest one I had. Now I will have to wait for an entire week to have another one. Fuck." "Hohoho. As the elders say young one: Never gamble something you can''t afford to lose. Take their words to heart." "Shut up you bastard. Taking things from young people¡­ don''t you have any shame?" "Hahaha, one of my old friends always told me to be shameless when it came to education, rewards, and winnings. Such an amazing fellow he was." "Why are you even talking like an old man all of a sudden? It doesn''t suit that attractive face you have at all! Change how you look or speak normally you damn geezer!" Vice president Cradle was perhaps one of the nine in not just this entire school, but this entire world who dared to openly curse at him like this. Not even the emperor of Roxanna empire or other nations on par with them dared to ever even think of doing so. ''In the first ce, most of the world saw him as a near boldly being that deserved respect and devotions only. Curing at someone so great? Themon people wouldn''t even think of doing so in their most curried sleeps.'' But for Cradle, he was just the old man that had taught her how to use her powers the right way, and, she respected him more than any being in this world. Perhaps, this immense respect was the reason and her true nature was the reason she could be so open with him¡­ he liked having the rare ones like her around him. I know he cherished her much more than she did. "How have you been?" President Zodiac asked with a smile while Cradle was handing the headmaster one of her most cherished things, a drop of gold collected in a special ss bottle born from a unique tree existing somewhere in this academy that only she could ess. ''I know where this special ''tree'' is but still, as I said, she is the only one that could ess it, for now.'' It will change soon though. "Hello SanSan~! Hello to you too Prez. I have been frustred becuse of a certain damned ring, but this bastard here had been having fun with my misery." Her words were harsh, alright? I did loved seeing her struggle with that ring, but she was making progress with each day so I admired her as well. And since that ring didn''t even acknowledge me as worthy enough, I respected her even more. ''But seeing her fall to the ground was always fun, hehe-'' "See! This bastard is stillughing in his thoughts!" "You shouldn''t tease her like this, Eon. But what id so funny you can''t stopughing at it though?" "This! This trash!" She showed him her hand, the ring on her hand to be more precise, and the president and SanSan looked at the attractive ring for a moment before he looked down at SanSan on his shoulder and leaned closer to it so that SanSan could take a closer look at it. "Ptssssssss¡­" SanSan looked at the unique ring with his unique eyes and after a carful observation and a few licks at the artifact, his eyes widened with excitement. "Ptssssss! Ptsssssss~!" "He says-" "That its tasty?" "Yup." President Zodiac looked at us with an awkward expression, but SanSan was now looking at the ring with an hungry look as if he had seen the most delicious delicacy in the world. "You can have it SanSan! This trash is junk!" -Ooooooooong! She was just about to remove the ring but, the ring glowed with a purple-gold light, and vanished from her hand. "What the fuck? Where did it go?" "Inside you. Hehe, dumdum. It was a semi-bound item when it belonged to that dumbfuck. Now it''s apletely bound item so it can go inside you, or simply put, melt inside you. Hehehe, I told you it can do it just yesterday miss." "Ughhhhhh! I can even get rid of it!" SanSan now suddenly had a disappointed look, but president Zodiac patted his head and told him there are some things in this world, some very attractive things, that we couldn''t have¡­ such deep words. "Ptsssssss¡­" He looked sad for a moment, but he was The SanSan so, the look of sandess on him was only momentary. "Ptsssssss~." He soon recovered, looked at me in anticipation of the sweets I talked about thest time I saw them, and with a smile of my own, I took out a big box from my storage space. "Ptssssssssss~! Ptssss~!" "No need for thanks, hehe." He was such a cutie~. No doubt Celes liked him so dearly~. "Ahem. Can we get to the point if your little chat has finished?" "Oh, yes headmaster." Their little trade and the aftercurses seemed to have finished as well so, they were now standing there with a serious expression and, since we were done with our little thing as well, we walked before them and all of us sat down on the chairs, or the desks. Cradle has this habit of sitting on the desk instead when we are in this office, so, she was on her ce. "I am terribly sorry to ask you this when you were going on a leave, however, if the matter was something I can leave to someone else, I would have done my best to manage without you two. However, seeing the seriousness of the situation, this isn''t something I could possibly leave to someone incapable." He was going to give us a new assignment as the student council members, and, this had to do with something that will happen during the Alchemypetition. ''He knew we were going there as not the students but as the official guests of the head of Principality, so, asking this to us was a difficult thing for him.'' But, I knew why he was doing it as well. "I did receive some intel about some activity regarding the demonic humans and that you will be going to the other secret meeting that happens during the alchemypetition. But, seeing the look on your face, the intel seems to be cradible." Another cult of demonic human was nning to cause some trouble and ording to some of my sources, they were nning to target the third day where the most normal public would be gathered in the open ce away from thepetition grounds. The intel wasn''t certain however, seeing how headmaster was asking us to take care of this despite knowing our situation, I knew this was important. "You alredy know?" "I would like to get the context info of this ''source'' of yours, Eon. You always seem to know practically everything that is going on around the world." "I just have some good sources, Vice president. You prise me too much." "No one''s prising you, cheeky bastard." The headmaster had his usual impressed expression and, President was also smiling like he usually does¡­ but since this was about the demonic humans, just like Rein, he had an usually dark light present in his eyes. "Are you sure you can take care of it along with the political issues you are going there for?" "We will try our best, headmaster. Besides, we wont be alone there so we will always have some extra pair of hands." "Hmm? Extra hands?" I will have Miss Moon with us so she will perhaps have her first field training with me, Vice President Cradle''s Mirror will be there as well, and, if they weren''t enough, I can always just use the masters and grandmasters present in that ce. They wouldn''t mind lending a hand to eradicate some demon worshipers now would they? "You don''t have to worry about those cult bastards. We can deal with them." He also had an important meeting to attend so he will be away in some secret corner of the world, so, it will be up to the four of us to deal with this small threat. Still though, I know we can deal with them. "Then¡­ let''s talk about the details." And, even if things don''t go well, I had something useful that will at least prevent arge number of deaths at the very least¡­ Chapter 659 Departing for the competition Chapter 659 Departing for thepetition [El''s POV: ] "Take care everyone. And you¡­" I looked at my vice captain E with a confident smile, and put my hand on her strong shoulder. "Take care of them. I am counting on you." "Do worry, captain. I will take care of them and thepetition. You do not have to concern yourself with us. Enjoy the break, watch us, and cheer for us. After all that you have gone through, you deserve this break." She was confident, she was respectful, and was cute, but more than that, she was confident after all the training we had gone through, the harsh things we did to prepare the bunch that was going with her, and the things that I taught them. "I can rest assured only because you will be there, E. Haaa¡­" I hugged this cute friend of mine, and though surprised for a moment, she hugged me back with a sigh, and a smile on her face. "Ok¡­" I looked at my house members that were going to the Principality for thepetition with a serious look and they all flinched visibly. "Remember, you idiots." They all feared me, certainly. That was the kind of retaliation ship required to tame these bunch of children with a hidden darkness in their hearts. "I have faith in you, in the things that I gave you, in the abilities we have nurtured together. Don''t betray my trust, and do your best regardless of the circumstances or conditions. I dare you to do even one percent less of what you could have done in the moment of truth. You are dead if you even think of doing something even close to it." My words were harsh, no doubt they were. No other house captain out here talked to their house members like I did. But, it was how I was. And¡­ "Yes captain! We will do our best! And more if the situation asked for it!" After being with me for almost a month, they understood the reason I acted the way I did, the reason behind my harshness, and, the reason they all have to do what I tell them to. ''They grew up in such a short time¡­ indeed. The Dark society is filled with geniuses.'' My house had many capable ones, but, almost none of them had reached even the halfway of their current full potential. They were onlyparable to darling''s Ball guy, inexperienced, unprepared, and dumb. It took a lot of work for me to pick them out from therge bunch and prepare them enough to have them be on this team. "I have poured my sweat, sleep, and time in you bastards¡­ so you better at least better not disappoint me." I smiled at them, warmly, and patted their heads individually. "Good luck out there. It will be wild. You will feel suffocated. But, just remember what I do with the Higgs guys and you will be fine." "Ptfff." "Yes captain." "Hehe¡­" Some chuckled after hearing myst words of prise while other tried to hold back theirughter. They knew exactly what I was referring to, they could imagin it happening right before their eyes, and, truthfully, it was really funny. So much so that evenughing out loud wouldn''t be weird. "Alright then. Talk among yourselves. You will only have a few hours to prepare as soon as you cross the portal." "YES!!!" We were in the academy garden, in the opposite side from where the sir Quesnel was situated. This was a special area where a mass teliportation area was present and it was a special space that was only used in special asions such as this one to transport the students under the direct permissions of the headmaster. The students this time were going for their first ever off academypetition and it was one of the most important ones. All eight houses were sending twelve to twenty one students as the participants and aside from three teachers that were in charge of all the off academy activity that involved students, three more of our teachers were going to join them in thispetition. ''They all were going to be fine and since these were thest moments before there departure, this much encouragement was enough.'' I left the team of fifteen from my house to E and walked towards Quin''s house where she was preparing to depart herself. She was going there as a participant and it would be her first time participating in any kind ofpetition with a loooooooot of people. "Quin~! How''re you holding up~?" "Uriel!!!" She was with her own house and they all certainly had prepared quite a lot in the hours time they all had. "I am scared!" "I knew you would be, hehe¡­" She handled everything very well, even surpassing Ca''s expectations. She was so good with the management work and was so capable with so many things that she possessed a position similiar to me or Eon in her house. She revealed her Grimore to paper her house members in a little better way and, since her house alredy had a pretty lot of good alchemists with good talents, after they experanced the countless experances of the masters and grandmaster alchemists, they were as close of apetition to us as darling''s house. But, after doing all that, after earning an eternal respect of her house members, she was scared like a little child in this moment. "Shuuuuuu. Let''s first calm down, ok? Deep breathing. Inhale¡­" She was hugging me tightly, and I was stroking her little head. She was only a young that had never experances any of this, especially the cowed of many people,petitors, and people of higher authority. She knew many important people will be there, but, even after having prepared all day and night since past week, she was still acting like this. "Quin¡­ look at me." She was strong, she was smart, she was capable, and even though she had these bunch of expert alchemy in her team, with amanding voice like her, they were nothing more than a mess of individual children. "You are their captain, the thread that will bind them together when you are out there. They need you, so, just remember the story of my firstepation that I told you that night and smile. Go to them, I know you will do well." She was nervous, they knew that. That''s why they had given them all the time she needed to sort out her thoughts. However, now that it was time to depart, they needed her presence and encouragement. "Ptfff¡­ hehehe. You were a mess." "Yes. But you are not. You are far better than what the young me could have ever been so, just believe in yourself. And the faith that I have in you. You can do it better than many of us, so, go there and do it." She was smart, dumb when it came to simple things like these but, certainly, a smart one. "Alright! Thanks Uriel~! You are the best~!" She was filled with a new light after those small words encouragement and was just about to run towards her housemates, but, she stopped and came back to me. "Take care. Both of you." "Of course." She was hugging me with a smile, perhaps thest hug before the departure and after a minute of staying like that, she ran off towards her house mates. ''They are going to do something amazing. It will be fun seeing them from that special VIP seat.'' She was cute, hehe. "Ca." "Uriel." "Take care of yourself." "You as well." Ca was going to stay here so we wouldn''t be seeing her for a while. "If you need-" "Just go. You have work, I on the other hand am going to die of boredom by myself." She just hugged me after saying that. Typical big sister. She wasn''t exactly suited for this alchemypetition so she wasn''t participating this time, and since she wasn''t going there as an audience either, she was going to be here all by herself. ''She says being alone for a while will give her time to work on some of the problems she had found within herself over the past few weeks, and even though we urged her to just go there as an audience, she said wanted to be by herself for a while so we couldn''t do anything against her stubborn attitude. "Go, now. You have others to say goodbye to." "Yes¡­ but don''t overdo yourself! We will have to have a girls only intervention if you go overboard with your self reflection!" "Yes, yes, mother Uriel. Go now. Go." I had to say goodbyes to the others, certainly, but she wasn''t getting off of my radar that easily. I had my eyes and ears here so if she does something stupid, which she most certainly might, she is gonna get a good scolding from all of us. "Lizzy~." "Hmmm? Oh! Uriel!" I met Lizzy, Alf, Titania, Luna, that bastard Hide, and others and, most of them were participating in thepetition. Even my cute little Med was going from Chry''s house as well. ''Chry was going as not the participant but a special assistant of one of the teachers for some reason i still didn''t understand even though Eon told me a while back, but, ultimately, he will be there for Quin. My cute lovebirds.'' They all will be there so it will be fun seeing them all in action and, we both were looking forward to that. "So everyone, just remember what we all learned together, trust each other and yourself, don''t crumble down if you make some kind of mistake, remember, it''s not over until its really over, and, whatever happens, don''t give a hundred percent if you feel you can go for even a hundred and two percent. Have faith in your discipline." "YES, VICE CAPTAIN!" He was giving hisst words of encouragement to his ''disciples'', not house members but the weapons of mass astonishment that he had created with his blood, knowledge, and soul. They were practically hard wired to do unique things now, things that were out of the norm. He had liberated them from the worldly constraints in this short time with his mystical methods and they were now individuals that were practically on par with the current twelve prodigies in their unique way. He had done what he always does, and, since we will be up against the unique aliens that were aiming to win against those monstrous masters and grandmasters, I could only pray that E and the others gets a spark of epiphany in the moment of truth. "Take care. You too, captain." He said his goodbye to the Zoe and the others and came back to me after nodding at Miss Mia, his greatest aplishment in this academy until now. Zoe was also going as a assistant for one of the professors, her ''Creation'' ss teacher if I am not wrong, so she will be there as well¡­ but I still don''t understand why her arrogant teacher is taking her there! He doesn''t even say a word to me! Hump! "WE ARE DEPARTING IN THREE MINUTES! EVERYONE THAT IS GOING, PLEASE GATHER FORWARD!" The announcement was made soon so, everyone finished their talk and the students gathered in the front. "This is exhrating." "Seeing others leave?" "No¡­ seeing others leave for something so grand we had feared it just until a year ago." "Haha, true. This feels amazing~." We were there just thest year and thought even getting past the first three rounds of thepetition would be a near impossible task, but, now, people we had trained were going there¡­ not us, but the ones that we had trained, with the hopes and dreams of all of our houses, so, as their captains, and the ones that taught them, it certainly felt amazing. "PREPARE FOR SPATIAL JUMP!" Arge magic circle of six folds covering half of the area we were in appeared in the sky and smaller magic circles appeared under the feet of the the students that were about to depart for a certain part on the western continent from a ce tens of thousands of metres up in the sky. -Ooooooooooooong! And, seeing them all vanish in just a blink of an eye, their smiling, nervous, afraid faces, was something I don''t think I am going to forget anytime soon now. "They are gone now." "Yes¡­" Soon, the garden became pretty empty and students that were here to say goodbye to their friends started to go back to their dormitories to change and prepare to watch the global broadcasts that will be showed all over the world by different magical means. "Then, shall we prepare to depart as well?" "Yup. Let''s go see what our little friends do~." I was excited for many reasons right now, most of which were connected to this whole of the event and our fellow students, but, the most exciting thing for me right now¡­ Was the fact that this was going to be our official debut in the world as a couple! A real, official couple! "Hehehe, this is going to be fun~." Very fun! Chapter 660 Principality of Lakmer

Chapter 660 Principality of Lakmer

[Eon''s POV: ] The principality of Lakmer. A special trade country that used to be part of the Roxana empire until three hundred years ago, however, through the achievements of the founding prince of the principality, it managed to sign a treaty with the empire and obtain status as an independent country. ''I remember reading the founding prince''s name was George K. Roxana however, after the independence they lost the imperial name settled on the name Lakmer, a word originating from the ancient empiricalnguage which means the ''Independent ones''.'' It used to be a ce situated quite a distance away from the empire to the northwest beyond the greatbyrinth. Their struggle for independence was perhaps only possible because of the presence of the forbidden zone to their northeast, however, a great part of it was fulfilled by the prince of that time who was, ording to the rumors, a reincarnation. ''He was perhaps from some democratic liberal country since the systems he established in the Principality resemble concepts that this world isn''t quite familiar with even to this day.'' However, he is long gone so without bringing back his soul from the afterlife, confirming the fact that he in fact was a reincarnation would be unpossible. ''But we aren''t doing that right now.'' Rein and I had just passed through the personal Space jump portals only avable to permitted student council members, and, right now, we were standing in the special institution that was part of the Academy. "Wee to Principality of Lakmer. We have been expecting your arrival." A young and well-built butler spoke up with his heavy voice and, the four of us, and our familiars bowed as a greeting to the gentleman and maiddies standing before us. "We will be going straight to our chambers. And, please notify the estate of the house of Heliox that their young master and Lady Reinelle Atraxia have arrived in the capital city." "Right away, miss." The people here were professionally trained specifically for the special tasks that only the student council or the closest confidants of the headmaster could achieve so even after hearing our names, all their expressions were the same as they had been before. The butler was especially a good one. "You must be Rionheart? Headmaster speaks highly of your prowess." "Haha, he is generous with his prises sometimes." "No no. A valedictorian of his batch specially trained to be a servant isn''t something the academy has produced more than two hundred times in the eons of its history. You are praiseworthy, and also Miss Keen, Lina, Olivia, and Jennifer. Please take care of us for the time being." "Hahaha. I did hear someone interesting has been chosen but seeing it with my own eyes sure is special." Every single person in this estate was a hardcore professional hardwired to achieve at least a hundred percent of what was asked of their expertise. They were former graduates and rankers of the academy, certainly best of the best in their field and, they worked for the academy, mainly for the headmaster directly. They were special units with no concrete files of them avable so I had quite trouble figuring them out just from their appearance. ''But, well, since I have memorized all the records on the people that had been affiliated in the academy and sorted out some special ones to make my own data list, figuring them out was pretty easy.'' But still, the people here were amazing. "We are expecting to receive a word from the estate of the Heliox in about twelve minutes. Please rest until then and ask any of us for anything you will need." "Ah, yes. Someone named Miss Monnem will be arriving here shortly so give her details of the entire capital and brief her on the geography of the Principality." "Of course sir." He went back after a bow, no questions asked. ''He''s cool in a way lol.'' The people here knew nothing about the demonic humans or the fact that they were nning to create amotion during the annual alchemypetition but they did not need the details. If we were here, they knew it meant there was some urgent business that many lives depended on. And also that only we could fulfill it. They just had to do their jobs and that much would be their contribution to saving countless lives. Questions, doubts, and such unnecessary things weren''t their business. And, this level of professionalism was something rare. "Alright then, Rein. Get ready." "I am ready already." She had changed her Mana clothing into an extraordinary-looking dress which certainly was eye-catching, but, clothes weren''t the only thing needed for an important event like the one we were going to at the moment. "Of course you are ready, fourth percent that is. We still have to do the hair, some light makeup, and add some final touches to this too-morous dress to make it a little better." "Tsk. Must we do those things?" She was bored after that short travel and her eyes definitely screamed that she wanted to do some pastime since there was a bed present right here. But that wasn''t happening. "No. Sit here. We are going to start with the hair." Her hair had grown a little so I would first have to trim it a little and then I would have to bride her royal hair so that they would at least look presentable¡­ wait, no. They had to look the best in the room! Yes! That was the bare minimum! "Dudeeeeee¡­ you are boring." "Yes, I am. So just stay still or I will call the maids for help and you won''t even have a chance to try and seduce me." "Tsk! Bastard! Hump!" She was difficult to deal with sometimes but, there is always a simple solution to her moods. "Alright. Tell me how you want them?" "Do it by yourself¡­ you know better about my hair anyway." Well of course I knew about her better than her since I had been the one to make them for the past few years but she had her hair since she had them¡­ yes, well. They were her hair. Her opinion mattered. "Cute, attractive, opposing, approachable, or ''stay away'' kind?" "Oh¡­ hmmm. Let''s go with a little attractive and a little Stay-away kind. We will need some people to approach us while keeping the leeches away." "Nice." The principality of Lakmer has a rich history of only three centuries and despite that, it was a nation that stood as one of the major powers of the western continent, it was all mainly because of the founder, his foresighted system, and his wife¡­ the one that initiated the annual alchemypetition. ''She was a smart person and the only partner the Prince had. She was not some noble either and, in the first ce, the whole independence thing started because of her¡­ but that is a story forter. A good story, I dare say.'' She helped the prince in many ces and her idea of organising apetition in one of the emptynds of the Principality was a decision that the Prince or the rulers of this ce after him never regretted. ''The whole of the capital city that we are in right now was developed after the decision to organize the alchemypetition was made, and, all the infrastructure present in this capital city is thanks to this one yearlypetition that is not only a tform for all the alchemists of the world to showcase their talent but also, thispetition is a tform for many unexpected discoveries. ''The principality works on a simple democratic system where the leader is elected by the people directly for a decade and the highest power here is a constitution that I would say is far better than many of the countries of my previous world.'' It is pretty simple to understand and the local schools have the constitution as a subject, but still¡­ This is a principality, so, the highest order still stands alongside the constitution. A part of it possesses a unique authority, but, still, not the highest authority that the people cannot overthrow if they wish to. ''The system is simple sounding but there arews and rules for many of the weird things present in the constitution so not only the authority of the crown is guarded but the powers of the people that the constitution has granted them also remain preserved.'' ording to the political system, this ce is more of a constitutional monarchy instead of a Principality with a clear monarch but, seeing ording to the constitution of thend, it is more of a Democracy, not a republic, but certainly a unique democracy that we cannotpare to the governments of my previous world. Anyway¡­ "Alright. You look presentable." "And you look hot¡­ kissy?" "N. O. Miss Moon should be done with the briefing from the butler so we are going now. I don''t want that makeup to be ruined." "You bastard! This isn''t fair!" "Endure it, dear. Here, this should do the trick for now." I gave her a kiss on the back of her hand, three actually. And, her eyes lit up instantly. "It''s been a while since you did this¡­" It was the Witches'' special kiss that meant a lot of things. "Hehehe, alright! This will do for now~. But are kissing in the venue of the event! No excuses allowed!" There would be nobles and royals from all over the world present there. Perhaps some of our distant rtives as well. And, she wanted to kiss in some corner of a ce like that? ''She''s getting more and more daring with each day.'' Perhaps because of the burden of her house members and all? ''We joined the school hoping to have a quiet, carefree life¡­ and now look at us.'' Haaaa¡­ this was bad. But there''s no pointmenting over something like this anymore. "Alright¡­ let''s go now." The annual alchemypetition''s first round will begin three hours from now, we will need half an hour to reach the event venue in the city''s heart by our special carriage, which is a must for the event since we are going there as our original selves and not as student council members. But this half an hour isn''t going to be peaceful since the streets would be full of people gathered to see the high-ranking people and the carriages they would be arriving in. ''Huuuu¡­ the high society shenanigans. Things are going to be tiring for the three days now.'' There was a political matter to take care of, some insider things, dealing with the other nobles, and then thepetition itself. And if that wasn''t enough, the tension of the demonic humans. "Good luck to us." We will need luck. A loooooot of it, actually. Chapter 661 First appearance as couple Chapter 661 First appearance as couple [Rein''s POV: ] We finished the half hour carriage ride and I will say this again even though I have said it many times¡­ I don''t like these shitty carriages! ''They are so boring I don''t even get to enjoy my lone time with my darling!'' Especially the ones that we tack to reach the official gatherings or events like thi one! Just dealing with all the crowd that we encounter on the way is something so frustrating and boring and ughhhh! "I know it has been a difficult journey for you but we are finally here and there is something you should know before we enter these doors." We finished that ride that would have been ten minutes shorter if it wasn''t for the crowd and all the noble shit we had to do. I do understand it was all for the appearance and all but I still don''t like this! ''Thankfully he was with me or else I don''t have any mood to attend this thing in the first ce.'' But then again, we weren''t here for some normal business but instead to make our first official appearance and to talk with the current head of the Principality, who was apparently a smart person that was pretty close to the royal family as well. ''Mother Nol said he was the best open we have if we want to enter the political circles of the world in any way with a solid foundation.'' I trust her, and he does as well, more than anything else in the world but still, as we stood before the door of the venue, I couldn''t help feel this little annoyance at the thought that we will have to deal with the nobles and royals instead of the cool alchemypetition participants that were gathering down there. ''This is going to be so¡­ boring. Haaaa.'' In the heart of the capital city of Principality of Lakmer, there exited a grand open area that was now turned into a grand stadium which could hold a little more than a hundred thousand people, a little over ten thousand participants on the field below the audience and, the special section of the stadium that was only able to the special people like us, that could hold a little over a few hundred people was a ce created with a lot of money and manpower, as well as brain power. ''This ce had so amazing of an architecture that even Eon was shocked when we first arrived near the stadium and saw it from the outside.'' This ce was big, like, biiiiiiiiiiig. The fact that ther entire capital city was created only to hold this alchemypetition or something close to it in times of need, spoke for the scale of the main stadium for thepetition itself. But, still¡­ even though there were hundreds of thousands of people outside and inside of this ce, and there were thousands of participants present on the grounds of the event down there, all of it was far more fun than what we were about to throw ourselves into. "I know all of this is boring fo you, but, just endure this for a little while and after we are done with the general greeting, we will watch thepetition with Mr. Boris and Master Ludwig in their private chambers." "Hmm? Really?" "Yeah¡­ we will need that much privacy of we are going about core political things that not just anyone should hear. There will be a bloodbath if things go south though." "Hmmmm. Right¡­ well, as long as you take me away from the shitty crowd, I am fine with anything~." "Good." Now this was something better! He was saying we can go to some other ce after finishing the basic procedures and having some little chats with the other bastards that I really, really disliked. "Alright then, let''s go in." I was happy, and he smiled at me with his usual calm smile¡­ by the way, did I say how hottttt this fianc¨¦ of mine looked?! He looked super fucking smoky hot! -Snap. "Alright, we are ready. Can you please announce now?" "Yes sir." We had been taking a moment to ourselves, which we could only do because we were a little early on for the thing, but I know there are alredy some people present behind this door and that we will have to deal with them after we enter this ce. It was going to be boring¡­ [ "Master Axion of house of Heliox from the great Roxana empire and his Lady Reinelle from the house of Atraxia are entering!" ] The golden gates with silver drawings on it cracked open after the guard standing there had made the announcement as per the protocol, and the light of the inside graced us, along with stares of the nobles, royals, important people from all around the world, and the guests of the guests. "Oh? Are they the rumored shameless children?" "The Heliox and Atraxia had truly be rtives now. It is still hard to believe sometimes." "Has anyone seen them after their engagement before the imperial family? Have they been on run or something?" "Oho? They are here? Should we go greet them?" "Hump. Young brats. An engagement means nothing in this world." "They haven''t even attended any school. Is this how a noble should be?" "Tsk. Rich brats and their house y. They don''t know a thing about the truths of this world. Hump." "Ohhh! Is it really them?! The great master of Atraxia, the next head, and the sessor of the golden demoness?" "Mind your words, gentlemen. They are still representatives of powerful households. And their appearance here signifies many things." Murmuring was happing all around us, some were positive, some obviously loathing, and some neutral, however, nothing we could hear was out of the scope of what we had expected from this crowd. They were people of high society that didn''t know much about the world, its truth, not the ''truths'' they were talking about, we both knew all that better than them, but the true truths of the world. They were justmon people from their understanding and, we had no reason to associate ourselves with people like them. However, unexpectedly, among the many people present here, there were four familiar faces that we could not ignore. [[ "You didn''t tell me the emperor will be here?!" ]] [[ "I would have if I knew¡­ looks like the word of our presence here got out somehow. He knows why we are here now." ]] [[ "Then isn''t this bad?!" ]] [[ "Nah¡­ this changes nothing. We still proceed as we had nned. He knows what we are doing here, doesn''t mean he has any kind of justification to stop us. In the first ce, we are here as not the representatives of our households but as ourselves, which he alredy knows. So he won''t, he cannot do anything." ]] [[ "Yeah he cannot do anything without reason but what if he creates a reason? Then he will have a perfect opportunity to stop us from making any useful connection." ]] [[ "He could do that¡­ but that is if he knows what we exactly want to do after getting into the political circles. As long as he doesn''t know that, he will never interfere with our business directly. I least, I hope he doesn''t do so. He is the Ruler of mes, and the (Dominator of the battlefield). He will figure things out the moment we step into his yground. So, let''s make sure we don''t do that." ]] [[ "It''s easy to say darling but absolutely absurd in practice. Haaaa¡­" ]] I don''t know where things leaked from, but the only reason either of us could think for his sudden presence here was a leak of attendee information. But we can''t do anything about that now. He was here, we were here; he was here for fun, we were here for a kind of work that will be a hindrance to his empire''s existence. ''He had always known Eon has big ambitions, however, the world of polite is very difficult. Even I cannot understand all the power flow, authority, and systems perfectly.'' Still though, despite myck of understanding, I knew more than these bunch of ''nobles'' present here. Which was enough to get past this situation. "We greet the eternal sun of Roxana. And the greatdies that sustain the empire. It is a surprise as well as a soothing sight to see you all in this foreignnd." We both paid our first respects to the four of them, which was the obvious thing to do since the royal family of this Principality or the head of the state wasn''t present at the moment. "Hahaha, it is more of our surprise to meet the youngest crazy couple in a humble ce like this. What might bring you to this farawaynd when there are countless prettier ces to look around?" He was insulting the entirety of Principality and every single person present here by saying those words¡­ damn this is a better greeting than I thought! ''Hahaha, I know he once mentioned there are rumours of the emperor and the current master of the Lakmer household having a personal beef, but saying this in a setting like this? Hahahahah! He''s the real crazy one here!'' I liked this greeting, hell yeah! "Haha, no no sir. We have always been curious about the famous annual alchemypetition. We thought this would be the perfect chance to attend arge gathering if we were going to appear anywhere together anyway." Darling answered it pretty calmly, however, right after his answer, the expression on emperor''s face changed a little. "Oh? So it was the alchemypetition? Indeed! Haha. One of the greatest minds of the empire would surely be interested in something of this scale. Right. On this note, would you mind stepping to the side for a moment. I have something intreasting you might like to hear." And now¡­ he was acting totally out of character. What was he up to¡­? "Ah, not at all sir." And why was he so calm despite this weird situation?! "That ce looks pretty empty sir." And, why the hell were people emptying a spot for their conversation?! "Indeed. You have good eyes as always." Wait, what? What the hell were these two thinking?! And, why the hell are the empresses so quiet?! "Good. So, what I wanted to talk about¡­" -Snap! Hmmm? Wait. Why a visible barrier in a ce like this?! "¡­is the reason you two are here." "And a few things about thest time we were dining together." "Also, what problems have you two been causing in the academy?" "Right, you two are a captain and vice captain. Your houses are here right? Then why are you two not with them instead?" ¡­wait. Now what was this? Why the hack are they asking questions now?! Someone tell me what is happening right now! Chapter 662 Empress’ questions Chapter 662 Empress¡¯ questions [Eon''s POV: ] The only reason this emperor of ours was acting like this was because of the people currently present in this ce. They were mostlyprised of the people of the nobility and royalty of the other nations and from their point of view, the empire was a ce that considered itself superior to anything and everything in this entire world. The emperor of the Roxana empire was someone who considered himself a supreme monarch and looked down upon most of the things present in this world. That''s the image the emperor had among the people outside of the empire and it wasn''t too wrong, to be honest. He certainly considered himself better than most people in most fields however, instead of arrogance, that was his pure confidence. He, in fact, was better than most people in most things and that fact was something he had to maintain. ''His words aimed to look down on the principality that he in fact cherished was for not the heads and royal family of Lakmer but for the people present here.'' As Rein says, they are all bastards. "Can we answer one question at a time, please? This is a little¡­ too much, even for us." "Hump! No, it''s not! Just answer what we asked! We still have more questions for the two of you!" Empress Madeline was upset with us because we couldn''t show up during ourst dinner meeting. ''I was going to show her how to make the northern tribal Salmon stew, but, then some important work came up with the action house so neither of us could show up to the meeting and Mom had to go there personally to apologize.'' She had been upset over that incident ever since then and she had already sent me a death threat-like letter¡­ which I replied to with the best of my abilities, but it was of no use. ''School started and we had to depart, leaving the dinner meeting and that salmon stew thing up to the next chance of fate.'' Even right now, she looked upset and I knew he had put up a barrier and others couldn''t see what had been going on inside here, but still, this look on her face¡­ was quite cute, something I shouldn''t think about. "Madeleine. Let''s give them a chance to exin themselves. Even I couldn''t answer the question if you look at me like that." The emperor spoke up in his usual tone and only now did Rein understand the things that were going on. ''She was confused, and I would have told her myself after a bit, but thankfully, it looks like she figured it out-'' "Ohh! Now I get it! You all are here to look after Princes and the Princess! Of course! You are here to cheer for them!" Or not. She was dumber than I knew. "Ah, that''s right. We are here to cheer for the four of them! I wish Julie and Sophie could havee with us¡­" Empress Vera said in a cheerful voice that by the end had be a sorrowful one. She wanted to have the eldest princess and the youngest one here with them as well¡­ and from how she said all four of them¡­ "Prince Charles is here? He is participating in this event?!" "Yes~! My little Charlie found some cute girl and is participating in the event at her order~! Hehe, I dragged all of them here just to watch them, and they came hoping they might also find among the other participants. We were looking forward to seeing you create something amazing in thispetition but since the two of you are here and not down there, looks like things won''t be as fun as we all thought." "Ah¡­" Shit. What the hack. Now this is beyond what I thought. ''Looks like there will be another variable in winning thepetition.'' Prince Charles was here. The eldest prince of the Roxana empire, elder brother of Prince udius, the unique free spirit, the (Possessor of canceler), and someone that was probably the most talented among all the imperial hairs was here. ''He was someone that possessed an abundant talent in many things, simr to the emperor, however, he had no desire to fall into the eternal boring cycle of work by bing the crown prince or the emperor.'' He had long dered that he had no desire to be the ruler and had set out for his own adventures, and, right now, he was a rank adventurer who was world-renowned for his discoveries and achievements. ''Everyone knew about the Adventeuer that could do anything, like, quite genuinely anything. So, if he was here with someone that could force him to join suchpetition, it meant thepetition had just increased by a little fraction.'' He was amazing¡­ like, really amazing from all the things I have heard of him and the data I have on him. "Enough about Charlie! Answer my question first! What was so important that you had to cancel the dinner arrangement with me?! Do you know how sad I was?! Making the empress sad is a capital offense! You can be imprisoned for doing something like this!" Empress Madeline was really angry¡­ damn. "I apologize once again for what I did, Empress. However, the matter was urgent. Some of the creatures that guard the storage area under Hiraani somehow managed to evolve and break free from the barrier of the headmaster, and, since it was an absurd urrence, we were investigating if it was some kind of artificially caused ident. Mom suspected someone had done it intentionally. However, even after our thorough investigation, we found no evidence that the employees had been the reason for the ident. It took us a long time to figure out the reason behind the ident was the uing night of Blood Moon and the environmental conditions itself, but, from what I concluded, there was something more to the story than that¡­" "Blood moon? Is iting back?! How do you know that?! And when?!" "Yes, and no. I only have a prediction and it''s only fifty-four percent credible. I am working on it, however, if I am right, the night of the blood moon should start thirty-three days from now. The headmaster is working on finding out the more urate information on it, and he should have it by the time we finish this event." "Ah, now I understand why he suddenly called the Astrological Society meeting on this day. so it was about the night of the blood moon. Hmmm, indeed. It is going to be difficult." "But how did you find out something that not even the headmaster knew about Eon? What secret source do you have that tells you these kind of things?!" Empress Ania was curious about my source¡­ well, how should I tell her my source is one of my skills? She wouldn''t even believe me if I told her something so absurd. "I cannot say that. However, I believe my answer was enough to earn a pardon?" I was looking at empress Madeline, Rein and I both were actually. She was angry at her as well. "Hmmmm. I am still upset but the reason sounds good enough to skip a meal with us. I will let this one go this one, only if you promise to teach me some new things when you are free." "Ah, of course. I had been thinking of giving this to you as an apology when I see you, however, this seems to be a good enough moment." I took out a thin book that seemed to be a notebook with a golden cover and attractive patterns made on its cover, and, as soon as she saw this thing, her eyes brightened up. "No way¡­ is this¡­?" "Yes. Aplete one as well. Took me quite a while to piece everything together but this is one of a kind in the world." There was a myth among the famous chefs of this world that there existed a golden book written by the previous apostte of Pochimi, the god of cooking. However, the book was broken into pieces and only pages were scattered all around the world. Few people knew about the importance of these pages and, I had to recreate them after finding the information on them by myself. ''It took me a month to create just one of these copies, and since I poured my heart and soul into making it just like the original copy, this one was the near-perfect replica of the original book that contained all fifteen recipes- "Hmmm? There are only fifteen?" "Hmmm? Aren''t there only fifteen?" "No? I know for sure there are eighteen of them. I have heard this directly in a revtion from lord Pochimi¡­ well, technically, someone else asked him that from me, but he confirmed there were eighteen of them. And, from what I see here, three that I had never even heard about are missing." What the hell? "Looks like I made a mistake then¡­ I apologize¡­" There were eighteen? That''s why this thing looks so thin, damn! I should have known! "Ah, haha, no no Eon. I am happy with just this much~! There are nine recipients I have never tried before here~! That''s more than enough to earn my approval~!" She was happy with this much? Really? Because I certainly am not! "I will get the remaining three of them. I promise." "Huhu, then I wish you keep this promise. Take as much time as you can. Fining something none has even heard about in past centuries won''t be an easy task." Of course it won''t but I will find them. I will definitely find them even if I have to use my questions and other powers of Lucy. "Ah, looks like the head and others are here already. Our conversation will have to wait for a while." The emperor spoke up and caught all our attention. "What? No! They still have so many questions to answer!" Empress Vera still wanted to know about our time as the house captains and the reason we were here instead of being down there. Well, I wanted to dodge those questions anyway, so this was better for me. "We can have a chat with them after a while in private, Vera. Greeting the honorable heads and that swine cannot wait." "A¡­ alright." She seemed sad, Empress Madeleine seemed happy, and Empress Aina was cheerful after hearing Emperor August curse at someone. She was also a weird one. "Alright then." He dispersed the barrier, and right at that moment, the guard at the door announced the arrival of the royal family of this principality and the current head of the ce, the representative of the people that had some unique rtionship with the emperor¡­ ''Huuu. Good for now.'' Now at least have some time to think about some good excuses. Chapter 663 Rulers of Lakmer Chapter 663 Rulers of Lakmer [Eon''s POV: ] [ "The Suns of independentnd, the liberators and voice of the people, the Royal family of Lakmer along with President Maverick Von Dining and his Lady, Carolina von Dining are entering!" ] The announcement was made, the gates were opened, and a bright light of the mourning entered the gathering hall. After that walked into the venue the royal family as well as the current head of the Lakmer house, a famous figure that was also the reason the principality was as prosperous as it was right now, Lord Justin Leon Lakmer, hisdy and also one of the master architects of this continent, Lady Charlotte D. Samanir Lakmer. Lord Justin walked in the very front with Lady Charlotte right beside him, and, on both sides of her were the two young hairs of the house, the famous twins that they cherished more than anything. Behind them was the current president of Lakmer and one of the most famous figures in the political circles of the current times, a tall figure almost as tall as Emperor August with a brown beard, a bear-like strong build, wearing a professional suit and round sses that made his sharp face look a little softer. There was the same kind of me in his eyes that one can find in the eyes of people like the emperor, the mes of power, authority, and ambition. ''He was famous not only because he was the former holder of the fifth seat of the triangle table and one of the few [King] ranked knights, but also because different from the other King ranked knights, he was someone that willingly engaged in the matters of politics of this world.'' There was a less famous incident that made his interest in world polity so great that he willingly left the neutral Triangle table and became the President of the Principality of Lakmer to not only support the rtively younger nation but to also easily middle in the matters that weren''t addressed on the greater stages. ''I don''t know what beef he and the emperor have, but, whatever it is, I at least know their rtionship isn''t negative.'' If anything, if emperor August, one of the mostposed people I knew openly cursed someone before his wives, then it means he had a positive bittersweet kind of rtionship with that person¡­ which is rarer than a positive rtionship with many of the nobles present here. Anyway, President Maverick was someone I admired and I can say the same for his Lady. ''Lady Carolina is a normal person, on the outside that is. Those who do really know the truth that she is the one behind most of the policies that made Lakmer what it is since his appointment on this post in the past decade, or those close to them who know the one that taught President all he knows about the politics is, in fact, his wife, would never, ever consider her as ''normal''. Especially those in higher positions like mom or emperor.'' Mom has told me many stories about her and from her personal experience, she has even warned me the President''s wife is one of the greatest enemies or allies I can have depending on my rtionship with them. So, what I was here for will require contentment of not only the President and Lord of Lakmer but hers as well. And, as Mom warned me, it will be more difficult than winning a serious negotiation against her. But, well, we can think about that when we are talking about that issue. "May the blessings of heavens be upon you, and may nature bless the great sun of the empire with the finest of freedoms." "Hahaha, You and your unique greetings Justin. They are always so unique." Lord Justin greeted Emperor August with a greeting unique to the Principality and the the emperor greeted him back in a rxed manner, which certainly was something normal to them, but something certainly abnormal to the nobles present here. ording to them, the emperor was just looking down on the lord of thisnd and the host of this grandpetition. It was present in their eyes how they wanted to badmouth him, but, they couldn''t possibly do something that even the ruler of this very ce couldn''t. "Rick¡­" "August. You look as good as thest time I saw you." "And I see you have new ''marks of victory'' on your body. He still insists on having those scars, right mydy?" The air between him and the president was hot and heavy. The two of them looked at each other with obviously annoyed expressions and the way the mere president of a small ce like this addressed the emperor of one of the strongest empires like he was his buddy in an official gathering like this was not something many of the nobles including the two of us were expecting. [[ "He''s kind of cool darling. Don''t you think so?" ]] His daring impressed Rein, well, it impressed me even more. [[ "Not just daring, he''s amazing as well. Just look at how he is dressed. And all the other things about him! He is practically better than me!" ]] The emperor was wearing a royal purple suit along with all the decorations that made him look like the emperor of the great empire that he was, while on the other hand, the President was wearing a suit that was pretty normal looking but just as attractive as the clothing of the emperor with all the perfectly geometrical embroidery done on it. It was eye-catching, and it had a kind of depth that we couldn''t produce with normal Mana clothing, they were attractive and eye-catching. ''It was a masterpiece of a custom-made outfit that was made by the hands of at least a master craftsman. And not just that, the small jewelry he was wearing, his shoes, his perfectly tied hair, as well as his finely tuned beard was something that one couldn''t possibly ignore.'' Emperor August''s clothing:vishly unfathomable. His clothing: Impable. The president looked even better than Lord Justin. So, just by standing before the emperor so fearlessly, he was challenging his authority, while disying his own authority as the highest legitimate power of thisnd. In the principality, he was above the emperor who was here only at their invitation to be a spectator of apetition hosted by their nation. ''This was all very political so the people''s reactions were all obviously something all of them had already predicted.'' I don''t know if they are doing this all just on a whim or if this is some kind of borate political y to show off the conflict of interest the ''Empire'' and ''Principality'' had. But whatever this was, this was pretty fun, lol. "Yes, master August yes~. I have told him so many times he would look better without all his scares, but he doesn''t listen to me at all! He is too stubborn about some things, one of them being these trophies he cherishes." President was a King ranked knight and his main weapon was something unique, a mix of a heavy mace and a il, so a heavy mace that can detach and he can swing around like a il. It was a unique weapon with absurd offensive capabilities however, the weapon wasn''t very useful when it came to defensive abilities. On a battlefield filled with modern weapons, magic, energies, and whatnot, receiving scars was a normal thing for someone with lower defensive capabilities, however, the normal attacks did not apply to the near transcendents like the King-ranked knights. If their bodies had received an injury or a scar, then it would undoubtedly be because of something as threatening as a King ranked or something simr. President had many scars on his body and one on his face as well, on his left eye. However, thanks to his outfit, not many were visible at the moment to the normal eyes. ''It was different for sharper eyes like mine or Rein''s or the emperor''s though. We could see through those fine pieces of clothing and perceive those deep scars that, well, certainly weren''t too attractive.'' But they were scars of honor and he kept them, he valued those experiences, which wasn''t something new for people of his ss. Those scars were special, and his stubbornness to keep them even though there were ways to cure them avable in the current world, showed his high morality. "Right? He is just too Stubborn sometimes." The emperor looked at him with sharp eyes, telling him something, perhaps working him about something through their eye contact. "Stubbornness is my Virtue, August, just like how your pride is your greatest Sin." His voice was calm, however, hidden beneath that great calmness was a storm so great it was enough to create a tsunami in the middle of the ocean. "Hmmm? Oh, would you look at the time~? Apologies Lord August. However, it looks like the announcements of thepetition''s preparations'' beginning will be made now. The other guest would arrive now as well, so looks like we will have to sadly go greet them for now. How about we continue this conversation when thepetition starts in the other chambers? We will have a special couple joining us there as well." She nced at us, her eyes full of curiosity and excitement, and then bowed gracefully towards Emperor August and the empresses. ''It was obvious she deliberately cut the conversation off right when it seemed to be going the wrong way, however, from how they were making it all so obvious, I had no doubt this was also a part of some kind of greater political drama.'' She was the one who perhaps wanted it all to happen this way, and, if it was true¡­ she was frightening. "Ah, right. Other guests¡­ alright then, Rick, Justin, ma''dies, adorable kiddos. Let us see each other again shortly." Emperor August nced at us and gave us a light nod, and even though the meaning behind it was pretty simple, I nodded back with a fake little hesitation. Then the four of them took their leaves after head patting the cute twins that were trying to hide behind their mother. They were adorable, and far more special than what met to one''s normal eyes. ''And since they are almost the same age as Anna, perhaps, they will be good friends.'' I should tell her about them one of these days. Perhaps she will invite them back home for one of her tea parties? She had creatures and friends to y with but, she also needed children her age around her, and, for now, she didn''t have anyone she could y with freely¡­ not that she felt alone or anything since she had so many friends back home already, but still, she also needed human friends her age. ''She will be able to learn just how special she is if she has some of them.'' Yes, let''s tell her about themter. ''I should go see her before leaving for the academy as well. She will be happy, and sad. Certainly.'' Hmmm. Good. It''s settled then. "You two look much better together than I expected. It''s a nice sight in a ce filled with¡­ so many ''people''." President and the group finally turned towards us after the emperor and the party had left, and, the look of eptance the president had, was much livelier than either of us were expecting¡­ Chapter 664 Little twins Chapter 664 Little twins [Eon''s POV: ] Sir Maverick looked at me with a gaze that was unlike anything the others had in this room. It was full of curiosity, eptance, admiration, envy, and a bunch of other things. It was pretty strange but, considering where the two of us stood at the moment, him openly showing his interest in us was not something the nobles present in the room could possibly ignore. "The two of you certainly look much better together than I had thought. The aura of oneness around the two of you, the unique tranquillity, the understanding the two of you have of each other, to the way you handle each other¡­ when Zahavi said the two would be better than even them, both of us hadughed, but, as you can see, even thisdy of mine is surprised to actually see the two of you. You definitely possess something precious that most of the couple of current day doesn''t usually have. Especially those eyes¡­ both of you have a gorgeous pair of them." It wasn''t in his nature to speak so highly of someone else like this, especially when it came to rtionships, but the fact that he was speaking highly of us meant he was going to help me with the matter that I was here for, even if that help is just a little from his side. "Huhu, you two still have countless things to go through together. It will be challenging for you, but I think you will do just fine." Lady Carolinaughled lightly while adding to his words and then, looked at Rein straight into the eyes. "But tell me Lady Reinelle. What is it that you love about Master Axion? No one practically knows how the two of you met each other or how you got so close in just a few years, but, the kind of rtionship you have right now must have started with something unique, right? If you don''t mind telling me, what is it that you love the most about him?" She asked her a proper question with a smile on her face and not only Lady Charlotte and the kids hiding behind her but also the otherdies and some men who were secretly listening to our conversation eagerly looked at Rein to hear the answer to a question that I already knew the answer to. "Ah I don''t mind at all, of course,dy Carolina. And that is a simple question that you don''t have to ask that politely. What I love about him the most¡­ is his pretty Soul. It''s something brighter than a spirit cluster, something more special than any wondrous sight in this world, and something that soothes my own Soul every time I gaze at it. It''s just, too pretty. And his eyes of course. They are adorable. Hehe, as you said, we have many things we keep to ourselves and we like it that way, but, certainly, the first time we met¡­ well, it was special. And fun as well, of course." Our first meeting in that forest where she just jumped at me and started attacking me with her powerful scythe even though I had done nothing to her. She was crazy back then, always ready to jump into dangerous situations especially when it involved things or people that seemed fun to her, and though almost the same as back then, she is a little better than what she used to be in the past. ''She still loved fighting strong people though, and she still didn''t like it when people knew more than necessary things about her.'' Just this morning when we came to the capital city and were done preparing for this gathering, she was going to ask the head butler for a spar before we left the ce¡­ and since he was the perfect butler that had no reason to refuse a fun chance like that, he would definitely have epted her request had I not forcefully dragged her out of the ce. ''She was angry about that even now but, well, I managed to convince her that we had time and that she can do that sparringter when we have the chance. We had more pressing matters to look after, and, it involved a bunch of demon worshipers, thepetition that was about to end the preparations, and the rulers of thisnd who held special positions in this world. "His soul, hun? Honey, that''s quite a surprising answering from someone who has not even been with their partner for a few years." The impressed look on her face was more than enough for the public to know just how much she liked the answer she had received from Rein, and, after that, the way she put her hand on her hair around her ear and gently brushed it behind her ear, was a gesture famous in the Principality. The meaning behind it varied depending on the context and who was doing it to whose, but in this context, in this setting, and this ce before these specific people, the only meaning behind this gesture was that she was inviting her, inviting us, to join them personally. It was an open invitation that only a fewdies and their partners had ever received from her since the time they had not even been in this nation, but, Rein received an invitation with an absurd answer that practically didn''t make much sense to the people present in this hall. They were surprised, but, I can tell their surprise was nothingpared to the surprise Rein herself had at the moment. [[ "Woah damn¡­ I was going to lose my bnce for a moment there. She is dangerous dude. The air around her¡­ chilly!" ]] [[ "No worries darling. I would have caught you had you lost your bnce, I would have supported you if the need ever had raised, and, I would have shared those chills alongside you-" ]] [[ "Yeah, darling. Sorry to interrupt your love poetry, it was bad as always, but, this isn''t the right time to do that, right?" ]] [[ "Every moment is the right time to express love, darling. At least with simple finite words." ]] [[ "I¡­ think you have lost your mind for some reason so I will stop here but, if you really mean what you said about every moment being the right moment-" ]] [[ "Yeah, no. I take my words back. I said nothing, you heard nothing. Oh, and look, she is looking at you weirdly now." ]] She was bing bolder these days so she definitely would have dragged me into some corner somewhere here to kiss me, or to seduce me into kissing her even with everyone watching. ''She''s trying to do bolder things but, she should also know this wasn''t the ce for things like that. At least, not this shitty ce filled with shitty people. We could change back into some other clothes and go down into themon stadium somewhere in the corner and do whatever she wanted with hundreds and thousands of people around us. That will be better, I would say. "You are fun Lady Reinelle. How would you like to join me and Lady Charlotte and greet a few people present here?" "Hmmm? I¡­" She looked at me after reciting this sudden question from her and, since this was Lady Carolina we were talking about here, there was no way I had the mental strength required to stop her from taking my fianc¨¦e away from me. "I don''t mind, of course. It would be my honor." "No no Lady Reinelle. The honor is all mine." She was ying at something, I didn''t know her angle yet but she was definitely doing this with some certain hidden intentions. "Then looks like you will be joining us, Master Axion." "Looks like it, Sir Maverick. I will be in your care then." It was about going around with them to greet the others, which simply meant they were going to help us make connections directly, and this was an opportunity we couldn''t possibly ignore. "Ah, right! Before that¡­ Lady Charl? Would you like to introduce the young lord anddy to our special couple?" We all were almost about to leave when Lady Carolina spoke up again and looked at the twins handing behind the dress of their mother with a shy expression. They were smart kinds, but, in a ce full of people that they perceived as something scary, the kids couldn''t help their instincts to hide at the safest ce they could feel at the moment, which was behind the skirts of their mom, but, well, it was actually the safest ce. "Oh of course! I would love that! As a matter of fact, both of them have already asked me about the two of you four times. Huhu, Nathan, Nat. Come forward. Greet the big brother and big sister. You remember I told you about the amazing big brother who created the milkshake and the ice cream you love so much and the big sister who distributes the tea and coffee we all love? This is them, the amazing Owner of (Eon''s New World) and the pretty, and cool Lady of Atraxia. Come, greet them~." The kids, the twins had inherited their mother''s unique silver hair and their father''s pretty blue eyes so they were obviously small cuties, but, that aside, they had also incarnated the ability to see the true nature of Mana that one possessed, something that came from the line of their great grandmother who is one of the special Elder council members of today. She was a unique character however, just like her ability to perceive the true nature of someone, these two young ones could also tell one''s true nature by the unique characteristics of Mana that they saw with their eyes. And¡­ "H-hw big bruther! Hw big suster!" "You are pewtty!" "Char! We gere goin to sway dat tugether!" "Ah! Soweeey!" They were adorable. And cute. And pretty. And pure¡­ haaaa¡­ ''Yup. I have decided.'' They should be Anna''s friends. They would love having her, I know it for certain now. "What did you say, sweeties? They are pretty?" "Yeeeeeee! Bruther and swistur are pretttttttty!" The Enders knew that pretty the two of them meant we were surrounded by a positive aura that they found sparkly and attractivepared to the other people in this ce. They knew the two perceived us as what they usually referred to as the ''real amazing pure ones'' or Pewtty as the young girl had said. Mana hardly ever lied, so, it was a credible proof of our pure inner thoughts and soul. They confirmed we could be trusted, and, the words of these innocent children were the words of pure angels to the adults who knew of their powers. "Hello to you too kiddos." "And you are pretty as well¡­ just as pretty as this!" Rein took out a teddy bear I had made for her in the past and as soon as they saw him, their eyes lip up instantly. "Shiiiiiiiiny!" "Pewtty~!" It was a call made out of pure Mana threads and a unique cotton that was also mana-rich. ''It was one of the things she actually liked, that''s why she had still kept it with her even though it was just a failed prototype for Mr. Rice.'' But, if she was giving it to them, then it certainly meant she liked these two cuties more than this doll. And that cheerful expression the two of them had, especially on the face of the little brother, was something she found more precious than any connection she could make through their parents, uncle, and aunt. They were precious, their smiles were, to her. And, since thepetition''s first round would start soon, the smiles that would be covering this ginormous stadium, along with the smiles of her house members, would be something equally precious to her than all these fake bastards that considered themselves as nobles''bined efforts. Chapter 665 Start of the competition Chapter 665 Start of thepetition [OP: ] The stadium was something that was arge structure that covered a ninth of the total area of the capital city of Lakmer. Made in not a coliseum-like structure but in a unique triangr manner, this stadium had the capacity to store more than a hundred and fifty thousand audience and up to nine thousand people along with their tables and supplies required for the alchemy creations. However, if necessary, the area for the participants could be specially expanded with spatial magic of the top grade and it can fill people of higher numbers. It was a unique structure, and, everyone who saw it for the first time was fascinated by the sheer scale of the ce¡­ "Wow¡­" "That''s the (Arena of Alchemy) for you. None couldn''t possibly be surprised after seeing it." "Damn. That''s totally different from what I saw in the images and the videos. This is amazing!" "Wow! Hey look at those walls! And so many people!" "Ugghhhh¡­ mommy. I am afraid¡­" "THEN! WE WILL START THE EXPLANATION ON THE FIRST ROUND OF THE COMPETITION!" Tall walls made with the same materials that made the walls of the capital city of the Roxanna empire, something even the great mages would have difficulty harming. However, these walls were more attractive than the ones that the cities had. There were carvings all around the walls depicting many unique things, stories that only those who knew about them could interpret, things that were special, and things that were waiting for the moment to be interpreted by someone. Spells, artifacts for security, protections from the divine, blessings of the holy, the Arena where the greatest of the alchemists showcased their prowess was not some simple ce thatcked in any aspect. It was the perfect ce that couldn''t only bepared to some forts with the highest specs, but with a venue for the greatest of thepetitions where the masters, the best of the best faced each other. [ "The first round would be the simple testing of the basic knowledge of the individuals and it would creation of one alchemical product that anyone with the basic knowledge of the alchemy could produce without much difficulty. It is a simple test that will test the basic understanding of the participants however, those who fail to produce a satisfactory product will be dered failed. We will introduce the judges after the end of this exnation however, we urge everyone to listen carefully! This information is crucial for everyone who is participating in thispetition for the first time and does not know much about the conditions or is intimidated by the sheer scale of the crowd." ] The city that was made for hosting this onepetition had the arena of thepetition as its heart. The other features of the city were the same as any normal city however, when it came to theposition, the center of attractions, and the annual alchemypetition, everything took a sharp turn. The city that bes the hub of trade, the city that makes the most in three days than any medium-sized nation in any of the continents takes months to produce, the city that is the center of attraction in the entire world, that''s what bes of the Principality of Lakmer''s capital city. The atmosphere inside the very ce that attracts so much attention from all over the world, is something not even some of the masters who know about the alchemy better than many others of this world but have never been in a crowded ce such as this, could possibly bear. "There are more participants thanst year this time, or does it look like this because it is the year where all the young children from the different schools participate in thepetition as well?" "Ah! Look! Aren''t those children from the Great Academy?! I recognize some of them!" "Hohoho, look over their children. Your grandma is waving at you!" "Mama! Here! Mama! Looooook!" "She can''t see you baby. How about we just cheer for her?" There was a magic screen floating all around the area that showed the life footage of the participants on the ground listening to the words of the announcer. The magic screens were the only way to have a proper look at the participants in a ce where the participants had filled the ground like some entrance of an ant colony. Aside from the people looking from the special seats down there, the others who sat on the higher seats could barely make out of one person from the other. Recognizing someone specific in a crowd like this? Well, it wasn''t something impossible the good eyesight it required was not something many possessed in this ce. There certainly was a cheap artifact that the vendors sold that let them see the faraway things and a cheaper version of these artifacts so the people could at least make out of what was what. Not that it was required, truthfully. This ce was a specially created area that the headmaster had heavily invested in. Actually, the headmaster was a friend of the founder of Lakmer and he helped in the creation of this ce, and, he wasn''t the only one to lend a hand to them. The smart prince had many special connections, strong bonds with the people whose names have gone down in the history books, as well as beings that were considered transcendental beings or even gods. This entire ce was blessed by the divinities so it was safe, certainly, but, the special features of this ce, the specialness of this very soil, was something not just anyone could fathom with their limited understanding of this world. However¡­ [ "Then! We will now wee the great judges of thepetition and their special guests!" ] This was apetition, and, apetition was made up of thepetitors, the people with varied proficiencies in the arts of alchemy, the Judges who had a deep enough understanding of the ability to judge something, the vendors who sold food items throughout the venue where the most importantponent of thispetition resided. "Wooohoooooooo!" "Yessssssssss!" "WHAHHHHHHHHHHH!" "WOWWWWWWWWW!" "LONGGGGGGG LIVEEEEEE!" The audience, the people who made thepetition the truly exciting thing that made theme to this otherwise not-so-special farawaynd. People came from far away just to watch the whole three-day event, to watch the people who produced miracles in the name ofpetition, to watch the things that they could not otherwise watch anywhere else in this world. This was a far more special event for the public than it was for the participants who were down there actually standing among the people whom one could only see in the pictures or hear about in the stories of the newsletters. Just watching them was an experience they would happily spend their fortune for, however, to obtain a chance to witness thispetition themselves, they would have to either have a powerful backing, a powerful connection with someone on the inside of the management, or a stroke of incredible luck to obtain the limited tickets of the event that few could ever get their hands on. The special alchemypetition¡­ [ "NOW! Please greet the suns of this blessednd, as well as the operator who has increased the quality of our lives to a higher degree in the previous few years he had been with us! Also! Alongside them would be entering the specially handpicked judges whom you all might already know about alongside the Great judge of divinity who we all know! Also! Envy those who have been specially gotten the chance to join them in this special ce!" ] Rein and Eon made their appearance alongside the rulers of Lakmer, the emperors and queens of some prominent nations, along with the judgment panel that, different from the nobles who appeared in the higher ce specially created for them, appeared on the ground on the stage from where the announcer was announcing everything. The judges were on the ground, the rulers, alongside the judge of the goddess of judgment in a higher position that not many could see from their angle, and the participants were on the ground before therge tables filled withmon equipment and materials before them, were watching all of this happening with a wildly beating hearts. Some were excited, some were calm, many were here for the victory and the rewards, while most like the students of the different schools, were here to learn something from people whom they all admired. However¡­ "Captain? Can we really win against all these people?" "Ho? You are questioning something like that aftering this far? Don''t worry everyone. We don''t have to win against these people. In thispetition, our opponents are the other houses¡­" The students of the Grand Academy of Hope. The students of different houses that were participating in thepetition as individuals at the moment mostly had amon goal before them: passing the first two rounds, regrouping as a team, and doing their best as they had practiced. They didn''t have to try and win against these old, experienced, and talented people. They just had to do their best and do better than the other houses. Doing that would give them the higher house points and put their house in a higher position on the scoreboard. Their opponents were the seven other houses, and, the members of these houses that they had to defeat. At least, for the seven of the houses of the academy, it was the case. For one house though, things were different. "Huuuuu. Everyone, don''t get intimidated by something as simple as the people''s gazes. We have experienced a gaze several times worse than all these peoplebined. Just remember your experience and trust your teachings." Wisdom Phoenix. When Eon dered his desire to go for the win, he wasn''t just bluffing, the house captains knew this fact. They even knew there might have also been a chance of them winning if Eon was here, however, with just the students that he trained for a few weeks, even with Miss Mia in their team, winning thispetition where a total of fifteen grandmasters were participating this time was not something they thought had too high chances toe true. However, the members of the Wisdom Pheonix had only one goal¡­ The true judge of the event sitting with the rulers of thisnd, rulers of some of othernds, special people that they had only ever seen in photos, and, young people like them that many people in their countries knew about, that will have the final say in most of the judgments that will be dered from tomorrow. They just had to get past the first two rounds today and then follow the path their vice-captain had shown them. And, since it would be a test of the knowledge that had already made home in their minds, they were not as anxious as the other students. Eon and Rein knew their house members were going to do just fine as they looked at them from a higher position. They could see their confidence, their scared, confused, but, calm. The two of them did not have to worry about the two of their teams, but, instead¡­ they had to worry about the person who was the center of attraction among those thousands of people, as well as an unexpected kind of person that Eon never thought he would see in a ce like this. Not with so many people present here. Not when Rein was sitting right beside him, trying her best to control her anger, hatred, and resentment. There was a being here that though only someone with eyes as sharp as hers could recognise in that impable disguise, was not something that should exist on thisnd, among humans, among the race that despised their very existence¡­ Chapter 666 The first round Chapter 666 The first round [Mia''s POV: ] "Huuuu¡­" I have attended many alchemypetitions in my life in a worse state than I am right now however never in my life have I ever been this this much excited about something and anxious at the same time. [ "Now then! We will begin with the first round!" ] The alchemypetition of Principality is something I have attended five times already. Thrice as a spectator in the past and twice as apetitor, though at that time, no one knew me as the alchemist prodigy. I was just a normal girl like everyone else. A pretty and easy-looking one as well, however, things changed after my first time in thispetition a few years ago¡­ ''I met someone precious at that time and that was the moment that I changed everything in my life.'' I learned things about my talent and things about the world that a kid from a back alley of some ruler ce would have never learned had it not been for that fortuitous encounter. They became my sponsor, helped me with things that I needed, and I learned to hone my talents in Alchemy, about harmony, and after learning more about this subject and finding it more fascinating than anything I had evere across, I returned to the ce that gave the precious person to me. I got past the first four rounds back then, however, in the fifth round, mypetition was with the people with the masters and grandmasters as well as talents that were face more refined than me. I couldn''t perform as well as them back then however, I did pretty well and wasplimented by the judges... which was fucking humiliating. ''The annualpetition of the Principality is the tform that gave birth to the (Alchemist of Silver), however, not many people know about this. Not even many of my house members know that I have participated in thispetition previously.'' They will find out soon though, but that wasn''t important anymore. [ "Alright everyone! This is going to be a roller coaster! Look! The first thing that will be used to judge everyone here for the first round is this! You must already know what this is, right contestants?" ] The announcer had been the same person since thest decade, but this old uncle was very good at what he did so the rulers'' decision to have him was pretty good I would say. They were special, and, the thing that they have revealed on the ground, the thing that was on disy on every screen floating above us, was in no way something that all the beginner alchemists could create. [ "However! I will exin to the audience what this thing is!" ] The ce for thepetition''s first day was set to be made with long benches with many materials for the participants and some open areas between each of these long benches for them to perform some of the things that they couldn''t do in the simply provided ces. ''And, what they had revealed right now, an ingot of simple looking iron that was anything but a simple ingot of iron, was not something anyone could make in a small ce such as the one we had been provided.'' We alchemists called this material (Common Catalyst), a material that could be used in many of the alchemical reactions to hasten the reaction. ''Hmmm¡­ looks to be of around medium-high quality. That''s definitely not something just anyone with the basic knowledge of alchemy could produce.'' To synthesize amon catalyst, one needed a deep knowledge of the fundamentals of the alchemy itself, which was not something even many of the young alchemists in our school knew much about. ''They want to kick out more people than usual it seems.'' I don''t know their intentions but from what they had introduced as the objective of the first challenge of thispetition, it seemed like they were going to make thepetition more tough this time than it wasst year. ''But then again, nothing fun practically happenedst year and things were boring so, this is something that spiced things up.'' There would be a more fun element to the game if thepetition''s stakes were upped by a notch, and this happened every few years anyway¡­ just that I didn''t think this year would be one of those so-called (Challenging turns). [ "So everyone! I believe you have understood what this this, right? The objective would be simple! You just have to create what you think this is and when you are done, please get to this site for the assessment!" ] The sold old ground of the alchemypetition, the same old things, the new stage, the unique people that were looking at all of us, cheering for the different people, the special people seeing thepetition from close sitting right outside beside the level of the stage that was set for the new and old judges as well as the experts that I was quite familiar with already. ''Many things are the same, many things that never could be the same are different this time as well, many of the people around us are the same this time as well, however this time, I am a different person than what I had Bremen during both of my previous try''s. This time, I have not only the things I have learned by myself but, also the things that I have learned from the second most amazing person I have ever met in this life of mine. ''Vice-captain¡­ I know you are watching us. I can feel you. I know you have faith in us, in me. Rest assured. We will make it to the ce that at least none from our school will be able to.'' He taught us through a book that was supposed to only exist for the teachers of the great Academy of Hope. He taught us things that were thought to have been forgotten with the loss of the civilizations, he gave us resources that were unfathomably absurd, and if that wasn''t enough, he showed us things that were at the start unbelieve all in themselves, but by the time we understood just how true they were, we knew what we were learning for a simple alchemypetition, were all things that masters and grandmaster learning through long and persistent tries after seconding arge part of their lives doing something they obviously know they are better at than many of the people present in this world, than many of themon people currently just watching them from the higher grounds out there. ''Vice-captain Lucifer¡­ I don''t know who he is, or what he is, or, even why he was doing us all such a favor, why he was sharing such precious things with people that he will have no rtion with after the things are done in this academy. I don''t know what he wants or if he even wants anything from me at all¡­ but, I know one thing.'' He is an amazing person. And, I have to stick close to this amazing person. Even after we are done with the academy, if fate allows it. It''s still a long time before the academy ends though. So, there will be many more opportunities to learn from him, but, just the things that he had taught us all in this short time we had been together, the things that no house captain could possibility even understand themselves, are enough for all of us to get through the first two days of thepetition. ''Especially this first round.'' [ "Then, I would like to request Sir President and Lord Justin, the sun of the free country, to announce the beginning of our two hundred and thirty-first Annual Alchemypetition!" ] We havepletely learned all there was to learn from the greatest book written on the Alchemy, a book I know few people among these thousands have ever evene across in their lives. ''We all knew the basics, we had practiced everything there was from the basics. We learned how to use our unique abilities in the process as well as how we could increase the quality of the final product by doing some simple things and there are many more things that we can do with the new knowledge we all possess now.'' We can do many things with it, even making a universal catalyst is something possibility for us now. However, the objective was to create something simple¡­ [ "I appreciate the participation of all thepetitors present with us on this bright day. I also appreciate the presence of all the people who have joined us to witness this amazing battle of alchemical products. Our ancestors have started this tradition and I will continue it by honoring all the participants with the authority passed down to me as I mark the beginning of our two hundred and thirty-first alchemypetition!" ] Lord Justin was pretty young, however since the previous lord just passed away two years before, the responsibilities he had to carry all by himself had been quite heavy, and everyone knew that. But still, the fact that carried them out so perfectly and even made improvements in the ongoing system was something that reflected his talents and capabilities. And, though a great part of these advancements was the President of Lakmer, just the fact that both of them were as close to each other as a family, showed the bond this nation of independence had. both of them were quite amazing people as well, however, there was something only Lord Justin was capable of as the true ruler of thisnd. -Ooooooooooong! The principality of Lakmer was a blessednd, gods and divine beings were rumored to have blessed thisnd themselves. It was said that this whole arena was created with the help of those divine beings'' blessings, and, the Lakmer Royal family had always possessed a unique authority through which they could create unique phenomenons in this blessednd of theirs. "As pretty as ever¡­" Golden dust fell from the sky and everything that it touched was covered in a simr golden light, which included everything in this stadium. It was a kind of buff that recovered everyone to their peak condition for the sake of thepetition, and it was something only the royal family of thisnd could do. And, this was also something only those who actually participated in thepetition could experience¡­ ''I am not too excited about this like many of the participants here since I have experienced this even when the previous head of the Lakmer household, Sir Justin''s father had been among us, some of the older people here had been present since the start of this annualpetition so they had seen all there was to see in this ce, however, for those who experienced this golden dust for the first time, like my fellow mates, were all astonished at this wonder.'' The feeling of refreshment, the calmness that came after that, the sense of relief and focus, they were the gifts to the brave people who were atst brave enough to participate in apetition where such intimidating people were present. It was for us, the younger people, for the ones who were seeing a crowd of this scale for the first time in their lives, not for those who had already gotten used to these gazes, this intimidating presence, this unique heaviness only we participants could feel. [ "Good look everyone. We look forward to seeing your work." ] President was someone Ca would have liked since he is so famous for his aggressive character but, well, I think since her grandfather is his friend, she already knows him. He was a cool person though, and, since he has also announced the start of thepetition¡­ it was time for us to showcase what we have learned in these past few weeks, as well as throughout our entire lives. Chapter 667 The common catalyst Chapter 667 Themon catalyst [Eon''s POV: ] One would first have to identify what the item on the disy was exactly since the exnation of the announcer was only for the audience and the other participants might not have heard it at all. So, identification was the first step. They would have to see the material of the things that were revealed to them and just from the looks or the data given to them or the description provided by the announcer, one would have to figure out what this thing exactly was. And, after identifying thismon catalyst, they would have to figure out its type and kind¡­ which is in no way an easy task. ''The experienced alchemists certainly could do something as simple as this, however, it is in no way anything simple for the students or the alchemists that were not much experienced orcked the proper basics of the basics.'' Themon catalyst was one of the fundamental things that the students of the academies learned to create after mastering the basics of the alchemy subject however, that all happened in their seconds. Years of school. Even in our academy, we would only learn to create themon catalyst after the midsams in the general sses, and after two months of teaching in the advanced alchemy ss that we were taking¡­ not that the ss that we were talking about was something that would actually teach about this catalysis. The superior alchemy ss that we were talking about was something that asked for a prior basic understanding of things like that, or at least, a basic idea of what it was or how it could be synthesized. However, this was going to be difficult for many of the students as well as the younger alchemists and the arrogant ones who yet did not know the true meaning of thispetition. This round would eliminate at least thirty to forty percent of the people directly and this was a number farrger than thest few years. However, this is just my prediction at this point¡­ "So, master Axion. I have heard you have quite a deep interest in alchemy yourself. I have heard that you have created things that would soon be shaking the markets when they are out at the shops of Lady Nolen." Lord Maverick spoke up suddenly and asked me while he fixed his eyes on some of the participants down there who had already finished creating the catalysis even though it had not even been five minutes since all of them had started. ''It takes three hours at the very least to normally synthesize themon catalysis with the normal processes or even though the special methods however, the people who had already finished, the masters and the grandmasters, were all people who could create something as simple as this catalyst in their sleep. Creating it while being in the best state possible was not something that would obviously require more than what they had taken. They were people who had understood the deep truths of the art of alchemy, earning a unique ''title'' of or by nature and these unique ''titles'' gave them special powers that not just anyone who knew all about alchemy could possess without proving their abilities to the world. ''Thispetition was a tform that was the grandest stage for the births of masters and grandmasters however, there have not been any master or grandmaster being born in thepetition in thest decade.'' Everyone was looking forward to seeing the birth of another master of a renowned field of alchemy. And, this year, the one person that people were expecting to reach that high stage, was none other than the winner ofst year''s alchemypetition, a young man from the mother continent''s one of the prominent empires that waspared with Miss Mia in terms of his talent. However, I don''t think luck was going to be on his side this time as well. "I do have a great interest in alchemy lord Maverick, however, alchemy isn''t the only subject my interest runs into. I love many other fields like magic engineering, cooking, botany, magic, and of course archery. There are other areas where my interest lies as well, however, I do not think I can confirm or deny the fact that you have just spoken about." Many of my inventions that were in thest stages of production were ready to make their way into the shops all across the stores that Mom had recently opened up. It was all a secret and information about it was being strictly regted, however, the fact that he just so openly spoke it when there were all these people present around us was also one of the political ys that not only put me into a tough spot, but depending on my answer, things would have gotten difficult for mom as well. But, thankfully, it looked like he liked my answer. "Huhuhu, Master Axion. You are quite good with your words, you know?" "Of course I know Lady Carolina. Mother says the same words every once in a while. However, though, I believe I am nowhere near people such as you or my dear mom." Lady Carolina was the one to speak up this time and, after hearing my answer, she broke her attention from the things that were going on the ground and looked at me with a pleased smirk on her face. "You certainly have a pretty way with the words, hun." People were supposed to when they saw her smirk like that, some of the people who actually knew her and what this smirk meant were even shocked to see her looking at me with that specific look since the meaning behind that smirk was something pretty deep on therger scale of politics. ''That smirk was a look of intrigue she had for very few people in this world, even some of the grandmasters of this world weren''t enough to earn that specific smirk from her, and the few people who knew this fact were surprised to see it.'' Even her own husband was surpassed she was openly showing interest in me, something that had a much greater impact than the emperor dering his positive stance with the two of us. Her simple behavior was a precious gift for the both of us, he knew that, and he knew that she knew it better than anyone else and still decided to do it anyway, which meant her interest in us was real. "Hahaha, yes yes. As Carol said, you are quite an interesting couple, you know? There have been talks of all kinds going on about the two of you, some of them being wild and some being totally inappropriate. Why haven''t you taken any action against such things yet? Aren''t you afraid of your reputation being tarnished by some misunderstanding?" Master Maverick asked a deep question this time and, while he did so, his eyes were locked on a certain participant on the ground. She was grinding a specific kind of rock that had nothing to do with themon catalyst since a while ago. She had prepared some ingredients that had nothing to do with themon catalyst that was present on the disy over there and, even though her technique seemed pretty interesting, everyone looking at her was curious about what exactly she was doing over there. However, I wasn''t curious about her actions at all. ''She''s doing great.'' Miss Mia was famous so many people here knew her already. They had thought that she would also finish making the simple thing like amon catalyst as quickly as those older masters did. They knew her talent and just how amazing she must have be after joining the academy, however, her actions were quite strange to everyone looking at her. "Talks and rumors have quite a fragile yet powerful influence on this world, master Maverick. I understand that quite well. However, if it is about our reputation or the talks that have been going on, we do not think there is any need for either of us to say anything about any of those things. We know what we have been up to and our family does as well, and, that much is pretty enough for us. The flow of a legitimate power couldn''t just be shaken by some weak rumors that easily anyway. The people who ''talk'' about us will need a little more than just words to earn our open response. And without that, well, we are pretty happy with how things are going actually." That was Rein''s answer and though Master Maverick was surprised at how she answered his question that he had asked to me, what he got as an answer was better than anything he might have expected. His satisfaction was present on his face, however, his attention was fully devoted to what Miss Mia had just started doing down there. "I see¡­ that was a good response, Lady Reinelle as expected of someone so closely rted to my fellowrade." He and her grandpa had been on the battlefield for a few years so they knew each other quite well. They, as well as some of the other kings and the grand mages, had worked together to eradicate many of the demonic ins on the southwesternnds of the western continent while Grandpa had mostly taken care of the things in the northern parts in the days of chaos. He knew her grandpa and grandma quite well, and, he was also one of the few people who knew that Rein was actually a witch. That''s why he had framed his response specifically like that. However, his attention was still on Miss Mia, and after his response, he wasn''t the only one looking at her. ''So she was going for something like that, huh? That''s quite ingenious.'' To create a Common catalyst, one has to first mix somemon ingredients like Mana stones, powdered versions of some metals, and some diluted strong elements. Then, they would have to synthesize a perfectly harmonized solution with the help of a burner, evaporator, condenser, and separator artifacts. Just doing that would take a long time, however, after doing that, they would have to put the final product through a series of processes to get a solid brick-like version of that catalyst with the quality that was asked form them. Producing higher quality would always require more precision and more time, focus, dedication, and will. That was the main reason even the masters and the grandmasters didn''t waste much of their time on something as simple as this and finished up with a little higher quality version than what was asked of them. Most of them didn''t even try to go about the problem in some other way, but¡­ Miss Mia saw it differently. ''They were asked to produce amon catalyst, didn''t mean they had to be bound by the things that were present before them. She understood this simple fact and approached the problem in a unique way.'' She first grinned at the rock, or the rock with a specific kind of low Mana density. Then, after she produced a satisfying material, she started creating a material that could make a polymeric bond with the rock. ''She was going to use the methods I taught her to synthesize something quite unique from the simple Mana rock of low quality, some high purity acids, some elements that had no use in something like amon catalyst that could speed up the normal and basic alchemical processes.'' She was doing something different that looked so unique that many eyes were now fixed on her, however¡­ while she was in the process of synthesizing her liquid product, something happened near her that attracted all the attention away from her. -Ooooooooooooong! And, this thing could have been unfathomably more dangerous if the protective spells of the area had not been activated and contained the explosion caused by Prince Charles''s young partner. It could have been a big trouble had this been somewhere else, but, since this was the safest ce for this kind of alchemical blunder, everything was alright¡­ except Rein''s calm. She was even angrier now that the being that had been the center of all her anger and resentment in this ce had done something dangerous like that. But¡­ what she had done was no mistake. "Looks like we have another heaven-sent genius among us, everyone." The explosion was caused on purpose, and, the reason to do such a reckless thing, was what that young-looking, half-demon girl had produced as the end product of her unique processes. Chapter 668 A new genius Chapter 668 A new genius [Eon''s POV: ] They had to create amon catalyst for the first round and there are many ways one can go about solving this ''question'' presented by thepetition hosts. One can state the same thing that was given to them, the thing that was on the disy like many of the participants would do, some can do like the masters and at the others and create something slightly better than that, some can go about it in another way and start it as something unique and daring like Miss Mia was doing by creating something that was closely rted to it but not the same thing. Some can interpret the ''question'' in some inferential ways as well and since thispetition was about the ''art'' of Alchemy, there was no set answer to the ''question'' presented before them. And, that was the main reason that the judgment panel that was set up each time to evaluate the results of a participant were people well versed in the arts of alchemy, arts of different kinds, or, were masters of their field. They came from different fields and were especially unbiased toward the participants, and that made the whole judgment process a breeze every time. ''Even this time, the judgment panel wasprised of some of the renowned masters and grandmasters of various fields, teachers who had taught many like some from our school, as well as themon people who knew the meaning of life and this world.'' They were special in their own way, so, they knew how to judge something or someone or, their creations in thispetition, or the way to achieve this creation. Morality and values were a virtue of an artist and so were the ethics. They couldn''t tolerate the methods of someone who was obviously crossing the line with how they were going about to answer the ''question'' presented before them. ''Creating a great explosion just to activate the holy barriers of the grounds was a gamble that the person with Prince Charles thoughtfully yed, and, what she achieved with them, was just enough for these experts to look away from the method she had used.'' [[ "She is a bitch¡­ why don''t the others do anything about her even though they know she is obviously a demon?!" ]] Rein was angry at her, it was an obvious reaction she would give to any being that was even closely retaliating to the demons, Lizzy being an exception here. There was a half-demon down there among thousands of humans masquerading as a human and, the people like her, Emperor August and the empresses as well as President and Lord Justin certainly knew of this fact, but, not only they weren''t even talking about this problem, they didn''t even react to this thing in any kind of negative way. They just let it happen and now also had impressed expressions as they looked down at the thing she had created with that threatening explosion of hers. Rein couldn''t understand the reason for their behavior even though it was so obvious, but, perhaps she just didn''t want to understand because of her hate for the demon kind. [[ "You know she is with Prince Charles, right? The emperor and hispany would obviously have stayed silent about the matter, the same goes for Mister President and Lord Justin. As for the others, some are just afraid of the authority of Prince Charles and the emperor who is rumored to cherish him quite a lot, while some are afraid of the authority of the divine that has helped in the creation of this whole structure." ]] [[ "Authority of the divine?" ]] [[ "Haven''t I told you how the founder of Lakmer was a Stigma bearer of some high-ranking god and that the gods and some of the divine beasts of this also helped in the creation of thisnd? So now, how would you exin the existence of a demon on thend blessed by divinity? There is no way to prove she is a demon, and even if there is, the fact that a demon could exist in a ce blessed by the divine, as well as be unharmed by a holy barrier of that kind, is something we couldn''t possibly overlook. Huuuu¡­ ultimately Rein, your anger on one side and the facts on the other. She is not here to harm anyone, she has the proper backing of some of the highest-standing people in the high society as well as themon society of the adventurers, and, she is a genius. A genius that takes risks. " ]] The question presented before everyone was the same, they had to interpret it in their own way and create something that could satisfy the judges at the very least. She understood this fact and used all the resources that were presented to them, used the worst method one could think of in this situation to create something ''simr'' to themon catalyst, and used the structure of this ce, the holy barriers that everyone knew the existence of in her alchemical processes, and synthesized a material that would otherwise be practically impossible to create in a ce such as this. ''What she created was a small ingot of gold. A shiny-looking gold with so deep color that one couldn''t possibly look at it and think it is not something precious. At least, the people who did not know what it was would think it was some high-quality gold, but¡­ the alchemists who were present down there were undoubtedly aware that the small ingot, was in fact none other than the precious [Iker], something that was also called [God''s blood] in the world of alchemy.'' It was a universal reactor that could be used in many ways in many of the alchemical processes to do many of the things. It was an element as well, not an alloy, not some amalgamation, or anything that had any rtion to this. It was an independent element and synthesizing it required a great amount of concentrated holy energy, as well as a perfect understanding of the retinoic structures of the other elements used, the precision required to handle the process by oneself, and the talent to handle it perfectly without even any factor of anomaly. ''Some masters and grandmasters here could certainly create it, however, creating something like this would mean creating something of their life''s work. Something they couldn''t possibly part ways with, something that had onlye into existence with the effects of their efforts, luck, and fate.'' It was considered a phenomenal achievement if someone did manage to create this special thing, but, here was this half-demon girl, creating something those masters and grandmasters spent their entire lives hoping to create as if it was nothing but a game for her. And she used a very unorthodox method in its creation, used the holy powers of this specialnd, and perhaps she was also blessed with a great luck, but, she seeded. She created the [God''s blood] after a long time on thesepetition grounds, and after this achievement, there was no way in any hell or heaven that they were going to be disqualified from thispetition. ''Instead of that, anyone that found this whole thing fun and exciting including people like emperor August, Master Maverick, or me, would want to see just how much this unknown girl could show us. Just what were her limits and how far she can go.'' I can see her status window but there''s nothing special on it, not even the fact that she is of a demonic bloodline so, it obviously means that isn''t her original status window. She perhaps has a ''status masking'' ability like Prince Alph, so I will have to use Lucy''s analysis on her to find out what she actually is, but, I couldn''t do it from here. I will have to get close to her to use that ability, which I know isn''t happening at least for the time thepetition is going on so, I am not looking too deep into her identity or the secrets yet. Instead of focusing on the simple fact that she was of a demonic bloodline, something she did not have any control over, Rein should focus on the fact that we were seeing an unknown genius''s performance for the first time ever. She had just created something that many present down there desired deeply and it was just the first round of thepetition. Who knew just how much more she had in store for all of us or what new unorthodox methods she would use to create more unique things? And, we also didn''t know if she was already an unconfirmed master or grandmaster yet or if she was not, would she be a candidate for the position of one this year. We didn''t know many things about her yet, and, even if Rein still wants to continue her prejudice, I wanna see that person''s achievements in thispetition. ''Perhaps, she might also be a challenge for my house, so we have to look out for her.'' But before we do that¡­ "And, It seems like the old genius has learned quite a lot of new things." Master Maverick spoke up again as the half-demon girl in disguise was walking towards the judges with her prised creation, and, the attention was once again shifted to Miss Mia who, well, had finally started the main creation process, which looked gorgeous in all aspects¡­ People knew her, they considered her a genius born once in an era, and now, she was going to show others why people called her the [Alchemist of Silver] of all the things. Chapter 669 Accelerixon Chapter 669 elerixon [Eon''s POV: ] Miss Mia started with the stone and then finished the harmonic mixture of high-purity acids and other supporting chemicals. She then went ahead and used the artifacts of Primary and Secondary ''divisional'' reactions on them independently before getting on to create her own unique alchemy magic circle. ''People were excited when they saw the unique magic circle that not only contained the forms to encode certain features but also decode some certain ones that the caster wanted. Their reaction to this self-made alchemy circle was so powerful that the whole of the stadium from the inside and the outside was filled with cheers and apuse.'' The major reason the general public apuded was mostly thanks to the greatmentary of the announcer who was exining everything to them in simple terms however, the other reason was how she had created the attractive magic circle. ''She used certain elements and set them aze to make the whole of an otherwise simple magic circle look pretty and, since the scale of this magic circle was bigger than anything currently present in this big stadium. ''She did pretty well with that but, the ones who understood what she had made admired her understanding of the art, as well as her unique insight of the subject.'' Creating something like that was no simple thing however, she did it. And, they couldn''t help but admire her prowess. They knew her from the past, especially the ones that had been here since the old times, however, now that they were seeing her in this newpetition, they could see just how much she had grown from thest time. And, they liked her growth. It was obviously unbelievable. "Master Axion, you can tell what she is doing, don''t you?" "You also know as well master Maverick, right?" "Perhaps. However, I am no expert in the field of alchemy such as you all. Can you please enlighten us on what she is trying to create? Your uncertain answer would also be quite insightful." I knew why he was asking me this question, it was a political move as well, and right after his words, every noble, even the experts present among them who had their own ideas of what might be that she was trying to create, looked towards me. So, we can say the move was a sessful one. "Hmmmm. Well, I do not know if I would be right or not, however, we consider her perfectionist tendencies, her habit of doing what she is trying to do to the best of her abilities, and, her skills, I believe she is trying to create something that is closely rted to themon catalyst. By this reasoning, she must be trying to create a catalyst as well, and, from the method she is using, the way she is going about things, the order and sequence, and the materials used, I believe she is trying to synthesize [eleixon], the element also known as the [Universal elerator]. One can use it in practically any reaction of any field of Alchemy from any point to any end. Among alchemists, it''s also called the (Lavender Canvas) since it has functions that resemble some royalty among the other elements, and is something one can use practically anywhere in any way to their wildest of imaginations." It was a simple thing to know since I knew her so well already, however, this answer of mine surprised the people present here. Like, their mouths were left wide open after they heard me say those detailed things, but, they of course sparked many questions in their minds as well. "How can one create an element from so many other elements and mixtures, with practically no advanced equipment?" "There are many restrictions on her right now. Creating eleixon here in the first round of thepetition would be absurd, even for someone like her." "There is no way someone can create elerixon without a Hypepression furnace and zefreezer in the first ce. How did you even reach that dumb conclusion?" "Hunh. Absurd." "You are getting too ahead of yourself, Master Axion. This is an absurd hypothesis." "Ah, I see, I see. There is certainly a possibility of that happening since we are talking about none other than Alchemist of Silver. This is going to be interesting! Hahahaha!" The other nobles who did not know much about thispetition or Miss Mia, or her unique skill, or the Alchemy itself were speaking negatively about me, however, those who did know about her and the possibility of what I was talking about to be true, ones like the sole elder king of one of the eastern nations, certainly agreed with what I had just said and had an impressed look on their faces. "Hmmm? What are you talking about your majesty? How would that be possible?" And then, the people around them who did not understand their positive expressions started asking them questions, which, the others, didn''t bother to answer themselves. "It''s better for everyone to just watch her. You will understand how she has gained a peculiar title like of all things." They all just answered with something simr and without any further words, we all focused on the ground, on Miss Mia who had finished all her preparations. [[ "Oy, darling. She is gonna use her cheat skill now, right?" ]] [[ "I believe so, yes. And it''s good to see you are fine now." ]] [[ "I had been fine all this time, hump." ]] Yes, she was fine, not okay, but she was fine. However, she looked better now that she hade to terms with her inner feelings about that half-demon girl. [[ "Haaaaa. Rein, I would still love you regardless of how you take her existence." ]] [[ "I know¡­" ]] She is still upset, well, of course, she is upset. She still doesn''t want to ept the existence of that girl here, so she will continue doubting her judgment. ''But she looks better than that gloomy-angry-frustrated self from a while before who couldn''t even express her emotions in this setting.'' She was good now, and, on the ground, Miss Mia was now standing in an open area with the finely grounded Mana stone dust on one side, a bubbling thick green liquid that seemed to havee from some kind of horror movie, some other things in small beakers, and the zing alchemy circle before her. She was ready, people, the other participants, the judges on the stage, as well as all the audience''s attention were focused on only her. All the screens in the stadium were showing her from different angles, but she was calm at that moment. Far calmer than any student would be in a situation such as hers. She was confident and ready, so¡­ she closed her eyes, raised her hand before her, and started chanting incantations that were unknown to the people present down there. -Ooooooooooooooong! A strong surge of Mana sprang up from the alchemy circle afterward, surprising the people other than her, however, she continued her chanting, and at the same time, without opening her eyes, she called out [Mana hands] a rare skill belonging to some rare beasts that not just anyone could get their hands on, and used it to ce the materials she had created on the prepared alchemy circle. -ZAAAAAAAAA¡­! The wave of Mana that was surging back and forth from the alchemy circle intensified even more after that and started taking on strange unique colors, and this became so violent that the protective holy shields of the stadium were activated, covering her and her magic circle in a golden dome. [[ "She''s amazing¡­" ]] [[ "Isn''t she? Hehe." ]] [[ "Bastard." ]] As soon as the dome was created, her chanting hade to a haunt as well. Her eyes were still closed, her mind filled withplex equations and calctions that were needed to birth the thing she needed, processes that the materials would have to go through, and, the environmental factors that would y a role in this. She stayed like that until she had finished her calctions, and, only when she was done, did she open her eyes that were glowingpletely with a unique silver-gold light. Her hair started glowing with the same color shortly, a simr colored light shining at her palms. The alchemy circle before her then started glowing with a simr silver, the materials ced in itpletely covered in this marvelous light. -Oooooooooong! Everyone gasped as they saw the mes on the magic circle that was burning with a grand intensity die down in an instant, their hearts beating faster as they witnessed a momentary calm inside the golden dome. However, the very next moment, the entire stadium fell silent as they saw something emerging from therge magic circle on the ground. [[ "Here it is." ]] [[ "The beast of [[(Equilibrium)]]. I still cannot believe some skill could possess the power to call upon a mythical beast from another in of existence." ]] [[ "There are all kinds of unique skills in this world, Rein. Many types of skills function beyond the basic understanding of the basic reality. Besides, Miss Mia''s [Equivalent exchange] is a skill so unique that if it did not have so many specific restrictions, I would have even considered it to be a growth-type skill that could grow up to be an EX-skill." ]] The beasts of equilibrium are unique creatures that reside in the spirit realm. They are unique creatures that possess the power to perform any kind of alchemical process at their will, however, since they are very, veryzy creatures, who spend their timezing around the eternal ins of that world, they have no use of this power themselves. Throughout the known and unknown history, there have been mentions of these mythical creatures that people know little about, however, thanks to my master''s deep knowledge about these beings I know a good lot about them¡­ They are unique beings that some past masters and famous people have possessed as their familiar, however, aside from the unique way of random summoning or realm crossing, there is no certain way to meet or see these mystical creatures. However, her skill possesses the power to summon creatures like these special beasts for a certain task, and she has to be very, very specific about what she wants, how she wants it to be, and how it all will work out. She has to offer just the right materials with just the right proportions for this task of [Equivalent exchange] to seed since thezy beasts wouldn''t bother with these tasks themselves. In the first ce, they are summoned here against their will when they have nothing to do with this world or the people here. Their peace is broken for a moment, but, in exchange for something as simple as giving them something, they receive a delicious experience of this otherworld, some good snacks that they could never get in their own world, and a whiff of otherworldly Mana, they are happy to lend their services to their summoner. So, this time as well¡­ therge beast with a mouth as big as the alchemy circle itself sprang up from the ground, covered all the things inside the magic circle and the magic circle itself with its mouth, and since this creature was shining too brightly for the normal eyes and was too unique for the ones that could endure the brightness, they all remained silent until the whole process had ended, the beast had gone back to itsnds, and a single b of pure white metal was, along with some piles of silver dust in the ces where the materials have been ced on the alchemy circle, were the only thing remaining inside that golden dome. And after that, the crowd exploded in cheers, excitement, shock, wonder, and questions¡­ Chapter 670 Private personal talk Chapter 670 Private personal talk [Eon''s POV: ] After Miss Mia was finished with her creation and presented it before the judges, they were visibly impressed by her work. They were so impressed that they told her about how amazed they felt as they watched her, and, the other participants, though filled with unique emotions, had no choice but to acknowledge her prowess. She was amazing and her technique was one of a kind. They couldn''t do what she had done even if they wanted to and were as proficient as her in the art of alchemy. They epted that she was a genius, but, to the old and experienced masters and grandmasters present in this ce, it mattered naught. She was just a young one that was good in the art of alchemy but, that was it. Even though the world called her a prodigy, from their point of view, it would take her several more years to reach the level that they were on¡­ they were going to be in for a great surprise by the end of tomorrow though. ''The woman they considered young wasn''t the same person she had been in the past. She was apletely different person now, with new knowledge about herself and her powers, and, they were all going to know it by the end of tomorrow.'' Well, some of them would know it by the end of the second round of thepetition as well, but, the first round had just ended, and a break had just begun so, everyone that had passed the first round, as well as those who had failed, must be all resting in their ces, waiting for the further announcement. ''Well, they all must be doing pretty well considering they did better than we had expected in their first rounds.'' Everyone did pretty great. The ones from my house and Rein''s house as well as everyone else from the academy. They all passed the first round of thepetition considering they had been prepared for at least that much however, some of them won''t be making it out of the second round of the first day. Thepetition started from the second round in true meaning anyway. They would all experience it in a few hours. But, well, it was break time for now, and, since it was break time for all of us, Rein and I were with Lord Maverick and the party in their private chambers. I had some important matters to talk with them already and the time for that was finally upon us, however¡­ "Here, your majesty. It was a little difficult to make from just the exnations in this short time, but, I did my best." Before we got to the talk, Lady Carolina suggested we have a meal, and instead, I cooked for them. "Ohohoho! This looks just like what I had seen in that eastern vige!" They all requested some unique kind of food, the twins as well, and Rein helped me prepare what they had asked for. Thankfully, the things they asked for weren''t thatplicated to prepare. "Bruter Axion! Bruter Axion! Izh dish rally ice tream~?!" "Yammmmmmm~!" "Baby! No speaking with food in your mouth! Where''s your manners!" The twins enjoyed their meals but the ice cream sandwiches attained their greatest love. They were loving every bite of it, and, Rein was loving watching the two with a loving gaze. "Hahaha! To think I would enjoy something as simple as this! You are amazing, master Axion! Lady Madeleine''s prices were an understatement of your abilities! Hahaha!" Lord Maverick loved the highest quality meat I had specially prepared for him with some unique techniques as well. He loved it so much he had already finished three portions of the whole astronomically pricey thing. But I was the one preparing it right now, and I had plenty of this rare meat. And, even if the portions I had finished, getting more wouldn''t be that difficult of a thing in this bustling capital city that was a hotspot of stranding at the moment. ''One can find any kind of absurd thing if they just wished for it hard enough and looked at the right ce. There were underground auctions going on as well and Rein and I along with the President and vice president intended to pay a visit to the biggest one of them tonight.'' It would be a masquerade-type auction but since we would be going there for the work for the most part, who knows we will have time to y around in the auction house. "Axion and Reinelle should join us as well now. You are done with everything, right~? Join us~." Lady Charlotte invited us to join them, and the others, including the twins, insisted on it so, we had no choice but to join them all. "Big bruther! Are you gonna try my ice cream~?" "Mine as well! Suster! Suster! Please have some of mine!" The cute twins offered us their own sweets, something no kid does willingly for just anyone. So, this was a big thing for both of us. And considering how much they loved those ice cream sandwiches, I didn''t think they would offer them to us again if we rejected them this time. "Thanks, Prince Nathan, Princess Nathalie~!" Rein didn''t even hesitate and epted Princess Nathalie''s spoonful of ice cream first before having some from Prince Nathan''s te. She was delighted by their offer and she received it from them, so, she loved it even more. A little too much from what I felt from her. ][ "You love them." ]] [[ "How can anyone not love them~?" ]] [[ "But you love them a little too much. Do you want¡­" ]] [[ "Hehe, perhaps. Who knows~?" ]] We had thought about children but, it was a thing for a distant future. She wasn''t sure about all the parenting and stuff and she knew she wasn''t nowhere near ready to have that kind of responsibility. She was aware of her ws and the time it would take her to patch them to a safe enough degree. But, the fact that she was at least thinking of something like this¡­ made me happy, strangely. "Big bruther! Here~." They offered me their tes directly after her, cute kids. "Thanks." I took a spoon from both of their tes, small bites without the shocte part that seemed to like a little more, and, the two were happy to see their choctes were spared. "Hehehe, yes~!" "Net! Give me some~!" "No!" "We have more if you want, Princess." There was no need to fight for something as simple as this. They will be surprised to see Anna''s secret chocte room if they visit our house. They should visit our house soon, right? "Really~?! Yeiiiiii~! Then I-" "No Natli. That is enough." "Hmmm? Noooooo! Mama! I want more!" "No more ice cream dear. You will get a toothache." "Noooooooo! Mamaaaaa! It''s so gooooooood!" Now Princess was fighting with Lady Charlotte, which was cute as well, hehe. "Natli? You want some from Papa?" "Hmmm? Yes~! Thanks, papa!" "Dear?!" "Haha, let her, Char. Today''s fine." "No, it''s not!" A normal family quarrel in a family such as theirs reminds me how there are families out there, the noble families of higher social status, who do not have such rtionships like them in this world. ''They are special and quite adorable¡­'' Rein was looking at the four of them lovingly, especially the cute little duo. For some reason, her heart was fixated on the two of them since the time she saw them. It''s a unique behavior from her, certainly. "You are not getting any more of that ice cream, and that''s it! And¡­ why are you two just staring at us like that? Start eating already ~. The food''s gonna get cold." In society and the world outside of theseplicated things, she was called a genius architect who was quite aggressive with her designs. Like, she had created a particr castle for one of the richest people on the at their personal request who wanted the ce to be simr to some demon''s castle, and she made it so well that the castle is now a must-visit sight of that otherwise small kingdom far in the north of the continent. She was a very professional person when it came to her work, someone who had worked quite closely with Mom and other master architects during the construction of Hiranni. But, she was only a caring, protective mother in this private space. And, she liked my cooking so, this was a plus point. "Master Axion¡­" Lady Carolina was sitting on the other side of El and after finishing the dish she had specifically asked from me, she called me out and looked at me with a unique gaze. "You wanted a personal private talk on some matters, right?" There was a unique seriousness in her eyes now, something that we all had been anticipating for a while now. She had not brought up this topic the whole time we had been around her however, now that she was finally talking about this¡­ "Yes, Lady Carolina. We¡­ wanted to have some of your precious time." Rein grabbed my hand and we looked at her with determination in our eyes. "Are you sure?" "We are, yes." She had a basic understanding of what we wanted to talk about and how difficult the things we wanted to talk about might turn out to be. She knew how deep and dark the world of politics is, how the corrupted power misuses their authority, how the nature of one party triumphs over the thoughtfully nurtured powers, and, just how difficult and dangerous it was to enter a world like that at such a young age. ''She knew what we wanted to talk about was absurd in itself, however, if she was ready to talk about those topics as well, it meant she at least had confidence in our abilities now.'' And, just having them hear us out would be enough. I have learned how to convince others in a negotiation from the best person, so, I knew by the end of the day, we would have a properly strong backing and a door to the darker side of this world. A world, that we don''t usually pay attention to even after it is present before our eyes all the time, in all the ces, in countless unique forms¡­ in various different skins. Chapter 671 Boy… you are crazy Chapter 671 Boy¡­ you are crazy [Eon''s POV: ] After finishing the lunch, the children were sent with the servants to the other room to y by themselves and the adults had gathered at a round discussion table, with Miss Carolina sitting right before me and Rein, her aurapletely different from what it was a moment ago when we were eating together. She felt like an authoritative figure on par with Emperor August, our grandmother, or mom when she was working. It waspletely different from what I had expected it to be. Like,pletely different. To the point that it was a little scary¡­ And, she was using no power, no skill, or authority, no nothing. This was her pure presence, her aura that she had gained with her unnatural talent and abundant experience in the field. ''People don''t call her the (Mystique of the political world) for nothing, hun.'' She was apletely different being now, and, she was looking at us seriously. "Tell us, Axion, the sun of Nolen, grandson of Marchioness Heliox, master of countless resources. Tell us, what exactly do you want from us?" There was a president present here, a king-ranked knight; master of a household whose ancestor was someone who forcefully made divinities do something he wanted; and someone who possessed boundless talent and magical powers to be a world-renowned architect, but, a normal person like Miss Carolina with no great stats, no great magical powers, or any particrly unique skills¡­ just a question from her made me feel as if I was standing before a godly being themselves. As if this was the most serious question anyone had ever asked me in my entire life. Something I had not even felt I was with my master... ''This whole experience was something else and there was no way I would get anything out of it if I lie at this point.'' She was giving us her time, her undivided attention, so, I couldn''t possibly betray this opportunity. We couldn''t afford to do it. "What we want-" "Not what the both of you want, young boy. I know you heard my question correctly and are smart enough to know what I am asking. Just tell me straightforwardly what you want, I know you already have figured out I don''t like going around in circles." "I apologise¡­" Now she wasn''t even taking Rein into this whole wide picture¡­ haaaaa. Damn. ''Master had once told me I would meet all kinds of unique people in my life that I wouldn''t have expected to meet. She told me how there will always be beings, people out there that will always surprise me, always be something far beyond my own understanding, all my knowledge, powers, and talents.'' Lady Carolina was one of those people. One of those one-of-a-kind beings that master had talked about. There was nothing visibly special about her but, now that I was experiencing this strange pressure myself, a pressure generated from within me, because of a spark of fear bubbling inside of my deep soul, I knew how it felt like to actually stand before an absolute of their field in their most serious form¡­ it was terrifying. "I only want one thing from You, Lady Carolina." "From me?" "Yes, from you. The state, the power, the one that grants authority, the Mastermind. I have one request, I want to ask of you." She gave me a question, and I had the answer to that question. That simple yet unfathomably difficult question. "And, what is this request?" "Your trust." She flinched visibly as soon as she heard those two words. "Your absolute trust." And, then, the other three with her flinched after hearing those three words. "You know you are asking for too much, right Axion?" Master Maverick asked me with a serious expression of his own since he understood the best what it meant to have her trust her, the one that held the true power in these political circles where most of the things that happened were absurd or beyond the simple humanprehension. He knew the best just how precious her mere trust was, but, I was going beyond my own limitations and was asking for her absolute trust. The questions on all three of their faces were obvious however, Lady Carolina was calm still and was looking at me, in my eyes, directly. And I was looking back at her instead of paying attention to Lord Maverick''s question. "You are a young person but you are clearly older than your age, so, I conclude you are a reincarnation as well. However, age doesn''t mean anything in this world, as you two know the best. So¡­ why would a smart one like you would ask for something they already know is impossible to get? Tell me, trantor of the greatest novel of the Era, what is in this rtionship of absolute trust for me? What will I get?" "My absolute trust, and my resources, and¡­ my knowledge." This was the biggest gamble of this life of mine. The biggest. She knew what I was offering her since her eyes widened as soon as she heard those words of mine. She knew what it meant to have my trust, my resources, and my knowledge. She knew about me more than even the emperor or the three empresses, she was one of the people who knew most about what was going inside and outside of this world. In the darks to the things that were being done under the brightest blinding lights. She knew my achievements, she knew what it meant to be a reincarnation, and, she knew how I strangely had many, many resources. Far more than even my own mother. She knew about my knowledge as well, the same knowledge that had created the greatest food n of this world, introduced many useful artifacts to this market, and given this world a precious text that all the people will keep close to their hearts for their own unique reasons. She knew I was also the person who had gotten the top spot among the academy''s student council members, an overwhelmingly higher score. She knew my rtionship with the headmaster, the divinity that existed among the humans, and, she knew my worth. "Why?" She knew all that, and she knew I knew it all better than anyone else. My trust, my resources, my knowledge¡­ they weren''t something anyone could put a price tag on. Those were priceless things that the world would die fighting for. I understood it better than anyone else. That was the reason I had kept all that to myself only. "Why would you go so far?" However I was offering all that to her, and, in return, I was merely asking for her trust. ''She has a shocked expression. I wasn''t expecting this after feeling that absurd pressure, haaa.'' If I wanted, I could cause chaos all over the world, destroy all the political powers that might be a hindrance to me, bribe the people who were good and useful, and cause endless trouble for the ones that were against me, but, instead of doing all that, instead of using the absolute power, I wanted to y politics¡­ she couldn''t understand this shit. She couldn''t understand many things even with her great knowledge and insight. Her question¡­ why would I go that far, wasn''t something I was hearing for the first time either. Mom, Rein, Grandmother, and even Uncle Theo had asked me this when I told them what I wanted to do. And, well, my answer to all of them was simple¡­ "For those precious to me. For¡­ my Anna. My Zoe. My love." Knowledge is power. Resources are power. Connections are power. Strength, skills, talent¡­ power is an abstract entity. And, I happen to possess a little too much of it. In many of the forms. And, people, the world that was admiring it right now, isn''t going to be the same in the following few years. The greed of humans is insatiable, the Pride of humans, as well as some other races residing within this human dominant society, is immortal, the Gluttony to devour all that got ahead of themselves, the Lust to go after everything that belonged to those same sessful ones, the Sloth, Wreath, Envy¡­ the seven deadly sins are just the surface of what the dark humankind is capable of.'' And, even if I could stand against them, Mom, Dad, grandmother, Grandpa, and some of the others could, I am not sure what they would do to my friends, to the people who only have a little connection to me, to my Anna, to my Zoe¡­ I fear the humanity. The dark one, the one that the ones in political circlese across every once in a while. I fear it, and, since I have the knowledge that grants me the foresight to faintly predict what might happen in the near unknown, I cannot possibly just stand by and do nothing. "Please, Lady Carolina. I won''t give you any chance to regret your decision." I looked at her, deep in her eyes, sincerely. And, all four of them couldn''t help looking at each other with uncertain looks. Rein clenched my hand. She was nervous but, she also looked at them with the most serious eyes she could make, and, Lady Carolina, after looking at her for a minute, after looking at me afterward, looked at Lord Maverick and others, with a unique look and sighed deeply. "Haaaaa¡­ With poweres great responsibilities, and with poweres great challenges. Those who cross the hurdle be extraordinary, those who couldn''t, fall into pits of despair¡­ I see a light so bright I feel blinded from you Axion, however at the same time¡­ the abyss hidden behind that brightness is not something I wish even my worst enemies woulde across. Huuuuu¡­ I am uncertain, however, Axion, and Reinelle. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and, ept this absurd proposal. However, you have to tell me what you n to do with my absolute trust, my power¡­ my authority." She looked at me seriously once again, but, she just said she epted my proposal. And, she couldn''t go back on her words now. "I will tell you, Lady Carolina. However, would you mind taking an oath of origin with me?" I gave her a smile, and, Rein finally sighed a sigh of relief. She had been anxious all the while, but now that things had concluded, she was relieved. And, the first thing she did after I had asked for another absurd thing from the ones before us, was give me a deep kiss without caring for the people present there. "Hmmm? Did you just say¡­ an oath of origin?" And, I could only answer her question after Rein was done with her ''thing''¡­ that Lady Charlotte found to be quite, attractive. "Yes, Lady Carolina. An oath of origin would be necessary if I am going to tell you all about a rebellion, the creation of a country on a newfoundnd, and, the great wars that would start because of that, right?" Lightshade was going to do many things in this world, and all of it would be to aplish parts of these final goals. ''We will need backing for that, from someone that was as good as her, however, her expression right now¡­ well, it doesn''t look so good.'' She was making the most twisted expression she had made in the entire time we had been together, and, she wasn''t the only one doing it. "Boy¡­ you are crazy." "Unbelievably crazy¡­" "Absurdly stupid as well." "But bold." All four of them were making that twisted face, and, it was funny in a way¡­ ptff. ''Badly funny¡­ hehe.'' Chapter 672 Before the second round Chapter 672 Before the second round [Mia''s POV: ] "Captain, do you need anything? Just tell us if there''s anything you need." "Take care of yourself first everyone. The second round will be the real challenge." "Yes, captain!" The first round had finished a while back and the break also ended after a while so the second round was about to start soon, and, it wouldn''t be something as simple as creating a general catalyst. ''Not that the first round was anything simple in the first ce.'' It took me a long time to finish the thing that I was doing myself and though my unique skill doesn''t have anything like a cooldown time, the sheer amount of mental strain it puts on my body is so great that without the strange dull red potions vice-captain gave me, it would have been impossible for to even continue with thepetition in that state of mine.'' It''s a dangerous skill, that''s why I always save for thest, however, the unique training we all went through increased my mental power as well as my soul quality. It even gave me enough strength to be able to use this dangerous skill of mine twice in a single day after a little rest, however, with the potions and all, I don''t even have to worry about the recoil. ''I can use the skill at least three times with the dull red potions, recover my mental stamina with the dull yellow potion, and get almost all of my Mana back after only drinking half of the dark blue potions.'' Those things are phenomenal, and they are so strangely crafted that even though I know what they are, theirposition, and the things that could have been in use in creating these things, it is impossible for me, or perhaps ny-nine percent of the beings in this world to get their hands on the things that these potions are made of. And, even if one gets their hands on those things, I have no knowledge of a method other than a unique skill like mine that could be used to reverse engineer these potions. ''They are just, absurd. And amazing.'' I don''t know which dungeon or dragonir he looted to get these things but if he tells me that he actually Created these things, imma gonna have to beg him to take me in as his disciple. "Huuuuu. But let''s not think about that for now." The first round just ended and all the houses did very well. Unexpectedly so. ''Only the captains know what the other houses did to prepare themselves for thepetition, what methods they used, or what things they used for the preparation, however, even with the little information leak they couldn''t prevent, I had concluded that at least thirty percent of the students from other houses wouldn''t make it past the first round¡­ however, I was wrong.'' Just like our house, the other houses had prepared thoroughly for thispetition and they weren''t holding back in showing what they had prepared at all. They were all giving their all, as if their lives depended on it, especially [Turtle defenders]. ''The Dark Society is understandable at one point since their lives actually depended on their results. Everyone in the school already knows just how scary Uriel gets when she is in her house captain mode.'' She is a bad kind of perfectionist who believes in brute forcing her way to perfection with absolute, one-sided power. And she is damn good at what she does. To the point vice-captain once told us if she really, really wants to do something, nothing in this entire world, this realm, this very reality would be enough to stop her. She was smart, strong, and capable, and when she was with her people, she was also the most genuine person one could find. Perhaps, that was the very reason the vice-captain and she were together. ''They look lovely together¡­ haaaa¡­'' How would it be if we had met earlier than he met her? Would¡­ we be anything more than This? I wonder¡­ And, I am certainly not the only one who wonders about these kinda things. He''s¡­ irresistible. ''But, he belongs to someone else. And, everyone knows he has no earthly desire to have anything more than her.'' The way he looks at her, the way she looks at him¡­ that look is something any human, any living being couldn''t have even after yearning for it for an eternity. ''To have someone look at one that way, is a privilege only a few in this world could have. Will I get that privilege? I have no idea¡­'' But, well, as the person closest to me once told me, "The World is full of uncertainties. Even the most certain thing like time, this reality, to this life we have, is founded on thew of eternal uncertainty". Nothing is certain, even the best predictions don''t have a certain chance toe true. ''Just like that person¡­'' I nced across my shoulder and there she was, sitting with Prince Charles, someone famous throughout the world as the eldest prince of Roxanna, as the youngest discoverer of twenty-one natural dungeons, three natural boundaries, and one ancient site. Everyone knew him since there was a certain someone in his adventurer party who practically recorded everything they did and published for the world to see, read, and experience for themselves. He is famous, and, when a famous person like him is someone in a grandpetition like this, no one that knew him would consider this to be a small thing. ''He had an adventurer party of the most skilled people with him even though many of the things he did were something he did by himself. However, his desire for the finest talent is something known throughout all the three continents.'' Everyone knew the moment they saw her with him, she was something. Someone who had his direct backing. However, not even I, much less the masters and grandmasters oldies present here might have predicted she would create the God''s blood of all the things in this grand world. ''And with that absurdly amazing method at that.'' I don''t know who she was where Prince Charles found her, but, I know one thing and that is after seeing her create just one thing, I have relearned one of the most important things in my life: "Limitations are for losers". Creating something as difficult as God''s blood without any dedicated technology, without any specific material, or by using the power thisnd was bestowed with, were all the things I wasn''t even thinking about before I saw her make that golden b. ''I have never sessfully synthesized the Good''s blood myself, but, I have seen many create it myself. I know how it feels to create something like that with one''s own hands, I know that feeling very well.'' Even a grandmaster who has created God''s blood a few times in their lives creates it once again, they would feel the joy of their life once again. They would relive the moment they had seeded in creating it the first time, they would feel the joy of being a creator, an artist, and an Alchemist once again. ''But, when she created that thing, she was calm. One can tell she was feeling the joy of having done something incredible, but she was calm.'' And that¡­ is what I would call hot. She looked as young as me, not that old from her looks. She looked to be human but my senses weren''t certain so I can''t say with certainty, not that it mattered in this ce. She was smart, she was daring, she was awesome, but, that wasn''t going to stop me from going for the top spot in thispetition. ''I made a promise to him. We all did.'' Dark Society was aiming to do better than any other house, Fascinated Mages were doing their best to not fall behind anyone present here, Eternal Tigers were giving others an unexpectedpetition with all their members passing thepetition without any incidents, Fusion Stardust was doing so well the other alchemists wereplimenting their methods already, and True Dragons weren''t falling behind anyone when their captain was with them. But, they all were aiming to win against the other houses since they knew they couldn''t go past the second day, or the fifth round on the third day at most. Aqua Mirrors, Turtle Defenders, and, we were different in this matter. ''We had something we must do here, Quin''s house was aiming for a higher realm out of their respect for their captain, and who knew what threat Prince Alpheus had used that his house members had put their lives on the line here. Some of them didn''t even care when they were hurt or failed the production of their first product.'' There was no desire, or determination in their eyes. Nothing like hope or faith. They just did it because they had to do it. There was fear, anxiety, and a kind of negative emotion I didn''t think I would see in students of the greatest academy in the world. ''Prince Alpheus¡­ I don''t know if he is the reason they are like this, but, that negativity that is so solidly nted inside them isn''t something that could be stopped with anything anymore.'' It''s a madness that will drive them even against their wills until they achieve their goals, or push themselves to the brink of death while doing so. It''s not something good. However, it isn''t something that can stop us either. We will do what we have to do. What we can do. All that we could do for that single goal. [ "We would be starting with the second round of thepetition in thirty minutes. Those who have passed the first test, please make your way to the new workstations, and those who could not pass this year, we apud you for your efforts. May the following years bring more positive results to you all!" ] The second round would decide what happens from tomorrow''s team rounds. And, even though I have faith that the others will pass one way or the other, I am certain it won''t be something as easy as the first round¡­ They will struggle, and face difficulties with some of the processes, however, if they follow the teachings of the Vice-captain¡­ everything will be alright. I have faith in them, and what we have learned. Chapter 673 Creating a golem Chapter 673 Creating a golem [Eon''s POV: ] [ "Then for the second round of thepetition!" ]] The participants were all gathered at their individual workces this time which were arranged to be all separate from one another. They all had pretty good space to do whatever they wanted and just like thestpetition, there were also some special ces with open areas dedicated to therger things. The participants looked ready, and, as we looked down from the special balcony once again, the look in the eyes of my house members was still the same. They weren''t afraid, they were prepared for what they had to do, and they were prepared for anything that would be thrown at them. ''Silly people¡­'' They were determined and there was a unique kind of faith, no, determination in their eyes. A pure determination to achieve something so strongly that their entire focus was fixed on that certain thing. ''They were doing pretty fine on their own though, so, this is fine. Funny, but fine.'' They didn''t have to dedicate all that to someone else. They were the ones doing all that so they deserved all the credits that their creations received, not someone that taught them a few little things.'' Anyway, they looked good, and so did the other participants. ''The others who had taken the first round as something simple and passed it without much difficulty were all now in the serious modes.'' They were looking scarier than they had been a while ago. And, this seriousness was understandable since if they did not do good in this round, there was a chance that despite their excellent performance they might get kicked out of thepetition. This was the real thing, and, the tension in the air among the participants, was something that fouled the enthusiasm and excitement of the crowd to another dimension. [ "All participants will have to create a [Golem] with some kind of elemental properties! The type or kind of the golem does not matter however, the winning criteria would be a working, functional golem that can sustain itself for the duration of this round of thepetition!" ] The announcer revealed the human-sized golem that resembled an Orc warrior who seemed to possess wind attribute abilities. Its surface was made of metal, a lightweight metal specifically. And instead of being something robotic, this thing was purely metal, chemicals, and magic. A creation of pure alchemy. It was a unique-looking model that seemed pretty attractive however, it was also a very functional model that could be used in the construction ofrge structures. "That is V-12, isn''t it dear?" Lord Justin asked Lady Char with an excited expression present on his face, and, since the announcement had sparked a wave of depression among the participants, his excitement was obvious. "Specifically, that''s a higher-end version that we use for specified tasks. This one is V-15 Anemo. We use this one to cut the harder elemental wood that couldn''t be cut with the normal des." It was certainly used in the construction work and is one of the best artifacts in the world present among us who would obviously know about this. Still, though, this was absurd. "A golem production in the second round? Something like this hasn''t happened in decades, right?" "Thest time a golem production was set in the second round was around a century ago if I remember correctly however, at that time, there was a bacsh that it was too difficult thing for the people and that it was unfair." "If I remember correctly, my grandfather had participated in thepetition and ording to him, the bacsh was mostly because the people weren''t prepared for something of this level in the early stages of thepetition, however¡­ the current time is different." "I believe the standards of thepetition are correct. The participants this time around are the most capable ones thepetition has ever had. This much shouldn''t be that great of a challenge for this round. And besides, if the stakes are higher, the fun would be that much higher as well." "I am excited. Let''s see what happens~." "Kekekeke. I see where this is going. The organizers of thepetition this time around certainly aren''t holding back at all." The people were getting more and more excited with the progress and since the announcer was telling the audience what the objective of thepetition was and the other things that the participants wouldn''t be told, the people all around us were making louder and louder noises. ''The people were still only one thing though, the participants on the ground had mostly fallen into a difficulty dilemma.'' A golem. In the field of Alchemy, the Golders are artificial life forms that possess basic intelligence and the ability to followmands. They were simr to robots or artificial golems created in Magic Engineering, however, instead of having software and hardware made of sophisticated technology, these products of alchemy were practically natural creations that did not have anything like sophisticated technology or any artificial intelligence to be precise. ''The golem created purely with alchemy were practically machines that would do anything they weremanded under the guidelines preset by their creators while the artificial golem were golems with artificial intelligence, beings that understand a few things and make a judgment on their own value systems.'' Both of them were used in their unique fields and there are also some instances where the Alchemy is used alongside the Magic engineering to create a higher version of these golems, something called [Automations]. Something I specialise in. "The participants look to be in quite a bad state, don''t you think Master Axion." "Well, some of them sure do. While on the other hand, some look unexpectedly excited to me. As if they were delighted to receive some ''worthy'' challenge." "Huhuhu, so you can read the emotions of those led people as well." Lady Carolina was chuckling with her mouth covered with her fan, however, all those who heard thisugh gasped in shock for a moment. ''Haaaa¡­ she is taking this seriously. So much so that this will burden meter.'' Our conversation earlier went on until thepetition''s second round was about to start and though all four of them were cursing at us for quite a long time for all the absurd things we told them about, we ended the conversation on a positive note. Not that the conversation itself had ended. They still asked us for dinner time so that they could finish what we had started, so, we will be having dinner together as well. And of course, I will have to cook for them again. ''Haaaaa¡­'' Anyway. She wasughing, and herugh was not something the people heard often. Not this chuckle of happiness. They were surprised, taken aback, stunned, and some who knew the real her were looking at me with unblinking eyes of shock. And, it was ufortable. Not their gazes but, their surprise. I¡­ do not like this. "Ah! Right. Master Axion. I remember you are quite a deep interest in golem production yourself?" "Automation production, yes. Not specifically golems or artificial golems. I believe proper artificial lifeforms could only be created when Magic, Alchemy, and Technology arebined together." Master Maverick sensed that I was feeling ufortable by them and changed the topic and, his efforts weren''t in vain since right after my reply, the people that were ring at me with that ufortable look, changed their way of looking to a look of curiosity and interest. "Ohh! Automation production~? Isn''t that quite a difficult subject to be interested in~? No wait¡­ wait a minute! I have heard that the shops of your mother throughout the continent would be selling some new things that are created by some ''unknown geniuses''. My sources say there is something resembling an Automation among these products as well-" "Dear, you shouldn''t speak of such matters so casually. Please understand the ce, time, and situation." Yes, Master Maverick! Yes! Please! ''This isn''t even the first time he was talking about the things that we wanted to keep confidential! What was he even doing?! Helping me or trying to ruin my months of work?!'' I can not believe this person! [[ "Calm darling. You are about to explode." ]] [[ "I want to explode Rein¡­ is this some kind of petty revenge for what we told them? Why did he do it?!" ]] [[ "Perhaps to show others there is a possibility that you are secretly a super genius in some other fields as well? Well, it didn''t seem like he was doing it purposefully." ]] What did it matter if he was doing it purposefully or not?! Why did he have to tell them we would be selling something like automation in the first ce?! Everyone knows those things are restricted for the use of normal people!" ]] [[ "Well¡­ I don''t know about all that. I just don''t think he did that on purpose so, just calm down. Take a deep breath and say something or else people will take your silence as a positive answer." ]] ''Ugh¡­ what the hell? I was he was helping me but what is he really up to now?'' The fact that we would be selling my unique inventions was a secret but he had just nted a seed of doubt in the minds of these talkative people. Now they might link the new things in the shops with me, and if that happens, my life would be even more miserable. ''There is no way out of this. Haaa¡­ only if there was someone to take the credit-¡­ oh! Right! There is someone to take the credit!'' Right. We can do this as well! I would be in a deeper hole after doing this but being in a deep hole that I can climb out of is better than draining in some endless ocean. "Master Maverick¡­ and everyone present here." I didn''t think doing this would be the right idea but, since things havee to this¡­ "I request everyone here to keep the fact about the shops, and new products to yourself. I canpensate you handsomely if you want to sign a confidentiality contract, however, I am the kind of person who believes in the true words of a person more than some contract. I can confirm there will be some new products we are going to introduce in the market however, none of them belong to me in any creative way. And none are anything like the Automation. Keeping the identities of the creators confidential is our biggest priority so, WE would like to treat you positively if you give me your word. Your sincere word that the news of these things won''t go out of this ce. However, if you cannot do that, I believe neither I nor Our families would want to maintain any rtions with you all. So¡­ I hope you understand." I used some of my Solnova behind my voice so there was a sudden silence all around us. And, this silence could have continued for another moment if, Lady Carolina had not spoken up right after me. "Ah~! Rest assured Master Axion~. We won''t be telling about this secret thing to anyone~. Just the secret one though~. Hehe." She¡­ what did she just say? "Yes, Master Axion. You can rest assured. You have my word that my words would not interfere with anything you had been nning for the future of the world''s economy." And now Master Justin as well? What the hell are these people paying on?! "You don''t have to worry about your special clients and associates master Axion! And I apologize for my mistake." What are they-¡­! Oh, wait. ''I see, that look, those words, I see what they are up to¡­ damn.'' These people were good at this. Like, goooooood. They were indirectly showing their support to us while making it clear that we all were on one side. ''Fuck¡­'' I thought I was improvising on whatever they were doing but, I had been ying in their palms all this time, wasn''t I? ''I don''t like this in a way.'' But, it was effective. The silence had be darker and there was this certain look of uncertainty on their faces now, so, this was obviously a very good sign. ''A damn very good one!'' Chapter 674 Alchemical techniques of Charvikk Chapter 674 Alchemical techniques of Charvikk [OP: ] The people were taken aback by the words of the highest-ranking people of this nation present in this higher balcony. They couldn''t understand why they were being so favorable to these two children at the start, however, as they stayed with them, observed them, and got to know more about the two of them, they understood these two infamous brats were somethingpletely different from the usual children of this day and age. Not only were they too mature for their age, but they were also quite special in many ways, however, they had not expected that they would ever feel intimidated by some young boy''s mere words. They had not expected him to be smarter than many people present here and they certainly did not expect that they would not only have support from the imperial family but also from from the rulers of Lakmer. The words of the president, his Lady, and Lord Justin that followed his intimidating warning were something out of character for these people. They had no reason to speak up for some rich brat that knew nothing of the world¡­ at least at the start of this day, they might have thought it in this way. However, now, things are different. They knew both of these young, mannerless, and careless children from the widely known rumors were nothing like those rumors. They had seen for themselves how they were more noble than some of the older nobles themselves so, they suspected there was something more to them than just their simple looks. And, at the moment when they heard that heart-shaking deep warning from him, as well as felt the genuine responses of the people that hardly ever even give their attention to some important person, they knew the two of them were special in many ways and, had their open support. Things were too calm after that, however, since even the rulers of thisnd had epted their request, they had no choice but to follow behind them and ept it or sign the contract so that they at least gain something from this whole thing. Losing a connection with either Heliox or Atraxia would turn out to be a bad idea since they were one of the pirs of production and transport on the western continent so, it was better for them to keep this ''secret'' to themselves. There was no restriction on sharing the knowledge and happenings of this ce so they could exploit this whole contract and their words in a way and, they knew the other party knew of this fact as well, however, they did not do anything about this. They all thought perhaps these people also wanted the word about the shops being filled with new things to get out, but then again, none of them were fools. Especially the son of someone who was known as a demoness in the economic world. There was no way her son would not know something as basic as the impotence of leaked information, not thispletelypetition son of hers that even the greatest of two nations had acknowledged. They knew he was no normal person, so, as everyone continued looking at the ongoingpetition, they contemted the reason why none of these people did anything about the already leaked information that wasn''t a ''secret'' anymore. They were anxiously thinking what they were up to, and, this behavior of theirs had given the rest of them enough room to breathe a sigh of relief. [[ "How can these people take such risks, Rein, haaa¡­ they don''t even know them as much as I do and I still wouldn''t have gambled the situation like that." ]] [[ "They are oldies who have nothing to lose here darling. And, they trust themselves enough to know the exact human behavior. Your threat was genuine so they yed along and fortified the belief that they were supporting us. And this yed out just as they wished for even though there could have been some deviations. Well, I want to believe Lady Carolina nned all this, but, to have yed along with her so effortlessly was not something even I would have been able to do without a proper conversation. They must have been doing these things for a while now so, just like us, they are conditioned to trust their insects when ites to situations like these. Anyway, things ended without me having to say anything so, I am happy." ]] Rein was sitting on a different chair beside Eon so she couldn''t hold her hand, so, instead of that, she just looked at him and gave him a warm smile. [[ "These people are the crazy ones, Rein. I tell you these people are the crazy ones." ]] Eon was worried for a moment that things had gotten too out of control however, now that he was seeing that things had returned to normal, he couldn''t believe just how powerful their mere momentary support actually was. This was the world he was about to enter, the world of political power that was based on consent more than brutal force, a ce where authority triumphed the greatest of the strength itself¡­ [[ "Haaaa. Anyway, looks like your house members are struggling a bit darling." ]] [[ "Nah. They will do fine. I taught them how to make the easiest golems in the least time so if they can''t do what I have already taught them, they were never fit to be alive in the first ce." ]] Everyone was focusing on thepetition, the participants were doing their work, the golem production was on the way, and, different from the traditional methods to create a core first and then make a base, there was a certain person that was once again the center of attention of the whole of the stadium. "Does anyone know what Miss Mia is doing?" "It looks like she is making some kind of special product with Soil as the base, but, why is she doing that? Shouldn''t she focus on creating the core?" "She¡­ is this some secret method?" "Is this some kind of unique production technique that we do not know of? Amazing! As expected of the genius alchemist!" Miss Mia was doing the work that looked quite different from the whole of the mass around her. There were normal students who were following the textbook methods of fastest golem creations, the experts were using their own unique methods to create their unique golems, the masters and grandmasters had their own unique techniques that were different from the masses, techniques that were theirs and theirs alone, however, one thing wasmon for every one of them. [[ "I still cannot believe you taught them Charvikk production method. And, the more surprising thing is that someone other than you is actually using that fucked up method to create that fucked up kind of golem." ]] Rein was the only one who actually knew what method Miss Mia was using and she still couldn''t believe her eyes. It was just absurd in the first ce. [[ "Well, I did teach them the method, however, would you believe me if I say she criticized the methods, found the ws, and molded the whole technique to suit her deposition?" ]] [[ "That is even more fucked up man¡­ she deserves to be called a genius." ]] To create a golem, one needs three keyponents, A Core, A Base, and a foundation that binds everything together. This was the mostmon structure of the golems produced by alchemy, even the masters and grandmasters worked with these basic guidelines in mind and worked with these three fundamental things. Some special people still had their own way however, it wasn''t that different from the others. Those unique methods at least still contained a core at the very least since a golem without a core was not possible in the first ce. An artificial life form, or, for a matter of fact, all lifeforms including humans and the other species, have a certain ''core'' that contains their life forces. A golem''s core contains all their power, or at least most of their useable power. Some natural-born golems have the ability to move these cores all around their bodies if they want and humans have tried replicating this for years but have yet topletely seed in this. However, none of the people present here, or the people that were present among the crowd, the higher-ups in the balcony, as well as the judges had ever thought that something as absurd as a (Coreless golem) could actually exist. [[ "How is she going to do this though? The people in the past used their unique abilities and specifically bred monsters while you use the Solnova and your special equipment. How is she gonna do it?" ]] The whole concept of a golem without a core was something that sounded absurd and was absurd as well. It was the same as saying a living creature without a heart or a brain that could understand someone and do the proper tasks that were asked of them. However, in the old tribe, there existed a certain civilization in the eastern continent that thought of the golems, the artificial life forms, as something more than an artificial intelligence or a mere product of Alchemy. The Charvikks posed a question: "Does a golem really need a core to exist? And if just a single core could be enough to maintain their existence, what would happen if there were more than one core sustaining them? What would happen if their entire bodies were something that worked as a core?" The same question, in modern terms, could also be asked "What would happen if an entire being was made of neurons or hearts? What would they be capable of if they can ''think'' or process the sensory inputs with their entire being or pump energy in the required manner?" It was a peculiar way of thinking about a problem, the archeologists who found the traces of this civilization and the texts left behind by them had the same thought. Having the ability where the entire body, every single cell the body is made of works as a core, is a question of fantasy for the ''humans'', however, the alchemists of the past figured out a way to make a being that was actually entirely made of the ''cores'' or simply put, the Cell structures that could all work as a core simultaneously, ultimately making the golem itself an energy core where the whole of the powers are concerned. [[ "Well, Rein. I would tell you the half and uncertain things but it will ruin the funpletely. So, how about we just watch her do it on her own?" ]] [[ "Hmmm¡­ alright." ]] Eon taught them the Alchemical techniques of Charvikk, one of the most advanced lost civilizations of alchemical knowledge, however, Miss Mia was the only one who made that knowledge into her own. "Wow¡­" And now that she was going to show off her knowledge and techniques to the audience here, it was bound to create another round of apuse and cheers. Well, before that happens though, they will cheer for the person that had finished creating her core before anyone else, a core that looked smaller than the others, but extraordinary from any other at the same time. [[ "Tsk. Bitch." ]] [[ "Haaaa, Rein? Again? Why such racism?" ]] [[ "I can''t help it man, it''s a half-demon we are talking about. Huuuuu¡­" ]] The golem productions were going well¡­ Chapter 675 Creation of a coreless golem Chapter 675 Creation of a coreless golem [OP: ] On the ground, Miss Mia was standing before her workstation with a number of the stumbles set up on the burners, some ss tolls of chemistry ced in the ce to create someplex chemicalpunction, and the process that was happening inside of these test tubes filled with strange colored fluids was the center of attention of many of the people present in this ce. However, the one doing these alchemical processes, the Alchemist of Silver was lost in her own Zone. She knew she had to win thispetition and she had to do well this time if she wanted to seed in what she was doing, so she needed to bepletely forced on what she was doing. She knew what she was doing was neither simple nor something that one could aplish just because one wanted to. She was improvising on many of the methods of the people of the past since the technology and the resources they used at that time weren''tpletely possible to obtain in this day and age, so, she was under strain as well. Her driving force was her faith her herself, her abilities, and the person who had taught her these techniques, and, for her, that much was more than enough. She was approaching her first stage, however, as she was doing it, loud apuses that almost managed to break her attention filled the ground. -WHAAAAAAA! Someone hadpleted their core, she could hear that much, but, she didn''t care about them. She just continued with what she was doing and gathered her attention back her the task before her. (Stage-1) of golem production, the creation of a core that can sustain the foundation and bind it with the base of the golem that one wanted to create. It was a difficult process that required more of a fundamental understanding of the alchemy and the nature of the golems that are born in nature. One needed to create a certain structure that was made to work like a human brain or at least a structure that could ept and executemands. Just like howputers and artificial intelligence work on the modules of 0 and 1, the golem would have to be capable of understanding thesemands, receiving them from the creator or the person that they were allocated to, and executing them after epting them in a certain set way. And, the core did all that in a golem. After this stage came the foundation, (Stage-2) of golem production. If the foundation is weak, even the strongest castle and the greatest fort would fall to the weaker forces. It was a well-known fact in this world. And, the alchemists knew the importance of these foundations better than most of the other beings of this world. They understood without a foundation to support the structure, there would be no structure itself. Without a good foundation to support the main body of the golem, even the smartest core would be useless. Even the golem with a good foundation a better core and a better body would not be able to handle the whole of the weight of the golem if they weren''t equipped with an equally strong foundation. That was the main reason people with a good understanding of the basics focused on the creation of the best possible foundation after their core and a strong base were finished. In (Stage-3), if they managed to create the perfect base for their golem under the criteria that were required for thepetition, they could pass easily. Most of the alchemists in thispetition were doing just that at the moment. And that certainpanion of the first prince of Roxanna empire seemed to be doing better than anyone else in all these three stages that she was executing simultaneously in therger empty field. She was the second person who was attracting the most curiosity in the area at the moment, Miss Mia still being the first one. What she was doing was certainly amazing, however, not as amazing as seeing those many colorful test tubes with bubbling liquids present all around herrge workstation. And she was perfectly focused as well so, she looked even more attractive than the other participants¡­ Even though they did not understand what she was doing, none of them including the judges did, they knew they were seeing something for the first time in their lives, and, this gained the curiosity of the so-called masters and the grandmasters present in this ce. "Huuuu¡­" She wasn''t creating a typical single-core golem. What she was creating was more special than any of those simple golems could hope to be. She was creating a life, a true artificial lifeform, and, it could not be done in mere three stages. She needed a harmonic chemical structure that wasprised of all the required materials which one could understand as the core of a coreless golem. Getting that right harmony of the fluids would have been difficult for her if she had not known the techniques of this lost civilization, however, by following the unique techniques of what those people used to call [Chemistry] a word rted to the branch of magic that was connected with the substances of which the matter isposed of, their properties, and their reactions independently or as the base to form new substances. They could dpose chemicals through simple processes, synthesize new things by breaking and rebuilding the chemicalpositions of a material, could trigger the basic unit of a matter directly as well, and though doing so required their unique summoned creatures, they were able to turn wood into gold, and turn simple rocks into the most explosive and dangerous thing possible. They used heat, mes, electricity, environmental factors, and such uncertain things in their processes, defined things that are just concepts in alchemy, and went to the core of the matter, and beyond them, and ultimately, they came up with an answer. A truth few could understand. "Woah! Miss Mia is going to use her skill again!" "Wow! Already?!" "Is she going to create her core using her skill?! Or the base~?!" "She has been doing something interesting looking this whole time. That child must be up to something interesting this time as well." She had finished what she wanted to do and had the final [Harmonic Organic Compound] in her hand, however, that was just one part of her final product. -Oooooooooooong! She needed equipment that could reproduce what those people of the past so effortlessly did with theirrgebs and special creatures. And, she made that equipment with her [Equivalent exchange] skill and summoned a giant testable, or a container, or something made of a strange diamond-like ss with her skill with strange Rune-like patterns present all over it and surprised everyone present in the arena. It looked like some strange equipment that one couldn''t understand with simple logic however, what she did after that shocked the others even more. -Ooooooooong! She created steps with earth magic and reached the top of this vat and first filled it with water created with her skillpletely, and then, added thepound into this vat. And then, she just came down after closing the top of it with some othermand. The others had thought she would do some amazing work inside thisrge thing she had created with her unique ability but, this simple action of adding a green potion-like substance into the water confused them a little. They couldn''t understand what she was doing with this, and the confusion intensified when the thing she had added to the water justpletely disappeared. The audience couldn''t understand her actions, and judges or the experts could not either. They had questions like where was the Core, and when she would start with the Foundation or Base and the biggest question was what this vat resembling the ones they used in the creation of Homunculus or advanced Chimera was doing here. However, the one that had triggered these questions was still focused on her work. She had added the mainpound but, it was nothing if she wanted to create a coreless golem. She had only added an initiator but toplete the process much more was needed so, she quickly got to work and created many small test tubes filled with colorful or colorless materials and gathered them all in one side she had created beforehand. A preservative space that the alchemists used to maintain the state of their important materials. She created many test tubes filled with these materials throughout the next hour through various strange reactions and techniques that the other alchemists were seeing for the first time, however, even after many of the participants were done with their work, by the end of time limit approaching, she was still creating these strange and useless materials instead of working on the main things. Some of them, mainly, her housemates were all worried for her for a while, however, after she finished creating thest of the purple fluid tube with some strange electrical current stimtion, she had everything she needed. So, with many people focused on her actions again, with many participants who were done with their work looking at her alongside their various golems, she went up to the vat channeled some Mana on its surface and, the patterns that were present all around it, lit up with silver light and were reced with holes that didn''t let the liquid in the inside out. They were unique holes however, the water she had added inside of the vat was still the same normal transparent liquid, nothing had changed in all that time. People had expected something would change, however, no. The thing inside was the same, and, even after she ced the tens of test tubes with those strange things all around this vat, and the substances had be one with the water present there, nothing still changed. The thing inside of it was still just a transparent fluid, or, perhaps not. The audience perhaps couldn''t see it, but the alchemists present on the ground with good eyesight could see how the color of the water had be a little darker. It was very subtle so it was hard to distinguish it from the previous one. However, in the world of alchemy, even the most subtle change to one thing meantrge changes to the other. The final product could change or get ruinedpletely if the precision was off just by a small margin, however, they could tell from the positive smile on Miss Mia''s face that she had achieved what she had been hoping for. Only one thing remained for her now, and, to achieve that, she ced her hand on the giant magic circle that had been present under the vat since the beginning, and channelled her Mana as sparks filled the whole thing. -CRACKL! CRACKL! CRACKL! And in an instant, these sparks intensified to such a degree that the people around her had to step away from her. -CRACKKKKL! -BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Then, out of nowhere, a sudden lightning fell from the sky on this vat, shocking not only the audience but also the judges present. Even the rulers and experts in the balcony above the people were shocked by the sudden appearance of lightning in the middle of a fine afternoon without any dark clouds above them. They did not understand what had just happened, however, they saw the lightning hit that vat on the ground, so, when their eyes returned to normal after that sudden sh, the first thing they looked back at was that strange tank full of water and some strange fluids. They knew Miss Mia had caused this phenomenon, and, they were right as they, as when everyone present there looked at her or her image on the floating screens, they all could see her smile. A kind of smile she was making for the first time in her life. She was happy. Perhaps the most happy she had been in her life ording to that expression. And the reason for that smile¡­ "W-what is that?!" "T-that! That!!" "It¡­ is a golem. Is it a golem?" "Monster! A monster!" "Grandpa! Grandpa! Look at that thing! It''s hugeeeeee!" "Wow¡­" She seeded. She herself wasn''t sure, however, she did it. "Hello there." She created a coreless golem. A being that the people of this era were seeing for the first time. However, the creature was unexpectedly a little too big. "Can you shrink down a little?" Like, was so big that only the people on the higher seats in this area could see the end of his head. "Gluglug?" There was a creature before them they had not expected to witness in a safepetition like this one, a ce protected by the divine powers. It wasn''t doing anything however, it was there, and just its existence in this ce was a trigger of fear for the adults who perceived it as a threat, an exciting entity for those who looked at it as nothing but a very big water balloon, and for the alchemists present in the ground¡­ this creature was the proof of something believed to be impossible. "Yes, just shrink down. Compress yourself and shrink down." "Gluglugu?" -Oooooooooooong. "Good girl." However, they still questioned its existence even though it was right before their eyes. It was absurd this thing could even exist in the first ce but, it was here?! They couldn''t understand how! They didn''t know whether they were dreaming or what, however, if this was real¡­ then the one that had created this thing, was going to be in for a very, very long night. Perhaps, her life was going to change from this point forward¡­ Chapter 676 Creator of [C.V.S.] Chapter 676 Creator of [C.V.S.] [Eon''s POV: ] Miss Mia seeded in her creation¡­ "Master Axion. What do you make of that creature?" And everyone was stunned because of the unbelievable sight before their eyes. "Without a doubt, it is a golem without a core. Aplete artificial intelligence created with alchemy, something more controble than a homunculus that possesses more potential than any golem out there." Even the people in this balcony, the high ranking people and experts that understood the greater meaning and impact of her creation on this world. "She did something unfathomable¡­" Even Master Maverick and the others were stunned by this creation. It was beyond what they were expecting once they saw her do something with those substances. [[ "You didn''t expect she''d seed, right?" ]] Even though I didn''t have a look of surprise, Rein could feel it and asked with a smirk on her face. She was enjoying this miracle rather than being surprised or shocked like the others since she had already seen artificial beings of much higher level than this newborn creatures. She had even seen me create some with my own hands and, none could still beat that giant guardian existing right under our future home. [[ "It was a game of luck¡­ it always is a game of luck and chance when creating something new from the scratch like she did. You know how many times we failed while creating mom''s kitten, right? It''s a game of chance and the right things only happen when they are meant to be." ]] I could see the master and the creation, and, it was a sight I certainly didn''t expect. ''I had my doubt, my questions, my uncertainties. But I still had faith in her.'' I knew she would pass the test even if she fails to create this coreless golem from ancient times. She was more than capable enough to implement the same principles she used in the creation of this coreless creature to create a simple golem with a core that would still have better specs than many of the creatures present here. We had practised enough that her fastest golem creation time had reached ten minutes when in Zone so, I knew she would pass. But, she seeded with the coreless golem on her own even though it was her first time. "She just gave her a name." "Hmm? You can read her lips from this angle?" "I have a good eyesight." "Oh, hahaha. Right! You''re an archer~!" The other people beside the rulers, as well as the emperor and the others had a different opinion of us and, some of them were even speaking with us so, this was a positive sign for us. "Charvikk Vienna Silver, she said. So, it looks like not only did she give the being her own name, she honoured the civilization that seems to be the reason for her current existence." The method to create these golems was rather simple while seeing from their perspectives. Their ancestors had dedicated centuries in the creation of these beings afterall. However, they had specially raised creatures that were biologically engineered for the alchemical processes required to achieve the desired results. They even had the technology more advanced than what is avable in the current world so, to have created that golem with only the the things avable in thispetition grounds, was something even I might not have been able to aplish. She didnt even use the advanced tools in her inventory since they werent akllowed in this round of theepetation and did everything by hand, with the minimal things she could by using only her skills and knodge. ''Now that, isnt something even I might have been able to aplish.'' And luck was with her today. It was one of the most important factors behind the creation of Vienna. "Charvikk¡­? Wait! The ancient civilization?! ''That'' Charvikk?! How can that be?!" "Mister Axion, how can you say the techniques she used were from that civilization?!" "Master Axion! Talking such absurd things are no good!" "How can Miss Mia know something not even the excavation teams and the archeologists have founds out! Even the scrips off their civilization hasn''t been tranted yet!" "Everyone." It was an instinctive denial from the people when I told them the name she gave to her creation. It was understandable they would want to deny the fact that she used techniques from a civilization that people still knew little about. we had predicated they would react that way, however, the response from some others who quickly thought things through was better than my expectations. "Master Axion has just retold us the name Mia Mia gave to her creation. And besides, he is perhaps the most knowledgable person present here when ites to the old civilizations of this world. At least, I believe he is the best when ites to ancient scripts¡­ not that we are talking about anything rted to that here. Miss Mia gave her creation a name that has name of a civilization we know little about. He has nothing to do with her or that golem." Many prominent people presented their reasoning like these and defended whatever I had said. Though, they were wrong about one thing. I wasn''t the one that knew the most about the Charvikks in this ce. I might know theirnguage and many things closely rted to them from the books and knowledge of my master, but, Rein still knew more about them than me. ''She was the only person I know who has actually met someone from that civilization and knew them closely. Her alchemical knowledge was directly a result of thatpanion of hers from her days on the battlefield.'' It''s a pity that they aren''t around anymore, but, they were a close friend of hers that lost their life right in front of her eyes, and also the reason for a famous historical carnage so brutal that all records of it were destroyed by the nations involved in that battle. ''Well, she wasn''t the cute, calm, happy person we know in the past. She was a little different, and dark.'' She''s been through quite a few rough things. But she survived them and was now with us. Which was the best that way. "Everyone, I think this is going to be a national matter so¡­" Sir Justin spoke up and signalled to the guards and emperor August on the other side from him. "Creator of a Coreless Golem. Miss Mia is going to be busy for a while now." Rein mumbled with a weak smile on her face, and Lady Char had the same reaction while Lady Carolina was calmly looking down at the people that were still stunned by the creature present among them. ''I can tell a few things by looking at the creature but, the most fascinating thing about that lifeform is that even my eyes perceive it as a creature rather than an artifact or artificial creation.'' [Three eyes] ===Status=== Race: Complete golem (Charvikk Vienna Silver) Strength: 120 Dexterity: 120 Stamina: 120 Magic Power: 120 Intelligence: 120 Shift: 60 [Skill: Shift control, Rift, Learning, eptmand, Water domination, Command over kin.] [Miracle of mankind] ¡ª-> The golem is a creation of alchemy however, it is detected that it has aplete will of its own and does not different more than thirty percent from the inferior intelligent lifeforms. ¡ª-> Since the creature is made with water as the core sustaining every molecule of it, it has gained the ability to control water with great precision, however, it does not mean it can dominate it over the ones with higher authority than itself. ¡ª-> It has been judged that the creature has the intelligence and mentality of a young child rather than someone with a high intelligence stat. It can be concluded that the creature is a man made artificial species. ¡ª-> The creature has a high potential in many fields and since following its creator is one of its inherent characteristics, it is certain that the creature will follow its creation above even the higher existences. ¡ª-> Since the stupid master was generous enough to teach these decent person Luck was in their favour, the creation of this near unnatural being was sessful, however, its very existence in this I world is an anomaly in this nature. ¡ª-> It is not a [Ruler] and still, because being an artificiallyplete lifeform, it canmunicate andmand its kind, an ability stupid master''s greedy kind would never leave alone. ============ ''I know. I don''t like this kind either, but what can we do? There are a few that I cannot possibly dislike among these countless bastards and bitches.'' There is good and there is bad. The coexistence of both makes a world, a society possible. We cannot separate thempletely even if we wanted to. "Master Axion, Lady Reinelle. Would you like to join us?" Lady Mia was now an existence that couldn''t be left as she was. She was under the protection of academy and headmaster for now, however, it won''t be the same forever. She will enter the world after her graduation, and when that happens, she will undoubtedly face the ones that wants her skills, her powers, her ability to create these theoretically immortal creatures, or at least, this creature with all those abilities. They will be after her, after the creator of C.V.S. And, she will need support at that time. ''And, since we were in the annual alchemypetition of Lakmer, the rulers of Lakmer and the Roxanna empire were the first candidates to have this ''special'' talk with her as per the traditions.'' And, why would we possibly decline such a precious chance to join them? "It would be our honour, Lady Carolina." "Huhu, then let''s go." It didn''t happen every year but there certainly were times when the participants create things that would require national protection and support. Miss Mia was the first one to receive this chance this year. And, well, it would be fun seeing her as not the captain that had taught her, but, as one of the few people of this world she truly admired. [[ Are we going to meet Sister Mia, master~? ]] [[ "Yes, dear. How do you think she will react?" ]] [[ Hehe, I know she will be shocked~. And surprised~. Ahhh! That cute thing wille with her right~? I saw the two of them from close, hehe. They look cute~! ]] Well, they certainly looked cute together. That much was undoubtedly the truth. However, I don''t know if she would be surprised at first or nervous. ''She has talked on and on about how she is a fan of my novel, to the milkshake and the variations of simple coffee. It''s going to be a fun chat, hehe.'' [[ "Darling, you need punishment!" ]] [[ "What did I do now?!" ]] [[ "You are smiling while think about some other woman! Hump! How can you even ask what you did wrong?! Bastard!" ]] What the hell?! Now people can''t even think about someone else?! What the hell this this- -Smack! "Ahem!" "Hmmm? Did something happen, master Axion?" "Ah, nothing." She smacked my back right when we exited the venue filled with people and it hurt! It always hurts when she does this! ''Fuck¡­'' Her jokes go too far and hurt a lot sometimes¡­ and then she cries when I take my revenge. She''s so unreasonable¡­ ''Haaaaaaa.'' Chapter 677 Young master Axion Chapter 677 Young master Axion [Mia''s POV: ] "Huuu¡­ are you sure Young Master Axion Heliox Kromet is inside?" "Undoubtedly, mydy." "Damn." "Gluglug?" "He? Well, he''s someone I admire. His works to be specific. They are amazing. He is amazing." I was called for a private talk with the rulers of Lakmer and the emperor of the Roxanna empire, and their partners. They were right behind this door, and, I wasn''t actully worried about them even though I would be meeting them for the first time. They were people that I could handle. However, as this female knight said, the young master of Heliox was also here. And, there was only one person people referred to as young master of Heliox when not referring him with his countless other nicknames. "Glugluglug~!" "Ah, it''s not like I am afraid of him. There''s no way I would be afraid of him. It''s more like, I am excited, but, uncertain. It''s a unique feeling you have when you are going to see someone you have admired for a long time for the first time in your life. My fingers are cold, hehe.?" I was a little anxious since I did not know what I would stay to him or what I would even do when I am facing him for real¡­ but, this was an opportunity. I know that much. "Glugluglup~!" "Haha, that''s right. Threre is no need for me to be like this." I patted the cool head of the creature that had an uncertain form floating before me. My Vienna. My first genuine creation that I spent almost my everything into. She was cute, certainly. And smart, and pretty. It was sad that only I could understand what she was saying but, we can work it out in the future. Skills were out there and wer could learn the Mana speech from vice captain when we go back as well so it was fine~. "Alright, mister knight. We are ready now." "You can enter whenever you want then. They are expecting you for a while now." "Then I made them wait, damn¡­" They were people with a lot more precious time than mine. And besides, I was free for the day anyway with the end of the second round of thepetition. And I have passed as well so there was nothing for me left in this arena. While on the other hand, the people behind this door had so much important work that many lives and the world''s stability depended upon them. Taking more than necessary of their time, would be a bad thing all in itself. -Knock. Knock. "Coming in." I went inside the special room dedicated to these kind of special conversations and as soon as I was inside, before the pretty interior of the ce, the decoration, or the scene of twilight right behind the window on the other side, my eyes fell on the charismatic figures present in this ce. "Wee Miss Mia. Looks like you were a little anxious." The emperor of one of the strongest empires on this continent was here, the president of the Lakmer was here with head of the current Lakmer''s royal family and, aside from their partners, there were two people here that though did not possess as high of a status than the others, were just as charismatic as anyone else. "And wee to you too, Miss Vienna." "Hmm? How do you know her name?" I haven''t told them her name to anyone, not even the people present in the arena a while ago and unless they had read my lip movements urately, there was no way they would know her name either¡­ but then again, these weren''t any normal people I was standing before. Especially the two of them¡­ ''It''s him. It''s really him! And beside him¡­ it''s her.'' The emperor that people knew as (The ruler of mes), with his three well known empresses was as overwhelming as I had expected. The President and his Lady deserved the respect that the society gave them, just their cherish was more than enough to freeze me on my ce, and the same with Lord Justin and his Lady that was one of the most well known ''creator'' in this world. And among them were these two¡­ a young boy not older than me, with his princely golden blond hair, his deep red eyes, his strong built, as well as the unique presence he possessed that¡­ was one of a kind in itself. It was unbelive! ''He''s more amazing up close than I had expected! Oh lord!'' And his fianc¨¦e beside him, the representative of Atraxia¡­ she was a lot different from what I had expected. "Haha, we can talk about that over some special tea, right? Why don''t you two take a seat?" Lady Carolina spoke up and advised us with a rtively calmer tone. Her aura was also quite gentle than the others. She was a peculiar person to consider normal or special. "Gluglu~! Gluop~!" Vienna went ahead and sat right before young master Axion and Lady Reinelle on the long seat with an excited expression for some reason, and, though her sudden excitement after seeing the two of them was quite a new thing for me, she looked overjoyed for some reason as well. It was a strange behaviour from her that I couldn''t understand, but for now, I sat down beside her, which was right before young Master Axion. "Glugluuuuu~?" "Hmmm?! What, no! Vienna! She is a humna! How can you say that-" [ "Hehe, no. I am not. It''s just that I am a special person, as you can see. And this pretty special as well, as you can see." ] "Glugluop~!" "Hmmm?" Did she just¡­? "Glu?" "Glugluo?! Gluoooooooo!" "No, wait! Did you just¡­?!" Did he just produce the same kind of voice as Vienna does with his mouth?! What the! How can he produce voice of a bubbling water so urately with his voice?! [ "Hehe, no, no. We both are like your master, just a little more special. Anyway, it''s nice to meet you~?" ] "Glugluglop~!" "Haha, you have birthed quite a lovely one, Lady Mia." "H-hun?! Y-yes! Thanks!" W-w-what was that? Did he just smile?! No, what the hell! ''Why is his smile simr to vice captain!? Shit, shit, shit. I shouldn''t be thinking such things in a ce like this! Calm down Mia¡­ haaa¡­ calm down.'' Young master Axion, he was understanding what Vienna saying, from the looks of it, Lady Reinelle seemed to understand her as well. But, unlike him who can speak in the samenguage, she was using some kind of skill or a unique kind of Mana speech to reproduce Vi''s voice that we all can understand as well. Ultimately, both of them can talk with her! Not just understand her words instinctively or perceive her feelings, but they can actually understand and converse with her! ''Holy lord! They actually are amazing!'' I was keeping my expectations low when they said I would be meeting the two young people that were in their own unique league alredy. They weren''tpared to the prodigies but their talents and abilities were so well knows that everyone at least knew about them, even the people who had never ever heard of the names of the twelve prodigy like me. "Then, Master Axion? Will you please?" Emperor August signalled something to young master Axion and he nodded with a smile on his face, walked behind the couch they were on and, went to the small kitchen like area with some attractive ingredients and teacups-, wait, no! "Young master Axion is going to make the tea?!" He himself?! The creator of some of the greatest beverages in this world, was going to make tea for us himself?! ''Was he here to specially make tea for everyone? Oh my god, that''s so cool!'' He could be around all these important people and he just has to make some tea? Wasn''t that just amazing~? "Hohoho. Looks like Lady Mia is a fan of Master Axion." "Of course~! I am-, ah¡­ ahem! I apologise for that, Lord president. I am merely a great admirer of his works. That''s it." What the hell am I doing right now?! The emperor of the rulers of the Western continent is here, the lord of the household blessed by the divinities is here as well, and even with all these imporetnt people aside, young master Axion''s fianc¨¦e is here! What would she think of me if I behaved like this?! "Lady Mia." I was in the middle of sorting out my thoughts once again when Lady Reinelle called me out with her pretty, calm, charming voice. It was a unique voice in itself, has something special about it, however, her voice was nowhere near as special as those¡­ wonderful eyes. "Just rx. And be yourself." "¡­?" She was attractive, her dress made her already perfect figure even more attractive, her face could charm anyone that looked at her, her finely braided hair levelled up her physical attractiveness. But the eyes she had, the rumoured pink eyes that could see through the truth of anything, they had an ethereal beauty of their own. Just looking at her, looking into her eyes calmed my wildly beating heart. And washed my tension with a strange wave of calmness. "Why don''t we talk about the main reason we called you here while Master Axion finishes preparing the special teas, Lady Mia?" "Yes¡­ Lady Carolina. That would be better." "Glueg glu?" That''s right. I am not here to simp over my pretty idol. This is rted to my profession, my creation, my child. Admiration can wait¡­ "Alright then, let me here you out first." "You know how this works, hun? That will make things easier, honey." Everyone knew what it meant when this specific group wanted to see a participant right after a round of thepetition. They had the priority chance in the negotiations when it was a product, but in my case when it was a ''being'' that could affect the entire world in some way, the talk wasn''t going to be just about some patent and protection purchase. I know this talk was going to be pretty long. Perhaps this night will go after this thing if I can fight back agaist these people in a negotiation but, if they have young master Axion on their side, perhaps, things might not go as smoothly as I wanted. It would be a different matter if he is an independent entity here though. I should check that first- "Ah, so, just for information, Lady Mia. The three of us are three independent parties that are going to talk here. Lady Vera will represent the empire side, I will be prpresenting the Principality, while Master Axion is also another special entity that has a lot to talk about you and your creations today." Hmmm? Really? Lady Carolina was the one to say that so I wanted to asked that question out loud, but, lips froze in their ce. I knew these people, and they were very unique in every way I could think about. Their political authority was one of the world''s central forces, something other''s couldnt touch even with unfathomable resources and power. They were untouchable on their own, that''s what gave them the right to have this first talk with the participants of thepetition while on the other hand¡­ Master Axion was nowhere near them. He was a genious, yes. Someone with a great lot of resources and talents but, he wasn''t untouchable like these two parties¡­ So, how was it that they were giving him the chance to have a talk in a matter as important as this one? And, in the first ce, why would they do something like that? "Alright then, our side will start first." Was young master Axion, something more than I knew about¡­? Someone that could stand on the same level as these two forces and have so much power, resources, connections, and authority that they themselves believed that he could back me and protect my creation, as well as they could? Chapter 678 Night market

Chapter 678 Night market

[Eon''s POV: ] "The way she chose you as her sponsor was quite unexpected for all of those people, you know? I quite liked the response Lady Carolina had when Mia said she would have as her sonser even after that weak ass speech of yours." "It wasn''t weak, alright? It was just right for her mind and heart to ept me without much thinking. It has taken me a while to condition her, you know?" "So, you conditioned her to ept you subconsciously? Bad bastard, hehe. Condition me for some things as well, hehehe." "Well, fuck girl. There are people around you. Mind your words a little." Vice president has a sudden surprised look on her face after she heard Rein say those things. There was also a little worry and envy, but, the way she got jealous becuse of her words was satisfying~. "And you, bastard. I can see the hidden smirk you are making! Stop that!" She shouted at me and almost broke down the ornament in her hand, giving the shop owner a subtle heart attack. "And you! I will buy everything if it breaks because of me so don''t be scared like that!" She shouted at the normal shop owner of this jewellery stall and since she had almost broken a few things already, with some stuff being damaged beyond repair, she was going to pay for a lot of things. However, even after his worries, he couldn''t say anything to this disguised vice president of ours. He was he afraid of her from what he had seen her do to those regr thugs a while back. "Hump! Zod! Come here! Tell me what looks good on me!" "Yes, yes¡­" She was also a difficult one to handle, the tired look on president''s face said everything. ''He must be regretting his suggesting to go for a walk in the night market before heading to the auction house site. Poor student council president.'' We finished our talk with Miss Mia and herpanions a while back and since the talk had went on for too long, it waste. Miss Mia stood her ground better than I had expected again those people, but, when talking with me, her confidence, attitude, and resolve didn''t work that well. She gave us too many openings and since I alredy had upper hand, when I see the triggers, she couldn''t even fight back against her own mental actions. ''She did well, but, she can do better than this.'' Her will to be with us instead of the others was quite strong at the end though. Others were pretty surprised since they had put every word better than me, with their offerings being far better than what I was expecting. "Rein? Any suggestions?" "Nah, both are bad. How about you try that design~?" "Yes~!" We all finished our talk with about what she should do with her unique creation and how she should go about the thihngs that might not only affect the stability of the political circles but also the working functionality of the world governments. ''Miss Mia didn''t need long chats after hearing all that I had to say and all that I could provide them. It was an easy decision, and she chose me.'' That thing ended there, and since it was toote today, we postponed our dinner talk to tomorrow. It would be the second day of the alchemypetition and things were going to be very exciting with the actual challenges¡­ "Oy, you. Come here. Tell me what you want from these things. You won the bet so you get to have something from me." "Oho? Such honourable offer to this lowly soul? How can I possibly reject such precious offer, vice president~." "Yeah yeah. Shut your trap. Tell me what you want before I change my mind." "Haha, of course~." It waste night already so it was time to do the second main work we hade here for, the student council work that the headmaster requested from us specifically. ''The two of us were busy with thepetition and the other things the whole day while president, wise president, miss Moon, and many of Celes'' familiars were looking for the clues rting to that cult of demonic humans all over this city.'' ording to what we discussed over our own dinner, they had also found substantial evidence of their activities in this city, and Celes even managed to spot a few of them in their signature hoods, however, they somehow managed to slip away from her. ''We knew for now that the opponents we were going to face weren''t the usual demonic humans that we usually fight, and their numbers weren''t that high either.'' If they managed to slip from all of them, then it certainly meant those were the elites of their cult and since we didn''t find any evidence of a base with concentrated demonic energy anywhere around, or under this city, those people had not made their base anywhere near the city. ''In conclusion, the demonic human were only here to retrieve some items. And ording to our leads, they were most probably after something that would appear in the grand underground auction that would start in a while.'' ording to me, there was a chance that they were after that half demon girl that was with Prince Charles, so, just as a safety measure, we had stationed Miss Moon near her with some of Celes'' clones keeping a constant eye on the girl. ''My background check on her confirmed she was no threat so for now, we were assuming she isn''t working with the demonic human bastards in any way.'' We might be wrong, perhaps, we couldn''t tell until we grab one of those cultists and get everything out of him. But before we go to the auction to do that, we were here in the night markets at the suggestion of President Zodiac before the auction started. And, well, this was nice¡­ "This one will look good on you, right darling?" "Hmm~? Yes~! This is lovely~!" We were at a normal roadside shop in casual clothing and a unique disguise and, vice president was buying us seashell jewellery. They weren''t pricy or anything, nothingpared to we usually wear, but, they were pretty, and she was the one buying for us, so, we obviously had no reason to deny her generous gifts. "Oyyy! I said I would buy it for you! Not for her! And besides, I had that one in mind for her since we came here!" She snatched the small ne with a crystal like pink shell and without asking for Rein''s permission, she tied it around her neck. "Perfect! Now it''s yours~." "T-that one is a special-" "How much for it?" "It isn''t for-" The shop owner certainly was wary of her however, he was also afraid of her her after she brutally, one sidedly beat a dozen of strong men that were causing a ruckus at this very shop. "Just tell me the price." "Haaaa¡­ miss. I would know the price of that piece of I knew it, however, I wasn''t the one that made this. I had found it a long time ago and had it on disy for more than a decade now. It''s not for sale, however, if I ever have to put a price on it, I would say it''s at least a hundred gold coins. I know it''s absurd pricing some simple piece that-" "Here. I will give you this tinum coin for everything we purchased today with a strong anti theft spell cast on it. This should be enough, right~?" She just tapped the shoulder of the guy and, with a cheerful smile on her face, she dragged us all towards our next location, leaving the old guy and his stall alone with the tinum coin that was ten times more than what he was asking for this pretty crystal ne. He didn''t know the price of this piece in the first ce so it was understandable he was only asking a hundred gold for something worth hundreds of it time that number. "Lucky you, Rein. You should thank vice president for gifting you the special treasure of the sea." "Hehe, yes~! Thanks Del~." Rein hugged her and even kissed her cheeks. Something that certainly was worth more than a few tinum coins to her. "Ha-hahaha¡­ yes, yes. T-that was nothing." And, seeing a blush on vice president''s face was something President Zodiac enjoyed quite a lot. It was very rare expression anyway so, as her closest friend, he loved it every time she had this expression. "Well, it was an unexpected sight to see something like this in that normal small stall, but it would certainly be more useful to miss Uriel. We don''t see a finely crafted shell of a [Pink sea angelfish]. Their extremes rareness is what makes these things a ''treasure'' of deep waters." The creature this materiales from is perhaps the rarest kind of deep sea creature that few in the world had ever seen with their own eyes. Just seeing that (Purple) rank creature is called a legendary experience for the people interested in sea and waters, so, possessing something crafted from the shell of one of those creatures of legends is not something that happens everyday. ''Besides, only a grandmaster or higher level craftsman could work on that material, so, the fact that something like that was present in a ce like that, was a surprise in itself.'' Well, we got lucky ultimately. "How about we go the auction site now?" "No! Let''s go there first~!" Rein dragged vice president to another shop, and, with a powerless expression, we followed behind thosedies. They were going from one ce to the other in this pretty night markets full of pretty lights, crowds of various people, sounds of night and bargains, and much more in this fine night for a while now. We have work to do tonight. "Stop Rein! Slow down please!" Tonight was going to be a long one as well¡­ Chapter 679 Underground auction

Chapter 679 Underground auction

[Eon''s POV: ] I looked at President Zodiac and nodded as we stood before the door to a tavern, a signal indicating we wi=ould be switching to Celes''s connection from this point forth. [[ "Be prepared everyone, and we don''t have to cause any ruckus. Let''s get this done with and go to sleep." ]] [[ "Of course you want to go and sleep¡­ man I should pick up someone good as well. Sleeping alone is no fun, haaa." ]] Yes vice president, do whatever you want but just stick to the n and your character. It will be a great disaster if you slip up here. [[ "Cradle. No joking now." ]] [[ "Yes yes jeez. You boys are no fun. Elle, we should just ditch these bastards after things are done and go off hook up somewhere-" ]] "Ahem." [[ "That''s his signal, he is starting now. Go do your part." ]] There were many underground auctions happening during the annual alchemypetation all over the capital city. And, since the rules and regtions on the tradable goods was the loosest in the principality, this capital city was one of the main connecting points of many import and export markets. The underground economy was something necessary for the sustainnace of the city itself so even the government gave them some leeway, however, the ce we were going to was something a little different from the usual underground markets, auction houses, or shops. ''From the outside, it was just a normal tavern. And just like many cliche tales, we had to do the password thing here as well.'' But it was a little different. "Hello dear customer~! A party of four, hun? Is it some good oation that calls for celibrartion, hun~?" "We would like to order." The tavern was not thatrge, just on the medium side. There werent also that many customers here since this one was one of the costlier ones that served premium alchohol and drinks, however, that was just the surface of this building with six stories of structures present beneath it. ''My (: Scan) is picking up some unique things from this ce. Looks like it really is as special as the rumours say.'' This was making me more excitined in the auction instead of the demonic humans. "One blue dragon ale, brewed with a fine grinder fairy dust, make it a diluted form with red water and split it into four parts.'' The first thing to notice here was the small menus list with few premium drinks only, and some snacks of course but who counts those things? The blue dragon ale was especially a unique item today since there were many clues all around us that screamed this specific drink was the ''key'' for today. And by a ''key'' it meant a key to start the conversation about the main topic, which was the four of us that wanted to get into the auction. "Excellent choice, sir~. Would you like it normal or a little cooler? Ah, and can we modify these things as we want ording to your personal taste~?" Every single employee present here was a highly trained professional. They were not only some simple actors, but, the way they were trained to be what was asked of them was one of a kind in this entire continent, and the group tha managed them, these highly trained professionals that could be anything the situation requires, belonged to someone alredy close to me. ''They did not know who that was though. No one officially did.'' They were kind of tools for hitre that one can rent from ''that person'' and these people are paid for their services in unique ways that their master wants. It was a unique system, but seeing them on field was quite the fun thing. "Make the drinks cooler. As soon as you can. Make the changes you see fit with the utmost care. Don''t worry about the cost-" "Oy, no! We need the funds for, ahem. Ourdy would feel unfomertable without the best one, I understand. But, this isn''t the time you should act like this." Vice president did it pretty well, so well in fact for a second there, I also thought she was going to spill out everything about us. But, thankfully, after my reply calmed her down, president grabbed her hand like a lover and I looked up at the waiter after a sigh. "Forgive mypanion''s rudeness, however, please keep the order just slightly above the colder temperature, make the necessary adjustments for the modifications by yourself." "Of course~! Please wait here for just a moment~! Oh, I will need an ID please. It''s a necessary procedure." "Oh, of course. Here it is. It would be nice if you can make it quick." "Haha, we will do our best~!" I handed him a money card with a thousand tinum coins however, the bnce on the card didn''t even make him flinch. He just bowed dow and left for the next table for their orders. He certainly seemed pretty good with that talent. [[ "Why is it so difficult to get into a simple auction house? And why this strange processes of ordering a specific kind of drink, then going to the ces marked on the specific locations in the tavern individually, and after being taliported to the main site, it would be up to us to find the room of the bidding that we ourselves booked? Who the fuck came up with this shit ass system?" ]] She didn''t seemed to like how things worked here, but, telling her that it was Sir Justin would make her mood bad, so, I just kept my poker face and looked around me. There were three counters here with a wall full of alcohol bottles and unique ingredients ced all over them. A total of six waiters that were proficient enough to tend to a hundred customers with ease. Three bartenders, and threedies in maid uniform as a clean up staff. Aside from all the seventy people that were here just to enjoy the drinks, the people that did not knew the existence of the underground zone at all, and the thirty that were customers wanting to get into the auction but did not know the proper means, every employee, the normal people in customer clothing, the ones hiding in the shadows, to the ones disguised as ''things'' like nts, counters, or brooms were all at least a [Master] of their field. And, to reach they ranks of a master was no simple thing. [[ "Oh, right. I saw you gave that person a heavy card. What would you do if they deduct more than what is required? We don''t know any means of knowing just how much they are charging and for what reason. They should at least make the prices of everything public." ]] [[ "They alredy do that though? It''s written right there, see?" ]] I pointed to the hand written board with the prices and lists of today''s special items and if one paired close attention, there was all the information present that one wanting to attend the auction would want, from prises to the things to order for the day. One just had to look closely enough and understand what is already present there. Some people couldn''t even do that much, including this great vice president of ours. [[ "Tsk. Who said them to write it in that kind of difficult code? What do they think the people who wants to attend that mere auction are? Some kind of criminal masterminds that would know how to solve Pendora''s riddle?" ]] [[ "¡­wait, did you just say Pendora''s riddle? Like Pandora that bunny? From the storybooks?" ]] She did not mean that Pandora now, right? She certainly did not, right? [[ "Of course~! The best riddler of the eipcs~! Do these people think they are on the same level as him?! Fucking bastards!" ]] My eyes were nk when I looked at her after hearing that answer and I couldn''t even gather enough strength to keep looking at her for more than half a minute. What she had just said was pretty ridiculous in itself but the way she said it so innocently that didn''t fit anywhere in her character made me question my evaluation of her¡­ "Here sir~. We hurried up with the order as you requested~. I hope you will look after us favorably~." "Haha, of course. Here." I secretly sliced three gold coins in his hand after checking no one was looking, or at least acting like that, we looked at the attractive sses filled with a blue substance that had very fresh scent to it. It was a cute fruity smell that was a little tingly but also a little sweet if felt deep as well. It was quite good so, we all took a sip of it first, before picking up the napkins under them and checking the numbers and clues written over them, something that faded away quickly soon after it. This was our tickite to the underground so without waiting much time, we finished the good drink, chatted a little on the next actions and followed the instructions I had recived. "Excuse me, can I get a second world understanding?" It was a question I had to ask a stranger sitting in the exact middle of this entire ce, and, right after I asked him that, I shifted time and space.. and appeared in a ce that was nothing like the closed off auction house I had been to. [[ "B2. Reaching C3 in 6." ]] [[ "D1. Will reach soon." ]] [[ "I got lucky and fell near C2. I will go there and hold the positions for now. We will start the surveince after the first segment of the auction." ]] [[ "Tsk. Fuck. I am all the way at F3 guys, it will take me a while." ]] Vice captain¡­ well, it looks like today is an unlucky day for her. Anyway, Rein was there and I was closest to her so we can do a little something before President arrives. "Hey! You! Keep moving man!" "Don''t block the path! Don''t block the path!! Don''t block the path!!!" "Oy boy! Get your shit together! Go find the ce assigned to you! They are starting in twenty. You won''t be able to bid if you aren''t in your booth when it starts!" "Fuck this! I just passed from here!" Every floor under that tavern was connected with this same one way path that was akin to abyrinth. Without proper help or assistance, it is practically impossible to get to the rooms you had purchased or the ones you were assigned to, that''s why bringing more people was considered better. But we have Celes and her connections so it won''t be that difficult to get to the destination. And as that gentleman in white said, the auction would be start soon so¡­ ''[Quick steps]'' We should all hurry as well. Chapter 680 Auction of Victor Waid Chapter 680 Auction of Victor Waid [OP: ] [ "Hello? Hello? Can everyone hear us? Hello?" ] There were many underground auctions that happened in the capital city of the Lakmer and many of them were backed by the government secretly. They were secret auctions that not just anyone could participate in since the products that were sold in these auctions were all so unique ones that not just any person had the authority to participate in this auction. Many things had to be checked before they got an invitation to one of these ces however, the biggest auction that was held all three days during the annual alchemypetition was unique among all of these auctions. Anyone who could decipher the information or hand connections could attend all three days of these auctions and there were all kinds of items appearing in this auction. [ "Alright, looks like everything is ready. Then¡­ wee everyone on the first day of the annual dark gold auction! We will begin without any further dy after a five-minute preparation time! Everyone present in their booths can know about the processes of the auction and the basic details of the special item present in the middle of the rooms resembling a crystal record yer. We will begin with the first item so be ready everyone~!" ] "Haaa. I don''t like these boring ces and they are just cheap bastards that don''t have any good items. Is this ce any different, Elle~?" The four of them had made it to their booth which was a little more luxurious than the other regr booths and, there were all kinds of snacks and equipment for their ease in here. In the center, there was arge couch with a white wall-like screen present before them, and, all the items and their information would be visible on this screen. Others couldn''t see the actual item until and unless they bought it themselves, however, since this was pretty much gambling and the ones that participated in this specific auction were not normal people, every year, the average purchase price of every item in this auction house was at least more than a few hundred golds. They sold all kinds of things, from rare materials to rare beasts, and even rare ''beings'' as ves, artifacts that were made by grandmasters, and materials that could be used in the creation of great artifacts of high levels. This ce did not have any restrictions on what they sold since they had the powerful backing of the government themselves, so, as long as something had value, they sold it in this ce. And sometimes, the things they sold were so questionable one could not fathom just how the hell they would have even got those things. "It is different from Hiraani, Del. The thing is, we can say the things that they sell in the Hiranni are mostly legal and backed by an openly acknowledged powerful authority. People trust their items and many things happen on this base of trust, and they make them sign the agreements that the things that are being sold by them would not be used in any way that would harm the other people or the nature beyond set boundaries. The normal folks could know of the dealings that are happening there however, this ce¡­ what do they call it, darling?" She looked at Eon with a lovely questioning gaze when he was going through the information they had provided about the auction. "Auction of Victor Waid, the person that allegedly started this annual auction. People say he is a wizard, is old and is still alive, and attends the auction every year. They say he is one of the richest people in the world. Well, I say there would be a thick book''s worth of data on his criminal records if one really tried digging deeper into his business. But, he has a solid backing, or at least that is what is believed by most of them." He answered her question without even looking back at them and continued going through the stuff that he was reading. He was fascinated by how this ce worked and he certainly found it interesting. "Yes! Victor Waid~! You know Del, I have been hearing about this guy ever since I was active on the battlefields~! They used to talk about how he was amoner who became the leader of some small underground syndicate. But after tasting a fraction of power, he went on his own quest to create a vast criminal empire. They say he is a master at disappearing from one ce to the other and they say he had even escaped from the (Trigon tower) at one point after being captured as one of his fake identities. Hehe, I would love to meet that guy if I can~. He sounds a lot more fun person than most of the boring oldies that we meet every day~!" She had stars in her eyes as she told all that their vice president Cradel, and, she loved it. She loved her as well, however, the way Rein told her all that made their vice president take her to a private space right this instant and bite down everyst bit of her prettiness until she was begging for more. Her throat was already dry and her lips were as well, the three of them could see how desperately she was trying to control herself. However, even after knowing her feelings, Rein continued being casual with her in an attempt to make it clear that she only wanted him, and no one else. Vice president knew the two of them did it again when there was no one present here, she had sharp intuition so she could tell from the little clues present all around them, and that made things even more painful for her. She liked someone genuinely for the first time¡­ but she could never have that person as what she wanted. She was trying to not cross the line, her head was blown away thest time she did it and the pain she had felt that day, was certainly not something she liked. Not one bit. She wasn''t strong enough to forcefully take her away, and, Rein had made it clear that she did not want that either. She was happy as things were, and, the only ce their vice president could have in all of this, was being a good friend of Rein''s. Going beyond that¡­ [ "Alright folks~! We are going to start the auction now~! Be prepared, the hosts have prepared a special item as the opening one of this fine night~! Keep your cash ready~!" ] The announcer announced the start of the auction and Eon had finished reading everything so he sat back on the long red couch before the giant screen with the image of the announcer wearing a funny mask, and a royal blue curtain hanging right behind him. It was an attractive setup, he admired the aesthetic of the ce as well, so, he could tell the organizers of this auction were not some normal people. Each one of them must be just as unique as the mysterious Victor Waid. "Alright, alright everyone~. Let''s enjoy the auction for now~." The only curry epted in this ce was cash, the special global currencies that the buyer had on hand, and resources of a fixed value. They didn''t ept checks or the digital money of a certain region like the Wisdom coins of the ind of magic''s wealth. The word ''cash'' in this ce meant the ''money'' that the buyer possessed at this moment. That was the cash, and that was the only way to pay for the things you buy here. And, payments happen before one gets their hand on the item through the special portal present in the middle of the room before their couches. There wasn''t any bidding stick or anything simr with a unique number for each customer, but, each chamber was a number itself. The four of them were one entity when bidding, so, they had to avoid fighting for the same item. There will be instances they woulde to like some items that more than one of them would want sincerely, just like this first item¡­ and, they had to be careful of how they decide the one that will take the item, if they win that is. [ "So everyone~! Please get ready and feast your eyes upon this magnificent creature~!" ] The first item came from behind the curtains¡­ a cage with a small creature trapped inside of it. It was easy to distinguish that this creature was something like a bat however, this creature was purely white instead of being the usual dark colors of bats. Those who did not know of this beast were lost in the bright red eyes of the creature, however, those who did know what this being was, were astonished to see a rare kind like this one in a ce such as this. "That''s a [Ruby Vampire bat], isn''t it? How the hell something like that is here?!" "I will be taking that little-" "Like hell, you are taking it, you bastard! Who do you think are?! What would you do with a creature like that anyway?! You''re not even half of a vampire!" "Does it matter? I will have it." "No!" They were going to have to talk things out and decide on who was going to have that being quick if they wanted it. The auction here doesn''t stop for anyone, as they knew it. There were people who wanted this being as much as they did, so, if they really wanted to have it¡­ They will have to spend a lot of what they currently possess, and, win against the ones that were the same as them. This was a battlefield, and, the enemies weren''t going to stop for their internal quarrels. If they can''t figure out who the things will belong to¡­ They won''t be able to have them. They could only have six items tonight anyway, so, they will also have to be veryyyy careful of what they get. Chapter 681 I like President

Chapter 681 I like President

[Rein''s POV: ] In this auction, one ''booth'' or a number could only purchase six items per auction in total regardless of their wealth, and this was a rule that was the same for every person present in this ce. There were a certain number of booths as well so it was all on a firste first serve base, and, since there was no way of checking the authenticity of the items that they sold here, the buyers were mostly just gambling away their money. ''I have read a report on this ce that said the average chances of an item being what the purchasers had thought it to be was less than fifty percent and still, this ce was perhaps on the same level as Hiraani and other grand auctions of this world in terms of the scale.'' The items they sold, many times, were actually authentic and since these items were something invaluable, the buyers or their representatives who hade from all over the world just for this, were all mostly looking forward to buying an item that was closer to being genuine than many other things that could be duplicated. ''The energy beasts that they sold here were at the top of this list of purchase items, so every energy beast that was recognized by the buyers, was a trigger of war among the buyers.'' The organisers knew that pretty well so they knew just how to get the interest of the public. The very first item they put up, was the best trigger to heat things up and make the others excited about the things that would be presented after that. It was a pretty old tactic that pretty much worked every time since the humans were bound to have expectations of everything, hope being a bitch that corrupts everything and everyone. [ "Now then, shall we start bidding~? Ohhh! We already have our first bid! 400 Dim?! Looks like the customers know the value of a rare being! Wow! In the blink of an eye, the amount has crossed 800 Dim!" ] In this auction, since they only epted Cash of various kinds, they had a unit to measure the different kinds of cash and convert it all into a single denomination: Dim. The items they sold were all unique ones, I have heard a lot about them so I know pretty well about this ce and the ones that operated it, and, I genuinely think they all are cool people. "Vice president, we know you would love to have that creature, but this isn''t something that would be of any use to you anyway. You might be a half vampire of a unique kind but you don''t have the blood domination ability of the vampires! This creature is of no use to you!" "So what?! What the hell dude! You also don''t have the blood domination ability or anything! You just want that thing so that you can give it to someone else, don''t you?! I can tell from that smug look on your face!" "So what if I want to give it to someone else? It will be more useful to them than you have him! I know it will like you as well since you are such a unique being but its potential would be wasted! That one doesn''t even look a few years old so it''s got a looooot more potential than the older ones!" "Shit dude! Just bid! We will see what to do with it after we get it!" "That''s fine as well!" Darling and Del were fighting over a cute little bat, hehe. They sure went well with each other even though they practically hated each other. "You sure are enjoying all this, hun, miss Elle." "Just Elle. How many times has it been President? I have said it many times and I will keep reminding you again and again. It''s either Reinelle or Elle. Or Uriel when we are in school." "And I have said it again and again as well. You can just call me Zodiac, why president every time?" "I like the President more. Your name¡­ well, I will call you by your name when you tell me your real name." "Ptsssssssss~!" "See? Even San-San is telling you to tell us your real name. Why hide something like that from the only people you eat lunch with?" It has been over a month since we have been in the academy and in all this time, President, Del and the two of us have gotten pretty close. He was a buddy of darling and the two of them spent quite some time together for their unique ''Elixir of Life'' project. And when they have the headmaster with them, the three practically lose their sense of time and spend the entire weekends in their specialb. ''The three of them are a great pair now.'' Watching and helping them is always fun but the fact that they steal my darling away from me is something I don''t like too much. I have to spend all my time with the others when they are doing their things, however, in the past few weeks, with thepetition preparation and everything going on, we didn''t even get enough time to have many proper meals together. That was perhaps more of a reason why having them around like this was more fun. They were some of the few people we could be ourselves and do stuff that we otherwise wouldn''t with the others of the group. "Ptsssss~!" "No, we aren''t doing anything like that. I have forsaken my ''real'' name long ago and now I am nothing more than Zodiac." "I don''t think you mean it though. Status windows change when the fundamental understanding of oneself changes. If you really did forsake your name, your status window would have Zodiac instead of those gibberish characters¡­ I know there are restrictions on you but you are trying to deny your identity for some entirely different reason, right? You perhaps had a good past, you perhaps loved your name, but with the things that they are right now, forsaking that lovely name might seem to be the better choice-" "Why are you always so urate with these things, Elle?" He cut me midway and looked at me with a kind of helpless expression that he only has after I say things like these. After I say the things that are just right and hurtful¡­ things that are perhaps so close to the truth that he couldn''t deny them even if he wants to. ''He hates me for this. He hates me for pressing the nerves that hurt him that he doesn''t want to¡­ and every time I do that, he asks me this same question.'' And every time he asks me this question with those pitiful eyes, that expression that doesn''t suit our all amazing President, I answer him with the same smile as this one. "Because I know how it feels because I know how painful it gets. I have almost been to those darknds, and I don''t want someone I care about to be in that state when they have a way out of it. I have told you many times and I will tell you many times¡­ talk to us. Let that pain out and be free from the burden. You already have a bright light to support you in your life, and you also have us if you need us. Don''t suffer alone like that when you have no reason to do so. It''s no fun on the other side of the line, it''s all dark and gloomy and filled with people far more broken than we could imagine. Which is pitiful. And I like to see my President proud and happy instead of gloomy and closed off." He knew we knew a few things about him that he had never told us. He knew about eyes so he knew how we knew all of it as well. However, what he could not figure out was the reason I was so dead set on making him talk. He had been through stuff that we knew only a little about at the end of the day. We didn''t know the whole story and he had no reason to tell us when he had not even told something that personal to his only closest friend whom he had been with for more than three years. "I can deal with it in my own way¡­" He mumbled with the same bitter smile and took away San-San from my hands. He liked me quite a lot for some reason so we often yed together, which he doesn''t like much of course. As a father, seeing his child being close to someone else would obviously be concerning for him. Especially when that someone is someone with as bad of a past as mine. "That you certainly can. You are strong enough to do that, which is the reason it concerns me more." I gave him the same smile I had given him at the end of each of our painful conversations and looked at therge screen before us. [ "Alright then, since no one is calling out another bet, the first item of the auction goes to the C3 for 3210 Dim~!" ] "Yes! Yes~! I won~!" "No, you didn''t! That''s all my money!" "Doesn''t matter! I won! I get to have that cutie-" "Of course not!" Eon wanted that little bat for some reason, perhaps one more of hisplicated ploys, or perhaps to give it to someone else. Knowing him, it is certainly uncertain what he will do with the cutie, but, he will make sure that the cutie achieves its full potential and grows up to be a good big capablepanion. But that aside¡­ ''The two of them look just like brother and sister while fighting, hehe. They should fight when everyone is around so we all canugh at them together~!'' They were kind of cute as well, but the president and vice president were cuter together even with their tonic rtionship. ''Haaaa¡­ how I wish she was interred in men and his heart wasn''t stuck in the past. They would have made quite a cute couple.'' s, that wasn''t a possibility. At least not in this world. [[ Master! Master! I found them~! ]] That was Celes'' signal¡­ as well as a signal for us to get ready for anything. "It is mine." "In your dream, vice president." "Alright alright, you two. Get ready." "Celes darling, show what you found to darling." [[ Yes~! ]] The ytime can wait for a while. We weren''t going to make a move until the middle part of this auction anyway. However¡­ evaluating the opponent beforehand was as important of a factor in a war as was the presence of a capablemander. Without them, even armies of millions were nothing but ants to trample under one''s feet. Chapter 682 You got lost…

Chapter 682 You got lost¡­

[Eon''s POV: ] [[ So, master, I can feel the sinister energy from this room the most. However, this isn''t the only ce with that bad energy. There are twelve ces! And all of these ces have at least two people in them! This one has six people and they are strong! ]] Celes was showing us the current view of one some of her clones and just as she was saying, there were people using disguise artifacts and skills in these ces. Someone as experanced with these kind of items and artifacts as us could tell at a nce what kind of those items and skills were without even needing to check them with our appraisal skills. [[ "Celes, don''t make any unnecessary movements and just keep them have acting naturally. These people¡­ they aren''t as weak as we had been thinking." ]] There were a total of twenty seven people currently present in this auction that had the kind of aura that only ones rted to the demons possessed. Some of them were perhaps high ranking officials secretly present in the government sectors that we cannot do anything about for now, however, some of them were defly part of the group of people were looking for. [[ "Eon is right¡­ even I don''t think we will be able to take on all of them at once in a fight. They are different from the normal demonic cult bastards that we usually face. They are¡­ trained." ]] President Zodic could tell many things about the demonic humans just by looking at them since he had years of exoperance hunting these people. He had been hunting them even before he joined the academy, and after being chosen by the headmaster one day, his activities had only increased further. He must be an importetnt target for these demonic humans by this point, however, we did not know about theirmunity much. They were scattered all over the world and since we have yet to found ou just how the hell many of them are connected with each others, we do not know many things about them. However, all demonic humans have one singr objective they work towards: descent of demons on this earth and damage to the nature. [[ "Tsk. We can take them on if we go there one room at a time. It''s not like they can cross over all the way to the other rooms and retaliate agaist the four of us." ]] [[ "That''s quite a dumb statementing from an expert like you vice present." ]] [[ "Right? What happen vice president? Is something wrong with you?" ]] [[ "Hey Cradle, if you aren''t feeling well, you can just rest here and continue with the auction, we can deal with this on our own." ]] [[ "What the hell are you guys saying?! I am perfectly fine! Don''t you fucking say those kind of things!" ]] [[ "Then open your eyes and look at the current situation, miss vice president. We aren''t up against twenty seven normal human experts. Those are demonic humans. There is a good chance all of them are contracted with a single demon so, they all are practically connected with each other. Just attacking one of them will alert all the others and since there are more rooms than our numbers, there is no way we will be able to contented against all of them in here. Harming them here is out of question, and besides¡­ most of them at at least (tier-6) dark mage or [Rank-4] knight. Just four of us might have a chance if we fight them together when they are in a single ce, however, with them spread out evenly like that, there is no way we are going to win agaist them." ]] Perhaps she was still thinking they were nothing but normal human trash that she faces everyday, however, if that were the case, President Zodiac wouldn''t have that kind of angry expression. ''She is clearly distracted right now.'' We can tell, and we knew the reason for that as well, but since this was not the field, we could take care of her. And she was untouchable on field anyway so, there was nothing for us to worry about her there. [[ "Alright, nning time." ]] I disconnected my (: Vision sharing) and we all got back to our bidding room with therge screen before our eyes. "Look, everyone. We have-¡­ hmm? Everyone?" Their eyes were still closed as if they had not returned from the vision sharing spell, however, it onlysted for a moment and they all opened their eyes together like normal. "So, I was saying¡­ is everyone alright?" They looked kind of pale for some reason. Did something happen to them? [[ *Master¡­ looks like there was a dy and they were lost in the middle¡­ or something simr. My guess is their minds were lost in the realm of boundary of unconsciousness and consciousness. It shouldn''t be worrisome however, I will look into the situation.* ]] What the hell? "Darling¡­ hmmm? Did something happen?" "I¡­ feel weak for some reason." "Ptssssssssssssssssssss! Ptsssssss!" Rein just looked a little dizzy while vice president was also pretty normal, however, even though President Zod looked well, San-San started crying for him, and even used his special healing powers without waiting for anyone. "Hmmm¡­? What is¡­ happening?" President came to his senses a moment after the two of them and saw the worried look on San-San. He couldn''t understand what was happening so he asked him, however, the little snake was crying as if he had almost lost his parent. "Everyone? What just happened?" They were confused. Even I was confused right now. However, different from them, I had an idea of what was happening right now. "Looks like there was someplicated when I ended the spell. Your minds wondered off into the boundary between the realm of conscious and subconscious, or something along the lines. Simply put, you were all disconnected from this realm for a moment, however, you weren''t in your astral form so, you were, how should I put this¡­ well, you were nowhere? So, perhaps, since you and San-San have a special connection, he thought you were gone. I apologise. Looks like I am the one that caused this¡­" "I don''t think it was your mistake, Eon." A sudden serious expression covered vice president''s face¡­ and she looked towards the door of this room. "I think someone was trying to interfere." "What?" [[ No! That can''t be! I did not let anyone notice me! ]] "I am not saying someone was trying to interfere with your connection, dear. I am saying someone tried to interfere with ''us'' in this room when we were looking at them. Their attempt must have failed since we weren''t here in the first ce, however, since the consciousness was unpresent from the body¡­ it affected the bodies and the moment we were about to return, we could not." There was a sudden expression of rage on her face, as if she had remembered something she never wanted to remember again. But still, her hypothesis- [[ *Master, I believe what Miss Cradle said is the case here. There was no problem with the spell, the interference was external. And, I have created a way to reverse trace who attempted to do this.* ]] ''You even discovered them?'' [[ *Yes master. Since they tried to target you first, they left a data marking. After analysing it, I have concluded it was a (Holy Skill). Besides, it was very powerful, so the person who must have used it might not have expected for this situation to ur. Still, this could have been dangerous for yourpanions.* ]] ''Then why wasn''t I affected Lucy? Because of you?'' [[ *No master. The skill couldn''t understand your body structure and was perhaps absorbed into your body by your innate skill.* ]] ''So¡­ [Energy cirction] protected me in a way? Damn, I didn''t know it could do such a thing.'' [[ *It''s just that the skill that was used was counterable by your specific skill. It was perhaps a coincidence. However, i will have to run some analysis to confirm that. However, before that, should I track the one that used teh skill?* ]] ''Not now. Wait for a while. Check the data and see if it matches anything in our database. Tell me if you find anything.'' [[ *Yes master.* ]] Someone was trying to something else, and a Holy skill on top of that¡­ ''There aren''t many who can do such a thing, but, as Lucy said, it''s could have been dangerous.'' Thankfully though, we were fine. "I think we need to talk about this everyone." "Of course we do!" "Wait for a minute, though. Let me calm San-San down." "I also have something to tell everyone." An unexpectedplication arose so we had to take our focus off of the ongoing auction, and since there weren''t any items that particrly caught our attention, vice president and I didn''t have any reason to fight among ourselves. The items we purchased were delivered directly to our rooms after the transaction was confirmed. And, since we now knew about the demonic humans present in this auction house, we needed to get as many of them as we could before they caught onto our ns¡­ not that there were any great chances of them discovering us, but we had to remain cautious. ''Our focus was shifted to making a n based on the new intel we had and now that we had the targets, all we had to do was find out their intentions.'' The demonic humans did not purchase anything at all until the auction was halfway done. We were going to go after them after the auction was half done, however, after finding out their numbers and scale, we changed all of that. ''We decided to wait until they make their move, and on a side note, vice president seemed to know what had happened with them and who was the one that did it, but she declined telling us who that was by saying she had made a ''promise'' she would never tell anyone.'' We didn''t press her too much since it looked personal, and it wasn''t like we weren''t going to find out the culprit. Lucy knew how to do it, and she would do it even if I told her there was no need to. She was just that kind of being. Doing whatever she wanted while keeping me in the centre of all her actions. [ "Now then! After the short break, we are back with another amazing item everyone~!" ] "This¡­" "Is that what I think it is?" "But how is that¡­" "They will make a move now. If not this, I don''t know what might attract that kind of group in a ce like this." A unique item was up for auction this time. And after seeing all their reactions through Celes'' vision, I have no doubt they are here for this thing¡­ Chapter 683 Enemy stronghold

Chapter 683 Enemy stronghold

[OP: ] [ "It is said that archeologists found this relic in some ruins in the eastern continent and then it was stolen when it was being transported. It is said that there is a mysterious power residing in this artifact, and, the jewels that are attached to it seem to support these ims." ] The demonic humans, disguised as normal people in hoods, wearing masks of different kinds, or using skills that hid their real appearance present in all twelve of the rooms had a certain kind of reaction they did not have when their item hade out. The item was a golden sculpture that seemed to be painted with gold, however, one could tell that it was a y figure painted with some kind of unique golden substance. The figure itself was quite weird with many of its features resembling some kind of humanoid beast however, since most of the sculpture was made with bright golden paint, understanding what this thing was, was difficult even for the experts currently looking at it from their booths. There were attractive jewels that they could tell were far more valuable than they had ever seen though, they could tell that much. Those jewels, their kind, and the way they were perfectly crafted were not something the humans of the current day could possibly recreate with their hands. If not the sculpture itself, the public was very interested in the jewels that were attached to the sculpture all around it, that''s why a fierce war broke out when the bidding for the piece actually started. There were some who went crazy over the piece and bet without caring about what kind of amount they were betting and the twelve booths with the demonic humans were at the peak of this war. They werepeting among themselves for some reason, something that was normal for everyone else, however, for Eon and the others who knew what those people were, their actions were a difficult situation to assess. They watched them and tried outbidding them however that group of people were all crazy. The way they all increased their bids in unison as if a group of predators trying to hunt their prey even scared the four of them. It was¡­ ruthless. And, money itself had nothing to do with this ferocious attitude. It had turned into a psychological warfare that scared the other participants and even the announcer who was doing the announcements for the hosts of the auctions. Eon and the others had no choice but to back off on this item. It was for the best to let them have it. Those bastards were only interested in this one item anyway, and to not make things too suspicious, they bid on some other things after the sculpture as well, however, they were careful with their movements. They made it so smooth that it didn''t even seem like all of them were a single group, they were professionals through and through. By the end of the day''s auction, there were many items that were purchased by the group of twelve booths, and though they had to face a lot of difficulties, C3 had also managed to get their hands on six items that they were allowed as well¡­ First of all, the unique white bat that, after a long discussion and debate, went to Eon. The second item was a unique parchment that was ''described'' as something containing a recipe for a unique kind of potion, which turned out to be something unique and went to President Zodiac. There were two unique artifacts that were special and quite attractive to all of them, however, after some chat, they went to Rein and their vice president. They also purchased a ve¡­ Eon did specifically. And he fought with many lunatics for it. He paid one of the highest prices for today''s auction for that ve, however, since they were at work right now, they just sent him back to their operation room. Andstly, since she couldn''t get the cute vampire bat, Cradle purchased a rare kind of [Shadow direwolf] and established a summons pact with it before they left the auction site. They had some people to take care of, so, with Celes still watching them all closely, they all exited the auction site, and, started following the group individually. They did not know what happened to the items they all had purchased or who had what item after they all outside of the auction house, but, since they had them under surveince, tailing the group that had scattered all around the capital city was quite easier. And, since they had confirmed the enemies were more powerful than what they had expected, they called Miss Moon to them as well. They chased the perpetrators, however, what they found at the end of their journey, was an even bigger and moreplicated plot than they had expected. [[ "This does not make any sense¡­" ]] [[ "Should we report this to headmaster?" ]] [[ "We will have to do it, certainly. However, I believe he won''t be able to make it here on time. The meeting they are having isn''t something that will be concluded before the end of the annualpetition." ]] [[ "I will talk with headmaster¡­ Eon, see what you can figure out about this stronghold, make a data report, and, let''s go back for now. There''s no way we can deal with them with just a few of us without a certain n." ]] There was a stronghold, far outside the city and in a forest area. It had multiple entrances and was located quite deep inside an artificial cave. Surrounded by top-ss security, guard posts, protective areas, and strong barriers, inside this stronghold, there were more than two hundred of these demonic human cultists all at a level that the four of them could barely take care of on their own. They themselves didn''t go into their stronghold however, they were able to get some of Celes'' clones in there after contemting for about an hour. They at least had information about their numbers now, and, they had confirmed three things through their search that night. First, the scale of their operation was too big so it definitely wasn''t only about summoning some demon in this ce. They chose this very ce for a reason and perhaps the thing that they purchased might not be as important to their ns as they had thought. Eon and the others knew the sculpture was a key element or something that would be used in some other thing, however, the way they were so organized, the way they were preparing inside that stronghold, and the scale of their forces clearly indicated much more than summoning of some demon. They were up to something, they were doing something, however, what they were up to¡­ they did not know just yet. [[ "I feel like shit¡­" ]] They were chasing after some bastards the entire day and they found them far away from the ce they were searching at the end. They tracked and chased them covertly but, it was all worthless in the end. They couldn''t even touch their hair even after almost getting them in their ws¡­ they had to return like cowards even though the enemy was right before their face. [[ "It''s worse for him, Rein." ]] Rein couldn''t ept the fact that they were doing this even though the five of them were at least strong enough to destroy more than half of their forces before getting pushed back. They were strong, certainly, however, this time the enemy wasn''t some weak bunch of dumb cultists¡­ Their President knew it the best. These people were more organized than any of the previous bunch of demonic humans he had faced. They were more proficient with their tasks, and there was unity, certainly, however, the driving force behind their actions was more than just some shallow faith or belief. He could tell they were followingmands from someone higher up, someone that he had never faced in his life until now. These demonic humans¡­ and their ns. They were after something much greater than the destruction of nature, the death of a few innocents, or the interruption of the happenings inside of the capital city. He knew they were cooking something bigger¡­ something he could not take on recklessly. It might have been different if it was the past. In the past, he worked alone and had no one to look after so he could just run around wildly as he pleased, but after the academy, after learning, after being withpanions¡­ he had changed. He was responsible for the lives of all who were with him. And, even if he believed in their abilities, thebined abilities of their group, against an enemy of that scale with little to no knowledge of their capabilities, he was not going to risk any of their lives. He felt bitter. It was as if someone had fed him poison and he was burning from the inside. He knew what this feeling was, the regret and anger that came with it¡­ however, retreat was the best option at this moment. They can take care of this bunch when they have prepared even a little more. It wasn''t impossible with enough help. As long as there wasn''t an actual demon noble before them, they could do it. They can win against them and obliterate whatever sinister ns they had prepared. He knew that, so, even though he was burning from the inside, he led them out of that ce and to their own safe house in the capital city. Eon admired his leadership and decision-making skills. It was the right call to retreat at that moment. They can continue with their mission as long as they are safe and sound, something that would not be possible if even one of us was hurt or caught by those people. He made the right call this time¡­ [[ "Be very careful Celes. Consider the possibility of being discovered when making any moves." ]] [[ Yes master¡­ ]] However, this was just the start. Now that they knew the scale of this damn situation, they had to figure out how the hell they were going to deal with it. Chapter 684 Bigger picture

Chapter 684 Bigger picture

[Eon''s POV: ] "Miss Moon, can you please go take care of that child?" "Yes master." We had to discuss the situation with the headmaster now that we had finished creating our reports and, this had turned out to be more fucked up than we had imagined. "I will be starting themunication process then." The head butler of the house was here with the four of us since the emergencymunication was not possible without his presence. "Eon, I want you to proceed with the report. The others will wait until the headmaster asks them to speak up." "Yes." "Yes President." "Ugh¡­ this is driving me crazy." We had retuned to the safe house of the academy and were sitting in a special room that could not be eded without the permission of either the head butler or the head maid who was currently taking care of the person I bought from that auction. He was a unique being however, right now was not the best time for us to interact. -Oooooooooooooong. "It is connecting." [ "¡­" ] There was a big crystal ball before us, the specialmunication device that we were only supposed to use in cases of emergency. And this was an emergency. Big enough to require the headmaster''s attention even though they were in the middle of a very important meeting. [ "How bad is it?" ] His face appeared in the crystal ball and from the background that seemed like some inside of a very precious castle, it was obvious he was still inside the meeting room. Perhaps he had to call for a sudden break because of this call but, since we had informed him beforehand, this shouldn''t have disrupted the flow of their work too much. "It is bad headmaster¡­ very bad." President Zodiac answered him, and, nodded at me,signalling me toe forward. Headmaster knew if we were the ones to constant him first, there was undoubtedly something unexpectedly worse going on in here. He knew what the four of usbined were capable of, and, if there was a need to personally contact him for his input, the situation was far worse than even he might have expected. [ "Eon¡­ show me everything you have right now." ] "Yes headmaster." I called out my white crack and took out a certain artifact from it, a headband that can project a 3D model of my mental images that only the headmaster and Rein had seen before. "The scale is bigger than what we have ever seen. And the enemy itself¡­ is different from the usual demonic humans that we have faced until now, in my opinion." I had scouted the area with Celes'' clones as carefully as I can, and listen to all their conversations. It was difficult to decode the secret script they were using but, I decoded it as well and got some inner information about their ns. I had finished calcting the scale of the forces at this certain stronghold, however, since I had doubts that this wasn''t was the only stronghold they had made around the capital city, I went all aroudn the forest and other areas around the city, and, I was able to discover much more than what we had seen over there. "There are six strong holds surrounding the city, all made with the top ss magic techniques, ones that were certainly easy to miss. They are using a very profoundmunication technique so the information is being regted in a very strict manner. Each individual in this stronghold is at least a (tier-4) mage or [Rank-3] knight that can use Mana and are contracted with different demons, which, ording to me, isn''t something they care much about. This is the first demonic human force that isn''t acting on behalf of some certain demon or group of demons. They have a ''higher purpose'' that unites them." With the help of my projection headgear, I recreated a three dimensional model of the city, and marked the six strongholds, four of which were outside of the city, and two inside disguised as the mostmon areas that were frequented by many normal people on daily bases. However, there was something special about these structures. "The two strongholds inside the city, both were established around the same time a decade ago they had been in busness since them so they have quite a number of regrs. However, among these regrs are some special customers that have special requests and the employees of these two ces follow their requests in a special way." I showed them how the strongholds inside the city worked and how they were so clever with their works. "From my estimations, the preparations made, and the advanced tech they are using, I think the preparation for all of this must have started about a decade or so ago. And, to have advanced to the point they are right now, to have be a part of the society, they must have been developed different from the natural demonic humans that follow their instincts above reason. The groundwork they have done to their outer city strongholds is practically unbelievable. All four of usbined might not have managed to get any good results even if we might have infiltrated that ce, and, ording to my findings, there are certain threats at each of these strongholds." With the strongholds, their inner and outer structures, the defensive mechanisms, and the enemies now floating before us, I highlighted the enemies with unique colors. "The red ones are the normal agents that are the weakest in these groups and, in total there are around a thousand of these guys. They work as the normal ''employees'' and do the basic works ranging from running errands to handling the artifacts and techs. The orange ones are the leaders of each small group of these red employees, something like the group leaders who are in charge of the activities of this group as well as the reporting process to their supervisors, the ones marked with yellow. And, even though they are pretty simr in terms of visible strengths, I believe these Yellow marked ''Captains'' have a contract with a stronger demon. Perhaps a noble. Those marked Green are the leaders in charge of each of these strongholds. They are the strongest in their groups, seems to be the most intelligent and clear minded like normal humans, and from the strengths of their souls, we can say they are contracted with demon nobles of various ranks." I exined them the details of these informations that I was able to gather in the short time we had aftering back here, and, since this was a worst case scenario, my mind was working faster. "What we know for now about their intention this time around is, that whatever they had been preparing since the start of their grand preparations, is going to be executed either by tonight or by tomorrow. We don''t know what exactly they are after, however, I was able to confirm the presence of many dangerous artifacts that would only be needed for mass destruction as well as ingredients and needed to create a summoning circle. Additionally, I confirmed the thing they purchased from the auction previously was just a replica of the original, a fact they know as well¡­ however, they seems to have some means to locate the original owner that possesses the original one with the help of the fake one. The owner must be somewhere in this city, however, this sculpture is a secondary item of target for them. What they are after mostly-" [ "Sacrifices." ] "Yes¡­ they would be after the people, however, what they are after is still a question I could not find the answer to. Perhaps some other factor is in y here that we don''t know of but, an army ising headmaster¡­ an army of highly trained demonic humans, demonic beasts that these people have cultivated, corrupted creatures, and perhaps a demonic force that we won''t be able to handle on our own. They areing¡­ but¡­ I do not know what they are after." Those bastards, those motherless bitches. They were not the demonic humans that killed when something got in their way. This bunch was different. And, somewhere out there, there was someone that they all were following the orders of. The Green leaders at each stronghold were not the end of their forces, i know for sure. There definitely existed more of these green ones, perhaps there were their higher ups, the Blues. And then their higher ups, the Indigomanders. And then there must be a Purple, a supreme leader, the mastermind behind all of this shit. There could be things we still do not know about their ns, however, they wereing. They were definitelying¡­ and, we aren''t enough to defend even one of the directions they wereing from. "Damn¡­" "How the hell did you find out so much about them in this short time?!" "¡­" [ "Haaaaa. Looks like we have a bigger emergency on our hands." ] Mypanions were surprised by my report, however, this was no time to be surprised. An army of thousands of demonic humans wereing with full force, and, they weren''t going to be opponents we can face all on our own. We needed support, and, the headmaster understood this immediate need. [ "Alright, Eon, Elle, Cradle, Zodiac. I will contact some people that will lend you a hand with this matter, however, I want you to try and hold back these bastards as much as possible. If there are reinforcements, I wille there myself. But, try to hold back until then. Stick together, and use any means necessary to survive in perfect condition. And Rionheart, help them as if you are helping me." ] "Yes master." [ "Give me a minute. I will be back soon and we will discuss what we have to do now." ] "Yes headmaster!" The situation was all over the ce. A storm was approaching. The night was calm and everyone was joyful outside this facility, however, they did not know they were living teh calm before a storm. ''Enemies are approaching.'' A battle was on the horizon. ''People''s lives are on the line.'' There will be casualties even if we try to stop them from the outside. ''Fight is inevitable¡­'' And, even though my friends, my house members, my family are resting in this very city¡­ we can''t get them involved in this battle. ''This is not their battlefield.'' They already have a battle they have to fight in the grand alchemypetition against ones that few could stand against. So, this was our duty¡­ this was my duty to protect them from the evil that wasing out of their dwellings, with their malicious intention of chaos and destruction. Chapter 685 Magik Chapter 685 Magik [Eon''s POV: ] [ "Then go and rest for now. At least get a little shut eye. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for all of us." ] "Yes headmaster¡­" "I don''t think I will be able to do so, but I will try." "It will be difficult." "Then, I will be heading out first." I left the ce before them with an anxious look and walked to the balcony on the other side of the room. This was too much for me to take in all at once. Some of it was absurd, some of it did not make any sense, while some of it was just¡­ ''Headmaster wants us to work with the Emperor and the three empresses, as well as Master Maverick, along with a few people he personally asked for the favour.'' We all had our best to keep this matter to ourselves since dealing with the small forces of evil is something encouraged by the academy and serves as a good experience. However, the main reason we deal with these forces of evil on our own is very political. Not only is the existence of these forces a threat to the stability of any nation, there are times when the nations calm to have these forces and increase their own power in the world. In both scenarios, the stability of the world is put into jeopardy. And whenever the stability of the world is questioned, the academy and the headmaster has to step in personally. ''Headmaster and his select few people deal with most of the things rted to the demonic humans and the other forces of evil all by themselves.'' Sometimes, the work is left to the student council as well, and even though this was our first time going against the demonic humans as the student council members, we had felt with those bastards along with him in the past, and, he knew when it came to the matters rting to them, he can count on us. ''But the current situation is different than what all of us had foreseen.'' The enemy was stronger, they had both numbers and individual strengths, they were organised like some finely raised knight corpse, their preparations were thorough, and we still did not have enough data on them to do a frontal attack. There was a possibility of them having greater forces hiding in different ces. And since they had teleportation machines made with undetectable technology, there was no way we could stop what they were nning to do in time. ''Not until I get to know all that was nned by them for today.'' Which was theoretically impossible to find out, so, our only option left was defence. "Haaaa¡­" The three of them and the head butler came out of the room, and, though he was about to approach me, president and vice president stopped him, and shook their heads at him. They knew I wanted to leave alone for now, and, they also had to rest and prepare themselves for what will happenter today, so, the two just left with him, and Rein came and stood beside me. "It''s rare to see you worried like this," she said with a smile, looking up at the sky like I was doing. The night was dark for some reason, few stars were visible, and our dear blue moon was hidden behind dark, gloomy clouds. "Haaaaa. I am worried, Rein." "That you certainly are. Anyone can see that." She patted my back to provide some emotional support, however, I needed reassurance more than anything right now. "Haaaa. I am worried, Rein." "Why are you repeating the same thing twice, silly? Hehe, there''s nothing to worry with me here~. Don''t be like that and cheer up. Let''s go take a look at that kid." -m! She was caressing my back but she mmed it out of nowhere. And it hurt! It hurt like always! ''She has this bad habit of mming my back at unexpected times. And since she is strong, it hurts!'' The pain from her mming is always worse than getting wounded or injured. She is bad. She is a bad person! "Aww a. When are you going to stop this pping nonsense?" -m! "What do you mean nonsense~. It''s just my way to cheer you up~. Look it worked as well~." She mmed my back again¡­ this damn girl! "You scared him, you know?! Look, he''s afraid now." "Hmmm? What do you¡­ ohhh! You were here?! Sorry, I wasn''t trying to hurt him or anything! We are just ying, hehe. Right~? Eon~? Say we were ying~?" On the right end of the corridor, there was a little figure hiding in darkness, his deep purple eyes glowing with the light of the night. His body was hiding in the shadow of the door and, seemed to be almost invisible due to the darkness, however, his purple eyes were glowing in the dark, and, the fear in them was obvious to anyone that saw it. "You are scaring him." He must have seen her hit him and perhaps, it might have reminded him of something he did not want to¡­ he was a ve until just a while ago. Who knew what kind of things he might have been through or just how much of the reality of this world he might have seen. "E-Eon¡­ I didn''t mean to do anything like that! Tell him¡­ please tell him I am not a bad person¡­" Rein was worried that the kid would think she was some bad person and that she was hurting someone that was practically his ''master'' now. He did not know who she was yet, I haven''t even had the chance to introduce myself to him yet so, this was certainly not the best first impression. "Rein, calm down. Come with me." He was wearing a hoodie so his head was covered and he was naturally good at hiding his presence so noticing this young little thing in this dark night wasn''t the easiest thing. "Ah, don''t be afraid. Just stay there." He tried to step back from where he was standing when we started to approach him, but as soon as he heard my voice, or received my order from his perspective, he stopped and just told in his ce until we were standing before him. And, when we were before him, he kept looking down with an anxious, afraid, and uncertain look. "Don''t be afraid like that, dear." Rein couldn''t bear looking at him like that, so she knelt down and hugged the little boy. She liked him the moment she saw his cute looks, his charming eyes, and how miserable he seemed, I knew that. But, neither his looks nor pity was the reason I bought him. ''He was special, so special that there was no way I would let anyone else have someone as precious as him.'' But, the specialness aside, he was still just a young little boy. And one cute enough to have charmed even my Rein. "There''s nothing to worry about now. You are safe here." She caressed his back and, well, she was learning how to handle the little ones so, she was good at this. Her presence and touch were enough to calm this little kid, and, her warm hug made the kid less anxious about the situation he was in. "Have you calmed down now, little one?" She asked with a warm smile as she picked the little one up. And though surprised, instead of reacting to her action, he tried to search for his hood that had fallen back. It had revealed his silky pretty hair that were a little dull shade of purple than his eyes and his golden brown antlers, and the little kid was embarrassed by this so, he pulled hood back and hid his horn with a blushing face. "Hehe, you are cute." She touched his nose while giggling, attracting the attention of the little kid again, and this time, he looked at her in the eye for the first time. "Pretty." "Hmmm? You said something little one?" "Miss. Pretty." He called her pretty, well, that was something she had been dying to hear from a cute little kid like this one. "Aww~. You are pretty as well~!" She hugged him and rubbed her cheeks agasit his, and this time, he did not seem to mind that. He liked it quite a bit actully. "Master." And when she had stopped, he looked at me with his little finger pointed in my direction. "Good. Prettier." He called me prettier¡­ lol he called me prettier than her! "Whaaaaat! No fair! Ain''t I prettier than him though?!" "Master. Prettier. Miss. Pretty." "Nooooo! How am I less pretty than him?!" "Miss. Dark. Master. Bright. Master. Prettier." "No fair!" "He likes brighter shades, what is unfair in that? Everyone has their preferences." "Ughhhhh." She was grumpy now. Which was obviously a cute reaction for both os us. "Hehe." And the little oneughed at this so he looked quite cute as well. "Hump. Bastard Eon." Hisughter was cuter for her, and the bright look on him was much better than the gloomy or afraid one. "Haaa. Then, baby. Can you tell us your name? I''m Reinelle by the way. Your master''s eternal partner. And your master, well, he doesn''t like the title of master so, you can just call Axion or Eon like we do. Or, boss, uncle, and big brother will work as well." I certainly bought him as a ve as he did have a ve mark on him but, we will remove that soon. I wanted him as whole, not as a ve that would be bound by the rtionship of master and servant. There will be a deeper rtionship between him and us, so we needed himpletely. Master wasn''t going to be an appropriate title here. "Hmmm? Rein¡­ Elle?" "Well, yeah. You can call me Elle." "Elle. Pretty name." He pointed his finger at her while saying that, again. And she liked his positive response¡­ as well as the way he said her name. "Master¡­ Eon¡­ uncle¡­ brother¡­ boss. Boss!" Of all the names, he ended up at boss, not much different from master¡­ but, boss was not the same as master so this will work. "Boss! I, Magik~! Happy!" "Magik, what a pretty name you have there little Mag~." "Nooo! Magik! No Mag!" "But I will call you Mag though, hehe." "Nooo! Magik!" He liked his parent given name more, it seemed. He was strongly protesting agasit a simple nickname. ''This is a good start though.'' He wasn''t human, or any simple being for a matter of fact. He was unique, different from the others, rare, and powerful as well. His young age made him more dangerous for a reason, but, since we had him now, he will be fine¡­ but that was all after we deal with those fucking demonic humans. Until they werepletely gone¡­ "Magik! Elle. I Magik!" "Yes yes. You are Mag~!" "Nuuuuuuu!" This cute little boy was also a threat to this entire city and the people currentlyresiding here. Chapter 686 Second day of the competition

Chapter 686 Second day of thepetition

[Rein''s POV: ] The night passed with the new kid Eon bought and it was fun ying with him¡­ sad that we had to leave him at Heliox estate with Zoe since we had so much work on our hands. And, this time as well, Zoe knew everything that wa sharpening with us. "We will start the discussion as soon as everyone is here. Please take your seat." It was morning and the second day of the annual alchemyepertation of Principality of Lakmer. And, after the calls Headmaster madest night to ask for favours, we were currently in a special room in thepetition arena with the Emperor and the party, mister President and the party, Elder Theodore, a (tier-9) mage, the judge of thispetition, as well as someone blessed by the goddess of justice, Meyat. There were high ranking officials whose strengths were unrivalled on this continent and this world, and, among them, there were also some grandmasters who were currently participating in thepetition. ''It was still a while left for thepetition to start so this was the perfect time and ce for this meeting to take ce at the moment.'' Not only thepetition arena was the heart of this whole city, it was also quite literally th center around which the city was built. It was a strategic point, so, this ce was going to y a very crucial role in today''s operation. "Is the situation dire, Master Axion?" The four of us were the only young people present in this assembly with more than hundred people that could be recognised as national or continental tereasures. Some of them were also called the absolutes of their own regions, like the emperor of Rexanna empire, Master Maverick, King of the nation of technology, Dwardomia, another [King] ranked swordsman that was also one of the only few grandmaster cksmiths of this world. There was the (Witch of North) present here, the queen of the strongest empire of the northern continent¡­ someone that specially teleported here at the request of the headmaster to lend us a hand. Even three martial masters of the (Heavenly martial alliance) of the eastern content were present here. So, the people the four of us were currently sitting with, were all individually a force that would require a few of those demonic humans to work together to even stand before. And, currently, this entire gathering was going to discuss how we were going to ''work together'' to take care of the enemy that was approaching. And, as difficult as the atmosphere here was to breathe in, my darling was given the responsibility tomand this entire situation by the headmaster. "I would appreciate it if you can wait until everyone has gathered, your majesty." "Hmmm. Alright." Even the headmaster had never seen him that serious so all four of them could tell this situation was more serious than he might have thought about. And, from how he answered the emperor so firmly, the people currently present here understood why someone as young as him was chosen to be the one to lead the current situation. [ "Everyone, we will start the discussion in three minutes. I will not be repeating myself for those whoeter so, I would appreciative if you could context your absent acquaintance and tell them to hurry up." ] Everything was time sensitive at the moment since the enemy would be doing aplete simultaneous attack thorufght the city as well as the nearbynds of the capital. ''We were able to confirm their target are the people, the sacrifices, so they will not just stick to this capital city for that.'' They will go all the way and destroy all the ces where the humans resided, be it small establishments with a few hundred people, or big viges with a few thousand of poption. For them, the people were nothing more than sacrifices. And, since they had prated into the societies so deeply, loss of life was going to unstoppable. ''Eon wanted to keep the casualties as low as possible. Every single life lost today would be the responsibility of the people currently present here. Including the four of us.'' This was war¡­ something I was used to, something perhaps all of the people currently present here had experiences a few times in their lives. So, we knew the damages and consequences that happened because of these wars. [ "Then, I would be stating now." ] The people here knew the four of us for who we were and it came as a surprise for them that we were working for the headmaster at the moment. They did not know the fact that Eon and I were part of the student council since they knew we weren''t attending the academy in the first ce. However, they did know about our powers, at least the ''rumored'' powers that the sessor of Heliox and the Golden demoness as well as the representative of the Atraxia or the (Blood thirsty witch) of the battlefields was capable of. Still, they did not know exactly what the four of us were capable of¡­ however, their doubts about Eon''s capabilities all vanished instantly when he exined them the same things he exined and showed us with that special head piece artifact of hisst night. "No¡­ this cannot be¡­" "To think they had crawled so deep into the society¡­ how can the lowly demonic humans¡­" "I understand the seriousness of the headmaster now. Hmmm¡­ the situation is dire." "We must act quickly. Me must-" [ "Everyone. If you could please calm down and listen to me, it would be appreciated." ] Eon spoke up with a heavier voice this time. A kind of Mana infused voice that affected the very hearts of the people that perceived it. "He is terrifying sometimes¡­" "That''s what I love about him, to be honest." Empress Madeleine and Vera were were whispering among themselves still, so he looked into their direction with a serious look so they knew even whispering was disturbing in this situation. [ "Then, now that everyone knows the gravity of the situation, I would like to propose-" ] "I object to whatever you want to propose, young boy." There it was. The first objection of the day by someone that was a little less important in this entire room. I knew something cliche hadn''t happened yet so this was feeling too serious. [ "Then you can go out, Lord Huston. I will make sure to tell the Headmaster as well as his highness about your ''objection'' to the suggestions of the ''boy'' appointed as the one to lead this discussion, as well as the n that is to follow it." ] ''Oh damn¡­'' [[ "He''s serious alright." ]] [[ "Even I wouldn''t be able to tell a [Rank-6] knight, (tier-8) magic swordsman and the knight captain of one of the strongest finential powers of this world to just shut the fuck up and leave. He is ruthless right now. It''s quite charming, I would say." ]] Vice president and president were praising him for something obvious. But considering it has only been around a month together with us, they still have a lot of things to know about us. ''I know why he is like that, I love it when he is that serious. That''s why I was just watching him happily. Him indirectly curing that old dude was a cherry on the cake for me. This was delightful~.'' But this could have been more delightful if those mother fucking, bitches, bastards, whores, and unbirthed dumb fucking inhuman pieces of unnamable shits weren''t involved in the matter at hand. [ "Then¡­" ] He just ignored that person after giving him a displeased look and continued with his talk. He was in power right now. He held the authority directly given to him by the person that had made them gather here. And, he knew damn well how to use the powers of this kind. He had his own experience from his previous life, and, his master was a being that had taught him how to be prepared to lead armies of millions. Leading a hundred strong individuals was of no problem to him at all. ''Just that the power and authority he had in this situation was temporary. It was sad, if I say so myself.'' He would have to apologise to him after all of this is over since he would be nothing more than Axion Heliox Kramer after this and not the representative selected by the headmaster for this war. This abstract power he had right now was temporary, however, he aimed to possess it on his own in the future. ''And, I am going to help him in every single way I can to achieve that.'' But that was something forter¡­ [ "The enemy is going to use a simultaneous attack formation and their targets were people. The main objective of their operation is still unknown however, if we could capture one of these ''Green'' captains of the strongholds, we might be able to extract some usable information from them. However, that would only be the secondary task for all of us. I have prepared a final simtion of the things that the enemy might do with their current power and forces so, please pay attention everyone." ] The people currently cheerfully sitting in the arena or in their houses or on the streets had no idea what was happening in and out of this city. They had no idea about those people, the danger that was upon us or the lives that were at stake here. They were normal people, so, that was how it was supposed to be anyway¡­ However, for us people present here, with each passing second, the tension was growing. The enemy was strong, the ''Green'' captains of each of the strongholds were at the same level as a (tier-9) elder mage, and, since they might also be stigmatised by some powerful demon, the possibility of a few demons descending on thisnd were not that low. They had teleportation portals connected to some unknown ces, so, the possibility of an all out grand scale war was also not that low. Eon had thought out about it all while we were ying with Magst night. He contemted, simted scenarios in his mind, meditated, calcted unhealthy amounts of data he had gathered with Celes and her clones, he even used some of the artifacts he had never used before toprehend the actions of the demonic humans until now, and, the final scenario he came up with regarding their ns and their usible course of action, was currently being yed before these people¡­ They were amazed, certainly, however, they had yet to see all that he had prepared for them. And, after they see him in action, they will truly understand why he was the currently standing there as the one exining everything instead of anyone else with more strengths and qualifications than him. ''My darling¡­'' At the end of the day, he''s just better than them when ites to his specialties. And, war, death, enemy control, as well as strategising were areas of expertise he had studied for not one but, two lifetimes¡­ He is obviously better than them in current circumstances. Many had started realising it as they listened to his charming words as he exined the things happening in his self made perfect simtions. And, after all of this was done, every one of them will know just how amazing my cute dear darling actually is. Chapter 687 Courage to compete

Chapter 687 Courage topete

[Mia''s POV: ] "Alright. Atst, we are all together." It was perhaps a miracle that every single person from our house made it to the third round of thepetition. It was practically unprecedented that all members of a houser had managed to pass the first and the second round of the annual alchemypetition of the Principality, and, even if we just take into consideration that at least two of three people from the other houses from our school could not make it, this achievement had earned us quite a lead from the people of the other houses. But, this was just the start for us. "Captain¡­ what are we going to do now?" "I heard this day would be apletely freepetition where the participants, the groups. And the individuals could make anything they wanted depending on the given theme. I have heard the judgement of thispetition will be much more different and difficult from what it usually is." "I have heard only a few hundred people will pass the three rounds and in the fourth round, perhaps only around a hundred people will be around." "I am afraid master¡­" "Can we really¡­ beat those people?" Their concerns and anxiety were obvious. This was their first time in apetition of this scale and still they had managed to pass the first day so, it was at leastmendable. They were talented people, certainly, and they were trained by one of the best in the world perhaps, so, there was no way they would just fall behind in any way. They were just worried, and, as their captain, this was my moment to suck out all that worries and uncertainty and remind them what was told to us by our captain and vice captain¡­ However, there was another way to cherry them up. "Everyone." I called them up with a happy voice and they looked at me with surprise. They were all worried while I was just smiling at them, something unexpected from their side, but something they could understand instinctively. ''They knew I was good enough to be on the level of the people that were currently just flowing whistles or checking their advanced equipment. They knew I was called a prodigy for a reason, and after everything that happened in thest round, they were looking up to me even more.'' They were d I was on their side and that I was their captain, they were d that they had someone that was as great as the people that the world praised as the Masters and the Grandmasters, however, this was still in no way the right attitude fro someone that ''he'' has trained. "Do you see the True Dragons over there with their captain? How do they look?" The True Dragons were the top house, they had been the top house for centuries now, and still¡­ right now, in thisputation where our house had all the members that were participating, they had lost four of their members, two were even the main alchemists that they were going to depend on. "Hmmm? Captain?" "Now that I look at them, don''t they look anxious?" "I think they are afraid. Their morals look all over the ce." "Look at that girl. Isn''t she a ranker? Why is she shaking like that?" "Because that is the normal reaction a ''student'' would have in this situation." Everyone here had to understand one thing¡­ we were better than every single person from our school, as well as many that had trained for centuries and decades in this art. "They are afraid. They are uncertain. They don''t have faith. They don''t even have hope that they will pass this round. Just losing a few members had felt that kind of mental blow to them, and that isn''t all." Their captain, Captain Alpha was with them right now and they still were in that state. This clearly showed just how much they all had fallen behind the others after losing some of the main forces that their formations and strategies might have been going to revolve around. They could recover from that state by the time the round started since their captain was with them, however, they were in a dismay right now even though they had their captain. "We are here by ourselves. They have their captain. And still, we are doing much better than them. What do you think that means?" "Hmmm?" "What does that mean¡­?" "What are you talking about, captain?" "Could it be that captain¡­ you are saying since they are in that state even though they have their captain with them, they have already lost the round?" "Hmmm? Really?" "Correct. However, not just the round, it showed how their captain couldn''t properly manage the will of his house members." The other houses were still doing pretty well even though they had lost some of their members. Fascinated mages had lost five of their members and still, they were standing there with their heads healed high, their faces brimming with confidence since their captain and vice captain both were with them. They knew they could make it even with just that many people. They had their way around it. Even the other houses were doing pretty well for their firstpetition, Dark society and the Aqua mirror were looking especially in high spirits. That was how a house should naturally be when they had at least one of their captains with them. ''The Turtle defenders were as scary looking as they were yesterday though. It was still as if they were threaded into doing all that and if they did not achieve as much as they were told, they would lose their lives¡­ their expressions were scary right now. Even the audience could tell something was wrong with those children.'' However, among all the houses, just this one house, the house that was considered to be the top house among all of the houses, was in that kind of position. "It is not like their captain is ipetent or anything. They will recover and give a fairpetition to us after theetation actually starts. Their captain is capable enough to push them through this round and perhaps, the next round as well depending on the circumstances. They will do well, however, at this moment, they are not doing well. They are doubting themselves. They were doubting their teachings, the things they had learned, they were doubting their captains¡­ Do you doubt your captains, everyone?" Captain Alpha was certainly one of the most charismatic people I had seen in my life. His knowledge, insight, and talents were all unparalleledpared to the other students and captains. He was so good it wouldn''t be a surprise for him to be a student council member already, however, someone as great as him still failed to maintain the trust of his subordinates, which, truthfully, just how he wasn''t some perfect protagonist of a fantasy world. "Doubting captains? Now what does that even mean¡­?" "Are you asking if we doubt captain Zoe and Lucifer? What kind of doubt?" "Hmmm¡­ doubt. I don''t think I do. There is no reason to doubt someone that practically gave away all he had just so we couldpete." "Exactly Ball." Ball Marvin was our wildcard and he will be showing his unique talent for the first time in thispetition today. I was already excited about his debut as well as the debut of all the other unique skill holders from our house. The people were going to be shocked when they see what we were bringing to table for them. However, that was after thepetition actually started. "Hmmm? What did Ball mean?" "Captain, please¡­ I don''t understand a thing! Please borate!" "Yes, yes everyone, listen." The people we would be up against this time were the true masters and grandmasters of this world. The people who had obtained their ''style'' and were operating their own schools that taught them these specific ways of Alchemy. They were nothing less than the teachers of the academy, some of them were even people that had already rejected the post of the academy teacher for many times now. There were the other houses and the other individuals from all over the world that were also participating in groups, however, they weren''t the ones we were going to be up against. "We don''t have even a sliver of doubt towards our captains. We know they had already done whatever they could and perhaps more than they were able to. We know how much they have sacrificed just so we can stand here like this, we know the price of their precious time, knowledge, and resources. We have seen it, we have experienced it all with our own mind and bodies. So¡­ we don''t doubt them. Thest words of vice captain Lucifer as we left for theetation-" "He asked us to remember what we learned together, to trust each other and ourselves, and-" "To not crumble down if we make mistakes." "He said it''s not over until it''s already over. Hahaha, what a funny statement now that I think about it." "He asked us to not give just a hundred percent if we could go for even a hundred and two. Which ultimately means we should go beyond our limitations and do better than the best we could." "And finally¡­ he told us to have faith in our discipline." They all remembered the things he had said word to word, and just that cheered them all up. They all looked worried and anxious just a moment ago, but the words he had left with us before we departed had reignited the zing fire in their hearts once again. They looked brighter now. They had the courage toetate against every single person present here on this fine day today. They were ready even without me saying theforting words I was going to. Which was good either way, but¡­ my chance to look cool in front of them was stole by vice captain Lucifer once again. And this time, he wasn''t even here. "Haaaaa. Alright then, shall we n up for what we will be cooking?" Around twenty minutes were left before the start of theetation so all the participants were mentally preparing themselves for what was toe now. And, since the others had gathered their courage, we could start doing the same as well¡­ Chapter 688 Third round Chapter 688 Third round [OP: ] The capital city of the Principality of Lakmer was currently enjoying the second day and the third round of the annual alchemypetition. The arena in the heart of the city was once again bustling with people cheerful for the great day and new surprises ahead of them, and, on the ground, the participating individuals and teams were all starting the initial preparation for their creations. The third round''s topic was revealed to be ''Elements of nature'' and the participants were supposed to create any product that somehow was rted to this field ording to their own understanding. In the third round, they could create the things that were known or things that had already been avable in the world, however, an original product or something near original that was inspired by something else was appreciated. [ "Aha ha! Would you look at that everyone~! The participants seems to have finished deciding what they would be working on! Oho! Some of them have started the preparation as well!" ] In the third round, since it was practically focused on individual''s end product and not the methods or their basic understandings, the participants could use any of the techniques, artifacts, or materials they possessed or liked. There were no restrictions and since it was done like this, they needed someplete individual spaces that were good enough to amodate all their needs. The grandmaster rank alchemists especially neededrger, more individual spaces for their creation and aeplete peaceful a environment so, ording to the needs of the participants, the grounds were spatially divided into unique areas dedicated to each participant and teams. There was enough space for them to create whatever they wanted, and, if requires, they could also modify their assigned spaces ording to their needs. So, the audience couldn''t hold their breaths when they see some individual or group strat doing something much more exciting than they were able to in the first and second round of theetation. [ "Aha! The grandmaster of the North, Sir Mivrin, seems to be creating his speciality piece from the golem production ingredients he has taken out! Ohhh! Master of East, Lord Junhuke also seems to be going for his speciality! The elixirs!" ] The announcer of thisetation was quite good with his words and the way he attracted the attention of the audience from one screen to the other. "Ohhh! Is that what I think it is?!" "The dragon cauldron! Wow!" "Daddy! Daddy! Look! Look at that! That sister is doing something cool as well!" "Look at that grandpa instead dear. You see the pot he just took out? It''s an artifact of the old ages!" Since everything happening on the ground was near impossible for the audience to keep track of, the floating screen all around the stadium were the only way for them to see what each individual was doing in their given special spaces. And, the ability to divert the attention of the audience in a precise manner was necessary in a ce with tens of thousands of people. If they keep their attention focused on the rotating screen for too long when it was not needed, they might miss the really important things that were happening or get too much information on the things that were too advanced for them toprehend. It might cause some mental problemster on that the audience might not be able to understand right now, however, as the expert that was in charge of leading the eyes and minds of all the people on strands, the announcer''s role was more causal in this whole process than the judges themselves. Additionally, it was a role that was directly given by the rulers of this verynd. A position that was nothing less than a direct subordinate of the ruling powers. They were directly under the President and the head of the house of the Lakmer, so, they were one of the most trusted people in this ce for them. Enough for them to tell them a little about the storm that was on horizon and the things that they had to do in order to help the rulers. [ "Ohhh! The (Fascinated Mages) from the great academy of Hope are doing something unique as well! As expected of the genius young mage!" ] There was a army of eviling for the lives of the people of thisnd, however, the only reason there was peace was thanks to the strategy used by the evil and the people that knew how to control the information from leaking out. The evil had used a method that made their ns unknowable before the initiation of those ns. They had made sure to keep the information so confidential that even Eon, with his superior information gathering ability, could not figuyre out what exactly those people were trying to do. They were good, unexpectedly so. It was not something the demonic humans should be capable from their understanding of beings knows as ''demonic humans''. These soulless inhuman beings should merely be puppets and ythings of the demonic beings and greater evil. Acting smart and being so thorough should not have been in their nature, however, from what they had found out, that was not the case anymore. This force was different. And, it''s scale was yet unknown to them. But, they weren''t going to be the concern of the normal citizens. [[ "Rein, I will be ying my Harp when we start." ]] [[ "Hmm? Really~?!" ]] [[ "Yes¡­" ]] [[ "Yeiiiiiii~! Then I will dance freely for you, hehehe~!" ]] [[ "Hey, wait. What does he mean by that? And why do you want to dance when you are going to be one of the frontline physical damage dealers?!" ]] [[ "Hehe. You will understand when we start Del~. And believe me, you''re gonna have fun~!!!" ]] The resistance that was going to go against the forces of evesting inside and out of the city area had finished their discussions and roles were given out to the individuals participating in the process. The four of them had different orals themselves, and all of them were assigned different areas so, they weren''t going to meet each other during the fights. They had their positions they needed to hold, so, hearing that someone that had one of the central roles in all this was going to y a harp and someone that was going to go head on against one of the main forces of the enemy on the frontline was going to dance, was certainly bbergasting for their vice president. However, their president understood they were talking in some kind of metaphor and understood that this would only bring positive results during the war process. [[ "Fun¡­ it''s amazing how you can still talk about fun, Elle." ]] [[ "Being positive is better than being gloomy and all serious, no? I suggest you don''t worry about all this as well and just enjoy the moment. During the wars, the soldiers hold a party and drink the costly drinks together. They smile and enjoy themselves as if it is thest day of their lives, and, if they all make it out of the war alive, they drink barrels full of the cheapest drinks all night long. They enjoy, instead of falling into despair. And they thank the nature, time, fate, and the world at the end for letting them see the end of a dark time. There are many sitting here aside from us that already knows about what''sing, but they are still well and bright, no? They know there will be deaths, who knows if they will make it out of this perfectly fine or not either. But they aren''t scared at all. What''s gonna happen will happen anyway, Del. Why not y some good music and dance at melodious beats instead of being all worried and anxious?" ]] As noble people, or, as people holding power and authority strong enough to save lives, they were given the responsibility of protection this time. It would be their first war against the evil of this world, however, they had to keep in mind that this was only a war with the visible evil. The darker, more vicious evils still lurked in the shadows of this world. And, only if theye out of this safely, will they be able to fight against those greater evil. [[ "We should go meet them after they finish the forth round today." ]] [[ "Wair, really?" ]] [[ "Yes. Let''s have an early dinner with them." ]] [[ "Yes, of course! Yes~!!" ]] The headmaster gave them this task because he knew they were the only ones among all of the students in the current academy that could achieve something without getting so harmed that some healing potions or skills couldn''t heal them. They valued their lives, and had goals that they wouldn''t want to forsake at the cost of their lives. He had faith that they wille out of it alive without doing anything foolish. That''s why out of thousands of students and tens of other student council members, the four of them were the only ones that would work with those national treasure level powerful people. They were ready for this fight, however, just in case something unexpected happens¡­ They wanted to see the first team they had trained. They wanted to see the faces of their friends and family, chat with them for onest time before the fight, and, ask for their best wishes. The enemy¡­ they weren''t part of this fight, however, they were part of their lives now. They were their friends that they had shared many meals with. They were their friends with whom they hadughed and cried. They were all here, in a ce which soon be engulfed in aura of evil, fire, death, and dread¡­ however, they won''t be a part of this war. Aside from the people that are going to fight those evil, none of the civilians in this city, or around this city, were going to be part of that war which few in this world will know about¡­ They had something else to do today, as well as tomorrow. So, they were going to wish them luck. And, ask for their blessings¡­ That much will be enough strength to crush down those mother fucking sons of werched bitches. Chapter 689 The enemy forces Chapter 689 The enemy forces [OP: ] Around the center of capital city of Lakmer, some distance away from the arena where theetation was taking ce, there was a famous jewellery shop that was mostly frequented by the nobles and the higher standing people of the society. Their speciality of their diamond carving techniques that they had be famous for over the course of a decade they had settled in this city. It was arge, three sporty building with a loyal customer base and there were many customers that came here to purchase jewellery asionally, and many who traveled from farawaynds each year for theetation made sure to pay a visit to their favourite shop. So, this ce was famous among the citizens and the outsiders. There were around fifty employees in this shop during one shift on one floor and since there were around three shifts each day, the shop had over a four hundred and fifty employees working each day. The owner of the shop was a reputable person that was respected within the society and was known by quite a few people, and, people considered him a gentle and kind person. Though, his truth was something else entirely. "Three, report." "Point 2, 4, 9. Complete. Awaitingmand. Point 1, 3, 5 on standby. Gate activation. I initiates atmand. Point 6, 7, 8. The beasts are hungry." A major store in the capital city of the centre of politics was a stronghold of the demonic humans, the force that was done with their side of the preparation for the attack that would soon begin under the gentle blue light of the full moon. The owner of the store, a gentle and caring personality that took good care of his employees was a mask that hid his demonic side so well, it was impossible for even the mastermind of political circles, thedy of the President, to find the truth of these bastards. "Let them starve. Tonight¡­ is a banquet anyway." "Yes." It was afternoon so sun was still shining brightly in the sky. The jewels in the stores were shining under the lights beautifully. The people were roaming the streets carelessly, unaware of the dangers that were lurking right under their feet. They did not know about these people, however, every single employee of this shop, every single demonic human wearing a thick mask of smiling humans, were aware of the chaos that was on the horizon. They had waited, prepared, trained, and ahead ahead blood and tears in order for this very day. Nothing was going to stop them from achieving what was rightfully the will of their lord. They had numbers, strengths, weapons, ways, reinforcements, demonic beasts that were hungry for blood and souls, and, they also had the support of some demons working with them. Just their shop alone possessed enough forces to bring down a few great cities of major powers of this world. And, they weren''t the only shop like that in this city. "Hohoho! Wee to (Traveller''s Ind)! What would you like dear travellers!" There was a famous tavern at the northern edge of the capital city of Lakmer. Small, just a two story wooden house that was famous for more than a decade, however, a famous ce that many adventurers frequented on daily bases for their strawberry voured alcohol. It was a unique beverage that only they sold in this city. And, the female adventurers especially loved to frequent this ce with their party members or their lovers. They believed their beverage had some sort of unique calming effect that wasn''t found in any other drink of this capital, however, they were better off not knowing the ''secret ingredient'' of this unique taste was demon worms¡­ The ones who drink it willingly sign their own death sentences. And the ones who drink it frequently, well, they sign up to forsake their humanity. Demonic worms, as known to few who knew about the demonic realm, were creatures that slowly consume their hosts from inside out and after a certain point, they overtake their beings, turning them into puppets that the masters of these insects can control at will. This tavern, known to have served to tens of thousands of citizens of of this city, was essentially farming minions for this very day for decades now. And, even though the influences of the ones that could control these bugs might not reach too far from this city, just the ones within the city were going to more than enough to havoc enough chaos to summon a noble demon from Hell. And, this wasn''t the only weapon this stronghold possessed. There was an underground level below the house that was practically a factory producing what is called ''golem''. Just that this factory produced golem that had only purpose for their existence: destruction. Their forces were so great that they could cover half of the city themselves and still have enough forces to send in as reinforcements to the other half of the city. "Hohoho! Here''s your order dear customers! The speciality of our home, The dragon tongue!" They had few employees above the ground, just around ten or so. However, the people working in their underground factories numbered in hundreds, same as the jewellery shop on the other side of the city. These two ces, the strongholds of the demonic forces, had been hidden from the eyes of the President, the management, or the royal family of Lakmer for a long time now, however, that was all going to end soon. "Six, go serve a ''ss of water'' on three." "Yes." They were finally going to make thei move tonight. And, their patience until now was going to be rewarded for that. And, this was only two of their strongholds that were inside of the city, conclesd from the eye of the society and the world of politics. There were more outside the city, guarded by their forces four greater and stronger than what they had on the inside. They were nothing less than a modern army with summoned beasts, magicians, knights, artifacts, siege weapons, greater magic, hungry beasts, however, in addition to all that, they had support of the demons, the other forces that weren''t connected to them, the ''seeds'' they had nted over the years, and the other madmen that just wanted a spark to start their own bloodbath. There were all kinds of crazy people in this world after all, and they knew very well how to recognize these madmen. [[ "The fourth round would start shortly." ]] [[ "Everyone did good. Better than I had expected actually." ]] [[ "Still though, it''s not over yet." ]] [[ "You all should focus on what is going on instead of chitchat. Look, there seems to be people wanting to talk with Lady Mia and the others from our schools that passed." ]] The scales of the evil''s forces was too great. They were trained by powerful people, one can tell just by the way they were able to conceal themselves while staying in the society for all this years. They were good with what they were doing, and, they had strength. Knowledge to create facilities that could not detracted by the higher level surveince devices of the capital city; mages of (tier-4) to (tier-9) that could handle advanced artifacts; knights that had physical capabilities to tame down the demonic beasts so ferocious that even the normal royal knights might have hard time against even one of them; taming techniques that were able to hold them in one ce without a territorial dispute; and enough capital backing to making all this possible. This was not work of some backalley gang of thugs. They were a terrorist organisation with force great enough to tereample even a mid sized kingdom all by themselves. And opposed to them were a little over a hundred people¡­ Including four that were still associated with their schools. This fight was not going to fair in the slightest. However, they knew including more people will only lead to more unnecessary deaths. Their main objective was to save as many people as they can through any means possible. [ "The wait wille to an end soon everyone! We will start the fourth round of theetation in thirty minutes! Please call back all your friends and families who had went out for break and snacks!" ] And for that, they were going to divide the forces of outside the city and the forces within the city as the first course of action. They were going to fight multiple isted battles on the different fronts, take care of the forces out of the city, and leave the forces inside of the city to the experts that were specialised in long range fights, covert operations, group enemy handling, specialised support magic, andbat methods that can take care of enemies without destroying the surroundings. They had a n to deal with the citizens that had the demonic worms, they also had a method to deal with the initial attack of their enemies, and, also a detailed strategy of how they were going to progress with the battle¡­ however, the only thing they had yet to find out, was the ''goal'' of the enemy forces. [[ "It will start soon now." ]] [[ "President¡­ let''s not worry about that and look forward to the dinner we will have with everyone." ]] [[ "Ah, yes." ]] Few select individuals were given the task to capture the highest ranking officials of each of the strongholds. And, President Zodiac was one of those people that was going to deal with the jewellery store near the area. He will havepany, of course. The one he had to capture was spected to be a (tier-8) dark mage, after all. However, he had the responsibility to capture that person¡­ And, currently, he was having difficulty suppressing his urge to chop down every single demonic bastard, their pets, and anything rted to them. He resented them more than anything in this world, however, instead of giving against many of those bastards, he was assigned one target. And, he had to follow the instructions of the people around him as closely as he could while doing that¡­ just like how every single person that was part of this mission was going to do. Or try to do, at least. Their ultimate goal was to stop them, their wicked ns, and save people. As long as they were going it, well, they should also be fine cutting off a few bastards on their way. That''s how war worked anyway¡­ Chapter 690 A dinner from their idol Chapter 690 A dinner from their idol [OP: ] The third round of thepetition had ended with quite some unexpected results as the top house of the greatest academy of the world, the True Dragons, had failed to advance to the next round along with Fusion Stardust, and Eternal tigers. They had poured all they had into their creations, they even went as far as using the secret techniques and ingreadiants they had gathered and learned during their learning process. They did not fall behind the other particiapnats when it came to technique, methods, and the way they had attracted the crowd''s attention, they were very good with what they did and they all were individuallyplimented by the judges for their breathtaking performances. However, the standards of thietation were just too high for their end products to pass. Even the other houses had barely made it to the following round except the Wisdom Phoenix. There was no ranking in the current passing rounds however, the experts could evaluate the end producers of their rivals. And, ording to them, the [Rainbow honey] that they created was an original cereation of their captain that they had created using techniques that were beyond the understanding of some of the masters present in this arena. They were not only eye catching with their creation, they had created something that was on par with the creations of the older masters and the grandmasters. Thus, aside from the three houses, the others passed to the fourth round, and, in the fourth round, another fierce contest unfolded before the audience present on the stands. This was aepetation for a reason. There were going to be winnier and, some of the participants wanted that victory with all their hearts. It was visible in their eyes. The desire to win, the fire to do better than the others participants. It was all reflected in their eyes. And, watching those eyes gave a new kind of excitement to the crowd. Especially the Wisdom Pheonix of the great academy of hope. They were too attractive for the others to not pay attention to them. Their methods and the way the individuals yed their assigned roles was just too exciting for the audience, as well as to the experts and judgement panel. They were almost enchanted by how Miss Mia, their captain, used some unknown methods to produce, process, or manipte the elements they had. The resources they possessed were all absurd, yes, however, more than that, they were astonished how they were using all those rare resources so well¡­ The audience could tell they had practised a lot. Their deep knowledge of their craft was reflected in their actions, the way they had divided work among themselves so well spoke of their captain''s prowess, and, the way they were using their unique skills was the main reason they had to fix the screen showing them in the centre of the arena. Their group performance in the fourth round was certainly eye catching, however, more than that, their individual performances were so attractive that the audience had started searching for the information rted to all those individuals in this st ranking'' house of their academy¡­ This did not mean the other houses that were in the fourth round were any worse than them though. The way the Fascinated Mages were doing their process with their vice captain as the center of their group was a unique technique that was only possible because of the unique ability of the genius mage and prodigy of magic. They were working as one single unit, something similiar to a production facility where the workers and machines work in a perfect sync. It was breathtaking as well. They were certainly nothing less than the other participants. Even Aqua Mirror that was using the techniques and methods of the other people that had participated in thispetition were doing pretty great. And so were the Dark Society with their unique energy utilisation methods. They all did pretty well, however, after the end of fourth round, only two houses managed to advance to the third day''s fifth round, a milestone the ''students'' hardly ever achieves. The Wisdom Phoenix and Turtle Defenders. Two houses that did not practically have any group of specialised alchemists. The two groups that had showed the most unique performance in this year''spetition. And, though the Turtle Defenders were criticised a lot for the crazy methods they had used when creating their unique end product, it was a fact that what they had created was enough to push them to the next round of theetation. Their lives were on the line so they can deal with some criticism and bad mouthing. They were going to forget all of this soon anyway ording to a certain person in their group. Thus¡­ The second day of theetation came to an end and with heavy hearts and tears in their eyes, the defeated teams, as well as the ones who had made it past the fourth round, the two teams from their school, were all almost ready to go back to their respective assigned ces to spend another difficult night¡­ however, they all were met with a surprise. Every single person from the great academy of Hope, including the teachers that hade with them and the special students that they had brought along with them, were invited to a special dinner. It was a strange urrence since they weren''t allowed to go out of their designated ces during the course of theetation without the supervision and permission from their teachers, so, the students were all stunned for a moment. However, when they all heard from their President and Vice president who had suddenly appeared there out of nowhere that the people that had invited them were none other than the famous young master anddy of Heliox and Atraxia family, many of them visibly flinched with shock. For the students of any academy, be it some normal school in some small kingdom or the greatest academy of the world, the names Axion Heliox Kromet and Reinelle Atraxia were nothing less than an idol. They unanimously respected them for one reason or another and, in any of the ce one can think of, the hate towards them was the lowest when it came to any person from high society. "To think I am here, hehehe¡­ to think I am gonna meet Master Axion!" "You know Lady Reinelle hasn''t met anyone after her engagement. People had only ever seen her from faraway and, they say she seemed even prettier nowadays." "Haha, that''s love, my friend. Love makes people more attractive." "Huuuu¡­ deep breathing¡­ huuuu¡­ everything will be alright. My heart, you are stronger than that." "Does anyone think this food taste awfully better than anything else they had eaten in their lives? Is it really true that all of this made by Master Axion himself?" "Damn young Master Axion''s cooking can definitely challenge Vice captain''s cooking. This shit is gold!" "Ummm¡­ excuse me? Can we take some of the things with us, please?" "It''s almost time. They should be here any minute now." "Haaa. I''m full. Lord, give me another stomach." One was the creator of some of the most famous foods in the world, and the other was the sole representative of one of the strongest families of this world, not just their empire, but this entire world. She was respected by thedies of allnds. Her elegance, her nobleness was envied by even some of the pirs of high society. She possessed so great of an influence that even her mere appearance of a certain type of clothing was enough to set the next trend of high society. And, if that wasn''t enough, it was said that even the guards and knights of their family respected her for her prowess with weapons. However, that was only a rumour for now since none had ever seen her use any kind of weapon. "Hey, look! It''s them! It''s them! For reallllll!" Some certainly disliked Axion for ''stealing'' Reinelle from them, but since it was now confirmed that the two of them had loved each other for a very long time, the hate had been overwhelmed by the new dishes and offers at the stores owned by him. They didn''t like him for what he did, however, they couldn''t possibly hate the ice cream, those unique beverages, all those unique food items, and special surprise toys they gave to some certain people. The noble students, even the teachers of this room went crazy over all those special gifts. They were just too good and cute to not like. And it was all possible because of him, so, disliking him on side, hating him had be innately impossible for them. "Omg, omg! Pinch me! Tell me I''m not dreaming!" "She looks prettier¡­ doesn''t she¡­?" "Ohhh! Right! Where''s captain of Wisdom Pheonix?! She''s his sister, right?! Let''s tell her to introduce us to him!" "Oy,e with me. Let''s go greet them." "No way man¡­ whatever this thing is, this is too delicious to let go." The students were invited for a special dinner by their idols, so there was no way they were gonna refuse such a grand opportunity. It was perhaps a once in a lifetime offer for them, since they did not know these idols of theirs were schoolmates. They were in the grand Heliox residence right now, in their banquet hall, in one of the most secure ces in this city, so, they were gonna be safe from what was gonna happen in a while. And, they can see and chat with their idols as well if they gather enough courage to do so¡­ This long night before them, it was going to be an unforgettable one for all of them. As well as for many currently assembling on their possessions through this city, and beyond. Chapter 691 Some stories from them Chapter 691 Some stories from them [Eon''s POV: ] [[ "You are forbidden from doing anything reckless, big brother. And we are going straight home after everything is over here tomorrow." ]] [[ "Of course, Zoe. I promise that we all will be alright and we will definitely go back once everything is done here. Besides, it''s not that big of a deal. We are only going to fight a little war along with people that can single-handedly overtake a fort. There''s nothing to be worried about that much." ]] I said that, but both of us knew it was a lie. [[ "I will believe in you this time then¡­" ]] But she still epted my half-true words. Though not without any conditions of course. [[ "However, if I think anything is going to happen to the four of you, I will step in personally. And, you cannot stop me then." ]] [[ "I would appreciate that." ]] However, I will make sure that moment doesn''t arrive. We, will make sure of it. ''The current Zoe was almost as powerful as the emperor and the absolute powers of the three continents, perhaps a little more considering her pure origin and the fact that she had opened three of her innate blockages before her first awakening.'' She was a genius that surpassed what master might have thought her to be, and, not only that, she was very good at adapting, learning, and bing part of her surroundings. She was extremely talented when it came to artifact creation, so much so that the grandmaster teacher that teaches their ss, for the first time in his profession of two hundred years, took her to an event as a special student assistant. Others were obviously surprised by this fact, but, those who had seen her during her work time wouldn''t even need a few minutes to understand why he chose her of all students for that spot. She was just good when it came to any kind of creation. And, of course, when it came tobat or magic, she wouldn''t even need a few hours to surpass us who had dedicated years of hard work on our paths. ''She already possessed the knowledge of the divine magic her mother had passed down to us¡­ so, she could destroy the entire forces of all the demonic humans that we were going to fight on different battlefields all by herself.'' She was capable of doing that, however, ''we'' aren''t yet strong enough to deal with the consequences that woulde after revealing her powers to this envious world. "Oh, mister Axion. Can you tell us more about yourself? I don''t know much about either of you since I am from a faraway ce¡­ ohhh! It''s fine if it is too much of a request!" Quin asked the two of us when we all had just sat down on the dinner table for the ''actual'' dinner. The students had enjoyed my wee snacks and were shocked how what they were eating all that time wasn''t the actual dinner but only some refreshments, however, now that we were actually on the dinner tables and were eating our meals along with them, this certainly felt different from how we usually eat in the garden. "Not at all miss Quinn. Tell us what you want to know about ourselves." They were enjoying the dinner, the atmosphere was pretty good and cheerful as well, however, among all the questions and greetings we had received aftering here, this was the first personal question that could probably have a unique answer to it. And, since the one asking it one of their captains that was sitting with us on our dining table, the attention of the students was shifted to us in an instant. "Ummm, nothing too specific actually. I just want to know more about you two. I have heard some things about you two, and most of them seem like exaggerated things, but since I don''t know you two personally, or about your rtionship, I can''t really say what kind of person you really are. However, truth be told, you two seem very familiar to me. Almost as if we alredy know each other for some strange reason." She was our first friend in the academy, and Rein certainly cherished it quite a lot. She was alredy sitting almost beside her as well, so, when she finished her question, she gave her a sweet smile put her spoon down in her usual elegant manner. "Miss Quin, you are a fun person, you know?" She looked right in her eyes while asking that and the way she asked that, that tone and all that, made many of the students present here blush with surprise. "Y-yes, Lady Reinelle. My friend, Uriel, also says that sometimes as well. However, I don''t know why she says that. Same as I don''t know why you are saying that right now." Quin was a very unique individual, undoubtedly. And it wasn''t only because of how she was brought up or how she had lived her entire life, it was also mostly because of how she was perceives the situations and responds to them. ''She might not understand just how special her ability to innocently is, but the others in this room knew that very well.'' So, Rein just made her realise it for the first time. "Haha, Quin, oh miss innocent Quin. Look around yourself. Why do you think your fellow students have this unique kind of refraction to your question?" She didn''t understand what Rein was saying at first, however, when Quin looked around, she saw that people were looking at her with a perplexed look. And, she had seen this look asionally during our school time, so, she was familiar with it alredy. "They are surprised at my questions because they are too simple questions that everyone knows the answers of? Actually, I don;t know. I don''t understand why they make this kind of expression whenever I ask simple qiuestions. I know I am dumb and have little knowledge about everything than the other people, perhaps my understanding of concepts and stereotypes is little as well, but, it is what it is. I don''t know and I don''t understand, so, I ask those who do. Sometimes I get the answer that is good enough, sometimes I don''t. And when I don''t I ask other people or try to find it myself." "And that, Miss amazing Quin, is your superpower." Asking questions that have obvious answers, or questions that one thinks they knows the answer of , or the questions that they know they won''t get the answer of from the person they are asking¡­ it was no easy task. It required insurmountable courage, or curiosity to simply ask a question. ''Quin has that unique curiosity to learn, and the talents to back that curiosity. That''s why she learns faster than the others. And, her near to no knowledge of themon things makes the courage part meaningless since she doesn''t even know a thing about what she asks.'' She is like a nk paper that one can easily write on with their good handwriting. Different from the other students who already have filled their papers with different handwritings and not-so-attractive notes. "Cherish that superpower, and don''t ever fear to ask questions the way you do. You will get the answers to them sometimes, like today, and sometimes you won''t. However, just because you don''t get the answer to a question, doesn''t mean there is no answer. Good or bad, if there is a question. There is an answer to that as well. Just like right now, miss Quin. Haaaa¡­ you want to know about us, and there is a fun way to tell you what kind of people we are." Rein was thinking about a storytelling session, I can read that in her sparkling eyes. She loved telling others our stories, stories that few knew about and were mostly just floating rumours that no one believes. And, it''s actually a fun thing as well so we enjoy it asionally. "So miss Quin, you must have heard that the two of us were already very close before our engagement. However, do you know the first time we met I was in a forest, searching for a certain herb?" She started telling them about our first meeting, how there was a misunderstanding between us at first and how I helped her afterwords. She told them how we got to her house, and also how it was the very day I hade back from ''that ce'' after so many years. She told them how we fell for each other, and I added my side of the stories when it was needed. We didn''t go into too much details to make the story boring so, what was left almost seemed like a fantastical story from the novels to the students present here. They were surprised with each of the things we told them, and, as time passed, they got too invested in the stories that they also forgot to eat their food. It was interesting hearing about how the two people they all had looked up to directly from them. And, for us, it was fun showing them this side of us. They already knew us as the vice captain of Wisdom Phoenix nd captain of Dark Society, and they thought they had known about the Reinelle and Axion as well, however, the stories that started from a simple question from our innocent friend, lead to this amazing adventure of words and narrations that forced them to stop eating their dinner. This time was fun¡­ they liked the stories. Even Alf and Chry who knew these things already had fun listening to them once again. And, though they knew if we were doing this, there was definitely something going on that they cannot know, they epted it this time since even President Zodiac and vice president were involved in this. They knew this was something rted to school and thepetition, so, they couldn''t get involved with this even if they wanted to. ''They are smart, as always.'' And besides, we will need some people here if anything unexpected happens. They were good at what they did, and Chry was especially improving faster than I had expected so, he was pretty much capable of dealing with a demonic human of their level on his own. They can take care of everything here, and, they also had Quin and others so, even though Ca isn''t here, they can do pretty well on their own. ''It is night already, so, we will be starting now¡­'' The students and teachers will stay in our mension today, and, as a strategic meeting point. We had selected the estate of Atraxia that was pretty close to the tavern/factory of the golem. Everyone involved were given very specific instructions and it was obvious they weren''t going to follow them as closely as instructed, however, I had given the instructions while considering just that. They were all people with strong Egos and personal beliefs, so I had to take many factors into ount while telling them what they should do while maintaining their positions until further instructions were given during fights. ''It''s certainly not going to be easy¡­'' But, we can do it. If we just know their objective from one of the stronghold captains, we can prevent any great losses from happening today. It was possible. ''Absurdly difficult, but possible.'' Chapter 692 Initiating the operations

Chapter 692 Initiating the operations

[OP: ] At the highest peak of the centre of the capital city of Lakmer, a t ground existing on top of the grand pir of the colosseum, looking down at the gorgeous city, some individuals had gathered in this ce on a night of full blue moon, which, for some reason, seemed brighter than usual. The moon seemed to be loser to them even though it wasn''t a night of ''the great moon'' tonight. The spots on its surface were visible as well, and there were nearly no clouds to block this moon like yesterday night where the sky was covered in thicker clouds. The sky was clear, stars were sparking normally, the city was bustling with the nightly activities of the people, and, since tomorrow was thest day of the annual alchemypetition, the people were going around shopping with greater enthusiasm than the previous night. The annual alchemy operation would conclude tomorrow, so, this was the perfect time for the people to go around with their family and friends and experience the joys and lights of the city''s night. That was, perhaps, the main reason the evil had chosen this night as their D-day. "They have begun, master." Miss Moon was shining like a moon under this moonlight as she stood behind Eon and Rein, awaiting theirmand like everyone else present here. "Then, we shall begin as well," he said, a serious expression on his face, his heart pounding faster, his glowing red eyes fixed faraway beyond the walls of the city, in the forest where evil had started their march. "Please, get ready everyone." -Ooooooooooooooong! He stood before hispanions, before his partner and beloved, before his friends and people he will one day face as opponents. He stood before them all as the one holding the most responsibility as their ''operator'' tonight, and, he knew there were going to be casualties¡­ He did not like this fact, however, he knew if he was to keep the casualties to as minimum as possible, he will have to cause many miracles on tonight''s battlefield. And, he was ready for it. "Oh¡­ my lord. Is that really what I think it is?" "To think we would see an ancient relic tonight¡­" "How could something so precious be in the possession of someone so¡­ unrted to it?" "No no, my lord. I think you are mistaking something here." He took out a giant musical instrument that resembled a great harp, d in the brightest silver that shone like white gold under the serene moonlight consisting of hundreds of strings made of shining gold, covered in attractive jewels so precious looking that even the demons and angels in the higher realms would envy it. There were ancient ruins engraved all over this three metre tall instrument, and, although it was extravagantly decorated and possessed an ethereal, surreal air to it, it was a relic of the past that some experts present here recognised perfectly. "Arc of Jen is an artifact that was said to have possessed by one of the saints of old times. However, ording to some stories, she did not use it as just a musical instrument. I have heard that much, however, what do you mean I am mistaken, your majesty?" One of the eastern masters questioned emperor August, however, before he could answer, another eastern masters who was also an archer, answered to him. "Arc of Jen is an artifact with strings," he said, his voice containing a kind of excitement that was hard to believe in the situation we all were in. However, his answer was enough of a hint for the others to guess what Eon was about to do now. "Gwen," he called out a name, and, as if responding to his call, the great artifact shone with a bright light so strong, it illuminated the entire arena below them. -Oooooooooong. And, as if too have taken it''s true form, the harp started glowing with silver-gold lights, bing countless times more precious than what it seemed to be just a moment ago. -Swiiiiiiiish~! The winds had changed their directions, the runes on the artifact had started glowing with unique lights, and the entire area became warmer as if some divine entity had blessed this ce. "What is¡­?" "I feel stronger for some reason now. Is this also because of this artifact?" "It''s a relic, not an artifact. We can neverpare the powers of an artifact with that of the relics." "My powers seems to have increased far more than what they used to be, I almost feel thirty percent stronger now." "Shuuuu. Everyone, please calm down." As soon as the light of the artifact touched them, they all felt a new kind of strength running throughout their beings and, this strength was different from some kind of boost or anything simr. This felt as if their own limitations had decreased and they themselves had be stronger than what they used to be just a moment ago. It was beyond their expectation so many of them couldn''t contain their excitement and curiosity, however, they had to quite down when Rein requested them to. He was about to start his thing, so, she couldn''t miss the first three sybles of his music. "Huuuu¡­" He was calm still, unbothered by the voices in his surroundings. There was only one thing on his mind, the defeat of the enemy. And, to deal with the forces that were on the inside, they had to work quickly so that they can save the people that were still outside and were in danger. The forces wereing, he was seeing them moving with his third eye. And, they weren''t small in anyway. They had to move now, however, before they do so, they had to take care of the people in this city. And, to do that, he had to start his show. -Swiiiiiiiish¡­ Calm winds blew at the the top of the pir, he with his harp, his second favourite ''bow'' and a special gift of his master, Gwen, his one of the few bound artefacts. His eyes were closed, his breathing calm. His hands were before the strings of glowing the harp, and, it seemed like with each passing second, the glow of the harp was synchronising with his breathing, his heartbeat, his being itself. He was preparing for the initiation of the operation. His first objective was to take care of the people of thesends so that they can save them without letting them know of their existence. He can aplish that task easily with the help of some really powerful wide area sleeping magic, however, he had a better idea in his mind. "Huuuu¡­" -Saaaa. With a deep breath, apletely aligned mind, body, soul, and his Gwen, he moved his hands around some certain strings, producing a kind of sound none of the people present here had ever felt in their lives. -Oooooooong¡­ It resonated directly with their hearts and minds, and they felt as if something was trying topletely take over their beings. -Reeee. "W-what''s happening?!" "It feels weird¡­" "I had only heard tales previously, however, now that I am feeling this myself, the tales of Saint of Jen using her Arc like harp to overtake the minds of her opponents with a few ys of strings were certainly more than just some exaggerated tales." Emperor August had an envious look on his face when he looked at Eon and his harp, however, there was a warm kind of happiness in there as well that his three partners understood clearly. "Then the other tales must be pretty true as well¡­" he mumbled under his breath, before shaking his head with a smile and taking out his own holy sword. The two notes he had yed just now were strong enough to affect even people like them, even with the protection of the harp''s light, so, it was obvious how much effective they must have been to the normal people of this city. And, considering how these two notes had resonated far beyond the walls of this city, they knew it was time for the operation tomence. -Gaaaa¡­ -Ooooooooong! "Let''s begin, everyone. Let us achieve beyond what fate has decided for all of us." The third note resonated in the space all around the city and, as if time had stopped, everything from the noises to the very air froze in its ce. "See ya soon, darling~. Umha~." And then, with herst words to her darling, Rein vanished in the shadows with an excited expression, ready to reach the ce she was assigned before he began the first song of the night. -Ooooooooooong¡­! And, right behind her, the others also vanished after grasping the situation as the citizens of the city, as if to have remembered something, started walking in different directions along with their children, family, and friends. -Boooooooooooom! Large explosions had started all around the city as well at this moment, however, the others should have secured their assigned positions now that a moment had passed. [[ "Celes, Lucy. Please take care of me." ]] [[ Of course master~! Do not worry at all~! ]] [[ *Master, shall I take over?* ]] ''No, Lucy. We don''t need that yet.'' [[ *Alright then I will analyse the situation in the red zone.* ]] ''That would be better.'' The enemy had started moving, their resistance forces were in position, the opposition had already made the first move, so, they could now initiate their operations. "Huuuu¡­" The grand harp, almost twice his size, made up of nine pedals and a hundred and two strings, looked perfect when he sat behind it with his hands aligned on the strings. It was a unique relic different from the usual musical instruments as the main function of the relic was not the music itself, but instead,bat and support. -Saa. Reee. Ga. Maaa. Reee¡­ "Good." This was a weapon, his second favourite bow. It turned his Solnova into magical arrows when yed in a perfect manner, so, his pure magic archery was the best when using this weapon. However, to use that power, he had to use this perfectly. [[ "What song do you want, Rein?" ]] [[ "Hehe, surprise me~!" ]] [[ "Alright then." ]] Thankfully, his master had drilled everything she knew about this artifact into his very soul after months of hellish training. -Saaa. Ree~. Saaa~. Ree~. Saaaa~! And, this instrument was one thing he had almost surpassed her in, at the end of their training¡­ Chapter 693 The forces of evil Chapter 693 The forces of evil [OP: ] The city was starting get covered in mes, a stench of blood, notices of giants walking around the city roads while shaking the very earth they stepped on. shing metal noises, spells being fired everywhere, the destruction of the properties, and the the screams of the disgusting looking demonic creatures, had filled the streets. -Booooooooooom! Inside the city, six battlefields had been created, tworge ones on the southern part of the city, and four isted ones on the other end of the city. -Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! There evil had revealed their true selves, theirpletely ck eyes, pale skin, and near lifeless bodies were roaming the cities along with the creatures of the underworld, creaturesparable to the (Indigo) ranked creatures of nature, however, there was one thing distinct about these filthy beasts that made them differently from the pure energy bests of nature. "Khaaaaaaaa!" "Disgusting creature." -Snap! -ZAAAAA! They carried demonic blood and upon their deaths, the blood that sshed all around the ground, would start corrupting the entire area if not taken care of with the holy and divine power. Or a power of equal properties as these powers. -Saa. Re-ga. Re-ga. Mama-mma-mma-mma~! And, that was being taken care of by the arrow of lights that flew from the highest point of this city. The force of resistance that were fighting against the enemy demonic human forces were dominating these beasts, the golem created with the corrupted blood of these creatures as their base, and technology so advanced without proper understanding of their work, it was impossible to deal with these beings¡­ thankfully, the force of resistance had many experts that were more than talented enough to understand this futuristic tech and use their own understanding of the magic and engineering to find out their weaknesses that could destroy them at a mere snap of a finger, and of course, a powerful force. -Booooooooooom! Battles were going on inside the city, and the forces of resistance were all led by a few powerful closebat masters like Emperor August, the hero knights of different countries, and the very President of this country, master Maverick. They were apanied by the support units that were supposed to assist them deal with the foe, take care of the damaged areas and save the citizens that were deep in sleep due to the melodious music of the grand harp ying from the top of this city. There were ''extra'' units with them who had specific task assigned to them by the yer of that grand harp¡­ -Boooooooooom! The were very important to this mission since they knew their opponent was no mindless fools that would just take their beating without any counterattack. They were smart people, geniuses who had been staying among themon people in a city that was said to have been blessed by the divinities. "Kugh! I will create a path. It is code red. Rely the message to themand units. There was a beach of information. We are under attack-" -Swish! "You ain''t the only ones under attack, bitches." -Boooooooom! On one of the battlefronts, the witch of north was freezing her opponents to death, shredding their bodies in pieces with her unblockable attacks, cutting down the demonic creatures and the expert demonic humans apanying them without mercy. "This side is clear, mdy! You can advance forward! I will engage these bastards!" Some of them had strong regeneration powers or the counter of her ice skills so they were like cockroaches that weren''t settling down event though she was using her stronger magic powers, however, the dwarf worrier with her was able to stop these people in their paths with his excellent axe handling abilities. -Ree. Gaa-ma-pa-dhhh~. Niiiiiii~. And the arrows of lights that came out of nowhere were providing deadly blows to the opponents while simultaneously providing healing and ability boosts to the allies. The melodious, harmonic music that was echoching all throughout thisnd was so powerful and heartshaking that even just hearing this sound made the demonic humans feel a weird sense of restlessness. It was affecting their demonic energy and their connections with their contracted demons, which, in turn, was making them feel awkward even during their fights. -Boooooooooooooom! They were making all kinds of mistakes because of this, and, since all of their bases were being attacks at once, they had no way of forwarding the information of the ambush to their superiors. It was strange how they were able to get all the information about their ns and n out a detailed attack strategy so precise that they were even blocking the separate units that were scattered all around the city area. They couldn''t understand how this was happening, however, this was only dying their ns a little bit. ''Casualty report, Lucy.'' [[ *122 people have died to the demonic humans until now, 202 to the demonic creatures on the eastern and western sidebined, and the golem has crushed a underdog and two people until now.* ]] However good they might be, however thoroughly they might have prepared to counter their forces, they couldn''t stop the inevitable. Still, there were hundreds of thousands of lives stil at risk right now. They couldn''t stop until they had crushed them. -Saa-Ree-Saa-Ree-Saa-Gaa-Gaa-Maa~! Paaaa~! The melody that was slow and sweet was slowly turning into faster and fiercer as if the mood that had been on the calmer side until now was getting darker with each passing moment and musical note. The yer, the musician was expressing this sorrow and grief, the anger that was directed towards his own ipetence, the rage towards the ones who caused this, was all flowing out of his fingers, onto the strings, and then out of the strings in the form of magical arrows with various effects that flew faraway to their locked destinations all across the city and beyond. His eyes were closed, however, his third eye was above the city, looking at each and every thing that happening at the moment, and, if needed, Celes'' clones were also roaming all across the battlefields, observing, looking out for the others in case they needed her help in any way. He was doing what he had to to prevent them from killing more people. He was killing the scattered ones around the city with his stronger arrows, or at least were marking them for the forces who were strong and swift enough to deal with them. Many of the strong people also had strong and special familiars, so, they were helping out on different tasks as well, most of which were being carried out of the walls of the city¡­ the ces where major battles were being fought. -Ting-ting-ting! -Swiiiiiiiiiish~! -Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! "To think I would see the ''death dance'' of the so called bloodthirsty witch¡­ I thought this would be more bloody, but this is practically a one sided massacre." -Boooooooooooom! "Well, she is as good as her grandfather, the ''reaper of the battlefield''. Just a few more years and she might even surpass him." -Swiiiiiiiiiiish~! -Dhum. Dhum. Dhum. Dhum. Dhum. Dhum. Rein was dancing at the music that was reaching all the way to them. She was dancing with the beats, the music that was echoing all throughout the forest, with her EFMW in the form of a scythe, like a ballerina perfeorming the best performance of her lifetime. Just that her performance was causing the deaths of the creatures and the demonic humans instead of earning her admiration and appreciation from the onlookers. Her ownpanions being exceptions, of course, however, she did not know that. She was lost in the music, she was dancing like a free spirit, it was almost like she had devoted her entire being to this special music filling the space around her. She loved this, they can tell. And, the way her precise cuts and swings were sttering blood of the enemy that shone under the clear moonlight, it almost seemed like she was covered in stars¡­ "Hump. Fucking bastard¡­ I can y violin as well." "ying a musical instrument and ying a relic with a high Ego that requires the relic''s permission for one to even touch it, arepletely different things, Cradle." "Hump." -Boooooom! Booooooom! Booooooom! -Booooooooooom! Booooooooooom! -Boooooooooooooooooooooom! "Bastard¡­" The forest was burning. Some of it was destroyed. Some of it was obliteratedpletely and only a nd was left in the ce where it used to be a green forest. -Swiiiiiiiiish! In some ces, the trees had all vanished, in some other ces, only the chopped trees and their fallen remains had remained. -Booooooooooom! It was hubaloo all over this forest, and far away in the distant viges that were fast asleep from the mystical music that was magically reaching even them. Monsters were roaming the once peaceful city, blood covered the alleyways where children used to y until moments ago, evil was walking around the empty streets¡­ smell of death was in the air. The stench of corruption was also bing the reason for the increasing death count. -Saa-Ree-Gaaa-Maaa-Paaaa-Dhhhhh-Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~! Saa. He was doing his best to purify any and all areas with these corrupted blood as he can, however, it wasn''t possible for him to catch up with the speed of the the increasing amount of corruption in his current state. He wasn''t strong enough. He was not yet, strong enough. -Boooooooooooom! People were dying. -Zaaaaaaaaaaa¡­! Hisrades were getting hurt with each passing second. -Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! He was trying his best, pushing his limits, but still¡­ innocent lives were being lost with each passing moment. Lives that, most probably, no one will remember after this night was over. -Boooooooooooooooom! He wasn''tpetent enough. They were following him, but, if only was a little strong, a little sharper with his predictions, even just a little more proficient with the powers, resources, skills, knowledge he possessed¡­ perhaps a few more people could have been saved. Perhaps¡­ things might not havee to this in the first ce. If only he was stronger¡­ -Saaaa¡­ Reeee¡­ Gaaaa¡­ -Maaaaaa¡­ -Paa-Dhaa-Niii!!! -Saaa¡­ ¡­ [[ "I have captured the bar manager, everyone." ]] ¡­they might have known their evil intentions before catching one of their stronghold captains. Chapter 694 The darker side of a war

Chapter 694 The darker side of a war

[Zodiac''s POV: ] Since the ancient times, perhaps since the dawn of us human species, there have been conflicts¡­ ording to some stories, it all started whan the nature created mankind, who unfortunately received the wisdom that they were not supposed to receive. They talk about how there was a proginator of mankind, the first man anddy, who were the ancestors of all of our kind, however, there are many variations of these stories talking about a certain start, a certain genesis. ''In ''that'' world, there were stories, of how all beings, all kinds, all the intelligent species living on earth had born from waters. Some parts of that world believes we came from the some distant space in a meteorite. There were many versions of these stories of ''beginning'' in that world as well.'' However, all storiester resulted in the origination of conflicts. ''They started fighting over things that they wanted to possess but couldn''t, or things that belonged to someone else and were desired by them.'' Resources. That was perhaps the only topic of these disputes back in those days, perhaps. Perhaps sometimes it was women or children. Sometimes their animals, or sometimes the position of the leader that could naturally only belong to the strongest one among them. ''In that past, that must have been the only reasons for a conflict to ur among their peacefulmunities.'' However, as the humans, the intelligent beings of their kinds evolved and mankind took over the world''srgernds, disputes of other kinds must have started sparking all over thends as well. "Ptsssss¡­?" "They are alredy dead. We cannot help them, SanSan." "Ptsssss¡­" Conflicts over the ownerships ofnds, conflicts over possessions that belonged to someone else, conflicts over resources that could not be found in theirnds. Conflict over borders, conflicts over patty disputes, or the conflicts over misunderstood half-facts. Many kinds of conflicts arise in the world of today, something I despise. And many of them result in a war, something that I could not separate from even if I wanted to. ''With wares deaths, and with deathes dread¡­'' In the open streets that I had been walking on just a few hours ago alongside my friends, these markets that were bustling with activities, happiness, some darker emotions, and a lot ofughter¡­ those same streets had turned into a dead quite ''path'' made of cobblestones, that had been pained with blood. There were dead bodies in the same ces where the cunning merchants made profits from their coustormers. "Haaaa¡­" The ground was pained with the blood of innocent and the evil alike, however, the corroding bodies of the evil was not something that belonged to this purend. "Have them, SanSan." "Ptssssss¡­" The simplest ways to end a dispute was through a war. A war between the two highest authorities involved in a dispute, a war of their assetsm, a war of their resources, their economy, their nations, or their governments. There were many ways to fight a war, however, to solve a dispute, they mostly always choose the ''war'' with their subject''s lives on the line. A war of blood, des, and screams. -Oooooooooooooong! "May thy souls rest in peace." The evil was the one to initiate the war this time, and with only selfish desires in their hearts. Thus, they, their dead bodies, and their energies had no meaning in this world anymore. It was best for SanSan to have them so that we can use them for some greater purpose. However¡­ the dead innocents were only normal humans, citizens that I had seen before. Some, we had also interacted with. And they had perished now, before their lifespans hade to an end, because the selfishness of the evil and their unknown, malevolent desires. "Zodiac, let''s move now." "Yes your majesty¡­ just a moment." Th people here did not deserve the deaths they received, and it was our ipetence¡­ my weakness that caused their deaths. "Young boy, don''t feel sorrow for those who have alredy passed away. We are doing this to prevent more-" "Do you think they desreved this, Lady Vera?" We had an unbelievably good n, we had prepared as best as we could, mentally and emotionally, we had the strength to eradicate the evil, we had forces strong enough to go against them as well¡­ we did not have time, yes, but, we were capable enough to save all these people who have died. However, we could not do that. The enemy we were facing, this damned leader of the tavern stronghold, the underlings they had, therge number of active golems, and the other bastards with powerful artifacts were too strong for us even with Empress Vera the (Witch of Immortal winds), Master of Hevenly spear arts, Knight hero of Silver Queen, and a total of nine such individuals on our side. ''By the time we had captured that bastard, it was alredy toote.'' The entire start was destroyed along with the houses of themon people. Demonic beasts had positioned the very air we were currently breathing. Theose bastards made sure to take as many lives as they can before they perished from this war. ''They even went as far as inviting their contracted demons to take over their bodies.'' Their actions right now weren''t making any sense to any of us. They just wanted to create as many sacrifices as they could. Perhaps, there was something bigger in ce here than we had predicted, however, did thesemon people who had never even have any knowledge of these evil, deserve this kind of end? "Haaa. Zodiac, I was expecting more from you." Empress Vera¡­ she had a disappointed look for some reason. The others weren''t even looking at me, as if my question mattered nothing to them. They were clearing up the area before Eon''s arrows could make their way here and clear the corrupted ces, while SanSan and I mourned the deaths of the civilians. "You have fought wars, have you not? Then why ask such stupid question?" She was the mind that ran the great Roxanna empire right beside the great emperor, and she was the oldest among all of us currently present here. She had perhaps seen many wars in her lifetime, so she could tell this was not my first war. However, even after being experances with the wars and knowing the consequences, the reasons, the questions and their unanswerable questions, I was asking her a ''sttupid'' question. But, this wasn''t an empty question. I really wanted her to answer me. It was a question to her, from me. And, I wanted her to answer that question. "Please. Answer me, Lady Vera. Do you-" -p! "Yes those people weren''t at fault! Yes we are weak, ipetent, and useless to not have detected them all this time! Yes I know this is all our fault! But do you think everyone here doesn''t know that?! Do you think everybody is just ignoring all these bodies, their blood, the children that had not even seen the light of their lives?! We know you already know everything we do. We just saw you capturing that bastard even we had difficulty facing and crippling the hell out of him! We know you are capable enough but! Young boy! Stop this bullshit questioning! This is war! And war is fucked up! Don''t try to find the answers to those ursed questions from people who don''t even possess as good of an understanding of ''life'' as you do!" She was shouting at me, screaming her heart out, cursing without caring about her status¡­ She was a noble empress who wouldn''t even tter in front of death, but, war¡­ war made her like this. And since she was far stronger than the two of us, the p that I endured just now was making my ears bleed. "You bastard! Do I think they deserved this? Hell no! But what does my opinion matter anyway! They are dead, child! Dead! Demonic energy they had absorbed until now makes it impossible for them to revive either! But that does not matter either! Fuck! There''s no way to bring so many people back to life unless a few high gods descends upon thisnd themselves!" Her eyes were teary, there was rage, anger, sadness in her gentle eyes¡­ but, the hatred in there overwhelmed all the other emotions. "Those fucking bastards did this to them¡­ and if we don''t move our asses and bring that piece of shit back! More people are gonna die!" I was looking into her eyes directly. The others were done cleaning up so they were looking at us with sad looks as well. I understood this shit situation, but there were no words I could offer to this enraged woman before us. "Huuuuu¡­ just shut the fuck up with your hurtful questions and let''s move. Spare us the sanity we have left, and go find the answers you seek yourself if you still want them." The situation we all were in was absolutely terrible. I knew that¡­ and I still naively hurt her feelings. ''I believed she was the strongest person among us to ask that question¡­'' But she turned out to be just as fragile as any of us. "I am sorry-" "Don''t apologise, stupid bastard. Let''s go, move. Move everyone! We have a bastard to interrogate!" Her anger towards those demonic people was far greater than the sadness she had experienced from my question. She wanted to end them all if she could right this instance, however, since she was assigned to the city area, she could not use any powers that are too powerful or else the aftermath would cause more deaths. "Yes, let''s go." The wars were waged for a ''glorious'' fucked up purpose. There was happiness for the party that won, despair for those who lose. However, in between the beginning and the end of this vicious process called war¡­ the darkness that overwhelms themon people like these, always goes unnoticed. ''And even if those who want to notice it, understand it, ends up in purgatory where a simple answer, bes impossible toprehend¡­'' Chapter 695 Illusion of music Chapter 695 Illusion of music [OP: ] The president and his party had sessfully taken down the tavern stronghold and while the others had left behind to take care of the remais of the demonic humans and their golems, as well as all the things that they had left behind, president and a few others took the ''green'' ranked leader of the stronghold to a secluded location. They had put a lot of restrictions on him alredy and he was alredy crippled beyond repair so, he was only alive at the moment. They needed him for the questioning and to get the answers to the most important questions here¡­ however, even after they used their best torture methods, the bastard did not speak. He just kept smiling at the others as if what they were doing was all foolish and that whatever they do, nothing mattered to him. The bastard was hard to understand, and he got on Empress Vera''s nerves with that unsightly smile of his, so, she knocked him out. They needed the information that was in his head, he himself was of no use to them. They can kill him here and now if they wanted to, however, they had received strict instructions that they must keep them alive until and unless they receive all the information they can from these people. And this time as well, they had to get the information first before one of them got the honor to kill this bastard. They all were angry at him anyway. He was like a cockroach in their eyes that had surveied all their attacks with some kind of absurd force. But he still fell at the end by the hands of the weakest among them. "Alright, your majesty. Please." Empress Vera was one of the people among all of the people present that possessed a skill that could read the memories of someone without their persmission so she had the responsibility to extract the information from this bastard. She was alredy pissed from that blood stained face that was stil;l smiling even after being unconscious, so, she didn''t waste any longer and used her skill to read the memories of the bastard. It was a powerful (Indigo) ranked skill from a very rare kind of creature that was almost extinct now, however, she possessed this skill, and she used it on this basted. -Oooooooooooong! "Hmmm? What?" However, something strange happened instead of the memories of the unconscious bastard being yed before them. "I¡­ can''t get past his mind?" She had a bewildered expression and, the others around her, including president zodiac and the little snake around his neck were surprised by this expression. "What do you mean, mdy?" "This bastard¡­ he has some kind of mental barrier that is blocking my skill. However, this is something very strange. It''s a better however, it''s not a skill. It''s more like a blessing, or some kind of innate power. It''s very strange¡­" She was confused, and tried using her skill on th bastard once again, however, the results were the same. She couldn''t read the memories of this bastard. She could read nothing from it, not even the surface thought of the unconscious basted. And this made her even more frustrated. -m! So she mmed the head of the basted with a hammer from one of the people currently present here. "M-mdy! You can''t kill him! He will die at this rate!" "I know. He''s not dead. I hit him lightly." Yeah, no. She hit him so hard the body of the bastard had flower twelve steps away from them. And he was bleeding from his ears and nose now. "He''s fine. I assure you. So stop giving me those looks and let''s go back. We have to bring him to Eon so that he can try his unique magic or whatever he was talking about. I want to see how that lost art of mind magic works." She was annoyed, but she was smiling as if she was excited about something. "Yes ma''am!" The others wanted to question her contradicting expressions and words, however, after seeing what had happed to that demonic human bastard just now, they did not speak even a single word and picked up the body before starting their sprint towards the ce they all had started from, the same ce that was still producing the melody that was echoing all throughout the city and even beyond the walls of this ce. Axion, the magic archer of strings¡­ that''s what they were all calling him now. A pretty good nickname for his first ever actual nickname, but he did not know of this yet. He was lost in his strings, lost in his sorrow, in his own world of sadness and pain. The music had be so powerful, so quick that even his fingers were stained with blood now, however, there was no wounds visible on his finders since every cut that was appearing on his fingers was instantly being healed by the bright light of the great harp. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish~¡­ He looked like thest musician ying his eternal melody at the end of this world. A world where nothing was left. Looking at him gave an illusion that everything around him did not exist, as if he was the only existing being and thing in all of this entire ce, and this illusion was so powerful that by the time every one of those people reached at the top of this pir, behind him, and looked at him, all of them, including their President and Empress Vera had fallen prey to this illusion. They looked at him, and kept looking, and looking, and looking¡­ and he also just kept ying his music, ying, hitting his strings until his third eye shifted from the forest area and looked back at the city, and noticed the people standing right behind him. "Everyone¡­?" And, only after seeing how they were so mesmerised that they didn''t even notice their captive had regained his consciousness and was trying to do something foolish, did Eon utter his first words after the start of his performance. However, his eyes were still closed and his hands were moving the same way they were from the start and magical white arrows were still flowing out of the strings in tens and more. He was still immersed in his y, however, his attention had diverted a little because of them, and the bastard that they had brought along with them. He was trying to do something fishy, so, first of all, he sent a few special arrow at him that put him back to sleep. And, thanks to his actions, the others came to their senses as well. "He¡­ is something, alright." "Shhhh. Let him focus. It seems they are still moving." They stood there for a moment, and consciously admired the y of the person that had brought all of them together for this mission. Their group had finished their task, however, there were still hundreds of the evil roaming the city, so, they couldn''t waste more of their time just standing here. Empress Vera started using her long range magic while she was still waiting for his reply and attention, and others who could do so, also started sniping the bastards hidden all throughout the city. They were in no way going to let even a single one of these bastard live to see the dawn of tomorrow, that much was already certain. However, if they could not prevent what the ultimate goal of these bastards was, they were as good as useless themselves. Preventing the end was a priority right now. -Oooooooooooong! "K, y ''Moonlight''sment''. Take the data from Gwen and work with her to eliminate any threats until I am back." [ "Yes~!" ] -Saaaaaaa~! Eon finished hisst song soon, and by that time, the war on most of the fronts inside of the city had ended as well. The people from the jewellery shop stronghold had captured and their vice president had brought the bastard leader of theirs to this pir as well. They had two branch managers before them, both crippled beyond help and almost on the verge of death, however, since both were still smiling while being unconscious, the others wanted to just, kill these bastards and burn them with holy fire as soon as they can. Eon knew that, that''s why he took out of of his helper artificial intelligence on the same level as his Doro, K. A being resembling a big mantis that took his ce, and started ying a unique music that was distinctly different from how Eon was ying this instrument. However, the way she was ying the grand relic was so unique that the music that was produced from it was just as mesmerising as his. It was apletely different experience though, and the arrows that were being generated this time were colourful instead of the pure silver and white as Eon was producing. It was different, however, that did not change the effects that the arrows were producing. They were still as lethal as they had been when he was ying them. "Then, I will start." Everyone were stunned by the appearance of the strange being, however, since it hade from him, they did not question anything. "Yes, please." He had opened his eyes for the first time after he had started ying his harp. It had been more than three hours since they had started and he had still been ying all this time, exhausting his energy, and mental stamina. Everyone could see just how tired he was at the moment. To some, he even looked half dead, almost like an undead or a vampire. Pale skin that was almost colourless, and eyes so tired they couldn''t even focus on one thing before them. They could feel just how tiring it must have been for him, however, when he said he would do what he was supposed to do without any unnecessary word, they couldn''t help but feel a sense of shame towards themseves. Here he was, giving away his life, and then there they were, watching him like this was a fun show instead of doing what they can to support them¡­ "Huuuu¡­" They couldn''t fathom this young person. He was beyond their understanding in many ways. And, his unique magic that they had never seen in their lives was as well¡­ Something that was effective against the power that none of their skills could do anything against. He was certainly amazing¡­ However, this same amazing person, when he looked at the memories of the two bastards they had caught, was left speechless, and shocked¡­ What he had seen there, their ultimate goal and the ''one'' behind them, he was shocked to see that certain figure, as well as the ce these people had actuallye from¡­ The hell hole that they hade from. Chapter 696 The great evil Chapter 696 The great evil [Eon''s POV: ] The time was scarce. [[ "Eon, we will enter the southern stronghold now." ]] [[ "Be careful" ]] [[ "Yes¡­" ]] The dangers were still present as the battles prolonged. ''Lucy, (: Cerebral scan) please.'' [[ *Yes master.* ]] -Ooooooooooong! We had captured the two captains that were inside the city after a fierce battle however, their forces were nothing capable to what they had in the outskirts of this city. ''Compared to them, the inside of the city was more like a bunch of soldiers doing reconnaissance.'' The real battle, the the true war with the lives of people from our side on the line, was happening in that ce at the moment.'' They needed me, my strength more now. I have to go there personally. However, before I do that, I have to fish out the ns of this evil group of strange demonic humans from the minds of the ones that was most probably in the possession of that knowledge from my observation throughout the day. ''There was a possibility that they might into be the ones to know the original ns of their groups or perhaps they mioght also bepletely independent groups that received separate orders, however, I will only know that once i look at their minds myself.'' [[ *There is a strange resisting force master, and it matches the mental barrier that the demons have in a way. I will disable it.* ]] ''Yes, please.'' She was amazing, and thanks to her, the dark curtain that was covering the mental bodies of these bustards was lifted, and after removing all the useless memories, I was able to see something¡­ ''Oh lord¡­'' [[ *This, master¡­ however, no¡­ but this?* ]] I searched their memories, and thre were traces of the orders they had received from the people they call ''Grand Apostles''. One of them thought there were six of these grand apostles however, the other''s memories said there were nine so, whoever these grand apostles were, were most certainly not the highest authority of this bunch of bastards. There was someone even above these apostles that even they did not know about, perhaps even this apostles weren''t real, I couldn''t figure it out even after searching deeper into their memoirs. However, one thing I figured out for certain, was the fact that these people were certain trained. And that too, in individual ces located in different demonic ins. They werepletely different from one group and even the people they worked with were people they had not ever met in their lives. However, they were following the absolute orders of the Grand Apostles, and passing their training''s to the others that they were currently working with. The strongholds they were guarding contained people from the different ''nests'' that they were raised in, and some were people raised by different ones like them. ''They were given the titles of [Bishops]. Their direct superiors that the two of them had hardly ever seen once or twice in their three decades in this so called [Order of liberation], were the [Archbishops] of their order.'' ording to them, there were three cardinals of their order and one pope. Above them were the grand apostles, the absolute beingsparable to the gods, genuine god that people worship. And, ording to the memories of one of them, these grand apostles followed the will of one of the supreme existences of this nature, the [Demon god]. ''However, that was bullshit.'' I can tell without even knowing the details of all this, whoever these so-called ''apostles'' were following wasn''t the demon god. Hell, I can even bet he wasn''t any demon in the first ce. ''Demons don''t make borate ns as detailed as these. The nobles don''t even care about the pathetic humans in the first ce.'' Demons are beings of corruption, destruction, evil that follow all the cardinal sins. Making a structural organisation was thest thing they would choose and that too, only when their ns involved an all out invasion of the human world. ''Demons don''t do this kind of shit, they don''t even have time or authority to do things like these in this nature. And as for the demon god, well, he is a being even I look up to so, doing something as despicable as creating unfair chaos in the world by ''detailed nning'' was not something they would ever appreciate.'' I knew these grand apostles were at least some scammers that wanted something entirely different and, whoever they were working with, or working for, and different intentions. ''However, that aside¡­ these bastards, they are disgusting.'' When I searched their memories, I saw a hell that was a perfect depiction of the fantastical hell born from the imagination of the people who feared demons and the evil. That was and of death, dread, mes, and misery. These bastards obtained their powers by doing heinous, indescribable things to normal people, to people who possessed talent and could have been of great use to this world. They sacrificed them, tortured them using methods that I could not even speak of, and after sucking out all they could from them, they used them as mere tools for pleasure, or garbage that was better fed to the demonic creatures that they had raised. These motherless pieces of shits were the real crazy ones. The psychopaths. Who knew how they chose these bastards and made them like this that their memories of their own training and their past waspletely erased from their minds. ''They were worse than the real demonic humans. Worse than the demons who only did it for their own absolute pleasure instead of for some ''grand'' purpose they believed would lead them to libration from this wretched world.'' They, this organisation they called [Order of liberation], and their purpose of dedicating a decade of their life, a shit tone of capital, and alll the resources¡­ all of it, was fucked up. ''Their grand goal of today¡­ was to ultimately just test the current level of their organisation. Nothing too grand, just testing the waters. Just that, fuck.'' They were treating all of this like it was merely a test run. Not even death threatened their faith in the grand orders from their superiors. ''Fucking cultists.'' They wanted to achieve the most they can today, that''s why they were killing people left and right even though their ns were partially busted. ''They originally wanted to annihte ever single person in this city and the surrounding areas from inside out. Even going as far as targeting the royal family and all the participants of the annualpetition that were present in the city.'' And to do that, they were going to perform ''specific demon summoning''. Something unheard of from the conventional wisdom of this world, however, I knew the best how a specific kind of summoning was, in fact, possible. [[ *Master, this is dangerous. We should-* ]] ''It''s alredy toote, Lucy.'' These bastards were going to summon a high ranking demon noble ording to the sacrifices they gather after a certain time, however, now that they all knew their ns and decade worth of preparations had failed, they wouldn''t care about anything anymore. ''Their order was to cause as much destruction as they can, Lucy.'' I can sense it in my heart alredy¡­ -Ooooooooooooong! "This¡­?!" "The south! In the south!" "That''s where the Emperor and his group went! The stronghold with the strongest forces!" "They had finished a demon summoning alredy?! How?!" I can sense the presence of a demon with my entire being. A powerful demon, most probably a noble. "I will be heading off, everyone." "What?" "Eon! Eon, wait!" "What did you find! At least tell us what they are nning, damn it!" "What''s their goal?!" I did not look back, and just told President Zodiac the summary of everything they needed to know through Celes'' connection. I knew he would rely my words better than I could at the moment. ''Rein¡­'' Those impatient, fucking motherless bitches! They didn''t care about shit and just summoned a creature without any fucking thoughts! ''Fucking cultists!'' They had received orders to cause as much harm to the city as they can, that was their goal. They had killed people, thousands of them alredy. And all the people they had killed, all the children, all the elders, all of thembined¡­ these bastards offered the souls of those innocents, perhaps souls of their own people as well, and finished a summoning that should have taken much longer. [[ "Rein! How''s the situation?!" ]] [[ "Bad¡­ shit, this is bad¡­" ]] I can tell from her voice, she was stunned right now. Whatever they had summoned had surprised her. Whatever kind of demon it was, she had lost her absolute calm after facing that creature. Which obviously meant the situation was bad. [[ "Wait, I aming there-" ]] I was on my way to her, however, right in the middle, I stopped. I had to stop. "Fuck¡­" [[ Master! Master! In the north! ]] Another demon. In apletely opposite side from this ce. And, that one was just as strong as this one. [[ "Eon." ]] Rein called my name, but I did not want to listen to the words she was about to say next. [[ "Stop where you are, Eon. Stop before I have to use the ''wish''." ]] [[ "No!" ]] [[ "We have the emperor here, darling. There''s no need for you to be here as well." ]] -Boooooooooooom! [[ Master, the forces in the north have received a surprise attack! ]] [[ *Master! Pleasemand K to focus on the northern side!* ]] "Shut up you to! Please! Shut up for a moment!" They summoned two demons. One was before my Rein, and it was obviously going to be dangerous even with the emperor being there. The other one was in the weaker strongholds, and the forces there might not be enough to stand against the demon, as well as the remaining forces in that ce, as well as the demonic creature. They would need my help, if not direct help, they would at least need my support. However, if I help then¡­ [[ "I will be alright, darling. Go help them. Show them a little more of your skills." ]] She was saying that, but¡­ but¡­ [[ "Please, darling. Don''te here. If you do-" ]] [[ "It will only offend you, I know miss prideful bloodthirsty witch." ]] She can take care of herself, I knew that much. [[ "Alright. Promise me you won''t be hurt too much." ]] [[ "I will if you do the same." ]] [[ "You little¡­" ]] She knew if I wasn''t going to be there, whatever I will do here will be so shy I will be put in a difficult position. She knew that, that''s why she was requesting something difficult form me. ''But if it means she will be safe out there¡­'' I did not mind that difficult promise. [[ "Take care of yourself, miss." ]] [[ "Marry me quickly so that you can call me your wifey, bastard." ]] "Haha, silly girl." She made meugh in a time like this as well¡­ [[ "Go, and let them do the work this time." ]] [[ "Can''t do that, baby. Heheh~." ]] That''s the kind of answer I had expected from her. "Celes, guide the people there. Distract the bastards and the demon if needed until I get back to K." [[ Yes master~! ]] The night wille to an end soon, however, looks like the war was going tost a little longer than we had expected. ''Haaaa¡­'' I don''t like all this. Especially the new knowledge about this shitty cult and the great evil that was behind all this. ''That person, whoever or whatever he is, is very dangerous.'' The ns, this organisation, the structure, the knowledge, the abilities, and the strengths that was provided by him¡­ they were no simple being if they managed to aish so much behind the backs of the entire world. ''And if they were revealing their existence to the world now¡­'' It means they had finished their preparations or aplished the bare minimum that they needed. ''They are after something.'' And, they had started moving now. Which, ultimately means, the world was going to face another great evil, and thus, another era of war, once again¡­ Chapter 697 Against the demons Chapter 697 Against the demons [OP: ] Eon returned to the high tower where his partner artificial creation, K,was still ying Gwen, firming colourful arrows all across the city and beyond the walls of the blessed city. "E-Eon! The north!" Some of the people that he had left a moment before to go join his Rein, were still present there, including the empress and his president. They were looking at the situation with the stunned expression and were just about to move towards the location of the demons to provide support, however, Eon arrived in this ce and they all stopped in their ces. "I know. I know, and I am going to issue newmands to everyone." [[ "So listen well everyone." ]] He used Celes''s connection and the connections of the familiars that was making their detailedmunicationwork that could be used despite the highest grade specialisedmunication blocking magic put all over the world by Lord Justin. He had been maintaining this special convention from the start of the battle and though it was a task unimaginably tough for someone like him, he did not mind it. His own capital city was bei9ng destroyed here. His people were dying. The people he was supposed to protect with his life were all dying with each passing moment¡­ He could at least endure hell if it meant blocking all forms ofmunication of these demonic bastards and preventing more casualties from urring. He was the only one who could handle the force of the magical force of the barrier present around the city as the lord of the house of Lakmer, and even with hiscking physical abilities, he was enduring. And, they all knew of this fact so they were doing their best as well. [[ "First of all, two demon nobles have appeared. One is in the southern area where Emperor August and the party is and one is in the northern area where Emperss Aina and the party is present. The situation on the northern side is currently in a difficult position as they were ambushed by the demon before they could pass through the second defence line of the enemy however, thanks to Lady Aina, everyone was able to get out of the destroyed area safely. The demon in the north is a Baron ranked called [Vi?¨´?] who is under the Demon king of Lust and pleasure while the demon in the south is viscount rank called [Kaimirvih] who is under demon king of wreath. Both sides are in near equal danger despite the presence of the strong forces thus, I will now assign the new positions for everyone that is not engaged inbat or might be needed in those locations. Additionally, I will be reciting the skills and inportent information about these demons so, the ones who are alredy fighting them, please listen carefully!" ] He started giving them all the information he had managed to get with the improved appraisal of his three eyes and Lucy''s prior data about the demon''s mental barrierers and mind structures. He could now see the status windows of demons easily as well, which was proven to be a very powerful weapon for their resistance units. [[ "Then we will start pushing them back now." ]] "Empress Vera, President Zodiac. Please go as well." "Yes¡­" "Take care, Axion." The people on the high tower left in a hurry. The time was scarce alredy, but now there were demons preset on thisnd. And, the presence of the demons always means, creation of beings without any attachment to the nature¡­ And, since they were in a forest, the force that was released when the demons appeared turned many of the normal creatures of the forest into corrupted creatures or demonic creatures that were even more dangerous. And, these creatures, instead of going towards the demon that had created them, were all moving towards the city¡­ "K, increase the output by thirty percent and continue what you were doing." [ "As you wish Eon~!" ] K, the mantis artificial intelligence, was ying Gwen even though Gwen was a bound artifact of Eon. A special trait that perhaps she possessed in this entire world. And, while giving her thatmand, Eon even passed a very, very rare [Immortalium] crystal, a source of pure Mana that contained more than enough energy to sustain an entire empire for a few weeks, to his partner. Which she ate and became powerful enough to increase the output of her own string y by thirty percent which increased the overall arrow production to more than fifty percent. "Huuuu¡­" It was good enough to keep up with the people that will now kill the new creatures that wereing towards the city, and, while they were busy doing so, he had the responsibility to take care of the remaining demonic humans in this city, as well as assist the people who were fighting the demonic nobles all by themselves. ''Lucy, prepare yourself.'' [[ *I am always ready, master. Just tell me what I have to do.* ]] -Oooooooong! He was worried about her, but the situation was bad. The demon nobles were no normal beings, certainly not when they were summoned by a bunch of bastards that were more annoying a bunch of authentic demonic humans. They were another kind of crazy bastards so, the demons they had summoned were going to follow as they as had wished as well. [[ Master, the situation is looking a little difficult over there. It seems like they are considering using the bigger powers. ]] "Haaaa,,, then I will have to take care of the demon side first. K, focus on the bastards in the city for a moment please. Let me do something to those demon bastards." The forces they had were certainly powerful, however, they could not use their bigger powers, and they could certainly not use their World Authorities at any cost on this battlefield. They were doing a personal favor to the headmaster right now, and, if they use their greater power and it was known to the world, which it will for certain, there would be countless political bursts all over the world. They knew it would affect the stability of the world and the society on a great scale, that''s why their identities had to be reminded secret, which won''t be possible in case of something too big happening. "Haaaa¡­ Don." He knew this shit was fucked up as well and that they could finish it in minutes if they can, but, the aftereffects of doing so will be more harmful than the deaths of a few thousand people. They were people possessing great powers, and they knew the consequences of using that great power. "Zeeeee~." "Yes, it''s nice to see you again as well." And, he knew it better than anyone else just how much chaos could be caused by a mere rumor that talked about how the great capital city of Lakmer was attacked, and people were killed by those demonic humans and how ''certain'' powers of the world helped the Lakmer. He knew it would cause shit ton of shitty things, and the shitty bastards and bitches waiting for an opportunity like this one would never let go of this fate given chance to bring down Lakmer, as well as the ones supporting them in one fell swoop. The world of politics was dark, and dirty. He did not like it¡­ However, he had to be a part of this dirty world to prevent it from interfering with him and the ones around him in theing time. He was ready to bare the consequences himself if it meant his family and friends, and his sisters and love could live a happy life. ''Lucy, release all the light element spells you have,bine them, and concentrate all of it in one point.'' [[ *Master?! That would-* ]] ''I will be fine. Just do as I said. We will have to divide the force and channel it all into (: Heaven''s fury), as well as (: Executioner''s divine judgement).'' [[ *But master! You cannot handle the channelling-* ]] ''I know I can''t. But, this can, right?'' He had taken out Don, his white bow of light, the pretty bow that resembled an angel''s wings and had three very special golden jewels embedded on it. His master considered this bow one of her masterpieces, and it was the perfect weapon to fight against these bastard demons. Additionally, he took out something he usually never takes out of his storage space. [[ *This¡­ yes, if we use this¡­ no! That would still put you into-* ]] ''I said not to worry, Lucy. Now, start.'' He was nning to use this branch, this Branch of the world tree that belonged only to him, to cast spells beyond what he currently should be capable of. He was going to reveal a great lot of his own powers in the process, however, in the current situation, revealing what he was capable iof even at the expense of a great amount of pain and some mouthful of blood, was worth it. It would all y in his favorter on, he knew that, so he was not backing down even after Lucy''s warnings and decline. "Alright¡­" He was adamant on conjuring heavens to punish the demons that had ''fairly'' invaded thends of the mortals, and, she could do nothing about this anymore. [[ *I will take over if I sense anything is going out of control.* ]] ''I will count on that, then.'' He was a bastard and, even she did not like his attitude right now. There was no real reason for him to do this but¡­ -Ooooooooong! She could never hate these attractive tendencies of this special person. Chapter 698 Heavenly punishment Chapter 698 Heavenly punishment [OP: ] Holding the white bow of light, as well as the branch of the world tree, he stood at the edge of the high tower with his eye locked on the targets that were going to be subjects of his heavenly punishment. -Swiiiiiiiiish~. Winds were blowing fiercely as the sky had be dark, and malevolent after the descent of the demons on thisnd, and the way they were going at their targets right now was making the decisions of the resistance to use greater powers even more solid. In the meantime... The demons, both of them, were trying to move towards the city where the people were still sleeping. Their goal was not only the destruction and chaos but also death and the souls of those innocents that they loved¡­ for they tasted better than any delicacy one could find in the ins of hell. ''Initiating spell casting¡­'' -Oooooooooooong! The demons were dangerous, however, with the powers of the people fighting them, it was at least possible to keep them at bay. -Boooooooooooooom! And they could have been able to do it easily had the cultist bastards not interfered with them as if they were their runaway lovers. The demonic humans, the cultists were the bastards that had one goal, and that was death and chaos. To achieve that, they were going to lengths so great even the beings fighting them did not have thought about it in their lifetimes. Even to summon these demons, they had killed their own. What more could make them the absolute worst that they already were? -Ooooooooooooong! The demons were a pain in the ass but, the cultist bastards were the burning candle in the asses that were constantly stimting their weakest nerves¡­ -Boooooooooooom! However, they were enduring. And fighting back as well as they could, or at least, that''s what they had done until now. "Fuck these motherless cunts!" "Ughhh¡­!" "Fuck you! Fuck yourself you fucking pieces of shit!" "Hahahahahah-Hahahahaha!" "Die! Just die you demon cock sucking whores!" -Swish! Swish! Swish! -nk! nk! nk! It was getting difficult to hold back their anger and frustration. Theugh of these bastards was just too much. They were crazy, and powerful. -Boooooooom! Things would have been different had this been an official battlefield, however, in a situation as shitty as this one, they had no choice but to endure even if they just wanted to blow out every single one of them. The situation was tough for them since the enemy was strong. Even Rein had received a few minor wounds because of these bastards. "Aghhhhhhhhhh!" -Booooooooooooom! She hated these bastards, she wanted to kill them all, she wanted to, and she was one of the few people who did not have any kind of restriction on her so, she was pretty capable of doing it. But, they weren''t even giving her the chance to use her Witchcraft after she used it a while ago and wiped out thirty percent of their forces in a single attack. They knew she was the biggest threat among this group of resistance, so they were constantly keeping her in check. And, because of the demon, and the demonic creatures, the others could also only help her asionally. -Booooooooooom! She didn''t have a window of opportunity big enough to perform herplete footwork and cast the Witchcraft the second time. However, she was going to have that window soon. ''Spell selectionplete. Spell processingplete. Spell decodingplete. initiating Spell release¡­'' He was done with his preparation and, had started glowing with a light so bright, and white, that even the people outside the city that were fighting the demons perceived the light and looked back at it. "What''s that?" "Not what, ask who." "Hehehe. He''s doing something crazy again." Something was happening where this light hade from, they could sense that much already, however, along with this light, they could also sense a very concentrated volume of Mana so great that they could tell whatever was happening over there, was in no way something small. -Oooooooooooooong! The dark sky above this light was changing, and, it made even the demon in the north stop for a moment and focus on this sinister concentration of light energy that was so close to holy and divine power that, one would mistake it for the divine power if they did not know better. -Swiiiiiiiiiish~! The winds started blowing differently as the entire battlefield came to a halt, and the music that was being produced by the harp intensified to a new level, and the colorful arrow it was producing changed colors once again and became paler, almost ck and white. -Ooooooooooong! The music wasplimentary to the sky which was slowly getting brighter as it swallowed the dark clouds in the sky. -Zaaaaaaa... Some orbs of concentrated light were slowly appearing in this cleared sky however, only someone with really good eyesight could see it at the moment¡­ something which changed pretty soon when these same orbs of light exploded, and in their ces, bigger, brighter orbs of light appeared which were big enough to be visible to every single person present anywhere around the city. "No way that boy is doing this¡­" "He is doing it though¡­ look closely. He is standing right on the edge." A strange energy was being concentrated in the sky above the city as the sky that was only covered with dark clouds was now producing a storm of white-gold lightning. -Crackle-Crackle! Something that not only the demons but, even the demonic humans who possessed the demonic energy could sense to be far more extraordinary than anything they had felt in their lifetimes. And, this was threatening as well. Not friendly but threatening so, they could not just look away from them. "GHAAAAAAA!" The demons knew whatever this was, was aimed at them. They knew just from that absurdly dense light energy just how lethal it could prove to be if it was released solely on them. They could instinctively tell this was more dangerous than these strong bastards who were not even using all of their powers. It was dangerous¡­ That''s why they tried to get away from this ce and close in towards the city to stop the casting of whatever was being prepared or stop the caster by reaching the city full of innocent people. -Boooooooooooom! s though. The enemies before them weren''t just going to stand there and watch them leave. Not when they knew the attack that was being prepared was for them. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish~! They knew who was casting that spell. They knew how absurdly powerful that thing was. They also knew it was not going to be left unnoticed by the world however, merely the fact that he was using a power of this level, made him more special and foolish than anyone who was part of this collective. -Ooooooooooooong! They pushed the demons and cultists back now that they knew what he was putting on the line here and gave their best while keeping an eye on the sky above the city where a rare sight was unfolding¡­ "He had been hiding this power, I see." "No, Your Majesty. That bastard is just a fool that will throw up blood after doing that shit." "Hahaha. That isn''t a very nice thing to say at the moment, young miss." The orbs of light were moving in the sky, carving a magic circle so delicate,plicated, and absurdly filled with unknown runes that were iprehensible to even the smartest mages present in this ce. And, the runes aside, just the way this magic circle¡­ or, the twin magic circles were forming in the sky, were enough for them to specte how this power was on the same level as some of the elder mage candidates. This power was strong, however, the way it was made to be used specifically against these demon bastards made it more threatening. The caster, the one holding the white bow of light and the branch of the world tree, who was also bleeding from the nose, did not care about the blood, or the insurmountable pain. He continued enduring, channelling his Mana and Solnova through the branch which transferred it to the spells through his bow. He endured. And, when the sky had finally been filled with two bright magic circles of almost three-meter radius each, he was prepared to cast his final judgments. ''(: Heaven''s fury).'' The first magic circle adored with golden runes and silver threads of energy turned towards the south, the battlefield where the higher-ranked demons had been engaged in a fight with the emperor and his darling. -Boooooooooooom! And, the very next moment, the golden lightning that was covering the sky, the same golden lightning that was said to be used by the gods when casting a divine punishment, pierced through the dark clouds and descended upon the demon so urately that nothing other than the demon were touched by it. ''(: Executioner''s divine judgement)!'' He suffered some internal injuries as a result of the casting, however, he was not done yet. He still had one more spell to cast, so, he did just that and the other magic circle, one with bright red runes that looked the same as blood, in the golden magic circle, turned towards the north where the demon of lust was causing the great scene. And, when this happened¡­ -Ooooooooong! The sky above the demon''s head ripped open as a ''sh'' resembling the axe of an executioner, made of golden light and a bright red handle, the same as depicted in some of the local folklores, descended right on the head of the lustful demon. "UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Which, of course, resulted in a fatal injury, that gave their side the chance they needed to attack and destroy the bastard demon, as well as the forces of these cultists altogether. Yet¡­ just as this happened, and Eon fell to the ground throwing up blood with his entire body vibrating with an excruciating pain¡­ -Boooooooooooooom! Something happened on the western side where Empress Mendelian was fighting with lord Maverick and the others. And, as a result of this happening, Eon was forced to stand back up¡­ and do yet another crazy thing. Chapter 699 Corrupted lich Chapter 699 Corrupted lich [OP: ] A lightning strike from the heavens that weakened the demon overall and stunned it for long enough for the resistance to have the window of opportunity they had been searching for. -Ooooooooomg! -Boooooooooom! Rein used her Witchcraft and the remaining bunch of cultists and emperor, along with the others, quickly finished the demon. Which, of course, was no easy task even after it was weakened, however, thanks to the arrows of light from the top of the tower that distracted this demon, as well as the reinforcements that had arrived here after defeating the demonic and corrupted creatures going towards the city area, they were able to defeat the demons as well as most of the forces of these cultists. Now, only a few of them were left, and, they can quickl;y take care of them. [[ "Bastard¡­ how''re you holding up?" ]] [[ "Not the worst I have felt. But, this certainly feels like shit." ]] [[ "Drink something. We are almost doen here. I wille there as soon as this ends." ]] [[ "Don''t worry¡­ I will be alright." ]] [[ "You just coughed up blood didn''t you? Didn''t he Celes?" ]] [[ Ummm¡­ no? ]] [[ "You don''t know how to lie to us, darling. Why do you even try to do so?" ]] [[ Ughhhh! Then don''t ask me question that master certainly doesn''t want me to answer sister Elle! ]] [[ "Haaa. Take care of that bastard." ]] Their side had upper hand in the battles now and she was having fun chopping the limbs and heads of the cultists. Thanks to his spell, they will be able topletely clear this stronghold soon as well. And, the other spell he had used on the demon on the northern end had critically weakened the demon as well so, they were almost about to take him down as well. And, since they had President Zodac''s support and his SanSan''s assistance, they were sure to finish their battles as well. So¡­ "Haaaa. That wasn''t as bad as I thought." He first drank some potions to relive the pain after crowning on the ground for a while and used his healing skill afterwards to get back enough of his strength to stand on his two feet. ''See. I am fine.what did I say? There was nothing to worry about.'' [[ *The Amrita in the branch proved to be more effective, that''s the only reason you are even standing right now, master. If it weren''t for the branch of the world tree, you would be on the ground still.* ]] Lucy was upset at him. But her reaction was better than what Eon had expected. ''Well then. Can you calm down now? Everything went well-'' -Booooooooooom! An unusual explosion in the western side shook the entire city, attracting attention of all the cultisists and the people they were fighting. "Celes! What was that?!" [[ M-master?! This¡­ I don''t know but something appeared in that side! ]] Celes was confused since she did not understand what this thing was. And, since the explosion was unexpectedly loud, he couldn''t just ignore something of that scale. So, he used his third eye and looked at what was going on in that direction¡­ "What the hell¡­? What''s that thing doing here?" In the west side stronghold of the forest area, the one in charge was Empress Madeleine as well as their Lord President. And, since the enemies there weren''t as dangerous as the southern area ording to their evaluation, they weren''t much concerned about this bunch of cultist bastards. However, what Eon was seeing with his third eye, showed a being that should not have been present in that ce. [[ "Eon! Eon! What was that explosion?! Did it reallye from the ce where Lady Med and Master Maverick is?" ]] [[ "Yes¡­ and, you see, a corrupted lich has appeared over there." ]] A creature covered in a sticky demonic energy, holding a strange red orb, wearing a single piece of strange cloth had appeared in the ce. Or perhaps it was always present there but they had never discovered it. But, it was there. And, different from the usual lich who had retained theirplete sanity, lich like her Morris, this creature was apletely different thing altogether. [[ "Holy shit! Why is it there?! And what about the damages?! Is someone hurt over there?!" ]] [[ "Doesn''t look like it. Master Maverick endured the full blow of the surprise attack and saved Lady Med. However, he looks to have injured himself in the process." ]] [[ "Oh my¡­" ]] Any creature corrupted by the demonic energy bes a being unfathomable to the mortal limitations. They be the true personification of demon characteristics and if they have good enough potential, some of them even gains the titles of ''Knight'' ording to their aplishments. They are a kind of creature that could get exponentially stronger as they continue living in this nature and destroying as many elements of the nature as their instincts could allow them. Destruction and deaths. Spreading chaos in nature is the only6 purpose of their existence and, seeing the one that had appeared before them, Eon could tell at a nce this guy was a newborn. Even his life vessel, the soul orb that was still in his hands, was with him instead of being hidden in some distant ce. It was a creature pretty easy to kill, however, it was a lich. And, by nature, lich are near immortal beings. -Booooooooooom! They could use an absurd amount of energy directly by channeling it from the atmosphere and, being the beings that had ovee the limitations of lifespan, they achieve the powers to partially control life and death. However, it varies quite a lot depending on the nature of their existence. And in the case of the one that had appeared before them, it knew how to use a power that absorbed the very life force of the beings around it to strength his vessel. [[ "Damn! Why was there another explosion?!" ]] [[ "Emperss is now trying to push the lich back since it has the power to absorbe the life force from the living around it. It is a corrupted one as well so it''s practically out of control and had nearly no sense of reason. It has alredy killed most of their own forces and absorbed them. And, that attack that Lord Maverick blocked is now dealing him DoT damage." ]] [[ "What the fuck?! Thy do these fucking bastards have to go as far as risking their beings and turn into a corrupted lich?! Why the hell do they not even care about their own lives?!" ]] [[ "¡­" ]] [[ "Eon! We have to help them! If that bastard continues doing it, they will be hurt for real! Tell everyone-" ]] [[ "That''s right. We have to help them¡­" ]] He picked up his white bow once again. [[ "Yes! Tell everyone-¡­ no. No no no! I didn''t tell you to do it yourself you bastard! You are in no shape to do anything!" ]] [[ "But I have to, Rein. Master Maverick will die otherwise. Lady Med cannot handle that thing on her own. It''s alredy as strong as an elder mage. And because of the bursts of demonic energy it is radiating, all of them are in a bigger danger now." ]] [[ "Fuck that! You are not doing anything! Just stay put! Do not fucking do anything!" ]] "Celes, disconnect her." [[ What? but master! Sister Elle is right! You are- ]] "Just do it, Celes." She couldn''t desoby him, and, he looked at her with a smiling face, so she knew he wasn''t saying it rashly. He meant it, which meant she had no choice but to follow his will. ''Lucy¡­'' [[ *I am not doing anything. I don''t want you to do anything either, master. But since you wont listen to me, just do what you want to do. I will forcefully stop you if you are about to die.* ]] ''Those words are more than enough.'' He smiled warmly, closed his eyes, and, with his third eye, looked at the lich closely¡­ ''It lookspletely different from Morris.'' [[ *It''s a different entity from the natural liches. It''s corrupt* ]] This lich had horns like that of a demon even though it had apletel skeleton body that was floating above the ground. The ck cloth around his body was as darker as this night, the ugly green mes burning its eye sockets had no visible emotions, his skull was ugly like a zombie and there was no attractive air to this creature. It was disgusting, and, close range attacks were not going to work on this creature even though it was foolishly carrying his biggest weakness in his hands. Getting close to it was the same as inviting death for them mortals¡­ he knew that, and he also knew how this same creature could be destroyed with a single, proper attack. ''Now then¡­'' He aimed his bow to the west, took out Asta and ced her on the bow. "Asta, break Law 2. Additionally, execute Act 12, paragraph 6." -Wuuuuuu! "Haha, I will be alright dear. Don''t worry about me. Don''t you see? I am alright right now as well." He wasn''t alright at all. [[ *Master should at least stop lying to Asta.* ]] In fact, he barely had enough strength to stand up properly. Much less use another lethal move. -Wuuuuuuu! "Alright, alright. I promis I will will be alright." As at knew he was lying however, it could not do anything to change his mind when he was dead set on something like this. Asta was equally helpless as Lucy and Celes. -Oooooooooooong! So, it did as he had asked of her. However¡­ "Augh!" He threw up more blood. [[ Master¡­ sister Elle is very angry right now. I think you should- ]] "I am¡­ ahem! Ahem! Not stoping, Celes." He knew if he stopped there, someone will definitely get hurt badly. And, if it is either the empress or Lord Maverick, his future ns would be destroyedpletely. "Huuuu¡­" He could not have that. ''Magic release¡­'' Even if he had to endure this hell once more, he was going to see the end of this war. "Ahem!" He was stubborn. The pain from the energy circuits all over his body overflowing with more energy than he could handle, the purest kind of energy he was using from the branch of the world tree, was now too much to handle even for him. But, he did not stop. [[ *This is dangerous, master¡­* ]] He continued channeling the energy into Asta and his bow, Don as he recreated the scripted spell from his mind library on the tip of his arrow. ''Initiating spell enchantment¡­ ughhh!'' He clenched his mouth tightly and blocked his urge to throw up the blood filling his throat. [[ *Master¡­ please, stop.* ]] She could not understand why he was doing this when he had absolutely no reason to. His life was in danger right now but he wasn''t understanding that simple fact. -Oooooooooooooomh! The spell he was attaching to Asta was a powerful one. Not something merely destructive, but, something that would definitely get rid of that lich if it reaches it¡­ "Ahem!" However, to make it reach there, he had to release it in aplete form urately which, was certainly going to be difficult in his current state. [[ *That''s it master. I cannot take this anymore. I am-* ]] ''No Lucy. I can do this¡­'' His body would fall apart if he stayed that stubborn for one more moment, she knew that and was ready to overtake his body even though he had clearly denied it. She was ready to do it, however, in the moment when his head was almost on the verge of copse, every nerve in his body was about to burst out, and just when the spell he was preparing was about to go out of control¡­ [[ *Hmmm? Wait¡­ what''s this?* ]] Something happened. [[ *Is this¡­ no, but¡­ right now?!* ]] Something that usually happens in the early ages of those baring the power of an origin, happened to him after fifteen long years of his life, after he had gained many things that were difficult for most mortal beings, after he had forsaken the thought of it¡­ it happened, right when he was on the verge of copse. Chapter 700 Origin awakening Chapter 700 Origin awakening [Eon''s POV: ] I knew it was dangerous. That I did not have enough strength to keep going. That I was too weak to use any more strength, or borrow the strength from something else and use it with this body of mine. I knew it, and I also knew there was no real need to risk my own life just to ''help'' the people who were already far stronger than I am right now. I knew it. Just Lady Madeleine was enough to take care of something like a corrupted lich, and with Master Maverick being there, there really was no need for me to get involved at all since if push came to shove, they would have used their powers very carefully and defeated that thing anyway. They were strong and smart enough to do that much. However, the real reason I wanted to do this, to risk my life and do one more attack, was because of the strange feeling born deep inside of me. ''It was unexinable¡­'' It started right after I used the power of the world tree''s branch, the power of the purest kind of Amrita that I had never used before. A power so strong I could still not wield it myself. All I could do with this branch was to use it as a tool to channel the energy inside of it to forcefully increase my own energy levels in order to force my body to perform onest thing. Onest attack powerful, and effective enough to destroy that dangerous creature. ''At first, it was strange¡­'' It was as if someone was talking from within me, and no it was different from Lucy talking with me. It was as if someone or something was talking with the ''me'' inside of me. My true self, my ego, my soul¡­ and, it was a bizarre feeling. ''I did not understand it¡­'' I thought it was just my imagination and ignored it. Tried to shift my attention to something else. Something that was the most important to me at the moment. However, the lich appeared. And, the feeling became more intense. ''It was telling me to do it once again¡­'' It was telling me to do what I had just done one more time. To surpass my limits once more. To prepare an attack that was just as powerful as the two spells that I made while risking my life. ''I wanted to avoid it.'' It was a feeling, or perhaps a voice, or perhaps just my imagination. I was uncertain. And Lucy did not even know of this, so, there were better chances that it was just my imagination. However, my body did not think the same. ''I started doing it before my mind could process it¡­'' And by the time I realized I was ready with what I had to do, it was toote to back down. ''It was the first time in this life I was feeling as if I had lost all control over myself¡­'' It was strange. I was doing things I had no intention of doing. And in the process, I was also convinced I had to do it. The reason for which, I only understood after my soul was overwhelmed with the energy that was passing through my body. ''It was the most¡­ the most painful feeling I had ever felt.'' The blood vessels throughout my body were about to burst, my head almost ready to pop like a balloon from the pressure of the mixing energies, my [Dynamic heart] that was still calm in this situation and was trying its best to handle everything by itself, and then there was Lucy, maintaining my mind from falling apart. The attack was almost ready, I knew it. Just a little more and I would finish it, I knew it as well. However, even though I genuinely wanted to stop this, even though I wanted to stop with everything I had in this moment¡­ the ''voice'' inside of me, kept telling me to endure. To push a little more. Just a little more¡­ and for some otherworldly reason, I myself followed the ''feeling'' of that voice. ''I pushed myself to the brink of death¡­'' And, perhaps, I died in the process as well. That must have been the case if I was seeing something this... ethereal. ''The sun.'' Not the same bright star we see in the sky from dawn to dusk. But the true power source of the universe was depicted in the folklore of ancient times. I was standing before that supreme entity right now. At least, that was the most logical thing I could think of at the moment as I stood before this giant fireball that did not only turn hydrogen into helium in order to produce the fuel in its core, but, it also generated all the energies that existed in this world. ''The origin of energies¡­'' Just like how stories depict the great [[( Void )]] to be the source of all energy present in this world, this Sun, perhaps the representative of that same true source, was what provided all the energies my world possessed at all times. ''Pretty¡­'' I did not know what was happening right now. I did not know if I was dead already or if this was just a hallucination and I was still standing on the edge of that tower. I did not understand¡­ I could notprehend what was happening at the moment, however, as I stood before this colorful giant, I feltplete. ''Complete¡­'' Once again, it was a bizarre feeling. And, it became even more strange when some kind of strings of energy came out of this gigantic celestial body and, as I saw, connected with my head, my heart, my eyes, and then slowly, with my entire body¡­ It was at this moment, that I heard that same ''voice'' once again, however, it was not a feeling this time. -Oooooooooooooong! That voice spoke to me directly, however, I did not understand what it said. I definitely know it said something, something that felt warm, however¡­ I could not understand what it was even after I vanished from that strange space, and opened my eyes before the same edge of the tower I had been standing on when my vision went nk. [[ *Master? Have you finallye to your senses?! Master?!* ]] And then, after what felt like an eternity, I heard her voice once again. [[ "Big brother?! Are you alright?! Say something!" ]] [[ Masterrrrrrrrrrr! My masterrrrrrrrrr! ]] Along with two voices I had been expecting to hear already. [[ "I am fine everyone." ]] [[ Master! Masterrrrrrrrr! ]] [[ "Like hell you are fine. I am on my way! I will be there in a moment!" ]] [[ *Haaaa¡­ the timing was just perfect. As if to have been set by fate itself.* ]] The bow was still in my hand, and Asta was almost ready to be released as well. Celes was crying on my head, however, different from before¡­ I did not feel like I was going to break apart anymore. [[ *Origin awaking¡­ it saved you, master.* ]] ''I know. and I have something you will find interesting as well, Lucy.'' [[ *Same, master. Same.* ]] I could feel she was d that I was fine now. I can feel Celes was also happy she did not have to destroy everything in anger and agony at my loss. Zoe wasing here, and I couldn''t stop her. She knew my life was almost in danger a moment ago. So, even though she knew I was fine, she was not going to listen to anything I said until she confirmed that I was all right. She''s always like that and I cannot do anything about her¡­ but, she did not have to worry about anything. ''So Lucy, do you think I am fine enough to do this now?'' [[ *You¡­ you are. However, I do not know how much has changed with that awakening so I will check it first.* ]] ''And while you do that, let me do this one thing.'' [[ *NO! You are still just recovering-* ]] ''But I won''t die anymore, right? Then it''s fine~.'' Every being that possesses an origin skill goes through a certain ''awakening'' process early in their lives, almost when they are young kids where these skills reveal their true forms. That''s called origin awakening and though it is dyed in some individuals, it is very rare for the awakening to happen when someone reaches adulthood among humans. Perhaps in other kinds, there are cases when the origin awakening happenster in their lives, however, they are still young ording to their lifespans. ''In humans, however, it ismon for the origin awakening to happen when the children are around five or six years old. That''s why my case was unique.'' The awakening is influenced by the strength of the person and their knowledge about their origins, which I possessed plenty of. My master taught me more than enough for me to be the most knowledgeable human to know about the origins, and my own origin skill. However, even after all that, I did not awaken my skill all this time¡­ a fact that changed today. -Ooooooooooooooong! I was feeling like I was almost going to die just a moment ago but now, it was feeling alright. My internal injuries had been magically healed and even the pain had gone away greatly. I was feeling like apletely new person now and with this new power surging within me- ''Hmmm?'' [[ *M-master? Isn''t that¡­ too much?* ]] ''I know! But what''s happening?! I didn''t want to do that!'' The attack that I wanted to kill the lich with was almost ready, so I just tried to add a little bit of whatever energy it required; however, when I added the amount I thought would be just right, an unusual volume of pure Amrita was channeled through the branch of the world tree. And it was so absurdly strong that the tip of Asta, which was shining with only a small light until now, exploded with a light so bright that even the ones in the forest were stunned by its presence for a moment¡­ Chapter 701 What is left behind Chapter 701 What is left behind [Eon''s POV: ] The light was so bright they must have thought of it as some kind of explosion of light. However, thankfully, it was only a momentary one. [[ Master! Everyone was surprised! What was that?! ]] "Just an unexpected mistake dear. Don''t worry about it and continue what you were doing. Finish it before you arepletely fine." [[ Alright master¡­. Masterrrrrrrrrrr! ]] And just like that, my dear familiar returned to her crying session. And we focused on the situation at hand. ''Status window.'' ===Status=== Name: Axion Heliox Kromet Von Aishwa nor Ethan Griffin Age: 15 Strength: 198 Dexterity: 201 Stamina: 213 Magic Power: 249 Intelligence: 225 Luck: 147 Charm: 156 [Skill: Energy Cirction.] [Origin Skill: Instigator of Dawn: Advanced mastery. -Three Eyes (Stage-2) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White gate (Stage-2) -Lucy (Stage-0) -Call of Authority (Stage-1) ============ ''The hell?'' My origin mastery levelled up? And not only that, my [White Crack] upgraded to stage two as well? ''The hell kind of power up is this?'' [[ *Haaa¡­ master, you lost all your skills. And there isn''t any great increase in stats either. Just that the purity of all your stats increased a bit. The increase in healing factor seems to be effects of your only left innate skill that seems to have gotten some new powers, however, I am not sure. I will check itter but the new branched origin skill you unlocked will have to be checked by you.* ]] ''I know, I know. Still, thanks for everything. But, what do you mean by a little increase in stat''s purity? How little this ''little'' of yours actually is?'' I knew for certain any kind of ''little'' from her side is something too visibly shocking for the one rted to this ''increase''. [[ *Well, you can check that out yourself.* ]] ''Right.'' The arrow was still in my hands and it was brimming with a powerful energy so strong I doubted there will be some kind of problems over there. ''Just in case¡­'' I asked Celes to connect me with Master Maverick over there and asked him to clear out the area around the lich a little. And, as I watched with my third eye, which seemed to have improved a little as well, they quickly backed off from the lich that had already caused substantial damage to ours side. ''That thing sure is dangerous¡­'' It was growing in real time after absorbing their own people and was something so dangerous that had to be eliminated. -Ooooooooooong! "Then, let''s see how much I have improved." -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! I released Asta and since the Law of eleration was to be broken, Asta traveled through the space at a speed so great it broke the sound barrier even before it was outside the city area. And, as a result, arge shockwave was created right above the city, which, thankfully didn''t cause any great damages thanks to the barrier that Lord Justin was maintaining right now. Asta, then continued elerating and became a bright ray of light that seemed same as a shooting star to everyone on the battlefields that saw it. -Boooooooooooom! And then, it arrived precisely above the skull of the lich, released the special spell that was encoded inside Asta, destroyed the barrierer that sucked life force from around the lick, and with a little shift, it preciselynded on the orb in the hands of the lich, his vessel. And,pletely destroyed the vessel as well as the lich with a great explosion of pure white light energy that was released from Don and the branch. "Pheww¡­ that was a show, alright?" It was much, much more powerful than I intended it to be. And the output had increased by more than thirty percent as well. However, the most noticeable thing in all of this was how I was fine even after releasing that powerful of an attack. "There was a recoil great enough that I should have thrown up more blood or at least, I should have been on the ground even in my perfect condition, but, I am still standing and am fine¡­ is this because of the improved physical conditions, Lucy, or is this because of the new skill?" [[ *I cannot say for certain, master. This might also be because of both the things. Or perhaps, it might not be because of either of them. We will have to find out for ourselves.* ]] ''Is that so¡­?'' It is said that the physical body goes through a reconfiguration process during the Origin awakening. Which literally means it would change the entire body and losing all the skills that are imprinted on the physical body is a natural thing I had expected from the start. I wasn''t worried about the loss of skills however, the fact that this body reconfiguration would cause so many physical changes, which practically changed most of the things about my body and myself, was something I cannot just ignore. ''However, I cannot do that right now.'' The lich was terminated with that one attack and they could now deal with the remaining people. The inside of the city was free of the cultistspletely as well, and the other four strongholds were almost taken care of now. "Big brother!" And Zoe was here now, so, she was definitely going to nag at me for being careless, and foolish once again. It was certain, but before that¡­ "Where are you hurting? Why did you do it? How could you do it even after I said not to do something foolish! You are a bad brother!" She hugged me, with her eyes shedding tears of sadness, her grip around me being too much even with my upgraded physical abilities, but, she was crying. Something I did not like. "It was nothing, Zoe¡­ don''t you see? I am perfectly fine-" "Of course you are! That''s the only reason I am not doing anything right now!" Of course. Or else the city and the forest beyond the walls would be covered in mes by now. ¡­ It took me a while to console this little sister of mine and while I did that, the situation on the battlefields was slowlying to an end. [[ Master, they are done with thest one as well. ]] [[ "Good." ]] The enemy was eradicated. It was dawn already, so the sun rising on the horizon was painting the city with its first rays. "You bastard! You dumb fucking bastard!" Rein was here after dealing with everything on her end, lookingpletely worn down, angry, with tears lingering at the end of her eyes. She was angry that I cut off allmunication with her and did something so dangerous, however, since she knew I was fine, as well as about the awakening, she at least didn''t hit me. Or perhaps she postponed the hitting and punishment part for now, which was for the best as well. ''Haaaaa¡­'' The first ce to fall was the bar stronghold inside of the city, and then the jewellery shop. Then the one in the north where the lust demon had appeared, followed by the south area with Rein and emperor August. Then the western side was done with their work, andstly, the north eastern stronghold was taken down after a long struggle. But ultimately, with a new morning greeting us, the war itself, had ended now¡­ ''Lucy.'' [[ *Three thousand and twelve people died, master. And since their bodies were used as sacrifices for the demon summoning, they disappeared as well. Additionally, two hundred and thirty one people have suffered grave injuries that will require strong healing powers to repair. 12% of the city infrastructure was damaged, however, not any irreceable damage was done so it can be repaired easily. The demonic energy was spread throughout the city atmosphere so it needs an immediate cleanup or else being in contact with the demonic energy will cause a great deal of damage to the regr citizens. There is a chance that the battle was analysed by the cult members that managed to slip away, and that they mighte back or report it to their superiors, so, you should not let your guard down yet, master. And,stly¡­ I know you don''t want to hear this, but, it seems like there was an information leak from our side. The ones that managed to flee were mostly from the strongholds inside of the city area. Which, of course, is unsettling.* ]] The city was covered in mes, ice, and damage¡­ Death was in the air now¡­ Lives were lost and damage was done even though we tried our best. The innocent lives of themon people, the children who yed on the street just until yesterday¡­ the people we had interacted with not long ago, and even the bad people who weren''t as bad as the bastards who killed them. They were dead now. They died meaningless deaths knowing neither cause of their deaths, nor having the chance to say goodbyes to the ones rted to them. ''They¡­ just died.'' And their souls, their bodies, were sacrificed in order to summon the demons who also died meaningless deaths. "Eon¡­" "Oh, headmaster¡­ you are back." Damage could not have been preventedpletely even if the headmaster was here prior to all this. The forces we had on our side, whenbined, were multiple times stronger than him alone. And even with whatever data we had about the enemies, we still did not manage to save all of those who died. What was done, was done already. The storm had passed¡­ and in its wake, it had left thousands of deaths, an immeasurable amount of damage, and an eternal void in many hearts that would not heal with time. ''It was over¡­'' This physical war, at the very least, is over now. ''However¡­'' The damage that the storm, this ''unreal'' war had left behind, was not going to end with just the end of the cultists. ''The real struggle starts now.'' For us, for the citizens, for the rulers of thisnd, and for the one standing before me that felt the most guilt at the moment¡­ The real struggles were going to start now. Chapter 702 Dawn after the battle Chapter 702 Dawn after the battle [Eon''s POV: ] Have you ever wondered, what happens to the battlefield after war? "Eon, you can start now." What happens to the dead bodies that are left behind on the barren ground? To the deste ce that one would never want to revisit again? The nightmare of a ce that has been covered in blood, tears, curses of those who had fought on it, and in our case, with theughter of the evil that wanted nothing more than the destruction of all that was Present? What happens to all that? "Huuuuu¡­" What happens to those who were fortunate enough toe out of this hellish experience alive, or what happens to those who are just barely alive to even be considered ''alive''? What happens to the injured and what happens to those who are left crippled? [ "We have gathered here, at this moment, to present our prayers to the innocent souls that were lost to evil,st night. To sing for the brave souls who were once the warriors that protected this city. Andmon folks who lived here. To ask the primordial light to guide those souls to the afterlife that they should have, and would have deserved." ] Have you ever wondered what the battlefield on the dawn after the end of war, looks like? ''I have wondered. And I have seen those dawns, those mornings when the soldiers silently express their remorse for the loss of theirrades, their friends, and their brothers, family. I have seen the battles being fought with weapons more lethal than swords and magic. Weapons that would not only destroy the living but also the very earth the war is being fought on.'' I have seen the aftermath of those wars. What that dark storm leaves behind in its wake. I have seen it, and I have lived through those days. I hade out victorious, or at least alive, out of the most difficult of those times. ''That was practically how my previous life used to be¡­ a continuous, never-ending war.'' I have seen it¡­ and still, now that I am witnessing it again, I can say one thing for certain. ''Even in this world, it''s still the same.'' This morning was the same yet again. ''Even though this war was fought with magic and weapons, with powers that were beyond the science and the technological understanding of things from my previous world, this dawn, this morning where the entire city was fast asleep even though the sun had settled on the horizon, all that darkness is the same.'' The soldiers who had fought in that battle had gathered together in a certain ce to mourn for the dead. Themander of the forces who were not present during the time of the battle, the person who was still the most hurt by the loss of the people who could have been saved, the headmaster, was standing before all of us who had fought these battles on his behalf. ''Everyone was tired, injured, wounded¡­ Lord Justin, the head of the Lakmer, was now in a wheelchair from the side effects of using all his powers to sustain the defenses of the city.'' His wife, the mastermind who had been the one controlling the winds of the battlefield when I was not there, was alsopletely exhausted from the battle. So much so that she somehow looked far older than she did yesterday. The Witch of the North had injured one of her hands badly, and since the attack was a demonic curse, she would need more than a week to make aplete recovery. The masters of the East were low on Qi, which was a dangerous thing for the material artists since they had to be ready for anything and everything at all times. President Zodiac and the vice president were both gloomy right now. The atmosphere around them was darker than even what Rein was going through. The others, though a little different from the others, were the same as well¡­ ''Mourning, sadness, gloom, hate towards the enemy, the guilt, the feeling of being powerless, the relief that all of it was over, the pain in their hearts, this funeral for those who were not even around anymore, and the prayers for everything that was lost to the evil.'' The atmosphere around me was just as heavy as it is when the soldiers are attending thest meeting on the battlefield where theirmanders, as well as some other useless bastards, give out words of condolence, and a speech of power. The only difference here was that instead of a jerkmander, we had a leader who was hurting the most right now and soldiers who had done everything they could even though there was little for them to gain in all of this. -Swiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ The morning winds were cold. -String~. I was back on my harp, for thest prayers of the day that would show the lost souls a path of light, and bring back those who were still around to their senses. -String~. The headmaster will then cast a powerful illusion spell that would make people think everything is going on normally and that the people who are gone now, were either with them or were only not around at the moment¡­ ''It''s deception and something morally wrong, I know, however, for now, it was important for the annual alchemypetition''s third and final day to conclude properly before the lords of Lakmer could announce what had happened on this night and what was lost.'' They knew there would be questions and consequences for their actions, but the rulers of the Lakmer and the bncer of the world, Headmaster Merlin, would bear all that responsibility. He was prepared for that, so¡­ -Sriting~! "To the souls who were lost, to the souls who survived, and to all those who fought with us today¡­" I present my gratitude andment. -Saaaaaaaaaa¡­ Ast song. To conclude everything on this battlefield, that had already returned to the perfect capital city it used to be until yesterday. A city where the roads were empty and the living were nowhere to be seen, but that would change as this song goes on. -Reeeeeeeee¡­ The people would wake up from their slumbers, return to their everyday life like every other day, and continue doing things that they should do, and even with a gap in their memories of thest few hours, they would continue their day as they usually do. Things will continue and the time for the third day of the annual alchemypetition will begin with the final participants who had passed the many challenges toe so far. Thepetition would go on, the fifth round would start and finish, the sixth round would start and finish, and before the announcements of the final winners of various awards, there would be a special contest for those other than the present participants to showcase something they thinks is worthy of standing on par with the final contestants. That would be the third day of thepetition which, of course, would impact the entire world to a great degree. And the announcements right after the events of thepetition that, just like this event, would be broadcast to the entire world. ''There would be an uproar in the entire world over this event, and the actions that were taken to conceal the information about the happenings.'' There would be questions that many would want the answers to, details that could obviously not be revealed to the world, and rumors that would be something uncontroble. ''There were more than three thousand casualties, people will see this fact against the hundreds of thousands of lives that were saved by thebined efforts of all the ''unknown'' people who aided Lakmer in this battle.'' There will be many legal trials as well, some genuine while some practically BS political dramas. Some things will be settled behind the scenes but the principality of Lakmer will undoubtedly face many challenges going forward and in those times of turbulence, only if my resources and I are of any help to them, will the bond between us be stronger. ''However, that is talk forter.'' -Gaaaaaaaa¡­ Thest song of the war, a shorter one than the one that had been yed by K and me throughout the night, brought tears to many eyes. They wept, mourned for the people they had no deep connections to, were concerned how something like this incident could happen to their very own homnd in the near future, and became anxious about how an attack of this scale, was nothing more than a ''testing'' of that cult. ''We all know the enemy was not defeatedpletely, that it was far from being taken care of once and for all.'' We knew this was just the start. Start of a bitter rtionship with an enemy that threatened not only the stability of this world, but also an enemy that was strong, smart, and crazy enough to be worse than the demons of hell. ''This was only their first move made with the intention of testing their current powers, and, from a good enough look at the results they managed to produce even with us standing in their path, it was obvious they were more than satisfactory enough.'' The mere minions of their cult managed to give a strong fight to the nation-level forces of this world. Just a collection of crazy bastards that didn''t even know who they were doing the things they were doing for, managed to fight and wound the forces handpicked by the sole strongest being on this. ''We could only imagine¡­ just how worse of a force was standing behind the true executives of this organization.'' We knew little about the enemy we were going to fight for real in the uing future. However, from the threat that we had assessed with this battle, I know one thing for sure now¡­ ''The [Grand conference] will be held soon.'' And, all the major powers of the world will discuss what they have to do with this whole situation. And, as fate would have it¡­ as the one possessing the most information about the enemy, I will have to lead that conference as well. And that, different from the meeting we had prior to the battle, would be one of the biggest challenges of this life of mine. Chapter 703 Third day of the competition

Chapter 703 Third day of thepetition

[Mia''s POV: ] "Ummm? Captain, do you feel something weird?" "Hmmm? What do you mean Ball?" "Well¡­ I just, I just have this weird feeling that something strange happenedst night but I couldn''t put a finger on what this feeling exactly is." Hmmm? Is he talking about the strange feeling of forgetfulness I had been feeling since the morning? "I think I can understand what you are trying to say, however, I think it''s because something we ate or drankst night. Don''t think too much about this and let''s focus on what is before us." "Ummm¡­ alright captain." Last night was pretty magical¡­ and definitely mind blowing. ''I didn''t think young master Axion would invite all of us to their estate for dinner. And to think he actually prepared all that food just for us, haaa.'' All of that was so magical I feel like I had been dreaming about it since the moment Iid on my bedst night. ''He was charming yesterday and looked just as gooooooood as he did when we had our meeting~.'' Hmmm. Hmmm. Choosing him to be my sponsor was the correct decision~. Perhaps yesterday''s banquet was also his way to tell me that I had made the right decision. And then there was Lady Reinelle¡­ haaaa. I almost fell in love with both of them yesterday. Just like most of us who were present there. ''They are just too amazing, haaaa.'' I don''t know why I am sighing so much but what we experienced yesterday in that fine estate is something I want to experience once again. And, perhaps, if we put in a good performance during both of today''s rounds, we will get to meet the two of them again~. ''And they should be looking at us right now, right?'' I looked up at the grand balcony where the important guests had been observing us from since the first day was full once again. The same nobles and experts were filling the seats of honour and among those people, there were two who were even younger than me, and still so special that they could sit right beside the rulers of this prestigiousnd of divine. "Haaaa. Gather up everyone." Today was the third and thest day of the annual alchemypetition and it willst untilte night with all the three rounds and the award ceremony. ''I have participated in thisetation before, however, aside from oneplementary award, I have won nothing. The grand spot of the winner of thispetition being a spot I have coveted form my first ever try at theetation.'' The title of the grand champion of the annual alchemypetition is nothing less than a global champion title. The winners are awarded the opportunity to ask of anything they wish from the Lakmer, anything that the nation itself is capable of. And, that isn''t all. ''All the winners of theetation get a thousand tinum prize money, individually. Along with an opportunity to request the master and the grandmaster craftsman present to make any kind of equipment they want. And, the title of the ''Honour''. A special privilege under which, one can buy anything they want at a discounted price through the principality.'' These rewards are nothing small if one looked at it from the perspective of investment and profits. Especially the wish. One can ask them to be a noble of their or any other kingdom on the continent they want. They can ask fornd, more funds, resources, or even request them to be their sponsors for their lifetime. ''And the thing is, rulers of Lakmer do grant these wishes to the best of their abilities.'' They have been doing it since the old times, and they are still powerful enough to do it still. That''s why the Principality of Lakmer holds a very crucial position on note only this continent, but they are one of the most important nations when ites to the world level. ''And today is the day we will have to show everything we have.'' The winners will be decided by the the grand judges and the judgement will be fair for every participant that took part in thispetition and have their absolute best, and beyond. The winner might not even be someone that had reached the sixth roun of the third day, but they are always someone that people know are a winning candidate. And, right now, there are only a few winning candidates, most of whom have already made it to the fifth round. ''The chances that the winner of thepetition will be someone that reaches thest round and gives their absolute best. And that''s why we had to be one of those people.'' We, as a group, had to be one of the spots that makes it to thest round of theetation that would start shortly after the first round of today ends. "Everyone¡­" We were in the grand arena where less than hundred groups or individuals had remained. And, this number won''t even be thirty by the next round of theetation. "Following few hours ahead of us are going to be tough." My team, my friends, my teammates¡­ they all had gathered around me, were looking at me with the same fire that they had yesterday, as well as the day before yesterday. "Our opponents aren''t people holding titles of masters and grandmasters." I looked around at a few people, a few old people that were undoubtedly going to be a very challenging opponent to face in this round of theetation. "Our opponents aren''t geniuses who have been acknowledged by these very people." Then I looked at some individuals like thedy who had apanied prince Charles, the winner ofst year''spetition who was expected to receive the title of master during these two rounds, and the other teams from our school who were doing much better than we had predicted. "Our opponents aren''t going to be those who have far longer experience than us, know much more than we do even with our special knowledge, and have been doing these things longer than any of us¡­" The tension in the atmosphere was solid. The audience was eerily quiet and anxious. And there were ruthless judges who had eliminated even those who had done extraordinary in thest rounds. There were many things that were standing in our path to victory right now, however, these people at the very least, were not our opponents. "Our opponents are time, the mistakes we will make during the creation process today, and the unexpected situations that will arise during both of the creation processes. They are the biggest obstacles standing in our way today." In thest two rounds, one can make anything they want. Like, anything at all. No topic, no outline, no special method, no nothing. ''Thest two rounds are given to the artists to go run wild with their art and their creativity, and that is exactly what we all are going to do.'' Some might have things that they have already thought about while some might bepletely nk right now, every artist have a different way to prepare themselves before they start the creation of the best pieces of art they are to create with their life''s experience. ''Some of them seed, some fail to reach the level they want to, while some of them forfeit midway when nothinges to their mind or what they might have thought of creating is ruinedpletely in some process.'' Nearly half of the people in both of today''s round won''t be able to finish the art pieces they want, the kind of alchemical product that they can call one of their best works, and that will upset them greatly. But still, thispetition would be more of a battle against the uncontroble factors like the time and the circumstances instead of one another. ''We were even given special rooms this time that had a time control magic so that we can have a nearplete creative freedom so, when every one of us are done, these rooms will vanish and the judges will test the end products.'' We will have to do our very best¡­ I will have to do my very best. "We will have time, however, not so much that we can fool around even for a second. We will have resources but not all that we might require so, we will have to keep in mind what we have and what we would need depending on the situation, and we will definitely face challenges since I myself do not know yet what we are going to make, but we will know it by the time thepetition starts and when it done, I want you all topetently trust me." They would mostly only be my helper and I would be the one doing most of the processing, creating and doing. However, their roles would be more crucial than my own since a mistake from their side would mean we would have to restart the entire thing or change what we were going to do midway through the process. And that would be a very difficult situation. "I know it might be difficult right now, but, yesterday, we ate with two people who have crossed that same impossible path many times, had broken the stereotypes of the society and despite their young age, have taken a position in this world that one might never believe is even possible." They were amazing, and everyone liked them one way or another. Something one doesn''t see everyday in this rank based society. They were amazing to do that. And we are amazing enough to achieve an impossible like them. "I do not know if we will actually win or not, however, I know one thing for certain." I looked at them, my team, and my friends right in the eye. "We are going to give everything we have out there." "Yesssss~!" Yes!" "Of course captain! We are going to give at least two percent more than what we have!" "Hahaha." This was my first time in thispetition as a team, and, I love this far more than participating alone. Especially since it is with these specific bunch. They are the best. [ "Alright everyone! The time you all have been waiting for has finally arrived~! The fifth round of the third day of thepetition will start shortly!" ] "Then, let''s go burn the stage everyone." "YES~!" We were prepared. We were confident. We had faith in our teachings, we were going to do our best. ''However, I never would have thought they would take burning the stage thing so seriously¡­'' Chapter 704 In an unknown land Chapter 704 In an unknownnd [OP: ] An open area filled with volcanic earth on all sides, burning, bubbling with red magma so hot the end of fames present above the mattering out of the ground were nearly white. Not blue, but white. There was an area covered with tall sharp rocks in the middle of this dark soil, and in the middle of it was a structure carved out of these same volcanic sharp rocks resembling a demonic castle. Demons and demonic creatures roamed around this castle-like structure. The dark castle of evil that just by looking at it for too long would corrupt the weak souls that could not endure the demonic essence this castle was carved out with. There were beings wearing wraith-like cardigans, among the expense of this castle, unafraid and unaffected by the demonic creatures or the ugly demons themselves. They roamed fearlessly in this castle, floated, ran, walked around without a care in the world. And the demonic beings just stayed still as if they were no special existence. If anything, they were careful or respectful before some of these beings in strange, dark clothing. However, the ones in the wraiths were all indifferent to these existences. As if they meant nothing to them at all¡­ The atmosphere around this castle was almost lively at the moment as things were progressing at a timely manner. There was no celestial body in the red sky above this castle, almost as if this ce was the hell itself. And, there were certain chambers in this castle that belonged to certain beings so special, unique, and important that¡­ the behaviour of these demonic creatures were allpletely understandable. However, in this castle, there was one that stood above all these creatures covered in dark wraiths. [ "They found out about the attack units." ] The one sitting on the throne of this castle situated in the innermost part of it, a ce that had no ceiling, a cepletely covered in red and gold, a ce sorge that it can fit hundreds of people and still so small looking before the grand throne in the middle that the contradiction could not be justified by the importance of the holder of the throne. [ "ording to our reports, the group assembled by Merlin already had a deep understanding of all the strongholds, there was a detailed n in y to cut down their own losses to as much as possible, and, from the reports we received, it says that they possessed the ancient divine artifact, Arc of Jen that is said to have been lost after Saint Jen vanished from the face of this earth. They also had someone the artifact had acknowledged and someone that knew how to y it so profoundly well that even the ones hearing from faraway could not help but want to submit to its melodious nature. And one reports ims that there were two different people that could y it. Additionally, there was someone who could cast high grade light magic using profound runes soplicated and unheard of that it was impossible to even memorise and recreate them, much lessprehend them to any extent. It was said they used those spells to deal a great blow to both of the demons the groups managed to summon with the limited sacrifices. And additionally, some other person, one possessing an exceptional power, dealt with the one of the members who turned themselves into a corrupted lich all on their own. The forces Merlin managed to build in that little time were extraordinary. However their overall estimated threat level is still only rank. Any one of us could deal with them ourselves." ] Twelve beings, people, wearing the same wraith were standing before the throne. And from how their cardigan was lighter than the other wraith outside, it could be said they were the important figures in this castle. And the one on the throne, the highest authority of this ce, was wearing a wraith cardiganpletely white. His two mismatched eyes, one red the other blue, were looking down at the twelve beings with an emotionless, deep look. [ "All of you are fools." ] The throne holder said with his deep, almost demonic voice that was so powerful that even the twelve beings before him had to submit to the voice and kneel down on the ground. [ "The one who yed the divine artifact, the one who used the self-created rune spells to weaken the demons, the one who defeated the lich, and the one behind the failure of this mission, all of it was one by one person alone." ] His words contained a strange kind of authority, a power different from the mortal abilities that are iprehensible with a limited understanding of the human mind¡­ One can tell from the way he spoke those words, that he was certain about what he said as well, and the twelve could never possibly even think of questioning his words. [ "That one person got the information on the strongholds, nned how they would need to deal with the forces, how they could same as many people as possible, and came up with the best possible solutions. Whoever it was, that person was able to see through the basic nature of a problem ande up with something a normal person would never even think about." ] Now, there seemed to be a distinct joy in that heavy voice. [ "That person, smart and talented, gave whatever they possessed to save the people and therades fighting with them, and while doing so, they managed to maintain a certain special spot among their forces that wouldter be a useful card in their hands." ] He paused for a moment, and looked at one of the people standing before him. [ "Number 1. Why do you think that person dealt with both of the demons at the same time?" ] All this time, they had been talking in a speech that was difficult to define asnguage since there were no concrete words but only sounds that only they understood. The noises they made formunication were strange, certainly. However they were also more heinous sounding than the sounds that the demons and the demonic humans make. [ "It should be to save their strength if anything. That is the only exnation if they had been ying a divine artifact that require deep concentration, mastery, and energy levels." ] [ "Correct." ] The answer was ssable so the one on the throne epted it. However, there was no deep meaning behind his eptance of the answer. It was obvious that someone on the level that he was would understand that much from all that he had said and would be able to answer his simple questions. Though, this correct answer was only barely passable to the one above them, for the one that answered it and was able to receive a nod from that person, this moment was nothing less than an achievement. One so great that the other eleven clinched their teeth in frustration that they did not get to have that honor as well. [ "That person tried to save their energy. They wanted to only show that extent of their power and they were going to only do it once so that the other might think it is the extent of their power. However, an opportunity too great to ignore appeared before them, and they had no choice but to consider the future possibilities, and reveal more of their powers. Additionally, they also killed the lich with the ability to steal the life force of a being with one powerful attack by destroying their vessel, something that is not possible unless someone had done a detailed analytical study on these lich vessels closely. Andstly, the substitute that they created to take their ce and y the divine artifact. Can anyone guess what it might be?" ] The throne holder, the person in the white wraith clothing, asked another question. And this time, it wasn''t asked to a specific person present there. [ "¡­" ] It was an open question that would be replied with various counter questions like how can there be something in the first ce, or how can anyone other than the one acknowledged by the divine artifact use it. They had that kind of questions, however, since asking questions was not an option, instead of answering incorrectly, they stayed silent. And the throne holder had expected this kind of situation already. [ "An automation." ] He announced, a spark of admiration present deep beneath his voice. [ "A creation that is not mortal or immortal. Something that is purely a creation of its creator thus independent from the bounds of nature. Something that could be made with such perfection that giving it a hundred artists'' insurmountable knowledge, finesse, and talents would not be impossible. Something, that is beyond current mortal minds, however, also something that is not impossible for the ''humans'' who possess the greatest of potential, and knowledge of the ancient craft. If it is an automation, a direct creation of the master of the divine artifact, it is possible for the divine artifact to consider it an extension of its master, and ultimately acknowledge it." ] Their mismatched eyes now contained a unique kind of joy. [ "Haaa¡­" ] A deep sigh reverberated throughout the hall as the twelve figures looked up at the throne, stunned. [ "Lord pope? What-" ] [ "Hahahahaha~." ] And then, they heard a kind ofugh they had never seen this ruthless, powerful, divine person on the throne make in their entire lifetimes they had served him. [ "This is what a cool guy should be like! This is how someone worthy of standing against will of the great apostle and the great one should be like!" ] Hisugh was one thing but the powerful energy that he was relesing alongside thisugh was crushing the physical bodies of the twelve standing before him. [ "Lord pope!" ] They could barely be on their knees, much less stand before this great of a pressure. They might die if it had continued and he would have to go through another hassle of finding new ones to fill theri spots, and he did not like that idea. [ "Get lost you useless fools" ] He three them all out of the room with a mere movement of his finger, and continuedughing like a crazy person. [ "Hahahaha. What an amusing person. Haha. I can not wait for the next time. Hahahahah!" ] He¡­ definitely was no normal person. Or a sane person. There was something wrong about him. Perhaps there were many things wrong about him. [ "Hahahahaha~!" ] However, the conclusion was simple. [ "I will be waiting for you, unknown cool mister! Hahaha! Hahahahahaha¡­!" ] He was a very dangerous being. And certainly¡­ not something ''they'' were ready to face just yet. Chapter 705 Team Wisdom Phoenix Chapter 705 Team Wisdom Phoenix [Eon''s POV: ] The third day of the annual alchemypetition of principality had begun and the alchemists, the artists of the organic and inorganic elements andpounds were showcasing their true tals for the first time since the start of thispetition two days ago. [[ "They are admirable." ]] We were watching all the participants from this high ground and still, the one Rein was focused on the most was only my house and my housemates, and she was not the only one to have her eyes fixed on these people. "And they are young students, you say." "The technicians they are using are unparalleled in themselves, but the way they are fearlessly executing those techniques makes it look like they haveplete confidence in their abilities." "They are almost telling the others to not look down on them with that kind of boldness, especially their captain. She had failed three times in thest ten minutes and the resources she burned down in the process were all worth tens of hundreds of gold coins of our kingdom." "Still, whatever she is trying to create after doing all that must be something quite extraordinary for her to not even care about the things that are getting destroyed. I couldn''t wait to see their end results." My team, my little fes, the Wise young phoenixes were doing what I had taught them properly. And, along with my teachings, they were also following the basics of the most fundamental things an alchemist of their level should always keep in mind. ''They were facing the greatest alchemists of the world right now and still, they had managed to captivate arge crowd with their performance.'' Miss Mia was leading the first final production process herself with the others as her helpers and, since they were allowed to have any kind of instrument and artifact they needed for the alchemical productions, they were using the things I had lent them along with their own things and skills. The others who were supporting her were doing a very nice job, however there were a few that were exceptional among her supporters. They refined the materials she her faster than they could with normal techniques, created solutions with precise measurements in minutes so that she doesn''t have to do it by herself, tempered with the physical materials to ''change'' them without the need of long processing, and if needed, they also had someone that can absorb and separate a certain material from the messed up end product. They were almost like a group of surgeons performing an intense operation, focused on their tasks on their hands, doing what they needed in order to contribute to the sess of the operation. And, as their captain and the one who had taught them, I felt a sense of warmth I had almost forgotten. ''Miss Granbell can now use her unique skill [Makeup] to refine the materials easily and more urately, Mister Fang''s [Liquefy] skill that he could only used to melt ice or wax could now work on different kinds of materials used in the alchemy processes, Miss Persephone''s unique skill [Skill synchronicity] now allowed her to linkmon skills of different people and thanks to her, they were able to hasten the material refinements to many times. Andstly, thanks to Sir Kuro and his [Silver scale] skill, they didn''t have to worry about the measurements of any kind.'' He was like a living measurement tool more urate than many of the artifacts that the other masters and the grandmasters were using at the moment. [[ "They are doing alright¡­ however, what Miss Mia is trying to create isn''t going to be anything easy." ]] Miss Mia definely did not have any idea of what she was going to create until theetation started however, as soon as the bells range and she thought about it for a moment, a sudden idea struck her and she startled doing something. It was difficult to figure out what she had been trying to do until she failed her third refinement even for me. And by the time I figure it out, theetation had progressed quite a bit. ''The other participants were alredy reaching the main processes while she had only just figured out what she had been trying to do was in fact possible.'' Her previous failed attempts weren''t just some random failures. She was systematically trying to predicate the nature of teh end product of a reaction based on the nature and response of some certain processes, something that was not possible even for me. And to do this, she must have thoroughly calcted the end product in her mind. Perhaps something only she was capable of aiming all these people. ''She knew what she needed to make, the final product, and she was trying to find the paths to that end result. For which, she sacrificed a third of the rare materials I had given them.'' They were definitely not something any of them could afford in their current states, however, they did not hasitate to use them even after three consecutive failures. ''I told them to trust themselves, have faith. And they were doing just that.'' And thanks to Ball''s absorption ability, which could now be used as something much more than a simple absorption ability, they were able to save some of the materials from the failed products. [[ "Don''t be so harsh. They are doing much better than those Turtles. Just look at them¡­ they are nowpletely lost of what they have to do." ]] Only two of the houses had managed to qualify for the third round of theetation: mine and prince Alpheus''s Turtle defenders that contained someone that can see the future, someone that had a little too much knowledge of the things that should not be known to anyone, and a ''regressor'' that was the core reason for the depression of the students in their group. ''Prince Alph''s threats, his ruthless attitude towards them, and even the grave threats to their lives on one side, the way he had convinced ''Ezra Penelope Zarak'' to not only participate in thispetition but also be the one to lead her bunch of students was one admirable thing even with their uneptable methods.'' However, all that they had had only taken them until this point. From this point forth, none of them knew what they needed to do for certain. ''The fifth round was about creating something that was your own. A unique creation you can conser the best and one that is made by you with your best efforts.'' If one does not put all that they had into these creations, it was given that they would not qualify for the next and final round of thispetition and the problems for them started right there. ''Prince Alph could not reveal all his prowess even if he wanted to, that''s why he had made Ezra the face of their team, Nova was the one they thought was the mastermind behind everything they were doing, and Dan the possessed one with futuresight was the one they thought was controlling the flow of their progress.'' However, as the one manipting all of them, Prince Alph was the one doing the most and ones with good enough eyes and understanding of the maniption would instantly catch onto this thing. However, for the public and the other participants who did not have much time to focus on the others, he was the same as an invisible entity in the worst of the participants of this round. ''He possessed the pinnacle skill of wisdom so he had knowledge of even the toughest and rarest alchemical products that perhaps even I might not know about. And that was the very reason that if he did try to reveal that kind of knowledge and end up creating something that would seem suspicious, he would be the prime suspect in this entire drama.'' Which was why he had given all the hints he could to his teammates and was just standing there. Observing what they would do with those kinds of small hints. ''They started with the suggestions of Nova, and after failing a few times, they moved onto the next suggestion which bore no fruits either.'' They didn''t waste any unimaginably rare materials, however, they certainly were not going anywhere even after all this time had passed. ''They were lost, even with their captain''s help.'' And they looked miserablepared to my house. [[ "At least, they tried. Being the only other team to reach the fifth round was no small thing, right?" ]] [[ "Certainly. They did well with the conditions they were in. I can say for certain that with proper guidance and with Prince Alph actually leading them, they would do better than the other groups present in thispetition. They have and excellent teamposition." ]] Just having Ezra alone was the same as having Miss Mia on their team. She was one of a kind in this world, not only in terms of knowledge and experience, but also in terms of mysteries and secrets. Even our eyes could tell little about her so aside from the fact that she was very special, had some kind of bad backstory, and was a rude bitch, we knew little about her. But even she was lost at the moment. Showing just how difficult of apetition this actually was. ''Doing the best they could¡­ it sounded easy however, an artist and a creator were the only ones who could actually understand how difficult of a task it was.'' Neither thispetition, nor this round was anything that anyone could be a part of. And just being part of it was an honour one could not possibly ignore. ''This was tough¡­'' And despite that, the reason Wisdom phoenix was in the spotlight right now, was because of their genuine efforts. ''Dummies¡­'' They were doing their best, and it was, like a rare sight of a rare bird singing its morning song, a very rare sight for the audience who understood little about what was happening, as well the judges who knew exactly what was going on, and still admired it. Chapter 706 Powder of innate growth Chapter 706 Powder of innate growth [OP: ] In their personal ce, the house of wisdom phoenix was following the instructions of their house captain as the clock ticked and moments passed right in front of their eyes. "Bell." "Yes!" Their leader, the one who had lead them to this round of theetation, the one that was called a world level prodigy of her field, Mia Silver, the alchemist of Silver, was doing what she was supposed to do. "The Solution." "Here!" Thepetition time limited were the same as the past two days, however, they were given special spaces where time flowed differently and through this, they were able to do what they might have never been able to with a limited time limit. "Base." "Ready!" The helpers were almost exhausted now that the production of their final product was almost on the verge ofpletion. They had prepared all they can, they had done all that they could, and their end of the work was done, so now, everything depended on the dedicated hands of their captain, and she knew that the best. The serious look on her was the same as the looks that most of the masters and the grandmasters possessed as they neared thepletion of their own works. "Mana essence." "Ready." They had no idea what they had made or what was even happening right now since all the process and everything from the start to the end was executed by her alone and they were mostly only a helping hand for her. They certainly yed a core role in the creation of their end product however, the moment of truth depended on her fingers. "Alright. Step back everyone." "Be careful captain." "You can do it." The things they had used in the creation of thest nine things before them were very potent and rare, and what they had created was by no means anything safe form the normal human perspective. All nine items before her right now, the three test tubes of fluids and six coumpound material powers ced before her were so dangerous ps substances that if it weren''t for the safety spells of this ce and the gears that all the participants of theetation were wearing at the moment, even a little miscement of these things would either relish in a big explosion, or decay of their hours of dedicated efforts. "Huuuuuu¡­" She prepared herself after the others stepped back. Closed her eyes and focused solely on the things before her. "First¡­" The solids and fluids were by no means anything that anyone can handle, even if they possessed special skills to do so. It required a precise, delicate, and near errorlessposition for the end product to turn out the way she wanted it to be. And if, by any worldly chance, even a little error urred at this moment, they would have to say goodbyes to this round and thepetition itself. "3-Hexapol-tryonilmelic Kilonate." A blue powder substance that she added first in a special container where a transparent liquid was already present. "Second¡­" She was using a special equipment that resembled a dropper, however, it was much more urate with the measurements. And still, while adding the three portions of the power that were required here, her entire forehead was covered with sweat. The tension in the air in their room was much more dense than what the others were feeling. Even the audience and the judges could feel the heaviness of the atmosphere through the screens before them. They could tell just how much difficult it was for Miss Mia to do those simple looking tasks however, those who knew how even a simple breath or a wrong heartbeat or micro movement of their muscle would ruin everything, understood her struggle well. And even felt it with their own bodies. "3,6,9-Carbchlodim Dodrecaphlinez." She added more of the transparent liquid with a different dropper and, then, with the use of another unique artifact resembling a spoon, she very carefully added a greenish-orange substance into the container and quickly took a step back as a purple smoke poofed out of the container the very next moment. "Haaaa¡­" Her legs were shaking, her body was visibly tired after only that much. Her eyes were still and locked on the ck, crystalline surface of the container while the hearts of the others behind her ran wild. They could tell she was using much more mental stamina in this process than what was visible to one''s eyes. They could understand the struggle that was required to do this mentally straining process, and that, too, after they were already exhausted from the previous work. "Haaaa¡­" It was going to be like this for the next few minutes. Every spectator knew this fact. And the tension generated from this made it even more attractive to the crowd. "Third¡­" She had just started. Most of the final stage was still pending. It was difficult, yes, however, she was the only one that could do this. "6-Ailo-3,3,3 trymilocyclononemofol." The third powder, an orange one with a strange reddish glow to it, was added to the special container. However, different from the previous ones, this one was added a surface above the previous one. And along with it, the second fluid that was deep blue in colour was added after waiting for a few seconds. "Fourth¡­" Then she closed that surface of the container with a switch, and added the next powder, a deep blue one, along with the previous transparent fluid, and this time, she also added the fifth deep yellow powder, and a different fluid purely yellow in color, which seemed to be hot and more acidic than the other things around it. -Poooooof! Doing this produced a unique green smoke which she had to quickly remove using a vine artifact, since it was a potent poison and also something she would needter. Afterwards, she continued like that and finished the basic mixing process and the ck container was closedpletely with six differentyers ofpounds inside of it. "Haaaa¡­" The color of her skin had be pale. She lookedpletely exhausted at this moment. Even her firm hands were starting shake at this moment. However, her eyes were still as sharply looking before her as they were from the start. She was almost done here, and now, only a few steps remained. "Haaaa¡­" The container was a unique artifact that would do most of the processes, however, it still needed a few supporting elements like the smoke she had collected a moment ago, the materials they could not keep along with these things, andstly¡­ "[Equivalent exchange]." She did not need her skill for the process itself this time. What she needed was an ideal environment for this process to take ce, so she used her skill on a much smaller scale than she had ever been able to, something that was also the result of her vice captain''s brutal training. She did not know it before, however, she could use her skill to do much more than just change some chemicals or do some alchemy processes. This skill of her could be used more diversely than she had done until now. But thanks to him, she had realised just how much more she could do with it. -Ooooooooooooong! A silver light covered their desk and soon after, the area under the ck container was also covered in this light. And the moment this had happened, she pressed another switch on the container, and stepped back to herpanions. -Boooom! A small explosion took ce inside of the container, and right after that, another one followed. Then, things went quiet for another moment. "Captain?" "Is this supposed to happen?" "Is something wrong, captain?" "Shuuuu. It''s alright everyone." She was not in the perfect state of her body, however, she had a smile on her face. A smile her teammates recognised instantly. "It is all right." Her legs, after finishing all that, finally gave up and she sat down on the ground. Her eyes still fixed on the ck container inside the white light zone. "We did it¡­" The little explosions inside the container had continued for a few seconds and then the explosions were reced by a storage boiling notice, which, again, was reced by a strange buzzing or popping sound. Something simr to bees popping inside a container as popcorn¡­ not a sight one would want to witness for real, however, something simr was definitely happening over there. And, whatever happening inside that container, seemed to be within what she had imagined. "We really did it, everyone." "But what exactly did we do captain?" "Yes, what is this?" "Did we make something amazing?" "Hahaha." Sheughed at their question and asked all of them to sit down with her. The container that was ck at the start of the process, had turnedpletely white at the end of that process. "Everyone knows about the innate potential of all beings, right?" "Hmmm?" "Do you mean what one is innately capable of, captain?" "The innate potential is the limitations of a being. Like, how some people cannot reach the fourth circle and how some could never go beyond a certain limit even after doing all that they can." "What does it have to do with this thing, captain? Is this thing rted to innate potential somehow?" "Yes¡­ it is." She looked at the container for a moment more. A pleasant smile was present on her face. Afterwards, she looked at herpanions with another smile of triumph. "That thing¡­ this powder boosts one''s innate physical capability. It can unlock the limitations of a physical body when used correctly and by doing so, someone that might not have been able to grow in any aspect, could have a chance at that growth. It can help people grow, thus, we shall call it the ''Powder of innate growth'' for now¡­" At this moment, she was happy and relieved. "Haaaa¡­ hahahah~." And the joy of sess was so sweet to her heart, her soul that, she couldn''t help butugh out with all the happy emotions she had suppressed for all this time. Chapter 707 Birth of a new master Chapter 707 Birth of a new master [Mia''s POV: ] There are times when a sudden inspiration just strikes you and you start doing things that you did not think about ever in your lives. ''Something similiar happened with me as soon as the round actually started.'' I had no idea what we were going to create for the fifth round of theetation and then there was this nostalgia stuck with me fromst night. ''Master Axion, and Lady Reinelle¡­ they are very simr to vice captain and Uriel.'' So much so that there were moments yesterday that I almost believed the two of them are the same people. However, it also didn''t take long for me to ept it was not the case. ''However simr the two of them are, there are things about the four of them that are just too different from each other and, those fundamental things could not be changed even if one wanted to.'' Vice captain is a very good pure archer for now who is aiming to be a magic archer even though he has affinity with all six major elements of nature, a condition so rare that in history, few with simr condition are able to survive after awakening a Mana nucleus. ''Vice captains knows it well and that is the reason he is going at it with a unique approach of his own.'' Magic doesn''t necessarily have be cast with Mana as its base. Some, very few and very special Aura users could also cast magic if they have proper understanding of the magic and deep enough knowledge about themseves and their Aura to substitute it for Mana. And from what we all could see, he will surely achive what he is aiming for and one day, he will defiantly be a proper magic archer that casts magic with his Aura. ''He is unique, while on the other hand, Master Axion has already achieved what vice captain is aiming for.'' Everyone knows Master Axion is a high grade mage as well as a very good Aura user archer. So good that Alfred and Ca doesn''t get tired of talking about their training with him and his harsh training methods. ''The two of them praise him so much and say how they are at that level thanks to him that most of us who asionally have lunch together have to stop them from talking about him.'' Vice captain sure is smart, knowledgeable, and a very, very special person. But, Master Axion is fundamentally different from him. ''It''s like Master Axion is the light that everyone wants to see, the light that everyone does see, and a light that everyone wants to possess, while vice captain is a kind of shadow that is mostly ignored by the world even though he has unmatched skills, powers and abilitiespared to the others.'' And, I could say the very same for Lady Reinelle and Uriel. One is light and the other is a shadow that is limited to its own turf. They are special in their own ways however, they both definitely are special and that fact makes them different from the normal people. ''Normal people with inherent limitations that, at one point in their lives, stop pushing forward towards self improvement.'' Growth is a factor that always has a timeframe. When it doesn''t happen, one feels like they are struck at one point in their life facing an insurmountable wall that could never be crossed over by them even if they tried with all they had, even if they gave their all and did everything humanly possible. ''It feels like you are stuck in a dark hole when growth isn''t happening, when you are just maintaining what you have, when despite your desperate attempts, nothing really seems to change.'' Everyone with a selfish desire to achieve something greater faces this kind of ''wall'' at least once in their lifetime for a time period that depends solely on them. ''And when the growth is indeed happening in the early stages, it always feels so fast that one themseves might not even be able to see the changes that are happening with them, in them, or around them.'' That''s the nature of growth, unpredictable and uncertain. However, growth happens since it is part of the eternal ''change''. ''Everything changes since everything is in motion. Stillness might exist however, a stop is nonexistent. Something that could only exist on paper, in writings, in fiction.'' Change is unstoppable, and as a positive part of the change, one''s growth is also unstoppable. At least, until one starts to believe it is stoppable. That it is finite. ''A thought struck me a moment before the start of theetation.'' What if we couldn''t do what we are supposed to do here? What if we couldn''t make past this round and enter thest round? What would happen if we could not give everything we had like we were supposed to or give more than we possessed as vice captain had instructed us to? I thought about how whatever happens today, there wille a time when I will not be able to do what I was supposed to. That I will feel stuck and no part of my body will be able to move. ''Just like the wall I had been facing before joining the academy and meeting the vice captain.'' Every being has an innate limitation to them, and those who do not are the beings we prise as Gods of nature. And those who surpass their limits, and achieve what is not possible, we praise those as Lords who once were mortal. That is how nature has made things. And that is how every existing element followed thesews. ''However, how are these limitations imposed?'' I wondered at that moment. In that moment which seemed to have stretched many folds, I wondered what is in the human body that limits one''s ''growth''. What is it that stops one from achieving what others could achieve much easily? What exactly is the ''limiter'' that stops the eternally changing factor ''growth''? ''I thought, and thought. And when I remembered the epistemological theories vice captain taught us, I was able to reach a very simple conclusion.'' Mortal body. ''And even in it, the way a physical body is naturally imperfect.'' The imperfections are the main factor that makes one as human as one can be. And the limitationse from these imperfections, in a way. ''The physical body changes but soul remains immortal, as it is proven by various famous researches.'' Energy, as it is something which had one true origin, would return to that origin after the ''vessel'' holding it is destroyed. Body and Soul, or as we alchemists call it, the true essence of a being. ''When I thought about it, as an epiphany or divine revtion, something came to my mind, no, a certain end product was revealed to me.'' And thest nine hours I spent were all to reach that end I had seen in that eternal moment. ''I knew where I had to go, and so, I did all that came to my mind to do it. And atst, We seeded in creating it.'' A blue powder rested inside the pure white translucent container sitting on the desk. A substance that might have been thought about by many, but I was the chosen one to actually create this miraculous drug. "It looks pretty, captain." "It sure does, but, does this thing actually boost one''s growth factor or does it boost one''s innate potential? What does it actually do?" They asked with genuine curiosity with an expression I could only chuckle at. "Hehe, it doesn''t actually boost anything specific. This powder is kind of a poison." "Poison?!" "What do you mean captain?!" "H-how can a poison-" "Calm down everyone." Exining to them how it worked would take a long time since they did not actually know about the (Gic editing), (Body reconstruction arts) of east, or (Physical refinement) or, how the human body was actually made. ''All their knowledge was mostly from the book of alchemical knowledge, so the details might be difficult for them to understand right now.'' But just from how they followed all my requests and helped me without questioning with the best of their abilities this time, was more than enough reason for them to deserves a proper answer from me. "You can say this thing helps you ovee the ''wall'' that has been blocking you. It''s just that to actually climb the wall, you would have to endure a bad degree of pain so not just anyone can use this." But still, this was something that can help someone ovee the wall that they previously could not. And that very thing made this little blue powder one of a kind. "Everyone, how about we submit this and then talk? I think we should be thest ones anyway." "Yes! We should do that!" We took too long, truthfully. However, we made it without giving up. And that was the only thing that mattered here. "Alright then¡­" We walked to the center of our special workce together, ced the container on the altar there, and pushed the submit switch as the roof above our heads vanished along with walls, and practically everything else. And then, we found ourselves standing in the arena alongside everyone else. But¡­ Something strange happened all of a sudden. "What happened everyone? Why did you suddenly fall silent?" There should have been voices and sighs from the other participants, joyous cheers from the audience or at the very least, an announcement from the announcer. There should have been voices, but there were not. Everything around me was dead quiet, along with my teammates. "Hmmmm? What are you looking at?" And they were looking up for some reason. What was happening? ''Did something happen?'' I did not understand it when I looked at the clear sky above my head. It was a pretty normal sight. However, when I saw how there were darker clouds in the sky and the only part above my head was clear as a day, a sudden thought struck my head. [ "U-unbelievable! Everyone! This¡­! We are seeing the birth of a new master! Everyone! This is¡­ perhaps also the youngest person to be acknowledged as a master! This is unbelievable!" ] And right after the announcement of sir announcer, and the strange feeling that overwhelmed my entire being, that thought became reality. And also an unforeseen moment that I had been wanting to experience for thest few years¡­ Chapter 708 What it means to be a master Chapter 708 What it means to be a master [Eon''s POV: ] On the arena ground where all thepetition rounds had taken ce since the beginning of the annualpetition of the principality, a miraculous event that rarely takes ce every few decades was unfolding at the moment. Miss Mia, one of the twelve prodigies that the world had their eye on, was in the spotlight right now, and I mean it literally. [[ "Congrats darling. Your student is now a master and you are a teacher of a master, lol. Hehe." ]] Rein was giggling but, the scene that was unfolding before all of us was so special that she couldn''t help but look at it with stars in her eyes. She liked seeing this even though she had seen the happening of this process many times throughout her life. Once when she was with me as well. ''She saw me be a grandmaster enchanter three months ago, and we were alone at that time, in the middle of nowhere, in a barren field with practically nothing on it. And she has seen a few others getting acknowledged as a master by the world.'' Still, she has this super impressed look every time she sees this special scene. The scene of the birth of a master¡­ "To see someone so young being acknowledged as a master by the world¡­ just how gifted one has to be to achieve something so phenomenal?" Someone whispered while the spotlight on Miss Mia was intensifying and her body was starting to glow with a unique kind of silver light. And, whoever this person may be, what they had said out loud must have been the very thing on many of the minds present in this balcony. "Having talent or being gifted does not make someone a master, Lord Kwan." Master Maverick spoke up as a response to that voice, and following his voice, Lady Carolina added behind him. "That''s right. A master is a unique ''title'' given only to those who truly deserve to be called one. However, I guess most of the people here wouldn''t know what it means to be a master, correct?" Her voice was as powerful as ever. And just listening to it made all of the people present here quite down. ''And while this was happening, the wonder of nature was intensifying.'' At first, Miss Mia was graced with a light from the heavens, or the higher skies. A light that was proof of acknowledgment of the world and this nature. ''Then, the light slowly intensified and the skies above her became the only light that wasing down from the clouded skies.'' The light slowly intensified, her body started glowing, silver particles starteding out of her body, and then¡­ beneath her feet, flowers started growing up rapidly. ''Following this, as if to have received a blessing from the gods, Miss Mia opened her eyes that contained a unique kind of glow that only a few people on that ground possessed, a glow that was the badge of those who were called ''masters'' of their crafts by the world.'' This process of one being acknowledged by the world and this light gracing them, this unique phenomenon is called (Entitlement). The process in which the person that is being acknowledged by the world receives a unique title by the world that grants a unique power simr to passive skills to the individual. ''I personally possess more than twelve titles, some of which are one of a kind. However, even after having felt the ''entitlement'' process, It is still not something I have managed to fully grasp just yet.'' It is just a special feeling that is difficult to put into simple words. Like, even after using the most specific words and vocabries of all thenguages I know, I would still fail to put this feeling into understandable words. Still, if I had to put it into the simplest of the words, this process we call ''entitlement'' is the same as receiving a blessing. Though by not a higher being, but by nature itself. ''It is a special feeling and I cherish it every time I feel it, and I can feel from the expression she had right now, that Miss Mia was feeling that same kind of unfathomable feeling.'' She had a certain kind of expression that her house members and the two of us understood very clearly. "What do you mean by that, mdy?" "To be a master is to have mastered one''s craft, isn''t that correct?" "Well, we can say that''s the meaning of master or more specifically, the title of a master of a field. Something not just anyone could get-" "No." "That is not what it means to be a master, everyone." First Lady Char cut him midway, and then Lord Justin shocked his head at them while saying that. The two of them understood very well what it actually meant to be a master since one was a grandmaster herself and the other was the lord of the family that had many masters, grandmasters, as well as transcendent people in their family.. They knew what it meant to receive this title, and they knew what it was like to be acknowledged by teh world that they lived in, the nature that was the one and only true omnipresent-omniscient existence. "To be a master is much different from what themon folks understand, and not exactly something that everyone could understand as well." "Right. Oh! How about master Axion tell us what he understands about this? You must understand what it means to be a master since your mother is the master of her field, your grandparents have been the leading masters of their fields at one point in time, and your father is the current leading face that is being recognised by many of the world for his unique magical prowess. You practically live among the masters, so, what do you think? What does it mean to be a master?" That as a question from Lady Carolina. And I had already expected this kind of a question from the moment she started talking about the masters. And thanks to her, now, all the eyes were on me. Again. "Haaaa¡­ Well, if I have to say, I would say to be a master, is to be a half written poem." I paused after saying that, and as I expected, including the four rulers of Lakmer, everyone else here had a baffled expression. "A poem that is already attractive and good enough when it is half. One that is left unfinished by the creator for the others'' understanding. One that is notplete, and still, is so attractive that one who does not understand why it is unfinished, would never know the true endlessness it possesses." Only Rein was understanding what I was saying. And since this example went well with her asional tendency to pen a poem out of nowhere, she liked how I put thisplicated thing. Which was enough for me. "Well, I don''t expect everyone to understand what I mean by-" "Brilliant." "Yes¡­" "I couldn''t have put it better than that." "Neither could I." The four of them spoke one by one in a voice that sounded so astonished that the others present here were stunned how these four great rulers that were the centre of many circles could possibly show such personal expression in public like that. ''And they weren''t even acting this time.'' My views on what it meant to be a master truly surprised all four of them. "I should have recorded that¡­ did someone record that? I wanna hear it again." Said Master Maverick with a smile on his face. "I did~!" And my Rein answered him immediately with a joyous smile on her pretty face. "Haaa¡­" The others could not understand what was happening with the four of them, and Rein, but they certainly understood one thing. "Ohhh! I see. I seem to have had a wrong understanding of this concept. I will have to contemte this topicter." "I did not understand what Master Axion meant fully, however, I will try my best to understand it." "An unfinished poem¡­ what a beautiful thing indeed. Hmm. Hmm. I seems to have received a new enlightenment with this new perspective." No you didn''t you bastards. Even the four of them didn''t actually understand what I meant by what I said. ''They just admired how well I put that iprehensible thing. But you people don''t even understand that.'' One could debate for hours on what it meant to be a ''master'' in this specific context and they would still not reach any certain conclusion since what nature deems worthy of being called a master is beyond all of our mortalprehension. We could only specte and tell what we believed was the true meaning behind this. So, if these bullshitting people really believed anyone here was going to buy their bullshit, they can go home and rest for the day. ''But, them aside¡­'' Miss Mia achieved what only those who possess an unparalleled knowledge about her craft, have year and years of experience, have talent backing up their experience, and those who have faced countless changes in their lives could achieve. ''And she was still only twenty one.'' There was a long life ahead of her where everyone in the outside world would call her not by her name, but with a master prefix before the name she cherished so much. She had put an enormous amount of effort, dedicated more than half of her life to Alchemy, and she had already gathered enough achievements to stand above some other masters¡­ she should have gotten the title earlier with all that, but at the end, she only got it after creating something that was absurd to even think about. A substance that could help someone brave enough to take it unlock their innate potential, something that naturally was not possible. ''It was a miracle that she created that, and this miracle had to be acknowledged by the world.'' Ultimately¡­ She was a master now. And, it will help her a great lot with thest round of theetation that would start shortly after the judges dere their verdict. ''It was obvious that they were going to pass this round since even the World had acknowledged their product in a way.'' What would mortal judges like them were to deny that eternal verdict? ''They gave their all and they passed. And that much brings me more joy than anything else at the moment.'' They were my team. And they were going to see thest light of thest round of this grandpetition¡­ Chapter 709 Before the last round Chapter 709 Before thest round [Mia''s POV: ] (Unfinished! Please wait!) It has been a while since I got my title and they announced the winners of that round of thepetition. And, yes we got through this one. ''Huuuuu¡­'' It was difficult. I was exhausted in thosest moments. I won''t even know how I was able to handle myself back then. ''Perhaps the heavens blessed me with greater strength or perhaps someone watching us right now prayed for us. Whatever it was, we managed to make it sessfully. And the loudest cheers that erupted after the entitlement finished, resonated with all our hearts. ''A thrilling feeling it was, certainly.'' I can hear them saying our names, my name. And they were cheering for me, pping, screaming at the rear sight they got to see. ''It was magical for me¡­'' And I can tell for certain that it was a magical experience for the audience as well. ''Thest time someone became a master in this arena was around the time I was three years old or something. So around eighteen years ago or something?'' Captain and vice captain, most of the students with me as a matter of fact hadn''t even been born back then. There were many young people watching me right now so this was their first time seeing something so magical, something that they could only read in books or see in photos. And for the older ones who had seen this kind of spectacle before as well, this was nostalgic for them. They were joyous when we were announced to have passed the fifth round. And of course, we were as well¡­ The announcements and cheers were well received, the joy was celebrated, and the atmosphere was flowery now. Even on the ground where only thest round participants had remedied, there was a unique festive atmosphere. ''My house members including me were being approached by the people that others spent a fortune or a long time to get an appointment with.'' Some of the masters and other who had been impressed by the techniques and skills of my housemates even invited them to an individual meeting. Most probably to talk about an apprenticeship or to work alongside them. These house members of mine had a special set of skills that would be coveted by any alchemist who understood their worth and their potential so, miss Grandbell, Sir Fang and Kuro and even Ball, especially Ball, were surrounded by those old men who were asking them for a meeting. ''They saw the value of their skills and they knew since their skills were still in the development stages and they could improve them better than what they could do on their own in the academy.'' They understood the value of youth the most, so if not right now, even if they had to wait till we graduate, they were ready to do itter if it meant they could have them, and their talents. They knew just how special these guys were¡­ but the fact that the one who showed them the true values of their skills was our vice captain would not change in any circumstances. ''They were surrounded by them even right now. And, it was fine since this is break time. They have worked hard, so they definitely deserve a break.'' And I would have been the same if it had not been for the entitlement process, but after I received the title, all my fatigue was gone and I was back to the top physical condition. For a matter of fact, I was feeling better than ever before. And thanks to the title I just received, I could now use my unique skill even more proficiently. Or at least, that was the feeling I was getting when focusing deep inside of me. ''I would have to test my skills to see just how much I have improved-'' "Excuse me? Miss Mia Silver?" "Hmm?" I was lost in my own thoughts as I sat in a corner, away from all themotion going on right now. And since it was a little unnoticeable ce, thought I wouldn''t be approached by anyone. However, it looks like I was wrong this time. "Yes? How my I help you miss¡­" "Oh! Apologies. Where are my manners." Someone spotted me even in this shadowy ce and it was the person I was expecting to greet the least. "I greet thee, the new master of Alchemy, master Mia, the alchemist of Silver. I''m called ?thereal. And it is a pleasure to be the first person to greet the newest master alchemist of this world." Her greeting was¡­ quite sincere. And she was as elegant with her way of bowing and showing her genuine curiosity towards me as a high ss noble or royaldy. I would even say it wasparable to some pirs of high society. She was unexpectedly good¡­ "The pleasure is all mine, Miss ?thereal. And it is actually an honour to be greeted by the toughest opponent standing in our way to victory. Personally, I respect you miss ?thereal. And it''s not only because of the talent you have shown in thispetition until now, but also because you are perhaps the only person that shows me how big of a difference between a prodigy and a true genuine actually is in this field. You are simply amazing." She was someone that started thispetition with crown prince Charles. However, starting the second day''s third round, the two of them continued individually. And, when they did, people started seeing just how truly amazing this person before me actually was. ''Not only her methods were unconventionally genius, the way she always created her works was just too gorgeous for one to ignore.'' I was amazed the first time I saw her creation process videos ybacks yesterday, and I was amazed until I saw both rounds six times straight before suddenly falling asleep. She¡­ was a gale of freedom. The way she enjoyed creating her own versions of simple yet utterly stunning things, doing some foolery while doing so,ughing and enjoying herself was something too captivating for me. Unexpectedly so as well. It was just too fun. ''And I wished to be like her. Daring, free, unfazed even before the toughest of challenges.'' She was perhaps the very trigger that gave me the inspiration to create the Powder of innate growth. "Huhuhu. You sure are a funny girl to say good and bad things together like that." She wasughing, and even that was attractive. ''A perfectugh that hides the true emotions of one so well even the best experts would get fooled by it. She''s just too good with all that she does.'' * They have been gone for a while now. What might be so urgent that Master Grandalff had to escort him to the headmaster''s office himself? "They are in trouble, aren''t they?" They are always doing dangerous things and they were gone for three whole months. Of course they were in trouble right now. They are so careless! "I don''t think they would be in any kind of trouble, Agnes." We all were in our usual benches by a tree in the garden as Princess Cathy patted my back and reassured me with a positive voice. And, I looked up at her. "But¡­ but you know how they are¡­ how they are so careless and-" "It will be fine, Miss Agnes. I think so as well. And I can say for certain it isn''t about their absence for three months. if it were the case, the headmaster would have reacted the time they returned and were in the middle of the entire ceremony that happened earlier." "Right. They were asked to meet him in his office after they received their present from the wish granting tree. Those three unique looking cards." "Yes! It must be because of that!" Mister Ragasage''s words made sense, and seeing how even Prince Morexis agreed with him, it must be the case this time. Yes¡­ The two of them shouldn''t be in that big of a trouble. And it''s not like they did something to the wish granting tree so what they got was not their doing either. ''Yes¡­'' It was a coincidence, a chance that they got those things and it was not their fault. Which means they should just be talking with the headmaster about something important. Perhaps something rted to the things that they did when they were gone. "Yes¡­" They said they were going on a very important business trip, didn''t they? Something rted to the adventurer''s association''s request about a dungeon or something? [[ Master~. They went to a dimensional dungeon~!" ]] Right. That. I almost forgot the word they used for that ce. ''A dimensional dungeon¡­'' And El mentioned it was a dungeon where time flowed differently and the reason they were sote was just because the time difference was like that. That was the reason they werete, and they had finished whatever they had went there for, so they hade back fine as well. Yes. That''s right. They came back. And that''s all that matters. ''And they aren''t hurt anywhere either.'' If anything, they are healthier than they used to be thest time I had seen them. Which was good as well. ''They didn''t do anything too foolish and were able to get done with whatever they had gone there for, and since they were back now, we all can go back to our usual ways now.'' And El mentioned it was a dungeon where time flowed differently and the reason they were sote was just because the time difference was like that. Chapter 710 Spectre not spectator Chapter 710 Spectre not spectator [Mia''s POV: ] At first, this person, Ball, was no special student in any of our house member''s eyes. Including mine. I only saw him as a good kid that wanted to help Captain Zoe for helping him with the entrance exam with anything he was capable of. ''We knew he admired her, however, that was it.'' There was nothing special about him. Nothing that was visible to any of us at the very least. But then vice captain Lucifer chose him as one of the members that would take part in this alchemypetition and made all of us question his intentions. ''We thought he was nothing more than a big, healthy kid that was good at heart and a little dumb in head. And we continued thinking that until that one day he used his special absorption skill for the first time and, everything changed.'' For him and for all of us as well. ''He became someone the team had to rely on for a lot of things and, slowly but surely, that fat boy started turning into an attractive, muscr, healthy guy that manydies in the school now wrote love letters to.'' But this guy was still the same boy that we knew from the start. Only his appearance had changed. He was still kind of dumb in many ways, had little awareness of the special things that he was capable of and the powers that he had yet to realise he possessed. ''Out amazing Captain Zoe found this bastard and helped him when no one even knew of his existence and the Vice captain looked after him personally for a reason.'' And now I can understand what the reason might have been for that. "What do you want me to tell you, captain? Just as I said, I did what I needed to so that I can get out of all those uncles and grandpas. They are asking for too much even though I said I don''t want to do anything with them as politely as I could. Cursing is bad or else I would have cursed at them as well! Did you know some of them were even touching me!" He was still kind of dumb, but that is beside the point here. "Just tell me what you did and what you saw after that. Tell me every. Single. Detail. You can remember. Everything." "Whaaaaaat? Captain! I am tired-" "Ball Marvin. Do you want dinner tonight or not?" Just this one threat from me was enough to make him put into the most worried state he could be in. "O-of course I do!" And since only Captain, vice captain, and I had the authority to actually starve him, this threat worked in all kinds of situations against him. "Then start speaking. How did you do it? What did you see? What did you feel?" His absorption skill wasn''t simply about absorbing things and channelling them with his body. It was practically about ''absorption'' itself. Like, he can absorb anything and everything as long as he wished for it, or his skill''s limitations allowed it. ''I remember the ''incident'' that happened a few weeks before with our house members and the ones from Turtle defenders where vice captain told me something that still remains between a few of us.'' This bastard''s unique skill is special and can do much more than absorbing things when ''he'' wished for it himself. No. The skill didn''t really need him for anything in the first ce. It is a passive skill that is active all the time instead of an active skill that needs a specific amount of energy to trigger. ''It is a skill that''s active all the time, and even the vice captain realised it after this bastard had almoste back from the verge of death.'' And that was the very reason he started teaching him how to properly control this passive ability of his. And he certainly had gained significant control over the skill in this short time. We were able toe all the way to thest round mostly thanks to his skill. However, to do what he was saying was not just outside of his capabilities at the moment, he should not have been able to do it in the first ce as a human. "Ummm¡­ so¡­ where should I start? Hmmm¡­ well, captain, the things is¡­ I just thought about how it was so ufortable being surrounded by all those people and wanted to get out of there. And then, I suddenly remembered the invisibility potion that thedy who was here before me made during the fourth round of thepetition." He was fidgeting his fingers nervously, but his eyes were still making an attempt to stay focused on mine. Which was a good sign in this case. He understood this was no normal situation and that I wasn''t ying around right now. This was serious. He understood that. And it was surprising how he was inspired by Lady ?thereal''s invisibility potion. Such unique coincidence, hun? "So¡­ thedy''s invisibility potion¡­ I remembered you saying how special it was.That''s how it was applied to the body instead of drinking¡­ You said it reflects the light and blocks the presence of the body matter itself so that one could not perceive it, so¡­ so I thought¡­ I thought about how I can also make my body disappear if I can absorb all the light that makes me visible, including all the things that give away my presence¡­ I don''t really know how I did it exactly, but after this thought came to my mind, my vision nched for a moment, and, I started seeing strange things along with everything else that was still there¡­" He was sweating since just speaking with me like this was difficult for him. ''He''s still the same boy he was weeks ago even if he might have changed significantly. This kind of pressure was not something he was familiar with just yet.'' But, he will learn it going forward. And he will be much more sessful person than even me perhaps. He IS that much special. "It''s a little difficult to describe what I saw¡­ but as captain wants¡­ I will do my best." He was weak, even though he had strengths surpassing most normal humans. And he was dumb, even after practically absorbing more knowledge about many things including alchemy that I knew right now. Even I had to rely on his knowledge when we were in the middle of the main production today. Was the greatest support unit any army could have. But he was still timid to the responses of the world, unfamiliar with the things that went on around him in normal situations, and introverted despite his talents. ''It wasn''t easy for him to sit before me and tell me all this, but he was still doing it. And that just shows how desperately he is trying his best.'' He is a good boy. "The world there was a little greenish, like everything looked kind of greenish as if a greenyer of something was painted on my eyes. There were strange shapes beside people and people also has this strange light inside them was difficult to understand. And, the light that I saw from here, captain, was the brightest of them all. Almost blinding." What he was saying definitely made sense to me since I had heard something simr from vice captain when he was teaching me the Epistemology of Lnka. "I didn''t understand what that light was, but I just walked towards it. However, just when I was about to reach it, the light vanished. And I felt a thunderous pain throughout my body. So much so that everything went back to normal the next minute and, when I came to my senses, perfectly fine and without any kind of pain anywhere, you were here. And I saw that Lady walking away from you¡­ I do not know what that light was, but the way that ce felt was so chilly and weird I don''t ever want to do it again!" "And you shouldn''t even try to, dumbass. Haaaa¡­" This guy is unbelievable. "Hmm? Captain? Do you know anything about that ce? What did I do exactly?" And he''s even more unbelievable to ask that kind of question with an innocent and cute face like that. ''Why doesn''t this guy have a lover yet? Is he also mentally unprepared to ept others?'' Many young noblewomen would love to have this cute guy as their partner, and there are many with unique preferences if he wasn''t interested in women anymore as well. He should just get over the past and live better. "Of course I know, dummy. That ce was another realm different from this one. And, simply speaking, you turned into a Spectre for a moment and were thrown out of that ce since you didn''t belong there. Consider it your and Our luck that you didn''t get lost, bastard. You would be a goner if it weren''t for that light or whatever." He would have definitely been lost to the flow of time and space in that realm and since mortals did not belong there ording to the rules, he would be dead by now. "Haaaaa¡­ don''t do that again, bastard. We still need you. All of Wisdom Phoenix does." I hugged the cute bastard and pped his back. He even made me emotional with all this¡­ he ruined my good mood! "C-Captain?! W-w-what are you doing?! And what do you mean by spectator?!" This dumb little thing¡­ he''s all shy and pink after only a hug. ''What''s he gonna do if his partner turns out to be a naughty one?'' Ah, and, looks like he still doesn''t understand. "I didn''t say spectator, you deaf little boy. I said Spectre. Ghost it means, phantoms as well. Technically the dead. You were in a ce where no ''matter'' exists. The realm of the dead, a ce where the souls and energies that could not cross over to the Afterlife await their turn: Shadow Realm. A ce where no unauthorized living shall trespass." It is a dangerous ce, the source of power for many who practise dark arts, and one of the ultimate power sources for those who could wield Shadows. ''But for those who couldn''t, it''s just a death sentence.'' He was lucky that he got out unharmed. That he followed that light¡­ Had he not done that, he would have faced beings that no sane human shall ever see if they wanted to keep their sanity intact. Never. Ever. Ever¡­ Chapter 711 Start of the finale

Chapter 711 Start of the finale

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Hmmm¡­" Miss Mia and Ball have been talking for a while now. And from the looks of it, it looks like what I read from their lip movements was actually the truth. "What are you thinking about, Eon?" "Hmm? Oh, Rein¡­" It was currently breaktime, so we people on the balcony were having some tea and snacks. Some people had gone out for some fresh air, but since we had no reason to go anywhere anymore, we were just chilling here. And, since I was looking at the ground for a while now, Rein asked me with a little concerned expression. "It''s nothing much for me, though¡­ if I do tell you, it would be a big deal to you." "A big deal to me¡­? Why''s that?" We were having tea by ourselves right now. With a barrier separating us from the rest of the useless public here. And I made the tea myself, so she had been drinking it with a joyful face until I made her worry with my words. ''She didn''t understand what I was saying¡­ but I know for a fact she will be a little upset if I do tell her.'' Still, hearing this might make her a little cheerful. "Tell me why?" "It''s nothing but a little coincidence." "What coincidence?" "Well, it ain''t nothing but a mistake." "Shut the nonsense and get to the point. I have no need to take the teasing right now." "I will do that then." I wanted to make her a little more cheerful before telling her about this matter, so I was saying it that way. But this was enough music. Now, to be serious, I looked at her carefully and put my hand on hers on the table. "You saw how Ball was surrounded by those elders, right?" "Yes. He looked like he was suffering among them, lol. But then he suddenly vanished. Did he use some kind of illusion skill or something? How did he slip out of those people?" She did not know it and since we both did not see what he did, it was obvious that just like me, she would be clueless what kind of miraculous feat that dumb Ball of ours had managed to achieve identally. "You see, he absorbed all the matter around him while trying to erase his presence. And because of that-" "He was only left with energy for a brief moment and was able to slip into the shadow realm? Is that what you want to say¡­?" "You just stole the words from my mouth. As expected of my pretty Lady." "Fuck that pretty Lady¡­ tell me how the fuck this was possible in the first ce?!" She first had a bewildered expression, which turned into a shocked one that was restless at the moment. She certainly guessed what I wanted to say with a few hints from me since she was one of the few experts that knew about the Shadow realm, Shadow energy, and the power of Darkness as well as I did. But, she could never fathom just how someone like Ball, someone who did not even have affinity with the Darkness attribute, was able to slip into the Shadow realm, the territory of Shadows, Ghosts, Phantoms, and those who were purely made of ''energy'' and emotions. ''She had studied all that I knew about that realm, she had even searched for the traces of the higher beings who are able to control the Shadow energy, however, her serch had borne no fruits until now.'' The existences that are able to deal with the power of Shadows, the higher form of Darkness, are arguably the rarest beings in this entire world. And since they are ''shadow'' rulers, they stay in the shadows. In the peaceful world away from all forms of life. ''She had searched and searched relentlessly for any trace of those beings, but her searches were futile. She couldn''t find any trace of those beings, and she couldn''t find any trace of how one could obtain Shadow energy aside from the traditional manner of being acknowledged by the ones who had the authority over them.'' One of the topics of these searches had also been the Shadow realm where these beings might reside most of the time, and, since it was a ce we couldn''t go to even if we wanted to, the ce she wanted to see, visit so desperately¡­ When she heard that nobody who had no rtion to Darkness was able to go in there, she couldn''t possibly just sit down and drink tea. ''That was perhaps the reason she was standing right now, and cursing at me with that look. Hahaha.'' It was cute seeing her all worked up like that, but that look also meant she was being serious right now. And if I do smile orugh at her, she won''t just take it quietly. "So, what he did was simple¡­" I just told her all that I knew, and all that I thought would have happened from my perspective. And since I didn''t really knew what actually happened, I only had spections for her. ''However, one thing I could say for certain was how what he did was pure coincidence. And that the chances of something like that happening again would be extremely low.'' The World itself won''t allow it or at least would try to resist it if the method he was using was legitimate. But I doubt that was the case¡­ "Damn¡­ fuck¡­ damn¡­ did he really see that ce?" "I am certain of that much. Miss Mia has been giving him a lecture about it since a while back." "Really?" She looked a little sad, but there was a unique light present in her eyes as well. ''If someone was able to do it, it meant it wasn''t impossible.'' That doing something like entering the realm of Shadows was not impossible even while being mortals. It was just freaking difficult and actually doing it would require extreme luck, a broken skill like his Absorption, and someone who won''t be rejected by that realm, at least for a little while. ''She saw a window of opportunity.'' What she had been wanting to see was not just a fantasy anymore. And despite that sad look on her face, the immeasurable feeling of joy in her eyes was a rare sight I would love seeing on a regr basis. ''But if that started happening, it won''t be a rare sight anymore.'' So, I enjoyed this moment where she had this littleplicated, and a little attractive look for a moment, before nodding with a smile. "Yes. He definitely went there for a moment, something happened that was able to guide him and that ce then rejected him, which cancelled the skill effectpletely, and he returned unharmed." "Wow¡­" Now, the look of sadness was gone, and only wonder, joy, and faith had remained on her gorgeous face. "How would he have felt there, I wonder?" She was smiling while looking at my team that was now preparing for thest round like everyone else. "How about we ask them about it after this is over? Or better, let''s take them back with us." "Hmmm? Take them back? Where-¡­ oh! To the capital?! At your house?!" "Correct." "Wow! Yes! Wait! But, can we even do that?" "I mean, it''s break time for them anyway. After thepetition, they will still be free until school starts, so we can take a few of them with us personally. How''s that?" "Yes! Absolutely freaking yes! I will have Quin and Med! Ohhh! And Princess Bell as well! Let''s put her and Alf in a room, hehe! It will be fun~." "The room¡­ doesn''t sound like a good idea, so let''s think about that more. However, as for inviting them, as long as they want to, of course." The final round is starting now, and it will end soon. And then there will be a little event but that will end soon as well. And, after the award ceremony, and the announcements of happenings of yesterday, it will all be over. And, we will be able to finally¡­ finally go home. ''And, I know everyone will like it if we bring back a few of our friends. Especially Anna.'' She will love to have new faces around¡­ ''Oh, that''s right¡­ Anna¡­" I haven''t seen her for quite a while now. How would she react hen I go back? Will she be happy? Will she hug me first or will she be upset that I was onlying back after so long? Will she let go of me when it is time for us to leave? Or will I have to talk with her for a few hours likest time? ''How will everyone react?'' And how will they punish me for doing so many reckless things during the yesterday''s war. ''They must have alredy known about it all by now, right?'' I know mom must have known about it already. And soon, grandma, grandpa, and uncle Theo will know of it all as well. ''Perhaps it will be chaotic for a while when we go back.'' But¡­ ''I am looking forward to this warm chaos.'' Chapter 712 How do we create it?

Chapter 712 How do we create it?

?[Mia''s POV: ] [ "The time all of us have been waiting for has finally arrived, everyone! The end of what has started, the beginning of what would mark the end, the sixth and final round of the third day of thepetition, as well as thest chance for all the great participants to show all that they have got!" ] "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "WOOOOHOOOOOO~!" "GOGOGOGOGOGOGO!" [ "That''s right everyone! They are thest group of the great creators who have made it to thest round, to the final stage of thispetition and also the ones who created the greatestst of items, potions, golems and artificial lifeforms like homunculus! They are the nine great contestants who will, most likely, emerge as the victor of this year''spetition as well as champions who will retain the titles of the greatest Alchemists OF THEM ALL¡­!" ] He sure knew how to do these announcements. His reputation and decades of experience surely is are no exaggeration. And his ways with the crowd were quite remarkable as well. ''He is good, as always¡­'' [ "So then, everyone! I know everyone already knows thest nine participants, however, it is my job to reintroduce them now that we are starting the final round!" ] Thousands of people participated in thisputation but only nine ''blocks'' were chosen as the finalists of theetation and, we were the only ones that were participating as a team. [ "The first one, of course, the elder who has won this veryetation not once or twice, but twelve times in thest century! The elder and grandmaster that everyone knows about! Master ?ling!" ] A dwarf elder that has been participating in thispetition since they started doing it all those years ago. And, it is said he was one of the first people to receive the titles of masters as well as grandmaster on this very grounds. [ "The second, just like Elder ?ling, is known to all! However instead of her titles of master or grandmaster, people recognise her for her other unique title! The , Master Petricia LaQ La¨¬!" ] An olddy Elf that actually looked old, so one can guess from her looks alone how she must be a few hundred years old already. ''However, she is still freaking gorgeous and possesses that adult kind of beauty that those with some unique presence would love to be dominated by.'' But that was the second most attractive characteristic of hers. ''The first one, of course, is her unfathomably advanced medicine knowledge and her Elixir synthesis skills.'' She is so good at creating medicines that she is called the best Apothecary alive at the moment¡­ at least, the known best one. But she is very good at what she does. And it''s going to be difficult going against her as well. [ Third¡­" ] The announcer was announcing the participants in detail but there was no need to pay attention to all that since there were only eight individuals and our team as the final participants. ''And aside from the two grandmasters, Lady ?thereal, and us, there were also two more grandmasters and three masters who had made it to the final round.'' And among the other two grandmasters, one was an old human Mage who had recently been acknowledged as a grandmaster, and an Old Merpersondy that was perhaps the hottest ones among the participants¡­ as well as one of the most dangerous ones. ''She was the noble of the only Empire of the Sea people, and, her speciality were homunculus. Ones that could be used in practical wars and ones that were visibly veryyyy intimidating from my perspective.'' Perhaps it might be a normal look from their perspective but I didn''t quite like that look. But whatever¡­ ''And the other three masters that had made it to the final round¡­ well, I don''t really feel we would lose to them if the fight was about who could give their all for their creation.'' The usual mentality of the Alchemists or any kind of creators was the biggest hurdle when ites to apetition like this one where they have to show all they had if they wanted any chance of winning and create something that held all the essence of their talent, vision, and creativity. They had the chance only if they could do this, and many masters as well as grandmasters participate in thispetition exactly for pushing themselves to the point they have no choice but to squeeze out everything they were capable of. ''I know it isn''t anything easy in any way¡­ however, I also know I can do it if a miracle like thest round happens once again.'' And this time, I have an idea what I have to make as well. "Listen up everyone¡­" Sir announcer was doing his job while we were now in the final creation rooms, a ce much more advanced than the one we used in thest round. A ce that contained practically everything an alchemist could need to create any kind of alchemical product, or, well, anything that was even closely rted to the alchemy. ''There were all kinds of artifacts and equipments present in this ce, things that I don''t think I will ever get to possess anytime soon, things that were so presceious that one could buy an entire estate, many a city in exchange of that.'' Not only were these things super advanced, they were one of a kind in this world and, every single one of them that were present in the rooms that the the nine participants were in right now, were handcrafted by the best craftsmen of this world over the past decades, and centuries. ''These artifacts and these rooms are one of the reasons there are always a limited number of participants in thest round each year, and just like how the number ofst round participants haven''t increased since a decade ago, there are times it stays the same for many, many decades.'' But we are some of the few that have the chance to use this one of a kind facility, these artefacts I might never get the chance to even touch in the future, and these¡­ use these gorgeous materials I don''t know much about, however I like. "Yes captain." "What are we going to do, captain? Do you have a n this time as well?" "Captain¡­" "Shuuuu. Let me speak." Many, no, most of the people that get to the final round of thisetation try to create the one thing that they had always wanted to create by using the facilities provided by Lakmer, or try to create the best work of their lives. And I am going to do the same. "Ball gave me an idea, so please apud him first." We had gathered around each other just like how we had been doing before the start of each round. They were looking at me, just like they usually do, however, what I said just now was a first for them. And for me of course. "I mean it, jeez. He gave me an idea." -p. p. p. They were staring at me nkly so I just started pping my hands since I knew they weren''t going to p for our cute Ball who already had an embarrassed expression. "Um¡­ right." -p! p! p! They were confused, but they pped, after me and some of them thanked him as well. Though they were still confused after doing that. "Now, what do you all know about the phantoms and ghosts?" They were confused by the sudden question as well; however, they answered it to the best of their abilities. "So, what do you think it would be like to be something like those beings that aren''t mortal or physical but just a packet of energy?" "What¡­?" "What do you mean captain?" "Are you talking about bing a ghost or something? Is that possible?" "Technically, not for everyone. But, yes. I believe it is possible." Ball was able to absorb all the matter and presence around him and thus only his energy remained of his existence which, of course, couldn''t stay in the physical world and since it wasn''t only his Soul that had remained of him, he was able to enter a unique realm not many are able to. So, using that concept, the fact that there exists people who could separate their own souls from their bodies, and specting that the Soul enters a separate world from the Shadow realm even after being a pure mass of energy, we can say that Matter and Energy have a close rtionship with each other however, in this world, it is possible for them to existpletely separately. ''On that basis, it is also possible for a mortal being to enter the world that is not meant for them like Ball did, just like how the ghosts and phantoms are able toe over to this world, even though they aren''t supposed to be here.'' We are talking about the soul, the mind, and the bodies in this context now, which exists in certain realms physically, mentally, and spiritually. "So, ultimately, what if we are able to turn into a phantom that exists in a unique world? Or, what if a person could turn into a phantom or a ghost by some kind of external stimulus?" What if I can make a potion that could allow someone, who is strong enough to handle the effects of the potion, to turn into a ghost like creature, something either separate from their physical body or something that has turned into a Spectorpletely? ''Doing it is possible since Ball was able to do something much much more difficult than simply turning into a Spector in this physical world.'' He entered that ce without the authority to do so, so, if someone has the authority to separate their souls from their bodies already, what if they could do something like he did? How crazy would that be now, hun? Mortals being able to enter a world that was different from the world where pure souls existed? "I¡­ don''t understand what you want to say, captain. But, how do we create this thing?" They had many questions, but Ball was the only one that expressed what was on his mind. "How do we create it?" I looked at them, with an excited smile on my face, a bunch of ideas popping into my mind. "Well, to create something like that, we will first have to find out if it is even possible to create something like this in the first ce, hehehe." This was apletely new concept that no one in the world had ever worked on ording to my knowledge. So, however much we find out, however close to the end product we could get with the resources and the time allocated to us, how ever much we are able to push ourselves in this moment, technically, it would be the first attempt anyone is doing anything like this. ''It was beyond human, or as a matter of fact mortal capabilities, which ultimately made this whole concept itself, a fun thing to y around with.'' I don''t know where we will go once we start going on this direction, but that very ''unknown'' of this path makes it much more exciting than any normal, safer, known route someone can take in a situation like this~! Besides, alchemy isn''t limited to end products anyway. Concepts, theories, and equations are an inseparable part of this creative field. Chapter 713 Theory that none understands

Chapter 713 Theory that none understands

?[OP: ] The final round of theetation had started where all the nine participants of this round had to give their all and produce something that they had only ever thought about, a masterpiece surpassing their previous masterpiece, and a gem that would forever be on disy in the hall of fame of this very area. [ "We are seeing quite a farce response from the participants this time as soon as the round has begun! Look everyone! Lord ?ling seems to have chosen to follow his path this time around as well and go for an artifact creation! We will be seeing mes and dwarves magic this time around as well!" ] The audience were cheerful. Shouts and cries of joy had filled the entire arena as the thousands of people supporting their unique participants were cheering for them, shouting for their victory and singing prayers to the heavens for them. Children and elders, with excited looks on their faces, were cheering and enjoying this final moments of excitement and those who were not new to these audience seats of thepetition, knew this was the only moments they would feel this kind of thrill, this unfathomable joy of the moment was at that moment. Right when thepetition''sst round had started and everyone was unaware of the deep tension that was soon going to follow as the alchemists proceeded with their creations¡­ Those who had seen how difficult of a process it is to process their final products, to actually make the final masterpiece that they had dreamed of, which they knew was the best product they had created with their own hands, knew full well how tense the atmosphere would be as the participants reach the main stages of their creation. They knew how it is to fail in the production process itself or not get their desired results or make a mistake in the process that is uneptable at their level. Some of them had seen the Alchemists smashing their heads on their desks just because they had failed in the creation of that final product. Those who knew of the despair, the taste of defeat that these amazing people feel when they are at the highest stage of the world was unlike anything someone who has not felt the true bitterness would ever feel. Something one who did not understand the struggles of an artist would never understand. And, many in the audience knew for a fact there would one some, at least one of the nine that will not be able to reach that end product, or obtain the quality of teh end product that they had wished for. They knew the tension will soon rise as they starts approaching the major parts of their creation and people will stop understand what even is going on, and they were waiting for that moment¡­ It was fun as well, they knew that much. To see a ce filled with thousands and tens of thousands of people, to see the entire world that was watching this broadcast at the moment fall silent. To see the world falling silent¡­ They knew it held a unique kind of beauty and, some adored it more than these noisy cheers and untrue shouts of encouragement. They liked the tension which was more sincere than these shouts, so, they waited for that moment to arrive, and watched over the eight participants and a single team from the greatest school in the world. [[ "Miss Mia is doing something unorthodox again." ]] Time passed and the round progressed as the other alchemists started creating what they were aiming for, mostly some kind of potions, some kind of concoction, some kind of medicine, or some kind of alchemical product that others could somewhat recognize easily. It was easy to tell for even the normal audience who knew nothing about alchemy what was going on or at least, what ''kind'' of end product the creator was creating. However, it was not the case with the only group of this round. [[ "Is she actually deriving a form of some kind as I think she is doing or is this part of their preparation or something?" ]] [[ "From what I can tell, Rein, she is actually creating the form for the potion or the solution that could allow someone to be a Spector, something that is absurd in theory, as well as practicable." ]] [[ "Wait, really? Something like that is possible? Why didn''t you tell me!" ]] [[ "I would have if I knew it myself. But I did not¡­ however, I don''t think it is impossible either. Just like her, I believe it is possible. However, for the world to believe this, she will need proof." ]] [[ "So she is creating that proof, hun? Damn¡­" ]] All the creation processing going on in this area on one side, and the giant whiteboard Miss Mia was filling after each one of her little processes on the other. That was how the attention of the audience had been divided between the group and the individuals. They mostly didn''t understand what the alchemists were doing, what they were trying and what they were even using to do what they were doing since most of the things were going on in their heads and were beyond the understanding of themon folks. However, what Miss Mia was doing was different. Not only was she writing down all the small processes in the form of alchemical reactions, processes, and equations, she was even drawing many diagrams that exined some things that those who knew at least a little about alchemy could recognise to a certain extent. However, not all of it was simple enough to be understood by any kind of novice alchemist since some of the things she was writing down and exining through her writing were difficult to understand for even some of the expert judges on the stage before them. They understood her intentions and how she was trying to prove something, however, what it actually was, was beyond theirprehension as well. Though it might change when they receive the context of the whole thing or understand her intention by observing her equations further for a little more. [[ "She is doing something much more difficult than attempting to create the product itself, I would say. However, if she seeds in proving this theory of hers, she won''t just remain one of the ten prodigies of this era." ]] She was trying to prove it was possible to exist in the mortal world while being in the form of a non-mortal being, or being in the world of non-mortals while still being a mortal, and vice versa. Many might have thought of something like this, however, just the thought of it being possible was absurd if one truly understood the meaning of being a non-mortal being in this world for a limited duration ''without consequences''. The militaris of nations could use that power in various ways since it would be the power to quite literally be a ghost that no one can see or feel or perceive. [[ "The question is, will she be able to do it though?" ]] [[ "She is using the methods of Charvikk to quicken the finding process however, it would be a miracle if she actually managed to finish something that would have taken other Alchemists years ofbined efforts. She will have to push herself, however, I have faith they can do it." ]] He had faith in his team, his team has faith in him and their captain, and their captain that was stealing the attention of all alchemists present in the arena, had faith in the teachings of their vice captain. She knew it was difficult, and that was the reason she was going at it faster than she had in thest round, with a focus unmatched from thest round, and with a vigour that wasparable to the other mad alchemists present in the different specialbs on this arena. She was a master of her craft now, and that was reflected in the new way she was utilizing her teammates and their skills, the materials and the artifacts, and the energy that was part of her being. ''She was focused, in the unique Zone where she alone existed along with the white magic board, which, ultimately, had be an extension of her body.'' She wrote on the board faster than many of the eyes could catch up and as if to turn the pages of a book, she pushed the screen of the white magic board, recing the board filled withplex things, with a new one that''s ready to be filled with something new. [[ "The findings¡­" ]] [[ "I see something, darling. I can tell she is onto something." ]] Thepetition was reaching to the final moments. The entire arena, the entire world looking at thispetition had fallen silent a while ago¡­ Everyone was looking at the eight individuals as well as the group that was on the verge of finishing whatever they were doing. Some of them had failed, as they all had expected, and one of them was the dwarf champion ?ling who faced an unforceen wall during his production and stopped his production midway. He was a grandmaster and knew very well that was the end for him, and just like many of the previous times, he epted his loss this time as well. He could not give everything he had if he did not even know the direction in which he was supposed to walk in, so he epted the loss from his side. Something that was not the case for the sole group of this round. [ "This is it, everyone! All the participants are finally done with their work!" ] It was difficulty, definitely. They did not have to do many physical work this time, however, the level of concentration and precision she needed toplete an entire thesis while hundreds of thousands of people watching her was not easy in any way. She pushed her limits once again in a single day. She continued even though her head felt like it was about to pop off like a balloon. She continued even though it was affecting her entire bring, her fingertips, making her body colder, and her eyes blur. She continued, despite the pain and difort with an excited smile on her face. A smile that had been present from the start, and something that stayed with her till the end. She was a master now, and the title granted her unique powers that only belonged to her, and thanks to them, she was able to finish the impossible. [ "Then! The judges will now take a look at their final products!" ] She had the findings in her hands now, something that no one in the judgement panel was able to understand at first nce. And though the entire arena was stunned silent at the moment¡­ in one corner of the balcony, watching over his students, one ones he had taught himself, feeling a unique kind of joy, he was watching over her. Watching over them¡­ With a proud smile on his face. And, tears of joy at the end of his eyes. Chapter 714 As a teacher

Chapter 714 As a teacher

?[Rein''s POV: ] [[ "You are crying, darling." ]] He is crying¡­ how cute. [[ "No I''m not. This is just watering out of my eyes." ]] Nah, he is crying. Cute bastard. [[ "How do you feel about this? One of your students managed to create an entire damn theoretical structure of a hypothetical solution?" ]] I didn''t really need an answer from him since all I wanted to know from him was shining in his eyes. But there was a unique fun hearing it directly from him. [[ "This feels fuzzy¡­" ]] Aw~. He was feeling proud of his students, amazed at their achievements, and excited for their future. He loved his team, yes. But in this moment, he was feeling the kind of joy only a teacher whose students have achieved something few in this world are capable of. Something that was even beyond the expectations of their teacher themselves. Something he doubted they would be able to pull off. And something he wanted them to achieve on their own. With their own skills. ''He knows if he were to be with them, they would have achieved this anyway. Perhaps with a little less difficulty. While facing less dangers to their lives.'' However, if that were to happen, they wouldn''t have been able to do what they did throughout these three days and six rounds of this grandpetition. They might not even be here if those demon bastards had seeded in their ns so, knowing the truths that had yet to be revealed to the world, this moment was special for him. [[ "Do you want to do something special for themter?" ]] Others might understand right now, however, the special magic board Mia was holding in her hand right now was so valuable that any nation would pay any kind of price to get their hands on that form. And if it was revealed what that thing does actually, the lives of all the students in her group might be in danger. There will be someplications with that thingter on, however, she was able to create the theory behind the solution that would allow people like Eon, or his grandpa, or those who could separate their Astral bodies from their physical bodies to be be present in the physical world in a phantom form or, perhaps, under certain conditions, be in the Shadow realm for a longer time than what Ball was able to. ''It will be dangerous to actually create the solution in that theory, of course. However there are crazy people who die or take innocent lives if it means they can prove their theories to the world.'' Those crazy bastards are a kind that is present all around us, but thankfully, she should not be one of those crazy bastards. And she has us anyway. Doing illegal things to actually make the thing she had concluded with those hours of work should be thest thing she would have to do. ''They had achieved all that they could in thispetition and more, so, now was the time for them to be acknowledged for their efforts by the entire world.'' The judges were not going to understand what she was holding on their own even if they use special skills, so she will have to exin it to them herself personally, away from the cameras and the eyes of the people, so that will take some time. And since there''s going to be that extra round which will mostly be pass time or a kind of break time for the audience and us, the judges could use that time- [[ "Rein, I want to do something special for them right now. So see youter." ]] He got up and after bowing to me, Lord Maverick and the others, he walked out of the balcony without saying what the hell meant with that! [[ "Celes, connect me with Lord Justin please." ]] [[ Yes, master¡­ ]] [[ "Oy, bastard! Where are you going?! Should Ie-" ]] [[ "Nah. Just sit there and watch. I am going to participate in this round." ]] ¡­ [[ "What?" ]] Did I hear him correctly? Did he just say he was going down there to participate in thispetition? And in the open round where anyone can participate? Where mostly those top level alchemists will try to create their signature items using their signature techniques? ''Is he¡­ really?'' Holy shit! [[ "Oy, bastard! Wait! Give me some snacks! At least make me some tea before you go! Hahahahaha! To get the chance to see my bastard do some real crazy thing before the entire world, hahahahaha! This is going to be sooooooooo much fun~!" ]] [[ "Haha. I will disconnect you if you are too noisy, so stay quiet please. And I alredy prepared everything you would want. Look down." ]] ''Down?'' As in on the ground or down at the floor? "Oh." There was a storage device right under his chair, so I picked that up quietly using my shadows. And glenced at Lady Carolina beside me. The light in her eyes had shifted for a moment there, so it was obvious he had told them he was going down there, and they must have guessed something was about to happen now. ''They knew he was the one that taught those people, and if the students were so fierce that they could stand against the renowned mastsers, they couldn''t not get excited thinking of just how amazing that master would be.'' Four of them were looking forward to seeing him now, while they were also waiting to know what Mia had created since they did knot know of it yet. "Lady Reinelle." "Yes?" "Would you mind sharing some of those things?" "Hmmm? Not at all. Here." I was looking down at the arena, excited, when Lady Carolina asked me if she could have some of my sweets that the others here did not know the origin of. She knew they were things he made, something they all loved alredy, and since all four of them soon had to do something very important and difficult, they needed something to calm themselves down. And, what would be better for that than watching him do his crazy thing while having snacks that he made himself? [ "Then we will begin the open performance round, in the time the judges are bust examining the final round''s results." ] The announcer was asking if there was anyone that wanted to participate in this round from the audience or the people that had not been able to progress to thest stage of thepetition. There were going to quite a few participants this time around and the special guests that were invited to showcase their true skills to the young and aspiring alchemists would have been the main attraction of this round¡­ yes. ''They would have been the center of attraction for everyone. However, now that my dear darling is down there, wearing a special hood to conceal his true identity, this unknown person was going to take up all the spotlight away from the special guests.'' He will show something that would truly be an inspiration to all the people present here, all the Alchemists as well as the normal people that wanted to do something unique in their lives. Children will be amazed after seeing him do the things the he only does in the special ces he had created in our houses or in separate ces over our territory before the public. ''And since this is going to be something special for his own students, the ones that had made him feel the pride of being a teacher for the first time in his life, this is going to be more special than his normal productions.'' He was a master alchemist, a master musician, a grandmaster enchanter, a master chef, as well as many more things. The world knew him better than most of the other elements of this world since the achievements he had gathered in his mere fifteen years of life were much more than what the others had taken a lifetime to achieve¡­ oh! He was also a advanced origin skill user now. One of the few in this entire world. And, if his achievements keep piling up like this, it should only take him three or so years to be recognised as a [True master] in this world. It will be an achievement unlike anything else. Something not even the great headmaster the divine wizard had managed to achieve. ''He was amazing, and he was down there right now¡­'' The five of us, and perhaps Zoe was the only one that was paying attention to him right now since his perfect disguise made him unrecognisable. Even his own knight Chry didn''t recognize him among those bunch of people. "Apologies." "Sit down. It''s starting~." Even Miss Moon, who had taken his guise and was now sitting beside me as Eon did not know who her master was among those hundreds of people on the ground. Celes'' special Skill had now evolved to the point even someone like the emperor would have difficulty finding them. Especially since yesterday where he broke through to the advanced mastery of his origin skill. He was much stronger than he was yesterday at this hour, and this fact excited me even more~. [[ "Do you see the white hood miss Moon? That''s Eon." ]] [[ "Oh¡­ right. I had a feeling he would be the one. However, Lady Elle, what is up with that person? That¡­ thing?" ]] Miss Moon was looking in a certain direction, a direction I did not want to look back at again. [[ "He asked me to not pay attention to that person so please just ignore her as well. I don''t know if she is actually a demon born or not but she isn''t a bad person. We have confirmed that much from her actions until now." ]] The person named ?thereal that came with the eldest prince of Roxanna. She was a weird person that I personally did not like because of her obvious origin, but my own prejudice against her half demon origin was not enough for me to overlook her god like talent and crazy ass ways of getting things done. She was a kind of genius I would consider better than my own dad, perhaps better than my darling Eon and the headmaster. She was phenomenal. A kind of person I was seeing for the first time in my hundred years of life. However, her origin and her talent were conflicting for me. I did not know what to think of her with the two extreme opinions I had of her. She was simply just too mysterious right now¡­ and looking at the situation, we might not get the chance to talk with her after all. ''But we don''t know that. Just like how we do not know weather the fucked up ''alchemy system'' she created as her final product would be able to triumph over Mia''s Phenton solution theory.'' Maybe neither of them would win¡­ we don''t know what will happen. But one thing I do know as I sip this amazing tea, is the fact that my Eon is going to set the entire stage aze. And that would be veeeeeeeery cool to watch~! Chapter 715 Colors of alchemy

Chapter 715 Colors of alchemy

?[OP: ] The open round where anyone from the audience, the participants who were not able to get through the other rounds, and the special guests all could showcase their unique skills and talents, or their special products. It was a unique round that was held in order to let anyone that wanted to have the chance to be in this arena and feel how it feels to be a participant. And they would have a chance to win special awards in this round as well so those who had no fear, those who were confident in their skills, and those who wanted to experience what those they had seen had experienced all participated in this round¡­ filling the area to the point they had to activate the spatial expansion to make enough space for the participants. This time as well, there were hundreds and thousands of participants that were now filling the arena, the same ce where their favourite contestants had just participated in thest main round of this year. -Booooooooooom! There were safety measures in ce, of course. This time much more than what they had used in the previous rounds. And it was a must to have that kind of safety measures, as well as highly trained knights, mages, as well as other alchemists, teachers of the other prestigious schools, and their assists on field to prevent any kind of severe damage to anyone or anything. The criteria for participation in this round was pretty simple. One just had to be either of an appropriate age, or have good enough basic knowledge of the craft of Alchemy that they at least don''t harm themselves and the others around them. That was it, and, since Zoe, Chry, and others who were there as the assistant of their teachers were on the field at the moment, they were going around the ces, preventing the people from wasting precious resources, or saving children who had no idea what they were doing. -Swiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ They were there for that. And they were doing just that¡­ Zoe was the same. She wanted to go look at what her big brother would do, what special thing he was going to shock everyone with, or how he was going to surprise his teammates. She wanted to go and watch him from close, however, she did not do so at the moment. She knew when he starts, everything else in this arena will stop, along with time, winds, and the buzzing of the bees. She was waiting for that moment to arrive while doing what she was supposed to do¡­ though, she did not have to wait long this time. He was alredy on the ground, surrounded by people that were definitely going to hinder him and his work. He was wearing a special artifact cape as well as had Celestine''s skill and a fewyers of special magic on him, so, it wasn''t going to be possible for those who did not know about him to recoganise him. So he wasn''t worried about his identity at this moment. What worried him were the people all around him, so to deal with them, first of all, he manipted them using his magic as well as some simple attention redirection tricks and got a good enough space all to himself on this spacious ground. Then, he cast a powerful invisible barrier magic around him that was only barely noticeable to the people like the emperor, the head judge, and Lord Maverick. Which was intentional as well. And then, after finishing his preparations, finally when others had progressed greatly into their creation process, he took out something from his storage space that surprised every single person present in this arena, as well as all who were currently watching this round across the world. -Dummmmm! "Wh-what?! What''s that?!" "Grandpa! Grandpa! Look!" "Ohhhh?! I had no idea they still make this kind of thing in the east!" "Look at the size of that thing¡­ massive." "That''s definitely the biggest one I have seen in this long life of mine, holy lord¡­" "What the hell is that person doing with something like that?!" He had taken out a giant, an absolutely massive Cauldron from his special storage space, his origin skill that had evolved a level and had be something he yet did not know about. However since it functioned pretty simrly, he didn''t really have to check it deeply. The war had ended for now, so there was no need to do so in the first ce. "It looks quite old¡­ who is that person?" "To possess something so special¡­ that is no normal person. That I am sure of." The Cauldron that resembled one of the artifacts of old eastern dynasties. A kind of artifact that was now only seen in some of the royal courts of today''s time. And even still, those who had seen these things, could tell at a nce that this one was special. Unique from those artifacts of the past. -Snap. -Ooooooooooooooong! There were ancient engraving all over this cauldron that none in this arena, none in this entire world would be able to understand since he had made them himself with his own two hands. They were an extension of his being and just like how they started glowing up after a mere flick of his finger this time, they were something that acted as he willed. -Snap. However, the greenish-white cauldron and the golden engravings on him were just the start. "N¡­ no way. Is that¡­?" "Is he really going to use all those things¡­ in a single production?" "What the hell is that person doing?! Someone stop them!" He started his production process by first taking out some very, very, very¡­ very precious materials that the older alchemists recognised at a nce and were speechless to see all of them together in the first ce. And that was just the start. -Snap! He snapped again, started floating and hovered right above the mouth of therge dragon faces pot, and after the glowing inscriptions had cone something to the materials he had casually thrown inside the pot, new materials just as rare and precious appeared all around him. And at this moment, he closed his eyes. Which marked the start of something everyone watching this right now were going to remember forever in their lifetime¡­ including the houses of the great academy. -Ooooooooooooooong! He floated before therge cauldron like some elder sorcerer. Magical materials hovered around him, dancing at the movements of his fingers. -Snap! He was only snapping, or so was the visible to those who could not see what was happening behind those simple finger snaps. -Ooooooooooooong! "Amazing¡­" "Phenomenal¡­" "That person knows what he is doing with those things." The elders, the masters, and those who had experience in any kind of artistic field could tell from the harmony of colours around him, form the soundsing from the cauldron, from how effortlessly he was handling the materials even the grandmaster alchemists had to be careful with¡­ this person was nothing normal. -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ As if everything had stopped, as if the very time hade to a pause, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the giant pot. Breaths were audible now, along with the clicking of the clocks they were carrying. All eyes were on him, and he was floating still¡­ tempering with the rare materials like they were nothing but his ythings. -Ooooooooooooong! Colors moved around him, as if colors of an artist moving freely on a in canvas. The cauldron was being filled with different materials and things were happening inside of it without fire heating this giant pot. They could tell the enchantments on the pot were all special, something they couldn''t fathom with their limited understanding of this craft and this entire process. Some of them had stopped thinking about it and had fallen into the colorful sea that this person had presented to them. While some who were still contemting, trying toprehend what was going on or what was the intention of this person, would soon also forget about those question and fall into the intricate symphony of these colors and the melodies produced by the cauldron. -Oooooooooooooooong! Eon himself did not know what was happening with him since he was in his own ZONE at the moment, thinking of nothing but how he could best disy the unlimited potential of the alchemy to his students. He was producing colors however, he was in a colorless world where only his happiness and the joy of the moment existed with him. He was producing music however, his heart and mind were dead still and calm. With only the sound of his heartbeat audible to him. Something was being produced, he knew that much. He was doing something, he knew that much. However, all was just happening as his mind, as his emotions, as his subconscious wanted. So, he was merely a puppet at this moment. A puppet that was controlled by his own inner self, a puppet that was being used as a paintbrush to paint the entirety of this arena with colors of materials that were nothing to himpared to the joy his ''students'' had given him. -Oooooooooooooong! He was happy. -Snap! He taught them alchemy and they surpassed him, surpassed his predictions and the limitations he believed would be a threat to them. -Oooooooooong! They proved to him there was nothing impossible in this world by creating, or at least by proving something that was always thought to be impossible. -Snap! And they kept faith in him and his teachings until the end, something any true teacher in this world would want more than anything else. -Ooooooooooooooong! He was happy. And as a result of this rare kind of external joy that sparked a unique kind of inner joy in him, a special, one of a kind token of gratitude was born after something that was¡­ indescribable by any other person who had witnessed this themselves. -Oooooooooooooong¡­! The production took little time, however, what was produced at the end, was one of a kind. And he knew it as soon as he opened his eyes, and looked down at the cauldron that contained only a small amount of something¡­ that will somehow be known as [Heaven''s blessing] in the uing future. Chapter 716 Six Vials

Chapter 716 Six Vials

?[Eon''s POV: ] Inside my alchemy pot that I only use when I am in my personal space, a solidyer of dried material, or material waste had covered half of the pot, and right above it, inside a tiny crater, rested a shimmering golden fluid that was too attractive even to my eyes¡­ ''What have I created Lucy¡­?'' I had no idea what I did or how I did what I did, but I was certain that the thing resting inside the pot was the end product of what I might have done in thesest few minutes. [[ *Master¡­ it will be better for you to see for yourself. This is¡­ unexpected.* ]] Only a nce at that liquid gold like substance was enough to tell it was no normal thing, and I know I had used some very precious materials if the waste under it had turned into that unique silver color. ''Did I go overboard this time?'' [Three eyes] ============ [Type: Elixir] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï¡î Effects: ¡ª-> Complete physical/mental/spiritual recovery. ¡ª-> Complete physical regeneration. ¡ª-> The purity is so high that even after diluting it to the hundredth of what it is right now, the effects would mostly remain the same. ¡ª-> Can cure the corruptednd or any kind of mortal diseases. ¡ª-> Being in the presence of light radiating from this can enhance the life of a natural substance. ¡ª-> Can eliminate the effects of any kind of curse as long as it does not affect the nature and reality of the target. Conclusion: ¡ª-> This is the most fucked up thing we had ever observed in this short lifespan we have existed and it is shit. ¡ª-> Just the existence of this thing is absurd. Not even the gods should be able to create something like this easily. ¡ª-> This is fucked up and the creator of this shit was drunk on joy and was unconscious so, it cannot be acknowledged as his creation. ¡ª-> This is absurd! ============ ''Hmmm? Did you get an upgrade after the awakening as well? This is much easier to understand than you exining all of the effects.'' The conclusion at the end was one cute thing, but the effects of this Elixir were, as they said, absurd. Did I really create this thing? Me? ''When did I get so good at alchemy?'' Or was this one of those zone out moments when people just create stuff out of nowhere. This certainly is surprising. But¡­ now what? ''I created it, but this thing isn''t something that should stay in some hall of fame or something.'' This was a god damn divine Elixir kind of thing that was better off being used by people who knew the value of this thing! ''Even if I keep some of this, not that there is much, the rest of it will just stay in my storage space.'' And giving it to only the principality will create some more problems. ''Hmmm¡­ Lucy, what should I do with this?'' Everyone was looking at me and I knew from how everything seemed to have stopped, that this moment was going to go down in history. [[ *Master, you will have to use a question-* ]] ''Oh of course. I was asking a question anyway.'' [[ *In that case, you should divide this elixir in six different ss containers, give one to Emperor August, one to Lord Justin, on to Emperor Huang. And the remaining three you should distribute to Lady witch from north, Miss Mia, and thest one to Zoe.* ]] ''Hmmm? Why Zoe-¡­ oh. You are amazing, Lucy.'' Her suggestion was so good even I wouldn''t have been able to think of something better in a moment like this one. This was the best decision. -Oooooooooooong! So, I did just as she said. Used telekinesis to carefully control the fluid inside the cauldron, took out exactly enough for six equal portions, and at the same time, took out six very special looking enchanted ss containers. -Swiiiiiiiiiish~. Each one of these containers were special, had unique designs and I had made them with the intention of using them for some of the special potions in the future, but, this was the best moment to use these things. -Oooooooooooooong! Only three or so container worth of elixir had remained inside the cauldron when I put the whole thing back inside my storage space, and by the time I finished storing the shimmering golden liquid that looked kind of divinely majestic in this afternoon lighting, the entire arena was filling with gasps of shock. ''I did not know what exactly they were seeing me as but if I have to guess, I must be looking like some divine agent of heaven in their eyes at the moment.'' Especially since the white hood I was wearing had attractive golden enchantments. -Ooooooooong! It was all too awkward now that I was back to my senses... I just wanted to finish this and just vanish. -Swiiiiiiiish~. So, just while standing where I was, I used more of my telekinesis and vary carefully, I guided the six shining vessels containing the special elixir to the people Lucy mentioned, and kept it right before their faces until they had held them in their hands. ''Emperor and Lord Justin knew who I was; however, the others had no clue of my identity.'' Which wille in handy in the future. -Oooooooooooong! Six shimmering vials, two in the hands of two most capable emperors of west and eastern continent, one in the hands of the strongest force of the northern continent, someone that was sitting among the regr crowd since she did not have an official invitation to sit in the balcony with the others. One to Miss Mia, someone who will surely know how to use that thing better than anyone else in the near future, one to my dear Zoe, who will pass it to me, and thest one to the political central power of this world, lord of Lakmer. Someone who had a very important task to carry out now¡­ which is why I made sure to make the spotlight on him extra shiny before I vanishedpletely using Celes'' Skill. "Haaa¡­ done." Everything was still paused. Everyone who were watching this from the spectator stands in the arena, as well as everyone watching this from their houses or from ces where this whole thing was being broadcasted, must be stunned by whatever had happened just now. ''Even I would be stunned by it if I were in their shoes right now.'' The bad thing was that I wasn''t in the same position as any of them. And that shit made everything the mostplicated for me. [[ "Do you want somewhere to hide for now, big brother?" ]] [[ "It''s alright, Zoe. I will manage this much." ]] Only Zoe, who knew everything, and my Rein were alright even after witnessing that absurd drama. There will soon be an eruptionmotion, voices of confusion and more gasps of surprise, I know that. ''It wasn''t my intention to make this entire thing so spectacr, but, thing ended this way. And I cannot do anything about this anymore.'' It had already happened, so it was best for me to just ept it and move on. And think about how the hell I am going to do now! [[ Master~. Follow me~! ]] Celes controlled one of her clones and it moved among the crowd of people present in the area, and, with very light steps, I followed her, and somehow reached in one of the exists of the arena. ''Haaaa¡­'' This was bad. Mom and everyone else aren''t going to sit back quietly after I had this kind of mess- [[ "That was amazing, mister Axion." ]] ¡­? I suddenly heard someone''s voice in my head, and it wasn''t from a voice from Celes'' connection. It was simr but, at the same time, different from how Celes and I use this technique. [[ "It was mesmerizingly gorgeous." ]] [[ "Who¡­ oh. Lady ?therial." ]] I was standing one step away from the exit when I turned around and saw only one person, only one person among the hundreds other present on this arena, looking in my direction. My current direction, not the one where everyone else had been looking at, the ce where that ''being'' had created that miracle. [[ "This doesn''t seem to be the best time to have a chat, and I know you as well as your dear partner have many things you want to ask of me... so, would you grant this simpledy an opportunity to invite you for a tea?" ]] [[ "Simpledy? Hahaha, not at all, miss. Please do not call yourself simple. And please, it would be my pleasure to ''ept'' this opportunity." ]] I can tell it was starting now. People wereing out of that state of shock and soon, the entire arena would be filled with voices and noises. She knew that as well¡­ [[ "Then, I won''t take any more of your time. Please, be on your way, Master Lucifer." ]] I can tell just from this much¡­ she wasn''t evil or anything close to being a bad person. ''Yes she had a demonic origin, but, one''s origin is not their identity.'' We don''t choose what we want to be born as. It simply isn''t in our hands. ''All we could do was to lead how we progress with our lives.'' And this person must have been through a lot of unique things to have gained that kind of experience, knowledge, and talents. She was an amazing person¡­ [ "Everyone¡­ if I could please have your attention¡­" ] But since the chaos had initiated and Lord Justin was starting his speech before the decided time, I had to go back to my position and switch ces with Miss Moon as well. ''The talk about that special Lady can wait till we are having tea with her.'' Chapter 717 Sorrow of a ruler

Chapter 717 Sorrow of a ruler

?[OP: ] [ "My fellow citizens, it is with an indescribable sorrow and a heavy heart that I stand before you today to share the grievous news that our beloved city¡­ has been subjected to a heinous act of destruction." ] With a heavy heart and tearful eyes, the ruler of the principality, the head of Lakmer household, the family that was given the heaviest duty to protect and defend this nation from any external or internal threats. [ "In the quiet ofst night, an organization made of the evil demonic human forces, unleashed a malevolent assault upon us." ] He had failed his ancestors. He had failed to protect his city and his people. Even if they might have seeded to be victorious in this battle, just the fact that he was not able to see what they had been plotting for all these years, made him ipetent in his own eyes. [ "The toll is heart-wrenching¡­ hundreds of our cherished citizens, our family members, our children¡­ our children, have been tragically lost to the merciless hands of evil." ] He was addressing not only the people present in the grand arena, however, to every single person watching them all over the world. [ "Last night¡­ a tragedy hit our proud capital of Lakmer." ] His voice was heavy. One can tell he was emotional as he spoke every one of those words. And that very fact confused the people who knew nothing about it even more. [ "I know none of you could understand what I am talking about¡­" ] He moved his gaze from right to left, and weakly smiled at all of his citizens present in this arena. As well as all that were not present here as well. [ "Perhaps, this will remind you a little of that dark night." ] He looked upwards, towards a certain point, all the other eyes present in the arena, as well as the screens disying these moments, followed his gaze. "¡­?" "¡­!" "¡­?!" Questions, surprise, and confusion overwhelmed the crowd as they saw a familiar figure hovering above them. [ "If you will please, Lord Marlin." ] -Oooooooooong! The headmaster, the attractive wizard, the strongest Archmage of this world and someone that was not supposed to be here at this moment, was hovering above them. And right when Lord Justin addressed him by his name, with his hand raised high in the sky, the headmaster cast a spell¡­ or, broke off a spell that was already in effect, would be a better way to say it. [ "Some of you will be shocked." ] As soon as the headmaster did that, people started vanishing from all over the arena, from all over the streets, from all over the city itself. [ "Some of you will be confused." ] In the arena, old grandparents vanished from right beside the young children. [ "Some of you will not understand what is happening at the moment." ] In houses, children who had been ying with their toys¡­ vanished right in front of their parent''s eyes. [ "I want every one of you, our people¡­ my people, to stay calm for a moment, and listen to what I have to say." ] Parents, children, friends, rtives, grandparents and people they might have looked up to at one point. Brave people that lost their lives fighting evilst night¡­ it was not going to be easy for them to understand how they were not around anymore. Even as Lord Justin exined to them all in the simplest words what had happened, and what was happening right now, and the reason it was happening like this¡­ he knew it was not going to be easy for them to understand his simple words. [ "In the face of this non-definable tragedy, I must also acknowledge the weight of our collective inability to shield all our citizens from the merciless grasp of this malevolent force." ] He knew just how bitter it was¡­ He can see the faces of confused children who thought they had beenughing with their grandparents only until a moment ago. He could see the faces of confused parents whose children had vanished from right beside them. The confused looks. The shocked looked, the stunned looks. The looks that had understood what was happening but couldn''t understand the reasoning behind it. The looks that had epted the loss, and were crying, shouting, or¡­ just like the young couple who had lost their other half, trying to go to where they were, only to be stopped by the magic of this blessed space. [ "It is not easy to process, it was not for me either when all of it began¡­" ] He was a sensitive ruler who loved his people. He cared for them. Which was perhaps the main reason all of this was so difficult for him. [ "They appeared out of nowhere all over the city, as well as the outskirts of the city, in the forests and nearby hills." ] He had to make a story for political reasons and it pained his heart even more. [ "They were a kind of foe we had never faced, or had expected¡­" ] He told them a made up story with some half truths mixed in it¡­ [ "Despite the steadfast support of our strong allies, we are confronted by the stark reality that some lives have been tragically lost, and the echoes of their absence will never be filled with anything else." ] He told them things that shocked them, as well as the rest of the world''s powers that had started watching this speech after the grave topic was revealed to the entire world. [ "The anguish is intensified by the knowledge that, despite our best efforts and the unwavering support of those who stand by our side, we were unable to preserve the lives of all our fellow citizens." ] Four members of the student council, subordinates of the great headmaster discovered these forces, even though it waste. They reported it to the headmaster and the headmaster gathered all the power he could to prevent what was to engulf the entirety of the capital city, a ce where his top students had been staying at that time. He did things that people will never know to stop the demonic forces. He did things that will keep the bnce of the world intact even at the cost of his personal loss¡­ the favours he called in, the ones he gathered for this one night, all of them were there for something, or because of something. Using his precious favours, his own resources, and aiding Lakmer gave him nothing. Doing what he had done and creating this whole illusion will only make him look bad in the eyes of the world as well. There was nothing to gain in all this for him visibly, and he cared little about all that. [ "Demons descended upon thisnd yesterday, two demon nobles that would have turned this city to ashes if the brave helpers had not stopped them all outside of the strong walls of the city¡­ that themselves, never fell." ] He was following his duty, which was to maintain bnce in this world, and fend off evil. And he did it to the best of his abilities. [ "Hundreds of demonic humans, strong enough to defeat the Knight captains in matter of minutes, along with hundreds of demonic beasts, horrors resembling golem, to creatures that could not even be described, walked thisnd just few hours prior this wonderful evening¡­" ] He aided Lakmer, the political centre point that also aided in the maintenance of world stability. And¡­ the only reason he cast that spell all over the city, and created the illusion that themon, innocent people were spending the most amazing, breathtaking moments of their lives together, was to aid the Principality with much more difficult times than this ahead of them. [ "We were able to fend them off¡­ preserve as many lives as we could, and, save as much from the wretched forces of evil as we were capable of. However¡­ although we did our best, lives were lost. Our people, my people¡­ my friends, family, and children¡­ were lost to the darkness of evil. Gone beyond the point we could even recover their remnants¡­" ] If it were Lord Maverick, he would not have been able to address the public as strongly as Lord Justin did. If it were Lady Carolina, she would not have been able to express as much emotions as he did. And if it were Lady Charlotte in his ce, she would not even have stood strongly like he was. [ "I apologise¡­ everyone." ] It was difficult for him. Very difficult. More than any of them. [ "However, we could only mourn for the loss¡­ and, ept the reality with utter bitterness by proceeding with what is to happen anyway." ] But he did it. [ "I would like to express my deepest gratitude for thete souls who are not among us anymore¡­" ] One by one, slowly and with his utmost gratitude, he called out all the names of the deceased. [ "Thank you, Elder Kaiser Pinio, for being the cheerful grandfather and, the only family to your young grandson, Julius." ] He thanked the Enders for what they had done throughout their lives. [ "Thank you, Lady Garcia Nu, for being the great backer of eastern streets¡­" ] He thanked the parents and younger people for all they had done for the city, and for the others during their time in this city. [ "Thank you¡­ young Mason, you seeded in protecting your younger sister, Joy." ] He thanked the children who saved others from the evil, at the cost of their own lives. [ "Thank you¡­ everyone." ] He thanked them. He apologised. He shed tears of deep agony. And then¡­ he looked back at all of them, with angry, confident, unwavering eyes. [ "The evil was driven outpletely but their roots still remains on this world, somewhere." ] A storm has passed, and, one does not cry after surviving a natural disaster. [ "So let us all face the evil, with not sorrowful, weak eyes¡­ but with resolute strength that does not faulted even while looking directly back in their abyssal eyes!" ] One rejoices and celebrates when they have survived what could have been theirst day. [ "Let us continue with the award ceremony of the most sorrowful annual alchemypetition of our great nation, and show the evil that WE ARE NOT WEAK!" ] And he encouraged them to do just that. Even though he himself¡­ was clenching his fists hard enough for them to have created a stream of blood¡­ which now filled the balcony where the other leading powers of the world were present alongside them. [ "Let us continue¡­ with what should have been continues¡­" ] A storm passed and another wille. However it will pass as well and the dawn of the new, better day will surely grace them. It was certain¡­ It was thew of nature. Chapter 718 Later that night

Chapter 718 Later that night

?[Eon''s POV: ] When Lord Justin finished his speech, there was a great silence not only across the area, butpletely across the entire world. There was a wave of positivity but the sorrow that was evident and the loss that the innocent felt could not be replicated with a powerful speech alone. He knew that as well, but she still continued with what he had to do, and the award ceremony proceeded. ''Just like every year, to decide the winners, the Main judge, Lord Theodore, the creator of Law as everyone knew him, used the Authority of Goddess Meyat.'' He was one of the three judges blessed by the Great goddess, one of the higher gods among the various gods of this world, and even though the three of them did not have her stigma, just her blessing granted them various powers that normal mortals like us could not simply fathom. A god''s authority, though borrowed with a mortal body, was something we had witnessed before as well, but this time, the intensity of the divine energy that was used by him was greater for some reason. People were stunned by the sudden st of light, as well as how the person that was chosen as the winner of this year''spetition started glowing like a source of light for that moment. ''And no, my team itself did not win.'' If the entire Wisdom phoenix had won, all of them would have started glowing with that unique light, but, no. ''Only Miss Mia possessed this light.'' Which meant instead of that entire team, only she had won first ce. She did well, but there was no joy. ''The top nine were announced. The awards were given. Miss Mia even had a talk with Lord Justin and the others in this very balcony, however, she did not have a positive expression.'' She was sad, and the weight of the whole announcement was heavy on her. And obviously, she was not the only one with that kind of expression. ''Sadness was present in the very air. Dread, negativity, the feeling of loss¡­'' The sky was clear this evening, but, darkness had clouded the entire capital city of Lakmer. People did not get out of their houses. Funerals were held. Lord Justin and President Maverick even announced that they would create a monument in honour of the victims of this tragedy. But it would still not bring them back. "Why. People sad?" "They lost someone precious to them, Mag." "Magik." "Yes¡­ they are sad they couldn''t see them ever again." It was night already. And despite the blue moon illuminating the entire city, there was sadness, darkness, and negativity saturating the very air of the city. "Where. Elle?" "Rein is with Zoe and the others. She needed a distraction from everything that was going on." People cursed the headmaster, the president that they looked up to, the very rulers that had been praising until a few days ago. All kinds of things were now going on behind the scenes and the four of them were going to be very busy dealing with all that. And the headmaster as well. ''They announced the vacation will be extended for the rest of the month, so we now have two whole weeks free.'' We are going back home for that time, and we have already invited the people we wanted toe with us, and Rein, Zoe, and Alf are handling all of them right now. "Where did you pick up this cute little thing?" "An underground auction." "That so?" And I am on the terrace of our estate, with my elder sister that practically ran here after the announcement was made earlier this evening. "Haaa¡­" We were looking up at the sky, and that was the first thing she had said in thest hour we had been staring up in the sky. "I wasn''t here." "You couldn''t have been able to do anything anyway. I wouldn''t have let you in the first ce." "Of course¡­" By the time she reached here, we were back to this mansion. And since the announcement of the holiday extension was made, many of the students were already preparing to leave for their own hometowns first thing in the morning. ''They were permitted to leave the assigned ces, so, Zoe, Chry, and Alf came to the estate. And just when they arrived, Ca appeared as well.'' It was a coincidence that they arrived here at the same time, so when she saw them, she instinctively jumped off her great warhorse familiar and hugged all three of them warmly. With almost tears in her eyes. ''Then after she was done with them, she came to us, hugged Rein first, and took me all the way up here, only to say nothing for an entire hour.'' I already knew all that was going on inside that caring mind of hers. She was technically our eldest sister so it was her duty to protect us younger ones. But not only she couldn''t do it, she wasn''t even with us when all that happened in this very city¡­ ''She knew Rein and I were closely involved in everything that might have happened even though she did not know the fact that we were part of the student council, there was no way we would have stayed out of it when demons were involved.'' She knew both Rein and me as well as our parents did. Perhaps a little more than them when it came to our careless tendencies and recklessness. She had sparred with us more than Rein and I had fought each other, so, she knew just how dumb both of us were. "Will you show me what happened here if I ask?" "Will you ask?" "¡­" She was worried about us. She really was. She especially knew if I was closely involved with this whole mess, I must have suffered in one way or another. There was no way everything was going so smoothly even though demons had appeared around this city without my involvement. And she knows very well whenever I engage with the demons, I throw up blood at least once. She wanted to know what exactly happenedst night, but at the same time, she wasn''t yet strong enough to see me in a difficult state. ''People''s death and death of the bastard demonic faction mattered nothing to her. She would cut a few of them herself if she had the chance.'' But when it came to us, her family¡­ she was a weak hearted person. At least for now, she couldn''t handle seeing us suffering in any way. "Show me¡­" She thought for a moment, thought how important this could be for her, and only after thoroughly evaluating everything did shee to the conclusion that this was, in fact, important to her. She wanted to know. And her resolute, a little nervous eyes were enough evidence of her sincerity. "Alright then¡­ Mag, would you please go find Elle and Zoe in the meantime? There will be other people so take care, ok?" "Yes. Boss. It is Magik. However." He had been around when we arrived on the terrace and since we were just sitting here, gazing up at the clear sky and the stars, he joined us. And it had been nice having him around all this time. At least he was saying innocent things that made her clear her thoughts quicker than what should have taken her a few hours. "Then¡­" Thanks to him, the silence was broken quickly, and now that she had actually asked for it, I had to show her the happenings of yesterday. "You must keep it all to yourself. And especially, don''t drag Alf into this. He has someone that also needs him in this difficult time." "Of course¡­" Princess Isabe was taken aback since one of her older acquaintances passed away in yesterday''s tragedy, leaving behind his only family, a young boy who was devastated by the loss of his only parent. She was in a mental crisis, and as a ''close'' friend of hers, he was looking after her while Rein was busy talking with Miss Mia, who was in a worse situation, and Zoe was with our other friends as an emotional support. I had to go to them as well¡­ I was the reason they did not remember anything that happened yesterday. At least, being with them will make me feel a little less guilty. "Hold on. And please, Ca, nothing could''ve been changed even if you were here. It has already happened. There is nothing that could change any of it." My palm was glowing with the white light of (: Vision sharing) Solnova spell, and she knew holding it was would show her unsightly things, but she only hesitated for a moment. "It''s called past exactly because it has passed, little brother. I know that. But the sorrow would still exist in the present even if the events of past were to be changed somehow." She held my hand, and with exception of few confidential things like the other people and their fights with the demonic cult, I showed her how they started their attack. How people died, what we did to stop it, how I yed my Gwen, and how we defeated those bastards as well as the demons and dangerous creatures like that lich. "You had your origin awakening¡­?" She was in a much better condition than I had expected even after seeing all that. And this question from her signified a lot of things. "Yes¡­ and I also broke through to advanced mastery." "¡­?" She had a stunned look. And though she was trying to hide it, deep down, she was also devastated. ''epting this was difficult for even Rein and me, someone like her who didn''t have any experience of an actual battlefield obviously could never handle that kind of devastation.'' But she will have toe face to face with these battlefields again and again on the path she has chosen. It was not going to be easy for her to deal with the people, the innocent, the title of Hero she wanted to bear. She is strong, and amazing to be able to handle herself so well, but she wasn''t ready yet. She knew that as well. "Bastard¡­ we are going to spar the first thing in the morning." "If you want to." She was holding back her tears, the irresistible urge to throw up, as well as the anger and rage bubbling inside of her. I can tell as much from the calm look she was showing right now. "It hasn''t ended yet, has it?" And she knew this wasn''t the end. "This was just the start¡­" They were only going to start moving more violently from now on. The world itself was going to face a new change. We will have to get ready to face this change as well. "It was just the start." I looked back up at the sky that was clear now. The moon shining down on us. The stars that twinkled innocently¡­ We might have defended ourselves against this storm, but it was only the trumpet announcing the beginning of something more than a small battlefield like this one. But, we might not be as lucky the next time¡­ Chapter 719 Devastated others

Chapter 719 Devastated others

?[Eon''s POV: ] [[ "How is she doing, Rein?" ]] Leaving my big sister alone, I was finally going down to the second floor lobby where Rein and Miss Mia were talking right now. [[ "She has calmed down, and she looks better now. I think we can leave her alone and she will be alright by tomorrow or something." ]] [[ "That''s good." ]] Miss Mia won this year''s alchemypetition, and achieved what she had dreamt of for the past few years. But after hearing all that, seeing the people and their reaction to all that had happened and considering how she was given that strange vial of potion by that unknown entity, a lot of things were going on in her mind now. She was confused as to what to feel and what to think of everything that had happened, but Rein talked with her. ''She told her how there is nothing wrong in celebrating a victory, how the loss of others was not her mistake, how the elixir that was granted to her meant something much greater than just a coincidence, as well as she should stop worrying about things that are unrted to her.'' It took Rein a long time, but at the very least, it seems they reached a positive conclusion. [[ "I am almost there. Wait for me and we will-¡­ oh. Looks like you will have to wait a little longer Rein." ]] [[ "Hmmm? What is it? Did something-" ]] [[ "Ah, no no. Captain Alpha is here. Let me talk with him a bit." ]] [[ "Hmmm¡­e quickly." ]] We invited a few of our friends, some acquaintances, and a few others who were present there to join us in the Heliox estate for a few days. And since it was approved by the headmaster himself, they had toe with us. ''They were told the people were chosen at random, but that was not the case at all. The othe in Hu?r students who also wanted toe with them knew that as well.'' Princess Isabe and Prince udius, Quin and Lizzy, Titania and her two vice captains, Nox and Med, Miss Mia and Ball, E andstly captain Alpha were invited this time. And though many others also wanted to have this golden opportunity to live in the Heliox mansion in the capital of Roxanna empire, only nine others were chosen with a random draw as per the instruction of the headmaster.. ''And since the students themselves did not have any say in this, even though slime master Deleon, viiness Ezra and oversmart Nova had no intention toe to some faraway noble''s house, they can''t do anything about it anymore.'' We would leave around tomorrow evening after everyone had finished their preparation and everything, so, until then, all nine of them and the rest were staying in this ce. ''Some of them were indifferent to the things that were bounced, the lives that were lost and the things that happened, and that was a good thing.'' Some other students were crying, screaming, mourning for the people totally unrted to them, and the more empathetic ones among them, ones like Med, Quin and Princess Bell, were in a rose condition. ''Thankfully, Quin had Chry, Princess Bell had Alf, and Med was being handled by Zoe.'' Zoe was practically looking after all the other people that needed help right now. And, she was the best person to have around in times like this. We were hoping their moods will return to normal or at least get a little more positive when we reach our home in the capital. Aunt Haze''s flowers, Alf''s books, Uncle El''sb and my Anna will help in their healing, and the Povpoi are there as well, so, it should be a fun experience to all of them. "Captain Alpha?" "Hmmm? Oh¡­ Master Axion." He was just sitting on a chair in the lobby. Staring at a portrait of Grandmother that had been there since this house was built here a few decades ago. "That''s Marchioness Grizelda in her younger days, correct?" "They say eyes are a window to one''s heart, captain¡­ talking about a beautiful painting doesn''t help with the pain of the heart." Grandmother''s painting before us depicted her younger self, the one during her time in the Mavis archipgo when they called her the (Devil of the Lighthouse). She used to be fierce, feared and revered by all, and as someone blessed by the god of the sea, she could control waters unlike any mage or creature of waters. The painting of her before us, the beautiful picture that showed her younger self with a dark, stormy background was certainly beautiful. But his eyes, while staring at this beautiful portrait, were lost in some other thoughts¡­ He shouldn''t do that. He had no need to. "Pain that one feels for someone unrted to them shows empathy, while pain felt without empathy reflects self-loathing. I do not know why you would feel like you have lost something in a situation unrted to you, but this is not my ce to ask that. All I can do here, Captain Alpha, would be to confirm the fact that your presence in the ''war'' that took ce yesterday would have changed nothing. If anything, even with your otherworldly physique, that unique skill you have, and all yourcking knowledge about the deeper truths of this world, you would have died had youe face to face with more than one of the normal enemy units. You would have neither gained anything nor would there have been an opportunity for you to lessen the effects of that ''seal'' on your body. I know how strong they were¡­ I know how even the mightiest of this world struggled against them¡­ I know more than you ever will, so stop mourning with that unsightly sorry face and go help those who really are lost. You are a leader. Act like one." I patted his shoulder after saying all that I had to say and after a deep look in his eyes, I turned around. "You know vice captain Lucifer, don''t you Master Axion?" I don''t know how much my words would affect him, but I certainly knew the reason he was asking me that specific question in a moment like this. I was expecting this much from him. "There is no way I wouldn''t know the one who taught the winner of this year''s contest, someone I am personally sponsoring. I haven''t seen him for a while though¡­ hope his ''work'' is going well." That much was enough of an answer to the question he had asked of me. He can do the brainstorming himself and decode all that I wanted to say with this. "Go do something better than gawking at my grandmother''s portrait. You are going to meet her soon anyway." Many gorgeousdies were trying to get close to him but after rejecting all of them, even some of the princesses and famousdies of high society, he was fascinated by the younger self of my grandmother. ''He has a good presence, that much certainly is true, but nothing was going to happen even if he spent the entire night before this painting or even stole it for himself.'' Grandmother only had one person in her life, and now she has one family. A big one at that. And he certainly did not have any ce in this family of ours. "Haaaa¡­ yes sir." I left him to his own devices. And continued towards where miss Mia and Rein were. It waste night already so the two of us had to go see the others, and get some sleep. We have been up for two nights¡­ and after fighting that war, we needed at least a little bit of rest. [[ Oy, Eon. ]] [[ "What is it Rayray?" ]] [[ I was wondering if you were going to test your new origin skills. ]] [[ "Hmmm? Now that you mention it, I was going to do it before going to bed¡­ what is it? Is something wrong?" ]] [[ Well, how about you do that in a safer ce somewhere far away where no one can see you. You see, from my experience with myte master, I have seen cases of very powerful branch origin skills appearing in individuals that have ate origin awakening. And since you are a unique case anyway¡­ ]] [[ "Hmm. I understand. We will do it after we go back. How''s Zoe though? Is she well?" ]] [[ "I am fine big brother-" ]] [[ She''s done dealing with all the children and has exhausted herselfpletely. She looks miserable. Please send someone or tell her to go and rest. She doesn''t listen to me anyway. ]] [[ "Oyy Rayray! Whose familiar are you?! How can you say something like that about your master?" ]] Of course she would be exhausted. Being with those people, especially our crybabies Med and Nes was no easy task. ''Just the fact that she was taking care of all the other people alongside them was a task even Rein and I find difficult.'' She is amazing. And she has done well. [[ "We will be there in a minute, Zoe. You are going to your room and sleep for the night. No excuses." ]] [[ "But big brother-" ]] [[ "No Zoe. I said no excuses." ]] She was a divine being but she had not gained herplete powers. She was only a little stronger than me in her current state which obviously meant she was the same as us mortals. ''She also needs sleep just like all of us. And I am not going to let her be around those young adults for the rest of the night.'' What she did for them was enough. Now, they should just take care of themselves. Chapter 720 Welcome back…

Chapter 720 Wee back¡­

?[OP: ] They experienced a long night, one of the longest they had ever been through in their lives, and after only hearing a few words from the master of Lakmer, they were in their own unique dilemma. Some students were worried about the people, while some were worried about what would have happened had there had been someone rted to them among the list of dead that was announced during that hearing. Some students had people they knew among the people that were announced to be decades, so they mourned for their deaths, remembered their time with them, remembered the good memories and smiled, remembered the sad memories and cried¡­ various emotions had filed the estate of the Heliox. The night was long, and there were people there to share their pain. However, at the end, they all had to rest at least for a little while. Nothing was going toe out of shading tears for the dead people anyway, they knew it, and so many of them went to bed after they had sorted out everything on their mind, let out all the emotions piling up in their hearts, and¡­ the blue hour passed like that. New bonds were created that night. Individuals got closer. Rtionships changed. And by the time the new morning arrived, they had better expressions, better smiles, and a better overall vibe to them. They were doing better now, and seeing this, Eon and Rein had warm smiles on their faces, Zoe who was tired even after sleeping like a baby needed some breakfast, while Alf and princess Bell were just entering the house after sleeping outside the entire night. Thankfully there was a temperature control magic around the ce they had identaly chosen to sit around, they didn''t have a cold or a runny nose. Quin and Alf had spent the night in their own rooms, thinking about one another, and their sorrows. They wanted to help each other a little more, and in a better way¡­ but they couldn''t bring themselves to take the necessary step to cross the boundaries they had established in their rtionship. They were friends¡­ and if they do more than to be there for each other when the other needed them, if they spend the night together with each other alone, if they do nothing and just sit around with each other for the whole night¡­ they would want to get close, blue the boundaries, break the rules, and do what they shouldn''t. They were friends. And they wanted to stay together as friends. For now, until they aplish what they needed to, the two of them had to be friends. Just friends. And nothing more¡­ Alf didn''t have any thoughts like that. He didn''t even know it meant much more to stay with someone throughout the night, talk about things that they don''t talk about with anyone else, and just sleep on each other''s shoulders. He considered Isabe a friend, a close friend that also had a draconian familiar. She was also a parent like him, so they often talked about things that only the two of them knew the best. Things about their children and how they were sometimes difficult to handle. Their days in the academy and their days during the alchemypetition were spent with small talks only, this was the first time they had spent the end time night like this. And both of them liked how it went. They were a shy still, of course, didn''t know how they did what they did yesterday, but it happened. And it wasn''t too bad. Eon and Rein were smirking when they saw the two walking in together, clueless how they weren''t just ''friends'' anymore. And then Ca was smirking at them when the imed the stairs together. She wanted to push princess down the stairs so that Alf can catch her in that universally loved dramatic style, but she stopped herself. It would have been a problem had her dense little brother hadn''t acted in time and th princess of the empire they lived in actually fell of the stairs in thei mansion. There were enough problems alredy, increasing them would cause more problems and then everything could get chaotic. She left them, and everyone else went on with their daily routine¡­ Brackfast was prepared by Eon and Rein themselves so everyone in the mansion were present for the breakfast. Their love for this delicious food was enough to make them forget about the nagitive things for a moment. There was some packing left so they then finished it until it was time for their departure. And since many of them were going to a noble household in the foreignnd, they were nervous. Princess Bell, Med and Prince udius as well as some others who knew about the empire and the holy capital as well as the rulers of the northern shores knew Heliox houseghold and how it looked from the inside, however, for some like Quin, this was their first time going to any noble house. They were nervous. -Oooooooooong! "When we pass this gate, we will be inside of the Heliox estate''s front garden everyone!" But they were excited about this as well. "Huuuuu¡­" "Rein, please stay at the very back with Zoe." "Got it." They were before the giant [Gate] artifact of the Lakmer house. They had specially permitted them use of this personal property thanks to Eon''s request and his help in everything that happened inst two days. "Walk slowly, there is no need to rush. And please keep holding hands of your partner. It is an important procedure!" It wasn''t, actually. They were just messing around with the people that were ''friends'' a little less than friends, or a little more than that with this excuse of holding hands while passing through this gate. And it was very frustrating for the ones who absolutely did not like touching others. He had put Deleon and Ezra together so it was even being even more chaotic. The two of them absolutely hated each other. Even felt disgusted being near each other. But seeing the suffering of the two that the others feared quite a bit brought a smile to their faces. -Oooooooooong! And then, after saying their goodbyes to the bust rulers of Lakmer, as well as the cute little twins who had promised Eon they will visit their house to meet his sister when their parents get the chance. He knew these two, his Anna, Magik, and few other special children they will meet were all going to be much more amazing people than them when they grow up. So he wanted them to be together. And as they passed through the blue gate of triangr shape, vanished from therge castle they were in a moment ago, and reappeared in a cleare green garden with a few knights, The golden hammer, master Zahavi, as well as the cold, golden demoness Countess Nn standing in front of them. "Hmmm?" But the two of them were the only ones greeting them from their family, something that confused Eon and Ca who were walking in the very front. "Where''s everyone else?" Ca spoke up first, and by that time, everyone else had passed through the gate as well, so even Zoe and Rein could also see the two of them standing before them. "Mom¡­" They didn''t understand what was happening, but Eon knew just with the look on his mom''s face, as well as the warm smile on his grandpa that this small wee was all because of him. "You should have just told her¡­" He walked upto his mother, looked her in the eye with a smile, bowed down to her respectfully first, and then, when he was done with his official greetings¡­ she hugged him. "What would be the fun in that?" The students, their friends who hade here with them, were all fascinated by the attractive garden, especially the flowers all around them. They were attractive. The air here was a little more fresh as well. This ce waspletely different from the capital city of the principality, they could tell after only a moment of being here. "where''s she?" "In her room, ying with the little ones, as well as her big lizard." "She didn''t see thepetition yesterday?" "Not the part after Mia became a master. She fell asleep midway, thankfully." "It''s good then¡­" Rein and Zoe knew after hearing these whispers from the mother-son duo what was going on. "Everyone, if you could please gathere here." They knew he will have to go for a little while now. There was someone he hadn''t seen in weeks, hadn''t talked, hadn''t even listened to the voice of since he went to the academy¡­ He was back now, and she did not know that. Which meant this was going to be a surprise for that little one. "I will be back shortly¡­" "Nah. Take your time. We have you all to ourselves for more than a day or two now." He could only smile weakly at that statement¡­ and he could tell from that calm smile on her face that it was a threat so¡­ he knew she was being serious. "Take care of them until then." "Of course, baby." She gave him a forehead kiss, and nodded at him. "Grandpa-" "It''s fine it''s fine. Go surprise the little one." He was here to escort the others only since they all had decided to wait till his reunion with his little sister. They all can have him after he was done meeting up with her, after she was done with him and his punishment. It was evening as well, so instead of staying out in the cold, he should also bring the precious guests, his precious friends from the academy, into the house¡­ Chapter 721 His little lifeline

Chapter 721 His little lifeline

?[Eon''s POV: ] The reason I didn''t talk with her, or saw her during my time in the academy was simply for her happiness. I knew she would be sad if we talked and I told her all the fun things that happened to us over themunication device. Others talked with her, certainly, and she got to know everything about me and all our cool friends, the housemates, as well as the amazing familiars that everyone had now. She knew I was doing well, and that I missed her to no end¡­ and even though she was the youngest among us, she understood me perfectly. ''She understood emotions better than the others, she could see them and feel the things that could not be expressed with words, or expressions.'' She knew the reason behind my actions¡­ so even though it was difficult for her to stay without me, without any of us around, she acted like a grown up and continued with other fun things knowing we woulde back one day, with the faith that we were taking care of ourselves. [[ She is inside. Making a new friend for herself. ]] [[ "I can tell she has already noticed something is weird today. She can tell everyone is hiding something from her." ]] [[ Hehe, little Anna is smart. ]] I was standing in Zoe''s room, which was directly connected to Anna''s room, right behind the door connected with her room. Celes was watching her, and I was hiding my presencepletely so she did not know I was here yet. [[ The povpoi have grown a little, and Green lizardman uncle is wearing a skirt armour so he looks funny, hehe. ]] She liked dressing everyone up so I know for a fact in their time here, all the students I have brought with me are going to attend one of her tea parties all dressed in pretty clothes along with their familiars. And she is certainly going to have a st ying with all those cool people. [[ "Do one thing, Celes. Distract her and take her to the window." ]] [[ Hmm? But master, everyone is still outside so and some of them are on this side of the garden so she might see them. ]] [[ "Yes. Exactly." ]] She had no idea we wereing back today. Or any idea of how we were bringing the friends she had only ever heard about with us. ''She knows about our little secret so she will make sure to keep the fact that we are their captain Uriel and vice captain Lucifer a secret.'' She is the best when ites to keeping secrets actually. Better than even us. So we can always trust her with our precious secrets. [[ Ohhh~. I understand what you mean master~! I will go do it~! I will give you a signal when she is at the window! ]] There was no need to do that since I can sense her from here. She was only a few steps away from me anyway. I can hear what she was saying to her little partners, how she was asking Zuroro''s hopeless opinion on the doll she was making, asking her Mr. Rice for help with various tools and working with intense focus. She was having fun, unaware of how fun today was going to be for her. [[ Alright, I am leading her to the window. ]] One of Celes'' clones always stayed with Anna, so she had her within her area of influence. Celes had even created a chain of connections with her clones that went from here to all the way to the skyind in our school so that she stays informed of anything that happens to her. ''She was pretty skilled with handling her clones now, and since my origin awakening, she was trying out new things that she couldn''t do before.'' I can feel the curious Anna, influenced by the butterfly that is always with her, walking up the window of her pink room. [[ She is there now~! ]] I opened the door slightly and with very careful steps, I walked inside the room, my presence still hidden with Celes'' Skill, and¡­ there she was. Standing in her cute outfit, looking out of her window with a curious look, her face as pretty as ever¡­ Her night like ck hair, long but braided in shorter stripes like Rein does, her deep crystal like red eyes reflecting the greenery of the garden, her pretty face painted in her innocent curiosity. There were more dolls in her room now. An entire new shelf was added on the left side that used to be empty thest time I was here. And the dools on these shelves¡­ I can tell who they were. ''She had been lonely¡­'' Out of the 33 Povpoi, around twenty one were present here. Taika wasn''t here since I heard she and dad had gone to a certain dungeon mission and would return around tomorrow or something, but Zuroro was here, sitting down with in that skirt armor. Rice was doing well, helping her with whatever she needed as he was supposed to, and aside from them¡­ there were also more books in her room now, a wooden sword in one corner of the room, and a desk with a photo of Rein, me, Ca, Alf, and her in a small frame resting on top of it. ''She is doing well¡­'' A while ago when we were visiting our outskirts house on the ind, her body attempted awakening but the process was stopped midway since she was not ready for it yet. She was older now, but her body was not strong enough to facilitate the kind of awakening she was going to go through. And it wasn''t like she was physically any weaker than any of us when we were at her age, that certainly was not the case. ''She naturally was physically much stronger than the children her age, and her potential surpassed anything any of us could be capable of.'' The kind of awakening she was going to have was just that dangerous. And if it does happen again when we aren''t around, there would beplication. But why am I thinking about all that right now¡­? "Hmmm? Celes? Why did you go there? And who are those people¡­? Are we having guests?" "Yes, miss Ruler of Heliox. You are having guests today." She was looking out of the window, so, I just leaned beside her and said that, surprising the Povpoi and Zuroro how I appeared there out of nowhere. "Hmmm? No one told me anything about that. Is this what they all been hiding?" She didn''t realise it was me and kept looking out, trying to figure out the identities of Deleon and Nova, who were looking at some of the other Povpoi who had been outside. "Perhaps everyone wanted to surprise you, you know my little Anna?" "Hmmmm. I think they are going to get hurt by L and Gelm-¡­ wait. What did you just call me?" I can tell she was worried about how Nova and Deleon were showing that kind of interest in two of the eldest Povpoi but, when I called her ''my'' little Anna, in a way she knows only I could call her, she looked back with surprised eyes. "Big brother¡­?" Her big crystal like pupils locked on me, her eyebrows twitching, she was looking at me like I was some kind of a ghost. "Are you real?" She asked, still surprised, while touching my face. "Yes, little love. I am real." "Really?" "Of course. Have I ever lied to you?'' "Are you here, really? Are you back, like really back?" She was just expressing her overwhelming feelings now. Which is cute. "Yes, yes miss Anastasia. Your cruel brother is back." Now, there were tears at the end of her eyes. And the Poipoi and Zuroro in her room had grasped the situation so, they were leaving this room through door I came from. "Are you¡­ are you really here, big brother?" She was going to cry now. "Surprise¡­ though I never intended-" "Big brother!" She hugged me. And started crying. "Whaaaaaa! You meanie! Whaaaaa! You are mean!" She pped my back with her now stronger hands, before clenching my clothes. "There there. We don''t cry when we meet someone after such a long time. We smile, and we greet each other. We say wee back, and then we celebrate." It has been a little less than two months since we went to the academy, however, it was a long time from her perspective. Long nights, short days of practice. Moments that would pass lost in thoughts¡­ she was still young but she was lonely even when having her other little friends and family members with her. "Snifff¡­" She was crying out her heart. The loneliness she must have felt while trying out various things to cope with the loneliness, this rush of emotions was something I understood very well. "Wee back¡­ big brother." She knew I was here now, that I was back, and also how we were going to stay together only for a short time before I go back again and she is lonely once again. She knew the school was not over yet and that for the next few years, we were going to keep getting separated like this. However, she understood how important this was for me, for all of us. She had started learning from grandpa and others now, so she was starting to understand how we liked learning, ying, sparring and finding out more about our powers, this world, and everything within it. Weapon arts and physique refinement, along with basic magic theory and theory on summoning, taming, and energy arts was not going to be easy for her either. Her time will pass by doing all that, so I was a little less worried about her¡­ "It''s good to see you as well, Anna." A hug from her was enough to erase all the negative thoughts from thest two days. Her smile brought me inner peace. ''And, thanks to her, it was easier to breathe now¡­'' Chapter 722 ‘Friends’ from the academy

Chapter 722 ¡®Friends¡¯ from the academy

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Repeat it nine times more!" Anna shouted while pping my head with her hands¡­ her hands that were not little anymore. She was sitting on my shoulder, making me do squats as a punishment and there was this thing I had to say while doing that. "I am a bad brother, I did bad things, I should be punished." "More sincerely!" I know for a fact she learned these words and this specific kind of weird punishment from mom and dad¡­ but I should leave it for now. She was smart so she will understand what these words, said in a little different context, would actually mean to someone''s partner during their private time. "I am a bad brother. I did bad things. I should be punished." "That''s it! Keep going~!" This sounded so weirding from her innocent mouth I didn''t know how to even tell her just how inappropriate it sounded. But then again, bringing this up would only mean I was the one thinking these inappropriate things. ''I will have to bring this up when mom and I are having our own private talkter today.'' She was a little girl who knew little about the adults she spends most of her time with, but she would learn itter. Hopefully, muchter. "Alright! Your punishment is finished, big brother~! You can put me down now~!" She pped my head again and with a helpless smile, I spun her room three times before using wind magic and making her fly in her room like we used to do before. We used to y a lot before I went to the academy however, it has been a while since she experienced flying like this. "Heheheh~! Big brother~! This feels even more fun for some reason~!" My control over the elements also increased after my origin awakening so I was able to control the elements in a more efficient way now and on top of that, the personal spells that I created were even more ''realistic'' than they used to be. ''The winds felt more real now, like, when I used the spell (: Float) of the wind attribute, the winds that were produced were so gentle that it actually gave the feeling a person was actually floating or flying in this case. "You will be able to fly on your own in the future, little one." The flying around the room wasn''t going to be much fun since this ce was small and alredy filled with many things like the dolls of all our friends that Zoe must have told her about. "I will be able to fly~?! Really~?!" "Of course. Angels can fly naturally since they have wings, no?" "Hmm? But I don''t have wings though¡­ will I have wings when I am a grown up like you and sister Elle?" She didn''t deny the angel part, hehe. This was unexpectedly cute of her. "Who knows? Perhaps you will, perhaps you won''t. It depends on how well you practise and do all the things you are supposed to. Being a good girl and staying the just the way you are right now might help with it, but if you don''t do the sword training and the physical training, you might not have them." "Whaaaaaat?! But that sword training is soooo difficult! Grandpa tells me to run around the garden, do weird exercises, and I even have to swing sword hundreds of time everyday! Why can''t I just read books and do magic like daddy and big brother?!" "Because it''s important, darling." I hugged her and took her out of her room as we had many people to meet. ''It seems like she didn''t like physical training much.'' But I can tell her endurance and mentality as good as mine. Swinging her sword for ''hundreds'' of time everyday was just the start for her. ''When my master taught me, I had to Perfectly shoot tens of thousands of arrows at moving targets every single day.'' And I had to shoot them one at a time so the kind of training I had went through was nothing less than hell. ''She has seen me train Ca, Alf, and Rein so she knows we do more intense things than she was doing right now, but until now, she had never realised how difficult what we do actually was.'' I made Ca swing her sword in perfect motions thousands of times during our training sessions until the core basics of sword, sword form, breathing, and muscle movements were engraved in her very bones. Same for Alf. ''He had to draw the same spell circles until he had perfectly mastered every single stroke, every line, and every pattern on it. And he had to do it until he gained a perfect understanding of what he was working on.'' He then had to reverse engineer the spell all on his own. And he had to do it in every single session without any kind of break. ''Ca was always left physically exhausted while Alf''s head stopped working for a few moments after he was done with his spells.'' The kind of training they had received from grandpa and others on one side, the kind of training they had to go through because of me was nothing easy. It was hell for them, but the only reason they were going through that kind of hell was all for their own good. ''They wanted to get better and stronger. And they did get better and stronger after every single one of those hellish sessions.'' It was difficult, but they were world renowned prodigies of the golden era so they can at least endure this much. And, since it is inevitable, Anna will have to go through that kind of training under me as well. Actually, the kind of training she will have to go through under me after her awakening will be much, much more difficult than what the two of them or Chry or the others had to go through. "Anna is special. More special than any of us. That is why if Anna wants to have her wings and fly on her own, or do cool things like me and others, Anna will have to stay true to what is being taught to her until she can learn from me directly-" "Big brother will teach me?! Really~?!" She shouted exactly when I opened the door to the main hall of our house and surprised every person present there. Especially Nes. "Kyaaa!" She was so stunned she actually jumped and fell down after missing hernding. "Hmm? Ohhh! Someone fell down! Big brother! Put me down! Someone fell!" Quin was being clumsy since this was her first time being in this ce, this new environment, this ce where her friends had grown up in; however, it wasn''t that unusual that she fell down after a surprise. At least, we who knew her closely knew that much. "Sister?! Are you hurt anywhere?!" Anna ran up to her as soon as I put her down and started asking her if she was alright with a worried look. "I¡­ I am okay¡­" And as I knew when Quin as well as everyone else saw my Anna, even with her special crystal eyes hidden, they were all enchanted by her beauty. "Are you really alright? Please stand up first. Let''s sit there." Med had seen her before and Anna knew Med as old Lion grandpa''s granddaughter so they were acquainted, however, the rest of them including Dereon and our viiness regressor Ezra. Even Nova had an unexpected blush on his face when he saw her. However, unaware of any of them, Anna helped Quin and took her to a nearby chair, sat her down and checked for any signs of wounds. Thankfully, she didn''t find any. "Huuu. Looks like sister is alright. Do you feel any pain?" "No I don''t¡­ I am perfectly fine, Miss Anastasia." "Why is sister call me Miss, hehe. You are big sister and big brother''s friend right~? Then you can call me Anna~." Quin wanted to hug her, lol. Everyone wanted to. My little Anna was just that cute after all. "Alright then~. Can you stand up big sister? Or should I call everyone else here?" "W-what? No! It''s fine. I''m alright so let''s just go to them." Anna met Quin first, but she still had everyone else we still had many others to introduce to her. "Alright Anna~!" With Zoe, Chry, Ca, Alf, Rein and me on one side, with her in my arms, we started introducing everyone she had only ever heard about from the others. ''She already knew the stories about us from our time in the academy, but even though this was her first time seeing all of them for the first time, she showed no hint of knowing much about any of them.'' She also didn''t show how Rein and I were someone that already knew about all of them closely. She made a promise to us and she was keeping it better than any nine year old should have been capable of. "So, first of all, the one you just helped. This one here is Aleequinn or Quin as we call her. The amazing captain of one of the houses, like yours truly~." Zoe introduced. They were our ''friends'' from the academy so we were going to introduce them one by one to her, and as for the ones who were here after winning the random draws, it would be the same for them. They were also part of someone''s house so the people knew them well. Anna was excited to greet all these people she had only ever heard about from the others. Especially the first friend we had made in the academy. The one she unknowingly helped a while back. "You are sister Quin~?! The one with cooooooool spirits that started the thank you tradition~?!" She has been wanting to meet with her since the time we told her how she attacked us with a fountain of water on our first encounter. ''She found her cool for some reason and the fact that she didn''t even know thenguage that we speak had surprised her even more.'' She admired her. And now, she was before her. Chapter 723 Family reunion

Chapter 723 Family reunion

?[OP: ] They introduced their friends to little Anna one by one starting with Quin, then the good Lizzy, fairy Titania, ice witch Luna, and wizard Hide who was ufortably stunned by Anna''s cuteness. They introduced Deleon and Ezra to her, and both of these people had unique questions for her that she was not expecting. In case of the others, Anna''s had given them a little hug as a wee greeting. However, Ezra asked her how she was maintaining such great pure power inside her without suffering. However Anna didn''t understand her question. She herself did not know much about her powers yet so Eon answered her in her stand and told her how she was ''being protected'' by a powerful force. He did not say outright she was blessed by one of the great goddesses of this world but Ezra understood what he wanted to say from that vague answer. Delon on the other hand asked her if he could ''y'' with her friend Povpois and the lizardman. His choice of words were perfect before her and his curiosity towards those creatures was pure so Anna saw nothing malicious in his intentions. She could feel the things with her unique powers so if he had expressed even a hint of harm towards her friends, he would have had to face serious consequences, but thankfully¡­ he yed it smart and got Anna to promise him she would let him y with them. Little did he know though, he would not be able to do his ''research'' on them as peacefully as he wanted to. She had only given him permission to y with them, she never said he will be able to do it alone in his own assigned room¡­ Anna knew this person as the Slime summoner, someone who possessed so many slimes that in some parts of the continent, he was also called (Father of slimes). She made him promise he would show all his slimes to her. And thinking it was only an innocent request from a little girl, he agreed to it without much thought as well. Underestimating the little girl that everyone called (Ruler of Heliox). Their greetings continued, and when it came to Miss Mia, Anna first congratted her, greeted her a little from the others, and told her how fun it was for her to watch them work on all their things, as well as how amazed she was when Miss Mia received her title. It was her first time seeing anything like that since she had never seen Eon going through the Entitlement process. She told them how she enjoyed all their rounds and performances and how she knew from the start that their team was going to win for sure. Anna was happy¡­ so she gave her a Kiss. Her special kiss that not even Quin had received today. And after receiving it, Mia was stunned, and left with her eyes open wide. The special kiss had washed her entire being with a kind of calmness that was practically unreal to her. It was unfashionable¡­ She has had this weight on her heart that she herself could not understand. Something that had been bothering her since the moment that unknown figure gave her that strange looking elixir. But that all disappearedpletely and she was feeling the most refreshed she had felt in thest few weeks. She didn''t understand what this was or if it was just her imagination, but she was certainly feeling better after that little kiss. So she thanked Anna. And then it was Ball''s turn. Anna knew how this person was very helpful to her big brother''s entire team, so she thanked him and patted his head. She had met Prince ud and Princess Bell already but she greeted them once again this time in an informal manner, and she was especially excited around Princess Bell, who was introduced to her by her big brother Alfred. She was very good at understanding the feelings one had for someone else. So even though Alf and Princess did not understand it themselves, she could tell how there was this special connection between her brother and this pretty princess. And, same as them, she could also tell how there was a unique connection between the purple cat that Anna adored like any other familiar present with them and her master prince. It was different from the connections others had with their families or the connections the adults had with theirdies but something unique. More special. And something she could not understand just yet¡­ She was uncertain what to call their connection, so, she just left it at that and they moved on with their introductions. Nd though it took a while, it was time well spent for them. They got to know the most amazing person of this house that they were going to stay in for the following few days, and though they had yet to meet everyone else, they were already in a much better mood¡­ "Then, everyone, I will take my leave. Grandpa Zhen and the others will show you the way to your rooms and you can tell them if you need anything. We usually have dinnerte in the evening so you can get fresh and have a walk around the house or the garden if you want. Alf''s house is right on the other side of the road so you can go there and see his great collection of books or, Aunt Haze''s flowers if you are interested in it. The knights should be training right now so have Chry with you if you want to go and see the knights and mages. There isn''t exactly any forbidden ce in this house but still, if you want to go in a specific room that you do not know anything about, I advise you all to be careful or there might be some ''idents''." He knew they couldn''t ess the important ces even if they wanted to, so he bid his farewell to the others with that small warning and walked up the stairs with Rein. Zoe and others were there to take care of their friends so they can focus on what was more important at that moment. "They will first be emotional and then serious." "Nah. They will be serious first, curse at us, ask for the things that we did, things that happened and only after they are satisfied, will they start the greeting and hugging." They wereing back home after weeks and that too not from their school, but from a city that was covered in blood, demonic energy and dead bodies a few hours ago. They wereing back from war, a battlefield where they had fought themselves. Where they could have gotten hurt, where they could have almost died¡­ and they did not tell any of them about any of this. Their family was obviously not happy about how they did this. Without telling them, however, they understood it was for the better. And they were not kids anymore. They can do what they wanted to do just that it was better if they would have perhaps told the others a little about what they were going to do or at least what was even happening. However, they did not do so. And as a result, now they had many things to tell and many things to discuss as not only family, but also as the representatives of their households who will y a central role in many things going forward. They knew it wasn''t about them or the two of them anymore. The matter had be so political that they had to understand the core of the matter and do every single thing with the consequences in their minds. -Knock. Knock. All of them had gathered on the top floor, or in Eon''s personal room on the terrace so they knocked on the door on the right side of his main office that came right after entering the floor. "Come in." And an older voice that they recognised as the voice of the Marchioness of this familymanded from behind that door. -Click. They entered the room after receiving permission. And as soon as they did, he saw his two grandparents sitting on two throne- like chairs in the middle of the room that did not belong to this ce. "Come here and sit down, you two." There were two sofas aligned on both their sides, on one were sitting his first and second aunt along with his second uncle Theo, while on the other sat his mom along with four differentmunication crystals. "Yes¡­" They can tell they were going to take the serious approach first as Eon had guessed and from how the fourmunications belonging to his father and first uncle, and her parents and grandparents were also already on, they knew this talk was not going to go as smoothly as they wanted it to be. "Start speaking and tell us from the start how everything happened. And please, do not leave any details behind. Even if it might be difficult to hear for some of us." His grandpa ordered with a serious look on his face,pletely different from the calm one he had when they arrived here. The atmosphere in this room they were well ustomed to was heavy right now, and just from the looks on all their faces, the two of them could tell the situation had started to spread like a wildfire in all directions already. "It all started when we received a personal Request from the headmaster¡­" The two of them knew what they had to do right now. As well as what was going toe after they were done with this serious talk¡­ Chapter 724 Forming cracks

Chapter 724 Forming cracks

?[Lucy''s POV: ] I told them everything from the start without leaving anything behind, All the details about how Rein, President, Vice president and I started the investigation on the demonic humans that had been spotted in the capital city of Lakmer. We did not know at the start how things are going to turn out to be and how there wille a time when things get out of hand and we would end up finding not a small base of some mad demon worshipping group, but the starting point of a great conspiracy itself. I told them about the base, showed them the things that we had seen in that ce with my projection artifact, and even the details that we only found out after the war had ended. From the preparation for war, the start of the war, to even the minor details of the war and its progression. I told them every single thing that I could from those nine long hours we spent eradicating the demonic cultists, the demons, as well as the remains of the fuckers. And, along with that obviously came the point where I had no choice but to tell them about every single injury, wound, cut, and scar that was left on both our bodies. Which, of course, included my experience during my Origin Awakening. ''It was painful for them, listening to all that we had to go through, what all the others beside us had to go through.'' The loss innocent of lives was a big blow to them that they all were already ustomed to cope with, but, the fact that there actually was a mortal threat to our lives in that ce, was undoubtedly the most concerning thing for all of them. "You did well, but you should have been more careful with how you dealt with the things." Grandma said with a tired expression that had only now gotten softer after I was finished talking. "You went to Lakmer to get a political standing in the world but instead came back with a new name for yourself." Mom was the most worried about me. I can tell she hadn''t slept for thest few days. "They are calling you (Magic archer of strings) now. And although the headmaster did his best to keep the identities of the one who yed the ancient relic and their partners secret, some of the pirs of the world are bound to find out about all of it." She expressed a mix of pride, worry, and anger with those words. [ "Eon, I know even you might not have expected the after effects of your actions, however, what has now be of that one war is too troublesome for not just us, but for the entire world." ] Rein''s Grandpa who was speaking through theirmunication device also sounded worried. I had no idea what exactly was going on in the world at the moment since we spent the entire day resting. However, it was obvious from this heavy air, the things were more dire than what I was hoping for. "Do you know why they all aren''t here, darling?" Mom looked up at me, directly in the eye and with a serious look on her face. "I do not, mother." I wanted to specte a few things, express my thoughts and uncertain opinions but doing all that will only drag things. They should have been here after all that happened but they all were not. Especially Dad and Rein''s family. They weren''t here and I certainly did not know the reason for that. "Haaaa¡­" [ "The nobles of the empire did not like how the imperial family supported Lakmer ''without their consent'' all on their own. Which is now evolving into a conflict." ] Dad spoke up for the first time since this conversation started. And, his voice was heavy. [ "Thanks to those bastards, people from the other nations started acting up and since the information on the ones who took the part in the battle this time was leaked to some people on the higher poisons, there are those who obviously looked at it as an opportunity." ] He was angry, genuinely angry. I had rarely seen him in that kind of state so¡­ I knew this situation was more serious. "Many of us now believe just like how this [Order of Liberation] managed to infiltrate and cultivate their forces in the Principality, they might also be present all over this world in many different ces, in many important positions that we are unaware of." "¡­" Grandma looked at me after saying that, and shook her head with a little sigh. "At the very least, the two of your specific identities haven''t been known to them just yet. That much we were able to confirm." "Looks like the headmaster took very strong measures to at the very least hide your identities. They only know the one who yed the Harp, the one who aided in the demon subjugation, and the one who controlled the reins of the war was the same. Some are specting the one who ''delivered'' those unique golden elixirs was also rted to that person in some way, but those are just spections for now." Even Aunt Aug couldn''t stay silent anymore. She herself was a pir of high society so she was inevitably part of behind the curtain politics of this world. She understood human nature as well as mom did, so, from her words, we could tell what she wanted to say. "It has been decided that the Grand conference will be held shortly. You must have guessed that much." "Yes¡­" This was no normal matter anymore. And, at the very least, I couldn''t separate myself from this situation. My identity might not have been leaked but it wasn''t safe either. Sooner orter, they will find out who was the one that yed that ancient relic, who was the person that killed the lich or who took care of the demons. The powers I showed back then were in no way simple, and even if the others don''t know about it, the people who participated in that war certainly knew about me now. They weren''t just going to sit back and watch me ''belong'' to a certain ce when the entirety of the world was on the line here. ''I had expected them to covet me for my skills, but, if they do something to make it happen, there would be manyplications.'' There were demonic humans around the world that were unrted to any cult or any ce. People in the society that possessed the demonic powers by their will and cultivated it purely with the intent of using it for their self gain as the demons actually do. They were almost untouchable and unrted to this dangerous cult, that much the people of high positions knew already. However, after this incident, the possibility of some cultists being part of the high societies of the world, or connected with them in some way wasn''t small anymore. ''Demonic humans already existed in high society but they had strong restrictions and agreements with the world governments. They were assets.'' The bunch we were dealing with were not. They were the worst enemies we could have. "Moles that we never knew about¡­" I looked back at the four of them, Grandpa Zhen hidden far behind in this room, the threemunication crystals, and at my Rein. "They started moving in Lakmer, but now they are cracking the system from the inside. baby." Our identities one side, if those cultists somehow manage to convince the people in power that ''I'' was a threat to them somehow, they will start attacking anyone they think is the one behind ''me'' and in this crossfire, unexpected and unnecessary conflicts will arise, sweeping even more innocents with them. "Your dad is currentlypleting a ''request'' from the Western Duke of Dragonoids which he couldn''t leave unfinished. El had to stay in the academy and help the Headmaster with the mess on his side. Uncle and Aunt had to deal with the Marques off south that was acting up, while Elle''s mom and dad had to hurriedly leave for the Eastern Kingdom of Lanire with a ''delegation'' since, well, you can guess what those bastards might have been up to." Grand conference was held in order to establish some ground rules, and take down the pressing issues that concern a nation or continent, but the entirety of the world. It was held to address the issue, the probable cause of the problems, the possible consequences and solutions, as well as the things that the top powers of this world had to keep in mind going forward. And it wasn''t something that can just be held whenever they wanted. ''It was called ''grand'' for a reason and the fate of the entire world depended on the agreements the world leaders reached during these conferences.'' It was going to take at least a month before they finalised the location, timings, duration, and issues to be addressed. During that time, all of the nobles and those holding any kind of power and authority had to be very careful of what we do and who we consider friend or foe. ''Empire''s winter festival will also be held after a week so shit is bound to happen during that time.'' And just like every year, Hiraani will hold the annual auction and many nobles of many nations will attend that event¡­ so we will have to be extra careful at that time. The turbulence was only the beginning. Until the grand conference, all of us, especially the two of our families will have to be on the defensive. Which is not going to be easy in any way¡­ "Haaaa¡­ I''m sorry-" "How dare you say that word, you ungrateful child? You did nothing wrong, and if anything what you did is so admirable your mother was crying happily the entire night yesterday. You did your best, and not only us, but all those who know of those great deeds will admire it." Aunt Aug was warning me. And the rare embarrassment on mom''s face confirmed her words. "Ahem. Anyway, now that we are done with the talk and Eon knows all that he needs to, how about we greet him-" Even before grandpa was finished speaking, mom stood up, ran up to us, and hugged me tightly. "Wee back, sweetie. Thank you for not being too hurt, anding back safely." "Haha, of course, mom. I will alwayse back to you. To my home¡­" I hugged her back, she gave me a kiss then hugged Rein alongside me, and continued hugging both of us for a few minutes. "Your mom and dad might not be here right now, Elle, but don''t ever forget this mother of yours is always here for you." "Of course, mother." Rein wasn''t alone here. This was her home as well. And this was her family. She can rely on them as much as she wanted to¡­ Chapter 725 Mom’s gifts

Chapter 725 Mom¡¯s gifts

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Hahaha~. The moment you pulled out that pot, everyone here knew it was you, Eon." "Haha, I even jumped and shouted ''that''s my baby!'' when you suddenly started creating something out of the blue. I just knew you were doing it in a flow as a thanks but it was so fun, haha. It was fun watching the reaction of the others and the stunned looks every one had. It was sooooooo funny!" "Shut up Nol. You were too loud. Anna would have woken up had we not been on the second floor. You were shouting so loud even everyone on the other end of the floor would have heard it." "Alright alrightdies. We should calm down now." We had finished the heavy talk and decided not to talk about any of that anymore. Thus, a light talk was going on between all of us. [ "You saved the recordings, right Nol? I really want to watch him do all that. Tsk. If it wasn''t for that damn duke, I would have been there right now." ] [ "Same, brother Brian, same. If only that little bastard was a bit smarter, we wouldn''t have to go through all this trouble. If only the previous lord of their household had paid more attention to his studies, the world would have been a little more peaceful ce." ] Sir Dorian and Lady Oran were on their way to an independent kingdom that was on the very eastern end of the western continent, a ce that was partially connected with the border of the Atraxiands. Their nation wasn''t particrly any special, however since they were the sole nation on the eastern cost of the continent, they had connections with the underwater kingdom located somewhere away from the eastern borders. For the underwater kingdom of the Mer people, that nation was the only allied country since their ancestors had formed a generational pact to aid each other in any difficult situation. ''They had their full support so they had grown into a prosperous country that could still exist alongside the Roxanna empire on this continent. But there was a problem a while back.'' The king of Lanire died of old age and the younger child he had crowned as his sessor suddenly died during a Wild Wyvern raid. The only other hair he had were his youngest daughter who was currently even younger than us, and the eldest jerk bastard that had only yed around his entire life. ''He was never supposed to be the ruler since he was more of a delinquent than any prince of a prominent nation, but circumstances didn''t allow that.'' His peaceful life came to an end when he was forced toe into power by the pressure of nobles and the underwater kingdom, and since he didn''t like that position himself, he was doing his best to get dethroned. ''He was messing around with whatever he saw fit, and Atraxiands were one of his areas of focus.'' I didn''t want to say it, but he was one of the bastards that he had his eyes on Rein since a while ago, and now that he had the chance, amidst this chaos, it was a pretty good chance for him to take action. He was a good example of what happens when someone unqualified was given absolute power¡­ he was digging his own grave. [ "Haaaa. Darling Elle. Sorry we aren''t there when you need us." ] "It''s alright mom. I have a family here as well. They take very good care of me." [ "Aw. My babyyyy~." ] Her mom was crying, and everyone else including me had a helpless smile on our faces. It was good to be in the usual atmosphere that we were used to. [ "Alright everyone. We will have to go now." ] "Ah, uncle. Is the matter with marquise any better?" [ "No Nol. They are up to something. We have sent Julie and the others to investigate their territory. We are expecting them to arrive in a couple of days." ] "Ah¡­ I see. Please let us know if there''s anything we can do for you." [ "You take care of that sun of yours first. He will have to prepare many thing if he is going to be the one leading the grand conference." ] "Of course uncle¡­" She looked up at me, nodded, and said her greetings alongside everyone else as theirmunication device turned off. [ "Then we-" ] "Ah, dad, wait. When will the two of you be back." Rein''s mom and dad were going as well, but she spoke up hurriedly with an excited expression on her face. [ "Hmmm? We should arrive in the central city by this evening, then after meeting with the nobles in the morning and the dinner with the ''king'' in the evening, we should be back in around three days." ] "Alright~! I recorded the entire section Eon yed on the harp during the fight-" [ "What?! Really?! You did?!" ] He didn''t need her to finish what she was saying. Those few words were more than enough to get his attention and earn his excitement. "Yes. With this-" [ "Ahhh~! With the recorder I gave you as well~?! That''s amazing, dear! You did a great job getting that recording~! We will trying back as soon as we could now-" ] [ "Hold your horses, dear. We still do not know what exactly we will be dealing with when we reach there. Don''t promise her something you aren''t even certain of yet." ] Lady Oran stopped his midway his excitement and gave him a smile that most wives give to their husbands when they are being overly enthusiastic about some certain things. "Haha, it''s alright dad. Take your time and take care of yourself. Don''t rush anything. We are only going to rest for the next few days anyway." She was happy. The warm smile on her face was all that I needed to feel happy as well. "Alright then, go now. Go do your work." She knew he was the one handling themunication device right now and that he was exhausted from all the energy they had to use to maintain that thing even with the external support device. It was no easy task even with his phenomenal Mana control. It needed more Mana to maintain than his great Mana pool so around an hour was his limit for this kind of specialmunication device. Even Rein and I could only maintain these things for a few hours. They were no east thing. ''Only those specialised in controlling these things could maintain thesemunication devices for a prolonged period, people with abnormallyrge pools of Mana or those blessed with Mana who could directly control environmental Mana more precisely than any of the normal mages.'' Alf can do it with his advanced spell-folding technique, but even he has his limits. He had a long way to go still. And he knew it pretty well. [ "See youter Elle sweetheart." ] "Take care, mom. And take care of dad as well." [ "Hey! Whose side are you on!" ] [ "Mine, of course. Huhuhuhu~." ] She ended upughing at their cute quarrel¡­ they were cute. She loved them dearly. "You should go as well, honey." They also turned off theirmunication device so, only dad was left with us now. [ "Hmm? Why? I can still chat for a bit. Taika is still ying with that low grade Draconic species." ] Dad was in a dungeon with mutated lizardman like creatures that possessed more draconic qualities and less intelligence than the usual lizardmen. They were also no social creatures like the lizardmen as they appeared individually instead of in pairs, so it was also easy to deal with them. "Well, yes but I want Eon all to myself now." [ "What? No fair! You get to spend more time with him while I rot in this shit ce?! How can you do that!" ] There was nothing much to gain in this for him since he already had what the requester was offering as a reward. But since the matter was political and he was aparatively new political figure in this world, he had to do some of the things even if did not want to. "Hulu, perks of being home honey. I told you to reject those bastards already but you did not listen. You brought it upon yourself~. Finish the dungeon quickly if you want to be here as well~." [ "Hump! I already know what you want to do with him! You have been waiting for this moment for years now!" ] "¡­! Hey! Shhhhh!" "Hmmm?" What did he mean by that? She was waiting for this moment? What moment? [ "Hump! You get to y with him by yourself while I''m here? That''s unfair! I will ruin your surprise if I am to rot here for the few more days anyway!" ] What was he talking about? What surprise? "Brian! Shut the hell up! You are dead if you-" [ "Eon! She has a gift for you that she has been-¡­" ] -Oooooong! Before mom finished speaking, he jumped in and started shouting¡­ but right before he was going to reveal this ''gift'' of hers, she picked up themunication device and stored it away inside her special bracelet. "Huuuu. That bastard¡­" She had a relieved expression, but it didn''t really do him any good. "What is this ''gift'' dad was talking about, mom?" He blew up half of the surprise by mentioning the word ''gift'' and including mom, every one of us already knew I would have many possibilities in mind what this ''gift'' of hers could be. "That bastard¡­!" He didn''t like how she got to spend alone time with me, with us all by herself. He was being selfish there, but she was being selfish here as well. ''Both of them could have waited to get together to give me this ''gift'' but she thought this was the best chance. He knew that instantly from the happy look she had on her face.'' And though I don''t know how he might have guessed what was on her mind when he wasn''t even present here, he was her husband. He could do much more than this, that much I knew certainly. "So¡­" She looked up at me with a sad expression, and sighed in disbelief¡­ She wasn''t expecting he would do something like that to her, but, it was what it was. The surprise was blown away now. And she knew prolonging it would only make her less fun. Chapter 726 Box of crystal

Chapter 726 Box of crystal

?[Eon''s POV: ] Thanks to dad ying that suicidal trick, whatever surprise mom had in mind was blown. And, though the others found it funny how he did that courageous thing, they kept theirughing brief. This was a surprise she prepared for me. So, she was going to be the only person to present me with it. ''She left my room, requested Rein to stay with them or go down and y with her friends, and told them we would be back by dinner.'' Then she dragged me to her room, and since then, she had been sitting on her chair, before the usual chair with the same window before her and the same special room on the left side of her room. A few things were moved here or there but all in all, things were pretty much the same as they had been thest time I was here. The desk was also the same. "Haaaa¡­" "And that''s your sixth sigh, mom. You don''t have to do it if you are ufortable now-" "I want to kill your dad, darling." She had serious anger in her eyes right now. Like, the serious kind of serious anger. "Please don''t do that. He''ll die." I had to be concerned at this moment. She was angry! Like, really angry! And when she said she wanted to kill him, I knew she did not mean it literally. ''She would either torture him to the point he will faint with too much pleasure, or, in worst case scenario, if she feeds him some food she cooks herself, there was a chance he would quite literally pass away!'' She was exceptionally good when it came to handling money¡­ and she was also horrible when it came to even the most basic kind of cooking! We even called her cooking ''cursed food'' that was deadlier than some of the deadliest poisons a normal person could find at an apothecary. "If he dies, you won''t have anyone to y with, right¡­?" What dad did certainly was too bold to be something he would usually do, but some dungeons did have that kind of weird effect on individuals. They made the entirety of one''s mental state unstable, some dungeons were so bad they could make anyone with a weak mentality permanently unstable. Dungeons made many who entered them go crazy. Him showing behaviour like that should not be that surprising since the dungeon he was in, was in no way anything normal. "Thinking about it, you''re right darling. If he''s gone, who will give me my doses of¡­ yeah. Let''s keep him alive then. Bastard." This was a perfectly normal kind of conversation we usually have. A perfectly normal kind with my own dad being the centre of topic this time¡­ though, it wasn''t fun this time. "Can we get to the point now?" "What point?" "The gift, mom. The gift." "Right, the gift. Fuck that father of yours. He ruined everything! That bastard!" Now she is angry once again¡­ What the hell? "Haaaa. I wanted it to be a surprise." She signed once again, tapped on her wrist, and took out a certain attractive looking long box from her unique storage. "Eon darling¡­" Then, she ced both her hands on the attractive looking blue sapphire box that I can tell was made of the special material which was usually only used to contain highly sensitive materials that are conducive to Mana. "Ever since you awakened your Mana nucleus, and your origin skill, I had been waiting for the moment you have your origin awakening since they say only after an origin awakens its true form could it actually receive the true powers meant for their possessors." She had a helpless expression as she said that. ''She wanted this to be a surprise and see my stunned reaction to it or something, and if not for dad, the suspense would have definitely been greater.'' But he really destroyed everything with that little information of his¡­ "I had been waiting for you to awaken your origin, and have a body reformation thing that the origin skill possessors usually go through and be better than your cute younger self, but my dream remained dreams after that incident." And now, she was sad after thinking back about what had happened to me and the things I went through. "Mom. It wasn''t-" "I know, sweety. I know." All of that was in the past now and though notpletely, she was over the fact that I had to go through all that. She wasn''t crying at the very least, so this was at least good. "When you were back and told us how you still did not have your origin awakening, I was worried at the start, but then again, you have never been the same as the regr children. You have been special, different from everyone else. And, since you already have a number of skills when you came back, I waited for the time when you have your origin awakening and can finally choose the skills that you actually want." She carefully opened the box with her hands, inside the attractive looking box, as I had already guessed, sat colourful Crystals. Pretty colourful crystals, all of them one of a kind. "I collected them over the years in hope that you will have an easier time choosing the skills that you will actually need over the ones you had no choice but to use. These are the best and most special of them all." The skill stones handcrafted into a crystal form by a master craftsman sat inside the long box, attractive crystals with skills that were all (Blue) rank or above. "Wow mom, these-" "Haaaaa¡­ I wanted to see a stunned expression, a genuine surprise that I can remember for the longest time, but that bastard husband of mine ruined everything." She was sad. She wasn''t crying but she was sad and there was nothing that was going to cure that sadness of hers but an apology from dad. He will have to work hard on the mess that he had created here, and I know it won''t be easy for him. She will do everything to make it uneasy for him. "Haaaaa. Anyway, it seems like you like them." "Like? These are amazing, mom!" Since raw high grade skill stones were mostly quiterge in size, moving them from one ce to the other without special means like the box mom was using was quite difficult. The box itself was necessary, but if one did not have it, and the individual have to store and carry the skill stones for a longer period of time, then there was a chance the skill stones might lose their effectiveness or by being in the contact of the environmental Mana, skill might just get marked onto the body of the one carrying them. ''That''s why with therger and higher grade Mana stores, they took a safety measure and not only did they convert the raw skill stones into special crystal forms, they also coated them in unique materials that would prevent the leak of any Mana of the skill stone.'' This sustained their effectiveness, and along with a container as good as this, the skills would remain in top condition even after a long time had passed. "There are three special skills from (Purple) rank creatures, one from a special (Indigo) rank and one from that certain (Indigo) water species! The remaining four are (Blue) ranks but every single one of them are some of the rarest skills that one can find in the creatures of nature! They are all amazing, mom!" A skill to rece my [Quick steps] movement skill, one skill to rece my [Talisman paper dummies), and one overallbat effectiveness skill¡­ of the nine skills present in this long box, I can already tell which one I was going to use immediately or what I had no need of anymore. They were all special skills, and, there was one that even I had never heard of among this bunch. ''Three eyes.'' There was a certain yellowish crystal among them with a mark inside it resembling a rune. It was quite unique for a (Blue) ranked creaturs''s skill, but I couldn''t tell what the skill was just from the identification mark of the skill. "Oh, are you interested in that one as well? I knew you would be interested in this one~! Hehe, we found it by chance in a small ce far into the northwest. We know it''s a skill from a lost species but we couldn''t ever have the real appraisal of this skill. I was hoping you-¡­ hmmm? Eon?" "This¡­ mom¡­ this is¡­" This was unbelievable. Like, in all honesty, I wasn''t expecting this¡­ ============ [Name: Cascade of Ark] ¡ï ¡ï ¡ï ¡ï Effects: ¡ª-> You can draw one card from the cascade during each activation. ¡ª-> The selected card will consume 10 percent of avable Mana and give the effects associated with that card to them. ¡ª-> Skills possessed by one of nature''s offspring that met their end somewhere others could not see or perceive them. ¡ª-> The effects granted by the skill are primary and not rted to any of the spells cast on the individual or their own skills. ¡ª-> Skill cooldown will vary depending on the card thates up and the intensity at which the card activates. Conclusion: ¡ª-> This is, once again, the most fucked up thing we had ever observed in this short lifespan we have existed. ¡ª-> Just the fact that it is before you means you are going to have it despite its uncertain origin. ¡ª-> This is just fucked up¡­ ============ This was damn good, ok? A boost skill that oveps over all the spells and other support skills. How amazing do you think this was?! Chapter 727 The familiar dinner table

Chapter 727 The familiar dinner table

?[Eon''s POV: ] ===Status=== Name: Axion Heliox Kromet Von Aishwa nor Ethan Griffin Age: 15 Strength: 198 Dexterity: 201 Stamina: 213 Magic Power: 249 Intelligence: 225 Luck: 147 Charm: 156 [Skill: Energy Cirction, Cascade of Ark, Light steps, Hexagram triangles, Queen''s castle, Strings of Archaneum, Triple points.] [Origin Skill: Instigator of Dawn: Advanced mastery. -Three Eyes (Stage-2) -Dynamic Heart (Stage-1) -White gate (Stage-2) -Lucy (Stage-0) -Call of Authority (Stage-1) ============ "You are the best, mom." "Hmmm¡­ empty ttery." "No, I mean it. You are the best." Standing up and going behind her chair, I hugged her from the behind and gave her a kiss on her head. "Thanks for these. They are amazing. And perfect. I couldn''t have got better things than them in times like these. Thanks, mom. Really, really, really thank you." I stayed like that for a moment, she put her head over my arms, and kissed my palm as I released her. "At least the hug and kiss were genuine. Haaa, my dear baby." I was standing, so she also stood up from her chair, and hugged me tightly. "Though the surprise wasn''t so surprising thanks to our daddy, I''m d you liked these things. I hope they are much more helpful to you than the skills you used to have¡­ they might not be the same things, but they are the most special ones I havee across in the past few years. I know they will be of great help to you, sweetheart." "Of course they will." Our heights were almost the same now, which means she and Rein almost have the same heights as well. How fascinating¡­ Dad was pretty taller than both of us, same for uncle El and grandpa, so I think my height will increase a little as well over time. ''I am already as tall as I used to be in my past life.'' And I am much healthier now. Especially after that origin awakening. I had been feeling more ''free'' ever since that day. "It''s good to see you are safe." She was emotional now¡­ she held it back when we were all together, but now that we were alone, she couldn''t hold back her overflowing emotions anymore. "Thank goodness you are¡­ you are safe¡­" Her voice was breaking now. She was crying¡­ "Yes, mom. I am safe. I am fine. And I am here." She cried, she cried as much as Rein did the night after the battle. Her warm tears covered the floor of her office, painted her eyes red, dried her smooth skin, and made the atmosphere a little gloomier. But itsted shorter than I had expected. She controlled herself, pped me, punched me, asked me to promise her I wouldn''t do something as reckless as this again, and just like every other time, I told her how that kind of promise would be impossible for me to keep¡­ Acting reckless wasn''t something I did on purpose, but if situations asked for it, I couldn''t just ignore the possibility that my recklessness could bring much better results than my thoroughly designed ns. "You will have to prepare all the remaining elements of the annual auction by yourself as a punishment. And, you will have to do it while spending time with me, ok?" "I will dly ept a punishment like that any day, mom." "Oh don''t be so happy, dear. You are doing this alone, not with Elle. She will be going back to her home as her punishment." "¡­what?" "You heard that right. And I am not the one saying that. Uncle decided this." "What?! Why didn''t you tell me?! When does she have to leave?! Does she know?! Wait, let me ask her directly! Celes-" "Calm down, mister fianc¨¦. Your sweetheart is still going to stay with us for a few days. She will leave after the weekend, perhaps." "Moooooooooom! Must she go?!" This wasn''t fair! What the hell will I even do without her here?! "It''s not me who decided this, dear. Your grandfather-inw did. Talk with him if you want to change his decision." "Alright! I will go and-" "Not now, dummy." I was about to run out towards themunication channel room to connect her grandpa back at the Atraxia estate, but mom caught me by my cor. "This is dinner time so let''s go eat first. Your friends and the others must have arrived there by now, so¡­ let''s have dinner first, talk with your fianc¨¦e, and then talk with her grandpater tonight. I don''t think they will get any sleep with everything going on so I know for sure he will be avable till dawn." She was looking at me with her serious smile. The one that she has when she is actually angry about something. The one that she only rarely has¡­ "Punishment is called punishment for a reason, darling. It''s not fun to y everytime. Learn from this and prepare for what you have to deal with. I have never liked those old bastards in the grand conference and I know for a fact they aren''t gonna do you any good either. You will have to be more prepared than I was." "Yes, mom. I will keep-¡­ wait. Did I hear that right? You have done the presentation in the grand conference before?" She patted my head and held me by my hand, and she walked out of her room. "Of course I have. And now that I think about it, I have never told you about that, have I?" "Of course you haven''t! When was this anyway?! How many years-" "It was during thest conference, dear. It''s not that old of a tale. I will tell it to you, Elle, and Zoe tomorrow, ''key?" Grand conference was not something just anyone can attend. Hell no one can even step foot inside the venue where it is being held if they aren''t connected with some prominent figure attending the conference under any circumstances. But she was saying she was the person to present the agenda before the conference¡­ not even the kings and emperors get such an opportunity. ''My case was different since I was the only one capable enough to present this matter before all those people, but the fact that she had been chosen as one of the people to ever present a certain topic by the global councils was a freaking big deal!'' And she never told me anything about this! How could she do that?! "Alright, alright now. Stop thinking about those things. We are here so introduce me to your cute friends." She led me all the way to the dining room on the ground floor when I was lost in my thoughts, and, since everyone including Rein, grandpa, grandma, aunt Aug, and others from the academy were present here, I also tried to get my act together. [[ "You are going?!" ]] At least, outwardly. [[ "I know right?! The hell?! How unfair of grandpa! I want to go home and meet all of them but not for weeks! Mom and dad aren''t even home yet!" ]] We sat down on our seats and though there was a straight expression on our faces, we were screaming inside our heads. [[ "This has to change, Rein. I don''t think I can do everything rted to the annual auction on my own!" ]] [[ "You have to prepare the auction on your own?! Is it a punishment as well?!" ]] I was sitting right beside her, with my Anna on my other side, and on the other side of Anna was Zoe as usual. Grandma and grandpa were on one end of this long table, while mom was beside aunt Aug and Ca. The others were sitting on both sides beside us and Quin and Med were sitting together right next to Rein. The food wasn''t served yet but there was a special juice prepared for them resting before all of them. And now that I think about it, this was our first dinner together¡­ shouldn''t I make something as well? "Should I go prepare a few things for everyone as well?" The cooks had learned directly from me so I was pretty confident in their skills, but wasn''t it more of a basic courtesy to prepare food for the guests personally? "They have already prepared the dinner, Eon. It will be too much if you make something more now." "That''s right. Instead of making more dishes, how about you make some special dessert for everyone in the house?" Grandma''s suggestion¡­ was pretty good as well. It was better to use this chance to prepare something special for all of them, including sir Mel and others. It was a great suggestion but the faces of the people who were expecting some dishes directly from me fell off a little. ''They had tasted my dishes, so, well, they certainly were going to have high standards for any kind of food they were going to have in their lives.'' They didn''t know what kind of things they were going to have right now, but they thought they wouldn''t be as good as what they had back in the Heliox estate in Lakmer. The things that I made myself. However, they were wrong about something here. "Then, if everyone is here, shall we have dinner and talk a little about all of you while eating?" What I made for all of them were just basic things. What they were going to have right now though, as Princesses and princes here knew, was going to be something entirely different from those basic things with unforgettable vours. Some of them were meeting grandpa and grandma for the first time, for some people here, mom and aunt Aug were some of the most attractive people they had always wanted to meet, while for some, uncle Theo and aunt Haze who had juste back from a certain meeting, were also people that some had always wanted to meet. They were having a dinner with them directly right now, so, what they were going to have, were certainly not going to be simple dishes. They are going to be surprised pretty soon now, but that aside¡­ [[ "Rein, Rein. Can you guess what mom''s gifts were?" ]] This was dinner time, so we can talk freely now. It was a special space where we, in this family, share what has been on our minds and share our thoughts. Family dinners for us was a special time of the day where we talk. So, the others present here, including the two of us, expected some good questions from them¡­ The food would be helpful for those particr questions. Chapter 728 Questions, and responses

Chapter 728 Questions, and responses

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Hmmm¡­ Quin, is it? I have heard a lot about you, young Miss. Especially your water control abilities." "T-thank you for your praise, but¡­ but I am nothing special-" "Hear me, Eleequinn. Do not utter such words now. I know when my granddaughters praise someone, their hearts are sincere. They don''t call just anyone ''amazing''; there must be something truly special in what you do and how you do it for them to say it." Grandma smiled at her and pushed the fruit sd towards her by controlling the water in the nearby ss in such an elegant manner that it stunned not only Quin, but also Princess Bell and Lizzy. "Wow¡­ did you just control the water¡­ itself?" Grandma was a blessed individual, blessed by one of the major gods off this world. She could control the waves, the entire waters of the sea if she wished and had enough mental stamina to do so in that moment. She did not need to use the Mana or any kind of particr energy to do it as well like the mages and element users usually do. She was not a mage, but a unique blessed human that was capable of much more than most normal individuals could be capable of. "Huhuhu. You will be able to do it soon as well if I am correct. Oh, do you want me to show you how to do this?" "Please! I would-, ahem. I mean it would be my honour, Lady Griz-" "You can address mefortably. All of you, actually. You are guests of my dear children. There is no need for you to be formal, rigid, or tense about anything. Just think of this humble ce as your own house." She was being genuine about this, the ones present here could tell instinctively. They could feel her authority, her natural presence that was the most unique and dominating among any of us. She was the marchioness, the lord of this household, and one of the highest authorities in this entire empire. "I-if you say so¡­ thank you, Elder Griz." She was calling her elder, and also by her nickname at the same time. Grandma found this super cure, of course. And, seeing her interest in Quin, it was obvious she had quite the liking for her skill set. She had her eyes on her, all of us can tell that. However, unknown to all of it, Quin was just smiling shyly. Eating her te full of special dishes with a delighted expression. "Big brother! Big brother! Have this~." "Ah, thanks." Anna passed me another ss of juice since mine had finished, and I epted it with a smile. "Big sister Elle! Here~." "Oh, thank you very much, little one." And then she asked me to pass a te of sd to Rein sitting beside me on the other side. She was being helpful to everyone present here right now, handing them themon things that were gathered near here, and though others found her attempts to help them super cute, she wasn''t eating her food properly. "Here, Anna." "Hehe," that''s why I was feeding her asionally. Something she liked, of course, but also something that will help her finish her food a little quicker. "Hmmm, so, miss Neb and Lizzy. You two are light attribute users, correct?" Mom asked the two who were lost in the vours of the unique food that they were not familiar with, and brought them back from their unique zone. "Hmmm? Did you ask me, Lady Nn?" "Yes, dear. I was asking if the two of you were light attribute users like prince udius. And you have sauce on your face, wipe that with this." Mom passed a napkin to her with a smile, and there was an embarrassed expression on her face. E was fine though, as she was still lost in the vours of the food. "E? Neb, ptsss." Lizzy could tell E wasn''t mentally present among them so she whispered to her and, only after she hit her with her ankle, did Ee back to this ce. [[ "Kehehe. The two of them are so cute. And funny as well~." ]] [[ "They sure have a good chemistry." ]] This wasn''t the first time the two of them have had this kind of unique moment. They were mostly together, hanging out with each other in their unique sses, so they were pretty close. "Zoe, have you seen after all of their amodations? Everything is alright, right?" "Yes big brother. They liked the ces, and though some of them needed some special features in their rooms, grandpa Zhen should be done with the changes by now." This was a dinner table, we were having dinner, and, talks were happening all around us. Grandpa was talking with Captain Alpha, prince us, Hide, and Ezra. They all were all weapon users or at least possessed some intrest in weapons and when there was a [King] ranked knight, a war hero, and one of the most renowned fighters with them, they couldn''t possibly not be interested in talking with him. Some others with them were also talking with aunt Aug and aunt Haze, asking them aboyt the high society and the flowers, the gardens and how thedies chose their dresses for the special events. Thedies, including Med was interested in the things that the two of my aunts knew the best here. So their own conversation was going on as they continued with their food. Uncle Theo had thepany of Deleon and Miss Mia who were asking him about some serious legal procedures that should not be a kind of talk that one has over dinner¡­ but this was a special dinner with the special people, so, uncle Theo, one of the best attorneys of this world, could chat with those special kids freely. It wasn''t like they were asking him state secrets or anything. Little advice was all they were asking for and there was no reason to not help them. One of them was the youngest known alchemy master, as well as possessor of that strange elixir in world''s eyes, while the other was one of the only Slime experts of this world, and also someone who had long surpassed the bounds of a prodigy. He was a genius when it came to creatures, especially slimes and beings close to them¡­ the reason he was interested in Povpoi was also mainly because they had very close characteristics to the slimes, and now that he was seeing these creatures so closely, he couldn''t hold his curiosity back. ''He is a fanatic. That''s exactly why it will be extremely fun seeing him being yed under the hands of my little Anna.'' All of us were looking forward to see his special slime collection that he promised to show Anna, and how she will let him ''y'' with her little friends. "So, girls, if you are finally listening, how would you like to help me with the preparations of the Annual auction of Hiraani? I need a sat of special hands that could y with light for something, special." Mom gave them a mysterious smile, put her fork down, and as she took a sip of her wine, her lips curved even further. "I will pay you handsomely, of course. But, along with pay, if you do well, I might even help you get any item you want during the auction. How about it?" Lizzy''s ears picked up the word money while E''s eyes shined when she heard mom would help her get any item she wanted from the auction. And, any person who knew the grand Auction house of the capital of Roxanna, and it''s annual event, would undoubtedly know just how special items appeared there. "It would be my honor!" "I will dly help,dy Nn!" Mom knew exactly what excited the two of them and aimed directly for that. And, as she knew, the offer she had made was too attractive for the people present here to ignore. "Haha, how nice of you, cute girls. Oh, if anyone wants to help us, feel free to speak-" "I want to help Lady Nn!" "I can help as well!" "I have some slimes with light attribute ability if Lady Nolen needs it." "Please allow us to help as well, Aunt Nol!" "Hehe, I will help as well~!" She asked me to do everything on my own so that she can sit back and watch everything from the sidelines. But after sending Rein away, she was making others help her with the other things as well. ''She certainly doesn''t have any intention to do anything about this year''s auction, hun.'' Perhaps it was because everything that happened with us, and with the Lakmer. Perhaps she wanted to focus on more important matters other than the auction, or perhaps she was doing it because she just wanted to go away from all this and spend some alone time. But then again, she also said she would watch over me and teach me, so this might also be her way to prepare me for the grand conference. It could be anything, I did not know yet. But, one thing I knew for certain, was how she piqued the interest of every person present here, and one way or another, all of them were now ready to overwork under her for some item that they themselves would not know the worth of until they actually have it. The auction was going to be the same blind auction it always is, so what she was offering was actually that much interesting. And she didn''t say she would but that thing for them. She just said she would help them get what they wanted, she did not say she would pay for the things in full so¡­ well, she was using them. And she is a bad person anyway, so I pity these people. They were falling for her scam while believing in her background and authority¡­ my poor friends. ''Haaaa¡­ at least they will get some money from this. So that much is good.'' Not that most of them had any need for money anymore. Lizzy was just an exception here. "Hmm? Is something wrong, big brother." "Nothing, Anna. It''s just, I''m worried about our friends here." She knew I was a little worried, also after my answer, she also knew there was nothing for her to worry about here. She knew how her mom was, as well as where all of this was going, and also how there was no stopping this, so she just patted my back with her little hands. "it''s alright, big brother. We will help them so that they don''t have to lost too much~." My Anna was smart. And humble. And cute. And the best. "Let''s do that, dear." Everyone was finishing up their dinner now¡­ I should go prepare the dessert for everyone. Chapter 729 Special dessert

Chapter 729 Special dessert

?[Rein''s POV: ] "So, what are we making?" The dinner was finally over, and so, we were standing in the familiar kitchen where we had made countless magical dishes previously. "Something special." He is never limited by a recipe or theme. He always has an ingredient for some kind of thing he is about to make and, whenever he says he is going to make something special, especially when he says he is going to make something special, the thing he is onto, turns out to be the most unique thing we had ever made in this ce. "Ohh~? Something special~? What kind of special, big brother~?" "Hmmmm. What do you want, little one?" "Chocte~!" And we even have a helper today, so things are going to be pretty easy. "Chocte you say? Hmmm¡­ chocte¡­ chocte." He was thinking, contemting, creating something in his special fantastical inner mind, check possibilities and doing some mental calctions¡­ it was pretty normal of him to do these kind of things when he is about to make something specifically unique for a specific kind of audience. I had seen him like that a good number of times, and statistically, whenever he is this way, a good thing is bound to pop out of that absurd mind of his. "Hmmm. How would you like a little house of chocte then?" "A house~?! We can have an entire house made of chocte~?!" "Kind of? Well, it will be a little more than just a house made of chocte. We shall use a few things from here and there that would make the entire thing much better." He had that same unique smile on his face that he has when he does or figures out something that he knows is extremely insane. And seeing the situation, and his suggestion, even I could tell he was up to something much, much, much cooler than I was thinking originally. "Alright, then it''s decided. We are making a house of chocte, fruits and flowers!" He announced with a loud voice not too loud for the others outside there to hear, but perfectly just right for the entire mood of the atmosphere to be elevated to a certain extent. "Haha, alright Anna. Listen¡­" -Ooooooooooooong! He took out a few ingredients from his storage space while with his telekinesis magic, he gathered the necessary things from all around the kitchen and filled the preparation table that was left empty before us right now. "And Rein too. Come here." I was his assistant and someone that carries out the task he asks of me in this realm, I have been and I wish to be the same forever. So, as this was the call right before the actual cooking process itself, I knew this was going to be an important step for us. "Listen, Anna and you too, Rein." The kind of special stuff he had took out from his storage space, the one that had evolved into something else that we had to look into pretty soon, mostly included the things that had no rtion to a normal kind of cake or chocte. Most of them were rare fruits that we don''t see on markets much, some of them were crystalised versions ofbined elements that shouldn''t even be a part of anything that people were going to eat¡­ but those things were present on the table before us right now, and there was excitement in his eyes along with it. "We are going to create a little structure entirely made of the chocte that Rein and Anna likes the most, that will have an inside material filled with a unique cream filled with fruit and vours, the outside of it will be a little grassy garden with smaller flowers scattered across the green ce, and we will do the detailing of the outer parts with wafer and various kind of choctes. It is going to be extremely realistic and we are going to make every single element of it from edible material so it will a house that we can eatpletely. As for the-" "Oh! Oh! Big brother! Are we going to make our home~?!" He was definitely not nning to do that until she said that, but right after those words left her pretty little lips, and he quickly processed some data, another smile appeared on his face. "Now we certainly are~," he confirmed with a joyful face and after looking through the things and nodding at both of us with a smile, he wore his cute apron. "Now then, shall we start?" He was motivated right now, and both Anna and I knew what he is like when he is motivated like this, so the two of us also quickly changed into our cooking attire. -Oooooooooooong! And, without waiting for either of us, he started melting down the bog chocte bars that we had in the cold storage of the kitchen¡­ he used magic for it, of course and the me he was using were of his own mana so this process was also a little special. ''Few people in this world could infuse Mana into the things they make since it requires not only an extreme mastery over Mana but also a deep understanding of the food and the methods to create it as well.'' The main there there was less Masters and Grandmasters when it came to cooking in this world was mainly because of this dividing factor. It was never easy to create things by using Mana in any manner. But, creating things with just a Mana was amon task for this bastard. -Oooooooooooong! "Rein, I will leave the chocte in your care. Let it settle down and while that is happening, please create moulds like these." He processed the chocte with his own Mana AND Aura, infused the two energies into the master ss chocte, and after refining it just to the right point, he handed it all down to me and moved on to the other part. We were making it live and as we knew, our dear family members and good friends were watching all of this happening in real time right now. So, they were obviously going to be surprised by all the things that we were capable of. "Anna, I want you to carefully cut these fruits while I prepare the cake base and the cream fillings, ok?" "Sure~!" Anna had a very good eye for precision and details. She liked sewing and making her own doll friends¡­ ah, right. He still carries around her first gift to him; he uses it whenever he gets the chance. ''He adores that little handkerchief immensely, which is cute, of course.'' -Oooooooooooooo Well, we worked hard for the next few hours and followed his instructions as he guided me through various tasks that I can finish quicker than our little Anna who had been stuck with the same task since the start. It took some time for him to figure out the perfect proportions to all the areas that we needed to make, and since this was going to be a special dessert for not just us but all of us in this house, we had to make it into a proper portion. ''There were hundreds of people residing in this estate so, this ''house'' of chocte also had to be pretty big.'' We made everything with costly and special chocte, he used his own special chocte to create the smaller details that were present all over the final product, and by using advanced techniques that I cannot even describe, after more than an hour of work, I was standing before another one of his masterpiece¡­ "This is fucking gorgeous, darling." "Hey! No cursing, sister Elle." "Ah, sorry. I was just¡­ mesmerised." He turned off the feed of this ce when we began assembling all the elements and giving birth to an actual freaking estate made of chocte, delicious fresh fruits, a kind of delightful cream that I had never tasted before. Something filled with various kinds of choctes sculpted into various shapes and kinds to the tiny elements like this grass, the windows, the realistic flowers, to even the small details all over the walls. He was an artist, a chef, a perfectionist¡­ and this piece, is something both of us were going to remember forever. "Nice job, Miss." He gave me a kiss on my neck when we were finally done and were looking at the end product born after quenching his burning fire of inspiration. He did not know what he was going to make for our friends, for all of our family as a token of his safe return, when he entered this kitchen a few hours ago. "Nice job as well, chef." But now that we were looking at this tall piece of chocte and delight, something anyone would want to take a bite of at any time of their days, we couldn''t help but smile with a happy smile. "Shall we?" I kissed my amazing fianc¨¦ even though Anna was here, watching us. I had to do it, I couldn''t control it when he was smiling so¡­ freely. This creation of his, this piece of chocte, filled with all kinds of things that, when put into mary value, would be enough to finance arge kingdom''s few month''s finances, was phenomenal. "Please¡­" I loved it. And, I knew for a fact there was no way for anyone to not like this amazing piece chocte. "Anna will-" "Youe here, little girl." She wanted to be the one to carry this outside, but there was no way I was going to let this little one do that. ''I did more work, alright. I should be the one to at least have this honor.'' Chapter 730 Members of Heliox

Chapter 730 Members of Heliox

?[OP: ] They were all excited to see what the end result of all the things the three of them prepared would turn out to be since they had seen them work on the entire chocte thing. They did a great work on the smaller parts and the bigger parts and when ites to the little details and the small things, even the unfinished products they created were all just too amazing. "Ok, shhhh. They''re here." Their students friends who had seen them work through the surveince screens along with their family members and the other people of the household who were all currently gathered in this room at their request were all stunned when they then worked on this special dessert. Especially Eon¡­ they were shocked how he was making all the big and smallponents of this dish, how he was practically creating every single thing with his hands, Mana, and Aura. They didn''t understand how someone could use their Mana and Aura to create something, and just the fact he was able to perfectly control both of his powers fascinated all the people who were watching him work like this after so long. "Apologise for the long wait, everyone~!." They were finally here, with the final product covered in the unique cloth made with his wind magic. "Mama~! Everyone~! Get ready~! Hehe, this one is legen¡ªdary~!" Even Anna who had helped them create this was excited about this. She was the only person other than the two of them who knew just how amazing this thing, this house made of chocte looked¡­ so she couldn''t possibly contain her excitement. She was jumping with happiness, and looking at her made all the people present here smile warmly. "Calm down, little one. They know this is going to be amazing, haha." Rein had to stop her since she was practically dancing and running around the room, but seeing this just made the othersugh out loudly. She was being cute right now. Even the ever grumpy, stoic Ezra was smiling right now. Sadly prince Alph wasn''t present here to see this. "Alright alright Anna. Let''s stop dancing for a little while and tell everyone what we made." "Ohhh~! Yes, yes! Let''s tell them about the house~!" Anna shouted with another excited smile and when she did, the people in the room all turned their heads towards their mother. "See. I''m never wrong." They all made a bet on what the thing they were going to make would turn out to be. There were many spections and they all had made their special guesses, but from the way Eon and the his two assistants had made things out of chocte, flowers and grass, things that were strange and vague at first and that cream filling kind of thing, that they knew was no normal thing, there were certainly going to all kinds of spections about the identity of this final product. "You people made bets on this one too?" Eon had an all knowing smile and a helpless expression on him as he saw the defeated expression on everyone''s faces. This was amon thing in this house, but seeing how she won against every single member of this household this time, this was a big win. "It''s surprising how no one other than mom guessed this would be a house, specifically this very ce. What were you all even thinking this was?" He closely knew all the people present in this ce right now. From the head chef that made all the meals they have had today, to the maids that served all the things that they had eaten as their dinner. They were what made this estate the House of Heliox and were inseparable part of the house, and this family. He knew just how smart every single one of these people were¡­ so he found it difficult to understand how no one other than mom guessed it would be a house. "Ohh! Ohh! Nol was wrong! It isn''t just some house! It''s our house~!" "Then that means grandma wins~! Hahaha! See! I knew Aunt Nol wouldn''t win this time! Hahahaha!" Now there was anothermotion among everyone and the smirk their mom had on her face was gonepletely. The others were cheering now out of nowhere, especially the ones in charge of the kitchen looked awfully happier. "What is going on, everyone? At least tell us so we canugh as well." "Hump! It''s nothing baby. Don''t pay attention to these people. Hump. This wasn''t fair in the first ce." He did not know what these people were doing out here, but he certainly wanted to know it. "Hahaha. It''s funny, Eon. This is funny as hell, haha. She will have to pay everyone six hundred gold in total now~. Hahahah." Ca also looked suspiciously too happy right now. Which was a rare sight even for him. "What did you people do when we were in there? What is all this, hun?" Anna had a smile on her face since she can sense the positive emotions of everyone around her, so even though she didn''t know the reason for their happiness, she was happy. And Rein was already having fun with this scenario where even their friends had fallen victim to the betting games of this family. It was fun to see the sad look on Quin and Med''s faces, the unexpected surprise that Nox had, and also how Alf was patting Ball''s back. It was fun seeing all of them being so rxed after how they had been yesterday. It made her smile as well. "Hump! Finish the thing you were going to say, baby. Tell us about what you made first. There''s nothing fun in what They did!" His mom was now angry, and upset. She was defeated, and that was one thing, but why she, as well as the others would act like that was beyond him. "Haaa. Alright. Let''s get started with the dessert before we talk about that." He looked around the room after taking a deep breath, and looked all the people present here in the eye. "Everyone¡­" The people who made every single thing they ate in this house, the great chefs, ingredients collectors, the cleaners, and the mages who asionally helped in the kitchen were here. "Working on this was fun for all three of us." The maids and butlers who kept the house clean, shiny, and maintained the perfect condition of everything, the important people who had also raised his brother and sisters. "However¡­" The people in charge of the garden, the flowers, and stables to the knights and mages including the captains and vice captains who were all present today with them. "We dedicate this special dessert to every single member of Heliox who makes this house what it is for all of us." He removed the magical curtain and as soon as he did, a perfect miniature replica of their house was revealed to all of them. "We had fun making this¡­ and I have faith you all will love it." The Heliox estate wasposed of a big mansion, the backyard where both knight and mage divisions''s houses were located, the front garden that also contained the Warp portal on the right side, and the left side area where the special flowers and that certain statue was located. The three fountains in this front yard made the ambience of this ce even more appealing. And of course, the flowers in the garden, the small greenhouse on the top, the edge of the terrace, their personal special spot, and the walls covering the estate made it what it was. The stables were situated some distance away from here, but there were always horses and carriages from the stablesing and going so, many of the people in charge of the stables and all the special horses and other mounts are present here most of the time¡­ though, he wished the uncle who was with them when they encountered that demon the first time would have been here right now as well. "Wow¡­" "This is amazing, much much more amazing than I had thought about. This is amazing!" "Damn Eon. You really made a small house¡­ now I wonder if I can live in there as well." "Is all of that chocte? Really? Even those ss?" "Oh¡­ did you make the cream thing as a filling~? Then isn''t this half a cake and half chocte~?" "Well, technically. But since most of the things are made with chocte as base anyway, it''s a house of chocte mom. At least I want to keep it that way." He considered this a chocte house since Anna wanted to be one so there was no need to even bring up the topic of it being a cake. They didn''t make it with the baking powder or anything anyway. There was no bread used specifically. If anything, the inside of some of the parts of this house was made of brownies made with a special process that made it simr to a bread in texture and feeling, but it was still not technically a cake. This was a chocte house, and, they loved it. "Master Axion! This is amazing!" "You are as amazing as always, master Axion." "To think I would be around to see something so great. Haaa. This is amazing." "Those flowers look so real. And would you look at those shadows¡­ phenomenal." If word of this gets out, there will be a trend of making houses of chocte like this one." They all liked this dessert for it''s looks and the visual sensory experience. It was realistic, he knew as much. But, this wasn''t an object to just admire and stare at. "I wish for grandpa Zhen to have the first taste." "Hmmm? Me?" "Yes, please." This was a dessert that he only made so that everyone here could eat it. And even among the hundreds of people currently present in this ce, there was one person that had done more for their family than anyone else. "Yes~! Grandpa Zhen~. Please try the doors, hehe. I painted them myself~." "Ho? Then I shall do just that, young miss." He was there for Eon and the others when the war was happening, following his request to look after all of his friends that were in their estate. He was here when the people here needed him. He was also the one that helped Lord Maverick and Justin on our behalf. They did not mention him but he was always there, for them and for all of this family. "This¡­ is divine." He did more than any ''butler'' or helper or aid could have in these past few days for them from the shadows, from the ces that only he could operate from¡­ and, Eon couldn''t possibly thank him enough for that. Chapter 731 They are different

Chapter 731 They are different

?[Quin''s POV: ] The house made of chocte was right in front of me and after everyone else had their chance to take one piece of whatever they wanted from this, it was finally my chance. "Quin! Quin! Take the fountain! The fountain! You''ll love it~!" Lady Reinelle was suggesting me even though she had been quite during the other people''s turns¡­ but there was no reason to not listen to her suggestion. In the first ce, everyone was saying this chocte house was the best thing they have had in their lives, so there wasn''t really any need to think too deeply about what I wanted to have. Everything was going to be amazing. "Alright, then I will take the fountain." "Not the whole thing! You should still leave some for others so just cut it in half. Oh, wait. Let me do it for you~." She¡­ was amazing. And beautiful. "Oh, thank you Lady Reinelle." "Haha, how many times do I have to call you Quin~? You can call me Elle~." She was an important figure that even Princess Bell and Mia admired. I shouldn''t really befortable calling her without honorifics, but for some reason, I didn''t really feel any difort calling her as the people closer to her did. "Here~." She was pretty, attractive, had a special elegant air to her, and her eyes¡­ her pretty pink eyes were so attractive that I sometimes get lost in them. They were gorgeous, perhaps they were the main reason her overall beauty was elevated to such new degrees. "Thank you¡­ Elle." "Yes~. That''s right~." She felt familiar to me, as if we had already known each other for a long time but¡­ well, I don''t know. I don''t even know many people in this world yet so how could she feel familiar to me in the first ce? The closest person I canpare to her would be Uriel but the two of them arepletely different people. ''Yes Uriel is pretty cool and amazing on her own, but both she and Lady Reinelle seem fundamentally different people to me.'' Uriel is talkative and cheerful. She knows a lot about magic and the world and how the world works, and she is a free spirit that does whatever she wants. Including kissing her fianc¨¦e all around the school even though everyone is watching. ''Hehe, she even tries to hide themseves even though it''s so obvious.'' They have created a unique trend among the couples of the academy where the couples try to be as open to one another as they can and try to do anything and everything that they wouldn''t have done otherwise in the presence of other people. ''It''s in pretty positive thing in a way but on the other hand, it could also turn out to be concerning if they start crossing the moral and social boundaries.'' That would be breaking the school rules and if wee across people doing things that were clearly restricted and prohibited within the school grounds, we would have no choice but to properly report them to the authority. ''Though, I know Uriel and Lucyfer wouldn''t do something that they shouldn''t for a fact.'' They knew what was right and what was right so, they did just the things that were allowed but less practised. That was how the two of them were, while ites to Lady Reinelle or even Master Axion, it''spletely different. "Try taking in the fragrance of the fountain." "Hmm? What does that mean?" "Smell it, dummy." "Oh." Herugh was elegant, like that of thedies of the high society, or like some of the nobledies of our school that I don''t really like much when ites from the others¡­ but her elegance ispletely different from those young girls. "This¡­ how can this be? Is this really chocte?" I can smell the fragrance of various waters, the fresh water that was the same as I had smelled from the fountain outside. There was a unique smell of a deep concentration of water element, something I could sense pretty well, and at the same time, there was this inexplicable feeling of amazement growing inside of me¡­ asking me to devour that choctepletely after only a little sniff. "Haha, eat it. It''s yours. " She patted my head with a happy smile on her face, and walked towards the other side. She was different from Uriel. ''If it was Uriel in her ce right now, she would hug me, and rub her face against mine saying I was cute. And I knew she would do the same with Med.'' She showed her affected openly while Lady Reinelle, even though she wanted to interact more with us, talk more, and be more open, she restricted herself from doing so. Her way to show her effection and emotions was different from Uriel, and there were many more things different about both of them. ''They were unique individuals who are unique in their own ces.'' But that''s probably what makes both of them so special¡­ "Hmmm¡­ this is heavenly¡­" One bite. One small bite was all it took for me to fall into love with cut of chocte fountain. "Hmmm~. Even the heavens might envy us for having something so good¡­" The second bit, and my mouth was full. Along with my heart, of course. "Wow¡­" I was swimming in the ocean, perhaps a river, or a vastke that has been untouched by any life since its creation. I was swimming, flowing, going somewhere. It was a strange feeling, something I had perhaps felt before as well when interacting with my cute familiar inside that special egg. It was certainly amazing how a mere piece of chocte could cause one to feel so calm, so peaceful, so¡­ rejuvenated. I don''t even know what to think about anymore- "Oy oy oy. You will bite your hand, Quin." "Hmmm?" I was lost in this special feeling. These deep waters. These rains, and this source of water¡­ I could feel I was feeling something. Something special. It was like being drawn towards something mysterious. Something new and unique that I had not known before. It was special so I wanted to keep feeling it for a little longer, but I heard a vice, and sensed a familiar touch on my hand¡­ a touch that brought me back to this reality. "Chry?" "Your hand. You were going to bite it." Chry was holding my hand that was almost before my mouth¡­ the chocte that was there just a moment ago was gone as well. Where did it go¡­? "Where''s my chocte?" "You ate it all already, of course." "No I didn''t. I just took two bites¡­ did you eat my chocte?" I know I only took two bites. They were just two. I know for a fact. And then I was just standing there, swimming in that ocean orke or whatever it was¡­ there is no way I finished that big piece in just a blink of an eye. "You ate it, didn''t you Chry?" He does this pranks sometimes, steals my things, bullies me for no reason. But now he was stealing my chocte as well? How can he do that¡­? "I did nothing like that, Aleequinn. And look around. It has been half an hour since master and others finished their own piece of choctes and went back." "Hmmm? What do you mean¡­?" What did he mean by that? Went back? "Hmmm? What¡­? Where did everyone go?" The dining room was empty now. There was only a few maids and butlers let here who were doing the cleaning. What was happening? "You have been standing here just like this for more than half an hour now. Master said you were lost in the waters or something simr and weren''t even listening to anyone. They advised it was best to leave you like this since this might be a moment you have some kind of breakthrough, so I was here watching over you as you slowly finished your piece of fountain slowly, taking one bite after another. Slowly feeling the taste, the texture, and you even did this strange smelling this-" "Alright alright. That''s enough. I get what you are saying." The clocks around us were also showing that a pretty long time had passed since we had started eating the dessert. The time I was lost in that water, ocean, river or whatever it was must have been much longer than what I perceived¡­ "You would have hurt yourself had you bitten your fingers as well so I had no choice but to stop you¡­ I apologise if it hindered your breakthrough in any way." Chry, this friend of mine had stayed here with me, standing here, just watching over me all this time. And, after doing all that for no reason at all, he was also saying sorry to me? "Don''t apologise like that, dummy. You were just looking after me so there is nothing for you to apologise for. If anything, I should thank you for-" "Don''t thank me for something small like this. It''s not like I did anything special. On the other hand, did you get the ''enlightenment'' that the Master was talking about?" They must have somehow known what was happening to me since they told him about this breakthrough thing. Sadly though, I fell just a minute shy from reaching the end of what I had been feeling. "Only if I had a little more of that chocte, perhaps I might have reached the bottom of that ocean, or the end of that river. Haaa¡­ well, perhaps next time. And it WAS NOT your fault. So don''t you dare feel bad about this. I would have been sadder had I bitten myself so thanks for saving me." I hugged him lightly as a thanks, and looked behind him at the clock that was almost reaching my night study time. "Anyway, I heard them saying there''s a library filled with special books here as well? Can you show me where that is Chry~?" He didn''t say anything after that hug and looked as if he was lost in his thought, but he snapped out of it at my second question, and looked back at me. "Oh, you want to see the study area?" "Is that where the books are, then yes please." "Ah, sure. Let''s go there then¡­ but you are alright, right?" "Of course I am alright. What would happen to me in the great Heliox estate~? Haha, thanks for worrying about your friend but I''m perfectly fine. Let''s go now~. I want to read about the water thing Lady Griz talked about earlier." Pulling him by his wrist, I started walking and dragged him along with me. This was the house he grew up in, in a way, so I had to have a personal tour of this house from him. Uriel and Lucifer weren''t here so he was the only one I was closest with in this new ce. He should take care of his one and only study partner, shouldn''t he? Chapter 732 Morning of home

Chapter 732 Morning of home

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Uhhhwhhh~." A nostalgic gentle sunlight right on my face. The indicator of dawn and the sound of birds and bees filling ringing right outside our window. It was morning alredy¡­ [[ Morning master~! ]] [[ "Morning, Celes." ]] My bedroom, this warm bed where I had spent most of my nights in, this warm ce, which was a little cold on this winter morning, but there was thankfully one around. ''Anna usuallyes up running every morning to wake me up, but from the voices I can hear outside from the outside, it''s evident she is ying with the giuests and the friends that arrived with us yesterday.'' And she sounds happy, which means the other early birds were facing some kind of trouble. "Haaaa¡­" But it was fine. They were good when it came to taking care of troublesome things and my cute troublemaker wouldn''t at least show them some mercy on their first morning in this house. ''Last night was good, and saddening as well.'' Rein will go right after her parentses back in a few days. And it was a final decision from her grandfather. ''He needed her there to resolve some troublesome things that were going on in the south.'' Rein was the official representative of Atraxia house, and the forces of southwest that were being jerks weren''t listening with the peaceful means anymore. They didn''t know why but the marques of the nearbynd who had only ever shown a little oppression to Atraxia in the past was acting up all of a sudden. ''They had set their troops near the Atraxia borders, there were multiple reports of forest fires, andrge scale hunting was happening in ces that contained protected species of animal and nts.'' The marques and his household was certainly owned thends that they were hunting on, but the samends were closely connected with the Atraxiands so there has always been a treaty between their families to not interfere with each other''s business. They were arge producers of energy beast products so hunting was what they did while Atraxia had been thergest producers of agricultural products ever since the dawn of this empire. They had no need to cross paths and they can do what they had been doing, but the things happening all over the world was causing many people all over the world to act up in different ways. There certainly was no need to worry too much about the smaller forces for the bigger forces like ours or her house''s, but then again, they couldn''t just let things happen when it was about the natural habitats of important beasts that were the sole reason the special nts existed. So¡­ to ''warn'' those people, Rein will have to go and deal with them as the representative of her house, and since it will take time, she will only be back by the grand auction. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead." "Three minutes minutes¡­" Right beside me was sleeping the jewel of the south, her purple hair unbridled, messy and all over the pillow, her clear skin shining under the sunlight of the early morning, giving her a softer tone¡­ her eyes closed, and her harms wrapped around a pillow. ''She is gorgeous¡­'' She looked more attractive today, or perhaps it was only my imagination. She was going back to her own home soon, so our time would be limited¡­ and though we will only be apart of a few days, that time isn''t going to be anything easier with everyone present here with us. Hopefully, I will be able to drown myself in work¡­ "Mmmm¡­" I gave her a kiss on her neck, gently. And continued admiring my beautiful piece of art. She was wearing her night clothing, which has always made her too attractive for any living being to resist. And she does it on purpose. ''Bad girl¡­'' It was already morning, so we should get up and start with our routine¡­ there was going to be a lot of work for us starting today, so wasting too much time wasn''t a good idea. "Rein-" Three minutes passed, so I called her name again, but as soon as I did so, she pulled my head down with her magic, turned around, and looked me in the eye with her sleepy face. "What''s the matter with you, human?" She was looking at me with her eyes that still wanted to sleep a little more, with no smile on her face that would indicate she was just in the mood of ying around. She was serious right now. She wanted to sleep today¡­ "You want to sleep? Then sleep. I will go-" "What the hell¡­ is the matter with you, you damn pretty human?" She wanted to sleep so I was just gonna let her sleep, so why did she wrap her arms around me when I was getting off the bed? And, why is she calling me human today, hun? "Stay." "Why would an esteemed, attractive, smart, bad, hot witch¡­ need this human around, hun? You can sleep all you want, mydy. I will go get some breakfast-" "Stay. Please¡­" She closed her pretty eyes once again, tightened her grip around me, and buried her head in my chest. "Hey¡­ what''s up?" She was being all cute and needy even though we weren''t in our academy dorms anymore. "Nothing. I just¡­ want to sleep." Her warm breaths, the touch of her hands, fingers, nails on my back¡­ her body pressed against mine¡­ they weren''t anything new to us anymore, but still¡­ it felt good. Too good, actually. "You want to sleep? Really?" We slepttest night after doing all kinds of¡­ normal things. We cuddled for hours before her eyes just shut on their own, and she had fallen asleep on the couch out on the terrace. ''I had to bring her in, and put her to bed.'' And that only happened because she got too excited and tried out various things with her hands and feet¡­ we were gardening for a while. Nothing weird. "Yes¡­ just a little-" -Knock. Knock. "Yo~. Eon, Elle~. We''re having breakfast in the garden. Come down~." That was Ca. And, she just left after saying that. "You heard that." "Tsk." She wanted to stay like that for a few more minutes. I know that. And also how she was nning to lead me towards doing things that would exhaust her down once again. ''We still had a lot of work to do anyway.'' And we had decided to go out to some nearby mountains to test out my new skills in the evening, so that was also going to take a quite a bit of energy. "How about we-" I was going to suggest we postpone whatever I she wanted to do for night, but no. She pressed her lips against mine, slid her hands in my clothes, and dug her sharp nails in my back. "Ughh." Which was painful! [[ "When are you going to be legal, human? This is so frustrating, you know?" ]] [[ "I would know the best, ma''am." ]] Well, boundaries were boundaries. And they were there to teach discipline. We knew that¡­ I knew that. Buting back home, being overwhelmed with the memories, emotions, and time we had spent in this house before going to the academy, the fun things and the love we expressed¡­ ''She perceived ''time'' in a special way. I can understand that much. But the way she perceived it was still something only she knew the best.'' She knew how long a minute could be, how long even a second could stretch sometimes¡­ hours were like seasons to her sometimes, days with the same stuff unbearably long. She was an anomaly that had learned to deal with her problems in her own way. But¡­ it gets difficult for her sometimes. She needs me in times like that. She wants me to be around, embrace her, and keep her engaged so that she can get her mind off the ''flow'' of things. And be there in that moment, until she gets the hang of herself again. "Alright. That''s enough now. Get up. Let''s go wash up and go down. They must be waiting." Codependency, obsession, and overreliance on one another for things that we can do ourselves easily. They weren''t very good things to have, certainly not in situations where we would have to be separated for longer periods. ''Both our families knows this ''obsession'' of ours, that''s the main reason whenever we have to be punished, most of the time, they just separate us.'' We know why they do it and how wrong we are¡­ but what can we do anyway? "Ok¡­" It wasn''t something we can help ourselves with anymore. "Careful, the room is still a mess." "You messed us up¡­" "You''re still sleepy." It was our normal morning in our home. The day was fresh. Winds were cool but there was no snow yet, so things were pretty beautiful. House was filled with more noises than usual with all our friends being present here. And since from the looks of things, everything looked pretty good, we thought the garden and this breakfast would be pretty normal and good as well. "What the hell¡­ happened here?" By the time Rein and I reached the front side garden after finishing our little things, instead of being greeted by the sight of our friends sitting on the various tables and chairs, we saw a messed up garden with some parts of it burden, some washed up with water and acid, some part of the garden was frozen while in conclusion, half the front garden where we have had many of our breakfasts was aplete mess. Slimes of various kinds were running around all over the ce, with Povpoi running in front of them. Everyone including Anna and Zoe were chasing these slimes and Povpoi¡­ no, well. Anna was ying tag with the Povpoi from the looks of things. "Aunt Haze is going to be so mad¡­" "Hehe, that looks fun. Let''s join them as well darling~." "No, you little. This isn''t time to y." The garden was a mess¡­ And, I could already sense a piercing gaze right on my back. Chapter 733 Slimes and Povpoi

Chapter 733 Slimes and Povpoi

?[Eon''s POV: ] Ten minutes have passed since the moment we stepped foot out in the garden¡­ ten whole minutes. "Do you ungrateful children even know how long it takes to grow every one of these des of gentle grass, all these flowers and these special nts?" I was kneeling on the ground with my hands raised as a punishment and with an angry expressen, Aunt Haze was standing before us¡­ yes, us. Including me and Rein; Deleon, Ezra, Anna, Ca, Alf, Zoe, Princess Bell, and even Lizzy were kneeling here, with their hands raised, most of them looking down with embarrassment. "And you¡­ Deleon, was it? Do you even know how important these nts, flowers, and soil are? What were you even thinking about releasing all these slimes?" "Ma''am¡­ Miss Anna requested¡­ she asked me to show some of my slimes to her. I was just-" "Oh shut up now. How can an adult like you just do whatever a child wants? Don''t you have even a shred ofmon sense?" It wasn''t just Deleon that was embarrassed right now. Even Ezra, princess Bell, and Lizzy all were looking down, afraid to even meet the furious eyes of one of the most famous florists of the empire. "And you. Anna." I understood what had happened here after Zoe told Aunt Haze everything that transpired here right before we had arrived, so to sum everything up¡­ it was because of Anna. "I can understand you were excited to see all these new creatures and all, but did you not even have the simple thought of stopping these creatures when they started destroying my entire garden? Couldn''t you stop them for just a moment, tell them they shouldn''t do something so horrible, and then in a y more¡­ civilised manner? This wasn''t good, Anna. I''m just disappointed." Alf, Ca, Princess, and Zoe had already had their share of words so they were all just silent at this point. It was early morning as well so she kept her temper down and maintained a rtively lower voice¡­ we knew just how loud she gets when anything at all happens to her dear garden or nts, so we never even dare to think of picking a flower that is inside the flower area. We know the consequences of messing with her flowers well, Anna knew it as well. But this time, her excitement got the best of her after seeing all the special slimes Deleon summoned. ''She was so exited to see them that she started touching and picking up every single one of them.'' Something that Povpoi did not like. ''Anna was their friend. The ''inferior'' slimes getting her attention upset them instantly.'' So they warned the Slimes with their magical abilities, something that the slimes with low intelligence found fascinating. Slimes, out of pure instincts, started getting touchy with the Povpoi, something they liked even less ''So, Povpoi started running away from the Slimes and slimes followed behind them. Which quickly turned into a game of tag, and Anna started running after them as well.'' She was having fun, so Anna asked the smiles to continue doing what they were doing even though they receivedmand from their master Deleon to stop directly. ''The slimes ignored the directmand of their master and continued chasing the Povpoi as Anna had asked them.'' And then while chasing the Povpoi, the slimes got excited and ended up using their skills to get a little closer to the faster Povpoi. Ultimately resulting in the mess before us. "Say something, Anna. I want an answer. Did you or sis you not think this was a bad idea?" "I¡­" Anna was in a tough position since she was just having fun. Even I did not know how she would respond to this whole mess she had created. "Aunt Haze¡­ I was having so much fun ying with them that I didn''t even notice all of this. Had I known this would happen¡­ I would have stopped them myself." She was tearful, sad, sorry, and regretful as well. But she was lying when she said she did not know this would happen. I knew my little sister the best so I knew she was more than smart enough to consider the possibility of the damage to the garden. She might not have considered this possibility when Deleon summoned the slimes, but when they started running after the Povpoi, there is no way she wouldn''t have thought how disastrous this could turn out to be. She could have stopped them, but she chose not to. And instead continued with what was happening. ''Though me knowing this fact wasn''t going to change the inevitable.'' Anna knew she had a very powerful weapon. "I¡­ I am swoorwery¡­" Anna was cute. And the most charming being among any of the people currently present in this garden. And her charm was very potent. Enough to even work on me. She was a young angel who knew how to use the weapons at her disposal¡­ "H-hmmm? Anna¡­ there''s no need to cry, little one. Shuuu. I am not that angry, haha. I was just saying you should have been a little more careful." Seeing her tears, her said face, the red face she was making¡­ the genuine face of sadness, was something that even made my heart ache. Everyone that looked at her got emotional themselves and Lizzy even got tearful herself. She had done nothing and just like the two of us, she hade here a moment before Aunt Haze arrived and saw all the destruction. There was no reason for her to be sorry about anything, but she still was in tears after seeing my little Anna in that state. ''That right there¡­ is what Charm is capable of.'' She made even our ever stoic Ezra emotional so I don''t even have anything further to say about her ability. "A-Anna darling? How ¡­ how about we calm down, yeah? I am not even angry¡­ I''m not angry anymore. See? Haha." Aunt haze did not like seeing her garden being destroyed, but since this was just the front yard with no special t or anything, she knew she could just rebuild everything as it was. She would only have to work a little as well, or she can leave most of the work to us. That way, she won''t even have to dirty her clothes with the soil and mud. She could recreate any kind of garden if she wanted but seeing Anna amotional was not something she could ever afford. Especially her tears. They were too precious to be wasted on something as insignificant as this. "E-Eon! Do something! Anna¡­ Anna is crying! What are you doing just sitting there!" She panicked when Anna showed no sign of stopping so she had no choice but to ask me, the one person that could certainly calm her down. "Yes." We weren''t even here when all this happened so there was no reason for us to receive punishment. The same for Lizzy. But ording this aunt of ours, since these people were in my care and I was in charge of them, I was the one most responsible for all this mess. And, well, Lizzy was coteral damage. She was truly innocent but she still had to cry as a result of all this. "Anna? Come here, dear." I picked my little sister up, wiped her tears with the same handkerchief I use normally, the one she gave me of course, and walked some distance away where the Povpoi and slimes were gathered. "You know acting isn''t going to work on me, right?" "Sniff. Sniff. Of course I know, big brother¡­" She was sad the garden was destroyed so the tears weren''t entirely fake, butpared to the fun she had in that short time ying with the Poipoi and all these slimes far outweighed the guilt she had for destroying the garden. And, it wasn''t like the actual flower filed, fruit or vagitable area was harmed. Some grass was grumped, some small nts were unearthed, and some parts of the garden was destroyed. Nothing much actually happened to the really importent things that our Aunt Haze really, really liked. So there was no need for her to feel too guilty about what happened. She had fun, and I was happy she had her fun ying with these new friends of hers. "Anyway, did you feel some kind of ''special'' feeling when you told the Slimes to continue ying? Something like you were talking with them?" "Hmmm¡­? How do you know, big brother?" She was calm now, and her red face was back to a normal glow as well. "Well, there is no need to talk about that just yet, but please try to avoid finding out about that kind of ''vague'' feeling. You might get hurt." "Hmmm? Really?!" "Yes¡­" The fact that the slimes disobeyed the ''orders'' of their master was unbelievable even to Deleon, that was the main reason he was lost in his thoughts right now. He was a master so it wont be long before he figures out the reason they disobeyed hismand and continued doing as Anna said was because her ''influence'' over them was absurdly greater than his own influence on them. ''A master''s influence could only be topped if someone possessed an extremely unnatural affinity with the ''creatures'' nature. The natural talent of what we call ''summoners''. And additionally, the reason the slimes were even that ignorant of the fact they had disobeyed hismand was because they did not even perceive thosemands.'' All their attention was focused on her and her only. Something only the trained tamers are capable of. ''It won''t take long for him to figure out she was naturally talented. So talented that even by using those powers unconsciously, she was able to take control of his special elemental slimes.'' So¡­ after this breakfast is over, I will have to talk with him about all this. Chapter 734 Having faith

Chapter 734 Having faith

?[Eon''s POV: ] "There is no need to worry about me. I know how important this secret is, and there is no need to get into someone else''s family matters anyway. So, I will keep what I know to myself¡­ however, can I ask you something, Lord Axion?" "Just call me Eon or something. It''s alright. And yes, please ask anything you want." He already knew I would want to talk with him about Anna''s powers so he was ready beforehand. He was a smart person, enough to know the how''s and why''s. "Then I will do so, Eon." This was one of the aspects of this person that was desirable. He didn''t really like the formalities and stuff and believed in a direct, factual conversation. "About Miss Anna¡­ as I understand, she had an immense innate talent for both summoning and taming. And this innate talent is so great that even without her willingly using it, her mere presence, words, and will is strong enough to directly affect even my bond with the creatures. So, if she possesses such abnormal abilities, how is it that she has not awakened her energy Nucleus yet? As I understand, she would also have affinity with a higher form of energy than the normal Mana, so she should have awakened already and started her formal training. The fact that she has not done so, even in a household like yours that regards the special individual abilities as the core of one''s possible field of expertise, means there is something blocking her from growing in this field." "You have a great observation, Deleon." He figured out there was something wrong with Anna and her growth speed just from this little time with her. ''He certainly is quite something¡­'' We had finished the breakfast so after everyone had gone to do their various tasks, I was having this personal talk with him while Rein was out there helping Anna and others fix the garden they had destroyed. "I appreciate thepliment." "Yes¡­" Few people knew it, but his family, the Necromes, were of northern origin, a fallen family that had almost vanished from history now. His remaining family was thest of what had remained of Necromes, and, if it weren''t for him, no one would have even known the name Necrome. He wasn''t much attached to this name though. It wasn''t like he had a good enough upbringing by loving people for him to have any special attachment to his family name. ''Few people knew how his family used to live in a faraway tower with a forest area near there. How he was once lost in an avnche. And how his obsession with slimes began from that point'' I don''t know him closely enough to confirm if he was truth worthy enough for the whole truth, but as long as it was about the professional stuff, he was a professional that even the ones like emperor August trusted. "Anna has an affinity with Arcane energy, making the possible awakening energy nucleus to bergerpared to what a child with practically no physical abilities could handle. Her will to do what she is meant to do is great, but before she has enough physical capability to handle the kind of awakening she would have¡­" "The failed awakening attempt will turn her into a gruesome mess¡­" "I would have liked to have used some other words." But what he said was exactly what would happen if her body can''t handle all the dense energy that would suddenly flood her body during the awakening attempt. And in case she doesn''t make it through the process after we fail to stop her awakening attempt like Mr.Rice did thest time¡­ I don''t know what I''d do. "I understand¡­ but what about the awakening attempts? You can''t block the natural-" "I can." I looked him straight in the eye, seriously. And that one look was enough for this smart person to figure out there was no further need to worry about this topic. "I see¡­ still, what about the core of the problem? If not now, one day, she will certainly face an awakening attempt where she passes through the halfway mark of the process and creates the foundation of the nucleus. What then? What if she-" "Why are you talking about so many negative things, mister? Have some faith in this talented little girl like I am. It will be fine¡­ it will be fine." And if something bad still happens¡­ it will all be upto Mr.Rice to save my little love. "Ah, faith¡­ I see. So you aren''t clinging to some uncertain hope." "Hope is a bitch." "I agree." "Is she your ssmate as well, boys?" "No, she-¡­ mom! Don''t sneak up on us when we are having an important conversation!" She came out of nowhere! And why didn''t I sense her¡­?! "Huhu, did I surprise my little boy~?" "How did you do that?!" "Did what~? I did nothing~?" She definitely did something to trick not only senses but even my passive Solnova detection! There is no way I wouldn''t know someone approaching me like this! Especially her! "Greetings Couness." "Hello, hello mister trouble maker~. I heard you caused quite the trouble earlier, hun~?" She nced over to the other side where the others had almost finished bringing the garden back to the state it was in. "I¡­ well, I could be called the core of what happened earlier." He was tired of all this now and regretted his very decision to bring out his slimes before they even had their breakfast. ''Had he waited until we finished the breakfast and our presence in that ce, they wouldn''t have had to run all over the ce while being careful of the small slimes.'' The reason anyone couldn''t use force was because of the weak constitution of the slimes. They were weak creatures that would die just by a little touch with the Aura of strengthened Mana. And, if not that, there was a chance the slimes, the dumb beasts would start attacking them instead. ''They were just ying with the Povpoi as Anna told them. They had no choice but to run behind all those creatures as well.'' It wasn''t his mistake things turned out like this. But he was still guilty of the crime. "Huhu, it''s alright mister master slime summoner~. Haze just loved these nts too much. Be sure she doesn''t find out the next time you do something simr." "Next time? No, Countess. There is not going to be any next time. Certainly not." Aunt Haze''s angry look and this one incident terrified him enough that he showed a grim expression openly. Something he doesn''t do in general. "Haha, you are funny as well~. Hehe, oh! I almost forgot. Can I borrow my pretty son for a moment? I wanted him for this little thing, you see." "Oh, of course countess. Actually, we were almost done with our conversation as well. Right, Eon?" "Yeah, we were done." I looked him in the eye once again and he did not need to be told again how what we had talked about was to remain a secret. He would be dead if anyone gets to know what we were talking about. His title as a prodigy of the world mattered nothing if it was for the safety of a future saint candidate. "Alright then, I will leave you two alone." He got up, bowed to mom and me and with his calm steps, he walked to where the others were finishing their work with his slime. He will probably have a talk with Anna now. Tell her about the slimes and ask if he could finally ''y'' with the Povpoi. And, since she was feeling guilty for what happened today, she will allow him to y with them however he wants¡­ for today. This ying we were talking about was no normal ying¡­ him doing scientific observations on them was not ying in one sense entirely. ''If she gets to know what exactly he''ll do to them, he will be facing the greatest challenge of his life.'' He will have to be careful how he does what he wants to do. Keeping curiocity under control will not be an easy task for a crazy researcher like him. "Anyway¡­ what is it, mom? Did something happen?" She sat down before me and took a deep breath before looking at me with a serious expression¡­ an expression I was not expecting this early in the morning from her. "We received word earlier, Eon¡­ eagles are eyeing the auction this time." ¡­alright. This just got serious. "West?" "Worse. They are calling themselves ''ck Hand''. It''s an alliance¡­" A heist was being nned for this year''s Auction. And, just the n there was someone with the balls to even have thought of robbing Hiraani, made this matter moreplicated than it sounded. "What do we know about this ''alliance'', mom?" Hiraani was one of thergest structures of this entire holy capital with security far surpassing the security of the best impotent institutions. Not only were there powerful guards strong enough to be considered a force of nature itself, the entire system of Hiraani that was already unbelievably unshakeable, was further reinforced by me over thest few years. There was practically no way of breaking the first-ss security measures, so if mom was here telling me something like this with that kind of face¡­ whoever this ''ck Hand'' was, they had enough confidence, influence, and resources to get past all the six sses of security measures we had in ce. ''Which, undoubtedly, is noughing matter¡­'' Chapter 735 {Cascade of Ark}

Chapter 735 {Cascade of Ark}

?[Eon''s POV: ] As we know right now, [Cascade of Ark] had more than ten effects or unique cards, and there was a name attached to all of these cards that produced unique effects. ''(Lion''s will) increased the strength in proportion to the Aura sacrificed. (Defending giant) increased the defensive ability of the entire body, or an object that I wanted it in proportion to the time spent after activating the card. And, (Vibrant Tiger) was a special one that increased agility, strength, and camouge or stealth abilities in exchange of stamina.'' And since this morning, we have tested out around ten of these cards with absolutely fantastic abilities. ''What makes this skill the most terrifying is the cooldown time that dependspletely on how intensely the skill is activated.'' Every single one of the cards thate up randomly during the skill activation, asks for something in return and provides an effect depending on what one gives¡­ an equivalent exchange. And the cooldown time, depending on the exchange, varies from a few minutes, to theoretically a few days if the activation is done to the max of my current abilities. ''It''s definitely a unique skill of some unique creature whose death must have been unfortunate.'' But its skill will survive with me from now on¡­ "Let''s do it onest time." "Yea~!" Rein and I were in a farawaynd that belonged to mom, a hilly area out in the outskirts of the Empire''s capital. It was a clear area with a lot of trees and since we were in a ce with no humans living anywhere near here, this ce was rtively safe to test out the new skills. And, since this area also contained some energy beasts in some of the ces, there was a chance we would also get some live targets to practise the offensive skills on. "Alright then¡­" We had only tested the [Cascade of Ark] until now, so¡­ there were still all the other skills left for the testing. ''[Cascade of Ark].'' Every time I activate this skill, a strange looking deck of card is summoned, and a single cardes out of it randomly. -Ooooooooooong! All the cards look unique and so after doing it for thest three hours, we have figured out how the cards that we know already look. "Ohhh! Ohhh! This is a new one!" All cards have a unique pattern and a special feel to them that is difficult to put into words, but in simple words, these cards are different from one another in looks, and effects. "Finally." The one we got this time was a different one we had never seen before¡­ it had a blue colour, and there were star-like little dots on its back that made it seem like a starry sky. -Swish! The card that left the deck shot towards me and just like before, when I caught it, the information about the card suddenly flowed into my mind. "What''s it called? What''s it called~?" Rein was having fun since the first time I pulled a card. And since some of the cards'' effects could be shared with the desired target, she also got to use some of the cards that I was summoning. "(Gaze of Silverhorn)¡­ quite a pretty name, I would say." "Ohh! Ohh! Is it also something that lets you see through things~?" There was a card called (Piercing gaze of?Bakowl) that gave one ability to see faraway things, and even allowed them to look through things if they wanted. I had my [Three eyes] so I didn''t really need this ability, but the fact that anyone can use this ability if I allowed them excited this peculiar fianc¨¦e of mine. ''She was definitely thinking something devious once again¡­ but it couldn''t be as bad as her acting this morning, right?'' And this ability didn''t have any weird effect like that even though there was ''eye'' in its name so there was nothing for her to look so excited about¡­ actually, wait. "From what I came to know, this ability lets someone with a good enough affinity with darkness attribute see the true nature of ''night''. The exnation was vague but as long as I use enough Mana to activate the skill, we might even get to see the other side." "¡­wait, what?" "Yup. From what I understand, it''s exactly what you are thinking." "No¡­ no no no way! Really~?! I will be able to see the shadow realm if we use this?!" "There is a possibility. Wanna try?" Extending the blue card that had materialised in a semi-physical form to her with a smile, I waited for her answer. "Hmmm? Can¡­ can I have-" "Of course you can." And as soon as I got that expected uncertain look, I just handed her the card after pouring in just enough Mana to make it useable. This was a new one so we did not know what things it could do just yet, so we had to be careful here. It was a random ability so there was a chance we wouldn''t be able to get this one for a long time, but it didn''t really matter much. ''The cards materialised in a ''semi-physical'' form or somethingparable to apressed form of Mana that takes physical form that stays with me for, as we have concluded after multiple trials, at least half an hour.'' I can pass around these cards as I like and until I trigger them through my will, they stay in that card form¡­ truly a fascinating ability. "Eon¡­" "Don''t look at me like those are my cookies or something. It''s just a card from an ability that''s already mine. We will get this card again if we are lucky anyway so just use it!" She was going to keep looking at me like that, I knew that, so without her consent this time, I just triggered the skill. And as soon as I did that, the card vanished from her hand¡­ and, her pretty eyes turnedpletely ck. They were notparable to the eyes of those demonic human bastards, but different from those ugly emotionless eyes, the eyes she had right now contained an entire neb. The colourful celestial pattern that formed deep within her eyes was something I had never seen directly like this¡­ and though there was something like stars on her retina parts, they were too unique to be called simple stars. "The hell¡­?" "What''s up? What do you see, Rein?" "Everything¡­" There was a twitching smile on her face right now so I can tell she was experiencing something he couldn''t put into words. "Fuck what the hell is this?" "Describe what you see-" I was going to ask her to exin what she was seeing, but just then¡­ her eyes returned to normal and the dark neb turned into her usual deep pink eyes. "Hmmm?" "Looks like the effect wore off-" I was just about to sigh and shake my head at the short period of the ability, but since it wasn''t something instantaneous like some other skills andsted exactly twelve seconds at the lowest activation strength, this was a pretty useful ability¡ª or so I was going to think before Rein lost the strength in her legs and almost fell over! "Hey! Don''t just fall over like that!" I barely managed to catch her by her waist and shouted at her with a concerned look, but then I noticed how herplexion was turning pale right before my eyes. "Rein? Rein! What''s happening?!" Her eyes were still looking up in the sky, motionless to any of my shouts! What the hell was happening all of a sudden?! "Rein?!" I checked her using my (: Scan) and found almost all the Mana in her body had drained out, causing the symptoms of Mana drain¡­ and it wasn''t a good thing! "The hell was that thing¡­ what did you see, damn it!" There was no time to think about anything so I just acted quickly, took out some potions from my storage space, and poured them in her mouth¡­ which wasn''t moving on its own either! I had to feed those potions to her myself! "Lucy!" [[ *It doesn''t look like anything happened to her mind, master. There would have been no response by her body if that were the case. But her body is reacting fine, so I think she is just experiencing a (Post idental shback).* ]] Which ultimately meant she was alright. Something certainly was good to know, but it did not help with the situation! "What do I do to help her then? Is there any way-" [[ "Shut up, darling. I''m alright¡­" ]] She blinked her eyes. She kept looking up like she was since earlier, but she certainly blinked. And, herplexion started retuning to normal as well. [[ Master! Master! She spoke! Sister Elle''s alright, master! ]] [[ "Of course I am alright, dummy. What could happen to me anyway¡­" ]] "Then what about all this?! You fell-" "And now I''m getting up so shut down, alright?" She blinked a few times, shook her head and got up on her own¡­ and then, looked directly at me. "Calm down and listen." After almost giving me a heart attack, she was looking at me with that rare excited expression of hers with a wide smile on her face. "What the hell? What is the meaning of all this?!" "Shuuuu. Just quiet down and listen to what I am about to say." She was out cold on the ground just a moment ago but now she was all excited and cheerful¡­ What did that weird thing do to her?! "Ready?" She wanted to me listen to what she had to say, and under the circumstances, I had no choice but to do just that, and nod my head. "Alright then¡­" The smile on her face was unexpectedly the most excited one I had ever seen on her. It was strange in a way, and a little cute as well. "I saw everything." She was holding my hands. Her breathing was uneven and her eyes looked more shiny than usual right now. "Even outer space." With the ability of that card, she saw something I couldn''t have foreseen. And, it was so unfathomably special that even she couldn''t contain her excitement about it. Chapter 736 Accidental title

Chapter 736 idental title

?[Eon''s POV: ] "So, as soon as you activated that card, I felt like everything around me had turned dark, but when I looked closely, that wasn''t the case." The skill had been activated for only a short while of twelve seconds and in that time, almost all the Mana in her body was consumed to maintain this ''buff''. Something that was certainly concerning considering her Mana purity and the abundance of Mana she could naturally hold as a witch. The ability from the card turned out to be more dangerous than what I had expected¡­ which sparked the questions about the skill itself. "You know how I see the true reality with my eyes, right? This boost or ability from the card increased what I can do to a greater degree from what I understand." "What does that-" "Shuuu. Just listen." "Yes ma''am." She was overly excited right and just wanted to say all that she wanted to say¡­ well, there was something wrong with that, but we can do that while sitting down as well. There wasn''t any reason for her to stick to me like that. She was always pressing her entire body against mine. "So, the ability from the skill perhaps enhanced my truth seeing eyes, and I was able to see the true nature of this reality¡­ it''s difficult to put into words but you can say I could see all the realms, the realm gates, the entire, the space, the stars and cosmic things¡­ I even saw outer space! Including all those coooooool creatures of outer space~! I could see everything at once~!" "¡­" I was speechless. "Hehe. It was almost like I had be some kind of a god that can see everything, lol. It was soooooooooo fun!" "Wait wait Rein. Wait a minute and let me process this." She was saying she saw everything there was all at once, so I can understand it as something close to (Omnivision), something like the divine skill of the divinities, the [[Gaze]]. That much was understandable to one point and believe as well since it was her one of a kind eyes we were talking about but¡­ she saw realms? Even the outer space that not even the true gods are allowed to perceive? "Are you sure it was outer space?" "Hmm? Yes¡­ pretty sure since we have seen it once already, no? It was the same endless dark and pretty ce with those cute-" "Don''t call them cute for now, Dear. Not right now at least." "Hmmm?" What the hell was that (Gaze of Silverhorn) thing¡­? What kind of creature in this world is allowed to look at outer space and¡­ why?! Why the hell is an ability like that in a simple skill like this one?! ¡­or, wait. Was the card actually the reason she saw all that or were her eyes the ones that did it? There wasn''t any way to know what allowed her to see outer space and those horrible creatures of beyond, but if she says she saw it¡­ this skill was certainly not something simple. There was something about this skill, and the abilities these cards grant. Which, again, was strange. "Haaa¡­" I sat down on the ground and since she was glued to me already, she sat down as well. "What''s up? Why are you like this all of a sudden?" She didn''t understand the severity of the situation. But I wasn''t expecting her to understand it on her own anyway. This wasn''t a matter just anyone couldprehend without the knowledge about the truths of reality and space as well as the divine [[( Laws )]]. As mortal beings, we weren''t allowed to look at the things beyond this world. Just to look at the other realms, one has to earn the qualification or have the permission of someone that had the qualifications already. If someone breaks thesews and doesn''t have the authority to back up their attempt, they are bound to receive punishment instantly¡­ That''s how nature works. Elimination ofw breaking elements that could be a threat to the entire world was inevitable. Divine punishment was inevitable for those who do what they should not, and directly looking at the true nature of reality and past the world fabric of the universe, without the proper authority, as a mortal being¡­ was exactly one of the things that would be grounds for that kind of punishment. Or¡­ -Oooooooooooooooong! "Phew¡­" Under these circumstances where she had no intention of doing anything wrong, where she was only doing something out of curiosity, where I was the main cause behind her actions, nature thankfully did not punish her. And instead, acknowledged her actions as something idental¡­ as well as amazing. "Hmmm? Wait! Did I just get some kind of a title?!" "You sure did." I hugged her tightly before saying anything further¡­ this would have been much worse than I could have imagined at the start of this whole skill testing. She was confused how there was a light around her and a special phenomenon that urs when a title other than themon titles of masters or grandmasters are given at this moment, but thankfully, she was fine. This was much, much, much better than some divine punishment where she would have had to suffer¡­ perhaps¡­ perhaps lose her life¡­ but nothing like that was happening right now. She would receive a unique title that would have some kind of unique effect only she could have, and that was much better than seeing her suffer, because of me. This was good¡­ yes, this was for the best. "Oy! What''s all this?! What did I even do?" "Just shut up, you ignorant fool." She didn''t know the kind of trouble she could have been in if she was some kind of bad person who used my skill by force and to not just satisfy her curiosity, but to harm someone else. She would have been in trouble if I had not forced use that ability card as well¡­ but thankfully, everything turned out just, just fine. She was alright even after seeing all those things, and I don''t want anything more than that. The title will make her stronger in one way or another anyway, so it was for the better as well. "Haaaa¡­" I sighed. "Huuuu¡­" Took a deep breath. "Haaaaaa¡­" Released it slowly. And, after taking a moment to thank nature, I looked at my Rein. "Alright. Let''s just talk about this after we go back." "Hmm? What the hell? At least tell me why I got this title¡­ . It says I will be able to see more truths in the future, so I understand it was because I saw all those things but, was it important enough to give me a title?" "You will need to know the nature of [Laws] before you can understand why you got this, dear. That''s why let''s talk about thister." "But you always said you can''t tell me about those Law things!" "Shuuu¡­ it''s different now. So calm down, ok?" She had a confused look right now as she did not understand what I was saying, or why I looked so relieved right now. She did not know how bad this could have turned out to be, but that did not matter anymore. "Haaaa¡­ alright. Let''s finish testing out the rest of the skills." Overthinking over this one thing was useless. The skill [Cascade or Ark] was unique, powerful, and dangerous. And since we still only know little about it, it was best to first know as much as possible before using it duringbat. "Haaaa¡­" I got up with a relieved expression, but right when I got up, she grabbed my hand. "Eon, I need an exnation, alright? We are only postponing this." "Of course we are." You have to know what you would have been up against if things had turned out any differently. [[ "Celes." ]] [[ Rest assured master~! There was no one here. Not even any creatures~! ]] ''Lucy?'' [[ *No master. The search shows no sign of life here. I searched for the other beings as well and the result was negative.* ]] ''Use truth and Scan just in case. I don''t want anything knowing about this.'' [[ *Yes master¡­* ]] If the fact that the representative of Atraxia had received a unique title gets out, in this ongoing conflicts all over the world, there would be many forces who could use this information in a threatening manner. [[ *It''s alright, master. There''s nothing here that would be threatening.* ]] There were all kinds of powers and creatures all over this world. Many that even I have no knowledge of. ''I couldn''t take any chances here, especially after those cultist bastards appeared out of nowhere.'' With their presence known, we now knew there was a power out there that was enough to pose a threat to the entire humanity. And, they were strong enough to have created smart, disposable puppets they could use anytime, in whatever way they wanted. And, the ones under the true mastermind behind these puppets, the being theypared to the gods, were themselves no smaller threat then the strongest known powers of this world. ''I know I''m not ready to face against them all only my own. So¡­'' ''[Light steps].'' I have to get stronger. Much, much stronger than what I am right now. ''Only with strength powerful enough to withstand their attacks head on, will I have any chance to survive, and protect what''s mine.'' It isn''t going to be easy, we know that. -Swish! That''s why, we have to start from this very moment. ''And by ''we'', I mean all of us.'' -Swaaaaaaash¡­! Chapter 737 Testing new skills

Chapter 737 Testing new skills

?[OP: ] [Light steps], a darkness attribute illusion skill that makes one''s body disappear and instead creates a fake illusion image of the owner of the skill that the owner could move however they wanted. Additionally, the skill boosted the movement speed, agility, and stamina recovery of the owner. And, when moving in the shadows, the movement speed is boosted even more so when Eon used the skill, not only did he be super fast without any additional magic spell buffs, the illusion of him that was created was not something even Rein could recognise without focusing properly. -Swish! It was a very useful skill in situations where he would have to move instantaneously to avoid an attack, or to trick his opponents into thinking their attacks had worked. It was a special skill from a (ck mouth Dweller) an extremely rare reptilian species that, about three to four centuries ago, was a pain in the ass of the citizens of the northern continent. However, as they had almost gone extinct in the current era, the skills and abilities, as well as the knowledge those creatures have left behind is very useful for the current generation geologists and archeologists who specialise in underground structures. These creatures used to live under the surface of the northern continent, but due to the climate changes, they have now almost gone extinct. -Swiiiiiiiish! Not many would know of this skill, so unless someone could read the exact information of this skill ''after he uses it'', there was no way the opponent would know what exactly happens around them. And, since there wille a time where he has to leave the back defence lines as an archer, mage, andmander and enter the frontal battlefields himself, this skill was going to be very important to those closebat fights. -Swiiiiiiiiiish¡­! [Hexagram triangles], a very, very rare hexa elemental skill that he did not know how his mom got her hands on, but there was one thing he could tell after using this skill for over half an hour¡­ it was deadly. -Booooooooooom! He had an affinity with all six elements so he was perhaps one of the few people in this world who could actually obtain this skill, and the skill itself belonged to a certain ruler level energy beast that had been quite famous among the adventurers a few decades ago, so the skill itself was one of a kind¡­ They nicknamed that creature the and there were still stories going around about the giant humanoid creatures that possessed stronger muscles than even the Kraken, magical abilities better than the dragons, and dominance over the entire great forest of the north that was the same as the divine beings. It was a creature feared by many as countless adventurers had dared to challenge it in the past, but most who faced it, had only ever returned with horrific memories and grave injuries, or tokens of theirtepanions. -Boooooooooom! The creature had devastated countless adventurer parties and guilds, and people still believed the creatures still existed deep in those woods¡­ however, no one who dared to go into those deep regions previously dominated by the Horror, returned to tell the tale of their experiences anymore. The region had been blocked offpletely a few decades ago by the imperial power for the ''safety'' of its citizens¡­ which, as very few knew, was only a facade to hide the truth about the forest, and the ''Horror'' that once certainly existed in thatnd. -Booooooooooom! It was a special creature born with special powers that got to the position of a ruler on its own. But then the previous emperor and his forces defeated the creature, constructed a secret facility in that ce, and passed the skill stone they obtained from the creature to the person that contributed the most to this raid¡­ but since that person could not use the skill stone himself, he exchanged it with something else in Hiraani, and that was how the skill stone ultimately ended up in his mom''s hands. -Oooooooooong! [Hexagram triangles] was the very skill that allowed the creature to be the dominant power of the entire great forest. It was a special ability through which he could instantlymand the elemental powers to act in a certain manner,bine the elemental powers at will, and since the skill increase his element handling abilities to the next level, the creature could practicallymand the six main elements with his will. And even at his current level, Eon could use the skill to mix the three elements and instantly create elemental attacks that he previously wasn''t capable of. There was a great difference between his ability to handle the elemental powers now, and since this was a passive skill that was continuously active, it went perfectly well with his scripting spell casting method. -Booooooom! He can now make fire of light attribute and use earth element in a fluid form. The skill was amazing just with these abilities, but, there was an additional effort to this skill that allowed him¡­ well, it would be more fun to see it in directbat. [Queen''s castle], a very famous skill from one of the great (Purple) creatures that exists in this world, and one of the few invincibility skills that granted an absolute territory to the owner of the skill. A few people in the world, including the emperor of Roxanna empire also possessed this skill so it was pretty famous alredy. But, since getting this skill was one hell of a difficult task as there had only ever been a few skill stones of this skill in their entire known history against the stories of draconian species the humanoids have killed, the fact that Eon now had the same legendary skill¡­ made him one of the few special individuals of this world. And since it was a territorial skill, its ability were self exnatory. [Strings of Archaneum] that originated from another (Purple) ranked creature was a bloodline skill of themanding general of a (Great spotted spider) colony. It was a skill that instantly turned any kind of energy or body fluid one had into strong threads that were stronger than steel and silkier than the finest silk one could find on the market. And, the use of these strings entirely depended on what was used in the creation of these things, so the diverse applications of this one skill alone surpassed many of the skills he previously possessed. He liked this skill the most out of all the other skills he had now since he could practically use the strings from this skill in any ce, in any form, and at any time. There was no restriction to what energy or what bodily fluids he could use to create the strings, so if necessary, he could even make sturdy armours for an entire army on his own with this one skill alone. It was an absurd but practically very useful skill. And just like this special skill, the [Triple points] was also a skill that he knew would be very useful for various scenarios¡­ -Oooooooooooooooong! It was an enchantment skill that gave the target of enchantment a unique ability to transform into a simr special state as the triple point of a pure substance where the object or the person could exist in solid, liquid, or gaseous states at the same time. They could jump from one state to another at will if they were a person as well. And when he used it with arrows, he could program when the physical arrows would stay in any of the three forms before the Mana in them is consumed by the enchantment. "The power of the skill depends on the application, as I predicted." "It would be scary to face an opponent that could technically be water or air midway down the battle. And if we are talking about arrows that would follow you around, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps." He was an archer. A magic archer to be more specific. Hemanded arrows with his bows that he fired from his fingertips. He could make them dance around the battlefield as he wished, and when ites to enchantment and magic application, he could do things so creative no one in the world could ever imagine. "This much is good then." "Good~! Are we going home now~?" He now had abilities perfectly suited for his profession as a mage of bow and arrows. Something that made him more terrifying than many stronger forces of the world. His enemies would have to be very careful of how they evaluate him since underestimating the current him¡­ would only result in greater losses. "Not yet. We still have two more things to check." "Hmm? Two more¡­? Oh! You mean the new origin skills?!" "Yes." Every single one of his new skills were going to be a challenge for his opponents in the future¡­ and, even if they somehow dealt with them, there would be bigger challenges standing in their way. "Huuuu¡­" His skills were not limited to the skills he possessed physically. He was also the owner of an origin skill. And this skill would be the biggest challenge for any opponent facing him. "[White gate]." -Ooooooooooooooooong! Of course though, they will have bigger problems facing the beach skills of his origin skill. "Damn¡­" "Woooooh! Darling! This¡­?!" This white gate that had materialized before the two of them at this moment, a structure leading to apletely different space¡­ would especially be the most unforeseen variable for the enemies on the battlefield. Chapter 738 [White gate]

Chapter 738 [White gate]

?[Eon''s POV: ] The [White crack] skill of my origin skill was something that has saved me many times in that great forest, and I have always been extremely grateful for it. I possessed it, I know, but if not for that one skill, I don''t know how I would have carried important supplies with me, how I would have transported all the important stuff that I needed from one ce to another, and this skill has been very useful duringbat situations as well, so if not for the [White crack] I would very well have?died a long time ago. I owed my present to it¡­ so when it evolved into the next stage, I was very excited to try it out and see what new cool things it was capable of. ''I have wanted to try it ever since I got it but because of the circumstances, I couldn''t do it. But, well, looking at this, it''s better that I didn''t use it on the battlefield, or in my house.'' The [White crack] that had evolved into [White gate] was not just a white crack with eternal endlessness inside of it. It wasn''t something that only I could see either. Rein could see it as soon as I used the skill, and as both of us looked at what had appeared before us, we couldn''t help but gasp in disbelief. "This is big, keke." "Yeah¡­ unexpectedly so." There was a gate, an actual physical gate present before us right now. A pure white gate with many unique patterns made of every colour imaginable covering every part of it. The gate itself was around nine metres in highest and three metres in diameter and, even though it was only a thin gate, both of us knew for a fact this gate was not just a two dimensional structure. "There will be something behind this, right?" "We will have to check that for ourselves, dear." The gate was one of the most gorgeous structures we had ever seen in our long lives¡­ even my previous world did not possess something as magnificent as this thing. ''It seemed to be crafted by the hands of celestial divinities who had seen all beauty, all happiness, all sorrows and all light of this world¡­ this gate was simply ineffable.'' That''s why we didn''t waste much of our time thinking about useless things, and just epted the endless beauty of this gate for now. We would have however long we needed to think about this gate, the patterns all over it, the colours, and its structure. This forest wasn''t the best ce for things like that, so we just moved our attention to the important parts. "How will you open this though? Is there a key? Can anyone open this? Or will it only open when you use your Mana?" "Nah¡­ I don''t think I''ll need any of that for this gate." It was my skill. I owned it. Which simply means it was an extension of my own self. My own will. -Ooooooooooooong! I just thought about it, and the grand doors of the white gate opened up for us, revealing a familiar endless whiteness. "Is this how you always saw this?" "Yeah. Just that¡­ it has never been this big." The gate was many times bigger than both of us, actually, it was big enough for a few thin giants to pass through. But it would be a problem- ''Oh, wait. I don''t really need a bigger gate. If this gate works the same way as the crack, then it can take in any kind of being as long as it touches the surface of it.'' If so, then I can now most probably even store something like her grandma''s giant turtle in here. I don''t have to push something inside of it anymore. It''s a gate now so things can pass through it on their own. "Shall we?" I extended my hand towards her, with an excited smile, and she epted it with an even more excited smile than mine. "Of course! Let''s go see what''s behind that endless whiteness you talked so highly of~!" There was something behind this whiteness and now, we can go in there and see for ourselves what kind of ce all the things I put in my storage space goes to. -Ooooooooooooong! This was fun for both of us, so we walked in the gates without any hesitation and¡­ when we crossed the unique gate, contrary to my expectations, we didn''t end up in some kind of endless space where everything is just floating around. No. When we crossed the white gate, we ended up in a goodrge courtyard with a circr structure present some distance away from us. "Wow¡­" Everything was white in this ce. There was no ceiling here but the space above us seemed to be filled with the endless whiteness that we saw before crossing the gate. The gate itself had vanished from behind us after we crossed it, and now, there was only us in this ce, along with this white, peaceful courtyard and that building in the distance. "Welp¡­ I wasn''t expecting this." "Me neither, but if I have to say something about this, I would certainly say this ce is very much like you, darling. Clean. And I bet the things you throw in this ce would all be systematically gathered in that building. You like it that way so your skill would represent it to you in that way as well, right?" "Hmmm¡­" Well, what she said could certainly be the case. Or, if not that, this could simply also be a setting born from my subconscious¡­ or it could be random as well, we don''t know that. One thing we know for sure though, was how this ce, this certain ground with a physical building present here, was not merely a storage space as we had known it to be. It could have been a mere storage space in the past but now, it was not something so simple. "A [Pocket dimension]¡­ I wasn''t expecting this." "Time flows so slowly it''s pretty negligible as well." There was air here so we could breathe. There was solid ground and living organisms could stay here for a long time as well. There was atmosphere, space, and as Rein could tell, the flow of time in this ce was almost ignorable as well so this was the perfect ce to study something, or train without worrying about anything. It was a pocket dimension, a special space that only those with the deepest understanding of space-time magic could ever create after decades and centuries of long research. Few beings in the world had apletely unique space of their own where they alone were the sovereigns and those beings mostly possessed titles closer to divinities. Apletely unique dimension of one''s own was something much more precious than a subspace or a storage where one could store living organisms. ''This was a formidable power that was unfathomably powerful in the hands of those who understood its power, and when we add the ''time'' factor, this pocket dimension was one of a kind ability.'' Aside from some of the true gods of the world, there shouldn''t be any being in this world that possessed the same kind of unique ability as this one. I, for one, certainly don''t know if there is anyone with such terrifying ability. ''Which ultimately means something very good.'' This was my space and I was the only person that could ess it. Master had connected this space with my storage bracelet so there is a way to connect this ce and the outside world. There are enough resources in here for a good amount of beings to live for a long while so even if I move out and somehow the flow of time in here is changed in some way, the beings would still have enough resources to survive on their own¡­ ''It should be easy to guess what I was getting at with that kind of thought process, and I know Rein already knows what I''m thinking about.'' This was a terrifying ability that was going to be very useful. Very, very, very useful. Especially when we need some extra help during the times of war. "You have that over excited smile, Eon. Even I''m getting goosebumps looking at you." She was saying that with an excited smile of her own so I can tell she was also just as excited as I was right now. There was no way we wouldn''t be excited by an ability of this scale, especially in a time like this. "This is going to be exciting, hahaha." I couldn''t hold back myughter. And right after me, she also got excited and started running around the ce with excitement. She wanted to go in and see what''s inside but, the ce we were in, this openpound with some strange lights glowing on certain ces was also exciting so she first went to one of these lights, but¡­ [[ *You shouldn''t just touch it like that, Elle.* ]] Both of us heard a voice that was familiar only to me¡­ and, had to freeze in our ces for different reasons. Chapter 739 Preparing for a breach

Chapter 739 Preparing for a breach?

?[Eon''s POV: ] White gate turned out to be a very unique ability, not just because how it was a very good ce to store things in a categorised manner, or because of its environment but instead because of the fact that Lucy can directly manage this ce¡­ yes. ''Since White Gate was one of my abilities and Lucy was as well, she could directly look over this special space and manage every single aspect of it on her own.'' She could change things in there as I wanted and she could even change how the ce looked, give things to anyone present there, and since it was a pocket dimension with a different flow of time, she can do many things in there that even she did not know yet. ''She can practically y around with it as she wanted if I give her full authority over that ce-, oh. Right, the authorities of the white gate.'' It was a special space so not just anyone could do anything they wanted in there even if they existed in there. Even if they are living beings existing in that space, they stayed inside the structure in a frozen state until taken out by me or the one I permitted to. ''There were a bunch of different levels of authorities I can give to someone or something of my choice inside the structure, which was one hell of a useful thing.'' Just the fact that Lucy could look over this ce at will made the White grate unfathomably more useful than it could have been on its own. And since I could change how that ce looked, we did not waste much time and started preparing that ce as a manufacturing ground and a training ground for future uses. ''I took Doro, Liliate, and Hox out from the storage space or, from the structure where everything was stored very systematically in the drawer like things, and assigned them unique tasks that they had to follow with the best of their abilities.'' Doro was incharge of all the new construction that would happen there, Liliate would create an agriculture field and maintain it, while Hox would research the gate with Lucy. My other artificial helpers with specific functions like K were put in charge of the tasks that suited them the most, and the authorities were divided between Lucy and others. ''Division of Labour would increase the productivity, and since they hadplete creative freedom and shit ton of resources in that ce, I was excited to see what they make of my dimensional space when I go back there in the future.'' It would be fun checking up on them from time to time, but I do not think I will be able to go back anytime before the winter auction ends. And, thanks to those fucking [ck hand] bastards, I have multiple times more work to do.'' And since Rein will be going sometime around tomorrow as well, I will be doing all the work on my own. "Haaa¡­" "No cking, baby. Keep going. Finish those set of papers, then this one, and then we can finally go check up on your dear friends." "You are taking advantage of those poor children, you know? I don''t like this, mom." But since it''s much more effective than some normal person doing it, I couldn''t argue against her methods either. What she was doing was much more effective cost wise, and efficiency wise as well. ''Anyone would want to have the best rising stars of the world as their personal workers so what she was doing, was certainly any person in her position would do, actually, people would pay fortune for cervices of people like Deleon, Miss Mia, or Quin. Especially after the alchemypetition, the champion and the best alchemist of the year, along with her teammates had be rising stars of not just the field of alchemy but, also many other creative fields of this world. ''All of the people that were on her team now had offers from prominent figures. They all wanted them toe and work under them, some of them even wanted to take some of them in as their direct disciples and pass on their teachings to them.'' Miss Mia and Ball had gotten so many offers from so many ces that they were overwhelmed beyond their own imagination. ''Both of them were now working extra hard on tasks that mom assigned to them in an attempt to get their minds off these things, which was ultimately helping mom even more.'' What she was paying for all the work she was making them was undoubtedly inadequate from the market standards, but even if they knew it like Med did, they would have still help her the same way. ''Even if they were geniuses of their fields, masters, and well known figures of the world, all of them were still students at the end of the day.'' They did not have any kind of direct rtion with a prominent figure like mom, and they certainly did not have one of the wealthiest people of this world owning them anything. Helping mom and getting the pay, as well as an opportunity to have an item of their choice in the annual auction that only important people with money could attend was invaluable for them. ''For themon people like Lizzy and Ball, it was an opportunity of a lifetime as well since they were getting a free pass to attend the annual auction, that too in the special balcony rooms.'' I wouldn''t pass on this opportunity if I was in their position unless I was someone like Princess Luna, Bell, Titania, or prince udeus either. But, the fact that even the three of them were actively working for mom right now showed just how much influence she had on the outside world and people outside of this family. "Huhuhu. Don''t be like that baby~. You should focus on your own work instead of worrying about your dear friends. I ain''t forcing anyone so don''t be mad at me, alright~? Come here~. Give your lonely mama a hug~." She was too different when she was with us, especially when she was with me. She''s nothing like the ruthless golden demoness or anything like a stoic, cold person as the media and society believed her to be. ''She''s one of the most affectionate and warm people I know¡­ which just shows how people change depending on the one describing them.'' But it''s still ufortable to be hugged by her when there''s a stack of paper before me. "Hmmm~." She rubbed her face against mine, went back to her chair and continued looking at me with her chin on her interlocked fingers. "Haaa¡­ anyway, what is this mom?" "Ah, that would be the funds I usually have prepared in case there is a sudden emergency with the crowds. The healers we have sometimes can''t handle the kind of injuries the nobles suffer due to some ''unfortunate'' ident." "Hmmm¡­ well, we won''t need these funds anymore so I will be moving them to the extra remaining funds." "Yup. I was going to do it this time anyway. The healers and ''doctors'' we have trained with the training methods you had developed are now several times better than even the national healers. They can now practically reattach a severed head if needed so the ''unfortunate'' idents aren''t going to be a problem anymore." The idents she was talking about obviously meant something else, but we don''t have to think about that. Those were rare cases and we don''t usually have to take help of the ''idents'' for some normal troublemaking nobles. These were special measures meant only for special circumstances. And since we have special means to deal with these special situations now, those extra funds weren''t needed anymore. "Hmmm. Nice. I''m done." "Goooooood~! Let''s go see what your darling friends are up to~." [ck hand], as we know right now, was a very rare kind of coboration where some of the most notorious criminals of the world wereing together for a certainmon goal. Something I personally believe is all part of some grand conspiracy¡­ ''Some goddamn bastard spread rumours of a ''holy relic'' and an ''ancient artifact'' appearing in this time''s auction together. And if that wasn''t enough, the rumours among the undergroundmunity were so solid, even I would have believed them if I didn''t know better.'' We know for a fact whoever spread these rumours was no simple person but the rumours themselves were unimportant now. These rumours attracted the attention of a certain, world renowned thief that was also called , a grandmaster when it came to stealing some of the most important relics of this world, and allegedly, one of the greatest artifact collectors of this world. There were all kinds of rumours about him and factual stories of how he had single handedly prated some of the most secure facilities of this world. He was one of the living legends of current day society. And, he wasing for Hiranni this time. ''And, what made this fact several times more terrifying, was how he knew his own limitations and had ''secretly'' gathered criminals of his own level from all around the world.'' They weren''t many in numbers ording to our sources, but if we were talking about breaching the defences of Hiranni and reaching the storage area of the auction items on the second underground level, the known forces they had were more than enough to make it happen. ''And they undoubtedly knew that we knew about them so, they weren''t going to just sit back and make a n that we can predict.'' They weren''t dumb enough to do something like that. ''They were going to be prepared for all kinds of things we would prepare for them.'' Their strategies will revolve around what they face after they infiltrate the auction house, what kind of defensive systems are in ce, what kinds of security we have, and what they have to do to get things out of the storage, and ultimately out of the gates of Hiranni. ''They are smart people, and strong as well.'' And they are going to breach, certainly. Stopping this breach though, is entirely in our hands¡­ ''I have to do it. Especially because of the uing grand conference.'' Mom gave me the task to handle the whole auction process on a whim but, now that it had turned out to be something so¡­plex, I had no choice but to apply myself. [[ Master! Master~! Taika is back~! ]] [[ "Hmm? They''re back?" ]] "What''s up, Eon? Why did you stop, all of a sudden." "Ah, I think I will have to check up on Rein and Quin upstairs. You go ahead. We will join you shortly." "Well, if you say so. Come down quietly though~. We will be waiting for you~!" "Of course, mom." Dad was back from whatever dungeon he was exploring and he took longer than we had expected so, there was a possibility some things had gone off the rails. But he was back, finally. So, it should be better to let her go ahead and watch how dad surprises her¡­ right? Chapter 740 Taika…?

Chapter 740 Taika¡­?

?[Eon''s POV: ] "Heya. What are you two up to?" Dad was here so I let mom go down by herself. He was smart enough so when he sees her all by herself, he should try a little something to make his homing a little special. "Hmm? Eon, weren''t you working? Is it done? Can we go y now~?" Only Rein turned back to look at me before leaning over the edge of the wall of my terrace once again. They were looking down at the garden, perhaps something good was happening so I joined them as well, and as soon as I did, a unique scene in our usual garden met my eyes. "Is this normal, Lady Elle?" "If we are talking about our Anna, then yes. This is pretty normal¡­ just that there are too many of them this time." "She looks pretty." Quin mumbled to herself as she continued looking at my sleeping beauty under her favourite tree. "And happy." And I added to her words, surprising her with my sudden appearance. "M-m-master Axion? When¡­ when did you arrive?" She neither perceive meing here, nor did she have any idea I had been standing beside her for a few seconds now. She had beenpletely absorbed in the scene before her¡­ but it was obvious. "It''s alright, it''s alright. I know she''s amazing so there''s no need to be so worked up. Let''s keep watching." Anna was sleeping under the shade of her favourite tree in the front garden, her favourite napping spot. And, just like always, she wasn''t alone. ''Povpois were around her on one side, while on the other side were her new slime friends. Celes, Branwen, and all the other familiars of our friends were around her as well, Titania''s big wolf as well. Even Luna''s ever angry shark was there, quietly and peacefully sleeping beside Quin''srge egg, even Zuroro. Captain Alpha''s smander, Prince ud''s miss kitten, even Ca''s heroic horse¡­ all the familiars were sleeping all around her, filling the shade of her tree. Their masters, stunned by this phenomenal sight, were just looking at her, at their familiars, at this scene the same way as Quin. ''We did not have the president and vice president here, or their partners would have been there as well.'' It''s just a natural thing that happened to all the energy beasts that meet her. ''Her innate powers attract them, she ys with them, befriends them, helps them with their negative emotions and fills them with her own positivity.'' She enchants the creatures without using any kind of magic or spell and every once in a while, we see her taking a nap with all the creatures of the house in that exact spot. It''s always fun seeing this scene when there are guests around. Just like right now, there is a more unique scene in that same spot, and the expression of the others, as well as the emotions they feel as they look at this enchanting scene speechlessly, is a picture worthy scene. "Oh, there he is." "Hmmm? Oh, your daddy came back, hun?" "Hai." "That''s why you are here, hun good boy bastard." She looked over Quin and gave me a quick smirk, before suddenly a thought stuck her. And she winked at me. ''No.'' ''Please?'' "I should go down now." "Oy! No. Stay." She was suggesting something not-appropriate for the moment even though she knew I wouldn''t do it when Quin was around. Especially since it was Quin. It was difficult to maintain her views on us already and if she starts having doubts that we weren''tpletely different from her dear friends Uriel and Lucifer, there will be quite a bit of problems for us when we go back to the academy. "Hmm? Miss Elle? Who is that person?" "Hmm? Who?" There was a nonverbal argument going on between the two of us over what she had suggested a moment ago when Quin suddenly pointed her finger at something¡­ or someone. "Hmmm? Who''s that? I don''t think I have ever seen someone like that here¡­ and how did she get in? Eon? Do you know her?" Some distance behind dad, there was a woman¡ªa beast person with feline ears, an orangish tail, and a tough looking lean-muscr body covered in short clothing that revealed her solid abs, her arms that were as big as some high ranking knights here, and her eyes¡­ Her eyes¡­ they were as deep as a predator who had lived for centuries. "Taika¡­?" And were so familiar I couldn''t not recognise them. "Hmm? I didn''t catch-" "No way! Are you serious?! She evolved already?!" Her physical appearance was like that of a humanoid beast person, but she was extremely beautiful. Her short hair, those eyes, her physique, and how she carried herself all resembled a beast who had lived as a ruler all their lives. It didn''t require a genius to know just how powerful of a being she was, and she also didn''t need long to figure out someone was trying to check her out with their special skills¡­ "That person just smiled at us, didn''t she?" "She sure did¡­" Rein must have tried seeing her with her eyes and the result of her attempt on one side, the way She looked up directly at us was all that I needed to confirm my suspicions. "Yup. She''s definitely Taika." "Damn¡­" Quin was stunned since she saw Rein shout out loudly, somethingpletely out of her character, and now that she was showing her genuine surprise as well, Quin couldn''t help but wonder at this scene. She saw Rein as a model figure that knew how to control her emotions, but if even Rein was like that right now, Quin couldn''t help but look back at the strong and prettydy walking a little behind my dad. ''Lucy? Any thoughts?'' [[ *On her evolution? Certainly. On the uncertain reason for her evolution? Certainly not.* ]] ''Well, of course. The evolution isn''t in the creature''s hands anyway so I wouldn''t expect you to know why it happened when even Taika herself wouldn''t really know the reason for it.'' But I was more concerned about this evolution itself. Lucy and Rein both knew the reason for my concern, and I know for a fact everyone present in the house right now will know it soon as well. "And there goes your mom." "I should have gone with her after all." "Yeah. You should have¡­ this is going to beplicated now." "Let''s pray Taika didn''t force herself on dad after evolving and was sane enough to think straight." "Yeah¡­ I am curious how mother Nol will deal with this. She knew a day like this woulde someday, but now that it has arrived already, what will she actually do?" "Let''s just-" "Ummm. Excuse me? Can someone tell me what is going on? At least who that person is?" "Right." We forgot for a moment Quin had no idea what was going on in this family yet. Poor girl must be trying her hardest to get even a little clue of what we were talking about but in the end, she had no choice but to ask us directly. And she was almost in tears right now, so both of us can tell she did not enjoy being the only one in the dark here. "Quin¡­ it''s alright, Quin. Please don''t cry like that. Take a deep breath, and calm down alright?" Rein liked her so much that her tears were ufortable for her. Especially since they were indirectly caused by our actions. Thankfully though, Rein acted calmly and took care of Quin better than how her Uriel persona could have handled it. And, by the time mom was by the side with everyone else, looking at our little sleeping beauty, Quin had returned to her normal self. "I see¡­ so, she''s Lord Brian''s familiar Miss Taika." And after we told her the gist of everything that was going on, she finally had the understanding of why we were behaving like this. "Hmmm, so, in simple words, Miss Taika wants Lord Brian to be her mate, but since he already has a partner, Lady Nn, they cannot be together even though they like each other without her consent. They knew a day when she evolves and gets a humanoid form woulde, and had decided to talk or think about what to do afterwards. And, now that the time has arrived¡­ Lady Nn will have to make a decision. Hmmm. I see¡­ this is soplicated I can''t just watch it from here." She bowed to us, and just walked inside the room, with a certain intention of watching what happens down there from close. "I didn''t think she would be into this kind of stuff." "The other girls spoiled her, especially Titania. Thanks to her, all the girls are now into these kind of things, oh that reminds me, since Tia is here, do you think Ast will be around?" "Oh, didn''t I tell you? Grandpa said Ast is in the town and will be visiting tonight." "What? No you didn''t tell me that-" "Oh I did, alright. I know I did¡­ you were just so busy carving my back that you didn''t pay attention to it." Last night was long for most of us, especially for the two of us. She was being too creative with¡­ the ''stuff''. "Anyway, we should go down as well." "Yeah, sure." She moved some of her Mana into her dress as the long dress became short and then, she climbed onto the wall of the terrace. And then, she just jumped down. "You should''ve at least taken me with you." She could step on air so she didn''t really have any need for magic like I did. "You wanted to be carried like a princess? Hehe, why not? Let''s do it after we go up again." I could only shake my head at the way she was smirking with weird ideas again. She needed to be punished for being so dumb¡­ "Haaa. Anyway¡­" Mom, dad, and Taika. This was now about the three of them. Especially mom and dad. They will have to decide what they are going to do with the wish of a poor, innocent creature like our Taika. ''It''s going to be difficult, for both of them.'' And depending on their decision, we will either have another mom or, an aunt that had one sided feelings towards my dad¡­ Chapter 741 Prove it. Chapter 741 Prove it. ??[OP: ] Nn knew the reason her son went up wasn''t something simple even though he had tried hiding it. He might be the best actor of this world, she was her mother. She knew even when he was feeling something special, catching his little act was a simple thing for her. However, even though she was a master of bluffing and economic politics herself, it was difficult to figure out her son''s intentions sometimes. He was young, but he was too good that even she sometimes faced difficulties finding out his intentions. But, it was fine. She was his mother. She didn''t need to know everything he was doing since most of the things he did, were either for them, or for his lovely fianc¨¦e. She understood her little son well so, today as well, she knew he didn''t just leave her alone for something simple. He might have went upstairs to greet his Lady, or perhaps they suddenly had an urge to do something hot. They were young blood, technically their rtionship was pretty young, so they were always up to some fun things. He was her son so she knew the kind of ''ying'' happens between the two of them and she finds teasing both of them every morning one of the most fun things. Well, she knew there was a reason he left her all by herself, and when she reached the ground and saw her little sleeping daughter, she thought that reason was her¡­ that her son wanted her to see her sleeping daughter and the fun stunned faces of their friends. It was a pretty scene. There were more creatures sleeping soundly around her than usual. And the scene certainly looked mesmerising to her as well. So¡­ She stayed in the shade of their home, alone, and looked over her little daughter with a loving smile on her face. She knew her son, his love, and their first friend Quin were all looking at them from above, so she believed this scene was the reason he left her and went up¡­ however, after only a moment, she figured out the real reason for his sudden actions. "Surprise." A low voice spoke up right in her ear and a familiar scent filled her surroundings. A rough hand with some deep markings of cuts that had healed long ago had covered her eyes from behind when she was looking over her sleeping beauty. "Surprise, hun?" She did not need more clues to know who was daring enough to touch her directly, and since this person had been the reason for her lonely nights forst few days, she wasn''t really happy by this behaviour. -Dhum! Hitting him with her elbow, which must have been painful since she used her strength enhancement skill, she pushed her ungrateful husband away. "You have the audacity to say ''surprise'' aftering back sote? Hun?" He had fallen to the ground with his hands wrapped around his waist, a smile of relief present on his mature, attractive face¡­ his deep red eyes looked up happily. "Then, should I apologise for beingte, my great Lady?" He was a great mage of (tier-7) on the verge of breaking through into the next stage. He was the sole viscount of this empire that was representing an entire race of beings, and he was the father of the two special children that were already well known all over this world. "Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness. Then I might-" He would never hesitate to do anything if it meant he would earn forgiveness from his lovely significant other. "Hmm? Hey, no! I wasn''t being serious this time, Jeez. Get up bastard." Getting on his knees and begging to her was something he was already used to-, well, it was normal between the two of them but that was only when they were in private. Not when there were guests watching them, children at that. "You are a dumb idiot, Brian. Don''t you see all of them? This barrier you have cast isn''t going to block their sight." "No but it will surely make things unclear, haha." His long hair were tied in a ponytail, he was wearing his work outfit so he looked attractive as hell, there were some new scars on his hands, some deep while some light, but she was used to seeing these things. "What happened to your legs though?" But there were bandages wrapped all around his legs, something that usually doesn''t happen when he goes out. "It''s a long story¡­ which can wait." Without waiting a moment more, he took a step closer, and kissed his gorgeous Lady. It has been more than a week since he had seen his lovely wife. He couldn''t help his urge to embrace her, kiss her, f-, cuddle and talk about all the crazy things that happened in thest few days. He wanted to tell her all the things that happened in that fucked up dungeon, tell his son about his strange encounter, ask him about a few things concerning him. But, all of them can wait for a while. "You''re being greedy, dear husband. What''s up?" "Please don''t talk. Please?" "No. That''s enough for now." He wanted to keep going, but the ce and the time were not appropriate for an long hot kiss. The children watching them wasn''t the problem right now, but he had juste back after a long time. Even she wanted to tie him up and do something much more than just these fluffy kisses. She wouldn''t be able to hold herself back if they continued, so they had to stop there. "Please?" But he didn''t understand that simple thing. "Brian?" "i mean, not even for a-" "Brian!" And she had no choice but to use a heavy voice filled with her Authority. "Alright. We will stop here, for now." "Good." She kissed him lightly after saying that, and shaking her head at the cute surprised response of her dumb husband, she pointed at the wind-water attribute barrier that he had put around them. "Oh, right." -Oooooong. He was back, finally. After two days of his scaduled return, he was finally back from that strange dungeon. He had experienced some unexpected things in there, some good things, and some strange things as well. But, the most unexpected thing that happened in that dungeon¡­ "Nol¡­ I have something to tell you." Was the person that was standing right behind them when he took off the barrier. "Hmm? Who is-¡­ wait. No, it can''t be." "Heya Nn darling." She did not need more than a brief look at this person, her all familiar eyes, those humanoid and beast features, and especially that awkward look on her face to know her identity. "Taika¡­?" "That would be me, yup." Her voice still contained that unique beastly depth, the vigour she exuded was still the same, and her eyes, even after evolving into a humanoid form, had not changed at all. She was now taller than her, nearly as tall as her husband. And she was standing on her human-like legs, not on all fours. Nn could still sense her aloof self from this new form, so she knew this was the same tiger that she has been with for thest few years. "Oh dear¡­ you look gorgeous now. Come here, damn it." She looked majestic when she was a tiger, but now she looked a prettier Lady than even her. She would evenpare her mature beauty with her sister Aug. "Would you look at those muscles, wow~." Nn was surprised to her new look, and she was so overwhelmed that she couldn''t help but go and hug her with a warm smile on her face. She had liked this tigress since he brought her here for the first time. There was a sister-like bond between the two of them already and she was always grateful for her presence and protection. She could only imagine what her dumb husband would have done without her when fighting those ferocious beasts and demons out in the fields. She knew very well how her docile husband had a weird tendency to go out and get crazy when fighting arge number of monsters, but thanks to Taika keeping him in check, he gets less hurt every time they are out for work. "Hmmm~. Give me a little of these muscles, damn. Just the abs would do as well." "Hehe, you can always train if you really want a stronger physique. But I doubt my darling Nol would ever be active enough to even try exercising," "Hehe, seeing you talk like this is so fun~. You have a pretty voice, Taika~." "Oh my, thank you for thepliments, prettydy with prettier voice." The bond between the two of them was the same as the bond she had with Haze and her elder sister Aug and after her evolution, Taika had gained all kinds of worldly knowledge and new powers. She had learned all the human ways she could in thest few days, and she was trying her best to act like a civil person since there were children curiously watching their interaction. Nol, her husband, and this evolved tiger knew very well that this garden where their little angel was taking her nap was no ce to reveal their wilder side. Thus, they were even keeping their voices lower. "Hehe, alright then~. Let''s hear what you wanted to say, dear." Her evolution was a cause of celebration, and Nn knew Anna was going to be all jumpy and excited when she heard this. They had seen their son jumping down the terrace with his fianc¨¦e already so even though they were being stealthy, all three of them knew they were watching them from the side. "You¡­ you already know, Nol. Taika¡­ she¡­" "Just say it directly, dear. She wants to marry you and make you her ''mate'' in her words, correct?" "¡­" They knew this day woulde already. He had known her attraction, her infatuation for him since the day they met. That was practically the reason she had be his familiar. And, though she started liking him for more than his looks, or scent, along the way¡­ she still wanted to spend rest of her life with him. Not just as a familiar, but as a closepanion she could get intimate with¡­ apanion that was at least as close to him as his wife. "Taika." All three of them knew this day was going toe. Nn especially had thought, and thought, and thought about this day and had finally reached a conclusion a little while ago. "Can you prove your love for him?" "What does that mean now, Nol darling." She knew the bond the two of them had, and the fact that her own husband was in a tough situation right now. He was her master and though he liked her, it wasn''t to the point that he would want to marry her and spend his nights with her. But, there was a guilt still present in his heart¡­ He did not know what to do here. The political reasons and naturalws on one side, his conflicting feelings, these divided emotions and the facts standing in their way were all just tooplicated for him to handle on his own. That was the reason he had put his fate¡­ their fate in the hands of his smarter, more capable wife. "Prove it. Taika." And, after thinking about it for months, and years¡­ for hours and hours¡­ she finally knew how to handle this situation. "Prove it that you love Brian, my husband¡­ the father of my children. And my love." There were more upsides to their marriage from a political, social, and cultural standpoint even though their personal feelings were in the way. She wasn''tpletely against sharing her husband if it was with someone as good as this newly evolved beastly beauty, but¡­ she will only ept her as something more than his familiar when she confirms her feelings for her husband. If she was only doing that because of her instincts, then there was no need to talk about this matter any further. But¡­ if she really loved him¡­ if it was love and not instincts that made her want to marry him¡­ then she will have to consider the other option. Of course, that would be after they talk it through with their family, and their children. Chapter 742 The human life Chapter 742 The human life ??[Nn''s POV: ] Looking at my precious tiger with a serious look, I asked her once again. "Prove it to me, Taika. Tell me why do you love him, how do you love him, why do you want to marry him, and the reason you are asking for my permission for this in the first ce." She knew I was serious right and there was no way I was just going to ept her as his second wife, or¡­ let her have a taste of him in any way. He belonged to me, and both of us sure as hell know he doesn''t love her in that way. There has been times when he expressed his affection for her in a certain way that might have made her think that he also loved her or something but that was not really the case. Yes he liked her more than many things in this world but Love¡­ ''I know this husband of mine better than anyone else in this world, especially his scars.'' He has not been the same, warm, loving father that he is right now in the past. People called him (Red-eyed hunter) someone that did not have a spread of human decency when submitting his prey. He ran wild across the hunting fields, and hated creatures that were rted to the demons in any way. His loathing for the demon kind that took away everything he had ever cared about was unparalleled. She perhaps has an idea just how much he hated those demon bastards and had a little idea of why he was like the way he was whenever the topics rted to the demons came up. ''He looked tough, and hot, but from the inside, he was a wounded young man that only had enough heart to share with this family, and his people.'' He was vulnerable to the worldly things. Society feared him. The eternal flow of time was a calming breeze to his heart burning with the experiences of the past, while his desire to protect what he possessed right now was greater than anything in this world. He loved, he could love, but¡­ his love was limited. "How¡­ do I do it though?" "That''s up to you, dear. Prove it to me that you love him unconditionally, that you would still love him even if he doesn''t give you his own love, that you will be alright even if you have to suffer being in this kind of rtionship with us, that you are ready to bear the weight of your Love. Do whatever you want, say whatever you want, just prove it. Convince me¡­ convince us." I looked over at the two stealthy ones on one side, then at my sleeping daughter, and finally at my mother who was now watching us from the above. "Take your time. Think about it. And when you are ready-" "No, Nol. I am already done with all that." "Hmm? You have an answer already?" "I believe so¡­" ''You weren''t supposed to have one though you damn feline bitch!'' This was unexpected, alright. I had thought long and hard about this day anding up with this question took a lot off things, a lot of time! Damn even I would have difficulty figuring out a proper answer for this kind of question if I were in her shoes! ''If she was understanding my question correctly, then it means she was ready to prove her love! Which directly means she actually loved him, damn it!'' Taika was a tiger, and tigers are naturally smart creatures. They were born with high intelligence and they learn from every single thing that happens around them. Learning thenguage of our kind in mere days might be easy for someone like my baby, but it was a beast who had never utter a single human phrase we were talking about here. And still, here she was, using the empire''snguage as good as the nobles who train from a young age. She was even using the word ''darling'' when addressing me, something people usually only do in our hometown in the north! Her ent was attractive, the way she was dressed made her seem free but the air around her was simr to father, or a highly experienced knight who knew the value and meaning of life and the truths that no normal human was allowed to know. She was smart and amazing, yes, but she wasn''t supposed to know the answer to my question! Damnit! [[ "Calm down mom. You look baffled even to us." ]] [[ "I am calm, sweetheart. I am so damn calm moon''s reflection would be visible on me clearly." ]] [[ "¡­yes. Then please do as you wish." ]] Eon must have figured out just what kind of chaos was happening inside me at the moment. My baby should have also considered the possibility that Taika wouldn''t know how to prove something that wasn''t there in the first ce. ''She has been a tiger her entire life, and even though she looked like a human now, she was still the same creature that had lived in mountains for decades of her life.'' She should have been confused when I asked her to prove her love for my husband. From what I considered as the greatest possibilities for this scenario, she shouldn''t even have known what the ''love'' that I was talking about here actually meant¡­ But here she is now, a kind of bitter confidence in her eyes that only a person that understood our human love could possess, with that sweet smile on her pretty face that knew whatever she was going to say was not going to be something I was expecting. "Taika¡­" What this look meant¡­ I knew what this look meant. And I didn''t want her to have this look. Not this early at least. Not when we have just met after more than a whole damn week! "Yes, Nol¡­ I understand why you would ask me to prove something that could only be expressed through words, actions, feelings, and the kind of look in one''s eyes that you have when looking at him." "No, damnit. Don''t make that kind of expression¡­" That bitter look¡­ she wasn''t supposed to have that kind of look! "I love him, I do, and I don''t think you need any proof to prove your love. He is amazing, you know right? Attractive, desirable, cute when we need, and cool when we don''t expect¡­ Perhaps I wouldn''t have had this kind of feeling a few days ago, but after what we went through together in that ce, after all that happened, after all he did for me when I was expecting the least¡­ it was enough, dear Nol. I couldn''t help it. I couldn''t help this fall¡­" Now what the hell did she mean by that?! What the hell happened to the two of them in that damn dungeon! "I love him, and I know he won''t love me back¡­ but that''s alright. I will wait until he does. Marriage, well I can wait for that as well¡­ I want to marry him, but not until he loves me back. Not until he can sincerely give his entire being to me¡­ well, you know the tiger way of doing those intimate things, right? We like it wild. Though, not as much as the two of you. Or, with all those ''tools''. Bodies are enough. I have decided to live a ''human life'' anyway. I will be fine, hopefully." "Taika¡­" Hope is a bitch, damnit. Don''t hope for something so ridiculous! "Why are you acting like this¡­? Who are you? What did you do to my Taika?!" "Haha, I''m still me Nol. Don''t be like that." "No! Taika wouldn''t talk such nonsense! Waiting to love him back? Even though the day might nevere? That''s not how my Taika would see things! She would undress him-" "Nol darling¡­" I didn''t like this. This wasn''t right! She wasn''t supposed to act so calmly or in this manner! She was a creature just until a few days ago! Damn she shouldn''t even know what half the things she was saying actually meant! "Gimme my old Taika back!" This was supposed to be a marriage proposal! She was supposed to argue with me, shout and convince me to let her have a piece of my husband! She was supposed to talk about how all three of us could have fun together! She usually talked dirty things and she was supposed to do the same this time as well! Then what is this shit?! Why is she acting so mature and stuff! "I''m the same person, dear. That''s a fact." She hugged me as she said that, and I could feel her heartbeat that was far faster than the ticking of the clock. She was warm, her eyes moist. There were ears on her head, fluffy ears that I know Anna''s gonna love dearly. She also had a tail that we could use in many ways, but these sexy features changed nothing. "No you aren''t¡­ you aren''t my Taika¡­" She was big and lovely thest time we saw each other but now she is tall and beautiful, a muscle mommy in the eastern sense. She talks like mature people that understand everything. She behaves as a proper high society person should. And she even knows things that took me years to learn already! "That would be quite difficult, Nol darling." She said she was going to live the human way. Something I would never prefer over the tiger way¡­ "I chose this. I gotta see it to the end." "No¡­" Humans are despicable creatures. They don''t show their true nature, they pretend all the time, they hold themselves back, they are greedy, they even judge things based on only the little things they know. There is nothing special about the human or the human way that she was talking about¡­ Then, why? "Why are you doing this¡­ to yourself?" I don''t understand what kind of cmity happened that changed her so much. The evolution wasn''t the reason she was like this, I know that much. Something else definitely happened that changed her entire personality¡­ ''I don''t like this.'' She was good the way she was. This version of her¡­ yes it was better in all the ways, but it wasn''t what made her so fun. She was our big dumb kitty. She wasn''t supposed to be calm and understanding! Chapter 743 Crimsondust Chapter 743 Crimsondust ??[Eon''s POV: ] "Haaaa¡­ the drama finally ends." "Can you believe this? It''s almost night as well." I looked over at Rein and then, sighing once again, We walked inside the house. ''The talk between mom, Taika and dad went on for about an hour, then Anna woke up and there was a little break in all the things, which resumed soonter when the three of them, and us had to talk over this issue with everyone else in the house.'' Anna was extremely happy when she saw the new Taika, so much so that she was still ying with her in her room. ''She now had a new friend and ymate so she was going to be far more cheerful from now on.'' Taika loved her as well, so it was a well known fact among us just how good of a pair the two of them were. They had been inseparable before, and after she has be such a pretty aunt for her, there is no way she is going to leave her alone even for a moment now. ''They are happily ying along with Zoe and Quin. And since she had nned the tea party for tomorrow anyway, everyone in the house was getting ready for this special event.'' Including out own friends, of course. Thedies mostly, were extremely busy with everything right now. Alf and princess Bell were helping everyone find a good dress for tomorrow, and yes they already knew a little about the drama that was going on all day today. They don''t have enough information to talk about our personal matters. And Quin that actually knows the situation, is smart enough to not let this information slip away, so she will keep these things to herself as well. Everything on that side has been sorted and the tree of them have reached their own understandings so they will start their new lives from tomorrow with Taika officially bing a part of this family as not just a familiar, but as a proper member. "Haaa¡­ what are you making for dinner, darling?" "Hmmm? Dinner? There''s still a while left for that though. You hungry?" "Nah¡­ I''m sleepy. I wanna eat and go sleep. Watching that anticlimactic drama was no fun." "So you want something climatic now?" I was smirking at her, and she looked at me with a warm smile¡­ then Tia spoke up out of nowhere. "Ummm, hello? Lovebirds?" She was tiny and fast so even though we saw hering, she was like a butterfly on the waves of afternoon winds. There was no natural way to stop her. "Yes, Tia? What''s up?" "What''s up to you, miss. I was told you were looking for me." "Ah, yes. Ahem." I certainly told Zoe to tell her I will be looking for her but I didn''t think she woulde to us right as we entered the house after some fresh air from the garden. "It''s nothing great. I just wanted to ask if you had some timeter tonight." "Later tonight? You meante night?" "Probably. It could bete, it could be early, it''s uncertain. You see, there''s this special person that would be visiting tonight sometime. I believe you will like meeting them." "Hmm? Special person? Is it someone famous? And why would I¡­ anyway. Sure. If you think I would like meeting this person, then I can stay upte. After all the rest today, I''m not that tired anyway." "Nice. Then, that would be-" There was nothing more I wanted to say so I was about to say my goodbyes but Rein squeezed my hand hard and smiled at Titania. "So, have you picked up a dress for tomorrow''s party Tia?" "Hmm? No¡­ I''m still confused if I should be in this form or in my other form for the party. it''s difficult to decide on my own so I was thinking about just that." She was a tiny fairy with pretty red hair and had attractive eyes and, in her bigger form, she was especially attractive even for a fairy. ''It was obvious from her looks that she was a royalty, and she was also a unique one among them, so her stardust was special as well.'' ===Status=== Name: Titania Greatlord Joshua Kris Polimeus Age: 18 Race: Fairy (Crimsondust) Strength: 102 Dexterity: 98 Stamina: 101 Magic Power: 114 Intelligence: 99 Luck: 60 Charm: 71 [Skills: Competitiveness, Opponent suppression, Stardust, Fairy battle magic, Strength enhancement, Speed enhancement, Battle foresight, Realm jump, Combat assist.] ¡­ ============ Tia was a battle mage, someone that studies magic with the sole purpose of using it in directbat something perfect for her unique dust abilities that not only enchanted her physical powers, but also works as a natural buff that constantly enchanted her strength, speed, and stamina duringbat. ''She was better at magicbat than even Alf sometimes, but it was expected from someone who has almost always been fighting with external factors.'' We knew pretty well her life has not been the best. She has faced many challenges throughout her life, and the fact that she has crossed them all and still stands with us with that cheerful look every day, makes her one of the strongest people we know. "If you can''t choose which form you should be in, then why not just wear a good Mana dress that can change shape and size?" "Something like that exist?" Titania was stunned for a moment when she heard Rein talk about that special kind of dress. We were talking about a dress that could be as small as her tiny form and change with her when she transforms into her greater form. It wasn''t the same as the Mana dresses that can change the texture and colors, this was turning the entire dress from a dall clothing to a full sized human clothing. It was obviously a crazy sounding thing for her, but for the people of this house, this wasn''t that new of a concept. "Hehe, why don''t youe with me, Tia? Let me show you around our dressing room." "But I am justing back from the dressing room. There was nothing-" "Hahaha, no dear. I''m obviously talking about a different dressing room from the one Zoe and the others are at. Come, you will see." There were obviously more than one dressing rooms in this grand house, six big ones to be precise. And there were six small ones that belonged to thedies of this house. ''Rein had one all for herself filled with the most fascinating kind of things that all the otherdies uses asionally,'' There were some special dresses there that could not only change the texture and color but also size and all the things about itself. ''We primarily made them for Ast and Taika since they attended Anna''s tea parties asionally, but those things were already bing famous among the fairy nobility thanks to Ast.'' They were difficult things to make and required high material and resource cost, so mass producing those things was out of the question.. but we were certainly thinking about selling some special pieces in the auction. They would make a fabulous product for those who could afford it. ''And since they are made individually with the fashion sense of some of the most knowledgeabledies of high society, they were impable.'' So, Tia will love at least one of the dresses in that room. "Then if you would please excuse us, darling." "I will be making the dinner, a little special something for everyone, so don''t bete." Smiling at her and bowing back at the two, I took a step back. "I would never. Certainly not for ''something special''. Haha." Ast could smell something weird was being hinted here, but she shook off that feeling. It wasn''t important for her at the moment. The dress and the tea party mattered for her more. Taika would be there too, so this drama loving friend of ours was looking forward to seeing Taika again tomorrow. And mom and otherdies would be there as well so she was even more excited for this ''tea party''. "See youter, darling." "Take care, Lord Eon." "You two as well." Bidding them farewell, I walked to the right towereds my next destination¡ª the kitchen. There was some time left for the dinner so preparations should be ongoing at the moment. The people in the kitchen would be happy to know I would be making something special for everyone, and since they were present there, they would also be part of that everyone. There was this thing on my mind- "Eon." "Hmm? Dad?" I was in the hall and after leaving Rein and Tia, I was talking towards the kitchen. However, right as I was about to pass through the area separating the dining room and the kitchen, dad called me from behind and I looked back. "Got a moment?" He was standing there, with the same dark expression he had when the elders were talking with them earlier. "Yes¡­ " This whole thing has been difficult for him for many reasons. ''Taika was understanding and loved him, they went through some clear crazy stuff back in that dungeon together that changed many things between them¡­ their lives could have been in danger but things didn''t be worse, and ultimately, he was only inflicted with a difficult curse.'' It was one of the rare kinds of curses from a shadow species and would have been impossible to cure had we not known of the 33 Divine cures of Eir. ''The story they told us was quite something, a little weird, and fascinating for some of us, but it undoubtedly contained a plethora of emotions.'' They went through many things together that brought them closer. And now that the things hade to this point where even mom had epted Taika and her sincere heart, he did not know what he was supposed to do with this whole thing. I already knew he would be confused and lost¡­ so it was good that he was asking me for a moment himself. Now that we have time, I can help him share this burden a little bit. Chapter 744 Not knowing is normal Chapter 744 Not knowing is normal ??[Eon''s POV: ] In the small passage connecting our kitchen and the dining room, there was a small window on the right side that showed the back side of the front garden, a random area behind that statue and the left side flower field. The two of us were staring out of that window right now, and it was perhaps the most ordinary ce in this house. There was nothing there, just some grass and pretty much nothing to pay attention to. This window was here only for the venttion purposes so in this area that no one paid any attention to, there was no great significance to this window. We were just looking out, and he wasn''t saying anything. It has been six minutes and he hasn''t said anything¡­ Which is no good. "Dad¡­?" I have to go and cook dinner for everyone and, since I want to make some special things for everyone, even considering I won''t make something special for every single individual, I would still have to make around forty to fifty things. And even with a few hours on hand and everything already prepared, I would still need quite a bit of time to get everything together. So, as he also knew, we did not have a lot of time to waste. He had to start talking at the very least so that we can use what time we have right now. "Would it be wrong of me if I do ept Taika?" He spoke up for the first time and what he asked, this question of his, represented just how much chaos was going on in his mind. ''I had expected this much already." The two of them, specifically, had gone to investigate a dungeon that was filled with creatures that he should have been able to defeat easily. He had to clear the dungeon and as everyone knows, to clear the dungeon, one has to defeat the strongest creature in that dungeon, the Boss monster as we call it, and only by doing that can one actually clear the dungeon for certain and stop it from growing or returning. It was a special structure of nature and just like a mausoleum or a graveyard that is filled with many creatures and beings that are special only to that special structure, the dungeon they had gone to was also a special ce. He was only there for the investigation but he did them a favour and cleared the monsters that he could and since Taika was having fun all on her own, he did not have any need to do anything himself and, they could have returned after the basic investigation if things went normally, but¡­ nope. ''They faced a creature called (Shadow Lurker) in that dungeon, a dungeon anomaly that should not have been part of that dungeon''s environment.'' They were creatures closest to the ghost and spirit beings that could not be damaged by any kind of magic attack as their magic absorption ability made them immune to most kinds of basic Mana magic. ''That creature was not the boss of the dungeon, but still, it was the strongest creature that was even stronger than the boss of the dungeon, someone that was naturally the ruler of that dungeon territory.'' He would have been in big trouble had Taika not been there. He would have had to use thest remaining resort and teleport away from that ce if Taika had not driven away the creature. ''But, since this was a Lurker we were talking about, a darkness attribute (Indigo) ranked creature, the fight with that creature was not something simple.'' Shadow Lurkers, one of the few creatures that could y with people''s minds and show them unique illusions, dreams in some cases, use sweet dreams that make the target forget about all the tension and induce so much happiness and joy that they drop their guards even without knowing. And after the targets are lost in the great sea of happiness, the creature devours them from the inside the same way a snake devours its prey¡ªslowly. These creatures are rare and also called nightmares by many in this world, and they certainly are nightmares. ''If not for Taika freeing herself from the illusion that creature had cast on them, and injuring the creature after evolving into her new self, dad would have been in trouble as ording to him, the mental attack was strong enough to have affected even his mind.'' He wouldn''t have died since he had ''that'' thing with him but he was good thanks to Taika and the fact that she saved her remained true here. ''Now, she wanted him to ept her willingly. It wasn''t just about him marrying her but, she wanted him to love her as well. And allow her a ce in his heart not just as his familiar, but as something more.'' And ording to grandma and Aunt Aug, just a contract marriage wasn''t a bad thing in this case. ''The cases of people marrying their own evolved familiars, especially beings like Tigers or Dragonoids was nothing new to the world. On the contrary, it was considered an inevitable tradition among many cultures of the world to marry the familiars if they have evolved into higher cognitive individuals.'' Not marrying them, on the other hand, was a foolish thing since a familiar is quite literally the perfect being one could wish for. Someone that is bound to stay with them for the rest of their lives. So if they were going to live together anyway, it was usually considered better for the two to live as a married couple rather than just individuals that were connected to each other by the master-familiar bond. These rtionships matter a lot from the societal dynamics and, dad knew it as well. ''Marrying her would mean he is epting her, which will mean he is giving her a chance, and even if he is not marrying her, things would still be the same.'' She was his familiar and a member of this family. Yes there were many positive oues of their marriage, the addition of a night partner would make things fun for mom as well, but he wasn''t sure about all this still. "What''s stopping you, dad?" His past has not been the best thing. It isn''t easy for him to give his heart to someone else, not even if it is his own familiar. He loved one person and that too took more than what he had at that time, and he wanted to keep it that way till the end of his life. However, the recent events made him think back on his thoughts. She saved him without caring about her own life. She took care of him when that wretched creature put a curse on him and he couldn''t walk for an entire day, she even controlled her primal urges and just took care of him instead of taking advantage of his situation. She said she would wait until he epted her. She had no problem spending every other moment of her life fighting her own instincts and suffering while spending her days around us elements that received his love. She was giving away a lot of things for this, her animal side was at the core of it. Dad knew better than anyone else just how difficult it was to live as a ''human''. But she was going to do that just so he could see her as something more than a beast. "Eon¡­" He looked at me with an uncertain look for a moment, and after gathering his thoughts, he asked me a silly question. "What would you do if you were in a simr situation as me? What if Celes-" "Hahaha, dad. It''s not about me, you know? I have the option of never epting her. I can be that selfish. I can draw the line between my love, and my affection. Even if I face a simr situation as you, I can just be the bad person and reject their request to be my partner since I am simply not capable of sharing what we have. I am an anomaly that simply doesn''t have anything to share anymore. While you, on the other hand, dad¡­ are different. If you believe you can share whatever is left of you, then do as your heart tells you. Or, just wait until some ice around your heart melts down and try after that. She will just have to live as human until then, but if she is trying, I personally believe she deserves a proper answer. If not not, then at least one day. Can you do that? Can you give her that answer one day?" I looked straight up at him with a serious look, and he¡­ he looked away from me, and started staring back out of the window. "I don''t know, Eon¡­ I do not know." The internal conflict eating away at him, the guilt, and the sh of his current character with his past memories must be difficult to handle for him. I understand what it must be like to talk with his own self on three different fronts, but this was a battle that he will have to fight no matter what. Her wish to be with him was hers alone, but dad''s decision will all the difference now. No one was against the marriage, Anna would especially liked the idea of making the new Taika her second mom, so his decision will decide the fate of an attractive creature, and her position in this family of ours. "Not knowing is normal, dad." He was thinking. And I would advise that he thinks even more about this. "It''s far better than knowing something for certain." Tapping his back, and bidding my farewell, started my journey to our kitchen. He came to his ce since he wanted some time to think, some time for himself. Meeting me and this brief but meaningful chat that we had was certainly something he might not be looking forward to, but it has happened. And what to do with the words I have left with him, would all be up to him from this point forward¡­ Chapter 745 Titania’s ideal

Chapter 745 Titania¡¯s ideal

?[Eon''s POV: ] "The dinner was amazing~ Lord Axion~! How do you make something so amazing~? And what do you make all those things from in the first ce??" Titania danced around us with a joyous expression and went around as we walked out of the house and into the front yard. "There''s nothing special in the concept of cooking itself, you see Tia. It''s all about time, ingredients, and the techniques. Experience matters but if you have a good grasp of timing and the bnce of the vours, you can practically make anything taste good." And if you have a bad, or very bad sense for these three things, you can make anything taste worse than poison like my mom does. Cooking is simply a philosophy. Everyone has their own. Senses and questions just make one good or bad with it. "Yup~. It''s all about the timing, technique, and ingredients. Haha, you wouldn''t believe it, Tia but there was a time we sneaked out onto a hill in our estate in the south and he made me one of the most special dinners I have ever had in my entire life, all from the ingredients around us~. It was amazing~. He used only the things from around the area, and nothing, practically nothing else. Can you believe that~?" "If I did not know vice captain Lucifer and Captain Uriel, I would have certainly had a hard time believing it, but those two tell us some crazy stories sometimes in such believable manner that I personally don''t think they have ever lied to us. But then again, those crazy stories are much more fascinating than the one you are talking about, Lady Elle." "Aw¡­ you think Uriel is better than me as well, hun~?" There was a fundamental difference between the stories we can tell them when we are our real selves at the moment, but since the identities of Lucifer and Uriel arepletely independent and belong only to us, we usually tell them many good things over lunch and dinner. We talk about our past experiences with creatures or ces, the adventures we have had as ''adventurers'' and the stories of how we spend time together. ''Tia and others still thought Uriel and I knew each other for a very, very long time and that we got engaged only after living with each other for not just a few years, but for at least a decade or something. That was the kind of picture they had in mind for us. On the other hand, We were different. ''They knew we had been close for a while, just like everyone else in the world knew, but they also knew how we had not been together for more than a few years.'' The story of my separation from my family has been a famous story and everyone knew about the empire''s young hero that sacrificed his own young self to save his parents. They knew how I was separated from my family for many years so even if Rein and I knew each other, we wouldn''t have known each other for more than three or so years. So by that logic, they just considered us different from their two amazing friends from the academy. "Oh, right! You already know Vice Captain Lucifer and Uriel, right~?! You have that-" "Yes, yes Tia. We do know them. Perhaps, we know them better than any of you and that''s why I can say confidently that my Eon makes better food than that Vice captain of yours." Now Rein was putting fuel in the fire by saying that. Which was not good so I grabbed her hand and begged her to stop with those things. We don''t have topare ourselves with our own other self, and giving a chatterbox like her weird ideas aboutparing our two selves was definitely not a good thing. I for certain did not like to bepared with my own self about matters rted to food. ''I make everything with all my heart so it''s not like I intentionally make things worse when I am cooking for them in school.'' As I said just now, the ingredients and the techniques make all the difference when ites to the vours, and I try not to use any fancy materials orplex techniques when I''m Lucifer. The food I make in that way is much more cost effective and at the same time, on the same level as the things I make with the costly ingredients here. Those both things are right in their own ces, so saying my oneself was better than the other was no good thing¡­ s though, the arrow had already left the bowstring. "Whattttt? You cannot say that, Lady Elle! He made me many special things that I never thought I would ever be able to eat ever again! Lord Axion is good but the vice captain has something about his cooking that is very special! It''s warm and feels cosy! Lord Axion''s cooking is overwhelmingly majestic, mind blowingly delicious, andpletely otherworldly, I agree! But the things that vice captain Lucifer makes are in no way any inferior to any of them! I would want to eat what he makes every single day without caring about a thing! But when ites to maker Axion''s cooking, I want to save even one bite of that delicious heaven for ater date if I possibly could. I want to enjoy his food while when ites to vice captain Lucifer''s food, I want to eat as much as my stomach could hold, and much more! Saying master Axion is better is not fair! Hump!" "And I agree with Tia on this, Elle. That was a mistake. You should apologise." It was better to not speak about this matter in the first ce, something that she understood well, but still, she went ahead and yed with my patience. This wasn''t fun if the results could turn out to be harmful for our precious friends, so they were better of not knowing our identities until the timees. "I understand¡­ it was a mistake from my part so I apologise. However, I never intended to say Lucifer''s cooking is any bad. I know very well how good he is. I personally consider him on the same level as Lady Empress." "Lady Empress¡­? You mean, Empress Madelian?" Tia was stunned when Reinpared my other self directly with the best chef in the empire and perhaps on the entire continent. It was too much now, and again, this wasn''t good¡­ thankfully, this entire topic was going to be forgotten now. -Ta-ting~! [ "Howdy~ young friends~! How have you been~!" ] Ast jumped from the Astral realm to the physical realm and appeared right before us with her pink stardust sparkling as attractively as ever. "You''re finally here~!" And Rein greeted her first with a gentle hug to her little self. -Ta-ting~! [ "Hehe, hello to you too Elle~. It''s so good to see you both after so long~" ] We understood what she was saying since we had already learned to decipher her tinkles but, the fact that she couldn''t speak themonnguage still remained a fact. She was a fairy after all, they can''t usuallymunicate with normal people. Tia was the oddball that somehow had the ability to do so, but it was unique among her kind. ''And she only got this ability after she bonded with her special familiar, a holy beast that Anna has taken quite a fancy of, so perhaps it was a unique gift born from their bond.'' It resembled a dog, or a wolf to be precise, and since there was no doggies in this house, she was having fun ying with the big dog, bigger than her mister Lizardman. "You¡­ no way¡­" Anyway, Tia could talk while Ast could not, but it mattered little to us who could understand and talk with her. She was a friend for us, a close friend of our grandparents, and¡­ a famous adventurer, influencer, explorer, and rtionship expert that countless young fairies anddies from all around the world admired. "Lady Astilbe?! Why¡­ Lady Elle! Why is the great Explorer here?!" [ "Aha~. Is that Young Lady Titania? You''re so pretty~." ] We were in the front yard, beside the fountain on the bench where we had first met her, and since it waste night already, the three of us were the only ones here. "Haha, didn''t he say you would like to meet this person? We have heard how much you admire her, so we just thought you would like seeing her before tomorrow''s tea party." "L-Lady Astilbe will attend the tea party?!" [ "Of course I will~. Haha, how could I ever turn down my lovely little Anna''s invitation~?" ] "You¡­ Anna¡­?" Tia was bbergasted right now. She was standing before her ideal, one of the only people in this entire world that she admired and looked up to. Someone she never thought she would get the chance to meet, someone she talks about all the time. ''She is practically obsessed with Ast, her articles, and everything rted to her.'' For her, this little pink stardust is much more admirable than all the novels she has read, and all the knowledge she has on the topic of love, rtionships, and couples. She loves her, the way she sees the rtionships and the way she exins her experiences with all the worldly elements she explores all the time. "Ummm! Hello! I''m Titania! I''m a big fan-" [ "Haha, of course you are~! I know you already, miss Crimsonwing36." ] That was her Mag ID that was also her ID she used in Ast''s fanclub. I had told her about Tia a while back when we were ying the . She knew Tia was her fan, so¡­ before tomorrow''s ''grand'' tea party, I wanted Ast to meet her as well. And give her some personal time with the person she admires so much as a thanks. ''Anna liked her familiar a little too much so she was keeping the poor creature now. I can at least do this much for the new kind of joy she gave to my lovely little one.'' Besides, why wouldn''t Ast want to meet a potential future queen of her kind? Chapter 746 The Grand Tea Party Chapter 746 The Grand Tea Party ??[Rein''s POV: ] Last night, Tia and Ast talked, and the two little fairies instantly became friends. They talked, and talked, and talked so much the two of us got bored and fell asleep on the bench outside¡­ it was cold out so when morning arrived and our eyes opened, I found myself with Eon''s both arms wrapped around me. ''Mother Nol, his grandma, and Haze were also present right before us with warm smirks on their faces¡­'' They were looking at us, smiling, something that was rare, even more than the two of us passing out in some weird corner of the house, so it was a little embarrassing. ''Though, thankfully, Tia or others weren''t around to see us like that.'' Ast must have taken Tia with her saying it was normal for us to sleep in this specific ce, so, thankfully, it didn''t be more embarrassing. "Haaa¡­ turn your head to a little left." "Like this?" "Not that much. Just a slight tilt." "This?" "Perfect." I was doing Quin''s hair, and she was thest one in line. "My oh my Lady Elle~! You''re amazing!" "You look like a princess, Lizzy~!" "You too Tia~! My god! Look at that dress~! I wish I could also wear something like that!" "What? Nooooo~. I like your dress more~. It''s simple and it''s not shy at all~! It enhances your natural yellowish hair even more~." "Hehe, Lady August picked this one for me personally. It doesn''t have many decorations or too shy embroidery so even with just this simple design, it looks surprisingly attractive. Though, I would have liked trying a shy one like yours if I could. Especially that bright red color. It''s gorgeous." We were in amon changing room that was currently filled with usdies. Everyone was dressed nicely, their makeup was done by Aunt Aug and now they were having their hair nicely done by their Lady Elle. And yes, they were extremely happy right now. "Hahaha. Miss Mia~! Even your long hair looks amazing with those flowers~." "Haaaa¡­ I''m not used to these things but they aren''t as ufortable as I thought they would be. It feels quite refreshing on the other hand." Mia had longer hair than me and a few others here and since she was a dark elf with a greyish tone and ask white hair, Haze took a liking to her and after asking me to do her hair first, she decorated them with special flowers. And thanks to her, Mia looks like a night goddess now. She''s gorgeous, I would give her that much. Perhaps that''s why all the bastards here get blush right after seeing her. ''And now that she is like this, I''m looking forward to seeing their reaction after seeing her.'' And she wasn''t the only one that looked more amazing than ever. All thedies were the same. "Miss Ezra¡­ you look like a witch." "A gorgeous witch." "Hump. Empty ttery." She didn''t like how thedies were praising her, but she certainly looked too much like a heroine right now that her viiness attitude wasn''t going to stop them from praising them. Her usual impression on us was that of an utterly lost viiness that enjoyed hurting others and doing bad things to them. The first week in the academy, she was an utter disaster that everyone hated to the core. The reason we were against Prince Alph bing friends with her was also because we knew she was no good news¡­ but then, after a while, she suddenly changed when he started hanging out with her. ''She always tries her best to degrade her attractive looks since she doesn''t like people praising her for something that she naturally has.'' Perhaps, as we specte, that smart bastard with a one of a kind skill changed her. Or perhaps it was love¡­ we don''t know what happened between them, but something certainly happened between them. And it changed her in a good way. She doesn''t like the empty words spoken without any kind of emotions behind them, so she now only curses people for that kind of behaviour instead of beating them up. She is one of the prettiestdies of the academy in the eyes of the people now, and as she was right now, she also behaves a lot better than how she was in the initial days. "You really look pretty though, Lady Ezra. That blue dress, especially the ck decoration on it makes it look like eyes in a vast ocean¡­ or something simr." "Hmm? You think so as well, Miss Bell?" Even Bell liked how she looked right now. The rtionship between these two and even prince ud had improved in a good way. People wouldn''t believe me if I told them the three of them had a bad fight that had destroyed an entire building on the sky ind during our first week in the academy. Her behaviour and rtionships with most others is still bitter and she is still foul mouthed, but she doesn''t act too roughly when it''s not needed. ''It has been a few weeks since shest beat someone.'' Which is a good sign. She is getting over whatever kind of frustration her curse is causing her. She is pitiful as she is, trapped in a strange cycle even she doesn''t understand. It''s not easy for her to live like simple people, we understand that much. ''She didn''t choose to be here, but she was here now. And as someone who lead her team past the youth stage of the annual alchemypetition, she is an amazing person.'' She is good. She just makes herself look like a bad person so that she doesn''t have to deal with unnecessary stuff. "Hmmm. Would you look at this ocean, everyone." Med eximed with a shocked expression when she saw the final look of our dear Quin. "Gasp. Look at those hairs¡­ wow." "I was watching the whole time and I still don''t understand how you moulded them into that wave-like pattern Lady Elle. Are you a mage or something?" "Hahaha. You can say that. Though, this much is nothing too special." Quin was finally done as well. The light blue dress looked good on her, the jewellery was pretty looking as well, and though the tight blouse pressured her chest, and revealed more than what people usually see of her, I know she can manage at least this much for a few hours. She was a house captain. A new kind of ufortable dress was not something that could hinder her elegance that much. "Wow¡­" She was surprised when she saw her reflection in the mirror after her hair was done. "Who''s that pretty girl¡­?" "An otherworldly girl who''s mostly oblivious tomon things of this world." "Ptfff." "Hahaha." "Yeah, that''s right Miss Elle~. That''s exactly right~." Quin didn''t believe the reflection in the mirror was her own and was covering her face with a surprised look. The hair made her appear even more attractive than she was after the cleanup and makeup. ''She''s pretty. More than she realises.'' And the same goes for all thedies here. They were all pretty and had their own special traits that we did our best to enhance and take out. ''Quin''s pretty face, Mia''s hot face, Med''s cuteness, Tia''s dominant personality, Ezra''s hidden beauty, and Bell''s hot body that she doesn''t realise the attractiveness of.'' Aunt Aug took care of their looks, Haze did the dresses and decoration, and now that I am done with their hair as well, they are ready to go out and join Zoe, Anna, Ca, and others who were already out there. "Haaaa. Good. Now that I''m done with you pretty ones, please excuse me. I still have to get in my dress, and do everything else." We had our grand tea party in the early afternoon and still, we have been preparing thesedies since the early morning. It''s already past lunchtime, and not only I''m hungry right now, I''m not ready for the party either. "Oh, right. Lady Elle has to get ready as well." "You have been helping everyone since morning and you even skipped breakfast for us¡­" They were feeling sorry for me now that everything was done. These ungrateful girls didn''t even even realise all that until a minute ago. Cute little bitches. "Do you need help with anything, Miss Elle?" "Is there anything I can help with?" They wanted to help me even though they didn''t know a thing about proper clothing and hairstyles. What were they going to help me with anyway, lol? "Hahaha, there''s no need to be concerned about me,dies. I already have the best help I will need waiting for me. So, please excuse me now, and go join the others. I''ll join you all in a little while." Just like how we helped all thesedies with their outfits and looks, Eon, his dad, Uncle El who came back early this morning, and uncle Theo helped the boys. ''Surprisingly though, they didn''t need a long time to get ready.'' They all were done an hour ago, which isparatively early than us, something that doesn''t usually happen. But then again, there were few of them and most like Prince ud and darling already knew what they were best with. They were better than these dumbdies, so they had it easy¡­ ''We should have used them for a few things, haaaa.'' But now that they are done with their appearance already, and I don''t have to worry about them, I was finally free to get ready for the tea party myself. "You''rete." "Not my fault. It takes time with hair when you have so many to take care of." "Yeah, yeah. Not taking help from others results in situations like that, understand now? It was foolish of you all to ban us from simply helping you out." "No my fault, mister. Go take it up with your moms and aunts. I had nothing to do with this." I really didn''t. Not this time at least. "Yeah yeah. Whatever. Let''s finish this quickly and go down or else Anna will punish the both of us." "Right¡­" I had him so I didn''t really need more help. He was better at almost everything anyway so, helping me get ready was his duty as my lovely big fianc¨¦. "Have they arrived yet?" "No but they will, soon. That''s why let''s not waste any time and hurry." A tea party Anna organized for us and a few others she wanted to have around for a while, the grand tea party where everyone had to be dressed properly. It was a special event that she was organizing first time on a scalerger than her own room, so this was going to be a special asion. And I know for a fact our friends aren''t expecting the surprise we have prepared for them, so we''re looking forward to seeing their reactions as well¡­ ''This is going to be fun, kehe.'' Chapter 747 A party surprise 747 A party surprise [Zoe''s POV: ] "Slow down, Anna. Let me help you at least." "No~. I have my helpers~." It was her tea party, we all alredy know that! But there''s no need to do every single thing all by herself, right?! ''She has been going around since the morning, not epting help from any one of us at all. Just ordering around for some things, getting assistance of only our familiars, the slimes, and the Povpoi¡­ and her Taika, of course.'' She was her favourite so if she is around, there is no way to separate the two of them. "Haaa¡­ she could get hurt with all those things." "Huhu, let her be. She''s having fun so let her have fun. It''s her first time doing something on such a big scale it''s obvious she would be extra excited about everything." "But, mom¡­" "Hush hush. I said it''s fine, no? Then it''s fine~." The venue was our front garden where we mostly only organise bigger events, and even if we are doing a tea party outside, it''s a small thing limited to the tables and noting more. But right now, more than half of the yard was decorated with scattered tables all individually decorated for the us ''guests'' who would be joining her in this ''grand'' tea party. ''There are only a few of us here anyway. Why did she make everything so grand?'' She nned things, asked for the right people for the right things, did most of the things like setting up this entire ce and decorating it herself as well, and taking aside the food we would have right now, which was obviously made by our big brother, she looked after every single thing in this ce. What she did was certainly amazing, mind blowing even, but just looking at her was enough for one to know just how exhausted she was right now. "Her dress is ruined." She looked pretty when she got ready in the morning before anyone else. "I picked that one for her after an hour of contemting." Even Aunt Aug was a sad when looking at her stain coveredvender dress. "Her hair are a mess as well. Elle spent around half an hour behind them and now they look like an attractive mess." Mom was sighing, but there was a smile in her face. She liked how ''natural'' she looked after doing all that hard work with only the help of a bunch of slimes, a bunch of heavy furballs, a lizardman, a holy wolf, my Rayray who was now her trantor ve, Ca''s horse, Alf''s Wyvern, Bell''s dragonfly, Luna''s shark, and Uncle Theo''s little eagle did not make it that easy. She was having difficulties with many things she had no idea about, and still, she did not need any of our help. ''Hump!'' "At least she looks happy. That much is enough, nya." Miss Ore, Prince ud''s familiar cat was some of the only familiars that wasn''t actively helping her and instead was spending time with the rest of us. "Perhaps¡­ but she could have been less exhausted is it wasn''t for her stubbornness." "That stubbornness runs in the family, nya dear." "Huhu, that sounds pretty right." She was mom''s friend and an acquaintance of both of my aunts, and fo course since she was a familiar of one of the vice captains, we all knew her pretty well. She was good with the advices had had vast knowledge. And, more than anything, she was a good olddy to have around. "Oh, looks like the Elle is done with thest of the girls." "Hmmm? Are they here?" The three of them looked back and the pretty scene of prettydies walking out from the house greeted their eyes. "Look at them¡­ young and pretty." "They looks good, haaa. At least the hours of work didn''t go to waste over here." "And their hair looks amazing as well. Elle did a great job with this bunch." Everyone certainly looked quite happy with the results themselves, so the happiness on their faces was making them look even brighter on this fine evening. "Right. Now that they are here, Elle and Eon would be here soon. Which means¡­" "Let''s get ready to greet them in case the two of them get a littlete." "Or perhaps some of them might just arrive early so we should get prepared for that as well." "Right. Let''s-" "No no no! No one is going anywhere! It''s my tea party and I will be the one to greet everyone thates! Understand?" Other gusts were going to arrive anytime now so the four of us and Miss Ore were going to get ready to go towards the warp gate in the left side, but then Anna came out of nowhere, sitting at one a big wolf, look shouted down at all four of us with puffed cheeks. "Anna¡­ at least let us do-" "No! We can do this as well! Tell them Taika!" My own little sister was shouting at me, warning me with that upset look, while her newly evolved friend and our newest family member was freely and happily helping her with all the things she needed or could need or want. ''This is not fair, Taika.'' She was mocking us with that look in her eyes¡­ and I can even tell what she was thinking right now with that look alone. ''I''m not doing anything here, dear. She is the bossdy today. I do as she tells me, and a little more. Hehe.'' It was frustrating how she was the only one among us who got to help My little sister so actively! ''We weren''t even allowed to go and greet the surprise guests but she can do things Anna doesn''t even ask? This isn''t fair now, is it?'' She was taking advantage of my Anna with some kind of trickery or something. I know how she pats her head and let''s her pat her head and caress those cute looking car ears, but! ''She should forget this will give her any kind of advantage in the matter that was going on between her, mom, and dad.'' Anna can affect him, but dad knows the judgement he will has to make will have to bepletely honest and transparent. Even Anna''s attraction to her will have to be put on one side when it was about their entire future, and the future of this family. "Hump! You. Stay. Here. Big brother and the sister Elle are the only one allowed near the gate, ok?" "Yes my queen. We do as thoumands." Mom answered us on behalf of all of us, and bowed to her little princess. And we had no choice but to do the same. "Good good. Just wait a little. We will start soon now. And¡­ I''m really sorry for all the trouble you all have to deal with because of me." She gave us a sorry look that soon turned into a determined one. "But, since big brother said today''s day belongs to me, can we please postpone all the punishment and lectures for tomorrow? Pretty please?" She was apologising¡­ this little devil. She even knows how to deal with tough opponents like all of us. ''Who taught her all these things?'' Using her charm to manipte us was no good thing, you know? Especially when we can tell she is not doing it out of her pure heart. "Looks like we made it on time, hun?" "Hmmm? Ohh! Big brother and sister Elle are finally here!" She tapped in the head of the wolf and without even saying goodbye to us, she ran towards big brother and Elle. "She''s going to get a good scolding from me tomorrow." "From me as well." "She''s going to get scolded by almost everyone. Eon and Elle included." "Yup." This was her tea party, and as the rules of her party, everyone was supposed to dress up well and let her do what she wanted. They were her rules, but she broke it herself with that messed up clothes and hair. It wasn''t good, she knew that. But we were powerless against her. As always¡­ "Calm down you little girl. Ande down." Well, big brother was here now so she went to him and right when he asked her to get down from the holy beast, she jumped down without hesitation¡­ which made eyes widen for a moment, but we knew he would catch her like he always does so when he did, a wave of relief washed our tension. "That was dangerous, Anna." He gave her a p on the back of her hand, and looked at her with an upset expression. Even he didn''t like how she just jumped down without any worries. ''He''s being harsh on her today since I cannot.'' That''s probably the only thing keeping her from getting hurt again. ''Big brother was dressed well after a long time, and even though he helped sister Elle get ready, he looked just like he did when he showed up before us earlier.'' Sister Elle looked as gorgeous as she does and that brownish gold dress looks unexpectedly beautiful on her. ''He wasn''t kidding when he said she would look like an earthly beauty when he bought that dress for her a few months ago.'' Big brother certainly knows colors, hun? -Ooooooooong! "Oh, looks like they are here as well." Ca, dressed like a rare zing princess in that green dress, announced when the gate on the left side was activated. "Oh! Oh! They are here, big brother! They are here! Let''s go greet them!" On the fine morning three days before the grand annual auction, all our family and friends were gathered in our front garden. There was a tea party, but it was nothing less than a grand party hosted by the imperial family. The decorations she prepared herself made this ce look attractive, yes, but the way everyone was gathered here was the highlight of the day. "Hmmm? Will there be more people joining us?" They did not know anything about someone else joining us for this precious event. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yup. And all of you know them already, so¡­ surprise." A few days were left for the auction and the predicted heist, and after dealing with it, big brother will have to go back to principality for the memorial ceremony. ''Then they will be busy with the grand conference so he might not be around anymore¡­'' Perhaps, this will be thest big event where every one of us will be together like this before the academy starts again. "Hmm? We know them? Who might-¡­ oh! Are they others from the academy?! Is Uriel here~?" Quin got excited when she got that reply from me. But sadly, since someone who was already here could note here again, they weren''t going to meet their captain Uriel or vice captain Lucifer. Though, there were some others they would certainly be happy to see after this long of a time¡­ Chapter 748 How you doin? 748 How you doin? [Eon''s POV: ] The gate shined with the same blue that all of us were familiar with and the ancient magical words that were drawn all around it shined with special shade of blue as a spiral appeared inside of the gate and¡­ as we all saw, two people walked out first. "Oho. Who do we have here~." J and our poet Ginger were the first ones to walk out of the gate, and right after them, President and vice president Cradle walked out of the gate. The four of them were part of our circle, and someone Anna had always wanted to meet herself for a while now¡­ but they weren''t the guests she had been waiting for. "Hello~. Hello~. You must be the vice president Cradle, right~. Hello and wee to our house~. Where''s Mirror? And you are mister president, correct~? Where''s the one you call SanSan~?" For this little sister of ours, the two of their familiars were the true guests that she had been looking forward to meet for a while now. Actually, ever since she first heard the stories about a cute colourful snake from Rein, she had been wanting to meet this special snake that understood everything one said and could use special magic. ''Mirror was a special bloodline, a unique creature that Anna knew nothing about until Zoe spent a few hours exining her all about them.'' And after learning of the unique way ofmunication that Mirror uses, Anna was begging us to bring them with us. ''She wanted to meet the two of them, as well as their masters, certainly, but the attraction this little sister of mine had for the energy beast was second only to the love she had for me and the others.'' She loved being around them¡­ and it was perhaps her destiny to be with them as well. But who knows about the uncertain destinies. "Ohhhh! President Zodiac! Vice president~. Even Jen and Ginger are here~! Hello~." Zoe went ahead and greeted them first after picking up Anna and handing her to me. The way she shamelessly asked them about their familiars was no good thing. And it wasn''t right either. "As a host, you must greet the guests first, Anna. That was not the proper behaviour." "But¡­ Mirror and-" "Shhhh. Do you want your big sister to scold you or something? Can''t you tell she is angry?" The little one shook her head with a worried expression hurriedly, and hugged me back. Her dress was a mess, her hair looks greasy, and she was exhausted from all the things she had been doing since dawn. Even right now, she asked about the familiars first without even a proper greeting. ''Zoe wanted to scold her right here and right now, but since this little sister of mine had asked them to postpone all the scolding and punishments, she was controlling herself.'' She is the only one among us that could openly scold her and be harsh with her. But today belonged to Anna. So, she did not want to ler her emotions get the best of her and make Anna sad. Not today, at least. "Alright. Go stand back for a minute. I will bring them to you, alright?" I whispered in her ears and put her down. "Alright¡­" and she nodded with that slow answer and ran to the back, and joined her group of creatures. She was just like a fantastical princess with many animal friends¡­ and some slime fiends, some Povpoi, a lizardman, and a few other creatures. She was amazing to have that kind of influence on so many of the creatures at the same time. Perhaps, she really will be the light this world will need in the near future. ''We don''t know the future¡­'' I walked forward and stood before ''our'' president and vice president. "How''re you two doing?" With a warm look and low voice, I asked while hugging both of them together. "A little better," answered President Zodiac, but as if an arrow had already left the bow, Cradle spoke up against those words. "He''s lying. He was all sad and mopey tillst night." She said it slowly so only a few of them heard her, but President didn''t like her quick protest. "You are the one to talk. Should I tell him what you didst-" "Shut the hell up, Zod. We have already talked about this." "Yes we have, but you did that thing-" "Shut the hell up." She cast a silencing spell on him and his lips were sealed with a transparent magic threads. She really didn''t what to talk about the stuff that happened between the two, hun? Now that was something that sparked Our curiosity. [{ "Did they kiss or something?" }] [{ "Yeah, sure. Do you think that''s possible, Rein?" }] [{ "Yeah, right. That''s not gonna happen between the two of them. Then, did she ''help'' him with something?" }] [{ "We don''t know that, but you know what? Let''s leave it for now. We will know what it is soon." }] [{ "Yup." }] Giving them a mysterious smirk that they knew was no good news, I shook my head, washed off the smirk, and gave them a good smile. "She had been waiting for a while now. Can you two please hand them over to her?" "Of course. But, I do have to say, Eon¡­ she looks far more attractive than you described." "And just from the creatures she currently has under hermand, I can tell her future is brighter than even us." President was bbergasted while Cradle was stunned by the number of creatures that were following her right now. "She hasn''t awakened yet, correct?" "Nope. Not yet." "And still?" When it came to energy beasts and the wild creatures that were beyond the control of normal humans, she was one of the people in the entire academy that had the closest experience to the rare fre grandmaster tamers, summoners, and handlers. She was a special half-blood from a ndestine world level power. A family that had a great influence on this world, but they did practically everything from the shadows. ''They were the nobles of the night and shadows. Beings that were special, rare, and more noble than most other species of this world.'' And many of her family were experts of beasts¡­ or were beasts themselves. So she had lived a significant part of her life among them. "She''s going to be an amazing person¡­ what do you say? Can I adopt her?" "A single, homeless person adopting my Anna? No thanks. Ah, you can adopt our Zuroro-" "Shut the hell up, you bastard. You know I don''t like lizardmen. Fuck, go away. Shuuu. Leave me alone. Here. Take Mirror. And Zoe! Give us a tour of your house, darling!" "Ah, yes! Please wait just a minute!" Zoe was greeting Jen and Ginger, familiar faces around this house. Many people here already knew them and this garden was no new sight to either of them. But then again, it was Anna''s tea party and she has only ever met them once. During myst birthday party. So she was supposed to greet them properly¡­ but no. She didn''t even greet them and went back to tell the servants to bring out the refreshments so that she can announce the start of the tea party. ''There was too much going on for her as well¡­ and I know for a fact she is going to pass out in a few hours.'' She was too exhausted. It was evident just from those tired eyes. "How''re you Jen? And Ginger¡­ did you prepare what I asked?" "It is almost done, Lord Axion. I shall personally deliver the final draft to you by tonight." "It''s alright. We have a few days still. Take your time." "Don''t make my Fianc¨¦ do so much work without any payment, you devil. At least think about us newly engaged." "¡­what?" What did she just say? "Engaged¡­?" Not just me, right now, all of us including Rein, the two presidents, Quin who had just arrived here, Zoe who was walking back, and even our parents who were standing a distance away from us were all stunned at this moment¡­ "Yup. See?" J lifted their ring hands, and their ring fingers that used to be empty until thest time we saw them, now contained a¡­ "Wait. Are those¡­?" There should have been rings on those fingers, but no. There were no rings but instead¡­ small chain like bands. "He wanted to be more poetic but didn''t know what to do¡­ so this little dummy made these chains. Pretty, right?" They were pretty¡­ normal, I would say. The craftsmanship wasn''t anything too attractive. It was obvious a novice made them. But that was beside the point. "Ginger? You know about the eastern tradition?" "What¡­ eastern traditions?" They were pretty¡­ normal, I would say. The craftsmanship wasn''t anything too attractive. It was obvious a novice made them. But that was beside the point. "Ginger? You know about the eastern tradition?" "What¡­ eastern traditions?" "You don''t know? The ancient ChoiYe kingdom''s national tradition?" "What are you talking about, Lord Axion?" Giving the chain like rings as wedding rings was a infamous traditional ritual performed by a couple who are expecting deaths. It was a rare transitional ritual where the chain like rings that they put on their partner''s finger signified their will to stay together even after they pass away. ''It was mostly performed by the couple who knew they were about to die, or by the couple who were ready to end their own life after one of them passes away so that they could stay with their love even after the death.'' It sounded romantic, but in truth, it was not. Since they were bound with one another, they were bound with this world and their souls never went to the afterlife. ''Both souls wandered the world as souls, some even bing monsters or evil spirits thatter haunted the physical world and the normal people.'' It was considered a dark ritual¡­ so as soon as I saw those chain like rings, I remembered an old story grandma told me a long time ago. But it was inapplicable in this context. "Ahem, it''s nothing to worry about. This way of proposal just reminded me of an old tribal tradition from a small part of the eastern continent. We can talk about thatter, so¡­ congrattions! When did all this happened~?" They didn''t even know what I was talking about much less this ritual. The rings were only a coincidence, a bad coincidence. "Haha, it wasst night¡­ it''s only been a few hours so you all are the first ones to know~." "Oh my? Even count and countess doesn''t know yet?" "Unfortunately, no. They have gone out because of some urgent business so they would be returning by tomorrow. We are nning to tell them then." "Oh~. A surprise is always better with these kind of things~." She was talking with us until now, but mom, my aunts and otherdies came out of nowhere and pushed me away¡­ I had expected something like this. This was an engagement we were talking about. And the fianc¨¦e was none other than the harsh critique ofpositions, one of the prodigies that the world knew about. ''It was unbelievable how the proposal came form Ginger though. I personally thought it would be her that proposed first.'' They were a couple for a few years now, many of us alredy know that. Especially everyone from the academy. But¡­ now that their ''rtionship status'' had upgraded from just lovers to soon to be wedded lovers, I know for a fact thesedies aren''t going to leave them alone. Anna''s tea party is even the perfect ce to talk about this kind of things, and other kind of things so, they were going to chat now. And their chat is most probably going to go on till night as well, which mean I should tell the kitchen staff to start preparing for the dinner as well. We should all have a candlelight dinner tonight¡­ n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Chapter 749 Results of waves 749 Results of waves [Eon''s POV: ] "An this one is for you, big brother~." "Thanks, little one." I patted her head after she put the big tea pot and tray of attractive looking tea coups on our table. "Tell us if any of you need anything~." She moved to the other side after giving us a cheerful smile with her enthusiastic friends, Taika, and Mirror¡­ oh, right. ''She really liked Mirror and SanSan.'' Mirror used a special way ofmunication and when she used that special technique on Anna, instead of Anna recalling words that Mirror wanted to express, Mirror herself experienced a kind of warmth, a special kind of bliss that she had never experienced in her long life. ''Mirror got emotional and even started crying.'' However, since her tears were that of the joy instead of sadness, feeling her overwhelming emotions, even Cradle shed unintentional tears. ''Both of them felt the kind of joy Anna carries with her regrly. And though it was apletely new kin of feeling, there was no way Aug living being could ever reject that kind of joy.'' Anna was special not only because of her talent, but also because of the way she saw this world, the way she perceived it, the way even after knowing all the negativity that could exist in this world, she chose to perceive the obvious positivity that existed in this world. ''Anna had crystal eyes, and also the ability to feel what others were feeling, give them a kiss that would rejuvenate their entire being, the ability to understand things she had no prior knowledge of, and even the ability to heal emotional wounds.'' She sure had innate talents, but they were yet to materialise in her self that alredy was filled with many special qualities. Cradle knew at a nce my Anna was special, but even she wasn''t expecting that specialness to be grater than even mine. -Oooooong. "Rein." "Thanks." "I will never understand why you two only use those cups. What''s the special story behind them?" Cradle asked with a curious smile as she picked up a cup for her and President. The four of us were sitting together for now even though they were supposed to sit on their dedicated ces. ''The news of Jen and Ginger''s engagement was too big for the otherdies so they were interrogating them right now on the central table that I had asked Anna to prepare for exactly these kinds situations.'' Anna had warned them that they had to go back to their ces if they wanted a refil of the tea since there was only one teapot per table. Their partners and the ones that were going to share their tables with them, mostly the boys or the ones who had no interest in the new couples, like princess Luna, were the only ones sitting by themselves¡­ or the ones that were assigned to their tables. ''Princess Luna and Captain Alpha were sharing the same table even though none of us told Anna anything about either of them.'' We all only knew there was a possibility of something blooming among them, but my Anna had figured out there was some kind of warmth between them. ''And since she had Ast''s special eyes helping her, she knew all kinds of connections all people currently present in this garden had with the others.'' And since Ast was here, I finally confirmed the kind of rtionship Ezra and Prince Alph who had arrived a moment ago, actually had. ''At first, I had thought the two of them had some kind of contractual rtionship, or some kind of a symbolic rtionship where one scratched the other''s back, but that wasn''t the case.'' The two really were in love¡­ like, real love. True love as we called it. Though, from how they were behaving right now, we can tell they had not realised it themselves. ''Perhaps their rtionship started with something else. Something materialistic. However¡­'' Ezra was eating some cake and even though she ate it with proper manners, some of it still remained stuck on her face¡­ Seeing this, Prince Alpheus chuckled with a littleugh, moved his own finger around her lips, and wiped away the leftover cream. And then licked it himself. ''Others didn''t see any of it, they were making sure no one was looking at them, of course. But they weren''t going to get unnoticed by my eyes.'' Ezra, as a response to that inappropriate behavior, pped his hand that was resting on the table with a smile¡­ and I swear the way she had smiled just now, the warm smile she just gave him, was one of the prettiest smiles I have seen recently. The two were close to each other, and though I don''t know how all this happened¡­ It was good. A broken heart was feeling the warmth it had lost long ago and a heart that didn''t know how to work properly was functioning well thanks to these unexpected changes. "Hmmm¡­ this isn''t tea." "Who said it was tea anyway, haha? She calls it a special brew she came up with after many experiments she did alongside Aunt Haze. It''s a miracle, not merely some tea~." Rein was happy right now, she liked everything going on around in this garden. There were more couples present now than there were just a few weeks ago when we first had a group lunch in the academy garden. Not long had passed since we joined the academy and moved away from the house and still, as we sat here, in this familiar atmosphere and ce, everything seemed new with our friends as well as their familiars who now followed our Anna. The evening winds carried the scent of wet earth, des of grass had droplets of mist that gave birth to the coolness we felt, and the clouds painted in gold as the sun sat on a distant horizon, made the scent of this divine brew made by my little troublemaker more pleasant. This was a fine evening¡­ "So, president. How has the world been after ''that'' day?" Fine enough to talk about the things we have been purposely ignoring until now. "I knew you might ask." He sighed and put his teacup down after he emptied it with a long, slow sip. The battle with those cultists happened not long ago and it had been traumatising for both of them. It was not easy for either of them to get back to their daily lives¡­ that was the main reason they went to some personal ce where the two could stabilize their mental states. People died on their watch, some of them could have been the students that they had to take care of. We hadn''t coincidentallye across their base and taken countermeasures. ''Things could have been very serious if even one of the things had been any different and they knew that very well, thus, they needed some time alone.'' But it did not mean they hadpletely isted themselves. "The waves created from the epicentre, the Principality, have been more intense than we had expected." They were direct subordinates of the headmaster, so they knew about what was going on all over the world better than I did. I had been busy with the preparations of the auction and stuff anyway, so I was practically oblivious to many things. "After the speech Lord Justin gave, the public opinion of the Principality went down greatly, and there was a much more serious negative impact on everything than they had predicted. Though, they managed to turn the situation around with their people. Lady Carolina is amazing, actually. She used the momentum from the negative opinions and somehow turned the situation around." President Zodiac was a good person who did not like the Rakshasas or the demonic human cultists. The loss of life was not easy for him to deal with, especially when the dead did not even have any knowledge of their death. He did not like how they had died, but as a veteran trained on the battlefields, he was able toe to terms with his own suffering. ''He''s strong.'' He told us how there was chaos all over the world. How the waves had hit the various ces. How the individuals and the nations had used the waves as their weapons or shields against the enemies. There were many things going on in the world right now that, as we all knew, were not going to get resolved before the grand conference. "Will it be possible for you to make a report-" "I knew you were going to need that, here." President Zodiac took out a thick document from his storage space and passed it to me openly. He didn''t have to worry about anyone seeing or noticing us since we had already cast an illusion barrier when we started this conversation. "Thank you, president-" "Oy! I did half of the work to prepare that shit! Thank me as well!" The detailed report was something he was only supposed to give to the headmaster, however as the one that would be presenting in the grand conference, he knew I would need this information. And I knew the two of them had made it together already, so¡­ -Oooooooooong. "Thanks, both of you." I ced three boxes before them¡ªtwo filled with special dishes that they will love, and one with the special cake that we made a few days earlier. "You have learned how to say thank you~. Good boy~." Vice president harshly patted my head and without waiting, she first opened the box of the cake. "Damn~. Even though it''s cut into pieces, it still looks amazing!" They knew about the house replica cake that we made already and, as she had asked, I had saved the pieces she had asked me to save for them. She wanted to be there to see theplete cake, but since they also had to work, they just decided to join us for this tea party. "Slow, Cradle. Nothing is going anywhere." "Oh no no, Zod. My patience certainly is going somewhere." She wanted one of our flower gardens, one that Rein liked the most to be specific, so she picked up one of the flowers from that cut out garden area first. "Hmmm~. Holy lords, Lucifer~. I would believe it if you tell me you are a god of cooking or something now, man~. This is The shit!" She loved it. That phrasing proved it. And seeing her all happy and smiling was much better than the quiet version that seemed to have lost all motivation to live. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Eat slowly. And finish your tea or else that youngdy will punish us." World is a mess right now¡­ but at least, this garden had some peace and positivity. It was better than the restless, chaotic outside world. So, I would prefer this garden over any ce in this world in a time like this¡­ "Oh, did we tell you about the ck hand?" And since we had these two with us till the grand auction anyway, it would be fun including them in this fun event as well. Chapter 750 An awaited invitation 750 An awaited invitation [Eon''s POV: ] My little Anna loved the tea parties for some reason. And it wasn''t even like she just liked having people around her and ying house with them¡­ no. She liked proper tea parties where everyone is dressed nicely, have a special items of decoration on them that ismon for all, and are drinking the tea that she has prepared herself. ''She liked organising these tea parties ever since she saw thedies do it the first time when she was little. And after the first time she organised one, she had never stopped inviting a few of us in her room, to sit on those small tables, with her doll friends, for some good refreshments.'' Thedies loved it when she organised them, not just because they loved how she innocently did all that, but because Anna only organised the tea parties when someone among us was going through a tough time. ''She could feel how someone was feeling, so she instantly knows when someone is sad, tense, or is stuck in some kind of situation.'' She is smart, so she organised the tea parties in order to help that person relive the stress that they were suffering from. It was her way to help them without telling them what she was ultimately after. ''She had learned from the best people how a good tea with people that they trusted and loved could help one get over any kind of tough times.'' And helping the others was her main motivation behind most of her tea parties. ''This time was the same¡­'' She was happy when so many new faces came to our house for a stay. It was the first time outsiders were going to stay in this house after she was born so she was certainly excited to meet, greet, and y with them. Also, since most of these guests were people that she had heard so much about, people that her elder brothers and sisters considered friends, she was even more excited to greet them. ''And she was happy when she met them as well.'' They were good people, amazing even. She could tell at a nce how much more there was to them than her elder siblings had told her¡­ however, some of them on one side, she could tell a majority of them were going through something. ''She did not know about all that had happened in the Principality, and we had requested others not to bring that up already so she wasn''t going to know anything about it any time soon.'' At least, not from someone unrted to that incident. But even without anyone telling her, she knew there was something eating them away. So¡­ she organised her first ever ''grand'' tea party. She prepared for hours, made decorations, did nning, and at the end, even at an young age with no experience what so ever, she organised a gathering that was far better than most gatherings youngdies of high society could even imagine. She did a very good job¡­ and this good job cost her everyst bit of mental stamina she possessed. "Look at her¡­" She was cheerfully ying with our familiars a moment ago, but she had passed out on her tea table now. "She looks pretty." "Especially with all of them gathered around her." "Just like a princess from fairy tales." It was night already, and since it was dinner time, we had also served dinner on their tables. But instead of eating my special dishes, everyone was gathered on the centre table that was just a few steps away from where Anna had fallen asleep¡­ and all of us were looking at her, and the creatures that were surrounding her. "Can we record this? Or take a picture-" "I apologise, everyone. We would like it if you do not do such a thing. Just admiring her as she is right now¡­ is all we can do." The blue moonlight and the lights of the night illuminated our front garden along with magical lights present around the garden. The table she was sleeping on was also shining under the radiance of these lights, however, there were more lights around her that made the scene we were looking at, breathtaking. ''The red light from the glowing crystal wings of Rayray, shining green scales on Uto''s body, lights that the Povpoi were producing intentionally with their powers, along with the lights that a few slimes were producing.'' Additionally, there were lightsing from Mirror''s body, SanSan''s amber-gold eyes, and simr natural lights that were being produced from the other familiar''s body at this moment. ''Some of these lights had special effects while some were there to fend off the other creatures.'' Some lights were special, some unintentional, while some of them were normal lights the innocent Povpoi like creatures intentionally produced since they found it fun. But whatever the case may be, all these lightsbined were lighting up the entire area around my Anna. I wish we could have watched this all night long. "Alright then, everyone. I will bring her to her room now so you should go start eating. Your food is getting cold and, from the looks of it, it will snow tonight so let''s go to sleep early. Everyone must be exhausted after all the drama today-" "But I''m-" "You shut up, Tia. You''re going to bed early as well since you will have to get up early if you want to bid farewell to Ast." She was a fairy that can move through the realms as she wanted to sleep and night and all the normal concepts that applied to us mortals were nothing unrted to her. "So, go eat and get to your beds, everyone. Or at least, go inside. Temperature is going to drop soon." Walking up to Anna and after convincing the familiars guarding her as if she was their master, I picked her up gently, and turned around. "Dad, Uncle El, Uncle Theo, please help everyone to their ces. The warm food is better when it''s hot." The three of them were the least exhausted right now since they had not done anything straining the entire day. The clothing was no problem for them, they had nothing to do while we were helping the otherdies and boys, and most of the time, they were just ying around, enjoying the rare break they had today. They were the most capable ones present that could drag their wives, as well as the others who had no mood to stand up from this round table, to the ces where their food had been served. ''We could have moved their food here if it was possible, but then it wouldn''t be the romantic candlelight dinner that it was supposed to be.'' At least the couples and aspiring couples had to have some privacy here. And since we had an engaged couple with us as well, their dinner was especially special tonight. ''They were going to love it, but to eat those things, they had to go sit in their ces.'' The three of them would take care of the rest here, I had that much faith in this trio, so I started walking towards the house¡­ "Ah, right. Master Axion! Please wait a minute." However, right after I took a few steps, Prince Alph called me out. "Yes, Prince Alph?" I turned back slowly with my one hand behind Anna''s head and waited as he walked up to us and secretly passed an envelope to me. "Brother Charles asked me to pass it to you. I just wanted to pass it on before I forgot." "Ah, thank you." "That was all. Please be on your way." He gave me a brief bow and walked back to his table partner. ''Weird¡­'' It was something from the eldest prince of Roxana, Prince Charles so I obviously wanted to take a look even though I had some idea what it might be. But, I couldn''t do that with Anna in my arms so I walked in, went to her room with some of the creatures following me till the end, and put her on her bed. "Where is your mother, L?" { "She should be in Miss Hazel''s house with the babies, Master~." } "Shuuu. Be quiet and don''t sleep on the bed. You all have gotten heavy." Some of the Povpoi and slimes were going to stay here tonight, with her, but they weren''t allowed on the bed anymore. There were too many of them and the bed was not made for heavy furballs like this bunch. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om So they were going to sleep in their rooms, or on the ground. The choice was up to them. And if they still wanted to try and go on the soft bed, they will have to hear from Mave, their good mother who was taking care of some of my research projects. "Good night, little sun." Giving her a forehead goodnight kiss, and a re to the little ones present in this small room, I walked out of house and sat down on our table in the garden, with only Rein sitting before me. "Others seems to have lost in the food, again." Hmmmm¡­ you are a sorcerer. But that aside, what did Prince Alph pass you so secretly? A love letter?" She was tired, but the smirk on her face indicated she was having fun in this moment. It was night and the atmosphere was cold. It was the perfect time to have a special warm meal with a special warm candle present on the table. "It''s better than a love letter." Rolling my eyes at her smirk with a smile, I took out the envelope I had received just now and ced it on the table before us. "He said Prince Charles asked him to pass it to him, but you can obviously tell who this is from, right?" The smirk on her face vanished as soon as she saw the envelope on the table, and puffed her cheeks. "So she finally decided to contact us, hun?" In the annual alchemypetition, we encountered a certain person that carried the powers of demon kind, and was perhaps the one who helped Ball when he was in that shadow realm. She was a special person, and we got a chance to talk for a brief moment when I was escaping the alchemy ground after causing that potion incident. She asked me for a tea and I had agreed back then, however, after she received her award from Lord Justin, she vanished from the capital along with prince Charles. We never heard from either of them after that, however, now that we have this envelope with us that contained the distinct smell of demons, it was obvious the invitation we had been waiting for¡­ at least the one that I had been waiting for, had finally arrived. ''She doesn''t like her, but there is something special about that person.'' Something special that I somehow believe is connected with the origins and the divinities¡­ Chapter 751 The way of experts 751 The way of experts [OP: ] The prime auction house of the capital city of the empire, Hiraani. One of the biggest structures of the vast capital on par with the golden imperial pce, the hexagonal tower of adventurer''s association, and the Temple. Covering an area bigger than three to four high noble estates of the capital citybined, the white structure covered in gold and magical arts that one couldn''t possibly miss while looking from the sky, Hiraani stood as a testament of dedication, passion, and a single individual''s pride. It was a great structure that was not only an auction house, an important event site, and a ce containing countless riches, it was also a ce where the simple people who worked and maintained this ce lived with their families. It was a home, a ce to gamble their money for the rich, the ces where one who wanted to hit it big could try their luck and intuition. It was an auction house that most people, especially people with money, people of high society undoubtedly knew about. And overmorrow was going to be the first day of the annual grand auction thatsts for three days, the day where those with money visit the capital of Roxanna to buy and sell precious items that could be useful to them or someone rted to them¡­ { "Reconnaissanceplete. Gate strength: Tier-7. Outer guard strength: Tier-8. Inner Guard strength: Tier-8. Inner security system: Tier-9. Structural management: Tier-8. Structural manual management: Tier-9. Individual personal strength: Tier-6. Combined personal strength per section: Tier-8. First area breach sess rate: 45%. Second area breach sess rate: 60%. Third area breach sess rate: 27%. Fourth area breach sess rate: 18%. Fifth area breach sess rate: 9%. Sixth area breach sess rate: 0.3%. Overall task difficulty: Tier-10." } The main gate of the auction house was a pretty normal looking metal door that was open all the time, so the door that ''they'' were worrying about was not this simple looking front gate that most people use. One wouldn''t have to worry about this kind of attractive but normal gate, however it was a different matter altogether for the thieves that were aiming for the riches stored behind the inner gates of the action house that could not just be essed by any person. { "It looks impossible just as I have heard¡­ I like this." } There were regtions and set rules in ce for everything in this grand auction house. The management of the nobles who were going to sit in the general room and the ones who would be in the special rooms on the balcony was closely watched over and a guarded mechanism that one couldn''t just ignore. Especially as thieves, they could not possibly overlook the general public that would be present in the target area when they had to keep every single thing in that ce in mind. They weren''t invited guests in that ce, and since they knew the fact that the owners off this auction house already knew a good bit about them, their identity had already been exposed to the opposite party. Which made the ''going in there in a disguise'' technique utterly pointless. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om { "The target identification surveince devices that are capable of distinguishing between even a skill''s disguise and the original are out of this world. We do not know theposition or structure of these devices however, even with just the outside observations of these hundreds of devices present in every corner of this facility confirms the impossibility of a disguise going unnoticed." } { "Though, we do not have to worry about them, I presume?" } { "As long as we get our hands on at least one of them, it is not impossible to create ''Skins'' that even god''s eyes would mistake for the original." } ck Hand, an alliance of ten world renowned thieves led by a mythical figure had set their eyes on the items that were Confirmed to have been stored in the second most secured area of this facility above the ground. The auction house of Hiraani was protected by a powerful defence system that was developed by the leading magic engineers of this world, and perfected even further by the golden son of the Countess who owned this majestic castle. It was possible for any being to step inside this ce as they wished, however, it was impossible for even a simple fly to get out of the border of this building without the ''operators'' noticing them. Going inside of thisbyrinth like castle was a simple task, they could just walk from the front door while hiding from the eyes of the guards and the surveince artifacts. But the main problem would start after they had cleared the first area, the front entrance. { "Good. Here you go, a little present." } { "As expected from the ." } { "Nice, we have not one but three of the surveince artifacts now. We will leave everything to you, ." } { "Yes." } The ten thieves aiming for the artifacts that were Confirmed to appear in the auction house this time around were experts of their craft, people who knew what they had to do in any kind of situation, people who could produce unbelievable results even when working alone. { "Then let Us go over the outline onest time." } There were a total of six security measures in ce to prevent any kind of unexpected attack from the criminals like the members of the ck Hand. And the first of it was the security system that recognised and identified every single element inside Hiraani and around a specific area of the borders. 20:11 There were a total of six security measures in ce to prevent any kind of unexpected attack from the criminals like the members of the ck Hand. And the first of it was the security system that recognised and identified every single element inside Hiraani and around a specific area of the borders. { " will create the skins that should allow everyone to get inside the target area. Not getting caught will be up to you, however, will take care of the guards and the observers so that the others could get past the first area." } There were ten of them, and every single one of them were on par with world renowned grandmasters of the production or artistic fields. Reverse engineering an artifact even asplex as something Eon made with his advanced knowledge and creating a counter for it was a minor task for someone who had understood the essence of machinery magic. And since Hiraani was open to all who wanted to trade and try their luck, getting in from the front door and stealing the surveince devices without anyone noticing was something a master of stealth technique could pull off any day. { " will then interfere with the security system and redirect the on duty staff to create a little chaos while at the same time, will infiltrate the third area and open the path to the second one for the rest." } Eon''s security system was a higher version of what Hiraani had for many years, something far more advanced than anywhere else in this world. However, even if he had made it with all his knowledge, even if he knew there were only a handful of people in this world who could even understand his magic system, he had no doubt there were geniuses out there that could even crack the magic system created by a divine being. He had faith in his organisation, but if one of the peopleing after them was the infamous ''Code cracker'' or as some people called him, the ''Origin of magic'' , he knew his unbreakable system was going to fall, even if it was just for a brief period. Eon was expecting it already, that was the reason he had made no changes into the existing magic security. { "After taking over the third area, , along with and will handle everything and open up the path to the fourth and fifth area, where and I will will go ahead and infiltrate thest area." } The employees of Hiraani were all high ranking adventurers and experts that Eon and her mom''s close ones had trained themselves. They weren''t someone that would fall to just any ''strong'' opponent. They were strong individually, and when working together, they were several times stronger. Not even high ranking masters, [Rank-5] Rooks or (tier-7) high ranking mages could get past theyered security structure that was in ce to guard the storage facility where all the items were stored during the auction. They were strong, and there were hundreds of them so dealing with them would usually take a long time if one was not a king rank expert weapon user, or someone close to an elder mage who could ignore the power suppression of the defensive magic systempletely. { "Hmmm¡­ then, is sir confident they will get past the Great emissary in the sixth area?" } { "We do not know that yet, Sir Jackal. However, we will certainly find it out when we are out there." } { "Kheyaeyaeyaeya~. I love the way you say it, Sir ck angel~." } The ten of them had a rough idea of what they had to do, but this was in no way a ''n''. It was just a rough outline of what they were supposed to do and even though they had little knowledge of what would happen when they start their operation on the D-day, they were looking forward to everything. They had no fear of what might happen to them or any doubt that they would be caught by the authorities. They had done worse things in their lifetimes, and they still freely roamed the world. The world wouldn''t call them the worst thieves of the current age, if they weren''t even capable of escaping the grasps of the authorities. They were criminals, however, if the good authorities and the noble people were going to follow thews and their lives weren''t at stake here, they didn''t mind going after a treasure that could change their lives or the better. And, if push came to shove¡­ they could always just make a deal with them. The world was all about business anyway. Their habit ofpulsive theft certainly had earned them some good fortune to spend on themselves. Chapter 752 Then, shall we? 752 Then, shall we? [Eon''s POV: ] "I will not repeat myself!" "No one is telling you to do so either! Just go out of here, Nn!" "No! She said she wanted it and I will do it! You can not stop me!" "Three more minutes and both of you are going out with me. We have to leave. Everyone is waiting." "Then tell your father to let me do what I want to do!" "Eon! Please help me stop her! Taika wasn''t serious when she said that!" The morning of the grand auction and my parents are fighting in the kitchen. Haaa¡­ "The hell is matter with you?!" "What is the matter with You? Why are you doing this when we should be out and going to Hiraani! It''s a big day for you!" "I know that! That''s why you should step aside and Let Me Cook!" "No! Please don''t do this¡­" He was practically begging her at this point now. I couldn''t see this happening anymore. "Alright you two. Let''s go." I got behind them and started pushing the two out of the kitsch. They were acting like kids when their kids were waiting outside¡­ I wasn''t going to just watch them waste time like this today. Especially not today. "Eon! Why are you pushing Me?! Push out your dad! I''m not in the wrong here." "No! Eon! This is better! Just drag both of us out! That''s much better than someone getting sick! "Yes yes." It was happening because Taika said she would like to try something mom makes herself now that she had evolved and had a human-like sense of taste As A Joke. She had already tasted mom''s cooking and was poisoned so she wasn''t dumb enough to try something like that stuff again. It was obviously a joke¡­ but mom took it seriously. "Fuck you, you damn bastard! You ungrateful child and you piece of trash husband! I will see you both when this is over!" "Yes, please." Both of us would take her punishment over her cooking any day. Living was much better than being bedridden for days or being in pain for hours. ''Food and mom just don''t go well together. She is good at business, with money, with people, and with politics but food? Nope.'' The world and this family was better off without anything rted to her cooking. It was Taika''s fault for even sparking the fire to cook in this mother of mine as well. I will tell her to mind her words involving mom''s cooking when we get the chanceter today. "Hmm? Ohh! Big brother, mama, and daddy are here~!" The carriages were gathered outside, and everyone was waiting for us right now. "Where were you three~?" Anna came running to us and asked with puffed cheeks. She was angry that everyone had to wait twenty whole minutes for us¡­ but only I know what kind of argument these two parents of mine were having¡­ and how they were flirting in between that argument. "You know how Taika just told her she wanted to taste something she makes? Guess what, dear. This mother of yours took it seriously and went to make something. She had burned three pots by the time I reached there, but your big brother fortunately dragged her out before more things burned." "It was an ident, alright! idents happen!" Dad had be more daring or something ever since he came back from that dungeon. He now didn''t even hesitate to speak against mom, something she found extremely attractive. But telling Anna she caused trouble for others was not something she was going to take lightly. "Poor pots¡­ haaa¡­ both of you are at fault, mama. Apologies to each other." "What did I-" "Just do it!" Anna didn''t like how these two were arguing instead of justing to terms and getting out of there. Mom could have been more understanding and could have stopped that childish behaviour while dad could have dragged her out like I did. A good time could have been saved. "I''m not apologising! Why would I apologise-" "Mama!" It was alreadyte and it will take time to reach the auction house by carriages. It wouldn''t look good if the hosts themselves arete to their own event, so we had to depart now. Anna was serious, everyone watching us could tell just with this stern tone. She wasn''t going to stand there listening to them arguing once again. "Alright, alright¡­ jeez you ungrateful children." Mom looked at dad with an upset expression and extended her hand. "Sorry for acting like a child. Happy?" Mom genuinely didn''t think she had made any mistakes and had no intention to apologise to anyone, and that would remain the same even if Anna shouted at her. "It''s fine, dear. It''s not like she did something bad or anything, she just wanted to make something for Taika. She just wanted to see her taste her food as Taika wanted. Let''s forget this and go, okay?" Mom was a prideful person, dad knew that well. If she had not done anything wrong, she would never apologise even if she had to face dire consequences or, see our Anna being angry at her. "Dad''s right, Anna. Let''s leave it at that and go. Everyone is waiting, right?" Anna was dressed nicely once again as she did a few days ago. She looked prettier as well with that newly prepared dress that we had worked quite a bit on. She knew today was a big day and everyone had worked hard for this, including our friends so she didn''t want to make any bigger fuss about things. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om It was fine as it was and she also knew her mom well so, she just sighed and nodded at her. "Alright¡­ mama. You were lucky this time but please don''t do it next time. Don''t you ok now we have to reach the pce quickly so I can show everyone around the ce?" "Of course I know, baby~. I will try not to waste everyone''s time the next time." Mom picked her up with a new smile on her face and kissed her her cheeks gently. ''Haaa¡­'' She knew Anna had been excited about today as well. She had been having fun ever since her grand tea party and had bonded with our friends, especially with their families and summons. She liked ying with them as well so, when we were going to Hiraani, she couldn''t possibly not be their Tourette guide. ''Only a few of them had been to the biggest auction house of the Roxana empire. Quin, Lizzy, Ball, Nox, even princess Luna and Hide had never been to the ce so this was going to their first time there. And, Anna knew it very well. "Alright! Alright! Let''s just go already~!" She was happy and excited, and she didn''t want a normal incident like this one to get the best of her, so she forgave them and hugged mom back. "Hehehe. Then, shall we?" Mom was happy as well. She didn''t get to make something for her dear Taika, who had been watching us with a smile all from the back all this time. She had not worked at all for this year''s event and had a great number of helping hands helping her with every single thing, so she was happily enjoying herself since earlier. She nned to enjoy herself till the end of these three days, since after that, she was not going to get even a few hours for herself with the Grand conference and everything elseing up. The world was shaken by the invasion of those cultists and it is not going to stabilise anytime soon even after the conference. She was a countess, as well as one of the few people that had to maintain the flow of the economy of not just this empire but the entire world. Which was no simple task. ''This little vacation was gave her enough time to rest, but after this grand auction, she is going to get busy with many things.'' She might not even be home, well I might not as well, so there was a chance Anna would be alone with the others. It was inevitable with the situations we were in, she understood that as well. That''s why this one event was so important for them¡­ "Alright everyone! Get in your carriages! We are departing now!" Our friend had worked hard for this event¡­ they had worked more than what they were getting paid actually. But that did not matter to them. They had a fun time working with me and since Rein wasn''t herest few days, I also had a good time teaching them the a few things that would help themter on. After Anna''s tea party, even without Rein here, I wasn''t alone. And since the ck Hand people were threatening Hiraani, it was even more fun preparing for their attack. ''They must have prepared quite a lot.'' We knew how our surveince devices were stolen, and how there were suspicions people roaming around Hiraani since a few days ago. They were experts so they were certainly going toe from the front door and we wouldn''t even know, it was obvious. '' was also with them so, the security system that I had worked so hard to create was going to face the first real challenge.'' Breaking in or even creating a simple crack in that system was an unearthly task. I had used Runes as the base so even if someone ck into a fewyers, they would have to understand the magic as well as elder mages did to just brack in and open the doors that lead to the chamber leading to the ce where everything is stored during the auction time. ''We still don''t know what truly is after but, he was the one to assemble this team. We know that much.'' Which means he himself ising for us¡­ ''I will be waiting for him when he does.'' They were the best of the best in the world. I''m expecting to learn at least a thing or two from them. ''Which will be fun. I know that much.'' Chapter 753 Rats have arrived 753 Rats have arrived [OP: ] The winter festival of the Roxanna empire and the grand annual auction that is held in order to rise the money for the poor and to provide a means of entertainment to the nobles was going to start shortly now¡­ and, the empire was once again covered in show. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Roads were clear for the people to walk on and for the carriages to pass, however the houses, the roof of the ces, and the shops, as well as the roads of the residential areas throughout the capital city had been covered in the pretty white snow that though many did not like, for the children and some of the adults, it was love. It was November for them, temperature was down, the harsh winter was on the way, so the normal folks were going to face another difficult year this time. And, with everything going on in the world, the normal people throughout the world were going to suffer the most. Higher ss individuals, people with money, ones with resources and a study roof above their heads might not face any grand difficulties, however, for the normal people who worked for their daily or monthly living, those who hunted for their own food, and even the low ranking adventurers who earned from themon requests put up by the normal people who needed their assistance were undoubtedly going to face a harsh winter this time. The nobles and even the royal family knew that very well, and that was the main reason the winter festival of this year¡­ was celebrated even more enthusiastically than past few years. The imperial family had announced help to those who had somehow suffered from the things that happened in the Principality. The smaller businesses that were affected werepensated, the ones who lost their close ones were provided any kind of help they needed, and the empire had extended a firm helping hand to the Principality, promising them any kind of help the imperial family itself was capable of. The emperor and the empresses had been very busy ever since the war in the Capital of Principality. There were all kind of political things happening that they had to deal with and even the enemies from Zarak Orion had made their moves this time. They knew how Principality was in an inseparable rtionship with the Roxana Empire so if something had happened to them, there was no way the empire would not have been shaken in any way. The waves that one war had caused were not something anyone had foreseen, however, with the Principality being the epicentre, the waves of the consequences had hit the entire world. Especially since the time all that happened, was also the time when many representatives of various nations from all over the world were present in that ce. Anything could have happened to them as well. People who did not know about the war and the things They had done to prevent any unnecessary damage, would only hold the Principality And the empire ountable for everything that had happened. The Cultists demonic people, beings who could not be categorised as normal Rakshasas, were not something this world had ever faced. They were different from the usual mad ones who gave away their bodies to the demons. They were nothing like those mad ones. But the worldly powers that did not know anything about them would not know what the Principality, its President, and the Lakmer household had faced. For them, something had happened to some of the strongest powers of this world and they had a very good opportunity to exploit the present before them. Which they did. And the consequences it produced were what the nobles and royals of this world were now dealing with. "Operator B, connect me with X3 on a private channel." Thankfully, the normal poption wasn''t affected by all this drama on a deeper level yet. Almost everyone knew what was going on in the world but thankfully, with their ongoing lives and the suppression of information rted to these things by the higher authorities, themon folks were in a good enough state to enjoy the Winter festival. [ "X3¡­ Miss Sarah. I believe you already know what I want to say?" ] [ "Yes, little darling. I sensed one when I wasing here. I know some of them are already inside. Though, even I have no idea how they entered." ] The noble folks and those with money were hit with the waves of aftermath but there were no less participants in this year''s auction. Some of them could not leave their positions themselves so they had sent trustworthy representatives, while those who trusted no one but themselves when it came to this particr auction, had requested for the use of amunication device so that they can at least observe the items themselves. [ "It''s pretty funny, actually. But let''s talk about thatter. Well, you see, we believe one of them will try to cause some kind of trouble in the general area, so please take care of that troublemaker for us." ] [ "Aww~. You didn''t have to tell me something like that, darling~. If someone is causing trouble on my watch in my auction, they are obviously inviting pain, hehehe~." ] [ "Thank you then. Let me get back to youter." ] [ "Ah, right. I heard she couldn''t make it today? What happened there?" ] [ "Ah¡­ well, it''s a longer story. But it''s nothing to worry about. She dealt with those bastards well and she should arrive by tomorrow morning. Though, from the looks of things, she isn''t going to be happy when we tell her how her parents have gone missing." ] [ "Right. There was that as well¡­ well,e have some tea with me if things get difficult." ] [ "Sure thing, but I shall get back to work. Thanks, X3." ] The gifts from the Winter fairy were going to be there so the children would be happy. The items in this year''s auctions were pretty simple and good so the public was going to fight over them even more, which will generate a better amount than the usual, so the parents of the children would be happy as well. The nobles would be happy as well since there were less trash items this time, but¡­ the thieves who were after what did not belong to them, were certainly not going to be happy in any way. They might have entered the auction house with their own methods and tricked the eyes of the experts and the surveince devices, but they were not going to achieve their goals today. "Now, Operator B, connect everyone from division D and F. Let''s catch some rats before they start eating our grains." "Rats eat grains? I did not know that, big brother!" They were in their special chambers on the balcony floor, Eon was operating everything on his own since his partner was dyed because of some fools, emperor and his three partners were in their own chambers, but they had not heard from them since they arrived here, and, Anna was sitting with him, ying with little SanSan who had earned her love. "Rats are rodents, little one. The wild ones eat many things, including flesh and garbage. Some who mutate in the severs due to Mana even be dangerous and poisonous, however, there are many Energy beast species who resemble mice and despite their various sizes, are powerfulpanions. They are pretty cute. We have some friends who have creatures resembling mice and hamsters as their families in-, ahem." He was going to say ''in the academy'' but he was not in the academy. Quin, Lizzy, Ball, and Mia who got to be in the same room as them knew this Fact. "Ohh! Ohh! Hamsters are cute, right?! I''ve heard they are pretty cute~! Can I have a hamster as well~?" "Sure. I''ll find one that you''d like." She was going to be the best summoner as well so he was finding creatures that she could tame and bind as her summons already. A hamster was only an addition to his list. [ "Listen up, everyone." ] The first day of grand auction had started and the thieves had managed to infiltrate the target facility despite the countermeasures in ce. [ "Rats have infiltrated our house." ] He had expected them. He had expected they would sessfullye in even if he himself was standing guard on the gates of the auction house¡­ there were three gates in total anyway so he couldn''t have been able to pay attention to all three of them even with his three eyes. They were masters who could manipte one''s vision with simple motions, distort the field of vision with simple tricks, and even manipte thoughts with some whispering words. There was someone among them who could create things on par with his own inversions, he knew that already as well so it was a possibility that they had something topletely alter their appearance. [ "Let''s catch the bastards." ] They had many tricks up their sleeves and decades of experience in this field. Getting caught by them was a far off idea. Just recognizing them, pinpointing their locations and preventing the breach of second, third, andter security protocols, and preventing them was going to be a tough task for all of them. [ "Let''s show them what happens when someone tries challenge Our Hiraani." ] But they were inside a structure his mother had made with her efforts and stubbornness. Her subordinates were good already when he firs met them, but now, after his training they were even better. So¡­ they were not going to lose just because the opponents were extremely better than them. They also had their pride. And someone to repay¡­ Chapter 754: Area Two [OP: ] { "Area one cleared. All unit infiltrationplete." } He was the brain of this entire operation. { "All are instructed to move towards area two." } And, he was sitting in the special room right between the emperor and Eon. { "No.2: check." } { "Checking in, No.3." } ¡­ { "Instructions received. No.10 moving-" } Some of their faces were known to the world and using the disguise skills or techniques was of no use, so some of them were using the ''Skins'' that their developer had created to avoidavoid detection from the surveince devices. "Hey, you. Who are you?" The skins were special artifacts that practically changed the perception others could make of the individual wearing it. It wasn''t just some physical body suit or a mask but, something that was made with a very high quality materials that were nearly impossible to get leagally. The creator was confident in their creation and knew there was no way for any kind of surveince device in this world with a technology used in Hiraani to differentiate between the real and the fake. However, they couldn''t do anything about the human eyes. "Ah, there you are, you useless employee! Where the hell is thismon chamber door! I have been walking around in circles or ten minutes!" "Yes, sir. I hear you. However, can I know your identity first? Can you show me your-" "Ah, what is this now?! Who are you to ask My identity?! Don''t you already know who I am?! Since when had countess hired such useless people!" They had entered the auction house with their own methods through various gates; however, the people in skins who were using someone else''s identities had to enter through the front gates like everyone else. "We apologise for the inconvenience, sir. However, I must at least know your name to guide you to where you are supposed to go." "What?! It says right here in this thing I have to go to themon auction chamber! Are you looking down on me for getting lost in this ce, hun?!" "Please calm down, Sir Miron, representative of Eastern Nobleman Kaizen Ito. I apologise for my mistake. I will lead you to where you are supposed to go." "That''s right! That''s what an employee is supposed to do! And mind your manners! Calling people by only their name is disrespectful!" "I apologise." { "No.10, engaging in inevitablebat." } Hiraani was arge castle. There were three floors above the ground in Hiraani and all three of them had paths leading to onemon auction area that was used for the annual auction every time. It wasn''t rare for people to get lost if they did not know this structure any better, and since it wasmon for everything in the Hiraani to bepletely different from what it wasst year. Many arrogant nobles who thought they could find their way in here, and went on their own without any employees, certainly got lost periodically. The employees knew how to deal with individuals like them, however, after the alert from Operator A2 a while back, they all had been on high alert. "Please, this way, sir." Seeing a single older looking man walking around an empty ce was not something any employee here could avoid, especially when the ce had no security personnel. "Yes yes. Young brat!" As someone in division F, this young person was just walking around the ce to spot and report any suspicious activity. He was pretty new, however, he was also trained by their Operator A2. He knew when to follow his gut feelings and when to ept the inferences. -Step. Step. Step. The old man was obviously someone he had seen for the first time, and since he was not telling him his name, he had to directly request Operator B for information on this individual. -Step¡­ step. The young boy instantly referred to the information and confirmed the identity of this old man, and since there was a record of him having bad behaviour and records of his mistreatment of the employees, the operators instructed him to deal with him on his own. However¡­ despite a green light from the higher ups, which seemed weird to him as well, he was suspicious of this old man. He didn''t know why, but he did not feel right about this whole situation. That''s why he was on guard even as he walked ahead of him. Sadly walking ahead of a suspect, a rookie mistake, became a failing point for him. -Swish! "Sir-" -Swaaaash! -Kay. -Thud. { "Employee #F33 down. Requesting post dealing procedure." } { "Yei." } The young man was a graduate from the grand academy, as well as one of their finest from a ffew years ago. He was a [Rank-5] knight, a rank not just anyone could reach and possessed superior physical abilities than most normal people¡­ and still, with just a lightning fast movement and a strong attack in the right acupuncture point, the young knight was dealt with by the a known thief and knight [King] that went after famous swords. And, after cleaning up the ce where he had dealt with him, he tidied up his suit and moved his hands through his hair. { "No.10. Area two, infiltratingplete." } { "Wait till further instructions. , report." } { "Security system moreplex than anticipated. Requesting additional 300s." } { "Finish quickly. , standby." } { "Tsk." } The first area of Hiraani: The outside hall. Filled with top ss security personnel, highest grade identification artifacts, Master level security mages that could distinguish even a demon from the normal human beings, all of them were part of the area that they had disgusted as the first srea. And, getting past them was no easy task in any way. They had to abduct targets that could be used without much of a hassle, make the skins that were the same as the targets, and then infiltrate as those people in the carriages that they were going to take. And, not all of them were wearing these skins so those who were using master grade stealth techniques and their original identities that was not known to anyone, or were using a special [Bone reconfiguration] technique of eastern origin that couldpletely change the way a physical body appeared to the other. They were experts so they weren''t in direct touch with one another. As the one gathering them had suggested from the start, they were connected through a certain ''link'' that was created by a grandmaster magic Engineer and was impossible to detect or tap in externally. It was an otherworldly technology that the people of this world were never going to understand, so they trusted this one source ofmunication or everything they had to do. They were all criminals. They knew getting directly involved with an other criminal outside the contract terms was never a good thing so, they kept their distance from one another. But, they all had sessfully passed this first and one of the easiest areas and entered the first floor of Hiraani through various means. They had a n outline where they all had toe inside trough the same path, but that changed when the himself reached Area three on his own before any of them had even entered the ce. He was a bastard but he wasn''t called the best or a living legend for nothing. He was good, probably one of the best in the entire world when it came to achieving his selfish goals. Not even the other nine of them were going to get in his way of achieving what he wanted. He was going to get what he was here for, that much was true already. That''s why even as he sat in some room on the balcony, he instructed them and observed their actions through special means. He was after something today. He did not know how he would obtain it, but he was determined to get that from this ce even if he had to deal with every single obstacle in his path. { "Done. Beginning redirection." } { "Move out. On position." } The magic security system of the Hiraani, The toughest challenge for the smartest code breaker of the world. Zack was famous, infamous among every one of the underground mages and magic technicians who worked on theplex magic systems. Even in themon world, there was no young or old person rted to the field of magiscience who had not heard of him. There were even courses in some of the academy rted to his methods of code breaking and, even though no one in this world knew his real identity yet, he had many powerful, and influential acquaintances. He was a one of a kind genius, and an inspiration that even current mage genius like Alf looked up to. { "Anomaly detected. The system control time limit: 180s. Requesting to move quickly." } There was no magic in this world that he could not break, no system of magic, or magic arrays that could stop him. He was the best¡­ but even the best who managed to ovee the toughest challenge of his lifetime, now faced another problem. { "What?! That''s not even enough-" } { "Gear up, everyone. Move. And Zack, use whatever means you can to prolong the time." } { "On it. On it." } Eon named it [Kaloeidos]. A magic defence system that though was his own personal best, it wasn''t the best he could have made. He considered it unfinished, however, even the headmaster admired this magnificent magic defence system and was in the process of creating his own version of the same. It was not only unbreakable, if one did manage to get past it, it would degrade and recreate itself on its own, making the entire work the breakers had put into this go to shit. It was not something Zack had ever even thought about, and yes it fascinated him to no end¡­ there was a problem before them now. And it made the infiltration into the third zone an even more difficult task. Chapter 755: Commotion in area three [Eon''s POV: ] { "Alright then! The next item we have, oh! I think we have seen a similiar item as this one a few years back as well! An apple with the shine of gold!" } [Number 42: 200 Gold.] They were good, I will give them that much. [{ *Aha. To think someone would actually try breaking this from the core instead of the only possible solution of unwrapping every singleyer of it. It''s almost like piercing a hole right through a tower that should have beeen climbed one look at a time. Facinating¡­" }] Zack the code breaker broke through the security system a while back and now was inplete control of the entire system maintaining and controlling Hiraani. He had overtaken everything Oprator B was in charge of and was now doing everything it can to redirect the employees in the acility all around the ce to create a kind of chaos that they could use as a window o opportunity and get past the auction room that reach the area that was connecting to the area which contained the door to the ce where everything appearing the auction currently was stored. ''Zack possessed control over almost everything that was happening over Hiraani''swork in real time, however, the guy did not know what Hiraani was capable of.'' [ "Oprator B. Switch over to the emergency radio. Suspend all ongoing actions." ] I was the one that developed thiswork with the knowledge of thee past times of this world and the world I havee from. A system that though not perfect, was better than anything avble in this world. ''I knew how it worked and I knew there woulde a day when we would lose the control over the system, that''s why we had many contingencies in ce.'' -Skeeech! [ "First assistant unit responding. Contingency C2 in motion." ] The magic security system of Hiraani not only maintained all the operations happening in this vast castle, it also helped the first assistant unit, or the Oprator B with every single thing they did for this facility. The magic security system was the heart of everything happening in this ce, something every single person wearing the head pieces like ours used on hourly bases. It kept track of the resources avble, reliedmands from one unit to the other, assisted people of different divisions with things that they couldn''t do on their own, things like calcting the losses caused by mad individuals or showing the true value of the things present in the auction house. The system was mostly everything, it had been everything even before I came¡­ but, it did not mean it was everything there was to Hhiraani. { "All personal, listen up. Contingency C2 has been announced! I repeat! Contingency C2 is to be executed by every personnel! Practice caution! There are hounds in the shadows!" } We don''t know what their n is, but it would ultimately be reaching the storage area and taking what they were here for¡­ which isn''t even here! ''Whoever the hell spred those fake rumors was a bastard. But thanks to them, we have a chance to meet some of the most amazing thieves of the world.'' They were inside our house. There''s no way I was going to let them go- "Hmm? Big brother. Look. Perhaps there''s something happening down there." "What, dear?" "That person. It seems like they have some problem." Anna was pointing at the very corner of the room down there. A ce whic should have beeen thee same normal ce like any other one. People had individual ces to sit so there should not have been any natural urrence there, however, something certainly was happening down there. And that wasn''t the only ce where something was happening. [{ *Master¡­ looks like tat person tapped into our radiowork.* }] ''Of course he did. A smart person like him should have alredy anticipated the possibility of contingencies.'' But that''s not what I''m concerned about right now. [ "Looks like the mole is acting up¡­ but I can''t see where he is." ] Somemotion started in one corner of the room. Then in some other corner. It rapidly elerated and now, themotions had grown so much people were shouting at others to calm down or sit down on their ces. [ "It seems like the work of master maniptor . He is said to be very good at hiding among th crowd and since they have some kind of artifact that gives them different look, even I don''t know who he is yet." ] [ "Well, what do you want me to do then~? Should I just reeze everyone~? They are soooooo annoying!" ] Miss Sarah had an enchanting voice. A kind o voice that one couldn''t help but be attracted to. And this voice was a weapon far more dangerous than most high magic or sword techniques. She could not only control the minds of the individuals with that voice of hers, she could alsomand the very space and energies with her voice. ''She was from one of the rarest races of this world. And, she was far older than she looked so she knew how to use her powers better than I knew how to use Solnova.'' She was special, amazing, and dangerous. Pissing her off was not something even I would wanna do. Especially not in her own auction room. [ "Alright then¡­ tell them to calm down first so that things at least don''t escte further. I will try and pick out the mole from that bunch." ] [ "As you say dear~." ] She ''requested'' everyone to calm down with a stronger voice than what she usually uses, and right after her words, the voices and screams filling the ce subsided. Then, as everyone was stunned by her sudden voice, I looked around the ce with my third eye. Everything was pretty normal, there was no sigh of any suspicious activities, and more than that, there was no one there that seemed out of ce. Everyone looked perfectly normal, no signs of someone using some kind of skin to cover their identities was found anywhere¡­ even the people who were not yet arguing with each other over various matters had anything suspicious about them. ''Damn he''s good.'' I even used the apprisal on everyone but ounce nothing weird in themon people¡­ which was strange and led me to use apprisal on the entire room. And that was when I found out something interesting. [ "Miss Sarah, just tell everyone to sit down on their seats, nod while looking up at me and continue. Themotion will stop automatically." ] [ "Well, if you say so~." ] She did not care about the thieves or what they were doing here as long as they weren''t disturbing her auction or harming mom and her people in any way. They can quietly go and steal whatever they wanted if it wasn''t hindering her in any manner and she wouldn''t have anything for them. But things would chance if they were causingmotion in her area. ''Lucy, can we track down Zack?'' [{ *We can, sure. But what would that help? He isn''t even here, as you alredy know.* }] ''Yes, but that''s not the thing. I was just asking. And beside, did you see that?'' [{ *Ah, yes¡­ they are meticulous.* }] ''The . That bastard must have figured out there''s a mole among them and made preparations.'' [{ *Yes, but¡­ to invite two more? Without even the others knowing? Twelve of the most wanted criminals of this world gathered under a single roof. How funny is that.* }] ''Twelve¡­ well, nine to be precise. One isn''t here, one is on our side and these two new ones should be counted as a single entity.'' [{ *Two bodies one soul¡­ facinating.* }] ''Two bodies one connected soul, yes. They sure are facinating.'' Sadly, neither two of them, nor the master maniptorughing tears did any good job hiding among themon people with weak mentality that could easily be influenced by Miss Sarah''s words. ''They resisted her power to a certain digree and were not affected by it much, which was a mistake and they knew it.'' That''s why they tried to ''act'' as if they were influenced, but none of the three could do a good enough job to escape my eyes. And, after miss Sarah nodded at us with a smile on her face, all three knew we knew about them and that they had to abort that very moment. ''They could stay if they wanted to actually buy something with their own money but they weren''t that dumb.'' Getting caught would turn our to be many time more expensive so, leaving was the best choice¡­ not that we would let them. [{ *And that marks the finishing point. The system is back up again.* }] The magic system was something like self regenerative software. It repaired itself after someone broke it, and went back it''s original task that it was born to follow. ''It was an artificial intelligence that we made with magic, runes, knowledge of past and beyond this world, as well as with so many rare and importent resources that one could have bought an empire with what it''s creation was worth.'' Thankfully, the maintenance charges were low so we haven''t gone bankrupt just yet. "Wait a minute, Anna. Let me go use the washroom real quick." Putting her down after giving her a forehead kiss, I walked out after greeting the others and mom. They were focused on what was going on down there, but it was nothing to worry about. Their basic n was ruined now. So¡­ it meant they were going to act recklessly. And also that the boss, was on the move. Chapter 756: How to turn the tables [OP: ] { "Emergency alert! The time limit hase to an end! Personal relocation has failed! Area three breach has been unsessful!" } { "Stay in your ces, everyone." } { "Requesting everyone to abort the mission and leave the mission premises! They-" } { "I said wait wherever the hell you are right now. Don''t act recklessly. Listen to me carefully." } { "But¡­!" } { "Zack, calm down and insert the magic form I just sent you into the defence system." } Their initial n was not going to work anymore, the knew it well. He had no choice but to use thest method that he did not want to use if possible, but it was toote now. His two extra heads that he had prepared for any kind of emergency were caught and it would be impossible for them to get past the . The front door into the forth area was not possible anymore, so¡­ they had to use a different method. { "Magic form¡­?" } { "Open the window on your left. There''s an envelope." } He was the mastermind behind this whole n, which isn''t really anything like a proper n, but he was at least the one that brought all of these people together. All of them had proven to be utterly useless in this moment, but they were in no waypletely useless. They were still the experts that thy imed to be. They were still the people who had experance dealing with countless similiar situations where all odds were against them¡­ he just had to guide them properly to get past the sixth gate. { ", go to the first floor area and cause a fire in the joint reception area." } { "Yes sir." } { "I apologise to ask you this, , but is there any way you can make a C-type Brail chip with an emerald crystal?" } { "Hmmm¡­" } The security units were now making their way towards the general auction room where themotion had erupted a moment ago. They knew some of the perpetrators were there so they nned to take them down in the name of calming the situation. The system was repaired and they did not have enough time to crack it once again. The Operators were stillmanding everything. ck angel even knew the one doing all this, the oneing after him wasn''t the Countess herself, but thepetent young son everyone called the young hero. He had made a grave mistake underestimating that young boy as well as this damned magic security system. He could tell from his centuries of experience in this field that whoever designed this system was no human being. Something thisplex couldn''t possibly be created by the mortals like them, he knew this fact. Even he had never seen something like this, but what can they do now that the water had spilled on the ground? There was little they could do now. But, turning the tables was the first priority right now. { "Did you get the disc, Zack?" } He got up from hisfortable seat. { "What¡­ is this¡­?" } { "Just use it on them." } And answering to the stunned reply with a serious voice, he put his little dagger down, kissed her head, then her mother''s, and walked out of the room. { "But this¡­!" } { "I told you to do as I say, Zack! All of us will get caught if you hesitate right now!" } The lobby was empty but he could sense the unique scent that belonged to the young ones of the Heliox. ''Countess'' boy Axion must have walked out just now as well'', he thought. The serious expression on his face deepened further. He had only one chance to do this since he knew better than anyone else just what kind of a ce the true underground storage area of this facility was. He had attempted to infiltrate that ce a few times already, figured out the exact paths one has to take in thatbyrinth, and he even knew how to stop the hundreds of energy beasts from leaving their cages¡­ however, the artificial guardians and that ultimate door that he could never open by force. He would need the key, which was impossible to obtain since only those two had it. He needed that item, it was here, he knew it¡­ but it won''t stay here for long. That''s why He needed to pick up the pace. { "Lord twenty one hands?" } { "We can make it if we have the materials however, even we would need some time." } { "How long?" } { "Five, no. Six minutes. That much is the least. However, it will not be a free service, ck angel." } { "You do not have to worry about that. Look on your left side. The materials are there under the table." } He walked up to the third floor, the highest floor reserved only for a few select guests of the Hiraani, and no guard stopped him. "Greetings, Lord." "Keep up the good work." There were a few people looking through the special items decorated in special ss cases, items that no normal noble was capable of purchasing even if they were to spend all the fortune they possessed. { "Zack." } { "One minute." } The items on the third floor were all special products that cost a fortune, items that were always on disy for special people to see, items that one could only purchase if they have enough fortune, authority, and affinity with the owner of this ce. All the things that he already possessed. That''s why he wasn''t after any of these items. -Weeeeeeeee! rms started ringing in the third floor room and everyone present here was alerted. -Step! Step! Step! The guards on the doors and all around the room started moving hurriedly and each one of them systematically chose one person present and went up to them. They were uniform with their movements and there was no hesitation in their movements. They trusted the magic system that had just been booted up again, and they knew they had nothing to worry about if the system and the operators were looking after them. "Calm down, everyone. There was a fire on the ground floor, that is all. It has been taken care of already." They just had to look after the VIPs here and see if there''s nothing hindering their experience. Doing that was much of their work as the guards and workers of this floor. "Then there''s no problems anymore, I presume?" One of the VIPs asked a worker and as gently as she was a moment ago, she ced the precious item down. "Yes ma''am. We apologise for the inconvenience." "Piss off then. Don''t block the lights." She was too focused on the item before her to even look at the employee, but it was a normal thing around here so they just bowed to her and continued reassuring the customers that everything was all right. { "Alright, sir ck angel. The program has been deployed. The disintegration of their magic system¡­ begins." } He did not want to do it. He admired this magic system so he never wanted to destroy itpletely. It was a waste of a shit ton of resources and months, perhaps years of hard work. However¡­ he had no choice in this matter. The man that knew where he currently lived, was the most dangerous man alive in his eyes. And, he valued his own life above anything else so, he did as this dangerous person said and nted that heinous thing in their angelic magic defence system. { "We are done." } { "Leave it outside room C3. On the second floor. Coin flipping joker, take it and leave it outside the washroom basin on the left most side of the ground floor, Neon demaster will take it from there and take it to underground floor one. Wind of light will take it inside the first Security room, and attach it to the auxiliary Mainframe." } They were all confused by how he knew their current positions and, the more shocking thing was what he was doing right now. { "Once the system has shut downpletely, everything in this ce will temporarily shut down as well¡­ They will have to start the secondary power source on the second underground floor manually. Jackal of stars, along with Uranus Vortex and Wind of Light will take care of the guards thate down to do that." } If everything had gone the way he had anticipated initially, just temporarily cracking their system would have been enough. The two extras he had prepared would have been enough support to clear area four and five, and he could easily get past area six on his own but it didn''t work that way. The system was fine, everything was still organised, themotion in the auction area had calmed down and they were now moving all around the ce to catch them. They were one step ahead of them all this time, he epted that much. "Hey¡­ is your headgear working?" "No¡­ perhaps the system glitch again. Let''s just wait for the instructions from the operators. Be on the radio as well." But what if their entire system that was the base of everything they did, everything that actually maintained everything in this ce disintegratedpletely? What would happen then¡­? "Master Axion. Master there''s trouble!" "I know¡­" The system was a self healing program that could cure itself when needed and defend against the enemies when required. There was no practical way to crack it for ever, however¡­ if one wanted to destroy itpletely from the core itself, it was apletely different story then. "Those fucking bastards." There was anger in Eon''s eyes as he moved looked up at the stairs leading to the upper floors. This fire was a distraction from their side, he knew that already and he was angry that they even dared to burn the ce wheremon people unrted to any of this frequented. He did not like how they were doing something so out of character, but what they just did with their system¡­ destroying the magic system that his mom had cheried all her life¡­ they had crossed the line with this one. He wasn''t going to forgive them for this. Not for this. Chapter 757: Resistance of thieves [OP: ] "No! No! NO!" "This is absurd! How is this happening?!" "Reboot everything! Shut down the system!" "It''s no use sir! The mainframe is not responding! There''s external interference!" "What the hell?! Send someone down there! Go check what is even happening!" "This is bad¡­ this is bad¡­ everything is disintegrating¡­ THIS IS BAD!" "Someone calls Operator A!" The First assistant unit, Operator B. Every single one of the people in this division was currently panicking. There was something strange going on before the screens presented before them and they had no idea how or why it all was happening. They were confused and shocked, some of them even fainted with the shock caused by this incident¡­ it was just too shocking. The entire operating system they relied heavily on, the magic system that they used for almost everything, the automated system that controlled everything happening in Hiraani¡­ their Kaloeidos was falling right before their eyes. And whatever they did, nothing was working. Everything was just crumbling down on its own. And they were helpless right now. [ "Listen everyone." ] They were not panicking because they knew how there were some dangerous thieves inside the castle house right now, but to see the death of the interactive intelligent interface that was like a friend to them with whom they had worked for years and years¡­ they couldn''t handle it. They were helpless, and useless at the moment as well. [ "Everyone?" ] Their master, the owner of this establishment, the countess was calling them, however none of them could hear anything. They were panicked, or focused on the screens, or¡­ they were too busy thinking everything happening was because of them. Because they didn''t do a good enough job. They didn''t respond to two of her calls. [ "Operator B! Listen!" ] She was thankfully outside of their room or else everyone including her Anna would have jumped up with surprise. The way she shouted was so loud every single person present throughout the corridor had heard her voice. Including every single person that was meant to hear this voice. "Operator B, listening!" [ "Calm the hell down. All of you." ] They could tell just from that voice alone just how angry she was right now. It was even easy to picture the kind of face she must be making at the moment, And it was no good thing. They all knew the anger of their master, the kind of anger someone that used to handle every single thing happening inside this auction house possessed. She was dangerous when she was angry. They had seen what she was capable of, so they instinctively knew what to do when they heard her telling them to calm down. "We are listening, master." [ "Good." ] Nn leaned against the wall beside the door to her own room and carefully looked at the report from Eon present on the sparemunication te that they used to use a long time ago. It wasn''t connected with the system so it was still working well so, aside from these emergency radiomunication devices that only a few of them in the Hiraani possessed, these tes were now the only way tomunicate aside from Celes'' connection that not everyone could have. Eon had sent her a report on everything that was happening here just now, so she knew how the system she had looked after from the start to the moment her son made it into what it was right now, was no more. It was gone,pletely. And the Hiranni waspletely vulnerable at the moment. [ "This moment is impotent everyone. This is not the time to wither or drawn in despair. We do not have time for that. There is someone attacking us, and after being cornered, they are using serious tactics. They aren''t just some thieves anymore. They are terrorists that are after our house, people, and peace. They are doing what they couldn''t have done if their ns would have worked the way they wanted, but we defeated them in the first half. Now, this is the second half of the battle. There is still time for us to stabilise, they have not attacked us from all sides yet. They don''t have enough people to do that. Just the security system had fallen, but Hiraani isn''t a family that would all just because some foundational pirs were taken out. The magic defence system was only one thing that we got not ago. We did not have anything like a defensive system that did the work of a dozen men all on its own. We used to have dozen men doing the task that the system currently did for us." ] The enemy was ying dirty now. They were being serious¡­ it was not just about stealing some items that were difficult to steal anymore. It was about much more than that. [ "We don''t have the defensive system anymore, but it''s just a temporary problem. We have someone who recreated that entire system once and in a much better way than it used to be. With some time, he can recreate it. We don''t have to worry about that. Instead, there is an enemy after something that belongs to us. After the stability of the Hiraani. They have already tried setting the entire reception hall ame, so it''s obvious the lives of our people or the people present here matters little to them. They are criminals¡­ and we can''t possibly let these criminals walk around in our house and do as they please, right?" ] Operator B, some of the smartest minds of the world that developed and taught the magic defence system everything it was capable of. They were the minds who made it into what it had been, people that used to do what that system did in the current time. She had never kicked out any employees that have sincerely worked for her even after their retirement. They have always been a part of this auction house, even after things changed and evolved. There were people working ere that had worked here when Hiraani was nothing more than a one story, three room ce that only sold and bought things. She started it as a shop, turning it into an auction, that evolved into a grand auction over a course of two decades. Hiraani wasn''t built in one day or a week, or month, or a year, or a decade. It was her life''s work. And she wasnt going to tolerate some basted thief causingmotion in her house. [ "Operator B. Crack your knuckles and get to work. Show me the sprit we used to have during the Time of Great Depression." ] "Yes master!" "Yes!" "Leave it all to us!" She knew her people. She knew even if they stumbled and fall unconscious, they would always get back up and do whatever it takes to save their asses or else their master would punish them like the old days. It wasn''t a pleasant memory to this day so, they did not want their grown children and grandchildren to see them in pain. They were afraid, and fired up thanks to her as well. So, they got up and took their seats, some who were unconscious a moment ago were also washing up their faces and drinking water to clear their minds. Hiraani was a castle too big to be handled by a single individual, but the original fifteen members of their division used to do it all on their own. The twenty one of them right now could certainly handle that much- "It was difficult to find this ce. Good work to whoever designed the barriers." Operation control room existed in a ce few in the entire structure knew about. A secret ce that had to be kept a secret for a smooth working purpose. It wasn''t a ce anyone can just walk into. "Hello there. Can you all please die for a while~?" Then, who was this bastard? "Alert the-¡­!" -Swish! -Dhum! "I don''t like leaving a mess behind me so, please just obediently die while I''m being nice!" -Dhum! Dhum! Bam! -Swish! -Trrrrrrrrr! "Aghhhh-hhhh-hhh!" -Swish! -Dhum! "Phew." They weren''t strongbatants so it didn''t take him long to deal with them. They sure were some of the most intelligent people of this world but they weren''t much of a threat to someone like him. "Now then¡­" There wasn''t much to do for him in this control room so, he quickly destroyed all he had to destroy and went on his way¡­ His goal was still the same. ¡­ [ "Operator B, report." ] Eon had received amunication request but no one had said anything by the time the connection was established. They were silent all that time, so he thought they must be engaged with something else. It wasn''t new for them to not say anything after a few minutes. They were too focused on important things in times like this. Eon thought this time was the same as he took out his bow and set his quiver on his waist. He was in the second underground passage that was currentlypletely dark. Few lights were illuminating the passage, but since he was there, others with him did not have to worry about the lights or their visions. He had special spells to see in the dark. They were going to be fine¡­ so before entering the battle, he checked up on operator B, however, he did not get any response from them. There was no response even after a few minutes, which worried him. "Celes, check up on the control room, please." [{ Yes master~. }] Taking out an enchanted arrow and setting it on his bow, he looked up before him. "Everyone, be careful. We are not going to fight humans in this darkness." He could tell there were quite a few strong presences around him, a lot actually. There were more than a hundred presences all across the darkness before them, and from what he could see with his third eye, there were opponents so strong he had not faced anyone like them in his lifetime standing right beyond this darkness. They were strong, very strong. But they weren''t anything like the demons he had defeated in the Principality. Or the Lich that had appeared in that city. They were just some abnormal people that were very good at what they did. Pretty much the same as him. "Don''t panic, and just follow my voice." He wasn''t alone here, thankfully. His two presidents were here as well. With theirbined firepower, they could deal with the intruders here, and Miss Moon and the others will take care of the others in other ces. He wasn''t concerned about that. However¡­ [{ MASTER¡­! }] Only a few of them knew what he would do to these thieves for doing something so utterly uneptable to his people¡­ Chapter 758: Against arrows [OP: ] [{ "Miss moon. Please go to the control room. Celes will guide you there." }] [{ "Master¡­?" }] [{ "It''s fine. Leave that one and go there." }] She could tell from his voice he wasn''t in the right state to ask any questions, so she just agreed and followed his will. -Swish! "Please take care of this one, Mister Zuroro. I will have to leave." { "It is alright, miss. You can leave this one to me." } They were fighting a tough opponent in a different part of the castle, a ce where not just anyone could enter, a corridor that lead to the hidden escape route that few in the auction house knew about. There were only one of the opponents before them, however, even though Miss Moon and Zuroro were apanied by the experts of the Hiraani, they found it quite difficult to defend against an opponent like this one. He was strong and more than the strength it had, there was something that bored them, and made things even more difficult for them. "Ktktktktktkt." "There''s just too many of them!" {"Don''t fear them, warriors! They are merely insects hindering us!" } The opponent, a humanoid wearing a hood and strange ck clothes covering his entire body, was the confirmed to be one of the thieves who was trying to escape at the moment, however, he was not the only one present in this passage way. There were mechanical creatures, machines with many legs and one single disc like head that they wre giving a hard time to the experts who were adapt at dealing normal ministers of low intelligence. -Boooom! They were strong and smart, and they could also read and analyse the movements of the knights, as well as the magic that thee mages were casting. Some of these mechanical creatures were capable of using strong techniques that gave them hard time while some of them could cancel the magic of the mages. They were only the size of a small car or dog but they were creatures more powerful than even the (Blue) rank creatures that they had fought throughout their lives. The opponent was strong to deal with as well since they possessed high physical rasistence skills and there was a strong barrier protecting them. They were also very good at understanding and anticipating the attacks of the enemy, and it was giving Zuroro a hard time. Miss Moon was a good help but since the master of the creatures waspletely immune to all kinds of magic she had used until now, she wasn''t fighting against the thieves themselves. She was dealing with the mechanical creatures, which wasn''t needed at the moment. She can go and do what their master had told them. { "You damn bug!" } Zuroro was enough to take care of these bastards. And just like how he was dealing with these bastards on this end, there were other fights going on throughout the Hiraani. "Eon?" There were eleven of them present here in total, nine of them from the original group while two that the leader had secretly prepared for this mission. However, these two trump cards that he had prepared, along with a strongbatant that could have been of a great use, were being held captives by the . They were unable to leave that area and even if they did leave, they werepletely surrounded by strong people from all over the world and their own guards. There would be no way for them to get out of a difficult situation unharmed or with any small injuries so they were just doing what they could to make any mistakes in that ce. One of the nine was a traitor who was fighting and restraining another member from escaping while one had already managed to escape somehow. Miss Moon and Zuroro were fighting one, three were standing behind the dark area before Eon and the presidents, while the others from their group were trying to find an avable escape route. "Let''s finish this quickly. I have to go catch a bastard." However, the fight happening with the group in the dark was the most impotent right now. "What happened?" Cradle asked as she could see a kind of anger she had rarely ever seen in his eyes. Even Zodiac looked at him with a worried look all of a sudden. This look wasn''t present a moment ago. "Oprator B. That bastard¡­" He was holding an arro that was specially enchanted by him and they knew it was strong enough to not break even if a [Rank-5] knight tried to break it with their bare hands. -Crak, -Tak. It was strong, but, it broke down into two pieces as he looked ahead of I''m. "Let''s finish this." His mom did not know yet. But she would find out soon and reach the ce¡­ he didn''t want her to be there alone, by herself, when she saw that scene. "Alright¡­" The presidents also understood there was no need for them to stop them anymore. They even needed to give their all right now so that they can finish this as quickly as possible. -Swish¡­ He took out another arrow as the arrow that had broken into two piecesying one the ground became one with the soil. "Get ready everyone." Those bastards beyond this darkness were guarding something, but it wasn''t their goal here. They were just stalling for time for their leader so that he could go and get what he wanted. No one knew why he was going to such lengths over false information still, however, now that he had crossed the line, Eon wasn''t going to let him get out of this ce. -Tuuuuuck. Setting a wooden arrow with golden enchantments around it on the bowstring, he pulled the string back. "Go." -Swiiiiiiiish~! The arrow was released, and at the same time, a light burst from the point he was standing on. The creatures hiding in the shadows, the wolves that were stronger than many of the creatures that Zuroro was fighting, also got affected by the light for a moment. -Swish! Swish! Swish! Eon vanished from his ce at that moment, and so did his two presidents. -Baaaaaaaaaaam! Light exploded in multiple ces at once, and at the same time, beyond the shadows, the three thieves standing with a serious expression on their faces, had a their eyes widened. -Swiiiiish! An arrow came from beyond the dark fog, the unique Origin skill of the Jackal of the stars, and flew right past the Uranus vortex. -Swish! Swish! Swish! Which was enough of a warning for them to know the first defence line that they had created against those bastards had already been breached. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish~! More arrows flew at them from various different directions and they had no choice but to avoid the arrows as they knew getting hit by any of those arrows would not be a good thing in any way. They were strange enchanted arrows that contained more powers than what met their eyes, and they weren''t dumb enough to not see the connection every single one of the arrows that had flown to them had with one another. It was a vicious magic trap where even if one of the arrows just barely graced one of them, all the other arrows that had been fired until now to the arrow that he had on him would all connect together and make a binding spell that wouldpletely restrain them. They shouldn''t get hit by it¡­ not that it was in their hands. -Swish! Swish! Swish! The arrows kepting at him relentlessly out of nowhere. They didn''t even get the chance to properly act when the arrows were right before them and if not for their superior senses and instincts, they would have certainly been hit by a ew of the arrows. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! And the arrows weren''t simply basic enchanted arrows after a few minutes had passed. -Booooooooooom! There were all kinds of magic arrows containing powerful spells that they weren''t expecting at all! -Swiiish! Swiiish! Swiiish! There were three opponents, a master origin skill user that specialised not inbat but infiltration and retrieval; Uranus Vortex a (tier-8) wind mage that was powerful enough to have fended off the guards chasing after him earlier and was a strongbat unit that could certainly go against arge number of people if he had enough area to move around; and then Wind of Light that technically was a magic spearman, and the strongest of them all. However, even we found it difficult to deal with the arrows that wereing at them from all directions while dealing with a explosion specialist mage, and a boy that used a strange kind of swordsmanship. She was fighting the two of them by herself while dealing wit those tens of arrowsing towards her, and she knew she couldn''t keeep it up for long even if she were to use her full power. The ce they were in, this cave like passage of the underground floor had security measures that maintained this ce, however, now that the system had gone, they doubted whether the ceiling that wasn''t made with any special materials would get destroyed or not. They would die instantly if something unexpected were to happen and they would more certainly face dire consequences if they continued believing in the person they did not even know the identity of. Not only their careers but their lives were on the line as well. -Swish! Swish! Swish! -Swish! Swish! -Swish! And these relentless, infinite arrows weren''t going to stop anytime soon, so, they saw only one option out of this situation. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! -Thud. An arrow of blue magic wasing towards the magic spearman, however, instead of dodging, she just stood there after putting her spear on the ground. "I surrender." She was giving up. Handing her fate in the hands of the one that fired so many arrows in a matter of minutes like it was no big deal. She had not seen anything like this ever in her life before¡­ -Swiiiiiiish! However, just like the arrow that wasing towards her vanished midway like it was never there¡­ she knew the only chance she could get out of this mess, would be through this terrible method. Chapter 759: The Black Angel [OP: ] . A name that every single important person that was at least twenty years or older knew about undoubtedly. As well as a name mostly the children of the Northern continent were familiar with. -Step. His name started spreading two centuries ago and even to this day, people of various nations and continents know him for various reasons. -Step. Step. Some call him in the north, some call him the in the east, and in the Roxana empire, he was famous by the name ever since he infiltrated and sessfully stole one of the prised possessions of imperial family a few decades ago. "Who goes there?" -Swiiiiiiis¡­ -Thud. The previous emperor considered him the enemy of crown and had a dedicated squad chasing after him, finding his traces, tasked to execute the bastard on sight. No one in the world knew his identity, not even the ones he had made deals with, not even the people who had somehow met him personally. Some considered him a ghost, while some thought him to be an intelligent creature that had achieved divinity. There were many rumours about him being located all over the world, various diverse rumours that only increased his poprity. However, his targets and victims never thought of him as anything more than a scumbag that stole their precious belongings. -Step. They knew for certain that the items he stole were all not resold in the market of this or their neighbourings. I he had not destroyed the items he had stolen from the people, he should still have all those things¡ª a theory that sparked the idea of him being one of the biggest collectors of this world. -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ -Thud. Thud. Thud. However, it was just a spection so many of the original dealers like Nn didn''t believe it to be true. However, even she didn''t doubt the abilities of this individuals people called the . "Prepare for battle!" "Formation-¡­!" -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­! -Thud! Thud! Thud! He somehow infiltrated the auction house and directly reach the third area without anyone noticing him, so, some assumed he would be one of the guests or someone who hade with them, however, since they did not know of his original identity, there was no way to figure out if it was true or not. He could have been someone with exceptional stealth abilities like the , they did not know anything about him to specte anything at all. All they knew was that he had powers, and strength enough to overpower even the imperial guards in a way they wouldn''t know what a tally hit them. They knew he was smart as well. So much so that theplex doors or high grade magic wasplexly useless against someone like him. E was good at what he did, that much¡­ everyone knew. -Step. However¡­ -Step. None of them knew about his obsession. -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ Not even the ones that were under attack by his lone self. "Stop right there! One more step and-" -Thud. Thud. "¡­what?" "Sweet dreams." -Thud. Area tree was his starting point and he walked right past area four filled with tens of powerful guards from a path they were expecting them to follow the least. -Step. Theyout of Hiraani was something only the higher employees understood. It wasplex, had hidden passages all across the three higher and the underground floors. The ce that he had gone through was especially a secluded area connected with the second underground floor that was pretty much an empty ce itself. -Step. They did not know how he knew all of this or just how much he knew about this ce, the things in here, and the things that they had, but¡­ he certainly wasn''t stealthy with his movements anymore. -Swiiiiiiiish¡­ "He''sing from the front! All units! Guard the door wi-" -Thud. -Thud. Thud. He was walking right from door to door. From one ce to the other. Without hiding I self from any of them. -Step. He was wearing a mask, a thick white hood, had a pretty tall built that seemed to be like a mage, however, the presence he possessed, as the ones he came across felt, was so great that many of them mistook him for a knight with decades, perhaps centuries of experience. -Step. "You should stop now, mister." Even when facing the elites of the Hiranni that could hold their own against strong opponents like the other thieves that hade after this person, he was not baffled at all. "I don''t think so, miss." -Step. -Swiiiiiiiiiish¡­ "That won''t work here." "s." He was using some strange kind of power that put the ones with a weak mental fortitude to sleep, and perhaps this was a magical ability as he was only using it after their magic defence system had died. -Dhaaaaak! -nk! "You will have to be serious if you really want to do this with a sword." He had passed right through the fourth area and was now in the fifth one, before the gate leading to thest area and thest challenge they all would ghave faced had their ns gone the way he wanted them to. -Clunk! "You damn¡­!" He had only used strange abilities so they concluded physical damage would be the best way to deal with him. -nk! He had not used any physical force until now so they did not have any idea about his physical prowess until this moment, however, as the captain of the first guards unit, or D1 faced him with all her might, she knew the opponent she was facing was much more than just a mage thief or someone with unique powers that put others to sleep. -Clunk! He was a strong opponent with strength surpassing a [Rank-6] knight like her that was on the same level as their uncle Mel. She was strong, one of the strongest in Hiraani¡­ but, she was pushed back one sidedly. "Step aside." He did not use any weapon, and blocked her enchanted sword with only his bare hands. "Never!" -Zaaaaaa! And even though her opponent was not using Aura, forgetting her honor as a knight, she called upon her Aura. "This is as far as you go!" She already knew what this person had done to the other employes he hade across until now. It was already known throughout the house what had happened to the control room and the Operator B. She couldn''t forgive the bastard that did something so unforgivable to the people that were the reasons her home functioned so well on the daily bases. "Haaaa. I warned you." -Zaaaaaa¡­! -Ooooooooong¡­! -Tak. She used aplex technique to attack him, something she had learned from their Operator A2 recently¡­ or at least, she tried executing her technique. -Dhack¡­! -Swiiiiiiiish-Dhum! She did not know what happened, she did not see anything or even perceived what was happening however, right when she finished her techaniqe, she let a strong force crushing her abdomen¡­ and the next moment she knew, she was flying through the air. "Augh!" She had crashed in one of the walls and created a deep crater on the wall. "Countess hasn''t taught her employees how to step aside, I see." The force at which she was thrown back was so strong that her entire body was shaken from inside out and she knew she had received a few internal injuries in the process. She was coughing blood, her eyes red and wide open from the shock¡­ "It was useless from the start." She was dealt with and was the only person that had to suffer. If she had just stepped aside, she wouldn''t have had to go through such a painful experience. He still wanted to keep the bloodshed as limited as possible. "Was it?" -Swiiiiiiiish! -Thuck! However, the voice that spoke up from behind him did not care what he wanted or wished for anymore. "You think trying to block the inevitable makes sense, young master Axion?" He took out the arrow dug deep into the thick wall, and moved his finger on the sharp metallic top of the enchanted arrow. "I know trying to buy time makes sense, at least." There was anger in his eyes that were looking at the entire room before him. "Buy time, you say?" The employees he had trained himselfy unconscious on the floor of the messy room. One side of the strong walls destroyed¡­ blood of the person his mother considered a little sister all over the wall¡­ His rage only grew stronger as he looked at this scene. "Buy time for what though? You?" -Swiiiiiiiii-booooom! Saying that in a mocking voice, he gently threw back the arrow he had taken out from the wall¡­ which somehow broke the sound barrier as soon as it left his hands. "Yes¡­" It was aimed at Eon, was dangerous, and extremely deadly! There was no way any being that was hit by that arrow would have survived without a hole in their body. One would have had to be extremely skilled just to precise iting at them and avoid it. It could have killed any employee if they were in Eon''s ce right now¡­ but not the archer that had owned this arrow. "She bought time for me. That much was enough." He extended his hand, and ced it before him as if he was telling the arrow to stop. -Swash. And the arrow flying at the speed beyond the speed of sound did stop at hismand midair¡­ something that stunned the thie standing before him. "I know how to deal with divine powers." He grabbed the arrow back, and stored it in his storage space. "Dealing with you, sir, won''t be impossible." He was holding Tay, his normal looking bow of strength and swiftness. It was obvious they were going to engage in a physical fight that might also involve magical abilities. He knew the anger Eon had towards him, and Eon knew the burning, unstoppable desire his opponent possessed. -Swiiiiiiiiiish! -nk! -Dhum! -Swash! -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­! He did not understand why he was doing it, but he knew he had too stop this bastard right here. He was not going to stop until he does. Chapter 760: Dealing with divine powers [OP: ] Te ck angel moved so fast that even the captains of the guards of the Hiraani couldn''t properly grasp his movements, it was as if he was moving through space-time directly¡ª teleporting in simpler terms. He was strong and had something that the others did not understand, something most mortals in this world wouldn''t understand. However, Eon was different. -nk! -Clunk! The opponent wasn''t using his bare hands anymore. There was a dagger that seemed to be made up of some kind of crystal in his hand, a dagger so well crafted that even the dwarven craftsmanship was dull before it. It was a divine artifact, Eon could tell at a nce, an artifact that was above anything that existed in this word. A weapon that one could evenpare with the Soul armaments that only a handful of people actually possessed. "I underestimated you severely, young master Axion. You certainly aren''t just a strong ''young'' boy." Eon was attacking him as well, and just like him, Eon wasn''t visible when he moved, creating an illusion that he was also moving through the space-time like the ck angel did¡­ but, what he was doing was fundamentally different from what his opponent was doing at the moment. "This isn''t time to smile and be like that." -Swiiiiiiiiiish! -Swaaaaaaaaash! -Swish. "And you have quite a surprising archery as well." Holding three arrows between his fingers, Eon locked his target, not the person that was before him right now, but the ce that he was going to be after he released these arrows. But the thief dodged every one of those arrows by not changing his position, the arrow certainly was in the right position, however, he changed his body ever so slightly that all the arrows passed right by him. -Ooooooooong! However, all those arrows had enchantments engraved on them so, even as they had passed him, after Eon activated them, they all shot magic that were engraved in them behind them. "And your magic is quite something as well." There was no hesitation in his eyes even when tens of magic that could have dealt with any strong human wereing at him. He was smiling instead. -Snap! An invisible power blocked, destroyed every single one of the magic that wasing at him. -Swish. And, the arrows that had passed right past him also somehow returned and were aiming at his back, however, he vanished by the time those arrows had reached him. "What are you?" Eon was using a simr technique as he was, however he was utilising his skill in the process while on the other hand, the opponent before him was doing it with his pure strength, with nothing but the abilities he possessed. The person before him¡­ he did not expect it, but he was much more than what he had ever imagined. "You don''t have to know yet." He was blocking every single spell that he couldn''t avoid with his dagger and when he needed, he also took advantage of the opportunity and attacked Eon himself. -Swish! If it weren''t for his increased abilities, his skills and the artifacts that he had at the moment, there would have been not one but three times where he would have lost to the sharp dagger. The ck angel wasn''t looking forward to kill him or anything, but, he wasn''t just going to let him walk away when he was blocking his path. And Eon was doing all that he can to block this bastard, even going as far as using his skills repeatedly. "Why are you doing this though, young master?" -nk! Six arrows were shot consecutively this time, however, he cut three of them in half, even though they were arrows made with special material only found in the forbidden forest, and redirected the rest towards the wall where they crashed and destroyed that part of the wall. They were strong, he would give him that much. And if not for his special abilities and experience, he would have lost to this child before him. -Swiiiiiiiiiiish! -Swish! "Why did you hurt everyone! What did they do to you?!" Eon was frustrated, but he kept going. He shot his arrow and continued emptying his silver quiver that stored not hundreds but thousands of arrows of various kinds. A few minutes had passed, however, he had not managed to put a single scratch on his opponent, and from the looks of it, Eon knew his opponent was also only ying with him. "Coteral damage, young boy. Nothing much. You should be happy all of them are at least alive." He would never forget how the entire control room was destroyed beyond help, how all of the individuals in Operator Bwere on the ground, with their injuries or strong marks of force on their bodies. "¡­what?" No one in the first support unit was abat personnel, they were normal humans that just happened to very capable and smart. They weren''t even mages to possesss a strong enough constitution to endure the kind of attacks he had used on them. "THEY WOULD HAVE DIED!" Twelve arrows¡­ he instantly shot a highly lethal pair of six arrows that, after being shot from his bow, flew like a snake, in an undetectable pattern, and vanished from view soon. -Oooooooooong! The twelve reappeared only after a moment where everything had paused, in twelve different ces all around the room, and when they appeared, a strange light wa shot out from them, and all twelve of the lights collided in the same ce, on the opponent. "Damn, you even have quite a grasp on ancient runes. Did some old divine beast teach you all these things?" The arrow that were now blocking him were an ancient magic array made with the original ancient runes of the ancient civilizations. They were the originalnguage of the world, and also something not just anyone of this world could use as they liked. Even a single word rune was difficult to engrave on something. Creating a magic array with the help of advanced magic techniques and runes was something perhaps no one in this world would have ever imagined to witness in their lifetime. Even the headmaster did not know he possessed something like this. "Amazing¡­" Even Eon only had one of these set, and he believed they would be at least enough to restrain him for a moment¡­ but, no. The twelve lights blocking him were strong enough to even retrain the emperor for a few moments, but to him, this entire array that he had spent over a year to create, was nothing more than a difficult mess. -Oooooooooooong! Covering his dagger in a unique ck energy, he moved the dagger through the threads of lights around him, and like a hot knife moving through thread of cotton, one after another¡­ all twelve of the restraints, along with the arrows they were connected to, were destroyedpletely. "Divinity¡­" There were gods in this world, as well as divine beasts that held positions as high as the gods. There were transcendents and Lords as well, beings who possessed the same set of powers as those higher beings did, the only difference between them was the realms they lived in. "You know a little too much for your age, don''t you think?" -Swish! -nk! -Swash! He attacked Eon right after getting out of those restraints, but Eon saw iting and blocked it with Asta, his partner. "Oho¡­ now that sure is something an experienced person would call their masterpiece." Asta endured the attack from the divine artifact, maintaining his dignity as the Noble artifact. The appearance of Asta also put a smile on the face of the opponent. -Swish! But they weren''t going to stop to admire one another''s weapons. At least, the thief did not have time for this. -nk! He just attacked and talked about unrted things in between, trying to distract Eon in any way. But Eon had realised that and was only focusing on dealing with the opponent that possessed a power only those transcendent powers, or higher beings were allowed to possess. A power that only those who have transcended the moral limitations could possess. -Clunk! There were only two kinds of divine powers in this world as well¡ª one that belonged to person using it, and the one that was borrowed from some other higher power. -Ooooooooooooooooong! But this person was using his own divine power, Eon could tell as much since he had studied deeply about divinity from his master. "You are strong, and much more than what should have existed in this world¡­ but, why do you possess that strangely powerful mental defence? It''s not even like you are a pinnacle holder." -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! Perhaps he had seen all that he wanted to see, or perhaps it was because his time had run out, but, he suddenly stopped. "Is it something like a gift from the being that taught you all those things? Is it because of some kind of artifact?" Eon knew how to deal with divine power when it was used in its purest form, or to enhance one''s physical abilities. He knew how he could deal with someone that was using divinity to enhance their physical abilities, and he had Solnova to counter it when it was used as Aura in a fight. But, he wasn''t expecting for an opponent, a thief¡­ to ever possess something more than that. "You have Solnova, perhaps because of some unique skill you were born with, but the way you control it is so refined only a few beings in This world are capable of teaching someone else this method. You have talent, perhaps because your soul originates from some other world. And you have ambitions so our reunion is inevitable." He was gathering his divine power around him the same way one gathered when they were using a special technique, or in many cases¡­ a skill. "What¡­ are you?" Only gods and divine beasts were allowed to use divine powers for something more than Enhancement. A mortal¡­ should never be able to do¡­ this. "You are good, young boy. Please, continue hating me the way you do right now." ck light rose from the ground all around him, the ceiling was turning ck, and the door leading to the side was the only ce that was not covered by this ck light. "That look in your eyes." -Snap! A mirror-like ck object appeared right before his face before vanishing in an instant. "Remember that." -Ooooooooooooooooooooong¡­! Darkness engulfed him from all sides. His vision darkened. The light in the room was reced by the dark light he had produced. And, along with his vision¡­ his consciousness also faded away in the irresistible darkness that had now, engulfed the entire room. Chapter 761: Revelation… [Eon''s POV: ] "It was our mistake, Carol. We weren''t good enough." "But who would have known they have rooted so deep in ournd, Rick? Even someone like me had no idea they even existed! It was a mistake, yes, but we can only learn from it and do a better job next time!" "Next time, Carol? Next time¡­? You want there to be a ''next'' time?" -Crrrrrrrr¡­ Sound of ss slowly breaking down resonated. "I did Not mean it like that! You know that as well!" "But you surely said it, did you not? Why would you even say it?!" "You are just angry right now, Rick! Please stop and calm down!" "How can I calm down, Carol! It has only been weeks and we are in this situation! The mighty Lakmer! If it weren''t for the help of Empire and the trustworthy people supporting us, we would have fallen already! How can you not understand the severity-" "Shut the hell up, you dumb president." -p! She pped him. The sound of that p echoed all across the room as well. "I know what is happening, I know what might have happened and I for a Damn fact know what is happening in this country! I understand your frustration, that anger and sadness but you cannot take it out on me!" Her voice was strong¡­ in that moment, it seemed even stronger than his. "Carol!" -Ooooooooooooooong! -nk! -Crrrrrrr¡­.! -Shattttttttttr! He was angry¡­ he lost control at that moment. As a knight [King] his strength was nearly transcendent. He was strong and one of the calmest people of that nation as we knew, however, his anger destroyed the entire room they were in. "Maverick Gr Lionborn." But she stood there, and just endured the tremendous pressure that no normal human could ever withstand with only their willpower. She was strong. "You cannot shout like that before your WIFE!" So strong that just the voice that contained no power, no special energy behind it reached the deepest depths of his heart. -Swiiiiiiiiiish¡­ "I¡­ I apologise. I didn''t-" "It''s alright." -p! She pped him again. Harder than thest time. "Whatever. Let''s focus on the problems before us." "Yes¡­" He did not mean to. Never before this one person at least. But his emotions got the best of him this time. -p! "Don''t you dare talk to me like that ever again." And he is certainly going to pay for this mistake for a fewing days. "Yes¡­" "Good. So¡­ we were at¡­ hmmm¡­ right. The preparation for the uing war." They seemed to be working on something very important from how there were countless pages scattered all across the nearly destroyed room. The map on the wall, with some specific countries of this world marked with a red triangle, foretelling a dark and mysterious tale. * -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! What we were seeing vanished, and a new scenery appeared before us. "How the hell did we end up in a situation like this, Rain?" "How would I know that, Ora? Don''t you usually deal with matters aside from the concerts and music?" "No one deals with matters that they have no knowledge of, dummy. How would have I known we would be dragged all the way down here?" The silver sky and the sky''s handler¡­ Her mom and dad who had gone missing while returning from their trip to the Eastern Kingdom of Lanier. They were under the water right now, following some merfolks to what appeared to be the grand pce of the underwater city. They were cuffed and they looked concerned. His clothes were torn down as well, and there seemed to be signs of struggle. He wasn''t looking good¡­ and from they way they were being dragged with tens of mersolders surrounding them, it did not look like a good thing. "What do we do now, Ora¡­?" "What else other than begging for forgiveness." Sweat was covering her head even though they were under the water¡­ it certainly was no good situation. "Why did I have to go overboard with that thing and cause-" He was about to say something¡­ * -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­! But what we were seeing changed once again and this time, something more concerning than water appeared before us. { "Muhahahahahaha! With this! With this we will conquer the west!" } It was hell. { "Lord pope would be pleased! Kehahahahahahaha!" } There were demons. { "Lord Bishop-" } There were Rakshasas. { "Silence!" } -Oooooooooooooooooooong! -Pu-tchak! -Thud. And there was a crazy person that popped the head of a Demon just because speaking out without their permission. { "Inferior creature. Puti!" } A spit as ck as filth came out of his mouth,nded in the corpse of the demon, and burned it with an invisible fire so hot not even the ashes of the physical body remained. { "Muhahahahahaha! Do you see this, everyone! This is the key to our victory over the west! Our victory against those empires, those foolish kingdoms and that one half dead nation called principality! Not even the Theocracy can stop us now! Muhahahahahaha!" } This was hell. There was fire spewing out of the ground. The sky was red, there were no clouds either. A thick filthy energy, demonic energy as they call it, saturated the atmosphere. Lava wasing from the ground, there was a castle in the middle of this hell, in its front yard was a podium and standing on this podium was the mad man even demons present all around the castle feared. There were people, creatures standing before him wearing the same kind of white robes with golden embroidery, as well as the red masks with one to six silver stripes. { "You! How does this look like to you~?!" } The lunatic was holding a strange object, most probably an artifact that resembled aplex ancient clock. It was difficult to clearly tell what this object with a clock''s face, a key, and those three strange orbs was exactly, but the way he carried it, the way it his dark eyes behind that masked gleamed, to the way he admired it¡­ it certainly seemed to be a very important object. { "Magnificent, your holiness. Simply ineffable." } { "Right! That''s right~! You lowly ass minions could neverprehend the greatness of this Dial! Muhahahahahaha!" } He so naturally insulted the six striped person that every single person other than him just nodded subtly as though they had known this would happen. It was a strange scene that was quite difficult toprehend for us, however, we did not have to witness this hellside gathering any longer. { "With this, the order will conquer-" } * -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ The scene vanish from before us, and this time, instead of a new scene appearing¡­ darkness shrouded the view, and the consciousness returned to this body. "Mmmmmm¡­" Master woke up. And we seemed to be fine overall. ¡­ "Rise and shine, sleepy head." A voice I had longed to hear during all themotion that had been happening in Hiraani, a voice that was away from us¡­ from me, for what seemed to be eternity, her voice¡­ I heard it even before I had opened my eyes. "Sleeping for the entire night sure was fun for you, hun? Bastard." And after hearing those warm curses, as well as sensing her rough hand on my forehead¡­ I had no need to get up anymore. "You''re back¡­" "No I''m Reinelle, your soon to be wife." "Ptfff¡­ of course you are." I hadn''t even woken up and she was making meugh already. This dumb little witch¡­ "Right? Then why did you call me Back? Did you hurt your head, darling? Has your absurd memory finally be normal?" "Shut up you idiot¡­" What can I do butugh when she was saying all that in that cute voice, as if she was mimicking Anna. "Hehehe. You''reughing so it means you''re fine enough for this." "For what-" -p! "You idiot!" Somehow, I saw thising. Her ps to me were much moremon than Lady Carolina pping Master Maverick with that furious look. "Why the hell would you do that?!" She wasn''t crying, yet. But the way she punched my arms while shouting most certainly broke a few of my bones. "Are you fucking out of your mind?! Have you forgotten how to select your opponents?!" She was going to p me again, with actual force behind her p, and I knew this one was going to hurt, so, I grabbed her hand right when it reached my face. "Rein." She was going to use her other hand now that I had grabbed one, but she also knew I knew she would do that. -Purrrr¡­ But she still tried to p me, and I grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and ultimately¡­ she ended up beside me on this soft bed. "I did what I thought was right at that moment¡­ and I failed. That''s all there is to it." "You could have DIED!" "Shuuuu¡­ don''t shout. I haven''t gone deaf just yet." I do understand why she is like this, and I certainly ept my mistake. He was too strong of an opponent and I misjudged the extent of his powers. ''It was my mistake and I do deserve the curses and her anger.'' But nothing still happened to me¡­ ''I would have died if that bastard wanted to kill me, at least I would have been injured very badly, but since Lucy did not overtake and things just ended within moments, I don''t think anything noteworthy happened to us.'' At most, we were put to sleep without our wills and seeing as how I was still in one of the rooms of Hiranni, it doesn''t seem like a lot of time has passed. ''We were just sleeping¡­ thankfully.'' Looking her right into the eyes with teardrops at the end of my eyes¡­ I hugged her. Tightly. "I¡­ was afraid¡­" I didn''t have enough words to describe what I had went through in that short time I fought against that damned thief, but I remember one emotion I had felt in myst moments¡­ "It¡­ was scary, Rein¡­" I didn''t know what to do in that situation. My mind was nk. It was strange but¡­ for the first time after the early days of my time in the forbidden forest¡­ for the first time after meeting Celes¡­ it was the first time after a long, very long time¡­ I felt alone. Completely isted from every single thing that exists in this world¡­ "It was scary¡­" Chapter 762: Meeting That person [Rein''s POV: ] ''I had never seen him like that¡­'' It wasn''t the first time he cried in my arms, but the way he kept crying for hours back then was apletely new side of him. He was mentally strong, one of the strongest in this world perhaps. But even he broke down and let his tears flow for that long of a time. ''It was apletely new thing for me¡­ for us actually. Everybody in the house knew about this incident already.'' He said he was alone in that ce, and even Celes came out after he had woken up and started crying because she was separated from him. It was difficult for me to understand what they were trying to say for a while, but I figured it out soon. ''The person he was fighting was somehow able to separate him from everything else in that ce. And by him, I mean just him. Even his special person inside of him, Lucy, was disconnected from him.'' Even Zoe who always knew everything that happened to him had no idea about any of it until after they found him in that destroyed room. ''I came at night, and everything had happened in the afternoon.'' Mother Nn told me how there were thieves that they already captured and how the one that had gathered them managed to escape after defeating Eon, a shock I was not expecting to hear as soon as I arrived from that goddamn shithole. "Haaa. How far is this damn ce?!" "The map is showing it''s just a little ahead of that tree over there. We''re almost there." "Fuck this! I''m not doing this next time! She should live in a ce where we can at least reach quickly for a freaking tea party! Who the hell is she to live in the middle of nowhere like this?!" "Um¡­ someone who got second ce in the annual alchemypetition? As well as someone who''s probably a lot stronger than us?" "No! She''s a half demon bitch! A Bitch!" All the matters of past happenings on one side, we were going to the ce where that demon bitch lived. The one prince Charles had apanied during thepetition. And it was getting more and more frustrating as we climbed this damn mountain! "Calm down now. We are almost there. Comin directly to her all you want when you are there." "That''s what I''m going to do! Hump!" He got an envelope from Prince Alph during Anna''s grand tea party that was sealed and only opened when openedter that night. It contained a simple letter inviting us to a tea party and coordinations of the ce where we had to be for this tea party, which apparently was located way down from our territory, in high mountains in the middle of nowhere. ''I still don''t know why we were climbing this damned mountain instead of flying there directly but, whatever!'' I don''t care anymore. It had been six freaking hours we were walking on foot after the nearest city from here¡­ which was not Near at all! I don''t even remember how much we have walked until now, but if he wasn''t lying this time about the final destination, we would reach that damned ce in a bit. "She better serve us a divine tea." "I''m sure she will." This basted¡­ I will never forget the day he broke down like that. Beingpletely isted was no good experience for him. ''He told me how right after waking up, when he remembered the time he was in that¡­ darkness, many things from the past resurfaced in his mind.'' From the time he was separated from my inws, the time he spent an entire night in a broken tree trunk that was getting attacked by a bore, to the time he spent alone from his master¡­ all the times he had been alone resurfaced all at once and he did not want to control them. At all. He did not have enough strength to do so. ''He lost against a stronger opponent, a thief that was stealing something from them, from his mom at that. He didn''t like it, and more than that, he did not like how there was practically no information of that bastard on them.'' Since he had destroyed the entire control room and knocked out the operators as well as almost all the important personnel of the Hiraani, no one had anything on him. There were no signs of him even in surveince equipment, and everyone they talked with did not see any suspicious activities. ''He spent three days trying to figure out even a little clue about that bastard but, even he couldn''te up with anything.'' We got no leads and no answers. The mysterious ck Angel was still the same mystery man the stories and tales made him to be. ''And it was fucked up.'' He was overworking himself for the two days the winter festival was going on, as well as on the day they cleared everything and returned back to their everyday lives. Everyone from the family was worried about him but since he was saying he was fine, even though he clearly was not fine at all, they left him be. ''I had already told them about this invitation from this ''Special'' person, so they at least knew he wouldn''t stay the way he was.'' Three days passed, everyone got back to their daily life, and we came all the way here for this shit as hell tea party¡­ in this mountain range, with trees and powerful, dangerous monsters all around us. ''Welp, there weren''t any creatures on the path we were following at least so that was a good thing.'' Those innocent creatures were better off away from me right now. I don''t want to release all my anger on those poor animals. I wanted to kill something aftering back from that marquis estate anyway. That bastard yed tricks to trick me the entire time I was in that territory. ''I wanted to kill him¡­ but we had to end things with a simple duel.'' Beating him up gracefully in a noble manner didn''t give me the kind of satisfaction I wanted¡­ so the pent up frustration was still there. And this damned trip had only increased it to many folds. Plus, the disappearance of my parents was no good news. Not especially since Eon was saying he saw them getting dragged to the King of the underground city of merpeople as prisoners in his dream. ''He was saying strange things like how Lakmer was going to wage wars on neighbouring countries and how the demonic cultists had gotten their hands on some strange artifact that, as They calmed, was going to help them win over the entire western continent.'' Those were absurd things and he knew that as well. That''s why he only told those crazy things to me. There was no way a neutral nation would forsake their neutral stance after hundreds of years of strategic political monopoly. They were a nation that worked with words as long as the violence was not the onlyst avable answer. ''I don''t know what to think of this strange dream he had.'' There was always a possibility it was just a baseless dream and that whatever he saw was only made up by his mind. But¡­ since he was taking those things seriously for some reason, I didn''t know what to think of this. ''It could just be the side effects of the trauma.'' A few days back, mother Nol told me how there was only one thing that had been stolen by that thief, however, they did not have any kind of record of that thing. At all. ''Not even he remembered having anything other than the items present in the storage room at that time.'' The auction data list said something was missing however, they had no idea what it actually was. There were no records of it. Which was strange once again since every item in Hiraani was given a unique identification number and it was checked before the auction. ''The records of headcount said something certainly was missing from the time before the auction, but there was no record of it.'' Which was strange once again. And he had put every bit of his mind to solve this mystery thesest few days, and still failed to understand it. Perhaps all that made him think highly of that dream. And¡­ Facing that person and getting separated was a kind of experience he never knew he needed to get better, to learn more about himself. ''Perhaps it could have been the reason he saw that weird dream in the first ce.'' But whatever it might be¡­ it was important for him. I know that much. So I''ll just do my best to believe in him. "Alright, we are finally here¡­" We reached the location! Finally! "¡­but, where''s her house?" He was confused as soon as we reached the location. The ce we had reached was a simple open area with a little more light than the rest of the forest. There was nothing special about this ce. At least, not to normal eyes. "There''s a boundary, Eon." I could see it. Just like the one present some distance away from our estate, there was a boundary in this ce that looked like apletely ck ce to my eyes. "A boundary? You mean a permanent boundary? Here?" Even he couldn''t see this with his special eyes, just like the previous one. "Yup. And it''s like a gate. A square in the middle of this ce." It was different from the one we have back in our estate, the one in the crack of a tree. It strangely resembled a door, and there were no signs of any activity in this specific area to indicate the presence of monsters either. Which obviously meant this thing wasn''t just naturally present here. "This should be the ce." "Her house?" "Or a ce leading to the house. We will see once we cross this." All boundaries were connected to some other point of space. And there was no guarantee that ce would be on this. "Wow¡­ now this is what I call a secret hideout." This bastard¡­ he was suddenly all excited now. "Hump! Whatever!" I didn''t like her from the start but now, she was even influencing my husband! ''I don''t like that bitch at all!'' Secretive half demon bitch! Chapter 763: Beyond another boundary [Eon''s POV: ] Rein could see the space cracks or boundaries with her special eyes so if she was saying there was a boundary in this ce, I had no need to not believe her words. "Let''s go then." But I wasn''t going to let her go in there first. Not this ce. -Oooooooooooong! I walked in towards the ce she was pointing at and after stepping forward only a few steps, the scenery before me changedpletely. -Chirp~. -Chirpy-chirp~! Sound of little birds chirping filled the surroundings. -Oooooooooooooong! She entered right after me and saw what I was seeing in front of me, and was astonished as well. "Wow¡­" The ce we seeing before us right now, was not anything like a simple open area with trees present behind. It was much more vast, attractive, fresh, and magical than just a simple ce like that. There were trees all around us in some distance, there front area wasplete grasnd and there was a small house present before us. The sun was shining with less intensity in this areapared to the ce we were a moment ago. The de of grass here were a little bigger than normal, however, they were much greenerpared to what we usually see, or what we have in our gardens. The air in this ce contained more mana and natural energiespared to normal and the forest behind us¡­ "The great ins of Adanca¡­" "Looks like we both know where we are at least." I could never forget that forest, while she had some unforgettable memories of this ce. ''She lost her Bob here¡­'' It was a special ce for both of us, and we weren''t expecting to be here anytime soon, not like this at the very least. "Is it just a coincidence that her house is located on the northern entrance of a forbidden zone?" "I don''t know¡­ in the first ce, would she knew so much about us that she would find a boundary leading us to this specific ce, make a house here, and invite us for a tea? Logically, it seems just like a coincidence, but we wouldn''t know for certain." "We can know for certain if we just ask her directly though, no? Let''s go then!" She was angry at her and didn''t like her in the first ce so she had been acting all upset and grumpy since earlier, but she followed after me till the end so, at least, she also wanted to meet her. "Oy. Slow down." She was running there and before I could even blink for a few times, she had already reached the doors of the small wooden house. "You dummy." It was a simple two story house made of strong wood that seemed to be gathered from the forest behind us. There were some pretty carvings all around the house and natural colors were used to paint some of the ces. ''It wasn''t too fancy, pretty normal actually.'' And there was no special vibe to this house either. It was just a normal house in a not-so-normal ce. -Step. Step. Step. "You should knock. She gave the invitation to you." "Well¡­" It''s true that no name was mentioned in the letter, but she didn''t specifically say I can''t bring someone else with me either. We will just see what happens though¡­ she at least isn''t going to kill us here, hopefully. -Knock. Knock. Knock. "Coming~." A cheerful voice came from behind the door as soon as I knocked on it. And only after a moment, the door opened up. "You''re early just as I had expected~." The voice we were hearing was a little different from the voice of the person we knew, just like this voice, the one that appeared before us was also someonepletely different. "W-who¡­ who are you?!" "Ah, Miss Reinelle~. This must be your first time seeing me in this form. Haha, don''t be surprised though, this is the way I actually look." "¡­" When we saw her for the first time back in thepetition, she looked much younger than what she looked like now. She seemed to be no older than Miss Mia. Perhaps she might have been older ording to her special bloodline, but she certainly had a much younger air to her as well. But now¡­ "Huhu, don''t just stand there like that~. Please,e in." She was a maturedy that looked as old as Aunt Aug but not older than grandmother. Her skin was now a dark shade, her voluptuous body containing a strange charm, and since she was only wearing a thinyer of clothing¡­ [{ "Stare at her a microsecond more and see what happens." }] [{ "Haven''t you said something simr before as well?" }] [{ "Yes and you didn''t try and test what I could do to you. You won''t do it again either, I know that already." }] [{ "Aye ma''am. I''m no dummy like you." }] She had curved horns on her head right now that resembled the horns that some demonic or draconic species have. Her hair was white like ashes as well, and the eyes that were golden thest time I had seen her, were now pink with a hint of purple. A little different from my Aura but quite close to Rein''s eyes. ''She looked attractive, and the air around her seemed more refined as well.'' She gave off a feeling I get from people like the headmaster or grandpa, nothing even close to demonic or evil¡­ which made me even more certain. ''My [Dynamic heart] can detect the presence of demons, and elements rted to them. The evil of one''s heart, their bad intentions, and things that could harm me.'' It informs me if there was a threat present around me, and it has saved me many times. ''It''s a passive ability that does much more than detecting demons that I use regrly.'' There have been times I have avoided dangers all thanks to this heart of mine, and if that same heart was quiet while standing right before this person, I knew at least my life wasn''t at risk here. "Please excuse us." We don''t know what kind of person she was yet, but Rein was just as determined as me to find it out. "Thanks for having us." We walked in and followed her in her cosy house that was just as normal as it was from the outside. There was nothing particrly special about the house, however, the backyard of her house, the venue for our tea, was a pretty ce with a looooooooot of flowers. So many flowers that Aunt Haze would have been jumping with joy after seeing so many pretty and rare kinds of flowers. "This is pretty¡­" "Hehehe, I knew you''d like this little ce." It was pretty amazing how she grew such a garden in a normal ce like this. The dense Mana might have been helpful but cultivating flowers of this kind was a kind of difficult task that I had learned from the teachings of master and aunt Haze. It wasn''t easy to grow multiple unique flowers in the same ce, but she did manage to make it possible. ''And when together, they all created a pretty and harmonious environment.'' The atmosphere of this ce was calming. Soothing as well. [{ "What is this, Eon? Wasn''t she supposed to be some demon bitch that would have been rude to us, to me at least? You said she knew I don''t like her. Why is she so happy to have me?" }] Rein liked his ce much more than many of the other ces we have stayed in or been to. It was small, isted, and since there was a forbidden forest right next to here, there were many things one can do here and go unnoticed. ''This was the kind of ce she wanted for us. A kind of ce that was pretty much the same as the house I was building on the sky ind.'' She liked that ce but these grasnds had some special attachment to her heart. It was only for a short time, but she made that creature, the Bob as she named it, and it left a strong impression on her. ''I knew how nostalgic she was feeling now that she was here. But she had to understand that it was only an artificial simtion.'' That creature was never real so there''s no way for her to meet it again. There was no data left of him that she could recover either so, he was gone now. And, nothing was going to change that fact. "Apologies for keeping you waiting~. Making sweet things isn''t my specialty but I did my best. I hope you enjoy it, miss Reinelle~." She came out with a tray full of three teapots with three different kinds of teas for the three of us. There was only one tea cup alongside the three teapots, which made us question how she knew about our tea cups, but before we can suspect her of anything- "A little birdie told me you use your own tea cups for every tea so I made sure to not bring any extra cups. This table is already small, so won''t have much space left with extra things." She already knew our identities so we were assuming she knew a good lot about us, but seeing she even knew about our teacups, it seems like she knew much more about us than I had expected. [{ "How much does she know exactly¡­?" }] [{ "A lot, perhaps?" }] She even knew our tea preferences, especially how Rein liked sweet tea served with cool desserts. She has prepared her own version of sweet tea for her, her version of ck tea for me, and a herbal tea for herself. And since she had them in the teapots, we can try the other teas as well. She was thoughtful. "Miss Reinelle?" "Ah, yes." She served us tea personally after I gave Rein her cup with a smile that still didn''t feelfortable to Rein. She didn''t like this person, but after really meeting her and being with her for only a few minutes, she had conflicting thoughts about her. ''She seemed to be a good person, just the kind Rein liked being around.'' She could see the horns on her head, the darker skin tone, and those ashen hair, and still¡­ she couldn''t bring herself to hate her as much as she did beforeing here. She wasn''t evenining how we had to walk all the way here either- "Oh, right. I think you didn''t use the invitation I sent and walked all the way here? I had worked hard to prepare that magic teleportation invitation, you know?" "¡­what?" Opps. Looks like I''m going to hear a bunch of curses now. Chapter 764: Wali [Eon''s POV: ] "You two are quite open about these things with each other, hun?" "Yeah¡­ too open, perhaps." One of my eyes was covered in bandages and ointment, while my hand was wrapped in leaves as well as more bandages. "Hahaha, seeing that was quite fun for us~." [{ Master wasn''t defeated! Master lost purposefully! }] [{ Yes yes little kid. I know that already. }] After she told her about the teleportation spell on the envelope, Rein got angry and I had only thought she would curse at me and nothing more, but, things escted quickly after I tried to apologise to her. She first punched me in the eye and bruised it, then she threw me on the ground without flowers, and caked me¡­ with half her strength, which almost broke my arm. ''I don''t have a healing skill anymore so it''s not going to heal on its own but, since it''s only a little injury, it shouldn''t take it long to recover.'' I had taken the potion and the look she had now seemed to be much more cheerful than before so, this wasn''t too bad. She didn''t curse at me or cause amotion on how I tricked her or kept things from her so at the very least, the way she was quietly drinking her tea was pretty good. "Anyway, Miss¡­ I still don''t know what we should call you." "Right. I haven''t introduced myself yet, have I? How silly of me." She had used an alias in thepetition and we never got to know her true name so, technically, the introductions were still pending even though we had finished half of our tea. "Ahem." She faked a cough, stood up from her ce, bowed to us gracefully and in a charming but strong voice, she spoke up¡­ "I''m Walirushad Joan Aswang Nitika, a demon born and the child of a Saint recorded nowhere in history. Sessor of Nitika, the old fallen family of weapon arts that people of this world will never know about, legitimate sessor of a demonic Marquis, propagator of the twelfth holy art, owner of the Fan Armament, family of a little Eternity, and a master of Divinity. However, you can call me Wali~." "¡­" That''s an introduction? "Ummm¡­ why didn''t I hear half the things you said, Miss Wali? It seemed like only your lips were moving¡­" "What¡­?" She didn''t hear those absurd things? How is that possible though? "Well, you see dear, you don''t have the qualifications to hear or know those things." She smiled warmly at Rein as she sat down and right after seeing the sudden anger on her face, she shook her head. "Don''t misunderstand Miss Reinelle. There are manyplicated things in this world that are beyond just the battlefield or an iprehensible flow of time. There are restrictions on those who possess something themon elements of this world should not know about, some of the things I mentioned are just an example of that. Knowing it will only harm you so, I suggest until you receive the qualifications to know that, you should avoid them." She paused and took a sip of her herbal tea before continuing. "You already possess a unique qualification that your partner does not. He won''t hear if I talk about anything rted to ??? or ???. It''s a natural process and rules that even the highest powers of this world follow. We are all bound by it." It wasn''t my first time experiencing it, but, after master, this was certainly the first time I was restricted from knowing something. [{ *Master-* }] ''I know you know what she said, Lucy. But I don''t need to know it yet.'' [{ *Yes master.* }] I knew about a lot of things already since my master had taught me that way. From the very basic to the highest level one needed to reach to continue learning on their own. I knew not one but six truths of nature, and in addition to that, I was her sessor. I already had many titles, some unique to my own, so there were a lot of things that weren''t restricted to me. ''But knowing the grand scale of this nature, I know for sure what I can know about is still not even a tenth of what is avable in this world.'' I can''t see boundaries like she does or the world that lies beyond the fabric of the universe. She possessed eyes that can see the true nature of things while even though my eyes could analyse things unlike anything else, they couldn''t see the truth of anything themselves. ''And Rein had even gotten that new title a while back because of my damned card skill.'' She was allowed to know some of the things that I did not, while I knew many things that she could not. And since I had Lucy, who practically possessed all the knowledge my master did and perhaps more, she wasn''t bound by themon restraints. "Well, that''s all for my introduction and I know a good lot about you two already so we can skip your introductions for now. The weather is nice today so instead of wasting time and beating around the bushes, how about we talk about some actual interesting things. Like the person you fought against a few days back and what they were actually after?" "¡­?!" "How do you know about that?!" She was a demon born as we knew already but she was not a bad person and I was only here to confirm if she was the one that helped Ball when he entered the Shadow realm. There were things that we could have talked about outside of that, like her unique way of creating the things in thepetition or how she even attached a teleportation spell on a piece of paper. But¡­ I was not expecting her to directly reveal that she was from some weapon handler family, or that her father was a Saint, as in someone that had reached the level of a Saint in origin Arts, or that her mother was a demon marquis. She said she possessed a Soul Armament, had mastered divinity, was master of an Eternity, and if that wasn''t enough, she was iming to be the one that had propagated the twelfth holy art, or in other words, the art we now know as (Weapon dances). To calm herself to be the one that initiated weapon dances she would first have to be at least ten thousand years old, and after that, she would have to be as proficient in the weapon as our vice headmaster was right now. ''Her ims were ridiculous already, but those things on one side, the way she was smiling at us right now¡­'' She brought up the subject of the person that stole that unrecorded thing from our auction herself, and she was smiling as if she knew something about him. "How much can you tell us about that person?" "Ah, I like that straight face. Huhuhu." Rein was confused why I was trusting her words since she did not know about the things she had introduced herself as. Her name Wali was not the only thing she had said about herself, she was a much more special person than even the headmaster if all that she said was true¡­ which it most probably was. "Alright, should I tell you about [Kreatzaq] first? Oh, since both of you can at least know about divinity, how would you like to know different sources of it~? Do you know how one obtains divinity and how it''s used~?" She was starting with an unexpected topic but it wasn''t unrted to this conversation. The ck Angel had used a divine skill at the end, a skill not just anyone could use even with unfathomable strength. It was unique and only allowed to a few people¡­ but I have never really known how the skills are used or how divinity itself actually works. Master didn''t teach me that specifically since it''s not something one could learn in the first ce. Divinity is a unique power, an authority on par with the World authorities or perhaps even beyond that. It''s a special power that one can only learn the use of on their own, and it varies from one being to another. "Alright then. I believe you already know what divinity is, but putting it in simpler terms, it''s a power of the world, or the energy of highest grade. The power to do anything one cannot with simple magic or skills. It''s a power that higher beings as we call them, or those ascended souls that have achieved enough ''achievements'' and ''enlightenments'' in the physical mortal world naturally master. However they aren''t the only ones who could use and lend someone else their own divinity." She looked excited however, for some reason, I could feel a little concern present deep within her eyes¡­ or not. Perhaps I was mistaken. "Those who understand the true nature of any one element of nature, be it an artistic field or a special field, if they achieve aplete understanding of it, all its aspects and everything there is to know about it at least in their own perspective, they are granted the authority of Divinity. That''s how most swordsmen, or artists unrted to any weapons or magic, or mages working in a specific field achieve divinity. Though, if a being manages to know even a single thing about all elements present in this world through whatever means, they are granted the authority of Dignity. The ones we call Saints, or the Transcendents, or the Monks that no one ever knows about, those who live a solitary life away from all other lives, achieve divinity this way. There are a few special objects in this world, and being chosen by these objects grants one the opportunity to gain Divinity. Getting stigmatised by a divine being grants one their divinity as well as the chance to gain their own going forward- ah¡­ looks like I ended up speaking a little too fast." We knew some of the things that she was saying but, when she said those things in that tone and with those calm expressions, even though the speed at which she was saying things was fast, they were clear to us. That wasn''t what had stolen away our speech. "Um¡­ miss Wali, what''s¡­ that?" It wasn''t there a moment ago, but it was certainly there now. It had appeared out of nowhere and appeared to have been present there since the beginning. ''And that confused both of us even more¡­'' That thing¡­ it was unbelievable. Chapter 765: Elder Eternity [Eon''s POV: ] The Great ins were vast so even while sitting in this backyard, we could see the vast grass fields that stretched on the horizon. There were in des of green grass all around here, some ces with some flower fields, some big and small trees where birds resided, and there were also small ces where grass wasn''t present. ''This was also one of such ces where grass wasn''t present for some reason.'' We didn''t think much of this ce when we noticed them throughout the grass field since there wasn''t much special about them. They were spots without grass in a grasnd full of grass. There wasn''t much we could have thought of this ce. ''We were listening to her words withplete focus, but perhaps it was because our attention was slightly diverted in a way, or perhaps it was because of the sheer size of this being¡­ but, neither of our eyes could possibly not notice that thing.'' It was massive. Like, masssssssssssive! "Oh, looks like you can see Albert. As expected of your sharp and truth seeing eyes." She was smiling warmly as she looked at that massive thing with love present in her eyes. Far from being surprised by that thing, it was clear that she not only was familiar with it, she also knew it well enough for her to have that loving look in her eyes. ''She said she is family of an eternity¡­'' So, it was at least clear that the thing we were seeing right now, the thing that I did not want to be something that actually existed there, was in fact an Eternity, a being on par with the creatures of mythos. ''Absurd¡­'' I could only see its faint outline and as it had be invisible but the winds were making its outline clear. It was a little difficult to grasp the true volume of this creature, but even from how much we can see it, we can tell this being was around three times the size of Rein''s grandma''s giant turtle. And that was just by height. ''A centipede-like creature from what we can tell, with countless legs that were the true culprits behind the grassless spots.'' I had used my third eye to look at the extent of this creature by looking at it from above, but still, it was just toorge. ''This creature was at least a few kilometres long, was wide enough to cover three houses like the one beside us, and though we couldn''t see all of it yet, I can tell its legs were three to four times Rein and my heightsbined.'' It was a kind of creature I had never expected to encounter ever in my life, not after seeing the true form of Master. It was longer than the dragons mentioned in the stories, taller than the world turtles that were big enough to carry mountains and inds on their backs. There was no presence to this creature so one canpare it''s presence with the stealthy flight of a griffin as well, but, this being was none of those creatures¡­ "Albert! They can see you!" { "How is that possible! I''m not even moving!" } "Stop hiding ande ask them yourself!" { "Can I do that?! They are only children! They might get scared!" } "Then turn into something like them!" { "Oh! We can do that as well! Right!" } "I you did not forget to bring the thing I asked, right?! You will have to go back you did!" { "I don''t forget things like you do Wali!" } The kind of conversation they were having was the kind of conversation mom would have with dad, or something Rein was I would say to each other on the mostmon and simple of the day. There was a smile on her face, and anticipation in her eyes. ''Inferring the kind of rtionship they had wasn''t that difficult¡­'' But still, the thing they said to each other, that changing into something like us part¡­ that was concerning. [{ "Oy¡­" }] [{ "I know. Just keep watching¡­" }] Rein was stunned the first time she saw the movements of the grass, and the way the winds collided with something in the space. The winds of these ins were pretty special and the wind element was prominent here as well so as someone that can sense the waterdrops the winds were carrying, she can tell there was something before us. ''She noticed that creature before me, actually¡­'' -Ooooooooooooooooong! But for the first time, the invisible creature was revealing its original form. "He had prepared himself to meet you two, but since he doesn''t like being around anyone else, he was shy and had gone for a walk. You came early so he didn''t know how toe before you." She continued calmly sipping on her tea as a light so great it was enough to blind any normal human for the rest of their lives covered the entire great pains of Adanca. { "Apologies, children. I know I''m a little clumsy, but please bare with me a little." } "It''s fine. They are stronger than the children we have met until now." The invisible great creature, an eternal being that cannot be put on the same level as any other creature, a [White] ranked creature that possessed a level of mana that could not be measured with human standards¡­ a true, elder eternal being revealed its true form before us. "He''s one of a kind¡­ just like the rest of us." With the blinding light, the skin of invisibility first vanished and revealed its original form¡­ [{ Wow¡­ }] A magnificent creature sorge it seemed to cover the entire ins in our sight, so tall it seemed like we were nothing more than dust crystals, and it possessed so many legs that it was as if just the number of its legs could each carry the entire poption of a big city. Its exoskeleton was tough and green, with natural lights and unique patterns present all over it. The eyes that were looking down at us, the ferocious eyes of a predator that could not bepared with anything either of us had witnessed in our lifetimes, these red eyes were deep, just like blood. ''Celes was astonished.'' She wasn''t speaking much since a few days ago since she couldn''t forgive herself for whatever happened to me. There was no point in epting herself as the one to me, but she was not listening to anything any of us said. She kept silent, said only when she had no choice but to speak, and just med herself for being the weak one. ''She was practically locked in her mark as well.'' But she was still connected to me so she could feel how I was feeling back then and she knew even though I was there, she could note out and help me with whatever was going on. ''She had not spoken much since then, but even she couldn''t hold back her admiration for this absolute creature.'' It was majestic, it was phenomenal, it was divine¡­ There might be words out there to describe how I was feeling, how we were feeling as we looking at its glorious beauty, but I know for a fact there aren''t any words out there that couldpletely describe the uniqueness of this creature. -Oooooooooooooong! We wished we could keep looking at it but with another burst of intense green light, it changed its form, its entire body got covered in that light, and started shrinking down. "We don''t use themonnguage often so pardon me if I say something I don''t mean." The creature that seemed like it could wrap around the entire world if it wished for it, the creature that resembled an insect like creature, that same creature that made us all skip a heartbeat, in only a blink of the eyes, had turned into a human. "Greetings. I''m Albertus or Albert as she calls me. It is my pleasure to meet the sessor or as well as the sessor of at the same time. It will always surprise me how you two have be so close despite the opposite natures of your fates, but, after learning how the opposites are the best for one another from this prettydy, I believe you two will see some good things on your journey together." "You weren''t supposed to say so much all at once, Albert¡­" She shook her head with a palm on her face with disappointment, and-¡­ wait! "Do you know my master?!" "Hmm? All of us would obviously know her." First of all, the giant insect-like creature had turned into a human that unexpectedly looked as attractive as King Salvio Neron Ned, the protagonist of my trantion epic. Tall and tough like grandpa, an old and wise air surrounding him, his eyes carrying light of ancient secrets, with his deep shiny green hair and those deep red eyes making him look unfathomably beautiful. Second of all, he knew grandma! ''There''s no other person that could have a grand title like that!'' He called her by a title I had never known about, but only she possessed white mes. mes that could bring salvation to any being that needed it. "You might not be as forgetful as me but you certainly are too dumb for your age." She grabbed his ear, twisted it¡­ which might have hurt a lot, certainly, and made him sit him down beside her. "Sorry about that. I didn''t want you to get surprised like that." She knew grandma as well¡­ she knew everything about us! Both of them¡­! They knew everything about us from the start! Even things we did not know about! "See. You started them!" "Didn''t you just say they are stronger than the others!" "Not mentally, no! Not for things like these!" These two¡­ "What¡­ are you two?" I wanted to jump up and get in a defensive stance but, I couldn''t do anything right now. "What did you do to her¡­?" Something was happening with Rein, her eyes¡­ they were glowing right now. She was holding my hand so tightly it was on the verge of breaking¡­ "Haaaa. This one''s up to you." "¡­tsk." They were behind this. Whatever he meant when he greeted her, it was the reason that caused her to be like that¡­ he did that to her. So, he better know how to bring her back to normal if he wanted this pretty house of theirs to stay in this state. [{ *Master¡­ I just unlocked another message.* }] ''What? This isn''t the time to look at her messages Lucy! Don''t you see-'' [{ *Um¡­ it looks like we cannot postpone this one, master.* }] The light before my eyes also vanished along with the two of them and the pretty afternoon scenery¡­ And it was sudden, but after a few weeks since back at the outskirts of sky ind, once again, I was seeing the person I wanted to see every single day of my life. Chapter 766: The Dancer and Destroy [Eon''s POV: ] The memory started ying on its own, something that rarely happens. ''An emergency memory.'' Something I would have to know in that specific situation or something that would give me an upper hand in whatever kind of situation I was in. ''Looks like the ce¡­ but where''s she?'' I was transported to the same ce I usually see when I am experiencing the memories she had left behind for me in Lucy. There were times when I first see different things unrted to the situation or things that would connect to the elements before meter, but, this wasn''t one of those unique times. This was the empty white ce where she sits on her usual chair and tells me or shows me some things, but, she was not here right now. The ce was the same, no different- [{ *Master, look over there.* }] Lucy''s voice wanted me to turn right, so I did after focusing my eyes a little, I suddenly spotted what appeared to be light. ''What''s that?'' It was strange how there was something else other than this whiteness or master in this ce. This was the first time I was seeing something like this¡­ and, it was the first time I was able to move in this ce. ''Damn?'' My body wasn''t frozen in my ce, and I wasn''t restricted to observing from a certain ce either. I could float as if I was in the astral realm, I could move here, and go from one point to the other. ''Let''s take a look at that first.'' I did not know what was happening but, it wasn''t impossible right now. There was something happening with Rein and I had to go back quickly. Finishing whatever I had to in this ce was the priority so, if there was a light, I was meant to go see it. [{ *It feels strange¡­ I feel someone else beside us here.* }] ''Someone else? What do you-'' -Ooooooooooooooooooong! We had reached the light so I thought we would see what we had to see but, instead of seeing something, the light that wasing from only a little crack in the space, broke down and shattered the space around uspletely! -Boooooooooooom! The very next moment, we were transported to ce that looked to be outer space withplete dark around us and in the distance, a being visible. There were star like objects present in the distance but, more than those star like objects, this specific before us was more interesting thing. ''It''s not our.'' [{ "It seems to be like some distant from our sr system." }] ''Is there life on that? It seems pretty simr to ours, don''t you think?'' [{ *Certainly¡­ I can tell there is¡ª used to be life there. But as it is right now¡­* }] The entire before us¡­ it was on fire. It was burning. It was moving through space, rotating on its exis faster than our, and it had two moons around it from what we can see. And excluding both of them, the entire was burning. ''The scene before us could be exined as someone having poured fuel on top of this and set it ame.'' It was strange how everything on the''snd area was burning while the sea area looked like someone shed a de in a piece of paper to test the de''s sharpness. It was a strange scenery¡­ [{ *Ah¡­ master, look closely.* }] Somehow, we could see everything happening on this even from this distance so we could see the ones who had caused that catastrophe. ''Aren''t they¡­?'' Someone was fighting on the burningnd in a way demons are depicted fighting gods or angels in the old epics. But, instead of Angel or a god, there was a demon with wings of light behind her, fighting a creature so ginormous it was visible even from this height. ''What the hell?'' The demon was dancing around like some celestial dancer dancing in the divine court of some high primodial god while the creature she was fighting left destruction everywhere it passed. Things were destroyed from its mere presence and, even the burning fire was burned further with thend that started spewing the hottest materials from its mouth. [ *Remember them¡­* ] A saw a smile present on the face of the demon when I heard that voice. Master''s voice. [ *This was their first meeting where they ended up destroying not just this, but everything around it as well.* ] The creature she was fighting seemed out of focus as it wasn''tnding any hits even with its countless legs and that green me breaking mouth. [ *They fell in love right after this, made love for an eon, and returned as a pair. The worst one We ever had.* ] The creature was districted by something. And since there wasn''t anything else to get distracted by, it was most certainly distracted by the opponent it was facing. The crazy opponent with that crazy smile¡­ [ *Remember them, Eon. They will find you one day.* ] The entire was being destroyed because of them. [ *They will tell you what you need to know, not everything that you will be allowed to know¡­ hear them out.* ] She was telling me to do something so, there was certainly a meaning behind it. A meaning that was ultimately favourable to me. [ *You don''t have to trust them if you don''t want to, but, join them.* ] The scene before me started getting blurry¡­ [ *Join them, and when the timees¡­ they will tell you¡­ about Us.* ] And before long, I found myself back to the present, facing them who had an astonished look, and a de of scythe around their necks. "See? We told you we didn''t do anything to him! Just like we did nothing to you! Hump!" Albert had an upset expression as he pushed her scythe away from their neck with his finger. "Eon?" She was looking at me, her face was red, it looked like she was about to cry at any moment and from the looks of it, she had misunderstood something. "You dummy¡­" A sign escaped my mouth as I shook my head, stood up, grabbed her hand that made her retract Nept back inside her, and dragged her back to her ce. "They¡­ didn''t they¡­?" "They what? They did nothing to either of us. It was a misunderstanding so sit down." I didn''t shout at her this time, since it was a situation where misunderstanding was obvious. I would have done the same in her shoes. "Phew. I almost thought we would have to deal with her ourselves." "Please don''t do that." I at least knew what the two of them were now¡­ catastrophes. "Hmm? Huhuhu~. Looks like you saw a vision of the past like her or something, didn''t you~? Just like her~. You can see the things that happened and the things that will~ hahaha! How amusing~." Perhaps, just like the Keeper Azmail, the two of them also did not know about Lucy''s existence. At least not how she carried the ability to show me the memories and messages of my master. "She was irreceable back in the days. Everyone relied on her and she alwaysined¡­ she mostly cursed at us for being the cker duo, hahahaha." The creature that could destroy a all by itself was reminiscing about their past good times that were giving me goosebumps right now. We were practically sitting before beings that could fight gods on their own! Killing us off wasn''t something that would require even a weapon in their hands! "Haha, right? Sheined all the time while doing everything for anyone~. Ahhh~ the good old days. How I wish-" "Wali. The children¡­" "¡­right. Ahem." Looks like they were done reminiscing about their sweet past. "Back to the point." "Please." Because Albert said something, Rein had awakened some new power rted to her eyes. ''Her eyes now had a unique glow that they did not a moment ago so whatever she experienced a moment ago, helped her in some way.'' And what I experienced showed me just how we should never mess with either of these crazy people. "We were talking about divinity and I told you about the sources, but then Albert came and things went south so, let''s just pick up from the divinity part." -Oooooooooooooooong. She called forth a unique kind of energy on the tip of her finger with well trimmed nails. "Divinity is the first proof of someone who has gone beyond the limits of mortality." The energy she was creating was yellow and looked like the holy power that priests usually use to cure wounds. -Oooooooooooooooooong. "It is also the proof of identity for those who were born with it." Albert added after her as he, too, called forth a unique kind of green power on top of his fingertip with long nails. "Any element of this great nature could achieve the status of the divine if they wish for it sincerely enough and work to achieve it." The two of them brought their fingers together, and the two distinct powers that lookedpletely different from one another,bined with one another and created a harmonious mix that contained threads of both of their energies¡­ that could not mix together. "Divine energy as a concept is same for every being possessing it, but, all divine energies are different and special only to their possessors, or the ones they have permitted their powers." They shared a kiss without hesitation even though we were having a mental crisis on our end here. Thankfully their kiss onlysted for a few seconds. "Individual divinity earned with achievements, individual divinity passed down from a higher being, individual divinity earned with pure will and efforts." Her words contained power. "Borrowed divinity granted by a higher being temporarily, Divinity gained with external items, or the divinity earned through the acknowledgement of a stigma as well." His voice was gentle. "Whatever the way or the source may be, all those who have the divinity are eligible to step forward into the next stage and use it for enhancement or enchantment, create divine skills or True techniques as we call it, andstly to gain a [Original Title] form the Nature." She stopped for a moment and looked at both of us directly. They both did, actually. "And those who possess these [Original Titles] a one of a kind ''name'' in this entire Nature¡­ they are the only ones who receive the [{( Final Qualification )}]." She said with a serious voice. "The qualification to challenge the quest to know it all¡­ and meet Her." He added behind her. "Her¡­?" "Nature." "The Creator, the one who maintains it all¡­ ''Her'' first Avatar that exists beyond the Great Center." "¡­" "¡­" Am I allowed to know this shit? Chapter 767: The ones who hide from the world [Eon''s POV: ] "You might not believe it right now since you don''t really know just how special your current position is, but I assure you have all the rights in this world to know what we just said. Besides, you would have found out about all this eventually anyway." Wali was pretty nonchnt about this entire revtion even though there was a twisted exnation on both our faces. Rein didn''t hear some of the things she just said once again but she knew it was something too absurd from our behaviours. "Obtaining divinity is pretty tricky in this day and age, that''s why being born with it is considered something very special. You have two sisters, both special and lucky enough to be one of those beings." She took another sip after dropping that new bomb. "What do you mean ''both'' sisters?! Anna is just-" "Oh no, of course not darling. The crystal eyes are and have always been a sign of those who possess a dormant divine power. The reason the real Rakshasas are always after those with the crystal eyes is mainly because of their dormant, unimed divine power." Both of us are going to remember this afternoon for the rest of our lives. There''s no way either of us could possibly forget all the new things we have heard just now. Not when Anna was brought up in this conversation. "Well,mon people aren''t allowed to know much about crystal eyes so, I''ll stop there for now and move on to the one you people call the ck Angel." She had finished her teacup so her partner, Albert, poured her another cup and nodded while looking at us afterwards. "He is one of us-" "What?!" What the hell?! What is this new shit now?! "He''s pretty new so he doesn''t know much either. But, he did not mean to harm any of your people from the start¡­ probably." I wanted to scream once again and ask what the hell that ''probably'' at the end meant, but I didn''t have to do that. -Dhum! Wali just punched him in the gut as soon as he had said that part and looked him in the eye as if saying He did not have to say that much truth. "Ahem. Anyway, let''s just say that person had his own motives to act like that and that he was only after an item unrted to your auction house itself." After seeing that vision a moment ago, I had no doubt the two of them were something unfathomable. Something perhaps even beyond the level of the headmaster. They possessed divinity of their own and while one was a creature even greater than what we had seen a while ago, the other was a being that propagated the dance form of sword arts. ''They were special beings that wanted something from us.'' There was a reason we were here right now, in this specific ce, before both of them, in this state. "That person won''t be hindering you anymore but if, by any twist of fate you cross paths with them, please don''t resent them for doing what they did. There was something they had to do, something they had to obtain that they had been chasing for decades. And they failed to obtain it, that much I''ll tell you for certain as well. They did not get what they were after, so, ultimately, all their ns hadpletely failed." "That''s soul soothing, at least." I don''t think I''ll be able to forgive that bastard for what it did. It might have been a small attempt at something from his part, but for the rest of the employees in the Hiraani, it was a dayparable to a nightmare. ''We had never been hit that hard.'' We managed to capture the rest of the world renowned thief bastards and even made some good deals with those bastards, but¡­ ''The way that ck Angel had single handedly destroyed the entire ecosystem of Hiraani was not something many of us could just recover from anytime soon.'' It had left a deep wound on us. A wound that would take a long time topletely recover. ''And still, the scar it would leave behind would stay there permanently.'' Some of us would learn from it and make ourselves into a better version of ourselves, while for some of us, it would haunt us as a nightmare. It was a trauma, and that one bastard was the one that caused it all. "Eon¡­" "It''s alright. It''s past us now so let''s move on." A lot of damage was done to us, but it wasn''t irrecoverable. We were broken once, and we Will be better¡ªstronger, after all of this is healed. "There are a number of people working with us towards amon goal, and I know you two will soon be eligible to join us as well. That''s why¡­ we wanted to meet you before you are at that stage." Albert spoke up once again but this time, there was determination in his eyes. And, Wali had a simr expression. "We want both of you to join us then. You might not understand what we mean right now but soon, when you reach that point, you will know things that are beyond the knowledge of themon people of this world. It will be difficult to trust us for many reasons, I can understand that. It''s natural. But, as you grow and learn more about yourself, we know Eon will learn more about us and what we do, and Miss Reinelle will understand why and what exactly we do in this world." Master warned me they would try to recruit us, and even though she asked me to join them¡­ I couldn''t bring myself to just ept their proposal. "You both are primordial beings, the ck Angel isn''t as old as you from what I understand, but if even someone like him who seemed to have had a deep grasp on divinity has joined you ''recently'', just¡­ how high are your standards exactly?" Even after having that great of a knowledge about everything in this world, even after having some of the best informationworks out there, not even mom had known about a person like her. ''There was practically no knowledge about her, or about this creature beside her that was too big to have hidden away from the eyes of this world.'' Even the ck Angel person¡­ ''There was no factual information avable about that person even to this day.'' I fought him myself, but since he was wearing that strange mask that I don''t remember anymore, I knew nothing about his physical characteristics. The magic or technique or power that he was using was vividly present in my memory, but aside from the dagger-like weapon, I know nothing about him. ''There were only stories about him in this world¡­'' And just like him, there were also only stories about the propagators of the holy arts that existed in this world. Myths with no clear origin. "Ah¡­ well, there isn''t any specific criteria that I know about since the ones that can join us are picked by someone else, but we at least know one has to be good at hiding their identity from the world if they want to join us. That much is at least needed to work on their own. We usually hide from the world, the sharp eyes present all over the world might get a hint of our activities and get in trouble if they make some mistake." "So, hiding identities¡­ is important?" They hide from the world. Do things that are dangerous enough to get others in trouble just by knowing of their existence. Getting involved with them would ultimately mean dipping our toes into a muddy river¡­ ''But, we have no choice from what I see here.'' We have already crossed paths and our fates have intertwined with this meeting. Rein had awakened a new power just from a word from him, so there was no telling just how much we can gain from them. And, they were beingparable to the gods, the higher beings that people of this world worship¡­ there''s no telling just how much they could be helpful to us. Or what would happen if we reject their offer. "Hiding from the world while being on missions is certainly important. At the very least, you will have to know how to hide your divinity. If They know of your existence, they will approach you as well and you might not be able to get out of the trouble on your own." She ced two coin sized white tokens before the two of us that seemed to be a condensed materialised form of a higher order energy. "Getting noticed by Them will bring you more trouble than you will be able to deal with. And, if they know of your specialness, you will have to face beings that would be after not only you, but also every person in your family¡­ especially your little sister Anastasia." "What?" Anna can get in trouble just by someone knowing about my possession of divinity? ''What kind of things do these people deal with?'' It''s not limited to demons and evil of nature that are trying to destroy what exists here. I''m certain of that fact. ''They are godly beings that were able to destroy an entire with their powers back when they had first met.'' A long time must have passed since then, so they had gotten much stronger than what we can imagine from their simple forms before us. "If it concerns Anna''s safety, there''s no way I could possibly reject this." "Ummm¡­ I knew he was going to say that." The threats they dealt with must be something that exists beyond the bounds of this world and this realm. ''It''s definitely on a level unfathomable to us.'' We knew little about these people sitting before us. We practically don''t know what they even do. "You won''t regret epting us." "I know that already¡­ what concerns me though, are your opponents." It''s only evening so we have plenty of time, hopefully. There were many things she had to tell me and many things that I had to know about them. I don''t know when we will meet after this meeting or if we will ever meet anytime soon either. ''Divinity isn''t something I''m obtaining anytime soon.'' It would take a few years for my physical body to adapt to the new awakened senses and be powerful enough to even handle the divine power. I know now just how powerful this force is so¡­ what exactly could be the reason that would even give difficulties to a power like them? "You will find out one day¡­ about Them, and about us as well." These two were characters that I had never imagined I would meet, not like the way this entire meeting was happening. This felt too normal for a meeting with extraterrestrial level beings. And¡­ I for sure don''t like the way they were so chill about all this. Chapter 768: Monument for the deceased [Rein''s POV: ] Talk with a demon born divine being that had control over positive powers better than even the priests that I am seeing at the moment. "We express our deepest gratitude to all who have gathered here with us for this sorrowful moment." We were back to the capital of Lakmer for the post-war event as well as for the inauguration of the memorialthat was built in the memorial of the deceased. ''Many people were present here, and, since they had built the monument right in front of the grand coliseum, it will be an inseparable part of this unique structure.'' The idea was to immortalise the names of the people who fell victim to the cruelty of the demon cultists, and the one who made this whole grand memorialwas one of the best architects of this world, thedy of Lakmer. There was no room for error or criticism in this structure. ''It was a masterpiece in itself. Something that certainly enhanced the beauty of the coliseum present right behind it.'' People had gathered here, and the atmosphere waspletely different from the atmosphere of the garden in the ins of Adanca. People rted to the deceased were mourning, everyone was wearing ck, white, or outfits that fit the funeral code of their own culture, while the tall round structure before us shined in the morning rays of sunlight. [ "How does it feel?" ] He asked while standing right beside me and his head down, his ck clothing still even in the blowing winds. It was unexpectedly windy today. [ "Still unfamiliar, but, it''s better." ] After that person, Albert, that giant creature and an elder eternity mentioned that strange name that I still can''t remember¡­ my eyes had reacted strangely and as if to have evolved to another strange like the origin skill, my eyes could do a little more than what they were capable of before we had tea with the two of them. "They were innocent and good souls. People who had lived their lives their own way, had done things that I will always remember in my heart¡­ I pains my soul as well that they departed without anyst words to us, however, I know in my heart that they will find peace. Instead of wandering in this world as ghosts, or spirits¡­ they will find peace in the afterlife." The one speaking right now was not sir Justin but lord Maverick, the president of the Lakmer, and true highest authority of thisnd. Which was the right thing to do in their position. ''Thest few days have not been anything simple for the Lakmer, especially the Lakmer household and the president''s family.'' Just like how I was suffering from the effects of my eyes'' new abilities though which I was able to see a portion of the hidden truths about everything and everyone in this world, which was a lot worse experience than what one could imagine, they were dealing with a lot of things. ''Lakmer was practically facing attacks from all the neighbouring nations at the moment.'' Since Lakmer wasn''t directly connected with the Empire, the geopolitical situations weren''t something the empire could directly get involved with, so they also had to deal with everything on their own. ''But thanks to the impable management skills of Lady Carolina, the Lakmer had sustained itself in these past few days.'' The Empire was busy with winter festivities and still, they had also extended as much help as they could and, as a result of all that, the current peaceful moment was brought to the citizens of this city. "Death is an inevitable urrence every mortal has to face one day. It''s inevitable¡­ even immortality ends. We mortals are practically nothing in front of the eternalws of this nature." My eyes hurt just by staying open since everything I saw, it was like I was seeing not a few characteristics of that thing, but, much more about it than I could have known with just my senses. ''It was painful, my head almost felt like it was going to burst anytime now, and even though I did not want to, I was constantly using arge volume of Mana.'' Wali said it was because I was getting used to these new powers and that I would learn how to control them soon enough. But, even after three days have passed since our talk, the effects still remain. ''Thankfully, it isn''t as severe as it was the moment we came back from the Great ins.'' Our talk had gone on for a few hours and though I couldn''t hear many things they were talking about, I know as much I should know for now. And I''m happy with all that I know right now. ''Eon was regretting knowing about a few things as well. He was even saying it was better that I did not know about some of those things.'' Those things were about the first prince and eldest princess of Roxana, about the reason she had participated in the alchemypetition, and why there were practically no known records of Albert in this world. Those things were absurd enough to make even him tensed¡­ I had no interest whatsoever in those mysteries exactly because of that. Dealing with this deadly headache and pain was already bad, I certainly did not want something more added to this shit. "However, the way they died, the way they had to suffer for no reason, the way those demon worshipers treated all of them¡­ the people¡­ the elders¡­ even the children¡­" For master Maverick who had managed all the matters rted to this country like he was managing the matters rted to his own family¡ª with love, care, and respect to all within this family¡ª this was not easy. "Their deaths¡­ they were not just, or right, or something that should have happened. I agree¡­ I agree with all of you. It shouldn''t have happened¡­" He was crying. Like, actually. He was crying and the tears that fell on the ground, created a resonating sound that travelled throughout the area like a shockwave. ''He''s a strong person.'' He cared. He cared a little too much. All of this was even more difficult for him, exactly because of that. ''If it wasn''t for Lady Carolina holding him from beside, there was no doubt to many of us that he would fall apart. That he would show a sight to themon people that they did not need at the moment.'' He knew what he had to do very well, he was the president that all of them had selected and maintained in that position. They trusted him, and he knew the best how to reciprocate their support. "I apologise¡­ everyone¡­ those who had lost someone precious to them, those who had suffered because of the loss of someone else, to all the people gathered here and even those who aren''t present with us¡­ I express my apologies, my sincerest condolences, my deepest regrets for the losses you have suffered¡­ For the losses I have suffered, however¡­" His eyes regained the unwavering light that everyone recognized in an instant as he looked back at them, at his citizens that trusted him, the people he had sworn to protect and serve. "For the loss of My people, My family, My brothers and sisters¡­ the elders who supported me when I was a nobody, and the children who shared their precious smiles with me¡­ I have also lost many irreceable friends, memories, My people that made me who I am today." The memorial sphere, a structure containing the list and ounts of the dead people who lost their lives in the war, was right behind him, so he ced his hand on its round marble walls, and poured his Aura inside it. -Ooooooooooooooong! The material that was used in the creation of this ce was something that reacted with the special energies like Mana and Aura, and it was made with the intention of keeping the names written on it alive. "I have lost something because of those damned demon worshipers¡­ something precious, and for that¡­ I am not going to forgive them." The people around us were crying even though they weren''t part of the people that hadst someone close to them in this war. They were representatives of the nobles that hade here on their behalf, and just like the rest of themon people who were mourning the loss of themon and innocent, they were expressing their own sorrow towards the unjust acts of those demon bastards. "I will avenge them. I swear upon my name¡­ they will pay for what they have done." Master Maverick was a sensitive person that loved Lakmer above all else. He was a king ranked knight and someone who possessed a vast record of victories in the in the times of wars and there was many things he could do if he just wished for it. He was strong enough to create his own nation that would be filled with his own followers and since he had someone like Lady Carolina by his side there was no way they would be a power that anyone could just deal with just because they wanted to. ''He was strong.'' But at the same time, his attachment to his homnd and the people he was now in charge of, was so great that he couldn''t possibly leave the bastards that had dared to do so much damage to them¡­ "Let''s pray for a happy, blissful afterlife for our family and friends¡­ and, let us remember this day, as the day we dere the demonic Cultists our eternal enemy." He was channelling their anger and resentment towards the demon order, and, with these new eyes¡­ I could see it had worked out just the way She wanted. Chapter 769: A part in the game [Eon''s POV: ] The ceremony went on for half a day and at the end of it, we paid homage to the deceased. ''It was a bad event, and sorrow saturated the atmosphere.'' There were many things that we could have done if we had even a little more time than we did. I could have done much better than what we did in that situation. The way was a sudden surprise and I know we did what we had to but¡­ the people, their families, the children and the ones who had lost their partners and had nothing else to live for¡­ ''The darkness in the eyes of the ones who seemed to have lost everything that they cared about, everything dear to them, everything that gave them a reason to live¡­ it was painful looking at them even for me.'' We did what we had to and I did my best to limit the damage, but they wouldn''t know that. ''They were cursing us, cursing them. Some were going to leave this nation forever, leave the home they had lived in for their entire lives.'' Some were going to take their own lives as they did not have anything else to live for, while some would hold the hands of subsistence to relieve the pain that could never be cured. ''And we cannot do anything for all of them¡­'' It was their choice and we were going to do what we can to help them physically, mentally, and emotionally, but I don''t know just how much we will be able to heal the deep wounds that had been left on their souls. There was a possibility most of them would find something more to do with their lives, those with something left in this world would live for that one thing and it would be a positive oue. But for some¡­ living is going to be hell. ''They would search for an easy way out.'' And since I still hold myself responsible for their loss, I will do something to help them as well. But it will take time. So they will have to survive for that much longer without any light to look for. "Master Axion?" "Hmmm? Ah, Lady Carolina." The afterevent held for the people of high positions who had joined us for this event or their representatives was ongoing right now in the personal mansion of Lakmer household. It was a big and good ce, not something like a pce, but certainly nothing less than a pce. It was as good as our estates. "Don''t you have to leave? It seems to bete already¡­ or are you going to stay here tonight?" "Ah, no. We will leave after some time. Rein is still ying with the twins." "Ah¡­ I see." The event had started in the morning and it waste night alredy. Even the afterevent was reaching the conclusion time and most of the attendees had already left the venue. Only a few of us were left here¡­ in this big room¡­ filled with these pretty looking tables. "It''s rare seeing you drink alcohol." She was the best politician of this world, but I can tell even she had been crying earlier today with those clearly hidden marks around her eyes. Even she was affected by everything that we saw today, and everything that happened. "It''s more of a grape juice than alcohol actually. I made it-" "Can I have some?" She didn''t even hesitate to ask for it. She didn''t even let me finish my sentence either. "Of course." It looked just like wine so it was easy to be mistaken. And I was drinking it in the same sses they served alcohol in. Mistaking it was easy even for someone who could foresee the future this world would be heading in the uing years. -Purrrrrrr¡­ "Nathan and Natli like you two awfully well." I poured her a ss of the special brew that caught the attention of a few people that were still remaining in the hall. But, since it was thedy Carolina I was with, they did not pay much attention to us. "I heard you invited them to your house?" "Anna did, specifically." Just drinking this brew alone was not too fun so I took out some snacks as well, and she appreciated that as I knew she would. "Mmmm. Can we purchase the recipe for this?" "Apologies. It''s a personal form and takes too many rare ingredients. You can have a few bottles as a gift from me if you want though." "I have no reason to reject such a wonderful offer." I knew she would like this. It wouldn''t be long before she gets addicted to that thing. "Though, what can I offer you in return for this?" And she knew I knew she would like this thing as well. She was too smart to not notice what I was doing right now. "Nothing much, truthfully." (: Barrier) The atmosphere, the timing, the coincidental meeting, and her sitting in a ce where no one had sat throughout this entire event was nothing suspicious from a normal person''s perspective. But as someone who had to look for even the tiniest of the details of even the simplest things, she was someone that couldn''t not notice my actions. "I just want in." There was something I wanted. It wasn''t the reason we came here, of course. The event had been decided since the day the war ended. ''I came to know something very peculiar a few days ago, and even though I did not know the authenticity of the events I saw, I know for a fact they weren''t just some kind of vision or a dream.'' Lucy was there with me, we both shared those dreams. I know they weren''t something that simple, and after our meeting that chat with Wali and Albert, I know it''s some kind of ability that belongs to me. Something I still do not know about or could control just yet. "Hmm? What do you mean by that?" "You know well what I mean, Lady Carolina." She was a very good actress. That perhaps was one of the traits that gave her this unique position that only a few in this world know about. "Could it be that you heard about the agricultural project we are going to start? I told Rick not to tell anyone about that yet. Haaa¡­ we don''t have any solid ns for that project so-" "We can cut the small talk. There''s a barrier in ce, nothing is going to get out." "I get that much, but why do we even need that? The project wasn''t even-" "The war." She wasn''t going to get to this topic, I knew her well enough to know that much. ''She would never agree to something that involves arge-scale operation to any kind of outsider.'' Be it someone like me that they had agreed to work with, or someone like the empire that was supporting them constantly. "War¡­?" She was very good at acting. Perhaps the best I''ve seen after mom. But her act wasn''t going to work before me when I had the upper hand here. "Kingdom of Ras, the free city of Maruk, nation of rivers, The Cliff alliance, Queennd republic, and Zas dukedom¡­ I know." In some other scenario, or at some other time, this conversation could have been longer than it was right now, or perhaps moreplex and filled with tricks and mind games. It was prettymon for political discussions to go on for hours in many cases, ones that involved the fate of more than one country being matters that could take days for two parties to conclude. ''And since we were talking about something even moreplicated, a matter that would change the entire power structure of the world, things were even moreplicated.'' Lakmer is and had been a neutral nation that only used force for defence and exploration. They had powers and forcesrger than many of its surrounding nations but since the policies of Lakmer stated they wouldn''t use their military forces for the purpose of harming the surrounding nations, the nations around them did not hold back even a little when the shit with cultists transpired here. I alredy knew what was happening inside and outside Lakmer at the moment and yes Lady Carolina was holding them back just fine so waiting till the Grand conference was an option for them¡­ but, it wasn''t the solution. "Haaaa¡­" There was a smile on her pretty face until now, but right after I revealed those names to her, and after that deep sigh, it changedpletely. "How in the hell''s name did you know about this?" "Is that even important anymore?" She was annoyed, and back to her serious self. The pressure around her had increased as well for no reason, but until a few days ago where she felt overwhelming, after experiencing what the creatures that could destroy this entire world felt like, she wasn''t as intimidating as back then. So, I had a smile on my face. "I don''t like that smug look you have, you know? It''s absurd and reminds me how you are absolutely peculiar yourself." "I appreciate thepliment-" "It wasn''t apliment!" She shouted, picked up her ss, gulped down the whole brew in one breath, and asked me to refill her ss with wide angry eyes. -Purrrrrr¡­ "Haaaa! What the hell is this thing! Why is it so good?!" She loved it, as We knew she would. "Damn it!" It was a special brew I made especially for people like her. ''It wasn''t alcoholic so pretty much anyone could drink it and there was also no high concentration of Mana so, it wasn''t toxic formon people like her either.'' It was just very well made concoctions of various things that are too rare to get in bulk. Nothing too fancy though. "Anyway! Heliox OR Atraxia cannot help us in any manner! You don''t even know what I''m going to do from what I can tell so there''s no way-" "I never said We want to join you." There was a little misunderstanding here, it seems. "Hmm?" "I want in, just me. Not even Rein. And not as a direct party¡­ but as a supplier." It was time to start moving and working for the things that I wanted. Things that would be good, and necessary for us. This war between a neutral nation and all the surrounding countries was something that could prove to be very useful for Us. ''Even while not being a part of it directly¡­ there were a number of things that could bring me great profit.'' There''s no way I was going to just leave this golden opportunity. Chapter 770: Divine grape juice [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­ so, besides a few names, how much do you even know about the operation?" She grumbled a little before starting this main talk, but thankfully, she had stopped drinking my special brew like it was some fucking booze in a vige tavern. It was a precious drink that she was the first person aside from my family members to have tasted it. ''It wasn''t something I had in great quantity. There were only a handful of barrels left and some of them already were going to be used for certain purposes. They weren''t something she could just drink because she liked it!'' I wanted to shout and tell her now that she had emptied one entire bottle, that it was time to stop drinking this thing, but under the circumstances, I wasn''t in a position to do so just yet. "Well, I know a little. Not much since what I know is just something, hmm¡­ well, you can say I received a divine revtion that showed me a little of what you were nning-" "If you don''t want to say it, then just don''t say it. Don''t spout that bullshit." She looked at me with an upset look and narrowed eyes. The way her cheeks seemed to be puffed like a little girl, that trapid to misguide me was something I did not like. But who knows, she might just be upset for real. It was difficult to tell what she was showing and what was reality when facing her. "Well¡­ I did mean what I say but, anyway. Let''s say I only know the names I had just mentioned, and how a few are a little differently targeted than the other." "So, in short, you somehow know the map." "Map?" "Your acting isn''t as good as your mother''s boy, remember that." "Map. Yes. Map. Perhaps we know about it." She was smart and a difficult one to deal with with all that I had. ''She''s a good example to remind me there is a lot in this world that just doesn''t make any sense.'' A mortal holding a position vital to the stability of the entire world or existence of divine beings that just roam among the mortals. There were things in this world that I still had no idea about. "Hmmm. If you only know about the map, it isn''t impossible to have you onboard. Though, I must warn you, any kind of external help from you or your family will only put you all in trouble. We don''t need that as the rtionship between Us still has a long way to go in my opinion." It was a war we were talking about and one that wasn''t just fought with weapons and men, but actual war that could be yed on different kinds of battlefields in various ways. ''It didn''t mean Lakmer was going to march their soldiers to different countries and kill their men like those cultists did.'' It wasn''t the only kind of war that was fought in this world. "Rest assured, Lady Carolina. I have no intention of involving my family in this. Them knowing about my part in this war is inevitable, however, they won''t be involved with me. And I wouldn''t be involved with you in any way either. That''s why-" "You just want in as a ''supplier'', yes I got that part. But, what exactly do you even want to supply? And what exactly do you want from all this?" Lakmer wasn''t a big country but it was rich, had actual powerful men, trained knights and war units, advanced technology that was beyond the reach of many other nations, and siege weapons better than anything else in this world. ''Even the empire and the strongest nations of other continents feared the [FalconKnight3].'' It was a weapon of mass destruction that Lakmer had only used once in the entire history. But its existence was known to all nations even to this day. ''Politics wasn''t the only reason Lakmer was a central binding point for many countries throughout this world.'' Its position was something that not even the empire and six other powers like the empire could threaten¡­ it didn''t mean Lakmer was invincible, of course, but it was just a peaceful nation. It had clear policies and the rest of the countries epted them. ''Even if that attack from the cultists might have weakened the position of this nation a little, even without Lady Carolina, this nation wouldn''t fall even if all the surrounding countries attacked it simultaneously.'' And they weren''t dumb enough to test Lakmerk''s military strength. Not when the [Lion of the battlefields] was still alive. ''That''s why the surroundingnds are ying tricks right now.'' They were trying to secretly or identally or unknowingly doing a little things that was causing Lakmer not much, but at doing so was giving them a good lot of resources. They were practically stealing from their neighbours uwfully. And in the position they were in, Lakmer couldn''t just take this anymore¡­ or they didn''t want to just take it anymore. "Well, let''s just say I want a little recognition. As for what you can expect from this humble supplier¡­" Taking out a simple looking diary, I ced it on the table before us. "You know what? I shoulde visit the Countess along with the little ones." "She would be happy to have you." With a warm smile on my face, I refilled her empty ss with more of my precious brew as she picked the book up. We were going back to academy soon so we wouldn''t be home for a while again but they can certainly have their fun- "What the fuck is this?!" "¡­ouch." The way she shouted would most certainly have created a sound wave if she was a mage or a knight or someone with special powers but, since she was not, that loud as hell voice only hurt my poor ears. "You! What is the meaning of this?!" "What do you mean by that, Miss Carolina-" "This! I don''t want any more bullshit from you! Just answer me! What are all these things?!" That one single red diary-like notebook contained a little information and basic models of the things that I had created until now. Things that weren''t made formercial use but for the sole purpose to be used in a war. "They are weapons, obviously." "That''s absurd!" There were many types of wars in this world. Cold wars, conventional wars, proxy wars, political warfare, wars attributed to religions, ethnicity, economics, or even ideologies. That one book contained notes of all kinds of warfare tactics, weapons that could be used for different kinds of wars, scenarios, possibilities, counters, methods to control the flow of the entire war from any specific point, and there was even specific data on some past records that no one possessed. ''It was my personal diary, and one of the only properly organised ones.'' It was an invaluable treasure for themon world and for the people who did not know much about the divine and extraterrestrial warfare. "How can you just hand me something like this?!" There were even blueprints and basic knowledge about weapons that could be used in conventional wars so she knew just from seeing those absurd looking but very practical things from the point of view of my previous world¡­ the thing in her hand was no ordinary piece of literature. "It would be better that you calm down for now, Lady Carolina. Let''s talk, alright?" There were more than one reason that I just showed her that notebook, but for now, the main purpose was to get what I wanted from her. "So, what do you think? You could certainly use some of those things, right?" "Anyone could, boy¡­ anyone could." She was flipping through the pages with a kind of fascinated look that I was seeing for the first time on her. ''But seeing her scream and shout curses earlier was more surprising.'' She was a calm and collected woman, someone who knew very well just how much she was supposed to say and how well she had to say something for someone to receive it as something much more than what it was actually meant. She was a professional before she was a dy'' and the way she quickly got herself together just now showed her true nature. "Boy oh boy¡­ you would make one hell of a viin." "Someone has said something simr to me before, but I don''t like the sound of it. Viins, heroes, heroines, and characters. They are all good in fiction, but in reality, the narrator and their narrative are everything that really matters." "You are funny as well. Haha, I envy your partner." This was perhaps an achievement on its own if I say so myself. Her words were like winds of change for this world and she was talking about being envious of my simple lovely fianc¨¦e. I wanted to be proud at this moment, but the situation isn''t the best to experience that kind of emotion. "Alright then. I should consider myself a part of the game, right?" Those dumb bastards had pissed her off the same way the dukes of north and west were pissing us off, or how the Atraxia was suffering because of some insignificant bastards that did not know their ces. "We will have to talk about the details in private though. I believe you have enough time tonight? Along with enough of this great grape elixir-" "Only one bottle. That''s all I can spare tonight." She ended up liking it a little too much, damnit! Now even with the upper hand in this entire situation, I can''t refuse her too much or else there would be some kind of ''reconsideration'' from her part. "One bottle, six people? Doesn''t seem-" "That''s all I have though." I just sold up from my ce, bowed to her, and right after dismissing the barrier, I walked towards the stairs to greet my lovely Rein. She seemed in a cheerful mood, so it''s just better to stay with her until our talk time instead of bargaining with this person. ''I know for a fact she would get more bottles of this precious juice from me somehow if I stay with her.'' It''s much better to stay with someone who''s practically allergic to it than someone who devoure it like it was nothing more thanke water! Chapter 771: The night of departure [Eon''s POV: ] It''ste night and after hours of discussion with the Lady Carolina, master Maverick, Lord Justin and Lady Charlotte, we were finally back to my estate¡­ not that it matters now. It will be morning soon and it will be time for departure from this ce so, we didn''t have even a little time to have any good sleep. "How I wish I didn''t have given her the grape one. There were other options she would have liked as well." We were on the rooftop, the best ce to spend some good time and have a little chat over some warm refreshments on this chilly night. "You had your reasons to do that. And the bote''s under the water already. Nothing we can do about this now." It was night and the moon was young, so she looked prettier than she does in the morning. Especially her eyes¡­ after that day with Wali and Albert, her eyes had started looking even prettier at night. "Haaaa¡­ how I wish you could have this good thing-" "That Good thing of yours kills me, darling. Just like that shit fertiliser you have, as well as that damned flower you got in your room. Those things are perhaps the only things in this whole damned world that could kill me by just existing around me." "Well¡­ I''m sorry." There were things in this world that she adored like nothing else, weird looking animals, reptiles, and unsightly creatures were some of those things. ''People would wanna run to the other end of the world aftering across these creatures but if she ever came across those things, she would stay and watch them, perhaps try and befriend them if possible.'' She was weird sometimes, and sometimes, she was outrageous. ''But that was her cute side.'' But then there was her miserable side. "Don''t apologise, silly. It''s not like you made those things to act as a poison against me like the actual things you made to act as a poison against me and other witches. It''s not your fault they just naturally happen to be a poison to me, to us." This grape juice somehow didn''t fit well with her. She bes nauseous, has a strange headache, and just after inhaling the scent of that thing for a longer period, she would have certain signs of fatigue. It was a strange urrence that happened only with certain things that did not have any kind of rtionship with one another. ''The elements used to make those things also didn''t have the same kind of effect with her either.'' Some certain things just didn''t fit well with her, and yes we have already made a cure for that kind of thing and have protocols in ce in case something out of our hands affects her. ''She didn''t know in the past but there were a number of things that produced strange symptoms like these that practically had no effect on others.'' But that was how nature works perhaps. "Anyway, let''s talk about something fun instead of that shit juice of yours." "Well certainly. What do you wanna talk about, dear prettydy." "I wanted to talk but you started this flirting, mister handsome. Don''t yell at me now, alright?" She was holding one of my hands while her other hand was on her chin, but after saying that, an evil smile appeared on her face and she started sliding her hands upward while¡­ caressing my skin with her fingers. "I wasn''t going for this¡­ but sure. Challenge epted." My one hand was also holding my hand while the other yed on her palm. "Oho?" And now that she was ying this game, I had no reason not to y along. "Oh¡­ oh no, you bastard. Ahh¡­ how the hell do you do this!" There were techniques for many things. The perfect use of fingers, for an archer, was one of the most basic virtues. ''We had to have dexterous fingers, much like the cksmiths and artists.'' And unlike the other professions, the archers, as the masters of strings, knew very well just how to apply proper pressure to delicate things like strings or skin that was covering the blood vessels and nerves. Inducing pleasure with just one hand''s fingers was no big deal- "Ah~." "Kek. You moaned. Hehehe." She did that thing again¡­ and I still don''t understand why that hell does it it feel so damn weird! "That doesn''t count, alright? You didn''t even- mmm~." "Hehe, why are you holding back~? Let it out, hehe. Lemme hear that sweet, cute, Manly voice of yours~." She had one trick. One. ''One!'' And it freakin works every damn time! "Don''t be too happy, Miss." "Hmm? Ohh, no. No no no no! Agh~." That was a good voice she made. Not the funniest, not the hottest, not the prettiest, but a good one. I like it. And yes, we are still only ying with our fingers. "You are a bastard, you know? This, that deal with Lakmer, it''s all unnecessary. You just want to do shit for fun even though it mighte and bite you right in the ass." "Not this one." Yes I ept I do many things for fun, many things that could very welle and bite me back but, I don''t do reckless things. Or the things that could affect those around me in any way. "You do you mean- ahhh~." "Hear me out, alright?" Yes I know I do some things just for fun to see just what kind of effect it could produce on that scenario, or on that particr environment. There are many things that I have just done without much thought withplete faith in my luck or fate, but, those things are never about anyone else but myself. ''I know what I have to do and when I have to do those things and what is for fun or what could end up causing more problems at a cost of some momentary fun.'' I don''t go around doing senseless, unnecessary things like sting mountains like she does¡ª it''s a different thing that mountain turned out to be a crystal mine, but it was aplete coincidence- but I know what I do. And this time as well, I knew what I was doing when I made that deal with Lakmer and Lady Carolina. "See, being a supplier and revealing all that information to specifically Lakmer does three things." "Stop ying with my hand." "Then the y wouldn''t mean anything¡­ and shut up. I told you to hear me out first, then I will listen to allllllll that you have to say. We have time." "You are a fucking¡­ hot bastard, you know?" "Ouch!" She could have said without biting my finger, but then it wouldn''t have made as much impact¡­ or made her look so adorable. A little pain was more than bearable¡­ there''s hopefully not going to be ys like mom and dad between us, so this much is certainly enjoyable. "Hehe." "Shut up." "Hehehehe." "Rein." "Ptfff." "Do you want to listen or not?" "No~!" She wasughing, and she was onlyughing so I thought she would justugh and stop, but she didn''t. She jumped on me and then we fell to the floor. "Why so suddenly?" "That ''shut up'' was hot. Hehe, it just made me tingle you know?" Hands locked, bodies pressed against one another¡­ our clothes were thick since we didn''t change aftering back from the party, so they were a hindrance that she just got rid of with her Mana. "Hehe, do you want to do something like your-" "No." "Like your mom and dad?" "No. And no." "But you were so aggressive just now~!" How did telling her to shut up and listen to me turn into this? What the hell? "Let''s do the mild thing. I will tie your hands to the bed or wall if you want and then I''ll taste your pretty body~. Or¡­ oh! Do that to me instead!" "¡­shut up." For some reason, she was happy tonight. And for some reason, I found something perverse about her behaviour. And for some other reason, I found this very interesting¡­ "You want to do those things?" "It''s not like we are going to fuck¡­ we can do that if you want though, I''m ready anytime but, I know that''s not possible since you are technically a minor from your own perspective. So whatever. Let''s just-" "You''re talking too much tonight, you know?" She was on top of me, which changed in a blink of an eye. "You should shut up now." -Swish. Along with our location. "And don''t utter anything other than those sweet voices." It was night and it would soon be morning, and we aren''t going to get good enough sleep tonight anyway, so it''s just better to do this. And be exhausted enough to get straight to bed as soon as we get back home. There was a lot to talk about right now, a lot of things had already happened during this short trip of ours and we have seen things that were only painful. The crying people, the curses, the children, the elders, and¡­ the lovers who lost their partners¡­ it was a sight that we were expecting already beforeing here, but, it was still painful actually experiencing their loss, being around them. Thinking about what would have happened if I were in their ce. What would I do if something happens to the ones around me. ''We were both afraid¡­'' But then things became cooler when the speech ended and everyone went back. ''The talk with the four of them at the end perhaps elevated the mood.'' Perhaps the reason he acted like that was also because of the things that happened in the morning¡­ "Mmmm~." But, nothing really matters anymore. We were going to do what we were supposed to do. Going back and preparing to leave for school would be the first thing on that list, and then we will have to look for her parents. The grand conference was alsoing so the headmaster and vice headmaster would be teaching me personally after school hours, so we might get less time when we go back. We both knew that¡­ "Keep¡­ going, mmmm~." So, perhaps, this was happening with that particr thought in her mind. And, I certainly do not mind exploring new things. ''When it''s her, I would never really hate even the absurd things.'' It''s always fun when it''s her. Chapter 772: Last day at home [Eon''s POV: ] "She knows you are leaving tomorrow." "And yet, look at her." We were with mom and others in the front yard where Anna was happily ying with the Povpoi and other creatures. "Eon, have you heard anything from the headmaster after that day?" "Nope." Ca, Alf, Cary, Rein, and I would be returning back to the academy tomorrow. Miss Moon would be with us as well, and, since Anna had taken a unique liking to her, it was not going to be easy for her to say goodbye to all of us. "Headmaster, vice headmaster, even most of the teachers are working hard to stabilise the sky ind right now. After what happened in Lakmer, the entire ind had been in shambles. Adventurers are going around cursing at one another, trade unions are losing business, the small shops had to be shut down because there were riots from the people rted to Lakmer and there were even cases where the authorities had to use force to calm the situation down. It was aplete mess for a few days." "Dad was saying something simr a while ago as well. He even said the creatures in the outskirts were being hunted uwfully after the things got worse back at the ind." "Though, El was saying things have calmed down now on call yesterday, so you all should be alright." "Right." My aunts and grandparents were with us as well, and though we were drinking hot chocte instead of the usual tea today, there was a good atmosphere around us. It was winter and it was snowing outside. ''The garden was covered in snow today as well, so it was all white around us.'' The flower areas were obviously an exception but there was enough snow here for Anna to have fun with the others. "Oh, I just remembered. Did you all check up on your friends? Are they alright?" The others left for their houses or to the academy just the day before yesterday so grandma was asking if they were alright even though she knew their status well. "They are fine, mostly no problems. Though I do think those who returned back to academy would be worried when they don''t find ''us'' over there." "Huhu, right. Or course they would~." There was a smile on their faces, but they still couldn''t hide the pain and worry in their eyes. "Miss moon." "Yes." I pointed towards Mom''s cup with my eyes and Miss Moon filled with with more of the warm chocte drink. It was something different from themon hot chocte, something I made personally, so it was also something they enjoyed in this perfect weather. "Anyway baby, are you all going to be alright? What is academy going to do¡­ like, yes we know they are untouchable and all, but there should be something that they woulde up with after all this happened, right?" "As I just said, mom¡­ I have no idea what they are going to do." And I''m not even lying this time. The headmasters almost vanished and weren''t even responding to any messages we tried to send. Thest thing I heard about them was from president and vice president on Anna''s tea party. There was no news since then, and even president and vice president were responding to anything anymore. ''Somethig was going on that was keeping them too busy, and we don''t know what it is.'' Though, we will soon find out about it after we get back to academy tomorrow. "Hmmm¡­ Welp, nothing conclusive then." They weren''t going to talk about grand conference when the others were here as well so that topic was on one sidepletely. ''There was going to be conference of world level powers and they were going to hold itpletely secretly that no one will know about.'' Only certain parties would be invited to that conference, and besides the two of us, mom and grandpa should be there as respective individual authorities. I would be presenting and that was confirmed alredy so that was on one side, but, it will happen during out school times, so I don''t know what we are going to do about that. ''Well¡­ it''s not like school is more important than the world peace. Those cult bastards are a bigger threat than what I had thought about.'' And then there''s the vision I had as well¡­ I have to discuss about it with headmaster first since no one in my family knows anything about that device and Wali refused to tell us anything about it since ''we did not have authority'' to know information just yet. ''The ''authority'' is veryplicated thing now that I know more about it.'' There were so many things in this world that we knew nothing about, just like these cult bastards and their strange powers. The masterminds behind all of them were in no way simple bastards and since they were so different from the already existing threats of Rakshasas, dealing with them isn''t going to be anything simple either. -Bam. "Yeiiiiiii! Big brother got hit!" She was throwing snowballs at the ones ying with her, but from the looks of it, her battlefield was expending now. "Anna! You aren''t supposed to throw snowballs there! It''s not-" "Kehehe. Zoe got hit as well!" "Miss Taika! You shouldn''t-" "Shut up, Moonmoon." -Bam! Taika, Miss Moon, and Zoe were her partners, along with Zuroro, the Povpoi who were using their powers, Mave, and even dad was with them. He was ying with them, or was cleaning after them would be the better way to say what he was doing buried under that pile of snow. "Oy! We are talking!" "Of course you are Talking!" -Bam. Anna''s shot missed and it was aplete coincidence, but in the heat of the fun moment, Taika ended up throwing a snowball right in our direction¡­ and sadly, it ended up on mom''s face. "Opps." She had done it. "Taika dear~." She first cleared the snow from her face and then, slowly and calmly, she first finished her hot chocte. "Mom no-" "It''s alright, baby. I know, it''s no biggie." A war was going to start on this garden, all of us can foresee that much. "N-Nol¡­ you know I didn''t¡­" "Ah of course dear~. I know just how fun it must be ying with these little balls of ice." She walked towards them while cracking her fingers, and right then a smile alredy present on her face. "Can I y with you, Anna~?" "Ohhh! Mom wants to y as well~? Yeiiiiiiii~!" Taika had realised her mistake so all her excitement was reced by a little hint of fear, dad had also just managed to get out of the pile of snow they had buried him under. "Alright then~! You just throw balls of snow at one another, right~?" "Yes! Here, you can have this one~." Anna was giving a weapon to her opponent herself¡­ how sweet of her¡­ ''I wish mom was as sweet to them as her¡­'' There was a sweet smile on her face and though Anna could tell there was something wrong with this entire thing, she didn''t worry since it was mom. She knew if it was mom, she would do something cool and the fun would increase, and yes she was certainly right. "Oh? Thanks sweetie~." Her target was alredy decided, so she didn''t even wait. "Wait, Nol¡­ no. No! No no no no. Please!" Taika started running backwards, which was a mistake. She should have ran towards us. "Hehe. You started this~." Mom didn''t have physical powers, but she had appropriate skills topensate for her weakness. And {Jupiter''s gravity} a very rare skill that perhaps only a handful of people possesses in this entire world, was something that converted her power of authority and mental stats into something that affected someone physically. -Swish¡ªswiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish! She made the snowball her skill target with that power, made it lighter and threw it normally towards apletely random point first, and then¡­ -Bam! While controlling the speed of that snowball, she elerated the entire thing until it reached a point where Taika had ended up in while trying to get out of her range. -Booooooooom! When the little fragile snowball hit her, it created a little explosion that blew off all the snow in that point and created something simr to a crater. "Wohhhhhh! What was that, mom~?!" And it somehow impressed my little Anna. "We should finish the chocte." Aunt Aug, grandmother, grandpa, even Aunt Haze knew what was going to follow that one explosion. "This will be first time, right? I wasn''t expecting she would see us do this so soon." There''s a game called (Extreme snowball battle) in the north. A game that involves simple snowballs, magic, aura, powers, and everything one can think of to use those simple snowballs with. "Taika started it, as mom said. What can we do?" It was winter and we would be leaving the first thing in the morning. Anna would be alone once again, and there''s no helping it. ''Thest few days were fun. For her and for us as well.'' But after we go back, she wouldn''t hear from me directly as it has been until now, and this time, it will be for longer. ''We will only return after our midterms now.'' It will be a long break so we would go to the North, to ournd, to mom''s mothend, to the ce this family has originated from. It was already set and we were looking forward to it, but¡­ there were many things that were going to happen in between that and this event. ''But not all of the people here will know of them.'' It would be fun and all, perhaps, but there are many serious problems waiting ahead of us. "Nol! Now you started this one, alright!" -Bam! Problems much bigger than this little snowball fight. -Bam. Bam. "You two! Calm down please! Someone might get-" -Bam! { "Hahaha! Does this mean we can use magic now as well~! This will be so much more fun~!" } { "Yes! Yes! Now Glem and Dome can go all out! Hahaha!" } { "Children! Control your powers! If anyone gets hurt-" } -Bam. { "Hehe, mama got hit as well~. It means she''s out now, right~?" } Anna was doing better even though there was that awakening attempt. And it was for the best. ''She might not endure as she is right now.'' She was leaning, getting better, and she is a genius even better than Rein, Ca, Alf, or me perhaps. She had gotten much better in this short time, and after wee back, she might have progressed beyond my expectations. It''s certainly possible. However, it was important that she understands the true meaning of Power. "Looks like it''s time for us to step in." "Magic''s allowed, right?" "Nothing above (tier-2)." Grandpa''s warning was calcted. "Noted." "And noplex spells. Especially for you two." But grandmother''s warning was aimed at the two of us specifically. She had already seen past our intentions long ago. "Teams?" "No teaming. It will be a point game." "Then you looks like everyone is everyone''s opponent." All of us were smirking since we knew this was going to fun. But Alf alone was worried about all this. He knew what was going to happen to this garden and to all of us real soon, but¡­ just like how we were going to do what we can to show Anna how power was used, he knew very well just what kind of snowball battle was awaiting us. ''He was nice, and that''s why he was worried.'' Which was a mistake that he will soon know about and work on if he really wanted to be with Bell. ''And, the same was something Anna would have to learn the hard way because of her very nature.'' Though, I''m prepared to teach it to her myself. Chapter 773: Back to school [OP: ] The departure was difficult as they had imagined and as they knew, Anna was not very happy that they were leaving aftering back after so long. She did her best to let them go and be strong, but she was still the same kid that they had left a few weeks ago thest time they went to the academy for the first time. She was no grown up like them and she did not know how to hold herself back just yet. She was smart, better than most kids her age, and she was special as well. There was no need to even think just how special she actually was anymore. They all knew her, and they all knew she would be upset when they go back, but they also knew she would be perfectly fine even after they were gone. She had friend, and this time, there were going to be more friends visiting her after they were gone. She would not be alone anymore and she can make new friends from now on, and with her training keeping her extra busy, she wasn''t going to have much time to worry about them. She was going to do good, her brother knew it the best. That''s why¡­ they left her with a smile, and though with tears, she said her goodbye with a smile as well. Carriages left the house gates with her brothers and sisters. And then she cried. Thankfully, there were her friends and the rest of her family to support her. Her mom and dad¡­ as well as her Taika. They were her, and they were going to be right there with her, beside her. She was going to meet special children like herself soon, and they would be friends. Eon knew that when he sat out on the airship of the academy. He was sad as well, he did not want to leave his lovely little sister. Not for such a long time¡­ but just like how he had resolved himself to not contact her and upset her, he had resolved himself for what he had to achieve in this academy. He was a vice captain right now and his sister was the captain of their house. They were the winners of the annual alchemypetition so as soon as the school starts the day after tomorrow, there was going to be an event to announce the results of each house where the teachers and the headmasters would distribute House points ording to achievements they had made in this short time. And their sses and regr activities would start after that only. The next big event that the houses would have taken part in was going to be the sports event of the Empire but, it was cancelled for this year and was going to be held the following year so one of their grounds forpeting was not there anymore. Which, as the captains of each of the houses knew well, meant they would have to put extra efforts in all the inter-academy activities and special events that would happen in their academy. The midterms would be the next bigpetition ground and they would have to do well individually as well in the exams for the school ranks that would truly decide their standing in the school. The entrance exams of the great academy weren''t something that gave anyone any certain rank, they just had people that achieved the most points and the one that made the most contributions to the wholepetition. There were many individuals every year that just did what they could to pass the exams and nothing more. Most of the house captains of this year were individuals that weren''t that great in the ranks, some of the high performing people weren''t even part of the famous groups. Thus¡­ their midterms were going to be something enjoyable. However, before that, there was the event for point distribution for their performance in the annual alchemypetition that, sadly, did not go very well. "Uriel! You''re finally here~~!" Quin had not seen her dear friends for more than a week now. She had handhelds her team members well along with Alf but she had worried about her Friends all this time. They were captains of their houses however, they were the only individuals that didn''te with them to thepetition or to the Heliox house. They knew them and still, they did not visit them when they were there so, she had at least figured out they were out doing something of their own. They were special individuals, she knew that every well by this point and she also knew if even their presidents weren''t talking about them during Anna''s tea party, the two of them must be doing something important. So, until now, she had only prayed that whatever they were doing or whatever they were, they would be safe, and fine. "It''s good to see you as well, Quinny." "Where were you?!" She had all the rights as their friend to shout at the two of them who neither connected her, nor did anything to inform her that they were fine. "And you!" Something bad had happened in the city that they were in and they had no idea about it. She thought it was luck but then there was this feeling that she had heard someone ying some kind of music at the night when all that happened, so she was confused. And just like every time, she needed these two of them to talk about the happenings of that time. "Lucifer! Why didn''t you content me and tell me you were alright?! I even saw you two online in sometimes! What were you doing?!" They couldn''t tell her they were with them all the time just yet or there wouldn''t be any meaning in hiding their identities. She would know one day, everyone in this academy would, but right now wasn''t the time. "I apologise for that, Quin." They had only arrived in their dorm right now and they weren''t the ones who informed the others of their arrival. It was Ca, who told the rest of thedies, and Alf told the rest of their male fields. Then the world began spreading and now the entire campus knew that they were back to the school exactly after half of day Cary and Alf came back. "No! No apologies! Tell me where you were!" They were on the outskirts, checking up on the Pink nightangel, the rainbow mingos and their new home. He kept some of the things secret from Rein so she didn''t get to see many things that he had prepared in thatrge house of theirs, but his insistence made her curious. "Well¡­" She wanted to see what he had done with their home so much that she went ahead and tried sneaking in, but he caught her, and dragged her back to their dorm. And then, not even a few minutester, she knocked on their doors. "We were doing something very important and personal. We could have told you if it was possible, but please try to understand when we say it isn''t something we can tell to anyone, not even to our family." She was worried about her friends, her first friends that were perhaps the sole reason she had so many friends in this academy right now. "Something important? Personal¡­?" "Yes, Quinny." Quin was closer to Rein than she was with anyone else since Rein practically picked her and dered her a friend when they first met. Their encounter was nothing magical, she practically threw a water fountain on them right after they woke up from a sweet dream on the great tree, but, even though their time together was not that long, they were inseparably close. "Please forgive us this time, alright? We had our reasons and there were these important things we''d had to do no matter what. We already know about the incident in Lakmer and all the things that happened there, as well as the things that happened on the ind here, but since we weren''t present here, we couldn''t have done anything about it anyway. Not that we have any power or authority to do so, but anyway¡­" Talking her out was no easy task, but it was a kind of talk that they knew they could aplish with a little effort and a good long chat. "But¡­" There were many things she wanted to tell her, many things that she wanted to show them, and many things that she wanted to ask them. They were the only people after her grandfather that she was so close to¡­ they were practically her only remaining family in this world aside from her familiar spirits and, of course, her familiar that was still resting in her egg. She loved them, and they held an irreceable part in her life. She didn''t even know what she would do when they weren''t around. "You''re alright¡­ right?" Lady of Atraxia might have been a soothing wind, or Master of Heliox might have been a bright, warm light that healed the wounds that were caused by the events in the Lakmer, but the invisible wounds that still haunted her were something only the two of them could heal¡­ something she can only get rid of after talking with them. They were the people she went to when she did not understand something, when she needed anything¡­ answers that she couldn''t know even after going through any book in their grand library. They were her friends, herpanions that she couldn''t separate herself from even if she wanted to. And the two of them knew that as well. "Of course we are alright~." "There were a few things that happened, but we are alright now. There''s nothing for you to worry about." Many things had happened to them since they went to Lakmer, but they were back now. And, this time, they weren''t going anywhere for a good long time¡­ at least, not as Axion of Heliox or Reinelle of Atraxia. They were Lucifer and Uriel of the academy, the captain and vice captain of Dark society and Wisdom phoenix. They were her friends and the chains that bound every house in this academy¡­ nothing was going to tear them apart now. Not until something unexpected happens¡­ Then they would have to do something themselves. Chapter 774: Reunited students [OP: ] The children had gone to their home or were in their dorms during the participants of the annual alchemypetition went to Lakmer. It was only going to be a break of around four days however, due to everything happening in Lakmer, they had to prolong the vacation¡­ something certainly the students who were back home enjoyed however for those who were still at the academy, it wasn''t a very fun holiday. They had to be limited to the academy premises since there was a chaotic atmosphere outside all around the sky ind. And, even if some of them were adventurers, they couldn''t enjoy the hunting season. It was winter in the outside world so even though the weather stayed the same on the ind, half of the world was enjoying the cold. There was a good amount of creatures avable for hunting so they would have earned a good amount if they had gone out to hunt even in the safe areas. But, even they knew the atmosphere wasn''t right. Everything that happened in Lakmer caused not only an uproar, things were particrly chaotic on the sky ind, one of the main centres of the entire world''s most powerful organisations. The Adventurer''s association, the Mage towers and unions, the diplomatic unions of various nations, and other ces had their management headquarters on this ind. "Uriel~! Lucifer~! It''s so good to finally see you again!" "We missed you, you know?" "You know, we went to Heliox house!" Things were chaotic for all the ind folks and the students didn''t get the chance to get out of the academy either because of all the things that were going on since thest few days. They were happy when their holidays started; however, thest few days had been more chaotic than anything they had seen on this ind. However, thanks to the continued presence of the teachers and their headmasters, things went back to normal sooner than they would have. "Yes, yes. Let''s sit down first, shall we?" They were back now, and school was starting with all of them back. { "Oy. Be quiet. You aren''t new here anymore. Act like the students of this great institution." } Their vice president was as strict as ever, and, for the ones who had seen her outside the academy, this usual side of hers was a refreshing sight. "She waspletely different when we met her at Heliox estate. She yed with us,ughed, smiled more than she ever has, and she didn''t even use that many curse words. She was being careful as well, and she looked pretty in that pretty dress." "She looked good with the president as well. I wonder if the two of them are-" "Nah. Vice president isn''t interested in boys." Cradle''s preference is something half of thedies of this school knew already since many of them had already spent some good time with her. They knew she was a more charming and attractive person than most other boys of their academy, and she took good care of them. { "Ahem. Please be quiet everyone. The headmaster will be here soon so let us all thank him for his hard work during the time of difficulties." } They had gathered in the same conference hall where they had their inauguration ceremony so they were familiar with this ce and apparently, many of them were sitting in the same ces they did during their first inauguration. They were talking, chatting, greeting their friends as many of them were seeing them after a while now and those who were part of the groups that had went to Lakmer with their houses were telling the others stories about their experiences in that ce. Which was certainly stories that their friends were enjoying quite well. Along with the stories, many of them were even sharing footage''s recorded in special devices or Mag and some were even selling copies of some of the events from that time. "Shuuu. Sit down Tia¡­ not in my head. Sit in your ce." "This is my ce though, hahaha~." The group of the house captains was sitting together this time. It wasn''t just Uriel, Lucifer, Quin, and Med this time. Titania, her two vice captains, Miss Mia, and the others who were with them at Lakmer and at the house of Heliox were also present around them. Ezra, Hide, and the newly engaged couple JenGin were around them as well. The atmosphere in this ce was more cheerful than the teachers down at the stage had expected, however, seeing their students in that state was much better than what they might have been a few days ago. "The teachers look exhausted for some reason, no?" "They were working all this time, of course they would look exhausted. Perhaps the reason we are having this ceremony right before the weekend is also to give them the rest they need." Med knew what it was like over here even though she was not present here herself. The reports she received from the workers of her new shops that were soon going to be open to the public had recorded and reported many things and happenings on the ind to her. She knew already just what kind of things had been happening over here and what the teachers were doing to calm them, to calm the people and the ones that were unnecessarily acting up. She was one of the few people who knew the internal situation that wasn''t known to the public, and she admired their teachers for all that they had done just so the students here could have a positive experience when they were back. { "Alright, settle down everyone. And thank you, you two." } Their headmaster appeared out of nowhere, and the room lost all the vices, all the sound that was present in there. -Ooooooooooong! The teachers were already standing on the wooden stage while their vice headmaster was waiting just below the stage, looking at the students who were making too much noise. The student council members who were still present on the ind were finishing their own tasks over the past few days as well, and they had done a good job in it. They were also the reason their presidents could take some time for themselves before getting engaged in a new bunch of tasks. { "Wee back, everyone." } There were still a lot of things happening all over the ind just like the rest of the world, and they still had to deal with the things that weren''t possible with the strength of only a few of them. The ind was a big ce and some of the tasks required the expertise of some certain people, so now that they were all here, theplete cleanup can start now. { "It''s a warm sight seeing you all safe and well again." } The headmaster was at an important conference that was happening between higher authorities of the world when they informed him about the situation at Lakmer. He was stunned since he had hardly ever faced a situation such as this one in his centuries of life. He could not believe the kind of preparation those people had made for that one attack. The way they were so organised also didn''t make any sense to him. { "Haaaa¡­" } Last few days had been more difficult for him than anyone else in this world. He was one of the most powerful central authorities of this world that was solely responsible for not only the academy but also the entire sky ind. He had power greater than anyone else and that power was attached with many responsibilities. He had to take care of all the matters rted to the international disputes since the matters this time concerned the entire world''s stability. There was a new power preparing for the next attack in some dark corner of this world and any country could be their targets. No one was safe if even the blessednds of Lakmer were so thoroughly infiltrated. Even the magic nations, smaller countries, and central powers like theocracy felt the threat that wasing their way. And as a way to handle all of this, the preparations for the Grand conference were also on the way. He was busy at the moment, had practically no time to spare even for the academy work, that was the main reason he had to leave all his work here to the student council. It wasn''t easy maintaining this big of an academy with these thousands of students on their own, but they were the best of the bests of this world. With the help of their presidents, he knew they would do a good enough job that he wouldn''t have to worry about them, or the academy. There was still some time left for the grand conference and he knew the tension would increase after this conference had been held, so he was preparing for that as well. There was a tension in the winds and those in power were bing restless with each passing day. { "Well, how have my dear students been? Did you enjoy the holidays~?" } Thankfully, since he wasn''t going to be the one to lead this conference or the one to present the grave matter to the rest of the conference, he had one less thing to prepare for. { "What do you say? Should we take the attendance?" } "Hmm?" He was the headmaster of this institution but, sadly, he will have to be away from here for a few days. And in the time he was away, the students and teachers would have to look after one another themselves. "Ptfff." "That was a joke, wasn''t it?" "Hehe." But he trusted the student council. These students that he had picked himself, as well as the two presidents that would guide them were more than capable of enough to handle something like this with theirbined powers. Chapter 775: The stage [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "He looks pretty good. Though, the two of you don''t." }] The headmaster was giving his speech about how he was relieved to see us, how there were a loooooooot of things happening at the ind when we were gone and things abouts things that we knew already. So¡­ we had our own little conversation going on. [{ "Well, no one would look after working their asses off for three days straight. Do you know how much the headmaster works, man? It''s fucking crazy!" }] Cradle sounded genuinely frustrated at that moment. It was as if she had worked three consecutive full day shifts with only a little break in between a few hours, which was kind of funny considering she was smiling right now. [{ "He perhaps knows how much that bastard headmaster of ours works, you know Cradle? I remember he was telling me about what the headmaster does a while back." }] [{ "You aren''t supposed to tell them that, dummy." }] The headmaster''s work was very private and confidential so aside from the presidents of the students council and a select few individuals in this world, there was no one that was supposed to know about the specifics of his work. [{ "You two could get in serious trouble for knowing that, you know? Not that it matters anyway. You two probably know much more about most of the things than most of the others in this world." }] President Zodiac knew us pretty well now that we have spent this good time with each other. ''We have practically risked our lives for one another and fight a war together so we have a special bond with each other, as I know.'' All four of us do, apparently. [{ "Well, forget that. Where were the two of you this whole time? We didn''t see you after the tea party-" }] [{ "Don''t even ask, Uriel." }] Now Cradle sounded angry. [{ "This great great Great headmaster of ours first sent us all around the ind as soon as we got back here with that long ass report, then when we were done with the shit ton of work we did in this ce, he sent us to theocracy. There we had to deal with a bunch of Rakshasas that were apparently not rted to the demonic cultist in any way, so it was a waste of time. And when we got back here, he assigned us all the work that he does." }] She sounded a little sad as well¡­ which kind of made her sound miserable, and pretty funny in a way as well. ''Thankfully, she couldn''t sense I wasughing at her from the inside like Rein and her Zoe or else she would have thrown a chair at me or something without worrying about this conference hall or the other students.'' [{ "We were busy and we thought you''d already know that so we didn''t disturb you two since you also had all those things to deal with. The ceremony in Lakmer and then the preparations for the conference from your side isn''t something easy, as we know after seeing the headmaster going though all that." }] [{ "True, damn. I have never seen headmaster that serious or tense. It''s like he is so busy that even when he smiles there''s this visible burden present on his face. Just look at him right now, look how happy he looks. Anyone can tell it''spletely fake!" }] Not everyone present here can but yes, certainly all the teachers and a few of the students present here knew it only after seeing that look he had right now. It was miserable, but it also indicated the degree of the problem. ''If even the great headmaster was like this, the problem that he was deal with or the preparations he was working on were obviously not something that anyone could do in his stand.'' It wasn''t his own academy work or the work rted to this ind. He was practically the central neutral authority that maintained the world bnce in order to have a good number of students that could reach and attend this academy. ''He was a great person when it came to his work.'' A one of a kind altruistic person that cared for the others, especially the talented and ambitious or deserving individuals who needed this academy and his support. He was the one that protected the future of this world, the maintainer of this academy and the enemy of every element that threatened the stability of this academy as well as the world where the individuals that attained this academy came from. [{ "It''s alright, this isn''t the first time he is preparing for the grand conference but since the topics of the conference this time are so unique, he must be have a little hard time. Though, he has some good pair of hands helping him so, he would be alright even if something goes wrong during the presentations." }] His speech was finally ending and he wasing to the main point, which was obviously the point distribution for this time''s event. [{ "Lucifer, if he looks that much worse as one of the organisers of this event, how are you holding up on your end as the one that would practically guide this conference? Are you alright?" }] The president was worried about me¡­ how thoughtful of him. But no, I was doing well on my end, or at least I was doing pretty good to have a breathing room so, I just looked down at him on the stage and gave him a small smile. Which was enough for him to understand the situation I was in. { "Alright then. You all must be eager to know how much your house scores are affected after this whole mess, hun?" } The headmaster was starting in his end, so, the students'' attention was focused on him instantly. Of course though, not everyone was looking at him when he brought up the matter. { "Good. Looks like everyone is looking forward to this, hun? It''s good, good curiosity, good reaction. On that note¡­" } Some of the students already knew what wasing so when the headmaster looked in our direction, they knew what he was going to say next. { "You have a special someone among you all." } A magical spotlight suddenly sparked three seats to my right, right on top of Miss Mia. { "Miss Mia Silver. First of all, congrattions on winning the most chaotic annual Lakmer alchemypetition in the history of this world, as well as bing the youngest known Master Alchemist of not only some specific country, but this entire world. You have brought happiness to this institution, and along with it, fame and glory as well." } She won the alchemypetition by creating a ''theory'' that wasn''t known or thought to be possible or was pioneered by anyone else, and earned the title of a master. She created the first coreless golem known to this world as well and along with these achievements, she showcased the techniques and knowledge that I had taught her better than even I could have been able to. ''She also received that strange potion to form that strange figure, but it was a matter that most people had already forgotten.'' A [Law] was made since that event was just too unique so, individuals unrted to this event throughout this world who had witnessed that strange figure and what it did would one day only remain in the secret historical records of some important countries. But even if we ignore that, she had achieved something no one in thest few batches in this academy could. She won thepetition where even the world''s best grandmasters participated, and not only did she get the title of master in her early twenties, she was also the creator of a coreless golem and a theory that was going to be very influential in the world that was going towards a new era of war and doom. { "Before the distribution of the house points, can I please have you on stage, Lady¡­ Miss Master alchemist?" } He smiled at her as he invited her to join them on the stage where only the teachers and the two presidents of the student council had stood throughout every single gathering. -Ooooooooooong! The house scoreboards was also summoned on each side of the room as well as in the centre right behind the ce he was standing on, and the atmosphere had changed dramatically at this moment. [{ "Cradle was the first one to be invited on the stage in our batch. The second was Julietta Roxana, and then Cradle once again for her unbelievable performance in the The great magic conference that''s held every three years." }] Even the president Zodiac himself was never invited to the stage until he won the Annual swordsmanship contest of Theocracy in his category. And that was also almost by the time their first year had ended. ''It was a great honour to be invited on the stage where only the teachers and those who were worthy of standing there, with those people, in that setting, could stand.'' It was a special asion for all the students who had earned a unique achievement during their academic years. ''There are times when not a single person in an entire batch for all three years get invited to the stage.'' Not even the student council presidents. { "Wee." } All the students knew it already, but they weren''t surprised. They already knew this was going to happen since the achievements she alone had earned in thatpetition was one of the best in the history ofst century. She deserved to be there. They had seen her and the others of her group, and they knew just what they went through to achieve that victory. She was more worthy than anyone else in this moment. { "You were breathtaking." } It was a special moment for Miss Mia as well. Tears were rolling down her eyes as she stood on the stage along with the headmasters and the rest of them. "Thank you¡­" But, there was the brightest smile on her face any one of us had ever seen on her. ''And yes¡­ it looked pretty.'' She looked pretty. Undeniably. Chapter 776: House point distribution [Eon''s POV: ] [{ *She looks emotional.* }] ''She deserves that happiness. She worked hard for it.'' She was on the stage, and though she was facing all of us with those crying gray eyes of hers, there was a certain kind of joy in her eyes. -Wooooooooooooooooh! The other students, her ss mates and house mates were all cheering for her and it since it was the first time in this year that someone was being praised like this, the other students were looking at her with admiration and a unique kind of respect. ''She was alredy loved by many, but now, after achieving the rank of a Master and winning thepetition, her poprity had increased even more.'' She was good, and she looked happy. Though, I knew what she was going to do now that she had the chance to address the rest of her batch. { "Thank you, headmaster¡­ everyone." } She received a special gift from the headmaster for her achievement though no one knew what it actually was. And along with it, she also received the chance to speak to the rest of the students from the ce only the headmasters had ever spoke, until now. { "However¡­ I don''t think I am the only one that deserves all that praise and support." } She had been looking at me, not in my general direction, but directly at me. { "If it weren''t for the one that taught me everything that allowed me to win thepetition, that allowed me the opportunity to earn the prestigious title of a master Alchemist, I don''t think I would have been standing here today." } She wasn''t the only one that I taught all those things, even Rein knew all the knowledge that she did, perhaps even more than Miss Mia did. There was no way just possessing better knowledge than others could allow someone to win the grand alchemypetition with people that possessed more knowledge than even I did right now. ''There were some hundreds of year old individuals in thepetition and they had more practical knowledge than I would have anytime soon. They were smart and they knew how the dedicated life to their own art felt like. They knew how to do what they did the best and there was a reason they were one of the best of their fields. ''There was a good chance she would have lost even after having more knowledge than she did at that time.'' But she won, and not with some highly advanced potion, or some golem, or something that was unexpectedly amazing. She created her theory, and though there was a chance it could be wrong, there were more chances that it would be used in various different fields for certain. ''It wasn''t just limited to the field of alchemy anymore.'' There were many different powers that wanted to use that theory and as the backer of Miss Mia, I was the first person that was given the opportunity to select the ones that could use that theory. ''But the candidates that would ''help'' me prove that theory were already decided.'' We just needed to gather all the required materials and find the proper ce with the most appropriate environment, and the headmaster was already taking care of those things. She was going to be a famous figure throughout this world even before she graduates from the academy. { "I want to dedicate all the fame I have received for this victory, all the glory, all the love from the others, all that is attached to it¡­ if it weren''t for my Vice Captain Lucifer that considered us, considered me worthy enough to receive that knowledge, I know for certain I would not have had any of this." } She had a warm expression while her eyes were filled with gratitude. ''We haven''t had any chance to talk about the things that happened to them in the Lakmer since this was our first meeting since we came back.'' There were many things that we needed to talk about, many things that she wanted to tell me and many things that she had to express. But, I know it would be a fun chat. { "Thank you¡­ Vice captain. For everything." } She bowed her head as deeply as she could from that podium. She even hit her head in the process, and made many of the students chuckle. [{ *She has certainly grown up since the first time. She expresses more now.* }] ''Well, anyone would change after going through such an experience. She changed for better, and that is a good thing.'' I knew just how devastated she was after all that happened in Lakmer. I was there with her, though she did not know that. ''She stayed strong in that time, did not express much of what she was going through since there were others that needed her.'' She had to act stronger even though she was nothing specialpared to the others. But she did well. ''Thanks to her, we were able to look after the other students better and things were a little better.'' She was a good person, and even as she walked back up towards her ce, she did not ignore the students that were talking bad about how she was giving all credit to her vice captain. They already knew what we had done to prepare them, the fight that we put up against the otherpetitors during thepetition, and how we weren''t exactly going to win in thatst round. They never saw us after they had departed from here since our work ended as soon as they left, so, there was mixed opinion about Rein and me among the students. Though, since everyone was still bust dealing with what had happened in the Lakmer, they didn''t really have any time to think about some low standing captain and vice captain that they have so little interaction with. { "Alright then, so¡­ let us move on to the house point distribution. Ah, and just for my own convenience, let me give you all a little present." } -Snap! -Ooooooooooong. He snapped his finger, and the scores on the scoreboard suddenly changedpletely. ============ True dragons: 600 Pt. Fascinated mages: 600 Pt. Fusion stardust: 600 Pt. Wisdom phoenix: 600 Pt. Dark society: 600 Pt. Aqua mirror: 600 Pt. Turtle defenders: 600 Pt. ============ { " The little Turtles did unexpectedly well in thepetition, and their performance was pretty good. Though, the way they were driven with not passion but fear upsets me." } He set every single houses'' scores the same, which was a dirty move. { "Dark society were more admirable than anyone else, while True dragons did not live up to their Noble standards." } Everyone were stunned when they saw these changes, especially us house captains. This waspletely absurd from our point of view. { "Fascinated images could not show all that they were capable of, while Fusion stardust fell behind on points that they could have ovee if they had tried just a little harder." } He was either ying with all of us or he wanted to increase thepetition between the houses many times more than what it already was. ''Or he hadpletely gone insane after working his head off.'' There was no other exnation why he would equalise all the scores with that kind ofme excuse. { "Wisdom Phoenix performed unfathomably well, however, if I have to be blunt, the team could not keep up with the momentum of their leader. They could have performed much better in the situations that actually required their individual contributions while even after havingcking resources than the others, as well as less potent understanding of the system, they performed better than any of the Teams." } He was definitely ying some tricks to justify his actions that were going to follow up after that little crazy speech of his¡­ but I''m not buying his crap. [{ "He keeps giving me reasons to hate him." }] Rein wanted to go down and punch him¡­ I even had to grab her hand to calm her down, but Quin already knew something was wrong with her dear friend. { "All of you did pretty well and since I wasn''t there to watch you all by myself, I don''t think I can judge you for the performance you showed, based on experiences you had. But I know the preparations you made for it, and I read the reports from your teachers, so, I know what you did and what you could have done better." } The point distribution wasn''t going to be anything simple, all of us could see that much already. And since he was personally doing the distribution, there was a good chance of unforeseen things happening. { "And based on that, after the thorough calctions that I''ll just put up on General notice, thest results would look something like this." } ============ Wisdom phoenix: 9966 Pt. Dark society: 8200 Pt. Turtle defenders: 7490 Pt. True dragons: 6990 Pt. Aqua mirror: 5678 Pt. Fascinated mages: 4806 Pt. Fusion stardust: 4390 Pt. ============ { "The scores might look absurd to you, perhaps biased and one sided. And perhaps some of you might want toe and punch me in the face, but, when you go through the reason for each point that was granted to each house or the member of that house, you will understand why this scoreboard looks so absurd. Ah, and I must tell you that it is after a good five hundred and thirty one years that a batch had managed to enter four digits after only one event. It''s an achievement in itself, so, cheer up. And have a good day." } And just like that¡­ that headmaster of ours vanished from the stage, leaving not only us students, but also the teachers and our vice headmaster stunned. Some of them even had their mouths left open, President Zodiac, Cradle and the few of us being someof them¡­ Chapter 777: That’s obviously wrong [Eon''s POV: ] "Anh, that doesn''t make any sense! How can he give someone a hundred points just because they didn''t screw up the filtering process?!" "It was a Definite double filtration, even three masters made mistakes during those things, Tia. That one is understandable." "What understandable?! And whose side are you on, Lizzy?!" "I have my own side, Miss Captain. And instead of being angry for someone that obviously knew what they were doing, and the only thing they were probably good at, how about you look at your own team. It''s pretty surprising your house have 300 points for excellent assembly procedure. How do you exin that?" "The one that taught my teammates! Ask Hide! It was his uncle! He specialises in that thing so he made sure they were up to his standards at least in that one thing. That''s why they all used that one technique in all freaking rounds! It wasn''t like we only used it for one round like the others-" "What do you mean by that now, hun? We used the Alternate distilled recement in all of our round as well. I don''t see any excellence points in our log." "It''s not your turn, captain Alpha so please be quiet. And everyone knows ADR is speciality of the alchemy teacher, andst I saw him teaching you all, he didn''t look as satisfied as when looking at the practice of Miss Titania''s group." "Miss Quin? How can you still defend them? Aren''t you angry they didn''t give you enough points for your great performance? You people even went ahead of us-" "Oh! Oh! And this! Uriel! What the hell is this?! How do you have 250 points for advanced subordination?! What the hell does that even mean?!" We were analysing the point distribution that had caused an uproar throughout the academy, and there was a public debate going on in the same auditorium where all of us had gathered. "How would I know on what bases he gave us those points on? I don''t even know how we got so many points in the first ce. Like, yes they had to get a good spot if they wanted to avoid the punishment, but seeing as they got such a pretty result, I''m wondering what presents I should give them now." There were a lot of students still remaining in this auditorium, listening to this funny debate we were having, and having fun of their own, and, since there was no teacher present here anymore, nothing was stopping them from having a civilised debate of their own. "A thousand points just for winning?! And that too to an individual and not the house?! That doesn''t make any sense!" "How are these points even counted? I''m trying to figure-." "Don''t waste your time. Even Newtine and the captains don''t know on what basis the headmaster gave or deducted those points." "Right¡­ and if it weren''t for vice captain Lucifer saying that the points aren''t distributed randomly, we wouldn''t even have this fun game." "Three hundred points! Three hundred points is the ongoing price! Participate in the bets and win ten times the amount! Let us see who figures out the distribution structure first~!" They were having fun among themselves while here we were, us miserable captains smacking our heads on the tables to figure out this strange yet systematic distribution system. ''I should learn how to set a grasnd on fire and make two species fight against one another from our great great headmaster.'' Not only did he gave us this strange homework of figuring out how he had distributed these points to each team And individuals, by making his point allocation public knowledge, he was practically asking us to solve this ridiculous riddle. "Any luck on your end?" "Well, I''m almost there¡­ though it could have ended long ago if skills were allowed." "Yeah, you tell me." Captain Alpheus, Captain Alpha, Alf, pink haired Nova, Newtine the magic engineer prodigy our two student council presidents, and I werepeting to see who finds out the answer to this riddle first with a unique ''favour'' on the line. "Just a little more¡­ if only this could make any sense¡­" The question was aplex mathematical problem that wasn''t as simple as it looked like since we not only had to categorise the points that were distributed by him we also had to make sense of why and how the points were assigned to them with the data we had on us. It wasn''t easy, certainly not when the data that we had was so jumbled up and unorganised that it practically looked like a tree, with leaves being numbers of course. [{ *Master, it''s-* }] ''Lucy, no. I know you want to tell me something that wouldn''t interfere with thepetition but, let''s not do that this time, alright? I can do it, I''m almost done, you see.'' [{ *Of course¡­ that''s why I was saying-* }] ''Nope. Please don''t say anything you want to say right now. I can do this.'' There weren''t many of uspeting for the answer, but the rest of the captains that were arguing with one another or enjoying the arguments of the others was a sight that even the students were enjoying. As even I could see, it was pretty fun seeing them act like the students and actually fight over something. A scenario that was certainly a soothing sight to one''s eyes. ''There were prettydies arguing with one another and there were pretty men like Hide defending themselves or fighting against them.'' It was a soothing sight to many sad eyes, so, there were a good number of them still sitting in the room, enjoying themselves and the warm sight. "I got it! I got it, I got it, fuck I got it!" The voice that all individuals present in this recognised: our vice president. { "Oho? Really? Then let the judge decide that." } And that was the voice of one of the most intelligent and wise beings rted to this academy. "Of course you damn Owl! Here! Tell me I''m right. Praise my greatness, hahaha!" Harry the Wise owl of the headmaster. He was apparently here to get the two presidents since he had some work for them, but since there was thispetition going on, something he found pretty fun, he was the publicly appointed judge of thispetition. { "What did you use as the divider?" } "Hmmm? Divider? Why?" { "Just answer the question, young one." } "Why are you calling me a young one all of a sudden instead of insulting me like usual? Or is it because everyone else is here? Oh, if it is your way of insulting-" { "Cradle." } "Jeez. Yes, alright¡­ the individuals. I used the individuals that received the points as the dividing units since the houses are-." "That''s obviously wrong." Captain Alph couldn''t help but speak up in the middle with a serious expression as he lifted off his piece of paper. "If you take individuals as the dividers, the groups that have received the points wouldn''t make sense. Individuals weren''t the only ones that were given the points, two people, for a single action, or more than two also received points." "Yes, but they could be-" "No they cannot be included in a single kind of categorization, vice president." I couldn''t help saying that. "Look here, if we do take the individuals as the division points¡­" Captain Alph, President and I had already taken out the individual scenario so we knew the answer that we would get through this method wouldn''t be viable for a few of the entries that were a little different from the others. But they were rare and easy to miss¡­ just that I did not think she would miss them as well. { "You were wrong, Cradle. Even if you do it with that specific method, you cannot get the answer for all the points." } "There would be sixteen errors." Newtine said while still writing things down on the paper with his mechanical arms. "Seventeen. Count the ''Use of scale And Measurement'' as well." Captain Alph countered with his own argument. "Eighteen, specifically. Couldn''t forget the weird 10 points for looking good, can we?" And with my words, they had nothing else to stretch the topic anymore. "I get it, I get it¡­ fuck." Cradle was frustrated that she got wrong after doing all that, but since the war had not ended yet, she did not give up. "Haaa¡­" Or even thought of giving up. ''She has got stronger.'' The way she just sat back down to her ce and started writing down showed just how much stronger her mentality had be over thest few days. ''She would have been all angry that she got wrong while the entire ss was watching if it was before thepetition, but now, after fighting in a war, she has be much stronger than she used to be.'' Little things like a small failure did not hinder her even a little. She had something to do and she was doing it. That was it. -Tak. The way she approached the question was different from how the rest of us did with the individuals as the centre. ''We tried it instinctively and found it to be wrong in the early stages.'' While on the other hand, she believed her answer was right until the very end. ''Her method was unique and of her own.'' She did something extraordinary, something only an explosion specialist like her would think of, but sadly it did not work this time. "I''m done as well." Though, thanks to her, I got a new idea that made the hurdle that was blocking me for thest twelve minutes seem like a joke. ''And if I have to say something about it in casual terms, I''d say it actually was a joke.'' A bad joke that makes me want to go and curse our great great headmaster onhis face. Chapter 778: Random points [Eon''s POV: ] "Oh?" They didn''t stop their work when Cradle said she was done with her answer but it was difficult when I said it. Not only the rest of them who were finding the answer to this question, even the rest of the students who were talking with each other and the rest of our house captains also stopped whatever they were doing and looked in our direction. { "So Captain Lucifer is done as well? Let me see then. What did you use as the divider?" } Harry was curious in what kind of answer I hade up with as well so there was a smile on his face, while the rest of them were focusing on me right now. It felt a little weird since they were looking at me like whatever answer I hade up with was most probably the right one, which, truthfully, wasn''t so good of a reaction. ''There was no certainty that if I had reached an answer, that answer would be the right one for certain.'' If even Cradle was wrong, there was a good chance that I might be wrong as well. It wasn''t like I was some kind of omniscient being, not when there was this restriction of skill usage. There was no certainty my answer would be the right one, but, we didn''t even have a right answer topare the authenticity of our answers. So¡­ only the most usible answer was going to be the eptable answer of this question. Then again, the race was to see who gets to that usible answer faster. "The divider that best covers every element of this puzzle, is simply the ''cause'' that produced the certain results that made some impact on the overall result of thepetition." It was very simple actually. ''Something happened, someone did something, because someone did something, something else happened, and because that thing happened, there was a certain kind of chain reaction that led to another event and ultimately, there was the resulting oue at the very end, the victory of Miss Mia.'' It wasn''t tooplex, but it was difficult to understand for sure. There were countless things, countless visible and invisible things that could have happened for something to take ce, however, if it was the headmaster we were talking about, if we consider the report that he received included video recordings of the entirepetition, then it was certainly possible for him to have made the kind of system where the cause that was the reason behind the event that had the most significance. "Look at this." Using the Aura and a little telekinesis, I made the papers before me float before us and thanks to that, all of them were now looking at my readable handwriting and barely readable calctions. "Dividing the distributed points into three broadest categories of Points given because of environmental factors, Points given to the individuals, and Points given to the Other elements, this whole process that the headmaster might have followed would be¡­" I exined to them how I interpreted this process. They couldn''t fully understand the calctions since the methods I had used and the way I wrote those things was in no way something just anyone could understand, however, that was the reason I was exining these things to them. "Categorisation on one side, it''s important that we pay attention to how the points are distributed in a broader category and unique ways than how we conveniently do simple kinds of point distributions." This was pretty amusing, actually. The headmaster was certainly the headmaster for a reason, and we all could see it from this example. ''The way he distributed these points to us was one hell of a unique technique.'' He first distributed the highest number of points to the greatest ''achievements'' that the students achieved during this time. ''Some of these achievements included Miss Mia''s victory, the performance of individuals that attracted the attention of certain special people, and the breakthroughs that they had achieved.'' He judged the performance logically and without any kind of bias or prejudice, took the environmental factors into ount, saw through the things that even someone that was present there could not perceive and in addition to all that, he also gave the individuals who had ovee their own personal limitations bonus points. "The headmaster is as amazing as always, I''d say. He did not just assign these points based on some random system or with any pre-existing method. He created this mechanism himself and even though I have seen better distribution and data management models than this one, this one is unique and a very, very good example of a certain method that works the best in a certain kind of scenario." Harry did notment on anything I was saying after I told them how the ''cause'' was the dividing point of the equation, and the smirking expression he had right now represented his happiness. The others were stunned already but got more surprised as I continued on with my exnation and skimmed through the pages of magical paper that contained more pages than anyone else. "I see¡­ I was stuck on the secondary distribution problem, but I didn''t have to think about it that hard. It was simply exinable with this method." Newtine was one of the few theoretical experts among us students that could give a goodpetition to Alf and captain Alph, but even he was surprised as hepared his own analysis with mine. "That method of categorisation¡­ I think I''ve seen it somewhere¡­" President Zodiac was curious about the way I had categorised the points, and his suspicion that he had seen this method somewhere was pretty urate. "Adventurer''s association. They use this method to categorise the great number of quests they receive throughout the day, week, month, and years. In the central branches of association throughout the world, thebined quest board that wemonly see has a simr kind of categorisation, though I have upgraded this one. This is better, especially for this situation." The exnation took time but it went easier than I had imagined since none of them asked any questions while I was speaking. They justpared their own analysis with mine and found out where they had made mistakes or marked the points that they had doubts about, or highlighted their own portion that somehow connected to the mine. "Well, this is my answer. You can ask what you have wanted to ask all this time, everyone. And I appreciate you all being so considerate." They had better manners than the students on the seats before us who wanted to jump up and question a hundred things about my analysis. But since they weren''t a part of our littlepetition or part of the stage, they didn''t risk a punishment from the house captains. "Ah, you can keep that appreciation to yourself. Tell me how you reached the second connection point in the three broadest categories you created. Did you just instinctively know you should go with what you did there or did you calcte it?" The one asking that was Newtine even though the way he was king that question was pretty much simr to how the vice president asks the questions. We had to prove that the method we were using waspleting the structure we were creating. ''Or in simpler words, the categories we were using to separate the distributed points had to be connected to one another for the loop of information toplete itself.'' It didn''t have to be like this in all cases but in my case specifically, since I was using the ''cause'' as the connective in this equation, I had to prove everything was interconnecting at the end. "If you are talking about how the ''Other'' kind of points are categorized, then yes. I calcted for them, however, not all of them have a fundamental application to the rest of the calction." There were many things that the headmaster gave points for. Things as small as good teamwork, a proper choice of environment, the right way of greeting the other people during great times, their behaviour in times the judges of thepetition did not look at them, to how well they took advantage of the things that they were provided from the start of thepetition. There were many little things that didn''t look as significant to us as the headmaster had given them those points for, but logically seeing from a pure perspective, the things that he had given points for certainly made sense. Newtine was perhaps the only one who reached closest to my own calction, since even Alf had approached it in a unique manner. ''Alf used his calction abilities well and made the most simple looking categorization system, but he could not do well with the whole point distribution.'' He focused on maths instead of logic and the premise of his calctions, however if he had done that, he would have reached the answer faster than any of us. "One of the most important sub-category of ''Other'' section¡ª if you look at the Random points, you will understand where you fell short, where even I was stuck for a while." The headmaster used logic for almost all the points, but there were certain bunch of points that had no real premise to them. They were the most confusing elements that the others did not understand the designations of and mostly mistook them as something they were not. "The headmaster, at each time interval from the start of thepetition to the end, gave away random points to either individuals, or elements present there, or influential factors. Thinking critically about it was would make it seem like a joke from our great headmaster, however, taking out all logic and reasoning, if we ept the random assignment of points as something he thought was needed here¡­ everything just makes sense." The numbers were before them, the answer was before them, and the reasoning was before them as well. They could see it now, our mistakes until this point and the reason it took so long for us to figure it out. ''And though not all of them would know the reason behind it, us who had taught in the war against the demonic cultist, could certainly guess why he would have had to do that.'' Chapter 779: It does make sense, hun. [Rein''s POV: ] "So, you are ultimately saying that the headmaster did this on purpose? He just gave away points at random to things, to environmental factors, and to people? Why would he do that and why does that make sense?!" Tia was not the most confused person present among us right now but she was the only one that raised that question and, Eon was ready to answer that question already. "It''s not that simple to understand, Tia, Quin, Miss Bell¡­ everyone, but, think about it like this. There is a game of ball going on, and you are the betters that is trying to earn a good enough money to get out of a life crisis-." "Wait, wait, wait. Where did bettinge from? How is that relevant in this-." "Tia. That''s just an example." Lizzy had to grab her since was trying to fly towards Eon and shout what she had just said right in his face. She was frustrated by how they were using technical terms and things that she did not understand at all. She was a good mage and a good weapon user but when it came to theory, even some of the lowest ranking individuals of this academy were better at most of the things than her. ''She was a fairy so she knew fairy magic instinctively since she was born and she had learned how to fight the monsters in the wild when living on her own with her holy beast wolf.'' She was a princess but she was also not technically the legitimate heir to the throne. ''There were someplications but that wasn''t what we were talking about right now.'' She was very good at her own strengthening magic so she was an excellent fighter, there was no actual reason for her to know professional level theories, certainly not something like what these bastards were talking about. Most of the students didn''t even understand the simple things that darling was exining. "Ahem. Anyway, just take it that this is an example and nothing rted to what we are actually concerned about." "Wait¡­ if we aren''t concerned about this-." "Miss Luna, that was the only figure of speech. Captain Lucifer meant we don''t have to take it as it is. It is an example that will exin what he is trying to say." Miss Luna also had a sudden question but thanks to captain Alpha, everyone who was now thinking about what Eon was saying now shut down and were focusing on him. He sure had a good grasp on these students. "Haaa¡­ let me rephrase myself if this is too much for everyone. Just think about yourself as a student of this academy. There is a certain number of marks that you have to get in order to pass any kind of important academic test. Now, the teacher that has to give you these marks will have three kinds of responsibilities." Darling could see that the gambling example wasn''t something everyone could rte to since not everyone present here was a noble that was familiar with these kinds of things. ''Everyone knew about the concept of gambling itself, but it wasn''t really true that everyone knew how the process of gambling could take ce in the setting of the magic ball.'' He was trying to exin something that our two presidents and I had already understood, however, even Newtine and Alf weren''tpletely sure what exactly these random points even meant. "The teacher would have to thoroughly evaluate the students that they are incharge of, and it is their responsibility that they do their very best to judge each and every answer that the students have given without any kind of prejudice or bias. In addition to that, it is their responsibility that, ording to the academic rules, they do their best to check the papers in a way that would give the students the best chances of passing the test. They try to pass the students and they have to do it since it is how the academic system is set to work. And, thirdly, they also have to make sure anyone that has failed or if there is any chance that the student who has done well in one of the exams, could not do so well in some other one because of personal or environmental factors, receive an appropriate amount of grace points that would give them a better chance when they attempt the next exams or give supplementary tests." This example that he was giving wasn''t that difficult to understand for the students since they understand how the academy actually works and how there really are rules and regtions that are followed at all turns. The students could understand this example more clearly since it was based on this very academy and not any other one. ''Which is quite amusing, actually. Just shows how much influence the academy and the system here has on all of them.'' My little cute friend as well as the other students here listening to my darling was a fun sight that I wanted to enjoy well, but, what Eon was exining to them was actually pretty concerning to the four of us. [{ "Can the headmaster do this? I mean, it''s practically maniption of points that were only meant for the group that was participating in the alchemypetition. What we did there shouldn''t be included in this, certainly not in this way. This is practically dishonest behaviour." }] [{ "Uriel you are the only one in this student council that would have problem getting some extra free house points. If it was the previous batch of students, our batch to be more specific, they would be at each other''s throats by this point for even a few points." }] Del sounded happy right now for some reason and there was also a mysterious smile on presiden Zod''s face that the others wouldn''t catch up on since it was too subtle. But I could see it clearly with my new eyes, and it made me curious. [{ "You two should be proud of yourself. What you did there was so amazing that made the headmaster unable to just pass it off as something unrted to theetation. And in the first ce, theetation only came to a good conclusion because you found those bastards and dealt with them so well. If it weren''t for you, there would be nopetition and practically none of these points would have gone to any house. However, you two stopped that from happening. You two did so well on the battlefield that messed with the headmaster''s conscience and he had toe up with this strategy to reward you two." }] [{ "Hmm?" }] The president spoke up even before I could ask him about his mysterious smile and what he said somewhat did exin the reason behind that smile, but¡­ [{ "Why would the headmaster consider our actions taken during a personal mission something he would have to reward us in house points with? I mean¡­ where is the actual reward? Does he want us to be happy with just this? That bastard?!" }] If that was the case, I''m going to grab Harry''s neck and bind him in chains until he takes me where that bastard is right now. ''We worked our asses off after finding those bastards, we got mental And physical trauma from that fucking war with those fucking bastards, we even killed them and contributed in killing damned demons.'' Just the money that we should receive as apensation should be in hundreds of Wealth points, but he wants us to settle with mere house points? ''Does he think I would-.'' I was angry and I was going to start shouting after the president said all that but, Eon knew I was going to do something stupid and looked at me before I foolishly did something and shook his head. [{ "President meant on top of giving us what we deserve for all that we did, he felt the need to do something in this manner as well. It''s his duty to pay for us as much as we had achieved on the missions, but the reason he had to fight with his own conscience and add something more to that reward that wouldn''t be something physical and something actually useful to us. Thus he added the random points to this whole point distribution that magically mostly went to the two of our houses." }] [{ "Oh¡­?" }] It was fine if he hadn''t forgotten about our rewards. But if he had, I would be thest person he would have to face. ''I might not be able to put even a scratch on him, but both of us know well just how much trouble I can cause for him.'' I will never forget how he had tricked me into taking this role and I will make sure he does not forget either. "I see¡­" "The random points. That''s something Ipletely missed." "I see. This makes total sense now." "It does make sense, hun. How the hell did you evene up with this?" Now that we were clear on how and why and what, everyone were back to their cheerful state. Cradle was cursing again, and so was Tia and Ca. Alf was shouting questions while Newtine was rechecking his own analysis. The room was back to being a happy ce once again, and¡­ now that the matter with the point distribution was done, the two of us were going to join Del and Zod to the headmaster''s office. There were a few things that we had to talk about. ''Some big things as well, actually.'' But he will not have to worry about anything much. He was a good headmaster of this great academy and I''m a good student. That was all there was to this rtionship. Chapter 780: The rewards and an apology [Eon''s POV: ] Harry didn''t deny that my exnation was wrong or anything but he didn''t say it was the right answer either. He just praised me and we went ahead with that theory being the most valid one for the time being and the littlepetition we had between us came to an end. ''The students that were watching us all this time weren''t too surprised to see how I was the winner of this littlepetition, but there sure was a joyful atmosphere when thepetition was concluded.'' They knew me well as the weapon user that wanted to be a magic archer, someone that had problem with forgetting things, and someone that knew better about theories than the rest of the students. Many of them had attended same sses as mine and had seen me do things that I did not want to, things like answering questions in a way that attracted too much attention, but since the situation itself was always like that, even I had no choice in this matter. ''They knew me, and I was one of the prime candidates for the position of the winner.'' So all those who had bet on my victory were celebrating since they got to have some good earnings, while the rest enjoyed seeing the reaction of the others. "I don''t remember calling the two of you¡­ and why are you holding him like that?" The puzzle was solved for now and we knew how things might have unfolded from his side¡­ so, as we stood in his office before him, with Rein hugging Harry ''lovingly'', I could only sigh at his exhausted expression. "He''s fluffy~." Rein didn''t like how he had distributed extra points to us, or how his random points had caused such troubles among the houses. The fact that we dealt with the demon cultists and the things that happened after that weren''t going to change. What we did was going to remain a fact and everyone already knew all about it. "Headmaster¡­" We were past that war and those things were over already. Overthinking about it wasn''t going to do us any good. But still, it was his request in the first ce. ''He sent us there to investigate the movements of those bastards and it was because of them that we ended up in that kind of situation.'' He knew he was responsible for everything and we almost died in the fights with those guys, so he was also responsible for everything that happened with us. "Don''t worry about me. I might look like this but this isn''t the first time I''ve been in this kind of situation." He looked tired even though he was a transcendental being. He was pretty fine when we saw him a while back but now that we were in his office, looking at him closely, the low vibes from him seemed more like a normal, old human''s exhaustion. And his wizardly charming looks did not go so well with his current state. "Who''s worried about you, hump." "That would be your good partner, Miss Uriel." But he was still his cheerful self that could smile at my deardy. "Ugh, you are a bastard. That point distribution and all those things¡­ you know how much us poor kids suffered because of you? Why even do something so stupid just to reward us for something that wasn''t even rted to the house things." She was angry a while back but not anymore. Seeing his current state melted her anger and now she was back to her grumpy self. "Haha, so you all were having fun with that little thing? It''s quite surprising seeing how you all figured this out in only a few hours." Heughed and used his Mana to free his poor owl from the poisonous grasp of Rein, and thanks to his help, Harry slipped out of her hands and flew back to him. "Well, I had some work for your presidents but seeing as the two of you are here as well, how about you help them out a little as well? The outskirts are still not quite well and your pretty pink Nightingale seems to have be more worriedtely." He was giving us another request even though we had just returned from that ce, but, since it was rted to the outskirts of the ind, we didn''t really have any problem with this request. "Wait, wait, wait. You''re asking us to shamelessly do something already? Don''t you have something to give us?" Rein looked at him with an angry look that not only did not like the way he had taken the fluffy bird away from her, she also did not like the way he was being so unfair. "Something to give? Right¡­ how can I forget that, hahaha." She gave him another upset look when he justughed it off like this was no big deal and she knew, all of us present here knew just how well he had avoided talking about the point distribution. ''It was clear he did not want to talk about what he had done and we can understand his reasons since it was neither ethical nor legal under the academy rules, but since he had done it in a roundabout way, he also did not break any rules.'' He exploited the loophole and did something that he was allowed to do as the headmaster and there was nothing wrong with that. But, if we do talk about it and he has to answer our questions about his own actions, there we''re going to be problems¡­ so, it was better this way. "I don''t like it when youugh like that, bastard." "Can''t do anything about the age-old habits now can we, young miss." He liked teasing her and seeing that angry look she has though not the way I did. She was just an interesting person in his eyes, a child he had fun ying with. "Haha, anyway. You two did better than perhaps any council member I''ve ever had. With you all finding out about those bastards, doing so much research on them, and informing us of their existence on time, I don''t think we would have had one of the most crucial nations of this world. Not only did you save countless lives, you also did well in the battle against those bastards. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for us¡­ and, also¡­" He stood up from his ce, ced Harry on the table before him and walked in front of the table without finishing what he was saying, and before we could say anything afterwards, he bowed to us¡­ "I apologise for everything you had to go through." "Headmaster?" "Hey¡­" President Zodiac and Cradle were stunned by what he was doing already, but even the two of us couldn''t understand why he was doing this. "A simple apology isn''t going to suffice for what you have done for us, for this world and for this academy¡­ however I still wish to express my deepest gratitude for everything you did in that foreignnd. From finding the bases of the enemy, to tracking down them inside the city; from presenting the detailed n to us, to saving the lives of all individuals of the city by risking your life and revealing your existence, your powers to the world; for helping the elders defeat strong enemies, demons that might have be the cause of your deaths." He was sincere. He wasn''t just saying those things for the sake of saying them, he knew the impact of what he was doing better than anyone else in this world. ''He was the headmaster of the great academy and a central, one of the most powerful and influential individuals of this world.'' Him bowing before us, bowing before anyone else in this world out of apology was no simple thing. It meant a lot. It contained importance and meaning, as well as a great deal of respect for the ones he was bowing before. "I''m indebted to you. Both of you. For everything you did for everyone this time." He smiled at our surprised faces and just the way he had walked forward, he went back with the same elegance that had mesmerised us earlier. "And¡­" He summoned two unique things from his storage space and ced them on his desk. "The rewards. They had to be appropriate for a feat like yours." He had made it clear that he would reward us for every kind of achievement we made during the requests that he made of us. And also how the rewards had to be appropriate and in line with the achievements. And, though his sincere apology had shocked us a little, the rewards that he had prepared for us this time were certainly something that surprised us once again. "I was saving these for appropriate candidates, but¡­ I think you''ll use it well as well." On the desk before him right now shined two unique divine objects that all four of us recognised instantly. "Destroyer¡­" "It was never lost, I see." "So you were the one that killed that creature as well, headmaster?" There were nine famous holy swords in this world that were known by all those who were interested in the weapons of the past. One of the objects on the desk was a sword that was said to have been lost with time. And, then the other object¡­ a skill stone so distinct that one only needed a look to know its identity. "Are you about this, headmaster?" "No one else saved the world here, Eon." These two objects weren''t only precious, they were invaluable things. One of a kind in this entire world. Giving these to us wasn''t a small decision. ''And the rest of the people in power also weren''t going to be too happy about this.'' Though, if he was serious about it, who were we to decide such precious rewards? Chapter 781: Holy and Demonic [Eon''s POV: ] A long, long time ago, in a distant vige of the eastern continent, there one day out of the blue, cases of people of all ages started going missing. There was a spection that some kind of a demon was taking those people away, however, since the vige was a distant one, no one actually knew much about their situation. At least, not until one day when an adventurer party stopped for a night in this vige and discovered their issue. ''The vigers begged them to look for the demon that was stealing their children, elders, and lovers away from them and, the adventurer group, curious by the unique tale of the vigers, started investigating the problem.'' However, the next morning, one of the adventurers of the group went missing overnight. The adventurers searched for them all day long and even decided to continue their search over the night, however, they ended up losing two of their members the very next morning. It was evident to them that whatever the creature hunting the people of this vige was¡­ it had most certainly taken a liking to their foreign blood. It was hunting for them, they could sense instinctively that whatever creature they were facing was not something that any kind of adventurer could deal with. That''s why they didn''t waste even a moment and left the vige the very moment they had figured these things out¡­ or, at least they tried to do so. ''Only one of them managed to return to the nearest city alive.'' And before breathing herst breaths, she told the citizens and her healers what they had witnessed in that damned forest. ''She warned them.'' The creature that they had faced, the young yet ferocious creature that had devoured every living creature in that forest, a creature that had killed and devoured even the vigers and her teammates¡­ that beast, they knew no simple force could stop it. And, it wasing for them next. ''She was a mage.'' The only reason she was able to get away from that beast was thanks to her number of movement skills andrge Mana pool, as well as the spells. However, she knew the creature had found her the most instresting among their group since she was the only mage. And, it had followed her until the end of the forest. ''She knew it.'' Even as she was telling them about it, even as she was bleeding away and warning them, that creature was waiting in the shadows. ''It was a nocturnal nightmare.'' It lurked in the shadows, light hindered didn''t suit it. It hunted in the moonlight, under the stars, when the sky was clear. And, it hunted swiftly, covertly as well. ''It wasing for this city as well.'' It was only waiting right now. It was strong enough to have defeated several other creatures of that forest, even the strongest ones. She had seen the cave filled with corpses and bones, she had seen the creature, looked it in the eye¡­ she had seen how brutally it killed her teammates. So she knew just how strong it was. ''That one city was not enough to stop it in its tracks.'' She urged them to contact their capital, tell the kingdom''s forces for their support to defeat this creature. She told them how it can grow stronger just by eating what was present before them, how it was still growing stronger with each being it absorbed, with each life it took. It was merciless and purely ran on instincts, a beast, a predator that only saw what was before it as food. She warned them about it until she took herst breath, and when seeing a high ranking adventurer like her in that state, a mage at that, they couldn''t just take her word lightly. That''s why they heeded her warning and contacted the kingdom''s capital through the adventurer''s association of their city, gave them all the information they had on the creature and asked for the quickest possible reinforcements. However, they did not tell them how they had obtained that information. ''Though¡­ it was toote by the time they realised it.'' It was night. It was hunting time. "Uriel should take the sword." "Hmm?" "Headmaster?" The same night, every living thing in that city turned into a corpse without discrimination. And after a few days when the reinforcement units of that kingdom arrived from the capital city, the only thing they saw was carnage and devastation. ''A city had turned into a graveyard.'' And, as they knew it after seeing what they were seeing, they knew it wasn''t going to end with just this one city. To their knowledge, the creature in question had first targeted a nearby vige so it was most likely that after feeding on the other beasts, the strange creature hade to like the taste of human flesh¡­ especially the humans with stronger bodies and a Mana nucleus. ''It was exploring.'' The reinforcement leaders checked the nearby human establishments, viges, the cities that were near the one that was no more¡­ and what they found during their search was even more devastating. There were some viges along with the one that the stories of this creature had originated from which had turned into a graveyard as well. Another city was found barren. And while the soldiers, stronger knights and mages of this reinforcement groups saw the devastation, they knew whatever they were dealing with was not something even they could deal with on their own. ''There have been a number of creatures that have earned the name of a Cmity.'' Some of them were a nightmare to those who were anywhere near thends that were destroyed by it. And though this one was a big problem, the creature was something that had already earned the attention of the entire world. Adventurers from all around the world now knew about it and along with them, the higher powers also knew of its existence. Tens of thousands of people had already died. Many lives were lost and there was no flesh left behind¡­ only bones. ''The first time the world saw this Cmity¡­ the first time the actual painting of 4D8DWAG was known to the world was only after half of that kingdom was destroyed.'' And it wasn''t until a decade after the first encounter with this creature that the rumours of its disappearance had spread to the world. "But headmaster, wouldn''t she be morepatible with the skill? Eon is already familiar with the swords so he would be better with it, no?" It was a draconic creature, a cmity that had most certainly devoured hundreds of thousands of lives before it perished at the hands of this headmaster of ours. "No. It would have been different if this draconic skill was anything rted to His dragon side. Look closely and you''ll understand." Every skill stone that is obtained through the energy beasts has a different shape, structure, and look from the other. They are a condensed form of their own innate abilities that they were born with. ''This was unique as well.'' Shaped as a hand with distinct draconic ws with details so unique that no earthly artisan would be able to craft something like it. ''It was a natural object.'' Made of shades of blue, white, and gold, this skill stone was the most unique piece I had ever encountered in this lifetime. And, just like its beauty, it was also something amazing. ============ {Resonance} [Type: Skill stone] ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï¡î Effects: ¡ª-> A unique skill of a cmity that hunted under the moonlight and was a nightmare for the inhabitants of easternnds. ¡ª-> Under the moonlight, senses are enhanced in proportion to thepatibility of the skill, moonlight, and light elemental powers. ¡ª-> The skill allows one to resonate with the world and search for any object as long as they have had some kind of connection with it. ¡ª-> The skill allows one to get stronger physical powers by consumption of unique natural resources. However, one has to have collected all the elements of those resources. ¡ª-> One can use the power of moonlight, and if one is able to cultivate the original power that the Moon receives, it''s possible for them to freely cultivate the power of moonlight as well. ¡ª-> Light is the source of all elements that exist while Darkness is an amalgamation of all elements that could exist. Mastering the skill allows one to earn the power to Obliterate and Cure. Conclusion: ¡ª-> Take it. ============ Cmity 4D8DWAG was also nicknamed (Terror under the moonlight). It was an origin beast of mixed origins, containing a strange power of moonlight and characteristics of a dragon. ''It wasn''t as big as the dragonoids like the Wyverns or Drakes, but it certainly resembled a young wyvern.'' It had speed and power, but the most dangerous thing about it was its hunger for more¡­ It was a unique being that wasn''t too old when it died, and it certainly had not reached the full extent of its potential either so none knew just what it could have evolved into. ''And still¡­ it was called a cmity.'' And now a skill that belonged to it, was sitting right before us. "That creature could use the power of moonlight, not the moon itself, not the night but the moonlight. And, from what I understand, moonlight originates from the sunlight itself." The holy sword had its own long history and interesting tales that many people in this world already knew about. ''The sword itself was easily distinguishable as well.'' It was a famous holy sword and anyone who had seen it anywhere, in the books or in the famousmercials we use for many of the products, would recognise it at a nce. The aura it exuded alone was testament to its uniqueness. "Reinelle has her unique weapon with the power of a world turtle, and the world turtle possesses the power of earth Origin. If I''m right, she might be able to absorb the holy sword itself into her unique weapon that would evolve the weapon further and since the world already considers the weapon to be lost, it''s better off with someone that can use it in a better way." The headmaster was saying something absurd once again, however, his words didn''t sound unbelievable anymore. ''My eyes were telling me to get the skill, and in the same way, they were advising something simr to what the headmaster just said.'' He knew what he was doing. And, he didn''t seem even a little bit concerned about his decision. ''He wanted us to have these items, and¡­ they were simply too good to pass on.'' We didn''t really have any choice but to ept them, ultimately. Chapter 782: Skill clash [Eon''s POV: ] "So, how about you try it?" President Zodiac and Cradle were observing the skill stone and the sword closely right now. One was trying to get the sword for herself while the other had glimmering eyes while looking at the attractive skill stone before him. "Yes¡­ but before that, headmaster. Why not give any of it to them?" I had my questions about his choices, and they were genuine as well so even the rest of them were attracted when I brought it up. "The two of them did just as much as the two of us, at least from aparative perspective. They were more efficient and even though the two might have made some mistakes, they did well-." "No they did not." He shook his head with that stern reply and looked at the two of them with a look that made both of them look down at the floor. "One forgot his position in the war and ended up losing his sanity while the other broke off the chain ofmand and acted on her own. I''m angry at them, if anything. They didn''t do as well as they should have and thanks to them, a lot of other people had to face difficulties." He looked upset and the look he was giving the two of them was that of disappointment. ''It was like looking at a strict parent looking at a child that did not perform as well as they were supposed to.'' I knew how president had a mental breakdown in the middle of the battle with those demonic cultists and how he was scolded by the Empress. And though I did not see it myself, ording to the report, Cradle had shut down hermunications when the second demon appeared as well. ''It was said that she went to the side where the other demon noble had appeared without informing anyone else.'' She was scolded by Master Maverick anddy Carolina for that as well, however, since she handled her role as a spell deployer well, she got away with only a scolding. ''They both made mistakes, yes, but they weren''t so terrible that he couldn''t overlook them.'' They could have done much better¡­ that was what his eyes said at that moment. It was a dire situation where they had many chances to show their hidden abilities, but they did not do it. Both of them kept their trump cards hidden even though Rein and I had revealed a significant degree of our strengths. Perhaps, that was also the reason he was giving these things to us and not to the two of them. "You two did exceptionally well. The others were praising you and not only did you almost sacrifice your lives, you did what someone representing me would have in situations that actually mattered." The world knew about our existence now, at least the powers that had taken part in the battle at the headmaster''s request knew about us. ''They knew there was someone that can cast grand spells even at a lower level and use runes better than most other rune trantors of this world.'' They knew there was a warrior, a special scythe wilder strong enough to bepared to the Reaper of the battlefield. A ruthless warrior knight that shed down even the reality with an attack so powerful it seemed like it could cut everything that exists. "And besides, these two already have what suits them the best. Giving them something they won''t even be able to use doesn''t really make any sense." Rein and I still had many things we had not shown to them but they knew it already. ''They had their eyes on us now.'' And it wasn''t going to be the best thing if this confidential information got out. So increasing the number of cards we have was the best thing in our current position. "Alright, Let us stop with this. And you two, try them." The headmaster handed her the holy sword that looked as light as any sword one could find in the market, but in actuality, it was a weapon with a high ego of its own¡­ at least, that''s what we had heard. "Hmmm? Isn''t this thing supposed to-¡­ oh. Oh, I feel something. Oh¡­ damn, this feels good." -Oooooooooooong! An ego weapon wasn''t something just anyone could use. One had to be chosen by that ego for them to use that artifact and in some certain cases, if the artifact in question is a famous artifact with a good reputation of its own, it''smonly very difficult to get chosen by those things. ''However, when she held the sword for the first time, she did not receive any kind of penalty.'' The sword did not do anything to her like any holy sword with a high ego might have done to someone unworthy. The sword did not even retaliate when she was holding her as it did when Cradle and president were holding it. It was not as bad tempered sword as the rest of the ego artifacts I havee across, and considering how the ego this particr sword possessed was one of the higher ones, it should have been more nasty to those it found inferior or ipatible. "Wow¡­ that''s surprising." Even the headmaster was surprised how the weapon epted her the moment she held it in her hands¡­ actually, it was more like the sword surrendered to her willingly. "Is it because of your special EFMW? What was its name¡­ ah, Neptune." "How would I know?" She caressed the de of the sword with her fingers, looked at the rose gold metallic de with mesmerised eyes, and for some reason, though the others failed to notice it, the special ring she was wearing was shining. "That ring¡­" The purple jewel ring that we obtained a while back from that certain poor student¡­ it was another ego artifact that had been a pain in the ass for her. ''It was something that had not reacted ever since our meeting with Wali.'' And though she had recognised this ring and told us it was something we will enjoy finding out more about in the future. ''It was an artifact with the ability to affect gravity. However, Rein had never been able to use its power until now.'' But that same ring, that artifact that even a divine individual called special, was glowing ever so subtly that it was pretty easy to miss. "Hmmm? The thing?" "It was glowing¡­ now it isn''t but I''m sure it was glowing, right headmaster?" I saw it with my own two eyes so I''m certain of it. That ring was definitely glowing even though it was only for a moment. "I''m not sure either, Eon. I was so surprised all my attention was focused on her instead." Even the headmaster did not know anything about that strange glow, but I know what I saw so the chances that the ring had something to do with this sudden submission was also a possibility. "Well, damn¡­ this is pretty fun as well." She took a few steps back and swung the sword around like she would with a scythe in her hand. She was pretty good at handling the sword since she had prior experience with the weapon, as well as many other kinds of weapons. "Should I start using this sword as well?" "Nope you can''t do that, Miss. You will have to find a way to conceal the looks of this sword first. Anyone can recognise this sword and a holy weapon like that is easily distinguishable if you are familiar with them. That''s why I proposed that you find a way for your Neptune to absorb this sword." "But I like this one¡­" After bing the master of a holy sword, it world only be an insane idea to feed that kind of weapon to a different weapon that was already strong enough to be better than most weapons that existed in this world. "Well, it''s yours now. You can do whatever you want with it. My words mean little anyway¡­ I know how you are cursing me in your head." "Bastard. Tsk." She mocked him with her tongue out and walked to the other corner of his office to test out her pretty sword with Cradle and President, leaving the two of us by ourselves. "Your turn." The headmaster looked at me with an excited smile and moved behind his desk, leaving the unique dragon w to me alone. "Haaa¡­" It was a special skill and even my eyes were telling me to get it myself, but I was still uncertain. "Don''t worry. If anything happens, I''m right here." The skill before me was a unique skill that an origin beast of (Purple) rank possessed at its death. It was a draconic creature, so it also contained many of the abilities of the dragon kind, one of the nine creatures of mythos. ''However, this skill contained not the dragon''s power, but the other power it had.'' The power of light, something unique that I did not understand yet. "Haaa. Then, here goes nothing¡­" I had this strange feeling even till the point I ced my hand on the skill stone, but, I did not think the oue of wanting to simply obtain a skill would be so¡­ -Ooooooooooooooooong! "Hey! What''s happening!" "Headmaster! What is happening with him?!" "The hell?! How can you mess everything here so much in just three fucking second, you moron!" A storm had covered the entire room, my body was glowing, the skill stone had vanished from the table and strange patterns had appeared all over my body. "Fascinating¡­" The skill stone was absorbed safely on my body and just like any other skill, this one was also being imprinted on my physical body. However, there was a little problem. "Headmaster? What''s happening with him¡­?" I wasn''t in pain or anything, I was just covered in pretty looking patterns that glowed with their own unique lights. Something actually attractive to look at. "His skills¡­ they are shing with the one he just obtained." "Skills¡­ are shing?" Rein didn''t understand what was happening with me but since I was not in any pain, she wasn''t worried. Rather, she was confused by what she must be seeing with her eyes that saw the truth of this world. "A skill sh." It was a rare phenomenon and not much was known about it, but, it wasn''t something the headmaster was unfamiliar with. That much was clear from his calm reaction. "How¡­ long has it been since I saw this." He was astonished at this moment. And as I could tell, this astonishment of his was going to be a great learning experience for the rest of us. Chapter 783: Effects of unique physique [Eon''s POV: ] The simplest way to exin the strange situation I was in was the word ''Dislike''. And the mostplicated way to exin this fascinating situation was through the word ''jealousy''. "Skills are simply special powers of energy beasts that they possessed during their lifetimes or, if we are talking about a personal skill that an individual had created, then a created skill would be the power that that individual understoodpletely." Every skill is like a special enchantment that, in the process of acquiring the skill through the skill stone or the object or individual possessing that skill, gets engraved on the Physical body of that individual. "We know how skills make their unique marks on a certain body part or the entire organs of the body, however, every skill does something more than settling in that part." My body was still shining with lights even though the sun had sat down the horizon and it was night time already. The strange thing was still ongoing and it didn''t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. "Skills are a part of the original possessors, the ones that originally had these skills, these abilities since their birth." They aren''t just some simple kind of power but something that was a part of that creature or individual until the moment they passed away. It''s pretty difficult to put into words, but one can understand it as having the ability to do a certain thing that humans or other kinds would need a very long time andplex method for. "Skills are, in a sense, fragments of the lives those creatures have lived themselves. So, when someone else obtains the skill these beings left behind at the end of their lives, they are ultimately obtaining a part of the lives of those beings." Normally, there is a limit to how many skills an individual could possess. Their mental and physical bodies are some of themonly known factors that might be influencing elements of this limitation. But it''s still uncertain and unproven. No one actually knows what is the limitation and just why one could not hold more than a certain number of skills, but, the limitation exists. And, it''s quite logical as well. "A mortal physical body can not withstand the summed up strength of multiple skills, so just like every individual is different and has different abilities, the skill limitations that varies from person to person and the strength of the skills, seem pretty right." Skills are a natural concept. Everyone knows about them and it is believed that the world already knows everything about the concept of skills. ''But looking at a living lightbulb might change that certain point of view.'' My skills were shing with one another after I obtained the {Resonance} skill, and even though the process of obtaining a skill, the process of the skill getting engraved on one''s body is sometimes painful, what was happening with me didn''t affect me even a little. "So, aside from some mythical mental skills that are engraved on one''s soul directly, or the innate skills one is born with, all skills that one obtains through various means be part of one''s physical body." The headmaster was scanning through some of his old documents from his shelf while Rein and presidents had gone to the personal training grounds next door. The room was quiet after a long and boring debate on what exactly was happening with me and the three of them had fun making fun of me. ''I was practically a magical light that would most definitely attract little children from all over the world.'' Those bastards were arguing who would love a lightbulb as cute as me, the children or their mothers. And because of some weird reasoning that I still cannot wrap my head around, they ended up with the conclusion that my current state would be most attractive to young pregnant women. Which is strange and absurd, I already know that much. "And since you possess the heaven blessed constitution of the Kromet tribe, that body of yours is something that not only protects you from things like the sh of these skills, it is capable enough to even handle the mental capabilities of your unique head." -Tap. It seemed like he had found what he was looking for so aside from that one thin book, he ced all the mess he had made in his good looking office back into that absurd magical shelf. ''After our tower library, this was my first time seeing a single shelf holding hundreds of books as thick as a magic tome.'' There were many books littered all around this ce right now and still, of the hundreds of books he took out, the one he ended up keeping was a thin book with nothing attractive about it. Though, that ''nothing'' only applied to its looks. "And then there''s your unique skill that circtes energy throughout that unique body of yours and creates a harmonious environment of a perfect homoeostasis. You keep yourself under control passively and, since you have a unique upbringing, you also stay alert and under control actively. This in turn creates an environment where the elements of your body, including the skills you possess canmunicate with one another and work as one single unit¡­ just like the divine beasts or the higher power divinities." The book he had in his hands was a personal diary handwritten in a handwriting so attractive that I do not think I will reach that level of finesse anytime soon. ''It was a work of art¡­'' And in addition to its uniqueness, the things that were written in that thin notebook was something I couldn''t believe I was seeing with my own eyes right now. "My master, the previous headmaster of this academy, had witnessed a simr case as you in his early days. And after hundreds of years, I''m the fortunate one to witness something even he failed to understand." There was a smile of excitement and curiosity in his eyes. The book he was holding contained detailed records of a unique kind of physical body, and vividly detailed illustrations of skill structures and patterns on the physical body and effects they produced. "Can I read that?" "Hmm? Sure. As long as I can do a few tests on you, that is." That small book was perhaps a one of a kind record of one of the greatest Runekeepers that ever existed among humankind. The previous headmaster¡­ Lord Gregory. Every book that has any mention of him has ''a one of a kind genius'' adjective attached to it. ''He was a great person that raised a transcendental archmage. And the headmaster isn''t the only one alive that had studied under him.'' He raised some of history''s greatest with his own hands. He nurtured heroes, saints, leaders that built their own countries, men that went down in history, and powerfuldies that ruled over the world unlike many others in the history of this world. ''Even Emperor August''s great grandparents were his students.'' In the entire history of Roxana empire, Emperor August was the youngest to evere up to the throne as an usual emperor on the throne held their position for at least a few hundred years. ''Their bloodline also possessed a blessed body, and just like them, I inherited a unique body from both my parents.'' The Heliox has been a blessed bloodline even before the empire came to be, while my dad''s side¡­ "Possessing a unique heavenly constitution is perhaps one of the requirements for a phenomenon like this one. However, since the trigger that set your skills off was different from the one recorded here, I believe there are other factors in y here as well." The headmaster was genuinely interested in this unique reaction to my skills. ''A trial was going on among those skills, from what I can tell.'' It started right after I obtained {Resonance}. The rest of the skills on my body, not the Origin skills but the ones that I had obtained thanks to mom, started reacting to its presence. ''They were testing the new skill of a new origin, seeing for themselves if it was safe for me to have it or not.'' Perhaps having this skill would be dangerous for me, or in the long run, this skill might have a shing effect with the other skills I have. ''I now have a number of unique and powerful skills, like the card skill, so this might just be because of that.'' But whatever was happening with the skill was not affecting me personally. And this wasn''t the same as what the other target the previous headmaster had had shown. "Master had to put the child in a vegetative state since it couldn''t handle the kind of pain they were feeling. It was unreasonably unbearable for them, as he writes it. You having no problems even though you are practically a source of light now might just mean you have something that limits the interaction of the skills and yourself. And, as far as I understand, it''s definitely an effect of your unique physique." He had a theory of his own, just like what the previous headmaster had when he met a student with a glowing body that had conflict between their skills. ''The only difference was that the individual under the previous headmaster couldn''t live past the week since it was presented with these symptoms.'' I can tell that person was in constant pain and even with holy medicine, healing, and support from the headmaster himself, he must not have been able to save that person. "Haaaa. What should I do, headmaster?" sses will start from tomorrow and though I can mask my appearance with Ceres'' skill, hiding something that was happening with my very body wasn''t going to be an easy task. And I have no idea when the skills wille to terms with one another. "Haha, I knew you would be interested in this mystery as well~." I wasn''t even tad bit interested in this, but under the circumstances, I had no choice in this matter. I didn''t want to go to sleep while all shiny and glowing like this, so¡­ we had to solve this case quickly. The sses will start in a few hours, so we didn''t have much time on our hands. Chapter 784: Resumed classes [Eon''s POV: ] "So, who''s going to get the dishes today?" Today, the sses were resuming, finally. "It''s Med''s turn and Quin said she will help herst time so the two of them are up this time-." "No! Remember thest time we ate in the night? We got the dishes!" "That doesn''t count!" "You''re only saying that because it''s your turn, Tia! I know what you''re doing!" We were in the garden, walking towards our sses as a group. And, everyone else was watching us since the group around us was a little too big this time. "You expect a little creature like me to get dishes for these many people?! How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" We have group eatings and there is this little rule among everyone that one or two of the people from the group will prepare new dishwears for every member of that gathering and when everyone is done eating, they also have to wash those dishes. ''It wasn''t needed, but it was the little tradition we had among us.'' Everyone had their chance at this, especially the new people that joins us asionally. They have this little lottery system to choose who would be the lucky one to have the honor to prepare and wash dishes for the individuals that join us in the lunch programs. ''It''s pretty cute but in times like these, this system bes a little troublesome.'' There were twenty one people walking alongside us in total, and some of them were even people that none of us had ever talked with personally. Many of these people wanted some work rted talks with a few of them, and the others who were part of our little group, as well as people acquainted with us that the others unrted people wanted to talk with were all gathered around us thanks to our new poprity. "Miss Mia, would it be possible for you to create a (ze waterfall) for our family. My father has promised topensate you appropriately!" "Miss Grace! Miss Grace! Please! Just a few moments! My mother won''t waste your time, please!" "Mister Nox, please reconsider joining the Darkness Foundation. We could help you nurture your talents better than anyone else!" "Mister Nova! Mister Nova! About the CADe theory!" "Oy, what did I say about not touching anyone? Do you want to walk with your feets intact or not?" "Ah! Apologies Lady Ca!" There were a lot of them, all flying around us like flies. ''They wanted something from us. A few moments of our time being the prime thing they were asking for.'' They were acting on their family''s behalf, at least most of them here were doing that. Some of the other ones, on the other hand, were either from the different Clubs of the academy or were somehow rted to outside forces separate from the nobility and the higher circles. ''They were here for something we had, knowledge, talent, resources, something that only some of us possessed.'' Everyone knew what the individuals that took part in the annual alchemypetition were capable of. They knew how there were people that had special skills that even the grandmasters of this world recognised. They knew how there were special things about us, especially those who had won the annualpetition along with Miss Mia. ''They now had rights to trade within the Principality however they wished, and they also had special things that they could ask from the Lord of the Lakmer as their winning price.'' Though the range of the things that they could ask for were different ording to their ranks, they weren''t necessarily limited. ''And the reward discussions were skipped at the time of ceremony because of all the things going on.'' They were to ask for their prices after the funeral and the process of opening the new monument''s opening waspleted, which wasing soon. There were a number of things that they could ask for, but they were going to bepletely up to the winning individuals. ''So that was that.'' But the winners weren''t the only ones that were surrounded around us. Even the ones that had recently be influential in the academy were also growing in poprity. ''Especially individuals like Rein''s Nox.'' Those who were active in the extracurricr activities and the inner events within the academy held by the clubs and the student bodies of the houses, individuals like Nox and the triplets in my house, were bing popr ever since the Roxanna empire''s special, world level sports festival was postponeded. ''The houses didn''t really have anything to do right now, so, the clubs and the inner academicmunities were expending their influence by recruiting or gathering important individuals.'' It wasn''t something outside the academy rules, but at the end of the day, aside from the eight houses, nothing really mattered when it came to the extra activities. ''These houses, clubs,munities were all things that students did among themselves and had no academic purpose.'' It was for fun and their own groups on the outside, but that shit was too political and toxic for us house captains so we avoided it and told those around us to avoid it if possible as well. There was no need to get ourselves involved in the political drama of this world and various things that weren''t practically necessary for this good school life of ours. "Ahem. Everyone. We have almost reached the sses so, do you all mind leaving them now or are you going to continue this in the ssroom as well?" Rein looked at them with an upset, angry look and grabbed Nox away from them. "The teachers aren''t going to be too happy if this continues in the sses as well, you know?" Then captain Alpha supported her and gently went on to exin the rest of them how what they were doing was a little inappropriate. "Hump. What would amoner-." "Did you say something to him, mister?" Luna gave him an angry look the moment one of the boys said that, and it attracted everyone''s attention around us¡­ ''Haaa¡­'' Captain Alpha was considered amoner in the eyes of the students since he had no actual background or known history of himself. It was just known that he is a high ranking adventurer, and that was it. He didn''t really have any family background or anything connecting his existence to the previous records. ''He was the captain of the house with the most number of noble students in it, so many even considered him a hidden child of some high ranking noble or royal family, but there was no proof of that either.'' So, instead of considering him some high position person, most nobles that weren''t part of True Dragons looked down on him when it came to his origin. And, Rein and I were the same in that regard. We didn''t have any background or anything aside from the fact that we were rank adventurers. However¡­ "Ah¡­ Lady Luna¡­ of course I didn''t!" "Apologies." "Pardon? I couldn''t catch that-." "Apologies to him. And stop being rude if you don''t have anything to back your arrogance." She was usually quiet if everyone knew the Next ice Queen of the north. "Ah! Yes! I apologise, Captain Alpha!" "Bastard." I had no idea why they were even doing this on the first day of the school but whatever their reasons might be, no one here liked how they were doing this. "Alright, alright Luna. Let it go. You! Clear the area. Med, go help the others to their sses. Quin, look after your ssmates as well, and Tia, help me take care of this bunch." "With pleasure~!" Rein stepped in when it seemed like Luna was going to get angry because of this bunch and their behaviour towards her close friend. "Their rtionship was blooming as well, but seeing how she was protecting his reputation like that, it seems they were closer than I had originally known..." "You said it out too loudly, mister." "Ah, damn. Sorry." Lizzy smiled at me as if she already knew what I was talking about, gave a nod of approval to the two of them, looked at the new engaged couple of this academy, looked at the couple that was soon going toe together, and then after looking at the Two of us, she shook her head at me. "Haaa¡­" She looked exhausted all of a sudden. "There''s no need to be like that. You''ll find someone as well. I know you will." "You think so?" Being with Tia influenced all of thedies of this group. They read romantic books together and shared their thoughts openly when we boys weren''t around. ''Lizzy was especially influenced by the way Rein and I were with one another.'' She hadcked affection and human closeness ever since she was born and after her mother had possessed her, she had no one to look after her. ''She lived on her own, and endured through many difficulties.'' She didn''t have anyone to call a friend, much less close friend that she could share her personal life with. ''But we were special to her.'' Back at Lakmer and even when she was in our house in the capital of Roxana, she shared many things with us. Axion and Reinelle were unfamiliar individuals to her and weren''t someone she was that close with, but she told us that we reminded her of Rein and myself so she was just as muchfortable around us. "Lizzy! What are you doing! Come here! Shoo them away if you will!" "Yes~!" She ran towards them after giving me a smile filled with faith, and though I wanted to stop her and give her a hug, I let her go this time. We will have time after the sses so we can have our talks then. "So, everyone? Ready for the sses?" "Haha, I''m excited to meet teachers." "They worked hard on the ind, we should thank them all during the ss time." "Nice idea." Thedies had gone on to do the hard thing of pushing the leeches away, leaving us boys to our own devices. "We should tell Quin. She will shout-." "Ginger? Did that engagement ring mess with your head?" "Hmmm? What does that mean?" They were fun ones. It was always fun being around them, and it was going to be more fun. "Aish. That''s not important right now, is it?" We talked about a number of things and were pretty open about a lot of things. "Yo, Gin. Tell us about your amazing fianc¨¦, dude. How far have you two gone now that you are official?" Just like how they had Tia, we had Hide. The expert that knew it all¡­ ''Though, it was ironic how he didn''t really knew a thing that really mattered in an actual rtionship.'' It was ridiculous And funny. Chapter 785: The next course [OP: ] (Roxana empire, imperial pce.) "They are not asking for help, as you said." "She has pride, but she isn''t arrogant. If she thinks she can do it by herself, there''s definitely something up their sleeves." "Something even we don''t know about?" The emperor sat on his throne in a strangely empty hall, with only his wife, or more like the adviser of the emperor by his side. "It might be something we know about, or it might not. That''s not the point here, Vera." There was an attractive looking crystal present on the ground from which a magical map was being projected right before him. "Then¡­ is there something else we have to worry about?" In the centre of this map present before them was the Principality of Lakmer. The ce that was losing stability just a few days ago¡­ however now they have returned to their normal state. The internal matters were resolved and the external matters will soon be dealt with as well after they win every single battle against the enemy nations surrounding them. "Vera, Vera¡­ focus and take a closer look. Tell me what you see." The centre on the magical map, Lakmer, was highlighted with a green light while the rest of the enemy nations that were currently causing trouble for Lakmer were marked in red colour. There were a few unique icons present on each of these countries, and, in the ces that did not contain these particr markings, there were words written that had a deep meaning. "I see powers that want the resources Lakmer had, and I see the fools that think pressuring a country with someone like Carol behind it. It''s all ridiculous but thinking how there was a Great War in their own capital and her nature, her decision to teach them a lesson doesn''t seem that bad. If I say so myself, it''s something I would do as well. Just that doing it to so many countries at once isn''t something too good. She shouldn''t go after a hoard if she can get the work done with one or two pieces." Empress Vera had been the advisor of the imperial throne for several centuries now. She had served emperor August''s father and seen his childhood as well. She was appointed by the grandfather of emperor August when she was young and she learned under his grandmother, a kind of master that the world might never see. "That''s what I wanted to hear." She was one of the most capable individuals of not just this empire or the continent but the entire world and the current position of the Empire in the world was greatly due to her undying loyalty to the throne. "Now, tell me why she would be doing something that''s obviously not something she usually would." She was a partner of the current emperor but that was just how things turned out to be. It was an unexpected path that neither of them were expecting to take when they were younger, but it was how things were right now. She was his partner, And she was the imperial advisor and the person that handled the imperial affairs alongside him. She helped him maintain the country, just like she did for his father. And, a part of her work included eliminating threats that might somehow affect their own country. "¡­why would she do that?" What happened in Lakmer was no surprise to anyone in this world anymore, however, what was going to happen soon was something that the allied nations of Lakmer had already started noticing. "Hmmm¡­" Lakmer was making strange moves that they usually wouldn''t and the way they were acting right now indicated that they were up to something that obviously was not something that they would usually ever do. "Think about it¡­ one of the countries messed with their food trade routes, and now there''s a sudden food shortage in that country. Someone messed with one of their cities that generated arge part of their national revenue and now they are facing a financial crisis. Trade routes are being reconstructed from their side even though there is no need to do so in a situation like this, there are strange natural disasters happening around them, the economy is a mess, riots are happening out of the blue, new factions are popping up with baseless ims that are too believable to even those in power¡­ It''s strange how many of these happenings are connected with Lakmer but, it''s even more bizarre how Lakmer isn''t practically facing any suspicions from the nations in question. And, this is only the start as well¡­" Lakmer was definitely doing something and the nations that were directly connected with them, the nations like Empire and the other powers that were allied with not the Principality itself but with the one that was the mastermind behind that nation, knew perfectly well just how much the Lady of the Crazy sword was capable of. "She is smart, we all know that. But this¡­ it''s hard to believe she would do something like this." "That''s why it''s interesting." Lakmer wasn''t hiding the fact that they might be behind the things that were happening with the other nations around them, however, there was no proof or evidence connecting the natural happenings with them. Everything that was now happening with the other nations was all too natural for anyone to point it to Lakmer, but the nations that knew what they had done undoubtedly knew what was hitting them. "I don''t like it when you smile like that. It''s always as if you know something that even I do not." "Hahaha. That''s why those things are more fun, dear." The emperor had a unique light in his eyes as he looked before the door to this special chamber that was slowly opening. "I think Lakmer has found a good supporter." "Hmmm?" A figure walked in as the empress erased the surprised expression from her face and looked forward at the young woman that was confidently standing before the two of them. "I greet the light of the day, and the winds of salvation. May the glory of eternal mes forever be with you." "Wee back, little one." "You''re all grown up now¡­ haaa. Med is going to regret being away at a time like this." She was bowing before the two of them, with a pleasant smile present on her attractive face. "Mother is a busy person, but we meet asionally during our travels anyway so it is alright." She was as pretty as the Witch of immortal winds, Lady Vera and possessed a frightening aura like her father, the one holding the throne of this grand empire. "You were away for months, not weeks, child." She was returning from an important ce after aplishing something that many of the young royals of Roxana had not been able to in thest few generations. "It was longer than months for us, father." Her voice resembled her mother, her now longer silver hair were something she wanted to cut down as soon as she could, her brown red eyes gleamed mysteriously under the magical lights of the room while her impable white skin replicated the serenity of the eternal moonlight. "Thirty nine years in the general time frame, to be precise." "Oh? Then, are you older than your father now?" "Hahaha, age is irrelevant in this world, father. You should know that the best." She looked up at her father, a smirk present on her attractive face. And a simr smirk was also present on her second mother''s face. The first princess of Roxana, the world renowned artist, some of the youngest grandmasters of this world, a being that had already transcended the brackets of normal human beings, the one who had returned from a newly discovered¡­ "Haha, that''s certainly true." This looked like a normal family reunion, however, it was taking ce in apletely empty throne room, with only the emperor and the adviser of the empire present. "Good, you have grown up well, little one. You have learned about humour as well, it seems. And after bing an origin Master, it seems like you have already reached your brother''s level." This was an official meeting between a subject of the empire that was entrusted with a mission that only she was capable of, and though there were some troubles while carrying out this mission, she had returned to them safely. However, before they hear her report on her mission, there was a matter that they must resolve first. "Now¡­ let''s talk now, shall we?" The air around him changedpletely and the father that was looking at her daughter lovingly a moment ago, was now looking down at a subject that had made a grave mistake. "Your presence in Lakmer a day before the war, and your absence during that war. Exin to us the reason behind your presence in that auction as well as the reason why you weren''t there when an inseparable ally of the empire was being destroyed by some demon worshipping cultists." He was the cold emperor that even his children looked up to and feared. Earning his anger was not something any of them ever wished for, but the situation this time wasplicated. She was there when the underground auction of Victor Waid happened and ording to their knowledge, she had interacted with the four individuals under the Headmaster when they were pursuing the cultists. It was reported that the individuals that found out about the enemy strongholds would have died the moment they were in the auction because of something she did, and knowing this information wasn''t something they were looking forward to when they got the news of her return a few days ago. "I¡­ father¡­" Someone had interfered with the special spell that helped them detect the enemies in the auction from where they tracked their stronghold, something that might not have been possible if even one of the individuals in question had lost their lives in that ce. "I can exin myself¡­ however, it isplicated." "We have all day, dear. We have cleared out the entire schedule just for this." As the imperial adviser and her eldest mother, Lady Vera had an angrier expression on her face. "Start. Let us hear yourplicated Excuses." She had just reached the level of an origin master and perhaps she was one of the youngest individuals in the history of this world to have reached that level at that age. However, technically, she was older than her age in this world¡­ which wasn''t an important topic at that moment. "I..." She had made a mistake that could have cost them their entire world. And even though it was an unexpected mistake that they couldn''t punish her severely for, she still had to exin herself. "I fell in love." s she wasn''t as good at it as she was with her Arts. Chapter 786: Aura demonstration [Rein''s POV: ] -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ -Tap. "Good morning, children. We are finally back in ss." ssroom (I), thest seat shared with our friends at the very back of the ss, a fine morning and our vampire teacher that floated in the ssroom and that same old greeting. It was pretty cool seeing him act all cool after all this time. [{ "I missed him, Darling. Unexpectedly so." }] I couldn''t help but remember back to our first day in this ssroom when he had flowed in the same way and done that special introductions. He was a fun teacher and though I still didn''t like how he practically curses at everyone just because he is good at something, he was a great teacher. "How were the holidays? Did you enjoy your free time?" "Hmm?" "What the¡­?" Did he just ask us about how we were? "¡­" His one simple question had turned the entire ss dead silent. I wasn''t the only one that was stunned by his sudden question of concern. "What''s up? I asked something. None of you fools are going to answer that simple thing?" We had already been with him for long enough to know how much he hated small talk so we weren''t expecting something like this from him. "Were you not expecting me to ask you something like that after all that happened? You think that lowly of your ss teacher?" [{ "He''s trolling¡­ please tell me he''s trolling us, darling!" }] There''s no way that bastard would ask us how we were and even go on to say that he was actually asking us how we were. ''That''s not our homeroom teacher!'' He would curse at us first, then start with a mundane sounding question and lead the entire thing to a proper ss without any unnecessary talks. He had always done that! And he was supposed to do this time as well! "Haaa¡­ I''m disappointed, you ungrateful bastards. If you knew how much extra work we did in the time you all were chilling in your good dorms or houses, you would want to punish your own selves for that kind of response. You disrespect me to no end. I am in no mood to do this talk now so let''s just start with the ss. And remember, you are the ones responsible for this. It could have been a nk ss with no teaching and only small talk and good stories but you ruined it for yourselves." The hell? "Now, here''s today''s question." What the hell? [{ "Yes he was trolling. He was trolling big time this time. He actually scammed us, you know?" }] [{ "I saw that much! He''s an absolute bastard!" }] For a moment there even I actually fell for that! That bastard! "Constant age, constant background, constant environmental factors." He came in the same way he did the first time and did the exact same movements he had performed thest time. This created an illusion of nostalgia and took us back to the past when we met him the first time and had no idea how he actually was. Then he very masterfully asked us a question that threw us allpletely off the cliff and created a mental storm. ''His question contained an element of concern that he usually wouldn''t show us, making our minds misce his image we had.'' Then he said some words that emphasised his attempt at being genuine once again, creating a void in our attention and understanding of the situation, nking everything before us. And then he said things that made total sense and pushed all the me on us¡­ that fucking maniptive bastard! "A mage of (tier-4) fights a [Rank-3] swordsman. The fight itself is quite intense and they use every technique abatant at their level might have knowledge of. At the end of the battle, the swordsman wins. What''s the differential analysis for this battle?" He was a shameless piece of shit. He was asking that kind of question with the straight face as if it was nothing and even though this waspletely strange, because of the way he had started this ss, everyone was still in a daze. [{ "Why did he do that? Just being his normal self and outright starting the ss would have been more than enough, no?" }] He was the teacher that taught us about Mana and even though he specialised in Pure magic, his sses were of various kinds and fun so even though not everyone liked him for who he was, it was an undeniable fact that he was one of the best teachers in this academy. [{ "Because he actually cares¡­ there''s nothing to deep to this." }] He knew this person well since he shared a fewmon elements with him and the two of them had a unique perspective of magic so even though we weren''t attending his ss this year, it was going to be unavoidable for him in our next year. "Hmm¡­ you all looked shocked for some reason but at least seeing these few raised hands is a good sign. At least not all of you are ungrateful And lost in space." He was taunting others once again, but this time, the kind of voice he had used wasn''t meant for the others to fall into even greater despair but instead, for them toe back to reality. "Alright then, let''s hear a mage''s answer first. Miss Eryndor? How would you like to try this?" He was asking the same girl that he had called out very first during his first first day. She was the person that started the introductory ss in the first lecture, and bringing her up in a time like this solidified the connection the others had with the present and past, bringing them backpletely. What he used was a technique that not people used nowadays since there were ethics and values and stuff, but back in the war days, that kind of maniption techniques were greatly used by different individuals in high positions. ''It used to be a mess back in the days and things like these were needed on daily bases and seeing how the world is once again going towards the era of the wars, things are getting worse.'' Perhaps this was his way of showing us that things like this could be possible as well? That they could be manipted in the matter of moments and lead to do something that they usually wouldn''t have. "Yeah¡­ umm¡­ so¡­ since we are talking about a fight between mage and a knight where the mage had a higher power level than the other, the only way I can think of under which the swordsman might have won would be through either tricks or with the difference in physical abilities. The physical stats of a weapon user would obviously be greater than that of a mage and if they have good enough dodging skills, it''s not impossible for them to defeat the mage after the intense fight." She was a noble and a beginner wind mage so the answer she just gave was pretty good. But, it had many things that the teacher couldn''t ignore. "That''s a pretty good idea, but miss, you havepletely missed my point." He picked up the crystal chalk from the table with his telekinesis abilities and started writing on the ckboard in the background. "Two individuals have a constant background, which means that in this scenario, we have to assume they were brought up the same way as the other. Age is constant so we have to say they have the same level of experience in wielding their powers. And since environmental factors aren''t affecting anything, we must assume the fight that was ''intense'' might be that way because of the Same environmental factors that were less favourable to one party. Understand that the swordsman is winning because of a certain factor that made all the difference in this battle. Tell me what you think this factor might be." He was asking the question with more pressure than I had expected him to use. It was at a level even I might have a slip of tongue in that presence. It was like he was asking for a quick and right answer right after that intentional wrong one. "Captain Alpha." And the bastard knew exactly who to ask for a question of that particr kind at that moment. "Aura," he answered in one word with a confident expression, and after exining his reason for that answer in a short speech, he sat down after bowing to the teacher. "That is certainly the case." And the teacher didn''t even try to deny it at this point. He really was trying to redirect everyone''s attention to something that could actually be of some use to them instead of useless chat on something that has already happened. He didn''t like doing some things that could affect his character as the teacher of this ss, so instead of a long chit chat on something that waspletely useless to us¡­ -Ooooooooong. "Aura is Mana as well." He called out his own Aura for the first time in this ss and since they all knew he was a (tier-9) mage as well as a [Rank-3] swordsman. He was someone that had mastered and read through many things, including the things that I asked you to be careful of. "Aura would always win. Be it a mage or someone with a simr rank in this world. The destructive nature of any Aura is much greater than the physical magic attempted at any given moment." He was someone that was supposed to teach only about the Mana but if he was demonstrating what Aura¡­ there''s definitely something going on with his head since earlier. He was acting like nothing had happened even though the academy had already started the base functions. So¡­ I found this Aura demonstration a little sus. [{ "He''s gone insane." }] And I wasn''t the only one to think that. Chapter 787: Concentration of particles [Eon''s POV: ] Every individual that possesses Aura would know just what kind of unique power it was and, a mage would know it better than the Aura users just how powerful that destructive force actually was. "Magic is cast with Mana so Mana is considered the natural universal base for the magic casting however, there are many weapon users who do not use Aura and instead use Mana. Why would that be?" To use Mana in the environment, one needed the Mana nucleus but, if someone was talented enough with a weapon and possessed Aura, they could also use the environmental Mana to a certain degree. Or, there were the skills that allowed one use of environmental Mana to a certain level as well. "Miss Uriel?" "Hmm?" "The question. Did you not hear it?" "Ah, yes¡­ I did." He definitely knew how she was cursing him in his head from her expressions, so it wasn''t surprising that he was asking her that question. "Then do you not want to answer? I thought you wanted to answer since you had that light in your eyes." She knew as well what he was talking about so she didn''t want to argue with him about this ''light'' in her eyes. "Because Aura is destructive by nature. It''s stronger, more aggressive, and even though all Aura have a unique characteristic, the energy of Aura is by nature powerful. One cannot use it in all the situations so, some ''weapon'' users who specialise in tasks other than battles cannot use the Aura itself for various tasks. Just like how you use your Aura in strengthening the Mana you possess, many individuals use Aura as a supplement, or as an innate force, or as a dependent variable in various things. Yes there exists Aura that are special in nature and could be used directly, like the Aura of healing and the Aura of blessing that various holy knights use, however, even those Aura are dangerous by nature." She didn''t stand up to answer that question but the teacher didn''t mind that. He wasn''t really doing this for any kind of discipline but just to see what kind of answer she would give. "That''s right." And seeing the expression he had, it seemed like he liked the answer she had presented. "Aura is by nature powerful." He was only a basic Rank-3 knight that could use Aura but, his Aura was unique in itself. -Oooooooooooong! It was a mix of purple and red, a uniquevender colour that looked pretty unique. "It has the power to destroy." Covering a small piece of the chalk in his unique Aura, he threw it on one side of the ssroom wall. -Booooooooooom! And as soon as it hit the wall beside him, the entire ssroom shook like an earthquake had hit this academy. "The power to strengthen." He then covered a little piece of paper in his Aura and threw it up in the sky. -Skiiich¡ªnk! Then he threw a knife at the piece of paper that was cascading down towards the ground, and, when this sharp looking knife hit the simple piece of paper, instead of piercing right through it, it made a strong sound as if it had crashed into a metallic te. "The power to affect the environment." His Mana was fluid like Rein''s and grandpa''s. But instead of being simr to thick blood or light water, it was lighter than water and denser than air. ''It was a unique kind of Aura that was fluid but not air¡­ we can call it a fluid that was as light as clouds. -Oooooooooong. It was only the most basic of Aura, not even something that possessed a certain unique characteristic like those of Rank-4 did, and still, when he infused his Mana with his Aura and infused them both into the environment, the room that always possessed a controlled environment started getting hotter. "We all know there are various kinds of Aura. Aura that is fluid like water or air, solid Aura that could take the form of walls or mountains, Aura that possesses characteristics of rare elements like darkness, light, space, or somethingpletely unique from themon elements. We know how the nature and characteristics of an Aura dependspletely upon the individual that possesses it, however, we do not have any idea how one''s subconscious is going to give birth to that Aura. It''s a natural process that can not be controlled by our conscious mind." He demonstrated various known ways that people usually use their Aura, and since there were a number of weapon users in this ss that had not awakened their Aura yet, this demonstration was an eye opener for them. [{ "I still don''t like how he tricked us." }] [{ "Let''s punish him for thatter, ok? For now, pay attention. It''s interesting." }] Both of us knew almost all there was to know about Aura since both of our grandpas were Knight Kings including the fact that themon knowledge was useless in this field after reaching a certain level. ''There was a reason there were only a handful of Knight Kings.'' Compared to those who had reached the level of a King, the number of individuals who were eligible to take the official position of an Elder mage were almost double. And that was also ording to only the known data. ''Those who have no official records of them, the wanderers who hide from the eyes of the world or the Sadhus that spend most their lives in seclusion aren''t included in this analysis.'' Aura was a unique power of mind, not something present in the entire environment around us, but¡­ that did not mean it was somethingpletely unique. "The differential earlier wasn''t that fun, so let''s do it again with this new question. Doron, what is the smallest unit of matter." "Hunh?!" He was asking everyone something once again. And this time, his question was not as difficult as earlier, so even the young boy before us was able to answer it. "Wouldn''t¡­ wouldn''t that be, energy particles, s-sir?" "Hn-hun. That''s correct. Then, Miss Rashel. How do these particles form?" He started writing down something on the board while he asked that question to the (tier-2) mage. "They do not form, sir Jezebel. The energy particles do not form and they cannot be destroyed either. They only change their forms¡ª shift from one state to another." "Correct. And how does this form-shift work, Haruto." "The particles bind together to form greater elements, elements give rise to matter particles of various kinds, thebination of certain matter particles give rise to various physical objects that we see around us, including our own bodies." "Right." In a matter of moments, he had filled an entire side of the board with colourful words, and a certain kind of magic circle. "Miss Celicilia. Can you tell us what this is?" It was strange to some of them how we had started with the ss and though some of them were still thinking everything that was going on right now was a little strange, the ss had started and there was something important on the ckboard right now. So, as some of us had realised already, it was time to take notes once again. "I¡­" The magic circle was aplex one, so, it was obviously normal for a student to not know anything about it. "I apologise, teacher. All I see is aplex magic circle that looks pretty¡­" She was a smart one, but even she did not know about this thing. But her answer was enough for our teacher. "That''s right. This is aplex magic circle. And you''re right. It looks pretty exactly because that''s how it''s supposed to be." He ced his hand on the magic circle on the board and channelled not Mana, but Aura directly into it. "Captain Alpha. Enlighten us." The Aura didn''t affect the entire magic circle directly and instead was absorbed into the borders of the magic circle first, and then, it slowly spread towards its center. It took a few seconds, but, soon, the entire magic circle was glowing with the Aura that was stably attached to the lines of the magic circle. "What do you see?" Captain Alpha had a surprised and delighted look on his face as he stood up in his ce. "An energy degrading array." "And what does it do?" The ever stoic vampire teacher had a concerningly visible smile on his face as well. [{ "I will never understand this vampire bastard." }] [{ "He''s trying to lighten up the mood, Rein. Just enjoy it." }] It was obvious that he was not only enjoying this moment, whatever was going on in his mind right now, was not very good. ''He was showing aplex, high level magic array that not only we weren''t going to learn until our third year, it was also not something that we will learn in themon sses.'' It wasn''t something that all of us were going to learn or use in the future so it didn''t make sense that he was showing it to us in themon ss understanding of Mana in our first year. "It dposes the energy applied to it." He specialised in Pure magic. And arge part of pure magic was the energy that was applied every time magic was used. "Correct." The Aura that was attached to the magic circle slowly started bing dimmer and fading away into nothing right before our eyes, and at the same time, as the mages could see, the concentration of Mana around the ckboard increased by many folds. "Lucifer." He looked up at me, and he didn''t have to ask the question for me to know the answer to what he was going to ask. "Aura, all energies in fact, are Concentration of particles." Dpose Aura, you''ll get Mana, dpose Mana, you will get purer energy Particles. And the same logic applied to Aether, Arcana, Solnova, Demonic energy, Holy energy, Divine power, or whatever that was considered pure forms of energy. "Even our soul¡­ it''s all a unique concentration of these basic blocks of energy." Everything that existed was made of a certain foundational unit¡­ a fact that not many people of this world understands properly. Chapter 788: Potency of Mana [Eon''s POV: ] "Imagine water¡­ The most basic unit: droplets. They gather together higher up in the atmosphere, create clouds. Due to temperature, the crystallised water drops gather together and rain down, or snow down in colder ces. Water Dropse down to earth and fill up the natural sources of water. Water levels in rivers,kes, even underground water sources increase and they flow from the higher ground to the lower ones." He was drawing the entire water cycle on the other side of the ckboard right now. "Rivers that originate from the mountains flow all the way down to the ground, then after connecting to multiple streams, it reaches the ocean, thergest water source on the." He was using different colours to illustrate different phases of the cycle, and he was talented when it came to drawing these things. They almost seemed realistic. "Water in the oceans, under the constant heat of the sun, boils and evaporation takes ce where the liquid water turns back into the original gaseous form, and lifts up into the sky." He was done with the drawing, so he turned back to us, and pointed his thumb back towards the ckboard. "Now¡­ what happens to the gaseous water that goes back up?" He paused for a moment and looked at how many hands were raised to answer that simple question and the new enthusiasm they had ced a smirk on his face. "It turns back into clouds, yes. I know not all of you are dumb enough to not understand even that much." It was a taunt to those who did not understand why he was suddenly talking about water and this whole thing when we were talking about the concentration of energies just a moment ago. ''The topic shifted from Aura, Mana, to energies, and then to water so quickly that even some of the good students were confused right now.'' But it did not mean they did not understand what was going on right now. He was exining everything so well that even if they were half asleep right now, they would still at least understand the meaning of these things. Not that he would let anyone sleep in his ss¡­ he absolutely hated it when someone did something that was not appropriate to the ssroom environment. "Now¡­ look here." The topic had shifted from energy particles to themon water cycle that we had already learned in the earlier Understanding nature sses. How water transformed from one form to another wasmon knowledge among the students, so this was going to be much easier for them to understand. "The smallest water particles= the energy particles. The clouds are, as some of you might have already guessed, the Mana environment all around us. When it rains- or in other words- when it condenses into a different denser, Mana bes either Aura, or Aether, or a unique energy that many of you might have already heard about, the Force. When it reaches the surface and bes part of a greater resource area- the Mana or in this case, the spirit Mana or the Arcana bes thinner, less dense, and takes on the form of great quantity at the cost of its ''potency''." There. He finally used the right word at the end. ''Now it will get interesting.'' Rein was getting more focused on this exnation even though she knew all about this and much more, but, from what I can tell, she was taking this as a revision. ''She was referring to this whole example and was mentally applying all of this to Shadow energy.'' She wanted that power and she was going to get it one day, but that day wasn''t going to arrive anytime soon. ''And since Wali also advised her to not worry about such things, she didn''t have it on her mind until now.'' But now that she was hearing his exnation that was the ground basics for many of the things that she uses on daily bases, she was having a surge of inspiration. And, since she was even taking notes of this whole thing, it was obvious she was enjoying herself and whatever was going on right now. "As the potency of energy particles, or to make the understanding simple, as the potency of Mana changes, the form of energy that we know as Mana changes into something unique. Just like how Aura degrades and bes Mana, Mana could be condensed into a higher form of energy, but doing it artificially would be the same as producing the fuel that Sun uses. It''s a natural process that happens naturally. One form of energy transfers into the other, it condenses or degenerates from the original, mixes up with the other Natural factors, and gives rise to the unique powers that areter used in various forms. The potency of Mana in the given energy decides the nature of the energy, and the elements that connect with Mana to create these unique energies decide the characteristics of these energies." He was a vampire and the unique energy they could use was the Blood that most living beings with physical bodies possess. So, as he exined those things, he demonstrated it with all the energies that he could control as well. -Oooooooooong. "One of the most important things to know about Mana is that it is in the pure Centre of everything." He was a Pure Magic master so he used Mana and created orbs of elements that he could control, and including them, he created orbs of Blood energy, an orb of Aura-Mana on his palm, a few smaller orbs of spirit Mana with the use of his contracted spirits-there were three of the lowest level ones present right now- and including that, he also conjured his Origin energy. "The Origin energy that one receives directly from their origins are the positive extme of this line, the Divine energy of the higher beings falls near there somewhere as well, while though there are spections that an energyplete opposite of origin energy exists, just like how demonic energy and shadow energy exists on the negative side, it has yet not been found." Most of the things that he had said until now were things that I had learned before in my (All energy utilisation) ss so I wasn''t that surprised by it, not that I was surprised back when the old teacher taught it either, but most of the ss was in aplete daze right now. ''It was obviously difficult to fathom how there were positive and negative side of these energies that not many people usually pays attention to, and, it was even more difficult to see Mana as something that could be taken as a central point in this picture.'' Not all of the individuals in this ssroom could use Mana itself since having a Mana nucleus was a rare thing. There weren''t many mages in this world since the magic itself was no simple thing and that was more of the reason people trained their bodies. Awakening Aura wasn''t any simpler than awakening an energy nucleus, but not everyone could awaken an energy nucleus, but there are high chances that if someone actually gave everything they had and dedicated their very soul to the task that they might awaken the stronger force than Mana known as Aura. ''Even in this ss, most of the individuals were weapon users, a few of them were mages, some of them were children interested in the artistic fields, while those who wanted to walk the path of creation were the lowest.'' And still, statistically, there was a chance any of them could awaken a unique energy that would let them do special things that no normal human would be capable of. "Potency. Remember that word." There were artists that did not have an origin skill from birth but they obtained it along the way in their lifetime. There are many craftsmen that have never trained to wield any weapon ever in their lives and they still could use Aura. There are individuals who awaken unique powers that not even the special individuals could through natural circumstances, or just because they were meant to, it was certainly amon thing. ''There were many cases like Chry in this world, individuals that have skills so powerful that their bodies act on their own to make it so the possessors of those skills itself don''t find it until they are ready for it.'' People who always possessed a certain power but could not use it or even knew about it until a certain point was not anything new, there have been many cases of fortunate or divine awakenings throughout history of this world. So, ultimately, there was always a chance a normal human of this world could be a supernatural entity overnight. -Trrring~! Tring~. Tring. "That would be all for today. Let us start the sixth unit from the next ss¡­ remember what you learned today. It will be very helpful going forward not just in this ss, but throughout your life. The revision is today''s homework. And don''t ask me anything about today''s ss ever during any of the sses. I''ll reply if I get a personal message only if I find it appealing. Otherwise,e directly to my office." -Tap. Tap. Tap. Tapping the table three times as he always does before leaving, and wiping off the ckboard like every teacher should, he picked his books. "See you tomorrow." And then after that small goodbye, he started floating once again and floated out of the ssroom, leaving us poor students to our own devices. "Jerk." She wanted to write something before he wiped it off, but since he didn''t give any warning this time, she couldn''t even ask him to wait. "Take mer, dummy." "I''m not a dummy. You are the dummy! Hump!" She was angry at him earlier, but he grew up on her. Or, it was better to say what he taught today grew up on her. ''She was still in that flow state¡­ so, even though she wanted to continue cursing at him, she threw that all on one side and continued writing.'' She was working right now¡­ a rare cute side that I didn''t want to disturb. Chapter 789: Language and manners [Rein''s POV: ] Darkness is absence of light. When all colors are absent, when light leaves a spacepletely, when everything that remains is nothing, darkness is born at that moment, in that space. Just like how Mana is present everywhere, darkness might also be present everywhere in a dimension where light could or does not reach. ''What we call darkness is absence of light.'' What we call shadow on the other hand, is the obstruction of light by a physical object. ''Light that is present everywhere.'' And the light that gives way to everything that exists and makes everything not only visible but also avable to an individual, exists for everything. Shadows are created because of the obstruction of an object but that''s just the basic understanding of what we call a shadow. ''Just like how a candle¡ª a source of light itself- does not possess a shadow of its own, a higher being that possesses divinity also does not possess a shadow of their own.'' At least not their original forms. The ones they use to exist in the physical world certainly might possess a shadow, but that''s not the point. ''Shadows are the presence of darkness, and darkness is the absence of light, so we can say shadow and darkness have many simrities.'' Perhaps they are the same thing or perhaps one is different from the other, I do not know that. Though, what I do know as someone that possesses a great amount of darkness element, is the fact that darkness is nothing different from other elements of nature. Earth exists because physical matter exists, water exists because life exists, wind exists because every object in the world is moving constantly, and fire exists because all elements that exist possess an individual And natural energy to themselves. [{ "You aren''t paying attention to anything, Uriel. The teacher seems to have figured that out." }] [{ "Shuuuu. I''m onto something here." }] Just like the fourmon elements, light exists because everything has originated from some point and because the world exists. And opposite to light, darkness exists because light does. It''s all very logical if we think about it, especially the part where- "Miss Uriel?" Especially the part where we can actually rationalise the existence of one thingand its connections to the other which produces some other thing and ultimately this entire worldes into-. [{ "Uriel." }] [{ "What?" }] [{ "I had warned you, alright." }] [{ "What do you-" }] "Miss Uriel, I appreciate your attention to your work, however¡­" "Hmm? Miss! No, that-!" "Working on something other than what I''m teaching in My ss isn''t something I appreciate as I''ve already made clear." I was so focused on writing down everything that came to mind that I spent half my time pretending I was paying attention to our following ss, and I was good at acting so chances of getting caught working on something else in some other ss weren''t really that great. I had done it several times already so I thought there wouldn''t be any problems this time as well¡­ the flow of thoughts I had was too good. It was a rare asion that I wanted to enjoy fully¡­ but I forgot it was this bitch''s ss. "Would you pleasee forward with me?" "I don''t-." "I insist, please." Not many teachers really cared what the every student in this ss of three hundred freaking students was up to during their teaching hours, no one other than the homeroom teachers really gave a damn about what thest benchers like us were even up to. But, this certain bitch was different¡­ "Haaaa." "I warned you." "Shut up." This bastard could have told me she was standing right in front of us and we wouldn''t have had my book taken. He wanted me to stop whatever I was doing, this bastard wanted to get caught and be dragged to the ss stage for another bunch of useless things. I was walking down the ss stairs but I knew that bastard was smiling right now. ''He loved this ss for this very reason.'' This wasn''t the first time I was getting dragged to the front of the ss for some kind of demonstration that not many of them were capable of. "Do you know what we were talking about, Miss Uriel." "Of course Miss¡­ the eastern etiquette and mannerisms. You were talking about how thedies who wear those heavily decorated dresses still walk gracefully and have a sense of serenity to them." The current general ss was the third andst of the day so after I was done with the thing I was doing, I wanted to go and have a good, happy lunch with my cuties¡­ but thanks to her, I know I will bete to that delicious lunch of ours. "Yes, of course you know. Huhu. Then, would you like to demonstrate what we just learned~?" "Do I have a choice?" "My oh my dear. I wasn''t the one doing something else in the Language and Manner''s ss, young miss~." I enjoyed this ss, and it certainly wasn''t like I hated it or anything, but it was annoying how this teacher of ours¡­ this pretty, absolutely gorgeous Elf woman, and one of the best culture specialists of this world targets me for every difficult thing that the otherdies in this ss couldn''t help her with. "Haaa¡­ will I have to change?" "Of course~. Let us go~. I will help you so that we can finish the ss on time~." "Yes, yes¡­" It''s always like this. But this time, she caught me not paying attention to what she was teaching-which exactly wasn''t that important- but since she had to show them something alredy, instead of dressing up herself and wasting the ss'' time, she was going to save some time by dressing me up so that I can show them what she had just taught us. ''Basic manners and how the individuals of various cultures behave was the thing she taught most of the time, along with themonnguages of the area that we were onto at the moment.'' Our sses usually go as picking up a certain ce and a certain culture, then she teaches basic things about that ce, some cultural traditions, and then we see how the dressing and behaviour works in various sses of the society, ''Right now, she had just finished teaching how the Ladies of the Royal Family present themselves before the public, how they dress, and how the whole process of greetings work.'' I knew all that already since I knew what was going on around me all the time, and since I had lived in the east for a few years already, I knew what she was teaching about better than how much she was teaching us first year students. "Alright ss! Don''t worry as this will not take long! And she''s watching so be careful!" She herself was a high ranking spirit mage with contract to multiple advanced spirits but her spirit arts wasn''t her speciality. "YES MA''AM." Bo?k Em¨¨rald Qu¨¨nsmaid was her name. She was a world traveller and an culture enthusiast that had travelled far and wide in search of various civilisations that existed in current time. ''She was a linguist that perhaps knew mostnguages that existed in this world, and after Eon, she was the only one I have met that knew the greatest number ofnguages that I knew as well.'' But since Eon was a special casepletely, I think she''s the only one that actually knows morenguages than I do without any skills to aid her. ''I have my eyes and thanks to them, I can understand and replicate anynguage that exists.'' I can learn thosenguages in a matter of days or perhaps hours if they are something simr to what I already havee across, but she is someone that could read runes without help from any kind of external skills. ''And it''s one thing that I admire about her the most.'' She knows her stuff better than me, even though I have also travelled the world and seen most of what she had¡­ "Ready?" "Nope. I wanna continue what I was doing before you took away my book." "Huhuhu, you can finish it after we are done with this, dear~." It all started when I took too much interest in her and started interacting with her during sses. ''She had been to even some of the most remote ces of this world like me.'' She had even been to that certain ce where that certain hidden tribe lives. "So¡­ ever been to any eastern royal pces?" "Many¡­" We have talked for hours during sses over things that not many of the students understood, but since she was a teacher and not my buddy in this ssroom, she had to teach others as well. ''It was the third ss with us when she first picked me out for a ''demonstration''.'' She knew I knew about that thing and that I had interest in it as well. She knew I already knew about the cultures she was teaching about, and she knew I had been to the ces that not many students here had. ''Apparently, she also knew I was a witch much older than my looks.'' That was the only exnation for how I had travelled to so many ces already. "Tang as well?" "Yup. A decade ago when that bastard wasn''t the king." "Haaa¡­ I envy you, Miss Uriel." We were friends, but still, she knew I did not like having so much attention on me. ''Especially when we are dressing up in some other culture''s clothing.'' It is a fact known throughout this academy that I''m prettier than I usually look. And it''s all thanks to her doing all the makeup, dressing, and stuff on me. She liked me as her manikin¡­ but, having too much attention like this wasn''t something I liked that much. "It is what it is, I guess." I was pretty. But that was only my external beauty¡­ I didn''t like it when people saw me for what I have on my face, or on my body. It was boring, actually. ''Reinelle Atraxia already was receiving that kind of attention.'' I at least wanted Uriel to not have that. ''But she ruined my dear wish¡­'' And I hate her for that. Chapter 790: Prettier than a princess [Rein''s POV: ] "You look pretty already." "I''m not supposed to, you know?" "Why do you wanna hide this beauty, Uriel? You are popr, you are mysterious, many people in the academy think you are some kind of hidden royal princess or something and there are already rumours floating all over about you after yesterday. People admire you and many more want to do so, but the mysterious status of themon adventurer you have restrains them from doing so. If they see this side of you more, then perhaps-." "You know I hate you exactly because of this, right?" Looking up at her reflection in the mirror before us, I pushed my head forward and away from her hands. "We were good when you weren''t trying to use me as a ything doll in the first two sses. It was fun chatting with someone who has been to ces others have not. I enjoyed it like nothing else¡­ but then you had to bring in the rules and stuff and drag me into it as well." She was almost done with the dressing part so she was going to move on to the makeup part after doing my hair, but, because I pulled my head away from her, she couldn''t do so. "You know there''s a reason behind why we do this, why we live like we do right now, don''t you?" I continued with my hair on my own with an upset expression on my face. "There has to be a reason two people with no background whatsoever would try to hide their powers and abilities in a ce where showing off what you have is everything." There was a bitter expression on her face as well. An expression that said she knew what she was doing wasn''t something I appreciated, but it was something that she was doing for the good of everyone. "But¡­" She grabbed my hands and pulled my head back gently and took over from where I had stopped. My long ck hair in this form were pretty attractive since he made it based on the one Anna had. The eyes I have made my overall looks look pretty attractive butpletely, they weren''t much different from many of the average lookingdies of our batch. I looked pretty but that was it. The looks of this form were specifically made to not look anything unique¡­ he had worked hard to make me look this way. But, she wouldn''t understand that. "Just like how even a jewel hidden inside rocks couldn''t hide from the experienced gaze of the jewellers, the overwhelming abilities both of you have could not be hidden from this world even if you try the most perfect disguise of this world." She was an elf but she was no royal or aristocrat. She was born in a normal house, raised by loving parents who had normal lives, and she had lived a happy normal life in her childhood. Then she has a dream, a goal to see the vast world beyond the forest their tribe lived in. The vast world that she had only heard about in their folktales and the stories. ''She was a curious child that went out of theirnd on her own, leaving behind everything she had just for the sake of her dreams.'' And then, she travelled. "You''re prettier than what these clothes make you to be, you are prettier than how you would look after putting on some makeup, and you are prettier than a princess downing the best silks of this world and the most precious makeup avable to mankind. But you hide¡­ and just like how this world that tries to showcase your boundless abilities through various methods, as someone who also does not like the way you live right now, I''m trying what I can to show the world what they are missing on." She was a traveller that had travelled from south to west, from west to east, and from east to north in her hundred and fifty years of journey. She saw all the nations there were in this world and she travelled to all the cities, all the viges, and all the ces that were only known to a few of them. She searched for the clues of cultures, for civilisations that had their own unique traditions, origins, ways, and lifestyles. ''She was perhaps one of the few individuals in this world who had lived among most of the known cultures.'' She had been with the filthiest of trolls, to the most noble fairies. She had seen the divine beasts of myths more than once and she had learned from them, recorded them in the journal she wrote, the journal that We and many other academies of this world taught to the students. She was a famous individual that many young people of this world looked up to and it was an honour that we were learning about thenguages and manners of various cultures directly from her. But¡­ "I''m selfish and I know I''ll only have you for this one short year, so, I have to use what little time I have with you to get the most I can." She''s a bitch. And I don''t like her. Not anymore. "We could have been good friends, you know?" She was done with my hair, so she was moving on to the finishing touches now. "I know. And I would have loved that more than anything else¡­ but we both know I wouldn''t have known the Real you until the end of your time in this academy. And I cannot wait that long." "You''re an elf for nature''s sake, Bo?k. What are four years to you anyway?" "What are four years to a witch, Uriel?" She was shaking her head with a helpless smile, finding my question ridiculously obvious and funny. "I don''t like you." "It''s fine. Though, I''ll pray the one behind this Mask likes me when we meet for real." "Hump." She was a headache like that bastard headmaster of ours. ''Miss Odd is much better than all of them.'' She''s actually better than even that bastard darling of mine that only smiles happily and enjoys every time I get dragged by this pointy eared bitch to some empty room like this¡­ "You certainly look prettier than a princess now, you know?" "I''m prettier than many queens already, and I know that." "And I''m sure that husband of yours knows that as well." She smirked at me right when I stood up from the chair wearing this heavy ass dress. "He''s not the Husband yet, Miss world traveller." I certainly looked pretty when I looked at myself in the bigger mirror on the side¡­ it was a little more in than shiny this time, since I was dressing in traditional eastern style, but, this wasn''t anything less than the jewellery filled clothing of the west. "I''m sure he''s more than a husband already. But let''s leave him be for now." The east had many unique cultures and traditional customs. The one I was wearing right now was especially the ones that the royaldies of the southeastern nations of the eastern continent wore when appearing before the individuals outside the royal family. The dress I was wearing was called a (Ghuara), a silk dress of the highest quality embroidered with threads of gold and silver. "I''m pretty sure my bastard fianc¨¦ is happily grinning right now, thinking about how he tricked me once again, and he''s going to get punished for that¡­ but, yes. He knows I''m prettier than many queens of many nations. For him, actually¡­ I''m as pretty as the true forms of divinities." "Hahaha, that''s a new one." A kind of clothing that weighed as much as a few warswords, and something that was not only pretty and attractive, it was also so heavy that the royal princesses of East had to train their bodies and minds from young ages just so that they could wear these dresses after they became the official queens of the nations they marry into. ''Thankfully, they only had to endure this torture for three times every month.'' The doors of the royal pces were closed to the outsiders, and even when meeting important guests of other nations, thedies did not show off before them. ''The kings were allowed to marry only once and there were strict rules regarding mistresses.'' Many eastern nations had the Harem system but not the southwestern kingdoms. They had one queen that had as much authority as the king themselves, and they possessed core decision making powers. "Haha, as pretty as true forms of divinities. He sure knows his stuff as well, hahaha." She wasughing right now, but since I knew her well by now, I can tell thisughter was augh of admiration. ''I wasn''t the only one she targeted.'' Sure I''m the first choice when attractive clothings are the topic, but a culture isn''t made of female characters alone. There are males as well, and this little ss of ours contains a good number of bastards that she uses however she wants. My bastard and Captain Alpha are at the very front of the pack. "Well well, Uriel. You gotta invite me to your wedding, alright?" "Of course you''reing to my wedding. Who will help my bridesmaids prepare for everything if not you, hun?" "Hmmm?" A sudden expression of surprise overtook her face. "Wait, really?" "I''m not joking, if you''re confused, Bo?k. You''re the only one I know that has so much knowledge about so many kinds of people. There will be others beside you that will have to help my useless friends of course, so, please don''t take this as a joke. I hate you, and that''s exactly why you have to be there." "Ptffff." There was still quite a long time left for our marriage, a little over three years to be precise, but it wasn''t that long in the eyes of a normal elf. She wasn''t like me. The flow of time was normal for her. "Sure then." cing hands on my shoulders, she smiled at my reflection in the big mirror. "Count me in~." She was a bad person. Selfish, greedy, and unbearable. But, she was good at what she did. And, for that at the very least, I couldn''t hate her even if I wanted to. Chapter 791: Getting crowded [Eon''s POV: ] "You''re a bastard." "You looked pretty though. Wasn''t that good?" "Good? What''s good? People seeing me like that?" "Yes?" "You''re out of your mind." "For you, of course. I''m out-." "Get a room, you two." -Dhup. Dhup. Tia came from the behind and pped both of us on our backs. "Leave them, Tia. Let them have their little moment while they still can." Then Lizzy grabbed her before she could p me once again, and dragged her back to the rest of them. She was happy right now and we all knew how she behaves whenever she is happy like this so we had to stop her from doing anything else at least this time. "Right, today is unexpectedly crowded here." The general sses were over so it was lunchtime and that meant that the rest of the school was now either gathered in the cafeteria or in the garden. ''Us, as usual, were in the garden.'' And for some strange reason we weren''t the only ones in our usual ce today. "Are they all here for lunch with us?" "Seems to be the case but, let''s wait until Alf and Ca confirms it." Our group usually had lunch in a certain ce in the garden and it wasn''t like it was a price ce that we owned. The academy garden wasn''t something that anyone owned so, it belonged to anyone that belonged to the academy. ''The students just used to hesitate joining us for the lunch¡­ a fact that slowly started diminishing.'' The students at first did not knew how to approach high profile students like us, then when they started getting closer to us through the sses and regr interactions, they understood we weren''t anything like a private group and epted anyone that wanted to dine with us, but still there was always this hesitation in them that joining us for lunch would cause them inter or some external problems. ''We all house captains and vice captains were close alredy, and though our group wasn''t the only high profile group, our members included most of the captains of the houses.'' They were legitimately the only Students that held any kind of known authority in this school, so they were practically the most important students. But that did not mean they were the only important people present in this academy. "Oh, they''re here." "What''s the situation, Alf. Are they really here to join us for lunch? Are they going to pay for their lunch as well if they want us to feed them?" There were many societies or more like clubs in this academy that were made of various factions and all of this had started a few weeks after the academy started. ''The great academy was an institution that focused on the equality of all individuals.'' From the side of the academy, there was no discrimination or any kind of prejudice when it came to any of the students. There were rules and regtions, and they were all the same for all the students that were part of this academy. ''But still, the outside world exists. And it will always have some kind of influence in a ce where some of the most important young individuals of the world gather.'' Just like how there were people from various noble houses and factions of various continents gathered around the individuals that came back from the annual alchemypetition, the people gathered here were pretty much the same. "You know what, let''s have them for today." "What?!" "Lucifer! Even you can''t feed all of them for free! I understand you have a lot of money but feeding others isn''t something you are obligated to do! Especially if the ones in question are bastards like these! And-." "At least keep your voice down Tia." "Why the hell should I?! These bastards are here to leech off of you AND waste our time at the same time! You know they don''t have any pure intentions and you still want them here?! How noble of you!" She was being sarcastic, but she had a point that even Luna agreed on. "Master Lucifer, I think we shouldn''t-." "I''m not saying we will feed them for free." They were misunderstanding something here. "Yup. Don''t ever think for even a second this bastard would do something like that. He knows what his cooking is worth and he knows what sharing it means. Bitches and sonnovabitches like these aren''t something he would feed for free even if he was the richest in this world." Rein knew me well and thanks to her words, they were able to see the smile I had on my face for a while. "Oh, oh I see. You had that smile¡­ I almost missed it." "Luciferrrrrrr! That smile! Does that mean-¡­!" "Stop shouting, Tia." This time, even Med had to jump in and help Lizzy. Holding back an overexcited little fairy like her wasn''t an easy task in any way. Only a few here could do it, and we appreciated their efforts every time this little friend of ours was happy like this. "Ahem. So, as I was saying¡­ let''s have lunch now, shall we?" The general sses were over and there was pretty much nothing to do for the next hour or so, so it was best to have the food that we so eagerly needed after all those long sses. "Who''s going to help me today?" "Oh! Ohh! That would be Quin and-." "Don''t you say that again! She already helped thest time!" "Thatst time was more than a week ago! And she wants to help, just look at her!" Tia was one hell of a headache and everyone loved her exactly for that¡­ but she was wrong this time. "Let her be this time¡­ Alf, Hide,e. Help me." "Hmm? Sure¡­?" The two of them were the only ones that looked like they were free enough to help me since the rest of them were either dealing with the crowd were doing something that was more important to help me prepare food for this many people. "Hey, darling. I''ll be back in a minute." "Take your time." There as a concerned look on her face all of a sudden but I knew she also saw something going on with a bunch of students some distance away from us and though it was none of our business, since this something involved one of her housemates that was among the ones that took part in thepetition, she had to resolve that. "So, what''s on the menu~." Lizzy was excited and so was my little Zoe. "Whatever you want, actually. Since I''m making something for so many people anyway, it''s best to just make something that everyone will like, no?" Luna and Med were taking turn distracting Tia so she didn''te here and mess things up, and since she wasn''t very good with this kind of bunch that were already being pressured by the individuals from the outside, there was no way they were going to let her talk with them. "You know what Lucifer¡­ hear me out." The people here weren''t evil or bad, they were only following the orders from the people behind them. ''At least, not all of them were here because they wanted to.'' The air under this tree is particrly refreshing thanks to the grace of the Bee Queen, but¡­ today was different. There was a strange pressure in the air and even though the students were all having pleasant conversations, it was all only a bravado. They weren''t happy to be here, they weren''t here for the food, they weren''t here to talk among themselves, and they weren''t here to enjoy their food with us. They were here for something that they were asked to do, or something that they just selfishly wanted, or something that ultimately wasn''t the same as the few normal ones that were only here because of their curiosity. "You want me to do that? There are a few normal ones here as well though." There were people with ulterior motives, and there were people who actually wanted to dine together with us. That was the reason I wasn''t going to charge them for my food or anything. And since they knew nothing in this world was free anyway, they weren''t going to just eat My food for free. "Look here, friend. We can deal with a few but to deal with majority, even if we do not do anything today, we will have to do something sooner orter. It''s just better to start right now so that we¡­ so that You don''t have to suffer in the future. Money is only a resource. And resources are always limited." Lizzy was good when it came to dealing with people. She had gained a good experience after the incident in Lakmer and she was ready to walk the thorny path of a Saintess now. "You have a point¡­" The rest of them were dealing with the crowd so I at least know there won''t be any conflict sparking here, and thanks to all the house captains being here, they weren''t going to do shit to one another even if something happens between them. "Alright then. Let''s have a chat with all these new Friends as we eat." Lizzy was good with the nature of people while Med was good with people and money. With the two of them present here, and of course with the rest of them, putting an end to this situation wasn''t going to be that difficult. ''It was getting crowded here anyway, and even if we don''t do anything about it, the Blue Bee Queen isn''t going to like this.'' I didn''t want them to get hurt at the very least, or else there will be moreplicated things to deal with. And, Rein won''t like that when we have more important things to do after school time now¡­ Chapter 792: Lightfull dinner [Rein''s POV: ] "The lunch was more fun than usual today¡­ wonder if it was because of the bastards and bitches that got humiliated, or if it was because of the pure new cuties that joined us." Many new faces had joined us for lunch today and we all knew that number was going to go down significantly tomorrow. "It''s a little of both, I''d say. You had fun with the new ones, and you had fun making fun of the ones that spoke out of line. The others had fun watching you and the others, and the others who also made fun of them over little things and the way ultimately the topic of them having free lunch withmoners came up was the true spice of the story. You wanna see how you were ginning at them?" We were in our dorm right now, and¡­ he was smiling at me with that still glowing body of his. "No. I know how I smile, so that aside¡­" There were no lights currently on right now in this little hall room of ours but thanks to the skillful body that was still glowing, he was illuminating the entire ce pretty well. "How about you keep this? You look fun this way, hehe." The headmaster couldn''t figure out how to subdue these lights and even after an entire day, he was still shining the same way as he did yesterday. ''He got through the school thanks to Anna and headmaster''s illusion magic, but he was still the same lightbulb that he was yesterday.'' The skills present all around his body were still glowing in their own unique colours and since I had these special eyes, I could see more than just their colours. "You like seeing me suffer, don''t you?" "Of course I don''t. And don''t even think I''m bing more like mother Nol. If that was the case, you would be tied by a role and I would be eating You instead of these delicious things you make." "I think you''re already bing like her¡­ not that I hate it." "Hmm? What was thatst thing? You don''t hate it? You mean you like me wanting you to be a shining light blue for the rest of your life? Or¡­" The table stood between us or else I would have jumped on him and then the dinner would have gone cold. "Do you want me to be like mother Nol?" "Of course I don''t." "Why? You don''t love me like father Ien?" "I love you better." I saw how a shiver went down his spine when he thought about how it would be like being in the same position as his dad. We certainly liked trying various things but we were stillparatively normal. His two great parents though, were quite something. "Hehe. I like these lights." His skills were still in conflict and though it was not visible to the rest of them, I could see how the skill was slowlying to terms with one another. ''It was a very unique thing.'' He had one innate skill, he was an advanced Origin skill possessor, and on top of that, he was someone with a good number of unique skills that were either very rare or were one of a kind in this entire world. All the skills aside from thest one he had was something he got from his mom as presents, and when he had only these skills, all the other skills were in perfect harmony. However, when the Draconian skill was added, the other skills came together and stood before it as a guard. ''It was like a council of elders standing before a neer.'' The other skills were confronting the new skill and were testing it in various ways. They were seeing if having it among their ''group'' would cause the host any kind of harm or not. They gathered, opposed it, ''asked'' it what it was doing here and why such a powerful force was taking so much of space on his body, and just like elders arguing with a neer, they were having arguments among themselves and with the new Skill itself over why they should let it stay with them. ''It was almost like these skills were all alive and knew what they were doing.'' Though, it wasn''t actually the case. There were skills with ego perhaps but no skill had its own consciousness to know what was happening around its environment. ''His ''special skill'' might be the only exception to that rule.'' Even the wisdom pinnacle or any other special skill didn''t have anything like a will of their own ording to what I know. Skills were skills. Magical abilities that had certain functions that were triggered by the will of their possessors. ''There was nothing much to them.'' But what I was seeing gave me conflicting feelings about the knowledge I had about them. "You are pretty. And with those, you look prettier." As the headmaster had figured out, the thing happening with his body was unique and was a natural process that would go away on its own soon. And ording to what I could see, it should happen by the end of tomorrow. So, it means I only had a little time with this lightbulb darling of mine. "Stop that, you won''t even be able to see me blush with these things." "Hahaha, I will just feel that blush of yours then." There was no need for him to be shy from just these simple words of mine when he himself threw curveball-like lines at me every so often. Him being unpredictable with his flirting was his thing but he was falling for the things that I was saying over this candlelight dinner? That wasn''t fair now, was it? "Haaa¡­ let''s finish this quickly." The lights were bright but not too bright. They were pretty romantic and, since tonight might be thest time I see them, I didn''t want to miss this chance. "That look you have is dangerous, Rein-." "Uriel. It''s Uriel, here." "Right¡­" He knew what I wanted. He knew it very well since he wanted to do it more than I did. "Do you want anything?" Looking up at me with an almost empty te, he matched the look I had in my eyes. "Yup." Words weren''t really needed between us, this eye content was more than enough to know what he was thinking and he knew better than myself just what I was thinking and what I wanted. He was good earlier when those bastards gathered in our lunch ce. With Lizzy''s suggestion, he used them in a unique way. ''He first fed them his amazing cooking and when they were almost addicted to it, he asked if they wanted seconds.'' He used themon people among them, incited a few of them with special non-verbal techniques, and sparked a little conflict between the groups that were actually close with one another. ''Then when there was a conflict, he pressed the paining nerve and brought up the topic of freedom.'' We talked about how themoners among them and the adventurers that don''t have to listen to anyone have free wills. He emphasised how there are people or individuals in this world that are ungrateful for the lives they have and think what they have is all there is when in all actuality, they are only the frogs trapped in a well. ''The conversation we had over lunch today was fun.'' Very fun if I say so myself. The most fun part in it being the almost crying, tearful faces of the individuals that were pressuring the pure individuals among us to join us. There were a good number of fun things that happened today, including the things that we did during the personal sses after lunch. ''The Alchemy ss was super fun today with Mia being the star of the day.'' It was a great day well spent on fun things. "Let''s go." "Where?" I finished everything on my te¡­ as our unwritten rules said we should. "To the venue where you will serve me the dessert." And since he was already done with everything on his te, I didn''t have to ask for his consent this time. "Let''s go¡­" I stood up, walked before him, asked him for his hand¡­ and when he epted it with a smile that knew all that was going to happen from that point on, I used my shadow movement skill and moved both of us inside the bedroom. Today¡­ the night was going to be long. And there will be colourful lights with us. His colourful lights. That were everywhere¡­ everywhere on his body. "Don''t think I''m going to let you do-." "Yes, yes. Less talking, more undressing. Here, help me out with this thing." Mana clothing was convenient, but there were a few things that Mana clothing couldn''t replicate as perfectly as the real thing. "Mmmmm¡­" Touch, sight, smell, taste, and sound¡­ the five basic modes of perception were only the basic ones for a reason. They were ordinary, there was mind and consciousness, but that was only a characteristic of mind so, it was also ordinary. There were extraordinary ones, many that were only a little part of the original ones¡­ but for two birds in love under the moonlight, only one of them mattered. "Shall I¡­?" "Please¡­" Presence was a mode of perception often only used by those with higher, sharper senses. Mostly beasts, or hunters, or the ones who had experienced various difficulties in their lives. But, even though often forgotten, it was an inseparable mode of perception among individuals in love. "Mmmm~." Some kinds of presence were too sweet to not get addicted to. ''It would actually be a sin to ignore them, I''d say.'' Chapter 793: War merchants [Nn''s POV: ] "You are the supplier, aren''t you, baby." { "Haha, I knew you would figure it out." } "Of course I would. Who else in this world had that kind of specific resource for a small country with falling borders?" { "Well, you do. Though you''re bound by thews of the empire for the time being so that only leaves a few other-." } "Yes, yes. I know you know everything like you should sad my little baby. But that''s not important right now." We were talking though themunication device connected to my office in Hiraani so no one else knew he had contacted me. Anna especially had no idea I was talking with her cool, dear brother even though she was down there ying around with the staff. "How much did you share with them? The entire book from what I can tell, hun?" { "Not everything that I know, but yes. A book that contains a good bit. It''s ten percent of what you know, I''d say." } "Ten percent of what I know you know equates to the national secrets of twenty countries of this world, baby. Giving such things for free isn''t something I would expect my dear little baby to do." { "That''s why I didn''t do anything." } It has been a month since he left for his school again, the time for the grand conference was nearing so we were going to meet soon anyway. But¡­ it was still bitter talking with my own little baby after a month. Especially, because this talk wasn''t between a worried mother and a young son but between a merchant and a war supplier of an allied nation. { "Sharing information and selling some important items for cheap in exchange for partial operation rights of the market of various nations in this world wasn''t a bad deal, I''d say." } "Oh?" He was smirking since he said ''he'' didn''t do anything. He was my amazing baby so there was no way he would do anything that would result in loss for him so, I at least knew whatever deal he had made with Lakmer wasn''t something that would help them one sidedly. "Which markets did you get?" { "That would be confidential, Miss. A trade secret, if you will." } There was a good number of war merchants in this world that traded with the countries that were at war with the other nations and I had never imagined my own baby would take that path. ''Especially in an unconventional situation like this one.'' There was conflict going on between Lakmer and its neighbouring countries and they were having various kinds of silent wars with one another. It wasn''t an all out war but something that was happening on a more fundamental level. Instead of people, the elements that were being used in this war were the economy, national threats, roundabout ways to cut off the important basic resources, and there were even strange things happening all over these countries. ''We already knew Lakmer was going to break its stance as a neutral nation thanks to Eon telling us about his strange dream, but the situation that actually happened was more interesting than them going to conventional war with them.'' Lakmer wasn''t using their army or the war artifacts that their predecessors had used to establish its position in the past. Instead of humans and a certain battlefield, they were using money, and resources to bring down the nobles and royals of the other countries. ''They were ying a game with what they did not have.'' They were a small country inparison to the opponents that they were up against, so if they wanted to bring down even one of the economies, they had to manipte a lot of internal and external forces. They had to employ their own resources to gather the attention of the people that would have be coteral damage, and save many lives by regting resources and properly selecting their targets. "You won''t even tell your mom?" { "If it is my mother asking that question and not the leader of one of the top merchant associations, then there''s no way I wouldn''t answer her question. But¡­ are you the mother that I love unconditionally, or are you simply asking that question because you care about the economy and market of the nations that are facing difficulties?" } "You little bastard¡­" I couldn''t help but smile joyously at that question of his. "You''ve gotten better at this." { "All thanks to my amazing mother, I''d say." } "Hahaha, right~. Your mother is amazing~." The kind of war that Lakmer was fighting required a lot more resources than what a simple war involving humans would need. There were techniques in this world that politicians used to maintain public rtions and then there were techniques that the merchants like us used to to maintain the market from a superior position. ''The market was everything for a merchant, and the most basic element of any market were people of a certain geographical area.'' There were various kinds of products that did well only in certain ces and there were various kinds of things that merchants could only sell in certain kinds of markets. ''To sell, one needed resources that werepetitively easier to get, however, to buy¡­ the individuals of that market needed capital.'' Capital was generated by the workers that produced resources and the trades that took ce in order to bring in that capital. It was necessary that one understood the flow of money, goods, and capital if they wanted to seed as a business, and even as a consumer, one needed to have a basic understanding of what they are spending their capital on. ''However, a healthy economy was only possible if the government or individuals-mostly nobles- in high positions of a society possessed therger amounts of capital.'' If those nobles or rich people themselves lose the wealth they possess, the economy of that geography would slowly copse into chaos. The lower sses wouldn''t have any capital to spend, reducing the purchase power of thatnd, ultimately skyrocketing the price of themodities. "Still, the sudden riots, those natural disasters, and all those unbelievable artificial things on one side, why did they chose the most peaceful way when they could have gone with something much better, something that would have saved them a good sum of money, resources, and business?" { "That¡­ is something even I am not certain of." } "Right?" Eon wasn''t the one that created these war methods, but he was the only one that knew the most about these never thought about methods of bringing down a power with even a thousand years of history. He showed Carol things that she would have seen for the first time and knowing her, even that ten perfect of his knowledge was something that she could weaponise better than anyone else in this world. ''She was a sorceress witch when it came to politics.'' Everyone knew what she was capable of and still, those dumb people tried messing with Lakmer after the incident. ''They brought it on themselves.'' If anything, thanks to my baby, the losses they all would have suffered were lowered significantly. "Anyway¡­ did I tell you about Elle''s parents?" { "Ah, did you get any news from them?" } "Yes. Earlier this morning¡­" Anna was alone without her brothers and sisters but she was doing well on her own. She was training with her papa and grandpa everyday, learning things that her siblings had started learning even before they were the same age as her. He was away in the academy, learning, training for the big day, preparing to face the really important people of this world. It wasn''t going to be anything easy, I knew well just how difficult it was to present one topic in this conference. Those bastards weren''t a sight that just anyone could handle. One had to prepare for weeks, perhaps months just to be good enough for this presentation, and it wasn''t fun when they were gathered in the same ce. ''He wasn''t going to present one or two topics in this conference, he was going to be the only one that would lead the whole of the conference.'' There have been a few times when something like this happens, when a single person takes charge of the entire conference, and however powerful or talented they might be, they had to go through a vigorous training for a few few months before they were ready to do that. It was a near impossible task for a young child, but I knew he will do just fine. { "That''s a good news. Thankfully they didn''t hurt them or else I don''t know how I would have stopped her from going there and causing amotion." } "Hahaha, I would have loved to see her angry. Though¡­ where is she? Why are you all by yourself?" { "She went out with her friends earlier and didn''t know you would be calling. I was about to go to library as well, but looks like that won''t be possible anymore." } It was a weekend for them and I knew this should be their free time and that was the only reason I called him without telling them, but from the looks of it, they were enjoying their lives in the academy. "I see. Then, I ended up wasting your time, hun?" { "There''s no way you could do such a thing, mom. All my time is yours anyway. And talking with you was fun." } "Then you should call us like the others, you bad child." The others call home and talk with us asionally. Zoe alone calls every night and tells Anna everything that happened with them and they have their usual conversation. Even Elle calls here and tells us how the two of them have been doing every once in a while, but¡­ this son of mine alone doesn''t call us himself. He certainly talks with us, sends letters on how they had been doing, and things other than direct call from him, and it sometimes feels selfish of him. ''But¡­ we understand his reasons.'' He cares a lot. Especially about my other little life that''s ying downstairs. ''He believes it''s better to not talk at all instead of having these little conversations that would make him ufortable for the rest of his day.'' It''s something he need, and so, avoids it. And as parents and the adults¡­ we respect his decisions. "Alright then¡­" He had a bitter expression even right now. { "Mom¡­ I¡­" } "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it too much." It wasn''t easy for him to stay away from us either. But he still did it his own way. And for that, we admired him ourselves. "It was nice speaking with my little baby, but I''ll have to go now, so¡­ take care of yourself, and everyone else as well." { "Of course¡­" } He smiled bitterly at me in thosest moments, and warmly, I smiled back at him. "It''s alright. You''re doing great¡­" We will see each other soon anyway, so, this much talk was enough was for now. Chapter 794: New Mentors [Eon''s POV: ] Another fine morning, another fine cup of coffee. Peaceful life¡­ "Lucifer!!! Where the hell did you put my Spirit ss books?!" "On the left side of your desk~." It was peaceful today as well. No big trouble, a nice new day of school, a fine morning that was followed by a fine night, and nothing much to worry about. "Haaa¡­ how nice." "What nice, bastard?!! Where is my lecture book?!" "In the bathroom, dummy." "Why would it be in the bathroom?!" "I wanted to take a nice warm bath?" She was looking at me with that same annoyed angry look she always looks at me with on every peaceful morning like this one. And I was smiling back at her like every other peaceful morning of ours. "Do you always have this kind of mess around here so early in the morning?" "Not always, but it''s not that rare." Apparently, our two presidents were in our dorm room today on this fine morning, sharing a morning coffee with me while Rein was getting ready for her the sses, "This is nice¡­ what is this?" "Just the old coffee brewed with some new techniques. Nothing special." The two of them were enjoying their coffee together with me while their familiars were helping Rein around. ''She sometimes finds all her stuff scattered around the house after some certainte night exercises, and by exercise, I certainly do not mean any indecent stuff.'' She has Clover and recently, she had learned how to ''integrate'' with her spirit so she had been practising that since a while back. And though she had made significant progress, at the end of her training sessions, she finds all her stuff scattered all around the ce, sometimes in a kind of ce that doesn''t even make any sense. Just like that notebook that was sitting in one corner of the bathroom. "Shouldn''t you help her if you know where everything is?" "Nope. That''s now how these things work." "What things?" "Cradle, leave it. You don''t have to know everything about their personal affairs." "Ptssssss! Ptssssss~." "See, even SanSan agrees." A month has passed since we came back to the academy but not much has happened since then. ''There were no big incidents, the headmaster was mostly away so his work was divided between the four of us, and since vice headmaster was covering for most of headmaster''s sses, we were getting an extra Superior Magic and Weapon practice ss with her.'' The students were setting down and going back to their old ways and even the outside of the academy, the ind area, was almost stabilised. ''Cleaning up took a whole from our side, but since we knew there was not much to themotion, with the help of mingos, and a little help from here and there, we had managed to clear every trace of the darkness on this sky ind for now. Andtely, it has been pretty quiet around her. The air was now saturated with serenity, students weren''t hindering us anymore, House workings were going well, the students were finding the extracurricr activities that suited them, and even teachers were having a rtively peaceful time. ''No big event was happening anytime soon, and the midterms were also a few months away so there was no big headache around for them.'' It was free, everything was good, the warmth of the sun was great on our skins¡­ and I know for a fact shit was going to go down soon, that''s why I wanted to enjoy this peace while it stillsted. "Haaa. Damn¡­ what the hell do I even do after I integrate with Clover?" "You wanna know? Really?" (Spirit possession) was a technique only those who had a very deep bond with their spirits could perform. It was a difficult practice even for the high level spirit masters that possessed multiple Advanced spirits. However, apparently, since clover and she had an absurdly good synergy, the two of them could already perform the technique that even the best masters take months, perhaps years toplete. "Is it something I would wanna know?" "Oh of course it is something you''d wanna know." I was smiling so she looked at me straight in the eyes with narrow eyes and scanned me up and down, and she had her answer sooner than the two of them thought it would take her. "Then keep it to yourself." I knew that answer alredy, and as all of us present here could tell already, she knew that I knew that answer was going toe up as well. "And, by yourself, I certainly mean to only Your self, understand?" "Of course." She was threatening me with those eyes of hers¡­ and it certainly surprised the two of them how she was showing genuine bloodthirst over something so small, but the two did not question us for anything. "So, moving on¡­" She wasn''t angry right now so after I agreed to not tell the others about her cat transformation, her smile returned to her pretty face and she sat down in her ce where her warm coffee cup was already waiting for her. "Why were you two here again?" "To get you two? Didn''t we say that already?" "No you didn''t." It was early morning and it wasn''t time for sses just yet so they weren''t here to walk up to the school with us. If they were here or something, then it only meant we would have to go with them¡­ however, they did not say anything aftering here. "You just came, saw her all messed up, and then joined me for coffee. You didn''t say anything about going anywhere. Ask SanSan or Mirror if you forgot already." It wasn''t new for them toe here early in the morning and join us for coffee but it certainly was their first timeing here when she had all this mess around. They must have been surprised by it, so it wasn''t impossible to think they had forgotten about it. They weren''t going to suspect me for having done anything to them anyway, so, this was apletely normal scenario. "You¡­" President Zod suspected something but he had no clue what was wrong here and why, so he had no choice but to let it go and skip over this little gap in their memory. "Anyway, we are here to get you. Headmaster''s order." "He''s back?" "For a few hours from what we know, yes." Cradle was looking at the rare messy hair of my Rein. Thinking things that she should not. But that was alright. We were used to that kind of look from her already. "It has been long enough so I think you are getting your new mentors." "What?!" Now this¡­ was unexpected. "New mentors?! Really~?!" Every student council mentor was assigned a special mentor that refined the talents that they were appointed in the student council for. And, these instructors changed depending on the growth and current levels of the students. ''The first instructors the two of us had were two of our school teachers of archery, weapons, and magic that were in charge of teaching and refining the basics needed for our techniques.'' It was the initial stage for the council members that was pretty much the same for all the council members. ''However, since both of us had more than perfect basics, we finished learning everything there was to learn from the school instructors in a week.'' And that was when we first started the academy nearly three months ago. There was not much to learn from them, and we weren''t going to get the next instructors that would teach us actual new things until some certain time had passed. "Haha, yes. From the good look we saw on the headmaster earlier, that seems to be the case." Rein was excited after what Cradle had said but as soon as Zod brought up the ''good look'' on the headmaster, the happiness on her turned into bitterness. "If that bastard is happy, it might also mean he has something he wants us to do." She shook her head with the same bitter expression and finished her cup of coffee in oneplete breath. "It''s weekend from tomorrow and I''ve heard there are no sses on Monday because of some speech, so he might just have some kind of new shitty errands for us." "Or¡­ the mentor part might actually be the case." I patted her back and took the cup she had just finished. Everyone else was almost finished with their cups as well, so after a slight nod at them, they finished them as well, and I took all the cups. -Ooooooooooong. After cleaning the cup with a spell and putting them back in my storage space, I stood up from my chair. "How about we go there and ask him ourselves?" "That''s a good idea." "Even I agree with Lucifer this time." She looked sad, so the three of us had to give her the light that she needed to get past this little moment. "Right? Let''s go." The entire hall room was a mess, and they couldn''t see the bedroom behind the door on the right side, but they knew it would be messier than it was right now. ''Thankfully, this was one of the best dorm rooms of the best dorms.'' They were good with cleaning up everything and putting everything exactly where it belonged to. Especially after the many detailed instructions from Rein and me and after her countlessints, even the ones working here know what belonged to where¡­ not that they came here often. But still, routine maintenance was necessary. "Alright¡­" We moved out together after taking the sad old witch with us, and moved directly to the academy gates with my shadow travel skill. ''It''s one of the most useful skills we have with us that makes life many times easier.'' We thanked her for her help this time as well, and, with an excited heart¡­ moved towards headmaster''s office. Chapter 795: New Assignment [Eon''s POV: ] "Ah, you''re here~." The headmaster''s office was located closest to the top of the academy castle where the eternal [Source] that powered the entire castle''s magic systems existed. This wasn''t the first time we were here, obviously, but just like every other time we have been here, this ce lookedpletely new. Or in other words, this ce felt as new as it did thest time we were here. "Good morning, headmaster." "You look all better now, hun? Are the preparations for the conference done?" "Hoho, almost. Almost done. There''s not much left so you should look forward to the letter. It might arrive anytime soon now." "Of course." She clicked her tongue while looking at him with an upset look and then after shaking off all her bitterness for the moment, she looked at me. [{ "He doesn''t seem to be exhausted but I can tell he is overly happy about something and that, for certain, is no good thing," }] [{ "Or you might just be overthinking." }] [{ "You don''t believe me?" }] She knew he was a bastard that enjoyed giving hard times to the two of us. He had made us do enough things in this little time we have been here that she had started disliking this bastard. She knew every time there was going to be a new difficulty for us from his side, and every time he was happy like this, she would say she had a bad feeling about that time. And I don''t me her for that, his happiness was certainly no good thing for any of us. ''It''s just that if he was going to give us a hard time, I now have faith that the rewards for oveing those hardships would also be present there.'' We werepensated for all that we do in one way or another, and if we were here for what we were thinking we were here for, it was only going to be a good thing in my personal opinion. "Anyway, a very good morning to all of you as well, and since the two in the back have that look, I believe you already know why you might be here." "We have an idea." Rein nodded with me as well and continued looking at him with narrow eyes to see if there was any change in his expression, or aura, or anywhere that could indicate a bad thing. And, she actually found something. [{ "Yeah, he''s going to say something absurd." }] I had no idea what she saw in him or what he might be going to say that would sound absurd, but I didn''t have to waste my energy thinking deeply about any of it. "Haha, I knew you would know~. As expected of my new best ones~. So¡­ you all should start packing up as soon as you go back to your dorms after sses today." "Hun?" "What the?" Even the presidents standing right behind us were stunned for a moment. "What do you mean by you All, headmaster?" He did not say ''you two'' as he was supposed to while addressing the two of us and instead said ''you all'' as if he was telling it to all of us. "Hmm? I thought you knew already." There was a smirk on his face that we were surprised and, seeing this, Rein had a frown on her face. [{ "I told you." }] [{ "You sure did." }] The headmaster was smirking and that was no good thing. There is nothing in this academy as scary as him smirking like that, and the four of us knew just how exhausting it was every time that smirk appeared on him. "Hohoho-." "Stopughing like you are some kind of old man, you bastard." She was done with his suspense build up. -Screlk. And went ahead and sat down right before him. "What perverse kind of pleasure do you get by doing this?" She was looking at him with an angry look and narrow eyes, a kind of expression the headmaster was already used to now. "But am I not an old man already, youngdy?" "Shut up." She didn''t like him. But she had no choice but to put up with his behaviour. "Headmaster, what do you mean by packing up? And why all four of us?" Cradle and the president were also already familiar with the animosity between the two of them, so they weren''t that surprised even after seeing her practically curse at him. They just acted casually as they always do, came forward and sat down with the two of us in their ces before the headmaster''s desk. "So none of you have any idea, hun. That''s a rare one." The smirk her he had transformed into a pleased smile instantly, making the frown she had even deeper. "Well, you were busy with everything here so it''s possible you haven''t had much time to observe what''s happening in the outside world. But¡­ it''s alright." And now, the pleased expression he had had turned into a calm smile as if he was looking at what was going on. "But, you at least know about Pope Benedict''s sessor, right?" "Hun?" "You mean Saint Lumiare?" "What about him?" "Wait, no. I thought it was just a rumour?!" I shouted with the most surprised expression I had while sitting in this office and my eyes were wide open after the name he had mentioned at that moment. "Lucifer? You know-." "Wait a minute, Vice president. Wait." No. This¡­ They were looking at me with a taken aback look and there was a smile on the headmaster''s faces as well as if he already knew I was going to act like this. But, all of that on one side¡­ ''One of Judges of Meyat, Pope Benedict and one of only six divine healers of (6-Wings) in this world, someone who had helped mom a number of times and someone that was one of the most important figures in the empire as well as the world, had only one direct sessor.'' A young person almost the same age as me who was also blessed by the Goddess of justice and was the only individual of this generation that qualified for the position of the Saint of Meyat, someone who wouldter bear the divine stigma of the high goddess. ''He was a famous individual ever since he was discovered by the holy knight order of the Temple.'' He was said to be kind, gentle, and a direct reflection of the pope in his younger days¡­ however, since a few weeks ago, there have been some conspicuous rumours going on about him. "As expected¡­ you know." "¡­" He was one of the most important people in the empire right now and he was going to be even more important after the pope officially announced his retirement. And since he was studying in the holy city of Jacob in the special institute of the Temple at the moment, there was a lot less attention on himpared tost year where he was practically everywhere in the news. ''It was said that he possessed the highest affinity with light elements ever recorded in the history of the empire.'' He was even gettingpared to the branch manager of the adventurer''s association of this very ind in terms of the light element affinity. And the nature of his light was even that of a holy, healing, and spiritual kind. The one that was the best suited for the ''protector'' of the innocent that were in charge of seeing the truth of the given situation. ''He was a normal young boy for now that, though wasn''t on par with the prodigies of the current era in terms of pure talent and understanding of their craft, he was a good candidate.'' There was certainly a reason behind the pope choosing him instead of anyone else, so the world was looking forward to his progress and even with less attention on him, he was not someone that just anyone could mess with. ''And still, there were rumours going around that he was also part of the demonic human group that had attacked Lakmer.'' They were baseless rumours that no one knew the origin of and though I did not check the truth of this information myself, I already had Miss Moon look into this along with grandpa Zhen. ''The rumours had started fairly recently so there wasn''t much impact of them on the world yet but, they were rumours. No one knew just when they were going to explode.'' There was a chance the whole world would be talking about this issue today or tomorrow, and that''s just how the rumours of this kind were. I wasn''t concerned about this topic until now since I knew the chance of these rumours being a new tectic from the real perpetrators behind the Lakmer incident were much higher, but, the look in the headmaster''s eyes¡­ "Is it true?" Looking straight in his eyes, with a concerned look, I asked with my fingers locked together. And with a smile on his face, the headmaster nodded his head. "That''s what you will have to find out..." He summoned a few files on the desk for us, and with a curious look in his eyes, he continued. "¡­by infiltrating the [Kaksha]." He was giving us a new task right when the Conference was approaching, and this task even needed us to go out there on our own. But even though it concerns our perfect attendance and the sses we would miss out on, since the matter itself was so concerning¡­ we have no choice in this matter. "Haaaa." This was moreplicated since it was connected to the pope. But then again, we weren''t going to meet him in that ce, so that was at least a good point. ''I wanted to meet him as my real self one day and thank him and the other two judges for all their help.'' But until that timees, it was better to not go before him in any kind of disguise since he would undoubtedly see through us all. And that¡­ would be even more concerning. Chapter 796: Other plans [Rein''s POV: ] He''s a bastard, and because of him, my own bastard was all worked up now. "Ah, right. I almost forgot to mention." He talked for a full hour about all the things that we will have to do after infiltrating that ce and about other things that we would have to be careful about or things that would be important to look out for. And after that long, fucking boring talk, right when we were about to exit his office, he spoke up something with that obviously fake voice. "Your new mentors will be here by the time youe back so look forward to the new training sessions~." He waved his hand at us with a sweet looking smile that looked so disgusting on him that I almost wanted to puke¡­ "Yes, headmaster¡­" But seeing just how serious Eon was right now, I couldn''t help but just shake my head with an annoyed expression and push the rest of them out of that shitty office of his. -ck. The door shut on its own after we left his office, and though they knew why I was still pushing the three of them, they were suddenly confused about something. "Why is he so serious?" "Is this that important for him?" Both of them had their questions and Del especially had a rare questioning look in her eyes. She understood the gravity of the situation but there was no reason for him to be worked up about this small mission. The task was only to investigate a young individual that was only recently blessed by a goddess. They had to fight genuine demonic nobles along with those hundreds of cultists and a lich. This wasn''t really going to be a difficult task for them so, they knew if he was that much worked up about this, this task also had something personal attached to it for him. And they were obviously right. "You know how his mom was in trouble when he was young and was separated from his family due to a demon, right? Pope had helped his mom many times in that time, and even before that he always wanted to meet him and thank him for all he did. However, since it had not been possible in thest few years due to the issues with the eastern demonic ins, he wanted to see him as not Lucifer but as Eon. And since this case is rted to the only sessor of the Pope of Meyat, it is rted to the pope and thus to him as well¡­ Welp, just ignore this bastard." -p! I pped his back and continued walking since there was nothing more to this whole thing. He was just worried what would happen to the pope if they do find out the only one that he found to be good enough to take his position was in fact someone rted to the people that wanted to bring down not just the mankind but this entire world. "Uriel¡­?" They were confused why I was acting like that since they did not know how this darling of mine behaves when he is this perticuler kind of state. "I said there''s nothing to worry about, didn''t l? I''ll take care of this one so you two can go and finish all the work that you have. There must be a lot for you to deal with before disappearing on such a small notice, right? Don''t worry about us and go do your work." I continued walking further away from them while holding his hand so that he doesn''t get lost on the way to the ss and, even though I couldn''t look back like him, I knew the confused expression the two might have at the moment. ''There''s still a lot of things that they don''t know about both of us.'' We had been working together for a while now and we all know that after fighting together on a battlefield and sharing a few life and death experiences, we were closer to each other than even our other friends in a few ways. ''They knew about us more than anyone else did and they hid that fact well enough to satisfy this bastard of mine.'' If they weren''t who they were though, I know for certain just what kind of mind control spells they would be under by now¡­ "Oy, get a hold of yourself. We are already outside." "Hmm? Oh¡­ yes. Thanks." He must be thinking about this mission of ours right now, nning what things we would do and what we would have to do. ''He does that when things really matter.'' This mission wasn''t something easy or simple in any manner. We would first of all have to infiltrate an institution owned by the Temple of twelve gods, the pantheon perhaps the only prominent religion that people of this continent followed. ''Infiltrating ces is a rtively easy task for us, but this time, things would be different.'' [Kaksha] was a unique institution of the Temple, and only a few chosen individuals from the Temple could go in and out of it if they weren''t special students or candidates for certain positions in various nations'' Tample. ''It was situated in a citypletely owned by the Temple, a ce in the Roxana empire that aplete autonomy of its own and even after being part of the empire, it was an allied power and not something that was under themand of the empire. "Uriel~! Good morning!" "A very good morning to you too, Med. Where is everyone else?" "Ah they just went to-¡­ hmm? Why does he look like that? Did something happen?" "Oh, no. It''s nothing, he is just thinking right now. Don''t worry about him." We were outside and he was still lost in his own thoughts which just showed how focused he was in his thinking process. And also just how difficult this whole mission would be. "Okay..? Yeah so, as I was¡­" The ce we had to get into was protected by not some surveince device but instead by the eyes that were blessed by the power to see anything that was happening in any corner of the specific area. ''The city was filled with the priests, sisters, and the family of these holy people that followed their religion and their god as closely as some eastern cult followed their cult leaders.'' There were a number of blessed individuals there and people that were candidates for unique poisons of the various nations'' Temple branches. ''Not only were these people strong and different from themon people that we see in the normal cities, they were all believers.'' The entire city was weird, but the institution that produced most of these weird people was even more bizarre. ''The children with Light attribute affinity as well as children who possessed a special kind of affinity and some other elements were part of the institution we had to infiltrate.'' The only ones that go in or out of this ce were the official priests, special permitted students like the Saint that we were targeting and the sisters. ''The chances of unpermitted individuals infiltrating that holy institute was very low and since a number of blessed individuals, along with one Stigma holder overlooking everything in that ce, it wasn''t going to be easy doing what the headmaster had asked of us.'' Not certainly in three days, nope. "Hello everyone~!" When we met Med in the garden area, she was alone and was going to join the rest of our gang so we went with her and though she was concerned about the look Eon had, since it wasn''t a look of concern but a look of deep thinking, she didn''t worry about it. "Uriel~! You''re here! Why are you twote! And where were you two?!" "We went for a morning walk, haha." Med told us they were nning something new and exciting so they had gathered in our usual lunch ce to discuss it. She didn''t tell us what they were talking about since she wanted to keep it a surprise for us, so I was looking forward to this new and interesting thing that even interested someone as boring as Hide. "Alright, forget that. We were thinking of going to that new ce around the city outskirts everyone has been talking about! We have the weekend and then we practically have a holiday on Monday so it will be exciting~ right?" I thought they would be talking about something like that. A weekend and a holiday followed by it¡­ many of the students would want to spend this time doing something meaningful and since this group of ours practically didn''t have anyone that focused on the study parts, going out and having fun was the best thing they should do. ''And since the ce she was talking about was a flower field that was created by the changing season of the ind and a rare phenomenon of floral overgrowth, many people were finding it to be a special date spot recently.'' It was in a difficult area to reach since one would have to cross the ant colony, the beetle nest, and the area where the dangerous Rainbow mingos were said to pass around from, not many people dared to go there. ''It would have been fun going there with all of them.'' And it would have been our first outing after a long time so, all of us could have had a good change of pace. s¡­ "Quin, Tia, Alf, Hide¡­" All of them were gathered here, and I called out all their names one by one which obviously surprised them of course, but what surprised them more was the bitter expression I had right now. "I''m sorry." That ce was a rare urrence and a it would have been a fun adventure, even the new couples among us would have loved being there and talking with their partners, ying with flowers and all those lovely little things¡­ It would have been fun, for all of us, certainly. ''Only if it wasn''t for that damned Merlin bastard, we would have had a fun time together after a while.'' But we cannot do that anymore. Instead of that fun adventure, we will have to go spy on some dumb spoiled brat that was just lucky enough to have been chosen by that bitch goddess and made into a fake fucking star. ''It''s ridiculous.'' Chapter 797: Preparing for departure [Eon''s POV: ] Dealing with our dear stunned friends was a challenge, especially for her. Things were perfect from their side. They had already nned things out and convinced the others to join them since they thought that we would join them anyway. They had even predicted that we already knew about the ce that they were talking about and that there was a possibility that we knew things about that ce that no one else did. ''And they were right.'' We certainly knew a good lot of unique things about the rare seasonal valley that appears and gives birth to the unique flower fields. It was a fun ce and we would have loved to visit it with all of them but¡­ thanks to the headmaster and the things that we are supposed to do, we had to ruin their ns. There was a good chance that by the time we came back from this mission, that ce would vanish. There was also a chance that we wouldn''t be able to see this flower field for the next few years since it was a unique phenomenon that happened randomly. ''It also stayed in certain ces for a few days after it appeared.'' It was a random natural happening so we might not be able to see it at all when we were back and, since the two of us weren''t avable, Quin and Zoe wouldn''t go either. And since they wouldn''t have as much fun by themselves even if all of them went there on their own, they had to cancel the entire n. ''We tried talking them into going there, but¡­ it was of no use.'' It was a ce that would only be fun when the entire group was there. And they knew if the two of us weren''t there, the binding force of this group wouldn''t be there either. Which was sad, I''d say. There were a number of things that we all would have enjoyed together in those flower fields had we been avable and had it not been for this important task. There were a certain few ces on this sky ind that became one of the most attractive ces present in this world when this phenomenon urred, and I wanted to show them all that as well. s¡­ "Where the hell is that sword now?!" "Above the shelf." She was angrier now and it was night already. Their ns were ruined because of us¡­ because of the headmaster and his task so she was even angrier than she was when we exited the headmaster''s office. "Fucking bastard¡­" She had been cursing him since earlier. And I couldn''t even say anything against it anymore. ''The looks all of them had when we told them we had something important we had to take care of during this weekend and that we would be gone the entire time, was devastating for her.'' She didn''t like how they had to cancel their surprise ns because of them and they also knew the two of us had no choice but to go and take care of whatever the situation was. They knew we wanted toe with them, that we also liked their idea and wanted to go with them to those gorgeous flower nes. There was a bitter expression on our faces that was enough for them to understand that this was an important thing that we couldn''t leave for some fun with all of them. ''They didn''t knew the future of this world might be dependent on the task that was assigned to us, but they knew it was more important than some fun time with them.'' They were sad and Tia tried her best to talk her into leaving whatever we had to do ande with them, but her pleas were not enough. ''Rein would have decided to go with them on her own if this thing wasn''t important for me, but since it was important, she had to stick around to take care of me if anything out of our expectations happened.'' She was also the only one among us that could see through the true nature of things. And she was also the only one that possessed the skill to travel through the shadows. ''Her role was just as important in this mission as the rest of us.'' So¡­ we both had no choice but to ruin their mood. And thanks to that, they all ended up deciding not to go at all. "Fuck this shit. I''m not doing anything he asks of us after this time!" She was done with her packing so she came back and sat down on the bed with me. The things we would need for this trip, the useful and necessary stuff, and the rest of the preparations for the task were allplete. There wasn''t much time left before we would depart for the empire through the special (Gate) artifact present in the underground floor of the academy. And, though she was still upset about all of this, she was ready to go. "He better give me a kingdom as a reward for this favour." "I''m sure he would if you ask nicely." She looked at me with eyes that screamed at me to not joke around in a time like this. "Shut up." She was upset already but the thing that upset her even more was how I was fine with all of this. [{ "Okay." }] "Don''t say anything at all, bastard." "Hmmm." "Don''t make any sound either." She thought this whole ''mission'' of infiltrating into a holy ce and finding out if the person that was rumoured to be connected with the people that had be practically the biggest threat to this world, was in fact connected with in any way, was more important to me than ying with our friends. And she wasn''t wrong to think that, at least to a certain extent. ''This Was Important to me.'' Those cultists weren''t like the usual Rakshasas present in this world, the demon puppets that were humans and not at the same time. These bastards were different from those pieces of shits. They were inplete control of their own selves and weren''t as crazy as a demon contractor should be. And that made them even more dangerous. ''And if someone rted to one of the leading figures of this world was found to be a part of this group¡­ or even remotely connected to them, there would be even more chaos in this world.'' She understood why I was serious and why I would consider looking into this matter more than wanting to go out and y with our friends. ''I didn''t like it, but this was the right thing to do here.'' Rumours don''t originate on their own and there is always a reason behind their spread in this world. ''Even if the young saint wasn''t part of that group, if there were rumours out there about him, then there is no way they were entirely wrong.'' There were some bases to these rumours, some premise to their spread and some individuals that wanted these rumours to spread not to bring the young saint down, but to ultimately affect the pope and the rest of the world. "I don''t want to go," sheined in an exhausted voice andy down on the bed. And since I was told not to make any noise at all, I had no choice but to continue watching her with a bitter look. ''She meant it when she said she didn''t want to go but she had no choice in this matter because of me.'' She was being nice but at the same time, I knew she wanted to and smack the nose of the headmaster. The rage of not being able to y with her girls and friends was going to be projected at the headmaster when we got back. ''I''ll pray for his safety¡­ as well as the safety of this academy.'' She was upset and this was not the normal kind of upset. "Haaa¡­" She wasn''t in the mood to do anything anymore. The talk with the others in the morning, the talk with the others during the sses, the talk with the others during lunch, and the talk with others during the dinner we all had together failed to resolve the issuepletely and she had no choice but to leave it as it was. She didn''t want to, but there was no choice. -Knock. Knock. Knock. "Looks like they are here¡­ but you''re still not allowed to make any noise until I tell you to." She was ordering me now, just like mom does to not just dad but many other people she usually works with. ''And she says she isn''t bing like mom.'' Mom''s influence on her was inevitable but she didn''t like the kind of wild things that the two of them were into. She was different and it would be better if it stays that way going forward¡­ "Let''s go." The next stop would be the city of [Shrudha], the city maintainedpletely by the Temple of Twelve gods, the city of religion, faith, and holy powers. "Let''s finish this quickly so that we can at least get back on time." This wasn''t going to be a small or short task to take care of since just the infiltration part will take away half of our day. And that wasn''t even the most difficult thing. ''I still didn''t know the perfect method to confirm if he was rted to those bastards or not.'' But they rest of them were going to rely on me this time since I knew the most about the gods and what kind of powers the individuals in that city might possess. We have Celes to help us with the things we need but even with that, this wasn''t going to be easy. ''It was a difficult task, and¡­ dangerous as well.'' Even I don''t know what is going to happen from now on. Chapter 798: City of [Shrudha] [OP: ] The city of religion where those who had faith in their lords resided¡­ four atheists were walking the streets of this city where the faith towards their gods was everything for any individual. [{ "So, why do you people don''t believe in them?" }] All four of them had their own reasons and logics to not believe in the eternal, omnipotent and omniscience of the gods that themon people and premises of this world believed in. All four of them had lived different lives, were of different ages and had seen various things throughout their lives for them to believe in the power and authority of some certain figures that were the ones behind every single thing that happened in this world. [{ "I mean, I understand we all know more than these dumb people that have blind faith and are ignorant of the reality of this world, but¡­ why not believe in them at all even though they do really exist?" }] [{ "That''s a funny question, Del." }] The city was said to have been blessed by the twelve gods that the [Temple] followed. It was said that these twelve gods were the only original gods of this world and the other gods that were said to exist were all either only subordinates of these twelve or were a part of them that was misunderstood by the masses in various regions. They thought the others were ignorant and did not know the true faith and they had the duty of showing them the true paths of life. And that was what the Temple did, actually. [{ "Well, it''s a fun question to entertain at this time." }] [{ "I agree with Lucifer. We might as well talk about something like this than just walk around silently. We aren''t going to reach the destination for next few minutes anyway." }] The blessed city of Shrudha, founded by the very first very first Saintess of their faith, was arge city with capacity to house more than three hundred thousand people, and, since it was truly ''blessed'' there were abundant resources here. [{ "Right? Then how about we start with Elle-." }] [{ "Shouldn''t the one that brought this up be the one to start?" }] [{ "I''m ok with it though." }] The blessed city wasparable to Theocracy of Cross situated in the southwestern region of the continent. It was founded on the fertilend blessed by the (Goddess ofnd and fertility: Privth.) after the (God of mountains and earth: Giolo) cleared a certain area in the middle of a mountain range for the foundation of this city. The (Twin gods of Flowing rivers: N?dhu and Nidha) are said to have split off the great river that was flowing through these mountain ranges and redirected the flow to make a triangr fertile region. The (God of Construction: Bruhashi) was said to have blessed the first foundations that were ced in thisnd by the very hands of the first Saintess, and it was said that these foundations still maintain the great city that had evolved into what it is right now. It was said that the (God of true Winds: Vay) had blessed the city so that the strong winds never affect it, and along with it (Goddess of eternal mes: Niag) was protecting thesends from any kind of uncontroble fire. (Sister Goddesses of Light and Mercy: Bo?k and B?ox) kept away any kind of external danger from them, (Three Fate weaving goddesses: Arrah, B¨¹ruh, and Cur?n) protected the fates of every being that followed her, protected them from the eternal karmic cycle. The one that blesses protectors of north, the chosen individuals of Heliox, (God of oceans and warfare: Adrian) along with the goddess that blessed Anna (Goddess of healing, Althea) and (Goddess of justice, Meyat),plete the pantheon that is followed by nearly half a billion people of this world. [{ "Nah. Cradle should start first." }] They were walking down the clean streets of the city bustling with various shops and vendors that wore clean light clothes. This was the inner city area so there were all kinds of normal things here however, just like a unique characteristic of every culture, the ''normal'' of this city was a little different from the normal of the capital city of the empire. [{ "Alright then, I don''t have any problems either." }] The people of this city mostly wore white or light coloured clothes. There was no slum in this city, nearly every person in this city had a certain god that they followed and some of them even had multiple beings of faith. They lived in harmony with the other followers of the other god as ultimately, all the gods were part of [Temple], the pantheon of most famous gods in the west. [{ "Ever since I was young, I was different. Among my people, in my family, in the castle and even among themon people of our kind, I was always different. My mom died when I was born, my father hated me but not enough to kill me like my aunts did, the cousins I had always bullied me, and before I had awakened my powers, there were tens of things that tormented me to no end." }] Their destination was the educational structure situated in the middle of the city and since there were no carriages allowed here, the only preferred way of transportation was by one''s own two feet. And since using Rein''s shadow travel in the city was a little risky, they were going to use it as little as possible. [{ "We do only have the progenitor as an object of worship, however, we were also told stories about these twelve gods when we were young. So¡­ in the times I had no one, when I was alone and had nobody else to rely on, cry with,in to¡­ I used to talk with those beings in the higher realms. Beings that were said to always have been watching us with their all-seeing eyes." }] They were walking towards their destination and since there was nothing much to do other then just¡­ walking, the four atheists in the city of believers were sharing stories of why they did not have faith in these twelve eternal gods. [{ "They never spoke back, didn''t give any signs, didn''t show any interest in me, and I spent most of my childhood thinking how I was the one with the problem, how I was the faulty one." }] They knew her well after all this time and though they knew the person she was right now, she did not talk much about her family or past. She had left all of that behind already so they mattered little to her. She wasn''t concerned or bothered by any of it anymore. She wasn''t rted to those people anymore and was only ''Cradle'' the vice president of the academy''s student council. There was a merchant guild under her so she was also a rich person, but it was nowhere near what she had when she still was rted to her family. Still¡­ even though it was negligiblepared to that enormous wealth, she was happy with what she had right now. [{ "One day when I was beaten up by those bastard cousins, I stopped talking with those ''gods''. They never helped me when I wanted them, they never were there when I needed them, and they were bastards that greedily wanted me when I awakened my powers and was able to use magic and something that the rest of those pieces of shits will never have." }] She left her house on her own; however, her leave and absence was never acknowledged by the patriarch or the originator so she was still technically part of her household¡­ but it still didn''t matter. She had no intention of going back there until herst breath that she knew wasn''t going to arrive anytime soon. [{ "Well, I''m still not anywhere near as strong as I have to be to be to kill the adults of house, but if I ever get that strong, I''ll make sure at least that bitch dies by my hands." }] She didn''t like the people of her house, but since the circumstances were as they were, she had no choice but to continue living as she was. [{ "So, well, it''s just the same old same old story from my side. Nothing new or particrly unique. They exist, they do things, they are beings of unfathomable power, but at the same time, they are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. They are just strong beings that are restricted to the higher nes of existence and there is not much they could do to this mortal world." }] She smirked and shook her head while checking out a hot Sister walking on the opposite side of the road. [{ "I was young and ignorant back then, but now that I know about those beings, they don''t seem more exciting to me than the divine beasts. Man~ the divine creatures that live among us and the origin beasts that are just as special as them are more exciting to me!" }] She was not a human, and she also did not believe in the supreme authority of these gods. She was here for a mission so, there was no need for her to get involved with the people who did believe her in these ''higher'' beings. She was a smart person, and thanks to all her study and direct teachings of the headmaster in the academy, she knew facts that only a handful of individuals in this city would be aware of. And just knowing this fact reinforced her belief in her own beliefs. [{ "Alright. Your turn Elle~." }] She had her reason to be an ''atheist'' and her own reason to have her own unique faith. She was someone that walked a unique path from the others, so at the end of the day¡­ she loved who she was. Chapter 799: [Kaksha] [Eon''s POV: ] Cradle was a special case that had her own circumstances. It waspletely understandable why she didn''t believe in the beings that these hundreds of thousands of people did. She was notpletely human so siding her in the same category as us humans was not right in the first ce. ''Just like how Rein didn''t have any faith in these gods ever since she was young, Cradle also didn''t have any reason to worship the beings that never helped her with anything.'' [{ "I remember the day mom died¡­" }] Cradle loved Rein even though she knew there was nothing at the end of this path, there was no fruit that she could have after doing all that she could, she knew that. ''She was suffering being only friends with her. Being with her was soothing for her soul but seeing both of us together was painful¡­ and she knew she had to endure that pain for as long as she was with us.'' There was no way around this situation for her and it was best for her to just let go of her feelings. However, since her stubbornness wasn''t going to allow her to do that, she was going to have to live with the same pain she had as she looked at Rein reciting her sad past. [{ "There were againsts of gods around there, I saw those blessed by these gods, there were even the ones that were directly connected with them¡­ the stigma holders. And still, they could only give us their condolences." }] She was older than Cradle and me, however she was also young like all of us once. She was also a little girl that had not seen the blood and blood battlefields where humanity showed their true nature. She was from an important household and her mother used to be one of the most important people of their time. Her authority rivalled that of the emperors in her time. She was that master of the south that countless ''nations'' feared. And she loved Rein more than anything else in this world¡­ which Rein knew better than anyone else in this world. ''When the previous duchess died, her grandfather the current Duke of Atraxia was not even born in this world. And just like him, many individuals that are prominent in this age were not present.'' Those were different times, but the Temple was still the same as it is right now. The gods were still there and there was more influence of those higher beings than the current day rulers that have apletely different influence over the rest of the poption. [{ "They said there is nothing they could do even though there were many things that they could have done. She didn''t die a natural death, I know for a fact that her life force had not depleted back then. She was still there. Perhaps some kind of illness that she was always trying to hide from me took her away from me. It was definitely not something normal and I know they could have done something for her¡­ something¡­ But, no." }] Rein didn''t like talking about her past. Even when she is with me, she has difficulty talking about things that she had not told anyone else ever before. ''Though, for things like these that they could know if they pick up some history books, things that she had already told me and a few others, she didn''t feel ufortable telling all these to her dear friends as well.'' She wanted to tell them this a while ago and since the moment was just right for a talk like this one, she was freely talking about something that was clearly not sweet to remember. [{ "They ced flowers on her coffin and offered us their condolences. They didn''t try the ritual of revival even though they could have done that¡­ I was young back then so understanding their position wasn''t possible for me. The politics, the reasons, the restrictions, their own limitations and the weakness of those all powerful beings¡­ I didn''t understand any of it, med them for being fucking bastards and bitches, left the home, and started a new life. There wasn''t much to a life without a family anyway, so, there was no need to believe in any god or higher power that was running things because they weren''t meant to be that way." }] She was just a young kid back then and then she spent a hundred years of her life on the battlefields among the dead soldiers, with the corpses and with the individuals that sheter saw dying right before her eyes¡­ or in her arms. She did not understand why she was stuck in the body of a fifteen year old back then, and she did not understand why her mom had to die before her. ''Her mom was old, sure, but she wasn''t even as old as mom.'' She was healthy and she possessed one of the most powerful kinds of Authority of the history of this empire. ''She could have still been alive, healthy and pretty even now had she lived back then.'' But that didn''t happen. She passed away. Left her only daughter in this world with her only sister. ''The elders of Atraxia were apletely different faction from the main house, there were branch families that still existed, and the entire Atraxia was a muchrger household than the one estate where Rein and her family lives right now.'' The house politics was something that even she loathes right now, so she stays as far away from it as possible¡­ but we both know as soon as we finish this school year, we will have to go face those old bastards. ''And it''s inevitable.'' The Kaksha was visible in the distance but there was still some time left before we reached that humongous structure. [{ "I don''t care if they exist or not anymore. They didn''t hear my voice even though they were listening through their own apostles. They weren''t there when I was fighting things on the battlefield, and they still weren''t there when grandma was cursed. They have never listened to me, and I have never asked them for anything. I love this world, I love what I have, I ept what has happened and I have faith in this cursed, everflowing time. I don''t need to believe in them, or the bullshit that these dumb people believe in. It is what it is, and those bastards weren''t going toe down and perform some unprofitable miracle for any of them. It''s a show and they are the audience captivated by the magic of the conductor. That is all." }] The Kaksha was made train those who had potential and talent for light attribute, holy attribute, attributes that were particrly more powerful and intense in them than themon individuals, and for the individuals that possessed powers that were unique to them alone. ''They were much like the Great academy, but unlike the academy where every individual had their ownplete freedom, these people had a different way of training their students.'' They were a religious organisation, so they taught them things that would help them in their lives as the holders of their unique positions in the Temple. They taught their students discipline, they taught them how to focus on things and they taught them how to have faith in their chosen gods. ''They practically raised them as their soldiers.'' Some of them became priests, some of them became nuns and sisters, some of them joined the knight units and became Holy knights of the Temple, while some who possessed unique healing abilities joined their special units. The [Temple] was a big organisation that, simr to Adventurer''s association, had branches in all countries of this world. And [Kaksha] this very facility was the core training centre for all chosen individuals of this world. [{ "Rein¡­ I''m¡­ I didn''t know-." }] [{ "Ah, don''t worry about it Del~." I don''t care about those things anymore. I have a family now, a bastard that will soon be my husband, and friends that I can share things like these with. I''m happy~. What else do I need~?" }] She was telling the truth. And she loved how things were right now¡­ even with all this chaos and demons, and wars, and whatnot, she loved how things were right now. [{ "I¡­ see¡­" }] Cradle didn''t know any of this before so she was suddenly shocked how Rein was still working so well even after all these things. She was feeling sympathy, which she shouldn''t, and she was also sorry for all the pain she had to bear, which again isn''t something Rein appreciated. She was who she was and she did what she did. There wasn''t much to it. It was history, and it had already passed away. [{ "Alrighy~. President''s turn~." }] President understood Rein and her position since he had also seen, experienced, and been through things that were just not something that people liked sharing. But if she was telling these things to them, it just showed how much she trusted them. And he respected her for that. [{ "My reason for not having what people of this ce call faith is pretty simple¡­" }] Kaksha was an institution made to produce the future prospects of the Temple and the young Saint Lumiare was an individual that was especially important to this institution as not only someone that will seed the current pope of Meyat but also someone that will most probably receive her stigma in theing years. He was a rare individual that was practically one of a kind in this world with his unbelievable affinity for this position so, the Temple took extra special care of him. ''It was difficult to get close to him even though he lived in this facility, so we knew it was going to get difficult.'' And that was exactly the reason why we were going there in a unique disguise. [{ "The beings that the people of this ce consider ''Gods'' aren''t actually what they believe them to be¡­ They aren''t Gods, in the first ce." }] We knew it wasn''t going to be easy. However, after all the nning and our long talkst night¡­ we also know it wasn''t an impossible task. Chapter 800: State your business [Eon''s POV: ] After walking and talking, sharing things that we don''t usually talk about, after observing the city and getting familiar with the new elements of this city, they finally reached their destination. [{ "It sure looks more amazing from up close." }] [{ "Right? It''s¡­ humongous." }] [{ "I''ve been here before so I''ve seen it before. It''s not that amazing, truthfully. The royal castles in the north, the pces of the east, the Hanging gardens of the south¡­ there are countless prettier ces." }] [{ "I''ve not travelled the world like Elle but, I don''t think this ce is that special either¡­ like, it''s amazing, yes, but there''s a castle, there are walls and big gates, and there are also the same kind of guards and security that we see in various important castle structures. Just that they use light and holy elements more. That''s all." }] In the world of magic, powers and secrets, Kaksha is an extraordinary educational institution located in the city of Shrudha, housed in a White Castle-like building. The structure''s white-gold walls gave it a majestic and almost otherworldly appearance. Intricate incantations and paintings adorn the walls, depicting the history, teachings, and spiritual significance of the Temple. The entrance to Kaksha was marked by two towering gates adorned with special gems, each representing a different aspect of the institution''s teachings and values. These gems embedded on it were believed to be blessed by the Temple''s elders- those possessing unique blessings or stigmas of their god- that imbued them with spiritual significance and protection. Inside Kaksha, there was arge open area like what we have back in the academy''s front yard and inside the structure, there are halls filled with ssrooms, libraries, and meditation chambers. The ssrooms are where the chosen individuals, known as Prospects or Disciples, receive their education and training in various aspects of Temple service. The libraries house ancient scrolls and books containing the umted knowledge of the gods that Temple followed. The meditation chambers provide a peaceful sanctuary for reflection andmunion with the divine. Kaksha is not just a ce of learning but also amunity where students live and work together, forming bonds that do notst a lifetime, they make all of them familiar with one another so that they could rely on others when they need in the future. They are taught not only to serve the Temple but also to serve each other and the world around them. "Halt! State the reason for your presence in this restricted area." Overall, Kaksha is a ce of beauty, wisdom, and spiritual growth, where the chosen ones are trained to fulfil their roles within the Temple with humility and grace¡­ at least that''s what the temple guys want everyone else to think. ''They are not a neutral power like the headmaster, a religious organisation could never be neutral in any sense.'' There are ces like the empire where the Temple has more influence and authority while in ces like Theocracy of Cross, one of the few ces where the temple is basically the ruling power, they are the only main authority. ''The world bnce also depends on their stand and if one of the promising figures of this organisation was a part of the demonic group that wanted to destroy the world, there is no way for it to be a small matter.'' The pope, the Cardinals, the Three saintesses of the current era, to even the few chosen Saints present in the current times¡­ they were all individuals that even the headmaster could not take lightly. "We will not repeat ourselves." Standing before these giant gates and the two guards in a holy knight''s armour was one thing, the pressure these knights expressed through only their voice was another. ''It was even more impactful than the voices of the imperial knights present at the pce.'' And since they were two of the select individuals with the duty of guarding the front gates, it was an obvious fact they would have to be at least of this level. "Here." The four of us were in a disguise, obviously. But we weren''t using only the perfect disguise of Celes. ''We were using abination of Celes'' power, a few Powerful illusion spells, a few spells made with holy power, andstly a few artifacts that disguised our disguised appearances.'' Which was a necessary element for what we were going to do from now on. "Hmm? What is this?" "A Holy Knight of Giolo should know how to read at least. One can not even do that much?" Rein criticised in a fake, deeper voice that somehow counted a sense of authority that the knights should be very much familiar with. "¡­?" And seeing the simple clothing that only someone of their level could tell was made up of a special Mana thread material holding light elemental powers on top of that authoritive voice or hers should have been enough to catch their attention. "This¡­?!" But we added some more vour to it by not only writing the letter that the President had handed to the knight in a Secretnguage only a few could recognise and even among them, there were only select individuals within the temple who could actually read that certain text. "Go show it to Kartz. That boy will understand the purpose of this visit." This time, she called the first name of the Knight captain that was one of the most influential people of this city and knew him for a long time. And from the way she so casually called a [King] ranked knight a ''boy'', they now knew we were no normal individuals. There was something about us that they could not underestimate and they understood that much perfectly. They already knew we were wearing a disguise as they possessed their own Appraisal skills, so they knew the hooded appearance we had at the moment was not our real identity. "Yes miss! I''ll be back right away!" One of the knights bowed to us and vanished from his position in a sh of light along with the letter. "And you. You aren''t a sword user so there''s no need to carry around useless weight. Talk with your superior and tell Her a true faithful warrior of a Divinity does not need formal punishments. They would receive divine punishment if the one they serve had thought their mistakes to be a mistake." "¡­?!" This time, the one that had spoken was not Rein but President, and the voice he had was even deeper and more powerful than what Rein had used a moment ago. Additionally, what he had said stunned the guard unlike anything that he might have wanted to hear on a normal day like this one. There was not much that an outsider should have known about the internal situations of this ce, especially not the fact that a knight had made a little mistake and their superior had punished them ording to the rules of this institution. ''He was stunned right now and even had suspicions about us, but the way this whole situation was going on, he was also confused.'' He didn''t know whether he should report them to their superiors right away or if he should be more careful of us. "I¡­ I will do so, Sir." He was a knight that was trained by some of the finest of this world for more years than I had held a bow. He was older and was a [Rank-5] holy knight possessing a powerful Aura and control over the weapon he used. "You still have potential. Request for a closed training session, use the Mountain shattering Spear technique manual once more and refine your advanced skills. Basics aren''t always everything." "¡­?! How do you-." "You aren''t qualified to be a door knight if you aren''t even aware of that much, tsk." Cradle clicked her tongue in disappointment and shook her head at him this time. And, though the voice she had used was not as deep or profound as the one the two of them had used until now, the way she said it so casually shattered the ego the knight before us possessed. ''How would it feel to be called unqualified for the position that you had dreamed of your whole life. A position for which you had trained your body, mind, and soul for almost all of your life, for which you had spent most of your time?'' He was humiliated even though his training had made him resistant to this kind of criticism. He shouldn''t have felt so bitter by the words of some stranger, so even he couldn''t understand why he was feeling like this¡­ just why he was feeling that sudden hollowness inside him. "There''s no need to be so harsh. He is still young. A few more years with someone more qualified, a little change of mindset, and one enlightenment. That should help him surpass his limitations." On a side note, we weren''t bullshitting. ''I had studied all the knights and people that worked here after the headmaster gave us this task and after careful study of this ce and every individual currently present in this ce, I hade up with some best strategies that we could follow this time.'' They were doing what I had told them and I was doing what I was supposed to with the help of Lucy and Celes. The voices, the timings, the words, to the way this whole thing was going, as well as how everything would go from this point forth¡­ we had already nned all of it. ''Everything was going ording to n.'' Until now, everything was going the way I had wanted it to be. And if things go the way we have nned, we should be home by the end of tomorrow. Chapter 801: Surprise inspection [OP: ] It did not take long for the Knight captain Kartz to arrive outside with the Knight that had gone to him with the letter that the unknown individuals had handed to them. This was the first time something like this was happening ever since the two of them were assigned the roles of Door knights, so they couldn''t understand what was happening. However, as someone who was already familiar with most of the things that could happen here, the Old knight captain knew exactly what was happening right now. "I will lead them from here. Open the gates." "Yes captain!" The knight captain was fairly old and seemed to be in histe sixties, so it was obvious they other knights respected him. And still, if there was someone that called him a kid, the two knights couldn''t even fathom the identities of the four individuals they had greeted rudely. They didn''t know what was going to happen with them or if they would face any kind of punishment for doing their job, but as they saw the subtle tension on their ever calm Knight captain, they knew something was going on right now. The four individuals were no simple people. They were here for something that the Knight captain already knew about so, as someone that were only Gate knights, they didn''t even want to know what was going on at the moment. -Karrrrrr¡­ They used their Auras to open the gates for the two individuals, and after the Knight captain gave the four individuals his own Aura marking as a permission to enter, he five of them entered the giant gates. "The air has changed here." One of them in purple hood spoke with an authoritative voice, making the Knight captain blink worrily. "The times have changed." But then the one in the golden hood spoke up and thanks to his words, the knight captain breathed a sigh of relief. The four of them walked in and the view that greeted them was a garden, a vast ce that looked attractive and was filled with a dense air filled with various fresh scents that the one in the green hood found not as attractive as someone entering in this ce for the first time would have. "We will follow the usual route, Kartz." "Yes!" The knight captain who was one of the oldest people within this institution, a Knight King as well as someone blessed by the god of true winds, was conscious as he walked alongside the four individuals. He did not know their identities however, he knew for a certain what was going on right now. "The garden used to have Green Sunflower Gimins." "They seem to have gone due to climate change¡­ or the gardeners have lost faith in the Great goddess." The one in the green hood criticised once again, however, this time the Knight captain had no choice but to speak up against her words. "That can''t be!" He shouted at her¡­ which he wasn''t supposed to, and he knew that as well. "I¡­ I apologise." "Tsk." The one in the white robes with a metallic te in their hands notes something and the Knight captain knew it was no good sign. So, he closed his mouth shut and continued walking alongside the one in the golden hood. "The garden has changed. The statues that used to shine brighter than Moonlight marble are now dull, however, the foundations are still solid. Goddess has yet not abandoned us." They walked around in the garden for a while, and then after they had walked around itpletely, they stood before the forts of the important ces of the ground floor of the great institution of training. "The three hundred year old head chef retired a decade ago, leaving the kitchen duties to-." "A youngd that peoplepare to the (Seconding of Pochimi)." The one in the purple cut the knight captain mid sentence and spoke up. "Yes¡­" And the knight captain had no choice but to nod his head at the kind of voice even he couldn''t believe. The way she was saying things made his heart flutter, something that only happens when he was in the presence of the few stigma holders, or before the very presence of the one he served. There was no denying it¡­ they Were the elders. "I do not have great expectations about this though." The one in the green hood possessed a kind of voice that was different from the rest of them. He could tell she wasn''t a great being like the two who were speaking the most, or someone that possessed unfathomable power, however whenever she said something, even the knight captain felt a strange pain in his heart¡­ A sensation close to something being poked into his heart, an unfamiliar sensation that a Knight King rarely ever experienced. -Oooooooooooooong. They were standing before the door to the kitchen area where all the food was prepared so, after the one in white hood cast a unique (tier-4) Light magic around them, an invisibility spell that was as profound as the magic of the headmaster that he had only seen asionally, they walked in. "The things look fresh." "There is no diversity though. Is the food categorization still the same?" The one in the purple hood asked the knight captain, as she looked around the ce with her truth seeing eyes. And as he saw that strange light in her eyes hidden under the purple hood, he felt like the eyes that were looking at this ce had nothing hidden to them. The voice this person had was deep and unique, while the eyes she possessed, the eyes that he only saw for a moment, were something even he couldn''t understand. "No. The¡­ the food ssification was changed recently. They now serve different things to various divisions of knights, the mages and healers are served different things. Additionally, they now serve-." "Hmmm." She looked away from the Knight captain and walked around on her own for a while, looked around the kitchen, the things present there, and the people that were making these things. There was nothing special in this kitchen, but the things they were making were still just simple things that even she could make. "Discrimination." The one in the green hood criticised once again while at the same time, the one in the white hood wrote down one more thing in his metallic te. "¡­" This was a religious institution that should preach equality and empathy, and the knight captain knew that as well. However, the (Grand Order) of this institution, the person that was the highest authority hers and the one that possessed a stigma had changed the rules a little ever since he held that position around three decades ago. He was smart enough to understand the unpleasant truth of the matter, however, he had no authority over this ce to change what was happening. He was the Knight captain and did not have any significant authority over the workings of the institution. Kaksha was a ce for the ones who taught and for those who were picked by the Temple. It wasn''t supposed to be a ce that discriminated against individuals but after the stigma holder of the Goddess of eternal mes: Niag, the current highest authority within this institution that did not know about the visit of these individuals yet, many things had changed here. And certainly these changes had brought them many positive changes, they were still not enough to justify the redirection from their orthodoxy principles. "Let''s move on." "Yes." When he got the letter that the Gate knight had delivered to him directly, he did not understand why someone like him wasing directly to him for something that obviously had no connection to him. However, as soon as he saw the secret text, thenguage that even he only knew about after gaining the position of a knight captain, he knew that letter was no simple thing. And when he opened the letter and saw the words inscribed in it with golden ink that resembled pure liquid gold, a single sentence that said: "Be our guide this time", he knew what these individuals wearing multipleyers of the disguises were. "The new prospects, I''ve heard, contain the most potential ever in the history of this ce?" "It is said so, yes mdy." The four individuals that were travelling with him from one ce to other were mostly covered in a powerful magical spell that contained a strange kind of pure energy that even he could not describe with words. "I see." He was a holy knight but since he was a knight, magic was not a subject he had much knowledge about aside from the general,mon stuff. He was one of the older King ranked knights and there were only six of them in the entire of the Temple, so his position as a knight captain of all the holy knights of the Temple was much more important than it seemed. And yet, the reason he was acting so careful and docile before these four individuals was because of who they were most likely to be¡­ "Well, we will see the truth ourselves." He had seen many things, many people of various age, faith, and authority since he was young and part of this very institution. He had seen how the world worked and what people in the higher power, people who were closer to their gods than him were capable of¡­ The position he had reached after all the years he dedicated to his faith was one thing, but the truth of the matter was¡­ he was standing before individuals that were the closest to their gods than anyone could ever be. That''s why they were called Elders¡­ that''s why he couldn''t help but respect them even against all the questions he had about them. Chapter 802: Faithful worship [OP: ] The group moved from one ce inside the institution to another, observed everything happening here closely,mented on things, and as they moved, the Knight captain became more and more fascinated by the four individuals. He was now more certain about them being the elders of the past who were here to observe them so that they could suggest certain changes that were needed in this ce. And, as someone who also desired changes, he was d to hear some of the criticisms from the green hoodeddy. Her everyment on something induced a pinch in his heart but some of them were more relieving than painful. "The new ssroom." They were now standing before the ssroom where the students learned about the teachings of various gods, and the ce that had be the new ssroom only a few hundred years ago. "There used to be a different ce where sses took ce?" However, as a knight not even a hundred years old, he had never known about any other ce that used to be the ssroom used for teaching. It confused him how he had no idea about it, but he was curious, and so he asked a question that he certainly received the answer to. "There used to be one," the purple hoodeddy answered. There were no known records of such a ce either, but he can tell with his truth-detecting eyes that whatever the elder had said just now, was not a lie. There really existed another ssroom where the students of the past were taught by their teachers, and as there was only one ssroom for the divine teachings in this entire institution that covered nearly an entire floor, he did not know where else could the other ce of teaching have been. "Which had to be released," she added to her previous answer though, and grabbed the fleeting attention of the knight king once again. "But that''s what reality is." Added the golden hooded Sir with their profound voice that clearly sounded the oldest among the four of them. There was a subtle sadness in the voice of the golden hooded elder that resonated with the knight captain somehow. He could tell the feeling the elder was feeling was that of sadness and along with it, there was a presence of eptance that indicated his eptance of the given fact. Which, truthfully, the knight captain failed to grasp clearly. "Change is eternal and all pervasive." However, the very next moment he thought he would never understand the thoughts of an Elder, the green hooded critique shed light on the matter, and gave the knight captain the rity that he needed in order to grasp the situationpletely. "Not even the three goddesses could stop the flow of fate." She added further, giving the knight captain the enlightenment of reality that he already knew about. "Correct¡­" He now understood why they said there was another ssroom where the teaching took ce and why there was no record of it. They did not mean it literally, that wasn''t the case at all. By ''There used to be one'' answer of the purple hoodeddy, he now knew she meant not a certain ce where the sses took ce in the past but one''s self before they understood their Faith. A state where every element of life was a teaching that led one towards the truth of life, towards the gods they were meant to serve. The flow of Fate was eternal and all pervasive. It neither stopped for anything or anyone, nor did it discriminate against any being existing in this world. Even the eternal and all powerful gods were subjected to the flow of Fate, the true flow of Nature, and that was the truth. One''s unintentional worship of their divine before the point they figure out their calling, was nothing more than the turning of the clock like fate. The change from the state of ignorance to the state of enlightenment, and then one''s journey towards the Truth and liberation was what the purpose of all knowledgeable lives was. He knew all of it as he had studied it all for several years before reaching the position he was in. "Now¡­" This world was reality where they existed. The change was the nature of this reality, which was always led by the flow of fate. The change that happens is a Truth that nobody in this ssroom before them, nobody in this entire world would be able toprehend. And still, it will be there. Always. "Let us go in." "Yes, elder." Just as how even the goddesses that Weaves the threads of fate could not change, or hinder its flow, the change itself¡ª the quality of the ever flowing Fate- could not be stopped. -Kreeeee¡­ -Kap! He was enlightened once more thanks to the grace of the elders who thought of him as worthy enough to receive this enlightenment. And as they entered the ssroom where all the prospects of the Kaksha received their education on the Temple gods, he knew he was going to remember this day for the rest of his life. Truthfully, he also knew this was only the start. And that the process of learning from these four enlightened souls had only begun just now. "Thus the Demon lord of Thunderclouds, shrouded in the swirling tempests of their own essence, questioned amidst the chaos of the battlefield: "Oh, divinity of Construction, what thou be doing on the battlefield of ruin?" The demon''s voice boomed with an unsettling mixture of curiosity and disdain, challenging the very purpose of creation amidst such devastation. To which, the great god of Construction, the blessed of the foundation of this very institution, spoke with a calm authority: "The creation is a natural process begun at the beginning of creation. Where there is light, the darkness is bound to exist in that ce. The creation is followed by the destruction. Destruction is followed by creation. And the two exist in eternal perfect harmony with one another." Their words carried the weight of millennia-old wisdom, revealing the underlying truths of existence. They spoke of creation as an intrinsic part of the cosmic order, a process initiated at the dawn of time itself. They acknowledged the inevitability of darkness in the presence of light, emphasising that the two are inseparable, each defining the other in a cosmic bnce¡­" The high priest was teaching the students sitting on not desks or chairs, but on the cold floor. "The demon lord was perplexed as they heard the words of divinity, as along with the words, Creation sprang forth from the very soil soaked with the blood of the fallen, a testament to the enduring power of life amidst death. The demon lord, confronted with this disy of divine authority, found themselves perplexed, unable to reconcile their understanding of the world with the profound truthsid bare before them." The students were listening to what the teaching high priest was telling them. Some were writing down some things, some but most of the students were listening to this knowledge. "Oral traditions are still intact." "Good." The normal teaching process was through the disy of the knowledge that was known by the teacher to the students who did not understand it. It wasmon practice to have a ce where the teachers could write or draw things that would make it simpler for the students to understand what the teachers wanted to teach. That was themon practice in most of the teaching institutions of this world, however in Kaksha, the only modes of teaching were Oral teachings, and sometimes practical demonstrations. There was no board where they could write in this entire ssroom, and even though four unknown individuals hade and sat down on the ground at the very back along with the knight captain, the ss was still ongoing like it had been. "Alright students. You can ask any questions you have now before we continue." The teaching priest and many students had already noticed the individuals that had walked in at the end, however, it was normal for various people to join them in the ss so neither the students nor the teachers had any great reaction to them. They continued with the ss, and the students started asking questions by raising their hands. "Teacher, so how did the God of construction stop the demon?" There were students of various ages in this ce. Some of them had been here for a few months, some for some weeks, while some of the students sitting here had lived in this institution for a few years now. Some were older than many, while some were even as old as the teaching priest and yet, all of them were the students that were learning the same thing. "Right, teacher. Didn''t we learn earlier that Lord Bruhashi could only create and not destroy?" "Even if the creation is followed by destruction, for someone whose existence alone signifies creation, would destruction of anything by their hands not be considered a contradiction to their existence?" Asked a certain young student with shining bright hair and gold like deep eyes. And, this question not only picked the interest of the other students around him, it also attracted the four sitting at the very back of the ss. "Is that the young saint?" "Yes, Elder. That is the young saint of Meyat. The sessor of Pope Benedict." "Hmmm." He was a bright young man with a unique light in his eyes. Looking at him was strange in a way as it gave off the impression of looking at something that one should not look at with their eyes¡­ however, it was different for the four of them. "Interesting¡­" The one in the white hood ced his quill down and locked his eyes at the young boy sitting on the very left side of the very front. "¡­?!" This was the first time this person in white hood had said anything since they all entered this ce so the Knight captain was uncertain if they could even speak or not. However, now that he had heard that extremely subtle but the most unique kind of voice from this individual in white hood¡­ he knew one fact. The one that had said his very first word just now, this white hooded elder, was the most unique one among all four that hade here to see them for themselves. Chapter 803: What is devotion? [OP: ] ''Even if the creation is followed by destruction, for someone whose existence alone signifies creation, would destruction of anything by their hands not be considered a contradiction to their existence?'' It was a simple question from a young boy, and yet, the depth of this question was more profound than the way it actually seemed¡­ "Good question, mister Lumiare." The debate over whether creation and destruction can coexist without contradiction hinges on the nature of the being responsible for both. In the context of their ongoing narrative however, where the god of Construction embodies creation and not destruction, the concept of contradiction bes more nuanced. "And the answer to that is simple as well." From a theological perspective, one could argue that for a deity whose essence is tied to creation, their act of destruction could be seen as a form of transformation rather than true annihtion. "The God fighting this demon did not simply kill it to defeat it in that battle. The defeat of the demon lord was not their destruction, but rather their eternal entrapment into aplex construction that not even the enemy of their level were able to escape from." In this view, destruction by the hands of such a deity is not a contradiction but rather a necessary step in the continuous cycle of creation, where old forms give way to new ones. "The God of Construction: Bruhashi has been famous for their various creations, and one of those creations, as mentioned in the old manuscripts, was the [{( Infinite Prison )}] that trapped the entirety of a being, and not just their physical existence. It was a Unique dimensional imprisonment, a Divine Law that when used on any being, trapped the very essence of them, including their connections, memories, and records of the achievements they had made throughout their lifetime." The students were listening with curiosity in their eyes while the five of them looking from the back observed how the teaching high priest in charge was leading the students. And they certainly found it to be pretty decentpared to how it used to be in the past. However, others might contend that if the deity''s sole purpose is creation, any act of destruction would indeed be contradictory to their nature. And that was a point this teacher couldn''t get across to all the students present in this ssroom. In the future, they might argue that true creation does not require destruction but rather the shaping and moulding of existing materials into new forms. They might even want to deny the fact that someone that was in charge of the creation would ever even want to destroy something in any way, or they might argue against the very idea of their faith towards the divinity they served. Ultimately here, the resolution of this debate may depend on the broader theological framework within which the deity''s actions are understood. But even by the teachings of the Temple, it wasn''t really possible by the Mortals like them to truly understand the actions of the Divinities¡­ If creation and destruction are seen as integral parts of arger, harmonious whole, then their coexistence may be reconciled. If, however, creation is seen as fundamentally opposed to destruction, then the deity''s actions may be seen as contradictory. "Excuse me." A voice spoken from the very back of the ssroom reverberated throughout the room, catching the attention of the students and the teacher alike. "Elder?" It was a debatable question and at the end of the day, there was no need for such a question to be debated over when the truth of the matter was always going to stay vague. It was a matter of interpretation and individual eptance as Faith and worship of a Divine was, at the end of the day, an individual practice. So, instead of wasting everyone''s time, the enlightened one in Golden hood decided to lead the conversation to a more meaningful path. "Yes?" The high priest was obviously someone much lower ranked than the knight captain within this institution but, he was also someone that was in the position of a teacher in this ss right now. He was calm even though the knight captain that maintained the safety and security of this institution and taught the knight prospects about the weapons and the teachings of the gods was present here. And though he did not know the identity of the four individuals with him, from the way he was treating them, the high priest knew these four were no normal individuals. And after hearing that deep voice from the one in golden hood, he knew they were someone of high importance. "Can I ask a question as well?" "Hmmm?" He was asking for permission to ask questions unlike students and even though there was no need to do that in the first ce he was showing respect to the one in the position of a teacher through this act. And just that much showed just how great of an individual that person was. "Ah, yes. Please ask." The aim of every ss that they take with these students in this ce was to make them more interested in the teachings of their divinities. They were not here to give formal education that they could receive anywhere else in this world. The Kaksha was an institution of the Temple that served the gods and worshipped them. The individuals that they trained had to learn about the true faith and the ways of worshipping on their own. That was the goal behind the existence of the temple and the students faintly knew about that as well. And, as the elders that had spent most of their lives in service of their gods, the four of them knew about these things better than any of them. That was the reason¡­ "What is devotion?" ¡­ why that out of the blue, and simple sounding question was asked by the golden devoted Elder. "Devotion?" They were talking about the God of construction until a moment ago but the question that was asked to the teacher was not directly rted to the ongoing topic. It was a little deviated from what was going on at the moment, however, if one thought about it deeply enough- like the teaching priest and the knight captain did- they would understand the inseparable rtionship between Devotion and the ongoing discussion. "Right¡­ devotion. How did I not think about such an obvious thing?" The priest shook his head with a bitter smile and nced back at the simr expression of the knight captain. "It Is devotion to the divine, to nature and to one''s own true faith that leads to the answers of the unclear questions like these." This priest addressed the entire ss full of students while saying that, and from then on, a new, more meaningful debate sprang forth. "Imagine having a best friend whom you really admire and care about deeply. You want to spend time with them, listen to them, and do things that make them happy because you value your rtionship with them so much. Devotion to our Gods is simr. It''s about developing a strong and faithful rtionship with God, whom we believe is our Creator and a source of guidance andfort." That was the most basic way to exin it. And though there were various other ways to describe devotion, one did not really needplex words and long sentences to describe what a mortal being existing the physical woud knows instinctively. "When we are devoted to God, we express our love and gratitude through various ways, such as praying, attending various services, and following the teachings of our faith. Devotion is not just about doing these things out of obligation, but out of a genuine desire to connect with Divine and live ording to Their will." The students were now even more curious about this new development. They were talking about the Fight between the demon lord and the god of constructions a moment ago, then the topic was lead towards the contradicting nature of the story, and now they were talking about devotion. "It''s a way of showing our appreciation for all the blessings we have received and acknowledging those higher beings'' importance in our lives. So¡­ just like how the foundation of a construction is important for the stronger, longer stability of that Creation, with the passage of time, there wille a point where one will have to change, recreate, or improve what was built on that strong foundation. Change is eternal and unbound by even the strings of fate. It is ever flowing and so, destruction is bound to exist where the creation is." Slowly, the students were starting to see where their teacher wanted to lead them. They were starting to see the eternal, universal rtionship between birth in death, or in this case, creation and destruction¡­ as well as how it was notpletely independent from the ones in charge of both. "There is an eternal rtionship between creation and destruction. Thus, following from the premise, we could certainly not say the creation itself is any different from destruction. One is another and the other is the previous one. By creating, one is destroying what did not exist in the previous space. And by destroying, one is creating what did not exist in that space." There was an eternal invariable coitance between creation- construction in this case- and destruction. And now, the students present in this ss knew that as well. "And¡­ devotion is the same as well." One''s faith is the foundation for their spiritual development as well as the depth of their devotion to their lord, their calling, and their own point of views. Devotion on the other hand, is the outward expression of one''s faith. And just like how both of them have an eternal rtionship with one another¡­ creation and destruction, smoke and fire, water and fluidity, fate and change, winds and sounds, divine and mortal are all present with the other as their devoted premises. Chapter 804: Individual observations [OP: ] The ss for the students ended soon and by the time the students had got up to leave, or go and talk with those mysterious people the knight captain was apanying, all five of them had gone out. The students even searched the ground floor and even outside for some kind of clues but, there was no trace of either the knight captain or the four special people that they all were curious about. "The young ones¡­" By the time the students thought about searching on the second floor, the five of them were already done looking at everything they wanted there and had moved up to the third floor and were looking down on the children that were still searching for them. "They wanted to talk with you. Even the saint of Meyat did." "If fate allows it, we will have a chat someday. Though, for now, we must finish what we have left." The first floor of Kaksha only contained the kitchen area, the study area, the dorms, and the ssrooms. From the second floor, there were special ssrooms used for the various sses like the sses for the knights and the sses for the priests. There were individuals with various talents and kind of unique abilities preset here, so the second floor was a ce where their training took ce. "Right¡­ fate¡­" They weren''t ces that they needed to show up and disturb everyone present. The real learning that was going to be the most important and practical to them happened here, so, they used their invisibility this time to quickly go through all the sses and evaluate them one by one. "Alright then. Now¡­" They were almost done with their work here, and the only ce left to check was the third floor that was only essible to the people who worked here, the higher authorities like himself, and since this floor contained some important ces that stored important information about this institution and many other things, not just anyone could enter here. Students were restricted ess to this ce so no one was going to arrive here, and since they all knew that as well the knight captain now had full confidence in their identity. "We will have to go and do individual observations now." The purple hoodeddy spoke up while walking towards the stairs leading down. "You can apany one of us at a time, however, we''d advise you to keep your distance from us when you do so." The one in the golden hood spoke up after her and walked towards the back of this floor where an indoor garden was situated. "Don''t be a fool." Warned the green hoodeddy and instead of walking anywhere else, she jumped up on the railing of the floor, and jumped down. He knew she was going to be fine since, well, jumping down from just that much distance was going to do nothing to a superhuman like them. They weren''t normal humans that only this much distance would do anything to. If anything, they were strong enough to fight even someone like him. Or¡­ perhaps not. He didn''t knew how much stronger they werepared to him in terms of pure strength but, he knew for certain their wisdom, their experience with their divinities, and their understanding of the Truth that all beings crave of is of the highest degree there could ever be. "Alright." They were elders and not knights or mages. They might be very, very good with what they did, but he did not know just how much they were capable of when ites to physical things like strength, destructive power, or in terms of other skills. They were mysterious people, as he had found out after this whole time, and as he knew from the stories, since they were on the stage of individual observations now, their visit was going to conclude soon. "I should watch them." He had learned a number of things from them today and it was still early evening. They had been through many things and they had checked many things as well, and as he went around with them, he was able to learn a good number of things. [{ "Everyone." }] His faith was stronger now thanks to them and it was strange how he was so familiar as someone he had only known for a few hours. It waspletely unlike him¡­ it was definitely not something he''d do and this fact was eating away at him since earlier. But then again, they had proven themselves with their deep wisdom and facts about this ce that even he had not known about even after being here for several decades. [{ "I see the target. " }] They knew about the easiest paths to travel from one room to another, they knew about the facts that no outsider should know about, and they knew what was going on in this ce even though they should not. They knew about the current highest authority''s misconduct that strayed from the orthodox traditions¡­ they even knew him, somehow. [{ "In position." }] [{ "Ready for the next stage." }] [{ "The trigger has been sessfully activated. The knight captain has started the memory retrace process." }] They came here through the front gates and there were four of them. One in purple that had an authority holding a deep voice. The other in gold had a wise voice of someone that had lived for hundreds of years. The words of the one that felt the most normal among them were sharp like needles that picked at one''s heart¡­ andstly, a mysterious white one that he still did not know much about. [{ "Start the countdown." }] They were just like the characters from the stories histe mother used to tell him about a party of adventurers that defended a school against demon invaders. He had admired those beings ever since he was young and just like how the memories of those old days were surfacing right now, he knew for a fact just how deeply those things were rooted in his life. ''Those old days¡­'' The memories he had of his mother, and the memories he had about those stories were perhaps the reason he was what he was right now. ''I miss it.'' He was elected by the Temple right after his mother passed away of a mysterious illness. He then came to this ce, learned about the faith and the ways of devotion from the teachers and knights, and when they saw his potential as a knight, they started giving him more attention. ''The old days¡­'' He remembered how he grew up as a knight, the first time he awakened his Aura, the first time he released that aura, to his time in the battlefields where he yed countless beings with his very hands and greatsword. It was unlike him to think about the past that had already passed away. There was no reason for him to think back, he knew that. He was taught to live in present and he had devoted a great time of his life practising the art of being in the present. But, at this moment¡­ he was thinking back. After such a long time that even he did not remember, he was looking back at the things that weren''t relevant to the current situation he was in at all. [{ "Three." }] He should not be thinking of anything at all right now. There was nothing to think so deeply about in the first ce. And yet here he was¡­ [{ "Two." }] Thinking instead of going after the four of them so that he could learn more from them-¡­ ''Wait. What was the color of their robes again?'' Standing in the hallway of the third floor of Kaksha, the knight captain that was duty bound to protect every individual, every being present in this ce, opened his eyes. ''And what was the color of their robes when they entered inside through the gates?'' In the first ce, why did they need the knight captain of this ce as their escorts when they could have just asked for the other higher authorities? Knowing them, it shouldn''t have been a random act, he was certain of that much. There were various famous and more important people here that they could have taken as their guides. But, why the knight captain? Why would the elders that-¡­ ''Wait.'' Now that he thought about it, where did he learn about these people called Elders from? ''When did I¡­?'' He couldn''t remember when he had read the texts that gave information about the secret Elders that were the best of the best of their Faith, were flowers of the gods that had served them for long enough to have reached the state of enlightenment¡­ Logically, these people all should be stigma holders if they had such close rtionships with their gods and if not that, they should have been blessed by a portion of their divinity at the very least. And yet, the spell that they used to conceal themselves when entering those important ces like kitchen and ssrooms only had an extreme concentration of light energy. It wasn''t even the holy energy but the most basic light¡­ ''What was written in that letter they sent to me?'' A sudden thought crossed his mind as his eyes became wide open all of a sudden and he took out the piece of paper that he had revived from the knight that they had handed it over to. [{ "Get ready." }] He opened the envelope that he had closed himself and took out the piece of paper that contained only one sentence ording to his memories. ''What the¡­'' But, now that he was looking back at the piece of paper in his hand, his eyes could not see any words, let alone a sentence on it. Though¡­ "My God¡­" There were some residual traces of Mana so faint it was nearly impossible to notice it, still hanging Inside of the piece of paper. [{ "Starting Stage Two. Executemand-line 1" }] And this¡­ was no good thing. Chapter 805: Stage two: Abduction [OP: ] The knight captain realised that he had made a grave mistake and also that something bad was going to happen soon¡­ He was furious after finding out about the truth behind the people that he was considering ''Elders'', truth behind things that were merely an illusion created to solely target him, and the worst thing was that he fell for it. Even as a Knight king, this memory maniption was so powerful that it even managed to affect him¡­ and then he showed the perpetrators around the ce as if he was guiding some important figures on his own. { "All knight units! Attention!" } He was ashamed of himself for not noticing the obvious clues until now. He was dumb, he was cursing himself, and he knew was worthy of divine punishment¡­ however, he also had a duty to fulfil right now, so he had pushed aside all the unnecessary thoughts to a corner. { "Four unknown individuals have infiltrated the facility, individuals that you might have seen apanied by me until a few minutes ago." } They were no elders, hell they weren''t even connected to Temple for all he knew. ''Those people¡­'' They were wearing multipleyers of disguises, were aware of many things happening in the facility already, were deeply knowledgeable about the internal structure of the institution, and they even had deep knowledge. { "They are tricky ones. Have strong magical and physical abilities, one of them could even useplex magic resembling that of the headmaster''s magic. They are strong so knight units under [Rank-5] and mage units under (tier-4) should stick with the operational duties! Everyone else, server for the infiltrators!" } He knew just what those bastards were capable of now and that fact worried him even more. That''s why he knew he had no choice but to first go and report this matter to the highest authority of Kaksha. The individual responsible for everything in the current situation. However, keeping an eye for those individuals was also necessary. { "Keep an eye on them and inform the Observers to check for any unusual activities." } They were on a high alert right now. The knights and security units knew how the Knight captain himself was escorting those people so they hadplete confidence in them. However, after receiving the news that the people that the knight captain was escorting were in fact not someone secretly important, but someone that were hiding their true identities, they all knew the gravity of the matter. "Why are you doing this¡­" He wanted to know who exactly those people were, if not the elders as he had thought. He wanted to know just what kind of people had such detailed information about this institution, were so good at acting that he never felt even a hint of untruth in tham, and in addition to all those things, they were also so good at what they did that even someone like him was fooled. [{ "Approaching the target." }] [{ "Destination area unlocked." }] [{ "Startingmunication interference." }] They were now onto their second phase of the operation, and the one leading them liked the results that they had achieved until now. However, this was only the start. The real game had just begun¡­ -Weeeee! Hooooooooo! -Weeeee! Hooooooooo! { "Attention all individuals present on faculty grounds! This is Code: Blue! I repeat! Code: Blue! Please evacuate to designated locations! The security units will execute an emergency quarantine!" } Sirens started ringing all across Kaksha, and even the areas around this institution were covered in a particr holy shield. The knights who received themands were now running out of their barracks and to the various parts of the facility while the children and the teachers who had no idea what was happening all of a sudden were doing what they were supposed to in an emergency like this one. It was peaceful until just a moment ago the children were ying around with more excitement than usual today, so the faculty members and the priests and those in charge of them had never thought there would be something like this happening. In the first ce, calling various Codes was a rare thing and thest time a code Blue was called, as the older ones here remembered, it was two whole decades ago. -Knock. Knock. They did not know what was happening but they knew if a code Blue was called out, then it meant some dangerous, unidentified individuals had managed to infiltrate their institution. And these individuals most probably had a bad intention, so the one who had called this code, one of the only six who had the authority to do so in this institution, was now standing before the office of the person with the highest authority. "Come in." The holder of a stigma and a being that had lived for four times his current age. -Krrrrrr¡­ "Eternal glory to the infinite divinities." He greeted the one sitting on the desk present on the other side of the modest room. "Infinite glory to the infinite divinities." And in a voice that resembled the one wearing the Golden hood, a reply arrived instantly from the person¡ª the elf. "Lord Cardinal¡­" The knight captain was wearing his full body armour from the start so his physical appearance was hidden behind the white-gold armour of the holy knights of the Temple. While on the other hand, the elf sitting in this modest room wearing normal looking clothing possessed long, earthly green hair that seemed as silky as the finest silk of this world, and glowing golden eyes that, much like a Rakshasa, did not have any white area. They were golden eyes, glowing with the light of the divinity that this individual was blessed with by the Goddess of Light: Bo?k. He was a stigma holder, one of a kind chosen by the great goddess to show the path of light to the mortals in this era. And, one of the reasons he was the Grand order of Kaksha was also because of his special dispositions. "Knight of Vay, sir Kartz. I expect an apology." "And I will apologise formally to everyone that had to suffer because of my mistake today, Lord Cardinal. However, if you would please hear me out-." "I know how those individuals tricked you into thinking that they were someone of significance. It is the first time someone used a trick like this, but at the same time, it is not the first time someone has ever had intentions of harming this institution." The voice he had was reverberating all across the room before reaching the ears of the knight, and as the knight captain knew already, the person sitting before him, however unorthodox his views may be, was someone chosen by a goddess to be her representative. He was no normal individual, so it was not surprising he already knew about what had happened in the institution he ran. "Now, the question to ask oneself would be ''why'' those individuals did it and what their objective was." The elf looked out of the window behind him and saw how the teachers and students were being evacuated to various ces. "Do you think they wanted this to happen? That¡­ they wanted you to find out that they were not what you were believing they were?" It had not even been a few minutes since he entered this room and the wordsing from this person that he personally did not like much were suddenly making so much sense that it made him question if there was still something wrong with him. "You were the one that called the code, Kartz." The elf looked back at the knight captain with an upset expression. "You let them in, apanied them, and there was a reason they chose you and not anyone else in this ce. There was a reason. And that reason must not just be limited to your authority to grant anyone entrance into the institution." They stayed with him for hours, went around with him, made him trust them, and they even led him to believe they were someone so important that he had no choice but to consider them to be great beings. { "Captain! Themunication line is being disintegrated!" } { "There are also reports! Captain! Some students have not reached the evacuation zones!" } { "It is most likely that they were abducted! Captain!" } There was amunication device attached to his armour that was connected to the personalmunicationwork of Kaksha that only the knights and a few other individuals could ess. "They wanted this." The cardinal was angry. However the knight captain knew best how he was controlling that anger and limiting his power only to this room. "It wasn''t your fault, Knight captain. This¡­ is not your fault." He was looking out of the window still, and now, there was no one down there anymore. "But¡­" If it were up to him, he would have resolved this matter the moment the code was announced. However, his activities were limited since not just any person could be in his presence. It was a difficult task to be present anywhere near someone possessing divine power. Especially someone that yet could not control it. "You will have to take responsibility for all this." He was upset, but since he did not have any bad feelings about this whole thing, he knew nothing bad was going to happen to the children that were vanishing from the school grounds. They weren''t going to leave this ce since they couldn''t do it even if they wanted to, so he wasn''t worried about this too much. "I will. I will take responsibility and bring all of them back." If anything, the knight captain was the one that was truly furious right now. And, he wanted nothing more than to find and imprison, interrogate, and punish the individuals that he had looked up to until just a few minutes ago. "I''ll take my leave." "May the divinities pardon your mistakes." The cardinal said hisst prayer and watched the knight captain leave the office after his sincere bow. And then¡­ he continued looking out of the window, up at the sky with a concerned, as well as hopeful gaze. Chapter 806: A forgotten room [OP: ] The four abductors that had infiltrated the great learning institution- Kaksha- had someone manage to find a forgotten room in some secret space inside the institution that not even the current Grand order knew about¡­ and since not even the divine, all seeing eyes could reach this ce, this was the only ce inside the entire institution that waspletely hidden from all the eyes. And there had not been any individual that knew about this ce in this era so¡­ aside from the gods that the individuals of this era served and the direct subordinates of the gods, there should have been no one left in this world that knew anything about this ce. Though, of course¡­ as someone that knew the entire construction structure of this ce, the one that used to be the White hooded elder knew about this ce¡­ [{ "Who wants to wake them up?" }] [{ "Hehehe, can I do it~? Please, please, pretty please~?" }] [{ "Well, sure?" }] Located deep within thebyrinthine corridors of Kaksha''s passages of the underground floor that few knew about, a forgotten secret room was shrouded in mystery and darkness. The air within was thick here, filled with more holy energy than anywhere on the surface with the musty scent of old parchment- secret records of the hidden past that not many knew about including the ones that had brought the abducted individuals here- and the faint echoes of long whispered incantations, that were somehow still present in this air. [{ "The rest of them are of no use to us so make sure to deal with them carefully if anything out of ce happens." }] [{ "The chances of anything wrong happening from here on out aren''t that high anyway but still¡­ as you said, we should be careful." }] The president- the golden hooded elder- was standing at the very back of the room with his partner and family, observing everything before him with his shared beastly gaze. Strange symbols and runes were etched into the walls, glowing softly as if imbued with a life of their own. And since this was the only chance they had to be in this ce, they had to make up for every moment they were here. [{ "This is as fascinating as you said they would be¡­" }] Incantations and ancient runes weren''t the only things that were present in this ce. Along with the ancient scrolls and scriptures of the orthodox period, there was a mountain of knowledge present in this ce that couldn''t just be considered ordinary. Everything here was unique and special and since they were here to do bad things anyway, they had already nned to get as much from this ce as they possibly could. That was the reason their President and Eon were working while the twodies were looking at the abducted children that they had put into a deep sleep with a potent elixir. [{ "There are more forgotten ces around the world that are more fascinating." }] In the centre of the room stood a solitary pedestal, upon which rested an ancient tome bound in pure white leather and sped with silver. The pages within this specific special text were said to hold forbidden knowledge, secrets that were never meant to be uncovered¡­ It was a text written in a specialnguage mixed with the original runes as well, and the peculiarity of this tome was the very reason Eon had put it away in his [White gate] the moment they arrived here. [{ "Alright I''m waking them up." }] The air grew colder as one approached this secret ce, and a chill ran down one''s spine when they were near it. It was a special space that even the four of then had difficulty getting into, but thanks to the particr set of skills that these individuals possessed they were able to get here as easily as those possessing the key to this ce might have been able to in the ancient times. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ Winds did not blow here naturally¡­ if one had a sharp enough sense of smell, they would be able to tell it was a breath released by an unfathomable being that rested right beneath this ce. Shadows danced along the walls here, and one could hear faint whispers beckoning one closer. It was a strange ce¡­ and that was the reason even in the past, it was called the [Solitary confinement] of the great institution. But in an eerie ce like this, they were keeping a bunch of young students that they had abducted from the surface with only one objective present behind these actions of theirs. -Ooooooooooooong! With a special antidote, the elder in the purple- Rein- woke up the sleeping children. And by the time they all came to their senses, all four of the elders that these children had seen along with the knight captain a while ago were standing before them¡­ looking down at them with their eyes that were the only visible things in their nodded appearances. [{ "Starting the next phase." }] The two boys had their own work to do here but for that, they did not need something like a separate focus. The n was already in motion and they were only going to ask these children some questions to which they only had to answer truthfully. The ones who answered with their pure hearts would be released while if they do not do that, they would receive a punishment by the gods they served. [{ "The target has regained his senses. Releasing hallucinogen." }] They had Celes and her perfect disguise as well as an abundance of natural mana that they could use from this ce. They had already prepared a good lot in thest hour these children were sleeping, and now that they were done with everything they needed to do, the basics at least, they were starting the end stage of their task. [{ "No traces of demonic energy found after initial scan." }] [{ "No trances of any demonic interaction found from my side either." }] [{ "Criteria one, undetected. Good." }] The saint of Meyat, Lumiare was one of the captives but not the only one that they were truly interested in. { "Wake up, children." } They had gathered all the individuals that had either had any kind of previous rtionship with him, or even had any kind of reported intersection with him in thest few weeks. "Mmmmm¡­" "What''s¡­" "Mother¡­" "¡­.oh lord." The notion that rumours always have some kind of source is a contentious one, as it depends on how one defines a (Source) in the context of that rumour''s propagation. While it''s true that most rumors can be traced back to an initial seed of information or event, this does not necessarily mean that the source is always verifiable or reliable. Just like this case¡­ There were only rumors floating around that the saint of Meyat was connected to the demonic association that attacked the individuals in Lakmer. There was no evidence of that happening, and it was also very unlikely that it was the case. Though, still¡­ if some kind of rumour existed and it had reached even the ears of the headmaster, they knew there was at least some kind of connection with this rumour and the events that were happening¡ª the truth. "Why¡­ are you here?" When the young saint came back to his sense and looked around the ce, instead of being stunned by what''s was happening having any kind of surprise, he was curious why the people that he had seen with the knight captain before the code blue was announced were here. He was smart and much more rational than they had expected him to be. And in addition to that, from how he was acting calm even after figuring out that the source of the Code that was announced were these very individuals, they were impressed. { "Please be calm, children." } They didn''t want the rumours to have any kind of truth to them. Instead, after seeing him and learning a few things about him, they wanted to know more about him. And if possible, get him toe to their side¡­ "¡­" One argument against the idea that rumors always have a source is that they can sometimes emerge from collective imagination or shared cultural narratives. In these cases, the origin of the rumor is not a specific event or piece of information, but rather a more abstract idea or archetype that resonates with a group of people. But it wasn''t the case in this scenario as they had already confirmed. He had a good reputation and there was no reason for someone to have spread such powerful rumours about him that even the authorities cannot keep them contained within Kaksha. In theirst few hours here, the only thing they had checked for were things that could have led to the origin of these rumours and they had failed to find anything even after that detailed investigation. There were a few noteworthy things that they had found out about this young saint but even they weren''t significant enough to lead to such dangerous rumours. But still¡­ If there were any chances that those rumours had any rtion with him, they had to first take the necessary steps here, and Then report their findings to the headmaster. { "We know you are confused and afraid little ones, however, if you calmly listen to what we have to say¡­ you will soon return to where you belong with an even better connection with the divinities than you have right now." } -Oooooooooooooooong! The lights in the room lit up, revealing a ce that¡­ unexpectedly calmed the anxious hearts of young children of the holiness. Chapter 807: Saint of Meyat: Lumiare [OP: ] The main focus was the young saint, but they still couldn''t rule out the possibility that the rest 15 of them present with them might also be the culprits. There was a number of things that they needed to check before they ruled out the possibility of them being the source of those rumours. { "Looks like you all have calmed down now." } They were using special magic lightings that were made specifically to calm a bunch down and it looked pretty good as well, so even though they were present in a small room that one could instantly tell to be an old ce, the only thing their minds could see were the lights present all around them. "Ummm¡­" They had calmed down, but still, all of them had questions. And from how the people before them were using a unique kind of Mana speech that they strangely understood without actually knowing it, the questions that they had only increased more. "Are¡­ are you angels?" A young girl that they could tell was a promising healer said in a timid voice while looking at them with her deep green eyes¡­ There was amazement in her eyes but she was reluctant to look straight at the eyes present behind their hoods. She wasn''t exactly afraid since along with these emotions, she also had fascination in her eyes. "Did divine lords send you¡­? To test our faith¡­?" She had asked a very nice question to them and the answer to that question was quite fun as well. { "Hmmmm¡­" } She was the first person to ask them a question among all of them, but it was a good path from where they could lead the rest of them to a good road. { "Perhaps we are, perhaps we aren''t. Do you think the angels will tell you if they are doing something their lords asked of them?" } "Ohh! Original testament 2:13! I remember that!" That was a proper response that a young little girl could have after their response, which was enough for the one in white to scratch off her name with some red ink. { "Alright. If you understand, then let me ask you all a simple question to start this little¡­ test." } Thanks to the girl, they now had more trust in them, but hearing the word ''test'' directly from them was nit something they had expected. { "First." } They were still young and most of their lives had been spent in this very institution so aside from the religious things, some certain practices, a little about the outside world and the truths of life that not many people don''t know about, they were oblivious to many things. "Wait a minute, Miss." But the saint if Meyat was a little different from the rest of the children that had lived in Kaksha for a long portion of their lives. "Can you tell us the reason you abducted us, and brought us to this unknown ce first? What you have told us until now does not really give us any concrete information about you, your motives, your actions, or your goal. Can we really trust that we are alright and you aren''t some evil bunch aiming for our-." { "Being doubtful is your nature as the Saint of Meyat, Lumiare." } The purple hoodeddy looked at him straight in the eye with her pink eyes shining straight at him, looking at his very soul that wasn''t tainted by darkness in any way¡­ But that simple gaze was powerful enough to make him feel the strongest shives throughout his body that he had ever felt. { "But rest assured¡­ just like how even your unique skill that makes you so special isn''t enough to judge anything aspect of us, you have nothing to be concerned about what we are doing¡ª of course though, you might have to be prepared if you still have things to be concerned about." } Lumiare was a name given to him by Pope Ben when he found him in the back alleys of some small town in the western ends of the continent during his travels. And, this was only around six years ago so at that time, he was old enough to go around and beg for food to keep himself alive. "¡­a-alright." His mother had died while giving birth to him so he never saw her himself, and his father that took care of him most of his life was killed by a group of bandits when they were visiting his mother''s grave one day. Then he was taken by the bandits as he looked prettier than most young boys, and was sold as a ve in a big city. His life was miserable already but then, he also had to deal with the madam that had bought him. Though¡­ thankfully by the time she can get the chance to be too intimate with him, when they were travelling to the ce where she lived in a faraway city, their entire crew was attacked by a horde of monsters. And in thatmotion, only he somehow managed to get away with his life and by some fate written chance, he ended up in the town where he met his savior. { "Alright then. First question: how many of you believe in the existence of your omnipotent, omniscient divinities?" } He wasn''t always a believer, he perhaps he wasn''t. In fact, not many people in this world really knew much about him in the first ce. "Hun?" "What kind of question¡­" "Do we believe in the¡­ divinities?" He was someone that possessed an incredible skill that is considered to have potential to grow to the level of a Pinnacle skill¡ª which made it an EX (Extraordinary) skill. Though, he did not know the potential of that skill back when he first met the unknown old man apanied by a bunch of scary looking, armoured knights. "Are you asking if we believe the Gods exist or not?" He questioned in a worried manner, a strange sensation shaking his heart. He was the mostpatible person to be the Saint of Goddess of Justice, Meyat. He possessed an incredible sensitivity and affinity to holy powers, and his affinity with divine power was also unparalleled. He had a rough life, but at the same time, thanks to his loving and great father that raised him with right values and virtues, he was considered to be the perfect candidate for the position of next pope as well as someone that would bare the stigma of the Goddess of justice. But still¡­ even after spending six years of his life in this institution wasn''t necessarily enough to make him a blind believer like most of the children present before them right now. { "Our questions will be subject to interpretation so, answer however you feel like answering it from your own understanding of it. Don''t worry about what the others are saying." } Whatever kind of person the Saint of Meyat was, him being a believer or a non believer are perfect matters that could influence his connection with the demon cultists. There were a few things that they needed to know about him before they could release them¡­ "Of course we believe in the gods~." "Why wouldn''t anyone believe in them, haha. Don''t they see the light of blessing on Thursdays~?" "I knew it! There are people who don''t believe that the Gods know everything and they can also do anything they want~." They were taking it lightly, but the young saint knew exactly what they meant with that question. And, he knew his answer to it as well. "Divinities aren''t omnipotent or omniscient. They certainly possess unfathomable powers and knowledge, but it isn''t something that makes them knowledgeable about everything there is to know about this world and beings of this world." His sudden answer confused the others present with him and the way they started looking at him was expected to him already. But, he was not finished with his answer yet... "Divinities, divine beings, Gods, Lords¡­ they are higher, superior powers less bound by thews of this world than us mortals, and it is a fact. Even as quoted in the older testaments, the gods had only helped in the creation of this world. They were children of the origin, the great nature that is the start, end, and present of every element of this world, and that''s exactly what the Teachings of the Temple teach us." He had a confident look on his face. He knew what he was saying and he did not care how the others present around him were looking at him. He had gone past the gazes of individuals a long time ago already. So, the only gaze that mattered to him in this moment was the gaze of the ones that had asked him that question. "The Gods aren''t omnipotent, all powerful beings that are capable of everything. There arews of this world that apply to every being, even to the almighty creator that came to be before any other consciousness in this world. True omnipotence and omniscience are concepts limited only to The Power maintaining the ever presentw and order. However, if the question you asked only asks if we believe in the existence of the holders of the divine powers that we worship, then yes. I know for a fact they do exist. She showed me what I had never known I possessed¡­" He was sincere. His eyes, seeing directly into the intimidating ones that had be the source of fear and awe among them, said all that the four of them needed to know. "The connection that we have¡­ it''s more than anything anyone could have with a being that doesn''t exist. So simply put: she exists. And so do the rest of them. And, pretty certainly, many more like them." He was a good one. He was smart and he was brave. Not running away from reality, he chose to face the truth even in the face of a power that he Knew was dangerous enough to destroy them. And they admired it. Certainly. [{ *Master¡­* }] But there was a little problem here after he said his answer. [{ *Please take a look at this.* }] Lucy had found something wrong. And this little thing was going to be pretty interesting for all of them. Chapter 808: Fragmantin [Eon''s POV: ] Lumiare was a fine boy. He was nice despite his dark past, and he believed in what he considered to be the truth. He was a believer in the existence of the gods but, he was still rational and reasonable. He knew about the truths that were usually hidden from themon people of this world since he had went through so much, and he''s the reason his life had been the way it was, he believed in justice more than any other person. He knew what we were doing was wrong and he wanted to do something against it, but the most rational course of action right was answering the questions truthfully. He knew we were strong and he had deducted that we had tricked even the King ranked knight captain into thinking that we were some important people that he had to escort somehow as well, so he knew he had no way to win against us. Not when we had suppressed his Mana cirction points. The only thing he had left were his Origin skills, his innate skills and his connection with his goddess, and he wasn''t going to get any kind of statement from his goddess in this particr ce so, she perhaps didn''t even know where he was. ''She might be furious that her chosen individual was suddenly disconnected from her so, she might try to do something, but that wasn''t going to help them either.'' They were trapped here until we decide to let them go, and that was only going to happen after they clear our test by answering our questions. And, as the one baring the most authority here, he had the responsibility to protect the rest of the people present here. ''And that was noble of him.'' Just that a few others that were present here with him had something else going on when he spoke up the truth that, though bitter for the others present here, was what he truly believed with all his heart. ''What exactly is that, Lucy?'' [{ *I''m¡­ not certain, master.* }] We had used the Analysis ability on him already so that was one chance wasted, but there wasn''t much that we found even after doing that. There were a few restrictions and curses cast in him, but since they seemed to be holy and divine nature, they must be something the temple and Pope put on him. ''He was too talented for his own good, and he didn''t know that yet so, this was a good idea.'' And since the type and kind of these restrictions were just right for what he needed, they were perhaps more of an aid to him than a restriction. That''s why we didn''t have to tell him about that either. There was nothing else that was more concerning here. At least with him¡­ ''Is that demonic energy? A concentration of it, perhaps?'' [{ *Master, we would have to scan that thing if we want to find that out¡­ but seeing as how it is so close to their Minds, I think it will trigger something bad if we try to do anything to it. I believe¡­ using Analysis is the best choice here.* }] When he answered our question, something inside three other children that were with him here was triggered and only Lucy noticed that since it happened with not their physical bodies, but the mental bodies that they possessed. It was a strange phenomenon that something was triggered in the mental world because of something interpreted by the physical senses, but I know this wasn''t an impossible situation. ''It was like one''s senses took in some information from the outside world, then the brain interpreted it, that impacted their mind, and due to that impact a certain thing that shouldn''t exist with the mind was triggered.'' And this thing was sinister¡­ Lucy pointed it out so I went and saw this phenomenon as well, and, it didn''t look anything good to me either. [{ "We have a problem, everyone." }] I looked at the confident eyes of the young saint, and then I looked at the worried expression of the three younger ones that had a record cleaner than this young saint himself. [{ "What is it? Did you find something?" }] The others were concerned about my sudden words as well since they themselves saw nothing wrong with anything that he had said until now or anything that had happened. But, they were going to be shocked pretty soon as well¡­ [{ "Rein, ask the next question, and while she does that, Cradle, go into the Astral realm. President, ask SanSan to watch the Mental activities of Kir, Laos, and Warma. Share senses if you want to look at it yourself as well." }] [{ "Astral realm? Why would something be wrong with their Mind-." }] [{ "Believe me. You''ll be surprised to see the thing there." }] They were confused but, they knew if I was saying something so absurd, there must be some substance to this statement. So, they didn''t wait any longer and Rein continued with the following question after she confirmed everyone else''s answer. { "Alright. Then the second question: How ''good'' do you think the divinities you serve are?" } She continued with the question while the rest of us looked at the activities of the mind function of the rest of the students. And, though they were pretty normal throughout the time others answered, we were expecting something to happen when the young saint answered as well¡­ however, nothing happened. [{ "Continue with the next one." }] The reaction that we had seen only a moment ago wasn''t there anymore. Their minds didn''t react the way they did when the first question was answered, but then again, it wasn''t as surprising of an answer as the first one and was prettymon and within their range of expectation as well so they believed him. And it continued for the following three questions as well¡­ { "Next¡­ how many of you want to have any kind of physical rtionship with the divinities you serve." } This was one of the most inappropriate things one could have asked to someone that Belonged to Kaksha and was training to either be a priest or a Healer like the ones present here. But, there was a surprising thing that happened. "I do." The young saint raised his hand and said that he wanted to have a physical rtionship with the goddess that he served openly before the rest of them¡­ and, perhaps, that very answer which induced an unexinable surprise in the rest of them, was the trigger we were searching for. [{ "There it is. Look." }] [{ "Hmm?" }] [{ "Rein. You too. Take a look at this." }] I helped her get into her astral form and, and all of us saw something that was perhaps the most obviously sinister thing we had seen ever since we had been together. [{ "What¡­ the fuck?" }] [{ "Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" }] [{ "We will know soon enough." }] There was a sinister mass attached to the minds of these three individuals that we could see through the astral forms. But this wasn''t as simple as it sounded. ''Mind was an abstract concept that had no real form or boundary. It was just something that one had to understand, and the astral realm made it easier for one to do so.'' In the astral forms, one interpreted reality the way they found it the most simple. And, since it was an individual experience, everyone saw the reality in the most understandable forms possible for them. ''I saw what we all were seeing as a strange tumour like darkness attached to the heads of three individuals that was practically covering a third of their heads and was pulsating.'' Rein on the other hand saw this thing as a single ck mark resembling abination of a snake, a hippo, and a big ck cockroach. It was a strange interpretation from her side and Cradle practically saw them as apletely different head that resembled a goat''s head¡­ and ording to her, that goat head was biting off of the original head. Which was a peculiar interpretation, certainly. [{ "Fragmantin¡­" }] But our president didn''t need a mental interpretation to know what this thing actually was. [{ "Zod? You know what this is?" }] And from the way his shoulder was shaking right now, it was obvious his only family, San-San the only Ocagi present on this continent, also knew what this thing was. [{ "It wasn''t supposed to exist here¡­ she destroyed it back there as well, so¡­ it shouldn''t be existing in the first ce¡­" }] It didn''t seem like he was in his right mind anymore. He was shocked¡­ he was overwhelmed by memories of the past actually. [{ "You two. Handle things here." }] Cradle knew instantly that he was having a mental breakdown and that wasn''t a good thing in this particr situation, so she acted quickly, and made me create an illusion screen for them. [{ "This though¡­ this thing was the reason she died¡­" }] To make things worse, he wasn''t the only one having a mental breakdown right now. Even SanSan, the most cheerful being that they had never seen having a dark expression was in a bad state right now. ''And he was a pinnacle holder to make things worse.'' If he went berserk in a ce like this and started devouring everything present here, all three of us knew what kind of disaster would happen¡­ There were children here that they couldn''t show this side of them to. That''s why¡­ [{ "Oy." }] She first helped him sit down and ced SanSan in Mirror''s hands. -p! And then she pped him so hard I know for certain his jaw was dislocated. [{ "Calm down. This isn''t the time for this shit. Do what you have to, you fucking pathetic shit." }] She was perhaps the only person in the entire world that could talk to him like that. And, she was also the only one whose voice, words, and actions worked the best against him, this was good. ''It will hurt, but, seeing how he was back and looking at her as if she was some kind of crazy psycho- which is normal behaviour between these two- it looked fine.'' And now that he''s stable, we might just know what this thing was without me having to use my precious Analysis. Chapter 809: Curse that kills divinities [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "You back?" }] [{ "Thanks to you, dear ungrateful miss. Yes, I am." }] He stood up and both of them came back to us as I lifted the illusion screen I had created with Solnova. It was difficult to maintain as they knew it as well, so they didn''t waste much time. [{ "I''m sorry for that. I just¡­ couldn''t control myself after seeing that thing again." }] We knew our president for a while now. And we came to knew a good lot about him after that war we fought together. There were a lot of interesting things about him but the most important of them was the fact that he was from a world different from this one¡­ [{ "This thing¡­ my friend¡­ SanSan''s mom called it Fragmantin. A curse that was created by the ancient evils." }] President Zodiac, or as he was known by his Real name given to him by his only known family and SanSan''ste mother: Longjia Raon. He was born in a world that prominently resembled eastern content and the culture of that ce. ''As he had told us, that ce very much resembled the east that we knew. But at the same time, that world did not have anything like different continents or a western or northernnd.'' There was only one single continent there and though it was divided into many nations and provenances, there were not many things like what we had here in the west and north of this world. ''It was apletely different world.'' People used Internal energy there, and they called it Qi. There was a certain kind of cultivation method that was naturally learned by every individual being born on thosends through which they could enhance their physical abilities and recovery powers. It was a natural kind of knowledge that wasmon to everyone, however many sects, much like the east of this world, taught them various special cultivation techniques. But, the President wasn''t part of any of those sects. If anything, it wasn''t even part of any particr prefecture. His parents had died in an ident ever since he was young, the ones that had took him in were bastards that wanted to sell him off, so he ran away from them, and then he ended up in a deep forest of thatnd. ''He was pretty young back then, so he might have died to the dangerous beasts that were present in that deep forest.'' But perhaps it was luck or Fate as he considered it, but instead of meeting any simple kind of dangerous beast, he met a being that was much, much more dangerous than just a simple beast. [{ "Fragmantin was the reason the entire nation, one of the strongest of that world, beside the forest we lived in was destroyed. And also a curse¡­ that became the reason for her death." }] He wasn''t that deep into the forest but it was deep enough for a child, but by the time he realised it, he was standing before the ruler of that forest- aplete, fully grown Ocagi that had already transcended the bounds of that world. ''She found him interesting even though there was not much interesting about him.'' He certainly possessed three innate skills but, it wasn''t that surprising since the standards for the skills in that world were the same as the ones in this world. ''But the kind of skills he had made him interesting to that being.'' She took him with her to her nest, and there, she nurtured the individual that soon became the [Demon of Heavenly authority].'' She raised him, fed him the best things that one could find in that forest, and she taught him things that one couldn''t have learned from humans¡­ however, she was only a beast, so she didn''t know what the weapon arts or Magical knowledge was. ''She taught him how to sense, how to see, how to not do something, and how to hunt. She taught him what makes him the person he is right now, and for that, he is eternally grateful for her.'' Sadly, he didn''t have too long with her¡­ [{ "We don''t know where that thing came from since even she had nevere across something like that, but she had learned from a true Dragon about a divine curse that targeted one''s very mind, something that ate away at the Astral Aura of any living individual it was attached to, something that stayed stuck with that living being like a parasite until they consumed them whole." }] His voice was grave so we could understand well just what kind of bad experience he has had with this thing. He was practically shivering right now, and he wanted to shove his sword into that thing to destroy it. He wanted that, with all his heart, but since he knew the consequences of doing something foolish, he restrained himself. [{ "The ancient dragon told her a story about how the Old Gods needed something to counter the growing poption of demons and in their endeavours to destroy the demon kind, they ended up giving birth to this monstrosity. I don''t know how much of it applies to this world, but I know for sure that thing we are seeing right there is the same." }] He was certain about it, and he was angry. [{ "That curse turned the beings that it consumed into mindless evil creatures that destroyed anything and everything that existed around them. One wouldn''t notice anything wrong happening with them aside from asional dizziness and fatigue, and instead, they would feel better thanks to the energy that this parasite-like curse released. I never got to know how this damned curse spreads, but I know for sure it is unlike the virus or bacteria that we know of." }] He took a deep breath and looked straight at the children that were affected by this curse. [{ "They are affected by it so it means someone that had the original body of this thing, the one that perhaps also was the one that caused that disaster in that world, is nning something simr." }] There was a reason he Developed his Light Sword to this degree and there was a reason he learned swordsmanship that was focused on the light¡­ it was all making sense now. [{ "Looks like we have a bigger problem on our hands than we had expected and¡­ I''m pretty sure it''s bigger than the Saint of Meyat being part of those demonic cultists. We have to report this ASAP. I say we go talk with the Grand order here after talking with the headmaster." }] ording to what he was saying, when that curse consumes the entire Astral bodies of these children and reces its entire self with theirs, it would mature and turn into a being that wants to destroy everything around it. ''This might not happen right now, but, perhaps in the future, this might cause more trouble than we anticipate.'' But then again, if we are talking about something that is attached to the mind, the chances of there being more people that have this curse ced on them is quite high. ''We''ll have to check things again.'' But before that, I needed to confirm something. ''Lucy.'' [{ *Master?* }] ''Verbal testimony isn''t a valid source of knowledge, dear. Even someone like President might be mistaken about something.'' We were talking about a curse that could kill even divinities, and to kill the divinities, it actually meant erasing every bit of evidence about those beings, or erasing them from the memories and stories of every individual present in this nature. ''Which is funnily not something any ''curse'' is capable of.'' By nature, a curse was something that added or removed some kind of property from something that already existed in nature. Now, if we are talking about a curse that could kill divinities, it would be better to say that this curse was strong enough to single-handedly destroy that entirety of the world. [{ *Right. I understand¡­* }] [{ "Celes, rece me and block the light that wille out of my hand." }] [{ Yes master! }] This curse looked sinister but, we couldn''t feel anything from it even after observing it closely in the astral realm. There was a number of interesting things about it, but by definition, it was a dangerous thing and was only visible momentarily when the possessor of this curse was in an extremely unstable mental condition. ''He might have been mistaken.'' That''s why we had to confirm it with the data that we had received from him. -Oooong. The silver bird was released from my palm and this time, instead of going in a certain object, since the chosen target was the curse itself, the bird passed through all three of the children. Then, after a moment of continuously passing through all three of them that they most certainly did not notice at all, it came back to me. And¡­ [{ *Masrer¡­* }] It didn''t take too long for Lucy to finish the analysis. [{ *This thing strangely is what the President says it to be.* }] In our innate Mind space, she shows me the cumtive data that she had gathered from the thing that was present on them and, also how she had to stop the Analysis process midway because of a life like fight back from the analysis target. ''This was strange¡­'' Though, what was stranger here was not the fact that we confirmed it to be something rted to the divinities. [{ *They¡­ are the ones who ced it there.* }] She could sense Divine power and the nature of divine power now, something I yet wasn''t capable of. But she could do it, so she could tell for certain that the parasitic tumour like sinister blobs that we were looking at, were in fact¡­ ced there by the divinities that the Temple served. And this new fact, has now made this whole investigation even moreplicated. Chapter 810: A boring weekend [Quin''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­" "Haaa." "Huuuu." Three consecutive sighs filled the surroundings, and then there were four of them who shook their heads in the process. "It''s boring." "Let''s do something na." "Do what though?" Lucifer and Uriel weren''t here so the rest of us had to cancel the n to go and see the flower fields that had recently been said to have appeared in some part of the ind. It was sad that they had to do something very important exactly at a time like this, but if they weren''t going, I had no reason to go either. ''And since I wasn''t going, Chry didn''t have any reason to go either.'' And since so many people weren''t going, Zoe wouldn''te either, and after Zoe, Lizzy wouldn''te. And, since so many people weren''t going, even though Tia and a few others had some motivation to go, they wouldn''t go either since it wouldn''t be as much fun as could have been with the rest of them here. "Should we y something? Or go explore the ces we haven''t been to?" "We went around the garden justst weekend. Did you forget the incident with the creatures and Baal?" Last week, we all decided to go around the garden and see what things we had not seen until now. But, while we were going around, a nt-like creature suddenly came to us with a bunch of other creatures and started ''ying'' with Baal. ''It was strange, but ording to the two of them, this wasn''t something new or surprising.'' That nt-like creature had already attacked him once, and then it yed with it after a certain thing happened. "Then what? Go and check the creatures-." "No. Absolutely not! Did you forget the bees got angry when we started climbing the tree?!" The other time we decided to go around and y with the other creatures that we could find in the academy, like the creatures that lived in the garden the bees that lived on the great ancient tree, and the other bird that also lived on the branches of the other trees, something simr happened. ''There was some kind of event going on among the bees, as the two of them exined, and we ended up disturbing them.'' The two of them calmed the angry bees down with something strange that we still don''t know about, and thanks to them, we were saved and forgiven. ''They said they had already met the Queen of the Blue Bees and they said that one day if she wants, we might also get the chance to meet her.'' "Haaaa¡­" "Tsk." "Why the hell is this damn day so long?!" Even Ca was getting angry now. There was practically nothing to do! "Ughhh! Let''s just go and y something, everyone. Or if not that, I''m going to the library to read something." Alf and Bell were reading something else already while sitting a little too close to one another¡ª but that was normal nowadays so that aside, they couldn''t focus since we were in the garden and there were so many distracting things. ''They were mage schrs so they needed to study more than the rest of us¡­ or perhaps they just liked studying, that''s all.'' But this ce was distracting. And they wanted to go to the great library on the western end of the academy castle¡­ and actually, that was a good idea. "How about we go and y in the library?" I suggested to the rest of them that they were getting so bored some of them were dozing off in the middle of a fine afternoon. Some of them were drinking their own tea since Lucifer, the group food provider, wasn''t here. All of them were practically bored since we had to cancel a n that was practically finalized from our side. "There isn''t much in the library but, have you all heard about the secret passages that lead to the secret rooms of the Great Library of Time? They say many secret ces in the library still haven''t been found by the authorities yet." Brother Lucifer told me this story one day. A story about the Eternal Library of Time. "It was said that the library was created by the founder of the academy, however, they made it with the help of a certain elder that they all followed. Some records say that this library is based on some other library that exists someone else in this world and that there is a certain ce that connects the two libraries present somewhere in this library." Everyone here knew about themon secret rooms that were locked by the authorities of the academy and only those permitted by the headmaster and a few certain individuals could enter that ce. We knew that, and those ces were something we weren''t that interested in, in the first ce. ''But a secret, undisclosed ce was a different matter.'' What if we find something there that would interest the two of them as well and surprise them when theye back? "The library?" They were bored and weren''t doing anything anyway so, wasn''t it better to just go and do something that would actually be interesting? We had never explored the great library in detail anyway so, we might as well end uping across things that might make this boring day worthwhile. And since everyone here had to prepare for our midterms, even if we didn''t find anything at all, we could just stay over at the library and spend the night reading or doing something that''s more fun than just sitting around and practically doing nothing of significance. "That''s actually interesting, you know?" "I was thinking we could go and visit Med in her shop, but since she said she was going to go around all day long, this is better." "I had to return some books as well, so let''s go to the library." "Tsk. What could we find in that boring ce filled with books? It''s not like grimoires are lying around in that ce." Tia didn''t like the idea of going to the library. She wasn''t that interested in books anyway since most of the things that she knew were from her practical experience. ''She usually avoids learning things from the books since doing the things is more fun to her.'' And yet, she spends a third of her day reading books¡­ our ironic little fairy fiend. "You know what, Tia? Their library has a section in some corner where they store all the old romance novels out there. Most of them are as old as a few centuries old, and some are-." "What are we still doing here?! Let''s go everyone~!" She loved novels. Especially the romance ones of all kinds and all genres. Find joy at m-vl_e She actually loved them so much that we sometimes wonder if she reads a few books every week or a few hundred of them each month. "Wait a minute. Has anyone seen Miss Mia? I think she also wanted to go to the library with a few of us if possible. We should go tell her as well." Ball was having a fun time with the other students nowadays. He wasn''t gloomy anymore and he wasn''t alone anymore either. ''He had friends and he had ones that he was closer to as well. And it was pretty cute seeing him with the others.'' He had changed quite a lot since the first time we saw him, and this was a good kind of change. "Hello? Is something happening finally?" This group of ours had be unexpectedly big. Aside from the three of us, there was Lizzy, Med, Zoe, Ca, Alf, and Chry who initially got together to have lunch, and then the first additions, Tia, Hide, Luna, E, Araxie joined us. Captain Alpheus and Captain Alpha, and their vice-captains were the second additions after which, arge number of students started joining us for lunch asionally. ''Some of them were only here for the chance to socialize with the rest of the students and captains, while some of them were doing it because of pressure from outer forces or with ulterior motives.'' But then it wasn''t that bad at first¡­ but then, after thepetition, things changed quite a lot. ''Many students started joining us and following us around the academy with other motives and we had to warn them in various ways.'' But still, in the end, the group got as big as those ''societies'' that the other students made. Now there were around fifty of us only in this group and most of us were from the initial lunch group that used to eat together. ''There wasn''t any group leader here, since this (Group) wasn''t really an official group and just some people hanging around for their reasons, but Uriel and Lucifer had a deep connection with every individual present here.'' They were nothing less than a group leader, but still, the actual group moved through individual motivations. "We are going to the Library~! Join us if you want~ hehehe." Even Deleon and Miss Ezra who had started hanging around pretty recently were good people to have around. ''When we were in the Heliox estate, we had spent a pretty fun time together so we all knew neither of them was actually as bad as the rumors make them.'' They were cool, on the other hand. "Miss Quin?" "Ah, Chry~. Yes, let''s go~." Chryses had somehow be as close to me as Uriel and Lucifer¡­ we spent a lot of time together studying and talking about various things. This friendship we had¡­ "Oh, there''s something on your face." He was attractive. There were many things about him that made us morefortable with each other than the rest of the group. "Ah, thanks¡­" His smile was funnily simr to a smile present deep into my memories¡­ but, I didn''t know what that thing I didn''t know about was. "Shall we?" "Yes. Let''s go~." I held his hand instinctively, and he held it back¡­ even though he knew he shouldn''t. This friendship was precious to us, and we had to keep it limited to just that. A friendship. ''At least until I finish what I have to¡­'' We needed to limit this rtionship. And he knew that better than me¡­ perhaps that''s why he never lets me intertwine our fingers while holding hands. ''Hump.'' Chapter 811: Report on the findings [Eon''s POV: ] [{ "Shall we end things here, then?" }] We had all that we needed here, and we knew there wasn''t anything that pointed towards this specific individual being part of that evil organisation, so we did not have to worry about this particr person. [{ "I''ll start wrapping things up." }] There were not many things that we needed from this ce, but there were a lot of records in this ce that might now prove to be useful in the negotiations against these people. ''Gods were involved in something that might destroy this important ce¡­'' The news will surprise the headmaster. Perhaps, it might even shock him¡­ but knowing the nature of those beings, I know he won''t really find it that unusual. But it still means that this would be something that he might not have expected as resulting findings of this task. [{ "Rein, go ahead." }] [{ "Alright." }] The news that the gods were involved with something so sinister wasn''t anything pleasant to any of us. It invoked the questions about the authenticity of the nature of these gods, but since the rest of them didn''t know about the atrocities that these bastard gods hadmitted already, they had a pretty positive view of those higher beings. ''They did not know about the [Divine rulings]. And it was best that they didn''t know about them.'' They already didn''t like those beings and if the knowledge about the things that they had done to reach the positions they were at were added to the equation, they might start hating them. That''s why I won''t be telling them any of those things unless it was absolutely necessary¡­ { "Young ones¡­ you have proven your faith." } Rein used her Origin energy and created a light that contained stars, attractive enough to surprise the young children. { "We have received your answers, and we know now what you are." } She was talking about something else, something that was part of her script, but in reality, she was using her memory erasing skill. { "We will deliver your answer to Them, so rest assured¡­" } Their excited expression then started fading away as their eyes became heavier and heavier¡­ "What''s happening-." { "And just go back to sleep." } We can feel the movements outside of this ce so it was obvious that the knights and the knight captains had found out about this ce. Additionally, there was a stronger presence apanying them, so it seemed like the Grand order himself was following them after the discovery of the secret underground passage and the uniqueness of the situation. -Thud. Thud. Thud. We were done with these children and, though we didn''t get the answer to the question that we were here for, the n that we were here for had been carried out sessfully. ''Everything went ording to the n.'' The guards didn''t believe us and were so stunned by our presence that they didn''t doubt the authenticity of the letter that we sent to the Knight captain. Then the knight captain didn''t doubt the letter that the gate knight had brought to him and when he held it, the Rune spell that I had created that letter with was activated and his mind was trapped in an illusion. ''And then he followed us around like we were some kind of important individuals.'' The spell that I had created that letter with was special and not something that I can just use because I wanted to¡­ the headmaster had to help me with this task. ''And he was surprised by the kind of spell this was, again.'' It wasn''t an illusion spell or a mind control spell. It wasn''t anything that even affected the mind itself like the Fragmantin could.'' It was a spell that altered the memories of an individual and redirected their thought processing units. ''It was a magic that affected the Brain itself.'' A pure Rune magic that I had developed with the help of my master and her spirit friends. It affected the brain and the parts of the brain that controlled the memories and feelings, and with this spell, we could make someone Believe something without having to affect any of the other parts of their body. It wasn''t a simple magic that could be detected since it was a spell that was activated by the energy of the individual it was applied to, much like a parasite. ''The Knight captain would have never found out about that spell if we didn''t want him to.'' He might have continued to believe that we really were some kind of hidden elders that were paying a random visit to this institution after a long time. ''In his mind, we were beings that were the closest to our gods any person could ever be.'' And he made that up himself with the memories that he himself had experienced in the past. ''This spell was dangerous, and the headmaster knew it the moment he learned about its existence.'' But, from the spell structure alone, he also knew that there is no way someone could cast a spell of that level like any fireball spell that we could cast. ''It was a highlyplex spell made with Runes, various Mana construction techniques, and the use of various spell points, cores, and connectives was so difficult in this spell that I only have six books of them Scripted in my mind tower.'' It''s a spell that requires a lot of time and precision to get ready, that''s why if not for this specific scenario, I might not even have shown them this thing. ''But the circumstances asked for it.'' And the oue to all this was refreshing. [{ "Alright. Exit n alpha. Regroup in the nned points." }] [{ "Yes." }] [{ "Alright." }] [{ "Take care." }] The children had fallen asleep and we were going to leave them here since the knights and the highest authority of this ce was alredy here. There were various escape routes ready alredy so, after checking up on everything and ''making necessary arrangements'' in this ce, we escaped the underground area individually. After that, we followed the nned paths of evacuation and through different secret exists that not many of the people in this ce knew about, we either went out or waited until the things inside had calmed down before going out ourselves. ''Lucy.'' [{ *Yes, master.* }] I stayed behind for a while since there were a number of things that only could take care of here. But that wasn''t for long either¡­ [{ *I''ve gathered all the data, master.* }] I had to use two more Analysis uses, so we know we won''t be able to do this anytime soon, but it was necessary for the final report. [{ "I''m leaving." }] [{ "Quick. We are tired already." }] By the time I also went out of the holy teaching institute Kaksha, the sun had already gone down the horizon, and the stars had started praising the eternal ethereal beauty of the full moon of tonight. "You''rete!" Rein shouted at me the moment I arrived there and closed the door of the inn behind me. "I''m sorry. It took longer than I expected." The regrouping station was located in the very edge of the city, far away from the centre where Kaksha was. "What took you so long?" Cradle and president weren''t angry like her, but unlike the president that was genuinely concerned about me, Cradle had a bored expression. She was the same as always, uninterested in things she knew had no need for her worries. But, it also meant that she knew I would be fine even though I was sote. And that made her the kind of person that I Needed in this life of ours. "What are you doing exactly?! You should have reached here before any of us!" "I know, I know." She was angry since she was worried about me, but after the things that we found out today, her worries were obvious. "Calm down," I whispered while hugging her. -Snap. ced a special barrier all around us, and took out an artefact that they all were familiar with already. "And take a look at this." I waste because I was doing my own investigation in that ''great'' ''blessed'' teaching institution. "Hmmm?" "What did you find out that you need that projection thing?" "¡­" The president had already figured out whatever I was going to show them with the help of the head artifact that projected the things on one''s mind, was not something they were going to like. He had a bad feeling about this¡­ and he was right to have those bad feelings. "The three of them weren''t the only ones that had Fragmantin attached to their minds." It took me time since the ce was so big that there were more than a thousand people present there. ''I had to use many of my ''questions'' for some of the things.'' Lucy knew the severity of the situation so she was doing all she can to help me, but even she wasn''t omnipotent or omniscient yet. She was just a skill that existed inside of me, so she didn''t even have enough freedom to use her abundant knowledge and powers to their actual strength. ''I was getting stronger, but along with me, she was getting better and more versatile as well.'' It shouldn''t be long before she is able to live on her own apart from me if her growth continues like this¡­ but that day should still be a distance away. "The blues are the individuals present inside Kaksha, the Green are the teachers, Yellow knights, and the red are important authorities whose ranks are divided by the sizes of the dots." What we found out in that underground area was shocking already, but what I came to know after spending thest few hours investigating that ce¡­ was so shocking even I''m finding this hard to believe. "And, the ck aura that you see around them indicates the spread of Fragmantin in their astral bodies." It was absurd since there were tens of people side from those three children that were affected by this dangerous curse, but, what made things more dangerous¡­ "Oh shit¡­" "No way. Really?" "But how can someone-." "He''s the highest authority of that ce. And the cheapest thing a God could possess." They were stunned after seeing this as well¡­ And, I''m pretty sure even the headmaster will find this new data as absurd as the rest of us did. Chapter 812: Back to the island [OP: ] They had found shocking results from the data gathered by Eon so they didn''t waste any time and started moving right after confirming the situation of the rest of the city. The influence of Kaksha in [Shrudha] was so powerful that they didn''t need long to impose an absolute lockdown throughout the entire city. Everything was being searched by the authorities in secret and the outsiders who were only here for a visit were dealt with separately by the other units. Knights were now walking the streets of the city and no one was allowed to get out of this ce¡­ at least not through the gates or any other physical means. "We need to confirm if this is an emergency or not." They had to get out of here and show what they had found out to the headmaster as soon as they could since any mishap in this ce would mean another conflict that the real demon cultists could use to their advantage to create a case of mass hysteria or perhaps something even more dangerous and potentially deadly. People would die if that happened and they couldn''t have that. There would beplications, but since their n had worked so perfectly until now, they wanted it to go just as smoothly going forward as well. That''s why they were at the secret house owned by the academy that had a hidden teleportation system¡­ but even though they were people directly under the headmaster, they couldn''t use the system that was supposed to be used only once. "This IS an emergency. Why do you think the entire city is locked down?" The head butler and the person in charge of the ce did not understand the gravity of the situation. This was important to them. "Is there any connection between the city being on a lockdown and you all having to to use this teleportationwork? Do you know how long it takes for one to create these special teleportation points in various ces?" The head butler here was in his mid fifties like the usual head utters who were trained by the special individuals of the headmaster. He knew what he was doing and he knew who they were already. But, even if they were in this city for a task directly assigned by the headmaster, they didn''t really have a written permission of the headmaster to use this system. They were only some helpers of the headmaster like the many of the others present all around in this world and he, as someone with the responsibility to guard this ce that might be needed when it was actually important, could not let only four people use this device. The emergency situation they were talking about was also only a mere lockdown. The city would open up in a few days and they would be able to get out of here the usual way. There was no need to use something so precious, but the four of them didn''t really have the time to argue with him or make him understand why using this device was important for them. "It takes a decade to create the basic boundary of the spell system, three years to gather all the required materials, a year to invite the special crafters that could make this system, and it takes a good lot of resources just to make one of these points. And we know just how important they are. That''s why I''m asking you to trust that the headmaster puts in us that this is really important. If we don''t report our findings to the headmaster as soon as possible, I''m afraid something might happen to this city and then to the rest of the world." Eon''s eyes were sincere, and the rest of them were looking at him with the eyes that also resembled his. But, the head butler was stubborn. "No. We will have to evacuate the entire house to execute the release protocol for this system. We can''t risk that for just four people-." "Oh for fuck''s sake man! Why are you so stubborn! Will you take responsibility for anything that might happen just because of this shit?! Can you even do this shit?!" Cradle couldn''t handle this anymore and burst out screaming at the butler but the man continued looking at her with a straight face as if whatever she was saying meant little to him. "Rules are rules. I did not make them, Miss." He had not received any notice about their visit beforehand since this mission was supposed to be a covert one. Revealing their identities to anyone was already a bad thing, but the presidents had to do it, at the very least. "Besides, I cannot do it if I don''t even know who these two are." "They are part of the student council, what more do you want to know?" "The merits they have, of course. Not all student council members are the same¡­ you should know that better than the others." Not all of the academy''s student council members were the same, and the presidents knew that better than anyone else. There was a certain system through which each of the student council member was evaluated and that evaluation went on with each of the mission that they carried out. There was a special system created by the headmaster himself that took care of that rankings of the student council members and these individualster received rewards based on their performances in the various ways. There was a chance that the best performing individuals would have a higher chance to receive the poison of the presidents of the students council in the following years, and the current presidents knew that well. Even the headmaster used this ranking system to evaluate who the one going to be the president was going to be. "Do you want to know their ranks?" "No. I want to know their merit points itself." After every mission assigned by the headmaster, depending on the performance of the individuals, they received merit points from the headmaster and the system that evaluated their performance ording to the predetermined standards. There was aplex system that did this and only a few of the individuals in the academy knew about it¡­ but this person before them was not one of them. He just wanted to know about the points that they had received until now, data that was only essible to the presidents and the headmasters. "You are being unreasonable. I''m going to report you to the headmaster." "You can do that if you go back after telling me their merits. And you have no other way to get past this, so if they really are worthy of a use ofthe teleportation system, you will have to show it." "The fuck-." "Cradle. It''s alright." President Zodiac stepped forward, took out an artifact-like rectangr card and led the head butler to the other room for a moment¡­ before returning not long after they had gone away. "Ahem." The look the head butler had hadpletely changed now, and he was looking at the two others with the two of them with a kind of look that even Cradle found amusing. "Can we use this now?" "Yes. Though, give us five minutes to prepare the array." "Yeah. Take your time¡­ it''s not like the Grand order and the entire knight units areing for us." The way Cradle taunted others was a natural talent of hers that she had honed over all these years. She was so good at it that even a King ranked Knight mistook her mere words to be something so strong that they hurt his very heart. It was peculiar, as well as something that affected the head butler as well, so he quickly went out with a bow. -Oooooooooooooooong! And it didn''t take long for them to vanish from the blessed city of Shrudha. [{ "Let''s move quickly." }] It was the night Saturday. The city was in quite a confused state when they left, so they had predicted there would soon be something unexpected happening in that city. They had informed the other authorities about some external threats as a preparation for something going wrong, but to deal with the real problem at hand, they had to meet the headmaster as soon as they could. -Ooooooooooooooong! So, they travelled through the vast ins that they had ended up in after the teleportation, and travelled for hours before reaching a city, form where they teleported to the empire''s other main city where the academy''s secret gate leading to the ind of magic''s wealth existed. [{ "Finally¡­" }] And though it took them a while, they were back to the academy ind by the time the sun had started climbing up to the horizon. "He must be waiting for our arrival." "Of course he would be! If he was concerned about us or something, he would havee to help us when we needed him there. And that butler bastard! What the hell was his deal?!" Cradle was upset right now, but it was no time to be upset or angry. They had to report the things that they found out to the headmaster so that he could prepare to address those things in the uing Grand conference. "Let''s go now." Many lives were on the line now as not only two or three, but more than a hundred individuals in the Kaksha were affected by the curse that was said to hold the power to kill even the divinities. Something big, and dangerous was going to happen soon¡­ and, they needed to be prepared for that. Since that was the only thing, that they would be capable of in this particr situation. Chapter 813: What do we do now? [Eon''s POV: ] "You''re back early, hun?" The headmaster''s office. Standing before him without any disguises or hoods, we faced him with a not so great expression. "Can we get straight to the point, headmaster?" He was looking at us with an interesting look as if whatever he was seeing in us was interesting to him. We hade back after only a day in that ce while we were originally going to spend more than two days in that city, so this certainly was an interesting development for him. "Yes. We shall do that if you want." There was no need to waste any more time on this matter since the four of us couldn''t deal with it ourselves anyway. "Thanks." He found the serious expressions we had to be interesting and the way he was looking at us made me certain he had no idea what kind of results we had achieved. ''He was smiling.'' It meant he knew about the situation at the blessed city and the things that might be going on in the Kaksha, however, he did not know anything about the things that we might have found out. "Please, take a look at this." But as soon as I took out the projection headgear from my storage space, his smiling expression changedpletely. "Why that¡­?" We had gone there to investigate whether the Saint of Meyat was connected with the demonic cutists, so there was no need to take something that I usually only used for bigger presentations. There shouldn''t be any need for something like this for a task that only needed us to investigate one single individual, but that was what made this more important. "Please take a look at this headmaster." -Oooooooooooooong! First, I created a model of the city of Shrudha, then, after turning the important structures of the city like the Kaksha, the castle of the lord of the city, and the various ces owned by the Temple, I created moving dots that represented people all around this city. "Everything went as we nned when it was necessary. And we were able to confirm that the saint of Meyat, at least, doesn''t have any connection with the demonic cultists." First of all, I focused on the Kaksha and gathered the attention of the headmaster and his familiar owl. "However in the process of investigating the individuals, we came across something that must have been the trigger for someone starting those rumours." Just like I did when showing this to the rest of them, I turned the colors of the people working in the Kaksha ording to their roles in the institution, and created the Aura that signified the corruption they had gone through because of the Fragmantin curse. There were various things that might have been the trigger for the curse that we aren''t certain about since we still only know the properties and effects of this curse, not the way it could be cast. That''s why even we didn''t know how it was put on so many individuals, but, if we think that all of the curse was a single entity that resonated with the other parts of it and could grow based on the number of individuals it was affecting, the situation that this city was in was even worse than I had imagined. "We found out about a curse, something that had also been the reason for the death of SanSan''s mother in the world where the President Zodiaces from. She used to be a divine being that had evolved after various trials and an endless journey ording to him, and still, this curse had managed to not only destroy an entire nation in that world, it created creatures that became the reason for her death. To understand this more clearly, I was able to extract a fragment of the memory from the president." While keeping the model of the city in its ce, I disyed the memory that I was able to extract from him with his consent. ''It wasn''t an easy task since his integration with SanSan made his mind a little too strong, but since I had Lucy helping me, it was possible in the end.'' I was able to get the memory that he didn''t want to remember ever again, however, under the circumstances, even he did not have any way to deny us ess to his precious memories. "Oh?" We had already seen this when we were in that city so seeing an adult Okagi wasn''t a new thing for us anymore, but still¡­ looking at a majestic creature that was the same as the world destroying serpent that I had seen in the memory of my master when we met Wali and her love. "As we can see here, the curse is a collective consciousness that, when grown to a certain extent, gains a will of its own and is able to exist without any hosts¡­ ultimately, something simr to what (Z-grade Paracita) are capable of." This curse, Fragmantin was a strange thing. ''We don''t know how it came to this world. We don''t know whether the gods sent it here themselves or what kind of connection they had with this thing exactly, but one thing that we know for certain is the fact that they were connected with this thing.'' And their connection to a curse that was slowly eating the individuals it was attached from inside, was no good thing. "The curse originates in one or more points, we do not know the methods it originates. However, from the findings, we''ve found out that the curse is able to proliferate rapidly. There are certain conditions that, when met by other individuals that do not possess this curse, open up a path for the curse to travel from one mental body to the other. Physical attachment has nothing to do with this curse as it exists in the mental world primarily, however, if the curse collectively bes strong enough by affecting a certain amount of individuals, it could manifest in the physical world. Though, thankfully, it doesn''t seem to be that advanced in this city just yet." The Fragmantin was a weird thing, even for Lucy. When she was scanning it, it tried to affect her as well, as if even as a copy of its data, it was alive. It was a strange being, a peculiar thing that I had never known about. And from how even she knew little about this, there must be some kind of conditions we still haven''t met for her to unlock that knowledge. However, she was able to analyse that thing by trapping the data of the curse. And she found out how this ''creature'' was the exact opposite of a ''helper'' of nature. "There are many individuals that are affected by this thing in the Kaksha, and there are a small number of people outside of Kaksha who are also affected by this curse in the city. The total goes to 186 people as of yet, but I''m sure the number will increase continuously." As I said, there are some kind of trigger conditions for this curse to travel from one person to the other, and until we know those conditions, we won''t be able to figure out the exact conditions for the curse''s progression. "A number of people are still in the initial stages of the progress, so they shouldn''t lose their humanity just yet, but there are a few that are very concerning." There were nine individuals in this city that were almostpletely consumed by this curse. And one of them¡­ "Even Cardinal?" The current grand order of Kaksha. A stigma holder and one of the strongest beings present in that city. He was messenger of the goddess of light Bo?k. Someone that possessed the brightest light of this era. He was a kind individualparable to the pope of Meyat, however¡­ He was affected by the curse and the curse that he had on him had progressed so much that it wouldn''t be long before the cursepletely consumed him and nothing else was left of him. "Headmasters¡­" Slowly and steadily, we told him everything that we had found in thisst few hours we had been away from here and with all the informationid bare before him, there was little that he could deny. The involvement of divinities, the spread of a strange curse that shouldn''t even have existed in this world in a specific institution of the Temple that followed these gods, and the fact that many of the individuals that had highly progressed curses on them were closely connected with the Temple was no coincidence. "What do we do now?" There was demonic evil on one side. A cult that possessed demon contractors that were sane and not in control of the demons that they had signed contracts with. And now there were divinities that were involved in a ploy that might not only hurt the entire humanity, this whole thing they had prepared might also give the demons an excuse for what they had nned themselves. "Haaa¡­" The headmaster was stunned by the new revtions. He had not expected this level of threat from this simple mission, and he certainly wasn''t looking forward to facing a problem that involved the Temple and the divinities they served. His expression looked grave all of a sudden, but that was within the range of our expectations. Though, what we did not expect was how he suddenly washed off the expression he had from his face and looked back at us with a straight face. "You four, do nothing." He ordered. And yes, it was an order. "This is not something you have to be concerned about anymore." He walked towards us, ced his hand on my, and Cradle''s shoulder, and looked straight in all our eyes. "Leave this to us¡­ I''ll tell you if we need your help regarding this. However until then¡­" he walked past us, and opened the door of his office before moving all four of us out of the room with his magic. "Don''t do anything foolish, and go enjoy your weekend." -ng. And then he shut the door before our faces, leaving all four of us a little confused, and also a little worried about the future. "This is going to be¡­" "Difficult?" "Yes. Though, not for us." He Told us to stay away from this, and truthfully, I''m going to do just that. And I know for sure that Cradle will make sure that the President does the same, so, even I have nothing to worry about anymore¡­ ''We''re off this case now.'' Which also means we can finally enjoy this weekend. Chapter 814: We’ll be flying there [Rein''s POV: ] "Any idea where they all might be, Celes?" Since the headmaster ordered us to stay away from this matter regarding the Temple and Kaksha, we had to concern ourselves with anything rted to that. ''And since he ordered us to do it and didn''t say it nicely as he usually does, I was certainly going to try and do it anyway.'' That would have annoyed her and since I could get aaay after creating a mess for him, he would have had to clean up after us. Which would of course be a headache for him, and seeing him suffer would have been fun. ''s¡­'' He knew us well enough by now to know what we could do and what we might want to do. That''s why he had entrusted my darling and Del to look after the two of us¡­ that bastard headmaster. [{ They are in the library~. Hahah, they had been ying around there since yesterday and they even found a few fun things while ying~! }] She sounded as cheerful as usual, but what she said caught our attention. "They are in the library? And they are having fun in the library? What fun thing did they find there? Some kind of secret passage leading to a secret ce?" The library certainly was a big ce and a special one as well and contained a number of secrets but¡­ one doesn''t just find something fun in that ce because they are bored. One would either have to be very lucky or very unlikely to find something that would be fun, as well as dangerous in that ce. [{ Yes~! They found a special book and then some of them went inside that book~. And while waiting for them toe out, some of them found a secret passage behind a bookshelf and went in there~. Hahah, they are now ying with candle ghosts~. }] "Candle ghosts?" Going inside a book wasn''t that special things since there certainly were special magical tomes of stories or historical records that pulled the readers inside them and showed them the stories stored inside those books. There were certainly a few such books in the library of Time buting across one of them was a rare thing. ''And even more rare than finding a special tome like this one was finding finding the secret passages inside the grand library that led to various special ces.'' The locations of these social (Doors) changed periodically so ording to what I know, sometimes no onees across such ces during their entire academic lives here. But they found not only a Door to a special ce but also a book of vivid stories? Just how much luck did they get in exchange for not being able to go to those flower gardens? ''And candle ghosts?'' The only thing that came to mind after hearing that was a creature that was famously found in the academy''s few secret ces. A cute creature that I also wanted to see for a while now. "Looks like they found the Store room of Faith." "She isn''t going to like all of them being there though. Let''s hope she doesn''t get too angry seeing all of them there." "Well, I''ve built up a good rtionship with her so if we go and ask her nicely, of course with her favourite food items, she shouldn''t mind having them y around there for a while." All three of them knew about this room Celes was talking about so I was the only clueless one among us. "Care to tell me what you guys are talking about?" I didn''t like it when these bastards left me in the dark. And even though I had warned them many times already, this wasn''t the first time they were doing this to me. "Right~. Uriel doesn''t know about Faith''s store room~." Del was excited to tell me, as always, but¡­ just like every other time, before she could say anything at all, my darling spoke up. "There are three storerooms that are owned by the librarian Lady Faith. One of those ces is filled with the (Ghost mes) or candle ghosts as Celes called them. She has some valuable books stored in there about Alchemy, Magic engineering, and topics rted to Creation. It would be a fun ce for Miss Mia, Zoe, and the others." He still had that bitter-salty rtionship with Del, but it was understandable since she had still not given up on me. ''She knows there''s only pain at the end of this path for her, and she still doesn''t want to leave her feelings for me.'' She was a good friend, but that was all she was going to be for me¡­ for us. But it wasn''t something I had been concerned about. ''Watching the two of them fighting like this and then the other one getting offended is a fun pass time for us.'' And I personally enjoyed them fighting like cats and mice. "So, shall we go there?" The president suggested as he finished his cup of tea, and darling nodded with a smile. "Let''s go pick them up. Ah, right. If you two aren''t doing anything, would you like toe with us?" "Hmmm?" He was asking both of them all of a sudden, but he should have asked that question when we sat down here to have the tea ten minutes ago. ''Bastard waited till the moment was right and they weren''t expecting something from him anymore.'' There was a reason the headmaster trusted him that much¡­ and that only made him more lovely. "You are going to see flower gardens? Will you even make it there if you leave now? Going there on foot with so many people would be difficult, no?" "Yup. That''s why we will be flying there." He said it so casually the other two didn''t find it that surprising for a moment, but then after a moment passed without anyone saying anything, a sudden realisation hit them. "What?! You will be flying there?!" Flying all the way to the outskirts in broad daylight would not only be difficult, it would also require arge creature¡­ more than onerge creature actually. Perhaps, if they use the flying magic, they could do it with a little ease, but even as someone that knew how to cast Flying magic, we weren''t str9ng enough to cast and maintain that spell on so many people for so long. That''s why this was so surprising to them. That''s why even the president was surprised by those casual words of his at this moment. "Don''t worry, everyone. I won''t have to cast magic on all of them. Tia can fly and handle one more with her since she has her familiar beast. Hide can handle a few of them with his water magic. I''ll take up Quin and a few others that have no way of flying yet. I''ve some artifacts that will help those who have wind attribute affinity. Alf and Bell can take a few of them with their familiars, and if we sum up all of that, we should have enough manpower to fly all of them to the destination I have in mind. And, no¡­ we won''t be going to the known flower garden that has appeared recently." He told me about a special ce a while back when the topic of these flower gardens had just started circting among the students. ''He had read about this special ce as well and he said it was situated somewhere deep in the outskirts of the sky ind.'' He didn''t tell me much about this special ce, but he was so excited about visiting it at this particr time that I was seeing a rare side of him. ''He was just too excited about that ce, and he also wanted to take all of them to that ce with us.'' But the mission of the headmaster came and he got so worked up about it that I was worried about him these past few days. But, looking at the smile that was back on his pretty face, I know I had nothing to worry about anymore. He was fine, and he was looking forward to going to that special ce he had mentioned as well. ''And if we just had to make up for the time, by flying¡­ I had my Branwen. We can take five or so of them.'' They would be surprised to find that the crow that they had known for so long, my simple looking familiar was in fact a special origin beast that only a rare few in this world had. But, we can deal with that with some believable excuses. "We aren''t going to the flower gardens, so¡­ what kind of more amazing ce are we going?" Del wasn''t interested in flowers of natural scenery that much. We knew that already so something like a magical flower field wasn''t going to excite her that much. "Oh, it''s a special ce. I know You will like it." He smirked at her. Yes he did¡­ "I''ve said it many times. I don''t like that look." "Hehehe." It wasn''t like she hated him. She couldn''t do it even if she wanted to since she looked up to him. But, she just couldn''t stand him. It was just the kind of rtionship the two of them had, and it was good. ''It was much better than what it could have been in the situation the three of us are in.'' So, this was pretty fun. "Alright then, let''s go pick them up." [{ Yei~! }] Celes was excited and if we were going to go see cute little candle ghosts, there was no way I wouldn''t be excited about it as well. ''They were cute, you know?'' One just needed the right eyes to see their cuteness. Chapter 815: Faith and the great library of time [Eon''s POV: ] Situated on the western end of the academy castle, the great library of time was one of the most important ces of the academy. ''It was filled with books of all kinds. All the knowledge that was avable in the world was gathered in this ce and though many ces weren''t avable to the students in their first years, there was no restriction on the books avable there.'' As long as one found these books, they could read them and explore them more deeply as their understanding about them increased. It was a magical ce filled with secrets and mysteries. And, apparently, the great library of time was based on a certain library that was dreamt about by the helper that aided the Masters that created this academy¡ª my master. ''I didn''t know about this when I came to the academy but through the encounter with the Keeper in the outskirts of the academy, I got to know more about Her and Them.'' They had a special rtionship. She considered all of them cute children that she liked ying with. She not only taught them when she felt like it, she also showed them how the world was an important ce, a real ce that they, as the divine beasts, should look after. ''And they learned from her like little students learning from a wise elder.'' Still though, since they weren''t actually her students, she didn''t really teach them-teach them. "Oh? Who do we have here~? The one that doesn''t forget~." "Hello Miss Faith." She was like a neighbourhood grandma to them whose great wisdom had taught them various things throughout the time she had been around. And since the academy was created in a time when the humans weren''t the primary race ruling this world, the divine beasts or the [{( Masters )}] that are the highest authority of this ind even to this day, the original founders weren''t all humans either. ''Those times were different from what I''ve seen in the fragments of her memories until now.'' And though I don''t know everything about them, and how things had been here back then, I know for certain that the young divinities that found a piece of floatingnd fascinating had always looked up to my master¡­ at least until the academy was built and she moved away from thesends. "Hello hello~. I know you aren''t here empty handed like every time so, quick quick. Give the boxes. Give, give." The sole librarian of the great academy of time that was based on the library we have back in our tower home, was a being that had been present ever since foundation of this building¡­ which was essentially thousands of years ago. Though, not everyone knew this fact. Not even the three of them who hade here with me today. "Here. Don''t eat all of it at once, okay? It''s quite difficult to make these things." "I know~. I know the best~. Hehe, that''s why I''ll store them and eat them one every day~." By looks, she seemed just like any other human being that spoke, ate, breathed, and lived. She had avender coloured hair that looked pretty fresh like the realvenders itself whenever one saw her and her deep gray eyes that were so pretty that one couldn''t help themselves keep looking right at them were something that made her famous among the other students. ''They didn''t know she was a thousands of years old automation, a highly advanced artificial intelligence that''s pretty simr to the keeper that''s present in the outskirts or the helpers like mister Rive or Doro that I''ve made until now.'' Though, she was a little different from those pure automations in the sense that she was partially a mortal being with flesh and blood. ''A perfect homunculus.'' She was immortal, but just like a phoenix, she changed her physical body every few centuries. She had all her memories intact from the time she was created, but every time she recreated herself, a part of her memories form the olden times was sealed off. She was the librarian of this ce and the only being that hadplete ess to every single thing present here, and, without her permission, I wasn''t even allowed to go to the door from where I could move to the secret space where the section only avable to those holding the special key of the highest rank could enter. "Haha, enjoy the food Miss Faith. And, I believe you know why we are here like this already?" "Of course~." Her origin and her past aside, she was a fun person to be around whenever one is in the great library of time. "Those rascals have been causing quite a ruckus since yesterday and if you hadn''te today, I was going to kick all of them out. Good thing you came when it hadn''t been toote~." She knew all the books that were present in this ce, all the things that one could find here, and answers to the question even I did not know of. Getting to know her and understand her took a while, but the rtionship we built up after spending my hours in this library were all worth it. ''I knew what she liked and what she hated more than anything else. I knew about the kind of knowledge she possessed and the things that she was allowed to say and things that she knew about herself as well.'' She found me very fascinating since just like her, I also could not forget anything. Anything at all. It was a rare condition and only a handful had ever been to this academy and especially to a ce filled with so many books, and so many elements that would give a stroke to anybody like us. ''Those who could not forget and were normal unlike the two of us mostly avoided going to ces filled with a lot of information.'' Libraries being on top of that list since books that had ever passed through their eyes or other senses were permanently stored in their minds. They couldn''t forget how a book looked, how it smelled like, what was the effect of it on their fingers, how the covers might have tasted like had they ever licked it¡­ the kind of sensory bombardment that they would have to face in such a ce. ''Not being able to forget was one bad thing, but having good senses above that was even worse since it naturally restricted people like us from being into fun ces like these.'' Everything was torture after one point and handling oneself was a more difficult task than doing anything at all. That''s why those who could not forget either killed themselves after one point or were short lived naturally. Thankfully¡­ we were different from thosemon people. "I knew you would already know about them having fallen into a vivid story book and some of them having found your basement with ghost mes. Thanks for not punishing-." "Say what now?" "Hun?" "What did you just say?" "You didn''t know about this? Really?" She was the librarian that could remember things, was great enough to possess powers equal to an elder or magic or a knight King, or was pretty much like a witch that could interfere with the reality, but¡­ she wasn''t omniscient or had anywhere like the text urate Angels. But still, she was a librarian and this was a Sunday morning so not many students were present around right now. She should have noticed if themotion causing group that was passing time here had suddenly gone quiet but, no? Her expression said she genuinely wasn''t aware of any of it so, this was certainly a little concerning for us. [{ "Where exactly are they right now, Celes?" }] [{ On the northern end, master~. }] "Oh, that''s why¡­" The northern end was pretty far from here, so it was possible that she had not noticed them. And it shouldn''t have been that long since they went in that book or found the basement so, it wasn''t that bad. "I knew it was weird how they suddenly stopped their murmurs and screaming. So they were sessful in finding some magical book and secret passage hun?" She puffed her cheeks as if she found this annoying. And it was pretty cute actually. ''She had a sweet tooth and loved special pastries that I made for her, so she certainly wasn''t a bad person.'' And even though she was harsh with the students that were only here to y around, she was pretty gentle and helpful to the students that actually wanted to read. ''Alf and Bell knew her well as well since we oftene here to read together.'' But then again, the two of them spend most of their time reading together so they don''t know when the two of us are talking about them behind their backs. Like, literally behind them. "Hump. I didn''t know they were doing something like that or else I would have gone and stopped them already." She took the big box of cake and ced it under her desk with still puffed up cheeks. "Go and get them. And get out of here. I''ve had to clean up a lot of things because of them. I didn''t even notice they had gone into those ces. Hump. Bad children." She shooed us from her sight, and¡­ it was fun seeing this side of her after I''ve seen howplex she actually was. "They are on the northern end. Let''s go, everyone." But she was a nice and fun person that was also very busy so we didn''t waste much of her time and walked towards where the great little friends of ours had been¡­ Chapter 816: Funny friends [Eon''s POV: ] After parting ways with miss Faith, we first went to the ce where the book of vivid stories had pulled Quin, Zoe and the rest in. They were trapped in a historic horror drama filled with elements of horror that made half of them rely on their friends and partners that were enjoying that thing instead of being afraid of those dangerous things that were killing and sucking people, and were appearing out of nowhere. ''They weren''t the characters but instead just spectators who could watch everything that was going on so, for those who like mystery like Alf, Bell, and captain Alpha, that ce was more fun than anything else they have experienced in a while. But they were mostly enjoying that thing, so we left them on their own after I told Zoe and others how they could get out of the ce, and some of them immediately got out of that horrible ce along with us. Which was a fun sight as well. ''Then we all went to find our other friends who were actually facing the ghost creatures.'' The creatures that resemble candlelights were small yful ghost species that were pretty useful and domestic creatures that helped in preservation of things and kept the temperature of ces cold without the help of any spells. ''This was the store room where Miss Faith had stored special books and some of them were sensitive to magic, so she had to ce some necessary measures in ce to deal with the books.'' She didn''t go there often so she had ced those cute, smart, and pretty intelligent ones to guard the books. ''They were cute creatures that looked like a monster out of a horrific story, creatures that looked pretty unattractive but were actually pretty calm and cool with the guests that visited their territory.'' That was the first reason I knew Rein would love them, and the second reason was their rtionship with darkness. ''They were dark and fire attributed creatures.'' That''s why I knew that they would love the person that possessed the most darkness among us as well¡­ and I was right. The moment we reached that room and came across the creatures that were starting to get along with our friends, Tia and the others, all the ones that were present there ran towards her and gathered around her. ''She loved them, as I knew.'' And she found them genuinely pretty as she finds any other kind of unique looking creature. "Are you sure this will work?" "Pretty much." "What do you mean pretty much?!" They were reading the books stored in there and Miss Mia was having fun with the new kind of knowledge that was stored in that ce. It was certainly not like the things that I had taught her, but they were still alchemical knowledge that she did not know about and that made her even more interested in those things. ''They were lucky to have found that ce so early into their lives here.'' And since they had found it without anyone''s help, they could borrow the books that weren''t usually avable to the new students like us. "How am I supposed to carry two people though!?" "You have someone that could help us, no?" "¡­right." They took their time browsing through the books, but thankfully they didn''t stay there for too long. They just picked up a few books and went out since the little ghosts were a little too spooky for their taste. But Rein wasn''t ready to leave them, so we had to leave her behind and walk back to where Zoe and others were. ''It was the library so talking loudly and ying around in big groups like that wasn''t allowed, so we had to get out quickly.'' So, we got out and then we told them about the n¡­ "Ummm, Lucifer? How will you take all of them though? And Uriel as well¡­ how can you handle so many people?" We were more than twenty people here. And aside from those who could take care of themselves and a few others, there were still a number of other people that we had to take care of. ''Hearing that we would be flying to some secret ce was a shock to them, but flying there was a necessary element.'' They will understand when we get there but until then, they were better not knowing much about it. The element of surprise was necessary here. "Uriel! Tell me how you are going to take care of them! Are you secretly a witch with special witchcraft powers that can make people fly?!" Tia had many questions, and the others did as well. ''Flying wasn''t a unique concept to students of this academy but doing it was a different matter altogether.'' They were confused, but that made things more fun for us. "Looks like everyone is ready?" They were surprised to see us since we told them we wouldn''t be back before Monday night, and since we were here, they knew we would finally be going to that ce they wanted to visit so much. ''So, they were looking forward to it¡­'' But then I brought up the new thing about going to a better, secret ce. And even though they were certainly excited and ready for it¡­ flying to that ce wasn''t something that they were looking forward to. "Tia take Miss Mia and Miss Araxie." "And go where though?!" "Up. Where else?" I was going to lead them there so of course they would have to follow me, but to get there, they would at least have to first start flying. "Ughhh! You better take us to a paradise!" Oh yes. It would be a paradise. Perhaps more than a paradise for her, since she could also get into the Astral realm. "Alright. Hide will take the three of them, Quin, Chry, Baal, and Med will go with me. Rein will take Zoe, Lizzy, Ginger and J his Miss fianc¨¦e. Captain Alpha will have to help Miss Luna, Prince Alph will be helped by Lady Ezra, and rest will be as we nned." We were ready to take off. And apparently, the Smander that Captain Alpha has, the grumpy creature that ys around the entire academy garden most of the time instead of being with him, can control the me particles in the atmosphere and with a unique fusion reaction help his master float continuously. ''Captain Alpha could help another person float with him and then with some wind magic, they could fly normally with us.'' That was pretty simr to how Miss Ezra was going to help Prince Alph, but she will most likely carry him in her arms like a princess. And that''s going to be a delightful sight to admire for all of us. "Alright then?" They were still confused about how I was going to take these four with me but they did not have to worry about us. "Uriel?" I nodded at her, and with an excited smile, she nodded back and called out her familiar, Branwen. [{ "Don''t make him too big. Five people can easily go on with 50% release." }] [{ "I was thinking 45% but fifty works better for me~." }] Branwen was a unique creature that can change his size. He wasn''t just a pretty ck crow. A night crow¡­ they were the nobles of the night, darkness, and shadows. -Oooooooooooooooong! When she summoned him from her familiar mark, some of them were seeing her do it for the first time. But then, for the first time in their lives¡­ they saw a simple crow with deep pink eyes turn into something¡­ that even they couldn''t exin. "Damn¡­" "What the hell?" "So¡­ she was hiding the fact that¡­ why?" Quin and Med found the new appearance of Branwen to be more attractive than when he was in his smaller state. Though, it wasn''t actually hisplete appearance. "Ohh! I see! Uriel was hiding a Spectrum bird!" In the form that he was in right now, it was pretty easy to mistake him for a (Spectrum bird). A blue ranked creature that was pretty rare but well known among the students. The unique thing about this one though, was the fact that it could change size¡­ so they thought this one somehow possessed a unique skill, and that made this creature even more special in their eyes. ''Only a few of them were able to guess the truth about him though, but they weren''t certain about their spection.'' A night crow was a unique origin beast and there were only a handful of people in this world that possessed them. ''They were as rare as Zoe and my crystal butterflies.'' But then again, not that many students believed that RayRay was actually a crystal butterfly so the two situations were pretty much the same. "Let''s go then." Rein was ready with Branwen, Alf and Bell were ready with their little dragons, the ones that I gave the special artifacts which let one use the power of wind elemental spirits to fly around were also ready. Tia was ready with her wolfpanion, Hide was ready with his (Dream bird) , a creature that could perform limited polymorph that currently resembled something that was close to an eastern dragon. Newtines had his own creation that allowed him flight, while Deleon had a special slime that helped him fly along with a few others. ''Mostly, everyone had their way of flying now¡­ so, we were ready.'' Of course, I was ready as well. So, I took out a whistle from my storage space, and took a deep breath. "Huuuuuuu." And then I yed it in a unique manner. -Pheeeeeeeeeee¡­! -Ooooooooong. Since it seemed to be made out of a crystal and was too good looking, the others knew this was no ordinary whistle the moment I had taken it out. But, only those who knew about the past of the academy and some of the less known facts that they could have only known about from the history books of the library, knew about this certain whistle. "SKEEEEEEEEEEE¡­!" And, well, knowing about it still didn''t affect their reactions that much. "Wow¡­" They were just as surprised as the rest of them when they saw the phenomenon that happened after I had blown that whistle. Chapter 817: Guardian flute [OP: ] In the great academy, there were various things hidden away from the students and even from teachers sometimes. There were objects in the academy that were scattered across the campus, in the hidden hallways that were covered behind the illusions even more powerful than what the headmaster could cast. Some of the mysteries of the academy were uncovered by the students every few hundred years before they get lost with the flow of time and the students have to find out about them once again. -Ooooooooooooong! In every batch, there is at least one curious individual that devotes their entire time finding these hidden pieces that either helps them immensely during their academic life, or bes a boon that helps them step above the rest of their batchmates. There certainly are cases where they face difficulties and troubles that they couldn''t deal with themselves, but their lives are protected by the ancient oak that maintains every corner of this entire academy ind, so they at least don''t have to worry about the worst. Still, to chase after a mystery in this academy is no simple task. There are various things that one has to look after, there are various dangers that the students do not even know about. There sure are challenges present all over the academy but that is for the growth of the students. The rewards given are always equivalent to the hardships that one has gone though, the things that they experienced and the heights that they reached through the help of the trials. It was a rule that had been in ce ever since the academy was founded thousands of years ago. There were various uniquethings in the academy garden, like the blue honeybee nest and the hidden houses of the creature that were too rare for the outside world, houses that the not even They had been able to find yet. But they were there, and the students knew about them¡­ and just like those known things, there was a certain thing about the academy that a rare few students who had read deeply about their houses, and the history of these houses from the older records of the great academy knew well about. "A guardian flute¡­" "That¡­ bastard." "How the hell did he¡­ where the hell did he even find that?!" "Since when does he even have it?!" The academy originally had four houses and the fourter ones were added by the various individuals who passed all the hidden retirements to establish the new houses. The newest house that was established before the headmaster became the headmaster of this academy, his own house, was the youngest of the houses present in the academy. However, even this youngest house, when it was founded by the headmaster, had gained a certain unique status in this academy and along with it, they also received a special feature that only the houses of the academy possessed. "Even the headmaster wasn''t able to find it back in his days¡­" "Thest time someone found it was a hundred and fifty years ago and it was also the captain of the True dragons." "That bastard¡­ hump." A guardian flute. One of the unique objects that belonged to the houses of the academy. "Our ride is here as well, everyone." There were a total of eight of them for the eight houses of the academy. At least, that was what was known to the individuals that knew about the history of these flutes. But, they were scattered all over not this academy, but over this entire ind. And, it was said that not only finding these objects was as difficult as a divine trial, when one found it, they would have to prove their worthiness for these objects by passing various trials as well. "SKYaaaaaaaaa!" But, those who manage to obtain these things, ultimately gain an absolute upper hand over the rest of the houses. "I''ll find one soon as well, just you wait and see, darling~." "Hahaha, I''m looking forward to it, of course~." A guardian flute was said to possess many abilities, and one of them was to summon specific beings, creatures that were connected with the academy. And, though they had not known just how true this thing was, now that they were looking at the (Advanced) ranked fire spirit, A creature resembling arge firebird, or perhaps even a phoenix¡­ they couldn''t help but confirm the abilities of this special item. "You knew he had it¡­?" Tia was not only confused when she saw those golden mes spark out of nowhere¡­ when she saw an advanced spirit like that one, a fire attributed one on top of that, being so friendly with the holder of the flute, she couldn''t help but envy him¡­ as well as re at him angrily for hiding it until now. "Wait¡­ wait wait wait. Did you two go away for this-." "No, Tia. Hahaha, of course not. That bastard has had it for around three weeks now. He had been ying around with that thing ever since he got his hands on it." Rein helped them clear some of their doubts after urging her to start flying and follow them. And, after they all took off¡­ she told them a little about how he had searched far and wide for all kinds of information on these things, how he found some leads on them, and how he finally managed to find the location of this one. She skipped many parts that weren''t going to be too fun to tell when they were busy flying through the sky of the floating ind¡­ flying above the city that was located in the sky itself. Those who had never flown over any city like this were too amazed by this unique sight before them, but even those who had experience flying over cities directly, and flying over long distances were amazed to see the magical beauty of the site located on their right side. "So¡­ you''re saying that he researched, found it, passed the trial and almost lost his life to get that thing? Him? Really?" "I was there so you can take my word for it, dear. That bastard didn''t even take my help when I was offering with pure motives. He did it on his own, and he earned that thing¡­ bastard." Tia was a fairy so she was the most experienced person when it came to flying. She had actually flown over the academy and over the entire ind many times since they came to the academy so this entire experience was nothing special to her. What she couldn''t take off her mind though¡­ was the Advanced ranked spirit that the five of them were riding on right now. She was envious. As a house captain herself, and apetitive person that believed in the possibility of making it beyond the odds, she was genuinely aiming for the top house spot this time. She had only one shot at this and she wanted to make the best of it¡­ but then there was this person. "I see¡­ oh! Then by any chance-." "Forget it, Tia. He does have a few other locations but I''ve already reserved them." She knew she was better than many others. She had been the best at everything she did all her life and people hated her for that. She had never received the kind of love from her family or people that she desired even though she was better than most of the children around her. She did not like how that society of her operated itself, and that''s why she longed for freedom. Perhaps the reason she loved Ast, the world famous adventurer Fairy so much, was exactly because of her longing for freedom. "¡­can''t we share them?" "Tia¡­" Rien could do nothing aside from looking at her dear friend with helpless eyes. "You understand I want to defeat that bastard as well, don''t you?" But she had her own desire to defeat this person, this threat that was standing in their way like the great mountain of the northern end of the ind of magic''s wealth. "I see¡­" As a castaway princess, she was a gem that was never acknowledged, and she knew that. She knew she was better than the others, talented as well. But, after she came to this academy, and met all these people flying alongside her right now¡­ she realised she wasn''t that special. Especially when she looked at the person leading them¡­ the one sitting atop that flying volume of fire. She couldn''t help but be envious of him¡­ she didn''t like him sometimes for how much better he was than her, but she knew he was not perfect either. And that fact made her even more envious of that bastard. "Tia, you know what?" -l-em,py-r After taking off, they had seen many things on their way. The flying route they were taking was pretty simple and fell under the academy''s ownership so it was avable only to the people affiliated with the academy. They had to take permission from the appropriate authorities to use these flight routes but, since the very president and vice president of the student council were apanying them, they didn''t need to worry about the small things. "Hmmm?" Thepetitive spirit among the other houses and the house captains was always strong thanks to Tia, and since there was someone standing in their way¡­ they also had a goal to chase after. "When he first told me about the Guardian flutes, as well as about three Key house relics, I thought he was joking and that things like that wouldn''t really be something us students can have. But then he took me to the ce where the flute was kept, and as he was fighting the test guardian, he showed me just how difficult it actually was to get those things." He was taking them to a special ce. "It was one of the few rare times I had ever seen him suffer like that¡­ he was bleeding, he was exhausted, he had practically used all tricks up his sleeve to defeat that guardian, tricks that you all haven''t even seen." They were flying. "I meant it when I said he earned it. And I mean it when I say we would help you all if we could as well, but, at the end, it will still be up to us to get these special items. To get those relics and defeat that bastard in this important game of his." All of them possessed some qualities that made them different from the rest of the students of the academy. Qualities that made them All special¡­ as well as unique from one another. "He''s doing it because he wants to win. And as his future wife as well as his dearest friend, I''m not going to let that happen." Even if he might be ahead of them all, even if he might have advantages over all of them that ced him far ahead of them all¡­ he was not perfect. Nor was he a genius like these friends of his. "Everyone here perhaps has their own reasons to want to win, to keep their houses on the top¡­ and I''m sure you do as well." In the academy, a house captain was nothing without the rest of his house. That''s why one of the primary criteria upon which the ancient oak tree chose the captains, was their potential to grow their subordinates. "Forget the useless things and just focus on what you have to do. I''m pretty sure that if you''re sincere enough¡­ you might just have as much chance to defeat that bastard as any of us." She gave her a smile, and stroked the feathers of her dear little crow. "We''ll be there soon now, I think." And looked on the horizon. They had reached the barren outskirts of the sky ind. The unique flower fields were visible to a few of them some distance away. Somewhere around here, there existed a hidden paradise that none of them knew about. And¡­ "Don''t fall behind." They were going to receive a greater surprise than they had expected pretty soon. Chapter 818: A hidden lake [Eon''s POV: ] The feeling of being in the presence of a high ranking spirit was nothing new to any of them anymore. ''We had yed with many of the spirits during the familiar summoning event and there were many students who already owned high ranking spirits even among us.'' But being able to maintain high ranking sprints in the physical world for a long time was not something possible for the young students with a limited mana pool. That''s why no one had ever thought about having a spirit to ride on just yet¡­ it was certainly a simple and possible thing but being able to materialise the spirits of high ranks and riding them was not something easy. That''s why I didn''t suggest any of them to even try something so foolish. ''But the spirit that we were riding on, this special high ranking fire spirit that freely flew in the sky along with so many of us as if our weight had nothing to it, this special cheerful fire spirit was a special one.'' I didn''t own it, and I also didn''t have any contract with it. It was simply one of the many guardian spirits that was affiliated with our house, something the owner house captain of the specific guardian flute could borrow for help. { "We have reached thending spot. Be careful as you go down everyone!" } The sensation of flying though the sky of this floating ind wasn''t new to us anymore since we had been trying something simr ever since we met the rainbow mingos in the past. We had experienced a lot of things since we came to this ind and joined the academy, so, not many things were that surprising and exciting to the two of us anymore. But still¡­ what we were doing right now certainly was going to be more fun than just spending our time in a simple flower field. "Oyyyyyy! What do you mean we are going tond?! There''s nothing down there!" "Where were we supposed to go, you fucking bastard?! Are you just ying with us?!" Tia and Cradle both were shouting at me for not being clear or precise with my instructions, but it was fun seeing them like that. "We''re going down, simple as that." We were currently in the border area of the sky ind, at the mountain area covered in lush greenery. There was nothing below us except for the green tall trees, not even a clear area tond on. "Let''s go, friend." -Skiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~. They just had to follow me as they had until now. There was nothing more to this. The spirit guardian did what I wanted them to do through the new connection we had built up in the past few days, so it simply did as I said and dived directly towards the green forest. [{ "You jerk." }] And they all had no choice but to somehow follow behind me without getting lost in the thick lush green canopy. -Sherrrrrrr¡­ "Quin, Chry, look after the ones behind you." They did great until now by sitting well on this spirit body without falling down so, I knew they would do well as we dived down as well. -Shrrrrrrr¡­! -SHURRRRR¡­! We passed through the canopy of trees, passed through the big leaves, and somehow, with the help of the guardian spirit and some magic from me, we found ourselves on the ground¡­ though, the others weren''t as good as a few of us. "Oyyyyyy! Get me down! Hey¡­! That thing will eat me! Helpppppp meeeee!" Tia somehow got entangled in a spider, and a big spider was now running towards her¡­ thankfully, she had her familiar beast that helped her get out of that ce before she became a nutritious food for the simple creature. "Hey you damn bastard!" My dear elder sister Ca was also stuck in a of vines. And she was cursing at me with almost tears in her eyes. The entire flying experience was no fun to her and since this was her first time actually flying freely like that, she was feeling nauseous from the experience. A few of them, like Lizzy and Baal, were puking in corners already and the others were helping the poor fellows. Rein was fine, but Cradle was being helped by her even though both of them knew she had no need for it. Some of them were uncertain about how they were supposed to follow us down here, so they waited until we had reached the ground and then made their way to us¡­ which was actually the better thing to do, but it wasn''t any fun. They missed the real fun thing by doing that, but, well, it was their loss. "Is everyone here~?" They were cursing at me, cursing at the way I chose to make this crashnding, but none of them were hurt in any way thanks to the spells from the mages of this group. "You know what, everyone? We should all beat that guy up." "Good idea." "I''m in as well." They wanted to beat me up for how I was ying with them, but even they couldn''t deny the fact that this little stunt was a fun one. "Guys?" I looked around and everyone was thankfully present here with me. The area I had chosen wasn''t any random one since I had been looking for a ce such as this one with my three eyes ever since we reached this mountain area, but there was no need to tell these little details to the rest of them. They knew this ce was pretty dangerous to travel alone since creatures of various ranks were found in various ces in this mountain, but since we were no small group, none of them were afraid right now. Though, certainly¡­ "Is this ce supposed to be like this?" Some of them were wondering why the soil beneath their feet was blue, and why the tree trunks that were supposed to be brown were almost ashen. They had not noticed this before but now that they were looking at this ce thoroughly, they found out that there were more strange things present in this area. "Look at that spider¡­ isn''t that thing a little too colourful?" "Nah, forget that. Look how those small ants are gathered around that stone. They are so uniform it seems like they are doing some kind of a ritual." "I saw something moving back there¡­ this ce is creepier than that basement!" But they had nothing to worry about. At least in this ce, they had nothing to worry about. "Everything is alright everyone! Please gather around us so that we can discuss the following points!" It was afternoon already so we had to move out quickly and get to the destination before it was toote. ''We had to start the dinner before nightfall as well, so wasting too much time on things that were prettymon to this special forest wasn''t any good thing.'' It was better to just keep moving and carefully have the necessary fun on our way. They were going to like it from here on out, so they can keep cursing at me however much they want as long as they keep their feet moving. "This is no paradise, Lucifer." They all gathered around us, and as I knew, the first thing Tia did was to re daggers of questions at me. But I had answers that she desired. "I know, and I know unlike this dummy, some of you alredy know this is not the final destination. So, please listen to me carefully." We were on a mountain and this was not the only mountain in this ce. There were a number of them all lined up one after the other one and they continued like that until all nine mountains covered a sixth of the edge of the ind. There were a few things that were vary famous about these things, there were a few things that were dangerous in here and there were a few things in this ce that were unbelievable that they didn''t even try to find any truth behind them. This particr mountain that we were on, also had one of those mind blowing elements somewhere hidden from the rest of the world. "The final destination is theke located in the center of this forest." There were various things in this mountain that could have been attractive for this outing, but since we were primarily going for the flower gardens or the cool phenomenon that had appeared in the ins of the outskirts of this ce, there were various things here that could have made them all happy. But then again, there was a secretke hidden somewhere on this mountains. And to reach this ce, we had to go through a few certain ces that were like some points needed to be paired with others to open up the hidden path. "There''s ake here?" "Since when do these mountains have ake?!" "Wait, why didn''t we see ake when we were flying here?" They should have seen something as big as ake, or something that could at least be considered ake when flying to the top of this mountain. So this was confusing to them. "There''s ake here. I''m sure there is, and from how much I know, not many people had been there. It''s a secret ce, open only to those who solve a certain puzzle of these mountains and catch the eye of the guardian of these nine mountains. The headmaster had been here once, and after him, only a few students of the academy had ever made it to that ce¡­ thest one of them being the famous Witch-Wizard couple of the northern continent." A hiddenke. Just the concept of this ce reminded me of the very firstke I had seen in my lifetime. The very ce where I met those special creatures and the first great tree of my life. "I don''t know much about this ce¡­" These words came as a shock to them all, including Rein who I hadn''t told much about this entire trip. "But I know we are going to have some good fun together." They will like it. I know it for sure. So¡­ "Let''s get moving." There wasn''t much to talk about. This was an adventure that we were supposed to enjoy. ''It was a good distraction as well.'' So I knew as long as I''m doing this, with them¡­ I could keep myself away from everything else happening in this world. This was a break time for me. So, I wanted to enjoy it as best I was capable of. Chapter 819: Hiking the third mountain [Eon''s POV: ] "I still don''t understand why we have to climb down the mountain if we are finding ake. Aren''tkes like this one supposed to exist somewhere On top of the mountain-¡­!" Alf was helping Bell climb down a steep rock and when she was about to fall down, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her back. "Careful there." That much saved her from falling to the ground, but this little incident attracted the attention of the rest of people walking in front of them. "Ahem! Thanks for that." Bell got lost in his special purple eyes for a moment, but since this wasn''t the first time something like this had happened, she controlled herself and got back to her senses. ''And after that Simple thanks, and a visible blush on her face, she walked off towards the front at Rein and the rest.'' She was leading the group in the front for now since we only had to go straight down this certain hill to reach the first passing point, while the rest of us helped the others who were having any difficulty from the back. "You know what, Alfred?" They were chatting with a smirk on their face, enjoying nature, the fine humid afternoon, and the cool breeze of the forest. "Yes, captain Alpha?" They were already having fun climbing down this hill even though it was a difficult thing. But since they weren''t any ordinary humans, they were having a fun time together. And, asional fun chats like this one made the climbing part easy for the rest of the group. "You should ask Princess Isabe out." "Yup. Agree." "You two are practically a couple, making it official would be a fine addition to this group full of singles." Captain Alpha, Jen, and Hide were giving some good advice to the newly in-love brother of mine. But, I agreed with them quite a bit. "I think she likes you as well, Alf." "You think so as well, hun Lucifer." It wasn''t their first time suggesting something so absurd to him since this ''incident'' wasn''t the first time something romantic had happened between them and one of them had run away with an embarrassed look. This has be prettymon since two weeks ago, specifically twelve days ago. "W-what¡­ what do you mean she likes me ''as well''?! Who said I like her?!" "You don''t?" Including myself, six others around us who heard that looked at him with disbelief for a moment. "What¡­ what does that mean? There''s no way I could hate her. And why would I, in the first ce? But that doesn''t mean I like her That way-." "Careful everyone. There''s a sharp edge here." None of us paid any attention to his excuses after he confirmed that he liked her As Well. Well, it was pretty natural if we see it logically. ''As a half elf, as well as due to her natural disposition, she was sensitive to draconian energy.'' Ever since my birthday where I proposed Rein, she had been attracted to the unique energy that is always surrounding him. An energy that she now knew belonged to Uto. But, when she did not know about it and only considered this unique attraction to be some kind of coincidence, she was getting interested in him. And after they met in the academy and became part of the same house, they got the chance to get closer. ''Their simr interests, his dedication to his passion, her dedication to her interests, there were quite a few things that brought them closer.'' And thanks to the changing times, circumstances, and some fated incidents, they had gotten closer. ''They knew they liked the other''spany.'' And they denied it¡­ which meant they knew about this attraction to the other party well. ''They weren''t kids. They were younger than us, they weren''t yet adults officially so they couldn''t make it official even if they wanted to, but something could certainlye out of it.'' They were exploring it in the name of friendship, and seeing them and their pure ''friendship'' was a fun experience for the rest of us. ''Not only did it encourage the others who had a person they were attracted to, their pure friendship was a reminder to couples like us how important these little things were to a rtionship.'' They were cute together. Them getting together would be a pretty good thing. "Alright, onest little climb. There should exist a crescent fallen tree with three other trees growing on top of it." After travelling down the mountain slope, we were finally going to reach the ce that would mark the start of a few hour long adventure that all of us should remember for quite a while. "There''s a tree up there with other trees growing from it?" Med wasn''t the only one that was questioning this thing. There were many that had never seen trees growing from fallen trees but those of us who were familiar with the forests and the unique nature of some of the special kinds of trees knew well about how this was certainly possible. There was a steep hill before us now. And beyond it existed the first stop. We had to go up and doing so was easier than tracking down from this third mountain. "I''ll go ahead. You all catch up slowly." And saying that, the winged fairy just took off towards the top of the hill, issuing a challenge to the rest of the group. And, as I knew, Rein and Ca were the first ones to take her up on that offer. -Ooooooong. However, since she was actually the only one that had wings here, the others had to use their own unique way to chase after the flying fairy. "Watch out for the sharp rocks~." Rein used her special water magic to block Tia in her way while she used her skill to step and run on the air. Ca was going to directly jump up by using her Aura but she missed the aim and crashed into the very hill she was supposed to climb. "Ahahaha! Cradle used that opportunity to create a limited explosion that would throw her properly upward, but her n failed when the president grabbed her and pinned her in her ce with SanSan helping him. However, since he did that, even he lost the chance to be in the lead. ''Lizzy had no way to even fight in thispetition so she just stayed in her ce and chatted with Zoe and Med who were having fun looking at the rest of them fighting to get on top of the hill before the other.'' There was a race going on, and there was an audience enjoying this show. They werepeting, but the winner of this little contest of theirs was already decided¡­ "You all should focus on the important thing instead of fighting among yourselves." Quinmented with a smug smile while standing on top of the steep hill¡­ along with Ezra and Miss Mia. "Hen?" The three of them had somehow made it to the top even before the one that could fly and the one that could almost fly¡­ "Hey! Using spirits is cheating!" And both of them knew very well just how that could have been made possible. "This was not anypetition and there were also no rules~. And if you just use your head ande up from the right side like the others, you would save so much energy, you know~?" She was mocking them, which was a rare asion where she was having fun after having done something mischievous. Not that she herself had done anything wrong since what she said definitely made sense. "Let''s go as well." "Um-hmm~. I want to see those trees~." Right beside the steep slope, there was a narrow passageway that was better than the slope for faster travel. It was narrow so only a few people could use it at a time, but it was still better than this straight wall. "Alf, please take care of Baal and Med." "Ah, yes." One just had to use a speed enhancement magic to Swoooosh over to the other side, and wind spirits made it even easier. "Zoe?" "Oh, of course~. Come,e." The other dummies continued their fight for the top spot even when we had reached the top of the hill, and though they took their sweet time, by the time they all hade up there, we were already done admiring the scene before us. "Now that''s¡­ pretty." Before them stood an arched tree half buried in the ground on both ends. And the arch was six times my size already, so not even prince Alph''s orc vice captain with the tallest height among the people present here could touch the top of it. It must have been a big tree before it fell, a great tree most likely. But its lifespan had ended and it was nothing more than a lifeless piece of hardened wood upon which three distinct lives were now flourishing. "How could these three trees be of different kinds?" Lizzey was astonished just like the rest of us who came up here together. This was their first time seeing a natural wonder but¡­ it was different for a few of us. After living in that forbidden forest for all those years, there were only a few things I could think of that would still surprise me as much as these people. "Amazing¡­." Rein had wandered through nature for decades, Tia had lived in the forests most of her life, and the same was true for Gabriel as well. Quin had also lived on a remote ind most of her life, Hide had lived in a deep forest area, and our President had spent most of his life in the forest of the world he hade form. Thus¡­ ''A forest held a great and unique meaning to most of us, and after today, the same was going to be the truth for those who had no such unique connection with this vast nature.'' This was the first point, and after we cross five more of them, we will reach the destination¡­ and when we do, I''m pretty sure a disbelief is going to shroud this little group of ours. Chapter 820: Cave under the wall [Zoe''s POV: ] Everyone liked how there was a big tree with big red leaves, one with small blue leaves, and a normal tree with many green leaves growing from the dead tree that seemed to have turned into a giant stone monument. ''It was pretty. Very pretty with the tall green trees all around us casting their unique shadows.'' It was fun seeing them all happy about them, but since we couldn''t stop there for long, they could only y there for a short while before we had to leave for the next stop. ''Big brother was hurrying since he wanted to reach the ce before nightfall, and seeing how they were taking so much time with all the small things, he knew he had to be harsh if we wanted to enjoy this.'' Everyone was upset that he was rushing then. Tia and others had even been cursing him since earlier and there were many that did not like how they were rushing things even though they could just take it easy. We still had the entire tomorrow so there was no need to rush so much. We had not encountered any creatures on our way since we started so everyone thought this entire mountain area was a piece of cake fun garden where they could have all the fun they wanted. ''But that was not the case.'' In truth, this entire mountain range, all nine of the mountains were filled with all kinds of energy beasts of various ranks. ''The master of these mountains themselves were a Divine beast.'' They owned every element existing on this mountain so they already knew of our existence and even though the others couldn''t do it, I could sense the eyes that had shown quite a bit of interest in our movements until now. ''Perhaps big brother was the only person aside from me who knew about their hidden gaze.'' But he was already expecting something like this, so this did not surprise him at all. He continued with what he was doing and led us to the second point, a small open area filled with countless colourful flowers that the others found more attractive than the flower fields that they had heard about from the other students and the residents of the ind. ''Prince ud''spanion, Miss Ore who was an old resident of this ind had told us a good lot about the unique phenomenon that turns many barren ins into flower fields, but even she was surprised to see this small flower area.'' It was pretty, and there were all kinds of rare and unique flowers here. We even gathered some of them and carefully stored them as aunt Haze had taught us, and since this wasn''t something that belonged to any of us, we were going to decide who the flowers belonged to after we got out of here. For now, we decided to just continue since there was little to see in this ce and moved on to the following destination that was located inside a certain cave. ''That ce was creepy since it was dark, but after experiencing that haunted ce inside the book, they had be a little ustomed to the dark and the creepy things.'' We passed the cave that was rtively boring and not that special and after that, we also passed a big grasnd that wasn''t that special. ''We then came across a great tree, a big tree with a unique ecosystem of its own.'' There were various cute and dangerous creatures that lived on this tree, but no one even dared to approach us since there were so many strong people among us. I was here as well, so, they wouldn''t dare approach us with any ill intentions if they wanted to live with their families. ''We were being watched by the owner of these mountains as well, so the bigger creatures were naturally staying away from us¡­ at least, that was the case until we finished our work at this great tree and reached thest destination.'' Here, we had to fight. It was inevitable. -Booooooooooooom! [{ "Help me here, Alf." }] [{ "There''s a bunch on your left, Cradle." }] [{ "I can see that. I''m not blind." }] [{ "Rein, help Med and others please. I''ll take care of these things." }] [{ "On it." }] It was a hill area blocked on three sides. There was no way forward and still, there were creatures appearing before us out of nowhere so, it was at least obvious that there was no dead end. We just had to clear these creatures out and we will be able to reach thest destination¡­ but, it was not going to be an easy task since even though we were thirty three people here, the opponents were not a few or many¡­ there were hundreds of them. There were so many of them that we had to divide areas among us to deal with them while guarding our friends who could not fight directly or could only support us. ''Which was difficult at the start since everyone was not familiar with the other''s fighting styles, but thanks to big brother and his excellentmunication andmanding skills, everyone got better at this in no time.'' The creatures, the various energy beasts were swarming at us continuously but, under the system that they created, not only there were no problems arising, the others were having fun as well. [{ "Bell, on three of clock, to the right." }] [{ "Hmmm? Akhhh! What the¡­!" }] They did not know how they weremunicating with one another without anymunication devices, but they just made an excuse that it was Cradle''s special familiar''s unique skill. And that was better than telling them about Celes like they did with sister Elle''s Branwen. ''I don''t think there really was any need to show them how Branwen could get bigger and all that. They were hiding their identities and showing this thing would only put them in a difficult position.'' I certainly didn''t think they would do this since there were quite literally many ways to fly all these people here, but then again¡­ it was big brother''s n. He must have done it because of some reason that I don''t understand at the moment. [{ "Oh, I don''t think they areing anymore." }] [{ "The fluctuations I''ve been feeling since earlier have stopped as well." }] Our president as well as the rest of us were fighting strong opponents of (Blue) rank and above. Some of the creatures present there were even of (Indigo) rank so this was no easy situation. Some of us might have gotten hurt had it not been for their precise positioning and fighting strategies. However, they would not understand that since they did not know the kind of danger they were facing. ''Big brother and a few of them were suppressing the strong creature on their own while the strategy they used was an advanced one that was designed to work against the specific creature that they were fighting at the moment.'' It could have been different if he wasn''t here or when he wasn''t actively cutting down the stringer monsters on his own. But thankfully, the creatures had stopped so it seemed like the owner of this ce was satisfied with the performance we presented to him. "Huuuu¡­" The area was covered in blood of the beasts that died by our hands, the creatures that had done no wrong to us had just lost their lives for no reason. ''I don''t like this.'' But then again, what would happen to the people who stumbled across this ce unknowingly? ''The creatures were not of high intelligence and were only doing what they instinctively had to to protect the ce that acted as the gateway between their homes and this mountain.'' The others had not seen it until now, but now that they were almost done fighting, they noticed something that answered the biggest question they had. "Hmm? What''s¡­ that?" "Does anyone else see that thing or am I hallucinating?" "Were you poisoned by some creature you dealt with for you to say that, Med?" "No, no. Look¡­ look at that thing on the ground." Before us, there was a tall wall blocking us on all three sides so this seemed to be a dead end. The rocks were sharp and from what we can tell, this entire area seemed to be the end of this mountain. ''There should have been nothing else across this tall wall. Just the ending slope of the mountain that we were on.'' Everyone had thought this to be the case, at least¡­ But when the creatures stopped and they had moved closer to this wall, they could see that the bottom edge of these walls wasn''t connected to the ground¡­ In fact, there was no edge to an entire side of the wall, to begin with. "Is that¡­ a chasm?" "Hey. What''s that now?" Some of us couldn''t help but question how there was a deep hollow space present in the area where nothing should have existed. But denying the facts was not something we could do in this situation. "Everyone¡­" Brother called out to everyone after he was done dealing with thest of the creatures and looked at everyone with an excited expression before looking at the hollow darkness present under the wall. "That''s ourst destination." There was a light in his eyes that seemed different from the excitement that he had shown to us until now, a light that a few of us recognized instantly. "The cave of trials." I could sense divinity from deep into this cave so it was easy to tell someone, or something divine was present in there already. ''This is the final destination.'' And after we cross this cave¡­ we will reach the special ce that had made even my big brother so excited. "Let''s rest a little, clean up the area¡­ and go." He was looking into the cave with his eyes shining with curiosity. And, since we knew him well, we also knew that this curiosity of his was not going to cost the same to everyone present here. Something is going to happen now, we were sure of that already.'' But, since we hade this far and he was the one to lead us all here¡­ we might as well y his little game. ''Who knows? All of us might just end up earning something valuable from this~." Chapter 821: Trials of the cave [OP: ] Caves of trials. There are various stories in which individuals enter a cave and face a certain trial given by a higher power in that cave, or trials of the ancient past. The individuals challenging these trials risk their lives for certain rewards that would help them on their own journeyter on, and this ultimately results in a significant turning point in their lives as well. [{ *Stories about unique rewards that would help the challengers of these caves in various points of their journey were an age-old tale.* }] This time as well, it was going to be quite simr to those old heroic tales. However, the only difference between the challengers of this cave, the cave governed by the ruler of these nine mountains, was the reward that the challengers of this cave would receive. [{ "Can you hear me?" }] [{ "Yes¡­ seems like even divine interference doesn''t affect this origin connection, hun?" }] [{ Not quite. If you could sense the divine presence like us, you would know that the owner of the mountains could certainly restrict any kind ofmunication if they wanted, however, since they find the presence of not one or two but multiple origin beasts in a single ce interesting, they must be allowing this specific channel so that they could also listen in on us. }] The cave resembling a chasm was not really a chasm. It was a simple cave that just happened to look like a t emptiness on the ground. The passage that each of them entered through was a dark one, so they all had to rely on magic or artifact lights to illuminate their surroundings. Even so, for some reason, the visibility of their surroundings was only a few feet from any kind of light they used. Additionally¡­ every single one of them found themselves alone as soon as they entered the cave. They tried calling out to others, telling them to stop ying the pranks and not mess with them but, all of them soon realised that this was not any prank. They had all been isted, and it was the truth. [{ "RayRay is right~! I can also tell that someone other than us is listening in on us! Hump! Bad person!" }] Just like how each member of the hero''s party was given an individual trial after entering the caves of trail, all of them had also received trials¡­ or at least, they will receive their tails when they stop hesitating and start moving through the eternal darkness present before them. -Swiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ They believed in the individuals that they followed after so they knew that they at least weren''t going to die in this ce, but as He had warned them, if they wanted to see that super special ce, they had to finish this trial and reach the other end of it. And since they were all by themselves, they will have to do it while having faith in their friends. Most of them were certain that they could take on even a dragon after the snakes they had before entering the cave, but some of them were still hesitating¡­ [{ "Lizzy. It''s alright. Don''t be afraid and move¡­ a source of light has no need to fear any kind of darkness." }] [{ "W-what does¡­ now what does that mean, Zoe?" }] A clone of Celes was present with all of them, so Eon was keeping an eye on them. And, as someone connected with him, Zoe knew well what was happening all over this mystical cave. [{ "Just start walking, dummy. Everything will be alright." }] Or perhaps not. They had no idea what would happen to her in a ce controlled by a divinity¡­ she was a descendant of a demon king, descendant of a fallen and also a possessor of the power of Holevil. She did not know about her parents so she had no idea that she was a half-angel herself and since a hell ruler was looking after her, they did not know how they would react when she was in a divine territory of another divine being. But, from how much Eon knew about the ''Laws'' and the nature of both of the higher beings in question, he knew That One would not care about the presence of a local divine ruler while the owner of these mountains would not want to have anything to do with someone rted to That being. He also knew that the ruler of the mountains was a highly intelligent, wise being that would understand her situation instantly. That was the main reason he had brought her with them as well. Zoe was her closest friend, so They should know very well what could happen if they crossed any lines. [{ "U-umm¡­ ok. I''ll go if¡­ if you say so." }] The trials that were given to the individuals by the caves in the lores were of great significance. They tested their morals, their ethics, knowledge, and evaluated their qualifications. These trails were of great importance to the character''s development as well. However, since this was no lore written on the stone tablets, it wasn''t necessary that they would face trials simr to the ones in those heroic tales. [{ Master! Master! Look~. }] Just like how even Eon was faced with the task of helping a few Gazelles out with their little logical predicament, everyone had received simple or at least simple looking trials that tested their qualifications to enter the ce at the end of this path. They were strong individuals, and most of them were smart enough to have almost found the solutions to their trials as well. Some of them had received simple trials that tested their pure talents or their mastery with their specific abilities, so it was pretty much simple for them. Even for Zoe¡­ "Hmmm¡­" The puzzle that she hade across was something a divine creature of wisdom like her could solve pretty easily. But¡­ "You can do better than this, mister Ruler." Just like the others, she could have alsopleted her challenge and went ahead. Instead, she chose to do something simr to what her dear big brother had done. "You know what I am, then¡­ Isn''t a test of this level an insult to not just me, but ultimately to the divinity We possess as well?" Eon hadpleted his trial as soon as he came across that family of Gazelles and it ended up giving the ruler no idea of the true capabilities he actually possessed. And he knew the higher being wouldn''t have known as much as they would have liked to from his sess, so he respectfully asked for another trial. One that would be of an appropriate difficulty. And he got what he wanted¡­ "Aren''t you going to answer me? Should I call you by your Original name, mister?" She looked in a certain direction in the darkness before her. She did not need light to see in this illusionary darkness. She herself was a divine entity, a source of light that did not need another source defining her existence. -Oooooooooooooooooong! There was a smile on her face. A smile that the ruler of the nine mountains couldn''t possibly fathom, or ignore. "Hehe, thanks~!" She threatened a divine being¡­ something she didn''t find to be a big thing as a fellow divine being herself. She knew they all were going to reach the end of this cave at the same time since she had already analysed and figured out this divine boundary. She knew well how it worked and she knew she could create a better one than something like this, but she couldn''t do it without proper materials or equipment since she yet could not control her divinity. She was only a young phoenix for now, even though she was better than most normal divine beings present in this physical realm. She still had to go through her true first awakening, but when she does go through that, she will be an unfathomable existence as the descendent of a High Phoenix, perhaps one of the few beings of that rank that had ever existed in this nature. [{ "Don''t overdo it, Zoe." }] [{ "I haven''t even started, big brother!" }] She was having fun, and so were the others who had unexpectedlye to find their own trials to be something eye opening. [{ *They never knew how capable all of them were until now.* }] As people who mostly only surrounded themselves with masters and geniuses like the others in their group, they had forgotten they weren''t the same as most of the other academy students. Even if not all of them might be good withbat, they could do things that they were far better at than the rest of the group. Some of them could create things. [{ "Hey, I think I''m done with this." }] Some of them could fight exceptionally well. [{ "Same. I''m done." }] Some of them were good at handling their weapons, skills, or the special abilities that they possessed¡­ abilities like the power to handle money with the help of simple magic. Or the ability to absorb things. Or, the supernatural knowledge that they naturally possessed because of a special skill. They were abnormal people. [{ "Looks like most of you are done." }] And these special trials aimed to test the things that they were best at unexpectedly made them realise this simple fact. [{ "We should finish soon as well, big brother~." }] Being better than someone else brings pride, and sometimes, pride bes the reason for the downfall of a person. That''s why the presence of someone that even the best of them couldn''t reach was necessary in their case. As someone facing a Trial of the Divine, he also knew that fact very well. But since he wasn''t the summit that they all needed to reach, he wasn''t any different from any of them. [{ "Yes, let''s finish." }] He was also chasing after someone¡­ or something. And to achieve and surpass that, he very well knew the path that he needed to walk on¡­ Chapter 822: Against predators [Eon''s POV: ] The trial that I received was pretty simple. I just had to lead a few Gazelles to a certain ce in the darkness. ''There was a mother in this small group and there was a child, along with two fathers that did not seem to like each other much.'' They did not fight with one another but they still weren''t on best terms with one another¡­ and it was pretty understandable since no one liked sharing their mates. But, this situation was different. ''Anyone who did not know about these creatures would think that they were some normal beasts that were at odds with one another.'' But that was not the case. ''They were called (Curved horned Trimates) and it was actually a funny name. ''The females of this kind find two mates and even though they aren''t necessarily the dominant ones in their small families, they have a strong grasp on their families.'' The two mates that they find learn how to cohabitate after a certain time, but, just like the pack that I was given, these ones also seemed to be a new family. ''They just had to follow the lights that were appearing in the darkness, but since there was a conflict between two males, the female was ill, and the child was a little too energetic, they couldn''t follow the lights as they were supposed to.'' The female couldn''t handle the males properly since she was ill, and so the males ended up continuously yelling at one another. But, since she was still there and the child that belonged to one of them was running all around where the lights were appearing, they had no choice but to look after both of them. ''My task was simply to lead them where they were supposed to be.'' But with a hyperactive child and a polyandrous family, it was no simple task to aplish. At least, not from a general perspective. ''These creatures were genuine (Purple) ranked creatures as well so even as illusions that looked like normal creatures, they were still strong enough to crush me to death with their tall physiques.'' They were also creatures of nature so, they were a rare species that not that many people in this world knew much about. ''Thankfully, I knew well about their kind, and their unique behaviour patterns.'' It didn''t take me long to make the females''s condition even worse, to restrict the movements of the young child with illusion magic, and to get the males on better terms. ''They cared about the female so they had no choice but to listen to the third party present if the person that was supposed to be the main decision maker wasn''t in any condition to do anything.'' The males of this kind were pretty dumb muscle heads that only showed off their physiques to impress the females. The females mostly made the decisions among them, or the young ones that were still not hit by the air of puberty. They were strong creatures but that strength was of no help when their loved one was in trouble. The young one had already gone far ahead of them thanks to my illusions, so they were even more worried and this made it easier to control them. ''It was an easy trial to pass¡­ that''s why when I asked for the next one, I was looking forward to a harder one that would be more challenging and interesting.'' I was trying to understand the processing powers of the Lord of these mountains and see just how they calcted the things, made decisions, and thought about things through this, but¡­ "Haaa." To give me such a trail right after an easy one was pretty unfair of that ''wise'' being. -Booooooooooom! The first test was about helping a bunch of beasts, while on the other had, the second one was about defeating a kind of best that even the ruler of the ce should have known was a too much for a little human boy like me. "GURAAAHHHHHHH¡­!" A (ck tooth Sabre). A jaguar like species that was strong enough to be ranked (Purple) in their adult primes. They were creatures of great strengths and in the ces where there are no tigers or mountain rulers, their families tend to be the rulers that rule over a vast forest region. ''They were strong creatures.'' And the one that I was fighting right now was no illusion or anything. ''The creature wasn''t part of this special space but was summoned here specifically to deal with me.'' Or, to test me. They were strong creatures that chased their prey to hell once they had found their targets. They were predators that were prideful of their special light attribute movement skills made them one of the most dangerous predators of the wild. ''But, thankfully, the one that I was facing wasn''t an experienced adult.'' It wasn''t an adult but it also wasn''t a child. It was fairly older to have learned how to hunt and had developed senses of a predator, but even if it had the superior instincts of the hunter, itcked the experience that made them what they were famous for. -Swish! Swish! Swish! I used my close range archery to deal with this one, and since there was no one looking, I was also using my magic. -Ooooooooooooong! It made things pretty easier, and since there was a good space to move around, with my new skills and the understanding of this creature, the fight until now had went well. ''If I were to say so myself, this creature was only around mid (Indigo) rank so it wasn''t that difficult to deal with.'' Certainly not with all my bows, arrows, and the artifacts helping me. ''This trial was aimed to test what cards I was hidings and how far I could go, and, since I was the one that asked for it, I knew well how this one creature was not going to be thest one.'' This was just the start¡­ "GURAHHHHHH¡­!" As soon as the wild creature was in no position to fight anymore, as I knew, it vanished from its ce. -Ooooooooong. A moment of silence passed as I waited with my senses sharpened, and then¡­ "GHUAAAWWW¡­!" The next creature jumped at me from the shadows. -Swish. This time, it was a (Three tailed Liger), another rare beast that one doesn''t see in the wild often. ''In the empire, they were even protected species and hunting them was prohibited.'' They were a unique species born from the mating between a High Mountain Tigre and a Hirarchal grasnd Lion¡­ something that possessed powers of two highly ferocious species, and an opponent even the highest ranking adventurers don''t want to cross paths with. ''At least not when these beasts had not had anything to eat for a few days.'' They were picky eaters and ate only something that was as strong as them, or sometimes, something that was stronger than them. "GHUAAAAA¡­!" Sadly, from the looks of it, this one had not had anything to eat for a few days and since it was also a young one, I was actually stronger than it in its eyes. ''They were one of the upper Purple ranking creatures in their adult states and just like the Mountain ruling tigers, some of them also have a possibility to evolve into a higher being that is beyond the simple limits of a purple ranked creature. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! -Booooooooooooom! Thankfully, even though they possessed strength and stamina of the tigers and Pride, endurance, and sharpness of the Lions, they had many weaknesses that they only managed to get rid of after many years of battle experience. ''They were battle crazy creatures so even after being rare and having a great natural lifespan, most of them died even before reaching adulthood.'' Most of them couldn''t see just what they were capable of due to their innate instincts to dominate and win. The one I fought was the same¡­ -Oooooooooooong. It was defeated before even the previous opponent, and, in no time at all, the next opponent jumped up from the shadows once again. "Looking back, I fought nine creatures in that short time." A jaguar, then that Liger, then a panther that was stronger than either of the creatures I have faced before. ''It could jump into the shadows since it was a darkness attributed (White-spotted Nightmare panther).'' It had good skills, it was an adult and,it was in a nearplete state of its kind¡­ Sadly, this one was under the influence of some fatal poison and was dying after it fought me. ''It was dangerous and made the creature more ferocious than it was supposed to be.'' So, instead of fighting and defeating this one, I focused on first subduing it, and after hours long struggle, when I finally got it under control, I gave it an antidote before releasing it from the binds. No one had said that the trial was about fighting and defeating the creatures that were appearing before me, so I didn''t need to follow the usual rules of a trial from some higher being. ''A life was more important than my own gains if its loss didn''t help me or the world in any way.'' It was a rare creature and it was real. It deserved to live. So, I left it after curing. And, after it was fine, it had lost all motivation to fight its saviour and went back on its own. Then I fought three more creatures, yed chess with one, and made cookies with thest one. Which was a pretty fun experience~. Though, half of my friends here didn''t believe me when I told them how I made cookies with a (Maned bear), an extremely rare being that most definitely should not have existed on this sky ind. "I''m not going to buy thatst part, but the rest seems pretty believable¡­ even though all of it is actually absurd." Right now, we were standing before our destination, the ce that even I had only ever read about¡­ "Still, I can''t believe what I''m seeing even though it''s right before me." The reward located at the end of a cave of trials¡­ We were standing before the reward that was more precious than any kind of treasure or artifact. "This¡­ this really IS a paradise." This was the ce I wanted to see with all of them. ''And now that we are here and I''m looking at this ce¡­ I want nothing more than to enter the astral realm so that I can take a look at the true interpretation of this paradise.'' Not all of them will be able to see it, but¡­ I''m sure all that do see it, will like it as much as us. Chapter 823: Paradise of the sky island [Eon''s POV: ] There were various amazing things in this ce that I can name. Some were even unbelievable, or mind blowing, or just outright sparkling¡­ but, the one and only thing that was more interesting than anything else, the reason that gave birth to the unique phenomenon all over the ind, the thing situated at the very centre of this ce, was the reason I wanted toe here the most. -Swiiiiiiiiish¡­ There were winds blowing in this ce because of the presence of the various wind sprits, and they were pretty much also here for the same reason me. "That''s¡­" "It''s not supposed to be here, is it?" "Nothing is supposed to happen and it still does, friend. There are things in this world that just does not make any sense at all and still, they do exist." In front of our eyes was ake¡­ and yes, we were still inside a cave. "Gorgeous¡­" "Look at all these creatures." "Pretty¡­" They were mesmerised. They were gasping, and there was not a single one of them that was not amazed by the scene in front of their eyes. "In my three years here as a student, I had not thought there would be a ce like this one on this ind." "It''s a given since no one is supposed to know about the existence of something so special, Cradle." President Zodiac knew very well what the thing in the center of this ce was. He had seen one such thing¡­ one such being before if I''m not wrong, so he knew just how important it was. "This is ineffable¡­" Tia didn''t have any words left to exin what she was feeling or what she was seeing either. It was just too amazing to her and to the other friends we had with us. ''There was ake here, hidden in this cave that no one knew the actual location of. There was a clear sky right above our heads as there was no ceiling to this ce, and in the water of the cave was a small ind upon which a single flower had bloomed to its fullest size.'' A flower that looked nothing like what we understand as ''flower''. "Woh¡­ look at that. Isn''t that a Tiger?" "Not just that, look in the water of thatke¡­ I think I just saw a crocodile!" "This ce¡­ what exactly is this ce?" The entire cave was filled with unique illumination stones of various colors that lit up the entire cave. The water of theke was full of creatures and the area before us as well, the vastnd that we were standing on was filled with creatures of all kinds and types. ''Creatures that one can find on the mountains, creatures that one could find in the forest, creatures that were rare, and creatures that people didn''t even know still existed in this day and age.'' This ce was filled with all kinds of life, even in terms of green life. "Is¡­ is this ce safe? Won''t they¡­ won''t they hurt us?" "No." This was a paradise for the creatures as well. In fact, it was one of the three eternal ancient paradise-like ces of the ind of magic''s wealth. One of the only three ces that was safe to all that stepped foot on them. A ce that was equal to all, a ce that did not discriminate between kind or type and provided shelter to all lives that arrived here. "This is one of the safest ces on the ind of magic''s wealth aside from the special area under our academy, and the sanctuary of fungi." There were more special ces on this floating ind, but if one wanted topare some ce with the paradise mentioned in the tales, these ces would be the best fit for that kind of description. It was just that much attractive¡­ "This is a safe ce." In the centre of the ind located in the middle of theke, existed a flower that was so special there only existed a handful of them in this entire world¡­ There were only four known ces in this world where this specific flower was located. ''And not many knew about this flower either unless they had taken a course that taught specifically about the rare creatures, nt life, and living organisms of smaller scales.'' Even among us, there were only six people that knew about what we were seeing right now¡­ and Deleon became the one to enlighten the rest of the friends here due to his unexpected interest in the scene before him. "Unteral Spirit Realm Elemental Passage or USREP¡­ that was the name the first discoverer of this nt gave it. However, people who are interested in the spirits, or energy beasts, or the special life forms of the worlds all call it by a different name." He was not only interested in what he was seeing, since this was a special ce filled with all kinds of special things and creatures, he could alredy see a few special slimes that had caught even his attention. ''He wanted to run off to them and start cutting them down-¡­ ahem.'' He was an enthusiastic researcher of the slimes so he did various experiments on them, and he was going to do the same with some of the other creatures present here as well that he could see had a symbiotic rtionship with the other creatures. ''He was excited, but just as much as him, Newtine, Miss Mia, and Nova also had stars in their eyes.'' The pink haired boy, the bitter opponent that always hinders Rein in their energy best research ss, was one of the most knowledgeable people present among us. And his knowledge about the energy beasts was especially vast. ''But that much was expected from someone whose family was practically the mainstream researchers of the energy beasts in this world.'' His father was the one of the leading energy beast researchers, his mother was a ruler in the east, his great grandfather had been one of the pioneers of the energy beast research field of the modern times, and histe grandfather had given most of his life in the research of the nt life of this world. He was no ordinary person now that I knew about him, but since his identity as the Hair to one of the greatest empires of this world was hidden, there was no need to blow off his little secret. ''Only Rein and Zoe knew about him, but that much was only natural.'' The two of them know most that I know, Zoe actually knows everything that I do since we are practically connected. "Elemental helix¡­" His grandfather was also the first person that discovered this flower in a deep cave of a volcano that had once brought destruction upon the entire Northwestern penins. "The special flower that''s said to be immortal. The gateway to the world of spirts that''s only opened for the creatures of the spirit kind, the crystal flower of Original past¡­ it''s a legend. A legacy left behind by the first predecessors. Something I didn''t expect to see in my lifetime." "And in its bloomed state, on top of that." The ces where these flowers were located were restricted heavily by not the nations that thosends fell under but by a specificmunity of special individuals chosen by the votes of all major powers of this world in a Grand conference. "This is more than a paradise, Captain Titania." She was a fairy so she was undoubtedly going to go and see how this ce actually looked beyond the physical realm but not everyone else had that privilege. That''s why all those who understood the significance of this ce, this flower, was looking at her enviously. "Haaaa¡­ I think that''s true." And Tia also understood just how important this ce was after listening to all of them. "Huuu¡­" An Elemental Helix. Something even we did not have in the tower garden filled with nts even more rare than this one. ''That''s why I wanted this one there.'' What motivated me toe all the way here with all these people, was also perhaps this very nt and desire to have it for myself. But, since I obviously wasn''t crazy enough to uproot this entire thing and take it with me with all these creatures and all those spirits filling up this ce, I wanted to politely ask for some seeds of this special life. And that wasn''t going to be too easy¡­ ''Thankfully, we don''t need it right away.'' Obtaining these precious seeds that this unique flower only produced once in its entire thousands of years of lifespan would be difficult since I would have to convince the very flower that I was seeing right now that I was worthy of it. ''It was a unique lifeform, even though it looked like a weird spiral of crystals.'' It should almost be as intelligent as the ancient tree located in our academy garden, and as it was a gateway for the spirits, it hadplete support from the spirit world as well. It did not have any powers or skills of its own since it was only a flower at the end of the day, but it possessed its own intelligence. And that simple fact made it more powerful than most other intelligent nts present in this vast world. "So, everyone¡­ why don''t we all go and have fun by ourselves? I''m pretty sure there are various things you all want to do now that we have reached the paradise and there''s still a long while left for the dinner time." Everyone had something that they wanted to do here. Some wanted to go and check the kind of nts this ce had. Some wanted to go and see theke. Some wanted to swim over to the ind somehow and see the special flower made entirely of jade green crystals, a testament to its wind elemental origin, while some just wanted to sit down by theke and y with the pretty and interesting creatures. I also had some things that I wanted to do now that we were here. "We have quite a while in this ce, so I''ll tell you all a fun story while we have dinner. You should go and have fun while you still have time." I gave them a little smile, and that much was enough for them to understand what I wanted to convey. "You''re still hiding something, aren''t you? Bastard?" Especially since even Cradle was present here, there was no way they wouldn''t catch my still smiling expression¡­ ''Onest thing was still left, and no, it wasn''t the astral realm.'' That was going to be limited to only a few of us. But still¡­ I had hurried them to reach this ce before night. There was a reason behind that¡­ a reason they were soon going find out about. Chapter 824: Elemental helix: Passage of winds [Rein''s POV: ] The special flower looked a little different in my eyes than how it must have been to everyone else¡­ it looked so different that even after I described what I was seeing to Eon with all the words I could think of, it still did not give justice to what I was actually seeing. ''The flower was a simple crystal structure to the others made up of green crystals that had a gentle tornado wrapped around it.'' They could see he creatures around this flower, they could see the lights, and some of them who were sensitive to the spirit energy could tell that there were many spirits present in this area¡­ but that wasn''t all there was to this ce. As soon as we exited that strange cave of trials together, we were standing before a vast area that was filled with all kinds of creatures, with a soft ground beneath our feet. There was grass and flowers all over this ground and there were various nt based creatures ying in this ce along with other creatures as well. There was even a bunch of super rare, weird, cute, pretty, adorable, and amazing looking creatures present here that stole my heart as soon as we all entered this ce. It was certainly a paradise for not just us, but for the rest of the creatures that were living here. And, considering how many of them were extremely rare species, some of them being unknown to even me, it was obvious just how important this ce was. ''There was apletely open area above us. There was a vastke before us, and there was a soft greenery beneath us.'' The water of theke was not only pure and clear, from how there were various unique water species living together in it, it was obvious that the very water here had some magical properties. ''Just that much alone was enough to give this ce the role of a paradise, but there was one most important thing here that made it one of a kind.'' The Elemental helix. A flower that I''ve heard about many times, mostly in the past on the battlefields. ''She loved this flower...'' There were few things in this world that she liked as much as that mythical flower, and she always wanted to see one in her life if possible. ''She used to say that she could go to the world of the spirits if she somehow crossed over to the other side of the passage that this special flower created.'' And back then, I used to ridicule her funny and unreal wishes. ''I wanted to see one even after my time on those battlefields and I wandered the world in search of one that wasn''t blocked by the governments¡­'' It was impossible to get anywhere close to the ones that were already under the protection of the governments so I''ve had no choice but to find one that no one had discovered yet. And for that, I had went all around the world for five whole years before I gave up in the foolish dream and went back to the house that I belonged to. ''Those were difficult times, and I had forgotten about that wish of mine¡­ that wish of hers.'' I don''t even know when I mentioned it to him, but this bastard of mine somehow remembered it, and now¡­ we were standing before the thing that she had longed to witness. "This is unbelievable¡­" "You''ve been saying that since thest half an hour, Uriel." We were sitting on the ground ying with the cute looking creatures, some of them were ying in the water, some of the boys were ying with the big creatures, my bastard darling was doing something on the other side with Hide, Deleon and Alf while some of them were already in the ind on the middle of theke, watching the flower from up close. But, we were sitting at the very back, observing the others, having fun from the fun that they were having. "Unbelievable¡­" "Oh for goodness sake! What''s so unbelievable?!" Tia was already done seeing everything there was to see in this ce, including the things that existed in the astral realm. And, after witnessing all that, she was so stunned that she came down to us and had been just sitting with us in her bigger, human form. ''And I had managed to annoy her with only a few words, kehehe~.'' But, well, perhaps she would be the only one that understands why I was saying this was so unbelievable. "How would you react if I tell you that I can see the gate, the spirit ze, and the light cluster circling the flower?" I said that in a low voice while looking at her with a smirk, and, as I knew, there was a baffled expression on her pretty face. "I¡­ won''t believe you. There''s no way you can See all that. It would be unbelievable¡­ wait. Wait!" Then she realised it out of the blue and looked at me with a shocked expression, surprising the rest of thedies sitting with us. "How can you See all that?! That''s not possible." "Of course it''s not possible, hahaha~." She was just too funny~. I couldn''t help butugh at how funny her expression was right now, especially in this form where she looked more adorable than when she was in her Fairy form. "Hehehe." Even Quin, Zoe, and otherdies sitting with us wereughing at her funny reaction. "You''re so funny Tia~." Weughed, making fun of our dear adorable friend¡­ but, I wasn''t joking this time. ''I could actually see what she was only able to see after entering the Astral realm.'' In fact, what I was seeing right now was more than what one could see after entering that realm since¡­ what I was seeing included not only elements of the physical and astral world¡­ but also elements of the other side. ''Elements, things and scenes of the spirit world that one wasn''t supposed to see while being in the physical world.'' The elemental helix was a passage to the spirit world, a one sided gate from where the spirits could pass through to the physical world. And, since this passage was mainly only open to the spirits of the Wind elements, the winds in this cave were more intense. The others who couldn''t sense the spirit energy that well wouldn''t understand just how high the concentration of the spirit energy was in this ce and mainly how strong the gentle winds surrounding the special flowed on that ind actually were. ''They were harmless to the other creatures since they were produced by the cute spirits that had no intention to harm any other life form, but they were in fact dangerous.'' The concentration of wind was so strong around this flower, this one sided gate that if the spirits collectively wanted, they could destroy this entire cave in a blink of an eye. The crystal helix was a producing a bright light that was manifesting into arge gate covering the entire ceiling present above our heads, and beyond this gate existed the world of spirits that¡­ well, I couldn''t put it into words even if I wanted to. ''It was a different realm and even though I could see it, since I was not part of that realm myself, by the Laws of nature, I couldn''t put it into tangible words.'' The passage of winds¡­ hundreds of wind spirits that seemed to be tiny balls of light from my eyes were circling around the flower and their mere movements were producing all those dangerous winds. There were a lot of them present, so the spirit energy density of this ce was so high that it also increased the concentration of the other energies of nature. This produced the perfect atmosphere for the creatures to gather, mate, and recover in this unique ce. And, since the spirit concentration was so high in this ce, the spores of the fast growing flowers present all across thiske were getting carried by the winds that moved them out of this cave. ''The Elemental Helix was said to bloom randomly after every few years, and it stayed bloomed for around a week before closing down.'' And when it closed, the elemental gate that opened alongside it also closed down. ''However, in this small time where the flower blooms, it gives a way to all the young and old spirits of the Wind element in this scenario, toe to the physical world.'' Spirits, being yful creatures by nature,es to this world through this gate and their presence, along with the high concentration of the spirit energy that they bring, and their presence all around the ind of magic''s wealth afterwards, creates the unique phenomenon¡ª the sudden appearance of those flower gardens. "A wonder of nature¡­" None of us might have seen or ever even known about this ce had it not been for my bastard that somehow found the possibility of something like this being present here, and spent his day and night researching it. ''I know even though he did not know the actual existence of this ce.'' There was no book with anything about this ce written in this world since not many had ever set foot here, so it wasn''t like he already knew about this ce, about this paradise. ''He found it on his own.'' And he took all of us here because he wanted to see this ce, and the uniqueness of this ce along with all of us. "That bastard¡­" I don''t know how many times he has amazed me in these few years we have been together but even after all this time, even after getting engaged and having spent all this time in this academy and making all these friends¡­ he still has ways to amaze me. ''He''s amazing.'' It''s unfair, and I don''t like it at all¡­ but, it''s a fact. He''s just like that. And, there''s no helping it. ''I''ll have to live with it.'' Chapter 825: Couple Games [Rein''s POV: ] "To think I''ll ever see a (Green horned Hippo)¡­" "Even the (Red eyed crown vultures), that (Small teeth Linx), and those (Silverback crocodiles)¡­ many of the creatures here are ones that I''ve only ever heard about." "What do you all think is the most rare one among all of them? The rarest one ording to you." I asked with a little smile while looking at the rest of them. It was a fine evening and we were still chatting by the shore of theke. Eon had started working on the dinner and some of them were helping him over there, but even without them, he would have been fine since he had the help of some of the creatures present here. "The rarest?" "There are some creatures here I don''t even know about. How can I decide-." "That''s why I said ''ording to you'' you dummies. There''s no need to worry about being right or wrong. Just tell me what you think is the rarest." "Why though? And how can we even say something is the rarest when we don''t even know much about-." "Shut up, Tia. Just y the game." She wasn''t understanding the simple meaning behind this mundane question. "There''s still some time left before we get to eat something so just y a game, alright? Don''t make things tooplicated." Aside from me, Med, Lizzy, Zoe, Tia, Jen, Ezra, Prince Alph, and Quinny were present around me. And though Prince Alph was the only odd person here, he was sitting with his close ''friend'' so, he had to y this game as well if he wanted to keep sitting here. Or else he should go and help my darling like the others. "It sounds fun." Quin didn''t mind ying along, and since one did not mind, the rest of them also had no choice but to y along with us. And, I know it would be a fun game alredy. "Alright then~." But, before we get started with this little game of ours, since my darling was passing by us with a bunch of herbs from around the area in his hands, I needed to give him one thing. "Darling!" -Swiiiiiish¡­! Shouting his name and attracting his attention, I threw a certain object at him with full force while covering it in mana and a bunch of speed eleration spells. "Hmm? What-¡­!" He wasn''t paying attention to us since there seemed to be a bunch of things on his mind already, so when he saw the shiny thing flying towards him at that kind of speed, he was stunned. It would obviously be shocking to anyone if they notice a projectile flying towards them at that kind of speed, but, unlike the natural response of fear or terror or freeze, he was pretty calm and caught the coin that had flown towards him at that kind of speed. Making it seem like this was nothing big to him. "Thanks!" I already knew he would catch something like this if he was able to catch me falling, but then he looked at the ck coin in his hand, and was a little surprised. "You''re a bastard!" Smiling at him happily as I said that, I cursed a little more though Celes'' connection. And after he shook his head with a smile, and ced the coin back in his storage space, I returned to the conversation we were having- to our little fun game. "Okey, let''s start. Who''s going first?" The game was simple as they only had to chose which creature that they thought would be the most rare among the rest of them. And this was going to judge their knogd about the creatures present here. It was only a game so the others willment on their choice and there would be some kind of discussion in the middle and ultimately, this would lead to a fun pass time. ''Prince Alph was here and he possessed the pinnacle of wisdom, so he was bound to know a bunch of things about most, if not all, the things and creatures present here.'' And since Ezra was here as well, he will have no choice but to y along with the rest of us. "How about you start, Lizzy-¡­ hmm? Why are you all looking at me like that?" The game was going to be a fun activity and they all knew that as well, but, instead of starting the y with an excited look, there was confusion covering their pretty faces. "What happened?" They were thinking something and from the looks of it, it was about the thing I jad just done. Some were also looking at Eon so, it was understandable that they were thinking about the coin and had questions about this thing. "Uriel¡­ I''ve seen you two do it a few times now¡ª giving each other those ck and white coins, I mean. And I''ve always wanted to know what exactly those things are. Is there something special about those coins?" "They seemed to be made out of Mana so, is there something special about them?" Jen knew who we were, just like Prince Alph and Zoe, so they knew a little more about us than the rest did. But still, even the two of them were just as much curious as the rest of them. They had seen us pass these strange coins to one another and after seeing us do it so many times, it would obviously be interesting to most of them¡­ Though, there wasn''t anything that special about these things. "It''s just a little game we y." The condensed materialised coins that we had created for one another. The coins that allowed one to make the other do anything they wanted. "We give one another those coins. And when one gives it back to the other, we can ask the other one whatever we wanted them to do, and they would have to do it¡­ though, of course, there are rules to this game." Rules that they didn''t need to know about. ''This was a personal thing, a couple things as I''d like to put it, and from the smile I had, Jen and a few others understood it perfectly.'' And actually, they seemed to have liked this idea. "Interesting¡­" "You can tell the other one to do anything you want? And the other one will have to do it regardless of if they want to do it or not?" Jen was the newly engaged one here so she found it the most interesting while the rest of them who also had a partner or a future partner in mind found this little game to be quite entertaining as well. "There are some rules and there are some restrictions but, they are something that we have made ourselves. And this is Our little game¡­ you don''t have to follow the same thing as us. There are countless things that couples could do, a number of games that one could make if they sit down with their partner and brainstorm ideas. It''s not that difficult, certainly not if both of you want to do it." I was technically the one with the most dating experience present here, and no¡­ one one found to be a Rbel adviser when it came to anything rted to love. That bastard might have seen a number ofdies and slept around with a bunch of them, but he was still the most single person we had in this little group. ''He was miserable, and he liked being that way.'' Which was strange, but at the same time, something I found pretty rtable. ''He was a wizard and a lot older than how he looked. He was also one of the only people among us that was going to live for the longest if nothing out of the ordinary happened to him in his lifetime.'' He was strong already and he knew what this world was, what it can offer and what it was going to turn into. That''s why¡­ he had little interest in the world, and worldly things. ''He was a free spirit.'' There was a deep darkness that he carried along in his heart, but he was happy with what he had. And, for that, I could hate him even if I wanted to. He was a decent guy that knew what he was doing. Which was much better than most of the dummies currently present around me. "Alright now." They were now thinking about the things that they could do with their partners or the things that they could do with their dear friends. Jen was already cooking something. There was this evil smirk on her face that even sent shivers down my spine¡­ poor Ginger was going to face something sinister soon. "Let''s start the game, shall we?" Thedies present here were certainly going to talk about this little incident and tell their own thoughts about it to the others in this group. Soon, everyone was going to know about this coin game we yed as well, and they might also develop something of their own¡­ ''It wasn''t my intention but, it looks like I had created a legacy of some kind.'' It was pretty funny, and interesting as well if I say so myself¡­ but more than that, it was a good thing. "Med! Start. Which creatures do you think are the rarest~?" These little games were important among the couples that were going to spend most of their time in one another''s presence. They not only helped them get closer, it reminded them why they had got together in the first ce. ''It was a great thing.'' And if they were going to create one of their own, they were going to remember me for giving them such a great idea as well. ''Hehehe. And then they would thank me.'' In a way, they would be indebted to us¡­ I don''t want them to be, but well, it mighte in handy one day. Who knows what the future holds for us? Having such debts shouldn''t be bad, right¡­? Chapter 826: Creatures of paradise [Zoe''s POV: ] "What about you, Zoe?" Quin had answered, and so did Med, Jen, Ezra, and Lizzy. And, regardless of rights or wrong, the creators that they considered to be the rarest were most certainly rare creatures that were rare enough to be something that any other student in our grades might never even get the chance to see in their lifetimes. ''Some of them were rare, some of them were one of a kind, while some of them were so unique that they were some of the few left of their kind in this world.'' From Med''s perspective, the rarest one was the creature that resembled a turtle but was in fact a creature that belonged to the snake kind. It was the biggest creature present here so it was prettymon to consider it the rarest since it was certainly just too big. It was covering a tenth of this cave alone, and that too when his upper body was under the ground in the water. It wasrge and it did not belong to the same kind of creature sister Elle''s grandma''s big turtle. ''This one was a snake even though it had a big shell like a tortoise on its back.'' Simr to how some snakes possessed rattles that produced sound to keep the other creatures away from them, this one had a big tortoise like shell to store its prey, toy eggs, and to mate with the male counterparts of their kind that did not possess a shell like the females did. It was certainly a very rare creature and there might not be any of them left in the wind areas in the outside world anymore, but, it did not mean this one was the rarest among all the creatures present here. ''These creaturesy tens of eggs at a time and even though the mothers find suitable ces to leave these eggs instead of nurturing them herself, these creatures have amazing survival instincts and can live up to a few hundred years.'' If there was a female on this ind, the possibility of a few males being present here were very higha€| and if there were males, there were bound to be childrens that lived in hiding all across this ind, and on the surface below. ''They were rare but not so rare that we can call them the rarest of all the creatures present in this ce.'' The same was Quin''s answer. She thought that the shiniest looking snake present here that seemed to have been made out of some kind of crystals was the creature that was the rarest since she had seen most of the other kinds of creatures here, heard about them from her grandpa who used to be one of the most famous adventurers of this world. Some other creatures that the others did not know about and didn''t understand the origin of didn''t catch her attention much but this particr creature that was not only transparent but seemed to have been an elemental creature made pure of crystals was the most peculiar for her. ''I was also surprised that she chose something like that to be her rarest creature but thinking from the perspective of someone that had lived on an ind most of her life, it was quite understandable.'' She was already used to the tropical creatures and creatures of the forest so not many umon creatures caught her attention. However, a nine feet long snake whose head was as big as us was undoubtedly one of the most attractive beings present in this ce. "Hmmm. Must I choose just one creature, Uriel?" It was a rare creature called (Sapphire Golem) and it was one of the few rare kinds of golem that took on the appearance of a creature rather than a humanoid that they usually do. But still, it was a golem and they weren''t that rare in this nature so even if this one might have been one of a kind, which it most certainly was not, it couldn''t be called the rarest of them all. "Yup. You have to pick one. Everyone did, so the same for you." Every time someone shared their rarest creature, sister Elle asked them why they thought they were the rarest. And then she told them the ws in their logic, and then gave the chance to the rest of us to criticise or support the other''s statements. ''It was a fun game, that much I''d agree on, but it wasn''t all there was to it.'' We were having fun and learning from one another, sharing knowledge about our own fields that we were good at and proving to each other why our answers were correct. This game of hers was unexpectedly good, and thanks to it, Lizzy had learned why even though the creature that she could feel was the rarest due to her natural affinity with higher beings of heaven, was not in fact the rarest creature present. ''She still doubted others though and couldn''t understand why she was feeling that way towards a mere fish in this vastke.'' But, she was questioning other people''s judgments. And that much was a good sign since usually, she might never have questioned such strong opinions of the majority. ''She was a good person. Too good sometimes.'' Perhaps the reason she had not awakened her powers until now had something to do with her extremely good self. ''She couldn''t even use her power of Holevil, one of the strongest powers of the world that doesn''t really make any sense.'' Just think about how the existence of a divine power of the purest kind, powers of archangels could ever coexist with the eternal demonic nature of evil. It was absurd and few in the entire nature possessed something like that. And she was one of those few beings. Which naturally made her unique, but as someone that had three blessings, one of them beingplete protection from a hell ruler, she was a one of a kind being even more rare in this nature than I was. She did not realise just how amazing she wasa€| but perhaps doubting others was her first step towards the change. "Hmmma€|" Anyway, her answer was wrong by the logic of the other people and since I cannot tell them about the divinity that seemingly rare fish possessed, her answer was going to stay wrong. And Ezra was wrong as well since, well, dispute being a regressor, her knowledge about the rare species of creatures was not enough. "I think the rarest creature present here is flower we see in the centre of thiske." "Hmmm?" "Waita€| what?" "We can choose the flower? Aren''t we talking about the creatures here?!" Tia was stunned, and so were a bunch of the others. "Of course we are only talking about creatures~. And that pretty looking flower we see is a living creature as well~." They forgot the flowerpletely since sister Elle deliberately used the word ''creature'' every time she talked about this game of hers. No one had thought about any other organism other than the creatures, or the energy beasts in other words, when they thought about the rarest ''creature'' present in this ce. "Whaaaaaat! No! That''s cheating! Everyone knows that flower is the rarest! Hey! This is cheating, right Uriel?!" Tia couldn''t ept it, and she obviously wasn''t going to either since from her perspective, she was the only person that had seen what that flower actually was. "Well, Tia, you can just say that you also think that flower is the rarest if you want. No one''s stopping anyone from selecting the same creature as the others. It''s not like we are selecting them for some kind of diator fight where they will be fighting with another for the title of the strongest. This is just a game~. You''re free to do whatever you want~." She was smiling at her warmly. "Hmmm? Ia€| I can do that?" "Of course you can~." And it''s never a good thing whenever she smiles at anything with that kind of warmth. Somehow, Tia had already learned that. "I never like that smile of yours." "Hehe, what''s there not to like in a simple smile, dear~?" She got goosebumps from just hearing that giggle of hers so she at least knew she should go any further with her argument and stopped talking. "Alright then, is that your answer Zoe~?" This sister Elle of mine was a y one that knew how to best make fun of her friends, especially the ones she cared about the most. ''She does show it often, but she loves some friendships despite her past.'' Any person in her shoes wouldn''t have much faith in this thing called friendship, but she believed in it as much as she believed in her family. And, as someone who knew her as much as big brother, I couldn''t help admiring that side of hers. "Yes, that would be my answer." "Okay then~! It''s wrong as well~." As well as this certain yful side of hers that I enjoyed watching more than most things in this world. "Hen?? What? She''s wrong?" "Yup~." I knew I was wrong but this game wasn''t about what actually was the rarest thing present here. ''This game, in its essence, was all about symbolism.'' It was about what we thought was the rarest and not the factual knowledge. ''This game wasn''t about being right or wrong but about knowing why we could have been right or wrong.'' It was a game that, above everything else, helped us understand our own selves better through the answers of random choices. It was more borate than she made it out to bea€| and to create and execute a game as well thought out as this one was, perhaps, the reason she was big brother''s future wife. ''She was cute. And in times like these, awesome as well.'' She herself was the rarest being present here if I had to say so myself, buta€| we won''t ever figure that out even if we yed this game for hours or days. ''And that was the very thing that made this ''game'' more fun than the simple game with borate rules.'' It was fun. Quite fun, actually. ''We should all y together after dinner once again~~.'' Chapter 827: Dinner preparations and couples [Eon''s POV: ] "And when you add these herbs when boiling things, they give the soup that unique aroma?" "Yes. Though, you must be careful with the kind of herbs that you are using. There are some herbs that might ruin the texture of the water and the other ingredients." "Hmmm." I was cookinga€| and teaching at the same time. "Oh, is it important that you cook this meat with that specific fire magic? Does temperature and pressure matter as well?" Alf was helping me make the dinner along with Bell, Miss Mia, and a few others. While those who were giving us a hand in the various processes and were asking these questions were learning from me. "Using magic isn''t important but having control over the fire is one of the most crucial elements of cooking anything. If one can control the fire and temperature, just like a master craftsman, one can forge the most efficient versions of the simplest kind of dishes." It all started a few weeks ago when these friends that had been with us for a while now expressed their interest in learning cooking from me. ''They were all people that we trusted and knew about as much as we knew each other, so they were also a part of this group.'' They were new, we can say that, but they had made their own ce in this little group of ours in their own way. "Alright, we will move on to the main course now." "Hmmm. Should we prepare therge pots?" Gabriel, an elvan archer from Prince Alph''s house, was the most hardworking person present among the others that wanted to learn cooking from me as eagerly as the best chefs of the world wanted to learn from Empress Med. She was one of the rankers from the entrance exams so even after not being any famous individual, she had gained quite a name for herself in the academy. She was an archer like me so many studentspared her to me, but then again, those who had seen both of us using bow and arrows knew very well just how different we were. ''She was a pure archer so she only focused on one aspect of archerya€" the basic long range shooting.'' She had one of the best concentration abilities I''ve seen and she possessed quite a good sense of bnce, so her arrows mostly never missed their targets. ''I can tell she was the best of her tribe.'' But we had different styles. "Oh? You use Aura while cooking as well?" "It''s a special process. I call it (Energy refinement)." "Oha€| interesting." Just like captain Alpha, she was also part of our cooking ss and she was pretty good with the things she made. One can tell she had good experience making the various kinds of things that her kind liked, as well as various kinds of things that her kind usually did not consume. However, even when it came to cooking, she had this certain type of stylea€| "Alf, some winds here." "Yes!" She was following me around with the others and while she was good with helping around with basic things, she was not ustomed to the kind of cooking techniques that I used. "Miss Mia?" "I''ll look after this. You can go start preparing the fruits." "Thanks." Miss Mia on the other hand has be quite familiar with my style over thest few weeks. ''She knew how I worked and even though she didn''t particrly understand how I made the food that everyone here cherished, she knew what I did to make those things.'' After learning from me for months, she understood the techniques and that made her a big help around the kitchen. And simrly, just like how my style of using bow and arrows was diverse and divided into various parts, it was something pretty difficult to understand for someone that had always done the things in traditional styles. "Miss Gabriel. Can you handle this side now?" I was preparing dinner for a lot of people today so I needed a bunch of help and thankfully, even with a couple that had been flirting with each other, this was not too bad. Alf and Bell were having fun by themselves and since they were helping out as well, we didn''t mind their giggles and obvious signs. Public disy of affection was considered a good thing among us students even though we hade from various parts of the world. ''Culturally, there were still some areas in this world that didn''t appreciate it, but on the ind, the influence of the outside culture was almost invisible.'' The culture of our own academy was pretty open tomon thoughts and experiences. There was no discrimination and equality of opportunity was promoted on a great scale. Studentsing from various ces might have faced difficulties adjusting to the freedom that the academy and this ind provided, but now that a while had passed already, things had changed. "Are wea€| making things for the creatures present here as well?" "I wish we could have done thata€| but since the diversity and numbers of the creatures present here is a little too much, I could not make things for so many kinds of creatures in the short time we have." Some of them knew how I made things for the creature of our academy garden and their own familiars so they were curious if we were going to make things for the creatures present here as wella€| ''It was an absurd idea and they knew that as well, but since I loved absurd things, they thought that there might be some possibility that I''d do something crazy to move again.'' Thankfully, even though I liked absurdity, I understood logic and basic reasoning as well. "However good you might be at something or however confident you might be about something, ask yourselves three questions before starting anything that looks foolisha€| 1- What will be the impact of your decision on the environment and other individuals involved, 2- What will be the consequences of a perfectly positive oue, and 3- Why would you not want to do it even with the most positive circumstances. Do that, and you won''t face a shortage of resources, criticism from others, and setbacks in your life as well as your career." I could make something for every being present here if I have time, resources, and motivation to do soa€| and I have all of those right now. ''But it was just dumb thing to do when we had to finish our own thing and prepare for the main show.'' There wasn''t really much in this for me anyway so there was no need to do something like that. "Alright. We are almost done. Alf, Bell, how about you start the final preparations with Captain Alpha and Miss Luna?" "Hmm? What? We are done already?" "What do you mean already? Two hours have passed already." They had been chatting since earlier so they had lost track of timea€| just like how Captain Alpha and Miss Luna lost track of time in their work. ''They were going to be together.'' I wasn''t the only one that was sure of it. It was obvious from these little things. "Go prepare the tables, and if you can, please go and call the others as well. Many creatures are sleeping already so we shouldn''t disturb them." They will have to be careful of some of the ferocious ones since they tend to act aggressively when they are in their sleep state. "Tell Ginger to call Uriel and the others while you''re on it as well." Alf and Bell talked in that low voice and talked about various personal or mundane things, admired this ce, and unknowingly got close to one another. Captain Alpha already knew he liked Miss Luna but since she yet wasn''t sure about her feelings about him, she was still testing if she should go ahead with thisa€| or just consider his attraction the kind of attraction all those young boys had towards her beauty. ''They were different from Alf and Bell or Prince Alph and Ezra.'' One of them was unsure of the kind of rtionship they wanted while the one that knew what he wanted didn''t try as hard as he should. ''Ginger and Jen were much better in that manner.'' They had been together from a young age and now that they had the chance to be closer than ever, they did not waste it.'' She knew she would have to face turbulence for doing something like that, but her strict father loved her unconditionally. ''The two of them will certainly find a way to convince their strict Mom that had always been against their rtionship.'' They were a couple now and neither of them were a child that they could control. So, even though she was strict, and even though she could stop thema€| she wouldn''t do it if she loved her dear daughter. "Alright. Then, shall we have a fun little dinner now?" Our group had expanded suddenly, but the members we had right now were all as special to us as the initial members or the house captains. All of them were important parts of their houses or were special people that were part the prodigy list, and also, they loved my cooking. [{ "Dinner''s ready darling." }] [{ "Ohh! Our game is almost near the end as well~! We will be there soon~." }] There were a few more couples in this group aside from the ten of us, but we can talk about all of them sometimeter. "Let''s go, Miss Mia." "Oh, yes. I''ll be there shortly." She and Gabriel were writing down some notes from what they had learned today and it had be a usual sight for the rest of us by this point. "Alright then. Don''t bete." We left them in the area we had made for cooking on one side of theke, and walked towards the other special area we had made for eating the dinner. ''They will be here soon, so it would be better if we could finish the dinner quickly.'' Though, if that wasn''t possible, we will have to reheat the food after our encounter with Them. ''I just hope they don''t mind it.'' Many things don''t stay the same as they did after reheating. I personally avoid it, but if there is no way to prevent ita€| we can''t do anything about that, right? Chapter 828: Story of a lost merchant [OP: ] Many years ago, a man lost his way in one of the nine mountains located in the outskirts of the ind of magic''s wealth. He was a normal merchant person, someone that had onlye to this ind for trade and to earn some new fortune. He was with a group of mercenaries when he arrived in these mountains rumoured to have contained a variety of natural treasures and resources, in search of a particr thing that was extremely popr at that moment: Moonlight Lilies. "Hmm? Moonlight Lilies? You mean these green flowers?" "Shuuuu. Don''t interrupt the story." "Ah, sorry¡­" He was no special man when it came to fighting with the strong beasts that roam these mountains, but he was certainly a smart individual. He had money, but he was still not wealthy enough to have owned any property on this unique ind. He was an independent dreamer that wanted to live a life offort just like any human would desire. And these special mountains filled with dangerous creatures that threatened all lives that dared to enter here. "Back then, this ce was one of the most dangerous ces on the ind." The adventurers'' association had not been established here properly back then so it was obvious that this story was more than a few thousand years old. But, it was a famous tale that those who were old natives of the ind would have undoubtedly known about. { "Nya, people call that person the (Courageously foolish merchant)." } He hired mercenaries to apany him in the obviously dangerous ce that they knew they could lose their lives in. And, he was dumb enough to not even make them sign any kind of Oath contract. "Wait! Did those mercenaries do something to him?" "Yup." Most of it went well until they reached their destination. They were paid a sum in advance, the travel and food expenses were paid by their employer, and they only had to protect him in these mountains as he gathered the things that he was here for. "They protected him until they reached the heart of the mountain, the ce that was considered the border line for the safe zone." They waited, they saw, and they acted right until they had reached that point and then¡­ "They killed him?" "What happened? Did they steal everything he had on him?" "Don''t just stop like that! Continue, please!" "Haha, yes yes." Then the merchant tricked the mercenaries, poisoned their food and put them to sleep, and after looting every single thing they had on them, including their weapons, he went on his own way. "What the hell?" And then he was attacked by a ferocious bird while he was climbing down the mountain and lost most of the things that he had on him. Including thest remaining rations. "What the fuck? What kind of dumb bastard was he?" "Why did he even do that though? Were the mercenaries going to harm him? Was that the reason he just striked first?" "Hahaha, we can say that was the case." Heter found out that the mercenaries made it out alive and one of them confessed how they were going to kill him for his belongings. "Why would they confess though?" "Because they did not want to do that." In that era, the only big working structure on this sky ind was the academy and the outsiders weren''t usually permitted inside. There were regtions and the ind was still being pioneered by the humans unaffiliated with the academy so thepetition for survival was fierce here. "People were developing their own unique structures, there were individuals that monopolised hunting grounds on this ind, there were even groups that were doing heinous things behind the backs of humanity here. And among the many dark things happening here, there were those who hade here in search of riches." The mercenaries were no different. They were also here for a chance to earn money, to fill their own stomach, and to provide for their families. "Those times were different¡­" They were no bad people, and the foolish merchant was not either. "He knew he would have looted him if they stayed together, so he did it first and left them with only the important things that they possessed." But, perhaps fate did not see his actions in a positive light. He was attacked by the beast, the items he lost wereter found by the mercenaries that were climbing down the mountain, and they found their own stuff, along with the things from the merchant and thought that he had died. "They used his money to get better, and their experience in those dangerous moments made them famous." They were able to be a much better team thanks to this incredible incedent but, the merchant was not that lucky. "Did he die?" "Why are you so dead set on his death, Tia?!" "Because that''s how old stories usually go! He''s obviously just a side character in his prologue!" "Oh no no." He was the main character of this story, alright. It should have been obvious until now. "One of the richest to have ever lived¡­ he was obviously a main character." He was injured, he was bleeding, he might have been on the verge of death had he not had his healing potions. Thankfully, he had a bunch of them in his storage artifact even after he lost most of his stuff. And, since he had to run in a different direction to survive, he was lost in those mountains. "He roamed the mountains for three months." He went around, hid from the dangerous monsters of these mountains, somehow used his sharp intellect to get misguide the creatures and for three months, on minimum food, he somehow survived with whatever food and water he had left on him. "However, soon after that¡­ food and water both were gone." He had nothing to eat aside from the little things that he found in the mountains and some herbs. He still had no water and in this forest, rain was a strangely rare urrence. "He was going to die of thirst, so he squeezed water from the moist soil." "Hmm? What?" "Isn''t that¡­ dangerous?" "He was drinking poison." "Of course. And that poison was fast acting as well." Thirst makes people do crazy things. Even smart people like him fall for the limitations of nature¡­ Sadly, he had made an extremely bad decision at that point. "He was on the verge of death." First of all, the infected water saturated with Mana tore his internal organs and he was vomiting blood for three whole hours. Potions helped heal these organs but it did nothing to the infection that spreadter. "He was dying." High fever, extreme body pain, dehydration, and extreme weakness were said to be the initial symptoms, but we don''t know just what kind of hell that person might have endured in the hours that he was infected. "He was in pain¡­" He cried, he begged to the gods, he screamed and cried for help, but not even the beasts that he had been running away from all for all those days appeared before him. "But he was still alive." He wanted to die. He had wanted to die ever since he first survived that creature and lost all the money and resources that he had brought with him from his hometown. The pain and suffering was not worth anything since he only had a small family to leave behind. But, he was a stubborn person. "He held onto his life." He suffered, he cried, he shed tears of blood, and coughed fluids under a tree¡­ He was a strong person. "And he still died?" They all stopped eating for a moment and looked at the anxious fairy with a helpless gaze. "Almost¡­" Even considering the fact that she did not know who they were talking about right now, from all the clues they had mentioned until now, it should have been clear that the protagonist of the story did not pass away. But she still asked that, making him smile helplessly at his innocent friend. "He was on the verge of death." It was night. The ceilingless cave was filled with the serene blue moonlight and the special concentrated starlight of the countless stars that had uniquely lit up the entireke present before them. They were in the middle of eating their dinner by theke. "His heart was going to stop and his brain had nearly stopped working as well." The creatures present in this cave were either sleeping, or had gathered in the water and on the small ind in the middle of theke. It was a unique sight, and they were enjoying it along with the unique dinner time story they were telling. The night breeze carrying the fresh scent of the flowers covering them on all sides, the freshness brought by the wind spirits that filled this cave, and the fresh food before them was making this fresh night an enjoyable, unforgettable experience. However¡­ "He was on the verge of death, but then¡­" He looked at the curious friends, hispanions that were looking at him with various expressions. "Someone saved him." Heughed lightly, took onest sip of his ss of water, and after looking at every single one of them in the eye for a moment¡­ looked away at the centre of theke, at the gathering ce of the countless creatures. "¡­?" He did not say anything after that and continued looking at the creatures or the flowers with that mysterious smile on his face. "Lucifer?" They were confused. "What happened after that?" They were curious. "Who saved him?" And they had questions¡­ However, the smiling storyteller only had one answer for all their questions. "Them." He pointed at the Elemental gateway illuminating the cave along with the glowingke and the illuminating crystals present all over this ce. "Hmmm?" And when they followed his gaze, in the centre of theke¡­ what they saw there became something more illuminating to their eyes than any object currently present in this vastke, inside this vast cave, in this vast mountain, that was present on this vast ind in the sky¡­ Chapter 829: Ruler of the nine mountains [OP: ] They watched as the small ind in the middle of theke inside the cavern with the open ceiling became the gathering spot for the creatures present in the vast cave. Surrounding the crystal flower, the Elemental Helix, they waited with a unanimous calm. The flower that was believed to be a gateway to the spirit realm, was the centre of attention for the creatures present, but they were not admiring the awe of the green spiral of crystals. They were waiting for something elsea€| and, when the humanoid visitors of this cave looked in the direction of these creatures, the One they had been waiting for finally showed themselves. -Oooooooooooooong! Suddenly, the cavern shook. Everyone felt a sudden sense of danger for a moment before suddenly gett8ng washed up by a wave of serenity. The creatures that had been calmed all this time started producing various kinds of sounds and some of them seemed to have started singing a unique hymn of praise. -Zaaaaaaaaaaa€| The density of Mana inside the cave increased, and along with it, the countless spirits that had been present in this space but were invisible to all naked eyes, materialised in their physical forms. -Oooooooooooooooonga€|! Space twisted, moonlight that was scattered all across the cave gathered together and became small beads of physical light that seemed like the thousand year old pearls born in the deepest part of the most dangerous seas. "They saved the merchenta€|" "Muuuuuuuu~!" "Caww! Ca~!" "GURAAAAAAA!" Along with the single human voice that reverberated throughout the empty cave, the music born from the amalgamation of the various noises produced by the creatures of the cave gave birth to a phenomenon that froze the hearts of those witnessing a scene of this scale. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiisha€| A magnificent beast appeared on the ind. -Ooooooooooooooonga€|! And every being on the ind, in theke, and on the ground where the humans stood with their friends, including the spirits beings filling this cave, weed Their arrival. "The Ruler of the Nine Mountainsa€|" It was a divine creature. Their presencemanded respect from all the creatures present, including the humans who had been awestruck by the presence that felt unjustpared to the form they possessed. { "Greetings, children." } The creatures around the Elemental Helix bowed to the divine beast, recognizing their unfathomable importance. It was a rare sight to see such a creature, and everyone felt honoured to witness ita€| of course, though. There were exceptions. "Cutea€|" "That''s the ruler of these mountains? The divine creature that saved the Lord Adam Lothschild?" "Damn. I didn''t expect Them to be soa€|" "Adorable!" "Yesa€| that." It was understandable that Lizzy did not fall to the unprecedented level of awe generated by their mere presence. However, the way Titania had a disappointed look on her face made even Eon question the kind of mentality she possessed. On the other hand, Rein was awestruck and speechless as she saw the true appearance of the being that the others who could know perceive their physical form found to be adorable. She was the only one who could see the truth behind the adorable appearance that resembled a winged hamster possessing wings of gold, and a pure ck body without any other color. { "I see we also have guests tonight." } Quin had a blush on her overly excited face as she looked at the creature possessing a body as small as her hands. The boys were awestruck by the pure presence of the creature that sparked a zing fire inside their hearts. The others who could feel the divinity from the creature were witnessing the creature in a different manner than the rest of them. For the creatures of the ind, this majestic creature that was smaller than most of them was their Lord. However, for those who were only a guest of this cave, this creature was a presence that they couldn''t fathom even with their various points of views. { "Wee, outsider childrena€| amazing students of the human world." } For most of them who could not understand the greatness of this being, it was only a unique being that they could not fathom the existence of. However, for the ones that actually understand some aspect of this being, they were in the presence of something that they knew only a few fortunate people of this world ever came to witnessa€| "A divine beast..." Captain Alpha, Prince Alph and udeus. Alf and Princess Bell, Med and Miaa€| all the special ones among them that understood the truth behind this unfathomable presence could feel it inside thema€| they could tell what they were truly witnessing. "A Creature of Mythosa€|" "An eternity." "Correct." A creature other than the eight creatures of mythos, an eternity that possessed divinitya€" a divine being that, in a way, wasparable to the gods. They were currently in the presence of such a being. { "And Honoured beings of the Higher world." } With their deep ck eyes resembling a starless night sky, they nced at them, stopped on Zoe and Eon and Rein, before moving on and looking back at the creatures around them. { "Wee." } The merchant that was on the verge of death was fortunate enough to receive the mercy of this great higher spirit. They took him to this very cave ording to what is told in the lores, and here, the merchant who miraculously found himself alive and cured of the illness, met Them for the first time. -Ooooooooooooooong. He saw the golden wings of the origin creature that then was not a divinity. He witnessed their original form and was awestruck. Then, he was astonished by what he found himself in. { "You all should consider yourself fortunate. Thisa€| is thest prayer." } A cave filled with abundant of natural treasures, crystals that were so precious even he could not estimate their value, carcasses of creatures in a corner that one could not defeat even with a strong forcea€| piles of their energy cores and skill stones. He found himself something that made him the originator of The third wealthiest family of this world. And for that, he was eternally grateful to this ce, this cave, and the creature that saved his lifea€| "Last prayera€|?" "What might they be talking abouta€|?" "Shuuuu. Justa€| watch." He was given the freshest food and the cleanest water in this paradise, a precious chance to live in this ce for two years and recoverpletely from the physical and mental injuries, and when he was ready, he revived a unique present from the savior of his lifea€| in the form of an unforgettable experience. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish~! Winds started blowing in a certain way as the ruler spread their golden wings. -GHRRRRRRRa€| Thebination of the noises from the creature turned into a melody so powerful, everything in the cave except Them became soundless. lost their sound. It was a powerfulbination, and who witnessed it lost their breaths along wither their sounds as well. Their hearts even stopped for a moment, however, what transpired after that was even more intensea€| "Damna€|" Even Eon was the same as everyone else as they saw the golden wings of the small looking hamster like being turned into something so majestic it resembled the heavenly messengers who had flown down to the mortal realm to announce the words of the lord. His ck body had turned into a ball of light and the wings that resembled the wings of a bird made this creature seem like a familiar of the angels described in the storiesa€| however, this particr creature was no messenger from above. It was a creature of nature born from the will of this very worlda€| an origin beast that was called with a certain unique name. [{ *A Maintainera€|* }] Only on m v|le|mp|yr They were in the presence of a creature so old that it was one of the oldest beings present on this ind after the ancient oak located inside the grand academy or the Keeper located in the ce he was building his new house in. An origin beast that had achieved divinity through the achievements, recognition, and the power obtained from the nature that They were born from. They were a being that was beyond this physical world, a being that, much like a phoenix, dragon, or kraken, was a (White) ranked being who Mana was beyond what could be measured or fathomed by the human limitation. They were born for the task of maintaining the ce they were assigned, and in the cases of this being, it was these mountains that not only contained the creatures it housed, but also this unique gateway that was connected to the world of the spirits. They were a unique beings And, at this moment, They were performing a unique dance that, at one point in time, had also inspired the richest person to have ever lived, to achieve everything that they achievedter in their lives. { "O'' beginningless mother of all." } The golden feathers from Their wings scattered all across the cave, and became the spotlight for the creatures that joined Then in this performance. -Ooooooooooooooong! They also became the ground on which the spirits of the windster sat and maintained the right currents of the wind in order to support the (Prayer). { "We praise thee." } Gasps of awe could have filled the cave had they still possessed their voices, but this unique moment had taken them away already. They only had their eyes and their souls left in them, their bodies paralysed with the unique overwhelming feeling of reverence. { "Bless thy children and these mountains with your graceful blessings." } They wanted to describe this performance, but their minds were not processing anything at the moment. Anything other than their awe towards it, certainly. Chapter 830 : A merciful ruler [Eon''s POV: ] "The food thankfully didn''t get cold." "Does anyone want anything else?" "That was quite something, hun." The performance of the Ruler of these mountains, the creature that seemed like a simple creature in most of our eyes, hade to an end a while earlier. The creature that participated in the prayer had either gone to sleep or had went out to get some food while those who were still present in here, had either gone back to their daily tasks or were chatting about some things with the creature that was still present beside the elemental helix. We were still recovering from what we had witnessed just now, and they were doing well. Seeing a divine beast from so close was a blessing in itself but, being able to witness the divine prayer of a divinity dedicated to the eternal mother was a different kind of experience altogether. "Whata€| kind of creature are They?" Many of them were still in daze, while some were curious and had their own questions about being in such close proximity to a divine beast. "An origin beast with a certain unique power and a purpose for being in this world. A creature that achieved divine strength with their own abilities and merit. Someone that knows who to control their strength and look after other creatures without harming them is their unfathomable powers." Not only Prince Alph, but even Prince ud and Miss Ore, his familiar cat, were wondering about what to make of this situation. ''This was no small matter in the first ce, so, their confusion was understandable.'' It wasmon knowledge that the divinities were higher beings just like how the demons were unique beings of a different realm. The knowledge about the heaven and hell were as limited as the know about the spirit realm however, there were certain things that people knew very well about the creatures or beings of the other dimensions. ''And, the fact that being too close to the divine being and hearing their ''true'' voice as a mortal is a bad thing was known to them all.'' They knew it wasn''t a good thing to be too close to a divine beast for a long time or be near a creature that possessed divinity. Encountering them in the wild and admiring them for a few moments was one thing, but they were extremely powerful beings that were on apletely different level than the mortals of all kinds. ''Their divinity was not something any normal human could tolerate for even a moment so some of them were already feeling weird, and reluctant about being in this cave while that creature was still here.'' But they had nothing to worry about since just like any creature that knew how to control their powers, this particr being also knew how to control its powers and not harm the other beings with the divinities it possessed. ''It also knew how to use its powers and how to bless the other beings with the powers it possessed, so there was nothing to worry about.'' If anything, just like the few of them that wanted to go and converse with that being, perhaps hug Them and love them for how cute they were, they should try and take as much as they can from this unique experience. ''This might be the first andst time being with a divine beast, so, we shouldn''t waste this precious chance.'' Rein wasn''t going to waste even a moment of it as I could alredy tell from the look on her face and from the way she was eating her food with that cute smile on her face. ''Zoe and Lizzy also wanted to go and talk with them, but Zoe was waiting for her to make up her mind.'' They will certainly go and have a talk with Them when they are done with their food, and that much was certain already. But still, I had to encourage them to not waste this precious chance. "They are safe and they are waiting for us to go to them and ask them what is on our mind. They are merciful beings, so I don''t think they will mind even if we go and hug them, perhaps treat them the way a being that looks like them should be treated." In Rein''s eyes, this being was a giant creature so big this entire cave and the open ceiling above us was nowhere near enough to contain their form. They weren''t just big either as the form they possessed was so much more unique from the way we perceived them in this incarnation that it was impossible to even put what she was seeing into words that made some kind of sense. ''The golden winged ck hamster was just a mortal interpretation of their being that made the most sense at the moment, but, in fact, as a divinity that was defined by their stories, their tales, their lore, their myths, and their lives, they were a unique origin beast that was quite different from a simple small, cute creature with soft fur covered body and soft wings.'' The creatures present in this cave perceived them differently from us, and perhaps they all were seeing them in the way they understood them the best, and that was just how unique the existence of a divine being was. "You can say a Unicorn is a Unicorn because of the stories that have made them into what they are. Simrly, when we see anything resembling a dragon, a phoenix, or a griffin, we don''t call it a bird of fire, a giant lizard, or a winged beasta€| Just like how there are certain things defining their existence, all the divinities in this world are defined by their unique characteristics that might be different for everyone else until and unless they want it to be something certain." In simple terms, the divinities do not possess a certain physical form. They are unique beings that have a certain ''true'' appearance, something simr to what I had seen in thest moments of my master, or what Rein was seeing right now. However, when they appear before the other physical beings, they do not have their own original forms. They either use a ''phantom'' or a clone- something like what my parents had seen in when they proposed to one another- or they use a physical form that is easy to understand for others, something like what the ruler of these mountains was using at the moment. "We can go and hold them?" "Won''t we burn down? Or receive divine punishment?" "Dudea€| won''t they get angry?" "I believe they will not, however, to make surea€| I should go first-." "Hell no! I''m going first!" She finished her food, said her thanks for the food, and after smirking at me, she ran straight towards theke, used her skill to step on the air and reached all the way to the ind, and stood before the creature that she knew the truth of very well. Then she greeted them, they greeted her back, and after asking for their permission to touch them, she sat down and picked them up, and gently hugged them with a delighted smile. "She did it?" "She actually did it, damna€|" "That girla€| is awesome!" The second person to run to the ind was Cradle, and following her, Tia and Quin reached the ind as well and greeted the great being, patted them, held them, and did all sorts of things with them that they had considered to be inappropriate. ''However, form the standards of a higher being, something as simple as curiosity and admiration of all those girls that were nothing more than children in their eyes, was nothing disrespectful.'' It was nothing too surprising even from the point of view of the creatures present around Them. They only saw some human children admiring the high lord of the mountains, the ruling divine entity in their own way. ''They hugged them, kissed them, and tried taking pictures with them- which obviously did not work- and it was the same equivalent of the creatures showing their respect to the divine entity with a bow or with their own song.'' The Divine being did not mind it. They also found the unique children, the students of the great academy, to be fun additions to this special gathering. They talked with them, answered their simple questions, hinted them about the unique talents they had yet not realised about themselves, and they kept their words with them limited as they knew even with the Mana voice that they were using, not all the human children could endure the kind of Mana that they were using. "Zoe, Lizzy, you should go as well." "Hmm? Big brother?" We were watching them from the back still as not every one of them had gone to the ind. It was fun watching them from the back but still, we wanted to go there as well. "I wanted to go first but since she stole that chance, I''ll just finish things here ande join you all at the end. Go ahead, and drag those two lovebirds with you." Alf and Bell were having their own unique chat about the divine beasts and she was telling him how his parents had encountered some divine beings before in their lives as well. They were having funa€| but they can have more fun over there. "Oh? Hehehe, I understand~." She knew what I wanted instantly, so she didn''t wait even a moment more and first picked up Lizzy before picking up the two of them and flying over to the other side with her special magic spell that others certainly did not see. ''Alright, thena€|'' I wanted to go there as well since one of the reasons we came here was to meet this being. So, I had to finish up things on this side first. And to do that, I had to kick out the father of that young turtle eternity and his regressor Lady on the other side first. Chapter 831 : Greeting the divine beast [Eon''s POV: ] I followed Zoe and the others soon after taking care of the hidden genius Prince of Roxanna and the sole sessor of its opposing power, and greeted the divine beast with a sincere bow. "It is a blessing to be in the presence of the great beasts of myths." They were ying with the others. Rein was holding them away from the rest of them, the otherdies were admiring their adorable form, while the rest of them had gathered around the ones that found this great creature intimidating. The boys knew just how dangerous they were and they knew well how things could get dangerous, so they stayed behind and admired them from a distance, only interacting with them for what was necessary. ''They were cautious.'' Even though there was no need to be so. [ "A sessor of a higher being greeting someone such as us like that is not a sight we are familiar with." ] Instead of using their Mana voice like they were doing to talk with the rest of them, they used a unique way ofmunication with us. A way that only Zoe, Rein, our familiars and I could perceive. "Haha, it is only natural that a normal human being would be respectful towards a divine being. There couldn''t be anything surprising about this, right?" They looked at me with an expression that suggested their interest in this entire situation anda€| their eyes seemed to be wanting to glimpse inside of me. [{ *Mastera€|* }] ''Don''t. You should restrict them.'' [{ *Yes, master.* }] They were a divine being so just like Wali and her partner, they possessed the power to see through the mortal things, the mortal matter and the things that were limited by the human limitations. ''Just like every divine being, they possessed the omniscient power to know things about any individual or any thing that they wanted and were permitted to know.'' There were few things that they could not know or ess as a divine beast, and they knew that very well. Soa€| [ "Fascinatinga€| as expected from the sessor of a Wisdom Sovereign." ] When Lucy stopped them from essing important things in my mind- things like who I was, who my master was, some important memories, and information on the kind of knowledge I possessed- they found it extremely fascinating. -Ooooooooooooooooong! So much so that they froze everything around us except the three of us, and flew down from Rein''s palm. [ "It was already fascinating for us that so many children from the academy were visiting this ce as if they knew about its existence and location, however, the kind of children that have visited this sanctuary today surprised us even more." ] They looked at Alf and Bell with a smiling expressiona€| [ "A child with a fascinating of understanding of true Magic and a child with an extraordinary understanding of three original colours." ] They then looked at Lizzy and Quin, and a rather concerning look clouded their face. [ "Descent of a hell ruler, one that was once a prince of the heavensa€| and a child that possesses the qualities to seed the (Ocean sovereign)." ] They had their doubts about these two from the looks of it, but they moved on and looked at the side where Tia had been arguing with Ezra and Prince Alph. [ "A cheerful fairy that possesses the qualities of a True leader, a mirthless spirit cursed by Time, and a unique pinnacle master possessing the blood of the ones Blessed by the Original Crimson mes." ] It was interesting to us how they were describing them, and it was also insightful for us as wella€| it was a kind of information that we might not have been able to hear had we not had the qualifications to do so. We weren''t normal humans nor were we just some unique students of the academya€| we were a little more than that. That was the very reason this divine being was using their powers to talk with us personally. [ "A child that has seen misery and one that has known pain and loneliness in the world he is from." ] Even president Zodiac and Cradle were frozen by their powers. [ "Humans don''t get toe here often, but seeing so many of you was a surprise for us. However, then we sensed the presence of another divinity from your pack." ] They looked at Zoe, who was smiling back at them, with an interesting expression. [ "After the descendents of the lord that forged the foundations of the academy, this is our first timeing across a different, independent, newborn." ] Zoe was the child of a higher divine beast that possessed her divinity since her birth. She was a different being from her mother who had reincarnated with all her memories of her previous lives. She was young so she could not control her divinity yet, and thus she could not ess all of her powers that she was born with. They were sealed inside her and were restricted by the Blockages of her Solnova junctions. But, it was a momentary thing. [ "It is rare to see a Newborn pureblood in this era. Only makes one wonder who your predecessor might have been." ] They certainly did not know about her mom and my master and Lucy had confirmed that already when I started searching for this cave. They weren''t around when the academy was being created by the [Masters] and they also certainly weren''t around when the Keeper was created to protect the core fragment of the ind. [ "It''s rare to see the sessors of a Mythical power as well." ] They looked at Rein with another unique gaze and tried looking into her eyes until their own pitch ck eyes turned into a light shade of pink and they had to close them in a hurry. [ "Truth is precious yet dangerous. The one with the duty to Perceive these truths and keep them alive is a dreadful one." ] They looked at me once again and the smiling expression they had on their face was back. [ "But you know what is more interesting than all of that?" ] With their wings wide open, they jumped in the air and flew on top of my head. [ "A young human possessing a soul far older than his age, along with a primordial Soul Armament, an unawakened Stigma, as well as a body with the affinity for all six of the true elements." ] -Oooooooooooooong! A light exploded from their body and blinded me for a moment, but it was only momentary. [ "Though, what makes you more interestinga€| is your very existence in this realm." ] When I opened my eyes, I was staring in the same cave that we had been before, but what I was seeing was most certainly not what we had been seeing all this time. [ "Your connection to your origin is strangely strong, indicating a deep rtionship with the illuminator of the universe, while your past experiences makes you a unique individual even from the standards of this world." ] In the ce where the Elemental helix was supposed to be, there was only a pir of light that seemed to pierce the very sky above us, and in the centre of this visible gold-ck light was the being that was talking with us at the momenta€" in their true form that must have been what She wanted to express. [ "You must have faced great difficulties finding out about the information of this ce, nning out the course of your journey, and evaluating the safest route to pass through the gateways, correct?" ] It certainly was difficult, I had to spend many days looking for the information regarding this ce, send out Celes'' clone to various ces and see weather the ces mentioned in the stories passed through oral traditions even existed or not. It was a difficult journey finding this ce, but if it weren''t for the knowledge I acquired from the Keeper and through the history books I read back in our tower library, we might not have been able to get here. ''In the process of finding these ces I even acquired information on the house whistle and was able to acquire it after almost facing death.'' It was difficult to find this ce, but the appearance of the flower gardens all over the ind outskirts certainly helped me a lota€| but then there was the request from the headmaster, and the truths that we got to know in that holy city. ''I didn''t think we would make it in time so I wasn''t sure if I will get to take all of them with us.'' But, it all turned out wella€| which, should not have been the case from the understanding of the being before me. [ "Then how is it that someone as wise as you, someone possessing such great talents and potential, someone with a special future ahead of thema€| could be so altruistic?" ] They were asking me why I would take so many people with their own unique potentials to a ce that would inspire them and make them a better version of themselves. ''This ce had birthed a legendary figure of the past whose existence is still well known to this world.'' The legacy that he created with his family and the way they overtook a portion of the entire world''s market of their time is a tale that is taught to us all in the academy. And, this being before me was the very creature that inspired that person to change the world''s direction and bring multiple revolutions. It was thanks to this being that the lost, nameless merchant became The richest person in this world''s history to have ever lived. And he was not the only sessful person that had been inspired by this being''s presence. There were many morea€| and now, we would also be one of them. Which wasn''t exactly a good thing from the perspective of a wise person. [ "It is understandable if you were after the seed of the Elemental gateway, but we understand you know how difficult achieving that would actually be. So, you do note here just so that your ''friends'' could have an epiphany nor did youe here for the sake of enjoyment." ] Their true eyes beyond the pir of ck-gold light looked right into my eyes once again, and with another sh of light blinding me, I was back to the cave where everyone else had been frozen. [ "There must be some other objective behind your presence here, soa€| tell us, child." ] Seeing their smaller hamster form with those tiny hands and those pretty wings right after seeing their true, indescribable appearance, was an absurd experience. But, seeing their serious eyes was even more terrifyinga€| [ "Tell us, what do you really want?" ] They were asking me about the true reason I was here, and I had no reason to hide it since it was something I was here to discuss with them. "Haaaa." So, taking a deep breath and first calming my heart, I looked straight into the eyes of the being, and shook my head. Chapter 832: Connection with Adam Lothschild [Eon''s POV: ] "I wanted to receive the proof of your existence and your connection with Adam Lothschild." The Lothschild were one of the leading economic leaders of the present age. They were the top merchant organization in the world and they were also leading corporations that practically controlled the entire economy. They weren''t affiliated with any one nation in this world like mom who was also one of the richest people in the world, but they were so much more powerful than her that they owned their own nations. ''Yes, they ''owned'' nations.'' Throughout all three continents, there were many nations that werepletely drowning in debt- money that they had borrowed from the Loths at a reasonably low interest rate. ''They were practically the shadow governments in those nations.'' And, the most interesting thing about them was the fact that they were arge conglomerate family owning multiple businesses that could put any simple person in the world on the list of the richest people in the world. They owned businesses in nearly every field that one can think about as well as investments and partnerships in many of their industries that someone else was looking after for them. ''They were a power on par with the cumtive power of the entire Roxanna, or Lakmer, while their influence was as vast as Theocracy.'' However, since they weren''t actually affiliated with any nation or famous names, nearly all of their activities were unknown and hidden under strict curtains. They were unlike the normal families. The main members of their house lived in hidden ces somewhere in the eastern continent while the ones that worked directly for them, or the branch members of this household, lived scattered across the world. ''It was a unique system they had created themselves, so it would have been quite difficult to meet them.'' But thanks to the uing Grand conference, we are soon going to have a chance to meet them. And I wanted to make use of that opportunity. There were many things that one could gain from having any kind of connection with that one family. Be it money, resources, connections, knowledge, Human Resources, or even special items that not many people in this world knew about. Just having a connection with the young representatives of that family was a big thing, and I wanted to have it for many of my ns. [ "Adam Lothschild? Are you talking about the merchant that we helped a long, long time ago?" ] "Yes. That person." As a divine being, they had a unique concept of memory and there was nothing like ''forgetting'' for them as they did not store their memories in their brain like the mortals did. They had no physical body to begin with so there was apletely different concept of memory for them. It wasn''t surprising that they remembered a person that they had helped thousands of years ago. They knew who I was talking about and they could tell what I wanted from them. "The esteemed divinity provided many things to that individual and they were able to achieve many things in their lives. I believe one already knows about them and their various descendants that might have been here after that person." From what I knew, the descendants of Adam most certainly visited this ce after clearing many of the challenges on many turns of the history. ''There were stories of how the Lothschild had been saved from the fall in the pages of hidden history right when their descendants somehow managed to obtain arge quantity of rare natural resources in that period.'' There were many who turned out to be as ambitious and as mindful as the first master of that household, and it was said that it was all thanks to their encounter with the same divine beast as the one that their ancestor hade across. There were many that still lived in the pages of the historical records, and they were all individuals that knew how to operate, generate, and use money. ''Thousands of years of history wasn''t made just with the help of solid financial resources and foundations. There were many things that made Loths what they are even in this era.'' They were a family made on the most solid foundations, and they knew what was important in this worlda€" how the family was more important than anything else in this world. [ "We know of them. They are funny people that somehow find their way to this cave every few centuries. We greet them as the guests of an old acquaintance, however they worship us as something close to a god. It''s quite funny, and adorable at the same time." ] The Loths were quite literally the strongest family in this world if we were talking in terms of total resources, forces, pure power, authority in various countries, and their overall position in this world even though themon citizens did not know much about them. ''In the eyes of the world, they were a famous trade organisation sitting at the summit of all the traders in this world but, that was all.'' Few people knew how sixty percent of the official shops they visited in any city of any nation in any part of any continent was somehow connected to those people But, those in power, especially those like mom who knew how the money worked or those like me who wanted to enter the political, economic and financial circles, knew very well about the Zeniths who owned a portion of this world. [ "We know of thema€| however, we do not understand what you mean when you say you want to receive the proof of our existence and our connection to that poor liberated soul." ] They did not know what I was talking about since, well, they did not know what to do when someone asked them to give them the proof of something that was beyond a higher being like them. It was the natural response I was expecting, so I borated a little further. "I understand that you have given them a certain element that they carry with them along with all the other things in this ce? The flower or a petal from the elemental flower?" If I''m right, the Loths certainly have a way to recoganise the individuals who have visited this cave, a way to prove their encounter with the higher being to the elders of the house. ''There have been subtle rumours in the past that the Loths do this strangepetition to decide various positions their children are going to take over where they use certain objects to decide positions ranging from the financial manager to the House head.'' They were only rumours for the simple and normal people of this world but, those who knew the truth behind those rumours would not want to investigate further on them as they know what it would mean to disturb the Lothschilds. People, even the supreme emperors of Roxanna and Zarak Orion, avoided going on their bad terms since the business was much more important to them than what was going on inside their families. ''They were a high functioning ecosystem and just like the family our Vice president belongs to, the Loths know what they are doing as well.'' The (High elder) one of the strongest powers of the current world is still alive and kicking so the others have nothing to worry about at least when ites to the Loths. So, they mostly only talk businessa€| which I could have done with the influence mom had alone if that was my goal. [ "Hmmma€| there certainly is something unique that we bestow upon them as a token of friendship. However, we do not believe you could have it." ] "Well it''s fine even if I can''t have it as long as I know what it isa€| and as long as I get to have a memory fragment from you." I gave Them a smile that they most definitely interpreted as a smile of someone with twisted intentions. However, I know for certain they did not feel any ill intentions from me since there were none present in the first ce. [ "A memory fragmenta€|?" ] They were confused for a moment, however, it did not take them more than a moment to realize what I was talking about, or what I wanted to do with something so practically useless. [ "You are a crafty one, hun?" ] They shook their head with a smile on their face, flew back on top of my head, and after another light that shared a fragment of their memory was passed down to mea€| a little moment that surprised the twodies looking at me with a subtle stunned expression. "Whata€| just happened?" Rein was confused, and though Zoe figured it out in a moment, even she could not tell why she was feeling that little nk in her own memory. [{ "He used a divine skill to show me his true form." }] I cleared her confusion with that simple answer that obviously did not like, and after that had endeda€| well, I almost had all that I hade here for. [ "We could not give you what you asked for due to time constraints and circumstances, however, if you desire ita€| we can present you with a petal of the Elemental gateway." ] "Hun? We''d take it with a bow of gratitude." I just said it instinctively since I was NOT expecting something like thating directly from him. But, he was actually serious about ita€| ''He actually gave us a flower petal from the elemental helixa€|'' And that too, before everyone else that hade back to their senses. Chapter 833: Petal of crystal fragment [Rein''s POV: ] "That''sa€| a petal?" The little cutie gave him a small shared of the green crystal that he had pulled out of nowhere and it seemed to me like it was still connected to the original helix of the crystals with a strange connection of green energy. It was pretty unique so I certainly found it interesting, but it was not something that anyone could call a ''petal'' from a flower. [ "The Elemental gateway sheds three petals once every century. There are only a few individuals who possess these petals since most of them are used by Us in the maintenance and preservation of the mountains. Regardless of how they might look, they certainly are petals from the ancient flower, however, perhaps it is something more than a shred of crystal in the eyes of the Truth Seer." ] The little cutie was looking at me with a smile of admirationa€| though, he was misunderstanding something. ''That thing doesn''t look anything special to me.'' It was a fragment from the crystals that were creating the unique helix, the flower growing directly from the ground without any base or stems. "It''s somehow connected with the main bodya€|" The only unique thing about this petal that I could understand was the unique green energy thread connecting it with the flower base that it must have been originated from. ''The thing he was holding must be somehow connected to that part of the flower and if that was the case, there was a certain chance that the flower itself was somehow connected with this one crystal petal.'' And if that was the case, the enter gateway might somehow be connected with this one shred. [ "Indeeda€| some Truths are not avable to even the divines." ] From the perspective of this cute little hamster, with those soft fluffy wings, I was more interesting than Zoe or my darling. ''Of course he found them more amazing and intimidating than me, but with me, it felt like he was looking at someone or something that he truly admired.'' It was kind of ttering but at the same time, since I saw him as both his true self and the form that he was showing to everyone else, it was a little conflicting. "Don''t praise me like that when I don''t understand those things. At least tell me what you can about these eyes of mine." Just like Wali and her snake husband, he also certainly knew more about these eyes than me. [ "Haha, we wish we could do so, Young sessor. However, you are still not qualified for more than what you already possess." ] The two of them barely told us a few things about our powers while this little thing was being much more useless than those two. "Not even a little bit? Not even what you think I already know about?" But, he was much more easy to talk with than the divine demon Wali or her world demolishing disaster husband. [ "You want to know what you already knowa€|?" ] "Is it that surprising?" [ "Hmmm? Not reallya€| just thata€| the past seeding truth Seers have beena€| well, anyway. We can tell you if you want "Yei~!" I thought they would tell me at least a little about these eyes or the past sessors, but just knowing their perspective of the things they thought I knew about already was going to be enough for now. It wasn''t a kind of knowledge that we were supposed to know without the qualifications anyway, so just knowing the things that I supposedly knew about should be enough But that asidea€| there were some confused faces around me. "You twoa€| what are you hiding again, hun?" "They gave Lucifer that thinga€| there''s definitely something special about it, right?" "Uriel. Tell us what they are hiding as well!" Tia was curious and angry, Lizzy was curious and confused, while Med was curious and interested in what exactly they could take from this ce. ''That little cute thing yed dirty when he gave Eon that Petal after bringing everyone else back to their senses. They weren''t supposed to do that since they must already know what kinds of effects it would cause, but they still did it knowing that. "Shut it you all, and go back and sleep a little like the others. You know they aren''t going to tell you anything at all anyway so there is no need to even ask so many questions." President and captain Alpha understood this was something special that was only happening because the higher being of the mountains saw something special in them. They were giving their captain Lucifer something unique since they could tell they were much more special than the rests of them and even though some of them knew that was not the case, epting this theory after seeing him use the house whistle was not that strange. It was prettymon for the two of us to be in these kinds of unique situations, but since even Zoe and I were just as much confused as the rest of them, this turned out to be something easy to let go. "Yes, go sleep or go stargazing! There are many things in the sky of this ce that you will love to see and if you focus on the reflection they make on theke, you might even be able to see them much more clearly." The fun time hade to an end along with the fun hours of midnight. It was early morning already so they should at least have some rest so that we can y with the creatures, collect things, and do other things in the morning so that we could go back by the evening. "The elemental helix will close soon so, let''s prepare to say farewell to the spirits." The gateway only opens every few years randomly under unknown conditions and it closes after a few days. ''Some of them could just find a contractor and make a contract if they want to stay in this world but, the spirits who fundamentally live in the spirit realm mostly are attracted to that world.'' They instinctively want to go back and for that, they would have to go through the Astral realm gateways that expand when the elemental gateway is closinga€" or something like that. "You are a bad person! Hump!" Tia was angry since we did not tell her why he had that thing or why the great higher being was being so nice with us. They knew the rest of them as well, but they mostly only yed with us, and she did not like that. "Tiaa€|" Lizzy could tell Zoe was not in the best mood right now from how she was looking at the greets being with that upset expression, so she wanted to cheer her up somehow. And Med only had simple questions so Eon took care of her. Still, Tia was upset. And, the presidents had their own questions. "Lucifer, I''ll go back." With the ruler of the mountains wrapped in my arms, I used I skill once again and went back to the others with the hopes of somehow convincing them that the flower petal was just a little personal present that even Eon did not know much about. "You''re lying." "Why are you lying!" But they did not buy ita€| so, the cute winged hamster had to speak up and support my words. ''I wasn''t exactly lying to them since he actually did not know much about it and since he also did not ask for it himself, it was also technically a present from Them.'' They did not believe my words but not believing in the words of a divine being was not an option. They had no reason to lie and no reason to hide anything from them since it was not rted to restrictions of nature. "The night is pretty here." [ "It''s not the prettiest though." ] We were still on a mountain, so the stars we can see from this cave were much clearer than what we could see from the outside. And the special waters of the cave reflecting these lights made it even more beautifula€| "Then, where can we find the prettiest stars on these mountains, mister ruler?" It was difficult to believe how we wereying down with a divine entity or how there were so many rare and dangerous creatures present all around us. The others that had already fallen asleep were smiling in their sleep as they must be reminiscing about the amazing they had today, and the cute couples that were still chatting with their partners must have gotten closer than ever with this little experance. [ "The top of the highest peak, the ninth mountain existing higher than even the cloudsa€| there''s a small pagoda there. And the night sky above, is one of the most spectacr views one can find in this entire world." ] As a divine beast, this cutie certainly possessed various kinds of worldly knowledge like the other masters of divinity. ''Just like how we have met a divine demon, someone that started a divine art, someone that was so powerful they could destroys with their true powers, as well as a world devouring beast that was their partnera€| this divine entity before us was also a special being.'' They might look cute and attractive and they might not be as old and experienced as the two of thema€| they were a unique being of nature. ''An adorable unique being of nature that I want to be friends with.'' And thankfully, I have a few more hours with them to make that wishe truea€| ''I''ll have to try harder tomorrow.'' Though, in my heart, I know it is not going to be an impossible task. ''He finds me interesting. Using that to my advantage isn''t going to be that difficult of a task.'' Chapter 834: Did you have fun? [Zodiac''s POV: ] "Can you believe that? They just gave him that flower petal. That Bastard." "It''s not that hard to believe after seeing him do all that we have alredy seen." She was trying to catch a small rabbit baby for a while now, but the little creature knew how to move their feet. "Hump. He''s just a little better than me in magic and perhaps a little less better to you when ites to weapon handling. He just happens to know a few more things than most of us and he had good eyes. There''s nothing much special about him than that." She wasining how Lucifer was nothing special and still was a lucky bastard, how there were things that he was lucky to get or how there were some things that he got lucky with. She knew those hurtful words weren''t truth so this was just her ranting about the things that she couldn''t help but ept. "If you want to see that petal, you can just ask him. I''m pretty sure he''d show it you like everyone else." "As if I''d ever do that, hump. There''s nothing special about a fragment of gem. It''s not like it''s some amazing artifact that can summon an elemental king or something so I don''t see why everyone is so obsessed with it." Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l''e-NovelBin Yeah, well. You might have just jinxed yourself but, it''s better if you are wrong. ''I can''t even imagine what would happen if something as dangerous and powerful as an object possessing the power to summon a sovereign power falls into the hands of evil.'' We obviously know he alredy possesses many such dangerous objects since we have seen him y a forgotten divine artifact by ourself, as well as possessing an artificial being that is almost as proficient with a divine artifact as him. "You act like a baby sometimes, you know?" She was one of the smartest and toughest people I have met in this long life of mine, and still¡­ ever since we met the two of them, she has changed a lot more than she did over the three years we attended the academy. "Say that again and you will receive a smack on your head." She gave me a look of disgust while clicking her tongue and once again jumped on the green baby rabbit. There were six of them and all six of them possessed a skill that boosted their speed by many folds. Additionally, they were special elemental creatures that could use the powers of the elements so, in a cave filled with spirits of winds, creatures that can use the unlimited power of these spirits were obviously not going to be an easy opponent for anyone. ''They were one of the cutest and most difficult opponents to get their hands on, and since they were extremely yful, they thought of this entire thing to be a fun game. She had been chasing after them for a while now and there were a few times she had almost caught them as well, but they were smart. ''There were six of them so whenever one of them were caught, the others came together and tickled the one that had caught them.'' It simply made their grip lose and since they were in love with these cute little things, they only had one choice if they wanted to get their hands on them. ''Winning in their own game.'' There were only six of them so, if she really wanted to, as a master of trapping magic, she would have caught all of them a long time ago. ''But then again, it would not have been the same as what Lucifer did.'' That bastard caught all six of them with his bare hands without using any kind of magic or Aura. He did not even use his bows and arrows and just caught the six of them with some kind of movement prediction method. "Haaaa¡­ juste here and sit down for a minute please. You have been at that for three hours now." The little babies had tramenious stamina¡­ and it wasn''t because they were rabbits. They were children so they were naturally more active then even ether parents. They were cute as well, so itpensated for their shrewd personality and yful attitude. ''They liked winning so they did all that they could possibly think of to not get caught by any of them after Lucifer so¡­ they had a great score until now. But,they most certainly weren''t the only ones that liked winning againstrge unknown predators like us.'' They might be yful creatures but there were many that possessed the powers and skills to catch them if they just used those skills and powers. But, no¡­ "Haaa¡­ I guess I can take a break. I''m taking a break, everyone!" It was the morning after one of the most memorable nights I''ve spent in my entire life. Everyone had already had our breakfast, so they were ying around the paradise now that they had some time on their hands. "Oh~. I''ll take over there then~." Some of them were ying with other creatures, the researchers and the curious ones were researching on the creatures, nt life, and the elemental gateway in the centre of theke. Some were ying in the water with the aquatic creatures while some were deep diving in the search of some unique kind of treasures¡­ sad that they weren''t going to find anything there. ''SanSan already cleared that ce up and thanks to him, I now had some good things that I wanted to look at as soon as possible.'' But that wasn''t going to be possible in this ce so, I wanted to finish things here and go back¡­ but then again, seeing everyone y so happily, these creatures that were being unusually cooperative with them, and the very nature of this unique ce was enjoyable. Especially, seeing them take turns to y with some of the cute creatures was a sight I had never thought I would enjoy so much. "Haaaa¡­" "Did you have fun?" Asking her with a smile while handing her the cup of fresh water, I nced at how our little fairy friend was now chasing after the little green rabbits and a chuckle escaped from me. "Cute Tia. Reminds me of the fairy we had in our batch¡­ what was her name again?" "Which fairy?" There were more than one fairies in our batch, same with this batch, but since Tia was the only Fairy captain, she was a famous one among her peers. "Right, we had many fairies¡­ hmmm¡­ you know the one that had purple wings and ranked third in the second year''s midterms?" "Oh, you mean Droplet. Yes, she was quite adorable as well." There were quite a few memorable individuals among our batch that we asionally talk about. She was also one of those people¡­ a fairy that was perhaps as talented as me in every academic aspect. ''She was smart, she was cute, she was childish even though she was more than a hundred years old, and she was a crybaby that still sends me letters to this day.'' Thinking back, she was an interesting person that also had a crush on me. But after I rejected her dating request the sixth andst time during our graduation, I have never had the chance to meet her because of the academy president duties¡­ "Yes, that one. She was a nutjob, but she was pretty cute like this fairy friend of ours." She doesn''t just call someone friend so even among the people present with us, there weren''t many that she called friend. Calling them that casually was a different matter since she calls anyone anything she pleases. But, friendship used to be a very big step for her. Though, thanks to the two of them, she had started epting more individuals as a ''friend'' in thest few months. She had improved so much that as the only friend she had before this new batch, I wanted to go and thank the two that changed her so much. And¡­ "Don''t say that like a child-." -Smack! "I told you not to call me a child or a baby. Have you gone deaf?" She was still the same old Cradle that I knew well. And I liked that much more than the fact that she had changed for the better in many aspects. But her hands still hurt. "You know how strong you are, Del?" "Of course I know¡­ that I''m not strong enough to have her." She had a deep crush on Miss Uriel, I sometimes think it''s actually love instead of just a crush but she knew what was possible and what was not. ''She restricted herself from loving someone that already was someone else''s. She knew pain and she did not like it.'' She was a pretty and simple person in my eyes. A good friend that had saved my life many times, and a friend I cherish much more than our experience in this paradise. "Haaa. Come here. Let''s not get emotional, alright?" Hugging her while sitting down after taking the ss of water from her, we stayed like that for a moment until one of the curious, worried, and confused green baby rabbits approached us from behind. And, when it was right within the range, she did not hesitate even for a moment, very carefully took head position, and when the moment was the most appropriate, she jumped towards the creature and atst¡­ she was holding what she had been after forst so many hours. Chapter 835: It’s their home, not ours [Eon''s POV: ] A paradise, as we all know, is a ce or state of perfect happiness, harmony, and beauty. It''s a magical ce that is often associated with an utopian or idealised setting where everything is as one desires or imagines, free from pain, suffering, or conflict. A state of eternal bliss, something one would want to experience for time immortal. This unique state is something close to what a liberated soul freed from the worldly restrictions might feel, or at least, it''s close to that. ''That''s what a paradise we humans know.'' The Paradise of the Beasts, on the other hand, is a mythical sanctuary where creatures of all kinds live in perfect harmony. ''In all the stories I know that have described this unique ce, they have mentioned some very unrealistic things about creatures and their lives in these special ces.'' The blue bees of the academy have this belief among themselves that, when they die and when their bodies are buried under the roots of the ancient tree, their soulsa€" or they themselves as they understand, go to the embrace of The great mother. They reach a ce untouched by any sin, a ce where they live and y in eternal happiness, a ce that heal them, their soul and when the timees, Mother Nature sends them back to them as young children. ''Different creatures of the ind that possess at least some kind of intelligence, have a different view of the afterlife and a paradise where they can eat all they want, y all they want, do anything they desire.'' A ce where the beasts could feel like a part of the Nature itself. ''That''s how they imagine a utopian world devoid of sadness, fear or pain.'' What defines this paradise is the peaceful coexistence of animals, including predators and prey, without hierarchy or struggle for dominance¡­ somethingpletely different from the true wild where everything struggles for their survival. But in these ces, there is a deep sense ofmunity and cooperation, with each creature ying a vital role in the ecosystem. ''That is what the other beings who have visited ces close to this hiddenke cave have exined, at least.'' But, truthfully, what We call a paradise doesn''t necessarily have to be A paradise for the creatures of lower intelligence as well. "I don''t wanna go¡­" "We have to, dear. This isn''t where we belong." It was time for us to leave now, however, Rein wasn''t the only one that wanted to stay in this peaceful ce. "This is such a nice ce¡­" "We can juste back here now that we know where it is, right? Then why-." "No, Med. Do you remember how we got here in the first ce?" "Of course I remember that! You crashnded in the forest and then we went down from there!" Med was not angry about what happened back then, but she couldn''t understand why the President was asking her such a simple question. "Do you know what happened after that?" His question attracted the attention of everyone that was getting ready for the departure and, including Med, everyone else thought back to how we had arrived to this ce. "We climbed down the mountain." "And then we went to the ce where that thing was located." "That thing, right. That thing¡­what was it again?" "I rememberpeting with you all over climbing a walla€| but¡­ but¡­" "¡­?" "I¡­ I can''t remember how we got there." "I don''t think I even know what we did after that." How did we get here again?" They were confused, some of them were even stunned by the strange phenomenon that they were experiencing right now. "Hey! What can''t I remember anything!?" "What''s happened here?!" What was a paradise from the perspective of the humans and other intelligent species was a sacred sanctuary for the beings that belonged to these mountains and to nature. It was a sacred ce where they weren''t allowed to be hostile, show any kind of anger, a ce where they cannot harm anyone else, and a ce that existed for rest. ''The nature out there was a dangerous ce with few rules.'' The strong lived off of the weak, and the weak survived to preserve their lives in the hopes of giving birth to the other lives. Those who had strength were the only creatures that could roam freely in these mountains, thus nature. Only those who had strong wings could rule the skies above. ''Their world was different from ours.'' There was pain and suffering. There was an eternal threat to their lives. One did not even know what might happen to them if they ever faced some strong being, ate some poisonous food, or faced grave difficulties. They were beasts, creatures born in nature that were going to be one with nature after one point. ''That was their fate.'' A sanctuary where they can get away from all those rules andws of nature was the same as an utopia where the humans, or beings of the physical world, existed along with the beings of higher order. Continue your adventure at m|v-l''e-NovelBin ''It was a fantastical idea that was made into truth by a merciful ruler that knew of suffering and was willing to sacrifice their own powers for their peace.'' They created this ce for their subjects, and since it was created with originpowers with many rules and Laws in ce, even if one wanted toe back here, unless they knew the meaning and purpose of this ce like the beasts present here did, they could not return to this ce. ''One would forget the path they took toe here, and one would forget the important information about this ce that might be used to hurt the creatures of this ce.'' There was a reason only a few people had ever been to this ce. But, the rest of them weren''t even going to remember that reason once we go back. "Calm down everyone. It''s just how things work in this special ce." The existence of an elemental helix was very important for all the creatures of nature as it was a direct representation of the Nture''s authority. ''A flower that connects two different worldsa€| in the perfect nature with perfect rules andws, what more but this life form, could be the proof of Nature''s authority?'' This one flower was like an idol of worship for the creatures including the ruler that they offered their prayers to. It was a ce made and dedicated to the beasts and the creatures not for humans, fairies, elves, orcs, or any other higher being. So, it was natural that as temporary guests of this special ce, we would have to leave one day with only the good memories we had made in this ce. Living here forever was not even an option for usa€| at least until we decided to submit to the authority of the ruler of the mountains and be a subject of nature, leaving our humanity and epting the fate of the beasts. "We can certainlye back here someday if everyone wants, so you don''t have to worry about that at least. Let''s just say our goodbyes and depart." sses will resume from tomorrow and we have some important things to take care of in the academy starting tomorrow. It was alreadyte evening and we had already had our lunch with the rest of the creatures, so we had to leave now. [ "We were happy to have you all young ones as we will love to have you again anytime." ] The ruler of the mountains, a nameless creature that only possessed his true title that we had no need to know. ''They were a nice person, much nicer than most of the other creature possessing divinity in this world.'' Aside from the The Keeper possessing divinity granted to it by its creators, they were perhaps the only creature possessing divinity on this ind. The mountains were their home, their nation, and they were the maintainer with the duty to protect and preserve life on thisnd. ''They were merciful unlike many other higher beings, and they found us interesting.'' Our presence in this ce was the same as a camel''s presence in a salon. People found it interesting, some even found it to be oppressive, but since it belonged to a sultan, they could not do anything about it. Though the creatures of this ce mostly did not find us oppressive. Just like the ruler, they also found us interesting. And thata€| was going to be a good thing. "We would visit again as well. Certainly." "I''ll miss you, cutie~!" They started saying their farewells to the ruler hamster, to small rabbits and the big turtle. The fishes were sad that Rexie and Quin were also going back, but they were fine with it if they promised toe visit them again. ''It was a little emotional momenta€|'' But, it was peculiar and interesting for a few of us as well. "You made it possible." Cradle muttered as she looked at Rein and the rest of thedies gathered around the Ruler. "I''m just happy that they had funa€| I will believe you did as well from that smile of yours." "Hump." She would never say it, but I know she had fun with the rabbits and the other creatures. She was especially happy to see Reun in that cheerful mood. Even the otherdies including the ever stoic Ezra and Miss Luna had fun with their partners and the creatures. ''Seeing them all happy like that made this day special for many of us.'' And it brought us closer. ''Which, actually, was the main point of this entire trip, in the first ce.'' Chapter 836: In the high office [OP: ] "They seem to be having fun." { "They are doing well for someone that has seen the true conspiracies of the world." } "World is filled with things that others should never know about, ever if possible. But their fate is already intertwined with things like these." In the highest ce in the greatest academy of the world there was one individual that looked down at the great academy, the great garden filled with greenery and the students that filled it. Along with thepanion owl, the highest authority, possessing more than one divine authorities, he was looking in a distance at people that were returning back to this ce after spending some fun time with tge great creatures of the outskirts. His white hair shining in the evening light of the twilight, his colourful eyes shining with the most colourful colours of the nature, he smiled with a strange bitterness in his eyes. { "We have to address this, Merlin." } "We have to, but not until we confirm everything." { "We do not have long. The cult had already made their moves." } "I know. However, they are still not moving in the greater level so the higher beings are more concerned than their borate ns of mass destruction." { "Merlin¡­" } He wasn''t only the headmaster of this academy and the one in charge of the future prospects of this world, but he was also one of the highest authorities of this world. His influence had granted him various fruits that he had to carry on along with the various tasks that he had to aplish as the headmaster and as one of the strongest people of this world. "We have to find Alex." { "I''m already doing that. However, you know better than I do¡­ he isn''t going to show up until he wants to." } "He was in the demon realm thest time. Now he is among the beings of the other world¡­ what he is doing for this world is great, I agreea€| but this isn''t the time for staying away from his birthce." { "A saint isn''t limited to one world, Merlin." } Discover hidden tales at m,v l''e-NovelBin The owl looked at his master with helplessness and a kind of anger that was directed towards his own self. He knew what his master wanted and what this world needed, but there was little that he could help him with even with his infinite wisdom. He was supposed to be the (Owl of wisdom) that guided the world and his master towards the best possible path, buta€| he felt helpless in the face of the situation they were facing at the moment. "Divinities born from the physical world have the obligation to look after that physical world." The look in his eyes transitioned from a soft one to an enraged one in a matter of seconds¡­ and he looked away from the mountains in the distance, to the human civilization built on the other end of the floating ind. { "And he is doing what he is supposed to do as that divinity in his own way." } There were individuals with evil intentions popping up all over this world and it was getting difficult to deal with them with the already existing original demon contractors- Rakshasas. There were riots happening all over the world that were essentially caused by those evil cultists. There were more dangers in recent years than in the past decades when peace was preserved after a century-long war. The humans had just gotten used to the peace and were advancing at a slower pace than they should have in the times of difficulties. However, the peace wasing to a close now once again and with the war, the advancement of the race most amodated with survival was once again going to create a disparity between the other worlds and races. And, to make matters worse, the wars this time might not be limited to just this of theirs¡­ or this dimension, or this world. The gods were up to something once again after many aeons of silence. There was perhaps something happening between them as well, and whatever it might be, what they were doing to this world was not something he- as one of the highest authorities of this world- could possibly ignore. { "The Sword Saint is aplicated man Merlin, just like you." } On one side were the existing threats of this world and then there were the newer threats that the world was unaware of. The conspiracies to distort the harmony that he and his predecessors had maintained all this while was showing effects and there were certain possibilities that they could most certainly do irreversible damage to this world¡­ and he could not allow that. "Should I get their help, Harry?" { "They are children, you know that as well." } The strongest wizard in the world, the grand archmage¡­ the pinnacle of spells, sorcery, and wizardry. As he stood in the highest point of the greatest institution that was built as not only a protective fortress for the future of this world but also as a training ground for the future heroes that would save the world in various eras, he looked helplessly at the children flying to His home. "They are special children as well, Harry. They aren''t just some Children like the rest of them." He looked over the academy, at the students that were ying, studying, loving as the normal students like them should. They weren''t flying over the skies of the floating ind at the time of twilight. They weren''t Flying on high level spirits, nor did they possess artifacts so advanced they could fly like sorcerers with them. They did not possess draconian familiars and they did not possess their own wings either¡­ at least most of them did not. [{( "They are still children, Merlin." )}] Sitting beside the power source that had existed since the foundation of this academy, he nodded at the words of the True voice of the Great academy of Hope. "They are children, of course. That''s why I do not want them to get entangled with the matters of the adults." He looked in the furthest point in the east with his divine eyes that could see everything present before them, and saw the three Grandmasters and one Saint hidden in their sanctuaries. He looked in the West, and saw the Protectors of the world, the possessors of divinity, the masters of the truths. He gazed in the north and, at the high frozen peaks, and the Primordial endless eternal frost gazed back at him, IT''s personification ying yet another evil foregone. He also gazed in the south¡­ beyond the hidden boundaries yet undiscovered by the mortals, and shook his head. "It is not yet time." He gazed back at the eternal power that had been empowering this grand institution since the appearance of this ind. "Thus, it is up to Us Adults to protect and preserve the world for the ones who will, one day, guide it to Liberation." He looked back at the empire, in the house of Heliox where a little girl possessing the eyes of crystals yed with tens of unique creatures. Some distance away from that house, he gazed at another young girl that was listening to the sadness, happiness, joy andints of the citizens that would one day be her subjects. In the centre of that same continent, he looked at the child sleeping in a cave situated deep within a certainbyrinth, along with a divine entity that had epted her as their saviour. Simrly, in the furthest northern frozen regions, in a certain nd'' somewhere in the vast ocean, a newborn divinity were taking their first steps in this world, unknown to what they were going to experience in the following few years. A young boy that possessed strength to defeat even high order creatures of nature, creatures like spirits and draconic beings, was crying under the moonlight of the lonely sky of the eastern mountains. And like them, there were many young ones who had not even gotten a chance to show what they possessed to this world. "In this Golden era full of geniuses, miracles, Light beingers, and Heroesa€| the evil and followers of those evil have begun their new struggles." With a blink, his glowing eyes returned to their original, pretty state. "They will kill innocent people, they will destroy viges, cities, towns and nations, they will bring demons on thisnd, they will corrupt the world with their evila€| going forward, they will do what they possibly can just to destroy the world the young are supposed to Live in." Standing up, he looked back at his familiar owl with a new smile of determination on his face. "There are young people, there are younger ones, and then there are the ones who I want to see in this institution." { "To achieve the maximum potential one is capable ofa€| that is the goal of all mortal as well as divine lives." } Nodding with a smile reciprocating the feelings of his familiar, he took a deep breath, the gorgeous view of the setting sun behind him transitioning into a beautiful night sky. "It is The duty assigned by the supreme existence to all who Live." Saying that, he stepped off the edge of this highest point in this great heavenly castle and started walking down the stairs made up of by the clear clouds of the night. [{( "In the confrontation of various forces battling for various causes, only those going against the will of the Truth, shall prevail." )}] He knew what he had to do going forward, and so¡­ now that a new dawn was upon them, he could not just sit around and rx. He had important guests to greet today, so he could not possibly dy his duties any longer. Chapter 837: Difference between mortal and divine [Eon''s POV: ] "Who do you think they would be?" "Who knows? Specting isn''t too fun, you know? Just enjoy the movement of surprise." A new day, a new beginning. "You know already, don''t you?" "Heh. How would I know something so confidential?" Giving her a smirk as we stood before the door of the headmaster''s office, I looked at the angry face she was making. It was an adorable expression that I was expecting from the start, but seeing it still made this blend morning a bit more interesting. "You''re a bastard." She just opened the door with that same angry expression and went in instead of knocking or asking for permission¡­ but then again, the headmaster already knew we were outside. "Wee-." "Shut up for a minute." He was sitting behind his desk and was about to greet us when she shut him up with that annoyed look and looked around the ce, trying to find something. "They aren''t here." She even used her eyes to look around the ce but found nothing that was looking for. "Of course they aren''t. What did you think? The individuals that the great headmaster chose for his student council students would just y around in his main office where people frequent regrly?" It was a fact that not just anyone could visit the headmaster in his office but the teachers and the house captains as well as some certain individuals that were neither a teacher or captain certainly visited this office every now and then. ''We were supposed to meet our new mentors today, and they most certainly weren''t going to be sitting around in his very office.'' She knew that simple logical fact as well, but she still looked around to see how I would''ve known about it, even while knowing she was not going to get the answer to that question. Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelBin "Hump. Bastards." And now she was angry. "Haaaa." Thisplicated little girla€| "Anyway¡­ seems like you all had fun with that little hamster and the others?" "Hmmm?" Well, of course he knew about what we did yesterday and the day before. He could see almost everything with his divine world authority so at least most of the things rted to this ind and especially some of us were not hidden from him. "You know about the cave and that little cutie?" Still, even while having known this person for such a long time, she was confused how he knew about the divine being of those mountains. "Hmmm¡­ so you have met Them already, hun?." She looked at him with a look of surprise for a moment, before shaking her head with a discontent look. "You are definitely a bastard." She went ahead and sat down before him on the chair and following her, I sat down as well. "How could you hide the fact that there is such an incredible being living on the same ind as us?" "¡­" She was upset now. And seeing this, the headmaster couldn''t help but smile like an elder looking at the young children that were being cute before the older ones. "Hahaha." And then heughed as if he found this funny¡­ showing a rare sight of himughing genuinely. "I''m certain you know the answer to that funny question already so instead of the unrted thing, how about we talk about the thing you are here for?" He seemed happy for some reason. Even though he was in that terrible mood a few days ago due to the incident with the people of Kaksha, right now, she seems to be in a much better mood. ''I can tell he was still finding ways to resolve this problempletely but taking theplexity of the situation in consideration, I know very well just how difficult it is going to be for him.'' Fate of not only that one city but the entire world depends on the choices he makes and the cards he ys. "Hump. Do whatever you want." She grabbed the owl sitting beside him and pulled him closer to her without using more force than what was needed, and then started ying with the creature instead of paying any attention to him. "Haaa." And seeing this very much expected reaction of hers, we could only sigh with smiles on our faces. "Anyway¡­" We knew her well as well, so many words weren''t needed to understand this peculiar person. She was unique, and we had already epted that fact. "How was it? Your meeting with a divine being?" He was asking us with a smile in his face, expecting some kind of an interesting answer, but, instead of seeing a cute response like some children''s, he was met with a look of bitterness. "They were majestic." "If a creature that is part of this physical world could be so mucha€| special, what exactly are the ones we call gods that reside in the higher realms?" We have seen demons so we know what exactly the underworld, the Hell realm is made up of. We know what we deal with when we enter that realm of darkness and evil, however, we have not seen the heavenly beings in person. ''We don''t know how the gods, lords, or even the angels- the messengers of these gods- look exactly.'' Various stories have different depictions of those beings and those stories are their definitions. No one knows what they truely are until they experience them from their own perspective, so, we have no idea what those higher beings with aphysical forms would be like. "She could see their true form naturally, while I was invited by them in their mind realm to witness their presence." To think what kind of incredible being they truely were, one had no choice but to witness what they were behind the appearance of a simple small creatures. Theplex being that we saw, the form they had eared with their unique achievements in this nature, was not something one could put into words even with all the vast knowledge of vocabry. ''Seeing them was a treasured experience in itself, but aftering across something that was nned by the higher beings, a strange conspiracy targeted to harm this world, the very gods that the people of this world worshiped did not seem like any merciful being to us anymore.'' We alredy had conflicting feelings towards them but seeing what a true divinity, one that was not even born a divinity, could be capable of. "At the end of the day¡­ we are weak mortals." It was a bitter truth that there was a fundamental difference between a simple human being and a higher being like that cute looking creature, or a pheonix like my master, or the Keeper we have under our new home, or even Wali. And they are still beings who exist in the physical world. "Just thinking how there are beings so strong and powerful that they could not naturally be in the same in of existence as us physical beings makes me question why they would want to do something so horrible the very people that worship them." "And even while knowing the answer to that question¡­ I could not ept it." Aftering back from that pretty ce and saying good night to the others, we went back to the dorm and pondered over these thoughts. We talked about what we experienced, what we felt, what questions came to mind, and how we tried to justify the answers that were obtained with logical reasoning. ''Some things that popped up made us question the nature of those higher beings, some answers that came up made us question the way we saw them until now.'' We did not sleepst night. And this morning as well, we were awake the whole time thinking how we are going to deal with something or someone that turns out to be a bigger threat than a demonic noble. ''Divinity was not something anyone could have.'' So, what would be do when wee across a demon so powerful even the divine skills of the higher beings would be ineffective before them. ''It was a tough night.'' And at the end of it all, I had to distract her with the reminder that we were going to meet our new mentors today. Which certainty helped her get out of that dark zone, but now here we are, thinking over the same things that were just too absurd to contemte. "You two think a lot you know?" He looked at us with a helpless smile now, and shook his head with a smile afterwards. "The higher beings areplicated however, with time, you wille to know that they are not asplicated as the most simple mortals that we could see in this physical world." He stood up from his seat, shook his head while looking at the sad expression she was making and we up to the right side of the room¡­ and opened one of the two mysterious doors of this office. "Come on now, let''s meet your new teachers. They have been waiting for you two for a while now." Today was the day we were supposed to meet our new mentors that would teach us things that we needed the most, as well as the things that will help us going forward. It was going to be a fun thing so we had forgotten about about the sadness and anxiety we have had sincest night, but he ended up reminding us those things once again. "Get up, silly little children. We don''t have all day now. You have sses to attend to." We could not get up from our seats ourselves so he helped us a little, used his Mana, picked us up and then, he dragged us inside the special room that, perhaps, only a few fortune and special ones had ever been brought to¡­ to meet the special and incredible individuals that were going to teach us from here on out. Chapter 838: The archer and The witch [Eon''s POV: ] There were two unique doors on both side of the office of the headmaster that belonged to the headmaster of the academy. These unique doors were something that had unique spaces that the current headmaster could changepletely depending on their need. ''They were special spaces that were the same as a personal space for the headmasters of this academy and, the unique space was recorded to be something so unique that rarely anyone aside from the headmasters themselves were allowed entry into these spaces. ''Even Cradle and president Zodiac had not seen what was behind these two doors and I most certainly was joy expecting to see what there is anytime soon either. "Why do you look so surprised? Did you think you would never get to see what''s behind these doors or something?" He wasughing and making fun of both of us since we had these rare confused and stupid expressions, but this was obviously something surprising. "Anyone would be surprised if you drag them to a ce like this, headmaster." In the past few centuries that the great Aldrich Merlin had been the headmaster, if I''m right, there should not even be a dozen people who had been to either of his personal rooms¡­ but, we were here right now without even having done something as grand as the past known visitors of this ce had aplished-. "You shouldn''t think too deeply about this. It''s just a room." He was smiling as he led us through the strangebyrinth of rooms and doors that all seemed pretty much the same. Even spotting the minute differences between these rooms was difficult with how identical they were. Furthermore, they were so ordinary in appearance that if one did not have eyes that could see the truth of all nature, or a kind of memory that could remember nearly everything and someone that canpare them at a speed nearly impossible by any normal means. "I want to believe that as wella€| headmaster." All rooms looked pretty much the same but Rein could see just how much different and unique every single one of them actually were and how there were things in each one of these interconnected rooms that not only connected one with the other but also possessed a kind of energy frequencies that apprised them to be artifacts or the highest levels. Not a single one of these interconnected identical rooms were the same as the other so, it would be impossible to navigate through these rooms for anyone other than the person that had made these ces. ''The headmaster was the pinnacle of the illusion series of magic, and this ce represented that fact.'' Nearly most of the objects present in these rooms were made with his unique Mana over a course of many centuries, there were still ces that seemed iplete so it was also clear that he had notpleted this room. ''There were signs of strong Mana bombardments in certain empty rooms as well, so perhaps he even practised his magic spells in this ce.'' These rooms¡­ this one room of his was certainly a unique ce that belonged to him. "Hahaha, you cane here anytime if you want. You''ve alredy earned that much even if you might not deny it. Anyway, get ready." He opened another identical door and this time, the ce that we ended up in, was nothing like the identical rooms that we were walking in since a while ago. "They will be your mentors for theing months." The room before us was vast. There was a lot of empty space in in the middle while the periphery of the circr room waspletely covered in weapons, books, and objects that could be used in training. There were things here that the students used in the training halls of the academy, however, the one present here were much more advanced than what we had in the training halls. The entire room was also covered in the special tiles that were used in the Special artificial reality ssrooms so it was obvious that they could also turn into into something else. Additionally, there were two individuals standing in the center of the room¡­ well, they weren''t only standing. "And you two. Stop doing whatever you are doing ande here. The ones you have been curious about have finally arrived." There was an elf wearing simple clothing that resembled the ones that forest rangers wear, and there wasdy wearing luxurious clothings that, well, were too shiny for some reason. "Hump!" "What would a pointy eared bastard even know about the essence of true nature." "You talk too much nonsense, you know? There is no one aside from us who would know better about the intentions of the nature than Us!" "Oh shut up now. You are just some dumb pointy eared bastards that knows how to use spirit mana. There''s nothing special about it, and there is no real rtion of magic of the spirits and the closeness with the nature!" They were arguing. The Elf mister seemed frustrated while thedy wearing the most luxurious outfit I''ve ever seen in either of my lives, a clothingpletely made up of the most precious threads, wowan together with one of a kind techniques, and decorated with the mostvish things that one could think about. ''If I have to say so myself, one could purchase a few kingdom worth of elements with just that one dress.'' It just that much luxurious. And, one person was wearing something that precious in a ce that seemed to be a training hall where one trained with dangerous things. But¡­ that unique outfit was the very reason she was called the (Witch of luxuries) by the entire world. One of the oldest witches, and one of the strongest, most feared individual of the western parts of this continent. "They¡­ are going to be our mentors?" I couldn''t believe my eyes. "Oh¡­ damn." And Rein was the same. "Yes, and this is no good first impression. Haaaa." He sighed deeply and walked towards the two of them to stop their useless argument. I can tell he had alredy expected something like this from the look he had right now, but then again, he thought that they would behave well when we were here. But that did not turn out as he had expected and he had to use his special magic to deal with both of them¡­ "Both of you are unbelievable." From what was known, the witch in luxurious clothing was older than even the headmaster while the attractive looking elf was just a few decades younger than the headmaster. But since no one actually knew the real age of the headmaster, it was only spection. ''But, all that aside, the age of the three of thembined was almost over three millennia. Which was pretty much more than a few eras. And hundreds of decades.'' And even taking age as something insignificant in the context of this world, the three of them were some of the most famous individuals known to the mankind. -Smack. Smack. "Behave yourself. And greet the twoa€| they aren''t going to see you the way you wanted them to anymore. Dumb people." The headmaster shook his head, looked in our direction, and after nodding at us, he vanished from the room. Leaving us with the two unique individual that are going to teach us going forward¡­ "It''s all because of you, hump!" "What did I do? You were the one that started all that!!" "You are the one that''s always dressed like that! Why would you even want to wear something like that? Isn''t modesty a virtue of the one close to nature such as yourself?!" At the first nce, the golden haired witch wearing the heavy golden dress would seem like some empress or a goddess. She was practically a source of light in this room with how her shiny golden dress covered in jewels and ornaments was reflecting the lights. She was extremely gorgeous, she had a older charm, and her physical characteristics were perfect as well. ''She was a witch so beauty was an obvious characteristic of hers, but, that was not all there was to her.'' Her deep blue eyes contained the same kind of light as the headmaster, showing her ownership of more than one world authorities. "What do you care how I dress?! Just focus on your student instead of being swayed by the physical appearance of someone else you forest pig!" "That! That! I wasn''t the one that started it! You were the one that started it all by calling me that!" "I didn''t even say it out loud! You were the one that made a mountain out of a molehill!" She was known to mock not just the elves but every single being she came across since it was just how she was naturally so seeing her arguing like that was nothing surprising to us. But on the other hand, the one that she was arguing¡­ I genuinely never knew one of the few people I admired could have that kind of childish side to him as well. "You! You¡­!" He was angry at her but instead of doing anything or retorting with actions, he was just angrily pouting at her. "Alright you two, that should be enough. Calm down now." The Divine archer, holder of the third seat. The best warrior and wilder of bow and arrows. He was an icon for all that wields the bow and arrows including myself, and just the fact that I was meeting him was a big thing for me but, I was seeing a side of him never described in any book or narrated in any grand stories of his adventures. "You miss, witch. Sit there and you, go sit there." "How dare you order me-." "You do that or we will just go back. Then you can teach whatever you want." Rein was threatening two of the most respected individuals of this world without any care¡­ and seeing that look in her eyes certainly made them realise the severity of the situation as well. "Tsk." "Hump!" They followed her instructions and stopped their patty fight¡­ another unexpected sight that surprised all of us present. Chapter 839: What they lack [Eon''s POV: ] Starting from the moment she made them both sit down separately, five minutes have passed since then. And yet, neither of them have spoken even a single sentence. "You''re gonna say anything or what? We don''t have the whole day, you know?" "sses will start after an hour so we don''t have long either. If there''s nothing you want to say right now, we can just do the introductions, which I don''t see as necessary here, and we can meet again in the evening." We waited since we thought as adults, the two of them would know how to behave and do things, but it seems like we were wrong. ''Both of them are only adults in age.'' One of the oldest witches of this world was only ring at him with an upset look while the divine archer famous for his numerous heroic exploits was sadly looking down, acting as if his heart was broken by that insignificant fight that the two have had just now. It was a child-like behaviour that suited neither of them, so after waiting for five whole minutes and giving the two of them the benefit of the doubt, we were finally done with this y. "Wait! You can''t just go with some simple introduction! We were called here to teach you a bunch! We have to see if you at least deserve our teaching or not!" The witch of luxury, Sapphire, was a unique individual famous all over the world for her unique achievements in the fields of Art, Science, magic, and Creation. She was not only one of the few grand craftsmen with the knowledge and abilities to craft various kinds of things, but she was also one of the strongest people in this world. ''Hermand over her unique witchcraft was spectacr. There was perhaps no other grandmaster Origin skill user like her either.'' She had defeated some of the most threatening beings in the world, she had created some of the most important masterpieces of this world, and she was the sole owner of some of the most influential pieces of human history that numerous individuals from all over the world would pay a fortune to just nce at. She had various achievements to her name and various nicknames as well. But she was mainly famous as the witch possessing various riches, and the (Collector of Artifacts). But, that was not important to us at the moment. "Well, if you want to check if we deserve your teachings or not, you should first show us if you deserve to teach us not not." Rein was already angry at them, but now she was making things worse. "W-what do you mean? Of course we deserve to teach someone rmended by the headmaster! He''s a picky one! If he brought us here, there definitely has to be some reason behind it!" She was not bbergasted but she was most certainly showing signs of a genuine surprise. It seemed like she was not expecting something like that from either of us but after what we had been throughst night, that long contemtion and mental marathon, she was in no mood to deal with another nuisance. "Haaa. Doesn''t prove anything." She shook her head and walked to the other side of the room with a disappointed expression. "You are famous people, ugh. Finish this little drama and let''s get serious. We can''t waste time like this when there is so little time left." She knew her. She knew both of them, actually. And just like in the cave, she could tell both of them were more unique individuals than what met to one''s simple eyes. ''She could see their power levels now.'' She couldn''t do it until yesterday but all of a sudden, she started seeing the qualified power levels of the people before her¡ª something pretty different from seeing theirplete status window as she exined it. It was not even as detailed as what we see in one''s status windows. ''She could see the potential of someone before her and how dangerous they were in the form of a grade that was simr to what we used in the adventurer association.'' And these grades had their own colours divided into the ranks that we assign to various energy beasts. It was quite unique, but also a simple way to tell how strong someone was as well. [{ "S rank¡­ purple S rank. Eon, if even they are S rank and headmaster is Green SS rank¡­ just what kind of people have a Purple SSS rank?" }] She was terrified with how her eyes were measuring these things or on what criteria they were assigning these numbers. But, she was still in control of herself. [{ "Just like us, perhaps there are some things that your eyes see in a different way. Perhaps, the pure strength is not the right criteria for these ranks, you know?" }] In her eyes, I was merely a colourless C rank. Which was strange since I was the only one that had received that colour of grading from her eyes. ''Even Zoe had a White rank D that perhaps indicated that she was a divine beast.'' We still had not tested it enough so there was a lot that we did not know about this new ability of hers. So, there was no need for her to be shaken by the kind of grading they had received even with their achievements. "Haaa. We can continue thister." The divine archer, sir V?¨¦r looked right at thedy witch as he dered that and stood up from his ce. "Sure. Let''s do that¡­ pointy eared pig." And she epted his deration as she stood up from her ce as well. "I shall start with my introduction as the one to start this whole misunderstanding-." "Ha! You finally epted your-." "Which had nothing to do with you two." She cut him off midway and he did the same. And then they both shut down and introduced themselves simply. "Good, now we are at least getting somewhere." And then we introduced ourselves and sat down for a moment. "So, I''m going to be in charge of Miss Reinelle and he will be looking after mister Axion. I see." "You didn''t know that until now?" Rein was stunned for a moment, but then she shook her head once again with that same disappointed look. "You two are something, ugh!" She seemed to be done with their bullshit already¡­ I don''t know how she will handle her for the next few months. "Oh don''t be like that now. How would we know who we were going to teach when the headmaster only said he had two kids that we would love. He even bet one of his precious treasures on the line that I''ll like whoever the person in question is. But, it seems like he won this time as well, haaaa." She listened to whatdy Sapphire said and after ring at her for a moment and contemting, she nodded it off. "Alright. Let''s go ahead with this." It wasn''t difficult to believe he would have lured her with a bet like that since inviting individuals like them is already a difficult task. Knowing them and their individual natures, we could tell that this was not any simple task even for the headmaster. "Hmm. Alright. So¡­ now that we''ve done the introduction and know a little about one another, how about we talk about what we are going to teach you two first. We have fifteen minutes so, we can chat for a while, right?" "Hmmm?" These words from the divine archer confused us for a moment. ''Just a while ago, she was arguing how she had to see if we are worthy enough to learn from them and how they wanted us to take some kind of test.'' But now he was talking about what they were going to teach us. Which meant that not only had he epted his role as a mentor, he was also looking forward to teaching us¡­ teach me. "Don''t be surprised now. She just said that she lost the bet, didn''t she? So, isn''t it obvious that you two already passed the test?" The young looking sir divine archer smile at us for a moment before looking in my eyes. "So¡­" At the same time, Lady Sapphire looked into Eein''s eyes with a smile on her face as well. "You are an excellent archer with the best basics that I''ve seen in my entire life. I''d say your basics are as refined as my own already¡­ a feat I did not know was possible at such a young humans age." He looked me up and down with a unique glimmer in his silver eyes, a blush of excitement present in his face. "And you are good with both your magic and weapon arts. I can tell you have put a lot of effort into refining both your skills under proper guidance." A simr blush of excitement was present on her face as well¡­ and truthfully, this was creepy. "You know very well what you two are good at." "And you know well how you can improve in those areas as well. It''s pretty obvious." The way they were saying it showed just how much they had already analysed us in this short time. And, we had not even been with them for more than an hour. ''They were The best of their fields for a reason.'' They knew what wecked after not even being with us for long, and they were going to teach us going forward¡­ ''We should thank the headmaster for this one.'' He certainly did more than what we had expected from him. Chapter 840: Yet another day in class [Rein''s POV: ] "Can you believe them? They are so different!" "They certainly are." "Who''s different?" "The divine archer and the witch of riches! They are unbelievable people!" "¡­what?" "Oh, oops." I ended up saying out loud before everyone else in the middle of the ss¡­ but thankfully, the teacher wasn''t present and there were only a few of us gathered around one another. So, at least there was no great damage. "Why are you suddenly talking about those two people? Did you two meet them somewhere?" Quin was a little confused why we would be talking about two of the most influential people being unbelievable or childish in nature. She certainly had fun with us all yesterday and she was in a good mood but this suddenment from me picked her ears¡­ and she was not the only one. "Are you talking about the divine archer, the Hero of destructive arrows and the Collector Lady Sapphire?" Captain Alpha was sitting around us as well for some reason even though he usually sits in the very front of the ss like Quin. But, well, we didn''t mind him since he was doing his own thing without disturbing us¡­ at least that was the case until now. "She was certainly talking about those two, Captain Alpha. However please don''t pay attention to this idiot. She saw this certain article somewhere on the Mag about the two of them having an intimate rtionship, and she had been going on and on about them since the morning. Just ignore her." I was genuinely thinking about how to clear up this mistake, but my Eon darling tapped my head as a scolding and helped me this time as well. His words were believable as always and he knew this bastard captain of the dragon team would not take his words like everyone else so, he also made sure to use non verbal clues to misguide his senses. ''He wasn''t going to notice it even if he was twice as good as he was right now so, this was going to be fine now.'' There were a lot of people in the ss and sses were going to start soon so everyone was waiting for the teacher''s arrival. There was an air of excitement around us since this was going to be the first ss after so many days. ''The holidays were fun for everyone that got to go back to their home, and even the ones that had stayed behind with the others, this turned out to be a great experience.'' At least the ones that had been with us, all those who came with us to that paradise were now unique people that carried something different from all the students present around them. ''They were going to have fun going forward as well, but let''s keep that to them.'' It was their journey and they should be the ones to pave the foundations for it. "Anyway¡­ our great teacher seems to be runningte today." He was always present fifteen minutes before the ss but there were only five minutes left before the ss start time and he had still not arrived yet. "Something urgent must havee up. Well¡­ it''s not like he iste for the ss. It''s just that he ister than his usual time." "True." Sitting in the veryst corner of the room, we were starting our day with the homeroom clsss and the vampire teacher of ours was not present at the moment so the notices in the ss were even more fierce than usual. Everyone was talking about what they did in their weekend and what the ones that had gone back did at their home. What they ate, what they yed, who they met, and what they were up to in these time. Weather they finished their assignments and homework, weather they were studying properly or other things rted to the academics. There were simple talks going on between girls in some corners while some boys were talking about the things that the young boys of this age usually talk about. ''The ssroom looked batter.'' Looking at the happy faces of the students like this was much better than looking st the happy faces of the citizens of that blessed city that, in fact did not know of the curse cast on them by the very beings that they serve. "He''s here." "Oh? Finally." There were students scattered all around the ssroom but the moment they saw a certain familiar figure- our teacher- floating into the room, they all went back to their ces and in a matter of seconds, the entire ssroom had fallen dead silent. "Apologies for beingte." He ced his books on his desk on the stage and started with tidying up the ce like he always does. There was no special reaction on him so to most others, it didn''t seem like he waste because of some certain thing, but to those who could see the red light in his deep eyes, it was clear what he might have been up to. [{ "Seems like he found someone." }] I couldn''t help but smirk at him and my darling beside me. [{ "He''s a grown man, Rein. He also has his needs. We shouldn''t middle with the personal business of our teacher." }] He was saying that, but even he had that rare smile on his lips. He wasn''t going to just let this one slide. It was a matter that almost made our teacher gette, which meant whatever was going on with whoever that person was, there was something serious going on with them. ''After Tia and that cute little Hide, he was the one that had most interest in what was going on in the love life of not just our teachers but every single person present in this academy.'' He was a bastard that had a secret notebook dedicated to the rtionships and potential rtionships between individuals of this academy. ''It was creepy, but at the same time, this record was also extremely useful sometimes.'' Especially in the future perspectives, there were many ways and ces we could use this thing on. So¡­ "It seems like it''s time for the ss and the ss seems to be full today as well. So, we should get started with the ss now." He did not waste any time pulled out the register for the attendance and started calling out the names in the same kind of random order like he always does. "Alpha." "Present." ¡­ "Aleequinn." "Present." ¡­ "Uriel." "Present~!" ¡­ "Lucifer." "Present." ¡­ He knew we were up to something ever since he started taking attendance but he was a smart one. ''He didn''t react to whatever we were thinking or might be up to and just continued on with whatever he had to do.'' It was a normal thing from him, but knowing him and his fairly good acting skills, we also knew he was not going to care about us until we actually meddle with his business. "Alright. Then, we will continue with where we had left¡­ page no.282 everyone." Everything went on as it usually does. He didn''t ask anyone about what kind of weekend they had and he also did not waste much time on anything and went on with his ss on the understanding of Mana. "The properties of Origin and Finality are very important parts of this world. The Laws exist not to limit the potential of an individual or any group but to protect them from the consequences of obtaining the knowledge or understanding of these Laws." As always, his ss was as interesting as ever. And as always, he was not limiting himself with just the things given in the books and was giving examples and ounts of the knowledge present in various different books that we did not have in our course. ''He was certainly an amazing teacher. Perhaps that was the reason even someone like Eon that knows everything that is being taught, has such profound interest in his sses.'' It was boring to me, just like every other ss, but there certainly were moments in his ss that were more fun than most of the other sses. "Does anyone know about Categorization of Rakshasas?" Moments like this one where, while teaching about a simple topic like (Importance of Mana in the Universe), he suddenly started asking about something that seemedpletely unrted to the topic. ''He is going to connect the two topics and then lead the entire conversation to something else like he always does.'' He was quite good at redirecting the attention of the students and to make them move the way he wanted. He also certainly knew what he was doing so seeing all this unfolding was quite a fun thing. ''And, now that I know he is a Blue AAA rank, I know he is much more powerful than we had originally anticipated.'' At least, in the way these eyes of mine are showing things to me, he was something much more than what was visible to the eyes. "Alright then. This would be it for today''s ss." The ss did not end quickly, as always. But, the topic that we had started in thest ss certainly came to an end today. "Mmmmm~. It was good." It was a fun ss. And, now that the second ss is going to be Language and manners, I knew someone was going to get targeted by that bitch once again-. "Oh, before I go, you all should know that we will be focusing on finishing the sybus for this semester." "Hmm?" "What?" What did he just say? Finish the entire sybus? "Your midterms will approximately be after two months from now, so you all should attend all the sses from now on. The midterms will cover not half, but the entirety of your given sybus." a€| "What the hell?" "Teacher! Excuse me, teacher!" "Why would we have the entire sybus in the midterms?!" "More than that¡­ midterms in two months?! Isn''t that early?!" This was a normal day in a normal ss but that bastard teacher of ours sted a bomb right before he thanked the ss and floated out of the room like any of those questions were none of his business¡­ And when the next teacher arrived in the ss, all the questions that he did not answer, were all redirected to her. Chapter 841: About the midterms [Rein''s POV: ] There was a lot ofmotion in the second ss. The teacher was surprised to see the children jumping in their seats and shouting those questions. There were even students that were screaming and crying, and she did not understand what was going on until she shut everyone off and asked one of the students about what was happening. ''And, after finding out what had transpired in thest moments of our previous ss, she couldn''t help but sigh with a helpless smile.'' She also found the students'' reaction to be something more than an overreaction considering how all of us were students of the most prestigious school of the entire world. ording to what she saidter though, many students became gloomy and depressed as well even though her words were in facts that everyone knew already. "She said as students of the great academy of hope, studying a few books included in one semester was the basic thing¡­ how can she say that?!" Not just Tia, almost half of the people currently present around us did not like how we had to study the entire sybus for mere midterms. "This is bad¡­ the exams happening prior to the usual time is already bad, and on top of that, not just the homeroom teachers, but the others subject teachers will ask things beyond the midterm borders?" "They don''t care about us students. Those bastards¡­" "Whaaaaaa€| I don''t like this¡­ whaaaa! When will we study! Who is going to reach me with half the things I don''t understand?! Whaaaa!" Some of them were not in their best mood while some of us were crying while eating their lunch. It wasn''t the best time for being sarcastic or funny. This was a serious matter, even for us. "I understand you don''t like this, Lizzy. But stop crying and listen to me. There''s nothing we can do about it." Neither the students nor the teachers had any say in when or how any of the exams would be conducted in this academy. Everything was in the hands of the headmasters, mainly the headmaster. ''Not only they decided on the dates and the schedule of the exams, they themselves looked after every single thing that the individuals taking these exams were going to face.'' So, when the exams were going to be conducted wasn''t in the hands of the teachers. ''What they could do, though, was to teach everything that could be asked in these tests.'' It was their job to prepare everyone taking these exams, and every single one of us knew how the midterms of the great academy were the most difficult things to face. ''They were the direct representation of what one was capable of, especially the first midterms.'' And not only the questions asked in these tests were of great difficulty, they were nothing like what we had faced until now. "The reason some are going to finish the entire sybus is exactly because of the fact that the tests or the questions are not in their hands." As we all sat down in the usual lunch ce under the great tree, I started speaking while addressing everyone present. "Yes it might seem unfair from our perspective, yes asking things from outside the books or asking practical things might not seem fair, but what they are doing is not exactly unfair, is it?" They were teaching what mighte in the exams. They were preparing us for the worst and instead of being grateful for that, we were cursing them? Now that wasn''t fair, right? Not that it was right either since there were a lot of things that the students might not need or could not perform. ''Especially with the practical things. Subjects that have practical things, especially the chosen subjects, were going to be tough.'' But at the end of the day, we cannot do anything about it. There were things that we can control and there were things that arepletely beyond our power. "The exams are certainly going to happen, be it after two months or after a few months. There''s nothing changing it and there are no alternatives. We have to do this and, I believe everyone is mostly only worried about the things that have not been taught yet." Looking at our dear friends with a new confident smile, I chuckled at the sad faces before me. "There is nothing to worry about the things we don''t know, so, why don''t we start preparing with the things that we do know about and think about the other things after that? We still have a lot of time, so if we start now, go over the things that are going to be asked, and start studying things beyond that, we should be able to do well in those tests, right?" They knew about their exams that are going to be in two months from now, so they still had a bunch of time left. ''And since the exams would take ce a month before the usual time, we were technically going to get a longer vacation this time.'' That is how it should happen at least, but just as we don''t know why the exams were going to be earlier, we also do not know what we would be doing after the exams. There were a bunch of spections, and since we know of the fact that the dates for the grand conference were going to be announced soon as well, we cannot certainly determine whether we will get a longer vacation or an extra month of school after the exams. But still, the exams were going to happen right after a few weeks and we have to prepare for that, in top of preparing for the grand conference. Which is definitely going to be a difficult task. "Let''s eat well, study well, and help each other, alright? There''s no need to cry." Wiping the tears of my cute little Lizzy, I fed her the favourite treats she liked. And since the food was getting cold in this chilly weather, I urged everyone to continue with their food instead of debating over the useless thing. "Look, there are some good things about this as well. Like, we might get a longer vacation. We can go somewhere fun for more days if that really happens, right?" We were going to have a family trip soon anyway, but if we have more time, we might also get enough time to go somewhere with al of them once again. "Hmmm?" "Going somewhere together?" "Wait. We can do that." "Buta€| no one knows whether we will get a long vacation or not¡­" "Look on the bright side. We ''might'' get that vacation and get to go with them on another fun adventure. Wouldn''t that be something to look forward to?" Exams were just that, exams. It was there to evaluate how much we have grown, how much we can grow, and how much potential we had. ''The exams of the great academy weren''t limited to simple question answers.'' The questions that one had to write tested their understanding of the subject and evaluated their individuality. These tests encouraged the students to find something of their own, a way that suited them the most. There were few things that one could do to perform well in these tests. The most simple of them being the age old method to simply memorise everything. And, if not that, then the other way the students here were advised to do was to write the answers the best way they can, with what they understand and with what they had learned in the sses. ''Attendance in the sses werepulsory. There was a minimum attendance requirement and if one wanted to truly learn something, they were encouraged to attend every ss held in the academy throughout the day.'' It was funny but there actually are some owl/morning birds that practically live in the academy campus the entire time. The staff here and the teachers know them well, and the librarian had even given some of them unique nicknames. ''Some students did that for mere adventure, but there were some who actually attended sses all the time.'' Even Eon had a few acquaintances among these (Campus dwellers). "Alright then. Now that everyone is done with their little tantrum dance, as well as the lunch, who wants some sweets?" "Ohhh! Ohhh! Me! Me!" "I want the sweets!" "I want ice cream!" My little cuties~. They were fun when they were sad and they were fun when they were not in their best mood. But, they were most fun when they were happy over something as insignificant as some sweets. "Does Liz want some sweets as well?" Looking at the little emotional girl, who might be the destroyer of this world one day, with a smile¡­ I patted her little head. "Yes¡­" And the cute one shyly nodded as well before she stood up, cleared her throat and walked away from me with a straight face. "Cute." She was a fun one. There were quite a few fun people among this group that I liked, and there were some really adorable ones as well. There were jerks and there were bad people like Ezra and Mia, but they were just blunt and unlike the rest of the cuties. They were their proper selves most of the time. And different from Luna who was cute as well as serious, this bunch did not know how to enjoy the real fun things. ''Even that Deleon was like that.'' But, that''s just how much diversity we had in this group. Everyone was different. And, it was most certainly not a bad thing. Chapter 842: The divine archer [Eon''s POV: ] The sses after the lunch break ended with the same questions and new surprises. Everyone was further confused and the things got a little tooplicated with some students so, even the student council had to deal with some matters. ''All the house captains gathered together for a while after the sses andpiled aplete file with all the details that the students had to know for the uing midterms.'' There was dissatisfaction among the masses but, there was nothing that they could do from their side and there was nothing we could do from our side either so, everyone had no choice but to do what a student of the great academy had to do. -Clinnk. "Hmm? There''s no one here?" Since we were done with the sses for now, it was time for the personal sses from our mentors. And since our training space was not decided yet, we were back to the headmaster''s office. "Should we wait here? Or go in that room?" The headmaster wasn''t here and the two of our mentors were absent as well. There was no one in the room, not even Harry. And though this was not concerning, this sure was careless of them. "Do you think they forgot about us? About the training? Those bastards?!" "Calm down now. They might be different from how we had imagined them to be, but they surely are not irresistible. They know what they are supposed to do." It wasn''t necessary that if they weren''t present in the office right now, they had forgotten about uspletely. She knew it as well that it was difficult to forget us. At least when we wanted them to remember us, there should be no way they forgot about the two of us. "Let''s check out inside." She moved forward after shaking her head with a sigh, but then stopped only after taking a few steps. { "There''s no need to go in there, you two." } A voice seemed to havee from outside the window and it was a familiar one. "Harry?" Without any sound of the fluttering of the wings, Harry entered into the room with his ever elegant self and took his ce beside the desk of the headmaster. { "Here. The two of them asked me to pass these to you two¡­ those ungrateful people. They think I''m some kind of messenger bird that they own." } He caressed his wings with his sharp beak as heined in a grumpy voice and as he said that, two feathers flew out of his back and flew towards us¡­ "Hmmm?" The feathers transformed into papers- letters to be precise- by the time they reached our hands, leaving us confused. "So they at least didn''t forget about us, see?" "Ugh. Doesn''t change the fact that they are asking us toe somewhere." Both of us looked through the letters and though brief, the locations of our newly decided training ces were mentioned in them. "And they are idiots." "Don''t be like that¡­ they must have had their reasons for choosing these ces." Her mentor had called her on the northern end of the ind, specifically at the very edge of the ind in a barren area with nothing but drynd. While my great mentor, sir divine archer had called me to the southern end of the ind, the area cultivated by the academy that was looked after by certain unique individuals. It was a restricted area that not just anyone could go to, but I''ll have to go there. "Haaa¡­ you must be having a rough time, right cutie?" She stepped forward without making any sound, and though Harry perceived hering at him, and tried to not get in her grasp, he could not escape her hands. { "Gruuuu! I don''t like this! How many times¡ª." } She started caressing his pure white feathers and though he didn''t exactly like the touch of her special hands like many other creatures do, he also did not hate it. It was strange how he could not shake her off and he did not like this. But then again, he did not logically see any reason to not revive that great treatment¡ª and ultimately gave in to his desires. "Looks like we are going separately for a bit." "Don''t bete. I''m starving¡­ I crave you. And your delicacies." She was smirking¡­ well, of course she was. "Don''t make her wait too much." The destination was far but not that far by air route. So, just like the other day, I summoned the me spirit outside the window and hopped on its back. "Take care of her, Branwen." And after greeting her, I left the three of them in that special office. [{ Ummm. Master? Shouldn''t we have helped Elder Harry a little? }] "Well, it''s not that concerning since she has somewhere to be. She should leave him soon." I wasn''t concerned about them, but my cute Celes was worried as usual. But that was just her nature¡­ *** "You arete, young man." I reached the restricted green zone a while back but there were a lot of checking procedures that one had to pass through to get in here. And even I was no exception to that. "Apologies, Lord-." "You shall address me as master from now on. And there''s no need to apologise. I''m not angry or anything." This southern end outskirts area wasn''t known by many since the information about it was regted properly. But, now that I was here, I could see well why they might have made such strict procedures. "Anyway¡­ do you like this ce?" There were trees all around us and these trees were of various kinds. They were not just small nts but actual grown trees with flowers and fruits growing on them. And, these very fruits were perhaps the reason they had to seal off this entire area with magic and artifact tools. "This is quite amazing, master." All the fruits here were of a unique kind and not something one could find just anywhere. ''These attractive looking fruits were of special importance since they contained Mana within themselves and one needed a specially controlled environment to grow them on such a scale.'' This ce was quite vast and there were hundreds of trees present here. The average lifespan of each of these special trees was easily a few thousand years and from what I know, this facility was only a few centuries old. "I used to visit this ce back when I was studying in the academy. There used to be one peach blossom here. It was my favourite¡­" The new teacher of mine seemed to be lost in thought. He was standing in the the middle of the open area between this forest of trees, his gaze fixed on a certain distant corner of the forest. His eyes, unique and sharper than any other archer of this world, perceived something I could not quite grasp yet, but, the subtle smile on his face revealed nostalgia. "One day, I mentioned to the headmaster of yours how fun it would be to have a forest of various special trees like that lonely tree in here. And, he made it into reality after a few decades." He was sitting on the ground, his legs crossed. His breathing was calm and since the air in here was filled with a citric, sweet scent, it was quite an unique experience. "I''ve had some fun memories here with the ones who apanied me in my early, most precious days." After observing him for a moment, I went ahead and sat down beside him. And tried perceiving what he was looking at with his unique eyes. "Are¡­ you lonely, master?" He was an elf. A pure blood of the purest lineage. He might be considered a normal adult in their society, however in the world of the humans with small, limited lifespans, he was nothing normal. "Lonely? Hmmm¡­ I guess I do sometimes feel alone." The divine archer. The hero who defeated a demon duke along with five other famous heroes of this world five hundred years ago. The saviour of the Elvan nation, the saviour of the other elvan, the one who received blessings of not one but three gods, and the owner of the divine weapon of ancient ages¡ª the master of Gangdher. He was famous for many things, many exploits, many heroic tales. He was one of the six recognised heroes of this world, someone that was prised by the public more than the other heroes like grandfather of the emperor of Roxana. He was a famous figure and yet¡­ and yet he was alone. "Being lonely and being alone are not the same, master¡­ I believe that, at least." "Sure they are not. I would not deny that." He shook his head with a calm smile, and looked me in the eye. "But what difference would an old man like me know, young one? Emotions have be but a blur curtain to me." He stood up from his ce and I did as well. And then I followed him to another open area without asking any questions. "The long life that I have received was not something I hate. I cherish it so much that I became an archer that fights from the back lines." There was a dry branch of a tree in his hand that he had picked up a while back¡­ and he was now standing on the southern edge of the ind of magic''s wealth. "Life is a fleeting wave of wind, my young student." -Ooooooooooooooong! Conjuring his Aura, his unique Aura that I''ve only ever read about, he materialised an arrow with it. "One should at least experience what one are capable of, in the Limited time One has been given." He was going to release the Aura arrow out in the sky, but¡­ he did not do it. "You have amazing basics. I can''t even imagine the kind of training you have received until now." He retrieved the Aura back into his own body instead of dispersing it in the environment, something that should not have been possible from what I know, and looked back at me with a new, excited smile. "You must have had a very amazing teacher, and I know I might never be like them to you¡­ but, you do not need what they have already given you." cing his hand on my shoulder, he announced in a confident voice, "What youck is not the basics or the knowledge of skills. What you need to get even better than what you are right now, are the techniques matching your current level." I did certainly understand what he was talking about, but it was not something so simple. People spent their entire lifetime in creation of new kinds of techniques, and the time we had was limited¡­ but from the look he had, this familiar look I recognised very well, I can tell he was nning to have me create a few new techniques in the short time we had together. ''And that certainly is not something good for me.'' Chapter 843: Witchcraft application [OP: ] "You don''t know how to use witchcraft properly." "What?" She had just arrived at the outskirts of the ind and her new mentor, Lady Sapphire was sitting on afortable golden fair under an umbre, drinking a fresh bravarage. There was not many things that she had around her aside from a pile of monster corpses in a corner but they weren''t as attractive as her self drinking that lusuerly in this dangerous ce. "What¡­ what do you mean by that." She had just arrived here and she hadn''t even greeted her yet, but here she was telling her that she couldn''t use her witchcraft properly. "The famous bloodthirsty witch right? I knew I''ve seen you somewhere before." "What?" She came closer to her and stood before her with a stunned expression. "You know about me?" "How could I not? You are the reason I''ve lost hundreds of thousands in old currency, you know?" "Hmmm¡­? You used to be a war merchant?" Her other name of the bloodthirsty witch was only famous a few decades ago so there wasn''t that many who remembered her, certainly not that many on this ind that was never part of any of those lower level conflicts. There should not have been many who knew about her in the first ce but, as her mentor, she needed to know a few things and there were a few things that she found out herself with her connections. There were few things that were just too easy for her to find out, so it wasn''t that surprising to her that she knew about her. Though, from how she said she had lost money because of her, there was only one conclusion that she could make. "Not really. Well, I was the one that loaned money to the war merchants that wanted to make it big by the conflicts. There was no way those kingdoms were going to win any of those wars but then there was a mercenary that one sidedly massacred armies upon armies of trained soldiers. I''ve lost a total of three hundred thousand nine hundred fifty one tinum in current day empire currency¡­ but I''m not asking you to pay that up. It''s not like you were the one that ate all those money. It was those dumb bastard that ended up losing their precious items." She smirked and took another sip of her drink and then, she snapped her finger. -Ooooooooooooong. There was a golden light right beside her, that somehow turned into a fountain of fluid gold, and in a moment, that gold materialised into a chair simr to the one she was sitting on. There was not many special things about this chair, but one thing that Rein noticed was how this matter was not converted from something else. That gold was only energy, her energy that took shape of a matter and not just a materialised form of her energy. It was a matter of some other kind, a physical object that was generated from energy¡­ "That stunned look is exactly the reason I''m saying you don''t know how to use the Witchcraft itself. Not just your specific one, but what all of Us possess." She urged her to take a seat and though she was still stunned by what she had just witnessed, she forced herself to close her mouth and sat down on the special chair. "How¡­" "Don''t ask me the basic questions, sweetheart. You don''t know practically anything since you are one of the younger ones who have never been part of anymunities." "Communities? You mean witchmunities¡­?" "Oh? You know about them?" Now the shock had converged into confusion and she did not how to see this whole situation. "I¡­ do. Eon told me about them but-." "Oh. I see. So that cutie knows more about us than you, hun?" She cut her off mid sentence and smirked in a way that Rein did not like it at all, but there was nothing she could do about this at the moment. Experience more tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin She was still confused how there was someone else before her mentioning something he said probably no one else would know about. "Well, this is good, I think?" The witches in the far ancient world were an object of worship. In this world, as well as in the others, there was no mortal that dared to even look at them the same way they looked at the other mortal beings of any status. In some parts of the world, they held the same positions as the lords and gods did in the current time, and there was also some of the ces where the witches possessed absolute authority. They were unique entities that, after the degradation of the other higher species, were the only surviving beings that still possessed the unique powers of their kind, the power of witchcraft, the power to interface with the fabric of reality. "You know about the Last apocalypse, right?" "Yes¡­ he told me about it¡­" In a very distant past that is not known by many of this world, an apocalypse had hit the world¡­ the ones who know about it call it the (Sixth) or the (Pre-Present) apocalypse. In the entire unknown history of this world, it had been ''almost'' destroyed six times by beings so disastrous that only a few had ever survived after fighting against them. "Good. Then you must also know about the people that stopped that creature of Destruction?" "Yes¡­" The creatures that possessed the power to destroy the whole world who had actually managed to destroy it were called the (Disastrous creatures apocalypse). The natural phenomenon that brought the world to ruin in various ages was called the (Harbingers of Extinction). The individuals, on the other hand, who possessed powers to do the same, arebelled (Walkers of periphery). There is no one like that in the current age, yet, and all the forces present in this world who had seeded those who once stopped the ones like these Walkers, or those disasters, do not ever wish the world to face anyone like them again either. "The witches of (Original cauldron). That''s what they were called." He had told her about the few witch societies that had still survived after the Last apocalypse was defeated by thest reaming witch groups. It was a unique creature that almost ended a third of the world poption and it had only happened a found a few millennium ago so there were still a few beings in this world who could testify to it. Those witches sacrificed themselves for the protection of this world since they were the only ones who could deal with them, and they did so with all they had on the line. "The witches declined greatly after that point, and¡­ the world was in a disarray." Theplumber of witches had declined abnormally after that point. There were never that many wizards in this world so the pure blooded witches were rarely born even then, but after the decline of the witches, there were not many societies of witches that existed either. "Only six societies of witches remained. Two of witch are now active in the eastern continent, one in the north, and one is active in this continent right now. While the remaining ones are a group of wanderers who do not stay in a certain ce for long." He had said the same things to her, and he had exined how these two wandering witch societies possess some of the greatest forces currently present in all four of the life-bearings of this sr systembined. They are unique individuals who do not usually ept any other in their group while even the four that are present in this world, are cautious of the society of the current age. "The witch societies look after the young witches and there is always someone looking after the younger ones who had not awakened their witchcraft." Everyone in this world knew how dangerous the power to alter the very reality that one lives in was. And the witches were the only beings who possessed this world altering powers. They were still feared, but they did not possessed as much authority in this world as they did in the past, resulting in a general negative view towards them. "Though, in cases like yours¡­" She looked into her eyes with a little calm smile, and spoke up in a gentle voice. "When there are capable people already looking after the witches, capable people who know how to raise them and how to make them understand the meaning of the powers that they will possess one day, they keep their distance from them." He had already told her about this, but she still could not get used to the fact that there were people who could have helped her in the time that she was suffering by herself after her mother passed away. But, she had epted their reasoning already. "Seems like your ''darling'' already told you their reasons, hun? He sure is an amazing one as well." She was impressed¡­ but that was it. "Then, you must surely understand why they do it?" "For the independent growth of the witches." When a witch is part of the witch society, much like any other society of individuals withmon interests and beliefs, they also learn from those who already know about their craft. They learn about themselves, their kind, and their powers. "Right." -Oooooooooong! Lady Sapphire conjured her special golden power that, instead of resembling any kind of Mana, or Aura, or something that she could recognise, seemed to be simple gold in a liquid form. "You''ve never learned about your powers from anyone else properly. All you can do right now is self taught, and, I''d say you''ve done a great job with that. Your talent is monstrous from our perspective." She clenched her fist and the unique gold energy disappeared. "But you still do not know the true Applications of your witchcraft." She red at her seriously this time. "I was a kind of genius myself so it only took me a few decades to master the basics, but¡­ we don''t have decades or even a year together." Just like how Rein could see the quantified data of this individual with her eyes,dy Sapphire could see many things about her that no normal eyes could have been able to perceive. "All we have are a few months, a few weeks give or take. And there is a lot to learn." One of the things she could see in the deep pink eyes of the one sitting beside her, was her bottomless desire to learn and get better than she was right now, better than she would be after getting better than she was at the moment. "You should prepare yourself, Reinelle sweetheart. This training is not going to be anything simple, or easy, or painless. You will have to work very hard if you want to learn as much as possible from me in this limited time we have together." She loved that look in her eyes. That hunger. That zing me of passion. And she was not going to waste the time she was given when she could instead have someone so amazing all to herself¡­ Chapter 844: First morning of training [Eon''s POV: ] Yesterday was our first day together and on this fine morning, we were finally starting the actual work. "Tell me about your skills." "The skills that I have or including my Origin skills." "Tell me everything you can, let''s brainstorm a few things." "You do realise that isn''t going to be that useful, right?" We were back to the garden that we had been to yesterday, but instead of the edge of the ind, we were standing in the middle of the fruit forest, eating some fresh fruits directly picked from the trees. "Well, I don''t doubt your analysis abilities. But my experience might still be somewhat useful, right?" He was my mentor and I still haven''t figured out how he was going to teach me. "Hmmm¡­" But, well, since we are talking about being able to create a new archery technique from scratch, his experience might certainly be of some help. "Well, sure." I went ahead and told him about the skills I possessed along with the Origin skills and how I used them usually. "So, you still couldn''t use your main Origin skill?" "Nope." And though the skills that I had surprised him, the fact that I still could not use my main Origin skill surprised him even more. "That''s¡­ well, nothing we can do about it. It seems to be a natural Confinement." "Natural¡­ what?" He definitely said something, but I didn''t hear it. Which means I could not hear it, which again means I am not permitted to hear that simple sounding thing despite my many authorities. "Oh? You didn''t hear that? Seems like nature really is the one blocking your skill." He smirked while taking another bite of his fruit and then, after finishing thest bit of it, he jumped down from the tree where we had been sitting on, and finding an appropriate spot, he buried the seeds of the fruit in the ground. "Alright. That much should be enough. Let''s go somewhere else." Jumping down from the tall tree branch, I followed behind him as well and then, we climbed up another tree. "I''m a pure archer so besides the general skills, bow-arrow techniques, and aura applications, I don''t know much about your special skills." This time, we weren''t eating anything but instead, there was a nest of birds on this tree and he was observing the bird mother feeding her children. "Though, what I cane up with just this is limited. Tell me what you have thought up until now." "What I''ve thought up? Teacher that¡­" I had Lucy and my memory was unique so there were a lot of things that I''ve already thought about and scratched off as something impossible, something dumb, and something that wouldn''t work. "What''s up? We have a lot of time on our hands. Your sses aren''t going to start anytime soon anyway, right?" The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon so this was too early in the morning. And as he said, there were still a few hours left before the sses started. But still, there were not many things that I could tell him in this limited time. "Teacher, well, you''re right about having a lot of time today, but, it''s still not going to be easy. I already have a hundred and eleven possible techniques on my mind, but it''s not going to be easy to learn and actualise those things. There are a lot more that I''ve discarded so including them, it will take a week just to tell you all of them." Techniques were different from skills but at the same time, something much more or just as effective as the skills that one acquired from the energy beasts of nature. A person that had reached a certain level of mastery in their art created these techniques with the things that they had learned throughout their lives, or they learn the existing techniques from someone whopletely understands them. It is not possible to just acquire these techniques from the books or anything since even though some might be recorded in the books, they are not the same as things as actually learning them. ''Even in the east where techniques are more prominent than the skills or the weapon Arts of the west, the students have to have a master that teaches them, looks after them and their progress with the techniques, and watches over them through the entire time they are learning these techniques.'' There are various schools of techniques in the east, there are many schools of Weapon arts in the north as well, while here in the east, people are more familiar with the skills and magic then the pure weapon techniques. "A week?" He was looking the other way so I could not see his face or what kind of face he was making at the moment, but I can tell he was still as calm as he had been since earlier. "Well, that''s not as long as I thought." But then he looked back at me with a little bird in his hands, a happy smile present on his face. "We have a few months together, and knowing your potential, I know you won''t really need more than a month to master a technique so, if we can figure out what techniques you are going to be practising for the following few months, it shouldn''t be difficult topletely master a few of the techniques on your mind." He was happy and it seemed like the bird mother also did not mind that he was holding her baby. On the other hand, it seemed like she was happy that he was holding the little baby with small feathers and cute round eyes. "Additionally, I''m going to teach you a few things myself, so there shouldn''t be any problems with the new technique creations." He urged me to hold the little chick as well, and though I couldn''t understand why we were doing something like this instead of actually training as we should''ve been at the moment, I still held the little bird. And then, I realised the young bird was not exactly in its perfect state. "It has three legs?" "Mutation, as you call it? Well, us folks of nature call it a Mistake of the Creation." "Hmmm? But-." "Don''t misunderstand the mistake of Creation or with the mistake of the Creator. I know the notion of the Creator Mother Nature being a perfect being that could not make any mistakes is famous in the poption, however I do not believe that. Anomalies such as yourself exist, and that is proof enough that even the most perfect of the beings could, certainly, make a mistake." He was an elf and their kind reguarded the great Mother Nature as everything. ''They not only reguarded THEM a creator, destructor, and preserver, they also went as far as saying everything about Nature itself, and that nature is the only real entity.'' They were monotheistic people that neither believed in dualism like the demons, in Henotheism like the angels, or in Polytheism like the humans. He himself was a firm believer of their ideologies even though he epted the various other point of views of their beings and cultures. He did not impose his beliefs on the others, and just like right now, he enlightened others of their misconceptions about the world that we live in. "Creation is a process that deviates from the predetermined rules sometimes under the influence of variousws, flows, and environmental factors. And when that happens, Those maddened by the corruption, those who have lost their identity, as well as poor ones like this one are born." This little bird must have been in constant pain as the extra leg was almost piercing his other leg. It was stopping his growth and if that had continued like that, this little one might not have survived for long¡ª like the many mutant creatures that just end up dying before even reaching halfway to their final lifespans. These creatures were not that rare, but they certainly were umon beings so people don''t pat that much attention to them. "You cut the nerves connecting the leg." "I cannot cut the entire leg, it will be painful for the little one. However, this should at least relieve the pain for a few years and boost his growth. After a few weeks when it''s recovered a little, we shall relieve it of this extra limb." I don''t understand if there was any reason behind why he was doing this or why he was telling all these things to me. We were here for training and our time was still limited, but we were caring about a little bird¡­ "I''ll help as well." "Of course you will. The ''we'' I used referred to the two of us." I don''t know how he found this little one or why he helped it, but, he did it, and it was a nice thing to do. "Alright." Taking the little fellow from my hands and gently cing it back to its nest beside its mom, we said our goodbyes to the little bird family and jumped down from the tree. And, moved on to the new tree that¡­ contained a beehive. "You''re acquainted with the Queen, right? Do you have her proof?" "Proof of the Queen? Well, we do see her now and then but¡­ there''s nothing that-." "You don''t know much about the Queen of these bees either, hun?" "Hmmm?" The blue honeybees that were unique to the academy were unexpectedly present here as well, and, from the looks of it, the nest that they had on this tree was directly connected with the nest present in the academy garden. "Well, if you have met the Queen more than a few times, it means you already have her favour and you don''t need anything like a proof of connection with the (Ruler of the blue moonlight)." It seems like our next destination will be the nest of the blue honey bees. Stay connected with m-v l|e''-NovelBin And¡­ ''From the look this ''teacher'' of mine has on his face, it doesn''t seem like he is up to any good.'' He''s definitely cooking something up. And whatever it might be, it''s definitely no good. Chapter 845: That Bitch— [Rein''s POV: ] { "Hey! No magic!" } "Ughh!" I am running right now. And, I''ve been running for thest forty minutes. And, I''ve never had this much trouble with simple running in my entire life! "What the hell is up with this light?! Why are you even doing this?!" "This is the basic training that we witches receive. Didn''t I say that already?" In the morning, I ran for two hours, then we were doing basic training for two more hours. There was nothing special about this training from the looks of it, but I could not use any magic or skills. On top of that, she had covered me in this strange green light that not only made my own weight increase to three times, it made the flow of air around me worse so when running, it felt like I was running against a storm. When I had to swim through a pool of water that she had created in my absence, it felt like instead of water, I''m swimming in some kind of thicker fluid- probably honey. Then when I had to swing my weapons like she was instructing, it didn''t feel anything like it does when I usually swing my weapons. It''spletely different from the usual. Every swing I perform with my scythe seems to be performed by a stranger that has never wielded a scythe in their lifetime. It''s the strangest feeling I''ve ever felt in my entire life¡­ it''s like I''m in somepletely different body and the weapon that I''m holding, my very own weapons that I''ve held for decades, don''t belong to me at all. Additionally, the training that seems basic isn''t really that basic as she had twisted every single simple thing with twists that even Eon couldn''t havee up with. ''Oh, right¡­'' From what we talked about earlier, it seems like his training is goingpletely different from this shit. ''He and that teacher of his are going around that fruit garden eating various kinds of fruits, ying with the cute birds with THREE legs! And chilling as if nothing really matters.'' He said that were brainstorming about the new techniques that he will be mastering in theing months, but for now, they were just sitting around and ying with cute things. ''They even went to the Bee castle and met up with the Queen.'' Apparently, the queen and his mentor, the divine archer are old friends that are on Good terms. From what he described, they had a close, and intimate rtionship. And not only that, they seemed to have had a unique past as well. ''They were having fun¡­ which was definitely not training.'' And then there was this bitch¡ª. "Hey! What are you doing! Run properly! One leg before the other! Bend your knees or you will get hurt again!" I''ve had three injuries in thest few hours we have been here¡­ I''ve never had any kind of physical injuries in thest three months while training, and now this. "You sure this is the kind of training that witches receive? It seems more like some highly brutal martial training." There were many ns in the east that focused on the physical aspects of the body more than anything else. Their trainings consisted mostly of the physical elements, and some of them were said to be the most brutal things on the world. There were actually stories about some of the training practices in which the students of that school or cult as they call it almost lose their lives. ''The eastern martial schools, especially the three primordial orthodox schools and three modern schools of martial arts were the most popr and infamous among them.'' When I visited the eastern country of Biljogst time, a prominent country in the greatest empire of the continent, I had a fortunate opportunity to join one of the orthodox schools of martial arts. ''And I politely turned that elder''s offer down.'' He chased me for three weeks and I had leave not only the country but the entire continent after which I never visited the ce with the fear that he would track me down once again. ''He was a strange bastard from one of the oldest schools of martial arts that wasn''t focused on weapons or the magical arts but¡­ on medicine.'' I still don''t know what that guy saw in me but if I ever go to west, I know for sure I''m not meeting that bastard¡ª given that he is still alive and breathing. "Huhuhu, it''s nothing like the training of those brutal bores, dear. Though¡­ I ept that this is a special kind of training that only a select few of us receive from the elder witches." "You bitch-, ahem." "I heard that! Keep running!" I was still running, and it was getting more painful. ''The pressure on my body seemed to be contstently increasing for some reason but, since my Mana and other skills are blocked, after this long running session, I don''t even know what is going around me.'' My heart was beating twice faster than it does during the battles. My lungs were almost on the verge of copsing. These eyes of mine that now possessed the power to see deeper truths of elements of nature were getting blurry with the sweat and tears. And aside from my legs, my entire body was feeling sore. ''It was strange, but for some reason, my legs were working better than usual.'' It was strange. But perhaps it had something to do with this bitc-, I mean witch. "Haaa. Haaa." My breathing was getting out of control with each passing minute that alredy seemed longer than it should have been. ''My perfect perception of this ''time'', for the first time in my life, seemed to be getting dull.'' This sensation that I had not even felt while facing Death¡­ it was strange. But, I did not like it. There was nothing to like about this shit. If anything I wanted this to get over as quickly as possible so that I could finally go back and have some soothing dinner and a Good night with my dear darling. "Amazing¡­" She had that sadistic attitude of Mother Nol while at the same time having that eternal curiosity that my bastard does. ''She wasn''t training me, she was using me as a test subject to test my limits or something.'' That was the only conclusion I could draw from this whole situation. ''She was smirking, she was smiling, she wasughing, she was writing down things in her notebook, and she had a bunch of strange looking equipments prepared all around her so she was definitely doing something that excited her. ''I don''t even know if it''s rted to me or not, but whatever she is doing, doesn''t seem to be nothing.'' There were many nicknames that she had earned and she had rarely ever went to any kind of battlefield to earn those nicknames. ''She was like Mother Nol in that aspect.'' But she was way more cruel than her¡­ "I''m in pain! Can''t we stop this now?!" This wasn''t the first time I was screaming from the depths of my soul. This torcher was starting to break my body¡­ "Twenty moreps! We will be done for the day after that!" "Fuck you¡­" Theps she was talking about was more than two kilometres long that she had created out of the barren ground that we have beneath us with her Bare hands. ''One cannot say she is physically strong or something since she always wears that thick dress all over her. Her slender and perfect looking body structure also doesn''t give off any manly air.'' Unlike the regrdies of the high society, she doesn''t like showing off any skin than necessary so, not many might have seen what is hidden under that golden, jewel covered dress of hers. If she had received the same kind of hellish training I was receiving right now, most probably something even more hellish than this, then it wasn''t that difficult to believe how strong she actually was. "Haaa. Haaa¡­" This was crazy. This whole running, swimming, jumping, that obstacle course where I have to kill those high level beasts, this whole thing she had turned this ce into¡­ this was all shit. There was no way I would find it easy even in myplete state but just the fact that I was able to endure this whole process for so long was perhaps only thanks to this green light covering me. ''What the hell this thing is, I have no idea.'' And I don''t really even want to know what this is as long as I can get rid of it. "Almost¡­ there¡­" "Oh, haha! Looks like you are almost done! How about three more rounds~?" "Shut the fuck up!" There was no way I was going to run more than this. I''m going to finish thisst one, and then¡­ and then¡­ I''ll pass out. Yes. I''m exhausted. I''ll just pass out on the ground and then she will have no choice but to finish this whole fucking shit. ''I''m scared¡­of the mere possibility of having¡­to do this whole thing¡­ again.'' She was going to train me for the next few months and if we were going to continue like this¡­ I don''t think I''ll be surviving for even a few weeks. This has to stop. I wanted to get better, stronger. Learn something from her. She was supposed to be a teacher¡­ not a sadist, torturer or mad scientist. ''If this continues¡­ tomorrow as well¡­ I''ll have toin¡­ to that bastard headmaster¡­'' "Haaaa¡­ haaa¡­'' That bastard that assigned this crazy bitch to me. Chapter 846: Cure of mental pain [OP: ] In the northern night of the sky ind, an attractivedy was visible sitting beside a youngdy, covered in a pretty looking blue light. There were not many things present before them however, the winds of this ce were unexpectedly calm. There was no sound present in the area and only the sounds of the night life were heard by the two individuals present. There were also no disturbances as the moon continued shining down on the two gorgeousdies as they werepletely absorbed in the nightly brilliance of the star filled sky. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ From the looks of it, it seemed like the youngerdy was lying unconscious on the chair she was ced on, the blue light that was distinct and much darker from the blue moonlight of the moon, seemed to be healing her body as well. There were signs that she had been exhausted and there were also signs that she had been injured internally and externally, however, the physical wounds were not the only things she had suffered. "Mmmm¡­" There were various mental anomalies as well, and the blue light of the special origin was currently healing her. There were no signs of worry present on the older woman, the older witch that was apanying the younger girl, however, it seemed like she was caring for her safety and her health. The girl was unconscious, however, thedy was not just sitting in her ce doing nothing. She was looking after her, maintaining the blue light that was currently helping her recover herself. -Ooooooong¡­ This blue light was not exactly some kind of magic, it was a distinct power unique from what was understood as magic in this world. It was also not the power of witchcraft either as there was no change or interference with the reality itself however, this power was certainly rted to the reality. It was yet not time and she still had to learn of this power, however, just from this first day of their training together, the mentor had already figured out that she possessed all the qualities required of someone that could wield this power¡­ most probably much better than she or any other witch currently present around these worlds could. "Seems like she will wake up soon." A gentle voice, like a concerned mother''s. She had put her through a hellish training program that even she could not finish a third of during her first day back when she was as young as her. She was weak and she could faintly remember those old days where she used to curse those old hags as well, and reminiscing about those days as the teacher of someone as young as this one was a unique experience for her. Sure she was much older than the humans of her age, her darling was much younger than her whenpared in the human age as well. However was not a human. As a witch, her heart''s eternal lifespan was no special thing. They were the only belongings in this world that could resonate with nature on the same level as the divine and higher beings. They were also the only ones aside from the ''original creations'' that could interfere with the fabric of reality, and though it was just the first fabric, in the eyes of the mortals like them, it was still not something small. There were only a few things that could get as close to that power in this world, and though she was most certainly going to own that kind of power owner day, that time was still far. "Hmmmm¡­ what¡­" "Oh, you''re finally up." She smiled at the young youth tens of times younger than her who had not missed much of this starry night in the time she passed out. "Mmmmm¡­ what?" She opened her eyes and, though it took her some moments to realise what was happening around her, she did not take long to recall all the things that had happened in the time before she had passed out. "What time is it¡ª?!" And, as soon as she realised all that, and looked up at the sky, and shouted out from the deepest part of her heart¡­ before falling back in her chair with a sharp pain in her head. "Aughhh!" She shouted with a pain struck voice, and grabbed her head with tightly clenched lips. "Dummy. You are physically fine but your mind is still not adjusted to the recovery. Lay down, and don''t panic. I already told your dear darling about the training and the fact that you had passed out from the hard work." She relied on the things that had happened in the time she was out cold and though she could hear everything she was saying, the younger witch could not help the pain in her head. It hurt. It was hurting more than it did when she was training and was under that constant pain. She was being tortured with those ''training'' drills, but she saw it all through, as a result of which she was now in this condition. "Reflex. It will end soon." The elder witch helped her with some cool fluids and sat beside her, holding her hand until she had returned to normal, and at the end of the whole nightmare¡­ when she came to her senses, she gave her a smile. "Ok now?" The younger witch, Reinelle, looked right in her eyes with a mixture of pain, hate, and anger. She knew what was happening and why it was happening. She did not want to rationalise it by saying it was something necessary but she was in pain only because of this person. And she did not like that. She did not like being in pain in the first ce. It was not hurting anymore but she knew she was going to remember this moment of pain for a very long time. She was angry since it waste at night already and she was still away in this barren outskirt, away from her house, away from her darling. She did not like how there was a bitch sitting beside her taking care of her as if she really cared about her, but she also did not want to say any of those things. "I can understand why you would have that look, dear." She sat down on her own chair with a sigh, a smile of understanding present on her face. -Oooooooooong! "Here, drink this while you try to calm yourself." She summoned a ss of something that resembled blood, for both of them. Her emotions and reaction was natural since she understood how this was her first time experiencing something so different from what she had endured all her life. She knew her life had not been anything easy. She was a war veteran, she was a wounded soul that had only recently found shelter and warmth. She did not know just how talented she was, so even her training with her weapons might not have been anything like this. So, she knew this was her first time facing a deadly experience during something like ''training''. But that was exactly what she had to understand first. "Life of the witches in this world is not as easy as you have experienced until now, dear. Oh, I''m not saying you have not been through things, I''m not talking about that. However, simple survival in the world of danger out there¡­ most of the younger witches even younger than you are trained with methods even worse than this." She took a sip from the ss she had summoned, and urged her to experience it as well. She was not feeling too well after all that she had been through but there was no reason to deny something that seemed to be helpful. Her head was still spinning, and it seemed like she was going to throw up. She needed something, so she took a sip¡­ found the taste of the red thing something unique, and finished the entire ss in a single breath. "What¡­ the hell is this?" "Blood of a Drake." "¡­?" It really was blood, but after a moment of mental processing, she didn''t really mind it. "Can I have more?" "Do you think this thing is some cheap alcohol, little girl? There aren''t even a dozen true drakes avable in this world. Don''t be greedy." Her answer was instantaneous. There was also a smile of fun on her lips as she saw her disappointment, but she did not like teasing her after putting her through all this. "Normal humans die after having ten millilitres of this thing. You, on the other hand, should be fine with one more ss." -Ooooooong. She summoned another ss for her, and stars suddenly twinkled in the eyes of her young student. "Thanks~!" "Huhu, one should only have this thing once a month for safety purposes, so enjoy this one while you still can. You will have to live without it for the next few weeks. Oh, and¡­ I don''t think your darling will be able to handle much of this due to his unique energy body so don''t force him if you two are going to y with this thing in private." She did not mean anything dirty by that statement, but, the one she delivered it to certainly understood what her teacher was trying to convey. "You¡­ you are a bitch¡­" Her face turned red because of that statement and even though she did not want to this time, she ended up cursing her. "Procuring this one is a difficult task, so good luck finding the suppliers." "Hmm? You won''t sell this?" "Who in their right mind would do that? Hahaha." Rein looked at herughing mentor for a moment, before looking back at the thing in her hands. It was blood¡­ but it was also the cure that she needed right now. Chapter 847: An exhausted morning [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaaa¡­" "Wee back." She was backte, well¡­ when her mentor,dy sapphire told me she had passed out from training and stuff, I didn''t really believe her at first. "Come closer, dummy." I had to open the door for her and even though she was only standing a step away from me, she pulled me closer and made me hold her powerless figure. "Hey¡­" She looked exhausted. There were no signs or physical injuries on her but I knew she had been hurt by the kind of training she had yesterday. And, this was my first time seeing her so vulnerable¡­ "Take me to bed. I wanna sleep¡­" Not only did she look exhausted right now, her face was red for some reason. She did not have a reaver but her blood flow was not normal either. Her Mana flow was not doing well. But, she was still fine despite all that. "Alright." I helped her get in, ced her on a. Chair first and helped her get out of her ufortable shoes that had suffered bad damage. Then, I helped her to our bedroom where she didn''t even try to y any tricks and passed out the moment she was on the bed. "Haaa¡­ what kind of training did she have, Celes?" [{ Ummm¡­ I don''t think you want to know that, master¡­ }] "Really?" If even Celes was saying that, I really was afraid to know just what ki8nd of training she was going through to end up in this kind of state. [{ Well¡­ sister Elle also asked me not to tell you so, I apologise masters. }] If she even went as far as asking her to hide it from me, I don''t even know what to think of this training she had received. "Haaa¡­" I could only sigh as I sat beside her, and watched her tired face, which unexpectedly contained a happy smile. "Did she have fun?" [{ Well¡­ during the training, I don''t think so. }] She was someone that found fun in most of the things that she did since there was nothing much difficult to her in this world. And if we were talking about training with someone like thatdy, there was no way she would not have fun. ''Being able to get trained by someone like that person was an honour, especially when she was training her on not how to wield her weapons but on the witchcraft power that she possessed. ''She looks tired, as well as satisfied.'' Perhaps she was angry a while ago and perhaps she suffered greatly during her training, but if she asked Celes to keep the happenings of that ce to herself, then I''m pretty sure she has her reasons. ''Training was one thing, but if that mentor of hers was using her for something unrted to this training then there is no reason for her to keep doing what she had today.'' This special training by those important people was granted to us because we were part of the student council as well as because we had earned the privilege to do so. The headmaster himself chose them out of anyone else in this world for a reason and that reason was most certainly not something as trivial aspatibility. There should really be some kind of unique reason behind his decision so, I wanted to keep believing in not our two unique mentors who had not been like what we had expected them to be, but in our headmaster. "Good night, Rein¡­" kissing her on the forehead, I alsoy down and closed my eyes. Tomorrow morning, we will most certainly have to replete the same thing once again and it is going to continue just like this until our exams. ''There was a grand conference as well, so time was ticking¡­'' *** Next morning, academy¡­ "Hmm?" Just like everyday, we reached the academy garden in the early morning, right after our training sessions with our mentors, and Quin was waiting for us with Mes and Lizzy. "What happened to you two?" "Lucifer? Uriel¡­? Are you alright?" They were concerned. Well, of course they were concerned. "We are fine. Just¡­ we started this new schedule with some morning training in the morning, so we are a little exhausted." We must look terrible in their eyes. "A new schedule?" "You two pushed yourself too hard, didn''t you?! I know you did something stupid!" We couldn''t tell them about the special training so there was no other way around this situation. We either had to hide the truth or deal with the situation with any kind of half truth we could. "Well, we actually didn''t do anything like that this time." Rein chose the half truth over aplete lie since these were her dear friends, especially Quin being all worried like usual. "Let''s go. I''ll tell you why we are like this." She was already exhausted after yesterday''s training, and now that she had gone through something simr once again so early in the morning, she was in no mood to deal with troublesome things. "Hmmm?" Quin found her attitude to be surprising, but at the same time, she could tell she was just exhausted at the moment. There was nothing much to her unique behaviour, so she also did notin further and started following behind her with Lizzy, leaving me and Med at the back. "You look terrible. What''s up? Did you fight a demon or something?" "A hero that kills demons, yes. But¡­ Well, let''s not talk about that." After our brainstorming yesterday, I had finally received a good idea thanks to his random suggestion and today, I asked him to spar with me in order topletely test that idea. "You really sound out of juice, hun? Do you want any help-." "Ah, no. It''s nothing much, really. This much is nothingpared to what I''ve already experienced." Not only was I utterly crushed by that person in the friendly spar, after a long time I was able to see the real difference between the powers of someone like him and myself. ''I have definitely improved since thest time, but there are still a bunch of things that I have not mastered just yet.'' He did not hold back and did his best to help me, and in the process I ended up breaking my wrist¡­ and we had to stop midway. I was able to confirm what I wanted and it was all still a bust. "Oh, hello everyone~!" "Uriel~! Did you finish the homework yesterday~?" "Can you have the notes from the previous sses, Lucifer~?" Creating and mastering a technique even while having all the theories, possibilities, and ideas was no simple task. And its execution was even more difficult. "They look exhausted, don''t they?" "You think so as well? I thought the same¡­" "They do look out of shape as well¡­ looks like we will get to see something fun in the practical ss today." There were students that found our current states to be something unique and they were murmuring about taking advantage of this moment. ''We had friends in this academy and we had acquaintances. And, along with them, we also had some who did not like us very much¡­'' These certain people mostly stayed behind the crowds but they were still aiming for the public humiliation of the ones they did not like. Well¡­ people like them are avable everywhere. "We have a practice lesson today. Did you all prepare the things that the teacher asked?" "Umm-hmm. Tell me if anyone forgot or was relying on my goodwill from the start. Especially you, Tia." "Ehhh¡­ hehe. Uriel knows me well." We were asked to get some simple andmon materials for this ss and still, as we knew, there were some of our dear friends that either forgot about it, or were confident that we would have extra and share it with them. ''We usually have extra stuff. So there are many students who try to take advantage of our kindness.'' But we don''t mind it, mostly. "Alright, let''s go. sses will start soon." We were privileged to have more resources and we were also ones that received most ss points so we were already hoarding up a lot. Giving a little to those in need was charity, and as all nobles are taught from a young age, charity was a divine practice. ''Bullshit¡­'' Well, we had and we didn''t mind sharing. There was nothing too deep about this and I don''t even want to make it any deep. "Alright, alright. Good luck and have a fun time with your ssmates." Our group was big but we all weren''t in the same ss. Some shared the same ss but everyone was from a different ssroom, so even though the group was already diverse, the diversity increased in terms of these sses. [{ "You''re holding up fine, but I can tell you aren''t exactly well." }] [{ "Keep it to yourself, please. It''s better that they don''t know." }] She wasn''t wellst night and she isn''t well right now either. Perhaps, she will be outte tonight as well ande back all exhausted. Maybe, she might not want to continue this training of hers, but knowing her, I know she will continue until she''s finished with this training¡­ ''She''s stubborn.'' Perhaps the reason she was in that kind of state yesterday also has something to do with that stubborn nature of hers. ''Well¡­ it''s a characteristic that makes her more attractive.'' Though, truthfully¡­ I won''t really like it if she is constantly hurting herself without getting anything concrete in return. ''But knowing her, she wouldn''t trade her suffering for anything cheap.'' I''m certain of that much. Chapter 848: Conflicting information [OP: ] The northern end of the ind. "She is something else, V?¨¦r man, something else¡­" Two individuals sat on the periphery of the ind, looking down at the bottomless space present under their feet. One was focused on the birds present in this area, the birds that were flying around and under them, while the other was focused on the grass under their feet, ying with it with a happy smile on her attractive face. "Oh? Even an old hag like you isplimenting her? That''s a rare sight indeed." "Call me that again and you will have to use your artificial wings to get back up here." She clicked her tongue at the elf and shook her head with an uninterested face. She knew there was no way for them to have any kind of normal chat so, she at least had to endure this much if she wanted the information of his student from this pointy eared bastard. "Haaa¡­ she endured all that twice. Until the end, and went as far as doing more than necessary." There was no need for that and still she did all that despite the pain. The kind of mental and physical tolerance she showed was already amazing but there was more to her performance than just that. "She already started assimting with my Origin power¡­ well, actually, what she''s doing isn''t really assimting either." Her one statement piqued the interest of the elf that was only interested in the birds and nature until now. "What? What kind of nonsense is that¡­?" She had used the power of her unique origin skill to make the difficulty of the whole trial more difficult. There was also the protection of her skills, but there were mostly difficulties that she was creating using her unique origin skills. And still, not only did she continue on with everything she had, she also unintentionally started denying the existence of her origin skill and used her own powers to endure and handle what was happening with her. She learned what her skill was doing and she tried replicating the same effects with her own skills and though they were not as effective as they have to be toe anywhere close to her powers, she actually did something no one else had managed to do until now. "I''m telling the truth, as you can tell already¡­ Her talent is quite something. It''s not something simr to the talents of the ones we call geniuses. The geniuses would be us. She, on the other hand, does not follow the outlines of the geniuses that we know." She told him how despite possessing the talent to do something, she did not use it or ept it. There was a simple solution before her, she just had to rely on her talent and let her skills do the thing. There was no way to stop the origin skills and the unique skills that one naturally possessed anyway so, she certainly had the option to take the easy way. But she chose the more difficult way and went ahead with something that was not exactly easy or simple. She endured the hardships, relied solely on her mental fortitude and stubbornly went against the natural factors blocking her from reaching her desired end. And in the process, she ended up doing something unexpected. "I think I''ll have to teach her about the origin skill as well. She certainly needs someone to at least teach her the basics and from the looks of it, she doesn''t really realise what kind of Origin she has¡­ not that anyone else aside from her will be able to figure it out." Experience exclusive tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin "So is the uniqueness of all origins. Special and unique." He sat down on the ground, felt the fresh breeze on his face, and looked into the distant sky where the rulers of the northwestern borders¡ª the colourful mingo birds, were starting their daily lives. She was still standing though, and as she looked beside her at the pointy eared bastard, she had an intense urge to kick his ass and throw him off his peaceful sky ind. But¡­ she did not do it this time. "How is the other one? She told me she knew about the witch societies thanks to him. How much more do you think he knows?" She was excited to see what more her student was capable of but more than that, she was now curious about this other one, her fianc¨¦ that not only knew about something that should be a closely guarded secret, he was also someone that the headmaster trusted a little too much. "Well¡­" They knew a few things about him. They knew he was the son of the infamous couple of Heliox, they knew he was also someone that hade back from the forbidden forest, and they knew how he was someone that possessed more knowledge and resources than most other individuals in this world. Just from the first look at him, they already knew he was no normal young individual. Not only was he an advanced master of the Origin skill that he possessed, he was also someone that had perfectly synced his Aura, Mana, and Origin energy. He possessed a unique body construction that made it possible for him to control the energy inside him and in nature, much like the energy beasts of nature. He was a smart individual, he had many high level artifacts on him, he was also someone that saw through the ns of those unique Rakshasas¡ª or the demon cultists that had appeared all over the world recently. And, on top of that, not only did he have a special rtionship with the most important person of this ind, he was closely acquainted with many other superpowers of this world already. And if that was not enough¡­ "Just like the headmaster and Sword saint, he also has a Primordial weapon." "¡­?!" She was not expecting this to be his first words, but, her surprise came not from the fact that he had spoken up. But, from the way he had said that thing. "Why did you say it like that, you bastard?! Do you mean-." "Yes. It''s exactly what you are thinking." There were some unique weapons in this world that were one of a kind. There was nothing else like them in this entire world and even though they were not something simple, they were very important elements of these worlds. Possessing one of these weapons meant possessing one of the most powerful weapons existing in this world, and, there was a certain category of these primordial weapons that were distinct from the other physical weapons. "A soul armament¡­ from what We have felt, he also possesses that unique weapon. Though, he certainly is nowhere strong enough to use something like that." There was a subtle look of sadness in his eyes. He had longed for that unique weapon all his life, however, he had never found one that he could own¡­ so, he was envious of his young student. "Hmm? What. How can he have something that he still cannot wield? In the first ce, how did he survive the integration process with that weapon?" She was confused at the moment since she knew the basic nature of all the primordial weapons. They were no simple objects or artifacts or relics. They were effective equipment forged by the ancient gods, the original progenitors of all races, the first creations of Nature. Few of them still remained in this world, and there were most certainly not many on their. There were only six known wielders of this special kind of weapon, and even among them, those possessing an original soul armament was fewer. Still, every single one of these weapon welders were extremely powerful people. They possessed strength iparable to most other beings in this world. Some were looked after by the gods, while some were masters who looked down on the high ranking demons of their own kind. They knew about those who possessed these weapons well, and they knew what kind of destruction those who have mastered these weapons could bring upon this world. "The two of them were the only people that had gone beyond the limits of mortality from this era so they earned the right to wield their armaments. He, on the other hand, is still a child with nearly no aplishments. If even someone like you could not get chosen by a primordial weapon, how could he, a child with little influence and limited powers, could possess something so great? Especially something he could not even use?" She was confused. So much so that she sat down on the ground beside him and looked away in the sky like he was. "I know this information might sound conflicting¡­" he replied to her silence, a grim expression present on his face. "Perhaps he is special, perhaps someone very powerful somehow helped him, or perhaps it was just something that was meant to be this way. We don''t know the reason¡­ and we might never know it either." Axion Heliox Kromet had many secrets. The existence of his unique weapon residing inside him, the existence of his specialpanion, the existence of his unique skill that aided him in his everyday life, the existence of many other things that he possessed. His past, his experiences of that hellish forest was only known by a few individuals. He did not tell much about his master to anyone else, not even his fianc¨¦e. The only Person that knew all there was to know about him, was his sister Zoe. And he wished for it to remain that way. Though¡­ "He is one unique guy as well, I''d say." He was impressed by him and he was envious of him. But, above all else, he was excited. This was his student they were talking about, so as his teacher, there was no way he could not be excited. Chapter 849: Mana technique: Energy arrow [Eon''s POV: ] Feel the flow of energies in the surrounding¡­ "Huuuuu¡­" Closing my eyes, standing in the vast expense of the forest of magical fruits, I felt my surroundings. Separate the Mana from the various energies¡­ Atmosphere was made up of various kinds of energies that though usually didn''t y any particr role, their unique concentrations in the environment affected nature on a fundamental level. "Feel the movement of Mana¡­" Normal people could not see or perceive Mana or any other kind of special energy. The only thing that the normal people with no talent as a mage could feel or perceive without an energy core is the effects resulting from these special energies. Sometimes, they could feel the distinct environmental factors produced by the elemental Mana in their surroundings, however, that is all. Separate elemental particles from the Concentrated Mana¡­ Only after awakening the energy nucleus can one perceive the Mana in its particle form, so not everyone could see the atomic form of Mana. Not even the individuals possessing Aura that have superhuman senses and could sense Mana and see the Magic crafted with the threads of the Mana, could necessarily perceive the Mana particles that those possessing a Mana nucleus and a trained mind could. Mana is energy, just like every other energy form present in this nature. It has the dual nature of energy, and the particles of Mana are what the ''mages'' perceive and manipte. Pull in the separated Mana with not the nucleus, but with the entire body¡­ "ept the dual nature of energy¡­" Energy is essentially something that is not physical or something that is noy matter. It is something that one could not touch but only feel with the mind and the Soul¡ª the elements of the body that are also not physical. One''s mind could be called one''s true self. The truest form of consciousness that exists in this nature for the sake of experiencing this nature while the Soul is part of the eternal flow of the energy that exists in this nature. Mind is self while Soul is energy. Nature is everything but self, and two of them exist separately¡ª proving the duality of this world. One could ascend to the higher level and be one with nature, obtaining higher powers and, perhaps, reach a realm no physical being is capable of. The concept of Divinity exists for mortal understanding of that higher concept unperceivable by the moral minds. Discover hidden tales at m,v l''e-NovelBin Self and Nature, two separate realities existing in the same world. The energies are part of nature, and though the mind or the consciousness or the ''Self'' is not part of this nature directly, through the connection of the soul that is also the energy in its purest essence, the self and the nature bes connected. However, the soul is not part of nature. It is energy and the energy that it possesses is part of nature while the ego that is attached to both the mind and the soul, to the energy and the self, is something distinct. One doesn''t necessarily have to believe that there exists only one true self above everything else as in the truest form, the multiplicity of a self is what one epts in general. Not all individuals are the same. They are separate from one another and that is the very reason one''s death does not mean the death of all the other beings existing in this nature. However, if one believes that there exists one supreme consciousness, the true nature that everything and everyone is born from, then the dual nature of this reality ceases to exist. There only remains one reality and that is Nature, not the one that exists and is perceivable by higher minds but the one that is above everything else. But, since the existence of that very being, or concept is unreachable, we ept the duality of the realities. "Energy particles of Mana are gathered with the body¡­" Humans are simple beings that do not necessarily possess the same powers as the other beings of nature. Like, the energy beast and their ability to gather the energy in nature with their entire body. "Huuuu¡­" Taking the true Nature as the moral orders and the Laws that have existed even before the creation of anything else, one could ept that the energy that exists in nature and the energy that exists inside oneself are not very different things from one another. They are, in its truest form, the same thing and thus one who understands enough about it, could control it and be part of it. They can cover the whole of its existence and take away what is its part. "Without absorbing this energy, concentrate it on a certain point¡­" It ismon for the mages or anyone possessing an energy nucleus to absorb the energy particles as soon as they are taken in from the environment. Even without one''s wish, the energy would go to the nucleus. At least a part of it would since the energy core is the central force pulling it inside them. ''Unless one generates¡ª converts the Mana from their own core, they must absorb a portion of this energy.'' However, aside from the Elders and Archmages, it is not something one could do if they are not an exception to themon rules like me. Feel the sensation of energy flowing through your entire body¡­ through the bones¡­ flesh¡­ Cells¡­ Possessing a unique body structure, and a special skill that could circte the energies throughout my body, I was first able to channel the Mana from the atmosphere throughout my body like the energy beasts do. Then, with some more learning and practice of four weeks, I was able to master something more with the help of my new mentor¡­ -Ooooooooooong! The environmental energy that was concentrated at one point after only a momentary process, was condensed and with Imagery, it was turned into something that resembled an arrow. ''The form is not perfect this time either.'' This was my forty fifth try in thest three hours. With thest bit of mental stamina left in me. There was no way I was going to let this one go. "Don''t lose yourself. Focus." Thankfully, the best archer in this world, the divine archer, was here to help me. "Ugh¡­" It was strenuous on my mind. The ability to channel the energy was an innate thing but to do something that was not naturally possible, I had to concentrate a lot. And that was not something easy or simple. I was constantly using a ton of stamina and my head was still not used to this process even after all this time. But, today, it was going to change¡­ "Focus¡­" With his hand on my back, he helped me concentrate on the energy arrow with his Aura. It was no simple technique, but at the end, we were able to develop it by taking many factors into ount. Huuuuu¡­ It took a lot of effort and vigorous training that though was not the same as what Rein had gone through, was most certainly not something simple or easy. Thisst month¡­ it had been difficult. But, as a result of all the efforts I had put into this¡­ -Ooooooooooong! The unstable shape of the arrow changed and was concentrated into aplete, but simple looking blue purely made up of environmental Mana. I did not use any of my Mana or Aura in this and it was also not a skill. It was just a technique¡­ a Mana technique. "Good. You did it¡­" I had my third eye so opening my eyes was not needed to see the still calm, and serious look on my mentor''s face. "Now." After a month of difficult training and practice, some that had gone on for multiple days and entire weekends, the technique was ready. "Release it." People spent months, years, their entire life to master one technique. They take more than a lifetime toe up with an original technique of their own. But, we did it in a month. And, it was time to test the results of this achievement. Just like an arrow being shot from the bow¡­ Re-living the moment I released the row from the bow, I visualised doing the same with the simple looking arrow that had materialised before my palm. "Test result one." The arrow was released. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish~! And it flew through the air just like a normal arrow should instead of disappearing into the environment like the countless other arrows had in thest few days. -Oooooooooooooooooooong! It left a blue tail in its path that, unlike the normal Mana, was something visible to the naked human eyes¡ª a result of the friction between the condensed Mana and the one in the environment. "Oh?" There was a surprised reaction on the face of sir divine archer, but it was understandable. -Sss¡ªtak! Sss¡ªtak! Sss¡ªtak! Sss¡ªtak! "Impact: 150%. Piercing power: 120%. Continuous piercing power: 90¡­ 100¡­ 120¡­ 150¡­ and, there. It destroyed the first tree, and it passed through nine trees so, well¡­" "That''s crazy." "Yeah¡­" Nine trees were picked by a single arrow. And these were no normal trees. Every single one of these trees were special Mana trees that possessed a strong, thick trunk. The power output was crazy. And, considering this was the first sessful trial of the technique that did not use any of My energy or Mana, the results were much more surprising than what we had expected. "Well¡­ congrattions on creating your new Mana technique, young one." "Thanks¡­" Both of us were still in daze, staring at the damaged trees that though will heal with the help of my potions, they were a stunning sight to both our eyes. "Crazy¡­" This was just the start. I had created and perfected this technique for now. There was still the main stage of mastering and improving this technique left, and it was something that would continue throughout my life. "I''ll go see that from up close." The results were good. But, this reaction from the best archer in the world over something that was hardly pure archery was something more interesting. ''An aplishment¡­'' My heart was beating faster. With this, more possibilities and opportunities would open before me. ''And, if I have this, the enemies will have to look up in the air.'' They might never know when it starts raining blue¡­ Chapter 850: Midterm schedule [Eon''s POV: ] "Seeing you so exhausted early in the morning has be amon thing now, but¡­ why do you both look as if you are going to pass out anytime soon now?" Quin was worried about us as we walked towards our ssroom. It was hard to notice for others, but as someone that has been with us for the longest in this academy, she could tell from just a nce that we weren''t just exhausted today. "You are fools, and I know you did something crazy¡­ but since you at least look happy, I''ll not bug you much. Just tell me you are fine." "We are fine." We were better than fine. We were happy, for different reasons of course, but we were happy. "It''s fine then. Don''t pass out until we reach the ss or I will have to carry you all by myself." She shook her head with a smile as we continued walking and, in the usual ce outside the academy castle in the garden, we reached the rest of the gang. "Hello everyone~!" "Good morning, good morning. How are you doing?" "The morning is fine and the roses are blooming. It''s a good time to go on a date, don''t yo9u think, miss Quin?" "Shut up, Hide." "Aik! Hey!" "Hello Quinny~! Hey Uriel¡­ and Lucifer¡­? What the hell happened to you two?" "Hello everyone~." Lizzy, Ca, and Tia also noticed something strange with us, but before they could question more, ZZzoe caught their attention. "Oh, hey! Look! The bees are doing something over there~." She distracted them, and with the little window of opportunity, we greeted everyone else and walked towards the academy castle. "Hmm? What are those bees doing?" "Isn''t that just simple pollen gathering? What is so supposing about that?" "Right? We see that every day, Zoe." They looked back at her with questions, but she was only smiling with a clueless look. Which was obviously suspicious, so they looked at her with questioning eyes while some who understood what might be wrong, looked around. To find us¡­ but we weren''t there anymore. "Why did you do that?" Lizzy and Quin managed to catch up with us, but the rest of them were still outside. Which was a much better oue than answering all that question or lying to them for no reason. "We were doing our usual training and we had a breakthrough. Though, to achieve that, we had to work a little harder." I managed to finish my technique while she passed a test of her mentor and now, she will not have to do the difficult physical training that she hated so much. She didn''t like it even though that thing had be much easier for her after a few days. She didn''t like the way the thing never actually felt easier to her even though she had definitely gotten much stronger with that training. Discover hidden tales at m,v l''e-NovelBin Even her stats had increased a little thanks to that. ''She had figured out that Lady Sapphire used her own unique origin skill to create difficulties for her that would be on the same level as her own progress or strength.'' The reason she never felt any better with that light covering her must have something to do with the nature of that skill but, there wasn''t really anything that she could do against it. The harder she tried, the more difficult it got. Even when she tried using her origin powers, the skill somehow became even more difficult to deal with. ''Every night she returned tired, I had to look after her and Kristen for all the curses she sang for her dear mentor.'' She did not like her but, she knew for a fact that however fucked up that training method was, it was effective. She was learning something, and thanks to that training she had, she had also realised many new things about her witchcraft. Which ultimately meant the training method had some kind of deeper meaning behind it. She did not hate it after two weeks, and she had even gotten used to it so they started with some more things. "Haaa¡­ girls, I''m tired. No questions for today, alright?" She was tired. "Hmmm?" But she seemed to be in a good mood. She was smiling, she looked relieved, she had this special air around her that said she wasn''t going to be bothered by anything today. There were a bunch of things happening with her over thest few weeks but the worst was the training that she had to go through, which she certainly did not like. But, after today, she was freed from that torture. So, she was in a good mood. And there was nothing that was going to pull her out of that good mood. "Go to your sses. There should be some interesting news waiting for me. All of us today." "Right. I think they should announce it today." "Hmm? Announcement? Announcement of what?" They weren''t going to be too surprised since they all knew this was going toe one of these days. But if not today, they should announce it within this week. But, knowing how the preparations for it had gone well, and the confirmed dates of the grand conference, this was going to be it. "You''ll know. Don''t worry too much about this. It''s nothing big anyway." It certainly was nothing bigpared to the the conference that would change many things throughout this world and in this academy./ There might be some things that might be implemented in the academy and on this ind as a precaution, but, they certainly were something much more important than the announcements of today. "Anyway, have a good day~. See you at lunch~." She dragged me inside the ssroom with the same smile present on her face and went to the very back of the ssroom. We greeted the others while climbing up the stairs of the big ssroom as well, but there was nothing new in these greetings. No one else noticed our exhausted looks, those who did notice it, did not say anything about it since it wasn''t really that big of a deal. "Huuu¡­ I want to sleep." "We can take a nap during the break time." "That would be good~." Last few weeks haven''t been the best for us so we haven''t had much to spend together. ''I had been busy in the mornings with my training, while at night, she was too tired for any fun things.'' We certainly found some personal, fun moments but they weren''t nearly enough to fill either of our hearts. But, the circumstances weren''t the best right now. We had to focus on some things, and to focus on that, we had to put aside a few things¡­ There wasn''t much we could do anyway, so abstaining from a few other things wasn''t a bad thing given the situation. But, now that I was done with one technique, the following few days were going to be a little better. And, if her mentor does not start with something as absurd as that physical training that almost killed heel a few times, she should also have some time¡­ The dry nights weren''t fun, but with the window that had now opened up for us, we should have a little time to rx. "Settle down everyone." The homeroom teacher was here, and¡­ there was a unique file in his hand that he did not usually carry around with him. "Looks like it''s today." "It''s for the best. We are almost done with all the courses anyway. And, they have to give the holidays for the preparation which only leaves this week." It was Monday, and the first day of the week. Which meant if they were going to announce something as important as that, they knew it was better to do it at the start of the week. "I have an impotent announcement to make, however, we will finish the topic we left yesterday first. And before that, attendance." -Tap. Tap. He tapped on his desk and took out the register for the attendance. ''How do you think the others will react?'' With our heads on the desk, we looked into each other''s eyes with a calm look. ''They will be surprised, shocked maybe? Well, whatever the reaction might be, it''s going to be loud.'' It was smart of him to leave the announcement for the end since by doing that, not only will the students have constant attention in the ss, they will stay focused on the topic that was going on. Just like always, he might also leave the ss right after that announcement so that he doesn''t have to deal with the unnecessarymotion that will erupt like thest time. And, though the teacher after him will have to suffer because of him, he doesn''t really care about that. As teachers, it was their job to answer the questions of the students. He was no exception to that rule, just that by the basic logic, if his ss was finished already, and the question was not about anything taught in the ss, he wasn''t really obligated to deal with those things. If he found it annoying, he had the authority to deal with it in his own way. "Alright¡­" The attendance finished, and the ss continued. The other students were curious what kind of announcement was going to be made, and those who weren''t interested in the announcement, were most certainly interested in the folder that the teacher had brought with him. They were curious just what that thing contained, and thanks to this curiosity and interest, their attention was maintained in the ss. And, when he was done with the ss and it was finally time, most of their questions were answered by the certain papers he distributed from the folder that he had brought along. "Your midterms will start from fifteenth and go on till twenty seven. The personal schedules you have just received have your individual paper assignments. Copies of the same will soon be updated on themon notice board. And a detailed list of procedures, rules and regtions, as well as warnings will be released on the general announcement board shortly. If you haven''t started preparations, you should start thinking about it. Your sses will continue for three more weeks, then you will have sses from the headmasters for two to three days, and after that, until the start of the exams, you will have preparation leaves. The teachers will be avable on the campus so you don''t have to worry about anything, and since you should be prepared for any kind of questions by that time, You don''t have to worry about anything either." His announcement was a little too shocking for the rest of them. "Then, have a nice day." It wasn''t a new thing anymore but once again, he was leaving the ss speechless¡­ as well as with countless questions that will soon st out when the next teacheres. And ironically, it was once again the same teacher''s ss that had arrived after him when he announced about the midterms. "Looks like she''s going to have a headache." "Suits her right¡­ bitch." She didn''t like her but she couldn''t hate her either. Their rtionship was just that kind. Chapter 851: Exam advice [Rein''s POV: ] ''Status window.'' {~!} ??~~~Status~~~?? Name: Reinelle ?? [idental seer of first fabric] Age: 126 Race: ????? ????????????????: 141 ??????????????????: 135 ??????????????: 132 Magic?????????: 139 ????????????????????????: 136 Luck: 21 Charm: 69 {Skill: Eye of truth, Air steps, Quick reflexes, Master of disguise, Potion brewing touch, Poison resistance of Belinda, Old magic, Hyper magic detection, Storage of brass coin, Dismantle corpses, Set trap, Speech of enchantment, Kiss of amnesia,...} [Origin Skill: Maiden of dusk: Intermediate Mastery -Chains of the fallen night (Stage-1) -A shadow''s travel (Stage-1) -Clock of walk (Stage-1).] ~~~>¡­ ~?~?~?~?~?~ One of the reasons I don''t open this thing is because of how weird it looks. ''My status window is naturally different from most others for some reason and no one other than me could see it either. Not even Eon could see it even if I wanted him to. It''s weird, and even though people could see it unlike his status, they don''t see it like I do. It doesn''t look weird to them and many of the things that are written weirdly also don''t appear before them. ''And, after I received that damned title, things have be even more weird.'' I can''t even read the race that''s written in there even though I know what it means perfectly well. ''His eyes are one thing, but even my eyes are weird. They don''t show me many things and they act weird as if they don''t want to show some of the things on purpose. But, ording to the people I have asked them about, they aren''t doing it because they want to or anything. Even if they might possess a unique personality, they aren''t a conscious orpletely aware entity. Just like an artificial intelligence, they have a set of characteristics that make up their personality¡­ Perhaps they might develop into something like an ego in the future but we don''t know what will happen to them. ''Apparently, these eyes of mine that are represented as ''eyes of truth'' in my status belonged to a certain being that was one of the initial existences of this world.'' They were the first possessors of that skill and after them, there have been countless barriers of these eyes throughout the known and unknown history. ''Even someone as knowledgeable as Eon did not know about them. So it just shows how big a deal it is to possess them.'' But that doesn''t make them the most special thing either. They aren''t a first of its kind skill like what he possesses. They aren''t a Beginning but an inheritance. So even if they grow alongside me, what they do and what they will be able to do is already limited. And still¡­ they are so important that even the divine beings that we have met until now have praised them unlike anything else and have shown a peculiar interest in them. ''They are something precious.'' That much we havee to know already. But, still¡­ to me, they are sometimes very annoying. Though¡­ "Whaaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaa! Just one month! Just one month is left! Whaaaaaaa!" "I haven''t finished half of the things yet. Some teachers haven''t even finished their courses yet! What the hell is wrong with all of them?!" "Man¡­ what am I gonna do¡­? One month is not nearly enough to cover everything¡­" "I don''t even understand why everyone is stressing up so much. We already know everything that has been taught so-." "You know everything that has been taught until now¡­? How?! How is that possible when the only thing you do all day is y around with multiple girls?!" "Don''t shout at that bastard, Med. He''s smart and understands everything that is being taught to him. Bastard isn''t called one of the prodigies of the golden era for nothing." "Fuck, fuck, fuck¡­ what if they ask us to do those practice things in manners and such subjects?! I don''t know how to speak elven yet!" My eyes aren''t nearly as annoying as this bunch of dumb friends that I have raised. This was going on for twenty minutes now, and I''ve had enough. -Dhump! "What is wrong with you all?" I smacked the fork in my hand on the wooden table and everyone fell quiet as soon as they heard that voice. "It''s just the midterms. It''s not some kind of war that will decide your entire future, you fools." First of all, they were panicking for nothing. ''They know very well the papers of the academy''s every exam was created for individual students and every single one of them would be unique in some way.'' Even if the theory questions might seem the same, they were evaluated uniquely for every student and since the tests were taken in a special space, there was no way for others to cheat on anything either. They had to write and do what was asked in the tests, and if they couldn''t do it, there was no penalty. Points were given based on what kind of actions they take and what kind of answer they write. And, since the one that checked these papers was the headmasters, sir ancient oak and the special judging panels that the headmaster himself arranges. There was no room for any kind of prejudice or discrimination so, these exams were purely a test to see what one had learned in all their time in this academy. "In the first midterms, the academy confirms the true potential that they had evaluated at the beginning of our academy life. In the first main exams, they tested what we had learned in the one year we had been here. In the second midterms, they see what improvements we have made, and in the second one, they brutally prune out the dead branches that are polluting the rest of the bodies¡ª or in simpler terms, they second year midterm is the most difficult exams of them all since we don''t get to choose the subject papers. In the second end Sam though, things go very easily since the tests are mostly connected with the extracurricr activities. Andstly, in the third year¡­ we have fun." They knew all these things since many of the teachers must have told them how the academy''s testing system works. They already knew most of the things that amon student of the academy should know before giving their first ever exams, so I did not see what the problem was here. "You all have attended more than half of the sses that have been held. You have never received any disciplinary punishments as far as I know. you have not cked off during the sses and have learned at least half of the things that have been taught so¡­ you all should already know that you are going to pass. I don''t see the problem here. Do you want to top all of your subjects or something?" If that were the case, they wouldn''t be ying around like that after lunch and would have gone to study like the rest of the people that were not present here were doing. ''Getting the higher scores will depend entirely on one''s abilities and their evaluation that the paper judges make.'' Mia knew that well, and so did Tia, Alpha, Luna, and a few others. Actually, almost half of the captains were studying by themselves right now or in pairs, while the rest of us were here, trying to rx a little. "Hmmm¡­? Topping the subjects¡­? How will we top the subjects if we don''t even know everything that has been taught." Tia seriously was apetitive one, so I didn''t have to deal with her. But, sadly, Lizzzy, Quin, and Ca were being a headache for us. "We were trying to take a nap¡­ but thanks to this bunch, even that seemed impossible now.'' And they did not even realise how disturbing they were being right now¡­ bastards. "Haaa. Here''s advice for you all." Just these few of my words piqued their interest unlike anything else had in thesest few minutes. "Get each other''s notes, or¡­ check the notes that we have posted on our group forums. Go through the main topics named and when you are done with the theory part, go to the library and ask the Liberian to give you the (Practise test orbs) of thest three years corresponding to the subject you want to study first. Do this, and you will not only pass, but get a decent enough score." Not many people knew the existence of these test crystals¡­ and even if everyone gets to know about them after this, they aren''t going to be able to use those things since they aren''t a free property of the academy. ''They belong to the librarian, and she only loans them over to the ones she likes¡­ or the ones acquainted with the ones she likes.'' And it''s not cheap. So aside from these rich brats, there shouldn''t be that many who will be able to afford them. "What¡­? There''s something like that?" Ca, Quin, Chry, Ball, Lizzy, even E was surprised something like this existed. Alf was reading on the other side, but as soon as he heard me say that, he got up, pulled Bell along and started running towards the library. "Look at him go¡­ hahaha." Even though he was confident about these exams, the existence of something that might let you experience how the exams are taken was not something anyone could ignore. "Go run if you want to chat up with them~." They were disturbing our rest but, now that they have this new motivator¡­ "Right. See youter!" They all started running behind them one by one. And atst¡­ we were left alone in this peaceful shed. "You didn''t have to tell them about them¡­ she won''t give them those things that easily anyway." He had been sleeping on myp with his eyes closed, unbothered by themotion when the one more tired was me. Not that I mind this¡­ "They wanted a solution, I gave them what they wanted. Now it''s up to them to convince her. And they almost have a month anyway. I don''t see any of them failing." After all¡­ they had learned from us as well. Failing in these exams was not going to be possible even if they deliberately wanted to. "Haaa¡­" "Wanna switch up?" "Yes please." Finally, I can have a peaceful nap. Chapter 852: Upcoming grand conference [OP: ] With the announcement of the midterm schedule, the students had gotten busy with the exam preparation and the teachers were busy teaching the students everything that they most needed in these exams. The teachers of the academy were specially trained people that knew the difficulty of the exams of the academy thanks to their experience, so they had to prepare every student for what was toe in these exams. They knew it was not going to be easy, none of the exams of the academy were ever anything easy. So, they were busy helping the students that required their assistance. And, while all the preparations, work, and practices were ongoing all over the academy, the person that was responsible for most of the preparations of these tests, the headmaster, was busy with somethingpletely different¡­ Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin "Are you sure about this, headmaster?" "It will be the most secure ce given the current situation. And, They won''t be able toe there even if they want to." He was looking out of the window situated behind his desk. Looking out at the children, students had various expressions thanks to the exam announcements. Some were happy, some were sad. Some were angry while some were anxious. They weren''t looking forward to these exams, but they all knew that their wish was not going to affect the oue of this matter. The midterms are going to happen and then they can go back to their houses and wait for the results of the grand conference that will be announced shortly after they go back. There will be many changes all over the world and thanks to the longer break they will have more time to adjust to the changes. "Still headmaster¡­ it will not be easy for the representatives to reach that ce. Some of them are normal people and not superhumans, so they might find it quite difficult-." "And that is why we will be creating a unique path under the ground to the centre of the volcano¡­ I will engrave runes all over the path and with proper escorts, everyone should have no problem reaching the designated centre." The grand conference was a big event and the headmasters of the academy, the people with the most authority on the floating ind, as well as the ones with a direct connection with the [Masters] of the academy, yed a very important role in it. "Runes¡­? You will do that, headmaster?" "This conference is unlike the precious ones. We aren''t merely going to sit around and chat with some drinks and snacks¡­ the future of the world is on the line here." From preparing the invitations to choosing which individuals to invite to this conference, from selection of the location of the conference to the arrangements of the ce where it will take ce. Not only that, they also had to constantly check up on everything that was proceeding, making their work the most important and difficult one¡­ It was far more difficult than a midterm preparation so, after all his calctions and thinking, he had reached the conclusion of taking these exams right before the conference. "Crow. Don''t take this conference lightly. This isn''t the same as the others." "¡­?" Aside from the headmaster himself, there were certain other individuals that helped him with the task of organising, managing, and operating these conferences. The person that was with him at the moment, was one of those people assisting him. And, he could tell how serious he was from the look that the headmaster had at the moment. "I¡­ understand, headmaster." He knew about the things going on all over the world, and he knew about the cult that almost managed to destroy one of the political power houses of this world. He did not know how the conflict had concluded exactly but he knew how some students of this academy along with the council heads took care of that matter along with a few people the headmaster trusted. That conflict was already the talk of the town and hundreds of lives were lost that day¡­ which became the trigger for this conference. "Go now. Finish what I asked earlier." "Yes headmaster. I''ll be back after scouting the surroundings of the designated locations." He was not the only one that was helping him with the preparations of the conference but he had no idea who the others were or how many there actually were. All he knew about was his own task in this whole matter¡ª the survey of the locations that the individual attending this meeting were going to take. "Alright then." He knew his responsibilities so, without waiting long, he summoned his ck wings behind his back, and jumped out of the window. "Haaaa¡­" As the headmaster watched his vanishing figure, a sigh escaped him, and he looked back at the distant, in the garden filled with the students. His eyes could see far and wide, like the divine beings looking at the mortals of the physical realm. And, they were better at it than even those higher beings. "Seems like their training is going well¡­" He looked at the two sleeping under the tree in the garden, two that were going to be the main protagonists of the show in that conference. "Their friends seem to be preparing for the exams." He was looking at the unusually crowded library that usually is as empty as this office of his. Some of his friends were reading across the library while some were trying to butter up to the great librarian. The rest of their friends were in their ssrooms or in other ces, studying various things like many others while those who had no tension of the exams were ying around in the central area inside of the academy, or were having fun with their other friends. Those who were already famous all over the world like Mia and Deleon were busy with their own research work even though the exams were on the horizon. And, the ambitious ones among the captains, like Tia and Alpha of the True dragons were studying by themselves. He could read their expressions and hearts so they knew well how they wanted to not only get a better score than the rest of them¡­ they particrly wanted to get better results than a particr pair. And, they weren''t the only ones with that goal, there were many others. The two that were sleeping under a shed peacefully had a unique reputation throughout this academy. Not just with their roles of the house captains or as the top of their sses, but also as the leaders of the current top houses. There were many who wanted to show them who was the real top student of this academy and they wanted to prove to the others who was better at certain subjects. And, since the academy evaluated their potential as they all knew, they knew they had the chance to get the top spots. Thus, they were going to fight for the highest points and do whatever they could to get the best possible scores. "They will do well." Thanks to only two individuals, all the houses had been united¡ª something that hadn''t happened in thest few centuries. And thanks to their special rtionship with the rest of the house captains, the rest of the students were even more fired up for these exams. "So¡­" He had many things he needed to take care of as not just the headmaster but also as the one responsible for the grand conference. He had to go and check up on the rest of the people that were going to attend this conference and then he also had to prepare the ce where this conference was supposed to be held. In thest few weeks, he had been busy with the preparations of the exams but now that he was done with those things, he had to look after the things that were more important. "They will need to prepare for the conference as well." First of all, he will have to go and tell the mentors of the two of them to prepare them for the conference, and after their exams, they all should go back to their home and prepare for the big day. "I hope you do well¡­" Looking at the two peacefully sleeping individuals, he smiled calmly for thest time. He still had a lot of things to take care of. And the two of them had an important role to y in that meeting so they had to be prepared to handle the kind of people that would attend that meeting. There would be people that they knew and there would be people that have no idea about, and they would have to know about all of them. They have to look after one another and when they exin to them how they know about the things that they are talking about, they will have to exin to them in the way they understand the best so they will have to be fluent in variousnguages. The fairies and representatives that could connect them will be present but they might not want to connect with someone that they don''t even know much about, so things might certainly get difficult in that conference. He knew well just how messy things could get when all the most powerful representatives of the world were gathered in a single ce. And, he did not want to drag the two who weren''t even ready for half of the things that go on in that ce. He wanted to give them all the time and all the training possible, so¡­ the reason that he set the exams so early also had to do with this particr issue. They were going to face difficulties. But, there was nothing to worry about. "You will do well." With onest hopeful smile, he took a deep breath, looked at his home for onest time¡­ and vanished off to face a being that, even to him, was not going to be something easy to deal with. Chapter 853: How the conference proceeds [Eon''s POV: ] "So, we received the news that you two will be presenting during this grand conference and also-." "Wait, you didn''t know until now?" This was surprising, for both of us. "Well¡­ it''s not like we have to know everything about you, right?" Both of these teachers never fail to surprise us with their utterck of ''teacher'' qualities. They were our teachers so they were supposed to teach us and, well they were pretty decent with that thing¡­ everything else though, made their role itself questionable. "Haaa¡­" Rein couldn''t help but sigh at the way her mentor, Lady sapphire was acting so casually about this whole tropic. For goodness'' sake she even had that dumb foolish smile on her face, one that most certainly was one of no jokes. "Anyway¡­ what are you two going to present anyway? Something fun~?" Not just Rein, even I had to give her a look of annoyance this time. She was¡­ doing this on purpose now. "Seriously?" Rein could especially not understand how such a smart person with such achievements could act so dumb even with all the information and knowledge she possessed. She was smart and she possessed a vast knowledge about many things but, here she was, acting ignorant about this whole situation. Continue your saga on m|v-l''e -NovelBin "Ahem¡­ that should be enough teasing, miss Sapphire." At least, it seemed like this mentor of mine, the divine archer that was even dumber than her sometimes, had some kind of conscience. "We should not dy any further." The headmaster must have asked them to help us prepare for the conference as well. ''We had already received the basic understanding of this grand conference from mom so we didn''t need to start from scratch.'' But it did not mean that we were ready for that conference. ''Even mom had to prepare for over a year just for a few minutes of her presentation.'' And from who described her experience of that day, we know well this one presentation was no simple thing. "Hump, you are no fun long eared chicken!" There was no beef between the two of them but, they just naturally did not like one another¡­ or perhaps they liked one another so much that they couldn''t get along with each other in this setting. But the former was more believable in their situation. Both of them were special individuals that were famous throughout the world and were powerhouses of the world that would most certainly be present in that conference as well. They were quite old as well so they must have attended many of these gatherings, so it was better to learn about the things that happen there from them. ''The headmaster was supposed to teach us these things as well but he must be busy with the preparations right now.'' There were a lot of things that needed his attention and with him looking after those things, it was better for someone as qualified as them to look after us. ''And since this usually ignorant teacher of mine was not in the mood to y around, Lady Sapphire also got back to her serious self.'' Though, it certainly took a heated argument with her student. But we can ignore that thing. "Alright then, let''s start from what you know." "Yes." The grand conference. It was the gathering of the world''s most influential figures. The gathering of the true powerhouses, or the people that could make significant changes to this world. The members of this conference included the good people as well as the evil that, under the treaty of the conference, also attended as a representative of their side. ''We knew there were going to be many impotent people in that gathering, we knew there would be many strong people as well, and we knew not all of them would be nice to us. Especially not when we were going to present evidence of the existence of an organisation that, unlike the usual Rakshasas, aimed for theplete destruction of this world. ''The topic of our presentation was sensitive and since the base of it was going to be the attack that had happened in the political stronghold of Lakmer, many of the other powers were also going to be hostile to us.'' And, though I have not decided on it yet, we were nning to include our findings in Kaksha as well. But, I''ll have to discuss it with the headmaster first. ''That aside, there were many other incidents from all over the world that were one way or another connected to these people.'' The thing that I''ve found out over these past two months about them and their schemes runs even deeper than I had initially imagined and they aren''t just a cult that possesses immense power¡­ their roots have been spread to the deepest, most crucial borders of this world. ''And, what I know about them right now, isn''t even a portion of their true scale.'' From small kingdoms to big cities, from important tribes to the most powerful nations of this world¡­ they are present everywhere. ''ording to Lucy''s calctions, they had been present on this world for more than two thousand years, perhaps more.'' The kind of things that they are running right now must have taken them at least that much time, and if we consider that the one behind this whole thing is someone above the level of a god, then¡­ well, they might also be some kind of primordial being. ''We don''t know much about them, and that much is the only thing we know about them for certain.'' Still, what we will present before all those important people will cause a greatmotion. ''Some of them are leaders and some of them are rulers, and knowing how there are traitors hidden amongst their ranks¡­ among them, will not be a good thing.'' Amotion was inevitable. But that is beside the point¡­ before we worry about all that, we will first have to prepare for this presentation. "Hmmm¡­ I see. So, you at least know the basics." The grand conference was a simple conference just like any other, a formal meeting of people with a shared interest held over a course of three days. People from all over the world and, sometimes, other threes belonging to dwarf kind, orc kind, and giant kind also attend this event. In their absence, people of their confidence managed theirnd, and if there is any kind of problem in theirnd in their absence, a means of immediate transportation is prepared for them. Matters of worldly safety are discussed in this meeting, and certain individuals who are decided prior to the conference present their topics and the rest of the people present in the conferencement on the matters if they see it as anything worth their attention. The process itself is pretty simple, however, there are times when they have to discuss matters that are outside of the agreed agenda ande up with a solution of something that concerns this world or a vast poption of this world. "Hmmm. You two know how the things work there, so that is that. But, you are forgetting something very important." The headmaster of the academy and the one holding one of the highest authority in this world is given the task to organise this gathering. The invitations are sent to the individuals that would attend this gathering personally by them, and aside from the individuals that are invited and the individuals directly closely connected with them, no one else is allowed entry inside the meeting ce. It was pretty simple and standard procedure, so¡­ I had already told them all that we knew. "What is this ''very important thing'' that we are forgetting, Lady Sapphire?" They were more experienced with this gathering than either of us so, their input on it was very important. ''I did not want any kind of trouble in that ce¡­ which is impossible, I know. But still, the less trouble we face, the better it will be for the rest of the attendees.'' It wasn''t a good thing for the representatives holding great authority in this world, holding great powers to fight among themselves. "Well¡­" I had no idea what this important thing I was forgetting was, so I looked at her sincerely. "There are good people in this ce and there are bad people. And, no¡­ by bad people, I do not mean those who follow [Chaos] or Demons. Those are actually the easier ones to deal with." "Hmmm?" Rein was confused how the demons and those wanting the destruction of things all over the world could be easier to deal with then something else. However, I got what point she wanted to make here. "The Boomers." "Right. Looks like you know about them after all." In the conference, there were individuals that though possessed undeniable knowledge, abilities, intelligence, skills, or experience, they were people that always were the cause of any kind of problems. ''Collectively, the rest of the conference members called them boomers.'' An inappropriate ng used for not exactly old people since many of these ''boomers'' weren''t exactly that old, but for those who wantedly or unwantedly found faults with anyone that was presenting any kind of topic. They were the troublemakers, and it was an unspoken fact among the other members of the conference that if anyone wanted to finish their presentation without any kind of trouble, then they would have to somehow please these boomers. "Since the matter you are going to address is something so serious, I have no doubt those bastards will make it a hell for you to even finish your presentation." They weren''t exactly bad people¡­ or perhaps they were. I have no idea what kind of people they actually are, but I thought the seriousness would somehow work out in my favour. Miss Sapphire though, didn''t think that would be the case. "You don''t know what kind of people they are, so we shall first tell you about the most difficult opponents you will have to face." There wasn''t much information about this ''boomers'' since a created w'' forbids people from talking about anything rted to the grand conference outside of it. Including the identities of the attendees. "Yes¡­ we appreciate the help." Still, there were people who thisw did not apply to¡­ people like her that had contributed to the creation of this originw. "A thanks isn''t going to be enough for this kind of help, huhuhu. Remember this ''favour'' I''m doing you two." This was invaluable information, so¡­ well, it wasn''t that bad to owe her for it. She was a reasonable businesswoman. I know we can negotiate when the time to pay her back arrives. Chapter 854: Conference location [OP: ] In an unknown distantnd that not many knew about, there was a battle going on¡­ "Awooooooooooooooooooooooooooo¡­!" A giant energy beast that was of the highest possible level. A beast that possessed high quality Mana and, a beast that lived in thend of a volcano. -Oooooooooooooong! Against him caught the headmaster of the academy, fighting with his one of a kind magic, facing a being that was covered in a temperature so hot it melted the very ground beneath its feet, a being that resembled a wolf, possessed three dark ck horns, had three tails on its back, and glowing white patterns all over its energy body burning so hot not even the headmasters spells survived in its presence. "Awooooooooooooo¡­!" -Ooooooooooooooooong¡­! -BOOOOOOOOOOOM! One was attacking while the other was trying not to deal with the attacks. Both of them were strong and their powers matched closely¡­ so whenever their standoffs hade to a brief pause, the one to grasp the golden opportunity was the only one that had managed to deal any kind of damage to the opponent. ''As I thought¡­'' This ce, a volcanic reason situated at the very west of the western continent, was not a ce many visited due to the presence of one of the most active volcanoes of the continent¡ª Dhargni. It was a primordial volcano that had been present on this continent even before the formation of the continent itself. ording to some stories, it was ayer of one of the primordial dragons, a home of the one standing above any other entity ruling one of the six main elements, a personification of this nature''s true supremacy. Though, these stories had never been confirmed, even by the headmaster. All this region was thus only a dangerousnd on part with the nine forbidden areas of the world where no one dared to step foot into¡­ the only difference between the forbidden Zones and this ce was that the strong people, or those with actual power to endure the excruciating heat of this ce seldom travelled here in search of the great riches, or, a battle with something much stronger than the beasts that they could find in the calm forests of this world. For the highest ranking adventurer parties, this ce, mainly the outskirts of this ce, was a loved hunting ground and some even tried getting past the initial monsters to face the real dangers. As adventurers, they knew very well what they were supposed to do, so they followed their hearts and fearlessly explored even the dangers like this one. Still¡­ not even the strongest of them ever dared to go to the central zone or, the ce that was famous as the [Hell''s entrance] thanks to the absurdly strong energy beats native only to that ce. There were talks about how a Catastrophe or even Disasters lived in this area, and they were not exactly wrong about that. ''Even the weakest of them all is of this level.'' ording to the knowledge of the headmaster, there were mainly six beings in this central area that were considered the most ferocious, or dangerous to the others. These beasts possessed powers beyond the level of the highest graded (Purple) beast and were somewhatparable to the beasts of the forbidden forest. The amount of Mana that they possessed was abnormally high and even though they did not possess divinity, the kind of strength that these creatures possessed was something even the headmaster had difficulty dealing with. And, since these six beings were essentially the lords that maintained their own territories, killing any of them would bring even greater disarray to this volcanic regain that might end up causing long term harm to the overall stability of this ce. ''Looks like I''ll have to be a little more aggressive.'' He was afraid of killing even this weakest of them six, the one that was technically still stronger than any other regr (Purple) rank beast out there. He knew his actions might result in the deaths of the amazing adventurers who do visit this dangerous ce, and he could not have something like that. Thus, he only wanted to weaken this beast, capture it and seal it away while creating a substitute clone for the beast that would take care of this ce in its absence¡­ but, from the way this creature had been retaliating until now, he thought his original n to be nearly impossible. ''Then¡­'' -Ooooooooooooooooong! A ground burning red by the heat from the beast. A barren wastnd with dark weather, a giant volcano with red vomitingva. An atmosphere where life is nearly impossible and yet, and where lives of unique nature had adapted to this special environment. Mana of this ce was stagnant and extremely hot, filled with fire elements more than any other. Even for an archmage, it was difficult to separate the other elements from this kind of environment, and the resistance or near immunity to fire and heat made the fire attribute magic of even the headmaster nearly useless against them. They were strong creatures and the headmaster knew this particr one was especially stronger than the others. "Awoooooooooooo¡­!" -Oooooooooooooong! It had high physical stats, it could use the fire element in nature with the help of the innate fire that had taken the form of a special kind of energy, and it had developed skills that were nothing less powerful than the (tier-8) spells of the headmaster. "I apologise¡­" -Snap! -Oooooooooooooooooong! Still, before an archmage and someone possessing multiple divine and world Authorities, this creature was certainly not an impossible opponent to deal with. ''You are strong.'' The headmaster used his own Mana to create a giant pence of light element that was also a special (tier-8) spell, however, that first spell was only a distraction. "Awooooooooooooooo¡­!" The moment the wounded beast with white magma like blood flowing out of its wounds used his own breath of deadly explosive mes to block thence of light, the headmaster conjured another spell¡ª a (tier-9) spell. ''I know you can handle this much.'' He used abination of all five elements that he could use with the effectiveness of the water element in the centre of it. With it, he created a sword in the air that was a twentieth of the giant wolf''s size, or twice his own, and when this crystal like blue swords was summoned in the sky above it¡­ for the first time a genuine look of fear shrouded the eyes of the ferocious being. It knew this sword, this attack was unlike anything that it had faced until now, and it could sense the danger immediately. "Awoooooooo!" It had counterattacked in response to the previous attack from the headmaster, however, the moment it sensed the danger of the blue sword, it knew it had to do something. It knew its life would be at risk if that attack hurt it in the wrong way so, the moment it sensed the danger that was summoned in the air above it, the wolf-like creature immediately reacted and tried to get away from it¡­ however, resistance was futile here. -Swish. -Kha¡ªChak! The sword moved even faster than an eye could blink and, the blue sword, the (tier-9) spell that had manifested in the same sky the mage had been floating in since the start of this battle, pierced right through the zing skin of the great creature¡­ "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The screams of the being filled the area¡­ it was lucky to have dodged the de of the spell sword in the veryst moment, but it still got its hind leg pierced by it. "It''s alright¡­" The creature was already wounded, and now thanks to the dangerous wound that it received, the pain of the cumtive damage was overwhelming all of its special senses. It was a being born in thesends, a physical being possessing the physical senses like the other normal creatures do. It could sense the emotions of joy and pain and sadness and hunger just like the normal creatures and the reason it had survived until now in this harsh environment, was also thanks to its survival instincts. It wasn''t evil or anything, and it had done nothing wrong to either the headmaster or to anyone that he cared about. Perhaps, that was the main reason the headmaster did not give him any greater wounds than what it currently had. "Your sacrifice will save countless lives in the future." This volcanic reigns, this veryng that was burning with the eternal mes of the ancient volcano, was going to be the location for the grand conference of this time. The individuals that would attend the conference will be escorted to this location through various underground passages or, some of them will just fly all the way here. Some of them were strong enough to kill every single being in these reigns but, they did not wish for something like that to happen so, he had to give out instructions to those crazy ones beforehand. And after he creates a safe zone for the normal people who could not handle the kind of environment this ce contained, he will finish the rest of the work and go back for the other preparations. "Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you." His work for now was done, so he looked into the obsidian eyes of the giant creature that seemed to have given up on its life. "You won''t be seeing your home for a while, I apologise for that. However, please don''t worry about anything." -Oooooooooooooooooooong. With the support series magic of barrier type, he first created a safe prison to keep the body of this being, and used a unique series of magic to put the creature into a deep slumber that will be impossible for even this one to get out of. "When you wake up from this long dream¡­ you will not remember anything about this painful experience." -Oooooooooooooooooong! Then using the illusion series of magic that he was best at, he weaved an illusionary beast that looked, felt, behaved, and seemed exactly like the wounded creature did before receiving all those wounds. There was no difference between both the creatures, even their Mana signatures were almost identical. It was as if the being that had just appeared out of nowhere, was in fact the same creature that the headmaster had been fighting all this time. Except, the one that had appeared out of nowhere was a creation of the headmaster, and not of nature. "Grrrr¡­" In itsst moments, the creature that was falling into the eternal slumber did certainly see the new being, but¡­ that was thest thing it witnessed before the spell took its effect and its consciousness was sealed. "Well then¡­" So, now that the threat was dealt with and the creature was safely stored in his personal separate dimension, he had his confidence location. The headmaster was done with his work now and the ones in charge of cleaning up and basic decorating were already here, so they were now going to start the next thing which, thankfully, would be much easier than dealing with a ferocious creature of that scale. Chapter 855: A week before the midterms [Rein''s POV: ] "Oh, it''s connecting. Come, everyone!" Today was one of the special days of the week where we all gather and talk with our families back home. And by ''we'' I meant Ca, Alf, Zoe and me. [ "Hello, hello. Am I audible~?" ] We had gathered in Zoe''s room as always, and as always, Eon wasn''t here. And as always, the one that appeared before us as soon as themunication device had connected, was our dear little Anna. And her friends, of course. "We can hear you fine, Anna. Stand back from the crystal ball now!" As always, Anna was being too excited about this talk so Zoe was shouting at her. And, before her shouts, even Anna could not do anything. "It''s fine, Zoe. Let her be." We couldn''t shout at her like she does. We couldn''t even be angry at her. Her position in this family was so important that neither anyone from his family nor someone from mine could ever actually get angry at her and tell her off when she is doing something wrong or inappropriate. ''She was a pretty, cute, and special child so aside from loving her and doing anything she asks, there wasn''t much that we could do about her behaviour or actions.'' But thanks to Zoe, she had learned how to behave. How to not show her special powers to inappropriate outsiders, and how to better handle herself. ''Both of them were importantponents of this family, and they pretty muchplete one another.'' Everyone in this family knows that. Even right now, everyone standing behind her looking at the two of these sisters were smiling like they usually do. "Hmm? I don''t see mother Nol?" [ "Ohh~! Mamma said she has some important work to attend to so she went to the castle~! She said she will call you allter~." ] She seemed particrly happy today for some reason. There was a distinct smile on her face while there was a subtle look of concern on her grandpa. A simr look was present on the face of the knight captain standing on the other side of the room behind them¡­ though it wasn''t visible clearly to the others. ''Hmmm. Seems like she is making good progress as Eon predicted.'' And her progress is a little too good so even people like them are concerned right now. I can understand that much already, but ording to him, this was just the start. Soon, she will actually awaken her power and with apletely stable body that could handle those powers and then¡­ well, after that a trial will begin for him, and for me as well. But, that is still not something we have to be concerned about. [ "Is big brothering~?" ] "Anna¡­ you ask that every time even though you know the answer." We do these weekly talks regrly. We talk, we see each other, we tell them things that have happened in the academy, while they tell us things that go on there. They are just regr talks and the four of us are usually the only ones here, sometimes Chry joins us as well but that''s it. ''Some of them couldn''t make it sometimes because of the impotent things that they have to take care of, so it''s understandable that she asks about them in their absence.'' But, asking about the one that has never seen her through this crystal ball, asking about the one she loves the most and knows the reason for his absence, isn''t something surprising for us anymore. She asks it anyway even though she knows the answer, and she gets the same answer from Zoe everytime. "Big brother couldn''t make it due to some important matters that he had to attend to. He asked me to apologise¡­ again." Anna knew he would be unhappy after seeing her through this ss ball, thismunication device. He won''t be able to hold her, hug her, talk to her the way they usually do, and then, he knew after their talk like this, he could not help his desires to go back to her and see her himself. He was greedy and he did not like how they had to be away from one another. So, if he talked with her like this¡­ he knew he wouldn''t be able to do anything properly for a while. And he couldn''t have that. Not with all the things in the academy, especially not with the exams and the grand conference on the way. [ "Hehe, it''s fine~. I wrote him a letter so his reply should arrive soon anyway~." ] She did not like this either. ''She loved him too much to handle not talking with him for such a long time.'' After we came back from that break after the Lakmer incident, he had not talked with her even once. They only exchange letters, letters that are mostly covered in teardrops. And they somehow cope with it. It''s their brother sister thing. "Anyway!" Ca jumped in and broke off this little ufortable atmosphere we had between us. "Anna~. Do you know our exams will be starting next week~? It''s only going to be around two weeks long and then we will be back~!" "Ah, that''s right." A week was left before the midterms, and the atmosphere in the academy was an all time calm one. ''We were done with all our sses and courses so we had holidays for now for preparations, and most of the people were doing exactly that.'' Of course not everyone was preparing for the exams but even the ones that were enjoying their holidays knew well what they were going to face in those tests. They knew it wasn''t going to be simple or easy, but for the ones that only wanted to pass the tests with basic markings, this ''midterms'' was no big deal. [ "Yessss~! I know about your exams! Big brother already told me about them in thest letter and I wish you all good luck for them~! I know everyone will do well~!" ] Her positivity was more powerful than any kind of healing magic or good luck. And her smile as well. [ "It''s still far so I''ll be waiting for all of you! And we can y for longer this time!" ] She knew the exams were happening early and that the holidays this time will be longer than a few weeks. When we go back, we can happily have some time to ourselves and y to our heart''s content¡­ we will have to be away for a few days because of the conference, but she can handle herself without the three of us for a few days. She is a smart girl that knows how to take care of herself. She is taking care of herself without us even right now so there isn''t much to worry about. "Yes, we will y as much as you want when we get back¡­ though, that''s for after the exams." The exams were a big concern at the moment not just for the few of us but for every single student currently present at the academy. There was no one that wasn''t thinking about those tests right now. People were worried and they knew they had to pass those tests at the very least, And for passing, they were studying or doing whatever they thought was necessary. [ "Ah¡­ right! You all have to go and sleep and study as well!" ] "We have to do that, yes. But we have time for a little chat as usual." He wasn''t going to show up so, at the very least, the rest of her brother and sisters had to be here. "Alright then? Why don''t we start with you, little one? How was your week~?" Eon and I weren''t worried about these tests since we already knew what the results were going to be like. There were other things that we had to worry about and our own personal straining was something that we had to keep up with. Those mentors of ours were unexpectedly ruthless with their methods and even Eon was having difficulty since thest few days thanks to the new training program that they had started. They were doing it like Sapphire and I had started in the beginning, but they were a little more aggressive with their training. ''In archery, cuts and wounds were amon thing.'' And every day sincest week, I''m seeing his hands looking even more cut and red than usual. ''He tries to hide it but he also knows well that it isn''t going to work.'' But it''s his training. And he''s doing it to get better and stronger, so I couldn''tin about all that. Anyway¡­ He wasn''t here right now. So Anna was all ours~! [ "Yessss~. Hehehe, you know big sister! I learned the sword swing today! Grandpa even showed me the coooooooooool blue thing!" ] "Cool¡­ blue thing?" Is she talking about¡­ wait. What? "Anna? What''s this cool blue thing-." [ "It''s as you all are thinking. She means Aura." ] "What?!" "What the hell?! How''s that even possible?!" "How could you do that grandpa?! You know best how dangerous it is!" Ca had a sudden shock when she heard that while Alf was panicking. Even Zoe was shocked by this new information since we all knew seeing¡ª perceiving Aura was no simple thing, much like magic. Not everyone can do that, and certainly not everyone can see the ''colours'' and feel the aura of another individual. ''But when she said the ''cool'' blue thing, she meant cool as in not attractive but cold or chill.'' And one cannot just feel that while observing an aura demonstration from afar. "Everyone, calm down a bit." Anna herself was confused why we were so shocked since for her, this was just cool news. But for us, it was more concerning than she could imagine. And for Eon¡­ I don''t even know how he is going to react when I tell him about this. Chapter 856: Three days before the midterms [Eon''s POV: ] "Haaa¡­ what to do now?" She sounded pretty bored as she made a dove out of a piece of paper. "Have you gone through the subjects?" "Yup." She was "Have you revised them?" "Yup¡­" "Have you read your notes, my notes, and gone through the extra material I prepared?" "Yup, yup, and yup. I was boredst night so I even talked with the teachers. They were surprised how I was asking them philosophical questions at 3 AM instead of sybus questions. But the questions I asked kinda made sense so we all ended up having a fun debate till morning." "Ah, now I understand what was going on with you this morning." Not long was left before the exams, and we were done with everything in the course. We had prepared more than enough to get a good score on all the subjects. We were pretty much done with the Conference preparations for now as well. ''There was actually nothing to do anymore other than the regr training that we were having with our mentors.'' And even that training was getting prettyfortable. "Haaaa¡­" She was especially bored today. "Do you wanna do something fun?" "What kind of fun? I''m too bored for anything physical¡­ of course physical stuff in the bedroom is an exception, but aside from that, I''m not feeling like moving." "I can see that. So don''t worry. We won''t even have to move for this fun thing." Picking her up with some magic and cing her on one side, I ced my head on herp. "Celes, can you show us what everyone''s up to?" She was a little surprised when I did that but she just naturally started stroking my hand. "Spying on others is a fun thing?" Looking at others with Celes wasn''t anything new to us anymore so she didn''t think it would be anything new. But, she was wrong. "Only three days are left for the exams, dear. Of course we will see something new." It''s going to be a fun thing since I know very well how much pressure they might be feeling right now. It was the first exam so, there''s no way they aren''t doing something funny or absurd. "So, who should we start with?" Looking up at my lovely fianc¨¦e who looked back at me from over the two mountains between us, I smiled mischievously. And she smiled back, taking my joke a little too seriously. "No no. Don''t think about anything funny now, Miss. You won''t be seeing the fun things if you start something else." Our great mentors gave us a break from the training for today so we had all day to ourselves. Perhaps, that was the reason she was ying around with the teachers instead of sleeping and resting even after all the training she had been doing. She has had pretty good sleep this morning and she will have a good sleepter in the evening as well. She was bored right now and that was the only thing that we had to focus on. There was nothing more important than her health and that health was only going to be fine if she was active. And that wasn''t going to be possible when she was like that. "Celes, let''s start with Quin." "Hmmm. Quinny should be studying right now." She was studying thest time we checked and she was fine as well so Rein thought she would be fine even now. Sadly though, that wasn''t necessarily going to be true. [{ Master! I don''t think little Quin is the right person to start¡­ she''s bathing right now!" }] "Hmm? She''s bathing? Right now?" It waste morning and she usually took a bath early in the morning as well aste at night. This wasn''t her usual routine. She was doing something she usually doesn''t and, just hearing that put a smile on Rein''s face. "Looks like they really are having trouble." We were different from the normal students so this test wasn''t that big a deal for us. And we knew what kind of results we were going to see at the end so this entire exam was a simple thing for us. Other students, on the other hand, weren''t going to be the same. "They are going to pass it with flying colours anyway, and they are still worried. Ahahaha, are we different ones~?" She was suddenly in a good mood now and wasughing while messing up my hair. We hadn''t even started with the peeking stuff and she was already having fun. "We are different¡­ anyway, if not Quin, who should we see first?" We had a lot of friends and even if we observe them and their behaviour for about half an hour, the time should pass smoothly. We can even take a break at lunchtime and continue until dinner timeter. "Hmmm~. If not Quinny, shall we see how Med is doing? She might be doing something fun." She was a fun one and yes, she might certainly be doing something fun and appropriate that we could observe as well. ''Invading others'' privacy wasn''t the goal of this little game. We just wanted to have a look around so this was a good opportunity. "Hmmm. Med was in her shop thest time I checked. Celes?" Her ability with the clones and transmissions was phenomenal. It was better than even what RayRay could do. ''Zoe even sometimes asks me to exchange ourpanions, saying my ''butterfly'' is better than hers.'' Everyone knows she''s joking, but those who know the true identities of these two butterflies would never want to exchange it with even the creatures of the same kind. [{ Oh! Yes! We can see little Med! It seems like she''s doing something fun anyway! }] Celes might seem childish sometimes but she isn''t anything even close to that. Despite her attractive looks and childish personality, she is a smart and calcting individual that knows how to do whatever she is doing. She knows very well just how important it is to use her powers for my sake, and for the sake of people I love. She is smart so she does many of the important things herself, and without her¡­ I don''t even know what I might have done in this dangerous world. "Med is doing something fun? Now that''s a new one, hun?" Rein didn''t know what Med might be up to but she for sure knew very well how she was not the person to do anything fun at this hour. The most fun thing she might be doing right now was dealing with some clients or dealing with a big crowd at her shop. ''She was like mom in certain ways.'' She loved her business, and she loved spending more time making sales than just sitting around all day, preparing for the exams that she knew she would do well in anyways. ''She was the one person even I didn''t think would be affected by the pressure of these exams. But, as soon as we closed our eyes and saw what Celes'' clone was seeing, both of us were stunned. [{ "What the hell?" }] She was still in her shop but she wasn''t selling anything downstairs or dealing with some client. She was alone in her room, sitting not on her desk but in the middle of the room, in the centre of what looked like a magic circle, with a pentagram drawn over it, and candles burning on the edges of it. [{ "What is she doing with all that¡­?" }] It was quite surprising to see someone like her doing something like this, and we knew instantly what she was doing thanks to the book (Luck enhancement rituals) and a big white board with ''Midterms'' written over it sitting right before her ''magic circle''. [{ "Putffff¡­ hahahahahahaha! She really believes in those dumb things~? What the hell! Hahahahaha!" }] Rein startedughing out loud at the funny situation we were seeing right now. [{ "And here I thought she was a smart one¡­ everyone has their grey sides, I see." }] Med was a smart person, no doubt about that. But, she was sitting in the middle of this magic circle holding a colourful candle while the other candles were burning all around her. From the traces of burned papers around this magic circle, it seemed like the notes she had prepared¡ª notes that were sacrificed for better luck. [{ "Puhahahahahaha! Let''s go there, lol! She''s going to be so cute when we tell her we know her little secret~! Hahahaha!" }] ording to Celes, she was doing this for a while now. She had read this bogus book on luck enhancement, and had been trying to enhance her own Luck with the most workable ritual. [{ "Hahahahaha!" }] Her actions were pretty much absurd if I have to say it myself, but from how the book seemed new and how it was currently the best trending book on the ind, I''m pretty sure she isn''t the only one doing something so stupid right now. ''If there''s one, there are going to be others as well.'' However, it did not mean what they were doing possessed any credibility. [{ "There''s no ritual or way that could affect the Luck." }] One of the most important factors that the students might have realised they needed for this exam was the ''Luck'' stat since they weren''t going to give traditional exams. These exams were going to be special so being lucky with the ones that would grade them, as well as with their question papers was a very important thing. ''Luck is indeed necessary¡­'' But, there was no way to increase what could not be increased even with potions or blessings of the higher beings. [{ "Puhahahahaha!" }] Luck was an inherent stat that changed depending on the will of nature. Not even divine skills could interfere with it, so, if she really thought she could do it with something so simple and dumb, she was more childish than either of us had ever imagined¡­ but we knew this friend of ours wasn''t that childish. [{ "Hehehe, I get it what you meant by the fun thing." }] It was thanks to the anxiety of the midterms that forced someone as smart as her to do something as childish as this. ''And, since even someone like her was doing something so funny, Rein was now eager to find out what funny things the others were up to at the moment.'' I was looking forward to seeing the others. Listen in on them. And see what might be going on in their heads at such a critical time. Chapter 857: Two days before the midterms [OP: ] "Are you worried?" "Don''t tell me you aren''t¡­" Princess Bell looked beside her at her friend, her study partner that had helped her immensely in these past few days. "This might be just some ''tests'' but this certainly isn''t something we have to be so anxious about, right? If the questions are in our favour and our answers match the taste of the judges, we will get good marks. Or else, they will at least give some marks ording to their standards. Even if we don''t get the full score or the highest score, we will get a good enough score, and that much I know for certain." They had prepared all that they could. They had attended their sses, did their own study, did extra study, and they currently possessed all the knowledge that was going to be taught in the general sses in the following two years. "Tell me why you of all people are getting anxious about these simple midterms." Alf looked into her eyes, a smile present on his face. He had helped her with the things that she did not know about, just like he had helped her the rest of his friends that were currently sleeping on their desks around them. "I''m anxious¡­?" "It seemed that way to me, so yes." She certainly looked uncertain if not anxious. Seeing her like that worried him a little. He didn''t like seeing her, or any of his friends worried like that. "Anxious¡­ hmmm. Well, this is the first academy exam. There might not be any punishments for failing or getting low scores but, the results of this test is going to be important, isn''t it?" She knew how the results of this test would be showcased on the general boards in the lobby. Everyone will be able to see these scores so practically the entire world will be seeing what the students of the academy this time around were through these results. "Everyone will be looking at those names¡­" She was a princess of the greatest empire of the western continent. Her elder sister, the eldest princess, had been an overachiever during her time in this academy. And even her eldest brother was one of a kind when he was in this academy. Both of them used to do better than anyone else on their tests from the start, they had their names in the top¡ª even if not the first or second ce, they were in the top five of any and all fields during their time. But, she knew she couldn''t do what they had done. She was not a genius artist like her sister nor was she a battle crazy, adventure loving individual like her elder brother. She was called one of the prodigies of this era because she was just very good at what she could do¡­ and what she could do with her origin skill, spirits, and skills was pretty limited. "Are you worried about what the others will think about your results? If that''s the case, there''s no need-." "No¡­ people can think whatever they want. I''m not afraid of peopleparing me with others or with my siblings." She took a deep breath, looked around the library, looked at her friends and brothers that were sleeping on the desk, and smiled. "Regardless of the scores that I get¡­ others will have some kind of hope for me. They will want me to do something, be something, they will have aspirations that I do not have. If I do well, they will want me to do better and perhaps because of them, I will have to do better. And this would be the same even if I don''t do as well as they are expecting from me." She looked¡­ helpless. He can tell there was some kind of weight on her heart that was restricting her from speaking, doing things that she wanted, a kind of weight that wasn''t her own. "Then, are you worried about fulfilling what others expect from you?" "Haaaa¡­ I don''t know." Her head was feeling heavy so she ced it on his shoulder. And after another deep sigh, she shook her head. "I don''t know what to think or what to do anymore¡­ I had never thought about all these things beforeing to the academy, but aftering to this amazing ce and spending all this time among all these amazing people¡­ I''ve realised what I truly want to do. But, it isn''t something that either the society or the ones praising me as a prodigy would ept." "So, are you anxious because they won''t ept you no matter the case?" "Haaa¡­ no. I don''t know. Don''t ask me." With her chin ced on his shoulder, she looked up at his pretty purple eyes. His attractive pretty eyes that he got from his mother. "I''ll know what I want to know after this midterms. I will find my answers in the question papers so leave me be¡­ at least, don''t bring up this topic." She didn''t know when they got so close¡­ she didn''t see it, even right now, she didn''t know how she was sofortable with him. But she cherished what they had more than her position in this academy, in this society, or this world. And, she wished for it to stay just like this. "Hmmm¡­ if you want me to do that, I''ll try my best." He smirked and nodded his head before looking back at her, smiling, and turning back to his book without saying anything. "But-." "Yes, yes. I will ask for anything I need. I know my great amazing Alfred is always there to help me." Rolling her eyes at the silly boy beside her, she also took a deep breath of relief and went back to reading the book on the topic that waspletely unrted to any of their papers of this midterms. "And pretending to be asleep doesn''t work with your eyes open like that, so get up and let''s go back to study. All of you." She knew the ones before her weren''t sleeping anymore. She was certain that they were sleeping when they got tired and took a group nap, but after the two of them started talking, she could tell all of them had woken up one by one. "Tsk. That''s not fair now, Bell! You don''t say anything when people are asleep!" "Ahem. Miss Bell was having a personal moment with Mister Alf so we didn''t interfere with you two." "You two were talking, girl. How can we be disrespectful and disrupt your conversation?" They woke up one by one and even including Ca, Lizzy, and Mia, everyone told her how they were acting to give them some time alone. It was quite sweet of them when thinking from a normal perspective, but they didn''t really do that just for the sake of the two of them. They knew very well what goes on in their heads, so she knew what they were thinking this time as well. "We are just friends, Alf and I. Don''t try to make it more than that, alright? It''s not going to work anyway." She had already made it clear that they were just friends. They might act as if they were closer than just friends but she wanted to be his friend and nothing more. "Our Alf here is a fun person. Charming and attractive¡­" She considered the rtionship the two of them had to be a sacred one that she did not want to mess up. She liked him as a friend, perhaps something little more than friends. But they were going to remain friends. "¡­I''m sure he will find someone much better to love." She didn''t consider herself to be the right person for someone as amazing as him. "I''m not sure about that¡­ Bell." But, as always, he doubted her confidence regarding this matter. "Ohe on~! I''ll help you find someone better~." She loved what they had and he loved what she was. "A~. See! Even if he wants to be with you~." Ca couldn''t resist teasing the two every chance she got. She loved how the two looked when they were together. And she wasn''t the only one to love that side of them. "Hey! I didn''t say that!" He wasn''t angry, but he sure seemed embarrassed at the thought of being with someone as cool as Bell. But then again¡­ he couldn''t possibly ept the idea of seeing her with someone else. "Alright alright everyone. Go back to studying." Their exams were going to start the day after tomorrow so, even though they were prepared, they couldn''t ck off just yet. There was still some time left so, instead of chatting about impossible things, they should get ready for the storm that would soon hit them all¡­ [{ "Hmmm. Should we do something for the two of them?" }] [{ "I think leaving them alone is the best thing we can do for them. They have to ept what they know they have. And they have to do that by themselves." }] The two of them were still observing their friends, listening in on what the others missed. They liked seeing their cheerful faces instead of the serious, anxious, uncertain ones. They were their friends. So¡­ after seeing how everyone had been acting, they had arranged this little group study for them. And, from the looks of it, they can tell it was a good decision to make. Chapter 858 : The night before the exams [Rein''s POV: ] "Even Lizzy was doing that funny thing, hehe." "I know, right? Even she is having trouble." Tomorrow was the big day. The big start of the battle that is going tost for a pretty long time. There will be breaks between some of the papers and there will be some of the people that will have more difficulty than the others but ultimately there will be no problems. "They studied well." We had seen them study and we had helped them with the things that might be asked in these tests. We actually made all our notes public so everyone could learn from those things so we pretty much helped everyone for these tests, and even the headmaster told us how the overall results of this year were going to be higher. The children here knew the meaning of being in this institution, they knew the importance of being one o f the lucky ones to have gotten the chance to attend this prestigious school, and that they had to show what they had in these tests if they wanted any kind of better treatment. These tests weren''t just a way for the academy to assess the performance and levels of the students and their skills. Everyone knew well these tests were what the world kept an eye on. "They will be fine." There is a great chance that they will get offers from appropriate ces that would need their expertise, and even if they aren''t anything particrly talented, they will find sess elsewhere as long as they graduate from this academy. Thepetition here was fierce and everyone wanted to get in the top hundreds. They studied day and night for that, refined their abilities to the point even the adults out there would be stunned by their hard work. They had the best resources, the best kind of mentors and teachers for guidance so if anyone just desired it, they had all that they needed to achieve unfathomable sess. "What are they doing right now though?" The moon was hanging in the sky above us while the stars twinkled once more, however, the silence in this academy was unreal. ''When we usually sit on our balcony, we see things like couples sneaking out to certain ces, students going to the night sses, students going to thebs, and people that just liked the night.'' The academy ind never sleeps. In this high sky where we are closer to the heavens than anyone else, people like stargazing from their roofs, spend their days in the campus, y around in the city, or have fun in their own way. Of course they study, but studying isn''t the only aspect of a student''s life. "Hmmm. Let''s see." Looking at my darling who seemed in a good mood tonight, I yed with his fingers as we sat on our usual ce in the balcony surrounded by nts that bloom at night. "Oh, looks like Quin is having a mental breakdown, hahaha." He showed me how my dear Quinny was having a rough time dealing with all the books she was surrounded by. He showed me how Alf and Bell were doing theirst preparations in the library all by themselves. He showed me how Lizzy was praying to the night for its blessing, and through his vision sharing, I saw how her prayers were being heard by not thedies of the night, but by the lords of the underworld. But it has be an usual sight for me now¡­ ''He showed me how Chry was swinging his sword just like every night, how Ca that usually swings her sword was sleeping in her room, how the two princes of Roxanna were preparing for the exams with not the books or weapons but with theirpanions in different ways.'' He showed me how my adorable fairy friend was doing and how there were tears on the ends of her tears. He showed me how Mia was still working on the new form she had been working on for weeks, and how Deleon was ying with his slimes. ''Ezra was strolling through the streets of the Ind in the noble district, Baal was in the garden in the academy, sitting with a bunch of energy beasts that once used to torment him.'' Hide was with women again¡­ but this time, it wasn''t another one of his flings. He was outside, in the city, meeting up with one of his family members that seemed to be someone in a powerful position. He was behaving better than I had ever seen him, and it seemed like the two of them were pretty close to one another from the way they were talking. ''The most carefree one I know in this academy looked serious for the first time¡­'' And, just with that, I can tell whatever they might be talking about, certainly had nothing to do with the tests that will start from tomorrow. Captain Alpha had prepared well and helped others with their preparations as well, increasing his poprity among the students. And even right now, he was doing all he can to assure even a little better performance. ''He was a dumb one like Tia when ites topetition.'' But he wasn''t a bad one. He was pretty chill now that I know him. Ah, and from the chill, I remembered our pretty Luna. "What about Luna? She''s sleeping as well?" [{ Sister Luna is having a chat with her father, Sister Elle. Do you want to listen to them as well? }] "Oh? Is that so?" Celes was amazing, and I will see this every chance I get. "I checked, and it seems like they are talking about her mom''s health. It''s personal." "Hmm? Her mom? Did something happen to her?" Luna wasn''t much expressive, but she was a fun person to have around. She was also pretty close with Eon and she was one of the few that knew about our identity among our friends. ''They were in a unique contractual rtionship where they exchanged stuff¡­ well, he has that kind of rtionship with many others all over the world.'' This darling of mine was one hell of a businessman if I say so myself. I know I''m not gonna have to worry about money in my lifetime with him around. "You know the north''s conditions. And it seems like she was ill for a while. Even Luna did not know about it." We had the ability to listen in on anything going on in this academy with anyone. We can spy on them and they wouldn''t even know that someone is watching all of their moves. We even have the ability to manipte them without even being anywhere near them, and this bastard of mine could even do more with Celes'' one skill. It''s unbelievable how the two use that simple sounding skill that doesn''t even ''sound'' to have any offensive capabilities. But that''s what makes the two the most amazing pair. "Anything we can do to help her?" "Hmmm. I''ll talk with her tomorrow and see what we can do about it." "Tell me if you need my help with anything." "Of course." He was close with Luna and her father on many levels. He had even helped them sustain their kingdom in the civil war that was going on just untilst month. ''He provided them with high numbers of supplies and necessities in exchange for something¡­ that this bastard doesn''t tell me.'' He has an Origin contract with Luna so even she couldn''t tell me even if she wanted to¡­ not that she wanted to tell me about something that this bastard was going to use to surprise me. But, well, this secret they share just makes them even closer. "Hmm¡­ then, what about my E?" [{ She''s having the holy bath! Heheheh~! }] "Oh? Can we see-." "Not a chance." As one can tell, a ''holy'' bath was different from the normal baths. It wasn''t actually a ''bath'' in the first ce but a divine ritual used as a prayer to the gods that one served. "Hmmm¡­ Welp, who''s left then? Zoe?" [{ "Hehe, I''m preparing to go to bed sister Elle." }] "Of course you are listening in. Bad Zoe." [{ "Hehe, not as bad as you though~." }] She was perhaps connected with this bastard on a higher level. That was the only way to exin how she was present everywhere and everytime he was around. "Haaa. Alright then. What about those annoying kids?" The exams were starting in a few hours and I just wanted to check if everyone was alright, so after checking up on Nova and that possessed bastard, I stopped my surveince. "Everyone seems to be ready for it, at least." Some didn''t like it but they had no choice but to ept it now that it was on the horizon while the others were ready for any kind of question that they would throw at them. Our friends, other students, the teachers that taught us, as well as the very headmaster of the academy. Everyone had prepared for this day and they were ready now that it was finally here. ''I''m ready as well.'' I don''t really care about these tests since we know what kind of end results we would see. So, instead of focusing on those things, it was just better to focus on the things that are before us. "Ready?" Looking beside me at my darling, I asked in a low voice. "Nope¡­ I''m bored. I want to finish this." And just as I knew, the answer I got ended with a long sigh. "Two weeks. Let''s do our best." "Yes¡­" Now that it was here, he just wanted to finish this all and go back home to embrace his little love. He missed her more than anything else¡­ and ''we'' all know that very well. Chapter 859 : Upset princess [Eon''s POV: ] "So, today''s the day everyone." Looking at the group gathered in the garden of the ident on this fine morning, we looked around at our dear friends that seemed to be doing much better than we had expected. "Haaa¡­ I''m gonna fail." Of course though, there were going to be various reactions to this day. "No you won''t. Why are you so negative, dummy?" "Mana properties of the environmental Mana associates itself with the physical body to give rise to the attached Mana that one uses in order to conjure natural phenomenons with the specific ''magic'' forms, as well as in various different forms¡­" Some were studying even right now while some were learning some things from the others. Others were carefree but there also were some that looked particrly troubled. "Someone please teach me this! Someone! Whhaaaaa! Please teach me this!!!" Tia had studied more than enough and still, here she was crying over something as simple as the fundamental structure of a spirit body. She was being too much as usual, but she really didn''t seem to have done that topic. ''It wasn''t in the sybus and the chances that they would ask something so tough to someone in the first year was not high.'' She didn''t really have to do this, but she was crying. And, Bell couldn''t just leave her crying fairy friend alone. She knew the most about the fundamentals of spirits so she was teaching her to the best of her abilities. "Come on now, Tia. They aren''t going to ask you to summon an advanced spirit or something. Don''t stress it too much-." "Shut up! Just shut up! Let me do this or you''re gonna pay!" She was even shouting at Ca now. She really was talking all this too seriously. "Well, at least they look cheerful." Rein looked around at the others, how they were preparing for their individual papers, and how despite most of them having different subject''s tests today, they were helping one another. The atmosphere around here was nice, nothing gloomy or cold like it was a few days ago. ''Some of them were looking especially high spirited thanks to the good luck rituals they had done, or the people they had talked to.'' Though, above all else, the reason for their rtively better ''vibe'' was the friends around them. Friends that had helped them and taught them all that they needed to know for this test¡­ It was nice, and seeing them like this was pretty much worth all the efforts we had spent on them. "Lucifer. Got a minute?" "Hmm?" A familiar voice called me from the back as soon as we sat down on the ground after greeting the rest of them. ''We knew they would crowd around the two of us after they were done with their own studying. And since there was still an hour left before the start of the tests, we had plenty of time for thest minute discussions.'' I thought they would give us some peace of mind, but someone was already here to greet me. "Yes, Miss Luna. What is it?" It was Luna and she didn''t seem as normal as she usually is. It was difficult to notice the subtle sadness on her ever stoic face, but for some of us, it wasn''t difficult to notice something as obvious as this. "Not here." I had an idea what she might have wanted to talk about, so I nodded at Rein and went to the other side with her. I knew she was going to talk about personal things so I was just about to put up some barriers as well¡­ but the first wordsing from her surprised me a little. "You also have a Magic theory paper today, right? Can you teach me how to do inverse casting?" "Hmmm?" She didn''t say anything about her mother, and she didn''t start with anything that might indicate her unwillingness to talk about something private. She was simply asking for help¡ª something I was not expecting. "You want to learn the inverse casting?" "Yes. Just how to do it. not the demonstration or anything." We weren''t that far from the rest of them so we both knew that some of them might be listening in on us right now. She knew about it as well and still, she did not mind them. "You just want to learn that? Nothing else?" "Yes. That much should be sufficient." She didn''t show any signs of wanting to talk about something else. Not anything about her family, nor anything rted to her mom. She genuinely just wanted to learn this one thing¡­ "You can teach it to me, right?" "Hmm¡­? Yes, I mean¡­ Yes I can." Teaching her something as simple as that wasn''t a difficult thing. She was smart and knew how to use that kind of magic already, so I just gave her a few examples and after she demonstrated to me what she had understood, she had sessfully grasped the entire concept of reverse casting. ''She must have studied it extensively, seeing how she grasped everything I said so easily. So it was mostly thanks to9 her efforts.'' But, she thanked me for teaching it to her anyway, and was just about to go back¡­ when I had no choice but to stop her. "Miss Luna¡­ it might be just my imagination but you look down for some reason. Is everything good? Could someone from your family-." "I thought you knew¡­ no wonder you looked so surprised." She turned back with a subtle smile on her face, looked me in the eye, and shook her head with a new upset expression. "I don''t know how you know it, but if you didn''t get the information from some secret spy from our family, then I will have no choice but to suspect that you have bugged my dorms. I don''t want to believe that, so please let''s just not talk about personal matters." "¡­" She didn''t show it, but she was angry. She was certainly angry. "The personal things hold a lot of significance between us, Miss Luna. And we are generally concerned so, please tell us with any kind of help you may need. We are here for you. All of us are." At this point, it was no use hiding the fact that we knew the others that were listening to this conversation. They were bound to find out about it sooner orter anyway, and if things were serious, her mom would need immediate help from the ones that knew how to cure her. "I appreciate the gesture but¡­ we can take care of this." She bowed a little and with that same atopic upset look, she walked away from me, and went all the way to the empty area on the other side. "What did you do¡­?" When I came back, Rein was standing there, looking at the lone figure of Miss Luna standing alone staring nkly at her notebook. She can tell she wasn''t reading¡ª everyone can tell it since she was holding her notebook upside down. And, she could see the emotions that others, even I cannot perceive. "I don''t think I did anything out of the ordinary¡­ I mean, everyone already knows we somehow know some unordinary things. She just got upset and-." "She''s sad, not upset¡­ it''s almost as if she wants to cry." "What?" Her behaviour just now was unexpected, for all of us. Captain Alpha even went up to her and started talking with her casually like he usually does, but she avoided him and even ended the conversation. She didn''t look sad but angry and upset, but what she was showing and what she might be feeling could certainly be something soplicated that she herself couldn''t understand those emotions. Rein could see them with her eyes so that was the only way we could tell that there was some deeper problem, and seeing how the tests were going to start in a few minutes from now, this wasn''t good. "Miss Luna¡­" I couldn''t just leave her like that, so even though Rein was hesitant, I told her it was alright and went up to miss Luna once again. "What do you want now? Didn''t I say we are fine-." She was adamant on what she had said earlier, but right now, she shouldn''t be alone. She needed people. If not help, she at least needed someone to be with her. And¡­ "Miss Luna. How can I help?" Even though we don''t know how bad her mom''s condition might be, or how worried and concerned she is right now, we were here for her. "How can your friends help you?" I wasn''t the only one present here for her. All of her friends were here. Rein, Quin, Lizzy, Captain Alpha, Zoe¡­ all of us were here from her. And, she can rely on us without worrying about the exams that will start in a bit. ''We knew we were going to do well anyway, so, at a time like this, helping a friend was more important than burying our faces in the same books we have already studied.'' If she couldn''t even recognize her emotions properly, there was no telling what she might have to go through during her test. Worst case scenario, she might not even be well enough to finish her test paper¡­ and I''m not overreacting. "¡­" She knew she needed help as well. The moist eyes looking back at all of us were enough proof of that. "Everyone¡­" She didn''t have to fight this internal battle all by herself¡­ We were here for her. Chapter 860: Midterm Tests [Eon''s POV: ] The tests were going to take ce in the academy, but not in the ssrooms. Everyone was going to gather in their designated special areas for their unique papers and then a teacher in charge as well as the supervisors were going to take control of the whole operation and give instructions to the others in order to guide them in the whole process that they weren''t familiar with. Everyone was randomly assigned a specific subject for each of the exam dates and even though every student of the academy only had twelve subjects that they needed toplete the exams of, they were going to take over a span of fifteen days with three holidays in between. "Please gather in this area, everyone." Right now, the ones with the High Magic Theory exam were gathered in the third floor of the academy right outside of the grand magic hall that we had yet to get ess to. It was a unique facility that would only be avable to the students in the second year when they actually learn the magicbat techniques as their general subject, so we weren''t going in that ce anytime soon. Still, the reason we were here right now had a lot to do with this certain ce that almost covered a third of the third floor of the academy castle. There were a lot of guarding puppets present all around us right now, the hallway that we were standing in was long, and wide, on both sides of the hallway, the puppets that were ced there were not the decoratives but as the actual guards of the door before us. "From one on, I''ll be telling you about the things that will follow after I open the portal." The midterms or any kind of exams always took ce in a special area that wasn''t essible to anyone aside from the student with the assigned exams papers. They were special spaces that the headmaster himself created, and many times there were some special spaces that were avable to all the test takes at once, like the ind that we had been on during the entrance exams. "As soon as I open the portal, every single one of you will be sucked in and get transported to a unique space. You should arrive in an open area with practically nothing before you except a certain door. You have to open that door that will lead you to a ce with multiple doors. These rooms with multiple doors will have various numbers written above them. Please find the door with your own seat number among those doors and enter it. Note that if you fail to get to your own door and end up opening another door, you will end up at the start of the space with that single door. So, double check your seat numbers. After that, you will reach the exam desk room that will have everything you might need, and there will be a (help) crystal ball that you can use to ask for something that you might need for the test." The teacher that was exining everything was a magic ss instructor that has not taught us yet, but seeing how good he was, he must be one of the people in charge of the magic hall in the following years. "The test papers will be present in the room on the desk and you have to answer the questions the way you see fit. There are no restrictions on the kind of answer you want to give." One could answer the questions the way they wanted. They can draw the answer like a magic circle, they can write it in words, if the question is about magic, they can also demonstrate the kind of magic that is mentioned in the book. There are many ways that one can answer a question. Writing it down wasn''t the only way since this wasn''t specifically a written exam. ''Unless the question asks one to write down the answers, they can even sing the answer in a good way.'' If the ones that are checking their ''answers'' like it, they can grade it ording to the way the students answered it with their own understanding of their answers. And if they don''t like the answer at all, they can just grade it however they see fit. ''There''s a very, very detailed criteria for the marks and, as long as one is even attending the questions, there is a good chance they will get at least some points for that answer.'' As usual, the test was going to be a hundred point exam and though there wasn''t any specific mark distribution for the questions that will be asked, at the end, everyone was going to receive marks from the hundred points. "Does everyone understand what I just said?" "YES!" Everyone might get a different question paper depending on how the headmaster wishes, so the chances that every single student will have different questions is pretty high. ''The chances that everyone will have the same question papers was very low. There was even a possibility that one might never have that kind of opportunity.'' And since every single person was separated by different spatial zones, the chances that they would have any way of cheating was close to zero. "Alright then, let us begin your first midterm exam papers!" -Snap! -Ooooooooooooooooooooong! The test was starting for us on this side since there was nomotion or any kind of confusion among the students. There was no one asking questions here so the teacher in charge had a pretty good time. ''Things went on peacefully here, however, we can''t say the same happened in the other areas.'' Rein''s zone, Quin''s zone, even Tia''s ce were facing problems and their teachers had not even reached the exnation point¡­ and I had expected that much. Quin was going to ask a little too many questions, Rein had that pink haired boy Nova so he was going to annoy her and the rest of the people, while Tia¡­ well, Tia was being Tia. She wasn''t causing any troubles, but her merepetitive spirit was making the others around her ufortable¡­ including their teacher. Chapter 861: Midterm tests (2) [OP: ] [{ "How are things on that side?" }] [{ "Don''t ask¡­ haaa¡­ I''m going to kill this bastard one of these days." }] She was angry and she was frustrated, she was also tired of dealing with the useless nonsense that bastard and wanted to just end things. And it was pretty understandable why she would have that k8nd of reaction to a single boy that didn''t even have any great powers. ''Nova was not very special when ites to skills and physical prowess, but his background and his intelligence itself makes it one of the most special people in our group.'' Plus he didn''t like her so he didn''t spare even a little chance to show her how he was much better than her. ''They were in the same energy beast research ss and today they both had the same paper.'' She had helped him with the th8ngs that even he might have difficulty with so she thought he wouldn''t show this shitty side of him during the exam process, but no. ''He started talking about all the things that he knew to annoy her who was coincidentally standing near him.'' He talked, and talked, and talked until the teacher came, and even after that¡­ And she couldn''t avoid that Bastard anymore. ''She was already angry, but thanks to him, she was even angrier.'' But somehow, that little witch of mine handled all that anger and endured after the teacher in charge, who had to resolve the situation that urred after she started cursing at that boy, gave her a warning. [{ "He''s just a little boy, dear. Leave him be this time." }] [{ "What do you mean leave him be?! Doesn''t that little piece of shit understand the meaning of exams?!" }] [{ "He''s under pressure right now, unlike you, dummy. His reaction stems from his anxiety andpetitiveness." }] That boy¡­ he wasn''t a bad person. After all this time together with him, we at least knew he was a good guy that we can use very well in various situations in the future. His connection and resources were also something that I wanted for myself so, having a good rtionship with that bastard was going to be pretty useful and we both knew that well. [{ "Haaa¡­ I know that. That''s why I didn''t punch his face." }] She was pretty fine until we came to the academy, but seeing Luna''s condition a while back made her sad. She wanted to help her but, since Luna didn''t tell them what was wrong with her mom until the end, she didn''t know any way to help her either, and that frustrated her. She was searching for any kind of clues and must have been in deep thought when Nova started that bullshit so, it made things even worse. ''Thankfully, she didn''t get physical.'' She had be much stronger than me stat wise so I can''t even imagine what would have happened to that poor boy had she even gently pped his face. [{ "You did well, and I know you will do well on the test as well, so good luck. They are starting and I have to go now, so take care~." }] She already knew how our Quin asked so many questions to their teacher in charge that the teacher had to shut her up and go away. As well as how Tia was being too loud with her recall process that she was disturbing the other students as well as the teachers. ''She was a tiny fairy, but her voice was much stronger than her size.'' Plus, they were going to have a physicalbat test paper so they were in the fourth floor meditation area. That ce was so quiet that even echoes bounced twice in that ce. ''Even I don''t know why the headmaster might have ced the gate to their exam rooms in that ce, but thinking about that right now was of no use.'' She caused trouble but since that trouble wasn''t actually anything that could be called ''trouble'' the teacher handled herself and proceeded with the exnations. They were going to be fine so I don''t even have to worry about either of them. [{ "You take care as well. Don''t do stupid things with your test." }] [{ "I don''t do that, you are the only one that would do stupid things. And you even have the energy beast research paper today. Who knows what you mighte up with this time." }] I still remember how she created the slime creature called Bob during her first ss. ''Even I wanted to be in that ss¡­ it was genuinely the best first ss among all the other sses we took.'' Their teacher even knows me now thanks to Rein and her rtionship with her three snakes. [{ "Shut up and go now. They must have started by now so go. And¡­" }] The tests were starting and I didn''t really have any worries about a theory paper. ''I can''t forget things anyway, so this particr paper was going to be the easiest of them all.'' High magic theory was one of the papers I had no worries about. Some of the theoretical things were just straightforward and unless the headmaster wanted to genuinely screw me over, he wouldn''t ask me things that even the ones grading the papers might find difficult to understand. I was hoping he doesn''t do anything like that, but knowing that great headmaster of ours, I''m sure there is a good chance my paper would be one fucked up thing. [{ "¡­take care of that bitch." }] [{ "Well¡­ yes." }] Miss Luna didn''t tell us what exactly was wrong with her mother so we didn''t know the details yet, but I''m pretty sure whatever she was going through, was not something that she wanted to talk about. ''It could be an incurable disease or it might even be something their doctors and diagnosticians couldn''t figure out.'' The chances were pretty high that her mother was very sick right now and there was nothing anyone could do about it. I did understand that much. But, just being sad and crying a little with us to rely on wasn''t going to solve the problem itself. ''Even if she thought the problem wasn''t something we can help her with, there is always a solution to every problem.'' If we work together, we can find the most difficult solution. I knew there was some way to help her more than what we were doing right now. She just had to ask for help¡­ Chapter 862: Midterm tests (3) [Eon''s POV: ] "Enter in the same files. Don''t break your rows and columns. And don''t push the others around you. It''s nothing scary so don''t be afraid while entering the portal. You aren''t going to feel nauseous! This isn''t a warp portal even though it somewhat resembles it!" I had already said goodbyes to Rein so we returned back to the line that I was in. There were many students around her but there weren''t more than fifty of them. ''There were thousands of students in the academy right now and if not even fifty of them were giving the test alongside us right now¡ª a sight that would bemon in every test zone.'' There are never more than fifty people in one testing room present throughout the academy. The headmaster arranged things properly before making the various test points, and all of the testing ces had a meaning to them. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelBin He took into consideration various aspects and variables that could affect the smooth transition of the tests, so the fact that they were having any kind of difficulty because of the ces just showed how even the headmaster wasn''t a perfect being. ''Even someone like him could not foresee a few things. And truthfully, it was inevitable.'' This wasn''t something big though so, things will go well in that ce. "Good luck, vice captain." The teacher in charge smirked at me as if he was looking forward to what crazy things I would show them, and, well, he wasn''t the only teacher that had given me that kind of look in since this morning. "Thanks, teacher." Bowing to the teacher, I entered the blue swirling portal with starry elements of condensed Mana particles present all over it. -Oooooooooong! It was pretty much the same experience as entering a warp portal, but unlike the sensation of my entire body twisting and dposing, what I felt while crossing this portal was something simr to Rein''s shadow travel. ''We moved through a medium while maintaining the physical structure of our bodies.'' When one enters the warp portal or even the ''gate'' that we had in the tower, one''s entire body structure dposes and the elements inside their body separate into the smallest forms. ''These smallest forms aren''t Mana particles, but a wave-like structure that we couldpare with the waveform of the light.'' This process is not only sophisticated but something dangerous and there is always a risk to one''s life. That''s why the mages maintaining the warp portals always cast a unique protection spell on the travellers during the warp travels. These barriers protect their bodies from falling apartpletely. And, though those with a Mana nucleus or control over other special energies don''t need these protection spells, it''s always good to take precautions. ''I cast a spell on everyone whenever we travel through the warp portals. However, we don''t need something like that when we travel with the help of Rein''s skills.'' One''s body doesn''t fall apart when she uses the shadow travel skill. The body simply bes one with the shadow or we can say that the entire body submerges with a certain element. ''There are various elemental travel skills where one uses the elements present all over nature as a medium for travels.'' Even the new skill {Light steps} that I have works on a simr principle¡­ just that the area that this skill can cover is nothingpared to the vast area that her skill could cover. ''Her skill is practically like a risk free teleportation ability.'' Something I genuinely wish to have one day¡­ But, well, being greedy wasn''t a good thing. "Hmmm. So this is the first gate." I was standing before the very first door after passing through the unique portal of the headmaster. All around me was an empty space that resembled a starry night and I was standing on a white tform that didn''t have anything special about it. There was one door before me, and that was it. After I pass through that door, as the teachers had instructed, I will reach the junction connecting all the other rooms. I''ll have to find my own desk room there¡­ but that can wait. ''Lucy?'' [{ *Yes master. It''s as you thought.* }] When they first told us that we would return back to this ce after going through a wrong door in the door junction, a thought crossed my mind. ''Why would we even have to go through an extra door to get to where our designated test areas were.'' The testing process for all tests are different so there was no way any of us would have known about this door thing, but at least, the door junction part wasmon every time. ''Usually, one had to pass an extra test question before they start with the question papers in some of the cases.'' One just knows when they are presented with those questions so, this time as well, many of the other students might have caught up to this strange extra door thing. ''This ce was the question itself.'' The door before me, this white tform, the stars around me, the question was hidden in all these things and, even though not many might be able to notice it, I knew for certain that there would be at least ten among the fifty that would know what these things were pointing towards. ''This is a magic theory paper so the question should also be rted to magic theory.'' And what better way was there to hide the question than an extra door with starry surrounds and a door with various geometric patterns. ''This will be interesting¡­'' There was a question hidden somewhere in these patterns of the door, or the white tform under me, or somewhere in these stars like twinkling things before me. ''There was a chance that there were multiple questions hidden here and I''ll have to solve for all of them.'' And Lucy had figured that much out already. But, she wasn''t the one giving the exam here. I was¡­ "Alright then." There was thankfully no time limit before entering the testing room so, I had all the time I wanted in this special space with slowed flow of time. Chapter 863: Frustration [Rein''s POV: ] "Huuuuuu¡­ finally. Fucking finally." I was finally away form that bastard''s boring fucking chatter. ''I can''t describe how better I feel right now, haaaa!'' Just being near that annoying piece of good little shit was annoying but the way he was annoying me with all those unnecessary things was just unbelievable. "Can you imagine Branwen!? That piece of pink trash?! He was like, hey look~. I''m no better than you bitch~. He started saying things that might be asked in the test, saying things that most definitely weren''t anything of value, things that I know for certain were useless, and while saying all those shitty things, he acted like he owned the world or something. With his nose high, small ass chest puffed up¡­ I mean, there''s only fat and bones in that guy! What the hell is he even showing off?!" Discover hidden stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin He annoyed the hack out of me and I genuinely wanted to punch that guy in the face¡­" [{ Master¡­ he might have died if you had done that. And then one of the most powerful forces of east as well as some of the most powerful beast researchers would be targeting you. }] "I know that, fuck. The only reason we endure that bastard is his knowledge and connections with those people. If it weren''t for that, I swear he would have seen the infirmary at least a few times." [{ Well, master¡­ he wouldn''t be who he is if it wasn''t for his background. All he has, ording to me, is his knowledge and information. }] "FUKING bastard." He wasn''t a bad guy my foot! I know just how annoying he was and I know just how much he liked picking a fight with me. ''In the energy beast research ss, in the hallways, when we are eating lunch¡­ if Eon wasn''t the one backing that bastard, I genuinely would have given him a piece of my mind a few times by now.'' Like, what problem does he have with me?! There''s no one else that he goes after¡­ there''s pretty much no one else he talks with either! "That bastard acts shy and distant from everyone else but he curses at me, annoys me with all the knowledge he has about the energy beasts, and boasts just how much better he ispared to me!" [{ Master, you know he is just a little child at heart. Why are you throwing a tantrum like this? There''s nothing special about what he did just now. Why are you so angry? }] "What do you mean he did nothing special? First I was just starting there and he started muttering wrong stuff to annoy me, then he came closer and started asking things that he already knew about, then he started correcting me when I genuinely answered his questions as if saying what I was saying was wrong¡­ even though that piece of shit hade to me, not other way around. And then he started telling me about more than what he was asking me himself, boasting his knowledge in front of me even though I had no fucking interest in his shit talk!" My Luna darling is in that state, her mom might be dying already and that guy''s talking about useless things? Just to annoy me at that? Even though he knows about her situation? What else did that bastard deserve if not a thorough beating?! [{ I understand, master. I understand your anger and your pain. However, if you want to take out that frustration, there''s a very good way right before you. }] "Hun?" Currently, after passing through the portal that was supposed to bring me to my desk room, instead of a closed ssroom with a desk and a question paper, I was standing in a big room that resembled a sparring arena. "Are those¡­?" There were certain unexpected creatures standing before me right now and these certain creatures were not something we had been informed about before entering the portals. [{ From how angry they look and the barrier covered door beyond them, it seems like you will have to defeat them first or get perhaps find a different way to deal with them. }] These creatures resembled a Bull with long sharp looking horns that carried the darkness element, a chicken and rhino crossbreed that resembled a demonic beast of hell with the green fire covering its entire feathery body, and a mummy-like being that, instead of sleeping in a sarcophagus, was sitting on a throne in the middle. The two creatures were on both of its sides, and it seemed like they were sleeping. ''All three of these creatures were of (Blue) rank with the mummy being the highest grade in their category.'' Not many first year students could deal with these three so, most of the students from my ss will try to find the different ways to get past them and reach the berries area. ''I don''t know if everyone is going to face these creatures or if it''s something special prepared only for me, but if they do have to deal with them, I don''t think going against them would be a better option unless one was confident in their strength.'' They were dangerous creatures. So even I would have had to be cautious when dealing with them¡­ but, no one said we have to deal with them in a non-traditional manner. "Hehehe. This is the best, hahahaha!" There were three punching bags set up just for me to take out all this pent up frustration~! Not one but three adorable looking punching bags~. "Hahahaha!" One''s storage devices and skills were sealed in this special space, but I didn''t have to use any of them. "Let''s go~." My weapon was a part of my body itself so, to deal with these three cuties, I summoned my little Nept into its usual scythe form, and started running towards the sleeping creatures~. They looked sooooooo adorable I wanted nothing more than to chop them off into teeny tiny chunks and bits and relieve them of their suffering in this fake world~. ''They weren''t real, alive creatures anyway.'' So, I didn''t even have to regret finishing off some fake illusionary creatures~! Chapter 864: Extra tests [Quin''s POV: ] "Hmmm¡­" I see. So that''s how it is. "Hmm. Hmm. That''s right." That''s exactly how it should be. Just like this, and then perhaps if we do something like this, then it might just-. -BOOOOOOOOOM! "Damn." There was a protective shield around me so I didn''t get hurt like the first time I tried this, but after three tries and no sess whatsoever, this whole thing was getting on my nerves. "What is the matter with this thing?! Why can''t even handle a third of my Mana?! Isn''t it supposed to hold out a lot of Mana?!" Today, I had the Understanding of Mana paper, the subject our ss teacher takes. And there were not many things that I didn''t know in this subject. ''I''ve asked many questions and I''ve studied a looooooooot for this.'' I''ve studied with the notes, with the things that he taught in the ss, I paid attention, I asked questions, I didn''t sleep or skip any of the sses, I read the extra books that they suggested, and I even practised with those memory bubble things! I did everything that I possibly could! Three times at that! And yet¡­ "Oh lords¡­" They had told me that sometimes, there is a special extra test before the actual test itself that either is hidden somewhere between the ss that we were supposed to give the tests in, or the ces that we were before having the test papers in our hands. I didn''t think that I''d get these one of the secret tests, but I got lucky somehow. ''After entering the portal, I was transported to a big bedroom type ce that had a test taking zone or a desk with a paper on it on one side.'' This spacious room was the same as the rooms that we had in our dorm room but a little more extravagant than them. They were shiny, there were shiny things all around me, there was light from the three pretty chandeliers hanging above this ce, and there was also a big bed where I could sleep along with my big familiar egg. ''This was a pretty good ce, but it didn''te close to the view of the vast ocean¡­'' My home, my pretty home. That was the best ce there is in this world¡­ just that I don''t know where exactly my home is in this world. "Haaa¡­ they said they are currently finding it, but well, we will know one day.'' Hopefully, at least. "But that isn''t necessary right now." The moment I entered this room, I could feel there was something wrong with this ce. There was something here that disturbed the most essential part of any ce, be it a small room or a small house of amon person, or the most royal chambers of some empire. Every room, by its design, was created with one thing in mind¡ª harmony. "This certain thing situated on the north eastern corner of the room disrupted all the harmony of this room." This bright green crystal ball that, at first sight, might seem like nothing more than a decorative piece, was something that someone sensitive to harmony and Mana couldn''t possibly ignore. ''Not only this thing made the Mana flow inside the room a mess, if I had stayed in this room for more than a few hours, I might have started feeling tired or dizzy. The disruption of Mana in the atmosphere would affect me on a deeper level and I would have to finish the paper to get out of this ce. I might have started feeling ustrophobic¡ª something I''ve rarely experienced in my life, or, if the duration of my stay here was starched to the extreme end of the three hours of the time I was given for this test, I don''t even know what might have happened to me. ''That''s why, it was important to get rid of this thing before I start with my exam itself.'' And, seeing how the clock on my desk wasn''t moving, it seemed like I had all the time I needed to finish this thing¡­ I don''t know exactly though, perhaps that clock wasn''t supposed to move in the first ce or something. Even still. I''ve only wasted fifteen minutes since I came here over this stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid crystal ball. "ording to what the teacher taught us, when you apply Mana to an object that is disrupting the flow of Mana in a given environment, it should usually respond to the new Mana and should change its frequency. ''It applies only to the object that disrupts the flow of mana in a certain closed environment so we also call it a Mana disruption device.'' And there''s a sure way to deal with it which I''ve already tried a few times. "But every time I reach the point where the Mana disruption of the device should start stimting¡­ the entire device blows up, creates an explosion equal to a (tier-3) st, and turns back its original structure. It has happened three times now, so¡­ I don''t think this is the answer that I''m looking for. "Hmmm¡­ What should I do now?" If I''m correct and dealing with this device does actually count as preparation for the test itself, then I won''t have to worry about time. But, if I''m wrong¡­ wasting too much time after this thing is meaningless. "Think harder, Aleequinn¡­ think harder." What would the two of them do in a situation like this? "How would Lucifer think about the problem, to begin with." What am I dealing with right now? What is the objective that I''m trying to achieve here¡­ and what can the one that prepared this problem do to make it more difficult to solve? ''Think¡­'' I had time, and I knew the solution was somewhere over here. I just have to find it. I just had to find where it was¡­ if I can do it properly, I might just get some extra points and a better result than the others! ''But, how am I going to solve this thing when it blows up with just a little bit of my¡­ a little bit of my Mana?'' Wait. "Why does something blow up when we apply Mana to it again?" Why¡­ was this thing absorbing My Mana in the first ce when it is naturally disturbing the mana of the rest of the room? Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin ''I¡­ think I know what is wrong here.'' Chapter 865: How to deal with beasts [Rein''s POV: ] The (Gray eyed Hanu) was the name given to the creature that resembles a mummy sitting on that throne. It was a being thatmanded the light element, along with the four major elements. It was pretty much like the headmaster, just that this one was nothingpared to the headmaster that could do something much greater than him in various ways. He was just an energy beast rarely found in the dungeons of the Easter regions. There was no other being like this one if I say so myself, just that they weren''t as proficient with thebat as they were with themanding other forces. ''They were like themanders of an army.'' With a good enough force under them, it was sometimes impossible to even get near those beings. They also possessed various buffing skills that made all the allies in their ranks even more difficult than they are as a group. ''They are one of the most difficult creatures to face in a pyramid kind of dungeon.'' They were strong enemies that shouldn''t be taken lightly¡­ but with just two creatures under him, this one wasn''t going to be anything like the creatures that the adventurers on the real field face. Apanying these creatures were the (Ash fire Rikon) and (Brown Horned Ox). Two of the mostmon creatures of the western ins. These creatures were easy to find in some of the mostmonnds of those ins, but they were not easy to deal with in their native environment. As a being of the vast ins, the Ox was a creature that lived inrge groups and was blessed by the power of earth. They were used as tamed beasts in some parts of the western viges but taming these creatures was also a very difficult task in itself. Still, there were many individuals and families that solely dedicated their lives to the taming of these strong and long living creatures. ''Their reproductive rates weren''t that high so the people looked out for the young ones that they can raise and breed themselves.'' Over thest few centuries, they had even managed to cross breed these creatures with some of the other native creatures that most certainly does not include creatures like that rhino chicken mix. "Well¡­ once they were faced with someone that knew how to deal with them, both of these beasts were easy to deal with." It requires really great strength but if someone manages to get these angry creatures to calm down, then they can easily tame them and make them into docile creatures that listen to many things that they say. The Ox, simrly, are creatures that require one to have a great strength to handle them. Their physical powers were amazing. I''d say they were stronger than grandpa when ites to pure physical powers. They can run through a mountain, carving a hole throughout the mountain with their sturdy horns and they were sometimes used like that as well. ''Some people suggest that they are direct descendant species of the Minotaurs, but there is no scientific evidence that can prove them.'' Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin Their gic structure is very different and they have different descendants, so it''s said to be a baseless hypothesis, but there are simrities that point out otherwise. ''Some people im it to be the result of simultaneous or convergent evolution, but if that was the case, there should be more data about their evolutionary process.'' But, even after years of research, they did not find any more data on these creatures''mon ancestry. ''Well, it doesn''t matter anyway.'' Both of the creatures are different from one another. So, dealing with this one was much easier than dealing with the minotaur that we had faced during the entrance exam. "Alright then, shall we go start the test?" These cuties were pretty easy to deal with. ''For the Ox, I started with the horns and cut off the ends of the horns that are the most vulnerable part of the horns. Then I wounded the creature''s strong legs while targeting the most vulnerable parts of the exposed nerves.'' I had to be careful not to kill it outright or it might have just disappeared from the ce and there was no fun in that. So, I carefully prepared it along with the fire spewing chicken, and after first dealing with the mummy, I took care of the rest. They weren''t weak¡­ but I''m just on a different levelpared to them now. ''I don''t know what might have happened if they were the real deal but, since they were only replicas of the original, they weren''t as strong as the actual creatures.'' The mummy previously covered in bandages didn''t have the clothes it was wearing anymore, the rhino chicken mix didn''t have any fire covering it now, and the Ox was prepared to be put on the grill. The three were taken care of pretty well and it took me a good ten minutes to do it so, even as illusionary creatures, they weren''t weak. "I feel good~." [{ Of course you do, master. }] Branwen was happy now that I had resolved the things with myself. There was no reason to stick to the things that were regr in this kind of test. Defeating these creatures was an option and I could do it well so I did what I could in the way that I liked best. The test judges can give whatever the hell kind of scores they want, I don''t care much anyway. ''They saw me dealing with these things, and they must have caught up with my scythe techniques unless they were dumb politicians.'' It was easy to figure out this kind of scythe work was only possible for the one they call the reaper of the battlefield. And if I was using these techniques, then it meant I had some kind of connection with that person. Not that they were going to care about something like that when judging, but it will surely create some kind of bias in their minds, and I''m aiming just for that. "Let''s see how you judge this one, hehehe." I could have just used my normal magic like I had first thought about, but that would have been a waste of such a great opportunity. [{ Haaaa¡­ master. }] If I had the chance to screw over the headmaster at such a bad time with all this anger covering me, why wouldn''t I take the opportunity? It wouldn''t be appropriate now, would it? ''Hehehehe.'' Chapter 866: Beyond the door [Eon''s POV: ] "Alright I''ve figured it out." It took me a while toe to this conclusion, but I knew what I was dealing with now. "There are a total of three questions. One in the door, one in the stars, and one in the ce I was standing on. These three ces contained three distinct questions that though connected with one another were pretty different one one another and focused on different things. "The question on the door asks one to solve the geomaic question and create a solid magic circle." The door was a unique piece in this entire puzzle as well as something one would most certainly ignore. ''There are many attractive doors in the academy and many are much more unique than this one.'' They are more attractive and filled with more things than what we see in this one, so the students might ignore it in many cases. But, those who could see the patterns in these shapes would most certainly see the attractive image of an ''owl'' hidden behind all the lines and useless symbols. "The owl image is the core of the spell circle." It wasn''t a simple magic circle but a (tier-4) magic circle made up of not lines but shapes made up ofplex lines. There were no straight lines in this magic form. Every element was twisted and was made in a way that would confuse even the ones that somehow figured out the existence of a pattern in these lines. "One would have to clean up the unnecessary lines and enhance the shapes to clearly see what the magic circle was showing with these scenes." It wasn''t easy to find it, but thanks to the hints from Lucy, it became pretty doable. "The stars around me were covering not a magic circle or a particr question, but a paradox theory that wasn''t that well known among the masses. "Endlessness is not necessarily ever expanding, so why does the universe expand eternally?" One would ask these kinds of questions when they get beyond the question itself. ''It wasplicated to exin with words, but the ce that we were seeing before us wasn''t stagnant as we were looking at it. If one had good enough eyes, they could see how the stars that winked so effortlessly were getting a little duller with each passing moment. This wasn''t visible and things were pretty much the same even with a few minutes passed. Nothing was moving in this ce aside from us¡­ or at least he had thought it to be the case. "This ce is ever expanding." It isn''t visible to even my sharp eyes but if one focuses on one thing well enough, they can tell the difference between something going on and something that wasn''t in motion. We were not moving but the ce that we were present all around us was moving along with the door leading to this ce. "That''s the second riddle." The third one was pretty simple since we were given a nk paper with a simple question written over it. But without my mystical eyes that could look under the ce I was standing on, it would have been impossible to figure out something more than this. The question was quite literally written under the ce I''m standing right now and the answer to that question was pretty much the same. "I have a fianc¨¦e that will be my wife soon so, no. I don''t really need more love than this. I''ll get the type-2 sugar disease that doesn''t even exist in this world." It was a not so simple but straightforward question asking ''what kind of person I would want in my life as my partner.'' It was a trick question since the meaning of none of the terms used in the question were clear. One wouldn''t know what exactly they should answer but, I don''t think it would matter anyway. ''Just finding this question was a tough task.'' No one was going to look under the very ce they are standing for some clues, right? They cannot even do something like I did. This was a spatial space so when they enter this ce through any means, they might very well get a part of the profits. ''The question wasn''t what they were after anyway.'' Now that I think about it, the three of these questions weren''t anything special. One was difficult and needed his intelligence, then he was faced with the other level of the situation where he needed his observation skills, andstly when others might think that is it, the main test would pop up for the third question. Finding the question itself was a difficult task since it was quite literally under the ground. But finishing things after that was much easier. ''Lucy?'' [{ *Wonderful, master. You have finished all of them.* }] ''Nice.'' This meant I was really done with the first part of the first test. I could finally go inside and start the main test that I know very well was also something just as difficult as this thing. There was a door before me, a paper was stuck on this door that recorded the answer that I was going to submit. It was written in not themonnguage but in fairy tongue so the connector present will know what it all is. And with the magic circle, they will know what kind of thing that I had used to answer. "Alright¡­" Standing before the door that seemed a little scary to me, I prepared my heart and took a deep breath. -Click! -nk. The door was easy to open and just like the teacher had said, there were multiple doors on the other side of this gate. There was an entire wall filled with doors with many of them even hanging in the air. This sight that I was witnessing right now was pretty attractive, but¡­ there was something even more attractive. ''Wow¡­'' The grand spell that created this entire ce¡­ the (tier-10) illusion magic that actually made this entire space possible. It was one spell that was making this whole space that all the students in the academy right now were using simultaneously. There were special separated spaces and everyone in the various groups was facing a different thing but, at this junction, they all were entering their respective rooms. ''It''s pretty.'' I can see the spell that made this whole thing possible in this ce. And, I have to say¡­ ''I''ve never been more mesmerised by the mere structure of any spell.'' But this one¡­ this one was different. And¡­ breathtakingly pretty. Chapter 867: Complexity of illusions [Eon''s POV: ] There were only a handful of individuals in the world with the known titles of (Archmage), and even among them, the headmaster was the only one that people recognised as the strongest and most influential of them all. ''Aside from him, the other two arch mages were a little different from the traditional mages.'' One was a lich that had tired their body into an undead''s while the other one was a being that wasn''t particrly a ''human'' in the general sense. They were a member of a special race that Cradle descends from, so they were not that well known among the masses. ''The headmaster was pretty much the most famous archmage and (tier-10) wizard among these superhuman beings.'' He was a master that had already reached the heights of the tenth tier of magic. He did not possess a status window or a screen himself as his powers could not be quantified with the simple standards of the humans. There were many things that he was unique at, be it possessing multiple world authorities that only the best weapon welders could possess, or having secrets about him that even I do not know of. ''He was mysterious¡­ but he was strong.'' The kind of power that he possessed wasparable to the kind of powers that the beings like Wali and her husband possessed¡ª the power so threatening that it could even destroy worlds at will. However, he was the headmaster of this academy and essentially was the mediator with a duty to maintain stability in this world. ''He was backed by the [Masters] and the original energy of the Academy, as well as by the ancient oak that maintained order on this entire floating ind.'' He was representative of those divine beasts, and since he himself possessed divinity, he was not someone that followed someone else. "He himself was the master of his power¡­" And that power, a fragment of that true power, was currently present before my eyes. ''Can you analyse this, Lucy?'' The entire testing space was created with his (tier-10) magic that had multiple cores in the forms of various test portal zones present throughout the academy. The headmaster must have chosen ces that were rich in Mana so that he could stabilise the Mana of the entire structure even though what he used in the creation of the ce was much more powerful. ''The establishment of Harmony in this entire system was impable, even though that wasn''t the only way to maintain it.'' He could have created a certain core like he did with the core of the illusion ind of the entrance test, and it would have been fine. But he put in more work and made it so that the whole core system of the spell array was distributed evenly throughout the in of the spell. It surely wasn''t something even I could think of, much less any normal mage working on simpler spells. [{ *Master¡­ I believe analysis of the entire spell structure without disturbing the spell itself is possible. However, to do that, we will need a long time and multiple uses of analysis.* }] ''How many are multiple¡­?'' [{ *At least three to six. That is the minimum.* }] ''Which means it can go as high as all the uses we currently have, right?'' [{ *Possibly, master.* }] "Haaa¡­" If that was the case, it wasn''t worth it anymore. Every use of analysis was precious and even though I can save it, I had to think hard before using even one of them on something. ''It was different from the ''Question'' or ''Substitution'' so I had to be very careful with the uses of this ability.'' I''ve been saving for a while now anyway since there wasn''t anything that required the use of analysis but, it would very well change in the near future. ''Well, let''s hold it off for now then.'' I had to study the grimoire that we found in the deepest part of Kaksha''s underground caves. It wasn''t something normal or simple as I can tell from the feeling it gave off so I knew it was something worth spending my vacation time on. And I needed analysis for that. Plus there will be the grand conference. So I had to be prepared. "We have the spell core from thest time anyway, so let''s not focus on this spell structure.'' The Illusion series wasn''t my cup of tea anyway, so I''ll have to learn more about it before I start inferring something of the highest known order in this series. [{ *Yes, master.* }] We still had to finish a test so, even though it was regrettable that we won''t be knowing much about this amazing pretty thing, it was alright for now. We still have many tests ahead of us so I''ll just try it out next time. ''Who knows, by then, I might not even need a few uses of this ability. "Alright¡­" This ce was simple and didn''t contain any more of the special questions so, I found the door that I was supposed to go into, and reached the desk room where I''ll be giving the tests for real this time. The paper on the desk was turned upside down and there was a clock right beside the desk that would start moving as soon as I turned the question paper around. Read thetest on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin It wouldn''t be an easy test considering how difficult the pre-paper questions were, but worrying about it was of no use. There was a test and I have to take the test just like everyone else and do what I am supposed to do. "There''s nothing more to it." This entire week was going to be a little hectic with all the papers and stuff, but it should work out somehow. ''Plus the matter with Luna.'' It was certainly something serious and if she wasn''t going to tell me, I''ll have no choice but to ask her father about it directly. ''Seeing her in that state was not something any of us liked.'' She was a good friend. A great person that helped me with a lot of things from her side. ''And we might be even closer in the future after creating a dock at the edge of the northern ciers.'' I need her. So, if someone as strong willed as her was in that state, I couldn''t possibly just sit around and wait for her to tell her about her mom''s condition. The others might not have any way to help her except for being with her but I did know how to get more information on the situation. And, I''m going to do that even if she doesn''t like it. Chapter 868: The judgment panel [OP: ] "The students this time around are quite something¡­" "Around 40% of them found out the secret test question before their papers. That''s quite a number." "People call it the Golden Era but only now do I understand what they really mean by that." "Especially some of the unique ones. The captains of the houses that people don''t yet know about." "Right!? Just like in that captain or Dark society! How can a mage move like that?! She defeated creatures that weren''t even supposed to be taught by the students." "She''s captain for a reason alright?" There was quite a fuss in the control room filled with various judges that the headmaster himself had picked for this test''s evaluation. Some of them were new to this whole grading process while many of them had been here in the past. "They are your students, right?" "I''m just a subject teacher. I don''t teach them individually." There were ss teachers of all the sses present among these graders and the vice headmaster was here as well. She had been away due to some important work but she hade back a while back, and now she was here with them, looking at the students. And, though the tests had just started, all of them were surprised by how well the students were doing at the moment. Readtest stories on mvl "That girl made quite a fuss outside but I can''t believe she figured out something so unorthodox." "Who made that problem again? Was it master Farmak or was it Elder Aaron?" "It was actually the headmaster himself who fixed that problem. In fact, the headmaster has prepared everything this time around. From the test papers to the extra tests. You can just tell that by looking at the numbers of special tests there are." The vice headmaster of the academy, the master of all weapons, was smiling while looking at the special screens present all around this spherical room. There were screens all around them and they were observing all the students individually as well by their respective groups. It might not seem like a lot of work, it at least might lot look anything efficient with all these screens and so few people, but¡­ things were going smoothly in this ce. "It''s fun how he made those difficult tests, but I didn''t expect there would be so many people that would actually solve those problems." She seemed happy to all the sixty people currently present in this big ce. There were various groups assigned with specific tasks, and one of those tasks was to analyse the actions of certain special cases. These specific special cases included people like the princes and princesses of important nations, the captains of the houses, as well as individuals that were rmended by the teachers. There were not many who usually caught the eyes of the teachers but, if there was someone that they focused on, then it would at least be people on the same level as the boy affiliated with Heliox, or the youngest master alchemist of this world. These people were unique already but being famous wasn''t the reason they were on the list of special students that required dedicated observers. It was their talent and the abilities that they had shown until now. "Haha, continue your good work everyone." The headmaster himself wasn''t here right now since he had more important things to look after. Some of them already knew about the grand conference that would be held a few weeks from now, so they could tell he would be busy with the preparation of that event. "Look, they are starting the tests now." Many of the students had already started with their papers but many had not done so since they had been busy with the extra tests. Just figuring out the existence of this special ce was enough to give them a bunch of extra credits butpletelypleting them was a different matter altogether. The headmaster was going to reward them personally for their achievements so they did not have to worry about grading their special achievement. They had the job to evaluate the performance of the special targets on the list so, now that many of them had finished the special test, they were moving on to the actual test. "Separate the individuals in a group of three for personal evaluation. Don''t stick to the normal criteria and pick one that you see fit." There were a limited number of people grading these thousands of students so they had to be efficient in their ce. All their grades were going to be confidential and the students weren''t going to know anything about them until the result dates. The headmasters and the teachers will make corrections to the scores partly after they turn their own grades in, however, these changes are pretty umon. "Yes! I''ll have the captains of wisdom phoenix so others don''t have to!" "Sir?" The house captains were amazing individuals as they all had expected. They knew what they were doing and many of them had received the special extra point tests, so watching them was an exhrating experience for them as well. Among them, the captains of the wisdom phoenix were something that, though eye catching, were not something appealing enough for someone of the highest standard among them. They were smart but one was ying around before entering the main exam door room, while the other was doing something crazy in her designated test area. Both of them had just started with their tests and even the evaluators found it difficult to urately calcte their achievements. It wasn''t easy for someone to see the question present under the tform, it wasn''t easy for someone to calcte the magic circle like he did and not many might have seen through the expanding space. He had good eyes, which was given as he was an archer. But even the captain of his was doing crazy things¡­ Even teachers weren''t expecting this level of performance in the very first test of the academy. The students that they had only taught until now were actually showing them what they had learned as well as what they were capable of themselves. Evaluation of this level was no easy task, so if one of the most experienced people present here was going to take up that job, they knew what kind of responsibility they were going to have. But he was fine with it. "Don''t get distracted by little things! Keep up the work!" He wanted to see what more these two had in store, so, even though his expertisey in details of various things, he was going to give his time to these two. He didn''t think it was a bad idea anyway, so he reassured others, and also got to work. Chapter 869: Finishing the first test [Eon''s POV: ] "Huuu¡­ it''s done." I was ying with fire since there was only a few minutes left before the end of the given three hours. The test itself wasn''t that difficult, but the questions that were asked to me were not someone that had just one kind of certain answer. It was a test based on the understanding of the magic theory and though I don''t know how this will be graded, it was a fun paper and I ended up writing a little too much for every question that was asked. ''There were only nine questions that they asked this time.'' The first one was about the importance of an energy source for the magic circle, second was a vague question asking us to exin the difference between magic and magical skills, and the third one wanted us to focus on the spell structure. The three after that were purely about Magic and magical concepts while thest three were all about understanding of implied magic. "Alright. Let''s submit." There was no need to attend all the questions in order so I didn''t focus on that and just went with the most optimal path to the answers. ''Most of my answers were in the form of written things since, I know well that they will want to keep them, and the rest I just demonstrated as if exining it to my ss as a teacher.'' They should have been watching when I answered the questions, so that was that. I believed in the people that the headmaster selected anyway. ''As long as they do as I think they will, things should go ording to as we have predicted.'' The result board was already pretty clear to us and we knew how the top ten was going to look even with some kinds of variables. "There." To submit the answer sheet, one just had to ce the clock that was sitting beside us on top of the papers and, as I did it, the clock that was almost about to hit the red line of the end of time stopped in its ce and as a golden light emerged from the clock. "Huuuu¡­" -Ooooooooooooooooong! I was transported out of the room and when I gained my vision back, I could see the familiar ce where I had parted ways with the rest of my fellow students. "Good work finishing the tests, everyone! Now, please clear the surroundings as this ce has to be sealed down until tomorrow! Your journey continues with mvl Have a good day and good luck for your next test paper!" Since the exam times were coordinated to match everyone''s, every single one of us had finished technically at the same time. The ''time'' in that special space was different from the time that we know about. The flow was slowed down considerably and it was made so that everyone will only get out at the end of the given time period. No one could get out before the ending time. And even if they wanted to get out, there was no way to. After they finished their papers and there was still time left for anything, then they could just wait and y around in their ces. However¡­ just as one could tell from the sad, disappointed, crying faces around me, not everyone finds their tests to be something they could finish before the given time. "Hello Lucifer." "How did it go Miss Luna? Did you face any difficulties?" "Hmmm. It was fine, nothing too difficult." "It''s good to hear then." Luna was out as well and she looked better than when she parted ways with me earlier. She seemed to have gotten better after the test or something but, well, whatever it might be, she was better now and it was all that mattered. "Then, shall we go?" "Yes please. Seeing them all like this¡­ makes me feel bad." Not all the students around us were happy at the end of their tests. Some were sad and some were gloomy. Some of them were even angry that they couldn''t finish their tests and were arguing with the teachers that were clearing the area. It was understandable that they would think the time given to them was not enough but this was all their fault. ''They couldn''t manage the time properly and ended up in that state. There was nothing more to it.'' In the first ce, it was funny that anyone would miss any of the questions asked to them. The questions were designed in a way that they could be solved much earlier than the time limit of three hours. The questions had no problems themselves, so if there was someoneining about anything rted to the test and the timing, then the teachers in charge knew very well how to deal with them. "Alright then, let''s go~." It was a good paper. It came rectangr and went rectangr so it was pretty fun as well. ''Reina and others are also done, right?'' The tests of all the other areas were supposed to conclude simultaneously as well so that the students could go out and gather together to discuss their tests. ''Everyone probably received unique papers so, a forum will open up in the academy''s main forum tonight listing all the question papers that the students this time had received.'' This data willter gather in the library before getting erased from the forums since no one actually wants these things. Still, there will be records avable at the library that will be open to anyone who knows what they are asking for. ''One cannot usually have the papers of previous years or their records since it is something the librarians herself maintains, but everyone can have a look at their own batch''s paper from any test until they are present in the academy.'' Establishing a good rtionship with the librarian was a very important thing in this academy, as well as something not many people know about. ''She is an unique individual that the people know well about. And since she is someone that I could not forget like me, she knows a lot of things and has a lot more experience than myself.'' Others might not understand how we feel or what we experience on daily bases but the two of us know very well just what kind of things we have to deal with. And, as an artificial life form that also possesses the intelligence of a living being, she knows what I experience regrly. So, she helps me with the memories. And, in exchange¡­ I help her with human experiences. "Oh! There they are!" "Oy! Lucifer! Here! Come here! Quick!" We were back to the garden area that we were in a while back. Many of them were already gathered here and this ce was getting a little too crowded since everyone just got out all at once. "Yes yes, sheesh. We''re here, alright? Stop shouting." Perhaps we will discuss the tests we just gave and then perhaps everyone will go back to prepare for tomorrow. It was just how tests in this ce went. There wasn''t anything too exciting about this. It was just the same old story of papers and pens and questions and tests. Perhaps some lucky ones get to fight and y around in these tests, perhaps some do even get to do what they enjoy. But¡­ at the end of the day, this was a test, an exam. And when we talk about an exam or test of a scale like ours¡­petition is always inevitable. Chapter 870: After test discussions [Eon''s POV: ] "Come here. Gimme kissy." "Ah¡­" Rein didn''t ask that question for my consent or anything. It was just a formality as always. -Thud. "Ummmm~." She ran up to me with a tired look and first hugging me tightly, she pressed her lips against mine. She was stronger now, and she knew that as well. And still, she ran up to me and crashed into me with such force that both of us fell down to the grass covered ground with her on top of me. "Hmm~. Mmm~. Mmmmmm~." Everyone was around us, looking at us with either a blush or a tired look, while some were also angry to see two of the house captains smothering one another in each other''s saliva in a public ce like this. "Alright alright stop now. Enough." I can tell Quin, Tia, or Ca were going toe up to us and smash both our heads together if we continued it beyond that point, so, after stopping her lips and tongue, I had carefully slipped away from her grasp. "Let''s continue thister, alright?" I had to slip away from her even though I knew she would fall to the ground if I did that but, well, she wasn''t going to get hurt by falling to the ground from that kind of little height anymore. She was stronger now¡­ but that did not mean we can just do something like that (for more than a few seconds) in a public space with so many people around us. "Ahem. You two love birds done? Shall we talk about the damn papers we just had?" Ca didn''t mind us most of the time but she was someone that followed the ethical principles. It wasn''t a problem when we do it when no one''s around or in a different environment, but with so many people struggling with the post exam anxiety present around us, she couldn''t possibly let us make out as we wanted. ''Rein knew the ethical, moral, and social norms well as well as the fact that no one would have really cared about them in a different situation, but¡­ after going through that ufortable situation, she couldn''t hold herself back.'' I can tell just from her red face right now that she herself didn''t know what she had just done¡­ she wasn''t as daring or shameless as people think she is. She might be the captain of the Dark Society, but it was just a stereotype that her entire house is filled with shameless people that will one day be shady people. ''Contrary to normal beliefs, that entire house was filled with some of the most simple and normal people that were friends with many other normal people from the other houses.'' They were also nothing like those crazy, trough, or shameless kinds of people. "Dummy." Looking at her, and her red expression that was most certainly trying to rationalise what she had just done, I can tell she was going to run away from this ce anytime soon now¡­ oh. "Excuse me, everyone. Ahem, I''ll be back in a minute." She couldn''t even bear my eyes on her for that short moment. She just got up and ran away with a sessful attempt at hiding her embarrassment. "What¡­ what just happened?" She vanished from the ce so quickly that no one even noticed when she just vanished right before their eyes. ''Her increased stats enhanced her ability to hide her presence, and her darkness affinity almost made her a shadow that others couldn''t perceive until she wanted them to perceive it herself.'' She had gotten much better at handling her skills and witchcraft in these past few weeks as well, so, this was a surprising moment for them. "Alright, alright everyone. There''s nothing to be surprised about. It was just Uriel being Uriel." There were only the people from our group in this corner around so this wasn''t going to be that big a problem. Not that any of the students present around us had even paid attention to this side anyway. "So, how was everyone''s first test~?" What just happened wasn''t a mistake from our side. We just¡­ slipped a little. ''It thankfully made the mood around here livelier, and now that everyone was not worried about other things, we can focus on the main agenda.'' Students were gathered here with their groups and friends to discuss how their tests went and what they did as well as how they answered their questions. It was amon practice in this academy and in most other ces. Paper review was not something they would normally avoid anyway since the insight from the other people was a precious knowledge all in itself. "Oh! Right! The tests!" What Rein did made the atmosphere around us livelier, certainly, but I had to pull their attention somehow so that they at least don''t stay stuck on the two of us. And, the liveliest of them all, our pretty little fairy friend was going to be the best help with that task. "Lucifer! Lucifer! You know those extra question things, right? Did you also get something like that?" She was directly asking about something that people usually avoid talking about. ''These extra questions were something that was ced randomly in the test zones of some of the students and it is not used in the main scores until the students need it or want it to be there.'' It was a kind of extra score that the lucky students can useter in their academic lives, and it was normal for the students toe across these special test questions at least once in their lifetimes. ''There were two other ways to obtain these special extra scores.'' The first one was from getting the highest scores in the exams, and the other one was through the acknowledgment of the headmaster himself. "Why might you be asking something like this, I wonder. Tia, don''t you know we shouldn''t talk about it even if we did get it?" "Ah don''t give me that crap now, alright! They are all talking about how they got the extra test thing that gives you extra points and I didn''t get anything like that! How is that fair!" She got angry pretty quickly even though I didn''t even do anything to incur her anger this time around. She also seemed frustrated that she didn''t get this extra test thing while many of us did get it. ''I can tell from the atmosphere around us that there were more than usual people that encouraged these special tests and I know for a fact that many of them might not even have known how to solve those things.'' Tia on the other hand might have very well solved these special test questions if she was given the chance but, she was not¡­ most probably. "Alright, alright angry fairy. Calm down now, will you?" She was smacking my head with her little heads after I said we shouldn''t talk about those things, but thankfully she wasn''t using any strength behind those strikes or else they might have had to arrange my funeral already. She was a fairy but her strength was nothing less than Ca or even Rein''s. Still, looking at her adorable behaviour was a mood changer for all of us. "No! First tell me about the thing! Tell me why I didn''t get that special test?!" "It''s a random thing, little friend. A random thing that one just gets by luck." First of all, I asked everyone to gather around and take the little fairy with me. Though, she still chose to be on my head instead of on my palm or shoulder. "I believe a few of you might have encountered the unique things in your desk rooms, right? Perhaps some of you encountered it earlier like Rein and I did or some of you might have had it in your desk room from the start." Not many people just talk about these things and reveal that they had encountered this special opportunity, but they know in their heart that these opportunities are precious things. "It''s not up to us or even the headmaster who gets those opportunities since a special process determines the ones who will have them. All they can decide on their own would be the number of the students that will have this special opportunity. And even that number is randomly selected. Now¡­ it''s not true that it''s a one time opportunity or anything since some lucky person would most certainly get a second chance with these special extra tests during the other exams, but the chances drop significantly as far as I know." I patted her head and pressed the puffed cheeks that were ring at Quin and the others who had encountered this special opportunity. ''It wille in handy for the others one day if they had answered their ''questions'' properly.'' The number of points they could get through these special questions was limited and the headmaster along with the judges was the one to decide who would get how many points, so, we didn''t not have to worry about that. "If you didn''t get the chance this time, worry not. There are still the end semester exams, as well as the four exams in the second and third years left. You''ll also get your chance. So, just be patient now, alright?" Rein was back and it seemed like the atmosphere around us had gotten much better as well. Even Tia had calmed down. "Alright then, shall we finally talk about the test papers?" There was no need to discuss anything about the papers that we have already submitted, but it was a good experience to take the advice of someone else and learn from it. ''It was an age-old way to get better at the subject¡­ and even everyone around us, not aware of that fact, was doing it.'' Proving the effectiveness of this approach. Chapter 871: Kain Sebastian De Lutherop [Eon''s POV: ] "Hey.'' "Hey-ya. Everything ready?" "Yup." I was ready with the set up and she was done with her bath. So, it was time to make the call that we had been looking forward to since earlier. But before we do that¡­ -Swiiiiiish. "When will you start drying your hair yourself?" "Hehe, I like it when you do it for me~." Ever since we moved into this dorm room, every time she washed her hair, she would go around the house with those wet hair to annoy me. ''She knew I didn''t like it, just like most of the things that I didn''t like seeing out of ce, so she did it even more.'' And then one day I just caught her and used wind magic to dry her hair using some warm winds. And, while doing that, I massaged her head as well, so she was even more so. She started liking that treatment even more¡­ and then it became like this. "Hmmm¡­ yes, just like that." We used the disguise while going around the academy, but when we were in the dorm, we went around in our normal appearance unless someone else was there. It was morefortable that way. And, I liked ying with her pretty hair so it was a win win. "Alright, alright now. Can''t continue this forever dear." She had short hair but they were dense and thick so they weren''t that difficult to dry with magic. ''Plus even though I like ying with her pretty hair, I had other important things to take care of.'' The most important of which was talking with Luna''s father, one of the few kings of the northernnds and an influential figure of the northern continent. "Aw¡­ can''t we do three more minutes? Please~?" "Not now, miss witch. We will have more time after we finish this call, right?" She wanted me to do that for a little longer. She liked what I did with the fingers, and since she had a bad day already, she needed this. I knew that much very well. "Hump." "Pouting like a baby won''t help." But given the seriousness of the situation, our timely interference might cause some positive changes in the situation they were facing. ''Or things will get worse. I don''t know¡­'' We had no idea what might have made her so sad or just what kind of sickness was making her worry about her mom so much, however, if there was a problem, there was a solution. And if there was a solution, we might just be able to help them with it. "Alright now, let''s start." We wouldn''t have had to do this if we hadn''t asked Celes to not be in her room anymore and listened to the whole thing they were talking about. We had no idea a little personal chat that started off as a normal interaction between a father and daughter would make her so upset¡­ -Ooooooooooooooong! She didn''t want to talk about it, and she was angry about why we were so interested in her personal matters. She would be angry if we talked with her father, she perhaps already knew we were going to talk with him and was expecting us to do that. There was no way she had not expected us to do something like this since even though she was angry at us, she wanted us to know what was wrong with her so that we could help her with it. ''She wasn''t upset at us. She was upset at her own situation.'' And if we wanted to help her in any way, we had to know what was so wrong to have made her like that. { "Ahem. Is the connection finally established?" } "Greetings, your majesty." Themunication crystal linking directly to the king of the kingdom was not something many people could get ess to, but thanks to the rtionship they have had with me, this was not a new thing between us anymore. If anything, it seemed like he was expecting us much earlier and was waiting for a while. { "Greetings! Greetings~. Haha, it is a great joy to see our saviour after such a long time~!" } It had not been even a few weeks since west spoke but he was talking as if we were talking with one another after a few years. ''He sure is cheerful.'' The current lord of the Sebastian household, the lord of Lutherop as well as a renowned sword weirder, Lord Kain Sebastian De Lutherop. He was a strong individual from an ancient family that had guarded the northern borders ever since their appearance. ''Their family had produced numerous geniuses and masters throughout their long history and until a few centuries ago, there was practically no power in the northern ends of the northern continent that would even dare to go after them.'' However, after the death of the grandfather of the current lord, the great grandfather of Miss Luna who was also one of the greatest weapon wielders to have earned the title of (Grandmaster), things became a little difficult for Lutherop. ''The weather conditions got worse and the sea route was closed down. The storms increased, decreasing their agriculture. And without agriculture or basic food, the food chain was affected greatly.'' The game of the survival of the fittest began and Lutherop had to fight with the surrounding territories for resources. ''Thankfully, the option of trade was still avable for them.'' But, thends of the north were not as rich as thend of the east. They were also not resourceful as thends of the west so things weren''t going to stay the same for them for long. ''They had toe to a unanimous agreement that would guarantee their and their people''s survival¡­ and, thanks to the resources they obtained from me, they were finally able to stop the long standing war.'' Thends of the north were stable now and with the special methods that we had shared with them, they would soon start growing by turning their own weaknesses into strengths. Of course though, none of that would have been possible without this person before us. { "Oh, right! Today was your first test of the midterms? How did it go~? How was my little baby doing~? Did she do well~?" } She was a caring father, but more than a father, he was an excellent politician that knew how to use the authority that he possessed. ''He held an important opposition on the northern continent.'' There were only three prominent powers in the entire northern continent: Lutherop of the north, QueenndIM of the south, the main ruling power of the northern continent, and the enclosed Paradise of the Witch of the north situated in the centre. ''Lutherop was the worst ce on the entire northern continent that still functioned normally despite all the things happening on thatnd. And, it was mostly only possible thanks to this person. "Miss Luna said she did well, and after we discussed the questions she got, we thought she did well for her first time. But you must have already known that, right Lord Kain." { "Hahaha, how can I know something like that, young lord? I''m undeserving of your prises." } He was smiling right now, and from how much he resembled her, it was pretty obvious that he was her father. The two of them had a deep rtionship, we knew that much already. "You are the same as ever, my lord." If I had topare him to someone, I would say she was close to Lady Carolina. However, he was also amander and weapon weirder that knew how to guide his people, so he was also somewhat simr to Lord Maverick. But still, his smartness and sharp intellect were what had kept the declining nation alive even in these dire circumstances. { "Haha, that''s just you being generous with your prises young lord." } He wasn''t as cheerful a person as one might think from the way he was talking right now. There was a light in his eyes that one hiding their true selves from the world alone possessed. "Lord Kain, I believe you already know why we are having this conversation?" There was no way he wouldn''t know why I called him out of the blue right after the first test. ''The midterms were continuous exams so we had to face another challenge tomorrow. There was no time to waste.'' We certainly didn''t have time to chat casually with the father of our friend and one of the busiest people in this world. { "Haaaa, so it''s true, hun? You know." } The way he was talking as well as how his soft blue eyes were looking at us changedpletely in an instant. Now, he was looking at us with a more serious look. With a look that was fear inducing even though we were merely talking through amunication device. "We know. We all do¡­ Miss Luna did not look well this morning so we knew something wasn''t right. We tried to help her, but it seemed like she herself didn''t know what she was feeling. And, since it was difficult for her to figure out her own emotions, she didn''t tell us what exactly was wrong with her¡­ still, we somehow figured out it had something to do with her mother, Lady Nuos." Just like mom, he believed in the boundaries of business and personal rtionships. Our transactional rtionship was valuable to him, but there was no deep enough bond between us that we could talk about their family matters. We expected him to react this way and we were ready to take some criticism from him, but, right after we told him about Miss Luna, his serious expression unexpectedly turned into confusion. { "What¡­ do you mean it was difficult for her to figure out her own emotions?" } "Hmm?" He was genuinely confused right now¡­ and, though we had not noticed it before, he was currently in his own private room. And, ady that we recognised as Miss Luna''s mother was¡­ sitting on the bed, eating something with a bright expression and a smile on her face. "¡­what?" Well, we did not expect this new turn of events. ''She looks fine and well¡­'' It was unexpected. Very unexpected¡­ and confusing, for both of us. Chapter 872: Second day of the exam [Rein''s POV: ] "Last night was unexpected." It''s early morning and the two of us are walking to the academy once again¡­ it''s the second day of the exam so, the atmosphere isn''t as bad as it was yesterday. There are students going to their sses all around and there are groups as well, walking to the academy grounds an hour before the designated time. "Well¡­ certainly unexpected. Especially thest part¡­ like, just think about it. Isn''t this something to be happy about? Why would she be sad?" Yesterday, our friend Luna was sad and a bit down and didn''t want to tell us what was wrong with her so, in a way, we had to talk with her dad. ''We were worried about her since we were seeing uncertain emotions for the first time. She was confused¡­'' My eyes showed what she was actually feeling at the moment and thanks to that, we were able to understand the situation she was in. But still, even though she was thankful that we were here for her, she didn''t tell her what exactly was wrong with her. She wanted to deal with it herself so we gave her the space she needed at that time¡­ we asked her dad instead of her to make things more clear, but at the end of our conversation, all we got was greater confusion. "Well, this surely is her first time with something like this as well so it''s understandable she would be uncertain on what to actually think about this situation." "Haaa¡­ whatever man. It''s nothing to be worried about. She said she will deal with it so I think she will be fine." It''s not like she was a little girl that did not understand what it meant. She just had a little difficulty understanding how others usually feel. She was a witch after all and she also did noy have any anomalies so she was a normal being of her kind. She was a pretty smart and simple person, perhaps that''s why Captain Alpha had somehow gotten close to her. ''She''ll get better.'' Well, perhaps she will need some time alone to get used to the new things, but as long as she was here, she had the time she needed to digest all that new information. "Seeing how she was sad and confused, it seems like she isn''t ready for a change like that. Was she that close with her parents?" We knew her well but not so much about her rtionships with her parents. She was pretty quiet and less talkative as well, which was exactly what made her so cute~. ''She was a very important part of our girl group as one with the most potential as the next one to be in a rtionship.'' There was something between her and captain Alpha and even though they might hide it from the others, we can tell the attraction with the connection and the heat. "I believe she certainly was close with them since she is the only child they have. And since the house of Lutherop does not have any subordinate families, I think she was close with her parents. Ah and, you know how Lord Kain sees her as a bright girl that is much more expressive and cheerful than we know?" "Oh yes! There was that as well!" We were talking with her dad yesterday and he showed us around their bedroom¡­ I mean he showed us the portraits that they had in their bedroom. In them, the Little Luna that we know was much younger and looked much different from how people around see her today. The bright expression she had, the look that expressed many emotions, and even the way she yed around in those portraits. All of that was just like what a normal young girl does. ''She even reminded me of Anna from how she was ying with her mom and dad in those photos.'' She looked happy and she most certainly seemed very close to them. But then her dad told us about her awakening. ''Luna did not know she was a witch until she awakened her energy core. Her parents never told her and she didn''t have any special characteristics that younger witches possess.'' Just like our Anna, she was pretty much like a normal girl that didn''t really know much about the world outside of her castle. "She seemed to be happier." "Right." Perhaps her awakening changed her or perhaps it was because of the situations after that. Whatever it might be, she was not a normal smiling girl anymore. She became what we know her as today and, I''m not saying it is something bad or anything like that. She is now naturally like this, not because of some past trauma or something like that. She doesn''t express as much as she used to, and perhaps she couldn''t do it in the first ce. "We should wait a little. Let''s not tell her that we know." "Yes, let''s-." { "What do know, miss Uriel?" } "...?" What? Where did thate from? { "Here. Up here. Hehehe!" } It was a Mana voice that we were hearing for the first time. And yet, it seemed familiar for some reason. "Hmmm¡­? Oh?" Up in the sky above us, a little fireball was zing. It was small so it wasn''t very easy to notice, and since it did not have any physical body, it was also not easy to detect with our passive detection. "I can''t believe he can do this already." "He sure is the captain of the True dragons, hun?" The one that we were just talking about, Captain Alpha. He was a unique individual that had been with us for a while now, and he was also the one that had hearts for Luna. However, what we were seeing right now wasn''t he himself. We would have detected him from a long distance away. "Congrattions, Captain. Seems like you and your partner have grasped mind synchronisation." { "Hahaha. I haven''t grasped this thing properly yet, Lady Uriel. This little friend of mine isn''t very cooperative so we are still having quite some difficulties." } Everyone that had a familiar could do three kinds of things with their familiars if they achieved something like these two had achieved¡­ ''Achieving a mind sync isn''t that simple since it quite literally means to sync the minds of the master and the familiar.'' One isn''t controlling anything in this scenario as both the master and the familiar would have their own bodies to control, however when one achieves the mind sync, they can see what their familiar is seeing and do things that the familiars themselves might not be able to. ''He had a smander as his familiar, a very rare and smart creature that could most certainly grow up to be a disaster grade being. ''The rtionship between the two of them was a little bitter sweet since the me born creature liked ying around the academy instead of living with his master, so I didn''t even think they would reach this level so soon.'' And on top of being able to share their senses, he was guiding the creature to produce the kind of Mana speech that he wanted to convey. ''Even Branwen and I took around a decade to reach this kind of mastery.'' Celes exists on Solnova so she cannot produce this kind of Mana voice to begin with and, in our group, no one has yet reached this level so, seeing him do this so well¡­ truthfully, I''m shocked right now. "Oy captain Alpha, looks like we will have to talk about this new achievement of yours." { "Ah, sure. However, can you tell me first what you were talking about just now. Did not really figure out why Miss Luna was so sad yesterday? Is it something concerning?" } This time, his voice contained a little worry. And, the fact that we can feel that worry though this Mana voice means he can also transmit the emotions through his shadred Mana voice now. ''This was pretty advanced as well.'' We knew this bastard was special and unique but we never thought he would be so talented with his familiar. "Well captain. We can tell you what we were just talking about, but that kind of talk isn''t right in the middle of the road, right?" Eon spoke up while looking up at the little ball of fire¡­ which truthfully was much more than just a little ball of ze. ''It was the unique creature''s true form, a condensed lifeforce that was in its purest state.'' I canpare it with the soul or the spirit¡­ there was no physical body of this being, so it was just energy. ''Of course it wasnt pure energy. That would actually make it the soul or a conscious elemental spirit.'' { "For the first time I''ve known you two, this is the first time I''m seeing you so surprised. Haha, looks like I''ve done something that finally caught your-." } This time, he sounded pleased¡­ but his voice stopped soon. The creature, his familiar that was transmitting his voice, turned back to its original form¡­ or so it looked in Eon''s eyes. And, after shaking off its entire body like it found what had been happening with him unpleasant, it looked down at us onest time with its pretty and deep eyes before flying away somewhere else. "Looks like they still have a way to go." "They sure do, hun?" Eon was still looking up and it seemed like he didn''t like what was happening. We had already dealt with Luna''s issue, but now there was something new that we had to look into. "Let''s go." It seemed like he was suspicious of something. "What''s wrong?" This instance just now didn''t seem that simple. What we saw just now was the truth from what I can tell with my eyes but, from his point of view, there was something more to this. Something even I failed to perceive. "Let''s talk about it after the test." He gave me a smile that said not to worry about this. It wasn''t something bad. So, at least for now, I should leave this worry about the important thing¨C the second day of exams, and the understanding of the Mana paper. Chapter 873: Monochromity of the world [Eon''s POV: ] [Q: In the monochromity of the world, debate over the brightest primordial light driving mortal societies. Ponder over the fragility of the cultural bondages, and conclude the continuance of history that the people face throughout their lives.] This was thest question in my today''s test of Society, culture and history. And, different from all the other questions that had been vague with not only what they wanted me to answer but with the nature of the questions themselves, this one was clear in at least one way¨C it directly asked me what it wanted me to answer. "Monochromity of the world¡­" In the context of society and culture as well as human lives, one can say that the monochrome mentioned here was about the seemingly close colour palette of the world or how the world was closely connected with one another like a simple monochrome. It was not as straightforward a question as one might think, asking one to just write about how the world was different and simple in its own way, but it was about my own understanding of this close rtionship of the worldly objects that make up the society and the culture that exists anywhere in this world. "First of all, to understand the monochromity of the world, I''d like to give an example." There were many colours in this world that actually originated from the primordial ''white'' or the original colour that exists in this nature. This white, though being something not so attractive to the human or mortal eyes, is a colour that anyone in this nature could perceive in one way or the other¨C be it a blind being that relies only on the other senses, or a gazelle that could not see many colours. Even the beings that exist in the deepest depths of the world know subconsciously what this primordial colour is. Even those who do not possess any knowledge of the concept of colour itself know well just what the ''colour'' making up this is. ''Now the concept of monochrome itself might be something different for different people. Even in this context, I can''t say for certain what the monochrome they are asking me about would be.'' However, taking from the root definition of a monochrome, we can say that it is the single wavelength with the different forms. ''A single root that appears different depending on who is seeing it or from what angle it is shown.'' Simply put, I can say that the monochromity of the world mentioned in this question is not something very specific. It is a little vague, yes, but at root, it has a simple meaning¨C themonalities of divercities. "This world is filled with beings of various races who had evolved from their own originators. These various mortal species can be collectively called various ''human'' societies for this question." There are various human societies in this world, they have unique cultures and different practices that might not be the same for the entirety of that society. There might bemon practices that aren''t unique and there might be unique practices unique only to a small part of a society. Culture is different for many of us¡­ just taking the example of my family, Rein''s family, Luna''s family, and a third party- let''s say captain Alpha- themon practices and unique practices might be different for the same general societal event. "In the northern end of the empire, thend of water, it ismon for festivals to take ce during and after the monsoon seasons dedicated to the ocean and the waters. Not being limited to the god of oceans, there are various cultures that have different practices and ways to celebrate, mourn, or live during the same kind of asion. Some people give tributes to the ocean god, some people worship a statue, some people read holy verses, while some people perform certain dances with the wish of a safe monsoon season." In the northern oceands, it ismon for there to be stormy monsoons. It is mostly ind regions that collectively connect with one another through the primordial waters of the northern sea. ''Some parts of the oceans are deep while some are shallow, however, during a storm, be it a shallow water region or the inds situated in the middle of deep waters, all of it bes dangerous.'' There is always danger that thends themselves will be drawn in the rising waters. And people do many things in the prayers of a safe stormy season. They pray for the safety of their families, of their people, and their homes. ''And they certainly have different ways to do it.'' In Heliox, we do this ceremony and dedicate a prayer to the waters. To not the god that blesses the family nor to the oceans of just our area. The prayers to all the waters that exist. At least, our family does that. ''Simrly, in the south, there are many festivals that the Atraxia family looks after themselves.'' Be it harvest festival, or the prayers of the good harvest, Ataxia looks after the vast southernnds and produces great harvests all year around. ''These personal practices and rituals don''t necessarily affect what is toe, but they most certainly reassure the people of a positive result.'' These festivities, practices, and faith bring the hope that sustains human societies. ''In the northern continent, they have their own practices that might not make any sense to some outsider.'' I''m sure if Miss Luna starts exining to captain Alpha why she would feel sad at the fact that her mother will be the next person to perform the ''Rite of protection''. ''It wasn''t a small thing. And there was certainly not anything to be sad about from an outsider''s perspective since this ritual is only carried out once every three years throughout the entire northern continent.'' One candidate is chosen from among the countless individuals of the northern continent and, ultimately, there should be nothing wrong with it. ''But Miss Luna might have her own unique thoughts that would make her sad. Something that even though the captain might understand, he could not do anything about it since there is technically nothing wrong with it.'' Ultimately, the primordial light or themon matters that bind these various distinct societies together, is their Wish for hope or their faith in their own practices. "The primordial light¡­ the belief of people. It is a driving force that not only motivates people, it is also what makes them have faith in the invariably of ''change'' and gives them the hope like push to keep going forward." Societies exist since the human kind has an inherent wish to be with someone else. To not be alone, and to have someone to share their existence with. "Mortals whoe to life in this world, under this nature, are like sailors on a vast ocean that creates countless ripples of possibilities." Being alone is not what they should be destained for. And most of us are not either. Be it in one way or the other, therees a time when we belong somewhere¨C or at least wish to. ''Societies were initially created with this very wish to not be alone.'' Then the bigger societies scattered and became many societies. These societies further separated into families and groups. And then they started doing something that the others did not in order to¡­ well, there might be various reasons for why they started doing something but, their unique actions that deviated from themonsense of the others around them, what gave birth to the cultures. Then these cultures spread, changed, and evolved with the passage of time, giving birth to the history that we know or might not. "Still, these unique things or cultural practices that were started in order to be ''different'' or for some other reason was not why humanity hade together." The closeness of human existence. That was what drove them closer, and it was also whatter drifted them away from one another. ''Today, everyone knows how various societies and cultures have a discord with the others.'' There are religions now that did not used to exist in this world, and even not taking them in consideration, there are practices in various societies or cultures that the other societies or cultures do not ept. ''The cultures used to be independent but not in their entirety.'' Stay updated with mvl It was not possible forplete independence or individuality to exist. As human mortals, we cannot bepletely different from the ones around us. It was a fact then, and it is a fact right now. "The fragile cultural bondages, the thread tying one from the other were present then and they will be present until the human thirst to live with someone else exists." Separation from the others is impossible, for us, or for any other mortals existing in this nature alongside us. ''Those destined to be alone are the most pitiful beings. And those who willingly choose to be alone are the most miserable fools in this world.'' People face many things throughout their lives. Some things they learn from, some things hurt them, some things are forgotten while some things be difficult to forget even with conscious efforts. History is what one leaves behind when they depart. Those who weep for the departed carry their stories in their memories even if it isn''t written on the papers, on the stone tablets, or on graves and monoliths. They leave behind something only when they exist together with the other mortals, only when they somehow be part of the cultures and stories of some societies. "In this interconnected world born from the primordial light¨C the first beliefs of the first existence, human societies are like an anthill. The countless entrances of this mud structure are made with such intricate connections that it is nothing less than a phenomenal art of nature. And much like them, human societies are what, despite being divided and separated by different borders, are, just like the monochrome colours, inseparable from one another. Still, just like how the strong anthill housing countless ants of a single family is hard to build without the hard work of those countless members, at the end of the day, it is still made from mud and y." It is fragile and even a rock flown with the winds of a storm could break it. But¡­ "They build it up once again even if it is destroyed once. Get together once more, and work more to rebuild their houses even stronger than before." Even if an anteater destroys half of their family, they get back up and rise once again. That''s how they had survived all this time, and this is how they had evolved into themon creature they are today. "Sure the bonds they have are fragilepared to the strong outside forces, but in the end, their lives go on." They fall, they learn, they get back up, they make mistakes, and they get better at what they do. Then they fail again. And the cycle continues. "Some things are eternal and in the Human lives¨C it is their beliefs. The primordial light that they themselves possess." This is pretty much a simple concept that many people should already know about. ''This much should be enough as the introductory text. Now, onto the main body¡­'' Today''s paper was pretty simple, so, it looks like when we finish this and get back to the gang, it won''t be that difficult to deal with that Captain Alpha of ours. ''He did something a little too surprising today.'' Syncing with his familiar even on this most basic level was a bigger thing than what one might expect it to be since not even one in a thousand familiar masters are Ever able to do it. And the look his familiar had at the end when it looked at us¡­ it was concerning. There''s no way I was going to ignore this with ourmon [Understanding nature] paper tomorrow or else, who knows what kind of disaster I''ll have to deal withter. Chapter 874: Six elements of nature [Rein''s POV: ] "So¡­ you''re saying you could just do it without the consent of your familiar? The hell are you talking about?" We had already finished discussing today''s papers so everyone had gone back to their dorms. Everyone except Eon, this captain Alpha bastard, and my Luna sweetheart. "Yes. Well, I know how absurd it sounds¡ª being able to take over the senses of your familiar, almost like possessing their body or something- without their consent is pretty absurd. But, even I was surprised when I tried it." He was telling us about how he was able to perform mind synchronisation without the constant of his familiar and his story was almost sounding like a lie. ''I can tell even Luna and Lucy found it pretty unbelievable but, Eon had no reason to not believe what he was saying, while Luna didn''t care about any of these things.'' She was with her ''friend'' right now that had ''apparently'' helped her get past yesterday''s difficult night. Now¡­ we don''t know what exactly she meant by that, but it at least confirmed that they spent the night together. And that kind of progress meant I was right about them from the beginning. "I know you can already see my screen so there''s no reason to hide things from you two. I''ll just tell you what happened yesterday-." "Yesterday?" Alpha was talking but Ron suddenly cut him off and looked at him with a stunned expression. "¡­yes? Didn''t I say it was just a few hours ago that I figured out how to do this?" Even Alpha was surprised that we didn''t know about this. Eon''s surprise confirmed that we didn''t know much about this thing¡­ and since we know a lot about many things, it was pretty surprising to both of them. ''This bastard¡­'' He did that purposefully this time. It was true that we didn''t know about it this time since we were busy talking with Lord Kain yesterday, but we do know a lot of things that happen most of the time with people close to us thanks to Celes and her clones wandering all around this ind most of the time. ''Now they will be confused¡­'' Both Luna and Alpha had suspected that we somehow spy on all of them or if not that, we somehow know most of the things that happen with them. Which was true, no doubt about it. However, after seeing that little genuine surprise on him, they won''t know whether we really spy on them or not. ''He knew how to y mind tricks¡­ this bastard.'' And it worked as well, actually. Even without my eyes, I can tell both of them were now confused about the situation before them. "Ah, you didn''t say that so I thought you had been trying this for at least a while now. What you''re saying isn''t easy either, you see. You don''t have a skill that can help you with ''possession'' directly. Even if you could do it this well now, it''s absurd how you were able to do it to this extent in such a short time already." This time, he genuinely praised him. Which made Luna look at him with a new look of little surprise as well. ''She knew very well just how rare his praise was.'' Discover stories with mvl She wasn''t in his house but she had heard a lot about it from the people of his house. Plus as someone that had done business with him directly, and had observed him from closer than the other friends of our group, she knew that he knew just how rare his praise was. And, if he was praising Alpha directly after being surprised by something he said earlier, then it was an even more rare urrence. "You might only know statistics of the general poption, but a familiar creature of your level isn''t something everyone can ''control'' without some special skill. You see, it''s not possible by the very nature of this idea of mind synchronisation." "That''s right." This time, he was just stating facts so I also agreed with him. He was right with what he had just said. ''The familiars, by nature, are unique creatures.'' The moment a being bonds with someone else and bes their familiar, they aren''t the same creature of their kind that they used to be. ''In this nature, finding and bonding of two beings is a big deal.'' Everyone already knows how during the bonding process, two minds of the beings forming the bond connect with one another. However, that is not all that happens. ''Fate, time, and the energy frequencies of these two binds sync as well.'' They became bonded with one another in literal meaning. So, when we talk about something like mind synchronisation with a familiar being, we are talking about the realisation of this ''bond'' that they have on a higher level. ''Right after the binding process, one is able tomunicate with their familiars in various ways.'' They understand them even if they don''t understand the nguage'' they are using. This is the most basic thing that happens when a familiar bond is established. ''And after that, when two people forming these unique bonds learn more about one another, they are able to do something more interesting.'' Starting with mind synchronisation, they are able to link their senses together. They can use their familiar as a medium tomunicate with others, and sometimes, one can even fight battles alongside their familiar in a unique way. ''There are many people who fight alongside their familiars and are impable at it.'' But, it requires years of experience with their familiars or a kind of bond that not everyone has. ''Mind sync is something precious that even Branwen and I could only do after a long time of being together.'' And, in a Master-familiar bond, something like Mind sync is the most basic thing¡­ "Can you tell us what exactly happened yesterday? Is possible that is. We wouldn''t-." "Ah, no no. There''s no problem." After Mind Synces (Energy Transfer) or (Energy sharing). After thates (Bond Imprint), the generation of the mark that many of us already possess at the moment of bonding. Lastly, when one learns enough about their familiars and their bonds be strong enough, they are able to ''bond'' together. In a literal sense. That''s the highest known point of a master-familiar bond at which one can do various things no other being of their kind nor they themselves would have been able to achieve individually. "So¡­" Captain Alpha didn''t know how there are only a handful of individuals who have ever achieved this highest level of master-familiar bond, there are also only a handful that had ever even been able to sync with a creature as strong as his smander. ''It''s obvious he doesn''t understand the greatness of what he has done- even with some trick that he himself doesn''t understand.'' It''s absurd from a normal point of view like ours so, he found it difficult to understand what was so surprising about his actions that even Eon was praising him. But, as he told us how he was bored and was reading about the Six elements of nature, namely (Sky), (Form), (Root), (Truth), (Origin) and (Void), for tomorrow''s test and had a unique idea out of the blue¡­ he started to realise what was so surprising about his own story. ''Just like the third element of nature: Root, suggests that everything has a root to it that connects with the fourth element of nature, the Truths, he started wandering about the root of his own existence.'' Well, we don''t talk about it much but we both know that his existence in this world is a little unique from others. Though not simr to Eon and Prez Zod, he is somewhat simr to them. ''His unique existence here made him think about the root of his ce in this world.'' And then he contemted, thought, and while in a deep state of concentration, he told us how he was able to see a light- a re- inside of him. "As soon as I interacted with that re or ball of fire or, well, whatever it was, I found myself in the body of my little one, and I was able to control it directly." Well¡­ this was pretty absurd, and the rest of us agreed on this matter. "So, well, technically speaking¡­ you''re saying you entered your own mind, found the anchor of connection, and when you tried interacting with the connected consciousness of your familiar, you were able to ''control'' him? Do you know how absurd that sounds?" "¡­right? Now that I think about it¡­" The captain of True dragons, the most talented individual among the students of this year, the best speaker and the most charismatic leader of the era¡­ was a dumbass. "You''re unexpectedly dumb, Alpha." Even Luna sighed and shook her head after seeing that reaction of sudden realisation. ''She must be seeing this reaction of his for the first time considering how even he himself was too confused to hide his expressions like he usually does.'' What he just told us was not something even I could do yet¡­ ''Being able to enter your ''mind'' and going as far as interacting with the intangible manifestation of a connection was unbelievable in both theory and practice.'' Even Eon had that look of extreme interest that he only rarely has on him. "Captain Alpha. Can you give us more details¡­ I mean, can you tell us as much as you could possibly remember?" Alpha had always been with us since he knew we were special and interesting. There were many things about us that he, as well as many others, didn''t know about. Plus he had this detective side of his that wanted to uncover all the things about us himself. ''And, now he had the opportunity to get something from us and this experience of his as a bargaining chip.'' But, I can tell instead of thinking about something like that, he was instead still thinking how absurd what he had done actually was. And since he did it without the consent of his partner more than once, he was now worried about what he was going to do about this going forward¡­ Chapter 875: During the following few days [Eon''s POV: ] [{ *His unique origin and his affinity with Aether does not define anything, master. If anything, we have to consider the possibility that he has more talent than we initially expected.* }] Enjoy more content from mvl ''You''re right as well, Lucy. But what can we attribute to this situation? He was subconsciously able to do it so there''s nothing we can specte here either. The only thing we can say would be this incident being a coincidental enlightenment.'' [{ *It still does not justify how someone who does not even understand the Truth of Soul is able to tap into their consciousness, master. Logically, this does not make any sense.* }] ''I''ve said it many times and I will say it again, dear. There are some things in this world that just don''t make any sense. Just look at you¡­ how do we exin your existence with the logic that we have.'' She was a part of my being, a part of my origin skill that was ''gifted'' to me by my master. She was a skill that somehow had her own consciousness and ego, as if she was a unique individual herself. She was a skill so she was a part of me, but since she was a part of me and an individual, she also shared my being. Technically, we were two people sharing amon physical body. Which does not make any sense on the broader natural spectrum. [{ *¡­we aren''t talking about us, master. We are talking about the captain of True dragons and how he was able to-.* }] ''I know well what we are talking about, dear. Don''t get worked up like that, alright? There''s nothing wrong with being able to do something most others cannot.'' If anything, it was interesting to find out how someone is able to do something the most other people cannot. And in this particr situation, the captain that I had been the most curious about since our first encounter on the entrance test ind, was turning out to be something more than what we had expected him to be. ''Let''s not underestimate him anymore, Lucy.'' Not only did he have a unique origin, he was also someone that had an affinity for Aether. He was much older than me, and many of our ssmates but not as old as Rein or some others. The age itself wasn''t something he was concerned about since he wasn''t the same ''human'' and the rest of us thanks to his unique origin, however, he was still part of this world. Additionally, above his skills and abilities, he possessed a special talent to talk in the most convincing manner. ''Unlike our initial evaluation of him, he not only has talent with his eloquent way of speaking, he is also a mysterious person that knows how to hide his true self well.'' Even when he revealed his first experience as his familiar to us a few days back, he was hiding his true expressions very well. ''The surprise that let out and the joy that he was actually feeling were two different things.'' He clearly knew how to handle himself¡ª and that made him kind of dangerous. He has been with us almost since we started the academy life in one way or the other. He first mentioned that he was searching for goodpanions for their adventures after they finish the academy and he was very open about a lot of things. Yet¡­ ''Aside from the things that we know about him, things that we have talked about and the things that we have seen from his screen, we don''t really know much about this person we call captain ''Alpha''.'' Not everyone knew his real name, or the reason he was hiding it from them. Plus he was a member of the student council and he knew we were as well now that he had seen the rtionship we had with the President and Cradle. But, that part wasn''t concerning to us. What did concern us though, was the fact that he knew about us more than he should by this point. ''His knowledge and information gathering abilities were on par with some of the best masters of this field I''ve known until now.'' He knew about things that he should not and he knew about things that no one should even without a Pinnacle skill like Prince Alph''s or even without a unique background like Nova''s. We didn''t even know about his family or parents yet since he never talks about personal things before anyone. But at least we had known what we can use him as in our ns or within the ''group'' that we are gathering. ''But after this¡­ well, we will have to reconsider the possibility of his position.'' Around a week has passed since that incident and after our talk that day, we haven''t had the opportunity to talk with him that much. ''The tests were ongoing and even though he was smart and knew things, he wasn''t like us.'' Not only did he want to get better scores than us like Tia, he also wanted to be prepared for anything like that extra point test that he had not experienced yet. ''He was a captain with ambitions.'' And, he was a kind of opponent that had yet to show all that he can do¡ª much like Prince Alph who led his own house. [{ *Even after considering all things, master, why is it that the creature that is bonded with him, his familiar that person takes over without their consent, does not protest against his actions? They aren''t on best terms from the looks of it so-.* }] ''Again, Lucy. I know you are observant, logical, and the smartest being I know, but there are some things thatmon logic doesn''t apply to. Try learning from my memories and experiences. See what it means to be a ''tsundere'' or a person that does not show their true emotions outwardly.'' She was an extremely smart individual that could learn faster than even the best geniuses I know, and she was more than a skill. That''s what made her one of a kind. But still, even she didn''t like some of the things. And the way Captain Alpha was leading us didn''t go well with her. ''We took him to various ces, he was able to meet a divine being thanks to us, and see something he might have never been able to thanks to us. Plus we fed him good food and he was repaying our kindness with attempts of maniption.'' He was an ungrateful person and she didn''t like him for that. But, well, that was just how human nature was. ''We want more than what we have, we want to keep what we have, we want to have more without losing anything- which is ridiculous, but that''s just how human nature is.'' We are greedy, so I don''t resent him for not trusting uspletely like the others do. Truthfully, that''s what made him more special actually. ''Let''s forget about this and think about other thingster, alright?'' Currently, we are in the middle of finishing our All energy understanding paper. And this one would be thest theory paper for us. ''Only three papers are left now and there''s one holiday between them so soon, this midterm will be over.'' Unlike what I had expected, the Understanding nature that was taken in a big in where every student was ced together went well. ''It was in a racing game format where all of us had to reach a certain point in that space and along the way, solve the various problems we face with our own answers.'' There were many simple problems while some of them were more difficult than what I was even excited about. The familiars yed a vital role in that so, if it wasn''t for Celes, I would have not been able to get the score we achieved at the end. ''And, thankfully, Captain Alpha didn''t take advantage of his power to sync with his familiar.'' It seemed like he was trying to convince him to allow him to do what he had only done one sidedly until now, so he had to waste a lot of time. But still, he still managed to finish in the top five with some of the highest scores. ''The ability to sync with his familiar and using the Mana voice like that was very effective.'' And since I can''t show much of Celes''s abilities, we were limited. ''He on the other hand didn''t have those kinds of restrictions.'' Showcasing his abilities would only result in a better score from the judges so, he did what he was supposed to and got a good score. ''Then there were other papers¡ª magic engineering papers were pretty good, there were some practical questions but they weren''t that difficult. The alchemy paper was good as well. The practical parts in it could be substituted with the theoretical questions so it was fun as well. The general papers of Magic and weapon understanding, understanding of Mana, as well as Language and manners went well as well.'' At least for me¡­ For the others though, there were some papers that stood before them as an obstacle and some of their papers were especially difficultparatively. ''Rein was even angry after she gave her Society, culture, and history paper that was practically filled with practical things.'' But she somehow did well. ''Now¡­ thest three papers were left for us. And for me, it was going to be Cooking, Magic and weapon practice, as well as the Economy and currency.'' Two of them were confirmed to be mostly practical while the third one was yet not clear enough for us. The economy and currency paper was the only paper among all of them that was going to be thest one for every one of the students of the academy. ''We will be giving it together, so, the chances that it will be something practical like Understanding of nature paper are very high.'' In fact, we might just have to move to some other ce for this considering the subject of the paper. ''And since the academy has always emphasised the practical importance of this paper, I''m wondering what the headmaster has in store for us for that final paper.'' We even have an unexpected holiday before thatst paper so¡­ all of us are wondering what is going to happen on thest day. Chapter 876: The toughest cooking exam [Eon''s POV: ] "Seems like not everyone has gathered yet. Hmmm¡­ we will wait for a little more before starting the test." We were on the ground floorrge kitchen area where most of the food that most of the students eat from the cafeteria or from the other cese from. Some of the special individuals affiliated with the academy cooks for certain people specifically while there are some certain sections of this ce that prepares food for the students that live in the dorms of the academy. ''It''s our first time here¡­'' Students weren''t allowed in this ce and there was no need toe here until now since we made our food in the dorm ourselves. This ce wasn''t that special anyway, just that the area was vast enough to amodate all the students of today''s cooking test, as well as the spectators and judges. "I''m nervous¡­ I''m so nervous¡­" I was sitting among the students that will be giving the test today and Lizzy was with me, shivering with uncertainty and anxiety. "You have done well until now, Liz. This will be fine as well." Since Zoe or the others weren''t here, I had to be with her andfort her until she gets in her own kitchen and starts showing off her magic. She was in no way a bad chef since she loved making food for the others, and I had taught her over thest few weeks about many things that she might need for this test so, there really was no way for her to be like that. But, well, she was still uncertain of what was going to happen in this test like most other students present around us. "It''s easy for you to say¡­" she gave me an upset look with puffed cheeks and, I couldn''t help but look back at her with a helpless expression. ''It was the cooking exam¡­'' The teacher that took this ss was no easy person to please since afterdy Mendelian the one well known as the seconding Pochimi- the god of cooking- she was the most famous person in the culinary industry. ''Lady Cleo- the golden tongue of pochimi.'' She was very sensitive to the taste and emotions. And, as a creature of nature that had been around almost ever since the headmaster was a student of the academy, she was someone old enough to have taught even our ss teacher. ''She was not someone that gavepliments often.'' Not many people had ever received apliment in her sses however¡­ things were different when it came to me. "Oh~. Lucifer~. I hope you''re not getting bored just sitting there~. We will start soon so please just bear with it a little longer." A voice as natural as the breeze of the morning birds. She was a unique creature but she looked exactly like humans, specifically, she looked like a Middle aged woman with an attractive face, an attractive body, long green hair that were so long that even after twisting them within themselves a few times, they still touched the ground as she walked. She perhaps had the longest hair within the academy, and these light green hair resembled fresh grass so much that if she was in a grass field, it would be difficult distinguishing between her and the actual grass. "It is no problem, Teacher. Everyone''s waiting so it''s natural that I''d wait as well." She was looking at me with a bright proud and excited smile while my friend Lizzy beside me was ring daggers at me. ''Haaa¡­'' Enjoy more content from mvl Things have been like this ever since the first week of our academy life. ''Technically, she had been interested in my cooking ever since our first ss.'' She liked my techniques, the way I prepared things, the way I used the ingredients, the things that I knew, the methods I demonstrated, and ultimately the things that I produced at the end¡­ She loved my food. Though, not in the way that the others loved it. ''She was a professional cook and taster who understood the cooking and felt it with her unique powers.'' She loved tasting the things I made. She loved feeling the things that I make. And she loved seeing me make all those things. ''She wasn''t very close with the other students, but when it came to me, she had a peculiar liking for my work.'' Even I don''t know how she considered my cooking to be, one thing I know for sure, is the fact that she doesn''t shy away from showing her affection towards me and my work. ''She''s pretty open about it, and thanks to that, the rest of the students in our ss don''t like me.'' Except for Lizzy, Captain Alpha, Ezra, and a Lady friend of ours named Rosette, she doesn''t even give any particrpliments to the other students. ''I must mention that her ss has over two hundred students, so¡­ the fact that only a few of us receive any kind ofpliment even after giving our all just shows how high her standards actually are.'' And her particr attention to me makes things a little moreplicated for me. "Why are the others sitting all the way over there?" Captain Alpha, Ezra, and Miss Rosette were also going to give this test with us but all of them were sitting at the back. Only the two of us were here in the middle, and we weren''t even in the front. "We came early and we are still not in the front¡­ you''re not the only one anxious about this exam, Lizzy." The others were worried as well so they came early. Some of them had been here ever since the dawn, which is funny since they must have had to help the teachers with the preparations. ''There was no need toe so early. Even right now, there was around half an hour left before the test officially starts, but almost everyone that was going to give this test today was present in this kitchen area.'' Even the rest of them came early but we''re now stuck at the back. ''It''s almost afternoon right now so, many of the tests have already finished as well, so the spectator stands will soon fill up with our friends and the other students.'' It will be like a realpetition so us students will have to work under pressure just like we would in an actualpetition. ''Plus the teachers and judges were going to walk around the kitchen asking theory questions to the students so, many of the students that were going to cook for the others were studying theory right now.'' At least though¡­ the environment around us was cheerful. "If we can do team y, I''d have the most advantage." Things were progressing faster here probably thanks to thete schedule of the test. The students were almost here and the judges, including the headmasters, the teachers, and some of the people that will give us markster, were already present in their ces on the eastern balcony. The individual kitchens were prepared, the inventories were full as well, and Miss Cleo was almost ready to announce the rules of this test. "You won''t ask me why I just said that?" Lizzy was now even more upset since I ignored herstment. But, at least she wasn''t sad or anxious anymore, so this much was much better. "I know what you would have said already. But just like you, everyone else could see the fifty one counters that have been prepared as well. We aren''t going to be in teams, and even if we do, the chances that you or anyone else would be in my team are unpredictable. So, Miss Lizzy my dear pretty friend, please focus on what you might be making on that kitchen aisle." Smiling at her and patting her head just the way she didn''t like, I returned my attention to the front. "Uriel was right. You''re never to be trusted in things like this. Hump!" She was a house captain herself so the two of us being on the same team had even lower chances than Miss Ezra being in my team. ''But there''s not going to be any team y anyway.'' I can tell from how the judges were checking out every individual present here, that the tests that we are going to face would most likely be something simple but difficult. ''The time limit for this paper was the same, so everyone will have to work faster.'' We might just have to make multiple dishes, and depending on the theme of this test as well as the volume that we have to prepare, everyone here might have to give their all just to meet the basic requirements. ''And, the performance will be judged by the judges that will look at everyone the same way they have for the other subjects.'' We don''t know who they are now and we will never know their identities since those were the rules. However, we could see their shadows on the balcony behind the headmasters and the teachers. We knew they were there, so the pressure was going to be present all the time. "Alright then. Looks like everyone is here." The kitchen was filled out soon and some of the students had also taken their ces on the balcony. [{ "Good luck, darling~. I came running as soon as finished so make sure some of that good stuff reaches up here as well~." }] [{ "I''ll try my best." }] She was here along with Tia, Quin, and E right after they finished their Spirit bonding paper. And, they weren''t the only ones present here. Many other students were here already. And, soon¡­ this ce was going to be even more livelier. Chapter 877: Three course meals [Eon''s POV: ] "Alright everyone! I hope I''m audible to all of you present here!" She didn''t need to use her Mana voice or any tool in this rtively closed space. Her voice was already loud enough for all of us. There was something in her voice that we had only felt from the headmaster''s voice as well, something that resonated with something deep inside our own selves. And this something was pretty much shaking violently right now, screaming at us and telling us not to ignore this calm sounding voice. "So, since everyone is here and we still have a little time on our hands, let''s talk about things that you all would have to prepare for, or about the objective of this little test." She was starting the exnation so everyone got ready and I also took out a notebook to take notes. "All of you will have to prepare a three course meal. Three or more portions of them to be specific. You will have to make an appetiser, a main course and of course, a dessert to conclude your presentation. There''s no limitations to the ingredients or the methods you can use for this test, so¡­ we expect to see all that you have learned from your sses as well as what you know and can do." "¡­" "?" "¡­?" "???" "What?" She just said there were no limitations to the ingredients and methods that we can use this time, something that even I had not expected to hear from her. "The theme of this test will be (Sorrow) so throughout your entire three courses, you will have to make ''sorrow'' as the focal point of the dish that you make. And, it doesn''t have to be the sorrow that we know by definition. What the judges, the headmasters that have graced us, and I want to see form you all, is how you interpret the emotions of sorrow and channel them into making your dishes." Lady Cleo had always emphasised the importance of the emotions while teaching cooking. She always said how there is nothing possible in cooking unless you have the emotions for it. The feeling for it. She knows how someone can make something by following the basic instructions and it would have all the taste and textures, but she knows one would not feel the emotions that the one eating this food wants to express¡­ or forget in their given situations. ''For her, cooking was the mostplex existing art style.'' To express something with thebination of various ingredients that are prepared with various methods was the same as preparing a very difficult potion or making a very difficult magic engineering equipment. There were few things in this world that could produce the kind of effect, the kind of texture, the kind of aroma, and the kind of feelings that one wants to express as they want to express it. There are some chefs in this world that travel far and wide in search of certain ingredients that would produce the kind of ''vour'' or representation of the emotions that they wanted. Lady Mendelian was also one of them. ''Lady Cleo was tied to the academy for a few centuries now, however, the fact that she had also travelled all around the world in search of things that could quench her curiosity.'' She had even been to ces that the normal humans usually cannot and met creatures and beings that not many people of this world ever get the chance to. ''She was perhaps as old as the headmaster himself, perhaps older.'' There was no way of telling just how old she was since for her, the concept of time waspletely different from how we experienced it. She was a creature of nature, so there were only a few things that made her different from the origin beasts like Celes or divinities born from nature itself. She had lived within humans for long enough to know what was good and what she liked, so she knew emotions, feelings, and taste better than anyone else. "You will have the same time as everyone else, you will have ess to all the ingredients you see in the inventories, and you will have ess to all the utensils you might want. The techniques and methods you can use to cook can certainly be things that I''ve never taught in the ss, however, remember that if you are trying to use a unique technique, you will have to exin to us what you are doing or why you would use that. Aside from that, we will ask questions randomly while walking around the kitchen so you should be prepared to answer any of our questions at any moment. Don''t be too worried about the quality and truthfulness of the answer since the marks will not be given based on what you say but how you say it when you are asked¡­ or something like that. Even I don''t know how exactly they will grade you this time." It was very believable that she wouldn''t know how the marks were going to be given out since she was just a teacher in charge of this test. The only role she had here was simr to the role of the headmaster and the other teachers, since even without her, this pre-prepared test would have gone the same way. But, since she was the only teacher in charge of this unique subject, she was here to do the work of a normal announcer herself. "Well, that much would be all that you need to know, everyone." With an excited smile on her face, she looked around the kitchen, at us students who had gathered on their individual counters. We had freedom to choose any ingredient that we wanted and we also had the opportunity to use the method that we wanted in this test. ''This will be quite tough for them.'' If we can use any ingredient that we want along with any technique or cooking methods, then some students here will obviously have an advantage over the other students. Many students among us had already learned cooking before we came to the academy. Some used to do it as a hobby, while some of the students present around me hailed from the families of masters and grandmasters famous all around the culinary industries. Some were masters of one kind of cuisine while some had refined their mastery of just one kind of food. Some masters had taken in many of the students here as their direct disciples and had trained them from an early age. ''I was the same¡­'' But, there were still many that had only ever learned anything about cooking from this teacher before us. Some of them had never even touched the cooking utensils until they joined this ss thinking it would be easy since it was all about cooking¡ª but that was the worst misconception they might have had. ''Lady Cleo''s ss is famous among the students who actually know a few things about cooking and are connected to it in some way.'' There''s always a toughpetition for a seat in her ss since many of the masters and grandmasters of this world in the culinary industry had learned some of the most valuable lessons of their lives from this person. ''She had produced geniuses.'' So, those who thought this was an easy ss dropped out within the very first week of joining it. While the rest who survived until the end and still had the desire to endure her harsh methods and teaching style, knew just what kind of things they might have had to face while staying in this ss. "Alright then~!" -p! p! p! She pped her hands three times and gathered the attention of the audience and judges on the balcony. "Shall we start 10 minutes early? Or do you all want time to think about what you will be making for us~?" She was asking us but she was looking at the headmasters and the ones behind her. Since she knew the answers to that question already. "Ah~. Looks like you will have ten minutes to prepare yourself. Oh! Then! How about I share an example with you all in the meantime~?" -Snap! She was a great chef herself who understood vours better than perhaps even Lady Medelian. However, not many had actually tased her cooking. Find adventures at mvl ''Not even many of the students had tasted it before.'' But us few among the students and teachers who had tasted it, knew very well just what kind of explosive tastes her food contained. And, fortunately, all of us were going to have a chance to taste the food of a Teacher. -Ooooooooooooong! Right after her snap, something that resembled a medium sized cake materialised on her dedicated kitchen table. "It''s not much, but, this is my representation of the sorrow." This cake filled with bright and attractive colours, was decorated with the most attractive looking choctes and candies, and just by looking at this pretty thing, one couldn''t help but feel a kind of joy inside their hearts. "I''ll have the esteemed headmasters have the first taste and then the students will have their pieces On Their Tables." There wasn''t much time left for the start of the test so, well, we couldn''t just gather around her and debate over this questionable thing she had prepared as her representation of sorrow. We did not have much time for something like that, so we just nodded as she had said that. And, after confirming everyone had no problems, she took out a strangely sharp looking, highly enchanted knife, and cut the entire cake into small pieces. "¡­" "¡­?" "???" And, as soon as she took out the first pieces of the cake from the bunch, the entire kitchen, which was already pretty quiet, becamepletely dead silent¡­ Chapter 878: Theme: Sorrow [OP: ] The cake that had various colours and decorations on the outside waspletely ck from the inside. Find your next read on §Þ?? There were noyers to this cake, and all that one could see beneath this colourfulyer of decoration was pitch ck darkness. The students, left stunned by the stark contrast of their appearance, could not utter a single word even until the cake itself had magically reached their tables. They just stared at the abyss-like darkness of the cake that¡­ a certain student standing on the balcony couldn''t take their eyes away from. She didn''t know about the colours of the cake but the kind of darkness that she saw inside of the cake had made a deep impact on her. She could see it clearly. It was deep, it was dark, it was devoid of anything but what it was, so it was pure. It wasn''t refined either. While they all looked, it was in its very natural state. Even when she got her hands on it, unlike everyone else, what she decided to do with this special cake¡ª was to store it away in her storage ring after putting it in a special box with high grade preservation spells cast on it. She didn''t want to eat this miracle. She wasn''t foolish like the others here. There was an entire world hidden in that small piece of cake that only she could understand. A world that she could resonate with naturally. She didn''t want to eat such a precious thing. Instead, she wanted to just have it, observe it as long as possible, collect data from it, and analyse it thoroughly to know more of what she was actually seeing with her eyes, or feeling with her entire being. She almost fell in love with that simple piece of cake¡­ if she could, she would have stolen the other''s pieces as well. But, as soon as they got it in their hands, or before them, they just instinctively took a bite out of it and soon finished the entire piece without realising it. There were many people present already while the cake was just a small thing so, there wasn''t much everyone could have. However, one thing surely happened with everyone who ate that simple yetplex cake¡­ -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­ There was a strange void in the hearts of everyone who ate that cake. An inexplicable emotion that suddenly overwhelmed them as soon as they finished that small piece of cake. The taste that they felt from that simple looking cake was not something extraordinary. It was unique but it could still be divided into unique variations of sweet, salty, and spicy. It was not the regr kind of cake that they ate, it was perhaps not a sweet or dessert either since the kind of taste that they experienced from it was something unique and different. Still, the emotions that overwhelmed them weren''t their own. They ate that thing, and the emotions that they were experiencing, emotions that made some sad, some angry, and emotions that made some of them shed involuntary tears of sadness, originated from that thing they all ate. It was strange¡ª to experience a kind of emotion that they had never experienced themselves. They couldn''t understand this, and they couldn''t help but question these sudden bursts of emotions either. It was certainly deep. It was sorrow as far as they understood it, but this emotion that they all were feeling differently was something that couldn''t really be defined as the simple ''sadness'' or ''anger''. They felt it instinctively. It was sorrow. a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others¡­ in this case, particrly, by the creator of that cake. Right after eating it, the judges as well as the headmaster and the vice headmaster present here gave the chef of this wonderful cake a word of gratitude along with theirpliments. They knew the value of such a wonderful piece of art, and they knew the right way to appreciate it from their positions. So, they did what any headmaster would have, and officially praised the creator of the cake, Lady Cleo on the academy''s official announcement board. The physical one that was situated right outside the ssroom corridor of the first floor, not the one that was essible by their leaf IDs. It was the greatest kind of praise a teacher could receive- after a sry bonus of course, but she didn''t care about that- in this academy. They were happy to have tasted that wonderful piece, and by the time the students had realised the meaning of ''her'' sorrow through that simple cake, the time to start their tests had already arrived. "Here''s the first question to all the students present right now." The students had to make a three course meal. Aplete meal for at least three judges that would most likely be the headmasters and their teacher. However, that was just the minimum number. They had to take into ount the volume of food that they were going to make and they had to make sure that everything waspletely sorted out by the end of this test. "What ingredients are you going to use? Say at least one ingredient that you are sure you will be using in this test. The earliest seat number will start." Unlike the normal theoretical exams of the academy, there were some subjects that had a unique way of taking their exams. The cooking ss of Lady Cleo was one of them. As for this paper, all her students had to create the number and volume of dishes that she announced on the day of the test under a certain ''theme'' of the test. These themes are always the president matter that all the judges including herself would check for before anything else, and the overall grading is also decided based on this. Simr to this ss, the superior grade weapon and magic practical paper that will be conducted tomorrow was one of the most important papers in the entire academy that most of the students wished to get in. But, only a few who meet the criteria and pass the subject teacher''s assessment could attend this ss officially. And yet, there are always extra students who attend this ss to watch the practical lessons of the students who attend that ss¡­ "Who''s the first one? Speak up! What''s the ingredients you''re gonna use~?" The timer clock situated right above the counter that she was standing in was already ticking down. The time was limited so the students who had yet not thought about what they were going to make were already in a panic. Their theme this time was sorrow, a rather unusual theme that not every one of them would be able to work on even with so much freedom. To represent sorrow throughout a three course meal, one first had to understand what the ''sorrow'' even meant to them. They then had to perfectly make a dish that could represent this ''sorrow'' which was not something simple even for someone like Eon. [{ "What you gonna make?" }] [{ "Dunno. Am still thinking." }] The students already knew taking inspiration from their teacher''s cake was not going to be possible since the sorrow that she presented to them in the form of that unique dish was something that belonged only to her. Additionally, if even Eon who had a special helper like Lucy couldn''tpletely analyse theponents and the creation methods of that cake, it wasn''t going to be possible for any of them to even figure out what ingredients their teacher had used in that seemingly simple looking cake. [{ "Looks like Lizzy knows what she''s gonna make." }] [{ "She might actually know it better than others, you know? Sorrow is exactly the kind of emotion she understands well." }] They knew her life had not been the greatest. There had been times when she had to starve. She was an orphan, and until recently, she had only relied on her own self. They knew her well, and they knew how she was a kind person despite the kind of difficulties she had been through. So, it wasn''t really a surprise that she would have already started her preparations. [{ What are you thinking, master? Is it difficult to make something like that pretty cake? }] [{ "Not really, little one. You see, sorrow is a kind of topic that we can work on in various different ways." }] [{ Then, are you having difficulty choosing which way you should make it~? I can help with that~! }] [{ "Hahaha, of course you can help with that. But we aren''t looking for what to make¡­ but rather, how to make it." }] The theme was pretty good this time, he knew that well at least. Sorrow. It was an emotion. And he knew how to evoke any kind of emotion through his dishes very well. Though, to actually recreate that emotion the way he understood it, there was a possibility that he would have to use some not-somon cooking methods. ''Lucy, do you think it will be a problem if we use some fancy techniques?'' [{ *Is that a question, master?* }] ''Well, I''m just asking for your opinion-.'' [{ *You will have to ask me a question for the kind of answer you are looking for, master.* }] He loved the ''soup'' that his teacher had prepared for them. It was a very unique dish and now even though there were other students and spectators, he was too tired to hold himself back anymore. ''Alright then. It''s a question.'' He wanted to try out many things. Experiment with a few other things. Check out some possiblebinations and ideas, and he wanted to make some certain things even though he did not know if they would be possible. But, he was fired up right now¡­ [{ *Very well then. The question is received¡­ and the answer is simply a negative. There will not be any serious consequences of what you would be trying out from now on.* }] ''Thanks for the short reply. That''s all I needed.'' He knew what he was going to do now that he had revived his green signal. And his turn to answer their teacher''s first question was here as well, so, he looked back at his teacher in the front with a positive smile, and answered to her right after the student beside him¡­ Chapter 879: Ingredients, utilities, and them [Eon''s POV: ] "So, Lucifer. What are you going to use?" She was looking at me with a particr interest in her eyes. It was obvious that she was not the same with me as the other students present here. Perhaps some students had revived some different treatment before me but she was openly smiling at me with that obvious interest. Even the students around me got goosebumps when they looked at that expression of hers. "I''ll be using some Giant fire boar with a little me drake blood as the main ingredients, miss." -nk. -Crrrrckle¡­! -Clung¡ªclunggg-nk! As soon as those words left my mouth, sounds of utensils dropping, ss shattering, and things dropping to the ground reverberated throughout the kitchen. And, not just the people around me, even the ones at the far back that might have barely heard my words looked back at me with a bbergasted look. "Did I hear that right? Giant fire boar and, did you really say me Drake blood?" "That is correct, teacher." What I wanted to make, what I wanted to portray through that dish needed something that could hold the strong taste of all the ingredients together. Something that would be refreshing, and at the same time, something that anyone could taste even with all the stupidly strong ingredients. "Hoh. When will you stop surprising me, young one?" She was happily smiling, as always. And as always, she had questions for me that she just couldn''t avoid. "Then do tell us from where you are going to obtain that fire drake blood, vice captain Lucifer of Wisdom Phoenix? I don''t think we have something even remotely close to that thing in these inventories." She was saying that in a mischievous voice as if she already knew that I had what I was talking about. And she was right as well. "I do have it with me, so there will not be anything to worry about. Then¡­ if you will please excuse me." Bowing down to her with a calm expression, I picked up the big basket, wrote down the things that I needed on a piece of paper, and carefully walked through the narrow path covered in broken ss and utensils. The others were still surprised and were looking at me dumbfounded as if I had said something that should not be true in the first ce, however, as someone that knew me well, Lizzy and others had already resumed their work despite their initial surprise. They knew wasting time doing nothing was not going to make the three course meals that they were supposed to have. They were only going to waste their time and fall behind others with all that they were thinking about, so just like me, working instead of just standing still was the better choice. "Hahaha, I''ll look forward to what you do from now on then~ vice captain Lucifer~." Her strangely positive attitude towards me was the very reason nearly the entirety of this ss didn''t like me. But, then again, my good cooking and the things that they get to taste were the reason they could not hate me either. It was a bittersweet rtionship¡­ but they all should better go back to cooking. "Next. What ingredients are you going to use?" "Hun? Hunn? Oh! Yes!" Continue your adventure with §Þ?? The one who was next after me brought everyone out of their daze, and those who were still looking at me collecting the ingredients along with the helpers got their senses back and went back to work. "Thanks." They had to first think what they were going to make, start preparing utensils for it, and then get the ingredients to start the making process. Time was ticking and even though the kitchen was full of advanced equipment, there was nothing that would work on its own or do things for us. We had to do everything on our own and without many of the things prepared with long preparations, things were going to be difficult for all of us. Still, we had to make what we wanted to make somehow. "Hmm¡­" Lizzy was starting her work with some fine wheat and other stuff used to make flour. She wasn''t using pre-made things and seemed like she was going to use ingredients to make everything by hand starting with a flour. She had prepared some vegetables and spices along with fruits so it seemed like she was starting with an appetiser and, since she had meat and oils on the side, she was already preparing for the main course simultaneously. ''That was the right thing to do under the time constraints, so¡­ looks like she''s doing well.'' Zoe told me to help her out if I can, but, from the looks of it, it doesn''t seem like she needs my help or anything. In fact, she looks more focused than ever for some reason¡­ ''It''s not a bad thing at all though so, this is good.'' Captain Alpha was doing great as well. ''He was one of the people that got the most attention after me from ma''am, so there are people betting on who will get better scores among us.'' Well, of course though, Lady Rosette was also one of the most popr among the ss as someone hailing from a family of prestigious chefs. She was considered a cooking genius and simr tody Cleo, she had a hypersensitive tongue that could understand and tell apart each ingredient from the other. ''She was very good at cooking as well, so I know the others will have to look out for her as well.'' And Lady Ezra was going to take things slow as usual anyway. There''s no need to worry about her for this test. So¡­ "Shall we start then?" The ingredients I will be using for the appetiser would be some golden rice, along with a few special eggs, some fish, and some meat from various different sources. It would be a light thing, but since the theme is sorrow, there will be a few things that I''ll have to look after. ''The texture has to be smooth with the appetiser while the taste itself has to be strong.'' It has to explode not while eating, but right after one ingested it¡ª almost simr to a potent poison. Then, for the main course, I''ll be making a vegetarian dish¡ª an experimental dish that I''ve never made before. ''It will be full of textures, vours, themes, colours, the presentation of it though, will be very simple looking.'' It will be something simr to Lady Cleo''s ''soup'' but I''ll be extremely careful with it since it will not be possible to make as much as three portions at once. ''It''s going to be aplicated process¡­'' I don''t know what kind of excuse I''m going to make when I start doing what I''m nning to do, but, since Lucy was sure there will be no great problems, I''ll just go ahead and do it without worrying. "As for the dessert¡­" I''m thinking of something simple¡­ something that will have the feelings but not taste. Something that will corrte to the memories and emotions that the one eating it will have and not something that I feel or know or understand. ''It''s going to be something I have experience with, like my special elemental ice creams that our friends have had a few times in the past.'' But since the creation process for that will beplicated as well, we will have to pay a lot of attention to the minor details. ''One mistake and the entire portion will be ruined.'' The risks were high with this one, but I have special ingredients that the others do not have. And since there is no restriction on using anything, I''ll just go ahead and use what I can to get the perfect results. ''Lucy¡­'' [{ *I am always ready, master.* }] She was there to help me with all that she can help with. And this time, since the methods I will be using are not the best things to show off in a small kitchen, I''ll have to ask for her help. ''Alright then¡­'' Taking out a certain device from my storage space that neither the students around me nor the teachers were expecting to see, I ced the disc-like thing with many jewels embedded in it on the table before me. -Oooooooooooooong! And, right after channelling some Aura through the device, a unique purple protective barrier covered exactly my working area. "What is the meaning of this, student Lucifer?" The same teacher that was calling me ''vice captain'' until just now looked at me with a serious gaze as she asked that question. However, instead of answering her question directly, I simply materialised my Aura, took out a Mana crystal, an Aether core, an Arcane crystal, and a condensed materialised mana bead for all six main elements and ced them on the table before me. "I apologise for my actions from now on, teacher. However, I pledge to respectfully follow all rules, so I''ll ask for your understanding and support." The cooking methods I used to normally make things were alreadyplicated enough that the others hardly understood them, but with such an opportunity before me, there was no way I would just stick to the basics and make something mediocre. "Huuu¡­" The timing was right, the environment was perfect, the cake like ''soup'' was an inspiration, and there was an itch on my hands that wasn''t going to go away with just the normal food. ''Let''s start, Lucy.'' [{ *Yes, master.* }] There were some things that I''m going to make from now on that might or might not reflect the theme from a general idea of Sorrow, but, for me¡­ these things will be a perfect representation of what ''sorrow'' actually is. And, I want Her to taste them as well, so¡­ these things have to be perfect. Chapter 880: Elemental tempering [OP: ] As soon as he took out the various energy stones and crystals, the attention of the teachers and the judges was drawn to him. However, the students that were around him were in a confused state right after he was enveloped in that protective barrier. The teachers knew instantly by their confusion that this barrier was no normal protective wall but instead something much more unique, something that not only was strong but was also something with the illusion properties. In fact, the headmaster knew instantly that this unique magic engineering artifact was made with the same principles that he himself made his spells with. Something that was inspired from his spells, and made with the high knowledge that he possessed. "Hmmm¡­" He was smiling, and he was not the only one like that. "That boy¡­" Even their teacher Lady Cleo was surprised when he covered himself with that shield and took out those umon stones. Using Aura, Mana or any other kind of energy in the cooking process wasn''t unheard of however, it was so advanced techniques that the academy did not teach them until the students were in their third grade or had shown exceptional skill. "What is he up to this time?" The teachers were the only ones who could see him right now, not the students. And the teachers knew that it was for the better as inside that thin barrier, something shocking was unfolding¡­ "How is he doing that?" "Isn''t he just a swordsman? That kind of elemental control¡­" "Oh, that''s right. He''s also a hexa elemental affinity holder. Is it because of that?" "That still doesn''t make any sense. Just look at him¡­" The judges were confused right now since inside the barrier, Eon was using a unique technique with the condensed elemental Mana to temporarily summon elemental spirits. He was using the other unique energy crystals and his own Aura to guide the spell process, casting the spell with not his mana but with an external source. It was not a traditional western technique, but something that the masters of the east used frequently with the charms and enchantments. Still, the kind of summoning spell that he was using was something too advanced to be used by a student. And, he was doing it in a cooking paper, so it was even moreplicated for the rest of the judges. However, the two headmasters were paying a close attention to all his actions. They were looking at every single element of the spells that he was using, observing everything that was resulting from his actions, and checking for any kind of errors in anything he was doing- not that they had found anything yet, but they were looking for it still. They believed in him since they had seen him out on the field doing the real thing that only he could, but this was their first time witnessing his cooking skills. And, as a firm enjoyer of his cooking skills, they were looking forward to what he was up to with that kind of show off. "Looks like he will be using elemental tempering on the ingredients." One of the teachers in charge of the spirit summoning ss spoke up with a surprise on her face. She was not expecting to see temporary spirit summoning in this cooking test, but now that she was seeing something so refined with her own eyes, she couldn''t help admire the summoning spell that the boy in question was using at the moment. "Earth, water, wind, fire, light, and even darkness¡­ how is he nning to use all of them in cooking? Should he even do that?" The judges who were supposed toplete objective with their observations and tradings were having difficulty understanding what they were seeing at the moment. Continue your adventure with §Þ?? They were certainly experts of their own fields however, this was a cooking test. They were supposed to grade the meals that the students prepared and their performance and understanding of the subject, materials, and techniques. And surely, magic or summoning magic to be specific was not part of all their specialities. "The test itself givesplete freedom to the students on the methods and ingredients. If he can do it, there''s nothing wrong with this." The headmaster was busy but he knew he shouldn''t miss this opportunity. The reason he was here along with the vice headmaster was exactly to taste what this young child makes for them. They were busy with their own work, but that work was not so important that they would want to miss this great opportunity. "I''d say he knows what is doing so, there is nothing wrong with using thoseplex methods at all. As long as he makes the things that he is nning to make, it should be alright." Even the vice headmaster supported him so the judges behind them fell silent, looked back at him in the barrier, and started taking note of his actions like the the headmasters. At the same time¡­ "Huuuu¡­" He had finished summoning all six of the elemental spirits that he had already had contact with previously by using his unique specific summoning spell. These spirits did not have a contract with him so it was not possible for them to stay in this world for too long, but thanks to the branch of the world tree, the special artifacts, and his innate familiarity with these spirits, it was possible for him to summon these specific spirits and get their help with small tasks like cooking. "Alright, you can start." It required a lot of energy for them to stay in this world so he had to use his expensive Arcana and Aether crystals but it was still fine. He knew what was more important right now so this little investment was nothing for him¡­ he was going to use the super expensive fire drake blood that he had only secured after so many weeks, but that was fine as well. He wasn''t going to use all of it, so, the two of them can still have a little at night when all of their tests are over¡­ -Oooooooooooooooong! The elemental spirits that he had summoned were just the starting process. He was going to use them for elemental tempering, change the elemental structure of the things he was going to use a little, and use them in a way that wasn''t conventional at all. It was a technique simr to what the dark elf tribes of the far eastern world use to make some special dishes during their annual festivities. Theymonly used Spirit Mana in the process but since he wasn''t proficient with handling the spirit Mana yet, he was using the condensed elemental beads along with his Aura and some Solnova to maintain the process. He could have done it with Solnova like he usually does at their dorm or at home, but this was an academic setting. Even if the others couldn''t sense or perceive Solnova, it was still an energy that followed the logical flow. If he used it recklessly, even the teachers and the judges would catch onto the strangeness of his abilities which would lead toplications. He was still just the vice captain and an unknown adventurer with no certain identity. And above that, he was still just a student of the academy. Many things could go wrong if people knew about a power as strange as Solnova and took advantage of it¡­ he didn''t want to put anyone around him in a dangerous position. So, he cautiously used all his elemental and external energies with precision, leaving only the minor gaps for criticism. He processed the ingredients that he had taken out from his storage space first, and then he moved onto the creation part. "Starting with appetisers¡­" Unlike the others who made everything side by side, since he was using some veryplex ingredients and techniques, he had no choice but to make every single part of the dishes one by one. For dessert, he would even have to make every portion one after the other. And, he knew it was a lot of work. But, that was the reason he had to work faster¡­ process everything faster than the others, make every single elements in the shortest possible time, and without wasting any time, use his ZONE in the cooking process. "That''s just crazy¡­" "How can someone so young even think of something like that?" "To be able to enter the zone¡­ and for cooking at that¡­" "The great academy of Hope never stops surprising me every time I''m here." There are many judges who couldn''t believe what they were seeing right now. It was surprising, but more than that, it was absurd. On the higher levels of any art form, having a deep concentration was a necessity. And entering the deep conscious state of ZONE was not a rare thing. However, cooking was a kind of art that had more pressure oriented elements to stopped the ''artists'' from getting distracted. It was quite a rare sight to see a chef entering the ZONE when cooking, but as some of the few people who had witnessed the cooking of the top chefs of this world, they knew how amazing of an experience it was to witness the top chefs cooking food in their signature styles. It was nothing less than witnessing a sword dance, or a magic array creation by the elder mages or the archmages. It was a thrilling experience¡­ And, when they looked at the young boy cooking for them in that enclosed space, they understood why he might have locked Himself inside that barrier. Chapter 881: Food meant for the fortunate [OP: ] Lost in the ZONE, his body seemed to be moving on its own. His hands worked so fast. That some of the normal judges who were only simple chefs among them were stunned to see such fine handwork with that kind of precision. The way hemanded the elemental spirits that he had summoned was stunning as well, and the entire creation process that was happening before their eyes had stunned not only the teachers and the judges, but also some of the few watching him from the spectator balcony who could also see him. The way he moved, the wis hands moved, the way he used those unique and simple utensils was all something quite phenomenal. Even their teacher Lady Cleo who was asking questions to the rest of the students asionally didn''t disturbed him and just watched how he used the elements in the cooking, how he was using Aura and the other energy crystals, how he moved and how he controlled the volume of those elements. He had done it before, they knew that much. That kind of practical demonstration was only possible if someone had performed that process till mastery. So, she knew he was not doing all that for the first time. And, that made her even more curious¡­ He knew the techniques that he was using. They were from various cultures and not something a single person would know unless they had traveled throughout they world and lived with those various people and learned from them over a long period. Sure there was a possibility that someone who had travelled the world, like the great empress of Roxanna, might have taught him herself. But, then again, to master these techniques, one at least needed a decade worth of pure experience. Not even the best geniouses of the world would have been able to replicate what he was doing right now without at least a few years of experance and, since she at least knew that he was a human with no special physical characteristics, she knew he was still just a fifteen year young adult. At most, he would have had a decade of experance and, if he was able to do something of that level with just a decade of experance, it was hard to believe that someone else had taught him those things. As someone who had been doing it for centuries now, she knew how difficult the task of cooking meant. Especially when we were talking about the moreplex things like what he was doing in that closed space. Being able to control me spirits in order to precisely maintain the temperature of the mes, being able tomunicate with them, using water spirits for taste and freshness, and using the most difficult light and darkness attributes to enhance the textures of the smallestponents¡­ As she saw him finish his first few things, she knew he must have either been taught by a god themselves, or he was someone who had lived more than his age. That was the only exnation she coulde up with with her experance, and that just made things even more intresting for her¡­ She was even more curious now. And, from the looks of it, the two headmasters weren''t that surprised even after seeing that level of skills¡ª which meant they must have expected to see something like this from that child. He was an interesting fellow with an unknown past and a near impossible mind to see through. She did not know who he was and she had never cared about it before either¡­ but after seeing all this, there was no way she was just going to let him be. Readtest stories on §Þ?? ''Lucifer¡­'' She wanted to know who he was, what he was, how could he do what he was doing right now, who taught him, and how was he able to secure all those special ingredients. He was using some weird things in his cooking that even someone like her had never heard about. It was simr to the unconventional style of Roxanna''s empress, the young grandmaster that she had taught herself. But he was doing something even more unconventional than her¡­ Using the leaves and fruits of a great tree, using flowers of an ancient tree, using elemental tampering on elemental ingredients, to using things that she was seeing for the first time in her life¡­ ''Peculiar¡­'' He surely used the boar meat for his appetisers along with the t bread that he made himself. He had also refined spices with the help of his elemental spirits, and even though he was doing eveything so fast that no machine in this kitchen would have been able to keep uop with him, thanks to the spirits that he had summoned and the Magic items that he was using, things were going so fast that it reminded her of the of the [Conquest]. A cookingpetition held between the best known chefs of this world happens once a decade. They all also have fun during that and seeing him do what he was doing right now, she was certain that she was going to see him in that littlepetition next time. However, it was still quite a few years away so, that was that¡­ ''Looks like he''s done with the appetisers.'' And oh boy they looked appetising¡­ ''He''ll move to the main course then, right?'' His cooking skills were unbelievable. He understood what it meant to cook for the others, as well as what it meant to cook what he wanted. He had techniques, and he had knowledge. He also had refined talent and good experience so, as they watched, as clock ticked and the other student neared thepletion of their three courses, he had only started working on his dessert. His ting was pending, his final touches were pending, but he did not care about any of that and just focused on his dessert in thest thirty minutes that he had. In the normal circumstances, people should be done with their meals by thest thirty minutes like the others were, but as someone who took the longest route, and did the mostplicated work, he was still behind the other students. However, unlike the rest of them, he had prepared a lot more than what was asked of them, which meant he was not nning to feed just thre three of them and the judges. He even experimented with a few ingredients before getting what he wanted as she understood from what she was seeing. Things would have been much easier to understand if she could smell the fragrance of the things he was making, her sensitive body would taste it directly through that scent, but since all voice and smell was blocked in hat closed space, except the visual output, none of them knew what exactly was cooking in those pots and pans. It was troublesome since they couldn''t judge what exactly he was making but from what they were seeing alone, they could tell things that they will taste would be interesting¡­ Yes he was just a student like the rest of them and this was a midterms paper for them, but after seeing how he was talking this test, it was clear that he was not leading it the same as the rest of them. There aren''t going to be any extra points for this paper since it is not a high level or supreme level ss. This was just the first year''s first exam so even her hands were tied. The most he might get from this test was going to be a perfect score, so this wasn''t going to be something very helpful to him in his scores. But, even after knowing that, he was putting in that kind of effort¡­ She knew what he had just made was not something one could buy with simple money. It was a form of art that people would spend a fortune to experience just once¡­ she didn''t know what it would taste like, but if it was as special as she thought it would be, she knew this presentation would be one of the best she had ever seen in an academyan academy test. It''s not everyday one gets to have food like that. Even if he messes up the entire thing and it doesn''t taste any special, the ingredients that he had used, the simple things that he had processed and enhanced were going to be explosive when they hit the taste buds. She had a particrly sensitive tongue. She was in fact a creature that experienced the earthly elements in their purest forms, as well as in the most natural form that they were presented to her. She had some unique skills rted to taste and food and natural qualities of a substance, so¡­ when it came to the Food meant only for the fortunate ones, she was an expert that the creators from all over the world feared. It wasn''t easy to please her. It certainly wasn''t simple to getpliments from her either. Her position in this academy was unique since many of the teachers working alongside her were taught by her at one point. So¡­ After not only getting amazed at his cooking skills, but after also seeing all those creation techniques, she was expecting the end results¡ª his unique cooking to be something as satisfying as this unbearable wait. "Last ten minutes! Start ting if you have not finished yet!" He wasn''t done with his dessert yet. It seemed like he had made some mistakes and had to do a lot of things again and again. He did not have enough time left anymore, but¡­ she knew he would finish it. After working at that kind of speed, she knew he would make it even by thest second of their given time. Chapter 882: Lizzy’s Presentation [Eon''s POV: ] ''She''s going to kill me.'' [{ *Well, master¡­ she will understand if we exin properly.* }] ''Then she will torture me.'' [{ *She''s sometimes gentle with her punishments¡­ let''s pray for mercy.* }] ''What else can we do anyway.'' Rein asked me to make a portion for her as well, but I could only make three portions for the dessert in the short time that was left. There was surely more for the appetisers and the main course, but since I failed many times, there were only three portions of well prepared dessert items. ''It was well made as well, so I know no one will want to share it with the others. There is a chance that they will even want to steal the other''s portions but, since they are headmasters and proper judges who know what it means to ''taste'' and evaluate the other''s dishes, they will refrain from doing anything that doesn''t suit their current position. ''I wasn''t worried about them. I did my best and what I made is the results of my heart throbbing efforts.'' I''m confident and content with what I ended up making. And though still not nowhere near my master''s divine cooking, I can say this is one of my best works till this day. "We will now begin the judging and evaluation process. Please step forward when your names are called along with all of your dishes." Thest moments were the most difficult. ''Since I failed during the creation process, there were some things that werepletely ruined and became toxic and I had to discard them immediately. ''Handling the drake blood was more difficult than I had expected.'' I just wanted it as a taste enhancement element, something that could bind together the rest of the vours and produce something that would be even better than their original form. It was a lot more difficult to fuse them with just the elemental spirits as well since the energy contained in that blood was inherently stronger than what those little spirits can handle. ''It would have been much better if I could summon the higher grade spirits, but for that, I would have needed longer time and more freedom than what I had.'' In the academic setting, there was no way for me to show everything that I could do, but even with the restrictions and breaking a few rules, I was able to get something that would surely convey what I wanted to show them. "Student Lizzy, please step forward." The judges weren''t on the ground floor like us. Only Miss Cleo was standing in the kitchen alongside us, and the rest of the judges and the headmasters were on the balcony opposite to the students and spectators. The teachers were also on that side, but different from the judges and the headmasters, the teachers were standing as they watched the proceedings in this kitchen. They were only here to observe like the rest of the students and the spectators, so they weren''t sitting. ''The judges weren''t on the same level as the chefs that make these amazing things, so this whole setting was a way to show their respect to the great chefs that create beautiful things that they and the rest of the world will enjoy.'' There was a meaning in how they did things here as well, but that''s what made the great academy the best learning institution of this world. "Please show us what you''ve prepared for us, Miss Lizzy." I was too busy to watch the others after I started, so I didn''t see how things went for the rest of them. However, from how they had all started, and the looks they all had right now, I knew it was the right choice to use that illusion barrier. ''What did she make, Lucy?'' [{ *I can tell you, master. However, it will be more fun to see for yourself. She had worked hard on this, and she did well. That is all I will say.* }] ''Oh?'' If even Lucy was saying she did well, then there was certainly no way I can ignore this statement. She had high standards like these eyes of mine that hardly give stars to anything. "Greetings, Lady Cleo. I will begin with my entr¨¦e." "Hmm." It was fascinating to see her like that, but that confidence look suits her more than her anxious self. ''She''s a captain so she knows what her responsibilities are, and in times like these, she changes into her confident self.'' Of course this is just her best attempt to not look weak, her attempt to handle herself in tough situations. Those who could see through that tough act could still see that anxious personality shivering under her confident face¡­ and it is admirable. "What have you made for us, Student Lizzy." Lady Cleo passed two portions of her appetisers to the judges on the balcony, and opened the round lid covering her first item. "For my entr¨¦e, Lady Cleo, I''ve prepared a (Northern sea shrimp) baskets, along with a regr chicken breast filling, breadcrumbs as its base, and threeyers of cream made with Fine golden dust, some spice solids, and some jelly." The way she described it made it sound quite appealing, however, the way she had presented this dish waspletely unexpected. "Oh? This is¡­ unique." The basket she was talking about wasn''t some simple hexagon basket like they usually make for these kinds of dishes. The base itself was round, it seemed like the shrimp basket was almost broken, some filling was falling out of it, while the golden dust that she had used was all over the ce. ''Wow¡­'' That was quite a unique presentation, I''d say. "I can see how much sorrow this simple dish reflects, Miss Lizzy." Lizzy was blushing at the very firstpliment she ever received from our teacher. Her face was red, but she just bowed her head to her and continued looking at her with an anticipating look. She had worked hard, it was easy to tell. ''Especially the whole teing. It looked quite well.'' Of course it was a mess, but she had intentionally made it like that to showcase how her life used to be in her early days as an orphan girl. Her presentation depicted the struggles of the young, the ingredients she used depicted some of the simplest things that an orphan got to eat, and the golden dust was there to show how they had to face countless setbacks. It was pretty well made. It was simple, it reflected her simplicity, it reflected her uniqueness, and it reflected the kind of care she puts into everything she does. "Hmmm. Fresh, nice, and light. This is good, Miss Lizzy." "Thank you for thepliment!" She only ate a small portion of everything that was presented on that dish, and after thatpliment¡­ she started listing things that could have been better with her dish, how she could have made it better, and how she could have enhanced the way she presented things. She was as tough with her review as she usually is, however, different from the other students before her, Lady Cleo was actually giving her pointers. And just that much was moreplimenting than her reactions to the dishes that the students had prepared before her. "For my main course, I''ve prepared a ''Greenhouse''. A bowl full of things that I was never able to have in the past." Her main course waspletely different from her entr¨¦e. It was attractive, the presentation was very well done, and the way she used the colours to make this entire thing bright and cheerful, at the same time using expensive things to make each element of her dish clearly showed how difficult it would be for someone with poor financial status to have such things. The longing of the ones looking at this expensive looking dish was obvious, and the way the young orphans could react to this dish was something many of the students could feel as well¡­ ''Her main course was fulfilling for the ones who ate it. Even Miss Cleo and the judges took more than a few bites, showing their interest and likening for this particr dish.'' She again received some harsh criticism from the teacher over how she did not focus on the harmony of the ingredients and how things could have been even better. But, she made it up with her dessert. "Lastly for dessert¡­ I''ve prepared a pie." A simple, fruit pie that looked not just attractive and delicious¡­ but the way it was presented made even the nobles in this kitchen drool for a little taste of it. It looked pretty, it looked fresh, and more than anything just one look was enough for one to want to have it. "You''ve done some good work on this one, Miss Lizzy." Lady Cleo observed the Pie from close, looked at the red of the inside, the gold of the outside, the dark chocte sprinkles around it, the sweet sauce that the te was decorated with¡­ it was quite amazing. The other students before her also had some very attractive presentations, but this one was above most of them. It was almost close to the level of a professional. "Good work." And, the way Miss Cleo gave her that shortpliment without any bad reviews along with that little smile made the other students around us open their eyes wide with surprise. They knew this person well. She had been behind many of them during the ss, she was also not as good with many things as they were so they weren''t expecting much from her¡­ however, she did better than any of them had ever expected. ''Our practice and training preparations helped her, it seems.'' And, it was for the best. [{ "She looks happy." }] That was Zoe. [{ "She sure does." }] She was happy to see her close friend smiling like that as well. Chapter 883: Criticism of the headmasters [Eon''s POV: ] "For my starter, I''ve prepared chicken." "You deep fried chicken? To represent the sorrow of your life?" Lady Cleo looked at captain Alpha with a questioning gaze. She was not expecting something so simple. Not from him. "Care to tell me why you''d make your entree something so simple, and¡­" She picked up a knife and a fork, cut a piece of the fried chicken, and took a small bite. "Did you cool it down intentionally? I want to heat the logic behind keeping the insides uncooked as well, captain of the true dragons." She was not happy right now. Be it presentation or the taste, nothing really corresponded with the theme of this test. It made no sense to them that he had done it intentionally, and yet, knowing his skills, she could not believe what he had presented to them was a natural mistake. "I''ll first apologise for the bad representation, Lady Cleo. And I appreciate your question." This was captain Alpha standing before her, not anyone else but the person with the best orator skills. "In the early days of my life when I lived with my mother and younger brother¡­" He started telling them his story. His sad, sad story of how he was from amon family, and how his mom who did not know much about cooking made them things that they could not afford to purchase with their little money. He spoke in a tone that almost brought tears to some of the students, even some of the teachers weren''t spared from his words. Everything he said sounded the truest truth a human being can speak of. Even the headmasters who were considered higher beings could not help but believe in those words. [{ "Now that I see things, I see how good this bastard is, hun." }] Even Rein was intrigued by his speech over a half cooked dish. [{ "The story has sorrow and it is conveyed to the listener through the one speaking it. He''s a great artist if I say so myself." }] It wasn''t possible for just anyone to say those simple yet false things so confidently and with so many emotions. He knew convincing them with his cooking wasn''t going to be enough so, he started off with confusing their minds with this story, with those words, with this tectic that the headmasters could clearly see through. "Hmmm. I see your reasoning now." Even Miss Cleo could tell all of that was bullshit. But this captain Alpha was so good at bullshitting that even she was sold. "Move on to the main course." It wasn''t that he wasn''t a good chef or didn''t know how to make good things, te them well, or make them state well. He knew all that and he was good at it. We all knew that already. But, one thing he was even better at, was speaking in that particrly convincing way. ''It was a talent in itself that even the headmasters or the teachers could ignore.'' But he was wrong if he thought he would just get away with his good words. "Wait a minute, Miss Cleo." Lady Cleo was not the one judging these dishes. She was only the person giving us feedback. The people who were actually judging the dishes were the headmasters and the judges that sat behind them. And, even if they liked the way the captain had convinced them, they still couldn''t help how bold he was being. "I have something to say to Captain Alpha." Vice headmaster was a strict person. Even more than the headmaster in matters rted to discipline and ethics. "Yes, vice headmaster." He looked up at her, at her unhappy eyes, and knew what was going toe. "You know what you did there and we know as well, and I know you know that." He was a smart person, there was no way he did not know about hisck of ability to convince those superior beings. "You could have just done something within your abilities but you went beyond it, and did something hical." She was using Mana voice in a unique way that only him and a few sensitive to Mana and sound could perceive it. "I won''t say you did something bad. You''re doing what you think is right and you''re living by your own values. I respect that." Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head with an upset expression. "But remember that you''re betraying the efforts of many others by using something that is not part of this test. There are mutes out there that can make better things than you with their eyes closed. At the same time, there are people who can speak better than you will ever know if you keep this mentality." She did not like how he did it. "Grow up. You''re not a child anymore." He knew well just what her words meant, as well as what she wanted from him. He was good at something and he used it in a ce where he was not supposed to use it. Where there was no need to use something like that. He lied, to him and to all the people who heard him. She, of all the people present here, could never tolerate it. Especially since she knew he was in fact, talented. "Be better from the next time." He bowed to her, but he did not apologise. He did not regret what he had just done, we can tell he would do it again if he had to. He was not a good person like Quin or Lizzy. He was like us¡­ ''And that sometimes worries me a lot.'' Even after all this time, I still don''t understand this person as well as the others. He could prove to be a good asset, but his nature and ways of him makes me hesitant. "As for my main dish¡­" He had made pretty good dishes and they were presented as well as Lizzy''s. His dessert was so well made that even the headmasterplimented him¡­ before criticising him over his excessive use of methods that he was not yetfortable with. He had also experimented with a lot of things and the results he obtained were not the best at first. He had to try many times again, and just like me, it was a surprise that he managed to finish on time. ''But, he could have done much better had he just stuck to the basics and the things that he knew.'' He was good already. There was no need for him to go above and beyond like that. ''It might not affect his scores since he had done nothing wrong, but the headmaster and the teacher that had taught him did not like it.'' He was betraying their trust and confidence, which was wrong in all the ways. "Miss Ezra." It was Ezra''s turn soon. And, truthfully, she was very unique with her cooking. "I''ve always enjoyed your fresh takes on the simplest of the dishes." She was a creative person and since the theme was sorrow, there were perhaps only a few others in this room who understood that particr emotion as well as she did as someone who had to regress repeatedly. "What have you prepared for us today?" If I say captain Aloha was pretty much an all rounder in cooking and Lizzy was very good at ting and decorating, when ites down to taste, there is a unique spark in things that Miss Ezra makes. "Carrot soup for the appetiser, a chicken wrap for the main dish, and some coffee-chocte as the dessert." She was from the northwestern part of the continent, thend of scorching heat and sand dunes. It wasmon practice to have meat with everything that they usually have and since it was the main source of food in that barrennd anyway, things that they could eat were very limited. The carrots weren''t something one usually finds in the desert. They needed fertile soil and water to grow. However, in thosends, it was a luxury to have things like carrots or even coffee and chocte for that matter. ''Only the higher ranking people of thend, the royal or nobles could ever have something like that.'' Common people had to live on simple things and meat was their main source of food. They still worked hard in the fields to grow some things and find oasis to raise their animals. The greens that could grow on limited water and soil of a desert was limited, however, her empire was able to withstand those harsh conditions and make their ce in this world for so long thanks to their indomitable wills. They were tough people that even ate cacti when they needed to¡­ that''s what made them strong and resilient to the conditions of that harsh environment. ''Her special food represented the sorrows of not only herself, but also the sorrows of his people.'' Things that they could not have, things that were made so well that even Lady Cleo finished the entire bowl of that soup¡ª the biggestpliment any of them had received until now. "I''d love to have you in my ss next year as well, Miss Ezra." "I do think that will be possible, Miss. I apologise." She had that unique magic in her hands that created a taste that, someone who tasted not just the taste but also the emotions and feelings behind it like Miss Cleo, could not help loving. "Thank you for the wonderful dishes today then." There wasn''t really anything super special about her cooking. It was just naturally amazing¡­ "Next, Miss Rosette. Please step forward." "Yes." My turn ising soon now. However, just like everyone else, I''m also looking forward to seeing just what a cooking genius had prepared for all of them today. ''It''s surely going to be something special, right?'' Chapter 884: A master Chef [Eon''s POV: ] "Miss Rosette." "A very good evening to you as well, Miss." She was wearing a professional gown, had the whitest clothes among us, and the confidence she had was being reflected in her eyes. She was attractive looking, had short light brown hair that matched her light brown eyes. The air around her was that of a professional, something that I''ve felt from people like grandmother anddy Med. She knew what her role was in this kitchen, she knew what she had to do and how she was supposed to do it. She was not very talkative but she was a nice person that did not like me. ''It''s not like she hated me either, but as a professional, she just did not like how I was so good.'' She did not know how I knew all the things that I knew, and since she had not seen me struggling with the things I do, she couldn''t ept how I was able to do all those things. "Good evening, good evening. You look confident, hun?" "I know I''ve done what I could have." Her voice was a little on the deeper side, but it was pretty as well. She was a famous person among the students, especially the students of our cooking ss. [{ *She did a good job as well.* }] ''You think so?'' It was pretty rare to hear herpliment someone like that. Especially ones that we did not interact with much. [{ *She knows what she''s doing. I''d say that much.* }] As a chef, one had to know what they were doing, or else the end result would not be possible. The trial and error method did not work in this art form. There was a protocol, some requirements, necessity of the experience, and talent as well. Someone needed emotions and the ability to infuse those emotions into the food they make. Science yed some role, surely. People used magic and various energies as well, but that was just the techniques. The methods. What made good food was not just what the senses experience whening in contact with these things, but also something beyond that. There was a worldly connection between the chef, the ingredients, and the medium through which they were making what they were making. ''When someone learns how to interact with this connection, these ingredients, and this ''medium'' they earn the attention of the world.'' And when they seed in expressing their true self in their cooking, they are granted the title of a ''master'' in this field. "Hmmm. Alright. Then, shall we start?" "Yes, ma''am." She was not a master yet, but she came from a family that had masters as well as grandmasters. She has lived with those famous and amazing people ever since she was born. A natural liking for cooking was obvious, so she had learned from them ever since a young age. She was good at many things when it came to the subject of cooking. Her knife skills were top notch, she could handle a diverse array of ingredients, and she knew many more techniques than the rest of us. She had experienced and since she had seen some of the best of this world from up close, she also knew how those people made things even with the many restrictions. ''She had a lot of freedom in this test, so she did her best without caring about the others.'' And what she came up with at the end, were some of the finest dishes of this entire test. "As the entr¨¦e, I''ve prepared the (Carm infused stcorn). They are sprinkled with some spices as well, and the sauce on the side is prepared with some fresh herbs." What she had prepared then seemed to be a normal bucket of popcorn, however, the ones with keen eyes could tell the thing that looked like a popped corn was not exactly as simple as it looked. ''She used the biggest grains of corn thate from a unique part of the eastern continent, something that people don''t use in the cooking process but in alchemy.'' She pressure cooked these things first, then she used a machine to dry freeze them, and when they were ready, she used anotherplex machine to cook it with hot air produced with a certain kind of charcoal, turning it into the popped corn state. ''She used another unique method to infuse the caramel sauce she had created herself into this product, and to give it the kind of taste she wanted, she used the spices but¡­'' The sauce she had prepared was not something that should have been part of this whole dish. "Hmmm¡­ it''s good." The dish itself wasplete without that herb sauce since when eaten with the sauce the whole harmony of the perfect dish would be disrupted. Even the teachers and the judges who tasted it had the kind of expression that said there was something wrong. They thought but couldn''t understand it at first, but then Lady Cleo spoke up with an intrigued voice. "Does the sauce represent the sorrow born from excessive goodness?" "Excessive love, yes." The theme of the test was Sorrow, as we all knew already. And, she chose a unique way to represent her sorrow in this dish of hers. "The vours mix well, the emotions of happiness, joy, and pureness are reflected well in the dish. Independently, this herb sauce is delicious as well. And both could be pretty good when served separately. But you presented both of them together. And your presentation makes the sauce look necessary to the whole dish." Miss Cleo looked visibly impressed by it. "The idea of little things affecting a perfect something produces a unique kind of sorrow. This right here¡­ is what I call fascinating." Aplement of that level from Lady Cleo with a smile on her face was something all of us present here were surprised to see. Some students were even shocked since this was the first time she had made that kind ofpliment to anyone ever since we started learning from her. Even the looks on headmasters and teachers who got to taste the extra portions she had prepared were visible to the students¡­ "I cannot wait for the next ones." Lady Cleo asked her for the next ones directly. And, with a professional bow, she presented her main course to the esteemed judges. "As a westerner, Rice has always intrigued me since the people of the east eat it with nearly all dishes. In this presentation, I''ve tried to bring the western and eastern cultures together, making the rice a base for the traditional style rice bowl." She was calling it a rice bowl but, hidden beneath the round covering te was a giant bowl containing a topyer of stake, a middleyer of gravy, and a lower level of finely stirred fried rice. "This¡­ looks more appetising than all the other things we''ve had today, Miss Rosette." "I''m ttered you think that way, Miss Cleo." Her presentation was perfect, the bowl she chose was perfect, the way she had ced the stake was impable, and the way she decorated the te under the bowl was even more impressive. Overall, even though I did not eat any of it, I could tell there was something much more fun in this dish than just the decoration.additionally, the best part of the entire dish was not the stake, nor the dressing on the te, and not even the gravy underneath the meat. The best part of that entire dish was the baseyer, the rice that somehow made all the difference. "This is something I''d pay to eat, Miss Rosette." Thispliment from her was the most surprising. Even for the judges. "Good work." The sorrow of not being able to eat the best part first, to go through two wholeyers of just a little less delicious part was what made this presentation even more satisfying. She finished the whole bowl clean, and without more words, she moved on to the dessert part¡ª a small cupcake made with various unique ingredients that not all the students present here would have been able to handle. ''It looked a cupcake, but in fact it was something close to an ice cream made with various naturally sweet ingredients, processed with the best care, and was prepared just like the actual professionals.'' It was a very good one as well. It had the taste, the theme, the story, and though not to the students, it was a genuinely interesting topic of discussion for the teachers watching us from the above. "Hmmm." And Lady Cleo liked this as well so she didn''t say anything more than that, finished the dish, walked up to her, and patted her shoulders. And without saying anything anymore, she went back to her ce. ''Miss Rosette¡­'' She was a good chef who understood the importance and meaning of cooking. She was sure to make a good creator as soon as she gets out of this academy. "Next one." Rosette walked back to her ce after the teacher called for the next person¡­ but before she did, she looked at me with a strong look. She knew she did her best, and perhaps she knew she was still not going to be the best one among us today. "Mister Lucifer. Please step forward." "Yes." She was looking forward to seeing what I had made. And she was not the only one who did. "It''s finally your turn, hun?" "It is nice to see you on this fine evening as well, Miss Cleo." They were waiting for my turn. She, the judges, the teachers, the rest of the students, Rein¡­ they were waiting. But now, it was finally my turn. "Shall we start right away? I can''t wait to see what you''ve cooked for us today." "Yes, ma''am." And, I''m excited for this as well¡­ Chapter 885: Love for cooking [OP: ] "I couldn''t ask you anything before because of the thing you did, vice captain Lucifer." Standing before the judges and the person that had given him the chance to make something he had never thought about himself before this day, he smiled bitterly at his teacher. "I apologise once again, Teacher." "Hmm, hmmm. It is alright now, but now that you are done making the thing you were so focused on, it should be fine to ask you the pending questions i could not before, right?" "Of course." The other students were asked questions byu her when they were making their dishes and they had to answer in the middle of the reditation process but since he had blocked himself inside that ce, she could not ask him anything. He got away with the hard thing since they all could see what he was doing was already much more difficult than the other students. He needed to focus and they gave him the chance. And for that he was already thankful to his teachers, the headmasters and the judges. But, he was still the same as the other students giving this exam. He was not8ing special or different from them, so he had to give the answers just like the other students. "Alright then. First, tell us why you decided to use such aplex method when you could have just done the same as the others and taken the easier route? With the skills that we have seen, it would have been easy to get a perfect score even with a very good dish made with the simple methods or with the things that you have learned in my ss." That was her first question and she was not going to take a simple answer, he knew that already. The reason she asked it in the first ce was because she knew there was a profound reason he had done something so daring. There was certainly no reason for him to show all those skills before so many people. He was only putting his peaceful life on the line by doing all that. Afterying low for all this time, this was his first time showing what he was capable of and they couldn''t understand why he would show his skills in a cooking test of all the ces. "Well¡­ teacher. The answer to that question might be a little disappointing." He himself knew that there was no reason to go so far and show them all those skills. He not only summoned the spirits using the external energy methods, the kind of magic he had structured with the external energy sources was not something even some of the teachers present here could believe. It was unique, and more than that, it shouldn''t have been possible for a first year student to summon six spirits temporarily and use them in such a professional manner. One of the teachers among the crowd that was in charge of the spirit summoning ss was so surprised she wanted him in her ss while the way he had used those skills to infuse the elemental powers into the ingredients and created all the things that he did without using any special equipment was a shock to the teachers as well as the judges. "Tell me. Whatever it is, it surely should be something that would make you do all that." His teacher had taught him and looked after him in all those sses. She knew already that there was something special about him, something that he wanted to hide. And, unlike many others of his peers, he was very good at it. He not only knew how to not reveal the thighs that he wanted to hide from the others even unintentionally, he had a mind so unique that someone as skilled and experienced as her could not look past it. It was strange, but if he wanted, he could have just concealed all the skills that he had until he graduated and no one would have ever bothered him. He also wanted it. She could feel it in his cooking that all he wanted more than anything else was his freedom and the fun he had with his partner and his friends. He was already amazing without revealing half the things that he was capable of, so if he were to reveal all that he had shown to them today, there was no telling what might have happened to his peaceful life. "I¡­" She wanted to know the reason why he would go so far in this simple cooking test. "I love cooking." But, his answer, his reason surprised her. "You love cooking?" "Yes. it is one of the most important, and special things to me." In his previous life, he did not get to cook for himself that often. Making creative things like these was just a dream for him in that life. However, aftering to this world, he was able to do it from an early age. "My dad was the first person who taught me how to actually do the basic cooking." He was very young when he first cooked something for his mom along with his father. It was a present for her and he enjoyed making it much more than he had expected. "I had to live away from them for a long time, and had to use those cooking skills dad taught me to survive with the kind of things that weren''t always edible." In the great forest, there were not many edible things. He could not eat just ant nts as he wanted since the Mana saturated forest mostly produced Mana rich things that would have killed him if he ate them recklessly. He had to either survive on meat of the weakest and smallest creatures, or he had to process the things he caught with long processing to make them safe and edible. "Until I met my master¨C the person that taught me how to cook using these fancy techniques, I had only ever made things using fire, water, and patience. But, she taught me how to actually make things that represented what I wanted them to be." This was his first time revealing to them that he had learned cooking from his ''master'' and as someone who understood emotions and feelings better than the others, Miss Cleo was able to understand that strange sadness, loneliness, and void that she had always felt from him. "Well, when you said we had to make something that represented sorrow, I just thought back to all those things and things ended up the way they did." He just wanted to make those things without thinking much about the consequences. And even though he took all the necessary measures, he still knew they were not enough. They were not going to be enough whatever he did since he knew he could not deceive at least the eyes of his headmasters. "I just made them like that because I wanted to. There''s¡­ nothing too deep about it." There was a smile on the headmaster''s face that was surprising even to the vice headmaster sitting beside him. He knew him better than anyone else present here¨C perhaps not as well as his partner¨C but he knew this child better than the others present here. He could tell he was telling the truth. That he really just made what he thought was going to be enough not for the judges or for them¡­ but something that would quench the thirst he himself had. "He has an artist''s soul." he couldn''t help butpliment him. A simple action that surprised the rest of the judges present around him. "I see¡­" On the ground below them, even the teacher could not help but just sigh with a helpless smile as she looked at the rate but awkward smile the young person before her had. "You''re a much more simple person than I had expected, vice captain." She shook her head with a smile again, and proceeded with the other questions. She now knew the answer to the most important question that she wanted. She knew why he did what he had done and she was satisfied with that answer. She was actually impressed more than she had expected she could be, so, the rest of her questions were all rted to the things that corresponded with the methods that he had used, the things he had used in his cooking, the way he prepared some of the things and the reasons he used some of the techniques even when there were alternatives. She asked him some of the most difficult and advanced questions she had ever asked someone in this grand kitchen, but surprising all his fellow students as well as the judges, he answered them all in a way no one would expect from a student giving the very first exam of their life in the academy. He was good. Much better than what she had expected. He knew what he was doing and he knew the consequences of his actions and he still did it regardless. Showing them just why he was called the craziest vice captain the academy has had in thest few centuries. "Alright then¡­ that would be all for the questions." If it were some kind of theory exam based on cooking and things rted to that, he would have received the highest score as well as the most extra points ever given to someone. s¡­ there were no extra points for this test. And, since this was a cooking exam, the theory did not y as great a part as the final products themselves. "Then, shall we move on to the highlight of today''s test?" Every single one of the people present in this kitchen, the judges, the teachers, the students, even the headmasters had been looking forward to this part. "Yes, teacher." And since it was finally time, they could not help with their excitement anymore... Chapter 886: Otherworldly cooking "For the starters, I''ve made a dish I''d like to call (Crash)." Small marble like balls, shiny and colorful. All of them had only a ck color to them, a shine unlike any normal shine one might see on a food item made without anything sweet. "Crash¡­ a unique name. And surely a unique way to present a rice cake." "Hun?" "Rice¡­ cake?" "Isn''t that a sweet?" The marbles themselves had no aroma to them. They were simple looking marble with no special smell or look to them. Surely the shine they had was something unique, but that was all there was to this unique dish. Ultimately, it was something one would not pay much attention to even if it was dropped somewhere on the floor. "Death, right?" "The experience of death. Yes." I was not expecting the students to understand this dish since, well; they were just students. "Exin." But, as I expected already, miss Cleo readily knew what these small balls presented as something so normal¡­ yet possessing such a unique feel to them represented. "I used fine ground rice paste to make the surface. Ah, the rice used was a unique kind of golden rice that only grows in the higher mountain regions of the eastern continent. The inside is made into six unique sections, one being made with fresh eggs from various creatures not limited to birds. Some eggs used are rare, and difficult to find but, they have their own unique characteristics. Additionally, I''ve used fresh cuts of meat, including the meat of the giant fire boars. The fire drake blood was used as the very core of the dish, so you might not get theplete experience of it until you have the entire thing at once." It was the most simple dish out of the three courses, so I made a lot. Enough for every single person present to have at least one. Though, I did not do the ting for all of them. They just got it on a simple te while the judges and the teachers were served in a special wine ss along with a special fluid that will help them when they start crying. "This simple dish was made with the intention of reflecting the powerful experience of death, the sorrow loss brings, and how even within the most mundane lives, a darkness could make its ce. Hate is a powerful emotion that some might experience towards the cause of that loss. However, this dish was not made to represent loss or hate. But, simply the void, the darkness it contains. And how beyond that darkness, the colors and vours one has longed for reside." Thankfully, I did not have to exin to them how I had made those things. They all saw me using the elemental spirits to temper, process, and create these things, and since they knew talking about the creation process before the students was not going to be of any use, they all just moved on, and observed the small marbles before them. "Hmmm¡­ let''s have a taste then." She could see the emotions that might have led to the creation of such a unique dish, but since she did not know my story or my past, she could not rte to these potent emotions. ''To understand them, she would have to corrte them with her own experiences, and that would make the emotions one might feel after having that simple thing even more vivid.'' A sentient mind was said to possess a unique memory that did not require one to remember every single thing that they experience on the daily basis. But that did not mean the mind discards all the things that it feels. Somewhere deep within the mind, there is always the record of that particr memory, emotion, and experience stored. They just cannot experience them since it is not needed for the regr daily functioning, some of them might even be harmful to one. But they still existed there. "..." When one eats that simple ball of emotions, they experience the strong void that they might or might not have known to have experienced. ''It was a strong emotion, so not many people would have known of its existence, either.'' That''s just how the mind worked, anyway. And experiences like birth, the asional near death experience, or the strong mixtures of positive-negative emotions are mostly blocked as well, so, in normal circumstances, one would never remember about them. But¡­ after eating that simple grenade of vours, that changes. "What¡­" "Mom¡­" "...no." "Uhun. Uhun." The kitchen was suddenly filled with small murmurs, an eerie silence, and some muffled voices of cries. Some students were nkly staring down as they chew on the marble, some had unintentional tears in their eyes, some were suddenly clenching their fist, while some just became still. The memories and emotions that one felt while eating it were subjective, but the strong vors one tasted were all the same. It exploded on their tongues, and the harmony of the vors made their minds go nk for a moment. ''I was afraid some might experience strong negative things after having that, so serving it without the fluid that only the judges and teacher Cleo had was the right decision.'' Without thatplimenting fluid, one only experienced those emotions until they were having that marble momentarily. This surge of emotions did notst for long, and just vanished as soon as they hadpletely ingested the little marble. And, as the nature of mind went, they all wouldpletely forget what exactly they had just experienced, with only the faint memory of that strange experience remaining. "I was not expecting this, Lucifer." She only called me by my name this time. "This¡­ was not what I was expecting." Her eyes were almost wet with tears as well, but she wiped them while finishing thest bit of the fluid left in the wine ss. "Sorrow¡­ if this is ''my'' interpretation of sorrow, I must have made a mistake giving you all such a difficult theme." The whole point of creating this dish was to make it possible for them to experience the theme of sorrow itself. Not to show what my sorrow was or what I thought sorrow was. ''Every person has a unique interpretation of an emotion. So if the theme was just the sorrow in its definable form alone, there was no need to show what I thought sorrow was or what I thought it could be represented as.'' Everyone had a different interpretation of it, so everyone had the right to understand it for themselves as well. "You know¡­ this experience might have been a blessing for many of us?" "I¡­" I did not really think too deeply when I made this. But, after making it and having it for myself for the first time, I knew this little ball of vours was much more unique than just a food item. ''For the artists all over the world, this dish could just be a capsule of inspiration.'' I had only tried expressing sorrow with this one, but it was possible to make someone experience any kind of emotion or feeling I wanted through this dish. "I would be happy if someone is blessed thanks to the food I made. It would be the biggestpliment for me." What is art if not a canvas that inspires others? It was not my intention at first, but as she said, that momentary experience surely must have been an experienceparable to a blessing for someone else. And they got to experience it without any cost, so I mighte out as some selfless person. And, this time, there was nothing wrong with it. "You''re more amazing than you know, Lucifer." I just made what I wanted. And I liked it, so I wanted the others to try it as well. There was nothing too deep about it, but I know it will be helpful for them. And, since they must have it for free, I know they will want to somehow repay me for it. "Well, you''re fun." She asked me to present the main dish with her eyes and with a bow, I presented three courses to her, and ced three others on the table beside me, and invited Rein, our two presidents, and Zoe to join us. The amount was limited, so the presidents would have to share it among themselves, but they were looking forward to it for a while now. ''Cradle would beat me if I can''t let her have it, and president Zod would be upset that he and SanSan couldn''t have such a special experience. They had already asked me for it before, so I made some extra tes for them as well. And i know the other students and teachers would want to have it after having that appetiser, but there''s nothing I can do about it. With the limited time, this was all I coulde up with. There was no extra portion of the sweets anyway so, only the judges will get to have the sweets, and I know for damn sure they are not going to share it with anyone else. ''It was not something one could let go of anyway, so they were going to have it for themselves.'' And that was for the best. Not everyone will be able to handle the dessert that I''ve prepared this time, so until one is mentally as strong as those people, it was better for them to not have it at all¡­ ''They might lose their minds if they still dared to try it.'' So, it was best to limit the portions for the dessert¡­ Chapter 887: Brew of Flavours "I''ll first apologise for the rest who could not have the rest of my dishes, however, perhaps we can have some kind of gathering where all of us can have a meal together." If possible, I just wanted to organise an event where all the students can have what they want and experience any kind of emotion or feelings that they want to. "For my main course, I''ve prepared what I''d like to call (Confinement). A te of natural ingredients thate together to create a uniquebination of vours and emotions." When they lifted the round te covering the dish, a strange scenery was revealed to them. "The hell?" And as I knew already, Cradle cursed as soon as she saw this scenery. "This is one of the most unique presentations I''ve seen in my lifetime, vice captain." On the yellowish brown dish, a half destroyed treey on one side of the te, with the other fallen part being present on the ground on the other side. Between the two parts of the tree was a me¡ª an actual fire that was lit on an uneven mountain or hill. The dish was a unique creation, and if one looked even closely, they would find more than one story in the form of the tiny decorations present on the fallen tree, on the base of the tree still on the ground, on the te that was used itself, and even on the hill on top of which the fire was burning. "Every single element you see before you is edible." I informed them before any of them started eating. Most of them were still just observing the attractive art before them, so no one had started the eating part, but just in case, they had to know it. "All of this is edible? You mean, the tree and the sauces aren''t the only edible thing here? Even that fire, that soil like mountain, this te as well, perhaps?" Miss Cleo knew instantly what I meant by ''everything'' that one sees before them. "Wait really?" And Cradle was still surprised even after hearing it directly from her. "Will you tell us what you used for these things, then? The story behind it?" "Umm, Miss Cleo, it would be better if you just try it all first. Everything I''ve used should be distinguishable with your special senses, and since the story behind it is of little importance, experiencing it should be much better." Rein and Zoe already know what this scene represented. I didn''t want to tell them about one of my most dreadful nights, anyway. And no one needed to know how a young boy experienced a night inside a broken tree''s hole. The presentation was only there to tell the story as it looked. Every element of it was symbolic and one can rte to all these things with their own experiences. ''The broken tree, the still standing base trunk, the invisible roots it had, the scattered branches, the absence of leaves or any ''green'' in this entire presentation made without using any meat or eggs was more about the theme of sorrow than my life. ''But it was still something I''ve experienced. So, there''s a chance the asional strong taste might result in powerful emotions of fear.'' But, it wouldn''t be too powerful since I used the right kind of proportions in certain areas. "Please, start." I wanted to know what they would experience after having this one as well. So, I watched in anticipation as they started digging into the first things¡­ which were quite different, of course. ''Miss Cleo started with the soil of the mountain that held the me, Rein directly picked the part with the me and ced it in her mouth, while though surprised by her actions, Cradle proceeded to cut out a piece of the trunk that was still attached to the te, or the soil.'' She was looking forward to taste what I had prepared and, from the look she had earlier when eating that marble, it seemed like she was looking forward to this one more than before. ''The emotions that she might have been the reason she got even more interested in this but, the surprise she had after taking out a piece of the trunk surprised her, as well as the others who were watching her.'' As soon as she cut a piece out of the trunk, what came out of the tree was a multicoloured inside that, much like the inside of the cake that Lady Cleo had made for us, was aplete contradiction to its outer looks. "Damn¡­" It was filled with colors, it was sparkling, it was glowing, but soon after she cut it out, the color started to quickly fade away. "What the?" The color was fading so quickly that she didn''t understand what was happening and since it was turning darker; she got anxious and ced the thing in her mouth out of urgency. She didn''t know what else to do, and cing the whole thing back into that mix certainly was no good idea. So she just ate it, and it was good that she did that. "The trunk is made in a way that when one cuts it out, it starts losing all the taste, color, and texture it possesses. It starts dposing quickly, so you will either have to eat it whole, or eat it as soon as it''s detached from the base." It was a unique concept where the food was given a special conditioning. We don''t see it in many things, but there surely are some cultures that have foods like these that are best eaten under certain conditions or they lose the core fun they have about themselves. ''It was also a symbolic representation of the fleeting life and how even the things attached to the strong roots that don''t fall by the attacks of arge ming mountain are destroyed by the flow of time.'' It was fancy, but that just made it even more fun. "Hmmm¡­" Everything on that te, including that te, as well had a unique vour to it that, whenbined, created a new explosion of a myriad vours. "Holy¡­" Rein was lost in the vours from the very first bite. The strong vour of the fire and the light ones from the soil created a warm favour. The vours from the tree trunk were more on the mind sild, but they all contained a lot of individual elements, making them something even more independent. Those colorful vours were something that not only were great individually, whenbined together, they were also something pretty fun to experience. "This is indescribable." The headmasters tried it along with the judges. They shared it since they needed to, but it wasn''t like they wanted to share any of it. In their positions, they had no other choice. The vice headmaster was enjoying her portion quite a lot. Miss Cleo was enjoying every aspect of this dish. She was even trying to taste some dposed pieces of the trunk that had lost all their colors and taste to understand the emotions inside them. ''I don''t understand how her senses work, but I did make sure to produce something very ''gloomy'' in those dposed parts to include even them into the whole of the dish.'' If the first dish was all about the experience of their past, this one was about their current experiences. I wanted them to have a good experience while being in the present, so I made sure to make something that they could enjoy, and at the same time long for. ''Even longing has sorrow. The sorrow of not being able to enjoy this dish the same way they were doing right now another time.'' I put a lot of thought into it, and seeing them enjoy this, seeing Rein and Zoe happy like that, was enough reward for me. [{ "I want to kiss you for making something so amazing." }] [{ "Well, you''ll have to wait for that. And eat properly. You got it all over your face." }] [{ "Hehe, why don''t youe here and lick it all yourself." }] [{ Ahem! Master is still in the middle of his presentation, sister Elle! He cannot do that! }] If I could make flowers with special flowers that contained the taste of unique things like my Master was able to, I wanted Celes to taste the things I make as well. ''It''s sad how she could only taste lights. And, it''s even more sad she cannot actually eat anything at all.'' If it was possible for her to have the same senses as us for even a day, I wanted her to taste something special I make only for her. Well¡­ I don''t see that happening anytime soon. Or at all in the future. ''She was an origin beast that lived on the energy of her origin. And she was not like other creatures either.'' If there were some things that she could do much better than the other creatures, there were also simple things that she could not experience. -Tap. Miss Cleo did not say anything throughout the time she was finishing the dish and only after finishing everything, even the te that was made with edible things, did she look at me with aplex expression on her face. "I''ll wait until the others finish. We shall move onto the dessert right away." It was clear from the look on her face that she was having someplicated thoughts about that dish, none of which seemed negative from what I can tell, but she still had a lot of things going on in her mind. "Yes, teacher." She perhaps wanted to have the dessert first and then decide how to respond to this dish, and I was certainly fine with it. It was better if she gave herments after having a clear mind anyway, so we waited until everyone was done with the main course¡­ and, moved on to the main element of my course- the dessert- right away. Chapter 888: A snow globe [Eon''s POV: ] An outer surface as shiny as the eyes of a golden deer. Resembling the finest ss work polished to perfection by an experienced grandmaster''s delicate hands. A thin round spherical surface, papery but not so much so that it would break by some light pressure. It resembled ss. However, it was not ss. "Instead of using starch, I''ve used some unique techniques to turn a certain mixture of fruit extracts into the form you see there." The elemental tempering process that I used was not simple. To produce that sslike form, I first needed to get the perfect bnce between various extracts and, to obtain a kind of harmony that cancelled out all vours that these extracts individually possessed, I had to use all six elements in various proportions in just the right way that it would stabilise each other''s properties. It was not an easy process, and it took a long time to get those exact bnces right not once, but three times. "The inner surface of the ''ss'' sphere is coated with a specialyer of fluids that make the ''snow'' crystals inside move constantly." It followed some basic principles of gravitational theory and electromaic fields. Finding just the right ingredients through trial and error which would produce the kind of effects as well as taste that I wanted was not easy either. ''It would have been much easier if I could have used Lucy''s question abilities, but that wouldn''t have been fair to the other students that were doing everything with their own abilities.'' I knew a few more things than them and I had a little more experience with the ingredients and techniques that I was using. They were things that I had learned and knew. They were mine and ording to the rules of this test, I can use them all however I liked. It was permitted. Receiving help from someone else? ''It wasn''t permitted, not even if it was direct help from my own skill.'' So, I had to do all of it in the short time I had. Thankfully, my past experiences with my master helped me a bunch with this dish. "The ''snow'' crystals are all made with the dryfreezing-crystallization technique, however instead of using the regr artifacts, this one is made with a more natural and traditional method." Inside the ss orb was a simple scene. A wooden hut made with orangish material closely resembling wood, with a special multicoloured smokeing out of its chimney. There was a window on this hut, and if one with good eyesight looked inside the window, they would find a warm ce with regr materials and furniture. ''Though, it''s small so not just anyone could see it.'' The base ground had green grass, and this grass was covered in ''snow''. ''A grey snow that resembled ashes to those who had better perception of colours.'' The ground was covered by this snow, the house was covered by this snow, and this snow was moving all around the orb thanks to theyer coated on the inner part of the ss sphere. The colourful smoke would disappear after going up a little, and when one removes the sphere to taste the inside of this orb, the ashes would settle down at the ground, not moving even due to wind. "Starting with the base of the sphere, I''ve prepared everyyer that makes the ground, the cabin, the grass, the smoke producing element, as well as the ss sphere covering it with different ingredients that, whenbined together, harmonises every element of it. Additionally, even if one tastes every element of this snow globe individually, they would experience the individual characteristics of each of the elements. However, there is a chance that somebinations of some of the elements of this dish will not influence the sense of taste or smell." It also meant some of thebinations of some of the things will have either small or taste but not the other. "I''ve named these pieces (Lamentation). Please, enjoy them." Lady Cleo was observing the small te with the snow globe closely from all angles. Her eyes were glowing, which indicated she was even using her skills to observe the elements of this presentation. She was also using some artifacts on the side to check some of the elements of this orb, while at the same time, after every few seconds, she was looking up at me with either a stunned expression or an expression that showed her disbelief in what she was seeing. The headmasters were the same in this case. Both of them had received the other two pieces that I had prepared and they were looking at them closely just like Miss Cleo, even using their skills and their unique authorities to evaluate, observe, and understand the dish that was presented before them. [{ "I wannnnnnnnnt thatttttttt! Bastard! How can you not make one for meeeeee! Such a prettttttttty thing~?!" }] As I had expected, Rein was sad and angry that she couldn''t have such a pretty looking piece. She did not expect it to be so pretty and, since it was very realistic one might not even believe that what they were seeing was in fact a dessert prepared to be eaten. ''Many students were still in disbelief that what they were seeing right now was in fact something edible.'' The ss, the realistic hut, the smoke, the grass¡­ some of them had good eyes so they could even see the basic elements of this piece even from all the way back. And it was unbelievable for them how someone could make not one but three identical pieces of something that only those top level, most famous chefs considered their masterpieces. ''Creating three or them that were almost exactly identical was one of the things that did not pose any big problems to me.'' I had a special kind of memory that did not allow me to forget anything. Which though is a curse more than a gift, it has its perks. "Lucifer¡­" It seemed like Lady Cleo was done evaluating my dessert after her ten minutes of observation and now that she was done, she was finally looking up at me. "Yes, teacher." I looked back at her with a confident expression, only to receive an unexpected question. "How am I going to eat such a thing?" "Hmmm?" From the sadness on her face, it did not seem like she was saying that in a negative manner, however she had put back her artifacts and had even moved a step away from her kitchen counter. "This piece is something I would expect from Little Med, or something I would see in Zenith''s collection. It''s something that elder Lan might make on special asions, or something I would expect to see in the cherished collection of Otter." She signed right after saying names of some of the most famous people in the field of art that were considered apostles or reincarnations of divine beings associated with their art styles. And, yes. Those people weren''t all Chefs. Only Lady Med among the many people she had mentioned followed the path of cooking. "This is not something I would expect to see in this academy, much less something being made right in front of my eyes by the young yet experienced hands of a young student." She looked at me for a moment without saying anything. Then, she looked at the students behind me who were also giving this test alongside me. Then, she looked up at the students on the balcony looking down at us, then the teachers, and then finally the headmasters who also shared the same look of bitterness as hers. "This piece right here is something that I would consider one of the best things I''ve evere across. As well as an art piece that is not meant to be tempered with." She was saying that this simple dessert was so well made that it was supposed to be encased and decorated in a ce where people could see it but not touch it. Eating it was out of the question if she was saying that it wasn''t supposed to be touched. And, if we think about it¡­ this was something that could very well be preserved in some art gallery and people woulde from different ces just to see it. "I''m very sad right now, Lucifer¡­" All of us could see the sadness in her eyes as well. It almost seemed like she wanted to cry at this moment. "If this were anything other than a dessert, I would have made sure everyone in the world knows about it and sees it." As someone who could understand emotions better than anyone else present here, it was not that hard for her to understand the true meanings hidden in this attractive looking snow globe. [{ "You''re amazing, big brother." }] Zoe was the only person who knew the scene inside this globe actually represented thest moments of her mother. Joy was not the theme of this test, it was sorrow. And, in this piece, I expressed thementation I had felt in thest moments of my master¡­ the moment of my life in which I had felt the most sorrow until now. "But this is a dessert, a food item that is meant to be eaten." Food was meant to be enjoyed, not decorated in some unbreakable ss for the world to see. "You''ve made it for Us to enjoy it." She looked up at the headmasters as if to ask their permission for something. And, they also knew what she was asking for, so, they just nodded and gave her their permission with a smile on her face. "The least I can do in my position, in this moment, is to allow everybody fortunate enough to be on these premises, the opportunity to have it alongside us." There were only three so it definitely wasn''t enough for even the judges considering how they would want to have as much of it as they possibly could. But, she was saying she would share it with not just the people present in the kitchen, but¡­ everyone present in this school? "Miss Cleo¡­ wouldn''t that¡­" Realistically, it wasn''t possible for all of us to have this small portion of it, and practically, it was impossible for me to make this special dessert on arge scale like I could do with some other things. I didn''t even have ingredients to make more than three of them anymore, so¡­ if she was saying that everyone should enjoy it while asking for permission from the headmaster¡­ [{ I see someone has done something incredible in little Cleo''s ss after a long time, hun. }] It was an indication that¡­ something very special was going to happen now. [{ Young Lucifer has surprised us with his specialness again, I see. }] Something so special that it will require the assistance of Sir Quesnel, the ancient oak guardian of the academy. Chapter 889: Shared sensory experience [Eon''s POV: ] An announcement was made by the headmaster throughout the academy, to every individual present in this academy, including the creatures with higher intelligence. Some of the individuals that were present somewhere else on this ind closely connected with Sir Quesnel also heard that announcement. The announcement simply told all the individuals to get ready for a (Spiritual linking) process. Something most of the individuals and creatures knew about, and even those who did not know about it understood what they were asking them. It was the great ancient tree that was saying it and not just anyone else. He had used his unique voice that every individual understood in their best manner. And, the (Spiritual linking) mentioned here was something very special¡ª as well as important. ''A unique process in which, every individual that the ancient tree wishes is connected with a particr spiritual connection and, those designated by him are allowed to be the centre that shares the sensory experience that they have.'' It is a very unique technique that only those with aplete control over a certain space, someone possessing a total control of a domain could use. ''Sir Quesnel was a special being on this ind. Not only was he a guardian of this ind like the Keeper under our house, or the queens, but he was also the one that maintained most of the necessary functions of the academy and many areas of the ind. His roots were spread all throughout the ind and ultimately, he was able to deal with anyone he wished. ''He was an ancient being that shared his divinity with the original divine individuals that created and grew him.'' He possessed the world''s authorities along with his own unique authorities that gave himplete control of this ind. ''Lady Cleo asked him for help when she confirmed the true value of the dessert that I had prepared, and with the permission of the headmaster, sir Quesnel used his authority and connected everyone in the academy with Miss Cleo as the core of this entire connection.'' From what I knew about this unique technique, the burden that the core of the spiritual connection had to be someone with a strong will, a strong connection with nature, someone that knew what they were doing, as well as someone that could handle the pressure that the connection of all those thousands of people generated. It certainly was no easy thing, so even in this academy, there were only a few people that could actually do it. And, since this matter was rted to food, taste, and emotions that this food contained, she was the best candidate for the important role. ''She became the core and with sir Quesnel, everyone in the academy were connected with the spiritual connection.'' And then, she ate all the elements of the snow globe one by one, with one another, and in uniquebinations. ''All of us experienced the same kind of feelings that she did through this process. We saw, smelled, tasted, and felt the same things that she did.'' The dessert was different from the starter and the main course as it was actually supposed to represent a certain kind of emotion that I wanted the others to feel. Even if they had not done this connection thing, everyone would have inevitably felt the same thing as the others while eating those things¡­ and the fact that not just three people but everyone in the academy were able to experience that special feeling was out of my own expectations. ''It was an honour that everyone was able to taste something I made.'' Many of the students had already had some of the things that I make, but this was different. We all experienced a piece that I had made with genuine efforts and all kinds of special techniques that I don''t usually use in the normal cooking process. The headmasters were able to enjoy it directly, but even with this shared experience, everyone experienced every single thing that Miss Cleo did. It brought her closer to the whole goal of this experience¡­ when she was finished eating, she took a deep breath and announced her thanks that resonated in the entire academy. She was speechless after having that experience. Many of the students and even some of the teachers had tears in their eyes. They did not why they were crying but they were feeling some strong surge of emotions after the dish was finished. Evendy Cleo who had tasted countless things in her life, somewhat had tears in her eyes¡ª tears that never got out of her eyes until she wiped them away. ''She only thanked me for the experience. There were no deep words, there was noments, there was no praise, and there was no criticism.'' There was only a thank you. And that much was more than enough for me as a creator. ''I merely thanked her and since my presentation was done, I walked back after a graceful bow.'' The process continued. Some students presented after me, and the test came to an end. ''It was already nighttime by that, and since it waste, everyone instructed to go back to their dorms.'' Tomorrow, we were going to have the superior Magic and weapon practice paper, which would again be a practical test. ''It will be divided in three parts, first of which would be sparring test with random members of our ss.'' Then we will have a mock battle with some predetermined enemies that will be divided into various levels. Andstly, we will have a chance to demonstrate all that we could do and the judges will grade our performance. ''Tomorrow''s paper will be one of the earliest ones since everyone is guaranteed to get a passing mark.'' Clearing a paper of any superior ss was no simple thing, but after all the training and practise the teacher in charge of this subject put everyone though, it would be funny if someone did manage to fail. The teacher would beat them up until they are nearly dead anyway so no one was going to hold back in at least the second and third phase of the exam. ''The matchings are going to be random so there will definitely be some resistance from all sides. s no one can do anything about the match-ups.'' If one gets paired with a strong opponent, they would just have to do their best not to look too bad when losing. And if someone stronger gets paired against a weaker opponent, they should follow the basic curtsy and help them show a few things that they can do. ''Sometimes, it will be a good thing that they got paired with a strong opponent, but if they get someone like Ezra or Deleon as their opponents, they would be lucky to make it through uninjured.'' They were already famous for being ruthless during the duels. Everyone that goes against them will have to hope for the best. ''It''s pretty funny how most of the strong and prominent students have chosen this course as one of their subjects.'' Including Rein and me, Tia, ra and Alf, Luna and Quin, Hide, Ezra, Chry captain Alpha, Prince ud, and even a few others are taking this course this year. It''s a famous ss, but for all of them to coincidentally be in it at the same time is something quite unique. ''And all of them are also some of the bestbat masters with their own specialities.'' They know how to fight and that was the most important in this paper. "What are you thinking about with that kind of face? You look funny." We were sitting in our balcony, watching the stars like we usually do at night. There was no dinner today since our hearts were alredy full after all that eating in thepetition. We surely had some coffee and now we were going to sleep and get up for tomorrow''s test. Only a few days were left for these exams and as soon as they finish, we will be going back to our home. ''There was a lot of thingsing up and we were still not ready for all of them.'' The conference was not going to be easy, the whole of the aftermath will also be difficult to deal with. We don''t know what is going to happen if we make any mistake despite all the preparations. So, we had to get ready for that as well. We will also have to say goodbye to our current mentors for the time being. But we will see them again so that was fine. "Tomorrow''s going to be hectic as well." I couldn''t help but sigh at this moment. There was so much to do, so much to prepare and so much to look after. "Well, we have had rough times¡­ we will get past them and smile back at those dummies." But at least being with this dumb person helped me get through these stupid things. "Haaa¡­ you''re the dummy. Don''t fall those important problems dummies you dummy dumdum." "Hey! Bastard!" She didn''t like it when I called her dummy anymore. She fights back and sometimes things get physical¡­ and tonight, after that long day, and after expressing all that sorrow, I needed that physical closeness. "Dummy. Dummy. Dummy. Dumb little witch." "You little¡­.! That''s it!" She didn''t know just how sweet she was sometimes. ''But, it''s actually better that she doesn''t know.'' It makes things even more fun. Helps our little games going¡­ Chapter 890: Match-ups [Eon''s POV: ] (The next day: ) Everyone was now gathered in the innermost part of the academy, in a specialbat zone made just for the tests rted to the superior Magic andbat training ss. ''The teacher in charge of this ss was a natural golem that possessed a sentient consciousness. A creature- person- that was considered one of the best weapon wielders that the vice headmaster has ever produced.'' By appearance, he resembled a monkey-person. Looked pretty humanoid unlike the other golem and he was a natural being so he possessed great powers. He also had no talent at all. ''Yeah¡­ no talent at all.'' He was a golem even though he had consciousness and a sentient ego. There was no way for him to improve the body that he was born with other than tempering it a little- however it had its limits that he had reached centuries ago. His growth limitations were greater than anyone else, so since he could not improve his strength or stats, he improved the skills that he could possess natural creature, and worked extremely on his techniques. ''He practiced day and night for decades and centuries to refine his techniques. And, even by the standards of the true Weapon master of all weapons, he was able to reach a stage that was notprehensible with themon sense or knowledge.'' Sir Brown. It was a name given to him by his teacher and the person who found him in a faraway desert, brought him to this ce, and trained him with her own hands. ''She only wanted to have him a life that he could enjoy, just like she had wished for all of the students that she had taught and looked after until now.'' But, with a wish born from his desire to be someone worthy of his master''s trust, this unique creature rose to a position where he became the sessor of her position¡ª the person that had taught the most talents in thest few centuries. ''Starting from grandma, Rein''s grandpa, half of the rulers of this world, and even many great mages of this world had learnedbat skills under his tutge.'' If we say Vice Headmaster Oddfrid was the one who taught every famous person how to wield the weapons and how to actually wield their magic, this person was the teacher that taught them how to fight, how to defend themselves in all crucial situations, and how to protect what was precious to them. ''Many people owed him a great deal, including her grandpa and grandmother.'' Even emperor August and the witch of north had learned from him¡­ so, he surely was a figure as famous as people like Headmaster, vice headmaster, or Miss Vivian. "The matchups have been announced so make a line with your numbers alongside your opponents." He always had a warm smile that strangely hid all his serious and strict nature. He was a fun person at times, and he was a person that everyone would hate at other times. ''He helped all the students that wanted to learn from him, but there was a standard that he had to maintain to keep the list of in this ss under the set limits by the academy.'' His ss was a little too famous so everyone in the academy that was intrested inbat wanted to join them. But, since this was a superior ss that was assigned the highest level of resources, he had to keep the numbers under a certain amount. ''Not everyone got the chance to join his sses, but there was a different system for the ones who could not get in.'' They were given priority in the next years and there were many extra chances for them to join his ss¡ª of course there was an option to juste and attend his ss if they wanted, but, since this ss was all about practical knowledge, even if they wanted to, they could not participate in the ss activities. ''Thankfully, everyone of our friends made it to his ss.'' Those who did not join this year were going to join the next year since they had taken a different course, but I''m pretty sure they would make it in. Anyway¡­ Today was the day of the test for this paper. And, everyone was gathered in the innermost part of the academy castle¡ª a special space that generally only contained the facilities for the extracurricr activities. "We have twelve arenas so the fights will happen simultaneously. We don''t have long so everyone will only get thirty minutes maximum, so finish things as soon as you possibly can. There are a lot of you and the time and arenas are limited. So, don''t do anything that would prolong this duel. Fight as if your life''s on the line and give everything you want to¡­ you will get plenty of time in the second section, and for the third section, well, we will have the rest of the day for that. So¡­ make sure you do well in this one. Be shameless and finish the battle in a second if you can. Your opponents will get extra points if they survive a lethal attack and stand up." That was it from his side, so he did not waste any time and called the first batch in the arena. [{ "Lol, she looks a little too excited." }] [{ "Well, I''m more interested in the battle of two witches instead of one with a zing fairy and a normal archer." }] [{ "Ptfff. Normal my foot. You''re the most abnormal one present here. Do you think there''s someone else that can shoot arrows better than you and fight on the same intensity as a de wielder?" }] [{ "Well, don''t praise me that much. I''m not that special, hehe." }] [{ "Bastard and his cheap acting. Haaa." }] She did not like replies like that since she knows they aren''t genuine at all. But, well, there was a smile on her face as I could see with my third eye. "Miss Tia looks a little too excited about this." "She wanted to fight me officially for ages now. Of course she is excited." Tia was in her bigger form as she stood beside me with an overly excited expression. It seemed like she was about to scream out with excitement just to get paired up with me. ''She was the mostpetitive one here, and since she got the chance to fight against the one that she knew was actually the most special one, she could not contain her excitement.'' She was happy, and seeing the unique pairings we got this time¡­ I''d say her excitement was understandable. ''Tia and I, Prince ud and Ca, Rein and Luna, Quin and Alf, Hide and Ezra, Chry and Alpha¡­ these match-ups were pretty crazy.'' Two witches going against one another, captain of True dragons fighting with the raising star and vice captain of Eternal Tiger, the prince of Roxana and the eldest and best sword prodigy my elder sister, Quin and her vice captain, hide the wizard and Ezra the unfortunate regressor, andstly Captain of Fusion stardust and me¡ª the one who made the dish that none of the students or the teachers would ever forget about. "Tehehe¡­" Tia was excited. A little too much, probably. "I''m going to go easy on you, alright?" Her giggle was distracting others around us, especially now that the matches had started and the others wanted to focus on the ones fighting. There were many good match-ups that the students as well as the rest of the spectators filling this ce wanted to watch. "Hun. What did you just say?" "Shhhhh. Lower your voice." She herself did not realise that she was giggling loudly so when I said that I would go easy on her- on a prideful person like her- she looked at me as if I had spoken the worst curse word someone could speak to her. Her voice was loud when she asked me what I had just said, however after realising that she was being loud, she apologised to the ones around her and started speaking in a voice that was only audible enough to reach me. "I''ll not go easy on you, I said." "Hun?" "What? Did you hear something like I''d go easy on you? Someone as strong as you?" "Are you mocking me right now?" Now, she was looking at me with a serious expression that screamed of her anger. She did not like how I was ying tricks on her in that crucial moment, especially when''s I was saying those things. The tone I was using was a genuine one, so it seemed even more disturbing to her. "And why would I do that, Miss captain? You''re strong, don''t you think so as well?" What I was doing right now was intentional. "Yes?" "And don''t you think I should go all out against you so that you will get the chance to show me how powerful you actually are?" "That''s right¡­?" She now had a confused expression¡ª one that could not understand what I was saying exactly. "Then, wouldn''t it be more logical that I would say I would respect your wishes and say something like ''not going easy'' on you? I know you''re strong so why would I want to hold back and risk losing?" "¡­that''s right, isn''t it?" "It is. It is right. And it is logical." Except I didn''t say it. It was still logical though. Chapter Read: "Oh¡­ then I must have misunderstood something. I apologise." She was still confused and was processing what just happened. We were going to fight soon and she was happy about that, but thanks to this sudden confusion, she was going to stay quiet for a while. ''And by the time she realises what was wrong with my logic, she will be too angry to hold herself back.'' And that will be when she gets to shine even more¡­ Chapter 891: Witch Vs. Witch [Rein''s POV: ] "So, what are the limits?" "No witchcraft, of course. Aside from that, well, whatever you want?" "Hmm¡­ can I use the origin skills as well?" "I don''t think they asked us to not use it, so I think it will be fine." Luna was one of the few people that knew about my identity as a witch, as well as who I actually was. She was close with Eon and even her father had a close rtionship with him, so they knew quite a lot about us. ''Of course the only reason they knew all of it was because they swore an oath to not speak about it to anyone. They couldn''t talk about it even if they wanted to.'' Anyway, they were more of business partners than close friends¡ª of course she was a friend, but when it came to her and ''Axion'' that rtionship was more of business than friendship. { "Alright you two! Get ready!" } Right now, she was fighting not Reinelle Atraxia but Uriel the adventurer who was merely a (tier-3) water mage. ''Water and ice¡­'' This ss test was pretty unique since we could use any kind of skill or technique or magic that we wanted as long as the opponent could handle it. The teacher looked at every single fight and closely monitored everything. There were of course highest grade safety measures in ce, so they safety of the students was guaranteed already. ''It wasn''t called the superior grade ss for no reason.'' This particr facility dedicated to this one subject was made specifically for seriousbat and teaching purposes. This ce was even strong enough to handle blows from people like some king ranked knights or elder mages as they demonstrate their abilities. ''And when ites to students, there is absolutely no restrictions during thebat as long as both opponents knows what their opponents outdo handle in a battle.'' The teacher is strict with the situations where the strong bullies the weak so as long as someone was not certain about their opponent''s strengths and as long as there is concent, some pretty fun fights happen in this ce. Even a few of us had fought a few times with various conditions applied and the teacher had taught us with thatbat methods. ''We learn many things here¡­ but fighting directly with the opponents is the most fun aspect of this whole setting~!'' In this test as well, there was no instructions about restrictions or limitations. We can do anything as long as we knew the opponents could handle it and even if they could not, the security systems would kick in and save them. { "You can start anytime you want now!" } -Ting! He gave us the signal which meant we could start now. And since we had already agreed to use whatever kind of attacks we wanted, she did not hesitate even for a second when the bell for the start rang. -Oooooooooooooong! Starting with a simple (Icence) spell of (tier-2), she created not one or two but six icences that were pretty big for a spell of that level. "Woh. Would you look at that." She was a witch that had an origin skill rted to snow¡ª not ice but snow. But she did not know the meaning of that just yet. -Ooooooooooong! She used the skills of her (Beginner) stage origin skill to boost her ice magic and mainly used ice magic as her main strength. ''She was a (tier-3) mage with the affinity for ice¡ª not water but just ice. And perhaps that was the reason she thought her main strength was ice and now snow.'' But she will realise it one day. ''Just like every origin skill, she had to realise her powers about this skill herself as well. That was the only way she would get aplete understanding of her skills.'' Of course we were here to help her, but that did not apply in a fight where I also wanted to win. ''(Barrier).'' I was a water mage, the main element from which ice and mist is derived from. So even though I had mostly only showed my water magic in the forms that were pretty¡­ unexpected, I had a good control over water as a whole. -Swiiiiiiiiiish¡­.! The battier that I created was made from mist which was moulded in a form that separated the inside of the battier from the outside with a strong force generated by its pressure and density. It was a special spell that I had made myself with the help of my darling, and it was strong enough to be considered a (tier-4) spell even though it was merely a (tier-3) one. Additionally, it was not a support spell but instead a destructive spell used as a barrier, so many people who understood this unique application were impressed. -Ooooooooooooooong! ''(Bubbles).'' Then, I created water bubbles which though looked like simple water bubbles were much more dense than the simple bubbles. -Oooooooooooooong! The moment I had created them was also the moment Lunaunched her following attack in the form of many sharp ice shards that were not only pointy, but were also so many that one would not have been able to block them even with a shield like mine. Thus, I had created these bubbles all around me. To block these bubbles and to mitigate the damage received from them. ''(sh cut).'' Then, moving with my skill to step on the air, I used a water ssh, a crescent cut made with an water edge so sharp one might think it was the de of a finely sharpened de. Something that cut right through the many shared that were covering her and moved past her own protective barrier. -nk! It would have been difficult for anyone else to block since the speed at which it was shot was a little too fast from the general perspective. It was not something simple, but it was also not something that would harm my little Luna. ''(Shield)x3.'' She used a skill and covered herself in an ice lotus to protect herself, and at the same time, she used chantless magic to cast two spells at the same time- showing her duel-casting ability. Not many mages could cast two spells at the same time. Even fewer would cast two spells that were ofpletely different natures. ''She used a support spell Over a destructive spell to create ice des that could explode upon contact and then shatter into ice shards that would hurt one even more than just the des.'' It was a special technique that we were taught in one of the sses. Teacher had taught her how to do it himself so when he saw her using this, I''m sure he must have had a smile of approval. ''But then again, before three of my battier, these spells were nothing.'' If she was a witch that could handle her skills well, I knew how to cast my magic as well. Even if I did not have many skills to support my magic casting abilities, I was many times more experienced this a young witch like her. And after going through that shit-as-hell difficulty training from that old witch, I was even stronger than before. -OOOOOOOOOONG¡­! It was still difficult for me to control my strength so when I used a new spell¡ª ayered destructive spell that was (tier-3) instead of the usual (tier-2) spells that we were using, I messed up the output level and the spell that was created was shot at so much power that even she couldn''t block itpletely. -Booooooooooom! It was simply supposed to be a water-ball spell. Something that she could have easily blocked with her freezing magic skill. It would have been even simpler to just avoid that spell, but at the end, when the spell was infused with unnecessary Mana, it became unstable and upon contact, it exploded. "Hey! Are you alright!?" The explosion was big, and she was not fine. "Did you get stronger from thest time or something?" She was fine since the protection system was triggered and she was covered in a barrier that protected her, but since this barrier was triggered, it was her loss this time. Chapter Discover: "You could say I was trainingst few weeks? You know how we had been these days, right?" I went up to her and helped her get up. She was smiling, unlike her usual emotionless self. Which certainly was a refreshing sight to see. "Looks like I''ll have to go on a training journey during these Holidays." "Don''t be silly." Lightly smacking her head, I shook my head at her. "There''s no need to do something useless just yet. Enjoy the holidays¡­ you are going to be busy pretty soon anyway." She was the only hair to the throne of her kingdom and the sole sessor of the current ruler of northern region of the northern continent. She was obviously going to attend the grand conference along with her father and after the changes that would be announced, there will be many things that, as northerners, they would have to prepare. ''They were one of the most vulnerable regions in this world.'' And since they were people that Eon wanted for something ''secret'' that he doesn''t tell me, they needed to prepare themselves for any kind of attack from those cultists. "Well, I won. That much will be the fact." This test wasn''t about winning or losing but about being able to show what we have learned in the sses¡ª as well as what we had learned from our life experiences. She will get a good score, and though I did not show many things that were directly taught in ss¡­ I showed more than enough to get the best grades possible for this segment of the test. ''They can cut marks all they want for something else but they are duty bound to give points for what I have showed.'' That much was an undeniable fact. Chapter 892: Captain Vs. Vice-captain [OP: ] Fascinated mages was the headmaster¡¯s house and as the name suggested, most of the students that were in this house were rted to magic. Explore more at NovelBin.C?m They weren¡¯t all mages, but they surely had talent for magic and all of them were unique. The captains of this house, Lizzy and Alf were both people who possessed special magical abilities as well. If one was gifted with magic by mother nature herself, the other had developed all his magical prowess with his hard work and his eternal greed for knowledge. Not many knew about Lizzy¡¯s skills but, as someone who knew her closely, both Quin and Alf were aware of them. Alfred had learned ever since he was young. He knew about his talent ever since he was young and he studied magic ever since he was able to read. The very first book that he had picked up by himself was rted to magic, and after that day, he had filled his entire house with books rted to magic. Right now, he possessed books from all over the continent that were rted to magic and he was also one of the few young people that was looked after by the grand council of elder mages. They were keeping a close eye on him and seeing his every action when he was outside. They were monitoring his achievements and they were looking at everything he was doing through the eyes and ears that they had all over the world. Even within this academy, there were many eyes that watched him and reported back to the elder council and they all knew about it already. They couldn¡¯t do anything about it since there was no reason to deal with students that were not even rted to this situation directly. They were just doing what they were asked to by their parents or by their superiors. So it was a prettymon thing. It was not going to stop and he didn¡¯t want them to stop either. He just continued on what he was doing and improved himself just like he did when he was outside. He was smart and he knew what he was doing so there wasn¡¯t much he needed to be worry of¡­ and this applied even when it came to showing off his improved skills and abilities. -Ooooooooooong! In his faceoff against the captain of Acqua mirror, the person that was chosen to be the captain of the house that was filled with alchemists and the people that were rted to magic instead of his elder sister. There were many things that he was confused about at first, things like who this person was or why she was the captain instead of Her or someone else¡­ but after being with her and after seeing her do all those amazing things from up close, he knew why she was a captain instead of Ca or anyone else in this batch. The position of the captain was not something that just anyone could receive. Even his elder sister and big brother weren¡¯t captains. There was a reason Zoe was a captain, there was a reason why Tia, his elder sister Elle, Prince Alpheus, or prince Eugene and captain Alpha was a captain. There most certainly was a deep reason behind why Lizzy was the captain of his house. All the captains had something very special about them, while the vice captains had something they were very good at. The specialness and being good at something was very different, and the great ancient tree that had been here before any of them must know that better than any of them. -Swish¡­! -Boooooooom! As he looked at Quin¡¯s water magic that was so unique that even someone like him could notpletely replicate it, he had but a look of respect in his eyes. -Oooooooooooooong! He was one of the few young (tier-4) mages of this world, someone who was strong enough to fight some mages far more experienced than him. Additionally, he was called a prodigy of magic not because he possessed phenomenal affinity for magic but because of his ability to cast the true magic¨C the magic that was not cast with the talent for magic or elements or because of the blessing of Mana but with one¡¯s pure will. The true magic was somethingplex and something that not just anyone could use. It was a power that one who understood magic on a deeper level, someone who understood what spells were, why they existed, why magic was used in the way it was used, and why elements were used to cast most of the magic instead of something even purer. Something that was just ¡¯magic¡¯ and nothing else. He knew all that and could use that rare power, that was the main reason despite his age andck of experience, he was called a prodigy of magic by those highly experienced elder mages. There was something called ¡¯potential¡¯ when it came to mages and it was inherently limited to some extent. Only a few could go beyond their inherent limitations and even fewer could achieve things like his elder brother had with all those limitations still blocking their way. What he wanted to achieve was much moreplex than what the world understood¨C but that was something that belonged to him. And it was enough for him that the one he considered his goal, the one that he wanted to get better than, was also aware of his ambitions. -Oooooooooooong! He was a (tier-4) mage who had the ability to wield four elements simultaneously while his opponent was a (tier-3) mage who could only use one element. And still, even after using his mind to the best of his abilities to cast the mostplex and powerful spells that he possibly could, he was losing this battle¡­ The person he was fighting against was strong, someone as strong as his big brother. She was also highly experienced and knew how to react to the attacks that were thrown at her as if she had already gone through life and death experiences. Even though she could only use the water element, the way she used it was beyond anyone¡¯s expectations¡­ ¡¯Using water bubbles as stepping stones to reach a higher ground, using water¡¯s thinyers as an illusion magic base, or using hot water at such apressed level that it exploded when any of his magic touched it¨C and she of course used it as a defensive magic instead of offensive one, something simr to what his Sister Elle used in her fight against Miss Luna.¡¯ Her ways were as unconventional as the two of theirs¡­ it wasn¡¯t surprising that the three of them were the closest with one another. They must have taught one another, and they must have studied together whenever they had time as well. She was already very diligent with anything she was learning¨C as any person in this academy was aware of¨C and she was still one of the kindest people he had known. She was smart and innocent at the same time. She had strength as everyone present here were seeing but she hardly made anyone aware of her strength. She was one of the most approachable people in this academy, much like Zoe. People didn¡¯t hesitate to ask her about anything as they did with most of them. Her cheerful nature and her oblivious personality that still did not know about most of themon things was something refreshing. -Oooooooooooooong¡­! "Woah! Woah! I can¡¯t handle that, captain!" She had once again surprised all of them by creating twelve balls of highlypressed water that were made with such friction in them that they would almost destroy this whole arena if they were released. "Does that mean you ept your defeat, Vice captain Alfred?" "Yes. of course. I never stood a chance against you in the first ce." "That¡¯s certainly not true." -Ooooooooooooong. She shook her head with a smile on her face, Erased all spells that she had summoned with so ease that she made him forget how difficult it actually was to cancel spells like that, and then she walked up to him with a smile. "You¡¯re a much better mage than I am. If you stop holding back like you usually do, there is no way I stand a chance against you even with my artifacts and spirits. I would even be lucky to survive for three minutes against you at your full power." She surely was not exaggerating when she said that. He certainly was strong beyond his own knowledge. He did not use any artifacts nor any skills in this entire fight. He also did not have passive support of high level spirits like she did. The only thing he used in this entire battle was his magic that he usually uses. "You tter me, Captain Quin." He could only smile helplessly at her sillyment. { "If you two are done, get out of there and then chat." } "Fighting for twenty five minutes was no good thing." "It surely was not, haha." His teacher was angry at both of them for taking so long and not using all that they had even after wasting all that time. They had truly wasted their time with a pretty performance that though would get them good scores, it was not something their teacher appreciated much. He knew their reasoning for restricting themselves, and that was the only reason he was not going to suggest point deduction. School property was important. And even though they possessed enough wealth to pay off the repairing costs upon destruction of this ce, they were still not allowed to do that. They were strong children. And sadly, they were smart enough to understand that as well. "Let¡¯s go, Miss Quin." He got up and nodded at her with a smile. This wasn¡¯t a fight at their full strength but he was content with this fight. He had fun, actually. Seeing her actually thinking of fighting seriously, and facing off against her like that made his heart raise. And this experience was more than satisfying for both of them¡­ Well, of course¡­ "Damn." "Thatst spell¡­ what was that?!" "Did they just end it like that?! How can they do that?!" For the spectators who had enjoyed that heart racing show for thest few minutes, this anticlimactic end was no fun at all. Chapter 893: Lightsword Vs. Wildsword Prince udius was a vice captain of true dragons while Ca was the vice captain of the Acqua mirror house. However, both of them were famous for the way they handled their swords. Prince ud was called the (Magic swordsman of light) thanks to his iparable prowess in handling the swords. While on the other hand, Ca was called (Swordsman of unlimited swords) thanks to her unique skill that lets her store any kind of de in a special dimension. If one fought with magic and sword, the other wielded multiple swords of various kinds and natures in her fights. She was famous for using various kinds of swords in her fights and these swords, her weapons were sometimes so unique they caught the attention of people all around the world that paid any attention to the prodigies of the golden age or just the genius young generation of the sword wielders. The swords were considered the greatest weapon of them all and since she was proficient with various forms of swords, Ca was also referred as someone who would one day follow the footsteps of the Vice headmaster, someone who had mastered all the weapons there were. She was good with what she did and she knew how to use her swords, her unique physique, and her various skills. -nk! nk! nk! In her fight against someone who could use both magic and swords proficiently, as someone who could only use swords covered in special enchantments and swords that were made with unique ways, she knew how to give a proper fight. Especially after all her experiences and the new things that she had learned while being in this academy, she was in fact having fun shing with this strong opponent. And her opponent was also pretty much the same. -Oooooooooooooong! He was a high level swordsman as well as someone who could use magic as well as many of the genius mages of their academy could. He had his own special way to cast the magic and he used this special method along with his other special skills, while at the same time maintaining his sword path. He was a formidable foe, even for someone that was called the best sword prodigy of the era. -Swish! Swish! Swish! From the way he used his magic swords to create a defensive barrier around him to the way he himself moved across the arena. The way he handled his spells to the way he wielded his sword with such calmness was something only someone with a great experience as a sword wielder with real battle experiences could possess. His eyes were only focused on his opponent¡¯s feet. Was keeping track of her every movement and he was moving while predicting all the possibilities that his opponent would think he had missed. As the sword in his hands, covered in a radiant golden Aura of light, moved along with his swift yet predictable-looking attacks moved for the obvious guarded areas of his opponent, Ca knew something unexpected would happen if she did not move from her ce. She had also predicted all the things that he could do and all the things that she might miss, and in this moment, she knew ignoring this attack would prove out to be fatal. She had also had various enlightening experiences in these past few years and she had also fought against strong beasts that could threaten her life. She did not yet have any life and death experiences- aside from her experiences fighting against her younger brother and grandfather- so she was definitelycking in many ways. Still, she knew what she had to do in this certain moment and used her unique skill to switch her longsword for a greatsword and blocked the iing attack from her opponent. However, her opponent wanted exactly this kind of response and as soon as she had blocked his attack, ud moved his body ever so slightly that the sword that had just shed with her shield like a greatsword gently slid down her edge and he was able to create an opening in that microsecond. -ng! s, the opponent he was fighting had already experienced ZONE multiple times now and now possessed senses even sharper than a wounded wild beast. ¡¯{Thunderp}.¡¯ The opening that he had created for himself had left him defenceless in that unbelievable movement, and she used her skill to move at just the right time to grab that opportunity and attack him when he was the most vulnerable. -Clung! Sadly, the opponent that she was fighting was not merely a sword user like her. -Ooooooooooooong! He was a magic swordsman who heldmand over three highly enchanted magic swords that had been constantly moving alongside him, waiting for hismand to strike down at the opponent. -ng! He could have used that one powerful attack of his magic sword to deal a significant blow at a crucial time, but he had no choice but to use it to create some distance between the two of them after his passive magic shield was broken after enduring her surprise attack. -Oooooooooong! He had failed once, and made a mistake at the same time. However, through that mistake, he now knew the degree of danger that he was facing at that moment. So, he adjusted his strategy as their fight continued. -ng! Even though he was a mage and a swordsman who logically should possess more stamina than a pure sword user, as their fight continued and he observed the unchanged look in her eyes, he had also understood how monstrous stamina his opponent actually possessed. So, ultimately, he knew that a prolonged fight would only lead to his defeat. If he wanted to win, he had to employ some other kind of tactics, something that she might not have experienced before¡­ He prepared himself and started using various tactics on her, defending against her various attacks by predicting her utterly wild movements, but as time went on, things became increasingly difficult for him. -nk! nk! nk! With the passage of time, her attacks became sharper, stronger, and the Aura that was covering her swords became even more destructive. The moment his spell swords came in contact with her Aura des, they were destroyed on the spot. In fact, they were destroyed beyond repair. Something he had not expected to happen at least in the first round of their test. They fought, they shed swords, they predicted one another¡¯s attacks but at the end, as Prince ud continued employing tactics that had zero effect against her, Ca started acting more and more on her instincts rather than being logical and using tactics. She tried going into the zone and giving more and more openings to the prince but, after all their previous shes, even prince ud got confused if the attack that wasing or the opening he was receiving were in fact even true or just tricks. He could not read the nk eyes of his opponent anymore. He can tell something weird was going on with her, it was as if he was fighting against a strong beast that did not even consider him its opponent. He had not felt as much helplessness and confusion as he did in this moment after his fight with her younger brother all those years ago. Explore more adventures at NovelBin.C?m But still, she was not as scary as the things that he had actually witnessed during his travels these past few years. He had the chance to continue fighting the way they were doing, or¡­ he had the option to let go of his strategies and tactics altogether and just fight as he had done when facing those formidable beasts. He knew his opponent was stronger than him. He knew the chances of his victory were small and there were not many ways to win this battle avable anymore. So¡­ after realising the saddening truth of their situation, he let go of the thinking part and shed his sword just for the sake of defeating the wild opponent fighting against him. -nk! nk! nk! And after he did that, the kind of battle that followed was not something any of the students present here had ever expected to witness¡­ -Clung! -Boooooooooom! -Ooooooooooooong¡­! -Bam! They used magic and magical weapons to fight and counter each other¡¯s attacks. Some of Ca¡¯s techniques were made in a way that she could even return the magical attacks of the opponent, while even though a little difficult, he possessed strong defensive abilities that were solid enough to withstand the powerful destructive abilities of his opponent. -nk! nk! nk! They started fighting at such a fast speed that some of the students could not even see them. At one point, the fight became so intense and both of them got so engrossed in their fight that they even forgot to care about the property of the academy. -ng! ng! ng! At one point, the explosions and sparks became so bad that the heat generated by the battle could even be felt by the students that were standing around the arena they were fighting around. After one point, even their teacher could not take it anymore and had to step in to stop both of them even though he was enjoying the battle himself¨C he had no choice after they did not stop even after crossing the safety threshold of the defensive system. "Haaaa¡­ haaaa¡­" "..." "You should find a good ce to continue this fight and invite me to see it. You did well¡­ much better than I had expected." If it was possible, he would let them fight and let them destroy this entire arena. That was how battles had to be anyway. And they were fighting without holding back anything, so he was even more happy by their disy. "Haaa¡­" Of course, neither of them liked how they were stopped just when it seemed like the real fun was getting started. "I want a rematch, haaa¡­ Prince udius." "The feeling¡­ is mutual¡­ Miss Ca." Both of them were out of breath but they were brimming with fighting spirit even still. It was unexpected. But they had a little too much fun with this battle of theirs. Chapter 894: A fairys combat [Eon''s POV: ] "You look happy." She surely looked pretty in her bigger form, but with the weapons that she carried, she also seemed more dangerous than her usual delicate, and cheerful self. Additionally, the look she had on her face right now was a dangerous one. ''The crimsondust¡­'' Even though she was a fairy, she was aplete battle focused mage. She could use magic and also possessed a ton of enhancement and fighting skills that made her aplete battlemage. And she was pretty different from the other battlemages like Rein or Miss Lina as she used all kinds of means in her battles going as far as using her bare hands as well as weapons. "Hehe, of course I look happy. We finally get to fight for real~." She had a smirk on her face as she prepared and moved her finger across the edge of her de. She held a sword without a sheath, on her back was a long speat, and she had ced a mace on the ground. On top of that, she was wearing an outfit simr to what Ca usually wears, but even that was a little different from hers. "It''s good to see this side of yours. It unexpectedly suits you." "Hehe, no way. Don''t try to tter me just yet~. I''m not going to go easy on you~." She was excited and happy right now. Just that smirk she had and the energy she was exuding was a new thing for me as well. ''This quite literally was the first time we would be fighting in an official setting like this one.'' Practice duels were one thing, we usually only got to teach one another through those deals and fights. Ever since we started the academy, we never really had the chance to fight against one another in true sense, but now that we were facing one another, and that too before all these students and teachers and judges, she couldn''t help but get excited. ''She''s one of the few that works better in the face of the audience.'' Much like a performer. The cheers and the public attention was something that made her spirit fired up. And in this setting, she was now fully fired up. { "You can start anytime you want." } The clothes she was wearing were made from a special Mana material. And on top of that, it was enhanced with materials that were usually used to make strong armors. The armour itself was strong, but the overall clothing was afortable one that made it possible for one to move as freely as they wanted. And that was exactly what her overall ystyle was all about. "Let''s start then, shall we?" She was also wearing fortified advanced gloves, so she was going to use her strong fiesta in the fight as well. ''I have to be prepared for many things.'' The only weapon I had were my bow and arrows. I could not use magic and the skills that I could use were also pretty limited. ''Most of the new skills I have are easy to recognize. So all I have is the {Cascade of ark} as the enhancement skill and {Light steps} as the movement skill.'' Mostly, I only have the techniques that I know, and in this fight there is no way I will be using the new techniques that Sir divine mage and I have developed over the past few months. Those things are too dangerous for friendly fights like these. So, that aside, though I will be limited to simple things. "I''ll be going first then~! Thanks~!" The bow I was using was not one of my favourites, but still, it was something I had enchanted myself. But the vessel holding my arrows was surely something that I held more than a few hundred arrows in a special manner. ''It would be better to use my silver quiver in this fight but that would bring too much attention so this much was enough for now.'' Anyway¡­ -Swish! -nk! She had moved right after announcing that she would attack first and moved right before my face. She was fast, much faster than I had expected so the moment she was right before me, I had to use the enchanted arrow in my hand to deflect her attack and step back. -Swish! -Dhum! Distance was a very important thing for an archer since mostly, they were a long range back-of-the-line support unit. Not many archers were proficient with the close range fights, but of course I was one of those few. -Swiiiiiiish! First, the moment her initial attack failed, I used my {Light steps} to create greater distance between us and used three arrows as my first attack. -nk! nk! nk! The arrows did not move in a straight line like they usually would but were curved and twisted so that they moved in an unpredictable manner¨C and yet she detected the iing attacks and blocked the arrows with her sword. -Shrrrrr¡­! However, she did not expect the kind of weight the arrows would carry so when she blocked them, she was thrown back all the way, and ended up almost losing her footing. -Swiiiiiiiiiish! And that was another chance for me so four more arrows were shot at her consecutively. -Swish! However this time, she knew the kind of strength these simple arrows carried so she dodged them and used her sword to redirect their trajectories in a way that they first hit the ground instead of just getting redirected somewhere else. She knew there was a chance that the arrows that I fired mighte back at her, and she did not want to get hit in the back while facing me. So, she avoided the attack, let go of her sword and took out the spear from her back. -Swiiiiiiiiiish¡­! Instead of using it as a long range weapon, she directly threw it at me with a precise aim¡­ her eyes were locked at me and the battle skills that she possessed were surely activated at that moment. ============ {Skills: Competitiveness, Opponent suppression, Stardust, Fairy battle magic, Strength enhancement, Speed enhancement, Battle foresight, Realm jump, Combat assist.} ============ Her skills were pretty great. The {Combat assistance} gave her a kind of sixth sense that made her act on her own in crucial times and helped her make better decisions in the battle. Her passivepetitiveness stemmed from her innate skill that not only acted as a buff skill, it also helped her grow faster while following herpetitive spirit. She had tried it before so she knew her skill to suppress enemies during battle did not work on me, so she was not trying to waste energy with that skill anymore and was purely using all her enhancement magic and skills to buff her own self. ''Her {Battle foresight} was a very rare (Indigo) ranked skill that was formidable in any battle, however, just like that skill, I had Lucy to help me during battle with her superior calctive abilities and assistance engine.'' -nk! nk! nk! The problem now was her Stardust, the racial inherent ability that she possessed. -Swiiiiiiiiiiish! Her Crimsondust was a unique form of stardust that, instead of decreasing over time with use like it happens with most other feries, increased as the fight went on and she continued using it. ''This stardust increased her strength, magic power, and stamina, and in addition to that, it made her skills even stronger. ''It was different from Ca''s natural battle instincts as well.'' She not only got stronger as the battle went on in real time, her powers increased as well. And this very ability made her one of the worst opponents one might want to face off in a battle of time. -Swiiiiiiiiish! -Swish. Swish. Swish. Even with my higher stats and better techniques would be useless in the face of pure strength so, I wanted to avoid prolonging the battle as much as possible¡­ but sadly, she was a good fighter. -nk! She blocked my arrows, she used the entire arena to her advantage and used her experience as someone who can fly to move through the area that not even someone experienced like me possibly could. -Swiiiiiish! I was surely the stronger one between us, but with the limitations and the conditions that I was in, it was not easy to deal with her with her strengths increasing with each passing moment. -Swish. Swish. Swish. Well, she was having fun as well. -nk! Using the sword was a simple battle style, using one weapon like most of us do was actually.'' But being able to use various kinds of weapons with such proficiency was not an easy thing. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! She had real lifebat experience and she was a few of us who hade close to death and survived in situations that were life threatening. ''Her life had not been an easy one.'' I can clearly feel the experience she had umted over all these years. -nk! She was a good fighter. And the nature of her abilities made her even more dangerous for a pure archer like me in this fight. ''{Light steps}.'' I was going to win this battle in the end, that was inevitable. But before I do that, now that she was having that much fun¡­ it wasn''t a bad idea to show her something better. Something even more fun. "How would you like to bring up the level, Tia?" If I wanted to finish this fight quickly, then I had to fight faster. Shoot my arrows faster. Infuse more strength in it. And move faster than her stardust could react. "Hun?" -Bang! -Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish¡­! -Swish! And that was only possible in the unique mental realm that only few fortunate are able to enter. The realm, that is generally known as the ZONE. Chapter 895: Sparks of passion [OP: ] -Oooooooooooong! All of a sudden, Eon vanished from before her eyes and an unforeseen attack arrived from right beside her. -nk! A silent arrow that she barely perceived and blocked with therge mace that she was wielding. However, the impact that she felt in that moment was so powerful that she was thrown three steps back. -nk! And, that was just the start of the silent assaults. -nk! nk! She was dodging most of the attacks but some of them weren''t something she could possibly evade from how fast they arrived before her. They were fast, covert, and impactful. Every time she was hit by one of these arrows, she almost lost her footing and if it wasn''t for her skills and great natural bnce, she would have long lost the battle if things had gone on the same way for even more than a minute. But she handled the assault, got used to the speed of the arrows in no time and, started blocking the attacks in a more efficient manner. She did not understand how he was doing it, but she understood one thing. -nk! nk! nk! Her opponent was simply moving around without any kind of excess movements and that was making it seem like he had almost disappeared. The reason his attacks did not make any kind of sound was all thanks to the enchantments that were ced on the arrows that he was using and his experience. He was talented, so much so that she could not understand how someone just a little younger than her could possibly move in that manner. She already knew that he was strong, but she also knew that he was not using even half of his strengths, half of the things that he could do in this battle. And yet, he was pushing her back with the most simple kind of attacks that anyone should have been able to block and counterattack. -Oooooooooooooong¡­! She got angry after this continued for a few minutes and used all her magic to enhance her speed and focused her skills on strength and stamina. She was not going to tolerate this insult. She was here for a fair fight and to defeat this bastard who was already looking down on her by holding back¡­ so, used a new approach and became so fast that she also vanished from the arena. -nk! nk! nk! For the students, the arena had be empty with only asional sparks flying all around the ce. There were some asional impacts, some ces faced strong impacts from the weapons that few and crashed in those ced. -Booooom! If it was not for the protective barrier covering the arena, the weapons could havee out and it might have hurt them in a serious manner. The weapons were fast, very fast as they the strength that they were thrown with was in fact noughing manner. -nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! But then, out of the blue, the sparks that were flying all around that arena became so intense it stunned the students, bbergasted the judges, and shocked the teacher that had been keeping an eye on every single movement both of them made. He was not the only person who could see what was actually happening in that arena, but he was the only person present in this arena who actually understood everything that was taking ce in this ce. -nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! They were fighting at first with Eon only using simple yet the most efficient movements to confuse his opponent, but then when Tia also enchanted her speed, Eon started using apletely different kind of tectic. -Oooooooooooong! The teacher saw it clearly, the young person who should not be older than most of the young adults of this academy, entered the ZONE at his own will. -nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! He did something not even some of the most experienced knights could not do, and he did it so effortlessly that The teacher knew instantly the boy had already experienced something much deeper than the surface of this unique mental state. -Swiiiiiiiiiiiish! He first entered the zone and then his attacks, his movements, his every single action became so intense yet so perfectly coordinated that it exceeded his ownprehension. As he continued watching the young boy, he understood what exactly he was trying to do and it brought him another shock. -nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! nk! He was using his superior experience to drag his opponent into this unique mental state as well¡ª he was forcing his fairy opponent who was a battle mage and not a knight into one of the most unique yet dangerous mental regions. Doing so carelessly could put the lives of both of them into danger but, as the teacher watched, he could clearly tell that this was not the first time the young boy was doing something like this. His every action, the evey arrow that he intentionally fired in a way that she would have to move the way he wanted her to, and the way he precisely manipted her reminded him of the younger version of his teacher¡ª the vice headmaster who was the only person he knew to be capable of doing something like this with that kind of precision. He was stunned after that and just continued watching the unfathomable show that was unfolding before him¡­ -Oooooooooooong! It did not take the young fairy to enter the highly longed state of the ZONE. Her unnaturally strong will, the absurd fighting spirit that she possessed was something that made her angry at the fact that her opponent was not even considering her a proper opponent and was ying around with her. Her strong anger and frustration was channelled directly into her actions and she became more focused, more aggressive, more confident, and more powerful as the time passed¡ª and all those things increased exponentially when everything aside from her opponent''s arrows had been erased from her mind. When she entered the state of ZONE, as the teacher witnessed, she had stopped producing the crimson stardust that she had been producing throughout the fight. Not many people could perceive it since she had been using it very effectively since the start of the battle so not any of it was leaking out, but when she stopped producing her stardust, she somehow became even more powerful. It was as if the way she had been using her stardust suddenly became so efficient that she started directly using it as soon as it was produced in her back where her wings should have been. She was doing something even he had not seen before, something he was witnessing for the first time¡­ but she did not know what she had been doing herself. The only thing that someone in the ZONE would know about was the objective that made them enter that state unless they were extremely experienced with this state. He could tell this was not her first time in this unique state but the level of dearth she had reached was something new to her. -Ooooooooooooooong! -nk! nk! nk! The same was not the case for her opponent as it seemed like he had so much experance with this state of mind that he was even able to extract stamina from all parts of his body while using this state. He was not getting tired like someone in this state usually should. He was getting stronger instead, and¡­ this became the main dividing line in their fight. -Oooooooooooong! -nk! nk! She did her best and she almost reached him, damaging him with her fiests. He had even barely avoided some of her attacks, but he still did not fall for any of her attacks that had now be rtively predictable. She was now stronger, faster, and sharper than ever. But she stillcked experience fighting in that kind of state, with this kind of speed, with such conditions. -Oooooooooooooong! "That would be enough, Tia." Twelve minutes. It was the total time their fight went on. And of these twelve minutes, they had been in the zone for not more than three minutes. "Let''s stop here." -Swish. -DHUM! She was exhausted but she didn''t know it herself. She would have kept going and nearly killed herself had he not used his movement skill in time and stopped her from making any more moves. He used a strong attack on the back of her neck that made her suddenly fall unconscious while she was in the middle of punching him in a vital spot. In normal circumstances, that attack would not have done anything to him but it surely would have made her Mana flow disrupted. It could have been serious, and even though he was also having fun with his friend, he stopped her, and their fight ended with the entire arena falling silent. She was now on the ground, unconscious. And it seemed like she would not be able to continue with the rest of the tests¡­ but that would have been a problem. So, Eon got down before her, used his Aura and somehow, with some trick that neither the students nor the teacher in charge understood, he brought her back. "¡­?!" And surely, when she came back to her senses, she did not understand anything that was going on except for the fact that she was nowying on the ground and he was crouching down before her. "¡­I lost¡­ again." "You were going to lose anyway. Did you think you really had any chance?" He yfully smirked at her and helped her get back up, and she made the same adorable face that she makes every time she is angry. "You did not have to say it so bluntly!" She did not like how he made fun of her. He was perhaps the only one who did it and every time she saw that smirk¡­ she just wanted to punch that ugly face of his. Chapter 896: What we’ve learned [Eon''s POV: ] After my match with Tia, the others also fought their duels. There weren''t that many attractive fights after that, and everyone was still taken aback by what had happened during Tia and my duel. They at first could not understand how we were not visible to them, and those who understood what was happening a little, knew the thing happening was not simply use of some skill or some technique. ''Some sharp ones caught onto the fact that we were simply moving in a certain way that was making it seem like it was not visible to their eyes.'' But even they could not understand what had actually happened in that ce. There simply wasn''t any information on them and those who did had the information on what had happened in there kept it all to themselves since the fact we were fighting in the ZONE would be too absurd for the others to know. Even Tia for once acted smart and did not reveal what had happened during our fight. ''Time passed¡­ Hide and Ezra fought, and destroyed an arena¡ª earning a warning and notice from the teacher for thepetition.'' Though, neither of them had any special reaction to it since both of them were hairs to one of the most powerful forces of this World. Paying a little for these kinds of things was no big deal for them. What really mattered was the fun that they had while fighting. It wasn''t expected but both of them enjoyed the fight where they openly showed their bloodthirsty sides and the genuine desire to kill the other. ''It wasn''t shown in a negative manner¡ª it was more of a friendly ''I''ll kill you'' kind of thing that a few of us who knew both of them well could understand.'' Hide was a yer and admired the beautifuldies. Ezra was already with Prince Alph but he still asked her for dinner every chance he got and that annoyed Ezra more than anything else. She did not hate the guy since he was the most funny and miserable guy she knew, so though they had a good friendship, she always looked for the chance to beat him up. And though he did not like getting beaten up by a prettydy, the fact that she beat him up while insulting him and his family every chance she got annoyed him as well and he wanted to hurt her in a ''safe'' manner. ''The two of them were quite an item in this little group of ours, but they were pretty fun.'' They made things fun and refreshing, and thanks to them, we had a chance tough a little even inplicated times like this one. ''Their fight was fun, but even more fun than that was the fight between Captain Alpha and Chry.'' Both of them were sword users but since Captain Alpha was a magic swordsman who also possessed many other talents, a pure swordsman like Chry should have been an easy target for him¡­ but that did not turn out to be the case. ''He underestimated Chry and ended up losing to a pure knight who had only been training for a few years.'' Firstly, he ignored the fact that despite the big size of Chry, he was a knight that purely focused on speed rather than strength. Secondly, he was not a long sword user like Prince ud or the rest of them but a rapier user, someone who used sharp pointed strong and flexible weapons. ''Chry''s main strength was his speed and his weapon handling techniques. Just to deal with highly superior opponents like Captain Alpha, he had devoured his heart and soul and learned sword dances and sword arts that were not usually practiced at an young age.'' Additionally, thanks to the repeated fights that he has had with me and the rest of us in various different forms and with the near life threatening experiences he had had with the creatures our house, he knew very well just how important a calm mind was in the fights.'' He knew how to fight and he knew how to deal with the opponents that were stronger than him¡­ ''Captain Alpha knew he was special but, he had no experience actually fighting Chry seriously.'' His third mistake was thinking Chry was the same as the rest of the students that he has fought while in the academy¡­ ''Chry was not here to y around or enjoy the academy like the fee of us.'' He was purely here to make a name for himself and he was not going to let go of any of the opportunities that he got in his way. ''The first midterms were the first opportunity to shine for him.'' He was going to use any means necessary to get a great result in this test¡­ and that was proven when Chry openly used his EFMW in his fight against the Captain of the previously best house. ''He used his skills openly as well and from the start of the battle, he fought at a speed that was genuinely invisible to the naked eyes.'' It wasn''t like what Tia and I were doing. He wasn''t using some trick to make it seem like he was invisible. He was like lightning¡­ when he moved, he was invisible but after his movements, only a trail of lightning was left in his wake and when Captain Alpha got into contact with this trail, he got hurt. ''Chry''s fighting technique was not as simply as shooting arrows, swinging sword, or simple sword movements that one could make with a pointy sword.'' He incorporatedplex techniques that the teachers and judges present were stunned to witness. The Aura utilisation method he used was soplex that they were stunned how it was even possible to use Aura the way he was using it. ''Chry had a gifted physique. Something that allowed him to have a kind of stamina and Aura movement capacity that humans usually could not possess.'' Though the what made him win the battle against the most talented student of this batch was not the fact that he used all thoseplex things¡­ but how he did not underestimate his opponent. ''He knew he was facing an opponent that he would never win against in a fair battle.'' So he took advantage of Captain Alpha''s ignorance and hit when the iron was the hottest. ''Captain Alpha had difficulty dealing with him from the start since he did not see that kind of assaulting.'' And as the battle progressed, with Chry perfectly taking advantage of his opponent''s following mistakes, the battle was concluded after twenty minutes of constant struggle. He defeated the captain of the previous number one house and silenced the entire arena¡­ ''But of course, his close friend Quin cheered for his victory in thepletely silent room.'' It was a fun battle to watch. And, though the captain was disappointed with his performance, he understood his mistakes and epted them. ''He thanked Chry for the fight and asked him if they could fight once again if they get the chance.'' And since Chry had no reason to decline him, he epted his friend''s invitation. After that¡­ the second round of the test began. { "The third round will begin shortly. Please get ready, everyone." } In the second round, we all had to fight three kinds of creatures. Three same kinds of creatures. ''The first one was a pack of strong wolves, creatures that had skills and strength of a (Yellow) ranked creature.'' Students had to fight three of them, and though it was a piece of cake for many of us, things were not the same for the normal students who did not know how to handle real creatures. ''It would have been different if these creatures were simted or something, but these were the real creatures that they were fighting. Something that sshed blood when they were attacked.'' Not all students had experience dealing with creatures. So, those who fought actual creatures for the first time were in quite a difficult situation. They somehow dealt with them but many students could not handle even one of the creatures and had to forfeit the round. ''This was still just a test so if they absolutely could not do it, even the teachers did not have any chance but to take them out of the arena.'' But unless they had fainted or were severely traumatised, they were kept in the enclosed space with the actual ferocious creatures. ''The second creatures were a group of six insects, something even more difficult to deal with thanks to their innate connection and teamwork.'' Additionally, these insect creatures were as ugly as they could be. Something Rein genuinely found cute, but something that traumatised a few more students. ''Thest one was a single creature that resembled a teddy bear. Something cute and adorable and something that seemedpletely harmless.'' And yet, we were asked to kill it¡ª so those with a high morality or dumb beliefs refused to do it. ''They did not want to kill a creature that looked so harmless.'' But, if they knew about this creature like the few of the other students did, they would know they were one of the most ferocious species that was rmended to be killed on the spot. ''As they grew up, they became more aggressive than any other wild creature and there are always reports that outside of their natural habitats, they were widely known as the (Crimson Bears of massacres)¡ª beings famous as the destroyers of viges and other creatures'' habitats.'' They were not here to teach us some kind of lesson. We were told to kill it and after evaluating the situation, we had to kill it. There was nothing more to it. In their younger forms, they were as easy to kill as a rabbit. If the students couldn''t even do that they deserved to be graded negatively¡­ but, well, it was understandable since most of us are still, at the end of the day, young children. "Ready, everyone?" Two rounds of the test were over now, so¡­ only the third one was left. And, since this round was going to be about showcasing what we have learned, this was going to be the easiest part of this difficult practical test. Chapter 897: Talents of the golden era [OP: ] Thest part of their test was pretty simple as they just had to disy what was taught by their teacher during their time in this ss. It was not about showing their individual abilities or what they had learned from the other ces but simply what they had learned in this specific ss until now. There was no restriction on what they could show. They could show something that the teacher had taught them generally, something that they advised them about, something that they had learned from watching their teacher, or something that was somehow rted to their sses until now. The aim of this part of the exam was to see how much the students have learned in their time in this superior grade ss and how much they had improved from thest time they had performed what they were going to show in this section. The students did not feel as much burden with this section as they did with the PvP or with the hunting of the real creatures. It was what they had learned and they just had to show it, just like some theory question. It was pretty simple¡­ or at least, that was what the normal students thought. "The elders call the current times the Golden era¡­ I see what they give such a grand title to such a peaceful time." The judges who graded this section of the exam already had data on every single student that was giving this exam right now. They wereparing their past performances and the evaluation of their teacher with the current performance that they were seeing and surely, they were surprised to see what they were witnessing in the unique spaces where the students were transported to. "The prodigies of the golden era¡­ quite a fitting title, I''d say." They were seeing what the students were doing and how they were performing this task which not only tested their improvements, but in fact their level of understanding and application skills. Showcasing what they had learned until now did not mean just doing what they had been taught what they had learned from their teacher but also how much they had observed, how much they had mastered, and what they were finally choosing to showcase in this segment where they only needed to show one of the many things that was taught to them. It wasmon practice that the students would show what they could do the best among the various things that they had learned, however, that was not all one could do in this part of the exam. "The ones who use swords aren''t holding swords, those who use magic are holding weapons, those who attack are showing how to defend and those who fight with the help of their tamed creatures are fighting themselves." "Such sights weremon a few hundred years ago, but since a few centuries back, things had be dull." "It is a refreshing experience seeing such bright children." The judges were keeping an eye on all the students and as they could see, the ones who usually held swords, in this part of the exam, were showing not what they could do the best, but instead what they had learned they could do well aside from the things that they were already good at. Ca was showing how she had learned Aura maniption from her teacher, while Prince ud was showing how he had learned to Condense and materialise his magic power into swords. Captain Alpha was showing how he was able to incorporate various elemental spells and energies into his basic attacks while Chry was showcasing how he had learned the use of his hands to perform theplex techniques that he had only known how to use with a sword in his hands. And just like them, the mages like Alf were showing how they had learned the basics of weapons, Quin was showing how she could now make magical weapons out of her water magic with the use of the unique creation magic that they had only learned a little about. Deleon was using magic different from his taming and summoning magic, though he was clumsy with the spells and could not use them as well as he could use them with the help of his slimes. Ezra was proficient with magic and a short dagger but instead of using either of them, she was showing how she had learned the magic application into the ground to disrupt the terrain around her. It was aplex technique and required a lot of Mana and their teacher had only used this technique once and that was also to disrupt the terrain of a practice field. It was not a demonstration but merely something he did to help the students during the practice but she had learned it after witnessing it that one time. On the other hand, Rein was showing how she could use a scythe now¨C something she was already good at. Not many people around her knew that she was also a weapon wielder and the judges were also in the dark about that matter. Rein''s appearance was disguised with the help of Celes'' unique skill so there was no way for even someone like their teacher to notice the fact that she could use a weapon and that she was an Aura user until Rein showed it herself. Until now, there was no need to show it, but she had practised with the scythe during their training time and now was the best time to show what she had learned after all the training she had done with a weapon despite being a pure mage on the paper. The judges who saw her performances were all surprised and the fact that she was not doing everything she possibly could with her mastery over the weapon made her performance even more attractive to the judges. She was as good as many of the weapon wielders who had practised since they were young, and that was only after a few months of her training. The judges were quite impressed, but she knew that was not enough to get the kind of points she needed, so she went ahead and incorporated her magic into her scythe handling, something their teacher had taught to the ones who were interested in both magic and weapons. Her performance after that point surprised them more than they had expected, and good grades were guaranteed to her after that point. Eon knew she was going to do something like this, but it wasn''t technically cheating. She had learned many things in this ss and she showed the way they were taught scythe handling and magic infusion even though her scythe handling technique was much more advanced than what was taught and her Darkness attribute magic infusion into her technique was already beyond what they were currently reaching to the students. They were certainly learning a lot of things in this ss, and what she showed was what was taught in the ss and not what she had developed herself after her many fights with her grandfather and Eon. She did everything within the rules so she was not going to receive any kind of negative grading from them. "They are great¡­" Tia used magic on not herself but in the way that was taught in the ss¨C a kind of support magic that could directly be used as an assault magic. Princess Luna used her ice magic in a defensive manner by creating an entire castle of ice through Vision magic, aplicated kind of magic that did not use magic circles but merely with one''s will and imagination. And Hide, as always, got bored and showed off some superplicated magic that the teacher might have only just mentioned in passing and finished his turn. Even the other famous students performed well within their expected sses and did something that made the judges'' grading process pleasant. "Still, that boy¡­" And yet, when it came to who performed the best among all the students in thest section of this exam, the judges could only look at one of the magic screens that was still ying footage of a certain ck haired boy before them. Unlike the other students, the vice captain of the Wisdom phoenix was not doing something different from what he was taught and knew the best. He was an archer and he showed them archery. Though of course, what he showed them was no simple form of archery. "That right there is how the Divine archer used to be in his younger days." "If one knows the current divine archer personally, they would not really say that. Instead, the right thing to say would be that boy being someone who could be the next divine archer." The judges were having a debate between themselves over the boy and his actions. There were arguments over how someone so young could ever bepared with the divine archer but those who knew the best bow wielder of this world would certainly say the boy''s phenomenal archery skills resembled that great person. The elders among the judges were surely convinced that the skills that this boy showed were worthy of being praised and thus, they fought back against the rest of the judges and were adamant on their arguments. They were elders and they knew what they were saying so even against the protest of the younger and more talented people, at the end of the day, they had no choice but to cave in. "It will be fun seeing what bes of him in the following times." They were not going to be here to watch what he archives, but now that they all knew about his existence, they were going to keep an eye on him along with the many other talents that they had seen in here. There were even more talented people in this batch that some other judges were grading at the moment, but sadly, they were not going to meet one another or share what they had seen and witnessed in their assigned areas¡­ The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!